Tila Pilon Hills (Year end climb-2022)

       Since the pandemic, me and my partner done climb every year end, so last December 30, 2022 we decided to do another year end climb, this time is in Doña Remedios Trinidad in Bulacan. We left at home at around 5:00AM I used google map to help me in direction where we going through because this is the first time we will climb Tila Pilon Hills located at Brgy Kalawakan in Doña Remedios Trinidad (DRT) riding in my Motorcycle. We arrived at the jumpoff at about past 7:00AM.

      After we registered and secured guide we start the trekking.Tila Pilon has a 2 trail, the free one which is mostly uphill and the other one is mostly gradual but you have to pay a fee because its a private property. After more than 30 minutes of trek, we arrived at the foot of the hill. Before you reach the summit, you need to trek uphill of 117 steps according to the signboard. There is a signboard of Tila Pilon Hills at the foot of the hill. Upon reaching the summit you will see a 360 view of DRT bulacan and nearby province like Biak na bato in San Miguel Bulacan. 

Foot of Tila Pilon Hills

View from the Summit

Fee Breakdown

Guide Fee - 300php (1:5)

Registration - 20php/head

Parking 20php

      

Dumaguete

After Several years, 4 years to be exact I'm back here in my blog. Well I will start again, my First Trip this year. Dumaguete.

The airfare was book last May 2016, my first try of booking in a promo airfare by cebu pacific, Monday March 20 our flight, wake up early and leave at home at 9:30 AM, travel time going to the airport took us 2 hours. This is my first time to travel with my honey in a place were bot of us are strangers, luckily i have a friend there. I contacted mitch if she can accompanied us in touring around dumaguete and luckily she was available that time.

Arrived at dumaguete past 5 PM, of course cebu pacific flight always delayed Mitch met us in the airport. We check-in in Nicanor Hotel dumaguete, not a five star hotel but the room was nice. After  check-in we ate our dinner and mitch accompanied us in one of the place in dumaguete which they called boulevard, I've notice here that there were so many foreign tourist and according to mitch there are a lot of foreigner living in this city.

Sunrise at Dumaguete Blvd.

March 21, 2017, we rent a single motorcycle that we will use in our tour, the cost for a single motorcycle for the whole day is 500, actually for 24 hours. Our first destination will be Casaroro Falls which is located in Valencia. According to mitch, you have to trek going down for more than a 200 steps, then a 5 minutes trek going to the Falls which is true and you have to trek going up the same route that you go down.

Casaroro Falls

After Casaroro Falls, we go to the Redrock falls or what they caled in our local language is Pulang Bato Falls. It was calls redrock maybe because of the color of the rock. The water is so cold and we were able to take a dip and swim.

Pulang Bato Falls

After Pulang Bato Falls, we went to one of their power plant and head back to downtown for lunch.
After Eating lunch we go to our next destination which is the balinsasayao lake, it took us almost an hour to reach the place.

Sipaway Island

After Visiting Don Salvador Benedicto we go straight to San Carlos which another municipality in Negros. The plan was to visit the Sipaway island which it has a white sand beach. As per plan, this island is included. So after I park the car into one of our branch. We headed straight to san carlos port which where we ride a boat going to the island. It took us almost 30 minute before we reach the Island, from the port we ride a trike going to the beach which is the Basilia White Beach. We are the only group in the beach, I advice when you go here you already have food to to cook because there were no restaurant.  They have a cottage that you can rent which is the cheapest is 250php. We talked to one of the caretaker where we can by food they have told us that we need to go to the market to buy food which is we need to ride a trek, what we've done is we talked to the one of the caretaker if they can cook food for us and we will just gonna pay them the cost and their service and thankful they agreed. So after that we started swim in the calm clear water of the sea and play in the white sand beach. Bonding with MIS staff and also with tatay cris.

