April 2007 Archives

Olympus E-1, Olympus Zuiko 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 Digital: 1/50s f/2.8 at 14.0mm iso400

April 25, 2007: Manila International Airport, Manila Philippines

Good Sunday Afternoon to everyone - as expected, I've been hit with some severe jet lag the past few days; at 12noon my body still thinks it's 12 midnight and wants to sleep, and during the afternoon when I'm awake I'm often drowsy and want to go back to sleep, and so on.

Often times when I wake up, for the first few moments I'm not sure where I am - sometimes I think I'm back in Manila, and other times I think I'm back on Bantayan Island and need to get to work on the laptop with the last few images I've been working on there, etc.

I'm also trying to adjust to the temperature changes here in the USA - I've been acclimated to 90 degree temps and high humidity for the past 5 months, and it was 55 degrees in New York when I landed, and 48 degrees the day after that, so I'm cold all the time now - and all this just seems to bring me into a less then happy mood as I try to adjust.

Last year when I tried to force my body into re-setting my internal clock, it just rebelled and made the jet lag more severe - I've learned to try to make subtle changes slowly, over time as the body likes to maintain status quo and does not like to be forced into sudden drastic changes.

So I'm trying to smile and keep a positive attitude as this process goes along, working when I feel sharp and focused, and staying away from the computer when I feel tired.

I've found that ideally, without tying to make any changes to re-set my internal clock, it takes me a week to adjust for each month I've been away.

On my last day in Manila, I got to sleep at the hotel by 10pm and set my phone alarm for 1:45am, then got up & showered and checked out at 2:30am, grabbing a taxi to the airport for the 20 minute ride - that's the only good thing about driving to the airport as there's little traffic at that time of day, and I got into line to check in at the airport by 3am.

I shot the image above at the airport at 5:14am as I walked to the Cathay Pacific gate, and I already noticed the coolerer temps inside the airport; I think they keep it cooler in the International terminal to accomodate travelers who are wearing coats & layered clothing appropriate to their final destinations, and I just wore a barong collar shirt & shorts and carried long pants & a light jacket in my carry on luggage, as I'm uncomfortable layering up in clothes at the hotel in Manila where the temps are 80 degrees with high humidity.

I miss shooting in Manila, Cebu and on the Island, and I was already missing it while still at the hotel and airport in Manila on my last day - I'll be getting back to editing the new images this week a few at a time, while making the adjustment to being back in the USA, so I thank you for your patience while waiting for the new posts.

Olympus E-1, Olympus Zuiko 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 Digital: 1/80s f/2.8 at 14.0mm iso400

Best Regards,
PJAMES

Posting from Hong Kong International Airport: 9:35am

Olympus E-1, Olympus Zuiko 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 Digital: 1/100s f/2.8 at 14.0mm iso200

I'm really sorry I couldn't post any new content on my last day in Manila Philippines - I had an Immigration VISA Extension issue that I very much needed to work out before today, and with spending the day with Rosa & Edison's Family, it took up nearly the entire day.

I decided to take Rosa, Edison and Anna (MayAnne's older sister) to dinner at one of my favorite local restaurants in Manila last night, and treated them to a simple but nice dinner (they have really good local food there), and we all had the best time, talking, eating & laughing - I had 4 sticks pork BBQ and a little rice, as I wasn't very hungry myself.

They all enjoyed the meal immensely, and Edison even took home what he couldn't finish - they had such a great time, and it made me happy to see them enjoy themselves in an environment they're never able to be in - eating at a local restaurant, whatever they wanted.

We then went back to the sidewalk outside her place, sat and chatted for the longest time, as Auntie Josie & Tito Willie worked on washing cards there on the curbside; that's how they earn a small income for the Family.

Update: May 1, 2007
While Rosa, Anna, Auntie Josie and I sat outside on the sidewalk, I was shown Edison's report card from his school where the total avg. score was 79.

As Edison came running by I complimented him on a good job in his school (he'd been out of school for a long time while he & Rosa were living on the street) and I also told him he's now got a new goal to aim for in his studies - to break 80 total avg.

I told him he was smart, and that it's important to have small goals to work towards - in this case, an 80 grade, and he listened closely, and I told him I was very, very proud of his grades in school.

I went back to talking to Auntie Josie and the subject of Rodelyn came up.

I asked what happened, and in her best English she tried to tell me that Roddy simply ran away from her care after a time, and that she did see Roddy roaming the streets nearby from time to time.

No sooner then Auntie Josie had updating me on Rodelyn - I head my name called from accross the street - I looked up and saw Rodelyn running towards me through traffic, her arms stretched open for a huge hug she slammed me with right there on the sidewalk!

