ruminations from this corner

Friday, June 6, 2014

Brazil!

Marvin and I went to Brazil in April this year, our first time in South America (!). It was also my first time to speak in front of a big (400pax) audience. Both turned out to be a wonderful experience.

Our first stop in Brazil was Brasilia for an official business (mine). We arrived at nighttime, and we were able to get a good view of the city lights from the runway. Yup, the runway. The airport is super close to the city and sits on higher ground. There are no tall buildings around to block the view. (We later learned that there used to be a regulation prohibiting construction of a building higher than the National Congress.)

In the morning, the first thing we noticed was how brilliant the sky looked. It's not only because it was a clear and sunny day. It was more because the sky looked so near I could almost touch it. I live in a tropical country and I'm no stranger to sunny skies. But Brasilia's sky was distinctly beautiful.

Brasilia is a planned and a fairly new city (just 50 plus year old). With its brutalist and modernist architecture and, perhaps, being the seat of the federal government, the city reminds me of Hunger Games's the Capitol. The famed structures (mostly designed by Oscar Niemeyer) look striking from afar but up close, old and rugged. Well, that's probably how it is with brutalist architecture. Pretty is not the point.

I think Quezon City and Brasilia were developed around the same time (I don't care googling anymore) and with more or less the same idea behind. Fifty years later, Brasilia feels like it hasn't changed much (still sleepy, orderly) while QC has become a mega, highly urbanized city (for good or bad). I hope QC stood a bit more still.

Then there's Rio de Janeiro.

Who wouldn't fall in love with a city like this? The ocean, a lagoon, and a forest all within kicking distance

That city is just so charming without even trying. How did those Cariocas get so lucky living in a city with mile-long beaches, coastal mountains, rainforest and lagoon?

I love the vibe of that city, particularly in the Zona Sul where Copacabana lies which was where we were staying. People don't seem to care and don't seem so caught up in made-up looks and brands. You can strut your stuff in the grocery without a shirt on and people won't take a second at look you. You do your thing: stick to your '80s fashion sense, french kiss with tongues out, dance like you're in the privacy of your own room - they're cool with that and you won't feel like an outcast. It would take extreme weirdness and crappiness to be an outcast or uncool in that city.

The city is so liberating in that way. You get the feeling that people just know that life is too short to be fussing over the small things and to not be spending that much time in the beach. The cariocas are truly a different breed.

Also, I only saw one McDonald's and one Starbucks in Rio (they only have 2). I didn't see any American or European high street clothing brand shops, even in the most touristy districts of Copacobana and Ipanema.

They are fiercely Brazilian to the core, and they speak no English.

Which is the sad part. Commuting is a challenge because it's hard to ask for directions. An English-speaking Brazilian is rarer than a Filipino who doesn't sing. We were kinda lost on our way back from the Maracana Stadium (which is on the other far side of Rio), and we were taking the subway. There were no English directions anywhere, the PA system announced everything in Portuguese (with no translations).

I was asking for directions from our seatmates in the train but they all spoke no English. When we got to a certain station, it seemed like everyone was getting off so we alighted the train as well. We didn't know which platform to go to after and we found ourselves again helplessly asking for directions. Luckily, a girl in goth attire came up and volunteered to go with us since she was also going to Copacobana to meet her boyfriend. And coincidence of coincidences, she happened to stay with a Filipino family for 6 months in London where she learned to speak English. Filipinos are everywhere and it's a good thing!

One of my favorite things about our stay in Rio was our quaint little apartment in Copacabana. It was on the roofdeck of a '70s era 8-storey building, with mostly doctor's clinics on all floors. From the kitchen with a cool retractable roof, we had a good view of the Cristo Redentor. I loved having our breakfast there. There was a park in front of it, and instead of a children's playground, it had a senior citizens' outdoor exercise equipment area. The park was filled with old people playing chess and reading the newspapers. Rio, and even Brasilia, have these ubiquitous magazine stands (selling as in glossy magazines and not just tabloids) almost every corner. And bakeries and fresh juice stands every other block or so.

There was also a church in front of the park, which we didn't immediately notice because it was a typical building and did not resemble a cathedral. Unlike in the European cities I've been to, Rio's Catholic churches are still filled with churchgoers. It was a Palm Sunday when we were there, and you'd see all these people (young and old alike) holding palm leaves. There was also a farmers' market in the park - Hallelujah - which is exactly one of the things I like going to in my travels. The apartment was just spot on!

Of course we also visited the Corcovado (where Cristo Redentor stands) and the Sugarloaf mountains. Anyone would love them, I think. Rio looks even more beautiful from those sites. And when we were there atop those mountains, I kept thinking: How come my Manila isn't like this. How come the sky is not this blue in my city. How come our streets and bays don't look as good as theirs when it should have been easy.

I really was filled with envy. I didn't feel that in the European cities I've been to because I expect them to be beautiful because they're first world countries. I didn't feel that in Singapore because everything there feels contrived. But when I see a city in a country that is still not exactly rich in economic terms, and that doesn't even look like it's trying hard, I feel envy. Because in Rio I saw what we could have been but aren't for some strange reason (like our city's penchant for hideous temporary road barriers and unkempt sidewalks).

