a kenyan safari

This is a video blog of a safari to Kenya.
Yes I went to Kenya last month. I needed to do a lot of work - on my running, and I wanted to find out what made these great Kenyans run so fast. Maybe it's to do with chasing wildlife.

Maybe not. Maybe I lost my way. Maybe it's all the gas around. The gas-bagging...
Music is from 'The Loner' - Nils Lofgren singing some Neil Young songs.

video postscripts to biloela sojourn

video clips taken on the return road trip from biloela to southeast queensland. with music (an old song and a recent song) from neil young.
burnett highway monto, mulgildie, eidsvold, binjour, gayndah, tansey, wide bay highway, kilkivan, bruce highway, gympie, sunshine coast, moreton bay region, gateway highway, inner city bypass, brisbane.

videos have also been added to the following blogs:

1. first-we-take-brisbane.
2. deer-hunting-on-wheels
3. on-road-again-eastern-queensland
4. going-bananas
5. i-banana-theyre-wild-mob

photographic souvenirs

Some random photos.
more photos here

The golden guitar, Tamworth, NSW.

O'reilly's bird sanctuary, Gold Coast hinterland, Qld.

Uki, NSW.

once i held mountains in the palm of my hands.

don't forget the bushy mounds...

Bunya pines, Bunya mountains, Qld.

When we were young

and facial hair was long...

when in mainit, do as the ichongliyan do.

but wait for the pool to fill up.

while waiting for the pool to fill up,

you can cook some eggs in the boiling hotspring waters.

just take care not to get scalded.

you'll be lucky if you only get scolded.

ain't no more cane in the brazos,

but still plenty in the barrios.

like in mainit,

where cane is harvested and milled every year.

the sweet smell of unas,

heralds the end of the year.

near christmas.

when you go for a hike to the mountains,

do tread carefully.

as earthquakes go where angels fear to tread.

a banana vendor, hangar market, baguio.

dippig?

that's why i'd rather be in mainit.

we have tokcho there.

back in uncivilized oz.

like a bird on a branch.

the erratic woodchopper.

no this is not in mainit.

this is in suburban australia.

fitzoy falls, kangaroo valley, NSW

thredbo village,

gateway to kosciusko, NSW

the big pineapple, sunshine coast, qld

maggie looking for a feed.

For more photos, click on the link below.

video clip of more souvenirs

the love songs of bob dylan

When you’re lost in the rainin' forest
and it’s springin' time too.
(Terrible. It's just sprung!)

But absence does make the heart grow fonder. Whether it’s a few days, weeks, months, years or decades. So in a remote site work camp for some protracted weeks, and somehow the mind gets to imagining yearning & reminiscing fantasising & daydreaming hoping & pining listing & spinning lusting & sinning drinking & lurching drumming & humming singing (singing? must be the whiskey).

Bob Dylan is quoted as saying:
"A Red, Red Rose" is one of the greatest love songs of all time. It's a song that resonates down the ages. It's part of the (Robert) Burns song canon. It's one of his most emotive and emotional, perhaps his biggest expression of love. It's very much about comparing love to the joyous things of nature and in the arts. It's Burns where he rejoices most in love. It's from the love gut...

I stand corrected - on one leg, with some bootleg whiskey in my hand (drinks aren't sold in camp) - but i don't think Dylan has the one song that encapsulates all that he's said above, but throughout his career he has captured the gamut of emotions of love like no one else. I took out my laptop one night to listen to some songs whilst i was drowning my sorrows. And i came up with a playlist below. From hello to goodbye, from wooing to shooing, and from every stage of falling and being in love. All the songs speak for themselves, and i haven't commented on all of them. And I'm sure there's a hundred other Dylan love songs out there but hey, can't play them all. You can comment on them all though.

One or more (and any and all) of the songs is dedicated to someone.

