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.

Malcapuya Island

A relative of the Mayor of Coron bought Malcapuya Island in the 1970s or so and developed it into a tourist recreation area. Now for a modest fee of 200php, members of the public can visit for the day and enjoy the beach. Kayaks are available to rent and there's a public rest room and snack shop. A rock outcrop affords a nice view of both the smaller side beach and the big long beach. The core of the island is currently inaccessible due to packs of wild monkeys, but there are apparently plans to make walking trails so visitors can glimpse birds and wildlife.

Sun, Sea and Sand eco-tour to Malcapuya Island, Palawan.

The "White House" where the island's owner lives.

View from the outcropping.

The Philippine national bird: the Eagle.

Our group daytrip with Al Linsangan's eco-tour company was 950php and included boat rental, island admission fee, and lunch. Lato salad, assorted meats and fish, lobster, and roast chicken were served. There was also chop suey veggies for me as you can request a vegetarian option from Al the day before. As a bonus, the island's caretaker shared with our group some freshly bbq'd free-range chicken that one of our group members had been drooling over as it was cooking.

Rupert and lunch.

After lunch I had a busy agenda of napping, inspecting the giant clams and corals off shore, and wandering down the beach. Truly an exhausting schedule!

Best place for sunburn recovery.

Ocean offerings.

A nice place to walk.

 Unfortunately the day ended too soon to squeeze in a kayak rental but it was cooler to jump right in the water and swim out to the coral area. This time I wore a shirt to protect my burned back. The snorkelling fins and mask sets that Pet had bought in Paris for us really came in handy and saw lots of use.

Return home.

This was a most enjoyable day and a good chance to rest up for our Thursday of kayaking and mountain trekking. We found that we could do our own trip for less than the eco-tour, which would be more expensive with only two people and no one else seemed to be signing up for the more adventurous tours. Everyone just wanted to lie on beaches and snorkel.

For 400php, we got a local tricycle driver to take us to and pick us up from Kingfisher Park, a 30 minute drive from town. We bought our own lunch but ordered a big breakfast from Momita's. Then the kayak rental, guide and park admission was only 600php each. So for each, the excursion cost was 800php plus food.

A sturdy little transport machine.

 When you arrive at Kingfisher Park, you have to phone the caretaker who will meet you along the dirt road leading to the dock, a long wooded affair of loose planks. No kayaks were on the shore so we had to take a boat out to a resort facility built in the middle of the lake, a beautiful place, with spanking clean comfort rooms! Hey, such things leave an impression! Pet got his own kayak, the only one-seater available, so I had to share with Mark, our 16-year-old guide for the day whose mom was the cook at the resort. But I insisted on sterning. We ended up powering across the lake toward the mangroves and frequently rested to allow Pet to catch up.

Epic dock!

Pet the paddler.

Kayaking through mangroves.

Nivahat trees among the mangroves.

Mark is an excellent guide and paddler.

The mangrove forest reminded me of paddling along the La Salle River in La Barrier Park just south of Winnipeg. Except instead of beavers and deer, there were iguanas and wild boars. I only saw one big dead iguana (malaking bayawak = big iguana), and Mark told me the game trails we saw leading away through the mangrove roots were from wild boars. Only at the very end did we see a large exotic bird - Mark pointed it out, but it flew off before I could get a good shot.

The wind had picked up when we exited the mangrove area and we had whitecaps to cross to return to shore. Mark and I steered cutting the waves and quickly left poor Pet behind but he managed well and did not tip.

Next up, hiking up Mount Lunes Santo ("Holy Monday"). We followed the dirt road back past farm and grazing land, then deked off into a residential area, winding through pasture and farm houses made of bamboo. We crossed a small running stream where a woman was washing clothes on a rock, and passed through someone's back yard where a rope swing hung from a tree. Then we entered a forested area which took us finally upwards.

That high and dry, it was strange to see pitcher plants along the path. These I see usually paddling through swamps in the Whiteshell, not on mountain ridges in the Philippines!

