A Charmed Life: Life's a Play!

"A sunken village... where beautiful horses used to run." That's what our new friend, a young man named Russel, a resident of Ambuklao, told us when we asked him about what was under the water before this mountain valley was dammed to supply electricity for the country.

tiny white bubbles on the spillway

"During the 50's the Ambuklao dam was the highest and biggest in the Far East. It is made of earth and rockfull which measures 129 meters in height and 452 meters in length. The elevation of its crest is 758 meters and the roadway that runs through the top of the dam has an elevation of 756 meters. The gross storage capacity of the dam's reservoir is 327,170,000 cubic meters and it has a usable storage capacity of 258,000,000 cubic meters.

mariz

When I asked Russel what happened to the inhabitants of the area, he said that a handful of the original villagers stayed and built their homes around the fringes of the lake, while most of the people dispersed and found themselves in different other places. He said that, at the least, the villagers were promised to be provided of free electricity after the dam's completion. But in the end, even such a small consolation for the villagers, who unwillingly gave-up their ancestral lands, was not complied with by the Government. Sad.

shore near the hidden village where they do tilapia farming







& villagers arriving home by boat.




...

how we got to the "hidden" village at the corner end of the lake:

After a winding uphill and downhill 2 hours bus ride from the city, we arrived at our destination, the Ambuklao dam. Walking on the roadway that runs through the top of the dam, we spotted this mother and son who seemed to be waiting or preparing to go somewhere. As far as our eyes could see, there seem to be nothing across the lake. As we were curious of where they were bound to, and as we were so excited to do some boat riding, we approached them and asked where they seem to be going, and if we could go with them. They told us they were going home to their village at the far end of the lake. I think they were too polite to refuse our request to go with them. They took us. But I detected from the mother's facial expression that she worried if we really knew what we were doing. The boy who drove the motor boat was as curious about us being curious about them.

the lake was much bigger and longer than we expected. after some relatively long but smooth ride, we arrived at the other end of the lake where we found a small village of about 20 families, hidden behind the mountains.

we spent most of our time here, front-yard of the village's primary school. it is located on top of a hill overlooking the lake. for several hours we just relaxed, chatted and laughed without a care of the busy world we left back in the city.

it was so refreshing!

it was a really beautiful weekend adventure. the high excitement was perhaps also due also to its spontaneity. we just decided about it the night before while chatting over dinner.

... by the way, this dam had not been functioning for more than a decade due to some damage. it seems that the repair was only recently started.
... strange that they have kept this huge structure idle for many years.

Happy New Decade Everybody!

Happy New Year!!

pink shirt, 20 bucks, 100% cotton
(I found it in a box for children's wear!)

100% silk, 30 bucks
(hilltop market)

black corduroy skirt, 20 bucks










95% cotton & 5% spandex, 20 bucks
(zamora st., market)









100% cotton, 20 bucks
(zamora st., market)

jeans skirt, 20 bucks




i bought the 6 pieces above on the same day,
which cost a total amount of 130 pesos.
however, my lunch that day (with friends) was 169 pesos!
what a disproportion :-(....
i guess i was too hungry and tired from shopping that i didn't care about the meal price!

cute shorts, brand new :-), 35 bucks,
bought 2 days before Christmas Eve








ha... 150 bucks, friend says it's expensive
(though she admits it was a good pick)








brand new swimsuit (but bought from ukay just the same)
it's tag was still attached to it.
expensive - 200 bucks,
'Rush-buy' the evening before a postponed swimming excursion with friends. (jeez! I could have had a 40 bucks discount if I didn't buy it that day!)






and to boot...

leader boots! 150 bucks
(spotted the other evening in front of maharlika bldg )





ohh, hope these will be my last shopping for this year!
haha, definitely so, i think.




fun to be a gal,
tehee! :-)




(ps. and last post for this year! :-)



hapi, hapi, hapi 2010!

A good friend co-organized a Christmas party for children affected by the recent strong typhoon (Pepeng?) that hit the city.

the kids were entertained for hours and hours...

... until they got tired of having fun to be treated with food.
but using styro? (really sorry momma Gaia but i was told it was the most convenient container to pack, and feed 140 kids!) hmmm.

.... then Christmas presents








... simply seeing the children happy, made me very happy.

Joining the event was a good chance for me to re-experience memories of college years when friends and I used to organize similar charity events. (too many years ago already!)

I didn't actually do anything this time since I was only invited to the final event, (yes, the PARTY -- eating and having fun only, I didn't do any of those stressful organizing)...

... and yet, somehow, very unexpectedly, witnessing this event brought me back to memories of years gone-by. Oh, those were the days...



..........................



a funny twist

(in the end, this post about children requires parental guidance!)

there was a random draw-lots for sponsors (yes, I was one of the "sponsors" :-)
somebody was giving away some brand new magazines and other sorts of small giveaways. I was among the less than ten names that was 'lucky' to be drawn.

and guess what I got?!



this was the only fhm magazine being given away, and if you see closer, there's an 'attachment' to it too.


tehee!

Rishab's other-worldly art don't stop fascinating me.
by "other-worldly," i mean his subjects do not seem to be exactly of this dimension. I always thought that Rishab is downloading from his memory in another parallel existence. gee!

last night, The Manor hosted an opening of art exhibit, "Ugma," which means: the olden days. exhibit is organized by a sculptor friend of mine to benefit a cancer patient... that's why, "art heals."

tsika tsika...

with the crisp cool air, music and lights, it felt so Christmas!

here comes the show!
tarara!



blessing by the ethereal elders

offer it to the gods





some of the arts by Gilbert Gano Alberto

(click on image to magnify a bit ;)





from driftwood material

Mr. Gano comes from a family of sculptors from Hapao, in Ifugao. he began sculpting when he was 13... to save trees, he started using drift-woods and stones from the river.

the smoke-pipe

eagle men!

kuya Gano once told me that even stones and driftwood have lives, the artist pick them and help them express so that people may hear their 'voice' and become more mindful of the environment as well as to their fellow beings.

i wonder if that explains the deep but crestfallen facial expression on these faces.

do you know that guy in cowboy hat? i don't but i was sitting next to him in Red Lion pub after we left the Manor... and people were telling me i'm sitting next to a legend. I said, "who?" But I don't really know him, never heard. They said: jeezaz! ask your father, that guy is "sikat!" that it might have just been a wishful dream for your father to even get close to him.

apparently he is one of the 3 masterminds of original Filipino rock n' roll!
true enough, people coming and going out of the pub couldn't stop showing acts of "homage" to him. and even the pub manager filled us with FREE food!

so i said: i take a photo with him then!


if, like me, you also don't know him since you were born at a later time, he is Pepe Smith of the pioneering Juan dela Cruz band. his outer appearance might look foreign but he is Pinoy.



allegedly Pepe Smith quote (?): "If I am not into rock and roll... What am I, executive or executed?"


tehee!