sunday, april 29 2007 was actually the first time that i went to daroanak pasacao, even though it has been looming at the horizon of the only beach near naga city for my whole lifetime. its this big..uhh..rock..that held such mystical superstitions in our place. some say that when couples go there, they’re bound to break up sooner or later.. to solve this, deejay and i broke up before we went there, haha! we’re back together now..
but when in daroanak, i was immediately awed by the raw beauty of the place. it was beautiful in its own way and quite scary once i think about it. there’s the welcoming side of the island, the coral beach that’s facing the pasacao bay and then there’s the ominous side, the one facing the vast expanse of the sea.
there was really no chance of swimming for the place was inhabited by thousands of sea urchins quite unwilling to let us swim. so we spent our day playing cards and of course..drinking!!
imbibed by our favorite friend, red horse, we decided to go around this big rock. we started at the side of the welcoming part of the hill, hehe. actually, the guys (deejay, traqee, banno and beeto) were asking us not to go with them since going around it is quite dangerous. but they said the magic word, i guess.."mommy, dai na kamo magsunod, ha? baka dai nindo kayanon.." to hell with that! i grew up in monkey bars for god’s sakes!
so, lisa, badette and i decided to go with them. the first climb was not that difficult. you just have to flex your muscles a bit and be strong enough to pull yourself up. beeto and i were even holding contests on who will reach the next peak first. it was that easy. but about halfway through the rock climbing, i realized that the terrain was becoming difficult.
there are higher rocks to climb, the side of daruanak was starting to get steeper, and there are moments that we are too high up on the hill that all that’s holding us is the strength of our legs and our arms. i was scared for deejay, for my friends and for myself. when you look down, all you see are these jagged edges that will surely slay your skin if you fall. it was especially difficult when we reached the stairs in the middle of daroanak. from that vintage point, all you see is the steep outline of the hill. i was mumbling that a boat is just one text away. but we relentlessly went on. there are times when the terrain would demand that you just stay in a sitting position, facing the sea and leaning towards the rock itself as you navigate the side of the hill. and when you look down, you will see the sharp edges of the hill and the ominous deep waters..jeez.. we navigated the rock without safety harnesses, we were wearing just our slippers and half of us were half drunk (the guys weren’t, we were, hehe..).
it was dangerous. but exhilarating, too. the view was really majestic, i tell you. the sun was just beginning to set so the whole beach was flooded in orange light (my favorite color!!) and it was simply breathtaking. our rest periods would be interjected by picture taking and yosi, too. it was really fun. people in boats would pass by and take pictures of us hanging on the sides of the hill. some even took a video of us! they would wave and we would wave back. i think they either thought us too stupid to do it in the first place, or they may have thought why they haven’t tried doing it themselves, hehe.
teng also says that on this side of daroanak, the water is about 300 feet deep.. a lot of things were running through my mind–TBI, SCI, fracture, death..so if i were to fall, i might break a leg or an arm, my face might hit one of the rocks and might gouge my eyes in the process, i might hit my head so hard, i might break my neck, and when i’m paralyzed, i’ll probably hit the sharp corals below and will simply roll out to the 300 feet deep waters where i’ll definitely drown..not a good thing..
about three fourths of the way, the terrain was proving more difficult, more challenging and more dangerous. the effects of the alcohol has long worn off, and i am now not as strong willed as i was when we started. i’m begining to get scared. i was scared that maybe one of us would fall. i was also especially scared for my ex-for-the-day, deejay. it was really steep, and we had to hold on to dear life just to get through it! finally, we came back to where we started, the welcoming side of the coral island. climbing down was difficult,too. the rocks were slippery, and we were running out of yosi, hehe..so seeing the welcoming side was a vast relief for me!
but we made it. and here i am, proud of myself and my friends that we CONQUERED DAROANAK!! so, the lessons i learned from this experience are:
a) be strong. believe that you can do it.
b) there’s nowhere to go but forward so don’t quit.
c) trust in yourself and your friends. you will have to depend on each other when dangerous times come. watch out for each other, protect each other’s backs. never become a traitor to them.
d) make your life more meaningful so that when faced with death, you will not have any regrets.
e) live for the moment, try to enjoy the present. do not live in the past for it will do you nothing good, and limit the times when you have to live for the future for you just might see life pass you by in the process.
f) drink before doing something! it would do wonders to your ego!
g) arm yourself with a lot of malboro reds before embarking on something. it will save you from nervous breakdown, fear and what-not.
h) smile every once in a while. you never know when they’ll be taking pics of you!!
