~manila, you're not that ugly

hooray for wooden toys!

manilarat — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 02:20:46 +0000

Don’t you think it’s so hard to find a meaningful toy to give kids these days?

It’s always been a problem for me–I don’t buy into plastic toys and the PS2 generation–and come kiddie birthdays or baptisms, I always get torn between giving something I’d rather not give or just giving nothing.

Was so glad, then, to have met Tes Sobeng, a Waldorf mom who makes wooden toys for children (and children-at-heart!). She had access to wood craftsmen in Paete, Laguna and took it upon herself to make toys that resonated with love and encouraged imagination.

Do you notice the mini palayok (clay pot) on the shelf? I have so many fond memories playing with clay pots as a child!

Tes has an assortment of toys, but mostly for kids of school age. Most adhere to the Waldorf ideals of age-appropriateness and imaginative play.

Here’s one toy I took home for myself, inspired by a tansan (bottlecap) spinning wheel usually played in the provinces:

Hayyyy, what joy in being a child!

* * *
You can look at Tes’s toy catalog on her website, toys and stuff, or contact her through
0908-492-3953 / 912-4056 or tesmsobeng@yahoo.com

my travel photos: Camarines Sur in 2 days

manilarat — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 07:10:10 +0000

Let’s #helpDOT!

In February 2008, my friend Heidiklum decided to treat the girls to a weekend of sports, healthy eating, and qt with friends and family in Camarines Sur. We packed our bags and slept ourselves silly on Isarog Buslines’ Lazyboy Extreme, which had such comfortable seats! Not even an hour in Camsur and one of us was already saying: “I’m so excited to go home so I can sleep on the lazy boy again!”

5am Saturday, we arrived at Lagonoy, our homebase for the weekend, where we feasted on laing, homemade peanut butter, fishes, tapang usa, complete with sing-all-you-can videoke

Other stops:
Lagonoy Farm — carabao ride, buko fest, tree climbing, airsoft
Aguirangan Island – sunset bonfire with trusty Granma
Mt. Isarog – photo and wishing op on one of Bicol’s summits
and CWC, the trip highlight — for first time wakeboarding woohooo! pero booo, hanggang kneeboard lang kami! http://www.camsurwatersportscomplex.com/

farm life at lagonoy

aguirangan island

sun sets behind mt. isarog

harvested sugarcane on isarog

www.camsurwatersportscomplex.com

Camarines Sur in 2 days
(Posted on February 5, 2008)
Weekend in Naga, Pili, and Laganoy, Camarines Sur

Travel time to Naga from Manila: 9pm Friday night to 4:30am Saturday
via Isarog Bus, Lazyboy Extreme (the best!)

You can also view the album on multiply: – February 2008

my travel photos: not your typical Visayas

manilarat — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 06:21:31 +0000

Let’s #helpDOT!

Where to go in Roxas, Capiz, Boracay, Iloilo, Guimaras, Bacolod, Dumaguete, Bohol, and Cebu in the Visayas region:

ROXAS Port, Mindoro

Ivisan, CAPIZ

JAWILI Falls (7 basins), Tangalan, Aklan

BAKHAWAN ECO PARK, Aklan

Mt. Luho, Boracay

Pineapple Plantation, Passi City, Iloilo

Bacolod City Hall

MABINAY SPRINGS, Negros

Central Azucera de Bais (CAB), Bais City

ALEGRE BEACH, Cebu

Ang ganda ng Pilipinas – not your typical Visayas
(Posted on September 16, 2008)

Pictures taken by Hussein and Travis for the DOT’s Island Paradise Adventure Race (IPAR) Project in December 2005

Includes:

Roxas
Capiz
Boracay
Iloilo
Guimaras
Bacolod
Dumaguete
Bohol
Cebu

You can also view the album on multiply: Ang ganda ng Pilipinas – not your typical Visayas – December 2005

View pictures of Luzon sites which were also part of the race (Angono, Rizal, Paete, Laguna, Lipa, Batangas, Calapan and Puerto Galera, Mindoro).

my travel photos: not your typical Luzon

manilarat — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 02:34:26 +0000

Let’s #helpDOT!

I was part of the organizing team for the Island Paradise Adventure Race (IPAR) – Visayas Leg, an amazing government project to help boost local tourism in December 2005. With one-million pesos up for grabs, thirty backpacker teams raced across Luzon and Visayas on foot, relying on the various modes of public transport–LRT, buses, jeepneys, tricycles, RO-ROs, ferries, etc. It was my first foray into tourism and government work, and one of the biggest gifts I took from it, aside from meeting so many adventure racers, some of whom grew to be celebrities (Everest boys and girls!), was the direct interaction it gave with the quiet beauty of the “unpopular” and often overlooked areas of the country.

