Definitely one of my favorite places here in the Philippines. It’s simply beautiful and it definitely took my breath away. ♥
To quote Luci Lizares-Yunque, “Like a lady wooed by her man, the Ruins play with your emotions especially at sunset with its orange pinks and purples hues. He charms, tickles and romances you. But at sundown, the Ruins take a different persona. With blue and golden sights emanating from nooks and crannies, it is now a lady, teasing, flirting, a temptress confident of her beauty as well as her majesty.”
A couple of cool facts about it – 1. This was built in the early 1900′s by a Filipino sugar baron for his wife (their initials M and M were molded onto the mansion’s posts). Only their unmarried children were allowed to live there as well, 2. This was intentionally burned down during World War II, 3. It is of Italianate Architecture with neo-Romanesque columns, 4. The walls were incorporated with egg whites mixed with cement which gives it a certain sheen/gloss.
P.S. I definitely had a lot of fun taking pictures under the heat of the sun. I had no idea pictures (one of them below) where taken. Paparazzi, stop it. Haha. I kid 
This is sort of the continuation of my post from last Sunday with regards to my Bacolod trip and bombarding you with my pictures (Haha. Sorry about that.).
The cool thing about going on a trip is that you not only get to know more about a certain place, you also get to know more about the people you are traveling with. What made up for an even more awesome adventure such as this is the good company. Here is to more trips in the future. Cheers.
Yup, no “brief narrative” for this post. Haha.
P.S. I might do a quick add if inspiration and more words suddenly hit me. I might but don’t hold me to it. Oh, I hope you all had an amazing weekend (Sundays are for laidback posts ). Though we don’t celebrate thanksgiving here, I am thankful for all of you and this design journal. ♥
P.P.S. Credits to the group pictures (basically the pictures with people in them) goes to Khe2x. Thanks Khe!
I was able to finish working on the pictures for this particular trip (Finally, Pau. Haha.). But before moving on to set below, I would just like to include a couple of details first. (A short personal narrative hopefully. Haha.)
Known as the “City of Smiles” here in the Philippines, Bacolod is also the capital city of Negros Occidental. It is said to be the cleanest and greenest urbanized city here. For the most part, I love Bacolod. I love that they are focusing on organic and healthier ventures (i.e. vegetables, produce, their well-known Muscovado sugar). The hotel we stayed at was amazing, they are going green advocates. They even have an extensive vegetable and herb garden at the back where fresh produce used for some of our meals were harvested (Hello freshly-picked tarragon for my tea). On a related note, a cool structure there was their mud house and the bunch of interior designers that we are, we pretty much examined every nook and cranny. I for one was quite fascinated by the technicalities of the building aspect. It has been said that the mud house is quite a strong structure and will last for many, many years. It is also quite cool (temperature-wise as well) once you are inside, if I may add.
We had a very long itinerary (Aside from immersing in the arts, food and sampling the cuisine was also a main priority for us. Shameless. Haha.) and that definitely included stopping by highly-recommended Pasalubong (Translation: the Filipino tradition of a homecoming gift) stores, they had a cool selection of jams which are grown and made in Bacolod (I got some all natural passion fruit and sweet kamote jam for my mom. They also had some watermelon varieties!). I was able to get some organic black rice (which is really good actually) there as well. Since we are on the topic of food, they also have the most amazing and the best-tasting cheesecakes (hands down) I’ve tried to date (Hello Calea!). I also love the Napoloeones at Pendy’s! ♥
For those who know me, I love heritage houses and antiques and awesome artifacts. We dropped by some of Bacolod’s awesome heritage houses and sites. It has been said that Bacolod is comprised of prominent families (from a tour guide’s brief at one of the sites, haciendas and hacienderos are common words there), thus the antique collections in most of the said houses are extensive. Though I got quite dusty and sweaty, I definitely had a ball during the tour!
I had fun taking pictures immensely. That also meant lugging my things about all throughout the trip. I was sore and worn out every night. (Haha.) But it was definitely worth it.
I can go on and on with this narrative (I told you we had a long itinerary) but I think I should just stop to here for now. I will definitely do a couple more posts about this trip (which includes my favorite site there, The Ruins) throughout this week hopefully. Do stay tuned for “City of Smiles (Part 2)” over the weekend!
P.S. I’ll try to look for a picture of us with the whole group. Yup, just a random thought after checking out the rest of the pictures.
Hello Everyone!
I have yet to work on the pictures I took while I was away on a trip the other weekend. I hope I can post them soon. A favorite quote from Kelly with regards to delays, “Life happens to us all”. I am not trying to be cheeky but she is right and I found that simple statement to be quite profound.
My sister came home for our mom (went to pick her up at the airport this morning) and I am quite happy about that. Yey!
By the way, Georgia is a natural when she gets her picture taken. I am such a proud mommy. Haha. *puffs chest out with pride*
Note: I can’t seem to string a couple of sentences at the moment and the thoughts above are quite random stuff, right off the top of my head. I will get some sleep for now and perhaps update this post tomorrow? (i.e. Add a couple more paragraphs). We’ll see.
Goodnight!
Quick Add (I am feeling a bit serious at the moment): With regards to the shoot above, I felt like doing it because it reminds me of Regina Brett’s beautiful statement. I am at the most trying time of my life at present, with my mom being sick, but I try to constantly remind myself of Regina’s profound statements. The most appropriate one for this post being, “No Matter How You Feel, Get Up, Dress Up, and Show Up for Life”.
P.S. Please excuse my retard look with Georgia above. We were doing a quick smooch for the camera. Haha.
P.P.S. Happy Halloween! I’ll do Halloween posts (perhaps I’ll do one or two) in the next few days.
Amazing photography and concepts by Jeff Orgina Photography. A partnership in collaboration between David Tortora and Jaime Travezan, a Peruvian and an Italian. I have been fascinated with fashion and though it precedes interior design and design for me, it still inspires me a great deal.
Jaime and David describe their outputs as “anti-minimal” and “realistic but categorically non-real”. I love their pictures because it pushes the envelope in the creative process and they know how to utilize image manipulation in a tasteful manner.
P.S. It doesn’t hurt either that there are cute doggies in some of them. (I’m such a girl. Haha.)
P.P.S. It was still a rainy day today but things are alright. I miss drinking coffee, I miss drinking tea too!
How’s the weekend so far for everyone?
It’s quite warm here and we went for a road trip (I simply love going on said trips). I had a fabulous time visiting some of our properties (I’m not trying to be a snob but I can’t seem to come up with a better term at the moment.)
Yep, I brought my camera along and a sun hat – you know the rest (haha). Here are a couple of pictures. Enjoy!
There you go (for now). I especially love this particular set – the colors are quite lovely and I am quite grateful to be able to capture them in some form. Nature never ceases to amaze me with it’s profoundness and settle beauty.
I’ll continue on taking pictures – I hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I did while taking them
P.S. I went for a more laid back/casual look. This drive was a last minute one. (Haha. I love jump shots. )
P.P.S. I also love good company, salsa music and taking more pictures. (I love the colors in this post! ♥)
