Bohol 2015

Early this year I was invited to be part of a cultural mapping workshop in Tagbilaran, Bohol. I was with a group of architects and historians. Yes, I felt a bit out of place since most of them were not as friendly no matter how much I tried to strike conversations with them so the whole trip I was stressed out. I would always wake up very early and sleep very late. Just so I can have my me-time and have my whatever-am-I-doing-in-here moment. It helps that we're near the sea which for me is perfect for such moments. And I brought along my mini ocarina and played a few songs for relaxation. That, and constantly playing David Garret's "Air" gave me such comfort in not so good times.

my comfort in my morning solitude

  As this was my second time in Bohol, it was easy for me to talk to the locals about their culture and heritage. I learned a great deal, I made friends with a local teacher and his students, I got friendly with a local pianist Ms. Lilet Sarabien and who prodded me to play but unfortunately I couldn't because all she had are difficult classical pieces. (But she sure inspired me to play again.)

Bored with the workshop on the first day, I declared that I wanted to go mapping with the boys on the second day. I love the outdoors, even though the summer heat in Bohol can be unbearable at times. It's so unfair to confine women indoors while they have all the fun being outside observing the daily life of common people and taking pictures of heritage structures which are scattered all over town. So in the end I got the best of both worlds, Casa Boholana in hand as we explore Antequerra, Alburquerque and Baclayon. I got to see the churches again. This time I was able to see the different heritage houses and public markets.

I love simple rural scenes like this

rice field

 While I learned to know more about the cultural assets of Tagbilaran during the very informative workshop, that knowledge is largely complemented by what I saw while doing field work. At that point in time, I thought, what if I were a researcher? I can do both archival and field research, being quite adept at communicating with locals, not to mention my language capabilities. It is, however, a sad thing, to be in a country that does not put a premium on historical research. Just to get to the point, I need a patron and research funding. That and a team of like-minded passionate and highly skilled individuals. But it's hard to gather such a team, right? 

bahay kubo

 Discovering a Gabaldon building inside Cecilio Putong High School on the day we mapped, I made a mental note to go back there to sketch the building. But alas, I didn't bring a pencil with me and sketching with a ballpen is quite messy but I did it anyway. There's just a certain elegance in those arches that I find quite appealing.

Gabaldon building

 On our last day, I roamed Tagbilaran on my own. I amused myself inside the Bohol Museum even though I've been there before and they didn't have anything new to offer. But it's refreshing to observe with another set of eyes the architecture of this building which is currently under renovation.

eaves details of Bohol museum

That, and I bore witness to yet another wedding in Tagbilaran Church. When they played Canon in D, I couldn't resist and recorded it. File's too big to be uploaded though. There's always this warm fuzzy feeling whenever I hear it being played. And church weddings! How they force me to think about marriage, something I am ambivalent about. T.T

May they have a blissful married life together

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On marriage: Just yesterday I hung out with JM and his colleagues and one of his friends asked me if I have any plans of getting married. @.@ I couldn't answer. In the first place, should every woman enter a married life? Anyway at this point, I still do not know. Yeah, and time is running out.

Also, having been questioned about commitments lately, I just do not understand what we mean by commitment. If one decides to marry, does that mean that that person has a resolve to be committed? If so, why do married people still cheat? Are humans that weak to fall into temptations? Are humans too selfish and insecure to want to have everything even with the knowledge that they hurt other people? 

Bohol 02262014 Day 1

So finally I'm in the mood to write about my Bohol experience. An officemate and I traveled to the land of Chocolate Hills on the last week of February this year and were back in Manila by the first of March. The three and a half journey was not only an opportunity to see how resilient Boholanos are in response to the high magnitude quake they suffered and the subsequent typhoon that really wreaked havoc in Visayas.

Of all the trips, this one was a challenge for me in terms of fixing our itinerary. I was not able to go on full research beforehand and had limited knowledge of the ferry system. We initially had plans to go to Siquijor but that didn't push through because we found ourselves doing a lot in Bohol and Panglao and less than 4 days was such a bad idea. On the bright side, this gave us more than one reason to go back.

aerial view of the famous Chocolate Hills showing cracks after the quake late last year

When I went to Boracay via Kalibo with my sisters in late January, the weather was cool so I was not expecting Bohol to be hot and always sunny though I really was thankful that nights were cool. My officemate and I greatly enjoyed that one chilly night we were out late and we enjoyed looking up at the star studded night sky while on the habal-habal.

We went straight to Nisa Travellers Inn in Bohol upon arrival and after resting for a while, we went to Loay. Along the way, we passed by houses destroyed by the quake. We arrived in Loay at close to 11AM so after seeing the church, we decided to avail the river cruise with buffet lunch.

