Life at San Teodoro is very quiet.

While Dennis and I were out, we saw this kitty cat on the neighbor’s sill. Nothing can best describe how quiet and simple life here can be.

That doesn’t mean, however, that nothing ever happens at San Teodoro, nor that there’s nothing to do or see there.

Corrine spent her grade school years here in San Teodoro. Her school was just a couple of hundred meters away from her home. As Dennis and I walked around the town, I tried to imagine how it was for a child simply walking to and from her house to go to school.

I’ve always lived far from school; there was never a time in my early years that I had the luxury of sleeping till an hour until the bell rings for classes. It would always be at least two hours before then; sometimes, even three.

This is Corrine’s elementary school. It is a very typical government school in the province. But this is a big government school.

I was very taken by the architecture and the facade. And its cleanliness! I mean, the school and the grounds were so clean, they practically sparkled! Perhpas it was the clean air itself that made things simply stand out.

Overall, the school looked like something straight from the 50s with its low buildings and sprawling grounds. I half expected to see American GIs emerge from the buildings.

That is, until the pig came along.

I was taking a shot of the school when this tricycle buzzed by carrying a pig in its sidecar. What are the chances for a shot like this!

The Beach

This is the beach at San Teodoro. People simply walk from their homes to the beach. In the afternoons, usually around five when the sun has lost much of its scorching heat, children troop to the ocean for a cool swim.

The sand, although not white, is clean and fine. The water’s depth remains waist high for a distance out into the sea, so there’s nothing to alarm mothers. Besides, these are kids who’ve grown up beside the sea. They probably swim like dolphins.

What a cool way to live! Whenever you feel like a swim, you just pop out of your door and head for your village’s backyard where the ocean waits for you!

Punta Beach

There is a portion of this stretch of beach that holds very interesting objects.

Punta Beach has huge, gigantic rocks littered all over the sand. The biggest looks like a gargantuan sea monster that has crouched on the beach, with its mouth in the water. It looks like it’s drinking, doesn’t it?

Dennis says it looks like a rabbit. I say it’s a giant sea monster! Probably frozen in time when the ice age hit. Or something or other.

There were children among the rocks when we got there. They were picking shellfish for that evening’s meal. I didn’t peek into their buckets.

We walked to Punta Beach in the late afternoon and what you see is the gold of the setting sun. I tried to capture the sunset and got it as the sun set behind a rocky hill stepping right into the ocean.

Mindoro’s coastline, or what Iv’e seen of it, is characterized by such rock formations. In this portion, the rock can be huge and towering, or simply here and there, the type over which you can easily clamber.

At Punta Beach, the clambering types are very interesting as they can be of different colors. I wanted to take pictures of them, looking very much like dark marble, with white threads crisscrossing to make gossamer patterns. There wasn’t much light, however, and it was getting dark. We headed back home.

This is the house at San Teodoro. It’s a very charming house. The Rivera spouses, Samson and Cora, live here now. Dad Sammy grew up in this house.

The corner at the ground floor is Dad Sammy’s billiard hall, sporting two billiard tables. It’s a very popular place. The other half of the ground floor is the receiving area, dining room, and kitchen. You can see Dennis seated at the corner, texting someone, and Ate Nora poised to enter the house.

Don’t be fooled by the look of the house; it’s very charming inside and got lots of character. The upper floor is actually cooler than the lower, considering the huge windows all around the house. What’s more, in our room, one of the walls is built with decorative, open cement blocks, making the room coller still. This really speaks volumes about the crime rate in San Teodoro.

There was a time, however, that the residents were worried about break-ins and robberies. But in all, San Teodoro is a very quiet and quaint village. The only thing that breaks the silence is the passage of those huge jeepneys on their way to Puerto Galera.

Even the tricycles could not dint the quiet atmosphere, as there were very few of these in the center of the town. By the way, that corner where the house is, is actually at the town center.

