a weekend without cellsites and electricity

“Suppose someone has enough to live and sees a brother or sister in need, but does not help. Then God’s love is not living in that person.” - 1 John 3:17

Saturday, October 28, 2006

7am
It was a bright and beautiful Saturday morning, very conducive for conducting the simultaneous outreach activities of DLSZ teachers. Everyone met at McDonald’s ATC, armed with caps, shades, and cameras (plus their respective tools and goods), where different rides waited to take the participants to the various venues. Our group was among the last to leave… let’s ask Ralf why… ;)

So there we were, the chosen few… ten to be exact… Jay, Flu, Denise, Chetty, Pao, Lucky, Ralf, Ruby, Kyra, and I… on our way to one of the most memorable experiences we’ll ever have in our entire lives… to reach out to our brothers and sisters in Canumay, Antipolo.

10am
We were picked up at Antipolo church by the LSVP in a transportation that was more accustomed to the Canumay trail. Ms. Annie apologized for being late because… we were to find that out for ourselves later! The jeep’s appearance was just a preview!

That jeep ride was something!! Let’s just say it can give the Space Shuttle in Enchanted Kingdom a run for its money, with the airiness of Flying Fiesta, the side splashes of Jungle Log Jam (not of water, but mud!!), and the bumps of Dodgem, all minus the safety strap! When we reached the ascending parts of the mountain, the pahinantes braced the wheels with chains for better grip on the mud. In parts when the wheels were stuck in deep mud, they tied a rope to a tree a few meters away and it was attached to a pulley in front of the jeep. They even had to put down the covers on the side windows for the mud splatters! Ms. Annie sat coolly in front while we screamed at every surge because it meant that we had to hold tight to the bars and on to our bags… we were like eggs being thrown around inside the basket!

We finally reached Pagsiko, which was the ‘jeep terminal’ before the trek down to Canumay. My whole body felt sore, but we were only halfway.

1pm
We started walking with all our bags and boxes. I trailed the group because I wanted to walk slowly but surely, focusing on my feet. But when I looked up, I realized that I was missing the lovely view! The hills and fields were green, the breeze was light, and the sun was shining gently. It was my first time to walk through pilapil. After what seems like hours, we reached the LSVP quarters, where the other LSVP volunteers welcomed us. My shirt was literally drenched in sweat, and my shoes were caked in mud.

We literally pounced on the lunch that was waiting for us. My whole body, especially my legs, was trembling from exhaustion. We were lagging behind schedule, so we had to forego a few minutes of rest. Our respective small groups were ready for our activities.

2pm
Chetty, Pao, and Lucky stayed in the quarters to convene the community leaders, while the rest of us proceeded to the basketball court with the kids. (Not another stretch of walking!) Flu, Ruby, and I handled the grade school kids, while Jay, Denise, Kyra, and Ralf spent the afternoon with the pre-school kids.

In the basketball court a few kilometers away, it was full of activities infused with values and lots of fun learning -- story-telling, coloring, singing, dancing, and games. The kids were given prizes of candies and cookies. We discovered that the kids of Canumay were smart, active, talented, and cheerful.

After the activities, we caught our well-deserved rest. We also started talking about our program for the ‘cultural night.’ Then we were one by one brought to our respective foster families. Jay was right when he said that we were not like next-door neighbors – the houses were far from one another! There were houses uphill, far down the road, and farther up beyond more ricefields!

6pm
I was somehow relieved that my family lived right behind Ruby’s. When I arrived, it was almost dark, but people were still outside nagbabayo ng bigas in the common area. One of them was Kuya Willy, the head of my foster family. Inside the house, Lovely, his wife, greeted me warmly. She was already preparing supper, and I wanted to help but it was so hard groping in the dark, with only a small gasera to provide light to the entire house, but Love was so used to it already. I saw another small flicker of light in another room, and I heard a faint crying. Then I realized that there was a baby! Instead of getting in Love’s way in the kitchen, I picked up the crying baby instead. He had colds which made him feel uncomfortable. Later, I helped their two older sons pick grains of palay from the bigas that Kuya Willy had brought in. Imagine doing that with just a small source of light, which you should finish in a few minutes because you will have to cook that for supper.

