Looking up

Another one of those the-sky-is-so-blue days.

Cagayan de Oro snapshots

There was no time to do anything, except eat dinner and breakfast, and snap a few shots.

Pearlmont Inn

Kyla's Bistro, Rosario Strip

Limketkai Center

Spruce will doodle!

You know you're in a small city when...

Coming into Cagayan de Oro from the airport, the van passed by Xavier University. That reminded me of S, a CoMundus alumna who was in London a year before me. I had never met her, but she was my contact on Facebook, so I knew how she looked like (from the photos) and that she taught at XU. I did not have her mobile number, so I thought, nevermind.

That evening at Limketkai Center, I saw a familiar face. I waved at her. S recognized me. We exchanged numbers and planned to have dinner two nights later, on my return to the city.

The night of our planned meeting, I had just come from an awful boat trip, where I got very sick. Though I wasn't up for a night on the town, I dragged myself to dinner.

Værsgo.


How about that?

D said the same thing happened to him in Guam. He had planned to meet two of his friends who lived there, but something went wrong with his Internet connection and they weren't able to schedule a meeting. He ran into both of them at the mall.

It's a small world after all.

Some souls

moon framed by leaves

It was the first time we got a parking slot right outside the cemetery on Aglipay Street. It seems everyone had visited their dearly departed the day before. Somehow all the remains of babies were transferred away from the small alley leading up to my late grandfather's "apartment". That's a good thing, since it was rather hard to navigate the already narrow path with all the tiny tombs scattered in the way.

While praying I noticed that while most of the neighbors were buried in the 70s and 80s, the latest occupant of the six-storey apartment only moved in in 2004. I felt sorry for those whose families did not have even a concrete or painted plaque with their birthdates and date of death, only a badly scrawled name in cement. The living can be forgotten just as easily.

I noted that in that small alley, I saw the first names of the artists I'll be exhibiting with--quite notable, given the rarity of Proceso and Melquiades these days. You'd think I'd find a namesake first.

Dropping by to intercede for distant relatives, it was clear that the cemetery had living occupants. There was a rooster caged under a bench. One of our deceased relatives "hosted" a man who collected newspapers and bottles. Maybe we should be thankful that someone keeps the place somewhat neat.

raindrops on the car window

Manila Memorial in Parañaque was a different story. Crazy traffic. Heavy rain. Searching for our dead in the dark with LED flashlights. From a distance, we saw what were probably the Aquino graves. Truly a couple who live on after death.

And it's still film festival season

Don't let anyone tell you it's over. Far from it. Bring on the popcorn.

Australian Film Festival

Brazilian Film Festival

Animahenasyon Pinoy Animation Festival

MAPS

Please come and join us on the opening reception of our exhibit, MAPS, on Friday, November 20, 7pm at Galerie Joaquin.

map to MAPS

We drink blood + Halloween break

"Pa, do you want to drink blood?" I asked my dad while grocery shopping, pointing out this Tipco juice carton. He reached for it and put it in the cart.


It tastes quite like regular orange juice. It's made from blood orange juice concentrate. I'm still a Tipco fan, though. I wish we had a local company like that.


Will be on break. Back by 3rd November. Leaving with you the stuff nightmares are made of.


Just kidding!

Remembering, on Facebook

Before I hibernate for a few days, I thought I had to share this with you.

When I found out that you could tell Facebook about departed users, I knew I had to do it. A college friend passed away last year and though we weren't close, it bothered me that there was quite a bit of information that you could see on his Facebook page. I filled out the form, which I was able to accomplish as most of the required information was available on his profile page. Facebook emailed me to confirm. I don't know how they verify the information, but I hope they did.

Now, instead of seeing all of my friend's actions and information tab, all I can see are wall posts and the usual sidebar with friends and basic info.

Yorick Wilks brings up points about only contacts being able to add tributes and having Facebook executors. We'll see how this works out, in time.