If you look closely at the picture on the right, you’ll see that the floor boards are made of thick, wide dark wood. That shows how old this house is. Plus, the upper portion of the dividing walls are cut out and decorated with stips of wood in attractive geomtrical patterns which made it look very Chinese. An interesting mix of Spanish and Chinese. Overall, it all contributed to a very cool and cozy atmosphere. I slept really well! No complaints in that department!

San Teodoro is a municipality of Oriental Mindoro. By jeepney, it is about an hour’s ride from the capital city, Calapan. There is something special about San Teodoro which I believe will lead to its development in the future as a tourist spot: waterfalls.

But first things first. How do you get to San Teodoro from Central Luzon? This is what we did.

Wednesday, 16 May: Bus from Tarlac to Dau terminal (P52/pax), one hour. Jeepney to Robinson’s, San Fernando, Pampanga (P24/pax), half an hour. From there, Dennis picked us up. We were spending the night at Dennis and Corrine’s place in Mexico, Pampanga.

We got there at past 9 p.m. After a delicious dinner of grilled tilapia and Mommy Limlingan’s special home-made atsara, I went to bed. This was close to 11 p.m. already. Teh plan was to get up at 3 a.m. and be out of the house an hour later. Dennis didn’t join us for dinner as he had business to attend to somewhere else. He got in at around 2 p.m.!

Thursday, 17 May: Three p.m. and we were all out of bed, doing our ablutions, getting into our clothes. After breakfast, we left the house at a little past 4 a.m., got into a jeep and traveled for 20 minutes to the “intersection,” the junction on the old Olongapo-Gapan road. There, we caught a bus for Avenida Rizal in Manila (P150 or thereabouts, I forgot). We were in Manila in an hour.

We got off at Doroteo Jose Street along Avenida Rizal and walked to the nearby LRT station. From there, we got tickets to Gil Puyat Station (P12/pax), approximately 10 minutes. Corrine, Ate Nora, and I got into the women’s car while Dennis got into the other car. Or so we thought. At Gil Puyat, I looked around for Dennis but couldn’t find him. A few minutes later, we got a text message from Dennis that he had to take the next train as the bag he was carrying, which contained Corrine’s and his stuff, couldn’t fit in the already crowded car. It was only then that I remembered: morning rush hour in Manila! And the bag was an enormous nylon bag which Corrine had crammed with clothes and <em>pasalubong</em>!

At 7.30 a.m., we had already regrouped, crossed Buendia to the JAC Bus Liner terminal, and had secured seats for everyone. (Window seat for me!) We were headed for Batangas pier. (I forgot how much!) The trip took an hour and half.

The pier at Batangas services the ferry boats that go to Mindoro. I’m not sure if Mindoro is the only destination. In any case, it is a very modern and clean facility, with several personnel roaming around making sure people know where to go. Even the porters and the vendors were very helpful.

At this point, I should have taken pictures but I was feeling winded and disoriented. I had very little sleep, less than my usual eight hours; I’d gotten up in the early morning; I’d been in cramped buses since then, and I had I had not worn a watch. Interesting that not wearing a watch even for a few hours could have affected me so much!

We bought tickets for the Super Cat ferry boat that would take us to Calapan (P240/pax). The trip took 50 minutes and I hated every second of it, mainly because it was an enclosed space. I couldn’t feel the wind, I couln’t experience the waves, and I couldn’t smell the sea. For the trip home, I swore I’d take the smaller ferry boats, the outriggers.

When we got to Calapan, we took a tricycle (I forgothow much!) to the jeepney terminal where we could get a ride to San Teodoro. This was close to noon already and the sun was terribly beating down on us. Add to that the feeling that I’d been traveling for an entire week! At least, this was the end of the line. The jeepney fare was P25/pax and the trip took close to an hour.

By this time, I was really exhausted. On the way, the jeep stopped at a fruit stand where Corrine and I bought mangoes and pineapples. yes, you can actually request the driver to stop for a few minutes. After that, the road just went on and on and on… It was strange weather: I could feel the alternating hot and cool currents of wind as the jeep sliced through the humid air at 90-100 kph. It was so humid that you could actually smell the plant life oozing oxygen into the air.

