30 Days of Summer: sleeping outdoors

Nothing is more idyllic than sleeping on crisp white sheets, of a four-poster bed, in a garden.

Sip tea. Read a book. Take a nap. Do it all on these crisp white sheets.   

This is an image of a styling job I did for last year's April ish of Good Housekeeping Philippines. Shot on location at Pinto Art Gallery in Antipolo. 

30 Days of Summer: Soft drink in an ice bag

Soft drink in an ice bag is ubiquitous in this part of the world.

A cold fizzy drink is one of the best antidotes to the sizzling summer heat and in this developing country of ours, sipping it from an ice bag is the most convenient way to carry it around. And evidently, it’s the cheapest way, too.

Since soft drinks are still usually sold in glass bottles at sari-sari stores, one needs to pay a “deposit” if he’d like to take his drink somewhere else. So instead of paying up and be inconvenienced bringing the bottle back to the store, one might as well empty the bottle into an iced bag and go on his merry way.

But unfortunately, this is costing the country and the planet a whole lot. These bags end up almost everywhere due to the lack of proper disposal and then they turn up also pretty much everywhere when the floods come in.  

Here's my seatmate and his sister enjoying their soft drink while on the jeepney. 

30 Days of Summer: Take a Dip

There is only thing I would like to do today and that is to take a dip in a pool!
What do you want to do?

Happy Sunday!

Peninsula de Punta Fuego has a proper infinity pool which seamlessly blends in with the water. 

30 Days of Summer: Provincial Buses

If you’re exploring a particular province this summer, chances are you will be getting on one of these.

Provincial Buses bring out the road warrior in me. Their lack of creature comforts reminds me that while one is on the road, only the necessities matter.  I used to be wary of its lack of AC and half-assed upholstery but I was reminded that unlike their city-based cousins, these buses are always pretty much on cruising speed or going over the speed limit. They hardly stop, unless to pick up a roadside passenger or two.

Now, the only thing that concerns me is their mileage. 

A telly is apparently a necessity on board. 

A greasy Maruja is one of the more affordable roadside eats. 

A young boy stood up on his seat perhaps too tired of sitting down. 

30 Days of Summer: Bangka

My earliest memory of a bangka was during a summer holiday when I was five. My family and our friends wanted to get to the then unknown stretch of white sand of Puerto Galera and we had to hop on a bangka to get there. The crossing felt like it went on an entire afternoon when it reality, it must have lasted just an hour or so.

That’s the thing about living in an archipelago. More often than not, we have to get on a bangka to reach our most gorgeous beaches. Sometimes, I am thankful for the seeming pause – when the landscape hardly changes for hours on end. But more often than not, the heat and humidity get to me and I give in to sleep and enjoy a real pause to my day.  

The bangka is ubiquitous in our islands.  As a country, it is our mode of transportation of choice. It carries everything – people, food, farm animals, from one island to another which makes day-to-day business possible. Don’t let this flimsy-looking boat fool you. Mostly made out of wood, it is quite sturdy even on rough seas. This is mainly thanks to the katig, the bamboo braces on each side, as they keep the bangka from capsizing.

The last time I travelled via bangka was two years ago when my friends and I backpacked across Bicol. We were heading from Sabang to Caramoan and the only way to get there was to hop on a bangka.  Here are a few snapshots from that leg and they’re telling me that perhaps, I should board a bangka pretty soon.  

Catching up on my summer reading while waiting at Sabang port for our bangka.  

There are places where there's no proper pier so passengers board from the shore. 

Bangkas don't have walls to protect us from the elements. When it rains, a sheet of plastic is unfurled.
Had to wrap my kroma around my head to keep the strands of hair from flying all over the place. 

One of the boatmen sits on the "aisle" of the boat. 

The katig, that piece of bamboo, keeps the bangka from capsizing. 

30 Days of Summer: Notes

There’s something about the heat that either clears the head or addles the brain. I experience both and my way of coping is by jotting all the dialogue in my head. Sometimes, it gets so noisy up there that the back of a receipt is what stands between me and a moment of silence.

But I do carry a notebook most of the time, especially when I am on the road. Unlike most people who get all their ideas straightened out when they sit still in a café, I see things clearer when I am in transit. This makes for interesting scribbles on the page but a bit hard to understand.

I’d often write about ideas for a story or a mental note about the hostel service or the way the person sitting next to me keeps moving about in his seat.When I arrive home and flip through the pages, I’d often laugh about what I wrote and cry out loud – what was I thinking?!

We've gone on several miles, this one. Bought it at Invitation House since I thought it was just so fitting. 

30 Days of Summer: Gay France

France made history yesterday as they passed a new law legalizing same-sex marriage on their shores. For the full story, here’s the report of the BBC.

Needless to say, I am very happy for my lovely gay friends. Here's another country recognizing their right to marry the person they want to spent the rest of their lives with. But I can’t help but also think that for one of the most visited countries on the planet, this is another way to attract some tourist dollars their way. France can now add same-sex couples to the list of people getting married in the most romantic city on earth. Not only can I hear the cameras go, 'click! click!'; there go the 'ka-ching! ka-ching!' of the registers, too.  

I, a single girl, couldn't pass up a visit to the Eiffel Tower. Those couples high on love don't stand a chance against the idea of a wedding in the city of lights.