the fool

The Global Filipino

2007-09-05T18:11:00.000+04:00

Did you know that American Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Michele J. Sison, who was nominated to the post by US President George Bush, is a Filipino-American and is the “first American of Philippine ancestry to become a US Ambassador?” (Her father Pablo S. Sison is originally from Pangasinan). And did you know that it is also a Filipino who is preparing and cooking the food for the most powerful man in the world, US President George W. Bush, his family, other US officials and heads of state in the White House? Since August 2005, Cristeta Comerford nee Pasia has been the White House Executive Chef and is the first woman to be selected for the post. (By the way, it is a Filipino again who heads the kitchen of another world-famous and influential individual. Chef Ron Bilaro, who was born in Pasig and immigrated to the US with his family when he was 19 years old, is currently the personal chef of Oprah Winfrey, the world’s only black billionaire, and the world’s richest and most influential woman).

Did you know that Major General Antonio Taguba, who became famous worldwide for his report on the military abuses in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq in 2004, and who we featured in one of our TFC’s The Global Filipino interstitial ads, is the second Filipino-American to become a General in the U.S. Army?

And did you know that a Filipino was one of the four people who ushered in a musical revolution all over the world in the 1990s? Manila-born Joey Santiago was the lead guitarist of the band called the Pixies, an American alternative rock group, which according to Wikipedia, is “frequently posited as the immediate forebearer (sic) of the alternative rock boom of the early 1990s” and which largely influenced and left its legacy on many bands and artists including Thom Yorke of the British rock band Radiohead and the late rock legend Kurt Cobain—founder, lead guitarist, singer and chief songwriter of the heavily influential 90s grunge band Nirvana. Kurt Cobain admitted that their biggest hit song “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was a conscious attempt to copy the Pixies.

You see, wherever you find us Filipinos in the world, we dream the impossible and reach for it. We do our best in everything we do, leave a mark in the society we are in by making a difference and touching the lives of countless people.

Here are more Global Filipinos:

In music: Death Angel, Moonpools and Caterpillars, Kai, One Vo1ce, Kirk Hammet (Metallica’s lead guitarist), Kathleen de Leon (Hi5 kid show), Myleene Angela Klass (former pop group Hear’Say member), Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Nia Peeples, Jocelyn Enriquez, Billy Crawford (remember him in That’s Entertainment) Enrique Iglesias and of course, Grammy-award winning hip hop artist Allan Pineda Lindo, aka apl.de.ap of The Black Eyed Peas.

In television: Brad Virata and Jenny Mae Guzon (contestants on Survivor: Cook Islands), Guji Lorenzana, Camille Velasco and Jasmine Trias (American Idol); and Mig Ayesa who placed third on RockStar: INXS.

In entertainment: Dean Devlin (producer of Independence Day), Rob Schneider, Tia Carrere, Mark Dacascos, Dante Basco (Hook, The Debut), Joy Bisco, Ernie Reyes (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Paolo Montalban, Phoebe Cates, Cheryl Burke, and Lou Diamond Philips.

In fashion and business, Josie Natori and Monique Lhullier (who designed the wedding dresses of Kevin Costner’s bride and Britney Spears) and Loida Nicolas-Lewis, the CEO of TLC Beatrice Holdings Inc.

In TV broadcasting: Veronica dela Cruz (CNN News Anchor), and Emmy-award winners Cher Calvin (KTLA Channel 5 News Anchor) and Victoria Recaño (The Insider and Inside Edition correspondent).

In sports: Filipino-Greek professional wrestler David “The Animal” Batista, Filipino-Australian rugby player Craig Wing, pool legend Efren “Bata” Reyes, six-time world champion and Guiness Book of World Records-holder Ten-pin bowler Paeng Nepomuceno, the late Gabriel “Flash” Elorde (the only Filipino elected to the Boxing Hall of Fame) and The People’s Champ Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao.

In arts, there’s comic book artist Whilce Portacio (co-founder of Image Comics), Ernie Chan (inker for Marvel and DC Comics), Nelson Bohol (Pixar artist for “Finding Nemo” and “Cars”), Gini Cruz (Pixar character artist for Dory in “Finding Nemo”), Ricky Nierva (Character Art Director for “Finding Nemo” and “Monsters Inc.”) and Giovanni Fiel Nakpil (digital artist who worked on “Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones” and “Van Helsing”).

In literature, there’s poet Jose Garcia Villa, writer Carlos Bulosan, Carlos Romulo (President of the Fourth Session of United Nations General Assembly from 1949-1950 and the first Asian to win the Pulitzer Prize), journalists Byron Acohido and Alex Tizon (1997 Pulitzer Prize Winners).

In beauty: Gloria Diaz and Margie Moran-Florendo (Miss Universe 1969 and 1973 respectively), Gemma Cruz, Aurora Pijuan, Melanie Marquez and Precious Lara Quigaman (Miss International 1964, 1970, 1979 respectively), Angela Perez Baraquio (Miss America 2000), Kirby Ann Basken (Miss Norway 2007), Vanessa Minnillo (Miss Teen USA 1998), Andrew Jumapao (Miss USA contestant 1976), Robyn Michelle Samso Watkins (Miss USA 2006 contestant) and swimsuit model Raquel Gibson.

And others: Kiwi Camara, the youngest Harvard law graduate at 19 years old; Benjamin Cayetano; the first US Filipino American governor, and Fr. Oscar Solis, the first Filipino American Roman Catholic Bishop in the US… and the list goes on and on.

But one Filipino who has continuously put the Philippines literally on the world stage is no other than Tony, Olivier, Drama Desk and Theatre-world award-winning singer and actress Lea Salonga, who became famous for her role as Kim in the hit musical “Miss Saigon”, and as the singing voices of Princess Jasmine in “Aladdin” and Fa Mulan in “Mulan”, both Disney cartoon films.

Anywhere and everywhere you go in the world, you’ll find a Global Filipino.

We are ambassadors of goodwill, music, arts, and laughter, friends of everyone and bearers of remarkable things.

You are a Global Filipino. The world is your home. Leave your mark. Change the world. Make it a better place.

Middle East Note, Page 10
StarStudio Magazine Middle East Edition
September 2007 Issue

LIFE IS AN OASIS

2005-08-17T09:20:00.000+04:00

Ever since coming here to the Middle East to work as an OFW, my life has become an oasis. Well, to put it correctly, my life here has become attached to the word “oasis”. I’ve noticed this ever since I started life here in Dubai, UAE. Sounds vague? Let me explain.

I first worked here three years ago as a Graphic and In-Store Artist for Tower Records Dubai, which closed business after a year and used to be located at the first floor of Palm Strip Mall in Jumeirah Road. Tower Records was one of the business ventures of Oasis Entertainment LLC, the real name of our company. Ironically, it was an oasis that dried up, so to speak and so I moved on to look for another oasis in the UAE business desert.

In September 2002, after eight months of working for Tower Records (and enduring my former hot-headed boss’ shouts and endless arguments during the time I asked for a release) I found a new job as a Graphic Artist for the Marketing Department of Splash Gulf LLC, a fashion company under the Landmark Group of Companies. We used to hold office in the Oasis Center in Sheikh Zayed road, one of the malls owned by the company and where Splash, Babyshop, Home Centre and Shoemart stores could be found. We subsequently moved to the first floor of the building next to it. It was not really the professional oasis I was really looking for but it held water for me during those times. For the financially thirsty man in the desert I was then, I had to grab it for it was the first and nearest oasis of work I found.

(One odd thing I also remember about these two companies I worked for before is that they both used Oasis Mineral water and no other brand. Very strange indeed.)

My job in Splash helped me bring my beloved sister here in Dubai. After numerous interviews and job offers, she accepted a managerial job in Ajman for a spa and health resort, surprisingly called The Beauty Oasis. (There’s that word again!).

I left Splash after two years and in September last year, I found the job I’ve always wanted and desired for in ABS-CBN The Filipino Channel Middle East. I used to hold office at DMC but our Marketing and Sales Department has now been moved to the first floor of a new building in Karama, known to be an oasis of OFWs in Dubai. Anyway, in my new company, I found that there is no real connection whatsoever with the word “oasis” perhaps only in terms of work. I thought that was the end of it. But I was wrong.

This time in association with my wife, two new “oasis” connections have come up. Now that we are going home to Manila to get married, we found out that the reception venue her mom and sisters were able to book for us is coincidentally called the Oasis Pavilion somewhere in New Manila. Also, the song Champagne Supernova – which has always been a favorite song of mine and has become more special to me for it has become my song for my wife Nova – is composed and sung by one of my favorite bands, no other than the Brit rockers Oasis. How’s that, huh?

See, how strange these happenstances with the word “oasis” are. It is obvious that I have an unexplained and even perhaps a mystical relationship with this word. Well, with an oasis of friends, an oasis of experience and an odd bond with the word, my life here in Dubai has really become an “oasis”… literally and figuratively.

(But hey, didn’t you notice that my life also revolves around “first floors” and the month of September. Hmmm, looks like I already have a story for the next issue.)

With foolish thoughts marooned in the sand.

I'M GETTING MARRIED... AGAIN

2005-08-17T08:53:00.000+04:00

My first blog post for this year... finally (although this one is going to be very short, which is very unlike me)! Yes, you've read it right, I am getting married again, not that I got divorced or had my previous marriage annulled because I never was married in 33 years of singlehood. I had a civil wedding in Dubai last June 22 to my four-month pregnant fiancee Nova and had a reception for around a hundred of our closest friends, family and relatives. So, this coming Saturday, August 20, we are going to get married again but this time in a church here in our beloved country the Philippines. We've been back home since July 28 and have been so busy preparing for our grand wedding day! So, my dear friends (here in the Philippines and abroad), all of you we have invited to our wedding, please do come and spend this special day with me, with us. Here are the details:

Date: August 20,2005
Time: 2 in the afternoon
Church Venue: Nuestra Senora de Gracia Parish, Guadalupe, Makati City
Reception Venue: Oasis 169 Aurora Boulevard, San Juan City
Time: 5 p.m.
Attire: Strictly Formal (Barong Tagalog or Suit)

It has been one very exciting and event-filled year for me! See you all there!

A Day of Viruses

2004-11-26T18:56:00.000+04:00

Yesterday was not my day.

It was one of those days when the world seemed to be out-of-sync or plainly wanted to have fun with you as if a virus infected the day’s system, corrupting and filling it with glitches and errors.

It started with a verbal fight with a middle-aged stinking Indian who squeezed in our line to board the bus (most Indians and Pakistanis do this all the time here). I told him to fall in line, but he refused and couldn’t care less. And he kept saying, “Are you police?” and “Shut up”, which instantly made my ear turn red, while I tried to control my temper. In my anger, I cursed him in Tagalog and continued to fight verbally with him. If only we were in the Philippines, I’m telling you, that guy would have seen dazzling stars the moment he told me to shut up and would have gone to work with a serious black eye or a hurting body. No second thoughts about it. Good thing, I am in a foreign land and kept my peace or else it would have turned ugly like spending my Thursday in a police station or much worse, in jail.

