Anyone who has seen Batanes will become a poet, a film maker, or a lover. Fall in love with its enigma, its vastness, its roughness and perfection, its charm, and its ability to devour you and you won't even mind. In fact, you will never want to see what lies beyond the landscapes, the wandering cows and horses of the so-called Marlboro country, of the waves in the distance like chalk writings on a dark board of sea, of endless greens of mountain after mountain after mountain. In a word, you don't want to be reminded of the city. If you could only sketch and keep it etched in your mind forever.... Here, you are a species of nature, like anything else.
One saunters without an exact destination, without a map, and better yet, without mind. Stop by the road, hike up a little, and be surprised, nay, be without words, by the beauty before you---a panorama of mountains edged by pristine shores facing the Pacific Ocean, sound of waves hitting rocks in the distance, with a country song playing in the background from what seems to be the only electronic thing around---an old-fashioned radio---as if mimicking a real cowboy life.
Here and there, you see blooms on the side of the road, untamed--a thing of beauty in the middle of nowhere, characterized by winding roads and cliffs only separated by a very fine line. What a delight it would be to any biker or runner to breeze through this island of literal ups and downs.
Anyone who has seen Batanes will see it again. Where people say good mornings or evenings to a friend or stranger on the road. Where one citizen could hold several jobs at once---as a vendor, an airport attendant, and a community police. Where history tells you of folks building houses and structures without pay.
Batanes--where the wind tells you it has a name. It blows at you and it can blow you away indeed. Where the waves teach you to be patient. Where nature commands you to go with its flow, to follow it. Where your feet smell of grass. And where you just lose your self and find it.
And if you're the first tourist of the day to stand alone on these mountains, you can own nature, only if it could fit your cup, your life cup that is only some years old in this world and still an infant to understand what nature is all about.
As for me, I have become a writer, again.
16.4.12
26.6.11
Tokyo: A Culture of Trust
Destination: Tokyo
Date: 9-16 May 2011 (7 days)
Purpose: 5 days of Business, 2 days of Leisure
I started my first visit to Tokyo with a toilet disaster—you know, the automatic bidet that almost gave me a facial wash. Should I say more? And the rest is, and should be, history.
Little did I know that that was just one of the automatics in almost everywhere I went. Here are some of the “amazing” hi-tech things, and other observations that my keen eyes collected:
> Tollgates are uneventful. They just swiftly scan the bus, and that’s it. No drama, no person giving out a ticket, no traffic around it, nothing.
> Some train lines are run without a human driver.
> Every toilet, even public ones, are complete with facilities.
> There’s a vending machine of drinks at every corner.
> Weather forecast is accurate. If they say the sun will shine tomorrow, even if it’s raining today, it will.
> Right-hand driving. And the taxi’s rear door opens automatically at the taxi driver’s disposal.
> I don’t think I’ve ever touched a door knob, since all doors are automatic, except for my hotel room’s.
> My wake-up call was recorded! I couldn’t take it! I wanted to hear a human voice first thing in the morning but I didn’t!
> Once you got the bill after dining at a restaurant, you stand up and settle it at the cashier, not from your table.
> Riding the bus was boring—no bumps on the road, no traffic, no TV. Sucks, right?
> Black is the general color, as if everyone is going to the same office everyday, wearing the same uniform.
> Everywhere is generally quite. If anything, it’s only the kids playing and crying who cause noise.
> People are skewed to the left of the road or the escalator. If you’re not rushing and you don’t want to be trampled upon, keep to the left.
All at perfect time and timing
Did I mention that the train leaves on time? Given that, you can predict almost exactly what time you can make it to a certain destination. The maps posted in train stations even supply you with the time difference between stations (e.g. 2-minute train ride between Shinagawa Station and Shimbashi Station).
Anyway, I ended up being in Tokyo to join a Philippine delegation to the Software Development Expo (SODEC) held annually in Tokyo Big Sight, Japan. I followed a tight business schedule, but highlighted by the fun on the side:
Monday to Friday: Official Business, until evening came and I would end up either at an izakaya or a ramen house with two groups of Japanese friends whom I met at training programs I attended at AIM in Makati in 2010. I met a Japanese friend who’s now based in the US but was in Tokyo for a week–the same week I was there! Another friend, who’s from Osaka, was also in Tokyo that same time. I was so lucky!
Saturday: Official Leisure, which started with a bargain shopping along Takeshita Street, and shrine visit at Meiji Jingu, where we chanced upon a rare, traditional Japanese wedding ceremony.
Sunday was a day of unplanned pleasantries. I was invited to a Japanese home by a Japanese classmate I also met in a training in Manila. I was welcomed like a supreme guest. We went biking and saw a festival at the nearby park. Who’d have thought there was a scheduled festival that time of the year!
Some useful phrases to get by:
Eigo deki masuka? = Do you speak English? (Now, when the Japanese I’m talking to answers with a “No”, I automatically call out a colleague who speaks Nihongo.)
