Palwa
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Balanan
For me, the granddaddy of the skateboard, surfboard and snowboard is the palwa.
Palwa is that part attached to the trunk of the coconut’s branch-like leaves (or leaf-like branch). It’s concave on top and flat at the bottom, which is the most important part because we used this flat and smooth surface to slide through grassy knolls in the farm. It’s our version of snowboarding, just like the guys of Cool Runnings who practiced bobsledding in the hills overlooking the African savannah.
Nobel Obama
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Internet
I stared at the headline until my eyes hurt. Its import didn’t register immediately. It wasn’t surprise or incredulity, nothing like that sort of emotion. My mind just went blank for a while, unable to process the information. I read it again: Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. Suddenly one thought jumped out screaming -It doesn’t fit!
Was it his promise to withdraw American presence in Iraq, or his reluctance to send additional troops to Afghanistan? Was it his pledge to close Guantanamo prisons? Or his nuclear disarmament campaign? Are promises, inclinations and reluctance enough to snitch the Nobel? What???
The Metro
Paris
Metro stations have interesting names like Victor Hugo, Bastille and Alexander Dumas. Via metro, I visited the World Expo and the World Cup Stadium. I dropped by a cemetery gawking at the tombs of famous names like Chopin and Schindler. Back at the office were Mirko and Roman, both gypsies working for an organization in the Ukraine that is funded by the Council of Europe. I was their officially designated tour guide. We made our plan the day following using the metro, which you can easily find within 500 meters from any building.
The Gift
Baseline, Cebu
Jo leafed through the Book of Quotations. Every now and then her eyes lit up with delight. It came as no surprise when she asked to borrow it. Feeling richly generous, I scribbled something on the cover before handing it back, as a keepsake. I sensed just a hint of embarrassment as she smiled and said, Thank you Jun.
They say giving is its own reward. I think it is, and more. When you give something, you experience a sense of abundance. And when the gift is received happily, magic happens. Absolute elation. It’s a feeling like no other.
Rapid Growth
Talima
The corals have expanded. The juveniles have grown in schools. The reef is abuzz with marine organisms you can expect to find in fully established coral reefs. There are full-size parrots, surgeons and triggers, longfin banners, bats, morays and groupers. The macros are here too: colorful slugs, camouflaged ghost pipefish and banded shrimps with its usual tiny white-and-pink crab companions on anemones. Table corals have sprung up almost overnight. I maneuvered inside an opening adorned with overhanging gorgonians. As I exited, I looked up to a school of jacks slowly circling and turning themselves tight into a ball.
Limo
Las Vegas
Pardon me, but I think the stretched limo is a ridiculous car. The most concentration of these no doubt is in Las Vegas. They clog the streets especially at the corners.
The limo should be placed in the same category as 16-wheelers called rigs with restricted access at the freeways. I even saw a hummer limousine! And who’s riding, Arnold Schwarzenegger? I heard he has a collection of these gas-guzzler-monsters.
Deluge
Pangan-an Island
The residents get their fresh water supply from the neighboring island of Bohol, and also from rainfall, which explains the abundance of huge concrete vases (for storing rainwater) there. Fresh water shortage is apparent in the island. But a deluge of a different kind of water happened in December 2007. It was midnight. Tatoy, a local resident was awakened by the splashing of the waves. The sea has reached his house, which was shin-deep in his backyard. Astonished cries reverberated in the starless night. The island community was in terror, as seawater kept rising!
Treasure Trove
Paris
I toured two gypsies starting at the basilica Sacre-Coeur. In the vicinity is Moulin Rouge. Girls on the sidewalk teased men and boys to peek inside the sexy shops. We lingered for a while before we went to Tuileries, an open-air sculpture museum. We crossed Pont Alexander III to gaze at Grand Palais, then on to Champs de Elysees. For the final stretch, we visited Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower.
But it’s the centuries-old buildings and medieval churches and gothic architecture scattered all over the place that are the real treasures. And no museum can contain that!
A Thousand Pebbles
Lanuza
We were walking by the boulevard when we heard a soothing sound underneath our feet. It was the sound of a thousand pebbles softly dropping and colliding onto each other, and the gentle splash of receding waves. Ironically, despite the loud bashing on the concrete breakers of oncoming tide, that soft noise stood out. Like a mother’s humming of a sleeping child. It was nature’s lullaby.
Fishing
In the River
Sometimes on weekends, we would go fishing. We run to the river or the rice field’s irrigation system, which was always full of catfish. Apart from bamboo pole, and a hook and line, a can-full of worms completes our fishing gear. We insert the barb into the worm’s gut and push, until the worm completely cover the hook. The hook now disguised as worm works well as bait because it wiggles. It attracts fish. And we practice catch and release, to the frying pan! For me, the highlight of fishing is eating.