We leave the beach at about 2 PM and going back to Bacolod city

Don Salvador Benedicto

When I was in Ilo-ilo they have a place called Leon which is like Baguio because of the cold weather, Now I'm in negros, they also have a place called little baguio which is the Don Salvador. After 2 days of training we decided to visit this place, it was sunday and we leave bacolod city around 6 am in the morning and took our breakfast along the way. after 2 hours of drive we reach the marker of don salvador, we can feel the cold weather because it was surrounded by the mountain and it reminds me of kenon road going to baguio because almost the same of the zigzag road. Along the road where there's a fine tree which indicates that the place is cold that those kind of tree can live. After 2 hours of drive, we reach the marker which is a statue of lion and a marker of Phil-Korean friendship.

After picture taking on the marker, we go to San Carlos and along the way we passed by  in the viewdeck which you can see the Malatan-og waterfalls which near the boundary and also a mountain view like chocolate hills.

 Malatan-og Falls

Leon Ilo-ilo

A trip that almost cancel, the first time I been to ilo-ilo this place was included but twice has been canceled so when i back in Ilo-ilo, this time I assure that I will visit this place. As another long weekend because August 27 declared by the government in observance to National Heroes Day. I planned ahead in this trip. First we are only 3 in a group, some of MIS staff have their own trip, praise convince some of them to join us in this trip so we become 7. We buy first our food in the new market of Jaro. Then we ride a jeep going to the town of Leon and it was an hour ride going to San miguel then from san miguel we ride a tricycle going to the jeepney terminal going to leon. first we wait for a jeep as some of the driver of habal-habal want us to ride them with a fare of 500 pesos but we insist that we will ride a jeep. After 30 minutes of waiting, a jeepney came. It took us 1 hr to reach the bucari. We go first to sition camandag where the Imoy falls located. It was 1 hour walked from jump off to sitio camandag. There was a 5 pesos registration fee from the brgy. after we register we go straight to the falls which took us another 10 minutes. I was remember how mitch cried when cross the hanging bridge. When we reach the falls, I started to cook our rice for our lunch, it was already past 1 in the afternoon. We took our lunch and rest for a while then we visit the bigger water falls which is 5 minutes walked from the cottage we were staying.

When we reached the bigger falls, next thing we did is to take picture, and take a dip in cold falling water. The group had really enjoy the place as each of us taking posed of our own. 

 The Boys

The girls

After taking picute and dipping into the cold flowing water, we headed back to our cottage where saysay was still sleeping. We also took a dip into a little water falls but this time with a bigger current.

After relaxing and bonding with my colleague, we leave the place at about 4 PM and headed to our next destination. The Tabionan campsite, almost evening when we reach the tabionan campsite, everyone is tire and a good captain of the place offer us that if we would like them to cook for us and then we will just gonna pay them for our dinner. So everyone was tire, so we let them cook and we pay, they cook us native tinolang manok. 

Dinner Time

Tabionan Campsite

After dinner we had a little chat with the local and the barangay tanod then we call it a night. I was the one who wake up early. I prepare the breakfast and again bonding time and picture taking, we leave the campsite at before 9 am and headed toward the terminal. 

Mt. Napulak

 Mt. Napulak from afar

I've been assign in ilo-ilo for two months and never get a chance to climb this mountain. But now on my second assignment in iloilo again, I will not let my chance pass not to climb this mountain. With a long weekend declared by government, I plan ahead climbing this mountain. August 16 was my birthday and as a tradition for myself, I usually celebrated my birthday its either in mountain or beach camp. This time as a treat for my self, I will climb Mt. Napulak. August we woke up early to prepare our things, 6 am we leave Jaro from the place we are staying and took a taxi to terminal going to igbaras. Together with my 2 colleague tim and jarvis we are all excited, jarvis was his first time and tim was second time. It was an hour and half from City proper to Igbaras. At about past 9 we reach Igbaras, murot was already waiting for us there, he will be our guide for the whole trek. So we buy a pack lunch in the carinderia at after that we took a habal habal to jump off, we will do a traverse hike, our jump off is in Brgy. Bagay, we reach jump off at around 10 AM and  we start to trek, as not 100 percent condition because just came from High fever plus cough and cold, I was easily got tired.

