
Spurred Butterfly Pea
Spurred Butterfly Pea
A blessed weekend🙏
T.
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I had a very busy November and December, and this busy-ness is not ending with the end of 2020. Yet, I am very grateful for so many things, and I’m sure we all can find things to be grateful for even though we may have suffered some.
But life has always been like that, hasn’t it? We win some; we lose some. We can acknowledge the pain, but we shouldn’t let it stop us from living because life isn’t all pain. There are joys, too. We just have to open our eyes and hearts to them.
Thank you for visiting my blog. I wish you and those you hold dear all the best for 2021. May we all find more reasons to be grateful in this new year. 🙏🙏🙏🙏
Therese 01/01/21
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Labors of love for food.Lens Artists Photo Challenge: A labor of love
Have a lovely week! ♥️
T.
I caught this caterpillar feeding and quenching its thirst this morning. It was a treat to see this.
Have a lovely week!
T.
Snapped this picture early this morning in my garden.
Gardening is fun! ☀️🌼🌺
I took these photos the morning after an evening of heavy rain that nearly got our house flooded.
I think it’s important to find something to be grateful for and happy about after a stressful time. And the flowers in my garden give me just what I need.
Have a lovely day/evening!
T.
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I’ve been so busy I haven’t had time to write or read (except for the news and short FB posts.)
I need to unwind, but….
This is a photo of a flower in my garden. I don’t even know what it’s called. I have to look it up. If you know its name, please let me know. 🙏
Have a great week!
T.
It’s Saturday, so my cousins and I went biking AND hiking!
We went to see the place where we used to spend our weekends when we were kids. It has become a jungle over the years because of neglect, but we hope to change that. Soon. ♥️
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May your days be happily spent with the ones you love. ♥️
Have a lovely week!
T.
My mornings begin with a visit to my garden, and each time, a new bud makes me smile. How can I possibly have a bad day when my garden always gives me a reason to smile?
May our mornings always begin with a smile. ♥️
T.
Every weekend now since early June, I go biking with my cousins, and each time I make sure to take lots of photos. These are some of my favorite ones.
My cousin Giovanni
My cousin Gina
Have a fun week! 🚴☀️
T.
“A flower’s appeal is in its contradictions — so delicate in form yet strong in fragrance, so small in size yet big in beauty, so short in life yet long on effect.”– Terri Guillemets
This week Patti challenges us to show how we crop pictures we took, and for people like me who don’t know much about photography, the explanation/reason she gives for cropping her photos, are really helpful.
Before the crop:
As I am not quite good at focus, almost all pictures I take get cropped!
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there!🌹
T.
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Though I prefer to remember everything I’ve ever gone through — even embarrassing, painful ones, I can understand those who would rather forget.
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May your love grow strong though this pandemic keeps you physically apart. ♥️🙏
T.
T.
This week Amy challenges us to post pictures of home.
For years after my father died, my mother was the core of our home — everything planned or decided depended on what was good for her. This was especially true in her last years. Because I worked away from home and only came to visit twice a year, home was my mother.
Though she has passed on, we still keep some of the stuff that was part of her daily routine — such as her rosary beads which she prayed daily, twice a day.
Now that she’s gone, the attention has shifted to the young ones — my son and my nephews.
Where home in the past was the sight of my mother praying and the sound of her voice directing the cleaning of the house, these days it’s the sound of my son’s endless chatter and the banging on (not really playing) the (not computer) keyboard, ukulele and of course the sound of my voice constantly reminding him to quiet down.
Our home is probably the noisiest in our community (thankfully we are all relatives — all first cousins who understand– living in separate detached houses), but for as long as my son is happily noisy making what he thinks is music, I’m fine with it.
Happy weekend!
T.
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Have a lovely week !
T.
We had a beautiful warm morning today
I’ve been busy flying and being a full-time mom since Christmas. Hopefully I’ll have some time to write when I fly home again later this week.
I wish you all the most peaceful and fulfilling 2020! 🙏🏽🎉
I just came across this photo challenge and thought I’d join in as I have several photos of things yellow!
In response to Amy’s challenge this week, I am using photos I’ve taken in our local supermarket. Two of my favorite fruits are in this collection — mangoes and durian! Yes, durian! I know, for sure, most people dislike the smell of durian, but let me tell you, I love it! And the smell of it makes my mouth water. Lol.
