WARNING: This entry is reeking of bitterness.

Hot Coconuter filtered my comment. I mean, he did not let it through. I mean, he did not post it. I mean, huwaaaay? I mean, what's with my comment? I mean, I was hoping to see my first ever comment, and probably the last, err...get posted at his blog.

I was frustrated. Sure, I don't have the fucking right to whine. It's his blog anyway. After all, I have my own space where I can write anything about anything or anyone that pleases me or displeases me.

Sure, that's exactly what I am doing now.

Well, here's the story. Hot Coconuter takes his shirt off and into the murky water he goes. Rewind a little: He examines the water and sees an almost-toilet-brown cascade. The water, er...the mud is inviting. He takes his shirt off. Exposes his abs. Looks at the camera. Shifts focus from the camera to the boulders. And comes next is his union with the murky water--his union with the kanal.

Well, Hot Coconuter moves around the country, except Mindanao perhaps, upon his arrival and journals his experiences. He takes photos of everything--even himself up on a mango tree.

Sorry. He asks someone to take photos of him while he climbs up a mango tree. Sorry. Wrong. Mango shrub because mango is dwarf. Yes. He climbs up dwarf mango tree errr...mango shurbs and he stays up there for a photoshoot. He stays up there whilepainstakingly maintaining a delicious pout. Make that half-pout. That while staring--well, not really staring but gawking--at the empty expanse called The Sad And Disheartening Truth About My Country, Philippines.

Gawking pehraps because Hot Coconuter cannot understand the sad and disheatening truth about his second country, the Philippines and why he is languishing in this miserable country in the first place. Probably why he would always ask someone to take photos of him while he picks up vegetables at a stinky public market. Perhaps he wants to capsulize the misery of the Filipino people in these photos.

Perhaps he finds joy in the agony and gloom that has all these years cloaked the country, the reason why he takes part in religious exercises that demands of him to literally carry a cross during holy week. Or maybe why without qualms, he picks up the hammer--again takes off his shirt, exposes his abs, and shows himself in boxers--and helps a local build a shanty.

Perhaps the sight and stench of a pile of garbage brings him orgasmic chills as shown by another photo where his wide boyish smile appears totally misfit against a backdrop of rubbish. Well, I call it structural violence. I call it insensitivity. I call it, err...rubbish.

But perhaps I am wrong. I could be wrong. Perhaps Hot Coconuter enjoys simple life as he writes: "Refreshed, my cousins and I would go on to play with farm animals and climb mango trees, picking a few Indian mangoes to eat at home with alamang (shrimp paste) or bagoong (fish sauce) and shaking the moist leaves hoping to find a shiny green salaginto or june bug. We would grin and laugh enjoying ourselves under the glimmering sun. How delightful and simple life was then..."

Perhaps he really enjoys getting himself dirty. Well, as he goes around the country, except Mindanao so far, he faces several mishaps, including the tragedy of dipping into a muddy river. Tragedy because he believes and I guess he wants us all to believe that Balon is a waterfall. Will someone tell him that balon is also an an open well and in many instances muddy?

So what was the filtered comment all about? That he bathed at the kanal.

14 comments:

Kiks said...

I read this article and I clicked to Hot Coconouter's blog. Five seconds of skimming through the blog, I pushed the back button.

Maybe he is a good read but I didn't read along. Maybe too goodlooking to read? I beg to disagree.

He was not interesting enough for me, I guess. Or if first impressions matter, his blog appeared pretentious. It would be like the blog version of Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie's "The Simple Life".

I hate being a snot or blabbering bad things about other people. But your frustration was just so infectious, I had to go along and justify my rants. Hehehe...

Happy birthday to your haiku loved one.

tin-tin said...

i haven't been to his blog. and i didn't click his blog. if all he shows are the miseries of the philippines, then i would not like to read it anymore. dami ko nang naririnig na kapangitan about our country. nakakasira ng energy. kaya ayoko na dagdagan pa.

happy birthday to athan :)

MANDAYA MOORE: Ang bayot sa bukid said...

noong bata pa ako, may kapitbahay kaming mahilig maligo sa kanal. hanggang ngayon, nandidiri pa rin kami sa kanya.

Anonymous said...

was surfing technorati and came about this blog... i happen to know of the coconuter blog myself, and am a big fan... actually, he does not ONLY show the miseries of the philippines... he actually portrays the philippines in a fair perspective... and he's actually kinda promoting the philippines and tourism too... in my opinion, he's doing a lot of good, if you actually delve into his articles... iono, just my two cents in

Lyka Bergen said...

I really dont care about this coconut man... of what he does or what he looks like.

The Philippines is not all what he thinks it is. His blog i bet became pop because of his looks, not because of what he writes. This, i dont give a dam.... Dam as in.. big balon.... Chos!

Anonymous said...

iya sad tu :)..

bananas said...

himtayon, unsa imong buot pasabot nga "iya sad tu?"

chase / chubz said...

G

chase / chubz said...

dili ko ganahan niya. basta lng.

Any given madness said...

it would be pointless to argue with him because he doesnt understand anything about the philippines. he looks at it from an outside point of view, and we should be sorry for that.

Brother`Bear said...

uhmmm... may i knw ur full name para maiparating ko sa kanya pangungumusta mo.. hehe. parang di kasi appropriate pag sinabi ko sa kanya na "ei, sir A, regards daw sabi ni bananas?" hehehe

BoyKidlat said...

awts...we should also see that sometimes we have to see the darkness of something to really know how to make it clean....just my 2 cents...

BoyKidlat said...

hmm...maybe we should also know that to really get out of the darkness we need to see it...

how would you how to clean a shirt when you dont know how it got dirty diba...

improvement doesnt stop at ranting but by action...

just my 2 cents...

Anonymous said...

Ok even granted that you're right and that he's fake and hypocritical, I do find some amusement in exposing the hypocrisy of the self-righteous. Its my understanding that you find his blog intolerable because he appears to come from a well to do background and traipsing on a garbage dump is akin to 'rubbing it in people's faces'.

Ok I guess this is well and good, except for the fact you, a person who's blog is named 'life in between banana split' are crying about this failing to realize that vast majority of filipinos (eg, will someone think of the poor starving childrennnn!!) have never eaten banana split in their entire lives, much less caught a sniff of the no doubt thousands of banana splits you've eaten in between posting on your 'sosyal' blog.

Please, its one thing to complain about people like that but to yourself be one of them just smacks of hypocrisy and downright self-righteousness. What do you find more intolerable? The fact that there are starving people living in shitty conditions in the Philippines or the fact that some rich 'halfie' is traipsing around offending your self-righteous sensibilities?

Why don't you talk about the real reason your fellow 'kapwa filipinos' are suffering? The intolerable arrogance of the politicians (of whom you are probably a spoiled brat child of) and the 'look down' mentality of people from a priviledged background sitting in their aircon rooms blogging about total nonesense and making holier than thou posts about how someone is such a fake whilst completely blind to the fakery of one's own existence and idiotic blog?

You know what screw this. This is not a kind world and the altruist nonesense of wanna-be commies is the worst vice of the world. I absolutely hate the disgusting idea that the rich should somehow 'watch it' or tiptoe around the sensibilities of the poor. Nobody is responsible for one's wellbeing except oneself. People suffer, big deal, this doesn't stop you from posting stupid shit and it certainly shouldn't stop some rich kid from wallowing on the mud or 'slumming it' in some godforsaken part of the world!