tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79174098517090984462024-03-15T01:08:38.317+08:00the bumpy journey of lifeJohn Exos Nuludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06120709285100256257noreply@blogger.comBlogger85125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917409851709098446.post-73202038356786338602017-02-25T13:09:00.000+08:002017-02-25T13:09:23.627+08:00It's been fun, but I must move on.I still remember my first blog post eight years ago. It was a poem titled "Am I Worthy For Your Beauty?" - I've always been the romantic kind, and 84 more blogs later, I'm closing my blogspot permanently. Yes, my dear friends, I'm afraid this will be the last post you'll ever read here.<br />
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It's been fun blogging here, I met many talented travel bloggers, although I've never met any of them in person, you guys were one of the motivations for me to continue to blog because all of you wrote such great stories and I wanted to be a good writer like you guys are.<br />
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Blogging here for 8 years is something that I treasure, this has been my outlet for all those years and now I'm leaving all these 8 years of memories. I don't want to leave but I really must go, not because I don't like it here anymore, but because technology has left Blogger behind. Google has not updated its features, it only means Google may close Blogger in a few years and I needed something more permanent.<br />
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Yes, I am not actually quitting my blog. I am moving to my own site which will launch on March 1, 2017.<br />
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The new site will be on <a href="http://www.bumpyofmanila.com/">www.bumpyofmanila.com</a> and there I shall start again. The new blogsite is a work of love. I did everything there, even took a youtube crash course so I can learn how to code things like I.T. guys. I've been developing it for the past week now and I must say I haven't been this sleepless since I was in college. In the morning I would work from 8am to 5pm and when I get home at around 6:30pm I'd start developing the site which will continue until 4am the next day. I would sleep for 2 hours and wake up at 6am to prepare for work again.<br />
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I really wish I could continue here but I also have to follow the technological competitiveness of my website.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXWXySNTDk1vID4wbDENoDl6RoPTawEvCbFYddHpmNB7TWT-wQG6bxXR8HEPFUT45VY3v4u-yFSnspA0SF_sZQwph2QlYEsURO51cIh7jPfDLVPXSavSotau2z5u_WKcC9Ws0y0h1_1NnE/s1600/FB_IMG_1475191940191.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXWXySNTDk1vID4wbDENoDl6RoPTawEvCbFYddHpmNB7TWT-wQG6bxXR8HEPFUT45VY3v4u-yFSnspA0SF_sZQwph2QlYEsURO51cIh7jPfDLVPXSavSotau2z5u_WKcC9Ws0y0h1_1NnE/s640/FB_IMG_1475191940191.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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So what's new with my blog at www.bumpyofmanila.com?<br />
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1. Name - (Of course, John, duh!)<br />
2. Own Domain - Yep, I finally bought my own domain and web hosting too for the next 3 years.<br />
3. Collaborative blog - I want my new blog to be a place where artists can show their art.<br />
4. Sections - I have 5 sections now (Blog, Review, Books, Music, and Kalayaan!) Where Kalayaan is specifically for artists wanting to share their piece for absolutely free, provided that I approve it first.<br />
5. Website is responsive - Of course the blog is responsive for mobile users.<br />
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I don't want to spill drama here because I'm Bumpy, I never go dramatic over things, I just laugh at the comedy and tragedy of my life.<br />
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For those who have been part of this blog, I love you all and thank you for joining the bumpy journey of life with me! Now, another journey begins for you and me, I need you more than ever now.<br />
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So this is just a very short goodbye, I'll see you on the new blogsite on March 1 ok?<br />
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Cheers!<br />
<br />John Exos Nuludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06120709285100256257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917409851709098446.post-38779076928817922742017-02-19T15:18:00.000+08:002017-02-19T15:18:01.112+08:00Typewriters: When We Were Kings<div style="text-align: justify;">
There was once in our time when Typewriters were the kings of letters. I do remember when these heavy, mechanical machines were in its last hurrah. I was still a small kid when I used to play with typewriters in my mom's office, we didn't have tablets that time so I would use office supplies as toys. Scissors were monsters, pencils were missiles, and Typewriters were the sound effects of guns strafing enemies. I love the mechanical sound it made, imagine 5 typewriters clacking around the office from 8AM to 5PM, it was corporate symphony. </div>
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And then slowly they were replaced with bulky computers, the orchestra was silent, the beautiful chaos was gone. With today's technology, you can command computers with a touch to the screen.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7gMsxWCuwrT2tTibpzW93A-a0XyirFCnFqt3A03wtGkgOdA9fb3SyXo_eRguxvjGkoeY14M7UbrOOcTGOOEsUWiPPDkEC4quCIT2_STsRIAJt4tpaUcs8fo8ricF2n_pLLSLsLnvMb4lc/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7gMsxWCuwrT2tTibpzW93A-a0XyirFCnFqt3A03wtGkgOdA9fb3SyXo_eRguxvjGkoeY14M7UbrOOcTGOOEsUWiPPDkEC4quCIT2_STsRIAJt4tpaUcs8fo8ricF2n_pLLSLsLnvMb4lc/s640/3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Olympia Traveller de Luxe - The only remaining Typewriter we have</td></tr>
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A few days ago I was looking through old photos and then I saw typewriters in the old office, so I started asking what happened to these beautiful machines. A staffer told me they were keeping one which they haven't used for years. I became excited and asked for it, and when it was handed over to me, I saw the sad fate of the old typewriter. </div>
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From the outside, it was very dirty because it was hidden in a corner where dust and dirt had settled. What really made me sad was when I opened to see the inside of it, not only that had dust settled, but it was full of insects, roaches and spiders, good thing all of it were already dead. I hate roaches and spiders, just saying.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic0zjuasYrr61pTKiTdD3sxZa1kr9HfHlO1bo-CH1bqKSmF1F54hH46LNBkTK8EzOOWgdEyGr_SceyjOxjmNqTihn6pYgRTQtdwcsTpeioB-I0X7-k0KjMODf0PAZ4dZQiggX51k4DqvFU/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic0zjuasYrr61pTKiTdD3sxZa1kr9HfHlO1bo-CH1bqKSmF1F54hH46LNBkTK8EzOOWgdEyGr_SceyjOxjmNqTihn6pYgRTQtdwcsTpeioB-I0X7-k0KjMODf0PAZ4dZQiggX51k4DqvFU/s640/1.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Forgotten and Neglected</td></tr>
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I started trying all of the keys and all were still working, the oil hasn't really dried up and it only showed minor rusting. That's why I love old machines from the past, they were made with superior quality metal. I became curious about the writer's model and I did a bit of research about it and found out that it was first released in 1995, it was one of the last models released by the Typewriter industry. It was made of metal and plastic for keys and casing. I learned it was meant for the "on-the-go" people, which explains the model's name. </div>
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I was wondering when the typewriter was bought. And I remembered my Grandfather, he loved technology, and I'm guessing this writer was bought around 1997 at least. That would mean that I have a 20-year-old gizmo in my hands!</div>
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The next thing that came to my mind was to have it repaired because I've always wanted one. Mom gave me an electronic typewriter before, but I've always wanted a manual. And this one was perfect, it was small and lightweight, I imagined businessmen and reporters running with this thing back in the late 90s,</div>
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I went online for hours finding a shop to have it repaired, but I wasn't only looking for a repair shop, I was specifically looking for a place where typewriters were respected with care and expertise. Because I know how a repair shop who sidelines in fixing typewriters would end up to be - a quick clean and re-oiling of the machine, and that's not how I wanted it fixed. I wanted it to be assessed by an expert.</div>
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And with a stroke of luck, I found an old clip of ANC interviewing a certain Mr. Avena about why he won't sold computers and has only sold Typewriters since his Father started the business in 1936.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0VQCPgZlC6KZue5cCTu1F_i1HU89MhvgSToG4Ouo5XSbCiAUAq-ELE_pOulJZcNq4SrQitY-s6ghxuKcrezBRqKRcUXC5qQYqZNrdoBdrmelmFUJUgrar6Pg5lC9npjdzu7ujKRLoBVtc/s1600/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0VQCPgZlC6KZue5cCTu1F_i1HU89MhvgSToG4Ouo5XSbCiAUAq-ELE_pOulJZcNq4SrQitY-s6ghxuKcrezBRqKRcUXC5qQYqZNrdoBdrmelmFUJUgrar6Pg5lC9npjdzu7ujKRLoBVtc/s640/8.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">V. Avena & Sons in Espana Boulevard</td></tr>
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I was excited and I quickly bargained with the office that if I had it repaired, ownership would be transferred to me. (Pretty smart eh? Thank you, Pawn Stars)</div>
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And so I went to Espana Boulevard in Manila on a Saturday morning and there I was amazed with how the shop pulled me back into the age of Typewriters. Row upon rows of old, classic Typewriters lined the shop. It was almost a mini museum, and I bet old Government workers and Journalists would love this place. It was like back in the 60s with their signage.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4lUsORTS-ZwUj4bTFkuFJ9iH2b97DfBB8Tu23wvB2YOA3LKmWwCnr8UHWBfsb65kh-OS2TRcNpi02GLnpUxY1Py_HnEgjn_WYmWqEROyRQyoO-IdwjNF5UWzCwzC3eaKVz8z3ii4wBe-S/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4lUsORTS-ZwUj4bTFkuFJ9iH2b97DfBB8Tu23wvB2YOA3LKmWwCnr8UHWBfsb65kh-OS2TRcNpi02GLnpUxY1Py_HnEgjn_WYmWqEROyRQyoO-IdwjNF5UWzCwzC3eaKVz8z3ii4wBe-S/s640/6.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old Typewriters for sale, some are for display only</td></tr>
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I became so excited that I actually forgot that I was holding the old typewriter I had, and the one who answered the door had to tap me on the shoulders because I had already entered a restricted place. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOetE7H_o720IQNck2M_RK5EHZeebaiSbmB00nEV4JRdaA52z1YXyXEsjEvQEoxeiTlMrrHzpfKtpFivnFzd5bTC8xfoFGX2qDCXd4Kq4GdzEW11TQ_eY0YFc84lldV3pUK6GTTmn5wwIw/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOetE7H_o720IQNck2M_RK5EHZeebaiSbmB00nEV4JRdaA52z1YXyXEsjEvQEoxeiTlMrrHzpfKtpFivnFzd5bTC8xfoFGX2qDCXd4Kq4GdzEW11TQ_eY0YFc84lldV3pUK6GTTmn5wwIw/s640/5.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I have a fascination with round keys, I failed trying to buy this one</td></tr>
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I have a fascination with old typewriters that had round keys and I tried to actually but the one you see above. It was fully functioning but the guy said it was only one of the collection of Mr. Avena. But that didn't deter me, so I still tried and asked how much would Mr. Avena probably sell it. When the guy said an insane amount, all I could say was "Oh, okay." - Obviously the amount was lightyears away from what I had in my wallet at the time.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidxRw3zw63d85UkvBKkFCXO70DzmeCbl0I7K_hTBMUfuQTOC-ElziEBs3tB1aUJMQRtiwjFLak_AAKkrRhUSMr3BSAcRG-FTI_XxnM7DVNcCkDyc0Yl2lLX80ZPk18kZUf4Ilu8cGQsN-G/s1600/10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="457" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidxRw3zw63d85UkvBKkFCXO70DzmeCbl0I7K_hTBMUfuQTOC-ElziEBs3tB1aUJMQRtiwjFLak_AAKkrRhUSMr3BSAcRG-FTI_XxnM7DVNcCkDyc0Yl2lLX80ZPk18kZUf4Ilu8cGQsN-G/s640/10.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An all-steel-and-spring Typewriter, I forgot to ask if it was real.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbsObMP15aDh6RSv8SZ2Gw7K_8KB9mehyphenhyphenCN0jIgnZHV4_vtLy3oTtXxm04XECTGSHm4dbVbWn0m-zG8cCl4exRE6YpMJK8wraTCnuP11bApfGOm12xBJ6Xt0cexzmz5PqyuCQrjap0f06y/s640/7.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Having my Traveller de Luxe assessed.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbsObMP15aDh6RSv8SZ2Gw7K_8KB9mehyphenhyphenCN0jIgnZHV4_vtLy3oTtXxm04XECTGSHm4dbVbWn0m-zG8cCl4exRE6YpMJK8wraTCnuP11bApfGOm12xBJ6Xt0cexzmz5PqyuCQrjap0f06y/s1600/7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbsObMP15aDh6RSv8SZ2Gw7K_8KB9mehyphenhyphenCN0jIgnZHV4_vtLy3oTtXxm04XECTGSHm4dbVbWn0m-zG8cCl4exRE6YpMJK8wraTCnuP11bApfGOm12xBJ6Xt0cexzmz5PqyuCQrjap0f06y/s1600/7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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After about 10 minutes of asking about the shop, I finally handed over my typewriter to be assessed. And just like I expected, the expertise surfaced like routine, he quickly saw the flaws and the missing parts that I didn't even know were supposed to be there. But sadly my visit was incomplete because Mr. Avena wasn't around yet to make the estimate. I wanted to personally meet him because he's put so much dedication to run the shop even it's no longer profitable, good thing though that he owns the building so he has a passive income to keep the shop.</div>
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I was already back in the office when I received a call from Mr. Avena, I stuttered answering as he estimated the price of the repair to which I think the price was really professional, it was well-priced and you would actually feel that he's more than happy to repair it for you. It was not about money, but it was more passion. I think he priced it for charity or something.</div>
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For now, I shall leave you in suspense for the typewriter is in the good hands of Mr. Avena. I shall blog again to report on the condition after it has been repaired. </div>
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Till my next typewriting, cheers! </div>
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<br />John Exos Nuludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06120709285100256257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917409851709098446.post-31470627473887004232017-02-18T20:03:00.004+08:002017-02-18T20:04:13.045+08:00A Haven from Adulting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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There are times when you don't have all the time in the world to plan vacations, and I learned that in this stage of my life called "adulting." Responsibilities often hinder us from stretching our legs after a long day of work. Gone are the days when I can easily stroll the streets of Manila with my camera for a quick meal for the soul. Now it's so hard for me to meet friends just a few kilometers away from me.</div>
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But there are days when you've reached the limit of stress and you feel that you've used up the morale tank and feel the dementors reaching for your soul with a death kiss. That's when reason is thrown out of the question and you've just had it.</div>
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Good thing my friends felt the same way, we were all needing the emergency break from life and we wanted to be somewhere that's familiar, we wanted to be the kids that rule our body, even just for a little while.</div>
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And there's no other way of doing that than to be unplugged from the city life. But we still had to fit our breather within the realms of reality to schedule it. And luckily, there was one weekend we actually agreed on. (It's so hard for me and my friends to schedule vacations because we work in different industries)</div>
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Two hours away from city lies a gravel path to Infanta, Quezon Province where I found the most modest home perfect for a weekend rest. The wood cabin is situated on the cliff side of the mountain, where I saw the range of forestry Infanta had.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsjk-lZXXqkHZ7wz9bR2wG3LZXtesDYpgggeoabMx9623TJ-lbbEk-cghwory2rkjM8QnN7K7ufpDeA4drTsbhnQWlsF2MXNktzr8ch3IU7BqxmP6Gb2v5d7gcbFF39O8ur7Q3P7I7DkkM/s1600/CSC_1844.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsjk-lZXXqkHZ7wz9bR2wG3LZXtesDYpgggeoabMx9623TJ-lbbEk-cghwory2rkjM8QnN7K7ufpDeA4drTsbhnQWlsF2MXNktzr8ch3IU7BqxmP6Gb2v5d7gcbFF39O8ur7Q3P7I7DkkM/s640/CSC_1844.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Modest Cabin</td></tr>
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The cabin is almost unnoticeable from the road as people would think it's a local house, but it was a safe haven for 4 stressed individuals during that weekend. There was also an unusual coldness that enveloped this part of the road. The weather here is always rainy. I've been here at least 4 times and it was always misty and cold, it always felt like Baguio city at 6AM the whole day.<br />
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What's more lovely here is that it's near a famous stopover for motorcycle riders. This canteen offers some tasty exotics - Mountain Snails, Frog Legs, Wild Rabbits. Yes, I did say Wild Rabbits.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglSigh2Busi-1ldaNsQb5J3ZWC-olGa8Oef_biQ9MohO464rxaXUapGqmd4WULcjMD6vhUVY97F3vo05wyZvfaG0FCFbZQ_k_jiTkyf0BYk27c7jYFjf671nXNxsZ9APB_maPoJHeo1fji/s1600/DSC_1737.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglSigh2Busi-1ldaNsQb5J3ZWC-olGa8Oef_biQ9MohO464rxaXUapGqmd4WULcjMD6vhUVY97F3vo05wyZvfaG0FCFbZQ_k_jiTkyf0BYk27c7jYFjf671nXNxsZ9APB_maPoJHeo1fji/s640/DSC_1737.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frog Legs<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjDZLWfFtwjwCIM2MAPCKFHBIUeDwCrIe4Ya2oLNrMGKRmpsviTtyWkfT5t0hM8Q-gMM51gsW03wqu6eSmZU-nLrPUP0MybS9T5JcOgq3GDjvtkahx_H_DyHo3PYE0SBu44cELfl3h05Y-/s1600/DSC_1751.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjDZLWfFtwjwCIM2MAPCKFHBIUeDwCrIe4Ya2oLNrMGKRmpsviTtyWkfT5t0hM8Q-gMM51gsW03wqu6eSmZU-nLrPUP0MybS9T5JcOgq3GDjvtkahx_H_DyHo3PYE0SBu44cELfl3h05Y-/s640/DSC_1751.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wild Rabbit</td></tr>
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In this cabin we could act like high school students once again, pulling out unused jokes for over a decade. We could horse around, except of course, we try not to push each other off the cliff.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Pool's temperature is at least around 10 degrees.</td></tr>
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In this cabin, we are free from our responsibilities, signal is difficult, a good thing if your boss is already looking for that unfinished presentation deck you left at work. In this cabin, we stretch our legs, pour whiskey, and eat - Which reminds me that we went so far with our stress eating that we ate what was supposed to be our breakfast food.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It is hardest to cook at nighttime</td></tr>
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The cabin doesn't have electricity, which I think is a perfect partner for the cold night. We battle the coldest winds with whiskey and hot food. Yes, food must always be present when I'm telling the story.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJD7Xc7jI5zvLuRaD9q4jPcLpTY2rhBujDHDQWCi1oMFsYzLRJcgJ6dprgtQKyTdzecklJTJADuYD2Co3KxjxSqKi8y0o-BNCj3Os1RsShC3VWvAgBFmA0jVNhS9HdhbhLG93ZdRFGTcL3/s1600/DSC_1835.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJD7Xc7jI5zvLuRaD9q4jPcLpTY2rhBujDHDQWCi1oMFsYzLRJcgJ6dprgtQKyTdzecklJTJADuYD2Co3KxjxSqKi8y0o-BNCj3Os1RsShC3VWvAgBFmA0jVNhS9HdhbhLG93ZdRFGTcL3/s640/DSC_1835.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sun breaking the clouds</td></tr>
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I can't explain into words the rejuvenation I get every morning when I wake up here. I always feel new, like the tank is filled and once again I'm ready for the city.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir8LGkXi9kY3gX1S9elE0srvsrMygTKbd3pj8uZ4N75BfTB5ouoCla8GHkZPz94zzbKuB_3KUVRNe-Frzy1WPnPgqpybzywY2sDidbOgf38bUnB7m5gvqbPsJIXsdvd3DywW1qdhrHOTxL/s1600/DSC_1855.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir8LGkXi9kY3gX1S9elE0srvsrMygTKbd3pj8uZ4N75BfTB5ouoCla8GHkZPz94zzbKuB_3KUVRNe-Frzy1WPnPgqpybzywY2sDidbOgf38bUnB7m5gvqbPsJIXsdvd3DywW1qdhrHOTxL/s640/DSC_1855.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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This place always reminds me that I am human who lives in borrowed time, and this cabin reminds me that a breather is sometimes all we need to endure life.<br />
