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

It's always nice when you're on a trip specially in other countries to be able to have control of your time because it somehow allows you to sort of wander around and go to the less beaten tracks. On our last visit to the land below down-under, the beautiful New Zealand, we had that special opportunity to do a land trip, drive our own vehicle, enjoy the landscape, admire the view, and sample a few of those small cafes, unheralded art galleries, and drop by less publicized but nonetheless amazing natural spots. One of these stops, which turned out to be a quite interesting spot was a place called the Lava Glass Glassblowing Gallery and Café. We were actually looking for a toilet break (and a coffee break as well) after about an hour and a half of driving. As we were going though a curve, my sis-in-law caught a glimpse of a red roadside sign that had the word café. It turned out that the "café" was also an art gallery and not just an ordinary art gallery at tha...

Rating: ★★★★★ Category: Movies Genre: Mystery & Suspense SYNOPSIS "A disgraced journalist teams up with a brilliant but damaged hacker to solve a disappearance that took place decades ago. Their investigation reveals the ugly past of a family, and an even uglier present." - taken from clickthecity.com Main Cast: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Stellan Skarsgard Supporting Cast: Christopher Plummer, Joely Richardson, Robin Wright, Steven Berkoff Director: David Fincher Writer: Steven Zaillian, Stieg Larsson Film Producer: Cean Chaffin, Ole Sondberg, Scott Rudin, Soren Staermose Release Year: 2011 Released By: Columbia Pictures Running Time: 160 minutes MY TAKE It is a good movie to watch. In fact a very good one indeed. There's some element of the classic movie, "Murder at the Orient Express" in it, but with a twist - a murder occurring in a singular location with the suspect being one among a group of people who were in that same locati...

Nitong nakaraang Sabado, ipinasyal ng pamilya ang dalawang bisitang taga-New York at ilang mga kaibigan sa tabi ng Lawa ng Taal sa isang resort na matatagpuan sa bayan ng Talisay sa lalawigan ng Batangas. Doo'y nagsalo-salo kami sa isang eat-all-you-can na kainan ng mga lutong Piipino tulad ng Binagoongan at iba pa. Hindi naman sadyang katangi-tangi ang mga lutong pagkain at masasabi kong sapat lamang para mapawi ang gutom. Nguni't ang tanawin sa tabi ng lawa ay sadyang napaka-ganda. Mapalad kami't inabutan namin ang isang napakagandang takip-silim kasabay ng pag sikat ng buwan na sa wari ko'y full moon. Ang mga larawan sa ibaba ay ilang lamang sa marami kong kuha na nagpapa-kita ng mga tanawing aking nakita. Nawa'y magustuhan niyo ang mga ito. Dito ay makikitang para bagang bumu-bukas ang kalangitan at sumi-silip si haring araw. Isang ibon an makikitang animo'y naglalaro sa tubig na sina-salamin ang isang magandang takip-silim. Makikita din s...

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...