Tag: history

[JP18] Kyoto, Japan: Walking Around Nishiki Market, Pontocho Alley & Gion District (plus Ichiran Kawaramachi!)

This is yet another tl;dr, image-heavy post, which I’m not really gonna apologize for because, really, if I don’t have the photos, then I won’t really have much to say, now, do I? This blog post is all about… walking. Yes, walking. Because if you don’t know me by now, I really, really, really like to walk. A fact that drew the ire of one or two of my companions from time to time. #sorryNOTsorry So, yes, this’ll be all about that time my friend and I practically walked almost the entire length of the road from Nishiki Market, across Kawaramachi to Pontocho Alley, then across the Kamogawa to get to Gion District, until finally we ended up in front of the Yasaka Shrine. Yes. All on foot.
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High Up The Mt. Samat National Shrine (Dambana ng Kagitingan) in Bataan, Philippines

Heroism has taken on numerous definitions, and a lot of faces have been assigned to the word “heroes”. So much that, in my opinion, most of us have lost sight of what it truly means. Worse, most of us have ceased to care about what it really meant, and just throw the word “hero” around lightly. But there is a little bit of relief to be had in knowing that there are still some places – albeit too few already – that serve as reminders of the “heroism” that served as one of the main catalysts of building the national identity that we have today. One of those places that endure to this day is the Dambana ng Kagitingan situated at the Mt. Samat National Shrine in Pilar, Bataan.

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Down South: The Macaraeg-Macapagal Ancestral House in Iligan City

It seems that, even with zero intentions, I still end up visiting a museum of sorts whenever I go anywhere. Don’t get me wrong; visiting museums is interesting, but compared to being outdoors, personally, the prospect pales in comparison. We did not even know about this place, until our driver-slash-guide for our day-of-chasing-waterfalls mentioned it. Continue reading “Down South: The Macaraeg-Macapagal Ancestral House in Iligan City” →

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Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam: The City Hall & The Saigon Opera House

I’ve been on numerous trips to other “local government units” before, but I can count only with one hand the number of times I bothered to check out the “City Halls” of those cities. And even in those few ones, I went because we had to, not because I wanted to. (FYI, I work at a City Hall.) But I can’t say this one was intentional, too. It just so happened that, while walking around, we passed by what turned out to be the City Hall of Ho Chi Minh City. Continue reading “Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam: The City Hall & The Saigon Opera House” →

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Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam: The War Remnants Museum (Part 2 of 2)

People visit museums for several reasons. One of the most common reasons is so that they could take a peek at something far removed from what they are familiar with, and be transported back in time, albeit through relics, photographs or works of art. However, I doubt that a visit inside the War Remnants Museum would make you want to go back in time, to this particular wartime.

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Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam: The War Remnants Museum (Part 1 of 2)

Remember how I said that, when I was inside the Hoa Lo Prison and was surrounded by what may be one of the darkest periods in the history of Vietnam (the French occupation, to be more specific), I felt this certain heaviness that kinda made it difficult to breathe? Well, that still did not prepare me for my visit to the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh. The pain is real, and I wasn’t even part of that period of history. (This post is rated PG. Parental Guidance is strongly advised… due to some violent and graphic images and descriptions.) Continue reading “Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam: The War Remnants Museum (Part 1 of 2)” →

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Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam: The Cu Chi Tunnels

“A rifle in one hand and a plow in the other.” “They fight during the day, and farm at night.” Those were some of the realities of war. For someone who has lived in relative peace time for all her life, my grasp on life in a war zone is limited to the books I’ve read, the movies I’ve watched, and the news clips on TV and online. When I was visiting Hoa Lo Prison in Hanoi, there was heaviness in my heart. When I visited the Cu Chi Tunnels…. s**t just started to get even more real.

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Hanoi, Vietnam: The Imperial Citadel of Thang Long

It’s close to the midway point of the year, you guys. How’s 2017 been treating you so far? I just came off a couple of weeks of trips and seminars, and I honestly still feel sleep-deprived for some reason. I’m currently wading through thousands of photos from the activities over the past couple of weeks, and it’s actually overwhelming, considering how much backlog I still have from my previous adventures. I guess that means I should get on with them,albeit slowly, eh? So here’s another one. My visit to the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long in Hanoi, Vietnam.

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SoKor 2015: Huwon, The Secret Garden of Changdeok Palace in Seoul

Imagine feeling bored and tired of your usual routine, so you retire to that garden at the back of your house, where you could smell the fresh air, read a book (or even write one), walk for hours along the picturesque trails, sit inside any of the pavilions and be mesmerized by how calm and still the water on the pond is… Oh wait, I suppose you can only do that if (1) you are royalty and (2) you lived during the Joseon era. You can still catch a glimpse of that long-gone era, however, by checking out Huwon, the Secret Garden of Changdeokgung.

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Davao City: The Japanese Tunnel

The month of June means a lot of things in the Philippines – the start of classes (and heavier-than-usual traffic), the beginning of the rainy season, the end of the first half of the fiscal recording year (only people in the accounting field will probably care about this) and, for some, the beginning of the countdown to Christmas 2016 (nope, it’s never too early, not in the Philippines). But it also marks the annual observance and celebration of the Philippines’ Independence after 333 years of occupation by Spain, every June 12. So I thought I’d try to do a bit of my own celebration by making posts about places I’ve seen with historical significance.

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SoKor 2015: Gyeongbukgong (Pt 2)

It’s crrrrrruuuuunch time in my own end of the universe. It comes with the territory of being a bean counter, I suppose, because it’s that time of the year again: preparation of yearend financial reports. Hopefully, by the end of this week, this busy time will be over…. only to make way for another, equally, busy time. But hey, better busy than idle, I always say.

So I’m taking a bit of a break from numbers and balances, and dive right into the continuation of my “revisiting Gyeongbukgong series. (Check out the first part here.)

Continue reading “SoKor 2015: Gyeongbukgong (Pt 2)” →

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SoKor 2015: Gyeongbukgong (Pt 1)

Did you notice something different about my blog? It’s just a liiiiiiittle change, so you might not notice it, but yes, I moved hosts. I figured I have to make sure that I won’t lose the memories (yes, they are memories) that I write about and share in this little corner of the internet. Granted, the migration is not full yet, I’m about halfway there still, so if you notice some distortions or wrong links, then I’m still in the process of fixing and tweaking them. Slow, baby steps.

For now, I’m going to continue with my South Korea travel series, and here’s another place that I revisited: Gyeongbukgong, or Gyeongbuk Palace.

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