Missing my bicycle
Auto insurance quotes have never been much of a concern for me as I have never owned a vehicle. Well, not a four-wheeled one anyway. Years back I did drive a motorcycle, and a scooter, sometime around 20 years ago. While I never got insurance for either of those vehicles, I also remember having a lot of fun driving them, even with the few mishaps I’ve had on the road.
What I do miss most is my bicycle. I think if I hadn’t gone into photography as a hobby I would probably have bought myself a bicycle for Christmas. Especially so because I need the exercise and I need to lose weight.
Traveling light
My irregular trips to Masbate have lasted from three days to three weeks, and I have always wanted to pack as light as I could even during a three-week stay. I’d like to be able to pack lightly in something I could get from Eagle Creek luggage, especially something like the Eagle Creek Exploration 2 ORV Gear Bag. But I have traveled either with a big bag that contained too much and was far too heavy, or one that was light but could not contain everything I needed without necessitating a second bag.
There must be some skill involved in packing, and it’s something that apparently I don’t have 
The ultimate rain gear
Most of the jackets I’ve been seeing at the thrift shops (a.k.a. Ukay) are either cold weather ones with inline fleece or just plain windbreakers. I’ve been looking for a lightweight rain coat that is not made of plastic like a kid’s raincoat, but one made of impermeable fabric. I know there are good ones being sold at Columbia and I’ve seen them being worn by the newscasters at ABS-CBN, but when I looked at the prices I realized they cost way too much for my budget.
I had been seeing motorcycle covers every now and then, in fact my co-worker Roque has one protecting his bike from the weather. He maintains it’s impermeable, and it seemed like it was made of PVC coated nylon. A windbreaker-type raincoat made out of that material would be great for the sudden rains. Lightweight and easy to fold it would be ideal for someone like me who lives out of a backpack.
Walking the walls (part one)
In this era of manufactured homes, there seems to be little worth in old historical buildings, at least for the Philippine Government. I am seeing old landmarks being torn down to make way for progress as in malls and parking spaces for them. The old Sky Room on Taft avenue was torn down to make way for — nothing.
This is the Intendencia. It stands just outside the wallls of Intramuros in Manila. Wars, earthquakes and fires have caused this building to be finally abandoned, although traces of restoration can be seen within the wrought iron bars.
This is one of the buildings within Metro Manila whose fate seems to be to die forgotten and in decay. The same fate seems to await the Metropolitan Theater on Plaza Lawton. The facade of the old PNR station facing Plaza Dilao in Paco, the old GSIS and Veterans Buildings are soon to disappear, because they are old and perhaps should give way to newer, bigger, more modern buildings.
The developers of the old Luneta Theater on TM Kalaw however, seems to be retaining the old facade and are building a new edifice inside it. This is more to my liking, if the building itself can no longer be saved because of age.
If this can be done to the Luneta Theater I don’t see any reason why it can’t be done to other historical buildings in the city.
Newer is not always better.
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