offering flowers and sandwiches to eat

irit and i went today to check this out. this place is very much a must-see if you ever have the chance to be in Manila, like museums. . .and history. beautiful and seemingly new.

the highlight was 60, yes 60 detailed dioramas marking important moments in Philippine history. from 6000 BC to World War II. not only beautiful, but terribly interesting. they were followed by three rooms with "interactive" video projections bringing the viewer to the 90s. I was taken aback to learn about Marcos and Ninoy Aquino. . .and his assassination. The videos showed all this hope and glory of Filipinos coming to together, in the masses, the way revolution should be. But then, death.

What helped me have hope again was after his Ninoys death, the people came by the tens of thousands to EDSA in Manila, declaring that they had enough with Marcos! But then the horizon, as the ground trembled, army tanks with their cannons pointed at the people. But what happened next. pure beauty. the people walking to the tanks and offering flowers and sandwiches to eat.

http://www.ayalamuseum.org/

the bird has landed. . .again

a beautiful relief sculpture near intromuros

i am tired, but smiling.

i'm back in the philippines after six long years! safe and sound. i got here about 5 hours ago. Now, i'm in Manila, in the area of Malate. Irit and I found a great and cheap place to stay for the next three nights. It was a good pick of the litter from the lonely planet guide book: pension nativdad.

And oh boy! getting here was an adventure. but so far this trip has been full of good omens, I think it's going to be great. as instructed I opened a gift from a my friend ryan from the tree cafe up in the air, it was a beautiful card of buddha sitting on top of lotus'. A note attached read, "to an amazing artist, teacher, and friend. may your wisdom and light continue to create and inspire." This culminates all the love and kindness i have been showered with my three month stint in Taiwan.

yesterday I was talking to irit how I was a little scared about this trip. of course, it's normal, i've grown comfortable in taiwan and now embarking on something unknown, which is a little unnerving. but it all melted away when we were on the airplane and the attendants in the front of the plane announced on the intercom that we were going to play a game. i am not kidding. the other attendant hid behind the curtain in the back and sang. the friendly passengers were to guess the title of each song for a special prize. . .basically in-flight karaoke.

i love taiwan and i'm going to fall in love the philippines too!