April 24, 2014
In Batad, the village shaman can predict the couple’s future using a chicken liver. He can read the liver’s veins and interpret them. Yes, the couple’s love and future are at the mercy of the liver. I met a couple then—an environmentalist Filipina and an Italian cook—who suggested they would […]
April 8, 2014
A Travel Guide to Anawangin Cove and Capones Island, Zambales How to Get There From Pasay or Sampaloc, ride a bus bound for Iba, Zambales. Inform the teller, you are dropping off at San Antonio, Zambales; or else, he/she will charge the full fare for Iba. Via NLEx, time travel […]
November 14, 2013
“Ingon sila silot daw nis Ginoo nato. Pero para nako, grasya ni,” Tatay in his ’50s claimed after taking several gulps from his glass of tuba. “Daghan kaayog grasya naabot human sa linog,” he further shared. The tuba vendor scooped a spoon of lilong doused in native vinegar and spiced […]
June 1, 2013
It is the body that knows first that summer has arrived. Sweat trails the scalp, the spine, the forehead. It is the exposed skin that turns a shade darker. It is the nape that feels the uncomfortableness of of the heat. It is the body that screams for an escape to the […]
August 27, 2012
“Nganong naabot man ka diri, Nong?” (What brought you here, Nong?) “Unsaon ta man, day, diri man nako nakit-an ang akong pikas sa kinabuhi (It can’t be helped, day, I found my other half here),” answered Nong Tony who has lived in Britania for 15 years. The tone he used […]
August 8, 2012
Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex novel is on the mysterious convenience of biology, on Detroit in the 60s, and the doubts, regrets, and triumphs of love. Buy Middlesex here. “What time did you go to bed last night?” asked P, who is always concerned about my crazy sleeping habits, which he thinks […]
August 2, 2012
“I love reading books,” a certain Japanese answered the trivial getting-to-know-each-other question, “what are your hobbies?” though we both know to know was misplaced. I expected another bout of suspense thrillers since most Japanese find Haruki Murakami too baffling. “Do you know Kobo Abe?” The science of coincidence! My eyes […]
April 21, 2012
Cloud 9, Siargao Island, Surigao del Norte, Philippines When the Pacific Ocean’s little furies subsided, locals surfed the shore. They were totally unaffected of the threatening waves in front of them.
April 5, 2012
Tuburan Port, Tuburan, Cebu, Philippines It’s funny. When you leave your home and wander really far, you always think, ‘I want to go home.’ But then you come home, and of course it’s not the same. You can’t live with it, you can’t live away from it. And it […]
April 3, 2012
Last Update: June 2019 Mt Kan-irag Travel Guide and Itinerary I’ve received several inquiries on how to go to Kan-irag | KabangBudlaan | Kainsing Falls (I know right, even the locals have varied names for the waterfall. The community before and after the main falls have different names for it. Although […]
March 28, 2012
You must have googled about Siquijor witches. Hence, you are here. This one, though, is an essay on my first trip to Siquijor. This was the first essay that led me to travel writing. And I hope you enjoy reading this narrative. *** While sitting under the thick foliage of […]
March 2, 2012
Kawasan Falls, Matutinao, Badian, Cebu, Philippines It was a sleepless night. I was reading this poem in the wee hours of the morning at McDonald’s Mango while waiting for Mara, the PR consultant of Terra Manna Camping and Resort. I didn’t know that we would visit the river that kept […]