She hugged me tight & had the biggest smile I'd ever seen on her face, and after a few moments I asked her to sit with me and explain why she'd run away from Auntie Josie's care.

Her smile faded and I noticed Auntie Josie watching her with a stern face - Roddy told me she just wanted to go back to the streets, and I asked her if she realized how many people cared about her, how many people loved her & didn't want to see her homeless anymore.

I tried to explain to her that Auntie Josie took her into her home with much love & kindness, even though Josie's family were very poor & could ill afford another mouth to feed, etc.

I explained to Auntie Josie my best guess was that children who live on the street develop their own sense of disciplines & values, doing what they want, when they want - and do not have to answer to anyone, especially adults.

Coming into Rosa's Family, Roddy most likely found a true FAMILY discipline of waking up on time, eating on time, going to school on time, respecting adults & others, doing your chores, getting to bed on time, etc. - and this is something a street child simply does not have to be concerned with, while surviving on the streets.

Roddy just probably rebelled, and decided to take off on her own again - that's the way I look at it.

Then Roddy looked up at me, and asked ME to adopt her - she asked me this 3 times "can you adopt me"?
...I told her that in the USA, adoption agencies have very strict requirements for adoptive parents - that they especially have to have a more substantial income and material assets (compared to Families in Philippines) and that I probably wouldn't meet those requirements.

I then told her that because of her posts on this website, there are a few people who have expressed interest in helping her get off the streets and into a Families care, maybe an adoption, and at the very least a friend of Steve Griffith's in Mindanao who's offered to look into the req's of getting Roddy adopted by another Filipino Family.

I explained to Roddy all that doesn't happen overnight, and that everyone who loves her will be looking into ways to eventually find her a home and to make life safer for her, and I hugged her.

She told me to wait for a moment, that she'd come right back - and she darted away across the street.

She never came back, and that's the last time I saw her in Manila before I left the next morning.
...I'll edit her new images I shot & post them here this week.
(end May 1st. Update)

I've got more images and will be posting again from the USA as soon as I get some much needed sleep, and get the mobile office set up once again.

I want to thank everyone for all their well-wishes, emails, texts & phone calls.

Many Thanks for reading today, posting from Hong Kong - en route to the USA
PJAMES

UPDATE: April 26, 2007
Posting from USA

Olympus E-1, Olympus Zuiko 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 Digital: 1/100s f/2.8 at 14.0mm iso800
Rosa & friend Anna at the restaurant, on my last night in Metro Manila.

Olympus E-1, Olympus Zuiko 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 Digital: 1/160s f/2.8 at 14.0mm iso800
Rosa's Auntie Josie & Tito Willie washing parked cars for income, on my last night in Metro Manila - and on the same sidewalk where Rosa slept in 2004/2005 - the very same sidewalk where I photographed Rosa on Jan.1, 2005 taking her breakfast that appears on the main page of this website.

I made it back to my sister's house in the USA last night, 30 hours after arriving at Manila Int'l Airport at 3am the day before, to begin the journey back.

I'd managed to sleep from 10pm to 1:30am at my hotel in Manila; I just couldn't get to bed any earlier than that, and I knew that I really wouldn't have a real chance to sleep until I got back to the USA, but that's just par for the course on a typical travel day when leaving Manila on a 6am international flight.

Olympus E-1, Olympus Zuiko 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 Digital: 1/200s f/3.5 at 54.0mm iso400
April 17, 2007: Sugar Beach, Bantayan Island, Cebu Philippines

The image is titled "the last Sunset", as I've left Bantayan Island for Cebu, and have left Cebu and am now in Manila preparing for my flight back to the USA.

I've got so many mixed emotions to deal with now - I really wanted to be able to stay longer and continue shooting, there's so much more to be done here, and now I have to do an about-face and begin the travel days back to Cebu, and to Manila where I am now.

I've spent time with Lisa & LetLet's Family in Cebu, and was able to take the kids shopping for clothing necessities, and of course, food.
..I've really missed them and I have many new images I'll be posting of them soon - they're growing up so fast it seems, they even know how to text me on my phone, and the kids & Family have been texting me messages since I left Cebu on Saturday.

Here in Manila I immediately went to Rosa & Edison's place, only to find they moved to a different location within the seedy building they've had to stay in for the past year - they've had to vacate the larger space they've been in, for a much smaller, one small room space (same size as a large closet - it's terrible) and I do not know how all four of them are able to stay together inside that tiny space.

I'll have photographs published here as soon as I get back to the USA, as I've had to leave my external LCD monitor on Bantayan, along with clothes and other items, so I can lighten my traveling load (AirPhilippines whacked me for an overweight luggage charge in Nov. 2006) - and it just makes it easier when I can travel with less gear.

