Mushrooms

You wake up one day and you find all these structures that shape the skyline of the Fort. I took this shot in the area near the Market!Market! and Serendra.

These buildings and many more have mushroomed not really overnight but in so short a time. I have been able to watch the developments in the place since the time that old structures were being torn down to give way to new roads and zones.

I have had the “opportunity” to experience the gradual build-up of traffic in the area, especially when the new McKinley Hill began to open its doors.

I seldom pass through that area during the afternoon rush hour simply because no matter how much “rush” you want to go, the travel time from Gate 3 of the Fort Bonifacio to McKinley Road, a distance of about a kilometer and a half, will almost always take about 20 to 25 minutes, if you are lucky!

There are still a lot of vacant spaces as can be seen in the foreground. But I suspect that these lots are simply vacant, although these have been purchased even at sky-high cost.

By my reckoning, the lots in this part of town are possibly one of the most expensive, if not the most expensive real state in the entire country. Sinong nagsabi na naghihirap ang Pinas?

MMDA Village

If you take the C-5 road from UP and go towards the Blue Ridge area you will see the same sight that I snapped on my camera – the MMDA village on both sides of the highway.


Before you reach the Quirino Labor Hospital you will see this spectacle of houses sporting the now-familiar MMDA pink and blue and white. These houses, of course, overlook the City of Marikina where the famous Chairman resides.

He is possibly so enamored by these colors to the extent that even urinals, road signs, pedestrian foot bridges and what-have-you sport the same theme. It is no secret that Chairman BF dreams of marching to Malacañang in 2010.

My cousin says, “OK lang, wala namang masama sa mangarap.” I am starting to wonder whether the good Chairman will go to great lengths to paint the whole country in pinks and blues, if and when he does get to the Palace.

I cannot help but ask myself – why appear to be in the pink of health when you are really experiencing the blues. Sounds like a paradox – something that I would rather not live with.

Staying In Shape

Here's a few healthy tips (that I picked up from another site) to stay in shape . These are very simple and down-to-earth, but often seen as cumbersome and out-of-this-world when put into practice.

The first is the most difficult - PORTION CONTROL. Just look around when you go to an eat-all-you-can joint. It's really and truly eat-all-you-can-until-you-drop, para hindi lugi ang ibabayad. Instead, you should just take a reasonable amount and don't overeat. Ano kaya ang "reasonable" amount?

Second, you have to EAT SLOWLY. Take your time to chew your food slowly so you are less likely to overeat. Slow down and enjoy the food. Is this possible at Kamay Kainan?

Third, IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE FOOD, DON'T EAT IT. Sounds silly? Maybe, but don't we tend to eat whatever is served? So if we only eat what we really like, then this may cut down our food intake, di ba?

Fourth, DON'T PARK CLOSE TO THE FOOD JOINT. Enjoy walking the few hundred meters from the car to Kamayan. See the wonders that this can do to your appetite and to your digestion.

Fifth, SWITCH IT UP. Kung araw-araw Jolibee, saan tayo pupulutin? Di ba variety is the spice of life? Di naman puwedeng caviar araw-araw. Try and eat new types of food - this is good for your digestion.

Sixth, EAT AS MUCH FRESH FOOD AS POSSIBLE. Processed food and packaged food almost always have higher amounts of sodium and other chemical or synthetic ingredients that will do no good for our body.

I notice that many older people tend to do many of these things. I always try to eat in moderation so at least I live with the first item. For me, the most difficult is eating slowly and chewing food thoroughly. But I am learning.

Free School Bus Rides

It must be a refreshing experience for a student to take a bus to school without paying a single cent. This must be the premise upon which Tito Boboy Syjuco decided to fashion such service for his constituents in the second district of Iloilo.

He has come up with very colorful school buses that will cater to Ilongos who are on their way to school or returning home. The artist in him has once again gone to work.

Of course, Tito Boboy has also seen it fit to design the buses with giant pictures of President Gloria, Congresswoman Judy and himself so that no one will make any mistake upon whose generosity the students will be grateful for. Some mischievous wags have offered the view that Tito Boboy is getting ready for 2010, but tell me, who is not?

