9 am. Straight from the house of Beatlebum, Waterfowl, and Michiko, I hopped on a cab bound for Eastwood Libis to meet with friends-cum-colleagues for a day-long ocular in Nasugbu, Batangas. I was in 12-hour clothes, still hung up from the events of the party the night before, feeling filthy. Great way to start another long day.
The ocular was for a personal project. The first for me and screenwriter Dennis Teodosio, the baby we're going to nurture and rear to full glorious completion. (oops, that sounded different...fyi, Dennis is gay. and not my type of gay! haha)
Full glorious completion. I hope, i pray. That everything will work in harmony with our dreams.
I burst through the door of our producer's condo puffing. life was tough without a cellphone on hand (left the temporary phone at home, been out of touch with the world for forty eight hours hence). on impulse i decided that i was going to buy my permanent phone that morning. plus a fresh shirt, too.
impulsive-compulsive beeyatch. got a shirt in one of eastwood's shops for a bargain price of P50--not bad at all! and i don't regret my purchase of a brand-new Nokia 1600. it fits the budget, serves the purpose. no camphone, no video, which suits me just fine. i'm not going to risk owning another pricey mobile again. i'm too burara for that.
anyway, the new phone is serving me well. it's pocketsize, sleek, with all the features that i need (alarm clock, big inbox memory, and the ringtones are music to the ears). i'm going to buy it a harness one of these days and hang it around my neck. you and me, baby, together til kingdom come. a promise to be kept at all costs!
life on the express lane. was it only twenty four hours ago when i was riding a trolley along the Sta. Mesa railway with a camera crew? on this day i found myself riding at the back of an open truck. breezing past rice fields and sugarcanes and rolling plains and miles and miles of greenery. hwow! from urban grit to the rural rustic in a span of twenty four hours. and with some partying in between!
that's the beautiful thing about this kind of life. you never know where it's going to take you next.
riding at the back of that truck, i couldn't resist the moment--stood up and held my arms up, surrendering myself to the wind, and howled.
WOOHOOOO!
haha. like some teener in an American road movie.
the adventuring staff:
JP, line producer. soon-to-be chef extraordinaire at the shoot. he vows to entertain everyone on the set in whatever way he can.
Tita Emily, executive producer. mommy figure. the best that's ever come round this side of the indie circle.
Dennis, writer. my co-parent, co-creator, mind-to-merge with. gets excited with every aratilis tree we come across. always.
Sheryll, production manager. new recruit. one of my best friends. she rolled up her sleeves and got to work as soon as she came in. i love working with friends!
Me, nature-trekker/production muse. just taggin along.
in a nutshell, we found what we were looking for.
we stopped by the side of the rode and found a perfectly aligned grove of mango trees perched on a long, elevated patch of earth.
A young boy will fall from one of those trees and hurt himself. But his lolo--a hilot--will heal him of the pain.Right across the mango groves stood a craggy hill that looked dramatic in the sunset. A visual find, doesn't exactly fit in the script but something that might be put to use as setting for one of the scenes.
It would have been ideal if, in place of that unused Meralco electric post perched on top, was a lone tree. The discovery of the day: a wide meadow of rolling plains, perching rocks, and lush green trees in Barangay Catandaan. Now THIS is what we had in mind. THIS is going to be the paradise of our child characters. THIS place is going to witness a summer in the life of our young boy Toto.
The digicam doesn't do this place justice. Hopefully, our videocamera will, when the time comes. I can't wait...! 
The road towards the birth of a beautiful film. Here's hoping. We hiked down a foot trail and came upon a shallow river running through a wide open clearing. The river's waters were clear and the entire clearing was surrounded by trees and mountains on most sides. This will fit in on the script too, eventually. it's too beautiful a place to pass up. It will fit in the script AND the story. With justifiable purpose.
the river runs through me. and within me. and out of me. flowing, like a beautiful story aching to be told.we've seen these things, as well...
the rice fields turn gold in the summer. we'll be waiting.
sugarcanes in the countryside. kids will be running through those rows, chasing each other.
lonely rice stalks at sunset.
the young boy will watch this sunset as he sits by the hills. he can see the sun, but he cannot touch it. it frustrates him, so he eats an aratilis instead. :-)We ended the day somewhat fulfilled. We got what we came for and it was time for the next phase--securing these locations. That will be worked on during the holidays. For the moment it was time to go back to Manila and call it a day.
Man was I exhausted. Was asleep the entire trip back.
This day was a breather. I love working on this personal project. But there still were things to accomplish for the indie film that had just wrapped up, and tomorrow was going to be another day.
Goodbyes actually mean "see you later".
And "later", I realized, was going to be tomorrow.
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