the Glimpse

It was totally unexpected. Last November 9, Peter Ryan Go, a good friend from Cebu-Sugbo, the “mother group” of Cebu-based Flickr pools, called to invite me as one of the five featured photographers for a photo exhibition that his photography equipment store, the Photoshop will be sponsoring. The exhibit was to run at the newly opened Parkmall in Mandaue City, from November 15 to November 21.

Unfortunately for me, I had a pre-scheduled trip to Vietnam from November 11 to 15 so I was pressed for time, to put it mildly. Quickly I went through my pictures and selected my top 10 in my flickr gallery and emailed Peter the links of the high resolution versions. Then came the realization that the Canon 350D I am using only could only produce a maximum resolution of 3,456 x 2,304pixels, which would have been fine if the print is 14” wide. This would make the resolution near 250 dpi (divide 3,456 by 14). The quandary is that my photos might come out grainy as the exhibit size is 12x18”.

To the drawing board I came back. I needed to reexamine the choices I made. I had to rule out any crop photos. This was the easy part. In my original list were just two downsized photographs. A majority of my selection were reprocessed using picasa3, the lazy man’s free editing too, which tends to reduce the final resolution. I re-edited the pics using Canon’s free software, ArcSort Photo Studio, just some sharpening or lightening here and there. I did not apply any major changes for fear of downgrading the quality. One photo I even submitted as-is.

When I left for Vietnam, I was anxious that some, if not all photos, would be left out but when I saw on flickr the poster that still shows up my face, then I was relieved. I made it after all.




Yesterday, just a few hours after arriving from Vietnam, unpacking and taking a short siesta, I checked out the exhibit. I was in a hurry, so I only shot a few pictures. I would take some more pictures in my next visit.


My gallery of eight pictures






Do try to visit, if you are in Cebu. The exhibit runs until this Friday, November 21. With me are some of Cebu’s most promising photographers. I am in good company:

Jan Gonzales. Jan’s genre is conceptual portraiture. His expertise in lighting, styling and post-processing makes him a popular figure in commercial photography in Cebu, especially in his mastery of the famous Dave Hill effect. For the curious, the crying model below is Cebu’s speed racer, Matt Guidicelli.




Gerald Yuvallos. A good friend, Gerald is the acknowledged master of the macros in our Cebu-Sugbo flickr group. Nobody has more skill and patience to wait on the fly to blow a bubble than he does.




Joseph Ong. In a little more than two years, Joseph has carved a niche in glamour photography in Cebu. His works are featured in local and national glossy publications. Below is his photo of top Cebuana model Nikki Taylor.




Lito Inso. Having won honors in the recent Wedding and Portrait Photographers International (WPPI), Lito is one of the in-demand wedding photographers in Cebu.



Next: the pictures that I chose in The Glimpse, part 2.

Marilyn Monroe is in Haugesund

There is a little known trivia that Marilyn Monroe, who is arguably the most recognizable movie star ever, is half-Norwegian. Her father is Martin Edward Mortensen, an emigrant from the village of Skjold, 20 km outside Haugesund, Norway. However, he abandoned his family early and he was killed in a motorcycle accident without ever seeing his daughter. This is why there is a statue of Marilyn Monroe in the harbor of the city, as created by legendary Norwegian artist Nils Aas.

I am a trivia buff but I did not know this. I only was made aware of this back story when I came to Haugesund. And to my pleasure, the statue even is located in front of Rica Maritim Hotel where I stayed.

For now, and maybe always, the sexy lady would sit on the docks. With her back to the ocean, she looks as if she’s seeking company. By design perhaps, the hotel hosts the Norwegian International Film Festival every year. That must be making Marilyn happy.




the statue as seen from the restaurant at the hotel

the Little Mermaid

When growing up, I was reared by a lot of fairy tales. One of the most tragic, which as a child I had trouble understanding is definitely Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid.

This story of love between a mermaid (granted half a human) and her prince ended with the supreme sacrifice of the heroine throwing and dissolving herself to the sea, dejected and unrequited. And then of course, we get bombarded by so many other feel-good versions, most notably the Disney cartoon of late. Let there be no mistake though, this tale is not the happiest one to comfort an impressionable child who wanted stories to end with a happily ever after.

When I got the chance to travel to Denmark several years ago, I knew that I just had to visit the famous statue of the Little Mermaid by the rock at Churchill Park. The statue was cast in 1913 by Edward Eriksen who fashioned the mermaid from the likeness of his wife, Eline Eriksen.

The statue has always been on the news and for the wrong reasons. It seems that it begets mischief. It has been defaced, beheaded, stolen and carted away several times. Like a fairy tale though, the statue always make a comeback, for it already is a beloved part of the city of Copenhagen.

