Miranda

Silliman Hall/Monday Doorways

2012-02-12T23:06:00.004+08:00

Silliman Hall, built in 1903, is the oldest building at Silliman University in Dumaguete City. This building serves as the university's Anthropology Museum. Silliman U was the first American private school in the Philippines established by Presbyterians in 1901.

My contribution to Louis' Monday Doorways

Sparklers/SWF

2012-02-09T23:19:00.002+08:00

Sunbeams like diamonds falling through sunshine.

Triboa Bay, Subic

Linking to Sky-Watch Friday

Pesto Shrimp Pasta

2012-02-09T21:28:00.002+08:00

This is something I made for Media Noche on New Year's eve---Pesto Shrimp Pasta paired with pesto bread.

Linking with Food Friday and Food Trip Friday

Reflection/Watery Wednesday

2012-02-07T22:16:00.001+08:00

In reflecting on the times of my life, it occurs to me that the difficult, arduous experiences always pass, or at least wane to a tolerable level. On the other hand, thankfully, the positive, uplifting aspects of my life journey seem to hold strong and steady throughout, as long as I appreciate and nurture them.

~ David Weatherford

Taken from Edgewater, Subic Freeport

January 29, 2012

Linking to Watery Wednesday

Banca/Blue Monday

2012-02-06T10:36:00.004+08:00

A favored local form of transport has always been the banca, a type of outrigger boat native to the Philippines. Bancas are used for fishing, transporting produce and people. This is just one of the options we use in getting around the islands.

Linking to Blue Monday

Makeshift bridge/Sunday Bridges

2012-02-04T23:15:00.002+08:00

A makeshift bridge at a beach resort crossing a small creek that leads to a mangrove. Various vehicles crossed this bridge---a motorbike, a tricycle, a pick-up truck, and a carabao-driven carriage.

My contribution to Sunday Bridges

Skywatching @ Edgewater [SWF]

2012-02-02T21:01:00.002+08:00

Subic Bay turned into liquid gold as the sun slowly retired behind the Subic mountains.

The birds, the waves, my spirit fell silent at God's poetry.

Captured this golden afternoon at Edgewater on Sunday.

True silence is the rest of the mind; it is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment. ~ William Penn

Some days, we just need to turn the quiet up. ~ Dr. Sun Wolf

More beautiful skies from around the world at Sky-Watch Friday

Edgewater [OWT and WW]

2012-01-31T01:05:00.001+08:00

A friend and her husband recently bought a beach-front property at Edgewater in Subic Freeport. I was invited to spend the weekend with another friend, BL. These photos were taken in front of the beach house--it's overlooking a small cove in Subic Bay.

Edgewater is a cluster of privately-owned villas inside the former US naval base. Across the bay is the Subic mountain range.

Linking to Our World Tuesday and Watery Wednesday

A door in Vigan/Monday Doorways

2012-01-29T22:57:00.003+08:00

One of the doorways along the historic Calle Crisologo in Vigan.

Linking to Louis la Vache's Monday Doorways

Fluffy & Dark/Saturday Photo Hunt

2012-01-28T08:16:00.000+08:00

Fritz' fluffy fur---

A tongue twister

His dark, adoring eyes,

unconscious of their power

to melt even the toughest heart

Linking to Saturday Photo Hunt and Keyhole Pictures

Domino's Shrimpus Pizza

2012-01-26T21:49:00.000+08:00

I have a soft spot for Domino's Pizza. An old flame used to bring Domino's Pizza when he visited me at home---this was in the late 80's.:o) For more than a decade, I didn't see any Domino's Pizza, and then they opened a branch at Silver City-Frontera Verde! This is my current favorite--Shrimpus Pizza, I just love the delicate flavor of shrimp and cheese.

Domino's Pizza - Shrimpus Pizza

Posted for Food Friday and Food Trip Friday

Quiet Cove/Watery Wednesday

2012-01-25T01:25:00.015+08:00

A quiet cove in Punta Bulata.

No man should go through life without once experiencing healthy, even bored solitude in the wilderness, finding himself depending solely on himself and thereby learning his true and hidden strength. ~ Jack Kerouac

Get virtually wet at Watery Wednesday

Rice fields/OWT

2012-01-24T02:05:00.000+08:00

Rice farming is a major agriculture industry in the Philippines. No meal is complete without rice---breakfast, lunch or dinner, rice is always a part of every meal. But there is more to rice fields than its use for growing rice. A wide range of plants and animal species exist in rice fields. It's one of the biggest ecosystems that can be found in the tropics.

This is one of the rice fields we passed by while riding through the backroads of Negros Occidental.

Linking to Our World Tuesday

Sunday Bridges/Rural bridge

2012-01-21T23:19:00.000+08:00

A tiny wooden bridge in Busuanga Island I spotted on the way to the airport. Took this photo from the back of the moving van.

Linking to Louis' Sunday Bridges

Animals & Bliss/Photo-Hunt

2012-01-21T09:37:00.002+08:00

These two photos were taken in different areas of Busuanga Island. From Busuanga airport to our hotel, I noticed a herd of cows in the field, some even crossed the road to join their compadres on the other side (even cows adhere to the illusion that the grasses are greener and tastier on the other side :p). I wondered out loud if there were road accidents here caused by these animals, and our driver confirmed it. But as everyone who lives in the island knows about cows walking around this pasture reserve, the driver said that running over a cow is just plain recklessness. The cows belong to the King Yulo Ranch, a 40-hectare cattle ranch that is supposedly the largest ranch in southeast Asia, but the number of cattle has dwindled over the years. The ranch was sequestered by the government more than 20 years ago based on allegations that it was part of the ill-gotten wealth of the owners, who were tagged as cronies of an ousted president.

