Paradise lost and found

Adam and Eve may have taken a bite from the forbidden apple — and more — but it’s never too late.

Lately, I have been on a discovery hop around the isles of our beautiful country. From Zamboanga to Pampanga, from Bacolod to Bora, I love it how in our humble isles, we can jump from mountain to beach and back in just one breath. I am currently writing this column while attending classes at the AIM facility in Baguio, our other favorite summer City of Pines.

Just last week, I was in Boracay for the seventh installation of the annual Bora Bound event, birthday boy and party man Stephen Ku’s post-Easter break revelry. This year, I happily noted a shift in terms of party politics — people have decided to turn green.  Bora Bounders this year actively participated in the Earth Race Beach-O-Lympics, eager to complete all tasks while showcasing how in little ways we can help the environment with proper trash segregation, water and energy conservation. The celebrities and media who participated were mostly staunch environmentalists and ardent lovers of Boracay island, so they decided that no other place best to start a “cleanup” but right there in the heart of their favorite island.

Boracay Bound 7 participants doubled as beach patrols supporting this cause and inviting other beach enthusiasts to volunteer for Greenpeace and running around the island changing incandescent bulbs to energy-efficient light bulbs. “Simple lang,” Beng Reyes Ong of Greenpeace would tell me about their efforts to save Mother Earth. It all sounds too daunting a task to be Captain Planet, but hey, we can help, in big and small ways — simple lang. Other Bora Bound presenters Smart MyTV and Imode provided trials of their newest services with special limited offers only for Boracay Bound weekend.

I arrived at sunset, right after the first-ever Boracay Bound Golf Cup was launched. Dubbed “Go for Green,” the whole afternoon of wacky hardcore extreme golf at Fairways & Bluewaters got everyone teeing off and aiming for pars with crazy tasks awaiting to bag the first place coupled with free stays in Fairways and roundtrip tickets from Seair. Sunset Disco at the Tides Hotel Sun Lounge with Malaysia’s No.1 DJ Kuma and the rest of Driven Manila & Warehouse 135 preceded the hip-hop party at Guilly’s where I chanced upon the UAAP badminton champions, the De La Salle University team celebrating their UAAP victory.

Walking around the island with Mega’s Bianca Salonga, while we celebrated the current state of Bora as tourism’s biggest draw, we also reminisced about the Bora of yore, where people congregated on the shore and everyone could just join in with any group and became fast friends. A lot of my lifelong friendships were forged in Bora. Somehow, people now have become jaded and untrusting — I don’t blame them. Then again, the hospitality that we Filipinos are known for remains intact; it is intrinsic in our culture, and in our blood. Bora will always be Bora: our favorite island, party or no party.

It has been years since I last went to Baguio, and I was there to tape for my then MTV show Bling, so the whole time I was experiencing things in front of the camera. I remember doing Cordillera chants with Pinikpikan’s Carol, and singing Barry Manilow songs with Parokya’s Chito Miranda at the piano bar lobby lounge of The Manor. Once and for all, I deeply apologize for any ear drums split during my little foray into the lounge-singing circuit. It shall never happen again.

Baguio’s healing effect

Baguio now remains fragrant with the scent of pines, active with its Nevada Square and Legarda night scene. “It is still as beautiful as I left it before,” said my friend Cecile Recio as she inhaled the clean air that enveloped us. My AIM mother Kate Capulong wanted to do a Maria Von Trapp and sing “The hills are alive…” as we strolled around the John Hay Manor complex.  I have yet to visit Spirits Disco (heard it is not the same as before — but that’s to be expected), Cafe by the Ruins and VOCAS Oh My Gulay Artists Cafe. Coincidentally, Stephen is originally from Baguio, as I met his cousin Mike Uy, who is based here and owns Acid, this new nightspot in Nevada Square.

Driving around this city has a healing effect on me, as I remember hieing off to Baguio when I was young, torn apart by puppy love. Now as a stronger and hopefully wiser man, I am back in Baguio City in the company of my AIM classmates, young entrepreneurs aiming to make their mark in the world by doing good and being good to people and at the same time respecting them and their environment. With these mavericks and innovators, I have utmost trust and respect.

Baguio’s beauty remains unspoiled. Boracay’s pristine-ness is undergoing preservation, to retain its most natural form. People are good. There are dangers that abound, but we just have to be vigilant and try our best to see things in a bright, new light. It is too easy to look at the world with a mindset of doomsday scenarios. In these days of gloom and uncertainty (not to mention different forms of terrorism), I still choose to look at the good side of people. Each day is a new day, each night marks the beginning of a new day. Erase your fears for dark will always be replaced by light.

Paradise can always remain paradise if we choose it to be, when we safeguard it. We are in the pink of health surrounded by true friends, loving families and countless blessings from Up Above.  What more can we ask for?