The summit afforded a nice view of the lake we'd just paddled on and hints of the ocean beyond. Pet took some stunning black and white shots and I attempted some video. Getting up took an hour and a half. We were down by 2:15pm and our driver wasn't expected until 3pm. We had a chance to rest at a small shop along the highway and Pet visited with Enzo and Mark, the caretaker and our young guide, while I took pictures of plants and fruits growing in a nearby garden.

Summit shot with my fellow paddler.

View from the top. Lower left is the resort in the middle of the  lake.

Philippine forest - flip flops mandatory!

Garden flowers.

Next chore: deciding what to do about Friday. Once again, no one - for some bizarre reason - wanted to sign up for the eco tour to the Leper Colony at Culion Island - FORMER Leper Colony! After some discussion and gentle arm-twisting from me, Pet agreed to just go for the higher price that was required for a group of two. There was no way to do it for cheaper on our own since boats weren't available to the general public - only through the tour companies. For what we ended up getting, it turned out to be very worthwhile. But more later. Time to wander out to Makati and buy a map and tour book. Only one and a half weeks left here and I don't want to miss a thing! Tonight is a practice and small acoustic set at Gweilo Bar (C. Palanca St. Makati) with Clemen Castro of The Camerawalls. Music starts at 9 pm but we have to practice. Never a dull moment!

Tuesday in Coron

Tues. Jan 24 was our first eco tour with Al Linsangan's company. We chose the snorkelling and island hopping day trip that took us to Kayangan Lake, Twin Peaks Reef, Twin Lagoons, Atwayan Beach & Coral Gardens and CYC Island (650php). I'm including costs of things for those who might want to head this way as well. Prices also available on the website at www.corongaleri.com.ph

We had so much fun we forgot to reapply sunscreen throughout the day - and also were trying not to kill the corals with our toxic human chemicals. The end result is that my back currently looks like that of a burn victim and is peeling most grotesquely despite constant post-burn marination in baby lotion.

Here's a few shots of our destinations on Tuesday:

Kayangan Lake (freshwater)

Twin Lagoons access: you have to swim right under the wall!

Atwayan Beach lunch stop.

Snorkelling at Twin Peaks Reef

The mayor of CYC Island. She'd just bitten a small child before we arrived...provoked maybe? and was a bit testy.

CYC Island's other resident. The first flea-free cat I've seen yet in the PH.  Seemed to get along well with the monkey but may have been abandoned, poor thing.

Our new friends, returning to the boat. Clear, warm water, but lots of garbage on the beach. Al Linsangan likes to send tourists to CYC Island even though there's not a lot there to keep an eye on things and discourage locals from polluting its beautiful beach.

Our daily routine after Tuesday became like this: Get up, either eat at Momita's or grab something down the street from Al's (there's a great little place that serves traditional Pinoy food including the chocolate-rice porridge called Champorado); confirm our activity for the morning, walk to the port to board a boat for an island eco tour; return around 5 or 6pm, shower, wander to Al's and pay him for the daytrip, then wander around town filling our water bottles at Water for Less in the town plaza (5php for one 1L bottle, 8php for two - don't let the kid cheat you by charging 10. His sister caught him one time because she knew I'd been there earlier and knew he rate. He was SO embarrassed!). Then we usually ended up eating at the same place next to Water for Less in the Plaza. Not sure of the name of the place but Pet found out from the owner's wife that they met in the market of Coron Town - she was on vacation and he followed her home to Manila. Then she followed him back to Coron. They serve a ton of traditional Filipino dishes so Pet got to try something different every night while I stuck to the Veggies and fried noodles. Hey, i like fried noodles! I tried spaghetti one night but it was too el dente and was penne, not spaghetti, and the sauce tasted like ketchup. Win some, lose some.

Wednesday we nursed our respective sunburns on the white sandy shores of Malcapuya Island but that's a story for another day. I'm bagged from a day of Mall Ratting at the Power Plant in Makati while Inna hung out with her high school girlfriends. There are unlimited numbers of Zara, Top Shop, and Starbucks in Makati! I'm out-latte-ed today!

