just a thought

increasingly, i believe this filipino adage: "pag gusto may paraan, pag ayaw may dahilan."

their time to shine

i was so proud of my BC 130 class, the students who shot their productions in Baler and Vigan, because the screening last thursday night was a huge success.
before the event, with ma'am iday, ma'am mae, and keith (our student who did all the singing!)... and andet (who's our breakthrough star!)

i was very nervous before the programme started, around 6:30 pm, and i don't think i was fully there. but the audience responded very well. and i could hear favorable comments from co-teachers during the screening as well. the dean also approached me before he left, and congratulated the class for such good work. and he even sent a text message congratulating us. wow!

i delivered my "closing remarks" (in my cute, blue, winnie the pooh dress, no less!), of course, full of jokes and babbling from me.

i was only truly able to grasp what was going on around me after the programme ended. then, i was able to properly converse with people. we cleaned up the venue, then proceeded for some "victory party"-type eating at volante.

i was so happy to see all of them proud and happy and elated. because they do deserve it. and i have to admit, i miss production work.

last weekend

i woke up early sunday morning to try to join a trek to mt sto tomas, just outside baguio. however, that fell through. i had breakfast at mcdo (missed those franks!), then proceeded to itogon, benguet, more than half an hour away. i wanted to explore the mines there. but apparently, it's one of those activities that i need other people for, as they conduct tours in groups. and after an hour there, i gave up waiting for other people to come. that's one place i have to go back to. any takers?

waiting for the jeep back to baguio

finally, after 2 strikes, i decided to go to the good shepherd convent for some quiet time. but as it turns out, it's not a good place for solitude. there were a lot of tourists having their pictures taken EVERYWHERE and buying pasalubong.

but somehow, i was able to snatch some muni-muni time along the stations of the cross path. i bought some ube jam to bring home, sampled some strawberry gelato (didn't really taste like strawberry NOR gelato) and strawberry juice (more like it. yum!).
after an hour, i decided to head back. then, once again, noticed the stalls, this time leading to mines view. as i had not been there in a while, i decided to stop off for a while. the paths are lined on both (either?) side with stalls, and of course, there were a lot of people there.

i didn't stay for long, just took some pictures, then got on the jeep back to the market.
when i got there, i decided to visit a church i'd only read about, so off to marcos hi-way i went, to visit holy family parish in bakakeng. it reminded me of the claret church, or to a lesser extent, the UP campus church. there was a lot of quiet time there, i found.
it's getting a bit hot here, but at least, the wind blows cold. hearing about the heat in manila makes me NOT want to go down there...

getting you up to speed

2 weekends ago, i finally decided to go to tam-awan village, after much deliberation. and i'm glad i went! the atmospehere there is peaceful, though there's more people traffic than in maryknoll.

the main attraction are the artworks and artists who even sketch guests for a donation. (i'll try that out some time.)

i indulged in the luxury of walking around aimlessly, enjoying the views, the fresh air, the quiet up there. by the time i had explored the entire place, there were already groups of young people (obviously from manila. yuck, snob!) starting their own exploration. as it was a bit hot, i hung out at the coffee shop and allowed myself a cup of coffee.
after that, i had a quick lunch, then set out to explore lourdes grotto. i haven't been there in years! and my parents also asked me to revisit a memorable place for them: the jesuit villa.
a tourist spot in baguio can be sensed when you start spotting stalls at the side of the road selling souvenirs and pasalubong items. there were a lot of tourists there, huffing and puffing their way up the steps to the grotto.

i then proceeded higher, to the jesuit villa, and found a lot of scenic nooks!

by the end of the day, i was exhausted! i think i overdid the adventure this time...

post recall

today, because of different reasons, i would like to recall this blog entry.
Neil Gaiman speaketh the truth.

1 more bora pic

the bride and the MC (that's me!)

happy anniversary!

this blog is now celebrating its 1st anniversary. yehey!!!
last year, i wrote about my trip with nanie and cely to corregidor. this year, to celebrate nanie's birthday, we got in touch with our chinese "side" and went to a previously-unexplored place: a temple. it was an interesting experience, especially when we got sticks that supposedly said something about your fortune. i'd only previously seen those in the movies! we had lunch at president teahouse. yum! and kinder on the budget.

my phone is dying

i think my phone is dying a slow death... and i don't know when or how i'm going to replace it. it's been through a few tumbles, had water spilled on it, had sand lodged in different parts of it, and is in relative working condition. but not quite. there are some messages i don't receive, sometimes i have a hard time sending messages. i want to get a new one (well, secondhand one at least), but it's just not within my budget right now. but i know i'll have to replace it soon.
Lord, make me win a cellphone soon! Or let it fall from heaven!

