Serenity. One of my favorite words, next to solitude.
In solitude
With nature,
I find serenity.
Lens-Artists Challenge: Serenity
Lens-Artists Challenge: Serenity
Tag Archives: photography
Trees and Roots
(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.
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When the sky is blue and so are you
Jimei, Xiamen
“Blue skies
Smiling at me
Nothing but blue skies
Do I see.” — Irving Berlin
Jimei, Xiamen
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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Trees
I love trees. Here are photos of trees in some of the places I’ve been to:
Have a lovely weekend!♥️
T.
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Lens-Artists Challenge: Wild
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.
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Photo Challenge: Favorite Things
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!
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Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport
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!
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“Do not Go Gentle into that Good Night”
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.
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A Quiet Walk on Lantern Festival
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.
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Beautiful Alona Beach, Bohol
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
sunset
early morning
early morning
Have a lovely week! 💕
T.
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Change, Challenges, Moving On
Jimei sky on a winter noon
Introverted, routine-oriented people like me get disoriented when something not part of the routine takes place. The occasional lunch with co-workers is always a task, even though they are nice people, simply because it’s not part of my daily routine, and I always make an effort to be an interesting or even just a lively person (I personally find it rude when a person joins you for a meal and looks miserable. I’d rather that person refuse to join me for a meal than be with me looking unhappy. Hence, my effort at being an interesting/lively rather than boring companion.)
This disorientation is magnified when bigger events occur in my life, like when some 16 years ago, my then-boyfriend left the country (and me!) and all of a sudden, I was left to make plans for the day for only myself. “What will I do with this much time all to myself?” I went to work moving about like a zombie for months!
When my mother died, I felt so vulnerable whenever I remembered (actually, I still do) that I no longer have a “prayer warrior.” In the past whenever I had a problem, I would just pick up the phone and call my mother long-distance and ask her to pray for me. I know it sounds so immature for a grown woman to be depending on her mother so much, but that was all I depended on my mother for. I never asked her for anything else after graduating from university. Just prayers. Still, when she died, I was at a loss not having anyone to call to ask for prayers. I mean I could have called my sisters or some of my friends, but with my mother I was assured that her prayers were most fervent because she was praying for her youngest daughter, the only one to leave her side to work in another country.
When introverted, routine-oriented people like me are put in a new situation, we tend to have an extremely difficult time adapting to change. We may seem to look like we are coping well with the change, but deep inside, the challenge is overwhelming. Yet, we survive and I think our introversion has much to do with it. As introverts, we rely on very few people, but more important and this is most helpful, we rely on ourselves the most. Slowly we learn to start a new routine, and we recover in due time.
And we move on. In due time.
May you find the courage to adapt to change, face challenges and move on.
Happy New Year! Happy New Life!💕🎉
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Week 9 Prompt: Insatiable
Insatiable
I met a man who lives in a cozy home
And doesn’t have to work
Because his family has enough money.
He’s lonely. And unhappy.
I met a woman who lives in a 3-story villa
With her two beautiful and smart children
And a moneyed husband who adores her.
But she says her life has no meaning
And she wants something more
Than just being mother and wife.
So she’s unhappy.
And the ones who labor day and night,
Careful not to waste a morsel of what’s on the table,
Can only think they’d be content and happy
If they had what these two have.
But…will they really?
Insatiable.
———-
In my life I have met so many unhappy people. Although I believe some of these people have no control over this feeling of unhappiness, most of them just choose not to be happy or content with what they have.
“’Yet let him keep the rest,
But keep them with repining restlessness;
Let him be rich and weary, that at least,
If goodness lead him not, yet weariness
May toss him to my breast.'”
— from The Pulley by George Herbert
It is perhaps human nature to be restless and to always want something more. But I think we CAN choose to be content and be grateful for what we have.
Hope you find something to be grateful for today!💕
T.
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Week 8 Prompt: Happiness
Happiness is…
Having the ability to look at the past and be grateful for it;
Living in the moment with the knowledge that it is not going to last;
Being hopeful for the future that the ones we leave behind will have better lives than the one we had.
Happiness is having faith that everything is going to be all right.
Have a happy week!💕
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Week 7 Prompt: Group
Hubby and I went out for an early morning walk and then went to the supermarket. It was quiet and there were varieties of fresh shellfish. Then I thought, these could be good subjects for a photograph!
And here they are!
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Week 6 Prompt: Flourish
After a week of intermittent rains, the mushrooms flourished on the lawns of our campus.
Jimei, Xiamen
Jimei, Xiamen
Jimei, Xiamen
—
Feel free to use the prompt for your own posts.
T. 💕
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Life, Love and Flowers
“Life is the flower for which love is the honey.” –Victor Hugo
All these photos were taken during my trip to South Korea early this week. Although I went there not for sightseeing but to comfort my friend, I ended up going to so many places that not many tourists get to see (in fact most of the places I’d been to had zero tourists! Except for me.)
I am glad I had time to take photos of the flowers I had seen. Flowers are my favorite subject for photography. Hope you like them.