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Cheers!<br />
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<br />John Exos Nuludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06120709285100256257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917409851709098446.post-35431924797779757482017-02-18T00:08:00.000+08:002017-02-18T00:33:50.891+08:00Cagbalete: No, we weren't readyEver had a well-planned outing with your friends? You've had countless meetings and chats on what to do, what to bring, what to eat, you know the drill. But whatever the preparations we did, we never expected what Cagbalete Island had for us.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1fgJrol_dnwnM2U6j_5vPNtfJ66ZQI-_7EYt3HhpXQhNQzljuBHZGT5rYvC6-1bTyTVU73jAayVQNTZ4P-HU9NRPzKG3Wp4_1o1yRESrPpIDIIaJ6kt1XI3R5N52Q-vPK2EFl8oecmdn6/s1600/1232131.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1fgJrol_dnwnM2U6j_5vPNtfJ66ZQI-_7EYt3HhpXQhNQzljuBHZGT5rYvC6-1bTyTVU73jAayVQNTZ4P-HU9NRPzKG3Wp4_1o1yRESrPpIDIIaJ6kt1XI3R5N52Q-vPK2EFl8oecmdn6/s640/1232131.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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We arrived at the island very optimistic, excited for the clear water and the fresh air. It was past 10 in the morning if I remember correctly, the Sun was already up. The island's port had the weirdest port system - Actually, it didn't have a port system! After arriving on the island, our boat was surrounded by several smaller boats trying to get customers ride their boat for a short trip to reach our resort. It was chaotic as the men from the smaller boats swarm our vessel which is by the way a little overloaded already. That was a scare.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ObWJdoPv0HBCiwC5_LHyWIzj9fD5Bbw9zTXyrgnj9RWJ2y-0L4Q5f5PJTn85Hj2vRrVG__wS68KGZ6MEOEq0ZOGt7gzex0zvUffXiDjKdH2OiwMrwfbk2L-XdQWuZPtkG0bmYloiEDMZ/s1600/DSC_0013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ObWJdoPv0HBCiwC5_LHyWIzj9fD5Bbw9zTXyrgnj9RWJ2y-0L4Q5f5PJTn85Hj2vRrVG__wS68KGZ6MEOEq0ZOGt7gzex0zvUffXiDjKdH2OiwMrwfbk2L-XdQWuZPtkG0bmYloiEDMZ/s640/DSC_0013.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Cagbalete Island, as beautiful as it may seem, hides a torturous nature. At around lunchtime, the water retreats at least a kilometer from the shore and we did not expect that, it was not mentioned in any of the previous blogs I've read before going to the island. That was a shocker to us, I was already hoping for an after-lunch dipping.<br />
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What the island had in abundance were giant Squids, locally called "Aswang" which they sell pretty cheap, and they'll even cook lunch for you. I actually forgot her name, but if you use this photo as reference, she's a really nice woman to have your meals prepared. </div>
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We were prepared with a heavy lunch of fish and squid, and rice of course, who can have a delicious lunch without rice by the beach, right? And after lunch, the beach had fully retreated from the shore and there was no way of swimming around.</div>
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And because there wasn't anything to do out in the beach, we caught some crabs and literally observed them up close, quite entertaining actually.<br />
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But what really killed our 3D2N stay in Cagbalete was the damn heat. Cagbalete is by far the hottest island I've been into anywhere in the Philippines. Not to mention the shitty toilets in our resort, it was absolutely disappointing. The resorts also overcrowded the beach, accepting too much people and cramped up the tents all over the shoreline.<br />
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The island is beautiful no doubt, but people handling business here should do better.<br />
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The highlight of the trip was our island hopping where we went to the mangroves.<br />
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Cagbalete is a beautiful island but you have to be ready for the extreme heat it brings. And it's best to bring things to pass the time, a perfect thing to bring would be a book.<br />
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Till my next journey, cheers!John Exos Nuludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06120709285100256257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917409851709098446.post-19445615709355017262016-11-08T21:42:00.000+08:002016-11-08T21:42:44.062+08:00How Quickly We Forget<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;">History, as most dictionaries would put it, it is the study of the past. It is a collection of facts that is studied so that we may learn from the mistakes and be able to forge a better future and not go back to the dark past.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;"><b>"The study of History is the beginning of wisdom." - Jean Bodin (1530 - 1596), French economist</b></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial";"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial";">I believe that studying the past is the stepping stone of understanding ourselves as human beings. The tremendous effort scientists have put into knowing our origin as humans and the earth we live in is a testament of its importance, or else why would they even have interest in it in the first place?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">Historians sum the history of the culture in the Philippines as '300 years in the convent and 50 years in Hollywood.' - Now that would be one way of saying it, but as a people we are more than that. History shows that we have historical evidence of different Kingdoms led by Datu and Rajah as early as 900AD. The Spanish did not come to the Philippines until 1521, and did not conquer Manila until 1571. We already had our system of Government even before the Spanish came, but we had several governments controlling their own Kingdom, we were not a Nation.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">Today we call our country The Philippines, and our citizens Filipino. But are we a nation?</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgesd2qs6A-2k-iKczzjlNt3-gQopVbWxPkid7dD-h-aj0EJpJGUP31-LaQLw_m_vDcWrDbwNPRjHQ900ZxKXDhqF9DCwQJxp2IiT34p6-W-ZBKH9KPRBbvSRmmwjCHIVWGFqLcLrRq6NIZ/s1600/martial-law.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgesd2qs6A-2k-iKczzjlNt3-gQopVbWxPkid7dD-h-aj0EJpJGUP31-LaQLw_m_vDcWrDbwNPRjHQ900ZxKXDhqF9DCwQJxp2IiT34p6-W-ZBKH9KPRBbvSRmmwjCHIVWGFqLcLrRq6NIZ/s640/martial-law.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo Credit: Official Gazette of the Philippines</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><b>The Marcos Burial</b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;">November 8, 2016 - The Supreme Court of the Philippines allowed the Burial of Former President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos at the Libingan Ng Mga Bayani (Rough Translation: Cemetery/Grave of the Heroes)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">He is known in our history as the Dictator of the Philippines who reigned for 21 years, his long record of corruption and atrocities suffered by the Filipinos from 1965-1986 led the past generation to take the streets and throw him out of the country. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">Well that is the history we've all known, and also that's how the world would put it. But just today, with the decision made by the Supreme Court, the country is put in a historical dilemma, not to mention that a lot rejoiced of the decision, these however are the loyalist who shouts 'Marcos Pa Rin!' </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">The Supreme Court defended that they had made the decision based on 5 main reasons. I now lifted the following text in <b><span style="color: red;">RED</span></b> from CNN Philippines </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;">(Link of Article: </span><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://bit.ly/2fOMzE7">http://bit.ly/2fOMzE7</a>)</span><br />
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<i><span style="color: red;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: cnn-medium, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-weight: 700;">Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) </span>— It's decided: Former President Ferdinand Marcos can be buried at the Libingan ng Mga Bayani (LNMB), the Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: red;">Voting 9-5, Supreme Court spokesperson Ted Te said the high court dismissed all the petitions challenging the proposed burial of the former strongman Marcos at the Heroes' Cemetery.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: red;">He said the Supreme Court dismissed the petitions based on five main reasons:</span></i></div>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: cnn-roman, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: red;">There was no grave abuse of discretion on the part of President Rodrigo Duterte in ordering the burial of Marcos at LNMB because it was done in the exercise of his mandate. There is also no law that prohibits the burial of Marcos' remains at the LNMB</span></i></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: cnn-roman, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: red;">President Duterte has the power to reserve for public use and for specific public purposes, any of the lands under public domain.</span></i></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: cnn-roman, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: red;">Marcos' remains, under regulations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, can be interred at LNMB because he was a former president, commander-in-chief, soldier, medal of valor awardee, and legislator.</span></i></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: cnn-roman, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: red;">The Supreme Court disagreed Marcos was "<a href="http://cnn.ph/2bMuAZK" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">dishonorably discharged</a>," saying the disqualification only pertains to the military</span></i></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: cnn-roman, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: red;">Marcos cannot be disqualified from burial at LNMB because he was not convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude.</span></i></li>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">So who were the judges who voted against and for the burial of Ferdinand Marcos?</span></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinMnG8KbxLvoNowsNohjQy-Ryq6UFLYhvbewtMRVyfdNyeq8ApE6GC1-mi1d07lYxe_e1RvLqt3_hR5d7dBUDYnyONbqkez72DJrp_e_Dp69u7DMg8-9gQp5ZrYzuggm_0JXacvogj5EJz/s1600/15016367_1810407182532506_1509909149389150099_o.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="444" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinMnG8KbxLvoNowsNohjQy-Ryq6UFLYhvbewtMRVyfdNyeq8ApE6GC1-mi1d07lYxe_e1RvLqt3_hR5d7dBUDYnyONbqkez72DJrp_e_Dp69u7DMg8-9gQp5ZrYzuggm_0JXacvogj5EJz/s640/15016367_1810407182532506_1509909149389150099_o.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo Credit: CNN Philippines</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">Based on the decision of the Supreme Court, Marcos passed all 'legal obstacles'. This was the moment when I realized how faulty the justice system is, or at least in making this decision. I thought that if technicalities is all that is to be decided, he's qualified. But it failed to decide whether it was ethical to let him be buried with 'Heroes'. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">The Supreme Court failed to judge the person by his overall morality. Morality, I believe is the foundation of humanity, it is the universal truth and applies to all nations. The Supreme Court lost their credibility and spat directly on the face of Lady Justice.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">"When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness" - Alexis de Tocqueville</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Think of this:</b> Adolf Hitler - The head of the Nazi Regime, also a military man. He mobilized the killing of 6 million Jews, he invaded countries. Now if the Supreme Court of the Philippines would decide if he has the right to be buried among the sacred resting grounds of heroes <b><span style="color: red;">basing only in the legal technicalities of the constitution (That he is a head of state, and a military personnel)</span></b>, I'm sure he is qualified. But what about the murder of 6 million Jews? What about the victims of his crimes? Is it moral to call Adolf Hitler a hero? Even Germany does not think so.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">What are we as a nation if our Justice System is not rooted in Morality? </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">With this decision, does this discredit all his crimes? Does it mean that the history we knew is flawed and distorted? Is this the moral decision?</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial";"><b>Was Martial Law and the 1986 People Power Revolution a figment of our imagination?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have to ask my parents and my grandmother if these events really happened, because I am caught in a historical dilemma. History presents me data that prove that Marcos was indeed a plunderer, a dictator, and a human rights violator. But the Supreme Court decision qualifies him to be buried where heroes are laid to rest. Heroes. Again, <b>Heroes.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I haven't heard or read anything about a <b>criminal</b> being hailed as a <b>Hero. </b>By allowing a criminal to be buried among heroes, doesn't that present a dilemma? Especially for the place where it says "Here lay heroes", it does not say "Here lay heroes, and a dictator."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Allowing a former President who is not worthy of emulation promotes impunity to history.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzlyS5D9gLDgNKEiVQqEqijAwyHBT0a15_wrIiaLuftkMA2wzb4voaMvunPpFvaMMnt3qMiRJcL4oL93s9f0REAM6Cz2PDW59a70cgfuO72AMlHDwjEZ4ObSNUPHZGw_QbIZ-vjKZ59fQc/s1600/martial.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzlyS5D9gLDgNKEiVQqEqijAwyHBT0a15_wrIiaLuftkMA2wzb4voaMvunPpFvaMMnt3qMiRJcL4oL93s9f0REAM6Cz2PDW59a70cgfuO72AMlHDwjEZ4ObSNUPHZGw_QbIZ-vjKZ59fQc/s640/martial.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Salvaged Memories" Mural by Randalf Dilla</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This presents a grave threat to our identity nation because the decision attempts to erase a part of our history that defined us. This is almost erasing the fact that we were colonized by Spain for 300 years, that General Douglas MacArthur never returned to the Philippines, that the Atom Bomb was never dropped.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So is the Supreme Court decision telling us that these following photos never happened?</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZmJvqP6YE1Em0Kdi31_dojk6pQqhLtfEYz81GoaE4CMk0K-eRQd84RdKIUuKDh7BmuBuc4NhyWlBAF5OIJMfFa9o2R1pk8YMzUHqIR6LLNeRDxE64lQFv82UgKTvw2tIAVRuNxoKO9Liv/s1600/Martial_Law_CNNPH.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZmJvqP6YE1Em0Kdi31_dojk6pQqhLtfEYz81GoaE4CMk0K-eRQd84RdKIUuKDh7BmuBuc4NhyWlBAF5OIJMfFa9o2R1pk8YMzUHqIR6LLNeRDxE64lQFv82UgKTvw2tIAVRuNxoKO9Liv/s640/Martial_Law_CNNPH.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpK5uVv24bjvwtXYUFFTk3tA-Gw7SgzQsCHG1Ycnw6_JD1iCPhnDUN3-im3ynXne2T5ClFmyYl39GqCzY683yzAvghyzMwFWDYYCb8wxmcUivXkyhbFcDaaSGx039OFdXcbDnEVmlrhffD/s1600/tumblr_ljukfqDHyr1qie6lpo1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpK5uVv24bjvwtXYUFFTk3tA-Gw7SgzQsCHG1Ycnw6_JD1iCPhnDUN3-im3ynXne2T5ClFmyYl39GqCzY683yzAvghyzMwFWDYYCb8wxmcUivXkyhbFcDaaSGx039OFdXcbDnEVmlrhffD/s640/tumblr_ljukfqDHyr1qie6lpo1_500.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;"><b>'To be ignorant of the past is to remain a child'. - paraphrase from an observation by Cicero</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicbG1hNt23PdCI9G4Qz52MDqjikERUXrDyctuviu8DzI5gqt8l5ndE2mSsvapUd07TRActlaQwz1sWE8pQ5yslppdUqd9VHZePGHiEvOMNHBb249OiC9JID5cBtd1zJ4VAAvdU3ETVX0Av/s1600/565a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicbG1hNt23PdCI9G4Qz52MDqjikERUXrDyctuviu8DzI5gqt8l5ndE2mSsvapUd07TRActlaQwz1sWE8pQ5yslppdUqd9VHZePGHiEvOMNHBb249OiC9JID5cBtd1zJ4VAAvdU3ETVX0Av/s640/565a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnq7u4nI78BHggsDj68vIxL8-Ioou1w8256jNuPhLIDRUfe6Bws3S9jISGIUmJjRm6JZgIEww_8q-EW0iqXyPf6io-nbKTmSPr1BwM7j_xgumeZh4sZdUZ2S_PNtwqZ-ci3DbukH2c0cqK/s1600/pdp+masa+tinapay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnq7u4nI78BHggsDj68vIxL8-Ioou1w8256jNuPhLIDRUfe6Bws3S9jISGIUmJjRm6JZgIEww_8q-EW0iqXyPf6io-nbKTmSPr1BwM7j_xgumeZh4sZdUZ2S_PNtwqZ-ci3DbukH2c0cqK/s640/pdp+masa+tinapay.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;"><b>'The supreme purpose of history is a better world'. - Herbert Hoover</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial";"><b>Why is history it important to building a nation?</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because history helps us understand change and how we came to be today. It is our footprint to the world, our history is inescapable, and if one understands his national history, it gives him an identity, to which for us, we call ourselves Filipino.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">History is a sheer reminder of the wrong decisions of the past that haunt us today. A perfect example is Ferdinand Marcos stealing billions and billions of our country's wealth through kickbacks and projects. Yes, he did build a lot of infrastructure that the country uses until today, but isn't that the rightful job of the President? To lead us into prosperity. But what he did was build his fortune. And today the Supreme Court, who Marcos closed when he declared Martial Law, approves his burial.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><b>Filipinos lack the understanding of the importance of history</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">A lot of Filipinos are lost because they do not know their past. Why did we call ourselves "Filipino". They often dismiss history as a mere past that does not affect their present. Filipinos are very shallow when it comes to identity and that is why they have forgotten the crimes Ferdinand Marcos has done his country (But is it still "his" country if he betrayed the trust given to him?)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">And what of this Pinoy Pride? Pride is shallow, and a nuisance. Honor, Filipinos should strive for honor, because honor is pure and true.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><b>We are in a continuous loop of political dilemma</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">Corruption is imbibed so deep in Filipino culture that everything we do is based on which benefits only the individual and not the common good.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">"My loyalty to my party ends where my loyalty to my country begins." - Manuel L. Quezon</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><b>Filipinos are loyal not to the flag but to the politician</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">It's not about Yellow, it's not about Red, hell it's not about orange! It's about the 3 stars and the mighty Sun! Filipinos have a wrong sense of Nationalism, we should always swear allegiance to the flag, not to the president, not to the senator, not to the barangay official who gives you pancit every now and then. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our democracy hangs in danger because we have failed our duties as citizens to study our past, we have failed to check corruption, we have let crocodiles infest the congress, we have left the fighting to the poor. Our country is again in danger of losing its identity as a nation because we are scared to answer the call to uphold freedom and democracy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Where are the Rizals, the Bonifacios, the Lunas in you? Where is the love for your country? When will we understand that these foul creatures are running our miserable lives? It should be us running them out of our sick and poor country because they are the reason for our struggles. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What we do now, this generation, how we respond to this, will put us in history if we are honorable, or forgettable. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's our time now.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Answer the call.</b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">"The lack of a sense of history is the damnation of the modern world." - Robert Penn Warren</span></b></span></div>
