Japan Person Finder 2011 Earthquake

 

Climbing Mount Pinatubo

Who would have thought that Mount Pinatubo, which disrupted the lives and destroyed the livelihood of so many people, would be the same volcano that would help rebuild dreams from the rubble?

The 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption—touted as the second-largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century—devastated Central Luzon. Twenty years later, the majestic volcano served as an awe-inspiring experience to travelers and a source of income to locals.

The sun had not yet risen when the Lakbay Norte group headed to Barangay Sta. Juliana in Capas, Tarlac, where the 4 x4 jeeps were waiting.  The adventure began with the 4 x4 ride on the lahar passageway. It felt like we were in an Indiana Jones movie, searching for treasure.

 

Crazy ride

When we were on our way to their so-called “skyway,” we were literally all shook up as we passed the rough and rocky sloping road. But when we reached the top, we were welcomed by the cool breeze and the breathtaking view of the Zambales ranges. The 4x4 jeeps then parked at the drop-off point. The group began trekking.

Along the way, I saw red boulders on top of the sulfuric soil, which were remnants of the volcanic eruption.  The walk seemed to take an eternity. Thank God for the streams that cooled our tired feet.

 

We then saw a sign that told us that we were approaching our destination.  It was the old drop-off point. The latter leg of the trek began there. According to the signage, young people can reach the destination in 15 minutes while the middle aged and senior citizens can finish the trek in 18 and 20 minutes, respectively. 

After an hour and half, I saw the miracle of the deadly eruption—the turquoise lake waters surrounded by the majestic crater of Mt. Pinatubo.

 

The other world

To fully appreciate the grandeur of Mt. Pinatubo, we rented one of the six boats, which took eight of us to the other side of the crater. I thought we were in the Lord of the Rings’ Middle Earth as we approached the other side. It seemed otherworldly. 

As the boat docked at the rocky shore, I saw smoke rising from the water. It signified that the water was hot. Naturally, I didn’t even try dipping in it. Since the depth of the water was unknown, swimming was discouraged. But some of my companions took a chance.

Our boatman willingly shared how grateful they were to the influx of travelers in the area. It was their source of income. Most of the foreign visitors were Koreans.

After twenty minutes, we headed back to the other side. We were hungry. Chocolate cup cake and water reenergized us.

 

We bade Pinatubo goodbye with a wacky jump shot at the view deck.  The Pinatubo experience did not end with seeing its beauty.  We even felt its volcanic ash.

Pampered by nature

The Pinatubo Spa Town in  Brgy. Sta. Juliana in Capas gave us the chance to be “buried alive” through the volcanic ash spa.

At first, I was hesitant to be buried. But I lay down anyway and was quickly covered with hot ash from the neck down. I felt the heat emitted by the pugon, my back perspired and felt relaxed. It was a natural sauna. After a twenty-minute nap in the ash, I rose from the pit and was ushered to the mud pool.

At the mud pool, we were treated to a natural facial, composed of sulfur mud.  The sulfur mudpack was cool on the face. After 15 minutes, the mud hardened. We then washed it off and gave a tightened and smooth skin. It was rejuvenating.

We capped off our experience with an hour of Thai and Shiatsu massage that relaxed our exhausted muscles. The therapists then gave each of us a glass of green tea after the session.

Climbing Mount Pinatubo was definitely worth the sweat. It’s proof that even catastrophes can be blessings in disguise.

By: Izah Morales, Yahoo! Southeast Asia

16th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta

Join the adventure and excitement of the 16th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta on February 10 to 13, 2011 at Clark Special Economic Zone, Angeles City. The Hot Air Balloon...

