A Hard Fought Victory Monday, Jan 28 2008

Nothing really is certain in muay thai here in the Philippines.  I thought I’ll be fighting somebody from MAP-Makati but on the day of the tournament, I was informed that I’ll be going up against a fighter from MAP-QC.  And this guy is no ordinary dude, he’s a US Marine stationed at the US Embassy.  Suddenly, scenes and images from the movies Jarhead and Full Metal Jacket flashed before my eyes.  The US marines, as their motto states, are “the few and the proud”.  Highly trained killers protecting American interest in all parts of the globe.   And I will be going against one of them.  If the training they went through are not real, as they are portrayed in the movie, I am the happiest man in the world.  Unfortunately for me, the US marines are really tough and mean dudes, judging from the way my opponent, US Marine Robert Frese fought our match. 

The exchange of blows are relentless from the opening bell of the first round to the closing of the third round.   In the first round, I drew first blood by landing a 1-2 combination and followed up by getting the clinch.  I then connected two solid  knees to his face and I swear that I felt his nose hit my knees.  Anybody of lesser mettle would already be wobbling and backing away, not this marine.  He kept going and going after me. 

In the later stage of the first round, we were in a clinch and I was already down on all fours and Robert still hit me with a knee to the head.   Hitting an opponent who’s kneeling with their hands on the floor is illegal.  But I can’t really blame my opponent because the referee didn’t intervene in time.  That knee to the head really dazed me and unknown to my opponent, to my cornerman and to the audience, I am already punch drunk (a term that is used referring to the feeling of being dizzy after receiving a strong blow to the head.  The feeling is like downing several shots of tequila or any strong liquor.  Hence the term).  That knee to the head is the turning point in the match because I am already too dazed to stick to my gameplan,  that is to stay outside, deliver long range techniques, move out and avoid the clinch.    I have to give credit to Robert for imposing his game on me.  Very often in a fight, its a matter of having your opponent play your game rather than let him do his game strategy. 

I am really so pissed with that illegal knee strike that I felt compelled to do my own illegal trick.  So at one point in the 2nd round, our clinch was already broke-up by the referee, I hit him with a straight to the head.  Which earned me a warning.  I think I really have to apologize to Robert for this unsportsman behavior. 

The endless clinch from Robert has sapped my energy that by the 3rd round, I am already in the defensive.  Circling away, trying to avoid an engagement and just waiting for the round to end.   I have to blame my poor cardio to my being overweight.    Like the great football coach Vince Lombardi once said, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all”.  Serves me right for eating so much and focusing my training on techniques and neglecting my cardio vascular and muscular endurance training. 

In one moment in the 2nd round, when the referee broke our clinch, I heard Robert saying, “Man, you’re killing me.”  I want to tell him, “You’re killing me too!”  But I kept it so that he will not have a psychological edge over me. 

I landed some jab-straight combinations and made some clean connections with my teep and roundhouse kicks that I am confident that I will win.  I know I got the first and second round, the third round I think I have to give it to Robert.   At the end of the bout, when we were waiting for the result, I am wary that if the judges finds the match a draw and they will require a fourth round, I know I may no longer make it. 

Perhaps I have piled enough points in the early rounds that I earned the nods of the judges and awarded me the victory.    When I approached Zhie, Robert’s muay thai kru, I told him that its one heck of a match.  Zhie asked if am I ok for a rematch this March.  I said yes, Robert does deserve a rematch.  And I know it will be another tough fight. 

I remember this line from the movie The Siege of Firebase Gloria.  In this Vietnam war movie,  an outnumbered contingent of US marines are defending their base codenamed Gloria against the Vietcong forces during the Tet Offensive.  In one scene, the leader of the Vietcong said about the Americans, “The courage of your enemy, does you honor.”  The fighting heart of US Marine Robert Frese have given me a lot of honor. 

Sidenote:

Had I known that I will be fighting an American, I wouldn’t have worn my specially made Philippine flag design muay thai short.  I don’t want to make it appear that its a US vs Philippine match and create an air of animosity between my compatriots and Robert’s camp.   

Gearing up for the fight

Goofing off with my good bud Carlo, who’s also my cornerman

Stretching for the fight

My opponent, US Marine Robert Frese

The ceremonial wearing of the mongkon

Robert, doing the sealing of the ring ceremony

Me, doing the sealing of the ring ceremony

Robert doing the wai kru-the ceremonial dance before the muay thai fight

The face-off

No, we’re not embracing…we’re trading punches

Get away from me!!! (Defending from a clinch)

Landing a roundhouse kick

Waiting for the result of the match, the most tense moment of any fight.