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John Exos Nuludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06120709285100256257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917409851709098446.post-85549319519906485302016-11-05T14:46:00.000+08:002016-11-22T08:58:05.998+08:00The Burias IslandsThis past summer a friend from Canada came back after 3 years and so this one calls for a celebration. Not wanting to spend all his 3 weeks in Manila, we quickly put up a plan for a getaway, but since millenials love to travel, all the popular tourist destinations were filled. And for our group who are in quarter-life crisis, we wanted a quiet space in the archipelago for a few days.<br />
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Just above the mainland of Masbate lie the Burias group of islands, relatively unknown to the traveling majority. And without hesitation, we booked it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKzf-h4oXagCbfRajC-xZ9an7ctLg6DTJeGFBU7S9B9Dntud1Am1KycCfUnWi7TY9KrM8pFvnMf0QIivcE4dh9Yeqh_axewFoA4ZFT8Syqo6Gb8WSzTKHOfWPvFdyvv_pHU9RFy-offFc4/s1600/DSC_0082.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKzf-h4oXagCbfRajC-xZ9an7ctLg6DTJeGFBU7S9B9Dntud1Am1KycCfUnWi7TY9KrM8pFvnMf0QIivcE4dh9Yeqh_axewFoA4ZFT8Syqo6Gb8WSzTKHOfWPvFdyvv_pHU9RFy-offFc4/s640/DSC_0082.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Port in Naga City</td></tr>
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Going to Burias Island requires a lot of patience, and for me who hates long drives, I tried to bargain on taking the plane instead, but of course, because this is a democratic country, I lost. And so the long 10-hour drive began. There's really a backstory why I don't like to travel that long, because that would mean my life will be in constant danger with how fast my friends drive ( I kid you not) and I love my life, peace to my friends.<br />
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We were quite surprise that there was a traffic jam in parts of Quezon province, at midnight. But after that the road was all ours for the taking, much to the pleasure of my friends, because they can put the pedal to the metal. I was so much on guard for my life that I didn't sleep the whole travel, especially when we used the dreaded "Bituka ng Manok" road - A horrifying zigzag with steep climbs which hugged the shape of the mountainside. My heart pounded with each turn, and I was probably palpitating from all the Sting energy drink I was drinking the whole night.<br />
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As expected, when we got to the port of Naga at around 5:45AM, I lunged out of the car and threw up. What a welcoming sight for the locals there. But fast as my friends drive, they are really quite safe drivers, except for a few close calls (HAHA)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roof deck riding</td></tr>
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We went on for a 2-hour boat ride going to the island, and it's always beautiful to take the early ride to the island because it's not yet that hot and we got to enjoy the roof deck ride, which they said was not allowed, but no one stopped us, and the seats inside were quite strange because it had no floor, you were at the mercy of the engine's roar which made it really uncomfortable. Remember, always choose the roof deck when going to Burias island.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF6EyNNVHcD8j7Dlv5wTZu_MW7uwtZ3aQ_VegVPOoZOssH2v5reazaU03aJM4kq11VS_3kcIzLN4Y9L7-lkQAknkys9X2vLYEZ0in1naYAqc00MGIElcLTYJNln2RvikBW7w6jZPU5aYPZ/s1600/DSC_0128.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF6EyNNVHcD8j7Dlv5wTZu_MW7uwtZ3aQ_VegVPOoZOssH2v5reazaU03aJM4kq11VS_3kcIzLN4Y9L7-lkQAknkys9X2vLYEZ0in1naYAqc00MGIElcLTYJNln2RvikBW7w6jZPU5aYPZ/s640/DSC_0128.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arriving at Burias Island</td></tr>
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When we arrived at the port of Burias Island, the first thing you have to do is go to the tourist office and register your names, this is very important so that if your trip goes swinging south and you become lost at sea, they know that you're missing. It's a nuisance to to register, but come on, it's only 5 minutes, and a minimal fee.<br />
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I was surprised that the port was actually big, but what is surprising that there was only one place to stay in the island for tourist, it was only about 5-7 rooms. Correct me if I'm mistaken but it's the only one I saw throughout my stay there. We only booked for 1 night here and so we were quite in a hurry to head out to sea.<br />
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After making negotiations with the boat, we quickly headed out to the open sea, and we were not prepared for what we experienced, nor we were warned - We kind of battled our way to the islands. Big swells of waves constantly hit our boat, and because I was the fat ass in the group and my weight took great effect on the boat's performance, I have to move from one side to another, wherever the boat captain told me to sit. I swear all of us had this eye contact at each other, acknowledging the fact that the boat may capsize any moment.<br />
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But after one hour of battling the waves, what lay in front of us was paradise.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbQGRnZFV06jmlReednjlp88TMg9HTSU7NIIjbKCH0FG__QT19Q2S03nANCmTgqnH_-IlqV47kzPBXRzRyx2RrStSo6utRYjE4P1NwLj6V0G7k-9xa2iHcHTieI0cZaCOy3n1YJu9QyWqK/s1600/DSC_0160.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbQGRnZFV06jmlReednjlp88TMg9HTSU7NIIjbKCH0FG__QT19Q2S03nANCmTgqnH_-IlqV47kzPBXRzRyx2RrStSo6utRYjE4P1NwLj6V0G7k-9xa2iHcHTieI0cZaCOy3n1YJu9QyWqK/s640/DSC_0160.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Island 1</td></tr>
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Forgive me for this, but I forgot all the names of the 3 islands we went to. I know, what a bummer, but if ever you'll go to Burias, use my photo to show to the boatman as reference to where you want to go.<br />
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Island 1 was complete paradise, it had a rocky sand beach at one side, big rock formations where you can see thousands of years of water levels. And on the other side was pure white sand that is so nice to look at. What's best was we were literally the only people in the island!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOB9_dOGDccnjTlrt3FxjPeyU7gaFFX0EQglxVgjyNumI7cMFSyImh7YJcf4OTlGZemSfI2Cql48WhO8fEub7GgKcwAbPg-6lDM6PXFTUEdI6OLdYGZov2Map6MlMR9aMrHLXB_vIvU5ro/s1600/DSC_0173.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOB9_dOGDccnjTlrt3FxjPeyU7gaFFX0EQglxVgjyNumI7cMFSyImh7YJcf4OTlGZemSfI2Cql48WhO8fEub7GgKcwAbPg-6lDM6PXFTUEdI6OLdYGZov2Map6MlMR9aMrHLXB_vIvU5ro/s640/DSC_0173.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful Rock Formations</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsApbVw2mTiqRgr3OjrIXoHXYtUJTaPs5hDg5kDyyrshlzV2uhOsuWg9vN-hfsyqw4vCv07vnb9ntd1pNG6G-MKrqMVBy9GGDpVPCKTuV0DztGojVrO9_2aYfezMypzzVJDShlJE4X7SGs/s1600/DSC_0175.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsApbVw2mTiqRgr3OjrIXoHXYtUJTaPs5hDg5kDyyrshlzV2uhOsuWg9vN-hfsyqw4vCv07vnb9ntd1pNG6G-MKrqMVBy9GGDpVPCKTuV0DztGojVrO9_2aYfezMypzzVJDShlJE4X7SGs/s640/DSC_0175.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Small hut at Island 1</td></tr>
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We stayed for an hour there just relaxing, it was very pleasant there. Then we were off to island number 2, that is where we started noticing problems with our boatmen.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_SdybmbBUF71sSDLFs6khZGviQXynYcAOQffTh4wPZOGJtrMXcjgdo1XgmOX-GBItqWLx4Q-I_Gp4jkMRLWgWbC1XBDeqfXwfwhT4V3TbllREj0JoX1I9GV5da4FTBUxvFY71gU_iC9Bt/s1600/DSC_0210.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_SdybmbBUF71sSDLFs6khZGviQXynYcAOQffTh4wPZOGJtrMXcjgdo1XgmOX-GBItqWLx4Q-I_Gp4jkMRLWgWbC1XBDeqfXwfwhT4V3TbllREj0JoX1I9GV5da4FTBUxvFY71gU_iC9Bt/s640/DSC_0210.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Island 2</td></tr>
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When we arrived at island number 2, which had a more grassy feature, it was already lunch time. But because we were in a hurry, we forgot to pack our lunch and we had to resort to chips and bread - this is where things took an ugly turn.<br />
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My friend noticed that our bread was opened already and almost halved, also, the cigarettes we brought started missing. No conversation was needed, all we did was converse using our eyes and we talked about it when we swam at the beach, the boatmen were stealing our food.<br />
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Not wanting to be frustrated and not wanting to pick up a fight, we let it go. We just thought that they must have overextended their welcome of us offering to share our food. It really didn't matter to us if they ate most of it, but they stole it, behind our backs, I honestly didn't care if they ate all of it as long as they did it in front of us.<br />
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I hope the people of Burias would be more careful in handling their tourists, because if these things happen, their tourism will never improve.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIJy39A95LbsRWhRHgoQFX4IGa1XlirK5yJ5j1TAN5rJdlu9W4JReiQ7ymzD_c2MD5tZSxwig75fx6DEsi2XklY-YddbOHvOKZupnMYJacMzgz38lUQCHpmIg4RZGfN1aqwjTK2FBvsFMf/s1600/DSC_0232.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIJy39A95LbsRWhRHgoQFX4IGa1XlirK5yJ5j1TAN5rJdlu9W4JReiQ7ymzD_c2MD5tZSxwig75fx6DEsi2XklY-YddbOHvOKZupnMYJacMzgz38lUQCHpmIg4RZGfN1aqwjTK2FBvsFMf/s640/DSC_0232.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Island 3</td></tr>
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Island 3 is where we did our cliff jumping. It was my first time and yes, I did it, but my friends think I'm a coward for not jumping in the 10 feet platform, I only did the 6ft platform. But I didn't want to go to the 10 feet because honestly, I didn't want to be the reason for a tsunami.<br />
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After the island hopping, we took a rest at our room, talking about how and why they stole our stuff and how it will affect their tourism business if it's frequently happening with other tourists too.<br />
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Food in Burias is not that good, best if you stay to eating what your stomach recognizes.<br />
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And of course, like real men, we capped off the night doing one thing, no it's not alcohol and women. It's counter-strike! We played until the power outage stopped us, which led us to drinking a bit, yes, just a bit, we know that our bodies aren't getting any younger and we drank just enough to make us sleepy and off we went to bed.<br />
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Until next time, cheers!<br />
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<br />John Exos Nuludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06120709285100256257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917409851709098446.post-62448817283802354012016-11-01T03:09:00.002+08:002016-11-01T03:11:49.312+08:00Reel FeelsMovies fill the void that's missing in our lives, sometimes it makes us realize that all the questions we have in life lie within ourselves, but only if we reach deeper. And most of the time (at least for me) watching a movie is really helpful.<br />
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So here are my top 10 "reel feels", don't worry I won't spoil anything, I'll just describe some things about the movie and why I chose it.<br />
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10. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016)<br />
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I know this is a new movie but I wasn't aware that the book was published years ago, I've heard about it a few times before but I didn't care for it much until I watched the movie, and it wasn't because of the book but it was because of the actress Eva Green (I have a crush on her)<br />
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I love how the peculiar were kept safe by Miss Peregrine. My favorite is of course Jake (or Jacob in the book, if I'm not mistaken) because he sees what I see. This movie gives you a sense of identity.<br />
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I loved the movie so much that I actually bought the book right after because friends told me the book is better, and I do believe that, I haven't read it yet, but I know that books are always better than the movies because it doesn't skip anything.<br />
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9. Begin Again (2014)<br />
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Begin Again makes it in the list because it captures how I view music as one of the requirements of having a beautiful soul. I'm an old soul, I love the Beatles, Michael Jackson, Tears For Fears, and a lot more old bands out there and I love how their lyrics feed the soul, and this movie captures it perfectly.<br />
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It also makes the list because of a certain gadget in the movie, you'll get what it is, I actually bought one and I haven't used it yet, because I don't have anyone to share it with yet, maybe one of these days? A little stroll around Intramuros, yes?<br />
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8. Lars and The Real Girl (2007)<br />
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Ryan Gosling's talent to dedicate himself to be the character instead of being the actor is amazing. I didn't even notice that it was Ryan Gosling acting out during the whole movie (I mean I know it's Ryan Gosling, but I don't see him in the movie, I see his character)<br />
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There's a likeness to the character and me, in a slight way - the way that I am very uncomfortable with talking to people and social gatherings. If you've spent time with me outside or planned a night out, you'd notice I like keeping it small, 5 people is already a crowd for me (or have I just gone anti-social the past few years?) So go watch this movie and I hope you love it.<br />
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7. The Thin Red Line (1998)<br />
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The Thin Red Line is better than Saving Private Ryan - Yes I said that, yes I said that people, go and crucify me. The Thin Red Line is the lesser known war movie of 1998, overshadowed by Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, and why is that? Of course, Tom Hanks, who wouldn't spend money on Tom Hanks in 1998.<br />
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I only knew about this movie when I was in college, researching about World War 2 stories (It's my hobby, reading about WW2) and I googled for "Best War Movies" and The Thin Red Line was there.<br />
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If Saving Private Ryan is the action-packed war movie everybody had expected, Thin Red Line is the anti-thesis of war movies - Slow, sensitive, poetic. And I think it's where Terrence Malick outguns the 'ol Steven Spielberg. Malick captured how war can damage the human soul and why war must be avoided at all cost. You'll also be surprised with the cast in this one, and it's 3 hours long so please pop those kernel or better buy a lot of Potato Corner fries (I recommend wasabi flavor)<br />
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6. Ang Nawawala (2012)<br />
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You might be thinking "What?! A Filipino film made it to your list? An Indie? What a Hipster!" Woah, woah, woah, first of all, I was hip before hipster was a thing. Second, yes, a Filipino indie film made it to my list. Why? Because this is "Reel Feels" mofo, you better recognize that.<br />
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But why this? I discovered this from a friend who suggested this to me, that friend of mine hates Filipino movies, and for him to suggest this to me with great enthusiasm made me really wonder. I got a chance to watch it when it was shown in Cinematheque Manila, I think it was only in April or May when I saw this.<br />
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The movie also made me discover Pinoy indie musicians like Hannah + Gabi, and Ang Bandang Shirley. Go watch this, now! DVD costs around Php 1,200 though, so, let's share a copy?<br />
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5. No Strings Attached (2011)<br />
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Why this? Because Natalie Portman is fucking perfect here, her smile is fucking perfect I actually cursed on my blog, twice. Because I'm as sweet as Ashton Kutcher. Yeah I know, not good looking as him but hey, if you close your eyes, I'm still sweet.<br />
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Now ok, jokes aside, I love this movie because it gives me that "kilig" factor. Because it's just so relevant about people starting out for fun and then falling in love, getting things complicated and then the fall out and then the rebirth of love.<br />
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Honestly, I can't explain it in words, just watch this. XoXo<br />
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4. The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih2gz2bPFTxUfk_TYveEvtdEH89IryVTWpLrKRAlm7iCNNVdkDVdzByhKinpZyX19k8EGTl1JpbB4nn2xqQjrzLKwsgWE9WLnzCS4t09HIJ9CpPZUSCEG-Kay8xyUokhoslo1WM0cJOV0n/s1600/the_pursuit_of_happyness-HD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih2gz2bPFTxUfk_TYveEvtdEH89IryVTWpLrKRAlm7iCNNVdkDVdzByhKinpZyX19k8EGTl1JpbB4nn2xqQjrzLKwsgWE9WLnzCS4t09HIJ9CpPZUSCEG-Kay8xyUokhoslo1WM0cJOV0n/s640/the_pursuit_of_happyness-HD.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Yep, that's not a typo, it is titled the Pursuit of Happyness. It's been 10 years since this movie was released and it's such a big hit so I don't really expect a lot of people who won't know this movie. But in case you don't, this is a true-to-life story of a man being broke and just wields his incredible will power to get through hardship. I cried, not shed tears, I cried and I'm not ashamed of that. For such a beautiful story like this, who wouldn't let a few manly tears flow?<br />
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3. Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAZj6I18aH-A5Y1QM6US2Z05Mos0qUJ5Fall8409eT4ML_bS6uMUB7pJqEIwE_VKNGvdlL_q5ErA32Tq34iHvwagbUbW9RIy7g_2GVGb3DaOsnLp1l_45YrOamMktZlncPhcsHAqGDbBYR/s1600/the-perks-of-being-a-wallflower-PERKS-035_DF-10329R3_rgb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAZj6I18aH-A5Y1QM6US2Z05Mos0qUJ5Fall8409eT4ML_bS6uMUB7pJqEIwE_VKNGvdlL_q5ErA32Tq34iHvwagbUbW9RIy7g_2GVGb3DaOsnLp1l_45YrOamMktZlncPhcsHAqGDbBYR/s640/the-perks-of-being-a-wallflower-PERKS-035_DF-10329R3_rgb.jpg" width="568" /></a></div>
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I don't think I need to explain why this. I mean, why not? We all have our wallflower sides, but only a few see and feel things, and for the few who do, I already love you, from the bottom of my heart, because if you see and feel the things I do, we should hang out.<br />
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2. Love, Rosie (2014)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8wejc7A5blSZvrmGjbfxIjhPK335cBkCSiU_WXu6hSHoDKfDqVZEO1etHZdwYbdDkaTP3CD1ahqvVw1Pn4KiigL_Wb3PWRdmKRjb0h3pltWaM90LuixJN71IHGwvPSGJGUnCVDJSPW2py/s1600/rosie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8wejc7A5blSZvrmGjbfxIjhPK335cBkCSiU_WXu6hSHoDKfDqVZEO1etHZdwYbdDkaTP3CD1ahqvVw1Pn4KiigL_Wb3PWRdmKRjb0h3pltWaM90LuixJN71IHGwvPSGJGUnCVDJSPW2py/s640/rosie.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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What can I say? I fell in love with Lily Collins ever since. The unconditional love in this movie is just amazing. I can't explain it, the love here is raw and just beautiful. I love it, I love it, I love it. So watch it, watch it, watch it! I still don't have the book so anyone out there want to give me one? Thanks in advance!<br />
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1. Swiss Army Man (2016)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyrvCQl77guf0cyIIeBsaVm9LiKLE5MtcnRnxY0xS03kvgmbBZkz0Ie8I1wYdT4AkMAhPCkZwqGuxv-5t10_RAXOCvh5skUNZk3NNJzzsimOX4v2uAfYJkn2FVkoGy_nE8Z38w2FYiuIm6/s1600/swiss-army-man-trailer-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyrvCQl77guf0cyIIeBsaVm9LiKLE5MtcnRnxY0xS03kvgmbBZkz0Ie8I1wYdT4AkMAhPCkZwqGuxv-5t10_RAXOCvh5skUNZk3NNJzzsimOX4v2uAfYJkn2FVkoGy_nE8Z38w2FYiuIm6/s640/swiss-army-man-trailer-01.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Swiss Army Man is an Indie film that was supposed to show here in the Philippines but somehow it got pushed off by a big-budgeted movie and I hate the cinemas for doing that. I had to scour the net for this.<br />
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Daniel Radcliffe plays a dead person here and all I can say about his performance is that he 'killed' it. Get it? He killed it (HA HA HA)<br />
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This is a comedy-drama-adventure-almost musical-soul-searching movie. This is about accepting yourself for being who you are and you don't need to hide it, you don't need to hide being weird because at the end of the day it's your life and you need to express it, and express it now. People know me as the devil-may-care guy who doesn't mind being embarrassed for some shit he's done.<br />
