Names

My parents belonged to the "old school" who were almost tempted to name me after the Roman Catholic saints. Then, there was also the idea of combining their names - Milagros (miracle?) and Generoso (generous?) - to produce "Milgen." Thank God there was so much indecision that moment. And all because my father was agog to name me, as their first-born child, after then movie icon Fernando Poe Sr. (father of FPJ). At least, I learned to love that name. What if I was not saved from such unforgettable catastrophe. LOL. If I got it from saint, I might be "Pablo" now? I couldn't forgive them, I swear.

When I had my turn to name my own kids, I gave them three names and one unique nick-name each. LOL. My second daughter is Alexandria Monica Corinna or Maico (her nickname). That's her during one of our visits to our favorite restaurant near our place. Her two siblings have also same name structure.

The eldest (in school uniform) is Sophia Ingrid Colleen or Cooky and Ziarra Mae Treena the youngest or Kayra. Friends wonder why they have such long names and nicknames so far from the their real names as most Pinoys would use to do lifting nicknames from their real names.

The idea was patterned after their mother's name who is nick-named as "Gemma" although her real name is "Beverly." With those three-in-one names, they have freedom what name to use normally when they work, meet friends, etc.

But when my patience is too low, I would call Maico as "makong" or "bakang (bow-legged)", Cooky as "bake or bakbak (frog)" and Kayra as "kiray" or "kayring" depending on mood-swing. LOL.

Dream House

It is not easy to own a house these days. High-end residential lots are expensive. And if you opt for a subdivision at Php2,500 to Php3,000 a month, aside from equities, etc., you would have to implement austerity measures to meet the monthly amortization. But we realized that we could not go on paying monthly for 25 to 30 years. We had to change tact by selling our house and looked for a residential lot where we would build our house through process a called "running construction." That means, a plan would be the basis for the intermittent renovations depending on budget availability. This approach works although it would take time before you see your dream house unfolding to its fullness. Thanks because we are now 85 percent complete requiring some finishing touches.

This is my finishing carpenter uncle who is experienced in doing interior designs. He had worked on the interior designs in many of his projects in of Davao City that included high-end restaurants, mall stalls, etc. The only drawback is that he asks Php300 a day for his labor. Well, with the quality work he gives, the amount is not bad.

Red Coco Wine

I had the chance to sip a mug of red coco wine after my carpenter uncle bought it from a coco wine collector who has a collecting station near my house. Coco wine comes from the young saps of coconut trees which are abound in our place. Coconut trees are protected by a law and that cutting down them needs prior approval from the Philippine Coconut Authority.

Every morning, the collector would gather and deliver the wine to the flea markets or in mini stores. In my birthplace or as other remote villages in Mindanao, the stuff is popular as poor man’s wine. You can’t find it in bars. If you see coco wine in a bar, then I am pretty sure that bar is located up in a boondock LOL.

I had my first taste of Tuba when I was young. My grandmother loved it then as part of her breakfast. Our mananggiti (coco wine collector) friend Manong Dencio, whose wife was Manang Vencia (manong/manang mean old man/woman to us said as form of respect), used to deliver a liter of fresh and sweet coco wine every morning as part of his rent to the coconut trees he sourced out. When the coco saps from where it is extracted are properly maintained, the juice tastes the best. The lowly juice is no lowly at all in that comes with alcohol content enough to make you feel groggy – from suave to rough. A liquid candy which has a spike of alcohol. A glass of it is enough to bring you into a state of trance. LOL. Ugly faces become pretty. Oh, please one more shot.

When it gets you tipsy, you can be capable of doing sins. That is it. In fact, many rambles in local fiestas where the lowly wine is present usually started off with a drinking session over gallons of coco wine and over some “pulutan” (side dish). In the drinking session, there is only one glass for all as the “tagay” (the turn) being passed on to the next drinker by a “gunner.” Some drinkers would mix it with other liquor of higher alcohol content. (My grandmother would mix it with popular softdrink.) Sadly, when the alcohol from the wine gets into their heads instead of their stomachs, deadly ramble may erupt. I can only presume that the wine more often has bad effect on these drinkers when shortens their patience and emboldens them even more. Hahaha, just maybe.

