Tag Archive: Travels


WHY WE PHOTOGRAPH

Filed under: Travel, travels — 3 Comments
October 31, 2012

In this day and age, photography has taken hold of nearly every young adult’s life. DLSR or P&S, a camera slung on someone’s neck has now become part of the wardrobe. One photo — which I’m borrowing from the Net — speaks volumes about everyday life now.

 

 

 

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We take photos of places we’ve visited, restos we’ve dined in, food we’ve eaten, celebrities we’ve seen, or just about anything or anyone we found interesting. “Found interesting?” —- OR very candidly, something we wanted to share with others. “Something we wanted to share……?” — or quite honestly, something we wanted OTHERS to know about us. 😃😀😊

 

 

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Social networking like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. render it almost obligatory to “document” our everyday activity. Our circle of friends et al get updated with our not-so-private lives through our status updates and photos we post. In my time, we wrote on our diaries. Now, some of us BLOG. Still others feel free and absolutely unrestricted with the ways they wish to express themselves. Then as in now, we were provided ways to express ourselves. But the rules have changed. What we wrote on our diaries then stayed a secret. These days, what we blog is available to everyone including strangers. Same Same, but different.

 

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Whatever the reasons or motivations, I’m happy I don’t have to shell out a big chunk to get my films developed. I’m glad I need not scrimp on my shots, that i can in fact “experiment”, and that a bad shot can so easily be dismissed with one click. I’m overjoyed that I can do my “diaries” complete with photos that make them great memory aids! And that I can even share them with others. Really, isn’t it amazing we can do all these things now?

 

 

 

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Sure, there are those who really go overboard. The camwhores who truly think others are genuinely interested in them, what they do, and how they look. (Yeah, forget the VIEW, just check out my jumpshot!) Or they are exhibitionist-wannabes. As for moí, I need my memory aids. That, plus I do love it that I continue to learn something new. For someone who has not had a camera until her early 30’s, you can say I’m a late-bloomer. After all, self-expression is available to everyone of all ages.

 

 

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I’m Beating My Post-Travel Blues

Filed under: Africa, Travel, travels — 1 Comment
July 31, 2012

Back from nearly 3 months in Spain and done with all my back blogs, I only managed one weekend out-of-town trip, a day trip to Pampanga, a trip to the Museum and an afternoon in Chinatown. In between, I was blogging, researching and reading travel books and blogs.

 

 

 

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It’s been almost 3 months since I got back. Armchair traveller? Or a couch potato? I have long had all of 45 movies in my iPad to fill in the time waiting at airports, bus terminals and train stations. None watched. Till lately. I even managed to watch “Oro, Plata, Mata” on YouTube! That, plus all the research on my much-coveted Camino de Santiago and African safari. Nearly a daily routine…… Just the latest in my string of “bad habits”. 😄

 

 

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Sourced from the Net: An African Safari

 

 

I looked at the photo above with giddy enthusiasm. The sensation approximates my earlier terrible obsessive desire to go to Macchu Picchu. Missed out on the latter while my dear friends went without me. 😢 The Camino de Santiago is something I’d also want to do. More so now when I learned a friend has done the 100 kilometer walk recently. All apprehensions banished. I’d do this for sure. Perhaps next year.

 

 

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Sourced from the Net: An African Queen Sunset Cruise (Victoria Falls, Zambia Side)

 

 

Must be post-travel blues to explain all this laziness. I’ve been knocking books off the shelf to fill in the time. I have gained 3 pounds since I got back. I don’t even do my daily exercises now. For sure, something feels off-kilter. When I start cleaning out my closet and begin feeling sluggish putting the stuff back, something’s terribly wrong. So, how do you shake off the blues?

 

 

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Sourced from the Net: Garden Route, South Africa

 

 

I did what most others advise. I’m off again. Soon. Those post-travel blues wiped away as I start feeling peppy again over the prospect of crossing out another item in my bucket list. Watch this page, amigos y amigas. Pretty soon, I’d be donning my loafers and bush jackets as I psyche myself to do that bush walk. Maybe meet and greet a pride of lions. Or ride an ostrich, if an elephant won’t do.

 

 

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Sourced from the Net: One of My All-Time Favorite Movie

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Happy With My Point – and – Shoot Cam!

