Holiday season in Singapore

It's been a while since I last wrote on this blog. It's not because I didnt have anything good things to write about. In fact, This year has been a very busy year in my career and personal life, yet i was able to spend sometime for a vacation to some Asian countries- Thailand and Nepal in February, Malaysia and Myanmar in April, then Singapore this December.
The beginning of Christmas season is evident in the smell, sights and sounds dominating the busiest shopping street of Orchard from the colorful tourist booths to Christmas song by Jose Mari Chan. This time however, I was able to do several things I have never done before and they are as follows:
1. Staying in a backpacker's dormitel and sleeping with a half dozen people from different parts of the globe. Rucksack INN is simply the best. Very clean, friendly staffs, and cheap.
2. Getting my hair cut done at Toni and Guy at S$130 (that's 4500P!) by a Chinese girl with a "bangs hairdo" ( I practically complimented her with her hair and she blushed!)
3. Getting photographed with a half-naked model at Abercrombie and Fich!
4. Took a taste of a mouth watering green tea cake at Mandarin Orchard Hotel cafe
5. Running my first FULL Marathon ( yes that's 42 kilometers!) with the Standard Chartered
6. Watched a movie at Vivo city entitled, the Life of Pi, Yan Martel's booker's prize awardee. A visual feast and unforgettable film which is loyal to the original book ( though I haven't finished reading it yet) probably will earn ANG Lee's several nominations at Oscars.
7. Watched the musical known as Jersey Boys, which I never regretted doing. Practically ignoring JLo's performance at the gardens by the bay. Never expected the music became part of my growing up years.
8. Bought a Leica point and shoot camera
9. Enjoyed Transformers at Universal studios amidst the rain.

TRAVELLING

Travelling..

"... makes you discover that everyone is wrong about other countries...according Huxley
"...the world is a book and those who do not travel only read a page ...according Saint Augustine.
"  how far we travel in life matters far less than those we meet along the way....according to anonymous"

being a traveller (i call myself that because i love to travel-and who doesn't?) makes you broaden your horizon and makes you realize about your love for your country. I loved my country for its deficiencies not only because of its beauty.
And i realize that you cannot have it all.
And i realize theres no reason to complain...

..just looking at the poverty in India,
..the chaotic traffic in Nepal,
..the densely populated Hongkong,
..the breath-taking architectural wonders in Singapore and high rise buildings of Shanghai (while we have nature and realized God gave us those beautiful mountains and volcanoes, and lakes, and beaches)
..the lack of freedom in Vietnam and Laos.
..rudeness and vulgar attitudes of the mainland  (they often yell at you with no apparent reason)
..people cannot congregate in Malaysia
..lost in translation in the former Indochina.


so while people never guessed my nationality ( and i really dont know why..,) 
i would proudly tell them, "No, im very Filipino."

On Suyog Prajapati

People just love bringing memorabilias during their travels.

While people buy keychains, food, refrigerator magnets, souvenir shirts, or religious or artistic figures or images,

I buy things i am passionate about- postage stamps, chess pieces, boats, paintings or drawings, and then books during my travels.

I buy local books from that particular country..

Recently, i bought a book i particularly liked so much because the writer is so much gifted, who at a very young age of 17, was able to publish his first book, entitled "Glimpses from Nepal and Tibet".

This book is about Hindu and Buddhist imagery in Nepal. Handprinted on caustic free handmade lokta paper using handmade blocks. I was thankful with our tour guide when he introduced us to the paper factory and shop known as The Peacock Shop.  I was able to interview his father who proudly showed us his son's second book about Bhaktapur which is not available at that time because of limited printing. The proud father also showed us his son's room and learned that he is also good at photography and oil painting. I was  impressed.

Monument which symbolizes Beauty and Eternal Love -the Taj Majal

     No photos or words can adequately describe the Taj Mahal. I was sceptic at first but I almost cried when i saw the beauty and grandeur of this famous  landmark. I felt the love and longing of the Mughal king for his beloved wife Mumtaz when she died. Oblivious to what Akmad, our Muslim-Indian guide, was saying. I took time taking photos to capture her beauty. 

     The  postcard pictures of Taj Mahal does not adequately convey the legend, the poetry and the romance that shroud what Rabindranath Tagore calls "a teardrop on the cheek of time." 

     Nor the English poet, Edwin Arnold  when he quoted,  "Not a piece of architecture, as other buildings are, but the proud passions of an emperor’s love wrought in living stones" Its true, this building is a celebration of womanhood (according to an Indian 1994 Miss Universe,)

  

Ten Things I Love About Bhutan-Number Nine: Dzongs/Stupas/Chortens

 Chimi Lhakhang (the Divine Madman or Lama Drukpa Kinley Temple)

 Paro Taktsang (Tiger's Nest) Temple

 The National Memorial Chorten, Thimphu

Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten, Punakha

Paro Dzong



Punakha Dzong between the twin rivers built around 1637

Dzongs or fortresses serve as the religious, military, administrative, and social centers of a specific district. They are often the site of an annual tsechu or religious festival in Bhutan.

