Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Runaway Train of Thought

Sick today. Been sleeping it off since yesterday but woke up at 6:30 a.m. not by choice but because Carol wanted me to take her up to Montalban. Sorry dearie - body not cooperating; that joyride to Pampanga didn't help much either. Throat feels stuffed with steel wool; cough a little better but still hacking up green icky stuff. Ew.

Burned two meals today, breakfast and lunch. Sacrilege! Perhaps was not meant to eat pork (longanisa and humba) today. Ended up with a very heavy helping of minestrone (Carol's recipe, which I made too much of) instead, and later dried fish (espada). Pathetic. And you call yourself a cook.

Had to cancel meeting with Zean tonight. Did some editing for book project though; wrote e-mail to Binx (always a kilometric writing feat). Contemplating on accepting a beauty article (say whut?!) assignment...which requires field research at the malls. Hmmm. Done worse before (can you say cellulite?). Had text conversation with Anson about top secret magazine stuff (not really).

Speaking of text, got an SMS from H today. Attempted to continue text conversation on Yahoo messenger but couldn't read what he was writing. Probably out somewhere playing pool in KC or flying over Ireland or drunk at the Bombardier. Or at a Ford model party with David. Mwehe. Good times. Miss them; miss THEM. Last I saw H was at the O'Hare terminal, backpack full of San Mig Light cans. Last I saw Dave was through the glass window of the ground floor of the Paris apartment, waving goodbye with sad puppy dog eyes. Or maybe that was Savannah, the albino boxer we were dogsitting.

Looking forward to another sleep marathon. Maybe I'll be more coherent in the morning.

Sunday, June 26, 2005

UP Diliman Survey

For lack of anything better to do on this rainy Sunday evening:

Student Number?
85-14360 and proud of it! Hehe.

College? Course?
CMC (BA Broad Comm '89), LAW (LL.B '94), and before that UP Clark AB (MA Asian Studies/Public Ad pero sinipa ang US Bases e, buti nga.)

Nag-shift ka ba/na-kick-out?from what to what college?
Shifted (voluntarily!) from CAL (BS Humanities) to College of Mass Comm. Pre-med course pa sya noon, pero hindi kaya ng powers ko ang Chem 16...at irresistible ang tawag ng showbiz...

Saan ka kumuha ng UPCAT?
Yikes. Auditorium, katabi ng Physics Pav, ng College of Science - one complex lang yun dati, nasa AS pa.

Favorite GE subjects?
Spanish 1, 2, and 3 under Senor Maranan. Anthro 187 - Sex and Culture under Prof. Mike Tan.

Favorite PE?
Swimming

Name your 4 PEs:
PE 1, Swimming, Tennis (o ha), Modern Jazz (double o ha!)

Favorite Prof:
Diane Teotico (RIP), Broad 101 and 103 (Intro to Broad, Radio Production); Evelyn David, Broad 121 (TV Production); Robin Rivera, Broad 111 (Radio Performance) Arno Sanidad, Criminal Procedure; Mike Tan, Sex and...er ok nabanggit ko na yun.

Pinakasikat na Prof:
Malou de Guzman the actress, Broad 124 (TV Performance); Arno Sanidad the Erap prosecutor; Cris Vertido the film director (Film Production Management); Alex Magno the stage actor (Theater Management...talagang feeling manager); Sari Yap the magazine editor (Broadcast Programming); Mike Tan the columnist; Gel Santos-Relos the newscaster (thesis adviser!) at Cheche Lazaro (sa TV internship).

Pinaka-ayaw na GE subject
Nat Sci 2 (nung Physics pa sya!)

Kumuha ka ba ng Wed or Sat classes?
Dehins. Unless walang choice - Wednesday ice-skating kami sa MegaMall hehe. Saturdays, Medical Jurisprudence - na once ko lang pinasukan.

Nakapag-field trip ka ba?
Of course, out-of-town location shoots for our Broad and Film classes kuno hehe.

