Tripping on the year that was

One of the major perks of being a writer-columnist is the series of invitations for trips out of town the whole year round, in relation to arts and culture of course.

For 2015, the first major invite was for a poetry festival in Dubai on Feb. 7 and 8. It wasn’t my first trip to the Emirates, but I looked forward to convening with fellow poets this time, for the 4th edition of “Poetic Heart: Connecting Humanity 2015.”

It wasn’t till I got back that I found out how my name cropped up in the organizers’ hat for representing our country. Turns out that the nice gentleman Edd Fuentes had recommended me when asked about it by Citibank, which had something to do with the fest. It pays to have a reputation as a versifier, hehe. And now’s my time to thank you, Edd, for that sortie of nearly a year ago.

Two days of poetry readings interspersed with musical performances filled up the bill at The Cultural and Scientific Association (Nadwa) auditorium in Al Mamzar, Deira Dubai, the city’s cultural center. Twenty-two poets of 11 nationalities were asked to prepare poems relating to the themes of “world peace, universal harmony, protection of the environment and the spirit of friendship.”

Heck, I’d write a poem on anything just to be able to frolic on that beach again with the iconic backdrop of the Burj Al Arab Hotel, where five years earlier I had flown a yellow kite with P-Noy’s mug to help promote his presidential candidacy. After all, a sizable work force among the Emiratis is composed of fellow Pinoys.

Glad to have a chance to meet again with Lalaine Chu-Benitez and Mon Benitez, who have run the world-class lifestyle monthly Illustrado — published in Dubai for over a hundred issues as of late last year, and to which I’ve contributed a column for the last five years.

My participation didn’t quite end there, as a few weeks later, Bangalore poet Sankara Pillai e-mailed for a few of my poems that he would translate into Malayalam, one of India’s more mellifluous languages. We had traipsed together on that beach, as well as on parts of the largest mall in the world, the Dubai Mall, before we could pose for photos fronting the Burj Khalifah, the city’s other architectural attraction as the world’s tallest building.

And several months later, I also received communication from one of the moving spirits behind the poetry fest, Tagore Peace Award winner Dr. Shihab Ghanem, that he had translated my poem “The Beach, Plus Pablo” into Arabic for inclusion in the January 2016 issue of the prestigious cultural magazine Dubai Thaqafiyya. Hey, that’s this month.

Yemen-born Emirati Dr. Ghanem, a poet and translator of renown, also said he would be producing a book about the poets who participated in the past four Poetic Heart festivals.

For the middle of March 2015, thanks to amigo Mike Marasigan, I checked out the Motag Living Museum off Caticlan after lodging for a night at Finca Verde, a private farm and wellness spa run by Binggoy and Niña Remedios. The museum showcases daily life in agrarian communities, and promotes interactive participation from among small tour groups.

The next evening was hosted by Boracay Terraces Hotel, where Lara Tajanlangit Buenaventura shared her environmental advocacy together with Friends of the Flying Foxes, which seeks to ensure protection of the forest behind Puka Beach. Their efforts continue despite the apparent imminence of resort development threats to the island’s fragile ecosystem.

Other highlights of that weekend included typicallly memorable dinners at Binggoy’s Dos Mestizos restaurant and his new one Rojo, a meal cum craft beers at the new Indios Bravos Gastropub, and a special massage at The Mandala Spa.  

For April, it was yet another Beijing jaunt, this time with the winners of the Bright Leaf Agri Journ Awards (BLAJA) and the PMFTC, Inc. organizers. Lauriat after lauriat are all I can remember of my brief three-day sojourn with the group, since I had to hurry back home for another NAIA departure.

The meals included a 15-course lunch at Huajia Yuiyuan Restaurant; dinner at DaDong Roast Duck Restaurant (among CNN Travel’s “20 Best Beijing Restaurants”), where master chef Dong Zhenxiang’s celebrated “Super Lean” roast duck was joined on the groaning tables by 15 other glorious dishes; a 12-course lunch at Tangrenfu Seafood Restaurant; and classic dinner at Capital M, Australian restaurateur Michelle Garnauff’s Beijing flagship and also among the capital’s “20 Best” per CNN.

It was food porn with every meal, each one taking over two hours, with phone and SLR cams documenting each new dish upon arrival.

But I had to take my leave from the group a day early, so I could catch a colloquium at Singapore Management University that featured our very own music icon Freddie Aguilar, who enthralled the academic crowd with his narrative on his Anak success story. Had dinner after with him, too, hosted by the colloquium organizer Dr. Kirpal Singh.

In my spare hours, I caught up with the engrossing exhibit “Medium at Large: Shapeshifting Material and Methods in Contemporary Art” at the Singapore Art Museum. Also met up with Dengcoy Miel and Vien Cortes, both doing very well in Singapore. And ran into Clod del Mundo and family out on a street. His daughter Ida was screening her film K’naa at a film fest. 

Maytime was Dumaguete time, for at least a week to serve as a panelist for the 54th Silliman University National Writers Workshop. June kept me home, but on July it was a Dumaguete reprise to catch Michael Dadap’s Ampalaya the Musical at the Luce Theatre.  

Then it was a series of “provincial” jaunts for the MTRCB’s Matalinong Panonood para sa Pamilya at Lipunan nina Juan at Juana seminars. The first that I participated in was for July 9-11 in Legaspi City, where the most unique dish we tried was the sili ice cream at SmallTalk Restaurant, with poet Jun Balde of the Governor’s Office hosting. Apart from the seminars conducted in school auditoriums, we enjoyed the road trip to Misibis Bay Beach Resort that featured the photogenic scene starring the Amphitheater at Exo-Energy Park.

From July 30 to Aug. 2, it was Iloilo City with excellent dinners at Tatoy’s Pavilion, the Mojave Grill and Steak House. and Buto’t Balat Restaurant. Oh, and old amigo Rock Drilon spirited me away on our second night for a poetry reading at a bar. And on R&R day, on our way to Sol y Mar Family Beach Resort, we made sure to conduct a pit stop at Jaro Cathedral, where a now famous foundling was discovered on a font.

On the weekend of Sept. 18 and 19, we had good attendance at our yearend Gender Seminar at Casas de Acuzar in Bataan. It wasn’t a good year for me in relation to the sea, but here at last was a beach, and a large swimming pool where male Board members could show off abs and biceps towards sundown. It was a good party, not quite R-18, that we had too on that single night we thought might be our last out-of-towner together. 

A weekend late in September had me revisiting Moon Garden in Tagaytay (now renamed Secret Garden with its new ownership, not to be confused with Sonya’s Secret Garden). But discovered the good Thai resto Lime and Basil for exquisite dinner, and breakfast by the lotus pond at Moon Garden is always a delight.

End-September meant a return to Singapore for the “Writers Talking” program with Sujata Parashar of New Delhi and Okky Madasari of Jakarta, again hosted by Dr. Kirpal Singh at SMU. October was a no-go, while November offered up only another weekend in Tagaytay, at Taal Vista Lodge, but with another superb dinner at Antonio’s with “The Man” himself providing an aperitif and conversation. 

A December trip to Bohol got deferred, while another, for Mactan, was aborted due to APEC air traffic. Both might be rescheduled for later this month. I hope so, as I long to be in the sea once again, and it’s been some time since. The beaches in Dubai, Boracay and Dauin off Dumaguete are all I recall of the year that passed; I demand a recount. Or more prospects for the year just in.