Ondoy,in Bohol, is a term of endearment. It means ondong in Cebu or totoy in Tagalog regions.  But storm Ondoy is no totoy at all.  Ondoy brought 13.4 inches rain in just six hours…that’s a month’s worth of precipitation!

It brought havoc to Manila and surrounding areas. Lives are losts, houses are shattered, food is scarce. This is the time to help our brothers, folks, in whatever way we can. Barrio Siete, spearheaded by Reyna Elena, created a campaign called Barrio Bayanihan for Ondoy Victims. As of this writing, Php 57,970 were donated.

In the spirit of Barrio Siete, we invite you all to join our Bayanihan Fund Drive: Donate to Ondoy Flood Victims. Very simply:

1.) Make a donation to our Bayanihan Fund Drive: Donate to Ondoy Flood Victims. If you can’t, then help us by making this viral and create an entry entitled: “Bayanihan Fund Drive: Donate to Ondoy Flood Victims“. A link to this original entry will be appreciated where your readers can make a donation. Please leave us a note in the comment section if you are joining so we can list your entry, in case the pingback doesn’t work.

2.) Invite other bloggers to join our “Bayanihan Fund Drive: Donate to Ondoy Flood Victims”

3.) We will list the names of the donors in a worksheet, their organization and/or their websites, unless they prefer to be anonymous.

4.) The listing will be updated regularly and will be posted here in Barrio Siete Dot com.

5.) We are only accepting monetary donations in currencies accepted by Paypal.

6.) All donations will be remitted only to the Philippine National Red Cross in Manila. (We have not made any contact with them yet.)

7.) If you prefer: You can make donations directly to the Philippine National Red Cross. Here is the link: Ways to donate

In Barrio Siete, this is where you can make your donation. We will in turn, turn this over to the Philippine National Red Cross.

8.) Reyna Elena’s entry on Ondoy here is getting a lot of messages from readers asking for help and assistance. If you are reading this, please head over to that entry and respond to some of the questions if you know because it kills me that I don’t know the answer to their questions or their plea for help. Hopefully, there is one here who could help.

The photos and videos I’ve seen in the web are heart-wrenching.  My heart and prayers go out to those poor victims of the storm. This is not the time to blame anyone. This is the time to reach out to our kababayans.

Check out these heart-wrenching photos I’ve gathered from the web:

Photo Credits: Ondoy Tumblr

Kahit may sakuna, nakukuha pa rin nating mag-smile.

Walang pinapalampas si Ondoy, mayaman man or mahirap. Si Christine Reyes daw ito.

Nakuha pang mag-inuman sa labas. Party ba itech? Hehe

Nakakatakot. Imagine kung ikaw yang nirerescue? Or ikaw yung rescuer? My heart go out to some rescuers who lost their lives so save others.

Kawawa talaga.

Pile of trash, house appliances, etc.  Thousands of houses were destroyed…

We need tons of these trucks. Our government should buy more. We should be prepared in times like this. Hindi tayo prepared talaga.

Pinakawawa talaga ang mga bata. I hope hindi sila magkasakit.

Nagpapatawa naman si Ineng. Basang-basa na nga siya, nagpapayong pa. Hehe.

I hope we all learn our lessons – from the government’s point of view to each one of us.

It was still raining drizzles when we woke up the first day. We assumed the dirt road is really dirty and muddy. We waited for an hour before we headed off. My JLC’s car is not a four-wheel drive. You gotta have a 4 x 4 car to survive the nasty roads to the mountains. We took risk and used his car, may insurance naman eh. Lolz

True enough, hindi siya nakaakyat. Hahaha. Sa takot ko, bumaba agad ako. Naka tilt na ang sasakyan, katakot.

Nawala kami! The road we took was not the scenic road. Waaaa. Instead of bumping into foxes, deers and elk, we bumped into cows.. tons of them. Hahaha. Asan na ang magandang bundok! Di marecognize ng GPS kung saan kami naroroon at walang cel signal. Nako po! Pero it was all worth it, I got this beautiful photo of a lake (above). I want to own that house!

Yes, I was here a year ago but I’ve completely forgotten where we went. We went back and took another road. Now, I was familiar. It was the right path then, thank goodness.

Most of my photos I took them from the car, moving that is. Ganyan ako katamad. Ang lamig kasi para lumabas ako. Haha. I never used my tripod which is really necessary to get a good picture. Ang bigat kasi! Sabi nga ng photographer friend ko, the tripod is as important as the camera and the lenses. Waaaaa. Patay! I realized that I can never be a good photographer if I am like this.

So anyhoot, sun came out at around 12 NN. So we decided to take a hike. Haha. I am not an outdoor person anymore hindi gaya noong nasa high school pa ako na sumasali ako sa camping at hiking. The hike to Judd falls was tiresome. It was a mile away yet kapagod! Lolz.

The good thing about it was we got a chance to get a beautiful view/angle of Mt. Gothic. Tingnan niyo naman ang outfit ng JLC ko, parang pupunta lang ng mall. Hahaha. It gets really cold, like freezing cold, like negative degree cold in here during winter. This town gets a lot of snow too that is why this is a popular winter destination.