Baguio-Baler-Vigan-and back

The weekend before last, I set out on a roadtrip adventure. 2 groups of my students went to 2 different locations to shoot their final projects. And being the devoted (and lakwatsera) teacher I am, I committed to join both groups on different days. I left with the first group bound for Baler, Aurora late Friday night. 9 hours (and a very bumpy ride) later, we were in Baler. We stayed at a beachfront resort, Tamayo’s. Baler is the site of some great waves. And I finally saw the sierra madre!!!

The entire Saturday, we were in Baler, where it was sunny in the morning, then rainy in the afternoon. I was able to visit the fishing port, scenic locations, and some of the historical sites , the Church among them.
Early the next morning, I woke to catch the 5 am bus out—which, as it turned out, left at 6 am. I had 2 options: go to Manila, then take a bus to Vigan from there, or transfer several times to get to Cabanatuan, then to Carmen, where I could ride a bus to Vigan. I chose the latter. And 13 hours later, I arrived in Vigan. We stayed at Playa de Oro, also a beachfront resort. Early Monday, I joined them, and explored the non-Heritage side of Vigan. We went to a chichacorn factory, a weaving place, a burnayan (pottery) place, and ate longganisa. Yey! I was able to ride a motorcycle again—I still know how!

with my adopted chick, pablo (after senor neruda, of course!)

Exhausted, we headed back to Baguio early Tuesday morning. Exhausted but happy.The next few weekends, I think I have to cram some more travelling to nearby places. After all, the sem’s almost over.

hottie alert!

I have a new crush!
I watched “TransAmerica” because I heard it had all the great elements of an indie film: small-scale, thoughtful, sensitive, and eventually, universal.
But no one told me about the gorgeous Kevin Zegers! His eyes are so intense, his face just holds your attention, and such a nice body (I don’t really use the word, but it’s flawless!) that young man has!

Apparently, his gf (girl in black) is 10 years older than him! (He was born 1984) So you know I’m on that line of girls-in-waiting!;)


he's actually smiling at me in this pic. i was off-cam, to his right. har!

4s

Someone tagged me, and there's nothing like a "tag" to make you want to start blogging again. So here goes...
Four Jobs I've Had In My Life:
1. P.A. (glorified slave)
2. TV Writer/Producer
3. Associate Managing editor
4. Teacher
Four Films I Can Watch Over And Over Again (in no particular order):
1. While You Were Sleeping
2. Before Sunrise/Before Sunset
3. Bed of Roses
4. La Strada
Four Places I Have Lived:
1. San Andres (as a baby)
2. Pandacan (on different streets of the same community)
3. Baguio (where I want to continue to live)
4. ...
Four TV Programs I Love To Watch:
1. CSI
2. Gilmore Girls
3. Friends
4. Alias (for Michael Vartan!)
Four Places I Would Have Visited, Had I Had The Money:
1. Europe
2. South Africa
3. China
4. Turkey
Four Websites I Visit Daily:
1. Blogs of my friends
2. Google
3. E! Online (miss it!)
4. Yahoo
Four Of My Favorite Foods:
1. Barbecued Chicken
2. Fish Balls
3. Taho
4. Pasta
Four Places I Would Rather Be:
1. Baguio (because I’m in Manila as I’m writing this)
2. Sagada
3. Siargao
4. Sitting with my parents having long talks over lots of food
Four Bloggers I Am Tagging (in no particular order):
1. Dennis
2. Mems
3. Sunshine
4. Tala

musings on bora

i first came to boracay in 2001 for work. i had long wanted to visit the island paradise--especially after even my uncle who grew up in the US, was able to go there several times in the late 1990's. sadly, though i wanted to go with him and his friends then (free airfare and lodging!), my parents didn't think it was such a great idea.
i only partly enjoyed it my first time there, getting to swim only once in the pristine waters, but i fell in love with it instantly. it cured me of my aversion to beaches, because how can you not love the powdery feel of the cool sand under your feet, and the fresh seawater under the sun? and yes, as most people are wont to do, i fell in love in bora. but that's not important, because it ended on the same beach more than a year after.
anyway, i came back to bora later that summer, then the next year, and the next. my last and only non-work-related trip was in february 2004, when i went with my friend marlowe via the RORO (on our trip back to manila, we could not face the 18-hr ride anymore, and opted to take a plane).
but my love affair with bora has ended. i was disappointed to find, on this last trip, that it has changed too much. like a friend you've lost touch with but look back to in nostalgia, boracay had always occupied a special place in my heart. but the harsh reality of its overcommercialization and degradation hit me hard. every inch of the beachfront is already occupied by a business establishment, d'mall has turned into an eastwood or greenbelt wannabe, and there's now even a d'talipapa. whoa! boracay and i have grown apart. the beach, thankfully, with its white sand and clear waters are still breathtaking, but everything else has lost its appeal. as if its soul has changed. bora will always be a special place, but past is past.