Truly Worth the Wait

“Tomorrow’s going to be the most anticipated day,” I said to myself. I wonder how it will be. J

It was Friday night, 29^th of July, one of the sleepless nights I could not count on. The very night before the trip, I could hardly sleep. I was very busy preparing my stuff and checking on the things I am supposed to bring, not to mention that my mother and I even went to the closest Supermarket to buy some snacks to keep me packed tomorrow. Water, extra clothes, slippers, writing paraphernalia, medicine and grooming kit, gadgets, sleeping hat, loads of tissue and face towel, umbrella, snacks, snacks, snacks, and more snacks! The latter even occupied 2/3 of my bag. I am just certain I won’t get hungry tomorrow. Plus, the friends you’d gain when sharing your food is my pleasure J I can’t wait for tomorrow!!

I spent the last minutes of my night cramming for a research on the places we’re going to visit. I did it to pre-orient myself of our whereabouts for tomorrow, as if I was a tourist journeying to a place I’ve never seen or even heard of. Not only did I go on checking on my Facebook and playing games. I also did it to kill some time and to near the coming sunrise. Too great I overspent the night in front of the PC more than sleeping. The result was I under slept.

It was expected that you’d wake up late in the morning if you spent more time of your night awake. I only got barely a couple of hours for sleep, which was a no-no if you’re supposed to wake up early the next morning. I woke up thirty minutes past five am, and it was clear to me that I was already running late. I rushed to the shower and took a bath. After an hour, I’m off to go.

My mother went along with me in school. It was as if I’m not running after the time as we held hands while walking towards the main building. I didn’t bother to hurry, because I wanted to cherish the moment with my mom because she is going home to Zamboanga two days from now.  We had enough time to talk about my school, my studies, and of course, the trip. A typical mother, of course, would tell you all the do’s and don’ts while you are in a trip. She also told me how to take good care of myself since I’m going to be miles and miles away from her soon. The trip’s going to be a three-and-a-half hour travel, so it was really far. Also, she told me that she is going to be missing me since we wouldn’t be together for the rest of the day. She’s going to see me later in the evening. Finally, she kissed me and told me not to forget to pray for a safe trip. We separated ways in front of the main building. I arrived there 15 minutes before six.

I saw people coming and going. Those familiar faces are for sure Biology students. I tried to look for my block mates, but I still see no signs of them. I saw two of them (Bobby and Christian) in the middle of the crowd, but when I went nearer, they disappeared. I was even more worried when I tried to check the time, it was already 6 am! I tried to contact my friends, and the good thing was they were even trying to contact me back. I got a late text message (gee thanks low signal) from La Reyna, asking me where I was. I also noticed two missed calls from Erika. Finally, I got a call from Jean. She told me that they are already inside the bus near the Botanical Garden, and accordingly, the bus was about to go.

Flustered as I was, I hurriedly found my way near the parade of the buses, and I saw a familiar guy wearing a yellow shirt. It was Eron. I was relieved. Whew! Finally, I had someone to accompany me. We went inside the bus and I a smile was drawn on my face upon seeing my block mates happy, noisy and busy. They greeted me and told me I was late. I told them what happened to me. And, I was really touched because a seat was even reserved for me. I was with my circle of friends: Gerome, La Reyna and Nappy. We were seated together. J

While waiting for the others to arrive, we had our little time of taking pictures, sharing stories and eating our snacks. When Ms. Cho arrived, there was only one person whom we were waiting for: Mr. Cumigad. Finally, he arrived right after we talked about the consequence we’re going to put up with him. Hey!! Now I remember his consequence! He’s supposed to sing in class! Come on!! Where’s the fun?? Bring it on ion! J