<br />
Yeah, I don't really mind about not having to care what people think, I do what I do as long I'm happy and I don't step on anyone's happiness. That's just me, and maybe that's why that when I watched this film, it was a personal confirmation that I am sure of myself, that I am no longer looking for my identity because what I am for the past years, the "bumpy" in me is no longer an alter ego, it was the real me, my personal experiences made the "bumpy" I am now, and I'm not ashamed of that.<br />
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And if only I can force everyone to watch this, everyone will find their identity. And I want you to watch this, watch it alone, with headphones and listen to all the conversations because it's all important or else you'll be lost in the movie. Watch this so that you don't have to hide your weirdness, we just have to show them.<br />
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John Exos Nuludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06120709285100256257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917409851709098446.post-36475358407152137212016-10-04T15:01:00.002+08:002016-10-05T08:40:17.197+08:00First published E-book: EscoltaHi Friends!<br />
<br />
I just released my first e-book titled "Escolta", just to tell you guys the background of Escolta.<br />
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I was inspired to write this when I went to an art fair in Escolta, I thought what a beautiful setting Escolta would be for a story. It was the summer of 2014 when I started working on it, it was originally supposed to be a novel but I thought it would be hard stretching a one-day story. So I decided that it would be my first short story as I already have a novel project that I was developing for 4 years during that time (Make that 6 years now)<br />
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After just a few months I lost my spark of insanity in writing and I stopped writing. In 2015 I was encouraged to write it for a contest and so I did and wrote it, but with a deadline, I was pressured to finish it, that's why I hate deadlines. I knew it wouldn't win, and it did not, I think probably it was one of the first entries to be eliminated.<br />
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Just a few months ago, around May to be exact, I had quit my job and I was a couch potato at home and watched movies all day and getting drunk all night, that was the routine. Until I watched the movie "Stranger Than Fiction", The narration in that movie was superb and so I thought I should revisit my writing - and yes, my writing sucked big time, it was way off, I embarrassed myself for sending that to the contest.<br />
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So I scratched the plot and retained only the setting. I rewrote it for 1 week, locked up in my room, writing from the moment I wake up at 9am and ending at around 8pm. I even hunted quiet coffee shops to write.<br />
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And now I present to you, Escolta.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDxl14mC3Do3ZgJe-8xok7aJl7yH5XUgMZRr7mV5aaMzto3vodpXVATYeV_bw4w7RwrEvjGTXuQGp5p9cP5082F-P6SLQxBAauaYEb4bAiZ_MWTe62YGpFqbU9BxhTi4SCRE6OP6JE3glt/s1600/Quote+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDxl14mC3Do3ZgJe-8xok7aJl7yH5XUgMZRr7mV5aaMzto3vodpXVATYeV_bw4w7RwrEvjGTXuQGp5p9cP5082F-P6SLQxBAauaYEb4bAiZ_MWTe62YGpFqbU9BxhTi4SCRE6OP6JE3glt/s1600/Quote+3.jpg" /></a></div>
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Escolta is the first part of my planned 3 or 5-part short story series. Yes, when I finished writing this, I wanted to write more so I wrote the 2nd part last June, it took my around 3 days to write the second one. Watch out for the second part because I may release it this week.<br />
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Escolta is available for FREE through Smashwords.com and Barnes & Noble. So download and read now because I'm about to drop the second part! Cheers!<br />
<br />John Exos Nuludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06120709285100256257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917409851709098446.post-67201687026653279992016-10-03T16:55:00.000+08:002016-10-03T16:55:05.944+08:00A Short Piece<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Hello,</span><br />
<br />
I just want to be quick about this one, I was cleaning my laptop files and I saw this piece I wrote as an exam for a past job. I think this one was actually why I got in. The challenge of the creative director was simple - I have to choose an object inside my bag and create a fictional story about it. But first he asked me to write in Filipino, which I speak fluently but I can't write well at (It's actually a frustration for me to be not good in writing Filipino)<br />
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So all I had in my bag that interview was a bottle of perfume and velcro wallet. I chose the perfume.<br />
And I would just like to share with you this very very short story I wrote about that perfume. It's only 800 words long, so, happy reading!<br />
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<span id="goog_77297099"></span><span id="goog_77297100"></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpF9Rl57UIgbklpT273P-G5aUQHrQfn44a03WNFaBVoPW9FzZUyWeBw2RE02qD_9g4Dkd5Le5rjmibc3bu2XZbzatepbfT6u_JpoyQ81S9ePTKsDSP975cr1SLSIeHVDJ416dG-Wl7nRDg/s1600/1525620_625511137485409_552881193_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpF9Rl57UIgbklpT273P-G5aUQHrQfn44a03WNFaBVoPW9FzZUyWeBw2RE02qD_9g4Dkd5Le5rjmibc3bu2XZbzatepbfT6u_JpoyQ81S9ePTKsDSP975cr1SLSIeHVDJ416dG-Wl7nRDg/s400/1525620_625511137485409_552881193_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This photo illustrates how I conceptualized the story, out of nowhere.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"C.K. Juan"<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Dalawang
Gwardiya - Ang bagitong si Calvin, payat ang pangangatawan, matangkad,
mistulang kalansay at liliparin sa isang bugso ng malakas na hangin. At si
Klein, ang senior officer ng kanilang hanay, maliit na nilalang, at ubod ng
laki ang tiyan na animo’y puputok ang butones ng kanyang uniporme. Sila ang
tagapag bantay ng Busilak Perfume Factory sa may Novaliches.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hatinggabi, sa
harap ng gate, malamig ang hangin, gawa ng palapit na ang panahon ng pasko,
lumapit ang bagitong si Calvin kay Klein. “Sir, tayo lang ‘ho dalawa
magbabantay sa factory?” ang tanong niya. “Hindi ah, dapat nga ikaw lang eh,
dahil baguhan ka dito, sasamahan kita sa unang gabi mo rito, marami kang
kailangang matutunan nang mabilisan dahil ayoko na sa puyatan, nananakit na ang
likod ko sa ganitong oras.” Tinitigan ni Calvin ang maka-mundong hugis ng tiyan
ni Klein at napaisip na lamang na malamang iyon ang dahilan ng pananakit ng
kanyang likod. “Ang bigat ho kasi ng bagahe niyo,” ang sabi ni Calvin, nakita
ni Klein na ang tinutukoy ni Calvin ay ang kanyang tiyan. “Hoy Calvin! Bunganga
mo naman, kaya kitang punitin sa nipis ng pangangatawan mo, tara na nga’t
malaki ang factory, marami tayong iikutan.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Nilibot ni
Klein si Calvin sa Busilak Perfume Factory, magmula sa pinakaharapan na gate ay
nilibot nila ang buong looban ng pabrika. “Magmula alas-nuebe ng gabi, hanggang
alas-kwatro ng madaling araw, iyo ang pabrikang ito, sa iyo ipinagkakatiwala ng
kompanya ang lahat ng nasa loob ng nasasakupan dito. Ikaw ang Mayor ng Busilak
kapag hatinggabi. Ituring mong sariling iyo ang lahat ng naririto, bantayan mo
ito na parang sarili mong bahay, at higit sa lahat, talasan mo ang iyong
pandinig, at balatan mo ang iyong mga mata, maraming nagmamasid, naghihintay ng
pagkakataon na magnakaw.” “Sir, yes, sir! Ang laki pala ng loob nito, mahirap
umikot dito ng walang wheels, wala ba tayong pa-wheels diyan sir?” ang tanong
ni Calvin. “Wheels? Halika rito,” ang sagot ni Klein, “Eto, mamili ka ng wheels
mo, etong bisikleta na iisa nalang ang gulong sa pagkaluma, o etong skateboard
na nakuha namin sa trespasser? May wheels, wheels ka pang nalalaman diyan, may
pa-radyo at thermos naman kami eh, kaya competitive ang benefits mo dito.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Pinasok nila
ang main building ng pabrika, at sa loob nito ay ipinakita ni Klein kung pano
gumawa ng ng pabango ang pabrika. “Alam mo, sa tatlong dekada ko nang serbisyo
dito ay walang nabago sa proseso ng kanilang paggawa ng pabango, tatlong dekada
ko nang sinisinghot ang halimuyak ng kanilang pabango, at pag naaamoy ko ito’y
sumasabay sa aking ala-ala ang nakalipas na tatlong dekada kong pagbabantay
dito,” ang pagkuwento ni Klein. “Ang tanda niyo na pala noh? Kaya pala
hinahanap ko kung san yung amoy lupa,” ang pabirong pag sabi ni Calvin. “Hoy,
Calvin, iyang bunganga mo susungalngalan ko ng pabango yan hanggang sa bumango,
bwiset ka!” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Inakyat nila
ang lumang torre na yari sa laryo sa gitna ng pabrika. “Alam mo, Calvin,
panahon pa ng kastila itong torre na ito, ayaw tanggalin ng may-ari dahil
swerte daw sa kanya ito, napapansin ang kanyang pabrika.” “Ang ganda ng tanawin
dito, at mahangin, kitang-kita ko rin ang buong paligid ng pabrika,” ang sabi
ni Calvin. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Napansin ni
Calvin na tahimik lamang na nagmamasid si Klein sa kawalan at tila may mabigat
na iniisip. “Ser, ganda ng drama angle niyo diyan ah, pwedeng pang kalye-serye,
Alden Nitso, ikaw ba yan?” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> “May
pangarap ka ba, Calvin?” ang tanong ni Klein, “Dito, sa loob ng pitong oras
nagiging sa iyo ang pabrika, babantayan mo ito, ngunit pag putok ng umaga’y sa
kanila na ulit, pangarap ko noon na magtayo ng kagaya nito, isang pagawaan ng
pabango, sa pabrika na ito ko rin nakita lahat ng pagkakamali sa paggawa ng
isang pabango.” “Anong pagkakamali?” ang tanong ni Calvin. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> “Ang bote
dito, kulay berde’t madilim sa mata, ang korte nito ay bilog parin, ang aking
gusto ay papayatin ang bote, parang ikaw, at nakagawa na ako ng mas mabangong
halimuyak na siguradong papatok. Sa tagal ko rito ay natutunan ko narin kung
paano gumawa. Natatakot lang ako magsimulang muli, wala akong kasama, at kulang
ako sa pera.” Ang sabi ni Klein.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> “Sir, may
alam ako sa pagpapatakbo ng negosyo, may tindahan kami, at may kilala din akong
gumagawa ng bote, pwede natin doon ipayari yun, may ipon din ako, pagsamahin
natin ang pera natin at bumuo ng negosyo,” ang paanyaya ni Calvin.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> “Ano
itatawag natin sa negosyo natin? Pagtatanong ni Klein. “Dapat kakaiba, dapat
astig, pang-first class ang dating, parang pangalan natin. Calvin at Klein… Edi
Calvin Klein! Pang-international ang pangalan natin diba.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> “Ano naman
itatawag natin sa pabango natin?” “Sir, sa tingin ko “One” dahil una natin eh,
‘Calvin Klein One’ ang itawag natin.” “Nako Calvin, mahaba – “CK One” ang
itatawag natin diyan.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> At diyan
nagsimula ang alamat ng Calvin Klein.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
John Exos Nuludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06120709285100256257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917409851709098446.post-51351157629334542822016-09-14T17:33:00.000+08:002016-09-14T17:34:53.948+08:00Intramuros: The Past & The Curious<div style="text-align: justify;">
As the great Confucius said <b><i>"Study the past if you would define the future."</i></b> And yes, I do agree with him. I've always been fascinated with the past ever since I was young, history was my favorite subject growing up and Philippine history was my favorite of them all. I'm not an expert in all parts of our country's history, but if I can be boastful, I do know more than the average Juan. </div>
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My love for history was further fueled when I began studying inside the walled city of Intramuros. Every time I entered its walls, it warped me 400 years back, and every time I walked the halls of my college, I often wondered if I've walked the same path as the revolutionary heroes of the Philippines.</div>
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My passion for history couldn't be contained by wondering, so I started wandering. I'd frequently go on solo walks inside the walled city, yes, on my own, usually every Saturday when I only had morning classes and I knew I saved enough money for the week to enter museums inside the walls. There are at least 8 museums inside the walls alone so I'd go to one every week. But there was one main museum that was the star attraction of the walled city, and it was Fort Santiago.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxahwaD4SYVbe8-1_Nentc-Kv6aar3GUJBJwxwxg32PTw2JfkrbXP_cKAiI5JwsMCUP8_lElpfM9P7ZQoqg2KLhrUUSbewGJrcl0KWmUfuCFZuvdC_Nx4eRVhsLeOz3p1ZunhaZXx0jxL5/s1600/DSC_1891.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxahwaD4SYVbe8-1_Nentc-Kv6aar3GUJBJwxwxg32PTw2JfkrbXP_cKAiI5JwsMCUP8_lElpfM9P7ZQoqg2KLhrUUSbewGJrcl0KWmUfuCFZuvdC_Nx4eRVhsLeOz3p1ZunhaZXx0jxL5/s640/DSC_1891.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A replica of the Tranvia</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Now I have a lot of relatives in the U.S. of A. And it was so wonderful that they all came home to spend their vacation with us! Oh the wonderful chaos it created at home - The hectic schedule everyone had to commit to, the noise that started during breakfast up until the wee hours of the night with wine, whisky, and beer on our hands. My uncles and aunts and some of my cousins grew up here before moving to the states (except for some of my cousins who were born there)</div>
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And luckily there was one Saturday that everybody was free. So then they wanted to go somewhere, and of course, me being a staunch lover of Manila city, I said "Let's go to Intramuros!" to which everyone agreed to. I hastily prepared an itinerary for them, I started with listing all the attractions and asked if they wanted to see something in particular. My cousins wanted to see San Agustin church because that's where their parents got married (San Agustin Church is a UNESCO world heritage site) and so I eliminated the minor attractions and drew out a final plan.</div>
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So at 7AM (Yes, I scheduled our departure that early because we live 12 kilometers away from Manila [Yes, I count distance, too] and with Manila's dreadful traffic, it can mean at least 90 minutes of travel) we left the house and drove toward my beloved city. It was quite fun that my uncles and aunts still recognized parts of the street, they were all "oh, there used to be..." "hey, that was ______ before!" </div>
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We arrived an hour later (Thanks to a miraculous smooth traffic) and since it was still a bit early to go to the museum, we stopped by the walls in front of Lyceum University because it was where a few of the walls' Spanish cannons were still on display, though it is exposed to the elements. And after a few minutes of walking around, the sun's heat began claiming the land and it was time to go indoors. And so I took them to Fort Santiago, where they can have a crash course lesson on the life and works of our National Hero Jose P. Rizal.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsXP7Hg4djtxs16tbM-8NjMC0oKqtVEVsORHIDzIXE-5fmelOQnt2Ykq3BA_-Me3SzsYO9zAFcFbVZ-lBjw3JiZ8Q-jc5TiznL8198ZTLmDXiAsAZSSYz2eFq-m4F4DbMXO0aYGeUBLmgY/s1600/DSC_1896.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsXP7Hg4djtxs16tbM-8NjMC0oKqtVEVsORHIDzIXE-5fmelOQnt2Ykq3BA_-Me3SzsYO9zAFcFbVZ-lBjw3JiZ8Q-jc5TiznL8198ZTLmDXiAsAZSSYz2eFq-m4F4DbMXO0aYGeUBLmgY/s640/DSC_1896.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They say that to capture someone's soul, take a stolen photo, and so I did. Look at their genuine, priceless smiles</td></tr>
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There were a lot of people visiting the fort on that day, good thing the weather became cloudy by the time we got in. So just like what a tourist would do, I told a bit of trivia I knew based from my own research (No, I didn't source Wikipedia, don't worry) but of course a professional tourist guide would be much better than me, but hey, this is my family, so I got you, fam.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR3zq-wpmj2Ml1l6SxoYuBGCVqD8BW1zU0vE2W2jDkvgcrx97o1Ow_1S_bsKWUHnzEBP6_jZ8wZfl3TO60GMpWVx4tWPt1AvErJziaaabibseL6HvfR-gL8-DQ2Ol1Yoz31bJuswf-pyuz/s1600/DSC_1998.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR3zq-wpmj2Ml1l6SxoYuBGCVqD8BW1zU0vE2W2jDkvgcrx97o1Ow_1S_bsKWUHnzEBP6_jZ8wZfl3TO60GMpWVx4tWPt1AvErJziaaabibseL6HvfR-gL8-DQ2Ol1Yoz31bJuswf-pyuz/s640/DSC_1998.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the Tranvia</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCeRe99v9N2FgJMxw_AU7Xcnm36uTqjlOJePlzjI5QrUQ8K0pN-qgn3CKHUyDDkHFY49olH-9_QBirPwCjEB6zMIX2qXTQYBteKCeJ5MaYElvUrgrGMAOFCt07KhoX7pArS0EHqiyGZoBu/s1600/DSC_1913.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCeRe99v9N2FgJMxw_AU7Xcnm36uTqjlOJePlzjI5QrUQ8K0pN-qgn3CKHUyDDkHFY49olH-9_QBirPwCjEB6zMIX2qXTQYBteKCeJ5MaYElvUrgrGMAOFCt07KhoX7pArS0EHqiyGZoBu/s400/DSC_1913.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My cousin Lee enjoying Banana Cue</td></tr>
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I would tell them things I know, but most of the time I just let them read on to the material available there, I didn't speak if I wasn't sure of my history, it's hard to misinform people, it would be a disaster.<br />
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Fort Santiago has improved a lot compared to the first time I went there alone in 2008, I was a college freshman armed with a camera $2 and my I.D. to have a 50% discount. Back then there wasn't much that was going on in the Fort, it was just an old, dying place where it was treated as "some place where history took place...and where Rizal was imprisoned." - That was that, cameras weren't even allowed inside the main museum then. It was hot, dimly lighted, and HOT.<br />
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Since 2008 I made annual visits to Fort Santiago (Even this year! I was just there a few months ago with other relatives from the states, greetings Militante Family!) so make that 8 years straight of visiting one place. And comparing it 8 years before? It's so much beautiful now, the landscaping was improved, there are coffee shops, photography studios and souvenir shops around. The grounds were kept clean and the most important change was the air conditioning. Yes, it's now cold and the reading materials were also improved to my delight!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYqUk96MldnY0C3M89y7a1ZRndDWpVNrmvQ1CGr45slaDyfuxsegWVvL7Ob2YyLU2gZ2lXwX8nC_YOpJ6XT_cLraRoLuMqUuu9XR96R9WTHzCfFxujupwtALQCXDjl5pSecJj2ob5iRCsb/s1600/DSC_1919.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYqUk96MldnY0C3M89y7a1ZRndDWpVNrmvQ1CGr45slaDyfuxsegWVvL7Ob2YyLU2gZ2lXwX8nC_YOpJ6XT_cLraRoLuMqUuu9XR96R9WTHzCfFxujupwtALQCXDjl5pSecJj2ob5iRCsb/s640/DSC_1919.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the improvements inside: The Trial of Jose Rizal</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5EeIF5G-Z-UmZ7wrbhyphenhyphenF167DYrSPZUPA2ktNFikQoextZNHUPjux1I3oEnGAiGw2SYOJ_Q9FkFd6bsm2f0iD1AiKsSiMqC2-DzB_7b9tMAYF674rjHiKGZPlYQ_QfR4czA9o5F8ki71Jh/s1600/DSC_1929.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5EeIF5G-Z-UmZ7wrbhyphenhyphenF167DYrSPZUPA2ktNFikQoextZNHUPjux1I3oEnGAiGw2SYOJ_Q9FkFd6bsm2f0iD1AiKsSiMqC2-DzB_7b9tMAYF674rjHiKGZPlYQ_QfR4czA9o5F8ki71Jh/s640/DSC_1929.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vast improvements for the display cases and reading materials</td></tr>
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I can say that Fort Santiago is really worth the visit now, especially for the young ones because some Pinoy kids today know Naruto and One Punch Man but has no idea who Juan Luna is. I always believe that our grasp in our identities as Filipino rely in our knowledge and understanding of our past. And if my uncles and aunts who are away from home grabs the only chance they get to visit the roots of the blood in their veins, why can't we? Us who are living here, the museums are open. I think it's time that schools stop field trips to malls and head to museums instead.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0aWvNEs8DozkX3PXdcAQxQnKw90rSRsV05MJrYL5lWxuZFYMmJ-t9FiRo5kNX9WZQHcxJWcD8vdx1bJk8qLWYrRdaFWpy3VcJLMlGL0k-0DZvJl5fT46bCcciWV7LM5BAI79VcA3jxMBC/s1600/DSC_1974.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0aWvNEs8DozkX3PXdcAQxQnKw90rSRsV05MJrYL5lWxuZFYMmJ-t9FiRo5kNX9WZQHcxJWcD8vdx1bJk8qLWYrRdaFWpy3VcJLMlGL0k-0DZvJl5fT46bCcciWV7LM5BAI79VcA3jxMBC/s640/DSC_1974.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I got them to follow Rizal's final journey!</td></tr>
