FUKUOKA, 2018. Finally finished the screenplay for a horror film that I had been writing for days. And I feel relieved. I am a huge horror fan, but I realized this: It’s one thing to watch a horror movie; to write it is another. It didn’t feel good to be constantly imagining demons, spirits and…
BATANGAS, 2018. Since I lost my nephew, I have been home more often than ever because I know my family needs me. But I hate it here. This house is a big ball of misery.
SANTORINI, 2017. We arrived in the Greek town of Oia past 10pm. It was a cold, windy December evening, and because it’s off season, the village was as dormant as the volcano it overlooks. As in most destinations, we tried to find our booked room as soon as we got off the cab.
THEY SAY WE CHOOSE OUR FRIENDS. The guy who had occupied one room in our rented apartment left, and we needed someone to replace him. My housemate Dane placed a ROOM FOR RENT ad online, and in no time, our phones beeped non-stop.
Every night I hope to see him in my dreams. It does happen sometimes. Rarely. And in those elusive dreams, he was always so distant. He wouldn’t speak or even come near me.
Funny how simple things can turn your fate. For example, whether I would become a geologist or a filmmaker depended on an afternoon walk when I was 16.
BALER, 2017. It’s been a month now. It’s crazy how life can turn from happy to empty in an instant. When I watched this sunset 2 months ago, I was enveloped in an air of positivity. Things were at their best —- career, relationships, family. I thought, wow, things could not get any better than…
He had not even seen the sea. Just last week I was planning a family trip to Palawan. I was excited that his first memories of the sea would be so beautiful, in El Nido, which would have been an upgrade from the plastic mini-pool that we set up at the back of our house.…