February 10, THURSDAY, 2011 FIRST FIESTA DAY

Hot Air Balloon Flights 5:30-7:00AM

Paragliding Exhibition 6:30-7:30AM

Ultralight Aircraft Formation Flying 7:40-8:15AM

Ultralight Bomb Dropping Audience Participation 8:15-9:00AM

Aerobatic Flight Display 9:00-9:40AM

Kite Flying Exhibition 9:40-10:00AM

AOPA Light Airplane Balloon Bursting Competition 10:00-10:45AM

Sky Diving Exhibition 10:45-11:30AM

R/C Demonstration Flying 11:30-12:00PM

Open 12:00-1:00PM

Sky Diving Exhibition 1:00-2:00PM

AOPA Light Aircraft Balloon Bursting 2:00-2:45PM

Aerobatic Flight Display 3:45-4:30PM

Rocketry Demonstration 4:30-5:00PM

Ultralight Formation Flying 5:00-5:20PM

Hot Air Balloon Fly-In 5:20-6:00PM

February 11,  FRIDAY, 2011 SECOND FIESTA DAY

Hot Air Balloon Flights 5:30-7:00AM

Paragliding Exhibition 6:30-7:30AM

Ultralight Aircraft Flyby & Flour Bombing 7:40-8:30AM

Aerobatic Air Show 8:30-9:15AM

R/C Helicopter Show 9:30-9:50AM

AOPA Aircraft Flyby 9:50-10:30AM

AOPA Aircraft Balloon-Bursting Competition 10:30-11:15AM

Skydiving Exhibition 11:15-12:00PM

Choreographed Kite Flying Exhibition 12:30-1:30PM

Fire Fighting Exhibition 1:30-2:15PM

Skydiving Exhibition 2:15-3:00PM

Wings Over Asia Aviators Gathering Seminar 3:00-6:00PM

Rocketry Demonstration 3:00-3:45PM

Aerobatic Flight Display 4:00-4:30PM

Paragliding Exhibition 4:30-5:15PM

Hot Air Balloon Flights 5:30-6:00PM

February 12, SATURDAY, 2011 THIRD FIESTA DAY

Hot Air Balloon Flight 5:30-7:00AM

Paragliding Exhibition 6:30-7:30AM

Ultralight Aircraft Flyby 7:40-8:30AM

Krukspec Airsoft Speedball Competition 8:30-5:00PM

Aerobatic Flight Display 8:30-9:15AM

Search and Rescue Flying Exhibition 9:15-10:00AM

AOPA-P, Wings Over Asia, Thai Flying Club Flyby 10:00-10:45AM

Skydiving Exhibition 10:45-11:15AM

AOPA Light Airplane Balloon Bursting Competition 11:15-12:00PM

Kite Flying Exhibition 12:00-12:45PM

open 12:45-1:15PM

Piper Turboprop bly by of Ed/Citation Mustang fly-by 1:15-1:45PM

Skydiving Exhibition 1:45-2:15PM

AOPA Light Aircraft Balloon-Bursting Competition 2:15-3:00PM

Choreographed Kite Flying Exhibition 3:00-3:45PM

Aerobatic Flight Display 3:45-4:30PM

Rocketry Demonstration 4:30-5:00PM

Ultralight Flyby 5:00-5:30PM

RC Airplane Flying Demonstration 5:30-5:45PM

Hot Air Balloon Flight 5:45-6:15PM

Hot Air Balloon Night Glow 6:45-7:30PM

Aviators Ball 7:00PM-onwards

February 13, SUNDAY, 2011 FOURTH FIESTA DAY

Hot Air Balloon Flights 5:30-7:00AM

Paragliding Exhibition 6:30-7:30AM

Ultralight Aircraft Flyby & Flour Bombing 7:30-8:30AM

Krukspec Airsoft Speedball Competition 8:00-5:00PM

AOPA-P, Wings Over Asia, Thai Flying club Fly-by 8:30-9:30AM

R/C Helicopter Show 9:30-10:00AM

Helicopter Flying Exhibition 10:00-10:30AM

Skydiving Exhibition 10:30-11:00AM

AOPA Light Airplane Balloon Bursting Competition 11:00-12:00PM

Choreographed Kite Flying Exhibition 12:30-1:15PM

Ultralight Flying Display 1:15-2:00PM

RC Airplane Flying Demonstration 2:00-2:30PM

AOPA Light Airplane Ballon Bursting Finals 2:30-3:30PM

Aerobatic Exhibition 3:30-4:15PM

Rocketry Demonstration 4:15-4:45PM

Microlight & Ultralight Flyby 4:45-5:30PM

Hot Air Balloon Night Glow 5:30-6:45PM

Crew and Awards Night Party 7:30PM

The Clients Change But Sex Trade Remains

Fields Ave, the main pedestrian drag in Angeles City, is a legacy of the time when this row of run-down bars was the romping ground of restless young American airmen stationed at Clark Air Base.

