Pacific Rims

If I heard of the title before I read the book, I would not have thought basketball in the Philippines. I'd probably think of the various calderas in the "Ring of Fire" before thinking hoops.

The book is by Rafe Bartholomew, a Fulbright scholar who decided to do his research on Philippine basketball. Being a hoops lover himself, the he heard about rumors of our obsession with basketball. What could be more intriguing than a country of short people hopelessly devoted to a game that height was a major requirement? Of course, he had to come and see for himself.

I am not a basketball lover. I am a Ateneo basketball fan. My love for the sport begins and ends with the UAAP, fueled by my love for my college alma mater. I do not care much for PBA, though I did try to follow it after seeing the 2002 Championship team finding in different teams. But it was just not the same.

So why did I read the book?

It began with this video.

Adorable ain't he? Clearly fully American yet he speaks better Tagalog than most people who has lived in the Philippines for ages! This guy definitely wanted to know basketball in the Philippine context that he learned the language to have a better gauge of it. He has more love for our country than some of our population.

But it was still not enough for me to shell out P900 for a hardbound copy. I would have waited for a paperback copy or borrowed from someone who had the book.

What finally encouraged me was an article from Michael Tan, one of my favorite Inquirer columnists, about the book. He included some snippets of the book in his article which piqued my interest: the carnival side of the sport where there was a game of gay men vs. midgets to entertain people, the relation of circumcision with the sport and finally, the lack of academic research on the sport. The last one did it for me. No, I have not turned nerd all of a sudden. But it was indeed interesting to discover that despite our undying obsession for it, no one has really written about it in an academic perspective.

* * * * *

I'm finally done with the book. I thought I would turn Alaska Aces afterwards because it contained a lot about his sojourn with the basketball team. He talked at length about Roe Ellis and Willie Miller, their lives and how they played ball. We become privy to their 2007 championship (which was an unexpected bonus for Rafe). It was like watching "Coach Carter" or some basketball movie. The underdogs working their way up for the happy ending of winning the trophy.

But what was more interesting was how he was able to incorporate Philippine culture through a basketball lens. Rich kids vs. servants, sneakers vs. tsinelas. It was about the income gap. It was about our ingrained politically-incorrect nature. It was about our ability to laugh even at the most miserable of occasions. It was about Philippine politics. It was about our "agency" (ah, such an ISS word) within a system that did know how to be fair.

It is an engaging book, with Rafe as a participant observer. He was both insider and outsider. A lover of basketball and yet a foreigner researching on local ball. He was both knowledgeable of the subject matter as well as one in a journey of discovery.

After closing the pages, I had the most interesting reaction... "wouldn't it be fun to go back studying again?" Gasp! It must have been how he has been able to make his research enjoyable yet still meaningful and full of discoveries that made me think that.

Anyway, this book is for Alaska fans, basketball fanatics and anyone interested in Philippine culture. National Bookstore is on sale until August 22 so you get 20% if you buy before that. What's more he's coming for a slew of book signings the coming week so that's an extra bonus!

August 21, 5PM at National Bookstore Cubao.

August 24, 6PM at Powerbooks Greenbelt3

August 25, 6PM at Fully Booked Fort Bonifacio

August 28, 5 PM at National Bookstore Ayala Mall

one month to one year

there three important questions you asked me

Q1.
it was late evening when we were hanging out by the benches under the tree of our alma mater. i don't remember anymore how the conversation led to you asking me what was happening between us.

you had your knee in a brace then. i remember the tail-end of our five hour conversation on the phone, i wished you 'break a leg' for your basketball game. ooops, wrong idiom. that was for theater. i did not, for the life of me, imagine that it would be taken literally. the next time i saw you again, you had a leg brace because of MCL. oooops, sorry.

you asked me, while our hands held each other, "ano to?" (what is this?) i wanted to be ambiguous, you didn't. i guess we know who won the case that night.

Q2.
it was funny how pinoy big brother got in the way of your moment.

after what i thought was our despedida dinner for you since it was your last day in davao and was already home, you gave me a scrapbook. i was teasing you for being romantic, a rare event and one that i always welcome.

i leafed through each page which i could see was made painstaken care and love. knowing you to be unexpressive, i teased you for putting images of our story in a book. so not you. so me, actually. and such an idiot i am, i really did not know what was coming. and because of that... the tempo broke when an interesting scene was happening on big brother. thank God for commercial breaks. haha.

yes, i am such an idiot. even upon reaching the page when THE question was there, i didn't get it. i read it the first time and snickered and teased you again. 'yiheeee, you love me! you are sooo cute.'

then i went back to the note again. waitaminute. your note said, "angie, mahal na mahal kita. maari ba kitang makasama ng habang buhay?" (angie, i love you very much. may i spend forever with you?).

people who knew about it actually bet i would cry, being such a cry baby. guess what, i laughed. laughed long and loud. not at you, but at myself. for being caught by surprise. for you actually pulling off a surprise! for me not getting it the moment i got the scrapbook. i laughed and forgot to say yes. we did resolve that at some point. :)


Q3.
well, it wasn't really you who asked me, but the priest. and he asked you the same thing. it seemed we kinda agreed on an answer.

the answer which decided our forevers was a leap of faith.

i believe.

