The Wandering Savant

Were I called on to define, very briefly, the term Art, I should call it 'the reproduction of what the Senses perceive in Nature through the veil of the soul.' The mere imitation, however accurate, of what is in Nature, entitles no man to the sacred name of 'Artist.' --  Edgar Allan Poe   Who would have thought… that somewhere in the outskirts of Baguio City lies a treasure house.  A house that could awaken even the most dormant artistic sensibility. It is a house that yanks someone away from the cacophony of the urban jungle. For someone who is looking for peaceful enclave in harmony with nature and man's creative expressions, the answer is BenCab Museum.  Nestled along rolling terrains of Tuba, Benguet lies Bencab Museum, home to  some of the most provocative pieces of visual arts. It is remotely situated outside of Baguio City but there is no mistaking the sprawling edifice carved out of the mountainside along Asin Road. Named af...

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. (Proverbs 18:21, NIV) So, here and again we have let ourselves get entangled in a melodrama of sorts from our number 1 source of entertainment - the social network. I think it was two weeks ago when I first came across a video of a young woman shouting at the top of her lungs admonishing lady guard at an LRT station in Manila. Apparently, this was a video uploaded by a "concerned" individual. Little did I know that the said 3-minutish video would eclipse Breaking Dawn (Part 2) in terms of say viewership. The video went viral across social networking sites-twitter, Facebook, youtube, etc.  I recently learned that the video did not just go viral by itself, but much to my chagrin, so are the parody videos depicting the original scene. Everyone is eager to get his or her own piece in this tale of infamy. Everyone wants to get his or her own five minutes of fame. We are like flies ju...

Do not equate knowledge with learning! Still, I am  struggling to grapple this whole thing called learning-such an elusive idea. We thought we have accumulated so much of it along the course of our existence that makes us bold enough to trudge ahead.  The 21st century brings about so much progress, or so we thought.  We have seen advances in science and technology that we could never have imagined twenty years ago. We are living in a very connected world that the line dividing our public and private lives seem non-existent.  However, much to any unthinking human's amazement is the fact that while technology has given us a great leap forward, human behavior remains stagnant. It is disheartening  to note that in the course of human history we have't learned anything at all.  How many among us are still harboring pent up insecurities and prejudices against each other?  When the one single individual's behavioral   issue gets ampli...

Does it happen by accident that the words shallow and hollow rhyme?  Certainly, it is more of a coincidence than a rigid rule in English, considering how queer this language can get. Nonetheless, I am as baffled as anyone who cares.  This is the question that occupied a greater percentage of my mind as I was going home today. For the uninitiated, I have an uncanny way of entertaining questions in my mind that for some people may be considered frivolous. Words might be too uneventful for a few to even merit a second thought but in my case would involve so much mental calisthenics. Such is the case for us who have no inheritance but a few worn out books in our old dusty shelves.  Going back to the issue at hand, in truth, I have never fully contemplated the implications of these words before. It might be helpful to define the words. The word shallow is most commonly used as an adjective, though it could also be used effectively as a verb ...

It is of utmost importance that we address the subject of discipline. It is quite undeniable that extravagance-in every respect-is an inevitable human tendency. Man has been accustomed to indulgence is as far as his wants are concerned. Unbeknownst to himself, he would, sooner or later, suffer the consequences of his own impetus acts. It is for this very reason that man must be able to fully comprehend the importance of taming his humanly desires, whims and caprices.

"Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books." John Lubbock "How prone poor Humanity is to dam up the minutest remnants of its freedom, and build an artificial roof to prevent it looking up to the clear blue sky." E. T. A. Hoffmann "And when the day arrives I'll become the sky and I'll become the sea and the sea will come to kiss me for I am going home. Nothing can stop me now." Trent Reznor "Always keep your mind as bright and clear as the vast sky, the great ocean, and the highest peak, empty of all thoughts. Always keep your body filled with light and heat. Fill yourself with the power of wisdom and enlightenment." Morihei Ueshiba "For true love is inexhaustible; the more you give, the more you have. And if you go to ...