My hometown, Maasin, to me looks like a tiny and a lot less pretty version of Rio. It is in a coastal mountain, too. But its eyes are on Manila, so I don't know how it's going to end up looking in a few years. I think our newer cities should be looking beyond Manila and Cebu for inspiration and model. I think our cities could all take inspiration from these Latin American cities.

I think we should all go to Rio.

my first glimpse of Brasilia in daylight

A tribute to the guy who envisioned Brasilia (no, I don't mean Marvin)

Cathedral of Brasilia


Inside the Cathedral

The congress

Rows of government offices

Touch down Rio

Love at first sight/sigh

The park and The Cristo // The apartment couldn't be more perfect

Caught the sunrise in Copacobana. Intense

Ecstatic!

This is how you do restrooms along beaches. No hideous portalets in sight

Tram ride to Cristo

Getting there

I'll ask someone to photoshop this. Love the photo still

Panoramic view

Must be love

There's the senior citizen park! Let's have one over here

View from Sugarloan (Pan de Acucar) Mountain

Still atop Pao de Acucar

I'm in love with the retractable roof

What we stepped out into from our apartment early Sunday morning...

And then there's the Ipanema

As citizens of an archipelago, all Filipinos should be entitled to a clean public city beach like this.

Palm leaves looking freshly plucked from the tree

Around our street

Saw a live bossa nova show in Vinicius Bar. This lady is Maria Creuza and she's a fairly popular singer in Brazil. I hope she didn't catch me fighting off sleep and failing during her show.

That's the building where the apartment is. See that roofdeck?

Uhm. Apparently, I got into business class. (secretly screaming in glee)

Friday, May 2, 2014

Hong Kong 2013

Snippets of our 2nd family vacation outside the country, according to Zaki. I have this feeling that Zaki holds back when he writes for me. Like he wants to be seen average, or normal whatever that is. But I've always suspected he has more interesting insights and ways of telling them that he cares to share. I don't know. It could also just be an overly optimistic parental expectation.

Anyway, here's what he thinks about our 4 day HK adventure in December 2013.

-oOo-

Hong Kong is a very nice country. It has lots of tourist attractions and is very progressive. I had a nice stay in Hong Kong and I hope I could go to it again.

When I arrived in Hong Kong at the airport, I was impressed. Their airport was more orderly and efficient than what we have here in the Philippines. We stayed in the airport for a short time to get our luggage, and then we took the train to the city.

The train was just like the MRT and LRT, but it was cleaner and more advanced. Out of the window we could see the cities Kowloon and Hong Kong. After we had travelled to our destination, we took the bus to our hotel. The hotel needed 2 hours to accommodate us. While waiting, we walked through the city for a while. There were lots of trees and many shops along the streets. The streets were crowded when we walked around. Pedestrians like us had to wait for the red light to come since most cars don’t stop unless they see it.

We came to our hotel later in the afternoon. It had a nice view and was really comfortable to be in. We stayed there for the rest of the afternoon since we were tired.

The next day, we went to Disneyland. Going there, we used the train where we got to see more of Hong Kong. We used the train a lot, since it was probably the best way of transport around Hong Kong.

We went to Disneyland on a particularly cold and rainy day, but that didn’t slow us or the other hundreds of people visiting the same day. We went inside the park and it was amazing. It had a big fountain with a statue floating on top of it, a giant castle, a big train and other stuff. We took a few pictures then moved onto the rides.

The rides were fun. The first ones we went to were in a part of Disneyland called Tomorrowland. It had many attractions like racing, a kind of rollercoaster, and lots of others. We took trains, watched movies and plays, went to lots of rides and had fun. Although it was nice, Disneyland wasn’t really as amazing as I expected since it felt more suitable for smaller children and some rides were really corny.

The next day, we went to Ocean park. We wanted to try something different from the train, so we took the ferry. After alighting the ferry, we took a taxi, then a bus, to the park.

We went to Ocean Park on a much colder day than when we went to Disneyland. My hands were starting to get numb, but we went on anyway. It was(in my opinion) better than Disneyland. We got to see lots of rare sealife like jelly fish, manta rays, octopuses and much more. We got to go on a really nice cable car which had a really great view of the islands around Hong Kong. We also took the rides. The rides were really thrilling. We rode a tower that took us really high, a rollercoaster which goes upside down and a ride that turns you around really fast. We could have rode much more if our hands weren’t getting frost-bite. Soon, we got tired of the cold and went back to our hotel room for a hot bath.

Over-all, Hong Kong is a great place. It is very rich, despite being a small country I would like to go back there soon.

wearing our costumes

guess where the train leads to

our favorite HK destination: our room!!!

one of the best rides

aboard the ferry

this was a nice show (Lion King)

we're somewhere there

this was fun

there's supposed to be a nice view of the city in our back

going up

look, no queue!

before checking out - we love HK!

