Reunion with old new friends

After all that hiking Tonet and I took a bit of a break on Wednesday. In the evening I set off to meet Carol and Joel for dinner in Intramuros - an adventure unto itself. First got to hop the LRT1, transfer to the LRT2, then jump a jeepney in front of Sta Cruz church and get off at the Manila Cathedral.

Good thing I brought a book! My friends' cab driver was stopped by police for traffic violations and I had to wait about an hour. In the dark. Sitting by the fountain in the park in front of the Manila Cathedral. But no worries! I was not alone. Besides an armed guard, a very friendly couple from Agono in Rizal province struck up a conversation with me, telling me about all the artists and museums there were to see down in their town.  Danny and Marita Heronymo said Agono is the arts capital of the Philippines, and home of the museum of Lucio San Pedro, as well as artist Francisco Botong. So much to do but so little time!

Arriving at Barbara's

When Carol and Joel arrived, I had learned a lot more about what lay to the south of Manila than I would have from any tour book. Off to Barbara's for more food and culture and to meet with more of the gang.

A show was in full swing when we arrived and the place was crawling with western tourists. I felt so out of place. So of course my friends offered me up as a sacrificial lamb to dance the Tinikling, which I like to call the 'ankle-smashing pole-dodging dance.'

Just try and smash my ankles!

The look that says, "Thanks guys. Thanks a LOT!"

After the show we took pictures with the dancers - and ourselves!

Then it was time for drinks at MOA - the SM Mall of Asia. But first, Carol and I felt compelled to express our displeasure at discovering the ever offensive male boob-oogling rape culture enabling non-family family restaurant, Hooters.

Boooo! We're offended!

I have never seen drink dispensers that look like giant beakers like the ones at Paddi's Place and I'm not sure what was in them but it sure looked toxic!

Well, someone drank it! Not me!

Thursday, May 3rd was also a rest day for Tonet and I. Frankly, neither of us had any desire to see the Modern English concert that everyone else seemed to be so excited about - we only knew the one song: I Melt With You, the National Anthem of New Wavers all over the world. And not being able to honestly describe ourselves as sufficiently enthusiastic New Wavers, we sat this one out.

Phantastic Pho is More Phun in the Philippines - at Araneta Gateway Mall with Antonette.

Wandering around Aranetta Center, though, I did discover an artist I would have loved to see live in concert: Jason Mraz. But unfortunately he would be performing two days after I hopped a plane for Canada.

So I concocted a plan to ensure that at least SOMEone could go in my place and report back to me how the concert went. Before I left I made sure my gracious hostess had tickets in hand and sent her with orders to review the show for me. What a wonderful experience it turned out to be! Maybe one day I'll be able to see this incredible and inspiring singer-songwriter perform live! I wonder if he needs a back-up violinist in his band....?

What's a vacation without a little work? Inside the Indie Pinoy recording studio

The second and last week of my stay in Manila was full of music: Tuesday, May 7th was a 16-hour marathon of recording at Nolit's studio with Alfie. Nolit and Alf mixed songs already recorded in the morning and got me to add some violin tracks to Alfie's version of the Philippine classic "I am but a Small Voice" ("I am Not a Small Voice Anymore"). I also laid down tracks to a bunch of other songs that I can't remember because it was it was a very long day.

Nolit and Jr, our diminutive executive producer.

A highlight of the day was going next door to the 'internet cafe' to blog while the guys were mixing songs they didn't need me for. I walked in the unmarked blackened door and found a dark room full of young boys playing video games. They all stared at me so I took a breath and walked passed them to the counter at the back of the room. "I'd like to use the internet, please?" "Chat? Facebook?" the man at the counter replied. "Yes, and blogging." He turned on a ceiling light above my area and set up the computer. I sat down like I belonged and no one said anything. After a while the power shut down - brown-out. A roar of disappointment went up from the boys whose hard-earned scores were suddenly lost to digital oblivion. But my blog was posted so I sailed out of there like nothing happened. I was delighted to find that the fee was only 15php per hour, compared to 55php at Greenbelt 1's Netopia. Got to remember that place!

In the 'Ice Box': Nolit's temperature-controlled recording studio.

Working with Nolit was a great pleasure - he is encouraging and when you don't think you played a good line he will be right on the same page. His wife Angela is a lovely, warm and welcoming lady who kept us fed and watered, and made sure to put us in a cab at the end of a long day.

It's a family affair: the Indie Pinoy recording space is also the  living room. Alfie works out song parts while Dream Kitchen drummer, Bebet, plays basketball with two-year-olds as Angela watches.

Imitation is the highest form of flattery: Dream Kitchen bassist Gre Mar's little guy, only age two, dug out a plastic guitar and found a wooden stick to go with it. Then he started copying me!

How we roll at Nolit's while Sandro lays down the drums upstairs in the ice box.
My little shadow is ready to play!

This is: Indie Pinoy!

Alfie, guest dobro player Marvin (who is also the proud owner of a banjo!),
Pol and Zandro of Playa.

Sexiest men alive in Manila tonight: Aerosmith

Aerosmith: Global Warming Tour
with River Maya
SM Mall of Asia, Manila, Philippines
Wednesday, May 8, 2013 8:00 p.m.

"No one can wear Stephen Tyler Pants like Steven Tyler," quoted Carol Pobre from an anonymous source as Aerosmith was about to take the stage at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

Too true, since the t-shirt and jeans-wearing local act River Maya - despite competent playing and brave effort - could not hold a candle to the stunningly stylish timeless rockers ( I refuse to say 'aging' because that's journalistic cliche).

