Bliss in Calaguas

Last weekend, to celebrate Drew's birthday, Florie, Vivi, Randy, of course, the birthday boy and moi decided to go south to Camarines Norte for the beautiful island of Calaguas. I've always wanted to go there, it's on my list actually, so yeah, it's hitting two birds with one stone kinda thing. Florie booked us a spot at Lakbay Kay Saya Pilipinas so everything was all set, we just had to go show up.

The Manila to Daet, Camarines Norte drive was 8 hours long so we just slept, ate and talked loudly inside the van. We were with other people but we didn't mind. With almost everything, we never really mind anyway. After the long drive, it was a 2-hour boat ride to the island. Okay, I didn't forget how rough Camarines waves were. What I did forget though was to bring meds for it. A few years back, during my trip to Caramoan, which is at Camarines Sur, the 2-hour boat ride gave me an insane anxiety attack that I cried when we got off the boat. Good thing I was with my family then and they were geared up with lots of meds and even had a pulse fingertip oximeter. Now, it was a huge mistake to forget even just a single medicine for this trip, but thankfully, I survived it. Vivi hugged the shit out of me and let me smoke 3 cigs straight when we got on land. If ever I go back to Camarines for any remote island, remind me of my meds, alright?

Calaguas is magical. Scorching bright sun, white and smooth sand and the water is clear as crystal. No blaring music but the sound of people having fun and the waves hitting the shore. Calaguas is, again, magical.

So what did we do? Nothing. We just frolicked all day. We soaked up nature's finest - the sun, sand and water. It was perfect.

We hiked up this 20-minute trail to see the island from the top. 

Almost killed me, of course, 

but I'm happy I did that climb.

When the day turned in to night, I was floating in the sea. I let the water hug and carry me as the sun descended from the sky and the canvas of the earth changed from bright blue to a mixture of red, orange and purple. It was there when I asked myself, "What am I doing here? Do I even belong here? Why am I here?"

When all the colors seemed to be eaten by the darkness, I let those questions linger, had dinner and commenced the obligatory alcohol sesh with the rest of the group. Great place, food and people, what more can I ask for?  We played lasing bobo loudly while drinking and it was one of the best lasing bobo games ever. Drinking and getting wasted by the beach with my friends and the new ones elevated that moment from happy to the best. And we all know what happens to best memories, yeah?

I was 2 bottles of Red Horse away from getting drunk but luckily, the alcohol gave up on us first. I decided to go skinny dipping with Florie and Drew and it was beyond crazy. Crazy in a very good way, of course. It's liberating. We didn't have any light except what the moon provided but the laughter with what we're doing was music to my ears. It was a night of pure laughter, I have to say.

I let myself float again under the black sky, unreal bright moon and tiny stars shattered everywhere as if pieces of broken glass. I always appreciate moments when I can get to see stars. Being a city girl, I hardly see stars anymore or most of the time, I'm way too comfortable with the city's dashing lights that I forget that stars exist. There, surprisingly, I got the answer to my very emotional questions earlier. It's as if the the moon, stars and the cold sea whispered it to me... "You're here to see this. Exactly this. Because you are a part of all this. You're right where you're supposed to be."

Floating in the dark, instead of being scared, I was smiling. I am smiling now as I type this. That moment made me feel more than good. More than human even. It made me feel one with every fiber of my being. It made me one with everything. I felt sheer bliss.

I wish I had a picture, even just a single picture of the sun, moon, sky, sea, the colors, of that moment, all in one frame. Not just to put in here but for people to understand what I felt because of those elements. But I guess what I got there is only for me.

And for that, I am forever thankful of you, Calaguas.

Oh my, El Nido!

I was in El Nido, Palawan with my sisters, Vivi and Florie, bb Ella, Randy and at the last minute, Drew, last September (I knooow! Late post again!). I have been to Palawan before but was only in Puerto Princesa with the family and have vowed to come back as I know the province has a lot more to offer.