This shot was taken at Judd Falls. Maliit tingnan noh pero malaki yang falls na yan. Parang malapit din tingnan pero malayo yan. Ang JLC ko gusto atang magpakamatay at pumunta tala sa bangin for a good shot. Ang mokong na to, kung mahulog kaya siya diyan? Paano na ako makakauwi, wala na akong driver? Lolz.

After spending a few hours of that part of Crested Butte, we decided to drive to Lake Irwin. We’ve seen pictures of it from the hotel, so we were so determined to get to there. The question now, is how how de carabao?
We drove and drove until we saw a sign going to Lake Erwin. The town is surrounded by hiking trails, biking trails and camping grounds. Parts of Crested Butte are also part of Gunnison National Forrest. Napakalaki ng forrest na itech! I bet not all of it was explored.

The drive to Lake Irwin was just as nice. I planned to stay there until sunset. I want to take a dramatic photo of the lake with the colors of sunset.

When we got there, it was indeed a breathtaking scene. Ang ganda, the serenity of the place was just amazing. There were some people there camping, fishing and kayaking. Ang sarap nilang tingnan.

We did what we came for, take as much photos as we wanted. Medyo pangit lang kasi, there’s not much light.

If there’s one thing I realized in this trip that is the fact that I can never be a photographer..honestly. I have no patience. Hindi ko inantay ang sunset, we headed back to town. Nainip ako at gutom pa. Natakot din ako na baka gabihin kami sa daan pabalik sa town eh hindi pa naman namin kabisado. I should’ve stayed there and waited. They said, thirty to fifteen minutes before sunset is a good time to shoot a perfect photo. Ang JLC ko lang ang nakakuha ng dramatic photo, ito yun(below). Bwahaha.

We headed back to town and interestingly, we found a shop called Mabuhay. We went it and we were right, it was owned by a Filipina. It was more of an antique store with an Asian touch to it. We saw the Filipina owner but I never got a chance to talk to her as she was busy with a customer.

Kumain kami ng dinner at bumalik na sa hotel namin. I ate a big chunk of steak. Gutom na gutom na talga ako. I didn’t care about getting a good shot. They really have good steak over there, it was worth than getting a really nice picture. Hahaha. As I was eating, I was thinking about the cows that we saw from the trip and ask for forgiveness in silence for eating one of their kind. Lolz.

P.S.
You didn’t see any wildflowers, huh? I mean, not enough! I will tell you in the next post. Thanks for reading folks. If you want to read a summary of my trip, please read it in Barrio Siete.

Barrio Siete, headed by La Kapitana, has a little campaign for the former president, Cory Aquino. We all know that she’s experiencing the toughest time of her life right now. The yellow ribbon symbolizes love and respect to our former president. She needs our support and prayers. We might not agree/please with her on some of her decisions during or after her incumbency, but we all know that she helped us dethroned a dictator. That alone is enough reason to show our respect and appreciation to her.

We humbly invite you to join this tribute to Mrs. Aquino by following these few steps:

1. Create an entry entitled: “Touch a blogger: Tie a yellow ribbon for Cory Aquino!“. A link to the Barrio’s original entry will be appreciated, but is not required.

2. Post a yellow ribbon in your blog for President Cory Aquino. Whatever form of yellow ribbon that your creative imagination can come up with.

3. Invite other bloggers to tie a yellow ribbon for Cory.

Salamat!

Today, I am being featured by Barrio Siete in its “Meet the Writers” segment. Wee!:D

To read my story, click here.

Binabalaan ko kayo, baka lalabas ang sipon niyo upon reading it.

Have a great weekend, Folks!

I was offline the whole weekend. Ganon pala ang feeling if you are detached from the internet world,  you felt lost – behind from all the updates and chikas! Para bang, “Krispin, Basilio asan kayo?” ang drama mo.

One pleasant surprise na bumalaga sa akin this morning is the launching of one lovely,cool,awesome and homey blog headed by the queen herself, Reyna Elena.  And I am happy to be listed as one of the contributors. Pinilit, binayaran, umiyak, lumuhod at nagmamakaawa ako para isali nila ako dito. I am nowhere near the achievements from the rest of the contributors, but we all have one thing  in common — our barrio siete days that we happily looked back to;  our barrio siete experiences that lead us to where we are now; our barrio siete challenges that keep us grounded. For that, it is such an honor to be part of Barrio Siete [dot] com. I thank you Reynz, Silver, Cat, John, KK, and the rest of the group.

What is Barrio Siete ?

This is an alternative collective blog by a group of bloggers who talk the talk, and walk the walk of its target audience — the socio-economic group who do not use pretentious and intellectual language that can not be grasped by ordinary human beings. Sa blog na ito, gagamitin namin ang mga salitang ginagamit sa araw-araw, sa kalye, sa iskuwela, sa bahay at sa opisina.

Everyone is welcome sa barrio! Definitely, barrio siete is not an elitist and does not descriminate.  So, at home kayo sa barrio siete. Please visit, now na!