Pagsanjan Photos

Here are some of the photos taken in Pagsanjan, Laguna after eating halohalo at Aling Taleng’s located nearby during our break while working on the script of Asiong Salonga.

Municipal Building of Pagsanjan; That's me standing in front of the historical marker

Close shot of the Historical Marker

Pagsanjan Church with Our Lady of Guadalupe as Patroness

Pagsanjan River at Magic Hour

Sulyap sa shooting ng Asiong 2011 —

Caught Baron Geisler while waiting for the take

Tikoy Directs

Shooting of Asiong Salonga 2011; Jeorge Estregan in white suit

Picture-Picture and Catching the Moon

The Translation Process: Vim explains the poem line-by-line and per poem stanza; Febe interprets for Raphy; Raphy interprets after understanding the poem's message through contextualization, not literal translation of the poem; I record the proceedings and gives suggestions when asked and when I had to.

Yesterday, our second session with Vim Nadera for the project of interpreting Rizal’s poems in sign language was held at the UST Publishing House. Vim was rushing to meet his deadline for his upcoming book “Kayumanggi.” Only Raphy, Febe, I and Jojo came over. “A La Juventud Filipino” and “Awit ni Maria Clara” were explained and discussed with Raphy for his interpretation of the poems. We started at about 2.30 pm, finished and left at nearly 6 p.m. Magic hour pa. Nagpapicture-picture kami!!!

With Raphy and Febe

"Welcome, home!" - Bit of nostalgia unavoidable

(L-R) Vim Nadera, book designer, musician, MM, Raphy and Febe

Til I caught the moon up high. Nakasilip! Nakikita nyo?

Take Two!

(Hmmm! Maliit pa rin ang buwan… Next time na lang)

Alugbati

Once in a while, I veer away from my usual focus—PWDs and sped children—Nature is one of those digressions that can quite pull me away from said topics—

I was about to type when I felt the earth quaked just now…was scared and rushed out. The tremor stopped. [Intensity 3 here in our area according to reports. Nothing to worry according to our volcanologists. Our country experiences 20 earthquakes a day]. So, I am back to post my photo files of “alugbati” [scientific name: Basilia rubra Linn.], a stew vegetable and medicinal plant that grow in the Philippines. Alugbati in Tagalog, it is called “Malabar Night Shade,” “Ceylon spinach,” or “Climbing spinach” in English; “luo kui shu” in Chinese; “Pui shak” in Bengali; “Mong to” in Vietnamese, and “Bertalha” in Portuguese. Alugbati or vine spinach is commonly found in South-East Asia and Africa.

I never used to eat it until recently…when instead of using ampalaya leaves with monggo, we used alugbati. Tasted great! Manang Fely, our helper saved and planted the cuttings weeks ago. Now, the plant that had grown caught my attention. And as I always appreciate close ups of plants when I observe their forms, I couldn’t help but take my camera to record its uniqueness and intrinsic “beauty.”

Manang kept alugbati flowers still on the leaf

For scientific and medicinal quality of alugbati, click malabar-night-shade.html+alugbati+scientific+name&cd=9&hl=tl&ct=clnk&gl=ph&client=firefox-a&source=www.google.com.ph / Alugbati.html / alugbati.htm+alugbati+scientific+name&cd=1&hl=tl&ct=clnk&gl=ph&client=firefox-a&source=www.google.com.ph

Déja vu_BenCab Museum

Writer-friend Janus Victoria and I took the opportunity to visit BenCab Museum last November 18, a place  one should not miss seeing. I had scheduled showing of Silent O the following day, November 19 at CAP Auditorium [See SO's Last Quarter Trail posting dated November 30]. We just dropped our things at Veniz Hotel [cozy and strategically placed hotel at reasonable price] when we reached Baguio City at noon time, and proceeded to the Museum some 10-15 minutes ride from the city. We wanted to meet BenCab but we knew all along that he wouldn’t be there because I met with Ms. Annie Sarthou some four or five days back to give her the DVDs and the master tape of “BenCab’s Haven,” the coverage of the museum’s inauguration shot by Kuya Romy Vitug that I edited.