Shown below are various pics around Luzon taken by my friends Hussein and Travis, who were part of the committee that previewed the sites to be included in the race.

PETROGLYPHS Cave, Angono:

The Pacheco home in Morong, Rizal:

Mang Panoy’s Woodcarving, Paete, Laguna:

Pottery-making, Capati Farm, San Jose, Batangas:

I’ve never been to Puerto Galera, and didn’t realize I had these pics for reference! I dreamt of it recently, and hahaha, my dream Galera doesn’t come close to the real deal:

Ang ganda ng Pilipinas – not your typical Luzon
(Posted on September 16, 2008)

Pictures taken by Hussein and Travis for the DOT’s Island Paradise Adventure Race (IPAR) Project in December 2005

Includes:
Angono, Rizal
Paete, Laguna
Lipa, Batangas
Calapan, Mindoro
Puerto Galera, Mindoro

You can also view the album on multiply: Ang ganda ng Pilipinas – not your typical Luzon – December 2005
Pictures of Visayas sites which were also part of the race (Roxas, Capiz, Boracay, Iloilo, Guimaras, Bacolod, Dumaguete, Bohol, Cebu) coming next!

my travel photos: At home in Iloilo

manilarat — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 03:37:22 +0000

Let’s #helpDOT!

I visited my bestfriend Jason Gonzales in Iloilo in March 2009. Jae is my go-to guy for anything related to politics (he’s a governance geek! and I say that lovingly), and he just got elected as Iloilo City Councilor last May (yey!) . Am sure I’ll be visiting Iloilo more often in the next three years, but it was fun reminiscing my first trip to Manduriao, Lambunao, Miag-ao, and Guimaras through these pics:

The Mango Tree — Jason’s garden resto and my home for a week

A lovely ancestral home turned school in the heart of the city…

My first cockfight!

Guimaras is a short boat-ride away from Iloilo. It’s the land of supposedly the best mangoes in the country, but we couldn’t find any to bring home!

Iloilo scenery
(Posted on May 28, 2009)

My bestfriend Jason took me in for a week last March, and showed me around his home for the past four years– Iloilo and beyond.. Was especially interesting because Jae is such a socialite (Rotary president at 27!), and he rubbed elbows with people who ran cockfight coliseums and Waldorf schools set in vast farmlands…

Highlight of the trip was definitely being shown off as Jae’s bestfriend, to family and friends who love him so dearly. I can say that on my first visit to Iloilo, even if only by association, naramdaman ko na kung paano magmahal ang Ilonggo.. kay namit!

March 24-29, 2009
Manduriao, Lambunao, and Miag-ao, Iloilo
with a day trip to Guimaras

You can also view the album on multiply: Iloilo scenery – March 2009

my travel photos: Ziplining with Mt. Apo in Davao

manilarat — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 07:49:16 +0000

#helpDOT

Imagine waking up to this in the morning…

So beautiful.

Last July 2009, I got to spend a few days with my childhood friend and her family in the mountains of Davao del Sur–was the first time I truly understood why great men of prayer would go up the mountains to be silent.

We stayed in their family vacation home-turned-adventure zone, Camp Sabros, where I got to zipline and rappel down a 100-foot tree!

It was also my first time in Mindanao… and I couldn’t have asked for a better welcome to that land of sun and rare rains than this smiling mountain!

Ziplining with Mt. Apo in Davao
(Posted on July 9, 2009)

Camp Sabros, one of the most charming places I’ve visited in the Philippines–for the quiet it offers, and the sense of grandeur and adventure all at once

Barangay Kapatagan, Digos City, Davao del Sur
June 2009

* * *

Excerpts from My first time in Mindanao
(Posted on July 9, 2009)

I was always scared to go to Mindanao without a local to take me around, so when Maan came home for the first time since college grad (7 years ago! wahhh), I took the chance to visit her family’s home in Davao with her for the weekend…

For some reason I packed for the beach and ended up wearing layers of leggings and board shorts to combat the freeeeezing cold!! We were 3,900ft above sea level (Baguio is 4,400ft, but I swear I was FREEZING!!) in Camp Sabros, a super beautiful retreat place/resort put up by Maan’s family in the mountains of Davao del Sur, almost near Mt. Apo, tallest mountain in the Phils.

