My Travel Bug

Ever since I can remember, my family has always gone out of town for trips especially during my siblings' and my school vacations.  You wouldn't find us at home almost every Sunday during the summer school break.  At other times, they were spontaneous weekend day trips.  My dad is the sort who likes going out on long drives.  We either go to the beaches or Baguio or Tagaytay way back when.  We all loved and enjoyed these trips.  My dad takes lots of pics too.  

My mom also enjoys her travelling outside of the country.  Whereas my dad only usually does it for business or to visit relatives.  And us kids got our overseas vacations like they were our right of passage in the family.  So growing up, my siblings and I all ended up being travel bugs, some more than the others.  Lol.  It became one of my raisons d'etre for having gone into the career I am in now (IT with multinational companies... means opportunities to work and therefore travel as well, to overseas with minimal visa application hassle.. lol)

Shots of me in San Francisco, Germany, Paris, and Spain

Therefore, for me, as long as I get to explore/travel a city, a rural area, or a place with varying topography, or where I can shoot pics with interesting subjects, I'm happy.  I like this activity better than I do shopping.  And if I'm not shopping for Sanrio items, I best like shopping only when it has something to do with shopping for items for my travel, shopping for souvenirs, or shopping for home decor/items at the country I'm visiting.  Lol.

Music- Eddie Vedder - Long Road (Live Rendition)

...with Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. Reposting from youtube.

Check this youtube link to know more.

Music - Eddie Vedder - Long Road plus Better Days

My two current favorite songs...both by Eddie Vedder.  It's not always that you can find modern music that affects one so.  *sigh*  Reposting both from youtube.

Like one of the youtube comments stated, I heard Pearl Jam music back in university but have only now started to "really appreciate the artistic genius and sheer awesomeness of Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam".

Eddie Vedder certainly is an artist and poet.  Hehe!  Having Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan collaborate on this version of The Long Road is a bonus too.  

I'm glad to have come across these two songs. Thanks to youtube and the film Eat, Pray, Love (a movie I was expecting to hate but ended up liking much after reading the book then seeing the film..) Lol.

The Long Road by Eddie Vedder (with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan)

And I wished for so long?

I cannot stay

Oh, the precious moments...

Cannot stay

It's not like wings have fallen...

I cannot stay

Without you something's missing...

I cannot stay



We all walk the long road

There's no need to say goodbye

All the friends and family

All the memories going round

Round, round, round...

I have wished for so long...

How I wish for you again



We all walk the long road

Cannot stay

There's no need to say goodbye

All the friends and family

All the memories going round

Round, round, round...



I have wished for so long ...

How I wish for you again

How I wished for so long...

How I wish for you today



Will I walk the long road? (3x)

Better Days

I feel part of the universe open up to meet me

My emotion so submerged, broken down to kneel in

Once listening, the voices they came

Had to somehow greet myself, read myself

Heard vibrations within my cells, in my cells

Singing, "Ah-la-ah-ah, ah-la-ah-ah"

My love is safe for the universe

See me now, I'm bursting

On one planet, so many turns

Different worlds

Singing, "Ah-la-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah-ah, ah"

(Spanish guitar solo)

Fill my heart with discipline

Put there for the teaching

In my head see clouds of stairs

Help me as I'm reaching

The future's paved with better days

Not running from something

I'm running towards the day

Wide awake

A whisper once quiet

Now rising to a scream

Right in me

I'm falling, free falling

Words calling me

Up off my knees

I'm soaring and, darling,

You'll be the one that I can need

Still be free

Our future's paved with better days 

My New Toy at Crazy Amazon.com

This is the camera when I first chanced upon the white version of it (finally) at past midnight Manila time on amazon.com about two weeks ago.  Only 1-3 amazon.com merchants (not amazon.com itself) selling  it with one item of it each in stock.

This was the cost of the same camera and model about two days later.  USD 833.50.

This has been the current price posted since about 3 days ago.  USD 1009.98.

Crazy.  I'm glad to see no one has yet bought it at the current price.  You can guess which one I got,  after looking around for this white version of it everywhere online.  hehe!  Bought it as soon as I caught it on amazon.com after days of amazon.com not even selling this white version and not seeing it available elsewhere online for purchase.  And my primary reason for choosing white was because it would be easier to find when I rummage for it in my bag.  Lol!   I really prefer the white one but I also don't mind if I end up with a black one.