Filed under: Philippine Travels, Travel, travels — 9 Comments
July 9, 2012

All my life, I have only owned 4 cameras. Imagine me traveling with only a disposable cam before. No wonder I had very few shots — all blurry — back then when everything was an adventure. Many first times then, largely undocumented. A pity.

Twilight in Donsol, Sorsogon, Philippines

I owned my first digicam only in 2004. Away with trips to the photo shop to have my films developed. Away with photo albums. These days, we simply just snap away and store what we like and delete the rest. I look at others and at times, feel envy watching them change their lens, set up their tripods and the like —- all for a better shot. I don’t have that option. My bad neck and shoulder won’t let me carry all that weight around my neck nor balance that cam even with 2 hands. Thanks to many photo editing apps, I am now able to “improve” even bad shots taken on a whim.

BenCab Museum Garden in Baguio City

Traveling around the Philippines, I began to appreciate my new Canon G12. It’s light and easy to operate. I set the cam on automatic and it makes all the decisions for me. Other times, I pretend to know my stuff and tinker with the camera. I sometimes end up with better shots but most of the time, you couldn’t tell whether I set it on automatic or not. 🙂

The Face Masks @Balaw Balaw Restaurant in Angono, Rizal

There is no reason to complain. I do not have to tote around a heavy DLSR and adjust my lens or set up a tripod. God knows I’d easily lose patience and interest if I have to go through all these steps just for a good shot. It is enough that I find something worth photographing as a memory aide so I can revisit my fond memories anytime I choose. When I am in the mood, I would choose an angle or several angles to take a photo. Often, I love taking distant and close-up shots of a place. Human interest shots are swell, but they come and go. One has to have quick hands to get the cam ready or you lose the moment. I have been lucky with a few. But they are few.

The Street Vendors of Quiapo, Manila

Wish there were more.

Sheltered, Educated, Loved. These are the boys of St Martin de Tours in Bustos, Bulacan.

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Judging A Place By Its Most Important Room

Filed under: Travel, travels — 3 Comments
May 16, 2012

Which room? The Rest Room. The Toilets. Water Closet. WC. CR. Comfort Room. Ladies Room . (Sorry, can’t check out the Men’s Room). By whatever title it’s called. By however it is named. This all important room gives away a lot. Oh yeah. Kid you not. Show me this Very Important Room (V.I.R.), and I’d tell ya what place you’ve been to.

 

 

The Window Looks Out to the Canals of Venice 😉

 

 

Back when I was in Germany, I found one that says “Hansel” and “Gretel”. Guess what. I waited with crossed knees for others to make the trip, before making my entrance. Why? I couldn’t remember which of Hansel and Gretel is the girl. It could have been an easy chore if it were named “Jack” and “Jill”. But nah……Hansel and Gretel it was. Another time, I stayed in a B&B in Venice that didn’t look much from the outside. But I got hooked as soon as I saw that the V.I.R. had a window looking out to that famous canal where the melody of O Sole Mio wafts in the air as one makes that all important body function. So there. From then on, I have paid more attention to this Very Important Room (my V.I.R.).

 

 

Well, it’s clean.

 

 

Years ago, it was enough to have them clean. Working water closets. Mostly all white. Then, the more modern places started sporting livelier colors. Pink. Sky Blue. Sunshine Yellow. Neon Green. They even started growing plants in that V.I.R. And started hanging paintings or drawings to brighten up the walls.

 

 

Antonio’s @Tagaytay

 

 

These days, they occupy more space. Some even have wide open windows. Wide enough for one to think twice before making full use of those precious seats. Obviously, those wide windows open up to either a garden, a body of water, or the mountains. No chance of a peeping Tom lurking around. (Though one is never sure, of course.)

 

 

Panglao Island Nature Resort @Bohol

Chateau Hestia @Tagaytay

 

 

Whenever we go to some fancy restaurant or hotel, I make it a point to visit the V.I.R. It says a lot about the place, don’t you think? Frankly, they should pay as much attention here as they would to their kitchen and dining areas. Especially if the meal is served over a 2hour period. For sure, a trip to the V.I.R. is inevitable.

 

So, how did these fancy and not so fancy dining outlets fare? You tell me!

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Memories: Random Acts of Kindness

Filed under: Travel, travels — 9 Comments
May 13, 2011

Thought I’d stay home today. It’s Friday the 13th.  So. Where’s Freddy Krueger?

