hello mga kababayan! i'm new here...my name is John. Pilipino po ako. born and raised. and proud of it! but right now, nasa California. i just wanted to post here and ask everyone's opinion on a movie my friends and i are making.

it's a documentary about two generations of Filipino-American surfers who want to reconnect with their roots. one guy is a 50-year old surfer from Pacifica, California. he's been surfing for 35 years! and still surfs Indo! he was born in Subic Naval Base but never had a chance to interact with fellow Filipinos. he graduated from the high school in the base and all his classmates were White. anyway, to make the long story short, he wants to know what he missed during the last 50 years of his life, why he missed it and if he'll like it/be liked (by the new community).

the second guy is a 27-year old also from Pacifica (which is a little South of San Francisco, btw). he was about to go on a surf trip to Indonesia when his father asked him why the hell is he going to Indonesia (the way only the traditional Filipino Fathers can). it was taken the wrong way, of course but flying over the Philippines, he thought about it again. he realized what the question really meant. it was more "Why not go to the Philippines?" so this is his chance and he's taking it.
that's basically how it all started. Dan (the older) pitch us the idea and Jon (the younger) heard about it and jumped in.

now for the film crew: there's three of us.
John (ako po yun) - Sound Recordist/Still Photographer/Video Editor/Graphic Designer/Labandero/Tagahugas ng Pinggan/atbp.
Benito (Pilipino din) - Director/Associate Producer/Writer/Camera
Mike (American po sya pero best friend naming lahat) - Camera/Second Unit Editor

we're all surfers and are far from beginners. 6 years ang minimum experience namin (i started in 1997) and up to 35 years of experience under Dan's belt (including Indo, Fiji, Australia, Mexico, Hawaii, etc.). i mention this just so people don't think we don't know what we're doing. we're aware of some of the problems this trip may cause that's the reason i'm posting this in advance. to ask for opinions and to better prepare us for the trip.

anyway, the plan is: we go there and we document the interaction and reactions of the people involved (mainly Dan and Jon) and whoever they interact with. we're planning on going to Manila, Zambales, La Union, Baguio and Catanduanes. 3 weeks in January. btw, the title is The Gift of Barong: A Surfing and Cultural Odyssey. there's a deeper story to the title that i can explain if asked.

so i want to ask what people think about this idea. kung gusto nyo, ayaw nyo, don't care. please tell me and if you could give me a reason why you feel like that, it would be really appreciated. also, i think i read in the site that January isn't really the best time to go surf over there. saan kaya and best chances namin for surf?

thanks in advance to everyone. please feel free to ask questions. salamat po ulit.

-John

putangina dude! muntik na ko magka heart attack! hahaha!
takot ako eh.

thanks for the warm welcome knefut!
thanks din al!
slyman, i'm not sure if we'll need extras. pero i'm definitely sure na magkakaron ng exposure ang local surfers kung saan man kami mapadpad.
also, since and story line is at more a personal level, it will be totally different from Endless Summer. although the traveling part will be there.
thank you mga pare!

yo wolf. give me your info. di pa sure kung kakailanganin namin ng extra crew pero mabuti na yung na sakin na ang info mo. also, we're in the process of doing a bunch of fundraisers for this project. tingin mo makakatulong ka if we brought it to LA (yung fundraiser)? meron kaming filipino comedians, filipino bands (LA and SF locals), folk dancing, short surf films, animation by dino ignacio (www.fractalcow.com - panuurin ninyong lahat ang Maritess Vs the Super Friends!) and yung preview ng movie. email mo na lang ako dude. sige. thanks ulit!

wolf, *you've got mail* pare. thanks again.

al, i don't know him personally. i've only met him once. pero kaibigan sya ng director namin and yung isang band member ng Charmin (Filipino band na kasama sa line-up ng performers namin) really good friends sila. i asked them if Dino surfs, hindi daw eh. busy daw sya mashado sa mga ginagawa nya. how do you know him?

