Finally, a weekend break during the pandemic

I just came back from a weekend break. This was our first vacation away from home since December 2019 (other travels were not vacations but work trips). The long drive to Tiaong last year didn't count because it was a day strip or excursion. We did not stay somewhere for at least an overnight. The overnight last January also doesn't count as it was nearby in our city (Antipolo) and so didn't elicit much excitement as this trip. Here are a few photos from our weekend getaway:

Mystical Mt. Banahaw and Mt. Cristobal in the horizon - it was difficult to get a clear photo of the mountains (extinct/dormant volcanoes dominating the border of Laguna and Quezon provinces) as they were usually shrouded by clouds. I woke up early to get this photo.

Waking up early meant the moon was still visible and I was able to get this photo of the moon with its reflection in the still waters of Caliraya Lake. The calm was occasionally disturbed by kingfishers diving for fish from the trees surrounding the lake. They were a sight to see as they zeroed in to catch their prey and returned to their nests.

The golden hour of sunset produced this vivid photo of the trees against the blue sky, and their reflections on the waters. We enjoyed mostly clear weather, and the reddish brown soil is due to the drawdown of the water. The lake, after all, is part of a hydro electric plant that releases water and generates power through a turbine facing Laguna de Bai.

I will post more photos soon about this recent adventure of sorts. It felt really great to be out again despite the still present threat of the pandemic.

-

Thinking about Covid-19's impacts on our lives - Part 2

One thing we missed the past year and counting is traveling. We used to travel a lot whether for leisure or work. My last foreign travel was in December 2019. We went to Singapore to watch the U2 concert there and celebrate our wedding anniversary. My last official trip overseas was for a conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka in September 2019. That was my new place I'd visited for 2019.

A Hindu temple in Colombo (photo taken during a tour of the city in September 2019)

Marveling at a view of Kandy, the old capital of Sri Lanka

The crowd that turned up for the U2 concert at the National Stadium in Singapore last December 2019

 

My last long distance domestic travel was to Zamboanga City in late January 2020. I was supposed to travel there in March last year to conduct field surveys for our project but then the lockdowns came. The timing was good because it was announced a couple of days before our trip and we just canceled it altogether. We could have been stranded in Zamboanga for at least a month before we got the chance to go home.

Since then, we have been limited in our travels and so I was quite glad there was an opportunity to get out of the house and have a long drive when Metro Manila and surrounding provinces (what we now refer to as NCR plus) transitioned to General Community Quarantine (GCQ) for a long period in 2020. That trip was with neighbors who we came to know and become friends with during the lockdown. The trip to Ugu Bigyan's place in Tiaong, Quezon was well worth it for the food, pottery and fellowship.

Ugu Bigyan's pottery is one of the finest in the country

We now look forward again to the next trip as we again transition from MECQ to GCQ. That might be a trip to Caliraya (which was supposed to be in January 2021 but which we had to postpone due to the weather).

-

Vintage Seiko AGS 5M22-6A40 Asterisk

One line of Seiko that I have admired early on in my appreciation of watches is their Kinetic. Prior to this and later only for their Japanese market releases are what they branded as AGS or automatic generating system. AGS became Kinetic for their international releases sometime in the 1990s.

The watch has an elegant design including the bracelet. The gold hour indices goes well with the dark brown (yes, its not black) dial and the dauphine hands.

Side view showing the crown and the power reserve indicator button, which is designed to look like a piston. The etchings on the bezel shows marks for the power reserve for the original capacitor.

The other side view showing the overall good condition of the case.

The buckle shows Asterisk on the outside but has Seiko Watch Co. etched inside the clasp.

The case back showing the model number and the serial number. The serial number indicates this watch to have been manufactured in March 1993. AGS watches came out in 1988. The watch also has a 10 atm or 100m water resistance when it came out 28 years ago.

Close-up showing the model number at 6 o'clock, the date display and the 72-hour charge that was the original feature of the watch.

Close-up of the dial showing the asterisk texture

Wrist shot when I first wore the watch. It fit perfectly!

The watch is powered by a Cal. 5M22 that is equipped with a capacitor. The original capacitor is supposed to have a maximum charge for 72 hours. I acquired this with a new capacitor but have not asked about the capacity. My Landmaster AGS originally had a 7-day max charge capacity but it now has a higher storage capacity that allows it to function months without me using it. I will observe this watch for its charge capacity.

-

Produce from the farmers - Part 1

A small group of farmers come to our village on Fridays (formerly on Sundays) to directly sell vegetables and fruits. They come all the way from San Ysiro, a sition in Barangay San Jose, Antipolo City. I am a bit familiar with the area having been a frequent visitor of Mt. Purro, which is in the neighboring Barangay Calawis. We've nowadays regularly buy our vegetables from them. And this has saved me from trips to the public market. I usually now go to the market for our seafood and fruits.

