Galerie Joaquin and the UPSEAA

My appreciation of painting and other artworks can be compared to the appreciation of an average grade schooler of calculus or advance algebra. Nahh, just kidding. I appreciate music, classic rock music especially. But painting, not much. Not only that they are generally expensive for me, my interest of them is generally passing.

But last September 18, 2012, I joined a number of fellow UP School of Economics (UPSE) alumni in trooping to Galeria Joaquin to see lots of beautiful and rather expensive works of art. The galerie is owned by Jack Teotico, a kind hearted and former President of the UPSE Alumni Association (UPSEAA).

It was actually a fund-raising activity by the UPSEAA. Prices of each art work were as is, no discount. But whatever profit margin by the galerie for the sales that night will all go to the UPSEAA fund as the association is helping our alma mater have a great 50th year anniversary in 2015 or just three years from now. There are grand plans for the school such putting up a new school building, expanding the scholarship fund, creating more professorial chairs, and so on.

That is why I said that Jack is a kind hearted entrepreneur and alumni of the school. Every year, there is a general alumni homecoming, sponsored by graduates 25 years ago. And every year, Jack would donate some art pieces to the school for bidding. Whatever amount to be raised will all go to the SEAA fund. Jack is definitely among the most gallant alumni of the school.

There are other rich alumni too, who gave substantial amount to the school, mainly to modernize each classroom. If you see the classrooms there, you will be impressed, they are word-class lecture rooms with high tech facilities -- all from donations of alumni. The taxpayers subsidy alloted for the school only goes for the maintenance (electricity, water, books, office supplies, etc.) as well as salaries of faculty and staff.

Me, I went there just to eat as I knew that Jack would prepare really yummy food for all guests, buyers or plain kibitzers. I was not disappointed as the food was really nice. But I was disappointed also because I thought that there would be some medium or high octane drinks, say 17 percent alcohol content red wine or even 5 percent serbesa, there was none. Disappointing Jack! :-)

There were lots of juices, soda and water.

Food of Penang, Malaysia

It's been four days since I left Penang, but I can still savor in my mind its delicious and often spicy food. Before I went there, a number of my friends were telling me that "food there is delicious", so I was curious to see it for myself. I was in Penang last September 7-9, 2012, for our seminar-workshop on "Promoting Markets in Healthcare" sponsored by EMHN-London and IDEAS-Malaysia.

Our hotel was the Red Rock Hotel, a modest one in the city. To its left is this complex of many small food stalls. I walked here around 7:30pm on Day 1 (September 7) and though we have a scheduled dinner at 8pm somewhere, I could not resist the temptation of tasting one noodle soups there, it was nice at 4 Ringgit.

That night, our local hosts, Wan Saiful Wan Jan and his staff at IDEAS, brought us to this Indian restaurant, Kapitan. I was intrigued by this long line of fried chicken, upper right. Hmmm, yummy.

Lower left, some of the different viands that we ordered. The prawns and those fried chicken were not included in this photo. Lower right, not in this resto, from a food stall somewhere, frog meat for sale, cool.

Around Kapitan restaurant is a district of many Indian shops -- clothes, music, bags, jewelries, etc. And not far from it are old mosques. Nice place.

On our second and last night in Penang after our workshop ended in the afternoon, Wan brought us to this famous Malaysian restaurant, "Cina Muslim Restaurant". This is several kilometers away from our hotel.

Haaa! Really yummy food -- chicken, vegetables, grouper, I'm still salivating until now. Lower right photo, that's durian desert, mmmmm.

I think Wan ordered 3 or 4 orders of grouper ("lapu-lapu" in the Philippines) and they were all wiped out by 14 hungry tummy :-)  Tea and another juice complemented our yummy dinner. I kidded Wan that I needed to walk at least 3 kilometers in order to hasten digestion of my food intake that night.

On our way back to the hotel, Wan toured us to Georgetown proper, lots of interesting places there. Then not contented yet, Wan brought us to another Indian restaurant, "Pelita" for some drinks, tea and black coffee (above, lower right), bread and desert. Another round of delicious food.

The food list, they are not expensive, and yet delicious and clean. I noticed that many food shops are open until midnight or even early morning even on a Sunday night. Many locals, I was told, prefer to eat outside than cook at home (do groceries frequently, wash the dishes, etc.), as it is not time consuming and not costly at the same time.

