Takutan tayo!

We know that UPLB is not only famous for its academics and extra-curricular activities, we know so well of the many ghost stories and hauntings that float around campus. The dorms and Baker Hall are particularly rich in those stories. I remember my roommates and me huddled together during brownout nights (and there were plenty, uso kasi brownout in the early 90s) and talking about scary stories in campus, frightening everyone to sleep. Being the eldest, I usually take the lead in story telling, sometimes embellishing things to make them more frightening and end it up with a joke! Or a good laugh for me (I’m that mean!). I’ve never experienced those kind of things really, usually late na ako kung dumating at tapos na ang “event”. I’ve heard stories though, of children playing in the middle of the night at the back of BioSci, of a white apparition in a dark corner as my classmates stayed in the lab late at night, of notebooks getting moved to another bed in the dorm, of footprints in the dorm going up, of someone waking up my friend in her room…

What about Baker Hall? Most of what I heard are stories of someone hearing chains being dragged, moanings… Did anyone actually hear them? Or what about Maria Makiling near the Palma Bridge, is she really enhanted -changing positions in carrying her pot? There’s a Jackie Chan movie I remember, where ghosts in a book taught him martial arts, meron din kayang ganyan sa Main Lib?

A lot of these stories have been passed around from one batch to the next, like an oral tradition passed from generation to generation. It’s part of campus life we all know. And since it’s almost November 1 and it’s that time of the year, does anyone have a scary story to tell or an experience to share about UPLB?

UPLB in the Wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

The University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), situated at the foot of Mount Makiling in Los Baños, Laguna, was the first autonomous campus of the University of the Philippines System. It was founded by renowned American botanist and agriculturist Edwin Copeland on March 6, 1909 as the College of Agriculture…

Some facts:

Motto: Honor and Excellence
Established: March 6, 1908
Chancellor: Dr. Luis Rey I. Velasco
Undergraduates: 10,500
Postgraduates: 2,500

Accolades from the Commission on Higher Education:
Center for Excellence in

1. Biology
2. Chemistry
3. Math
4. Communication
5. Agriculture
6. Agricultural Engineering
7. Forestry Education
8. Veterinary Education

UPLB is one of only three schools in Asia that received institutional recognition in the Ramon Magsaysay Awards, regarded as Asia’s Nobel Prize. The UPLB College of Agriculture received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding in 1977 for its pivotal role in the continent’s development thru agricultural research and education.

Laguna de Bay

Whenever I think of Laguna de Bay, I think of the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. Or for that matter, some of the places in Calamba and Los Baños that have been mentioned in these novels. What I remember most from the Noli is the picnic in the lake with Ibarra, Maria Clara and their fiends, the fight between Elias and the crocodile as well as how Ibarra helped Elias kill the crocodile. In the Fili, the first chapter presents a boat called Tabo (and how it symbolizes the Philippines then, and perhaps till today) as it goes up from Pasig. Simoun was on the boat, the passengers were discussing an event several years beforehand, of an outlaw that drowned on the lake, and suddenly Simoun turned white pretending to be sick (I know I’m not doing justice to the Noli and the Fili with my summary). There is Dampalit Falls, Susong Dalaga (this is not female snails but “suso ng dalaga) as well as Talim Island. What brought about my reminiscence of the Noli and the Fili? I was in PCARRD last week and got a view of Laguna de Bay. It’s quite amusing really, how we know that Los Baños is just beside Laguna de Bay but we never seem to see it from campus. Either you have to go up Makiling or go to Bayan to see it. Incidentally, you might want to brush up on the Noli and the Fili again. You could buy a hardcopy or you can volunteer at Project Gutenberg’s Distributed Proofreaders . All public domain books such as the Noli and the Fili are converted to ebooks and distributed freely. Both books are in the proofreading stages. And if a lot of us volunteer, then they can be placed in Project Gutenberg faster and distributed to the world. I have volunteered already and it would be great to see more Filipino books in ebook format.