Stupas or chortens is a mound-like structure containing Bhudhist relics particularly remains of Budha and used by Budhists as a place for worship.

Ten Things I Love About Bhutan: Number Eight- National Philiosophy

Gross National Happiness is better than gross national product is the nation's guiding philosophy. GNH was established in an attempt to develop an indicator of quality of life and social development in a more holistic and psychological terms than the gross national product.

It was initiated by the then forth king in 1972, King Jigme Singye Wangchuk who opened Bhutan to the world in the age of globalization. This concept was organised to build an economy to serve Bhutan's unique culture based on Buddhist spiritual values. There were four pillars of GNH. Promotion of sustainanle development, Preservation and promotion of cultural values, Conservation of natural environment, and establishment of good governance.

Ten Things I Love About Bhutan: Number Seven: Postage Stamps

I was introduced in the wonderful world of philately as a child when i discovered my sister's collections in her old cabinet. She was into the hobby as a teen ager and i remembered her excitement when she would write and receive  letters to or from her pen pals all over the world just to acquire worlwide stamps. I would sneak in her room and secretly get hold of her stamp albums. In my childhood innocence grew a love for those tiny work of art depicting the culture, traditions, landscapes, flora and fauna and famous peoples of a specific nation. It seems odd but when i study each stamp details, i would feel i have been in that specific place where the stamp came from. It was from those stamps where i learned the different odd-sounding names, and currencies of the different countries-from Magyar of Hungary, Sverige of Sweden, Hellas of Greece, to Russian name in Russian alphabets or the Spanish peseta, Macau patacas, and Bhutanese ngultrum. But those were years ago. After acquiring a great number of stamps, i stopped for a while when i started becoming serious with my studies. I am sure the love was still there. Until when i saw the Bhutanese postage stamps. My love for philately was rekindled. I have discovered there were stamps in shapes other than rectangular, square or trangular. There were already round shaped stamps, stamps in 3-D, and stamps in khadi cloth (Indian).

In 2008, Bhutan just released the first CD rom stamps which features their monarchy and their traditions.Quite unusual but it was a brilliant idea to introduce something which brings global appeal in the age of yahoo and facebook. It was not very expensive when i bought it at Thimphu Central Post Office. It costs 250 ngultrum/CD.

Now, i am again seduced into rekindling my old original hobby, that is, stamp collecting.

Mother's Day in the time of Osama's Misfortune

A Tausug Mother & Child Painting

 Mother and Child, Long neck Karen hill tribe, Chiangmai

Mother and child at Paro festival, Bhutan

Mother and child is a timeless art theme.

"The image of mother and child in paintings is something that can be found all around the world, in every culture and religion. Christian paintings use the mother and child particularly frequently to portray the Virgin Mary, and had to communicate the motherly nature and virginal purity of her through their paintings. It was around the Renaissance era that depictions of the Virgin Mary began to be more flattering and concentrated on her beauty and femininity"

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers out there.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3224929

 

Ten Things I Love About Bhutan: Number Six- Arts and Crafts

The most exciting and vital aspects of the Bhutanese tradittion and heritage are found in its arts and crafts. Bhutan is well known for its Zorig Chosum, the thirteen traditional arts and crafts. Art is usually religious in thematic content and usually follow a strict iconographic rules

Lhazo (painting) Four Harmonious Friends is a very popular Bhutanese art theme.The symbol is widely used in homes and work places, as it attracts harmony to the environment and a reminder to respect to elders 

thangka painting

Shingzo or woodwork

Jingzo or Claywork

Tsemzho or tailoring

Dozo or stonework

 

thagzo or weaving

 

Ten Thing I Love About Bhutan: Number Five-Culture and Traditions

 traditional dress in men known as Gho

traditional dancers at a religious-themed festival in Paro

 traditional dress worn by school-aged children

 phallic symbol is a common spectacle in every Bhutanese households

 as a sign of fertility and to ward off evil spirits

Textiles is  Bhutan's premier art. Its the product of centuries of individual creativity in fiber preparation, dyeing, weaving, cutting, stitching and embroidery.The vibrant fabrics and intricate weaves and designs are an inseperable part of Bhutan's rich culture that has evolved over the centuries.

Culture is becoming a rarity in the West. In Asia where every nation boasts off their own rich culture and traditions is becoming endangered because of globalization.

Ten Things I Love ABout Bhutan: Number four-Architecture

Punakha Dzong

Chorten or stupah, Dochula pass

Punakha Dzong

Bhutan National Museum, Thimphu

Doorway of a house along main road, Thimphu

the Divine madman monastery

Architecture is a significant feature of Bhutan's national identitity. Traditional shapes, colors and patterns of Bhutanese architecture are unique. The wooden surfaces such as beams, windows and doors are normally painted with various floral animal and religious motiffs and colors, each with special significance.

Bhutanese law requires all new buildings, public and private to follow the designs and rules of traditional architecture on the exterior.