Then, in the bus I fell asleep because I forgot to bring a book to read and when I awoke, I found out I was in “The Gardens”, a high-class subdivision in the outskirts of Dubai, and around 7 kilometers away from Dubai Media City where I work. Just imagine my surprise when all I saw upon waking up were constructions, rows and rows of apartment buildings, and a huge shopping mall with an Islamic-inspired architecture. Right there and then I knew I was lost and would be late for work. (This constantly happens to me even back home when I would uncontrollably fall asleep in the bus or jeep I am in and would wake up kilometers away from where I should have alighted).

Now, at the office after lunch, while all of us were enjoying the Baskin and Robbins Ice Cream treat by Jinkee, our secretary (she announced that she was pregnant), I somehow became the butt of jokes. Mario, our Sales Head and a natural comic and whacko, kept making all the ABS-CBN TFC Middle East employees laugh at my expense including our Managing Director - cracking up jokes about my Q necklace, my all black-outfit, and my being a photographer. Tried hard as I may to shift the attention to someone else, I failed miserably like an internet connection that won’t connect.

In the afternoon, Jasmine, Porus, and Mujjib, my friends and former officemates in Splash Fashion Company called me up one right after the other informing me about the deteriorating condition of Cecil, one of my Filipina ex-officemates in the said company, who was in a comatose state after giving birth to her child a few days ago. She is almost my age, and although we started as friends, when I left Splash we hardly talked to each other. The main reason for this is that I found out she was severely badmouthing everyone behind their backs including me all the time I was there. They informed me that she has been in the hospital for the past one a half months after suffering a stroke that paralyzed half of her body. Her baby was then taken out of her through operation and put in an incubator while she developed a blood-clot in her brain. As of today, she is still fighting for her life and whatever difference we may have had before, that is all forgotten now, as I pray and wish that she regains her health and life back. I sympathize and empathize with her family for as some of you may know, young my sister also had some problems after giving birth to her firstborn.

At around 6:30 p.m., as we were idly waiting and preparing to go to the Thanksgiving Day dinner party at 7:30 p.m. at our big bosses’ villa (he and his family, although every bit a Filipino, are naturalized Americans), I decided to watch “Pipol”, the TV program of veteran broadcast journalist Ces Drilon. Oddly enough, the people they featured on that show were somehow linked to me in one way or another. First there was a tribute to George Canseco, one of the Philippines beloved composers, lyricists, and hit-makers who died a few weeks ago, I think. Aside from being one of my idols in music, his grandson George Canseco III had been one of my students back when I was a teacher in Ateneo de Manila High School. Then they featured Ericson Baculinao, one of the famous left-leaning student activists in UP before the Philippine’s Martial Law years, former UP student council Chairman, and one of the most wanted anti-Marcos people during that time. He escaped possible imprisonment and torture, even death from Marcos’ military men by going to China and staying there all his life. He now is the NBC China News Bureau Chief. My link to this guy is that I was named after him by my father who idolized him during the 70’s for he was a symbol for the Filipinos’ fight for freedom and democracy in that tumultuous era. And in this feature for Ericson, they also interviewed his friend Congressman Satur Ocampo, a former top leader of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army, who incidentally is the father of my first girlfriend Sila. There was also the commercial for ABS-CBN’s Balitang Middle East program with Rikki Kwek, one of its hosts, who is a good friend and who I, uhm, courted back in college. It felt sooo eerie watching a show with so many people you are connected to.

At the Thanksgiving dinner party, we ate a nice meal, had a fun time singing songs with the videoke, chatted with each other… and again laughed endlessly, usually at my expense. (Mario was still on an unstoppable momentum to make fun of me). It was a good night except for the fact that around midnight after the party, I was in a mad and crazy need to go home for an “error” was quickly happening in my hardware, specifically my stomach, which could create havoc in any unwanted moment. Because of my thirst and hunger and desire to drown the “glitches” of the whole day, I stupidly mixed drink and food that didn’t go together well. Aside from the sumptuous meal of grilled chicken, porkchop, pansit, afritada, and enchilada with bagoong and manga (yummy!), I uploaded three cans of beer, a bottle of Breezer plus ice cream and fruit salad. Not a good combination I tell you. Don’t worry; I was able to make it home and download all I needed to download just in time, thank goodness.

And after that, being physically and emotionally tired the whole day, I crashed in bed and turned off myself to the world with a throbbing headache.

I woke up today thinking what an odd day Thursday had been! If yesterday could only be restarted like a computer, I would have done it. But well, we live one day at a time and apparently, we do not have the power to halt whatever the day has in stored for us. Apparently folks, those were the things planned for me yesterday.

But today is a new day, and it looks like its going to be a simple, relaxing, but better day than yesterday with the fervent hope that there will be no viruses to plague it.

Or else I would have to look for a “Norton Anti-Virus” program to protect me from days like Thursdays so that it won't happen again.

And obviously, there is no such a thing.

Prayers Requested

2004-11-26T13:19:00.000+04:00

Dear Friends,

Last Saturday, my youngest sister Dianne gave birth to
a healthy 7-pound baby boy; the first in our family,
my first real nephew, and my family's new bundle of
joy. We have never been so happy in our lives. My
sister had a succesful delivery although she labored
for many hours before the doctors decided to do a
caesarian operation to let her give birth because the
baby was big.

After giving birth, my sister's temperature went up a
bit which the doctor said was normal since her body
had to recuperate with all she went through and
especially with the cut that has been done on her.
But up to now, her fever is still there and not
leaving her, lingering between 38.5 to 39 degrees
Celcius which is quite high and alarming. Sheila, my
sister who followed me and who is here with me in the
UAE, called me up a few hours ago with a quivering
voice, almost in tears, and informed me she has just
talked to our sister and found out that our sister is
having a hard time breathing and is still not feeling
well. The doctor has made some examinations on her
and found out that she has some water in her lungs -
the reason for her laborous breathing - and that she
needs to have an oxygen mask to help her breath
properly until her temperature returns to normal.

Now, I am humbly requesting for everyone's prayers in
this trying and troubling time in my family. We are
deeply scared for our "bunsong kapatid". We are
praying that she will be fine, that she will be
alright, and that she will be able to come home soon.
We need all the help we can get, most especially your
prayers.

I, for one am not a devout and religious man for
honestly speaking I have my personal struggles with
God. (Don't worry, I am not an agnostic or an atheist
though I was one once). But I pray most of the time
in good or bad times.

This is what I beseech and implore from you: prayers
for my sister to regain good health so that soon she
would be able to hold her son in her arms, take care
of him, and love him. (She has only seen her baby
once, a few hours after delivery but she was still
groggy at that time).

Please, please, pray for my sister.

Thank you very much from the bottom of my scared
heart.

In Love, Art, and Prayers,

Quay

Busy October

2004-11-02T20:18:00.000+04:00

How busy have I been in October? Let me count the days.

(This is a rundown of what I have done, accomplished, what kept me busy as hell, and filled my days and nights in the month of October. After finishing this, you’d understand why I wasn’t able to find time to write except for the last day and you might wonder where I got the strength and stamina to do all of this. I tell you, I don’t know either.)

October 1
I attended my Filipino Dance Club (FDC) Graduation Party and acted as the event photographer at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. I used up five rolls of films that night and by the time the party ended, I was more than dead tired.

October 2
After a long day at work, I hurriedly went to Efren “Bata” Reyes and Django Bustamante’s Press Conference at the Taj Palace Hotel to take photographs of the whole event and of course, my billiard idols. I almost arrived late because of the horrendous traffic everywhere that seemed to grow worse everyday. Good thing, the press con started late. It also ended late, making me go to bed quite late.

October 3
In the evening, after eating one piece of beef shawarma, I commuted to Sharjah (the neighboring emirate of Dubai) to meet up with my sister Sheila to get the money from her which we needed to remit to our family back in the Philippines. As usual, by the time I got home, because of the Manila-like traffic here, it was almost midnight. I had no time to do anything else but sleep.

October 4
After surviving almost 2 hours of grueling slow traffic, I arrived at Deira City Centre to remit some money back home. Then again, I had to experience the same traffic going home. Suffice to say, time to write or blog was not on my side again.

October 5
I went to the office of Pinoy News Magazine to give Amor Dagdag -- my Photographer friend and Lightform Filipino Photographers Guild (LFPG) club-mate who works there as the photo editor -- a CD of an artwork I’ve made for the The Filipino Channel’s (TFC) Showdown of the Champions Event that will happen here in December. I stayed awhile, checked my graphic artwork, and chatted with my friend among other things.

October 6
After work, I did a photo shoot for 14-year old Carol Anne Leus, the first TFC Dubai Pop Star Search Champion at the house of Anton Tajanlangit, her vocal coach and a fellow UP Alumnus and friend of mine because I needed her in the poster I am designing for the Showdown of the Champions in Dubai concert. Along with Erik Santos, Christian Bautista, Rachelle Ann Go, and other new Filipino young singers, she will perform a song or two in this event.

October 7
I went to Las Palmas Beach Resort in Um Al Quwain (two emirates away north of Dubai) for the overnight outing activity of LFPG, my photography club. My friends and I played tong-its, pusoy dos, 41, pekwa, and other card games the whole night. In every game, the loser was the one to deal the cards in the next round. Most of the time, I won and dealt the cards only once. I also played my guitar and overworked the videoke until the wee hours of the morning, approximately around 4 am.

October 8
Still at Las Palmas Beach Resort, I woke up at 7 am along with my other club-mates and ate a sumptuous breakfast of different Filipino dishes (Adobo! Sinangag! Fried Egg!). The rest of the morning, we played games like Trip to Jerusalem, Beating the Egg with an Eggplant, The Longest Line, etc. At lunchtime, some members braved the scorching sun in the swimming pool; others went back to singing their hearts out with the videoke; while I headed back to the comforts of the bed and dreamland. We vacated the rented chalet at 2 pm and arrived in Dubai at 3:30 p.m. I slept at 4, woke up at 6, dressed up, and went to cover Porkchop & Carmi Martin event. I took pictures of the comedy show and enjoyed it immensely. It was another night of becoming a midnight owl.

October 9
Leaving the office at 6 pm, braving the Dubai traffic for one and a half hours, and eating dinner in a fastfood restaurant for 20 minutes, I arrived at Janice Ong’s apartment at 7:30 – on time and the first one to arrive for our 1st UPAA-UAE By-Laws Committee Meeting. (I hate being late). UPians being bookish individuals, intelligent people, and highly opinionated bastards, we finished editing, revising, and defining only half of the set of by-laws (5 pages out of 10). It was like a court of law proceeding or a session in congress, with everyone adamantly and passionately fighting for their ideas, comments, and suggestions. There was a lot of debate and discussions on certain points, words, articles, and issues. But it was a lot of fun. Over fellow schoolmates and some bottles of beer and saucers of peanuts, how could it not be?