T. 💞
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WPC: My favorite place
Prince Albert National Park, Saskatchewan, Canada
Jimei, Xiamen, China
Dalipuga, Iligan, Philippines
… any quiet place near a body of water, where I can sit and watch the sky and its reflection on the water, and feel the breeze on my skin and perhaps hear the happy singing of the birds.
It doesn’t matter which country. I can have a favorite place anywhere.
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Weekly Photo Challenge: I’d rather be…
Remembering Mother
It’s been two years since my mom passed on, yet a part of me still feels she’s just back home in the Philippines. But that feeling doesn’t last very long because I am conscious that I just can’t make a call and hear her voice again.
Life is so different without a mother, even for an adult daughter in her 40s.
I have so many fond memories of my mother as she was a funny woman who laughed loudly and was talented at story-telling. She could never tell a story sitting down — she gestured; her facial expressions changed as quickly as Chinese opera players changed masks, and her voice made it difficult not to imagine whoever she was portraying.
My mother was a very interesting character; I hope one day I can really write a story about her. She would love that. Since I started writing poetry in high school she had asked me to write about her, but I only started to write about her as she lay dying, two years ago.
One of the things I truly regret in my life was not being able to give a good eulogy for her. My mother loved drama, and she would’ve liked something dramatic at her funeral (and I say this with fondness for memories of her ), but unfortunately I failed.
Last week I bought flowers (photos above) to put next to her picture which I keep in my apartment. It was her death anniversary, and wherever she is, just in case she has a way of knowing, I wanted her to know I still think about her and wish she was just a phone call away.
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Story
WPC 2: A Face in the Crowd
Wonderful performance from these young men at the Hong Kong International Airport. We will never know who these young men were, nor recognize them when we see them up close, but as a group, their performance will be remembered for a long time.
新年快乐！🐶🎉
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WPC: A Face in the Crowd
Initao, Northern Mindanao, Philippines
“Explore the use of anonymity to express both that which is common to all of us and the uniqueness that stands out even when the most obvious parts of us are hidden. Just as all of us can oscillate between conformity and individualism, allow your photo to do the same.”
Weekly Photo Challenge: A Face in the Crowd
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Daily Prompt: Constant
He laments the quick and merciless
Passing of time and the white strands of hair
That are starting to show on his temples.
He looks at old photographs and then looks at himself
In the mirror and sighs …. “Time is unkind.
“We were so young then…,” he says.
“And stupid,” she adds.
She looks at herself in the mirror and sighs…
“This is inevitable,” she says to herself.
“The only thing that is constant is change.
Nature, too, ages.
The sun may rise and set again day after day,
And the waves rush back and forth,
Second after second…
Yet they, too, go through change.
“But some things can remain constant
In our lifetime.
We can keep them constant.
And that should be enough.”
Daily Prompt: Constant
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Beautiful Bukidnon
Bukidnon means “from the mountains” or “mountain dweller.” It’s a province on the island of Mindanao. Dahilayan is a village in the town of Manolo Fortich. In recent years, it has become popular for its Forest Park and its Adventure Park.
Go check out their websites by clicking on the links. I’m not a very adventurous person, but I did go on the zip line. I truly enjoyed the beauty of this village — cool, clean air, blue skies, mountains and trees everywhere. I enjoyed just walking around and taking pictures.
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Tour Guide
I grew up in a coastal city and love watching the sunset. Yesterday, my husband and I went to my favorite spot in the city and watched the sunset.
It’s been a very busy month for the two of us, so it was good to have to some quiet time, walking. I will always love this part of my hometown.
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Sweet
While I never and will never think of myself as “sweet,” the fact that my husband likes to take photos of me even when my back is turned makes me think I’m blessed to marry a man who thinks I am. Lol.
He likes taking pictures of me, especially candid ones. I know he finds my facial expressions funny, and I’m like a comedian to him, but I especially like the ones he takes of me when I’m not aware of what he’s doing, like the ones above.
These two were taken just this weekend while we’re on holiday in the Philippines.
Have a lovely week! 💕
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Silence
Mt. Taiwu, Kinmen, Taiwan
A friend and I went to Kinmen on a Monday a few months ago, and it was very quiet at Mt. Taiwu. It was a good day for a quiet walk, surrounded by nature and the silence of the departed.
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Weathered
“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” — Friedrich Nietzsche
I saw this tree trunk from a distance and thought it looked interesting. You might say there’s nothing interesting about this trunk, that it’s even ugly. And you might be right.
I wish I had taken a photo of the whole tree — its leaves were quite green. This tree survived a super typhoon in 2016. The tree itself looked ordinary, but it’s the trunk that captured my attention. This weathered trunk to me stands for strength — something that I feel I have and should not lose in these very busy and stressful time in my life.
What do you see when you look at this trunk?
