Where When How

Other World

One always has to know when a stage has come to an end. If we insist on staying longer than the necessary time, we lose the happiness and the meaning of the other stages we have to go through- Paolo Coelho

These photos were taken at Gardens by the Bay, Singapore. I snapped these structures that are called super trees (yes, they are called like that and it sounds geeky) that house different varieties of bromeliads. I really love how the place is lit up at night because it kind of have a futuristic feel to it that reminds me of arcologies in SIM CITY 2000. If you have time, do check it out especially if you love plants :) 

Hong King Kong Jungle

A couple of weeks back, I visited Hong Kong for work to attend a digital and social media conference. It was an interesting trip since instead of staying in the usual shopping areas like Causeway Bay or Tsim Sha Tsui, I lived in the busy district of Hong Kong Central. Being the adventurous boy that I am, I took some time to explore and snapped some pictures while going to and fro the different meetings I had there.

Hong Kong Central lies in the heart of Hong Kong’s business district. It is a place for grown-up people in their grown-up clothes for their grown-up jobs.  Everyone seems to be very busy in this area and I find myself a little bit out-of-place and out-of-sync with the crowd around me.

One thing I adore about Hong Kong in general is the immense clutter of its signages and billboards. I think almost every block in this place is filled with lighted signs like the one above. To me, the general clutter is beautiful but very inefficient and inconvenient for people who are trying to look for a particular place. It’s impossible to see beyond the signs in front! Whoever’s making these signs must be making a lot of money, its just everywhere!

This is the Bank of China Tower. It is one of the most recognizable buildings in the Hong Kong cityscape. This was designed by I.M. Pei, one of my favorite architects who also happend to be responsible for the infamous glass pyramid found at the Lourve. Can you see the similarity? :)

This is the view outside of my hotel. I think this is Des. Voeux Road where buses and Trams pass by. I like trams because they exude an old world charm. Besides, don’t you find cool to have something like that around Manila? How I wish they’d restore our old own tram system here in the Philippines. My grandmother used to tell me how Manila used to have a tram system but it was destroyed during World War II. :( If you want one, I think there is still one at Corregidor. 

People seem to like the color red in this part of town. :)

Like most former British Colonies, Hong Kong vehicles are right-hand drive. Also, the city has a robust and complex transportation system that includes wide highways, flyovers, underpasses, tunnels, and interchanges.

The MTR Central Station.

Even the train handles in Honk Kong are red. 

Pedestrians in Hong Kong.

Posting has been quite inconsistent the past few days because my schedule doesn’t give me much time to sit down and blog. Hopefully, I can share more pictures in the coming weeks of my other travels :) Until next time.

█████████ (RA 10175)

With the passing of RA No. 10175 here in the ███████████, It’s not that fun in the  ███████████ anymore :(

Please let me express myself with a few paragraphs below:

Now, although the intention of the law and some of its points (like provisions against Child Pornography and Cybersex) are good; I think our government should take time to review provisions that cover Internet Libel and its monitoring, as it may limit or curtail our freedom of expression, communication, and privacy. 

Moreover, people should take time to read and understand this new law before irresponsibly posting, sharing, or retweeting certain “provisions” or misinterpretations that adds to the confusion and misinformation about the law.

Now I know that this post is out of character for my blog but I am really against certain points included in RA 10175. As citizens/netizens we should really take time to go through it so that we can properly express ourselves in the right medium using an informed conscience. lol.

And Finally, I urge you to go through it straight from the source. Read through RA No. 10175 HERE.

The Two of Us

‎

Whenever I think of you 
I feel closest to eternity,
I exist and you exist
That’s all that matters,
My life and your life
Merge and melt into one
Return to where they began,
All our differences disappear, 
For us everything is perfectly defined,
There’s no battle of the sexes,
There’s faith and devotion, passion and freedom,
All the facets of human beings in union,
I have faith in the way we live 
As readily as I have faith in nature
So I can look down on the ‘world’
And triumph over all its stupidities
We have risen far above it all,
I feel my pain as your pain,
My pleasure as your pleasure,
I trust you as much as I trust myself,
I see my own growth in your growth,
However fast I travel, I will never leave you behind, 
I am filled with energy
And you are glowing with youth,
You are a burning flame,
You make me feel younger
And you can always surprise me,
You are a solid rock of reality,
Your kisses moisten me,
Your embraces nourish me,
Your cool limbs
Your curvaceous body
Your glowing skin
The power of life coursing through you
This is all I need for an idyllic life, 
You trust me,
You live in me
And this makes you who you are,
We cherish life,
We’re always restless 
Pushing onwards as far as we can go 
Growing
Spreading
Deepening - 
Such radiance, such happiness

This photo was taken at Midōsuji Sculpture Street, Osaka, Japan. The Sculpture was made by Kōtarō Takamura (March 13, 1883 – April 2, 1956). It is called みちのく or Michinoku. In English it means “The Deep North,” alluding to the place where the artist lived in seclusion for seven years after the death of his wife and the bombing of his studio during the war.

Michinoku was donated by Sanwa Bank, Ltd. (now Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd.)  as part of Osaka’s efforts to promote culture in the city. This is one of 29 other sculptures installed by the government through the generosity of big Japanese firms along Midosuji Avenue.

