Hurricane "Katrina" no match to Philippine Typhoon "Ondoy"

Last Saturday was freaky with the deluge that caught Manila unaware. The 24-hour continuous rainfall left some areas in Manila under 20-feet of water due to poor drainage systems, failed infrastructure (pumping stations broken, creeks collapsed) and unexpected amount of rainfall. The total rainfall was 455 millimeters which is a month's worth of rainfall. Katrina had only 250 millimeters of rain.
The death toll has reached 86 and still counting. The number of affected families across Luzon has swelled to 69,513 (about 337,216 people). The partial total number of evacuees has also reached 11,967 families (about 59,920 people) who are staying in 118 evacuation centers, National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) data showed.
A state of national calamity has been declared over 27 provinces in 7 regions, as well as in the NCR. The provinces included are Mountain Province, Ifugao, and Benguet (CAR); Pangasinan, La Union, and Ilocos Sur (Region I); Isabela, Quirino, and Nueva Vizcaya (Region II); Aurora, Nueva Ecija, Zambales, Pampanga, Bulacan, Tarlac, and Bataan (Region III); Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon (Region IV-A); Mindoro Occidental, Mindoro Oriental, and Marinduque (Region IV-B); and Catanduanes, Camarines Norte, and Camarines Sur (Region V).

If you want to help, pls donate to :

ABS-CBN Foundation's SAGIP KAPAMILYA
Toll Free 1-800-527-2820
Account Name: ABS-CBN Foundation Inc.
Account No. 5630020111
Routing code for international cash donations
BNORPHMM ABS-CBN Branch

American Red Cross
Toll Free 1-800-435-7669

If you are in Manila, here’s a list drop off points for relief goods or volunteer areas where you can sort and pack goods: http://www.lopezlink.ph/csr/582-tropical-storm-ondoy-how-you-can-help

Videos of Tropical Ondoy:

The 53rd Venice Biennale

First Stop: biglietteria

I was fortunate to visit Venice this year and attend La Biennale di Venezia's 53rd international art exhibition dubbed Fare Mondi, Making Worlds , the largest contemporary art exhibit in the world or referred to as the Olympics of the art world. The term biennale is italian for every two years.

Over 163,000 visitors have attended the exhibit since its opening on June 7, 2009. There are 104 artists and 63 pavilions (77 participating countries) in the two main venues - Giardini (Gardens) and Arsenale (Arsenal), and 44 collateral events located in various venues in the city.

At the Giardini

The curator is Swedish Daniel Birnhaum, who at 48, is the youngest in the history of the biennale to curate the exhibtion. He said "this is an exhibition without sections, articulating different themes woven into one whole. Placing particular emphasis on the biennale as a site for production and experimentation, it will involve projects that probe the possibilities of the built world... It is an exhibition driven by the aspirations to examine the worlds around us as well as worlds ahead."

The 53rd beinnale will run until November 22 this year, so if you get the chance to go to Venice, visit the show and don't miss my favs:

@ the Giardini:
1) Swedish clay sculptor and claymation filmmaker Nathalie Djurberg"s Experimentet. She was awarded the "Silver Lion" for a Promising Young Artist at the Biennale this year.
2) Miguel Barcelo's ceramics, paintings and videos in the Spanish Pavillon
3) Tomas Saraseno elastic ropes installation called Galaxies Forming along Filaments like Droplets along the strands of a Spider Web (2009)
4) John Baldessari's Six Colorful inside Jobs (1977), video projection 32'57"
5) Yoko Ono’s Instruction Pieces (1960-2009)
6) Tobias Rehberger deisgned the cafeteria he calls Was du liebst, bringt dich auch zum Weinen
7) Gigantic multi-screen video installation of Krzysztof Wodiczko's called Guests (2009) at the Poland pavilion
8) Scandinavian pavilion featuring a group exhibition of 24 artists curated by Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset called The Collectors
9) Bruce Nauman's Fifteen Pairs of Hands bronze cast (1996) in the USA pavilion which won the top "Golden Lion" award.
10) Victory over the Future, Russian Pavillon
11) Steve Mc Queen's film Giardini at the British Pavilion
11) Koo Jeong’s A. ephemeral sounds of bees – because I swear, I couldn’t hear it…
12) try to spot the sculptural interventions of Andre Cadere (Barres du bond rond) his pieces are inserted into artists’ exhibits or in spaces all over Giardini.

