Rizal in Dapitan

If you happen to be in Dipolog, or just passing by the city, always make sure that you visit one of the Rizalianas most revered site…Dapitan…Jose Rizal’s place of exile.

The place, the beach and the view is completely the opposite of what is found at the back–Dakak, the tourist magnet of Zamboanga and owned by the infamous Ex-congressman-now-convicted-rapist, Jalosjos. But contrary to what we hear about the sensationalized Jalosjosian controversy, Rizal’s place in Dapitan is a haven for historical buffs wanting to be in a place of significance in order simply to connect with our ascendants.

Rizal’s compound is a replica of his home more than a century ago. Geometrical nipa huts decorate the place. And mind you, each nipa hut has its own form, size and function. For example:

This is an octagonal nipa hut where Rizal receive his patients. The space below is where his patients wait. He also has 2 small square houses at the foot of the hill where patients are being housed or admitted for treatment.

This big square house is the students dormitory. This is where the students sleep and the room below is the workshop. The covered space is where Rizal hold classes. Rizal also has a hexagonal house where his English wife, Josephine Bracken, and his mom are housed.

 

This is the famous rock where Rizal allegedly deflowered Josephine Bracken. This is also where Rizal stays to think and be alone.

Inside the Rizal museum, old pictures of Rizal are being displayed including a framed collection of Rizal’s girlfriends…I think there were 16 of them including those from Europe. Bumilib nga ako sa lahing Pinoy when I was marveling at the pictures eh. hehehe. I couldn’t imagine how a geek is able to captivate all those pretty girls. But on the contrary, Rizal was not just a geek, he was a poet and an artist at heart! So that probably might explain everything. El ultimo Don Juan de Marco!

I heard of a rumor from conspirators that Rizal is the real father of Hitler. Hitler’s not German, right? He’s Austrian. And according to these conspirators, Rizal stayed for a couple of months in Austria and had a few aristocratic girls…that was, as they claimed, the time when Hitler would have been conceived…coincidental talaga. What’s surprising is that if you draw Hitler’s signature mustache in Rizal’s picture, he’d look like Hitler. Both of them, by the way, are short and have big heads, brilliant and multi-talented.

Oh well, nothing perks human interest than human tragedy and conspiracies. hehehe.

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Note: This is a repost of my old blog.

Of former teachers and my hometown

I just arrived from a 3-day trip from Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental. And NO…that was not a vacation which I badly wanted for the past few weeks…it’s still the usual WORK.My boss and I had a meeting in one of the La Salle schools in Mindanao: Immaculate Conception College-La Salle…now managed by the De La Salle Brothers after the Columban sisters realized that their charism is not education (and they promptly asked the DLS Brothers to take over). But what was interesting in my visit was that…after so many years of not being keen on seeing a dreaded Algebra teacher, we accidentally met in the hallway near the President’s office. I had second thoughts at first since it has been like eleven years since I last saw her…and she was very slim then. Now, she has two (2) kids in tow. Anyway, I met my 2nd year Algebra teacher, Ms. Oringot, now Mrs. Suana. You probably now have an idea why she was a teacher not one student would forget. And not because of her name, but because she was one of the good teachers we had…in fact, she’s ICC-La Salle’s Dean of Arts and Sciences now.

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The reunion with my algebra teacher made my mind soar from Ozamiz to the opposite end of mindanao island–Mangagoy, my hometown. Of course, Ms. Oringot often asked about how Mangagoy is; what new developments the city has; whose son/daughter died of leukemia (our town has an abnormal case of leukemia, by the way…my bestfriend was a victim); and, where in the world are some of her good Math students (I’m not one of them, sad to say). And as the typical Mangagoyay would do, I introduced Tinuy-an to her.

TINUY-AN is a four-tiered water falls whose 2nd tier is, I think, six floors high. The water does not cascade but falls from top to bottom thus creating a veil of mist reaching even the farthest end of the site. Water’s cool too kasi galing sa virgin forest sa bundok…sarap ng tubig especially ngayon na 38 degrees celsius. Dami taong ayaw maniwala na may waterfalls pa pala sa ‘Pinas na mas malaki pa sa Ma. Cristina Falls. Tinuy-an is not even found in our textbooks…Ma. Cristina Falls lang at Pagsanjan…eh mas maganda pa ata Tinuy-an sa Pagsanjan eh. Proof? Here are the pics:

This was taken from the nearest nipa kiosk. Ganda ng vantage point…wag masyadong malapit ha baka masira ang digicam mo. Look at the rainforest sa taas…virgin pa yan. Tapos, cascading pa yan papunta sa last tier. BTW, may 2 pang tier sa taas. I think tapos na ata ung steep stairs na ginawa sa right side ng falls para makapunta sa taas.

 

This pic is taken from the 1st tier near the parking area. The 2nd tier’s the biggest…kita from this point ang 2 other tiers after the biggest one. Medyo lumiit ung 1st tier kasi malayo from where my bro stands. Height ata sa 1st tier is around 12 feet…this is where we jump kasi kaya. Wala atang nag-attempt mag-jump sa 2nd tier…but balita namin may tangang estudyante atang nahulog…pero buhay naman…nag-nose bleed nga lang.

 

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Joey has posted some of his 7650 pics of Tinuy-an in his weblog…ginawa ata niyang banner…ganda kasi ng Tinuy-an.

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Note: This is a repost of my old blog.

Facial session

I had my 2nd facial cleansing session yesterday…and it was an experience.I purposedly didn’t insert an adjective before the word “experience” precisely because I really don’t know how to explain what kind of experience it was. “Happy” would not be an apt word for, at times, it was painful…nor is it “horrible” because my face felt clean afterwards…and, most of all, it was not “expensive” because it was free! (courtesy of my high school classmate…Ivy Pagaduan and her assistant-boyfriend Ronito Calunsod) It was just one of those experiences which transcends the adjectival boundaries but leaves a mark of timelessnes worth writing in my blog.

Anyway, enough of the philosophizing…But, I never imagined how dirty my face was until I saw the yellowish matter diluted in a creamy white substance, which oozed out from my facial pores as it was sucked clean by the machine Ivy used. And it was the first time I learned that blackheads aren’t actually black as I though it would be…ung tip lang niya ang black tapos ung body niya medyo yellowish na translucent. But the most painful part was when she poked out the yellowish matter in my pimple near the neck area (pic below) and used this stainless apparatus with a circular hole at the tip to force out the pimple pus. The rest of the show was uneventful (in other words, not painful): Ivy vacuumed my face and subjected it to her lazer…speaking of lazer, lapit na showing ng Episode III. Hehehe.

Here are the pics (pardon the resolution, used a cameraphone kasi):

A whitish cream was applied on my face…probably to clean and loosen the pore clogs.

 

With her handy electric scrubber, Ivy started removing my face blemishes.

 

Pimples being poked, white and black heads removed…no need to describe it, my face says it all.

 

Laser treatment after the vacuum.

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Note: This is a repost of my old blog.