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2017 Favorites
“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language. And next year’s words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.” — T.S. Eliot
Below are two of my favorite photos that I took this year. Both are records of my first visit to North America and of the very first time I saw snow-covered mountains. That feeling I had as I looked out the window and saw those mountains will always be as vivid as I felt it when I was on the plane flying to Alberta from Vancouver.
*****************
After all the pain and sorrow of 2016, 2017 was overall a calm and peaceful year for me. And I am very grateful for that year. I have no idea what this year is going to be like, but I continue to be hopeful. I am ready for another beginning.
Happy New Year to you and your loved ones!
Canada
Weekly Photo Challenge:
2017 Favorites
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Ascend
Xiamen, China
“After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are more hills to climb.”
Have a lovely weekend! 💕
T.
Weekly Photo Challenge:
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Daily Prompt: Varnish
The over 200-year old trees on Gulangyu that were uprooted by Super typhoon Meranti were turned into works of art by Chinese artists. This trunk has been varnished and inscribed with Chinese characters that mean “remember” and its synonyms. It is also fitted with several speakers that play recordings of local people talking about their memories of the island.
Have a lovely weekend! 💕
T.
Daily Prompt: Varnish
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Serene
I spent the whole day today on Gulangyu (Gulang Islet) and was able to visit the church that my husband and I used to go to every Sunday more than a couple of years ago, before we had our baby.
The church was locked when we arrived (as is usually the case when it’s not Sunday and there’s no mass), but the priest’s assistant opened it for us. (The young couple in the photo were just getting their wedding pictures taken outside the church but didn’t have a ceremony inside. )
Gulangyu was very crowded and noisy, but inside the church, it was quite serene.
Christ the King Church, Gulangyu, Xiamen
Weekly Photo Challenge
Serene
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Transformation
“The universe is transformation; life is opinion.” — Marcus Aurelius
Weekly Photo Challenge:
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Peek
Weekly Photo Challenge: Peek
Daily Prompt: Surreal
It would take a Kafka
To make this charade of yours
Pass for reality.
Surreal are your words
That seem to come naturally
From those lying lips.
Surreal are your thoughts
That seem original
Yet hard to accept.
Surreal is the life you live
That only you
Can ever make sense of.
Daily Prompt:
Surreal
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Rounded
Daily Prompt: Cacophony
Daily Prompt: Enlighten
Life can sometimes feel like
A big joke — a practical joke
Played on you
Which you don’t find
Funny at all.
And if you’re a believer,
You just feel like asking,
“Really, God? Are you f-ing kidding me?”
But you go on
Living.
Smiling.
As if everything’s all right
With your world.
Yet deep down you’re yearning
To understand what the hell is going on.
Your heart is screaming —
“Enlighten me or just put an end to it.”
Daily Prompt:
Enlighten
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Daily Prompt: Expect
Prince Albert National Park, Saskatchewan, Canada
She was told not to wait,
Not to expect and just live
As if the things that had happened
Never happened.
But was that even possible?
How could one forget —
Those eyes that smiled
Even when the lips didn’t?
The embrace that seemed
To promise to never let go?
The words that should only be uttered
By those who mean them?
She couldn’t.
So she waits.
And expects
As she remembers
Everything that happened.
Daily Prompt: Expect
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Daily Prompt: Release
I watched you walk away,
I called your name out loud,
But my voice just echoed in this room.
You said I’d be safe in this place,
And I believed you.
But why do I feel,
Like I’m not free
To even say goodbye to you?
Why is my heart crying out
For release?
Daily Prompt: Release
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Weekly Photo Challenge : Glow 2
Weekly Photo Challenge: Glow
These are old photos of Silver Cave, Guilin, China taken in 2009.
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Scale
Malaysia July 2016
Cloud Forest, Singapore April 2016
Cloud Forest, Singapore, April 2016
Weekly Photo Challenge: Scale “Show how big or small you can feel in a photo..
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Daily Prompt: Exceptional
There’s nothing exceptional about you,
Nothing that anyone will ever notice.
You can go in and out of any place,
And people wouldn’t even know you were there.
You may even laugh, but your laughter
Is always drowned by others’ louder laughter.
Your tears are yours alone,
The world never bothers to ask
What bring them to your sad eyes.
So now that your back is bent,
And your feet hurt when you walk,
You think no one will miss you
When you simply disappear.
No one will come runnning
To stop you from jumping
From that bridge
You walk every day
Of your lonely adult life.
But you have to know — you’re not exceptional.
Not even in this.
Daily Prompt: Exceptional
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Daily Prompt: Tame
I grow wild,
Undaunted by the dangers,
Hidden and conspicuous,
Eager to try everything
No matter the cost.
And I try to stop,
But I can’t help it.
So tame me.
Rein me in.
Save me
From myself.
Daily Prompt: Tame
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Daily Prompt: Elastic
To be elastic is to be flexible, tolerant, resilient, to easily recover from depression or exhaustion.
To be elastic should be everyone’s goal.
I easily get angry, but I also easily get over the anger which sometimes annoys me because I think people shouldn’t just be allowed to readily forget the hurt they caused you. But that’s me.
