eevil midget

awkward adversity

Meh. Recently feeling besieged by a variety of things. So it's good to get a reprieve when things aren't being funny. Check out this sketch by Eddie Izzard which someone has converted into lego. I guess sometimes even the wicked and evil have their bad days.

Manila in Momentum

Stuck in rush hour traffic, I contemplate how time flies all too quickly.
Where did the last fourteen days go?
So much has changed in twenty years.
Most things remain the same.
Being back in this city is a weird, warped and blurry experience.
Things are both familiar and foreign...
Like the jeepney that scuttles and shuffles.

"Going Native"

 

Oh, to be truly footloose. Essay still looms, though have decided on a title at least.

The City as Country: How Manila’s colonial construction, centrality and linguistic dominance influences the discourses of nationalism and identity in the Philippines.
Sounds clever enough?
Only still writing the introduction though. Eek.

Mosquitoes and ants keep biting my legs and toes.
Still, it's nice to be wearing sandals to show off pedicured feet.

This photo is indicative of the country's taste for imports. Can't believe the Brazilian brand has completely owned the tsinelas. Football has yet to eclipse basketball as the national sport though.

Nais kong malaman

One of my recently favourite songs for karaoke singing is Alanis Morisette's You Oughta Know. The first line in Tagalog is either nais/gusto kong malaman mo. Well here I am learning on my study trip.

Just had an amazing conversation over coffee with an eminent professor of Sociology here at the University of the Philippines. Going to check out the Filipiniana collection in Ateneo's library for old pinoy komiks, and have scheduled a tour of Manila with Carlos Celdran. Ah, the journey to the city. Haven't ridden a jeepney yet though.

Kasal at Karaoke

What to do when there's no alcohol at a wedding reception? No gin and tonic to quench your thirst on a hot afternoon? One searches for a local Korean karaoke bar called Kum Young, and purchases a bottle of some Peers Club scotch whisky, a bucket of ice, some mixers, and have an after party baby. *hic*