Monday, August 30, 2010

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Reads

I both these two books in May for two reasons:
1. critical acclaim
2. discounted price


I found Miguel Syjuco's Ilustrado a fun read, with its share of laugh-out-loud moments. I brought it with me to Shanghai and it helped speed up the waiting time at the airport and while in the queue for pavilions at the World Expo. I set about listing the unusual words Syjuco sprinkled into the text, but they ran out early on. The book has an amazing beginning, a somewhat lackluster middle and a good ending. Anybody who has lived in the Philippines will be able to picture it as an interesting film. Having the photo of the author (whose name his protagonist shares) on the back cover makes it easy to visualize.


I felt I needed a bit of magic realism in my life.

A Hundred Years of Solitude is Gabriel Garcia Marquez's epic novel about the Buendia family. The family tree is essential. I do wish they had an updated version of it after every chapter, to prevent spoilers from looking at the complete one. I'm not yet through with the book, but I should get there soon. I'm taking it with me to Busan today.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Burnham Park

I don't think Burnham Park is nice anymore. It's too crowded.

burnham park

burnham park
burnham park

burnham park

This seems to be the one of the city's best known brands: Clean Comfort Rooms.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Good Shepherd Convent garden

IMG_0887 good shepherd convent

Good Shepherd Convent is walking distance from Mines View Park. I appreciated the contrast between the two places. Good Shepherd is known for its food items produced at its Mountain Maid training center. I got myself a container of Alfajor, upon the recommendation of a friend. If you've never tried it, it's worth a taste. That sounds wrong. If you've never tasted it, it's worth a try.

good shepherd convent

good shepherd convent

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The past: AWOL for a few days.
The present: the blog lags three months behind my real life.
The future: posting less regularly.

I do think of you, dear reader. I'll be here when I can.

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Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Tourist trap: Mines View Park

mines view park

mines view park

I no longer understand why people still visit Mines View Park in Baguio, the country's summer capital. The park is full of vendors and people charging you for taking photos with ponies, dogs and indigenous people in costume (I'll spare you those). The view is no longer breathtaking (unless you ran up the steps). It made me very sad.

mines view park

mines view park



mines view park

Monday, August 16, 2010

Words

WORDS from Everynone on Vimeo.

What's the word? The many definitions of common words.

[via Radiolab]


Sunday, August 15, 2010

Seen in Wallpaper September 2010: the old Cebu Pacific cabin crew uniform


In Wallpaper's "cheekiest issue yet", the old Cebu Pacific flight attendant uniform is among the female crew uniforms being modeled from a uniform collection. The current uniform by Bench doesn't stand a chance.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

The blog equivalent of the drunken text in the middle of the night (except half-drunk and aware I shouldn't post this)

I suck as an _____ ____________.
I now have a renewed appreciation for you.
I think of you every time I go to an _____, which is pretty often.
I miss you.
But I don't want you back.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Can you spare five minutes for an Italian romance?

It's an ad, yes, but a beautiful one.



And oh, my work is starting to creep in on the way I write post titles. Yaiks.

"Back so soon?" you ask. Yes and no. There's no way to be sure.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Counterpoint


There is way too much work than I can handle, so you'll have to excuse me until I recover from the load (can't say whether it will take longer than a week or two).

We have another show coming up. See you on August 31 at The Crucible Gallery, SM Megamall.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Friday, August 6, 2010

Stawberry fields

Everything is real. Except for this.

BSU strawberry fields

Benguet State University runs this souvenir and food production center in La Trinidad Valley. There's strawberry picking and strawberry ice cream. I opted for the latter.

BSU strawberry fields

BSU strawberry fields BSU strawberry fields

BSU strawberry fields BSU strawberry fields

BSU strawberry fields

Thursday, August 5, 2010

BenCab Museum: a museum with a view

Just as impressive as the art on view is the setting.

bencab museum

bencab museum bencab museum
bencab museum bencab museum
bencab museum
National Artist's residence

bencab museum

bencab museum

bencab museum

bencab museum

bencab museum

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Weird Wednesday

Today started terribly and ended terribly. I was supposed to work from home but the DSL connection was down. My call to PLDT was so important to them that they put me on hold for 20 minutes before I could talk to a customer service representative.

I ended up working at a cafe because I needed wi-fi. I spent the equivalent of my day's salary in the 10.5 hours I was there because I dare not commute with a laptop.

Why so long? It rained heavily in the afternoon, causing massive traffic jams that lasted until late. Three kilometers took us nearly an hour, and that was already because we went off-road.

"See Abs, life is never fair," said my brother. And he was right. People were walking along the highway because they could not get a ride.

"I've never been as happy to see X-Factor," said my brother about one of the shady clubs on our way home. "I can't wait to get to Nevada (the next shady club)."

"There are stars!" he remarked when we got home. "The rain was there to piss everyone off." And piss everyone off, it did.

But the Internet was restored, I did a fair amount of work and we are all safe and dry. It's just another weird Wednesday.

BenCab Museum: a preview

BenCab Museum is well outside Baguio City proper, but it is easy to get to via public transport. The Km 6 Asin Road jeeps from the police station stops a hundred meters from the museum entrance. If the driver is nice, he will take you all the way there.

I didn't take many photos of the art and wasn't diligent about titles and artists. You have to see the pieces (and if you're lucky, the artist) for yourself.

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Bawal ang manyak at bawal umutot!

bencab museum

bencab museum

bencab museum

bencab museum

bencab museum bencab museum
bencab museum bencab museum
bencab museum

bencab museum

bencab museum bencab museum

bencab museum

bencab museum