InFlight June-July 2011 Issue

Credits:
Concept by InFlight
Photo by Daniel Soriano
Art direction by Jocas See
Styling by Vanessa Johnson
Hair and make up by Aisa Fay Costo
Modeling by Michelle Braun for IM Agency
Location: Bangaan Rice Terraces, Ifugao Province

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HK MTR: Wish You Were Here

5:30pm and it only means two things. One, for the drunkards, it’s five thirsty — start of “happy hour” drinking spree. And the other thing is rush hour.

Rush hour of Monday to Friday in the Philippines is the dreaded time to every railway transit commuters’ life (that includes myself at times), in hope they could escape from. Also, each commuter is forcefully subject to experience a life of a sardine in a can five days a week. Unfortunately, both the low and mid average working class Filipinos are under the mercy of this awful railway system. And this is the time where I hopelessly muttering the phrase “Wish you were here”.

My disgust grows deeper to Philippines’ railway transit system when I’ve experienced Hong Kong’s MTR (Mass Transit Railway) last March. It’s prompt, fast, and reliable. And wait, there’s more — it’s clean and orgnized. No waiting line as long as the Great Wall of China — ticket entrance and boarding. The maximum interval between trains is just 15mins. And to my amazed, no arrogant guards “acting” security check at every entrance of the station.

And speaking of stations, every station has a mall-like ambiance, some like a glorified tiangge or flea market. There you can find household brands such as Giordano, Bossini, and the likes. Food stalls are ubiquitous. From quick-stop noodle houses to take-away coffee and bread shops and from the ever familiar 7-11 convenience stores to pharmacies. All things a commuter needs when he/ she goes off to somewhere around Hong Kong by train.

Whilst on my last train ride at Tsim Sha Tsui station to the airport for my flight back home, I’m wondering why can’t the Philippine government adopt or do the same railway system of Hong Kong? I know it can be done. In comparison, Philippines, by far, is geographically larger than Hong Kong and we have adept engineers that can execute this kind of monumental task. Why it can’t be done? Well, in my opinion, the answers are just plain simple. If only there’s no… you know what I mean.

Death by Digital: RIP High Fidelity

My big brown eyes even grows bigger and wider everytime there’s a new technology comes out. It saddened me at the same time when a piece of technology that we used to and grow old with has to be put to rest (in peace) and then marked obsolete. And I won’t deny the fact that I’m a kinda guy who holds on to those things — may it be already obsolete or to its near obsolete stage — with some serious sentimental values.

2010. Remy’s Thrift Shop, Cubao X. Our last stop to our three-day coverage about every woman’s costly leisure activity — shopping. It is also in this very shop that I was able to get hold of those earliest known analog sound storage medium that dominates the world for almost two centuries — vinyl records.

Saw some abundant and endangered stacks of 7” and 12” species of vinyl records stashed in huge brown boxes underneath a table by the window display. Some are in mint condition and mostly comes still with their original cover sleeves. Whilst most of them are there just collecting dust — waiting haplessly to be seen by a potential collector.

While photographer Dane was busy shooting the store, I was blissfully preoccupied in scanning those vinyl records. Flipping it one by one, hoping for a good find — not that I have a turntable at home to play with it — a vinyl record with a good sleeve cover design. A classic one. I remember back in my college years, we have been tasked by our professor to reproduced a 12” vinyl sleeve design — from scratch — as our project. Mine was Joe Satriani’s Surfing with the Alien and had a decent passing mark then.

Anyway, one of the 7” vinyl record I pulled off had some deep and long scratches brought by the careless use of the previous owners. Some due to the final passing on by the defunct record shops of Raon, Recto and Quiapo in the early 80s to thrift shops of Cubao X for disposal.

Looking on those vinyl records took me for a quick ride further down memory lane when I was a kid. I remember digging my father’s mementos stashed in an old rusty tin can box of moon cake. I found three 7” records — one of them are of Olivia Newton John’s single in her 70s heyday — neatly preserved and tucked in their respective paper sleeves. Those records were mixed with some old Japanese currency during the WWII with handful of decades old Philippine coins and; nostalgic photos of my dad in his early teens with his parents in the 60s. That was the first time I got hold of that shiny black circle disc and it is still crystal clear in my mind how it was felt.

