And as a Filipino OPM (Original Pilipino Music) by Hotdog song goes: ManilaI keep coming back to ManilaSimply no place like ManilaManila I’m coming home TRAVEL DIARY: PHILIPPINES I should say that there are things that I don’t miss in the Philippines… the corrupt government is on top of my list. The sticky feeling that…
Weekend Sky in Makati
Sunrise on the 6th floor of my sister’s place. On the foreground are condominiums and highrise that are very common in the Makati skyline. Makati is the central business district of the Philippines and every time I go back home it takes me a long time to recognise where we are because of the new…
“Manila I am coming home“
“Maybe you had to leave in order to really miss a place; maybe you had to travel to figure out how beloved your starting point was.” – Jodi Picoult So how long has it been? It was 2016 when we last stepped into my beloved homeland. Plan was to go back in 2020 but that…
Saturday Morning Surprise
It is a sunny Saturday morning and I just woke up. When I looked at my phone I saw this message from Tim and I thought it was more from his travels, but it wasn’t…it is from the Spitafiuelds/Shoreditch area in London where he lives. Happy that he was thinking of me while walking around….
Tram Doors
Some trams with new colourful designs that ran around the city of Melbourne. Plus an additional cute elevator door that is just random because it is a leftover photo. Inspired by Dan’s Thursday Doors Challenge
A Sitting Koala
Last Wednesday, I opted not to attend my morning swimming class and just go to a gallery instead. Well, why not? Went to the local Bunjil Place to see the work of Sydney-based artist Rosie Deacon. She is well known for her exuberant sculptural installations, This exhibit is created specifically for Bunjil Place Gallery. SPAGHETTI-STACK-SNUFFLE-SHUFFLE…
I am ready…
Day trips, weekend getaways, a few days of road trips… those don’t count. I am missing those months of lazing around in familiar as well as unfamiliar places doing nothing…. or the planning of itineraries… or walking around in a different country and the excitement that goes with it. Well, for almost five years I…
Windows, Seats & Murals from Marrakech
A continuation of Tim’s photos from Marrakech….just amazing textures of arched windows. The first one is looking very much like a watercolour painting to me. … and some cozy seats to relax on. And lovely wall murals which you may know is one of my favourite pleasures. My son knows me too well that is…
St Kilda Public Art
These are murals found near Acland Street in St Kilda. St Kilda is an inner seaside suburb in Melbourne, 6 km south-east of Melbourne’s CBD. Mural by Bronikart Such a gigantic mural on the doorway of a Backpackers accommodation in Carlisle Street Release the Bats by Melbourne Based Muralist Haden Dewar Back alleyways Graffiti Entrance…
Morocco’s Arches and Doors
Tim and Leigh are still on holidays in Marrakech. He sent me loads of photos and some were just in time for today’s topic. So I just want to share some of them for Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge – CMMC and for Dan’s Thursday Doors Challenge. The topic for this week for Cee’s Challenge is…
A walk at the Blue Lotus Water Garden
It was only 23 degrees but it was quite warm as it is summer. So a spray of mist at the start of our walk kept us going. This is called the Bridge of Mist. Inspired by Jo’s Monday Walk Jez’s Water Water Everywhere At first we didn’t know how big the place was… until…
Pink Lotus
“As a lotus flower is born in water, grows in water and rises out of water to stand above it unsoiled, so I, born in the world, raised in the world having overcome the world, live unsoiled by the world.” – Buddha The Blue Lotus Water Garden is now in full bloom… from late December…
Near & Far
The windows of a Bar and Bottleshop called Near & Far in the corner of Brunswick Street and Rose Street in Fitzroy, Victoria. Inspired by Ludwig’s Monday Windows Challenge
Macro Monday
“A rain drop is a living crystalFull of life and awareness Bringing hope, love and happiness to nature’s need. Knowing that in giving of itselfIt will soon cease to be.”(Malcolm Southwood) Inspired by Cee’s Flower of he Day Challenge Xingfumama’s Whatsoever is Lovely Challenge
Melbourne Skyline
Melbourne skyline from the bay in Brighton, a suburb in the South-east of the CBD. Another image of the Melbourne skyline from the bridge overlooking the Yarra River in the CBD. Bluish cast of the Melbourne skyline, a shot taken while walking through Westgarth Street in Northcote, a suburb in the north-east of the CBD….
