Unveiling of Governors' Portraits

Back in May, when we left for the US, my brother Rafael (whom I affectionately call Cong Paing or Cong Raf, depending on the company) got commissioned to paint Pampanga governors' portraits. He's already done some several years ago and he was also tasked to restore those existing ones. He had to extend his stay to show some of his paintings at the Capitol. After finishing almost all of the portraits, he fell off a chair here and slightly injured his right elbow. His wife got so worried that she told him to go back to the US to have it examined. Fortunately, there was no serious injury aside from severe bruises to his arm around the elbow area.

When we came back last month, I got a frantic call from the capitol and I was told there will be an official unveiling ceremony June 30th and he MUST be there as the artist to deliver a short message about his works. Furthermore, he still needs to finish the one portrait that's missing from the lot.

In the mean time, he gave me a special power of attorney (SPA) to act in his behalf during the after-the-fact bidding process at the provincial capitol.

Long story short - he and his wife came the weekend before the ceremony with the finished portrait of the one governor and a new portrait of Gov. Ed Panlilio.

We arrived the day of the unveiling around 3 o'clock Tuesday afternoon. I took my brother Naring from Masamat. We went straight to the provincial tourism office and seated right out of the office were Cong Paing, Atching Let, Andy Ramos and cousin Gil Mallari - another artist. I think Gil went out for a smoke when I took this picture.


We headed on out to the main capitol building at around 3:30 to register. When we got seated, another brother, Romy and his wife came. A minute before the ceremony started brother Orling arrived. So yes, all the Maniago brothers were present for this historical event.

The provincial choir started the program with the National Anthem, Himnong Capampangan and Ama Namin (Our Father).

After a short welcome speech by Vice Gov. Yeng Guiao, everyone was ushered upstairs for the formal unveiling.


A short biography was read of each governor while the portraits were shown one by one. It was pretty dramatic the way the portraits were unveiled. They invited relatives of the former governors to unveil the portraits and in the case of Gov. Estelito Mendoza, he himself showed up.


The staff of CKS (Center for Kapampangan Studies) were in full force: Erlinda Cruz, Myra, Arwin Lingat. Robby Tantingco can't get out of a meeting at HAU, however and didn't make it.


All through the ceremony, members of the press were taking all kinds of pictures, interviewing people here and there. Our friends Ruston Banal and girlfriend Rona Manalac were there as well, taking pictures.


Here is Cong Paing being interviewed by a reporter from ABS/CBN Pampanga.


Here is Cong Paing's message/poem entitled "Pawaga".

And here he is reading the biography of Gov. Ed Panlilio before they unveiled his portrait.

Gov Panlilio and Vice Gov Guiao presented him a certificate of appreciation. Afterwards, the governor delivered his closing speech and then we went to the Executive hall for some hors d'oeuvres and refreshments.


Since they didn't serve rice at the reception, a wee bit later we had to go to Dulang restaurant for some much needed rice meals.

DVD Movies, etc.

My favorite room in the house is my music room, aka Entertainment room, aka home theater, aka Karaoke room, etc. In a couple of years, I've collected a number of DVD movies most of which I bought used or previously viewed from rental outlets whenever we go to the States. Some, I've inherited from Eph's collection when he switched from DVD to Blue Ray. Dan and Reg have also given me a couple of discs. Donna has also purchased a few from "dealers" (wink-wink) here around the area as well.

With the volume turned up so high, it's great to watch concert videos here. It's as if one's on the front row watching Arnel Pineda of Journey belting out their greatest hits.

When Pareng James and Mareng Celia came over on vacation from Hawaii, he noticed my collection and has mentioned that the swap meet at the Honolulu Stadium provides a good source of previously owned DVDs. So of course I gave him a list of the ones I want to have and as soon as they got back he prepared a package for me and sent them through his brother who went on vacation here recently. Not sure but I think he may still be here. Thanks a lot Pars, didn't realize you sent me that many. The last time we went to California last May, I also bought me a few more. I had to order me an extra DVD rack to fit everything. I now have a total of four racks.

We've been busy lately because Cong Paing and his wife Ate Let are back for the unveiling this afternoon of the Pampanga governors portraits that he was commissioned to do. But this past weekend I've started watching some of the movies I recently got, Nacho Libre (pretty funny Jack Black movie), among others but Pan's Labyrinth stands out. This is a 2006 film by renowned Mexican film maker Guillermo del Toro set in the 1940's during the reign of Spain's Franco. Little Spanish actress Ivana Baquero was really good in it. Great movie although a tad bit violent.

It's My Turn

Note: Spoiler Alert
When you click on a movie link, be careful especially if it directs you to Wikipedia.com. This site usually tells the whole story. If you haven't seen the movie, DO NOT, I repeat, do not click on the Wikipedia movie link.


