REMINISCING

It’s been a long long time since I have written, not that I do not have time, because I do have all the time in the world , I am just extremely lazy I guess.  Right now, I am currently in a reminiscing mode, I have been for two days now. I listening to Cynthia Alexander now, a great artist from the Philippines that was greatly part of my college life and the years after that.

Cynthia Alexander

Those years were the most creative ones for me and it was beautiful. The experience , the journey,  and I  literally felt beautiful inside and outside: ) They say you are like illuminating.Those days were spent in places like the Conspiracy Garden Cafe, 70′s bistro , both of these are in Quezon City area and the last is in Saguijo, which is in Makati.  All of the these still exists but I personally love 70s Bisto and Conspiracy: )

I was with really wonderful people too during these time and they inspire me to be great everyday!!! I felt inspired , so high with emotions and creativity ( not with drugs ok). So heres the you tube link of the song I am  listening to.

This song was written by Maningning Miclat , a talented Filipina poet who wrote beautiful things. She died of suicide while I was still in college. If you speak Tagalog the song is below, if not then feel the music and you will understand. This song is by Joey Ayala , Cynthia’s brother.

Berso #2
ni Maningning Miclat

Dumaan ako sa tahimik na ilog,
Ang buong mundo ay parang natutulog
Kung may bunga mang sa tubig ay mahulog
Parang ang puso ko itong nadudurog.

Kung mag-isa ako huwag nang isipin
Sa dilim ay dapat pa akong hanapin
Habang may luha ay huwag pang ibigin
Sa pangarap ko ay huwag nang gisingin.

Kaya kong maghintay sa mga tula mo
Marinig sa awit ng kabilang dako
At tuklasin sa paglalakad na ito
Hamog at luha ng bulaklak at damo.

Mapapanood ang sayaw ng tutubi
Mapapakinggan ang ibong humuhuni
Hihinahon ang pusong di mapakali
At hihimlay na sa mapayapang gabi.

Dumaan ako sa tahimik na ilog,
Ang buong mundo ay parang natutulog
Kung may bunga mang sa tubig ay nahulog
Parang ang puso ko nga itong nadudurog.

If you are interested to know what this means then just message me: )

you may check Cynthia’s my space at http://www.myspace.com/cynthialexander

and check Maninning at http://www.maningning.com/home.htm

The Orient Pearl

The Philippine South Sea Pearl

It has been a while since I have written. I won’t mention rules this time, but I would rather praise the beauty of my beautiful country!!! How can I possibly not write about the Philippines!! Since there are a lot of people writing about our beautiful beaches, I shall write about jewelry and one of its components, the pearl: )

The pearl is Philippines national gem. The orient is the value factor that Philippine south sea pearls are famous for. The “ inner glow” ,is a  unique characteristic that makes a pearl look more alive. It is perfect because Philippines is also called “ the pearl of the orient”.  I just found out this week that my country is called as such because history claims that a certain missionary named it, and then it was popularized by Jose Rizal and Apolinario Mabini. Jose Rizal, is our national hero and when he wrote his “ Last Farewell”, the pearl of the orient was immortalized. Both Rizal and Mabini are our great leaders. Another reason is that one of the biggest pearl in the world was found in the Philippines. The 14 pound or 6.4 kg pearl was found by a Filipino diver in 1934 and was sold to a Beverly Hills jeweler for $200, 000,which is now valued to be $40,000,000!!!!

Two days ago, I received a cute pearl necklace from Fernando which is made of freshwater pearls. I have several pearls, real and fake ones!! I just love them. To wear a pearl is like a magic spell, put it on and instantly it makes you pretty!!!  Pearls are the easiest way to aim for that classic look and elegance. That is why I chose to write about this, because as good as it is, there are also sad stories behind the beauty of the Philippine south sea pearls.

I worked for 3 years making accessories,  in the Philippines and London. However, it is sad to know that a lot of people have no knowledge of Philippine pearls due to lack of advertisement. If they do, they have no trust or doubt the products that we have. When someone talks about pearls, one would say those are from Japan or Australia, the rest are then south sea pearls without any labels. Apart from getting the labeled pearls from respected jewelry stores and Jewelmer , a very famous brand that sells Philippine south sea pearls, the rest is unlabeled. These are the ones exported to the other countries. At that moment that we sold and exported those unlabeled pearls, we just lost being a Filipino. We have become just another generic South Sea Pearl. We lost the recognition and respect that we ought to have.                                                                                                  

This scenario holds true even for our tourism industry.  Philippines has one of the best diving sites in Asia, and the foreigners who have gone and experience it would say that what I am saying is real. However, due to a lack of budget in promoting our tourism in other countries, we then lost that chance again.  I once went to Thailand and brought home a diving brochure, a lot of people get their diving certificates in Thailand. They are quite famous for that. The sad part about the brochure is that the picture they publish is the exact picture of the reefs that we have in Palawan Philippines. My brother, who is a diver, recognized it, and apparently that same picture was branded to be in Thailand. What a shame!!!!!

I believe, this is exactly what is happening to our pearls. With the domination of foreign companies in our industry, although we have gained foreign investments, we also lost our identity a lot. I will not mention specific countries and companies since that is too crucial.

After writing the sad reality for those who have failed to get to know what we really have, there are also those who have seen the best of Philippine products. Also, to get to know what a place can offer, one must go and see it for real. These pictures are from Jewelmer, on a show at the Le Grand Amphitheatre of the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris, France. I have known this brand since I was a child since my mother loves it : ) I do not have one for myself now, but I really hope to own a piece, one of these days: )

Necklace by Cristina : freshwater Philippine pearls, Swarovski, and glass leaves.

Credits:

Jckonline.com for Paris show pictures:

Jewelmer for pearl value definition

The Ultimate Orient book and photography Scott Tuason