Category: friends

philippine speculative fiction 6 book launch

Needless to say, happy to be included in the volume again. I attended the book launch at Fully Booked High Street despite another vertigo attack and the sudden rain. It’s just too fun to miss!

Jaykie came with me, and so did Beej (of Nosfecatu fame) and Phil (who also has a story in the volume – congrats!)

my book launch date

Before the PSF launch, Kenneth Yu took the stage to unveil the latest (and sadly, last) print edition of Philippine Genre Stories. It’s the Special Crime Issue, edited by Ichi Batacan. In her message, Batacan thanked the authors for not resorting to the crime cliches: detectives in trench coats, criminals in pinstripe suits.

Thanks Kyu for the copy! (He handed me one, then I lost it in the flurry of signing books and saying hi to friends. Thanks for replacing it, and I’m sorry!) I’ll read this soon.

Despite the end of PGS’s print run, Kyu has moved PGS to an online home. Visit: http://philippinegenrestories.com/ and stand by for more stories.

The PSF launch was hosted by the ever-jubilant Dean Alfar.

As usual, authors, introvert or no, had to stand up and say something. As usual, I tried to appear smart and charming and failed miserably. One of the contributors expressed it best: “Kailangan ba talaga magsalita? Kaya nga ako nagsusulat eh.”

This is Phil.
This is me being giggly and fat.

Meet the editors!

Kate Aton-Osias
Nikki Alfar

Dean also announced that PSF 7 is now accepting submissions. The next volume will be edited by the husband-and-wife tandem Alex and Kate Osias. Stand by for the guidelines, they should be online soon. Click here for the guidelines.

Class picture!

This was followed by a mad scramble for copies (the book sold out fast!) and author signatures.

Happy to see the contributors (some of whom are familiar faces) and to finally meet Honey de Peralta and Elyss Punsalan. Tin Lao introduced me to Dumaguete peeps Alyza and Jordan. It is always lovely to be told that there are indeed people out there who read (and enjoy) my work.

We had to break away from the group for celebratory dinner at Abe + gelato at Gelatissimo + coffee at CBTL. I had two shots of infused cappuccino and I still fell asleep before 3 a.m. (after watching Shaun of the Dead with J). And here I thought I would be up till morning.

At Abe: Bamboo rice + Bicol Express (na walang karne at hindi maanghang pero masarap) + lumpiang ubod (favorite ko to) + green mango with bagoong + pritong baby hito + adobong lamb = ang takaw namin, keri

My loot:

Kelly Link book + The Little Prince Moleskine from the ubiquitous Charles Tan (who gave similar gifts to several writers, kay yaman) - thanks! + a hard copy of the PSF 7 guidelines
PGS Crime + PSF 6

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Hey love, public speaking is not my strong suit, so I forgot to say your name in my “speech”. But in my head, in silence, I thank you every day, all the time. I thank you always. Thanks for coming with me to celebrate another publication.

Yiheee. (Panira yung yiheee.)

stilts

Maundy Thursday’s the only day the entire department is available to go anywhere as a group (no newspaper for Good Friday so the office is closed), and this year we grabbed the opportunity.

We went on a daytrip (8 am to 6 pm) to Stilts in Calatagan, Batangas. Left Makati at 4:30 a.m. We were able to arrive and leave on time, it was ridiculous. On the itinerary: lunch on the beach, swim, camwhore, dinner on the way home. Special thanks to Boss Kate for making it all happen.

Her notes: “Technical notes re this trip: Entrance to Stilts was at P350/head (daytour). Since we brought in our own food and drinks, we also had to pay corkage of P100/head. (Food at the resort was around P300/meal). We also rented an open hut good for max of 15pax for P850. How to get there:View map here. Rented a van for P3,500, excluding gas and toll fees.”

Photos from Ate Julie, Andrea and Kate, Almi, and my camera.

I was happy to see that the beach wasn’t crowded at all. (Even though we ran out of parking space.)

We were given green mango juice as a welcome drink. Sour and yummy.

The Research Team: Marielle, Almi, Schatzi, Lawrence, me, Kate (plus Andrea and Jaykie!)
My beachmates.

Lunch was Andok’s chicken!

Stilts also has a pool –

Those were Jaykie's legs. Definitely Lawrence's idea.

and a raft, to fulfill your camwhoring needs.

