babuyan memories, part 1: post travel thoughts of a sunset-chaser

"We do not remember days, we remember moments."
--Cesare Pavese

friday, flint, fire, fireball and a bit of rewind | memories of a sunset-chaser

there was kat, there was mati, there was i. there was also bren and there was sherelle. the five of us were huddled in a circle, taking turns trying to start fire using flint and steel. not too far away from us, there was a game of frisbee and some late afternoon photography. there was bryan, there was yanyan, and there was jb. somewhere not too far away, too, were our boatmen -- kuya totoy, kuya jayjay, and zombie.

it was just us and our boatmen, there on that wide stretch of white sand where we chose to camp and stay overnight, back-to-basics style. the place breathed simplicity and serenity. it was enveloped with that aura of being untouched, unexploited and, at that time, it was all ours, just ours.

the place is called naguilian, a seemingly quiet barangay of camiguin norte island of the babuyanes. in the afternoon sun (and always -- i'd like to believe -- no matter what time of day), it is pretty and welcoming. we met some of the residents there upon our arrival and they were good-natured and accommodating, telling us directions to their abodes so we'd know where to find them should we, in the duration of our short stay, find ourselves needing help. this, even before we needed anything. they're grace -- unmerited favor -- in the flesh.

it was friday and it was late afternoon when we arrived in naguilian. we -- our group of eight with our three boatmen -- had just spent the earlier part of the day traveling from sta. ana, cagayan in mainland luzon to camiguin norte. the sun was up, the skies were clear, the sea was a beautiful blue, and the normally big waves were moving just right in our favor when we crossed the babuyan channel on board a motorized banca.

camiguin norte and dakkel nga balay, the most prominent volcanic peak of camiguin norte island as seen from our boat

it was friday and it was late in the morning when we got our share of dark clouds as we entered the aquatic territory of camiguin norte and, eventually, we also got our share of some pitter-patter. by the time we docked in pamoctan island (pamuktan in ilocano), the sun was with us again as the clouds and fogs multiplied and hovered in the distance, darkening the numerous peaks of camiguin norte but sparing pamoctan and sparing us, granting us good light -- just exactly what we needed for good pictures and a beyond awesome marine life-watching experience.

pamoctan island

that the seawater in pamoctan island is very clear, it's no surprise to me. most places that are seldom reached often keep their pristine status. what really impressed and truly delighted me was seeing a healthy marine ecosystem right there from the shore, no snorkel and mask needed. it was my first time to see such colorful, such lush, such diverse natural show of underwater creatures and elements that did not require me to step into the water -- because... one moment i was standing on dry white sand. the next small step i took, the water was up to my ankle. the two next steps were not necessary and called for caution because the corals and fishes were already there -- they're that close to the shore!!! but i did swim and i did use my snorkel and mask so i could check out the impressive underwater showcase in the deeper portions of the area. awesome is not enough to describe the sight and the experience!

proof of how clear the seawater in pamoctan island is!

it was friday and it was right after having lunch when we left pamoctan island and headed off to camiguin norte's brgy. balatubat, location of the nearest coast guard station and where we needed to register. there in balatubat, we met the coast guard personnel and the barangay chairperson. they suggested naguilian to us.

as already written, it was friday and it was late afternoon when we arrived in naguilian. from balatubat, we -- our group of eight with our three boatmen - got to naguilian by boat. the beach was pretty from afar and it was prettier up close. with the afternoon sun shining down on us and the rest of the day still before us, as soon as we reached the shore, we excitedly got off the boat and unloaded our stuff. a busy rhythm typical to travelers and adventurers prevailed upon us all as we set up the tents, enjoyed the taste of fresh buko juice and young coconut meat (jb and the boatmen did some short distance hiking in naguilian and came back carrying the young coconuts which they got for free), took pictures, walked, looked beyond the vegetation that separated the beach from the barangay road, among other things. the rhythm was neither fast nor slow but just right -- right for discovering, experiencing, living in the moment, getting things done.

