From Reader’s Digest, May 2010 Edition
Unfriend is voted as the New Oxford American Dictionary’s word of the year in the US.
Unfriend means to remove someone as a friend from a social networking site.
It also means the detachment in real life from a friend you have fallen out with, or one who’s become dull or annoying.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
Of Push Carts and OFWs
Last December 2009, while waiting for my turn in the immigration line in NAIA, a middle-aged lady approached me and asked what she needs to do upon our arrival.
Her name’s Martie. We chatted while on queue and I discovered that she has been working in Singapore for two years.
Tears welled in her eyes when she recalled how hard her life was in the lion city. She gave no details but she swears she won't go back there again. She told me she’d rather deal with the hardships in the Philippines than go back there.
She used to be a teacher, but to be able to feed and send her children to school, she chose to be a domestic helper in a foreign land. This is a common story in a land where OFW remittances are the driving force in a slumping GDP. Oftentimes, I forget that many of our kababayans work abroad not because they want to but because they have to.
I take my hat off to the millions of our fellowmen trying to make a living to make ends meet. She said she regretted her decision.
As F Sionil Jose said in his book, Viajero......”Ah, my countrymen, dislodged from the warmth of their homes, to make a living no matter how perilous and demeaning, to strike out in alien geographies and eke from their swear and their cunning what they can. “
In her two years in SG, Martie hasn't seen the Merlion. Oh yes, because in my limited pretentious tourist mind, that is the ultimate sign that you have been to Singapore.
Typical tourists, who are in town for just a few days, try to have their picture with this city's icon. Merlion. And yet someone who has lived in the city for two years hasn't even glimpsed this icon and she has no idea where it is. They aren't missing much really for not seeing it but still, I can't get over the fact that she hasn't seen it.
This fact made my mind wander for a while. And encountering this lady splashed some reality ripples my way.
The things I take for granted like being able to walk on those streets going where I want to go and trying to look for a colorful bridge is a luxury for most of us. and yet some of my friends working there are living a different kind of life. One friend doesn't take the train to work since it's too crowded. And their concept of "crowded" is nothing compared to the way we maximize the breathable space in the MRT. The contrast is quite surreal that it's hard to believe the two realities exist in the same universe.
I was struck by this realization that I felt like I had to do something. Since she has too many bags and she didn’t get a cart. I decided to get her one, which simply means walking a few more steps but she saw my effort of walking all the way back.
And I saw in her expression that she was so surprised by the simple act.
Ok this entry is not something to make me feel me like a CNN hero because I actually felt shittier after that.
I gave her my number just in case she needs anything. Ok, I just don't give my number to anyone I meet. I really felt the need to help her and told her if she's going to Manila, she just contacts me. I have no idea how I can help her but I was thinking I'll think of something. Or am I one of those who keeps on feeding empty promises to the hapless in an attempt to make us all feel good about ourselves? Such hypocrisy….
And then another "bagong bayani" tagged along with us in the queue and shared another sob story. She's rushing home because she realized all the money she's been sending home is going to her husband and his mistress.
Sigh.
There are thousands of these sob stories and what did I just do? I got a cart.
Martie sent me an SMS in January that she's going to try her luck in Manila in April but she didn't ask if I can help her with anything.
The Filipinos are a resilient bunch. We thrive on pressure. And yet even the most resilient of us give in when the going gets really tough. Someone may try to help us but at the end of the day, we all make our own path. Whether that will take us somewhere else depends on the breaks of the game.
Last March, I got another SMS from Martie, she's planning to go to Manila after the elections.
I wonder what Manila has in store for her.
And when there are no more push carts this time around, what can I do?
Her name’s Martie. We chatted while on queue and I discovered that she has been working in Singapore for two years.
Tears welled in her eyes when she recalled how hard her life was in the lion city. She gave no details but she swears she won't go back there again. She told me she’d rather deal with the hardships in the Philippines than go back there.
She used to be a teacher, but to be able to feed and send her children to school, she chose to be a domestic helper in a foreign land. This is a common story in a land where OFW remittances are the driving force in a slumping GDP. Oftentimes, I forget that many of our kababayans work abroad not because they want to but because they have to.
I take my hat off to the millions of our fellowmen trying to make a living to make ends meet. She said she regretted her decision.
As F Sionil Jose said in his book, Viajero......”Ah, my countrymen, dislodged from the warmth of their homes, to make a living no matter how perilous and demeaning, to strike out in alien geographies and eke from their swear and their cunning what they can. “
In her two years in SG, Martie hasn't seen the Merlion. Oh yes, because in my limited pretentious tourist mind, that is the ultimate sign that you have been to Singapore.
Typical tourists, who are in town for just a few days, try to have their picture with this city's icon. Merlion. And yet someone who has lived in the city for two years hasn't even glimpsed this icon and she has no idea where it is. They aren't missing much really for not seeing it but still, I can't get over the fact that she hasn't seen it.