Girl of the north country
Remember me to one who lives there/She once was a true love of mine.
joni mitchell and johnny cash
Liam Clancy

Heart of mine
Don't let her know that you love her.
Don't be a fool, don't be blind
Heart of mine
norah jones and peter malick group

is your love in vain?
from the much-underrated album Street-Legal, but the version from budokan is say more resigned hence more emotive (or more sincere).
This song has both been panned and nitpicked by critics and reviewers. In a way it's a typical Dylan song - love it or hate it, or maybe like it or not.
I myself do not identify with 'dining with kings' or 'can you cook and sew' etc,
but i like the almost resigned couldn't-care-less nonchalant though really yearning and hopeful lover's desire to hear from the object of his/her affection:
all right i'll take a chance
i'll fall in love with you
Eiri Thrasher
Dylan live from Goteborg

All i really want to do
All i really want to do
Is, baby, be friends with you.
the byrds
Dylan here lets loose with an array of things that some lovestruck soul would promise. And then wittily and teasingly claiming in the chorus that all he wanted to do was to be friends.

if not for you
If not for you/My sky would fall/Rain would gather too.
Without your love I'd be nowhere at all/Oh! what would I do
If not for you.
dylan and george harrison at bobfest 92
rehearsal

I’ll be your baby tonight
Shut the light, shut the shade,
You don't have to be afraid.
I’ll be your baby tonight
emmylou harris

Lay lady lay
Stay lady stay, stay with your man a while/'til the break of day,
Let me see you make him smile.
I long to see you in the morning light/I long to hold you In the night.
Stay lady stay, stay with your man a while.
everly brothers

Buckets of rain.
Wendy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZtBpS79lHQ
Tonight i’ll be staying here
Throw my ticket out the window/Throw my suitcase out there, too,
Throw my troubles out the door/I don't need them any more
'Cause tonight I'll be staying here with you
Janet Plant
happy traum

make you feel my love
When the rain is blowing in your face
And the whole world is on your case
I could offer you a warm embrace
To make you feel my love
Billy Joel
It starts off with a heartfelt reasonable expression of love, and then like any irrational lover starts promising eternity, going hungry, and to the ends of the world...
This has been covered by Billy Joel, Neil Diamond, Joan Osborne, Luka Bloom, Timothy B. Schmit, Ronan Keating, Bryan Ferry, Mary Black, Adele, and Maria Muldaur and a host of others.
I like Adele's popular version too but Billy Joel just gives it the rough edge that typifies Dylan.

You’re gonna make me lonesome
But I'll see you in the sky above,
In the tall grass, in the ones I love,
You're gonna make me lonesome when you go.
(Madeleine Peyroux)

"You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" is one of Dylan's most earnest love songs. Skipping right past the poetry of romance, it nails the more human, realistic aspects of the early days of a love affair. He sings about being surprised by love, humbled, and worried about the eventual but likely end. The result is possibly one of the more honest love songs in modern music".

I forget where this review came from.

If You Gotta Go, Go Now
I am just a poor boy, baby/Lookin’ to connect
But I certainly don’t want you thinkin’/That I ain’t got any respect
...
But if you got to go/It’s all right
But if you got to go, go now/Or else you gotta stay all night
Fairport Convention (French version)

One more cup of coffee
Your breath is sweet/Your eyes are like two jewels in the sky.
Your back is straight, your hair is smooth/On the pillow where you lie.
But I don't sense affection/No gratitude or love
Your loyalty is not to me/But to the stars above.
the white stripes

Sweetheart like you
And that smile's so hard to resist
what's a sweetheart like you doin' in a dump like this?
guy davis

tomorrow is a long time
There's beauty in the silver, singin' river,
There's beauty in the sunrise in the sky,
But none of these and nothing else can touch the beauty
That I remember in my true love's eyes.
Yes, and only if my own true love was waitin',
Yes, and if I could hear her heart a-softly poundin',
Only if she was lyin' by me,
Then I'd lie in my bed once again.
(See Nickel Creek)
Ahh love at its most sublime. when the hours take forever, and all one wants to do is go home to his love's side. Even Elvis Presley covered this song, but i like Nickel Creek's version. Elvis (as he would) sings it like his lover's really just one of many, and that he's just singing it for the moment. but Sara Watkins (of Nickel Creek) sings it like to her one and only true love.

