Down the Rabbit Hole

Tricycles are some of the most common means of public transportation in the Philippines. They can be found traversing barangay roads and national highways. The only places I haven't seen them in (because they're not allowed there) are the expressways. The stuff that these tricycles transport can be as different as night and day! Here are two examples: This tricycle was transporting a gas cylinder at night along the national highway in Calamba. What a way of transporting, right? it's not the most ideal because the cylinder could get dislodged on a particularly bad bump... And probably explode. For some people though, this is the most convenient and the cheapest way of transporting such things. Traffic was not moving at the time because a container van trailer was being maneuvered into some weird configuration on the outer lane. And here's another one. I presume that these colorful toys are going to be sold in one of the markets in Calamba. It's just nice to see somet...

I'm lucky that I have friends who share my enthusiasm on learning more about Philippine culture and who love to visit museums. And we do it every June 19, so far, complete with a stop over at Jose Rizal's monument at the Luneta. This year, aside from dropping by the museum at the CCP, we looked at the various art exhibits there and dropped by the nearby Metropolitan Museum in Manila. Just by looking at so many artwork from a wide range of genres, I could say (not being an expert at all) that the Philippine visual arts scene is thriving. When I first saw copies of Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo's paintings " La Barca de Aqueronte " and " Las Virgenes Cristianas Expuestas al Populacho ", I understood why he won reknown as an artist: I was blown away by his depiction of adversity and discomfort and by his play with light and shadows. These paintings, including Juan Luna's " Spolarium ", are some of the best I've seen. They're priceless! As...