Down the Rabbit Hole

July 18, 2010 Open road at last, after hours of bends and curves. Both lanes were empty on many of the long stretches. Ideal conditions for driving beyond the speed limit. A white two-door sports car came out of nowhere and zoomed past, the driver seemingly oblivious to the less than favourable weather conditions. ... crazy driver. One wrong move and it's game over... Hours later, a car of the same make and colour lay on the side of the SCTEX. It had met a road accident, colliding with a black Montero Sport. Both vehicles were pretty banged up. Hopefully, nobody was hurt in the incident. 

July 18, 2010. From the drenched strawberry fields, we proceeded up the winding Pico-Lamtang and Longlong Roads, which provided breathtaking views of La Trinidad Valley, to Tam-awan Village .  Just 15 minutes away from Baguio's CBD, yet worlds apart from the hustle and bustle of the city. Established by the Chanum Foundation, Inc., the village provides a way for visitors to see some aspect of Cordilleran lifestyle and culture. Visual arts, song and dance, woodcraft, and architecture from, and inspired by, the different peoples of the mountains are showcased in the village. Plus, it is said that on a clear day, the South China Sea can be seen ( tam-awan . noun . a vantage point, particularly on higher ground). Entrance to the place is not free but is still affordable: P50 for adults, P30 for senior citizens and students, and P25 for children 12 years old and youn ger.  Water can be found everywhere in the village. Aside from the rain, that is. It figures so much int...

July 18, 2010. La Trinidad, here we come!! The morning drizzle did not dampen our moods about  going to the strawberry farm. Alas, we arrived six weeks too late! Strawberry season was over for this year, and all we saw were the seedlings and the land preparation for next season... plus a scattering of vegetables, of course.  So, instead of picking strawberries, I ended up buying 1kg at P250 from one of the vendors near the souvenir shops. Expensive, yes, but I don't go to Baguio that often.  Anna has since eaten most of these strawberries and has converted the leftovers into strawberry cream popsicles.  If strawberries were off season, strawberry-flavoured taho was not. I tried it out when Fe bought at Mines View Park and I decided that I preferred the traditional taho. Kuya Teodie's kids looked like they enjoyed the strawberry taho. Then there were these huge Sagada navel oranges. I love citrus fruits, so I just had to try them. So sweet! P...

Because Eli, Ate Lea's younger son, tagged along on my Baguio early morning walk, he was also the most-toured kid in the group. We had one hour to go around the city proper before the group set off to La Trinidad. Assumption Road. As soon as I was walking out of the dorms, Eli hollered that he wanted to go to Session Road too. Our first stop was the parking lot of the University of Baguio where we saw the view of the city: so many houses, so many buildings... where did all the pine trees go? Baguio Cathedral. We had to climb a tall flight of stairs (some say with about 100 steps) from Session Road to reach the cathedral. At the cathedral grounds at the top of the stairs, we saw two men walking two dogs, a golden retriever and a Siberian husky. Eli was intimidated at first to get close to the dogs, but they proved to be gentle with kids. Mabini Street. I asked Eli if he was still interested to see Burnham Park. On our downhill walk, an old building whose archways ha...

One of the things I was looking forward to was a chance to eat in a restaurant unique to Baguio City . Bad weather conditions prevented us from trying out as many restaurants as possible, but the ones that we did were great! A charming little place called Yan Chow caught our attention (for lunch on July 17th) as we escaped the drizzle. It's almost at the corner of Assumption and Session Roads. When we barged in, I think the waitress was taken aback because our first question was: Do you serve food fast? She said that the restaurant did, and proceeded taking our meal orders; she bustled off to get those prepared and then got back to us for our drink and soup orders (which took a longer time for us to decide on). I ordered beef with broccoli with rice, and it was delicious! The follow up beef and egg soups were also yummy... they warmed me up nicely as the rain threatened to pour outside. Fe got the lechon with broccoli, which also looked good. I have forgotten what Roslen,...

