Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Finding a new home in Merloquet Falls


Coming from Dipolog City, all tired, and after a bad reception from the Vitali Police Station, I was already having second thoughts of whether I'd push for this trip. Seriously, I never really had an interest with Merloquet falls, but it's just that some travel friends have recommended it a lot, and that I am already in Zamboanga, so might as well push the trip.



From 4am arrival in Vitali, I waited until sunrise for the community to wake up. Not wanting to approach the policemen for any questions, I walked towards the outpost where i was pointed by the locals for the habal service to the Falls.

I have a friend coming from Zamboanga who will join me for this trip, and though i was intending to wait for him, I am dead sleepy. There was nowhere in the outpost nor the highway where I can take a nap, so, I sent him a message that I'll go ahead to the jump off point for the falls, where I'd wait for him. ( I told him I'll ask my habal service to pick him up anyway so nothing to worry about).










There was one house just next to the jump off point, and luckily, the whole family was quite accomodating. Nanay could not talk nor understand tagalog, so we both kept smiling after each other's talking and pretended like we were actually connecting; there were the kids though and his elder son who'd once in a while do the interpretation.



I may be quite sleepy, but, I just have a regular craving for coffee; So, that was the first favor I asked. We kept talking about my adventures in Mindanao, and they kept talking about their lifestyle and living. Later on, I said I'll just get a nap in the shed on the jump off while I wait for my trip buddy. Also, I asked if it's ok to bring in food and cook it at their kitchen, which she, and the family gladly agreed. I then texted my friend so he can get some meat in Vitali (just in the hiway) before coming in.



About 1.5hours nap and I got awaken. I thought my trip buddy will not be able to make it, so instead of waiting, I might want to head to the falls myself. Nevertheless, just before I finish off my wake up cigarette puff, we could hear a motorbike approaching.. it was him and with the meat.






So, after introducing him to the family, and the family to him, I walked to the kitchen and did the cooking. I thought I can go ahead and cook, so that by the time we are back from the falls, we are ready to have lunch with the family. The 2 daughters helped me out and by 11noon, food is good to go. We missed on the number of ingredients though as I have assumed that Nanay had these in her store (such as pepper, etc) but apparently, the store items were rather those she could sell to visiting tourists. Anyhow, they said it tasted well despite about 70% of the supposed spice wasn't there.



The 2 girls took permission from their mom to join us to the falls, and (just like the usual 90s family), Nanay asked the girls to get permission from their dad - A Yes.



We trekked down to the falls took pictures, tried catching some crabs, and later left so we can have lunch. I have assumed Nanay (and Tatay) were probably hungry and are awaiting us for lunch.














As soon as we reached home, the ladies prepared the food. Surprised though that Nanay had eaten, and tatay is asleep. After the luncheon, Nanay's elder son took out Emperador light from the store and asked Nene, the elder of the 2 daughters, to pull out our left over softdrink from the dining table. He was offering me the drink, and while we are supposed to leave, I said,OK, i'll join you for some shots.








As expected, it wasn't just a few shots. Apparently I stayed until we finished the whole 750ml bottle, though that took us less than 30 minutes (by 2pm) to finish. Apart from me and him, we had someone too, a family friend, who drank with us. I promised our habal service though (who has been waiting for us since 1pm) that we'll be leaving by 2pm, and since we knocked the bottle too quickly, I ordered and left them with another bottle.



I left with a promise from Nanay's son that by the time I go back, he'll have available a native chicken for me. Merloquet is not too far after all.


see here for other destinations you can include in your Zamboanga Trip: 11 Islands


2 comments :

  1. "so we both kept smiling after each other's talking and pretended like we were actually connecting" - Hahaha! Was laughing heaps!

    It's good you pushed through. Look at that awesome adventure despite the bumps along the way (literally and figuratively).

    ReplyDelete

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