800 pesos worth of vegetables and fruits enough for the needs of 8 people in our household for 3-4 days depending on the dishes we cook

-

A vintage Revue watch from the 1940s

I thought I had written about this watch, which I had acquired a few years ago. I had tried to sell it but it seems that few if any considered this watch that perhaps could qualify for the saying "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". :)

The dial is weathered (tropicalized is the term preferred by others), featuring baton hands and a second sub-dial.

Side view showing the crown and condition of the case

The other side view showing more scratches and what appears as a crack near 10 o'clock.

A polished case back showing what looks like a serial number

Close-up of the dial - 'Swiss Made' is still visible at the bottom

The watch is powered by a Revue Cal. 59 movement, which dates it to around 1945. This runs at 18,000 A/h with a potential power reserve of only 30 hours.

Recent wrist shot

The watch runs well and keeps time. I timed it to 30.5 hours on average. That's practically the 30h reserve its supposed to have had when it was made back in th 1940s. My friends and I always joked about where these vintage watches came from. Were they sold by people who were also into collecting watches? Or perhaps selling antiques or vintage items? Were these from the property of dead people that their heirs or executors sold? I got this watch from a seller in Serbia. No one seemed to want it so I got it for a really bargain price along with another more pricey Cortebert. I think I will keep this one for now.

-

A vintage Seiko 7006-8030 "Rally Diver"

Another opportunity presented itself in acquiring a collectible Seiko. The watch came with a rubber rally strap and a nice nato spare that set aside to use for other watches. The 7006-8030 is among the first batch of automatic rally/diver watches the company produced in the late 1960s to early 1970s.

The watch features a silver/gray dial with day and date complications. The rotating bezel is obviously aftermarket. Original watches have the dates in white with a black background and days in black in white background. I dropped the 'original' term here as this watch is supposed to be one of those Seiko models that have a lot of fakes going around. I am not so sure though if those were truly fakes or the owners only having access to the not so original aftermarket parts to repair or restore their watches.

Side view showing the crown (which is not screw down)

The other side view showing the very good condition of the case and bezel. The lumes on the watch works but only for a short time.

The case back shows the correct model number 7006-8030 and the serial number. The serial number indicates this watch to have been manufactured in September 1972.

Close up of the dial showing the correct model number at the bottom of the dial - 7006-8030.

Wrist shot the first time I wore the watch

I don't have a photo of the movement but this watch has a Cal. 7006, which runs at 21,600 A/h with a potential power reserve of 43h. The day setting can be set by 21:30-24:00. The date setting is quick set. The watch works well but runs a bit fast over 2 days. I have observed it to have +2 to 3 minutes per day, which for me is not so bad. I have observed it to stop from time to time so perhaps I will have this checked as soon as my watch guy is back at work.

-

The Ugly Pizza - Taytay, Rizal

The quarantines have had some positive developments, too. And I am not talking about the community pantries that sprouted around NCR plus and beyond. I'm talking about businesses that probably came about as a result of the lockdowns and people being limited in their usual going out for meals (usually in the malls). Many of these businesses are the 'buy and sell' type but perhaps the more significant ones are those in the food business. These are the bakers, chefs, cooks and others who have ventured into the creation of cakes, pastries, lunch boxes, shakes, and other goodies that people now can easily order and have delivered to their homes thanks to the Grabs, Lalamoves, Food Pandas and other transport services.

One we discovered recently is "The Ugly Pizza". We first saw its ad on Facebook and dismissed it as likely the outcome of social media mining the net for our preferences. After a few more views by both the wife and I, we decided to check it out and see what they're about through what else, their Facebook page. Seeing the pizza selection and how they make them, we were convinced enough to order from them. It also helped that we learned they were located at another subdivision a couple of kilometers away from our village.

The pizzas came in individual boxes.

We ordered 4 different pizzas to sample their menu. Each box was properly marked.

Four-cheese

Prosciutto

Pepperoni

Margherita - they definitely got this right

Instead of hot sauce, the pizza came with honey with chili. It seemed unusual at first and we did bring out hot sauce, but the spicy honey was actually perfect for the pizza.

A closer look at their margherita pizza

The Ugly Pizza is located in Taytay, Rizal. Check out their Facebook page for details.

-

The Antipolo wet market during ECQ

I took the following photos show the Antipolo wet market around 5:45 to 6:15 AM. That's usually the time I am there to buy fish, vegetables and fruits. I like to be early at the market so as to avoid the crowds particularly if I go there on weekends.

Lots of food and other merchandise but few people - I am not sure how many people usually go to the market on weekdays and while we are still on some version of the quarantine but the photo shows more shopkeepers and vendors than customers. And this is between 5:45 and 6:15 AM.

My favorite dried and smoked fish vendor has nice stocks of the usual danggit, dulong, squid, tuyo and tinapa. The danggit, dulong and squid I buy are sourced from Cebu while the tuyo and tinapa are from Roxas, Capiz. There are also the same from La Union and Pangasinan but I find them salty.