July 17, 2010. Shopping began as soon as we arrived at the PMA. While Fe and Kuya Ferdie disappeared to explore the rest of the grounds, we stayed at the souvenir shops. The wind was cool and the skies were cloudy, but not overcast. Perfect conditions for shopping!  Thus began the search for the perfect Baguio souvenir item (aka pasalubong). Then, the fickle-minded weather decided to pour its heart out. Heavy rain poured continuously the whole afternoon. People crowded under roofed parts of the sidewalk along Session Road. How could we go sightseeing and shopping in this weather?! Visiting Wright Park, Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto, and Burnham Park were sadly crossed off the list of destinations. We did stop by the gate of The Mansion. Behind the gate, the buildings and the trees were silhouetted in fog. With the intense downpour, we didn't have the chance to go down for a stroll or even just a photo op.  However, we kept the shopping bits in our itinerary for t...

July 17, 2010. The PMA tour was cut short because we had to check in at the Baguio-Benguet Community Credit Cooperative d ormitory ( Thanks for the recommendation, Kuya Jun! ).  The dorm is located at the corner of Cooperative Street and As sumption Road. It is close to St. Louis University and the University of Baguio. In fact, Assumption Road is, to me, a close version of Los Banos' very own Grove along Lopez Avenue. There were a lot of small shops lining the inclined road. I bet that the place becomes really crowded on schooldays. However, since we got there on a Saturday, and the weather was not cooperating, there were only a few people walking along the road. The lodging area is situated on the third floor; what a perfect way to stretch the muscles after a long drive: walk three flights of stairs in high altitude! The climb up to the dorm warmed me up enough, and I didn't need to layer up the rest of the day. Finally, we reached the girls' bedroom... it was...

July 17, 2010. Off Kennon Road, we went next to the Philippine Military Academy. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see the aviary and the parks up close because of the tight schedule. Still, seeing military relics by the Korean War Memorial was enjoyable. It looked like a popular spot, with all the people taking photos or having picnics by the artillery. The park fast became a playground, of sorts. A lot of kids were running or were treating the tanks as jungle gyms. Office mates were taking souvenir shots, while I wandered off on my own, mainly, to appreciate the sights.   And I did enjoy the sights... but I did not appreciate the itchy feel of the grass! I went into one of the armoured tanks (or whatever they're called) and up the view deck, wanting to see what people looked like from up there. They never expected me to be up there; otherwise, they'd look like they're targets of a firing squad.  Enough of the relics... One of the things I like about Bag...

July 17, 2010. Of the three  main ways to Baguio City from the southern flatlands, we chose  Kennon Road, the shortest, and the most treacherous of them all. We left the plains in Rosario, La Union after that last pit stop at the Shell Station where there was a road advisory for Baguio commuters. Every time I pass Kennon Road, I can't help but respect the mighty Cordillera Mountain Range and wonder at the hardy residents of the mountains. The environment is tough and the people are even tougher. What with houses hugging cliffs and neighbourhoods connected by hanging bridges and zip lines. I bet water and electricity are hard to maintain in such a rugged place, but to the residents, these conditions are their version of normal. At the same time, the view is beautiful; there were a few waterfalls along the route and the rocky facets contrasted well with the vegetation. Fallen rocks and damaged roads remind travellers that landslides may be everyday perils up in this...

July 17, 2010. The GQNPC long trip finally pushed through! This year, we went up to the "city of pines", Baguio City, Benguet. My version of this road trip began in Jollibee, literally, since I was fetched by the group at the Paciano branch at 4.30 am. The trip up north was fast because we avoided all the traffic jams common in the SLEX and along EDSA. Before we knew it, we had reached the NLEX and were stopping for breakfast at... Jollibee!  I was looking forward to the northbound NLEX-SCTEX segment of the trip because there was a good chance that I'd see flocks of migratory birds in the Candaba swamplands. Camera at the ready, all I saw at first were ducks on the water. Mallards, most likely, based on the feather pigmentation. They're also too far away and too small for me to take clear shots. Suddenly, silhouettes of a flock of flying birds passed by. What a sight!! I was just a little concerned about thick dark clouds I sighted topping the mountains.  ...

