The Wheel and Axle

Wonder Countdown: three days to go in the Philippines!

A hero is only as good as his or her villain, as the cliché goes. There is much truth to this. Superman and Batman wouldn’t be as interesting as they are without Luthor or the Joker. The same goes for Wonder Woman, whose rogues gallery – while not as famous as those of her male counterparts – is full of interesting characters, especially in the hands of the correct writer.

Many of them are metaphors, symbolic of the psychology and advocacies associated with Wonder Woman. Ares is the war to Diana’s peace. Dr. Psycho is a misogynistic freak. Various versions of the Cheetah, recognized as Diana’s archenemy, represent different things: the beast to Diana’s humanity, the predator to her hunter, the greed to her selflessness. The Silver Swan, in many of her versions, has always been about insecurity regarding beauty, a struggle many women relate in the face of sexist expectations. Circe represents a lot of things antithetical to Diana, including the transformation of men to beasts as opposed to the reformation Diana usually advocates.

And so on and so forth.

For the upcoming Wonder Woman movie, they’ve chosen Ares and Doctor Poison.

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“I am not a traditional gay icon. There’s been no tragedy in my life, only tragic outfits.”

– Kylie Minogue

Taking a quick break from Wonder Week, I just had to give space here to celebrate the birthday of the one and only Kylie Minogue, princess of pop!

The fact is, only Kylie can truly claim to be the heir to Madonna’s throne. Her long and ubiquitous career spanning almost over three decades shows just how versatile and amazing the woman is. She has faced personal difficulties, survived breast cancer, experimented in her music (I cannot be the only one who loved Did It Again from her Impossible Princess phase), campaigned against child abuse, been a gay icon and LGBT supporter, and been an inspiration to women everywhere.

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Wonder Countdown: four days to go in the Philippines!

Any good movie with great protagonists also requires a great cast of supporting characters portrayed by great performers. In the case of Wonder Woman, it’s even more imperative that those supporting characters have a strong female representation as, ultimately, the empowerment of women is one of the comic book’s primary themes. Fortunately, they managed to snatch some great actresses to portray key roles in the Wonder Woman world.

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Wonder Countdown: five days to go in the Philippines!

As we prepare for the arrival of the Wonder Woman film, let’s listen to the thoughts of the folks behind this movie that’s over seven decades overdue.

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Wonder Countdown: six days to go in the Philippines!

Several days ago, they released more clips from the upcoming Wonder Woman movie. They are all awesome and make me even more impatient to see the film. The great thing about the clips is that they give us nice bits here and there, but they’re not spoiler-y. Mostly, they’re extended scenes of those we’ve already seen in prior teasers, previews, spots, or trailers (one is even just a further extended version of the alley clip).

Aunt Antiope surprises Diana but then gets her own surprise.

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Final official trailer, woo woo!

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I first visited Apo Island, a popular no-frills destination especially for divers, back in November 2012 with AJ.

It was a morning side trip during our vacation in Zamboanguita just outside Dumaguete. Thalatta, the resort we stayed in, faced Apo Island and is about a half hour boat ride away. That 2012 Apo trip was memorable; we nearly missed the famed pawikan (sea turtles) because our boatman was late and you had to get there really early to witness these lovely creatures. Thankfully, we still caught up with a few and snorkelled beside them (no touching allowed).

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On Tuesday morning, we woke up before the crack of dawn for the busy day ahead. It was great that we were staying in U Pension House, a convenient and recommended hostel across Silliman, as it afforded us quick access to rides in the wee hours of the morning.

Our first stop was Bais City, where a pre-arranged boat ride with a local would bring us to the heart of Tañon Strait, the strip of water that separates Negros from Cebu Island. What we wanted to see were the popular sandbar of Manjuyod as well as dolphins in the wild. The former is easy, while the latter can be random. We were lucky to have caught the latter early in the day.

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That’s Siquijor in the backdrop.

I have been to Dumaguete twice before.

The first was in 2010 with Bj and Norlan as we did a twin trip of Dumaguete and Siquijor. In Dumaguete, we stayed in Hotel Nicanor and explored the city to see Rizal Boulevard, Silliman University, and the famed Dumaguete Belfry. We also did a side trip to Lake Balinsasayao, which lies within the municipalities of San Jose, Sibulan, and Valencia and about an hour from Dumaguete. In Siquijor, which deserves a separate article on its own, we stayed in Coco Grove Beach Resort (highly recommended) and went around the island to see Cambugahay Falls, Lazi Church, and the gargantuan and fascinating balete tree.

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Perth Paradise

From Bacolod very early Sunday, we made our way south via a 5-hour bus ride to Sipalay, a coastal city (don’t expect a Manila or even a Bacolod) home to some lovely scenic waters: beaches, lagoons, marshes, and the like. The resorts here are ubiquitous, one after the other.

Hiring a tricycle, we made our way to Tinagong Dagat Resort and the popular Perth Paradise Resort for some sightseeing. Both are open to day tourists who either want to just see the views or do some swimming. Tinagong Dagat’s view of its inland waters is good, but Perth Paradise’s view of islets that are reminiscent of the Bohol Chocolate Hills is spectacular.

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