Volcanos and Divisoria

A Sunday outing with my friend Carol and her little girl Leila somehow ended up being a two-day epic trek up the Taal volcano with Carol's father, his right-hand man, and his driver. Strange things do happen in this world.

Taal Lake, Tagaytay City, Cavite Province

After resting all Saturday after the big concert, I was itching to get out somewhere and suggested to Carol that we meet up for coffee. She'd been saying I had to meet her daughters - the oldest had a violin and was already playing the piano and guitar on her own. I headed out by cab armed with a map but still had to fight with the driver who kept turning off the wrong way even when I told him it didn't look right. Next time I won't be so nice and trusting - I think he was deliberately going out of his way to ring up the fare especially at the end when I clearly told him to go straight and he turned early. Argh. 500P later I made it to Carol's door. We had lunch and visited with her girls a bit. The oldest had to study but we took the baby (age 2) and with the family driver, headed to Tagaytay city to see the view of the volcano.

When Carol said you could climb it, I got bad ideas...of course!!!

But for today we enjoyed our Starbucks and headed to Sonya's Garden, a renowned restaurant, and enjoyed an afternoon with little Leila. The garden was beautiful and beyond it was a quiet zone and complete spa.

It also said "no children" so we totally went there!

Carol almost insisted I take the time for a massage so...I did. But then it was too late to eat there and Leila was getting squirmy. We headed to Carol's family resort and in discussing the possibility of climbing the volcano, she suggested I just stay at the resort overnight and head back to Tagaytay the next day rather than return all the way to Pasay City.

So the next morning, still wearing the dress I had on the day before, I was ready for hiking up a volcano!

Initially I was to go in the company of Carol's nanny's son for guidance and protection, but then her father, the esteemed resort owner himself decided to join in on the outing, so next thing I knew, his driver and right-hand man were also included!

The resort staff already fed me breakfast and I was ready to go by 8am but then we waited for Mr. Pobre to join us. Then we stopped for breakfast for the gentlemen, and they ordered food from the restaurant for the climb, which joined more food that we'd bought at a market and also food prepared by the resort staff. When we found a boat rental place that was suitable, we ultimately forgot all the food in the trunk of the car. The boat ended up being 2000 including a horse for Mr. Pobre, who at an age somewhere north of 70, was not to be expected to walk uphill in the heat. Upon arrival, we were indeed harangued by local people selling hats, bandanas, clothing, and everything except iPads. Mr. P was quickly swept uphill on his mount, but Resty the driver, Arnel and I took our time enjoying the walk, the view, and the smoking yellow sulfur that remained visible in some spots - Taal is still a live volcano being studied by seismologists and apparently it exploded only 20 years ago. At the top we found a lake down in a crater that is inaccessible unless you are studying it, and the lovely beach is actually more smoking yellow sulfur.

Sulfur beach still smokin'.

Opportunists have set up shacks selling touristy t-shirts and buko juice (coconuts - cut off the top and stick in a straw - there's about a litre of the good stuff in there). Not sure how much - Mr. P insisted. Then you could ask them to split it open and they shave a sliver of the shell for you to scoop out the coconut meat. SO good!

I was able to wander a narrow grassy ridge away from the touristy shack and get a more wild look at the volcano crater but was soon closely followed by tourists in medical facemasks, some in long sleeved fleece shirts and high heeled designer shoes (so not kidding). I had forgotten a hat so I had bought a bandana for 40P which served as hat, facemask, and sweat towel.

Satisfied with the view, we headed down, Mr. P first, again beating us to the boat. The ride back was relaxing and cooling compared to the hot slope. Mr. P seemed to have had a good time and I thanked him most emphatically.

Then I caught a bus that went from Tagaytay all the way back to Pasay City's Baclaren LRT station - from there I jumped the LRT (12php) and walked home from Libertad, feeling very much a local. And desperately in need of a shower! But so happy to have had a hike with a view.

Today, Tuesday, I had another long day on my feet: Divisoria - the infamous Chinese market place where the goods are abundant and the prices rock bottom. Everyone buys everything from Divisoria and sells it at jacked up prices elsewhere. I finally got to see first hand why everyone was telling me before, "It's cheaper in Divisoria." I didn't bring my camera in case of pickpockets but needn't really have worried - I was guarding my purse like crazy the whole time and had pinned my pockets shut.

First thing was I walked to the Makati Greenbelt area from Pasay City. Starbuck's and a visit to the BPI. Then over to the Dusit Thanh hotel to await Vic and Pet. Await is the word. Traffic is the main cause of the expression "Philippino Time," I think. Pet was stuck so Vic picked me up and we circled until we saw the orange Quechua backpack indicating our French friend.

