Archive for the Category »Unique's Photo Challenge «

Departures/Arrivals

arrival

—Manila, Philippines—
(Taken during our arrival from Singapore.)

A post earlier I mentioned that my dad worked as a seaman, with that I meant oil tankers, days at the sea, sometimes at the ports of Hamburg, Amsterdam and Thessaloniki among many others. In the photo below, he was seen off by the whole family at the airport (from left to right: aunt1, my grandma, aunt 2, dad, uncle1, a cousin, aunt3, uncle2 and uncle3 plus other cousins as well).  I feel nostalgic looking at this.

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When we learned of his death, we took the earliest flight we can get  home. Sad, he was supposed to be there to pick us up from the airport as he used to. It would have been the same feeling whenever we’d welcome him back from many years of being away. He was supposed to drive us to the airport and see us off when we leave…then, I would secretly shed a tear for the loneliness I feel. This time though I shed enough to last a lifetime.

A post for Unique Exposure’s weekly challenge, Departures/Arrivals.

Venice Lane

venice lane

Relying on water for transportation, Venice’s streets need not be wide. They are in fact too narrow for cars understandably since canals serve the function of roads, and every form of transport is on water or on foot in such narrow lanes. Venice is Europe’s largest urban car free area, unique in Europe in remaining a sizable functioning city in the 21st century entirely without motorcars or trucks. (Imagine how clean the air could be!)

A post for Unique Exposure’s weekly challenge, Narrow Lanes.

Hat

A post for Unique Exposure’s weekly challenge, Hat.

View from a window

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When travelling, I prefer sitting by the window. Why? Coz I get the chance to do drive by photos (for which I have a separate blog). This is one of the many opps I had. We were on the train from Italy going back to Vienna, it was around 7:45 pm but because of the summer sun, the sky can still be clearly seen.

A post for Unique Exposures theme, View from a window.

Sunbeam

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Early morning sun through the window.

“Happiness is like a sunbeam, which the least shadow intercepts, while adversity is often as the rain of spring”

- A chinese proverb.

A post for Unique Exposures theme, sunbeam.

Umbrellas above

umbrella sky

If you have been to my other blog, you’d definitely see this photo there. Which could mean I really like this photo that’s why I’m using it again or that I don’t have the time to update the other one. lol. Whichever, please enjoy this photo as much as I do. Those were on top of a hotel-restaurant at the city center.

A post for Unique Exposures Weekend Challenge, Umbrella.

Pink

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Most girls these days consider pink as their favorite color…You go out in the streets and I bet there is one you’d spot immediately dressed all in pink..shirt, pants, socks, shoes (and jacket). My daughter is one, though she wears red, blue and violet too. Don’t blame me, I am one of those moms who have been dictated by society about gender policies…that pink is for girls and blue is for boys, that Barbies are for girls and toy cars are for boys. Dressing them with the wrong colors or letting them play with toys that are supposedly not for them makes them fall out of the two categories. Below is a conversation between my kids about the subject. (Yes, I eavesdrop on them lol.)

Daughter: Why are you wearing my socks, those are light blue, you’re not supposed to wear them.

Son: Mommy said its mine coz its a size smaller than yours, she bought the wrong ones.

Daughter: Don’t you know that boys are supposed to wear darker stuff, you can wear dark blue but not light blue, and those socks even have some pink on it.


I continued playing deaf, my daughter said a lot more about gender policies to which my son was still clueless. He didn’t reply but I think the idea is rubbing on him already.

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Okay, I must admit I’m partly to blame. I have one girl and you know how fun it is to dress ‘em up. Boys are the typical shorts, pants, shirt routine opposed to girls’ dresses, skirt, blouses and don’t forget hair accessories. Most of us moms with girls could also be guilty of the ‘princess pampering’ stage, are we not? Princesses as the stories tell are supposed to be treated well, they dress well except of course when they were still the ‘rag girl.’ It so happened that pink is almost (perhaps) synonymous to ‘princess’ or ‘barbie.’ Whatever dictated the trend for pink=girls:blue=boys, we see it too effective. Go to the mall or other mass retail store and you’ll see them stacked, this side pink, that side blue, perhaps a very little section for NOT gendered. So what can you gift a friend (who didn’t want to know what her baby’s gender is) during the baby shower? Tradition dictates yellow and pale-green are the top choices, I always heard friends say, ‘it’s safe.’

(More soon.)

A post for Unique Exposures Weekend Challenge, Pink.