Bakla Ako, May Reklamo?

This post is the last entry in a series of entries about my hiking trip to Mt Daguldol. (Part 1 here Part 2 here part 3 here)

Just like Nina, I am blogging about this whole experience not just because of the free stuff that we got from Columbia. The better part of this hiking trip was the adventure itself and the people I went with! Great company, even without great equipment, always makes an experience so memorable and fun!

The morning on top of the mountain was pretty cold, but that didn’t stop me from wearing my linen pants, which I normally just wear on beach trips. And since I felt like I have achieved so much, I decided to claim the world:

Others went for “me” time:

When the morning fog finally cleared out, we headed to the summit (which was like 10 meters or so from our campsite:

After some much-deserved photos at the summit, we headed back to the campsite to pack-up. Before leaving the place, I wanted to have a jump shot of my self so I made several attempts:

Until I finally achieved what I wanted: Read the rest of this entry »

Whenever I get invited by friends for a weekend getaway to Puerto Galera, I never fail to decline. I don’t know why but Galera, or Gaylera as many would put it, is just not that appealing to me. Until two weekends ago when I decided to give Galera a chance and joined my friends for a drinking weekend. I did not feel like swimming in Galera’s waters so I said that I was just doing an overnight stay. Besides, I had other things to attend to that Sunday. The first and only time I’ve been to Galera (prior to this trip) was in 2005. That trip was, for me, a case of bad things happening to good gay people like me. Charot! The banca we were riding on the way to Galera from Batangas pier stopped in the middle of the sea due to some engine problems. The accommodations were really pathetic. My body was non-cooperative by striking me with fever and extreme headaches. Everywhere I went to dine, it took at least an hour to have my food served. It was chaos. That probably was the reason why I never liked Galera. Until that trip two weeks ago.

I have heard so much about Puerto Galera being the gay mecca of sorts Read the rest of this entry »

This post is Part 2 of a series of entries about my hiking trip to Mt Daguldol.

Part 1 here

At 1:00 PM, we started the hike up the mountain. Mt. Daguldol is 670 meters above sea level and is considered by some mountaineers to have a difficulty level of 3 out of 9.

Becca, a friend who went on the same hiking trip a weekend before I did, warned me that the uphill climb was quite a challenge and it took their group (also with Columbia Sportswear) a little over four hours. I will experience first-hand if Columbia lives up to the promises it out on the tags on their products. If they don’t deliver then a bitch-fit will be thrown at every pit stop. I smoked up one last cigarette stick thinking that I wouldn’t be able to smoke for another four hours.

Here’s what I looked like during the first 30 seconds of the hike:

The first ten minutes of the hike proved to be very difficult. It was quite a challenge forme since the last time I went on a sort-of-similar trip was more than a decade ago.

After three minutes of hiking:

Ferdz taking a photo of me taking a photo of him

We arrived at the first rest stop after Read the rest of this entry »

A few weeks ago, my friends Tin, Will, and D invited me and the rest of our colleagues at work to a hiking/camping trip to Anawangin. The photos Tin took on her previous trip looked so amazing that I actually considered going with them. But after finding out that there was a possibility of not being able to take a shower or the absence of a real toilet to answer nature’s call for me, I declined. Another reason was that I did not have the right gear for outdoor adventures like that.

I’m Gay, I Saw, I Conquered!

And as luck had it, the gods from Columbia Sportswear must have heard me talking to myself about the lack of gear. A few weeks after the hiking trip I missed, I received an invite from Columbia Sportswear to join four other bloggers (Phoebe, Jayvee, Nina, and Ferdz) on a “leisure” hiking trip. I was a bit hesitant at first but Ernie convinced me into going. And that, my friends, turned out to be one of the best (if not the best yet) decisions that I have made in 2008!

The whole experience started with pulling out clothes from Columbia Sportswear’s Gateway Branch two days before the hiking trip. I was given the freedom to select items from the racks on my own, as long as they matched the general description on the checklist of “bare necessities” for the trip.

Dino de Leon, Brand Manager for Columbia Sportswear, was kind enough to help me out in selecting from their overwhelmingly beautiful, stylish and functional apparel and equipment. While doing the shopping, the goodlooking Dino (yes, he’s cute and has a girlfriend, lolz) made sure I chose items which were right for my body type and suitable for the hiking trip. This sure is one cool way to “test drive” their products!