<---------0-------->

i am fervently hoping we spend it together. yes, we can. :)

games, dates, roses and sweet husbands

I was in Manila the entire week for our midyear reporting. By the third day, I was missing Jan terribly. Good thing I kept myself busy the days I was there in Manila.

July 13. Saw Ateneo vs. UE live at the ULTRA. Thanks to Bok and Erik for getting tickets for me. UE scared me, but woot! We won. Yeah. Bad calls by the referees for both sides though. Afterwards we ate at Jatujak in SM Megamall. It’s so gooooood!

July 14. Met up with Ninin and Mike and Ina. Lissa followed after. Krocodile Grill dinner. Yummy baked tahong!

July 15. Dinner with Bok and Rowie. Cheap dinner! Yummy dessert. Great conversation. I missed college. But it was great that each of us had good news to share.

July 16. Officemates time. I’m going to miss them. My resignation is effective August 15. Ack. Jobless. Hehe!

July 17. Met with Entadirs to watch The Dark Knight in support of Ces, whose med school was sponsoring the event. Artie treated me. Yey! Mon-Mon, one of my leading men in Mga Indios Bravos, was there! I have not seen him in ten years!

After the heavy movie, I was glad that I meeting Maita and several JVPs to watch Brownman Revival at 70’s Bistro. So fun! Norie, Zaza, Jerry, Maita and I danced to the reggae beat. Jay H. left early though and just missed Noel. Noel Cabangon came and sat with us while he had his beer. I promise to pass by Conspiracy before I go. We might see each other in October though. Woot!

July 19. Dinner and coffee with my bro. I didn’t sleep at his new home because it was still a mess. Besides I get a free ride to the office when I stayed with my in-laws. Hehe! It was unfortunate, though, that he spilled his large chai tea latte. Tsk, tsk. And it was still full. Bummer.

July 20. I wanted to go home early so Jan and I can watch the Ateneo vs. UP game. But he convinced me to just grab the opportunity to watch live. Sweet of my husband no? So I booked the 7PM flight to Davao and watched the 2PM game with Bok and Erik with Rhia, Dada, Mimi and May. I was also able to convince my UP officemates to cheer their team on. They watched from the other side, of course.

I was glad Jan convinced me to watch live because I had so much fun. We were seated where the Blue Babble were and that guy who was egging us to cheer was just hilarious. He reminded me of Robin Padilla. Funny dude talaga. Hehe!

I was excited to go home to Jan. I actually thought I wouldn’t make the flight. The in-laws were bringing me to the airport, but we were waiting for Papa’s new phone from smart. We left Galleria at 5:50PM and got there at 6:15. Whew! The check-in counter was still open but almost ready to close. By the time I entered the pre-departure area, it was ready for boarding already.

When I finally arrived in Davao and got my stuff. There was Jan waiting for me. Whee! We were supposed to have dinner but I was kinda full and he wasn’t that hungry either. So we decided to visit the Queen’s Land Baywalk to check it out. It was still under construction. We only stayed for a short while and went home already.

Back at home, I didn’t enter our room first. I went to have a drink and washed my hands and all that. As I was unceremoniously entering our room, I was surprised to see roses on our bed. I didn’t even linger to look and just hugged him tight smiling like crazy! After I let him go, I asked how many roses there were, he asked if I saw our symbol. Oops! I was too surprised and happy with the flowers that I didn’t see it formed ←O→.

Oh wow! This was well thought of! And we counted the flowers… it was 41 all in all. Buti na lang mura dito sa Davao. Hehe!

That’s my husband. He makes leaving terribly difficult and coming home such joy. :)

go, ateneo!

the hottest rivalry of any basketball league does it again! an intense game that leaves everyone at the edge of their seats. uncertain who gets the glory for a day until the last minute.

yey! Ateneo picks first blood!

except... i'm not too satisfied by the team performance. tiu does great, as usual. and salamat continues to take on the role as the spark plug and putting the life back in the team. yuri always shines at the perfect moment. at jobe! astig nung isang tira mo, ah!

but then, it is only the first game. the team, especially the rookies, need to adjust to the UAAP heat again. and i am still hoping for the black magic on rabeh, as what he has done with kramer and arao.

ang importante, panalo! wooooot!

pero hah... ang galing mo talaga, jv casio. you will always have my respect. at atkins... pogi mo. angas ka nga lang. hehe.

gasgas na lalamunan ko, mehn.