I have never been in a successful jump shot before. UNTIL NOW BWAHAHA.

See Jaykie jump! Howeeee!

Final pose before packing up:

Wheeee wiiiiind.

The water was cold and the beach was stony but the weather was fine and the company was great and the place was beautiful. I had fun! Next year uli!

senior year

The high school that Senior Year shows is the high school that I know. I have never seen a more honest, more vibrant depiction. This is not the oversexed, ultra-hip, super-rich, privileged variety shown in Western TV, or the overwrought, lachrymose, mechanical high school dramas shown in local shows. In this high school, teachers are real characters, lovelorn students leave anonymous letters, graduating students fret over college entrance exams, and players cry when their batch loses during the intramurals. Here, the characters talk in class and with each other, and every time, they sound exactly like high school students – overeager, overconfident, a little bit naive. They speak in cliches (“Wala kasi tayong batch unity, e.”), use generic terms, and at times are unintentionally funny, but always, always, you see that shrug, that smile, that says you cannot touch them because they are invincible. And then, years later, the things that used to mean the world to them, they forget. High school has always been bittersweet, and Senior Year works because it offers no false note.

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What could be better than watching Senior Year with your high school friends? Jaykie’s my date. After the movie, we had dinner. It was a good night.

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Old pictures (ninakaw sa Facebook ni Ghia):

:)

book swap night, and other random happy things

The Book Depository site says my three books have all been dispatched. If all goes well, they should arrive within the week!

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Speaking of books, book swap with the girls (now also with Almi) at Starbucks 6750 Saturday night.

(Thanks to Andrea for the additional photos.)

Bought a cake and drink for poor Jaykie, who was sweet enough to drive me through hellish EDSA traffic.

Was it simply because it was a Saturday? It was awful! We left QC at around 6 and arrived at my place at 9 pm. We wanted to eat dinner in the Glorietta area, but the drive made us so hungry that we just decided to stop at the nearby KFC.

(I’ll tell you a secret: I had rice. I know! But I was so hungry!)

What went down:

  • I got these books, while I lent Atwood’s The Robber Bride, French’s The Likeness, Joe Hill’s 20th Century Ghosts, and Carljoe’s The Kobayashi Maru of Love. (Andrea’s copy of Jonathan Carroll’s Glass Soup not in picture.)

  • Fruit Ninja! Angry Birds! Nail polish!

  • That very intelligent game where somebody asks a question, gives a page number and line number, and you have to find the answer in the book you’re holding.
  • Example: “Who is your ideal partner? See Page __, line ___.” Me (checks book): “‘woman, right?'” (This actually happened.)

  • I think the people around us were looking at us funny. But this is a book club! I swear!
  • It’s not really a book club.
  • A little girl named Kylie wandered into our corner. Cute kid, probably powered by espresso. I think she liked Jaykie. Big bear! :D

  • The girl sat on Almi’s lap first, so I guess that means she’ll have a baby soon? Hihi.

  • The little girl’s companion (father? uncle? brother) introduced himself and said he does tarot readings in Robinson’s (Galleria I guess?). He also gave us his number.

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The Mothership gave us this commemorative watch (made by Swatch). The company workshop that preceded it wasn’t so bad either.

So shiny! I love it.

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Badminton Friday. On Saturday, I did four rounds around the oval, so that’s at least 8 kilometers. I took an Alaxan after! Ha! I should get used to the pain.

palawan – day 3 and departure

Up early for the Honda Bay Tour!

Land travel to the Sta. Lourdes Wharf.

On to the first island!

Snake Island!

WARNING: My hot and sexeh bodeh.

Boom.

I didn’t go snorkeling. Basically all I did was submerge my camera in the water, and press the button to take a picture haha. (It was incredibly pathetic.)

Richard took this picture.

The sea took Jaykie’s slipper away! A moment of silence for this loss.

Okay, lunch!

Lunch, c/o Kuya Obet and company, was scrumptious. I loved the shrimp.

Pandan Island is next!

Looking at these pictures now, it didn’t look as if it was incredibly hot on the island. It was incredibly hot. It was skin-cancer hot. Maybe that’s how I must describe myself. “I’m skin-cancer hot.”

More fishies!

The last island was Luli Island (lulubog-lilitaw). The island disappears during high tide.

There’s a rest house on the island, incredibly enough.

