The C-Spot: A Photography, Travel and Culture Journal

In summer, after schools close for the much anticipated vacation-time,  we spend some of our days to fly a kite. Summer afternoons are the best times to fly a kite. I remember when I was in grade school, there was a big open space near our school bounded on the east side by the city church and the west side by the province's first and only seminary at that time. It was a perfect place to fly our kites which were made out of plain grade school writing paper (or sometimes just a small piece of yesterday's newspaper). They were just simple kites but it was pure joy to fly them while running around that great big open space trying to catch the wind, "out-flying" everybody else's kite. It truly was a happy and memorable time of my life.  But more than the fun and the excitement, there were things, too that I learned that would later prove useful in my adult life. It's just that the use of such lessons wouldn't become apparent to me until I reall...

I've been going to Manila ever since I was a boy in the 60s. I don't remember exactly how many times. In all of these trips, I've always been going with either my mother or father or both. Most of these trips were for the purpose of visiting my elder sister who was then already going to the university, and a few trips were actually for some sight-seeing, e.g. Manila Zoo, Quiapo, etc. I remember we always had to pack as early three or four days before and all of our luggage will be neatly lined along the hallway all zipped-up and ready to go (and not to be touched by anyone, except by my mom, of course). But there is one departure that will forever remain in my memory - the day I left for college. On the day of my departure for college, Conching went through the same meticulous preparation except that this time a few more items were added to the things we're bringing on the trip - a basket full of half-ripe bananas, half a sack of ...

Rating: ★★★★ Category: Movies Genre: Mystery & Suspense Director: Roman Polanski Starring: Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Kim Cattrall, Olivia Williams Synopsis: A writer has been tasked with completing the memoirs of a former UK prime minister. As he digs into the life of his subject, he discovers sensitive secrets that soon put his life in danger. My Take: Okay, after a long excursion to fantasy land and wallowing in the technological magic of CGI with movies like Avatar, Clash of Titans, Last Airbender, Toy Story, and even Inception, to name a few, I'm slowly creeping back to realism via the movies like Salt. And now The Ghost Writer, a mystery suspense-thriller directed by the ever controversial Roman Polanski. Although this is not a spy movie, The Ghost Writer carries all the elements of one, i.e. anytime there is deceit and the CIA is involved, it is always a spy movie. Of course, it's not the kind of thriller that the Bourne series is well known fo...