Oh My Janey

Spring Last Year

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My photography teacher back in college advised us to avoid cliche subjects such as flowers. But I can’t. How could I ever resist such photogenic subjects? 🙂

It was spring when we went to Korea last year. And everywhere you look, there were flower boxes and trees brimming with flowers! How could I not take photos of all the pretty flowers?

I have yet to experience winter and fall, and summer is pretty much the only season in my country. But I have this gut feel that Spring has all the potential to be my favorite. It’s like the perfect season to be outdoors. it seems like everyday is just perfect during spring, you know. It’s not too cold and not too hot , too. Perfect season is perfect.

I don’t wish for much but I wish there’s spring in my country. 🙁

IMY, Seoul

It’s been a year since my Korea trip with my family. And everyday, I wonder when I’d be back. To say that I miss Seoul is an understatement because seriously though, I have never been more enchanted with a place.

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I miss the doodles on every store window. I miss the coffee shops in every store corner with the catchiest and most attractive decor I’ve seen. I miss the ₩1000 stores that sell the cutest earrings, hair accessories, and phone cases. I miss odeng and bibimbap and ramyun and pretty much all the food that I tasted for the first time. I miss the lively shopping districts that sell the cutest and most fashionable clothes and shoes but I can’t afford anyway. I miss the walls and gates and every scenery that beg to be photographed. I miss seeing art and youthfulness everywhere.

I just miss the place so freaking much, which is kind of silly since I’ve only been there once for five days. But I promise to be back and if possible, experience every season! Haha. If I’d ever have the money for it anyway. I have tons of photos to share and it’s ridiculous that I’m only sharing it a year later! This lazy blogging at its finest. I actually planned to post these photos last year but real life is so fast and so many other things happened.

The next time I visit Seoul, I promise to take more photos, better ones, less grainy ones. I took thousands of shots but I was too busy taking photos of my family that I realized that I might have missed tons of chances. No regrets, though. I’ll be back anyway. 🙂

Cubao Expo Noob

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On Araw ng Kagitingan, I went to Cubao Expo with Aika, my college roommate. We’d both been planning to go there for the longest time, for different reasons. Finally, we were free on the same day! I first heard of Cubao Ex when I go to Tumblr every freaking day. I thought it’s just a bar so I had no interest (I don’t drink!). Then all these photos of vintages stores cropped up and suddenly it looked so amazing! And I was right, it really was amazing.

We went a bit too early, though, since some of the shops were still closed. But most of them open at around 3 so it’s all good! We looked around the thrift stores first because that’s pretty much our primary reason for visiting! There were tons but my favorite are Angel Spirits (with tons of old photos and magazines!), My Breathing Space, and UVLA. I seriously, seriously want to buy everything at UVLA but they all look expensive and old.

There were also tons of shoe stores! There were big Janylin and Rusty Lopez boutiques and argh, I HAVE NO MONEY I CRY.

We were also thrilled to see Bellini’s, the restaurant they used in One More Chance! But the place looks too expensive for Aika and I so we skipped the place. Instead, we tried Green Halo, an organic store and cafe. I love the place! They have so many unique drinks, sandwiches and pasta. I ordered Tahong Chips (with the best salsa ever), Mushroom and basil sandwich (love!), and Spicy Coffee. Aika liked my coffee but it tasted like salabat and I hate salabat. Huhu. The Chocnut Coffee was divine, though! Next time, I’ll probably order Gayuma drink. Heehee.

It’s really too bad that I didn’t have my camera with me! The place was so photogenic that I want to go back just to take photos, heh. My photos don’t do them justice at all!

Anyway, we left at dusk and the place was lighting up and there were more people. It was also a lot more beautiful. So yes, I suggest that you visit it around sunset onwards because it is truly a lot prettier when it’s dark.

Aika and I plan to visit a lot more places around the Metro. It’s our goal to explore different parts of Manila since we’re both from the province. Well, she used to be from Quezon but we live in the same barangay in Laguna now haha. Anyway, yes, we plan to visit more places! Here’s to exploring more of Manila! 🙂

Holy Week Road Trip

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It’s a tradition in our family every Maundy Thursday to go on a Visita Iglesia. Years and years ago, we just spent the day by visiting the Dolores church then going to Mount Banahaw. But over the past few years, we decided to spend more time in prayer and that’s by visiting different churches across Laguna and Quezon. I know that when you do the Station of the Cross, you have to visit 14 churches since it’s one church for each station. However, we only visited 8. The churches we visited were the parish churches in Alaminos, San Pablo City, Dolores, Tiaong, Candelaria, Sariaya, Tayabas and lastly, Kamay ni Hesus. It was a long punctuated by long car rides. We also prayed the rosary and the chaplet when we’re traveling.  I fell asleep quite a few times.