Wakarimasen = I don’t know / I don’t understand
Arigato gozaimasu = Thank you
Sumimasen = Sorry / Excuse me
Of all these phrases, what I love most is Sumimasen. At an izakaya (beer bar), my Japanese friends would always ask me to call out the waiter, and then perfunctorily and happily, I would shout “Sumimasen!” trying hard to sound natural as if Japanese is my native tongue.
A Society of Trust
Tokyo is not only advanced technologically, but also culturally and morally. More than my amazement of the technology around which was already an expectation, what surprised me was how respectful people are. People talk softly especially on the telephone so as not to disturb anyone, an instruction that is repeated through the recorded voice-over in buses and trains. They say sorry even if you’re the one who bumped them. They bow countless times before and after a meeting, almost to the ground. Drivers don’t honk horns and patiently wait for slow-moving cars in front of them.
More noticeably, it’s a society of trust. No visible guardmen around, and if there are, they don’t carry guns. No security procedures entering train stations or malls and hotels. No more checking of hotel rooms when guests leave because they trust that nothing is brought out.
For me, it was a taste of a utopian community.
I never dreamt of visiting but domo arigato gozaimasu I did. I would certainly go back to this country where, according to a Japanese friend, a broken ATM machine makes the headlines. - penville
Date: 9-16 May 2011 (7 days)
Purpose: 5 days of Business, 2 days of Leisure
I started my first visit to Tokyo with a toilet disaster—you know, the automatic bidet that almost gave me a facial wash. Should I say more? And the rest is, and should be, history.
Little did I know that that was just one of the automatics in almost everywhere I went. Here are some of the “amazing” hi-tech things, and other observations that my keen eyes collected:
> Tollgates are uneventful. They just swiftly scan the bus, and that’s it. No drama, no person giving out a ticket, no traffic around it, nothing.
> Some train lines are run without a human driver.
> Every toilet, even public ones, are complete with facilities.
> There’s a vending machine of drinks at every corner.
> Weather forecast is accurate. If they say the sun will shine tomorrow, even if it’s raining today, it will.
> Right-hand driving. And the taxi’s rear door opens automatically at the taxi driver’s disposal.
> I don’t think I’ve ever touched a door knob, since all doors are automatic, except for my hotel room’s.
> My wake-up call was recorded! I couldn’t take it! I wanted to hear a human voice first thing in the morning but I didn’t!
> Once you got the bill after dining at a restaurant, you stand up and settle it at the cashier, not from your table.
> Riding the bus was boring—no bumps on the road, no traffic, no TV. Sucks, right?
> Black is the general color, as if everyone is going to the same office everyday, wearing the same uniform.
> Everywhere is generally quite. If anything, it’s only the kids playing and crying who cause noise.
> People are skewed to the left of the road or the escalator. If you’re not rushing and you don’t want to be trampled upon, keep to the left.
All at perfect time and timing
Did I mention that the train leaves on time? Given that, you can predict almost exactly what time you can make it to a certain destination. The maps posted in train stations even supply you with the time difference between stations (e.g. 2-minute train ride between Shinagawa Station and Shimbashi Station).
Anyway, I ended up being in Tokyo to join a Philippine delegation to the Software Development Expo (SODEC) held annually in Tokyo Big Sight, Japan. I followed a tight business schedule, but highlighted by the fun on the side:
Monday to Friday: Official Business, until evening came and I would end up either at an izakaya or a ramen house with two groups of Japanese friends whom I met at training programs I attended at AIM in Makati in 2010. I met a Japanese friend who’s now based in the US but was in Tokyo for a week–the same week I was there! Another friend, who’s from Osaka, was also in Tokyo that same time. I was so lucky!
Saturday: Official Leisure, which started with a bargain shopping along Takeshita Street, and shrine visit at Meiji Jingu, where we chanced upon a rare, traditional Japanese wedding ceremony.
Sunday was a day of unplanned pleasantries. I was invited to a Japanese home by a Japanese classmate I also met in a training in Manila. I was welcomed like a supreme guest. We went biking and saw a festival at the nearby park. Who’d have thought there was a scheduled festival that time of the year!
Some useful phrases to get by:
Eigo deki masuka? = Do you speak English? (Now, when the Japanese I’m talking to answers with a “No”, I automatically call out a colleague who speaks Nihongo.)
Wakarimasen = I don’t know / I don’t understand
Arigato gozaimasu = Thank you
Sumimasen = Sorry / Excuse me
Of all these phrases, what I love most is Sumimasen. At an izakaya (beer bar), my Japanese friends would always ask me to call out the waiter, and then perfunctorily and happily, I would shout “Sumimasen!” trying hard to sound natural as if Japanese is my native tongue.
A Society of Trust
Tokyo is not only advanced technologically, but also culturally and morally. More than my amazement of the technology around which was already an expectation, what surprised me was how respectful people are. People talk softly especially on the telephone so as not to disturb anyone, an instruction that is repeated through the recorded voice-over in buses and trains. They say sorry even if you’re the one who bumped them. They bow countless times before and after a meeting, almost to the ground. Drivers don’t honk horns and patiently wait for slow-moving cars in front of them.
