PhotoHunt: SPOTTED

For decades, she stood by the Savannah River, waving a cloth unto all vessels plying the waterway by day and hoisting aloft a lantern towards them by night. Some say she's waiting for a sailor- her life's love- to return. Some say she's just a lonely and friendly lighthouse keeper's sister. Whatever her reasons were, the likeness of Florence Martus- Savannah's Waving Girl- is hard to miss, a must-visit for any sojourner into this historic city.

Savannah, December 2009, using a digicam.

PhotoHunt: BALAK (Plan)

Sa pamamagitan ng mga bakal at semento ng itinatayong Skyway nagkakaroon ng hugis at katuparan ang pangarap ng mas mabilis na paglalakbay sa pagitan ng Kamaynilaan at Timog Katagalugan.

BALAK = PLAN

Steel and cement give life to the Skyway project, the hope of a shorter travel time between Metro Manila and Southern Luzon provinces.

along the South Super Highway, October 2009, using a digicam.

Wordless Wednesday: SLEEPLESS

A pillow from the Song Dynasty in China (960-1279).

Chinese artifacts exhibition, Sara Hilden Art Museum, Tampere, August 2007, using a digicam.

PhotoHunt: BALANCED

My PhotoHunt entry for the week follows after this short appeal for the survivors of the Haiti earthquake from the UNICEF-USA. Please do take time to read and respond to the appeal by making your own (additional) contribution if you can.

The UNICEF United States Fund has been distributing more than 150,000 liters of clean water daily for the past several days in order to help make life better for the earthquake survivors in Haiti. According to Caryl Stern, CEO of UNICEF-USA, five truckloads of health and nutrition supplies have flowed into Haiti from the Dominican Republic, as well as 12,000 gallons of fuel just this Wednesday alone. Photos and other blog entries on how UNICEF-USA has been helping Haiti can be found here.

But still, a lot still needs to be done, including:

- Truck safe drinking water to survivors in tent encampments
- Distribute water purification tablets, water containers, hygiene materials, and soap
- Set up temporary water distribution sites
- Start to help rebuild Haiti's water and sanitation infrastructure

No contribution is too small to matter. They need all the help they can get. Today.

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Everybody was rushing to get a good spot in front of the Parliament Building to watch what was arguably one of the highlights of the whole Night of the Arts: a performance by the outstanding Australian theater group Strange Fruit. Men and women from the group where doing their acting-cum-dance-cum-circus routines while perched on four-meter-high poles, moving, swaying, swinging perfectly with their musical accompaniment, eliciting not a few oohs and aahs and gasps from the mesmerized crowd gathered below.

Helsinki, August 2007, using a digicam.

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Litratong Pinoy: MAGUSTUHAN O MAIBIGAN (To like, To like the taste of)

Pagkain sa mga kainang ito ang sagot sa aking gutom, maging nasa Singapore, Savannah, Stockholm, o Sampaloc man ako. Ang kanilang lasa ay hindi mahirap mahalin. Hindi nga lang sila ganoon ka-masustansiya...

Magustuhan o Maibigan = To like or To like the taste of

Food from these restaurants wipe out my hunger, regardless if I find myself in Singapore, Savannah, Stockholm, or Sampaloc. Their taste is not difficult to love at all. They are just not the healthiest of meals though...

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

PhotoHunt: JIGGLY

Arrrrrrrrr

While he attempts to look menacing, he's still just one big jiggly guy in the hands of the professional and the volunteer balloon holders of the Macy's Holiday Parade at Universal Studios Orlando.

Orlando, December 2009, using a digicam.

Litratong Pinoy: MANIPIS (Thin)

Tila dampi lang ang niyebe at yelo sa mala-daliri ng mangkukulam na sanga ng punong ito. Nguni't halos sa katanghaliang tapat ang kuha na ito, kung kailan dapat tunaw na ang niyebe! Tanda ito na napakalamig talaga ng panahon sa Great Smoky Moutain Range; ang temperatura ay naglalaro sa -2 hanggang 0 Celsius lamang!

MANIPIS = THIN

This layer of snow and ice is rather sparsely spread on the thin branches of this tree; no big deal, right? Nope. This photo was taken close to noon already, a time when snow and ice would have typical dissipated already. This goes to show how low the temperature currently was in the Great Smoky Mountain Range; -2 to 0 degree Celsius to be exact.

at the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountain Range, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, January 2010, using a digicam.

Wordless Tuesday: LEAN

With its modern, unconventional design jutting out of the array of classically designed homes in its immediate environs, this building along the Circumferential Road - C5 is difficult to miss as you traverse the lanes heading towards the South Luzon Expressway.

So what is this building? It is the British Embassy in Manila.

McKinley Hill, Taguig City, October 2009, using a digicam.

PhotHunt: BULKY

I really wanted to take Scooby Doo pictured here home with me but that simple task proved to be a logistical nightmare. To begin with he is almost three stories tall =] The excess baggage fee would have been staggering. And Shaggy, I'm sure, wouldn't let Scooby Doo out of his sight =]

Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida, December 2009, using a digicam.

Litratong Pinoy: MAKAPAL (Thick)

Hindi alintana ng libu-libong tao at ni Shamu- ang bidang killer whale- ang lamig ng panahon nang sama-sama kaming nagdiwang maghapon ng araw ng Pasko. Si Shamu na ang naging kinatawan ng gawaing pangangalaga sa mga yamang tubig ng Amerika sa kanyang paninirahan sa SeaWorld Orlando sa Florida. Higit pa sa pagbibigay aliw sa kanyang mga natutunang kilos at laro, sinisikap mapabatid sa lahat ng dumarayo sa Florida ang kahalagahan ng kalikasan at ang pagkakaugnay-ugnay nating lahat- tao, halaman, dagat, lupa, hangin.

MAKAPAL = THICK

The cold weather was hardly noticed by the thousands who came to spend Christmas Day with Shamu, the killer whale. Shamu has become the icon of conservation ever since SeaWorld Orlando became its home. More than entertaining the public with tricks and games, SeaWorld endeavors to teach all those who visit Florida the importance of nature and conservation by showcasing the interconnectedness of humanity with plant- and animal-life, the sea, the air, the land, and all those who inhabit them.

Shamu Stadium, SeaWorld Orlando, Florida, December 2009, using a digicam.

Wordless Tuesday: STEELY

In this beautiful, nondescript building, amidst the clear blue skies that mask the -2C temperature at 12nn, lies a treasure trove of a century of motoring genius. This is the BMW Zentrum, the Visitors' Center and Museum of the BMW Manufacturing Corp. in South Carolina, home to cars, motorcycles, engines, and motor sport vehicles, including James Bond's 1995 Goldeneye BMW ride.

Spartanburg, January 2010, using a digicam.

PhotoHunt: LICK

From the Space Needle, a perch 31 stories/ 104 meters high, the drizzling skies over Gatlinburg, Tennessee were licked by a spectacular fireworks show as we all bade farewell to 2009. The colors, a visual feast good enough to eat, were well worth the wait under the biting cold of single-digit-Celsius temperature, made warmer also by the presence of the dearest family members.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, ONE AND ALL! God bless us all more in 2010!

New Year's Eve 2009-2010, Gatlinburg using a digicam.