I also get depressed so easily, but let me walk around a quiet park and give me solitude and let me have a good cry, then I’ll be fine.
Fuzhou Normal University
Jimei University
I like to think I’m “elastic,” but my husband doesn’t think so. He always tells me I’m stubborn, and maybe he’s right. But there’s one thing I’m 100% certain of — that both us have some “elasticity” within us or we wouldn’t still be happily married after 11 years!
Have a lovely weekend! 💕
T.
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Pedestrian (-less)
This week’s photo challenge is to interpret “pedestrian.” I’m choosing to interpret the noun form of this word in that the bridge, the road, the sidewalk, and the campus are devoid of pedestrians.
These photos were taken yesterday on the campus of Fuzhou Normal University in Fuzhou, China. This city is an hour-and-a-half by fast train away from Xiamen and is the capital of Fujian Province.
Even though it was cloudy, hubby and I had a nice walk with my cousin (who teaches at a neighboring uni.)
Have a wonderful Thursday!
T.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Pedestrian
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Daily Prompt: Popular
I think most of us, in our childhood, have dreamed of becoming popular. We wanted to be liked, to have the most number of friends, but as we grow older, most of us realize, we do not need that many people in our lives. We just need our real friends, and they are usually fewer than what we originally thought.
These days people, young and old alike, gauge their popularity by the number of “likes,” “comments,” or “shares” they get for their post in whatever social media platform they are using. I was genuinely perplexed one time when a student asked another student in my class, “How would you feel if you find out your best friend ‘liked’ the post of one of your friends, but didn’t ‘like’ yours?” I really didn’t think it should matter. But then again I’m “old.”
If you’re popular, you will never have peace. People will always want to get your attention or get something from you. (I heard about Ed Sheeran refusing to use a celllphone, so he can get away from people who are always asking something from him.)
If you’re popular, you’re an easy target for criticism from people who do not like your popularity. And there are always that kind of people. And if you’re the type who value popularity, most likely you wouldn’t like criticism.
The desire for popularity, like any other form of desire, causes suffering. If you want to be popular, better be ready to suffer.
Daily Prompt: Popular
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WPC: Windows
Whenever I travel, I always try to get a window seat. I’m on a plane at least 4 times a month, and still I don’t get tired of looking out the window to see the clouds or the land or the ocean. There’s just something about these three viewed from above that makes them mesmerizing.
So here are some of the many photos I’ve taken from a window seat of a plane. Hope you like them.
T.
Canada
Somewhere between China and the Philippines!
Mindanao, Philippines
Mindanao, Philippines
Philippines
China
Weekly Photo Challenge: Windows
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WPC: Windows — Outside Looking In
I’m interpreting the challenge in another way.
Not everyone will find this lamp attractive, but I like the way the light comes through the U-shaped holes. I imagine a small house in a dark forest with a light shining from the inside through the windows.
Have a beautiful Friday!
T.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Windows
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Daily Prompt: Focused
“Beauty in things exists in the mind which contemplates them.” — David Hume
There is so much beauty and goodness in our world, but some people are more focused on what’s ugly and bad.
Even the most ordinary flower by the side of the road has its beauty. If you just learn how to stop and have a closer look, you will see.
May you find beauty in your world today. 💕
T.
Daily Prompt: Focused
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Of flowers and funny mothers
I bought these flowers yesterday with my mother in mind. She would’ve turned 83 today. She loved flowers and liked to have fresh flowers on the altar, so I always bought some on Sundays when I was home.
I miss my mother. I miss hearing her voice, especially her laughter. She was a funny woman who could not tell a story without standing up and making gestures and lots of facial expression. But she only did that in front of her 4th grade pupils and us, her family. She always seemed different when with other people.
At her funeral, my sisters unanimously voted for me to give the eulogy. The youngest always gets the least easy task. I was unprepared (funeral was held three days after she passed on) — sleep-deprived, a restless 5-year-old to look after, and a flight to catch –and I was unable to deliver a eulogy my dramatic yet funny mother would have liked. Sorry, Ming.
These days what it feels like is wanting so much to speak with somebody but the person can never be there anymore. Not even a video call or even a text message. Just silence. And a big part of you just wants to break that silence even just for a minute, even if what she says is the same thing over and over again.
T.
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Layered
Photos were taken in Victoria, British Columbia
Daily Prompt: Sympathy
Where were you …
When a baby was crying in hunger,
A mother was grieving over her dying child,
A beggar was looking for shelter in the cold?
You weren’t there,
And you refused to see
Or to even think of them.
And now you weep,
Alone, outside your once happy home,
Certain that nobody will come
To comfort you in your grief.
But don’t worry…
Somebody always does,
And most likely they’re the ones,
You once despised
For their silly faith
In love, sacrifice, generosity, forgiveness and sympathy.
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Daily Prompt: Overcome
I took this photo this afternoon during a walk with hubby.
