#206 Farewell to Another Year

The sun'll come out
Tomorrow
Bet your bottom dollar
That tomorrow
There'll be sun!

Thank you for following my journey this year. I wish you all... inner peace and new hope... for the coming year.

Enjoy.

Sign-up to receive new postcards weekly by email 

Past postcards at www.PostcardsFromManila.com

Say hello: Bobbyw59@yahoo.com

But wait, there's more...

For those who've inquired about buying prints of my postcards, you may purchase them directly from master printmaker Arnel Murillo (murilloarnel@yahoo.com), one of the country's foremost fine-art printmakers.  Arnel uses archival inks and museum-grade paper to ensure his prints will not fade. You will not be disappointed. (All my images are provided gratis to help showcase the beauty of our country. But if you feel generous, help me uplift the lives of the Children of Payatas.  No donation is too big or too small. Get in touch with Fr. Aldrin Suan at aldrinsuan@yahoo.com of the Vincentian Missionaries in the Philippines. As always, thanks and enjoy.)

#205 Savouring Sunset

Soon, the end of a year will be upon us. Again.

Reminiscing the passing year, some may ask... what have I achieved this year? Have I done enough? Have I lived life to the fullest? But here's my question for you: have you seen your share of sunrises and sunsets this year?

You see, dawn and dusk can be experienced every day of the year, and from anywhere on earth. They are the most beautiful and certainly most incredible parts of the day. Look at today's postcard... they are truly spectacles that can renew the human spirit, refresh the weary soul.  All you need to do is to wake up a little earlier, or barring that, stay outdoors a little later. But hurry. There are just a few more left to see this year. Enjoy.

But wait, there's more. Tonight is Christmas eve. As family & friends come together to celebrate faith, life, & love, allow me to greet you a very Merry Christmas, from my home to yours. And thank you for following and sharing my posts this year. Enjoy.

(Pixel-peepers: To photograph twilight, you will need to stalk them. Why? Some are better than most, and the "law of averages" will ensure that you'll nail your share. Btw that chap in today's postcard, it was his first time to setup a hammock to watch the day turn into night, and it didn't disappoint. Lucky guy.)

Sign-up to receive new postcards weekly by email 

Past postcards at www.PostcardsFromManila.com

Say hello: Bobbyw59@yahoo.com

But wait, there's more...

For those who've inquired about buying prints of my postcards, you may purchase them directly from master printmaker Arnel Murillo (murilloarnel@yahoo.com), one of the country's foremost fine-art printmakers.  Arnel uses archival inks and museum-grade paper to ensure his prints will not fade. You will not be disappointed. (All my images are provided gratis to help showcase the beauty of our country. But if you feel generous, help me uplift the lives of the Children of Payatas.  No donation is too big or too small. Get in touch with Fr. Aldrin Suan at aldrinsuan@yahoo.com of the Vincentian Missionaries in the Philippines. As always, thanks and enjoy.)

#204 An Old Town

In Silay, Negros Occidental, we found a section of the city that transported us back in time. In spite of a light drizzle that turned into a downpour, we enjoyed walking the streets and picking-off compositions no longer found in our modern cities. The presence of old structures like these are normally a sign of decay, of being left behind by progress. But not here. The unique architecture had been preserved for future generations, even if they had to turn what was once a rich man's home into a roadside cafe. Enjoy.

(Pixel-peepers: The muggy light from a moody sky wasn't conducive to taking colored photographs. Besides, I thought a historical place like this should be photographed with the medium of its day: in black & white pictures. Agree?)

Sign-up to receive new postcards weekly by email 

Past postcards at www.PostcardsFromManila.com

Say hello: Bobbyw59@yahoo.com

But wait, there's more...

For those who've inquired about buying prints of my postcards, you may purchase them directly from master printmaker Arnel Murillo (murilloarnel@yahoo.com), one of the country's foremost fine-art printmakers.  Arnel uses archival inks and museum-grade paper to ensure his prints will not fade. You will not be disappointed. (All my images are provided gratis to help showcase the beauty of our country. But if you feel generous, help me uplift the lives of the Children of Payatas.  No donation is too big or too small. Get in touch with Fr. Aldrin Suan at aldrinsuan@yahoo.com of the Vincentian Missionaries in the Philippines. As always, thanks and enjoy.)

#203 The Forgotten Tracks

Can anything be forgotten completely? Certainly. But it's not going to be a pair of abandoned train tracks in Silay city, Negros Occidental.

The tracks had previously been used to carry raw sugar to the coast. Today, enterprising locals run a fleet of human-powered pedi-cycle trains to provide inexpensive transportation along its 3.75 km length. One man's trash truly became another's treasure.

We thought the rural life would be worth a street photograph or two, so we hired our own trains and headed out for an adventure. The landscape along the way astonished us: vast sugar fields, endless swamps, abandoned fish pens, and a sprinkling of homes in the middle of nowhere. It was certainly a trip we would not soon forget. Enjoy.

(Pixel-peepers: The light was pretty harsh as we were outdoors at the wrong time of the day. But you take what you can and hope that you can be back again to do the place justice.)

Sign-up to receive new postcards weekly by email 

Past postcards at www.PostcardsFromManila.com

Say hello: Bobbyw59@yahoo.com

But wait, there's more...

For those who've inquired about buying prints of my postcards, you may purchase them directly from master printmaker Arnel Murillo (murilloarnel@yahoo.com), one of the country's foremost fine-art printmakers.  Arnel uses archival inks and museum-grade paper to ensure his prints will not fade. You will not be disappointed. (All my images are provided gratis to help showcase the beauty of our country. But if you feel generous, help me uplift the lives of the Children of Payatas.  No donation is too big or too small. Get in touch with Fr. Aldrin Suan at aldrinsuan@yahoo.com of the Vincentian Missionaries in the Philippines. As always, thanks and enjoy.)

#202 Splendour in the Grass

Strands of grass and a setting sun, what can be more fleeting than life itself? This postcard is dedicated to those that have gone ahead of us. And I quote:

What though the radiance which was once so bright

Be now forever taken from my sight,

Though nothing can bring back the hour

Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;

We will grieve not, rather find

Strength in what remains behind;

In the primal sympathy

Which having been must ever be;

In the soothing thoughts that spring

Out of human suffering;

In the faith that looks through death,

In the years that bring the philosopic mind.

Even if you might be old enough to remember the movie by the same name, it wasn't the inspiration for today's postcard. To find out, you'll have to go back much earlier, to a poem penned by William Worthsworth in 1804. Enjoy.

Sign-up to receive new postcards weekly by email 

Past postcards at www.PostcardsFromManila.com

Say hello: Bobbyw59@yahoo.com

But wait, there's more...

For those who've inquired about buying prints of my postcards, you may purchase them directly from master printmaker Arnel Murillo (murilloarnel@yahoo.com), one of the country's foremost fine-art printmakers.  Arnel uses archival inks and museum-grade paper to ensure his prints will not fade. You will not be disappointed. (All my images are provided gratis to help showcase the beauty of our country. But if you feel generous, help me uplift the lives of the Children of Payatas.  No donation is too big or too small. Get in touch with Fr. Aldrin Suan at aldrinsuan@yahoo.com of the Vincentian Missionaries in the Philippines. As always, thanks and enjoy.)