Our Journey Together (Philippines - Mt. Ulap)

They are supposed to be awake late the next day but because they have plans to do the Mt. Ulap trek, Shin and Jungye left their hotel room before 7am and walked straight to the jeepney bay.

The hawkers are already busy calling passengers to ride the jeepney.

"Ma'am, Sir, Mt. Ulap? This is the jeepney that will take you there!" the hawker called their attention.

Shin: " how did you know we are going there? " she asked the hawker.

"Ma'am, tourists are always going there, so I thought you will go there too!" the hawker smiled.

Shin: " yes we are!" she smiled at the hawker. He looks like a teenage boy, tall and lanky with a bright smile on his face.

.....

It took half an hour before the jeepney left the terminal. The jeepney is not full. There were some locals and four Caucasian man as passengers.

Jungye and Shin were talking all throughout the ride while Jungye sometimes take photos of the views.

One Caucasian man keeps on looking at Shin. Jungye noticed that the man is looking at her. So he decided to just talk friendly to the man.

Jungye: "hi! are you all backpackers?" he asked the man.

"Yep! we are backpackers but we are not in a group together. I met them when I was in Palawan and saw them again here in Baguio."

Jungye: " that's great. I am Kiel Jungye by the way. I am from Germany and this is my girlfriend Lee Shin."

"I am Nathan from Quebec. Hi Shin and Hi Jungye!" then he extended his hand to shake her hand. Then he looked at his friends and introduce them to Shin and Jungye.

...

They arrived at the school near Mt. Ulap for registration. They waited few minutes for their trekking guide. Nathan keeps on talking to Shin though Jungye is just around and looking at them.

Their guide arrived and told them about the do's and don'ts of climbing Mt. Ulap then they proceed with the trail.

Jungye was talking behind the guide and behind him is Shin, then Nathan and his three other friends.

Nathan and Shin are talking lively about the trail, he asked Shin to take pictures of him whenever they passed by a nice view. Jungye just keeps on looking at his back with his face darkened whenever he see Shin smiling talking with Nathan. He is jealous but she is now his girlfriend. "nah she will not be swayed with that blonde guy." he thought.

.....

They are in the middle of the trail and currently above 2000 masl (meter above sea level) and the way is getting steep. The way is a little tricky because its a vast mountains and if you don't know the way, you will be lost in the middle of the forest.

Nathan: "So Shin, is it hard to be a backpacker and you are an Asian?" the common questions for Asian backpacker.

Shin: "well we are still in Asia and it's not hard for me to enter Asian countries because I am an Asian."

Nathan: "that's good! It's not usual for me to see an Asian backpacker. The other Asian I met while traveling are just traveling for few days or weeks, you are traveling for how many months now?

Shin: " Around five months now. I went to Vietnam first for few weeks, then Malaysia, Indonesia and then more than a month in Vietnam again and now few weeks here in the Philippines"

Nathan: " wow! I've been traveling solo for more than a year now. Is it nice to travel with someone, like your boyfriend?"

Shin: " of course! we met in Vietnam and decided to travel together."

Nathan: "he is lucky to find you along his journey....if only I met you first"

Shin laughed at his joke.

{AUTHOR: is it really a joke?"

Shin: " hahah Nathan.. you're a good joker! Don't let my boyfriend hear that. I don't want him to be jealous."

Little did she know, Jungye is actually paying attention to her despite that he is few steps away from them. He heard all of their conversation and he is really jealous about the attention that Shin is getting from another man.

He stopped walking and waited for them. When Shin was just a step away from him, he quickly gave her a kiss on her lip. "I am getting tired. I need to replenish my energy by kissing you." Then he patted her head gently and gave her another kiss then started to walk again following the guide.

Shin blushed from his sudden display of affection and looked at the man beside him and she smiled. "See I told you, he is jealous and marking his territory."

Nathan: " well, you're not yet married." and he walk fast following Jungye.

Shin was left puzzled and started to walk towards the two men.

...

They reached the peak of Mt. Ulap and each of them stoop at the slanted rock located at the side of the cliff. Shin has been always afraid of heights and looking at the cliff makes her want to puke and her knees are shaking.

Jungye held her hand and told her to remain calm and stand at the rock. "Shin you will not fall down. I will just take photo of you. Trust me, I will not let anything bad happen to you, trust me."

Then Shin just took courage to stand and posed for the picture. After few seconds she started to crawl away from the rock. She is extremely nervous. She stood up she reached the edge, safe and far from the cliff but because her knees are still shaking, she somehow lost balance and tripped. Nathan was the one near her and caught her on time.

Nathan: " hey lady, careful. You are easily frightened." he laughed at her while his arms are wrapped around her waist.

They didn't noticed that Jungye walked faster to them. He cleared his throat and took Shin away from his arms "Thanks for catching my girlfriend on time." Then he pulled her closer to him away

from Nathan. He gave him a last glare of warning. By the look on his eyes, its like saying "she is my girlfriend, don't touch her casually."