The dark towers

Petronas Twin Towers, Malaysia, March 2008

Finally. It's done.

Orange Jar

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Paulo Coelho

I held the camera at arm’s length and turned the lens towards us.

He said, “You can do that?”

“Yes,” I replied... and laughed my head off.

The other half of Raquel

is always green.

Henna scandal

I have a friend, Badette, who used to be my officemate but we first met because of a common friend, Stella, who also worked in the same office. Later we became a big group of friends, from the same government office, working in different departments. Badette and I really got to know each other during the first time we challenged each other to a drinking session. We finished a liter of Tequila between the two of us while munching on tuna sashimi and sickly watching a “Something-something scandal” over and over again (we had to repeat the tape every time somebody new arrived).

After the tequila, Stella said she needed to go home. We walked with her to the corner, hailed a cab and waited for Rich (also an officemate and good friend) to arrive. We bought beers which Rich and Badette finished. I could not drink any alchohol anymore after the tequila. Since I brought henna with me, Rich wanted barbed wires drawn on his wrists (at the time, the controversial turn over of Subic Airbase (Philippines) from Richard Gordon to Payumo was taking place). I gamely said yes, and started drawing, no matter if my eyes were already criscrossing because of all the alchohol I drank.

The next day when we woke up, hangovers and all, Rich wanted to kill me – the drawing was too big! It looked like giant thorns wounding around his wrist. He scrubed his skin raw but it wouldn’t come off. It really wouldn’t; you can expect henna to last up to two weeks or more. He was furious at me for being crazy enough to attempt henna while I was drank. My only defense was: who’s crazier between the two of us? Me who drew the henna or you who asked somebody who’s already drank to draw henna on him! LOL! Rich had to bear with the ugly ‘barbed wires’ which he said looked bigger than those surrounding the Subic Airbase.

Lesson of the day: don't watch any scandal videos if everybody coming for the night is not yet present. Otherwise, you'd be sick enough to repeat it again and again. ;)

Illegal shooting

Hacienda Looc, is a highly controversial piece of land in Batangas, Philippines. Just after I graduated, our group was invited to participate in a summit held in that area. There, cultural performances, discussions and meetings were held with the affected farmers. We were supporting these farmers who were protesting the land’s conversion into a golf resort.

Once it was over, everybody headed out at the same time. It was a long caravan of farmers and their families, activist groups, cultural performers and students. We went through muddy roads, sometimes on jeepneys, sometimes on foot. Finally, when we reached the city proper, the group decided to stage a rally. We walked around the city with our banners and chanted protests. But we didn’t have a permit. A few minutes later, policemen were stopping us.

There was this big policeman, with his big belly angrily screaming at our leader. Little me, snuck up to the front of the action and started snapping pictures. The policeman turned to me and said it was illegal to take pictures.

I retorted, “When has it been illegal to take pictures?”

He stepped forward as if to grab my camera. Like a kid, I held my camera behind me. I can no longer remember what he looked like, but I remember the sun behind him, making him look darker than he already was. His skin was glistening with sweat and his features were contorted with anger.

Somebody grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me backwards. I never knew who it was. People converged in front of me till I was practically hidden by rows and rows of people. I found myself at the back of the line. I was literally covered and hidden by these people I did not know. Some of my friends were there too, and one of them found me at the back (he could have been upfront when I was taking pictures too), grabbed the red bandanna off my head and told me to hide it.

Still numb with shock, I could not help but be amazed at all those people. That’s unity.

instant noodles

I am always up for an adventure, at least I still think I am though I’m a tad lazier now than I was before. When you're a UP student (at least back then), it was normal that you'd go through some very rough financial times. A lot of times, I'd go to the nearest sari-sari store (convenience store) and buy instant noodles and coffee. That's the whole extent of my nutritional source. And often times, when my friends and I traveled back then, we'd survive on the same thing: instant noodles and coffee. We'd utilize student discounts on buses and ferries, stay with friends, and live off on instant noodles if we have to. Here are a few “impromptu” trips we’ve been to:

Bicol
One summer, while my parents knew I was only in LB, taking a one-unit sports class – ballroom dancing of all things, I got conned into it - I went off and spent a few days in Naga, Bicol (that's about 10 hours away by bus) just before the PE finals.

Phil Tour
During my third year college, I wanted to go to Cebu. My boyfriend then insisted that if I’m going to Cebu, I might as well go to his home in Cagayan de Oro. When another friend heard that we were going to CDO, he absolutely insisted we go to his hometown in Cotabato. So my friends and I ended up taking a ship to Cebu, a ferry to CDO a bus to Davao, a bus to General Santos, Cotabato and a jeepney to Lake Sebu, Cotabato as a final side trip. On going home, it was the same rides and the same route in reverse.

We often joked that one of must have a birth mark on the butt (an old belief that it is unlucky) or on the reverse, that we are a very lucky group and we all have nine lives. Why? First, our ferry to CDO crashed into another ferry about 20 minutes off the pier. Funnily enough, the only person injured on our side was caused by my friend. In his panic, he grabbed hold of the hanging cabinet's door containing the lifejackets and hit the pregnant lady standing nearby. The ferry returned to the dock and the ambulance took the woman away; it didn't look serious, she just had a bump on the head. Second, our bus from CDO to Davao lost its brakes and almost went down a cliff, fortunately the driver was smart enough to crash the bus into the mountain side before the next bend. Third, our taxi in Davao lost its brakes in the middle of traffic. Very lucky - imagine we survived all that.

Mindoro
It was Wednesday, Holy Week. We were in LB, drinking in a bar. At around midnight, we just cheered to our lives, which led to a cheer to go to Puerto Galera, Mindoro at seven am the next day.

We did not meet at 7, it was more like 9 am but we did get to Mindoro the next day (that’s after Gitz and I hurriedly shopped for cheap bathing suits at the only place open with bathing suits. I ended up with a yellow and black piece -- YELLOW! I never wear yellow).

It was the middle of Holy Week and we had no reservations! Mindoro was jam-packed. We had to sleep bivouac the first night at this small eatery which we made our hang-out. Luckily some people left the next day and we were able to rent a room. We stayed for three days.

Balayan, Batangas
My uncle owns a beach property in Balayan. It has been our refuge for many summer trips, barkada and family outings. One night, while in Beaver’s house (one of my good friends from LB) the group decided that we wanted to go on a gimmick but we did not want to go to LB (anywhere but LB was the call that night) so, we swung by my house, got the keys to Balayan and off we went.

Come to think of it, the Mindoro, Phil Tour and Balayan trips were made with basically the same people - ah, the good old days. My travel buddies! So much have changed, but I trust, we will all travel again together, sometime...