People are Awesome

My cousin, Jerwin. Bought him a kite and made him assemble it by himself. 

 Contrary to popular belief, I love people. I love meeting new people, dealing with people, and helping people. By inference, I hate bots. I hate people who come to my blog only to post their links. I created this blog to connect with others, not to advertise or make myself popular. I encourage you to post your blog here if it tells a story about yourself, because I believe that real people’s story, no matter how cliche, is more enriching than any Woody Allen movie or Salman Rushdie book.

On the other hand, I would prefer if you don’t comment and lead us to a spammy-looking website. Wherever my readers are led from this blog is my responsibility and I take good care of people who spend a time of their day to know my story.

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Blogging is where showing and telling meet: you tell your stories and show pictures to back them up (or amuse, or delight, or entertain people). Blogging is also more helpful than most casual bloggers are aware of. Writing about how to get to Camotes, for example, gives your reader helpful and instant information that would have otherwise taken them hours to find out. This week I had the pleasure of knowing (in a virtual sense) The Explosive Orange. Jean, thanks for dropping by my blog and leaving your comment. I was going to comment back on your blog but I don’t have the patience to wait for DisQus to load. hihi. All the best to your Luzon trip, bring us lots of stories. :)

The Day of Brat

One day in any year is inevitably my birthday. Although I feel that the world is an old house falling apart (tsunamis, nuclear launch, global warming), I still find reasons to be glad. The bright sun, Facebook notifications, and friends who are always willing to get me blind-drunk at their expense…the list can go on but it does not have to because it might go beyond post-apocalyptic.

I’m jobless as of the moment (25 Apr 2012, 4:01pm), waiting for 5 more days to get started with my new job. Sometimes it’s as if I’m a taxidermy-ed animal: all skin and got nothing to do but grin stupidly and stay still. But I’m happy because destiny dropped me at happy times amidst awesome people. They’ve always got my skinny back and I don’t even have to ask them to. This post is nearly two months delayed but I don’t care because time is retarded at this side of the world.

I am grateful to my parents for raising me well even if there were clear signs early that I’d grow up to be a moron. 5 years ago my father took me on the exact day of my birthday to the Land Transportation Office to get my driver’s license. Five years of motor-biking and not a single accident. The secret to being safe is to keep in mind that speeding recklessly is never cool. If you were so fast you should be out there giving Valentino Rossi all sorts of depressions and career insecurity. But nobody can do that so we might all as well think that the road is a place to travel safely at reasonable speed. I’m almost beyond the point of thanking my father. So thanks for the trust. He knew I wouldn’t mess up with him. I spent a good part of my childhood traveling far distances with him while he did deliveries and I’ve learned from the best and seen the worst accidents at an early age. Five years and looking forward to more motor bike rides thanks to him.

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I spent 24 hours of calm and rest at Camotes Island, Cebu. With the usual suspect of course. It’s only 30.5kms from Danao City but I wonder why it takes the ship more than three hours to get there. It’s a strip-tease of a ride and I wish they’d do something about it soon. We had no other destination but Mangodlong Paradise Resort, which we visited last year when it was not yet fully developed. Still top-class friendly service, like before, even if they are more busy now. We really love how the front desk officer accommodates us. We had no other destination on my trip aside from our short folding bike ride because I beat myself up whole year round and I want some rest on my birthday.

Cheers to life :)

NBI Clearance in Tuburan, Cebu

I tried getting my NBI clearance yesterday, 17 Apr 2012. I arrived at 6.30am but there were already 500 people ahead of me. It’s like the queue at the Basilica del Sto. Niño on the day of the Sinulog, except that it happens every day. And like the Sinulog itself, people everywhere are trying to make money. Some are selling pens and over-priced envelopes, others were selling water and candy, while there are those who offer meals. (Just a tip, you don’t need those brown envelopes they sell for the processing.)

But the worst of them are those people who rent chairs. Yeah, there is actually a corporation of smart pipz who arrange chairs in rows and columns and have them rented for 20 pesos. The worst part is not only does it make those people who don’t want to pay feel out of place (yeah they occupy the proper queuing area), they also tell people that those who rent the chairs will be prioritized. And even worse than the worst part is that I actually got one of those chairs (I know, I deserve to be tied on both wrists and be dragged on separate ways by a two cars and leave me to rot in the garbage dump). It gets badder than worse of worst: I didn’t even get to touch the rusty steel gate of the NBI Compound. They ran out of forms but I did not feel that bad because the NBI director was gracious enough to go outside himself and explain to everyone. 

There’s this lady who managed to get inside the compound and have her application processed. When she got there, she complained that there are people who would tell applicants that paying 20 pesos to sit on their chair will get them prioritized for the queue. What she said is true but when the NBI director and his buddy when outside to clarify the stuff, he was told by those pipz that the lady is lying. About 500 people in and more than 500a waiting outside, only one to complain about the whole chair rental thing. There’s actually another guy who confirmed what the lady said but the rental pipz crowded on him to intimidate him, though they did not say anything threatening. I didn’t complain either. I’m more cowardly than Holden Caulfield plus I never wonder why where all ducks and other animals go during certain seasons.

