Paths of silence/Watery World Wednesday

"When you sit in silence long enough, you learn that silence has a motion.  It glides over you without shape of form, exactly like water.  Its color is silver.  And silence has a sound you hear only after hours of wading inside it.  The sound is soft, like flute notes rising up, like the words of glass speaking.  Then there comes a point when you must shatter the blindness of its words, the blindness of its light." 

~ Anne Spolen, The Shape of Water

Linking to Watery World-Wednesday

Orange slush/Mandarin Orange Monday

A glass of orange slush I had the other day.  

Heaven in sheared flakes of ice

that kissed me back.

"Of hunger and thirst, thirst is the greater imperative." 

~Yann Martel, Life of Pi

Linking to Mandarin Orange Monday

Liliw-Majayjay River

I was in Liliw, Laguna province over the weekend for the "Tsinelas Festival", and after roaming the streets of Liliw the whole morning, we drove a few minutes away from the town center to a bridge.  The bridge is at the boundary of  Liliw and Majayjay, small highland towns nestled at the foothills of Mount Banahaw.

From the bridge, we looked down to a river where folks were swimming and preparing their picnic lunch.      The aroma of grilled pork made us all hungry. :p 

The water was clear, and I found out later, refreshingly cold!  It was a very hot day, probably about 35 degrees C---I wished I brought some extra clothes so I could take a dip in the water.

I envy this girl---watched how she bravely managed the rocks and finally took a dive into the pool.  She's a lucky girl to have a place like this to enjoy in the summer.

Clumps of bamboo trees provided cooling shades; fronds rustled and pattered in the summer breeze, singing a duet with the gentle rippling sound of the river.

This river is about 100 kilometers south of Manila, approximately 1.5 to 2-hour drive.

Linking to Our World Tuesday
Water World Wednesday

Cool blue/Blue Monday

A wading pool at a friend's house in Tagaytay City.  A cool spot on a hot summer day.

Linking to Blue Monday

Abstract 15/NF Abstract

Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair...

Linking to NF Abstract

Dusty pink dream/SWF

In a Wonderland they lie, 

Dreaming as the days go by, 

Dreaming as the summers die:  

Ever drifting down the stream---

Lingering in the golden gleam---

Life, what is it but a dream?

~ Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass

Remembering my father on his 71st birthday.  Happy birthday, Tatay!

Sky-watchers from around the world meet @ Sky-Watch Friday

A summer sunset/SWF

I walk without flinching through the burning cathedral of the summer.  My bank of wild grass is majestic and full of music.  It is a fire that solitude presses against my lips.  

~ Violette Leduc

Join sky-watchers from around the world at Sky-Watch Friday

Fountain by the Bay/Water World Wednesday

This past week was a scorcher.  I didn't go out of town for the 4-day holiday to avoid traffic, crowded terminals, ports and airports.  The Mall of Asia reopened on Black Saturday and we decided to have dinner there after I bought plane tickets for a late April trip.  Behind the mall, SM By the Bay was very crowded.  People were catching breezes from Manila Bay, dining at seafood restaurants, watching street performers, enjoying the rides, binging on junk food or just hanging out by the seawall. 

Fritz enjoyed all the attention as he strutted around the park.  By 9 o'clock, both Fritz and my mother were exhausted.

As always, I gravitated towards the fountain---it's a popular spot to cool off on hot and humid nights.  And as usual, I forgot to check my camera settings.:p

Linking to Water World Wednesday hosted by Kim

Semana Santa/OWT

For Christians around the world, today is Holy Tuesday.  The Philippines, a predominantly Catholic nation, celebrates Semana Santa (Holy Week) this week.  Semana Santa is a significant religious festival here, most businesses either shut down operations or have later opening and earlier closing times.  Local TV networks and radio stations have limited broadcasting hours or show religious programs only. No rock music over the airwaves during Holy Week.:p

I grew up watching these processions every year on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.   The processions were major events that we looked forward to when we were kids.  Floats with life-size statues representing the Passion of Christ are paraded all over town with accompanying music.  Devotees walking all the way from the church, across town and back.

