Back after a hiatus

I haven't blogged nor taken pics in ages. So I figured I'd remedy that with one fell post. Here are a couple of images I made last Saturday with my cameraphone.

List of services at Amigo's Barber Shop, somewhere in Bulacan. Haircuts cost Php 40, with hot towel included. (O ha!)















Yes, this is a dog. Mohinder chomping on a favorite chewy treat.

Waxing poetic in the metro II

The first one almost got me in trouble, but well, here it is.



Me pides sampaguitas... No te envío,
porque, al ir a cortarlas de la rama,
sentí temblar mis manos y mi pecho
prensado por la lástima.

No quiero que padezcan esas flores,
como padece, lejos de tí, mi alma,
no quiero que al contacto de mis manos
perezcan marchitadas.

Humingi ka ng sampaguita... Di kita bibigyan.
dahil nang puputulin ko na sa mga sanga'y
nanginig ang aking kamay at ang dibdib ko'y
nanikip dahil sa awa.

Ayokong magdusa ang mga bulaklak na iyan,
gaya ng pagdurusa ng puso kong malayo sa iyo;
ayokong sa sandaling hawakan ng aking kamay,
iya'y malanta at mamatay....

- Jose Palma (1876-1903)




Si alguna vez la vida te maltrata,
acuerdate de mi,
que no puede cansarse de esperar
aquel que no se cansa de mirarte.

Kung sakaling malupit sa iyo ang kapalaran,
alalahanin mo ako,
dahil hndi mapapagod sa paghihintay
itong walang sawang tumitingin sa iyo.

- Luis Garcia Montero

Remembering Batanes

Seeing the Inquirer 2BU's feature on Batanes (and Jill's fantastic pics) reminded me of my two trips there several years ago. Back then there were no direct flights from Manila to Basco. One had to go to Laoag and fly from there. They didn't sell two-way tickets, for the weather was so unpredictable. On one of our trips back we flew out to Tuguegarao on a cargo plane. The pilot went about town inquiring about passengers who wanted to head out. The flight was scheduled like it was a jeepney trip, arranged almost at the passengers' convenience. (That is to say, the schedule was alas-puno.) There were no seats on the cargo plane - we had to find what little space there was behind the cockpit (I could have easily tickled the pilot's ear had I felt like it), or else sit on Monobloc chairs. I remember I stood and walked about for a good portion of the trip.

I dug up my travel journal and found this entry. I should go back there sometime soon...


Mooning Over Monsoon Country
Batanes Resort, Basco, Batanes.
9:55 p.m.

In about two hours, all lights will go out in the entire island. I shan’t be hearing anything other than the crashing waves outside. Tomorrow I shall rise a half-hour before daybreak, to witness morning light shining upon vast grasslands bound by this angry shore. I sleep and I rise amidst an unspeakably beautiful seascape.

This is monsoon country… is it small wonder that my thoughts now turn to water?

This afternoon I noticed glints of silver along the waters, near the horizon. It was like a cascade of stars tumbling along the water’s folds. Along the shore the continuous flow and ebb of the tides created a calming rhythm. As the waves beat against the sand, a narrow strip of aqua blue appeared and disappeared, distinct against the cobalt blue covering the most part of the sea.

Two days ago, as we approached Chavayan Village in the pouring rain, we saw curtains of rain from the Pacific approaching the coastline, towards the village. It was as if sheets of icicles were being dropped from overhead. Near the coast the water changed to aqua blue as the waves crashed on the shore. The rest of the Pacific was a deep, deep sparkly blue.

I had dreaded the 30-minute boat ride to Sabtang the day before we went, being the aquaphobic coward that I am (well, who wouldn’t be if you didn’t know how to swim?). But when we finally were crossing the South China Sea, I became somewhat mesmerized by the deep blue color that stretched out before and around us. We rode the waves to get to Sabtang. At times the tide would swell, and if one looked to the right, one could see the water level rising higher than the boat’s hull. It was a curious sensation, feeling as if any minute one could easily be engulfed in those deep blue folds of the sea. It would be frightening for a split-second, and then utterly beautiful, the thought of being enfolded in that vast blanket of blue. Mighty curious, how I react to bodies of water. I fear being in it yet there’s something about it that draws me again and again. I love photographing the waters. I love staring at seascapes.

On the way back to Batan I sat atop the motor box the whole time, elevated so as to have a full view of the bow and the approaching island, and to feel the wind against my face. I rode the waves for a half hour and revelled in it.

[The individual pics in the collage above can be viewed better here.]

Waxing poetic in the metro

Last week on the LRT Line 2 I was pleasantly surprised to find poetry on the train. There were posters inside the train with pretty pictures and layouts of texts in Spanish and Filipino. I instantly thought that it must be a project of Instituto Cervantes, one of the most active cultural institutions here in Manila. So I stepped closer and found it was indeed their project. I had a backpack with a laptop strapped to me and only a very short ride, so I messed up the pic. Just tonight I attempted another shot, and again I had a backpack and a quick ride, so this is still blurry but it will have to do (clickie for larger image):

The text reads

Oh Maynila, sa talulot
ng mahinhing liryo isinilang!
mabunying prinsesang nahihimlay
sa bula ng karagatan!

Oh Manila, en la corola
de un casto lirio nacida!
gentil princesa dormida
sobre la espuma del mar!