The US base closed in 1992, and the often-randy airmen have gone with it. But the girls, the sex, the round-the-clock raunchiness remain. Only the customers have changed.At a club called Koko Yoko, balding men with bulging bellies sit at an outdoor bar, sipping beers and leering at the young girls who pass on the model’s runway gone wrong called Fields Ave.

Many of the girls weigh barely more than 40 kilograms, their high heels pushing their almost adolescent bodies at perverse angles. There are cross-dressers fooling no one, calling out to men with tattoos, Popeye forearms and gray hair on their backs.

Some men pass by with girls one-third their age, swinging their hands together like a couple on a first date. Others cavort with three girls at once, the women all clutching their client like daughters competing for Daddy’s attention.A thriving sex-tourism trade attracts foreign customers by the thousands in search of something they cannot find back home: girls young enough to be their granddaughters selling sex for the price of a burger and fries.

Most are bused up from Manila, an hour away, on golf and sex package deals. This is no quasi-innocent boys’ night out. Rather, it’s a single-minded realm of weary-looking loners on a resolute hunt that smacks of feeding an addiction.

Many are ex-military men reliving former glories, Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper wannabes, some gathering at the local American Legion post before embarking into the night.

There is a one-armed man, a retiree with a walker and another dapper gentleman who strolls along in a dress shirt, twirling an umbrella, whistling a private tune.

Many head to the bars with the red-light special called “The Early-Release”: Buy your girl 10 drinks and she’s yours, no questions asked.

Nobody asks questions here. Nobody gives a name. Credit cards are a joke; who wants to leave behind any economic traces that they ever set foot here?

A young dancer in tight red hip-hugger pants and matching sports bra acknowledges that Fields Ave may not be pretty, but the money is good.

She rolls her eyes at two overweight men who pass by looking like large reptiles dressed in children’s clothing.

Sure, the sex is disgusting, she says. But at least it’s over quickly.

Outside Koko Yoko, the doorman, a 33-year-old paraplegic, perches on a wheeled wooden pallet. He says his father was an American who once served at Clark, his mother a local girl. He contracted polio when he was 11 and has worked here ever since. The street, he says, takes care of him.

Nearby, a saggy-faced Australian lights a cigarette. He’s been in Angeles City for about a month, his last stop on a sex circuit from Bangkok, Thailand, to Manila after getting laid off from his electrician’s job in Sydney.

In Thailand, he says, the girls didn’t speak the language. Manila hookers were too streetwise, the bars too spread out.

But this is Easy Street. He can sit atop his bar stool and ogle hundreds of passing girls fresh from the countryside who perfect the tricks of their trade before moving on to The Show in Manila.

The Australian signals a street vendor and buys some knockoff Viagra. He says he prefers the girls working one street over, who cost only 500 pesos, or about $10, apiece.

“Anything goes here,” he says, lighting another cigarette. He leans over to offer a bit of Fields Ave inside information: “You can get a young girl here to do anything if you promise to marry her.”

All along Fields Ave, the come-on banners with their Web addresses advertise good pay (up to $10 a day) for hostess jobs. But applicants must speak Korean, Japanese or Chinese.

A balding man pulls up on his motorcycle, greeting several other men loudly in German. They already have their catch, and girls jump on the back as the cycles roar off.

At the Tourist Assistance Booth, Odysius Garche says the older customers are better behaved than the US airmen were. “I just tell them, ‘The girls are inside. Go make you own deal.’ ”

Nearby, a chubby American with glasses eats a hot dog. He says he’s a bar manager but offers no details.

He came to Angeles City from California, to follow up on a chat-room hookup. He ended up on Fields Ave, drinking late with the dancers, hearing their stories.

“This is clean fun,” he says. “There’s no sex shows. These girls are not slaves. They have minds of their own.”

Behind him, women call out from the doors of bars with names like the Doll House, Club Lancelot, Treasure Island, Club Cambodia, the Blue Nile and the Amsterdam.