October 10
I went to the 2nd anniversary party of S Magazine (one of the best selling Filipino magazines here in the Middle East) along with the rest of my ABS-CBN officemates and other friends. Our friend Giby who is the Sales Head of the company invited us, and since ABS-CBN works closely with them, all the staff had to be there. Even our boss with his beautiful wife in tow came over and partied also. I took some pictures of the event (mostly of the beautiful women dancing and getting drunk). Of course, I drank and danced the night away too just like everyone. That’s the reason why everyone came to work late the next day; but not me.

October 11
Still lacking sleep and tremendously tired, I went to the “Part two” of our UPAA-UAE By-Laws Committee meeting. This time, although we ended way past one a.m. just like the first meeting, we were able to finish the association’s by-laws even if there were only six of us present out of the ten members of the committee. We also managed to finish the beer and Iranian and Arabic nuts that were there at Janice’s table.

October 12
It was one fully-packed working day as I finished some poster and staff ID designs at home, then commuted to the office which is like 40 kms away from where I live, and then in the afternoon returned home to do some work again. In addition, I had to have all of my unprocessed film rolls developed (FDC, Carol Anne, Porkchop Event, etc). Good thing, the Kodak center is just across the building where I live - like fifty steps from my door - so I didn’t need to go far for developing. But I spent the whole night scanning hundreds of pictures and in some cases editing, resizing, and cropping them. By the time I finished scanning, my butt got stuck on my chair, my hands atrophied on the mouse, and I felt like eternity had passed me by twenty times over.

October 13
It was a crazy and busy kind of day for me. I worked at home because the Apple Mac G5 which we ordered a week ago still hadn’t been delivered to the office. So, I had no choice but to use my PC for my heavy graphic artwork files, slowing down my work progress in the process. Then, we had a tremendous problem with our ticket printer-supplier in terms of delivery. I believe a hundred calls happened between me, Andy my boss, and the suppliers on that day, with the cellular airwaves and telephone lines being burned with flaring tempers and harsh words. My boss and I went to the concert venue, had a meeting with the man in charge there, drove back to the office, and went home quite late… again. What’s new?

October 14
We went to Dubai’s Department of Trade and Commerce, and carried boxes of our concert tickets for its approval, quantity control, and DTC stamping. Unfortunately, our ticket was rejected for so many raison d'être (wrong size of perforated portion, no specific price on the main ticket body, no Arabic translation, and a thousand other reasons) so that added to our tension, exhaustion, and bewilderment for we were already time pressured to release the tickets on our announced date, which was October 16.

I would have written something that night if it only weren’t for the fact that my PC was missing at home. Nope, it didn’t get stolen. I brought it to our office the previous day because it was frustrating to have no equipment to use at ne's desk. Everyday, I waited anxiously for the arrival of the Power Mac G5, to have my fingers on its sleek mouse and keyboard and have fun with all those fancy OS X features again. With boredom creeping in, I watched Love Actually for the nth time.

October 15
I was SOOOO tired and lacked sleep the whole two weeks that I woke up late in the day, almost noon, (a rarity because I don’t usually sleep longer than six or seven hours). I cooked lunch, fixed my apartment a bit and by the time I sat in front of my PC to write, fatigue and weariness slowly dragged me back to my bed. It was the start of Ramadan so it was a perfect time to rest since the whole Muslim world is generally inactive during the day. I woke up in the evening, cooked dinner and my “baon” for work, played my guitar and went to bed again. I’ve never been this bushed and lethargic. Well, I’ve never been this busy before. Or have I?

October 16
I had a Board of Directors’ meeting with my fellow LFPG officers. We were supposed to have dinner at Chowking at 7 pm and the meeting at 8 pm but Filipinos being Filipinos, everyone arrived late including me for I almost forgot about it! We ate at quarter to eight then proceeded with the actual meeting at 9 pm. We talked about the financial accounts status of the club, current and annoying problems plaguing the members and officers of the guild, upcoming and proposed projects, and schedule of activities for the remainder of the year. We started late, thus we ended late.

October 17
I did a lingerie photo-shoot at home for a freelance job I got from Agnes, a friend and former company-mate in Splash. As much as this project sounds interesting, this photo-shoot of mine was without any real life models for the pictures were to be used in a brochure for Saudi. I had to come up with new shots for my friend’s Singaporean boss for he didn’t like the first set of pictures I submitted. I shot the bras and panties on a transparent mannequin on several colored textiles as background (I used two of my bed sheets for this, as a photographer you use whatever you have around you). This took up the whole of my evening. Oh, how I wished I was shooting those panties and bras were instead tightly fixed on the sexy, mouth-salivating body of an alluring model? Maybe next time.

October 18
Another LFPG meeting again but this time it was a meeting of the Environmental Awareness Committee. We discussed our upcoming 3rd Environmental Awareness Photo competition and Exhibition this December and everything about it to make it a sure success just like its predecessors. Our venue was Salt and Pepper in Karama, known to other nationalities as Little Manila because of the overflowing population of Filipinos there. Dinner was great and so was the discussion. Wish I could say the same about my sleep.

October 19
Because Mario, our Sales Head backed out in “Managing for Business Success” organized by the UP College of Business Administration and Philippine Business Council-Dubai, I had to take his place to complete the four slots given to ABS-CBN out of 40 participants. Good thing I joined because I got to discover and talk to fellow UP Alumni who were working in Smith and Nephew, which sent 17 of its employees in the seminar. On my right was Jen Mendoza, who I have already met in the UPAA-UAE meeting before; while on my left was Cristina Casiple, who at that time has only been in Dubai for less than a week. Another bonus is that there were a hefty number of beautiful women there, Filipinas and foreigners alike… hehehe. By the way, the topic for that day was all about marketing and subjects related to it… I think. Sorry, my attention, eyes,and thoughts were drawn to the angel-like, beautiful Iraqi woman sitting across the room almost in front of me. The seminar ended at 11:30 pm, I got home at 12:30 am, went to bed at 1:30 am, and tossed and turned on my bed until I fell asleep at 2:30 am.

October 20
I worked from 8:30 to 2:00 pm then with Andrew, our Business Development Manager, and Edgar, our Chief Accountant, went to the seminar at Crowne Plaza Hotel in Sheikh Zayed Road. We listened to the lecture about accounting from 3 to 7 pm, had dinner from 7 to 8, and then finished the remaining topics until 11:00 pm. Correction: They listened to the lecture. I tried listening. And yes my eyes were still on that chubby, mestiza, Muslim Iraqi woman. After the lecture, all of us went to our respective groups to plan and talk about our Marketing Presentation the next day. Suffice to say, I got home way past midnight again.

October 21
Same work and seminar schedule but at least this was the last day of a fun and interesting seminar. We did our marketing presentations and solved problems in the accounting portion of the seminar after dinner. In the informal graduation, our Philippine Labour Attache Atty. Vicente Cabe, UP Professors Ben Paul Gutierrez and Jo Florendo, and some of the officers of the PBC handed out the certificate of participation to us. As usual in any Filipino event, there were so many “Kodakan” or picture-taking moments. All was well for it ended well.
I had to take the video coverage of the event for Andy, my boss, couldn’t go.

October 22
It was a weekend for resting, cleaning the house, washing the laundry, cooking, and watching some pirated DVDs. (Friday is the weekend in the Middle East for this is the holy day for Muslims just like Sunday is to Christians). I did some brisk walking that night and somehow my feet led me to a Gent’s Saloon to give my toenails a much needed clipping and cleaning up.

October 23
We, the officers of my photography club, had another meeting. Same people present, same time of arrival, same problems, same discussions but different venue. This time Continental Restaurant near where I used to live became our “boardroom”. Enough said.

October 24
On this day, I went to church. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you’ve read it right: “I went to church.” So, put down your eyebrows and control your disbelief. I do go to church sometimes, once in a blue moon, or when my heart tells me to. I may not be a devout Catholic like my fiancée, but I do hold on to my faith and everyday try to be the best human being I can be, in the service of man and Whoever Is Up There. Yes, I listened to the priest. Yes, I prayed.

October 25
I met up with Anton – one of our volunteer ABS-CBN correspondents here and a fellow UP Alumni – in McDonalds, Al Ghurair Centre to hand over to him our company’s video camera, which he needed to cover an event with our Embassy Officials here. After, seeing the unbelievable traffic, I decided to walk home. It took me about 20 minutes. Of course upon reaching home, I had to cook my dinner and prepare my things for work the next day and did some laundry and fixed my bathroom and defrosted the refrigerator and…

October 26
I went to the office of my friend Amor Dagdag and gave him the CD of the Showdown of the Champions Dubai Concert print ad with the sponsors’ logos which they will include in the next issue of Pinoy News.

October 27
I was a bit pissed-off with my flat-mate and his girlfriend for leaving their used dirty spoons, forks, and plates on the sink unwashed, so I decided to walk around the area where I live to cool down. It was a wonderful evening walk given that the weather was friendlier and colder now. Since I was already in a sporty get-up, I ended up jogging around Deira, Dubai and approximately covered perhaps 3 to 4 kilometers. It was a nice work-out for a night that didn’t start out too well.

October 28
We had our actual “Night Photography” for LFPG Batch 13 members, who are in their Advance Photography Sessions right now. Our meeting place was at Creek Side where the Dubai Cruise and some beautiful yachts can be found at 8 pm. Kuya Ferdie, our club’s Vice-President handled the lecture, while I, as the Director for Basic and Advanced Photography assisted him and our students. All night, our students took shots of Dubai at night, specifically the sparkling and well-lit buildings adorning the creek-side of Deira. We finished at around 11 after everyone had enjoyed the nice cold nightwind and company of friends.

October 29
Christian Gueco, an old college friend of mine and my teammate in our Special Forces group in the UP-ROTC and who I accidentally met a week ago in the bus on our way to work, came over and had lunch at my flat. We haven’t seen each other for about five years now so imagine our surprise to see each other in another country! All the people who were sleeping in the bus that morning was rudely awakened by us as we shouted each other’s name and chatted jubilantly the whole trip. I invited him to my flat to catch up on each other’s lives and renew our friendship. We are also connected in our own six degrees of separation for his wife is the bestfriend of Hazel who is the wife of my friend and former co-teacher in the Ateneo High School. Nice huh? We watched Aliens DVD and then at 5 pm he invited me to come with him to his friends and roommate’s picnic at Creek Park. His friend turned out to be my friend too and Dubai being small and all, I was surprised to see so many of my friends there. Christian was amazed at the many people who know me there. I reminded him that I have been here three years and that’s a pretty looong time. It was a great picnic, with great food, great music, and great people. I became a citizen of the midnight hour again.

