Craggamuffin: Cantabaco, Toledo Crag!

On to our third try at Cantabaco and it could not have gone any better. (Actually it could have if I was way stronger and a lot more flexible.) If you don’t know yet where Cantabaco, Toledo is check out the post right before this one. It’s 100% helpful, with just a very few whining squeezed in.

We did two new routes this time, the Pumping Station and Itchy. Of course there was our most beloved Vina Kulafu.

Flor still was unable to do the first part of Vina so we thought we’d help her get through it so she can do the rest. She’s gotten remarkably stronger and the veins on her forearm were starting to pop out. Interesting. It just sucks though that she could do the first part. But she rappelled down happily and I wonder where she gets all that positive energy.

If I couldn’t do the same thing on the third try I’d be suicidal—or homicidal, if I want to direct my frustration to other people. If we want to increase our survivability as a specie, we need more of that sunshine spirit. Anyway, I’m sending out kudos to you Flor for not being half as bad as before.

I don’t really want talk much about the grades because I’m pretty much a newbie to the sport and I don’t wanna sound like I’m trying to be an expert. That’s bosses do and the last person I want is someone who wants to pretend that he’s more than what he really is. (I also don’t like guys that have machetes with an intent to kill me but they’re not a whole lot of them around so I feel okay about them.)

Anyway, I couldn’t have done Itchy without a few takes and one cheat—I held on to the rope that loops around one of the bolts. I mean there were holds but they were not as comfortable as that soft little rope. It defeats the purpose, I admit. I don’t know why I keep doing something when I just destroy the purpose of doing it.
If you wanna know more about the routes you can check out this blog called adrenaline romance. He’s got a whole bunch of those. I’m just here to show off.

Photos by Flor. Thanks a lot!

How to get to Cantabaco, Toledo where you can wear your callus out from rock climbing

Right click on the maps and open them in a new tab to enlarge them a bit

This is the post where I would try to be very helpful so you guys will all know how to get to Cantabaco, Toledo. I posted a lot of map images too from Google Maps. As my college literature instructor would always say, showing is always better than telling. You have two options, side from buying your own car and driving straight right there to where it says on the map.

Going to Cantabaco, Toledo through Manipis, Talisay

Van or bus (van bus sounds creepingly familiar). I prefer to take the van because the drivers are less reckless. You can take the van from CitiLink Terminal right across Cebu Technological University. Look at the map, the whole City Link is right there where there is a green arrow.

Location of City Link Terminal

If you wanna find your way around it much easier, just copy this 10°17'48.81"N 123°53'27.31"E and put it on your Google Map app. By the way, I need to emphasize that all images here are from Google Maps, that’s why it says Google at the top right. The fare is 70 pesos, the van passes through Manipis highway where there are really deep ravines on the side.

Don’t worry, it’s very safe, it’s only scary to newbie commuters. The whole trip is about 28kms, usually about an hour’s length. Intimacy with people you don’t know is part of the package, because they will try to squeeze in all the human beings they can because leaving. When there is heavy rain though, vans divert through the much longer Naga-Uling road.

Cantabaco through Naga-Uling Road 

The Naga-Uling road is where the buses going to Toledo pass through. That’s our second and less preferable option. It’s very humid and hot at the South Bus Terminal where they park their buses and they always have these “dispatchers” bugging you.

There would be about 20 people asking you where you’re going before you can get to where the buses are parked. Check out this map, the buses are parked near the Land Transportation office. It’s opposite the park lots for Ceres buses. Take a look:

The Toledo buses are near the Land Transpo office

Any of those rusty, on-the-verge-of-decay buses that have the Toledo, Toledo-Balamban route will do. As long as it says Toledo you’re fine! Just tell your good old friend Mr. Driver or Mr. Conductor to drop you off at Lutopan.

You probably won’t miss it because a lot of people get off the Lutopan Junction. If you miss your stop it wouldn’t be my fault because I wasn’t there. The fare is 40 pesos. The guys are mostly nice so they won’t charge you extra even if you look touristy. There are motorbikes from the Lutopan junction, it’s a 10-peso fare from there to Cantabaco.

Just tell them you want to go to Cantabaco. I like motorbike drivers in the Cantabaco-Lutopan area because they are not as stupid as our drivers in Liloan. They are, in fact, very good drivers and they always ride at reasonable speed.

I personally don’t have climbing gears so always ask for help from our local friends Enie and Willard. They are really cool guys to hang out with and they can tolerate my constant whining. They both know the climbing routes by heart. I haven’t asked them yet if I can post their contact numbers but I will later. I was there yesterday and yeah I got a lot of cool photos.

Fare is subject to change with gas prices. If it does blame the gas people!

Xtra XTerra

This has been a long overdue post about my ride with Eugene and Edward. I usually write to complain about everything but life has been so good lately I can't complain. Hence, I got nothing to write about. The only thing I could complain about our ride was the weather. The sun was burning red when we met at Liloan Church only for it to rain heavily when we were in the middle of the trail. Then the sun lit up again at 4pm when I had mud all over my nape. I don't know how those two felt, they seem to be indifferent to the bludgeonings of nature. But I couldn't take it. I had to constantly worry how much mud was going into my locks.

