2010 – Page 17 – Eliza Victoria

shutter island

It’s 1954. A woman who drowned her own children has escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane located on remote Shutter Island. US Marshal Edward “Teddy” Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio), accompanied by partner Chuck, takes the ferry to the hospital, and searches for clues as he battles his own dreams and demons.

I love the darkness and the storm, I love the stark color contrasts, the cigarette smoke and the swelling music. Mood, mood, mood. It’s one of those films you just have to watch under the covers on a dark, rainy day.

Should I begin reading Dennis Lehane now, or are the directors handling the film versions of his books just exceptionally good?

genre lures: tell-tale heart, monkey’s paw, the lottery

In Bob Neihart’s 2007 interview with Stephen King’s son and best-selling horror writer, Joe Hill, Ben Neihart said, “Hill writes in two traditions that he would argue are artificially walled off from each other: genre fiction, with its emphasis on breakneck, often outrageous, plot and metaphor; and literary realism, which values detailed characterization, psychological depth and subtle epiphanies.”

What an excellent description! And what a description that completely escaped me as a child, a young reader who wasn’t aware of these traditions at all, who knew only to categorize stories as either “good” or “boring”. Back then, all I wanted was to get from Point A to Point B–and to get to Point B fast. Who cares about lovely turns of phrases and language and words, who cares about character development? I only cared about one thing: what’s the plot? Is someone going to end up dead? Is there a lot of gore? Is there a twist? Is there a monster in it? During those early years of my life as a reader, nobody told me what to read. Nobody served as a guide, so I read whatever I found amusing, and I read blindly. Reading then was like walking around a dark house during a thunderstorm, and I believed, in my heart of hearts, that I’d be more excited if I reached out a hand and touched a large, slimy creature, than if I came upon a room within which a young woman sat in silence and mourned the sudden end of her youth. (Unless the sudden end of her youth turned her into a large, slimy creature. Then that would be seriously awesome.)

And so I gravitated toward the plot-driven stories, which turned out to belong to the genre fiction tradition.

friday

I’ve a bunch of Peanut Kisses to bring home to the family, so on Friday Jaykie and I had a mall date before I boarded the FX to Bulacan. I’ve been meaning to have my hair treated, but alas (but really, yay!) I’m going with Jaykie and his family to Subic on Saturday for more sunshine and beachlove. So I just canvassed. I’ve had my hair straightened in Going Straight twice (or thrice?) before, but SM North Edsa’s third floor was temporarily off-limits, so I asked David’s Salon and Tony and Jackey. Tony and Jackey offers the lowest rate for rebonding, 3k, with hair manicure and haircut, any length. Not bad, really.

But when I got home to Bulacan, I had a haircut at the local parlor and wondered if I should have my hair treated again. I mean, ugh, chemicals. And I could use the 3k to buy, I don’t know, shoes. Haha.

This was what my hair looked like when I stepped out of the parlor:

(Bought new shades; ruined my only pair back in Bohol, igzk.)

Look at the straight, shiny locks! Then I had a shower and:

Waves! But then in this picture my hair had more…personality. Ha.

And anyway in this heat I need to have the option to tie my hair every once in a while. So.

It rained when I got home. It always rains when I get home. I didn’t appreciate the flood, but the cold breeze was awesome. My parents came home from the store, and when my father saw me, he said, Ay! Kaya naman pala madaling-madali akong umuwi.

Asus.

Had good food for dinner, and watched How I Met Your Mother on my parents’ kickass (and very new) dvd player. The speakers were huge. My father had his beer and ate the Peanut Kisses as pulutan. The next day my sister came home with pizza.

I love home. :)

In other news, I’ve decided to seriously invest in hair polish.

one for high chair

I’m a big big fan of High Chair, so I was ecstatic when Issue 12 editors Adam David and Conchitina Cruz picked up “Day: Notes” for the issue’s third installment. Thanks Adam and Chingbee for the comments on my piece and the editing.

It is hard to articulate outrage and fear and grief, but one must try.

bohol, day 3

Last day. Grabbed our final meals by the beach and just lounged around and camwhored, waiting for the van to pick us up.