See I was looking to buy a point and shoot camera with manual features like with DSLRs... handy

Fireworks at the Manila Bay, Feb. 2011

Some fireworks at SM Mall of Asia from the Portugal team about two weekends ago.  Fireworks were lit from a barge at Manila Bay.

There were a couple more really nice exhibitions with some fireworks resembling flowers and some bursting horizontally across the waters.  It was a great show and it would probably be much better appreciated if the fireworks were accompanied by music.  Hehe!

Only in the Philippines - Dance to Mamang Sorbetero

I was out shopping in Makati with an old friend who just arrived from San Francisco where she's been based for some 20 years now, when we came across the performance above.  It's a folk dance performance to the non-traditional old Tagalog pop tune Mamang Sorbetero.

It was performed by the salespeople at SM Department Store's Kultura store (where you can buy all things Filipiniana or other Philippines souvenirs).  It was really a pleasant surprise.  Sweet too.  We, like the other shoppers around, stopped to watch. I don't know what balikbayan or which adult Filipino at least wouldn't appreciate the performance or found it fun.  Hehe!

I thought at first the employees were just doing a short cheer or something 'cause that's what i think we first heard.

One of My Favorite Stores

That's one of my favorite stores. It's where I go in downtown Manila when I gotta have my Sanrio fix or for other kawaii things like charms and bracelets. It has more choices than  Gift Gate most of the time. Hehe! Been going there since it opened more than 10 years ago. :P Reminds me of Hong Kong.

c
crop of actual photo from cellphone cam as I Ieft the store

Bag and Keychain

Little Twin Stars plush/keychain on my useful little Goyard tote = even more cuteness!  hehe!  

another pic (cellphone pic)

Some people grew up on Disney cartoon characters.  I grew up on Sanrio characters like Little Twin Stars above or Hello Kitty, etc..  hehe!

PH boy survives three days at sea - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

PH boy survives three days at sea - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

This is so sad. Makes one feel really bad and sorry for this 15-year-old boy, and the state of this country in general. Puts things in perspective for one's self, too, doesn't it?  I mean at 15, my siblings and I were 'chauffeur-ed' to and back from school/home (this is probably why I am not fond of driving...Lol) and had maids/'yayas' too.  Whereas this kid had to skip school and brave the elements to boot.  Risked his life basically, just so he and his only immediate living family can survive another day.  One wonders how often this 6th grader has had to do this and for how long has he been doing it.

Sometimes, if you yourself or you know someone who has petty hangups, angst, and what not, this makes one want them to read the article and tell them "Maybe you should read this and stop your drama. Get on with it won't you? Other people have worse problems worth immediately addressing than you do." Lol!

Just my two cents' worth. *shrugs*  Full article below in case the link becomes dead in the future.

Katy Perry - Firework (Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2010) Live

I don't know about you but I enjoyed watching this performance. That's Katy Perry performing her single Firework at the Victoria's Secret fashion show in New York last year. Great creative/art direction and production methinks.  Lighting design alone helped make things livelier, too.  This also makes one definitely agree that U.S. musical artists/performances oftentimes make for the best/most creative entertainment in music, too, in terms of wow/spectacle factor.

I first saw this particular segment only of the show on TV late last year. But I think I was more engaged with watching the dancers and the dance choreography. Fun song, cool choreography. Dancers kind of stole the scene somehow. Wanted to see more scenes of the dancers dancing to that music than of Katy Perry, actually. Lol! Though Katy Perry certainly gave a great performance as well. Hehe!

Enjoy!

Happy New Year - Happy Car Lantern

"You just gotta ignite the light
And let it shine
Just own the night
Like the Fourth of July"

I love this one! I got this mini car lantern, or in other words, a little or mini "parol" for my car's dashboard, as a gift from my aunt. My siblings and I have one each. And mine never fails to make me smile or feel good with it blinking while I drive. I likey!