Yes, Donna's feeling much better. Me, however, well let me tell you my experience...
We watched the movie Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen the other day in one of the SM Clark theaters. I think it was the movie's first day and the theater was full so we ended up sitting on the 4th row. Big mistake. I would have enjoyed the movie more if we were seated at the back. That's the good news. The bad news?

Well, several years ago, we went and watched something (forgot what) at an IMAX theater. I came out of there feeling woozy. The same thing happened to me, only this time it was much worse. When I got home I was so sick I drank like a half a can of Diet 7Up to, hopefully, settle my stomach. Second big mistake of the day. I remember when I was really young we used to chew on and drink the juice of sugar cane. After a while you feel the liquid sloshing around in your stomach. But that was in a good way. This time the 7Up was sloshing around in my stomach IN A REALLY BAD WAY. I haven't felt this way since I was a sailor on the USS White Plains, in the middle of a storm.

Without going into sordid detail, I felt a little better after I tossed the 7Up. I was so sick, I skipped dinner. Yes, that's how sick I was because I never skip food, period!

Watching Denzel and John Travolta in their remake of Taking of Pelham 123 was a much better experience. The movie has been showing for a while so when we went, we sat way at the back, right below the projection box, to be exact.

I've always thought John Travolta plays a better bad guy.

Leda and her brood are coming tonight and are sleeping over and then tomorrow morning Cong Paing and Atching Let are coming from the US.

We're going to be busy!!

RIP
Michael Jackson

The Tale of the Latondans

The other morning, I woke up to walk Indo out. In the past, whenever I go out to the garage and start to put on my shoes, he starts barking, anxious to walk out. This time he was quiet and he went back sniffing the van. I called him and he finally came over so I can leash him. I noticed he was limping a bit. It seems he's favoring his right front leg. He's just a bit under 10 years old. I pray it's not arthritis. I haven't walked him since because of the rain.

Donna gave me a scare the other night. She had a bout with the "up and down", sitting on the toilet and up-chucking. She had the same case a few years back when she went on vacation here. She got hospitalized after she arrived in the US. A couple of years ago, (or was that last year?) she had the same thing happened to her and our comadre, Dr. Santos had to make a special house call to check her out.

So yes she has a history. She's feeling better although she hasn't been eating full meals yet. Her diet consists of Sky Flakes and bananas.

Speaking of bananas, our latondans have been ripening on a much rapid rate than anticipated. So now I have to figure out a way on how to give them away. It'll be such a waste if they get spoiled from being too ripe. Between me and Donna, there's no way we can eat all of them.


One of my favorites here is the buko (young coconut) carved out from its shell.

I usually just eat it chilled then drink the juice. But today, Donna had this bright idea of putting it in a blender with milk and ice cubes. Result? Drink of the gods! Oh, yeah!!

Philippine Arrival June '09

When we arrived here Saturday, June 13, Indo was so happy to see us, jumping and barking as if saying,

“Hey, you guys, where have you been?”

“I miss you so much!”

“It’s been a long time since I went walking! I’m getting tired of scattering my doo-doo all over the yard.”

“Come here and let me rub myself all over your legs for a minute.”

Indo’s video here.

As most Filipinos will tell you, there are two seasons here in the Philippines – wet and dry. It’s muddy, and rainy and muggy half of the year starting June and it’s hot and humid and dusty on another half. Well, that’s a bit of an extreme. We do have an in between sort of weather here during November through February, the mildest being late January and early February. So for those of you who’re planning on going on vacation, keep that in mind.

Anyway, the first few days when we arrived was a bit busy trying to straighten out the stuff from our luggage, making phone calls to make sure the things we brought for other people are distributed. And it was only raining during late afternoon and the night. The first day I was able to walk Indo was Monday morning and he basically doo-dooed three times! I felt so sorry for him. It’s as if he’s been holding it since we got here.

For the last few days it’s been raining off and on during the day and nights as well..

Donnie and Tess Yturralde

He was a former shipmate in Japan on the USS White Plains. Both are from Mabalacat, Pampanga. He and his wife Tess lived in the apartment unit above us at the Moriya Mansions in Yokosuka. I remember, he had a brother, Gener. He was also a sailor and was working part time back then at the base Navy Exchange. Donnie got off the ship before I did but he got transferred to shore duty at the NSD on base and when we passed by Yokosuka one last time on our way from vacation in the Philippines to my new duty station at NAS New Orleans during the late 70’s, we had the chance to stay with them for a couple of days. Donna told me Donnie and Tess extended her quite a bit of assistance when our ship got underway and I left her with two little babies. She remembers Donnie always tinkering with his yellow Ford Pinto and when it’s time to pick up Tess from Chase Manhattan on base where she works, the dang thing wouldn’t start!

