A Life on Display

Note: The following article is the 2nd draft of my feature article in my English class. This is my first ever attempt to write something that simply just features somebody. In class, we ended up not having to write the final article because of lack of time. The 2nd draft was checked as if it was the final feature article. 

Museums are a fad because of the variety of items that reveal shadowed parts of the past and glimpses of the future. These items are the stars of the show, and most people would rather observe only them all throughout their visit, instead of the numerous other seemingly boring fixtures in the museum.

One such fixture is George Antolino, a security guard in the famous gold exhibit of the museum. He was tall, dark, but ignored by a lot of visitors. To those who noticed him, he looked like a normal Filipino corporate security guard.  He wore a gray barong and black pants, sported a 3x4 military haircut, and almost-always held a walkie-talkie to his ear. With his pensive expression, you’d think he had a problem with being where he is. But by being a guard for Ayala Museum for four years, he is able to share peculiar insight on his job, on the people going there, and on the stars of the show, the artifacts.

His pensive expression revealed nothing about how he initially desired to work for the Ayala Museum. He found its ambiance refreshing to the senses, after his stint as an SM security guard. According to him, he trusted Ayala’s reputation too. After four years, he has not left, which leads us to ask if he loves his job. “Oo naman,” was his response. His family depends on what he earns from the place, and that is enough to make him happy there.

With around two-hundred visitors a day, it seems like George is not the only one drawn to the museum. From his observation, schools would normally schedule field trips, and foreigners mostly consisted of Koreans and Japanese. When asked if he had problems with any of the foreigners, he responded with, “Sa totoo lang, mas madali pa ngang kasundo ang mga foreigner na iyan eh. Kaunting sabi mo lang sa kanila na huwag gawin ang ganito o ganiyan, susunod na.” Foreigners were used to being disciplined, while Filipinos who visited the Ayala Museum would only pretend to follow the rules. He could not understand Balikbayans insisting to pay the more expensive foreigner fee, and only shrugged his shoulders at the thought that they might have just been bragging.

George’s daily task is to protect golden artifacts he speculates as simple pieces of metal the revealed history. He thinks they simply look like junk aluminum foil painted gold. Despite this, he eagerly pointed to one particular piece of junk encased in a glass box. Inside the container was a human torso wearing George’s favorite piece, a 24-karat halter with an intricately knitted design, resembling a rope with fine threads.

“Sinuot ‘yan ni Cheche Lazaro sa T.V. Sa Probe. Ako nagbabantay noon eh,” he shared, with pride evident from his eyes, as they intently looked at the halter. He then went back to his duty.

Museums showcase items like the halter that certainly reveal a lot about history by just being on display, and not making any sound. However, certain unnoticed members of the Ayala Museum, like George, when asked to share, can also teach us about our own selves. Sometimes, we may even learn things that no priceless gold artifact can spell out. We just have to get to know them, to maybe get to know ourselves a little better.

I'm Back!

Hi! I'm finally back to writing again! Sorry for the really long break. I was just so busy with my first semester in college, and everytime I'd have a little free time to write for the blog, I'd end up not having the inspiration nor a good topic i felt I should write about.

So here I am now, welcoming you back to my blog. I hope that you can appreciate my next posts like you have my previous ones. God bless you.

Strangebrew at ang Halaga ng Saya

Pasensiya na medyo matagal na rin akong hindi sumusulat dito ah. Nakakain kasi ang oras ko nga mga kung anu-ano sa eskuwela. Ang maganda naman doon, marami akong nakakalap na bagong pagkatuto na puwedeng pag-isipan. Kaya ito, mag-Filipino muna tayo.

Napanood niyo na ba iyong Strangebrew nina Tado at Erning, iyong pinalabas dati sa UNTV, tapos sa Studio 23? Sa nakaraan linggo kasi, nagkaroon ako ng pagkakataon na balikan iyong mga lumang episode nito. Natutuwa naman ako, kasi ang sasaya ng mga episode noon, at kakaiba rin talaga ang lapit nila sa pagkalap ng impormasyon sa pamamagitan ng mga panayam, at pag-arte nang nakakatawa. Kung ako sa inyo, papanoorin ko ngayon iyong mga lumang episode noon sa Youtube. May naglagay.