One too many mornings
From the crossroads of my doorstep/My eyes start to fade.
And I turn my head back to the room/Where my love and I have laid.
I've no right to be here/If you've no right to stay
Until we're both one too many mornings
And a thousand miles away
johnny cash and waylon jennings

To Ramona
Everything passes/Everything changes
Just do what you think you should do
And someday, maybe
Who knows, baby
I'll come and be cryin' to you.
I wish i can write, let alone compose, like Dylan. Ah sober up Marto.
Okay I wish I knew a girl called Ramona or...sineadlohana
sinead lohan

I’ll remember you
When I'm all alone
In the great unknown,
I'll remember you.
'fried green tomatoes' soundtrack

I’ll keep it with mine
And if I can save you any time
Come on, give it to me,
I'll keep it with mine.
marianne faithfull

Most of the time
I don't even care if I ever see her again
Most of the time.
ani difranco
Now denial starts flowing again. what starts flowin?
denial
Even Moses floated on denial.
He did! as a baby. :-)

boots of spanish leather
This is classic Dylan. a forlorn ballad for lovers at the crossroads. Dylan gives us both the physical and emotional sense in this song; the verse by verse unravelling of the realisation of lost love, and the acceptance of it with a kiss-off. As Nanci Griffith puts it: "Boots".
I got a letter on a lonesome day,
It was from her ship a-sailin',
...
So take heed, take heed of the western wind,
Take heed of the stormy weather.
And yes, there's something you can send back to me,
Spanish boots of Spanish leather.
(see nanci griffith)
from the revelation of the leaver, to the fare-thee-well then.
and finally to the kiss-off with boots.
and Dylan was only 21(?) when he wrote this song.

just like a woman
When we meet again
Introduced as friends
Please don't let on that you knew me when
I was hungry and it was your world.
Ah, you fake just like a woman, yes, you do
You make love just like a woman, yes, you do
Then you ache just like a woman
But you break just like a little girl.
bob dylan concert_for_bangladesh
(see also Richie Havens @ bobfest 92)
This breakup song is full of hurt and bitterness. Moving slowly through all the resulting emotions, Dylan lands on the hope of making friends after all is said and done. It's as good as "Don't Think Twice," but with less spite. Jimmy Webb spoke of his envy of those last two lines.

don't think twice it's alright
I'm walkin' down that long, lonesome road, babe
Where I'm bound, I can't tell
But goodbye's too good a word, gal
So I'll just say fare thee well
I ain't sayin' you treated me unkind
You could have done better but I don't mind
You just kinda wasted my precious time
But don't think twice, it's all right
(See PPM for a sweet version. play it for Mary)
Dylan once introduced "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" as "a statement that maybe you can say to make yourself feel better... as if you were talking to yourself."
It's also rated as "... possibly one of the best breakup songs ever written."
It captures what many heartbroken lovers have wanted to make at some stage; the ultimate kiss-off.

When the deal goes down
In this earthly domain, full of disappointment and pain
You'll never see me frown
I owe my heart to you, and that's sayin' it true
And I'll be with you when the deal goes down
official video

I decided to end the list on a wise and mature Dylan tune, rather than the obvious don't think twice of his youth. Here Dylan's lover is more accepting of the loss, bears no ill will, and staying true will get on with his life ...
As we all should. Lovers and beloved alike.

postscript
I used to blame heartaches on ol' richard. Who? Now let's not go there. You can get Kinky though.
Kinky? Yep. Mr Kinky Friedman. He wrote The Love Song of J. Edgar Hoover. This is the sequel... :-)

I recommend all the above cover versions. But nobody sings Dylan like Dylan.

roads less travelled - highways and byways

Once i had restless feet as i usually do, but this time the itch was just unbearable. I had to get out of the rat race or i’ll go crazy. So i drove around for a way out of this jungle of tar and machines and their toxic exhaust, realising quite guiltily that I’m actually contributing to the pollution. But i’m driving as part of my work delivering, so justifiable or not to the environment, that’s my excuse and i’m sticking to it.