Trip highlights: “flying” over a pine tree forest, rappelling down a 100-foot tree! Was looking forward to all-you-can-eat mangosteen, but it wasn’t in season (boo! summer daw dapat), so made do with pigging out on durian off the street…oh yummmmm….
:):)

You can also view the album on multiply: Ziplining with Mt. Apo in Davao – July 2009

Read my post, “flying” in Camp Sabros, Davao.

my travel photos: UP Los Banos, Kusina Salud, San Pablo Lake

manilarat — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 07:35:27 +0000

Inspired by the momentum of #helpDOT, decided to organize my travel pics that are scattered all over multiply and facebook. Starting with my trip to UP Los Banos, Kusina Salud, and San Pablo Lake in Laguna last July 2009:

UPLB’s Fertility tree–one of the visual highlights of the trip:

It’s massive!

And of course, the surprise was this big Manansala right in the cafeteria of IRRI–I hope the people who eat there realize they’re in dining the company of greatness.

UP Los Banos, Kusina Salud, San Pablo Lake
(Posted on July 13, 2009)

Spent yesterday morning breathing in fresh air and resting my eyes, ears and mind in UP Los Banos, an amazing campus (the biggest in the Philippines!) about an hour from Manila. Was just green green green everywhere (along with bugs bugs bugs, but that shouldn’t deter anyone)! Was gifted with the best tourguide ever, Jon, who lived in LB for two years and knew all the secret nooks and crannies that truly make a place home.

We braved the Viaje del Sol agenda (what a fanatstic tourism initiative, more on this later) and picked out Kusina Salud for lunch, and the tour of the lakes of San Pablo for dessert.

July 12, 2009, Sunday
U.P. Los Banos
Kusina Salud, garden restaurant of Patis Tesoro in Bgy. Sta. Cruz, San Pablo, Laguna
Sampaloc Lake, San Pablo City, Laguna
Pandin Lake, San Pablo, Laguna — touted as San Pablo’s best kept secret

Just found out you can embed multiply albums on any website–so cool! Just wait for the pics to load, takes a while:

You can also view the album on multiply: UP Los Banos, Kusina Salud, San Pablo Lake – July 2009

paintings i wanted to take home from ManilArt 2010

manilarat — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 13:48:30 +0000

I wasn’t planning on buying art when I set out for SMX last Sunday, but wowowee, seeing so much beautiful colors on canvas just couldn’t stop me from (literally) reaching for the paintings that jumped at me! Art gallery owners were friendly too, which was nice and encouraging, especially for an art newbie like me.

My philosophy? Good art is like wine. You like what you like.

My top picks:

Rovi Salegumba’s 4 works each depicting the seasons: spring, fall, winter, summer
Oil on canvas, 2010

I’m a yellow and sun girl, so was partial to the sun:

Would’ve been great to have the complete 4 but the red piece was taken by the time I got to the Tala Gallery booth!

Next was Carlo Ongchangco’s surreal balloon piece from the Village Art Gallery. One look, even from afar, and I knew it was a homage to Alice in Wonderland– when I saw the title up close, had a self-satisfied smirk on my face (very bad, I know)

“Follow Fish, Find Alice”, Acrylic on canvas, 2010, 36×48

We met Sam Galvez-Lorenzo, the gallery’s very accommodating owner and also an artist herself, and she patiently answered all my questions about the paintings and their artists. I think most of my top picks came from her gallery–too bad it’s all the way in Alabang Town Center. Would be great to be able to visit and revisit my favorite artists on her line up!

Sam said Ronante Maratas (below) is a young artist, and it shows– his works are so playful–something that tugged at my heart really

“Hiding Inside the Horrible Weather”, Acrylic on canvas, 2010, 48×36

“When the Sun Sleeps”, Acrylic on canvas, 2010, 40×30

For overall delight, I knew Ronante Maratas had me, but the Village Art Gallery was just stop 2 in our 5-hour walk through the fair…

This was a surprise–a small work by singer Cynthia Alexander. Really loved the disarming, disrupting feel it had, but just wish it was done by hand (not digitally)…

“Snowflake”, Mixed media/digital, 2009, 20×15.6

Of course, who can resist the allure of a “National Artist”? When it was time for the Gallery of Davao’s booth, I was completely starstruck to be face-to-face with an Imao that was actually up for sale!

