Puerto Galera sits at the base of a peninsula on the northern coast of Mindoro, about 80 miles south of Manila and an hour’s boat ride from Batangas. Once a sanctuary from rough seas for Spanish galleons, today Puerto Galera is a thriving watersports town, with a yacht club, cheap beach resorts, and coral reefs teeming with sea life.
Manila Christmas Morning Sunrise
Quick time lapse of the sun rising over the hazy Metro Manila landscape on Christmas morning, as shot from a San Juan high rise, looking east towards Ortigas:
That may look like a picturesque mist but it doesn’t burn off quickly like radiative fog when the heat of the sun falls on it. That’s because it’s more a haze of particulate matter — smog — settling where there’s no wind.
Snapshots from around Greenhills
I’m trying to formulate some dumb egg jokes for this egg-static breakfast but bad yolks like that are just too over-easy for me to bother the shell about.
As always the Greenhills tiangge (bazaar) is a great place for lovely jewelry made from the aggregated nacreous excretions of irritated shellfish.
This is a new snack to me: “butchiron”, or deep fried chicken esophagus bits. Not only do you get delicious crunchy fried chicken flavor but it is pre-seasoned in life with whatever the chicken ate, things like corn feed and worms. Yum.
I was very tempted to get a pint of durian frozen dairy dessert but settled instead for some mango ice cream.
“PotDog” turned out to be neither.
LHC Reunion
Took the NEX3 camera to lunch at Serendra with old friends from college. We wryly called ourselves “Lonely Hearts Club” back in school but we’re not lonely today, and I’m who I am because of their friendship. Love you all, great to see you again.
And the chili chocolate gelato was amazing.
DCA-ORD-NRT-HND-MNL
Flew to Manila for Christmas. This year’s itinerary was a bit of a challenge, with multiple layovers, including a 13 hour overnight Tokyo airport transfer from Narita to Haneda.
EFT-1
Exploration Flight Test 1 was the first test launch for Orion*, NASA’s next deep space exploration capsule. After a day of delays from exclusion zone boat incursions and stiff fuel valves, the mission launched on December 5th aboard a ULA Delta IV Heavy rocket.
Stained Glass Sunlight
Since I’m in the First Baptist DC choir, the day of Christmas Candlelight Carols are an all-day event for me, from morning rehearsals and worship service to more rehearsals in the afternoon, to the Candlelight Carol service itself. During a break in rehearsals I noticed the sun shining through the famous stained glass windows and casting colorful light on the sanctuary pillars; quickly I took out my phone and snapped a photo. Seconds later a cloud had covered the sun and the light was gone.
Lola
Lola (Tagalog for “grandmother”) was actually more of a step-Lola, my paternal grandfather’s second wife after his first passed. I have vivid childhood memories of Sunday mornings in their old house, watching morning Mass on TV, and she would bring pan de sal around Communion time. We were never really very close, but she was the only grandmother I knew, and my last remaining grandparent.
Lola died early this week, peacefully, in her sleep. We’ll remember her.
Vitamins as Vanitas
Amy’s small painting “Vitamins 6” was on display with a second place award at The Art League gallery in Torpedo Factory, Alexandria, VA.
Here’s an interview with her about the series, with some profound thoughts about vitamins as a contemporary vanitas. The use of gouache was influenced by Worlds Within Worlds, a Smithsonian Sackler exhibit of Persian/Mughal folios.
Thanksgiving Weekend 2014
Spent the Thanksgiving long weekend up in New Jersey with Amy’s folks.
There was turkey, of course. I also learned about how olives and celery as traditional American Thanksgiving fare. (You can see it on the plate at upper right.)
On Saturday we ran up to New York City for a bit to see El Greco at The Frick and the Metropolitan Museum (having already seen his anniversary exhibit at the National Gallery). At the Frick we also viewed some masterpieces from the Scottish National Gallery, and at the Met we lingered for a bit over ancient Assyrian reliefs from the Palace of Ashurnasirpal II.
Thanksgiving is over, now Christmas is coming.