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And after 90 minutes inside of the Fort, we then went to San Agustin Church, luckily the church was open at that time because of a wedding. We didn't go inside the church's museum anymore because you'll need about 2 hours to really appreciate the artifacts there.<br />
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After reminiscing the church and wedding bells, I took them to, well you know, of course, a Filipino restaurant, and yes, it's Max's (To Max's Management: That is not free advertisement, please send GCs.) We had the whole crew munching on chicken, beef, pork, noodles, I think we got all from the menu, even the desserts! And sorry if you didn't see pictures of the food, well we were so hungry.<br />
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With tummies filled and energies replenished, we went to one final stop before we head home. Of course, it's a visit to Rizal Park to see the greatest Filipino (Until Today)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1mkc57RMz5BRT6dsxtaClo1KPuuboWlpP56EmhYeIAMWGf_yWk3BnHSZv0u3BVMTZFFFV3v4PkpwFRW5Zu9SQZVSt2zwyx9l1GUB7QE_aZBNpA3Mso-RXNJt991fXkDGkNgrRf4Rz_EZ9/s1600/DSC_2006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1mkc57RMz5BRT6dsxtaClo1KPuuboWlpP56EmhYeIAMWGf_yWk3BnHSZv0u3BVMTZFFFV3v4PkpwFRW5Zu9SQZVSt2zwyx9l1GUB7QE_aZBNpA3Mso-RXNJt991fXkDGkNgrRf4Rz_EZ9/s640/DSC_2006.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's the family, and that's the only angle where you won't see DMCI's Torre de Manila</td></tr>
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I'm glad I had a chance to take them there, it is different when it's family, but it is always a different experience when I tour someone around Manila. One thing is for sure, I won't ever get tired showing people my beloved city of Manila.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2i0Ty7mlmxr0NWj3qmSRYQY1oh81sz0zJMoI-j4Xx5HjqwhBG9OewtxQMIBlstp00MIPwKB3R9_Lft1nDJl77z0JUtcV6amnK9ZBzkCqwh222wtT3aM32SNHLikndTgInFvIOTQcgi91y/s1600/Dumlao-Intramuros.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="634" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2i0Ty7mlmxr0NWj3qmSRYQY1oh81sz0zJMoI-j4Xx5HjqwhBG9OewtxQMIBlstp00MIPwKB3R9_Lft1nDJl77z0JUtcV6amnK9ZBzkCqwh222wtT3aM32SNHLikndTgInFvIOTQcgi91y/s640/Dumlao-Intramuros.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I found an old post World War 2 Photo of Fort Santiago and combined it with mine. Amazing how I took it at the same angle as the photographer who took it 70 years ago.</td></tr>
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John Exos Nuludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06120709285100256257noreply@blogger.com0Intramuros, Manila, 1002 Metro Manila, Philippines14.5895972 120.9747257999999914.5742307 120.9545558 14.6049637 120.99489579999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917409851709098446.post-87409706610006854382016-09-08T18:01:00.001+08:002016-09-09T13:29:09.677+08:00Hungry Critters in Binondo<div style="text-align: justify;">
Manila is a city where you'll never go hungry. Ever since I studied here I've turned every stone looking for a great place to eat. But there will always be one place where I'll never be ashamed of admitting that it's my guilty pleasure to stroll around with food in my hand - and that is Binondo.</div>
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Binondo is an ancient district just north of the walls of Intramuros, it was founded in 1594, just 30 years after the walled city was founded. It is where the Chinese settled, and so did their legendary cuisine, it was once home to the great Noodles and Siopao of Ma Mon Luk. </div>
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Today, the Chinese still reside here and with it, the food. I first discovered the wonders of Binondo when I joined the "Binondo Food Wok Tour" where hungry tourists gathered and went chow-hopping. After that, armed with a foodie map, I'd go explore alone, and sometimes with friends.</div>
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This time, I went with 2 of my close friends who had never crossed Jones bridge to taste the wonders of Binondo, so without hesitation, I volunteered as a guide and off we went and crossed the bridge.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdQ36-_Rx1ULxJ7NbCclfTGWHKqn3FTRYHdFUND94ano3-IvGrbK4KZvSUdpdG7qySA6EDOyfBq9yBfcjv3A3B7T3n14xtkf1PG4VOknhwrfn41NbvN0UqVaQmyEf8CgX1RNLecGZV_9Ag/s1600/1465918_10152088671311335_1800340607_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdQ36-_Rx1ULxJ7NbCclfTGWHKqn3FTRYHdFUND94ano3-IvGrbK4KZvSUdpdG7qySA6EDOyfBq9yBfcjv3A3B7T3n14xtkf1PG4VOknhwrfn41NbvN0UqVaQmyEf8CgX1RNLecGZV_9Ag/s640/1465918_10152088671311335_1800340607_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and my favorite noodle house</td></tr>
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For the benefit of all, I'd like to tell you guys that when you tour with me around Manila, I love sharing historical pieces about the place (I'm a history buff) because I'm so passionate about Old Manila and the rich history it had before the city's decay in the 1970s.</div>
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Because it was traffic in Binondo district, we left the car in Intramuros and walked toward the food haven. I'd occasionally point to directions and buildings, sharing what it was before and when it was built and who were the famous people connected to such places. I don't know if they were interested at what I had to say, but I said it anyway, because baby I was born this way (Thank you Lady Gaga)</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP9zPl48AlrvjeGFp39RXzvCLmxB3na3xl-B4TC_AVyCDbJVzANqrMIS32cEEbyK2ePPH9Nu6Ho_MWQOvc-9Z663H_CwtZplkwgtx2R8wW78GhwWGAzv_zlR024NbZN6htKEvacm-BI8UV/s1600/DSC_0031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP9zPl48AlrvjeGFp39RXzvCLmxB3na3xl-B4TC_AVyCDbJVzANqrMIS32cEEbyK2ePPH9Nu6Ho_MWQOvc-9Z663H_CwtZplkwgtx2R8wW78GhwWGAzv_zlR024NbZN6htKEvacm-BI8UV/s640/DSC_0031.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jones Bridge</td></tr>
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Before I forget, I want all of you to know that I don't know the streets in Binondo, I just remember by memory where to turn to get to these places, so if you'll ask me how to get there, might as well just use Waze or Google Maps.</div>
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The first food place I took them to was the "New Po-Heng" where they served vegetable lumpia, I always prefer to it as the appetizer. The place was inside an old condominium building, there's not even a signage to direct you inside. When we got inside, only a few tables were being served and because we came in the afternoon, the food tours had already stopped. And so I got our orders - 2 lumpia both cut in half (because the serving was enormous and I was afraid my guests for the day would have full stomachs)</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKoMW0a6mE4tztbrBWmHcqhKi70Xyq8KPhXhOw99GJY7rCRLmvGl7aZC6AueJ8lVJDIcJnrnZ6oHiLgEC0MewyfCRvs8MF6cnxcoR7CKy6QZkZvwQV6nAmncwCyHec7wS59NY3HSLOHTUf/s1600/DSC_0054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKoMW0a6mE4tztbrBWmHcqhKi70Xyq8KPhXhOw99GJY7rCRLmvGl7aZC6AueJ8lVJDIcJnrnZ6oHiLgEC0MewyfCRvs8MF6cnxcoR7CKy6QZkZvwQV6nAmncwCyHec7wS59NY3HSLOHTUf/s640/DSC_0054.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New Po-Heng's Famed Vegetable Lumpia</td></tr>
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The lumpia consists of greens, carrots, a kind of nori, brown sugar mixed with nuts and of course, a wrapper. But what makes this appetizer a winner is the sauce (which is not in the photo, you have to find out for yourself!) The sticky sauce complements the lumpia and without question, they loved it. Our expense for the 2 lumpia? $2 (Php100) It's so cheap, right? </div>
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Up next was "Dong-Bei Dumplings" which I think is the most popular dumpling place in Binondo, I've heard many friends eating here and I won't argue with that, it is the best dumpling house in town. And why is that? Because they only sell dumplings! That's why they're so good at it!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj46PzXvOuVTsvFHj4-VqChUCEOARW7RxZQ_k-nSAi7ipjDNhDgwfz8X8XavreX334zBOx9M-UxGbQWDi5Lwf8GnW1YZzYI8RREiU-DW7KVK4bU-4PKoPOZtaoP4HJLhyZqXf9v4fuk3ZrX/s1600/DSC_0087.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj46PzXvOuVTsvFHj4-VqChUCEOARW7RxZQ_k-nSAi7ipjDNhDgwfz8X8XavreX334zBOx9M-UxGbQWDi5Lwf8GnW1YZzYI8RREiU-DW7KVK4bU-4PKoPOZtaoP4HJLhyZqXf9v4fuk3ZrX/s640/DSC_0087.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steamed 'Kutchay' Dumplings</td></tr>
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I really wanted them to try the shrimp dumplings but by the time we got to Dong Bei, (Around 5pm) there was really nothing left on the menu but the Kutchay Dumplings. I was quite disappointed that they won't get to taste what I wanted them to have but I guess there's always a next time for that. We opted to get 2 kinds of the Chinese Chives-filled dumplings - Steamed and Fried, and there were 10 pieces of each order.<br />
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It is simply delicious, I have no words for Dong Bei Dumplings, they never fail me. I've brought a lot here and they all loved it. The good thing about Dong Bei is that you can watch them do their dumpling magic, they prepare it right in front of the window of their hole-in-the-wall, 2-storey unit, which the second floor houses the owners of the restaurant. Here's another trivia, the owners are from mainland China and so the recipe of how they prepare the dumplings are of authentic tradition, there's really no need to go to China to taste authentic dumplings! And the cost for the 2 plates of dumplings? $4 (Php 200) and we're almost full!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trivia: Dani is my first friend in college</td></tr>
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We got a little stuffed in the waist area so we decided to take a rest first and let the critters of our tummies devour our food first before moving to the main event of the food trip.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just missed the Fried Siopao</td></tr>
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I also wanted them to try the fried siopao, but because it was already nighttime, everything was sold out.<br />
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And for the main event, it was noodles time! I accidentally found this restaurant during my 'research' in the net about Binondo (Whenever I'm bored or I have nothing to do, I usually read about the history of places and in this case, Binondo) and it became my favorite last stop in Manila. This is one of the few places where I can eat alone even if it's crowded, I didn't care, the noodles are divine.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beef Kan Pan La Mien</td></tr>
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Lan Zhou's Kan Pan La Mien is their best seller and I would even recommend it for a Michelin Star, I swear it is that good! I drive and suffer Manila's traffic for their heavenly noodles. You have a choice of Beef, Chicken, Spareribs, and Seafood for your toppings and each choice comes with a soup. What I love about this place is that they have an open kitchen so you can view how they make their noodles and the serving is already enough for two, but since I want them to have the full "La Mien" experience, we ordered one for each of us. The noodles costs around $4 but it's really a bargain considering the serving, and yes they give free tea.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Death by Binondo</td></tr>
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I asked them how the food trip was and they said it was fantastic. I take pride in recommending food places because, you know, food is the extension of my soul.<br />
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It was actually hard to walk back to Intramuros to get the car because by the time we finished the noodles, we couldn't move. We dragged our feet walking back slowly and stopping after a few hundred meters to say how stuffed we were.<br />
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As you can see in the photo, I died from gluttony. It was a fun afternoon sharing the wonderful district of Binondo to my friends, and I'm looking forward to bring other friends here, even you! Yes, you who is reading this, just hit me up here, post a comment and let's schedule your trip to Binondo. Don't worry, I don't charge a tour fee, it's free, but you have to treat me! (Joke)<br />
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See you guys on the next Bumpy Journey, cheers!<br />
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John Exos Nuludhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06120709285100256257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917409851709098446.post-10000648836543784472016-09-06T15:32:00.003+08:002016-09-09T13:30:59.097+08:00Let's ride again!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhde5Zt33HGihiyVwA7ZLN0JUdeJUWo4JEwjT3xaXKQj3BydVQHZ1x-AxtYc6TXNQFiLziT2HgeJqpei4UFyztHoFpV1SI0TAUJ1YSa29HRX__Gz9X7ihKnyI7j8HNUKURpWk4mt9g9XDC5/s1600/14142017_1069564709806983_7521607766041654293_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhde5Zt33HGihiyVwA7ZLN0JUdeJUWo4JEwjT3xaXKQj3BydVQHZ1x-AxtYc6TXNQFiLziT2HgeJqpei4UFyztHoFpV1SI0TAUJ1YSa29HRX__Gz9X7ihKnyI7j8HNUKURpWk4mt9g9XDC5/s400/14142017_1069564709806983_7521607766041654293_n.jpg" width="298" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Guess who's back? Back again? Bumpy's Back, tell a friend. </span>Guess who's back, Guess who's back, Guess who's back, Guess who's back, Guess who's back, Guess who's back, Guess who's back, Guess who's back, Guess who's back, Guess who's back, Bumpy's back!</span></div>
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Hello everyone! I return to save you all from life's boredom. As you all know, my life is your entertainment. But before I get into things, please forgive my sudden disappearance way back in May 2014. I was "pre-occupied" with the journeys of life, I got into a lot of struggles in life. But hey, that's why my blog's called "the bumpy journey of life" and I am Bumpy.</div>
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What's different with this ride compared to the first 7 years of blogging? (I started in 2009)</div>
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I am now more open to all of you, I won't hide feelings so that you will get a taste of a raw, and unedited Bumpy, but I have always been honest to all of you, I just didn't share THAT much. But things will change from now on. AND I WILL TRY TO PROOFREAD MY POST FIRST, YOU KNOW I HATE PROOFREADING MY BLOGS (It's evident with so many grammatical errors during the first years of my blogging)</div>
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So what the hell (or heaven) happened? </div>
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First, I got into a string of misadventures in my career in the advertising world, I worked in 3 different companies for the past two years. I was let go at a job as a Digital Marketing Assistant after 6 months (That was February 2015) due to having different creative ideas and strategies. And so I was jobless for 3 months, and without money coming in, the floodgates of my wallet became streams of rolling coins. I was actually offered an internship at a big ad agency, but there was no pay and the contract was for 2 months, I couldn't accept it so I reluctantly accepted an offer and went "client-side". Yes, I went client-side, I became a "traitor" to advertising practitioners. </div>
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But my work experience with this client-side company did me damage. It's not so much about the work load, I can handle that without sweat, it was easy, it was more about the people I worked with. I experienced "crab mentality" and I have seen people with skins made of tupperware. There was so much beaking around and backstabbing. And the corporate world was so different to the 'creatives' world that I was accustomed to. I'm not saying that all corporate companies are like this, but for my experience it was so difficult. I lost a lot of sleep because of it, I badly missed the advertising world, I missed the people, the freedom of casual wear and the unrestricted number of breaks and most importantly, I missed creating, innovating, and thinking about campaigns hoping to turn it into reality.</div>
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So after 5 months, I walked out, happily. There was so much relief that I started to see rainbows and began hearing birds sing again, I was that happy that I got out of that horrible work place. There were a good few friends there, but I knew who were the snakes, I always knew.</div>
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But then I got in an events & communications agency and I got to be a Copywriter! I always wanted to be a copywriter ever since I graduated in 2012. There were misses and hits, but I was always happy when my idea became reality, I was so fulfilled I didn't mind going home way past midnight and show up at the office the next day (but of course, if you know me personally, you know that frequently take naps in the office) - But the best of all of being a copywriter? We can drink alcohol to expand our minds during brainstorming. But all things come to an end, and just after 6 months, I had to move out again. My boss there was so kind (sometimes I think he was too kind) that he didn't even know how to let me go and so we ended up laughing our way toward ending my contract. He said I had the knack for copywriting (naks!) but I was at the wrong business, he said I should try Above-The-Line advertising and veer away from events. Of all the work places I've been into (I think it's 6 or 7) since 2012, I'm only thankful to three of them: My first job (proofreader), my first experience in Digital Marketing (What's up Makati!) and my last job - as a copywriter. And for the rest of the companies I've worked for, <b><i>shut up nalang ako.</i></b><br />
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My career's so wild right? Can't blame them though, I'm a Journalism graduate chasing the world of Advertising, as much as I love it, I think it will never be my home.<br />
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And so I was jobless again and combined with a broken heart, I drank the months of May, June, and July away. Yes, I was literally drunk every night during May, I was drunk weekly in June and finally I was occasionally drunk in July. What can I do, I was depressed. But one day I finally decided to watch the film "Stranger Than Fiction", it's been in my laptop for years but somehow I always skip on it. The narrative of that movie inspired me to look at my past short story work and compare how the movie told the story and yes, mine sucked big time. But after a while the inspiration died, what else could I write? I'm was still depressed and comparing my short story to that movie was almost suicidal, so I just watched another stock movie which was "Midnight in Paris" - It was that movie that gave me the inspiration to revise my work and come up with stronger storytelling, and with the help of a friend (a friend who must not be named) we worked with character names and again with the help of some friends (some friends who must not be named) I had them read the draft which they gave mostly positive reviews (I hope they were honest, because I really needed the negative comments more) and I can say, writing 10,000 words in 3 days and cutting it into 7,000 was really extraordinary for me because I'm a slow writer. I think being a bum and having a long break (and heartbreak) did help me come back to my writing form.<br />
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So because they loved the first part of my three-part short story, I wrote the second one a week after the first and I think it's quite as good as the first one. I'm still thinking about what to write for the third part of the story, so I'm really excited to finishing this personal project. I also plan on selling it, I found a cafe in Quezon City who supports independent writers and I hope I do get a go signal. Don't worry, I'll sell them really cheap, 3 stories for a price of 1? Not bad right? Cheers!<br />
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So what am I doing now? I'm still doing advertising. But I only do it from 8AM to 5PM. I know have more time to make blogs for you, my beloved readers! I'm really quite surprised I still got an average of a thousand views every month without putting up anything for a long time.<br />
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And because I went rogue on you guys for more than 2 years, I owe you guys a lot of bumpy stories, and I will give all the bumpy stories you all deserve to know. But please forgive me, I'll try my best not to leave you again. So will you come and ride with me again?<br />
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<b><i>!Vamos Por Todo!</i></b></div>
