TRIPS and TRIPPINGS
1. Lake Sebu: Where calm and colors meet
I have to come back here and explore again every natural nook and countryside cranny
2. Malapatan: A quaint town by the sea
I had never seen anything like it before. Waves splash against large, brown rocks, which reminded me of upturned prawn crackers, ridged and overcooked
3. 5000 pairs of sandals
More than five thousand people, majority of them wearing sandals, came last night to witness the last part of Hinugyaw Festival. Alunan Avenue was closed for vehicles and opened for hoi polloi.
4. Running after the Mardi Gras
We laughed at how crazy we must have looked running the long stretch of Alunan Avenue.
5. Drinking world's most expensive coffee
When our order was served and we saw the tiny mugs containing no more than 120 ml of black liquid, we were half-convinced we had made a mistake. When we started sipping the drink and the bitterest coffee we ever tasted made love with our taste buds, we were fully convinced we had made a mistake.
6. New Year in the streets of Koronadal
Before long, we were slowly having rounds of Red Horse (still on the house!) as Bob Marley crooned “No woman, no cry” in the karaoke and splendid fireworks illuminated the night sky.
7. Barbecue at baywalk
We walked in the drizzle without any covering for our heads, pretending we’re in Chicago, the windy city, believing ours is the normal world.
8. The best chicharon in Koronadal
See the hungry geeks in glasses
9. My birthplace at night
One December night, we went for a walk to the town center
10. Lemata's musical journey to the top
Lemata, a five-member band, starts playing—and virtually turns the gymnasium of Notre Dame of Marbel University into a stadium jampacked with rockistas.
11. NDEA 2007 at Cotabato City
We are the champion—again!
12. 10 things I love about my dorm
It has Time magazine
THOUGHTS
1. Keep on rockin’
There was nothing wrong with you guys. In fact, I wanted to shout, sing with you and do some headbang, as did the uninhibited teen-agers in front of me. The problem was me. I was simply not rockista enough.
2. A god named Manny
All I want to do when I meet him is kneel down, raise my hands up in the air and bend down the ground.
3. Ilaga: Warrior of the dark
They are a source of pride for young Christians like me, for in my veins flows the same blood—the blood of fearless fighters. But they are also our shame, for they turned into ruthless savages who every so often preyed upon innocent lives.
4. Death of a boxer
All Angelito Sisnorio Jr. wanted was to fulfill his dreams—earn money, help his family have a better life, bring honor to the country. The boxer did not probably expect that by reaching for the stars with gloved hands, he would die at the young age of 24.
5. Stop the violence
Indeed, no one can stop a determined bomber. Be wary of your safety, even if it’s the President who announces that “the terrorist elements have nowhere to hide and are in fact doomed to annihilation.” Or—taking it from the last tragedy—be wary of your safety, especially when the President assures the public that everything is under control.
6. Judge them by what’s IN their heads—and what’s ON their heads
This barrio boy is experiencing some culture shock. It’s one thing to read about metrosexuals. It’s another to share roof, hallway and mirror with them.
7. The cry
We live in Sultan Kudarat, a province in Mindanao where Christians and Muslims are almost the same in number. The two groups of people usually live in separate towns or villages. But in our simple, gated community, Muslims and Christians live together—and rather peacefully.
8. Going green
Let me just call myself “a garbage collector.” I’ve been scanning books for the right name for people who collect garbage as a hobby, but I couldn’t find any.
9. A mugful of coffee
“If anything can go wrong, it will.” These words, known as Murphy’s Law, took effect on me one Wednesday night. Before the night ended, however, I was able to formulate my own law: “If everything goes wrong, something will make you feel all right.”
10. Pinguiaman
I felt like we were in Central Africa or some exotic marshland . . . I reached on instinct for the water below—only to yank my hand back. Far from the clear, turquoise water of Central Africa or some exotic marshland, the water around us was murky and germ-infested.
TALES
1. Ghosts
By the time you read this, I might be inside a mental asylum. If not, I must be dead. I must have taken my life with my own hands, have finally realized that plunging to death is easier than facing this predicament.
2. Goose
By the time you read this, I must be dead. But still handsome. If I’m not yet dead, I’m still alive (of course). Maybe I’m in a mental asylum, visiting you. Maybe I’m in the beer kiosks at Pantua, drinking Red Horse.
