My officemates and I were smoking in our Istarbuko in the garden. It started drizzling, but we didn’t budge, until the drops slowly got bigger and we decided to move in to the shaded smoking pit. The rain started pouring all of a sudden and I joked that God must’ve been nagging us, “I’m sending rain! Get out of Istarbuko, you lazy smokers!” My officemate said that maybe it’s also raining in Iraq. “God is crying,” said the other. Silence. Pout. Sigh.
We have a TV in the Probe Team area and we were all watching Bush’s speech on CNN this morning. The first stages of war have begun and I teared a bit, wondering if I had relatives I didn’t know in the US Army, or how the families of those soldiers are feeling, or what would happen in Mindanao. The Muslims down South and in our neighboring countries are angry with the US, so who knows what they might do. And whose side is the Philippine government on? Yes, we all know what the stupid answer is.
I don’t know what good war can do. It has been good for some yet devastating for others, even useless when there’s no resolve at all. But I just wish that everyone could get along. Why can’t we all just get along?
Akiko and her friend have this new project. They’re giving away prayer journals where you can write down how God answers your prayers, even after a long time, just so you can see how God works in your life. I said that my first entry would be Bush’s decision not to go to war.
So much for that prayer.
We’re still following the news right now. There are bright lights exploding over Iraq. And vessels launching missiles. We live in very sad times. But when you think about it, who hasn’t?
Ma’m Cheche, or CLL as she is called in the office, was on this show on ANC called Straight Talk yesterday and for the last segment of the show, the host read all these questions that viewers texted in during the interview. Many were praises while others were quite scary, but CLL handled herself so well with quick and safe answers that we couldn’t help but admire her for being one of the top broadcasters in the country and our very own Mother Hen at work.
One viewer asked what CLL would do if ABS-CBN asked her to go back and she said,” I’d rather not answer that question because it hasn’t happened yet.” Good answer. Another asked if she had ever thought of working for CNN and she explained that they did ask her to work for them years ago when The Probe Team was already popular; but the job required that she leave Philippine TV. So she declined because she wanted to help Philippine TV and bring excellent programming to the public.
My favorite question was why 5&Up was moved to ABC 5, to which she replied, “Because Channel 7 cancelled it.” Woohoo!!! She said it with such poise, but we could see all the disappointment, maybe even anger in her eyes that we started screaming and cheering in the cubicle, “Yeah! Go, Ma’m!!!”
Near the end of the hour, a question came in asking what CLL’s most dangerous story was. Then the interviewer went on to asking how she and her staff go about shooting stories that pose danger for the crew. I awaited her answer with bated breath. I knew that she never liked it when reporters went on dangerous shoots, but I wanted to hear how she’d say it without sounding like too much of a mother.
A crew from The Probe Team was supposed to go to Iraq, but CLL decided not to allow it. During the meeting, they weighed the pros and cons and CLL’s major priority, of course, was always safety. She also questioned their motives. Of course they wanted a good story, but was that all? Did getting the best scoop mean risking lives? So the crew opted to find good stories related to the war here, to probe in on how the war will affect the country, what the people’s fears are and how they’re handling everything. She wanted stories that hit closer to home, and she wanted them done with the safest means possible.
That was a good answer. Other reporters in the networks would’ve thought that we Probe Productions people were sissies for cancelling shoots in Mindanao or where ever threats were present, but I’m glad that we’re always able to find other ways of doing stories without having to boast that we risked our lives. Just our limbs. Haha! Joke.
I remembered my favorite Probe Team story by Howie Severino. He was a single-man crew in Basilan with some GMA reporters and they were all caught in a crossfire. Instead of staying for a stroy, they evacuated teh area and he made his experience the story. The title of his piece was May storya nga, patay naman.
No matter how many problems come pouring down on our company and no matter how difficult shoots may be, I love how watching CLL work and talk about how everything started becomes a sort of energy. Yes, we’re not here for the money. And yes, we don’t make much. But after all the hair-pulling and nail-biting, coffee breaks, yosi breaks, coke breaks, and instant mami breaks, we still love what we do, and I think that that’s a big factor on why our shows are successful.
Of course, CLL almost said that GamePlan was a game show. Haha! But she made a quick save and said “sports show”. Phew! Thanks, Ma’m. :)
Only a few people know that I used to like reading as a very young child. I was content with my fairytales and my favorite was The Little Mermaid. I loved fish and the water, and the thought of being able to breathe underwater was more fantastic than walking on the moon.
I don’t remember how old I was, but Papa brought me to the beach once and it was the first time I realized how salty seawater was. I wanted to look at the fish in the murky water of whatever beach it was we were in and I strained my eyes for as long as I could, with each dive becoming less painful than the last. By 9, my eyes were a little more accustomed to the salt; but in a family trip to Anilao, Batangas, Tita Betty of Aquaventure taught me how to skin dive and the beauty of Anilao and the sea itself became so much clearer to me. Whenever the divers went out, I rode with them, played with their bubbles and snorkeled near the boat. I was amazed with how deep they could go and during one of their dives, my Tita swam up to me with a porcupine fish, all blown up and covered with spines.
So blame the porcupine fish! Because since then, I dreamt of becoming a professional diver, a marine biologist and an environmentalist. Scuba lessons were too expensive, but I stopped littering, studied marine life, watched The Discovery Channel almost 24/7, and applied for Biology and got into the Ateneo. I even went to a marine camp in Danjugan Island right before college and my love for the environment was on a roll.
