I’ve been having these insanely fierce bouts of insomnia. I don’t think it’s jetlag-related, because when I arrived I wasn’t affected. But the past few days, I’ve been unable to sleep; I just wait for sheer exhaustion to overcome and crash. In the meantime I try to not waste the time by catching up on my reading. And when I do sleep, it’s only for a few hours, because I tend to crash during the day and get woken up to do something. Then another cycle begins where, for 48 hours, I’ve only slept 3.
Yesterday was a great day, in spite of this. I hadn’t slept a wink. I’ve been engrossed in Nicholson Baker’s The Fermata the last few days, and was reading it up until dawn came and I had to get ready to go to Anilao. I went on 2 dives with Neva and Tina. They were our first since we came back, and I certainly missed the experience. No wrecks this time, though there were some interesting underwater structures that we saw, including a cross and what looked like a small toy castle.
When we got back, had a nice quiet dinner with some friends at Kimpura. I haven’t eaten there in a while, and never without my family. We usually go only on special occasions like birthdays. The food was good as always.
And after that, we went to The Peninsula where they were having a chocolate buffet. It’s going on until Sep. 25, Fridays & Saturdays, 8:30 PM to midnight. I strongly suggest you go. I particularly felt like a childhood fantasy had been fulfilled: an entire table of chocolates and chocolate-related dishes (cakes, pastries, drinks, mousse, etc.) and in my head a little childish voice going “All this chocolate… for ME?!” We got plates and plates and plates of stuff, and our tummies ached and some of us got dizzy but it was worth it. It’s around 500 bucks but I actually expected it to be around 800. It is worth it, though. I suggest you show up early and pace yourself to make the most of the 500.
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My mom just told me that Magallanes church burned down while we were gone. I used to go to mass there regularly when I was younger, and we still go occasionally. The parish priest wants the foundation demolished so it’ll be an entirely new church. I’m not particularly sad; I just have this vague feeling of time passing by.
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RA Rivera’s video for Radioactive Sago Project’s “Astro” may just be the best Pinoy music video I have ever seen. It’s a work of genius.
I was at this event the other day and I told RA I hadn’t seen it yet since I was out of the country. An hour or so later he gave me 2 VCDs with recent stuff he and Ramon Bautista had made. What fine gentlemen. And the works are hilarious.
It’s funny how you can have such nice people on the outskirts of an industry that is pretty much a snakepit.
When I was talking to Chris, soon after I got back, I mentioned how disappointed I was that the “scene” here was so counterproductive, in sharp contrast to the people and atmosphere that I was exposed to at the Edinburgh Film Festival. The way people constantly jostle for attention and credit and don’t focus on the work. The way they stab each other in the back and focus on such inconsequential trivialities. A striking majority of the people are so petty and shallow. Whereas there people are open and friendly, encouraging ang supportive. It’s sickening. And Chris mentioned that it was funny that I brought it up, because he’s thought of the same thing when he went abroad and came back.
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The other day I dropped by Ateneo and spoke to a friend of mine, Mark Escaler. Mark’s one of those people I don’t see often enough, so whenever I’m in the Katipunan area I try to see if I can have some facetime with him. Like with Gab, though I rarely see him I always enjoy talking to him because I always end up with a lot of things to think about at the end of the conversation.
The day before that I ran into Ate Cyn & Arnold. Who I’ve been trying to see forever. Neva and I wanted to see them before we left for Scotland but it didn’t happen. We all had tickets to watch the same screening of The Terminal (not bad, but nothing great) and had a bite to eat after, catching up. We realized that time flew by SO fast, we hadn’t seen them since THEIR WEDDING LAST DECEMBER! Egads. And Erwin caught up to pick up his signed books of Iain Banks, a few hours before flying to Singapore to swim with sharks.
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Neva moved units, but she’s still in the same building. As such, the internet isn’t properly set up yet, and that’s what’s been keeping us from uploading all the pics from our trip, which is on her laptop.
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Avril Lavigne, oh-so-punk.
If you watch Dodgeball, make sure to wait until after the credits.
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When I got home this evening I slept for a while then woke up again, and haven't slept since. It's 7:30 in the morning, I'm going to mass in 2 hours. That's why I'm blogging.
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