LOST...

The evening before July 18th, Lalah and I were talking on the phone about a lot of things. She mentioned to me about certain places in Bicol, about the beach, their lolo and lola's farm, and about the places she visited in the past. It struck me... probably she's getting bored. Even though she didn't say it up front, I knew she wants to tell me something: she's in search of something adventurous! So that evening as I put my phone down, I told her that she's in for something tomorrow! Knowing Lalah, whenever she wants something, she had that habit of waiting for things instead of asking me directly! With that parting word, she got so excited, she told me she couldn't sleep that evening!

As we met the following day, she asked me where are we going? The week before, I brought her to Liliw, every girl-sandal lover-shoe lover-slipper lover's paradise! Probably she was thinking Im gonna bring her there again... Hmmm, hehehehe! Not my style... Every adventure should always be a surprise! As we were walking, she asked me: "...saan tayo pupunta?" I replied: "Basta! Malapit lamang yun... so don't worry!". We went to Robinson's and bought water and a few bars of chocolate and two small bags of Munchers. She asked me again: "...sa campus tayo pupunta?" I didn't want to spoil the surprise to her, but since it seemed so obvious, "Actually, sa Forestry tayo pupunta... Have you ever been to Flat Rocks?" "...saan yun? di pa ako nakakapunta dun!" She told me with a smile on her face and a flush of excitement again... I just love it whenever I see her with that aura and glow! I told her that it was one of the nearest hang-out of forestry students during our time, and the place is just near so she need not worry. On our way to forestry on the jeep, we happen to ride along with Tita Estie, a close friend of my mother. We exchanged stories and I introduced Lalah to her. And during our ride, she asked us where are we going... I told her we'll just hang out at Flat Rocks; she told us to be careful especially in the afternoon. I told her not to worry; I even bragged to her that I know the place like the back of my hand! Then off Tita Estie went to her destination and told us again to be careful!

With that, we went on our way and registered at the Guard house of the Makiling Forest Reserve. As we were registering, I saw the people there... familiar faces... and they were just hanging out on their after-lunch siesta. We exchanged greetings and they told me to pay the entrance fee. I made a joke to them: "At bakit ako magbabayad? Alumnus ako dito ah? Dapat ilbre ako at ang kasama ko!"... But I made the payment anyway... :) So we proceeded to Flat Rocks, and as we were walking, we were taking a lot of pictures along the way. e posed on the trails, on the trees, around the rattan and kaong palms, we were having fun! Then we got to the Flat Rocks, the place situated somehwere not so deep in the Forest Reserve and right into one of the tributaries of the Molawin creeks. The water source of the Molawin creek comes from the Makiling Forest Resrve watershed, one of the sources of water of the whole of Los Banos and Calamba; it flows down and drains to the Laguna Lake,especially during typhoon season whenever there is an overflow.

We were enjoying the serene environment! The air is so fresh, the mountain breeze is just right, you can hear the guzzling sound of the peaceful creek as it drains down stone after stone, it was perfect! Lalah was really enjoying the sights and the sounds of Mother Nature; she was taking pictures everywhere! After the series of picture taking, and a short rest on the rocks, a group of noisy and rowdy youngsters came and disturbed our moment of solitude together. The way I look at them, they were a group of 16-18 year olds, and I guess there were about 10 of them, noisily trekking down from the forest to the creek at Flat Rocks.

In truth, I got irritated with these noisy kids, as they somehow ruined our quiet time together. I apologized to Lalah and told her I didnt realize kids would just come barging at the place. She said it's ok and not to worry about it. So with that, the adventure bug bit me again and asked Lalah if she wants to go to the Raptor's Aviary Center at the Makiling Botanical Gardens. I saw that smile again in her face and that hunger for adventure so without hesitation, we went up and walked the trail to the Raptors'. It was fun! And eventhough it was a bit far, I'm sure Lalah's up to it!