Here are the items that I ended up with:

Friday morning came Read the rest of this entry »

Together with four other bloggers, Phoebe, Jayvee, Nina, and Ferdz, I was invited by Kenrich International Distributor Corp. – the distributor of Columbia Sportswear in the Philippines – to “test drive” their apparel and equipment  on a hiking trip to Mt. Daguldol last weekend.

I had so much fun that I can’t seem to put it in words for now. And since it is a lazy Sunday today, I will just leave you with photos of me clad in Columbia Sportswear! (Expect a series of posts, in the next few days!)

Shirt: Hogback Trail Tee (color: Empire Blue)

Pants: Venture Convertible Pant (color: Coal)

Socks: Titanium Pagora – Trail Running

Shoes: Beartooth S8 (color: Peatmoss)

All Items from Columbia Sportswear

Read the rest of this entry »

Contrary to this one person’s belief (this person has continually and relentlessly accused us of using this blog to hook up with men), we don’t.  And this may come as a shock to that person but Bakla gives out a business card whenever he attends events.  And we’re pretty sure that this person, whose mouth is probably bigger than a venus flytrap’s, if he ever gets hold of our business card will use it as an “evidence” to prove their claim. Oh great!

A business card is obviously used for business. And why do you reckon a blogger has to have a business card? Well for one, you can use it to win prizes in raffles.  It is also a way for people (bloggers, marketing and advertising groups), magazines, media, etc. to get in touch with you should they need to transact business with you.  No hanky panky, of course.

In Bakla’s experience working for different industries (the meedia, the music industry, local theater, FM radio, PR, communications,  glossy magazines, artist management), a business card can take you a long way. Read the rest of this entry »

Single fathers, married fathers, gay married fathers, single gay fathers, gay couple fathers, single mothers — whoever you are and wherever you may be,

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!

The image above comes from GQ’s June issue fashion spread titled “a GQ Guide to Being a 21st Centruy Dad.” This photo, which shows a real-life gay couple and their son, appeared without any explanation — just showing the world how gay men can be dads in this modern world.

This is good stuff. In GQ’s latest issue, they’ve done a spread called “a GQ Guide to Being a 21st Century Dad”, a sort of stylish guide to parenting for the modern man.

Oh, I can’t wait to be a dad… Err… I need a partner first.

Image Source 

The Fabulous Aileen tagged me on this topic: What’s your ideal guy like?

At first glance, the topic seems pretty easy to answer. Well, that’s at first glance because when I came around to thinking of traits that my ideal guy has to possess, I couldn’t come up with eight traits. Yes, you’re supposed to list eight traits that your ideal guy must have. For someone like me who has taken a hiatus on dating and has involuntarily vowed to celibacy, this is difficult!

So here goes nothing.

1. Goodlooking
I wouldn’t wanna be a hypocrite and say that it’s not about looks and that looks don’t matter. Hell they do! I wouldn’t wanna wake up next to a shar-pei-looking dude, would I? Mr. Right has to look good from whatever angle so when the paparazzi come clicking away on both of us, I wouldn’t be embarrassed to see my face beside a frug (freaking ugly) dude on the National Enquirer!

2. Independent
Independence seems like a very vague and general term. By independent, I am referring to the financial and emotional state of being. Mr. Right has to be mature enough to handle his own finances and does not depend on his parents to pay for his gas or his pad. He doesn’t need to be rich and pay for my travels (but if he is and he wants to, that will be more than welcome!) as long as he has enough money for his daily subsistence. Mr Right also has to be emotionally independent. He has to be able to decide on his own what movie we’re watching or where we’re dining. He has to be free from the dictates of his friends or family about the most crucial and most trivial decisions of his life.

3. Smart and Witty
He doesn’t have to be intelligent. There’s a big difference between being intelligent and being smart and witty. It’s okay if he goes bankrupt on Jeopardy! as long as he makes the right decisions at the right time. Being smart is being able to think outside the box. Being smart is being logical. And wit is very important. He has to know what words to say and when to say them. I talk and think as fast as the speed of light (okay, not really), so he has to be able to catch on.

4. Great Sense of Humor
Someone who appreciates a wide spectrum of humor – from the silliest jokes to the most intellectual ones (if there are such). He has to know how to put humor in every aspect of human life, because I do. Charot!

Read the rest of this entry »