so there was kat, there was mati, there was i. there was also bren and there was sherelle. we were literally playing with fire, taking turns to start one using flint and steel -- the game went on for ten, twenty, around thirty minutes with no success. never mind that the boatmen gave us a box of waterproof matches and mati had with him a lighter. not too far away, there was a game of frisbee. there was bryan, there was yanyan, there was jb. it was friday, it was late in the day, and it was again my turn with the flint, my turn to play. it was then that i became successful in starting a fire -- our fire, the fire that provided comfortable warmth and light to whoever among us moved close enough to it and it lasted until the next morning.

it's probably nothing to most other people but it's something of a triumph for me -- i managed to start a fire using flint and steel! the rewarding joy was definitely something more than i could ever get if i worked on the fire using the usual match or if i sought the convenience of using a fuel-loaded piezoelectric lighter. both alternatives were available, yes, but, from the first moment i saw the flint (kat's flint), such was my tenacity to see it work over the familiar and the convenient -- a tenacity that didn't disappoint. i was, of course, elated that i was able to do something that i so wanted to do and something that i've never done before.

i was in that elated state when i turned to check the horizon and saw the fiery colors of sunset starting to appear. no way was i gonna miss watching that day's battle between light and dark. so i rushed towards the sunset, camera in my hand. i rushed towards the sunset but only went as far as where the sea would not eat me up.

our boat and the sunset in naguilian

sunset in naguilian

today, i remember that it was friday, i was there in naguilian, and i experienced one of the most beautiful summer sunsets i've laid my eyes on. :-)

my 2011 travel and adventure highlights in a note

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."
--Mark Twain

when 2011 was about to kick in, i sort of said to myself that i was gonna limit my number of travels, transfers, and adventures for the year -- so i guess this is what limiting means... hahaha :D


january 2011
01.02.11. iligan-cagayan de oro-manila-batangas

01.08.11. roadtrip plus a wedding in batangas city

01.22-23.11. calaguas and bagasbas | camarines norte

01.29-30.11. mt. batulao climb and overnight camp in nasugbu, batangas


february 2011
02.12.11. hot air balloon festival in clark field, pampanga and dambana ng kagitingan, mt. samat in pilar, bataan

02.19-20.11. balai taal, tagaytay city

02.26.11. makati celebration and videoke with relatives (paternal side)


march 2011
03.12.11. roadtrip to bolinao, pangasinan and thereabouts

03.27.11. manila afternoon


april 2011

04.02.11. bird watching and river tour in candaba, pampanga

04.09.11. return to pagbilao and more (padre burgos). island hopping in quezon province.

04.16-17.11. lipa city, batangas overnight for TOSP-4A screening prep and screening proper

04.17-18.11. shell tabangao, batangas city overnight with R&D friends

04.21.11. zamboanga city day tour (a spur-of-the-moment daytrip after our zamboanga-tawi-tawi trip got cancelled due to aircraft situation and sunset limitation)

04.22-24.11. sightseeing, island hopping, trekking in tawi-tawi!!! (bongao plus sitangkai, sibutu, simunul, sangasiapu, and la islands!)

04.26-30.11. OFW (overseas filipino wanderer) city-and-province-hopping moments in people's republic of china (official business trip complete with 6 out of 6 delayed flights)

may 2011

05.01.11. solo adventure to somewhere difficult to get to in lipa city, batangas to catch the last few hours of the 2011 TOSR-4A formation

05.05-14.11. sightseeing, island-to-island falowa boatrides, trekking, spelunking, and typhoon adventures in batanes!!! (scheduled travel dates from may 5th to 11th plus extended stay due to typhoon bebeng and SEAIR's incompetencies: up to may 14th)

05.21-22.11. makati for friends' wedding and get-together with high school classmates

05.28.11. paint-a-classroom activity in tanauan city, batangas

june 2011

06.03.11. photo op with sikat the solar car in SMX-mall of asia

06.04.11. sisiman bay, bataan

06.18.11. highQ visit and get-together with p6peeps in pateros then mandaluyong

06.19.11. bisaya bloggers in manila kitakits and reunion-after-5-years at the communication foundation for asia brickhouse in sta. mesa, manila