A walk in the Montalto Winery
We went on a short getaway last April to Rye and on our way home we had lunch at the Montalto Winery in Red Hill. This is a late post and I just didn’t get the chance to write about this. Anyway, the winery is located in Red Hill, a small town on the Mornington…
After the rain
“There’s always something better after the rain.” – unknown Inspired by Cee’s Flower of the Day Challenge
A Guest Post for Tuesday
“Maybe it’s just a daughter’s job to piss off her mother.” . Chuck Palahniuk Diary I was thinking of a topic to write about and this suddenly came to mind. What if I let my kids write something about me. So today, i asked my daughter, Pat, to be my guest blogger. Jack often tells…
Tudor Village in Fitzroy Gardens
In the middle of Fitzroy Gardens is this village modelled by Edgar Wilson, a pensioner from Hamilton Road, Norwood, London, England. He did this task as a hobby. The buildings represent a typical Kentish village during the “Tudor” period of the English history. There are 28 concrete buildings in the village. This village is composed…
Over the Merri Creek Bridge
It was Christmas Day and as the little kids were all excited to play with their new toys and the young adults were happily exchanging gifts…. the adults with their tummies full decided to walk and burn a few calories down. Had a short walk around the Northcote area, an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria,…
Before the year ends…
I know I was supposed to have my last post last Thursday…but I can’t stop myself, especially when I visited all the Christmas decor in the city. Caught up with my daughter for late lunch last Monday and Jack and I walked the town til dark. I love taking the train…one because it is cheaper…
Snowfall down Tim’s Street
“To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake it is necessary to stand out in the cold.” – Aristotle I know it is nice and all but I can’t imagine myself living in a place with snow 24/7. But I just love these photos that Tim sent me when he went for a walk down his…
Trams and more trams
Images of tram murals which I have compiled through the years. Natalie’s Photographing Public Art Challenge This first one is the common design of our Melbourne tram while the others are special, random ones.
The Holocaust Memorials
“And now, a prayer—or rather, a piece of advice: let there be comradeship among you. We are all brothers, and we are all suffering the same fate. The same smoke floats over all our heads. Help one another. It is the only way to survive.” — Elie Wiesel, Night …and on a serious note… I…
Public Art in Budapest
“My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece.” – Claude Monet You’ll be surprised with the number of Monuments, Statues and Streetart all around the streets of Budapest.…But if you’re like me and my husband, every time we look for a place in google maps, we get lost. Why is it that my kids can find…
A rainy day in Budapest
“I told them they’d see me walking in the rain in Budapest.” – Mary Chapin Carpenter’ TRAVEL DIARY: BUDAPEST DAY 3 Our fifth and last day in Budapest was very cold and wet but that didn’t stop hubby and I to make the most of our day. We decided to go back to those places…
The quaint little town of Szentendre
“It is always sad to leave a place to which one knows one will never return. Such are the melancolies du Voyage: perhaps they are one of the most rewarding things about travelling.” – unknown TRAVEL DIARY: SZENTENDRE On the 17th of November, 2018 we went on a day trip to Szentendre (St Andrews), just…
A walk on the PEST side of Budapest
“There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.” – Robert Louis Stevenson The following day, the 16th of November 2018, took us to the opposite side of the Danube River, the PEST side of Budapest. From our hotel we crossed the Széchenyi Chain Bridge to get to the other side….
A day in BUDApest
“Europe’s most underrated big city, Budapest can be as challenging as it is enchanting.” – Rick Steves TRAVEL DIARY: BUDAPEST DAY 2 It was a wonderful morning in November of 2018 and this was the view from the hotel where we stayed. Budapest, Hungary’s capital, is divided into two parts by the River Danube. The…