More Mag-aso Falls Pictures

Like a Spark

Great travel ideas come to us like a spark. Usually, they're not a result of so much planning and careful thought. They appear out of nowhere, like a bright spark in the middle of a dark sky and suddenly spread out like fireworks - bright, colorful and exciting. They call you to just go, not next month or next year, but tomorrow. It's a call at the back of your head telling you to start packing now.

This reminds me of an English guy who said he doesn't normally think so much about his upcoming trips. He just packs his things and goes to wherever it is he needs, or wants, to go. His favorite website? You guessed it -- Lastminute.com it is. :)

This is not a call to all of you to leave your jobs and pack your bags, like, now na. It's reminder that we don't need to "engineer" our trips so much, and even the way we live our lives. That where to go will come to you when you least expect it. That sometimes, places off the beaten track can actually define a trip.

Weekends

Good weekends, good travel experiences make you feel like jelly. They give you this bright, colorful, yet warm feeling inside, like everything's right with the world. Sometimes it's a matter of perspective, or the company you're with, or the place you're in. It could happen in any of the following ways:

• Under the sun, on the beach
• Under the water while snorkeling (off the coast of Batangas possibly)
• Inside a stupa in Bangkok
• Gazing up at the gigantic Wat Po buddha
• At home on a calm and lazy Sunday afternoon
• While feeding bangus in a fish pen on a river
• Having Southern barbeque with live country music
• Walking city streets on weekends
• Driving on a stretch of road to somewhere (no traffic!)
• Walking in Greenbelt in Makati
• Sitting at a table at Seattle's Best while watching "older people" dance the night away at Cafe Havana
• Riding a boat, with really nowhere to go
• Or, having a cheeseburger at a McDonald's with free wifi access :)

Lightning Storm As Seen From Makati

Who saw this lightning storm in Makati City six days ago?



No wonder the storm was like that. This was taken around 3am of Wednesday morning (or was it Thursday??). Weird, right?

It Takes Clouds to Make a Glorious Beaufort Sunrise

Around two and a half years ago, I got invited by a friend to go to Beaufort, South Carolina. I have been looking for the pictures from that trip for years now. While poking through my email accounts (yes, I maintain several email accounts), I found pictures from that trip that I emailed to myself years ago. Past disaster recovery plan trainings are working, I guess.

We arrived in Beaufort at night, just long enough to meet our host, my friend's family friend who were gracious enough to let us stay at their lake cabin. The next day, we woke up very early in the morning to go crabbing. Going around in the dark, the morning light slowly crept on the horizon. Everything was still and quiet. The picture above is a testament to that beautiful moment when you get afraid to even whisper.

Then the clouds came. Big, glorious clouds that we all went scrambling to get our cameras to get pictures. It was still silent, the water was calm, but the clouds made our day. As they say, it takes clouds to make a glorious sunrise.

Turning My Back on Pyrolympics 2008

Early yesterday, things were calm, peaceful and great. But when my sister wanted me to go the Mall of Asia to meet with them, that was when the pandemonium started. It seemed like all of Manila was there. It turns out, it was the fourth night of the 2008 World Pyro Olympics, or Pyrolympics for short. It's a fireworks competition that goes from supposedly 6pm to 8pm but an insider told me when I was there that it's from 7pm to 9pm. Probably because summer is already here and we have longer days.

The best ways to watch it is by either watching from a skyscraper in Makati or Manila, a hotel near Manila Bay, or going to the SM Mall of Asia. When at the mall, you can pay PHP150 to watch from the ground floor, but there are no seats and there can be quite a throng there. Another way is to "reserve" tables at the veranda restaurants that face the bay; but the restaurants mostly offer "set menus" that can from PHP700-1,000. It's a good deal in a way, but a little expensive for me. Kind of. You can reserve by going to the tables near the areas marked "Reservation Desks" near the seaside area at the Entertainment Center.

I didn't watch it last night. It was too chaotic for me, a little too disorganized and expensive. Besides, I had to rush home to catch the Great King Sejong on KBS World. But if you're into this, do plan for it and go. The fireworks can be quite nice, I saw it once while traveling to the airport.

The last night of the Pyrolympics will be on May 31, 2008 (Saturday) and I believe it will be France vs. Philippines. Happy gazing.

Dreamy Morning Drives

There's a road in the Druid Hills neighborhood of Atlanta, GA that winds through dreamy homes, where people regularly do their morning jogs and a canopy of trees shade you from the hot Southern sun. For several weeks, I had to pass by this neighborhood where some of Atlanta's wealthiest citizens live. My morning drive consisted of going through Peachtree Street, then Ponce de Leon Avenue, a left on Clifton Road at the corner of the Druid Hills Golf and Country Club, and winding my way up to North Decatur Road. At first, I dreaded the drive, where the roads are crooked and the maximum speed is only 25 mph. But after a while, I began to enjoy it, I began to appreciate the landscape designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, the place and "ambience" of the neighborhood.

Coming from the Philippines, where the drivers are kind of suicidal, I found it funny to have to stop everywhere there's a stop sign printed on the road and on intersections, when I was running at a top speed of 23 mph. I noticed too, that everyone was very courteous, so when at an intersection, I stop, and when there's another car coming from the other side, I wave and yield to the other driver. It wasn't a place run by stoplights, it was the South after all, where grace and good manners were de rigeur.

Sometimes we face uncertainty, find ourselves at a new place or are forced to be where we don't want to be. But sometimes, with a little bit of luck and effort, we can find ourself enjoying the place and the whole experience.