This fact made my mind wander for a while. And encountering this lady splashed some reality ripples my way.
The things I take for granted like being able to walk on those streets going where I want to go and trying to look for a colorful bridge is a luxury for most of us. and yet some of my friends working there are living a different kind of life. One friend doesn't take the train to work since it's too crowded. And their concept of "crowded" is nothing compared to the way we maximize the breathable space in the MRT. The contrast is quite surreal that it's hard to believe the two realities exist in the same universe.
I was struck by this realization that I felt like I had to do something. Since she has too many bags and she didn’t get a cart. I decided to get her one, which simply means walking a few more steps but she saw my effort of walking all the way back.
And I saw in her expression that she was so surprised by the simple act.
Ok this entry is not something to make me feel me like a CNN hero because I actually felt shittier after that.
I gave her my number just in case she needs anything. Ok, I just don't give my number to anyone I meet. I really felt the need to help her and told her if she's going to Manila, she just contacts me. I have no idea how I can help her but I was thinking I'll think of something. Or am I one of those who keeps on feeding empty promises to the hapless in an attempt to make us all feel good about ourselves? Such hypocrisy….
And then another "bagong bayani" tagged along with us in the queue and shared another sob story. She's rushing home because she realized all the money she's been sending home is going to her husband and his mistress.
Sigh.
There are thousands of these sob stories and what did I just do? I got a cart.
Martie sent me an SMS in January that she's going to try her luck in Manila in April but she didn't ask if I can help her with anything.
The Filipinos are a resilient bunch. We thrive on pressure. And yet even the most resilient of us give in when the going gets really tough. Someone may try to help us but at the end of the day, we all make our own path. Whether that will take us somewhere else depends on the breaks of the game.
Last March, I got another SMS from Martie, she's planning to go to Manila after the elections.
I wonder what Manila has in store for her.
And when there are no more push carts this time around, what can I do?
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Cassette Tape
The patience of looking for the next track on a cassette tape, a friend told me our generation has this to claim.
We bought cassette tapes and after listening to the entire album. There are some songs that you figured out you liked more than the others. So you decide to make the effort to look for that song by forwarding or rewinding. Taking time to estimate which part of the tape it really is. In a way, my friend told me that exercise taught our generation, patience.
But in the CD and mp3 generation, we got it easy. The tracks have numbers. You just have to skip to the next track.
That maybe in a little way taught me a lesson on how to deal with people around me. It takes time and effort and a lot of gut feel.
Nowadays, we have email, instant messaging, social networking sites. They connect you with people. But then again. these aren't substitutes.
They will only be substitutes if you allow them to be.
We bought cassette tapes and after listening to the entire album. There are some songs that you figured out you liked more than the others. So you decide to make the effort to look for that song by forwarding or rewinding. Taking time to estimate which part of the tape it really is. In a way, my friend told me that exercise taught our generation, patience.
But in the CD and mp3 generation, we got it easy. The tracks have numbers. You just have to skip to the next track.
That maybe in a little way taught me a lesson on how to deal with people around me. It takes time and effort and a lot of gut feel.
Nowadays, we have email, instant messaging, social networking sites. They connect you with people. But then again. these aren't substitutes.
They will only be substitutes if you allow them to be.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Survivor Caramoan
Caramoan is the top tourist destination in the country in 2009. So when an invitation to an adventure camp in this island off Camarines Sur, was presented, I said yes. Well, the camp was a disaster but that didn't stop our group of 11 to enjoy the beauty of the place frequented by Survivor outfits from all over the world (Israel, France, Serbia, Bulgaria, Sweden).
sunrise in Matukad
We spent the night camping in Matukad Island where I saw the most number of stars I've seen in my entire life. One companion even commented that the sky looked so amazing, it doesn't seem real. It was pure bliss just lying on the beach, looking at the stars, fireflies and shooting stars. Across Matukad is Lahos Island, where contestants of Survivor Israel were stationed. So occasionally, we see a flicker a light from the Survivor island.
At 7am, we were literally booted out of the island since the production crew will already start filming. As much as we want to stay in Matukad, we had to skip to other islands in the area.
the guards who man the fort while filming is going on
Caramoan's islands reminded me of Coron because of limestone formations found in many islands. We only got to go around one cluster of islands. So this gives me another reason to go back to CamSur and of course next time, I'll try to finish one lap in CWC's beginner wake-boarder's lake with my pride intact.
One of this trip's highlight is the confirmation that more and more survivor productions are being shot here in our country. These opportunities provide more livelihood to our fellowmen in the area and at the same time, we are able to showcase the beauty of our country to the world.
And here's the video clip of the latest season.
And here's the video clip of the latest season.
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