Orgs/Frats/Soros?
SAMASKOM, IBA, CMC Student Council;
UP Law Portia Sorority, Philippine Law Journal, UP Law Debating Team, Society of Law Students, Paralegal Volunteers Org, UP Law Student Government, Inter-sorority Council, STRAW (Students Rights and Welfare) Alliance

Tambayan?
SAMASKOM tambayan sa CMC, sa lahat ng sulok ng Mass Comm, Goldmine, Celebrity Sports;
Portia Room, Law Lib steps, OLA room, Office ni Tadiar, LSG Room, Org Room

Dorm, boarding house, o bahay?
Bahay. Tambayan din pala ang bahay.

Naka-inom ka ba sa Sarah's o Gulod/ Likha- Diwa?
One time, in 1993 yata, dahil kinaladkad ng Section B, UP Law Class 1994. Sosyal daw ang Section A, sa Trellis, Tia Maria, at sunken garden/lagoon kasi kami lagi.

Paboritong fishball?
Music, Law. Basta may Mountain Dew.

Me suki ka bang bananaQ vendor?
Wala yata. Yung sa SC siguro, lumpiang togue.

First movie na napanood sa FC?
Boatman, uncut, 1986. Yikes, nene pa man din ako nun.

First play na napanood mo sa UP?
Isko sana, pero hindi. I cannot remember. Basta Camino Real was one of first.

Nakapag-date ka ba sa sunken garden?
Ay, oo. Bad trip lang, walang banyo.

Sa lagoon?
Hmmm. Hinde.

Name the 5 most conyo orgs in UP:
SAMASKOM, SAMASKOM, SAMASKOM, SAMASKOM, Section A.

Name 5 of the coolest orgs/frats/soro in UP:
SAMASKOM. San ka pa? Portia syemps. :-) Paralegal Volunteers Org, tsaka STRAW pag inuman time. Alpha Phi Beta nung kapanahunan ni LC Alex Lacson. Astig.

Napunta ka na ba sa fair?
Of courst.

Ano pinakagusto mong gawin sa UP Fair?
Kain, inom. Panoorin Tame The Tikbalang (take note, nood lang - wala na akong pandinig sa lakas ng sigaw)...dahil kaklase ko si Russell nung elementary.

May frat/soro bang nag-recruit sa yo?
Ay oo. Makukulit lahat. Pero ang pinakamakulit ang nagwagi :-)

Saan ka madalas mag-lunch?
MassComm: sa canteen. Pampanguena's sa Katipunan (ka-miss ang inihaw na baboy!). CASAA. Canteen ng Sampa. Sa SM City food court, pag may pera...at pag maraming pera sa Tokyo Tokyo. Come to think of it, di yata kami kumakain masyado noon...inom lang.
Law: Kalimutan ko na yung mura na masarap na kainan sa Katipunan na masarap yung tapa. Thai canteen ni Mommy sa IC. Canteen sa 5th floor Law Center (eat-all-you-kanin). Beach House, kahit araw-araw. Rodic's. The "wall" sa harap ng Nawasa.

Masaya ba sa UP?
Super sa.

Nakasama ka na ba sa rally?
Oh yes. Warrantless Arrests Are Not Da Best! Yankee Go Home! Matindi pa ang mga isyung pinaglalaban noon.

Tibak ka ba?
Only when I feel strong enough about an isyu.

Ilang beses ka bumoto sa student council?
More than I've voted in Philippine elections. I don't think I ever missed an SC election.

Nakipagtalo ka na ba sa prof mo about politics?
Nope. Sa American classmate lang (sa UP Clark pa, tigas ng mukha ko) about US imperialism and the neither-confirm-nor-deny nuke policy ng mga onaks. Buti nga, na-lahar sya. Beh.

Nakita mo na bang tumakbo si Fr. Robert Reyes?
Mabilis masyado e.

Sino ang student council chair nung freshie ka?
Chito Gascon. Nung 2nd year ako, si Kiko Pangilinan. 3rd year, si David Celdran. Celebs! Tander-cats!

Sinamahan ka ba ng parent/s mo nang mag-enrol ka nung freshie?
Eeek. Yata...ng Nanay ko. Hehe.

Nagtaka ka ba kung saan ang TBA?
Duh. Nahanap ko na.