National artist Dr. Abdulmari Asia Imao
“Sarimanok Painting Series”, Acrylic on canvas, 2008, 3ftx4ft

It was a look-only-no-touch love affair, as the sarimanok was well beyond my budget…

Next to grab me were works of Bacolod artist, Junjun Montelibano. There’ just something about the surreal that moves me, or awakens something in me:

“Check Point”, Oil on canvas, 2010, 48×32
Gallery Orange (Bacolod)

Candy Store”, Oil on canvas, 2010, 48×32

This puzzle painting by Leo Velasco was a welcome mental exercise:

“I Want Your Soul to Open Up for Me”, Acrylic, oil and object on canvas, 2010, 48×72

Did you figure it out? We got until “Maybe I need to be honest to you fin…???… I want”. Any ideas?

Was on the lookout for my favorites from last year: Marcel Antonio…

…and Rom Villaseran, who had this lone work for the whole fair (maybe some got sold on the first two days)!

Other happy finds:

These moving sculptures were such a joy! Already sold for P300,000 each, but with people still lining up as third reserve, just in case! Was insane!

Gabriel Barredo
“Tree of Life”, Mixed media
Art Verite

“Prosperity”, Mixed media

Other sculptures I liked–by the Cacnios:

Ferdinand Cacnio
“Timeless”, welded brass in corten steel, 2010, 22x16x12
Galerie Astra

Michael Cacnio
“Trio up-float”, brass, 2010, 30x24x7.5
Paseo Gallery

“Discharge”, brass, 2010, 72x17x12

Mm Yu’s photographs at the Manila Contemporary booth were also interesting– offered a bigger look at urban culture by way of sweeping, collective strokes.

Of note too was the fair’s one and only multimedia/installation art:

Poklong Anading’s “Furry Tongue”, 5:09-minute video loop/cocoa powder, water, wood panel, and video projector, 2010
P25,000 (edition of 5)

David Griggs’ “How’s My Politics? Tel. 666,2010″, Glass with bullet holes/smoky mountain tint/aluminum frame/silicon, 2010, 170cm x 200cm x 120cm
P216,000

Personally, I’m not a fan, but I appreciate it for the multi-sensory dimension it lent to the whole fair…Hopefully we’ll see more varieties of installation art in the coming years?

What made the event most successful was the personal interaction it offered among visitors, gallery owners, and even artists themselves. Here’s painter Angel Moreno, for example, who excitedly went up to us to narrate his lifestory and inspiration for his art:

Bumped into my old teacher, Erwin Leano, who had one of his works on display at the Boston Gallery. We got to catch up not over coffee, but over a Mahilum!

My BIG starstruck moment was definitely talking engagedly to Lynn of Gallery Y, who I found out half an hour later was the daughter-in-law of Romulo Olazo. She asked if I wanted to meet him, and like a shy puppy, I hid behind my friend’s back and said no thank you.

Sayang, but I did enjoy a mild paparrazi moment:

Hihi Can you spot him?

All in all, it was another Sunday well-spent. The ManilArt2010 is a great gift to the Filipino artist and art fan, and definitely something we should rally behind in full force.

View more pictures of the ManilArt 2010 on flickr.
Read my post on ManilArt 2009.
View pictures of ManilArt 2009.
* * *

The second annual Manila art fair was held in SMX from July 30-August, and based on short exchanges with gallery owners, it seemed successful enough to do a repeat next year! Event details and pictures can be viewed on ArtePinas, including auction results. Check out Annie Cabigting’s “After Yves Klein”, an oil painting which st=tarted bidding at P220,000 and closed at P930,000!

how to #helpDOT and philippine tourism

manilarat — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:50:01 +0000

There’s a twitter “movement” now to #helpDOT, and not surprisingly, many people are jumping in and seeing how they can get involved.

It started with a post from Carlos Celdran about a tour he did with new Tourism Undersecretary @entengromano, which led to @TeamManila making tourism posters for free:

Bloggers journeyingjames and otherworldpixie made their own posts of support, not to mention countless tweeters, and voila, now we have one viral volunteer campaign for Philippine tourism created in an instant.

DOT Undersecretary Enteng Romano tweeted back: “Still thinking of how 2 harness d outpouring of volunteerism 4 DOT. Hope to come up w some ideas 2moro.”

Let’s hope this to be the start of a real dialogue for tourism development!

I dug up my old post on how to help tourism back in 2005, fresh from my Spain trip and right when I started manilarat:

I am a great fan of the potential of the Philippines (and of the Filipino). I was born and raised in Manila, but there has always been the curiosity and eagerness to explore our culture through travel, conversations, daily interactions with people.

A month ago I left the family business and started working for the Department of Tourism. On the premise that I was there #1 to help tourism, and #2 to find out how government works from the inside.

