The Distinct Joy of Being Invisible

Bloggers Note: This blog post below is the very first post that gives spotlight on the things that are usually not given importance. The blog also comes with photographs that break the rules of photography, in the blogger's pursuit to take his penchant for documentary photography into a more serious level. This blog post (and the upcoming posts of this sort) also comes with a supplementary mini-magazine posted online which will serve as an online portfolio of the blogger.  This, above all, is the product of a dream finally coming into fruition. As what the tagline of this blog masquerading as an edict: Leave no Story Untold.

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Dark clouds enveloped the sky one night in Tagum, promising a cold night in this part of the planet. Soon after, droplets of rain started to startle everybody in this place called the Night Market where the heavy downpour of rain poses a grave threat to the merchants and an equal dismay to their patrons.

And this is where I found myself one night--amazed with how a busy street in broad daylight transform into a bustling night market at the fall of dusk. From the moment the sun kisses the western sky, stalls sprout in the busy streets like mushrooms and leave in the wee hours of the morning, just before the mighty sun rises up and brings in a new day full of hope. The usual sight of people from all walks of life happily dining or haggling over pre-owned clothes or designer bags or branded shoes would surely leave an impression that night life is more fun in this part of the world.

The strong wind or this excessive energy present in the area probably blew the dark clouds on that Sunday night. This is also when I felt I was invisible. My romance with my camera, I then realized, was a travesty of invisibility.

I am adamant that it is this invisibility enabled me to see things on a large scale and differently. My amazement of the place was only short-lived as my attention was grabbed by persons selling customized balloons. This scene exudes a patina of happiness in a place where people seems to brush it off. Except for children, of course. As usual, and as each of us could have experienced then, the radiant glow of excitement and happiness is evidenced the moment a child lets hold of the tiny string of the balloon and making sure it doesn't let go up in the air. To put it succinctly in our own tongue, hawak mo na happiness mo, bakit ka pa bibitaw? 

It is in this premise that my concept of happiness comes in: to claim the things and to hold dear in our hearts the persons or things that make us happy. It is a state of one's mind; a choice rather than fate. But we must also acknowledge the fact that the world that we live in is not perfect. Jose Mari Ugarte complained that we are born into it through the pain of our mothers and raised in it suffering failures, disappointments, sadness, prejudice and hate.

But since the world is not perfect, it cannot be perfectly bad. We also have triumphs, joys, tolerance and above all, love. And it is love that makes this journey through this vale of tears a wonder. As what they say, without pain, the heart is hollow.

By choice, or perhaps by default, my frames were dominated by pictures of balloons on that Sunday night and enjoyed the feeling of invisibility like I never experienced it before. Past sweet couples holding hands while walking, past family members and circle of friends grinning, past people bordering on the obnoxious was me and my camera– savoring that distinct happiness of snapping photographs in this happy place.

The moment you find yourself gallivanting in this place or in any other public place, take a moment to observe things and realize the richness of stories that can be found in each person or things that thrive here. Bring a camera if you please, preserve memories and be charmed with the same spell of invisibility that I enjoyed. If you do, do it with a light heart and without a doubt, you can never go wrong.

L.

Here's the rest of the photographs, bounded together in this special maiden issue of the Sprinkles:

Open publication - Free publishing - More happiness

Shot First, Eat Later: A Taste of LA Cafe

The usual traffic woes when you're in Metro Manila would surely bore you to death. Imagine this: it's 8:30 in the evening, and you still haven't eaten your dinner and you find yourself in the middle of a worst Friday Night rush hour. From the City of Manila, we traveled north, specifically in Quezon City, where it took us one hour and 15 minutes to drive--too far from the usual 30 minutes without the annoying traffic.

But never mind because I found out later that we were in for a real treat.

Our group chose to dine in probably one of the best restaurants I've been to: A Taste of LA Cafe. Located specifically in Roces Avenue. cor. Tomas Morato, Quezon City, this restaurant boasts of mouth-watering menu that had left me in eternal craving.

My colleagues were right. This restaurant shares a resemblance with my hometown's Kamalig Restaurant but the only difference is that the latter is more classy. One would surely be amazed with its romantic ambiance but more than that, it's their food that would surely make one crave for more.

Operating since 1995, the A Taste of LA Cafe gained its stature as a world-class restaurant when it was declared the World's Best Restaurant in an international food conference held in Barcelona, Spain two years ago. This place has also became a favorite place for hangout among the country's brightest stars. The restaurant's manager who is a Tagumeño and an alumnus of the University of Mindanao told us their regular costumers include Kim Chui, Kris Aquino, Korina Sanchez, Chiz Escudero, Coco Martin and the late Rico Yan. After the Inaugural Concert held in the Quezon City Circle during his swearing-in as the President of the Philippines, President Aquino went to this restaurant to eat, especially his favorite in the restaurant: the barbecued US baby back ribs.

When we were there, some of the stars we spotted were Gerald Anderson and Dingdong Dantes. Senator TG Guingona was also there when we dined.