My foster family
Lovely was 24, Kuya Willy was 35. She was a housewife, he was nagkakaingin. She was originally from Pangasinan, and his family had lived in Canumay eversince. They had been married eight years.

They had three boys: Daboy was five. He was what Love would call matapang and matigas ang ulo. JR, four, was also fondly called Ping, short for pingkiw, because he fell two different times when he was younger and either broke or dislocated both his arms. The most the hilot could do was repair them a little bent to the back. The youngest, Moises, was two months old.

We were told that volunteers had to eat whatever the family served. Fortunately, that night, we had something that I was already used to eating… kalabasa. Over supper, they openly shared with me how their life was, their past, some valuable lessons. After eating, I informed them of the cultural night, but then I realized that I could not force them to join me because of baby Moises. I decided to stay with them in the house. They borrowed an extra katre from a neighbor, where Love, the baby, JR, and I slept under the kulambo, while Kuya Willy and Daboy occupied the other one.

As I lay down, I heard voices from the hill, and thinking that it was the other volunteers and their foster families holding the cultural night, I dozed off…


Sunday, October 29, 2006

2am
I woke up shaking from chill, with no idea what time it was. I remembered how Love reminded me to put on my jacket because it got very cold at night. Since I could not get it from my bag without waking up the baby, I just drew up my blanket tighter.

After that, I woke up probably every hour. The baby was starting to be a little fussy, crying every now and then, and Love would breastfeed him. JR wanted to pee, and before I knew it, the roosters were crowing and I could see light from the cracks on the walls. Love got up to prepare water for coffee. Kuya Willy would be up in a while to leave for kaingin.

I was still in bed when Jay called out to me. They had come for Ruby and me to go to the falls, which we had been planning the day before. While I was preparing, Love said that I must have been really tired from the trip because I was snoring in my sleep! Oh dear, how embarrassing! After a few minutes, Ralf was calling out, so I left without any breakfast.

7am
We met up at the LSVP quarters again, but the others were not able to join us. Flu’s foster sister, Buday, was our guide to the falls. With my legs hardly recovering from the day before, we were again walking, but this time, the trail was more slippery because of the rain that night. Finally, Jay, Ralf, Lucky, Flu, Ruby, and I reached the mini falls. After about an hour of bathing and taking pictures, we headed back.

We returned to our respective families for breakfast or help in the house or pack up. I asked Love where I can take a bath. She said they did so in the poso in the common area… But she offered the nearby common toilet, which had three walls of hollow blocks, and one side covered with sako… with a half-foot gap and which fluttered everytime the wind blew! I got water from the poso and hurriedly took my bath, before the goat grazing nearby decides to charge into the toilet! After packing up, I asked Love to join me to the LSVP quarters for the processing activity, so I can give her the small token we have prepared. Since she also wanted to ask for medicine for the baby’s colds, she left her baby to a young neighbor because Kuya Willy had gone to kaingin, and her two sons wanted to go with us.

9am
It started to rain as the volunteers arrived with their foster parents, so we decided to hold the processing activity inside the quarters. Since two of us were not able to attend the cultural night, we introduced our foster families first. We shared our insights and experiences in our foster houses, and our hosts shared their observations and opinions about the volunteers. I was touched that Love specifically told the group how I was helping around the house. (in the photo you see her speaking, and on the floor is JR)

We started our trek back. It was still raining so the road was more slippery than the day before. There were ‘casualties’ again this time (read: people who slipped on slippery slippers), which includes me… two times at that!! When we reached Pagsiko (I was again among the last), another horrifying jeep ride was waiting for us.

1pm
Our panicky screams again filled the jeep as we passed through waist-deep soft mud almost half of the trip. We stopped over at the river for a soothing wash of our muddy shoes and pants.

Not after being tumbled and tossed in the jeep, we finally saw a glimpse of Antipolo Church again. We had a takeout lunch and freshening up, before proceeding to the DLSZ van (were we so relieved to see Kuya Robert!), but I joined the group only until Guadalupe.

