Category Archives: Iloilo City

Anchee Min’s Empress Orchid

It’s been a while since I’ve read a whole novel. Most of the time, I’d settle for shorties or short stories because novels take too much time. So unless I can stay awake the whole night or be a certified tambay in the next days, I can never finish a good novel in one sitting.

Anchee Min’s Emopress Orchid left me with these lessons and thoughts:

1. That poverty is a state of mind. I first heard this statement from a valedictorian who was a few years older than me. I cannot recall his school nor his name, but I agreed when he said this. Poverty is nothing but a state of mind. There is always something you can do about it.

2. That the world is one big marketplace. There are things and concepts that can be bought. There are people who can be bought. But there are ideals, philosophies, values and belief that many people would still die for.

3. That even the thinnest bamboo cannot be broken by the harshest wind. It might be the Emperor and his decisions. It might be Su Shun (one of the antagonists) and his goals. It might be Nuharoo’s dignity and grace. It could be Orchid’s resilience.

4. That you only have one chance to jump on the biggest ship. And the most difficult questions are: How do I know that it is the right one and how do I get there?

5. That you, and you alone, get to draw your destiny. There’s no other way it happens.

This book is a good read. Go read (much better if you can fish one out of Booksale) if you have time. :)

The Lonely Things

I am not sure if this post projects me in any way at the moment. Hehehe! But, whatever the reason is, I just knew I wanted to write down a few things or objects that I think are the loneliest on Earth.

1. Money. Much has been said about their purpose and how they keep life’s wheel turning. But are they really where they belong? If I’m going to push this thought a little farther, I’d say that money really belongs to the bank. See the new ones that glisten? Who ever said that the most useful things are the loneliest probably knew a lot of things.

Not to mention all our heroes who have been twisted, turned, wet, thrown, sh** on, licked, exchanged, mixed with melted ice cream and many more.

2. Slippers. When we leave home, we leave them useless. And because that’s their sole purpose, I can only imagine how sad they feel every time we leave the house. Of all the kinds of slippers, perhaps bedroom and bathroom slippers are the loneliest, having to stay in closed areas all the time.

3. Tokens (which are left for days inside the game machines). We drool over the idea of having them so we could exchange them for goodies. We silently curse those who got the jackpot. We want to shake the whole gaming machine every time we’re frustrated. But the truth remains that tokens are one of the loneliest things.

Not to mention they all look the same. What a loooong day just to get them moving. How frustrating is that for them?

4. Seldom-used emoticons. Come on, when Jejemon went up the fad ladder, not everyone joined in. When it faded away, so did the fad of using emoticons. For some people.

5. Bottle caps. Stepped around if not picked by young kids, most bottle caps could have seen better days.

6. Bible. ’nuff said.

No enjoying bus ride here.

I like bus rides.

But not here in Manila. If I’m riding a bus here in the metro, there would only be five to ten minutes interval among checking if I still have my bag, checking if the bus did not go beyond my stop and watching whoever it is I am seated next to. Manila bus rides gives birth to the praning in me, so to speak.

But whenever I am in Iloilo–especially Miagao–words are not enough to describe my bus ride bliss.

I think that bus rides are therapeutic. They make anyone think. And see the rest of the world from their side of the 3×4 bus windows. When I ride buses, I think of the good things which happened to me. Then, I would smile. I don’t know about you, but bus rides give me this enlightened and light feeling. When I step out of the bus, I feel like I just came from the comfort room–refreshed and *cough*, relieved.

It saddens me that I cannot do the same thing here in Manila.

If there’s another thing I miss in Iloilo aside from my family, it would be bus rides. And maybe that someone I can sit next to and hold hands with and not talk about anything–just taking it all in.

The Enigma That Is Mr. _

There will always be this person who will be an enigma to you.

He and you were not classmates. He and you do not belong to the same clique. He and you do not share common interests. He and you have not really shared a conversation.

But you found yourself admiring him. Because of how he faces life with a sarcastic tongue and a brilliant mind that shocks even those who take a bath and comb their hair everyday.

My friends and I agree that this person is every inch an ideal man for any girl. But he seems unlucky when it comes to love. For chrissakes, he deserves to be loved! But how cruel the world is, for letting him be among those who love—only he does not get his love back.

