July 19th: PWU Music Jam - An IP Rondalla Perspective

PWU-JASMS Rondalla performing "It's a Hard Day's Night"
A wonderful arrangement and performance!

The Bayanihan Rondalla, one of the most talented
rondalla groups I have ever seen

After our short visit to the Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT), we boarded the bus again to go to the Philippine Women's University (PWU), home of the Bayanihan Dance Troupe. Contrary to its name, the school opened its doors to men in 1992, which is why when we first arrived, we were all SHOCKED to see boys and girls! Just my remark. Anyway, we were greeted by two students from PWU who toured us through the Bayanihan costume room. We could definitely tell that the costumes these Bayanihan dancers wore were some of the most splendid and finely hand-woven pieces we have ever seen.

We were then led into the auditorium for the music jam. For us, a "Jamming Out" session means informally playing a few enjoyable songs. Little did we know, it was more formal than that! (Good thing we opted to change from shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops to the more formal wear we donned at our Malacanan visit). First to perform was the PWU-JASMS (Jose Abad Santos Memorial High School) Rondalla. They played two songs for us, "Mabuhay" and "A Hard Day's Night" by the Beatles. They had a full band, consisting of two bass players and two staggered rows of banduria, octavina, and guitar players! I enjoyed listening to their music, especially their contemporary song.

July 19th: Harnessing the Power of the Sun -- A Liter of Light (Isang Litrong Liwanag)

Guess what we did today? We actually handcrafted a device that can harness the power of the sun!

Using her contacts with Pepsi Cola - Philippines, this morning my mom arranged for us to visit the demonstration facility of Iliac Diaz - an eco-entrepreneur who runs "A Liter of Light Foundation" supported by Pepsico. Not only is Iliac a nice and "pogi" guy (he is related to the former Miss Philippines/Universe -- Gloria Diaz). He is also a brainiac, having graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University. But, instead of trying to get rich by working as an engineer for a multinational corporation, he does something more noble. His foundation brings cheap light into the homes of poor people. To date, they have installed over 15,000 solar "bulbs" in 20 Philippine cities, saving people millions of pesos in electric costs. Isn't that cool?

Iliac Diaz welcomes us inside the Liter of Light Foundation's demonstration facility.The place was chockful of
ingenious contraptions made from recycleable materials. The whole "building" itself is a great example of an easy-to-build
shelter from recycled plastic crates and steel frames. Inside were hydroponic systems for growing fish and vegetables,
foot-powered water pump, wall planters for growing vegetables in crowded neighborhoods, lamps made from
recycled plastic bottles, solar-powered water heaters, and many more.

July 19th: In the car to Bataan writing about DOT Coutesy Call

Hello Pinoy Jeep Blog Followers,

Ahhh, today is officially the first of three free days (we call it Family Day) after a hectic three weeks of IP Rondalla Philippine tour. But what am I doing today? Well, it's 5:30 in the morning, and I'm here in the car with my parents, Tita Naty, Tita Janeth, Kuya Jun, and Kuya Dondon on our way to Dinalupihan, Bataan to revisit the children of Bayan-Bayanan Elementary School.

July 18th: Leaving Bicol

The IP Rondalla singing "Maraming Salamat" to Dr. Sy with Tita Cris
handing her a specially framed group picture of the IP Rondalla

Hey, Ceci here. Today was a bittersweet day of many good-byes. We started off the day at our various lodgings. I stayed at the governor's mansion, which was filled with moths, dead and alive. We went to Kendra Sy's house for breakfast where I stuffed myself with fried bananas to the shock of others (I'm allergic to raw bananas). Because we were traveling back to Manila in two groups, there were many tears and good-byes after breakfast.

The first group left for the airport at 10 am, while the other group, including me, George, and Janrey, stayed at Dr. Sy's house and had a heaping of food for lunch. Dr. Sy was very kind to us. Even Kendra came down to say her parting words. At around noon, the second group boarded the van to the airport. Our flight was at 2 pm, but since we were a big group, we had to leave a little earlier for check-in. By now, the other group had already landed in Manila and were waiting for us.




Flying over Manila on our descent

We arrived at the airport at around 4 pm. By 4:30 pm, we were at Remington Hotel (ha ha, remember we were here at the beginning during our first big performance at Resorts World?) where the rest of the group awaited us. Unlike most days we've been having, the afternoon was pretty relaxing. We didn't have a performance and we didn't have anything scheduled, so the rest of the crew that was left behind sat in the lobby eating cheese pizza and begging the parents to let us go to the movies to watch "Monster's University." They surprisingly said no, despite this being our last day together. Oh well...at least we could sleep early for once. And that's exactly what we did.

Ceci

Reflections on the IP Rondalla by Ronn, the Saxophone Man from Legazpi

Ronn, the Saxophone Man

For the first time in my music career, I’ve never had such an opportunity as big and inspiring as the one I'm going to relate here. It all began when my aunt, one of the concert coordinators, called me to ask if I could play my saxophone on the two-day concert that Iskwelahang Pilipino Rondalla of Boston was having in Bicol. She asked if I could perform during the intermission. Honestly, I was thinking of whether to say yes or no, because I had never heard of the group before. In the end, my aunt convinced me to give a positive “yes!” After that call, though, I was still worried. I had no idea what to play. I had never even seen the IP Rondalla perform, so I wasn’t sure what type of genre would fit their style. Eventually, I decided to play one classical and one modern song. That seemed the most reasonable option.