The Loay river cruise was a welcome cool respite from the super hot noon. A guitarist played well-loved songs while singing and he even sang a Chinese song! The buffet was quite a spread and I loved the fried chicken only it's too covered with batter and they look big but in fact they're just bony pieces pieced together. Despite this, I loved it.

We went to Albuquerque to see the unusual salt-making tradition they have which involves the use of coconuts to harvest salt. This was after seeing the town church. I learned of this from a foreign scholar who's into salt-making while in Angkor Wat earlier this year. I couldn't believe a foreigner knew much more about Bohol than I do so I made sure to allot time for it in this trip but unfortunately, salt-making was not in season at the time of our visit and neither was I able to buy this special salt. Locals told me they prefer the ordinary one since it's cheaper. I just hope this tradition does not die out.

Next up was Python Sanctum but unfortunately, Prony the python had died due to an illness. According to the caretaker, the pet python died in place of its master. It seemed like they believe in some kind of magic wherein the pet animal would sacrifice itself in order for its master to get cured from a certain illness. Now who says only furry animals are cute?

We then proceeded to Baclayon to see the church and the museum. Baclayon church is one of the most famous churches in Bohol due to its age primarily and also for its museum which houses religious relics, furniture, statues, and even glass items (imagine how excited I was at this discovery! I just hope they let me access their glass collection for my future research).

Near Baclayon church is a small stand which sells refreshing juices. I had the honor of having their wonderful watermelon mint shake for only P50! Take note, they use real mint leaves! While drinking I couldn't help but think of the furry friendly animals in Redwall.

Before we went back to our hotel, we dropped by Dauis to see the church there and to enjoy the sunset. Note: The place is simple yet beautiful. I'm adding it to my list of venue for my pre-nuptial photos LOL.

Dauis late in the afternoon

Before we head back to our hotel, we had early dinner at Alfonso Pizzeria. We had Margherita pizza (P170) and Sicily (P200), both delicious. Would love to go back there again. And I'd like to try the trattoria near it since the owner who is a foreigner boasts of their authentic dishes though at that time we were in a hurry.

Bohol Day 2
Bohol Day 3
Bohol Day 4

I Need to Graduate!!!

It's been close to two years. Only a month to go and I'll know if I'll graduate or not. For the meantime, I am struggling with a paper and lots of extra work in the form of transcriptions and translations which seem like an endless task. Whew! These days I'm super stressed, and I think even my students notice that. These past few days, they were telling me I'm always in a bad mood, that I'm irritable and such. I even receive a text message from one of my students. He/she only introduced himself/herself as a student of mine. Anyway, he/she sent me a text message telling me to eat desserts when I'm stressed because STRESSED is DESSERTS spelled backwards. Really cute. I appreciate that a lot. I admire students who can be sweet to their teachers. Because I certainly am not the sweetest person alive. (Though I am understanding and caring, I'm not the type to be sweet to people with whom I spend only a short period of time.)

Today at SM North EDSA's Northern Sale, I headed to Booksale again. It's been weeks since my last visit and I'm itching to browse the shelves and find treasures. And indeed find treasures I did. I saw a book by Michael Shermer, a skeptic and author of a book I once used as reference for a major paper. Back then I was impressed by his thoughts and his manner of writing, which was targeted at the lay person. The title of the book is "The Science of Good and Evil".

And I realized how much I miss spending time alone by myself with just a book in hand. I miss reading on the bed and falling asleep afterwards with the book's contents replaying in my dream. I realized that all these years I have been hoarding a lot of books and yet I only read only a handful of them. That's because the libraries at UP have the best books and I can't help but read them first before I read my own purchases. Just recently, I saw a new book at the CAL library. "Rereading the Stone" is a whole new interpretation of the Chinese classic Hongloumeng or Dream of the Red Chamber. It probably is the best fiction I have ever read. I was haunted by it for months on end after I read the novel. At present, I think it will haunt me again. I look forward to savoring the book while reminiscing about the most tragic love story that I have ever read. Such is the passion put in and found in the novel that I cannot help but shed tears for its manifestation of powerful emotions. And I am not ashamed to say that I was depressed for weeks because of that book.

Aside from books, there are lots of seemingly excellent movies this year that I want to catch on the big screen. For instance, there's Star Wars in 3D, The Hobbit and many others. And I do miss watching anime without a care in the world. I miss the freedom during the old days when life was more carefree and more relaxing. So I have to graduate. Whatever happens, I must graduate. And write my paper I must.

UP-ASP Fieldschool 2011 Exhibit

As part of the University of the Philippines-Archaeological Studies Program's (UP-ASP) mission and vision to educate the public on archaeology and update them on the latest excavations, this year's field schoolers are mounting an exhibit at the Palma Hall Lobby (AS Lobby) from Sept. 6 to Sept. 9.

