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south-east asia → philippines → metro manila → taguig → fort bonifacio
‘went out lunch break one time and took pictures in a nearby cemetery, Manila American Cemetery and Memorial. i’ve seen these array of crosses only in postcards and internet pictures before..so i decided to pay a visit since it’s close to office anyway. for some reasons, i thought it’s more effective to shoot in black and white, so i used my last roll of ilford instead of digital.
the place is deserted save for the guards (at the entrance), some attendants mowing the grass afar, and me of course. most of those remains in here are american and filipino soldiers who died during the world war II. dead quiet and under the blazing sun, i walked along the patio, nearby myriad of aligned crosses, up to several tall marble walls with names of missing soldiers inscribed whose exact graves are known only to God.
at exactly 12 o’clock, i heard some striking bell sound, and afterwards, they played music. i heard that christian music before but somehow i can’t recall its title. just chimes, pure sound, no vocals. i followed where it’s coming from, until it led me to a slender but lofty chapel. i paused for awhile, and let the music end.
imagine that what you can see here is only a small part of war casualties. not trying to deliver a sermon here, but truly, there is no winner in a world at war. only casualties, unglorified sacrifices, distressed victims…
Hi! Some 120 films for sale.
Ilford XP2 Super 400
Black & White (C-41 Process)
Boxed, Fresh
Ps. 285.00
Kodak BW400CN
Black & White (C-41 Process)
Unboxed but wrap sealed (came from a pack of 5’s), Fresh
Ps. 305.00
Kodak Portra 400VC
Colored (C-41 Process)
Unboxed but wrap sealed (came from a pack of 20’s), Fresh
Ps. 295.00
Fujicolor Pro 800Z
Colored (C-41 Process)
Unboxed but wrap sealed (came from a pack of 5’s), Fresh
Ps. 290.00
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standing inside the bus on my way to work this morning, i can’t avoid but look at the newspaper of a man in front of me. the headline? "P249-M Lotto Jackpot Claimed". that’s really a big sum of money. it’s the largest lotto prize jackpot in the whole of philippine lotto history..add to the fact that there is only one winner, it’s truly a fortune. the sole claimant is a 63-year old man, and as he was a bit apprehensive, he took it after 2 weeks from the draw date.
have you ever thought what you would do in case you win such amount of money? i, frankly, thought of that more than a dozen times (when bored hehe) despite the only time i remember betting on a similar game (hk’s mark-6) is just playing around with lost’s 4-8-15-16-23-42 number series…and the result? not a single number came up.
it must be amazing how luck plays in our lives. last month, the winner may be struggling what to put on the table just like majority of filipinos, or he could have a family member suffering from an illness they couldn’t even afford to have a check. there are infinite possible combinations of life status this man has had just a few weeks ago, and now he’s a millionnaire. a multi-millionnaire that obviously doesn’t need to lift even a tiny pin in his entire remaining life in order to eat three meals a day.
i, most certainly, won’t make even half of that amount in my full lifetime no matter how many jobs i get into(apparently, i’m talking about jobs not involving political seats in our untidy government). that is not a self-deprecating statement. most likely, i would stay as a middle class citizen, not struggling much to find everyday food nor would drive a bugatti. and i’m not saying all of this because i’m unhappy with what i have now. i’m contented. these are just a fool’s thoughts, don’t take it seriously.
indeed, i am in great luck. sitting at the office, in one of the cushiest job i’ve ever had (well, i only had one other job apart from this) typing this entry, and waiting for 6 so we could go out and play sports at a nearby badminton court. probably, we’ll grab some dinner, and head home by bus, and i can sleep ’til the sun strikes my face on a late saturday morning. truth is, i’ve never genuinely wished something i can’t possibly have (other than a night date with natalie portman). simplicity would always allow blissful living because more often than not, simple things are easier to acquire.
probably i’m only feeling like this (slightly irritated with financials) because i would have to say that it’s becoming harder and harder to save. i find my payroll account totally empty while the next pay is still far in the future. i’m paying for my car. i help at home. i pay for myself. i pay for a lot of things. in total, i owe my sister, brother, and citibank huge amount, and to add the crises, fund price is still sodden under the mud…whilst rice per kilo is soaring high.