From Indian food, Chinese food, Malaysian food, to a combo or mixed of those cuisine, there are many food choices and restaurants or food stalls to choose. 

I liked Penang. Thanks to Wan and his friendly, hard working staff at IDEAS being great hosts.

Kuala Lumpur International Airport

I landed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport this morning to get a connecting flight to Penang in the afternoon. I am writing this in my hotel, Red Rock Hotel, here in Penang, about 45 minutes by plane from KL. I've been to KL three times before -- 2005, 2009 and 2011 -- but it was only today that I took many photos of the airport. So as usual, I'm shrinking them three photos in one frame to minimize space.

It's definitely a modern airport, comparable to the huge and modern airports of Singapore, Hong Kong, Seoul-Incheon, Tokyo-Narita, Bangkok, etc. Glass and steel structure, silent walkalator that have sensors, meaning they move only if there are passengers using them.

But unlike the airports in HK, Singapore, Narita, or even Manila, there are not too many planes and passengers landing and taking off at KLIA. I noticed at the planes monitoring station, there is a take off every five minutes on average, and consequently, a plane is landing every five minutes too on average, for both international and domestic flights.

In HK for instance, I think a plane is landing every 30 seconds, In Manila, despite the small airports compared to those in its Asian neighbors, I think a plane is landing every minute or so. That's mainly because there are may domestic flights. Our country is an archipelago.

Colorful decorations. This is after the immigration going to gates for domestic flights.

I landed at KLIA from Manila around 11:30 am and my connecting flight to Penang left around 2pm. So I was at KLIA for two and a half hours, I did not notice too many planes nor too many passengers. Middle photo, nice replica of different airlines.

This is the gate I boarded this afternoon for my Malaysian Airlines flight to Penang. It's huge for a domestic flight, so passengers can practically roam around the departure lounge. I think on number of passengers per sq. meter of airport terminal, Manila's terminal 1 (the terminal used by foreign airlines) has probably 10x that in KLIA. Meaning Terminal 1 is too small relative to the number of passengers who are flying out and arriving.

Nice monitor for departing planes from different airlines. This is where I noticed that a plane was taking off about every five minutes on average. Below the departures monitor, are maps of the domestic and international concourses.

There was a cultural presentation in one side as I roamed around the airport this afternoon. Nice performance. Some guys were distributing a Malaysian flag and cookie to passersby.

Photo above, I took last year. I think this was at the main arrival area for international flights.

On toilets and drinking fountain. I don't know how much is the terminal fee at KLIA that is incorporated in the plane ticket, but at least there are plenty of clean toilets and many drinking fountains. In Manila airport, we pay P550 (nearly US$14), was P750 before, terminal fee. and the terminal does not even have one drinking fountain. Passengers have to buy bottled water if they get thirsty, even if they have paid a high terminal fee.

Trees in our Farm, Bugallon, Pangasinan

I visited the farm last week, August 31, 2012. I think the "representative" photo of the farm will be this -- a treehouse perched on a big and live mahogany tree, is itself surrounded by many big trees, and a small rice field in the front.

This is part of the "public road" passing by our farm. That road going up is generally abused with deforestation and various forms of illegal logging by the local folks themselves who live in the barrio. Only the portion in our farm that the trees are allowed to grow tall and big. The thieves respect the "private property" aspect, so long as there are people watching the property regularly.

Another view of my treehouse, the rice field, and many trees around it.  If our caretakers do not visit the farm daily, plus our dogs who accompany them and stay in my treehouse at night, thieves and illegal loggers will simply chop these trees for their own interests.

Several panoramic view of the trees. 

Another side of the farm, not far from my treehouse. The young trees, they multiply like grasses once the mature and bigger ones have started bearing seeds. The seeds are spread anywhere the wind will blow them.  

My treehouse, back view. And the trees beside it....

A portion of our mango orchard. Not too many trees. Strong typhoons would rip apart some of them, or uproot them. Below it, more trees near my treehouse.

I feel "recharged" whenever I visit the farm. I used to do it every two to three weeks before. In recent years until now, I can only afford to visit it once a month, or sometimes, once every two months. Have many household errands and activities on weekends with my family.

Club Manila East, Taytay, Rizal

Yesterday, my family went to Club Manila East (CME) in Taytay, Rizal province. It was a Sunday, our travel time was less than an hour, Makati to C5 to Cainta to Taytay. It was a nice place. Entrance fee is P375 for adults and children, babies free entrance.

