I'm off . . and off the air ..... for a while.

Okay folks, so sorry if my postings have continued to be irregular. My latest excuse is that I was getting ready for my epic "Silk Road" trip which starts . . . . tomorrow. So from 25 Sep to 22 Oct, I will be following the footsteps of ancient silk traders that plied the route from the Far East to the borders of Europe. Actually I'll only be doing close to half the trip from Beijing to Uzbekistan.

Lots of firsts on this trip;

• This will be the first time I'll be away for so long from Pris so having a few misgivings about that, I'll try and be brave though.
• First time for me to be in that part of the world so that's always a thrill.
• First time for me join an actual tour group. Most of my postings on this blog should have indicated that Pris and I shun tour groups because of many reasons (I'll post those on another entry) but for remote, distant and did I mention remote lands, I decided to swallow my pride and join a tour. I'll let you know how this turns out.

I'll bring my laptop and hope to be able to post while I'm there but be ready for very short, entries with no pictures as I expect that online access will be limited and for the latter part of my trip (Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan non existent). So please be patient.

Okay, got to get back to packing now.

My uncles and me

As requested by DL, here is the picture of me with my uncles. The background was added afterwards because the picture was actually taken right before you entered the building. I like it, and like the old sepia colored and black and white pictures of my lolos and lolas I hope to keep it safe and sound so that one day a far off relative of mine will pick it out of a box and wonder who these three guys were . . . .

Atlanta Aquarium

After a day's worth of driving, including a quick break for what I thought was a tornado ready to set down and pick us up but which turned out to be nothing more than a torrential downpour, we arrived in Atlanta at my uncle's house. After a quick dinner and a restful night's sleep I took up the contiuous grind of . . . . sightseeing.

I've been to quite a few aquariums, the one in Singapore's Sentosa, the Monterrey Aquarium, HK's Ocean Park and more recently Manila's own Aquarium (behind Luneta Grandstand). So when I finally got to Atlanta's aquarium, touted to be the biggest in the world, I wasn't that impressed, initially. Now that I think about it though, their tanks were pretty huge and unlike the tunnel aquariums that now seem like a must have for any decent fish tank to have, you could literally look into the depth of the tanks in Atlanta.

What I really did like about the Atlanta Aquarium were the diversity of animals they had. They had otters, seals, penguins apart from the many different fish species they had on display. The highlights for me though were 1) at the beginning they take a picture of everyone who enters the Museum so I had one taken of me and my two uncles . . . priceless and 2) the beluga whales, they really creeped me out. The were so human. They would swim up to the glass and look at you, literally stare you down. You felt like they were looking straight through your eyes, into your skull and into your thoughts. Creepy in a nice way.

Lighthouse

The Outer Banks has its fair share of lighthouses by virtue of its location. Probably the most famous one is located in Cape Hatteras. Distinct in its black spiral pattern, this lighthouse has recently gotten a new lease on life. By the time I had visited it, it had been moved from its original position because the foundation was eroding and the lighthouse was at risk of falling over.

Too bad for me, I visited the original site afterwards and it was practically on the beach. Taking pictures of it there would have been beautiful, like this picture I got from the net.

As is it turn out however, you couldn't even see the shoreline from the new site. Oh well, I guess what is important is not what you can see from the lighthouse but that people can see the lighthouse from the sea.

Flying

I didn't know that the Wright brothers had their first flight in North Carolina, but as my uncle and I were pulling into the outer banks he made me pull into what looked like a rather plain field. A monument on a hill, a few tent like structures on the side and a very long walkway through the grass was what this particular part of the Outer Banks looked like. It turned out to be the Kill Devil Hills or the Wright Brothers Memorial as it is now known.

The Outer Banks have always been known to carry a constant wind and even now it isn't hard to imagine why the brothers picked this place to try out their flyer. Hard to believe that the commercial airplanes we ride on today, the jetfighter, the cargo planes and my favorite the Harrier Jump Jet all originated from this. The basic design hasn't changed much, a fueslage and wings on the side. Makes you think that maybe we should be progressing a little bit faster. It has been 105 years since the Kitty Hawk took flight.

Next stop: Durham

It's always nice to take a break in the middle of a trip. Find a nice place to stop where one can just put up their feet and take it easy, no rushing around to see the sights, no long rides to the next place, just rest and relaxation.

I thought I had found that place in Durham, North Carolina. My uncle had invited me to stay with him and I thought it would be a great place to just chill and catch up.

Lo and behold however, like any gracious host, my uncle had different plans. He wanted to show me the sights not only in North Carolina but wanted to drive all the way to Georgia to meet up with my other uncle. Before I could stammer out a diplomatic refusal to his generous offer we were in his SUV and on the road.

Before heading out into the freeway we dropped by Duke University and the University grounds. Unfortunately it was summertime and so no hot college girls . . . I meant no students were around. Seriously though, Durham is a university city and without students you don't get a the full Durham experience.