A view of Laguna de Bay

The new lechon kawali in town

I remember when Batcave hit Los Baños. They had these freshly cooked lechon kawali cooked right in front of you. The owner slices the slab of fried pork belly with matching tilamsik ng mantika. Sarsa ni Mang Tomas is unlimited, too. I haven’t been there for some time, it’s too dark for my taste. These days I swear by the fried liempo of Tita Melba’s. The pork skin is very crispy yet the meat part is very tender. It goes well with their chopsuey. You can also try their embotido with white sauce, bihon and pork chop. They also serve the “silog” series – from tapa, bacon, tocino and hotdog, all day.

And yes, they deliver, too.

Tita Melba’s is located at Ruby St., Umali Subd. Just go by Raymundo Gate,

till you see the place on your left.

No. 1 song nung freshman ako

I’m sure my batchmates, and those that were in LB in 1991 would agree, the number one song then was “More Than Words” by Extreme. It was so popular and so catchy you could hear it everywhere. The lyrics and the melody does get to you, though after some time it gets on your nerves. What with hearing it played on the radio as I leave my dorm room at Women’s, hearing it being hummed by my dormmate as we walk together towards BioSci, hearing it again on the radio when I passed by Coop to get some snacks and hearing it again sang by students at a tambayan in BioSci as I enter my classroom. Oh, and my room mate who is into bands (or I think her crush was on a band) talked a lot about that song and how well her friend strums the guitar. Nakakasawa!

Didn’t even realized it had a music video. Yup there is one. Di pa kasi uso and MTV dati. I found a link in Google video for this song. Here goes…

Anong number one song nung freshman ka?

A belated welcome to What’s UP, Los Baños?

Why this blog? I got this idea when I met my blockmates last August. We always get back to reminiscing our UPLB days – teachers, classes, escapades, org as well as our crushes then. This brings me back in college, I was at SU during the Loyalty Day celebration and there was a group of alumni who made it a point to eat at the coffeeshop at SU because that was were they used to eat. And yes, my friends and I would get to talk about the things that used to be and what we have now. I got this idea that it would be good to know how was life in UPLB then (maybe how different…). Our memories of UPLB would be defined by the years we were there, the decade, the politics of our time, the fashion and the music… Let’s bridge the gap between years – share what was UPLB in your time, get a glimpse of what UPLB was for others and enjoy what is UPLB now. Hence, What’s UP, Los Baños?I started this a couple of weeks ago, writing about my favorite memories of UPLB – the gazebo at the Horticulture garden, Ellen’s fried chicken, the ever increasing jeepney fare, most especially my blockmates, friends and teachers. Now that I am back in LB for graduate studies, I am rediscovering UPLB all over again. Then typhoon Milenyo came. From 5-10 visitors each day (mostly my friends) to hundreds of visitors per day last week, I am deeply overwhelmed by the generous comments and feedbacks from all of you. I am glad to share with you my blog, fellow alumni. I especially enjoyed your sharing your memories of UPLB when you were here as students.

Thank you very much and welcome to What’s UP, Los Baños?.

What happened to the hanging bridge and other questions

A week after. The Loyalty Day celebration has been indefinitely postponed. There was no classes for a week. No electricity, for that matter. But slowly, we are getting back on our feet. The dorms have electricity now, now this is good news. I’ve always felt before that they usually put on the electricity on the dorms last (when I was resident). Still most restaurants are still close. Magti-tiyaga ka sa McDo at Chowking kung ayaw mo ng lumayo ng campus.

The campus is getting cleaned up bit by bit. The big trees that have fallen are being removed. I hope they make something useful of those tree trunks than just being laid to waste.

One of the things we will miss this October is the garden show. This is how this part of the Social Garden looks like after the typhoon.

You can actually see Baker Hall clearly from the bridge beside the Social Garden.

So many electrical posts have been destroyed inside the campus as well as in Grove. But they are working on it.

So what happened to the hanging bridge? Yes, the one from St Therese to Engineering. I have so many memories here, too, with my friends. I remember passing this way with a friend who was afraid of heights. It took a long time before we reached the other side. Is it really true that somebody got raped and died here? Kaya minumulto daw ito?

Well the midsection was blown away by the winds, not sure if the water reached this high, hence no more hanging bridge. It has been hanged (pardon the pun). No more shortcut to and from Engineering.

The hanging bridge after the typhoon (photo courtesy of malkx)