I have spent every New Year in the Philippines for more than 30 years except for 2 instances:
2012 in California, USA — photos from my visit here,
and this year in Germany.
I’ll miss the food, the parties, the people, and the fireworks this year, and to make up for that, here are 3 photos from the Philippines to brighten up our day! 🙂
#1 — A Church
This is an indoor shot of San Agustin Church, in Intramuros (aka The Walled City), Metro Manila. Declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1993. The church, which has a museum inside and features paintings, statues, galleon replicas, and other historical items, is a must-visit. I’ll be sure to share with you photos of the museum next time, I promise! 🙂
For now, I hope this photo will make you visit the church one day.
Sorry for the blurriness, but this photo makes me smile with the colourful bird houses for sale on the road. Taken while in the car (obviously) on the way to Tagaytay City, from Metro Manila.
And of course, when talking about the Philippines, here’s a photo of a beach. We attended a wedding in November 2013 and this beautiful stretch was taken by Fort Ilocandia Hotel, in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte.
//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.jsAnd to celebrate new year, here are firework photos from Manila. In some cultures (specifically in Germany), they say it’s bad luck to greet before the special day comes (birthdays, new year, etc.) but not in the Philippines! So, ADVANCED HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYBODY!!
3 years ago, I spent Christmas holidays in Los Angeles, California, USA. Some of the things I saw back in 2012 were a space shuttle, flowered floats, and of course, Disneyland.
A carousel in Disneyland, California.
#1 California Science Center
Address: 700 Exposition Park Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90037, United States
The California Science Center opened its doors to present the space shuttle Endeavour the end of October 2012, after being driven in the streets of Los Angeles to its permanent resting place. The exhibit showed a video footage of that day, which I was able to take a photo of. Imagine,a space shuttle going through your neighbourhood!
I wasn’t super excited to go to the exhibit as compared to the other ongoing Cleopatra one, and I figured out it was because I didn’t know what to expect.
As usual, as I knew more about the Endeavour, the space shuttle launches timeline, as well as reading more of space shuttle launches, I appreciated the exhibit more, once I absorbed that in front of me was an actual space shuttle that was IN OUTER SPACE.
The video from McLean Fahnestock’s Vimeo account. I get goosebumps watching it, do you? On the 2nd Row, Column 10, you could see the sad explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986. Read more at the History Channel’s website.
Address: 2925 E Sierra Madre Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91107, United States
I was able to catch the showcase of 2013 Rose Parade floats on the 2nd of January 2013 in Pasadena. It was the 124th Tournament! The weather was still cool at that time, yet very sunny. Very proper to be looking at the floats which must be decorated with natural materials, from plants – living or dead. It doesn’t do the floats justice as looking at them in real life, but I hope you’ll get an idea!
Also know as the Tournament of Roses, the list of winners can be seen here. There’s no entrance fee, just drive down to Sierra Madre and Washington Boulevards in Pasadena.
We saw some food stalls and got some American fair food. I looove Kettle Corn!
Hey, it’s the Cat in the Hat!The City of Burbank’s float.Can you believe these are decorated with seeds, and other natural matter?!Global landmarks from Brazil to Singapore!Indonesia’s float featured the Borobudur Temple stupas, which I featured here.
For more awesome photos and commentaries on the floats, visit Mary’s blog at The World is a Book!
#3 Disneyland
Address: 313 Disneyland Dr, Anaheim, CA 92802, United States
Of course, USA means Disneyland! It’s been years since I last went and I wished I could’ve visited another theme park at that time but it was fun going with my siblings! Disneyland still gives off a magical feeling, and feels nostalgic to see familiar and classic faces (I’m talking about Beauty and the Beast, Mickey, Minnie, Darth Vader, etc. LOL).
The rest of the photos can be seen here at Flickr.
So 3 years ago, in 2012, I celebrated the holiday seasonin California, USA.
This year, by the Northern shores of Germany; let’s see what that brings! I’ll be sure to share photos.
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A Blog of Threes 