Thanksgiving

What is Thanksgiving to Filipinos? Nothing really. This celebration is far-fetched for the Filipino culture. But because most young Filipinos are starting to open up to Western culture, they (we) have somehow adapted the celebration. 

To me, Thanksgiving is not about thanking God for the good harvest of the summer season as the native American Indians and the first Caucasian settlers of the Americas would look at it, I look at Thanksgiving as a celebration of the blessings from God's generous hands. 


This year, what I am thankful for are the people who are very special in my life, my friends. 

I have found four people who have made a difference in my life. I am not sure why our friendship deepened. We have contrasting personalities, that people who would look at us from a distance, wouldn't say we get along. But we do get along and have been for more than a year now. We constantly meet every other weekend, sometimes more often, and do nothing but talk about things. 

Our friendship started when we entered the same industry. I did not expect that even if, one by one, we started parting ways to explore other opportunities we still find time to meet. And we never run out of things to talk and laugh about. 

Since we started spending time together, there haven't been any dark days in my life. They are the prefect outlet. They don't show outright support nor do they give you the good-old pat in the back and the "I-cry-you-cry" kind of companionship but they are sure to cheer you up in their own little way, which is certainly the way I like it.

Thank God for such wonderful people!

Metro Manila's Lungs: La Mesa Ecopark

I have long heard that this place is fantastic. But it was quite a surprise finding out that it was more than that.

About five years ago, my colleagues and I went to the La Mesa Watershed for a tree-planting project. We were by the hundreds and we all planted at least two to three trees each. I planted five trees in what seemed to be nothing but plains covered in bushes.

Giant Acacia Tree

The La Mesa Watershed in Quezon City is the primary source of drinking water of about 12 million Metro Manila residents. The property is owned by the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), a government agency. La Mesa Watershed is 2700 hectares, 700 hectares of which is the reservoir and 2000 hectares of which is the surrounding forest. This forest is the last  remaining one of its size in Metro Manila and serves as its carbon dioxide sink. La Mesa Watershed, therefore, is vital to the city, not only because it is a primary source of drinking water, but also because its forest functions as the lungs of Metro Manila, providing it with clean air.

In 1999, ABS-CBN Foundation, Inc. created Bantay Kalikasan (Nature Watch) and, in partnership with the MWSS, undertook the Save La Mesa Watershed Project. The project aimed to rehabilitate, reforest, preserve and protect La Mesa Watershed. 

Beautiful wilderness

And so we visited the park on a Tuesday morning. The blogs I read said that we should not go on a weekend since the place would be packed. And so when we did, it was just us and a few other people. The park was located along Commonwealth avenue in the Fairview area so it was about half an hour drive from my place in Marikina. 

The Entrance

When you see a huge green building, which I think is Parco Supermart to your left and across it, you see KFC the next right is the way to the park. You will be greeted by a guard since you'll be entering a Subdivision. Then take your first left and then just go straight until you see a large gate that opens into a forested area --and that's the park.

It was nothing but wilderness…and it was good. It was a break out of the buzzling city within the city. I was able to take one of my best photos.

The view by the lake --an oriental paradise.

I was ecstatic to find out I was a part of the project and planted my share of trees to absorb the CO2 that I and 12 million other individuals emit. The park was breath-taking. What I saw before when we started the project is nothing to the beauty of this place now.

Happy to have planted some of the trees in this paradise.

And so if you come across this story, please go to the La Mesa Ecopark and plant your share of trees to absorb the city's CO2. I myself plan to go back and plant a few more trees. This is, after all, the lungs at the heart of the city.

My Photography

I have always liked photography, although we all know there's a huge difference between liking photography and being a photographer. I am but very passionate with photography that my little point-and-shoot digital camera has been a slave to my shutter-happy fingers and my little notebook has sacrificed too much from my never-ending use of Photoshop.

I take pictures of everything whether it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience to regular events like hanging out at a cafe.

"Bangka" -fishing boat 

I think it will take a while and more practice before I finally consider myself a Photographer. For now, I am satisfied with people telling me how great my photos are.

The first time I got to use a camera was when I was about ten. My father, who I think also loved Photography, bought a Yashica SLR. Usually, my mother would ask me not to play around with it, because I might damage the lens. And I really couldn't take photos as much as I wanted to, since there was no way for me to pre-view the image. I had to have it printed before I could see how bad the pictures were! So for a while I forgot about photography until a good friend gave me a digital camera as a Christmas present. And then I became unstoppable!

Since I was a child, I have always loved Arts. My mother said that I learned how to draw long before I learned how to write or read. My mother always left boxes of used paper from her office so that I would have plenty to sketch on, otherwise the walls would serve better space for practice. When my mother irresponsibly forgets to leave papers, she pays it off by spending her entire weekend scrubbing the walls from crayon marks or even worse, re-plastering.

I think my passion for art, in general, gave me a good eye for capturing stills.  I know my eye for art could only go so far, either way, I will still consider photography as a perfect avenue for self-expression.