Sometime in May and June 2008, I took an elective in The Philippines.

Manila is a huge metropolis and shopper's haven, and crammed into that city are possibly 30 shopping malls selling everything you could imagine. Doing an elective there thus meant it was imperative that I explore the city and said attractions thoroughly, and I spent many an afternoon doing so. Occasionally, though, I came across shops that made me wonder what they could possibly be selling.

Other places were obvious enough about their wares, though less obvious about how to go about the purchase.

Besides shopping, our days were filled with lim jiu,

eating shiok food,


listening to good music, and limming more jiu.



TAGAYTAY AND PAGSANJAN

On our first weekend, we decided to explore these 2 towns. Tagaytay is a mountaintop town that offers nice cold weather and stunning views of the world's smallest volcano. Pagsanjan is well-known for its river canoe and waterfall ride. The thing about travelling on your own, however, is that you need to plan ahead and read the guidebooks carefully. It is certainly NOT advisable to wear your bikinis before you set out in anticipation of arriving in time for a nice cooling river ride in the afternoon and then realising only after you drop off that you have gotten the names of the towns mixed up.

Tagaytay

Pagsanjan





On our way back from Pagsanjan, we tried some buko (coconut) pie. It was really good, so we pooh-pooh-ed the guidebook's advice to 'share the pie with some friends, or make some friends to share it with' and promptly devoured an entire one ourselves. We then promptly spent the next day doing alot of poo-poo-ing.


more coming soon

requiem for a dream

and so it was, 7 weeks in the land of the pinoys--land of good food,


great beaches,


and new friends.

Foreign

They don't speak to me,
They keep to themselves.
This language of theirs,
It completely rings no bells.

Multitudinous hordes of them!
In their variegated variety,
All hues and colours and shapes and sizes,
That fulfill my friends' fantasies.

But to me they remain
Aloof and distant on their racks,
These shoes that dress those necklaces--
They all look the same! now can we please go back?

(to my friends who were with me: no, it wasn't that bad, heh, don't worry. still appreciate, very much, the effort to try to make me over. ;)

catch

To catch water from a falling glass that has
tipped over the table top from a
careless little tug (one of many, it’s been edging) at the tablecloth
and watch as it somersaults in the air
giving up its contents in a hapless fashion

watching as the hand reaches to grab it
but it falls, it falls, it slips and it falls

and all that’s left is a wetness on the hand
(the drops clinging on but dripping still)
and the broken shards of glass

Don’t cry over spilt milk
much less water.

Wretched, Wretched

Falling by the wayside
As the river runs dry.
That the bed
Stripped Naked and Bare
With its hidden devils of pollution
Is exposed for all to see.

but
May the waters flood once again
That life be breathed back into its banks
And when that be
May it not forget
The source of its spring.

Instant Gratification

(in response to an impulse buy. and dedicated to jayne.)

the cacophony of colours
the psychedelic sounds
the mishmash of ordered chaos
the bombardment of the senses

the cup that runneth over
of wants and whims and fancies
that meanders through (brief) indecision
and passes the bridge of impulse

and like drinking an elixir of life
from this unending river
it quenches the thirst and yearning
fulfills the momentary urge

but the hunger remains unsatiated
gnawing and growing
eating away at the numbers
that struggle to stay on balance

i went shopping.

To Whom It May Concern

of pianos and bumble bees
of poetry and hidden entries
of thinking much and yet doing little

how many breaths is one to take
to find one has a taste
for steaming chinese confectionery?

Lost

No face that launched a thousand ships
Yet no reason to return ashore;
The paths had clearly diverged in two
And I took the one travelled before.
But yet I'm still lost for all my looking--
Is it truth or is it lore?

There's no map now of where I'm headed,
No compass give me direction;
And when I look to the stars and skies
The clouds obscure my vision.
So all that's left to carry me through
Is heart...

(...and a good proper dose of friendship)

left behind.

a billion footsteps of progress,
a generation of newly rich;
multitudes of material fancy,
an insatiable appetite for change.
hordes of the youthful hungry,
with fire in their bellies;
crazed rush towards opportunities,
a single mindedness amidst it all

and
the lone flutist by the street
on a hot dusty busy weekday afternoon
left behind by the winds of time.