When I got out of the service after New Orleans, we still had some contact with them, so much so that we visited them in their place in Vallejo, California where Donnie got transferred after Yokosuka. I think Donnie was already an SK1 by that time. A couple more Christmas cards after that and we’ve totally lost contact and I’ve been trying to look for them ever since. Someone mentioned that he got transferred to Guam.

The other night, Donna sent me a text message from the casino in Balibago and she said she was seated next to someone at the slot machines who resembled Tess so much that she asked her if her name was Tess.

The lady replied, “No, she’s my older sister. But how do you know her?” It turned out the lady’s name was Josie and that’s how she and Donna started a conversation. Josie and her husband, a former sailor himself, are in town because her mom passed away recently. They were stationed twice in Yokosuka as well. She even worked for the base MWR and our best friend Mary, who was an MWR financial supervisor, became her boss at one time. She had some explosive news for us. Gener has passed away and Donnie and Tess divorced a long time ago. Donnie retired from the Navy and is now living in Guam with a wife and a 20 year old kid and Tess resides in Fresno with her husband and an adopted kid. Josie promised Donna she’ll give our contact info to Tess the next time they talk.

Whenever I drive out, we leash Indo to the bench otherwise he'll go out and it's a bear to try and catch him. We did this even when we were living in Norwalk. Anyway, the other day, I called him and tied him to the bench, opened the gate, got in the van and started to drive out when I heard a thud. It was raining hard the night before and I drove over some flooded streets so I thought it was the brakes which got wet and somehow disengaged, thus the sound. But when I drove out, there was this metallic dragging sound that I couldn't figure out. So I stopped, got out and tried to look for whatever was creating the sound hoping there was nothing wrong with the van. The first thing I noticed - the bench where Indo was tied to was not where it used to be. I went around and found out he dragged it (probably running after a cat) towards the other side of the garage and broke its cast iron leg in the process. I don't know if I can get it welded, if not, well we'll just have to buy as a new bench.


I was surprised that we arrived from our vacation and the bananas in our backyard were still up on the tree albeit a bit bigger than when we left last April.


Yesterday, Ramiro, the gentleman who cuts our grass, harvested it for me. Two of the fruits were already starting to ripen to the point where they were busting out. I had to cut one out and throw it away because flies were all over it.

Here they are hanging on one of our bathrooms' sliding door frame waiting for them to fully ripen.


By the way, Eph got a new tattoo on his forearm in honor of his late son Elijah. It reads the same, right side up and upside down. Isn't that cool?

This is in addition to the one around his arm that says "maniago".

Last night, we attended the 18th birthday party of Rochelle. She's the daughter of one of our walking buddies here in Greenfields, Bong Dungao and his wife Recy. It was held in a function hall between Nepo Mart and Villa Theresa called Uni-Chef. Some of our neighbors and other walking buddies were in attendance; Bong Naguit and wife Rosalie, Jojo Naguit and wife Mymy, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Velez. She was beautiful in her gown. Bong Dungao's serenade of his daughter with Joshua Kadison's Beautiful in my Eyes was pretty cool. Sorry folks, forgot my camera - no pics.

Sayonara

It's been a short two weeks in Yokosuka. I'll miss my sushi from Livin, the trips to Liquor Port and Seven Eleven, the ice cream at the Mini Stop, the cramped Moriya Mansion, our walks towards the beach, Manami's family and especially Manami and Reggie.

Reggie got home last night after putting in about ten hours at work. He started with, "Guys, we need to talk about tomorrow." He didn't find out until yesterday that he's able to take the day off today. And so of course it's too late to rent a car. Our luggage will not fit in the Airtrek, so we let him off the hook by saying it's ok if we take the train.

We didn't realize that it's not cheap to take the train either so what we ended up doing this morning was taking a cab to the train station at seven for the 7:28 train and having them accompany us till the Yokohama station.


I guess that time of the morning is the 'rush hour' on trains - can you say SARDINES?



After several stops, it took us around 45 minutes to get to Yokohama. We said our goodbyes before the train came. They helped us board the JR Narita Express (NEX) at around 8:30 and we took it from there. It wasn't too bad because after a couple of stops, the NEX dumps everyone right at the Narita airport and from her phone call last night, Manami had already found out that the EVA Air counter is located in Terminal 1. There are several luggage carts available at the train station.

At exactly 9:58, we were wheeling our luggage out into Terminal 1. The precision of train schedules in Japan is unbelievable. In my rush, I forgot my hat in the train, by the way.

I had a little incident at the security coming out of the station. I inserted my ticket, assumed the gate will open so I just pushed it open with my cart. A train cop had to tell Donna who's following me that she had to insert both Yokosuka/Yokohama and NEX tickets for the gate to open. Not sure if that was the reason but on our way up the escalator to the departures terminal of the airport, a couple of cops ran after us and said they needed to check our passports. They were both pretty nice though, asked us a few questions, took some notes and let us go.


