Sagada Part 1 - Bad Decisions Make Good Stories

I hate it if this blog turns out to be a travel blog - so I am staying away from it (don't want to compete with travel blogs, really). However, my next thoughts concern our recent Sagada trip, and since this is the first of a three-part series, I named it Sagada Part 1.

My internet-turned-real life friends leahgirl31 and redgurl have been waiting for my next blog - apparently, I need to come up with a new one every week (that's what you call 'pressure'). Also , I was surprised to catch my college friend-turned-CPA-turned-seminarian Marcwill Lim visiting my blog, checking if there's a new one. So for my three fans (can't say they're loyal), here it is.

My first pet was a dog named Kulet. He's a brown askal (slang for 'streetdog with no particular breed') with long fur, but occasionally they get replaced by sores, sometimes with small white worms on them. He's been my best friend when I was a kid - we're talking about 6- 11 years old. On the day he died, I didn't get the chance to see him, because I was in school, and when I got home, he's already inside a plastic bag (that's where our housemaid put him) and was thrown around 200 meters from our house. Meanwhile, Kulet's wife, a black askal named Rap-rap, had may offsprings. Some cute, some look horrible. Oftentimes we gave them away; sometimes we sold them - depends on the times, you know...

Then came my last  pet dog - Abraham (named after my youngest brother's classmate) who I really loved so much. After I left for abroad, he stopped eating taho every morning. He grew weak, and finally died just two weeks before I came home - sad isn't it? My brother was telling me that he thinks Abraham was waiting for me to come home. He struggled till his last breath- extending his front leg and reaching out his paw forward then falling into an eternal sleep. ( When he was puppy, I taught him how to shake hands (or paws) and I really think that that's what he was doing, thinking I'll come back).

No, I was not crying when I wrote this.. (my tear wells have all dried up bwahahaha). I am soooooo over it that I felt I didn't have that much connection with dogs anymore just as before. Just like the moment when at 110kph, we ran over a white dog somewhere in Nueva Ecija - the dog connection that bound me for years vanished in mid-August air. 19th of August to be exact. On the way to Sagada.

So just like in any dog-got-hit-and-run stories, the dog, for sure, died. It was 11 pm,  I think, and we're about 310 kms away from our destination. On my car was me, my buddy Emerson (who drove that night), Leah Anonuevo, Desiree Bionson, and the Legendary Gareth Likigan. Emerson was trying to overtake a car that just slowed down, but too late to realize that it slowed down because there was a dog crossing the street. The dog just appeared ahead of us, probably around 20 meters. Gotta think - try to avoid it or just hit it? These are the factors:

1. A brand new car
2.110 kph
3. a narrow highway
4. a dog
5. Five people inside the car
6. A brand new car (not just any car.huhuhu)

So, we hit it, just as I told Emerson. We can still avoid it, but that would put us into risk of overturning and probably sliding off the road (although Subarus have slip differential functionality).  When we got to Nueva Vizcaya (2 hours after),  we parked in a gasoline station and I looked underneath the car and there was this crack there, possibly from the impact of hitting the skull of the dog. I tried to recall what happened that night, and all I can remember were the dog's eyes, looking directly at me, flashing. Then I pondered - was it a bad decision after all, not telling Emerson to avoid it, or passing through that route instead of the more popular one, or even bringing my new SUV going there instead of just using my old car. Was it a bad decision that caused this crack on my car?

Stopping by for a little pose hehehe

Morning came and we are in the mountains of Mountain Province. On the picture below, you see the three passengers on the rear seat, who just woke up

If, you're looking for Gareth - he's at the further left side. I don't want to tarnish his image, especially to his fans so I didn't try to show it here (bwahahaha)

Further when we're in Sagada, this was how the car looked like:

If my older brother sees this, I'm 100% sure, he's gonna laugh at my stupidity of bringing the car to Sagada. Then he's gonna be pissed off at me once he knew about the 'dog-crack' just below the "For Registration" sign.

So you see, maybe it was a bad decision after all. But I think that, were it not for that decision to just hit the dog (which for the first time, after thinking about all my pet dogs before, I felt like I was a murderer), we might have not experienced this:

That's us and Bretney, the Wild Horse at Marlboro Mountain

Or this:

Or this:

The cast of Heroes in Bomod-ok Falls

And this:

Somehow, my next topic will be related to this. Nice one Sen-Sen, may pang blackmail na ako

And finally this:

(From Left to right) Gareth, Me, Leah, Desiree, Jake, and Emerson. (Above, Left to Right) Benjie and Api-it.
These guys are drunk, hindi lang halata...  I really believe that this photo is priceless...

After being into moments captured by these photos (Don't look for the pictures inside the Sagada Caves, I might run out of stories to tell on the next blogs), I felt that the crack was worth it. Perhaps it was not really a bad decision after all. Maybe it was a good one.

Tonight, I also thought, were it not for the dog who sacrificed his life for our enjoyment, I might not have had a topic that would start this Sagada trip blog. Like what I wrote above - I hate this to be a travel blog. (You see, being a guilt-less dog-murderer is starting to creep through my personality , har har har - evil tone)

Now my car just came out of the casa like it is brand new. Paid none for it as the insurance took care of the bills. And I was left with a good story to tell.

 Like any decision I made in my life, each I have made after weighing several factors. Each I have made after fighting with my own demons, after brainstorming with my brain (if you call it a 'brain'), and asking for signs (they come in the form of Rose Petals, flying cockroaches, or even the solubility of the coffee powder on the cup of hot water). Most of them take days, some months. The song I will sing in a friend's wedding took me 2 months before I picked When I fall in Love. It took me 30 minutes to change my selected course from Political Science to Accountancy. We were given less than two seconds to decide whether to hit the dog or not. Decisions, decisions, decisions!

Yet you see, for every decision you make, there's always something good that comes out of it (though sometimes they are mostly regrets). I've learned that  many times in my life. However, decisions, most importantly, entail thinking about what's really important in your life. And on that split second, in that highway in Nueva Ecija, on the cold mid-August night, I chose not the car, not the dog, not the risk,  and not the avoidance of embarrassment (from my brother). I chose life - and the fun that came after....

So to the white dog... Salut!

Before I go, I'd like to  leave you guys this short prayer:

Lord, when I make a decision, go with me to whichever path I choose. For I believe that on this fork on the road, you are pointing me to the direction where exactly I should go, even if I do not realize it at first.  Amen.


Watch out for the 2nd Part! (There you'll see the caves and  you'll know why the famous guide, Jake Likigan, is extremely suffering as seen below...)

For Kulet, Rap-rap, Joker, and Abraham...


- champ092410


P.S.

Write your comments, reactions on the section provided below. What decisions did you have too much difficulty in arriving into? Share, share, share...

For your eyes only. Ang mang-okray, mamamatay!

Here's Leah, meditating on the wonder in front of her...

Here's the whole group, unfortunately Eveline(brittas99) , the woman in green coudn't come with us. 

Acknowledgements:


I personally would like to thank Gareth Likigan, Jake Likigan, Benji Calpi, Apalit Api-it (sorry for the spelling, I'll correct it when someone reacts), Leah Anonuevo, Desiree Bionson, Emerson Galvez, Eveline Cua, Bretney the Horsey, the Cows, Kuya Kim, Franzen Fajardo, Katherine de Castro, Uma Khouny, Jason Gainza, Katrina Halili, and Daryl Likigan (the one who took the last picture) for their special participation. Again none of them gave me their permission so I hope they don't sue me.