MT. PICO DE LORO: MY FIRST DAYHIKE

Mt. Pico De Loro (Mt. Palaypalay) is one of my dream mountains to climb because of its reviews and feedbacks from my fellow mountaineers. Their pictures showed a breath taking view, and after one year of waiting for the right time to conquer this mountain, I can say this is one of my memorable climbs.

Major jump-off: Magnetic Hill, Ternate Cavite

Minor jump-off: Ternate-Nasugbu Highway, Nasugbu Batangas

LLA: 14 deg 12.855 N; 120 deg 38.785 E; 664 MASL

No. of hours to summit: 2-5 hours

Specs: Minor Climb, difficulty of 3/9, Trail class 1-3

ITINERARIES:

DAYHIKE

0400 Board bus at Coastal Mall Terminal to Ternate

0700 ETA Ternate. Rent jeepney or tricycle to jumpoff

0745 ETA DENR/ Jump-off point

0800 Start trek. Note that jump off point is 4 minutes walk away from DENR

0845 ETA Rest station, Basecamp 1

1130 ETA Summit. Lunch.

1230 Start descent to Magnetic Hill

1530 ETA jump-off point

1600 Back at DENR; take jeepney to Ternate then take bus back to Manila

1900 ETA Manila

Mt. Pico de Loro is situated within the boundaries of Cavite and Batangas. According to other blogs I’ve read, (and based from other mountaineers), you can choose between two jump-offs. One is from Nasugbu Batangas and the other is from Ternate Cavite. It is even considered as the highest point of Cavite.

FROM COASTAL TERMINAL TO MT. PICO DE LORO

Having to choose between two jump-offs, my team chose the Ternate Cavite jump-off. First, you have to ride a bus from Coastal Terminal going to Ternate, Cavite. The fare from the terminal is Php 80.00. From there, you have to rent a tricycle for Php 225.00 and it will drop you to DENR Station where you have register. 

Coffee time at DENR Station

Fellow mountaineers: always register! This is for your own safety!

After registration, you have to reach Base Camp 1 of Mt. Pico de Loro where you have to register again. Registration fee is also Php 25.00. They have Comfort Rooms, souvenir shops and you can also eat there before you start your climb. And from there, you can start your trek to the peak of the mountain.

We started our trek from the registration area at around 7:30 am. At first, the trail is just like the other mountains I’ve climbed, and I compared its trail to Mt. Cristobal (I only climbed 4 mountains for the meantime), muddy and full of assaults. Good thing I wear my sandals on this climb. 

BASE CAMP 1

Second Registration and Souvenir Area

Second Registration and Souvenir Area

 You will reach a plain area where you can also camp. Few walks from there, is a waterfall which is also one of the mountain’s attraction.  You can stop there for a while and relax with your team.

It will take you for almost 2 hours from the waterfalls to the Campsite/Peak 1. The trail from the falls is quite challenging, because of the assaults. I expected this mountain as a minor climb, but I never expected the trail. One of the best things about this mountain is the view and the environment. This is one of the cleanest and greenest mountains I've climbed so far. The trail is also slippery so better wear your trail shoes or sandals. 

Waterfalls. Ligo ligo din kapag may time! Wala nang palit palit! :)

Meditating with the waterfalls as the background

Selfie at the waterfalls!

Selfie selfie!

The trail is average at first, and becomes harder as you go near the campsite. You will face a lot of huge rocks on the trail. One of the markers if you’re already near the campsite are the rocks. And from there, it will take 30 minutes the least depending on your speed, and from there bravo: one thing I will assure you is that it will offer you a breath taking view.

There you can take pictures with the summit in the background, with a view of different mountains (I’m not certain on the names of the mountains) and a wide area for camping. There you can rest and prepare for your trek towards the summit. The trail from the campsite up to the summit is the hardest part because of the trail. You have to be careful on your every step because it is the steepest part of the climb. You have to trek for almost 20 minutes before you reach the summit.

Campsite with the summit and the monolith in the background. (Can you see it?)

Trail to the peak tof the monolith.

Better be careful on your steps on your way to the Parrot's Beak!