The situation this morning was very much like what is shown in the first photo and there is a term for this - matumal. That means business is slow with fewer people coming to the market. Perhaps its because of the quarantine combined with today being a weekday? Perhaps people have also found ways to get meats, seafood, veggies and fruits without personally going to the market? The latter is particularly true for many families who've discovered online vendors selling fresh produce, meats and seafood. Many are also from the market but for veggies and fruits, you can already get them practically direct from the farmers. I will write about this and the initiatives of friends from whom we get our veggies and fruits.

-

Thinking about Covid-19's impacts on our lives - Part 1

I should have written about this last year but perhaps I also was in some sort of denial about what is happening around us. I guess that's one way of coping with the immense impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on our lives. A lot if not everything has changed and in many cases, it appears that we are quite helpless or unable to influence outcomes. The notorious statement "Sumunod ka na lang!" or "Just obey/follow!" that was the apparent slogan of die-hard supporters of the current regime just scrapes the bottom of the proverbial barrel that is the pandemic of our time. 

How many people whom I personally know have been infected by Covid-19? And how many have survived?

Last year, a very close friend and kumare (Godmother to our daughter) caught the virus. Fortunately, she was asymptomatic and only had to go on a 2-week quarantine before she was cleared. It was also fortunate that none of her immediate family members were infected (others in their household tested negative).

Just after Holy Week, I learned that a close friend had to be hospitalized after testing positive for Covid-19. He had diabetes, a comorbidity that required him to be closely monitored. He has since recovered after being diagnosed of having mild pneumonia that doctors attributed to the virus. That was likely a close call considering Covid-19 to have seriously afflicted many who have comorbidity like diabetes and hypertension.

A couple of weeks ago, I learned that a longtime work acquaintance passed away due to Covid. He had just retired last December 2020. I recalled that he even asked me to get him as a lecturer in our training programs at the university after he retired from the government agency he worked at. That was after one of many meetings and small talks we had after Mass at the parish church we go to during Sundays before the lockdown last year. 

Yesterday, I learned another close friend had contracted Covid and was already recovering at a private hospital. He is a health buff and known to be quite careful when heading out to secure supplies for his family. Still, somehow, someway, he was infected by the virus. Fortunately, too, his wife and children were negative for the virus.

We try to be as careful as we can - wearing face masks and shields whenever we are out of our homes. We try to eat healthy and take our medications and vitamin supplements to fortify our resistance to becoming ill. Soon, many of us will also be vaccinated vs. Covid-19 (I already got my first dose last April 21.). Some of us are more fortunate than others in that we have the space and environment that allows us to have the physical distance and ventilation required to reduce chances of getting infected. Such, however, has led to us being detached from loved ones and friends. We hope to reconnect with them very soon even as we continue to struggle with the threat of Covid-19. There is always that longing to be with certain people that virtual meetings or phone calls cannot replace.

-

Vintage Seiko 6138-7000 Slide rule

There are those watches that we consider as grail watches. The term 'grail' alludes to the concept of the Holy Grail, which can be elusive for various reasons (very rare-again for various reasons, very expensive, etc.) can be relative as it may refer to certain iconic such as the Rolex Submariner, Omega Moonwatch, LeCoultre Reverso, Cartier Santos, Enicar Sherpas, Seiko's first diver, and so on... For some people, a 'grail watch' might be their BMBY or birth month, birth year watch.

The Seiko slide rule is one of the most sought after vintage chronographs. It is supposed to have come out in 1972, my birth year. Here is a wrist shot the first time I wore my slide rule.

I seldom do unboxing photos. This was one of the times I thought a watch deserved it.

The packaging wasn't as secure as those for the watches I got from Japan. In fact, I suspect the package had been opened by customs in Manila. They probably were disappointed to find a Seiko, which probably meant it was just some cheap watch.

Out of the box is one of the most desirable chronographs Seiko ever made.

The watch features 2 registers or sub-dials, a day and date functions.

Side view showing the crown and chronograph buttons

The other side view showing the great condition of watch including the rotating calculator bezel. Unfortunately, this does not include the cursor that should be part of the crystal. There are aftermarket cursors fabricated for this model but I am looking for an old stock replacement if ever these were still available somewhere.

The watch came with an original Seiko bracelet though I am not sure this one actually came with the original watch.

Case back showing the correct model number. The serial number indicates the watch to have been manufactured in December 1974.

Close-up of the dial showing its overall good condition.

An even closer look to see the model number on the dial. Printed are Japan 6138 on one side of the lower sub-dial, and 7000T on the other side. This matches with the number on the case back.

The movement inside this watch is a Cal. 6138B that runs at 21,600 A/h with a potential power reserve of 45h. It's the same caliber in the Seiko Bullheads, UFOs and Pandas.

Wrist shot for what I consider as one of my grail watches.

I will write about my list of grail watches in another article. So far, I think I've acquired most of what I regard as a collection worth inheriting. I like to think that what I consider to be grail watches are quite the desirable pieces from other people's (especially collectors) perspectives, too.

-