Fac ut Vivas

"Tropical the island breeze
All of nature wild and free
This is where I long to be"
        —- sang by Madonna

— I —

There are a few places in this world where you’d believe it was heaven.

Unlike any other place, it (Heaven) is far less realized and experienced than hell which more often than not lurks behind just about every corner of our small square worlds. It finds a way insidethe diverse environments we attach ourselves onto.

Our lives are testaments to the constant struggle for survival, interrupted by a few moments of bliss whether through the people we share our world with, or, THE FORCE have mercy, ignorance. Even after promising ourselves (at the start of every ‘life cycle’) that we’d set our priorities right and begin making great strides in an effort to manage our time more precisely, it’s a Sisyphean exercise we set upon ourselves. We always get wound up in varying levels of pressure and end up tired, stressed, sporting the most pitiful expressions of yearning on our faces.

To be elsewhere, far from anything that reminded you of S.S.D.D*.

* SSDD = Same stuff. Different Day (PG 8 version)

For versions of SSDD that received higher ratings, Good luck, YOYO**.

** You’re On Your Own.

— II —

Every year we go out and attend the physics congress. We spend about three months preparing for it. This year, it was held in Davao, right in the southern coast of Mindanao.

Davao!

Mindanao!

The words reminded me: it has been ten years since I last set foot on the southern part of the archipelago.

It was an opportunity to return. But … it’s no free ride: You need a research paper and loads of hard-earned bread.

There was only a few months to raise a sizable amount and my prospects could only take me as far as Davao.

Beyond Davao was a different matter.

— III —

October 24

With half the required funds, a broken camera, and an on-loan old cellular phone, I boarded the 8:00 am plane to Davao.

Looking out from my window, I hope to forget the noise of Manila for a while. I had some "grants" approved for my trip but it was still under processing. It was anyone’s wild guess when it’d turn up in my account.

— IV —

Arriving 10 am at Davao city airport, small units of armed soldiers were camped every two blocks (almost). Apparently there were encounters between the government and its opponents recently. I was too busy packing stuff for the trip that I failed to read the current events digest on Davao. On the first checkpoint, I was asked (by a ranking officer) regarding my surname. They wanted to verify if I was on the official passenger list.

We (me and two companions) spent another 30 minutes looking for our hotel.

Funny, just like typical city-dwellers (especially from Manila), we started checking out the malls (Gaisano, NCCC, and SM). Some things never change.

With the conference due to start the next day, we spent the entire day charging our phones, cameras, and finishing up our power-point presentations but there was still time to learn our way around the city, brush up on my half-forgotten, elementary Cebuano dialect, and finish up in the bar beside our hotel: San Mig Light for them, Gatorade and C2 on the rocks for me… pulutan composed of kilawin, and some other fried seafood.

 

— V —

October 25

7:00 am, we woke up late . It’s still debatable whether it was due to light "hangovers" or cable TV.

I checked the ATM, still no sign of an overnight "boost" in my account.

33 Pesos on a cab took us to Ateneo de Davao where the congress was held.

The staff working on the registration desk lost my printed ID so gave me a handwritten one.

Lucky me.

We were late so we proceeded immediately to the auditorium for the welcome remarks as well as the plenary session of Tien Tsong a leading scientist in the Nanoscientific fields. He is also the current president of the Association of Asia Pacific
Physical Societies (AAPPS), of which, our very own Philippine Physics Society (PPS or Samahang Pisika ng Pilipinas, SPP) was a member. He’s one of the guys who have seen what atomic structures looked like back in the late 50s or 60s. His talk was entitled "50 years of Seeing Atoms". Nuff said.

One of the nicest thing about these physics congresses is the emergence of younger scientists. Shown here are participants coming from our research lab. Each one of them has a research paper to present in the following days.

They are the true stars of this show.

October 26

The youth in this congress make a strong case for investing in science and technology in the country.

… they try hard to convince the old regime and the skeptical lot.

… they have an excellent grasp of emerging scientific theories

… their reserves of energy allow them to have fun, learn, and educate others at the same time.

… apart from the youth and the change of venue, everything remains the same. Business as usual.

— VI —

During the fellowship night, I found out why a camera with a broken LCD monitor transforms your digicam into its older analog counterpart.

You take lots of shots but you’ll never know what you’ll get until the prints come out.

My sister had the foresight of investing in a 1 gigabyte multimedia memory card after the LCD got damaged to insure that a shotgun approach to photography increases the likelihood of a having one good shot after several attempts.

The following sums up everything about the cam.

… Too bad, I couldn’t capture her smile as she began to serenade geeks.

… They’re really into it.

… At first I thought he’d start a joke involving a guitar.

… "Deal or No Deal" rendition involving quintessential physicists.

… What they were about to do … your guess is as good as mine.

… An unfinished business. Years later, the match between the two is still as popular as it was then.

… obtaining grace from the guardian of the temple for tomorrow’s sessions.

— VII —

October 27

… My co-author Erika and Tons (both are my labmates at UP).

… It was my turn to take a stand. Literally.

… Ganni’s Back Part 2

… Geeks do fall in love with each other. The girl is geekier. Honest.

… Ateneans.

… The Boyz. The Head Honchos.

… Either I’m talking to the Great White Board or trying out the freebie laser pointer.

… Taking a break in-between sessions.

… The violet undershirt does wonders…

… MASTER and master plus shi on the background.

… She’s 15 years old and already about to graduate with a Physics Degree. Genius.

The conference was officially over by 5:00 pm. By 8:00 pm I rendezvoused with some friends at a different dorm. We initially intended to catch the night-trip to bukidnon but it has been deemed unsafe so we decided to catch the 5:00 am trip (on the following day) instead.

— VIII —

October 28

The Road to Camiguin: Part I - Bukidnon

Lot’s of fruit. Temperature lower than Baguio. Land of Del Monte and Durian.

… Arriving at the Villamayor Hacienda/Farm Malaybalay, Bukidnon just in time for breakfast.

… A happy coincidence, they were having Lechon!

… Catnapping Christian: Ma-o ni siya nga Kinabuhi. THIS IS THE LIFE.

… Gratuitous Mouth-Watering Shot of the Villamayor Land fruits.

— The End (?!?) —

Unfortunately, I’ve reached my file-upload limit this month. So we stop here with a preview:

… Sunset Kung-fu at the White Island, less than a kilometer off the coast of Camiguin Island.

… Tune in next month for further updates. Camiguin Island was a BLAST!!!!