Now the waiting is almost done.
I lingered to see your shadow
With the sun on your back.
I passed the time to see
And to hold the sweet face
I pined for a long time.
Now the waiting is almost done
It seems you will not come.
See you then in another season,
Perhaps past this life and world.
I have not tarried around much
For fear of missing your coming.
Now the waiting is almost done.
As the last vestiges of sunlight
Prepare to hide beneath the horizon
And to kiss the heavens goodbye,
The tangerine sky fades to black.
Tomorrow holds much hope and promise.
Now the waiting is almost done.
Finally I am letting you go.
I am giving up the flimsy
Joy of your long awaited return
For tomorrow’s hope of new adventures.
I will salute the early dawn!
About two weeks ago, I received a heartwarming comment regarding my post on my travels during Black Saturday of 2008. I traveled to the northern part of Negros Occidental and visited some local spots. One of them is the Dome House of Escalante City. Let me share my entry:
Escalante City is located in the northeastern tip of the Negros island approximately about 95 kilometers away from Bacolod City. With its close proximity to the island of Cebu, the language of the locals is mixed Cebuano and Hiligaynon with the majority on the former.
In 2005, the city enjoyed some limelight in national and local papers as well as in many travel and general interest television programs. It became host to the first earth bag shelter system in the country. This is the “sole” purpose of my proverbial travel itch: to finally see the dome “houses”.
A House and Not Houses
The 95 km bus ride took me about 1.5 hours and PhP85.00 to finally step on the official city streets of Escalante. I took some time to look around before going to my destination. I went into their public market. The market impressed me. It was the cleanest public market I’ve been into in all of my documented and undocumented travels.
After buying some bottled water, I hailed a tricycle and asked to be taken to the site where the dome “houses” are situated. I opted to speak Cebuano because all personnel in the store where I bought water and the persons I have overheard in the public market were conversing in Cebuano. The driver looked confused and asked me for further description in halting Cebuano. I discovered he speaks Hiligaynon. And so I switched language and asked him again, this time giving description of the “houses” – with domes as roof rather that the usual galvanized iron. With the spark of recognition, he said he knew of only one house that fitted my description. I insisted that I am referring to a number of houses, a village even, with such dome structures. He responded that he knows of the recent housing projects but knew nothing of what I am referring to aside from the single house he knew. In order not to keep the debate any longer, I asked him to take me to the house he is referring to.
Much to my chagrin, the driver was indeed correct in saying that there is only one structure with a dome in Escalante. The house stood with its faded paint and with ferns sprouting in its now parched dome near the hall of Barangay Fe, just beside the national highway leading to the city proper. I instantly recognized it from the television shows I’ve seen where Illac Diaz (the proponent of the dome house) was shown coming out of its door unto the gravel yard.
“House of the Future” Becomes “House with Structural Failures” With the hype it was into in 2005, in my mind I assumed that the project of the earth bag shelter or dome house was successful and was eventually proliferated into a village of dome houses. I was embarrassingly wrong. The house now is a picture of a structure crying out with impending structural failure.
After the media hype for this dome house, I wondered what could have gone wrong. I could sense that the intent was good but it seemed that this project lacked the proper follow through and no proper maintenance procedures were set. This is after all, a prototype (refer to this article: First Earth Bag Shelter) whose failure or success could spell out proliferation or termination.
The domes are parched, with layers of cement slowly flaking off and the exposed layers becoming brittle through weathering. Cracks in its walls are visible even at a distance with signs of water ingress reaching its iron structural frame due to the presence of rust stains outside of the walls. Add to the demise these factors brought is the rich presence of ferns growing on top of its domes. The natural acids in the roots of these pteridophytans may contribute to the progressive cement disintegration of the dome structure.
Kelly Hart of earthbagbuilding.com was pointed by a reader (probably the one who collects pictures of dome houses and draws inspiration from the philosopher Rumi) of my blog to this entry. She is involved in documenting earth bag buildings all over the world. She has then re-written her original project page about the Philippine clinic to include some of my observations, with the hope that others would be aware of the potential pitfalls with finishing earthbag domes.
So what went wrong with the first earthbag building in the Philippines? You may want to check this site .
This project has been once again a victim of the “ningas kugon” attitude (fiery at the start but easily gives up) that afflicts most Filipinos. After all the publicity and media hype, no follow through was made to check whether this project has really served its purpose. There was a school in Siargao Island that was also built using the same concept as this project. One may wonder what happened to it. This writer also wonders what the hype and publicity has generated: better public imaging of the persons and organizations involved or an innovative housing solution…
I have been quite busy these past days that I was not able to post any pictures. I am supposed to conclude the Ilocos series with another post. Will publish it soon…
In the meantime, let me share my very first shots of the sunrise while in midair inside a plane…
After a few minutes, here’s the sun in the sea of thin clouds…
After Vigan, we headed to Baluarte. Baluarte is a zoological theme park whose main feature is that it allows close interaction between visitors and animals. It is owned by Chavit Singson. Entrance is free. There as an afternoon show every 5PM featuring the trained animals of the zoo.