Prominent families usually own a float which was handed down from generations, some of the antique statues were sculpted in Spain.  A relative on my mother's side of the family owns one of these floats---a parcel of rice field is farmed to finance the expenses of the statue---flowers, decorations, robe/fabric, gas to power up the lights, food to feed those who prepares the statue every year and for the family and friends who walk beside the float.

I had a personal favorite when I was a kid---a statue of the Mater Dolorosa.  She was beautiful, her eyes were so sad, her robe was always stunning, and she left a scent of perfume.  I didn't see her during this procession though--or I missed her because of the crowd.  I hope the owner has not retired her yet.

I am not a Catholic and my Semana Santa pilgrimage is more of nostalgia, of returning to my roots, of reliving my childhood---to hold hands with cousins and aunts while watching the procession passing by our street, to see familiar smiles and faces.

 The Santo Entiero, (the image of a dead Christ) encased in a glass casket is usually the last float in the procession.  The glass casket is guarded towards the end of the procession as people tend to grab the flowers---devotees believe that flowers from the Santo Entiero float bring good luck to fishermen.

This year, I am not going home for the Semana Santa but will visit nearby towns to watch the processions.  I am still thinking if I'd like to see some self-flagellation or crucifixion on Good Friday.  Let's see where my feet would take me.:p

These photos were taken last year on Good Friday in my mother's hometown of Valladolid in Negros Occidental.

Linking to Our World - Tuesday

Wet, Wet, Wet/OWT and WW

Summer has officially arrived and it's been sizzling hot in Metro Manila.  Last week, the hottest day in 2012 was recorded at 34.4 degrees Celsius.  And expect hotter days [and nights] in the coming months, according to the weather bureau.  

On Sunday afternoon, Fritz and I drove to High Street to cool down and look what we found!

Kids frolicking at the fountain.  They were absolutely having a great time.
Some parents screamed and ran after their children but kids just wanted to get wet.  I heard a dad telling his two boys that the car seat would get wet and the younger boy reasoned that he would sit on the floor. *LOL*

A mom was trying to convince her daughter that the water was dirty, "It's from the toilet," she said.  "But it doesn't smell, Mom!" rolled her eyes and ran to join other kids at the fountain.  Parents looked on helplessly as their kids get soaked, they didn't expect that a Sunday stroll at the mall would end up in a shower party.

Children were fun to watch, they danced in the water with total abandon.  I'm sure the adults watching wished they could join in, too.  I nudged Fritz towards the fountain but he hates to get his paws wet.:p

"If there is magic on this planet, it is contained on water." ~ Loran Eisely

@ Bonifacio High Street, Global City

Linking to Our World - Tuesday and Watery Wednesday

Bright, clear/Maliwanag [LP and T2Q]

@ mirandablue

Ngayong panahon na ng tag-ulan, di ko maiwasang magbalik-tanaw sa nagdaang summer.  Nakaka-miss ang matingkad na sikat ng araw, maliwanag na kalangitan at ang masarap na bakasyon.  Kahit maalinsangan, sana laging summer na lang.  Ayoko ng walang katapusang ulan!

Join us at Litratong Pinoy

Now that the monsoon rains have started, I can't help but look back at the joys of summer.  I miss the bright and delicious sunshine, clear blue skies and delightful vacation.  Even when it's hot and humid, I wish it's always summer.  Rain sniveling endlessly is not my favorite thing.

@ mirandablue

For Thursday 2 Questions - you are invited to answer and join the fun.

1)  Why spring/summer/autumn/winter is your favorite season?

2)  What do you normally do on a rainy weekend?

Remembering summer [Watery Wednesday]

@ mirandablue

Our outrigger anchored at the shores of Anjawan Island, a small private island in southern Negros Occidental.  Across the bay is the rugged coast of Sipalay, once a mining town, now a tourist destination.  These were taken last summer (early March) during a family vacation.

Summer is the time when one sheds one's tensions with one's clothes, and the right kind of day is jeweled balm for the battered spirit.  A few of those days and you can become drunk with the belief that all's right with the world.  ~Ada Louise Huxtable

@ mirandablue

My contribution to Watery Wednesday