To answer the question, “Where is Papa?” I had to say, “Papa is not here. You know he doesn’t live in Lolo’s house. Papa lives in Papa’s house.”

While hanging out in the balcony, where she chose to join me after seeing me sitting in the dark on a little step and after putting on her favorite pair of shoes from the shoe rack that now holds almost all of her shoes and almost ALL of mine, she looked up at the sky, held her arms over her head and said, “It’s raining on a starry night.”

Looking at her shoes, and remembering mine, I am reminded of what her Papa said this morning, as he was packing my shoes in a big box, “You’re bringing all of these shoes? Now, you don’t have any shoes here.” I said I still have about six to eight pairs of footwear in the shoe rack. He said, “But these are the shoes that you don’t wear anymore.”

Lia went up to me, holding a little doll dressed in pink that she found in my sister’s bedroom’s display cabinet and that she fondly calls Princess, asking me, “Where are her shoes?” I said, “I don’t know. She doesn’t have any shoes.” Then she picked up another doll, a doll from my childhood, a United Nations costume doll from Denmark, and looked at its feet. Seeing that the Danish doll is also barefoot, she told me, “Her shoes are also missing.”

A few minutes later, she came back to me, holding a little black piece of something that upon closer inspection was revealed to be a tiny shoe. “Look mama, it’s a shoe.” And she tried to fit it onto the Danish doll’s foot and lo and behold, it fit! I heard her exclaim, “Yaaan!”

Coming back to Princess and her bare feet, Lia held it up and said, “Her shoes are missing. I’ll go and find it?” To which I could only nod. Speechless.

I am writing this as I play Lenka’s self-titled album and Lia is playing with her blocks, reading her books, all the while singing along with every single song.

I can hold entire conversations now with Lia. It’s quite amazing, the things she says and all the things she does.

This afternoon at the airport, I felt like she wasn’t just my daughter, but my friend. We had lunch at Pancake House because she said she wanted fries and Jollibee did not have any. We took turns drinking iced tea and biting off the lemon.

I had a backpack, a camera bag, a Dora play-and-sing-along book, and we had to have some of the fries and corn dogs to go as we were running out of time, and she had Tutu on her shoulders. People we were passing by couldn’t help but smile – Tutu on her shoulders like it was her on my own.

I didn’t have to carry her anymore at all. She lined up wherever we needed to, she took off her own shoes and got them back on all on her own. She was solely responsible for Tutu. She got on and off the bus all by herself, and even the plane. She left the seat belt on when it needed to be left on and read all the magazines the entire time while I napped.

I can still remember all those trips we took when she was younger. The trips to Bohol, Boracay, Palawan, Bicol, Batanes, Hong Kong, where I had to carry her everywhere in addition to having a backpack, a camera bag, a stroller for her and more often than not, a big luggage. Those were really…. quite hard times.

The plane ride took so much longer than we expected. The plane was delayed. In fact, all the planes at the airport were delayed. There was traffic on the runway and our departure was delayed for another twenty to thirty minutes. As we were approaching Naga-Pili airport, the pilot informed us that visibility was only 5 kilometers, that the airport was closed and we should be prepared for anything. That to me meant any of the following: 1. Rerouting to Legazpi City, making our travel time two hours or so longer. 2. Turning back and landing back at NAIA Terminal 3, where nobody was waiting, and I didn’t have any keys to the house in Rizal. Everyone got anxious.

All we could see were clouds and rain on the window panes. The plane looked like it was going to land after all, as the wheels were lowered right outside our window, and I looked at Lia, looking back at me, and I held her in my arms. I kept telling her, “Keep your seat belt on okay? I love you.” and Lia did not take her eyes off me the entire time, muttering softly, “Mama… mama” over and over again. Darn, I nearly cried.

The plane did land, amidst claps from almost all of the passengers. Damn it. I can only remember two instances when I felt that happy to land – the other one on that plane from Korea after a grueling four-day trip around the world. I remember being probably happier than all the OFWs on that plane combined.

When we got home, the box of shoes was all wet. Lia and I were sitting in front of the TV and Lia said, “Mama, don’t sit on the box. It’s wet.” I promptly moved off the box and onto a nearby chair and she said, “Ayaan.” I can’t believe that Lia, at two and a half, can already take care of me, somehow.

