FIRST TIME AT MT. MANABU

November 28-29, 2009 Location: Lipa/Sto.Tomas, Batangas

I am happy that was I able to join this Mount Manabu hike in Batangas. This is my first time to set foot on this mountain. It is situated in Sto.Tomas but it is more accessible in Lipa. This is also the first time I saw the Master Hiker and the Lovely Lady together in the woodlands. It took us more than two (2) hours to reach the jump-off area coming from Alabang.

At the registration area we were amazed that almost 90 people have already noted their names on the logbook. The group started the journey at exactly 5:20 PM which entails another night trek experience. It was the first time for the Mighty Hiker and his Crocs. It was a battle of patience because of muddy trail which we didn’t expect. The great about that night walking was the brightness on some parts of trail even without headlamps on. A clear blue sky and the moon was hovering us under the trees of the watershed.

We reached campsite three hours after, luckily we have still a place to pitch our tents. Now it was time to cook our main recipe of the night, “Chicken Ala King”, the designated cook is Miss Young and Smiling. This is her first time to try the Ala King recipe. During the socials, we had beef, squid, fish and pork, a complete party. Not the mention the drinks and juices. The time for sharing and stories were diverse, as Ilocanos/Ilocanana were the majority, a couple of Bisaya, a Manileno and a single Bicolana. It was really a shivering night indeed.

At the camp, we were the last one to sleep at roughly 2:00 AM. We set our alarms to wake up at 5:00 AM. I was the first to wake up. I was out of the tent 20 minutes after when I saw shades of the morning peeping on the mesh. I was standing alone in the middle of tents watching a beautiful sunrise in the East.

We are set for our breakfast, chicken and spicy shrimp noodles combined. On the side, pancake with butter and maple syrup. This is the first we had brought pancakes on the top.

At 9:20 AM, we are set to descent. The downhill approach was challenging in some parts but since most of the trail is now dry, the fear of sliding and pace slowness is a past. We had time for a fresh buko after the river. This is one of the times that I can enjoy buko at its freshness, so I ended up eating three (3). We had chance to converse with Manong about vegetables, wild boar and bayawak. Have you ever wonder why P2 to P5 pesos buko end up P17-25 pesos in Manila?

Finally, we reached the jump-off site and now ready to freshen-up. The other great things about this site are that water is not a problem, comfort rooms are clean and ample parking space for mountaineers with private vehicles. After the bath time and cleaning up, we had time to have hot-dog barbecues as appetizers before we proceed to “Rose and Grace Restaurant”.  At the restaurant, we had the famous Bulalo, vegetables, steamed tilapia, lechon kawali and the biggest “leche plan” of all (no exaggerations needed). A prize for a wonderful and fun-filled climb;