There is another identical statue by Takamura called “The Maiden Statue” and is found at the shores of Lake Towada in Aomori City, Hirosaki.  These twin sculptures depict mirror images of Takamura’s wife touching each other’s palms. He often sculpted her image out of his great love and grief after her passing.

At the same time, the poem above was written by Kōtarō Takamura as part of his collection of poems dedicated to his wife Chieko Naganuma whom he loved so much.

Finally, I this poem is dedicated to you.

love like a sunset x anawangin.

(These are pictures of the beautiful Anawangin Island at Zambales, Philippines. I visited the place just before a photograph of this hidden gem was published in the front page of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. My camera was just a couple of weeks old then. I came here with a few friends who were as eager  as I was to go on an adventure for a couple of days. After visiting this beauty, I cannot help but want to go back here one day to find peace and quiet under the shade of pine trees with the wind from the sea brushing on my face)

Green and Yellow

Green and Yellow.

That is the name of this picture (one of my favorites) that I took back when my camera was new. I was on my way to Quezon province to swim and I was just enamored by the sight of these yellow flowers in full bloom at one of our stopovers. 

To be honest, nothing really special about the stopover or the actual flowers but the sight of it, with the Sierra Madre plastered behind it, evoke what I think spring (if there really is!) is like here in the Philippines- colorful and abundant, reminiscent of our fiestas that celebrate nature’s produce.

Photo was taken at Famy, Laguna. 

Chubby, my Labrador Retriever

More than 10 years ago, I was a midwife to my pregnant dog while she gave birth to her very first litter of puppies. I nursed the puppies, they grew up, and were eventually sold except for one fat energetic dog that we named Chubby.

This is Chubby and here are some things that I fondly remember her for:

1. Chubby is my only dog that cannot see if there’s glass blocking her path. Throughout her life, she would always bump into our glass doors whenever I call her from our house. She was so excited to see me that she would sprint towards us only to end up bumping into the door. 

2. This dog was notorious for jumping into our pond just because it was terribly hot outside. For some strange reason, she loved water. Whenever an opportunity to get wet presents itself, she would make it point to drench herself- may it be in a small puddle, a murky creek, or our a nearby swimming pool. I can still remember the surprise (and eventually disgust) on the faces of the kids swimming when they saw a fat black dog in the pool with them. :)

3. While swimming in the pond, Chubby would try to catch anything that moves. She caught most of our fishes so for a time, we never had any fish in our pond. It became Chubby’s personal swimming pool. At other times, we would see him bring home frogs, rats, snakes, and fruits (yes, she stole our neighbor’s fruits) as part of her monthly catch. She was so proud to have caught these for us. 

4. This dog was always hungry. One time, she stole another dog’s food because it smelled so good. Unfortunately, she got caught and the dog bit a portion of her tongue off. (Look at the picture and you will notice that her tongue is unusually shaped)

5. Whenever Chubby sleeps outside her kennel, for some strange reason, Maya Birds would perch on top of her body to sleep with her. In fact, birds love her so much that they would play with her when she’s running around our garden.

6. She is my dog Ganda’s grandmother and has this strange habit of following me around wherever I go. She once tried to enter our house and our car just to follow me.

7. Perhaps she already had a feeling of what was to come but one day, she went outside to the vacant lot where her mother was buried, slept there, and never woke up again. 

That pink childhood dessert

I don’t know why but I have been craving for that sweet, milky, pink dessert called iskrambol.

It’s been a while since I last ate a decent cup of this airy substance since vendors who can make the authentic flavor and profile of iskrambol are quite rare nowadays. Making the perfect Iskrambol is still a mystery to me. I remember how vendors back then would use shaved ice and dump a lot of colorful powders into a bucket and happily churn it until the substance comes close to the consistency of clouds. (haha! up to now I still think I am eating clouds when I eat iskrambol)

Being a fan of this product, I somehow have a very picky attitude towards it. I want my iskrambol like how it was originally sold on the streets- pink, airy (with no traces of ice crystals), topped with marshmallows, rice puffs, milk powder, and a generous amount of pseudo chocolate and strawberry syrups drizzled above it. 

The experience of eating iskrambol was really heavenly as a kid. I could say that it is something that can match the nostalgia and taste of a eating dirty ice-cream sandwich and fishballs.

(I took this photo of mr. iskrambolman at Quezon Province. His recipe was not pink but purple and surprisingly, it tastes likes those quickly taro drinks but at cheaper price of only P5)

The Colosseum

When I was planning our trip to Rome, one of the places that I prioritized to visit was the Colosseum. I’m really not sure why it was way above in my list of places to see but back then, I was really very excited to visit it over the equally stunning and popular Fountain of Trevi  and Spanish Steps. 

As I was walking around the Colosseum, images from the scenes of the movie The Gladiator played in my head. It must have been amazing to have stood beside other Romans as they watched brave and gallant men fight one another to the death. I could imagine the cheers of the crowd as they go wild when their warrior wins over the other. It must have been as crazy as our modern-day fights like boxing/UFC matches.

It was almost noon when most of the tourists left the area. This gave me the perfect time to take some photos. The lighting wasn’t very nice but I managed to take some shots with the help of my tripod and camera’s live view. I apologize for shooting it in different colors, I was still adjusting with my new camera then.

(this main road led to the Colosseum. Somehow this is a proof of the saying that “All roads lead to Rome.” haha)