The past 4 days have all been travel days for me, and the last 2 weeks on the Island I've been taking care of 2 projects at one time: the new website I have going up soon, and taking care of Mama Helen's Family by employing her daughter LittleFish to help me with the new website (transcribing written info), and that went so well as she's been so hungry for any type of work this past year since her baby was born.

I've also been able to pay her brother & sister to take care of BN's home I was staying at during April while he was away, and that let me concentrate on working 14 hour days (laptop & photography time) at the house on the pRice issues as well as the new website, and it was an exhausting last 2 weeks for me.

I've got good things to write about on my last day online in Manila, tomorrow - and I'm actually looking forward to having the online TIME in the USA to post, write and edit, etc. without a 1 or 2 hour time budget/limit at the net cafes here in Philippines- so I'll be busy as ever as soon as I get back.

I just found a newly opened small net cafe right next door to my hotel, for only P25 per hour - most places here in the city are P60 per hour, but this place is right next door a few meters away, and that means I don't even have to pack the laptop & HD's, I just carry them in - a nice break for me:)

Olympus E-1, Olympus Zuiko 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 Digital: 1/200s f/3.5 at 54.0mm iso200

Yosel, photographed at Mama Helen's shack on the beach.

Happy Birthday yesterday to Mama Helen!
...when I asked her daughters what we could get her for her special day, they said she would appreciate some 'prepared foods', so right before Sunday's Mass let out, I got her a kilo of fresh pork from the street vendor chopping it up right on the street.

If you've never tasted pork from a freshly roasted pig, you're in for a treat as it's absolutely delicious - Mama Helen & her kids loved it, as they are not able to treat themselves to this everyday.

This is my last week on Bantayan Island, and I'm preparing to get to Cebu by the weekend, and onto Manila by next Monday for my flight back to the US.

I've been working on image & website projects 6:30am here until 7:30pm everyday, trying to get so many different things done here before I go, so I've been able to give a little paid work to LittleFish to assist me compiling & transcribing text for my new website, and I've also been able to give her paid work cleaning the house of BN where I'm staying until he's back from Europe later this month.

So it pleases me she can earn some much needed money for her Family and her baby - she's a hard worker who will take care of the house while I'm on the laptop all morning until 2pm (BN's got a big house with a palm garden that needs to be looked after, and I just don't have the time here to also attend to that with my schedule)

I'm creating the text & images for a new Bantayan specific travel related website, using my many images of the Island, and I hope it can even be advertiser supported in the future, so I can base myself here longer then a few months, and continue to do what I do.

In the meantime, Littlefish is coming with me after 2pm each day when I'm out photographing the hotels & landmarks here, as I'm doing that she's compiling the text & website copy on those places - it just pains me I can't pay her full time to do this after I leave here, as she needs work very badly.

Maybe later this year when I get back I can work on getting her computer literate - if that can happen I can hire her more, or even on a semi permanent basis, or she might be able to get full time work in Bantayan Town with those skills, and I'd be pleased & happy to be able to see any of that happen for her & her Family.

In the meantime I'm just trying to get all the pRICE issues straightened out while I have the resources to do it, while doing all I can possibly do for her & Mama Helen's Family while I'm still here, and I've been able to get them food & necessities over the past few weeks (THANK YOU TO CONCHA IN SPAIN!) and that's more to write more about on tomorrow's post!

Thanks for stopping by today,
PJAMES

Olympus E-1 ,Olympus Zuiko 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 Digital: 1/100s f/3.5 at 54.0mm iso200

Maybe I take some things too personally, I don't know - but this whole little senario at a pleasant little restaurant in Bantayan Town just bothered me, as everyone sitting & eating there completely ignored her when she indicated to them with her open hand and with her eyes if they would give her something - I don't know her name & I never saw her again after that.

This is the text from my pBase.com post for this image:
"...shot at a local upscale eatery in Bantayan Town during Holy Week, a child quietly asking for food or Pesos is ignored by over a dozen 'patrons of means' (fat & happy as I say, with discressionary income to spend, well dressed, etc.)
...a beautiful little child with short hair & deep eyes; she had tiny bits of sand crusted in & around her eyebrows.
...I didn't ignore her, but I was puzzled & saddened by those who did"

The child was not agressive at all, she didn't even speak a word - she just opened her hand to you, from a short distance - she didn't even come into 'your space'.

Maybe I could understand if we were at a cheap canteria eatery, where no one has money to burn.

