If he lied to you once, he will surely do it again. Forget about him, he is not worth it.”
—Advice a close male friend gave me. He was right.
Portugese Feijoada
I’ve never been to Lisbon or anywhere near Portugal. But I did get to taste a sample of Portugese cuisine while in Timor Leste. Because My friend D says Portugese cuisine is the best in the world I was so intrigued that I definitely had to try it.
Well, it came earlier than expected as I accidentally stumbled upon a place that serves affordable Portugese dishes. It was so far from my hotel, The Discovery Inn, that I had to walk approximately ten steps outside my hotel’s main door. Hahaha. The food at the hotel was already getting boring and I needed a change. So there I was next door. Talk about saving on taxi fare.
There weren’t many people so I chose a table by the glass window. Surprised to see a menu that wasn’t quite familiar, the server suggested I try the special for the day, if I were hungry. Hungry??? I am always hungry. As long as it had rice I’d be a happy camper. She said the feijoada (pronounced as fey-jwah-duh) was a complete meal. Let’s go for it.
When the dish arrived, it looked similar to our fabada served at home. The taste was similar but I think this is a souped-up version of the fabada. It had different meats-pork, beef plus the morcillos and ham- or was it bacon. Let’s not forget the white beans, folks. The sauce was thick and tasty. It seemed that it was stewed for quite a while because the meats were tender and the dish was so flavorful. I was so satisfied with the dish that I finished every morsel of rice and 3/4 of the feijoada. That’s a lot for me if you know how I eat.
Ahhh, this was a perfect way to end the day. Me and the feijoada. Happy to have been introduced to you. It was definitely not disappointing.
Another view of Bangkok
(Sometime October 2010). One of the best places to see Bangkok’s city lights and the surrounding Chao Praya river is sixty-five floors high at the skybar called Sirocco.
(Bangkok, October 2010). Plaza Athenee’s way of saying goodnight. I have no problems getting used to this :-)
Meeting you happened to be my fate, turning into a friend was a choice, but falling in love with you truly deeply and madly I admit I had absolutely no control over.
In the world, one out of 70 people will be a Filipino.
—Ugochi Daniels, Philippine representative of the UN Population Fund. World population is expected to reach seven billion by the end of October – with more than 100 million of them Filipinos. via philstar.com (via pinoytumblr)
Listening to: The Swell Season
I remember watching Once and being blown away by the simplicity of the story and in the songs composed by its stars, Glen and Marketa. Their new album, Strict Joy, is just as beautiful.
How can two people who make such beautiful music together not be able to sort out their differences in the real world?
Lets face it. Love is an animal. Though my grandfather told me once that love is more like a bird, if you hold it tightly it dies, if you hold it slightly, it flies.
People often ask me how I capture such intimacy in the couples I have the honor of photographing. The key is looking from a different perspective. I don’t see them as who they are that day, happy and carefree. I see them as they will be tomorrow. I see them in the road ahead, in both the good times and the bad and all that they will endure. Together. Some days there will be love made on the kitchen floor, and others there will be sleepless nights on the couch. I have known both.
I received a letter once from an old friend. She mentioned that she recently had her heart broke and could only wish to one day find someone that sees her the way that my couples see each other. How would she know when she has found the “one”? Trust me when I say that tender gaze, that almost kiss, does not come without work. There will be joy, there will be pain. I have known both.
If you are reading this I want you to know that you are amazing. He is not. And this is my advice to you. Find a boy who calls you beautiful instead of hot. Who calls you back when you hang up on him. Who will lie under the stars and listen to your heartbeat, or will stay awake just to watch you sleep. Wait for the boy who kisses your forehead. Who wants to show you off to the world when you are in sweats. Who holds your hand in front of his friends. Who thinks you’re just as pretty without makeup on. You will know he is the one because he will apologize first even if he feels he was in the right, because being right won’t matter if you go to bed angry. When you tell a joke he will laugh out loud.
He will constantly be reminding you of how much he cares and how lucky he is to have found you. He will turn to his friends and say, ‘that’s her.’
This is the bird that my grandfather spoke of. When you find this bird hold onto it but remember to give it room to grow. Room to breathe. Do this together. And when you find him, call me. I want to photograph it.
My name is Clayton Austin. I am just a man and I tend to see things better with my eyes closed.
— Clayton Austin, brilliant wedding photographer (via catjuan)
First Morning Light
The first order of the day was to catch the early morning light. Waking up at 4 a.m., traversing the pitch black streets of the city on our purple tuktuk and enduring the chilly air were definitely uncomfortable. But we soon forgot all of that as we caught a glimpse of the first rays of sunlight. We saw how the light slowly peeped through the darkened sky and later cast a glow on the quiet, still water.
Not many words were spoken. Everything seemed to be in slow motion. We sat. We waited. We fell in love. Our first day in Siem Reap.
You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.
—Dr. Seuss (via dre)