From the Ipswich motorway i turned off to the Warrego highway towards Esk and Toowoomba. Some of the places along this old road remind me of the North Expressway from Novaliches going northwards to the homeland.
Farther along i espied what seemed like a patch of greenery beside a river. The signs looked good - green grass and landscaped features. But just a little ways on these ugly buildings suddenly confront me. It hit me that i came past here before. This place in Yeerongpilly used to be bursting with farms and grazing pastures with cattle and rolling paddocks. Now they’ve built these monstrous apartments and a sprawling tennis centre and blocked off all access to the riverbanks and its green meadows where i used to laze along. This is eerily similar to the feeling of loss during my childhood when all those areas around the bell church at the baguio city limit with la Trinidad, were built up and forever displaced a favourite swimming spot.
see 'metal firecracker' video below.

It seems like an endless highway but eventually i found what seemed to be a little used country road in Swanbank and just followed it along to see where it will lead me. There’s sinister looking electrical towers and transmission lines but i know that as long as i don’t go near them i’ll be fine - am just passing through. I eventually negotiated a series of rolling hills and found myself at the end of the road and a big sign that said ‘no trespassing’.

video: tomorrow is a long time

Feeling despondent i turned back to the highway and followed a road going up to a new settlement in the distant hills. The road is called Settlement Road but it actually just joins up one suburbia in Keperra to another sprawl on the other side in The Gap. I drive along anyway to see where it goes. Parts of the hilly range look like Quezon hill in baguio but still thick with trees. And although the ridges are accessible by car, the views are blocked off by thick eucalypt forests, which remain protected as nature reserves.

I retraced my tracks to the highway, drove along for a bit and found another dirt track at some foothills in Belmont. I drove up this gravel track which looked very disused and lonesome, but was quite appealing to my eyes. This track is reminiscent of the road to Mt Sto Tomas before the residential dwellings took over. I found out later that this is Mt Petrie and that there is a rifle shooting range just behind the tree lines on the northern slopes. I rushed out of there post-haste before some stray bullets found me. I did manage to sneak in some views of the urban sprawl extending in all directions to the hills and the bays.

video: the pilgrim in mt petrie

I continued my pilgrimage and found myself in a forest park on the edge of a mountain. Gap Creek Road links 'the Gap' with Kenmore Hills on the western edge of Mt Coot-tha. If you went on the hill road through Tam-awan out to Wangal from baguio to Trinidad, and imagined that that road was in its untouched pristine state, that’s pretty much like Gap Creek Road.

I did go through to escape the rat race, but I came out the other end to join another one. Oh well i’ll keep trying. So don’t wait up leave the light on, I’ll be home soon...

video: leave the light on

back to the rat race then.
video: metal firecracker

Driving around and seeing the purple jacarandas in bloom this early in spring was therapeutic. It was a balm that soothed the simmering anger that i'm feeling right now.

how many roads must a man drive down?

one day i was required to travel to Fernvale in the Somerset region. Fernvale is on the southern verge of Wivenhoe Dam and sits on the western foot of the d'aguilar ranges.
as is my wont i took the road less travelled 'goat track', a little-known dirt road from samford going up the eastern slopes of d'aguilar national park to the rainforests of mt glorious.
on an overcast and foggy winter's day, this drive would be quite surreal through the mist and gloom.
this is very similar to the road from dantay to antadao between bontoc and sagada.
imagine walking at dusk through whispering pine trees on a chilly day in january somewhere in the cordillera mountains.
very humbling indeed.
somehow nature has a way of reminding that we are all just specks on this planet - or as Asin put it- tuldok lang.


anyway the goat track and mt glorious rainforest are just diversions - the ways to an end.
i still have to deliver, so back in the saddle for me. so then i can sleep in the sand...

the majestic mainit mountains

an old dried tree stump with one arm waving free, and silhouetted by a sea of clouds, greets g'day. or as they say in mainit: inmali kayo. this translates loosely as: you have come - welcome

uphill.

