Back to cleaning my room. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
After writing Love Letter to Myself and seeing my friends yesterday, I felt much better. The Philippines is still fucked up but at least I’m not alone in feeling this way. A group of journos will be meeting for dinner next week so we would be able to prepare for the riskier environment we would be operating in. I guess we have to do this more often because the government is hostile to us, plus people allied with the government and incoming administration had been red-tagging various institutions like UP and Adarna Books (a publisher of children’s books????? Damn it!)
But we have to function normally. Life goes on…albeit we are more threatened now. And fucked up. I have said that twice.
So back to regular programming. Back to doing household chores and cooking.
We went to Tiendesitas to buy cat supplies and check out swimming gear but we ended up with more cycling wear and accessories (new helmets and bike lock). Well the girls got rash guards but no adult size for me. I guess I would have to go to Speedo for my own swimming gear.
Ah Decathlon, the bane of my existence. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I’m looking at camping grounds now so we can go next week before the rains become more frequent. I need to push through with this as I would be flying to Singapore on the first weekend of June because the following days I would be attending a 3-day conference and I need to meet some of my sources.
Wall Street knows only money. That’s it. How can anyone resist USD 44bn for a company that registered a USD 221m loss in 2021?
However, the problem with having Musk at the helm of a powerful media tool like Twitter is that it will give rise to the likes of Duterte and Marcos, who both built their alternative universes by keeping troll farms. It undermines fragile democracies like the Philippines.
That’s why Musk’s bid feels like much more than just an economic takeover of Twitter. It’s also a political takeover, akin to Rupert Murdoch’s 1976 deal for the New York Post and 2007 purchase of the Wall Street Journal. The world’s richest person, who has said he “doesn’t care about the economics” of buying of Twitter, is aiming to acquire a different kind of power: control one of the world’s largest megaphones and the ability to impose his libertarian ideology on questions of moderation and misinformation…
…The pressure will be even more significant outside the U.S. In 2020, Twitter said it would start labeling as “state-affiliated media” accounts belonging to some Chinese government officials and state-linked media outlets, in addition to ensuring that tweets from those profiles aren’t amplified. The Chinese government surely hates these restrictions. Suppressing government statements arguably contaminates the free-speech stew, but Tesla also has important business goals in China and needs the support of President Xi Jinping.
Twitter will be a weapon of mass destruction now that Xi Jinping, Duterte, and Marcos will be given a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge platform for their propaganda.
Good luck to us all.
Mitsubishi Xpander
I was looking at cars that could replace my current one and the closest thing that I could say I liked is Mitsubishi Xpander because of its cargo cabin size.
It’s so roomy!
I love my Isuzu Crosswind because I have a lot of room for bikes, camping gear, and even furniture. And I just discovered last year how to fold the passenger seat for more cargo room. However, it’s already old—but then I really don’t want to let it go because it can take whatever I throw at it. I’m conflicted. 🤔
So I’m holding off… I think I’ll just soup up my current ride (already inquiring about body repairs) because my sister may go abroad again (she said) and would probably sell her Toyota Corolla-Altis to me. But then, I really don’t like sedans; for me they don’t have any use except to ferry people. I can’t even drive that thing on provincial roads farther than Laguna because driving through Quezon province is like driving on the moon. For someone who often goes on road trips, that’s going to be such a drag. Sedans really limit you in terms of where you can go here in the Philippines and what you can bring.
I’m itching again to go nature tripping. I found several campsites in Tanay in Rizal and Kalayaan/Cavinti in Laguna and I want to try all of them, especially the areas that offer kayaking, paddle boarding, and wind surfing. My high school friends who bike around Laguna on weekends said Lake Yambo in Nagcarlan is also good for camping.
We will be going to Decathlon this weekend to buy new swimsuits/rash guards and kites. Yes, I saw kites!
If still available, I may buy that camping cooking gear that I’ve been lusting after for quite some time.
I’ll take a week-long leave this summer so the girls and I can go camping then dive in Anilao again—before they start their high school entrance exam review classes and before I start flying back and forth Singapore.