What ever it is I did wrong, whatever it is I am not doing right, I will make it right. Lia has always been my life. The decision to have her was the best decision I ever made in my damned life. I made a lot of mistakes, I made a lot of bad decisions, took a lot of wrong turns, invested a lot of time on all the wrong people and the wrong things – but as long as there is Lia, there is hope. I have been told to focus. I have been told to look at what I have and make the most and best out of it and surely, it has been staring at me in the face the entire time – holding out a puckered up lipsticked mouth, waiting for a kiss.

My friend and STS (Science, Technology and Society) favorite seat mate Miapurple tagged me in a post, saying, “See what I found circulating on facebook! This looks very familiar”

And lo and behold!

This photo originally appears in this blog post.

I can’t say I don’t agree. Motherhood is really more fun here in the Philippines…. but I wish, I wish… I wish, I thought of this meself! Hahaha!

I can’t also help but feel sad. I miss this. This is just one of the things I miss so much ever since I handled the bar.

That was a beautiful trip out in Caramoan and Lia was especially funny being a lizard in Manlawi. I hope Lia and I will get to go out more this year. I am already looking forward to it!

A predisposition to never be that exposed, but maybe only by a tad? A desire to not be too seen, to be there, but not really be there, a choice to be social or anti, aloof or otherwise. Yes, dim lights.

What am I doing here, really? I’m here because the beach is here. The beach is calling me (cue in: All Saints’ Pure Shores). Arriving at the grand terminal two nights ago, with the weather comparable to that of windy, rainy, minus snowy, Chicago in February, with my evergreen everbright big backpack heavier than mine and Lia’s combined weight and an overnight bag packed with all that I might ever need, including cottonbuds, I asked myself that question. What am I doing here really?

I’m here because I am moving here, but more than that, what is in here that would want to make me actually move?

The first night whirred by, as we, in a scooter, visited bars one by one, eating and drinking as we go. I realized, clubbing works. I realized I must also be getting old. Loud music with frenetic teenagers stress me out. I always say, when asked what my genre is, folk and country.

I’ve been told my personality is more suited for the laid back. I was most at peace when I was living in the island, by the beach, where the crashing of the waves on the rocks soothed me, calmed my always near-to-frazzled nerves and my thoughts drowned in the wind.

Bar after bar we came and went and I was near to thinking whether I was actually willing to take the plunge into uprooting myself in the chaos that is Naga, the community bar that is Wharf, into moving to this city where I know less and less people and clubbing works, seemingly without fail.

Then we drove into near empty wide streets, that looked like Espana, only that it is empty, totally. Past the mall that tried its best to be like Mall of Asia, into the boulevard. The boulevard by the sea that actually led to…. nowhere, and I fell in love.

In the cold and dark, we followed that boulevard and…

I was reminded of Mui Wo – a little seaside village where the expats of Hong Kong lived with their families. Mui Wo with its carless streets and hundred-bicycle parking lot, leaving every morning and arriving every night – a ferry ride away from Central.

I was reminded of Rizal Boulevard in Dumaguete where the sun rose on jogging locals while expats watched in their al fresco cafes sipping French coffee, drinking German beer, munching croissants and English breakfasts.

I was reminded of the Partido Riviera, where the sky melted with the sea in an endless, partition-less blue. Where is the horizon, you ask yourself.

Here I can take long walks by the sea with my daughter who loves the water as much as I do. Who loves the wind on her face, the water lapping at her feet and all around her. Boats, I saw boats! Yes, I can live here.

Everything here will be better. Everything here will be better with my daughter.

Why am I moving here? Because I want a simpler life. Because I want a life where I can spend mornings walking down this seaside boulevard with my daughter, to come home only to make breakfast and take her to an international school, working in the office right by where her school is as I wait for her to come out – flushed with joy from playing with friends and learning all kinds of stuff she would want to make something out of when she is older – like numbers, colors, letters and sounds.

This year is going to be different, only because this year is going to be for her and for me, and no one else. This year is not going to be for the employees of Bar W and their concerns, whether they get to keep their jobs or not. This year is not going to be for the musicians, whether they get to keep their venue or they put extra efforts in finding a place and a crowd. People will always put their own interests first, I better put mine first too. This year is not going to be for anything other than going back to the basics. This year is going to be for doing what I love most – and that is being a mom.

We usually hang out at various stores. The local department stores are so fun. They have a lot of cheap stuff that Lia and I just adore. We go home with either nothing or  just about the weirdest stuff, like a big orange strainer that she insisted on putting on my head, like a hat, and a salt shaker.

