With nothing to do this lazy Saturday afternoon, I decided to head to Ledras Street hoping to find inspiration to keep my mind pre-occupied for the rest of the day. As I walked down the old road lined with shops of all kinds, my mind was debating on either getting some ice cream or lounging at a coffee shop with a good cup of brew. Before I got to the merits of my options, I noticed a couple of haggard looking guys on the side of the road looking as if they where deciding where to go. I noticed one of them was carrying a guitar and I figured they where one of the street performers working for some change (its an image I can easily associate with Europe, don't ask why). Being troubled with my own thoughts, I slightly avoided the two and went on my merry way.
Finally deciding on having a frappuccino, I went to find a nice spot outside the coffee shop. As I settled on my chair, I heard some music coming from across the street... and it was the two haggard looking guys playing! And they were pretty good too, despite them looking like they haven't had a bath since God-knows-when and always wears the same clothes every single day. They where unkept, unshaven and had long bands of dreads.
They didn't look Greek to me, so I figured they may be some kind of backpackers or something. I didn't understand what they were singing either, but they sang it effortlessly yet passionately I could help but watch and listen. It seemed that they really felt what they where playing, I could see it in their body language and the tone of their voice. The song felt bitter-sweet to my ears, like they were singing about something beautiful yet fleeting, realizing something wonderful when its gone and all that ironic stuff.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
walkin' by
Friday, February 24, 2006
blanks
I realized that most of my recent posts are bursting with pictures. It may be because of the recent influx of events with a whole lot of photos, most of them blog worthy (based on my own humble criteria). Another reason is that I feel that those pictures embodies whatever I want to convey... leaving it to the viewer to choose their own words to piece the story together.
Maybe words aren't even required, they just feel and understand my point and the reason why I chose the picture. Well at least I hope the pictures I took and chose does all that.
Maybe I was just too tired to think and write about it. It doesn't seem to come to me as naturally as before (if ever it did).
Even now as I write this entry, I find it difficult to describe what I have in my mind. Probably because I do not know what's on my mind. It's like a huge ball of wide open space, with little bits of ideas going back and forth... fading in and out. I stare into space and think of... nothing.
I need some meaningful though to hold on to... again the problem is I can't think of anything. I see this is going in circles, and I feel that I'm already rambling... this entry does not make sense does it?
airborne scuba diver
I just received an email from the dive center informing me that we are good to go diving on the 5th of March. Not only that, they also said that they could also take me to one of the cliffs for a jump! Coolness!
Mediterranean sea, here I come!
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Monday, February 20, 2006
appeal
To my fellow Torpe Brothers:
Let this serve as my appeal letter to the allegations of treason as handed by The High Council of Torpes on the 11th of February, 2006.
Let it be known that I have served the Brotherhood with the utmost dedication. For years on end, I have lived under the guidance of our motto and embodied the true meaning of Torpe. In my years as member of The High Council, I have seen some of our brothers deviating from the path, yet I remain faithful to the Brotherhood and for what it stands. I have always believed that leading by example is the best way to inspire the members of our society.
The Dark Side of the Diego has had a lingering presence since time immemorial, and a number of our brothers have been lured by it since our inception. As seen from the annals of The Great Battles found deep in the Halls of Torpe, our brotherhood has been its prime target. We are all being tested, every single day, by the Dark Side. And I do not deny that I have been enticed by the Dark Side. All of us, not even the Lord High Priest Torpe, are safe from its clutches.
And yes, I do admit I have fallen prey to it, but I still consider myself Torpe. For isn’t that the true meaning of Torpe? To be surrounded by it and yet remain unchanged? Despite other circumstances that may have changed, still remain Torpe?
Hoping for your deep contemplation and consideration.
Brother Allan Vistan
Esteemed Member – The High Council of Torpes
*for background on The High Council of Torpes and the reason for its decision please proceed here and here
Sunday, February 19, 2006
the other side
Last weekend, Socs and I planned something entirely different to do. She would go shopping while I try to capture the “essence” of shopping behind the lens of her Canon 300D. Being a guy and not really planning on doing any serious shopping myself, I psyched myself up to not get too bored, try to help her pick out nice stuff and record the events of the day.
As far as planning go during my entire stay here, not everything went as we thought it would. For starters, Tita Eva called us just as we were about to leave the apartment asking us if we were willing to go to the other side. By this I mean the other side of Nicosia… in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, also known as the Turkish occupied territory. More info on that here.