In a scale of 10 as the highest, I should give their barbecued US baby back ribs, the asian salad, the oxtail karekare and the old-fashioned bibingka a rate of 11. The dining experience was really great but their best-tasting food is truly the restaurant's jewel.

If there's one lesson I had re-learned from this experience, it's that patience, indeed, is a real virtue. The moment I disembarked from the car after that traffic-infested trip to Quezon City, I knew then I was in for a real treat. And it was, it really was.

Louie.

Appreciating History in Manila American Cemetery

Marble crosses standing silently amidst a well-manicured lawn greeted me upon entering a solemn gate east of Manila. Away from the annoying noise of the urban jungle, this place had become a shrine that reflected the deep historical ties that the Philippines and the United States share.

Having visited Metro Manila for many times now, I wonder if there are still known places I’ve never been to and it turned out that there are still places that ordinary vagabonds wouldn’t probably do: visiting memorials and cemeteries.

Located in Fort Bonifacio, Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial resonates with solemnity. It is the largest cemetery site administered by the United States Government judging by the number of graves and of those missing whose names are recorded in the walls of the memorial.




I can still remember my first plane ride to Manila when I saw neatly-lined rows of crosses as viewed from the plane’s window. All my life, I really thought that it is the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

But I was wrong.

The 62-hectare Manila American Cemetery and Memorial has 17,206 graves dedicated to the American Soldiers during World War II who got killed in the line of duty and to those who went missing. It also holds the remains of war victims from the Philippines and from other nations. The headstones are made of marble which are aligned in eleven plots forming a generally circular pattern, set among masses of a wide variety of tropical trees and shrubbery. 11 burial plots are arranged in concentric rings around the Memorial and the Mall. The majority of the white marble headstones were quarried and fabricated in Italy. A small quantity came from Romblon, Philippines.

Aside from headstones, it also has a circular Wall of the Missing with engraved tablets that honor 36, 286 Missing in Action who gave their lives in the service of their country, including 21 Medal of Honor recipients. The Memorial consists of the tower containing the small devotional chapel, and two hemicycles in front which embrace the Memorial Court. The Chapel’s sculpture represents a young American warrior symbolized by St. George, fighting his enemy which is a dragon. Above them are the ideals for which he fought: liberty, justice, country and Columbia with a child symbolizing the future.


When I’ll be back in Manila, I would surely take time visiting other cemeteries there, including the Libingan ng mga Bayani and the Paco Cemetery, where Rizal was buried. Places like this make you contemplate and appreciate history.

 Louie.

Falling in love with Dahican

It was high noon when I arrived in the sun-kissed Dahican in the City of Mati in the picturesque province of Davao Oriental. The seven-kilometer shoreline bleeds with awesomeness and offers charm that will detach you from the hustle of the metro.

PARADISE would be a perfect word to describe Dahican in the City of Mati, Davao Oriental, Philippines.

It's Saturday and the elements of a good day was present: blue sky, scattered clouds and the "mood" to vagabond. The day before, I was actually thinking of going to Davao to hit the big screen but when I was already in the terminal, I had a change of mind. It came as a blitzkrieg and without second thoughts,  I found myself sitting in the airconditioned bus that will take me to an exhilarating two-hour ride to the City of Mati.

Mati is actually a foreign land to me. The first time I was here was during the year 2003 when I competed in the Regional Schools Press Conference.Having read a lot of blog posts about Mati and heard exciting stories about this city, I made it a point to visit her and experience one of its tourism gems: the beach.

A mere 15-minute tricycle ride from the city proper, past towering coconut trees and smiling locals, is the Amihan sa Dahican where entrance is free. It is included in the seven-kilometer stretch of shoreline which has powdery-white sand and its water are crystal blue. Fronting the Pacific Ocean, the waves here could reach as high as ten feet, especially during monsoon months -- making it a perfect place for skimboarding and surfing. It thus has become a mecca for surfers, locals and foreigners alike who fell in love with the charm of Dahican.


One thing that I like about Dahican is that it's not noisy. You will really be forced to relax, while listening to the sound of the union of the white sand and the blue water which turns into a white foam the moment it reaches the shore.

Dahican is also home to the Amihan Surf and Skim Team, a group of children and teenagers who have already competed and won in several national competitions and had waved the Filipino flag in international skimboarding and surfing competitions.

A member of the Amihan Surf and Skim Team waits for a huge wave in Dahican.

The crystal-clear water and the sparkling white sand amazed me first but the children practicing skimboarding caught my attention for the rest of the afternoon while I was there. They're really good and young as they are,they really had the knack to become skimboarding superstars in the near future. Watching them from the shore while looking out for potential big waves and eventually run to it with their skim boards is actually a fun thing to do. Watching them play with the waves, splash the water up high and do the exhibition is indeed a spine-tingler.

Skimboarding. It's more fun in Dahican!

Dahican is indeed one of Davao Region's bests, and reasons are aplenty of why there's a need to go back and fall in love with the beach all over again. When I do, I would surely bring a paper and a pen -- probably to write or to sketch -- and savor what Dahican has to offer.

Way to go, Dahican! I surely can't wait to fall in love with you again soon.