On a 12-hour flight to Vancouver and another 12-hour flight back to Manila, I watched 4 movies altogether. I liked three out of 4: Logan, The Accountant and Collateral Beauty. The fourth one was Passengers, which ironically, my friend really thought I would like because I like the idea of a life beyond this planet. But no.
The three movies all have the theme of overcoming something. I plan to write a review of each one, so I won’t write much about them in this post.
There is no grief, obstacle or challenge in life that we cannot overcome, if we only persist in overcoming them and not let them overcome us instead.
I’ve had my share of challenges, and I’m facing really tough ones these past couple of years, but I haven’t given up yet, and I don’t see myself giving up.
I hope you won’t give up either. 🙏🏻
Have a lovely weekend! 💕
T.
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Waiting
I took these photos of the campus of the University of Saskatchewan while waiting for my friend who was in class.
It’s a beautiful campus, and I didn’t mind waiting at all.
Hope you like the photos.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Waiting
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Daily Prompt: Symphony
A symphony of natural beauty
Here’s a collection of photos I took from the day my plane landed in Vancouver to the week I spent in Alberta, and to the last day I spent in Saskatchewan.
Canada is a beautiful country, and the Canadians I’ve met are such wonderful people. 💕
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Textures
I took these photos in Saskatchewan, Canada. The birch bark photo was taken at the Berry Barn in Saskatoon, and the rest at the Boundary Bog Trail at the Prince Albert National Park.
Enjoy! 💕
T.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Textures
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Morning Walk around Kinsmen Park, Saskatoon
I arrived in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan yesterday afternoon. And this morning I walked around Kinsmen Park which is quite close to where my friends live.
I’m really liking Canada (in the summer). I love the big old trees, and wide, open spaces. As I walked, I imagined how my son would love lying on the lawn and looking up at the sky.
Enjoy the photos!
I took a picture of this tree because I think it’s climbable, and I miss climbing trees!
E. would surely love running around or lying down on the grass and looking up at the sky.
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Satisfaction
Walking around a park or any place where I can appreciate the beauty of nature gives me satisfaction. These past couple of days I’ve seen so much beauty in Canada. So much beauty gives one so much satisfaction. 😊
I hope you enjoy the photos. 💕
T.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Satisfaction
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Beautiful Weather in Vancouver
Beautiful weather welcomed me today in Vancouver. So even if I had no sleep for over 24 hours, I was eager to see the city during a 17-hour layover. My first impression is there are so many Asians. I only got to walk around the University of British Columbia where I met with a former student (Chinese) who is doing a summer program there. I met her classmates who are also Chinese, and everywhere I went I heard Mandarin. It really felt like I was just in China, except that everyone can speak English.
I didn’t get to take as many pictures as I wanted to as I wasn’t feeling well. But I’ll definitely do that when I come back to Vancouver next week. For now, I’ll sing with Neil Young…”Think I’ll go out to Alberta…🎶🎵.”
I hope you enjoy the photos.
Have a lovely week! 💕
T.
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Unusual
Daily Post: Disastrous
This is the trunk of one of the many mango tress that line the roads of our campus. It seems this mango tree is dying even though its leaves are still very green. I don’t know if this has anything to do with the disastrous super typhoon that struck the city last year, or that this tree is very old.
I took this photo a week before I left Xiamen. Perhaps by the time I get back weeks from now, this tree shall have been replaced by a healthier-looking one. Like everything in China, old stuff can easily be replaced. Even trees.
Daily Prompt: Disastrous
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Daily Prompt: Roxy’s Moxie
Roxy lived
Hiding in her shell,
Afraid of showing
Her true, bright self.
Then she met him
Who showed her the world
And how to survive in it.
Though now he’s gone,
She still remembers
How she finally got the moxie
From him whose name is Rocky.😜
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WPC: Purple Collage
For this week’s photo challenge, I made a collage of all the purple/purplish flowers I used on this blog. Why flowers? Because I love flowers. Why purple? Because…why not purple? Lol. I realized I have several purple flowers in my folder.
Have a lovely day!
T.💕
Weekly Photo Challenge: Collage
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Daily Prompt: Savage
Your roots savagely grow down
From you, growing faster and stronger
As they reach the ground
And later strangle you.
You from whom they came from.
If you could stop them,
Would you?
(Banyan trees are also known as “strangler figs” for their “strangling” growth habit. The roots descend from the branches and grow a pseudotrunk that makes it look like it’s strangling the main trunk. Unfortunately I don’t have a photo of a pseudotrunk although I’ve seen so many here in Xiamen. I chose these two photos for the way the roots seem to grow savagely from the branches.)
May you have a CALM week, not a savage one. 💕😁
T.
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Images of a Jimei Evening
This year Xiamen hosts the 9th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit from September 3 to 5. The city has been preparing for the summit for some time, and this is the reason the whole city, not only Xiamen island, but its district on the mainland as well, has seen so many changes — all to make Xiamen more attractive.
Right after super typhoon Meranti struck Xiamen last year, Jimei looked so dark at night viewed from the plane. It was such a sad sight
But these days, Jimei is all lit up, and I enjoy walking around the campus in the early evening when the lights are on.