Sino first ever nakilala mo sa UP?
Si Eloisa Gutierrez (if I remember correctly), ang kaisa-isahan kong blockmate sa BS Humanities. Sa Mass Comm (aside from my friends from UP San Fernando na nag-shift din), si Patrick Victor Ramon Arcenas Segovia.

Magkakilala pa rin kayo hanggang ngayon?
Ay, I wonder whatever happened to Eloisa. Si Bong "Sepoi" Segovia ng NSFV Cainta, one of my best k**al friends ko pa rin to this day, living proof na ang La Sallista, magaling talagang...mambola. Este, sumayaw ng strut.

Ano first ever class na pinasukan mo sa UP?
Math 11. Yesssssssss.

Best clothes mo ba ang suot mo n'ung first day of classes?
Syemps. Kadiri!

Pinangarap mo rin bang mag-laude nung freshman ka?
Of course, iba na ang nerd.

E nung graduating ka na?
The greatest relief in my life ang hindi maghabol ng honors. Pero konti nalang, sayang...1.78 GWA.

If I Were You I'd Fall In Love With Me

Heard on a bus to Kabayan - the ultimate song of promises, blind faith...and sheer tigas ng mukha. Actually it's not as bad as the tag phrase makes it sound. Listen to it here:

IF I WERE YOU
Collin Raye

You wanna know where we go from here.
So many roads but none that seem clear.
Is what we have enough to last a whole life through?
Who knows?
Baby, who knows?

So you're asking me "What do we do?"
Time moves so fast and the chances seem so few.
Is it too much to think that we could have it all?
Who knows?
We may never know.

But if I were you I'd promise to live life for all its worth.
Take all that you've been given and leave your mark upon this earth.
Trust your heart to show you everything you'll ever need.
And if I were you, I'd fall in love with me.

So hold me close; I'll kiss away your fears.
I won't promise the moon, but I promise to be here.
What if together it gets better every day?
Who knows?
Baby, who knows?

But if I were you I'd promise to live life for all its worth.
Take all that you've been given and leave your mark upon this earth.
Trust your heart to show you everything you'll ever need.
And if I were you, I'd fall in love with me.

Thursday, June 09, 2005

Amen

"I have found out that there ain't no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them."
- Mark Twain

Fiestas and Five-Star Resorts

Just sent in my Editor's Note for the second quarter issue of Colors. I just realized that I've done more traveling than writing these last six months...which is absolutely fantastic. Lord Byron once spoke about the "advantages of looking at mankind instead of reading about them, and of the bitter effects of staying at home with all the narrow prejudices of an Islander," and I couldn't agree with him more. I suppose I got so sick and tired of vicarious travel through reading and editing contributors' submissions and not being able to travel as much as I wanted, that these last several months have been such a welcome relief. Thank God for His blessings!

I’ve never logged more domestic travel miles than I’ve had over the last six months…and never written so little about all these many journeys. Everything is still tucked away in the journals of my mind or scribbled down in notes that will soon take the form of lengthy essays after they’ve “aged” properly through the passage of a certain amount of time.

In the first half of this year alone, I’ve gone as far south as Zamboanga del Sur to as far north as the Babuyan Islands, to Kabayan in Benguet, Malaybalay and Musuan in Bukidnon, and through the nooks and crannies of Bacolod, Baguio, Bangued. And as far away as possible from the beaten-to-death commercialism of over-trumpeted destinations that limit the Philippine experience to fiestas and five-star resorts. There are 7,107 islands that make up the archipelago, for goodness’ sake.

I suppose this series of trips has confirmed the basic premise that, indeed, I am a traveler who writes, rather than a writer who travels. The difference between the two is immense, and the space for discourse about the fundamental distinction is way too inadequate, so I’ll save it for another time. But I do have a few thoughts, culled over the course of my 2005 expeditions thus far, about travel and travelers and, erm, tourists.

