My Perfect Day

How would you describe your perfect day?


It may be sitting at the front porch of your family home in the country on a cold misty morning.


It could also be a sunny afternoon on a hammock at the beach in Bali.

The thing is, your perfect day is nowhere near where you always are. It's always miles away if not lifetimes away from your current. But that's the reason it's called perfect because it is not permanent. Otherwise, it wouldn't be that fun anymore if you actually do it everyday.

My perfect day is waking up early in the morning to watch the sunrise at the beach over a good cup of coffee. Just perfect!

Note: All photos taken at the beach in Rizal, Dulag, Leyte at 7:00 AM Dec. 19, 2011.

In Memory Of Trees

One of my scrapbook graphics.

My fondest of childhood memories were playing in the sun, rolling on plains of grass, climbing trees and frolicking with the tide at the beach on sunset. Nothing could be happier than childhood embraced by nature. Imagine the fun you’ll have when you are entangled in vines on a treetop and waiting until your dad comes home to get you down than sitting at home, watching TV or on your computer.

Taken from my album "Solitude". This picture was taken in Tanghas, Tolosa, Leyte.

I thank God to have blessed me with the happiest childhood that most of the children now do not enjoy.

From my album "Ninoy Aquino Park". Taken at the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center.

People have grown deaf of the cries of nature because their ears only hear the ramblings of their iPods. I am not against technology, as a matter of fact, I embrace it just like any other individual in my generation but technology will not bring nature back on it’s own. People must do it, for we were the ones who exploited it in the first place.

From my album "Riverland Park". Taken at the Marikina Riverland Park.

If you stop reading and think that this might be another one of those sermons to plant trees and recycle, think again. If this is the hundredth or thousandth voice you are hearing about saving nature, why have you not done anything? Are you even listening?

All I ask is plant a single tree to feed you the oxygen you need to live.

From my album "Baybay: A Cool Place Down South".
Taken at Visayas State University, Baybay City, Southern Leyte.

When was the last time you saw a tree? You probably see it all the time but never really looked at it. Let alone count how many there are. So how many are there?

The answer - an estimated 61 trees per person.

Trees burnt after road clearing in Antipolo. From my album "Antipolo at Sundown".

Based on NASA data, in 2005 there were over 400 billion trees on this planet and there's over 6 billion people. Given everything we use trees for, that's a piddling amount. And remember that humans aren’t the only ones using the trees to breathe oxygen from, there are about fifty times as many animals that depend on them for so much more than we actually use them for. Animals depend on trees for food, shelter and air while we live in our high-rise condos and drive our cars.

A tree full of rose apples or "tambis" in  local dialect.
From my album "Baybay: A Cool Place Down South".
Taken at Visayas State University, Baybay City, Southern Leyte.

As you scroll from one photo to another, please run by them again and think about the last time you actually looked at a tree. If it has been a while since you did, it’s about time you wake up and do something before these photos are the only ones we have of what once was a pure soul who brought nothing on this earth but serenity ~TREES.

Daguitan River

 When I was a child, my parents weren’t usually home. My dad was aboard a ship somewhere in the Mediterranean and my mother, who was still in the middle of her PHD’s, was either in Western Visayas or somewhere in Southeast Asia. My brother and I stayed with our aunt and grandmother.

During weekdays my brother and I, together with our aunt would stay at a house we rented, close to our school in the main town of Dulag, which was a few miles from our home. During weekends we’d travel back home to be with our grandmother.



A "kubo" by the river.



 We always looked forward to the weekend. It was a couple worry-free days of just playing and bathing in the river or frolicking by the beach. Our permanent hangout place was Daguitan river.

Daguitan river was a few minutes walk from our home. The walk going to the river was quick and easy, because of the excitement. And when we got there, we swam and jumped off a cliff to the river again and again. My grandmother was always at a close watch, as she did the laundry.

We would usually leave home late in the morning, since the water would be really cold if we went there early, so getting sun burns were inevitable, since we stayed there until late in the afternoon.

Now the most tiring part was the walk home. It seemed to take ten times longer than it should. And when we finally got home, my brother and I would fall asleep from exhaustion. I remember lying down, still feeling the water current all over my body and that feeling went on until my grandmother woke us up for dinner.

The road to the river.

When I turned ten, my mother earned her PHD’s and stayed home to look after us. And then we began to live differently. We had someone else do the laundry for us, instead of my grandmother, which meant that we wouldn’t have the chance to go to the river anymore. And when I turned twelve, we started going places, and we were rarely home.