Off to NBI Tuburan. The next morning I set out for Tuburan. I don’t want to queue again for nothing and I won’t have any of those rental pipz anymore. I arrived in NBI Tuburan at 9.20am and got my clearance at 9.35am. Yes, AM still not PM. I included the time it took me to fill-out the application form. There are four steps involved in the application of the clearance. You'll need a valid ID (SSS, Pag-ibig, PhilHealth, Postal, Driver's License) and a black pen. If you can't have any of those a police clearance will make as a substitute, which you can get at your local PNP Station.

1. Get the application form and fill it out.

2. Return to the application form table, have the guy check if you completed the form properly, then pay the cashier.

3. Have your data encoded (this is the time where they check you if you are a criminal).

4. Give your finger prints for the biometrics and wait for them to give you your clearance.

I don’t know which part in the process you’ll need to rent a chair and buy an over-priced envelope. Hurrah for NBI Tuburan for being very quick and neat and for the staff for being friendly. I’m thankful for my parents that they gave me a difficult name. If my name got a hit, it could have only been me. Thankfully I’m not a criminal without knowing it. The money spent on the fare will be worth it if only to avoid the rental pipz and the fixers (yes there are still fixers in NBI Cebu City though they are more discreet and more selective on their target). I didn’t have to pay a fare though thanks to my humble bike who’s been a faithful company for more than three years now. Don’t wonder why I still cherish it even it has been scraped and scratched in every possible spot.

The coastal road the leads from Tuburan to Tabuelan.

The prized parcel on the handle bar. :)

My Top 5 Mountain Bike Routes in Cebu

My blog is about to turn a year now so I thought I’d come up with a list of the best bike trails in Cebu. Note that this is not a “how-to-get-there” guide because the location of trails, being trails, are not easy to point to. If you ever happen to visit Cebu, these are the places you ought to rip. You can ride with local riders, we are all friendly here :)

Panas Downhill Trail - Panas, Consolacion, Cebu. This downhill mountain bike route literally left a mark on me. One time I nearly blinded my left eye when I went over the handlebar and landed on my face. There was a sharp root sticking out of the ground and it stabbed through right under my left eye. At the trailhead is a jump that leads right into a bamboo so you have to whip your bike so you don’t end up where you don’t want to. The whole route is a single track that carves at the side of a hill. It’s probably the steepest trail I’ve ever ridden. You’ll have to put a lot of work maintaining the grip of your tires on the loose red soil. There are small drops and a three-foot drop that lands into ruts, roots, and rocks. Of course, I didn’t do any of the drops and jumps. But I know someone who did, check out this Youtube video to watch how he ripped the trail.

Gaas Trail - Gaas Balamban to Casuy, Toledo. This is an all-mountain bike route that crosses from Gaas, Balamban in central Cebu to Toledo City in the western part of the province. You start your ride through a foggy single track and end it in rock garden with boulder-sized rocks. It is one of the most scenic places to ride at, the whole journey concluded with an awe-inspiring view of Lake Casuy.

Sibugay-Taptap-Kanirag - Central Cebu. Also called the 3-in-1 because it all three trails are usually ridden in one day. Sibugay starts with a series of single tracks which lead you to steep descents and a ride along a river. There are also multiple river crossings until you reach Barangay Bonbon, a low-lying barangay where at the end of a muddy ride you can eat to your belly’s content from any of their three or four foodhouses. Mind you, they serve big and cheap. Next stop from Sibugay is Taptap.

It is actually quite faaar from the first trail but you can stil go there anyway because you are already in the area. You can take a habal-habal from Brgy. Bonbon to the junction to Brgy. Taptap. From there, it is a fast downhill ride through a network of barangay roads then through a single track that leads to a rock garden. You’ll have to pedal a bit to reach the highway. From the highway you’ll need to break some sweat to reach Kan-irag. Ride through a scenic pasture and into the old golf course until you reach a barangay road. This is where all the scary action starts, as riders usually go all out on their bikes here. Blind curves, rain ruts, loose traction--they are all there but none of the boys seem to mind.

Vegetable Highway - Carcar to Sibonga, Cebu. A route both for road and mountain bikes, the vegetable highway forms a spine that runs from Carcar southwards to Sibonga. There is also an option to go to Dumanjug. When you reach Carcar rotunda, turn right on the road that leads to Barili. From the rotunda the junction is 7.5kms away. Enjoy heart-breaking climbs and fast descents through this roller-coaster route. 

Carmen - Danao Mountain Route. This route is like a beautiful love story: it takes your breath away (although at a more heart-breaking sense). It’s not really that high, with only 1,200ft of maximum elevation. But it’s the steepness that you have to contend with. But the whole experience is a sight to remember, probably the most stunning but least known scenic views in the Province of Cebu.