Hello everyone,

First and foremost, I am a storyteller. I do documentaries. I love doing stories as much as I love learning or reading stories by other people, too.

I would like to think of this new topic/thread as SB's own little project--a collection of tales about our own adventures involving our toys.

I am aware that we have such creative talents from both the OGs and the newer boardies on the boards who shoots excellent photos and tell very interesting stories about their toy experiences.

Wouldn't it be cool if we have just one thread with photo stories, essays, show-and-tell type posts, or whatever, with or about our toys?

Maybe, I am just missing the days when I would view photo stories by Pickeloaf and laugh my ass off--really random and ultra funny with its thought bubbles ala comics, and this was pre-memes on the internet. WHERE ARE YOU PICKLELOAF??!!

Maybe its just me but by doing this with my toys gives me a different way of appreciating my collection. A different way of expressing your passion with your toys and this hobby. A different angle so to speak to look at our toys.

And personally, it relieves me from the stresses of work and all the negative vibes. This maybe the one reason why I bring my toys to my travels/work in the field. A comic relief as well to my camera crew and productions staffers.

Here's one example, a post I made years ago with one my earliest favorite toy, Usugrow's Rebel Ink:

viewtopic.php?f=17&t=20204&hilit=jail+0f+the+toy+usugrow+in+jail

Photo stories may not be as serious as this, it could be more outlandish and random.

Here's another one I did in one of our travels to Indonesia from Manila with my good friend RXH Oni:

viewtopic.php?f=17&t=18903&p=367783&hilit=from+manila+to+bali#p367783

The idea behind this is...awesome photos are rad to look at, but when you post a series of photos, 3, 4 , 5, or so, with description/caption, it tells a story and creates a narrative.

I once chased our former president and got a swift response from the Presidential Security Group, all in the name of shooting my toy ( an Earth Restoyer) with HER Excellency. LOL.

Story board type photo stories, funny, scary ones, let's post 'em here, please!

Let me start the ball rolling with my little adventure last week with Buta No Hana's Kurozaru....

Our journey starts with traveling to the province of Masbate--an island province located South of Manila, and almost Central Philippines.

We received an information that we might experience a bit of a bad weather.



Not good when you're riding a small motorized 'banca' or a DIY/localized version of a speedboat for two hours...with all the equipment and supplies needed to shoot a documentary.



Our mission was to shoot a documentary about four boys and their grand mother who almost have nothing in life but pursues a goal of obtaining education at all cost.



Lola Gloria and the boys lives on a remote island within Central Philippines, in Masbate. The island is called "Kag Pating" or literally means "Like Shark". Residents there have different stories of shark sightings around the islands shore lines. Didn't see one when we were there.





Lola Gloria, and the boys rides a very small boat everyday from the island to the mainland and it takes them around 45 minutes, one way, by paddling the small boat to and fro.



Lola Gloria, at 70 years old, says she has to do it for her grand sons--the boys were orphaned early on---or none in their family will ever finish school. Lola Gloria herself never received any education. Finishing primary and secondary school is the only way out of poverty. Their last hope.





I set up tent beside Lola Gloria's modest house, on top of a hill--with a breath-taking view of the ocean.
They leave early in the morning for school...



Kurozaru helps me pitch tent...



Makes sure the pegs are safe and secure...



Tents well in place....early day for all of us tomorrow.





(fade to black)

Daybreaks, and we were all greeted by this sight!







Lola Gloria and the boys sailed ashore, for a 45-minute paddle rowing across the deep blue sea.







Fortunately, the calm waters allowed the group to arrive earlier than expected.



This is Mac Arthur Island where the school is located.





Kurozaru and the rest of the group sets foot on the island, on our way to 'shadow' or follow the kids to school.



Long boat trip made Kuro pretty thirsty--time for a fresh coconut break!





Now, on the way to the school....



Kuro is met by a few friends!





Time to check out how the boys are doing in school. Kuro even went on participating to inspire the the other kids to study harder!











School recess!

Time to relax with the crew. Maybe, Kuro thinks, time for a career switch! Takes his hand at handling the camera...









After three days of shooting and immersing ourselves in the community, we take with us unforgettable memories upon leaving the island...awesome memories of friendship and a wealth of experience from Lola Gloria and everyone that we met.







----------THE END--------

Just awesome!

Nice story.
Nice report.
Nice photos.

Thanks for sharing!

One of the best threads on sb in a long time. Very inspiring and engaging.

Thanks for sharing, Jay.

Thanks ARB!

Wow thank you! I guess toys inspire me as well.

I hope to read/view more engaging and inspiring stories here in the future.

A great story and amazing photos.

I didnt know you made documentaries. I would love to see some of them.

That story and you are simply awesome Jay.

You've just spawned a new generation of kaiju fans.

Tons of feelings are running in up my head but I'll keep it simple. This is fantastic, Jay

Great story Jay, thank you!

Jay this was so well done and just a completely amazing thing you did here. Can't wait to put this thread to good use and hopefully come up aces like you have.

Thanks for posting this Jay!

Wonderful and inspiring thread. Great photos of Kurozaru and the islands!!

I am happy some boardies appreciated my first post. Thanks for all the kind words!

Still, looking forward to posts by others as well.

Aside from hosting a documentary program, I am also involved in one of our sister network's shows.

The title of the show is Motorcycle Diaries. A documentary format show with lots of traveling and with the motorcycle as the center point / a vehicle used literally to tell the story, actively becomes a story telling tool.

The movie and the book of course about Che Guevara's exploits was the inspiration for the program. And also, that documentary by Ewan Mc Gregor and Charley Boorman where they rode adventure bikes to travel to awesome places around the world hence the inspiration behind the inclusion of our exclusive partner BMW Motorrad providing us ever reliable adventure bikes (shameless advert ).