El Nido is known for having the best islands in the world. Huffpo even has an article solely talking about it as the one place you can't miss if you're in the Philippines. I mean, just Google "El Nido" and you'll get what I'm talking about. And here's how we got around and fell in love with it...

We arrived in Puerto Princesa around 10:00 am headed straight to a 5-hour drive to El Nido. First few hours was fine, but on the last hour, nearing El Nido, the road became a bit unsteady. I remember Ate Rox telling me that years ago, it was a rocky 5-hour drive but it's good they have made improvements.

We have arrived!

Waiting for the van.

"Ah guys, nasan na tayo?"

We got to Telesfora, our accommodation, at around 3:00 or 4:00 pm. Got settled in and went to Maremegmeg Beach which is a 15-minute trike from our place.

Telesfora's beach front.

To the beach! To the beach!

"Can we just sit down" moment at 

Maremegmeg beach.

The next morning, we're off to our day tour - Big Lagoon, Small, Lagoon, Secret Lagoon, Shimizu Island and the Seven Commando beach.

Hello, Big Lagoon!

"Kuya, pwede na po ba kami bumaba?"

There ya, go!

Kayaking at Small Lagoon where we fell twice!

This was also the moment we knew 

we love our Go Pros much more than our own lives!

Not so secret anymore eh, Secret Lagoon.

At Shimizu Island.

5 lovelies at the Seven Commando beach.

That evening, though tired, sore and with stinging skin pain, we headed over to town to have some drinks and got to see the main El Nido shore at night.

Cue in Jah Sun's reggae hit "Never Give Up"

On our last morning in El Nido, Ella, Florie and Drew hiked the Taraw Peak and slightly injured Vivi, Randy and I went to the Snake Island and the Cathedral.

I would have loved to hike this but I'm not that of an

adventurous person yet. Lol. 

And it's very steep, Florie had nightmares of the rocks after.

Them kids at Taraw Peak.

Kids at Snake Island.

Solo boat to the Cathedral.

We wanted to go inside but our boat's too big 

and the tide's way too high, according to our guide.

We had lunch all together back at Telesfora and then went to Nacpan beach.

1-hour shaky tricycle ride from Telesfora but it was 

soooo worth it, see!

We wanted waves, we got waves!

After Nacpan, we rushed to get our stuff ready as we're catching the 5:00 pm ride back to the city. The next day, which is the last day of our whole trip, Vivi and Florie went to the Puerto Princesa Underground River while Ella, Randy, Drew and I stayed at our place, which was the gorgeous Acacia Tree Hotel.

This trip pretty much wrapped up my travels for 2014. El Nido is definitely one for the books, I'm telling you. Everything seemed extra... sparkly. From the sun, sand to the sea. It's a paradise to play with, to create moments with, and I'm happy and grateful to have spent it with the people that makes this life of mine shine. It's nice to see different places, but I think, in a way, it's better if you have a little bit of home with you, may it be just yourself or with someone you can just glance over to and have your eyes say, "Let's do this!".

I love you, five!

P.S.
2 Palawan points for me now. I'm looking at you, Coron!

This far, this good

I pretty much had a crazy life after Cinemalaya (obviously) so of course, just so this blog can keep up with my life, I'm updating it the last minute. Ready? Well, basically, I got busy hanging out with almost everyone. There's the usual dinners, coffee slash catch ups and walwalans but I did a few new and different things too.

For starters, I went to an Up Dharma Down gig at Saguijo with Drew as he's fixing his broken heart. I know it's like having your heart beaten like it's monkey meat when you're having love problems with live UDD as the background music, but I honestly believe that listening to their songs while in the phase of questioning whatever your heart wants to question, like "what could have been" or "what should have been", helps clear the heart for your head to work. You have to go through the pain to not feel it anymore. So as a friend, I stood there next to him, and let UDD clear our hearts out. Plus, of course, I love UDD. I'd take any chance to see em live. Haha.