We’d walk down the streets hand in hand, buying little trinkets and munching on fruits and other food bought from sidewalk vendors. Sometimes its maruya or puto bucayo and sometimes its lollipop or gummy bears or popsicles.

Yesterday we went for a little walk in Naga and passed by a preschool. I have long thought about taking Lia to school but could not find one that accepted toddlers her age. She saw the slide and see-saw and insisted on coming in. I grabbed the opportunity to inquire at the office since we were already there. Lia would be spending half her time in Manila and half her time in the province so I needed to know the possible arrangements, and of course, costs.

The teacher showed Lia a huge alphabet book and asked to identify the objects. We made it all the way to letter O before she lost interest.

Then she was asked to identify shapes – circle, square, triangle, rectangle, oval, star, heart…

She also had a paper and pen on the desk in front of her and I saw her drawing while answering the teacher’s questions. Glancing up to answer every time she was asked “What’s this?” When the teacher pointed out the circle on the book, Lia said, “Here, circle, like this,” and I looked down to see what she had been drawing, and she had been drawing flowers and a swimming fish in the middle of a pond. In my head, I was like, “WOW.”

Then she was asked to identify colors. She knows red, yellow, blue, orange, green, violet, white and pink.

And lastly, she was asked to count. Lia can count from 1 to ten all on her own and she can also identify them when she sees them. She says, “Mama, number!” then proceeds to point out the number.

I sat there and felt like a real (and old!) parent, watching my daughter, beaming with pride. The teacher said, “Mukhang naturuan na pala to ni Mama. Kaya naman pala gusto nang ipasok sa school.”

I told the teacher I’d bring her back January.

I came home and went on the internet to look up what I should be watching out for in terms of Lia’s developmental milestones. I have not done that in what seems like ages.

Though Lia speaks gibberish half the time, she talks A LOT. She uses a lot of ME, MINE, you and yours BUT still refuses to answer to the question, “What is your name?” Sometimes she answers, “Me, baby!” Pangasar, I think. Just like she refused to learn the game “Close Open” when she was younger. She’d just look at us then look away in what seemed like her version of rolling her eyes.

She not only draws vertical lines and circles, from the picture I saw her draw at the school, she was making flowers, trees, and fish on a pond!

She’s also learned big and small. Like when she’s putting on a shirt and it can’t get through her head, she says, “Mama, its small! Big me!”

She sings a lot too. She sings “Twinkle, Twinkle”, “Mary Had A Little Lamb” and “The More We Get Together” all on her own. Sometimes she makes up the lyrics but the tune is intact. When I try to sing with her, she shushes me and says, “Me sing! Me!” She sings a LOT, and dances a lot. And plays the piano a lot. I often see her holding her hand to her ear and then humming tunes. It’s really quite enough to make me roll my eyes.

There’s not a lot of things that make me happy these days. Only Lia. I guess that’s how it’s going to be for a long time.

Pre-war Bicol. Bicol Region is known as one of the strongest bulwarks of the Catholic Faith since Hispanic times. In fact, during its inception, the prelate of Manila was under the Diocese of the Nueva Caceres. in This album, we shall explore the different Catholic churches all over the region, their different architectures and physical structure before war invaded Bicol in 1942.

BUHI, CAMARINES SUR - 1941

LABO, CAMARINES NORTE - 1941

MAGARAO, CAMARINES SUR - 1941

QUIPAYO, CAMARINES SUR

SAN JOSE, CAMARINES SUR

SAGNAY, CAMARINES SUR

TALISAY, CAMARINES NORTE

TIGAON, CAMARINES SUR

LIBMANAN, CAMARINES SUR

CANAMAN, CAMARINES SUR

IRIGA, CAMARINES SUR

MINALABAC, CAMARINES SUR

TINAMBAC, CAMARINES SUR

CABUSAO, CAMARINES SUR

DEL GALLEGO, CAMARINES SUR

I would value things,
not for their worth but for what they mean.

I would sleep little, dream more,
understanding that for each minute we close our eyes we lose sixty seconds of light.

I would walk when others hold back.
I would wake when others sleep.

I would listen when others talk,
and how I would enjoy a good chocolate ice cream!

If God were to give me a piece of life,
I would dress simply,
throw myself face first into the sun,
baring not only my body but also my soul.

