Beach boy

I was in Kalayaan Island in the Spratlys last June. The beach was postcard-perfect, but, pressed for time, I wasn't able to take a swim. I was a hitchhiker on a C-130 military cargo plane and it won't be making a return trip until mid-2007. So, I made do with washing my face on the beach and taking loads of pictures with my co-reporters. I also wrote a feature, not a straight news story, for a change:

(Photos by Ron Calunsod from the Daily Manila Shimbun, who knows how to minimize my girth in pictures)

Amateur photographer

I am an amateur photojournalist. I look more amateurish when my office-supplied camera phone is placed side-by-side with the huge lenses of the professionals. But on October 16, this picture I took of the Chief of Staff was the banner photo on the site.

Painkillers and parties

I woke up last Sunday with one hell of a headache. It started in my dream and ended only in the early afternoon after I had a mega dose of mefenamic acid.

Maybe it was due to two videoke, red wine, and cholesterolfest nights in a row. I turned 26, on October 10 and we had a dry-run songfest before the big night on October 11 -- my belated celebration, Aisa's throw-away, and Ron's advanced birthday bash. Both are my seatmates at the Camp Aguinaldo press office.

Joy, the Defense Press Corps diva, brought the house down with her performances (see videos on her blog http://joycantos.blogspot.com). On a chicken-and-Red Bull induced high, Joy had us laughing mad.

Writing this post, Pops Fernandez and Joey Albert's "Points of View" was playing on my computer. It was mine and Aisa's song. We just had to sing it before she left the beat. I know we'll see each other on the beat in another year or two. Our editors give us the same assignments -- Roco campaign 2004, justice, defense.

Then came Friday the 13th, and the big bosses (it was the first time I saw them all together in since Christmas Party 2004) dropped a bombshell. Big changes will happen in the site and it got the editorial staff fuming mad. The powers that be have decided and the drones must follow.

I will treat it as a challenge. My editor told me over the phone today, "Let's show them why we're number 1." Show some bravado when necessary. (Joy would pronounce it as bravadoo, as in Flintstones brava-daba-doo!!!).

Notwithstanding the Friday the 13th bombshell, me and my fellow endangered species (a.k.a. INQ7.net reporters) drowned our frustrations in a videoke session that lasted until 2 a.m. Saturday.

More headaches lie ahead but with painkillers, wine, and good company, I will rock on.

Cake, ice cream, rock and roll

Happy Birthday

I was broke on my 26th birthday but this song from the Camp Aguinaldo diva, Joy Cantos, and the chocolate mousse and double dutch ice cream from officer friends made my day. For more of her performances, visit her blog at http://joycantos.blogspot.com

Pack Me

I’ve been in eleven apartments in my nine years in Manila. I just moved into a new one and as expected, it took a toll on my back and my wallet.

Armed with six balikbayan boxes, a roll of packaging tape, and scissors, I cleared closets, cabinets, and drawers, typhoon “Milenyo” notwithstanding.

I showed no mercy. I threw away a lot of stuff. A can of Sauerkraut, which I heard about only on Food Network, had to go, as well as half-empty bottles of fish sauce and hair gel.

But I didn’t touch my Christmas tree, which has been on my ref since last year. The “ber” months are here so there’s no use putting it down.

Back in high school, everything I had would fit in a taxi – mattress, pillows, electric fan, and a suitcase full of clothes and shoes. Now, I have to rent a truck.

In the two years that I lived in Kamuning, I survived a fire five houses away, had my water meter stolen twice, and my cable connection tapped once.

I will miss the value for money restaurant strip, about five minutes by foot from my former apartment: T-bone steak for P120, a quarter chicken inasal for P73, egg caldo for P15, and tokwa for P10.

I will miss the dogs on the street, which never barked at me, but would follow me and smell plastic bags full of food that I would bring home.

On the bright side, my new apartment is within walking distance from the last few Goodah branches in the metro. I remember subsisting on all kinds of “silog” at Goodah Katipunan during my freshman year.

That branch was closed and converted to a Pizza Hut outlet. Metro Manila does not need another Pizza Hut branch.

Goodah also reminds me of an old Tito, Vic, and Joey movie which I saw on betamax when I was in pre-school. I remember a scene where Vic Sotto was singing about lumpiang hubad and the diapers of a baby he was holding fell.