October 30
About midday, I got a call from Rajesh, my former Indian officemate from Splash who resigned a month after I left that company and who has started his own business here in Dubai. He told me he had a freelance job for me: to design a mall kiosk. We met up after work in his cousin and his office near Al Sabkha Bus Station in Naif and discussed the artwork that I needed to make.
Then, for the umpteenth time this month, we had our LFPG Officers’ Meeting at the same place, same time, almost same everything. I don’t need to elaborate on this one.

October 31
Finally, I had time to write… the only day and time in the whole month of October I was able to gather my thoughts, pound on the keyboards, and start writing and blogging again. Whew! What a month it has been!!! Everyday made me grasp for my breath.

I don’t know what November will bring but I sure hope it will be far from the madness and frenzied schedule of October.

Now to conclude this entry (these are reworked lines from Elizabeth Browning’s Sonnet #43 poem):

“I have been busy in a month I seemed to lose
With my lost saints!---I have been busy with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!---but, if I may choose,
I shall be busy no more after October’s death.”

MIA (Missing in Internet Action)

2004-11-02T20:16:00.000+04:00

“Sir, Quay here, reporting back for blogging duty, Sir!”

I have been an MIA for more than a month now.

Nope, I didn’t get lost in the deserts or modern day jungle of Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, or of the other Emirates trapped in my own Gulf war, nor did I get sucked into any thing resembling a blackhole in cyberspace. Fact of the matter is, you could say I was nowhere near the battlefield of Tim Berners-Lee’s creation.

I just got caught in the worldwide web of work lately whereas before it was in the real World Wide Web I was entangled in, specifically the blogging world. It was back to the intricacies of the real world for me, the 9-6 job and the commuting in the morning and hitching a ride in the evening with co-workers. You could say I was unplugged for the past few weeks. I have become a full-time working soldier again constantly doing battle with the everyday world. If only blogging could be considered a job and would pay well...sigh.

While my other cyber-army buddies like Dean, Nikki, Jo, Pauline, and Joey plodded on to do the blogging battle, I got left temporarily behind in the blog mania or the whole Internet thing for that matter. Not that I wanted to but circumstances forced me to. I was loaded and swamped with work and other stuff (and that’s an understatement I’m telling you) that I even hardly had time to check my emails even at the office or at home. And whenever I had time to check them, it’d be for just a minute or two and I would only make short replies to the emails of family and friends. I was on the stalker mode, like a Special Forces ranger left in the forest for days, lurking among the shadows, stalking behind the grasses, and waiting for the right moment to make his kill or reappear among his teammates.

I was AWOL for quite some time. But now I am back in my own “The Fool” blog-barracks, preparing for battle… the literary kind, fully loading my mind with words as bullets and ready to fire away on the keyboards again.

I hope to hit the right targets once more.

I'm Back

2004-10-31T22:24:00.000+04:00

Just like a much-awaited sequel to a great movie;

like Aahnold in Terminator 2 with his shades, shotgun, thick accent, and emotionless face all set to say and make “Asta La Vista Baby” to the evil T-1000 cyborg,
like Freddy Krueger who remains as everyone’s nightmare in every Nightmare on Elm Street movie just when you thought he was defeated in the previous one,
like the bad-ass Aliens who are just one bad species that can’t be obliterated no matter how hard Ripley tries,
like Don Michael Corleone who just keeps on killing and making a Mafia hit in every movie installment of The Godfather,
like the all the heroes in Two Towers and Return of the King in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy becoming better fighters and characters as they wend towards the end of their quest,
like Neo being reloaded and revolutionizing the machine-ruled world in the two Matrix sequels,
like Darth Vader and his empire striking back or Luke Skywalker returning as a Jedi in the Star Wars saga,

I’M BACK (!!!)… in the Blogging World!!!

And boy, it sure makes me feel good!

Just like what great sequels do.

May the force be with you.

New Article for www.inq7.net

2004-10-02T23:51:00.000+04:00

Hello again, blogging people of the world. I'm sorry, real sorry for being out of the blogging scene for quite awhile now. (I'm not sure if people did miss me for compared to other bloggers like my friends Dean Francis Reyes Alfar, Nikki Go-Alfar, Jo Disini, and Joey Alarilla, I don't get too many visitors in my site. That is a bit of a personal plea, hehehe. But that will change soon once my friend Nikki helps me in giving my site a new look -- a look that is totally me, totally Quay. So you all should watch out for it). So many things have happened to me in the past few weeks, and months even, that I haven't had the time and chance to really sit down, put my act together, and turn all my thoughts in writing. But once I get the chance, I promise to pour all of them in one sitting. I hope it is this weekend... I hope, I hope.

So, while I am still trying to finish a couple of entries about why I have been busy and all the eventful things that transpired in my life from July up to now, kindly check out my latest article in www.inq7.net about my Filipino photographers' club here in Dubai, UAE. Sad to say, this is going to be one of my last few entries for my best friend and kumpare Joey Alarilla because I am finalizing my papers with ABS-CBN TFC Middle East to work for the Lopez clan. Yes, you read it right! I am going to work in Channel 2's Middle East branch of operations here (after some terrible months of being out of a full-time job) as a graphic artist, photographer, correspondent, and writer among other things. Actually, I have started working for them the other week but my work visa is still with my former employer so legally and technically I am still not their employee. That gives me some more time and leeway to contribute articles to Joey. But don't worry, once I can no longer contribute to www.inq7.net, I will still put the articles I plan to give to Joey in my blogsite.

And of course that doesn't mean my friendship with my best pal will end. As Joey said, "Our companies may be rivals, we will always be best friends."

True, true, true.

Till next time, enjoy reading. As McArthur once said, "I shall return."

Or better yet, let's quote Aahnold -- "I'll be back!"

My Latest www.inq7.net Article

2004-09-18T01:32:00.000+04:00

Hello People of the World. Kindly check my latest article at www.inq7.net about the participation of Filipino companies in a prestigious fashion and textile exhibit held here in Dubai a week ago.

Thanks and may you all have great and wonderful lives!

In Love, Art, and Prayers,

Quay

My Best Friend’s Article

2004-09-13T15:38:00.000+04:00

Hello Blogging People of the World! Check out my best friend Joey's article on blog fever, how blogging (a kind of online diary or journal) has become an “in-thing” among writers and webbies (like me) as a simple internet venue to rant and write about anything, and basically just to express themselves and be themselves... ourselves I mean. He also he mentioned several of us -- his college friends and UP Tinta orgmates -- and our respective blogsite addresses, and how we spread the virus to him. Now he undeniably has become an inveterate blogger like us.

Go read the article. Perhaps, you might catch the blogging fever too.

The Bros - a Tribute to My UP Samaskom Friends

2004-09-13T14:59:00.000+04:00

Bro \brow\ n, abbr brothers
(Merriam-Webster Dictionary Definition) 1: a male having one or both parents in common with another individual.
(Samaskom Definition) 2: a male member of the Samaskom “barkada” (group of friends) known as “The Bros.”
(Translation in Tagalog) 3: utol, ‘tol, kapatid.

In my beloved organization called UP Samaskom, “barkadas” are created most of the time between people of the same batches. This happens because logically, members of the same batch go through the same experiences in their application days, thus creating an almost unbreakable bond between them. Their friendship is forced, forged, and formed by circumstances and chances sprinkled with a sense of batch history, unity, and loyalty. The batch becomes someone’s immediate family within the bigger family that is UP Samaskom.

But of course, there are “barkadas” that go beyond batches brought about by instant chemistry and years of being together -- camaraderie that is born out of time, destiny, and fate. One of these well known “barkadas” in UP Samaskom is called “The Bros.”

Who?

Most of the Samaskomers of the late 80’s and 90’s would of course be familiar with them, since some of The Bros are their good friends and batch mates, and maybe to some even their former lovers; but the new, very young, and uninitiated “Samaskomers” of the 2000’s may have never heard of them. Or perhaps they have heard the names of Chris Benigno, Jake San Diego, Joel Yauder, Paolo Taña, Chad Soriaga, Eric Evano, Randall Castor, and Edsel Sosa but never knew them collectively as The Bros.

The Bros were and up to now are called by their surnames or nicknames which are actually weird variations of their last names. Rarely were they called by their first names. Chris is Benigno or Benigers while Jayson is Jake, San Diego or San Diegers. Joel is better known as Yauder or Yauds and Eric is called Evano, Evaniks, Evanobitch, Evankers or Quay to differentiate him from the other three Erics of Samaskom (Go, Biasbas, and Pugeda). Richard is called Chading or Soriaga while Paolo was affectionately called Taña or T_e. Edsel and Randall were only the only ones called by their first names.

The Bros was not a gang of male hoodlums (they sure looked far from it with their good looks and talents), nor a pseudo-fraternity (they hated violence but on rare incidents violence approached them and had to deal with it in their own way), and far from being a herd of academic nerds (they had their unique appealing wit and intelligence nonetheless). They were into music, art, family, friends, good times, Samaskom… and of course women. Albeit they were infamously known as “mga babaero” or playboys (what can they do? they were young, they loved women and the women loved them back), many alumni will agree, they were devoted and dutiful members of the org, and on top of which, they were real and true as people and friends could be.

The Bros came from different batches of Samaskom and different colleges of the University of the Philippines. Yauder belongs to batch 89.1, Benigno and Jake are from batch 90.1, Chad and Evano are from batch 91.1, Randall is batch 91.2, Paolo is batch 92.2, and Edsel is batch 93.1. Yauder, Paolo, Chad, and Evano were all from the UP College of Fine Arts and all took up Visual Communication; Randall’s from the College of Architecture; Jake’s from the College of Mass Communication; Edsel’s from the College of Social Science and Philosophy; and Chris initially was from the College of Engineering then later transferred to the Institute of Geology. All are professionals in their chosen fields for several years now, trying to build up their respective careers. Half of them have settled down and have become family men while the others are following closely on the same path. The realities of adulthood, advent of the years, and unavoidability of age have transformed them into responsible yet still fun-loving and humorous individuals. Grown ups but not grown old. A little bit changed, yes but nonetheless still the same Bros they once were.

So, what were they like during their wild and carefree salad days with the organization, during the height of their passionate idealistic youth and fame? (Salad days meaning membership status that got extended because most of them got delayed graduating from college by a good couple of years for individual reasons but without a shadow of a doubt had the most wonderful times of their young lives).

The Bros were proud and true-blue Samaskomers, being just about in every aspect and facet of Samaskom’s life except being officers of the org -- an org which they dearly and intimately loved and cared for… and still do.

