All posts filed under: Reflections

Stranger thoughts

Published by

Written onboard flight 5J 814 from Singapore Despite my years of travel – inextensive by many standards – I still haven’t gotten used to the feeling of going back. Always, on the eve of a return flight, I get a sinking feeling and I develop an unexplained attachment to the hotel room, however bad it is (like the one I shared with a friend in Seoul one time). A certain sadness accompanies the act of packing, for me at least. It’s not that I dread the idea of coming home – my home is as comfortable as anybody could ask for. It’s also not that I wish to stay forever wherever I find myself on a trip, thinking life is better there. No, I’ve seen enough to know that life anywhere is easy only for the tourist who sleeps in nice hotels, eats at the top 50 restaurants, and wakes up with that happy, singular thought: What shall I do today? Days – and nights – are kinder to the transient who is unaffected by …

What I did on the last day of the most surreal year (so far)

Published by

Nagising nang maaga dahil malakas mag-cellphone ang nanay ko kahit akala niya tahimik lang siya; Naghiwa-hiwalay ng dikit-dikit na lumpia wrapper (my most significant contribution in the kitchen); Nakinig ng daily devotion ng Victory (Psalm 120 ang topic); Nagkape at naghanap ng vintage Coach bags online; Nag-brunch ng lumpiang shanghai, kasabay ang buong pamilya; Naghanap ng yellow dress para umawra ng Color of the Year sa gabi pero walang nakita, kaya nag-ayos na lang ng damitan (muntik na ako maiyak at the sight of my travel/seasonal clothes na parang mga Cebu Pacific tickets lang din–hindi nagamit); Nag-pass sa playground trip with Nami para makapag-me time; Nag-shower at nakaisip ng Word of the Year for 2021 habang naliligo (may scientific basis why we get our best ideas in the shower); Nag-prepare para mag-journal sa kwarto ko pero naunahan na naman ako doon ng tatay ko na seryosong nanonood ng lumang tennis match sa YouTube kahit alam niya naman sino ang nanalo (ganyan din siya sa boxing); Naghanap na lang ulit ng vintage bags sa US (wala …

La Maison: The beginning and the end

Published by

July 31, 2017: 9 months, 28 days since start of construction This is what building a house does to you: for the 98th time, you find yourself wide awake at 1:43 a,m., drinking some herbal concoction that you hope will help put you back to sleep, and wondering – no, screaming inside your head – “WHEN WILL THIS EVER END???” I know, that sounds like a line reserved for people who are in pure anguish, and I do not wish to trivialize anybody’s pain, but there is a kind of agony that afflicts homeowners (an optimistic term for when that house is ever finished) who, like us, have been given at least four turnover dates and yet find themselves in the same state they were in months ago: stressed, sleepless and exhausted to the point of breakdown. We began construction of our house on Oct. 3, 2016. In the description on the blueprint, it says “Three-Story Split-Level Residence” on an 88-square-meter lot, which was a generous gift from my mother. Except today, it’s not a …

The Struggle to be Still

Published by

In less than 24 hours, a tropical storm warning will be raised all over the country again, the alert level depending on where you are. I am in southern Metro Manila, hundreds of kilometers away from where Super Typhoon Maysak is expected to make landfall. BUT where I need to be in three days is exactly where that typhoon will make its second landfall in the Philippines. We had arranged a shoot in the Ifugao rice terraces and an interview for a book project that’s due later this month. The plans had been laid out weeks ago–and then this, a super typhoon. Once again, I am faced with things beyond my control. It’s a familiar feeling. I had similar thoughts last month, when a viral infection kept me house-bound–bedridden half the time–when I had a gazillion things in my to-do list. There was that first out-of-town shoot for the same book, a whole-day workshop to conduct, final papers to submit in graduate school and several stories for editing. Just when the deadlines are looming, you find yourself practically dead. What do you do? In …

How Skyjet Screwed Us

Published by

It’s two weeks to my sister’s wedding in Batanes. Like most weddings in that northern tip of the Philippines, it’s meant to be an intimate affair, with just the closest family and friends. More than the wedding preps, we spent the last 11 months on travel preparations–negotiating deals with hotels in Basco, arranging tours, attending travel expos in Manila, doing whatever we can to ease the cost for our guests. Our biggest concerns — until three days ago — were final gown fittings, table setting and what extra desserts to bring. Everything was easy breezy. And then Skyjet, that “boutique leisure airline” peddling “a better way to fly” decided NOT to fly to Basco this month. No warnings, no advisories, no explanations. My sister’s wedding is on January 27, and 21 of our 55 guests are flying Skyjet on January 26-28/30. They paid for their tickets as early as September last year, and yet, as of January 6, they had no flights. If we’re going to be glass-is-half-full here, then I suppose we should be thankful that we got the shocking news more than 24 …