Hello, this is John Jacob Bolla the creator behind John J Images. Check my work on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Tik Tok. Each platform that I post has a somewhat different style of content, though the theme I’m pursuing is adventure and what life is like in the Philippines through an American or “foreign” perspective.
Living and working in the cold part of the Philippines, the city and surrounding area of Baguio City, gives me a unique perspective on what it’s like to be a digital creative or digital nomad. I spent a major part of my life in California, United States of America, Planet Earth. Therefore I am one of those English speaking Filipinos that are neither super Filipino nor super American. It is what it is. I’ve come to accept and embrace the idea that I live in at least 2 different cultures. My accent is clearly American as you can tell by my videos and I am a native speaker of English. During school I enjoyed English class and achieved high scores in the subject which is one of the reasons I still write even though I graduated college years ago. I now happily write for my personal brand and portfolio.
My Tagalog is good enough for navigation and shopping in my area. Being born in Baguio, I know some Iloko also. Living in America with Igorot (native mountain Filipino) muscle genetics gave me access to all sorts of high protein foods, therefore I’m quite heavier than the average Filipino. In other words, I’m hard to kidnap. Unfortunately developing countries are plagued with terrible ransom stories with “foreigners.” Though I am not a “true foreigner” of Baguio City, Philippines. I’ve spent a significant amount of time walking and exploring the streets and the deep parts of Baguio, including the public market. In fact, I actually work as the Research and Development head for my family business, NABILEG, our business operates deep in the Baguio palengke (public market where they sell fish and produce). Currently, NABILEG is renting out spaces in our building for bananas.
Because I have access and knowledge to the Baguio palengke, I also plan to open up a small coffee shop there hopefully. There are many wild surprises when you are doing business in a developing tropical country like the Philippines, so we’ll see how that small coffee shop idea goes. Expect more articles and videos regarding coffee here in the Philippines from me soon.
Consider following this blog or my John J Images YouTube channel if you want to see what the life of a balikbayan (a Filipino spending time in the Philippines after being gone for a long time) is like in the gloriously cold, relatively unknown Cordilleran mountain range of the Philippines.
To discover and understand one’s roots can be very helpful. You will realize why the world and the people around you are the way they are. You will understand how to better take advantage of your strengths and how to better manage your weaknesses as a photographer, film maker, video creator, creative, etc. Explore your roots and find out where you came from, you might be pleasantly surprised or overwhelmed with answers you wish you knew sooner.
I’ll be sharing the ideas, perspectives, viewpoints that I have found living as a modern day voyager from the Pacific Ocean. Living in the city of Baguio and spending time in the cold mysterious mountains of the Philippines has given me insights to the past and the future that I still have to process. It is time for me to publish, film, and produce MORE content that showcases life in the wild and mysterious northern part of the Philippines.
[Que Ancient Austronesian Sea Voyager Music + Modern Beatboxing JJB Style Galactic Beats]