When I was walking up to the MRT, I came across a small puddle of mud, and it instantly caused me to freeze in my tracks! Then I realized that I was no longer in Canumay, but in EDSA. Every muscle in my body hurt while I tried to go up each step to the station, then I remembered one of the thoughts raised in the processing that morning – that we from Metro Manila are no different from them in Canumay, that we all go through our respective difficulties everyday of our lives. It does not follow that we from Metro Manila are ‘better off’ than them in all aspects -- it’s more on how much we value what we have, such as our family, our neighbors, having a dignified source of income. Given their simple lives, they welcomed us wholeheartedly into their homes, offered us whatever they had, went out of their way to accommodate us. The short time that I spent with the people of Canumay taught me to go back to basics, to give up a few conveniences, to cherish conversations, to exercise by walking, to enjoy nature… things that I would normally ignore in my fast-paced routine in Metro Manila. But in Canumay, these are treasures. As we attempted to sing as an offering (but dismally failed!) to our foster parents during the processing activity…

Thank you for teaching me how to love
Showing me what the world means
What I've been dreamin' of
And now I know, there is nothing
that I could not do, Thanks to you

For teaching me how to feel
Showing me my emotions
Letting me know what's real from what is not
What I've got is more that I'd ever hoped for
And a lot of what I hope for is
Thanks to you

No mountain, no valley
No time, no space
No heartache, no heartbreak
No fall from grace
Can stop me from believing
That my love will pull me through
Thanks to You

For teaching me how to live
Putting things in perspective
Showing me how to give and how to take
No mistake we were put here together
And if I breakdown forgive me but it's true
That I'm aching with the love I feel inside
Thanks to you, Thanks to you

(Thanks to you by Tyler Collins)

surfing 101

Sunburn on my shoulders courtesy of a beach trip to Zambales on October 7, 2006! Last minute decision to join MTIA boys. The drive was faaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrr, but the view was worth it! A surfing paradise north of Manila guys.. if you can, go check it out.

Ok, ok, I failed miserably in my lessons, given so patiently by surfer dude JC, but who cares! Unlike some people out there who were able to sustain a wave for a few seconds (congrats po!! caught that on photo!) At least I was able to HOLD a genuine body board and surfboard hehe.
Thanks to everyone who made it memorable! You were a lot of fun! Till the next one..

i learned something (yesterday)…

…and I had to time to write about it only today. That you don’t take diatabs (or any other medicine for LBM) twice within 8 hours, or you’ll get constipated for who-knows-how-many-days.
Before you go “eeeww,” I hope you pick this up because it’s healthy advice. Generally, I have good toilet habits (as in everyday) and you could imagine how upset I was when I had LBM yesterday early morning (from I don’t know where). Aside from the hassle of going to the bathroom every so often, I had to worry about emergencies during my trip to school, and the pain too. So I took this reliable little tablet at 530 am, but it caught up with me again at around 10am! So I asked our school doctor if she can give me another one, and she gives me the advice I quoted above. Neither can she do anything for the “hilab ng tyan,” but she affirmed by decision to buy and take lots of Gatorade for rehydration. So I didn’t take another tablet.
That was yesterday.. can you guess what’s happening to me today?? Now for somebody like me, that’s eeeewww!!

Little rants and raves

Boos!

• I have a pimple!!! On my forehead!! It has been years since I last had a very visible pimple, and I know that this was caused by my super hectic sked and not being able to wash my face before literally falling asleep on the sofa. It’s slowly growing bigger, and it’s being hit by my hair.. which I know irritates it more.
• Exams in UP are coming up!!! (at least in my two subjects) Oh no!! Review na, review na! May papers due pa.. waaaaaaahhh!!!
• It’s a bit hard to be coordinating the Lourdes training program! Nakakaloka!!
• I still cannot find regular time for my “sacredhalfhour..” *sniff*
• After so many years, we were again besieged by floodwaters inside our house, knee-deep at that! Minor casualties were the sofas (but never mind, I still manage to sleep on them mindless of the smell everytime I am dead tired!)

Yays!