and downhill. and uphill and downhill. and uphill and downhill. oh you get to do this a few times.

say hello to the locals who are out tending their fields, cutting firewood ...



or looking after their precious few heads of cattle.

stop and chat to a forest ranger when you meet him. he is only a volunteer and does not get paid to protect the mountains.

a tipple or two would not hurt, and he might tell you a tale or two in return.

back in the village, you thought you were lost in another world,

but deep into the mountains, with civilization out of reach, you finally find yourself lost in another planet.

after an earthquake, the mountain sides can be very hazardous.

so tread carefully.

my cousin sent me these photos last january 2008. this is near the epicentre of the earthquake that was felt in abra, the ilocos and other surrounding areas, even as far as baguio 150kms away.

white-water rafting, er without a raft.

the mountains are the window to the future. protect them and they will protect us. lobby your officials. talk to your representatives about preserving the cordillera mountains. our survival and yours, may depend on them.

the thick mossy forests produce the life-giving sweet waters that flow into our creeks, streams and rivers, and then are tapped to our water reticulation systems.

many a sabag* lost its lifeblood on my blade. so don't be a scumbag... respect the mountains, respect the people, and they will respect you.

(*sabag is the vernacular for manok na labuyo)

well if it's tinola on your mind, maybe it's time to head back to town. you could continue on west to abra, but that will take another day or so of good hiking to the next village...

my cousin kindly posted a video of the mainit mountains on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUe6Sk1HQH8

enjoy.

til next blog.

the wonders of mainit - cordillera

This is a guided tour of Mainit, with signposts along the way.

Signpost #00. Notify someone of your whereabouts. Do not travel alone. Check with local authorities if it’s safe to travel to your intended destination. Depending on the time of year, you might get trapped in the cordillera if you arrive here in the storm season. that's not necessarily a bad thing but 'if your time to you is worth saving...'

Bontoc is the gateway to the cordillera village of mainit.

Approaching Bontoc on the halsema highway from the south, is the welcoming sight of lush green ricefields.

From the town center, you can gaze around the high mountains surrounding the place. Looking west is the daunting heights of mt pagturao on the way to mainit. The best way to really appreciate the beauty and grandeur of the mountains of the cordillera is to actually walk them. The hike from bontoc to mainit is a lazy 3 hours for the fit and experienced hiker. However i recommend to take a whole day so you can pause to enjoy the sights, take in some fresh air, and also to stop and smell the mountain flowers, and maybe sample a stray mountain berry now and then.

well alright you can catch a tricycle. there's a lookout point in pagturao, but the hilltop above the lookout offers a lot more. so catch a trike to there.

After a bit of a hike to pagturao, you turn back and gaze at the wonder of bontoc-samoki valley. The phrase ‘a river runs through it’ was never more apt.

Signpost #1. The golden rule. We all know what that is. Do not bring valuables with you. Jewellery and expensive things could attract the wrong kind of attention. Travel with light essentials only, and not like royalty, although if you've got a dime to spare...

Farther up the mountain, one finds relics of times past such as an old resting place. This would have served many a weary woodchopper, farmer, hunter or warrior in times past. This is also a good spot for a few minutes of rest. Here you can decide to continue on the mountain trail along the ridges, or to continue along the road. Always consider your safety as paramount, so if you don’t have a guide, please stay on the road, you won’t miss too much. Anyway the mountain tracks would be disused and hard to find these days, and could be very treacherous in parts especially for novice mountaineers. I think the shelter is no longer there but have a rest anyway.

Signpost #2. GIGO. Oh yes all you modern generation know it well. Garbage in garbage out. This means you do not bring your garbage in to these mountains. Keep your garbage with you and dispose of them when you get back to town. You don’t want litter in your yards, the mountains don’t either.

Deeper up the mountain, the pine forest gets thicker and welcomes you with the sweetest breath of the freshest air while enveloping you with a misty hug and even a wet kiss from the mountain dew.
The last rooftops of bontoc and samoki slowly disappear behind the pine needles as you climb on to cloudland.

