whatever's clever

I’m no tourist. People call Mactan an island paradise; I simply call it home. I’ve spent 20-something summers on its sundrenched beaches. I know the nooks and crannies and hiding places like the back of my hand.The island and its sights and sounds are anything but foreign.

But then again every year it always gets better: I’m always swept off my feet and I fall head-over-heels for my beautiful, beautiful turf all over. It’s wonderful. And it’s so cool to think that people from all over the country and beyond travel so far to get here whilst I literally only have to cross the street to hit the sea.

Just one of the perks of being a regular Cebuana, I guess. :)

Happy summer! :D

Summer. :)

I’m always second-guessing myself and somehow, I’ve believed that some people are just way too good compared to me. Maybe they are, maybe they’re not, but if I never try I don’t think I’ll ever know.

Hey there you pretty little thing. :)

Flowers of May

So. Here we are, summer. It’s already May and you are as beautiful as ever. Have I told you that you’re my favorite part of the year? :)

Homebound.

Escario St., Cebu

It was a nice day out for a drive round town.

Cebu Business Park, Lahug, Cebu City

Making my way uptown.

Sungka is a traditional board game played by hardcore hipsters like me who do not know how to run any darn Android app.

Before today, I thought that it was just one of those old games kids play when it’s too hot out or when there’s nothing else to watch on TV except the annoying noontime show. I’ve been playing this game since grade school. Turns out, my favorite old-school game has been enjoyed by our Southeast Asian brethren for centuries, with its origins dating back to Roman Egypt according to Wikipedia. Talk about ancient. That sure beats playing Temple run any day. :)

Here’s more from Wiki:

 The game is otherwise known as congkak or congklak in Malaysia is often considered a game for girls and has simple rules that allow the boards to have different numbers of holes. Sungka boards are often made of teak or mahogany wood (I don’t know what our board is made out of, but my father brought it in from the island of Boracay a long time ago).

The Congkak board has fourteen holes in two sets of seven (some have ten holes in two sets of five, some have eighteen holes in two sets of nine), plus an additional bigger store-hole for each player. Each player controls the seven holes on their side of the board, and their score is the number of seeds in their left-hand store. In Indonesia, the holes are called anak (“child”), while the larger store holes are called indung (“mother”).

A total of 98 pieces are used in the two sets of seven board version. In Southeast Asia, cowrie shells and tamarind seeds are the most common. Seven seeds are placed in each hole except for the players’ store. The objective of the game is to capture more seeds than one’s opponent.