National Museum, Manila, the Philippines

THIS IS A REVELATION. I have to start this really good as I must admit that I hate myself for not having been back to this place since long time ago. I studied in Manila for 4 years and worked there for about 5 years and never have I been back to this wonderful museum. I vaguely remember my school trip to this museum when I was in elementary. I could not even remember whether it was in elementary or high school but it is definitely more than 16 years since I have been to this place.

Sketches and Photographs: Kawah Putih and Bandung, West Java, Indonesia

When you are living in Jakarta, there are not many things to see and do than to go to malls and eat. Your only option, if you are not flying out, is to visit nearby provinces like Bandung, Bogor and other parts of West Java. But getting there can be hellish because the traffic that happens in Jakarta happens everywhere in this part of Java, which is just crazy traffic.

City Sketches: Paris, Marseille, Aix, Barcelona and Madrid.

During my trip to France and Spain, I have taken the time to sketch the places and things that I liked. I have posted this on Instagram and I have compiled it all here to show my sketches during my travel.

Port Vieux, Marseille

Alhambra and the town of Granada, Spain

This charming little town of Granada situated in the Southern part of Spain is a lush town surrounded by vineyard. It was summer when I went there but the old charm of the place is just wonderful. The town is tucked in with the view of Alhambra, a UNESCO World Heritage site, which is the grandest place to see in Granada. This place is made up of Islamic architecture and have been well maintained.

Alhambra is easily accessible by local buses but if you are the adventurous type, you may hike up from center of the town. Despite the number of tourists coming here, the center of the town does not look like it gets very crowded from any time of the day. I love how laid back the whole town feels like even though there is an existence of a lot of modern establishments. Granada, or Pomegranate, or grenade if I will translate it from my language, is a place I would definitely enjoy to retire with a bottle of red wine on my hand.

Barcelona: Gaudi's city and its old modern charm.

Barcelona is a place I have dreamed of going ever since I watched the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. That was the very first Olympics I have seen and I was barely 11 years old at that time. But I did not know that there are even more fascinating places to see aside from the Olympic Stadium. Through  years of waiting, I have learned about many places you can visit in Barcelona and up until the last two years, I have met fellow The Little Prince book collectors who live in Barcelona.

This city is one place I would definitely go back to. It is just an amazing mix of art, food and culture. And its people are quite relax and easy going.

Here are photos from my trip in Barcelona from July 3 to 8, 2016.

Marseille and Aix-en-Provence

Marseille, a port city, and Aix, a landlocked town, both in Provence, Southern France are two of the best places I have seen in this country. These two cities are completely different yet it left me with the hope of coming back again.

Here are photos of Marseille.

Photographs from Paris

Paris has been blogged by many so I am just posting the pictures from my trip. But to sum it up, the best places for me are:

1. Best Museum - Musee D'Orsay

Musee D' Orsay - is an old train station that was converted into an enormous  museum and well-packed with arts that were really impressive for me. A vast collection of the best works of Claude Monet and Paul Cezanne, two of the most iconic Impressionist artists I know and some of Van Gogh's great works are here as well.