Litratong Pinoy: MALAPOT (Thick)

Ang mga kabahayan sa paanan ng Bundok Merapi sa Indonesia ay halos matabunan nang rumagasa ang magkahalong nagbabagang abo, bato, at putik sa isa nitong pagputok. Nang humupa ang pag-aalburoto ng kalikasan, naging sikat na pasyalan ito ng mga turista (kabilang na kami).

May kalumaan na ang litratong ito mula pa noong 2007. Oktubre ng taong ito, muling sumabog ang bulkan na kumitil na ng kulang-kulang 300 buhay. Nawa'y pumayapa nang muli ang Merapi.

MALAPOT = THICK

These homes at the foot of Mt Merapi in Indonesia were almost buried by the fiery mixture of ash, boulders, and water - pyroclastic materials that attract hardy tourists like ourselves.

This photo, taken in 2007, displays an active but rather quiet volcano. However, about three weeks ago, Mt Merapi once again unleashed its fury, killing some 300 Indonesians in the process. Peace, Merapi!

at the foot of Mt Merapi, at the outskirts of Yogyakarta, June 2007, using a digicam.

PhotoHunt: ITCHY

How I wish my neck is as agile as theirs, to take care of nasty itches all over =]

Sea World Florida, December 2009, using a digicam.

Wordless Wednesday: FIRED UP

Now that the November 1st to 2nd days to remember the dead are over and done with, the world's arguably longest Christmas season can begin in earnest. Office buildings and homes alike are abaze with lights, Christmas songs fill the air, holiday shoppers pack the malls, colorful lanterns add cheer to the cold December nights.

Makati City, October 2009, using a digicam.

PhotoHunt: ALIVE

Summer colors dot the landscape near Hameenpuisto, the flora happily soaking the sun until two hours before midnight in this part of the globe at that time of the year.

Tampere, August 2007, using a digicam.

PhotoHunt: DARK

The Colonial Park Cemetery is a must-visit for history buff and more so for those out to explore the reality behind the city touted to be America's most haunted. The Ghosts and Gravestones tour is a great way of marrying both interests. I took it two years ago and I highly recommend it. But only for those who dare =]

Savannah, May 2008, using a digicam.

Wordless Wednesday: PASSING THROUGH

*Busy, busy, busy with work! Home-office-home is the most distance I've covered in the last 6 weeks... Just passing through*

beside the Manila Bay, November 2009, using a digicam.

PhotoHunt: ORANGE

The long 400-plus-mile, eight-hour drive to Florida from South Carolina was soothed by the Sunshine State's free-flowing offering of their finest OJ at the Welcome Center. But first, the customary pose beside the sign declaring we've arrived =]

State Welcome Center at the border between Georgia and Florida, December 2009, using a digicam.

Litratong Pinoy: TAHIMIK (Quiet)

Ang mga pangakaraniwang nagsusumigaw na mga patalastas ay pansamantalang kumurap at namahinga bilang paghahanda sa hanging dulot ni bagyong Juan.

TAHIMIK = QUIET

The usually screaming billboards and advertisements in the metropolis have been temporarily taken down in preparation for the anticipated billowing gusts of wind courtesy of Typhoon Juan.

somewhere in Metro Manila, October 2010 using a digicam.

PhotoHunt: MINIATURE

Li Mingzhu's "Digesting Mao" - tofu on porcelain, part of a traveling exhibit by young Chinese artists at the Sara Hilden Art Museum.

Tampere, August 2007, using a digicam.

PhotoHunt: STRIPES

Airports are not always mere drab, uninteresting stopovers en route to somewhere more exciting or visually appealing. If you happen to be in Indonesia, pause for a bit and see the intricate handiwork that graces the ceiling of their main airport.

Jakarta, June 2007, using a digicam.

PhotoHunt: LETTERS

For many travelers, churches, antiques, and bargains are part of their itinerary. As for myself, no trip is complete without taking home stamps or snapping pics of mailboxes or post offices.

If only my office (e)mail (in)box can be as ornate and handsome as this one in front of The Beaufort Inn...

The Beaufort Inn, Beaufort, April 2008, using a digicam.

Litratong Pinoy: MANIPIS (Thin)

Sumikat ito noong unang panahon, nang mas matatangkad, mas mapapayat, at mas matiisin pa ang mga tao... =]

MANIPIS = THIN

This became popular in earlier times, when people were taller, thinner, and had the capacity to endure pain more... =]

Velomania exhibit, Vaprikki Museum Complex, Tampere, August 2007, using a digicam.

PhotoHunt: NATURAL

Curiosity- something that we never really outgrow =]

the village of Talubin in Bontoc, April 2006, using a digicam.

Litratong Pinoy: MAKAPAL (Thick)

Namamalas ang ganda ng mga kwitis kapag ang kalangitan ay sadlak sa karimlan. Kasama ng nakabibighani nilang liwanag at hugis ay ang kaakibat na pansamantalang lambong ng usok. Gayunpaman, pinipili pa rin masdan ang kanilang rikit at tiisin ang pansamantalang yakap ng hanging di na dalisay.

MAKAPAL = THICK

The beauty of fireworks is best enjoyed when the night is at its darkest. In tandem with the enchanting embers is a temporary cloak of noxious air. Despite the latter, many still choose to savor the ephemeral brilliance of fireworks.

Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City, November 2009 using a digicam.