Kaya bigla naman akong nahumaling muli sa Strangebrew ay sa klaseng Filipino kasi namin, naisip namin ng kaklase kong si Jico na iyon ay gawing presentasyon sa isang sagala sa loob ng paaralan. Subalit, bago namin ito magawa, kailangan namin makumbinsi ang kagawaran na may kahalagahan ang napili naming tema para sa manoonood na Pilipino. Naisip namin na baka naman may matututunan ang manonood sa kung anu-anong pinag-uusapan sa Strangebrew. Totoo naman, na sa dinami-raming nironda nina Tado, marami nga namang matututunan ang mga manonood hinggil sa Maynila at iba pang lugar, sa nakakatawang paraan pa. Matutuwa na nga sila, matututo pa ng bago. O 'di ba? Puwedeng puwede?

Kaso, naisip ko rin na sa kahit anong bagay naman may matututunan ka 'di ba? Kahit na yata sa simpleng pagkain ng tsokolateng Magic Flakes, may matututunan kang bago 'di ba, kahit gaano kaliit? 'Di ba? TAMA! Kaya ito, kailangan pa naming isipin kung ano ang iba pang kahalagahan ng Strangebrew.

Bakit nga ba pinapanood ang Strangebrew? Dahil kay Tado 'di ba? Dahil kay Erning 'di ba? Dahil kay Jun Sabayton at Ramon Bautista 'di ba? TAMA! Natutuwa talaga tayo sa kakaibang lapit ng Strangebrew sa mga pinakakaraniwang bagay. Nakakatuwa siya. Papanoorin ba natin ang palabas na iyon kung gusto lang natin matuto ng tungkol sa Tubero, Barko, at MRT? Malayo yatang magkaganoon. Sobrang astig ng pagkakagawa ng Strangebrew kaya tayo na-hook. Iilan lang ang kagaya ng Strangebrew kaya natin siya pinanood. Bago ang konseptong iyon noong panahong iyon, at natuwa tayo. Masaya lang tayong panoorin iyon.

Ba't nga ba ako naghahanap pa ng ibang kahalagahan? Napakahalaga nga pala ng kasiyahan, lalo na kung kakaiba ito. 'Di ba nga ang karamihan ng tao, naghahanap lang ng kasiyahan sa buhay? Iyong iba nga, kapag masaya na, wala nang ibang hinahanap eh.

Minsan, natatandaan ko, parang natanong ni Tado sa Strangebrew sa isang taong mahilig makipag-gagambahan (o larong pinaglalaban ang mga gagamba) kung ano ang maitutulong ng ginagawa niya sa bayan. Siguro, naisip ng taong iyon, kahit hindi niya marahil nasabi, na "Masaya ito eh." Iyon na iyon.

Kaya kapag oras mo nang matanong ukol sa ginagawa mo, huwag kang mag-alinlanngang sabihing, "Masaya eh," lalo na kung ito ang totoo.

I'm Sure You Can Relate

This Thursday was a special day for my high school classmate and very good friend, James Soriano. He was a champion debater back in high school, an honor student, and now a real writer for no less than Manila Bulletin. Thursday was when his very first article on his very first column, iThink, became available for the public to reflect on. Congrats pare!

Speaking of writing, I have recently been struggling with academic writing myself. I just really find it ironic that after two years of writing in a blog full of reflections, I find myself stumped about what to write for a simple, personal essay in English class. I even find it 'lame' (as my teacher called it earlier) that I missed my one and only chance of consulting with the teacher about what to write, and how to write it well (in her own, supposedly expert view; I have an almost completely different idea of what's good, so good luck to me).