Indeed, the ever personable and humorous vocalist Stephen Tyler and immensely talented guitarist Joe Perry sported matching white fringes in their hair, a nod to their seniority.

However each song performed during the hour-and-a-half set this sweltering Manila night was a classic. Regardless of whether or not they performed it in 1976, 1986, or tomorrow, the band's music bears no mark of vintage. It's just plan hard rock.

Opening with the pulsating Love in an Elevator, they went into some older songs from before I started listening to them in the early 1990s, but more often than not, I was singing along, surprised at how many Aerosmith songs I knew that well.

Very graciously, Tyler interacted with the audience, loving them up, reaching out, teasing, engaging, and thanking. Now this was a true showman. Throughout the evening he threw bits of his costume to the crowd starting with an outrageous blue sparkling Aboriginal feathered headdress, his shades, and other tidbits we couldn't see from our vantage point.

'Janie's got a Gun,' Tyler's tribute to abused women, received roars of approval. 'Walk this Way' had everyone dancing. As hit after hit rolled out, the audience screamed and sang along. None of it was old and all of it was well done.

Drummer Joey Kramer got his chance to shine with an incredible solo set, provoking the crowd which kept screaming for more. Tyler joined him at the end, both of them pounding like mad men at the same time on the same drum kit.

The inimitable Joe Perry later had a seriously face-melting session with a blues number. It would have been glorious if it weren't for the abysmal acoustics of the Arena that muddied the sound.

A highlight of the set was when Tyler sat at a stunning white baby grand piano to play 'Dream On.' On cue, Perry mounted side steps to melt faces with his searing guitar solo.

A grand finale of white sparkles finished the show and fans left happy and singing their favourite tunes, heading to the back of MOA for drinks and various versions of Halo Halo, the traditional Philippine dessert.

Aerosmith performs in Singapore in two weeks' time - according to the tour merchandise  supervisor we met on our way home! Too bad I'll be back in Canada by then!

Split Rock of the Philippines: Biak na Bato National Park

Last year I was desperate to find some green space in the Manila area. Little did I know some beautiful hiking trails were less than two hours north of Quezon City, Cubao.

Up early on Tuesday morning, we three amigos hopped in the van and headed 12 km across open agricultural land to Biak na Bato National Park. The name translates to 'split rock' - which is also the name of a hike that Clem and I went on at Joshua Tree National Park last November.

Many kiosks of souvenirs and snacks cluttered the trail head. Buried somewhere past them all was the park office where we had to sign in and pay our 30 pesos admission fee. Then a park interpreter explained the trail map to us, answered our questions about terrain, time and distance, but really pushed hard to convince us to hire a guide.

Speaking in Tagalog to Clem and Tonet, she said things like, "You'll get lost, the guide has first aid training, the trail is hard to find, the guide can tell you historical facts and explain things, and you can't go into the caves without a guide."

We said 'thanks but no thanks'. The map said the trail we were planning to follow was either paved or a well-used forest path. We didn't have time to explore the longer wilderness trails that would take us up a mountain ridge. Clem also explained that I was an experienced backpacker, that Tonet had been there before, and that walking such paths would not be a problem for us.

Smiling resignedly, she led us down some stairs, around a path and up to a bridge crossing the river. Local people were doing their laundry on the rocks in the dried up stream below. On the far side, a broken concrete path led us through tall trees, and up and down sandstone-like rock. After passing through a  picnic site with (sort of) toilets, we were in a beautiful, lush green forest - at last!

Remarkable rock formations rose on the left and every so often stairs on the right gave us access to the riverside where we could check out some rapids and little water falls. Unfortunately bits of garbage and empty booze and water bottles stuck in cracks and almost ruined the scene.

Having started our walk before 8am, we had the trail all to ourselves and took our time chasing dragonflies and butterflies.

At the end of the trail was a massive bat cave that required some intense scrambling to get into so instead we crossed a bridge and made our way around the back of the cave trying to find a path around and behind that might take us further on a higher nature trail.

I'm up close to the massive entrance and very high off the ground on a boulder.

Tonet and Clem are far across a boulder field from the huge entrance.
It looks small behind them because of the distance but is really huge.

This bridge was supposedly built by the Japanese during the Second World War and is still incredibly sound.

On the far side of the bridge we made an amazing discovery: a massive Dao tree:

Beyond the tree we tried to find a way around the bat cave but the path ended at the river which was only a trickle. Some garbage and a poem lay scattered from the last visitors.

Back down the trail, this time on the south side of the river for different scenery. By now, more people were on the trail so we were glad to be ending when others were starting. At 9:30am the heat was already oppressive.


Another picnic spot and a peculiar little shrine to Mary - with the statue itself cemented to a nearby rock and not in its original housing - were the last objects of interest.

Back on the highway we screeched to a stop when I spotted the Taho man, and again for fresh buko (coconut) juice.

An ominous sight at the side of the road was a notorious red house build buy the Japanese during the second world war where they housed their 'comfort women' - Filipinas who were abused at the soldiers' hands. Apparently it's haunted - not a surprising allegation at all!

Back in Baliwag, we hit up a Thai dry massage place - more like physiotherapy! A work-out for all our sore joints. Then a wander through the market where Clem and Tonet pointed out things in Tagalog so I could increase my vocabulary even more. It was a bit like the Manila markets, but not as crowded - more friendly.

We left our friend and Baliwag host to return to his work and caught a ride back to Manila with Tonet's parents who had driven up to San Mig for the day.