“Kinutil” is one preparation we usually had during ordinary Sunday family gathering. In a kinutil (perhaps from the rootword "kutil" which means to mix), fresh egg, hot tsokolate (powdered cacao thawed in hot water) and condensed milk are added for all ages in the family to drink. But it is where small children get their first dosage of alcohol sublimely hidden in the “kinutil.” With all the ingredients, the concoction thickens to become syrupy.

The toxicity of the coco sap juice varies from a number of days they are fermented. “Bahal” is one day old and onward which could pass as another hard liquor. “Bahalina” is another product purified from if. Fresh tuba finds their way to the flea market in containers. The seller displays transfer them in glass gallons where its foam comes oozing from the tips of the transparent containers. “Palahubog” or drunkards are said to be unfortunately hooked on the lowly tuba so that when they see bubbles tumbling up and down inside the gallon, they would feel intense craving of the coco wine. This joke is usually poked at the consummate “palahubog” whose life and happiness depend on the coco wine.

Buko Juice

Buko (young coconut) Juice is a healthy thirst quencher. We saw this one positioned just outside the perimeters of the supermarket when we bought our weekly groceries yesterday.

While the Buko Juice peddler sells the juice with its natural container, this one is sold cold at the fast food section of the supermarket at Php10.00 per cup while the one I mentioned earlier is sold at Php20.00 per nut.

Grocery Store

My wife looking for goods at the shelves in one of the supermarkets near our place. I have always this joke when we are in grocery stores.

My role is always to push the cart while following her way while my wife would be talking to me about goods, their quality and their prices, etc. And then when she notices that the good she is looking for is no longer available, she would turn to me to ask if I see some stock. And then I would quickly reply: "Sorry, Mam, that's the last stock we have. Come back tomorrow, new stocks are coming."

Obsolescence

My Casio SLR Cam (manual) and tripod (next photo).

When I worked in 1985, I started my special love for photography and wanted to develop a skill on this field. I had also the opportunity to be the "photographer" of our office. I had also the chance to be trained by undergoing basic photography. Unfortunately, I failed to focus or at least give more time on this hobby as I became  enmeshed  with painting and computer graphic arts. I  seldom had projects needing new photos since more often my clients would just supply for their photo needs. Anyway, my analog Casio SLR (single lens reflex) camera now hangs idle as I am more on cam-equipped cellphone now.

Digital technology has overtaken the use of analog camera. I still have lots of exposed films needing development. Same thing goes to cassette tapes or cartridges. I am a big fan of Earl Klugh, for instance, and I collected a number of his albums. With the advent of computer, internet, digital music, Ipod, MP3, etc, my casette tapes have become out of use. Indeed, the notion that the book entitled "Only Paranoids Survives" (I forgot the name of that guy - who was an intel CEO) applies here or it is so true when it mentioned about 10x force. That is the coming of new technology outpaced the use of the current models. Or in the case of another book I read years ago "The Waste Makers" by Vance Packard, obsolescence and consumerism are at fault here. What can we do? it is how life works.

Marriage Jokes

My friend who is based in Germany now sent me marriage jokes. But I only posted those I like most or those I believed as hilarious. Enjoy. Read on:

Marriage is a three-ring circus: engagement ring, wedding ring and suffer-Ring.

In the first year of marriage, the man speaks and the woman listens. In the second year, the woman speaks and the man listens. In the third year, they both speak and the NEIGHBOR listens.

There was this man who muttered a few words in the church and found himself married. A year later he muttered something in his sleep and found himself divorced.

Son: How much does it cost to get married, Dad? Father: I don't know son, I'm still paying for it.

They say that when a man holds a woman's hand before marriage, it is love; after marriage it is self-defense.

WIFE: Let's go out and have some fun tonight. HUSBAND: OK, but if you get home before I do, leave the hallway lights on.

