I don’t want to date you just yet.
Author: Neyzielle Ronnicque
She has a wanderfilled way of becoming her dreams.
Ilocos Norte Born
I remember a relative telling me, “Yung mga ka-age mo kasi or mga mas bata pa, sila ang maraming sinasabi against sa mga Marcoses. Hindi pa naman sila buhay nun.”
For a brief moment, I could not talk.
Let me make this straight, I am talking in the perspective of a 22-year old citizen, born and raised in Ilocos Norte. No matter how hard I try, I am deeply rooted to and connected with the positive ideals about the Marcoses.
But I am not complaining.
In Elementary through High School, I was taught of the plethora of positive effects of the Marcos regime in the Philippines – of how OPM, arts, culture, traditions, and ethnicity, among others were enhanced and emphasized. Of the reason why “Apong” implemented Martial Law is because the country was in chaos; out of control because of the penetration of communism. Of how Philippines was one of the richest countries in Asia, and how the economy declined after his reign, drastically.
Until I entered UP. There are many things I didn’t know about. I didn’t know about the tortures, the disruption of information and communication (media outfits ordered to close down), the sufferings, the trauma and pain of people fighting for their freedom and civil liberty. All I know is that discipline was instilled, curfews were implemented, military presence were all over, and bad men were punished, albeit forcibly.
But PLEASE DO NOT BLAME THE PEOPLE IN ILOCOS NORTE. I keep reading posts from people generalizing that the mistakes from the past were Ilocanos’ fault. Let me get this straight: WE DO NOT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT.
Please do not blame, smart-shame, ridicule, and ostracize the people who are posting about the glory and fame of the Marcoses because like me, they had more than enough of the Marcos allegory growing up.
I remember the discussion in my class last night: “We are presented with [media] messages that are interpreted in different ways depending on our cultural background, economic standing, and even personal experiences.” We are all exposed to different values, attitudes, interests, and community ideologies.
These are ours – already embedded in our everyday lives. Some of us might know how to reject and accept new information about the Martial Law issue; but for many, it is quite hard to incorporate the information to their existing knowledge structure.
But PLEASE do not blame the people in Ilocos Norte. We are sincerely sorry about what happened to Martial Law victims– but obstinate as it sounds, the (Ilocano) youth today do not have anything to do with the torture which started 44 years ago.
We are sorry but PLEASE do not put the blame solely to the people in Ilocos Norte.
China Chronicles
When you have equally impulsive workmates/ friends, booking a flight falls under the discretion of the most spontaneous one– (Hi, Feye!). A flight to HongKong was confirmed even before one of us asked when.
Three months before the trip, we have already paid for our hotel room which only cost us Php. 2400++ each for three nights and three days. Cheap find, yes! The power of AirBnB comes in handy nowadays.
As for the itinerary, what better way than to leave it on the hands of our geographer friend (Hello again, Feye)?
Our flight was scheduled at four in the afternoon. We arrived at the airport a little too early so we decided to eat our lunch first. Thinking that the check-in counter for HK was not open yet, we took our time eating our share of burgers. Little did we know that we had to run like we’re in a marathon just to catch our boarding time.
Amazing Race, NAIA Terminal 3 edition.
It was the worst (yet) flight I’d ever had because a tropical storm entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility the same day as our flight. We know, guys, we know.
We experienced countless turbulence; the crew and even the pilot told us to just stay calm. But who would stay calm when it was like the plane would crash in any given minute?
But we arrived safe.
After we left our bags in the hotel room, we found ourselves wandering the streets of HongKong late (11:00 PM). We found a local food hub (which most likely is a carinderia in the Philippine setting) and ate the famous Hongkong noodles.
Then we had a good night rest.
We started doing things early the next day. Because Shenzhen, China.
Judge us but we ate our breakfast in McDonald’s. Why?
Then the long walk and countless MTR rides began.
We applied for a Chinese Visa in the Chinese Embassy here in the Philippines but one of us unfortunately was not granted. We put our trust to Google because articles said that Nalie can also get a transit Visa in Shenzhen. It turned out that the Chinese consular no longer grants Visa to Filipino and American citizens. *Coughs territorial disputes*
With a disappointed and somewhat heavy heart, we still had to push through our plan of going to Window of the World without Nalie — whom we were not able to contact because obviously, we cannot use social media in China.
After long lines, broken English conversations, looking or clues on how to buy tickets for the transit train in China, we nearly gave up. Fortunately, a guard in the station assisted us. We arrived in the Window of the World with sweat – and haggard faces.
But it was all worth it because for a brief moment, we fooled our family and friends that we were in France.
..in Japan, London, USA, California, Macau, Rome, and even Australia. *evil laugh*
This is my equally impulsive (and beautiful) friend/workmate, everyone..
We went back to HK at around 2:30 PM and met with Nalie who spent her day train hopping in HongKong. We ended the night with the Symphony of Lights (HKD$ 200) but we did not find it amusing. We could have spent our 200 dollars on a better show.
So that was our tiring but full of adventure first day in China. ~ I am so happy that for once, I’ve traveled with amazing people in an out-of-the-country trip.
Neyziellewanders 