Posts published during October, 2007
June 5, 2007. It was a Tuesday. A day after we visited Universal Studios, we drove to Las Vegas, Nevada. From Santa Monica and the Los Angeles area of Southern California, we were on the road for a couple of hours through the vast inland desert.
Halfway through, we dropped by an outlet store in what seemed like in the middle of nowhere in the town of Barstow. The place was semi-deserted, and it felt like there was a mild sand storm what with the strength of the wind that was blowing that time.
We arrived in Las Vegas a little before 8 in the evening. We checked in at Paris Hotel then walked outside for a bit. We went to have dinner with my mom’s friend who lived in Las Vegas. We ate at Todai, a Japanese buffet restaurant in Mile High below Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino.
When I think of Vegas, I think of strippers and gambling and all that so I didn’t feel quite comfortable being with my parents in Vegas.
June 4, 2007. The plan was to spend the day at Universal Studios Hollywood. Before proceeding to the infamous theme park, we dropped by a Catholic church (because my parents felt guilty that we didn’t attend mass the previous day), then, we picked my godmother up in Los Angeles, where she’s working as a caregiver. I actually missed her. It made me feel a little bad that she had to leave the Philippines and work as a caregiver two years ago.
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June 3, 2007. This was a relatively lazy Sunday. We stayed home most of the morning. While my parents went to do the groceries for breakfast and lunch, my brother and I stayed and watched TV, amused of all those amazing HDTV features available at the apartment.
After having home-cooked lunch, we headed off to the commercial district of Sta. Monica for my parents’ shopping. While my parents were at Macy’s, I strolled down to the beach and took some photos. After quenching their commercial thirst, my family joined me at the beach a few blocks from the department store. We had some churros while strolling.
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June 2, 2007. So, from Paso Robles, we continued driving all the way to Santa Monica in Southern California where Auntie Lydia’s daughter (which makes her my third cousin) lives. It was quite embarrassing. There we were, crashing her and her husband’s apartment with tons of luggages, and we (except for my mom) have never met her before.
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Today, for the first time, I shall vote for public officials through the barangay elections. The barangay government is said to represent the national government in delivering many of its basic services. It serves to provide the presence of the government at the grassroots level. Mong Palatino writes in his blog, “While national politicians can afford to neglect the daily tribulations of the people, barangay officials attend to these mundane concerns. May rumble sa kanto. Nag-away ang mag-asawa. May snatcher sa palengke. Kailangang may mag-ayos ng trapik sa parada. May hindi nagbayad ng utang. May gulo sa hatian ng lupa…”
However, because of the inefficiency in the delivery of many government services, those like us who belong to the urban petty bourgeois, and the rest who can afford it, have come to dispose of much of our reliance on the barangay government. I honestly can’t think of how our barangay council has eased our family’s life. The barangay is there to cater to those who need it. It also serves as one of the many illusions that our democratic system of government works.
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law student, film school graduate, student leader, youth activist, Kabataan Partylist legislative officer