Luckily, I received the nods of the judges and won the match.   After receiving the trophy with MAP President and other MAP Officers

This is what sportsmanship is all about.  After trading blows and trying to kill each other in the ring, we’re all friends outside the ring. 

Hey, dude…that’s my wife.  Beck with Robert and our friend Em

After the fight, its time to pig out at Padi’s Point, Antipolo Overlooking with our Korean friend Bjong, Ems and Carlo’s daughter Winona

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NCR Muay Thai Tournament Monday, Jan 28 2008

The first leg of the 2008 NCR Muay Thai Tournament was held in Antipolo City and was participated by MAP Chapters from Pasig City, Quezon City, Las Pinas City, UA&P, Antipolo City and Makati.  There were 8 bouts with 16 fighters.    There is one surprise participant in the tournament, a US Marine assigned at the US Embassy is one of the fighters and will represent the Quezon City Chapter.   There are four fighters from my team, MAP-Pasig City and we won all of our fights, making us the winningest team in the tournament.   

Here are some of the pictures of the tournament:

Tournament Banner

 

The battle arena

Waiting for their match

Muay Thai Aerobics Exhibition

Muay Thai Exhibition

Round 1, Fight!

Take that! And That!

Sonic Boom!

Muay Boran Exhibition

Beck with Romnick Pabalate, Silver Medalist in 2007 Asian Indoor Games and 2007 SEA Games

The referees, all former RP Team and international gold medalists with Ajarn Pudpadnoy (in red shirt)-the Thai coach of the RP Team

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A Big Fight Thursday, Jan 24 2008

Last night, it was finally ascertained that I will have a match in this Saturday’s first leg of the NCR Muay Thai Championship.  And it will be a big challenge for me.  My opponent is younger, taller and more experienced.  Perhaps my only advantage is that I am heavier.  I will be fighting one of the instructors of MAP-Makati Chapter (and younger brother of the chief instructor). Since I don’t have an opponent in my weight division, I was matched to a lower weight division and to equalize the weight difference, Andy (Head of the Technical Committee who’s the matchmaker) chose somebody more experienced…. And I thought Andy is my friend.

To make things worse, since I am an officer of MAP, I have to aid the organizers in ensuring that the competition is a success.  Which means I will not be able to really focus on my fight.   Oh yeah, just for the love of the sport.

Had my last intense training last night by sparring with Gully and Chris.  Tonight, I’ll go to a spa and have my well deserved massage.  Tomorrow, I’ll have a light training by doing some rounds of shadow boxing and light pads.  Saturday, will be my biggest fight yet in Muay Thai. 

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Stupid Moments Tuesday, Jan 22 2008

There are times wherein we wish we have a remote control to stop and rewind our life just to erase or correct any remark, comment or question we made that is so idiotic, that its embarassing.  

 I had mine last week when I had a chat with our Belgian neighbor.  He has been using the threadmill in my house and to say thanks, he gave me a bottle of merlot.  Then we had a chat about the difference between living in Belgium and in the Philippines.   Then suddenly, trying to make a good impression about my knowledge about Belgium I remarked, “Leopold III is still your king, right?”  My Belgian neighbor, who is such a nice fellow, had blank stare, perhaps thinking how he can correct me without offending me.  He just said that their current monarch is Albert II but Leopold III is his father.     Then he went on and said that after Leopold, he was succeeded by Baudouin then he was succeeded by the current king. 

Damn, here I am, a self confessed quiz enthusiast and was looked up by some as one of the best quizzers during my time and I don’t know who’s the reigning monarch of Belgium.    Perhaps the repeated blows to my head (because of my sport) has taken its toll and erased a few megabytes of memory.

Beck and I had a good laugh when I told her about this incident.  But to equalize things I reminded her about her own stupid moment.  She’s also into quiz and trivia and competed in the TV show, The Weakest Link way back 2002.  She was asked, “What P is the river that can be found near the White House?”  And she answered, “Pasig River”.   This of course is on camera and this clip was used numerous times to advertise the show.  It was even quoted by Nestor Torre in his column in Phil. Daily Inquirer.  Needless to say, that thousands if not millions of Filipinos have watched this.  Beck defended that she answered Pasig River upon hearing the worrds “What P is the river” and didn’t finished the question.  She of course know that the correct answer is Potomac River.  Well, how can you argue with your wife.   (My daughter is also teasing her mom because she knows that Potomac is near the White House and added that Theodore Roosevelt would take a daily swim, naked, in the said river)

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The Contender Asia 1st Episode Thursday, Jan 17 2008

Beck was ecstatic to find out that it will be her crush, Naruepol Fairtex who will be competing in the 1st episode of The Contender Asia.  I think its very brave and at the same time shrewd of Naruepol to stand up and volunteer to fight first.  Being the first to fight means that you have more time to rest and recuperate for the next fight, specially if you are following the format of The Contenders.  