On a mountain ridge on the trail between maligcong and guina-ang.

Remember if you’re not experienced in mountaineering, it’s easier to hike along the road. Very few people do see these hidden wonders. It’s off the beaten track. You will need a local guide but is worth it and more.

We’ll visit maligcong another time, so we turn southwesterly towards guina-ang.

On the way down from the ridges are these ricefields way up on the mountainside.

Soon the village of guina-ang is in sight and to make time, the road snaking through the ricefields would be quickest route.

Guina-ang has some stalls for fresh breads and other food items such as fresh green vegetables.

The trail between guina-ang and mainit is only short but on this trail are good vantage points for viewing the applai side of the mountain range. In the distance one can see cloud-kissed ricefarms, streams, forests, mountains and parts of the villages of kiltepan (killong-tetepan-antadao), dalican, fidelisan etc. Beyond the mountain peaks looking south but not visible, are the mountaintop towns of sagada and besao.

We will also visit them at another time.

Signpost #3. Ask permission if you want to take a picture of people.

Mainit village. the hidden world of natural relaxation.

welcome to mainit, one of the cordillera's favorite destinations. mainit is a sleepy village which offers a great variety of things to see and do. it is home to natural hot springs, rice terraces, and majestic mountains.

as a popular destination, mainit is great any time of year (except at the height of typhoons). if you visited before, somehow you knew you'll be back, but if you haven't, well what are you waiting for? how will you want to come back?

Nestled on the gentle slopes and surrounded by high mountains acting as sentries, the village of mainit sits cozily, overlooking the neighboring village of guina-ang.

The refreshing smell of hotspring steam lets you know you have arrived. (a mainit hotspring steambath is a great cure for asthmatics).

Houses are comfortably situated between pine forest and hotspring, or between ricefields and a patch of cane .

Take a stroll around the edge of the village and discover things.

Situated on the upper part of mainit is the elementary school. Say hello to the schoolkids and teach them to dispose of their lunch wrap and other litter thoughtfully. Children are impressionable and a good example from friendly visitors can only help. Of course they are taught not to accept candies from strangers.

The southerly hill called sagang, a short little climb above the Anglican church, provides great views of the village and its immediate surrounds.

Farther afield to the nothern slopes one will find the hidden wonders of mainit ricefields, irrigated by the fresh mountain streams flowing down from the peaks. This gives you a taste of that other undiscovered attraction of the cordillera - mountain trekking.

Signpost #4. Observe local custom. If unsure ask the locals. People here don’t take kindly to strangers roaming around their villages especially at night, and/or the local holy day te-er or tengao.

On a regular weekend you might find a few of the village lads troop to the hills to cut firewood. Another suggestion that may not go amiss with them boys is to cut only the dried branches off the pine trees. Due to the introduction of gas burner stoves in the past decade or so, woodcutting is perhaps not as widespread these days. Whether that’s better for the environment is debatable, but it certainly saves a few pine trees each year.

After collecting a load of firewood, it might then be time for a dip in the local pool. Everybody’s heard about the famed hot springs of mainit so i won’t bore you with twice told tales about them.

Just go for a dip and relax, and you’ll know that mainit is actually a lot better than what people say.

Beside a brook where the occasional geyser sometimes spurts, this stand of mahogany trees provides cooling shade and also helps retain the hillside, preventing erosion.

the murmur of the brook serves as a lullaby for a weary traveller.

signpost #5. be a good samaritan. help stimulate the local economy. do some local purchases in the village. even for just a bar of soap or some toothpaste. in these hard times, the local store can do with a bit of custom. be generous. as a tourist, a traveller, a government official, whatever your station in life, thanks for coming, and do come again. and please spread the good word about our village.

okay then catch a good night's sleep, for on the morrow, i will guide you to the majestic mountains. abangan.

view videos in youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9lWoc6dj1M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw5KVoAfHGc&feature=channel