Getting to the statue alone was not difficult. Maps are everywhere in Copenhagen and there are directional signs to the Copenhagen harborside. People are always drawn by her too, so all I had to do was follow a trail of tourists who obviously were heading the same way.

As first impressions come, the statue is quite small in stature, not even life-size. It sits at the shore on a rock and since the tide was not high, it can be accessed easily by anyone during my visit. (Be wary, the boulders are slippery!). Alas, getting an alone time with “her” is no mean task. There are just so many admirers who would like to pose beside the mermaid.


I was using a point and shoot then and I could not zoom the mermaid up close. Note the hand of a tourist posing by her.

The photos where in I got her “solo” was managed with some difficulty. Luckily, there is only one trail to access the statue so when a visitor leaves the coveted spot, the mermaid can be had alone for a few seconds just before the next poser comes close.







As the sun sank in Copenhagen, people began fanning out and soon too, I had to leave. It seems that always, the Little Mermaid will be alone.

Ulian Macekan Agung

Having been going to Bali for 13 years, I have been to numerous ceremonies already like the ngaben or cremation and other traditional commemorations, all of which are in public places. It was my first time however to be invited by my two closest Balinese friends to a ceremony that gains you entry inside the temple- the holy Ulian Macekan Agung ceremony no less. While temple courtyards and gardens are open to tourists, the inner gates leading to the actual shrines are off limits to non-Balinese Hindus, unless you intrude of course. The occasion was the long 10-ten day celebration between the Galungan, the biggest holiday in the Balinese calendar (about 12 months x 35 days) and the Kuningan. The temple was in Gelgel, Klungkung, the central temple for the Pasek Balinese clan.

Taking pictures without standing out was an ordeal. I fit right in for I was just any other brown Asian in Balinese attire but I was torn between capturing the images and the rituals of the shrines (there are 3 courtyards with gates until you get into the inner sanctum courtyard) and feeling guilty for the intrusion. The least obstrusive opportunity to take photos was when the almost thousand teeming masses jostled their way through the narrow three pairs of Balinese gates. In the push to get inside, I think nobody paid notice to one intimidated Filipino raising his camera up in the air, praying that one shot will capture the intimate procession.


a rush of offerers in Pura Gelgel, Klungkung, Bali, Indonesia

Queueing inside the temples of Bali is customary. The sea of humanity attending the ceremony had to participate in several exercises of patience to profess their living faith.

Ceremonies often start early in the morning and depending on how big the celebration- and the Ulian Macekan Agung is- it can last well into late afternoon. People are ushered into batches of about a several hundreds each time. Once your group is allowed into the next shrine enclosure, another group is allowed inside the previous one. Inside the first 2 courtyards, there is really no rituals except the wait for the turn to get inside the 3rd and final innermost shrine.



Inside the three courtyards of the Balinese temple, all you have to do is wait and wait. Nothing happens much until you get inside the innermost shrine. I was surprised too- I originally thought that there are some rituals you perform as you gradually get ushered inside but no, you just mill around anything. Some chatter, some even sleep. As I waited for our turn to get inside the 3rd and penultimate courtyard, I was fascinated by how people automatically segregate themselves according to gender. I guess this boy is considered neuter- yeah age does that to you.




Once inside the innermost courtyard, a series of chanting and prayers were heard. The worshippers, with incense sticks and food offerings, would take the heed of the priests and sit cross-legged. They would bow on occasions, and recite prayers in unison. I did not really feel like intruding some more and refrained from taking pictures. The ceremony was fairly short – it could be no more than 20 minutes.

Afterwards, the people would be given holy water, dispensed by holy brahmana priests of both sexes in white. Some would be able to partake and drink from glasses or cups, others would just settle with being sprinkled on their heads from bunched palm leaves. Rice would also be distributed. Again, I saw others eating some morsels, though this was rare, but practically everyone would stick some rice grains on their forehead. Apparently, the Balinese you see in public with cooked rice on their temples, just between their eyebrows, most probably came from a blessing of sorts, but not necessarily from the temple though. All throughout the rites, readers of the holy scriptures would recite formal Balinese incantations over loud speakers amidst the rhythmic play of a gamelan.


a sample photo of the distribution of blessed rice and water after a Balinese ceremony, this time, during a Saraswati rites in Goa Lawah, Klungkung

As soon as the worshippers received the dispensation to leave, they began filing out, hustling through designated exits. Once empty, the same cycle was repeated as a new batch would be ushered in. My friends told me this would last the entire day. What started early in the morning would occasionally end the next dawn.

Prayers, obviously, are governed by no clock.

excited over Vietnam (the food!)

I just got here in Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam after 2 ½ years of absence. Was it that long already? I checked and indeed, I last was here in May 2006. I remember a lot about the country but what stayed most in the inner recesses of my memory is food, the glorious food.