Naruepol has a very different persona on screen compared to what we observed when we met him in Fairtex Pattaya.  He’s a very silent type person who seems to be very aloof and doesn’t smile that gives the impression that he’s a snob.  In the show, the camera always catches him engaging his fellow contenders in a conversation and would often smile.  One trivia about Naruepol is that he has a pet squirrel. 

Yodsanklai on the other hand arrived in The Contenders gym wearing an oversized MacArthur type sunglasses (even though they’re indoors) that made him look very cocky.   This is very different from the Yodsanklai we met in Fairtex who’s very down to Earth, always smiling to people who are training in the gym with a demeanor of an overgrown kid coming to school for the first time.   He even showed John Wayne Parr the WBC muay thai championshi belt he won by defeating  him.  Talk about faux pas. 

Naruepol  won handily against Trevor Smandych of Canada.    It was a very lopsided match that there’s no instance wherein Naruepol was ever in danger.  By the end of the fight, Trevor have welts all over his body.    In the match, I would always hear John Wayne Parr (who stood as the corner man of Trevor) yelling and encouraging Trevor to step up and pressure Naruepol.    I hope I could meet JWP someday.  I heard he some times train in a muay thai camp in Pattaya, I might get a chance to meet him there. 

Stephan Fox is one of the hosts of the show.  Despite the controversies surrounding him in World Muay Thai Council (WMTC)(the world governing body of muay thai), he should be credited for giving significant contribution in making muay thai known to the world.  The show is a step closer to WMTC’s goal of making muay thai a demonstration sport in the Olympic Games by 2016. 

Below is a long teaser of The Contender Asia

I’m also posting the videoclip of the next episode of the show.   The clip shows some heated exchange of words between Yodsaenklai and Rafik Bakkouri.   Way back 2006, Rafik went to Fairtex Pattaya to call out and challenge Yodsaenklai for the WBC title.  They met in a match in January 2007 and Yodsaenklai won via RSC.  Perhaps there’s still some tinge of animosity between the two. 

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Confession No. 1 Thursday, Jan 17 2008

Damn, I’m writing this with a terrible stiff neck courtesy of my team mate Gully Go.  Last night, we did some partner play doing the thai plum (muay thai clinch).  He easily dominated me and my neck is so sore that I have to turn my entire upper budy just to look sideways. 

It seems that in every personal blog, at one point, the writer will make a confession to be read by thousands of anonymous reader.  I will make no attempt in formulating reasons for this but instead, will join the herd and make my first confession. 

As a teenager, I looked up to this actor (who was in the early 90’s the epitome of a hunk, tall, dark, handsome and with ripped muscled and washboard abs) . I idolized him not because of his looks and his talent in acting but because he’s a multi-faceted person.  He excelled in almost every sport he dipped his hands into: target shooting, golf, fencing.  He even won several gold medals in SEA Games for fencing.   In the early 90’s he organized sporting events that bared his name, which started the trend for show biz personalities to organizing and naming tournaments after them.  He’s a talented actor who won acting awards and have studies his craft and become a director as well.   His entry though in politics is somewhat marred by controversies and him being named as Presidential Advisor on Sports is said to be based on his connections with the President and not because of his capability. 

Yup, that person is Richard Gomez.  He is my idol when I was in high school until 2nd year college.  I look up to him so much that almost all of the shirts that I wore, at that time, are all Bench.  Whenever I compete in quiz shows or speak in public ( I was a student leader) I made sure that I am wearing Bench.   I even imitated his hair style!

Richard Gomez is now training muay thai in MAP-ultra and he says that he truly enjoy the sport.  There’s some sort of an invasion launched by the Philippine fencing team who would troop to our gym and work out some sweat doing muay thai after training in their original sport.    He really is a natural athelete and only after doing a few sessions, he has improved his way of punching and kicking.  The RP fencing team are even kidding me that I now have a match, in the person of Richard Gomez. 