now, i’m confused did i just mention i’m lucky?
south-east asia → philippines → pangasinan → alaminos city
distance: ~300 kilometers from home
max speed: 155 kilometers per hour (NLEX)
this is, at the moment, the longest continuous drive i’ve ever done. ‘got back this morning around 2am from alaminos, pangasinan, famous for its unique land/isle formations called ‘hundred islands’. i’ve been to this place with jun and don about a year ago, and i can say that is has changed a lot! there were much more establishments now, and a lot lot more rooms for rent, cottages, and even a public pay bathroom! we were actually joking of just sleeping in the car because we can have a bath for 10 pesos anyway, haha. but eventually after looking for several places, we ended up with a large fan room (fit enough for 5 of us), with a bathroom for only 700 pesos a night (really cheap), though it was really hot at the beginning, i think we hardly notice it after playing rounds of ‘in between’, where i lose as much as 200 pesos i guess..and jp was the grand champion of more than 600 pesos!
we shared grilled bangus, grilled longganisa, and java rice for dinner.. and look for ate helen (i knew her from previous trip) to arrange some food for tomorrow’s island escapade. we also arranged for a boatman, and he’ll pick us up the next day, sunday, at 6am, but for some reasons, he was late and we were just leaving the wharf? at about 8am already! we head to governors island first, where we climb several hundred steps up (116 steps according to len) to have a panoramic view of the islands! amazing. after that, we went pass children’s islands, and then on to the side of quezon island where we snorkle and swam up to coral island. these areas are protected and boats are not allowed so we have to do some swimming to go around (which is a good exercise anyway). unfortunately, some of the snorkling equipments they lent us are broken so several of us had some struggling looking for fishes, corals, and giant oysters. they were cultivating and growing corals so you can spot some cages underwater, though some of the corals are badly damaged, it might be because they only protected the area recently.
after 2 hours or so, we had to go back to our boat, again, by manual swim. a bit tired and obviously starving, we head to nearby quezon island, and had lunch. grilled bangus (but this time stuffed), some grilled eggplants, and a lot of rice. after eating up to stomach’s content, we went to marcos island. this is one of my favorite islands because it features a unique elevated cave (with bats hanging in the ceiling) and you can plunge down below (around 20 feet high) for a splash with the open sea view on the right side. the water is crystal clear (as in most of the islands), and you’ll do some rock climbing to go back again and jump another time. 
apparently, we are all a bit tired, so next stop is this island (’don’t know the name) and had it by ourselves, literally, for a couple of hours. just rest, lay under the sun, even dozed off, some more pictures, and before we knew, it’s almost time to go back.
one last stop is this island/cave (across the unnamed island), we stop for some view, until my battery died.
‘got back in our room around 6ish, and we have to check-out at 7pm, so we alloted 10-min bath for each of us. then, drove off back to the central area and had dinner in a carinderia, where we met and shared dinner with a local friend, Regi. Then off to start the enormous travel back to south. ‘was trying to beat our previous absolutely slow travel time of 8 hours (i drove all the time, including stopovers nearly in every town to ask for directions) from binan to alaminos. succesfully, we made it at 5 hours or less going back. amazing 3 hours saved due to less stop overs, and i think we went a different way going back (passed by san fernando, pampanga, instead of conception?) and len drove the NLEX to C-5 route.
more of the pictures are here.
All of them, all those who can’t adapt – you and I, for instance – will die cursing the power which they helped bring about with often enormous sacrifices. Revolution is impersonal, so it will take their lives and even use their memory as an example or as an instrument to control the young people coming after them…you will die with your fist clenched and your jaw tense, the perfect manifestation of hatred and struggle, because you aren’t a symbol (some inanimate example), you are an authentic member of the society to be destroyed; the spirit of the beehive speaks through your mouth and moves through your actions. You are as useful as I am, but you don’t realize how useful your contribution is to the society that sacrifices you.
~ Ernesto ‘Ché’ Guevara
