TravelswithCharie

Cherry blossoms at Ueno Park It's late March and the temperature is in the low 70's, enough to motivate local residents to get the picnic basket out and sit under the cherry blossom trees in Ueno Park. There's a full week to go before the white blooms turn pink but some trees are already showing a preview of Barbie pink blossoms. It's a wonderful time to enjoy this shortlived phenomena. If you decide to go on the spur of the moment and brought no snacks or provisions for a meal, not to worry. There are food stalls and restaurants nearby. There is also a zoo, rides for children, and the Western Art Museum where Auguste Rodin's Thinker contemplates on what to wear for Spring. * * * Image by Rosario Charie Albar

Yes the beaches of Boracay have fine, white sand and its wonderful to burrow your feet into its warm recesses. The water is clear and cool. The coconut trees sway in the gentle breeze and offer much needed shade and the sunsets are showstoppers. These things we already know about Boracay. But here’s what we haven’t heard or read about: 1. You take a ferry to Boracay from Caticlan for P30.00, a relatively inexpensive fare. But to this you have to add an environmental fee of P50 which you pay at a separate window and a terminal fee of P20 which is paid to a different cashier. If you travel after 6 p.m., there is a fare surcharge as well. 2. To get into the ferry (usually an outrigger), you have to walk a plank which measures about 1.5 ft. in width. Attendants will help you along but watch your step anyway. It gets tricky when you are carrying a bag or two. One of the passengers in our boat dropped his luggage in the sea. While an attendant dove to retrieve it, his clothes were all wet. 3...

The cable car ride from Tung Chung to Ngong Ping is a 5.7 km. stretch dangling above a tributary of the South China Sea and over rolling green hills of the North Lantau Country Park. Hiking trails crisscross these hills and there were a few hikers about. Suddenly through light rain and mist, we beheld the Tian Tan Buddha in the distance. It was a magical moment. We got off at Ngong Ping Village where our first stop was the Tea House. I love to drink tea but have never done so in a tea ceremony. The ritual starts with the cleansing of tiny cups in a bowl of hot water. Then a spoonful of green tea is poured into a small pitcher filled with water heated to a temperature level that brings out the best of the selected tea. The guide transferred the tea to a filtered glass pitcher to remove the tea leaves. She then filled all our cups. Raising the cup to her nose she inhaled the aroma of the tea, just like wine. We followed suit. She took a sip of the tea. The first sip she explained is to q...

Aklan is well known as the jumping off point to the blindingly white sand beaches of Boracay. But it has another jewel worth visiting. This is the house that Sam built. Sampaguita Gardens Resort and Spa in New Washington is only a few minutes from the center of Kalibo. It is a beachside complex with a non denominational Meditation Chapel, an Asian fusion restaurant, an aquarium, a Christmas cottage, a children’s playground called Sammy’s Circus, a butterfly farm and the house of Samuel J. Butcher, the creator of Precious Moments. Precious Moments is renowned worldwide for its unique figurines and dolls. You enter Sam’s house through carved doors flanked by two enormous Chinese vases. Inside the cool interior of rich dark wood, is a collection of museum quality furniture and Oriental objets d’art. To the left of the main door, behind a glass panel is the library room with an antique Chinese bed. It has a wooden canopy with intricate carving. It would be difficult to concentrate on readi...

I see your face Which way I look I see your smile In pages of a book I feel your arms So warm around me I feel your kiss So very tenderly I hear your voice In the whisper of the wind I hear your laugh Warm like a good old friend I dream of you Each night I go to bed I dream of the day When you and I will wed And if this cannot prove How much you mean to me What else will do? But I love you. * * * Happy Valentine's Day!

At the funeral of my dentist (who took good care of my teeth from childhood to my teens and never charged me a centavo), I was struck by this reading during the memorial mass: Love is patient; love is kind. It is not envious nor boastful nor arrogant nor rude. It does not insist on its own way: it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in evil, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things Love never fails.... And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. In life as in death, love remains in the hearts of the living and sends the dead happily on his/her way to the next life.

I see my cottage rising from the bottom of the earth. Why do I say “bottom” of the earth? My property is below road level and as I walk farther into the lot, the earth dips another 5 feet. Part of the property was recently filled but another part was left as is to build the foundation of my 3 cottages. I can now see it gaping widely with parts slightly under water. The sound of an angry and snarling dog scares the heck out of me. I realize I am alone and no one about to whom I could shout for “Help”. I have no stick to defend myself in case this mad dog, who has never seen a veterinarian, attacks me. I walk away from it feigning pluck, which is nothing close to what I really feel. The smell of newly laundered clothes make me wince in horror. But the sun has been missing for days and my clothes must have been slightly damp when the laundry woman ironed them. It is an embarrassment and I hope I meet no one along the beach on my way home. I wish I could buy a real dryer. Not the spinner t...

I’m on my way to becoming independent again. After 2 months of major dependency on my household help, I think I’m ready to move on. I’m confident about this because my wonderful cousin, Inday, has introduced me to Lloyd, a tricycle driver. Lloyd comes by the apartment on Monday mornings and picks up my laundry. He takes it to the Laundromat and drops off clean and scented clothes at my place the following day. Not only that, my clothes are back in shape after being washed and line dried under uncertain skies. You have no idea how big this is. In December we had a devastating typhoon and in January, this “low pressure” has kept everything damp. No amount of “nature fresh” and antibacterial Downey could keep my clothes from smelling of sweat. I dreaded to approach anyone within 5 feet. It was that bad. For 60 cents/kilo, my 7 kilos of clothes, towels, and sheets come home from the Laundromat smelling s w e e e t. I’ve yet to get used to this. One day after a change of fresh cl...

On Christmas day 2006 the headlines read, "Filipina raped by 17 Kuwaitis". Nothing could be more grim. This woman was trying to escape her employer when she encountered these men who took her to a desert camp where she was raped. Then they transferred her to another camp where she was again molested. (Talk about jumping from the frying pan into the fire!) According to the newspaper report, there has been 19 cases of rape against Filipinas in the Gulf Emirates. Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) have been called the new heroes of the Philippines. I understand there are 8 million OFWs around the world. Many of these workers are university graduates who seek employment in foreign shores where they can get better pay. All for the sake of supporting their families in the Philippines. They leave with noble intentions and work hard. They suffer the pain of separation from loved ones, privations and discrimination. All for love of family. Not everyone is so lucky to come home unscathed....