A traveler – or should I say a true traveler the likes of whom I will always regard with the highest degree of respect – must have a certain amount of commitment, which cannot be compromised by the lack of amenities of comfort. For, indeed, it takes a whole lot of commitment to brave five-hour outrigger boat rides in the scorching sun, upon two-storey swells, just to get to an island with no electricity, where the most comfortable sleeping arrangement is under the stars, beside sneezing dogs on a basketball court. Or to willingly undertake death-defying cliff-hugging bus rides to the edge of who-knows-where. And yet, for the traveler, the journey – not to mention the destination and all the many discoveries one makes there – is always, always worth it. This, sadly, is what tourists miss out on.

A traveler refuses to believe silly guidebooks which peremptorily declare that “there is not much to see in so-and-so.” Authors of such books tend to be tourists in the guise of backpacking travelers; they may wear the right outfits, carry the same gear, and even have the same tight budget…and yet they lack the inquisitive spirit characteristic of a true traveler. There is always something to see anywhere – perhaps not a white beach or a majestic mountain, unless those are the tourist-y sights you’ve set your heart upon. As the great G.K. Chesterton once declared, “The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.”

And finally, a true traveler travels light – both literally and figuratively. He leaves behind the excess baggage of a closed mind and spirit, preconceived notions, unfair biases and unreasonable expectations, thereby creating enough space within himself to embrace new experiences, cultures, ideas, a whole new weltenschaung. Travel should always broaden, and never limit. Fiestas and five-star resorts have a tendency to do just that.

Needless to say, while I have no quarrel against the efforts to drum up domestic tourism, I maintain that honest-to-goodness travel should be encouraged. Otherwise, very few committed individuals will be able to witness God’s glory in the hour-long spectacular lightning storms over Pasaleng Bay, or the delight of spotting a pod of pilot whales off the coast of Aparri, or discovering the cultural differences and similarities of the locals, be they from Southern Mindanao or the Cordilleras.

And so, dear reader, no matter what all others may tell you, get off the beaten tourist track and find out what it is to really travel – in the classic words of Emerson, “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail!”

See you on the trail –

Honey Balbin Oliveros
9 June 2005

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Home Again

Home again after what appears to be the last of the series of scheduled trips for the first half of the year (doesn't sound too bad, considering that next month the second half of the year begins and I've already got a few expeditions pencilled in, teehee...)

This particular trip to Kabayan - on a (insert Snappy/Austin Powers/Travolta hand movements here) "medical mission" - had a totally different flavor to it, considering the company I had the pleasure to spend the last five days with: save for the wonderfully familiar company of AG and Johanna, everyone else was a first-time travel companion to each other under the phenomenon of Six Degrees of AG Sano (or, in this particular case for Bro Daniel and Doc Roger, of Honey Oliveros). And yet I (and I hope everyone else concerned) had an absolutely luuuuverrrrly time. Good combo of personalities, thank God for small miracles!

I will probably remember the conversations on this trip, more than anything else. These last series of travels, I've become used to comfortable silences (e.g., AG's kilometric moments of quiet) and comfortable noises (e.g., Bakang's non-stop talking and AG's snoring) and of course, the comfortable conversations between familiar friends. But, this time around, the conversations were between individuals just newly developing friendly relationships with each other, and the talks we had were classic, precisely because of our mutual "new"-ness.

Literature, literature, and literature with Snaps and Lex behind the dormitory outhouse, with greening rice fields and fog-enveloped mountains playing out before us like a four-dimensional motion picture.

Reminiscing pranks and silly moments and talking about the-one-who-could-have-been-but-isn't with Roger, my loyal buddy of many years, whom I have spent way too little time with lately.

Talking about mission, and God's calling, and the uncompromising truths of the Church - as well as anthropology, sociology, history, and Filipino culinary traditions with good Brother Daniel, whom I am sure will make one wonderful missionary priest (assigned hopefully in the mountains of Northern Luzon?) one day soon.

Discussing, without hang-ups or hesitation, life and love and everything in between. While posing for "rock band" photos.

And just laughing and laughing and laughing at how very silly these supremely gifted conversationalists - who I now call my new friends - can be (and I'm sure they find me supremely silly as well).

Here's to more of those outstanding conversations that develop so beautifully (and oftentimes so ridiculously) without our even trying too hard - you guys are great value, thanks for the company (insert Ojaye expression here...darn it, wish you could have met him!)

And yes Snappy...you snore.