Durian ice cream, durian smoothie, durian cheesecake….
I love durian.
So for this photo challenge, I am also challenging you to be brave and give durian a try! 😉
Happy Sunday!
T.
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I am a morning person, but my husband isn’t. But once in a while I can get him to go out for a walk with me early in the morning.
This morning we had beautiful weather at 15C (59F) and walking past the lake I spied an egret (one of the few who haven’t migrated south). To me it was a beautiful sight, and made me smile. (I know I sound like a drama queen, but it is that easy to make me feel happy!)
And it came to me that there’s so much beauty to see early in the morning that people fail to see because they are still in bed. I feel lucky to be able to see and be touched by such a simple sight.
I hope you find something to make you smile today.
Happy weekend!
T.
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Leaving the office today, I looked up at the sky and saw the clouds. I wanted to capture the image of the tree with the clouds as the background, and the result is, to me, much nicer than I imagined. To me, it looks like something I would really like to paint, if only I could!
Liberty State Park, New Jersey
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Kempinski Hotel, Xiamen
Kempinski Hotel, Xiamen
Christmas tree in our house in the Philippines. Picture taken by my sister
Tiny Christmas tree in my apartment in Xiamen
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As a child, I loved climbing trees. There used to be guava trees in front of our house before my uncle built his house there and a java apple fruit tree behind one of my aunts’ house, which is behind our house. My grandfather made sure all his 8 children lived in the same place, so where I grew up there are 7 detached houses where my mother and her siblings had built their homes.)
My sisters, cousins and I used to climb the trees in the afternoons and sit on the branches (we were all young and thin!) and pick fruits. We were all pretty good at climbing back then. (I can probably still climb but I don’t think any of my sisters or cousins will dare! Lol!)
So whenever I see a tree, I judge it as being climbable or not. Part of me really wants to climb when I see street trees (here they are mango trees) , but living in the city, I don’t want to embarrass myself. A couple of years ago, I went to visit my former professor and he had a very climbable tree in his yard, so I asked if I could climb and sit in it. Being eccentric himself, he said, “Why not?” So, I did!
Sitting in a tree gives me a wonderful feeling of being safe and worry-free, especially when I hear the rustle of the leaves when the wind blows.
At my age now, I see a lot of trees that were I ten years younger, I would consider climbable, but can only look at with a sigh. I wish I could teach my son to climb a tree. That would probably need hundreds more of occupational therapy sessions, but who knows.
It’s that time of year again — cold and raining. And the thoughts that crossed my mind last year, surfaced again this year as I walked by the lake and felt the cold wind on my skin.
Funny how such ordinary things as the rustling of leaves, the breeze on one’s skin, the chirping of birds can bring back a flood of memories — all those feelings from years ago come back and seem so fresh. Yet, you are brought back to reality as soon as you tell yourself, “That was then, this is now. And now you are wasting time and energy thinking about it.”
My best friend has told me many times I think too much of the past, that the future is more important. Maybe so.
But one has no control over what comes to mind, or does one? I can shake off thoughts that come to mind, but there is no way I can stop these thoughts from entering my mind. Even saying, “I will not think about it,” is proof that I AM thinking about it.
Walking in the winter rain does this to me all the time — full of drama in the head. But this too shall pass.
Hope you have a lovelier weather than what I have in my neck of the woods.
T.
Patti’s chosen theme this week is “Abstract.” And I’m taking that literally by posting pictures of my then 7-year old autistic son’s watercolor “painting.”
I have no idea what he was thinking about when he played with the brush, but I treasure these literally abstract exercises of my minimally verbal son.
The one above just got a title, “Raining Down.” Thanks to Ann-Christine at Leya. 😁
Panglao, Bohol, Philippnes
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T.
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T.
Iligan, Philippines
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Canada
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T.
Xiamen Gaoqi Airport
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T.
This week’s theme is “Waiting.” Even before I read Amy’s post I knew I would post pictures related to flying — which I do every month.
Most of the waiting I do now happens at an airport. I often go on red-eye flights because they are cheaper, though the layovers are always longer than the flights themselves. But then again they are cheaper.
So what do you do when there’s air traffic and your plane can’t land because the airport has only one runway! Take pictures of those things that are so commonplace you forget they are there!
