Often times i asked myself am i
really into me or was it the choice i made in life that made me decide to
reschedule my scheduled training and proceed to the writeshop called by the environmental management bureau. my brother told me that going here would mean
killing myself if i wont take the usual route since i am so afraid of riding
the boat and of the sea. Its been two years since my tugawe cove adventure and
as far as I remember it took me a week to be able to get back to the real me
and top of it i am not into waste management and segregation is a big issue. I cant
do proper waste disposal in my own room believe me I cant do that religiously. But
its not only my decision why I decided to be here. My boss intentionally sends
me and mike here since our swm plan was conditionally approved but he do promise me that he will follow on the last day and I didn’t question
him about that. He knows pretty well how good my imagination is and I can
write. he told me to ride the bus first with mike and take with me all the things i needed for a week long training.
so i took the bus to get there and it took the bus six long hours to get there. how was that? but i dont feel like sharing it with you, figure it out yourself. as for me i did enjoy my ride going there. crowded bus and raining, cliff and sharp edge roads 300 feet above sea level and a lot of bus stop is all i can share. actually its not only the regular passenger in the bus that i enjoy traveling with, the organizer of the writeshop decided to take the bus ride too and some 35 other participants was with me in that crowded bus. we brought along with us some cookies and chips and water. i also brought with me skittles and a lot of m&ms. we all think we have the best gps but in reality no there's no perfect gps. we did used gps because the route is new and we dont know where are we on earth. funny side is even though we aint used to this kind of ride but listening to all the conversation of different tones and language really make my day. a lot of vendors too ride our bus. they sell water and eggs and chips and corns and popcorns! yes they do sell popcorns. have your bonnet too with you its quite cold and the wind is hurling like crazy and its foggy. we can touch the clouds literally outside the windows of our bus. some said that a piso coin more and we can go directly to heaven from there. you have to endure a lot of not so good stuff from travelling that long but all of your sacrifices and forms of waiting will fade once you see the wonders of nature and the hospitality of people reaching the place. and one more thing is you have to have with you a lot of cash too.
the cabana where i stay is far from here its on the far end side near the beach and i have to run from there to here to have better phone signals since the signal is limited to this place. but the place is quite beautiful although some of the cabanas needs more repair and maintenance by now but its still a beautiful place though.
the closer look of our cabana looks like this.
and the front door looks like this.i stay alone here but its quite cool :) breakfast is served at 6:30 and dinner is served at 7:00.
inside is as cool as this :)
it has tv too but only 1 channel is available.
and neighborhood is as empty but pretty as this. its not summer so we hardly find foreigners in our stint but we get to see whites and blacks running and smiling back at us.
the place is quite clean too.
lectures looks like this.
writeshop looks like this.
house rules is a strict as this and really they are very strict when it comes to gadgets.they know if we are using one.
and sometimes we stay at the training center to finish all the writeshop assigned to us as late as 21:45 and there are a lot of fireflies and crickets and geckos chirping. times like this i do miss my original boss and i wish that she sees me from heaven and help me finish all this. i miss those times she text me and check on me how have i been or did i make it through the day.
and yet after so many tries you cant get all the zeros you are connecting for and leave you with the idea that not all days are equal and not all days are good. with so many ideas in your head and the ideas you get from all of your classmates during deliberations and discussions sometimes you are so tired of collecting them and put them into words. and oh i really hate doing math and conversion of percentage to zeros.
During those times when we are so busy and bombarded with so many whys and donts i tend to escape the training hall and get back to our cabana and work there. since lectures are given during day time we tend to work during night outside our cabana. we make sure to finish all the chapters assigned to us before we hit the 20:30 time or else we are going to explain the so many whys and why nots. as for me and mike we used to submit our output ahead of time. we make sure to finish everything because we love to roam around the place and take pictures too. and another thing is they have a lot of privileges to choose from once you finish on time. soda is one of the treats and doritos too. and we are so afraid if our boss will see our names on the not so performing municipality that are posted on the front wall. events like this we arent used our real names its our office that we are representing for.
