DBP Roro Inter-island Adventure Race - Day 7 final

There was about 1800 pesos on the clue envelope. We ran to the first jeep and headed on to the central terminal to get a bus to manila. On the way, i saw a bus with "cubao" on it. I told the group to be ready to go down. The next bus on the road, we flagged down and got on. Bad trip yung bus driver. He was deliberately taking his time and was commenting that if anything happened, he would lose his job so just took his darned time getting to manila. As we got on nga pala, team sikatuna who was strangely behind us ran into the bus too so we were sharing it on the way to manila. They were in the back talking to the conductor the whole time. We were concerned about the stops and the other two teams in front. We saw a bus that was faster and will saw a camera man in it. Now we know that there was at least a team ahead of us. It was a nervous 4 hours on the way to manila. I tried to relax as much as i can. Will got reprimanded by the marshal because he took out his phone to check some info. He didnt really have time to do anything since the marshal was fast but it was really stubborn of him to do so.

We were being told by the conductor to get off mantrade and then take the ayala bus and then get off there to take another bus. That was nasty advice. Luckily i remembered the times that i commute to makati. At mantrade the two teams were off and running. I didnt mind them anymore and just told my team to follow me. I flagged the first bus and got in. The other team didnt go with us this time. (They decided to go up the MRT and take the train to buendia station) The bus was faster :) We got off the MRT station in buendia, ran up the stairs and then down the other side to go to the jeepney stop. There was a jeep just leaving as we arrived. I flagged it down but it only slowed since it was full. I took into consideration that we were 5 so i decided to move on just as we saw the light blue team grab the back of the jeep and hung on. Will wanted to join but i told him to get off. I saw another jeep, empty, moving along. He was on his way home but was heading towards the direction of makati ave. We said we'd pay him just to get there. We managed to talk him into overtaking the other jeep and drop us off near the DBP building. At the intersection, we ran across the street and headed towards the waiting tables where we got the 2nd to the last clue.

We were to arrange the tokens we got from each leg of the race and write them down. Ryza and will struggled with the written thing. I opened my bag and since i was the token keeper, i arranged it in order quickly and they just copied it. We got cleared and was given the last clue. The task was to climb up to the top of the DBP building in makati, get on our harnesses and rappel down the side of the building!! Ive never done that. Ryza is ok with heights but have not done that. Will said he rappeled before. So it was a foot race up the stairs. Yes, no elevator. We got to the top to see the blue team getting on their harnesses. The light blue team was just steps behind us. Ryza said she cant go but i managed to convince her that it was just down the building and a quick run to the pitstop down below to take the win. I dont know why but the "leader" insisted that the most inexperienced and height scared guy should go first (thats me) then ryza then him. Labo since it would have given us confidence to see it done first but i didnt have time to argue. I got down to the cheers of friends. Then Ryza was racing Zaira side by side and then will came down. We then ran around the path around the building and finished... second.

It was an amazing week. I will remember it forever. There was a series of parties with the other teams after and a christmas party on Dec.1. We bonded in our bus and roro trips despite the competition. I miss those guys and im glad we were chosen to be among the 10 out of over 500 teams who applied.

DBP Roro Inter-island Adventure Race - Day 4

Leyte leyte leyte.

This place will forever be quite memorable to me. There was a 4 hour or so bus ride from the cebu port of leyte to the city. We settled at the DBP Office of leyte and was released there after some photo sessions. We were again released according to rank so we left the place 2 minutes after the first team.