I have good impressions about this guy.  Though he’s a known celebrity, he doesn’t put his weight around the gym expecting to be given a special treatment.   And have no qualms in using the extremely spartan facilities of the Muay Thai Central Gym.    Our first conversation even started with me saying that I’m from PUP and him saying that he’s also from PUP.   Though I’ve “outgrown” him,  my role model now is Theodore Roosevelt who’s also a multi-faceted person, I will only have respect for Richard Gomez. 

Speaking of Theodore Roosevelt, I’m so amazed by his life that I have 3 THICK books about this remarkable man.  Time Magazine in 1998 named him as one of the most important persons of the 2oth Century.  Below is the first paragraph of that article from Time Magazine:

“They don’t hold White House lunches the way they used to at the beginning of the century.  On Jan. 1, 1907, for example, the guest list was as follows: a Nobel prize winner, a physical culturalist, a naval historian, a biographer, an essayist, a paleontologist, a taxidermist, an ornithologist, a field naturalist, a conservationist, a big-game hunter, an editor, a critic, a ranchman, an orator, a country squire, a civil service reformar, a socialite, a patron of the arts, a colonel of the cavalry, a former Governor of New York, the ranking expert on big-game mammals in North America and the President of the United States.  

All these men are named Theodore Roosevelt.”

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Laws of Quiz Bee Monday, Jan 14 2008

One of the unexplained things in meeting college/high school friends, especially those whom you haven’t seen for several years, is that you would always reminisce and laugh about the adventures and misadventures  you had as a student, even though you’ve already talked about it several times before.   Met my college best bud, Glenn yesterday and as expected, the 8-hour talk is mostly about remembrance of things past (Thank you Marcel Proust).   Glenn is also into quiz competitions and is a weekly champion in Channel 9’s Battle of the Brains (BOTB) in 1997.  I am most thankful to him for organizing the reviews and trainings that helped me achieve my double victory in 1997. 

When Glenn and I were in college, we were part of this group of quiz geeks called The PUP Quizzer’s Circle.  There’s only one way to join this exclusive club, you have to be in the top 3 of the quiz competitions it regularly organize.    In short, its a society of nerds and geeks.   In a few years from 1993-1999,  geeks who compete in BOTB are given celebrity status  in my university. . .  an adulation that is comparable to what are feted to UAAP basketball players.   Perhaps its because we don’t compete in UAAP and NCAA and its the only way that PUPians could see their schoolmates on TV.  Honestly, I don’t know what’s the big fuzz about appearing on TV.  At that time, I’m doing it for the honor.

Glenn and I talked about some of the laws or rules of thumbs we formulated in competing in BOTB.     Some it were made out of fun, some were made by observing the show and the competitors,   some are applicable only to PUPians.  We made it just to make our review and training livelier (like, duh, when does reading and memorizing entries in encyclopedias exciting?).    I promised Glenn to make an article about this laws of quiz bee. 

Law of First Thought:

The first answer to enter your mind is usually the correct answer.   

Most of us have encountered this.  We are asked a difficult question then an answer came to our mind.  Then we hesitate and at the last second, changed our mind and gave another answer.  It turns our that the first answer we have is the correct one.   This law may not be correct at all times but very often, this is true. 

Quizzer’s Law of Misogyny:

If you are going against a female competitor/quizzer, rejoice.  You have good chance of winning.  

Please note that this law is applicable only to the college level of BOTB.   If anybody has observed the said show, or any general information quiz bees, there are only a few female competitors or and much fewer who actually wins.   Perhaps females are more focused on their college studies while the men are more scatter brained.  In the first place, quiz bees is suppose to be an extra-curricular activity.    Because of this observation, we concluded that female quizzers are easier competition compared to the men.  I know its bad, its very misogynist, but its just an observation. 

Quizzer’s First Law of Reviewer/Reference:

If your competitor is using Ramon Lorenzo’s book Brain Blitz, rejoice.   You have very good chance of winning.  

Most, if not all newbie quizzers have read the series, Brain Blitz.  You are not a real Filipino quizzer if you haven’t read this book.  These booklets are just about 50 pages thick. Though filled with information that are usually asked in quiz shows, these books are not enough to be used as a sole reviewer/reference book for a quiz competition of a high level such as BOTB. 

 Sorry, Butch.  No offense meant.  I am not saying that your books are bad, on the contrary, in fact, I have a collection of your books and you haven’t signed them yet.   (Ramon Lorenzo is a personal friend and he’s an icon for Filipino quizzers.  He has inspired several batches of quizz competitors, myself included, its an honor to be his friend)

Quizzer’s Second Law of Reviewer/Reference:

If your competitor is carrying thick volumes of Encyclopedia Brittanica, Colliers Encyclopedia or any encyclopedia, rejoice.  You have a good chance of winning.

