Ike told me that Big Brother Big Sister (BBBS) Project to which he is affiliated with are now accepting donations for their next project. BBBS is a group of mountaineers who climb up to remote mountain settlements and bring much-needed school supplies to the children there. More here.
The trip took about 3 hours taking us through the South Luzon Expressway, the Star Tollway, several national roads, and finally to the Batangas Port where we caught the 5AM boat.
We were informed that boats are scheduled at 15-minute intervals. To our– and the other passengers’– irritation, “15-minute intervals” actually was just one boat waiting for a whole hour! Thankfully, the boat eventually filled up and finally left the pier and in about 2 hours we were in White Beach in Puerto Galera. Aby– who organized the trip (Thanks Aby!)– and her friend Maica welcomed us to our accommodations.
There was an office emergency today. It was mid-morning when I received a call from the office requesting for help. I called people up one by one but ended up Aby’s the only one available. I asked her if she can go to the office. I felt a bit guilty about her going to the office on a holiday so I decided to also go. I got to the office first. She arrived after a few minutes and we were able to fix the problem. It was just a loose cable. Darned emergencies!
The EZ-Out is a lockback folder with a modified clip point blade that is partially serrated. A non-serrated version was available but I chose the serrated version for the flexibility. The blade has a thumb hole for rapid opening with either hand.
Its handle is Zytel plastic with Kraton rubber inserts to provide better grip. The handle is pretty durable. The Kraton inserts disintegrated over the years and I had to remove them for aesthetic reasons. But the Zytel was still going strong.
Finally, it has a strong clip so it can be secured to your pocket. Unfortunately, it can’t be switched to the other side so if you prefer it on another side, you’ll have to compromise.
The total package is small, light, and handy. You can carry it everywhere. Which is what I did. I carried it at work, at play, to hills, the occasional mountain, caves, swims, and even dives. And through all these it often came in useful: cutting cardboard, rope, vines, wood, preparing food, even for prying. Even when it was not needed, it always gave me comfort that it was there ready for use.
I’m going to miss it.
Rating: 5/5
The alternate plan was to go to Putipot but at the critical last few days, interest kind of waned. So instead I set a dinner with friend and Crissy whose birthday I forgot. Coincidentally, Erwin had a planned trip to Putipot on the same weekend but he canceled to join the dinner.
Come friday, the dinner had to be canceled due to various reasons (read: I don’t wanna dwell into it). Left with nothing to do, I called Bing and Erwin and asked them if they still wanted to go.They did. So at 4AM we were on the way to Putipot.