We interrupt the Barcelona series with this important news: my 2011 travel calendar officially begins today. Yup! I’m going home to Aklan with Hubby and my brother for a five-day holiday to visit our parents and to take part in the Ati-Atihan Festival. Ati-Atihan is the liveliest and most fun (or do you say ‘the funnest’?) festival in the Philippines. At least according to me and hundreds of thousands of Aklanons. For a week, the streets in Aklan reverberate with the beat of a thousand drums all in perfect rythm as revelers chant Hala bira! Puera Pasma! It is a feast in honor of the Sto. Nino, a practice that…
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Footnote: Autumn in Barcelona
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Remembering Barcelona in Autumn
Around this time last year, I was fortunate enough to have travelled to Barcelona. It was autumn. The weather was beginning to get a bit nasty and I was unprepared for the biting cold. But Barcelona is such a beautiful city that it was easy to forget the weather and focus on the wonderful skyline instead. Just seeing the buildings, landmarks and even trees set against the bluest of skies makes me want to go back. How about you? Have you been to Barcelona during Autumn? Tell us about it! *All photos taken with a Canon G10 You might…
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Breakfast at the Royal Garden Cafe
Hotel Unizo’s Royal Garden Cafe serves three types of breakfast, all equally pleasing to the palette and delightful to the eyes. The first (and my favorite) is the traditional Japanese set. The set consists of grilled salmon.. miso soup… cold tofu… and pickled seaweed. Of course, there’s bottomless coffee and orange juice. Then there’s American breakfast consisting of bread, bacon, eggs, fried potatoes and mixed green salad. You can have the eggs either scrambled or simply fried sunny side up. Finally, the pancakes! If I remember correctly, these pancakes were made with ricotta cheese and served with slices of banana and blueberries. A great pick-me-up especially on cold, gloomy mornings.…
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Gear Review: The Lowepro Passport Sling
Sorry if I’ve been a little quiet over the past 2 weeks. I’ve been preparing for my Japan trip and am, in fact, in Tokyo now. I just wanted to make this quick post because I have a bit of downtime now. I want to tell you about this great bag that I bought for my DSLR yesterday. It’s a sling bag from Lowepro. At first glance, it looks a bit weird and too avant garde. But I used it today and I’m happy to report that it’s a major change from my bulky Crumpler 5 Million Dollar Home. It’s lightweight, it’s just the right shape, and its removable…
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Madrid Photo Makes it to Schmap.com
Got this from the mail yesterday: Hi pauline mangilog, I am delighted to let you know that your submitted photo has been selected for inclusion in the newly released tenth edition of our Schmap Madrid Guide: Mausoleum of Alfonso XII http://www.schmap.com/madrid/all_sights/p=379789/i=379789_7.jpg Cool, huh? Click on the link to see my pic in www.schmap.com 🙂
