Lorne's Journal

Saturday March 3, 2001 Almost time to go...

My ticket for Bangkok is for tomorrow, at 2:20 pm. I had hoped to get out on Friday, but things didn't work the way I'd hoped.

In any event, with nothing much to do, and no desire to sit around moping and stressing I booked FX Studios from 12:00 noon until 5:00pm. I had no idea what I was going to do. Most of my gear is in storage.

I took in my PSO2 Palm Recorder and my guitar. I had a new idea brewing so I took a chance and worked on it. It's called "Purring" and as are many... it is based on a dream I had. I had a dream about this kitten that Michelle and I had seen laying dead on the street... It looked as if it were sleeping. In the dream I was at this rock concert and someone brought the kitten to me. It told me all about were it went after it died. Thus the song.

I had a drum loop from the Korg ER-1 on the PSO2 which I'd recorded who knows when. Eddie transferred that onto ProTools and looped it so it would be long enough. I put a rough guitar on it, then Eddie set up the live room and mic'd the guitar. I put down 2 guitar tracks then did the vocals. I recorded 2 electric guitar parts then wasted a great deal of time with this useless Roland keyboard "workstation" that offers it all, but gives you nothing but twinkly fairy dust sounds. Psssshhhttt!!!

In the end we gave up on the keyboard... and Eddie edited the drum loop a touch... then PRESTO... It sounds fine. In fact I am quite happy with the results.

Eddie and I said our goodbyes (again) and I packed up my stuff and headed back to LP 4 for my last Susie dinner. I watched DETROIT ROCK CITY with Maggie and Jake, then headed back up to the confines of my room...

Thursday March 1, 2001 Pack it up...
Coda... The Last Karate Class...

I met up with Jumbing at the hotel at 6:00pm... Tonight the class was held at the NEW JKA dojo, which is near the Manila University, and is a bit of a drive from Makati. Because of traffic being quite heavy we didn't reach there until nearly 7:00pm...

The area reminded me of Kensington Market. The Dojo was on top of a building that Jumbing's wife's father owns. Its still quite unfinished but it had a really good "feeling" about it. I'm sure it's one of the few JKA Karate dojos that has a picture of Jesus pinned up on the wall. The floors were hard wood, and still a bit dirty from the construction that had been going on but we made do and the class was excellent. Jumbing and 2 other Black Belts are competing on the weekend in Hong Kong so they practised their Kata, and I learned a new Kata with several other students. It was a sad ending really... Jumbing and the others have really made me feel welcome. I will truly miss training with them.

After some difficulty in finding the location Rene picked me up and we headed out...

Thursday March 1, 2001 Pack it up...

The movers arrive at 2:00pm... The time is now 12:30pm...
All is ready. All is prepared. Tonight will be my last Karate class in Manila. It will also be my last night in Manila. It has been one year since my arrival in the Philippines and I find myself in the same sea of uncertainty that I was then.

Tomorrow I fly out with only my Guitar, MEC backpack, and shoulder bag. Off to a place I've never seen, never been and don't know what to expect. God's cattle-prod pokes me in the butt once again. Move along little doggy.

Okay kids,
This is LP4 signing off. Good bye from the tree house... Over and out.
See you on the other side of the water...

Wednesday February 28, 2001 : Mix down...

I went into FX Studios today to mix down the two songs I've recorded. Eddie booked me in from 12 noon to 3 pm... We mixed "Fooling" first... This was mildly difficult as the song is about Michelle... and was written for her when things looked difficult...

Eddie mixed a version first. Then I mixed a version. Then I mixed an version with just the acoustic guitars and vocals — the "campfire" mix. Next... it was "You Want Happy?" We did only 2 mixes, Eddies and mine.

Listening to them tonight I can barely tell the mixes apart. I spoke to M. again tonight. This whole thing is so difficult for both of us. Oddly breaking up has improved our communication. There isn't the pressure now. The fear of saying the wrong thing and hurting the other person. Now we both hurt so much that the amazing friendship we have is helping us both through a very difficult time.

I am leaving Manila. I've been here a year exactly. Time to move on. Bangkok, here I come. I don't know how long I will stay there. Only time will tell.

Tonight was my last guitar lesson with Michael Terry. He ran through some scales and talked for awhile. I will miss my lessons with him. Rene will also be upset that I am going. But I will come back to visit... Most of all I will I miss Susie. She has been like an angel around LP4. Hmmm.

How did I grow such deep roots here in only a year?

Tuesday February 27, 2001 : Back to Manila...

I was up at about 7:30 am today. I showered then headed out to get some breakfast. I checked my email then I went down to the beach and grabbed the same spot where we've been since Sunday. Right under a coconut tree.

There was barely anyone around today... Except all these vendors. Every ten minutes some Pinoy would ask me if I wanted to buy a watch, a pair of sunglasses, or some mangos, or a newspaper... or a watch... or a pair of sunglasses...

I swam a lot today. The water was so amazing. And there's no vendors. Except for the boatmen lazing on their Bangkas who'd ask me if I wanted to go out snorkelling when I swam around their parked boats.

Did I mention that I'm burned??

Our flight back to Manila was at 4:45 pm, so we checked out and stored our gear in Estelle's room. That was mildly spooky as it was the same room M. and I had when we stayed there. I had a pizza and sat with Geri at the restaurant. She's staying on Boracay for a bit longer. At 3:00pm the boatman from THE WAVE HOPPER showed up and we went with him to the water. We crossed back over to the airport.

The airport has changed a lot since last year. There's a fence to keep the animals off the runway and a small terminal has been built. They still sound the siren to warn of approaching planes or departing ones... and people seem to cut across the runway to get to the houses on the other side... and there are still animal wandering around.

The flight back was nice. We flew over Taal lake and I could see the volcano quite clearly. Superdry slept most of the way. Rene picked us up in the Merc and we headed back to Makati.

I spoke to Michelle tonight. It was difficult but also... good to hear her voice.

No. Wonderful to hear her voice!

I miss talking to her so much. Even if it's just a short "hello" to wake her for work, or a "hello" to interrupt her while she watches "The Practice" on a Sunday night. I have become so used to calling her twice a day that not calling her seems bizarre.

I miss her.

Monday February 26, 2001 10:30 pm...

I am very very burned...
Still... The sun is having some kind of effect on me. There was this one point today, as I was swimming out and around the stern of the anchored Nu Nu's Bangka THE WAVE HOPPER, that I felt... happy, content...

Maybe it was the azure blue water, or the sun, or that I'd realized that I love swimming... What ever it was... It was nice.

The day was like that. I sat on the beach, listening to music on my walkman. I would swim for a bit, then sit more. Apple, Superdry and Estelle joined me on the beach through out the day.

Tonight I ate one of Nigi Nigi Nu Noos' wonderful pizzas. Geri, Estelle, Superdry and Apple showed up later. We hung out around the bar and talked to the bartender Peter who's originally from Canada.

Nigi Nigi has a bird. Its a weird Toucan that has brown and tan feathers like the Guinness beer Toucan. Apple insisted that she'd seen it "doing tricks". Superdry insisted that she'd had to much to drink and that this trick-doing had only occurred in a make-believe world called Appleton-Land, which is full of furry animals and Toucans that can do tricks. Peter the bartender brought out the Toucan, waking it from its Toucan dreams and placed it on the bar in front of Apple... And it did exactly what most of us do after a long deep sleep. It took a dump.... all over Apple's leg!! Superdry and I almost died laughing. We just sat there and laughed and laughed and laughed.
The bird sat there and ate some more mango.
I look forward to those photos...

Monday February 26, 2001 : Damage Man...

How I could get so incredibly burned with such a dark cloud hanging over me is a mystery.

I spent much of the day yesterday on the beach with Apple, Superdry, and Estelle. My mood swung quite a bit. There were moments when I just felt lost... The hardest moment was when a song came on my Walkman that M. had taped off the radio for me. The sadness of the song got me and I had to go and swim to mask the fact of how I felt. Superdry later asked if the water burned my eyes... I answered "yes..."

I had left a recording of the surf on my friend Brengun's answering machine, so she eventually called back from Vancouver and read to me from the diary she had kept during our 1994 visit to Mexico together. That call cheered me greatly.

Apple and Estelle made many remarks about my hair-do resembling "Wilson" from Tom Hanks' new film "Castaway".
This was a great source of amusement for them.

I got a massage on the beach which cost me 200 pisos, and generally lazed about listening to my Walkman and drinking water. Geri showed up at one point to say hello.

Later we moved packed up, and went to "Charlies' Bar" for Happy Hour, and I had far too many Gin and Tonics. Oh my... Terry showed up and he and I talked music while Apple and Superdry went back to their hut to shower and change. We watched the sun set which was amazing. Eventually Estelle showed up and we went to REAL FOOD, the amazing Indian restaurant and ate. I was not very hungry though.

I left them at 10:30pm and stumbled back to Nigi Nigi's and fell asleep. I had all sorts of weird dreams including a SNOWMELTER dream in which I was recruiting DJ Danielle to operate all these weird filters, drum boxes and equipment for us when we played.

It is now 9:45 am... I am about to go eat and then wander to the water again.

Sunday February 25, 2001 : Back To Boracay

The hardest journal entry I've made in a long time.
The bad news.
Michelle and I have broken up.

I feel utterly lost. Even though I was already halfway around the world I always felt as if she was there with me in a way. I could always call, or email.

Now I feel like a sailor lost at sea. Drifting in a storm, bearings lost, rigging ruined, trying to save what I can and survive.

In hopes of cheering me up and pulling me out of the darkness I'd withdrawn into, Superdry and Apple booked me a ticket with them and Estelle to Boracay. Of course, the last time I was here was with M.

The only resort with rooms available was of course... Nigi Nigi Noo Nus... where M. and I stayed in January. Only 2 months ago. (it seems like a year ago) So far the fun in the sun hasn't worked. I know the only thing that would really comfort me in this state would be a meal at the Grapefruit Moon and a hug from Sunni and Sandy.

It's 10:20am... Time to wander around the laughing bronzed sun worshippers and make an effort not to feel so much like that shipwrecked guy from that Rheostatics song.

Gu-gunga burped the sea...

Saturday February 17, 2001 : So You Want Happy?...

Today was absolutely beautiful out. Sunny, warm and a nice breeze to clear away the smog. I was up early and spent the morning refining some bits on the piece I was taking into FX Studios to finish. Its called "YOU WANT HAPPY?" I created the beds on ACID PRO 2.0 and burned to the files to CD-RW for download at the studio. I walked down to FX making a stop at the local shop for some pecans, and later at Starbucks for a tea. The Rheostatics "Double Live" is still on my walkman. I will forever associate this music with Makati.

Once in FX we loaded the files onto Eddies PC. I discovered that I had failed to copy two files... the very important "BEATSTOMP" sample, and a sample called "5th STRINGS". The piece was useless with out them. Soooo.... I had to cab it back to the apartment, copy those two files then cab it back to FX. It took 20 minutes... From there it was full steam ahead.

We recorded the beds onto PROTOOLS then I recorded 4 vocal tracks, one lead and several harmony tracks. Not since the recording of "QUEEN BEE" have I been this pleased with the ease of the process and the final outcome. We made a rough mix and then moved on to other things.

I have a rare cassette recording of the Septemberember 1999 SNOWMELTER gig. Eddie and I spend several hours transferring it to SOUND FORGE 4.5, cleaning it up and editing it, then archiving it on to CD. The final product in anything but hi-fidelity, but still sounds good, and captures the positive aspects of that night.

I was finished at FX at around 7:00pm. I called Geri and went over to see her new apartment. We met her friends at a very nice Italian restaurant were I got some much needed grub. Estelle came out with her new "friend", a Brit expat named Steve, who seemed like a very nice fellow. I stayed until 10:00pm or so then walked back to the apartment. Maggie, Jake and their friend Terry were hanging out when I got back. We sat around, talked and looked at some photos of Maggie's family.

I called Michelle at 11:00pm and talked to her for a bit.
I miss her.

Wednesday, January 3, 2001 : To Boracay…

Michelle and I got up at 8:00am and got ready to go to the airport. Rene picked us up in the Toyota and we drove to the new Terminal Two, which only serves the Philippines and Pinoy airlines. We had to stop at the bank on the way to pick up some pisos for Tarzan. There are no ATMs on Boracay. Once at the airport we had to go through the heavy security then get our boarding passes. Then we headed to our gate and waited about 20 minutes to board. The flight was only an hour long. It seemed once we were up, we began to come back down again.

