Images of Orchard

Ok. Now I'm going back to posting pictures I've taken while walking the long stretch of Orchard Road. Weekends at Orchard are quite colorful and bursting with events big or small, as shown below:

In front of a hotel, Singaporeans love to showcase their patriotism through flags. You could see flags even hung outside the terraces of HDB flats.

This is interesting. I saw some people gathering around these youngsters dressed in silver clothes and painted themselves metallic silver. They try not to move nor blink. As the signboard reads, they're suppose to be doing some kind of project as they are International School Students - Artists. Uhuh.

There was this very young blond girl who was told by her parents to put a coin into the student's donation box. With such innocence, she obeyed and carefully put into the box's slot the coin she was provided with.

There are many street bands that perform especially in the hot spots of Orchard such as in front of a mall's entrance or near the MRT stations. This is one of the groups playing a heavy drum beat to the delight of the audience...

... and another one from some undetermined country, but their garbs indicate something related to American Indians (maybe they are American Indians, though the music they played sounded more like those from the upper regions of South America I've heard once in TV shows).

Melting time... one last call for alcohol, so finish up your whiskey or beer... Eh? Am I drunk, or is this clock sculpture melting before my very eyes. Looks like recreated from Dali's famous images.

Now this is another interesting shot. I saw a man deftly weaving colorful figurines out of coconut tree leaves (I think). He had this mat sprawled with his suppose works of figurines that look like insects, fantasy creatures and others. While taking this picture, the man saw me and was waving at me, telling me no pictures should be taken of him and his works. I wonder why. Could he have thought I was a reporter who will inform authorities of illegal activities? Ha, I was amused at that moment, but he can't do anyhing since I already got the picture. Tough luck.

Pride And Ancestry

Lately I've been... well, kinda soul-searching myself here in Singapore trying to make out of what I should I be doing (and planning) for the rest of my life now that I'm living independently from my family (well, yes, for Asians, it's a phenomenon that children get to grow older even beyond their 20's before they finally decide to move out and start a life of their own) unlike Western culture.

And part of that thinking and soul-searching is trying to blend myself among the millions of people living in this small island nation. To blend as in to try to align myself as one of the three major races of Singapore: Chinese, Indians, Malays. And most of the time I fail to blend well, especially when I speak out my English with the American accent (or that distinct Filipino accent sometimes local taxi drivers would quickly discern when you speak to them). I chuckle of the thought when one of my current officemates would tell his story of how he usually be mistaken to as an Indian, or (far-out) Nepalese (??) because of his looks. Another also told his story of how he was though of as an Indonesian or Malay. And to think, I was already mistaken to be a Japanese back in the Philippines. If I sport a bushy goatee, I'll be readily mistaken as a Malay.

The point is the current crop of Filipinos can't be stereotyped anymore as the small, dark brown skinned, flat-nosed race but more of a unique mixture of different blood races. This thanks to thousands of Filipinos going abroad and establishing relationships with other nationalities producing unique offsprings often quite better-looking(ehem).

Take for instance that big muscled wrestler of WWE Batista who my brother recently emailed me regarding his ancestry as half-Filipino (and in another source, he is half-Greek). Ah, no wonder he has that good nose bridge but bro... I mean brown skin color that Filipinos are known for (ok, I'll stop referring to the nose).

Still not convinced? See the flag on his left shoulder here. And this one one in another blog picture. Skirmish more in the Internet, he'll tell you he even idolized Manny Pacquiao.

* * * *

I just wonder why in this country I usually don't get much news about the sports winnings of the Philippines (such as Pacquiao) even though Philippines is part of Asia. And I get to hear and see more news of other Asian countries are India, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, and China.

A Book For Thought

This will be a break from taking pictures (and posting them online).

One of the ways to have some relaxation in this island nation is to take some time to sit down and read some interesting books, like the one I purchased last May, called "What Should I Do With My Life?". Interestingly, I found some of the non-fictional stories of the book akin to some aspects of my life, especially in terms of juggling work time and personal time. I have to admit, it's only now that I'm beginning to question myself on what exactly are my plans in the future and what am I doing (now) to achieve them. I can compare my current life like walking through a park - momentarily enjoying the sceneries, unmindful of what's ahead of me or where my feet would be taking me.

There are a lot of questions and thoughts that constantly hit me on the head (really hard) on what (exactly) do I want in my current life.

I remember during college, some acquaintance told me that I seem to be a type of happy-go-lucky person.

And I could still remember someone (and still many do) asking me when will I return home to the Philippines.

Hmmm....

As of the moment, I can't give much of a review of the book (I can't describe well the stories inside as I have my own interpretations that would differ with another reader of the book). But all I could tell is that it's such a darn, well-written, non-fictional book that is so unlike of self-help books nowadays (which cater mostly to career life) because the documented people are real people whom anyone can identify with when trying to ask the eternal question "what should I do with my life?".

The rest of my life is yet unwritten. It's up to me to write the rest of my biography pages.