14th Mt. Palgong Autumn Foliage Festival ( 제14 팔공산 단풍 축제)

   Albert Camus once said, "Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower."  I think he is right. I love both spring and autumn. I love the pretty flowers of spring and the dramatic leaves of autumn. I get so excited every time spring and autumn comes.

In fact, today my husband and I visited Mt. Palgong in Daegu to see the Autumn Foliage Festival. We went there with a friend.

We were not able to get train tickets in advance so we had to stand on the train. We didn't want to stand again going back to Gumi, so we purchased our tickets before going to Mt. Palgong. Unfortunately, many people were going to Mt. Palgong also, so the bus going there was packed. So we had to stand on the bus for almost an hour.

After a long bus ride we arrived to our destination and we were greeted by trees wearing their red and yellow crowns.

               We walked around to see more trees. Beauty was everywhere. It seemed like the trees were smiling at me.

             And this cute friend said 'hello' to me. She's cute, isn't she?

               I can't help but take more and more photos.

        Then we decided to go up to the mountain top. Our time was limited so we decided to take the cable car. Riding in a cable car allowed us to enjoy the view like this. 

        After a few minutes, we reached the top. The colorful mountain grandeur was revealed to us. I can't help but admire the beauty in front of me.

          It was really beautiful and relaxing up there. I didn't want to leave. But I had to. Standing on the train and the bus really was worth it. I would love to go back there again someday.

Live Like Water

What is life?

What is the purpose of life?

How could I live this life?

Why do I live?

These are the questions that often come into my mind.  I keep searching for the answers of these questions but it seems so hard to find them.

Until one day I happened to pass by a river.  Rushing water moves continuously, it seems unending.   It is full of vigor. As I look at it I can see that water seems to be excited to reach its destination.  While looking unto it I noticed that the color of the water is not clear. It is more like milk mixed with coffee.  There's a lot of junk in it: cans, plastics, dirt, and leaves are floating on it.  Seeing the dirty water makes me feel sad because I think that this water in the river might not be useful anymore.  How could be the dirty water be useful? We can’t drink from it, nor take a a bath in it.

Having that sadness within me I continue walking beside the river, trying to enjoy the scenery around me. While walking, I noticed that the vigorous sound of the water can’t be heard anymore.  I look at the river again and I noticed that the water in the river became less in amount and it also moves slower.  I continue walking and I notice that the water totally disappeared from my sight. Another question comes into my mind.  Where does the water go?  Why is it gone?  Then I remember our lesson in science class before about water cycle.  Our teacher told us before that water sometimes goes with air which what we call evaporation.  It is a process in which water turned into air and goes up in space then later on it falls to the ground in the form of rain.  Another reason why water disappears is that it goes into the ground. But it does not stop there.  It continues moving, passing through rocks, gravel, soil and sand below the ground. 

I tried to forget about the water and enjoy gazing at the panoramic scenery.  I set my eyes ahead of me.  I see something sparkling through the striking light of the sun.  There is something like a sparkling crystal not so far away from me.  It sparkles brilliantly in the sunlight.  As I come near I notice that the sparkling thing I saw a while ago is a body of water.  It seems to be the continuation of the river.  But there is a big difference between the water I first saw and the water I’m looking at now.  Now I can see the crystal clear water, not the same light brown water.  I asked myself why?  Is this a miracle or magic?  How could it be?  A dirty river turned into crystal clear water.  As a nature lover I was amazed of what I have seen.  The river seems to invite me to step into it.  I decided to go down and put my foot into the clear water.  At that moment I feel the cool touch of it into my skin.  I feel relaxed.  The sadness I felt a while ago was suddenly gone and it was replaced by happiness.

Then I realized that the water goes down through ground in order for it to be purified by the gravels, sand and big rocks in the ground.  All those things seemed to be hindrances that make the water move slowly, cleansing and making it pure.  These things serve as purifiers that make the dirty water clean and useful again.  After passing through all these hindrances water continues to move in order to reach its destination: the wide sea, where waters of the world come together. 

Then I remember the question I had before.  The water in the river gave me the answer to my questions.