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Bumpy Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308702272042427503noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917409851709098446.post-69047095129770506492014-05-25T23:52:00.001+08:002016-09-09T13:31:22.442+08:00Escolta X Binondo X MalateFriendships are amazing, it comes in different ways. There are some you see everyday, some you meet every week. Some once a month, I have one who I meet at least every 7 months (It's coincidence, I swear) and then there is a friend who I last saw four years ago, and four years later, we met again.<br />
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The first time I met Mari was in 2010, it was game seven of the NBA Finals between the LA Lakers and Boston Celtics, I was in school and I asked my friend if I could borrow the PC inside the admissions office to look at the score online. Mari was one of the On-The-Job trainees there and so she saw me celebrate when the Lakers won. A few days after I asked about her and then I added her on Facebook.</div>
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Since that day I never saw her again but we talked through chat and messages, to cut the long story short, we kept communication every once in a while. </div>
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So last April, there was the "Saturday Future Market" in the famed street of Escolta in Manila. It was perfect, I liked old stuff and she likes the artsy side of life, which I like too anyway so there you go, we already have a place to go, I just had to show up. </div>
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Four years talking online, what do I say to her when I see her? How do I close four years into a split second? It was running inside my mind all the way to our meet-up place. It was 2PM, April, in the Philippines, you know what I'm talking about, right? The sun was beyond scorching! And when we finally met, it looked like I just finished a triathlon! </div>
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I'm not going to lie, it felt awkward (I'm sorry Mari, I know you'll be reading this anyway, don't get me wrong, I'm just really socially awkward!) I mean it's been four years, online conversations are way different than in person. But I had to shrug it off and just went with it. </div>
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The heat of the day wasn't helpful at all, I had to constantly wipe off the sweat on my head, on my back, but not on my armpits because I use Axe Sport, it keeps me dry, 60 Pesos only! (That's not a free ad placement Axe, pay me please.) </div>
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We went around the event and everything was just awesome, old advertisement posters from the 1960s to up to early 1990s, artwork, some vinyls, some CDs, some old photos of celebrities, shirts, novels, and the others are too awesome to mention. As you can notice I didn't post everything that was in there, so that you have to go to see for yourself! </div>
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Mari bought bracelets and other things while I settled with stickers that only costed me only 90 Pesos! What I loved so much about the sticker is that it doesn't only states the historic districts and places inside Manila, but what made it different was putting that hashtag! That "#" right there for me has a deeper meaning. Those places are the places of the past, right? I mean those were the fancy districts before but had fallen to the city's decay. Today we use hashtags to make something trending, and those stickers say that these places need to trend again, #Manila has to happen again! </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mari in the light</td></tr>
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After we went around the event twice to make sure we didn't leave any stone unturned, we walked around Escolta, just admiring the old buildings, I imagined how it was in this very street back in its heydays. We then went to the Lucky Chinatown Mall, it was my first time going in and the first thing I noticed there was how cold the air-conditioning was! (Now, that's free ad placement for you because I loved the temperature inside the mall.)</div>
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<span id="goog_445251047"></span><span id="goog_445251048"></span>Since she brought me first at the Lucky Chinatown Mall, I wanted her to try my favorite noodle place in all of Binondo.<br />
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I wanted her to try the other food I usually eat in Binondo like the best vegetable lumpia place, the dumplings, the fried siopao and everything that was in there! But since it was dinner time and the other food places close early, we went straight to the noodle place.<br />
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I ordered my favorite "Beef Kan Pan La Mien" and she ordered, umm (What did you order anyway, Mari? Haha!) and we shared a plate of steamed dumplings.<br />
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The meal was awesome as always, you can see also watch there how they prepare their in-house-made noodles which is very very chewy and soft. What I also love about this place is their generous amount of serving, if you don't have much of an appetite, you can already share one plate.<br />
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After that delicious and heavy dinner, guess what? We now wanted coffee, and Mari knows a place where to get one. It was first a choice between Cafe Adriatico, a favorite place to go to when in Malate District and the world-famous Starbucks, and of course, Cafe Adriatico won. Yes, I do love to try out the new things, whatever the result may be.<br />
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She had coffee and I had beer and shared through a slice of cake that was very sweet, I thought I was diagnosed with diabetes after one bite. Here was when the catching up really began, asked what up in each other's universe and plans and things of the past, present and future.<br />
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After coffee we took a stroll around Malate and went to the baywalk area, don't worry, this side of the bay didn't smell...that much. We watched bike exhibitionists and eavesdropped to people talking about how their relative doesn't have a work and other stories about their neighbors while we blew plastic balloons which I bought earlier at Escolta and I almost forgot I had it. <br />
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It was awesome to see Mari again after four years, plus I got to buy those cool stickers and got to blow a few plastic balloons. Awesome wandering with an awesome friend, or should I say, SUPER? Cheers!<br />
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Bumpy Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308702272042427503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917409851709098446.post-36871603537339090672013-04-16T12:29:00.002+08:002016-09-09T13:42:29.229+08:00bumpy: a safe seclusion For the past months, I've not written anything at all, yes and I am terribly sorry for that, I wasn't writing online, I was writing in notebooks, in papers, in my mind and in a recorder. The 2-month hiatus was because I was writing songs.<br />
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A quick background: When I was in my sophomore year in high school (that was in 2007, yes I'm not in my teen years anymore, time passes so fast!) I was in a punk-rock-alternative band. I was around 16 at the time and we already had gigs around Manila, I could never forget walking around in Malate, seeing the night life and of course, the prostitution that was going around by that time.<br />
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I was the vocalist and we never actually got to sing an original, but I was writing back then, I wrote my first song one night in a beach in Zambales, it was also my birthday that night, but that wasn't my party, but anyway I enjoyed writing ever since, I wrote about 2 or 3 songs in high school, it was really in college that I started writing songs heavily (because I took up Journalism) and song writing for me is like my diary, each song is a sneak peek of my life, and since all the songs in this first "album" is all about love, hence, it's a novel about my love life (Cheesy pare, gravyyyyy)<br />
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Why call it "a safe seclusion"? - When I wrote these songs (except 2 songs) I was always on my own, either I was lonely or happy, depressed or inspired, I believe I write most honest when I'm on my own. It was my way of venting out emotions, either song or poetry but it was mostly songs. I really never liked hugging a friend while crying over it or getting drunk so much just to "forget the feeling", or maybe I just really got used to getting hurt a lot that I can contain it like a pro (awww, sad to say haha)<br />
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So I hope you can relate to at least one of my songs and like it. Remember: You can share the songs or even download it! It's absolutely free, I just want to share the music, and maybe help someone on the way with my songs. Cheers!<br />
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1. 18 Last Letters - A song I wrote in 2010, it's about writing love letters and the love that was lost.<br />
<a href="https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/18-last-letters?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion">https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/18-last-letters?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion</a><br />
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2. Still Asking Why We Fell Apart - Written in 2011, remember when you just woke up one day and you're just full of questions about what happened? How did it all go to waste? Why did it end?<br />
<a href="https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/still-asking-why-we-fell-apart?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion">https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/still-asking-why-we-fell-apart?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion</a><br />
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3. I keep on lying - A 2009 song, one of the old ones. This is about being in denial, saying that you've moved on but still, whenever you see that person, the love just comes back.<br />
<a href="https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/i-keep-on-lying?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion">https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/i-keep-on-lying?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion</a><br />
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4. In A Second - Not sure if this was written in 2011 or 2012, but this is written by my good friend Thea L. It was originally a poem that I asked if I could make a song out of it, it's about a love that faded away, in a second.<br />
<a href="https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/in-a-second?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion">https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/in-a-second?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion</a><br />
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5. I Do - Written late in 2012, it's about really being confused if to take a leap of faith or not, to continue and go for broke and the regret that you once loved each other, but someone just bailed out.<br />
<a href="https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/i-do?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion">https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/i-do?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion</a><br />
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6. Free - Another oldie, written in 2008. It's about letting go. Nuff said. Haha!<br />
<a href="https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/free?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion">https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/free?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion</a><br />
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7. Wake Up - I wrote it early in 2013. If free was letting go, this one's about leaving because I've had enough. (Naks, lakas)<br />
<a href="https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/wake-up?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion">https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/wake-up?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion</a><br />
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8. Worlds Apart - Early parts of 2012. About two persons that just drifted apart.<br />
<a href="https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/worlds-apart?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion">https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/worlds-apart?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion</a><br />
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9. Langit - Written in the summer of 2010, probably this is the one I really did enjoy recording, it has a simple and relaxing tune. Everybody has to listen to this. It's about telling someone that their secret's safe with you, that you'll accept whoever he/she is.<br />
<a href="https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/langit?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion">https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/langit?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion</a><br />
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10. Love (John Lennon Cover) - I really love John Lennon, he's one of my musical influences, and I really really love his voice, so I did this cover for him.<br />
<a href="https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/love-john-lennon-cover?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion">https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/love-john-lennon-cover?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion</a><br />
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Enjoy listening, it's ok to cry if you feel like crying. And remember, this music is free! Download and share! It's not everyday someone gives free music right? Cheers!<br />
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<br />Bumpy Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308702272042427503noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917409851709098446.post-3554923212662420652013-01-12T16:38:00.001+08:002013-01-12T16:38:55.768+08:00Wandering Ilocos: Day One - PART 2 - Empanada, Vigan and that DinuguanEverybody here knows the stall "Yumpanada" right? Well, in Vigan there's a different way of making it, or should I say there's a "traditional" way of making one.<div>
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Well it has some veggies, pork and the one that makes it distinct from other empanadas is the egg and the thin wrapping to provide that crispiness. It's also big, one serving is almost a full meal, and you have to eat it with vinegar to get the full taste of Vigan's empanada.</div>
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Bantay Church</div>
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The Bantay Church Bell Tower was said to be built first than the Church to see incoming people to the city, 10 years ago this bell tower is not open for public, it can only be watched from a distance, about a 100 meters away and this was the only memory I have when we went to the North 10 years ago. It was nice seeing it opened now for public and tourists swarming all over it, when I went there a decade ago, we were the only ones looking at it!<br />
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Then after that we checked out a jar making shop, I tried it and it was hard, the clay they were using were soil from rice paddies, so it's really sticky and forming it while it spins around is just so tricky that I wasn't able to make one. It's a hard art to do, the man said after forming the jar, they let it dry in the open-shaded room where it stays for another 3-4 weeks before being sold.<br />
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Crisologo Street, Vigan - The World Heritage site, Vigan, whose original name came from a Chinese (Hokkien) word "Bee Gan" meaning "beautiful shore," is one of the last remaining, untouched, well-preserved old Spanish cities in the country. Its narrow streets could only accomodate two-way Kalesa traffic.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the really old houses. You can clearly see the preservation it has undertaken over the years.</td></tr>
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Dinuguan Pizza at Saramsam Restaurant<br />
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We went to a restaurant called Saramsam, particularly for its famous "Dinuguan Pizza" a Pork Viand cooked with Pig's Blood in a Pizza. For me, I just had to try this!!! Because "Dinuguan" is my favorite filipino dish, yes, other people wouldn't dare to eat a black gooey viand, but to me, it's heaven! So we ordered, waited for an hour, which my dad wasn't really fond of, comes out berating the staff for its long service. My mindset was just to eat that Dinuguan Pizza. Then we finally got a taste of it! It was good, and actually, it can be done by anyone, just order pizza, then put the Dinuguan all over the pizza, it's a mix of salty, sweet and sour thing going on there.<br />
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Day one ended with a happy tummy and tired legs. I didn't even take a bath first, I just laid in the bed for an hour before taking one. So this ends day one, watch out for day 2! Cheers!<br />
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Bumpy Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308702272042427503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917409851709098446.post-13757207419756449442013-01-05T15:02:00.001+08:002013-01-05T15:02:39.406+08:00Wandering Ilocos: Day One - PART 1 - The Ilustrados of Ilocos6:15 a.m. - After our night flight to Laoag, in Ilocos Norte, I woke up with my back aching again,it's always been a problem whenever I travel, my scoliosis isn't used to the bed, so I took a 15-minute back stretching to relieve the pain.<br />
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7:00 a.m. - Breakfast time! I eat breakfast when I travel, I don't know why I'm like this, but when I am at home, I eat Brunch, because anything I eat before 10 a.m. is rejected by my system.<br />
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I'm traveling with the family, it means everything's FREE! To travel for free is one of my favorite blessings in life.<br />
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We left the home we were staying at past 8:30 a.m. and we were a bit late, which I don't like when traveling, especially with a loaded itinerary. We weren't staying at a hotel but in a "Homestay" - They said homestay is more popular than staying in hotels. Actually it feels pretty nice, it's like being in a hotel that offers a full hours for yourself, the breakfast is buffet! Air-conditioned rooms and it's much cheaper too!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is our "Homestay" only 15 minutes away from the airport.</td></tr>
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The first stop - Juan Luna Museum<br />
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The house was renovated because it was destroyed by fire. But still, you could see the old remains of the walls were integrated with the renovated parts and it was a great renovation. In the Luna museum you would see how he helped the revolution by designing the uniforms. The story of his paintings are also there, even his brother, Antonio Luna's uniform and sabers were on display. The Luna museum is free of charge, just a little donation would be enough.<br />
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Second on the go - Syquia Museum<br />
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The Syquia Residence was dubbed as the first "Malacanang of the North" because this is where the late former President Elpidio Quirino would stay, this is also his wife's residence. The wide hallways, the european-inspired furniture and of course, the "peep holes" - it is where the rich would look if they would allow a visitor up to the second floor without them being seen.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lunch was a so-so, thanks to Maggi Savor, it became my Savior. </td></tr>
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The Third - Crisologo Museum<br />
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At first I kept asking myself "Who's Floro Crisologo?" "I must be forgetting my Philippine history." "Who is he?!" - Until I joined a tour guide and said that he was a former Congressman. Then I said to myself "oh, politics, something I know nothing of." The Crisologo residence is also a big one, with a lot of old portraits, the house is also old because I could hear the wooden floor planks creaking with my every step. I kept saying "shit" whenever I hear a big creak. I learned that Crisologo authored the Social Security System or more known as the S.S.S. - Thanks to him. He was assassinated, by the way.<br />
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To the Fourth! - Padre Burgos Birthplace<br />