• We saw Monster House. It’s not a great movie, but it was worth it, I mean being busy in the office forever, I deserve a breather in the middle of the week.
• It’s almost the weekend.. It’s almost September 24 *wink, wink* I’m quite excited actually. That’ll be the start of it all..
• My friends Dons and Jun are proud parents! Woohoo! Congrats. Actually my friend Imee, too.
• I saw my California-based tita-ninang after sooooo many years (my dad’s second cousin), and guess where.. during my lola’s 99th birthday! Now that’s definitely something to rave about!
• After many years, I have made contact again with an estranged friend from 6 years ago, and my closest second cousin. Haaay.. sarap ng feeling..
• My high school best friend has come back from a successful volunteer trip in Canada. She celebrated her birthday, too (although I still have her gift with me – rant)

5th

The France-Italy finals fell on a day that was quite special for both of us, so Randy made reservations at Vivere Skyline (thanks Donna, for the recommendation! It was really romantic! Luckily, I wore a dress that day, just like you said I should if I went there). The view was fantastic from the top!.. Southsuper, Alabang-Zapote Rd., Metropolis, and ATC!) I absolutely loved the food, I even got a cute toy (Randy and I could not agree on what it is…) from ordering the drink of the day. The service was also very pleasant.

We went down to the lobby at around 930pm, and went up again at around 1230am to get good seats for the game. As other guests started arriving an hour later, we of course took more pix! Once again, I experienced the thrill amongst football fanatics, and I was happy to see that Randy was genuinely enjoying himself.

And then it happened.. the infamous headbutt. Italy fans rejoiced, France fans were dejected (Randy included), but the issue was far from over. However, we had to leave because it was already Monday 6am, and we both had to go to work, smelling of smoke and without proper sleep. I was asleep half the time in the office that day, but I was happy. We even saw each other again that night to continue our “celebration”...

I was grateful to Randy for making all the special arrangements that night at Vivere.. and for letting me into “his” world…I wanted to know more about his interests as I possibly could, and it surprised me that football was not so bad after all. He said that it was not as popular as basketball here in the Philippines because our influences were mostly American and not European, and that were used to the run-and-gun game of basketball, and not yet as patient as a long game like football. No matter, basketball and football are both sports that bring together fans young and old, male and female, Filipino and other nationalities.. that even if there were losers and winners, the experience of playing the game (and watching) would be worth more lessons than anything.

sports blog

I'm not exactly a sporty type of person. One can hardly get me into a regular exercise regimen (not even Randy!! ..probably owing to my thyroid problem), and the last time I remember was PE II in UP!! However, I enjoy almost all sports as a spectator.

Basketball
I was into PBA during the height of its popularity, and my team was… you guessed it…Ginebra! Although the last time I really watched it every night was circa Bal David-Marlou Aquino. I’m getting the hang of basketball again now, because of my students competing in the UAAP and WNCAA!! We were in Araneta during the Juniors’ championship last year, where DLSZ won for the first time ever! (But Atkins lost the MVP-ship to a UPIS guy…boo!) I also try my best to watch my students (boys and girls) playing in different events and in cheerdancing.

Imagine my former students now playing for my alma mater! One of my best-loved Jr.C advisory students is now part of the women’s team in UP! Since La Salle was banned from Season 69, three of the members of last year’s champion team are now playing for UP Seniors, too. I must say they are given the breaks they deserve. I have started to become their fans! Let’s all go to their games to show our support!

Football
Not the football played in America! (which Randy so disgustedly points out!) It was only this year that I had the chance to really appreciate soccer (as some people call it). It was Randy’s “fault” actually. He is such a huge fan, that he says if he were born in another country, he would’ve been a professional football player in Europe. When my 2nd cousin who was also my student was still in high school, he was also part of the soccer team, but I watched him sometimes only.

When my cousin and his family visited from the States a few weeks ago, his Puerto Rican wife asked about standings of the FIFA World Cup, and Randy updated her. I realized that it was such a fad in other countries! Besides, the World Cup was “the most coveted cup” that happened only every four years. She was rooting for Mexico then. (in the photo, she and my cousin are at the back of my pamangkins)

Randy took me to National Sports Grill on June 30 to see the Germany-Argentina game. I thought I would sleep through it (because it would be waaaay past my bedtime, hehe), but I was wrong! The crowd of football fans was so fired up, that I felt tired only after the game ended at past 3am.

