“If you are what you eat, then we are FAST, CHEAP AND DIRTY!!!” ~Ron Cruz

Somehow, I don’t think that is what Brillat-Savarin wanted to say… But I have to admit liking fast and cheap food, though the concept of eating sometimes escapes me. The dirty part is just an added bonus, like the fly on top of the cherry that is on top of the cake. Yummy!

My gastronomic trip led me to sit down Bladok restaurant on my first night in Jogjakarta. Since the food was a bit expensive, I decided …

In high school, I’m one of those kids who doesn’t get the luxury of having new bags every start of the school year. While my classmates brag and exhibit their “In” pop-swatch bags, less fortunate kids like me can only salivate admiring the oversized wall clock adorned backpack. Which in retrospect, was so retarded!

A hand-me-down yellow ”MR. FLYER” school bag, 1987
In the 90′s, there were only two kinds of school bags, Jansport and everything else. Thanks to the ever so believable Gwapings who pretty much capitalized the culture of my generation. …

Make me moan, Caramoan…
~Santi Obcena

Fresh from the trip to Ilo-Ilo a week before, Ron and I decided to bring Jeff to Caramoan Islands. Together with Santi, we huddled at terminal 3 an hour before departure. As always, Ron had to be late… We had to do unbelievable stunts to keep the counters open till Ron arrived. And he did, in the nick of time…
After a short plane ride to Naga Airport, we hit the road and immediately looked for a place to eat.

Kinunot, stewed shark and stingray meat.

Pinangat, taro leaves …

Filled with loathsome La Paz Batchoy soup, we decided to move along to get to our next destination, the Beach. Finally…
We hopped on a cab to take us to the bus terminal in Jaro and labored about 2 and a half hours of sweltering bus ride to the isolated town of Concepcion. We unfortunately planted ourselves beside the window so that when we went down the bus, the skin color of our left arms are nowhere near our right’s. We were dropped off at the wet market where our contact …

April is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots and spring rain.
~t.s. eliot, the waste land

It was late afternoon in 1991, when I noticed that the window in my room is covered with what seemed to be like a thin layer of flour. I went out to find out what’s happening. It was like snowing, but the falling specks was dry and not cold. I also noticed that the car parked outside was covered with what looked like confectioner sugar. I wiped a …

After our Kota Kinabalu stint last April, we were asked the question “How much was the damage?” for God knows how many times. So we stole this idea of post trip accounting from Nina Fuentes of justwandering.org
So here you go, once and for all

PART 1: MANILA TO CLARK
The only Airline that flies from Philippines to Kota Kinabalu is Air Asia, which embarks at Clark International Airport in Pampanga.

Bus from Quezon City to Dau – PhP 130
Tricycle to Clark gate – PhP 70
Private jeep to Clak Airport – …

Back to Kota Kinabalu from our gargantuan climb, we head off straight to the hostel to freshen-up, feast on a hearty dinner then went straight to a spa for a well deserved full body massage.
Upon lying down the massage table, we instantaneously went in to trans, and up to this point we can hardly remember a thing. The next event we can recall is the painful ordeal of getting out of bed the next morning. Our legs were aching like B****

We still have a full day to go around the …

OK, now that the biggest Philippine soap is over (READ: Elections), We’re back to our regular programming:
… We sat in silence as we drowned ourselves with fresh mountain air. We rested our bodies and stretched our limbs and savored every moment of being on top of Mt. Kinabalu. As much as we wanted to spread our arms and scream on the top of our lungs–“I’m the king of the world!” it’s too cliché, not gonna happen, we were also just too tired and the air is too cold it felt like it …

I said to my soul, be still and wait… So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing… ~T.S. Eliot

I never realized I’d be able to survive the 7-hour climb to Laban Rata. Unlike Ron, I never vowed to quit smoking but decided to swear off mountain climbing for the rest of my life. The agony was unspeakable as I approached Waras Hut, the first sign of a good night sleep. I moved closer to the hotel and went straight to the dining hall to gorge on …

At 5am, We woke up to the smell of challenge. We carefully packed our day packs to bring only the essentials as the hike to Mt. Kinabalu dawned us. After downing our cups of coffee plus two sliced bread smothered with peanut butter and jelly, we headed out the door and walked two blocks to get to the bus station. We made ourselves ready by buying 1 liter of water each and decided to buy energy bars on the way.
Like in the Philippines, the mini bus waited itself to get filled. …