This photo sums up for me where and how technology has made the most impact on humanity: modalities for travel, construction (especially of skyscrapers), harnessing the power of nature (like water), and mass media (including photography).
beside a busy rush hour Jakarta thoroughfare, 2007, using a digicam.
I honestly felt ok, safe even, when my uncle and I traversed the Big Apple by way of its extensive subterranean train system. But this station, I feel, is where Capulets pass through with caution.
a New York City subway station, May 2008, using a digicam.
Known as the home of the Philippines' top duck-raising farms and the consequent Filipino duck embryo delicacy called Balut, the town of Victoria honors this magnificent yet humble feathered friend with a huge monument that cannot be missed by any visitor passing along the national highway.
town of Victoria, province of Laguna, October 2009, using a digicam.
A pair of fisher-folk "begin" their "day," their boat get juxtaposed with a huge ship against the backdrop of an even more massively beautiful setting sun...
view of the Manila Bay from Roxas Boulevard, Manila, November 2009, using a digicam.
This is the University of the Philippines Carillon Tower, a massive 130-foot monument housing 49 bells that produce iconic chimes in the Philippine national university's main campus. This tower and the original set of 46 bells were gifts of University alumni in 1952 dedicated to the spirit of graduates, to those who are still living and to those already in the Great Beyond. The Carillon Tower has been given new lease on life with the celebration of the University's Centennial in 2008, with a new set of 49 bells and a sturdier oak clavier, the wooden keyboard-like instrument used to make the bells create beautiful melodies.
The U.P. Carillon- the only one of its kind in the Philippines and Southeast Asia- is known to play a wide variety of songs on appointed times throughout most days- from the University Hymn to Beatles songs to now very timely Christmas tunes- enjoyed by students and residents almost wherever they maybe in the 390-plus-hectare campus.
University of the Philippines, Quezon City, December 2007, using a digicam.
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No music is as sweet or welcome as the sound of great health! Click on the icon below to learn more about the burgeoning problem of diabetes as we celebrate World Diabetes Day today, November 14th.
A young Finnish man at the central railway station in Helsinki (Helsingin rautatieasema) coming from or going to his military duty. Finland practices universal male conscription where "All men above 18 years of age are liable to serve either six, nine or twelve months..." (from Wikipedia).
In the Philippines, we have a professional armed forces system where men and women get to be employed full time. There was a four-semester mandatory Reserved Officers Training Corps (ROTC) training for all male university students until the early 2000s. Students- both male and female- can still choose to undergo ROTC but emphasis is now placed more on the National Service Training Program whereby they have to participate in seemingly more benign but nonetheless essential community service work, eg volunteering in hospitals, becoming teacher aides in pre-schools, helping in village clean-up drives, among others.
