Maria

Today is the feastday of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus. All Jesuit institutions in the Philippines (and maybe worldwide for all I know) are on holiday today. Today is also the anniversary of the dedication of the Ateneo Church of the Gesù. This image is just above the altar of the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, one of the two side chapels of the Gesù. Sculpted by Justino "Paloy" A. Cagayat Jr. of Paete, Laguna (a town known for its highly-skilled wood craftsmen), this is a very unusual Immaculate Conception because of her Filipina features and dress. Some people find it hard to get used to since most images of Mary here are very European, but I like it.

Of talented youth and a flustered photoblogger

Manila's performing arts season has started! And the first play that I watched was Repertory Philippines' production of The Fantasticks, the world's longest-running musical. Repertory Philippines, or Rep as it is more popularly known here, is one of the most prolific professional theater companies in Manila. It first opened its doors to the public in 1967 and has brought in many international plays and musicals that most Filipinos wouldn't have had a chance to watch if it weren't for them. Meet PJ Valerio and Julia Abueva, who play the lovers in the musical. PJ is 19 and Julia is all of 13 years old! Even at their tender young age, both are already stage veterans.



This photo actually has a story behind it and it's longer than my commentary above so I hope you'll indulge me. Repertory Philippines, like other professional performing arts groups, does not allow photos inside the theater unless they give permission. So during the intermission, I approached a lady at the front of house and asked if I could take a photo for the blog at the end of the play. She said that the actors will be at the lobby after the play, but I wanted a photo while they were still on the stage and said so. She said that she would talk to the stage manager and would look for me inside the theater. By the end of the play, I still didn't have any word, so I behaved and kept my camera in my bag even during the curtain call, which was when I was thinking of taking the photo. Imagine my surprise when she approached me then and asked me to come close to the stage because the cast would come out again after the curtain call so I could take a photo. Eek! So I did and the cast did come out again and I wanted to die of embarrassment the entire time! Especially when other people in the audience started taking out their own cameras and going up to the actors asking to pose with them and all. What's even worse, I was so totally flabbergasted, I was shaking and my photos didn't turn out well. Too blurry to be usable, and overexposed too because all the stage lights were on and I wasn't able to adjust the settings for hurrying to get it over with. Sigh. I really want to thank Rep for all the bother and to apologize for not being able to post a photo of the entire cast after all that fuss. I think there are two lessons to be learned from this experience. One is for Rep: I hope they continue having the meet-and-greet on stage rather than in the lobby. It was nice seeing fans and friends mingling with the actors on stage. The corridors going out from the theater are so narrow it can take forever to go out and most of the audience miss the actors outside. And one is for myself: Next time I ask permission to take photos from any theater group, I have to specifically say that I just want to take them during the curtain call.

Tiny bubbles

The unusual and modern water feature in the square connecting the two wings of The Medical City, a large hospital complex along Ortigas Avenue in Pasig City. While I was taking pictures of it, a security guard came up to me to ask me to stop because photos aren't allowed without the permission of the hospital's marketing officer. Hate that.

Natural or man-made, take a refreshing dip in Watery Wednesday.

Triangle and dome

I still haven't had the time to walk through SM City North EDSA's Sky Garden, but I did pass near enough to take a photo of this triangular rainbow sculpture with the amphitheater's dome in the background. Not surprisingly, the amphitheater is called the Sky Dome. And I just thought of something: What do you call a rainbow when it's not bow-shaped? :)



UPDATE: The artist, Joel Ferraris, has informed me that the title of this sculpture is "Prism 24."

Read the fine print

My husband and I always thought that La Maison was a French restaurant. It isn't.

Find more Odd Shots—or post your own—at Katney's Kaboodle.

Where to?

This curved footbridge leads from the Araneta Coliseum, but for the life of me I can't remember where it leads to. Probably to Farmers Plaza, the mall behind me, but don't rely on that or you might get lost. The sad part is, I know I've walked through that footbridge several times in the past. Sigh. The green glass structure to the left of the coliseum is another mall, Gateway.

Woven light

Kabisera ni Dencio's, a restaurant at Bonifacio High Street, is a showcase not just of Filipino food but also of Filipino furniture and handicrafts. Even the lanterns on the walls, made largely out of textured resin, have a touch of Philippine handicraft with its freeform natural wicker weave.

