Rain, Rain Go Away

It’s been raining since Monday prompting most schools  and universities to declare “no classes” in most areas here in Metro Manila. The start of the week  was marred by horrendous traffic, leaving so many flood prone areas in waist deep water. This is a perennial problem in our country every time  the rainy season sets in.

This morning though, the sun bravely showed its face and look  what I saw in the garden while emptying our small pond with rain water. I can’t resist taking a few shots (as always).

These are called rain lilies and they produce these tiny flowers during the rainy season. I planted some in a corner of our garden, the rest I put in a vase. I was pleasantly surprised when  I saw these tiny blooms. They somehow erased the gloomy atmosphere of the morning.

A  Zinnia bud about to bloom. I love the surprise it gives when the flower fully shows its face, sometimes you’ll never know what color it  brings.

This is my first Zinnia bloom this season.  I planted them from dried flowers which our village gardener gave me a few months ago.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Curves

Nothing comes to mind for this challenge except for these three  photos that I took  of one of my favorite places, Caleruega.

This is the main hallway of Caleruega with this lovely curved staircase made of wood.  And at the back of this staircase is a Koi pond with all those colorful Koi fish merrily swimming in the background.

I do love this lush, green garden with a curve pond for more Koi. I would love to come back here and just absorb the serenity and quiet of the place.

For more of this, kindly visit this link.

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Going Back To The Old Place I Love

You are etched in my memory, a place where I could rebuild my dreams and still believe that they do come true.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: The Sign Says

Okay, here we go, another challenge for an amateur photographer like me. I’d like to think though that there will always be shots that speak of those moments when you thoroughly enjoyed something and wish there would be more opportunities to visit again.

I remember this. My kids and I celebrated Mother’s Day at an Italian restaurant then went to Avilon Zoo for the first time. It’s been years since I visited one. We enjoyed feeding the rabbits and having pictures with Jenny, a friendly orangutan  trained to shake hands with visitors.  A joyous celebration of feeling like a child again and  enjoying  it with the kids.

Taken during our first visit to Caleruega. We were so eager to feed the Koi fish at the large pond  and watched  their golden bodies merrily swimming.  That was the start of our love affair with Koi fish and had them in our small pond three years ago. It was sad that we lost them all during the flood last year.

We passed by this place on our way to Caleruega , would have loved to explore it but around that time, I think it was closed to the public. Just the name itself evokes peace and serenity.  It’s actually a center of spirituality run by the Salesians of Don Bosco where one can hold retreats, recollections and weddings.

For more of these challenge, you can visit this link.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: In The Background

When you dream, you could open feel that you are on top of the world and the clouds and blue sky are never far from your reach.

And when you commune with nature, you are really closer to God.

And the beach could be a big playground for those lovely thoughts. It is  lovely to see how nature channels you back to peace, tranquility  and silence.

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Today’s Blessing

“It’s so curious: one can resist tears and ‘behave’ very well in the hardest hours of grief. But then someone makes you a friendly sign behind a window, or one notices that a flower that was in bud only yesterday has suddenly blossomed, or a letter slips from a drawer… and everything collapses. ” – Collete

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Escape

This post came a  bit late but I can’t surely ignore it, can I?  Mine says Dreams and Escapes (with an S at the end).  There are several pictures  I took that would exactly describe what the word escape means to me but the following three shots stand out.

CALERUEGA. This is one of my favorite places. I could stay here and just listen to the silence or write a journal while admiring the view and feeling the cold breeze touch my cheeks.  That’s my daughter busy with something. I remember, we brought that tripod and three digital cameras,  mounting  one permanently to the former while we were exploring the place.

PUNDAKIT BEACH, SAN ANTONIO, ZAMBALES.  I remember those days when we used to go on road trips discovering new places . If only for the serenity of the place, I would come back here and see the sunrise or admire a wonderful sunset.  Beyond those mountains is Anawangin and overlooking this one is Capones Island.

TANAY. December 27, 2009, my first trip out-of-town after six rigorous sessions of chemotherapy.  Can I endure the exhilaration of going down these trails and climbing up the mountains of Tanay? I did it with flying colors, a brief escape from the fact that I was so depressed while undergoing treatments.

The beauty of nature gives us that feeling of oneness with the universe, a form of escape from pain and heartaches.  I always love this phrase posted  in  every corner at Caleruega which I have adopted in most of my blogs, Close To Nature, Closer To God.

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My Pink Angel

I bought a pot of this Pink Angel years ago. When it stopped flowering, I planted some cuttings in two small pots but it took so long for it to show those lovely pink blooms, that is,  until  now. It’s a sort of vine and shrub combined. I never knew its exact name  because I could not find such similar blooms on the net. It’s a Pink Angel, the vendor told me, so be it!

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Kamay Ni Jesus (Lucban, Quezon)

I haven’t gone on road trips for  more than a year now. The last time I did, we visited  the 71-foot statue of Mama Mary in Tanay which I shared here in a blog. I love visiting religious sites where one could savor the peace and quiet and get in touch with  one’s inner self and strengthen one’s faith.  I dreamed of visiting  Kamay ni Jesus in Lucban, Quezon but my ever adventurous son beat me to it. They spent the weekend in Lucban and visited the Shrine. Kamay ni Jesus is a  50-foot statue of resurrected Christ  on top of a hill. And just like Regina RICA in Tanay, you have to climb more than three hundred steps to get to the top. I borrowed some pictures from his cellphone. Hopefully, one of these days, I will be able to visit the place too.

One thing more that makes me long to see Lucban, Quezon is I want to get in touch with relatives there.  My paternal grandfather hailed from that place but our generation never got to know our close relatives there except for  his cousin and his family whom we used to visit in Quezon City when I was in high school.  The surname Abuel is pretty common in Lucban. How I wish that one day I could discover our family tree and get to visit the place. All I remember is the name of my paternal great-grandfather  that my late Dad told me before he died.

May 15, 2013 is another big celebration in Lucban. San Isidro de Pahiyas Festival is another event that I want to witness in Lucban. I wonder what kiping tastes like. It is inconvenient for me to travel solo so I’ll save the best for last – going on a trip to Batanes and attending the Pahiyas Festival.

By the way, son brought home Lucban longganisa, a roll of yummy Yema cake and a big pack  of meringue. The latter I think is one of their famous products.

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My Red Bromeliad

I always attempt to take a few shots every time this red bromeliad shows its face. I was never lucky enough to capture its essence, either the picture comes blurred or it’s unrecognizable as a close-up shot of a bromeliad flower. Showing its face again made my morning.

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