I also met a true blooded writer in Baluarte. Please visit her blog here.
So here’s the delayed post on Baluarte. Enjoy the pictures!
This is a blue-gold macaw…
A blue naped parrot…
These are sun conures. I like the way one of them stared into the camera. He seemed to have posed for the shot…
An umbrella cuckatoo…
Miniature horses…
Feeding time… Find the feeder…
An alpaca…
White deers. The first one was a bit sleepy…
A goose and a duck… The goose stared at me for a minute or so, and so despite the distance, I took a shot. This is the nearest that my zoom lens could get.
The animal that I really sought to shot… An enclosed one got excited when he saw me approached his pen… He probably saw me as his meal… This one has a mild temperament and was very obedient to trainers. He just came from their afternoon show and I met him along the way to his cage…
To be continued… Next post will be about Laoag and La Paz Sand Dunes…
In case you want to have a tour of Ilocos, and you’ll be staying in Laoag, you may get in touch with Mang Lito, the man who offered to tour us around. His service is significantly low compared to arranged tours or packaged tours being offered by the hotels in Laoag. He may be contacted through his mobile phone: 09273387969.
I will not promote the hotel we stayed in. Although they had reasonably low room rates, good food and courteous staff, their water supply is not good – it’s yellow. Their room rates are also a bit tricky, as this caused a slight argument when we checked out
Right after lunch, I joined the rest of my companions for whatever’s left of their Vigan tour on calesa.
First stop for the afternoon: pagburnayan. It literally translates as pottery – a workshop where clayware is made.
The craftsmen of this particular pagburnayan were friendly. I happened to chat with Bongbong Go. He agreed to do a demonstration on his potter’s wheel. He told me to prepare my camera and film as the demo will be short – less than 10 mins. When he started forming the lump of clay on his wheel, I also started clicking until it was finished. I nearly used up a roll.
Below is the series of shots I took, featuring Craftsman Eduardo “Bongbong” Go.
The vase will be dried in shade for two weeks before it goes to the kiln.
I chatted with him for a while and he told me I can roam around their workplace. In one dark corner, there were many pots awaiting the test of fire in the kiln.
Our next stop is the Crisologo Museum. I was not able to take many pictures inside as we agreed that we will not stay that long. The museum (or the Crisologo ancestral house) features memorabilia from the golden days of the Crisologo family in Ilocos, during the term of Mrs. Carmeling Crisologo as governor of Ilocos Sur. She is the mother of Congressman Bingbong Crisologo.
Here is her antique typewriter. Notice the keys and the position of the typebars. It is standing in the sides. (It might be that some of my young readers are not familiar with the typewriter anymore.)
Here is the typical Ilocano stove called dalikan. This was taken in the kitchen of the ancestral house. The haziness was due to the light from the window.
Our next destination is the Syquia Mansion. This is the ancestral home of Dona Alicia Syquia-Quirino. She was married to President Elpidio Quirino in 1922. From being a congressman, senator, Cabinet member and Vice President, Quirino was catapulted to the Presidency in April 15, 1948 due to the sudden death of President Manuel Roxas from a heart attack.
The Syquia mansion, built in 1830, became the venue of official and public functions during the Quirino administration. It features an impressive collection of antiques and presidential memorabilia. There is a guided tour in the mansion. The tour is very informative. According to the caretaker who conducted the tour, the mansion was actually a dowry from Alicia’s parents. In the Spanish times, it was the bride’s duty to give the dowry.
The museum overflows with many collections of furniture. What caught my interest though are the paintings. The museum houses three treasured works from Fernando Amorsolo, the first Philippine National Artist in Painting. The paintings were actually portraits – probably part of his portrait works where he was heavily criticized.
This is the first Amorsolo…
The second Amorsolo…
The third Amorsolo… The haze is due to the sidelight coming from the window…
This is a copy of the Spoliarium by Juan Luna. This was done by Juan Luna’s assistant.
This is no ordinary mirror. The metalwork along its sides is 18 karat gold.
This is one of the two vases said to be given by the last Emperor of China, Puyi (Henry Puyi to the West), to President Quirino. The imperial seal is in the vase’s base.
To be continued… Next post will be about Chavit Singson’s Baluarte…
In case you want to have a tour of Ilocos, and you’ll be staying in Laoag, you may get in touch with Mang Lito, the man who offered to tour us around. His service is significantly low compared to arranged tours or packaged tours being offered by the hotels in Laoag. He may be contacted through his mobile phone: 09273387969.
I will not promote the hotel we stayed in. Although they had reasonably low room rates, good food and courteous staff, their water supply is not good – it’s yellow. Their room rates are also a bit tricky, as this caused a slight argument when we checked out
This one has a mild temperament and was very obedient to trainers. He just came from their afternoon show and I met him along the way to his cage…
Words from the Patrons