I left the DOT after the Island Paradise Adventure Race Project (which is still held every year, but under the Development Bank of the Philippines now), and my biggest take away then was that for what I saw as the necessary work for Philippine tourism, the place to start was not the national government, which I felt had very limited authoritative power development-wise.

Five years and a new Tourism Law after, I don’t know if things are still the same.

But for sure, in our own circles, there are lots to do, and do now! Quoting from that same post in 2005:

everyone always has something to say about tourism. i know i always romanticized it, holding up high “how i think things can be improved.”

many ideas–bright ones at that–get lost in implementation. and im learning firsthand that most of the time, no one really wants to be accountable for implementation. especially in government.

coming up with a great project and starting it is actually doable.sustaining it is not, or at the least, it is difficult. according to a colleague who’s been with the DOT for more than 10 years, projects fail mostly because of politics– everyone wants to run his own show; no one wants to carry on flagship projects of previous officials.

fact of life.

so what’s a private citizen to do?
i say sell the country in his own circle… be a walking salesman of what it means to be a filipino, to live in the philippines. work within one’s reach, with what you have control over, and stop barking at the government (it’s not only exhausting, it’s really just not effective).

statistics show that word of mouth is still one of the preferred modes of securing information about our country. we should capitalize on this. that’s why i have such faith in blogs and travel writing!

Let’s hope things have taken a turn for the better in our government and #helpDOT, but let’s also do our part as private citizens! Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!

be a Buddhist monk for three months

manilarat — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:51:22 +0000

If you ever wanted to learn Buddhism, this would be the way to do it!

(Image from the FSG site)

Break free. Breathe
Detour. Detox.
Retreat. Renew.

We invite you to three months of a simple way of life in the Chan (Zen) tradition learning the religion, language, culture, arts, diet, and philosophy of Humanistic Buddhism.

Discover and experience not just a new perspective in life but also, more importantly, about yourself, in a meditative lifestyle guided by the Buddha’s ancient teachings adapted into the modern world of converging cultures.

THE PROGRAM

Officially called the FGS Philippines Humanistic Academy of Life and Arts, this temple stay and studies program is open to those who want to learn our way of life, to take a break from the world they are used to, or to cultivate spiritually, whatever religious background they are from.

The program will offer three months of:

~ Classes introducing Chinese Chan Buddhism, its philosophy and practice
~ Monastic life experience, routine, discipline and etiquette
~ Vegetarian and silent meals using two bowls and chopsticks
~ Nightly walking and sitting meditation
~ Other forms of meditation like tai chi, calligraphy and tea ceremonies
~ Buddhist rituals like chanting every morning, full moon and new moon
~ Basic Mandarin reading, speaking and writing
~ Special workshops on arts, crafts and music
~ Communal or team work in cleaning and events

Accepted scholars for the second batch will live full-time in Yuan Thong Temple situated in the small but bustling city of Bacolod, Philippines from September 15 to December 15, 2010. The food and lodging are all sponsored by Fo Guang Shan Philippines, but costs of transportation and personal necessities need to be shouldered by the accepted scholar.

I met Dave (who posted about the upcoming course) and Artyom, who are part of the first batch of the FGS Philippines Humanistic Academy of Life (started May this year), at the one-day Zen meditation at the Mabuhay Temple. They’re graduating tomorrow, July 31 (yay!). They stayed for two months in Bacolod and completed their last month here in Manila. Artyom is pursuing further studies in the FGS university in Taiwan.

More details at the couchsurfing event thread and the FGS Philippines multiply site, including answers to frequently asked questions like “What if I am not a Buddhist?” or “Do I have to shave my head?”. Dave says a typical day in the monastery would be:

…waking up to the sound of a woodblock at 6:00 AM, and proceeding to the main shrine for morning chanting. Breakfast follows, then a formal class (Mandarin and/or Buddhism) with a monastic, then lunch. All meals are silent. After lunch, there is time for walking meditation and rest. An afternoon class is next, then personal time to shower, wash clothes, and clean rooms. Temple work will be scheduled assignments to help in the kitchen, keep the garden or temple grounds, or other tasks. Dinner will be called at 6:00 PM. After which, an evening class follows and meditation. Everyone will be called to bed at 10PM. There will be days of the week with different schedules, depending on the occasion. Some days will have special workshops on artwork, music, cooking, gardening, or events. Every Monday is a rest day (no classes but it will be time for cleaning own rooms, personal study, writing, etc.).

You can also look at everyday life in the temple through pictures of the first batch of three-month monks in Bacolod here.