Have a lovely weekend!💕
T.
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Bridge
This new bridge over Yinjiang Road is an overpass for pedestrians. It’s not as yet operational as the workers have not finished painting. It’s just one of the many things to see in China. Here, there’s construction going on everywhere you go.
Jimei Bridge, completed in 2008, has a total length of 10 km. It connects Xiamen Island to the mainland at Jimei District.
This is one of my favorite photos and also the one that received the most likes in this blog so far. I took this photo as the plane from the Philippines was about to land. I left home to come to my second home. And this bridge will get me there.
T. 💕
Weekly Photo Challenge: Bridge
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Daily Prompt: Sail
Northern Mindanao, Philippines
These days I would rather travel by plane than be on a ship, especially if I have to travel in the evening. I don’t care if Bradley Cooper is on the same ship, I would never travel by boat at night.
Northern Mindanao, Philippines
Don’t get me wrong. I love the sea, the ocean. See, I made this watercolor because I really like this view of a boat sailing on the sea. When I made this, I was imagining myself being on that boat watching the horizon. But now several months have passed, and I look at this again, I’m thinking that can’t be me. I’d never get on a boat alone.
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Daily Prompt:Cringe
As a child, I always either cringed or ran away at the sight of insects (especially flying ones like moths and cockroaches) and bats! Now I’m married to a man who grew up in a farm and finds insects fascinating.
We noticed this moulting cicada one afternoon while we were walking, and my first question was, “Is it going to fly?” He assured me it wasn’t going to fly. Yet. So I got my phone camera ready and started snapping pictures of this creature that would normally make me cringe, but which my husband looked at with…a meaningful smile.
I got to see this cicada shedding off its skin and growing its wings just a couple of days after my husband and I watched Alien:Covenant (not my kind of movie, but when you’re married you sometimes have to watch movies that you don’t like!) This cicada reminded me of the creatures that the android character, David, created. The word “beautiful” never came to mind. But after seeing this photo on my iPad with my reading glasses on … I thought it looks quite interesting.
Perhaps those things that usually make us cringe just need a closer inspection. Perhaps we’ll change our minds.
But nah, I’m not interested in taking a closer look at cockroaches.
Have a lovely Monday! 💕
T.
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Transient
Jimei Bridge, Xiamen
This photo was taken last month as our plane was landing at Gaoqi Airport, Xiamen.
For the last two years, I’ve been flying home every month, which means at least four flights a month. So I feel something like a transient in the two cities I call home. They are both home, yet when I am in either place, it seems I’m only there as a guest.
I am hopeful that this year, I will cease feeling like a transient and have more stability in my life. I hope my whole family can be together in one safe place. 🙏🏻
T. 💕
Weekly Photo Challenge: Transient
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Daily Prompt: Meddle
There are people who can’t seem to stop meddling in others’ personal lives. They will say they care about us, so they feel they have to say something. Sometimes we may appreciate being told, other times we may think it’s annoying.
As now I have only a few people with whom I talk about myself freely, I don’t have this problem anymore. I don’t have to be rude and tell anyone, “Get off my back!”
Have a stress-free day! 💕
T.
Daily Prompt: Meddle
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Daily Prompt: Create
Create. I pondered on this word and realized this should make any creative, thinking human feel humble. We try to “create” beautiful things, useful things, amazing things, but what we create can never surpass nature.
Nature’s beauty and design are beyond amazing.
Have an amazing Saturday!
T. 💕
Daily Prompt: Create
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Focus on the Ephemeral
Just like I don’t have the confidence to call myself a writer, I cannot ever call myself a photographer. But I enjoy writing and taking pictures among other things that introverts like myself enjoy doing.
When I take photos, I try to make them look the same way I see them with my own eyes. And to me it can be very difficult sometimes because first, my hands aren’t very steady; second, I do not know much about lighting and that kind of stuff; and third, I just use either my iPhone or my iPad to take pictures.
One time while I was walking with a friend, I stopped to take pictures of flowers, and he shook his head and asked, “Why do you take pictures?”
Good question. That time I only said because I like doing so. But having thought about it, I think I now know the answer.
Perhaps subconsciously it is an attempt on my part to capture moments that are simply that — moments, ephemeral, temporary. There may be flowers and leaves and trees everywhere, but as Robert Burns said, “And this same flower that smiles today, / Tomorrow will be dying.”
They may look the same, but it’s not the same flower, not the same moment, not the same minute.
Every photograph is a record not only of the subject (flower, leaf, sunset, or ocean) but also of a certain ME, at a certain time, at a certain place with a certain person. Everything we do leads us somewhere. We are always changing. Everything around us changes. As Heraclitus famously said, “No man can ever step in the same river twice.”
You can’t record every minute of your life. But you can keep photographs of certain moments of it.
Have a lovely week!
T.💕
Weekly Photo Challenge: Focus
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Tapered Leaves
It had just stopped raining this morning when hubby and I went out for a walk. The trees and the roads had a good washing, and the leaves looked beautiful with drops of rain still clinging on them.
