The Sands of Tim: Sagada Part 2 - Myself and My Other Self

I just finished packing my things when I wrote this. I’m flying again tomorrow, and somehow I’m already getting tired of moving from one place to another, especially if there’s not gonna be much change in the scenario around me in my destination – in my case, I will still be sitting in front of my laptops, piles of paperwork waiting for me, not-so-intelligent bosses hounding me, and (gaddamnit!) chicken for my lunch. The only thing I’m delighted it has never change is Facebook – and I hope it stays free to use for eternity.

So just like what the HL say (HL refer to Indians or Pakistanis – don’t ask me what HL stands for, ok??), everything will be SAME, SAME (pronounced as sem-sem).

I am not complaining. I’m just saying I’m tired. How can I complain against the profession I chose, the source of my income (which will give me baon for my Sagada trip in December), and the giver of the things I give to my ultimate crush(es)? I’ve chosen this life almost similar to a vagabond treading the vast expanse of Sahara desert where the sand at one place is the same as the sand elsewhere (within a gazillion kilometer radius). There’s nothing I can do about it – it’s a choice I made, and all I can do is to suck up all the benefits I can suck, and shut up. Whoa! That’s a good phrase – suck up then shut up (or vice versa).

One time, I heard Myself and My other self talking…

My other self: So how do you deal with it?

Myself: Deal with what?

My other self: You know, boredom? Monotony?

Myself: Easy, I look at things in different ways – just like every stone/rock in

Lumiang and Sumaguing cave, they’re almost the same, but if you look at them at a different angle, you will discover that they form different images. You can fill up your fantasies (even dirty ones) simply by looking onto things at different angles.

My other self: Really? Can you show me how?

My self: Sure, take a look at the photos below and we’ll tackle each one of those

My other self: Great!

Myself

My other self

And so I followed Myself and My other self “below” where a lot of pictures taken during the recent Sagada adventure of Myself are posted.

Authors note: (Sorry guys I have to to do this; again I’m trying to avoid writing a travel blog LOL. But not bad, eh?)

Rice Terraces Formation in Lumiang Cave

Myself: Tell me, what do you see above?

My other self: I see weird rock formation.

Myself: There’s nothing weird on that, it’s the Lumiang Rice Terraces.

My other self: Oh I see! But… where’s the rice?

Myself: (Silence)

Underground pool of water in Lumiang

Myself: How about the one above?

My other self: That’s pretty easy, that’s the studio where Chokoleit played Dugong in the TV show Marina.

Myself: That’s not it!

My other self: I think it is – do you see the one in white sando, that’s Dugong, full of angst.

Myself: (Surprised) Ok, I think you’ve got a better imagination

My other self: Why, who do you think that person appears to be?

Myself: Derek Ramsey…

My other self: (Comes to his senses) I think… I will agree. Sh!t, he IS Derek Ramsey! (Click HERE to see Derek Ramsey's profile)

Rice Granary Rock Formation in Sumaguing

My other self: (Referring to the photo above) Oh I know this one!

Myself: Yeah? What is it?

My other self: A Rice Granary!

Myself: Almost but not quite,

My other self: What is it then?

Myself: A night club dance pole

My other self: You’re shitting me!

Myself: Look closely…

My other self: Oh yeah… and I see the pole dancer right there.

Turtle (According to SaGGas) Rock Formation in Sumaguing

Myself: Ok, I’m sure you know this one

My other self: Yup, that’s a turtle

Myself: How’d you know?

My other self: According to Gareth… I just don’t know how that became a turtle…

Myself: Yeah me too. Still can’t imagine it to be..

The Queen

My other self: (Seeing the picture above) Yuck, that’s gross!

Myself: Yup it is… must be a pervert, tsk tsk…

My other self: Whose LEGS are those anyway??? Gross!

Myself: What legs?!?!?! What the -?!?!?!(No connection was made here between my ‘two selves’)

Right before the "Tunnel"

Myself: How about the one above?

My other self: Oh I see a monster’s mouth… there’s the tounge.. and…

Myself: And?

My other self: The two girls might have tasted so bad… he’s throwing them up…

Myself: Pretty good way of seeing it, but that is actually a womb…

My other self: A womb? No way!

Myself: Yup, it’s an ultrasound image of a womb with twin fetuses in it…

My other self: Ha, ha.. I see it now

Myself: Finally this one.

My other self: Poor guy… he must be having diarrhea.

Myself: No he’s not….

My other self: What, is he starving?

Myself: Look further below.

Jake Likigan and Leah Añonuevo At King's Curtain Formation

My other self: Oh I see, indeed, a picture says a thousand words…

Myself: And sometimes you ‘feel’ it.

My other self: Hahaha… Poor guy indeed.

At this point, Myself and My other self disappeared from my mind. Actually, as I was writing this, I remembered I’ve got to get my clothes from the laundry room or else the desert rats will feast on them. Actually it’s good that they vanished, otherwise the people involved in the picture may kill me if they continue talking and I continue writing their thoughts. And on their behalf, I apologize to these people (I’m sorry guys, you know I don’t mean it.. ). So in reality, the desert rats saved me.

As we all know, life is full of choices. Sometimes, it’s really hard to take one back. When that time happens, all we need to do is to have a different perspective. Just like our adventure in the caves of Sagada. After posing for a picture in on place, we proceed to the next area Jake and Apalit are leading us without knowing what we are going to see. It’s our choice to follow them, and once we did, we couldn’t step back. So we stop by to get pictures, make the most of those rock formations, and enjoy each other’s company. Anyway, all we knew in our hearts, is that we’re going to go out of that cave, save the pictures we took to our computers, and finally make fun of them, like what this blog is doing.

Life is a vine of choices. When you’re uncertain of what you’re going to end up to, stop for a while, enjoy the moment, fantasize and imagine – who knows, you may not be making the same choice again.

I love this very simple prayer. This prayer tells us to seek God and not our own desires as such will lead us nowhere but just back to where we started:

Lord, help me to choose the path that leads me to you rather than the path that leads me to myself.

On the last part of this Sagada adventure story, you will know who the super sexy star behind that tree was. These avid (or should I say morbid) fans were even trying to get a stolen shot of her.