zane's posts with tag: province
 (blame Pats and Djong for this rambling ;p )It's a dream I've been nurturing since I started dutifully following Ian Wright's exploits on Lonely Planet. We are now in the year 2008, and that was back in 1998--10 years and still an unrequited love. You wouldn't think I've been harboring such notions just by looking at my grande Starbucks tea frappe and perfectly applied eyeliner. My friend Eric, whose now in Cambodia, laments the absence of the ubiquitous chain in his new home city, yet he makes me salivate by announcing that massage places litter the streets like 7-11s. I want to visit him in Cambodia, Pats in Singapore, dear Ryan in South Korea, Rony, Gerwin and Charlie in Singapore, life partner Louie, sexy Ems and Lifebunny in Hong Kong, Jon in Spain, Janne in Finland, Donna in the UK, Graeme in Scotland, Dwayne in Indiana, Yas in Dubai, maybe Emi in Romania, Essi wherever she is at the moment...During the bad in-betweeners of my life, I swung from blaming family and circumstances, to blaming myself--both in highly passionate ways that boggle the mind. Still, there is a shining nugget I managed to pick up--strength. Life's hell-bent ways gave me tree-trunk-like sea legs, and I want to keep using them.  Now that life is being quite kind and cushy to me, I can't help but look for the imbalance that only a churning ocean can provide. I long for the comfort that I've always found in constant change. Instead of expecting the unexpected, I don't expect at all. Deal me what cards you will, and with those, I'll play like a loony. I'll probably even wager (and lose) everything, yet find redemption in smiling like a drunken sailor. In life, I can strategize, plan and mind-f**k like the best of them. But I'd rather I didn't. I really would much prefer to be thrown somewhere and I'll be happy to learn how I'll deal with it. I can't imagine a purer heaven. Give me something and some things never to be defined. Give me the raucous, the sweaty and the revolting. Challenge me in ways that will make me rant and spit and give birth to strange, unwieldy energies. I have always believed that by traveling, my sea legs will find happiness. I want to talk to different and differing people, be forced to eat strange food, work for my breakfast...  You know what they say about potential? I can do it, therefore I must do it. Damn the comfort zone and its accompanying delusions. I am dying to have a taste of the biggest possible perspective by constantly being in motion. I want to see The Frames live in Ireland, Dave Matthews Band in Virginia and join the Burning Man community at least once. There are also fairy conventions in various part of this weird, wonderful world. Yes, I want to be there, too. Sometimes, I think I'm too old to start backpacking, Couchsurfing and going on trips that plenty of those half my age have probably already enjoyed. But I reckon I can always lie and say i'm only 27. Until when shall I keep to where the Starbucks stores are aplenty? Boom-de-ah-dah!
|  | With Pi and Aldwin :) non-highlight: had to buy Very Expensive shorts as my trusty blue ones finally gave up on me. Wala namang swim shorts na okay yung fit sa kin dun sa ukay-ukay sa plaza. deng. |
Link: http://www.wendmag.com/Advocacy + adventure
Need i say more?
For those whose sense of adventure go beyond personal learning
| | 3 years' worth of favorite surfing pictures...just felt like reminiscing today :) |
(warning: drama mode)the truth is, i'm not particularly very good at it, but this thing that my friends introduced me to makes me feel like nothing else. i started surfing in 2005, before la union was as popular and crowded a destination as it is now, but still many years after my friends first got into it. i would probably be a third or even fourth generation model if surfers were marketed like ipods. generally, i'm pretty resilient but many, many, many things have really started beating on my armor. sometimes, i really do feel there's nothing left for me on this planet, except for trying to take care of my internal organs so someone can make use of them when i can't anymore. and in between seriously considering if i have mononucleosis or, well, that thing that will put you in the 7th circle of dante's hell, is the shining thought of paddling out towards the horizon. everytime i catch a wave, life feels completely peaceful. i don't have a care in the world but for the speed of the water that's carrying me, the wind on my face, and the shore that's coming up to greet me. then i paddle back out, raise my upper body with every wave i meet, and crash down on the water with the board as my protector. there's nothing more exhilarating than maneuvering myself in a current that's always changing and deserves the utmost respect. the perfect marriage of man and mother earth.  and when the city, with all its unnecessary trappings and misplaced priorities, stag gers me with a sense of profound futility, nothing jolts me awake quite like the thought of hopping on that bus and getting ready to greet the water. and i move on with a renewed sense of joy, looking forward to my next surfing trip. the mighty, mighty water and what it can do to and with you, that's something to worry about, not the rules that the modern world dictates. money, sex, beauty, social image, i don't really care. what would hefty savings and "name" mean if i went through this life an empty shell--cooing over my next gadget or fashion purchase, or worrying too much about money that i've forgotten the richer gift of loving? and when the story feels like it has gone on too long, has become too tiring, or is going around in circles, an ending seems the best solution. or i can just throw the book out. and once more, i retain my tenuous hold on the tether to life for just one more ride, or even just one more wipeout. the water--it keeps moving me along :) thanks, guys.
