We had the urge to do something out of the ordinary (like eating and sleeping, among other things) kasi we had the opportunity naman. Needless to say, I planned a surprise trip to visit one of my kabarkada in Los Banos with Karen, since both of us had this homesickness for our friends.

It wasn't as expected. First off, the bus fare was freakin' expensive! I estimated it to be around P50 or something, kase ang pamasahe from Manila to Las Pinas (and vice versa) is only P27. Pero hindeeee. P81 siya, single journey. Almost a hundred. Alam na natin kung saan mapupunta ang lunch money ko.

Pero ayos lang. Para kay Poopie naman eh, minsan-minsan lang naman namin magagawa yun.

Second, I thought uber dali lang makapunta sa UPLB. Pero hindi. Nawala-wala pa kame (salamat kay Pedro), at nakalagpas ang bus sa dapat naming bababaan. Buti na lang nagtanung si Karen kay Mamang Drayber.

I really thought that UPLB would look more.. province-like. Pero it really wasn't. Sa loob ng campus, I mean. Para siyang pinaghalong Ateneo (um, cheaper Ateneo siguro), Pisay at Diliman. At uuuber malawak ang kanilang sakop. Di tulad ng UPM na kaunting lakad lang ay naikot mo na ang buong campus, at pagkatapos ng paglalakad ay sobrang kapal lang ng libag na nakakapit sa katawan mo. Lol.

I really couldn't get enough of the green surroundings. If only the freakin' scorching sun would cool off a bit. Dumating kame dun around lunch time, so shempre tanghaling-tapat. Buti na lang at nagdala ako ng payong.

Walang nagrereply sa mga text ko sa mga tiga-LB kaya hindi namin alam kung saan kame pupunta. Buti na lang after 15 minutes, nagreply si Meryll, and we headed off for her building.

Twasn't really the surprise we'd planned, pero it was pleasant anyway. We got into hugging and chatting almost instantly. And then Meryll had the liberty to give us the tour.

First in our list to see was the infamous Fertility Tree, where lots of college kids do it. Sobrang laki at sobrang low kasi ng branches kaya hindi makikita, so ayun.

Too bad they already trimmed the branches. And no, wala kameng nakitang gamit na condom, lol. At shempre, hindi mawawala ang paporma namin. :)

Ganyan kalapad ang trunk at roots ng Fertility tree. Nakakamangha, hehe. That's Meryll and me.

Me, Karen and the Fertility tree under the scorching sun.

Next stop, ang popular freshly pasteurized milk. I don't drink milk, even when I was a kid. I'd drink only Chokolait (na naging Chuckie, na naging Chocolait), pero hanggang dun lang. Pero one time, Mark brought me milk from UPLB, and I drank every drop from the thick plastic. Ganun siya kasarap. At para makapunta dun sa place, we had to ride an open pedicab, the ones you usually see in CCP pag Saturdays.

Reign, Karen, and the pedicab driver while drinking their milk.