Eugene was at the peak of his love for mountain biking and Edward just got off a series of flight from Luxembourg. He still came out strong during the ride and I was secretly happy that he had jetlag. He could have been much faster if he didn't. Triumphalism over other people's misfortune--so many Filipinos have that attitude that we came up with a phrase for it "crab mentality." You know how when crabs are placed inside a bucket, they try to bring down the guy who goes right above them. I'm not sure if they do that on purpose or out of the desperate need to have something to cling to. It sort of reminds me of a short story I've read in high school, the Spider's Thread by Royunusuke Akutagawa.

Anyway, we did the Xterra 2013 route for mountain biking, the entirety of it. Thanks to Ed's all-knowing GPS we couldn't stray to the wrong path. We made some slight diversions, not because we were lost, but because we're creative. Writers weave stories, bikers weave trails. That's one of life's simplest formulas.

I took them to one more extra route--the trail run route. Rocks jut out several inches out of the ground. That must be how it feels to fly through an air pocket on a no-flight weather. Anyway, I am amazed by their valiant effort--they made it through smoothly on their hardtail cross-country bikes. "I once did this on a hardtail and I promised not to do it again. I thank you both for sharing my agony." That good old thing of sharing your misery to others, it makes you feel better. You do that on Facebook, you get mockery. You do it on a literary blog, you get reviews. You do it on the trail and you make friends.

After the all-afternoon right we hit the Rosquillos store for the initiazation of our protein recovery process (that's a grand way of phrasing eating snacks after a ride). It has been a ride to remember, I thank Eugene for being on top of his game with the photos and Edward for his British humor. We're riding again this week. Rock on!

I was gonna go to work but then I got high

Dreadlocks courtesy of dreadlocks masterman Jake Louie Canedo



Today we’re having some sort of corporate holiday so I’m not going to work. I’m often late coming in but when there’s no work, I’m always the first one to not go. The timing could not have been more perfect, I already had two days off (the regular ones) and I’m just breezing smoothly through my third day.

I did a 7km run this morning. I wrapped my hair with a cloth because my dreadlocks often attract attention from uneducated people who always associate locks with marijuana, Bob Marley, and Rastafari. I’m really indifferent about them but what I really hate is their ignorance, I hate ignorance whether it pertains to hairstyle or anything else.

So after I did my run, I went out to Titay’s to buy some rosquillos. I have bought some Titay’s rosquillo’s a number of times before but this morning was my first time to actually go to their famous store in the town center of Liloan.

I like how mellow the light was inside, sort of reminds me of that Ernest Hemingway short story about a guy who always goes to this café. Anyway, there was a blind man playing harp inside the store. His eyes were closed softly—the muscles of his eyelids were as calm as a windless afternoon sky—, chin raised slightly up, as if in a solemn longing—yes longing, not prayer. A distant gaze with eyes gently shut.

A blue cup noodle container lay beside his harp, holding what a few people could spare for a solemn man’s solemn music. I don’t know if he played really well and if I just felt really good this morning, but I did want to stay longer there. It’s just difficult to find a place to stay there without having to look odd. I had the feeling that when you’re inside, you should always be checking on some stuff or asking for expiration dates.

I rode Russ’ trail bike on the way to the store. I normally would have taken my cross-country bike because it is faster on the road. I had a feeling though that the earth would swallow the road the leads home and turn it into a trail so I rode a full-suspension bike to buy biscuits. Better have it and not need it than need it and not have it, my friend Wagz once said. The cement road going home is so ugly, it would have more dignity if it was a trail. Well, I made it by and forth and nothing apocalyptic happened so I guess this will go one to be another easy day.

Yesterday I did a mid-range cross-country ride to Mulao, Compostela. I wanted to take a photo of myself that is a non-selfieand since no one was around, I invoked the help of the almighty self-timer. I feel overweight lately so I’ve been doing a lot of cardio riding.

Last night I watched the movie Mama while drinking Red Horse. I was like, why do these people go to scary places when it’s dark. Can’t they wait until morning? I also realized that when we watch horror movies, we’re more scared for the characters than what’s actually gonna surprise-pop on our screen. So horror movie-makers don’t actually bank on our fear of the unknown but on our overpowering empathy. Paul Bloom has a really nice video about empathy at YouTube courtesy of Bigthink.com so I’m not gonna talk a whole lot about empathy here.

Speaking of Bigthink.com, I read an article yesterday about how most people are engaged in occupations that they do not really like. So we spend a good deal of our day doing things that make us wish we were doing something else. Anyway, they wrote it better than that so I guess you guys should go to their website and look for it.

Being among the “most people” bunch of the population, I’m not very excited every time I go to work. I mean, I can have fun while on the job because I always find someone to bother, even if I don’t know them. Yeah, I’m Mr. Congeniality 2013. But when I actually have to work, that’s when it gets boring. Can anyone tell me if I should still go to work tomorrow? PS: Here’s a photo of a box of Titay’s rosquillos, it’s 49pesos each. Titay’s real name is Margarita, by the way. There’s some sort of a story about at the back of each box. I haven’t read it yet because I’m pre-occupied with this whole biscuit-munching thing.