preparing the land

the plaza... again

mayoyao plaza

when early friday morning came to welcome with a warm sunrise and a dispersing fog, it was decided then and there to plot and optimize the day's affairs while the roads leading to the lowland provinces were still precariously set with landslides.




thursday's rains and fog (above) prevented any sort of excursion to nearby terraces and cultural sites. friday's warm welcome (below) set the tone for a long day of discovery in mayoyao.

a bowl of noodles in oscariz

twenty peso van fare from the public terminal in santiago city to oscariz where i took time out from the travel and the sudden downpour of rain to have a bowl of noodles and beer

terraced

topload down

a small section of the mayoyao rice terraces

a fine friday

the rains and the fog cleared.

foggy and rainy morning

even until evening. except for a short glimpse of the mountain side.

nearby, roads are wet. a weather warning in northern luzon, but life still moves on. ordinary as normal is. life moves on, even in rainy days.

on a long commute (continued)

tuesday night, i found myself lugging a backpack and a shoulder pack to victory bus terminal in kamias for an 11pm trip bound for santiago city in isabela. what normally should have been an 8 hour trip became a 14 hour trip as the bus traversed through the north-eastern roads, waited with other passenger buses and trucks along the nueva ecija snake roads to nueva vizcaya as it slowly managed to overcome one landslide after another. after all, i was heading to a still stormy northern luzon, with 'pepeng' storm still lingering along the northern coasts of the philippines.

arriving in santiago city at around 1pm, i quickly boarded a tricycle for the passenger terminal in fourlanes to catch a van passing through oscariz, dropping there to meet up with j. many rounds of beer after, we toploaded a jeepney to pot-ya in alfonso-lista, where we were to wait for the last trip bus to mayoyao. past 4pm, we boarded the bus and arrived in mayoyao at ten in the evening.





now. typhoon signal no.1. rains keep spattering at around 1,245 meters above sea level. the fog allowed us to take a short peek of the view from the lodge. praying for a clear day tomorrow.

today, i lounge it easy, with the slow paced life here, enjoying slow sips of gin with the cool embracing fog.

dead fish

a long saturday haul

when it started raining friday night, it never occurred to us that the long rainfall until next morning would lead to a rise in flood water. it took maybe 3 hours for the flood to rise from feet level to almost waist level.




it took an overnight for the flood to subside and be reduced to a layer of muck.