Then I failed Chem. Whoops!
I shifted to Comm and things just changed from then on. Now I have a dream job in GamePlan where my being a jock in Comm was a plus, and little did I know that almost 2 years later, this huge shift in life would lead me back to my childhood dream. And all it really took was an opportunity and a push from the producers’ dive instructor Tantan.
After the GamePlan checkout, I was envious but passive, until Tantan told me that I could join a class of solo flighters just like me. At this point, my financial issues took a bit of a backseat and boom! I took the classes late at night, played habulan in the Aqua One pool and we were off to Batangas for our check out dive in the Aquaventure Reef Club.
On the second weekend of March, I became a certified diver. Insert WAHOO here! An open water check out is made up of four dives, so we had 2 on Saturday and 2 more on Sunday. Our first two dives consisted of drills so that we could review everything we learned in the pool. We dove 40 feet underwater in front of the resort and the funniest thing was seeing Tantan’s Bensia pencil break apart. He was teaching us underwater navigation and while trying to write on his slate, the pencil leads, or bullets as I call them, just shot out and started floating to the surface. I wish I had a camera because the bullets looked so cute speeding away from us and we must’ve looked so funny trying to grab them one by one. In the end, we were able to get 5 or 6 bullets and Tantan just scratched his head and fixed it somehow. So besides Porna’s shaking her head to say “no” and hitting Tantan underwater, the scratching of the head is another one of my favorite unofficial underwater signals.
Our third dive was in Arthur’s Rock and although it was slightly murky, floating and breathing 60 feet underwater for the first time and experiencing a sensory overload –water, current, pretty creatures, semi-zero gravity – was so overwhelming that I kept leaving my buddy Mon behind. Bad student! I’d be fixed on a particular fish or coral and it would take more than a few bangs from Tantan or Tolits to get my attention again. After a 1-hour surface interval (Naks!), we went down to Cathedral with plastic bags filled with tasty bread, and I got to feed lots of fish, just as my co-producers did the month before. I copied what Carlo did and placed a piece of bread partly in my mouth and the little fish came so close to my face, some of them even pecked on my lips. I was ticklish and kilig the whole time, until we ran out of bread. Sad.
We swam to the castle near Cathedral to take some class pictures and I was having such a blast, I think I posed upside down a few times. Learning how to play with your buoyancy is so much fun, it’s like learning how to drive a car and manipulate the mix of the clutch and the gas so you can rev up or brake with style. I was also glad that Tantan told me about taking the reg out of my mouth so I could smile for pictures underwater. Haha!
A few minutes before ending the dive, we went under the boat for one final exercise. Mask removal and mask replacement. This was difficult for my classmates who wear contacts, namely Billie and Mon. So when my buddy Mon placed his mask back on, I had to tap on his mask when there was still some water and tap on his shoulder when his mask was completely cleared. Then he opened his eyes and gave me the ok. It was really easy for me because I can open my eyes underwater and put my mask back on with no worries, except that snot might come out of my nose when I blow air into my mask. But when I took it off and opened my eyes, I was amazed that I felt no pain at all, not even the slightest sting from all the salt 15 feet below the surface. For the first time, I felt nothing, as if I was just swimming in a country club pool. I placed my mask back on and I was so aliw, and I felt as if diving on that very day at age 23 was just perfect, as if I had done so much since grad anyway that it was time to go back to what I had forgotten I wanted to be many years ago. Cool.
I experienced the beauty of weightlessness in Arthur’s Rock, fed the fish in Cathedral, and made new friends who love the sea (And not to mention alcohol!) just as much as I do. The journey has begun and I’m ready for more! I want to go all the way with this, and I’m blessed to have an extremely supportive family that’s ready to back me up, many good friends rooting for me, and many new friends helping me out.
So thank you, thank you to the people of Aqua One, Aquaventure, Instructor Tantan Rosal, buddies Porna Lanto, Billie Lee and Mon Roldan. You’ve no idea how much this new experience means to me. On the other hand, I think you do. I just had the most wonderful weekend at the beach and I think I'm going to be saying that a lot more because I can imagine that every dive weekend will be better than the last.
Thanks also to Tolits, Benz, Jay, and Grace for making our dive "the more, the manier." Hehe.
Let’s go diving!!! :)
When divers don't have night dives...I told you they loved alcohol! :)
Picture! Picture! Billie and Jay sitting down, Tantan, Porna and Tolits standing up, and Miko and I being happy up on the bench.
One last class picture. Tantan, Billie, Jay, me, Tolits, and Porna. Too bad Mon had already left by then.
*** I reread The Little Mermaid in National Bookstore and I cried. In National Bookstore! Weird. I think it's because now that I’m of age to fully understand the meaning and the impact of that story, I know that I can never have everything I want or love.
But at least I have diving. Yeah, I’m a diver, baby!
One dream down. Yippee! Dang, I'm dying to get back in the water.
*** “When you dim your light so someone else could shine, the world gets darker.” – from Playing Mona Lisa
Just a little something that inspired me today. :)
Have you ever had a dream and felt like oh my God, it's all coming true? Well, dreams don't just come true overnight and shit, but man, something good is coming and I can feel it. It'll be a long journey, but I'm going to start with it and I'm going to take things one day at a time.
Before I get to all that, though, take a peak at my new dolphin's log.
More to come when I've time to upload everything, including my thoughts on the most wonderful feeling I've ever felt in my entire life. (Which can only be beaten by true love at last and having kids. :)