At a cocktail party, one woman said to another: Aren’t you wearing your ring on the wrong finger? The other replied, Yes, I am. I married to the wrong man.

A man inserted an ad in the paper – “Wife Wanted.” The next day he received hundreds of letters and they all said the same thing – “You can have mine.”

When a man opens the door of his car for his wife, you can be sure of one thing - either the car is new or the wife is.

My Confession

The first time I met my wife was during our first year in college (1985). I lost track of her and then our paths crossed again in 1992. Got married in 1993.

At left is my future dancer Maico with her Mama. After church every Sunday, we would drop by a nearby low budget restaurant to take our breakfast.

This infant was our first product (LOL). Her name is Cooky. She is 14 years old now (next photo).

Stock Photos

This is my pretty wife and my daughter Kayra at the dining table enjoying their softdrink.

My grandma taking the center stage of a black and white photo.

One of my computers before as taken with our dining place.

Indoor-to-outdoor shooting.

Assorted Photos

Sephia shot.

This was taken sometime in 1996 in an island called Boslon in Surigao del Sur. The island was belted with white sand.

My carpenter neighbors as they worked on our home.

My former colleague who fell asleep during an orientation conducted at Philippine Rice Institute in 2005.

Former Colleague

I took this photo sometime in 2004. Alex was in a pensive mood when I pressed down my shutter.

Stuck

I spotted this sculpture in one of the stores in Bolton Street downtown area. The idea is nice – a man stuck on the wall or the wall stuck on the man. Hmmm, whichever. Surely, this works attracts every passer-by. It reminds me of situation similar to being stuck somewhere. When we are faced with a challenge larger than us or larger than life that keeps us from moving on.

Back in school, our term then was “mental block” when we could not find the answer from the nook and cranny of our memory that no search engines could find the right answer to a question - a nut so hard to crack. We tried to look for an answer by scanning the ceiling and then found nothing.

It happened to me many times. That’s the moment that we make decision that at times against our will. I never dreamed of becoming a cartoonist, for instance. But when I saw my face on the mirror, I said go to being a cartoonist. My childhood friend also was stuck when he wanted to draw a happy man ended drawing a sad man. Then I told him to draw the reverse depending on the mood he wanted to come up. But of course we cannot allow ourselves to be defeated – we have to move on. We cannot be stuck forever. It would be a pity if we allow it.

I forget who told me but there are only two decisions that are always available to us every time we are in a crossroad – it could be either down or up. That is, when we decide what to do we need to evaluate whether that decision is going down or up. I know this is difficult to judge but this is the most challenging especially when we decide on a good path that is seemingly against our will. Deciding to take the good path is a good decision. Taking a path towards the down direction is a simple suicide whether the results are coming so abrupt or not. As the saying goes, foolishness will go home to your body in the long run. Hmm, I hope I have done justice to the man stuck on the wall. Meanwhile, I’m stuck on my chair blogging. Hehehe.

Matina to Downtown

Last week, I met Victor Sapar, my IT expert friend, for a couple of projects for their organization. When I went down from the top of GSIS Subdivision (the place is sitting on an elevated location of Davao City), I started clicking my shutter. The scorching heat of the noon time sun did not deter me from taking photos. The building (first photo) is the Government Social Insurance Service (GSIS). Did I write it correctly? The trafficless road is McArthur Highway, I guess, or Matina? Nah, I am not sure :-). Probably, MacArthur as named after the famous US general who uttered the "I shall return..."

Then I passed by the newly-opened Bankerohan Bridge and had the opportunity to snap at the Davao River that empties to the Davao Gulf. Note the houses along the riverbanks. The murky water represents the massive siltation it suffers. Fishkills also happened here that many blamed to the agricultural activities upstreams. Investigations were conducted but no one was ever made to answer the environmental crimes that repeatedly occurred.