Metal monstrosity

When our typhoon season rolls in, some of the more responsible outdoor advertising companies roll down the large tarpaulin billboards found all over Metro Manila. Too many have fallen in the past and brought down power cables, destroyed property and caused car accidents. Of course, the empty metal frames make for an awful city skyline, but then I think that's true of most advertising billboards in general.

Visit the Sky Watch Friday home page and tour the skies of our interesting world.

Mobile clinic

I see mobile clinics like this only on two types of occasions. They go to large companies with health care benefits for their employees for scheduled annual physical examinations—more convenient than having employees go to clinics and hospitals and taking the whole day off for it. And they're also hired for big events with lots of people in venues without their own clinics. They're usually stationed in the parking lot, like this one was.

Spanish Dramatist or Filipino Saint

This ornate white fountain stands in Plaza Calderón de la Barca in front of the Binondo Church in Manila's Chinatown. The plaza is named after Pedro Calderón de la Barca, a Spanish dramatist of the 17th century whose play La vida es sueño (Life is a Dream) continues to be reinterpreted and staged until today. This tiny space is also known as Plaza San Lorenzo Ruiz, after the first Filipino saint who happens to be from Binondo.

Natural or man-made, take a refreshing dip in Watery Wednesday.

It was modern in the 60s

Beside the main building of Quezon City Hall stands this squat, oddly-shaped building with a relief featuring Manuel L. Quezon, some Quezon City landmarks, and the industries and products for which the city was known at the time the hall was built. The main building was severely damaged by a fire in the 1980s and renovated extensively, but this unusual structure has remained unchanged since the 1960s. (It also looks like it hasn't been washed since then, but I digress.) I believe its architectural style is now called Mid-Century Modern. I've lived in Quezon City all my life, but I still don't know what's in there.

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Just another reminder to all CDP bloggers to vote for the September theme! And are you ready with your photo for August 1? The theme is Night, and as I love night shots, I'm definitely looking forward to blog hopping on that day.

Strange fusion

The kids that run Pino restaurant have a knack for creating dishes that sound strange when you read the descriptions in the menu but taste absolutely heavenly. This is one of them. Cheese sticks with nori (seaweed) wrapped in wonton wrappers, deep fried and served with strawberry sauce and nori relish. Pino's Nori Cheesesticks is supposed to be an appetizer but I can eat all eight finger-sized pieces for dinner.

Find more Odd Shots—or post your own—at Katney's Kaboodle.

30th

The Very Reverend Adolfo Nicolás is the current Superior General of the Society of Jesus, the largest male religious order in the Roman Catholic Church. He is only the thirtieth Superior General in the order's 469-year history (St. Ignatius of Loyola being the first) and was elected to the position on January 19, 2008. Fr. Nicolás is Spanish but he has spent more than half of his 73 years in Asia, mostly in Japan but also for about ten years in Manila. The headquarters of the Jesuits is in Rome so Fr. Nicolás is now based there, but he returned to Manila for several days last week to visit the Philippine Jesuits. He gave the keynote address during the Jesuit Basic Education Congress hosted by the Ateneo de Manila University and, though I'm not involved directly in academics, I was lucky enough to have been able to attend his talk. In case any of you are interested in the "Issues and Challenges in Jesuit Education Today," a three-part video of Fr. Nicolás' talk is available here, here and here. But only if you use Internet Explorer—I use Firefox and it can't even detect what kind of plug-in is needed to watch it.

2.4 meters

Fort Santiago in Intramuros was established by the Spanish conquistadores in 1571 but the original fort was made out of wood. The stone walls were erected only between 1589–1592. The walls are 2.4 meters (8 feet) thick and 6.7 meters (22 feet) high. The main entrance, which stands behind the moat I posted last month, is 12 meters (40 feet) high. The large coat of arms just above the arch is the Pillars of Hercules version of the abbreviated coat of arms of the Spanish monarchy at the time. (Comparing it to the illustrations in the Wikipedia entry, I think the sculptor made some errors though.) Philip II was king of Spain at the time of the conquest, which is why the islands were called Las Islas Filipinas.