I got the clue and read it. "What is the connection between Leyte and Samar?" I just thought of a bridge and the tricycle driver said San Juanico bridge. Our "leader" (since he said he wanted to be the leader.. go figure) asked the tricycle driver the fastest way to get to the bridge. The driver said to take the jeep while trying to get lots of money from us. We wasted time going to the jeep when what we should have done is gave the 100 peso transport budget to the tricycle driver to bring us directly to the foot of the bridge. It was a crazy time at the jeep. First, we had to push the jeep to start. Second, Ryza charmed the driver to letting us ride for free and the passengers to give us more money because we thought we would need more. Third, we were shouting at people at the intersections to let us through. When we got to the checkpoint, we got our clue. Run across the bridge from the leyte end to the samar end. I didnt even know that the bridge connected those two provinces. Anyway, i didnt know how long that bridge was. All i saw was that there was an uphill climb to the top. Our spirits were buoyed by the fact that we saw some people in the organizer yellow shirts at the top of the climb. Just a few meters more to the pitstop!!!... not. It was just a bunch of medics doling out water. At that point, we saw what lies ahead, another 2 km of bridge. It was a really beautiful bridge with an amazing view but since we have to run the stretch and seeing the 3 other teams ahead of us with another team behind, we didnt have time to look at the sights. Peaches said she saw whirlpools in the water. All i saw was that nice tree lined island :) Near the middle, Ryza was saying she cant continue anymore so i told her to ride on my back. For short stretch, i ran with her on my back until i cant anymore. Williamson just kept running ahead and shouting at us to hurry. Great leadership skills. Anyway, Ryza ran some more until she asked for another "lift" which i did but only for a short distance. I looked back to see that the team after us was far so i told her to walk instead of run. I knew that it would suck if she gave up. A team is only as fast and strong as the weakest member. We got to the samar end where the pitstop was after a grueling run. We didnt catch up to the others. Nobody caught up to us also so its ok. We were 4th to finish. The awarding night video showed me running a bottle under Ryza's calves. Elyza saw it and it started a long time of trying to reassure her that it was just work since i am a doctor and if this teammate succummed to pains and stuff,were dead. During the run, Will was telling.. shouting at Ryza a bunch of stuff like how to breathe and to push and stuff. That was when Ryza stopped talking to Will. She would only tell me stuff and i have to tell Will. During the bus stop, i asked Will to try to be more diplomatic and he started raising his voice na which other people saw. Sigh. Can you imagine how much harder the race is from that point on? My two teammates wont talk to each other and i was stuck in between. Good thing was that most of the other teams had aches and pains, my charges were pain free and still in top fighting condition.

Another long bus ride (about 7-8 hours) brought us to Sorsogon where we were to head off to Masbate through a roro ride.

DBP Roro Inter-island Adventure Race - Day 1

On October 6, 2008, I embarked on a once in a lifetime adventure that i will treasure and remember. Among what the organizers said was over 500 applications, my team was chosen to be part of the ten who will participate in this amazing race. The prize is 1,000,000 pesos tax free. It was all expenses paid and we visited 9 provinces, crossed miles and miles of ocean and road, hung out with the best bunch of people around, got treated like VIPs because of the celebrities we were with, LOST 2 inches around the waist, got a tan, and basically had fun doing all the challenges (well, stressed and tired a little too but im the silver lining kind of guy :).

I woke up at 4am that morning because i still need to finish packing, fix my BIR papers for the month, and generally get ready. Elyza picked me up from the house so that i dont have to commute to the airport (sweet no? :) We picked up Williamson on the way. I should have gotten an idea of how things were going to be when 15 minutes before we were supposed to meet, that is when he decides to take his shower. After waiting for him by circling around the block a few times, we went to the airport. I received my nice, FREE, 6 thousand peso Oakley backpack from Will who had his messenger get it. I had my stuff in a plastic bag prior to it haha.

We were the first team at the airport. The other teams recognized us because we were all wearing the same bags. The other bags were red, ours were green. We got to know each other while waiting. Peaches and Derek were the first to arrive after us. They are the nicest, friendliest and charming couple ive met. Then came Jenny and Nitoy, Kat and Kristine, Roxy and Chad, Geoffrey and Geffrey. We got our air port tax stubs and checked in. My pack was 7.4 Kg. Others were over 8kg.

After a few more minutes,we boarded our PAL flight to Tagbilaran, Bohol. First challenge was to endure the body odor of this foreign guy who sat near us. Derek got the worst of it since he sat beside him. Anyway, after over an hour, we were in Tabilaran. The ones who checked in their stuff collected their bags and from that time on, we were herded around like a bunch of kids on a field trip. We rode our first bus to the resort in bohol.

At the resort, we were introduced to the celebrities who will be a part of our team for the next 6 days. Ryza Cenon was assigned to us. A petite, seemingly soft spoken, slender girl from Starstruck of GMA7. We were joined by the team from Bohol and the team from Cagayan de oro. The team from Cebu couldnt fly in or take the roro to bohol due to the storm so they braved the sea by riding in a small fishing boat. They were late but talk about determination! We then checked into our room which had 4 beds, one for each of the team and one for the camera man who will be a silent partner of our team. After settling down, we went to the dining area looking for food. Since the food wasnt available yet for another hour and a half, we ordered some sandwiches and water. The other teams joined us. An hour and 15 minutes later, the sandwiches arrived. Go figure.

After dinner, we settled around the center table and introduced ourselves team by team. Our camera men were introduced to us and the race manual was discussed. After that, we were sent off to get some rest and prepare for the first day of the race.