06.26.11. trip to rizal shrine and rizal monument in calamba, laguna (plus a sidetrip to a birthday party in pansol)

july 2011

07.09.11. return to paco park and intramuros, city of manila: trip #1 to get the initial 9 official stamps for my rizal pasaporte from department of tourism (DOT) plus lecture #1 2011 series: mukhang pera in ayala museum, makati

07.16.11. return to rizal shrine and visit to calamba church to get official stamps for my rizal pasaporte from DOT :D

07.21.11. lazerXtreme shootout in alabang with R&D teammates

07.23.11. destination: pampanga (and the experience of eating crickets and frogs!) and bulacan to get more official stamps for my rizal pasaporte from DOT

07.30.11. destination: navy headquarters along roxas boulevard to see for myself MS turanor planet, the solar boat

07.31.11. balai taal, tagaytay!

august 2011

08.13.11. photowalk and kitakits with bisaya bloggers in chinatown -- binondo, city of manila

08.14.11. noli me tangere (press pass!) -- CCP

08.19.11. bacolod-silay-talisay trip followed by a hop over to iloilo in one day

08.20-23.11. PF anniversary trip for 2011: iloilo, tibiao (aklan), boracay plus sidetrip to romblon

08.27-29.11. samar-leyte trip with yoni

september 2011

09.03.11. hinilawod epic (CCP main theater) and 2011 travel mart at SMX-MoA

09.10.11. lecture #2 2011 series: 13 women of rizal | ayala museum

09.19.11. jollibee pallocan party and overnight at shell tabangao

09.29.11. lea salonga's mini-concert exclusive for FPH friends and employees -- PICC

october 2011 and november 2011

10.01.11. worldwide photowalk 2011 and my first visit to nayong pilipino plus a failed trip to NAIA :D

10.14-15.11. sta. rosa city videoke; san pablo city johan's baptism and party

10.25.11. alabang praise and worship night pastors' conference

10.29-11.01.11. the northern mindanao trip: ozamiz-tangub city-lanao-iligan-cagayan de oro

11.12-13.11. destination: cebu, b! island hopping and sky adventures with yoni and janina

11.26.11. the sound of music | resorts world manila

11.30.11. san pablo city

december 2011

12.03.11. lecture #3 2011 series: doble kara: rizal in art and monuments (ayala museum) plus lights delight (ayala triangle)

12.10-11.11. christmas parties and kitakits in batangas and sta. mesa

12.14.11. choir (& friends) christmas party (ayala alabang village)

12.16-18.11. destination: ilocos trip and my birthday weekend

12.23.11-01.02.12. home sweet home: batangas-manila-cagayan de oro-iligan for 10 days-cagayan de oro-manila-batangas

next: from sto. tomas, batangas to... (to be continued and to be published in 2013. :D)

*movie trips, food trips, shopping trips, and some videoke trips not included 

so you see, if i've just been diligent in blogging about my travels, i could already boast of a lot of travel articles by now. i have backlogs instead. that can still be remedied, right?
 

personifying travel

"It’s worth whatever investment or money or sacrifice of time required on your part. It’s not about being a tourist. It’s about experiencing true risk and adventure so you don’t have to live in fear for the rest of your life."
-- Jeff Goins

you can hide the map because i can make myself one.
last saturday, my mother commented on one of the photos i uploaded to facebook via mobile web (yes, my mother has a facebook account, hooray! \o/)...

mamang: teng, cebu na pod; next week end asa na pod?
(teng, cebu this time; next weekend, where will you be?)

ako: motambay lang sa tingali ko dire batangas, mang. :D papahulayon sa nako si laag-laag, basin ma-overfatigue na siya sa ako kay dili ka keep-up :D
(maybe i'll just stay here in batangas, mang. :D i'll allow travel to temporarily take a rest lest i make him/her suffer from over-fatigue because he/she can't keep up with me :D)

\(^o^)/

hmmm, we'll see if i get to change my mind about that. there's still a few days left before weekend after all. ;-)

not your story

"I am convinced all of humanity is born with more gifts than we know. Most are born geniuses and just get de-geniused rapidly."
--Buckminster Fuller

i'll tell you what's stressful.

