return to anibong

Anibong is a very interesting neighborhood.  There is virtually no sidewalk here so the street is always busy with people going through their daily routine.  This is my third or fourth walk along the same area, and I’m sure there will be a lot more to come.

I happened along another halo-halo stall and stopped to check it out.  The 2 young girls manning the stall were also selling grilled banana-on-a-stick and as soon as I brought my camera up to take a shot, I was mobbed by a group of 9 boys.  They were a rowdy bunch, all laughing and giggling but in a nice way so I asked if they would be ok with sharing 3 cups of halo-halo among all 9 of them.  I had P30 in my pocket and each order was P10.  It would have been nice to photograph them eating halo-halo now that I’ve described how it’s made in the previous blog entry but I thought it made more sense to give them bananas instead at P3 per stick.  We don’t want anyone complaining of not being given a fair share.  They lined up, breakfast was served, I made my little contribution to the local economy and got the shot I wanted.  They didn’t forget to say thanks, and that made my day.

You have to be sneaky with kids if you wanted candid stolen shots; this is as candid as they get.

There is wisdom in having a bicycle as the main form of transportation, especially when there are at least 2 kids to send school.  With the current minimum fare of P8 per trip, a huge chunk of the day’s earning would just end up being spent on commuting.

We definitely can’t compare apples to mangoes, and I’d go for mangoes any time.  Mango shake, mango float (which my wife will be making with the 3 kilos I bought), mango with buko pandan, mango with sago, or just mango all by itself.

I don’t recall taking photos of this lady, but she seems to know me.  She was kind enough to sit still while I took a shot after her feigned objection.

I know, I know.  Street photography purists will never approve of posed shots, but I couldn’t care less.  Connecting with people matters more to me than striving for technical perfection and textbook definitions.  I was a participant of the moment and many years from now I can look at this photo and say ‘I know this, and I remember what happened that day’.

I saw the thick-rimmed eyeglasses first.  Then the flowers, probably for his mom.  It’s Mother’s Day.  The driver looks familiar too.

Of late I’ve had the thought that Mother’s Day was just a marketing racket by Hallmark until I happened upon an article about Anna Jarvis and the idea behind Mother’s Day.  Our moms deserve the best.

A tricycle driver taking a break from the heat of the noontime sun.  If anyone has ever wondered why we have too many small sari-sari stores everywhere, even in the busy commercial district, it’s because there are more than enough people to support the business.

Chinese garter is one of the favorite games of my schoolmates when I was in elementary school.  It’s usually played by girls wherein they  jump over a length of garter or a chain of rubber bands to heights over a head high.  It didn’t keep some of my male schoolmates from playing it too while I stuck to playing marbles and sipa (hacky sack).

I used to eat pineapple with a sprinkling of salt until I learned about what too much salt can lead to.

notes:

The photos in most of the blog entries are arranged in chronological order.  It’s more for my personal documentation of the route I’ve taken while shooting the streets.

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Tags: anna jarvis, apple, bicycle, black, commute, fruit, grilled banana, hallmark, mango, mother's day, photography, pineapple, sidewalk, street, tacloban, transportation, tricycle, tsinoy, white

• May 14, 2012
• streets of Tacloban
• 5 Comments