Hide and seek

At the moment, I can't locate my old personal posts in my previous blog, nor can I locate my other office blogs when I migrated to Beta.

I hope there is still a chance that I'm going to find those precious pieces of myself.

Those more than 100 posts and around ten blogs were really dear to me. In fact, those were rare revelations of myself.

If I had known this was going to happen, I could have copied the files in my hard drive.

Oh woe to me.

Meanwhile, I want to rewrite my Tagaytay adventure. That was too valuable an experience to be deleted from this blog.

So here it is ----

It took us (all nine DTI Central Visayas staff) around 50 minutes to one hour land trip from Tagaytay City ( where the DTI National Planning and Communications Forum was held) to Batangas using the OOP van with the permission of Director Jean Pacheco, of course; 20 minutes boat ride across the Taal Lake which is, according to sources, a lake within an island within a lake--- a crater lake to be exact; 40 minutes riding on horseback up the Taal Volcano.



As you very well know, the island is the Taal Volcano, one of the world’s smallest volcanoes, yet one of the Philippines’ most dangerous volcanoes.

As a backgrounder, scientists believe that a massive prehistoric eruption blew the top of the then much larger Taal Volcano, causing it to cave in on itself forming an immense crater or caldera.

Into this massive bowl, the nearby seawater rushed in, filling it, and creating a 30-kilometer diameter lake which exists to this day.

Then over the centuries, a new and much smaller volcanic crater was formed and rose above the lake’s surface, creating a unique lake within an island within a lake.

One can get a close-up look at Taal in its splendor by crossing the large crater lake which surrounds the volcano and then trek to the top of the volcanic island to peer down into Taal’s own crater lake.



Getting to the top of the Taal Volcano seems like a smooth, straighforward affair on paper. But believe me, it was one of our most frightening and thrilling experiences...it could pass for one of the sequences of the television show "Fear Factor" or "Extra Challenge".

First of all, that was the first time I have seen a live horse -meaning I have absolutely no experience touching or riding one ...Much more riding it while negotiating a steep ascent.

There was a guide of course, but she didn't ride with me...she only gave me morale support....aw shucks... The guide mentioned in passing a few "hold-ups" that happened last year at the Taal trail and that a tourist was killed in one of the bushes... Yeah, right, magaling talaga siya sa morale support, ano?

Oh, and she also mentioned that their barangay tanod which we met along the way is named Osama.(sounds like the name of a terrorist)...very reassuring... ha..ha..ha He sure looks like an NPA rebel.

To be honest, I really wasn't in the mood for horseback riding but when I realized I will be the only one left at the foot of the volcano, I decided to join the group.

The poor, malnourished horse that had the misfortune of carrying me was suppose to be one of their more experienced "alagas". But as I found later, para yatang may suicidal tendencies ang kabayo ko.

My horse always chose the most dangerous path---- the edge of a cliff, the steepest side of the volcano, the most slippery area with no shrubs or bushes to hold on. The guide said "namutla at naninigas daw ako during the entire 30 minute climb". Who wouldn't be frightened out of her wits?! ! This is my first horseback ride and I have to contend with a suicidal horse, a very steep ascent, and the possibility of being robbed or killed !!!

At the rim of the volcano, I wasn't riding the horse, I was already hanging on to the horse. For a moment, I could feel my ass in the air. I was told to put my chest and head close to the horse's neck during the climb so that the weight of my body is on the shoulders of the horse.

Despite my fright, I still thought of asking the guide" Manang, naligo na ba ang alaga mo? Bakit amoy kabayo siya?". My guide said, "dahil kabayo po siya, Ma'am". Aaah, oo nga ano? I also asked, "May asthma ba itong kabayo mo? Nahirapan atang huminga." Guide answered,"nanibago lang siguro sa pasahero niya" (this is a diplomatic way of saying that the horse is not use to overweight passengers).

Come to think of it, their horses were unusually small and lack bulk. There was even one horse which Vierna rode that was named "Kambing" because of its bonsai size. Sabi ni Eugene, pag si Aga ang sasakay ni "Kambing" todas si "Kambing". Fortunately, there weren't large size European or American tourists who rode on "Kambing", just small "Koreans".

Yep, I had a crash course in horseback riding.


Also learned how to balance my ass and use the rope and stirrups. The descent from the rim of the volcano was even more dangerous. My guide slid a meter away from the horse. My horse also nearly slipped. There is only soil, sand and a few rocks to hold on to.

The guide instructed me to hold the rope at the back of the horse during the descent. I mistakenly held on to the tail of the horse...it leaped in pain. I thought we would roll off the side of the volcano. My horse managed to find his balance and use a rock as brake.

Gosh, that was close. If there were any accidents, I would probably be traumatized. But the trip went well.

In fact, it was the most memorable experience in our Tagaytay stay... thanks to the ever daring, galivanting, beautiful PD of Siquijor aka head witch...he..he..he.

By the way, we got back to the DAP building for our one-on-one talk with the DTI brand managers at 7:00 in the evening.....still smelling like horses.

The OOP director was worried sick that we wouldn't make it. She couldn't figure out how we managed to get ourselves back on time... Nimfa isn't the head witch of Siquijor for nothing, o say?