We also saw this big-ass display of a page from the Inquirer. I didn’t bother approaching it when we first arrived, but on the last day I thought, why not take a picture.

I wanted to see the byline, and YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW EXCITED I BECAME WHEN I SAW

HOMAYGASH IT’S ATE KATE! AND THE DISPLAY WAS BIG-ASS!

Here’s Jaykie for scale:

Dapat kapag pumunta ka ‘dun Ate Kate, libre ka na! Haha.

The flight back home scared the crap out of me, but we arrived alive and well at NAIA 3. My thanks to organizer Jme, also known as Xena the Warrior Princess:

HGC peeps and honorary HGC peeps: I had fun with you guys, sa uulitin. ;)

Back home, Jaykie and I went to MOA. The boyfriend’s birthday is in June and I bought him a pair of glasses as a gift. (That’s what he asked for LOL.) We took a long time trying to choose a frame within (my) budget, but I finally found a pair that’s perfect:

I like! <3

Epic weekend. :D

bohol, day 2

Snorkeling and diving was scheduled for Day 2, but I was sure, with my lack of swimming skills and my tendency to panic in deep waters, that I would do NEITHER. So I just enjoyed the beach.

We took a van to Alona Kew. We didn’t like their shoreline too much, it was rocky and in the span of 30 minutes we saw a jellyfish, a sea urchin, and a starfish with spikes. Yikes.

But still, beautiful spot yeah?

We waited for the divers to come back and took a boat ride to Balicasag Island for snorkeling.

The island! (Gasp.)

I didn’t snorkel, just flapped around in the water and made Jaykie nervous. Gah. Haha.

Back to Dumaluan for dinner and more beach and a game of Bluff and Pusoy Dos and tsismisan!

Jaykie shoots an imaginary ball:

bohol, day 1

I remember Jme mentioning Bohol the very first time Jaykie introduced me to her and boyfriend Beej, and was I glad this trip pushed through. I had crazy fun, even though I’ve been there before.

Overnight at Jaykie’s

Jaykie lives near NAIA 3, so Jme, Phil, Beej and I stayed over Thursday so we could make the early Friday flight. Played Mario Kart on the Wii. Realized I sucked at Mario Kart. I also had some mango cream pie that I loved so much I wanted to marry it.

8: 30 Flight MLA – TAG

Last year my high school friends and I had an evening flight to Cebu, the first time I’ve seen the NAIA Terminal 3. I prefer the evening flight because 1) it’s insanely hot here in Metro Manila in the morning and 2) there are fewer people.

But we didn’t have to wait too long so it was fine. Met up with the group (minus Mark and Guiz, who took the ZestAir flight).

The Cebu Pacific flight wasn’t delayed! WHOA. I was seriously impressed. Flight was smooth, but I thought our landing in Tagbilaran was a bit rough.

We had our luggage loaded in a separate van, to be taken ahead of us to the Dumaluan Beach Resort.

Then the tour:

Baclayon Church

I seriously love this church. But there’s this rule

so our legs (and arms, if we’re wearing a sleeveless top) had to be covered. (I was wearing shorts.) With guys it’s okay. Ah, the Catholic Church never fails.

Anyway.

This picture made me laugh:

I was raised Catholic. I do believe a sense of humor and some laughter is necessary in this religion.

Church interior (just click to enlarge):

These paintings fascinate me.

Tarsiers!

According to our tour guide Mark, tarsiers take just 3-10 seconds to make love. Poor little things.

Chocolate Hills

Nice weather.

River Cruise

Buffet lunch! I’ve been on the cruise before so all I could think of was foooood.

The light on the water looked gorgeous.

Beach!

We got to the resort at around 5 p.m. Fixed our stuff, took a shower, slathered sunblock on ourselves, and off to the white sands and the sapphire sea!

I got this dress from Jaykie’s sister. Thanks! :)

Fair warning about Dumaluan Beach Resort: the drinks and rice are expensive. There’s no service water, and there are corkage fees, and the nearest Jollibee is possibly a bajillion miles away, so you have no choice but to shell out some moolah. Food is good though, and the viands can feed two people, so if you’re with someone, just split the bill.

This shot was supposed to be candid. Candid, I tell you.