The airport we landed at was about an hour and a half bus ride from the point where you take the boat to Boracay. We had arranged to stay at a resort called Niggi Niggi Noo Nu’s in Boracay. With that arrangement they had set up a bus pass and boat pass for us. The bus ride was absolutely frightening. We were subjected to a VCD pirate of “THE GRINCH” which in itself was annoying, the seats seemed to be designed for hobbits and we wound up and over some real 3rd World bus accident mountain side highways. The scenery was amazing though. It was strange to pass through this world so far removed from the so called “First World” and see Jeepneys with a Canadian flag painted on the side. I don’t think Michelle enjoyed the bus at all.

We arrived by the bangkas and boarded our boat. The ride across was beautiful. Michelle was blown away by the colour of the water in Boracay. We unloaded from our boat and walked over to Niggi Niggi to check in. As we walked past the bar next to Niggi Niggi we saw a very drunk Tarzan Mike with Nice Guy Dave and their “girls”. We said hello, I gave Mike his pisos and then we went to Niggi Niggi. After checking into a more upscale Gilligan’s hut, we hit the restaurant for some much needed food. I had several “Rubber Dinosaurs” which is the official drink of the APPLICATORS (the Original Chris Chiasson will know what I’m talking about) and some food. Michelle and I walked around and checked out the many shops and places on the main strip.

Later we had planned to join Tarzan, NG Dave and associates at this bar where there was “good live music” however the music was so bad we passed on it. Instead we sat further down the beach looking at the stars, while mozzies ate us and we laughed at the musicians. “Vocals so bad it takes two singers…”

Monday, January 1, 2001 : Back To Manila…

Michelle and I got up early. Today was our last at Maya Maya so we wanted to make sure we got to the beach. We had a lovely breakfast at the restaurant. All the debris from last night’s festivities was already gone. We ate our breakfast then were taken by boat across the bay to the white sand beach.

The boat ride was in a little outboard motor boat instead of a bangka. The scenery was quite nice although not as good as what lay in store in Boracay. The boatman dropped us off and we told him to pick us up at 11:45am. We picked a spot on the beach a lay our blankets. We had to take turns swimming, as we didn’t feel secure leaving our stuff unattended. We only had until noon to laze so we swam a bit and sunbathed a bit.

At 11:45am our boat returned and we zipped back across to Maya Maya. As we approached the dock we could see Rene and his daughter Nicole waiting for us. He texted me “I bought a body guard”!

After checking out, loading the car and paying our bill (New Years’ eve costing as much as our cabin did for 2 nights…) we headed back off to Manila. The ride back was a lot quicker than our ride in had been. We got back to Manila at around 3:00pm. We showered and had a snooze. When we got up Susie was back and made us another wonderful meal. We watched “The Wedding Singer” on HBO, which made us laugh, especially after a year of DJ’ing weddings. (“I HAVE THE MICROPHONE SO YOU WILL LISTEN TO ME!!”)

Sunday December 31, 2000 : Happy Birthday to me…

I woke up in the early morning to the sound of a heavy tropical rain on out thatched roof. I lay there, under the mosquito net for a while drifting in and out of sleep, until I finally returned to a deep sleep.

When I woke Michelle was already up, and the rain had stopped. We went for a very yummy breakfast and then walked along the coastline. Although it was warm, the area reminded me quite a bit of British Columbia. Walking on the uneven rocks, picking shells and beachcombing was a joy. Under the grey sky it seemed almost like I was back in Canada. Michelle and I walked along the rocks as far as we could before it became impossible to go further. At that point we turned back and returned to our hut. I had a swim in the pool while Michelle knitted then we just sat and talked.

At 6:30 pm we headed back over to the Restaurant. There was to be a special New Year’s Eve buffet, so we wanted to make sure we got a good seat. We were a bit early… So we had some kind of drink. It was a banana and rum affair I believe. The non-drinking Michelle soon turned red and silly. I just got sillier than usual. I had been feeling gloomy at the prospect of turning the incredibly old age of 38 all day…

Then Michelle realized I wasn’t turning 38, but 37. How could this be? With the help of some simple mathematics we soon had proven Michelle’s theory to be true… I was only turning 37! So why did I think I was already 37? Michelle suggested it was a Y2K glitch caused or exaggerated by last year's freezing cold New Years Eve at Parliament Hill. Was I confused by the Prime Minister’s rambling unintelligible speech? Or was it the botched countdown, projected for all to see on the Peace Tower? We may never know. My theory is that I went from saying “I’m turning 37 this year…” to the glum statement “I am 37…” to the final “I’m turning 38…”

In any event I don’t know why this age thing bugs me. I still feel like I’m 8. Although I’ve noticed my Father looking back from the mirror at me over the last couple years… and heard his voice when I speak. Hmmmm.

The buffet featured a “Lord Of The Flies” pig head as a centrepiece. The menu included pork, chicken, beef, rice, potato, and many veggies. The food was amazing. Michelle and I pigged out, talked and laughed. The DJ played annoying “MEGA MIX” versions of every style imaginable. I wanted to smash his CD players after hearing “The Twist” mega mix for the 40th time. (come on everybody… come on everybody… come come come on everybody… AHHHHHH!!! Help me! I’m having Wedding DJ flashbacks!!)

We ate, drank and ate. Eventually someone handed out these goofy TeleTubbies happy Millennium hats that were obviously left over from last year. This being the actual beginning of the new millennium (remember you start counting at 1 not 0, duh…), I didn’t mind wearing this outrageous headgear whilst blowing into the most flatulent horn of the century. After a well-executed countdown from our drunken Kiwi host, we welcomed in the New Year (and new Millennium) with a flaccid Bronx cheer from our Tele-Tubbie horns… Then it was time to mumble the words Auld Lang Siene that no one under the age of 78 actually knows the words to.

Michelle and I had by this point been invited over to sit with a group of people, the main one of which was the daughter of Maya Maya’s owner. I was obviously a relief for Michelle to talk girl to someone after being stuck with my company for so long. However, one of Michelle’s new friends, a very drunk Korean woman may have had other intentions. Our Korean ambassador couldn’t speak English well enough to understand… However as they say, actions speak louder than words. These actions occurred on the dance floor, when Michelle joined the gang to bust a move to some 80’s hits. I believe it was during the conga line that Ms Korea made her intentions known. Meanwhile I sat at the table and was annoyed by some spoiled brat who was intent on setting all the thatched huts on fire with his arsenal of sparklers and other pyrotechnical toys. His mother stood by while he tormented and threatened us all. When Michelle returned to the table she conferred with several other of the females there about Ms Korea and her frog-like husband. The women laughed to find out each had in turn been approached and propositioned. I of course found this endlessly amusing and it provided me with something to torment Michelle with for the remainder of her visit. Michelle danced more, and eventually we stumbled back to our hut. A visitor to our hut in turn startled us. No, not the Koreans. A frog. I was about to brush my teeth when I was started by it. I jumped, it jumped… and so on. Then ten minutes later Michelle was startled by it as well. He was a welcome guest though, eating up those nasty mosquitoes that love Michelle so much.

Saturday December 30, 2000 : To Nusugba...

Michelle and I got up at 8:00am. We had breakfast, then packed our stuff. We had booked 2 nights at the Maya Maya Reef Club in Nusugba, which is on the west coast past Taal and Tagatay. Rene picked us up in the red Toyota at 10:00am. We made an ATM pit stop at HSBC then head out of the city. Mike had just landed in and texted me from the airport. Later he called an announced that he was moving to Bangkok in January. He was heading to Boracay that afternoon so I said we'd see him there next week.

The ride out of Manila was long, hot and brutally slow. Once again the air con in the Toyota was broken so we endured until we'd cleared Manila and only found relief from both the heat and the traffic when we had gone past Tagatay. On our way both Rene and I received cryptic text messages saying some bombs had gone off. We discounted it but later found out it was true.

When we finally got to Nusugba, we had to travel up and over and down and around these mountains to the coast. Finding the Maya Maya Reef Club was not easy. After driving on some nearly impassable roads we came upon the area in which it lay. Suddenly we were in a well-maintained area of nice homes and good roads. We followed the roads down to the bottom and found our destination. We booked in, said good-bye to Rene until Monday and took our stuff to our cabin.

Our place was a Gilligan's Island like hut among 10 or 15 others. In the middle of the huts was a nice pool. We settled in then went for a walk by the water. Maya Maya itself didn't have a sunbathing type beach. There was a dock area for the private boats and yachts, then a very rocky beach that stretched along the coast. Michelle and I walked over to one small sandy area and looked for shells and stones. Then we walked over to the outdoor restaurant and had a much needed lunch. We sat and talked for ages, then walked back over to our little cottage. Michelle continued to knit me a pair of warm socks while I wrote postcards. I took a swim, then went inside and fell asleep. Michelle woke me when she joined me and we both napped for a while. At around 9:00pm I woke up and was hungry. I went back over to the bar and had some fish and talked to the other guests and the owner about the bombings in Manila. Everyone was blaming the government for it. The opinion seemed to be that it was too well executed to be anyone else. The guests at Maya Maya seemed to be a mix of blue blood whites and rich Pinoys. The expats were a real different breed than the new money variety I'm so used to encountering in Makati. I stayed at the bar and talked until 11:00pm then went back to the hut and fell asleep.

Thursday, December 28, 2000 : Hanging Around Makati...

Michelle and I got up at 9:30 and had another wonderful Susie breakfast. I was in need of a beard trimming so we headed out to Bruno’s barbershop. We walked along Makati Ave. and made a stop at Starbucks. Michelle was very horrified by the amount of noise and pollution that confronted us as we moved towards Bruno’s. I attempted to convince Michelle to get a pedicure while I had my beard trim and shave. Not realizing how long this process would take she said “no”, which she later regretted.

After Bruno’s we went to Glorietta Mall and drifted around. It was overwhelming confusion of course. We didn’t spend a lot of time there; both hungry, we headed over to Greenbelt. Michelle had a craving for a burger so I took her to Chilli’s Restaurant to eat. It was a heavy but yummy meal. Afterwards we walked back to Crown Tower and just hung out. Armed with my Lonely Planet book on the Philippines we began making other plans for New Years. Michelle read, knitted and watched TV, while I played on Tarzan Mike’s Computer.

Tonight Michelle was bored so we went to the Makati Hard Rock Café to have a drink and listen to the band. I had been going on about how good the Pinoy cover bands are so after seeing the Tone-Deafs in Hong Kong a visit to the Hard Rock was in order. At 9:30 however instead of a band we were subjected to 3 Radio DJ’s doing a promotion for their station. This involved listening to them talk with the most annoying DJ voice imaginable while the conducted some confusing contest give away. It took them 45 minutes to give away a couple of prizes; primarily because they just loved to hear themselves talk. We unfortunately did not share this feeling. Michelle and I were ready to go after half an hour of these fine fellows.

Fortunately, we held out to the bitter end and cheered as they made their exit. Now the worry was that the band would not be worth the wait. However the band that played was by no means a disappointment. The lead vocalist was a fellow who had possibly the highest voice in South East Asia. Michelle commented that he should sing some Bee Gees… and suddenly he did. We really enjoyed them a lot. Rene texted us and I invited him to join us. He had just finished his shift at the hotel so while still wearing his driver’s uniform he weaseled his way in past the cover-charge-demanding bouncers by saying he was looking for his guest. Once safely in he found us and joined us for a drink. When the second band came on we headed out. In the confusion of leaving I reached back to take Michelle’s hand and got a waiters’ hand instead. Needless to say Michelle found this endlessly amusing. Upon exiting the bouncers made some comment to Rene for taking so long. He just shrugged and pointed at us.

Wednesday December 27, 2000 : Back To Manila…

Michelle and I got up late and went down to the café for breakfast. We had only a few hours left and we weren’t sure what we should do. We ended up just taking the subway over to the dock area and took the Star Ferry across to Kowloon. It was cloudy and cool today, and Michelle was visibly unhappy about having to leave Hong Kong. Once across at Kowloon several “middle school” students who were doing a survey of tourists for their school approached us. I was asked a bunch of questions about if I liked the food and what I thought of the subway system. Michelle and I posed with them for a photo once the survey was completed. Then it was time to head back to the Excelsior. I went back to our room and packed while Michelle made one last trip though the shops in a search for jade. When she’d returned we were all paid up and ready to go.

Our express bus back to the airport arrived at 1:30 and off we went. The traffic on our way back to the airport wasn’t bad so the trip only took 30 minutes. It was strangely sad for us to leave. Even from the window of the bus there seemed an endless amount of interesting things to look at and see. Once we’d arrived back at the airport we lined up and got our boarding passes, then we moved through customs and finally security. Michelle briefly shopped in the duty free area before we moved on to our gate. We had to take the airport’s subway to our gate. Above the escalator down to the train hung a hung sign that said “RELAX, ANOTHER TRAIN ARRIVES IN 2 MINUTES”. The train ride it self seemed no longer than a minute. We walked to our gate and soon boarded our flight back to Manila. On the way back, the evil computer brain of the FOUR IN A ROW game once again frustrated us.

