I was reviewing my Flickr account when I came across this picture taken during a coverage I made on the Baguio Country Club’s Centennial:

I remembered how this greenskeeper at the Baguio Country Club kept going around in circles while combing the putting green with his low-tech tool to remove the dew that blanketed the manicured grass. I was amazed at his dedication. No wonder the BCC, despite being the oldest golf club in the Philippines, has one of the most beautiful courses in the country.

Later on however, I found out that many of BCC’s workers are paid about $8.00 a day, perfecting the playgrounds of the richest families and their friends in the country. But then again you see a lot this in RP: carpenters building mansions and world-class condominiums only to come home to poor uninhabitable shanties, waiters serving food that they can only taste in their dreams, rich children pampered by nannies whose own children grow up without their mothers' care.

It has been a year since my last post . Wow, that long huh? So I decided to disturb the inertia, hoping to keep going until an outside force (like a nasty negative comment) puts me to rest again.

Two things gave me the push. The first was a book which title unfortunately, I can’t read because it’s in Japanese (I apologize to the Japanese for my being illiterate in their language, despite having been in their country for almost two years). Showing you the book cover however, will give you more than words.

The second push I got from our fellow blogger Jagcon’s latest post, ‘It’s indeed a small world.’ It amazed me what new technology can do for us. It can actually open a window to our past, which happens to be the topic for my post - looking back.

Let me get back to the first stimulus, the Japanese book. When I saw the cover, it reminded me of an earlier post I made in this site, 'Spontaneity and Responsibility in the Arts.’ The cover picture and my pictures all showed Japanese children drawing on street pavement with chalk. There are differences of course, the greatest of which is that the cover photograph was taken in 1959 by Takeyoshi Tanuma, and my snapshots done in 2006 - a span of 47 years. That length of time is enough perhaps, to consider this form of street art a tradition. A bucket of half consumed Crayola Sidewalk Chalk left on top of our mailbox by neighborhood kids also indicates that the practice is institutionalized. It might be interesting to do an analysis of what children drew then and now, and why, but really….

Since my good old friend googled his name and found me via Jorge Andrada's blog "Half a Day’s Sales", a lot of things have transpired. Not only did I reconnect with him, but also with good old classmates from Saint Louis University Laboratory Elementary School in Baguio City. The SLU LES batch '86 newsgroup was recently formed. A reunion was already in the works before I joined the newsgroup. Now the task is to find most, if not all, of our batchmates.

The man many consider to be the best pool player in the world, Efren "Bata" Reyes, is a skinny, almost toothless, 52-year-old Filipino with a slight paunch, an infectious grin and a legion of fans both at home and abroad.

Listen to the segment.

TESTDB.

Siyempre alam ng mga kabarkada ko noong college na paborito ko ang Eraserheads. Incidentally, isa sa mga kanta nila dati "Tindahan
ni Aling Nena" ay tungkol sa isang binata na napa-ibig sa isang dalagang lalakad ng Canada sa loob ng tatlong araw.

Noon namang high school, no doubt "The Dawn" ang paborito namin. Sobrang kaunti pa lang kasi ng mga banda noon di tulad ngayon. A few years later, siguro nasa college na rin kami, ni-release nila ang "Talaga Naman".

Isa ata sa mga pinaka-madalas na tema sa musika ng mga Pinoy ang pakikipag-sapalaran sa ibang bansa. Hindi nakakapagtaka na may sinulat rin ang Yano sa topic na ito. Coincidentally, wala na ata ako sa Pilipinas nang lumabas ang pangalawang album nila "Tara" so hindi ko alam kung sumikat ito (upbeat ang rhythm pero malungkot ang istorya) ...

Paalam Sampaguita
Yano

Chorus:

Natatawa ako kahapon at napakinggan ko ang isa sa mga paborito naming album noon sa college, ang debut album ng Yano. Hindi lang yun, Two albums in one pa at ni-redesign ng batikang si Arnold Arre ang cover. Napabili na rin tuloy ako ng Color it Red (Fool's Circle + Hand Painted Sky) atsaka FrancisM's (FreeMan + FreeMan 2). Ni-rip ko na rin agad sa iTunes Apple Lossless Format.

Solb na solb. Mabuhay ang Iskolar ng Bayan.

-----------------
KAMUSTA NA
written by Dong Abay and Eric Gancio

Kumusta na, ayos pa ba
Ang buhay natin, kaya pa ba
Eh kung hinde, paano na
Ewan mo ba, bahala na?

Napanood kita sa tibi, sumama ka sa rali
Kasama ang mga madre, pinigilan mga tangke
Umiiyak ka pa sa harap ng mga sundalo
Namigay ka pa ng rosas na nabili mo sa kanto.

Repeat Chorus

Dala-dala mo pa, estatwa ni Sto. Nino
Eskapularyo't Bibliya, sangkatutak na rosaryo
At sa gitna ng EDSA, lumuhod ka't nagdasal pa

Found this blog about my birthplace, hometown and alma mater:
http://whatsuplb.blogspot.com

Recent posting is on the aftermath of typhoon Milenyo.