This year's field school, under the directorship of Dr. Grace Barretto-Tesoro, was in Pinagbayanan, San Juan, Batangas. Now on its third and last year in the same town, the excavation team unearthed a bahay na bato (mamposteria or stone house) dating to the last half of the 19th century.


A diorama was created by yours truly and by a colleague. Artifacts shall be put on display. Everyday for the duration of the exhibit, different artifacts shall be displayed according to the theme. There will also be "permanent" artifacts for public viewing.

Everyone is invited to the opening tomorrow at 4:00pm. Free food and drinks shall be served.

Imahe at Realidad: Buhay at Lipunang Pilipino Noong Dantaong 19

Nakilala ko sina Bb. Rose Mendoza at G. Randy Madrid, parehong historyador sa UP Diliman, habang ako'y nagkakalkal ng mga dokumento patungkol sa San Juan Batangas sa National Archives. Naging malaking tulong sila sa aking pananaliksik at inanyayaan nila ako na dumalo sa isang serye ng mga lektura patungkol sa ika-19 siglo sa kasaysayan sa Pilipinas. Ayon kay Bb. Mendoza, magiging malaking tulong daw ang diskusyon ni Dra. Alma Bamero sa paglalakap ng impormasyon, sapagkat nabanggit ko na ako'y baguhan sa larangan ng pananaliksik ng mga pangunahing batis at iyong pagpunta ko sa National Archives noong nakaraang linggo ay ang kauna-unahang pagkakataong nakaapak ako doon at unang beses ko rin manaliksik.

Kung kaya't kahit na puyat ako dahil sa paghahanda para sa isang report na tinapos ko noong madaling araw na ng Huwebes ay bumangon pa rin ako nang maaga upang maabutan ang lektyur ni Dra. Bamero. Natanggap ko kasi ang isang mensahe galing kay Bb. Mendoza na magsisimula daw ang lektyur ng 8:45 ng umaga.

Hindi naman nasayang ang aking paggising nang pagka-aga-aga sapagkat marami akong natutunan. Isa na rito ang "guide" sa pananaliksik ni Dra. Bamero kung saan nagbigay siya ng mga suhestiyon kung paano manaliksik sa National Archives. Halimbawa, kung nais ng mananaliksik na magfokus sa mga krimen noong dantaong 19, maaaring kumonsulta sa koleksyong may pamagat na "Asuntos criminales" kung saan makikita ang iba't ibang mga pamagat tulad ng "robo", "contrabandos", "licencia de armas", "guardia civil", at "deportados".

Maaari ding manaliksik patungkol sa kasaysayang pang-ekonomiya sa mga koleksyong "Comercio", "Aduana", at "Almacenes".

Ang sumunod na tagapagsalita ay si Dra. Maria Luisa Camagay. Ang kanyang lektyur, na pinamagatang "Kasaysayang Panlipunan ng Maynila noong Dantaong 19" ay tungkol sa pagtingin hindi sa mga elite kundi sa masa, hindi sa mga pangyayaring sensasyonal kundi sa mga karaniwang pang-araw-araw na kalagayan noong ika-19 siglo. Tiningnan din niya ang representasyon ng ilang karaniwang tao sa sining, lalo na sa mga obras nina Damian Domingo at ng kanyang disipulo na si Asuncion. Ilan dito ay ang lechera, panadero, at buyera. Ipinakita rin ang iba't ibang libangan ng mga tao noon gaya ng sabong, sipa, at baraha.

Ang ikatlo't huling tagapagsalita ay si G. Nick de Ocampo ng College of Mass Communication. Ang kanyang lektyur ay may pamagat na "Depiction of 19th Century Manila/Philippines in Film" na naghahalo ng dalawang disiplina ng pelikula at kasaysayan. Siya ay nanaliksik patungkol sa relasyon ng pelikula at mga pangyayari noong ika-19 siglo. Ayon kay Dr. De Ocampo, importante ang historical context sa konsiderasyon ng pagrepresenta sa Pilipinas sa pelikula. Ayon sa kanya, ang pelikula ay hindi lamang isang forma ng libangan, kundi isang forma ng pag-eespiya ng mga Amerikano sa Pilipinas noong mga unang taon ng Dantaong 19.

Ako'y lubos na natutuwa't nakadalo ako sa mga talakayan bagamat medyo nahuli ako ng dating at hindi nasimulan ang kay Dra. Bamero. Gayunpaman, namulat ang aking mata na mrami pang kailangang gawing pananaliksik sa kasaysayan ng Pilipinas. At sa pangatlong pagkakataon ay lubos akong nabigyan ng inspirasyon ng Departamento ng Kasaysayan na gamitin ang aking kaalaman sa iba't ibang wika sa pananaliksik. (Ang una ay nang nakiupo ako sa klase ni Dr. Maris Diokno at ang pangalawa ay noong ako'y dumalo sa mga talakayan patungkol sa mga batis noong nakaraang taon.)