My God, if I had a heart, I would write my hate on ice,
and wait for the sun to show.
Over the stars I would paint with a Van Gogh dream a Benedetti poem,
and a Serrat song would be the serenade I’d offer to the moon.
With my tears I would water roses,
to feel the pain of their thorns,
and the red kiss of their petals.

My God, if I had a piece of life…
I wouldn’t let a single day pass without telling the people I love that I love them.
I would convince each woman and each man that they are my favorites,
and I would live in love with love.

I would show men how very wrong they are to think that they cease to be in love when they grow old,
not knowing that they grow old when they cease to love!
To a child I shall give wings,
but I shall let him learn to fly on his own.

I would teach the old that death does not come with old age,
but with forgetting.
So much have I learned from you, oh men…

I have learned that everyone wants to live on the peak of the mountain,
without knowing that real happiness is in how it is scaled.

I have learned that when a newborn child squeezes for the first time with his tiny fist his father’s finger,
he has him trapped forever.

I have learned that a man has the right to look down on another only when he has to help the other get to his feet.

From you I have learned so many things,
but in truth they won’t be of much use,
for when I keep them within this suitcase,
unhappily shall I be dying.

~GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ~

LINK:

http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/marquez.html

Calling all photographers and artists. Now is your chance to Shine.

Have a shot that embodies the free flow of the Surfing Lifestyle? Here is your opportunity to show off your work and be recognized.

The Surf & Music Festival brought to you by Aloha Boardsports and Travel Factor will host an artist exhibit brought to you by Havaianas.

The scope of the exhibit entails any work that you feel best embodies the Surf Culture. This can be action images, lifestyle images, beach landscapes, abstract images, music/concert imagery etc. It’s not limited to photographs only.

It can be mixed media, a painting, or any creative representation that you feel encompasses our theme of the event.

The Surf & Music Festival is all about good vibes, good music, and a celebration of life. So if you feel your image celebrates life, go and submit as many as you wish.

After careful selection, 20 of the best images will be printed on metallic paper and mounted for display at the Surf & Music Festival.

An Artist’s Bio will be featured on the print and as further recognition, those who make the exhibit will be rewarded with a generous prize package.

Copyright is maintained by the submitting artist. Their work will not be used for purposes outside the scope of the event. In keeping with celebratory festivals such as this, an Artist exhibit is one of the many components to further showcase the spirit of the event.

This is a teaser announcement. Details will follow, check back daily HERE for more information on how to enter.

My beloved boss, though learned late of the event, managed to get me a ticket but due to the rains, I was not able to make it.

Nick Olanka goes to post this on Facebook, and darn it, this makes me wish I took the bus last night!

Theme: How Art and Culture Can Change Our World

Quezon City, Philippines
October 8th, 2011

• TEDxDiliman on Facebook website »
• Watch the live webstream »

Now I sit here, with me crying face… =,(

I woke up to peer through the stained glass windows and the pelting rain into the dark of what looked like vast expanses of watery rice fields and I knew instantly I had slept too long. I checked the time – five o’clock. Sleepy and not knowing where exactly was I, I decided it was best that I get off in the town proper, whatever town that happened to be.

I entertained the thought of getting off at the port but I looked at my boys and decided, maybe next time.

I got off the town proper, still not knowing what town, and walked under the eaves of the line of sari-sari stores shut at five past on a rainy Saturday morning until I found a sign. It read:

Ocampo Elementary School

Darn it. I was in the next town.

I waited until a bus with a sign that said “NAGA” came down the empty road. I boarded the bus, empty, and asked how much the fare to Pili was. The conductor said P12. I had the urge to laugh maniacally but was successful in restraining myself.

I fought the urge to fall back to sleep as I sat there looking down on my boys, lest I found myself waking back in the Naga City Central Bus Terminal, nearly 30 kilometers away.

I kept my eyes peeled until the fields, the trees, the houses, the stores became more and more familiar, and the buildings, somehow became bigger and bigger – until there came looming the bright huge 7-11 sign.

I wished I had taken a tricycle straight home for P150. The driver always wakes me up when we get to MY town (and not the town after it.) Wait, neither bus driver nor conductor woke me up. Tsk!

