Finding Nemo's lair at Lian, Batangas!

 

It may not be a gift in a box, but it was by far the best gift ever.

My parents know very well how much I and my twin sister Jillian love to travel  and how much we hate parties, and so they decided we go out of town instead as a celebration for our 18th birthday. Along with our good  and long-time friend Brine, we all went to Lian, Batangas last APril 15-16.

We first stopped at Tagaytay to have lunch. We ate at an open eatery overlooking the Taal Volcano and tried their famous bulalo and special dilis. By noon we arrived at Lian and we kids immediately popped our shoes off, dashed to the beach, enjoyed the warm sand while Jill looked out for small crabs, built (miniature) sand castles and admired the big ocean waves.

The day was long and truly peaceful that made me feel alive in a new and different way. The clear blue ocean untouched by human civilization, the strong, cool wind and the sand that slowly turned cold and comforting to the feet all made me shed all the stress and boredom of the city away. It was fun enough that we--Jill, Brine and I spent the rest of the day talking and chatting about a wide range of topics--from Brine's fun moments back at UP Los Baños, movies, current issues, strategies in the Games of the General to constellations.

We also went boating that afternoon and I was amazed at the strong ocean waves that seemed to be Poseidon breathing heavily. We explored the ocean more the next day at around 6am when the ocean was calmer. We were able to go as far as the next island with pure white sand along the shores, to a mountainous rock with a unique carving where the waters were shallow enough for us to catch a good glimpse of the coral reefs below. It was a breath-taking sight and a truly life-changing experience as we spotted small colorful fishes and small and big corals with different shapes. We also saw small flying fishes along the way. The kuya who toured us said it was a good thing that no one dares to destroy the corals and sell it because it is prohibited in the place. He also mentioned that pawikans lurk near the shores every December.

Witnessing the beautiful coral reefs and how they are preserved in Lian made me reflect about the national condition of these Philippine gems as of today. May we all help in any way possible to preserve our coral reefs, not only for the sake of its cultural and environmental importance, but also for a number of factors they are intricately and critically webbed into.

PIXAR @25: Finding Nemo The shark bait

Curiosity is a booby trap we kids will always fall into.

My royal dream of exploring the ocean even without a swimming lesson finally came true with Pixar's legendary film Finding Nemo (2003, directed by Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich). Feeling the ocean waves from its deepest harbors and witnessing the realistic and colorful water creatures in the movie once made me think, "Hey I don't even need an oxygen tank to behold ocean's beauty!"

The Great Barrier Reef

What came with the package tour was an equally memorable lesson for us juvenile kids: that a father's overprotection is never an exaggeration.

We're represented by Nemo (Alexander Gould), a clown fish we and all other naïve fishes have thought of as funny because he's a clown fish. He's part of our club who's hypnotized by peer pressure, trapped by curiosity and imprisoned by his young and vulnerable mind, all preventing him to understand his father Marlin (Albert Brooks).

While the movie gave the final verdict of finding us all guilty, its theme focused more on the father's venture to the ends of the Pacific Ocean just to find his son. We saw how Marlin was too afraid to even leave the Great Barrier Reef, but when he helplessly saw his son pocketed by a diver, he left all his doubt behind and faced the sharks, the dangerous currents, the jellyfish clan, the whales, and the carnivorous birds.

Just like Nemo we'd tried to stow away from home not analyzing enough what we're doing. And when we got into trouble, it would be the only time when we'd miss them terribly and wished we could hide under mom's dress. Even if we'd only locked up in our room we'd hear our parents crying in the other room as well, realizing how they must hurt more whenever we close the door on them.

Finding Nemo taught me well how to understand and love my parents more, even at times when I think they worrry too much. 

I would always remember the forgetful but optimistic Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), the character my mentor Ms. Josephine Bonsol always equates herself to, and the scenes when Marlin and Dory were asking for directions from an amazing school of fish.

Somehow, it must be an incurable disease for us kids to always think we're Superheroes who can do everything and anything, but we'll only fall into booby traps all day long if we don't accept the truth that we're not.

FINDING NEMO Fact Sheet

1. A "wave" of personal experiences from director Andrew Stanton patched up the movie story. It was from his childhood memories of visiting his dentist with an aquarium, the ocean as his front yard and his parenting challenges that made Finding Nemo alive.

2. Nemo's Lucky Fin, according to Stanton, represents our limitations as kids that always make our parents worry too much about our safety.

The legendary Pixar Pinoy Animator: Nelson Bohol

3. The legendary tankscape of the aquarium raised the Filipino pride with lay-out artist Nelson Bohol, Pixar's Pinoy Animator and Supervising Production Artist. He also contributed his exceptional talent in the making of Cars, The Incredibles, Ratatouille and WALL-E.

4. Finding Nemo became the highest grossing animated film of all time, collecting over $850M in worldwide box office receipts.

5. It garnered an Oscar for Best Animated Film and was nominated for Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score and Best Sound Editing.

Pixar movies revisited! After 25 years!

Talking cars and talking toys. Misunderstood creatures and their extraodinary adventures. Good monsters and charming robots. Simply Pixar.


All through the years, Pixar movies--and even its amusing short stories--never failed to bring out the simple but powerful message for kids and kids at heart: that every nonliving thing has a life of its own as well. From toys to cars to bugs and rats, Pixar uniquely infused to each one's journey the most important lessons in life we've all forgotten by now.

Pixar movies have always brought me back childhood memories when my siblings and I used to watch A Bug's Life in betamax, when I used to collect dozens of Barbie dolls and stuffed toys and diligently gave each one a name, and when I used to hide under the blanket thinking monsters would emerge from my closet any minute now.


But most of all, they all taught me how to appreciate everything around me. Woody made me believe--even at my age--that somehow, toys really do talk, and beg with their moving eyes when I'm about to keep them in the attic. Remy (Ratatouille) and  Mr. Fredricksen (Up) taught me that dreams are never far from coming true when you pursue and believe.

Lightning McQueen (Cars I and II) and Mike Wazowski (Monsters Inc.) proved to me bad guys can change and can be changed. Wall-E convinced me this hopeless world can still stand a chance. And Nemo (Finding Nemo) taught me well why I should always obey my parents, because at my age, I'm still no Superman to make the decisions on my own.

25 years of pure creativity and meaning. 25 years of pure entertainment. 25 years of pure imagination. As a personal tribute to my childhood movies, I'll post reviews to all Pixar movies and short stories in the next days.


Thank you ,Pixar, for making my childhood memories a magical one!