I created a video of it with my Mac's iMovie HD app...the first time I've ever really used this app after years of owning this trusty 'ol Mac. Good thing I didn't remove it from this PC. Lol!

So anyway, pardon the amateur and crude effort. I was really just trying out the app now that I have more interesting material. hehe! I used 3 video clips from my cellphone camera to edit this video file (above) with a clip of background music Firework by Katy Perry (kinda apt... lol). "Ignite the light, and let it shine...".Hehe!

Here's a clip of one of the other cellphone videos of the mini parol in my car with music from the car radio itself, and with some of my favorite Sanrio characters on the dashboard lol. Happy new year!

Jim Richardson on Travel Photography -- National Geographic

Jim Richardson on Travel Photography -- National Geographic

Lol. This is a great pic. What luck indeed! And those are really huge cattle, gaah.

Liking the Weekend

Just relaxing at home now, after all the new year's eve revelry. Got lazy and skipped a party. Hehe! Took some time out to take pics of my dog who kept me company alone at home, as I watched TV and kept him away from all the noise.

 

my dog, down on the floor while I 

lounged on the couch as I took pics

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays!!!

..some snapshots of some of the xmas decor at home. hehe!

 

This snowman thingie was something I bought at a Xmas flea 

market in the Netherlands for 1 euro.  Hehe!

 

Roma, Italia - So That's What SPQR Means...

 Whenever I travel to new places, I take photos of their manhole covers. Sometimes with my foot on the cover. hehe! The name of the city is usually found on the cover. And taking a pic of them makes for a nice memento of the trip.

Anyway, in Rome, I noticed that the text of the city name "Roma" or "Rome" wasn't on the manhole cover. Instead there's text on it whose significance I didn't know: "SPQR". I remember I was a bit puzzled to read that text there but took some photos of it just the same.

a cropped shot of the actual photo (from my
cellphone cam)

I thought it might be the name of a utility company in Rome, just like when I saw my ex-employer's client's company name on a manhole in Lisbon. The shot of the manhole above, I think it was a manhole at PIazza Venezia or around the Capitoline Hill. And I've since forgotten about it and the "SPQR" text on it.

Sooo... now 5 years later, I watch Ridley Scott's Gladiator for the nth time and checked out its trivia on the imdb.com website. Only to come across that text again, be reminded of my shot of the manhole cover, and learn what the text means. Lol!

I ♥ Sanrio! :P

Gaaah!  If ever there's a store other than a bookstore I should steer clear of, it's called a Sanrio store.  Lol!  :D

I had another Sanrio shopping spree over the weekend.  I really shouldn't be left alone inside Sanrio stores.  :P  Ended up forking out a lot of money again for Sanrio stuff.  Ack!  Above is a pic of my latest Sanrio loot!

My Carryon Trolley Bag

Last year, I decided to shop for a wheeled carryon that can be as light as can be but also as small as can be possible for me considering the things I bring and the sort of packrat I can be when I travel.  Lol.

I decided that this new carryon, for my size and build:

• may or may not have spinner wheels, as long as it's wheeled
• should be as light as possible but still be sturdy
• should be suitable for both business or adventure/leisure travel
• should have clean lines and not look too rugged: can look like a backpack but with no visible external straps flapping about; no mesh-like or netted pockets
• not look like almost every other kind of wheeled carryon (boring, rectangular, rigid, etc.).  So no Samsonite or something similar please.  Lol.
• not be made of hard plastic or shell sort of casing
• small enough to be under carryon regulations by all if not most international airlines
• but roomy enough for lots of pieces of clothing and other non-carryon gear (gadget chargers and batteries, etc.. anyone? hehe)
• has an outer pocket for a laptop, and should be on its front, not back
• one am willing to check in if required to (like with domestic flights with smaller planes)
• one I can stow in the overhead bin by myself

Hence, after checking out two different locations where they sell different brands of carryon bags, I settled on this Eagle Creek wheeled trolley, with the same color as in the pic.

 

http://www.eaglecreek.com/product/20200

Speaking of Which...

Once, on a drive to Tagaytay with someone from the UK, we were driving/travelling along traffic in Cavite via the Coastal Road from Roxas Boulevard in Manila.

