Throughout Southeast Asia the English language is often misinterpreted, misrepresented, or massaged into new forms of communication through humorous signage. Take this one I captured as an example. Throughout the Philippines, and Manila especially, English is widespread and I have yet to see many humorous examples as I have so often seen in Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Japan. Until today. Let me introduce you to a photo studio by the name of “Blow-Up Babies”. Read more
Posts filed in: Expat Experiences
Post about Indonesian women and expat men has reached 221 comments
This post from nearly 5 years ago has certainly received a lot of feedback – currently at 221 comments. And there were many more comments not approved or moderated for various reasons (and I’m very lenient). It appears the nature of relationships between Asian women and foreigners is a hot topic. Unfortunately, the discussion also seems to breed hate, blatant racism, extreme generalizations, and the other crap that comes with the telling of peoples’ personal history. Each of these delicatelyRead more
The Apprentice Geisha of Gion (aka henshin)
A very helpful Flickr user posted a response to my photo “Geisha of Gion”. I thought I’d share the response, as I wasn’t aware of this at all. (Even after reading Memoirs of a Geisha 😉 ) I feel like such a tourist. — “Sorry, but this lady is just a regular lady dressed up as a maiko (an apprentice geisha) for the day. This act is called “henshin”. But this is a lovely composed picture! (1)really worn down orRead more
Aninuan Beach, Puerto Galera
We just returned from a fantastic week in Puerto Galera on the island of Mindoro south of Luzon (four hours of travel time from Manila). It proved to be an excellent escape from Manila and a worthy alternative to flying to other islands. I’ll post a full write-up soon with some recommendations for getting there and what we enjoyed most.Read more
Getting back into mountain biking
One of my first obsessions on the internet was pouring over websites and forums in the wee hours of the morning in search of the best mountain bike for my budget. While my massive roommates spent hours surfing pRon, I was bleary eyed from comparing the latest Gary Fishers and Voodoo. This was late 90’s, when I first got into mountain biking. I was midway through university and found biking to be amongst the best of stress relievers. There wasRead more
Photographing Manila as an expat
Took a stroll the other day with a fellow photography enthusiast and Novita through a part of Manila most expats would never dare explore. Between that area and the area we live in, “Fort Bonifacio”, there’s a massive, imposing wall reaching 5 meters in some places. I wasn’t sure if it was keeping them out, or keeping us walled in. The security guards near one entrance just smiled and said there’s no way we could enter. Of course that didn’tRead more