I found my Pops sitting on the rocking chair in the balcony when I finally got home at six in the morning. I trudged up the stairs without bothering to take off the boys. Hell, our house is dirtier inside than outside, I thought. I, finally, take off my boys – my favorite pair of cowboy boots, and stumble into the bed I have been sleeping on since I was thirteen. Ah, the life in the province, how I wished it was not as adventurous.

a. I can organize a Halloween Party at the Wharf Galley Rock Cafe. Why not?!

b. The family can go to Subic for the weekend, and have lots of fun with Lia, the kids of H’s college friends at the Zoobic Safari.

c. H and I can go on a 5th anniversary date to Jason Mraz’s concert at the Smart Araneta Coliseum

d. I can go to Baler with H and Lia and my Travel Factor friends and join in on the fun!!!! Surfing, music and friends, what can one ask for? I can also get a shot at this…..!

Aaaaargh!!! The choices, the choices!!!! It’s enough to make one crazeh!

This afternoon, as I was passing through an empty lot on our way home from spending time with my dad, I saw the annual “perya” being set up. It made me miss Lia so much, even though it’s been barely a day since I last saw her. Crazy Lia will surely love that perya. I can just imagine.

Today I got this email. Halloween is nearing and I am so looking forward to it, not for me but for my crazy little Lia. She loves scary stuff so much!

This is the poster for this year’s company Halloween and Family Day. The poster hardly looks scary, but I am sure as hell that Lia would love to be there. I am so excited for her!

at Chef Doy's Gourmet Restaurant

We had sumptuous lunch and then coffee and beers after. We also met and had a bit of chit chat with chefs Doy and Che. It was one busog, and thereafter sleepy, afternoon.

I checked into FourSquare and ousted the mayor of Chef Doy’s, increasing my mayorships to 9. Hahaha. I don’t know why I’m saying that, it doesn’t really make sense, but what the heck! *winks!

Nevertheless, we sampled their menu, had all our breakfasts at the penthouse resto and even spent some time hanging out, literally, really, as in literally, on a cage jutting out of the building’s top floor, with some drinks.

Breakfast at Ponce Suites

If it were not for its commercial purpose, Ponce Suites in Dona Vicenta Village, Davao City, could have been placed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most decorated establishment in the world…with artworks from a single artist. Here are a few words from PonceSuites.net about Kublai Ponce-Millan, one of the most prolific contemporary artists in the country.

Kublai Ponce-Millan, who created all these giant works, was born on July 8, 1974 in Cotabato City. He finished schooling at the University of the Philippines with a degree of Fine Arts. After which, he dedicated his life back in Mindanao, sculpting the culture from which, where which he grew up, as a human being and as a soul. The massive pieces magnify calm, passion and grief proportonately in the stone-grain finish accomplished with the five-year technique developed through various weathers accompaning their inceptions and growth, from steel and wiremesh underpinnings above and below ground, to the finishing of the last detail of the gesturing hand. - Click here for the source.

Check out the ceiling

Sadly, my mac would not let me access their website no matter how I tried so I wouldn’t know what’s there. If any of you have any idea, drop me a note. See, I wouldn’t know what Ponce Suites is now, after almost 5 years. Maybe its better? Maybe weirder? Your guess is as good as mine.

Here are some links to learn more about Ponce Suites and its artist:

• Kublai Millan invades Manila
• Kublai Millan on WikiFilipino
• Kublai Millan, southern Philippines most prolific artist

We took a trip downtown using public transportation the entire time. We went to Magsaysay Park and did shopping at the Aldevinco Shopping Center. We also bought a lot of fruits!

Shot from Magsaysay Park, Davao

The next day was another day for going around Davao. Our first stop was actually a church – The Shrine of the Holy Infant Jesus of Prague.

And then off to Jack’s Ridge we went for early lunch. The following photo was taken by H as we were going down the hill. Such image of freshness, HAHAHAHA! Poster girl for summer. I wish I was still this yummy, I mean, chummy, no really, I meant chubby.

Food is good here, but not as good as we had hoped it would be. That did not stop us from having our photo taken by one of the waiters though.

Lunch at Taklobo Restaurant

After lunch, we went around the complex for nuggets of history and took photos here and there.

Lumad - a group of indigenous peoples of the Southern Mindanao, Philippines

Durian Eaters

Taklobo Shells

Next stop on this city tour is the Crocodile Park, which also had a mini-zoo.

I find it funny that I used to post for photos like this. These days I don’t really do this anymore.

And I wasn’t going to post this photo of H with the crocodile, but then after the biggest saltwater crocodile ever caught in the wild made headlines last week, I thought, “it’s timely, why not?!”

