Ship-seeing to Sichang

There is tension between Taiwan and the Philippines over the recent shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman by a Philippine coastguard. Taiwan retaliates; rejects apology from the Philippines, impose sanctions, threatens Manila with naval drills in the South China Sea, goes arrogant, eg. compares themselves to a golden retriever, the Philippines a chihuahua in the event of an attack. Wait. I love dogs. My ears are on alert mode, though I didn't have time to find how the shooting took place, there's an identical twin of my wondering through an FB comment by Mike San Agustin Mccrea: 

"if a vessel is required to stop for a coastguard inspection in its national (usually 12mile) limit, and refuses to do so the coastguard is entitled to take such action as is necessary to stop the vessel. If it does not stop after a warning [shop], it seems fully justified to fire on the vessel.... If someone gets shot it is the fault of the skipper of the offending vessel.... So if this is the case it would seem to me that the person the Taiwanese government should be venting its anger has a Taiwanese travel document"

A former schoolmate's fantasy of the Philippines' first line of defense got me googling and then supposing that there's nothing noticeable enough. Chihuahua :(  But then the matter of war could be a long shot for the golden retriever. My hands grip the leash as I walk away and turn my attention to something sea-ish, like ships, the cargo, tanker, normal ones.

Join me in my little boat trip to Sichang, a tourist island in the gulf of Thailand, and see some ships.

~ shore of Sriracha ~

 ~ small mountain of sand in the middle of the sea ~

xxx

Here's hoping Taiwan didn't attack while we were ship-seeing. 'PEACE be still.'

Visit these sites: Sally's Blues * Water World * ABC Wednesday * Our World

Quiapo Church

More formally known as the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene or Saint John the Baptist Parish, Quiapo Church was founded in 1586 by Governor General Santiago de Vera in Quiapo, Manila.

As a third grader I would look at a picture of Quaipo church in a Social Studies textbook and would often wonder how true were those 'extra' stories of crowds walking to and fro on a break of pews or right at the doorstep while mass was going on.

Finally after thirty-one years two weeks ago I saw the place for myself; people conducted business in front, and not inside as I worried. It was also my first time to set foot on a Roman Catholic church since grandpa's funeral mass in the mid 1990s.
 

ABC Wednesday

Pineapples through a moving window

Dole Food Company, the largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world, is headquartered in Westlake Village, California. The company has operations in 90 countries, my home country, the Philippines included. A drive from General Santos City to Tupi, a town known as the fruit basket of Mindanao, (international word association: Osama bin Ladin's al Qaeda) would give you pineapples as your major sight during the travel.

Dole Philippines, with offices in Polomolok, is the 3rd largest producer of pineapples globally.

These are private fruit growers putting up shop along the highway. They are also selling some Dole pineapples. Right behind these shops is Dole's vast pineapple plantation. This was one of those yearly trips home when we made a stop (from the GSC airport) at these shops to buy supersweet MG3 pineapples, bananas, jackfruit, guyabano, lanzones, mangoes, avocados, and other tropical fruits.

Find more stories on Sepia Saturday This post is also linked with Time Travel

Little blue church

 

"No spot is so dear to my childhood as the little brown church in the vale."

My first grade class used to sing that song and it kept playing in my head as I approached this church. It's blue though and not in the vale, but along a highway in the South Cotabato countryside. The family who owns the plot of land where it stands built it. It is surrounded by coconuts and fruit trees.

Inside a few of us gathered for dear Miss Arcon's funeral. She was the head of a group of schools run by the SDA church. A good Christian, well-loved by her students, friendly yet professional to us teachers under her leadership, I was grateful for the coincidence of being in the country when she passed away, and for the opportunity to pay my last respects. 

Our World - Blue Monday

Umbel

Umbel is "a mass of flowers springing from a single center." (The Phrontistery) The Science Dictionary defines it as "a flat or rounded indeterminate inflorescence in which the individual flower stalks (called pedicels) arise from about the same point on the stem at the tip of the peduncle." Umbel is a new-to-me word. I'm marking a few things I learned about it:

• the flowers at the center of inflorescence are the youngest
• the lower of outer flowers bloom first
• geranium, milkweed and onion have umbels
• umbels come from latin umbella, meaning a sunshade (does 'umbrella' come to mind?)

I thought I would skip this week's U word, until I looked around to find examples of umbels and found a photo to show. As lantanas mature they change color "resulting in inflorescences (group or cluster of flowers on a stem) that are two- or three-colored." I found these lantanas along a pavement in a memorial park; I was visiting my father's grave in the Philippines
 

And these are lantanas along a pavement too, in Bangkok. I noticed them on my way to work one morning.

ABC Wednesday  * Our World Tuesday

Furry and juicy

Our Weekend Memoirs: Roadside Fruit Stand
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Tupi is called the fruit basket of South Cotabato. It was only four months ago though that I really paid attention to the many fruits that I take for granted when I'm home. MG3, a pineapple label, is something new to me.

The is the fruit stand in Kablon, a barangay near Dole, the pineapple giant. I bought loads of avocados. They're quite pricey in Bangkok. Whereas in SC 5 USD go a long way.


We made several stops on our way home from the airport. This watermelon stand is in Gensan.

Luckily, people at home are fruit eaters. It's no fun to eat alone.

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Sunday Stealing: Another 50 Questions Meme, Part One (perhaps)

Today we ripped this meme of a blogger known as Nigel Vanstone at Away for a Bit. Nigel explains that he was tagged to do the meme, but does not credit the blogger. But, it was probably stolen there as well. So, of course, that will be as far as we go. Tracing back our theft's thieves might take some time. He promises to post the next 25 questions, soon. If he writes them by next Saturday, we will complete his meme. Link back to us at Sunday Stealing!

Cheers to all of us thieves!

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought? tell me who's the fairest of all

2. How much cash do you have on you? tang mot leaw (cash gone)

3. What’s a word that rhymes with DOOR? FLOOR "and if I have to crawl upon the floor or come crashing thru your door..." Reo's forgotten what he'd started fighting for

4. Favorite planet? If I spent a month in Uranus, a month in Neptune, the next month in Jupiter... only then would I know which was my fave

5. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone? Bob Hope

6. What is your favorite ring tone on your phone? Trill.aac

7. What shirt are you wear[ing]? I'm not wearing a shirt right now

8. Do you label yourself? no

9. Name the brand of the shoes you’re currently wearing? They're all in the office; can't remember the different brands

10. Bright or Dark Room? it depends

11. Did you do anything to celebrate John Lennon's 70th yesterday? Imagine, "you may say I'm a dreamer but I'm not the only one" So that's what I saw Yoko Ono, Sir Paul, etc on Larry King yesterday for...

12. What does your watch look like? it's got a tiny inscription that says "don't worry, be happy"

13. What were you doing at midnight last night? feeding on my Twilight fix

14. What did your last text message you received on your cell say? You have 4 missed calls

15. Where is your nearest 7-11? down the bend

16. What’s a word that you say a lot? methinks I am in heaven above

17. Who told you he/she loved you last? lol! how corny

18. Last furry thing you touched?

19. How many drugs have you done in the last three days? none

20. How many rolls of film do you need developed? I don't get this

21. Favorite age you have been so far? 19

22. Your worst enemy? boredom

23. What is your current desktop picture (extra points if you post it.)?

my part-time religion

24. What was the last thing you said to someone? sweet dreams

25. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to fly what would it be? I nothing.