We remain the laughingstock of the world and the Dutertes and Marcoses and the Arroyos are the clowns who manipulate the Filipinos to perpetuate their greed. What I am worried about is the complacency of the opposition as they remain in their echo chambers, thinking that the echoes are the vox populi. Not so. Talk to the street vendors, the farmers, the fishermen, the vegetable sellers in the urban and rural places. They are voting for Marcos as they lap up all the propaganda crap that radio and GMA Network have been propagating. They do not have access to Internet; if they do, they can’t spend precious pesos on data. They don’t own smart phones; if they do, they may not have the cellular signal for internet. The C, D, E markets comprise the bulk of the electorate. A-B markets are just the small percentage and we often do not reach out to the grassroots.

The fight is in the grassroots.

I no longer have to buy and use charcoal. I’ve been polluting my neighbors’ houses for so long. Whoppeee! And it’s easier to cook. No need to spend 30 mins to an hour trying to keep the embers going.

To cope with the unsavory news stories that keep popping up on my newsfeeds (and I really can’t tune out because I am a journalist), I indulged again and cooked a nice dinner for all of us. The burgers were juicy and nicely smoked.

The burgers were for the girls and Ate C. Mine was a small salmon steak with mashed potato and basil.

It’s easy to disassemble for cleaning. It packs away nicely so this is perfect for camping, together with the other portable stove that I first bought from Sarang Mart. It’s nice to grill chicken, hotdogs and marshmallows here while outside the tent as the sun goes down. I found another camping site where we could go, probably by January or February when it’s cooler and not rainy.

To cope with the negativity around me, I must do the things that I love. Travel and be with nature. Simple wants and simple needs.