It was raining when we arrived in Manila. The sun had just set and everything seemed to have heaviness to it. I texted Rene and he met us with the hotel car once we’d cleared immigration and drove us back to Crown Tower. On the way I found out that our arrangements to go to Boracay for New Years had fallen through.

Tuesday, December 26, 2000 : Hong Kong Gardens…

Michelle and I slept in late today. We rose at around 10:00 am and had a coffee in the café on the second floor of the hotel. We discussed what we should do and decided to try and fit as much in as we could since our flight was just a day away. The first thing we had to do was see the firing of the noonday gun. This Hong Kong tradition dates back over a hundred years, and fortunately the gun is located right across from the Excelsior hotel. We walked underground through a series of car park like tunnels that lead under the roadways that lay between the hotel and the gun. We came up and there were a few other tourists waiting around for it to go off. Eventually at around 11:45am this older man in a uniform came and prepared the gun for firing. I positioned myself in an excellent position with Michelle’s camera and watched for any indication that he was about to fire. At 12:00 noon exactly he tugged on a little chord attached to the well kept guns trigger and…

KA-BLAM!

I must have jumped 3 feet. I snapped a shot, but only out of being so badly startled by the noise. The fact that the picture even came out at all is a mystery and speaks well of the camera. Michelle seemed to think my jumping was pretty funny. One the smoke had cleared the gunner opened up the iron gates to allow us to come in closer and take photos of him and the gun or have the our photos taken in front of the gun.

Next stop was the Hong Kong Botanical Gardens, which also features a small zoo. I didn’t want to deal with the bus ride so I insisted we cab it. Our driver dropped us off and we entered the gardens to find a huge monument to “the many loyal Chinese who died in 1941 – 1945”. We consulted the map and after wandering around in the bamboo section we went to the green houses. These weren’t very big, and not as good as the ones we’d been through in Montreal. In fairness though green houses aren’t as necessary here as they are in Montreal. Many of the plants we’d seen in tiny displays in the Montreal Botanical Gardens green houses grew here in abundance outside.

After the green houses we moved to the Aviaries. These were by no means small and I saw a bird I have loved since childhood. The Toucan. As a boy I had a book called TWO CAN TOUCAN. It told the story of how this one bird had no name or colour. All it had was a big beak. All the other animals laughed at him so one day he decided to leave. He crossed the water, went over the mountains, across the prairies until he came to a city. Here he tried several jobs. He tried to be a businessman but he felt he looked
silly in a bowler-hat. Then he got a job carried cans of paint. Because he had such a big beak he could carry two cans, so everyone called him two can. One day Two Can decided to try and carry 3 cans of paint. On his way down a flight of stairs he tripped and was covered in these brilliant colours. No matter how much he scrubbed he couldn’t get them out. So he decided to go home. He travelled back across the prairies, over the mountains and across the water until he was back in the jungle. There the animals all marvelled at how beautiful his colours were. They asked him his name and he told them Two Can. When they wrote his name down in the book of jungle animal names the Giraffe misspelled it “Toucan”. When he told them who he really was they all laughed.

Michelle and I snapped lots more photos and worked our way to the Jaguar cage. This was sort of depressing. Here was this incredibly beautiful noble looking cat sitting in a big caged area while dozens of people looked at it. Its mate was sitting on a make shift “tree” branch further back. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for it. Here is an animal that sound have lots of room to run, lots of deep water to swim in and tall trees to climb up in to. After we’d watched it for a while we moved on through the gardens to the area with mammals. We saw caged North American racoons and squirrels. Two animals that often visit Michelle’s balcony and eat her plants. There were also many huge cages with strange monkeys and apes climbing around inside. Our favourite was the “Emperor Monkey” who sat like a tiny little old man with a beard eating bananas. We spent ages wandering around in the Gardens. Michelle’s attention divided between the strange creatures and the plant life.

We left the Gardens and headed towards an area called “Hollywood Road”. It is a narrow road that leads through the older section of the city past many antique dealers, junk shops and historic buildings. I bought a copy of the Communist Chinese Red Book which is sort of ironic when you think about it. It cost 130 Hong Kong dollars. We found a very old Temple and went inside. It was dark and there were several huge fires, as well as so much smoke from incense that you could hardly breath. There we also lots of people praying and burning some kind of paper money as offerings to their ancestors. Due undoubtedly to my Pentecostal upbringing I found it all very spooky and was glad to get out of the place. Michelle just felt like she was intruding by being a dopey tourist walking around not knowing what was going on. We went into another less active and smoky temple and a fortuneteller offered to read my future. The cost would only be a mere 800 Hong Kong dollars. I suggested that unless a videotape of my future was provided that 800 Hong Kong dollars was a bit expensive and that I’d just have to wait and see what happens.

Our next stop was a more sombre place that I felt it necessary to visit. The Stanley Military Cemetery. For those of you who do not know their Canadian history, Hong Kong is where many Canadians died one Christmas 60 years ago. During the outbreak of the war with Japan several Canadian regiments were stationed in Hong Kong with their Common Wealth counter parts. The fight with the invading Japanese forces was desperate and ultimately hopeless, and the victors where cruel and merciless to the defeated British, Canadian, Indian and Chinese troops, as well as to the inhabitants of Hong Kong. The Allies surrendered Hong Kong on Christmas Day in 1941. If a gravestone read that the deceased passed on Dec 25, 1941 chances are that he died in the Stanely Hospital when the Japanese troops bayoneted all the wounded soldiers before they raped and killed the nurses. If you have any historical interest in this very dark page of history I suggest you read “Prisoner Of The Turnip Heads” by George Wright-Nooth, which tells of the fall of Hong Kong, and his imprisonment by the Japanese. “Eaten By The Japanese” by John Baptist Crasta is also recommended reading as it tells the experience of an Indian solider who was interned. I have great difficulty with the facts of the cruelty the Japanese Imperial Forces showed during this time. I have studied Japanese martial arts; have Japanese friends, teachers and have a great deal of love for the culture. Perhaps its best to be thankful that the ignorance and intolerance that leads to that sort of insanity is slowly vanishing from the world. Michelle and I walked among the tombstones and grave markers looking for Canadians. They were easy to find. Someone had placed a tiny Canadian flag by each grave. At the end of it Michelle and I held each other and cried a little for all those boys who died so far from Canada. Most were no older than 20. How very sad.

Michelle and I walked back to the Stanely Market area and went to the Thai restaurant by the beach. Here we had some food, including some awesome vegetable samosas. We were both pretty tired by this point from all the walking so we settled into another late afternoon of lounging on the patio of the Thai Restaurant. As the sun set we walked back over to the bus stop and caught the bus back to the Causeway Bay. We walked around Times Square and searched for the hobby shop we’d found by accident when we were lost. We never found it though. After a stop at Starbucks we got a “waffle” from a street vendor. These yummy egg batter waffles are absolutely amazing. The food venders make them in waffle irons right in their booths and serve them up beside a variety of items, such as squid on a stick and mystery meat kabobs. Michelle and I have grown very fond of them.

Monday December 25, 2000 Christmas Day In Hong Kong…

Michelle and I got up at around 9:00am. We had decided to head back to Stanley Market. It was the one place we knew would be open on Christmas Day. We walked out through the maze of streets behind the Excelsior hotel and went to the bus stop. All the shops were closed making the normally crowded and lively area seem deserted and abandoned. We caught the bus to Stanely with a group of giggling Pinoys — women who probably work as maids or nannies for the locals. The bus was a very modern double-decker affair. We raced south towards Stanely at break-neck speeds, which is sort of frightening when you are going along winding mountainside roads.

We arrived safe and sound in Stanely and walked back down to the market area. It was here we were seized by a shopping frenzy that I can only call pure insanity. Michelle moved through the shops looking for artwork or pictures to bring back to Canada. I looked at silk neckties, t-shirts and shoes. I’ve needed to replace my worn out Vans for a while. Too much Manila smog and trips up to Taal have dirtied and worn them out. Finding my size here was frustrating at best. You can find any shoe you’d like in Stanely Market, and at a good price too. But only if your foot is no bigger than a size 8. A similar problem existed with t-shirts. The Asian definition of extra large falls any where from a North American medium to a large. The search pressed on. Slowly both Michelle and I were swallowed up by the maze of shops like unfortunate explorers being taken by quicksand. As we moved through the shops our wallets grew lighter and our arms were burdened by more and more bags of stuff.

I bought…

A compass for Rene’s dashboard.
A box of tiny plastic Bruce Lees with oversized heads in various positions.
4 silk neckties.
Lots of postcards.
A Chinese “money cat”.
A “prosperity guy” figure.
4 T-shirts, one of which says, “I AM LOST IN HONG KONG”
A Bruce Lee VCD.
2 pairs of trainers. Runners that is for you North Americans.
A new BIG TIC watch.

Michelle bought…
Lots of art.
Lots of post cards.
A watch.
Many T-shirts.
More art.
Many gifts.
Some more art.

At some point I began to feel really claustrophobic. I had to get out from the market. Michelle was still looking for things but I convinced her and we moved out of the thick of the market and found a little “tea room” near by. I had a tea and Michelle had a juice. Then we moved back out to a less crowded area of the market and eventually moved towards the beach. As Michelle will gladly tell you if I haven’t eaten I will become very grumpy. With lugging a ton of bags, struggling through the crowds, and having incredibly sore legs from Karate factored in, food suddenly became a priority. We walked along the line of restaurants on the road by the water unable to decide which to eat at. Finally we picked a Thai restaurant that had some tables outside on the patio. We grabbed a table and sat. Oh what relief!

In Manila I do not have many chances to sit outside on a patio. The foulness of the air, the noise and the heat makes patios a rarity. Only Starbucks offers any sort of patio, and I usually avoid it. It was such a treat to sit outside in the sun, having a very tasty ice tea and eating beef and chicken kabobs with the yummiest of peanut sauces. Michelle and I where soon in much better spirits. We sat there for at least an hour. As it moved towards late afternoon Michelle and I went in search of some old temples. We ended up walking way too far to the west. In the commercialized development around them, the temples were unnoticeable and the signs were difficult to follow. So we walked on a footpath and ended up climbing a backbreaking staircase that leads nowhere. Once we’d discovered our error we then had to go back. I’m not sure which was harder on my legs. Finally as dusk approached we found the temples. We snapped some very touristy photos then headed back towards the beach road. Michelle was constantly finding plants and trees to take pictures of or pose beside. This led to some shots of her standing under these weird vine-like roots from a giant tree. We walked along the beach road as the sun set.

It being Christmas day dinner became a problem. We tried one restaurant but after hassling us about whether or not we had a reservation, they informed us they only had a set menu. It was a choice of heavy foods, none of which appealed to either of us. We walked back the way we’d came until we found a Vietnamese Restaurant that looked good. It was in fact better than any Vietnamese Restaurant I’ve ever been to. Michelle and I entered and ascended up a flight of stairs, past these amazing paintings to a very classy restaurant. The staff was extremely friendly and we sat by the window over looking the beach. Fans that were like giant hand fans, each moving by means of a brass pulley-system, cooled the room as if they were strange oars on the side of some ancient Athenian warship. We had fresh-rolls with shrimps inside them that were unbelievable. Michelle had vermicelli with beef, while I went for my favourite dish, Pho Ga, which is chicken soup with noodles.

Hungry yet?

Our wonderful Christmas dinner finished we sat for a while and talked. It was so good to be with Michelle. We paid our very reasonable bill and walked back to the bus stop. We waited vainly for a bus that had stopped running to take us back to the Excelsior. It was nice though. We stood together, my arms around Michelle and talked and talked. It was a clear night, and there was a nice breeze giving it the feeling of a pleasant summer evening. Eventually we realized there were no more buses so we hailed a cab and went back to the hotel. We unloaded our MANY gifts and items and curled up together to watch TV. Michelle fell asleep and I played happy channels hoping to find Alistair Sim in A CHRISTMAS CAROL. I believe this was the first Christmas I’ve ever had were I didn’t watch it.

Michelle woke up at around 1:00am and we decide to go for a walk. We wandered out to find a Japanese style noodle shop and we had a late night snack. Then we walked down to the harbour. That was sort of disappointing in that the scenery is quaint but the smell is not. We headed back through the crowds who’d returned to the streets and made our way to the hotel.

Sunday December 24, 2000 : Christmas Eve Tourists…

One of the many perks of the Cathay Pacific package that got us our stay at the Excelsior was a “FREE” tour of Hong Kong. Of course nothing in life is really free, and the tour though interesting and informative was mainly an opportunity to drop us into situations where we had to spend money. Being tourists, with cameras, ID stickers and cash to prove it, we were more than ready for this. First stop was the main lobby of the Excelsior where we waited for our guide, Patrick. He took us out to the bus, which was full of other disorientated tourists and began the tour.