it's when you've done more than your fair share of laundry by hand, cooked food and ate what you cooked, washed the dishes -- the house chores, you know. then, having done all that, you rewarded yourself with a trip to the mall -- you went straight to the old spaghetti house and ordered food for two (you didn't mind what the busboys were probably thinking about your impossible appetite, you're able to pay for your order anyway) and ate again. then, time for some shopping since it's been awhile since the last time. after that, you're on your way home carrying all the stuff you bought -- brown paper packages wrapped in your arms. la di da la di da. that kind of "all is well" and "everything is blissful, nothing can go wrong" mood. nevermind that it's already dark and you're on your own -- you're all soaked up in that good sunday evening vibe as you walked the few blocks going to your apartment. then, of all times, all the dogs in the neighborhood went barking. OMG!!! your entire body instantly betrayed you -- you can deal with anything but NOT dogs, real or imagined, seen or not seen; as long as you're aware they're THERE (for crying out loud they're DOGS!!!), you're afraid of them.

i'm sure there are those of you who can easily say, "that's nothing..." blah blah blah "wala 'yan sa lolo ko..." blah blah blah. go ahead, indulge yourself, that's okay with me. humor me ;-P see that title up there? gotcha. haha. i'm not sorry if ever i wasted your time.


10.09.11 chicken tequila pizza by TOSH

once upon a photowalk: the nayong pilipino

"Enjoy the company of people who are in your life for a season or a reason. Not everyone needs to be in your life forever. That's reserved for the very few lucky ones."

-- from Travelife Magazine's Suitcase Tales

let me begin this by saying that i missed out on the glory days of the nayong pilipino but... uh... now, on to my story.

joining the walk
when an online notification called my attention to the walk that ate bambit was leading as part of scott kelby's 4th annual worldwide photowalk and that the venue she chose for this year was the nayong pilipino (english translation: philippine village), i got excited.



the nayong pilipino jeepney

i had two main reasons for my excitement: one, it's a photowalk! plus, i know ate bambit and i knew our d60krew friends were also signing up for it. thus, i had assurance that joining the walk wouldn't be daunting. two, i have this curiosity to satisfy where the nayong pilipino is concerned -- i wanted to check out the place which, back in my childhood days in mindanao, i only got to know mainly about through those colorful postcards required in our civics and culture classes.

to put that in a simpler and more straightforward statement, here goes: i've never been to the nayong pilipino and, quite naturally, i wanted to experience the place. that's the child in me speaking.

signing up for the walk
with postcard-inspired mental images of the nayong pilipino that i knew of, i followed the link for the walk and... my excitement level dropped a little.

whoa! the walk was already full!!!

see, each organized walk for scott kelby's worldwide photowalk can only accommodate 50 official walkers. when i signed up for the walk, i was already no. 20+ (i think) on the waiting list. attention, we're already talking about the waiting list!

actually, being on the waiting list was not so bad. it was not really a major problem since we still could join the walk but not as official walkers -- only as salimpusa or kuyog-baboy. (salimpusa is a filipino term while kuyog-baboy is a visayan/cebuano term. both terms are associated with different animals -- pusa is a reference to cats, baboy is a reference to pigs -- but both translate to one same thing/concept, which is analogous to... a joker in a deck of cards).

the swelling number of people on the waiting list was not lost on ate bambit so a request was made for a parallel walk at the nayong pilipino to be led by kuya andy, also a d60krew member. after quite a long wait (with hopes of securing the needed approval getting dimmer as the day of the worldwide photowalk got nearer), the parallel walk got approved.

as soon as i learned of the approval, i joined the parallel walk, had my name removed from the the waiting list of the main walk and...voila!!! yey, parallel walk with the d60krew!!!

what came next? getting to know more about the nayong pilipino. bow.

