Tao of Alba

TAO OF ALBA

Saturday, August 19, 2006 10:34 PM

the chapel that corruption built

I drove through an impoverished part of town this afternoon. It's supposedly a new settlement, but environmentally unsound since it was clear that the city government didn't know what it was doing. They were chopping down the mangrove forest! No wonder there are less and less fish to catch now.

But what was more depressing (my dad says it's my favorite word lately) is that there were people squatting... it's just not right to let them live like that. I couldn't help myself. I cried behind the wheel because nothing was being done!

The worst part is that the route I took was a new road. Conveniently situated beside the mansion of the political family, Barbers. The impoverished lived just outside their oceanside estate. It just gets me soooooooooo pissed off.

And they have the gall to put up a chapel inside their compound. Tell me that's not hypocrisy in its worst form.

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Friday, August 18, 2006 12:02 AM

Contrary to what many people would imagine, our beaches here in the mainland are not not sugar-white. They're either black, coral, or pebbled, a strong indication of volcanic activity thousands of years ago. In fact, in one area, the rocks are from the Jurassic period, something that doesn't stop tickling my brain every time we go to that Hideaway resort. Though only specks on the mainland, white sand is mucho mucho abundant in the islands.

In fact, we went to the nearest one to check the corals (only 15 minutes away by boat and the reefs can compare to Apo Island in Siquijor). Anyway, my mission was really not to dive. Leave that to the experts. I wanted to bake in the sun to get that golden brown look. I positioned myself at a very exposed area on the boat on the way to the island.

Imagine this: the wind blowing through your hair, your head back as you bask in the sunlight... striking that killer pose on the deck... don't forget the sunglasses!

And then a big wave comes in and smacks you right in the face. Bull's eye! Then another one... Then another one...

I almost lost my Silhouettes that way. I wish I could say the same about my glamour-girl pose.

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Tuesday, August 08, 2006 9:57 PM

I now like being home. A normal day for me goes like this:

I wake up to the chirps of birds and whispers of the breeze. Breakfast starts with the ripest mangoes nowadays because it's in season and whatever dad whipped up. Everything is washed down with a great cup of coffee, and best of all, I get to do this with my sister at the table (not just my mom and dad).

Yeah sure I sometimes get stuck with waking a bratty five-year-old up and sometimes I have to terrorize her to take a shower after breakfast. Poor Nichole. I also drive people around, not just my parents and sister and her kids... my aunts, uncles, cousins, and close family friends who visit.

Thank God nobody asked me to change one-year-old Nathan's diapers just yet!

Lunch also demands complete attendance. I can't emphasize it enough. I never grew up with my sister always around so having her at the table is really fantastic. The afternoons are spent at the beach. I can now tell you that there are one-celled algae that are the size of your thumb. One-celled! The size of your thumb! I just love having a marine biologist for a sister now. Hehehehe.

And guess what? The beach we always go to is beside the Police Training Facility so I get to see men in uniform jog by and the whole company says hi. Nice.

Oh I also have ballroom dancing lessons going on. Sssshh.

Dinners are usually family affairs but tonight we were invited to a party of a big mining company (owns 45% of DeBeers). I never thought chatting to a group of Aussie Drillers can be so much fun. The geologists weren't bad too.

Yep I am so liking my life right now.

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