Two days after, I watched the replay of the Brazil-France game (Randy loved both teams!), where I saw for myself how amazingly talented Zidane was (and verrrrry cute, too)! As is known by now, France beat Brazil and went on to the finals, which Randy made sure we were going to watch live! (the next part deserves another entry :-))...

in loving memory of ruff

Typhoon Florita will always be memorable to me, because just as most of our fellow Filipinos in Northern Luzon were losing their property, my family lost a dear loved one… our dog for 13 years, Ruff.

Ruff was no special breed; he was an askal with the features of a golden retriever. My soon-to-be brother-in-law gave him to us in the summer of 1993. My sisters and I were so fond of him that we even invented terms that referred to him:
Jelly-jelly: the soft part right under his nose
“Lap-lap” : the sound he makes when he drinks from his dish
“EB” : short for “et-baet” which is further short for “baet-baet” which is what he is when he does not struggle loose when we hold him

He used to stay inside the house, until my first nephew was born, afterwhich my parents constructed a small shed for him in our wash area. He can move freely around it, but my mom also took him for a walk every morning minus a leash, since she was sure that Ruff will never wander away. But when she lost sight of him one day, we were so depressed when he did not show up for 24 hours! The following morning though, my mom heard scratching on our gate, and there was Ruff! She let him in, and he headed straight to the room where my sisters and I slept, and announced his presence! When we saw cuts and bruises around his jaw, we deduced that he was caught and gagged to be sold (or maybe killed and cooked!), but he freed himself and found his way back home to us! He endeared himself to us even more after that!

Ruff’s morning walks became less regular after that, though he had the chance to go out across the street during the yearly inoculation sponsored by the barangay, where he met other dogs in the neighborhood. (He even had a “book,” just like babies for their monthly checkup!) We just contented ourselves with teaching him tricks at the back of our house. He learned to jump at pieces of bread thrown at him, stand on two legs when the bread was held too high, and put his paw onto our outstretched palm at the command “shake!” He also loved being tickled on his belly! But what he couldn’t stand was the sound of firecrackers on new year’s eve! Every year, my parents would give him a bath so he could be tied up in a cozy spot inside the house until the explosions faded.

My sisters married and moved out, but Ruff stayed with us. Every time they came over, he would bark excitedly. (Actually, he would do that every time my mom came home from work, which means he would be given his dinner after a whole day of being left alone in the house.) My nephews have grown fond of him as well and have even called him “Good friend Ruff.”

So, it was sort of far from my mind that Ruff should start manifesting signs of old age: he cannot jump for bread, or see or sniff his food in the dark anymore. Furthermore, I was not quite sure how it happened, but he developed a nasty wound in his groin area, which at that age, would hardly heal anymore. My parents took turns in giving him antibiotics and treating the wound, which luckily, dried up soon after. However, one night, Randy and I were the first to reach home, and found him immobile beside his shed. It turned out that his hind legs were trapped on his platform, and he got soaked in the rain that day! We immediately removed the entangled wood, but when he still didn’t get up, I was worried that he was going to die then.

I saw him walking the next morning, but my mom said his legs were getting weaker. A few weeks after, he was no longer walking and started losing his appetite. On hindsight, I heard him whimpering the past nights because he wanted to shift position or eat, but couldn’t. My parents had to move him and clean up after him because he pooped and peed where he actually lay down! Poor Ruff… my heart bleeds…

On Tuesday, July 11, 2006, when I called home before leaving the office, my mom broke to me the sad news… Ruff had died… my dad discovered when he was about to give him some bread. When Randy and I came home that night, we went to his spot at the back of the house, and true enough, he was no longer there… We sat on the stairs and I wept…. I sobbed and Randy comforted me…

