MORE HAPPY NEWS. I was an usherette in today's graduation ceremonies for our college, and I couldn't be any happier for them. I'm really happy to be in a cherished moment for some of my good friends in this year's graduating batch and their proud parents.

Since this isn't really my day but theirs, let me just make a comment. CONGRATULATIONS AND I'M REALLY PROUD OF YOU.

LOVE IN THE TIME OF SARS. This summer hasn't really seen the greatest of times. I guess it's just kind of tiring hearing one bad news after one another. Yup, s**t usually happens, but not on such a worldwide scale. My friends and I were talking about SARS the other day, and honestly, the threat of SARS over the country is really scary. What I thought at first as an isolated case that would soon fade, like some fad or something, is already rearing to be an epidemic of great proportions.

And its not just people falling sick and dying. SARS is threatening what little trust we put on people.

No matter how people try to lighten the situation by donning 'fashion masks', it is still really disconcerting to see people walking around with masks on their faces. In NAIA, movement has been restricted to a point that people are forbidden to talk or do anything that requires opening their mouths. In Hong Kong, a Filipina writes of getting glares from people (all donning masks, of course) because she wasn't wearing any mask. And in Alcala, Pampanga, the hometown of the first victim of SARS in the Philippines, the residents of the isolated barangays in this town have been ostracized by people in the surrounding areas.

Good thing the quarantine on these barangays would be lifted soon.

***
I just find it sad to find this all happening. People are adding fuel to the fire because, instead of trying to understand the situation, they are making it worse by inflicting more pain on the people that the victims left behind. But one cannot really blame them. It's also human nature to defend himself from things or events that would prove to be a threat to his existence. Like for one, NAIA's precautionary measures maybe have been taken to the extreme, but it is just the government's means of trying to put up defenses against the entry of the epidemic in the country. If not, things can get pretty ugly. Riots and panic-buying have already erupted in Beijing ever since the government quarantined the entire town and imposed a martial law - a drastic measure for such a dire situation. Who wouldn't feel panicked? For one thing, their movement is already controlled by a killer virus, and another thing, their city is also trying to keep them put in a place where people are dropping like flies from something brought about by an unseen killer.

It is as if the virus causing SARS is teaching us a lesson on human relations, as well as this occurrence in nature called check and balance.

***

Still, I couldn't help wonder when the SARS epidemic would slow down and when will scientists discover a cure for this malady. I for one wouldn't like to put on a face mask and look at everyone around me as if each one of them is a potential carrier of virus. Talk about being in a state of paranoia. I also wouldn't want to be reduced to talking to my friends behind mask, or not talking to them at all!

***
On a hindsight, my concerns are probably not that big compared to an HK couple I've seen in the newspaper, about to kiss but couldn't because they had face masks on.

Your Heart is Yellow


What Color is Your Heart?
brought to you by Quizilla

Another great quiz from Jen's site!=D

AND IT'S TIME TO DANCE TO THE JIG. My phone, Serendipity (don't ask why), which happens to be the most wonderful phone in the world (at least to me) is now in good working condition. Yahoo! It gave me a scare yesterday, since I couldn't turn it on. It wouldn't be the first time that happened to me. The last time it did, I had it checked and I found out it was beyond repair. So imagine my consternation yesterday when it wouldn't start!=( Anyway, I'm really relieved that it works!

***

McARTHUR'S ISLAND. Yesterday, me and ma went to Corregidor, and it was an interesting experience. My friend, Ma'am Celine, invited me about a week ago if I wanted to go with her friend's group to Corregidor. Her friend was organizing a tour that was exclusively for girls and Ma'am Celine in turn texted everyone who wanted to go with them.

Seeing new places always interested me, so I invited every female close to me who might be free on that day. Needless to say, only my mom was free on that day, and so we found ourselves boarding a ferry to the island yesterday morning.

***
Before going there, all I knew of Corregidor was that it figured prominently during the Second World War in Philippine history. But I didn't know where it was, or what could be found there. I've always thought that it was just one of those provinces somewhere in the north. The 'island' that was connected to the name of the place didn't even register to me!

So it made it even more fascinating to learn that it was a small island strategically located at the mouth of Manila Bay. To the unfamiliar (like I was before I came there), it was a tadpole-shaped island at the center of a 'C' that was Manila Bay. At the upper part of the 'C' was Bataan, and at the bottom part of the 'C' was Cavite. Corregidor, which meant 'corrector' in Spanish, was named such because during the Spanish era, cargo ships had to pass by the island before entering the Manila Bay. Later on, it became a military fort (Fort Mills) for the Americans when they occupied the country. They installed barracks, ammunition storage rooms, offices, hospitals, and canons scattered all over the island.