@ the Arsenale
1) Brazillian's Lygia Pape three dimensionality installation 'tteia I, C, gold thread in square forms (2002)
2) Hector Zamora's social intevention called Sciame di dirigibili (2009), a festival of dirigibles in video format, miniatures and an actual airship.
3) Pascale Martine Tayo's african village sculpture and installation Human Being (2007-2009)
4) HKG artist Paul Chan's video Sade for Sade's Sake (2009)
5) Budhist artist Gongkar Gyatso The Shambala in Modern Times, a thangka-like painting made out of stickers, paper-cuts on treated paper.
6) Paul Ramirez Jonas' Luna del Papel (2009) made out of words "yo", "creo", "como", "hablo" typed on an 8.5 x 11 bond paper
7) Tamara Grcic's Gaggiandre (2009) composed of 17 life rafts, 17 microphones and 12 loudspeakers
8) Take a boat across to see Jan Fabre gigantic installation From the Feet to Brain
9) Italian Pavillon's two videos: Masebo (artists Nicolo Massazza and Jacopo Bedogni) two screens that eerily show in slow-motion the story of a woman always about to drown in the sea, and a man trying to get rid of a parachute in the snow and Valerio Berutti's line drawing animation La Figlia di Isacco (2009)

Collateral - I didn't have time to see all the collateral exhibits. My favorite though is Glass Stresse group show featuring glass works of various artists. There are two venues - Rialto is tiny but free entrance and at Instituto Veneto di Scienze Lettere ed Arti is Euro 5.

And of course, don't forget to check out the other exhibits:
1. Mapping the Studio: Artists from the Francois Pinnault at the Palazzo Grassi and at the recently opened venue designed by Tando Ando called Punta della Dogana. Buy the Euro 20 ticket for the two venues which is valid for three days. Artists featured are Jeff Koons, Sigmar Polke, Cindy Sherman, Richard Prince, Cy Twombly, Takashi Murakami and Jake & Dinos Chapman and emerging artists Matthew Day Jackson, Adel Abdessemed, Wilhelm Sasnal, Rob Pruitt, Richard Hughes, Nate Lowman, Mark Bradford and Kai Althoff.
2. Peggy Gugenheim collection and the ongoing collateral exhibit Polar Glut (1987) featuring riveted metal works by Robert Rauschenberg. A bit tricky to find the museum but the locals will take the time out to lead you there...
3. Rebecca Horne's Fata Morgana at the Piazaa San Marco.

Outlet shopping in Tuscany

Yep, the three of us trekked down to Toscana to check out the outlets! First on the list, was to rent a low-priced car and lo and behold, we got what we paid for - a teeny-weeny stick-shift Cory-yellow panda Fiat, where the distance between the back passenger seat and the trunk was an arm's length. Thank god our luggage fit! The cost was 45 Euros a day, 50 for the GPS and an additional 50 to return the GPS back to the original pick-up point.

Getting to Pisa, our side trip before hitting the outlets, was not easy. The last time we drove a stick shift was ages ago and there was a slight delay in receiving GPS satellite signals and thus, we kept missing the turns. We now know the SS1/A1 motorways like the back of our hands and spent a small fortune in tolls. Pisa was teeming with tourists and boiling at 40 degrees when we arrived. Despite the tourist trap warnings of Andy M., we ended up having lunch in an A/C restaurant right at the square which served us scaled down estiva (supposedly, family portion) salad and pizzas with minuscule toppings.

After lunch, we drove eastward to Lo Spaccio , the Prada outlet in Montevarchi. However, as soon as we hit the A1, the GPS went haywire and blanked out! We detoured to the nearest car rental office, which is at the Firenze Airport to have the GPS replaced. The guy at the rental office said to just press reset and off we go,back on track on A1.

It's a bit tricky to get to Lo Spaccio as it is located in an industrial area and there's no directional signs. The outlet is right behind the Prada factory. Unfortunately, it was closed that day.

We headed back up north to Reggello, to the next outlet called The Mall. It is famous for high-end designer brands like Gucci, Armani, Bottega Venetta, La Perla, Tods, etc. Alas we only had less than two hours to look-see-shop as the outlet was closing.

After The Mall, we drove to Villa Olena, a converted farmhouse which was only 15-min away up a winding road. The villa is right on top of a hill overlooking the Pratomagno range. It has a swimming pool, tennis court and seven apartments; each equipped with a stove/oven, dishwasher, satellite TV, iron and board, blow dryer, heater.. everything except an A/C!!

