March: Laguna Getaway

I was in Baguio last January; Cebu and Bohol on February; and for March, it's Laguna! Since Teban's itch to go to Pagsanjan, and my long-time wish of seeing a large waterfall coincided well, we pushed through with the overnight trip dragging Troy along of course. Timing could never be better.

Catching The Thrill. We were all first-timers but I took the lead in arranging for the trip (yeah and played "Mom" almost the entire time) and finding out how to get there. We didn't bring any guide; no map; no notes on directions. I was relying on memory. It was a test of our sense of direction (hehe)... only to find out that it wasn't that challenging. It only took us a 2.5-hour bus ride (because of traffic), a jeepney, and a tricycle (which wasn't really necessary by the way).

iPod session at the bus. Yes, Teban got me listening to country music.

Coming from the graveyard shift. He doesn't get eyebags. Unfair!

Teban got so ecstatic as soon as we saw the river from where we're staying. I thought, "josko, para akong may alagaing bata!" We didn't waste time so, you may have guessed it right-- photo op! Good thing Troy didn't forget his digicam hehe.

The view from the resto. Same view from our room. Nice ha?

Tired and sleepy but excited!

At 2:00pm, we're off to shoot the rapids and of course, get to the falls! Woohoo!!! I sat between Troy (behind me) and Teban (infront) who, had made his camphone waterproof. Coolness! Hence, the following pictures...Thrilling is an understatement. It was amazing passing a series of rapids in between calm waters. We're lucky to have good bangkeros. They never had to take out water from the canoe. And it got me thinking that we could go to Cagayan de Oro next for real white water rafting (I'm already trying to book Teban hehehe).

Finally, we reached the Pagsanjan (Magdapio) Falls. I was in awe! Then we quickly boarded the bamboo raft which will take us to the falls and inside the cave behind it. Dizizit!!

"Jeez I didn't expect it to be this cold!", said Teban who shivered so much I thought he was joking! Troy and I were doing fine. Teban couldn't hold his camphone anymore; manong was kind enough to take pictures of us :-)

And of course, more pictures!

It was faster going back since we're going with the flow literally. We even saw monkeys up the trees on the way back. Everyone had a great time; wish some of our friends were there too :-)

After dinner was supposed to be drinking session but we were so tired coming from the night shift. We decided to just have a good sleep. Time check: 7:30pm - we're off to bed hehe. Although! Teban woke up an hour later because I was snoring. Hee hee! At 3:30am, everybody's up. Teban tuned in to WWF, while Troy and I played cards. 4am Session at Pagsanjan -- kinda. Hehe! After an hour, we went back to bed and got up at 6:30am. We decided to walk going to bayan.

I Love Spontaneity. At a nonchalant moment during dinner, Teban asked where else we could go next. I said, "well, there's Caliraya..." I have no idea how to get there. It's not part of the itinerary-- so naturally, off we went the next day! After breakfast, we took a 45-minute tricycle ride going to the lake. Troy, who sat behind manong driver even had to text "Bukas makakarating na tayo sa Caliraya" hahaha!

Mommy mode. Doing the negotiations.

The winning pic. Hahaha!

Behind us: Laguna de Bay and Sta. Cruz where we came from!

Finally, we were able to answer "Are we there yet?". The place is fabulous!

Lake Caliraya. It was sooo windy!

Stopped by for some corn on the way back.

Last Adventure. Now I wondered where the stone arc had "gone". We weren't able to see it on the way to Pagsanjan-- prolly because we were having too much jokes. So we decided to go look for it and take pictures before heading back home. Here's the catch. Teban and I like walking. Troy does not. It's going to be a long walk and it was 12:30pm... Troy didn't have any choice. Off we go!

Finally!

*Sigh* another "whatta weekend!" and one of the best trips I've ever been. All good vibes and great time from start to finish. Can't go wrong with the three of us hehehe ;-)