I may not born in the time when vinyl records was the king of the tango or boogie-woogie dance floors of Old Manila. Nor have danced to the infectious groove with Annie Batumbakal and with the other distinguished members of the Burgis community in the disco fever era during the Martial Law. But I have shown a great appreciation to the medium that had brought the old and the young turntable collectors to a closed circle; notable aficionados sharing their expertise in collecting and preserving the vinyl records; and of course, to all music lovers, that includes my parents.

The fate of the vinyl record has been sealed decades ago by a new recording medium or format (which I’ll be tackling in the near future). Only a few — both maker and recording artist — who chose to record and manufacture the dying recording medium today. Even the popular 90s grunge band Pearl Jam wrote a song about the vinyl — “Spin the Black Circle” to pay homage to the format. It’s a great regret, on my part, that I haven’t experience completely the pure and raw quality of what a vinyl record has hidden under its grooves.

This is the first post of a series on how I witness music physically transcends from my dad’s time unto my time.

So, plug in and enjoy.

I would like to thank Dane Soriano for lending me his DSLR to capture the image above.

In Memoriam

What a sad and shocking day to start my first post of the year 2011.

Dr. Gerardo “Gerry” Ortega — an environmental advocate, media practitioner and program manager of the Philippine Ecotourism Palawan of the ABS-CBN Foundation — was shot dead this Monday morning at Puerto Princesa, Palawan.

Though, I really don’t know the guy personally but I had a great eco adventure moments with Doc Gerry, as he was called, and the rest of the Bayan Ni Juan community when we were in Palawan back in February, 2009 for our green issue (InFlight April-May) with Oggie Ramos as our photographer and Yasmin Arquiza, writer.

To read the full story, click here.

Picture Feature(d): Cicou

Excerpt from “InFlight Living: Indulge” by Ces Rodriguez for InFlight December-January 2011

“One of my favorites was fish fillet stuffed with prawn mousseline and coated in herbed crumbs, with mashed green peas, terrine of glazed carrots and fresh coriander. The herbed crust broke off delicately; the pompano fillet, delivering the stoutest flavor, was cooked to perfection. The bells and whistles were reserved for the mashed peas and the carrots.”

“The soup was a fireworks display of flavors beginning with the moat of cream of mussels dotted with tiny croutons surrounding a peppery ravioli of mashed watercress. What was extraordinary, however, was a perfect tender bud of oyster with a low whisper of brine at the heart of the ravioli. As the final bite, the oyster was an instantaneously serene counterpoint to the outside din of flavors.”


“A must try. Next time I’d like to try the soft boiled egg with sea urchin, green pea broth, mashed cauliflower, crispy smoked pork belly (P290) and – because it’s not over the top, it’s exquisite – I’d like it with a bit of that duck liver, please.”


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Picture Feature(d): Bukidnon

Excerpt from “Ins & Outs” by Margie F. Francisco for InFlight December-January 2011

“One of the most convenient ways to reach Bukidnon by land is taking the bus from Cagayan de Oro. There are regular flights from Manila to Cagayan de Oro. From Cagayan de Oro, take the Davao-Bukidnon Highway to reach Dahilayan, Bukidnon.”


To read the full story and other travel features, call: +632 840.2802 to subscribe a copy.

Picture Feature(d): Island Life

Excerpt from “Island Life: School Daze” by Ces Rodriguez for InFlight December-January 2011

“Mariglo Laririt plans and solves problems for a living. It goes with her title of president of Ten Knots Development Corporation, the landholding company of those beautiful El Nido Resorts – Miniloc Island Resort and Lagen Island Resort”

“By the time their year came to a close, Laririt had begun training the resort staff in much the same subjects her husband was: the importance of the environment. Today, her early forays into ecological consciousness have borne fruit. El Nido Resorts has been recognized time and again for their “greenness”, from Conde Nast Traveler Magazine to ASEAN’s Green Hotel Standard”


Sidebar: El Nido: My List
“Miniloc Island Resort relaxes me. It’s my favorite breakfast place. While on Miniloc Island, I try as much as I can to go to the Big and Small Lagoons to kayak and renew the spirit of awe. In fact, drop me off at any island in Bacuit Bay and I can relax”


To read the full story and other travel features, call: +632 840.2802 to subscribe a copy.