I always consider holidays to be a welcome treat-a time to spend for oneself away from the rigors of daily living.  It was with extreme gladness that I had the chance to take a few days off from work. And, what better ways to spend one's holiday than by going to some far-flung place quite foreign to not a few of people's knowledge. I always have strong beliefs in the potential of lesser known places when it comes to travel and tourism.  This time around, we chose the province of Biliran. Biliran is one of the least known provinces in the Philippines when it comes to tourism. Nonetheless it has great potentials to boot. It is my firm belief that with strong strong infrastructure support and marketing schemes, the province could pave the way to becoming a retirement haven for Filipinos and foreigners alike as evidenced by its laid-back, country-like atmosphere. Naval, Biliran is, in fact, slowly becoming a haven for several expatriates. Take time to check out ...

How fast time flies. Indeed! It seems like yesterday that we bade 2011 goodbye and ushered in a brand new year. Today, we are once again given a brand new start. Today is the first day of the month of March. IT’s time we bid goodbye to February, when we had been shaken in many ways-like the anxiety that we all have to endure or the physical shaking of the ground as in the case of an earthquake. For most of us, we had been subjected to intense emotional anxiety when rumors of an impending tsunami started to  spread like wildfire that fateful day in February 6th.  No one ever anticipated anything untoward would happen that day. For most of us, it was a one fine day, ideal for going out to the beach or malling perhaps. For me that was the  day for self-absorption. That was the last day of my workweek and I was quite excited to be able to  take my days off. I was excited to finally rest my soul after a week of hard labor. On the contrary, what followed afterwards were days of mental and ...

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Finding the right parallelism to the said adage is never to far-fetched. No less than the writer himself could attest to its veracity.  At dawn today, 21st of February 2012, I embarked on a new kind of journey--a journey to wellness. After so much procrastination on my part, I finally started  a new routine that is to jog, or shall we say, walk uninterrupted for as many hours as I can. I did just that. I call it my journey to wellness as everyone doing said exercise has been reaping so much benefits out of this healthy endeavor. Needless to say, its contributions to a sound mind and body have been talked about by many health experts the world over.  Running, jogging, walking or a combination of these provide excellent cardio-vascular workouts that strengthen our hearts. These would give us a fighting chance against the deadliest of heart diseases. Moreover, cardio-vascular exercises also have some mental health ...

    Our encounter with the whale sharks in Oslob was a short one. We headed immediately to the town of Aloguinsan, where a new tourist spot is being promoted. I wasn't exactly sure as to what to expect considering that the place was unfamiliar to me. We dropped by Carcar for a short lunch break and we had a chance to sample the town's famed lechon--delicious indeed. After lunch, we decided to embark on our journey to the town of Aloguinsan. We tried to wait for commuter vehicles but we found it to be fruitless.     After an hour or so of debating about transportation, we decided to rent a multicab. The decision was proved to be brilliant afterwards considering that the road going there was a bit challenging. For the amount of P2500, we had a vehicle that would transport us to and fro.        We had to maneuver a pretty challenging road for  one and a half hour  before we reached our destination, Barangay Bojo, Aloguinsan; where we were...

A few of the people from MODCEBU Team embarked on a trip to the south of Cebu  Province, particularly  Oslob town, to take a look at the newest craze in as far as local tourism is concerned—butanding or whale shark. Locally known as Tuki, whale sharks are the largest known living species of fish. As filter-feeding species, they feed mainly on planktons—microscopic animal and plant lives.  Since whale sharks were not known to be endemic in the area around Oslob, Cebu, we rushed to see before it's too late. The area around Oslob can be considered a seasonal feeding ground for these huge sea creatures. Our bus ride from the Cebu South Bus Terminal going to Oslob was a breeze. After a two and a half hour bus ride we arrived at our destination at exactly 5:30 AM. However we had to wait for a couple of hours as fishermen still had to lure the whale sharks close to shore. Here are some of the photos. silhouette...against the sunrise More fun in the Philippines!!!! More ...

