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A GMA Network insider wrestled the producers of Xtra Xtra and managed to drag a crew to
Baler, his hometown. They were invited to cover the 7th Aurora Surfing Cup but they want
more than kids riding slabs of fiberglass board over the waves of sabang. They want the
whole cake, or dinagtu, about the town. So we gave them what they want and they ended up
with Xtra Trip Sa Baler, a 30 minute crash course about Akawland on network TV.
OK this is really Belinda Bright's Trip to Baler. They arrived with this then unknown 18
year old sexy star covered in pink fabrics with skin so white the cameraman can use it as
white balance target.
The usual thing with this "Xtra Trip" is they look for a famous person who
came from the town and use him or her to tour the viewers throughout the place. When they
asked us which famous personality came from Baler, we proudly remarked JOHN ARCILLA, and
they rolled their eyes to where the sun is. And since they can't bring back Manuel Quezon
from the grave they ended up with Belinda who's not from Baler.
The camera started rolling 30 minutes the crew arrived and ate a box of pizza at Bay's
Inn. First stop was the Pangkat Kawayan of Baler Central School. They shot for about 2
hours. About 3 minutes of footage would end up in the broadcast.
Then we're off to San Luis at the house of the Tangsons were Analisa and her peeps were
waiting with their different colored sabutan crafts. 5 minutes after we arrived, the
employees from the nearby munisipyo arrived looking for Paolo Bediones and
Miriam Quiambao. When they saw Belinda they loudly asked "Ay sinu iyan?", then
went back to work.
Even with Paolo and Miriam's absence, the shoot caused a minor traffic.
Learning how to "amyod". Then off to "tuktuk" and "gapu".
Sabutan Girl.
Ms. Analisa Tangson of Aurora Hats & Crafts being prepped for her first major
television appearance.
Digging for galyang at Suklayin. Ms. Bright busy eating her 2 peso scramble.
Testing the hanging bridge at Zabali. We got our priced katid near this place at Kinalapan
River.
At the beach house og Congresswoman Castillo. John prepared a dinner of galyang
("'lasang kamote"), pako salad ("para syang kangkong"), katmun and
katid. We can't find a kidya in the house so we used suka to marinate the katid in.
Belinda sampled two big ones. That immediately qualified her as an honorary Balerian.
Checking the waves at Baler Beach on Day 2. Today's challenge is surfing with Paolo
Bediones.
Paolo arrived without Miriam at noon on Saturday, April 15. After recovering his sense of
balance and eating lunch at a nearby tilapia farm, the beach shooting started. The crowd
immediately forgotten the Surfing competition. Here they were looking for talikakas.
He arrived with Karylle, Zsa Zsa Padilla's singer daughter but all her pictures were
destroyed when a piece of sand managed to lodge in the diskette i was using for the Mavica
and stonewashed its sensitive surface. Too bad, I had a nice pix of her in a bathing suit.
Sunday, most of the Xtra crew already left but these three stayed to shoot their final
thingy on Dr. Ana Consuelo and the Kalinga clinic, a take on xtraordinary people. Here
they're doing the interview in front of her house, where monobloc chairs and all things
plastic are banned.
After the interview, we followed her routine bike trip from her house (near Cong.
Castillo's beach house) to her clinic in Kinalapan. Then she demonstrated how they heal
using acupuncture, ventusa and moxibustion. Then we went to Ermita Hill, then on another
congress sponsored lunch and off to Manila. They dropped me off near the Capitol. The Xtra
Trip to Baler feature was shown the next Tuesday.
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