We, my brother Alvin and I, were well traveled when we were
young. It was either Ibajay, Aklan this summer or Janiuay, Iloilo the next or
Panubigan, Canlaon this summer and Regional and National quiz contests were not
new to us, humbly speaking.
We were trained to be independent in our emotions when we
were young; it was training for the college days when one has to leave San
Carlos for a better education. For short, were being prepared for the future –
intellectually and emotionally. Our parents were not pampered when they were
young, maybe our parents just wanted us to have what they wanted when they were
young.
We were shown how to pack our things as compact as possible,
not to forget our toiletries or our towels; and we learned, we are better at
packing for a trip for we do not travel light at all. We are equipped of a two
week long costume change for a five day trip, we can buy our soaps and shampoos
in small packs when we arrive in our destination – no more spills, no more
mess. We have learned.
The Singapore Trip which my brother Alvin gave me as a gift
( I don’t have the idea on what occasion), is another destination trip for me.
From the hundreds of bus rides, boat rides I have taken, I have come to realize
that there is a reason for every journey we make. We need to have reasons now
why we travel, in our “virgin” days we traveled for fun, for reunions, to
refresh from school; now, we travel to transact business, to refresh our minds
and bodies from the stresses of everyday living, to learn what we did not learn
in our yester years, to learn to understand ourselves, and to enjoy the past’s
labor to inspire the next individuals who may follow us.
Destination Singapore, I coined as Destination Art because I
wanted to travel in a way that is not traveled by a stranger in a new place, I
wanted to see the world not as it was fed to us in the internet or in travel
magazines. I wanted to see a new world in my own new eyes.
Destination Art is a travel for my brother Alvin and to my
other siblings, for them to see what I can see beyond the architecture of a
building, beyond the colors of Little India, beyond the fast blurring images in
a subway. It is a travel dedicated to love for the arts, the love for one
another, the love for company. In a fast paced life called Singapore,
when nobody almost talks on the train, when you are the one responsible for
pushing your button whenever you want to cross the street, when one works hard
to buy the lush and pretty bags displayed; you tend to forget everything you
have. It was marvelous, fun, awakening and emotionally satisfying in many ways
and a midst the chaos of colors and people; I can hear her saying “Do the best
you can, make us proud of you”.
Now that I am done stitching the videos and photos in one
work, listened to the images with the music, I thought of my late mother,
Perpetua Estampador who kept on pushing us to be different, to empathize, and
to be sensitive of what others feel – not to hurt, not to step on others, not
to forget the past.
Destination Art is a journey to the heart of my passion, to
the heart of what my brother really wanted for me, what beauty it is to be far
and new, how far I am in my struggle for life, how I have let myself be left
behind. I need to paint on the canvas my parents have prepared for me, I have
been given the paint and brushes by my siblings, now it is time for me to
stretch a bit, crunch my fingers, hold the brush and touch my heart.
To Alvin, who was the only gift my mother has left me.
To my mother, who would have been celebrating her 85th
birthday today, you will always be in the colors of my palette and in my heart.
Happy Birthday, Ma.
I know I have made you proud now.