The best thing though, the villa is a short distance to a family-owned restaurant called Osteria Massacio where the father is the chef, the mother is the maître d', the siblings are servers. We started with a summer salad with feta cheese and nuts served in a gigantic bowl (mind you, we didn't order estiva)and prosciutto with arugula; then, fresh-marketed squid (black-ink pasta) and a huge steak topped with arugula seasoned with fresh olive oil; a bottle of Cipresseto Rosata di Toscana rosé; and ended with a panacota and pudding for dessert. Simply divine!

The next day, we were an hour early in Lo Spaccio. There are only two restaurants in the area - one was closed for the whole of month of August and the other opens at noon. We found a nondescript deli on the main road where we ate breakfast. At 10am, we headed back to the outlet and again, found out it was chiuso!! Was this a sign?!?

We decided to drive up to Firenze to drop Pinky's luggage in her hotel in Dante Alegheri (next to where Dante was born) before checking out the last outlet called Barberino Designer Outlet in Barberino. It's an American-like outlet with popular mid-range brands and very touristy since it's close to Firenze.

By the time we were to ready to return the car, the GPS finally conked out. It was the same guy who reset the faulty GPS who was at the return office. We were very lucky since he deducted the cost from our bill which saved us 100 Euros!!

Here's some tips to enjoy outlet shopping in Toscana:
1. Rent-a-car and book a villa to enjoy Tuscany's sights, food and drink (it's the Chianti region). If you haven't been to Sienna or Pisa, try to do a side trip on the way to or from the outlets. Make sure to fully-charge your GPS unit and buy a map, print out directions from google map in case the GPS conks out on you.
2. Try to avoid tourist trap restaurants. The food is pricey and taste so-so. Bring snacks, fruits and drinks in the car.
3. Before heading out to Lo Spaccio or any of the outlets, CALL first to make sure its open especially during the summer months. Lo Spaccio is difficult to find and the farthest eastward.
4. Most of the shops in the outlets participate in EU's VAT-refund scheme. Check the minimum value of purchases to qualify. Normally, it's E125 total in a single receipt. If you don't make the minimum, try to pool your purchases. The shop will fill out a form and put it together with the receipt in an envelope. At the airport, visit customs first to get an export validation stamp. Present the refund form(s) together with your boarding pass and passport. Bring your luggage with you because the customs officer may request to see the goods purchased. Then proceed to check-in your luggage at the bag drop. Before going through immigration, head to the bank to claim the refund which is about 16% to 20% of the sale price.
5. If you haven't been to Firenze, you must stay at least two days to explore this Renaissance capital.

The Outlets (farthest from Florence):
1) Lo Spaccio: Via Levanella Becorpi, Località Levanella, Montevarchi 52025 (Exit Valdarno on A1) Call to check if open: +39 55 9789481
2) The Mall: 8 Via Europa, Leccio Reggello 50060 (Exit: Incisa on A1), Tel +39 055 8657775, open from Mon-Sat 10-7pm and Sun from 3-7pm
3) Barberino Designer Outlet: Via Meucci 50031 Barberino del Mugello (right at the Barberino exit), Tel +39 55 842161, open from Tue-Fri from 10-8pm and Sat-Sun from 10 to 9pm.

"Ich bin ein Berliner"

That's what John F. Kennedy said when he visited Berlin in 1963 during the Cold War, 22 months after the Soviet-supported communist state of East Germany built the Berlin Wall. The wall was 155km long and the height was 3.6 meters. He said "Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was civis Romanus sum. Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is Ich bin ein Berliner."
After biking around the city, I must say that Kennedy would be thrilled to see Berliners enjoying their freedom. The country was reunified after the tearing down of the wall on November 9, 1989.
I dared cross Check Point Charlie to see DDR or then, the dreaded Deutsche Demokratische Republik, when I was backpacking around Europe in the 1980s. I remember it being grey and gloomy, a complete contrast to the punk, vibrant and rebellious West Berlin. I was frightened when the border police wouldn't let me cross back since I didn't use all the DDR money. I had to go back to spend every Deutsch Mark and panicking when it was nearing dark.
Now there is not much left of the wall except in the East side where it it is now fenced (right photo) to fend off rummaging souvenir hunters and in the Freidrichshain area where the open air gallery called The East Side Gallery use the remaining part of the wall to exhibit about 100 paintings (murals) by artists from all over the world.
This year 2009 is a great time to visit Berlin as it marks its 20th anniversary of the peaceful revolution that led to the fall of Berlin which precipitated the reunification of East-West Germany and Europe and the end of the Cold War.
Some paintings from the East Gallery: