FENTANYL GOT THE WRONG PERSON

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Among the artists who have recently departed this dimension, it’s Dolores O’Riordon who has affected me the most. I’m not ashamed to confess that her death personally affected me since I wasn’t able to see them live in 1996 (I was a poor college freshman) and 2012 (I just gave birth to twins) here in Manila. On the day she died, I played non-stop Cranberries songs, whatever I could find on Youtube. Then in my car, I continued my mourning as I played their songs in my Sony Walkman on a loop on my way to a coverage.

Cranberries was part of my high school life. Dolores and Alanis Morisette  were the female artists who had influenced me as a vocalist at that time.

The first time I heard “Zombie” back in 1994, I couldn’t shake it out of my head. I waited for it to be played on air so I could tape record it (yes, yes, the old-school recording to make the soundtrack of my life; it was an art form, mind you). Then I played it on my sister’s Walkman while in a van on the way to Manila from Los Banos with my classmates. We were competing in a science fair to showcase our study-sorta-thesis then. So the entire duration of that science fair, I was listening to Cranberries, Guns n Roses (Spaghetti Incident), Mr. Big (Bump Ahead [I fell in love with “Promise Her the Moon“]), Collective Soul (“Shine”), and a couple of locals like Color It Red, Rivermaya, and E-heads. Guys were borrowing the Walkman and my tapes to beat the boredom while we tended to our booths. (Girls had a different playlist back then, I was the odd one).

I followed Cranberries. I borrowed tapes or swapped with classmates. In my senior year, some guys and I formed an amateur band and we played Cranberries. Twenty-plus years on, a classmate told me that whenever she hears Cranberries, she remembers me. That’s how closely tied I was to the band.

When I read that the Cranberries was reuniting, I thought to myself I will finally have the chance to see them live. But it was never meant to be.

I was sad when Chris Cornell died. When Dolores passed, I was heartbroken.

Goodnight.

FIGHT DICTATORS

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Black Friday Press Freedom protest

I timed my walk-jog in UP Diliman this evening to coincide with the Black Friday Press Freedom protest. I missed the first one held in Scout Area last week because I was covering the BSP Bankers Night.

The press has been under heavy attack since Duterte came into power. Incessant attacks on Philippine Daily Inquirer (and its owners) forced the Prietos to sell the opposition paper to businessman Ramon Ang (San Miguel Corp [PSE:SMC] president). Now Rappler is under threat with the revocation of its registration by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). ABS-CBN’s franchise is in danger of being not renewed…because broadcast franchises are hostaged by Congress (really archaic rule, by the way).

We are living in dangerous times. Anyone critical of this administration is being silenced, be it on social media, in mainstream media, or even in the streets of this country.

freedom protest, UP Diliman

Everyday is a struggle but we must not lay down our arms. Once we give up, we will let ourselves die a slow and painful death.

Some bankers have asked me what do I think about Rappler’s Philippine Depositary Receipts. As an SEC/PSE reporter, I have my own take on it, which may be separate from the issue on hand. But this does not negate the fact that this administration is out to get us those who criticizes its policies and actions.

I will post later my opinion about the PDRs, which I had first posted on Facebook.

BENCAB MUSEUM and BURNHAM PARK

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Death and Resurrection by BenCab

Since it was my kids’ first time to be in Baguio, they had to see what the great hullabaloo is with Burnham Park. Their classmates had been telling them there is a lake/sea in Baguio City, an information that I corrected. “Darlings, Burnham Park has a pond, not dagat,” I told them. And boating in Burnham was a must-do in years gone by when Baguio was “the place” to be before it got swarmed by tourists and clogged by SUVs.

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So off we rode a boat for PHP 150 a trip around the pond. Little Girl 2 cried because she was thinking we were all going to sink.

After the little trip to Burnham, we drove down to Bencab Museum along Asin Rd. When in Baguio, you must visit this Museum. People were raving about it and now that I’ve been there, I was like, “Ok, nice museum.” But it’s not otherworldly or something that defies gravity. But I do appreciate the art.

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View outside, from the  ground floor patio

Here are some art works that I liked. Sorry, I wasn’t able to document who did what. (Bad blogger)

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The following paintings are by BenCab

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And then of course, there’s BenCab’s collection of indigenous art—> sculpture of the bulol or rice god.

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There’s one gallery devoted to the rice gods but I didn’t take photos that much because they were boring without the annotation on the exhibits.

Somebody save this museum from mediocrity! Have it curated well, please.

In the meantime, have to say goodbye first. Next entry is about the traffic jam along Kennon road and why I would think twice about spending Christmas again in Baguio.

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WEANING FROM FACEBOOK and CHRISTMAS IN TRAFFIC JAMMED BAGUIO

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Facebook is toxic. It’s no longer a fun place to be and I realized I can no longer express myself fully there, hence, the need to revive my blog. I plan to do several reviews (I have a number in the pipeline) of products I just acquired or services I availed (and these are not paid reviews, mind you).

Anyway, my family spent Christmas with my mother and sisters in Baguio at Manor Hotel in Camp John Hay (CPH) They have been doing this for years and this is the first time we joined my mom and sisters for the holidays.

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It was a new experience for my girls and they loved Santa’s Village and that kept them entertained for a while. But costly for me since activities like horseback riding, go-carts, and jumping on trampolines are at least PHP 100 per 15 mins (for horseback riding).

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If I can have my way, I would just have stayed in bed and savored the 15-19 degree C temperatures. But if you have kids, you can’t. Sigh. Procuring food is a bit of a hassle since stores and restaurants in CPH either run out of provisions or are closed, since, hey it’s Christmas! Give the Baguio people a break. I recommend that you bring lots of food with you when you get there because it’s nearly impossible for you to go downtown because of the horrendous traffic jam caused by tourists like us. The traffic jam inside CPH is already que horrible.

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Families listening to live Christmas carols early evening.

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Rooms overlooking the garden

 

Moving house

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During my early Christmas Day walk in Camp John Hay, Baguio City

I just bought a domain name and had this blog hosted. Why? I guess I want to make this blogging gig a chance. I used to be a prolific blogger but life got in the way.

Here’s to new beginnings.