A Haircut and a Ballgame.
9th of February 2007

Location: Poblacion, Sta. Maria, Bulacan, PHILIPPINES

Composition: Impromptu, recalling stuff from the previous month.

To commemorate the catharsis of sorts I went through, I finally had a haircut.

This too was in preparation for an extended stay in Makati, Metro Manila that I had been planning. Nothing perhaps gave away my being a balikbayan (expat) more than the long hair. While there are the obvious exceptions, the average Filipino male will strive to be clean cut - so, the desire to blend in won over my attachment to the long flowing mane that took me close to a year to grow.

I unfortunately forgot to take before and after photos using the same background and lighting - to fully illustrate that 'transformed' effect. But, if photos are what we're talking about, then I do take lots, so here's one... albeit a tad out of context to this post (taken in Laguna 17Feb07, with my cousin, Mikee Bueno)

The 9th of February was also Team Tumana's last basketball game. I have been forgetting to make any mention of this in previous posts. In any case, here it is:

The Samahang Kabataan, or S.K. for short (youth organization) of Sta. Maria organizes numerous sports events, centering around the larger celebrations of the Town Centre's Fiesta.

Tumana's Basketball entry had a largely poor showing during the round robin - resulting in their early elimination. The 9th of February was their last game, and I was there with camera on hand to take a few photos.

Uncle Tito invited the team, and everyone else involved, to the Gulinao Property for a post game, and post-season, celebration. Though he was largely disappointed at the team's final standing - Sports and Recreation being a point of pride among Barangay Kapitans (Barangay Captains) - he still made it a point to thank everyone for coming out.

The next day, the 10th of February, I left Sta. Maria, Bulacan for a two-week stay in Makati.

I have since come back from that stay, but there's just no time to tell everything that happened. Because two days from the time of this writing (today is the 7th of Mar), more things will happen. (Whilst in Makati, I was so busy experiencing the place, this was all I could muster)

Like I said, this is where I shift up and step up the exploration.

It may very well be that my next post will be in Calgary, Alberta, CANADA. Though, I won't be heading back there until the 14th of April (a month a few days from now), I simply will not have the time to visit the internet. From there I will be speaking of everything that has happened - and will happen from now on - in retrospect.

Until then.... so long.

Flickr Photoset.