bacuit bay, palawan

i've been putting this off because i have to write an article anyway. but i just wanted to say, really, how amazing the Philippines is. i've had to make the choice, more than once, between staying home or moving away, but how could I? how could anyone?when you've got limestone cliffs right in your backyard.
(i swear, if there were a fight, superman would just have to slam brainiac into one of those cliffs and wala, patay na sya.)

i've been inexplicably so happy this day. someone's asked me why, e inexplicable nga e. but anyway, i'm thinking it could be my perfect perfect tan (haha, yabang!), my lovely relationship with mucus man or the two great meetings yesterday. but i guess it's just everything falling together. it's like that moment in the small lagoon, when i finally snapped out of jadedness.

it all boils down to moments like that. when you lean back and let the kayak take you out, careful not to tip over. slip under a rock bridge and emerge in a lagoon. You look around and you're surrounded by million years old rock stretching around and above you, greens breaking through the cliffs and the mysterious deep green of water below. Then, as today, you think "i really really like where i am right now. thank you god for taking me here."
(if i weren't tamad, pwede kong i-connect to with the previous airplane entry. you know, transporting, taking me here eklat? whatever. anyway, never mind. tamad nako ;p)

window seat

i never thought it would happen, but it did. i took flying for granted.

just realized now, when i looked out and my eyes widened, that, my god, i haven't actually looked out a plane window in so long. i guess in those last trips, i'd just settle down and sleep. but this morning, with the airconditioner mist and the sun streaming through the window of the tiny plane, it really was like being transported again. and were were floating through an ancient forest of clouds.

running, reaching, beating

Someone said sailing's just like flying a kit.
Damnit, I've never been able to manage that.

These days, I've figured - When you lack understanding, you go back to the things you're sure of. And words, I'm sure about those

I'm at this point in sailing lessons where i can't see the big picture yet. I'm just memorizing the vocabulary, putting terms to objects and conditions. If the sail looks like this, then that means this. If the wind comes from there, you call it this.

But today, i had some time to think about it and go beyond the mix&match. And then i understood.

When the wind is behind you, run with it. That's why your sail unfurls fully, arms outstretched, asking for a big hug.
When the wind is in front of you, struggle to beat it. So your sails tuck in. Like when you're walking against a howling wind, hugging yourself tight, trying not to lose the bits of you that stick out.
When the wind is away from you, reach for it. And your sails act accordingly. Reaching out. Fingers sticking out of a car, letting the wind run through it.

Suddenly, it all makes sense. And I'm starting to get a little faith. One day, i might actually get to fly a kite.