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Eating Out and Getting Around Bangkok
2007-04-25 14:24:00
Getting around Bangkok is easier than in more chaotic Manila owing to numerous options available: taxis, airtrains (LRT/MRT), buses, tuk-tuk (picture shown below in a typical Bangkok corner) and the unique motorcycle taxis that I mistook for regular riders zip-zapping Bangkok's traffic-infested streets. (There are motorcycle taxis here in RP called habal-habal or skylab that can seat an amazing number of people but technically illegal)Taxis are cheap but sometimes the driver will negotiate a fixed fare i.e. without a meter. The same is true with tuktuk wherein you need to negotiate first the price before agreeing. In our four-day trip here we encountered taxi drivers moonlighting as pimps with matching colorful brochures to boot.Ferries and boats, available at the banks of the Chao Phraya, are available for for sightseeing tours.for starters on Thai food, cuisine here is heavily influenced both by the Chinese and Indians and are always too spicy for the typical pinoy (that doesn't...
More About: Eating Out , Round , Eating

The Grand Palace in Bangkok
2007-04-24 15:43:00
On our last day in the bustling capital of Thailand, I took my friends to the sprawling Grand Pala ce complex which once served as official residence of the Thai's beloved king. The complex is surrounded by a defensive wall and stands on the shores of the Chao Phraya river (much like Malacanang Palace is on Manila's Pasig River)Here you can see how popular Thailand is due to the sheer number of tourists visitng this place dwarfing the Philippines' tourism figures by a very large margin.At the entrance of the compound, we saw a group of Thai beauties waiting to enter the compound for some sort of a pictorial. I noticed that here in Thailand, they now also equate beauty to having fair complexion (familiar, heh?)The Phra Sri Ratana chedi. A chedi, called stupa in India and dagoba in Sri Lanka, is a Buddhist dome-like monument built supposedly to cover Buddha's relics after his death. Note that in India, the Great King Ashoka, on his conversion to Buddhism, ordered building many stup...
More About: Bangkok , Lace

Back in Beguiling Bangkok
2007-04-20 15:21:00
In the office of the irrepressible tutubi, it's common practice for us to shop around for a foreign seminar/conference to be funded by my generous company.One of those days when one officemate of mine found one -- the Asian Banker, Bangkok -- where my company regularly sends delegates to.After presenting and justifying the costs, I was surprized I was the one to be sent there on moments notice.I simply obliged since I was hoping for another seminar to be held elsewhere since I've already been to Bangkok.Reminiscing my first trip, I first saw the exotic Bangkok light in October of 2002 where I was with seven friends on my first foreign sojourn, that took us to the awesome structures of Grand Palace and residence of the Thai's beloved King, the standard half-day riverine tour of the city on the Chao Phraya (the Pasig River of Bangkok), the cabaret-style show reminiscent of Las Vegas performed by transvestites, jewelry shops with their pricey offerings fit for the "usual" tourists, l...
More About: Back , Guilin

Aliwan Fiesta Schedule: National Championship of Festivals
2007-04-16 16:03:00
Don't have the time and money to visit different festivals in the country? Here's the schedule of the upcoming Aliwan Fiesta 2007 at the CCP Complex and Quirino Grandstand. Here you'll find out there are many festivals out there besides the Sinulog, Dinagyang, and Ati-Atihan.Get ready with your cameras!Aliwan Fiesta Schedule Day 1 April 26, 2007 - Thursday Aliwan FiestaTime Activity Venue8:00AM EXHIBIT OPENS CCP COMPLEX6:00AM-6:00PM REHEARSAL CCP COMPLEX & QUIRINO GRANDSTAND3:30PM-6:00PM PINOY GAMES CCP COMPLEX 7:00PM PASAKALYE CONCERT CCP COMPLEXDAY 2 APRIL 27, 2007 - FRIDAY Aliwan Fiesta5:00AM LIVE TV COVERAGE - UNANG HIRIT CCP COMPLEX8:00AM EXHIBIT OPENS CCP COMPLEX10:00AM-6:00PM REHEARSAL CCP COMPLEX10:00AM BRIEFING WITH CHOREOGRAPHERS ALIW THEATER LOUNGE3:30PM-6:00PM ...
More About: Championship , National , Festivals

