Last year, I begged Jun Asis for an extra ticket so I can bring my wife to the 2007 Philippine Blog Awards. He was nice enough to pull some strings, and bend a few rules to accommodate a stranger’s request. This year, I won a special BlogBank award. Noemi says (via Plurk) that it’s a cute award and that it suits my personality. Thanks for the vote of confidence, Noemi. If you want to see a complete list of winners, click here.
The
Indeed, there is nothing more aptly Pinoy than this new online encyclopedia. The WikiPilipinas launch was one of the highlights of the Book Fair. Visitors to their booth were treated to freebies like shirts, mouse pads, a limited edition compilation of Kenkoy komiks book (which I won) and a slew of awesome presentations on how to navigate through their website, where to find what and how much more can be added to the database, etc.
One feature which I found interesting is the Skool Tools (beta). This is found in FILIPINIANA.NET, the parent organization of WikiPilipinas. It is another online resource that is dedicated to all things Filipiniana that is Philippine culture, literature, history and related studies. Why is the Skool Tools utility so cool? After browsing and collecting snippets and abstracts of books, the utility allows the user to automatically insert these in a text editor and download the document as a .pdf file. It even automatically generates the bibliography which the user can find at the end of the document. I thought it was neat. I mean .pdf without the hassle of installing the distiller software? Who wouldn’t be happy with that?
I capped the day by joining the WikiBingo, where they gave away an IPod Nano, a card reader and a flash drive. The flash drive would have made me a happy camper, but sadly I didn’t get any of the prizes. But, no worries, I had a wonderful time! I met some of the players from the game and made some new friends. (hi Lauren! hope to bump into you again at the next event!)
By the time the doors opened, the line was already extending into the side emergency exits of the building. This was taken after the biggest throng had gotten in. More people came in the afternoon.
Atty Louie Calvario of the Intellectual Properties Office under the DTI kicked off the day’s events by a talk on copyright infringement. Very enlightening, I think.
My first taste of theater was in my freshman year at the University of the
I never thought a PETA production would be as enlightening as they said it would be. An invitation by Gibbs Cadiz to a Pinoycentric-sponsored PETA tour proved to be the best theater experience I have ever had. The lovely Cecille Garrucho, PETA President, guided the tour and proudly showed us the fruits of many years of hard work and theater passion.
At first I thought it would be nothing more than a show and tell of the PETA-Phinma Theater. Just another guided tour with a little trivia to keep the boredom at bay. How wrong was I! From the PLDT-Smart Hall, we were greeted by a woman in fancy garb who keeps looking for her son. I almost forgot, this is theater and she’s an actress. Nice touch to spice things up I thought.
On the second floor, we were shown the Lino Brocka hall, which serves both as an extension of the lobby and entrance to the main theater second floor. This was our first activity. Ms. Garrucho promised us that we would all be treated to an interactive/living theater experience. Wow! So this made me all the more curious.
A music teacher (so sorry for forgetting your name) taught us a Kalinga song, to which we all sang with her. (Dang dang ay sila ang ilay, in sina liduma-aay…) I’ve always been shy about singing but since everybody was so immersed in the moment, I hit a few high notes until we all chorused in sync.
It’s good to know that their library is open to the public. PETA has made its resources, books and videos included, available for room use to those who want to do research in theater studies.
After the library, we were shown the roof deck, where they hold experimental theater performances. The rain discouraged me from appreciating the nice view of
Then the fun began. We were treated to an interactive activity that gave me a pretty good idea of what actors go through during workshops. It felt like kindergarten all over again! We got into costumes then acted out everyday gestures and were asked to come up with our dialogues that went with our chosen costumes. I just donned a simple black veil over my head and shouted “dvd! dvd!” producing ripples of laughter from the other bloggers. Noreen donned wings with a small crown posing as Thumbelina. Later in the tour, we were asked to do this onstage! There weren’t any people, but the feeling of being on stage and being watched can be really scary at first. But I found myself enjoying it and later other bloggers were giving it their all. I guess I was no different. In between laughing myself silly, I guess I unwillingly conjured the actor in me. And it was fun!
