Restless Cities - Manila Spotlight: Mystery Terrains by Shireen Martinez Seno

thestrangeness:

The Strangeness - Naglalakbay
(Juan de la Cruz Band cover)

Another experiment in home recording. Also, it’s something a little bit different than what we’re used to, but it’s all good. Harmonicas, acoustic guitars, twang. A psychedelic alt-country arrangement of arguably one of the best Filipino rock songs of all time. 

Respect. 

ANG GANDA.

I forgot about our Biak Na Bato trip weeks ago. I took some pictures of carabaos and they looked pretty pissed.

This is where we spent the day. <3

This is where I celebrated my 21st birthday with my closest friends! :)

robcham:

I don’t know what to say.

Here’s a news article explaining what happened so far

Dear world,

Meet President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

I just got this book today and it already has a special memory attached to it (although, the memory isn’t anything pleasant). Customs taxed me $20 for this $14 book. Real smooth, right? Ended up giving them $4 instead.

I’m trying to analyze what happened here. I’ve been ordering stuff over the internet for years and I’ve never had to deal with customs crap before. This is a first and hopefully, the last. I’ve come up with some theories:

• I shouldn’t have ordered it off Barnes and Noble. - This was my first experience with the store itself. My previous B&N transaction was with a third-party seller and it went pretty well. What’s wrong with B&N? I don’t really know.

• I should’ve used my own address. - I used Luis’s address in Manila because I wanted to see if there was a significant difference in delivery speed. You all know that I live in the province and things usually take longer to get here. Not this time!

• My country suddenly decided to tax books. - Which isn’t very likely because I haven’t heard or seen anything about this in the news. 

I don’t know what the real lesson is here. Is it a) Stop ordering things online or b) Use your real address next time? My mom would probably go with the former.

I VOTED TODAY. It was a very unpleasant experience, but to hell with it. The only thing that matters is that I did what I was supposed to and that I took part in making history. Now, we wait.

• This puts an end to many ruined mornings because of the too-loud barkers/annoying campaign jingles.
• The posters will hopefully disappear next.
• First-time voter’s anxiety. I dealt with it with flying colors.