More noticeably, it’s a society of trust. No visible guardmen around, and if there are, they don’t carry guns. No security procedures entering train stations or malls and hotels. No more checking of hotel rooms when guests leave because they trust that nothing is brought out.
For me, it was a taste of a utopian community.
I never dreamt of visiting but domo arigato gozaimasu I did. I would certainly go back to this country where, according to a Japanese friend, a broken ATM machine makes the headlines. - penville
31.3.11
12.3.11
9.3.11
31.12.09
01.01.10
People would die to be where I was, I was certain of that.
I could have had an a news team set up a camera and they'd be able to capture good angles at almost all the time.
I could have made it a tourist spot, requiring an entrance fee to the area because I know if people knew this place, they'd all envy me. Plus it's going to be worth their money.
It was like the highest peak in the Himalayas of houses. Up there is an opportunity of a 360-view of all Metro Manila fireworks, leaving me openmouthed for what seemed to be ages. I couldn't believe my eyes, small as they are. My head had a good exercise rotating for one whole hour as one firework after another teased me to look their way to show what they've got as if one is a totally unique sight from the rest. An assortment of lights and booms presented themselves before my eyes and ears, dissipating as another set came and this went on and on and on. At some point, just when I thought I could look away to give momentary solace to my senses, one display would catch my attention and then I'm back to viewing again.
As one firework came after another, awe after awe, my mind was naturally trance-bound. But somehow, my brain managed to rummage an idea about how fireworks work. Why do fireworks shoot up as high as they do and plummet into mere sparkle, leaving the world lit for a matter of seconds, oh so fleeting seconds. And why do we even indulge!
My auntie's place is a 5-storey petite house in Pateros. But if you don't count the supposed basement garage, the rooftop where they hang clothes to dry and the highest level where the water tank is, it's really just a humble two-storey. I've been staying here since I started my Makati work this year. It's a one FX-ride or 80-peso taxi fare. It's easily accessed from anywhere but it's a bit hard to describe where it is, really.
They say it's hard to be at two places at the same time. I say, try four.
OK. Technically, it's Pateros. But cross the immediate road and you're in Pasig. Cross the nearby C5 and you're in Makati. Go left and you're at The Fort Taguig. Turn around and you're back in Pateros. The latter, being the only non-city amongst the 17 of Metro Manila boasts of that privilege. But please don't start flocking here because it's only a 2.10-square km teensy town (according to Wiki). But I guess, with all the sparkles that just transpired here tonight, it's its own Tinseltown.
I was lucky and unlucky tonight. Lucky, for all the foregoing reasons. Unlucky, for I lacked a much needed good camera to prove to you that all the foregoing reasons are true. Darn it!
I could have had an a news team set up a camera and they'd be able to capture good angles at almost all the time.
I could have made it a tourist spot, requiring an entrance fee to the area because I know if people knew this place, they'd all envy me. Plus it's going to be worth their money.
It was like the highest peak in the Himalayas of houses. Up there is an opportunity of a 360-view of all Metro Manila fireworks, leaving me openmouthed for what seemed to be ages. I couldn't believe my eyes, small as they are. My head had a good exercise rotating for one whole hour as one firework after another teased me to look their way to show what they've got as if one is a totally unique sight from the rest. An assortment of lights and booms presented themselves before my eyes and ears, dissipating as another set came and this went on and on and on. At some point, just when I thought I could look away to give momentary solace to my senses, one display would catch my attention and then I'm back to viewing again.
As one firework came after another, awe after awe, my mind was naturally trance-bound. But somehow, my brain managed to rummage an idea about how fireworks work. Why do fireworks shoot up as high as they do and plummet into mere sparkle, leaving the world lit for a matter of seconds, oh so fleeting seconds. And why do we even indulge!
My auntie's place is a 5-storey petite house in Pateros. But if you don't count the supposed basement garage, the rooftop where they hang clothes to dry and the highest level where the water tank is, it's really just a humble two-storey. I've been staying here since I started my Makati work this year. It's a one FX-ride or 80-peso taxi fare. It's easily accessed from anywhere but it's a bit hard to describe where it is, really.
They say it's hard to be at two places at the same time. I say, try four.
OK. Technically, it's Pateros. But cross the immediate road and you're in Pasig. Cross the nearby C5 and you're in Makati. Go left and you're at The Fort Taguig. Turn around and you're back in Pateros. The latter, being the only non-city amongst the 17 of Metro Manila boasts of that privilege. But please don't start flocking here because it's only a 2.10-square km teensy town (according to Wiki). But I guess, with all the sparkles that just transpired here tonight, it's its own Tinseltown.
I was lucky and unlucky tonight. Lucky, for all the foregoing reasons. Unlucky, for I lacked a much needed good camera to prove to you that all the foregoing reasons are true. Darn it!
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