The Untold Story at Mt. Apo

I travel to find my heart. - That's what I always nonchalantly told my friends, without having the faintest hint of how it could possibly happen.

It did happen. And in the most unimaginable way.

He was a timid and aloof guy. Or maybe it's because of his super friendly, chatty companion that I found him aloof. My first impression of him was a low-profile guy who would stay as far away from the limelight as he could.

It was funny how we had been together since the previous day - from Ecoland Bus Terminal, to the overnight camp at Sitio Mainit, up to the seven hour hike to where we had our breakfast before I became aware of  his existence.

our first photo together | Digos City Terminal II, April 20, 2011

Had it not been for the fact that we had the same camera, he wouldn't have any reason to speak to me. Yet that conversation was very brief, if one could have the liberty to call it a conversation. He was asking where I bought my camera case, my reply was a blank face. I had to ask a friend to relay his question because I did not understand. I wasn't sure if his voice was so soft or I was already out of myself then. I think it's the latter because my friend was able to understand him.

the setting for our first conversation | Baroring Camp, April 21, 2011

Throughout the climb, he never talked to me again. When we reached the boulders, their group got significantly ahead of us. His laughing self was the first thing I saw when our group of three girls arrived on the white sand camp. I could remember him already perched in his tent - laughing and commenting that our tent was already "ready for occupancy".

After that, I had no interaction with him whatsoever. He and his groupmates were not aware that we were freezing and struggling to survive that night. The descent the following morning didn't open any opportunity for small talk, either; probably because I was a little left behind. Well, just two hours left behind that they had to assign a guide specifically for me.

I had my agaw-eksena moment on our last day because of my "alone time" with the guide the night before. Everyone was teasing me and the guide. Yet, I can't recall him in the scene, if he was laughing or did he even care.

As it had been a habit for me to add in Facebook new acquaintances from trips, I added him upon arrival in Manila. I didn't have a hard time recalling his name because his chatty friend was for some reason repeating his name over and over whenever he talked to me, telling that he was his officemate.

The moment I added him, what struck me was that he lives too close to where I live. For that reason alone, I somewhat became his "stalker". I vividly recall how I opened a photo where I found that he commented, "super like" and to my surprise, this was what I saw:

our first ever conversation

We had our share of conversations in Facebook. When I first had the idea of starting a travel blog, he was the first person to give a hint of support.

Knowing that someone was waiting for my blog made me smile.

After more than a month, he finally found the courage to ask me out. We had set a date which was another month later. As if he couldn't wait to see me, in between that time, he talked of delivering a strawberry cheesecake to our house. Honestly, I did not believe that he would really go, but he did, just  to deliver my strawberry cheesecake.

the thrill-seeker's favorite food aside from bulalo

When we finally went out, I was amazed with hearing his side of the Mt. Apo story. I finally knew who was the person who passed to me a trekking pole early on in the climb. It was him. During that time, I was so preoccupied and did not even look at the person. I had a hard time, and that trekking pole was like a gift from God.

I could not get over the fact that it was him, and to think I didn't even care about his presence until the moment he talked to me. On the contrary, he remembered me. He told me that it was amusing to see my rosy cheeks during that climb. I explained that it was due to the difficulty that I had turned red. What puzzled me though was how he was able to still have time to look at me, despite the situation where we had to rely heavily on our own survival skills.

Time passed and we learned more about each other. We were both lucky and blessed to find a "counterpart" in each other. It has been a "not-so-silent" wish for me to someday end up with someone who was as equally adventurous and kaladkarin as me. He was that. And the best thing about it? He felt the same. He loved me.

I so love writing, but it has also been a silent wish, too, that someday, someone writes for me. As if he could read my mind, I found this pleasant surprise on his Facebook notes:

this made me the happiest girl in the world

It didn't take much time before we were both sure that we were perfect for each other. And from that day, we had been together exploring various locations - climbed a mountain, experienced a boat ride on an angry sea without life vests on, did spelunking on a hurried pace for fear of being left by the last jeepney ride on a remote town, snorkeled to our heart's content in Coron (I can't forget that abysmal Barracuda Lake), been on a parachute fall ride in Metro Manila, accomplished the cave connection in Sagada, and explored Bantayan's Madridejos town and conducted a Bulacan-wide Visita Iglesia on our own via motorbike. I experienced my first-ever RORO, go-kart, and ATV ride with him. And his first out of the country trip and cable car ride? It was with me. I was also the "bad influence" that made him do the G-Max Reverse Bungy and GX-5 Extreme Swing Extreme Adrenaline Super Combo in Clarke Quay.

a preview of the adventures that we have done together

An engineer, a mountain biker, a mountaineer, a man who loves me, and the only man in my life...

I wish your smile would always be like this.

Dear Mt. Apo, I could never thank you enough for bringing us together. Travel made me found my heart, but in all honesty, I didn't expect that I had to climb the Philippines' highest peak and almost died just to find it!

Mt. Apo, you told me to leave no trace, but thankfully, you left a trace on me.

We may be in separate locations now, but this just makes me excited on the day that we reunite and pursue our adventures again. After all, it has just been one year. We still have our whole life ahead of us. Happy anniversary! Smile because you are blessed.:)