The Bros, like every member, would hang-out endlessly at the Samaskom tambayan (which Yauder was known for painting and redesigning) or Masscomm benches coming all the way from their far-flung colleges just to be with org-mates and friends. And on numerous occasions, it meant cutting their classes. They would endlessly crack jokes and make people laugh; help troubled friends by giving them advice or a piece of their minds; and as with any red-blooded teenagers, they’d ogle continuously at beautiful and drop-dead gorgeous women in the college and occasionally try to make their moves on them; sometimes with luck, sometimes none. These guys made sure that hanging out in Samaskom was enjoyable and never boring and many times as their lazy, crazy college afternoons fade into night, they would extend it with much awaited drinking sessions.

The Bros were notorious for instigating “inumans” (especially Chad). Drinking has always been a “time-honored” Samaskom tradition, an integral part of its culture, yet with them it achieved a new level of magnitude and madness. (In previous years, it was the Tarugos and other male alumni who were responsible for this particular Samaskom bonding activity. The Bros, being the next-generation carriers and proud inheritors of the torch made sure that the flame of this tradition would never flicker out. On the contrary, with them, it became an enormous blaze). The drinking sessions were done either right there at the college premises (when UP wasn’t strict with its rules yet), at the UP students’ favorite local watering hole Sarah’s and Gulod; or oftentimes at Evano’s -- The Bros’ turf and hang-out place. Sometimes, it was a combination of the three – the drinking would start at Masscomm, continue at Sarah’s, and end at Eric’s house. Not only did these “drink-till-you-puke” and “I-promise-not-to-drink-again” gatherings occur everyday, they would last well into dawn having begun at sunset or even earlier, and end only with the last shot from maybe the 16th and last bottle of cheap alcohol bought from the nearest sari-sari store. The makers of Tanduay, Emperador, and Ginebra San Miguel for sure have had a remarkable increase in their sales during this period thanks to The Bros and the rest of the Samaskomers. For a time, alcohol became the lifeblood and panacea of every Samaskomer. I believe no one escaped not getting invited to these “inumans” -- drinking throat-burning liquor chased with soft drinks, getting drunk, throwing up, and waking up the next day for school with a brain-wracking hang-over. Aah, but beyond this temporarily detested and unwarranted physical effects of drinking, what they gained were long-lasting and life-changing things. There was bonding and friendship created from the pouring out of heartaches and pains, with listening ears and voices soothing those adolescent rages. There was love and healing achieved in each sharing of personal stories and histories, in every wealth of sadness and gladness felt. All of this plus the overflowing laughter that transpired each night are dearly stored in each participant’s bottle of memories. Most, if not all, experienced these wild and crazy moments and could fondly reminisce them – members, alumni, and applicants too.

The Bros loved to terrorize applicants on the surface but deep down loved them as well. With the female ones, especially the attractive women, they’d befriend and try to get to know admirably. The rest who weren’t their liking, they’d make it hard on them to make them wish that they never applied to the org unless they could somehow prove or show that they deserved to be future members. If The Bros were affable and approachable to the members; with the applicants, it was the exact opposite. They wanted to inject trepidation, apprehension, and fear into their lives during their application period but much more so during initiation time. The knife station in the Samaskom initiation became known as The Bro Station. Throughout their station’s turn, they would scare the hell out of each and every applicant but after the daunting episodes, they would talk to the applicants about trust, loyalty, friendship, and Samaskom. Ooh, they cherished messing up with the applicants’ minds (perhaps as a payback for the female applicants who messed up their hearts). In the end, as these applicants became members, they became wonderful and close friends (and lovers) of The Bros while some even became Bros themselves.

The Bros was a consistent instrumental and influential force in the overall production and performance of Live AIDS. As part of the production, they held key positions and responsibilities pouring their hearts and souls into it. Yauder was the show’s Art Director for many consecutive years, then Chad and Chris ultimately took over and like their Bro predecessor did a magnificent job at it while Evano and Paolo were their Asst. Art Directors. Randall time and again was the Stage Props and Production head with Edsel always supporting him. Since most of The Bros were artistic and having a Bro as the Art Director, naturally the Art Department became The Bros’ Department. It was like “one-for-all-and-all-for-one” kind of thing for them – teamwork at its best. The Art Department was the most-attended, much-awaited, well-loved, and sorely-missed department during Live AIDS season by members and applicants alike. It was a department that constantly delivered the goods on time and every year made sure that their backdrops and other artworks would be as grand and beautiful as their previous year’s artworks, if not better. Jake was a Technical Director and accordingly, his Bro Edsel also helped out a lot in this endeavor. What’s more, being whacky as they were, they were part of the writers’ pool and would give their funny suggestions even if their ideas didn’t get to see the light of day.

In the performing part, they contributed largely too. Evano was the first true male choreographer and dancer of the org; starting out as an Asst. Dance Choreographer, then Head Choreographer, and finally a Spot Dance Choreographer. Many alumni, members, and audiences were taken out of their seats when in Live AIDS 9 four of The Bros (Evano, Paolo, Chad, and Benigno) danced in an all-male dance number of 8 people to Gary V’s “Shout for Joy” or when in Live AIDS 11 three Bros performed in a Spot Dance – the first in Live AIDS history and has never been done again. Every Bro had his 15 minutes of fame on the stage as a singer, dancer, or actor. Yauder portrayed Robin Padilla several times and played the role to a T. Chad, who acted out many roles, was best in his several portrayal of Erap Estrada (Writer’s note: Both had the same vices -- drinking, smoking, women, gambling, poor English; the character was tailor made for Chad! Hahaha. Joke only) but is highly remembered for his acting opposite Giselle Sanchez’s Bella Flores in Live AIDS 9, bringing the house down with laughter and hysterics. Evano acted as Rene Requiestas and played other bit roles. Randall and Edsel were always successful acting out in commercial spoofs. Paolo was hilarious as a hula girl in the show’s tenth anniversary. Chad and Benigno were mainstay singers in the shows’ opening and closing numbers year after year but the other Bros sang too. Yauds was perfect in his get-up and in singing “No Touch” during Live AIDS 9. In the same show, the audience was delightfully surprised when Jake, there in his Technical Director’s booth amongst the crowd, continued the rapping of Francis M’s “Mga Kababayan Ko” right after Chad. Evano sang “Blue Jeans” with Benigno and Chad in Live AIDS 12 which became known as The Bro Song. The Bros did everything in their capacity and used their talents, time, and skills to make sure that every Live AIDS show was an immense success, for the glory of their beloved org -- Samaskom. They were true artists, musicians, actors, and performers and especially true Samaskomers at heart.

(The Bros even had a short-lived band called “Abstract” with Benigno on vocals and rhythm guitar, Evano on lead guitar and backing vocals, Randall on bass guitar, and Jojo their good friend as their drummer).

It is because of this incomparable love for the org and experiences that brought them together as a “barkada.” With every passing day in and with Samaskom, every “inuman” sessions, Live AIDS practices, Art Dept get-togethers, hanging-out and living together at Evano’s home, the eight totally different individuals began to become closer to each other and consequently developed into best of friends. They started calling each other Bro and as everyone followed suit, the term got stuck and they became branded as “The Bros.” Throughout the years, because of their profound and intense friendship, they in fact have become like real brothers to each other.

In a weird twist of fate, every Bro had always been connected with each other through some degree of separation. Benigno is a batch mate and close friend of Jake in Samaskom; Jake is a school mate and batch mate of Yauds from Maries High School; Yauds was a classmate and a good friend of Paolo in the College of Fine Arts; Paolo and Chad were classmates, belonged to one block section and “barkada” in the same college; Chad and Evano have been best friends since their elementary days in UPIS and both were taking up advertising; Evano and Randall have been neighbors since they were kids and were schoolmates from UP High School; Randall and Edsel were close friends and org-mates in the UP Rifle Pistol Team (UP RPT).

The number of The Bros didn’t stop at eight but grew through time and got extended. Other good and close friends became part of The Bros like Apollo Abraham, Dimpy Jasmines, Dino Orig, Ney Soriaga, Dingdong Altarejos, and others. But the eight guys remain the core of the group. Close female friends of The Bros were aptly called The Bras and close gay friends were called The Brews. Every Samaskomer from then on caught on with the term and has used it since. But not everybody could be a real Bro (or a Bra or a Brew) in the same vein that not everyone could be a true Samaskomer.

For The Bros’ the definition of a Bro is: a totally unique Samaskom character who is utterly cool and hip with a style very much his own; highly-opinionated, intelligent, passionate, and talented; good-looking and humorous; helpful and unquestionably responsible; completely adores and loves women and the org of course; but above all a true friend.

It has been years since The Bros have been complete, since they have seen and been with each other. And perhaps it would take countless years before they would be able to do so. Benigno and his wife now are now naturalized citizens of the USA where they both work and reside. Evano or (Quay as he prefers to be called) has been an OFW in Dubai, UAE close to three years now. Jake, Paolo, and Yauder aside from being busy with their jobs, are equally busy being husbands and fathers. Chad, who works in ABS-CBN with Yauds and the only Bro who is still pretty much in touch with the younger generations of Samaskomers (who calls him Daddy Chad), like the rest is engaged in the daily grind of making a living (but I bet he definitely still finds time to drink Emperador). Randall and Edsel, I’m confident, are either occupied with their careers, with their girlfriends or something in between.

Each Bro is busy living his own life now and pursuing their individual goals for the future. Only time will tell if they will ever be complete again. If that reunion happens, they would be with their wives and perhaps carrying the next generation of Bros with them.

Tales of friendship are often told with the most poignant and fondest of memories for real friendship is one of those rare intangible treasures in the world we bring with us until we grow old. I am not so sure where they are now, what they are exactly doing with their lives, where they are employed, or what’s keeping them busy, but I can honestly say that The Bros will always be there for each other. A real Bro will remain a true friend forever. Time and distance cannot and will never alter that. That’s one thing I am a hundred percent sure of.

I can say this and know all of this because I lived through it.

It’s because I am a Bro.

And always will be one.

By: Eric Quay P. Evano,
UP Samaskom Batch 91.1 and a Bro Forever

Different Habits for Different Hobbits

2004-09-02T21:39:00.000+04:00

The common adage “different strokes for different folks” applies well to me and my roommate of two months, Ronald.

Although we have so many things in common (we are both graphic artists, love women, and are Bicolanos, hailing from the same province of Sorsogon), we are quite opposites in a lot of ways, especially when it comes to our sleeping behaviors.