Ask Senator Mar, Mayor Jojo, Tito Manny, Chairman BF and all others whose tarpaulins are up there to wish the graduates luck and happiness, or to say happy fiesta, happy valentines, or to announce scholarship programs, jobs fairs or any other conceivable reason to get their names and photos splattered on the roadways. Is there anything new?

I guess Tito Boboy has some edge over the rest of the pack who are lining up for 2010. The scholarship funds generously provided to TESDA by no less than President Gloria are doing wonders to the agency and its leadership. Even in these times of financial turmoil, technical training to learn new or additional skills and competencies through TESDA’s scholarship packages can spell a lot of difference in a labor market that may be getting tighter everyday.

It is not certain though whether such scholarship packages will readily translate into votes for at the end of a long day, votes are the long and the short of it, hindi ba?

Well, enjoy your free bus rides folks, but don’t forget that 2010 is just around the corner.

Tamaraw Falls

That's what it is called - Tamaraw Falls - a few kilometers from the Puerto Galera poblacion, accessible by jeepneys through relatively well-paved roads. A concrete bridge has been built as part of the main highway and it serves as a convenient view-deck.

Concrete stairwells have been built which lead to a series of pools below where one can spend a whole lazy afternoon soaking and diving in fresh mountain water. The more adventurous go "upstream" where the water literally falls and enjoy the endless "pounding", not unlike a siatsu massage.

One need not waste time trying to seek an explanation on the origin of the name of this waterfall. Even to those who may not know, it is obvious that it was named after the rare species of water buffalo found only in Oriental Mindoro.

My mischievous cousin will always retort that he found one lying around at the Manila Zoo!

The tamaraw is considered an endangered species, simply because people have been hunting them for their meat. I really don't know whether there is anything special with the taste of tamaraw meat, but I suspect that it is simply "special" because the animal is rarely seen, especially nowadays.

If the tamaraw was as commonplace as its cousin, the carabao, then, perhaps, its meat will probably be nothing extraordinary. The carabao, on the other hand, is so common that even a type of English is named after it.

Carabao English, anyone?

Dirty Ice Cream

The last time I had some of it was during my last visit to a public park. I don't really know why it's called dirty ice cream since it is, I believe, not dirty, in the first place, but it is absolutely ice cream.

In fact, I was somehow surprised when I gave the Mamang Sorbetero my P5 coin because he looked at me as if I just descended from another planet. "Sampu na ho ngayon" he barked, as if admonishing me for thinking that he peddled a "cheap" product.

So it was ten pesos, alright, for a small cone and a few scoops of two-colored, two-flavored dirty ice cream.

I always enjoy the last leg of our visits to the "eat-all-you-can" joints, because it is often a choice between halo-halo and dirty ice cream. For me it is not actually a choice at all because I always end up having halo-halo with ice cream, like most people do, anyway.

Of course, these days ice cream, dirty or not, is seldom on our menu, unless it is the sugar-free type. The reasons become obvious as one piles up the years and blood sugar levels become the object of one's watchful eyes instead of other more interesting curves.

It's good to have a cone of dirty ice cream once in a while. It make me feel one with the world.

Stoned

Either they had nothing much to do or they were really curious beings who cannot fight the itch "to find out". They are NASA scientists whose experiments have been included in "Useless Knowledge". Such "knowledge" may not really have any use at all, but these are certainly quite interesting - that even spiders do get stoned when they ingest "speed", "grass", "crack" and whatever else the pushers and users call them. So these NASA guys wanted to test the effects of some drugs on the ability of a spider to spin a web. The results, although possibly of no value at all, are rather amusing. A spider on marijuana could make only half of its web and gave up. Some spiders were given Benzedrine, called "speed" in the streets. They spun their webs very quickly but they produced them with odd patterns and large holes. So the drug is not called "speed" for nothing. Take note of this - some spiders were administered caffeine - not from Starbucks, I suppose - and they only spun some random threads. Others were given some sleeping pills and, guess what, they did not spin any web at all. Zzzzzzz! Many years ago, peer pressure made me try some of these streetwares but all it did to me was put me to sleep. So I never bothered to try again. The NASA scientists did a swell job demonstrating what havoc these things really do. If a stoned spider cannot spin its web properly, it will not survive. You can ask Spiderman!