Our first stop was this wharf area. Michelle had the Lonely Planet Hong Kong guidebook to follow in but I couldn’t understand half of what Patrick was saying so I have no idea what the wharf was called. A sign at the location that said “Jumbo” in big letters overshadows my memory of its name. We got on this little “junk” and were ferried around the harbor past fishing boats. The scenery was amazing. Michelle and I snapped lots of pictures. Our boat driver was this little old lady who wouldn’t let us off the boat until we each paid our 50 Hong Kong dollars. (7.7 Hong Kong dollars to the US dollar… or trip cost us each 9.00 Canadian dollars) Once off the boat the official tour photographer snapped a shot of us, then we were loaded back on to the bus.

The next stop was “a manufacturer”… I thought “Oh, great! A factory…” As it turned out the factory manufactures… JEWELLERY! After a totally stupid lecture on how gold pendants are made, we walked through the empty manufacturing area to… THE SHOW ROOM! I ducked out to the washroom. I felt confident that my flower loving Michelle was immune to the glitter of gold. She was not however immune to the low showroom prices on pearls. Which she purchased for her Mother. The other tourist husbands all looked sort of pale. They were even happier to get out of there than I was.

Our pockets full and purses empty we were whisked off in the magic bus to Stanley Market. By this time I was weary of Patrick’s pocket filling kick back induced tour (I still think he must have got a cut of what we spent at the Jewelers show room) so when he showed us the best store in the market to go to (owned by his cousin no doubt… and was that his mom driving the boat?) I wandered off one way, and Michelle another while he led the other tourists into this store among many stores. After looking around for post cards, I realized I’d lost track of Michelle. I wandered around the street while a marching band played looking vainly for Michelle. I was approached the Official Photographer who produced the most embarrassing photograph of all time forever set in the cheesiest ugly plate with Hong Kong printed on it in Chinese Restaurant Font letters. It was so incredibly horrible and touristy that I was more than willing to buy it! I hid it away so I could give it to Michelle as a Christmas present.

And the tour continued…

Victoria Peak was next. We drove up the carsickness highway to the top of Victoria Mountain. From that vantage point we could see the whole city. More photos… but nothing to buy. We went back down the mountain on the old cable car built by the British nearly 100 years ago. The magic bus got was waiting at the bottom. With that we were driven back to the Excelsior and we were dropped off.

Nap time.

Michelle & I decided to extend our stay in Hong Kong by one day. I called the travel agents and made the arrangements. Then we decided to go back out and see Kowloon. Michelle wanted to go to the “bird market”. We took the amazing Hong Kong Subway under the harbor to Kowloon. Oh, man! Forget Toronto being the best subway in the world. Ha! The Hong Kong subway is the most incredible Subway I have ever seen. To buy your ticket you touch your destination on a map and it tells you how money to pump in and it prints out a magnet stripped card that is your ticket. Run the ticket through the turnstiles and away you go. The subway cars are spotless and feature a map that indicates your current location and the direction you are traveling. Michelle and I traveled up to Kowloon and found an area called “The Flower Market”. Michelle was in heaven, a whole street of nothing but little flower shops. We spent nearly an hour there before moving on to the strange Hong Kong “Bird Market”. The pet of choice in Hong Kong is birds. It may be due to the cramped quarters or perhaps it’s a cultural thing we hairy barbarians will never grasp. This market was an endless maze of shops selling birds and birdcages. It was overwhelming. I bothered me a lot to see so many birds in cages so I sat it out. Michelle walked around though taking photos and asking questions. As the sun began to set we left the market and went to a teashop where we ate a much-needed meal, and listened to Chinese versions of familiar Christmas carols.

On our way back to the Excelsior we began entangled in the Kowloon Market area. Not a place for the claustrophobic. It is almost impossible to describe really. Thousands of people milling around street after street of shops and venders selling anything and everything. It was like Toronto’s Kensington Market time a million. Michelle bought a really nice fleece for less than her boat ride cost. $8.00 CDN!! I also bought a sweater and a multitude of fridge magnets. We walked and walked and walked and walked. I found 32MB Smart Media memory cards for a mere 80 Canadian dollars. I paid for two the price one cost me in Canada. We shopped until dropping was a definite possibility. We walked back to the subway after visiting a cool shop in a less congested area and returned to the Causeway Station near the Excelsior. We had our photo snapped in a photo booth and then dragged our weary butts back to our room.

What a great city.

Saturday December 23, 2000 : Ran off to Hong Kong…

Rene picked Michelle & I up in the Hotel Car at 9:30. We drove to the airport via traffic jam. We arrived at the airport and passed through security to get our boarding passes. We flew to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific Airlines. The back of the seats were fitted with small flat screen TV’s that gave a choice of videos, information channels and games. Michelle and soon found ourselves obsessively playing a computer version of Parker Brother’s “Connect Four” called Four In A Row. The only unfortunate thing about this game was it was impossible to beat the computer. Still we each played in frustration right until the plane was taxing up to the Hong Kong terminal.

The Hong Kong Airport is massive. We disembarked and passed through customs and immigration. Michelle was startled by two Hong Kong Police SWAT guys walking past armed to the teeth with Heckler & Koch MP5 machine pistols, looking very serious. We crossed out into the arrivals area unsure where or how we were supposed to find our travel agent. There was a host of people with placards and signs welcoming travelers. If our agent were one of them it would have taken days to find them. We wandered around and by chance approached an information booth. As it turned out, or agent was in a booth right next door. We gave them the paper work and we were given dorky stickers to wear until our bus to the airport arrived at 2:30pm. A representative came and collected us and led us out to the Bus. It was noticeably cooler in Hong Kong than Manila. The air was not as heavy with humidity either.

The bus ride in was almost as long as the flight had been. With out the distraction of the “Four In A Row” game we enjoyed the amazing scenery. Hong Kong is not as most North Americans think just a city. Its an area of land and group of islands all connected by an amazing serious of road ways, tunnels, bridges, rail and ferry lines. Unlike the confusion of the Philippines third world capital of Manila, Hong Kong is very modern, and very clean. We crossed the world’s largest suspension bridge and worked our way towards the central causeway area of Hong Kong. We were caught in heavy traffic, which slowed our progress, but there was so much to see. The skyline is unbelievable. So many high-rise buildings that it almost boggles the mind. Everything seems crammed together and the images of the billboards and store signs were over whelming. Everywhere there were signs Chinese Characters and strange images that gave no explanation. One sign showed a Roman Centurion playing pocket billiards while a group of Romans in togas watched. What did this sign mean? We may never know.

Our giant bus wends it way down crowded narrow streets dropping off other passengers at various hotels. Eventually after almost an hour and a half we reached the Excelsior Hotel. We checked in and took our bags up to our room on the 33rd floor. The view out the window of the harbor was excellent. We could see across to Kowloon on the north side of the water, and its massive skyline. We took a nap, then headed out into the night in search of food. We wandered into an area, which is called “Times Square” and went to a little restaurant for a meal. It was quite yummy but we quickly discovered food is one item in Hong Kong that is not cheap. Still with my handy HSBC card in my pocket money was the least of our worries. We ate then wandered back out into the mobs of shoppers. Finding our way back to the Excelsior was another matter. It wasn’t long until we were totally lost. We found a Starbucks so my nerves were calmed for a bit but we drifted around confused and overwhelmed by everything. We found a few stores we’d passed earlier but were soon lost again. We found a cool Hobby shop but alas it was closing. Well… eventually we found our way back.

Michelle and I watched a bit of TV, and then fell asleep again. My body was still aching from Thursday night’s Karate class. We woke up at around 11:00pm and went up to the bar on the 34th floor for a bit. We sat by the window overlooking the harbor, admiring the lights of Kowloon and drank 4 fruit drinks each. We were “entertained” by this awful cover band, which we called the “Tone Deafs”. It was possibly the worst cover band I have ever scene. Especially amusing was the male vocalist who had the body, had the looks, but sounded like a Barcelona Karaoke bar reject. He would interject the phrase/sound effect “Ka-chaaa!” as often as possible. His treatment of Carlos Santana’s “Smooth” was almost unrecognizable from the original. Oh how we laughed.

Friday December 22, 2000 : Trip to Taal...

Michelle and I slept in until 9:30am. Rene was supposed to pick us up at 10:00am. I texted him and asked him to come by at 10:30. He had slept in too so he was more than happy with that arrangement. Michelle and I had some toast and tea then at 10:30am headed out with Rene in the little red Toyota. We drove around for a while looking for an ATM (a bank machine for all you Canucks) that functioned beyond telling me “we have no record of you”. That phrase became the catch phrase of the day. Eventually we had to go to HSBC. Then it was onward towards Tagatay and Taal.

We stopped at the Starbucks on the highway, while Rene filled the gas tank Michelle and I got some drinks and snacks. Then we headed on slowly towards our goal. The traffic was brutal, and Rene driving on the shoulder helped a little but not much. We moved along at a snail’s pace… Today, the normally freezing air con in the Toyota was not functioning at all. We were cooking until we managed to roll down the windows. That process involved Rene (while driving) prying off the window handle from his door with a screwdriver and attaching it to the hole in our doors where our missing handles should have been. (If anyone in North America can get their hands on window handles for a 1978 Toyota Corolla pleas email me. They are difficult to find here!) After a great deal of effort we had the windows down. By this time we were off the main highway and the traffic was gone.

We sped along to Tagatay through some amazing countryside. Michelle was thrilled by the freshness of the cooler non-polluted air. All the different plants and trees also excited her. Rene was in his element as Mr. Tour Guide, pointing out the coffee plants, the pineapple fields and the people raking the picked coffee beans by the roadside to dry them. I of course pointed out strange things like a child picking lice from her Mother’s hair on the front porch of their humble house.

Once in Tagatay we went to the Cliffside restaurant for a big bowl of Bulalo. The singing-playing band of minstrels entertained us. After eating we went on to visit Rene’s Brother in Law at the exclusive Tagatay Heights Country Club. It clouded over as we crossed on to the club grounds. Michelle was in plant heaven. She checked out every plant, flower and tree… as I knew she would when I had first visited it back in October. We met up with Rene’s Brother in Law and hung out for a while. It had begun to rain so we were debating if we should even bother to proceed to Taal. Rene texted Tirso’s cousin Eddie and asked if it was raining in Taal. We were happy to learn it wasn’t.

We drove out of the club using a different route. We headed on a “private” road. It was less steep but once we were off the club property the pavement vanished. Soon we were rattling along on some very dodgy roads past thatched houses and waving children. Eventually we were on a slightly better road with deep ditches on either side and idle heavy equipment sitting parked beside piles of dirt.

Michelle said, “What are they doing to the road?” I said, “Building it, I think”

We found Eddie and parked the Toyota. Then it was across the waters to Taal on Michelle’s first Bangka Boat ride. Once across we went to Tirso’s house and climbed up on to our respective horses (ponies?). Michelle road with my old guide on the horse I’d had the first time we had come over. Rene was with Tirso once again on his horse. I road on a white mare named Iona with my guide, Tirso’s cousin Elvin. We road up to the volcano following the same incredibly scenic route we had taken on our first visit. We galloped along at one point and I began to call the race in my cheesiest 1930’s style race announcer voice… much to Rene’s amusement as he pulled past us with Tirso and took the lead. Once we had reached the top we walked along the ridge around the crater and checked out the scenery. Michelle put the camera I’d bought her for her birthday to good use and snapped away. It was approaching dusk so we didn’t stay up too long. We headed down at an even quicker pace than we had come up. Rene didn’t look very happy as he and Tirso sped by us. When we got back to the village the sun was gone. We paid Tirso, tipped our guides and dispensed small Jeepney-chump-change to the tiny hands around us, then stumbled back down to the Bangka. Michelle wore my sweater as we crossed back to the other side where we wished Eddie a Merry Christmas and began the LONG DRIVE BACK…

We drove back up to Tagatay on our normal route. Michelle is not found of driving on tiny third world roads next to a cliff so I was glad it was dark. Once we had got past Tagatay traffic ground to a halt. Michelle fell asleep in the back seat and the trip, which normally takes an hour and a bit took a painful 3 hours. We reached Makati at well past 9:00pm. Starved, we went to Persian Kebab and pigged out. Or tummies and taste buds satisfied we called it a day and Rene dropped us off back at Crown Tower. Tomorrow it is off to Hong Kong!

Thursday December 21, 2000 : My Little Jet-Lag Girl...