Finally, the cemented highway ended but the jeep continued on onto dirt roads! We had reached San Teodoro! The jeep had entered the backroads and was delivering people right off at their own doorsteps! Amazing! And this is a huge jeepney that seated 20 people easily. Finally, the driver asked us where we were going — or more precisely, to whose house we were going. Corrine mentioned the name of her dad and after a few quick turns, I found myself on a street corner gazing up into a 50’s styled house with a billiard hall on the ground floor.

We had made it!

We left the Limlingans’ with many a thank-you’s and promises to return. Dennis’ folks are so generous! Even after that show of appetite!

Dennis himself offered to drive us back to Dau. On the way, we decided to visit Angeles’ Nepo Mall. When we got there, we were surprised to find that it was not such a small place, after all. Inside, there were stalls and stalls of tiangge items. There was a Robinson’s grocery on the ground floor, and cinemas on the third.

We made the rounds of the tiangge. I looked for pretty earrings. I found a pair of silver (daw) band earrings with blue, sparkly stones for P100. Very pretty. Very sparkly! I also bought a pair with small pink stones and another pair with yellow stones. Again, very sparkly! And cheap at P50 a pair. Supposed birthstones but for that price, I wasn’t going to quibble.

The second floor offered more shops. These carried mostly clothing, bags, and footwear. I’d bought a pair of rubber slippers at SM (which I had put on, very comfy!) but I thought I’d buy another pair. This time, the thicker kind. You know, havaianas kuno! I got one for P150. They were platform thick! Very cool! The pair I got at SM was slim, regular rubber sandals but cost only a few pesos less. SM kasi!

I invited Corrine and Dennis to dinner. After their generosity, it was the least I could do. We drove around looking for a likely place. Angeles is full of Korean restos! I would love to eat at one of the better ones. They can be just as good as Japanese restos, you know. Driving around, I spotted a row of outdoor grills. We pulled up.

Dennis was surprised to discover that we don’t mind eating at such places. We told him about Victor’s and our eating motto: Mura na, marinat pa! We ordered sizzling pusit, barbecued chicken, deep fried fish eggs, and a platter of sashimi. Delicious! And cheap! The bill came to only P600. For four people, that’s a very good deal. Unfortunately (or fortunately), Dennis would not have me pay for dinner. Very gallant.

We promised Dennis we’ll return to Mexico for a weekend. I’m looking forward to seeing the historical spots Dennis says abound in the area. That’s the next adventure of the Bat Girls! We’re hoping Ate Nora can come with us.

We miss you, Myles!

Mapikon, talo!

On 17 March 2007, on a bright Saturday, Orett and I got on a bus to Dau where we got on a jeep to San Fernando, Pampanga. We were going to have a full day of pasyal!

Corrine and Dennis, the hubby, picked us up at SM Pampanga. It was just a short ride to the house of Dennis’ family in Mexico, but it was a very detailed tour, indeed. We couldn’t complain as we learned where the public school was, along with the local furniture shops, the printing press. (And we didn’t even need a passport!) We even heard the life story of the farmer who received P78M for his land where SM Pampanga now stands. Dennis can be a very entertaining tour guide.

When we got to the house, lunch was immediately served. We had “a little of everything,” as Dennis’ dad put it. There was kare-kare, steamed tilapia, crispy chicharon (homemade, no less!), green indian mangoes with matching alamang, and of course, atsara!

Dennis showed off his garden to me. Corrine and Orett opted to stay inside the house as the sun was relentless in his noontime glory. In the corner of the front yard, I saw a small potted plant. It was so cute, I just had to take a picture of it. Being totally ignorant of gardening and plants, I have no idea what this plant is. Perhaps you can recognize it.

We stayed a while at the verandah, enjoying the cool shade. It was amazingly dry weather. Hot, but I wasn’t sweating. I found this better than humid. In fact, I didn’t mind the fact that we rode in an owner-type jeep all the time we were with Corrine and Dennis. I had no allergy problems, no asthma attacks. Cool!

We went back to SM for some groceries. Bread, of course! We walked around, looking into the shops. Our Tribe had some very good leather sandals, perfect for summer, but not for my budget. The leather bags were gorgeous! Again, not for my wallet. When we got tired, we went back to Mangan, a Capampangan resto specializing in local cuisine and snacks. Corrine and Orett had puto bumbong while I had bibingka with kesong puti. They weren’t that remarkable. I doubt if we’ll be going back there anytime soon.

Mapikon, talo!
Continued next post…

The NSO placed second at the annual Christmas competition this year. They presented an Arabian-inspired number with jinns, fairies, clowns, and even a fairy queen. The video is not as clear, but here goes!

NSO Xmas 2006 entry

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For more on the competition, read the PINTIG article.

Mapikon, talo!

Here’s the slideshow of the fotos from Myles’s despedida party at Latino’s on 4 December 2006. Some of the fotos are not as sharp as I’d like them to be, and dark. Most of these were taken from the videos. Anyway, enjoy!

Mapikon, talo!

Shakespeare would turn in his grave should he see this. Parental control strongly advised! Watch the waiter in the background. He certainly enjoyed this one!

Mapikon, talo!

Myles had her despedida dinner party on Monday, 4 December 2006, at Latino’s. Thanks to unnamed sponsors and friends, such as Gigi and Joey Uy, the owners of the resto, the event was an unheralded, uhm, riot. The party was so rowdy, even the waiters and the other clients were watching the fun!

A number of people, mostly from the LMTP group, arrived for the send-off. Even Randy De Guzman and Tatang Ric Hipolito were there. With them were the ladies of the Finance Dept.: Cora Bonifacio, Josie Dela Cruz, and Nida Valdez. Present, as always, was the LMTP’s own Tatang, Dr. Freddy Dungca.

Dinner was delicious and lively, but very soon over as everyone brought a hearty appetite and the food was very good.

We had, among others, squid thermidore, my favorite at Latino’s. This is a very creamy dish: roasted squid stuffed with, uhm, yummy things (I don’t pay attention to the mushed stuff inside) with lots of cheese! yeah, cheese! Who’d have thought to partner squid with cheese! A creative original only at Latino’s. (Sobra na’ng advertising ‘yan ha!)

After dinner, Gigi started the videoke party. Dr. Dev’s denizens took up the mic and the party roared on! Ate Nora was there to the tune of Engelbert; Corrine, to that of The Corrs and other contemporary hits. Of course, the national anthem of Dr. Dev’s Denizens, ang walang kamatayang “I Will Survive!” had to be performed. I mean, it had to be. The first thing I learned about this group, Myles and company, that no party can be held without singing and that in itself cannot be complete without this number.

Lani Rivera provided swaying choreography that took the energy a notch higher. Speaking of dancing, did you know that Juliet Valentin could dance exotically? Now, you do. I don’t know what Shakespeare would say of our Juliet, but she certainly can get the blood pumping! Watch out for the video!

Two sweet little girls graced the party: Lalaine’s and Beng’s. Laine’s wouldn’t stop posing for the camera. As this one is sure to break a lot of hearts at sweet 16, the other looks like she’s going to bash a lot of heads instead. Beng’s little girl wouldn’t smile for the camera.

As the night wore on, the beat stepped yup to match the heat. Tatang Freddy, who started with “Moon River,” picked it up with his signature “Blue Suede Shoes.” From the 50s, the music jumped to the 80s. Napagha- halata na talaga!

Several videos were taken that night that will, unfortunately, ruin the reputation of many, many people…

So, here they are! Just click on the links below to view them. Enjoy!

Blue Suede Singing, Take 2
Buttercup
Gold
I Will Survive!
Juliet! O Juliet!
Tragedy

Mapikon, talo!

The video you are about to see is classified as extremely dangerous. We recommend not showing it to young children as their emerging aesthetic sensibilities may be negatively influenced by it.

August 2005

Mapikon, talo!