A Manila
Pacifico Victoriano

According to the Inquirer, Berso sa Metro is a campaign aimed at promoting reading among Filipino commuters and strengthening Filipino-Spanish ties. The works of Filipino (Jose Rizal, Jesús Balmori, Claro M. Recto, José Palma, Evangelina Guerrero, Pacifico Victoriano and Fernando Maria Guerrero), Spanish (Calderón de la Barca, Lope de Vega, García Lorca, Antonio Machado, Luis Cernuda, Luis Rosales, Miguel Hernández and Gil de Biedma) and Latin American poets (Pablo Neruda and César Vallejo) have been selected for us to enjoy. The campaign is planned to run for three months but may be extended depending on the public's response. A quick blogsearch tells me there are people taking notice of (and pleasure from) Berso sa Metro:

I Heart Manila
Let a hundred flowers bloom
Digital Buryong
...and then some
sealed with a kiss
Palaboy
pattypot
Loving Multiply, Multiplying Love
The Coolness that was...

Another poem I spotted was Pablo Neruda's Tu Risa. I messed up the pic (wide shot while sitting, sorry, my aching back!)



but here's the text:

Ríete de la noche,
del día, de la luna,
ríete de las calles
torcidas de la isla,
ríete de este torpe
muchacho que te quiere,
pero cuando yo abro
los ojos y los cierro,
cuando mis pasos van,
cuando vuelven mis pasos,
niégame el pan, el aire,
la luz, la primavera
pero tu risa nunca
porque me moriría.

Pagtawanan mo ang gabi,
ang araw, ang buwan
Pagtawanan mo ang liku-likong
landas sa isla,
Pagtawanan mo ang torpeng
lalaking ito na nagmamahal sa iyo,
Ngunit kapag bubuksan ko
at isasara ang aking mga mata,
Kapag ako ay umalis,
kapag ako ay muling bumalik
Ipagkait mo na sa akin ang tinapay,
ang hangin, ang liwanag at ang tagsibol,
Huwag lamang ang iyong ngiti
Dahil ito’y aking ikasasawi

(They should have acknowledged the translator of all the poems they used. Or perhaps it was indicated in small print, I just didn't see it?)

Now if only they take this bright idea and start posting more of Philippine art and literature. Say, post comic strips in series. Or Philippine art - photographs of paintings, sculptures, and so on. Illustrations from children's books. They can even serialize these, make it a game or puzzle for children and adults alike. Wouldn't that be a treat?

Don't bite the foot that feeds you

Some distance away from Crocodile Island, we stopped at a designated snorkeling area. Kapitan demonstrated how fast the fishies come to feed with his foot. The 3-hour boatride (they call it an “island hopping” trip but in our case, we didn’t actually land on any other island apart from the one we came from) costed us Php 1,500 (which is alright since the regular rate for a 4-hour ride comes to about 2,500 during peak season). Immediately as we arrived at the snorkeling area, they asked us to pay Php 20 each as snorkeling fee. Marvel of marvels, who's the genius who decided to set a toll fee for parking in the open sea? We discussed and wondered later where the snorkeling revenues go. I figured it out: the money goes to the sweldo of the person collecting the snorkeling fee. *snort*

Anyhow, never mind about that. Get this: you snorkel snorkel, watch all kinds of beautiful, colorful sea life. It isn't actually as beautiful as it used to be because of the typhoon Sendang some time ago, Kapitan told us. Anyhow, you snorkel snorkel, you’re just under the surface of the water, yet you feel you’ve entered a different world. After some time you pull your head back for some air, and then you hear a voice say “Ice cream ma'am, pampaalis ng alat.” (trans. "Ice cream ma'am, to take away the salty taste [of the sea water].") Ngek. You’re told that the magtataho should come any minute now. If you prefer buko juice, there's also that other guy over there. So much for quiet island paradise. It felt like being in a parody of an island paradise. No no, don't get me wrong, this is not to say that one cannot enjoy oneself in Boracay. All I’m saying is that if you’re looking for a pristine, virgin island that is largely untouched by commercialism and development, then Boracay is no longer it.

Yeah I hear it hasn't been for some time now, but experiencing it for myself drove the point home. Several years ago when I first came, at Caticlan there was no port, no terminal fees or environmental fees, and hardly any porters. When we got to the island, we jumped out of the boat, into the water and felt the Boracay sand underneath our feet as we walked to the shore, backpacks in tow. The only place to buy souvenirs was the small talipapa which was razed by fire a few years later. We hadn't even been able to get a henna tattoo then because there were very few places one could get them and we didn't see any designs that we liked. Buying accessories meant asking a woman to string some beads right before you, something you actually design and agree on together. There was no d'talipapa, no d'market, certainly no d'mall or Budget (not!) Mart. Going out to the beach meant being able to get from your cottage to your chosen spot without being followed by locals inviting you to go island hopping, or by men and women offering to sell you pearls that you can buy at the Greenhills tiangge for roughly the same price. Ah, those were the days. So no, Boracay isn't what it used to be.

(But psst, I did hear about another white beach called Jumabo Island. It sounds promising.)

Butiking pilak

Lizard pendant in sterling silver,
from the Baguio City public market

The lizard is a common design motif in articles from the Cordillera region. In Igorot mythology it is known to be the messenger of the gods, a link between the spirit world and the earth. Among the lizard's powers is autotomy, the ability to cut off its tail in the face of danger, and to subsequently regenerate a new one. The lizard symbolizes longevity and healing.

(Click here for larger image.)

Soon to make its voyage to my reptile-loving friend :-)