This is the old building of the Rizal Memorial Colleges. I think it already moved to the new location I missed to know. The next photo is the section of the foot of the J. P. Laureal Avenue Overpass I mentioned earlier in this blog. When commuting, I would disembark here to wait a PUJ going to Buhangin - Panacan route. It casts a cool shadow especially during high noon. Ok, I explain. When going to our home place, there are two routes to take - the longest one and the shortest route. Buhangin-Panacan is the shortest way. However, there are times that I would prefer to take the longest trip where I can spend much time to reflect :-).

More Posts

Hey, that's me, my friend, behind the cell-cam taking a shot of the paycheck for my project. When I entered the bank, I was given the priority no. 54. That is, I was prioritized after 53 clients were served. What else? LOL. This was secretly done because it's a no-no here to use cellphone while inside the bank. I can't understand they disallow clients to use cellphones while inside. For security reasons? Yeah, that's the reason but I think this is absurd as a policy. Well, that's life full of absurdities.

Two indoor places (above photos) I "visited" these past two days. Nobody can kill time but I did. I killed my time here :-) as I waited for the moment to go to my next appointments.

Gotcha!

Was on a brief meeting yesterday when I saw this bug parking at the roadside along Bonifacio Steet, Davao City. Nice Red Beetle. Perhaps, I will take similar photos on beetles in the city to show that Davaoeños love the Volkswagen Beetles.

Field Day

After my job contract ended recently, fieldwork drastically shifted to the city landscape. I worked with various non-government organizations in the past and among my tasks and functions then brought me to the various areas in Mindanao. Years, later I was able to work in a consulting office for a government project where I had the opportunity to travel to its areas. Now that I am free as a bird, I would go to downtown to meet clients like I did yesterday. As I went, I took photos for my blog. These I share with you.

Davaoeños know this familiar junction in P. Reyes and Bonifacio Streets. I just came out from the Philippine National Bank (PNB) situated right where I stood to take this photo. The traffic enforcer was on the alert monitoring the flow of traffic that noon.

This was a take of one of the avenues of the city - Claro M. Recto Avenue which used to be called as Claveria. If I remember it correctly, C. M. Recto was looked up as one of the best political figures in the country. He was a famous nationalist stateman while "Claveria" was taken from the Spanish governor-general Narciso Claveria during the Spanish control. But what sticks to my mind was the anecdote about this place. The joke goes this way: A cross-eyed jeepney driver upon seeing a thin commuter shouts "Klabira2x!" (human skeleton). Not to be outwitted, the commuter would loudly ask for the destination of the jeepney, "bolibat?!" (Boulevard or Quezon Boulevard). A vernacular, "libat" means cross-eyed.

Almost 12 noon, I walked-though this street to the meeting place. This is Bonifacio Street with Bolton Street to the right where you can see people walking through the pedestrian lane. Many of our streets here got their names from American occupants like Bolton Street which was named from Lt. Edward Bolton (governor of Davao in 1906).

Can you see that? That's Jaltan - one of the restos offering native delicacies like Bibingka (rice cake), Kutsinta, Suman, etc. Here my friend was waiting fro me to discuss with me their newspaper. Jaltan is a business of the family of my friend who would hire me to draw a large editorial cartoon (using chalk) right on the wallnews called Budyong during college days.

This is the section of one of the overpasses of Davao City. I remember that during its construction stage, I commented in one cartoon strip I drew that it would ease up the traffic jam in the city when all the vehicles passing though here would not enter the city. This connects J. P. Laureal Avenue and Dakudao to Buhangin to the Diversion Road a.k.a. Philippine - American Friendship Road (?).

If there are no vehicular accidents, traffic here is more often smooth. This is one of the main thoroughfares of Davao - J. P. Laurel Avenue.

That's the Pryce Tower. Their imposing tower. Isn't it? Ok, not if compared to the skycrapers in other cities in the world.

I forgot the name of this glass building along J. P. Laurel Avenue. But this is just near to the Pryce Tower or situated by the entrance to the Pryce Tower. Soon I will go back to Pryce Tower to pay for my loan with PAGIBIG.

