Early morning, of March 25, 2011; the three knocked at my door while I am having breakfast. The three are wearing similar Lasallian shirt! I don’t have any idea about their plan to wear such… but that morning, when they knocked, I was in similar shirt design as well. We were indeed in a unified mood and desire to enjoy rough terrain that time.
Initially, we crossed a shallow river, passed through vegetable farm, orchard, coconut farm, coffee plantation and eventually reached a hut owned by an aged but jolly and warm farmer. In there, we rested for thirty minutes and enjoyed the free coffee that was served to us by the very hospitable man. He introduced himself as Mang Pirying. In his eyes, I saw his willingness and eagerness to meet and at least serve coffee or anything to mountaineers. I guessed then that he was likewise a rough terrain enthusiast. He even share stories about some individuals who visited the mountain in the past… and he still can recall their names. I far as I remember, he mentioned certain Carlos, Gideon, Claire, Paeng and Icel and shared the unique ways on how he met or encountered each one of them. He has a very sharp memory. We left Mang Pirying’s house at 12:15 PM and pushed through with our assault. This time, the trail was steeper but very manageable. We then enter the woods until we reached a shrub and fern shrouded ground where the adjacent Mt. Malipunyo was beautifully visible. At 1:30, we reached the campsite… the beautiful view of Batangas welcomed us! We then set up our tents, fix our things, and eventually enjoyed our packed lunch. After lunch, we rested in our tents while enjoying some light stories and jokes…
At 6:30, I prepared our dinner; I made sure that the food would be nice for them to further appreciate the camping! I cooked fried pork chop, garlic-laced corned beef, nido soup, and sliced the sweet oranges that we brought. It was a fine dinner in a dim lantern light under the dark but star studded sky! After our dinner, when we were about to prepare our sleeping bags, we were invited by a group of climbers who were already camping in the area to join them in their socials. Our group briefly join the fun, exchange stories and laughter.
At 10:00 PM, we decided to rest and proceed to our respective tents. In my tent, I decided to leave the vestibule and the tent door opened to enjoy the gentle and chilling wind while reviewing the things that wrote in my journal during my adventure in Tarak Ridge few months before this climb. I suddenly recalled the matter that was then frolicking in my mind then… the concern of an eleven year old Australian boy whose name is James Anthony Fitzgerald… a young man who was protesting by quitting to do oil paintings simply because he can no longer see his usual subject, the beautiful trees and the garden which was cleared to give way to the construction of a chapel. His very youngish but pure "contestation" is that “God will surely prefer to stay in the garden and under the trees than in a walled chapel”. I fell asleep while continuously imagining the facial expression and the body gesture of the young boy while expressing his young thoughts to their priest.
At 7:30, we enjoyed our breakfast. After another hour, we started packing our things. At 9:00, we started our slow descend. I opted to walk slowly to enjoy the trail and to ensure that my companions would not be frazzled. We arrived at Mang Pirying’s house at 10:00 AM and left some of untouched cup noodles and other food… we then rested for thirty minutes and enjoy the old man’s story. We then continued our journey and reached the trail end at 11:30. We neatened ourselves and waited for a tricycle that would bring us to Lipa City. At 12:30; we then proceeded to Lipa City and have our late lunch in one of the fast food stalls there. Then we took a van to Dasmariñas.
Manabu was a beautiful place to solemnly pray… better than an enclosed chapel.