From the last jeepney stop, we had to walk a few more steps down the road to reach the Museum located at Km. 6 in Asin. It was cloudy and the climate was just right for me as the cold didn’t chill me to death unlike the experiences that I had in the past, being a tropical creature who landed in Tokyo and Paris where I felt how it was like to be a frozen fish inside a ref’s chiller.

“Déja vu” literally! [French phrase meaning "already seen", and it refers to the experience of feeling sure that one has witnessed or experienced a new situation previously. From "Wikipedia"] Editing “BenCab’s Haven” made me familiar to almost all the nooks and corners of the Museum, from the very sight of the entrance to the building which is actually the fourth floor of the Museum. However, physically being “in” it was still totally different from just seeing the actual place via footages. The senses of touch [actual artworks which of course I didn't literally touch but have seen the textures and perceived them], smell [coffee smell was dominant, at least for me, and fresh air of course; I can distinguish between Manila and provincial "smell" I guess because of unpolluted air], sight [beautiful paintings, traditional arts and crafts, some sculpted works and greeneries outside], hearing [the calm breeze, sound of the water gushing down the river streams, chirping birds from the aviary and the surroundings], and taste, yes! as there was Cafe Sabel where we had our merienda after enjoying seeing the sights inside and outside of the Museum. I enjoin you then to tour with me through some of the many photos that I shot [some others courtesy of Janus. Visit her facebook album for more].

(For more photos, click “BenCab Museum Garden” under FILM RESPITE on the right column).

To visit BenCab’s website, click bencabmuseum.org

Balimbing

Balimbing, n. (bot.) Averrhoa carambola: tree that bears fruit with five longitudinal, angular lobes [Source: Diksyunaryo Tesauro Pilipino-Ingles (1972) by Jose Villa Panganiban].

Balimbing is a fruit not so many find exciting and good for their palate to eat. It is like a five-pointed star when horizontally cut. If perfect in symmety, it will show the same “look” or the same “face” when turned around five-ways. The reason why it became a colloquial word to mean a “turn-coat” or “doble cara.” A person described as balimbing acts depending on the person he is with. Concrete examples of balimbings abound in the arena of politics. Politicians who can stay in power whosoever sits in the highest post have the quality of changing his principles and character as demanded by the one in power. Their past bickerings, word wars, at mala palengkeng pagbabangayan may turn into sweet relationship to serve their political ambitions.

Balimbing leaves

We have a balimbing tree—ligaw sa totoo lang— which grew tall and now bears flowers and fruits. The children in the neighborhood are simply not interested in them, probably because balimbing is unkown to them, as they are sold nowhere—neither in the smallest talipapa, nor in the biggest supermarkets. But I have observed that those who got used to its taste have started to search for ripe ones to pick and eat. The fruit tastes bitter when raw, sour while ripening and sweeter when ripe. It is juicy and crispy when newly picked.

The most wonderful thing that happened was when I shot extreme close shots of balimbing flowers. Although as bunch of flowers, I already find them beautiful because of their colors, I still took the tiny flowers for granted…Until I have seen the shots that I took in my computer. I was delighted, felt real joy and praised God for His power to give beauty to the taken-for-granted creation. My joy was overflowing so much so that I have been compelled to veer away from my advocacines to write this so as to share with you what I am talking about through the photos that I shot and truly marveled at.

For more photos, click the following link balimbing-wonders.

“Magic Hour” in San Julian

“In photography, the golden hour (sometimes known as magic hour, especially in cinematography) is the first and last hour of sunlight during the day, when a specific photographic effect is achieved with the quality of the light.” Golden_hour_%28photography%29 (From: wikipedia.org).

Kaygandang umaga sa Jose Rizal St., San Julian

The magic hour passes very quickly. While waiting for the bus to come that would take us back to Tacloban City, Leyte from Eastern Samar last July 24, I took some shots between 6am – 6:45am in front of Gilda Quintua’s house located at the corner of J.P. Rizal St. and the National Road…and captured the moments when the town was just starting to wake up. (Please see Magic Hour in San Julian, Eastern Samar on the right column under the heading “Film Respite”)

La Tour Eiffel, Paris

I had been to Paris twice: the first time was when Ms. Virginia Moreno, UP Film Center director assigned me to research on Juan Luna’s residences and studio, the second time when I went there with Minnie Crouse on the way home from Belgium after our film “The Case of Wilkie Duran: Toxic Chemical Victim” won the Best Humanitarian Award at the Belgium Independent Film Festival. I stayed for a month the first time I went there and stayed two nights the second time I visited the place. That time we met the soft-spoken Burmese actor, Aung Koo whom we met in Belgium during the festival. He was one of the festival jury at the time. He treated us in a Chinese restaurant. I remember doing an on-the-spot sketch of Mr. Aung Koo. We later came to know that he is a friend of Aung San Sung Kyi, 1991 Nobel Prize Winner, the famous oppositionist in Myanmar (then called Burma) who is still in house arrest because of speaking against the military junta and has always been treated as a political threat by the authority.