Since it was a military settlement, naturally it was targeted by the Japanese as one of the places to be occupied during the start of the Second World War. And much of the history of the area was rooted in those years of the Japanese occupation.

***
I learned that the whole island was declared a war memorial, and so only few people were actual residents of the place. They weren't even permanently settled there. The government imposed restrictions on the mode of occupancy in Corregidor; caretakers and other employees which have to work in the island have to leave the island once their work was finished.

Virtually, the place was a ghost town, because all you can see were carefully preserved ruins of American settlements.
Honestly, I thought that whole place was creepy. It was somewhat disconcerting to see ruins of a bombed out cinema, especially when I saw pictures of what the whole place used to look like. There were also other reminders of chaotic scenes in the area. There was this rusted door that would have blended with the rest of the ruins' weathered, aged effect if it hadn't been riddled with bullet holes. And we also saw a crater 3 m away from one of the canons that showed how it was narrowly missed by a bomb.

***
The site where thousands of Japanese soldiers commited hara kiri, the Malinta Tunnel, has been reconstructed by the government and converted into a lights and sounds museum. (FYI: The tunnel was an underground complex dug underneath a hill located at the center of the island.) Since we were already there, my mom and I decided to pay the extra fee to watch the show. And it was well worth the fee. The whole show was a retelling of the history of the Malinta Tunnel, which used to be a hospital and later on an underground hiding camp. It was the perfect place because it was safe from all the bombs falling on the island during the Japanese war raids.

Anyway, the authenticity lent by the actual site added to the whole experience, though I couldn't help but feel freaked out since, after all, it was a massacre site! In fact, the reason why the whole tunnel caved in at the end of the war was because the soldiers commited suicide by strapping explosives on their bodies. But there was no denying that the show was good. It really brought back the memories of war, as if we were really in the place when it all happened.

***
There were also places in the island that were constructed during the postwar era. Most of them were memorials dedicated to all the Filipino and American soldiers. But others, like a garden we passed by, was dedicated to Filipino-Japanese friendship. These were places in the island wherein I didn't feel so freaked out, because everything seemed peaceful.

***
I think it would be great for kids to go here. Like, for field trips. Probably history would be more appreciated when one could actually see and feel the horrors of war.

***
And all along I was thinking of that movie, 'Pearl Harbor'. Goodness.

You are the little prince.


Saint Exupery's 'The Little Prince' Quiz.
brought to you by Quizilla

Took this quiz off Jen's site and got me senti again about high school. Sigh.

Whew...it's been a while since I've last said a piece off my mind. Anyway, I was about to write my most wonderful experience of seeing the Banaue Rice Terraces, but reality kicked in as I still had one major exam to attend to. I left for the highlands last Tuesday, came back on Thursday, dragged myself out of bed and studied the following Friday, and hied off to my professor's office on Saturday to take the exam.

Ugh. Since I don't want to dwell on the exam part, let me just say I took my vacation first before having that structural exam. (which unfortunately, I didn't get exempted on.) And my structural prof, Sir Nolido, is the coolest. He actually let me go to Banaue instead of taking his exam last Tuesday. And so that explains why I was all by my lonesome when I took the exam last Saturday.

***

ANYWAY, the Banaue Rice Terraces is simply breathtaking. It is one of those few places that actually brings a tear to your eye the moment you catch a glimpse of it. It is one of those few spots on earth that recalls the word ‘pristine’ to mind. Or the word ‘lonely’ in Lonely Planet. Mountains, though usually full of greens and foliage, are rarely fertile grounds, so I guess that’s the main difference between this mound of earth and other mountain ranges.

Everything is unspoilt in this mountainous region. All seems pure – to the undiluted beauty of the mountainside up to the unaffected graciousness of the people. The water is sparkling – in fact, I think you could drink the water gushing out from the side of the mountain (a site we’ve seen on more than several occasions as we trekked from Banaue all the way to Sagada) since it has been filtered thoroughly by the trees way, way up in the mountain tops.

The natives have reddish, clear skin, which is probably one good result of the pure mountain air they are accustomed to. Of course, their beauty is more than skin deep. The most lasting impression I’ll have of the people of Banaue is the way they live simply. The children are behaved – we gave them sweets and other goodies when we climbed down to their village, and they didn’t grab or push each other or anything. They simply waited and expressed their gratitude afterwards. All of them were good natured and very polite.

***

But going to Banaue, as enjoyable as it is, wasn’t the most pleasurable trip I’ve ever been to. On the contrary, it is literally the most exhausting journey I’ve ever been on.

To be more precise, going to Sagada was the more exhausting of the two. (FYI: Banaue and Sagada are two different municipalities of the Mountain Province) It is so far from civilization and all the amenities that it offers that it is also deprived of a well paved road linking the town to other parts of the province. Imagine this: you are in a region that is wholly covered with mountains, and the only way to get to the different parts of the province is through a jeepney – a vehicle that is no match to a regular 4 x 4 – and literally, it is a bumpy ride. And towns are around 2 to 4 hours away from each other.

And that is even the easy part. The hard part is going down to the villages at the foot of the mountain.

***
It was the first time I got so dehydrated that I almost passed out. We just came back from Banga-an Village, one of those communities living at the bottom of one of the rice terrace(s). It was 500 m down from where we were parked. Horizontally, it isn’t really much, but unfortunately, it wasn’t so vertically. It wasn’t steep a slope because there were rice paddies, but going down still proved to be a feat, especially for someone like me who wasn’t used to hiking and other nature pursuits. After mingling with the village folk and basically trying to find out what their life was like, (obviously living in the highlands required a very different lifestyle) I made the trip up. Gosh. The color just drained off my face.

***

But the whole trek was worth it. The journey felt like a discovery of one’s roots. It felt good to be talking to someone who belongs to such a place in one’s own tongue – it made the connection to the place stronger, unlike in other beautiful places where you could only appreciate the scenery at a visual level. Breathtaking, but foreign. Also, it was one of those times I felt I saw the hand of God – only He could have made such a beautiful picture.

IT'S FREAKING HOT IN HERE. Summer has barely started, and already I'm feeling sticky and prickly all over. It's so humid and hot in here! I would definitely have to distract myself from the heat.=(

-o-

But heat notwithstanding, summers are always welcome respite from all the work and studying that is the norm during school days. I definitely have fond memories of summers past, and each one was a pleasant one. (Except for one summer when my grandmother died.) I discovered my love for reading during one summer. During the others I took art workshops, ballet, and other forms of hobby classes. I met good friends who are still barkada - I even became one of the godmothers to a friend's son. I saw other places on other vacations. And on one I actually realized I was in love with a boy.

How quaint.

Anyway, as a continuation to my, um, musings on how to spend my last summer vacation as an undergrad...hmm, I am actually looking for inspiration as to how to make the most out of this summer. Yeah, I said that I was planning to take on a summer-long meditation as to how I'm going to do my thesis - and with the rest of my life for that matter - but in actuality I need to do something CONCRETE. Yup, concrete.

-o-

I plan on scanning my pictures and placing them on cd. And I bought a tray for all the flower seeds I would plant during the summer.

But if I get desperate enough, I might look for a job.

-o-

I have yet to watch the other Oscar-nominated movies , 'Gangs of New York' and 'The Hours'. I wonder if they are already showing. I already saw 'Chicago' three weeks ago, and I wasn't disappointed. (I loved the Zellweger - Zeta Jones' ender, 'I Move On'.)

OR SO ME THINKS. I finished the last of the requirements today and save for the possible exam on
structurals, I think I'm already on vacation. Earlier, I've started clearing away debris of
my past semester, and it left me nostalgic. Why?....I guess it got me because not only
because I've just ended a great semester (well, it wasn't really great with the rest of my subjects)
but it brought me closer to other friends because of the projects we did together.) but also because,
I have something serious to do.

I need to take stock of my life. I need to dream - not only of the wonderful things that happened
in the past (something that I find myself doing more frequently), but also of what I really want
to happen in my life in the future.

-0-

This summer, I originally planned to work for an architectural firm as an apprentice. I applied
to one and got interviewed, but unfortunately they didn't get me. It felt bad because I really
wanted to gain some work experience, and it didn't help that two of my best buds got jobs.
Make no mistake - I am happy for them. I only wish I was also celebrating with them.

-0-

But I've realized that maybe God has better plans for me. I think I really need this summer.
I'm still a student, and I think it would be better if I made the most of the summer vacations that
I still have. Besides, I need to rest. And to think. Not only for next year's thesis, but
life in general. I'm not getting any younger, and the real world seems just a breath away. I don't think
I want to wake up after graduation next year and look in the mirror with a blank expression on my
face.