Have a lovely day!
T. 💕
Daily Pronpt: Taper
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Daily Prompt: Impression
Impressions of my two homes: Jimei, China and Iligan, Philippines
Jimei, China
Jimei, China
Iligan, Philippines
Iligan, Philippines
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Daily Prompt: Descend
Weekly Photo Challenge: Reflecting
Sunrise over Visayas, Philippines. I took this photo early this month on a trip back to Mindanao.
It may sound cheesy but … the beauty of the sun reflected on the the ocean made me reflect on the beauty of nature. And I’m grateful for this beauty and for being able to witness and experience it.
T.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Reflecting
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Daily Prompt: Better
Blue, blue sky
White cottony clouds,
Cool breeze blowing the hair from my face,
Warm water touching our feet,
And your soft little hand in mine
Holding tightly, afraid of being let go,
Days like this are few and far between
And make moments like these
More precious than anything money can buy.
Until next time, my dear son,
When things will be better
.
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Weekly Photo Challenge: DANGER!
The sign says: Boardwalk is broken-down and needs to be repaired. Do not use.
But in the evening, young people (call them adventurous or foolish) still walk or sit on this decrepit boarded path.
When you’re young, you tend to think you’re invincible. You tend to ignore danger.
But when you’re no longer young, you can’t afford to ignore it.
Have a lovely week!
T.
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Daily Prompt: Roots
Dark roots,
Light roots,
Thick roots,
Thin roots,
Weak roots,
Powerful roots.
They have their own will.
They go where they want to go.
Strange roots.
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Hidden Beauty in Nature’s Design
I saw this flower yesterday for the very first time. I haven’t gotten around to finding out what it’s called. The colors and their arrangement really attracted me.
Today’s Prompt is “spike.” From this angle, one cannot see the spike (stalk) that holds the flower together, yet, though not as conspicuous as the petals, it is part of this flower’s beauty.
Have a beautiful weekend!
T.
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Insomnia
Stay away from me
Give me some peace
Please.
This body’s weak.
It can hardly stand,
But the mind’s
More than awake.
It searches
And begs
For the ship’s
That’s sailed.
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Daily Prompt: Jolt
A KIND OF ODE TO THE DURIAN
They say you are
Thorny
Heavy
And stinky.
But when I see you
When I smell you
This tired and sleepy body
Jolts into wakefulness…
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the smell of durian as much as my sisters HATE, HATE, HATE it. Like they say, “its strong, pungent smell either delights or repels. ”
Durian: does it jolt your appetite? Or does it jolt you into running as far away from it and as fast as you can?
Have a lovely week!
T.
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Daily Prompt: Measure
There’s twelve hundred miles
Between you and me.
But nothing can measure
The depth
Of this emptiness
Your absence
Has left in my heart.
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Surprise
This is the second time I’m posting a photo of the sky looking like this. And this is from the second time I saw it like this. The Chinese call it 火烧云 (huo shao yun) literally translated “fire burning sky.”
Each time, the sight surprised, amazed me.
Nature surprises.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Surprise
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Daily Prompt: Blindly
Blindly we love
Blindly we hate
Blindly we believe
That love can defeat all hate.
It can’t.
Only commitment can.
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Daily Prompt: Heal
When friendship fails
When nature kills
And time seems to freeze
And with it, the pain…
Beauty can heal
The wounds.
If only you stop and see
And believe
It can heal. It will.
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Of Love and Goodbyes
A nicer way to say, “You never know what you have until you lose it.”
Have a peaceful and relaxing weekend.
T.
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Security
A rainy Friday afternoon
Couples huddled under one umbrella
Bodies touching
Feeling secure
In each other’s arms.
A lone egret
On a quiet boardwalk
Soaking wet, yet
Looking secure
Even as it flew
Alone in the rain.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Security
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Dense
I try to break free
From this dense web
Of emotions
That I got myself entangled in….
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Daily Prompt: Purple
One of my sisters is crazy about things purple. So far she hasn’t thought of dyeing her hair purple, or maybe she has but can’t bring herself to do it, which is good.
So whenever I buy her something, I make sure it’s purple. One good thing (for her, (but not so much for me) about her obsession is whenever I see something of this color I immediately think of her, and even if I’m not interested in the thing itself, part of me is tempted to buy it for her. Grrrr.
When I saw these flowers on campus, of course I remembered my sister. Luckily for me, she’s not crazy about flowers.
Have a lovely a week!
T.
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Green
These are all the “greens” I could find on my iPad.
Three were taken in China, one in the Philippines. And they’re different shades of green, no?
Have a lovely week ahead!
T.
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WPC: The Road Taken (The Caves of Guilin, China)
When I went to Guilin in 2009, it was the first time I ever got inside a high-tech, beautifully lit cave. I say high-tech because it had an elevator inside. The only cave I’d been to in my country was extremely dark and had thousands of bats inside!
So when I was told we were going inside a cave, I was expecting bats.
