Mi Solo Loco Vida: I saw, I came, I conquered Mt. Malamsimbo... Yeah! (Part 1)

This is probably just the first of a series of fun climbs that I plan of joining in the future. My friend Amie has been aggressively campaigning to Jerwin and I of joining the Ayala Mountaineering Club Inc. (AMCI) this year. She's probably the only friend who blindly believe in the athleticism side of me, although honestly I think that this aspect of myself is just pure pretensions coupled with tons of guts which are clearly manifested in my inability to sustain any physical endeavor except badminton. Amie is also the brains behind our monthly fun runs. The first time I finished a 10K run (and I mean running through the entire race course with hydration stations as acceptable stops only) was also with her. Believe me, this girl is an iron lady. Sometimes I think she has this gluttony for physical activities that entail extreme body aches and she likes dragging friends with her which makes me a viable prey most of the time. Oh don't get me wrong, I don't complain at all. It is always a YES with her. Kaladkarin kasi eh.

I had a lot of apprehensions going to this climb. I was self questioning my ability to endure its physical demands on me thinking that I had no preparations except for the big plate of seafood pasta parmigiano and solo seafood pesto pizza that I feasted in at Avenetto a night before the climb. These carbo-loaded stuffs were indeed great source of energy.

I was already at Citibank at about 5:30 am to meet my fellow first time climbers. Amie decided to pair me up with Alex, a 21 year old half Filipino half Danish guy with abs and muscles. He used to work with the Danish army, was assigned in Lebanon for couple of months or so, and killed countless of rebels... How bad-ass is that huh? I asked him to teach me their language and the first phrase that popped out of my mind was how to say "I am tired!" in Danish... I thought that I could just yell these words at him the moment my brain commands my feet to stop walking. I imagine him running to me and offer to carry my luggage but in a very classy way of course. He will call the Royal Danish Army Special Forces unit for help and request that I will be airlifted to our destination... How cool would that be huh? But of course that was just a wishful thinking. Anyways, as part of the Filipino hospitality I tried orienting the guy about the culture and I guess the most important insight I gave him is how taking pictures has transcend and evolved into a pop culture in our country... And here are the proofs...

This is the first set of pictures taken before the actual climb. (To be continued...)

At Citibank while waiting for Marvin and Cyril...