Packing Suggestions for 271 PCTs

Just a heads up, I've started a living packing list for 271 PCTs. I hope it's helpful to all who read it. I'll add photos as I go along.

Just click on the tab up above to find it!

A Visit To Laguna, With Laguna

Every year my office takes a trip somewhere for some R+R. Last year I didn't get to go as I was still in America, but this year I got to go. We decided to visit Laguna this year. I didn't know much about Laguna before we went but I agreed to go nonetheless, I wanted to spend some quality time with my office. Here's what happened.

Thursday: I payed for the trip (500php but eventually rebated 400php due to trip changes) and promised I would be at the office on time the next day. We were going to leave at 2am.

I left work and as I was riding away from the City Hall compound I heard strained mewing. A few weeks ago I saw a group of new born kittens come out from a roadside bush and retreated from it out because it was overwhelming. That was hard and this time was just as hard. There was a small kitten in the center road median mewing at me. I rode by and eventually stopped to see where the sound was coming from. I stared for a little bit but decided I couldn't grab the kitten, I was again overwhelmed. I just rode home.

After I made it home I had figured out I would go back and get the kitten. I grabbed a box and changed from my work clothes and hustled right back out the door to get the kitten. When I got back to where I had seen the kitten, it was gone. I looked around but the sun and heat was punishing so I left.

After I finished some chores around town and getting back home I went looking again. This time the sun was almost down and the heat reduced. I hoped this would allow the kitten to pop out and mew some more. Again, I did not find the kitten.

I went home sad I had missed an easy chance to get the kitten the first time. I prepared for the trip and was in bed late, 11pm.

Friday: I woke up at 1am. Grabbed all my gear for the day that I'd packed the night before and walked out the door with my bike. At 1:30am it's dark and desolate on the streets of Cabanatuan City. There's not street lights at regular intervals, there's large stretches completely dark. Thankfully the way to my work is easy with straight roads and two turns.

On the final stretch before the City Hall compound I passed the kitten. It was curled up on the far right of the road, against the curb, sleeping. Now I was back to not knowing what to do. I was about to leave with my office for a full day of R+R, what would I do with the kitten?

I decided I would try to figure it out as I went. I picked the kitten up.

I brought the kitten into my office and began doing what I could. First I gave her a rinse, she was absolutely filthy. The water helped but not by much. I eventually got a coworker to give me some shampoo and I gave the kitten a more proper bath. She protested as kittens do in water.

Kitten following the first sink rinse

I soon found out what people in my office think of cats and kittens: not much. Most everyone was confused as to why I picked her up, some were scared to be near her. Dogs are treated poorly here but cats appear to be completely disregarded. I eventually heard from my Counter-Part that it was more to do with her being a street cat (puskal, Pusa [cat] + kalye [street]), if she was a noteworthy breed things may have been different.

After washing her the second time I got her some bedding of shorts from my desk and put that with her in a borrowed waste-basket. Everyone in my office piled into the bus we had chartered and settled in for the long trip to Laguna (3ish hours).

The bus was cold. Since it was night time and the bus had a chance to chill before everyone got on we all found ourselves in a meat-locker. Not seeing your breath cold but it seemed close. This is notable since the kitten was still wet from the bath, this was not her usual climate. Thankfully I brewed a huge mason jar's worth of coffee while I was in the office, this wound up saving the day. I put the hot jar of coffee in the waste-basket, insulated by the shorts and had the kitten right next to it. Her shivers slowed and eventually stopped as she slept.

Mason jar full of hot coffee and the kitten

The ride in the bus would have been a chance for me to rest up while we rode down to Laguna but that was before I picked up a street kitten. I stayed up and kept an eye on her, making sure she didn't crawl out of the basket or get too cold. Before long we stopped at a gas station and I was able to stock up on some food for her: milk and tuna (I've never owned a cat or a kitten, I just assumed one of both of these would do the trick of getting fat and protein to the kitten).

The rest of the day was a series of courtesy calls with a barangays within Laguna and sightseeing. We saw some cool things: old Spanish era City Halls, an underground cemetery, mountain farming, and we spent lunch at a riverside resort. Everywhere I went I had the kitten with me. She just rode along in her shorts-basket.

The underground Cemetary

Mountain farm and vegetable tram

Lunch break at a riverside resort

One of the last stops was at a town that produces hand-made sandals. I was impressed with the selection and quality of the sandals. It's always exciting to find local-made products and even more exciting to be in one of the hubs for such creation. There were dozens of sandal and shoe stores along the streets and you could easily find what you wanted in the next store if the first didn't have what you needed.

The trip was running longer than everyone expected due to overstaying at a couple stops. I was often the first person back on the bus ready to go, once an hour and a half before we left again.

It was around 7:30 when we left what I thought was our last stop but I was informed we had one more place to visit: we were going to a beauty pageant. At this point, having been up for 18ish hours, I wanted to go home. We still had to drive to the pageant and that was another two hours away. Also, my opinion of pageants is that they're boring.

Saturday:

Finally, after the pageant wrapped up and everyone loaded back into the bus we were on our way again. It was about 12am. Everyone was exhausted. There were several co-workers who brought their children and those kids were sacked-out all over the place. I even got some rest thanks to the kitten being a little more comfortable in her basket.

Until I was awoken by a jolt and loud bang. The bus quickly pulled over and the bus driver ran off into the night. Shortly after we had stopped the horn started blaring incessantly; a constant blaring horn. Along with a few others I got off the bus to see what the deal was. Kitten in tow.

What happened sounds ridiculous but here's the story: We were hit by a tire that had detached from another vehicle. The tire came up beside the bus, sheered off the front right of the plastic bumper and bounced up, denting the side of the bus and and cracked the windshield in spectacular fashion. This was all around 2am.

At this point most everyone was exhausted. Some people got up like me, others just looked down the aisle before going back to sleep. No one was hurt and we weren't even going all that fast to begin with. We had to wait around on the side of the road for maybe 20 minutes before we were back on the road again. I never saw any police.

The rest of the ride was uneventful. The bus was damaged but not so that it slowed us down in any meaningful way. We were back in Cabanatuan City by 4am. Everyone filed off the bus and I gathered up my stuff and the kitten and worked it so I could carry everything back home on my bike. I made it through my front door by 4:30am.

The trip was fun and I was happy to see another place here in the Philippines I hadn't seen before. Laguna wasn't even on my vacation or visit radar but it has some great character. The whole trip was really great with allowing me a better chance to bond with my office. I've been integrating slowly and this was a time when I saw people treating me more like a friend, it's what I would consider a big step forward

But What About The Kitten?

MEEEW

Throughout the day people asked me what her name was and I said I didn't know. I had not known her more than a day but my friends all thought she should have a name by now (even just minutes after I picked her off the road). I've named her Laguna after where we while she was dazed and recovering.

What she was like when we got home

She's all cleaned up now and on the mend. She was super dehydrated and starved when I got her. Seeing how playful and lively she is now tells me she was very weak when I first found her. Her first trip to the vet was yesterday and has another scheduled visit in two weeks. She's now ridding herself of worms*. Flea wise I was able to get her a flea collar and pick off the adult fleas and she looks great now.

Day before worm medication and looking good

This is my first cat I've ever taken care of. Now I just need a kitten sitter for this next month (I have training, camp, and so on).

*I've never seen worms passed in person but now that I have I can say they're vile.