This is the view from the top of the winding slide. The cordoned area on the right is where one will splash from the slide.

The main attraction of CME is this -- the kiddie pool. It's wide, lots of water fountains, deepest part is probably only 1 1/2 feet. There's an artificial waterfalls, and a small, short slide for toddlers and children. My two young girls enjoyed this part a lot.

Lower photos are the trees, shaded area in front of this kiddie pool. Going towards the slide and swimming pool for adults.

The covered or shaded pool for adults. Lower photos, the lower tower where the zip line ends. I don't know how much is the fee for the zip ride, I did not try it.

View from the kayak area, it's wide. Kayak ride is free, it's part of the entrance fee.

The main attraction for adults in CME are these artificial waves area. They have two or three. The waves are huge, they offer surfing lessons. I heard it's P1,500 for the lectures plus two hours actual ride on the waves.

Lower photos, left side of this huge wave area, there is another artificial water falls. Right side is purely for surfing students. See the note. 

Additional photos. Upper right is where my two girls enjoyed the waves in the morning. In the afternoon, this place is closed and CME turned on the waves in the second, much larger wave area.

Lower photos, the four-storey cubicles for day time guests, and the higher tower where the zip ride starts.

I will post photos of my two girls and wife in my next blog entry.

Mayflower Renaissance Hotel, Washington DC

I stayed in this hotel for four days and three nights, November 9 to 12, 2009, when I attended the Atlas Freedom Dinner to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and hence, the collapse of communism in Europe. The Atlas Economic Research Foundation organized the event and they -- through Dr. Jo Kwong, then VP of Atlas -- gave me a travel grant as I was one of the panel speakers on Day 2. I first wrote about this hotel on my first night there, Mayflower hotel, Washington DC, http://travelpinoy.blogspot.com/2009/11/mayflower-hotel-washington-dc.html, November 09, 2009. I posted only three photos there.

Posting only now the four other photos I took. Upper right photo below is from the web, the rest are my old camera phone, which has already retired. These are the exteriors of the hotel. Lower right photo is the hotel lobby. It is a famous hotel in DC.

From upper left, clockwise: the corridor leading to my room, fascinating; my bed, very comfy; TV and the wall mirror; and my work area.

My total travel time, from the time I entered Manila airport to the time I got out of the Reagan airport, was probably about 25 hours. Delta Air's route: Manila-Narita-Detroit-Reagan/DC, I changed plane three times and had several hours waiting at Tokyo-Narita and Detroit. But despite those long hours of travel, I think I hardly slept on my first night as I was busy replying to emails and facebook to some of my Filipino friends in the US whom I did inform beforehand that I would be going to the US again.

That was my third trip to the US that year, my "record". I was in NYC in early March that year for the Heartland Institute's 2nd ICCC, then to Los Angeles a month after for the Atlas Liberty Forum, also sponsored by Atlas.

My special thanks again to Dr. Jo Kwong. She has left Atlas in 2010.

ArtEconomics, September 18, 2012

For lovers of the arts and painting, here is a good chance to pick really wonderful artworks from 20 different artists. Just look at the design below, really creative and artistic.

The event will actually run for a week, the 18th is only the opening of the exhibit. This is a fund raising activity  for my alma mater, the University of the Philippines School of Economics (UPSE), initiated by the UPSE Alumni Association. I finished my AB Economics and Diploma in Development Economics from this school.

Here are more details, released today:

Over 125 Artworks, 20 Artists Featured

UPSEAA LAUNCHES ARTECONOMICS: FUND RAISER FOR FACULTY DEVELOPMENT AND SCHOLARSHIPS

The UP School of Economics Alumni Association (UPSEAA) announced today the launching of ARTECONOMICS, a major fundraising effort for the benefit of the Jose P. Encarnacion Endowment Fund for Faculty Development and for the UPSEAA Scholarship Fund.  ARTECONOMICS, an art exhibit is slated to open on Tuesday, September 18, 2012 at Galerie Joaquin Main in P. Guevarra st., Addition Hills, San Juan and runs until September 25, 2012.

