Escolta X Binondo X Malate

Friendships 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.

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.

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. 

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. 

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! 

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. 

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.) 

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! 

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! 

Mari in the light

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.)

Since she brought me first at the Lucky Chinatown Mall, I wanted her to try my favorite noodle place in all of Binondo.

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.

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.

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.




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.

 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.

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.

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!

bumpy: 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.

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.

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)

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)

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!

1. 18 Last Letters - A song I wrote in 2010, it's about writing love letters and the love that was lost.
https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/18-last-letters?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion

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?
https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/still-asking-why-we-fell-apart?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion

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.
https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/i-keep-on-lying?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion

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.
https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/in-a-second?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion

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.
 https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/i-do?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion

6. Free - Another oldie, written in 2008. It's about letting go. Nuff said. Haha!
https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/free?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion

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)
https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/wake-up?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion

8. Worlds Apart - Early parts of 2012. About two persons that just drifted apart.
https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/worlds-apart?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion

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.
https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/langit?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion

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.
https://soundcloud.com/bumpymusicphilippines/love-john-lennon-cover?in=bumpymusicphilippines/sets/a-safe-seclusion

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!

Wandering Ilocos: Day One - PART 2 - Empanada, Vigan and that Dinuguan

Everybody 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.

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.

Bantay Church

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!

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.

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.

One of the really old houses. You can clearly see the preservation it has undertaken over the years.

Children in a coffee shop.

And of course, I wouldn't miss my signature traveling shot.

 Dinuguan Pizza at Saramsam Restaurant

 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.

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!