As we were pulling out of Durham I could see the numerous trails and forests, what fun it must be to run through the trees. I was going to launch another attempt to get out of our road trip, but before I knew it we were on the freeway. My uncle reaches into the glove compartment, puts on a disc and so we were heading into the open road with Freddie Aguilar narrating the tragic story of "Anak".

Body Exhibit

Another thing I did in Baltimore, apart from my night out with my cousin, was go to the Body Exhibit. I had seen brochures about it in other states but chanced on it in Baltimore.

Going to it I had no qualms about seeing bodies in several levels of dismemberment. OR SO I THOUGHT.

One of the first exhibit pieces was the human brain. It wasn't in a glass jar as you'd expect, it was on a rotating disk so that one could see every nook and cranny. That didn't freak me out too much but when the disk hit a rough spot which made the rotation jerky I could see the brain jiggle around a bit like jello. That's when it hit me. This was somebody's brain, someone actually had this in their head.

Right after that realization, the exhibit looked like some weird and scary freak show. I would stand in front of one exhibit piece, like the exploded man (think technical drawings that 'explode' an item like a car to show how things fit together), and think this is a real man. He used to live and breathe, he had friends and family and now here he was . . . . exploded for all the people to see.

Apparently the process of making these exhibits is called Polymer Preservation, a kind of lamination of the body parts. All the bodies used were donated apparently through legal means but most if not all come from China so you can read between the lines about the legality or morality of where these bodies really do come from.

When I told my relatives in the US about it, they were pretty opinionated about not going to the exhibit, must be our strict religious upbringing and respect for the dead. Me, I respected them and was in awe to tell you the truth but there was still something in the back of my mind nagging me that this was all wrong.

In the end though I chalked it up to education. If you do decide to go, prepare yourself. Me, I get a bit queasy whenever I see blood so seeing full bodies cut open had me going for a while.

No pictures allowed so I can't really share anything except the website.

Another Weekend Escape

My wife and I just celebrated our 9th year anniversary. What does that have to do with Photography or traveling I hear you ask, well since my wife gave me an absolutely stunning birthday gift of a Silk Road trip, I couldn't let our anniversary pass by without arranging something special.

I thought of a new engagement ring (she lost hers recently), a chance to upgrade the tiny stone I bought for her with my measly salary back then but she said don't buy me diamonds. Just following orders sweetie. Then I though I'd get her the new Apple Iphone which was recently launched here but I thought back and realized I had gifted her way to many gadgets, including cellphones, in the past. Also, the Iphone is way to overpriced, check out my other blog www.usefultechblog.blogspot.com (sorry shameless plug).

And then I remember reading about surprise weekend getaways where the other person has no idea about the trip beforehand. Sounded like a great way to surprise her and so I told her to take half day Friday off so we can get the royal treatment at a spa. In reality I had booked us on a 3 days two night stay at the Tagaytay Country Suites run by Discovery. Yes, yes, I wish I could whisk her off to Istanbul or the South of Spain (and that might still happen in the future) but Tagaytay was all I could handle right now.
So I booked the stay, made reservations at Firelake Grill for that special dinner, locked the house up, fed the dog and off I went to pick her up in the office. Yes, I packed her stuff for her and as an added bonus I bought her favorite snack for the trip (Kettle Chips, Ketchup fries and Pepperidge farm Milano Cookies) and her favorite magazines which I cannot mention here since she has sworn me to secrecy . . . .

I picked her up, she asked which spa we were going to and by the time we reached Makati I had to let her know my real plans. I think she was surprised but I definitely know we had a great time in Tagatay. The place is very private, only 7 rooms available. They have a great resto, TV, DVD and even an Ipod speaker dock in each room and a beautiful view of the lake. There was an outdoor jacuzzi but I couldn't get myself to take the dip in the relative coolness of the mountain air. The service though was great, the staff always helpful and smiling. The front desk staff, Erica was the best. She even asked about our reason for staying and extracted the fact that we were celebrating our wedding anniversary. Lo and behold when we came back from dinner our room was lit up with candles and decorated with rose petals. Real nice touch.

It was a nice weekend and to top it off I had one final surprise when we got home. I had our handyman install a brand new cooking range while we were gone, replacing the two stove tabletop burner we had for the past 9 year. Unromantic I hear you say, I beg to disagree. With my relatively relaxed schedule I spend more time in the kitchen than she does. Selfish maybe, I'm raring to start cooking, time to put all those hours watching Gianna, Mario and the Iron chef to use.

Rockets, planes and other cool stuff

After a great lunch with my cousin in Baltimore and an equally exciting night drinking (the details of which are secret as my wife reads this blog . . . hi sweetie) I was of to my next destination, Durham, North Carolina. Before that though I convinced my cousin to take a detour to the National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall in Washington DC. It's got all the good stuff in it from the Wright Brothers aircraft to missiles and the lunar lander command module.

I later learn that for some of the big stuff, like the Space Shuttle and the infamous Enola Gay, you can actually take a shuttle to the Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles. However, since I was in a rush I had to contend myself with the items in the main museum. . . . . . rockets, Spitfires, Messerschmitts, space suits . . . . still a winner in my book.

All the Museum's in Washington are free, which is perfect for me.