He never finds it a problem to sleep with the lights on and an onset of loud music. These things don’t bother him, not one bit. And he doesn’t move about that much on the bed, habitually waking up in the same “plastered” position he was in when he closed his eyes. I tried once if I could awaken from his golden slumber by watching Return of the King with the volume at full blast. How I miserably failed like Sauron in his evil bid to conquer all of Middle Earth! True to form, he hibernated like a bear, almost never twitching or twisting in his bed. The next morning when he awoke, I told him I was sorry for the noise of the movie I was watching that night if it somehow disturbed him in his sleep. He was surprised to know that I was watching a movie when he thought I was asleep too for he never heard anything. Can you believe this guy? At the level of volume I was watching Peter Jackson’s film, you’d have thought that Aragorn, Legolas, Gandalf, and the Hobbits were right there and then in our flat doing their heroic battles against the Orcs and Nazguls.

All I can say is that this hobbit sleeps very deep in his hole. He sleeps as if he is in a coma, like Frodo in Rivendell after being stabbed by the King-Witch of Angmar at Weathertop. The whole Battle at Helms Deep or at Pellenor Fields could be happening right beside him but I am pretty sure he'd still be sleeping soundly like a baby.

He can even sleep continuously for twelve hours standing up only once to go to the john to relieve himself. Then after four to five hours of being awake, he can easily go back to bed and doze off in an instant. Eight hours of sleep or more is what he needs each day. Less than that weakens him as if he is carrying the one true ring. He is consistently late at work because according to him it is a hellish struggle for him to wake up everyday, needing three alarm settings before he can fully move about… sluggishly at that.

I am definitely the antithesis to his snoozing practices, the other end of the sleeping spectrum, the wide-awake Sam to his resting tired Frodo.

Usually, it takes ten to fifteen minutes for me to properly settle in and be “half-dead” to the world (I am helplessly a light sleeper – a Sam always on the lookout for Gollum). I find it hard to sleep without any good cloak of darkness enveloping my room or if there is noise. A wee amount of sound can simply rouse me, and once I am awakened, I terribly find it hard to return to dreamland. It would take me at least thirty minutes to an hour to revert back to any comfortable state of slumber. And oh, I am utterly restless and restive on the bed, assuming quite a number of sleeping positions throughout the whole night. Sometimes I’d wake up with my head on the part of the bed where my hobbit feet should have been and find my beddings, bed sheet, and pillowcases all in disarray.

Another problem of mine is that my body clock is programmed to wake me up at 7 a.m. daily. Even if I sleep late, I’d helplessly open my eyes at this particular time, stand up, and go to the toilet. On some days, even if my eyes are still clamoring to be shut, it is useless for me to clamber back to bed because my mind and body by then would already be fully charged. Unlike my roommate, I don’t really need an alarm because I usually wake up minutes before it is set to go off. And when I am awake, I am awake. I don’t have to literally drag myself to move about and fix myself to prepare for the day. Five hours of sleep is enough for me. Eight is proper. More than eight would give me terrible headaches.

Maybe, it’s because I, Samwise GamgeERIC, am insomniac and love to be awake, whereas FROnalDO is narcoleptic and is hungry for sleep.

Lastly, one more unlikeness we have is that he snores. I don’t.

Ah, well, to each his own -- different sleeps for different *peeps.

Different habits for different hobbits.

(Coincidentally, he is the one who replaced me in previous company where I worked and most of the people there don’t know that he is my roommate.)

*A Tagalog slang for people.

Writer's Epiphany

2004-08-29T18:53:00.001+04:00

There are days when all I want is to write.

As a writer and a poet, I wish that every moment of my life is packed with sudden sparks of literary ideas or empyreal inspirations; an unending torrent of words that would go straight into my hands and with a mind of their own, simply type as fast as they could as if the very survival of my life depended on it. I want to experience the kind of epiphany that Gabriel Garcia Marquez had when one day it all became divinely lucid to him how he was to write his then untitled novel “Cien Años de Soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude),” that became one of the greatest literary masterpieces of the last century. I want to lock myself in a room for eighteen months like he did -- hungry, tired, and almost dying when he came out but never felt more alive his entire life upon the completion of his book. I want to write something everyday – a poem, an article, a blog entry, a short story, whatever – just as long as I am able to produce any sort of worth-reading amalgamation of words.

Everyday that treasure chest of ideas is waiting to be unlocked. Everyday there is that chance to be immortal.

I want my mind to be a dam that needs to be consistently opened or else the gushing water would build up and ultimately break it. I want to be prolific and productive like my great literary heroes and writer-friends continually pissing out literary pieces for they are so drunk and full of them. I want my mind to be potent as poison creating phrases that will make a reader gasp and die… or healing as a panacea that will save him and give him life.

Yes, there are days when life, my artist’s muse, and Whoever Is Above are so gracious and giving in their bountiful harvest of ideas that I seem to easily vomit all the thoughts in my head in one prompting like a bulimic. There are days when the heavens freely open up with sweet aspersions and all I have to do is get drenched in the magical downpour of words and phrases. There are days when I feel like a conduit of a mystical and magical force when everything flows naturally, the words on the blank paper assuming a life of their own, life becoming a world of words, a phase of phrases, and a universe of verses.

But alas, most of the time, this kind of days doesn’t happen. I am only human and no genius of a writer.

There are days when writing is a struggle between life and death.

There are days when a piece of blank paper (or Word document) remains blank for hours, as I stare at it with no ideas coming into mind or the perfect first line selfishly playing hide and seek with me. There are days when to write is to make fire by hitting two stones until a spark appears after countless attempts. There are days when the Sandman is asleep, Calliope is dead, and the gods are selfish that I have to rely on all my inner strengths to write.

There are days when every letter I put on paper is a bubble of breath that leaves me as I drown in a sea of frustration. There are days when I have to fall on my knees and endlessly grope in the dark to find words like insects hiding in the forgotten fissures and fractures of the floor in my brain. There are days when each word I write is a dot of blood trickling from a cut in my wounded mind. There are days when the construction of every sentence is like laboriously creating a gigantic mural painting with an unsharpened pencil. There are days when finishing one paragraph is like chiseling marble with a needle to create a Statue of David. There are days when eternity seems to pass a thousand times before I could write one literary piece.

There are days when one has to suffer for his art.

And write from his heart.

This is one of those days.

Victories

2004-08-27T08:20:00.000+04:00

A friend’s success is my success too.

My good old college friend Dean Francis Reyes Alfar, famous Filipino playwright, poet, short story writer, and comic book writer-extraordinaire, and my best friend Jose Maria Alarilla, famous Filipino journalist, writer, poet, essayist, and newspaper editor both won “Palancas” this year. I would like to congratulate these two exceptionally talented, hardworking, passionate, and truly wonderful writer-friends of mine with their prestigious awards. (To those who don’t know the annual “Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award,” it is like the Philippine’s version of the Pulitzer Prize or the Nobel Prize in Literature. Achieving such an award is a great honor to any Filipino writer.)

Both are my friends and orgmates from UP Tinta, our then college organization composed of poets, writers, lovers of literature, and just about anyone who was enamored with the spoken and written word.

Dean Francis Reyes Alfar is a multi-awarded writer. He has previously won five Palancas (if I am not mistaken) in the One-Act Play and Short Story categories. This year, he has won one in each category making it a total of seven Palancas for him. Among his award winning works are the short story “Spark: The Sad and Strange Tale of Sister Maria Dolores, The Nun Who Exploded” and the plays “Fragments of Memories” and “Island: The Musical.” Many of his works have been published in local magazines, newspapers, and books. Another success of his this year is the inclusion of his short story entitled “L’ Aquilone du Estrellas (The Kite of Stars)” in the American publication “The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror Seventeenth Annual Collection” which appeared alongside the works of international literary greats like Neil Gaiman, the creator of the Sandman comic books and Ursula Le Guin. This story which metamorphosed into a play gave him his 2nd Prize win in the Palanca One-Act Play Category while his genre short story “Hollow: A Girl’s Romance” won 3rd Prize in the Futurist Fiction Category. His other passion is comic books and he is considered as one of the prime movers of “grafiction” in the country, endlessly working with illustrators and artists, and publishing and creating high-class standard comic books left and right. For this unbridled passion, he and his team won the 2004 National Book Award for Best Comic Book for their comic book anthology entitled “Siglo: Freedom” a few weeks ago. This guy I think has won every literary award there is in the Philippines and believe me he rightly deserves them all. He manages his own business advertising company called Kestrel IMC and is happily married to Nikki Go, who is also a great writer and a good friend from the same org. They have an adorable daughter named Sage. (You can check out their respective blogs at http://www.kestrelstudios.com/blog/ and http://nikkialfar.blogspot.com/).

Jose Maria Alarilla, my best friend who has always been there for me and has loved me like a brother through the years, has done countless newspaper articles and has won awards for his impressive and active role in IT journalism in the Philippines. He is currently the editor of www.inq7.net/globalnation. His writing entitled “Surviving the Zeroes,” which is about a father’s view on digital technology and how it is shaping the life of his daughter, won Third Prize in the Palanca Essay Category. This is his first Palanca. He is married to my “kumare” Ellen Quijano, who I share the same birthday with and who is also a wonderful writer. They have a beautiful two-year old daughter, my “inaanak,” Samantha. (You can email him at joey_alarilla@yahoo.com.)

It is an honor and a blessing to be connected with two great writers (very humble, creative, fun, and caring people I may add). It makes me feel proud to be their fellow writer, comrade in arts, and friend and equally makes me aspire to do better at my craft. Honestly, they have always been a source of inspiration to me. I have always believed that friends are the best idols one could have. Their success has motivated me to devote more precious time with my pen and ink (or the computer), be inspired again by my literary muse, and write down whatever ideas I have on poetry, short stories, essays, and even novels that constantly churn in my mind. For who knows, one of these ideas might turn out be an award winning work.

Until that happens, I will write and write and write, and hope to have my “Palanca” and my taste of success too.

For I know, my success will be their success too.

Congratulations again, Dean and Joey.

(And Ponjun Roco too, son of former Presidential-aspirant Raul Roco, another friend and orgmate from UP Tinta, for his successful one man show entitled “Prism” at the Pasig City Museum.)

Love Actually... Again and Again

2004-08-26T21:37:00.000+04:00

“I feel it in my fingers; I feel it in my toes.
Christmas is all around me and so the feeling grows.
It’s written in the wind; it’s everywhere I go.
So if you really love Christmas, come on and let it snow.”
- Bill Nighy singing as rock superstar “Bill Mack” –

“This is shit, isn’t it?”

“Yup, solid gold shit, maestro.”
-----------------------------------------

I have watched the film “LOVE ACTUALLY” a film by Richard Curtis a total of eight times.

Personally, this is a big deal to me and also maybe for others. Why? It’s because I usually don’t watch movies more than two times unless they are tremendously worth watching again and again like the Star Wars series, The Godfather, The Matrix, The Alien quadrilogy, and of course The Lord of the Rings trilogy (I have watched these films approximately 7 to 10 times). I mean, I watch these movies now and then mostly for their mind-blowing special effects rather and of course for their well-loved and superb stories. But usually people don’t go watching the same movie more than five times especially movies without big stars, big-budgeted action sequences, hi-tech special effects, and out-of-this word story twists and plots. Imagine viewing “Four Weddings and a Funeral” and the “Wedding Singer” eight times. I can watch them three or four times but that’s it. Unless they are your eternal favorites, to watch them countless times would be no problem.