| | the good heart of client Greenwich and their endorser, the forever cute John Lloyd Cruz. to while away time, we imagined ourselves on the beach and played with the Aeta kids. |
| | A dream destination. Someday, I'll take Zane there, and maybe her friend Louie. They'll love the ashrams and the dancing :) |
| | more surfing, although there was a competition this weeked. still, there were enough waves for everyone to play with =) you know how it goes... |
| | Food client's commercial shoot took me to an interesting place that would make a nice venue for an intimate low-key wedding with a rustic feel. |
| | Yet another productive weekend of learning and eating. Thanks, again, guys! Mabuhay ang Midway :) |
| | Ah yes! The lovely La Union waves are back in my life. I missed this so much. As usual, good vibes all around. Papa Anthony's still sassy (mag-yihee ba naman sa afam couple going at it on the beach...siyempre tawa kaming lahat na nasa break); the seaweed is still salty and lasang kambing; Mickey is still Sul; at sabog pa rin si Peps. The karaoke-han moved closer to Surfer's Inn, which was cool. Decided to catch Transformers at the "famed" CSI mall due to lack of waves on Sunday. Random goodness. Thanks Pats, JP, and MrWhitePatch for the great company :) August, august! |
| | We flew in and out just like that. Checked out the place and tried to kneeboard (wakeboarding step one). Saya! |
| Start: | Jul 5, '07 | | End: | Jul 6, '07 | | Location: | Camarines Sur |
Visiting the famed CamSur Watersports Complex. An overnighter of much anticipated proportions. You can tell I'm smiling, can't you? Wonderful job!
| | Getting saved by the sun, sand, and the sea. Found something to take seriously. Oh joy! |
| | yeah, yeah...pretty late to finally setting foot on puerto galera. but it was for work, and i got to hang with dweeb and char!!! san ka pa? a short, fun working weekend. |
too bad i had to hear about her when she went missing. earlier today, they found the buried body of Julia Campbell, 40 year-old peace corps volunteer to the philippines who, at the age of 38, turned her back on the corporate rat race in america to devote her time to something bigger. thanks for showing us it can be done :)
| | another not-so-sleepless night, but it was better compared to the previous one. maybe because we had Rocky the dog in the room all night? Whatever it is, we slept well that night. Breakfast was tapa spelled with a "c", some kind of very crunchy and deliciously salty tuyo, fresh mangoes, and scrambled eggs. Djong and Shobe decided on swimming, and we all went to the lagoon together. I tried to write all my impresions in the journal, and I remembered how calming it was to just write the old-fashioned way. What will we ask God if we meet him? Apparently, some very useless things. For lunch, we were raring to try the revered Kusina Salud, that also had an aviary (with a white bird that had something akin to a lion's mane) and that Pilar Place of novelties and ukay finds. Kambinged away and enjoyed the food (although not as much as Jay's cooking). Ii remember being surprised at how big the Tesoro property really was. I also remember getting confused at the interiors of the place, mixing chinese and pinoy in an eclectic jumble that somehow worked. It had a very Manila vibe to me, though. The 2nd floor would soon offer massage services but was only open to family and close friends at the moment. Then it started to rain and we got back to the car. |
| | The second day saw us watching The Two Towers at 4am, after a sleepless night. As soon as the sun was shining, though, we were taking photos again =D. Had an awesome breakfast of longganisa, danggit, fresh tomatoes, salted pineapple, and french-pressed coffee with Ms. Amor (the farm owner) and two of her other guests. Our first stop was Kinabuhayan Cafe were we played jengga and enjoyed the incredible food prepared by jay. Awesome place, exactly the kind of place great to live in if Manila people could be trusted with open residences. We had time to pop over at Ugu Bigyan's were we sort of disturbed the peace, but who cares, right? Dinner was at Caffe Curio by Colette's main store. (see blog for longer entry) |
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