Michelle is jet-lagged. She woke up at 5:30am and was wide-awake. I woke to find her reading beside me. We got up and Suzy made us a nice breakfast. Eventually we walked down to the travel agent who got me our tickets to Hong Kong. Michelle needed to look into changing her return ticket in hopes of having a quicker and more direct flight back to Ottawa. Afterwards we back through Greenbelt Mall. Michelle of course loves all the plants here. She'd inspect a leaf or flower and wonder at how big everything grows here. “That’s just a potted plant back home,” she’d say while pointing at some big weird tropical tree. Unfortunately she won’t be allowed to bring any back to Canada. We walked about, and then headed back to Crown Tower.

Michelle fell asleep again and I played Red Alert on the Play Station. At 5:30pm I began to get ready for Karate. I was so happy when Michelle actually woke up in time to come with me to watch. We practiced by the pool and Michelle quickly fell asleep on a deck chair. It was the last class of the year and there were only two students; a big fellow named Louie and myself. Our instructor trained us hard. I thought I was going to die. Afterwards Michelle and I went back to Crown Tower and had a yummy Suzy cooked meal. She then promptly fell asleep while I watched Ka-Blam and MTV Celebrity Death Match on TV. Now she’s up in my room sleeping. I am downstairs drinking tea. Tomorrow we go to Taal with Rene.

Wednesday December 20, 2000 : The Big Day...

9:05am.:.. I had great difficulty falling asleep last night. When I did it was less than a sound sleep. I woke several times, finally getting up at 7:30am. Rene texted me and we have made our plans for picking up Michelle. He will come by at 10:45am, and off we go. I can hardly believe she's going to be here today!

more later...

10:35pm...

Rene picked me up in the hotel car at 10am. We drove on congested roads out to the airport where he dumped me off at the arrivals area and then went to the taxi/hotel car waiting zone. Michelle’s flight arrived in Manila at 11:25am. She of course had to pass through the immigrations and customs area as well as wait for her luggage to come out. I had to wait for her outside because of security restrictions. I hovered back and forth between two possible exits she could come out of. After what seemed like an eternity she came up beside me after exiting the door I wasn’t at.

It was strange and wonderful to see her. How could she actually be here? I texted Rene that she’d arrived. He swooped down with the Merc and off we sped! Back to Crown Tower! I was so wonderful to see her, and be with her, and hold her hand! She was tired from a very long flight. For her it all seemed like a strange dream. Rene dropped us off and up we went to the apartment. I introduced Michelle to Suzy who made us some tea.

Michelle slept most of the day. Later in the evening we walked down Makati Ave to the Starbucks at Gloretta Mall for a late night snack. She ordered a Snapple and a bite, I had a tea. We sat and talked… Oh man. How absolutely wonderful that was. We walked back to Crown Tower and called it a night.

Tuesday December 19, 2000 : Michelle Is On Her Way.... I Think...

Michelle's flight left last night from Ottawa at 5:30pm. She phoned me at around 11:00 to let me know the details. It is basically the same flights, just one day later. She will arrive tomorrow at 11:35am. I was going to talk to her before she left for the airport but had no luck getting a hold of her. Rene and I went out for his birthday and had several drinks. I tried to call Ottawa on my handphone about ten times. I can only assume that she got off okay.

Karate class was good tonight. I was feeling rather rough from Sunday and Monday nights. This was quickly cured. The class size was rather small which was fine by me, since that means there was more room. After class I took to the sauna, showered then headed home. Suzy had made my favourite dish; beef in a nice sauce with veggies and rice. Mmmmm...

I settled into my Tuesday night post class "I can barely move I am so sore" routine. I watched "Ka-Blam", then "MTV Celebrity Death Match" (The Three Tenors versus the Three Stooges).

Monday December 18, 2000 : Flight Cancelled...

Michelle called me at 11:30am and informed me that SHE WAS STILL IN OTTAWA! Her flight had been cancelled due to some major storm activity in the USA. This of course is just one more disappointment in the saga of trying to get her here for Christmas. Still there is nothing we can do and I’d much rather have her arrive here safely even if it’s late. She wouldn’t know when her flight was rescheduled to until 9:30 am Canadian time. So for me the day was one of waiting.

I had gone out last night with Sir James, Jenny, Geri and Geri’s friend Estelle to the Makati Hard Rock Café. After being subjected to a great deal of unfortunate retro music, we went to a Karaoke bar on Jupiter St, near my place. There we met up with some Pinoy friends of Geri’s and subjected each other to some frightening Karaoke nonsense. I left at 3:00am and walked home. Then I called Michelle, thinking that it would be the last call before she caught her flight. I woke today when Michelle called me to let me know what had happened.

I spent today out and about in Makati. I went to Bruno’s and had my beard trimmed, and a straight-razor shave. Wilson, my barber was still apologizing for my last unfortunate haircut. I told him to not worry about it. He is the only barber I trust to shave me with out scraping me all up. After my shave I went and picked up a disc with some photos I had scanned on it, then went to Tower Records where I bought 3 CDs. David Sylvian’s EVERYTHING AND NOTHING, David Bowie’s classic HONKY DORY, and Joe Walsh’s BUT SERIOUSLY, FOLKS. I grabbed a tea at Starbucks and walked back to Crown Tower. Suzy made a nice curried chicken dish. I listened to EVERYTHING AND NOTHING and got several text messages from Rene. It’s his 37th birthday today, so we may go out once I’ve heard from Michelle. I wait. 9:30 arrives, and her line is busy… busy… busy… more later...

Saturday December 16, 2000 Day In Studio...

I went in to FX STUDIOS at 2:00pm. I walked from my place, lugging with me my guitar and my shoulder bag containing my PSO2, the KORG ER-1, and lots of related items. The first thing we did was record a drum/bass loop from the ER-1 to ProTools. That took a total of 15 minutes to set up and record. Then began the process of recording the guitar. We tried to use a direct box first but the sound was far to plinky for what I had intended. After several attempts Eddie and I decided to mic the guitar. He set up the room, and I moved in there. We recorded the main guitar part, then doubled it to fill it out. I added a third guitar playing some counter lines as well... A spooky ambient guitar track was layed down, using the PS02 as an effects unit. Then I recorded a vocal track. All that is needed now is a bass guitar, and a nice solo guitar. I intend to ask my guitar teacher to put a solo on the song. I'm not sure about the bass. I wish I had my Novation Bass Station here.

Monday December 11, 2000 Sherman Mine, Studio Booked…

I have got word from Ben… The Sherman Filter Bank is mine. Justin Morrison will be picking it up on my behalf (and no doubt fiddling with it until I return!). I have booked FX STUDIOS this weekend. I have a song idea that’s been kicking around since the summer that is going to be recorded. I programmed a drum loop for this idea tonight.

Friday December 8, 2000 Sherman?

I spoke to Ben regarding the Sherman. He has promised another friend first look at it… So I will have to wait to see if this wonderful machine will be mine. If not, Ben has promised that he will help me find a new one. So now it’s a waiting game…

Thursday December 7, 2000

I received a very exciting email today from my old friend Ben Grossman…

From: Ben Grossman
Subject: The time has come, the walrus said...
Date: Thu, 07 Dec 2000 23:26:17 -0500

Greetings, fellow musicians, producers, engineers, and sound-folks!

I've finally decided to buy a new (rather expensive) hurdy gurdy after a fulfilling seven year relationship with 'ol' faithful. In order to fund this (possibly ill-advised) venture, I'm having a 'studio clearance' sale. Or rather, I wish that I could say it is purely a 'clearance' sale, but I'm selling some of my favourite devices (and, yes, some not-too-frequently-used instruments) for the sake of a squeaky box......ritalin anybody? OK, here goes (deep breath):

-- Top of the block (in many ways), my beloved Eventide H3000 d/sx. I know, it hurts to see it here... This is a VERY powerful DSP-based multi effects box. These things are called 'ultra-harmonizers' but they do just about everything (the Eventide reverb algorithms are compared favourably to top-of-the-snack-bracket Lexicon and TC Electronics units), and it can make some seriously far-out sounds. Blah Blah Blah. I'm lookin' for $2500 Canadian. Same units have gone for upwards of $1900 US on http://www.digibid.com/ and buy it from me for $950 so that I can annoy my cats in more keys.

--My supa-funky Sherman Filterbank. In short, this is a small analogue modular synth: two multi-mode filters, four-stage envelope generator for filter, envelope follower, two-stage eg for vca, fm and am normalled to internal sources, but also with inputs, cv and audio inputs for just about everything, complete MIDI control... go here for info: http://www.sherman.be/

--A Big Briar (Bob Moog) Etherwave Theremin. If ya gotta ask...This one's in an oiled oak case - great for those rustic-yet-classy 'early music' theremin gigs. Gig bag too! $400. Check out http://www.bigbriar.com/

--Last electronic thing: A Macintosh PowerBook 5300c: 603e PPC processor at 100 mHz, 64 m RAM (the max.), 750 m HD (upgradable), active colour screen, 33.6 fax/modem, battery's in great shape, and there's a bunch of software on the thing. This is a great box for email, internet, wp, midi apps. and what not. It's kinda sluggish for serious host-based audio, but I have run Bias Peak, Rebirth and Metasynth on it without problems. $1000 will get you on the road. Specs on http://www.everymac.com/

NON ELECTRONIC THINGS (finally)

Renaissance Cittern based on Gasparo da Salo (c. 1560) built by Thomas Ciul (fab harpsichord maker in Michigan) from the Early Music Shop kit.
This is a small (think mandola), jangly little axe, very quiet an light sounding, strung as it is in fairly low-tension steel and brass. It was recently refretted and adjusted by Al Beardsil, but could use an overhaul and peg adjustment. I did not find this exact thing on the EMS website, but you'll get the idea here: http://www.e-m-s.com/cat/stringed/stringed/citterns.htm

--Finally, and most significantly, my hurdy gurdy! The vital stats: 2 melody strings (42.5 cm. scale), 21 keys (chromatic), 2 drones, 1 trompette/chien, 4 sympathetic strings, piezo pickup on melody bridge...most of you who know me know this instrument, so I'll say no more for now. Drop me a line if you want more info and stuff. After much debate, soul searching, and advice, I've decided on $2000 as a fair price. In fact, there are no other hurdy gurdies out there with this kind of spec for less than $4000. You can read a review of my very instrument at http://www.hurdygurdy.com/hg/build.html#kits
but if you don't feel like surfing, it's here:
"Our friend Ben Grossman in Toronto made a very nice-sounding and nice-playing vielle from a Musicmaker's kit. He had put a lot of work into it: he'd replaced the keys, changed the tangents, added a string, added a dog, added a piece on the tailpiece to hold the tirant peg, added a second row of keys, added string rests, added a tailpiece holder to stabilize the chanter bridge, replaced the wheel, shaft and bearings, replaced the handle and crank, changed the keybox top, and added sympathetic strings. It sounded really good, the best I've ever heard from a kit like this. He did a great job, but it was an incredible amount of work and experimentation for an instrument that he's still not totally pleased with." Which is, of course, why I'm getting a new one. This thing has served me very well for the last 7 years, been on many recordings, toured Canada and parts of the States, but I'm ready to move on to the next step...well, maybe jump a few steps! Thanks for your time and consideration. Please feel free to pass this on to anyone whom you think might be interested. Best regards to all and happy Holy-Daze!

ben

With a few pisos in my bank I am considering buying the Sherman filter bank! I have sent off an email to Ben saying “Sherman! Sherman Mine!!”

Sunday November 26, 2000 Valley Of The Paper Cuts...

I had a dream that this curious spirit that looked like a dog came and sniffed around me. There was a woman standing beside me who would not let him touch me though and said to him “don’t go too close, Jake.” I had intended to ask Tersa who Jake was, but forgot. I woke from the dream about Jake to the din of the animals announcing the coming day. If it wasn’t so annoying it would have been funny. It was like Old MacDonald’s farm with a moo moo here and an oink oink there… and don’t forget the roosters.

I gave up on the notion of sleep, although my head was aching from the wine, I put in my contacts and watched the sky grow from black to a deep blue. I began to hear voices and laughter. Soon I had two of the local boys climbing up on to the boat. They looked like little elves. Eddie came up and shooed them away then invited me back to the house. Rene was still asleep on the cot. I was unable to eat the rice cakes because they were cooked in coconut. I had a coffee though and brushed my teeth. The sun came up and Rene was unable to sleep with the noise and activity of the village. He told me the card game had gone on until 4:00am.

Tirso invited us over to his house after the breakfast I couldn’t eat was finished. We walked along a little dirt path to a small thatched hut further back from the water. Tirso’s wife, mother and several other relatives were there as were lots of kids. I sat on a bamboo bench and felt like a zoo animal. Across from me was a wall of faded photographs of Tirso’s children. Most of the photos were of the eldest son. He has won some awards at school and has appeared on cable TV. They were very proud of this and had made him sing and dance for me during the dinner on Saturday night.

On the wall were many photos of him in costumes and with trophies. Most disturbing was a picture of Jesus. Several of the older kids had jokingly called me Jesus the night before. Now I knew why, Jesus has a beard, a big nose, white skin and brown eyes. All I needed was the hair, a glowing heart and that “I know if you’ve been naughty or nice” look on my face. Everyone sat across from me and grinned, Tirso’s wife speaking to me most. Grandma blushed and was very shy while this skittish little puppy (what dog or cat here ISN’T skittish) planted itself under the bench by my feet. When the kids pointed this amazing sight out to the adults they shooed the dog away, which is unfortunate since I was going to get a photo of the cute little guy. I took a photo and then it was off to the post office.

Rene and I followed Tirso along the dirt path past pigs being prepared for their Saint Nino doom later that night. The post office was a small square building and was the most well constructed and least interesting sight on the island. From there we headed back to Eddie’s and prepared to head to the crater.

Unlike our last trip, this time we would go down into the crater to the edge of the sulfurous water. This would mean traveling around the island by bangka and then climbing up the opposite side of the volcano. In my state of hangover I left behind two important items; a hat, and my sunglasses. I would regret this later. At the time though my main focus was keeping Saturday nights’ dinner from coming up. This made the boat ride less than enjoyable. Rene was snapping away with his camera while I just wondered how I would manage to last to the other side of the island.

We circled around the island and passed by the old crater. In the area behind the old crater were lots of fish farms. We could see the men working the nets as well as a few paddling strange little bamboo rafts. It was at this point the engine of Eddie’s second boat, the aptly named “Additional” started to have problems. The motor flooded and we were soon adrift, slowly being taken out to the fish pens. Rene’s knowledge of engines didn’t help. Although he quickly figured out it was the carburetor, there were no tools on board to fix the problem. We were soon moored up against one of the fish pens.

Rene took the opportunity to get some photos, but I stayed on board. I felt as if I were going to faint. My head was throbbing and I was very dizzy. Since we had stopped there was no wind to cool me, and our location gave me no shelter from the tropical sun. Eddie had called for rescue on Rene’s hand phone so I had to just sit and wait. After half an hour we were picked up and continued on. I was tempted to tell Rene that I wasn’t able to go on but I thought perhaps once we were on land I would feel better.

We arrived by a little group of homes and began our journey to the crater. This time riding wasn’t as much of an option. We walked past chickens and cattle towards the ridge that led to the volcano. The landscape slowly began to rise as we followed a dirt path through fields while cattle watched us pass. The climb at first wasn’t too difficult. The path was clear to see and there were no pitfalls. Then we began to pass through more and more tall grass.

Rene was the first to complain about this grass. He had only worn shorts and flip-flops and the tough grass was cutting him. The more he complained the taller the grass seemed to get, until I was forced to hold my arms up over my head to try and avoid being cut up as well. Tirso was in front finding the track, Rene behind him and I was at the tail. The path was increasingly difficult to see, and the climb was suddenly very difficult. There were many holes and ditches along the path, which were difficult to see because of the foliage, so progress was slowed.

By the time we reached the top of the ridge my hangover and nausea were gone. This first ridge didn’t mean the worst was over though. We were, for the time being, out of the sun. The next part of the climb was also difficult. Instead of the paper cut grass, we dealt with a low canopy over the path, thick evil thorns bushes and steep cliffs and pitfalls. The climb alternated between up, down, and around, but at least it was cooler.

Eventually we began to descend into the crater itself, just near the strange little island which houses all the scientific devices monitoring the island. Here we passed through what Rene called “Jesus Thorns,” which the catholic population believe are the same type used in Jesus’ crown because of their red “blood” coloured tips. I suggested the reason they were called Jesus thorns was because it was what one might exclaim when you get caught in them. Both Rene and I demonstrated this theory. Then we were truly in the Valley of The Paper Cuts as we waded through the nasty grass, Tirso and Rene vanishing ahead of me.

I could follow Rene by the sound of him complaining. The paper cuts hurt worse now because we were sweating so much. The salt burning the tiny cuts all over my arms and neck, and over Rene’s legs and feet. Tirso seemed oblivious to these annoyances. When we had finally cleared the worst of the grass Tirso decided to climb a tree and get some coconuts. This wasn’t like watching Gilligan shimmy up a palm. He put his feet in some unseen foothold and climbed up the tree like Spider Man. He pulled off several coconuts and tossed them down, then came down and collected them.

From there we wandered about trying to find a path into the shade of the trees at the waters edge. Instead we found swamp. Rene and I were both watching out for the infamous “red mud.” Tirso led us in circles for a while then he found the path he was seeking and we suddenly found ourselves under the canopy of trees by the river. I was feeling very light headed and attempted to carve my initials into a bizarre mass of exposed tree roots that sported the markings of dozens of other would be explorers. I met to write LDT but only managed an LT that looked more like it said L7.

Tirso borrowed my CUTCO key chain knife and cut an area around the top of the coconut away. I watched in horror as he dug and prodded the coconut, covering it in white coconut goo. He dug until he was squirted with water from the coconut. He laughed and then drank the fluid. Rene followed suit, although not quite as skillfully. I carefully washed my knife off in the warm sulfurous water.

The crater valley was beautiful. The lake smelled a little odd but unlike my previous Land Of Mordor conceptions of what a volcano was like the valley was teeming with life. Birds! Hundreds of birds flew around in the air currents above us. To our left, past the swamp was green underbrush. To our right the path led into the trees. Only directly across from us, past the little island, on the other side of the crater did the Volcano look dangerous. We stayed there for about half an hour.

Tirso sat on a rock and drank his coconut water; Rene sat on a rock and got bit by big red ants. I dreaded the climb out. Although I no longer felt ill, I was beginning to feel the effects of the sun, and heat. I had also not eaten all day. The difficult descent would mean an even more difficult climb out. First though we had to pass back through the Jesus thorns and the paper-cut grass. Then came what I thought of as the “summer of 1998” portion of the day. The brutal climb back up to the top of the ridge, which seemed, like the summer of 1998 both endless and hopeless. I honestly thought I was going to collapse!

Tirso of course hadn’t even broken a sweat. He zipped up the path with the same Tarzan like surefootedness that he’d shown on the palm tree. I struggled behind him, out of breath, soaked in sweat, my legs muscles and knees screaming in protest. This kind of thing was no problem when I was 17 and weighed 140 pounds… Now the realization that I am almost 40 was inescapable! Rene fared even worse. He had fallen behind me and was not enjoying himself. Where earlier we had chattered like monkeys and snapped photos like Japanese tourists, now there were no jokes. This was worse than Karate. If anything can be worse than that.

Finally as we neared the top of the ridge I called Tirso to stop for a moment. I sat on a rock and waited for the panting Rene to catch up. Tirso fiddled around ahead of us, while Rene and I sat, winded and drenched, on a rock. On either side of us the ground sloped off into a deep ravines. Red ants ran around the rock, and we were too tired to care. All I could manage to say was “No more Persian Kabob for us… We’re too fat…” After 10 minutes we moved on.

Things improved from that point. Tirso took us on a different track, which was by no means a short cut. It did however have less hidden pitfalls. The biggest danger now being that as we stumbled along tired and too drained to focus, that Rene or I would carelessly step in a hole or ditch. An injury like a sprain or break is easiest to get at the end of a climb. I called Michelle and said “Hello” from the Taal Volcano. I had tried to call from the inside the crater but couldn’t raise a strong enough signal. As always it was great to talk to her.

The new track didn’t spare us from the fields of paper-cut grass or Jesus thorns, but eventually we found ourselves walking past curious cattle. I began singing “Boolaloo, Boolaloo, want to eat… some Boolaloo…” to the tune of the “My Three Son’s” TV show theme.

When we reached the spot were we’d been dropped off, the bangka was nowhere to be seen. Rene texted them to let them know we were back. They had towed the good ship Additional back for repairs. We waited what seemed like an eternity before it returned and we headed back towards Eddie’s house.

The trip back around the island was uneventful and quiet except for the big cheer that went up from our boat when this bangka sped by us, going the other direction. On its deck was this huge fat woman, hanging on for her life and painted on its side in giant red letters the word “CANADA.” Once back at Eddie’s we collected our bags, said our goodbyes and left the island.

The trip back across was rough but it was nice and cool. It was good to sit back in the comfort of the Toyota, and begin our trip home. A 90-minute mix tape of Kevin Quain was our soundtrack back to Manila. Of all the music I had played on this trip THIS made the most sense. We passed through a small town to see an early 70’s American made pick-up truck car hybrid (remember those things?), which had been converted into a hearse sitting, by the roadside. The Kevin Quain classic “Picking Flowers” was playing on the stereo. Somehow it all made sense. Pinoy culture has a fascination with vampires, so many of Kevin’s strange vampire blues songs seemed to fit in perfectly.

The drive back passed quickly. I was almost dead. Rene still had to go to work but said he’d give the dispatcher 100 pisos to get sent out to the airport, where he could sleep in the limo for an hour or so. I lugged my pack up to the 23rd floor, and after wonderful hot bath I fell asleep until late Sunday night. I was burned, bit, scratched, sore, tired, and hungry… but I had an amazing time. Who needs fancy resorts! Just stay out of the red mud.

 

Saturday November 25, 2000 Going Back To Taal...

Rene texted me at around 10:00am and said that he was on his way and would arrive at 10:30am. I packed my bag up and headed downstairs to the lobby. I left my bag with the guard and walked down the street to the photo shop and bought 3 rolls of film, then walked back up to the apartment building. I waited out on the steps for Rene to arrive. He pulled up in the red Toyota and we put my stuff in the car. We drove over to Landmark department store and picked up some things for Tirso's family. Then it was off to Tagatay.

It was sunny and very hot out so the Toyota's very powerful air conditioning was appreciated. Our first adventure was leaving Makati. As we pulled on to the highway Rene stayed in the center lane to avoid a several huge potholes. A blue shirted traffic enforcement officer saw this, and then noticed me in the car. You could almost see the piso signs popping up in his eyes. He strode over towards us, his right arm outstretched like a fascist salute, intent that we were going to pull over. Rene just drove right on by. I understood the real reason we were being pulled over. To the traffic-cop, who are notorious for extorting money or plundering accident scenes, a white guy in a car would mean only one thing. Big cash to be extorted! Being a law abiding Canuck I was sort of horrified that Rene just laughed and drove right by him, then sped off down the highway towards the toll booth.

"Why didn't you stop?"

Rene's answer was simple. "He didn't have a motorcycle."

He did have a radio. But this didn't bother Rene. In broad daylight on a toll highway he had no further chance to stop us. The toll authority wouldn't care what he said and at this point we had done nothing wrong. He wasn't about to radio ahead and complain he didn't get to rip us off for a few thousand pisos...

Our soundtrack for the first ninety minutes of the journey was a mix tape I made myself which is named "HAVE A NICE DAY." It's made up of songs from the 1970s that I liked as a kid. So as we sped along the toll highway out of Manila everything took a surreal tone as such classics as 10CC's "m Not In Love," or Ram Jam's "Black Betty" played on the 1978 Pioneer car stereo. I find it strange that Rene, who's 35 and grew up in a world totally alien to me, knew almost every single song on the tape with exception of the Canadian content such as Anne Murray and April Wine. Rene would say with every other song "I know this song! I loved this song!" So imagine if you will a little red Corolla weaving its way along the confused mass of traffic on an elevated highway. Around it giant air conditioned buses spew out black smoke as if they run on coal fire. Along the side of the highway are shanties constructed out of flimsy materials. But inside the car Rene and I are both singing along with "Sink The Bismarck."

Once we cleared the city the difference in the quality of air was instantly noticeable. We stopped at a highway side petrol rest area similar to those found at home. Instead of Tim Horton's and Wendy's it offered Starbucks and Jollibee. I picked us up a couple of teas and off we went. It was wonderful to get out from Manila's oppressive blanket of smog.

We eventually left the main highway and headed along the side roads towards Tagatay. Our first stop was to be the exclusive country club where Rene's brother in law Efren works as a restaurant manager. The last time we had visited had been at night. Rene is clearly more impressed with the place than I am. Its nice, but only in that it has well kept grounds, and the buildings don' t look like they are about to collapse under the weight of the soot and pollution that has built up on their walls. To me, having grown up in a first world country it looked like a well-managed park with some nice facilities on it. To Rene it is the closest he has been to being outside of the Philippines. Here he could imagine himself in the dreamland of America. The land of milk and honey. Or so he has been told by Hollywood.

I look forward to bringing Michelle to the Club though. Even if we can't stay there. I want to see her reaction to the gardens. I think it would be like turning me loose in a music store full of vintage synthesizers. We parked under the watchful eye of a guard then strolled up to the main building through the pathways that lead through the gardens and past the giant swimming pools. The pool was full of frolicking fat kids. Where Rene and I were headed there aren't any fat kids.

We found Efren outside on the patio eating his lunch. We joined him and I had the best Mango shake I've ever had. It was so good that I had to have a second one. Rene had dug out his Canon AE-1, a camera almost as ancient as my Canon FTb (which I have been using since I was 14! 22 years since Dad gave it to me!) so he took a few shots of us there. We didn't stay too long, since we had to find Tirso's cousin Eddie who owns a bangka boat.

We drove off and out of the club grounds to get some lunch. HAVE A NICE DAY had run out so I threw on a tape that has Murray McLaughlin's greatest hits on one side and the new Barenaked Ladies CD on the other. It was very weird listening to Murray sing, "I went to the Kensington market" while we pulled up at the cliff top restaurant for some "boolaloo."

The restaurant is the same one we went to on our last trip back from Taal. It has several Gilligan's Island/Swiss Family Robinson type elevated dining areas. Each has several levels, and each is open with a thatched roof on the top. By daylight the view was unbelievable. We could look down across the canopy of trees, past the little buildings on the shore to the lake and see our destination; the volcano Taal. The old crater looking very volcanic, and the active crater almost unnoticeable in the curves of the islands hilltops. We were serenaded by 4 musicians; 3 guitarists and 1 stand-up bass player, who made such mind numbing hits as Mambo # 5 and Livin La Dolce Vita sound like music. We ordered our boolaloo and calamari and enjoyed the day. The breeze was very refreshing, and I sat and watched the birds flying around beneath us. The food was of course amazing.

We left at around 2:30pm and began our descent down to Taal Lake. The road, which the Corolla had struggled down once before, had become much thinner in spots due to "erosion" (aka mud-slide) from the typhoons. We could see that heavy equipment had been used to clear it from the piles of debris on the side. Rocks, trees, branches, and dirt had been pushed out of the way. Once down in the junction we pulled left instead of right and headed towards the town. The boatman who had taken us across before recognized us, Rene laughed as he chased after us when we turned "the wrong way." Being Canadian I felt sort of guilty. We made our way to the shore and met Tirso's cousin Eddie. Rene had texted him earlier, and told him we were on our way. We drove to someone's house. I'm still sure of the connection but I assume they were also part of Tirso's family. We parked the Toyota and then boarded the bangka and crossed the lake to Taal.

The first thing we discovered when we arrived on Taal was that the Saint Nino feast didn't actually start until Nov 26th, when we would be heading back to Manila. This seemed to be a great source of amusement to the locals. I guess its like not knowing Christmas is on Dec 25th. We were to stay at Eddie's place, which was a small house build from cement blocks. We parked our stuff on the patio and sat down. We were introduced to the many relatives of Tirso as well as Eddie's family. There were very few people who spoke English, and to make it stranger there were several who were deaf-mutes who only spoke sign language. Many curious kids who didn't seem to know that I couldn't understand them soon surrounded me. The only English word they knew seemed to be "goodbye."

Our gifts of clothes for the kids were accepted with a real appreciation. But I was quickly beginning to change my opinion of how "impoverished" these people were. I also realized that the reason the kids were so skinny wasn't because they were starving. It is because they live a life outdoors, climbing palm trees, swimming, and running around like maniacs. They are luckier in many ways than the fat Jollibee junk food fed creatures I had seen earlier. The people who leave places like Taal to try and find some mythical western success in the overcrowded slums and shanties of Manila are the unfortunate ones. I was once again having my stupid ideals kicked out of me. Were these people any worse off because they didn't have a bunch of crap? No. I've seen a lot of very empty expats here who have more than they could ask for. Still its a hard life they lead, I can understand why many would try and leave.

Tirso and Eddie took off and got us some fish from the fish farm. They brought the fish back in a metal bowl, the fish still flopping around. They gutted them, but left the heads on and then after salting them, grilled them over an open fire. As frightening as it would look to many the fish was absolutely amazing to eat. We were given rice and a dipping sauce as well and a variety of people came and sat with us. Some of the men had bodies like the Backstreet Boys. All of the men were in great physical condition. It was strange to see, considering when I go to Karate I there are all these people in the gym struggling to attain that kind of physical state by lifting weights and running like neon hamsters on the treadmills. The fishermen and boatmen had cut muscles, and toned bodies from a life of swimming, pulling, lifting, building and working. Rene and I felt like a couple of fat whales sitting there.

We had bought two bottles of rum and I had a bottle of red wine. Once the kids had been sent off to bed the drinking began. The red wine was rejected as if it were gasoline. The rum was not. Some of the hardier boatmen drank it straight, Rene and others mixed it with coke. One boy of about 16 was encouraged to try it and the men all laughed when he turned his nose up at it. I had great difficulty with the red wine. Getting into it that is. I had of course forgotten that corkscrews aren't a big household item in small Pinoy villages. Rene asked if they might have one, and for a moment we thought perhaps we were in luck, until a can opener was brought to us. I made an effort to employ it anyway. In the end the cork was forced into the bottle and I had to enjoy my wine with bits of cork floating around in it.

At 10:00pm when the generator was turned off and the kerosene lamp was brought out, it was time to call Michelle in Ottawa. I had already made one trip to the water's edge to "use the comfort room" as they say here. In that trip in the dark I had found a good spot near the water, prepared myself and then realized the stump I was about to pee on was a cow. On my second trip down to the water I walked in the dark wondering at the beauty of the place until I stepped in something that could only be one thing. It feels the same in Taal as it does in an Albertan field.

So after washing my shoe off in the water I called Michelle. Think about how amazing that is. There I am on the edge of an island, so far away from Ottawa that there is 13 hours time difference between us. Yet I can call her and she can hear the waves rolling in. I described to her the scene around me. How that across the water and up on the surrounding hills there was an electrical storm but above us the sky was clear and all the stars were there to see. I could only speak to Michelle for a few moments, afterwards I stayed for a moment by the water and wondering at the beauty and dream-like quality of the where I was. Then I returned to the patio to finish the bottle of wine.

I don't remember a lot after that point. One of the mutes had some tattoos that I asked about. Through the translation from Sign to Tangala to English I learned that one of the tattoos was a falling star he had a dream about on his 33rd birthday. It was actually sort of a spooky story for some reason. I was also told of how some self-important priest had come to the island and gone down to the crater on his own. He had stepped in a patch of red mud, sunk down to knees and received very bad burns from the boiling volcanic mud. This story seemed to amuse the fishermen to no end.

Some of the men brought out a table and began to play cards. The wine had taken its toll on me, and Rene was slipping away as well. The big debate came as to where we would sleep. Rene was to sleep on the patio on a folding cot; I was to take Eddie's bed. I would have none of that. It was a difficult thing to translate with out offending anyone or seeming like I was above staying in their house. There was really only one place I wanted to sleep anyway. On the bangka boat. This must have made me seem even stranger to these people. Rene explained it to them that "I'm a cowboy" and that I like to sleep outside. This thanks to endless Hollywood propaganda and cigarette advertisements made perfect sense to them. Eddie got me a mat and walked me down to the boat. Using my handphone's display for light I took out my contacts and fell asleep listening to the water lap up against the shore, and to the gentle rocking of the boat.

Sunday November 19, 2000 : In Studio

I went in the studio yesterday from 2:00pm until 6:00pm. I moved 3 bed tracks from my PSO2 to Protools. I also burned a copy of the tracks onto CDR. I tried to lay down a keyboard track but the Korg Workstation was the variety of keyboard I hate most. The super-duper midi nightmare from the early 90's that is impossible to use, and sounds like an episode of TOUR OF DUTY. Whispy FM synth voices twinkling over top of dreamy Zamphir verses Yani flutes... It's like being trapped in some new age book store.

YUCK!

As for the tracks, I am unsure what to do with 2 of the 3. I may never know. I also burned the recording I made of Typhoon Bebinca on to CD so I may post it here as a sound file. The engineer's name is Ed. He seemed to think my weird bed tracks were a welcome change from what he nomally has to record. Or perhaps he's being polite.

Friday November 10, 2000

Tomorrow is by President Estrada's decree... A national holiday of prayer... I had booked time at local recording studio. Here is the text message exchange regarding an increase of rates due to the "holiday."

Studio: Good afternoon. Please be advised that tomorrow is a holiday. The Studio Rate is 1200 pisos an hour. Have a nice day.

LDT: What? Since when is tomorrow a holiday?

Studio: Presidend Estrada declared tomorrow as a special holiday for his National Prayer Rally.

LDT: You must be kidding me! I'm not paying more because that crook wants someone to pray for him. Cancel the session!

Studio: Okay. You can book a slot any day next week.

Don't hold your breath kids.

Friday November 3, 2000 : Typhoon Bebinca

Just when you thought the balcony door was safe... Well, Typhoon Xangsane might have wanted our downstairs balcony door... But Typhoon Bebinca wanted both of the doors.

The rain started yesterday but the typhoon hit us at around 11:30pm. A bit of wind... more wind... lots of wind... and by midnight that angry giant was back outside my balcony trying to tear the sliding doors off, and kick the windows in. The power went off, the generator came on and this morning I woke to find that during the night one of the many crashes I'd heard was... Our downstairs balcony doors. They lay on the balcony now it a zillion bits smashed as if they were made out of cheap plastic. The metal frame bent and twisted. In its place is wood.

Our big wooden kitchen door is also gone, it lays in the dining room on its side. It blew off and smashed one of the dining room chairs... If anyone had been hit by it... Thankfully no one was. Once we lost the doors the force of the winds coming through the apartment trapped Suzy in her room. She couldn't open her door and was terrified as the building swayed.

I must admit I found last night's typhoon very frightening. There is no reasoning with the elements. All I could do (no sleep) was lay there and listen to my glass door rattle! Hoping and praying that they didn't smash or blow away. Eventually at around 5:00am, either the swaying of the building or the drone of the generator put me to sleep.

Bebinca's death toll... 20 dead, 60 missing.

Wednesday November 1, 2000 : All Saints Day

The Typhoon Xangsane has left us and moved toward Taiwan. The death toll here was 40. It has caused a terrible plane crash in Taiwan which has taken the lives of at least 60 people.

Meanwhile... Today is "All Saints Day"... which means... Today and tomorrow (All Souls Day) are national holidays and everything is pretty much deserted. Suzy bashfully asked if it was okay if she had the afternoon to go light a candle somewhere or other. Not being a Mr Scrooge, I said "Go crazy!" I know as long as there's milk for my tea, I'll be okay.

Sunday October 29, 2000 : Typhoon Xangsane leaves

It seems so quiet now! The typhoon died out at around 6:00pm last night. The winds had grown worse by noon and Tarzan and I just barely prevented one of the heavy glass sliding balcony doors from flying off to oblivion. The winds came up and pulled it right off of its tracking and then sucked it out on to the balcony where it was jammed long enough that we could grab it and struggle to bring it inside, our concerns being not getting pulled off with it, and not dropping it on our feet or jamming our fingers. Once it was inside we had no effective way of keeping the winds out. Things started getting blown over, so everything breakable went into the corners, or came off of tables. The winds still managed to break a few things, and get into the drop ceiling where it sucked some ceiling tiles up into drop ceiling. In an almost opposite action 2 light fixtures were blown out.

I fell asleep to "Wake of Poseidon" at around 2:00pm. The glass doors to my balcony rattling away as if some giant titan was trying to break them in or pull them off. I had drawn my curtains, and closed my shutters in case the glass did break. As Crimson's Mellotrons groaned away I drifted off thinking about my only other high wind experiance... A hurricane that hit Nova Scotia when I was about 11 or 12. We were in the Bay Of Fundy when it hit, and when we came home to Halifax we found the winds had lifted up the heavy wooden picnic table in our back yard and smashed it like a toy.

Saturday October 28, 2000 : Protests and High Winds...

It is 4:00am... I was woken by the rattling of the windows, the shaking of the building and the Scooby Doo haunted house like sounds of the wind whistling... oooooooo.... And all after 3 hours of sleep... Before which Tarzan told me he thinks the Tree House is haunted. Falling to sleep to KING CRIMSON's very spooky "In The Wake Of Poseidon" didn't help. The rain has stopped however, although the winds persist. I brought in the plants from the various balconies. We've already had to pay 100 bucks in damages after one of our plants fell during a rain storm and smashed a window.

Friday I wandered around Makati... I bought some CD's and then searched in vain for more music software. I walked back home and got caught in a major demonstration against Philippine President Estrada (No relation to Eric) who's undergoing impeachment proceedings. Traffic was stopped around the Stock Exchange Building, and there were thousands of people milling around, while opposition leaders addressed them over loudspeakers. Security was tight, with a heavy Police presence. Heavily armed "security guards" (aka rich people's private armies) were EVERYWHERE. I had my camera with me, so hopefully some of the pics will be worth posting up.

