Grim, Grinning Ghosts Come Out to Socialize

It's that time of year again! That's right, its Halloween, ladies and gents! A time-tested holiday where people get to dress up their ghouly-est, goriest outfits, or psychologically allowing themselves to express who they subconsciously, secretly (or not) desire to be. *hem*SLUTWHORESKANK*hem*


:)

Aaw, yknow I'm just playing. Its not everyday you have an excuse to dress like a slutwhore, so I say more power to those who use H'ween as their outlet! No sarcasm, really!

Anyway, as many will attest to, H'ween is a much bigger deal in North America than it is here in Asia. Well, the Philippines anyway. The question is, do I adapt to Manileno culture and simply take H'ween sitting down with just a pair of light-up horns? Hell, no! I'm going all-out, full on drag with this one!! Yes, its always been a dream of mine to go so glam that its drag.

There's a Hween party tomorrow with some friends of mine, and while its not officially Hween, its the adopted deadline for my costume. Oh, also I only figured out what I was going as yesterday. It was tough with the compromise of what I wanted to go as, what I could get my hands on, and what my wallet would allow. We'll see what I can pull off.

Till then, ttfn! Tata for now!

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Nicole's First Shoot with the Probe Team

The Day
The day starts out relatively slow, with absolutely nothing to do around the office. So slow, that I ask my mom to come pick me up earlier. Lunchtime comes and things start to pick up. A production assistant, Jen comes back from one of her shoots and asks, are you doing anything this afternoon?
I wasn't so I say, no, why whats up?
Come with me to the shoot later! she says.
'Course I wasn't doing anything so I have no real excuse not to go, so I say yes! Plus, it was going to be my first real shoot... the previous re-enactment ones didnt count since there wasn't an actual profile there that had to be done.

The Ride There
We leave at 2:30 to make sure we catch the start of it at 4. I know absolutely nothing about what we're going to do and who we're going to see, other than that its in Tondo, the an older and relatively poorer part of Manila.
In the car, I'm pretty out of it, so I doze in and out of consciousness. On one of my conscious bouts, I ask Jen what we're going to do. She says Erap is going to announce his presidency and we're going to have to catch it. A'right, that sounds cool, I think and probably fall back into half-awakedness.
Halfway through the ride, I become more alert and ready to go. Yay for power naps!!
Anyway, we arrive in Tondo, luck out on a parking spot amid the massive number of bodies and cars in and around the area, and walk towards the Church of Sto. Nino. Erap's declaration was going to be held in the plaza right in front of it.

The Shoot
Its crowded, its hot, it smells like urine, fart and cigarette smoke. Yeah, I'm pretty sure we're in a massive political gathering in Tondo. Everyone's really nice and lets us through (because we're media), and so there we were, me, Jen, Kuya Jony and Kuya Tenor, cameras out, waiting for something exciting to happen.
It doesnt happen. The exciting things we're waiting for, anyway. The first three hours are filled with various congressmen and congresswomen reading out a list of names of people who support Erap. They excitedly shout so-and-so's name, so-and-so stands up, waves, sits back down, and then they call another name. *Waves*, in this case, can be alternated with *walks on stage*.
Did I mention the torrential amount of people? By the thousands in a plaza built to accommodate hundreds. Sto. Nino help us!
FINALLY, Erap and his running mate, Makati mayor, Jejomar Binay, arrive and there's a media frenzy on stage. Lots of cheering and then booing from the crowd. Eventually, Jojo Binay and Erap make their declaration (with much ado). In traditional Filipino fashion, there are celebrities, and song numbers. God help us when a declaration of presidency and vice-presidency turn into karaoke night at The Gallery. Which, of course it did. Oh well, I am back in the Philippines. I guess we don't perpetuate the ktv-loving stereotype for nothing!
The gathering officially ends and we make a beeline for the exit, hoping not to get caught in the traffic that rush hour in Manila (SEAsia, in general) is infamously known for.

The Chase
Four hours standing in the crowded stink of sweat and heat couldn't have been fun for any of us, but our crew manages to make it back to the van in one piece. As we head out of Tondo, we're all pretty sure we've sealed our fates with being stuck in traffic for at least an hour before making it back to the office. About 15 minutes into the jam, we hear sirens and see Erap's posse drive by. Again, in Philippine fashion (y'know, ambulance-tailing and all that jazz), we dove right into the his procession, making sure our hazard lights were on, so we'd look like we were part of the posse.
Honestly, its amazing what being a big shot here in the Philippines can mean. Red lights? Pfft, they were going to turn green anyway! We ran about two red lights, and couldnt get past one, when the traffic enforcer decided to let the E-posse drive through the counter-flow part of the road. The lights, sirens, and speed was all too much! Everyone in the car was laughing, half in disbelief, half in relief that we wouldn't be spending an hour stuck in traffic.

The End
We reach the office at about a quarter to 9, and everyone's beat. I wait for my ride (my mobility has decreased by 50% since I moved back), and arrive home tired, hungry, stinky but slightly fulfilled. It wasn't the greatest first shoot, but hey, at least there's lots of room to go up from there.

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I spread the love like I spread that tuna

very briefly, i will retell what i have been doing since my last entry and now.
its no secret that the philippines has been pounded by typhoons, leaving hundreds dead, and millions of pesos worth in damages.

so, the day of my last entry was a saturday-- when all the rain came pouring down. the next day, we all find out just exactly how much damage Ondoy (typhoon's name; international name Ketsana) wrought. during the end of mass, Father mentioned volunteering and donating goods for the victims of Ondoy. so, off i go to LSGH (LaSalle Greenhills)--not a traitor! sabi ng pari e!
anyway, i spent about 3-4 hours helping out and half the time i was thinking how i could run this place better with my right hand tied behing my back. no offense.

it was just a giant mess of a mess of bodies and goods and little bodies running between everyone's legs and tripping more bodies. noone but a few handful knew exactly what we were all doing, there were people just looking around for things to do. able, young men looked on while me and a fellow female volunteer lugged sacks of rice across the room. after a, guys what are you doing? wala? pwede tulungan niyo kami sa mga sako na 'to? (nothing? can you help us with these sacks of rice?). its not their fault. they had no idea what was going on.

by the latter half of my first adventure, i tried to breathe some hakuna matata in me and just wing it. i left dirty, tired and a tad frustrated. i was looking for that high you get when you help an old lady cross the street, but it didn't come. i was later invited by my friend cara to ASMPH (Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health) the next day to do some relief work and was completely blown out of my mind with the organization demonstrated by volunteers.

there was a diagram!! A DIAGRAM!! and a map showing you where to go. un-frikin-believable!! we were able to do what was done in LSGH with half the manpower and half the time. i didnt get to go with the dispatch team, but im sure it would have blown my mind twice over and i wouldnt be able to type this blog out, given all my brain cells were blasted away by the amazing amazingness.

there, i just had to say it. i sure as hell hope crazy people come after me after reading this and crucify me for burning my first experience on a stake like that. of course everything was well meant-- not once did i attack the intentions behind the relief efforts. and hey, my intentions are simply to do double the good in the same amount of time and with the same amount of manpower.

after, it was much more low-key efforts, making sandwiches at my friend, clarisse's place to donate to red cross. spreading the love the way i spread that tuna.

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