Once Upon a time in....

Los Banios is that picturesque town beside the body of water called LAGUNA DE BAY. It is a quiet, sleepy hamlet ( at least when I was still living there in the early '70s ) . About 20 mins drive from LB would be the University of the Philippines Los Banios (UPLB) campus where I worked for 4 years before leaving for Canada.

Some scenes of the war movie entitled TOO LATE THE HERO were shot in the interior of the Municipio of LB. This major vehicle starred Michael Caine and Cliff Robertson as the main stars: Henry Fonda in a cameo role appeared as a Navy commandant whose office was inside the Municipal building of Los Banios.

Population profile changes a bit once you are in the corner of the highway going to San Pablo City and the side street going to the UP Compound. More people, more businesses, more vehicles. At that time jeepneys would make money due to the influx of visitors and workers at the UPLB.

The UP Los Banios looks like a city inside a town: school and research buildings, residences, etc. One would also find the IRRI (International RiceResearch Institute ) on a southern part of the area. This is where various Asian students learn more about rice. Then they would go back to their own countries to improve on what they learned here in the Philippines.  And I heard the Philippines is still importing rice from other countries..

If you take a jeepney going up to UP Forestry at the higher slope of the famous Mt. Makiling  then you would find yourself inside a different community. The prevalence of trees ( and just a fewer buildings ) gives it a quiet atmosphere with only the singing of birds and cicadas ( esp. at dusk ) to break the silence. In here  you could  listen to your thoughts...

Part of the UP Forestry is a building called FORPRIDECOM. This is where Mrs. Loreto Blando Mizal worked. During my interviews, medical exams, etc.  prior to my acceptance to the UPCF, I stayed  in her house with her family.

Night life centered at the Bamboo Groove, a community just outside the entrance to the UPLB. There are a few beer gardens there patronized almost nightly by the Asian students and professors. At one time, I worked as an organist in a beer house in this area.

I remember that some Asian students love to have greens with their beer. The manager of the beer housewouldjust pick some ipil- ipil  leaves from the backyard and serve them as salad with the drinks..

I learned how to hone my craft here. Although the writing  was mainly technical, nevertheless I was able to write some news articles re: Los Banios and Asingan when I joined the Philippine News Service as a correspondent. It was a good "side line" until the Martial Law came and all news media in the country were clamped shut by the iron hand of the administration.

My two children, Michelle and Oliver  were born in the UPLB Infirmary. My third child Bernadette was born at the St. Joseph's hospital here in Toronto.

I spent four years of my life here. I left it in 1975.---#