He is one-of-a-kind. As I write this, I sometime wonder if I ever had a crush on him. No, you would not fall for his looks. It would be because of his brilliance, his wit, his words.

Luck is the future girl, we think, as we see him pass by, ready for the next class. His eyes never look kind.

That Girl From The Big House

She looked so beautiful
That girl from the big house.
I was as boys casually shot her admiring glances
as they passed by.

Some of them are from distant towns,
bringing her chocolates, flowers and cards
Some of them are neighbors wishing her a “Maayong aga, gwapa”
before a day’s work at the fields.

She never once came down
That girl from the big house.
Always she looked out her window
with her hands clasped tight.

She looked to me worried and afraid
as if each day is a petal
slowly falling from a pretty flower
on a windy day.

I often wondered what she is thinking
That girl from the big house.
She did not appear at her window
one sad morning

I wondered why
as I put down my pastels and pencils
I guess this day would not be productive
for an artist such as myself,

As I looked at my beautiful canvasses
of that girl from the big house.

The Rural Life

The soft purr of the cat sleeping by the gumamelas,
disturbed my reverie.

I did not realize I was staring at the rippling circles
created by little catfishes in our swamp.

So dazed was I that when I looked down,
my dog was barking madly at me.

As I wondered why,
I felt a tingling sensation on my toes.

I stomped wildly
as little red ants took big bites

I danced with no music,
no coordination, no grace.

The day has started.

The Home That Is Iloilo <3

When I am at home, I feel different. The positive different.

Unlike when I am in Cebu or Manila where work calls me to be up and awake all the time, Iloilo is like a pillow-blanket-mosquito net combination. The place enables me to laze around all day and be happy in a world full of anything but rules and needs.

When I am at home, I have time to think. About me, my life and the people who surround me. I can think about them and space out for hours. Only my mother’s calls of the three most wonderful time of the day can break the spell.

Iloilo makes me lazy. While Cebu and Manila demands of me to clean my room or wash my clothes, Iloilo encases my being and makes me a bum. My mother would bark the list of chores that needed to be done, and I would pause for a moment and think that these is one of the best music undiscovered by men.

This is the only place where I feel most comfortable even when I have not taken a bath for days. All I seem to do all day is open the refrigerator and plug in something in the socket.

When I am in Iloilo, I can be very productive in the ideal sense. I have time for stimulating thoughts—not the ones filled with memos, attendance and office rules.

I lavish at the thought of leaving this place to go back to the workroom. Because it is only during that moment that I look forward to the day I can go home to Iloilo once more.

Miss Understood :)

I met Wila a few days ago. She looked prettier than ever.

She is a sophomore law student from the University of San Agustin. I met her during our freshman year, when she and I were just stepping foot in UP. I cannot remember how we stuck together. But when four years saw me and her (along with a few others) through college, I knew she had become one of my best friends.

No dirty thoughts there, matey.

She likes Japanese anime and fastfood. She and I would order Kenny’s and aaaalways, she found it hard to finish her chicken.

I miss her girly sing-song voice. It is something really unique about her. A lot of people mistook it for Wila being a snob, but she never took them all badly. She is the type who does not care about what people think of her.

I often see her as a fragile person, a girl who needs to be taken care of. But she is strong. Millions of barbels away from me.

My other friends and I would often mimic the way she speaks and make it sound worse to annoy her. We would also mimic the way she moves, reacts and smiles. I realized it was one of the fun things we did a lot in college.

I remember my elementary days when I felt proud to have a pretty friend. My reasons for befriending pretty people were superficial before. Now, it got worse. KIDDING.

I miss Wila. I hope we can hang out again soon.

The New Dog

Name: Lex
Breed: Maltese-Terrier
Likes: cold water, meaty treats, biting foot and fingers, gnawing on electrical cords and slippers, barking at curtains and cats
Dislike: being unattended to

My cousin bought Lex from his friend who lives in Miagao, Iloilo. She has been here for three weeks already.

The other dogs, especially Lyla, do not really like newbies. I think this is because only she and Lex are pure-bred. The rest of the dogs are Lyla’s children with different male dogs (Shhhh…) So Lex played by herself most of the time.

Anyway, all of us at home are certified dog lovers so when cousin Remy is not at home, we make sure to feed Lex and change her water container regularly.

And yeah, she poops a lot inside the house.