I had taken LittleFish to this nice little restaurant in old Bantayan Town to treat her to dinner, as thanks for all the hard work she's been putting in with me, while working on my projects here (I wrote more about that in the posts above)

The food at this place is very good, yet very inexpensive (burgers, spaghetti, mango shakes, etc.) so I can come here once or twice a week for a slightly more than basic meal, and still eat very cheaply, within my means.

But we were at a very nice, cozy 'yuppie' restaurant, that attracts a 'Starbucks' type crowd, and that's where I saw this child, in & amongst the many patrons wearing clean & pressed casual clothing, and driving big cars & SUV's that were parked right outside.

All I'm saying, is that if anyone had the means to give something to a child, it was a restaurant crowd like this one.

Here, I always see the poor giving to the poor - friend to friend, neighbor to neighbor; they always seem to at least try to help each other, even when resources are scarse.

I almost never get to see it happen the other way.

Thanks for reading today,
PJAMES

Olympus E-1, Olympus Zuiko 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 Digital: 1/1600s f/5.6 at 14.0mm iso100
450 year old Saint Peter & Paul's Church, Bantayan Town

Happy Easter for last Sunday -with internet here not opening until after 1pm on Sundays, and the roads outside a maddening sea of cars, busses & motorcycles trying to create 3 or more lanes for themselves on a road not 15ft wide WITH people walking...I decided to stay away for a bit.

Yesterday for the 'out' as I call it - was a mass exit of tourists and the roads were jam-packed with the same, and there were STILL crowds on Sugar Beach, so that tells me not all the touristas have left the Island as yet.

I love the local people here, and I do understand it's a chance for them & for all the businesses here to make some money during Holy Week, but it also affects those of us who are long term here because its safe & quiet - at the cheap little eatery on the main road where there are maybe 3 people eating during a typical day, you had to contend with a dozen people in line to order food, certain foods sold out/not available, and 30 people eating inside where 15 would fit comfortably, so there's no room for you to sit - so you just shake it off & try to order something for 'take out', or just cook at home (I can't do that, so I have to get 1 or 2 simple/cheap meals a day out)

Motorbikes that normally rent for P250 a day ($5USD) were going for P750 the Monday of Holy Week, and I'm sure that as bikes became scarse, the prices rose to P1,000 and more as the weekend approached - if you had motors to rent, or tents, or space on land for tents, you made some serious money this week.

Same for hotel rooms; prices trippled & quadrupled, if you could find a room - and those that couldn't had to try to make other arrangements or just sleep on the beach, and the beaches were crowded with people with no other place to go.

I know a few secret places to swim at - I always break for lunch from 12noon-2pm and get outside to go for a swim & to run some errands, so I didn't have to contend with thousands of people crowded onto the beaches.

Since it's only for a week during the year, it's a big deal, but not that big a deal if you can plan for it ahead of time.

Last week I moved into a friends house by the sea, for my last weeks here - I'll be on the Island until April 20th, and will then start the trip back to Cebu, then onto Manila for the flights back to the USA - so with all the packing & unpacking I'm going to be doing, I'll make my best effort to get online - but in reality it's going to be crazy for me from that time onward, and I really won't have more time to get online for updates until I arrive back in the USA - and I'm actually looking forward to getting back to unlimited USA internet time, so I can write more about everything that's been happening here.

I'll be editing images right up until April 19th, but I'm leaving my 17" monitor here (along with the Bose MediaMate speakers) & other things to lighten my luggage load (I was charged extra, Manila to Cebu on Philippine Airlines for overweight luggage) and that'll make it much easier in November 2007 when I'm back, not having to pack & lug the monitor, etc.

But I will be online in both Cebu & Manila, and I'll still be shooting & aiding those Families I help here, right up until the night before I leave Philippines, so there's still much to be done and share here - so stay tuned.

Thanks for reading today,
PJAMES

Bantayan Island: Cebu Philippines

Olympus E-1, Olympus Zuiko 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 Digital: 1/160s f/5.6 at 45.0mm iso100

Getting very crowded here on the Island now, and in some places it's almost impossible to drive a motorcycle down a main road in Ste. Fe & Bantayan Town, due to the crowds & vehicles in the streets.

This image taken with the above Officers permission, shows the SRT/Special Response Team SWAT deployment throughout the Island, here in Bantayan Town in front of St. Peter & Paul's Roman Catholic Church.

SWAT arrives on the Island sometime during the last weekend of April, and commandeer an entire Ferry Boat to Santa Fe Pier, and are met my SUV's that whisk them away quickly to various points around the Island.

Special OPS/SRT Units in black BDU's are not seen by the general public, and are not here for crowd control.
...most foriegners know why they're here, and we all welcome their seen & unseen presence.