I used to look forward to flying, but now I just try not to think about it and simply look forward to arriving. I hope one day teleportation will become real!
Taken just before a 10-minute long turbulence
Waiting for a flight may be exhausting, but at least you know eventually you will get to your destination.
It is less stressful than waiting for something whose arrival is forever uncertain.
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Have a lovely week!
T.
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T.
For those who follow my blog, you’d probably notice I’ve posted several photos of the moon lately.
I love looking up at the sky and seeing a beautiful moon. And I thought people feel the same way I do, but one evening years ago walking with my best friend, I said, “Hey! Look at the moon! So beautiful!” And he said, “It’s just the moon. Come on!”
And then last night on my walk home from the office, taking these photos, two girls passed by and murmured, “What’s she taking pictures of?”
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
I’m glad I see beauty in ordinary things and occurrences. I am thankful I can still see.
The soft moonlight makes things look gentler. It hides the ugliness visible in the daytime and makes them mysterious. Guy de Maupassant’s story Moonlight comes to mind.
May you see beauty around you. 💕
T
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Xiamen sunset
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Hope you do something meaningful today.
Happy weekend! 💕
T.
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T.
Huawen Xue Yuan, Jimei, Xiamen
This week Patti chose “Monochrome” for LAPC’s theme.
She said, “Monochrome can also add drama, mystery, and emotion to a shot…” and I agree!
These are some photos I took yesterday when my husband and I went out for a walk.
Long Zhou Hu (Dragon Boat Lake), Jimei, Xiamen
Happy Sunday!
T. 💕
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Happy weekend!💕
T.
“Trees are poems the earth writes upon the sky.” –Kahlil Gibran
Wishing you a blessed weekend! 🙏🏽
T.
We move in different circles
Some wider than others
But not necessarily happier.
It doesn’t matter how big or small
The circle you’re in,
What matters is who are in it:
Who are they to you?
Who are you to them?
Do they matter to you?
Do you matter to them?
Some circles are big but empty.
Others are small but not petty.
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I have a 4-day weekend this week. So, happy weekend!💕
T.
Gulangyu, Xiamen
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In this busy and noisy world, may you find time and a place for solitude. 🙏🏽
T.
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May you have someone to drink tea (or coffee or wine) with. 😉
Have a lovely week!
T.
“There is no satisfaction in any good without a companion.” — Seneca the Younger
Two penguins at the New England Aquarium
Meteorites exhibit at the Harvard Museum of Natural History
Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Wax figures of two former presidents at the Dreamland Wax Museum, Boston
Wax figures of two members of the Royal Family at the Dreamland Wax Museum, Boston
“A good companion is one you wouldn’t mind dying with. “
— Frank Herbert
May you find a good companion in life, if you haven’t yet. 💕
T.
Lens artists photo challenge: Seeing Double
You can come to Gulangyu by ferry from Youlun Zhongxin (for tourists) and tickets cost 35RMB. (Thankfully we have a card that shows we work in Xiamen, and so we pay the local’s fare of 8RMB and get on a different ferry that is not crowded at all!)
We spent one morning on Gulangyu and walked for over 9km.
But surprisingly, I wasn’t tired at all.
If you’re ever in Xiamen, you can’t miss Gulangyu. It is truly worth a visit.
Have a lovely Thursday!
T.
Zheng Chenggong, Gulangyu Museum, Xiamen
We went to Gulangyu this morning, and I was able to visit places that I had never been to before.
One of these places was the museum that one could go in for free. It doesn’t seem to be a very popular place (there were thousands of tourists outside but less than 50 people inside this 3-story museum), so it was nice to walk around and learn about the history of this tiny island.
I took a picture of this statue of General Zheng as I liked the contrast of darkness and light where it stood. It was dark coming from the left side, but there was light coming from the window to the right. I thought it was the perfect location.
As a general he probably went through many times of choosing between darkness and light.
At least that’s what I saw/thought of it. Or maybe I am just overthinking again!
What do you think?
T.
View of Xiamen on ferry to Gulangyu
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T.
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Have a wonderful week!
T.
Underneath the layers
Lies something hidden,
Waiting to be seen.
The Oculus, NYC
The Oculus, NYC
There are two places my 8-year old son who has Autism, loves to be at — the airport and the beach. But whereas at the airport he likes to walk or run around, he is most calm sitting on the beach. At one beach we went to early this year, he and his dad sat watching the sunset for over an hour.
