New Solanie Hotel Manila

... doom and gloom around us it sure felt good to let loose and have a fun night out.
The AWCP holds its annual Hoedown and Chili Cook-off every October. It's a chance to dress in your cowboy clothes and party and the proceeds go to six charities, all of which could probably use the help more than ever right now. Russ and I entered the chili contest with our creation called Beorgo Chili. The name comes from the letters ...

Today I took part in another interesting Philippine custom. We recently added to the office space in our building and moved people into the newly renovated floor. It was announced that there would be a blessing and inauguration of the new space and everyone was invited to attend.
We all gathered in the central hallway. Candles were handed out to some of us and a priest gave a blessing. He then proceeded to sprinkle holy ...

... nodded and told me that usually if a traveler can't come through a stricter IM officer, they go to another 'not-so-strict' officer and managed to slip through. Wow, I said, this is not good. The rule must apply to all! What a terrible and stupid mistake, I said to myself! As an educated professional, researcher and lecturer, it didn't come to my exhausted mind how that IM officer already undermined my right to travel. What a day! Indeed, an ironic 'independence' day!

... he could help us find what we were looking for. Again, just a bit freaky, so we ditched him and finished our shopping, We headed back to the hotel, which was just a short walk away to drop off our purchases.

Then we were off to Rizal Park again to meet Makmak. He was waiting for us at the Train station. We headed back to the hotel, had a couple of beers and then back over to the Mall. We needed some money and Allan wanted to ...

... and provide herself with some fleeting security and for him a brief flirtation with a bygone youth and the chance to sleep with an exotic, nut brown, non-wrinkly woman would about sum up the mutual attraction. He obviously paid for everything and had taken her everywhere with him. They raved about some of the resorts they had stayed at together which, quite frankly, were way more expensive than our budget would allow. Perhaps he had even opened up his bankbook to help out ...

I know we didn't want to include any "fast food" burger joints when we started looking for the "Great American Burger" but we found this small place at Market-Market we just have to include it since it so reminded us of White Castle burgers back in the states. Not only for the cardboard boxes the burgers come in, but to the way they even describe them using the ...

... you're old! Anyway, now she's almost got the hang of it again and we're getting a whole new bunch of stuff to throw in her way. It's hard to say overall what Sydney's state is. She sleeps almost all the time but what else can a blind and deaf cat do? We're not sure if the blindness indicates something is about to take her down for good or if she'll just go along indefinitely as a blind, deaf cat that is in otherwise decent shape. Time will tell.

... my traveling adventures had just begun. My first job as a radio station supervisor took me to almost every nook and cranny of Laguna, a historic province laced with a distinct old charm. It was there where my fascination for religious art took shape. There I toured the old churches of Majayjay, Nagcarlan, Paete, Siniloan, Pagsanjan and other towns whose names I couldn't recall anymore. True, cold facts might have fogged my memory but not the feelings attached to the ...

... has a few tables, a swimming pool, an outdoor bar and a bunch of exotic vegetation. The place is basically a little island of peace and quiet in the middle of the Chaos that is Malate. Throw in a little rasta reggae coming from the bar and you get just the right vibe. I hung out in the empty courtyard with John, the bartender/caretaker for the afternoon. All ...

... less a triangle with sides that are 3", 3" and 2". Cleo was sleeping on the dining table when Papa and I went out at 4:00 a.m. to check on the water pump. Cleo hasn't reported for lunch, though. I hope he is fine. November 7, 2007 Sad news tonight. Shobe died today. The doctor said she had renal (kidney) failure and other complications. Poor dog. She was only 6 years old and I still remember the first dog show when she surprised us all with a best of opposite sex trophy, beating so ...