Then EDSA to Roxas in the large, airconditioned almost-Jeepney that Vic uses to transport large bolts of fabric and other masses of clothing-making products. It was a real treat to be led around Divisoria by someone really familiar with it. Otherwise I'd be so lost. It's a crazy, filthy, non-stop place of buying and selling. The streets are beyond filthy and there's a distinctive stench. The buildings are all post-war crumbles of rust and dirt with laundry and faded advertising hanging in tatters from every wall. The fabrics are amazing, though. I found some beautiful brocade for 70php a yard - right on the street. Vic knew a lot of the dealers personally and finally at the end of the day when we dodged into a jam-packed fabric warehouse beyond the imaginings of even Winnipeg's Mitchell Fabrics, the staff actually carried Vic's purchases all the way back to the car. It's prom dress season so he's working on a collection of fancy formal dresses that need to be done by April.

Electronics, food, clothing, shoes, umbrellas, everything you could imagine, sell for less at Divisoria. You just have to have the nuts to venture there.

I think I'm out-shopped for now! Three full days left...not ready to go home yet!

Music and Memories

And the band played on...and on and on! What a great night! We had prepared two encores but played two more that we hadn't even practiced after last night's amazing concert at Club Phi. It was Half Life Half Death's reunion concert after 15 years or so. A group of high school classmates who loved New Wave music used to spike their hair and wander around their conservative Catholic high school with drum sticks in their back pockets - even though they didn't play the drums - and ended up fairly successful with one recorded album as college students. Then they got haircuts and real jobs, but never stopped making music. After frontman Alfie Mella left for the frozen prairies of Manitoba, Canada, Rain Paggao, the phenomenal guitar player with magic fingers, continued to play in a band called The Rain, and bassist Ramil Aznar formed Dream Kitchen, a fairly successful indie band - with other Half Lifers, Joel Reyes, Aldrin Cardona, and Gilbert (Bebet) Tiongson.

The different faces of Half Life Half Death: from left, Ramil Aznar, Carol Pobre, Rain Paggao, Joeyl Reyes, Christine Mazur, Coy Sta. Agueda; front: Rupert De Jesus, Alfie Mella. Missing: Aldrin Cardona & John-John, percussionist and Gilbert "Bebet" Tiongson, drummer.

Thursday was our last rehearsal and last chance to work out any kinks. Infinitif Studios is a great place with fans and airconditioners blasting away the Manila swelter. There's always lots of us in a room since we clock in at about 9 musicians on stage at a time, sometimes 11 with everyone. There was tension and nervous anticipation in everyone's face and some excessive goofing around but we held together without a pre-performance blow-out. After practice Ramil and Lovelle treated Alfie and I to Dim-Sum - we were starving!

Friday morning we slept in so there wasn't a lot of time before the 3pm sound check. I had to find 9-volt batteries for my DI box which up to this point had not worked properly. Blank stares met me everywhere along Pasay Road until I got to Pure Gold, the department store across from the Libertad LRT station. Of course, 3rd floor hardware. Also had found extra A-strings the other day at Lyric Music in a Mall called something like Power Plant where Inna met her high school friend for lunch.

We had the idea to rent a hotel room as a green room for the band and luckily found a room at the Holiday Inn Crown Plaza - a discount got it for us for 5000 php - a lot but a great thing to have to rest and wash up in before the gig. Sound check was really good - a rarity and luxury when there's other bands also playing - and we had three opening acts! But we did get in a nice long sound check from about 4pm to 6pm and got to run through about 4 or 5 songs, especially the epic Radio Madness, which featured bot classical moments and an intense metal guitar solo from Rain.

Sound check at Club Phi with Aldrin and Carol.

Have Fiddle will Travel at Club Phi.

Rain and Joel soundchecking with Coy on drums.

Ready to Rock and Roll.

When we arrived, The Gentle Isolation was playing - we had already missed Your Imaginary Friends. The Camerawalls followed so we got to see Clementine with his whole band this time after having a preview on Wednesday when Rain, Alfie and I played an acoustic set at Gwielo's.

The Camerawalls in action 

Me with Clem Castro from the Camerawalls

Nerves fell to the wayside when it was time to hit the stage. Everyone was so focussed: performing is definitely hard work and you need to really be on your toes to deliver a good product. I still panicked before the songs I wasn't familiar with and didn't know what to play for "If All Sleep Tonight" until Alfie looked at me and conducted me in. Then memory hit: "oh THAT" and my fingers worked. The Pan Within by the Waterboys is a very difficult song that - according to Alfie, is not covered by a lot of New Wave bands so when we played it I needed to really nail the violin parts. Here's the version we were striving for:

Monx Moncayo, one of the producers from Requiem Rising of Singapore asked me, "When are you coming back to the Philippines?" No one had asked me that yet - everyone's asking when do I leave. He explained: "I produce shows every two months in Singapore and I want you to perform at one of them." Also, Clem asked if I could return or at least collaborate with him on some recording projects in the future. While this project was a reunion and an ending for some, it's a beginning for me! Many new friends made and more adventures to be had.