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

 ALL SOULS DAY 2022 On October 23, 2022, a full-week ahead of the traditional visit to the graves of dead relatives, I visited my parents' resting place at the Eternal Garden Memorial Park in Caloocan City. With me were my sister and her husband, my wife and my son. We took the usual posterity shot but this time I had the idea to take it from the viewpoint of my parents' resting place. I placed the phone camera down to their tombstone and set it on a timer-triggered selfie-photo. This was the photo.  This is the first time I had made a photograph at the cemetery which makes it appear that the one in the grave was the one taking the photo. Some would say that their spirit is there "floating around" which implies that they are looking down at us from an elevated point. But I thought, maybe their soul is really lying there and this is how they see us. Who knows if that is not the case really?  Anyway, I believe my parents are happy, if not surprised, to see us this early...

In photo is the Sampaloc Lake, the biggest of the Seven Lakes which the City of San Pablo in the Province of Laguna, some 70 kms south of Manila, is famous for  (San Pablo is sometimes called the City of Seven Lakes or Lungsod ng Pitong Lawa in Tagalog). The lakes are actually cauldrons or crater-remains of once active volcanos in the Laguna area.  This post is Part 3 of a series of posts on a recent visit to the City of San Pablo. Here I'll talk about two of the more famous and most visited lakes - Lake Sampaloc and Lake Pandin. The above panoramic photo I took during our visit shows one of the mountains that surrounds the City. This one is called Mt. Cristobal. The lake sits just right next to the city itself. In fact, it is just a few steps from the backside of the City Hall. There's a  circumferential road where one can go about and explore via one of those rental bikes available at the area. The total distance of this road is about 3.5 kilometers and is also a popula...

This is a close-up shot I took of the façade of the San Pablo City Cathedral during a visit there last June 23, 2022 . Inset is a circa 1951 photo showing part of the original Ateneo de San Pablo. When the church was first built in 1586 by the Augustinians, it was made out of bamboo materials which was, and still is, abundant in the area. A second church was constructed in the years 1618 to 1629 and was made of stone. And finally, the foundations for the present church was  laid in 1680. The stone church building was started in 1714 and was completed some seven years later.  One of the less known fact about this church is that it has "change hands" among several religious orders a few times in the past, among which was the Jesuit Order or the Society of Jesus (SJ). This is probably the reason why an Ateneo de San Pablo was established there (est. in 1947). According to records, the last Ateneo graduation day was in March 1978. It is now known as Liceo de San Pablo, a parochia...

This is the sight that will welcome you upon ascending an 11-step grand stairway ending in Plata, following the oro, plata, mata superstition in Spanish-Filipino architectural design.  Many of the items you see in the photo are part of an antique collection of the owner/s of the place. The Sala Nature Resort and Events Place, is tucked away in a quiet and peaceful corner in the otherwise bustling City of San Pablo in the Province of Laguna some one-and-a-half hour car ride south of Manila. The recent construction of a  network of expressways that by-passes the old and busy highways have made the ride quicker and more comfortable.  Among the features of the place is a small river that runs beside the property with a small man-made dam where guests can actually set-up a table and dine much like the one found in another San Pablo resort called Villa Escudero. * You can bring your pet dogs, too! Within the small resort area are a handful of accommodations overlooking the wate...