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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…
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Mt. Makiling And The Rare Rafflesias Most People Will Never See
The graveyard of dreams isn’t filled with people who failed. It’s filled with people who didn’t show up. They are the people who waited for the right time, the right energy, and the right mood. I almost joined them on a Sunday when my body was wrecked from a book signing and an unexpected pitch meeting. Netflix was loaded and the cozy hotel bed was ready. But I dragged myself to Mt. Makiling anyway. So, I hiked for over 20 kilometers on dead legs, running on sleepless nights after a 40-hour work week. And guess what? I saw rafflesias, one of the rarest flowers on earth, blooming for the stubborn…
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Kapurpurawan Rock Formation: The Powerful Lesson The Waves Taught Me
What if the worst things that happened to you were actually sculpting you into something beautiful? I know how ridiculous that sounds. For years, it felt as though my life was falling apart. I used to think I had chosen the wrong career. My marriage ended, and the plans I once believed in collapsed one by one. Then I stood in front of the Kapurpurawan Rock Formation in Ilocos Norte, a natural wonder that has been beaten by wind and waves for centuries. Everything that tried to destroy it made it more beautiful. Maybe I wasn’t breaking at all. Perhaps I was being carved. The Kapurpurawan Rock Formation was arguably…
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Dinadiawan Beach: Why Laziness Is The Ultimate Form of Self-Respect
When was the last time you did nothing and didn’t feel guilty about it? Can’t remember? Honestly, neither could I. Most of us can’t remember the last time we took a break without guilt creeping in. We were all raised to believe that doing nothing is a sin. Recently, I spent a couple of hours in Dinadiawan Beach, Aurora. And you know what happened there? Nothing. I mean that in a literal sense. I stood around, walked along the shore, and took a few photos. That’s it. And strangely, that nothing became the most important part of the trip. Dinadiawan Beach wasn’t the type of beach you see on typical…
For anyone who’s felt a little lost or tired.
101 Letters to Juliet
I wrote this book for you.
101 Letters to Juliet is a philosophy book disguised as a love story — shaped by places, distance, and slow days on the road.