I spent the morning just bathing under the gentle sunlight streaming through my curtains. I decided I will not exert much effort since most of Asia is dead starting today. I just helped a colleague upload his story in the backend and that’s it.
Tikoy or Nián gāo (红糖年糕) for todayarrived via Lalamove
It’s Lunar New Year’s eve today but unfortunately we couldn’t go to Chinatown to see the lion and dragon dance. But in years past I did that, visiting some Chinese-owned investment houses in the Binondo area to chat with some of their traders and taking photos for my news outfit’s social media account.
I remember punctuating the Lunar New Year with the Lantern Festival in Hong Kong with J in 2019. We had the lion dance inside our office and then after work J and I walked around Sai Ying Pun area at night.
Lion dance at our Hong Kong office. Photo by CallMeCreation.comNight of the Lantern Festival at Sai Ying Pun. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
My family is really not wholly ethnic Chinese so we really don’t celebrate it unlike some of my friends with Chinese or hispanized Chinese last names.
My mom told us that we’re Chinese on her father and mother’s side but the Chinese last name was already lost. It was common in Batangas (and also in some areas) for Chinese immigrants to adopt Tagalog or Spanish surnames to avoid discrimination. Since Batangas faces the West Philippine Sea (formerly South China Sea), some parts of the province like Nasugbu and Lemery were centers of trade with the Chinese and other Southeast Asian neighbors. So of course there were Chinese traders who wanted to emigrate to the area but I heard that Batangueños were pretty hostile to the Chinese. I don’t know if this is just some kind of legend but I was told that’s the reason why there are no native Batangueños with Chinese last names and most often than not, they had Tagalog last names (in our case, our last names are Spanish). On my father’s side, one Spanish ancestor was industrious enough to claim land “as far as his eyes can see” by fencing up tracts of land up to the mountain in our hometown. That’s how his forebears became rich (this story was reminiscent of the movie Far and Away).
Some unread books. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I finally transferred my “books-to-read” for 2022 on my bookshelf that was once occupied by Gundams and then later by stuffed toys. I need to finish these books first before I buy more. Tsundoku in action. I now have all the things I love in my room: music, art, and books. Now I really don’t have any reason to venture out of my room. Hehe.
I was looking for activities or places we can go tomorrow but it seems like there are limited things we can do given that I have unvaccinated children with me.
I think we can visit the flower farm and Pililla Wind Farm tomorrow. The first and last time I was there was when J and I explored that area three years ago. We dined at the palaisdaan (fish farm) in Theresa, Rizal.
Wind mills. Photo by CallMeCreation.comPhoto by CallMeCreation.comWaiting for the sun to set at Pililla Wind Farm. Photo by CallMeCreation.comView of Laguna Lake, specifically Talim Island, from Pililla Wind Farm. Photo by CallMeCreation.comPalaisdaan (fish pond-restaurant) in Theresa, Rizal. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Mount Pugad camping is for another holiday…Probably during Holy Week. We need a longer holiday to be able to camp here.
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 finally have the butane grill that I’ve been hanging on to on Lazada. Bought during the 11.11 sale. Photo by CalMeCreation.com
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.
Giant Monterey beef patties. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
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.
Grilled salmon. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
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.
The Bloc Campsite, Cavinti, Laguna. Photo from Tripadvisor.comThe BLOC.Photo from Tripadvisor.com
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.
Rode our bikes again today but this time we went straight to UP and we stopped for a bit at the academic oval to listen to the birds whistling, chirping, calling to each other. People are still not allowed here but we bikers could, only for a bit, when we pass by School of Economics and College of Educ and turn right at Asian Center to go to the old Shopping Center and then to the old tennis court.
It was so eerie and yet beautiful. The absence of humans is unnerving but mesmerizing.
After a sip of water from our bottles, my daughter and I went straight to buy our veggies at the old tennis court. Because we are running low on veggies. I can’t seem to stock up on a lot of it that would last us a week because I have a small refrigerator. And since I was able to fix the clogged tubes in my fridge, it is now perfectly working and really cold, hence, I no longer have an excuse to buy me the Hitachi or Panasonic fridge. So I must shop frequently for veggies.
