July 16, 1990.
There was a sudden jolt followed by a long shake and a dreadful moaning sound. Powdered concrete burst from cracking walls and we all ran out to open space. I remember vividly --- the first person out was the Secretary of the Board of Regents who was pitching for our History professor, something I always remind him when we became frequent mahjong protagonists. The Dean of the College of Arts Sciences was killed by falling debris when a wing of the University Library collapsed. Hundreds more died that day in Cabanatuan City and Baguio City.
These remembrances came during the Metro Manila-wide earthquake drill and I wonder if we could be as calm and organized when the real thing hits us. From my experience, the instinct is to run out for dear life.
July 26, 2006.
I posted my first blog and 527 more followed across 9 years after more than 200 colonial churches and thousands of miles across the world. I was running out of old churches, I sometimes get tired of the pansit, but I blogged on. In personal commemoration of this milestone, I treated myself to a lunch of pansit palabok and avocado...
...and with AGT broke another 68.8 kilometers, to rattle the bones, through Munoz, Guimba, and Sto. Domingo. The world after all, at least according to me, is measured in terms of old churches documented, the variety of pansit taste-tested, and the biking kilometers earned.
Then came August and the annual bowling tournament. The General came, as always, leaving his stars and cares behind, very casual, obliging the the usual request for photo groupies, moving from one table to another, bantering. He would usually ask for a cigarette but he quit smoking. He was indeed a Big Man but to us, he is just one of the boys.
And so the bowling pins rolled, inside, while the beer bottles keep rolling, outside.
There was a sudden jolt followed by a long shake and a dreadful moaning sound. Powdered concrete burst from cracking walls and we all ran out to open space. I remember vividly --- the first person out was the Secretary of the Board of Regents who was pitching for our History professor, something I always remind him when we became frequent mahjong protagonists. The Dean of the College of Arts Sciences was killed by falling debris when a wing of the University Library collapsed. Hundreds more died that day in Cabanatuan City and Baguio City.
These remembrances came during the Metro Manila-wide earthquake drill and I wonder if we could be as calm and organized when the real thing hits us. From my experience, the instinct is to run out for dear life.
July 26, 2006.
I posted my first blog and 527 more followed across 9 years after more than 200 colonial churches and thousands of miles across the world. I was running out of old churches, I sometimes get tired of the pansit, but I blogged on. In personal commemoration of this milestone, I treated myself to a lunch of pansit palabok and avocado...
...and with AGT broke another 68.8 kilometers, to rattle the bones, through Munoz, Guimba, and Sto. Domingo. The world after all, at least according to me, is measured in terms of old churches documented, the variety of pansit taste-tested, and the biking kilometers earned.
Then came August and the annual bowling tournament. The General came, as always, leaving his stars and cares behind, very casual, obliging the the usual request for photo groupies, moving from one table to another, bantering. He would usually ask for a cigarette but he quit smoking. He was indeed a Big Man but to us, he is just one of the boys.
And so the bowling pins rolled, inside, while the beer bottles keep rolling, outside.
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