hey Mayumi! i'm right across the bridge from Foster City! i'm from Hayward pero i surf in Pacifica. used to go to SC all the time. di na mashado, layo kase tapos mahal pa ng gas. let's get together sometime! maraming Filipino surfers sa Pacifica. have you surfed there before? it doesn't get good as often as Santa Cruz, crowds are usually a problem, cold-ass water pero masaya pa rin! minsan kala mo may Filipino convention sa line-up sa sobrang dami namin. hehe. anyway, email me. this weekend's supposed to be nice. about 5-7 ft ang forecast.

yo allan wassup? our scheduled departure from SF is on the 12th of Jan. malapit na!!! hehe. excited na kaming lahat! at the same time, we're still scrambling to get everything ready, from video gear to surf equipment to our sponsors. ang hirap pare. we're getting shunned even by our own Filipino brothers and sisters. very disturbing. seems like mas maraming supporters kaming Americans and other races than Filipinos. how come Rip Curl, who is owned by a white guy, will support us and Philippine Airlines will not very disturbing indeed.
Anyway, nandyan kame till the first week of February. i'll send you our itinerary kung gusto mo. but, who follows itineraries anyway? heh. salamat ulit sa well wishes ng lahat. hope to see you all soon.

on December 28th, 2003, 5:28pm, pEtRuCci wrote:any chances u passing by HK?theres a small group of filipino surfers here..(were five here) u maybe wanna hook up with..

on January 4th, 2004, 1:01pm, al wrote:i think its the management (style, culture, etc.) thats different, if one can present his case effectively hed get all the funds he need from the right local companies. i believe that the potential for surfing is still good here in the phils for development/exploitation, depending on your personal opinions, good luck  

Itinerary pala namin, nakalimutan ko ipost. I'll also email it to those people who asked for it. Salamat po ulit!

Gift of Barong:  A Surfing and Cultural Odyssey
Film segment:  Philippine Islands
Dates:  January 10 -31, 2004


                               ITINERARY

 DATE                        LOCATION                  ACTION

January 10                  Depart SFO                  en route via NRT

January 11                  Arrive                        MNL

January 11-14                  Makati (home base)              film Manila
                                                                                segments

* January 14-18            Zambales, La Union
                             Baguio                        film surfing, cultural
                                                               experience


* January 19-22            Baler, Quezon                  film surfing, local
                                                                   surfers, culture                                                            

January 22-23                  Makati                        Meet with dignitaries

January 24                  Depart MNL                  Arrive Bicol

January 24-27                  Bicol, Oas, Nabua            Origin of Moreno
                                                               family heritage,
                                                             surfing in region,
                                                             beauty of province

January 27-29                  Catanduanes                  film surfing,
                                                                     beauty of island

January 29                  Depart Bicol                  Arrive MNL

January 29-31                      Makati                        Regroup, depart
                                                                                MNL

January 31                  Depart MNL                  Arrive SFO


Itinerary subject to change.      
* Before leaving for Zambales, we will check the surf reports for La Union, Zambales and Baler. If Baler has better surf, then we will go there first.

Ayan, sana nandyan kayong lahat pagdating namin! Malapit na!

Sabi na eh, mai-iba ang itinerary namin. Turns out, we'll be in the Bicol/Catanduanes area from the 14th to the 19th. From there, Baler ang punta namin. then back to the city. So we probably won't get to Zambales/La Union until the 24th-25th(?).

Mark, that's sad about what PAL did to your wife. I've been on PAL a few times and personally, I think they pick the unfriendliest crew to represent them. Korean Airlines, on the other hand has one of the best and friendliest crew I've ever seen.

Slyman, thanks for the advice! We did try to approach a few governors but to no avail. So we tried the DOT. Just yesterday, they promised us hotel accommodations and transportation to and from the Airport. I'm really excited, but my experience with PAL makes me a little doubtful still. I do hope it goes through.

Knefut! I'm compiling a phone book just for this trip! A lot of people want to hook up and left me their numbers which is sweet! I big party in Zambales or La Union. I will try and call everyone once we're in Makati/Manila (wherever DOT is going to place us) and I'll update everyone on our itinerary. Thanks again man! By the way, do you know of any "rental" cell phones? I know they have those at the airports over here.