I have another bag of veggies at my pannier rack at the back. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Hmm I wonder if I can fit a tent, sleeping bag, and pannier for food and camping stove on my pannier rack 🤔 Then cooking utensils in my bag at the handlebars. 🤔🤔🤔 Minimal clothes and toiletries on my backpack.
The question is, can I bike to my camping destination? 😂
We spent Sunday morning until past noon cleaning our bikes. They were so dirty after our Caliraya Lake camping and it’s only now we were able to clean it and properly grease the bike chains and all hinges (since all of them are folding bikes). Then I folded them before storing properly since the southwest monsoon has started to rear its ugly head.
Towards the end our bike cleaning, we got drenched under heavy rain. We enjoyed the shower but the thunder started crashing and it was getting louder so we had to get inside and have hot showers in the bathroom.
It’s lovely staying in bed while the raindrops lull me to sleepiness. I didn’t get enough sleep last night as I was awake until past 5 am this morning for some inexplicable reason. My sleeping pattern has gone out of whack again. Anxiety about work and other work-related issues, I guess.
I just went to Lazada to search for camping cooking sets and then fell asleep (that’s how I make myself sleepy these days). Upon reflection now, it’s too bad that habagat (southwest monsoon) season is already here so I (or I and my girls) can’t go camping again.
The last time I went camping prior to our Caliraya trip was 21 years ago when my two college friends and I climbed Mt. Maculot in my parents’ hometown. The idiotic thing was we didn’t bring cooking gear since it was just a spur-of-the-moment decision. We survived on food sold by vendors along the way, like boiled eggs and cooked rice. Well you know, when you’re 20 yrs old, you’re bound to make idiotic mistakes because YOLO.
Then I went to climb Mt. Pinatubo a few years later, without practice, so I ended up collapsing near the crater lake due to sheer exhaustion. I ate lunch at 3 pm lying down. I don’t know how but I did. Thank God for the Aeta guide. The next trekking was in Morong, Bataan, when I visited the Aeta community there for my article on government’s neglect of indigenous peoples’ basic education. It was not a challenging climb but it was exhausting just the same. We had to cross hanging foot bridges. My guides were a National Scientist and a fulltime UP Pahinungod volunteer and they trekked like it was nothing. We didn’t have to camp though since we stayed in the former refugee center used during the Vietnam War. (Yes, aside from Palawan, the Vietnamese boat people were also brought to Morong and some other parts of Bataan since the American bases Subic and Clark were just near).
I need to get back into shape and climb and go camping regularly so I can do Mt. Pulag. But that would take a while. My short-term goal is to camp in Sagada, if Kiltepan Peak is already open for camping again. They closed it after a fire in 2018. We are populated with a lot of irresponsible campers that’s why Mt. Apo was on fire for days some years ago. The last home of wild Philippine Eagles, take note. If Kiltepan is closed, I can try Marlboro country also in Sagada.
Mt. Pulag. Photo from Wikipedia
That’s why when I bought my camping gear (tent and sleeping bag), I made sure it would be able to withstand the precipitation and cold in Mt. Pulag. The setup in Decathlon Masinag labeled the tent and sleeping bag (can keep me warm at 15 degrees) as Mt. Pulag-certified.
I will try to go around Rizal first since these are the easy climbs, like Daraitan and Batolusong. Then in Batangas would be Mt. Batulao and Pico de Loro (<< this one can terminate at the beach resort Pico de Loro… OMG now I remember, I trekked here in 1996!). Mt. Gulugod Baboy can be done alongside diving in Anilao (this needs a week-long leave of absence). Once I get the hang of it, I can try Pulag with some friends (and I will be hardpressed to find such friends now) before I become too old to climb mountains.
You know what’s funny? I grew up at the foot of Mt. Makiling. I had been climbing it casually when I was bored or if I wanted to get a away for a while. But I never ventured beyond Mudsprings because of the limatik (blood leeches). Makiling is notorious for those creatures. I was traumatized by the sight of my brother pulling out these leeches off his legs when I was a kid after one of his climbs. Bloody hell.
I don’t think I will ever reach Mt. Makiling’s Peak 2 because of that.