the nayong pilipino as i knew it
the nayong pilipino was, according to the old postcard photos and captions, a theme park housing close-to-faithful miniature replicas of the philippines' popular tourist attractions -- ifugao's banaue rice terraces, bicolandia's mayon volcano, bohol's chocolate hills, and cebu's magellan's cross just to name those that i could easily recall. i understood it to be as the one place in the country where one could drown in wanderlust and tour the philippines from luzon to visayas to mindanao (and back or in any preferred sequence) without having to worry about spending for airfare or boatfare to get from one island to the next just to be in one major attraction to the next.



the nayong pilipino's mayon volcano

that it was established in 1969, a 46-hectare facility, and, as a theme park showcasing tourist destinations and culture, the first of its kind in southeast asia -- these are details which i only learned recently when i did a quick online search to know more about the place.

the nayong pilipino then and now
the nayong pilipino implanted in my mind is an awe-inspiring village area of culture and postcard-perfect miniaturized philippine sceneries. the nayong pilipino that exists today is not anymore that. the theme park got neglected and the years and new directions towards "development" took their toll on this once-upon-a-time major tourist complex.

then, in hammering-the-nail-to-the-coffin fashion...

"In 2002, the then Arroyo administration stopped the park’s operations following the conversion of nearly nine hectares of the property into a parallel taxiway and service road connecting Naia Terminals 2 and 3."
source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/27569/airport-needs-nayong-pilipino-for-expansion

gone are the significant portions of the park. gone are visayas and mindanao. gone are the replicas of the chocolate hills and magellan's cross. gone, too, are the replicas of the vigan houses in ilocos sur and the banaue rice terraces of the cordilleras.



tangled. balete-wrapped trees of the nayong pilipino

nayong pilipino and bagong nayon
before i go on, allow me to make one thing clear. there is a new nayong pilipino more often referred to by its filipino name, bagong nayong pilipino, being developed by the philippine amusement and gaming corporation (that's better known as PAGCOR by you and me). i heard the bus attendants refer to it as "bagong nayon" (new village) and it is at the reclaimed area near the SM mall of asia. its developer's vision is to make it "a Las Vegas- or Macau- like gaming and entertainment center." clearly, that's not the nayong pilipino that i'm talking about here. i'm talking about the old nayong pilipino (or maybe i should say, THE nayong pilipino) right next to the airport.

THE nayong pilipino can be easily reached by taking a MIA-bound bus from EDSA. the airconditioned ride from magallanes to just right before the airport terminal 2 checkpoint (which is just across the gates of the nayon) cost me 12 philippine pesos only.

the nayong pilipino as i found it on 1st of october 2011
upon passing through the gates of the nayon and as i walked past the spacious parking lot to get to the orchidarium coffee shop, i assessed my impression of the place. i perceived that, indeed, it has seen better days.

the nayong pilipino that i entered is a large compound with the atmosphere of an old family park -- the vibe was country-like with the trees and the greens but there were tell-tale signs of neglect and abandonment (the imposing presence of the philippine village hotel building is a difficult-to-ignore example).



walk this way in the nayong pilipino

i found the place interesting -- it's somewhat run-down but not exactly unkempt, it's old but fascinating, undeniably dying in more than some aspects but still breathing with much in some, too.

i could not resist wondering how it must have been like to be there 20, 30 or so years ago. i could not provide the answer on my own. too bad, huh, i was born late and it took me long before i could make a visit -- i missed out a lot.

a case of better late than never
i am glad that i signed up and showed up for the photowalk last saturday despite the gloomy skies due to typhoon quiel's arrival. true, it was quite a challenging time for taking pictures but i am grateful that i got my opportunity to explore the nayong pilipino, appreciate what's in it, and got insights on what it could become.

after going through the registration and exchanging hi's and hello's with ate bambit and joseph, the volunteer registration officer by the time i arrived, i took steward and putiX -- my nikon d60 and my sony ericsson xperia x8, respectively -- for a walk.

i took some photos of the lotus plants that caught my attention and the shaded pond where they thrive before walking some more.



pink lotus flowers


the pond in the orchidarium

i eventually found myself looking at what would turn out to be everyone's favorite subject that day -- the beautiful replica of the mayon volcano.