That night I was in my room, which was above Ruff’s shed, but it was eerie knowing that he was not there anymore. It was raining, and before I knew it, I was crying again… that I would no longer see his face pop up on our kitchen screen door, that I would no longer hear his panting and “footsteps,” that I would no longer smell his “doggy smell” (which I like, by the way), I would no longer be able to stroke his brown fur or hold his paw… I was very sad… I was crying because he knew that it was best that he left before the typhoon came… because he would get wet, be more sick, and he would not want to cause more trouble for everybody… I was very sad because he was helpless when he died… not even on all four legs, but down… as though beaten hard by a long-fought battle… I was so sad… so, so sad… our doggy…our Ruff… gone…forever…
I have cried other times for Ruff since then. Now, I try to look at his demise as a wake up call to move on, a challenge to be strong… after all, he has lived a full life… most of all, I look at it as a reminder that everyone around us has a role to play in our lives, they are there for a reason… God sent them to us to tell us that He loves us… and that we should always seize the chance to tell them that we love them… and not just in words… but in genuine actions, too...

sick sick sick sick

i hope nobody else out there is presently sick like me.. i've had this very bad cold since..forever! anyone who knows me would know that i was born with colds. it's not like an allergy or something, it's just that probably, i don't know how to take care of myself that well. i've always had little colds, itty-bitty colds, big colds sometimes that last for weeks, but nothing like this wherein, for the very first time, i was so scared to experience a super headache, that everytime i blew my nose, there'd be a killer pain in my head!! as in. but how can i not blow my nose?? and there were times when i couldn't breathe, i thought i was going to die from lack of air! no kidding. this was the first time. then it developed into a cough with sticky phlegm (i know, i know, i have to go easy on the details, but i just want to describe it as vividly as possible..)

what a way to start the school year. classes in our school will begin june 13, and as much as possible, i want to enjoy the rest of my vacation, or at least grant my body total bedrest. i'm about to enroll in up also, and 1st sem classes will start next week too. my last hurrah for the summer break.. i'd like to share my other adventures after my bicol trip..

May 13, 2006. In spite of the bagyo in Metro Manila and Southern Luzon, our office proceeded to Laguna for our scheduled outing-cum-birthday celebration for 2 of our loved ones. When we reached Monte Vista in Pansol, we were surprised to see that it was overflowing with people!!

When we went home that night, we wished the mommies in our group a Happy Mothers' Day. The following day, it was my mom and Randy's mom. Thanks for all your patience and care.

May 20-21, 2006. Randy's family always goes somewhere for summer. This year we went to Bataan. His sister's friend has a cottage near the beach, and we occupied it for 2 days.

See the big rocks at the corner of the picture? I was amazed when I woke up at around 1am, went to the beach, and found that there were more and bigger rocks exposed because of the low low tide! The edge of the water was like 50 meters away from where it is seen in the photo.

Enough of my escapades for the summer. By the way, we just went to the school doctor, (all of us in the office have the same condition already!) and she prescribed us with antibiotics! That's how bad our viruses are! And, I learned this only today.. it's bad to blow your nose!! What the?? It's because she said it was going against the "normal flow" of the mucus! So that's why the eardrums are getting affected already from the constant blowing (aside from the sugat-sugat noses!). So I asked her what's to be done. You'll never guess what she said.. (wanna know? ask your own doctors, or me..)

Day 2 in Albay: goodbye hotsprings, hello clouds!

It was another long day ahead. After checking out from and having breakfast at the inn, our ever efficient tourguide picked us up to take us to Tiwi, another town in Legazpi. We barely made the 10am mass in St. Lawrence Parish, and when we entered, it was being said in Bicolano! Anyway… (in the pic, there I am right at the entrance!)

Our guide proudly took us to the geothermal plant, which supplied energy to the entire town. It was a breathtaking sight. Then we looked for the supposedly renowned hot springs, and when we found it, the manang was quick to save us the trouble and told us at the entrance, “Baka po hinahanap nyo yung hot spring, wala na po.” We were surprised, but she explained that the geothermal plant has sort of taken all the energy from the springs for around 10 years already. Too bad..

However, Randy read somewhere that Tiwi was famous for halo-halo, so we searched the town plaza for the best place. Tia Lyd’s (since 1958) was a blast, as in! Aside from the grated cheese you see under the big chunk of leche flan, it has…tadaaH! small mango cubes among the other regular ingredients! Ang sarap!