It was one tiring day and a tiring day deserves chilling out at night! Off we went to Matina Town Square. I had a co-teacher once from Davao, he said the MTS is the inspiration for Eastwood…. (Chismis why not! *winks)

How I love it when waiters take photos of people. I was challenged in outdoing the umbrella pole right there.

And even though we went home late, we were up really early the next day to go to Eden Park. Well, we had been fighting, and thus the absence of pictures. (Haha, classic!) The absence of pictures… except this one.

I forget now what we were fighting about but I remember sleeping the entire time in the car from downtown all the way to Eden Park. I also remember how nice the herbs smelled. I had loved that park. It would be nice to come back to it too.

We spent the entire morning in Eden Park and headed to the Philippine Eagle Center where we had lunch and then a little tour.

And I think we we’re still fighting during this time because H took this photo of me, walking far ahead into the garden of Eden…. *winks*

It has taken me years to appreciate this photo. Just like some things in my life…

*Note to reader: This trip was made in November 2006.

Click here to see the entire set. Congratulations to the team of Gouldian Photography for a job well done! Keep up the good work guys!

iTyphoon is a premium application that provides typhoon updates. It has four (4) screens: Details, Map, Reference, and Credits.

The Details screen:
1. HEADING (update number, current update date/time, next update date/time)
2. ICON (intensifying, weakening, steady)
3. SUMMARY (Philippine typhoon name, international typhoon name, current eye location, maximum windspeed, gustiness, area of responsibility, direction and speed, heading towards location)
4. BACKGROUND (no typhoon, over ocean, landfall)
5. NARRATIVE (descriptive behavior of the typhoon)
6. SIGNALS (Public Storm Signal Warnings issued by PAGASA (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration)
7. DISTANCES (distances with respect to places of interest and popular destinations)
8. FORECAST (weather outlook for the next 2-5 days)

Screenshots (Typhoon Mina) - Details Screen (Update, Icon, Summary, Narrative, and Background)

Screenshots (Typhoon Mina) - Details Screen (Signals, Distances)

Screenshots (Typhoon Mina) - Details Screen (Forecast)

The Map screen:
1. GREEN PIN (the user or device location)
2. RED PIN (the typhoon location)
over the map, which is available in three (3) views, with support for pinch, drag and zoom.

Screenshots (Typhoon Mina) - Map Screen (Typhoon and User Location)

The Reference screen:
Shows the application guide and provides useful typhoon information.

The Credits screen:
Displays the developer details with links to viewing the application website, showing some love for the application, sending user feedback to the developer, and sharing the application to friends via email.

Nueca Technologies is a registered trade name of Nueva Caceres Technology Solutions, Inc. with its website at http://www.nueca.net/

Bicol Night at Wharf Galley Rock Cafe

IT’S HOT & SPICY ON SEPTEMBER 17!

Featuring:

DAHON
Genre: Rock, Blues, Alternative

Members:
Bola Morallo – vox
Philip Albia – Guitars, back-up vox
Jm Ursua – Bass, back-up vox
Kent Torres – Drums

Brothers in Arms
Gareth Somers-bass
Rj Sy-bass
Jayson Serano-drums
John Collao-drums
Duke Dadap-keys
Gigi Catolico-wrapper

MONOACID

Members:
Rogel “Bornok” Galicia-vox
Dale Asis-guitars
Brent Abragan-percs/drums
Jay San Vicente-guitars
Jules Valenciano-saxophone
Rj Quizon-bass
Erwin Ticar-drums
Lloyd Seminiano – drums
Uri Raquitico-keyboards

RADIO CLYDE
(band page missing )

GRAINS OF SOLITUDE
Genre: jazz, acid, electronica, indie
Members:
wanju – vocals
nathan – guitars
brent – drums
pitz – bass

Starts at 9 PM

Ticket price: PHP 125 w/ BEER

@ WHARF GALLEY ROCK CAFE, 2/F Avenue Square, Magsaysay Ave., Naga City

‘IMPRINTS’ is an art installation and stop motion video screening of DISPATCH MAGAZINE’s roster of independent and alternative travelers’ favorite footwear. It is all about a traveler’s character and personality as defined by his favorite travel footwear; hence, his soul on sole: The places he go; the moments, his passions and experiences herewith.