Once-a-fruit masquerading as fruit

My merienda sometime ago was a fruity assortment: a real kiwi from New Zealand, a banana pastry from Japan and a dried mango chewy bar from Robinsons Supermarket (arguably a small country in itself).

I'm all for fresh fruit, but thinking about what the kiwifruit took to reach me makes feel guilty about greenhouse gas emissions, in addition to the P71 price for a pack of three pieces packaged in a rigid plastic container. A banana-shaped pastry, somebody's pasalubong, with banana puree inside tastes great. So does a dried mango cut into a rectangular shape, a supermarket promo giveaway. But neither will ever be as healthy as the original.

*sigh* Let's just have unprocessed local fruit.

Steeg

A very long day: home-SM North EDSA-Cavite-Antipolo-Ortigas-home. But I love long roadtrips for the conversations. Priceless.

Uploading the exhibit invitation soon.

Thought of the (end of the work)day

You know how it feels, running around like a headless chicken. But I'd rather be a headless chicken than a cooped-up one in a henhouse of hundreds. In fact, I quite like running around... :)

Totally unrelated: three kinds of syrup for your waffles. We live for stuff like these.

Starstruck again

I still get starstruck when I see actors I admire offscreen--the first few times, at least. I've outgrown Nonie but not Neil Ryan and Rome.

INT. NIGHT. Cinemanila 2009 at Market! Market. Just before the screening of Dinig Sana Kita, which was shown in the last month Toronto International Film Festival.

I didn't see Zoe, only her dad. I remembered hearing that she missed a test because of the screening at CCP, but maybe she's been to so many screenings already. Some usherettes had their photos taken with Rome, so I didn't feel like a stalker. I walked up to him, signed "hi" (couldn't think of anything else to "say" given my limited sign language vocabulary) and asked if he could understand me. He nodded. He had earphones on (which he immediately took off), so I guessed he could still hear. Dinig nga niya ako, hehehe. He took my camera and shot this.

I look young, yay!

I hope Rome gets another film role and meets his dad someday.

SEACHANGE + Youth Engagement Summit 2009

If you're a Southeast Asian youth leader between 18 and 35, sign up for SEACHANGE and get the chance to go to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the Youth Engagement Summit 2009 on November 16 to 17.

The Youth Engagement Summit, also known as 'YES' brings together leading Global Change Icons, luminaries such as founder of LiveAid Sir Bob Geldof, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, Facebook's Director of Market Development Randi Zuckerberg, Bollywood Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, Former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov, World Bank's former MD Dr.Mamphela Ramphele, the Man known as the Ultimate survivor Nando Parrado, noted former presenter for CNN and CNBC Lorraine Hahn and many more.

This movement is apolitical, non-religious and as one youth put it eloquently aprotocol!

Maki festival

On maki as the ultimate food...
Nakababatang kapatid na lalaki: Ang galing nito. May kanin, may ulam...
Tatay: May dessert pa.

Food shot fail: light dinner for four

Rrred interiors

Keep still!

Serious thought

Tempura Japanese Grill, Mall of Asia

Misinterpretations

We were following this truck as we took as U-turn near Heritage on C-5.

First interpretation: They're a junk shop run by Visayans collecting bottles.
Second interpretation: They're bad spellers who prefer alcohol to women.
Third interpretation: They reverse talkers who prefer lesbians to straight women.

CSI Practice

You know the scenario: something has happened, but it's too uzi to ask what's going on. A week ago, I took the Ayala Loop aircon jeep. Somewhere near the corner of Dela Rosa and Greenbelt 5, there was a police car and photographers. There were many onlookers on the elevated walkway. I couldn't see anything unusual, but on my way back to Glorietta, I passed by the area again. I noticed that:
1) It was too noisy in the block before that street corner. I couldn't hear the podcast I was listening to. Generators.
2) There was no more crowd on the street corner but there were still some people watching from the walkway, as
3) MERALCO men were fixing wires on the poles above
4) There was a section of the street corner that was lined with yellow police tape. There was some blood and some tree branches.

Too easy, no?