Dinner was at Balinsasayaw. I had nido soup for the first time! I liked it.

Day 4

Jaykie and I couldn’t be with my friends for the City Tour because he had class. I bought pasalubong at the Pension and at the airport.

That was a fun trip.

Accounting

Okay. Without the City Tour, Jaykie and I spent P2,452.22. This included the Underground River tour,  the Honda Bay tour, food during the tour, entrance fees and tips. Take note that there were nine people in our group.

Accommodation was 800 per night, so that’s P2,400.

Add the price of the ticket (highest is 4k I guess, but there are seat sales!), the terminal fees (240), food for dinner (let’s say 2k), and pasalubong (let’s say 1k), and that amounts to around 12k pesos.

Recommendation

Seriously, get Kuya Obet Fallorina as your tour guide (also driver and cook hehe). He’s really nice. :)

Text him! 0912 539 8983

Acknowledgments

Me ganito talaga?! Thanks to my friends, esp. to Ghia, Grace, and June. Sa uulitin!

palawan – day 2

We had our breakfast at 6 am (so early!) at Puerto Pension’s Tribu Restaurant. It’s located on the roof deck and faces the Puerto Princesa Bay. Quite a view, really.

The free breakfast consists of 1) a hot beverage 2) an egg 3) bread and spread 4) fruit 5) juice.

You’ll need to shell out P88 for an upgrade. For a Filipino breakfast, you can add rice and a viand (like a hotdog), and unlimited eggs. You read that right. Unlimited eggs.

Jaykie had an American breakfast. Waffles and bacon!

Then off to Sabang Wharf. Our tour guide, Kuya Obet, picked us up in a van.

It’s a long drive to Sabang Wharf so we had two stop-overs.

Sabang Wharf. We’re early, so we went for a quick dip.

Ooh, look at the waves.

After lunch, we got on a boat that would take us to the St. Paul Subterranean River National Park.

I enjoyed the boat ride because of the waves! Whee!

We’re here! We now need to register, get a hard hat and a life vest.

I look like a guy lol.

The Underground River tour was fantastic! I’ve never been inside a cave before. The formations are just amazing. And! We saw a snake! (The appearance of the snake abruptly changed the weight distribution of our boat haha.)

That night, Kuya Obet drove us to Badjao Seafront Restaurant. (You’ll need wheels to get to this resto because there are no trikes to take you back to the hotel.)

We were told that all of the tables were reserved. But this cannot be! So we talked to one of the waiters (talked, bullied, whatever) and asked when one of the reserved tables was needed. He said 7:30. It was 6:30 then. So we took a menu, ordered quickly, ate quickly, and was out of there by 7:30. A leisurely dinner was out of the question, but I chewed my food enough to note that I loved the lemon chicken. Order it.

We tried Itoy’s Coffee Haus, said to be Palawan’s version of Starbucks.

I recommend their leche flan cheesecake and their black forest drink. Yummmm.

The Superior room was big enough to host an inuman session, so:

Okay! Time for bed!

palawan – day 1

This year’s trip with my high school friends was to Puerto Princesa City in Palawan. June booked our tickets, Ghia booked our rooms, and Grace Anne, who had been to Palawan before, took care of budget and the itinerary. Departure from NAIA 3 was at 3:45 pm on Feb. 5. Jaykie had class at UP till 1, and I was worried we might miss our flight. Amazingly, though, we arrived at the airport after only more or less 30 minutes. Hooray!

(Click pics to enlarge, of course.)

Cebu Pacific’s flight left a bit late (around 4 or so?), but we arrived safely in Puerto Princesa at 5:30 pm.

My travel-mates. :)

Puerto Pension offers free transpo from the airport to the hotel. Air-conditioned jeep!

Checking in.

It’s a nice place. Very homey.

Our room! (Deluxe B – with queen-size bed, TV, bathroom, AC unit, hot and cold shower.) There’s really only enough room for two, so if you want more space, take the Superior room, which can fit three people. Deluxe C does not have a bathroom inside (you’ll have to use the communal bathroom), but it’s of course cheaper.

We took the trike to get to Kinabuchs for dinner. It rained on our first night, boo.

We had crocodile! It was okay. The meat was tender and tasted like chicken. Not memorable though.

Then back to the hotel and then sleep. Loooong day tomorrow.