Sonya's Garden Steps

When my cousins were here last month, we brought them to Sonya's Garden to enjoy this fresh food.

Cousins Presence at Greenhome

Photo shows video-taping the visit and kuwentuhan of the Velez, Jarencio and Pilar cousins at our Greenhome. Notice how big and bright our Samsung TV set?



It was the first visit of many cousins at our Greenhome. My cousins, Renelle (with EJ), Benjamin and Patrick, together with their mom, Tita Nenen, had arrived only a few days ago to bring home the ashes of their dad.


Alao invited for dinner were Monet and Greg Jarencio. When I was still in high school, during the mid-70s (wow, decades ago), I remember, Tita Serging, mom of Monet and Greg, having family and relatives at their home in Lacosn Street, Mandaluyong, for lunch on New Year's Day.

Fritzi had been our guest before. She lives just a few blocks from our Greenhome and had become close to Chief and myself, since, we got back from Vietnam in 2005.

Cecile got off early from work to get some Max Fried Chicken and cook pasta for our cousins, Wednesday, 25 June 2008

Clouds of Daet

Last Tuesday, Miguel and I, guided by my cousin, Larry Pioquinto, on-board a tricycle, visited dad's ancestral property in Daet, Camarines Norte. And I took these photos of clouds around Catandunganon.



It was also Miguel's first-ever visit to my dad (his lolo) hometown. He seemed to enjoy walking across the ricefields.

Daet Catherdal

Mid-Sunday afternoon, Robert brought Miguel and I to the new Daet Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity. The place was empty but the presence of Christ could be felt.


I took a few moments to pray for my dad and Tito Rene who had very recently moved on. Guess that was one of the purpose why I am in Daet this weekend.

Below are pictures I took of the Cathedral.



Outside the cathedral lies other buildings which include a multi-purpose hall and the residence of the bishop. What was nice and warm about the place is the presence of trees that shadowed some of the buildings.

Daet, Camarines Norte

Miguel and I are in Daet, Camarines Norte right now. Arrived here last Saturday morning via Philtranco Bus # 795 and will stay here up to Tuesday night. Robert and Cely Pilar will be our kind host for these next few days.


Photo of the Municipal Building. See the Toyota? See Miguel and Robert inside? According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 80,632 people in 16,267 households. The town is a popular surfing spot among surfers worldwide. I remember when I was in high school and my lolo and I made summer trips to Daet and would visit Bagasbas Beach, which had waves similar to the opening credits of Hawai Five-O.



Today, it still has the rice fields but sadly many of the agricultural lands have been converted into growing communities within subdivisions. Maybe, one of the reasons for the rice shortage?

At this Jollibee outlet, we had breakfast and lunch and met Sandy Sumalde. She is a student at the Camarines Norte State College and currently working at this outlet.

These are banners outside the Pineapple Resort, which was reportedly built with a cost of ___ million pesos. You would need to confirm the exact figure. When Miguel (my nephew), Robert Pilar (my cousin) and I visited it Sunday afternoon, there were quite a few visitors.

Trey's Crosswinds House

It was Monday morning when Trey and I took steps outside the comforts of our home and the shade to practice his photography skills. He been snapping pictures of us and his mom and dad, and brother, Rad, and the Parejas all day long. Now he needed to train his eyes on bigger subject matters. Like these pictures of the house during our weekend at Crosswinds in Tagaytay last 8-9 April 2008.

I asked him to photograph the house using the clouds, the trees and the shade as other elements as part of his composition. I even asked Trey to bend his knees a little, or even kneel on the ground to get a better perspective of the house. He would easily follow my instructions. Just very eager to snap a picture using my Canon "Rebel" DSLR.

Chairs and Faith

A few weeks ago, I attended the Inter-faith rally held at Liwasang Bonifacio, Manila. This was the first time I had attended or photographed a rally, since the martial law anniversary rally held at the corner of Paseo de Roxas, a couple of years ago.

But this was my first time to set foot again in Liwasang Bonifacio, probably since the mid-80s, at the height of the "yellow revolution" against President Marcos.

I arrived early at Liwasang Bonifacio, coming from my Friday class in UST.

And snapped these pictures of empty chairs.


One of Manila's famous landmark, the Central Post Office, is seen at the background. Gosh, I haven't entered that building in years. I remember I used to come to the Central Post Office a lot during the 70s, when I was in high school to pick up mails from my penpals.


The Philippine flag flies proudly as a network camera tries to find the best angle to cover the rally. Still the empty chairs await the rallyists! It was already around 2:30pm.


A religious statue stands in the middle of the row of chairs. Am sure many will be inspired to pursue the quest for truth. But how long will it take?


A few minutes after Mayor Alfredo Lim arrived, the rallyists started to arrive too! But they wouldn't sit on the empty chairs.

Trees at Crosswinds

Last weekend, I took pictures of these trees in Crosswinds, Tagaytay. Close friends gathered for a weekend away from the city crowds to enjoy the fresh breeze.



The house in the photo above smelled the flavors of good home-cooked meals by Marivic Pareja. Our weekend meals included my favorite kare-kare!

It was early Monday morning when Chief and I took a leisurely walk through the wide roads of Crosswinds. With my Canon “Rebel” DSLR, I snapped these photos of the “Trees @ Crosswinds.”




