July 7, 2014

A delightful fortress

Ayala Museum
"Museums should be places where you raise questions,
not just show stuff."
~William Thorsell, past Director & CEO of the Royal Ontario Museum

This is the side of the Ayala Museum which can be seen from the park in the middle of Greenbelt. Only the ground floor has windows. The windows on the second floor do not open to the museum but to a walkway connecting two of the buildings of the mall. Other than that, the rest of the building looks like a fortress, and it probably is, given the priceless artifacts exhibited in the museum. One of their permanent exhibits is Filipino garments from the 19th century, some of which are painted on the walls of the walkway.

See murals from around the world in Monday Mural.

July 4, 2014

Pebble park

Greenbelt "My life is full of mistakes.
They're like pebbles that make a good road."
~Beatrice Wood (1893–1998), American artist and potter

A wooden bridge connecting two of the buildings of Greenbelt, a large retail complex in Makati City, seen through the trunks of some very tall and skinny palm trees. I like how Ayala Land used light and dark pebbles in this part of the park—they make the ground look like freeform art.

July 3, 2014

Tea for three

TWG Tea Salon & Boutique "There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."
~Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady

Macarons, scones and finger sandwiches to go with our mandarin orange oolong tea at a TWG Tea Salon & Boutique.
 Weekend Reflections

July 2, 2014

The golden pond

koi "Alive without breath, As cold as death;
Never thirsty, ever drinking, All in mail never clinking."
~J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

Just a few of the hundreds of koi we saw in the ponds of Greenbelt, the large retail complex in my Lush post from the other day.

July 1, 2014

Peace, love, sandy feet

Virgin Island in Bantayan, Cebu "If there is a heaven for me,
I'm sure it has a beach attached to it."
~Jimmy Buffett, American singer-songwriter

CITY DAILY PHOTO THEME DAY: CELEBRATING SUMMER • In an archipelago composed of more than 7,000 islands, summer isn't complete without a trip to the beach. Manila no longer has a beach—when our parents were young, it did—so we have to travel a few hours to get to one. This is the beach of the tiny and undeveloped Virgin Island just off Bantayan Island in the island province of Cebu.