I'm not sure but...

someone from the UK: Why is there the term "Executive" on the names of the subdivisions? I've been noticing many of them. (and sort of already pointing out to me one such offending instance).

Me: Huh? Damned if I know. I wish I knew why. *shrugging* Lol!!

But of course I didn't say the above. :P I replied that I don't know either and now that he mentioned it, I've also noticed the same thing unconsciously I suppose (growing up in the Philippines) but never voiced it out to someone yet. They aren't just in the south of Metro Manila but even north too, I'm sure.

We certainly have many strange unexplainable ways of adapting the English language that aren't really used in such ways by native English speakers.  The above sample is just one of them.  You might say before there was the jejemon, there was already a similar pre-jejemon use of English already in our midst, just like above.  That that's the jejemon way of the old.  The only difference being, these jejemons of old spelled words correctly.  Hehe!  :P

The "Welcome To..." Signage

Hello Kitty in Laguna, 13 Nov 2010

You know those "Welcome to " signs that we see sometimes over arches made of stone, concrete, bamboo, metal or a combination thereof whenever one goes to the provinces or even between cities in Metro Manila?

Well, this morning, on a day trip today going up north then back towards the south for photography and culture reasons,  I saw such a sign in Antipolo/Rizal (I still confuse these two) as we were driving up along the winding mountain path there:  Welcome to Moron.  

Huh?  

Moron?

And I said so, baffled, to my trip companions complete with the English pronunciation of it.  The town's name is Moron?  

While a trip companion laughingly rebuts me as soon as I said the above -  
It's Morong!  Silly girl!!

Me: Ay o nga pala.  
:P

Hahahaha!  :D 

Lol, I like This One

Heard this being played on FM radio on my way to work: Upuan by Gloc 9 featuring Jezelle.  It's pretty cool.. Lyrics aren't too senseless too, turns out.  It's got a socio-political message coming across pretty clearly.

Kayo po na naka upo
Subukan nyo namang tumayo
At baka matanaw
At baka matanaw ninyo
Ang tunay na kalagayan ko

Tao po nandyan po ba kayo sa loob ng
Malaking bahay at malawak na bakuran
Mataas na pader pinapaligiran
At naka pilang mga mamahaling sasakyan
Mga bantay na laging bulong ng bulong
Wala namang kasal pero marami ang naka barong
Lumakas man ang ulan ay walang butas ang bubong
Mga plato’t kutsara na hindi kilala ang tutong
Ang kanin ay sing puti ng gatas na nasa kahon
At kahit na hindi pasko sa lamesa ay may hamon
Ang sarap sigurong manirahan sa bahay na ganyan
Sabi pa nila ay dito mo rin matatagpuan
Ang tao na nagmamay ari ng isang upuan
Na pag may pagkakataoy pinag aagawan
Kaya naman hindi nya pinakakawalan
Kung makikita ko lamang sya ay aking sisigawan ng

Kayo po na naka upo
Subukan nyo namang tumayo
At baka matanaw
At baka matanaw ninyo
Ang tunay na kalagayan ko

Mawalang galang na po sa taong nakaupo
Alam nyo bang pantakal ng bigas namin ay di puno
Ang dingding ng bahay namin ay pinagtagpi tagping yero
Sa gabi ay sobrang init na tumutunaw ng yelo
Na di kayang bilhin upang ilagay sa inumin
Pinakulong tubig sa lumang takureng uling uling
Gamit ang panggatong na inanod lamang sa estero
Na nagsisilbing kusina sa umagay aming banyo
Ang aking inay na may kayamanang isang kaldero
Na nagagamit lang pag ang aking ama ay sumweldo
Pero kulang na kulang parin ulam na toyo’t asin
Ang singkwenta pesos sa maghapoy pagkakasyahin
Di ko alam kung talagang maramingharang
O mataas lang ang bakod o nagbubulag bulagan
Lamang po kayo kahit sa dami ng pera nyo
Walang doktor na makapagpapalinaw ng mata nyo
Kaya

Huwag kang masyadong halata
Bato bato sa langit
Ang tamaay huwag magalit
Bato bato bato sa langit
Ang tamaan ay
Huwag masyadong halata
Huwag kang masyadong halata