-kyo-

Nagbalik-bayan ka, pagkaraan ng ilang taong mag-ipon ng dolyar. Ano ang susunod mong gawin matapos buksan ang Balikbayan Box, ipamudmod ang tsokoleyts at de latang corned beef, mamasyal sa Ayala Alabang at manalangin sa puntod ni Inang sa Manila Memorial Park? Magpatala sa Wowowee, kung TFC subscriber ka at maraming one dollar bills.

Baket? Kasi dun sa Wowowee (na ang host ay sanglibong beses nang nasuspinde dahil sa paggamit ng off-color, double meaning dyoks…kahapon lang: "...ako pupunta ke Doktor Belo para magpahaba...ng paa!") magiging para kang sikat na artista…at tunay na bida. Basta ba tiyakin mo lang na makukunan ka ng kamera habang inaabaniko mo ang ilang dolyar sa isang kamay at hawak naman ng isa ang bond paper na nagsasaad kung saan sa 'merika ka nanggaling. At lalo ka nang sikat pag natapat sa iyo ang mike at hinihingal mong babatiin ang kumare, kumpare, asawa't anak (kahit na ba katabi mo pa sila), at mga kabarangay sa Daly City, Caaaalifooorniaaaa!

“Make new friends, but keep the old. Those are silver, these are gold.�?

This can be said of our culture as well. As the world gets smaller and cultures blend, life gets more colorful and exciting. But if you don’t hold on to what you’ve got……

We attended a Natsumatsuri (Summer Festival) at the Osaka University of Foreign Studies where we were treated to a unique view of how the younger Japanese respond to cultural influences from without. Being a university dedicated to the understanding of outside cultures, the festival was a showcase of what the students have taken from the world outside Japan. It was a dazzling display, but we chose to focus.

These Philippine Studies majors sold what looked like…….

Yes, that’s what they were. The price? Just about the same as what our legislature would budget for this favorite congressional snack.

How would the Japanese cook turon? Deep-fried and with chopsticks, of course!

Isa sa mga maipagmamalaki nating mga Pinoy ay ang ating hospitality. Mga ilang taon nakaraan ay bumisita kami sa bayan ng San Simeon, CA para silipin ang naiwang kayamanan ni ginoong Hearst at dahil linggo yun, nagsimba kami sa katabing bayan ng Cambria. Dahil probinsyang probinsya ang lugar na ito, kakaiba ang 'atmosphere' sa loob ng simbahan kung ikukumpara sa mga ibang simbahan sa California. Halos mga puti lahat ang tao (siguro, may tatatlong Asyano) at tila ba nagtataka sila kung bakit may ibang kulay na napadayo kapag napapatingin sila sa amin.

Ikumpara mo ito sa simbahan dito sa St Anne's ng Union City kung saan ay pagpasok mo pa lamang ay para ka bang 'tineleport' sa malaking simbahan ng isang subdibisyon sa Maynila (95 to 98% ng nagsisimba ay Filipino). Ang pari, deacon, choir at taga-basa ay Pinoy lahat. Bago mag-umpisa pa lamang ang misa ay pinatayo agad ng pari ang mga "bumibisita", tinanong kung saan sila galing at isa-isang binigyan ng welcome sabay masigabong palakpakan ng parokya. Hindi ako magtataka kung ganito rin ang iyong mararanasan sa Fremont, Daly City, Vallejo at iba pang Pinoy Communities dito sa Bay Area.

About five years ago, I was walking along an uncemented sidewalk at noon in Baguio City when I saw this little boy on a street corner. He was selling cigarettes and mint candies under the heat of the midday sun.

I caught him as he was counting half a day’s sales, not even enough to cover his little palm.

I keep telling my family and friends back home how amazed I was with Japan’s safe and clean streets. However, it’s difficult to describe just how.

This afternoon, I saw exactly what I meant. This baby romped alone in the street for at least 15 minutes before it occurred to me that I should get my camera.

Though I never once saw her mother the whole time, I'm sure the baby made it home safe.

"Ma'am, ser, mayroon na po ba kayong tsinelas para sa beach?"

Home video of our trip to Boracay in December of 2002.
[27mb, Flash 8 Player required]

-kyo-

San Francisco Chronicle Launches Podcast for Filipinos

San Francisco – The San Francisco Chronicle announced today its launch of Pinoy Pod, a weekly program of interviews, news features and information about the Filipino experience in Northern California, the Philippines and beyond. This bold experiment, the first of its kind by a major American newspaper, can be downloaded at http://www.sfgate.com/blogs/ podcasts or http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=5&entry_id=5378.

"The Pinoy Pod allows us to use multi-media technology to connect very powerfully The Chronicle/SFGate to the vibrant Filipino community here in the Bay Area, throughout the country and overseas," said Phil Bronstein, editor of The Chronicle.

