°37: Gyeongbokjung Palace

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Privileged to have not just one, but two photoshoot while we were in South Korea. One in Nami Island and this photo was shot in Gyeongbokjung Palace in Seoul. Bliss overflows. Can’t thank God enough. ♡

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°36: HongKong

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My favorite place in HongKong – perfect for photowalk as the entire place has numerous wall murals. We had the privilege to see this being painted live as seen in the photo below.
Too bad, my sister and I were shy to ask for a photograph with the artist.
This one’s another favorite 🙂 Love how vibrant this mural looks like.
The streets are perfect for people who love to do street photography. Definitely worth the 10,000 steps haha!
Lovely café in area, had to stay in budget, so we didn’t go inside.

To say that 2018 has been an awesome year is an understatement. It was jam-packed with both beautiful and painful things, but I’ve got to say that the beautiful outweighs the bad. I am so grateful to be able to travel to two countries and numerous domestic destinations throughout the year.

I know that it is a privilege to be able to afford to travel for leisure, that’s why I am seizing every moment of it. I make sure to treasure and cherish all the memories I get out of experiences like this HongKong trip with my sister from Japan. I am grateful, always, every day. ♡

°35: South Korea

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Random mural we passed by while looking for a café where we can finish our work.
So glad that Babu also enjoys exploring new places by foot.
Interesting to note the absence of fast food chains in South Korea. You can see one or two in Myeongdong or Dongdaemun, but not as many like in other Asian countries. Perhaps, this is the reason why solo businesses like chicken and beer places thrive.

I am still stuck to the days we’ve spent in South Korea. We stayed there for six days and oh boy did I enjoy it so much! Too much that I am still feeling sepanx until now. B and I are actually seriously considering of going back soon, so I am on the look out for seat sales bound for Incheon haha!

South Korea is surprisingly a beautiful place to navigate around, mainly because of the kindness of its people. We rarely encountered rude Koreans, almost all were willing to help us especially when we got lost in their subway. Almost everyone we’ve asked went extra mile by searching for our destination and teaching us which train to take even if they can hardly speak English. Business owners were also kind and hospitable, making customer experience all the more pleasurable and actually memorable.

It’s always nice to marvel around a new place through walking. I’m glad that my companion was game enough to do it. We’ve bumped into a food and crafts event, while we were on the lookout for a café to work in. We’ve seen murals, beautiful shops, and local event all because we decided to walk around. I’ll forever cherish the memories I had in South Korea–will definitely go back soooooon!

°34: Pusô

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The “puso” originated as a ritual object intimately associated with the animist religion of the pre-hispanic Cebuanos. What’s more surprising is that these rituals are still being practiced by a small upland community in Barangay Taptap, Cebu City. It is an activity performed in ceremonial celebrations in victory, harvesting, planting, weddings, birthdays, baptisms and burials which still mirrors how the pusu is used today.

The term ‘pusu or puso’ is derived from the Visayan word, denoting “bunga” or “bulak” which means fruit or flower. Like the banana flower (called ‘puso’ ng saging – heart of the banana) is suspended from its natural trunk setting, the pusu depicts a sugbu-anan belief in fertility and productivity (this is why some call the cebuano puso “hanging rice” that is commonly hanged in bunches.)

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You’ve just read the verbatim text written at the back once you purchase this pusô keychain from Papers&Tschai. It is interesting to note how pusô became an integral part of Cebuanos’ identity and daily lives.

If you’re a tourist who have been to Cebu already, you can definitely reminisce to that time you got surprised to be given these tiny pusô as rice when you eat lechon Cebu or barbeque. You might ask for the ‘regular white rice’ that we’re used to eating when dining out, but to no avail. Pusô is definitely the way to go. No regrets, though, as it proved to be a great partner for lechon and bbq.

Take the Cebuano vibe anywhere and everywhere you go with Paper&Tschai’s leather pusô keychain. Imbibed with a Visayan touch, you’ll be dumbfounded to meet people who will recognize pusô once they see it hanging on your bag or keys.

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If you wish to purchase your own pusô keychain, click here.

Visit Papers&Tschai on Facebook and Instagram for more hand-crafted leather goodies like journals and watercolor pans. ♡

°30: Coffee Project

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Efiniti UXi Super 200, Canon AE-1

Here are one of the few shots I salvaged from a missing USB where I saved the scanned copies of my most recent developed rolls. Sigh. Dwelling on the brighter side, I am glad that I managed to save these shots taken at Coffee Project in Quezon City.

Coffee Project has multiple branches in and outside Metro Manila and no two cafés look alike. I like the cozy and quiet ambiance of this place–perfect for coffee and a good book match up. I hope to see more of the other branches in the future.

It is good to be back here on WordPress!