First, I was impressed a lot by the general sweetness of the fruits in Vietnam. I am not talking about a couple of fruits or three but most, if not all, fruits were remarkably sweet. Fruits would also be sweet in the Philippines but often, only if they are in season, and not simultaneously like what I experienced in Vietnam. Maybe I was just lucky in the generous spread of the hotel’s breakfast buffet but I would find this out soon enough...


tourists enjoying the delights of durian in the Ben Thanh market, Ho Chi Minh City

For local color, I had fun eating fruits in any of the stalls around Ho Chi Minh. One time, we raided a night market stand and ended up with a loot of star apples, rose apples, lanzones, custard apples, mangosteen and the dragonfruit. These would last us for three days.


dragon fruit, a common produce in Vietnam, is quite colorful, but generally bland in taste

Another local food I enjoy in Vietnam is their rice noodles. I admit that I am no noodle fan, especially if they are egg noodles (too greasy for me) but the rice noodles – and there are a lot of variety in Vietnam from round to flat – are to my liking. Less fat calories too!


dried goodies at the Ben Thanh market

Then there’s street food. I never have been one who is shy about the earthly pleasures of food cooked in the open. I know a lot of foreigners get turned off by the less than ideal hygienic conditions but I’ve been reared with more than my share of good and bad bacteria in my stomach, thanks of course to the rigorous training that is regular Filipino childhood. Certainly, I stay away from raw or half-cooked delicacies, but anything grilled, fried, steamed or broiled I would like to try, at least once. If they were desserts or snacks, especially those dripping with sugary syrup or brimming with cubed fruits or sweet beans, like the sticky rice cake below, I could not say no.


this rice treat’s name already escaped me, but it was deliciously sweet

Sometimes, I buy other stuff that I do not necessarily eat or drink. Take coffee for instance. Vietnam is famous for its coffee. It is the number two producer of coffee in the world, after Brazil. On occasion, I have brought home some dark roasted beans, not for brewing but for decorating candles which we used to make at home.


my good friend Dinh selecting and inspecting roasted coffee for me

Of course, never last on my list are the pasalubong goodies. Already, I am taking note of the dear delicacies that I would like to bring back home in this trip:
rice papers. They are actually not common in most of Southeast Asia save for Vietnam. I prefer to fill them at home with veggies or meat and then have them steamed or deep-fried.
prawn crackers. For me, the Vietnamese versions still pales in comparison to the krupuk that I can get from Sidoarjo, Indonesia but they are nifty travel gifts back home.
soft sesame cakes. These are to die for. The mixture of the peanuts' brittleness, the white sesame's flavor, the roll-in-your-mouth elasticity and the sugar's rush are a divine combination.



Now let’s see what tomorrow brings. I just arrived here after all.

a second helping of Vanille

I could not help myself and I just had to go back to Vanille. Desserts came a-calling last Sunday and I listened to my sugar craving.

For that day, I, my wife and Cacing indulged on two treats.

1. Calypso. The dessert looks like a baked Alaska at first glance, with its icy and frosty white shell. Attractive caramel brown patterns are skirted and scorched around the folds of the white mousse dome. A heap of mango cubes is perched on the concoction, announcing its tropical intention. Inside, the sponge cake is soft, light but gladly, not watery. When sliced, the coulis (ku'li or "coo-LEE") sauce of mango essence is viscous but did not spill over the cake. It pays that there is no shortage of sweet mangoes in Cebu for the final flourish is this queen of Philippine fruits. The sweetness is divine! I couldn’t help but contemplate if I should order the big cake version for Christmas, as I am always partial over mango cakes.
price= P65


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/125s, f/1.8, 50mm, ISO 200, +1/3EV



Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/100s, f/1.8, 50mm, ISO 200, +1/3EV


2. L’Opera. Unlike the Ube, this is the French classic made of chocolate butter cream, chocolate ganache with rich coffee-soaked sponge cake. The cake gets a high rating for sheer physical construction value. I can imagine how finicky assembling the layers must be, with restraint and skill needed to make the sponge cake the right thinness and the ganache paste the right thickness. Upon slicing, the cake held up on its own, firm and retaining plenty of spring. It did not collapse into a mess even with the eager battering of our fork. And as far as richness go, what do you expect with a treat of premium butter and cream? It rolls perfectly in the mouth and melts in no time. As I took some time photographing the cake we sliced, our 9-month old Cacing could not help but squeal loudly for more. Babies just have no patience!
price= P65


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/80s, f/1.8, 50mm, ISO 200, +1/3EV


On our way out, there was a new display on the counter. There were oblong cakes covered with green powder. The waiter said it’s green tea with raspberry. We were tempted but could not stay any longer.

There’s always another time.

Vanille Cafe and Patisserie
The Terraces, 2nd level
Cebu Ayala Mall
Cebu City, the Philippines

More on Vanille in part 1 and part 3.