Max's Fried Chicken went all out: in it's most recent promo offer, diners had to pay Php165.00 and they could eat chicken to their hearts' content (and until they've had their stomachs' fills) from 6pm to 10pm.  On the last Friday of the promo (July 16th), Donald, Lea, Jhoanne, Crystal, and I went to Max's in Pansol, Calamba to check it out.  The restaurant was so full! There were so many customers that we had to wait for seats and then wait for our chicken.  With so many chicken calls all around, the servers couldn't help but be wiped out by the time we started dinner.  The gap in between chickens was quite long that it was challenging for Donald to eat all the chicken he planned to eat. The evening crowd, mainly yuppie groups and families, was quite rowdy. The sosyal atmosphere that I've always known in Max's was not there that night. It all depends on the crowd... and on the servers (who performed a well-rec...

Typhoon Conson is the first typhoon that made landfall in the Philippines. And what a way to start this year's storm season: the typhoon, predicted to hit Central Luzon, swerved south and hit Laguna instead! The typhoon was not along the leagues of Parna, Ketsana , or Mirinae (which ravaged Luzon one after the other last year), but it did damage the towns within its path. After the storm, I was on my way to work when I had a chance to see what happened to my home town.  There was mud everywhere. This was taken in Barangay Halang. The waters rose (so what else is new?) in Barangay Pansol. And the most surprising of all: A billboard metal frame crumpled in the face of the typhoon  and  punctured the roof of a nearby restaurant! Sadly, this storm left the Philippines with casualties. Someone was swept in a flash flood in Los Banos (near IRRI) and his body was scooped off in Bay (near Laguna de Bay). Fishermen in coastal towns of Quezon (or B...

A week after my birthday, it was Chanthakhone's turn to celebrate. We were treated to a great lunch feast, courtesy of Tita Dory (and her household help). Tran, Dipti, and Chan prepared the dessert: a three-flavoured chilled gelatin (pandan, coffee, and coconut).

July 3, 2010 fell on a Saturday. Despite being a weekend, my sister was away because of the Nursing Board Exam. I was home alone, without a birthday party plan. Just so I could say that I did celebrate my birthday, albeit by my lonesome, I went over to Red Ribbon at Waltermart Calamba for dinner. The staff at Red Ribbon preferred not to serve cooked food anymore because they were about to close for the night.  I had to convince them to serve the last available helping of spaghetti, telling them that my birthday celebration won't be complete without pasta.  With the pasta came the chocolate cake, which was what I really came for.  To top off my birthday dinner, I got myself a milkshake that looked a lot like chocolate mousse.  Yummy! Happy birthday to me!!

"Daddy, Mommy, who is Ped Xing? He's got a lot of streets named after him."  I usually bugged my parents about these Ped Xing Streets whenever we travel along Taft Avenue. There, in black letters against a yellow background, were the signs that I had always thought was a name of some rich but unheard of Tsinoy who must have donated a whole lot of money to warrant recognition via a street named after him (or her). Years later, in college, as I was going to the Philippine General Hospital with my classmates, I noticed for the first time that the "street name" wasn't on a street perpendicular to Taft Avenue. Instead, it's above a crosswalk. Hmm... that's strange, I thought. Then it hit me. Ped Xing wasn't a person. Ped Xing meant PEDESTRIAN CROSSING!! The embarrassing part: I was thinking out loud. My classmates and one of my professors, who were in the van with me, actually heard me exclaim. Really slow, Rochie, really slow.

