by alex It’s been awhile since I’ve posted I hope everyone is doing well. Yesterday morning I was on a bus back to Manila from the provinces and I felt something I hadn’t felt since I was a kid—carsick. I don’t get carsick, not anymore at least, so for the first while I thought I [...]
If Only I Could Vote…
by alex Nationalism. Democracy. Freedom. These are words. In the Philippines they are important words. Unfortunately more because they are reminders of what Filipinos don’t yet have. [*Current events around this election are perfect example.]
Elections 2010: What’s Going On?!?
by alex It has became apparent that the 2010 Philippine elections are in trouble.
It Might Get Crazy. Real Crazy. Real Soon.
by alex The mood was kinda weird tonight at the house. We have a friend from Kapisanan in Toronto who has been here almost a week, and today his cultural adjustment just hit a major bit of Philippine political reality. We were up talking til three… and then I decided to write this. You see [...]
Guide to the Elections
by alex I thought I’d share this great little concise guide to the elections I got from IBON the other day with you guys. If you’re like me, Philippine politics can be a little daunting and confusing a topic. I know I’m not the only one a little curious about it.
“Why Are You So Dark?”
by alex In a family bathroom I recently found a bar of soap that featured “WHITENING EXTRACTS” (caps theirs), that would apparently “reveal the whiter skin that glows with health.” Later that night Vince was asked “Why are you so dark?” by a well-meaning friend of a friend. Sigh.
Religion, the Farming Felipe’s, and an Empty Manila Hotel
by alex It was a weekend of contrasts. I’ve been doing alot of contrasts lately. It was a weekend where I saw people beating themselves bloody for Jesus, met my paternal grandfather’s side of the family (who were mostly landless farmers), found out that a distant cousin committed suicide, and then returned to the city [...]
Overnight in a Jeepney, to an Evening in a BMW…
by alex In many ways I am still reeling from my day yesterday.—just wait til you see the footage in our doc in this summer’s Kultura Festival in Toronto. The many many mosquito bites I have on my arms and legs remind me of sleeping on a table in a dusty open air jeepney depot [...]
The Manny Pacquiao Phenomenon
by: Vincent Fried food is coming, the beer is flowing, it’s just before 11am, and the wait for the hero to arrive is well underway. Troy Aiken an American NFL sports hero is watching, so that brings up the question, “who else is watching”? American icons watching the boxing pride of our people. Pacman [...]
A Cemetery Adventure
by alex It ended with us in interrogation. Apparently they didn’t much appreciate outsiders seeing (let alone shooting photos and vids of) the random bits of human remains just lying about.