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PhotoHunt: SCHOOL

From mastering how to maintain one's wits as one endures a bumpy inter-province evening back-of-the-bus ride (desperately attempted to be captured above), to effectively budgeting time and money so as to see all sights in a new city, to understanding the subtleties of a town's language, food, and faith- traveling has been one of the best means by which I have learned about the greater world around me and the inner workings of my own heart, brain, and soul.

Can't wait for the next adventure.

on the 8pm bus traveling from General Santos City to Davao City, March 2009, using a digicam.

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The fourth anniversary of my main blog is coming up and I'm celebrating with a contest. Know the details by clicking the badge below.


Prizes in the form of Adgitize ads and EC credits await lucky participants =]

Litratong Pinoy: DALAWA (Two)

Mga kalatas para sa mga nawawala at para sa mga gustong "magpakawala"...

DALAWA = TWO

Signs for those who are lost and for those who want to "let go" of *something*...

somewhere in Baguio City, September 2010, using a digicam.

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The fourth anniversary of my main blog- SO FAR, SO GOOD- is coming up and I'm celebrating with a MISSION that I hope you can help me fulfill.

Wordless Tuesday: OFFERING

This array of carved rice granary gods called bul-ul that protect a family's harvest occupy an important niche in the belief system of indigenous peoples of the Cordilleras in Northern Philippines.

BenCab Museum, just outside Baguio City, September 2010, using a digicam.

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The fourth anniversary of my main blog is coming up and I'm celebrating with a contest. Know the details by clicking the badge below.

PhotoHunt: ANNIVERSARY

May we all realize that we are but fellow travelers on the planet, in need and capable of mutual respect, genuine concern, and open communication, all aiming to leave the earth in a state better than when we first arrived on it. *Remembering 9/11*

plaza in downtown Cotabato City, March 2009, using a digicam.

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The fourth anniversary of my main blog is coming up and I'm celebrating with a contest. Know the details by clicking the badge below.

Wordless Wednesday: WATER, BED

This is one of the Aqua Rooms of Hotel H20, a unique accommodations experience just beside the Ocean Park at Manila Bay. A 34-meter aquarium housing fish of every size, color, and beauty form one continuous wall of adjacent hotel rooms. From 7am to 9pm, schools of fish and solitary creatures hustle to and fro, unmindful of hotel guests like myself who ogle at their vibrance and quiet fluidity. I must admit, the TV's no match against roommates like them. Now I know why the Aquarium Channel is such a hit.

Hotel H20, Manila, September 2010, using a digicam.

PhotoHunt: HOT

The CamSur Watersports Complex is now of the most popular destinations in the Philippines for the more adventurous tourists. Wakeboarding, cable water-skiing, skateboarding, and other extreme sports are at guests' disposal. Those looking for more sedate activities can enjoy massages, wade in swimming pools, or just rummage through the restaurants. Tourists, as attracted by CWC, have converted the province of Camarines Sur from being the Philippines' 39th poorest among 80 provinces into the nation's 10th richest.

CamSur Watersports Complex, Pili, Camarines Norte, 2007, using a digicam.

Wordless Wednesday: FIERY

Typically, volcanoes evoke a sense of fear and gloom, given their propensity to damage property, inflict injury, cause death. People, typically, would flee as far away as possible.

However, Taal Volcano- purported to be the smallest in world- has the opposite effect: it attracts hundreds of tourists daily, drawn to its unique environs, a mixture of stunning vistas embraced by cool mountain breeze, unmindful of its magma chamber's on-and-off activity. Currently, an inordinate number of bed and breakfasts dot the ridge surrounding the volcano and the lake it sits on- homes away from home of city-dwellers who wish to retreat to Tagaytay's subtle urbanity.

view from The Inn at Cliff House Tagaytay City, August 2010, using a digicam.

PhotoHunt: FRAMED

View from my car of the Drive Thru counter of a McDonald's located (conveniently) beside a very popular church. Feeding the body, feeding the soul.

Newport City development in Pasay City, November 2009, using a digicam.

PhotoHunt: NUMERICAL

Like stamps, a country's currency is one of the most tangible, iconic items any traveler can literally take home. More than just a printed collection of numbers, currency symbols, and security details, paper bills and coins offer a glimpse of what or who the nation holds dear and in high esteem. For me, they are wallet-and-coin-purse-sized history books and museums.

While preparing for a presentation about the Philippines in a course I took in Finland with Filipino classmates a couple of years back, I snapped a photo of our 500-piso bill. It contains the image and life and times of a modern-day Filipino hero- the late Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr. He was at the forefront of the fight against the Marcos dictatorship that spanned from the late 60s to the mid 80s until their eventual toppling via the bloodless 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution. Aquino's political savvy, sharp wit, excellence as a communicator, and all-consuming love for the nation inspired a whole legion of Filipinos to stoke the tiny embers of hope for a truly democratic Philippines.

He is widely hailed as the greatest Filipino to be not elected president- he was assassinated at the tarmac of the Manila International Airport (now named after him) exactly 27 years ago today- un/fortunately. His death in 1983 increased the rumblings of discontent on the ground until it became one gigantic push to overthrow the Marcoses in February '86. His widow Corazon became President and since then, the Philippines enjoyed a (relatively) stable democratic form of government. Ninoy's son Benigno III is now Philippine president.

He only had one life to live but he offered it up for the nation because he is the firmest of believers in these most important words he has ever uttered- The Filipino is worth dying for.

More on the Ninoy's life can be found in a colleague's blog here.

Tampere, August 2007, using a digicam.