The next day, I looked if there was a report about it in Inquirer. None. D texted that it came out in a tabloid. I got it right. Someone jumped from the building and got caught in the wires, cutting off power. Maybe I should try something a little tougher to reconstruct than that. But of course you hope that you won't come across scenes like that more often.

Samurai Geisha Cheer Dance

I love Miyachi Company, the all-Japanese dance troupe (but not exactly all-female) that performs during the yearly Staff Community Fund show. They break some Japanese stereotypes (and reinforce some of them?) and make everyone very happy. Mr. Miyachi should consider staying in the Philippines when he retires next year, otherwise they will be sorely missed.

Jeans recon: tool belt

Inspired by the t-shirt recons on Threadbanger, I looked into my bag of cast offs for a garment to recycle into something else. I found a pair of jeans and thought of what to do with them. Since the jeans still fit me, I cut the lower half off both pant legs so that I still use the top half as shorts.


I thought about a tool belt for when I'm not wearing an apron and I need a pocket for tools.


Cut halfway up both sides of one of the legs, starting from the unseamed area. Fold the front flap forward to make a pocket. Cut the excess fabric from the top and fold in. Cut the back half of the same leg. Sew the bottom (without the seam) end and the sides of the pocket.


I wanted the existing orange seam to show but I didn't have orange thread to complement it, so I kept most of my seams in red thread out of sight. Hiding those stitches took the longest even if I only did an even running stitch (four-ply for extra strength) most of the time.

Snip four evenly spaced half-inch holes below the seamed edge of the leg. These is where the belt will come through. For the belt, cut off the seams all around the other pant leg and sew them together into one long piece. Save the excess fabric for future projects.



Slip your belt through the holes...


And here's the finished product. I think it's useful for anyone working with little tools, from hairdressers to dressmakers, waiters to makeup artists.

More mooncakes

This is the more exquisite second batch from Hong Kong, a little late for the Mooncake Festival. The first one was a set of four in a tin. I ate two of them; my dad ate one. I'm not sure if the last piece survived Ondoy.

Having your pets groomed?

Metrowalk, Pasig City

Five-word summaries: foreign films, part 1

I've seen more non-Hollywood foreign films this year than Hollywood movies. (Even if I missed Pelicula.) I think that's a good thing. I wouldn't say all I've seen are good, but it's good to know that there are other storytellers out there.

The Duchess (United Kingdom)
fashionable woman stuck in unhappy marriage

Flandersui Fae (Barking Dogs Don't Bite, South Korea)
redemption of a dog-killing academic

Kærlighed på film (Just Another Love Story, Denmark)
nosy man in big trouble

Mein name ist Eugen (Rascals on the Road, Switzerland)
mischievous boys on the run

S čerty nejsou žerty (Give the Devil His Due, Czech Republic)
fairytale with cliched happy ending

Must. Eat. More.

I've lost all the weight I gained in Europe and then some. In the past month, I've had two female friends tell me I'm too skinny. My weight mid-September: a little over 94 pounds, about 20 pounds underweight. I didn't notice it because my cheeks don't deflate so much.

I'm working on it.

My goal is to gain 10 pounds by the end of the year. Keeping myself hungry shouldn't be too hard. I just need to look at all my recent food shots. (Thanks, Daks! Do you think you can put on 20 more pounds? Kaya yan!)

White Hat frozen yogurt

Teriyaki Boy Crazy California roll

Thali set quite similar to one I've had before

Isshin sashimi bento

Wet book dumping day and the naked piano

It's been two weeks since wet book dumping day. I only retained a few that I thought were worth saving. I did not want to part with my beloved Little Oxford Dictionary, but it was too stinky to keep.


The pressed boards covering the piano had warped too much because of the floodwater, so my mom decided to strip it. The piano is essentially junk now (though some keys still produce sounds), but until someone hauls it off, we'll keep it around. We might get an electric organ as replacement.