In addition to English, some episodes will be in Tagalog and other Philippine languages. Topics will include arts, culture, entertainment, business and political and social issues. Pinoy Pod's 10- to 20-minute podcasts will be posted Tuesdays.

The first Filipino to conquer Mt. Everest? This long overdue bit of Guiness-esque history should be of interest to even the most jaded and media-hype-inured Pinoy.

But I find it sickening to watch two competing Philippine TV channels place ratings and one-upmanship over national recognition. For several months now, one channel has sponsored one Pinoy's attempt to climb to Mt. Everest's peak. This endeavor is getting the media mileage it deserves.

Pero dahil sa ayaw patalo, the other channel is now sponsoring a horde (well, ok, eight or so) of other Pinoy mountain climbers who will try to beat this solitary climber to the top and to the record.

This has resulted in barrage and counter-barrage of news bites and full-blown TV features from the two channels who are intent on outdoing each other. Ano ba yan?

Hanggang dito ba naman, crab mentality pa rin ang umiiral?

I would have wanted to see the two channels pool their resources to ensure that Juan de la Cruz will -- oh, happy day! -- plant the Filipino flag on the world's highest peak, instead of publicly bickering and knocking the other's efforts down.

For the past few days, I’ve had with me an unlikely mix sharing my bed.

The first was Susan Sontag’s On Photography, and the others, three issues of a strange Japanese photographic magazine named Out of Photographers.

Sontag’s On Photography is a classic and needs no introduction, that is, if you consider yourself among the photographic cognoscenti. If you’re less than a cognoscenti though, then I must warn you (ahem) that On Photography is no picture book. It does not even contain photographs at all, except the author’s wonderfully rendered backcover portrait by no less than Annie Leibovitz.

No, I wouldn’t be attempting to do a book review of Sontag’s slim volume for that is beyond my writing competence. Just to give you an idea though,: Adams, Herschel, Cartier-Bresson, Brandt, Strand, Talbot, Weston, Steiglitz, McCullin, Capa, Brady, Lange, are just a few of a long list of names dropped in the book. The small collection of essays is bursting with erudition. Imagine reading views from the heaviest weights in photographic history and mixing in Sontag’s own intelligent discourse and analyses. The tome exhibits the author’s genius for having produced a whole book on photography with nothing but words, and still garner endless praises from a majority of its highly visual readers.

A Roxboro woman has filed a formal complaint with a local school board after her son was disciplined by a lunch program monitor at Ecole Lalande for eating in what she says is a customary Filipino manner.

Wow, even the newswriter was clueless about the Filipino (and Thai) way of using dining utensils.

Nakakaaliw isipin: 'sang damukal ang "Hershey's" at "Nestle' Crunch," "Hawaiian Macadamia Nuts" at even "Sugar-free Turtles" san ka man pumunta dito sa 'merika. Ke dami-daming "blue seal" na meryenda. Me "snack size" at "big value bags" pah! Nasa grocery lanes at Vendo dispensers sa iskwelahan at kahit na bus stations.

Pero sa Pinoy, iba pa rin ang "snacks na sariling atin." Kaya nga si Eyni, nung magbalik-bayan, ang pasalubong sa kaanak at kaibigan dito sa Tate ay "Boy Bawang" (the modern-day, and garlic-laden, version of the old favorite "CornNik." :P

Naiisip ko tuloy: to some Pinoys anywhere, meryenda is an art. Sa pihikang panlasa ng mga kababayan, hindi basta-basta pantawid-gutom lamang ang "kakanin." Otherwise, McDo at Babe Ruth will do na lang sana. Pero hindi. Kung me bago kang hiram na DVD, dapat me isang suport na ChocNut na katabi sabi ni Marc, donna at Lester! O kaya isang slice ng Goldilocks Ube Roll, o tatlong scoops ng Magnolia Mango Royale. Na lahat binili sa dinayo pang five-miles-away na Asian Store if you're in US. Mas abot-kamay syempre kung nasa Pinas ka o Singapore. :)

My family and I went to Hiroshima in January 2006. Immediately after our 4-day trip I wanted to post an entry, but I found myself unable to tell my story. It was just too long. Too many details, too much emotions. Hiroshima continues to haunt me.

Eighty year old Ojii-san (Lolo) Kimura, our host, contemplates the Atomic Dome. It is the only ruin left standing after the restoration. Ojii-san lost a brother-in-law to the bombing sixty years ago. Could he still remember?

The good reason Americans had for bombing Hiroshima was that it saved over a million lives by not having to invade Japan to end the war. Killing 200,000 to save a million lives? Japan at the time was already negotiating the terms of surrender. Most of the victims were women and children. Sacrificial lambs.

Before

After

A crowd of people awaiting entrance to a stadium in Manila stampeded Saturday, killing at least 73 people and injuring 322, an official said.