Over 125 paintings and sculptures from more than twenty top modern and contemporary artists will be featured in the project. The artworks are by renowned artists such as National Artist Federico Aguilar Alcuaz, National Artist Arturo Luz, National Artist Abdul Mari Imao, Presidential Medal of Merit awardee Juvenal Sanso, sculptors Ramon Orlina and Glenn Cagandahan, modern masters Angelito Antonio, Mario Parial, and senior artists Lydia Velasco, Carlo Magno and Dominic Rubio. Other artists are Jerry Morada, Vincent de Pio, Aileen Lanuza, Karina Baluyut, Aldrino Abes, Jovan Benito and many more.

UPSEAA hopes this will be a welcome opportunity for its alumni and friends of the alumni to acquire good quality art and at the same time be able to help their alma mater.

A website, http://galeriejoaquin.com/arteconomics will be available for this project by the first week of September.  Before that, the organizing committee of ARTECONOMICS will be sending images of the selected artworks as they become available via email and Facebook.

Various methods of payment are available to interested alumni and alumni friends. These can be via credit card, PAYPAL, check, telegraphic transfer or cash. Installment plans via accredited credit card companies can also be availed of.  Even foreign based alumni and alumni friends can participate in this project and avail of any of the artworks offered. Shipment arrangements can be done by UPSEAA and the cooperating gallery. Interested parties can reserve or acquire the artworks as soon as the images become available 

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As for me, I don't have sufficient wealth to purchase possibly any of the paintings there, but I will attend the opening of the exhibit on the 18th. Please pass the info to your friends, whether they are UP alumni or not.

Cheers.

Elle Marie in Negros Occ.

Elle Marie is the 8th grandchild of my parents. We are five siblings and all of us have kids, between one to three. As my two girls are growing up, my parents are getting older and weaker. Our house is in a barrio about four kilometers away from Cadiz City proper, Negros Occidental. Cadiz City is 62 kilometers north of Bacolod City, the provincial capital.

These two pictures were taken April 2010 or more than two years ago. Elle was 3 1/2 years old then. She had that always smiling, always laughing face, beside Lolo Ben and Lola Consuelo. My parents were relatively healthy that time too, it was nice.

These photos were taken on April 2009 or more than three years ago. My wife, Ella (white shirt) was about three months pregnant at that time for Bien Mary. The girl beside my Mama is my elder sister, Manang Lilibeth and the girl beside Elle is my niece, Lois Oplas, the daughter of my younger brother, Bobong.

Lower photo, Marvien, holding my mother, is Manang Bebeth's only son.

Here, Elle sat on a truck that hauls sucarcane. Also her first experience to hold a sugarcane. And she enjoyed playing with my parents' two dogs.

When we were young, we would enter a sugarcane farm almost anytime we want and get some cane to munch. A sugarcane field was just about 15 meters away from our house.

I got a temporary playmate for Elle in our 2D/2N stay at that time. The two children are real barrio folks, but at least the girl could read some English sentences. But Elle would go out to look for the two dogs and play with them.

Below, upper left photo, with Tita Gemma, the wife of her Tito Bobong, and Lois. The two girls here are my niece, Krizza and Nessa. Their father, our eldest in the family, Manong Nestor, died of prostate cancer more than five years ago due.

Lower photos, with her Tita Bebeth. Manang Bebeth has a flower garden beside our house, Elle enjoyed picking up different flowers from it.

Below, after her Santakrusan parade in Lapaz, Iloilo last May this year, Elle and I crossed the sea and we went again to my parents' house in Cadiz. Elle here posing beside a sugarcane farm. Upper right, Elle posed with Joshua, the son of our helper in Manila, their Ate Cheche. Elle and Joshua are of same age. Here, Elle was playing with a puppy.

Lower photos, Elle tried to help her Lolo Ben tilling a small vegetable plot behind our house.  My Papa was planting some tomatoes and other vegetables in these small plots.

Elle seemed to have enjoyed touching the soil that morning. That was several hours before we would go to the airport for our flight back to Manila. 

My younger brother, Bobong, the sleeveless guy standing in lower photos. Final photo ops before we boarded the car that would bring us to the airport.

More photos: with Lolo Ben, then Tita Beth and Ate Lois, they brought us to Silay-Bacolod airport for our flight back to Manila. Elle with her weak Lola Consuelo.

The masks are inside the Silay-Bacolod airport, Elle tried one just for fun. The famous annual fiesta in Bacolod is called the Maskara festival, done during October I think.

I told my Mama to hang on as we will visit them again, either this October or December. I will bring along Bien Mary.