Saturday
Evening Posts
January
10-16 Edition
Some
of the happiest moments in my life is when I'm on the road, traveling alone
just for the sake of being somewhere else. I grew up in Antipolo and I have
lived in lots of different places.
But
Manila will always be special. Manila is where I first fell in love, where my
heart was broken into a million pieces - the kind of pain where living seemed
pointless. And Manila is also where I crawled back, got up and moved on again
with my life.
I
don't always get to where I want to, but I always find myself where I am meant
to be.
One
of the many places that's special to me is Olongapo. I first stayed there in
Barretto town in 1997, spending most of the time in Driftwood Beach. It's still
vivid how the bus was navigating the long and winding road, surrounded by the mountains
of Cabalan, with the radio playing Boyzone's Isn't It Wonder.
Isn't
It A Wonder
Boyzone
I
even had the honor of spending an unforgettable morning with 3-time Nobel Peace
Prize nominee and PREDA founder Fr. Shay Cullen when I returned in early 2012,
on the Preda patio with a breath-taking view of Subic Bay.
Fr.
Shay Cullen Receives The Meteor Humanitarian Award
On the way back to Caloocan, I
passed by, naturally, Bataan. I have always felt a gut connection with the
Filipino and American soldiers fighting side by side during the Second World
War. I don't know why I feel I was there with them, giving our last full
measure of devotion in the name of freedom. I remember standing in reverence in
front of a black granite memorial in Intramuros, Manila, my heart full of
inexplicable emotions.
The
Bataan Death March
Then
another time, another marker, this time in Indang, Cavite on February 17, 2012.
It was for the town's brave sons and USAFFE soldiers who died in Bataan and
Corregidor. I was then living in Tanza, and I went to General Trias, Trece
Martirez and all the way to Indang for no particular reason but making perfect
sense to me.
When
I visit a place, I always look for their homegrown foods. I got a pizza roll;
it's cut up in pieces in a small rectangular paper plate like those ubiqitous
sidewalk squidballs but you eat with a toothpick like cocktail pica-pica. They
even had bottled water named after the town's nineteenth century Revolution
hero, Severino De Las Alas, whose bust faces the marker at the little plaza
adjacent to the Spanish-era-style municipal hall.
Back
to Bataan, I took a photo of a billboard that says "Malayo Pa Ba (Is It
Still Far)?" which turned out to be an advertisement for a local funeral
parlor; the creativity made my day! The first time I was in Bataan was in 1995.
There are two things I won't forget on that trip: the sight of a broken fire
hydrant with water gushing out and flooding the street, and the stand-up comedy
act Pork Chop Duo. I was a teenager then, and because of their green jokes, I
almost died young from laughing.
Porkchop
Duo
See
Our Story On Pork Chop Duo
Along
the road, in Lubao, Pampanga, is where I found the best fresh lumpia in the
galaxy. (Conversely, the worst is from a popular food chain which I first
tasted in Market! Market! mall). That day was also the Coca-Cola National
Blow-Out and I got my free Coke! Thank you, Mr. President For Happiness! The
best things in life are free!
Coca-Cola
Happiness Truck Philippines
To Be Continued Next Saturday
4 comments:
"A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving." ~ Lao Tzu
"For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return." ~ Leonardo da Vinci
"We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time." ~ T. S. Eliot
"Isn't it a wonder as a new born baby cries..."
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