"Shit and Spin"

I wondered what I would be missing when I waved goodbye to a convoy of highly placed international types as they departed from a small village just outside Zurich last week. All were heading to meet with other highly placed international types on the snowy slopes of Klosters and Davos for the World Economic Forum (WEF). Thanks to Manhattan blog site, Gawker, I now know what I've missed. I would've have wanted to see this one in action!

Through My Window: Switzerland

WS Entry: #5

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CH-Zurich: Day 4

WS: Entry #4

I got back this afternoong from Geneva. By Swiss standards, the weather has been unseasonably mild with today's temperature hovering around the low-to-mid '40s. I may miss out on the snow entirely during this trip, but the sunny winter weather made it inviting to stroll around Lake Geneva with the Leightons yesterday, and to attempt to walk/jog around along the lake here in Zurich this afternoon. However, the weather made jogging a bit difficult as all the pathways along the lake shore were clogged with people enjoying the spring-like temperatures.

The view is fantastic and hopefully the weather keeps up so I can attempt this again....

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The Route

CH-Zurich: Day 1

This has got to be the longest January 17th yet. It actually began when I checked in at the airport back home at 10:30PM on Janaury 16. As the ticket agent handed me my boarding pass he cordially notes that the plane is delayed for one hour and its new ETD is 01:30AM. For the next three hours I sit in the lounge with a San Mig Light while watching Johnny Depp in "Blow" on my portable video player.

Dubai International Airport. © 2008 Ninfa Z. Bito

I arrived at Dubai International at 6AM-ish. Surprisingly, it was a chilly 15 degrees Celsius as we disembarked from the plane. The innards of the airport were teeming with people looking like ants from the second level balcony. As one of those ants marching through the bowels of DI, I was not too pleased to find out that out of 50 gates in the terminal my flight was assigned to Gate 49 for boarding.

Dubai International Airport. © 2008 Ninfa Z. Bito

By the time I got to the security gate, I thought I was going to have to walk all the way to Zurich. But, then there was the bus transfer ---- that ride must’ve taken about 20 minutes before I finally settled into my seat on the Airbus.

Zurich Airport. © 2008 Ninfa Z. Bito

Charles © 2008 Ninfa Z. Bito

I finally arrived in Zurich around 1PM and was ferried to my hotel by the Old Town by Charles. I was taken aback that is was relatively ‘mild’ feeling day in winter wonderland (which happens to be lacking any snow). It was about 8 degrees Celsius when I touched down, the sun was shining and the air was crisp enough that it could be cut by a knife.

Limmat Quai © 2008 Ninfa Z. Bito

After my meeting at the hotel lobby, and in an attempt to avoid crashing into bed too early and succumb to jet lag, I headed across the street to Zurich Main to buy tomorrow’s ticket for Geneva. From there I decided to walk off a bit of jet lag and followed the Banhofstrasse till I veered left towards the Limmat. Suddenly, I found myself lost in a maze of narrow cobblestoned alleyways. In between alleys and building roofs, I could see the biggest clock face in Europe, St Peter’s Church.

St Peter's Church at dusk.© 2008 Ninfa Z. Bito

The walk in the cold air along the Limmat did wonders for staving off jet lag. Now, sitting in my room the heater is making it harder to fend it off for a few more hours. It’s still to early to sleep and beat this thing. I think I saw a treadmill downstairs…

Cebu's Dancing Inmates

It was a long day last January 5th. I started it out with a 4AM flight to Cebu and then flew back to Manila at 8PM that evening. In between, HK-based freelance writer Alexandra Seno and I spent the day at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC). This may be more familiar as the place where those 1500 inmates in orange garb rekindled the '80s for a number of you. It was appropriate that I received the YouTube clip right after Angus' and Jackie's "'80s Party". Little did I expect to spend an entire day with them shooting stills and the video!

It was a long day, but loads of fun. I've seen a couple of jails out here and the CPDRC is a league above them all. Read Alexandra Seno's article in today's International Herald Tribue here. Do check out the the photos and video I shot of the CPDRC. Links to the photo slide show are in the article. Here's the video: "Inmate Stardom" as narrated by Alexandra.

Journey: Arnel Pineda's "visa" to a new life

At first I thought, I'd just send out the email below to the hometown gang. But, this is just one of those "too good to be true stories" and it is good! So I'd like to share my email (below) with everyone else out there. I think you will agree that it is just too wacky not to be told.

*************************************

I got this email just before the Christmas holiday. It was forwarded by a friend who used to work the visa windows at the US embassy here. It appears quite long, but please read through all of it. Anyone of you who has ever tried to apply for a US visa in the Philippines is very familiar with this process. All of you who have sat behind that plate glass window having those application papers shoved over to you are well aware of the tremendous amount of incredulous story lines being fed to you.

You will find this incredibly amusing and for the right reasons....

To get the full effect, click on this link AFTER you've read the entire text below.

Click on this link AFTER you're done with the one above.


Enjoy! It's going to be a fun few minutes.....


Ninfa

_____________________________________


Subject: Funny story.....

¡K.and apparently true¡K.

From an A-100 colleague¡K.

I have a nice holiday story to share: (Apologies to Snider who's now heard this 14 times, but hey, your stories aren't getting any newer.)

Months ago a band shows up at my window. It was Lemons and Oranges, or something fruity. Asked why they would play a concert in Seattle. They claimed some following there. I asked about their music; looked at their posters, CDs, etc. At the end of the interview, they were saying, "come out and see our show tonight." This invite was probably due to my withering questioning, and since they thought they were hot stuff, pride was wounded, etc. etc. It turned out that the venue is actually on the way home from the Embassy, only ten minutes away. So I says, "I can't take any free tickets yada yada yada but maybe I'll pop in."

