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

Mission accomplished! For the 8th consecutive year, a group of once-upon-a-time boys, now nearing their "senior citizenship" status, have continued to pursue their youthful ideals as impressed on them by their Jesuit mentors - to be men for others. What started as an "act of random kindness" became an annual opportunity for the boys to give a part of their time and resources to the community they love most particularly their less fortunate kababayans. In two years time, in 2013, God willing, it will be a decade of doing "a good thing." Hoping that the boys will be able to continue doing it for another decade or more. Below are photos of the the medical mission staged by the boys of Ateneo de Naga High School Batch 1969 (supported by their former HS sweethearts from the exclusive girls school, the Colegio de Sta. Isabel, HS'69) held in the town of Milaor in the Province of Camarines Sur. NOTE: ALL PHOTOS COMPLEMENTS OF SPECIAL FRIENDS OF THE ...

(This is something I wrote sometime during my recent extended visit to my daughter's house in NZ). Being the youngest of three siblings, it was customary and almost mandatory for me to be the one to do the errands, to water the plants, and yes, to do the dishes. But my mother never assigned those chores without first doing them herself and showing me how to do them.  In the absence of what we now routinely use to wash away stubborn stain on frying pans and pots such as "scotchbrite" dishwashing sponge, she always uses fine grain sand which was always available nearby since our house was located near a river, or the better option was to use "ipa" or rice hull which she collects whenever we buy a piece or a block of ice from the corner store ice-dealer. Rice-hull as I later found out, not only cleans the dishes but leaves them glistening and shiny specially when sunlight strikes them. Used in tin pans, one gets a smooth shiny metallic appearance making...

"Ito lang ang kaligayahan namin dito."  That is a direct quote from one of my former office mates who has immigrated to a far away foreign land and who I recently had the chance to meet with and enjoy a small get together in their newly acquired house in a quiet and modest suburb just an hour away from their place of work in the smallest capital city in the world - Wellington, New Zealand. This is not the first time though that I have heard that remark (usually preceded by a deep sigh). In most of my trips abroad where Pinoys get together occasioned by a visit by a kababayan (in most cases me), I hear similar if not the same plaint and almost a lamentation from Filipinos who have braved the strangeness of life and culture in foreign lands, sometimes enduring loneliness and even condescending treatment if not outright contempt from the people they have little choice but to socialize, work and live with. ""Ito lang ang kaligayahan namin dito, Chito...

There's something about trees and sunsets and lakes that always mesmerizes me. I can't explain it. So I just let my camera do the talking. These couple of shots were both taken on lakesides but on two different lakes. One was taken in Rotorua and the other in Taupo. Both were taken at about the same time but the hues were very different. Perhaps it's because one was taken looking towards the east and the other towards the west. I am always awe-struck by the simple, serene, yet powerful beauty of sunset. Somehow it seems like a daily sign, constantly reminding me to stay still, close my eyes and pray the Angelus, just like when I was in school when I hear the pealing bells at around 6 o'clock in the evening: "...Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the s...

Huka Falls is actually a body of water running through a fracture on the earth surface. It's not as gigantic as the Niagara Falls in Canada, or as mystical as the Angel Falls in Venezuela but it is beautiful and breath-taking nonetheless. From Wikipedia: "The Huka Falls are a set of waterfalls on the Waikato River that drains Lake Taupo in New Zealand. A few hundred metres upstream from the Huka Falls, the Waikato River narrows from roughly 100 metres across into a narrow canyon only 15 metres across. The canyon is carved into lake floor sediments laid down before Taupo's Oruanui eruption 26,500 years ago. The volume of water flowing through often approaches 220,000 litres per second. At the top of the falls is a set of small waterfalls dropping over about 8 metres. The most impressive, final stage of the falls (pictured here) is an 11 metre drop. The drop is technically six metres (cliff beneath the water) but the water flow raises the level to 11m. The falls ar...

* Mt. Ruapeho - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Ruapehu If one wishes to travel between Wellington and Taupo in the North Island of New Zealand, one of the more scenic routes is via the Desert Road. Whether coming from or going to either of these two wonderful locations in the south-central part of New Zealand's North Island, the view is spectacular particularly in that part where a magnificent view of Mt. Ruapehu can be seen. Viewed from thousands of miles above the earth, Mt. Ruapeho does not appear to be all that majestic. Photo below is courtesy of Google Earth. But viewed from the ground, where most humans normally view mountains, Mt. Ruapehu is truly such a sight to behold as shown in the four photos below. Its snow-capped slopes glisten in the mid-day sun that seem to enhance it's brightness even more. Its sparkling beauty seems to refresh the weary traveler as he passes through a parched wind-swept dry land almost devoid of greenery and freshness. ...

Lake Rotorua - http://www.newzealand.com/int/article/lake-rotorua/ Walking along the the shores of Lake Roturua, I just spent sometime looking around and saw the trees which have been laid bare by the recent winter. Bare as they are, they exude a certain beauty as they lift their arms to the clear blue skies as if in homage and gratitude for the return of the sun. In time they will be coated with thick luxurious foliage that will glisten in the afternoon spring time sun as if they never have shed them at all. A naked tree In full-color Black and White Full-color And the romance between the sun and the sky that has sprang in spring will be lovingly nurtured till it gracefully grows through the seasons. Young love Timeless Love

*From Wikipedia - Rotorua is a major destination for both domestic and international tourists; the tourism industry is by far the largest industry in the district. The city is known for its geothermal activity, and features geysers – notably the Pohutu Geyser at Whakarewarewa – and hot mud pools. This thermal activity is sourced to the Rotorua caldera, on which the city lies. We arrived at Rotorua, about an hour and a half drive from Taupo, at around 4:30 PM. As we were looking around to book a place to stay for the night I saw this beautiful golden sunset at the distance. This is how it looked from where I was standing Using my camera's zoom function, I shot this: And using the maximum zoom capability of my point and shoot camera, the sunset looked like this photo below: It looked like the sky was on fire!

