photographs from Kiyomizudera, Kyoto

Kiyomizudera, otherwise known as Otowasan Kiyomizudera, is for me the most impressive temple in Kyoto. It is one of the centerpieces of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Among the temple’s most unique feature is that despite its impressive size and ornate architecture, not one nail is used in the whole structure.


by the roadside of Kiyomizudera, Kyoto, Japan
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/50s, f/5.6, 28mm, ISO 200, -1/3EV


Kiyomizudera is popular to both Japanese domestic visitors and foreign tourists which makes the crowd too thick for clean uncluttered photography. Exclude the throngs of tourists hovering in every corner was difficult. One had to be creative. In the case of the photo below, I used a hill to block the grounds and made the beautiful two-storey Romon gate stand out in the frame.


the Romon in Kiyomizudera, Kyoto, Japan
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/1250s, f/5.6, 27mm, ISO 400


The temple is also is a treasure throve of cultural traditions. During my visit, I saw several geishas performing regular pilgrimages and shuudoushi monks roaming the streets for alms. I could not get a tight shot as intruding into personal space of strangers is never easy. For the picture below, I had to move fast. It was hit and run. I prepared the settings of my camera first, walked past the monk, and just clicked. It helped that his hat was worn low. Had his eyes been visible, I would have been unnerved as I too would not want someone to point a camera directly into my face. Ah, the things I do for photography!


a shuudoushi monk at the Kiyomizudera temple, Kyoto, Japan
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/200s, f/5.6, 45mm, ISO 400

revisiting the filigree house in Zanzibar

My first camera in 2002 was a point and shoot with what is now a severely limited memory of 16MB. No wonder then that my early posts on Zanzibar were grainy. So when I went back in November 2005 with a dSLR, I had to try to recapture the scenes that struck me as glorious before. Expectedly, they captivated me once more.


a house at the Kelele Slave Market Square, Stonetown, Zanzibar, East Africa, taken January 28, 2002
Olympus C900Z/D400Z, 1/136s, f/4.4, ISO 100


Take the balcony facing the old Kelele Slave Market Square at Shangani St, Stonetown for instance. A witness of the infamously torturous history of the island which served as the premier slave trading post of East Africa in the 16th to the 19th century, this building remains a wonder of fusion. The floral fretwork is an achievement of both Indian and Swahili workmanship but with a strong hint of Arabic tessallation. Under the directionally horizontal light of the setting sun, the balcony’s wooden lace scrollwork gave out shadows that are nothing short of entertaining.


the same house, taken November 9, 2005
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/320s, f/5.6, 49mm, ISO 400

the Burnayan of Vigan

Outside of Luzon especially in the Visayas, mentioning the word Vigan makes people think of a lot of things- the longganisa, the living movie set that is Calle Crisologo, the brick tiles and not least of all, the burnay or the large earthenware jar Vigan jar. Think of vessels valued customarily used for bagoong (fish sauce) and sugarcane wine.


antique burnays on display at Crisologo Museum (photo by my wife)


In one visit to Vigan, Ilocos Sur in 2005, we saw how the Vigan jar is made in Barangay VII more popularly known as Pagburnayan. Up to this date, this southwesternmost part of the poblacion is where all the burnay camarin (cottage factories) are located. Unsurprisingly, the manufacture of burnay essentially remains faithful to the technique introduced some five hundred years ago by Chinese artisans. The primary material is the rich red Ilocos clay. When fashioned by hand on a potter’s wheel, mixed with find sand (“anay") as tempering material and baked at a high temperature in a huge brick-and-clay ground kiln, burnay is known to be stronger than ordinary terra cotta.


a craftsman at a burnayan in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur


Its commercial ascendance actually came in the late 1800s when burnay technology was revived in Vigan by a new wave of Chinese immigrants. Its main proponent was a direct descendant of Fidel Go, owner of the Ruby Pottery and sometime nominee in the Gawad Manlilikha ng Bayan (National Folk Artist Award) of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts for artistry in the craft.

At present, burnay is used for decorative functions, coming in new shapes, sizes and designs from the plant pots and fanciful ashtrays. To most of us though, burnay still means oversized jars. Some images are difficult to shake off.


traditional large burnay for sale at Vigan

the Doors of Zanzibar

There are a few cities in the world with a concentration of antique wooden doors like Stonetown, Zanzibar. The doors are elaborate carved from hardwood, typically fashioned with nail-less joinery, and decorated with studs and bosses of iron or brass.

A fusion of Swahili, Omani and Indian styles, these portals have become the indelible symbol of Stonetown, now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Distinctively Omani are the flat lintels while the Indians prefer semi-circular ones. Another Indian derivitave are the brass studs which first functioned as spike deterrents against elephants during clan wars in the Indian subcontinent. Symbolim is heavy. Oriental symbols for prosperity are the carvings of lotus and rosettes. Most favored of the decorations though are Islamic in nature, as shown by Arabic inscriptions from the.

When in Stonetown, photographing these antique wooden doors became one of my favorite past-times. I even consider myself lucky having purchased a rare copy of the Doors of Zanzibar, as photographed by Uwe Rawu and written by Mwalim Mwalim. A veritable guidebook for door lovers like me, it lays out a map of some 200 heritage portals in Stonetown.

Here are a few glimpses of these cultural gems:

This door could be of a native Swahili Muslim home. The flat lintels (crossbeam across the top of the door) are Omani architectural preferences. The Arabic inscription above the door can still be deciphered.