this beautiful replica of mayon volcano dominates the nayong pilipino landscape

i walked some more and saw portions of the park in sad state.



i saw the "under renovation" sign

since there was a scheduled presentation prepared for us by atty. apolonio b. anota, jr., director of the nayong pilipino foundation, i made way back to the orchidarium coffee shop to catch the latter part of his talk -- about the nayong pilipino, rehabilitation efforts, and the initiative of cultivating orchids and goal of housing thousands of them in the park.

now, the orchids of the nayong pilipino are testimonies of patience and dedication and they are wonderful to behold.



take time to enjoy the sight of flowers when in nayong pilipino


don't miss out on these beauties particularly the
ninoy aquino orchid (with white flowers) and
the cory aquino orchid (with yellow flowers).


towards the end of the walk, i joined the rest of the d60krew who also signed up and showed up for the walk. it was reunion time!

one last "field trip" before calling it a day
after having lunch and spending some bonding time at the park's concession area, i and some d60krew members (ate bambit, royskie, geh, and gina) agreed to go to the ifugao portion of the nayon where there is an on-going reconstruction of traditional ifugao houses complete with carvings.

it was "field trip" time because from "bicol" we were going to "ifugao." but first, we made a stopover at the building that once housed via mare and kamayan restaurant. it's under renovation but entering it seemed necessary as it's a vantage area for a breathtaking view of the nayong pilipino's mayon volcano and the big pond.



the building as seen from a distance

when we got to "ifugao," it started to drizzle but this didn't stop our small group from taking more pictures and moving further to the park's aquarium complex.



ifugao house. reconstruction in progress.

sadly, the aqua tanks, which used to house the different fishes that can be found in philippine waters, are no more.



aquarium area in ruins: no more fish, no more tanks

there are 4 big (and relatively new) tanks in the area, however, that are teeming with golden tilapia. they look like koi but that's according to my untrained eye.



golden tilapia collection

i learned from ate bambit that fishing at the big pond (the one dominated by the replica of the mayon volcano) is allowed for PhP20 per fishing rod (perhaps one can think of it as unlimited fishing for PhP20). apparently, part of the rehabilitation plan is that once the big pond is cleaned up of the "old" fish species and what-have-you's, the golden tilapia will be freed there.

after exploring the aquarium part of the nayong pilipino, it was time for our small group to call it a day. we already took the pictures that we could and typhoon quiel's "advance party" was already upon us -- the combo of overcast sky, rain, and strong wind.

hey, wait. i fulfilled a childhood dream that day. then, there's more. i have another "something to look forward to"...

aside from i could try fishing, i have a reason to go back to the nayong pilipino soon: biking!



biking where you could have the mayon volcano for a backdrop, anyone? ;-)

'til my next update!


-----
p.s.
(1) this one's a bonus! during the photowalk, i met an online friend, kuya chris, in person for the first time after 7 years of virtual interaction with him via ibalita, yahoo! messenger, and blogging. awesome!

(2) i own ALL the photos before this jump. this group photo, however, is from geh lusterio's camera: 



group photo of the official main and parallel walk participants of scott kelby's worldwide photowalk 2011 at the nayong pilipino. in addition to those already mentioned, the d60krew members who showed up:bangge, ryan, john, carlo, andrew, olee, karla, art, kuya andy and d60krew godfather, sir rolly

babbling to the void on a stormy day

"Give your stress wings and let it fly away."

--Terri Guillemets

today is a workday but it feels like a holiday. that's me talking (or more aptly, writing). i should have just stayed at home instead of doing what i did -- showed up at work -- and be like this -- lazy (and feeling guilty about it). haysss. bed! that's where i should be. after all, it's a very wet, very windy and cold, gloomy day. i should have just slept in. hihi.

outside, as i am writing this, typhoon pedring (international name: nesat), the 16th tropical cyclone to enter the philippine area of responsibility this year, is busy bringing in howling winds and scattering rain -- signal no. 2 in batangas; signal no. 3 is already up for places in eastern luzon. pedring's timing, projected path, and tendency to wreak havoc is reminding a lot of people of ondoy (international name: ketsana), that underestimated (read: initially underestimated) typhoon that caused massive flooding and shocking disaster in september 26, 2009. i'm throwing in memories of milenyo (international name: xangsane) of 2006, which entered the philippine area of responsibility and sowed destruction during the last week of september that year.

