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 more: Bakla Conquers Mt Daguldol (Part 1)