Up Dharma Down, Terno Inferno, Saguijo.

Me and the Leandro.

Speaking of music, I was also at Jessie J's concert with Ate Rox and Ate Bimbs. Oh man! She was so so so good! People would compare her to Katy Perry, well, I haven't seen Katy Perry perform live but with YouTube uploads of her concerts, I am not impressed. Sure, I'm a huge fan of Perry's "Thinking of You" but Jessie J just blew me away. She's a real performer. Her voice is so strong and she dances with full on energy.

 Ate Bimbs, Ate Rox and moi.

You are beyond awesome, Jessie J!

Chvrches was also here in Manila last November. Ella introduced this band to me during the Phoenix's concert last January and I've been a fan ever since.

Post by Patricia Dominique Parado.

Then there's FIFA 2014! I am not a sporty person period but I love FIFA. It's also a bonding thing between me and my brothers. We stayed up late for the matches, just like with FIFA 2010, and would talk about it every chance we get. I was on constant talks with Hannah about it, too. I didn't know she's a FIFA fan but I'm glad to have someone mess up Facebook with comments about the game. I'm on team Viva España, Gian and Hannah are for Brazil and Red is on Germany. I was devastated with Spain's performance, I'm not even gonna go further and talk about it, but Germany's my second team to support and with all those stunning goals that makes me jump and scream "GOOOOOOOAAAAAAALLL!!!", they have won the World Cup! I was so happy with that win and couldn't wait for FIFA 2018 in Russia!

 Die Mannschaft!

On a more serious side of things, Aika gave birth to a baby girl last July and Melai got married this month. I'm having babies and married people in my life, I must be getting old, ha! But I am more than happy for them and glad that they made me a part of a new chapter in their life. 

Allo baby Eli! Nangnang loves you!

Congrats, Melai and Windell!

As for my family, Daddy Lolo had a surgery for his prostate and we had to take turns accompanying him at the hospital. The thought of my lolo having a surgery scared the living shit out of me so I am more than relieved that he's fine now. I'm taking him to Michael's clinic 2-3 times a week for therapy. I have to say though, I'm having a hard time with that because I have to get up way too early for me to function, but everything for the family, right?
And with that, come November, my brother, Red, left for Dubai. He got a job there for 2 years. He was having doubts about going at first but we all told him that this is the perfect time for him to do something for himself.  You can't go anywhere without taking a step and Dubai is his first step. So even though it's hard to be apart, especially for my parents, we were all with him at the airport, saying "see you" and wishing him all the luck.

Mama, Red, Papa and me at Tagaytay.

 Gian was at work.

In "me" news, I am writing for Bookbed, an online reading organization, set up by KB. We've been online friends since we were in college and met up for the first time last June to get Bookbed going. I was so thrilled she invited me to be a part of it. I plan to do more for BookBed, of course. I'm lazy and easily distracted but I'm really happy that aside from my usual films, TV series, reads and this blog, I have something new to be creative about (#preshor). As you can see, there's a link on BookBed and there's also a link on my sidebar, feel free to check it out. Haha, pa-plug na!

The BookBed team!

For the last life #preshor, I lost my job last October. I have been dreading going to work but that's still work that I am thankful of. I have good and true friends there as well. Now it's gone. It's sad but to tell you honestly, I was also relieved. Work wise, I've been dragging myself up every morning for work, it wasn't challenging anymore and during that time, I was thinking of handing my notice but just being coward at facing what life has for me without that job. Then there's the personal thing that I have been enduring since late 2013. Really, it doesn't bother me anymore but I'd choose not seeing him or the two of them any day. Being fully okay with how things went doesn't change the fact that I was hurt and betrayed and I needed space, completely away from them. So when we got the cut, it's as if the universe is helping me to let to go, you know. It's the universe letting me free. All in all, I'm pretty much okay without that job and quite proud of myself, actually, for handling this situation well. I've been out of a job for 3 months now, did interviews and have been qualified but I'm taking my time. I'm not really giving in to the #preshor cause I'd like think I'm smart now, knowing that, that won't help me get things done.