how could i forget ondoy and milenyo? i have blog entries about those two -- i was outside the comfort zones while they raged and i personally experienced what it was like to be out while they raged (but minus the traumatic imprints that they left on so many, many people).

booooo. i was hoping my entry after the "re-entry" (i'm making sense, right?) would already be about travels -- see i so want to go back to being able to blog about personally experienced travel adventures (along with their social, historical, and cultural implications, if any) but i've been postponing writing about my travels for so many, many months now and there's too much backlog already; i'm now finding it difficult where to pick-up and start. ugh.

yeah, i know. i better stop procrastinating.

right. so little time, so much to do. yet, i take time to boondoggle. no, don't tell me. i already told myself that. stop. then, start. bye bad habits. hello, good ones! yes and amen to that.



lightning strikes. i took this picture while spending time with friends
at guimaras's villa igang wharf on the 24th of september, 2010 -- just a year and three days ago.

i guess i'll be posting entries like this until i get my signature blogging groove back. ;-)

re-entry: a simple hi and more

it all starts and re-starts with a hi or a hello. as simple as that. everything else just follows.

here's hoping this is the entry that marks my honest-to-goodness comeback to blogging. hello world! hi there!

-¤-

my inspiration for coming up with this from-out-of-the-blue entry is also a from-out-of-the-blue message sent to me via gmail chat while i was offline. it said, "elo vallll!!!!!" just that. nothing else. nevertheless, it made my heart swell because it came from someone i haven't heard from for a long time already -- a dear labmate from my graduate school days in UP.

the message reminded me that a simple hi or hello can really go a long, long way. it also made me realize (again, i must say) that there would always be people with whom we share important connections with in our lifetime, that it doesn't matter how long we've last seen them or last heard from them; by the time we see them -- or hear from them -- again, it's just as if the time between then and the present is just that -- the time in between. the connections, however, are there and they stand the tests of time. they spontaneously burst to the surface from the depths of our beings once rekindled. they are fast reinforced, built, strengthened. time lapses, along with gaps, distances, and walls -- real or imagined they may be -- all simply dissolve.

for me, this triumph of connections over the challenges of time spent apart applies not only to the connections i have with people whom i actually shared lots of valuable time with on a face-to-face basis before; this also applies to those connections i have with people whom i have only seen once or twice so far in my lifetime (and very, very briefly at that!) as well as with those i have never really seen but interacted with so much on a virtual level -- chatmates and blogger friends -- people with whom i exchanged thoughts and whatnot's, laughed with, empathized with, argued with (and, at certain stages, had painful misunderstandings with), and celebrated even life's trivialities with through instant messaging, SMS, emails, comments, and/or -- quite rarely -- voice calls.

with each re-establishing of connections, no matter how simply achieved -- even if just through a hi or some whatnot initiated by the other party -- i recognize a heartwarming gift from heaven. i see the connections as blessings and rekindled connections are, in my lifebook, blessings multiplied. i acknowledge that they often come to me when i least expect them so i really do get caught by surprise. all the more that they become cherished wow moments. i cannot be faulted then for feeling so grateful that, oftentimes, i feel so moved to pay things forward -- i am inspired to be the one to say hi -- and this is one of those times.

i envisioned my comeback article to be about one of my many blog-worthy travel experiences. countless times, i attempted to start the draft only to stop even before i could complete the first sentence and, again and again, i ended up working on something else. i did some preparations, too, by introducing more than the usual minor changes to the template -- i thought the changes would finally get the ball rolling again -- but it still took me until now to act on my resolve to blog again.

what i shared with one of my younger sisters recently also applies to me: you gotta start at some point or you don't move.

this is it, time to hit the ground running.

with all that said, let me mark my re-entry to blogging with this simple combination of three characters: hi!



wherever you are right now in the world, if you're reading this, journey with me, see you around.