The internet (via Google and other popular search engines) is replete with images of the sun setting in the Great Lake of Taupo at the North Island of New Zealand. The photo below is yet another one of those images. But the unique thing about this photo is that it is one taken by me on September 3, 2011 at around 5:30 PM at the corner of Lake Terrace and Tui Street. I took the photo with an old trusty point and shoot Canon Ixus digital camera which has been with me for many of my travels in recent years. Sunset at Lake Taupo LAKE TAUPO is a lake situated in the North Island of New Zealand. With a surface area of 616 square kilometres (238 sq mi), it is the largest lake by surface area in New Zealand, and the second largest freshwater lake by surface area in geopolitical Oceania after Lake Murray (Papua New Guinea). Lake Taupo has a perimeter of approximately 193 kilometres, a deepest point of 186 metres. It is drained by the Waikato River (New Zealand's longest river),...

A hearty brunch. Yummm.... Scrambled eggs, on a generous serving of bacon, with hash browns, topped with smoked salmon and creamy butter melt. On a whim, my daughter and I decided to try a walking trail which we were told would lead us right to the Lower Hutt CBD. The trail was really a short-cut taken by those who prefer to walk rather than take a bus or drive a car to their place of work at the Hutt City Center. Being new to the route, we thought it was going to take forever to complete the walk. But since it was a fine day with just a little chill in the wind, we were able to make it in about 45 minutes - just about the time it takes most people to make it. My feet were a little sore though so we immediately looked for a place where we could sit down and rest. And just a few meters from where we stopped was a place called Riverside Restaurant. Since it was around 10 in the morning, just a few customers were there (in fact they occupied just one table). We thought that ...

Around seven million years ago, the Aorangi Range was an island. As the mountains eroded, scree and gravel were washed down to the coast, where they formed a sedimentary layer. Over the past 120,000 years, the Putangirua Stream has exposed this ancient layer of gravel to the erosive forces of rain and floods. Some of the sediments stayed concreted together, while others washed away. The result is the Putangirua Pinnacles 'an amazing collection of hoodoos'. This outlandish place was used as a filming location for the 'Paths of the Dead' scene in the Return of the King, the third movie in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. To find the Putangirua Pinnacles Scenic Reserve, drive about 13 kilometres along Cape Palliser Road from the Lake Ferry turn-off. The reserve has a camping ground and a choice of walking tracks. Three of the walks lead to the pinnacles. you need to allow about three hours for the round trip. (Source: http://www.newzealand.com/int/...

Surfing the internet beside a fire - a very modern-day activity in a very primal setting

This is how it looked at the peak of the snowfall. A RARE EVENT People here in NZ are calling this a "once in a lifetime" experience. Metereologists are saying that this event has not been experienced in this particular place (and others like Auckland) in the last 50 years and may never be repeated in the next 50 more years ahead. It started as a mild threat of a "cold snap," then they started referring to it as an Antarctic/polar blast. By the time it ocurred it was being called a snow storm, the first in half a century. While people in the south, e.g. Christchurch, Dunedin, etc. are not strangers to snow, they've never seen it this severe. But for people of the north island, this was a surpirse - and a pleasant surprise to many since they've never experienced snowfall (not in the last 50 years at least), and not this heavy. As faith would have it, I found myself right smack in the middle of this rare phenomenon, again. It seems I have a knack ...

Some months ago, on a whim and egged on by a newspaper promo published by a local airline company, Cecill booked a four-day trip to an island just north of Batanes Islands - Taiwan, the place which became a refuge for Chinese escaping from the juggernaut of communism enveloping the entire continent of China in the 50s. The Taiwan capital city of Taipei is located at the north end of the island and is about an hour and a half away from Manila on a non-stop flight which makes it nearer to Manila than even some of the Philippine cities in the south such as Davao City. Taipei is the proud city that hosts the 2nd tallest building in the world - Taipei 101 (it was the 1st in 2004 but has been recently replaced by Burj Kalifa Tower in Dubai). Taipei 101 truly dominates the Taipei skyline and acts as an orientation structure that can guide people in determining their location/direction. I took the photo above on the way from another Taipei attraction, the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial....

With a couple of old time buddies in tow, I boarded what may be a  historic run of the Bicol Express marking the much awaited final test run of the Philippine National Railways final simulation of an actual commercial run, i.e. leaving Manila (Tutuban Station) at 6PM with a six-car configuration (3 Family Sleeper,  1 Executive Sleeper, a Reclining-Seat car, and a Dining car). The family sleepers (FS) car is one where the passenger can lie down on a full-body bed-like seat with a curtain which can be drawn close to provide privacy. There are four of these "beds"- two on each side of the open-cabin, one above the other. The executive sleeper (ES) car is an enclosed 1.5 by 2 space where a small bed and a small table can be found. It's height is about 5 feet. And this is because another such cabin is located above it ala mezzanine. Each cabin has a door which can be locked to afford total privacy (unlike that in the family sleeper where only a curtain keeps away the pr...