Snippets of my trip to Manila Part 2- breathtaking Tagaytay

This is probably my first visit to Tagaytay, 55 kms south of Manila,  a two-hour drive depending on the traffic in Manila. I went there with my two sisters, a cousin and my sister's friend who was kind enough to drive us down in his car, after a sumptous lunch in Sta. Rosa, Laguna hosted by another lovely cousin.

At picnic grove, you can get a breathtaking view of Taal Lake and Volcano 

the place has a zip line and cable car for the adventurous

a boy with a wild cat for sale, just P2000 (pesos) or AUD45.

you can see that this couple was about to break-up in Tagaytay, i overheard them arguing while taking photos of the volcano

a tourist shop

overlooking the hanging bridge

my cousin walking nervously on the hanging bridge

a nice hat to try on

Eulogy for my beloved father

Taking a second trip back to Manila within seven weeks was not an easy one for me, my beloved father left this world six hours just before I landed in Manila on June 18, 2011, he was 85.

Writing a eulogy for him was not a very easy one either, but only love can make me do what I had to do.
In my own heartfelt language, this is what I said -

...How do you say goodbye to someone you deeply love?

On the day my eldest sister called from Manila to inform my family of my father's hospitalisation, just seven weeks ago, I was suddenly struck by the thought which I have always feared the most - an impending separation. It was quite unusual for me to feel this way as Papa had always recovered well from all of his sicknesses before, most of them minor ones, sicknesses which almost rarely happened in his younger days, from as far as I can remember. For, to me and my siblings, our parents were embodiments of health and physical strength, both of them lived healthy lifestyles, which in effect, gave me and my siblings more time to share many happy and sad moments... and together with Mama, he  tried to give us a normal family life.

Soon after that call, the decision to take the journey back home to see Papa was not an option, neither for the rest of my siblings here and abroad. And with our dear mother's support, we have concluded to do just one thing - to serve him unreservedly well and make him happy if we can, with all of his remaining children around him...

Looking after his comfort, and being with him every single night and day during his time in the hospital was probably the happiest moment in our lives as his children, for in the process we discovered what love is, in its purest form. Consequently, the experience taught us a very important lesson - that love for one's parents brings out the best in the human soul...the virtues of self-sacrifice, generosity, obedience, humility, patience, understanding and kindness, to name a few, have suddenly become natural to you. While at the same time, you come to realise that in both words and action, those virtues have actually been embedded in you by your parents who loved you...and now is the chance to give back what they have given you. Children then must be invariably grateful to their parents for this gift of giving which in reality is a most precious gift.

Dear God, thank you for giving us Papa...
Mama, thank you for marrying Papa...
Papa, thank you for the life that you lived, for being a loving husband to our mother and most of all, for being the selfless father that you are...
I will always miss your smiles, your eyes that speak of love and understanding that always tell me 'everything's gonna be alright', I will also miss your sense of humour...
You were an angel sent to us and now you're back to where you belong, in heaven.
Our separation is just in body but in spirit you are always with us.
We love you deeply, both in this world and the next.
My beloved Papa, goodbye...for now.

Melbourne City Lights (winter)

Gone for a walk to the city last weekend...

to look at the pyramid of lights at federation square...

 the pyramid of lights will run through the winter season and is made up of thousands of these kind of lights and still growing... the community can contribute their lights, too.

i also walked along birrarung mar and thought the ferris wheel looked magnificent at night

 view from flinders station across the square, the corner of swanston st. and st. kilda road

 the crowd at fed square on the weekend

flinders station, the view from fed square

 more of the bustling crowd on the steps of fed square

the tram stop

we also went to st. kilda pier to look for penguins, we saw at least three of them...

winter sunset - at eastern beach, geelong

A much needed break brought me to Geelong, a much-loved place, with people close to me...
It was cold, almost freezing but so was my heart...
I haven't had the chance to watch a beach sunset for quite a while till today....
Beautiful day, I thought.

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)

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

Watching the sunset with Papa, my dearly beloved father.

I wish I could bring Papa here again...he loved this place...