Most of us have put our travel plans on hold, but this couple, Arjanmar Rebeta and Khaye Medina, didn’t let the pandemic rain on their engagement parade. Arjanmar, the filmmaker behind Mediarama Creatives, traveled a lot for his work. And, of course, he wanted to share these wonderful travels with Khaye.
His usual route to work, pre-Covid, included passing through Nangka in Marikina where he discovered streets named after countries. “Hindi pa naman pandemic, naiisip ko na talaga na balang araw mag-photoshoot kami dito (Even before the pandemic, I had thought of us shooting here),” says Arjanmar, who grabbed the opportunity to shoot here while non-essential travel is prohibited. “So naisip ko na bagay ito. Pwede naman makapag-travel o destination shoot kahit hindi makalabas ng bansa or makapunta sa mga probinsya (I thought this wasa good spot. We can travel or do a destination shoot even if we can’t leave the country or go to the province).”
It took two days to shoot everything. “Isang araw lang sana kaso hindi natapos mapuntahan ang lahat ng streets kaya kinailangan namin mag-shoot ulit para masunod ang plano ng (It was supposed to take one day only to shoot everything, but we didn’t get to go to all the streets to complete 'Travel Around the World of Marikina',” the filmmaker tells Manila Bulletin Lifestyle.
These two full days consisted of walking around the area, looking for the streets to complete their story. “Hindi kasi pwede mag-park lang kung saan (We couldn’t just part anywhere),” Khaye explains. They also shared that it was challenging to shoot wearing face masks, but the masks helped because “hindi nakakahiyang mag photoshoot kasi hindi ka naman nakikilala (we
weren’t shy to do the photoshoot because we were wearing face masks).” They also had to take into consideration the safety of their team, “gusto natin ng magandang output, pero mas mahalaga pa rin na ligtas ang lahat (we wanted the best output, but our team’s safety was more important.”
These two days were filled with laughter, and it can be seen in the many jump shots they did. “Pinapakita lang namin kung gaano kami kasaya at pano namin ine-enjoy ang mga sandali (We want to show how happy we were and how much we enjoyed the shoot). Kapag na freeze mo na
ang jump sa litrato, lagi mong maaalala ang panahon sandaling lumulutang ka kasama ng mahal mo (If you freeze the jump shots, you will always remember the time you were on air with the one you love),” Arjanmar beams.
When asked what their favorite shots were, it was shooting on Japan Street. Once travel is lifted and they have enough money saved, they plan to go on a ramen trip since they both love the dish. “Nakapunta na ako sa Japan, pero sana sa sunod kasama ko na si Khaye (I’ve been to Japan, but I hope Khaye will be with me next time). Isa pa, para maiba naman, sana sa Kyrgyzstan dahil ang ganda ng mga landscapes nila (Just to be different, I want to go to Kyrgyzstan because the landscapes there are beautiful).”