By Izah Morales
INQUIRER.net

When you are on a foreign soil, you will need a map to guide you to where you’re going. But when the map is useless, the next thing you will do is to ask directions from the locals of the area. But what if no one understands a thing you’re saying. Sign language may help you a bit. But talking with someone who understands you is better.

My mom and I found ourselves lost in Macau after we took a wrong route going to Fisherman’s wharf for dinner. We should have walked but we took a bus with the thought that our destination is far from the Macau Ferry Terminal.

Our problem started when asked the driver if the bus was going to the Fisherman’s wharf. He did not answer, and I presumed that it was because he didn’t understand a single word I said. So from that point, we did not know where we were heading. Luckily, a woman who looked like a Filipino boarded the bus. When we asked her, she just said, “Naku, malayo na kayo. Bumaba na lang kayo diyan sa susunod na stop.”
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By Izah Morales
INQUIRER.net

AS cliché as his declaration may sound, the words of our national hero Dr. Jose Rizal still resonate up to this day: “Ang kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan.”

On the 110th celebration of Independence Day, the Department of Education-Special Event Unit held the 4th Pambansang Gawad Ulirang Kabataan, which recognized five young Filipino students.

Among 51 nominees, Paul Julian Hao (Chiang Kai Shek College), Ben Ralph Yu (Davao City National High School), Stephen Panol (Fort Bonifacio High School), Jamil Repors (Kidapawan City National High School), and Kate Marie F. Benitez-Colmenares (Samal National High School) stood out as the grand winners of this year’s Ulirang Kabataan.

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INQUIRER.NET multimedia reporter Izah Morales visits the town of Nagcarlan to see how espasol, one of Laguna’s famous delicacies, is made. She interviews Ester Almanzor, daughter of Belen Castelo, who established Aling Belen’s Special Espasol.

Video taken by INQUIRER.net online videographer Janie Christine Octia in Laguna, Philippines.

MANG Larry, who sells the famous isaw at the University of the Philippines Diliman campus, talks about what makes his isaw different and why Filipinos love to eat street food.

Interview conducted by INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Izah Morales. Video taken by INQUIRER.net online videographer Janie Christine Octia.

ADJUSTING to college life is already a challenge in itself, and Jestin Samson, a Filipino freshman at California State Fullerton University, talks about the additional difficulties he encounters as a visually impaired person. He has been diagnosed with general aniridia and glaucoma, visual malformations that prevent his eyes from operating normally. Video taken by INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Erika Tapalla.

This is the last in a series of five videos capturing a day in the college life of this Filipino student.

Check out the first, second, third and fourth videos.

JESTIN SAMSON shows INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Erika Tapalla the Disabled Student Services room at California State Fullerton University
and the equipment he uses to help him study and surf the Web. Samson, a Filipino freshman at CSFU, has been diagnosed with general aniridia and glaucoma.

This is the fourth in a series of five videos capturing a day in the college life of this Filipino student.

Check out the first, second and third videos.

VISUALLY impaired Jestin Samson, a Filipino freshman at California State Fullerton University who has been diagnosed with general aniridia and glaucoma, explains how he uses the Braillenote Empower device to study and write his papers.

Video taken by INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Erika Tapalla at the CSFU campus.

This is the third in a series of five videos capturing a day in the college life of this Filipino student.

Check out the first and second videos.

JESTIN SAMSON, a Filipino freshman at California State Fullerton University who has been diagnosed with general aniridia and glaucoma, shows that his condition cannot stop him from having fun.

An avid gamer, he is shown here playing Dance Dance Revolution. Video taken by INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Erika Tapalla at the CSFU campus.

This is the second in a series of five videos that capture a day in the college life of this Filipino student.

Check out the first video.

A FILIPINO freshman at California State Fullerton University, Jestin Samson goes through the typical experiences of a college kid, only he might see things differently — literally.

He has been diagnosed with general aniridia and glaucoma, visual malformations that prevent his eyes from operating normally. Here he explains his condition over lunch at the school’s food court to INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Erika Tapalla.

This is the first in a series of five videos capturing a day in the college life of this Filipino student.

VIVIAN D. CASTILLO, clinical director of Feel Better Rehab, specializes in Integrative Manual Therapy (IMT). Castillo, who happens to be a Filipina, demonstrates how she relieves pain from patient Ruth Millan. Developed by Dr. Sharon Giammatteo, IMT is a holistic and non-invasive approach to assessing and treating pain, dysfunction, disease and disability.

Video taken by INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Erika Tapalla in Orange County, California.