We decided to postpone our lunch until we got back to Legazpi, so we proceeded immediately to Mayon Resthouse, which was halfway up the mountain. Needless to say, malayo sya, paakyat pa! But, the view was spectacular! There was an abandoned inn, a planetarium, a place where you can buy plants and flowers, and a place where you can pray the rosary. The clouds that we saw so high up from the foot of the mountain were like so within our reach in that altitude (as you will see in the picture with the big cross, that’s us so small).

Something else made our trip memorable.. on our way down from the resthouse, our tricycle lost its brakes! As in! They wore out during the long trip up the mountain. Although Kuya Dan did not have extra tools (as he did not foresee this), he resourcefully fixed it and sent us safely down to the bayan.

We did not have time to have a decent lunch, because our bus trip back to Quezon City was 6pm. We quickly dropped by the palengke for pasalubong of pili nuts, visited Kuya Dan’s house to get our bags, and proceeded to the terminal for last minute pancit. We reached Cubao at 6am of May1.

Some tips/lessons (from my own experience):
1. Choose the ‘better’ bus lines that stop at airconditioned eating places that have clean restrooms that do NOT ask for maintenance donations. Yup, get what I mean?
2. If possible, take one day trip, and one night trip, so you’ll have the chance to see the sights along the way.
3. Try to ask reliable friends for the good lodging places, of course we have to take care of our reputations. After all, there are cheap but cozy accommodations around.
4. While it will be convenient to have a service (and tourguide and picture taker at the same time), it will also be fun to discover the different ways to commute around town by yourselves.

Anyone else with Bicol adventures they want to share?

Day1 in Albay: goodbye pouch, hello ring!

We reached Albay just as the day was about to break..the silhouette of majestic Mayon against the morning light almost moved me to tears! I turned to the person beside me to share my emotions -- but Randy was zzZzZzz.. after all, he came straight from work the night before. After settling in a cozy inn (which was recommended by exactly the same group who did the fieldwork there in 1998!), taking a nap, freshening up, and having breakfast, we were taken by our guide to Cagsawa,
the famous church and bell tower which was reduced to ruins during an eruption in February 1814. The full view of the volcano was awesome, partly because there were not much clouds that day.
From one of the souvenir shops, I got a free cell phone pouch (I was so excited because “I love Bicol” was printed on it! You will see it encircled in the photo) for buying 3 sandos for my nephews. We used it for my digicam, but unfortunately, we lost it after around 5 hours in a beach. Huhuhu..

Our guide then took us to Albay Parks and Wildlife, where we took more pictures in the lagoon area and with the animals. This was where I saw for the first time a bird called
bleeding heart pigeon, which can be found only in the Philippines! Check out why (zoom the picture and be amazed!) After a hot and tiring tour, we had late lunch at…tadaaah --- Jollibee Rizal Street! Miss ko kagad ube keso special eh..










We went back to the inn to get swim stuff, and proceeded to Sto. Domingo, a coastal town rather far from Legazpi, where we scouted for a nice resort. The beaches had dark sand, which was typical of areas with volcanoes.

It was almost dark when we went back to the inn. After resting a bit, we went out again at 7pm for dinner. Randy had in mind a somewhat special place, the resto in Hotel Venezia. Kami lang ang andun the whole time! It was a memorable dinner for both of us, for me especially. It was sort of the culmination of a lot of Randy's hard work for the past few months.

So ends our first day in Albay. Watch out for the next part of this blog about this trip..

daragang magayon

MAYON...not the street next to where I've lived my entire life (hehe)..but the breathtaking (almost) perfect cone volcano in Albay..

When I was a project research assistant fresh from college circa 1998, I was thankful to have been given the chance to conduct fieldwork in almost all the provinces in Luzon (as in yes, I was able to go to almost all, from Ilocos Norte, to Masbate, to Ifugao, and even to the very near province of Rizal! Batanes was out of the question because it was rather expensive and a bit risky.) However, my frustration was Region 5..another group was assigned there.

Randy and I vowed that we will go to Bicol ourselves, if only to see the lovely Mayon. During the long weekend of April 28-May 1, he made my long-time wish come true.