Icing on the cake was the play “Batang Rizal.” We saw the play along with some private school students and their parents. On the surface, it seemed like a children’s play about a boy traveling through time meeting the young Jose Rizal and paving the way for a history lesson sugar-coated with song, dance and humor.
But Batang Rizal was more than that. It was a showcase of PETA’s best actors and singers. It gave me more than a history lesson, it was an eye opener of sorts. I honestly never knew about the story of the monkey and the turtle until that moment. Shame on me indeed. Noteworthy was the song they sang in the finale. Witty lines, reminiscent of the Dulaang UP plays I love so much, had me in awe as actors evoked laughter using the most inane lines, great for nuns and children under schooling age.
After 40 years, PETA has become the home of some of the country’s greatest actors, entertainers and national artists. It is only fitting that the cornerstone of Philippine Theater be housed in a building designed by no less than the Leandro Locsin Partners. I highly encourage everyone to add a little culture to your diet. Come see a show at the PETA-Phinma Theater.
This is the PETA brochure they give away when you enter the building. I just posted it because it had a good picture of the building’s facade.
This is the dressing room area. The couple hugging is not a couple. One of them is a blogger and he saw an old friend who was performing in the play. Why did I have to explain? Looking at the picture, I felt I owed you one.
Excuse the poor quality photo. This was the main theater minutes before the play “Batang Rizal” started. A quick shot of how the theater looked inside. Jam-packed audience seen here.
One of PETA Theater’s important rooms is its library. It is open to the public, Mondays thru Fridays. All resources may be used, including videos, within the library. Here, the theater buff will find all kinds of theater-related books, journals and even PETA’s archive of their own productions.
Singing Kalinga for the first time at the Lino Brocka Hall. Here I learned my first Kalinga song which prompted me to search the Internet for other songs like it. Click here if you want to listen to song we learned.
When they asked us to act out a character we know, I just thought about my DVD suki. ‘DVD! DVD!’ Hey, I can act too!
Noreen with PETA President Cecile Garrucho. She answered all our questions and flashed her sweet smile. Many many thanks to Gibbs Cadiz and PinoyCentric for this rare opportunity.
Ah another year has been added to my age. Need not be so negative. A lot of things have happened and I am still reeling from the effects of my mother’s untimely demise in 2006, but life has to go on. Another year and I can no longer claim to be in the calendar. Perhaps when people say I’m too old, I can still claim to be within the lotto numbers. Conti’s is my current favorite restaurant (for a number of reasons, including their prices) and I decided to have a quiet lunch there with Noreen and her siblings (who were nice enough to bring food to my office for my coworkers). With the long queue at Conti’s, we took a little time for a photo op in the picturesque Bonifacio High Street.
Happy faces around happy food. Weng and Deng wait for their orders with great anticipation. I told them that the food at Conti’s was the best. Their smiles lingered even way after the meal.
Here’s the ribeye steak. This is actually half of an order. We got this only because the whole order was 240 grams and for one person this was rather large. The beef was medium rare and very juicy indeed. 
The picture is not very clear but very delicious, I assure you. For health reasons, I chose to eat fish. This is Conti’s version of Fish and Chips. The honey mustard sauce complemented the fish wonderfully. Its wondrous juices squirted out the minute you stick your fork into it. Who says healthy can’t be delicious?
The Miag-ao Church in Miag-ao, Iloilo is included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites as one of the Baroque Churches of the Philippines (San Agustin Church is included in this prestigious roster). Its real name is Sto. Tomas de Villanueva Church.
The interior of the church is just as dazzling and steeped in history. If these walls could talk, what stories would it tell! They say the church was more than just a place of worship, it also served as a fortress of sorts. At the time of its construction in 1786, the church was also a place where people could come in for shelter from invading forces coming in from the coast. Some believe that the church also has some secret passages to facilitate speedy escapes from invaders. The facade is uniquely fascinating.
Near the church is the University of the Philippines in the Visayas, Miag-ao campus.
