Or nobody else should for that matter.
Here is the list of the 45 accidents Sulpicio Lines have had in it’s 28-year history.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080713-148117/www.lloydsmiu.com
Actually, Inquirer had a nice little box inside the newspaper listing all the accidents in a more organized manner.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I’ve been really late to this Backpack Blogging thing. Or heck, to WordPress in general. Anyway, I just wanted to link you to two websites I’ve been reading a lot recently.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know these websites have been around for awhile but I just started getting into them recently. Anyway, that’s it.
One thing I liked about Cambodia and Vietnam was the pirated books. I am not an advocate of piracy in general. But I liked the fact that I could get pirated books in those areas. As much as I love Lonely Planet (now), their books cost a lot. I didn’t buy a pirated Lonely Planet book there but maybe next time I will. Fortunately, one Sacha Calagopi lent us hers on this trip.
I did, however, buy lots of other pirated and second hand books. Not as many as I would’ve liked to because I didn’t want to lug them halfway across Indochina.
One article that I’ve been meaning to write for awhile is where to find secondhand books in this country. And the mother lode of these kinds of books are found in the University of the Philippines-Diliman. The biggest amalgamation of them are inside Palma Hall near the back. You can get in through a side entrance. And as long as you tell the guard that your just there to buy books, he might let you in.
Books are organized by genre and author. Of course the Communist Manifesto can be found. Lots of Existentialist writers like Sartre and Camus. Basically books a typical college kid in Manila would read. There’s also Murakami which are still quite expensive (unlike my “copy” from Siem Reap, hehehe). The scifi isn’t so deep. Mostly Clarke and Asimov. But I did find some gems. Like earlier copies of the SF Masterworks I’ve been collecting. Which I probably will never read anyway, hehehe. There are also lots of children’s books especially by Roald Dahl. My girlfriend collects a lot of the feminist books and Anais Nin.
If you can’t get past the guard of Palma hall there is a tiangge on the side of UP. It’s hard to describe but it’s there on the gilid. At the far right end of the tiangge, you’ll find another branch of one of the stores you’ll find in Palma Hall. What’s nice is you can park right at the opening of the shop.
And the last, right outside the UP “mall?”. It’s kind of hard to find but you can also park right outside the entrance. It says BOOKS on the outside. Inside the “mall”, there are also lots of secondhand bookstores but I don’t like them as much.
The source of most of these books is actually one store in Cubao Shoe Expo, called Rommel’s books, I think. Here the books are more diverse because the more “popular” ones are sent to UP. The owner is this really nice lady who really loves books. (I guess she’s not Rommel…) I found a copy of Kon-Tiki here. She actually has another floor of books upstairs but she doesn’t really want anybody skunking around up there. It’s a shame. I’m sure there are some real treasures in that room.
Part of the romance of these bookstores is not only are they cheap, but they have that old nostalgic smell which reminds me of Baguio or Tagaytay for some reason. Remember those old books your uncle, lolo or lola would leave at the beach, never to be read again until one emo night when you want to read something serendipitously. Okay, I’m being mean…
Bottom line, look for books! Fully Booked is harang (though I still can’t stop buying there) and they don’t have all the books in the world. Oh, my kingdom for a Barnes and Noble and Kinokuniya or maybe even just an Eslite. But like I said, no reason to be mean…
Anyway, might as well end this post before I put my foot in my mouth once again. Happy bookhunting!
It really seems like that gasoline is well on it’s way to becoming 200 dollars a barrel. In Filipino terms that might amount to 100 pesos a liter. That’s a lot of money. I could start biking to school but unfortunately our roads are just too polluted. By the time, I arrive in school not only will I be sweaty but I’ll smell of tambutso.
I wonder at what phase will biking to school be the only feasible option?
Okay I’m adding this part on June 30, 2008.
THAT STOKED FEELING
I went longboarding on a skateboard yesterday. And after thirty seconds, it all came rushing back. It’s nice to know that technology has caught up with the humble skateboard. One push on the foot, and the board glides nicely down the road. Breaking is hillarious though.
I was just wearing, gloves, with fiberglass palms for rough landings. I would also recommend kneepads. And if you plan going down some really steep hills (like my friend did yesterday) a really good helmet. And they don’t make you look dorky anymore. They’re kinda stylish. I wish I got one of those ladybug ones in Ho Chi Minh, hehe. (Editor’s note: I’m am going to refer a lot to my last Indochina trip through Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand in this blog, because it was my most recent trip and my first done in the true backpacking style. No dorm rooms though. Private bathrooms for this beetch that is me.)
Anyway, longboarding is another alternative to gasoline. And it’s more fun than biking pa. Long live the 80’s. Na-na-na-nineteen Eighty Three.
