Blog, interrupted

WHEN PEOPLE remember blog posts you’ve written ages ago, it only means three things: One, you haven’t written anything worth reading since ages ago; two, you haven’t been updating lately, forcing people to rummage through your archives; or three, both.

I figure I land squarely on No. 3.

I’ve been busy, sorry.

Whether it’s snapping pictures while wading in waist-deep floodwaters unaware that what I was seeing was an infinitesimal and insignificant part of the chokehold that Ondoy put on the country with its icy, watery grip; watching a ring icon during his beastly Baguio workouts; or taking time out to watch Smart Gilas reduce Powerade to shreds, something would crop up to take me away from blogging.

And here’s where I insert the requisite, self-pitying, blog-popular comment bait: Not that you noticed anyway.

But yeah, seriously. Busy. So busy that I forgot to greet everyone a Happy Rest-of-your-life day. So, Smallville, belated Happy Rest-of-your-life day. I’m reserving a separate post for that holiday.

Meanwhile, on to more important things.

Where were you on Sept. 26?

I was here:

 

 

 

 

 

 

A week later, the UP Cum Laude and I hitched a ride with sportswriters in a comfortably cramped van and road-tripped to Baguio City, just a few days before Typhoon Pepeng made landfall and made life hell for several of our countrymen.

Covered Pacman’s training for the fight against Miguel Cotto. We were sleep-deprived because the UP Cum Laude crammed for several nights pitching in her share of relief work for the Philippine Sportswriters Association, never mind that her name wasn’t really called.

She simply volunteered her old stuff, a huge chunk of her salary and her time repacking clothes she willingly parted with, shoes, canned goods and multivitamin pills funneled into weekly packets without so much fanfare. Yes, in a time when publicity normally accompanied help for those resettled into makeshift refugee camps minus not just the comforts of home but also the benefit of basic needs, it was heartwarming to watch someone pitch in her share in her own almost unnoticed world.

Heck, one of the major fund drives that predated the Inquirer’s own act of charity was partly born out of her suggestion.

Since she was a Pacman fan, I felt it was fitting that I rewarded her with an up-close-and-personal look at the Manny Pacquiao training camp in Baguio City.

Pepeng caught up with us while we were in Baguio. And thus, we brainstormed a plan to get out of the City of Pines before we would be totally trapped. Thankfully, Victory bus drivers knew how to negotiate the curvy Marcos highway—the only path out of Baguio unaffected by reported landslides and road erosions—despite having, at times, just five feet of visibility.

Treated the UP Cum Laude to a basketball game, too. Smart Gilas vs Powerade, where she rooted for the team that lost but was awed at the vast improvement of the team that won.

More blog posts to come! The complete album of photos is posted at Facebook. To non-contacts, message me and add me up. Thanks!