In Paris, not seeing the Eiffel Tower is madness. You can’t say you had been to Paris unless you visit it, really see it and be awed by it. I received an email today from my Indian bandhu brother Dharam Gulati showing the panoramic view of the tower. Seeing it reminded me of the day when I saw Eiffel Tower the first time.

Please click to marvel at it: 08toureiffel.html

Since I could not stand the cold in Paris and I had to return home because of my bedridden brother. I proceeded back to Belgium alone, then Manila. In Manila, it was being back to reality for being in Paris was like a dream, never to come back anymore perhaps except in thoughts.

The place I really want to go back to now is India to visit friends who are to me, like my real brothers and sisters, and to visit Pune that once became a part of my life, or rather, where I was once a part of.

YUTA

“Yuta: Earthworks by Julie Lluch” was Julie’s retrospective exhibition of terra cotta works spanning 30 years. It was held at the Cultural Center from October to December 2008. “Better late than never” they say. So no matter how late I am, I have  uploaded my photo files just the same to share with you and hopefully enjoy. You won’t regret if you do. That’s guaranteed! (Click on “Yuta Fotos” under the page “Film Show Respite” on the right column)

Attending exhibits is one of those rare activities that I do in between film documentation work. Anyhow, it turned out to be a documentation just the same as I took snap shots of her works that were exhibited there.

I first met Julie about a couple of years ago one April evening in the house of UP Film Center Founder-Director Virginia R. Moreno located at Malvar St., Malate, Manila. It was Aling Barang’s birthday. Her grand celebration wasn’t held on that day. But still April 24 was her day and a handful of us—maybe not more than five—paid her a visit. It was a very simple and cozy gathering. I have footages shot on that day.

Julie’s exhibit was very successful. Her interpretations were superb and awesome. Her dexterity on the use of clay displayed great control of the medium. She managed to get the essence of all her subjects, especially that of Van Gogh, Picasso and Frieda Kahlo!!! Also the literary artists Jose Villa Panganiban, Nick Joaquin, Adrian Cristobal, etc. I do not know her subjects personally but many were popular and literary celebrities so they all seemed familiar.  I had a great time shooting at the exhibit especially when I chanced upon the actual models standing or posing by their sculpted images.

Julie is well-known to be a prolific artist but it was just my first time to attend her exhibit. Well, probably because I got a personal invitation from her. That made a whole lot of difference I guess. There was no feeling that I was gate crashing.

With Alma Quinto (L) and Aureus Solito (Ctr)

During the exhibit, I met a few artist-friends, among them Alma Quinto,  Aureus Solito, director of “Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros,” and Rembrant Vocalan, one of the cameramen of my first historical docu (Tiga-Isla) whom I later came to know was the exhibit’s photographer. However, both Julie and I wondered why Aling Barang failed to come anyway. Or, was VRM late??? (I left CCP early…)

All the photos that I took were shot using available lights. I only used my video camera’s digital photo shot to record. No enhancement was made to any of the photos.

For more re her exhibit click
Julie Lluch’s ‘Yuta’: A retrospective

Beauty in the “extraordinary ordinary”

I have a page on the photos that I shot in my journeys to places where I go for a respite or to places where I would just have to sit and wait, mull over something, observe, think… To make dull moments worthwhile, I have spent those times taking snapshots of the “extraordinary ordinary” objects and subjects which caught my attention. The photos were mostly taken in Olang Arts Park in Siquijor Island, Bohol, Palawan, Cavite, Tanay and in Metro-Manila. Shots in Zamboanga and more in Dumaguete City will follow. (Please see the page on the right column under FILM SHOW RESPITE—Beauty in the “extraordinary ordinary”)