I can't...

... seem to do this any longer.

After the Easter backpacking, I find it  hard to think about work.  I miss nature so much and I am so in-love with it I think I could leave everything behind for it!

I have been "living the dream" for so long.  The dream of serenity and freedom.  The dream of being a full-time bum.  The dream of planning nothing but doing many things.

Now I am "dreaming to live".  Dreaming and hoping that there'll be more holidays so that I can really live.

My life is no longer "a very long weekend".  And I badly miss that life.

I miss waking up at 11am.  Getting coffee in the market and waiting for my working friends to take their break.  I miss reading a book the whole day to a whole week.  I miss snorkeling every weekend and hiking and camping anytime I want to.  I miss the long naps on the bus to Dumaguete.  And I miss walking around the city til the new morning.

I want to have that life back.  And I want it really bad.

Let's see what happens in the coming month. One more month to go and I end my contract... and I still am not sure if I go on...

I JUST WANT TO LIVE!!!

Oh, please!!!

To all foreigners, aliens, or even Filipinos who are not happy being in the Philippines for whatever reason - from petty to major ones, YOU ARE FREE TO LEAVE!!!

I am really tired of all the complaints about many things about my country.  If you are not happy about the food here, BRING YOUR OWN FOOD FROM WHEREVER YOU ARE FROM!  If you are not happy about the toilet here, BRING YOUR OWN TOILET AS WELL!  And oh, if you are not happy with the people here, maybe we are also not happy having you around!

My question is, WHY THE HELL ARE YOU HERE? 

I am a traveler myself and I've learned how to adjust to the people and to the culture of the place I am at.  I would not complain in a Muslim country if they don't serve pork.  I would never insist of having rice with my Bratwurst instead of bread if I am in Germany.  I will not ask to sit at the last row of the bus if I am in Laos (or any Buddhist country even if I also pay the same fare).

It is maybe unfair for the country to judge it basing on the country you are coming from.  Countries are not all the same.  And if you have not noticed yet, welcome to the Third World!  And maybe you have just seen a part of it and you tend to generalize... report to the rest of the world (or your part of the world) without even understanding why we do what we do.

We might be poor in the Philippines.  I even live in an unfinished room.  Walls are rough.  Ceiling is non-existent.  Mosquitoes are very present BUT I am always willing to share it with other travelers and friends.  And I am living with great people.

My suggestion to those people who are not open to see something different from their own country or city, DON'T FUCKING GO ANYWHERE ELSE!  You are actually just going to spread negative energy wherever you go.

As I would always say, I am not a big fan of everything Filipino BUT I get to love it... to live with it... and to find my own spot in this ACTUALLY amazing archipelago where people are happy even if they have very less in material things.

Spontaneity is dying...

... and I feel so old! Therefore, the youth in me is dying too... and that is so sad!

I lately always hear myself say, "yeah, I want to go away for the weekend but I got a lot of things to do" and that sounds barely like me. What is happening to the nomad?

So these no-work-days I am going to revive the nomad in me (as if I am to be concerned much about the non-working holidays when in fact I decided to be a consultant to actually be free from these work-strings).

It's Friday and I am still in a seminar.

My plan is to go home later, do my laundry tomorrow, and hit the road on Sunday.

Where to? Still not sure... and I actually am broke! So, whatever!!!

Refuge found in San Lorenzo

Drama comes and goes in a person's life and one way to make it go away fast is to go away for sometime and leave things behind.

I went away for the weekend and found myself a refuge on a hill of Guimaras Island. It was San Lorenzo, a small town that welcomed me and my friends for the night. We've got our bags filled with what we might need for the night - a simple shelter in a form of a tent, some food, some drinks, and a free mind to be able to enjoy the weekend.

There we are under the only mango tree on that hill. We trusted it to protect us from anything though it is not that big but it is the only strong tree that cannot be rooted up by the strong wind coming from the Guimaras Strait.

Sunset was great though we never saw the sun but it radiated beautiful colors on the horizon.

Red

Slanted Horizon

Strength

The afternoon was spent just talking about whatever. Making fun of each other but not in a mean way (just sometimes). Talking about issues that matters and sometimes doesn't.

The evening was just lovely. Sea breeze that traveled quite a lot to reach us, crickets singing, occasional mooing of the cows, laughter and laughing ("latting" as my German friend would say), and the sound of clinking glasses as we toast for life.

Oh yes, what I wrote was also dramatic BUT that is how I remember the weekend to be.

Now I am back and full of life... and sunburned!

