day 656 -it's raining in manila

and it's a bitch when that happens.

day 645 - not a secret garden

my youngest sister has two gardens, back and front. this is the front part of the garden. she has trees and plants and shrubs and bushes, she even has a mini-holly. there she is in the middle of the front garden. there is also an unused swimming pool, a small one where they have some kind of fishes - catfish, i believe. she has quite a green thumb as she had made most of the plants come back to life again and put the garden in order. that is no mean feat, i think. and i am proud of her.

day 644 - a forest?

looks like it, right? but i'm not in the islands yet, we're still in manila, having just arrived last night. this is right in the middle of the financial district in makati city, my old haunt, where lulu and i along with our other friends used to hang out. as you can see, there's a big building in the background.

day 643 - rihanna in manila?

no, she's not really rihanna. she's not even a she, if you know what i mean. she's a "touter" for one of the restaurants by the sea side and that's a menu she's holding. the deal is for the customer to come in to their restaurants, pick the food fresh and the restaurant will cook it any way the customer wants. i took a liking to this person because she looks so sweet. i feel sorry for men who want to be women, especially when you see that they should be women and not men.

in any case, when she saw me holding a camera, she right away struck this pose. i told her i was going to have the photo printed (she asked to see it after i took her photo) and she can sign it for me. of course, i forgot all about it and never went back there when the restaurants were open. maybe next time, i'm sure she would still be there.

day 642 - first sunrise in manila

it is already the 12th of november here in manila but in canada it's still the 11th. but we woke up quite early even though we went to bed at almost 3 o'clock in the morning. when i got out of the bedroom to see what's in the offing in terms of breakfast downstairs, i saw this, sunlight from the sunrise. i couldn't see the sun exactly but its light on the vacant kitchen is enough to make me feel giddy.

this is the second floor kitchen of my friend lulu's house. it is a big house with 4 bedrooms, including the master bedroom where lulu and i are staying, and a library, one full bath, one full size shower and toilet, and one toilet with shower capacity, a kitchen (what you're looking at) a mid-size dining room with built-in cabinets and a large terrace. as i said that is just the second floor.