There are still trees in the city like this one. They are cool to the eyes. The only thing is that we need to closely monitor the status of these trees (usually old ones) because there were already accidents of branches falling on hapless vehicles in the past. The local governemnt had to demolish some really old trees for the safety of the motorists. I should have focused on the tree I am talking about and not the facade of the new Philippine Long Distance Telephone office along P. Reyes Street. Next time.

She Poses with the Bug

My dear darling willingly poses with the bug. She loves to talk about volkswagen beetles and easily gets inspired when she sees other bugs on the road. If I have my chance, I will try to take photos of bugs that I would meet here in the city. I have seen lots of them and I have friends with volkswagen beetles as service cars. Many of them are already jazzed up. Mine is still needing new paint, etc. With the current crisis now, I don't think we need to jazzup our bug. Not yet.

More Davao City Photos

It was in 1983 when I first settled in Davao City - 23 kms from my original place of Bunawan - when in the middle of my secondary schooling I moved here and lived with my uncle in a boarding house somewhere along Sobrecary Street. I was not stranger to the city though because for a number of times in the past we would go here to shop. To us kids then, Davao was like heaven. Our hearts would be elated to hear that we would be going to Davao. At times, I would shed a bucket of tears if Mama decided not to bring me along. I love Davao for a number of reasons.

But one, it was here that I met my pretty wife Gemma. (By the way, this is a view of Davao City Hall). Since 1983, I never left Davao as my residence. Everything is seemingly in order yet :-). Your are right Nanay Belen, Davao City is nice to live. No smog here. Right here, this is a section of Bankerohan - Matina Road where traffic jam usually occurs during rush hours.

I can always adopt myself to other places. But I don't know if I am ready to go to other places other than Davao City where life is easier. Although there are instances for traffic jams, the city is more or less far from such bumper-to-bumper situation. Well, if you ask me I would rather not drive downtown during weekdays. I have long patience but I don't venture into getting myself caught up in the middle of honking cars. Five star accommodation? Some visiting friends, opt for The Marco Polo. Free ad. LOL. Pay me, pay me!

Next photo I took from Quirino Avenue. I missed to know the imposing building but I know this is near to the Davao Doctors Hospital.

What am I doing? A photo blog? Maybe. LOL. This one is a portion of Roxas Boulevard where I usally waits for a Public Utility Jeep when I'm not driving. From here to our place, the fare varies from Php15 to Php18. Depending on the mathematics of the "conductor" or the driver. But I think, the fare from here to our place is probably Php21. I still have to see the fare matrix that PUJs place where it is easily seen by the passengers. There are commuters who would argue with the drivers or the conductors as to the "exact fare." The fare matrix issued by the Land Transportation Office resolves that usual and useless argument. In my case, I would prefer not to argue with PUJs that "charge much" fare knowing well that they have the matrix or even without it the price of fuel is simply onerous to them. There were occasions also that I was "under-charged" in exchange for so-called "over-charges" I willingly gave. That's life. Somewhere, there is always blessing talking about "give and take."

The next photo is a view of San Pedro. Another commercial center of the city. There are no skycrapers in the city. I cannot answer your questions why. I don't know why the investors are not putting skyhigh buildings in the heart of the city. Maybe not yet.


This last photo is the worm's eyeview of the Legislative Hall of the Davao City where well-meaning ordinances and resolutions were crafted by our city councilors. And absurdities too you can see in this august body. LOL. Talking about well-meaning ordinances, I am talking about the Anti-smoking Ordinance and the Davao City Women and Children Development Code (did I say it right?). The former prohibits smoking in public places while the latter disallows bikini shows in the city. I think one of the bars here is recently in hotwaters when, in the pretext of doing a marketing strat, staged a bikini show. Local law enforcers did not let it pass when they filed proper charges to the bar owner and manager. For the anti-smoke belching.. er... anti-smoking, a number of recalcitrant smokers were already charged after they were caught puffing cigarettes in public places.