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NUSTAR Skydeck: How A Sky-High Walk Made Me Love Cebu Again
I don’t drink, don’t smoke, and sure don’t fucking gamble. So the NUSTAR Skydeck, a glass walkway hanging a hundred meters above the most gorgeous casino in the Philippines, was the last place anyone expected to find me on a random Wednesday. And while influencers keep peddling online casinos to people who can’t afford to lose, I despise everything about gambling. But I wasn’t there for any of that. I was there because I was curious. I wanted to see what my city looks like from a hundred meters up. So, is the NUSTAR Skydeck worth the ticket for someone who earns his views the hard way? Is the glass…
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Oslob Paragliding: Why You’ll Absolutely Love Taking The Jump
Google Maps says the drive from my front door to the Oslob paragliding site takes three hours and thirty minutes. It has taken me seven years. Most of that time, I told myself the same lie everyone tells themselves: that there would be time for it later. What finally moved me wasn’t courage. It was the news. Every time I opened social media, it was the same thing. Politics, cruelty, and someone’s certainty that the world was ending. I don’t believe the world is ending. I believe my time on it is short, and I was spending too much of it doom-scrolling my way through other people’s certainty. So, after…
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Batad Rice Terraces: A Dream 10 Years In The Making
You probably think you know how this ends, but I promise you haven’t guessed the half of it. Yes, the Batad Rice Terraces photos you’re seeing are stunning and dreamy. But this wasn’t exactly a picture-perfect trip as you may have imagined. On the contrary, it almost didn’t happen. To make matters more interesting, the rain poured relentlessly the weekend I explored Batad and the rest of Ifugao with a group of complete strangers. So, was Batad worth the long wait and the heavy journey from Cebu? Was it as beautiful as the postcards and textbooks promised? And did I find myself on this solo journey in the Cordilleras? My…
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Mt Tenglawan And The People Who Have To Die On The Climb
Someone dies every time I climb a mountain. I’m responsible for every one of them. And I’m also one of them. I have climbed so many mountains across the Philippines, and I have never come down as the same person who went up. On my climb to Mt Tenglawan, I saw all those ghosts. They were the versions of me who no longer exist. And here’s what nobody tells you about hiking. You don’t just climb a mountain. You also leave someone at the bottom, or somewhere along the trail, or at the summit, staring at a view he thought would fix something. Have you ever come back from a…