Just some of my Maundy Thursday musings:

  • I know we’re supposed to be fasting. Heck, we didn’t even eat meat! But it didn’t stop us from binging. We were eating all the time! There’s really no pause from the feasting that happened last holy week.
  • The saint sculptures in churches are usually covered with purple cloth during this time but I was surprised that the ones in Tayabas church weren’t. But I still don’t know why they cover the saints, though. Where did this tradition come from?
  • I have learned tons of prayer when I was still in school, but the only ones I can remember now are Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, and Apostle’s Creed. My religion teacher is weeping.

I have once talked about my faith, and I am happy to say that I have changed since that point. I just kind of think too much and question a lot, and I just have to figure what I really feel and think. Today, I read Roger Ebert’s How I Believe in God. It doesn’t represent where my faith stands now, but it resonates with me. I was born and raised as a Catholic, but growing up I started to question things. Suddenly, my brain cannot wrap itself around things that I could neither touch or see.

My Psychology teacher once said that people believe in God because they need to believe in something. They need to believe that there’s a higher power that started everything. That’s why religions exist, he said. Ebert said the same thing:

“I believe mankind in general evidently has a need to believe in higher powers and an existence not limited to the physical duration of the body. But these needs are hopes, and believing them doesn’t make them true. I believe mankind feels a need to gather in churches, whether physical or social.”

I’m not saying that this statement defines my Catholic faith, but it definitely has a truth in it. And besides, there’s definitely Someone who planted that idea in our minds, right? 🙂

The Dusty Taal Hike

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I promised myself that I would hike once this year, and this is it. It’s probably the easiest hike ever but it doesn’t mean that I wasn’t sweating and heaving when we reached the top! The unathletic me cried.

I’ve been to Taal Lake twice but this is the first time that I went to the crater. If I knew that it looks so beautiful in person, I would have went sooner! Though the Taal lake and volcano are wholly located in Batangas, I always attribute it to Tagaytay City, which is in Cavite, since you can see it from there. Heck, we looked for boat rides near the Rotonda!

According to the most reliable online reference, Taal volcano is the second most active in the Philippines! In fact, we even saw some volcanic activity when we went up. There were smoke coming from some spots (okay, one spot) and I was like, THIS VOLCANO IS ALIVE!!!!!! Instead of running away, I desperately tried to take a photo of the smoke but my photographic capability isn’t enough.

In just 30-45 minutes, you can reach the top by foot, so when the people offering you horse rides tell you that there’s no way that you could do it, prove them wrong! One of the kuya almost ruined my day by being way too aggressive and cunning. I mean, I know you’re making a living but you don’t need to be a douche about it. We all want to support local tourism but please, don’t make it such an embarrassing (and headache-inducing) ordeal for the rest of us.

It’s not the climb that would make things difficult but there were too much sand and dust in the trail! Well, it’s probably volcanic ash or something (obviously I’m just making stuff up) but bring something to cover your mouth. It felt like walking in a desert sometimes, with luscious green on the side of the trail. Good thing we went early so the place still wasn’t plagued with way too many tourists.

This is why the crater truly was a sight to behold (which I uttered even before we reach it lulz)! It was majestic, and that’s the first time I used that adjective in my life. (I’m hoping that I’ll use it more in the future!) Standing on the edge and seeing it a big lake in the middle of the desert really gave me a sort of peace. The water was a deep shade of green. Too bad we didn’t get near the water! I think we should have took on a different path? IDK.

If you have the time and resources, try going on this trip, too. It took us half a day for this little adventure, and it truly is worth the time! Some reminders, though:

  1. There are actually people who are registered, who carry an id with them, to offer boat rides to tourist. Look for them because we ended up going with one with no ID and met one with and ID and it was a mess! They were fighting and it was a turn off, really.
  2. It’s P1,500 per boat, maximum of six persons. We rented two boats and got a discount! We got it for only P!,300 per boat.
  3. They said that a tourist guide is required and will make you pay P500 (for the whole group) for it. RESIST IT. I almost got fight in the center because I couldn’t understand how it’s required? But we paid for one anyone, AND HE DISAPPEARED ON US. So say NO NO NO NO.
  4. You also have to pay 50 or something for entrance fee.
  5. Ride on a horse if you want but it’s really something you can reach by foot. Wear comfortable clothes and shoes, though.
  6. Bring water because they sell the most expensive water and and soda on top.
  7. Have a face mask with you to keep the dust off your nose and mouth.

So despite all mishaps, it was a good hike. Reaching the crater was a nice experience and I’m glad that I went with these wacky people!

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