I was at first hesitant to post candid photos of my son, but then I realize most of these photos were taken with his back to the camera.
I have used these photos before in my posts about him and Autism, so these are “recycled” photos, but definitely candid. 😉
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I know Ann-Christine suggested candid photographs of people and animals, but I don’t have lots of those that I think I can share publicly. Then I saw the moon tonight and thought, “What a beauty!” And I attempted a haiku praising the moon, and thought of the word “candid.” So there. 😉
Have a lovely week!
T.
Jimei, Xiamen, China
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May you find yourself a happy home. 💕
T.
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Have a lovely day! 😊
T.
My favorite subject for photography is flowers as I find them easier to frame than it is to frame a building or a wide, open space or a moving animal. And flowers, whether you zoom in or out, almost always come out beautiful.
Here are some photos of flowers I have taken over the years. They all “fill the frame.”
Have a lovely week! 💕
T.
There is something about the countryside that is so relaxing. Though it doesn’t give me the same sense of serenity I get from sitting on a quiet beach, being in the countryside still feels like taking a break from the busy-ness of life.
The picture above is of a rice farm in Northern Mindanao, Philippines. I was on my way to the airport when I saw this farm. The sky was so blue with some white clouds, and the hills in the distance so green — I just thought it was so beautiful. I asked the driver to stop the car, and I got out and saw this farmer. I asked him if I could take a picture of him, and he said it was OK.
Then I got back in the car, and went to the airport and back to my busy life. But this picture always gives me that feeling of wanting even a quick break from life and its worries.
I had the same feeling visiting my cousin’s uncle’s farm in Alberta, Canada. After a 12-hour flight and then wandering around Vancouver, it was relaxing to not see people and rest the eyes and the soul by just watching green grass, blue sky, white clouds and farm animals!
Hope you have a relaxing week!
T. 💕
I guess like most people I do not like getting angry, not only because it takes so much energy to be angry but also I do not like the idea that the person who made me angry is living rent-free in my head and is controlling me! And I always like to be in control of ME!
And what of pain? Pain, like anger, is also exhausting. But unlike anger that robs us of wisdom, pain most of the time, makes us pause and if we pause long enough to think, we actually gain wisdom from pain.
Just recently I was angered by someone, and then I got angry with myself for allowing the person to control my emotion. Then there was regret over the angry words that came out, and with regret comes pain.
It is so easy to say, ” We have to learn to control our anger!” But it’s seldom easy to follow through. It’s perhaps easier to control our actions, but how easy is it to control our words which sometimes cut too deep that the wounds don’t heal?
Have a peaceful week!💕
T.
I love looking up at the sky, whether in the day time or at night. I often wonder what it’s like up there looking down, (which is why I follow NASA and the International Space Station on social media.)
To me the sky or whatever is up (or out) there is magical.
Sometimes when I am going through a difficult time, I only have to go to a quiet place — by the lake, on a quiet beach, or my balcony and look up at the sky and remind myself of the vastness of the universe and the minuteness of my life and worries.
Now isn’t that cure magical? 😉
Have a lovely week!
T. 💕
This summer I had a 12-hour layover in NYC, and luckily my friend and his wife offered to show me around.
Coming from the Philippines, I was looking forward to a cooler weather, but I wasn’t so lucky as it was about as hot in NYC that day as it was back home. Still, I enjoyed the few hours I spent in NYC.
And of course, I took lots of photos!
This one of the One World Trade Center was taken around 3 in the afternoon. I had thought I wouldn’t be able to get a good picture in the brightness and from where I was standing facing the sunlight, but hey, now I have an entry for this week’s challenge! Yay!
Have a lovely weekend!
T.
I had a wonderful time at the New England Aquarium and took lots of photos, but the one below of the jellyfish is my favorite. I find this shot the most unique among all the photos of creatures I photographed.
Have a unique week! 😉
T.
Last week I took a break from my Philippine reality and flew to the States for the first time. Now that I’m back in my home country, those six days in the States seem just like a dream.
I took lots of photos while in NYC and Boston, but these ones below were taken while on an unplanned trip to New Jersey at the Liberty State Park. It was very quiet on a Friday afternoon. It was a welcome break from busy NYC!