We departed at exactly 6:40 am. Our class Secretary led the Morning Prayer. We exited the P. Noval gate and we passed by my Dormitory J I was so happy I’d taken a picture of it. After a while, we listened to Ms. Cho’s final instructions and she gave plus points to the first 30 persons who came in early. I was mad of myself because I was not included to the 3/4 of the class who came here earlier, and I was even more ashamed of myself because my dormitory is just meters away from the school yet I was not able to come early L I was really sad because the plus points will be added to our previous long quiz. During that quiz, I really studied hard since I got a really low score on our first long quiz. But I couldn’t do anything else. At least I gained a new learning that I am certain to apply in my whole life. LESSON LEARNED: Be punctual! Next time, I will! J

Kuya Richard (our tour guide) started to orient us about the places we are going to visit. Listening to his stories truly meant a lot because it was as if I had learned so many things about the places here in Luzon. Coming from Mindanao, I barely knew things about these places and it was really amazing to gain those pieces of information. He even knows that our former president Diosdado Macapagal is a native from Pampanga. Kuya Richard was truly awesome. The fact that he can even present to us the exact number of the land area of Bulacan, Pampanga, Bataan, and other places we passed by, he surely knows a whole lot about these places. ;)

Our first stop-over was at Double Happiness. Gerome and I went near the food stalls to see what we can have for lunch. We ended up choosing Chicken Strips for lunch. The stop-over was also a time for us to attend to our necessities. I had to go to the comfort room but the line was too long. So, I had to wait. I knew patience was a virtue.

We want back inside the bus at 8:00 am (not exact). We were heading towards our first itinerary, Mt. Samat. When we arrived, we had our first class picture taken on the stairs going up. Then again, we had our time for picture-taking while waiting for our turn to go inside the museum.

Inside the museum, we found so many pictures of significant people from the past. Some of them were the former Presidents of the Philippines, our National heroes, Filipino and American soldiers and priests. There were also pictures of the past happenings that truly are worth remembering. A picture that stuck me most is the one where women were being regarded as “comfort women” by the Japanese soldiers. These women were being sexually harassed and abused. I felt a pierce in my heart most especially because I am also a woman, and I feel for their struggles. L Kuya Richard also showed us some pictures of the Churches in the Philippines and in some parts of Asia like the St. Augustine Church which is said to be the only church that survived South China. Kuya Richard also showed us such machine weaponry used in the past, and also a map showing the bodies of water near the Philippines. He showed to us the West Philippine Sea. Afterwards, we went out of the museum and climbed up the bound of stairs to Mt. Samat.

Whoaa! It was really a nice sighting up there! Though it could be really tiring on your way up, but it was really worth your effort. We saw the huge cross but not quite because it was too foggy to be able to see clearly. According to my research, the huge cross was a symbol to commemorate the Battle of Bataan and the death march during the Japanese regime in the country during the mid 1990's. It was so historical that I found myself staring at it for quite a few seconds. I witnessed such beauty! I wonder how the happenings were during the Battle of Bataan.

Unfortunately, we found ourselves reaching for our umbrellas as the rain instantly poured heavily on our knees. The strong wind gushed too quickly, only to have our cameras already wet. So what we did was we waited for the rain to calm down and we climbed down the stairs. We decided to eat our lunch inside the bus. At exactly 12:30 pm, we were all expected to be present inside the bus.

On our way down, it was too slippery and wet. One has to be really careful of his steps so as to avoid mishaps. J Luckily, I had friends who helped me on my way down because I was afraid of heights. I was really careful of stumbling myself because my shoelaces were a bit loosened up. I refused to tie it down first since there were others who were behind me, and if I will, it will cost some of their precious time. Thank God I was able to climb down safely. J

When we went inside the bus, it smelled food. My senses were all the more stimulated when Nappy opened his lunchbox, and his viand was Adobong Manok. There, we sat and started our happiness by eating. We shared food and Ira offered us sushi (prepared by her mom). Aww, how sweet! J La Reyna also shared her fried shrimps with us. It was really a great experience of eating with them and sharing what you’ve got. J

