29 May 2011

Snippets of My Trip to Manila

The call from my sister in Manila a couple of weeks ago brought me to my country of birth just after two years of having to visit it with my children, that time for a holiday. The journey this time was to see my ailing father, and to personally nurse him. My other siblings also came spending as much time with dad and making his days as happy as he can possibly be...with his loved ones around him.
This trip also brought many relatives and friends who came to visit dad, and I had the chance to meet some lovely friends/classmates from high school, whom I haven't met for more than 30 years... I was emotional the whole time...

Due to my limited time to go out of the hospital there wasn't many pictures that I could take, except on the last couple of days when my sister brought me out to a few places near the hospital itself...

and besides, it was raining everyday, mostly in the evenings...



in spite of the hard life that most Filipinos face everyday, you are bound to see happy faces everywhere



this is called fernbrook, a building used for functions like wedding, birthdays, etc. in the affluent section of Alabang, in Metro Manila
















a church at nature park, in Almanza Las Pinas


and the chapel beside the church...




i saw these kittens outside the hotel where we stayed in the first couple of days





my siblings and I tried this meal at a place in Alabang called Seafood Island Restaurant where the food is spread on banana leaves, such as barbecue on skewers, grilled milkfish, shrimps, mussels, eggplant, and okra with boiled sweet potato leaves and slices of green mango, and of course rice (flavoured with garlic and butter here)



8 May 2011

A poem as lovely as a tree







THIS IS FAITH

To walk where there is no path
To breathe where there is no air
To see where there is not light-
This is Faith.

To cry out in the silence,
The silence of the night,
And hearing no echo believe
And believe again and again-
This is Faith.

To hold pebbles and see jewels
To raise sticks and see forests
To smile with weeping eyes-
This is Faith.

To say: "God, I believe" when others deny,
"I hear" when there is no answer,
"I see" though naught is seen-
This is Faith.

And the fierce love in the heart,
The savage love that cries
Hidden Thou art yet there !
Veil Thy face and mute Thy tongue
yet I see and hear Thee, Love,
Beat me down to the bare earth,
Yet I rise and love Thee, Love !"
This is Faith.

**a poem by
Amatu'l-Baha
Ruhiyyih Khanum


1 May 2011

A dream garden - Tieve Tara

A sunny yet cool morning, a drive to Mount Macedon brought me and my daughter to a paradise garden...oh autumn, I heart you...






























the monet-style bridge










leap-frog

such a happy face!


a picnic place...
































my daughter was seemingly lost in the beautiful surroundings...




how i loved walking around this lake...and walk over the monet-style bridge






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