OFF TO MT. MAKILING

another "just a peek"

Mt. Makiling

It's just two hours away before the bus departs for a two-and-a-half day camp which will serve as our final exam for my CWTS (Civic Welfare and Training Service) subject under the Military Science Department of UP. This is to complete the required six units of my NSTP (National Service Training Program) course, which every college student of every school in the country should take.

So i would like to spare to you my checklist of THINGS TO BRING:

.

Clothes & Others

Shorts (2)
Maong Pants (2)
Jogging Pants (1)
Swimming Trunks (1)
Goggles (1)
Undies (7)
Socks (5)
Shirt (10)
Jacket (1)
Blanket (1)
Bed sheet (1)
Towel (2)
Umbrella (2)
Belt (1)

Food

Canned Goods (Century Tuna)
Cupcakes
Nuts (hahaha! always has been)
6-L mineral Water
1-L mineral Water for 7-hour trekking
Can Opener
Lighter
Aluminum Foil (food storage)
Lunchbox
Spoon and Fork

Medicines

Gears

Flashlight (for night navigation)
Mosquito repellent
6 Large garbage bags (eco-friendly for makiling)
Whistle (for emergency purposes)
Raincoat
Tent
Shoes
Slippers
Cap
Sling
Gloves
DigiCam (???)

Toiletries

Tissue
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Floss
Shampoo
Soap
Lufa

Of course i also packed ULYSSES in between my undies and shorts. Everything listed above is sealed by plastic for waterproofing in case a heavy rain comes or a flood (flood on top of the mountain? I don't think so!)

I'm half excited and half plague with doubts. Im glad the tropical typhoon "Emong" will gladly exit by Saturday according to the PAGASA website. I was praying hard last night to let the storm pass away the areas of Laguna and Manila.

I'm ready to leave civilization but before that last night i watched an outdoor documentary by Werner Herzog, Grizzly Man (2005), to pump up my urge for the great call of nature up at Makiling.


It's a universally praise documentary about the 'grizzly man', Timothy Treadwell, who spent 13 summers with the great Grizzly bears at the Alaskan Peninsula unarmed and live with great proximity with the bears.

Charlie Russell says:

"Herzog is a skillful filmmaker so a large percentage of those who watch the movie Grizzly Man, overlook Timothy’s amazing way with animals even though to me this stands out very strongly. The fact that Timothy spent an incredible 35000 hours, spanning 13 years, living with the bears in Katmai National Park, without any previous mishap, escapes people completely. Even with his city-kid background, I found myself mesmerized by what he could do with animals. Most people now see him only the way Herzog skillfully wanted his audience to see him; as an idiot who continually “crossed nature’s line”, what ever that means. Perhaps, in his mind, nature’s line is something behind which bears and other nasty things reside who will inevitably kill you if you go there without a gun. He takes everything Timothy stood for and turned it 180°, the result which he then weaves into his own unsophisticated agenda. The same material in the hands of someone with more ethical intentions and some sensitivity to both man and bear could have made a very different movie. The ending of the story was bound to be a problem for anyone trying to make him look like a hero. Timothy wrote his own epitaph. " (link)

Okay, i leave you with that.

Ciao!

***