It will test your strength and passion in pursuing the peak of the monolith. I can say reaching the top is the crowning moment of this climb because once you get there, you will feel fulfilled. For me, it seems that after I conquered its peak, I can assure myself that I am now prepared to conquer other major mountains and some challenges in life. I’m with my four friends and hike buddies in climbing this mountain, and I’m proud to say the five of us conquered Mt. Pico de Loro. It might be my first dayhike but I can say that this will be one of the memorable ones. We had the best fun in the trail, and despite the short period of time, we make the most out of it and conquered the highest peak of Cavite.

Just hanging with our fellow foreigner mountaineer! Nosebleed on the summit!

Video interview with Derek Ramsey at the peak of the Parrot's Beak

 A promise I left on that mountain is that one day, I’m going to conquer this mountain alone. Maybe it can be the first step of my solo hike in the future. Mt. Pico de Loro is my dream mountain (and my favorite) and I’m fulfilled to conquer this at last. Til we meet again Mt. Pico de Loro!

P.S. I would like to congratulate my friends for the success of this climb: Lyke Daryl Basilio (http://www.juan-day.com/), Davz Dacuno, Gwen Sugay and especially to my bestfriend who organized this climb, Jonel Fernandez Bedano. Til next event! 

With the event organizer and my bestfriend Jonel

Can you find the monolith?

Until next climb. Til we meet again Mt. Pico de Loro! :)

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BE AN ARCHITECT?

Architecture is one of the broadest and unique professions. It is considered as the Mother of art and science, and it even dictates the history of human. It serves as an icon for a nation. It clearly expresses power, feelings, and emotions. It even affects the mood of people using the building. In short, architecture is an influential and a complicated profession which takes a lot of commitment, passion and desire to be a keyplayer.  It takes guts to be an architect. The question is do you have what it takes to be an architect? What are the struggles you are going to face to be an architect? How complicated is the life of an architect?

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A PASSION IN DRAWING AND DESIGN

Yes, one of the requirements to be an architect is that you must have the passion and a skill in drawing. On your freshmen years, you will do sketches, drafting and color renderings throughout the year. Even if we are now on a digital era where even drawings are computer generated, you have to do schematic drawings or present initial sketches while meeting with your clients and you are not a certified architect if you don’t know how to produce one.

PREPARE YOURSELF FOR SLEEPLESS NIGHTS

You will need to face 5 years of sleepless nights- one of the drastic part of taking architecture. You will spend a week without sleep: doing plates and take home esquisses while battling with the requirements of other subjects (sometimes minor subjects assumed to be a major), computing for different mathematical formulas and the like. Imagine the torture. But it’s totally worth it.

PREPARE YOUR WALLET

Architecture is considered one of the most expensive courses. You will feel it during your freshmen years: you have to buy a set of Rotring/Staedtler technical pens (amounting almost Php 2,000.00 per set), a T-Square, coloring materials, triangles, kurekolors, etc. And along the way, you have to spend for your case studies, set of A3 papers, 30x40 tracing papers, researches, and a lot more.

 PREPARE YOUR EMOTIONS

In taking up architecture, you should prepare for your emotions. Yes, you will battle all the pressures and stress of college, but years after you graduate, you will realize that it helped you a lot because in the real world you will face the same scenario: meeting up deadlines, stress of handling workers, dealing with clients and dealing with terrible bosses.

BE COMPUTER LITERATE

Yes, we are now in the digital generation. As much as you’re passionate about manual drawings, the trend in the preparation of design documents today is through computer-generated drawing softwares: Sketchup, Autocad, Vray, Photoshop, 3D Max- these are just the softwares you need to be familiar with especially if you’re planning to work in an architectural firm. It is even expected you have mastered MS Office especially Microsoft Excel!

ACCEPT THAT THIS WILL NOT MAKE YOU RICH IN AN INSTANT

We may be considered as one of the coolest and much respected profession, but you must accept that it doesn’t mean it will make you an instant millionaire once you became a licensed one. It is very hard to find clients these days, because of the competition with your colleagues. You will definitely start from scratch, even the most celebrated architects today start from nothing to something. Do not be afraid to commit failures, because you will learn from it.

YOU MUST BE READY FOR THE BOARD EXAMS

Maybe this is the final step towards reaching the dream of being an architect, and the first step towards to the path of your career. You have to exert all the efforts to pass the exam. You can even aim to be one of the topnotchers because mind telling you, it is an awesome feeling especially during the oath taking ceremonies. Better prepare for 5 months of review, and a stressful one before the board exams. Prepare yourself emotionally, physically, and spiritually. And most of all you must prepare yourself for the result. Do your best so you will not regret in the end. Always expect the unexpected, because you’ll never know what the examiners will give you during the Board Exams.

