Sumatra was an adventure I could not forget. This was my
first trip to Indonesia back in 2010. I was in a midst of losing my work permit
in Singapore so I gave myself a 5 day trip to the western part of one of the
biggest islands in Indonesia. I tagged along with my very good Indonesian friend
Naga and met two other friends and locals of the city of Medan. The city is a bustling
area of cars, pollution, trains and markets alive with throngs of people
getting their own business day by day which makes me think of Manila in the
early 90s except with the tons of motorbikes streaming around the main roads
and pedestrians like they are the kings of traffic. But it is not the city we
came for, we were gearing for meeting up with the elephants that lies within
the deep forest in the rural town of Tangkahan. It was my first to see, touch,
ride and watch as they poop their way out in the river as part of their morning
rituals. The elephants in this town are well taken care of. Well it was my
first time seeing them in their natural habitat so I guess this is what normal
looks like. The best thing about the place is that very few people come to see
this place and the presence of Caucasians is very minimal. The odd thing on
this trip is that I never thought I will meet fellow Filipinos who are also on
their vacation from working in Medan.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Monday, July 15, 2013
Singapore Sling
The day was Saturday, 31st of May 2008, I was
getting ready to catch the last flight of Cebu Pacific to Singapore. The flight
was 8:50 PM and arrived in Singapore at approximately 12:20 AM the following
day. And from that day on, my venture outside of my home country began. I left
Manila quietly with the knowledge of my family and some friends. I wanted to
tell my other friends too but then I decided not to. I wanted to wait for the
time I settled in Singapore before telling everyone that I moved. Yes I was
full of surprises but there were many things that surprised me too during that
time. Who would have thought that I would bump into a good friend, well the
husband of my good friend, in one of the most awkward places in Singapore? And
that friend happened to be unaware of my whereabouts since I left my first job
in Christmas of 2006. So then I have to tell everyone on my current diaspora
and thank God for social media that reaching out to them made it quite a smooth
transition.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Happy Birthday!
Today is July 10, Wednesday which means tomorrow is my birthday. It is my first time talking about my birthday which I happen to celebrate with people I know like Kathryn Sabalza, Jimson Uranza, Zyra Sotto and of course one of my favourite and a revered author Mr. Bo Sanchez. Who would have thought I will know a lot of people who celebrates the same day we were all born. Anyway, so I do not really celebrate my birthday except for going out of a small dinner or lunch or whatever with the special people I carefully chose. I do not really like to be the centre of everyone's attention but there is nothing you can do. People know its my birthday and I can't do anything about it. But on this day of my birthday I only have one terrible wish. I know it is a long shot but I have always been a big fan of "The Little Prince" and I want to be the first Filipino to establish something that has relevance to this book. I am sure many has read the book and are aware of the morals presented. But I dream of something else.
In Brazil, there is a hospital named Hospital Pequeno Principe which translates to Little Prince Hospital. In Taiwan, they have City Cafe which is decorated with everything about the Little Prince. There is The Little Prince Museum in Hakone, Japan while Korea has Petit France which proudly honours St. Exupery's works and the Little Prince. And In Europe, there are so many I do not know what else to mention. The book has been published and printed in 270 languages world wide and still counting. It has been printed in Tagalog as well although the translation and book is somewhat a dismay to me compared to the books from other countries that I have seen. For a start, I wish I can publish the book in an English and Tagalog version side by side and I want the book to to look presentable. After the book, I will put up a cafe aptly named The Little Cafe. And then maybe after the cafe hits off then I will put up a foundation and this one I am sure to name it Ang Munting Prinsipe Foundation. The main aim of the soon to be founded foundation is to help less fortunate children to learn how read and write properly. Let us just start small. Humble beginnings have great rewards in the end.
Anyway, Happy Birthday and I wish me many more years to come to accomplish these dreams someday. Someday.
In Brazil, there is a hospital named Hospital Pequeno Principe which translates to Little Prince Hospital. In Taiwan, they have City Cafe which is decorated with everything about the Little Prince. There is The Little Prince Museum in Hakone, Japan while Korea has Petit France which proudly honours St. Exupery's works and the Little Prince. And In Europe, there are so many I do not know what else to mention. The book has been published and printed in 270 languages world wide and still counting. It has been printed in Tagalog as well although the translation and book is somewhat a dismay to me compared to the books from other countries that I have seen. For a start, I wish I can publish the book in an English and Tagalog version side by side and I want the book to to look presentable. After the book, I will put up a cafe aptly named The Little Cafe. And then maybe after the cafe hits off then I will put up a foundation and this one I am sure to name it Ang Munting Prinsipe Foundation. The main aim of the soon to be founded foundation is to help less fortunate children to learn how read and write properly. Let us just start small. Humble beginnings have great rewards in the end.
Anyway, Happy Birthday and I wish me many more years to come to accomplish these dreams someday. Someday.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Bangkok Jam
“My first trip to Bangkok and it was great. The
places I've seen are awesome. The food is gastronomically delectable. And the
people are nice and will always give you a smile. Bangkok has preserved its
richness in culture as they have maintained most of their temples and palaces
which is the cradle of their religion, which is Buddhism. You will be impressed
with the grandiose of all these temples located far from the other side of
Bangkok's central business district. You will also be amazed to see a lot of flashy
neon coloured taxis (like pink, green, blue and orange) that it would be so
hard for you to hail the taxi as you will not be able to see whether it is
available or not because they are just too bright to look at.”
Monday, July 8, 2013
And So I'm Back.
It has been 3 years since I last had an entry on my blog.
I am wondering what kept me busy. Well as you may know I am a teacher. I teach
children with special needs and have been in this profession for 5 years. I am
not blaming my job that I didn’t get to write. I wanted to write but was quite
lazy to do so. Then Facebook came so I kind of lost my interest to blogging and
just ventured to writing notes and stories on my photo albums about the things
I have done. But now I have a lot of time to spare to update this blog. I have
left Singapore and moved to Jakarta about a month ago. (Well the Singapore
story will come to you in a later time) I am quite not busy these days so I
decided to rekindle my forgone affair with blogger.com. I want to focus on my
writing about travels and life experiences since I left the Philippines last
May 2008. That decision to leave the country gave me a different perspective of
how I should see life. The last five years was a whirlwind of sort. I have had
many experiences, surprises, made a lot friends and saw many places. But as
what all Filipinos would say, “There is no place like home”, it is quite true
unless you find a better place to start a new life.
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The Little Prince Book Collection
My collection of The Little Prince book in different language is not that big yet but I am very proud of what I have collected ever since I...
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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 l...
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Here are some of my previous sketch work of Intramuros in Manila, Philippines I have done. Sketches were done using watercolor and ink. ...
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The Mehrangarh Fort at Day For a semi-neophyte traveler like me, visiting India can be quite overwhelming. I could say I am confident a...