The Nomad Found a Home

Yeah! That's right, the nomad found a home in Pola, Oriental Mindoro. I am a proud Polanian and a proud member of the Oloroso Family.

That almost one month stay in my father's hometown have inspired me a lot. It made me realize a lot of things... things that are important and things that I had and have been looking for - a family and the feeling that you belong.

However, even if the Nomad found a home, the adventure continues... the Nomad will still be traveling and going to get the world and its people. But the Nomad now got a definite answer when asked "Where is home?" - Home is FAMILY! :-)

Mindoro in my Heart...

"I'm going home" is my usual line... "Going home to where?" is the usual question from friends. I go "home" to Manila, to Bacolod, to Davao, to Legaspi, even to Zamboanga... referring "home" to be "where my friends are." But going home to Mindoro is special.

Of all the places I go home to, Mindoro is "where my family" is. Where some of my uncles and aunt rooted down, raised their kids and also rested forever.

It is where I first learned how to bike, how to swim. It is the place that ignited my passion for adventure - joining my uncle to the farm to get some produce, taking the boat against the big waves and strong current, climbing up some hills to pick fruits, and walk some kilometers and crossing a river to call some of the workers who are washing their clothes. That is where it began.

There is always something that pulls me towards that place. Being there is not that easy with the typical small town gossipers. I remember coming home with shaved head. I arrived at around 2am and while having coffee in the market same morning, you hear people talk about the youngest child of "Ka Ben" to be lesbian (just because of my hair). That is however something that gives the town a character. You just have to live with it.

My childhood memories in Mindoro are still so vivid. All the almost-drowning experiences, all the Moriones, all the Holy Week rituals... and all the craziness just to escape the 6pm "Orasyon."

You arrive, you drop your bags and the trip down the memory lane starts... it does even start by the time you enter the town "gate" (I mean the arch or something that says "Welcome to Pola").

Pola, Oriental Mindoro will always be a part of me.

Footprints in the Sand

Photo was taken Holy Week 201o

My feet is itching again and I am planning to jump on a journey once again. To visit islands and to share what I can to the people around. I can't wait to walk again, barefoot, on a strange island and find myself and meet new souls.

I feel that it is going to be soon. Me, my backpack, my notepad, and my freedom.

World Ecotourism Conference 2010

I was looking forward to this event. I said, if I can't afford the participant's fee, I better volunteer. And was fortunate enough to get selected. According to Mr. Lee, there were more than a hundred of applications but only the 10 of us were chosen. Wasn't that impressive?! (How true, we don't know and there's no way to find out).

I received the email that I got in a month or something before the conference. I believe I was still in North Vietnam then. I was excited. The organizer Mr Lee required us to be in a black blouse and black pants or skirt and black shoes. Hmmm... Now, I have to buy clothes that I would seldom wear. But to think of it, this is an opportunity working in a conference by the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). I managed to buy pants, shoes and blouse.
A friend was supposed to bring me some pants but she cancelled her trip to Vietnam and so I had to buy. Was difficult. I had another entry about buying stuff in Vietnam.

Knocking down the bush and going straight to the point... the conference experience wasn't what I've expected... and not in a good sense. It is maybe organized but the way they have handled the volunteers wasn't good. It was actually sad. How do you react when you are told during the orientation: "You know guys, you are not helping us, we are helping you." Me and being me thought, "What the f--k then are we here for?" The UNWTO is not to blame because they were never the main organizer. So, I consider it as a "scam" in some ways. We were there as free workers and as doormats to step on by some ego-tripping maniac. There!

I am a backpacker who just wanted to make use of my time to do something helpful while traveling and ended up disappointed. We even agreed to pay our flights, accommodation and food because we believed it will be worthwhile. But stop the whining and look at the bright side.

The best consolation however is to meet 9 other volunteers from different countries... and learning that Hawaii is a separate country (hahahaha... learned that from the organizer... hahaha... ).

Thanks a lot for the experience, the friendship and the illegal drinking session in front of the Petronas Tower: Denise (Malaysia), Karina and Metta (Indonesia), Candie (Philippines), Jack (Australia), Kailey (Canada), Shehani (Sri Lanka), Jonathan (Germany) and Khloi (Thailand) ... and also to Mages (Malaysia) who is "one of us".



Photos from Candie.

Opps... before I forget the most important thing we've learned from such organizers: THINKING IS NOT ALLOWED!!! (Thanks Khloi for reminding me).

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Website of the Conference:
http://www.discoverymice.com/WEC2010/world-ecotourism-conference-2010-welcome2.htm