So I was pleasantly surprised to see it was wonderfully lit for people to see the beauty of the stalagmites (I don’t know why I don’t have pictures of those) and stalactites.
These photos are almost ten years old, but hey, I can still use them. 🙂
Have a lovely weekend!
T.
Weekly Photo Challenge: The Road Taken
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Anticipation
Jimei Sunrise
This week’s theme for the weekly photo challenge is anticipation.
Part of my ritual upon waking up in the morning is to go to the balcony and look at the sky. Since we moved to our new apartment in September, I haven’t stopped looking forward to having my son come and see what I liked about this new apartment. I know he doesn’t like change, but I also know he would enjoy looking up at the sky as much as I do, and watching the sunrise and in the evening, looking at the moon and the planes flying to and from and the airport at a distance. He will enjoy walking and running and riding his bike around wide, open spaces.
I look forward to having him join me and his father again, being together as a family again.
Anticipation.
Have a lovely weekend!
T.
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Transmogrify
The roots transmogrified the sidewalk.
Have a lovely weekend!
Weekly Photo Challenge: Transmogrify
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Shine
This week’s WPC theme is “Shine.”
I took this photo a few months ago when I was in the Philippines. I have taken several photos of this place and posted some of them here on my blog.
Beautiful sunsets almost always make me wistful, and this one truly did as I was on my way home from a neighboring city working on one of the many, many things that needed my attention during the first quarter of this year. I was exhausted and looked out the car window. I just had to ask the driver to stop so I could get out of the car and snap photos of this sunset.
And for a few minutes, I forgot how tired I was as I looked at the photos I took.
Have a lovely weekend!
T.
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Weekly Photo Challenge : Local
I have been living away from the small city I was born and raised in, Iligan, for about 14 years now. But it will always be home for me, even though my parents are no longer around and so many friends have left for other countries.
It is a coastal city of about 300,000 people, which is a much bigger number from 30 or 40 years ago. Back then, on Sundays, when we walked to church my parents would be saying “Hi!” or “Good morning” to people we met on the road. Now, I can walk around the city for an hour and not see anybody I recognize.
But it’s a different feeling when I look out to the sea. Watching the sea in Iligan gives me the feeling of being home.
Then I feel I am truly a local.
The Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge: Local
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Weekly Photo Challenge: H2O
Dalipuga, Iligan, Philippines
I love watching the sea. And this photo is of one of my favorite spots at home. As I prepare to go home again for a few days, I look forward to looking down from the plane again and seeing the beautiful waters north of Mindanao.
There is something about seeing the blueness of the sea and scattered white clouds above it, and the feel of the cool breeze on your skin, and the sound of the waves, and the briny scent of the sea. When I sit alone on a beach witnessing all this, I just wish for time to stand still.
What comes into your mind when you hear the word “water”?
The Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge: H2O
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Mirror
Like I’ve mentioned many times in my previous posts, I like morning walks when it’s quiet and there’s a cool breeze blowing. It was on such a morning that I took this picture of the campus lake. I like how the old administration building and the trees in its foreground are mirrored on the lake.
I look forward to starting my early morning walks again.
Enjoy your weekend!
T.
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Frame
This photo was taken the same time as the one I took of the bird in flight between the Petronas Towers (WPC: Fun)
There were so many birds flying about, and a few perched on spear leaves. Trying to frame this beautiful and graceful bird perched like a proud queen/king on her/his throne was a little challenging because it didn’t stay on one leaf for long. But finally being able to snap this picture was worth the wait.
Have a lovely weekend!
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Rare Visits
(The theme for The Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge is RARE.)
Photographs of sunsets aren’t rare, but I love this photo I took of the sunset in my hometown — Iligan, Philippines. I don’t get to see this kind of view often because first, I only get to spend a maximum of three months a year in my country, and second, I have a very busy schedule whenever I’m home.
Seeing this kind of sunset in my hometown, then, is a rarity. And its rarity makes the scene truly special to me.
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Morning
(This is my first time to participate in The Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge, and it’s just because I saw the theme and remembered this photo I took two mornings ago.)
I took a very early morning trip two days ago –at 4:30 A.M. to be exact, and it was an hour and a half hour drive to a resort on top of a hill.
Though I wasn’t happy about waking up at 3 in the morning, the sight that welcomed me at 6 A.M. truly woke me up and made me feel ready to face the day better than a goood cup of coffee could (hmm, maybe I’m exaggerating a little bit. I need to have my coffee first thing in rhe morning!)
It was a littte cloudy, and there was a soft breeze blowimg and birds making morning music, when I saw these bungalows and the green lawn in the foreground of cloudy skies. It was such a quiet scene that Wordsworth’s words came to mind :”the very houses seem asleep.”
I am a morning person, and I love bathing in the beauty of early morning — clean, cool.air, a quiet place save for the birds’ simging or the rustling of the leaves as a gentle breeze blows.
That’s better than coffee (but I’d still need my cofee. ♥)
Thoughts on Life 