First, what is life?  Life is a journey.  It is a journey which we have to take.  In this journey we pass through different stages.  I do believe that when I was born I have nothing but the body, spirit and breathe that my Creator had given me.  My mind is empty; it is like a blank notebook that needs to be written.  It is covered by the dirt of ignorance and innocence.   But as days passed by and I continue living I was able to encounter different experiences, problems, and trials, which I consider the sand, gravel and rocks.  These experiences, problems, and trials give me trouble and make me think of quitting.   All these seemed to be the hindrances which are trying to stop me from lifting my feet to walk forward and continue living.

Second, how would I live this life? In living this life we need to be flexible.  We also need strength and self-confidence while we face trials and problems that we experience in our lives.  We should know how to deal with problems.  When trouble comes, all we need is to face it.  As the water encountering rocks, sand and gravel we will face trouble even as it will slow us down.  We should keep going forward.  We should think of the way in which we overcome that trouble.  Water passes through rocks by going down the rocks, sometimes through the sides of the rocks since it can’t climb up on it.  But it never quits.  So we should not quit either.  If we can’t directly face it for its size we can pass through it slowly as long as we do not quit.  Quitting or running away from problems can cause more problem which sometimes are much bigger and heavier to carry.  If we run away, we will be considered cowards.  Cowardice is failure.  There are so many things we can do  in this life besides quitting.  Quitting is a defeat without engaging the battle.  In living we need to be optimistic.  Thinking positively will keep us going forward despite the difficulty to persevere.

The last question I have is: why do I live this life?  If the water in the river has its destination, which is the sea, we also have our destination and purpose.  Why we are living here on Earth?  In our life, the wide sea is the success we aim to achieve.  We need to dream , so that we will have the reason to live.  I have a dream that I want to achieve.  This dream keeps me me motivated to live despite the difficulty of my life.

My wide sea is to be able to reach my dreams not only for myself but also for my family and for the people around me.  I live this life for me to offer my help to those who need it.  I admit that I am ambitious. I have many dreams that I want to fulfill and I want to use my life to make others fulfill their own dreams.

Life’s purpose is not achieving something for us alone, but having something for us to share.

Like the water, we can move continuously and supply the needs of others.  May our hearts flow with love and care endlessly.

Water is purified by rocks, sand, and gravel while we are purified and become wiser because of trials.  Continue your journey and reach for your own sea.

Good luck..:)

            Special thanks to my friend Orlando Romero for editing this piece 3 years ago.

Trip to Sagada: The Summary

Sagada is a peaceful town in Mountain Province, Philippines.  It is nestled in the valley some 1,500 meters above sea level.  It is enveloped by the Corrdillera Ranges and Ilocos Range.  Due to its location, Sagada has a cooler and highland rainforest climate which makes it a good summer get away, just like Baguio and Tagaytay.

Sagada is blessed with big caves such as Lumiang and Sumaguing.  It also has waterfalls, such as Bomod-ok and Pongas.  There are beautiful hilltops, such as Marlboro Country, Kiltepan Peak, and Echo Valley.  These places made activities like trekking, spelunking, hiking, and sunrise viewing popular.  Sagada might be popular because of it's natural beauty, but there's something else that made it famous, the "Hanging Coffins".

We booked a tour package to Sagada through a travel agency since we only have 5 days vacation.  The tour package included a van transfer from Manila-Sagada-Manila, accommodation, tour guide fee, and entrance fees.  We paid $760 for 4 people for the package.

We left Manila around 9:00 at night.  I decided to take a nap since I was tired from a 3 hour flight from South Korea.  The van was pretty spacious because there were only five of us including the driver.  A couple of hours later, we made a stop over at a gasoline station.  Then we started going up to Baguio.  It was night time so I saw nothing but a few jeepneys and cars parked along the way.  And a lot of lights that looked like fireflies hovering around the hilltops.

Around 5:00 in the morning the next day we made another stop over at a gasoline station in Abatan, Benguet.  My mom and I got out of the van and looked around the place.  As we opened the door, we were kissed by a cool morning breeze and heaven! We were literally above the clouds and our van was parked a couple of meters away from the cliff.  The view was marvelous.  I was speechless.  Green terraces with clouds and fogs over it.  What I saw was the opposite of 'stairway to heaven', I saw the 'stairway to earth', for we were standing on heaven.

Early morning in Abatan, Benguet

We continued our journey "through the clouds".  I saw how heaven kisses the earth.  And it was priceless.  It was like a dream and I didn't want to blink in the fear of missing any of those glorious views.

Stop over at Mt. Kalawitan

 After a long yet amazing journey, we arrived at our destination, SAGADA.  We checked in to our guest house.  Rested for a bit and walked around the town proper to look for a place to eat.  We passed a number of souvenir shops along the road.  Then saw a restaurant named Masferre Country Inn and Restaurant.  My husband recognized the name.  Masferre is the family name of the 'Father of Philippine Photography', Eduardo Masferre.  We entered and ate lunch there.  The restaurant houses some of the world-renowned photographs of the famous photographer.

At Masferre, waiting for our orders

Around 1:00 in the afternoon our tour guide came and we went trekking to Pongas Falls. The trek wasn't difficult and the weather wasn't so hot. There was a concrete path that leads to the waterfalls. It took us about an hour to get there. And again the goddess of nature touched my soul. The water runs down aesthetically, it was very beautiful. There we climbed one of the huge rocks and took photos. Our tour guide led us to the upper portion of the waterfalls. The breeze and the sound of water hitting the rocks was refreshing. I didn't want to leave. The water in a small natural pool was inviting me to swim but I turned down the invitation and dipped my hand and washed my face instead. Then we bid goodbye to it and started trekking down.

We had dinner at Yoghurt House then went to bed early. I slept really well.

The next morning I felt energized and ready for the day's activities. Our tour guide came and we headed to the hilltop they call Echo Valley. The place wasn't called Echo Valley for nothing, it's one of the few places where shouting is encouraged for your voice returns to you. The place was surrounded by lime stones. It is believed that it was underwater thousands of years ago. From the Echo Valley, we saw the coffins hanging on the side of a huge rock. To get a closer look to the 'Hanging Coffins' we trekked down a cliff. Hanging coffins is a tribal burial tradition that started around 2000 years ago. This burial tradition is slowly fading but still being practiced by few. The latest addition to the coffins was December 2010.

Hanging Coffins

Huge rock at Echo Valley

The part of the trip which I considered a highlight was the spelunking. But before spelunking our tour guide brought us to a sacred burial cave, the Lumiang Cave. Lumiang Cave is the entrance cave for cave connection. But we didn't do the cave connection because it might be very difficult for my parents. We left Lumiang cave and headed to Sumaguing Cave or the "Big Cave". It is the exit cave of cave connection.
From the road, we walked down around 30 steps on a concrete staircase. We had two tour guides for the spelunking. Before we entered the cave our guided lighted two alcohol powered lamps. The entrance was slippery and we could hear the sounds of bats. At first, it was a little scary but then we reached the first glory of the cave, the 'elephants pen'. We continued walking through wet rocks and then our guide told us to leave our slippers. We did and walked barefoot. I was glad I did becuase if I have my slippers on I won't be able to enjoy the feeling of walking on 'flow stone'. 'Flow stone' is a kind of cave rock which looks slippery but is actually rough. As the journey in the cave continues, I felt more excited. I couldn't explain what I felt. The rock formations were amazing. There's a queen, a king's curtain, a princess, a prince, a turtle, a bowing bear, and a lion and tiger. The king's curtain was pretty high so we needed the aid of a 'human ladder', and a rope. We had to pass through a very small passage in between rocks. We couldn't raise our heads or else we'll bump into sharp edges of rocks. Stalagmites and stalactites growing, water dripping and our adrenaline rushing. Further down the cave was a small pool. The water reached my chest. Then there was a big pool which I didn't try to jump into. We rested on a flat surface and our guide pointed to something on the wall. There were fossilized shells on the wall. More proof that that place was once under water.

Standing on the 'turtle's back'

Choco-Vanilla Cake

On the last day of our Sagada trip, we woke up early and headed to Kiltepan Peak to see the sunrise above the clouds. It was foggy that morning and we failed to see what we wanted to see. I didn't feel bad though. The fog made the place so dramatic and I still loved it.

  We checked out and left for Manila. I wanted to see those things I failed to see when we were going up, so I stayed awake the whole trip down and I didn't regret it. The view was amazing. Seeing waterfalls and rice terraces made me so excited and happy. We made a quick stop over at the Philippine Highway's highest point. It was 1,744 meters above see level. From where we stood, we saw some of the Philippine's highest mountains and one waterfall was also visible.