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This is the museum I really felt weird, you see, it's a birthplace of a Priest. A Martyr. He was one of the GOMBURZA that were executed - Then they charge an entrance fee. An entrance fee? In the birthplace of a priest? Are you kidding me? Seriously, a birthplace of a martyr, are you kidding me? So whatever, we paid and, OH NO, NOT AGAIN! This museum ain't about Fr. Burgos, it was all about other Ilocos-born heroes. So while touring the house all I saw were the great, the legends of Ilocos. My favorite revolutionary hero Gregorio Del Pilar was also there. The only good things in the museum were the Garrote Replica and the old telephone booth.<br />
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The museums are best visited during random days, not post-Christmas trips, it was crowded and it was hard to get photos. This is part 1, see you in the second part! Cheers!Bumpy Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308702272042427503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917409851709098446.post-9887182235999755672012-12-31T15:51:00.000+08:002016-09-09T13:32:24.166+08:00Best of 2012Three hundred and sixty-five days later, here we are again, at the cliff of the year's end. Writing the last sentences of this chapter in life and getting ready to open a new one. After 365 days I've been through my ups and downs and in wins and losses in life, lessons and new realizations, 365 days of learning and I thank God for giving me the last 365 days to see the world!<br />
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Without further delay, let's start the countdown to "Bumpy's Top Ten Moments of 2012"</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2012 in a blink of an eye.</td></tr>
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10. Las Pinas Trip</div>
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This late birthday celebration by my friend became an instant mini travel to the Las Pinas Bamboo Organ when he said it was only about 5-10 minutes away from their house. Not only that, I got to do my mini travel with my friends too, which I rarely get a chance to do. AND, of course, we all loved the Beef Stew and Lumpia that Ryan made, we were all stuffed, it was a light day for all of us and thus, it makes it to the top ten!</div>
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9. Free Hugs on Valentines Day!</div>
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Juan Mann, the original "Free Hugs Campaign" man said something like "You'll never know that there is someone out there who might need a hug on that day." I was so inspired to do it that I did it first in 2011 on a totally random day, but on Valentines Day, A LOT did need those hugs, may it be professors, the security personnel, stranger schoolmates and friends! I'm planning to continue the campaign in 2013! </div>
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8. Graduation</div>
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The graduation of course is an automatic, but what's nice here are the surprises, after graduation relatives surprised me with them being there, I said to them I didn't want a big celebration, just a lunch out then that's that. So some of my relatives took breaks from their office to be there and also, my tutor in high school (titch Cherry - the way we call her) and the ever crazy Thea was there! So I got surprised, it was my turn to surprise my batch mate Edward, arranged by her mom, he had little tears after that (Sorry I just had to share it.)</div>
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7. Batch outing!</div>
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A vacation with batchmates in Quezon province, pure laughter with nature, the travel is different with friends, it makes it light, although sometimes decisions collide but what the hell, we'd all be drunk when the moon goes up and we'd be singing songs together, reminiscing moments, it was just pure laughter.</div>
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6. La Naval Procession</div>
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The La Naval procession is a Dominican Order celebration in the Philippines, and every La Naval Procession, which happens annually, I look forward to the reunion with my Dominican Network Youth Group (DomNet) friends. And it's always a blessing for me to see them because I really missed them. </div>
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5. Michael Jackson tribute</div>
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It's something I am proud of, I said to God once that if I could do MJ's "Dangerous" dance routine, I can die any moment. But still He gave me more life! And it is so fulfilling to dance with reason, with passion, I didn't even know how to dance, but thanks to Mix Gat, also an MJ fanatic, he taught me how to move, I wasn't only dancing but I also sang "Smooth Criminal" and "Dangerous", my first ever dance and sing routine turned out really well! I am so blessed to do this, after this performance, I just sat and said "wow, I did it. This is for you Michael."</div>
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If you want to watch it, here it is. IF you only want to watch it. :))</div>
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4. Domnet Christmas Party</div>
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It was my first time to join Domnet's Christmas party this year and it was again, so fun meeting more people and seeing old friends once again, this is why Domnet has two spots this year because there's so much fun this year with Domnet.</div>
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3. Burgundy the adopted dog</div>
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Why the dog? Yes, Burgundy is an adopted female dog, six years of age, she came from my high school buddy Tobs. Burgundy is number 3 here in the countdown because she's my stress reliever, from my downs, and major losses. I just hug her for an hour, carry her like a baby until I smell like her. This old dog is a truly a blessing in my life. </div>
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2. The Turtle and Dolphin encounter</div>
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I haven't blogged about this but this is an experience that really lighted up my 2012, this was during the semester break, truly elated by this experience, I couldn't even put it to words, I was just so amazed I couldn't believe a dolphin was playing with me. It's like I really am a dolphin myself. </div>
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1. The Return to the North</div>
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Last year my number 1 was "Return to Palawan" which took me 5 years to come back, this time, just after Christmas, I returned to the North, Ilocos Norte in particular. I haven't been there for 10 years! So much has changed and the bustling tourism is so much different than before. Sorry about the photo of my Number 1 moment, I have yet to fix the photos, and so that you'll have something to wait for next year. </div>
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10 Moments, 10 dates, 10 experiences. What a year it has been, I close this chapter of my life, will you join the bumpy journey of life with me in 2013? Cheers!</div>
Bumpy Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308702272042427503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917409851709098446.post-73694470793336500212012-12-22T20:36:00.000+08:002016-09-09T13:42:45.547+08:00Christmas song for everyone!Finally, I've finished my Christmas gift for everyone, a song! A love song for everyone! It's titled "My Christmas in you" well I really have not much to say, it's all in the song, so, enjoy! :)<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzc0jBysA4mUQu-2481VY2cXxCgBxR3y_cgMWOnSkSIfEOn9uDF05p--3X1ImSxfUHcOM6zeooq_qMospMtIA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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If you can't view the video, click the link to go direct to my youtube upload of the song :)<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-m17Rzhgp0">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-m17Rzhgp0</a><br />
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Cheers!Bumpy Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308702272042427503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917409851709098446.post-79652737467627948062012-12-14T02:24:00.000+08:002012-12-14T02:24:48.261+08:00Rejuvenated. Reinvented. Reconnected. Re-engaged.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">Isn’t it so? To start writing again in a brand newfound voice? Like being out of that dark deep well I fell into when I lost my lust to flirt with words with the world.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">Been out of the blog scene for 6 months, traveling stopped, so does my writing, got nothing else to write, too much censorship on my mind, I can’t tell much, people involvement was too much.</span></div>
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Things have been a little, ok, it's been a lot of really crazy and random things that I did since I got out of work, I didn't even went to work during my last day, I was in a terminal at midnight, going to Malolos, Bulacan, and then I went to Manila to watch a pageant, and then drink with a couple of random people at Taft Ave.</div>
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It's been slow this past few months, I deactivated my Facebook account for 2 months so that I could start writing music and lyrics again. And it did work, I have 12 new demo songs but haven't recorded it. I was planning to release a Christmas love song (awwww) as a gift to whoever is listening to my songs. Listen to a few here: </div>
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/bumpymusicphilippine">http://www.youtube.com/user/bumpymusicphilippine</a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">As for my personal hiatus in blogging, I have no excuse for it. I ran out of words, lost the tongue of my hands, but everyone needs a break right? For me, forcing to continue something you used to love is like still believing to win a match where the announcer just said you lost. I wasn't happy writing blogs that time, what the hell would I say? What more to say? Nothing, I was burned.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">It’s been 4 years (I think) since I’ve started to speak these jailed thoughts of mine. Four years and so much has changed but one in this life.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">Mine’s still a bumpy journey. </span></div>
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Bumpy Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308702272042427503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917409851709098446.post-17109840455112268152012-12-12T11:59:00.000+08:002012-12-12T12:00:26.425+08:00A room, a bummer, and a whole lot of junkLast two days I woke up, did the same things a bummer in me would do every morning. Go out of the room, look for something to drink, may it be water, juice, or alkaline water (something mom was introducing to me, she says it removes the acid in the body, but people, alkaline water is like tasteless water) or even soft drinks.<br />
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After that I'd always come back to my room and lie again, but I guess that day, on that day, a spark of energy in me, perseverance to clean my room, I guess so. After I saw this:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTT0YF3VOJkz4MOfF0N8sgYn2qI-Ngu0u9tJ_eRh30Onjz5pDhfoT40iKVudZPNby7hx_jzjbKz5Qk7S13IRmNfos8MuACkxXs7nmuN21A3VnNEVPwBE8f23dV0o3UF9nmwnJ5E77u9f8M/s1600/collage2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTT0YF3VOJkz4MOfF0N8sgYn2qI-Ngu0u9tJ_eRh30Onjz5pDhfoT40iKVudZPNby7hx_jzjbKz5Qk7S13IRmNfos8MuACkxXs7nmuN21A3VnNEVPwBE8f23dV0o3UF9nmwnJ5E77u9f8M/s640/collage2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A messed up room.</td></tr>
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It was a mess, I couldn't move much in my room, old files, papers, junk food, all kind of stuffs are all over, I didn't know where to put all the stuff I bought and have been keeping. So I said to myself "Eff this, I'm cleaning this shit." And so I did, I didn't plan on anything, I just made decisions on the trash and other things, where to put it, what to do with it, as I clean along.<br />
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I was taking my time cleaning my room, especially when I see things I thought were lost, and some memorable pieces, like old test papers, old photos, gifts, more old photos and some works of my friends I asked for like old print ad campaigns.<br />
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Then I saw old 8x10 prints of my project in my class in Photojournalism. It was eating a lot of space and I thought, why not display it on the walls of my room, together with my no-good-but-nonetheless-I'm-proud-of-it-paintings. So I stopped, looked at my wall, visualized, held the masking tape in my hand, and started putting it all up.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTkzAJucr_lwuWohxHrvW2tnAHZz7cjq78BNZQAsNZ8rQiZ18oRkc3y3TI8h_in_hiBYtF8mElPFwZVKCdA4xOXuKwuznPR92IpxbLRrKJIzzhMnHSooIBOin4Rwct8fVRd9EZGA-oW33A/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTkzAJucr_lwuWohxHrvW2tnAHZz7cjq78BNZQAsNZ8rQiZ18oRkc3y3TI8h_in_hiBYtF8mElPFwZVKCdA4xOXuKwuznPR92IpxbLRrKJIzzhMnHSooIBOin4Rwct8fVRd9EZGA-oW33A/s640/3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Room's still a mess, you can see that the Print Campaigns I asked from my friends are making their way on my wall.</td></tr>
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One big problem in my room is the small space it has to offer, three persons would suffocate in my room! It wasn't using its "full space potential," A look from above the bed gave me the answer - I had two study tables! But I couldn't move out one because no one would take it and I needed the two to keep stuff.<br />
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Wanting my room to be a space-efficient-with-a-gallery-look universe, I separated the tables and designated the one on the left as my work-related table and the the one on the right as my hobby-related table (where I will do my photography, painting and music writing stuff)<br />
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Throwing old stuff has been always hard for me because I'm such a sucker for old things and the memories with it that I treasure. But some things really have to go away, and as I put papers, cards, junk into the garbage bag, I took a one last look at everything I was throwing away, smiled at it, laughed at it, and sometimes regretted the memories it came with the stuff.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-bXcoiWCT1vxDbKpUshomyMK69y8sjcLFWfwZamyS2epo3Pu5Lxd6-gE5EGMH0CEpwSAYpZMvq8T107SIRLbHVpPWtwj8AE7aq-cX2H8KUK0pbMKGkaxXhtNEaWpPin2iBvl-clg5ewPK/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-bXcoiWCT1vxDbKpUshomyMK69y8sjcLFWfwZamyS2epo3Pu5Lxd6-gE5EGMH0CEpwSAYpZMvq8T107SIRLbHVpPWtwj8AE7aq-cX2H8KUK0pbMKGkaxXhtNEaWpPin2iBvl-clg5ewPK/s640/4.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Separated table gave me more space.</td></tr>
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What was really hard was choosing the photos to put up on my wall. I wanted to show my best works, but, the sad truth is, all my works were a nod, an "ok" and some "hmm..yeah that's good" ones. But nevertheless, I chose, took me 2 hours to choose and probably 4 hours to finish putting it all up.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXMsN4JndDHhxEIcTWGwEf19GWDbauLATsr3JqFxkP4di0vY-GF1C7BvYhbx6bEFG5QbNpAmm622go0mCcjd82dS888s_2j19F_5DrNu_FVsyPTIuj8mh4BvRA6T3TDGCwM4u1_D2f_kiZ/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXMsN4JndDHhxEIcTWGwEf19GWDbauLATsr3JqFxkP4di0vY-GF1C7BvYhbx6bEFG5QbNpAmm622go0mCcjd82dS888s_2j19F_5DrNu_FVsyPTIuj8mh4BvRA6T3TDGCwM4u1_D2f_kiZ/s640/5.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cheapest collection I bought. The 7-11's "7-Elections" for PHP20! (less than $1)</td></tr>
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The next hard thing was mopping the floor, because I've never done that, and that's probably why I'm blogging about this is that I did so many new things while cleaning, like cleaning the wall, the window, removing dirty spots and mopping the floor!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoIcEHn0lisAv4NH0YSGya3u23wzNKadIlUX6xJYQJvSrnI4MOC7Qg9MMBmhim4WrjK1EX4-cbVKZOpQL4SeSKXW4AD9BS02Z5Kcf0FNtLC0DX9iD7Mk3jBIqqqTpifDu-Hi-ewGpkAR-w/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoIcEHn0lisAv4NH0YSGya3u23wzNKadIlUX6xJYQJvSrnI4MOC7Qg9MMBmhim4WrjK1EX4-cbVKZOpQL4SeSKXW4AD9BS02Z5Kcf0FNtLC0DX9iD7Mk3jBIqqqTpifDu-Hi-ewGpkAR-w/s640/6.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 12 photos of the main wall of my room.</td></tr>
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After cleaning my room, I took a bath for an hour, literally an hour! I loved every drop of cold water, it was like love all over me, haha! Well, then I rested for a while and I didn't know we were going to have a send-off party for my Auntie that night, so what a coincidence, I got to show off the new look of my room!<br />
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For the first time, in my life, and I'm not exaggerating, I wanted people to be in my room, to look at it, my room was the extension of me, I think people will get me if they took time to look at my room.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAeSxE4IymO1Lq6r2XHAxT82155imHPviO-3c7VyBO1wZG6bqZhLwKVnwzCpUQJ5BTYfvLpnekIXAc9eFtbj5f7RzRCAoF7k-5w5JoHegDOTr1T9r8514JWBBOr2SttHUC_R7LTzmNxTvk/s1600/7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAeSxE4IymO1Lq6r2XHAxT82155imHPviO-3c7VyBO1wZG6bqZhLwKVnwzCpUQJ5BTYfvLpnekIXAc9eFtbj5f7RzRCAoF7k-5w5JoHegDOTr1T9r8514JWBBOr2SttHUC_R7LTzmNxTvk/s640/7.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The paintings I did, except the last one, it was made by a friend for me. See, I'm no Picasso.</td></tr>
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My cousins actually said it had a different look, a different feel, "more breathing space" said one of them. Yes! Now they can hang-out! I actually felt improvement of the air-flow in my room.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My two cousins, this is the view from the door looking into the room. They painted for me, now I'm looking for space to put it up.</td></tr>
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Cleaning my room took two days to finish and now, I'm actually kind of satisfied with what I did. And to top it off, my return to blogging is today. 12-12-12.<br />
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Cheers! I'll be blogging more soon about my past travels that no one knew and the best moments of my 2012!<br />
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<br />Bumpy Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308702272042427503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917409851709098446.post-82951980986440805542012-06-09T20:31:00.000+08:002012-06-09T20:31:10.806+08:00Urban Wandering - Manila and its lessons in life.<div style="text-align: justify;">
Ever had a time when you looked at you camera and shoes? And it was all dirty and dusty, it lacked care and love? Then you realize that you haven't traveled for a long time? So you grabbed your camera and shoes, cleaned it up but also realized you had not much money?</div>
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Yes, again and again it usually happens to me, most of the time it kills me to stay inside the house and watch National Geographic and let them explain the world to me. I always say to myself: "No! I have to be there! Anywhere!" - I miss wandering around.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLUN9Dewa8UQyPweTrs1glLDRzV-z8yBKYkUKVn1gIT4Pk_PFkeK9pYnPL-S45IDN7eU5YQ2E-idqyE4u-8801Bz1DUp6qcS_BALqTErsQJc64hhi7opVeapMAFwgBV1sfH6ok-LR5zgiT/s1600/City+Collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLUN9Dewa8UQyPweTrs1glLDRzV-z8yBKYkUKVn1gIT4Pk_PFkeK9pYnPL-S45IDN7eU5YQ2E-idqyE4u-8801Bz1DUp6qcS_BALqTErsQJc64hhi7opVeapMAFwgBV1sfH6ok-LR5zgiT/s640/City+Collage.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A kid on his Battleship floating around Pasig River.</td></tr>
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For me, it's best to wander around if you have these things ready. Of course you wouldn't just go out with a few cash in hand, you have to be ready too for everything, remember that you're going wherever your feet takes you. Or is it just me?</div>
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1. Camera - Any camera will do, as long as the quality of the photo is good. It will later serve as your photo memory. </div>
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2. Cash and Cash in Card - I usually have a initial PhP300.00 ($6) budget for the day, then if I had to spend more that's when I withdraw my extra stash. ATMs are all over Manila City so don't worry. When I didn't have a card before, I used to hide my money in 3 different parts of my body - In my Wallet, inside my shoes and in the pocket of my Boxer Shorts. </div>
