Traded Water for Air

   I should’ve been fishing by this time today but I traded that for a helicopter ride. Call time at villamor Airbase 505 Squadron was 0900 H but I was still praying for a taxi by 0830 H. Time for drastic measures. I asked a female Taguig Traffic Officer nearby to bring me to Villamor. Whoa! I spent the whole motorcycle ride from East Service Road to Villamor praying. For my safety. 

   I specifically chose my Astroboy shirt for this ride. We’re flying! That’s my ticket on the left.

   We did aerial survey of typhoon affected areas of regions IV-A and NCR. Our helicopter went around the perimeter of Laguna Lake which measures 220 km with a total area of 91,136 hectares. Thanks to friends who texted me the stats so I can tell Dr. Soe Nyunt-U, WHO representative to the Philippines.  

   The dark blue shades in the shoreline of the paw print-like lake indicate the still flooded areas 6 days short of 2 months after typhoon Ondoy struck. I can’t help but think that Laguna Lake just reclaimed what was rightly its waterway. It is sad though that the affected population have nowhere to go. 

   Waterworld. That strip of green on the lower part of the photo is a road now transformed into a canal. Small boats take the place of cars and tricycles. 

  Fun fact. That’s my village!

KayaKo ‘to

Witnessing the second leg of the 2009 Philippine Kayaking Series held in Corregidor gave me a flashback of my kayaking experience at Dos Palmas in Palawan. I had the scare of my life then, along with my travel buddies. We paddled too far out the sea where the strong wind and not so gentle waves threatened to knock out kayak over. The man in the cottage 100 meters away only waved back when I tried to call for help. He must have thought I was just too happy to be out in the sea. We must have been paddling in synchrony to make us appear professional kayakers.

I was more scared then than when I thought I’d fall off the rice terraces in Batad. 

It was not that I couldn’t swim. The life vest will take care of it.  The possibility of sustaining head injury when the kayak overturns was just too real for me. 

After a series of “left, right, left, right” we made it to shore unharmed…and relieved, realizing the strength of our characters in the face of trial. We could’ve died together. For the second time. A day before that, a snake almost hitched a ride on our boat at the Underground River.

But that is another story.

Love in the Time of Cholera

     Melissa Roxas, the Fil-American activist abducted and tortured by still unknown elements was given souvenirs by her torturers. (full story)

     Among the souvenirs was a copy of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “Love in the Time of Cholera”.

     I remember Florentino Ariza. The shadow who loved his crowned goddess, Fermina Daza, from the first time he saw her and waited for 51 years, 9 months and 4 days to claim his beloved.

     Is there a Florentino Ariza in this modern time?

     Love in the time of Influenza A(H1N1).

Bagong Alpabetong Filipino

   I have an issue with the Bagong Alpabetong Filipino. Or even the old Alpabetong Filipino. It says “Ng/ng” is a letter. In her Filipino subject Daughter Cheska was marked wrong when she answered “g” as the last letter of “hinirang”.

   Excuse me.

   “Ng” are letters “n” and “g”. Ng is a consonant blend – when 2 letters combine to create a single sound. That’s according to Cheska’s language book “Grammar in Focus”. However, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digraph_(orthography) says that “ng” is a consonant digraph which represents /ŋ/ (velar nasal). A digraph or digram (from the Greek: δίς, dís, “double” and γράφω, gráphō, “write”) is a pair of characters used to write one phoneme (distinct sound) or a sequence of phonemes that does not correspond to the normal values of the two characters combined.

   The English language also uses “ng” particularly in the present participle forms of verbs. Walking, talking, eating, writing. The last letter of those words is “g”. Because “ng” are two letters. Why does the Alpabetong Filipino consider “ng” as a letter and why doesn’t the English alphabet? Does it make a difference that the Filipino language has a word that start with “ng” as in “ngayon” ?

   Paging Surian ng Wikang Pambansa. I think you should review the Bagong Alpabetong Filipino.

   Ngayon na.

Berso sa Metro

Como vino que hace usted borracho

Que trae la amargura y el dulzor en cada sorbo

Mover en círculos, una y otra vez

Cuando hace soy libre de esta prisión

Mistulang alak na nakalalasing

Magkahalong tamis at pait

Ang dulot sa bawat pagsimsim

Paikot-ikot, paulit-ulit

Kailan lalaya sa iyong pagkapiit?

Melissa Sena (Manila, 1973- )

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Inspired by daily rides at the LRT where ad boards from Instituto Cervantes feature Spanish and Filipino poems translated to the other language.