While waiting for the bus to leave, we had some time to “socialize” with the students from other bus. They were freshmen students from Microbiology. We flashed written letters toward the glass window for them to be able to read, and they did the same. They were so kind to the extent that they even wanted to share their jar of Nutella J But they were not able to give us some because their bus started to depart as soon as we were already waiting for them to hand us that Nutella! :) We even exchanged numbers. Right after they left, someone from their class texted me. Unluckily, we texted only for a short period of time inside the bus because when the person asked for my name, I refused to reply. Hahaha! Then after some time, I already forgot to catch up with him/ her and then I lost his/ her cellphone number. Aww L

We watched a movie (Jeepers Creepers) upon heading towards our second itinerary- the Pamulaklakin Forest Trail. I wasn’t able to finish the movie since I fell into sleep, thanks to my sleeping hat! J Plus, the way going to Pamulaklakin was a bit dark because of the bad weather. Miss Cho was even apologizing for having ourselves wet because of the rain but it really wasn’t her fault. And besides, we had fun! J

Our bus stopped over to a place near the water closets. I think it was on Subic. There, the roads were full of blind curves and risky parts where to cross the street. So, we were very careful of the fuming vehicles passing by. Miss Cho also told us to be careful, so we were really touched by her concern to her students. Even if we were away from our biological mothers during the trip, we had someone to look after us with the same love and concern. She was more of a mother to all of us during the trip. J

When we arrived at the comfort rooms (I was with Eunice and Jairah by the way), it was expected the rooms were far from the usual comfort rooms like in school or in our houses. They were really filthy, wet and soiled! Goodness! So Jairah and I prepared a plan B if in case I cannot attend my necessities inside those rooms. But in the end, we had realizations that it is still safer to pee inside the comfort room than somewhere else. You just have to withstand the smell and waste you are going to encounter. The line for the girl’s comfort room was too long, so we opted to go for the boy’s comfort room. When I went inside, oh my I don’t want to remember it L I even held my breath and counted for five seconds. It was so dirty, but I really had to pee (ooh, it rhymes J ) So when I went inside, I rushed myself and faced the challenge (hahaha!). It was even dark so I could hardly see where I’m peeing! There was no flush so you could imagine the sight……… hahaha oh no forget about it J I still cannot believe I was able to surpass that. I’m not exaggerating but yeah, it was really hard to be away from your comfort zone. L

After a while, our bus already headed towards the Pamulaklakin Forest Trail. The roads were like a maze! It’s as if I’m in a game of Snakes and Ladders! We’re moving towards a zigzag motion. Good thing nobody became dizzy and felt the need of vomiting. A few information about how the name “Subic” was derived, the Americans before referred to the place as “So big!” when they are asked about the place. And so, the word Subic was also derived from the word “Hubic”, which means “head of the plow”. It contains 18,000 hectares of forest area or islands, and it is also the military base of the Americans before, according to the lecture of Kuya Richard on the bus. Hearing all of these things seemed like journeying to the happenings of the past.

As soon as we reached the place for our crash course of Jungle Survival Techniques, we went down the bus to be welcomed by our Aeta brothers and sisters. There, we were taught some survival techniques to be done in the jungle. We took pictures and videos while having the demo. Kuya (the one who did the demo) was already able to teach us a lot of things that could be made with just a piece of bamboo and a bolo. It was really amazing when he was able do so many things only with the use of bamboo. He was able to make fire, and he did a demo on how to cook rice and food. Also, he showed us how to cut the bamboo into pieces to make your plate, kitchen utensils, cup, back scratcher and toothpick! He also showed to us how to make adjustments with the bamboo cup, most especially if your nose is too high that it can’t fit the cup with a small opening. J

Afterwards, we gave our donations to the effort made by Kuya. The demo was really jaw-dropping and we were really quietly paying attention since we were all interested. It was really worth watching most especially because it taught us a lot. After a while, we met Manong Dominador Liwanag, also known as “Tatang Kasoy”, wearing a traditional bahag. He was famous for teaching Jungle Survival Techniques to the Americans and of course, to our locals as well. If I’m not mistaken, he also mentioned that he was part of the lineage of the Aetas who gave lectures and taught techniques to American during the World War II. He proudly said that he is the one found in our History books for having been reached different places from all over the world to give demos about Jungle Survival Techniques. We took pictures of him and with him. It was nice meeting him.