Yellow, you're so corny

Seen in Teresa, cola bottles in yellow cases

Seen on EDSA: a jeep of a fruits and veg dealer packed with corn

Note the corn plants painted beside the ladder

Incheon again

Make your own animation



Make your own animation

Leaving Seoul

A city that knows how to say goodbye. Images taken on the cab ride to the airport.

Random street scenes, Seoul

food delivery

posh neighborhood

the black cube

fountain and statues

today's news

shocker: seeing a shot of the SuperFerry 9 sinking on a screen along the sidewalk

what's your noise level?

a happy building

grand open!

...and random thoughts

There are many art spaces and galleries, but I'm not sure if that's enough cause to envy Korean artists.

There are far fewer pregnant Korean women in the metro than pregnant Pinays on the MRT. Maybe they're avoiding the long walk inside the stations? Our cabbie cleared it up. The birthrate is low, the suicide rate is high. The government is trying to encourage citizens to bear more offspring by giving incentives for a second and third child, like free hospitalization, monthly allowances and preference for apartments. The men die earlier because they drink too much.

Koreans tend to keep quiet. They rarely smile. It might be cleaner and more advanced in their country, but it seems (and our cabbie was willing to bet) that Filipinos are happier. Explain that if you can.

shooting, one of the sports


somewhere in Namdaemun


trees and cars

Toilet stories

[I know what you're thinking: how low can you go? But I promise you this is entertaining and informative and squeaky clean.]

restroom decor, Lotte World Adventure

You can tell a lot about a people by their toilets. I doubt anyone would dispute that.

Korea is place where hygiene freaks will be comfortable. There are few squat toilets left, so don't you worry. And for the most part, they keep their comfort rooms comfortable and spotless.


The first interesting toilet I came across was at Lotte World Duty Free Shop. I suppose it's there to make Japanese shoppers feel at home.


Now this is the ideal public restroom. It's at Namsan Park, on the way to N Seoul Tower. Any guesses what the Korea Toilet Association does?



The washrooms at N Seoul Tower have the best views of the city. Make that the men's washrooms, with the urinals facing that way (photo courtesy of my brother, of course). LOL.


This one at LG Science Hall is the most complex toilet I've seen so far. I would have tried out the buttons if they had translations. Sadly, I cannot read Braille.


This poster inside the CR of the ferry explains the waste disposal system. The name of the vacuum toilet company is Evak (no kidding, Pinoys). They've since changed their name to Evac.

Here's the last and perhaps the least, the plastic-covered seat at Incheon Airport. Push the red button and voila! The plastic goes round and a fresh layer is ready for you.

Cafes, celebs and convenience stores

Three levels of Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf!

Cafes
Yes, you'll see Starbuck and CBTL here, as well as others with interesting names.

Eh?

Celebs
Like home, there are endorsements from everyone.


My brother's skating idol Yuna Kim endorses Smoothie King and Anycall. (Aside: It was cool to see 7D dried mangoes at Smoothie King. And Philippine bananas on the street corner. Mabuhay!). I don't even want to count Rain's endorsements.


C-listers? On the boob tube, there are channels for games, TV shopping and learning. Now this is essential in Korea: spotted on the Learn English program, "I am so drunk" and "Let's get wasted!"

Convenience stores
7-11, GS25 and Family Mart are the most common.

there's one on the boat

Bridges on the Han

A few of the 27 bridges on the Han River.

Olympic bridge, as seen from the metro

Han River cruise

From Yeoinaru station, we walked to the Yeouido dock of C& Hangang Land's pleasure boats for a one-way cruise to Jamsil, the longest of the three routes. It must be much nicer when the cherry blossoms are out, but for the most part, it was a rather boring one-hour ride. Maybe that's why they have themed boats like the Live Concert Boat and Pirates of the Caribbean (below). Could a night cruise be more interesting? Note that the walk to the Sincheon metro station from the Jamsil dock takes a good 15 minutes.

flags


what's your watersport?

The riverside is quite popular with families. There are camping sites and bike routes along the river. Now don't you wish Pasig River could be like this?

too many look-alike buildings



the church on top of the hill