Two days before the scheduled trip, I was texting everyone about recommended accommodations and must-sees in the area. Many people replied (thanks Malu, Ricky, Glads, Sir Arnel, Nadj, Iyee, Mon, Rich, everyone!! Although I didn't get to go to all places you mentioned), but Ms. Angie turned out to be our lifesaver! She gave me her sister's number, whose husband incidentally owned a tricycle in Legazpi. He became our tourguide/service/picturetaker for our entire stay there.

We took the night trip from Cubao, and normally, as all my friends could attest to, I am semi-narcoleptic (if there's such a disorder!), meaning, I fall asleep almost on any surface, in any position, at any weather, at any time of any day in any place, almost instantly, very deeply, without dreams, sometimes with snores, even if it's just as short as a ride from Mabuhay Rotonda to our house, or even in the MRT while standing up! no kidding. This trip was different, though.. I found myself waking up every half hour or so! Talk about excitement!

I hope I do justice to the trip as I try my best to describe it here...

A neophyte among experts

Have you ever felt as if you were lost in a vast sea, not knowing where to hold on to?

That was how I felt when I attended iBlog2: The 2nd Philippine Blogging Summit in UP Diliman on April 18, 2006. Everyone around me was like, a true-blue blogger! Good thing I was so interested in the topic that I kept my attention to the speakers and stayed until the very last minute, even if they were all talking alien things (at least to me..)

The 1st keynote speaker, Ms. Rebecca McKinnon of Global Voices, started her address by asking the group how many have blogs, or are interested in blogs. That absolutely made me feel at ease, that I can attend this summit alongside the experts, solely because of my interest, and the fact that I keep a blog (no matter that it is only 2 days old!) Ms. McKinnon's talk focused mainly on how she found blogs important in her job as a (former) CNN correspondent, especially post-9/11. She said that "a blog is more powerful than a webpage," citing a Baghdad blogger who had conflicting feelings about hating Saddam but upset that his country was being attacked, CNN blogger Kevin Sites, and an Iranian guy who published instructions in his blog in Persian to create blogspot accounts.

She also said that audience nowadays want talk back. Bloggers can easily notice if journalists publish wrong information or do not cover events that they think are important. She also said that blogs play 3 different functions: (1) as cafes, where people meet and communicate; (2) as windows, where other people can see other worlds; and (3) as bridges, where people translate their blogs to different languages in order to reach more people.

Another issue she mentioned was that of digital divide, where she said that bloggers who claim that they represent the grassroots, actually do not, because blogging is still elite-dominated, who have computers, internet access, and time to blog.

The Media Blogging track of the summit after the afternoon break pretty much expounded on the same ideas as in Ms. McKinnon's keynote address. Ms. Ellen Tordesillas, a veteran journalist, shared her experiences in using underground blogs to get more information for her articles, especially since they contain inside tips that she can use for her commentaries.

Mr. Erwin Oliva of INQ7 also showed examples of blogs that provided him with stories. He said that bloggers are also being hired by journalists for content, and that blogging has leveled the playing field for all broadcast media, citing the example of an ordinary blogger who was first to publish vidoes of the tsunami in Thailand.

I was in the summit the whole day, and to say that I learned a lot and enjoyed myself is an understatement. After all, I won a globelines broadband kit in the raffle before the day ended!

6750 whoa!

"Seminar on blogging??"
When I was offered one of the slots to this seminar, my first thought was "bummer..." since it would be held right after the Holy Week when we should have been on summer break already. However, it occurred to me that it would be interesting, since I know very little about it practically. Besides, my boss said it would come in handy in our line of work...assessment ---journal writing and all that.

In the Microsoft office on the 16th floor of the 6750 building (with the Starbucks under it, whoa!), Flu, Shiela, and I were warmly received by the people from digitalfilipino.com. From the minute we were given a brief introduction on 'Blogging 101' by Ms. Toral (she showed us different personal and professional blog sites), to the orientation on a 'Safe and Legal Digital World' by the BSA (there were at least 5 ways to commit software piracy, and you can actually be fined and imprisoned!), to the 'awarding' of our school's trophy and medals, the whole morning was quite interesting.

I am definitely looking forward to sharing more of my knowledge from this seminar (to people who are interested, that is..).