Kurdec, I read about the waves of Samar. Sarap sana mag explore dun but we won't have time to do that. I'd rather surf with people from this board in La Union or Zambales. Mas masaya. heh.

ZSA, salamat pare! I wrote down the number you have on your website. I will call you before we go up there. Our producer really wants to know about Capones Island. He said he used to go there as a kid when his dad was still at the Base (this was in the early 60's). He remembers seeing perfect left and right hand breaks from either side of the island. Ganon pa rin ba? I told him it might not be there anymore because of dynamite fishing. We'll see, I guess.

Alona, this is what we, true Pinoys call FILIPINO HOSPITALITY. It's been going on for centuries and even recorded in history books - when Magellan and his crew landed in the Philippines, they were whole-heartedly welcomed by the natives. From your comments, I'm assuming that you didn't grow up in the Philippines. Maybe you've just forgotten how it used to be in the old days of "Bayanihan?" This is the whole reason why we're making this movie. Too many Filipinos here in the States either don't know or have forgotten. I'm sure their invitations also extend out to you if you ever visit these people. Then you'll see that Filipino Hospitality is a good thing. Just remember that good things shouldn't be exploited.

Telling these people, local or not, that they're falling over themselves over a film crew is not really what I call respect. I apologize assuming wrong. It's just that these are the responses we get from Filipino-Americans who think our cause is stupid and useless. I think Filipinos don't see the real importance ng sarili nilang culture until they're in another country where other culture and customs are dominant.

hello. i was wondering what the hi and low prices are for wax in the Philippines? thanks!

Hello! Salamat ulit sa lahat ng nagreply! Bukas nandyan na kami, although our itinerary has changed quit a bit.

Our website is up! Please check it out. http://wanderlustproject.com The trailer is a bit big. I think it's 36MB because it's a 12-minute trailer. Actually, more like a preview. But it's well worth it! The music is mostly by Pinikpikan (we haven't asked permission yet but we're planning on contacting them because we want their music in the film!) Anyone know how to get in touch with those guys? Also, for people who knew Sharkskin Siomai, si James Gonzales yung nasa first sequence - right before the tinikling. That's his new band, Charmin (like the toilet paper).

Also, nasa newspaper kami dito sa SF! Yay! It's also online: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archiv e/2004/01/09/PNGT0442H61.DTL
Please check that out too!

Eto na, our FINALIZED itinerary. di na daw magi-iba. but all the dates are still +/- a day.

FLIGHT ITINERARY:

January 10   Depart SFO  11:50am  FLT#JL1001   JAPAN AIRLINES
                Arrive  MNL   10:05pm  FLT#JL745

January 31   Depart MNL    9:50am   FLT#JL746
                Arrive SFO     10:00AM  FLT#JL002

PHILIPPINES ITINERARY

January 11   Arrival in MNL

January 11-13  Stay in Makati

January 14    Depart for Bicol

January 14-19 Stay in Bicol

January 19   Depart Bicol for Makati

January 19   Arrive in MNL from Bicol      

January 19   stay in Makati

January 20   leave for Baler

January 20-22 stay in Baler

January  23  leave Baler for Makati

January 23 stay in Makati

January 24  Mike Rodrigues departs for SFO

January 24  the rest of the crew leaves for Zambales

January 24-25  stay in Zambales

January 26  leave for La Union

January 26  stay in La Union

January 27  leave for Baguio                  

January 27  stay in Baguio            

January 28  leave for Makati            

Janaury 28-30 stay in Makati

January 31  departs for SFO


Sorry kung mashadong dramatic ang change. Meron kasing very special event sa Catanduanes na kailangan naming ma-capture on film.

To some of the people that left me their phone number: i wish you had left me your real names too! I don't know who to look for! Heh. Anyway, email me at lumangtsinelas@sbcglobal.net and I will call you up when we're there.