  People may think Sagada is far. Yes, it is, but it is worth it. And if somebody asked me if I want to go back there, my answer will be, "Absolutely!". Sagada is a real gem. It is blessed with natural beauty and it is rich in culture and history. It is also one of the few places where 'Alamid/Luwak Coffee (Civet Cat Coffee) is produced. The food was amazing and the people were nice too.

If you love adventure, Sagada will be a best place to go. Some famous places near Sagada are Baguio, Banaue, and Batad. Ilocos is not that far too. Going to Sagada by public transportation isn't that hard also. There are two ways to get there, via Baguio and via Bontoc. The bus terminal for Baguio is in Cubao (Victory Liner) it takes 6 hours to get to Baguio.  The fare is around P450 or $12, from Baguio take a cab to Dangwa Bus Terminal where you can take Lizardo bus.  That can take you straight to Sagada. Please take note that the last bus from Dangwa to Sagada is 1:00 in the afternoon. Via Bontoc, there is Cable Tours.  It will take you straight to Bontoc.  The travel time is 12 hours and the bus fare is around P700 or $16.  From Bontoc, take a jeepney that will bring you to Sagada for around P60 or $1 and 50 cents.

 Tourists need to register at the Tourist Registration Center in Sagada town proper.

Sagada Adventure: Breakfast at Vincent's Cafe, Tour Around Echo Valley and Hanging Coffins

Though our tour guide, Kuya James told us that we can start the tour at 9:00 a.m., we still woke up early. We prepared ourselves for that day's activities.
First we went out to look for a place to eat breakfast. We headed towards the health center. Then I saw that the Vincent's Cafe was open. We entered and a young waiter came out and gave us the menu. We ordered fried bangus and longanisa with rice and native coffee for drinks. I could smell the aroma of the native coffee which reminded me of my grandma. She used to roast coffee beans when she was still alive.. (miss you Lola). Our orders came and we started eating.

Longsilog (Longanisa, Garlic Fried Rice and Egg)

Fried Bangus,Garlic  Fried Rice and Egg)

 After breakfast we headed back to our room and waited for Kuya James. Then we left for our first destination, the Echo Valley. On our way, we passed by the Episcopal Church.

Sagada Episcopal Church

We got off the van and started walking. We passed by the Christian cemetery. Out of respect to those who are resting there, I didn't take any photos.
On the way, I saw these beautiful flowers. I asked Kuya James what it is. He said they call it 'Angel's Trumpet '.

After almost 15 minutes of walking, we reached the hilltop called Echo Valley. It wasn't named Echo Valley for nothing. So, Kuya James  gave us a sample by whistling with his finger.  Then we heard the echo. I wanted to try it but I opted not to.

The view of the hanging coffins from Echo Valley

Standing on hilltop called Echo Valley

a Rock for rock climbing

We looked around and then we headed down to the nearest viewing point of the hanging coffins. The path wasn't paved and the rocks and mud were slippery. Which my husband wasn't able to escape from.The first one we visited had only one coffin. Kuya James explained why there's only one coffin there. He said that the way it was done was not right, because it can't get sunlight. So after that, no one decided to put another. He said the coffin fell down before and they just returned it up there. He further said that since there's only one person buried there, they were able to return it. But if there's more than one, then they wouldn't do it because it's possible that the bones of one will mix with another.

The burial cave with only one coffin

From there we headed to the Hanging Coffins. There were more than 10 coffins hanging on the rock. Some were long others were short. Hanging coffins is a 2,000 year old indigenous culture and burial tradition of Igorots in Sagada. The coffins were carved by elderly Igorots before they died. Some of the coffins are short because the cadaver was placed in the fetal position. Kuya James explained why other coffins were long. He said the ones inside the long coffins were Christianized Igorots who wished to be buried the traditional way.

You may wonder how the corpse fit inside those short coffins. According to Kuya James, the tradition includes smoking the corpse throughout a 5-day burial feast to avoid fast decomposition. During that period, the corpse is seated on a chair and held up by a tripod made of small trees. After the feast, the corpse is pushed into the tight space inside the coffin in a fetal position which often times results to broken spines. Then, the relatives will hang the coffin on the cliff where it can get direct sunlight, free from natural disasters, and also from animals. Igorots also believed that the higher they place their dead, the nearer they will be to their destination. Relatives also hung the chair and the tripod with the coffin because they believed that when their dead relative feels tired, he/she needs something to sit on. But Kuya James jokingly said that they might be doing that because no one will ever want to sit on a chair where a dead man was seated and smoked for 5 days.