Miss these guys!

So yeah, looks like this is my 2014. Hopefully I can get my El Nido trip post up then my yearender (where I'd like to be more emotional, chos!) post later cause as you know, I'm being OC in keeping this blog's consistency. I can feel you now, 2015! 

Cinemalaya X

I finally got a good shot of this! :P

This is the late Cinemalaya X review. Bow.

As my dear movie buff friends would say, "It's that wonderful time of the year!", we welcome Cinemalaya with open arms. For it's tenth year, it's Cinemalaya X: A Decade of Connecting Dimensions. True enough, the festival lived up to its name for producing fresh malayang pelikulang Pilipino and it has connected different kinds of people with unique, breathtaking and kick-in-the-gut films. Happy 10th Anniversary, Cinemalaya!

Cinemalaya X Gallery.

Cinemalaya X presented 25 films in three categories: New Breed, Director's Showcase and Short feature. They also have their usual Retrospective and Philippine Premieres. I was able to watch 20 and here's my quick take on each film:

Mariquina (2014)
Directed by Milo Sogueco
This is a touching story about a father-daughter relationship with the history of Marikina being the Shoe Capital of the Philippines as its backdrop. Mariquina will make you appreciate your parents more for who they are. The script is well written (I mean Jerrold Tarog, really), and is told by the directors and actors who gave strong performances for the film. I particularly like how Imelda (Mylene Dizon) managed to have a shoe for her father. It's simple yet endearing and couldn't think of a better way to have it. Personally though, the film was a tad long for me and I felt a slight struggle to quickly close every situation presented on the film.

Shorts A (2014)
Asan Si Lolo Me? by Sari Estrada, Tiya Bening by Ralph Quijano, Mga Ligaw na Paruparo by J.E. Tiglao, The Ordinary Things We Do by David Corpuz and Padulong sa Pinuy-anan by Eden Villarba
Shorts B (2014)
Indayog ng Nayatamak by Joris Fernandez, Lola by Kevin Ang Tan, Nakabibinging Kadiliman by Paolo O'Hara, Ina-Tay by Chloe Veloso and Eyeball by Thop Nazareno

Norte, Hangganan ng Kasaysayan (2013)
Directed by Lav Diaz
Norte had a special screening in Cinemalaya which was good for me as I couldn't fit their Ayala Malls schedule in mine. This film showed that an idea or belief, how different it may be for people, can define oneself and the way we see the people around us; that an idea can define a human in the face of struggle. With the Philippine society as its playground, Diaz perfectly conveyed Fabian (Sid Lucero) and the rest of the characters' story in the most realistic and understandable way possible. Norte also held spectacular performances from the actors and I'm taking this opportunity to give praise to Angeli Bayani. Her acting gave me good goosebumps and scenes that are very hard to forget.

K'Na, the Dreamweaver (2014)
Directed by Ida Anita Del Mundo
I like the simpleness of K'na and it made me miss seeing movies that are given a very light treatment that will leave you feeling good. I specifically like the ending. I took it as we are the "weavers" of our own lives and who we are can affect how others weave theirs. The production design is made with such finesse and the details are intricate, just fitting anyone's expectation of watching a period film. The entire film's language is also in the T'boli dialect, and for that, even alone, major props to team K'na.

Hari ng Tondo (2014)
Directed by Carlos Siguion-Reyna
At first I had mixed feelings about this but now I am dead sure - I hate this film. I won't say don't watch it, in fact, if Hari ng Tondo would be shown nationwide, I'd love for you to see it and then let me know what you think. Though not the story, Hari ng Tondo came off for me as a "Rich Man's Movie", wherein bored and rich people decided "Hey, let's make a movie about the poor". I'm sure the makers of this film have the best intentions of putting Tondo and how it is there on the spotlight but for me, the way this film portrayed the place is so demeaning and offensive. Though it has its funny moments, this is a really bad script for me. Robert Arevalo and the music were the only things good in this film.