Thanks again to everybody on this forum! Wish us luck and pray for surf! Kita tayo!

-John

hey guys! just checkin the forum. we`re in japan right now. hi tech dito@chong! they setup laptops with wireless internet all over the place!
anyway, were here for a couple of hours then on to my home! woohoo!
alona, thanks for the tip on where to find Pinikpikan! we`d really appreciate it if you could get their contact number for us. but please dont get out of your way for it. we`re all planning on check out that place if we get the time anyway.
thanks to everyone again! kita tayong lahat pagdating namin!

kumusta po! just wanted to say what's up to everyone and to give you guys an update on our project.
right now, we're trying to raise funds yet again  to be able to continue post-production work on the movie(editing, etc.). but i think it's going to be a little easier this time. we had our first fundraiser last week and we had a pretty good turn out. maraming mga Pilipino ang nagpunta pero marami ring mga Americans na sumoporta at naniniwala sa ginagawa namin. we had a bunch of musical performances, a hip hop dance group, the people that made the Apl Song video came down and promoted the video (they need people to vote for it on MTV.com) and we had a big raffle with 2 surfboards as the main prizes! galeng!

also, gumawa kame ng 20-minute trailer ng movie with actual Philippines footage. mashadong malake for the web so i put together a 3-minute teaser and put it up on our website. http://www.wanderlustproject.com nasa media section. hope you guys can check it out. it's just a tiny bit of what we captured while we were there but it's something to wet people's appetite with.

hopefully, we can raise enough funds in time to finish the film and be back there in January of 2005 like we had originally planned. so salamat sa lahat ng suporta and hope everyone is doing well.

Surfer Nando! Kumusta! ewan ko kung natatandaan mo pa ko. Kasama ko sila Benito sa Se-Bay last January. Ako yung naka green na longboard. I was doing the sound recording when Se-Bay caught on fire while we were doing an interview with you guys. hehehe.
Anyway, meron pa bang copies in QC? Check out mo rin yung website namin man. www.wanderlustproject.com
Salamat!

edit: spelling ng website

ayos! hiram na lang ako sa kanya. btw, malaking portion yata nung interviews na yon ang kasama sa movie. lalo na yung sunog. hehehe.
wala kame pa sa pinas man. sana nandyan pero hinde. walang bread. utol ko taga QC kaya papabili sana ako ng vcd mo. tanong ko muna si Benitz. kumusta ba tayo? papalabas mo ba yan sa PnoisePop this year? kayo, tugtog kayo? bago na Bindlestiff man.
btw, congrats sa pag release ng bmg dood!
edit: bangag ata ako

sinabi ko na kay Benito tungkol sa kanta mo. excited daw sya nagtiti-tile sa  telepono nung kausap ko. nangangamusta nga pala sya. padala mo na lang sa email ko kung ready ka na. maraming salamat sa tulong man!

eto dude. padala mo yung mga experimental shorts mo

From: bindlestiffstudio <bindlestiffstudio@dialup4less.com>

Kita Mo Film Festival - Call for Entries
 
Bindlestiff Studio would like to invite you
to join the second Kita Mo Film Festival
a festival showcasing the talents of Filipino filmmakers.
 
Kita Mo Film Festival is a three day event
August 26 to to 28, 2004
at Bindlestiff Alley at 505 Natoma St.(@ 6th), San Francisco, 94103

We are accepting short films and full length features from Filipino
filmmakers from anywhere in the world. We are looking for narratives,
documentaries, animations, music videos and experimental films.

Deadline for submission is August 9th 2004.
We will accept entries in VHS, DVD, and Mini DV.
 
Please send entries to:
Kita Mo Film Fest
1488 Harrison St. Apt 304,
San Francisco, 94103
 
Please fill out the following document as an entry form and enclose with you
entry.
 
-----------------------------------------
Title of film:
Total running time:
Brief summary:
 
Credits:
            Director:
            Writer:
Year of completion:
Genre:
Primary contact info:
            Name:
            Email:
            Phone: