Edgewater [OWT and WW]

A friend and her husband recently bought a beach-front property at Edgewater in Subic Freeport.  I was invited to spend the weekend with another friend, BL. These photos were taken in front of the beach house--it's overlooking a small cove in Subic Bay.

Edgewater is a cluster of privately-owned villas inside the former US naval base.  Across the bay is the Subic mountain range.

Linking to Our World Tuesday and Watery Wednesday

A door in Vigan/Monday Doorways

One of the doorways along the historic Calle Crisologo in Vigan.

Linking to Louis la Vache's Monday Doorways

Fluffy & Dark/Saturday Photo Hunt

Fritz' fluffy fur---

A tongue twister

His dark, adoring eyes,

unconscious of their power

to melt even the toughest heart

Linking to Saturday Photo Hunt and Keyhole Pictures

Domino's Shrimpus Pizza

I have a soft spot for Domino's Pizza.  An old flame used to bring Domino's Pizza when he visited me at home---this was in the late 80's.:o)  For more than a decade, I didn't see any Domino's Pizza, and then they opened a branch at Silver City-Frontera Verde!  This is my current favorite--Shrimpus Pizza, I just love the delicate flavor of shrimp and cheese.

 Domino's Pizza - Shrimpus Pizza

Posted for Food Friday and Food Trip Friday

Quiet Cove/Watery Wednesday

A quiet cove in Punta Bulata.  

No man should go through life  without once experiencing healthy, even bored solitude in the wilderness, finding himself depending solely on himself and thereby learning his true and hidden strength.  ~ Jack Kerouac

 

Get virtually wet at Watery Wednesday

Rice fields/OWT

Rice farming is a major agriculture industry in the Philippines.  No meal is complete without rice---breakfast, lunch or dinner, rice is always a part of every meal.  But there is more to rice fields than its use for growing rice.  A wide range of plants and animal species exist in rice fields.  It's one of the biggest ecosystems that can be found in the tropics.  

This is one of the rice fields we passed by while riding through the backroads of Negros Occidental.

Linking to Our World Tuesday

Sunday Bridges/Rural bridge

A tiny wooden bridge in Busuanga Island I spotted on the way to the airport.  Took this photo from the back of the moving van.

Linking to Louis' Sunday Bridges

Animals & Bliss/Photo-Hunt

These two photos were taken in different areas of Busuanga Island.  From Busuanga airport to our hotel, I noticed a herd of cows in the field, some even crossed the road  to join their compadres on the other side (even cows adhere to the illusion that the grasses are greener and tastier on the other side :p). I wondered out loud if there were road accidents here caused by these animals, and our driver confirmed it.  But as everyone who lives in the island knows about cows walking around this pasture reserve, the driver said that running over a cow is just plain recklessness.  The cows belong to the King Yulo Ranch, a 40-hectare cattle ranch that is supposedly the largest ranch in southeast Asia, but the number of cattle has dwindled over the years. The ranch was sequestered by the government more than 20 years ago based on allegations that it was part of the ill-gotten wealth of the owners, who were tagged as cronies of an ousted president.

From Coron town, we climbed Mount Tapyas, the second highest point in the island.  The views from the top were pure bliss---the grass-covered hills, the silhouettes of nearby islands, the natural beauty of this island, are simply soothing to the senses.

Linking to Saturday Photo-Hunt and Keyhole Pictures

Count your blessings/SWF

If one could only learn to appreciate the little things...A song that takes you away, for there are those who cannot hear.  The beauty of a sunset, for there are those who cannot see.  The warmth and safety of your home, for there are those who are homeless.  Time spent with good friends for there are those who are lonely.  A walk along the beach for there are those who cannot walk.  The little things are what life is all about.  Search your soul and learn to appreciate.

~ Shadi Souferian

Linking to Sky-Watch Friday

Dwarf Roses/Red Hot Thursday

@ mirandablue

"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, wait occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common---this is my symphony."

~ William Henry Channing

@ mirandablue

Linking to Red Hot Thursday

Drive-by in Calamianes/Watery Wednesday

Drive-by shots of limestone mountains and islands in Calamianes while were in an outrigger boat. Most of the islands are uninhibited, some are privately-owned.

Calamian Group of Islands, northern Palawan

Linking to Watery Wednesday

Crisologo Museum/Monday Doorways & Our World-Tuesday

My first contribution to Monday Doorways---another meme to enjoy.

The main door of the Crisologo Museum in Vigan, Ilocos Sur.  It is housed in a century-old mansion of the Crisologos, a prominent political clan in Vigan.  The museum was established after the patriarch of the family, Floro Crisologo, then a Congressman, was gunned down inside the cathedral in 1970 just as he stood up at Sunday mass to fall in line for communion.  The murder hasn't been solved.

The rooms in the Crisologo mansion exhibit family photos, book collection, antique furniture and china, gowns and shoes of the widow, religious artifacts and other memorabilia.  It basically shows how the family lived in those days---the 20-seat dining table fits the life of a political family.

Crime scene photos, the slain politician's bloody clothes and shoes, news clippings of the murder occupy the former office at the ground floor of the mansion.  They are too gruesome to be posted here.  Crisologo's widow Carmeling, then the provincial governor, promised she wouldn't take any action to exact revenge and she didn't.  But her eldest son Bingbong did, infamously burning down a village occupied by supporters of their family's political opponent.  He went to jail for that and became a born-again Christian.  Some years after his release from prison, he was elected to Congress. Source

Receiving/Living room

The master's bedroom

Vigan is now a safe place, with its 18th century ambiance and calming rhythm of  kalesas clattering on cobblestone streets.  But long before Ninoy Aquino's murder on the airport tarmac, Crisologo's killing inside the cathedral symbolized just how bloody Philippine politics is.  Source

Linking to Our World Tuesday

Circular/Saturday Photo Hunt

Circular concrete culverts at the embankment of a river in Manapla, Negros Occidental.

Linking to Saturday Photo Hunt

Lunch @ Mey Lin

Kangkong with Garlic

Met a girlfriend for lunch after Christmas to shop for our wedding gift for our friend's son.  I skipped breakfast that morning and I was starving by 11 am.  Our first choice was Man Hann but it was full, Mey Lin was a good second choice.  Besides I have been craving for clams in oyster sauce, and I got my wish.  The fried salted spareribs was a compromise.:p

Fried Salted Spareribs 

Clams in ginger and oyster sauce

Linking to Food Friday and Food Trip Friday