When we went back on to the bus, Miss Cho told us that we can do some shopping at Puregold and Duty Free. Upon going down a bus, I saw an Aeta holding some bamboo crafts of bow and arrow and a flute (which sounded more of a bird singing). I bought them for 100 php (each for 50 php). The original price was 100 php each but I managed to compromise with the price. When we went inside the Shopping Center, we saw a whole lot of stuff we wanted to purchase! Gerome, La Reyna, Nappy, Gianna and I went to window shop on the clothes, bags, perfumes, and shoes available. Afterwards, we headed towards the Grocery to shop for chocolates and snacks! Good thing I had extra money to buy pasalubong for my siblings in Zamboanga. I also bought chocolates and gummy bears to be shared in class. After the time given to us to gallivant, we went back to the bus.

We were all so tired upon going home. It was getting dark and so most of us felt asleep (including me). But some of my block mates were still hyper and continued their thing inside the bus. Some took pictures, played video games, listened to music and shared stories. Half of the class was noisy, while the other half was peacefully sleeping. For quite some time I was already enjoying my sleep, but thanks to Erika, Irisse, Jean and La Reyna who were very noisy and frolicsome during the night. I was a bit disturbed but later on I found myself joining them since I cannot go back to sleep with their noise. That is why we spent the remaining hours of the trip taking pictures ourselves, dancing and singing. The others at the back I can no longer see because it was already dark. But when the lights were turned on, some were sleeping, the others were awake but tired, and the rest were busy with their lives. When we were finally nearing our way to UST, we were excited to go home and have the rest we all deserve to have. Finally, we’re back to UST. J

Gerome and I were the last ones to go down the bus since we still checked on our belongings. When we went down the bus, we had our picture taken with Miss Cho. The others already headed home. Gerome, La Reyna, Nappy and I already departed ways since we were all going home to our dormitories except for Germs who still had an added gig to Yellow Cab. I did not come along with them since I was already freaking tired and I felt the need to rest. I texted my mom that we arrived safely and that I’ll be home soon. As I was walking my way home, I visited the UST Church and there I talked to God about my day. I thanked him for giving all of us a happy and safe trip. I also thanked him for the opportunity He has given us to experience that kind of trip. It was really my first time. Also, I talked to Him about a personal issue. I felt comforted after letting it out to Him. It was ten past eight when I arrived at home. I was happy to see my mom again. J Now I’m looking forward to my sweet sleep. Gee, now I’m really tired. And my day ends here J

The trip was really worth remembering. I had so many realizations. First, I learned to appreciate the historical background of our two itineraries: Mt. Samat and Pamulaklakin. Second, the trip paved way for the whole 1bio5 class to get to know each other, and to somehow talk to the people whom you do not usually get the chance to talk with in class. Third, the value of respect and appreciation to our Aeta brothers and sisters were given emphasis, and I was glad upon meeting them and gaining information from them. Also, we valued respect upon having to listen when someone else is speaking in front of you. Kuya Richard and Miss Cho taught us the value of it. Fourth, we should always remember that we are the ones making our days. If you started your day with a frown, you can still do something about it for the rest of the day. The bad weather did not hinder us from enjoying the educational trip. We still had the chance to bond with each other and know our Moderator more. The field trip even pushed through despite the continuous downpour of rain. Lastly, the love and friendship instilled to one of us from that day on is really remarkable. I gained new friends and I had deeper relationships with the closest friends I already had before. J

It was the most anticipated day for us. It was so fulfilling that upon walking home; I felt that it was yet too early for it to come to an end. J