kadayawan 2007: photo documentation

it is that time of the year again when the city of davao comes alive with people and activities. streets are colored with fruits selling cheap and tasting sweet. i've probably devoured 10 kilos worth of mangosteen in five days!

this year was complete attendance and more, as friends from manila flew over to enjoy our yearly tradition of a crazy August weekend. it may be quite a while since another gathering of this number may happen. if that be the case, it was a fitting swan song for a tradition that brings the barkadayawan/fuhkers (fun house kids) together.

friday at pawikan sanctuary in punta dumalag, matina.
thanks to sherwin for allowing us to tag along. :)

lesbian lovers in their bikinis sitting on the painful dead corals
just to have a nice photo shoot.
nice backs, girls!

welcome to davao, tubero!
fuhktastic four with shiva and dave at the imago concert.
huwag niyo na hanapin yung imago, noh! kami ang bida.

yummy slipper lobster in garlic sauce at pards ilustre.
chris and edward, our waiters, must have enjoyed serving us
as we threw hirits back and forth at each other. tatit has video of crazy lunch. abangan!

huli kami! because we were so noisy we were caught in the net with the squid and lobster.

aldevinco is for photo shoots. the wares for sale are our props.

it would have tatit's first street dancing. unfortunately, it ended early this year. darn. we were able to get pictures of the dancers commissioned by marco polo though. pretty little lass, ain't she?

surprise despedida for tatit who is going to netherlands.
the whole barkadayawan/fuhkers friends were present. and guests, too!
thanks to kitoy, morten harket and mon salas for the belly-aching laughter ;p.
neuken in the keuken. badankt!

punta ng inamong falls! look at that beauty.
arakan valley, entering through marahan in davao city.

trekkers in the midst of cogon!
seedlings donated for the rehabilitation of the place.

sugarfree to cap a tiring day.

go ride magnolia fragrance malu f!

toni buzzed our yahoogroups about this malu fernandez woman who wrote an article for people asia magazine talking about her trip to greece and being stuck in an economy seat with OFWs. while she brand-name-drops her way throughout the entire article about her cavorting in greece then to boracay, malu fernandez makes the mistake of bashing her countrymen at her self-declared private hell of the plane's economy class. it has created such a stir in the blogosphere that there are reactions from all over. they're all quite interesting reads, from what i would term as uupakan kita, jologs na may Louis Vuitton bag retorts to the poor woman who thinks her poop is gold doesn't know better entries. other entries about it here, here and here.

my reaction to toni's email was, "isasakay ko tong babaeng to sa magnolia fragrance papuntang tawi-tawi, tingnan ko lang kung di siya masuka sa louis vuitton bag niya!" (i'm gonna put this woman on magnolia fragrance to tawi-tawi and let me see if she doesn't puke in her LV bag!). and my reaction to her article, "you're mouth and mind needs some lysol itself. some of your gold are stuck up your arse, too."

she also makes a retort here. an excerpt:

As I type this, I’d like you to know that it’s not about whining, complaining and bitching but just stating the facts. Just recently, I wrote a funny article in my magazine column and my friends thought it was hilarious. It was humorous and quite tongue-in-cheek, or at least I thought so, until the magazine got a few e-mails from people who didn’t get the meaning of my acerbic wit. The bottom line was just that I had offended the reader’s socioeconomic background. If any of these people actually read anything thicker then a magazine they would find it very funny. Most people don’t get the fact that they need bitches like me to shake up their world, otherwise their lives would be boring and mediocre. I obviously write for the a certain target audience and if what I write offends you, just stop reading.

puh-leeze. some people with lower socioeconomic background are better bred than you are. even if all they get to eat are noodles and rice to get by and you get to stuff yourselves with escargot and champignon (which is just the sosyal way of saying suso at kabute, noh). we may not be your target audience, we middle class people, but we can read and we know when we are being put down.

people asia publishers, why did that article made it in your pages in the first place? i know your mag is all about the finer things in life, one that majority of us can not afford... but to actually put down hardworking people who just want to give their families the comforts that you enjoy everyday... it's inexcusable. you're like a voldemort-controlled daily prophet who just employed rita skeeter.

i did stop in my tracks about my reaction and wondered... might have i done the same? might i have put down people of different calss? i had to review my entry about that magnolia fragrance ride to be sure whether i deserved to bury my head in shame as well. for most part of the entry, i thought... damn shit, letse rin pala ako! but thankfully, i saved myself from further shame by ending it with saying that it was a lesson of humility for me. whew. however, i realized that i should really be more conscious of how i deal with those who are different from me. because i definitely do not want to be like this woman.

i used to envy these people living the good life... to just be able to get things easily without needed to scrimp too much just to get it. but then, after all this... i'd rather learn to respect people without regard to their cash or class.

romancing baguio deux: random thoughts

at five o clock, baguio is full of energy. students spill out from the schools and universities. session road is awash with people. the vivaciousness of young people warms the chilly air of baguio. young couples holding hands while strolling to SM (couples never walk, they stroll). girl friends, in a faster pace, chat about terror teachers and cute classmates. a young artist capped with his tam in jamaican colors hums bob marley under his breath. i, in my brown suede jacket and laptop bag slung over my shoulder watch them all.

after my movie, i set out for the supermarket to buy water. it's been days since i've had water outside meals due to the distance of convenience stores from teacher's camp. while i was walking the aisles, "junk food!" zipped past my mind. but i push the thought away. this is baguio! buy fruits. buy strawberries. and now that i write this, i should have gotten myself condensed milk to dip into. mmmmm....

session road seemed to have been invaded by things you'd find anywhere. kfc, mcdo, greenwich, jollibee. and yet... baguio stores refuse to be beaten. i take more notice of pizza volante, zola cafe, swiss baker, gobi mongolian. baguio will always insist upon itself. it knows its special.

even at eleven, i have been adamant with the presence of the american bases, especially since i used to live near one in angeles city. but one thing that i give these joes credit for, they do great city planning. while our taxi ferried through the road to camp john hay, i was suddenly thankful that they stayed in baguio. if not for the americans, baguio would just look like bukidnon. don't take it wrongly. i looooove bukidnon. but part of baguio's charm is that it makes you feel like somewhere not in the philippines.

(date is here. bye!)