“When the joints ache,

when the hips break,

When the eyes grow dim,

Then I remember the great life I’ve had,

And then I don’t feel so bad.”

The other day, I thought of my favorite things.  Feeling “Julie Andrews”.  More so when I had to fetch my granddaughter from swim school with my red umbrella. 😀  But really, just thinking of all my favorite things busts any lists.   Even thinking of my favorite “travel-related” things or events or moments can easily fill up a list. No Top Ten list for me here.  It just wouldn’t be fair.  There were far too many random acts of kindness here and all over the world that I still vividly remember to this day.  And these were random acts of kindness from strangers.  Complete strangers.  I did not even bother to get their names.  The ones I got, I promptly forgot. Quick kind acts;  instant good deeds. As the good book says:   ASK, BELIEVE AND CLAIM!  You guys pray for angels before and while traveling? I do. All the time.  And it never fails to amaze me the many shapes, forms and “colors” of the angels sent my way.

No Top 10 List.  But 2 stand out, worthy of mention.

Back in 1986. I was in Scotland for a weekend. Right in the middle of winter.  Trained in from Bradford, England.  Walked around Inverness and decided to join this local tour around Loch Ness.  You know, that famous monster the size of a dinosaur that claimed a whole lake as its official residence?  Well, Nessie the Monster that was. Or is.  The local tour cost me £7 back in ’86.  Not cheap ,  based on my cash-starved pockets at the time.   I was sleeping in pension houses for only £8 a day (low season), and that goes with that very heavy English (or Scottish)  breakfast which is about the only proper meal of the day for me.

The local tour is like a family outing.  The driver cum tour guide with his blue van, and all 8 of us “kids” at the back. Yeah, that’s how he called us.  He, without a name.  Lol. Sounds like a Lord Voldemort line from Harry Potter. 🙂 But he was really a nice guy, acting out like a dad to us “kids”.  He made 2 stops before proceeding to the lake.  He also divided us into 2 groups of 4 members each.  Each group was given a grocery list.  I was with the 1st group, and promptly took over the shopping assignment.  Bread, cheese and some cold cuts.   The 2nd group was assigned to take care of the drinks.  Hot choco, water and orange juice.  We were having a picnic by the lake………IN WINTER!

Have I managed to bore you with all these details?  Alright, I’d get on with it.  The local tour guide finished his job. We who paid £7 each were satisfied.  When it was over,  he who has no name invited me and another Fil-Am, and a Brazilian to his house for lunch.  Not one to pass up a free meal (cheapskate!),  we accepted the invitation without thinking why we 3 were singled out and the other 5 were not invited.  It was a simple but filling lunch. Some kind of meat loaf dished out by his charming, hospitable wife who was just as surprised as we were to be invited to their home. Over cups of steaming hot tea (with milk),  he who has no name told us a story.  He used to be with the army.  Had stints in the Philippines and somewhere in South America (not Brazil).   He said he met locals who have shown him random acts of kindness which he will never forget.  Not much details.  But there it was, pure sincerity.   And then, he fishes wads of bills from his pocket and told us not to take offense but he would be returning our payment of £7 each.  He said it was the only way he knew how to return the “favor”.   Imagine that!  I got a free tour, a picnic and a free lunch.   Yet more than that is what stuck in my mind. All these years,  I have been conscious of the chances, the opportunities to “return the favor”.   Let those random acts of kindness roll…………all around the world.

Nanjing Misadventure

The 2nd random act of kindness happened in Nanjing, China.  Yes,  that’s where I had this freaky accident.  But I don’t want to spoil my Scotland monologue with this 2nd story.  Perhaps you should read it another time.  Dwell on the Scotland story and he who has no name.   If I can sketch,  I can illustrate every facial feature of this kind charming man. Think about it.  He was my angel.  The girl who has the knack for ending up with her last US$20 in her pocket back in those days.  Or take weekend trips at the height of winter because lodgings and tours are way cheaper then. A sucker for low-season deals.

When you’re done and care to know the 2nd story,  come read about my Nanjing Misadventure.  

P.S. Back in those pre-digicam days, I took very few photos of my trip because having the films developed cost a fortune.  I also had with me the cheapest camera you can find, as these blurry photos show.  But I wrote my travel journals even then.  Diaries. That’s what they were called.  Not blogs. After many years, I am now able to publish them! What’s that? I should keep it private? TMI? Who cares? I’m too old to keep secrets.   🙂

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