Let’s face it, nobody is that good to memorize all entries in an Encyclopedia.  Plus, quiz shows doesn’t ask you the entire definition and explanation of a term and they usually use desk encyclocpedias for reference.   So if your opponent is suffering from kyphosis because of carrying those huge volumes of encyclopedia, chances are he’s a newbie and thus, doesn’t pose a good threat. 

Quizzer’s Third Law of Reviewer/Reference:

If your competitor is using American Spectrum Encyclopedia, Barron’s Encyclopedia, Hutchison’s Encyclopedia or any Desk Encyclopedia, pray.  You are in for a tough battle.  Especially if these books are very worn out. 

The books listed above are some of the official reference of BOTB.  So, if your opponent is walking around with those books under their arm like a Baptist pastor, you might be in for a tough fight. 

Quizzer’s Law of Origin:

If your opponent is from UP, UST, DLSU, or ADMU, pray hard.  You will be in a tough battle.  

Need I say more? Most of the top quizzers hails from these universities.  Though, from time to time,  excellent quizzers would come from Lyceum and PLM. 

Quizzer’s Principle of Being Handsome:

If you win in BOTB, you are.  If you don’t win, you’re not.

Might be hard to accept, but most quizzers are geeks.  And geeks are not known for being girl-magnets.    At that time, and specially in my university, if you appeared and won in BOTB, you somehow achieved celebrity status that the opposite gender would kind of notice you more.    So if somebody wins in BOTB, we would often tease him as “gu-guwapo na rin sa wakas and magkaka-girlfriend na”.  

Victor’s Law of Variation:

This is not actually a law, but a joke.  We have one member, Victor, who suffers from malapropism.   Malapropism is the incorrect use of a word by substituting a similar-sounding word with different meaning, usually with a comic effect (Thanks Wikipedia).  But Victor goes a bit further.   One example is when he answered “The Grapes of Warts” (it should be The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck) and he protested to no end that its a variation.    In one quiz competition, this question was asked “What was the password of the Japanese forces for the bombing on Pearl Harbor?”  The answer is Climb Mount Niitaka.  Victor answered ClimbMount Niitacha and he delayed the quiz because he endlessly protested that its a variation.  It’s not. 

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Marie Digby and Powershift Thursday, Jan 10 2008

Although I’ve read Alvin Toffler’s Powershift about 3 times already, I think I have to read it again and check which among his predictions and assumptions came true and are currently happening.  The last time I read this book was way back in 2001 at the height of the Quiz shows craze (The Weakest Link, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Game Ka Na Ba.  I have joined in all of these quiz shows) that hit the country.  A sociologist friend said that these quiz shows reflects the economic condition of the country and that the masses would turn to quiz shows to bring them out of poverty.  I added  that it is also a manifestation of one of Alvin Toffler’s assumption that TV entertainment of the future will be highly interactive wherein viewers want to be a part of the show and not just mere spectators.

In Powershift, Alvin Toffler discussed about how knowledge and technology became tools for building wealth and at the same time, instruments in wielding power.   In one of his examples; 50 years ago, it is the manufacturers who dictates to the supermarket which products will be sold and how much supermarket space will be allocated to which products because they are the ones who control information (via advertisements and their sales force).   All of these changed when the bar code system was introduced that enabled the retailers to gather information about the products being sold and the consumers who buy them.  It is the retailers who now control the knowledge of the market.  Now, it is the manufacturers who beg for supermarket space.   The invention of the barcode enabled a “powershift” from the manufacturers to the retailers.   (For a lengthier discourse on how this happened, read the book) 

A few years ago, I’ve read that  singers/artists or their managers are at the mercy of radio stations and have to pay them to promote their albums.    Power is in the hands of radiostations and/or tv stations.  With the advent of Youtube, artist can now upload their videos and promote themselves in the Internet for free.   Thereby, shifting power to the artists themselves.  A case in point is the Irish-Japanese artist, Marie Digby whose videos in Youtube are being viewed by millions of surfers around the world.   As of this writing, her rendition of Rihanna’s Umbrella has 4.2 million hits and still counting.  In her blog, she said that she posted her music videos in her own desperate move to counter the lack of promotion of her album.  Now,  her music can be heard by millions of people who doesn’t need to tune into radio to listen to her songs.   You can call that powershift. 