Bantayan Island: Cebu Philippines

Olympus E-1, Olympus Zuiko 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 Digital: 1/250s f/3.5 at 45.0mm iso200
March 25, 2007

This is one of my most telling images, and I Juvie's previous post from last week is here:
Juvie's recent post & image here

I spent the entire day yesterday with LittleFish, Juvie's older sister, and we went to Madridejos at the very top of the Island where we spent the afternoon shopping in the thrift/second-hand outdoor markets (oki-oki markets) for clothes for all 8 children & 2 grandkids, as well as basic necessities for the house (she especially enjoyed getting 2 new shower curtains for P10 each, as she uses curtains or any type of fabric to create separate sleeping areas for her baby & her sister's baby (the house is a simple wood & bamboo shack - 2 light bulbs, no running water - you get the picture)

It was like Christmas Day for LittleFish as we went from tent to tent, and I think I enjoyed it more than she did - everyone got things they really needed, and after that I took her to lunch and treated her to real Chicken Curry & rice, and thanked her for being such a good friend to me.

After a long ride home via the east side of the Island (avoiding the traffic congested on the main highway road here), we went back to Mama Helen's house and gave everyone what we had got them, and the kids were the most excited, as they got clothing (tops & bottoms), as well as clothing for the 2 babies.

I ended up staying and talking seriously with Mama Helen & husband David & LittleFish until past 9:30pm, and I'll write more about those conversations later - we covered some serious issues, and discussed my return in November 2007 and where I would live, etc.

Holy Week is here & I'm sick of the crowds & the noise already - this beautiful little Island is now infested & congested with far too many travelers for the Island to bear - of the small amount of hotel rooms available here, all are sold out at 2 & 3 times regular rates, so people are starting to sleep on the beaches, in empty lots & on people's land, etc.

In town & on the highway, traffic is already congested - and because driving is un-disciplined here in Philippines, it's a serious safety issue now, as people are driving at high speeds & overtaking vehicles like they were living in the Wild West, with zero consideration for others.

Just trying to head into town yesterday, I was making my way along the dirt road at a slow speed, and was almost hit head-on by a Filipino teen, driving at a high speed on the wrong side of the road, wildly comming around the bend on a 110cc motorbike with THREE passengers onboard (YES, fast driving with FOUR people on a small bike)

I had nowhere to swerve my bike to avoid a crash - he swerved away at the last second from my lane and it's a miracle that asshole didn't kill me.
...I'm driving the full size Honda XR 200cc now, which is a hell of a lot larger & heavier then the small Honda Wave he was driving, so I'm sure they all would have been seriously hurt or worse had he hit me, and I'd be the only one blamed if that happened, as I'm the 'foreigner'.

While the crowds infest the Island, it's only going to get worse trying to drive anywhere today, Friday, Saturday & Sunday- so I most likely will wait until Monday when the crowds leave, to get back to updating things online.

Thanks for reading today - enjoy your Holy Week where ever you are, and be carefull if you are traveling!
DON'T DRINK & DRIVE!

PJAMES

March 23, 2007: Cebu Philippines

Olympus E-1, Olympus Zuiko 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 Digital: 1/200s f/3.5 at 54.0mm iso400

Baby's first post & image are here

Jimmy's Family's been on my mind lately - I want to see him when I get to Cebu later this month & get his Family some necessities; it disturbs me when such a hard working guy with such a positive disposition is so poor & out of work, that there's not much to eat besides rice, and an occasional native chicken (very tough meat to eat, but that's native chicken)

Jimmy's trying to raise the chickens on his small lot, but often times when there's no money for rice, it also means there's no money to keep the hens fed.

Here's his daughter Baby - I've been working on a few new images of her gentle face.

Olympus E-1, Olympus Zuiko 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 Digital: 1/125s f/3.5 at 14.0mm iso400

Thanks for reading today - Good Tuesday Morning to you all.
PJAMES

ps: Holy Week has arrived on the Island - the week where the entire nation travels & beautiful places like Bantayan Island get horribly over-crowded, prices skyrocket, and it makes it difficult for locals here to go about their daily routines cause of the hoards of people everywhere, and shortages/gouge pricing on simple things like gasoline, dry goods, bottled water, etc.

Thurs/Fri/Sat/Sun are said to be the worst days to be here because of the massive congestion (crowds are arriving now en-mass) a real shame for this beautiful & tiny Island to be over run like this, but that's Holy Week in Philippines I gather - so I'll do my best to try to get here to post updates & images, but I'll have to play it by ear and see if it's even feasable to drive my motorcycle into town on those days, as most roads in town are closed to vehicles of any kind.