I think Socs was looking forward to going shopping right here in the government controlled Nicosia, but getting a chance to go behind enemy lines was something too inviting to pass up even for a non-war person. And I guess the fact that shopping in the Turkish side is said to be cheaper compared to the Greek side did not miss her mind.
We left Cypriot Nicosia without any hassle (thanks to Tita Eva’s charms and knowledge of the Greek language), walked through the UN buffer zone and into Turkish Nicosia in a span of a few minutes.
I was a bit disappointed not to see any UN troops in and around the buffer zone. Although it was a unique experience to walk in an area that is not occupied by any country. It felt like walking into a warzone, and being in the Greek side up until then I did feel like I was walking straight into the heart of the enemy. I could feel the presence of something. I am not sure if it was all the Turkish flags flying or the occasional Turkish troops walking around or the UN car parked on the side of the street.
what more can a wardude ask for?
It was all a warzone until we went shopping. And yes I do mean ‘we’. I didn’t intend to buy anything there, but Tita Eva and Socs were a bad influence on me and the fact that the clothes where very nice and very cheap made buying stuff a real pleasure. If I didn’t exercise self-control during that time, I would’ve bought a whole lot of stuff from that one store. I was starting to enjoy shopping a little bit too much. That was on side of me I dread, I tend to splurge on stuff sometimes… scary stuff.
Anyway, we roamed around a bit on the other side… visiting a church/mosque, street shops and going to one of the Turkish markets while I kept taking as much pictures as I could of the place. I would’ve wanted to explore a bit more but we were getting hungry so headed back to the Greek side to call it a day. Perhaps I can go back to the other side… the Turkish side and the shopaholic side.
Some pics.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Bohol Vacation: Part VI
To answer Au’s question, the entire Bohol/Cebu vacation lasted for 9 days so bear with me as this could very well be the last entry.
Our last day in Bohol consisted of having breakfast at the old ancestral home of Novis’ family, a trip to the Peanut Kisses factory (which is distinctly Bohol) and some souvenir shopping. Then off we went… but not back to Manila but to Cebu!
yummey!
We were to meet and stay with a couple of friends who are currently residing in Cebu for the rest of our vacation. Bodie picked us up from the pier and we went to meet up with Bikka for dinner and some coffee. The group split up with me, Nobs and Bodie staying at his place while Ven, Abby and Roy went to stay over at Bikka’s.
Being a group of guys, our group stayed in bed for most of the morning while the girls went around sightseeing after dropping off Roy and Abby at the airport (that was the end of their vacation).
That pretty much sums up our two days in Cebu I think… a trip to the beach, lounge around, eat and enjoy each other’s company. Unfortunately we had to leave all that behind come Sunday morning for our flight back to Manila and the daily routine we are all used to.
heading back home
Friday, February 10, 2006
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
warmth
I initially wanted to write this entry in prose, or some style other than the narrative. But alas, the creative part of my brain does not work...
Another weekend, another road trip... but this time the road went up and up. Socs and I headed right smack to the middle of Cyprus, the Troodos Mountains. We were actually targeting the village (or town or whatever) of Pano Platres to experience the traditional Cypriot way of life. But in order to get there, we had to go up one of the mountains before going back down to Platres. It wouldn't have been a big thing... if only the car rental company didn't give us a piece of shit car.
We were expecting another Renault Clio, which have been good to us in our last 2 trips, but instead we got a lousy Daihatsu something. We were trudging along the mountain road for most of the trip, but she held up and we finally got to the peak.
On the way there, I just had to stop at one of the picnic areas to get my first encounter with snow. I was so excited, I must have looked like a pathetic little kid with the wide grin on my face. I created my first snowball, throw it at something (I couldn't hit Socs with it otherwise I wouldn't have nice pictures hehehe) and actually hit it hehehe
Upon reaching Platres, we did some exploring and found a nature trail to some waterfall. It kind of reminded me of the jungle environment survival training (JEST) some friends and officemates did last year, who incidentally are back in the jungles of Subic. We on the other hand are up in the mountains on MEST (mountain environment survival training) hehehe.
We never got to the falls though, despite it being just around a kilometer away. The sun was going down soon and it started getting colder, plus I was getting hungry hehehe. Dinner was ok, traditional Cypriot meal (pic here) but I was freezing! Good thing I bought a leather jacket the previous week (hehehe, I just had to put that in) to keep me warm otherwise I would've been part of the landscape of Troodos.