For me, it is enough to view romantic films two to three times. Going beyond three or four, I sincerely believe is too much and borders on the insane -- on either being helplessly love-struck or broken hearted.

But with LOVE ACTUALLY, looks like I’ve been struck by love like what the movie is about. I have found this new personal fact a real wonder; it is quite pretty amusing and amazing to say the least. Somehow, something about this movie has made me fall in LOVE with it, ACTUALLY. I could watch it tonight and tomorrow and the succeeding days and know that I would never ever get tired of it. It’s like the way I have fallen in love with the poem “Somewhere I Have Never Traveled” by e.e. cummings or Melissa Green’s autobiography entitled “Color is the Suffering of Light.” No matter how many times I read these literary pieces, there is always something new to discover. It just feels wonderful every time… like having sex. In Tagalog, “walang kasawaan.”

There are just some things in life that strike a chord in our hearts, cling to them, and do not let go. This is what the movie exactly did to mine.

This heart-warming movie by Richard Curtis in his directorial debut (the writer who gave us Notting Hill, and Bridget Jones Diary) is about ten stories of different kinds of LOVE happening four weeks prior to Christmas in London. There is the story of a widowed husband (LIAM NEESON) trying to build up a good relationship with his quiet stepson (THOMAS SANGSTER) who is in the “total agony of being in love” with an American schoolmate (OLIVIA OLSON); an art gallery-owner (ANDREW LINCOLN) who is hiding his intense love for his best friend’s new bride (KEIRA KNIGHTLEY) who on her part thinks he despises her; an ex-heroin addict rock star (BILL NIGHY) on the road to a musical comeback with the help of his ever faithful friend and manager (GREGOR FISHER); a bachelor UK Prime Minister (HUGH GRANT) who instantly falls in love with one of his household staffs (MARTINE McCUTCHEON) on the first day of his job at 10 Downing Street; a broken hearted writer (COLIN FIRTH), who discovered his girlfriend having an affair with his brother, learning to speak Portuguese so that he could propose marriage to the Portuguese woman (LUCIA MONIZ) who used to clean his house in the South of France; an office girl (LAURA LINNEY) who has been in love with their company’s enigmatic chief designer (RODRIGO SANTORO) for “two years, seven months, three days, one hour, and thirty minutes” but is hindered to pursue her affection for him because she is taking care of her mentally-ill brother (MICHAEL FRITZGERALD); a busy mother (EMMA THOMPSON) preparing the animal costumes of her two kids for their school’s nativity play finding out her husband (ALAN RICKMAN) is on the verge of having an affair with her sexy and alluring secretary (HEIKE MAKATSCH); a goofy young sandwich vendor (KRIS MARSHALL) who thinks he is the “God of Sex” but is unfortunately on the wrong continent for he cannot find true love with any stuck-up British girls, believing he can instantly have a girlfriend in America which his best friend (ALAN BARNES) absolutely think is crap; and two naked movie stand-ins (JOANNA PAGE and MARTIN FREEMAN) slowly falling in love with each other in the course of filming. These sweet interconnected stories between characters that move in their own six degrees of separation plus the short but memorable appearance of Mr. Bean ROWAN ATKINSON, as a comically passionate jewelry salesman make the whole movie worth watching again and again. The opening and ending scenes of people joyously hugging and kissing each other upon arrival at Heathrow Airport sandwich the film majestically.

The interrelated stories and dialogues are simply brilliant as the scenes fluidly flow from one story to another. And the actors were just perfect for their roles and quite endearing in their characterizations. I believe that if other actors were given these parts, the movie would have failed miserably. For this, aside from the actors, actresses, and director, I also give the movie’s casting director and crew two thumbs up. (God, I sound like a film critic. Just remember, this is not a proper film review.)

The movie’s soundtrack adds a charming dimension to the film, enough to make you dance, smile, and feel sad with songs by Joni Mitchell, The Pointer Sisters, The Bay City Rollers, and of course Bill Nighy’s Christmas version of Wet Wet Wet’s “Love Is All Around.” The oldies-but-goldies songs are absolutely fun and “wicked” as Colin Frissel, one of the characters in the movie, would say. A new personal favorite is “God Only Knows” by the Beach Boys. By the way, this movie has also caused me to fall in love with Martine McCutcheon. She is just cute and ideal in her role as Hugh Grant’s love interest. I am now a self-confessed fanboy of hers as I proclaim her to be my favorite actress and celebrity-flavor of the year along with Lindsay Lohan. (Last year it was Kate Hudson and the previous years were Ashley Judd, Heather Graham, Anne Hathaway, etc).

This movie is more than an eye-candy; nor is it a film for the hopelessly romantic or just to past one’s idle time away. In its simplicity, it becomes an honest celluloid masterpiece, naturalistic in its happiness and pains and without any pretension just as true love is. It is now in my top-thirty list of favorite films which include Seven Samurai, Six Degrees of Separation, Being John Malkovich and the other previously mentioned movies.

I plainly suggest you watch it and you may get a hint of what I mean. You may LOVE ACTUALLY the movie.

Love it enough to watch it eight times or even more… just like I have.

Buildings in Dubai

2004-08-25T11:59:00.000+04:00

The funny and odd thing about Dubai is that majority of the buildings here don’t have names. Really. Or the buildings here would have such incredibly long names such as Jamal Mohammed Matar Al Hai Building, which no one really tries to memorize. For example, the building where I live is either called building no. 42 or 44 depending on which street you are located. Most of the time, I tell my friends or taxi drivers that it is the blue and white building behind Jesco Supermarket.

Yesterday, I needed to locate a “silver building” where I had an interview for an in-house graphic artist position in a consultancy and training management company called Glomacs. When the Filipina secretary called me up the other day, she instructed me how to go to their office. She said they are in the Hor Al Anz area and their building is a few buildings away from the Ramada Deira Hotel and Shoemart and that it is a “silver building.” My interview was scheduled at 9:30 a.m., but I went there quite early since I still had to find out where their office was. Besides, it has always been my usual habit to be early in my interview appointments just in case I get lost and can’t find the company’s office or location.

So, when I arrived in that area, keeping the secretary’s instructions in mind, I tried looking for a “silver building” in all directions… but to no avail. All I saw were beige, blue, white, and grey-colored buildings. I went up and down the streets on my left, my right, and in front of me searching for any building that might be hidden from my view and which actually was “silver.” Perhaps fifteen minutes had passed when I decided to call their office, being frustrated and all in finding no building with even a hint of silver on it. A guy answered my call and told me their building is near the For You Café and steadfastly remarked that “it truly is a silver building,” when I told him I couldn’t find any “silver building” in the area. Already sweating from the intense Middle East heat, I walked and walked again until I saw the café the guy was talking about. Then lo and behold, right there beside it was the building, a stark white building with the words “Silver Building” on its glass entrance door!

Silver was the name of the building and not its color. Oddly enough the only silver the building had were the glass handles and metal frames on the door. I chuckled and just shook my head in amazement at the unusual intelligence of people here in naming buildings and in giving directions.

Well, that’s Dubai for you.

Next time, when someone tells me it is a red building; I think I’d rather look for a blue or grey-colored building in the hopes that “red” could be its name than assume it to be the building’s color.

UP Naming Mahal -- even in the UAE

2004-08-08T19:15:00.000+04:00

"UP naming mahal, pamantasang hirang
Ang tinig namin, sana'y inyong diringgin
Malayong lupain, amin mang marating
Di rin magbabago ang damdamin
Di rin magbabago ang damdamin."

And so the University of the Philippines anthem goes.

How these lines and lyrics ring so faithfully true and apt especially for us countless of UP alumni who have gone to work and live in foreign lands! The passion and pride of being from the Philippines' premiere university -- where leaders are bred and nationalism and intellectualism are fed for greatness -- forever burn in the hearts of every UP alumnus. In many cities and countries around the world where there is a multitude of UP alumni, like Los Angeles and Australia, there exists a local chapter of the UP Alumni Association for that particular place. It is one way for UP alumni to keep in touch with each other, get reacquainted with old UP friends, get to know new ones (the old and young alike) and continue the excellent traditions and culture of our beloved alma mater -- such as leadership, service to others and patriotism -- while they are abroad.

It is with the same passion and pride that several UP alumni working and residing here in the United Arab Emirates have decided to create our own chapter. On July 31, 2004, the first ever general meeting for the creation of a University of the Philippines Alumni Association-United Arab Emirates (UPAA-UAE) Chapter was held at the Chowking Restaurant in Al Ghurair City; a casual dinner-meeting headed and organized by Ms Lucille Ong (BS HRA, '76, UP Diliman), Mrs. Cecille Ceniza-Rasul (BS Econ, '81, UP Diliman) and Mike Ortega (BA MassComm, '77) among other UP alumni who have been here in the UAE from the time it was mostly a good stretch of sand up to its present status as a world-class bustling metropolis.

In view of the fact that through the years, the number of UP alumni expatriates here has grown, these active UP alumni Filipino community leaders sensed it was high time to form a club or association wherein UP alumni could meet fellow UP alumni, become an extension of the great UP system and perhaps a way for each one to reminisce and share stories of their good old college days. Although the idea of putting up a UPAA chapter in the UAE had already been conceptualized and planned several years ago, the plan was subsequently kept on the shelf for awhile due to different reasons. But now, with the wonderful and incomparable help of modern technology, the UP alumni were informed about the semi-reunion event through e-mail, Internet e-groups, voice calls and SMS via mobile phones. Of course, others heard about the upcoming meeting through the old-fashioned yet very reliable word of mouth.

It was a momentous call from UP, our dear alma mater and beloved mother of learning, to be part of her again even if lands and seas separate us from her. As her ever-loyal and proud children, we responded enthusiastically. It felt like going to UP for the first day of school again.
It was a fun and momentous gathering, well attended by over 30 UP graduates from various UP locations and of different degrees, courses, batches and ages (the oldest is Batch 1965 whereas the youngest is Batch 2001) and from different emirates. As a mini-homecoming of sorts, smiles permeated the venue as heartfelt salutations were passed on from one person to another. Since most of us were strangers to each other or knew each other only by faces, we were all requested to stand up, state our full name, course, degree and the year we graduated. But the best part in each one's introduction was reciting our student number, which made everyone laugh for while majority of the older people effortlessly and casually uttered theirs, some of the young ones grappled in remembering their student numbers.