From Coron town, we climbed Mount Tapyas, the second highest point in the island. The views from the top were pure bliss---the grass-covered hills, the silhouettes of nearby islands, the natural beauty of this island, are simply soothing to the senses.

Linking to Saturday Photo-Hunt and Keyhole Pictures

Count your blessings/SWF

2012-01-20T01:08:00.003+08:00

If one could only learn to appreciate the little things...A song that takes you away, for there are those who cannot hear. The beauty of a sunset, for there are those who cannot see. The warmth and safety of your home, for there are those who are homeless. Time spent with good friends for there are those who are lonely. A walk along the beach for there are those who cannot walk. The little things are what life is all about. Search your soul and learn to appreciate.

~ Shadi Souferian

Linking to Sky-Watch Friday

Dwarf Roses/Red Hot Thursday

2012-01-19T11:20:00.000+08:00

@ mirandablue

"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, wait occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common---this is my symphony."

~ William Henry Channing

@ mirandablue

Linking to Red Hot Thursday

Drive-by in Calamianes/Watery Wednesday

2012-01-18T00:19:00.001+08:00

Drive-by shots of limestone mountains and islands in Calamianes while were in an outrigger boat. Most of the islands are uninhibited, some are privately-owned.

Calamian Group of Islands, northern Palawan

Linking to Watery Wednesday

Crisologo Museum/Monday Doorways & Our World-Tuesday

2012-01-15T22:24:00.004+08:00

My first contribution to Monday Doorways---another meme to enjoy.

The main door of the Crisologo Museum in Vigan, Ilocos Sur. It is housed in a century-old mansion of the Crisologos, a prominent political clan in Vigan. The museum was established after the patriarch of the family, Floro Crisologo, then a Congressman, was gunned down inside the cathedral in 1970 just as he stood up at Sunday mass to fall in line for communion. The murder hasn't been solved.

The rooms in the Crisologo mansion exhibit family photos, book collection, antique furniture and china, gowns and shoes of the widow, religious artifacts and other memorabilia. It basically shows how the family lived in those days---the 20-seat dining table fits the life of a political family.

Crime scene photos, the slain politician's bloody clothes and shoes, news clippings of the murder occupy the former office at the ground floor of the mansion. They are too gruesome to be posted here. Crisologo's widow Carmeling, then the provincial governor, promised she wouldn't take any action to exact revenge and she didn't. But her eldest son Bingbong did, infamously burning down a village occupied by supporters of their family's political opponent. He went to jail for that and became a born-again Christian. Some years after his release from prison, he was elected to Congress. Source

Receiving/Living room

The master's bedroom

Vigan is now a safe place, with its 18th century ambiance and calming rhythm of kalesas clattering on cobblestone streets. But long before Ninoy Aquino's murder on the airport tarmac, Crisologo's killing inside the cathedral symbolized just how bloody Philippine politics is. Source

Linking to Our World Tuesday

Circular/Saturday Photo Hunt

2012-01-14T09:30:00.002+08:00

Circular concrete culverts at the embankment of a river in Manapla, Negros Occidental.

Linking to Saturday Photo Hunt

Lunch @ Mey Lin

2012-01-12T23:01:00.003+08:00

Kangkong with Garlic

Met a girlfriend for lunch after Christmas to shop for our wedding gift for our friend's son. I skipped breakfast that morning and I was starving by 11 am. Our first choice was Man Hann but it was full, Mey Lin was a good second choice. Besides I have been craving for clams in oyster sauce, and I got my wish. The fried salted spareribs was a compromise.:p

Fried Salted Spareribs

Clams in ginger and oyster sauce

Linking to Food Friday and Food Trip Friday

Passion Flower/Red Hot Thursday

2012-01-12T18:51:00.001+08:00

Showy and vibrant red Passion Flower (Passiflora Coccinea).

Linking to Arlene's Red Hot Thursday

Intramuros Fountain/Watery Wednesday

2012-01-10T23:20:00.000+08:00

A fountain at a small courtyard in Intramuros, the oldest and a historic district in Manila.

Linking to Watery Wednesday

Fort Santiago, revisited/OWT

2012-01-09T23:30:00.000+08:00

I am having fun with photo effects.:p And I think these photos are perfect for the vintage effect, don't you think? The top and bottom photos were taken in front of Fort Santiago, an old Spanish fort in the walled city of Intramuros. With these horse-drawn carriages, I was thrown back in time to 1900's Manila. But I was here to attend a modern-day wedding reception at the Plaza de Moriones. My friend's son got married---I couldn't believe it! It was like yesterday when this handsome little boy entertained himself by drawing pictures while us girls were having girl-talk.

my friend, Angie, giving her speech and crying at the same time. she couldn't seem to stop crying.:p Nico, after all, is her first-born.

This building across the entrance of Fort Santiago houses United Philippine Lines (UPL), a manning company for the maritime industry.

Linking to Our World - Tuesday

Blues/Blue Monday

2012-01-09T10:08:00.000+08:00

I am missing these blues, and I am counting the days until my next trip to the beach.

Linking to Smiling Sally's Blue Monday