We stopped by Kakopetria on the way back where we had lunch and to experience more of the traditional way of life. All we saw though, was a big-ass rock and small-ass streets.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Monday, February 06, 2006
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Bohol Vacation: Part V
The next on our very busy agenda was to go scuba diving. Our previous search of decent dive rates was a failure, but the powers that be just so happened to be in our favor and we landed ourselves a 50% discount on the dive rates at the Bohol Beach Club (Private).
Bohol is renowned for its dive spots, especially the wall of corals that extended to 100 or so feet down a must see for divers. I was still not feeling 100% during that day and after the first dive, I decided not to go down with the others since my head was hurting quite a bit. If I had gone down with them I ran the risk of getting the bends, in my opinion. I rested as much as I could on the boat after watching them head to the wall from the surface. From my vantage point below the boat I got a glimpse of what I was missing… but I wouldn’t risk my life for it, and there is always the next time.
divers down
They had a ball though, they told me they saw a turtle just as they where about to descend along the wall. They where all smiles when they surfaced, and I was dying of envy. The shitty thing about it was that one of the guys who had an intro dive (no more than 45ft down) saw the turtle as well!
I managed to salvage the day by spending the rest of the afternoon on the lounging at beach, a wonderful sunset and a feast of a dinner.
living the life
ready to set
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
wrath of Aphrodite
Last weekend, Socs and I decided to head back to Paphos and the Baths of Aphrodite. We were a bit late leaving Nicosia, good thing was that I was getting used to driving on the motorway so we gained a bit of a time. Our first stop was supposedly the Sanctuary of Aphrodite, but we passed by Aphrodite’s Rock on the way there and saw a few people over at the beach. We decided to stop by the tourist center to get some maps (we still had no idea where to go in Paphos) and try to get to the beach and take some pictures.
From the limited knowledge I have of Greek mythology (I haven’t Googled it yet), Aphrodite was supposedly born from the foam of the ocean so naturally I wanted to take a picture of it. My mind raced on how to get that perfect picture in my mind as I went up and down the beach looking for a good spot. I saw a huge rock, which gave me a good vantage point of the forming foam and somewhat protected me from the surge of the ocean. Socs got a great picture of a wave crashing on my spot which almost took my camera out, luckily I only got a few sprinkles of water. I did manage to get a shot of the foam, but I wasn’t completely satisfied.
whoa!
Aphrodite's birth
Then at Aphrodite’s rock itself, I saw more waves crashing through and making lots of sea foam… I couldn’t resist. I went closer, and got close to the ground. This time I wasn’t so lucky. I didn’t think the wave would reach me but it did, and it actually went further than I imagined. I couldn’t do anything, jumping up and down didn’t help… I was ankle deep in sea water… cold sea water.
guess what happens next
Leaving the beach, I took off my socks and shoes to dry them. Fortunately the car came equipped with a heater so I directed the heat towards where my socks where. We arrived at the sanctuary minutes later (with my feet still wet), again taking pictures of the place and visiting the museum showing stuff they dug up during the excavation. It wasn’t as grand as the Temple of Apollo or the Ruins of Kurion, but it wasn’t too bad at all. I was just freezing my toes off that’s all.
as per Socs' request
So off we went again towards Paphos (after taking my shoes and socks off again to dry), to the Tombs of the Kings. This place rivals the Ruins of Kurion in size, with a whole lot of tombs and niches and what have yous. Again, we spent a whole lot of time exploring the place and had no time left to explore the rest of the town.
tombs
life in the midst of death
the only pic in Paphos
We decided to stay over at one of the hotels in Paphos so that we can explore the Baths of Aphrodite the next day. A sumptuous dinner (baked lamb… yummy) and a couple of beers later we threw in the towel and got some sleep.
But again, we woke up later than we initially planned so we rushed towards Polis and the baths. We had brunch near the baths, and we were pretty much satisfied to stay at the restaurant for the rest of the day. Good food and a great view of the crystal blue waters of the Mediterranean… what more can you ask for?
the view
Reluctantly we headed off to see Aphrodite’s bath, which was just a few seconds walk away hehehe. Once we got there, I wanted to take a picture of the water that would make it look like flowing silk. After much playing around with the settings of my camera, I got nothing… except for a scratch on my finger from the rocks by the pool. That’s the second time in that trip I got a “gift” from Aphrodite…
the bath