As a motorcycle enthusiast, the people behind who conceptualized the show came up with the concept, thinking of me as a host, merging two of my passions: riding motorcycles and documentaries. Sort of a dream show for me personally.

Anyways, we are currently producing a series on child labor stories in the Philippines.

Riding along for this new adventure is one of Luke Rook's Grody Shogun character, custom painted by D-Lux.

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The child labor situation in the Philippines is probably one of the worst in the world.

According to figures by our own National Statistics Office, incidence of child labor in the country rose 30 percent in the past decade, from the reported 4.2 million cases in 2001 to 5.5 million cases just last year.

Involvement of children in what the NSO called "hazardous work" increased by an alarming 25 percent. Hazardous meaning children or minors who worked in factories and/or places of work where the children are exposed to toxic materials and other substances detrimental to their health, well being and lives.

On this particular journey, we enter the world of "Joey"---a 6 year old boy who works in a bottle recycling plant located in the nearby rural province where they segregate used or found bottles by color, then smash them into sizable pieces for recycling.

Without proper protective gears like goggles, gloves and gowns, people here are like courting danger over and over again.





Riding the bike inside this dark warehouse terrified me a bit. Unseen little glass bottle shards were like floating all around the place.

This is where Joey works everyday, but probably sees it not as a work area, but a huge playground.





Like mountains of shiny crystals, in Joey's eyes, danger is farthest in his mind.



Working for almost the whole day with Joey are his parents, which according to them, have been warning Joey about the possible dangers, but they couldn't stop him.











Aside from Joey, a few kids work in the same factory as well.

Employing minors or mere presence of minors in factories, directly or indirectly earning or profiting from the work place, is a clear violation of labor laws here.

But persistence of child labor cases continue due to many reasons. Corruption, labor malpractice, severe poverty, ignorance of child rights to name a few...

------------TO BE CONTINUED------------------

The father in me is horrified.

(and Jay, I believe the reason why no one is posting is that you've set the bar too high!)

Damn Jay.
This is mind-blowing, moving and inspirational.
You need to get a kickstarter going or someting to get a photo book made. I would love to have a collection of all your toy traveling photos with stories.

Definitely inspired.
Thanks for these tales.

I saw the first documentary and really enjoyed it. My Mom had the Filipino channels on and out of curiosity I started watching and I saw your face. I was like..."Hey, that's Jay!" Then the documentary started.

Lola Gloria reminded me so much of my own Lola. Hard working and devoted to family. I enjoyed the story and there were times as I watched whether the boat would capsized due to the storm and how small it was!

Is this available in youtube? I would like to have Nate watch it as well but I would have to translate the whole thing to him as he does not speak Tagalog and his understanding is minimal.

Perhaps adding English subtitles could be a possibility for the non-native speakers?

I am looking forward to the Child Labor episode. I hope to catch it on TV. I remember a long time ago when I was still at home that newspapers were recycled and it was kids pushing the carts. Kids selling the cigarettes and flowers (sampaguitas). Kids! -____-

Thanks so much for the kind words Oli. And yes, as a dad, scares me a lot!



Wow! Thanks so much The 4th! I am glad a number of brainers appreciate so much.

Maddie, they upload some excerpts of our works here: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/video/sh ... clediaries

And here: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/show/iwitness

English subtitles are available from our dvd series, but not all segments land in the dvd collections. We are working on subtitles to all of the works we were able to air. Probably in the near future.

Part 1 of our Child labor series aired last Friday, Manila time. Part airing next week. what I post here is basically a summarized version with a "toy" twist but basically and essentially the same

---------------------------------

To continue where we left off.....from Joey's work place, we drove to the northern most part of Manila, in Navotas--in a nearby fish port.



This place has a village called "Ulingan" or in English, it translates as " a place where they make charcoal" .



This is the first time I come to visit this fishing village. In my mind, walking through this place feels like roaming around an old set of a film about the Vietnam war.



Even my companion, the Buta Woo, can't stand the suffocating stench and thick smoke from the making of charcoal thats clouding the air most of the day.



But we manage to make the most of our time here. Talking to a lot of children. Meeting a lot of friends.



This is how they make the charcoal here: they gather enough wood lying around the beach, brought by the waves. They let them dry naturally under the sun. And finally, they "cook" them in a makeshift oven.

This is "Jerome", 9 years old. He's been making charcoal for 3 years now.





Just like Joey, Jerome sees his 'working environment' as a very pleasant place to be in.

Not withsatnding the effects on his lungs by the thick smoke he inhales constantly, and other hazardous elements present in this area.





We often blame the government for not providing enough jobs or employment opportunities so that our children will not end up braving the harsh elements of living and surviving the streets. But by creating enough employment opportunities alone may not solve the problem.

I believe child labor must be dealt with, first and foremost, at home. I've always believed awareness and more aggressive educational campaign to battle child labor must be ensured not only by the government but should be a responsibility by other sectors as well.

It's a pity we often boast about our so called 'improving economy' without focussing on some real, serious issues involving the plight of our children. The supposed hope and the future of this nation.







---------THE END---------

i took my gargamel microman with me to costa rica 4 years ago and took stupid photos with him. i ended up getting a couple scuffs in his face paint but it is just fine by me

I took one of my PK minis (welt sejin or whatever the lil joes name is) on a trip to Busan, a city south of the country. It came back ok, so I took it on a trip to japan, bad move. It got so chipped and scratched with all the traveling, hahaha. It does make for a good story of the piece, though the cool color thing it did, it does it no more. ;__;

Thanks for this story Jay