Uprooted

“When a tree is pulled, it will sprout new shoots nearer its roots. A soul that is ruined in the bud will frequently return to the springtime of its beginnings and its promise-filled childhood, as though it could discover new hopes there and retie the broken threads of life. The shoots grow rapidly and eagerly, but it is only a sham life that will never be a genuine tree.”

Hermann Hesse

On the Flipside

Turn your world upside down. Skimboarding with the Amihan sa Dahican.

Location: City of Mati, Davao Oriental

GAMES OF MY CHILDHOOD: Old School Wheeling

This is one of the games i played as a child. We called it "kariling". Basically, you push an old motorcycle wheel with your hands or a wooden spatula-type handle with a halved plastic container of motor oils. We pushed it around our village. Raced from paved roads to rough roads, imitating the movements of motorcycles. I think we played this because we don't have bicycles because around that time, it was quite expensive. I enjoyed playing with it. Only later in life did I realize of how ingenious we were. We made our toys from scraps, junk and other stuff that were laying around. It didn't cost our parents anything and we had fun doing it. What's important that we were laughing our hearts out doing something simple.

I Wanna Hold Your Hand

A wondrous subtle thing is love, for here were we two, who had never seen each other until that day, between whom no word or even look of affection had ever passed, and yet now in an hour of trouble our hands instinctively sought for each other. I have marveled at it since, but at the time it seemed the most natural thing that I would go out to her so, and, as she has often told me, there was in her also the instinct to turn to me for comfort and protection. So we stood hand in hand like two children, and there was peace in our hearts for all the dark things that surrounded us.”

Arthur Conan Doyle

Until I am Thirty

"Do you know I've been sitting here thinking to myself: that if I didn't believe in life, if I lost faith in the woman I love, lost faith in the order of things, were convinced in fact that everything is a disorderly, damnable, and perhaps devil-ridden chaos, if I were struck by every horror of man's disillusionment -- still I should want to live. Having once tasted of the cup, I would not turn away from it till I had drained it! At thirty though, I shall be sure to leave the cup even if I've not emptied it, and turn away -- where I don't know. But till I am thirty I know that my youth will triumph over everything -- every disillusionment, every disgust with life. I've asked myself many times whether there is in the world any despair that could overcome this frantic thirst for life. And I've come to the conclusion that there isn't, that is until I am thirty."

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (The Brothers Karamazov)

MOVIE: Machete Maidens Unleashed (2010)

I chanced upon this documentary while surfing the internet for documentaries. It's a documentary of a rarely talked-about genre of Filipino-made but American-produced movies shot in the Philippines in the 1970s to the 1980s. At that time our country was known as the Wild, Wild East as the the United States as the Wild, Wild West. These films were known as exploitation films ranging from the blaxploitation, nudist, horror, women in prison, etc. Movies of the lowest quality with inconceivable plots and bad acting whose main ingredients were the 3 Bs: Blood, Battles and Breasts. It talks about the ironies of the movies being made such that most of the themes is the movie are about fascist characters making lives of the hero/heroines miserable while shot in a country ruled by a dictator making lives of his people miserable. Another irony is that it promoted feminism by making the women the lead in the movies while also exploiting and punishing them in the process.

It's a nice look-back to a not so flattering but important history of Philippine Cinema. These movies should not be taken seriously because they were made specific to a market in the US, cheap and released mostly in drive-through cinemas.

Warning: This film is not suitable for children below 18 years old.

GIVE IT A TRY: Riding the Waves

It's summer time once again, the sea is waiting. Why not try to surf rather than just watch it from the sidelines. Ride the waves and pit yourself against one of nature's most beautiful and furious creations.

Conquer your fear and let nature give you a push. I can guarantee that you'll fall a lot. But I also guarantee that when you stand and ride the waves, the falls won't matter. And you'll be back for more.

Picturesque Dahican Beach

Location: Dahican Beach, City of Mati, Davao Oriental

This picturesque beach with turquoise waters will be the venue of the fun-filled summer activities during the 8th Founding Anniversary of the Amihan sa Dahican Skim and Surf Team of the City of Mati from April 4-8, 2012.

Skimboarding, surfing, beach volleyball and frisbee will be among the many games that will be held at this beautiful beach. Participants will come from all over the country.

If you're looking for a place to spend your summer, why not choose Dahican Beach? It will be an experience you won't forget.