July 4, 2010 34th Milo Marathon Manila Eliminations Results for all the categories are in:  http://www.pinoyfitness.com/2010/07/34th-milo-marathon-2010-race-results-manila-elims/ The office mates are raring for the results. After scouring through 211 pages of names, I finally found ours! Here we go... Crystal Concepcion    0: 46: 58 Jun Madrid                 0: 49: 15 Cindy Llorente           0: 50: 43 Riz Calingacion          0: 51: 39 Ferdie Salisi               0: 52: 08 Lucy Samadio            1: 03: 02 Ana Genil                   1: 03: 05 Rochie Cuevas           1: 05: 33 Unfortunately, I haven't found the run times of Dara Daygon, Evelyn Navarro, Joram Daygon. May I have your bib numbers? Some num...

June 2010 Mandaluyong City (I think) Chalk shoot I was instructed to go to an address in the city. I figured that it would be a lot easier for me if I rode public transportation to the area because it's not a place I'm familiar with. Once I got to the venue, I was surprised to see uniformed guards in what seems like a residential area... or I screwed up with the directions and went to the wrong side of EDSA. (The following conversation was in Filipino. I just translated it in English.) I approached a guard and asked, " Manong , is this the venue for the Chalk shoot?" "Yes, this is the spot. Just go through that gate and pass the garden to reach the building with glass doors," one of the guards replied. As I went deeper into the venue, I was starting to get confused. There were some big houses inside the area surrounding a cul-de-sac. On the other side of the venue, a garden was enclosed by a wall, reminding me of The Secret Garden. R...

October 2005. Somewhere in California.  My going-back-to-the-Philippines family dinner. Inside a restaurant, I was given a helping of artichokes and I didn't know how to eat it!! I've seen the plant on the telly, so I thought I could handle it in person (without instructions). The artichoke looked like a regular vegetable, so I ripped a leaf off and started munching on it. Just as I was feeling that I must have done something wrong, my cousins Joycelynn and Donnell started the lecture. Ate, this is how to eat an artichoke... The demonstration came a tad too late. I was still munching on the fibrous bits of the leaf when they showed me that I was supposed to eat only the tender parts of the artichoke.  Welcome to the city, Rochie!

The father of the late Remus Fuentes, who died during the 34th Milo Marathon Manila leg wrote an account about his son's last run. The article can be found in the link below: http://www.pinoyfitness.com/2010/07/remus-story-as-told-by-his-father/ Thanks, Anne Cercado, for sharing the link.  May Remus rest in peace.

I have never taken a second look at a race form/waiver except to check if I have accomplished it properly. However, I changed my attitude about this after reading sad stories from the July 4 Milo Marathon Manila elimination .  Point 6 in the declaration of fitness and waiver says: "On behalf of myself, my heirs, and executors, I hereby waive and release all rights or claims for damages I may have... for any illness, injury, death, damage or loss I may sustain during, or as a consequence of the activity." Oh, come on! Runners get wounds, sprains, fractures, torn ligaments, dehydration, or electrolyte imbalance... but I never thought people actually died in running events. I thought wrong. The most tragic of these stories was that  a 21km participant collapsed on his last 1km. It's literally his last. He passed away 48 hours later due to multiple organ failure. May his soul rest in peace. His death is an eye-opener to the risks of such a strenuous activity. Ther...

I posted earlier that the 34th Milo Marathon on July 4th is the biggest race I've been to so far (note that this is only my seventh race ever, and my third 5k). When the race began, the sheer size of the green-clad crowd looked like a stampede waiting to happen. And stampede the runners did, just like antelopes in the African plains... at least for the first few metres. Afterwards, the recreational walkers and the fun runners slowed down to a stroll, and I bet they didn't get into the finish line under the time limit. The stats (source:  http://runningpinoy.wordpress.com ) on the finishers show that indeed, the fun run (particularly the 5k) was like a tight pack of moving sardines:  3k - 1471   5k - 9840 10k - 1079 21k -   963 42k -   780 Those are just figures for FINISHERS. According to ManokanRunner's post, ( http://takbo.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=899 ) over 20,000 registered for the 5k event! Staggering f...