Though this burial tradition is slowly fading, it is still practiced in Sagada. In fact, the latest addition to this hanging coffin was Lawagan's coffin which was added last December 2010.

I wondered how Igorots hung the coffins up there without any special techniques. So, I asked Kuya James. He said the relatives of the dead used a temporary ladder. They made holes on the rock where they inserted hard wood that could hold the coffins. Then they placed the coffins on those supports. Pretty smart, aren't they?...

>>>>>>>>>To be continued>>>>>>>>>

Sagada Adventure: Trek to Pongas Falls and Dinner at Yoghurt House

Around 12:45 p.m., I received a message from our driver, Kuya Bong. He said our tour coordinator, Kuya James will arrive at 1:00. So we started fixing ourselves and went down. Kuya James arrived. Kuya Bong introduced him to us. Then, we got on the van and the first part of our trip began. After less than 10 minutes, Kuya Bong stopped and parked the van. He told us that the van can't go any further, so we have to start trekking from there. Kuya James told us to follow him. We walked down and saw Ankileng Elementary School. Kuya James told us that the school was built by the American missionaries in 1947.

 

Ankileng Elementary School

I looked around and I saw this beautiful white flower near the school fence. I don't really know what flower it was. I just took a photo of it. Here it is:

It's beautiful, isn't it?

We continued walking down the steps that lead us to a bridge made of iron. It moves every time we move our feet. Below was a stream. It reminded me of the bamboo bridge at my grandparent's farm in Tigbauan...a little scary to walk through...

My husband walking on the iron bridge, while taking a picture of me..hehe..

After passing the bridge, we started trekking up until we reached a small village. Our tour guide told us that the community is lead by an elder and he had to pay an entrance fee in order for us to get to the waterfalls. We stopped for a little bit. The village is composed of small huts with roofs made of galvanized steel. Something I didn't expect to see up there. Very far from what was described in the books I read before.

Kuya James returned and we continued the trek. Along the way we saw various crops such as bananas, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, rice and some fruit trees; such as persimmons, jack fruit, citrus, papayas and star apples.  After passing through the field, we started walking on a concrete path (another thing that surprised me).

After almost an hour trek, we reached our destination, the Pongas Falls. The scenery was really breathtaking. The most beautiful waterfalls I've seen (in reality). The first thing my Dad did was climb the huge rock. The first time I saw my Dad so happy (like a little child). Then Vince followed him up there. Then there were four of us up there...:)

Kuya James told us that we can go near the falls, so we went around that rock and climbed the small ones behind. There...we saw the magnificent beauty of Pongas Falls. I couldn't stop myself from clicking my camera in every angle.

Then Kuya James started climbing higher, Vince followed him and they told us to come...my Dad did....

My mom and I said we're good..it looked so hard to climb...but moments later...we're there..hehe
We couldn't resist it...

and we didn't regret it. It was more beautiful up there. The water was crystal clear, inviting us to drink from it.. I didn't drink but I washed my face with it..It was refreshing....I couldn't have enough of it....
But we had to leave....
We went down and started trekking back. On our way back, Kuya James pointed a small hut to us. He said though it looked simple, it is very crucial to the villagers. The small hut is called dap-ay. Dap-ay is a place where village elders meet and talk about stuff concerning the people of the village. If they need to make important decisions, they meet in that hut and talk with honesty and sincerity.

Dap-ay

The trek down was a little faster than going up. We arrived to the place where our van was parked in less than 45 minutes.We headed back to our room, rested for a little bit, and cleansed ourselves. Then we headed out to eat dinner. We asked Kuya Bong to come and join us. We went to Yoghurt House. There were some foreigners inside. We looked for seats and ordered food. We ordered Breaded Pork with Rice or Mashed Potato but the waiter came back and told us that our order was not available. So I just told him to give us anything with pork..as it turned out, our dinner was Curried Pork with Rice.....

>>>>>>>To be continued>>>>>>>