But even after fifteen years, I can still remember the river’s current on my body and the sun’s burning rays on my skin as I bathed. I have somehow come to realize that Daguitan’s waters have made it’s way to my bloodstream and have stayed ever since.

Best photo of the trip.

Just yesterday, I decided to go back to the river, where I spent the happiest days of my childhood. The river has changed its course. The cliff we used to jump off from, as a child was no longer in sight. The old edges of the river were still visible but the river has moved about thirty meters away.


As I neared the water, I felt the rush of excitement that I felt as a child. I took off my rubber boots and ran into the water. As the water hugged my feet, I felt like I did years ago. I felt rejuvenated. I felt that the child in me was always waiting for this feeling.

More Than Just A Road Trip

When I was born my dad said he was the happiest father in the world. He always wanted a baby girl since the death of his little sister whom he loved so dearly. 

Rice fields in Abuyog, Leyte.

It always broke his heart when he had to leave home for work overseas, which would take him six months before he comes home again. But when he was around he made sure that he spent quality time with us.

Bil-at, on the border between Dulag and Tolosa, Leyte.

We grew farther apart while growing up. He still worked abroad while I was in high school and his time home became less and less. On my fourteenth birthday, I remembered him saying, "I wish you never grew up. I miss you as a little girl. Because I can't kiss you and carry you around like I used to." It broke my heart when he said that. But like any teenager, I, sort of, suffered a certain level of "emotional constipation". I totally just shrugged it off, despite the urge to reciprocate the emotion. And it went on until I finished high school.  

San Juanico Bridge, the longest bridge in Asia.

Until one day, we received bad news. He was no longer allowed by his agency to work because of health problems. He was devastated. He loved his job so much but he had to come home. Let alone stay home to recover. This may have been bad news but we never realized it would be for the good.

The Leyte Landing Monument in Palo, Leyte.

He stayed home but he was able to do all the things he had always wanted to do, like, do house repairs, look after mom's garden, take care of dogs, travel, cook, eat, play his guitar and sing his heart out!

Horse along the highway in MacArthur, Leyte.

When I turned twenty and lived away from my parent's house, he always sent me messages and called me to check how things were doing. And it's just then that I said "I love you" to him and mom again after about twenty years. But what's so sweet about it is, I mean it now more than I used to.

Santo Nino Shrine in Tacloban City, Leyte.

The last time I was home to celebrate my birthday, dad and I went on a road trip. Which was more than a road trip but a recollection of the times we spent together since I was born.

Dad's dirt bike.

It was a spontaneous decision as we rode his dirt bike and went places he always wanted me to see. And along the way we talked about me as a child and the funny stuff we did that upset mom.

It felt good to be with dad again and feeling like a child again.

Dulag, Leyte: The Place Where My Heart Belongs

I have traveled a lot in twenty-seven years and have settled in many different places but nothing will ever be called home other than Dulag, Leyte.

Tricycle loaded with milled rice grains traversing the Maharlika Road in Dulag.

I spent only a few years of my life in Dulag. I was born in Leyte but a few hours away from Dulag, in Leyte's capital, Tacloban City but most, if not my entire childhood was spent in Dulag. 

My cousin Christina, frolicking at the beach in Dulag.

I went to primary school in Special Education Center in Dulag. Although I left Dulag to study High School, my family and I still made it a point to go to Dulag on the weekends. And during summers when school is at a temporary halt, I spend it running around in the farm, bathing at the nearby river, or the beach which was just a few minutes from our home. I enjoyed every minute of it!

My feet in the sand at the beach.

I have left Dulag many times, but still I long for the "Tabo" (Market Day) on Thursdays where my grandmother and I would buy the freshest fruits, vegetables and meat at the market, plus a few local pastries that would last me until the next Thursday. I still long for the rainy days when my mother would make "Tsokolate" (native hot chocolate), made from pure roasted and ground cocoa seeds, which my grandmother makes. And the fact that this drink is mixed with coconut milk, makes it taste creamier and more special. These simple things make me want to go back to Dulag. 

Dulag marketplace during "Tabo"

Most of my relatives also live and work in other places, but we'd usually go to Dulag on National Holidays, which makes home-coming the highlight of the entire year for the whole family. And then we all relive the times we were there.

The sign that meets everyone who enters the town.

So no matter where I am and will be in the future. I will always find my way back to the place I call home --Dulag Leyte. 




Please visit the official Facebook page of Dulag, Leyte at:http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dulag-Leyte-Philippines/115536155152548