I am posting two of her videos that I really like, her rendition of Maroon 5’s Makes Me Wonder (who by the way are coming to Manila on March 5 and I will definitely watch it) and Natalie Imbruglia’s Torn(one of my all time favorites).  Now this has nothing to do with my conviction that its the Irish and not the Brazilians who are the most gorgeous race in the planet. 

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Training for Godot Thursday, Jan 10 2008

The play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Becket is one of the most perplexing plays written in the last Century.   In this play, two old men, Vladimir and Estragon, are waiting for a character named Godot who they claim is an acquaintance, but they will not recognize him if they see him.  In the two days that Valdimir and Estragon are waiting for Godot, they while away their time by talking, arguing, eating, play games and even contemplating suicide just to occupy themselves and prevent silence from creeping in.  The play ended with Godot not arriving and the two characters agreeing to commit suicide the following day if the person they are waiting for still didn’t arrive.   

Almost every school of thought have their own interpretation of the play.  There’s a political, a Freudian, a Jungian, Biblical, Existential and even a homo-erotic interperation. But I use the title simply whenever I am waiting for someone or something that I am not sure will come.   

This January 26, there’s suppose to be a muay thai competition and I am training hard for it for almost 2 months.  But up until now, there’s no assurance that it will push thru or if it does,  I will have an opponent.   It’s always been a problem with muay thai here in the Philippines.   Because the sport, even though already a medal sport in SEA Games, Asian Indoor Games and other international-regional meet, is still in its infancy in the Philippines and there’s a dearth of competitions.  And if ever there will be a tournament, it will be postponed several times.  Like last year, the July competition was originally slated for April while the November tournament was originally scheduled in August.   In the November fight, I wasn’t able to compete because I have no match in my weight division. 

 It’s a frustration also shared by members of the Philippine muay thai team.   They would train twice a day but they are not sure when will their next competition be or if they will be competing at all.   Like in the Asian Indoor Games last October and in the World Amateur Championship last November, they all trained hard in the hopes of competing.  Although they are not sure who will be given the opportunity to leave for the said competition because of the limited funds.  

Even in local competitions.  MAP doesn’t have the resources to hold as many tournaments it wants to.  Regional chapters would sometimes organize tournaments but oftentimes, it is postponed at the last minute.   A bemedalled RP team member once said that you can only be sure if the competition will push thru on the day itself. 

But despite everything, the RP team keeps on training.  To them, it is much better to be prepared even though the tournament will not push thru rather than a fight pushing thru but they are not prepared for it.  I share the same principle even if it means we’re training for Godot.

By the way, Makisig Channel, a local cable channel interviewed several members of the RP muay thai team and the President of MAP, Kru Robert Valdez last night.    Please do watch out for this. 

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New Year, New Hobby Tuesday, Jan 8 2008

Finally, I will be able to pursue a hobby that I’ve always wanted to do… photography.  Yesterday, I purchased a Canon EOS 400d.  I  browsed several websites for reviews of the best valued DSLR that are available in the Philippines.    For a newbie like me who’s on a tight budget, the EOS 400D will do.  Perhaps when I become more sophisticated and have developed an eye for photography I will then move on to more expensive cameras.   Fortunately, when I visited Camera Haus in Megamall, a long time photographer, Wayne Lim was there and gave some helpful tips and have assured me that the model I am buying is perfect for the time being. 

In a magazine interview 12 years ago, I was asked what are the things I want to achieve and I replied that one of them is to be a correspondent for National Geographic.    That desire is still burning inside me.    Moreover, I am inspired by the journeys of National Geographic photographer and correspondent Michael Yamashita who covered the Asian continent with photography books about the journeys of Marco Polo, the Mekong River, and the Great Wall of China.  He recently made a photobook and a documentary about the legendary Ming Dynasty admiral Zheng He who in 1421 may have discovered America.   

My ultimate goal is to capture the beauty and poetry in motion of the martial arts of Asia: Thailand’s muay thai and krabi krabong, Myanmar’s bando and lethwei, Mongolia’s wrestling, China’s wushu, Japan’s kobudo, iaido and Kendo, India’s kalari-payat and pehlwani, Indonesia’s pencak silat and the Philippines’ kali and eskrima.   I have this opinion that martial arts is the only sport that is closely intertwined with the history and culture of the country where they originated.  

My new toy, the Canon EOS 400D.  It’s just an entry level DSLR, but perfect for any starting photographer. 

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