Tsunami scare in Cebu City-Photo by Philstar.com When panic strikes traces of sanity vanish! Such was the case when an intensity 7 earthquake struck Cebu-Negros region yesterday. Within minutes after the said earthquake, rumors of of an impending tsunami went wild, sending people into to the streets scrambling for higher grounds.  Philvolcs did issue a tsunami alert level 2 for the eastern shores of Negros Island and Western parts of Cebu. At alert level 2, which is characterize with waves of up to 3 feet (1 m)high, the likelihood of devastating effects is minimal. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii did not issue any tsunami alert stating that  "based on all available data, a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected."  The move to announce alert level 2 for Negros' eastern shores and Cebu's western shores may not have been totally baseless. For one, there was a magnitude 7 earthquake and the announcement was a very good precautionary measure i...

Dawning of a New Day, Oslob, Cebu; Photo by: Chode Cabasag HAPPY NEW YEAR! It's been more than a month since new year came; but, nonetheless, allow me this opportunity to finally greet all of you a happy new year. That's how it is when one gets caught up with a lot of things. SO, I haven't been into this blog for quite sometime, and I think it's high time to update you of the goings on in this year.  However, prior to that, let me take this opportunity to thank my Creator for an eventful year 2011. There were a lot of challenges that we have to come by and we have overcome. I have a great feeling that 2012 is going to be a promising one for all of us. We will have challenges, we will fail, and then we will grow up for the better, even better. 

If I were to choose between a mainstream Filipino movie and a Bollywood [Indian] movie, I would certainly choose the Bollywood movie. Now, before I get a beating for being un-Filipino and unpatriotic, allow me to say this: I love my country, and I can't imagine living in a place other than the land of my birth. So, why? It's a question of substance. Now, I take an important distinction between the mainstream Filipino  movie and the independently produced Filipino films. We all know that "indie films" as we call it are a watershed of brilliant ideas. Am I saying then that mainstream movies are lacking in substance? No! I am saying that mainstream movies are lacking in depth and devoid of meaning. 

Baguio Skyline Good day! I believe it’s a very good day for almost everything, especially for our country. I have read a couple of good news stories in our national paper. Noticeable among these is the news referring to the apparent confidence that some multinational corporations placed in the Philippine economy. This is a far cry from the news about Italian credit downgrade by credit-rating agency Standards and Poor’s that sent indices in the Eurozone stumbling yesterday. All in all, this would send shivers worldwide in as economies are threading a precarious economic path these days. But, let me go back to the Philippines first.  The Philippine president is in the US for a working visit and according to the news, several American executives paid the president of the Philippines a courtesy call, “expressing enthusiasm in his effort to create a new business environment” and signifying their respective companies’ intention to expand presence in the country. Jeffrey Fox, preside...

Breathtaking! That's all I could say when I first laid my eyes into Lake Balinsasayaw. My 4-day vacation last August afforded me the opportunity to visit this now-famous lake in the town of Sibulan, Negros Oriental. It's a shame that people from other provinces were ahead of me in discovering this natural wonder in my home province. 

( Note: Between August 23-27, 2011 this writer was in Dumaguete and the Province of Negros Oriental for a four-day jaunt.  Just a few highlights) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A top priority in my coming down to Dumaguete was to get a glimpse of stage-play “Hinilawod”. After spending one night with my family in Pamplona, the next day, August 24 th , saw me packing up my things and rushing back to the capital of Negros Oriental to catch last rerun of the play in the city for the year at Silliman’s Luce Auditorium. By the time arrived, the whole city was a buzzed with activities. The occasional rain shower was not enough to dampen the celebratory spirit of the people. It was not the usual relaxed atmosphere that Dumaguete has been known for. This time, everyone was up and about with his own order of the day. There certainly was one good reason for this seemingly hurried pace.  For this small university town in centra...