Letter from the Editor

There is a scene in Michael Haneke’s 1989 film, The Seventh Continent, where one of the characters flushes wads of money down the toilet. To date, I still find it to be one of the simplest yet most evocative images in world cinema. In an interview with film critic Serge Toubiana, Hanake says, “Everywhere I showed the film, that was the main scene people complained about. Because it’s the greatest taboo. It’s a lot less disturbing if parents kill their children and themselves than if they destroy money.” The film, centered on a middle-class Austrian family who are planning to move to exotic Australia, is largely about the mundane—the silent pervasiveness of the everyday, and the existential desire to escape from life’s rut. (For now I’ll keep mum about what flushing money has to do with that.)

We devoted a chunk of this issue to travel. On p. 16, Gian Geronimo tours you around mythical Siquijor on a motorbike. Meanwhile, you’ll be taken as far as Hong Kong, Bangkok, Tokyo, New York, and Venice by photographer Jelito de Leon, style blogger Melissa Gatchalian, artist Soleil Ignacio, filmmaker Fold Canela, and model LA Aguinaldo with snippets from their travel diaries (“Get Up and Go” on p. 30).

We’ve also chosen to profile several individuals who have wanderlust flowing through their veins. Read all about the adventures of mountaineer Javi Cang, filmmaker Lyka Gonzalez, and our cover girl Martine Cajucom.

Our fashion editorial (“Play boy!” on p. 40) is also made possible by travel. Before going to university, my German friend Martin is spending his gap year backpacking through Southeast Asia. With Manila being one of the stops, I got him to model for us. We were shooting layouts in between bottles of beer at Cubao X with photographer Paolo Crodua. Needless to say, we’re a hardworking bunch.