The three main UP campuses -- Diliman, Los BaÃ±os and Manila -- were represented as were the different colleges and disciplines. In the humanities and arts, there were alumni from the College of Fine Arts, Mass Communication and Music. In business and alike, there were representatives from the College of Business Administration, Economics and Tourism. In the sciences several people were from the College of Engineering, Architecture, Fisheries and Geology. Many of the attendees are working in the private sector of the UAE in various fields such as journalism, computer graphics, construction, airline industry and tourism while some alumni work for the government or public institutions such as hospitals, the Philippine Embassy, and schools. Equipped with a UP education, self-determination and solid work experiences, the UP alumni in the UAE can boast of being remarkable professionals in their chosen fields and are highly-respected not only in their respective companies but in the Filipino community as well.

The UP alumni who attended the event are the following (graduates from 1965 to 2003): UP Diliman -- Jess Galang (BS Geology, '65); Hector Morada (BS BA, '70); Tess Sto. Tomas (BS BA, '73); Marietta Morada (BS Math, '75); Elizabeth Ong-Lasagna (BS Fisheries, '76); Lucille Ong (BS HRA, '76, UP Diliman); Jose Mikhael Ortega (BA MassComm, '77); Cecille Ceniza-Rasul (BS Econ, '81); Raymundo Dy-Liaaco (BS Eng, '81); Marievic Ebetuer-Kurfurst (BS Tourism, '82); Tinette Pudda (BA Masscomm, '83); Anton Tajanlangit (B Music '84); Christina Barrientos (BS Tourism, '84); Daisy Mateo Dy-Liaaco (B Fine Arts, '86); Amroussi Rasul (MBA Econ, '90); Jay Hilotin (BA MassComm, '92); Ronnel Apil (BS Chem, '94); Janice Ong (BS PolSci, '96); Quay Evano (B Fine Arts, '96); Franklin Lacuzong (BA Archi, '98); Vale Tinio (BA Archi, '98); Malaya Fabros (BA Archi, '01); Redentor Ventura (BA Archi, '01); Orbel Reas, Jr (BS Chem Eng, '03); Marilyn Egdani (BA DevComm). UP Los BaÃ±os -- Danilo De Perio (BS Agri Eng, '83); Galo Calizo (BA DVM, '90); Ria Mendoza (BA DevComm, '97). UP Manila -- Nova Sto. Tomas (DDM, '01).

An interim board of 10 members was chosen to finalize the association's chapter constitution within two weeks for the approval of the whole group. Everyone was also asked to go through the draft by downloading it from their e-mail or from the association's e-group site. This will then be sent to UPAA Diliman, the head chapter, for the group's recognition and formalization. Members of the interim board who were chosen or volunteered are Hector Morada, Anton Tajanlangit, Galo Calizo, Vale Tinio, Tinette Pudda, Mike Ortega, Cecille Rasul, Dan De Perio, Jes Galang, Nova Sto. Tomas, Janice Ong and Jay Hilotin.

During the buffet dinner, the group also discussed other things like setting up a website in the future, proposed frequency of meetings, birthday celebrations, potential projects and making the association bigger by searching for other UP alumni in the UAE and bringing them to the group. However, what's most important, everyone agreed, is for the UPAA-UAE to become a duly recognized UPAA chapter and for it to thrive and survive in the coming years.

(For the other UP alumni living in the UAE who have not been contacted and who would like to join, you can subscribe to UPsaUAE@yahoogroup.com or e-mail the author of this article at quayevano@yahoo.com.)

At the end of the meeting, full from the food but more so from the wonderful emotions and joyful conversations reigning all night, everyone warmly smiled and posed for a group photo, a historic souvenir of better things to come. The room venue was like a noisy classroom as each UP alumnus said goodnight to a fellow UP schoolmate but everyone was excited and looking forward to the group's next get-together. Strangers when we came, friends when we left. That is the magical tie that binds one UP alumnus to another. Definitely, UPAA-UAE will be UP bonding at its best.

Yes, "UP Naming Mahal" whatever far lands we go to, our love, dedication, devotion, and passion for you -- our cherished and beloved alma mater -- will never change and will resonate in our hearts, minds and souls wherever we are. Your spirit is always with us. That's what makes one a true UPian.

Mabuhay ka, UP naming mahal!

(This article came out in the features section of www.inq7.net/globalnation on August 5, 2004. Here is the link: http://www.inq7.net/globalnation/sec_fea/2004/aug/05-01.htm)

July in Dubai

2004-07-29T17:21:00.000+04:00

What is it in Dubai in July?

Well, there is this well-known event called the Dubai Summer Surprises or DSS when countless fun activities, promotions, and sales happen all over the city. DSS I believe, is an offshoot of the Dubai Shopping Festival or DSF that happens in mid-January to mid-February of every year for if DSF is for the spring season, DSS obviously is for the summer season (for winter it is Ramadan and Christmas). It's a three month event created to entice, invite, and attract foreigners to come and shop in Dubai especially during this time when business sales plummet dramatically because throngs of Europeans or other expatriates go on a vacation exodus to their much cooler continents to let the month pass.

Why leave Dubai in July? Just two words: The Heat and that is in capital H!

No make those many words: infernal, sweltering, scorching, dehydrating, physically debilitating, nerve-wracking, intolerable, mind-boggling, and torrential-sweat-factory kind of heat.

You may say I am over reacting here and hyping up things about the heat in Dubai. Honestly, how I wish I am. Being used to the heat in the Philippines, my country with a tropical climate could just be the North Pole compared to this place. However, having lived here for close to three years now, I have grown accustomed to the heat or should I say fairly adjusted to it like most residents here. Yet no matter how hard we try to tolerate the weather, you'd still hear us complain.

It is like this. July is the hottest month of the year here, or the whole of the Middle East for that matter. The heat would slowly start building up from May, then June, and then culminate in July. During this month, the normal temperature everyday would be somewhere between 42 to 46 degrees Celsius and that is the climate still being friendly. On a not so nice day, the mercury can rise from 48 to 50 degrees Celsius! Can you imagine that?! (I've heard that in some parts of Saudi Arabia it can go up to 55 degrees Celsius! Now that is something I have no plans of experiencing. Not in this lifetime; I hope). Funny thing about it is that even with these ungodly and insane temperatures, it has never been called a heatwave. It's just, well, just a normal occurrence of hot temperature, that's all. If this kind of weather transpires in other countries, not only will it be called a heatwave but could be coined as a full scale natural disaster or calamity as well (I am thinking the exact opposite of the movie "Day After Tomorrow"), something that would require dramatic public actions in all forms. In Europe last year, the temperature rose to just 37 degrees and it was already a heatwave for the Europeans, sweeping the continent killing a great number of people. In the Philippines where the climate normally ranges from 24 to 34 degrees Celsius, the hottest temperature ever recorded I believe is the same: 37 degrees Celsius, not termed as a heatwave but hot just the same. So, imagine how it would feel if you set up the temperature ten to thirteen notches higher.

The heat here is just so inconceivable that when you go outside you are literally baked under the sun like clay or fish set out to dry. Need your newly washed clothes dry in an hour? No problem. Once you hang it outside, it might even take less than that. Want to bask in the sun to get a tan? Good luck. The sunburn you'll get might lead to skin cancer. A person doesn't have to exercise to sweat profusely. Standing a few minutes outside will do. It is as if the rays of the sun are hundreds of needles and pins carelessly and forcefully darting to you from everywhere, piercing through your clothes and pricking your skin, releasing all the water you have in your body in a second -- instant effortless weight loss. The whole place becomes one big microwave oven and the people are the food being cooked and heated up. I haven't tried it yet but it seems with this kind of heat, one can actually fry an egg on the hood of a car. You can add bacon and toast to go along with that if you want to. With this kind of warmth, things just melt easily-- ice, chocolate, whatever. Even a person feels like melting and you would know how an ice cream feels. And mind you, touching any metal exposed under the sun for a long time, just like the hood of a car, will seriously burn and sear you.

Maybe the wind can help? Forget the wind for it is not helpful either. The wind here can be likened to the spewing gust of air coming out of the engine of a running bus or even perhaps the breath of a yawning dragon. Feeling the wind is like adding salt to an open wound. Furthermore, the air is so thick with humidity like a heavy cloak wrapped around you and weighing you down, makes you hard to breathe and move around. So, in this situation, you are advised to always lug a bottle of water with you to protect yourself from dehydration.

Speaking of water, it comes out of the faucet hot as boiling water that has simmered down for a few minutes. Taking a bath or shower is like being in a hot spring or spa. It is better to collect the hot water in a big container to cool it down. And you truly need to take a shower more than once a day to cool you down. (Reality check: There are some foreigners here who don't regularly clean themselves up even with this heat and I am absolutely puzzled as to how they can stand it. Yikes!).

The meaning of thirst, dehydration, and heat fatigue assumes new levels here during this time. It is simply unfriendly. So, to live with the heat, you have to do things to bear with it. July in Dubai turns into a month for light colored clothes, heavy use of air conditioners and endlessly giving thanks and praise to its inventor, staying indoors more often at home or in malls, drinking more volumes of water and other liquids, and is known to be a time for taking countless paracetamol tablets to fight endless attacks of headaches and migraines. For the past couple of years now, I have suffered from migraines relentlessly during this period, as if I am being punished by the Devil himself.

Well, July in Dubai is hell for me. Everything about the place becomes dry, lifeless, and uninspiring. Even my moods, feelings, everything about me even up to my bones become the same -- dull, boring, and waterless. It is the month I want to get over with right away. It is the one month in the year I wish never existed; the one month I wish I was back home where I could experience rain.

July in Dubai is when I wish it is July in Manila. How I miss seeing the sky slowly darken with storm clouds, be filled with lightning and thunder, then freshen the air with the sweet smell and sound of approaching rain, and in one glorious moment heave and open up letting the rain drops hurtle to the earth to release the world from the punishing heat. And as the downpour bathes the cheering world, every pitter-patter and single drop of rain becomes a piece of heaven on earth. The world then turns magnificently new as she is suddenly cloaked in a surface of glistening silver; time stands still as the worries, miseries, and heartaches of the day are washed away.

Everything about the rain, seeing it, feeling it on your skin, and how it magically changes the world around you, is just pure poetry. It is this poetry I sorely miss and piously wish for to occur here; if it could be possible. But I wish for it nonetheless -- the beauty of the rain.

What is it in Dubai in July?

The heat, DSS, and the fervent wish for rain of a sentimental fool like me.

Welcome to the Blogging World

2004-07-22T22:28:00.000+04:00

I have been reading old email messages in my yahoo account this afternoon when I stumbled upon the addresses of the blog sites of old college friends. So, I since I was already surfing the internet, I decided to look at their blogs and personal websites. It was fun because I got to see how much their faces have changed and got to peek into what's happening in their lives right now. Intrigued heavily by their blogs, I decided to start my own blogs too. Now, I welcome myself to the blogging world.