Saturday, April 30, 2011

I kissed April goodbye

Bright, sunny day to end April - me and my friends decided to go trekking to Mambukal Mountain Resort.

Mambukal Resort is about 31 kilometers east of Bacolod and is surrounded by therapeutic sulfur springs, leisure trails leading to waterfalls, streams, lush valleys and hiking trails leading up to Mount Kanlaon.

It was a "no-plan: we're just bored" outing, so we are really not sure what's in store for us. The boys werent even prepared so they decided to buy some "gears" in the nearest market. As for us girlies, we went shopping for basic stuffs like chips, water, and more water!

Our first stop: SM Save More - Libertad.



COUPLE A: Tarah and James


COUPLE B: Tequila and Phael


After our breakfast and prep sessions at Save More, we are now ready to face the challenge.



Welcome to Mambukal Resort!
Now let the trekkin' begin!

Inside Mambukal Resort, you will find lots of amenities like sulfur bath, swimming pool, bathhouse with spa, boating lagoon, butterfly garden, rock climbing wall, and slide for life.

They also have their food court with 5 different concessionaires. We decided to have our lunch taken out since we want to have it on the 7th falls. And since the trail for 7th falls inside the resort does not allow bringing of food, we took the other way - the longer way. The road less traveled. It was actually an hour and a half walk compare to the one inside the resort, but we dont have any choice.

I'm giving credits to this guy since he never gave me a single flower before.
Not that I blame him for not doing it, I'm just not a fan of cutesy, fancy, flower-giving tradition.


What a scene!


GameCocks farm on top of the mountain


Thirst quencher

And we're so glad for this cute water bombs we bought in Save More. For 5 Php each, it helped us get through the tiring walk under the sun.

So what's the 7th falls looks like?

You need to check it out by yourself. :) Trust me, it's worth it. Although I could not assure you that you wont get....

Blisters! x_x


Lunch Time!
We arrived around 1:30 PM, and gosh we are starving and tired. So we prepared our lunch (which we bought from the food court inside the resort) and ate sincerely. Ahhhh!! :)

After eating, we decided to take a dip. The water is very cool and the sound of it is so relaxing. I love it there! Serenity. Pollution-free. Heads up though: take it easy with the slippery rocks.

We left the 7th falls around 3 Pm and trekked down to other falls. Along the way, wild flowers caught my attention.


And though we hiked the other way, Mother Nature never failed to amaze me with its beauty.


After 20 minute walk, we arrived at the 6th falls. The 6th falls is less crowded but surely caters for the daredevils. It is 12 feet with strong current and only few would dare ump from the high cliff.


And one of them is...


Phael: My knight in shining aluminum foil with a daredevil attitude.

This part of the 6th Falls is about 12 feet high.


After satisfying his thirst for adventure, we hiked again to check out other falls.

3rd Falls.

After about 5:30, we decided to pack up and fix ourselves. Its time to go home. But before leaving the resort, we decided to drop by the Butterfly Garden.

The Butterfly Garden is located near the Boating Lagoon. Admission Fee is 20 Php. Inside, you'll find taxidermies of different butterflies, beetles, and other insects. Life cycle of butterflies are also shown in diagrams as well as its anatomies.


Taxidermy of Beetles and Butterflies.



And of course, you get a chance to have a close encounter with these beautiful winged creatures.


Us and the butterflies. ♥

Indeed, time flies so fast when you are having fun. We left the resort around 6 PM.

Tired but happy.

We finally made it to Bacolod around 7 PM and decided to have dinner at McDonalds. I really had a great time with Tarah, James and Phael. This is actually our post monthsary celebration. Yay! We're 6 months and counting.


Our next stop: Silay!




Saturday, April 23, 2011

Hours from now...


Hours from now I will be celebrating something special... ALONE.
The mere thought of it make me feel sad already.
Empty. Shallow. Sad.