Sept 15 / Cubao X / 7PM

Imprints by Dispatch Media

This event is brought to you by Dispatch Media with website at http://www.dispatchmagonline.com/

This… I dedicate to the people of Wharf Galley Rock Cafe and Naga City.

Our Samal House

Resting after swimming and snorkeling

Having breakfast at the resto

Having breakfast at the resto

In the evenings, we had dinner and headed to the parola bar for some singing and drinking. We took photos here and there.

Going up for some singing, drinking and hanging out with some foreigners

Capiz lanterns by the swimming pool

This was really delicious! Tropical fruits: mango, watermelon, pineapple, papaya, pomelo

Tipsy. More the one who took this photo, judging from how blurry the pic is.

Taba-ar!

The Parola at night

Waiting for the boat transfer back to mainland

Hanging out on the couch at the Pearl Farm Marina while waiting for the transfer to downtown

The resort is big enough, quiet and relaxing enough but after all these “beautiful” photos of the resort, let me tell you something or rather, some things. I hated it there. I had dreaded going to the resto to eat because there just wasn’t anything good enough. The breakfast buffet tasted all the same, whether it was fish or hotdog or longganisa or beef. The service was so slow, if at all present. Our room was never cleaned and all our requests at the desk were never granted. Our “romantic dinner” for two by the beach was mistakenly given to someone else, we had to wait an hour and a half for the staff to set up another table by the beach. Even the fruit basket had rotting fruits. There were no towels by the pool nor any service personnel. It was soooo weird.

Then we went snorkeling and there was absolutely neither corals nor fish! There were a lot of starfish and trash though. It was just really…. weird.

I pretty much vowed never to go back there. I emailed them a customer feedback and even filled out the feedback form on the dresser.

Don’t take my word for it though. I have a lot of friends who’ve been there these past years and they all say the food was great! The place was great! Yeah, you know, the usual. I guess, our experience just stands out. Oh well, I do hope to go back to Samal Island soon. Next year with the family I hope. There are a lot of other resorts in Samal Island and we don’t have to go to Pearl Farm Beach Resort if we are not so inclined. I do love Davao and if I was going back to it and would want to take a little trip to the beach, Samal Island is still the best bet.

This is where I take a trip down memory lane, in my desire to look at how I was, at twenty-four years old, a very young bride and still fresh from my year spent living in El Nido where I spent days eating six times a day and getting a full 8-hours of sleep almost every night.

This is also where I take a trip down memory lane, in my desire to look at how the very first pictures we took, with our camera, bought just the day before, its manual we never really read, looked like.

The package we got at the Pearl Farm Beach Resort was at P18,000 for the two of us for a three-days and two-nights stay with all the meals included as well as boat transfers.

To get to the resort, all boat transfers are done at the Pearl Farm Marina.

Checking in and listing in for the transfer to Samal Island

Waiting for the transfer

We just had backpacks, really. And H, is soooo, hiphop. *straight face goes here*

The Marina also has a restaurant. Since we were really early for the transfer, we spent some time at the resto; and then afterwards, hung out on the loungers outside reading books.

My Merrells, together 6 years and counting!

And soon enough, it was time to get on the boat. The pier is right in front the pool, resto and building.

I took these photos while we were still on the boat and approaching the resort. I look at these photos now the way I do food and I must say it looked good.

We and the other guests were greeted with refreshing “welcome drinks” (otherwise known as iced tea), and was thereafter led to our respective accommodations. Ours was right by the water.

I did what I usually do when given a hut by the beach: sit and stare out, a cup of coffee at my feet.

The afternoon light was gentle on my tired face, I suppose.

The sunset was soon upon us. I spent a considerable amount of time toying with the camera’s settings and trying to capture a sunset on a cloudy afternoon. This is what I finally liked among a lot of photos (each one as drab as the next), and this photo is reminiscent of the times when I wanted everything dark, burned crisp.

This also reminds me of the times when I was experimenting so much that I ended up with ultra-bright photos that hurt the eyes. To be honest, it had something to do with how my monitor was calibrated. To me the photos looked fine, but to everyone else not using my laptop, it was a disaster. Really. I’ve since learned to bother with calibration… but of course, I find that too tedious. So if my photos are beginning to be too crisp, drop me a note.

Let me end this post with a photo of a sunset (because “this site is about everything I love… boats, SUNSETS..”) and I realized I haven’t been posting enough photos of sunsets lately.