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