It was a Friday. I went with two LES. We got a table, ordered some beer, fried chicken and so on. The opening band comes on. They were called "Zoo"--this I'm sure of, since I'm from Kalamazoo, the name stuck. The Zoo starts rocking out to 70/80s tunes, like Foreigner, Night Ranger, etc. But the coup de grace was indisputably when they busted out Journey. I mean, the singer was not just good--95% of all Filipinos are good singers--he was really dern good. I couldn't shut up about it. I was telling anyone who would listen, "Dude, not only does this guy have pipes, and range, he's got perfect pitch. He has only missed a few notes on some of the hardest power ballads in schlock n roll history." The LES grudgingly agreed, but they've been desensitized to the regular displays of amazing karaoke you get in Manila, so maybe they were just humoring me.

Since I'm from Michigan, I had an older brother who sported a mullet and wore softball t-shirts. His first 8-track was Styx. Ted Nugent is referred to simply as the Nuge, or Uncle Ted. The Silver Bullet invokes Bob Seger not Coors. In short, I'm qualified to judge this kind of thing. The performance was poignant for me... Images of Camaros and pegged jeans danced in my head... definitely surreal. Then.. then!... Lemons and Oranges comes on and, frankly, they were a bit of a let down. I mean, their music was Edie Brickel / Natalie Merchantesque. And that's fine --it has its place-- but let's be clear: it is a metaphysical transgression to go from Journey's "Separate Ways" into Lisa Loeb's "Stay..."

The next week I'm sitting at an NIV window next to a soon-to-be legend of an officer name Singer. Singer and I were doing FMJs and so we would trade off regular NIV applicants occassionally so that we got fair share of student visas. Singer loves the three things: the FAM, movie quotes that might cost him an EEO violation someday, and cases that make sense. Things that don't make sense, make Singer an unhappy man.

I hear Singer say, "Journey? The band Journey?" He flips through papers. He sounds unhappy.

I butt in: "What's that all about?"

He turns off his mic and looks over at me. "I don't know. This guys says he's going to try out for Journey."

I'm puzzled. "Journey? The band Journey?"

Singer goes, "That's what I just said, [EXPLETIVE]!"

"Great, another nutjob. I'll take it." Singer takes my student, I take the nutjob.

I look over his stuff and say "purpose of travel?" and all that. I start to scrutinize more carefully and realize its the guy I saw from the night before.

"Hey, does your band at Bagaberde?.. ."

He confirms and he goes on to tell me the story of how he uploaded some clips of his band that he recorded to YouTube and contacted Journey's manager, having heard they were looking for a new singer. He says they called him up and invited him to the U.S. to try out. Given the malarkey you get at a Manila NIV window, this story only got points for being original. He produced some flimsy emails and letters, etc.

So I go, in my best dubious voice, "Yeah? let's hear Wheels in the Sky!"

He belts it out for the whole waiting room and for the staff to hear (I made sure to take off my headset and let the speaker play it because what I was really doing was covering my butt).

I said, "Look sir, there isn't a person in this Embassy who would believe that story-- going to try out for Journey!-- not a soul would believe that. Except for me. I saw you sing last Friday and I couldn't shut up about how your vocals were perfect Steve Perry.

So I tell you what. I'm giving you that visa. You're going to try out. And you're going to make it...."

And the rest is rock n roll history, my friends:

Happy holidays

http://www.journeym usic.com/ index2.html

******************************************

Great job, Arnel! Fantastic! Congratulations!



Related Posts

Update: Journey & Arnel Pineda on CBS

Traffic Stasis

Last month the PCIJ came out with an investigative report regarding the traffic problem in the metropolitan area. Here are some excerpts.

• "On any given day, 2.34 million vehicles pass Metro Manila’s main circumferential artery, Edsa or C-4. Of the total, 139,227 are public utility buses (PUBs),..."
• "Traffic experts themselves say the high number of privately owned vehicles on Metro Manila thoroughfares is one of the main reasons why traffic in the metropolis has gotten worse through the years. But the boorish behavior of many public buses — as well as the fact that far too many of them are on the road — aggravate the situation. Official statistics even indicate that at least 80 percent of the buses in Metro Manila figured in traffic accidents in 2006."
• A 2006 report funded by JICA notes that "...there is a 50 percent oversupply of buses during the morning peak period between six and nine in the morning."
  

The actual number of buses is hard to pinpoint as part of the problem is that there are several agencies tangling with each other over who-is-in-charge (as usual). If you have ever been stuck in horn-blaring traffic along EDSA (especially if you drive yourself) what is apparent is the tremendous amount of incompetence effectively doled out by so-called 'traffic enforcers' from these agencies, whose most effective tactic to thwart an erring motorist is to flap his arms up-and-down from the side of the road.

There has got to be a better way to alleviate this horrific traffic problem we all have grown accustomed to. In the meantime, click here to read "Too Many Buses, Too Many Agencies Clog EDSA" by Margaret Jao-Grey.



Related Links: Traffic

January 1, 2008

After a late start on the first day of 2008, we managed to get packed and headed down Marcos Highway for the drive back to Manila. In all the years I've driven up-and-down that road, this was the first time I encountered fog this thick. Fog lights were turned on, so were the hazard warning lights. I had a bit of a freak out session after I realised I could not even see the painted lane dividers in the middle road and pulled over to the side of the winding road.

It was a short break and we headed back down at a slow speed. Had it been "normal" visibility, we probably could have made Baguio to Balintawak in less than 4 hours and 20 mins, but weather is fickle.

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Weekend Snapshot: Fog

WS Entry #4

Click here to see more photos of the last two mornings of 2007.

This was taken in the last few days of 2007 during an early morning run up north. This is a sight I wouldn't mind seeing over and over again.

Happy New Year!

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