All we had this morning with Reggie and Manami was toast and egg so when we arrived at the airport we were ready to eat again. I wouldn't have minded having sushi but it was terribly expensive so we ended up having some Chinese instead.


After the meal, we headed towards the EVA counter, waited a few minutes and checked-in. We were first in line, by the way. And yet it seems like we were the last to finish checking in because of our situation. We got questioned again on our extended stay in the Philippines since we're US passport holders. Donna had to explain to them it's allowed because we were born in the Philippines but they had to make sure by painstakingly looking it up in their manual. Donna asked them about our in-transit status in Taipei but they didn't know too much about it saying our having a confirmation number should be good enough. And then they almost wouldn't let us check in 3 pcs of luggage totaling 60 kg saying it's a Pacific flight but Donna argued we originally came from the US and Japan was basically just a long stop over of some sort for us. Somehow she convinced them.

The meals they served on the flight were pretty cool, literally. At least mine was. I chose fish and it came in a seemingly gift wrapped box.


Donna had the boring chicken. :-)


I'm happy cause I was able to finish the movie Departures. Rent it Reg, it's a good one. You can understand Japanese anyway so it doesn't matter if the DVD rental doesn't have any English subtitles.

We arrived here at Taoyuan Airport on schedule and a gentleman with our names on a white board was waiting for us by the EVA counter.


Donna had a heck of a time explaining to them that her credit card should have been charged for our room already. But she ended up paying $85 at the counter and we finally got out of there after almost half an hour of discussion.



We found out that the Evergreen is an in-transit hotel owned by EVA Airlines and it's actually located in the terminal building so we didn't even have to go out of the airport and it's here that I'm posting this right now. We already have our wake up call tomorrow for our 9 am flight to Manila. Ok, I'll have to go now so we can have dinner.


We arrived at the Taoyuan International at around 5 pm so after checking in and dinner, we had plenty of time to walk around the terminal checking out the various displays.


June 13, 2009
Finally, here's our plane to Manila!!

Japan '09 - Misc part 4

It's a bit embarassing to admit but we're a family of snorers. Reggie almost always sleeps before everyone, whenever his back touches something - a couch, the floor, a futon - he's knocked out. That's why we can hear him snore and usually Donna follows suit and she snores and then it's me. According to Manami we all have our own unique 'sound'. Apparently, I have my lips flapping around when I exhale, to the amusement of everybody when Manami told us. Surprisingly, she does not snore.

Yes, this is how small their apartment is over here.

Yesterday, after Reggie has unwound a bit, we walked towards the Yokosuka Chuo train station where we were supposed to meet Manami's parents, Masukazu and Tamiko. When we arrived at Gonta restaurant, they were already waiting for us.


The first thing I noticed when we got seated at the table was a peanut in each place setting. Donna and I were wondering if we were supposed to eat it, how come there's only one. Then Manami explained it's there as a chopstick rest but it can still be eaten later.


Dinner was great as usual and the Karaoke session afterwards was even better.


Both Manami's parents sang a couple of Japanese songs and her Mom did a fairly decent version of a Carpenters song although she spoke very little English. Manami sang a Japanese song as well. I'm surprised I was able to sing in spite of my cough which hasn't completely gone away. Two glasses of iced tea helped cool down my throat in between Bed of Roses and Faithfully. Of course, Donna did her ohako (favorite Karaoke song) Top of the World and Torn Between Two Lovers.


A little before nine, we had to call it a night and said goodbye to Masuchan and Tamichan - they have to work in the morning. We walked with them towards the train station and bid our Sayonara promising to see each other again in the future.


Karaoke was a bit short so Reggie got a hold of his old friends Ryo and his wife Minako. I met them during my last visit in Japan in 2006.

After Manami's parents have gone into the train station, the four of us walked towards town and we went to a basement venue with Karaoke booths. Ryo and Minako were already there waiting. They remembered me from 2006. After paying for one hour, we headed to our booth. Luckily the drinks were free and I ordered my usual iced tea. It felt great to be able to sing again. Reggie just had to hear me sing Nowhere Man again with Ryo singing harmony. Ryo didn't disappoint with Billy Joel's Honesty and like Minachan, he spoke a couple of English words. He also backed Reggie up with Woman. Here is Manami singing the song "Sayonara No Mukougawa" with Ryo. It didn't feel like it but the phone rang, the front desk telling us it's been an hour so I had Reggie ask for another half hour extension.


With the half hour extension over, we had the prerequisite group pictures and the 10 minute goodbyes.


When we got home, Donna opened up the goodbye presento from Tamichan - more souvenir sembei.