darker days good for walking

longer nights, shorter days plus rain increased my sleeping time.

but a shady november day is perfect for walking (have i told you i have vitiligo. i like sun but some days i have to avoid it).




i feel good walking today at maginoo and matalino streets...

just like this man who goes on duty and enjoy (am i not dreaming? a security guard reading a pocket book)...

the month's end

october 31. i remember something 24 years ago today. so long ago but still vivid in my mind.

but there is one detail i dont remember now: if it rained that day or not.

today, it rained. lunch at an elevated restaurant in e rodriguez was good. the scenery below too. i am glad i sat by the window.

but first before the rain, some people waiting for jeepney:














during the rain:

people go to different directions. of varying speeds. most with umbrella.





















some umbrella are too large, others appear small for the user:





















some share completely, others a little















those without umbrella have other strategies.



















some illustration of life as a whole?




i use a black umbrella today (i have purple too)

but i can walk in the rain without one, except when i am going to work.

still NegOriental: "sunset glow" in others


for the nth time i have photographed the setting sun, but have never rotated my head to see its effect on others.

it was good to be aware of such.

sunsets have shades:



















they color the peripheral sky and light up rock crevices:


















they make people move closer and touch:


















even bath the leaves and sands gently in glow:


























lights up a village:




















sunsets

so faithfully consistent everyday, so very much taken for granted.

negros oriental: Siaton spider taught me that Charlotte's web could be literally true

We stayed in Siaton for 2 days. The first morning Embee was startled as he passed by the door. He was not aware of a spider web with the hardworking spider on it literally covering the upper part of the door and Embee destroyed part of it accidentally.

oh sorry, he said.

i thought there was another person he was talking to. but he was saying sorry for destroying a large part of the web.

there, i saw a charlotte web.

it is amazing. having grown up in COMVAL, previously part of Davao del Norte, I have experienced rural life but this was my first time to witness that a web that big can be created overnight. Wonderful.

As Embee continued to examine our dear Charlotte and her work, I looked out and decided it was also a wonderful day.

I knew I was going to see more of Jehovah's wonders in that place that day.

negros oriental: THE ROAD TO SIATON

after the waiting, we just meet somewhere, Embee's text.
Somewhere where?, I asked.
He answered, somewhere to where you planned.

Times like that, one has to grab the chance to decide. he might change his mind. Truth to tell, even couples have different preferences. Anyway, for detours, he would like some pampering: A/C room, dvd/ cd or cable, oh.... while I would like a Ceres ride somewhere more than a town or two away. Therefore when he says we go my way, we should go right away because in situations like this there is no midway. It's either a four walled chill room with us watching HBO... or yes, Siaton.

So can we meet at the Ceres terminal?
Do you know where it is?
No? But the tricycle drivers do.

Silence.

Okay... where is the where that we are going, I mean the town?
Siaton.



Me to tricycle driver: Nong, sa Ceres terminal para Siaton. Pwede pass by ta boulevard?


















Driver: Okay.


















Girl in Ceres terminal. I can imagine what the mother said: "Wait for me here and watch our things".

Good for this girl, her mother does not let her wait inside a bus on deck to go, and rush somewhere to buy things not in their town. My mother used to do that and it was torture. Later in life though, I just realized it is not really bad to do that. Multitasking, make one's daughter guard your favorite spot in the bus while you make last minute purchases before boarding the bus. The only torture trigger was this :long time ago, there was no clear schedule for the bus to go, it was like "alas- puno" (time to go when all seats are taken) and the bus, in order to lure prospective clients, motions itself forward and backward as if telling everyone not yet on board that it is already going at any second.























lateral scenery during ceres ride:













are we there...(pause)...not yet?, Embee asked.


This time we were in separate habal habals.
Nodding helps when you want to assure someone of arrival soon though deep inside you feel like saying his guess is good as yours since both of you have never been there before.

I realize though that when the sea approaches you...you are probably near.


















finally a view from the cottage:

negros oriental :Waiting in Dumaguete

To accompany a working loved one in a place too beautiful for working was hard for me. Not anymore. Some things can be learned. And learning results in big solitary surprises. Like that day...(yes, this is a late upload)

What does one do in Dumaguete while waiting for someone? "Eat" would be one, which I did. Being in a coastal city, I thought I had to order fish. Fish in three forms:







"Sugba-tula-kilaw" below respectively.














It was not a boring wait. Aside from the taste buds working full force, the mirror image within the food reminded me I was away from Manila. Notice the greenery in the mirror image in the food (only seen in the sauce for sugba, clearly delineated in tula and subtle in kilaw).






But obvious in the drinks:


















Those images were congruent with the sign outside (though not made for me, had an effect on me):


















Clearly then I had to be responsive to my fleeting environment. Outside were scenes I don't see everyday where I live now. Will it happen in the future, that we pack our things and head south specifically here? But that was not the time to answer that question. Nor was it the first time for me to feel that way for a place. In fairness to Manila, I sometimes feel I cant get away from Manila when I am in a huge bookstore. But thinking of relocating when I am in a place has probably become a gauge for me to realize that I like the place.


I like Dumaguete.

Horizon and flowers in a shot.



































Horizon and flowers in a shot.

The waiting was not a waiting...it was a treat.

negros oriental : just an intro, turtle uploading more later

Embee: you mean you come with me to duma so you can detour to another place?
Me: hmn, yes.
Embee: Well, I better go with you.
Me: Yes, you can... I warn you though...it is far, a segment of the travel is by habal habal and...
Embee: It's okay.

So off we went.
Embee had to go to Dumaguete, work related. Me, it is not work related. I accompany him, is that work related? ... with my own agenda, Siaton et al.



Siaton is about an hour and a half ride by bus from Dumaguete. Not very far but not really near. Then a habal habal ride away and we were there. Well, that is after his work related thing and after I waited.

Quiet. No other guests save for another couple who were also quiet. Perfect place.

Embee: Never expected it's really nice here. Please dont write about this in internet. I want to come back to this quiet.


More about it later.