Tonight Mike and I just stayed in and watched a movie, while we watched the US markets on line.

Now the wind howls... I have put the cartoon channel and am watching Scooby Doo. Suddenly I am not spooked out.

Tuesday October 24?

Last night I spent several hours reviewing my recent recordings. The conclusion that I came to was that I'm unhappy with about 60% of it. Or was. The 60% I was unhappy with is now just a memory... thanks to the easy delete song function on the PS02.

I fell asleep this afternoon. I had a dream that I was playing a new SNOWMELTER song to someone. I could clearly see the fingering I was using in the dream. When I woke I rolled out of bed and grabbed my travel guitar and played it a few times to ensure I could still remember it.

How many SNOWMELTER songs is that from dreams now?

October 22, 2000 : Reactoring

I was out and about searching the lower bowels of the many labrynth like malls and I felt compelled to go down a set of stairs into a concourse under one of the main malls. It is an area full of VERY SMALL shops, each perhaps no bigger than 20 X 20. I was looking for playstation games or toy insturments to sample... However I found something better. In one shop that seemed to sell Playstation, bootleg music CD's and PC Software, I noticed down at ankle level, amongst the accounting and photo software a disc called REACTOR 2.0... Its cover gave me no indication of what was inside, but I picked it up for some reason and found... It contained a virtual "modular synth" builder! I almost fell over. 150 Pisos later I was on my way back to the treehouse to load it up on Tarzan's laptop.

Unfortunately it was completely lacking in documentation. Despite this I have produced a multitude of beeps, burps, drones, thumps, squawks, howls, and drum patterns to keep me sampling madly and continuing my fiendish cross sampling/processing mutilation.

I demoed a new song on the PSO2, using samples from laptop, and mutilating them on the Yamaha SU10 (not SU4 as I had previously posted). I got the "teeny tiny transistor radio" sound I desired and then added a snarky guitar part. I have no name for this yet other than SONG 98 SMARTCARD 1.

Tuesday Oct 17, 2000 : Lorne & the volcano

Yesterday at 11:30am my Pinoy pal Rene picked me up in his red Toyota and we headed off to see the Taal volcano, which is located about 70 kms south west of Manila. According to my travel book it is "one of the smallest and most dangerous volcanoes in the world". I'm still not sure why its so dangerous.

It was raining and miserable when we left Manila. We filled up with 500 piso's worth of gas and headed on to the highway. We passed an accident between a jeepney and a truck on the other side of the highway which had traffic coming into Manila backed up for a mile. We eventually got off the main road and started our ascent up into the "mountains" near Batangas. The scenery was absolutely unbelievable. Palm and coconut trees, rice paddies, little villages with folk looking wide eyed at Rene and I as we passed through. Taal is located on an island in the center of a fresh water lake in the centre of what must me an ancient crater. The landscape around the lake slopes down and seems almost coast line. The lake is huge, and very deep. We drove along the hillside surrounding the lake and in a moment of absolute desperate hunger stopped to pay Ronald McDonald a visit. Rene insists that next time it's Jollibee for breakfast.

We headed down some very steep roads, the Toyota's gears grinding all the way, to the edge of the lake where we hired a Bangka boat (outrigger) to take us across. The trip was calm and only took about 20 minutes. Once on Taal we docked by this tiny village. We were set upon by a dozen curious kids, and several guides who wished to take us up. Rene's ability to get the best deal, or pick out the most trust worthy guide was once again a benefit. Our guide was a fellow named Tirso, and his son or brother Jason. We mounted our horses and off we went.

My mount was an ill tempered beast named Bernadette. The locals were surprised that I could ride at all, and Jason who served as my guide was shocked at how the horse seemed to like me. I must say, I felt sorry for the thing having to cart my 195 pound butt up the side of a mountain. Rene had never been on a horse before so that was fun. We climbed up the side of the active portion of the volcano using a path that cut through and along some of the most incredible scenery I have EVER scene in my life. I just kept looking around going "Wow!".

Once we had reached the top we dismounted and walked further to the very edge of the volcano's mouth. I was soaked from the sweat of my horse, and the underbrush we had crossed through. The ground had small spot where steam and heat came out, like dozens of boiling kettles. Looking down into the volcano was absolutely wonderful. I felt as if I wear looking at some backdrop or matte painting from a fictional Star Wars planet. It was almost impossible to believe I was actually looking at a real site.

The sides of the Volcano sloped down sharply to another lake in the center. The water bubbled and boiled in spots, and along the sides were more "kettles" steaming away. There was also a beautiful island in the center covered in trees and vines and underbrush. Tirso told us the water was good to swim in but undrinkable, and that many Japanese and Koreans would travel to sleep by it's edge. We walked quite a way around the edge, Rene shouting his enthusiasm at every steaming rock, or a new unexpected view. I was blown away by the amount of birds. Beautiful aqua blue coloured creatures the likes I have never seen before. Butterflies and strange wonderful flowers. Rene's insistence that we had taken a boat to "heaven" seemed only logical. Tirso reminded us of the hellish aspects by recounting how lucky his family was that the wind was blowing the other way when Taal last erupted in 1965. We shot a lot of photos, and after resting and talking we headed back down. Jason had given up trying to guide me and let me ride the horse on my own. Rene road ahead talking with Tirso. We road back to Tirso's home where we were invited back anytime. Then we returned to the waterfront.

We paid Tirso, and the boatman and handed out any loose pisos to the children who buzzed around us. The poverty once again was hard for me to see. Boys playing with carved wood vehicles, and girls proudly sporting purses made from empty foil potato chip bags, slung over their shoulders with string. The villagers invited us back for a feast in November. Rene says that locals like me because I'm not like "other white people", and that I have a "good angels' face". I told him that my face made most whites think I was stupid. He retorted that most white people are mean and bossy and what do they know.

We crossed back over and headed out to visit Rene's brother. I have learned that Rene, and perhaps all Pinoys will refer to almost anyone as "their brother". In this case we were actually visiting Rene's brother in law. We drove in a thick fog that swept in as the sun sank to where Rene's brother in law works. Its in a place near Taal called Tagatay in an exclusive members only resort. The "resort" grounds were about the size of... Willowdale in Toronto. We passed through the gate and suddenly were on the best roads you can imagine. We drove for about 10 minutes to the second gate where Rene informed the guards who we were and why we were coming. Rene's brother in law was expecting us, so they waved us through. We then drove past amazing buildings a log house, a bowling alley/sports facility etc to the parking area. Then we walked through the most wonderfully landscaped garden to the main building. The garden rivaled what I had seen with Michelle in Montreal at the Botanical Gardens. We were giving the grand tour at the end of which I asked how much the membership cost.

45,000 US dollars JUST TO JOIN.

3000 USD a month to maintain.

An hour and 10 kms before I'd been looking at starved kids.

We left the resort and Rene drove me to a place where we had a proper meal. It was out doors under these Gilligans Island like structures. We had "bugulo" which is what Rene called "beef knuckle soup". Vegetarians are allowed to cringe. Meat eaters aren't. It was AMAZING. The best beef broth I've ever had, and the meat melted in your mouth. We also had excellent fresh squid. Mmmmmm.

The drive back to Manila was almost surreal. I was falling asleep to a cassette of the band "America". We got back at 10:00pm and I had a shower and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

On the music front I picked up a Yamaha SU4 Sampler for 7000 pisos... that's about 145$ USD. It has a few functions that the DOctoberOR SAMPLE doesn't but what I have been doing is building percussion loops on the SU4 and then resampling them on the DOctoberOR SAMPLE.

So far I have completed beds for "SOUTH CHINA SEAS", "SLING", and a piece I call "AIRPLANE" which is not an about an airplane.

 

October 14, 2000

With sudden fall of the piso I found myself with increased buying power... That combined with a "hounddog" sale (whatever that may mean) at a local shop... and I'm now a proud owner of a BOSS SP-202 Doctor Sample.

I have set aside working on "Sling", as I am unhappy with some of the guitar parts. I have recorded the beds for an idea that has been floating around (no pun intended) for about 6 months called "South China Seas", and today I finished the beds for a new piece with is untitled. The cross fertilization between devices is crazy. I will sample something that I've recorded on the PS02, then mess with it on the Doctor Sample...Then run that loop THRU the filters on the ER-1 to chop it up and sync it to the beats, then record all that back on to the PS02. The process is strange but the results have been excellent.

Things are taking shape....

October 12, 2000

Worked a whole evening on a rough version of a song I will call "SLING" for now. Lay a drum track down from the ER-1 on to the PS02, followed by two guitar tracks. I then bounced those 3 tracks as virtual tracks on to tracks 2 & 3, leaving track on for some rough vocals. Slowly the song takes shape.

Finding SMARTMEDIA cards here is impossible. SONY "MEMORY STICKS" seem to rule the day. Oh well. I bought 3 cards before I left. I should be okay.

October 9, 2000

Back in Manila. A 24 hour jouney is over. I spent much of my time learning how to use the PS02 Palm Studio. The possiblities are big for my little toy. Today I will begin working with the ER-1 and will begin demoing some ideas by the end of the week.

In the mean time I must get over my jet-lag.

October 6,2000

I purchased a new toy. The ZOOM PS02 palm digital studio. It has a built in drum machine and bass patterns, and can record 3 digital tracks, each track having 10 "virtual tracks". You can bounce etc. It also has a built in effects processor. The media it uses is the only draw back. "smartcards" will run you 100bucks a pop for a 32meg card.

I hope that as with many such things I will find cheaper media in the Philippines. I did find some cheaply priced cards at a computer shop. Japan Camera though was a total rip-off. They wanted over 200bucks for a 32meg card! Ya... I'll be right back.

In any event, this new toy is the size of a walkman. It will be perfect for my noodlings and writing while I'm travelling. I leave for Manila tomorrow.

September 27, 2000

I have postponed my trip back to Manila until mid-October.

I am currently at Justin's in Toronto and we have just spent the evening messing around with some sampling and drum looping on his computer. He has also played me a variety of creations which may or may not end up as SNOWMELTER things. I created a loop which I can only describe as aliens from the 1950's invading a trailer park.

Justin and I will reconvene tomorrow night for more musical meanderings...

September 20, 2000

Back in Ottawa and preparing to return to Manila. I have had a wonderful visit, the highlight being of course the first SNOWMELTER ROYAL WEDDING.Sorry girls, Justin is married now.

It was an excellent and intimate wedding, featuring violin stylings by the talented Rod Booth, (who laid some tracks down on our recording marathon in June) as well as the sea-shanty vocals of The Toronto Morris Men. The Morris Men later pulled a reluctant Justin out for some Morris Dancing. Kim also joined her Belly Dancing instructor on the floor. Truckin Cousin Rob made a surprise stop over and joined us at the Grapefruit Moon Staff table for some vittles and drinks. The musics was good, the food was great and all in all a good time was had by everyone.

SATURDAY September 2, 2000

The Korg ER-1 Rhythm Synthesizer is amazing. Although it lacks the "sequencer" function of the Roland Groovebox, it has many advantages as a drum machine. The most annoying part about the Groovebox is that most of its memory is taken up with stupid sounds, and even stupider factory programmed sequences & rhythms. There are only 50 user patterns available, and that fills up quickly. The ER-1 gives you the option of writing over the factory programmed dance beats so you have 265 patterns available. As for the sounds, you build them yourself using old style analog modeling.

I have already come up with beats for VGM, and two new songs. I intend to demo them here in Makati, when I come back from Canada at the end of Septemberember.

TUESDAY AUGUST 29, 2000

The RJ semi acoustic is back. The repair job is...well... done. And if I had some Elmer's glue and a couple of clamps... I could have done just as excellent a job. BUT... it works fine and sounds no worse than it did before.

Tomorrow afternoon I will be purchasing the KORG ER-1 beat box. With this device in one hand and the Elmer Glue Guitar in the other I will begin demoing songs...as soon as I return from Canada in late September. I will be flying back to Canada next week for the biggest wedding celebration since Prince Charles and Lady Di... The marriage of Justin and Kim Warrior Princess. I look forward to seeing many of the SNOWMELTER cargo cult at this exciting event.

 

AUG 24, 2000

Tomorrow I will be able to pick up my repaired guitar from RJ music, here in Makati. I have grown used to the 2000 piso "Vagabond" travel guitar that I bought several weeks ago, but it will be nice to have a proper scale guitar again.

I have found another music store which has a good selection of electronic gear. The Korg MS-2000 analog synth/vocoder looks tasty, as does the Korg ER 1 drum sequencer... The question is... do I want to buy them here or in Canada.

I have also checked out FX Recording studio. A small set up compared to SIGNAL TO NOISE...but 24 tracks analog...and for only 800 pisos an hour.

I have a few new ideas I would like to demo here.