After that long walk around the park which probably made up for one week of no dance workout, I had strawberry milkshake — a very welcome break!
Have a lovely week! 💕
T.
I might have spent less than 24 hours in New York, but I walked a total of 9.2 miles (15.4km) in those hours. Whew.
Here are some photos I took of the Oculus, the World Trade Center Transportation Hub and the One World Trade Center.
Have a lovely weekend!
T. 💕
We had beautiful weather today after two days of really hot weather and then a thunderstorm.
Fourth day in Boston, and there’s still so much to see!
I enjoyed the visit to the Harvard Art Museums, the Peabody Museum, Harvard Museum of Natural History, and the Wax Museum.
Looking forward to what I’ll see tomorrow!
Have a fun week!
T. 💕
Serenity. One of my favorite words, next to solitude.
(I do not know what this tree is called, so if you do I’d be very grateful if you could drop me a line in the comments section. Thanks! 🙏🏽)
Jimei, Xiamen, China
I’ve taken photos of these trees’ roots before for the Weekly Photo Challenge. The roots then were not as big as they are now.
Have a lovely Monday! 💕
T.
Jimei, Xiamen
Jimei, Xiamen
I love trees. Here are photos of trees in some of the places I’ve been to:
Have a lovely weekend!♥️
T.
It was very hot and humid yesterday, but I insisted that we went out for a walk at 6pm. The sun had not set yet, and my husband said we could compete as to who could find the smallest mushroom. I didn’t find the smallest one, nor this one but I took these photos myself.
Happy Sunday! 💕
T.
Happy to discover a photo challenge.
Here are some of my favorite things (and things to do!)
Dessert!
Flowers
Sitting on my balcony at sunset … musing
Jimei, Xiamen
Sunset by the beach
Panglao, Bohol
Happy Sunday!
I’ve been in Guangzhou several times, and each time I had a wonderful time, partly because of my friend who’s always good company and partly because I like Guangzhou for its size and the seeming vivacity of the people. (It seems there are more young people in GZ than in Xiamen.)
When I was here in 2010, the Baiyun International Airport was already in operation, but there were not as many shops as there are now. I remember thinking back then it was like a mall. Today, in some areas, you can forget you’re in an airport.
There are places for mothers and their babies. There’s also a play area for bigger kids.
One other thing that I like about this airport is the announcement in both Chinese and English is much clearer than in other airports (in Xiamen, for instance. Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE Xiamen, but at the airport you have to listen very carefully to understand their announcements in English!)
The only thing that disappoints me is at 5:30 in the morning I couldn’t find an open shop that serves coffee!
I need my coffee!!!
Still, I look forward to coming back to GZ. 😊
Have a beautiful Friday!
P.S.
At 6:00 AM, Mickey D opened. The staff spoke English! And best of all I got me coffee!
Three years ago this month, I lost my mother. And every year this month, I buy flowers (pictured below) that I put next to her photograph. Every year in March, as I look at both flowers and my mom’s photograph, I am reminded of the uncertainty of life, of its ephemerality and the sadness that comes with being left behind by those who go before us.
This month my musing on the transiency of life is made even sadder by the thought of 2 of my best friends facing serious illnesses. My 3 best friends, unlike me who wanted to die at 20, have always wanted to live long, happy, healthy lives.
For the lovers of life, I hope you never lose that WILL to live even when doctors give you that diagnosis that sounds like a death sentence. I hope in your heart will burn that desire to prove the doctors wrong and that you “RAGE against the dying of the light.” ♥️
T.
Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night
by Dylan Thomas
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
After 6 busy weeks in the Philippines, I am back in very quiet Jimei. Blissfully quiet for now, except for the occasional firecrackers in the distance, as the students are not back from their holiday yet.
Though I miss my son already, I am thankful for the quiet walk I had this afternoon, something that I did not have a chance to do back home.
Every now and then I need to be alone with my thoughts, and today I got the chance.
Here’s what the campus looks like for now.
No basketball games
Happy Lantern Festival!🎉🏮
T.
The first time I went to Bohol was in 2002 to attend a Young Writers’ Conference. It was a very quiet place then. I don’t remember seeing tourists.
Bohol looks so different now.
Here are photos of Alona Beach in Panglao, Bohol, Philippines at different times of the day.
Noon time when we arrived