These are just some of the things an “Architect aspirant” needs to overcome this profession. These can even be applied to allied professions, but mind telling you this is a must. Our profession is not like the others because we design the world. We protect the lives of the users of our structures. And that’s something to think about. This profession is a calling, and not all of us are qualified to be one. And not all the qualified architects are good at it.

SO DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BE AN ARCHITECT? J

HOPE FOR ALYSS BRIELLE

A child will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for.” -Unknown

Alysse Brielle F. Del Rosario: our little angel. :)

Alyss Brielle Fradejas del Rosario; our beloved angel was born on March 3, 2014 at Bontoc General Hospital, Bontoc Mt. Province. She looked pretty well that day; having pinkish white skin, red lips and wide bright eyes. Her newborn screening was also normal. Everything seems quite normal from that day on forward, then suddenly...

After 2 weeks, her skin darkened, and her eyes became yellowish; her poop turned pale-white and she became irritable. We thought it was just normal jaundice as experienced by majority of normal babies. But we were wrong. 

Hello world. :)

As the days go by, we got worried because her jaundice is not fading away. So we brought her to a pediatrician. He then advised us to take some blood test together with liver function test and bilirubin count. The result was not what the pediatrician had been expecting. Worried about the result, the pediatrician recommended that we seek advice from a specialist doctor in Gastroentorology Pediatrics at Philippine Children Medical Center.

At the hospital, the Gastro-Pedia interviewed and asked a couple of details about our baby, then told us about possible causes of our baby's jaundice and pale-white poop. She then told us that our baby might be suffering from BILIARY ATRESIA OR HEPATITIS. (We had an idea that this is coming, for we googled and made some research about the possible cause of her yellowish skin and pale-white poop.)

For her to conclude the disease, LIVER BIOPSY was conducted by their team of doctors. The result was devastating; our baby Alyss is suffering from BILIARY ATRESIA- a fatal, serious and rare liver disease that affects newborn infants (1 out of 15,000).

At three months old, Baby Alyss' liver and life is at great risk. Her disease is caused by her liver having blocked bile ducts. The bile ducts are the passage way for the bile to drain out of the liver into intestines for digesting food. As a result, the bile is trapped inside her liver; this caused her Cirrhosis. While the cause is still unknown, this disease is destroying her liver. 

She was diagnosed with BILIARY ATRESIA WITH LIVER CIRRHOSIS June 20, 2014.

KASAI was no longer an advisable treatment as the surgical doctors’ told us that the chances are low, because Kasai treatment should have been done within 2-3 months. Kasai surgery is a temporary solution for the liver to drain the bile and should have lengthened the time for us to generate funds. What a shattering news it is; the doctors’ told us that they can or will perform the operation if we insist. Listening to their advice and the risks, we decided that it would be better for our baby not to undergo the said procedure.

Clinical Abstract

Last week of June 2014; We went to St. Lukes Medical Center, Quezon City for a second opinion. Knowing the previous diagnosis, The Doctor’s made some test to determine the disease affecting our daughter’s liver.

The impression was CHOLEDOCHAL CYST TYPE 1A OR TYPE 2. They immediately discussed to us their plan to EXCISE/REMOVE THE CHOLEDOCHAL CYST OR POSSIBLE BY-PASS SURGERY which will cost us around P200,000 (two hundred thousand pesos). The Operation must be done AS SOON AS POSSIBLE not later than next week (second week of July 2014) to prevent her liver from further damage. We humbly ask for your help and support for our Daughter’s Surgery. Any amount from your generous hearts will be deeply appreciated. You can extend your support to us through your prayers and donations. We’ll be Forever Thankful. May our Almighty God’s will be done.

God's will be done. :)

This article was published by Alyss Brielle's father, Nissi del Rosario. For donations and informations, you may contact us through this numbers:

Nissi B. del Rosario-Father
+639-26-117-2276
email: nissibdelrosario@gmail.com
facebook account: Nissi Depp del Rosario
https://www.facebook.com/NissiDeppDelrosario
+639-17-363-0134(Jonalyn A. Fradejas-Mother)
email: jhoeennaa10@yahoo.com
facebook account: AneohjFradejas
Alyss Brielle del Rosario
Facebook account: Alyss Brielle del Rosario