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3. Extra Clothes - I prefer to travel with a backpack with clothes in it, you'll never know when the sky decides to be emotional. But please, don't dress to kill while you're wandering Manila, you'll end up being a target of not-so-friendly elements present in each urban city in the world.</div>
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4. Music Player/Ipod - Music while walking around really takes away the feeling of getting tired. I listen heavily to the Beatles, Coldplay, Lights, Up Dharma Down, and Michael Jackson - but be sure to be more alert while crossing the streets of busy Manila.</div>
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5. Water, water, water - When in Manila, you'll perspire like a dog's mouth so be sure to drink at least 2-3 liters of water while traveling.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Feast of the Black Nazarene, I was on top of a waiting shed. </td></tr>
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Why do you want to wander around? - This is the most asked question thrown to me, and my answer is simple: Because I want to think about life. The thought of seeing different things and experiencing it makes my life a bit more sensitive to others and realize that most of the time, people don't have what I have and I don't have what they have.</div>
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I realize that sometimes, the best isn't really the best out there, it's the right things for you that come into play. Wandering around made me realize that my life didn't suck as much as I think it is. I see people living in cartons and card boards with no clean clothes. I've seen a lot of things I thought I would never experience in life, one is being chased by a scavenger I tried taking a photo off, man I ran like I was The Flash.</div>
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Then there's things that make you feel how selfish you've been so far in your life. Children in the streets carrying their baby siblings asking for silver coins in hopes of surviving another day in Manila. They're merely SURVIVING, not LIVING. These things make me sit down for a while and just stare at them. Manila made me more sensitive to the truth of living in its city.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An old man in Quiapo begging for food.</td></tr>
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But sometimes things are just plain fun and random, you feel you could do anything, like lie and relax under the shade of the trees. I'm a slow wanderer, taking each meaningful step and sometimes I sit for hours just watching people, couples - young and old, running people trying to make it on time in their workplaces, vendors, the local chess players in the park, and self proclaimed prophets.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's me at LRT Tayuman Station at 3:30AM, experiencing Manila in a whole new perspective.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Locals riding out in their 4-wheel Kalesa-Slash-Pedicab. I was stunned when I saw this it almost got away from my camera.</td></tr>
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Manila is everything stuffed in one city, that's how it is, it brings you drama, love, comedy, suspense, and sometimes "What the Fuck?" moments in life. I did my wandering around this Dirty-Smelly-But-wouldn't-be-beautiful-without-it-horse-dung-included city and here's my story, what's yours?</div>
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<br /></div>Bumpy Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308702272042427503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917409851709098446.post-10419453631434755722012-05-26T02:46:00.001+08:002012-05-26T02:46:25.780+08:00Bumpy's Top 10 Michael Jackson Songs<div style="text-align: justify;">
The King of Pop, who could argue that? The first African American to ever break into MTV, the humanitarian who gave hundreds of millions of dollars to charities around the world. The most popular entertainer and holds the record for selling records with "Thriller".</div>
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But let's skip these popular songs, if you "Remember The Time" we all went "Bad" with "Thriller" and have been a "Smooth Criminal" to the "Scream" of "Billie Jean" who didn't care if she was "Black or White". The "Man in the Mirror" said that "You are not alone" because "You Rock My World" and it's because of "The Way You Make Me Feel". Everyone knew these songs so let's "Beat It" cause "They Don't Really Care About Us" and it's "Human Nature".</div>
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I present to you 10 of my favorite Michael Jackson songs that have been shadowed by these greater songs, my favorites are his a-little-less-than-great but still light years better than today's pop music. Welcome to the first edition of "BUMPY'S TOP 10" - You can clap your hands now.</div>
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Sit back and listen to the songs while you read through the top ten.</div>
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10. The Girl is Mine (Featuring Paul McCartney of the Beatles)</div>
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Released in 1982 as the first single of MJ's "Thriller" album. The song brings back the early 80's waves and what other nice way to argue for a girl than with Paul McCartney! Their voices really jived together with Paul's soft and cold and Michael's rough and trembling voice. </div>
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9. Unbreakable</div>
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Unbreakable was a non-single track from Michael's last album "Invincible" in 2001 when he was still alive and kicking. I discovered this song while browsing for new MJ songs and I came upon this one because I thought the title was strong and it was! Michael's voice here sounded angry and very uplifting. This is a song for "Me against the World" moments in your life.</div>
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8. Blood On The Dance Floor</div>
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Blood On The Dance floor sparks up MJ's sexual skills to seduce women with his dance moves. This one get you up on your feet and do salsa, shake and bake stuff and just groove in the music. This was a single off from his remix album "Blood On The Dance Floor: HIStory in the mix". For me this is a more upbeat version of Billie Jean.</div>
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7. Dirty Diana</div>
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This single from "Bad" is powerful and is for all the groupies in the world. Nuff Said.</div>
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6. Childhood</div>
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This is a song of honesty for MJ, in this song I could relate so much because I don't remember much from my own childhood, yeah I have missing pieces in my early life and I've got no baby pictures to start with and that explains my childish personality and wanderlust. There's a line in this song that makes me teary eyed. "Before you judge me, try hard to Love me" - That always gets me.</div>
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5. Earth Song</div>
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Just a little trivia, the music video was shot on four geographical locations. This socially conscious song is not to be missed, and who writes these kinds of songs today? Everything's all about Drug and Sex and gettin' them bootay! </div>
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4. Dangerous</div>
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Whew, this seven minute song is the sex! I feel dangerous when singing this, so "manly sexy" and if you've ever watched the live version of this where he dances, damn it makes me wanna be a Mafia.</div>
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3. Gone Too Soon</div>
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A music video was dedicated to Ryan White who died of HIV/AIDS when the deadly virus was widely misunderstood, the boy was prevented from going to class. This song is for the lost loved ones in our lives. </div>
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2. Stranger In Moscow</div>
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Stranger in Moscow is one sad song, it's like being alone in a crowded place, knowing no one but sadness.</div>
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1. Will You Be There</div>
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Will You Be There was the OST of Free Willy, and why is it that I chose this as my number one? Simple, it talks about my life, ever listened to a song where every line was like for you? This is it for me, I cry to this song. Lines such as "But they told me, a man should be faithful and walk when not able and fight till the end but I'm only human" and "Everyone's making control of me, seems that the world's got a role for me, I'm so confused will you show to me, you'll be there for me and care enough to bear me!" - Whew.</div>
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Just listen to these songs and you'll see a different MJ. Cheers!</div>Bumpy Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308702272042427503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917409851709098446.post-49793866864951903312012-05-25T16:00:00.000+08:002016-09-09T13:43:27.053+08:00A Safe Seclusion: Songs for the Heartbroken<div style="text-align: justify;">
Venting out emotions alternatively other than crying does help a lot in the "moving-on" process where we become so fragile and vulnerable, did you ever feel that you are nothing but a worthless lover trying to find your way back to the game? Sucks right? And when friends come over and share their awful experiences with their loved ones you too can say "been there, done that".</div>
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When get hurt or plainly get emotional about things, I vent it out through writing. I've got notebooks of random writings, it's either a plain heartless rant or in the form of bittersweet poetry.</div>
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I've written songs way back in 2006 and during my college life ( I graduated batch 2012 yay!) my friends heard some of my recorded songs, well I kind of forced them into listening to it. I didn't really wanna share the songs because it's like my diary, what I've written there are nothing but real emotions and I was afraid people might know too much about my life.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMr_ZBG5oJvlF7IGJni7ZuuB4YHhca1ZDUdIUqzzKM7vbOqcFiGnkzY2oQm_HQUqqLP_TihtNch9ordGDBHeX4b4eW4pmpvzKHRPgwlsji1HuQK48UMc7vInvCxayUzqjVfmDLQE1gFQ9o/s1600/bumpyart.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="628" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMr_ZBG5oJvlF7IGJni7ZuuB4YHhca1ZDUdIUqzzKM7vbOqcFiGnkzY2oQm_HQUqqLP_TihtNch9ordGDBHeX4b4eW4pmpvzKHRPgwlsji1HuQK48UMc7vInvCxayUzqjVfmDLQE1gFQ9o/s640/bumpyart.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the first album art titled "A Safe Seclusion" with the help from Dani Dulay.</td></tr>
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Some of my friends talked me into sharing these songs and at first it was a little uneasy but later on we were already creating an album cover and lining up the songs for release!</div>
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I titled it "A Safe Seclusion" because I think these songs can accompany hurting persons who want to be alone and just listen to music and stare at the stars.</div>
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So these are the songs included in the "a safe seclusion" mini album:</div>
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This is the first song, written in 2009 and recorded in 2011. "<b>18 Last Letters</b>" tells about the last love letters written to a loved one that was lost and there's nothing left but memories through these 18 Last Letters.</div>
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"<b>Free</b>" was written in 2008 and was recorded in 2012, it's about a person wanting to leave your life but this person is the one who completes you but you don't have a choice but to let go.</div>
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"<b>In A Second</b>" is about a love that slipped away too fast even before it was realized. Written by a friend of mine, let's just hide her in the name of "Theapots". It was a poem of hers that I asked if I could make a song out of it and so she said yes, written in 2011 and recorded in 2012.</div>
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"<b>Manila Sky</b>" is about love at first sight, I still believe in it. Written in 2010, Recorded in 2012.</div>
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-I hope you guys would like these songs I've written and you are all free to share and download it from youtube!</div>
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Bumpy Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308702272042427503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917409851709098446.post-69483817809299598212012-05-10T18:51:00.002+08:002012-05-10T18:51:48.637+08:00Life of a jobless fresh graduate.<div style="text-align: justify;">
March 29, 2012 was memorable, yeah because it was my graduation day but after throwing our hats in the air and celebrated, shouted with all the strength of our lungs we could muster...What happens now? Yes, everybody that time was being optimistic saying that there's a lot of job openings out there, that everyone will get a job in no time.</div>
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Undergrads, this is NOT true.</div>
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I am guilty of bumming out for a month after graduation, I stayed at the house and embraced every minute of sleep I was getting. I ate well and on-time for at least 5 times a day! Yes, bumming also comes with getting those extra levels of fat in your body. I played video games for 12 hours straight sometimes even more! It was like paradise to me.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I continued reading books during the "bum" era. This one's "The Pretenders" by National Artist for Literature F. Sionil Jose.</td></tr>
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Then days of happiness came to weeks of boredom. The same routine each and everyday inside my house (couldn't go out that much because of the summer heat all over Metro Manila and of course, dwindling money reserves) is killing me, I couldn't take it anymore!</div>
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So I began looking for a job, it was exciting! I did it through <a href="http://www.jobstreet.com.ph/">www.jobstreet.com.ph</a> (free advertising for you guys) and I just typed in my finished degree and specialization and what kind of job I wanted and the webpage began to show me an ocean of opportunities! So I clicked "apply" to all sorts of jobs from being an Editorial Assistant, to being an Online Editor, Writer, Proofreader, Child-Friendly Photographer. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Then I went to the beach with my batch mates. Had a great time being drunk and just being close to nature. </td></tr>
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12 applications as of May 10, 2012 and guess what! 8 of it were rejected! It was devastating, frustrating and depressing to see the words "unsuccessful" on your application status. For a guy like me who wanted to try to find a job without having helped by someone or a "backer", it's really hard and reality is really setting in and I realize that life isn't a fairy tale after all.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bumming era included me sleeping on highways.</td></tr>
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Am I scared for my future? Yes, hell I'm scared. With the degree I'm holding right now, it doesn't make that much money than those of the corporate world but sometimes for me it's not all about the money but being content with what you really need in life, I've always been a "need" instead of the "want" type of guy, I don't need much clothes, I only have 3 shorts and 3 shirts to wear inside the house but that's perfectly fine for me cause I love living like this, simple is so much better for me.</div>
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What's sad in my country is that some people aren't really that poor, but there are really these poor people you see on the streets sleeping, those are really poor but some who claim they are "poor" aren't really poor. They just buy their "wants" instead of "needs". In the Philippines it's popular to be a socialite, buying the latest releases of shoes, gadgets and everything that says "trending and latest".</div>
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But back now to my jobless life, I just pray that I'll get a stable job before June comes in so that I can save up, but for now, I'll just be staying here at home bumming around and making sure that the left over food is saved from being spoiled! :)</div>
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<br /></div>Bumpy Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308702272042427503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917409851709098446.post-44201183732907292442012-03-11T16:37:00.001+08:002012-03-11T16:37:11.506+08:00A College Graduate, at last!<div style="text-align: justify;">
Hello blogspot and hello readers! I'm sorry for not blogging for a long time, I was so busy with the final stretch of my college life. It was worth it! I'm happy to announce that I'll be a graduate in Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. Four years of college is finally coming to an end, these moments make me look back and remember the first day I was in college, no friends, no one to talk to, I was a stranger to everyone since no one from my high school enrolled to the college I went.</div>
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I didn't plan to be at that school, I ran out of slots at the university in Espana, Manila. It just so happen that I was referred to its sister school in Intramuros and if I am not mistaken, it was probably late April or early May when I enrolled, to tell you people the truth, I had no place to go. I took exams in only 3 Universities because I was confident I could get in at least one, and I did! But bad luck came and the feeling was like being thrown out from your own house.</div>
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At first I really didn't like the school I was into, it was smaller than my high school. I didn't like the people I saw when I was enrolling, and then came day 1 and I realized that being in that college school, alone and isolated from my high school classmates gave me the perfect opportunity to jump start and redeem my studies. Way back in high school I fail 4-6 subjects every year and I wanted to show that change isn't always bad, change can make good men.</div>
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So I did, it was kind of Michael Jackson's song "Man in the Mirror". That was the driving song, BTW Michael Jackson inspired my life so much that even before I really got in the high school band of mine I sing MJ's songs.</div>
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So with the drive to change my ways, I "accidentally" got in to school politics where I became a representative for the Journalism program. In second year I went in to the school paper as a photographer and it gave me a bit of experience of the nature of my course. By third year college I became a Photo Editor (Thanks to my previous photo editor Cheena, I know I wouldn't get the spot without you!) and at the same time I was a President of a youth group. Now in my last year, I'm currently a feature writer for the school paper.</div>
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These co-curricular activities taught me how to manage time , to lead and be responsible, college was the things I haven't done before in my life. A lot of my high school friends tell me that I was going at the right direction, so I kept going there, step by step and here I am now at the final steps of the stairs ready to get my diploma.</div>
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Wow, it has been a real journey, the experiences, all kinds of it was something spectacular. If only there was technology that could show my life and watch it as it happens.</div>
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To end this blog, I would like to present you my Graduation Photo. Cheers! :D
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgniGLeMLL4DgL080aY3MHhQa5XzlETS-J5y9ORbUc1HVrBbUFYxdJbbrwlB_wDDXpqbbg6wZiKSFpOxbbv9GaQojznA9rCFW7t3teothgLWUBMisQxujhLPaUsXoB7KXiN7jQOazVbatiU/s1600/me-gustaj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgniGLeMLL4DgL080aY3MHhQa5XzlETS-J5y9ORbUc1HVrBbUFYxdJbbrwlB_wDDXpqbbg6wZiKSFpOxbbv9GaQojznA9rCFW7t3teothgLWUBMisQxujhLPaUsXoB7KXiN7jQOazVbatiU/s640/me-gustaj.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>Bumpy Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308702272042427503noreply@blogger.com1