Conquer 13 at Tanay Adventure Camp
Conquer 13 happened last weekend, July 23-24 at Tanay Adventure Camp in Rizal, and it was awesome!
My friend Kat asked me if I wanted to join their group to this certain adventure camp. I instantly said yes upon hearing that there will be zipline, rappelling, wall climbing, and other activities. Though I felt like taking back my answer when I learned that there will also be games--for groups and individuals. I always see myself and not physically fit, and I thought I might just pull down the group if ever. (Truth is, my introversion just kicked in.) But then again, I think I needed this weekend to de-stress. Going out and socializing is good for you, Irish.
Meeting was set at 8 a.m. at Robinson's Pioneer, but we left at 10. I almost got separated from the group since I wasn't issued a conquer ID right away. Good thing this 'popular' kid in our group asked the organizers to keep our group together in one bus. The problem was, they had to fill in all the seats in each bus first, so although we're on the same bus, people in our group seated separately. I found a seat at the backmost part, right smack in the middle of 4 couples who knew each other and were pretty close. In other words, I was out of place.
For two hours the bus radio was blasting Jovit Balidivino, and the couples around me constantly conversed and laughed, so I hardly got any sleep during the entire trip.
Day 1
We arrived at Tanay by 12 noon. Most of us were still pitching our tents when it rained, though it didn't last long. After the rain, we filled our tummies with some bread and meat loaf--somebody's baon. Then everybody was asked to go to the Maharlika Hall (which is like a country-style barn) for the welcoming/opening program.
The first activity for all participants was tree-planting. There were Molave seedlings at the camp and all we had to do was get one each, and put the seedling into the hole by the roadside just outside the camp and cover it with soil. And of course, pose for photos to show the world how we care for the environment. (Okay, that wasn't purely sarcastic.) I do love planting despite the fact that I wasn't gifted with a green thumb. Still, I try whenever I get the chance. As for me and Kat, it's like what we used to do in high school for our CAT slash community service.
The moment we went out of the hall and walked down to get seedlings, Kat was already giddy to do wall climbing and rappelling, so we aimed to get done with the tree planting sooner. Our strategy worked since our group was the first one to go tree-planting.
We finished ahead of the others so we got to try wall climbing with very few people watching us. It was my first time to do it, and I wasn't so bad, I guess. I did it again the next day and it was torture because my muscles were already sore from the day 1 activities.
After wall climbing, we went back to the camp site to check on our companions. Well, we arrived at a bunch of people drinking. I thought it was too early and I still want to try the other activities so I did not drink a single drop. Good job!
We went back to the activity area and tried rappelling this time. Meanwhile, 3 of our boys went off to join the amazing race. While we were up at the tower waiting for our turn to rappel down, we were able to watch the race participants undergo through the last challenge which was the rope world (as we call it) before running down the finish line. Of course, we went to try the rope challenges, too!
After dinner, we all gathered at the hall again for the awarding. There were some games, too, and of course, party! There were bands, booze, more booze, and the good stuff.
This is how my companions roll. The beer was overflowing, but people in our group preferred hard drinks. I went outside with some of the people in the group a little later, when the bingo started where the grand prize is a trip to Palawan. I lost hope even before the game started since I never got lucky with such games.
When we went back inside to check on our group, people were already wild. They party hard, these people. I couldn't think how the ones who played bingo 'til the end stayed sober. They must've really kept their eyes on the prize. After a while, we decided to go back to our tent where we finished what was left of our drinks.
Day 2
After breakfast, we went to try the zipline. We actually waited in line for 2 hours for this 15 seconds experience. Mabenta. We weren't able to go back to the rope world as planned.
After coming down from the tower, I went back inside, just in time for the "Pera o Bayong" game wherein I joined. A little later, I went out again. I was a little regretful when I returned as the Cocktail Mixing Competition just concluded. I could've joined that one! Magamit man lang ang pagiging ~chemist back in college.
But anyway, something big happened during the grand raffle. The "Pera o Bayong" winner didn't get any of the big prizes--a tent and a travel package for a Coron trip so they had to raffle the prizes, and out of over hundreds of IDs, guess whose ID picked? Only MINE. It was so surreal because I rarely win raffles!
Apparently, the year before, the grand prize (tent) winner was also from the same group. As a matter of fact, it was the one she used for this camp. The organizers even joked that our group will be disqualified for the raffle next year to give chance to others. :p
As for me, I kind of wished they'd given me a tent instead of a travel package to Coron. But still, I was ecstatic as I rarely get lucky when it comes to raffles! Thank you to these awesome people for an awesome weekend of adventure!