World largest flower (raflesia)

Iguana along the trail

We reach the irrigation before lunch so we plan to take our lunch there. After lunch we took a 30 minutes rest then again start trek. Along the trail we saw a world biggest flower which is called raflesia but it does not yet bloom. Before we reach the last water source, we saw an iguana along the trail. he was just like one of the dried leaves along the trail maybe because he can adopt any color which is one of his characteristic. Finally we reached the last watersource. We took another 30 minutes then after this is mostly assault. Rain fell when we are near the summit, so continue trekking with almost 0 visibility. On or about 5 PM we reach the summit campsite. The wind was so cold and the big rock in the summit was covered with fog. Luckily he was showed a little time and i was able to get a picture of it. We prepared our dinner early as i remember our guide listening to the radio which the news was about late DILG secretary Robredo plane accident.

Napulak Rock....

It was a very early lights off. 7:30 PM or 8:00 PM were already lights off. We woke up 5:00 AM to see the sunrise but no sunrise appeared, it was still foggy in the summit. We decided to break camp at 7 and leave the summit at 8. We did a traverse hike. The view form the other side was beautiful that you can see the other mountain which is the Mt. Taripis. The descend took us 4 hours. We washed up at the river which the water also come from the waterfalls. 

From Left: Tim, Jarvis and yours truly

Malumpatan Island, Agho Island and Sandbar Island.

Sunrise

                  Wake up due to noise of I think a kind of animal on the roof, when I checked my phone it was only past 4AM in the morning, my first time in this place so i can't get my sleep anymore, I checked tim and mabel and they're still sleeping. After 30 minutes of just lying on bed forcing myself to get back to sleep but I cannot, I decided to get up and take a breath of fresh air outside. I walk into the shore with my camera waiting for the sunrise still low tide. The sun didn't show up when he rise because he was covered by clouds. So i decide to take some scene, before 6 AM I back to the room and started preparing our breakfast, tim and mabel has awake.

           
                  Before 7 AM our boat has arrived to pick us up for island hopping, we decided to visit the Malumpatan first, where it was feature in one of sunday program Balitang K, we leave in tambalisa at around 7 AM in the morning, we ride a boat going to malumpatan island, after 20 minutes of ride, we reach the island. The water is clear and a nice rock formation, as usual taking picture and exploring the place.

 Malumpatan Island

At the Malumpatan Island

                 There are two more island that we need to visit, so after taking some picture we leave the island and proceed to ag-ho island. We reached the g-ho island after 30 minutes which also has the same clear water as Malumpatan. It is also a white sand beaches, me, mabel and tim enjoyed the simple beauty of this island and not that crowded.

Ag-ho Island

At Ag-ho Island

 
                   Our last destination here is the Sandbar Island, from checking of picture on some of the website, this island is know for its sandbar, maybe from there the owner got the name of the island. All of us were excited going to that Island and as for us that's the finale which is the best island but upon reaching the island we saw that it was too crowded and it is a high tide.The sandbar was not visible although you can still walk but it was covered by water, in short we got dissapointed on what we saw. The place was crowded and lot of trash  along the shore of the island, an empty bottle, plastic and some slipper floating. The group decided still to explore the island and just taking picture only, I didn't swim anymore, Tim and Mabel took a swim for a while then we stay there for our lunch. After having our lunch with mountain dew that costs us 27 pesos per bottle, we decided to leave the island and go back to the town because the last trip of the bus from concepcion to Iloilo is 2PM and it's already 1 PM. After 30 minutes of ride we reached the town. The leave the place at around 2 PM. at around 4 PM we reached iloilo. Another adventure, another experience it was another great weekend, even though we dissapointed on what we saw in the sandbar but overall it was good.

Sandbar Island

(This trip was done on May 20, 2012)