I started practicing two songs: “Save All My Love for You” and “Just Give Me a Reason” for our first performance in Bicol College. When my time came to play during intermission, I went on stage and played what I had been practicing. I enjoyed the fame as the audience sang along to both songs, even being called an Iskwelahang Pilipino member from Boston (even though I wasn't)! When it was time for the IP Rondalla to play their second set, however, I started to feel kind of bad and a little embarrassed. I didn't realize they would play “Just Give Me a Reason” too, and I was basically taking over their crowd.

Aaron Speaks his Mind on Food.

Meet Aaron Rippin, an 11-year-old from Burlington, MA and the brother of our well beloved Nathan Rippin. Today, I conducted an interview with Aaron about many things. For now, though, I've decided to share with you one of our topics we discussed: Food. This kid will speak for hours on end if you give him a subject. He's got an opinion about everything and he's not afraid to share it with you. 

"I am speaking my mind!" Aaron exclaims, as he hits his fist on the
conference table at the Governor's mansion.

July 17th: Bicol - St. Agnes Academy

A fully packed auditorium of students from St. Agnes Academy for our final performance of the tour!

Today we went to St. Agnes Academy to perform for elementary, high school, and college students. This was our last performance, a very emotional ending to our two-and-a-half week tour. It is hard to believe that I have been with this group for this long. I am going to miss chilling out with my friends, Janrey, Gerry, George, Nolen, Nathan, Aaron, and JR (I'll miss him the most). Right before our last show the "bro bros" worked together to practice a new song so Janrey would finally have the spotlight in our little skit. Right after Ewan, we would have the song, "What Makes You Beautiful" by Wrong Direction (we weren't going in the Right Direction) where Janrey would sing. Then Nolen would grab the mic and continue with the next song, "Marry You" by Bruno Mars. It was quite the bonding experience, practicing with the bros for this last performance and incorporating this one last song for Janrey. After we finished, all my friends, including the girls and our teachers, came together for our last pulse (a ritual we do before each big performance), said a few prayers, and went on stage for the last time. 

JR the Hacky Sack Boy.

JR Fadrigalan

It's a little late, and I know I'm not the best writer in my group, but I really wanted to write about something. My name is JR, and I like hacky sacks. Whenever I find some free time, I "sipa" or kick a hacky sack with my foot several times. My record is 229 kicks. I sort of developed a strong emotional connection towards my hacky sacks to a point where I've started naming them. I brought about four on the trip because I couldn't leave without them. However, I didn't realize I would soon be using them in our performances. The little skit was created in one day for our UPLB audience, featuring all types of small yet playful games of the Philippines. Prior to the skit, I would leave stage right before remove my dress shoes and put on my sneakers. Then I would run behind stage because I had to enter on the other side and do my skit. After a successful performance at UPLB, we incorporated the skit into our performance and haven't stopped since then! I always seem to surprise the crowd with my so-called hacky sacks skills, but it doesn't always work out. In some cases the hacky sacks falls off stage. I blame Gerry for that. It's a lot of work, hitting a sack in the air, and I'm always sweaty for the rest of the performance, but it's fun. So...yeah. I wrote something, and you know what, I'm proud of it.

By the way, if you read Sierra's article about flying to Bicol, I'm that boy who got his rock confiscated.
Lessons learned.

JR Fadrigalan

July 16th: Bicol College -- IP Rondalla in Legazpi by Kendra Sy

Kendra is the daughter of our host in Legazpi, Bicol. She is 17 years old and currently a high school student studying in the Netherlands. While on vacation from her studies in Europe, she joined the IP Rondalla on their two-day adventure in Legazpi. The IP Rondalla instantly enjoyed her company and, after the tour, personally asked her to write about her experience with the group. This is her story.

Kendra Sy (me!) trying out the ATV

Having lived in the Philippines all my life, I thought that I knew my homeland like the back of my hand. Then the Fil-Ams of IP Rondalla group knocked on my door, almost literally as my mom barged into my room early in the morning to wake me up and greet the strangers by lunchtime, and I must admit that it was a pleasant surprise.

July 16th: Flying difficulties...to Bicol!



Entering the Cebu Pacific airplane headed to Bicol. 

Hey everyone,

So today we left for the airport at 6 am to get to Bicol. (I'm not sure of actual time since all of us were pretty worn out from Cebu.) Our choice of aircraft, Cebu Pacific. Not the best quality, but decent for a cheap, business-class airplane. At the Cebu airport in Mactan Island, we ran into a few technical difficulties. First of all, we're a group of approx. 50 people. That's a lot when you're trying to check into a flight that only holds at most 80 people! On top of that, we each had a check-in weight limit of 30 lbs per person! So, after we got through that headache, we encountered another minor problem...JR's rock. Hard, solid, yes. A weapon? Perhaps. Well to the Customs you betcha!