For the past few days, attending English class has not personally felt very fruitful. We've been going through a lot of things about the essay that we already repeatedly learned in high school (like the thesis statement and topic and sentence outlines), from the best English teachers. The worst part was, we've been 'learning' at a much slower pace, since the class is supposed to focus on the writing process. I'm sorry if I sound like a kid, but I feel bored with what we are taking up in English. To add to that, I even seem to resent a lot of the new writing styles and tips our new teacher imparts to us. Bluntly, I cannot stand all of it.

I am pretty sure that if my teacher reads this post, she will end up thinking about how full of pride I am, despite me being a real beginner in writing compared to her. To clarify, I have nothing against my teacher and her style of teaching. I just do not find it useful enough for me, after learning so much for the past 4 years with a different style. I always feel that I have to protect whatever I learned from high school about writing, which makes me resent learning new things about the old things.

I feel stumped not only because I cannot find something to write about in a simple, personal essay, but also because I feel like I cannot learn anything new because of whatever pride I have.

We've all felt the same way. We've all felt like we were wasting time doing something in the place of whatever we feel we should be doing. The problem is, how can we learn if we keep resenting and resenting whatever comes our way? Even if it's really hard to see at this point, I guess there's always something new to learn from everything. There may presently be no clear manifestations of what we learn, but I guess they are bound to show themselves someday.

In all this uncertainty about learning, I just really hope I am not wasting my time.



By the way, whatever I wrote today is not a simple, personal essay, by choice. It only shows how I have to listen and re-learn things in class.

What Ba Talaga Language Mo? Going Back to Basics

Today is the day I can say debate taught me more than what 'Matter, Manner, and Method' could.

When I was a high school debater debating for Ateneo, I knew damn well that I was not the best. I was your average Ateneo debater (Ateneo debaters were supposedly some of the best in the country, but I would not count myself in.), and while there were notable moments (like a very memorable competition in Los Banos) of debate glory towards the end of my adolescent debating career, I was not completely sure if it was what I really wanted to do for the rest of my schooling. Early in my debating life, I resented reading up on world political and economic views, news, and anything else debaters would call 'Matter,' since I thought that the best way to enjoy teenage life was to stay away from grown-up stuff as much as possible.

When I would have a bad debating day, I would blame it on British Parliamentary Debating in the Philippines being in English, and not Filipino, my primary speaking language. I thought that given the chance to have Filipino debates, more Filipinos would be able express the important thoughts easily. Language would not be a barrier for good thoughts.

Earlier today, I was able to see my dream of experiencing Filipino debates, on a national scale. Two credible schools, not necessarily for teaching English, were competing in a debate broadcast on the radio, with Filipino as the primary language. They were arguing about the policies behind Ces Drilon's release, if I heard them right. However, my happiness for the Filipino debates was short-lived since listening to these debaters was a struggle, since they themselves struggled in finding the right Filipino words to support their points, switching to English more frequently than than the conyos a good number of 'real' Filipinos hate.

I ended up rethinking my previous thoughts (which have been lingering in my head for years) concerning debate. What if I was given the chance to debate formally in Filipino? Would I be able to deliver my points better than before, or would I stutter just like the students I listened to earlier? Was I even good enough a debater, to even demand a Language shift early in my career, or to even want to skip researching and rely on my own intelligence in debates?

In any field, I think that we have to master the basics first, before we can move on to the more challenging, and more glorifying things. In sports, basketball players cannot let go of basic dribbling, passing, or the like, if they want to achieve greater things in their career. For God's sake they'd injure themselves if they tried to dunk without the basics. The same goes for debate, and any other kind of thing that needs practice, determination, concentration, and most of all, commitment. I do not think that without reading about what's happening around us, I can give good views in a debate or even in a blog. I do not think that I will have the guts to talk about mentally intimidating things without mastering the medium, or language, that my audience can find useful.

I am sure that even you have got your own activites that need a little refresher. Let us all strengthen the foundations of our work, so we can reach farther things. Who was that scientist who commented that he would not have seen very far without standing on the shoulders of giants?

I need a refresher myself.