Suddenly, a group of 20-something men storms past, laughing and arm-punching. The news spreads and girls pop their heads out the doorways to catch a glimpse of boys their own age.

One calls after them with a deal she hopes they can’t refuse:

“Free!” she says, laughing.

Historic Sites around Balibago

Bale Herencia

was built in 1860 and is situated in Lakandula Street corner Santo Rosario Street. It is a picturesque house with the unsavory reputation of having been built for the mistress of a parish priest. The current owners now use it as a banquet hall.

Bayanihan Park

(formerly Astro Park) is now home to a year-round mini-amusement park and it is an ideal spot for sports and recreational activities having basketball and volleyball courts and huge space for jogging and other recreational activities. This is where the famous and historical "Salakot Arch" is now located.

Camalig

was built in 1840 by Don Ciriaco de Miranda, the first gobernadorcillo of Angeles, and was used as a grain storehouse along Santo Rosario Street. It was restored in 1980 by Armando L. Nepomuceno and is now the site of Armando's Pizza and Camalig Restaurant.

Fort Stotsenburg

is named after Colonel John M. Stotsenburg, a captain of the 6th U.S. Cavalry, was the location of the permanent quarters of the American forces in Sapang Bato, Angeles. It is also known as the "Parade Ground," which served as a venue for many important celebrations by the Americans before the Philippine-American Military Bases Agreement ended in 1991.

Founders' Residence (Bale Matua)

is located at the heart of Santo Rosario, is the oldest building in the city. It was built in 1824 by the city founder, Don Ángel Pantaleón de Miranda, and his wife, Dona Rosalia de Jesus, and was inherited by their only daughter, Dona Juana de Miranda de Henson. This house, which is made of high stone and an ornate gate, nostalgically symbolizes the glorious past of Angeles amidst the overwhelming onslaughts of modernization.

Holy Family Academy Building

was once a convent and was served as a military hospital of the U.S. Army in 1900. It was later used as troop barracks, officers' quarters and arsenal by the Japanese Imperial Military Forces in 1942.

Holy Rosary Church (Santo Rosario Church)

was constructed from 1877 to 1896 by the "Polo y Servicio" labor system, a kind of forced labor imposed on Filipino peasants by the Spanish colonial government. It was used as a military hospital by the U.S. Army from August 1899 to December 1900. Its backyard was the execution ground to the Spanish forces in shooting down Filipino rebels and suspects.

Juan D. Nepomuceno's Center

for Kapampangan Studies houses a library, museum of archives and gallery, research center and theater, put up by the Holy Angel University in 2002 to preserve, study and promote Kapampangan history and culture.

Lily Hill

was a strategic observation post for monitoring Japanese movement in World War II. Remains of Japanese aircraft were found here at the end of the war. Along this hill can now be found Lily Hill Duty Free Store.

Old Pamintuan Residence

was served as the seat of government of the First Philippine Republic under General Emilio Aguinaldo from May to July 1899 and the Central Headquarter for Major General Arthur MacArthur, Jr., the father of General Douglas MacArthur. It now houses the Central Bank of the Philippines in Central Luzon.

Post Office Building (Deposito)

is a building that was constructed in 1899 for the purpose of depositing religious statues and carriages of the Catholic Church, hence the name Deposito. It was also used as the headquarter of the 11th Film Exchange U.S. Army from 1946 to 1947 and was then used as a jailhouse for recalcitrant U.S. troops during the Philippine-American War. On February 6, 1967, the Angeles City Post Office moved to this building. It is now the site of Angeles Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Center.

Salakot Arch

is a landmark of Angeles City. From 1902 to 1979, Clark remained a U.S. territory, guaranteed by the Military Bases Agreement in 1947. In 1978, the Philippines, under the dispensation of the former President Ferdinand Marcos, and the U.S. finally agreed to establish Philippine sovereignty over the U.S. bases and thus the Clark Air Base Command (CABCOM) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines came into being, following the signing of a revised Military Bases Agreement on January 7, 1979. To commemorate this unprecendented and bold event, the government constructed a special structure based upon the design of a salakot or native hat, which soon became a widely recognized symbol of this renewed Filipino spirit from the long and archaic tradition of Philippine-American relations and the weaning away from it. Angeles will soon see and realize its full potential as a dynamic might on its own without the American base after the onslaught of Pinatubo volcano.

