Fat Choi Getaway

  While the rest of the Chinese world celebrated their new year, I never had the slightest thought of basking on the warmth of my room. I wanted to see mountains and feel the coolness of water. Of course I would never find that at the beach. Only one place crossed my mind. Panibasan - the place I visited when I was still a college student.

     Passing through Mawab, Compostela Valley Province, I began to appreciate once again my father's birthplace. The vast expanse of rice  field always gave me a feeling of coolness as it welcomed the sun's faint heat with its green leaves. However, the road has never changed. It would still offer you the same adventure of a bumpy ride as you try to maneuver the motorbike to avoid the rocks.

     As we reached Barangay Andili, the air is cooler brought by the trees. The same rustic barrio scenario can be seen. Life was still slow yet peaceful. It took around twenty minutes from Mawab proper before we reached the road with a river along its side. Until we reached the spot I have always been dreaming of stopping by on my previous visits by yet no means. This time I had all the means so I never wasted the opportunity. 

Just along the road, we saw a waterfall, so natural and unbelievable as one would think that it was fashioned right on its location just to attract tourist. We climbed the rocky trail and touched the coolness of water. We were almost tempted to take a dip but our nerves cannot take the chilling temperature of the gushing water. Taking picture was enough.

     Not far was another waterfall. To all the waterfalls I have explored by far, nothing compared to this. Still along the highway, a tiny hill filled with moss and flowery plants housed the small cascading waterfalls set by nature. So beautiful that it would make you want to stay there for the rest of the day. It made God the greatest engineer and the most creative landscape designer.

    Then we continued our trail. But what a shock it was for me to see fresh landslide along the road where part of the mountain covered that road making it one-way. One could realize the destructive power of nature and the destructive power of human's exploitation. I hope the beauty I saw today would never lose its lush till the next time I dropped by. A few meters away was an inland resort with spring-flowing water. It was disappointing that nothing has improved, only worsen. The pool was not inviting at all as it was not maintained by the owner. Somehow, I redirected my attention to the mountain in sight with its huge magnificence which reminded me of the underground river of Palawan. That had compensated my disappointment. 

 I could not waste the day being sour. So we headed towards the other side of Compostela Valley and we ended at Toyozu Hotspring Resort after about half an hour ride. It was already noon time and we took our late lunch. It was here that I recently bought honey which I have always been looking for a supply at Tagum City. Now a vendor offered me at P150 for a bottle so I took three. She gave us a bonus we enjoyed a lot. Part of the honeycomb was given to us and we sipped the honey directly from it. At first glance, you would never thought that it would contain the sweet liquid. But as you pricked the individual room of the honeycomb, there flowed the sticky sweet fluid. It was a first time to lick honey from the honeycomb. A first I would always desire of doing again. It was addictive.

    The steam from a distance had been very inviting already. I have learned my lesson from the last time I visited this place. The management would empty the pool at 4:00 for clean-up. So we never wasted time and took the rest of the afternoon at the warm pool made even warmer by the steaming flow of hot water. It would surely make a hard-boiled egg. 

     Its warmth had released the innermost stress of the body and spirit. Truly relaxing. The experience made me dream of another holiday again meaningfully spent. An inch closer to nature made me an inch closer to God.