№ 761. Happy Feet 2

Quezon City, February 2024

“At some point, all the horizontal trips in the world stop compensating for the need to go deep, into somewhere challenging and unexpected; movement makes most sense when grounded in stillness.In an age of speed, I began to think, nothing could be more invigorating than going slow. In an age of distraction, nothing could feel more luxurious than paying attention. And in an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than sitting still.” --- Pico Iyer

Uluru / Ayers Rock, Norther Territory, Australia, July 2023

№ 751. Paris Flea Market at Saint Ouen

 

№ 707. 2024 Philippine Holidays & Long Weekends

 

Guide to the Philippines

№ 684. Mont Saint Michel

Flickr.com

 

№ 654. Traveling

“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” ---Ibn Battuta

 

 

Reader's Digest

№ 603. The Hippie Trail

majalahka.com

№ 590. Travel

You’ve said that you don’t keep track of how many countries you’ve visited. Why is that?

Why would you? Is it a contest? Anybody who brags about how many countries they’ve been to — that’s no basis for the value of the travel they’ve done. You could have been to 100 countries and learned nothing, or you can go to Mexico and be a citizen of the planet. I find that there’s no correlation between people who count their countries and people who open their heart and their soul to the cultures they’re in.

 

Mercury News

 

№ 460. Lonely Planet

Khao San Road

Ajahn Buddhadasa, a famous Thai monk who passed away in 1993, once told me, "You know why you like to travel? Everywhere you go, nothing belongs to you. When you're home surrounded by your possessions, you're weighed down."

I think he was right; it's liberating being stripped down to one suitcase, which is how I still travel, in the original Lonely Planet style.

№ 453. Paris 2012

№ 452. Venice 2012

 

№ 444. Virtual Tours in the Age of Covid

Max Gustafson

Here's a safer and cheaper way to travel while the world is on quarantine: virtual tours.

Soon, I think, we can reinvent the internet and involve the other senses in the virtual tours. For example, we can walk through the tour and touch the exhibits, if allowed. Or smell and taste them, if the curators want us to sample them.

Fast forward to science fiction reality about a hundred years from now. After this 2020 pandemic becomes an uneventful entry in history, I look forward to teleporting directly to any tourist attraction, museum, restaurant, concert on the planet or off.

Teleporting will dispense with a lot of the necessary inconveniences of travel in the present like check-in, immigration, pre-departure wait and baggage carousels. Viruses and other contaminants, like terrorists, can also be safely isolated in the ether before they reach their destinations. Some thought.

№ 359. South Korea Through Square Lenses 2

№ 358. South Korea Through Square Lenses 1

D-Day:

Demilitarized Zone, Dongdaemon Design Park, Duty-Free Shopping, Digital Economy, Zero-Gravity Drop from the wooden roller coaster, Deeelicious Street Food.

№ 348. Siargao Through Square Lenses 1

Two-hour long flight from Manila and one-hour van ride from the airport later: Cloud Nine! Instagram and heavenly bodies!

A cancelled room booking? No problemo. Here's to sand on the heels, breezy, beach side happy hours at 4 PM on a Friday!

Cold showers and creaking bathroom doors? Throw in that crusty, flaky croissant. And that steaming espresso, too!

Heavy rains en route to the mangrove forest reserve? Crabs buffet for five, quick. And an extended three-hour paddle board-swim in the emerald lagoon.

No dessert? No serving spoon? No wifi? Nothing that a quickie surf lesson before departure and lechon Cebu during the lay-over won't fix.

More lemons please!

№ 323. Hokkaido Through Square Lenses 2

More pictures, field trips and food finds....

№ 318. Eden, It's Worth the Adventure

№ 184. Venice Through Square Lenses (2)

2 August 2014

Pictures for now, coherent narrative to follow. But in my defense, a picture is worth a thousand words. This is worth at least about 5,000, then.

---oOo---

5 August 2014

Ok, here are the random, arguably, still incoherent narratives to go with the photos.

If there's one thing near omnipresent in Venice, it is the sea. The air is redolent with the faint, cool smell of salt. The briny scent accents the insular feel of the mazes of canals, alleys, dead ends, pocket parks, Churches, courtyards, private gardens and quays. To be sure, Venice's maritime roots and history are expressed indelibly in its surrounding moats and waters. Perhaps because of the city's affinity with the Adriatic, its people also draw near the shores and congregate just about anywhere near the sea--- where the view is unfailing and grand.

If one tires of the crowds, as I often did, it's not difficult to lose them. Go away from the shores and head inland, into the sanctuary of the old structures. One really need only to stray from the tourist vortices by the sea such as the Rialto, St. Mark's Square, the grand passage facing the Lido on the San Marco's south side and the sidewalks along the Grand Canal.

There are more than enough unexplored and often deserted alleys and Churches that offer quiet breaks from the horde.

№ 180. Venice Through Square Lenses

St. Mark's Square at 7 AM, May 2014. Pre-wedding photo deals are,
I think, trending among Chinese. I saw a few of these
during the three-day stay.  

It's been three months since the late spring visit. I finally have the time to post these itinerant snap shots.

Venice, after my first visit more than ten years ago, has lost none of its magic. It's still littered with tourists and their trash. This time there are more Chinese than Japanese and Americans combined. I was one of them.

St. Mark's appears half-emptied after the tourists dispersed,
mostly back to Mestre. Venice, May 2014.

№ 175. Romblon: Visita Iglesia via the Nautical Highway

Philippine Nautical Highway

If my recollection is accurate, the Strong Republic Nautical Highway plan was announced in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, in 2003, during the time of Arroyo's besieged administration. It aimed to provide a backbone of safe and affordable sea and land transportation for people and goods throughout the archipelago. At least in theory then.

Of course, as with most infrastructure projects, they required huge investments in capital, political will and other essential agents of good governance. Did we mention complex mobilization of resources? Ports, roads and highways had to be built, terminals and transport companies had to be managed and operated and the business models had to pass feasibility.

№ 77. Beach Hives

Even if  the skin were lathered with thick, titanium sunscreen, 36 degrees sizzles it to a crispy, caramel hue fit for a fiesta centerpiece: our beloved lechon.

So we find enough excuses and leaves to kick off the dry season (aka summer) and dash to the nearest waterhole.

El Nido, check. Boracay, check. Palaui, Pagudpud and Panglao, check, check, check. But Siargao and Bantayan. Here we come.

========

"Picking a favorite beach in the Philippines is like trying to pick a favorite child. 

Challenging, but not impossible. With more than 7,000 islands edged by white sand buffering turquoise waters filled with some of the world's most diverse marine life, not everyone will agree on which one is best. Disagree with our picks? Share your favorite Filipino island or beach in the comments box below.

 1. El Nido, Palawan

 

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