The Sundays – Summertime

A cool song about summer can be the best antidote to the heat. This song is perfect!

Nami Island – December 2013

Have you ever been to a place where at first sight you’re wondering if it was blown  directly out of a soap opera?

Nami Island is exactly that, and why not, it was where Winter Sonata was shot or at least most of the romantic scenes of the said Korea novela. There was even a marker for the place where the lead characters had their first kiss. Pardon me, I’m not a great fan of Korea Novelas so I have no idea as to what Winter Sonata is all about…it probably was a love story with a tragic ending where women exactly look alike (one reason I’m having a hard time watching Korean soap is the fact that I cannot exactly tell one character from the other).  With or without Korea novela education I was still in awe seeing Nami.

It would probably take a half day or so to cover the whole island, but after the whole tour, one can acquire a million hours worth of memories .  It was our first time experience with snow so it was very understandable that somehow we acted like kids being thrown in a strange playground.

The trip to Nami Island was something worth taking especially when you’re traveling with a loved one.  Admit it, one way or the other we become suckers for romantic backgrounds, for selfies and k-pop poses and this place provides the needed encouragement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seoul’s soul

Been to a few cities here and there, have declared some as favorites mainly on the basis of wanting to go back.  Truth to tell, it would be very unfair to say that one place is better than the other considering that answers will vary depending on a person’s point of view.  For someone who grew in a tropical country, a snow is a sight to behold, but for others, a sight of snow spells calamity.  At any rate, no two cities are alike as no two people are identical.  Each one has a soul of its own…each one having history distinct from the other.

I realized that when you’re in a place not your home, at some point you’ll feel lost.  But this sense of being lost is what makes such place endearing.  Sometimes, indeed, it takes a stranger to see beyond the surface, with an open mind, we see beauty of things we never and could never own.

Seeing Seoul for the first time, makes me want to wish it is not the last.  For a few days, I would like to think, I have somehow touched its soul, bu then who am I?.  But seriously, Seoul has touched me in more ways than words can spell.  With tradition merging with modernity right before your very eyes, how can a vacation of sightseeing go wrong…

State of Mind…New York City

It was raining the whole time that we were in New York…from the time we arrived until we rode the bus going back to Boston, the shower was non-stop. The excitement was somehow reduced as it was very inconvenient to move from one place to the other. But the experience still remains memorable.

Not everyone felt the same but I think New York is worth revisiting. Yes, the subway was quite disappointing…reminded me of our own Quiapo underpass but in way it added character to the already colorful city of New York.

A heart left in SAN FRANCISCO

Our US vacation ended almost three months ago, but memories are fresh as though it was just yesterday.

San Francisco is one of the places in my mind…the experience of being in this place really made me want to leave a piece of my heart.

Every place we were fortunate enough to have visited had its own charm…and San Francisco has a character of its own…

US trip – first day

It was in a way a dream come true for me and wife. We were able to have a vacation in the US despite work and financial considerations and not to mention, a medical emergency.

There was so much anticipation for this trip. Some family members are in the US and a chance to meet them would indeed be memorable. Never in my wildest dream did I see myself with my mother and two of my sisters in another country, considering our simple living in the province decades ago. I guess, one can really never tell.

By the way, here are some of the photos I took on our first morning in the US. This was in Onset, Massachusetts, where we stayed to celebrate my sister-in-law’s wedding.