Endangered Tales of the Philippines
2007-04-13 15:57:00
(tutubi in Advocacy Mode) Endangered Tale s of the Philippines promises to be a spectacular showcase of the country's extraordinary wildlife. People can also visit the organization's photo exhibit, which will run from April 15 - 22. The photos of the endangered animals taken by the CEAE will be displayed in front of Cinema 8 of SM Megamall.Jocelyn DimaculanganWednesday, April 11, 2007Original article here.As we celebrate Earth Day on April 22, the Center for Environmental Awareness and Education (CEAE) will be screening a film that showcases one of the world's biodiversity hotspots—the Philippines.Endangered Tales of the Philippines shows why this archipelago is one of the most biologically rich places on the planet. This 58-minute film features unique footage from over 15 expeditions and eye-opening interviews with over 30 biologists, scientists, and conservationists—all of whom highlight the urgent need for conservation efforts.For one day only, moviegoers will be able to wa...
More About: Gere

Razon's Halo-halo and Pancit Luglug
2007-04-10 15:19:00
It's really hot here in the big city when most people head out to the beaches scattered all over this sun-drenched archipelago.Being stuck here in Manila and looking for a different kind of high, I looked for a branch of Razons at Robinsons Galleria foodcourt that I later found out has a rather long queue (right photo furtively taken with my phone cam)attesting to the popularity of this ice concoction from Guagua, Pampanga. Other branches I know are SM Megamall Foodcourt, SM Mall of Asia (MOA) and the Shell complex on NLEX southbound.Halo -halo is a concoction of shaved ice, milk, sugar and various other sweet ingredients e.g. beans, purple yam, nata de coco, kaong (sugar palm) et al mixed together and sometimes topped with ice cream. The name itself literally means mix-mix in the vernacular.For a bit of trivia, halo-halo is not an original Filipino invention but was introduced by the Japanese and also influenced by the Chinese. Many people from the Land of the Rising Sun, settled i...

Dapit and Holy Friday Procession in Paete
2007-04-06 17:23:00
Holy Frida y in Paete, Laguna is always marked with the usual ceremony inside the church with the seven last words to end at exactly three o'clock in the afternoon when the Santo Entierro commences (locals call the dead ChirstMahal na Senor). The Mahal na Senor will be brought to church accompanied by a multitude of churchgoers ( this is locally called dapit).The disciples, biblical people, and almost every event of the passion are depicted in life-sized (except the Last Supper on Holy Wednesday) and life-like poon maintained by devoted families of the town famous for woodcarving.many people make this some sort of lifetime devotionon the way to churchI wonder if the little child really understands what he's doing or just mimicking what other people ceremoniously do...and the brass band plays the punebre (dirge). la mater dolorosa en vestido negroThe Friday procession, with most images in black dresses and people in their "friday best" garbs, winds through the narrow streets of Paet...
More About: Procession , Holy , Process

Penitencia: Penance through Flagellation
2007-04-05 14:53:00
One of those rare times when I spent the Holy Week in my hometown instead of running around somewhere in another place, I went home on Holy Thursday due to having stayed till dawn in the office monitoring an activity. I initially wanted to go to Kalayaan town to take pictures of those people whipping themselves in public but instead I found them near the church, saving me the hassle of travelling to the next town.warning: Do not open if you can't stand the sight of blood!Talk about bloody mess with blood, sweat and dust; a "wholesome" sight for sado-masochistic delight!Note: the Catholic Church does not teach penance through flagellation, crucifixion or any form of corporal punishment to self to atone for one's sins.Tags: 菲律賓, 菲律宾, 필리핀, フィリピン, Filippine, Philippinen, Filipinas, Filippijnen
More About: Ella , Pena

New Tutubi Skin
2007-04-01 09:16:00
The Tutubi is about to turn a year old in blogging, so I decided, as you noticed, he shelved his old skin, put on a new one, and also added a feature I root for in Wordpress: the Read More or pagebreak to expand the posts to be more friendly to slow dial-up users and save on bandwidth!Details on How to Add "Read More" Feature to Blogger are posted on the techie side blog of Tutubi.Note this blog will still undergo minor surgery particularly bringing back the Labels/Categories pane I unknowing lost when I upgraded to the New Blogger but somehow downgraded to the Classic Blogger again. The unwanted justified boxes need to be centered by modifying the CSS code.Btw, The best way to view blogs with expanding posts is to use Mozilla Firefox browser with Google toolbar you can download at the link on the left pane of this blog. Once you downloaded and installed the browser, open this blog then right click each "Read More" link to open in a new tab so that you can browse other pages while...
More About: Skin