An actual vacation

I don't remember the last time I lay on a sandy beach and did nothing for a few hours. The concept is totally alien for someone trained from birth to always keep busy and out of trouble. Though there's a beach located an hour's drive north of my home town, I travelled thousands of kilometres across the world, and took a tiny bamboo boat across Pacific Ocean waters to get here:

Malcapuya Island in the province of Palawan, Philippines. It's one of the many Calamianes Islands accessed through the resort town of Coron.

On Monday, January 23, my trusty travel companion Rupert De Jesus and I caught a 45 minute flight from Manila to Busuanga airport on the island province of Palawan. From there we took a 30 minute shuttle ride (150php) to Momita's Lodge, an ancestral family home of the friendly but shrewdly businesslike owner, Momita. A small misunderstanding of our room confirmation was quickly resolved as luckily there were other rooms available. For our five-night stay we ended up in comfortable, air conditioned multi-bed rooms. The comfort rooms were clean with water buckets and dippers. Momita's is central, a block from a bakery, the central plaza, shops, and one street over from the Calamianes Xpedition Eco-tours run by Al and Mae Linsangan.

Rupert had heard about Momita's and the Eco tours through friends who had been to Coron before, so we had investigated them before we arrived. All we had to do when we got there was figure out which tour we wanted to do and when.

Got to run out momentarily for dinner in Makati with - of all people, Ron Cantiveros and Larry Vikars of Winnipeg who were here to build a village in the south. So here's a brief run-down of my week with Rupert in Coron:

Turn your head sideways to view the summit cross since I can't rotate  this photo. Deal.

Monday - arrived, settled, hiked up Mt. Tapyas. No big feat. Stairs lead all the way to the paved summit where stands a huge cross that lights up at night. Pathways lead to two pagodas, one affording a nice view of the sunset.

Found a nice place to sit on Mt. Tapyas overlooking Coron Town. Photo by Rupert De Jesus.

Sunset in Coron.

Next...Tuesday. So little time to blog!

To Market to Market, Jigetty Jig!

Anyone remember that old nursery rhyme? The Baclaran Market has absolutely EVERYTHING. This morning I found a malong - a tube of fabric used as a sleeping blanket, a wrap, a shawl, you name it. My kind of gear - it has at least three uses. Cost 300 pesos, about $7. Next I found a small suitcase that would fit my snorkelling fins and all my other gear for the week in Coron. Initially the vendor said 950 pesos but when I hesitated he asked "what's your budget?" We settled on 750 pesos since I was down to my last 400 but didn't want to ask him to discount it to that amount. Alfie chipped in for the rest and I paid him back later.

This market wasn't as crushing as the one Inna dragged us through yesterday. There was more room on the street here but there was still beggars and people carrying racks of totally useless things getting in your face offering it to you as if it was the most important thing in your life: "shorts, ma'am. shorts", "long sleeved shirt, ma'am, long-sleeved shirt. The shorts in question were boys' basketball shorts. The shirts were men's soccer jerseys.

One whole alley was devoted to gorgeous Philippine gowns and traditional pineapple fibre shirts. Sadly, none fit the big, burly Canadian girl. You have to get to the market in the morning as people tend to close up after noon. Inna was looking for shirts for herself and clothes for her kids for their next bout of visiting relatives. They had all brought only three shirts each with the intention of buying cheap clothes here. Good point too, because it's so hot and the clothes here are made for the weather.

We ate at Jollibee, the Philippine McDonalds, and then caught the LRT back to Libertad station where we hopped a Jeepney to Aurora Street.  Once home Inna and Alfie had to go visit some more relatives so I just stayed home and packed for Coron. Baby Liam and Melanie were in the air conditioned room with me and Liam kept trying to climb into my suitcase. It was the cutest thing. Then Melanie kindly cooked a simple dinner of scrambled eggs and rice for the two of us and we had a great conversation about our family members - she speaks very little English and I have barely a word of Filipino. But we understood each other perfectly!

The family came home just in time to turn around and head to band practice. This was the most difficult one for me since I didn't know most of the songs and most had specific tunes the violin is supposed to highlight. I am in worried mode. I'll be gone to Coron for a week and back in time for a preview gig on Jan 28th. Hoping I can pull off my part and not embarrass the band.

Off to bed with a plane to catch tomorrow morning!