Sex Trade in Angeles City

At a club called Koko Yoko, balding men with bulging bellies sit at an outdoor bar, sipping beers and leering at the young girls who pass on the model's runway gone wrong called Fields Avenue.

Many of the girls weigh barely 90 pounds, their high heels pushing their almost adolescent bodies at perverse angles. There are cross-dressers fooling no one, calling out to men with tattoos, Popeye forearms and gray hair on their backs.

"Lady boy!" they squeal. "Lady boy!"

Some men pass by with girls one-third their age, swinging their hands together like a couple on a first date. Others cavort with three girls at once, the women all clutching their client like daughters competing for Daddy's attention.

Fields Avenue, the main pedestrian drag in Angeles City, is a legacy of the time when this row of run-down bars was the romping ground of restless young American airmen stationed at Clark Air Base.

The U.S. base closed in 1992, and the often-randy airmen have gone with it. But the girls, the sex, the round-the-clock raunchiness remain. Only the customers have changed.

A thriving sex tourism trade attracts foreign customers by the thousands in search of something they cannot find back home: girls young enough to be their granddaughters selling sex for the price of a burger and fries.

Once populated by virile men in their early 20s who started each day with 100 push-ups, the place is now home to older men who need help pushing themselves out of bed in the morning.

Most are bused up from Manila, an hour away, on golf and sex package deals. This is no quasi-innocent boys' night out. Rather, it's a single-minded realm of weary-looking loners on a resolute hunt that smacks of feeding an addiction.

Many are ex-military men reliving former glories, Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper wannabes, some gathering at the local American Legion post before embarking into the night.

There is a one-armed man, a retiree with a walker and another dapper gentleman who strolls along in a dress shirt, twirling an umbrella, whistling a private tune.

Many head to the bars with the red-light special called "The Early-Release": Buy your girl 10 drinks and she's yours, no questions asked.

Nobody asks questions here. Nobody gives their name. Credit cards are a joke; who wants to leave behind any economic traces that they ever set foot here?

A young dancer in tight red hip-hugger pants and matching sports bra acknowledges that Fields Avenue may not be pretty, but the money is good. She rolls her eyes at two overweight men who pass by looking like large reptiles dressed in children's clothing.

Sure, the sex is disgusting, she says. But at least it's over quickly.

Outside Koko Yoko, the doorman, a 33-year-old paraplegic, perches on a wheeled wooden pallet. He says his father was an American who once served at Clark, his mother a local girl. He contracted polio when he was 11 and has worked here ever since.

The street, he says, takes care of him. Soon, an idle stripper climbs onto his back, rubbing her crotch into the back of his neck.

Nearby a saggy-faced Australian lights a cigarette. He's been in Angeles City for about a month, his last stop on a sex circuit from Bangkok to Manila after getting laid off from his electrician's job in Sydney.

In Thailand, he says, the girls didn't speak the language. Manila hookers were too streetwise, the bars too spread out.

But this is Easy Street. He can sit atop his bar stool and ogle hundreds of passing girls fresh from the countryside who perfect the tricks of their trade before moving on to The Show in Manila.

The Senator

While walking down the street one day a senator is tragically hit by a truck and dies.
His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance. "Welcome to heaven," says St. Peter. "Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in," says the senator.

"Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we'll do is have you spend one day in hell and
one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity."

"Really, I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven," says the senator.

"I'm sorry, but we have our rules."

And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him.

Everyone is very happy and in evening dress. They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people.

They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar and champagne.

Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who is having a good time dancing and telling jokes.

They are all having such a good time that before the senator realizes it, it is time to go.

Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises...

The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens in heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him, "Now it's time to visit heaven."

So, 24 hours pass with the senator joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.

"Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity."

The senator reflects for a minute, then he answers: "Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell."

So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell.

Now the doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage.
He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above.

The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulders. "I don't understand," stammers the senator. "Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?"

The devil smiles at him and says, "Yesterday we were campaigning


...... Today, you voted."