i let my schoolmate barrow my extra pair of slippers since she doesnt have one only to find out that this is shorter than my 26 cm feet. i guess its mom (lol) good thing at the end of the day that pair of slippers did expand and fit my feet.
because we used to wake up as early as 5:15 am mike and i get to explore gota while walking. 
we even join the other hikers to visit the hamurawon and run on the sea shore.
it was really tough going through that trail. what i love most about this place is that no matter how well developed and modern it may seem the place is still in tact and well preserved. electricity is underground and inside pvc. the place is full of danger signs that tells all to be careful and watch out.
good thing mike and i didnt get to bring our camera and we make use of our phone for it was too scary and stiff and slippery too.
we didnt have too many bruises we just have ten or more enough for you to read the letters they formed on my legs and arms because of the sharp stones and wild itchy leaves and too many little creatures we pass through.
it took us 40 minutes running and walking up and sliding down to finish the trail. it was fun hearing all the angst from the other first time old hikers who was just out of curiosity join us too. i cant count the times i heard them im so tired and i dont wanna feel like going but we all did.
i did ask the tour guide how long will it take to get there. they told me a little more and we are there. seeing all the sweats too all over their body i told myself its not only us who are tired this time. good thing we never had our breakfast for if we does i guess i cant walk any longer. i just enjoy all the walking and sliding and jumping then.it pays not to drink too much liquor and beer and definitely no smoking! i told you beer is no good for me :) but soda is.
as i look at the monitor of my watch it tells me that my heart is beating so fast. maybe because of the adrenaline i gave climbing all those stones and trees.
and we hit the place. it was so nice that all our tired feet really wants to jump!
we did explore the area for more than 40 minutes. we run and walk and take pictures and do a lot of jumpshot. and sure mike can jump!
and i can jump too!
we opted to taste and smell nature.
and design my page cover too. i decided to used this for now. 
we never had our breakfast here but we enjoy the place more. have some rest and a lot of photo ops too. the place is so beautiful. the sand is cool too. this is where survivor crew used to stay while they are on shoot. those drums are one of the many props of the reality show.
mike really enjoy our stint
we ride the boat going back to the training center because we are running late for the writeshop.
and it was fun :)
reaching the place made me and mike realized that we never had picture of us together so we decided to take photo of our feet.
tito ed really make his promise to me that he will follow and sit with us on the last day of the writeshop and he did. he was so happy of all the accomplishments and output mike and i made for the last five days. he was so happy not seeing our names in the not so performing municipality and was so happy when the organizer told him that our output is one of the best and he get the stars for us.
Engr. Tidon is the OIC Regional Director of the EMB and one of our teacher. she is so good to me and to mike. she make sure that all of outputs are complete. she is so good in doing math and deviation.
we take some more photoshot and we prepare our things to go home. tito ed told me that we have to leave the place before sunset because the rain started to pour again and the ride back home is long.
i love this place now.
i texted my brother that im going home with tito ed and we are to take the same route coming here. but he told me that there's a shortcut if i will make use of my gps properly.
the last five days was pretty awesome and i dont have any regrets or whatsoever coming here and even if it means i have to double time catching up for my rescheduled training next week it wouldnt matter. whats important now is that i get to learn new things. i get to explore nature. i get to met new people. i get to share my ideas. i get to know the real big picture. i get to conquer all the fears i have and i know that one day if not someday i can do waste segregation religiously. and of course i get to visit and explore the gota village.
Engr. Tidon was laughing like crazy as i presented our writeshop additional output to her while we are waiting for the other participants to finish theirs. She said her tummy aches and was almost cry and died laughing with this idea.(dont worry i didnt submit this one. i just wanna make fun and we need more ideas how to get rid of plastic wrappers)
going home we take this route. and it was a bit scary for the road is too dark. some of the place doesnt have electricity yet. but the road we take are all concreted and i love to see where our taxes goes.
the road leading home is long and narrow according to kuya dante. and he told me to have my seatbelt on and asked not to disturb him.
i had a one good adventures in gota and i cant wait for summer to come.
thank you to the regional EMB for having us.