Everything's well and ok on our walk... we were just following the trail, when suddenly the trail became less visible on the path where the rattans and kaongs flourished. The trail going to the Raptor's disappeared because of the debris and fallen timber within the area where we stopped. Lalah asked me where we are... I told her that were still on the right track, and I have been on this place many times before (but I didnt mention to her that was more than 10 years ago!). I just put up a smile and told her not to worry, then I saw her smile once again. We proceeded and went down the creek and walked on the side and went up another uphill portion of the forest reserve. We continued our trek. We went and climbed up hills, those pesky rattan areas, kaong forests, and we passed the dipterocarp areas. I was confident we were near it! I told Lalah we were near it! And we rushed up... and to my "amazement"... the Raptor's place were not there. With confidence in my eyes, I told Lalah, I made a mistake and probably it was on the other side; and we proceeded. When we reached the other side, Lalah saw light on the hedges uphill. I told here we were on the right track! So I asked her to follow me uphill! When we got uphill, we were at a ravine where an open area where we could see the view of, still, forests, downhill. We went through thickets of thorny bushes, and uphill and downhill paths. We kept looking for the trail for hours... This time, there are no more path ways... no more trails, and it was getting darker. I'm beginning to feel a bit worried, so I asked Lalah to stop and rest for a while. I looked at my phone and there was no signal. I began to feel more worried, but I tried my best to hide it. I don't want Lalah to think that I don't know where we are. This time, we continued walking... for two straight hours, we were walking, and looking for trails... looking for pathways in the forest floors. I looked at Lalah, and somehow, I can see that she's getting worried. I held her hand and told her not to worry. With all the guts in me, I asked her if her phone has a signal. When we saw that there are two bars on her phone, I called Tita Estie. The signal was fluctuating... I couldn't figure out how am I going to tell her without Lalah hearing it, so I gathered all my courage and finally, I let it out: "...naliligaw na po kami dito". I tried to say it in the coolest possible manner that I could. And then I told Lalah that we have to find the trail. Afterwards, a text message came and it was from Tita Estie. She said "Sundan nyo alng ang creek pababa, diretso yan sa MBG". It was comforting... now, all we have to do is to find that creek. Honestly, without a compass, and a map. I felt helpless that time! I didn't even have a lighter with me. I told Lalah to conserve her cellphone batteries and we might get out late of the forest, we will have to need light. I can see the glow in her face disappearing, but she was forcing a smile. I tried my best to remain calm and try not to panic. When I felt i was about to panic. I stopped and prayed. Then suddenly, I saw river rocks and stones going down. "This is an intermittent stream! "Let us follow this path! Papunta iyang Botanical Gardens... Im sure of it!" I told Lalah. The path was long and somehow treacherous. I slipped a dozen times on the stream because of the mossy rocks. I fell down rock after rock, and I am beginning to lose my temper. Then I stopped and prayed harder this time while walking. Our legs are aching from the hours and hours of non-stop walking... and I can see that Lalah isn't smiling anymore. I stopped a while, held her hand and hugged her. "Don't worry, we'll get out of here, I promise you.". Lalah held my hand tight, and we continued our walk down the stream, until finally, we saw man-made structures on the stream! I was ecstatic! I shouted "Thank God!" Then Lalah asked me if we are near... I told her now yet, but we are almost there... This time, she smiled again.

We continued our walk, we went down and down the stream. My pants got wet along the way... but this time, I didn't mind it. All I wanted is to get Lalah out of this mess that I got her in. As I was walking, I was silently praying, asking God for guidance, and that He may show us the way out. I never let go of Lalah's hand. Somehow, she was one of my sources of strength that time. I continued praying, until we came upon a fallen tree. I told Lalah that on times like these, we have to rely on our own instincts especially if we don't have any resources. This time, we ran out of drinking water, and we were both getting thirsty. We went around the fallen tree and carefully, we crawled our way down. We encountered about three fallen trees. Probably this was from the aftermath of the Milenyo and Ondoy typhoons. I heard news that many trees fell from that disaster. It was getting darker. On the last tree along the creek where we stopped, I told Lalah to go through the other side and follow the water pipes going into the right side of the forest, but Lalah asked me to stop again for a while. I was feeling really tired and somehow, this time I wanted to rest my legs. I had a lot of nicks and cuts from the rattan thorns and my feet was aching from the downward sloping path (I had difficulty walking downwards instead of uphill). "...dito tayo dumaan 'dee." Lalah told me. Actually during that time, I was beginning to start to panic again, when suddenly on our way to the path, I saw a trail! What a relief! (This time, I now believe why many people say that a woman's intuition/instincts is so reliable! Because it really is!) Lalah never had experience or background about trail tracking and/or survival, but I just followed her.

As we entered the path, I saw the trail of pathways and the water pipeline! "This is it!" I blurted out. "This time, I am 100% sure!" Lalah began to smile, and this time, it wasn't a forced smile, but a smile of relief! Then while we were walking the long trail, Lalah began to ask me again, "...malapit na ba tayo?" I was about to answer her that Im not yet sure, when suddenly, the mountain breeze carried to my nasal passages a very familiar scent: the smell of brewing coffee! "Mee, malapit na tayo! Wag ka na matakot!". I stopped for a while and hugged Lalah and confessed and apologized to her about what happened; I almost got her into trouble; we almost got trapped inside the forest; and I told her I'm not going to get her into this kind of situation ever again! She looked at me and hugged back, "At least nakalabas na tayo! and besides, it was a great adventure! Actually, natatakot na nga ako kanina and gusto ko na umiyak... gusto nga kitang tanungin kung nawawala na tayo, kaya lang I just kept calm... "grace under pressure" ba?! " Jokingly, we continued walking until we saw the cluster of houses and heard kids playing! When we got to the houses, I asked the people there: "Excuse po, ano pong lugar ito?" The man answered: "Jamboree po."

EPILOGUE:

I didnt realize that we drifted miles away from our target! We were supposed to exit at the Makiling Botanical Gardens, but we went out at Jamboree! Whew! That was really, really far! Never in my life once again, did I ever felt so thankful and relieved! Once we got to the houses, we took picture of ourselves on the place. We found out that the POOK NI MARIA MAKILING at the JAMBOREE site were already closed. Their swimming pool is already brimming with moss and it was no longer maintained. On our way to the houses, Lalah got out her makeup kit and lipstick, and fixed herself! (Hahahahaha! Sosyal!). On the store near the National Art Center's gateway, we stopped by and got ourselves a cold drink, as we ate our Muncher! It was perfect! We walked down to UPCO, sat by for a while to rest at the UPLB Main Library, and took our "LUNCH" of their famous Lechon Kawali and chicaron with achara at Batcave around 6:30 pm (hehehehehehe!). My whole body aches like. hell!.. hehehehehe! Oh well, that's the price you pay for an adventure that turned into trouble, which ended up on the other side... the far side! Afterwards, we then proceeded to Robinsons LB so Lalah could get her a pair of fresh pants. Her pants got soak on the river. And mind you. We didn't changed our clothes till we got to our house! ;)