No cars on this wide-paved road. Just a few joggers like my best friend, Cesar Pareja.





How many houses can you see behind these trees?



A few years from now, these will be full-grown pine trees that will give more meaning to the lines, "I think I shall never see a poem more lovier than a tree."

Crowswinds Tagaytay has over 100 hectares of residential pine estate. There is peace and privacy. Tranquility amidst a rolling terrain and a green environment.

It just took us less than two hours to drive up to Tagaytay Sunday morning. This included a brief stop at the Petron Station along NLEX and since it was a long weekend, many urbanites were lined up at McDonalds. Chief had her usual Sausage McMuffin (without eggs) while I got my usual two-piece pancakes.

Yes, “Life Is Great” at Crosswinds and many thanks to Bob's brother Eleazar, for allowing us to see the beauty of trees at Crosswinds, Tagaytay!

Shops Around Camigiun

This is the souvenir shop outside the Sto, Nino Cold Spring, where the boys, including myself had our first taste of Camigiun water. For lunch, we had chicken adobo and grilled pork chop... and rice, all costing around 400 plus pesos. Entrance to the Cold Spring was 10 pesos. T-shirts?


This is the souvenir shop outside the entrance of the waterfalls. Sorry, I forgot the name. Will look it up later. We didn't take a dip at the falls. It was too cold and we were pressed for time to move on with our day tour around the island.

Splash Against A Ferry Boat

On the way back to Cagayan de Oro, coming from Camigiun, I asked Miguel to join me boat-side (am not sure if that is the right term), so I could snap some pictures of waves and islands as our own ferry boat moved towards Cagayan de Oro.

Then, another ferry boat was moving towards the same direction... and I took these pictures of a ferry boat, riding the waves.



And I tried to capture the waves splashing against the side of our own boat and create an impression of a splash against another ferry boat.


Christie Que and I captured our own images but got splashed along the way.

Hazards of photography!

Signs of the times in March

Last Friday afternoon, I brought my Canon EOS camera to Liwasang Bonifacio and snapped a few pictures that captures the signs of the times, as the youth cry out against corruption and injustice.







Yes, many want the President to resign, but is the VP a better alternative? Can the country afford to go through an election with guns, goons and gold and eveb blood spilled on the streets?


As we enter the Holy Week, it is definitely time to take a long and serious look at ourselves, our community and country... and maybe, respond to the CBCP's call for communal action.

22 years ago

I will upload soon pictures from 22 years ago which I took with my old Canon A=1 SLR during the 1st people power revolution.

Yup, I was one of the millions of Filipinos who were at EDSA and even inside Camp Crame and Malacanang Palace.

EDSA in 1986

Will upload pictures that I took when I joined millions of Filipinos in 1986 for the 1st "people power" revolution.

Makati Skyline

Soon

The Span of the Golden Gate

In the 1970s, I would only watch scenes around the Golden Gate bridge in the TV series "Streets of San Francisco." Now, Cecile and I are enjoying the span of the Golden Gate. And one day is not enough to absorb all the trivia and stories behind one of the most popular bridges in the world.

Streets of San Francisco

One of the highlights of our US trip this year is our one-day visit to San Francisco. And we didn't even really... really go around the city.

Jackson Heights

This is the street sign of 84th Street, in Jackson Heights, where Cecile and I stayed during our visit to the East Coast last Deember 2007.

Will soon upload photos of Jackson Heights. But none of the bomb shelters.

New York Food

Georgia's Diner serves Greek food. This was the first diner where Patrick brought us after he had picked us up at JFK International Airport when we arrived in New York City last 24 December 2007. And that was already around 2am.


Cafe Andalucia Bar and Restaurant is a restaurant somewhere in "Hell's Kitchen" where my cousin, Patrick, brought us for our first dinner together. We walked around a couple of blocks to find this place. Good exercise to prep us for the good food and initimate crowd (only around 4 persons at that time) and very friendly and warm service on a cold winter night.

More Broadway

Soon

Lights at the heart of Times Square

Last Wednesday, 02 January 2008, Cecile and I were walking around Broadway, before and after we had watched "Young Frankenstein" and "The Color Purple."

Walking around Broadway, specially, after an evening performance gives us an adrenalin rush of awe and delight. The lights around Broadway add glitter to any Broadway production.

Can you imagine all the euphoria and excitement of thousands of people, nearly simultaneously, exiting theatre doors around Broadway? I can't but Cecile and I have shared that feeling after watching "The Color Purple" on this trip to the East Coast.


But the lights around Broadway can sometimes shine brighter than stage lights.

Before the sun sets in Times Square

On the first day of 2008, Cecile and I walked around Times Square. While we missed the drop of the ball last night, we still felt part of the celebration in the comfort of Olwen's home in Jackson Heights.



Today is a holiday, no Broadway show. Some stores were closed. Planet Hollywood was open. McDonald's was full of tourists, mostly from Europe. Some Japanese and Koreans. A few Filipino families. But all admired the larger than life advertising billboards and lights before the sunset presents a show of its own around Times Square. And the kids and not so young at heart like me would never be disappointed going around Toys R Us!