Tanzania is lucky to still have forests of hardwood. This door is new as the hotel was built in the 1990s. But the materials they used were impressive- solid thick close-grained rosewood.




The filigree of the doorpost and lintel is crumbling with age and the door is weather-beaten. But finally I found a door that is open! Feels voyeuristic having a peek inside. The inscription on the building showed the year the house was built.




This white door, rickety as it is, retains a charm that is wholly Zanzibar. Obviously constructed from heavy hardwood, it has a Koranic carving on the lintel which I most unfortunately cropped (alas!). The locks and studs and the intricate carving evoke the time when slaves used to be traded in this historic East African island port.




This is another door which has a plaque in Arabic. The repetitive lotus design is Oriental style.




Below is one of my favorite doors, with an elegant symmetry and delicate filigree carvings.




Restoration funds, like in any third world country, are wanting in Zanzibar so many doors are in need of upkeep. Some of the doors even have missing brass studs. Replacements are expensive. I asked and the large traditional ones are about $10-20 each, depending on design.




One building which has real massive doors is the Beit el-Ajaib or literally the House of Wonders is a truly remarkable building which is now more than 100 years old. It started as a ceremonial palace for Sultan Barghash which boasted of the first electric light and elevator in the island. Now a National Museum, it is one of the largest buildings in Zanzibar.

Its main door bears a rather English-looking coat of arms, which probably was the seal of the sultan of Oman.

to the ends of the earth (er, Africa), part 1

My first travel to the continent of Africa was way back in 2001. Destination: Capetown, South Africa. Seven years have passed – this was three digital cameras ago – I can still remember them vividly.

To say that I was excited was an understatement. I attended a week-long conference which fortunately afforded me about 2 days of free time. For sight-seeing, my choices were made even before the trip.

On top of my list was to go to Cape of Good Hope. Many a times in school did I encounter this tip of Africa, whose discovery was vital to the opening of a route to the Far East during the Age of Exploration. To be there, to stand on the “edge of the earth” where the Flying Dutchman used to reign (again, this was in 2001, before the Pirates of the Caribbean lorded over the box office) would be a dream come true.

True enough, the Cape Peninsula/Cape Point day tour I chose did not leave me wanting.

Leaving Capetown at around 9AM, the south road route was spectacular. The 70 kilometer ride took me around the rugged natural coast.

First in the itinerary was the majesty of Chapman's Peak Drive, with its spectacular view of roiling seas and white beaches.


boats leaving for Seal Island at the Mariner’s wharf


Then the drive took a turn to a series of beautiful white beaches along the western arc of False Bay. We stopped at several points. One particular promontory in Camp’s Bay gave us a jaw-dropping view of the famous Twelve Apostles peak.


the Twelve Apostles peaks, as seen from Camp’s Bay

As we went further south, I could not help notice that along the hilly banks are houses of the rich and fabulous. The year 2001 was a little more than 5 years after the lifting of apartheid so despite the affluent projection of the city – there definitely was that Mediterranean feel all throughout the route – you could still sense a palpable economic divide among the white Afrikaners and the black majority.

Crime rate must be high. The villas definitely were fully guarded, with high walls and electrical fences. Signs of “Armed Response” were all over the place, which meant that a private protection agency provides immediate assistance to the household within minutes of intrusion. Vehicles are likewise under a similar 24 hour protection from hi-jacking. In fact, to facilitate helicopter assistance, cars also are painted numbers on their roofs for quick tracking. Coming from a developing country like the Philippines where crime is also an issue, I shook this off nonchalantly.



houses along Boulder Beach are typical of the affluent residences along False Beach

The coastline of False Bay boasts of seemingly endless white beaches, with names like Muizenberg, St. James and Kalk Bay. The water temperatures were not to my liking though. It was February, the height of summer, but the surface temperatures were in the low 20s centigrade. That cold I could not stand so never was I tempted to dive in.

Africa is in your face all throughout the drive. There were stops to show us an ostrich farm, heather meadows and troops of baboon.



an ostrich farm at the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve


What impressed me most, as far as animal showcases were concerned was the detour at the Boulders Beach Coastal Park in Simon’s Town for the world renowned colony of African (Jackass) penguins (Sphensicus demersus, so named for the donkey-like cry they make when on land.


a waddling colony of penguins at Boulder’s Beach, Simon’s Town, South Africa


This was my first time to see real penguins in their habitat and what a habitat they chose! Of all 16 species of penguins spread in only 28 sites in the world, it is these penguins which uniquely inhabit a public beach where people also frequent. While these birds are almost totally adept at sea, spending long periods in the waters to feed on pichard, fish and squid, they are clumsy on land.


more penguins at Boulders Beach, False Bay, South Africa


True enough up to the 1970s, these penguins were vulnerable to human exploitation and predators. In the last 30 years though, they are now protected by the Southern African National Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (check out sanccob.co.za) which is considered to be among the most successful sea bird rehabilitation centers in the world. Protection of their breeding grounds in the beach is stipulated by law. In fact, signages all throughout Boulder’s Beach indicated how far-reaching the safeguards, even to the point of humor.


a sign at Boulders Beach which made me smile

Next, the conclusion: Cape of Good Hope and Capepoint

For Cape tours, check out classiccape.co.za. Today, the tour charge is R525/person exclusive of cablecar ticket vs R285 in 2001. Tours depart from Capetown 09:00 and return 17:00.