JordanTrekker

I lived in Baguio for a year. That was ages ago though (in between finishing highschool and starting college). But every now and then, the urge hits me to go up there and see how things are going. Baguio is a very nice place to visit in the sense that it’s quite a modern, and on-par kind of city which is nestled up in the clouds. Modern enough to give you all the conveniences that you might enjoy back in Manila and at the same time, rustic due to it geographic location. Always “spiritual” in feel, Baguio is home to a thriving art scene. A recommended visit would be a place called “Vocas”, atop “La Azotea” Building along Session Road. The place is run and was build by a family of visual artists (the DeGuia’s) and is made entirely of indigenous and recycled materials. Definitely a wonderland as only artists can make it. :)

I’m actually very glad to hear a lot of people refering to Palawan as “our last frontier”. Although this is not neccesarily true for the seasoned “Pilipinas” traveler, Palawan may very well be one of our last, ecological gems. For this very reason, I’ve been bloodying my hands with things that i know absoloutely nothing about to do my part in the preservation and conservation of the place.

Through friends of friends, I have proposed to build an eco-farm resort and art center there, which would have programs such as: ecological awareness, preservation, recycling, community building, ecozoic living, agriculture, alternative energies, and art dissemination. If you like this place as much as i do, please, please, PLEASE contact me and get involved. Any and all help would be appreciated, for this is a long term goal/project and I need a group of dedicated and knowledgable people to collaborate with. You can email me here or refer people to get in contact with me regarding the above mentioned subjects at:

jordanarabejo@gmail.com

Hope to be hearing from y’all soon!!! :)

I’ve been to “Puerto G” a good number of times. Enough times to have gotten sick of the place i think (especilly during peak season when you innevitably run into everyone who you were trying to get away from in the Metro). Still, it’s one of the nearest beaches to escape to and is still relatively reasonable. The snorkling is still great too. It just sucks of course that establishments (that are side-by-side) on White Beach blare their music all night long in competition. Making it hella noisy and impossible to figure out “what kind of music” is actually playing. And the drunk people piss into the beach. Man that sucks ass. Still… A very nice and dear beach to me. Hope it doesn’t get utterly ruined within the next ten years.

Went to Banaue to kick off the Department Of Tourism project that I was shooting for. Alright… Lemme emphasise the situation… I was contracted as a freelance videographer and photographer to do a DOT project. The job would take us to all of the major eco-tourism spots in the Philippines from Luzon, Visayas allll the way down to Mindanao. Needless to say I was very excited to get the travel started.

Took the 8 hour bus ride to Banaue without much discomfort (we had travelled by night and i splet like a babe). When we got there though, shit started hitting the fan. Coordination and cooperation from the Local Government Unit was poor. The Mayor was nowhere to be found when we were scheduled for our courtesy call with him. The local tourism officer was a blockhead. And he hooked us up in a lousy and over-priced resort in Batac, where we were to shoot the terraces and a nearby falls. And on our last day, we were made to hike 3 kilometers through like… 4 mountains from Batac to Bangaa (which was totally unnecessary and out of agenda) so that the porter and guides could make a quick buck out of our need for them, since we were carrying equipment with us along with our own belongings.
Food was over-priced too! On the way to the falls, one would get tired, quite naturally, cuz the climb down was steep and long (so you could only imagine how hard it was to trek back up). There were stops along the way that sold un-cold softdrinks for a whopping 30 pesos (8 oz. bottle)!!!

So, what could possibly make it worth visiting??? Well.. of course them rice terraces are spectacular and the falls in Batac is tall and powerful. The nights are cold and every piece of scenery in evry direction seems picturesque and fantabulous! Of course, if you’ve got the money to burn for such an experience, then yeah… do go! :)

Well.. the first time I went to Sagada, I was with my girlfriend and a couple of her officemates. Clients of their’s from work had taken us around to see the sights, and hooked us up with a nice lodge-place for real cheap. A thousand plus fetched us three rooms which lodged the six of us (2 per room) overnight. The next day, we went spelunking at a nearby cave. A very long one at that. With underground pools. Our guide offered me a nugget of hash after the tour, which i had purchased from him for 500 pesos. I ate a good pinch of it and definitely got blasted good. :)