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Christmas 2013

I love how we celebrated our Christmas Eve. It was a departure from our usual. We went to the Ayala lights festival and then went home before 8 to enjoy a simple dinner of kinilaw and sinigang na lapu lapu. Kids opened their gifts from mommy's friends and Lola (daddy's friends are not the type who give gifts). And then we all went to bed before 10pm.

On Christmas day, we headed out for Baguio at 5am. I discovered traveling early Christmas morning can be so solemn and beautiful, especially if you're headed to the country side. There were only a few motorists on the road, and I felt a sort of an affinity with them, like we shared this secret that only the few of us Christmas travelers know.

The drive took just about 5 hours which was kinda awesome (because everything feels awesome on Christmas day). We headed straight to the picnic site in PMA to have our brunch of chicken adobo and rice straight out of our trusty rice cooker.

We rested a bit in the hostel (the Nakar Guesthouse inside the PMA, where I used to stay when I visited Marvin during his cadet days) before driving around the city. Our dinner that night was my and Marvin’s favorite papaitan and other goat delicacies from Billy's Goat House. We get excited with new discoveries like a hole in the wall eatery serving more than decent papaitan, and promised to eat there again and try their other goat dishes.

The following day was Ezra's 2nd birthday. The baby wasn't feeling so well but he was a trooper. We had brunch again at the picnic spot and helped Ezra blow his 2 candles on a slice of cake. Piece of cake. I thought the pines were lovely and it was going to be a waste if we didn’t have our family portrait taken with them as backdrop. So I arranged the kids for the photo session which is not exactly their idea of fun. I told them they're going to thank me later for all the photos I took of them when they were younger.

After what feels to the kids as obligatory outdoor family portrait session, we brought them to Camp John Hay for horseback riding. Because what's a vacation in Baguio without horseback riding, and boat paddling in Burnham Park. Because childhood memories are made of this kind of stuff.

And we had another happy discovery at Burnham Park: skating rink! Who knew there was a skating rink in that spot all along? It was the first for the kids (and Marvin) to try on skating. Marvin and Zaki were quick learners. Yuan got by without falling flat and Zion loved it so much he wants a pair of skating shoes for his birthday.

Before long, it was time for Ezra's birthday dinner at the Forest House Bistro. That place is so Christmas-y and so perfect for a December birthday dinner in Baguio! It has a log cabin feel and a real fireplace, and it was totally decked out with Christmas decors. Zion said when he grows up, he's also going to bring his kids to hotels and restaurants with a fireplace because his kids are really going to get excited. Don't you just love that boy?

If you ask the brothers, they will tell you Ezra had a really fun 2nd birthday. If you ask Ezra, he will tell you, What do I know? I was groggy throughout with my cough meds.

It was free time (meaning no picture taking and scheduled activities) the following day for the boys which they spent camping at the picnic site and reading the books they brought along. Marvin and I went to the market for cheap vegetables and I got myself a very dandy fluffy bonnet. We had goat again for lunch (as promised) and for coffee we went to this lovely neighborhood cafe called PNKY. It's a good alternative to the noisy, busy and crowded coffeeshops. No one shouting names and orders. It's not a coffee shop for the weekdays, when you're in a rush and you want to get pumped up for the work ahead. It's a coffeeshop for Sundays, when you want to just take it slow, read a book, talk in hushed tones. I wish there were more coffee shops like this around my place in Manila.

For our last day in Baguio, we got up early to have our picnic breakfast at Mt. Sto. Tomas in Tuba, Benguet where you can find the twin radars brought by the Americans pre-World War. You can see those radars from Kennon Road and Marvin always, always tells the kids that those are the big electric fans that keep Baguio cool. I’m starting to think he actually used to believe that when he was first told about it.

It was so cold when we got there, like 12deg. And there were clouds and fog all around us. It felt like we were walking on clouds. And it had the most fantastic view of the city. You can even see Baguio's runway. I loved it!

Then it was time to go home, and face the monstrosity that is the Edsa traffic.

For New Year's, we booked a family suite in Tagaytay. The kids, including Marvin, braved the chilly air and spent the afternoon swimming in the hotel's infinity pool (which is not infinite, not even that big). Yuan was so thrilled to use a really nice hotel bathrobe. He said he felt rich walking around wearing it! haha. Now all he wants for his birthday is a really nice hotel-grade bathrobe.

The kids pretty much had a grand Christmas vacation. And as a parent, nothing makes me happier than seeing my kids getting all excited and hearing them say they feel special with all the (simple) treats they got. Basically, that's what this vacation was all about.

I savored the last sunset of the year from our room’s balcony, which had a view of the Taal lake. I said a few prayers of thanksgiving for the year that was. Like any year, 2013 had its ups and downs, but the things that stick with me are the ups. And they make me hopeful for the coming year. This ability to focus on blessings is a gift in itself. And I thank God for it because I don't want the misery that the alternative brings.

I also said a few prayers of supplication for 2014. I prayed for my family's vigor and stamina and protection. I prayed for my loved ones' hearts to desire the Lord more and more. I prayed that our hearts will only yearn to please Him and to know His will for us. Lastly, I prayed for myself to be kinder, more gracious, more loving and generous.

And may it be so.