Ilo Ilo (2013)
Directed by Anthony Chen
Sadly, Ilo Ilo screened with no subtitles at all. I don't know why but I'm sure it was given to Cinemalaya with subs, just HELLO CINEMALAYA YOU'VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR 10 YEARS SHIT LIKE THIS SHOULDN'T EVEN BE HAPPENING. Anyway, despite not understanding what was being said for an hour and almost 40 minutes, Anthony Chen gave heart to everyone who was raised by a maid, who has had a maid, have been or still is a helper and of course, to his childhood, which I think is the greatest accomplishment of this film. Ilo Ilo is a story of how two different worlds finding out they aren't so different at all; the fight of people longing to be cared for. The film's cast includes Angeli Bayani (I am really in love with this woman), Chen Tianwen, Yeo Yann Yann (she was amazing!) and Koh Kia Ler as the naughty on the outside but sweet on the inside, Jiale. I am in love with the shots and the end credits music was a sweet surprise.

The Janitor (2014)
Directed by Michael Tuviera
Upon seeing the trailer for The Janitor, I had a feeling it was going to be good and I wasn't disappointed. The film is about the 2008 bank massacre in Laguna and the known probable way of how all crimes are declared solved in the Philippines. This movie's bold and gritty and not asking for more. The Janitor showcased Niccolo Manalo's acting skills astonishingly.

Sundalong Kanin (2014)
Directed by Janice O'Hara and Denise O'Hara
I guess the fact that I am struggling what to write here is a proof of how this film just blew me away. This is the best movie for me for this year's Cinemalaya. It played with so many elements: from kids, growing up, grief, the war, the oppressed, just, I seriosuly have no words. The kids and the entire cast played their roles well. I like how they came about with the title which was said in the film and one of the opening scenes where the kids we're playing old school street games and how it ended with them being on the same place, being and living the war games that they were just once playing. Can I just clap?


Death March (2013)
Directed by Adolfo Alix Jr.
I'm always nervous when I'm about to watch an Alix film and I think this is because of Kalayaan (2012) and the Huseng Batute and some of his experimental (for me) films. But after 2 months of seeing Alix's films, it dawns on me how great they are. Anyway, contrary to that notion, just like with Porno (2013), I instantly like Death March. The black and white and theater-like element took away the obvious and made it focus more on the men of Death March, their thoughts, their doings, expressions and the gravity of their situation and how they are facing it, which people nowadays tend to forget or less discussed when it comes to talking about the Death March.

Separados (2014)
Directed by GB Sampedro
Is this a music video of Erik Santos? Just kidding. The music is alright and that's the only good thing I can think of for this movie. The main character's a chef so it's quite surprising why this movie's bland. Separados is too literal and explored by GB Sampedro shallowly. Thus explains why my take on it is just like what, 3-4 sentences only.

A Thief, A Kid, And A Killer (2014)
Directed by Nathan Adolfson
Nathan Adolfson was present during the screening of A Thief, A Kid, And A Killer for Cinemalaya X's Closing Film and he mentioned that he wanted a heavy situation for a movie that is presented in the lightest way possible. Kudos to you, Mr. Adolfson, you achieved it. Though rough characters and situations were presented, it didn't need the same treatment and that's what I like about it. Also, I like the straightforwardness and the quirky relationship created by a child and a man with helpless dreams.

I shall now present you le pictures from Cinemalaya X. Bow.

My sisters! Annual thing, yeah? 

The weekday films buddies!

L-R: Me, Drew, THE Angeli Bayani, 

Vivi, Florie and Randy.

The fans of Niccolo Manalo, yo!

Drew is back on watching films! Yey!

Mass comm people are Cinemalaya people. 

The usual break from films - coffee and yosi!

Until next year, Cinemalaya!

Photos are taken by Vivi Victorino and Florie Vicencio unless otherwise stated.