Lost in Quiapo
For SA 157 (Culture) we went to all sorts of churches in Manila to study their architechture and identify their styles (Neo-Gothic, Rennaisance, Classic, etc.). I decided to grab this rare opportunity to take pictures of characters and sights I might never see in other parts of the city. Here are some of my favorite interesting pictures and the stories behind them:
Voice of God
This is the ceiling of the San Sebastian church. The light actually came from this bulb on the one of the corners but from this angle, it really looks like it’s coming through the ceiling.
Regla is Good
This is a stand right in front of Quiapo church that sells all sorts of medicine made from God knows what. (There are many other stands like this.) The word regla is “period” in Tagalog, and I find it very ironic that they’re selling pamparegla–something that will induce abortion–outside a church.
The Prophesies of Madam Cora
There were many fortune tellers to be found outside Quiapo church too. I paid fifty pesos to have a rather generic fortune told using ancient Spanish tarot cards (otherwise known as “bastos”). First thing she told me is that I would live abroad, and no matter where I go I’ll always have land and a home. Then she said that I was intelligent and would be successful, and warned me against marrying a married man. My father could have told me this, but what I like about this fortune teller was that she was the only one there who bothered to dress the part. Everyone else was in street clothes.
Written in the Cards
The cards Madam Cora used. I know a little bit about the tarot, but these look totally unfamiliar.
Prisoner of War
I have never seen a beggar like him. I like to think that he is a war veteran who lost most of his limbs in a vicious battle. There’s something about his face that suggests a strong character, and for that I respect him.
The Saddest Bride
There happened to be a wedding march going on when we went to the Manila Cathedral. When the bride came in, I was immediately struck by her appearance. She looked so sad. Like she didn’t want to be there at all and was silently cursing at whoever it was that led her to this situation. I saw her give a few wistful smiles to her friends. The smiles never reached her eyes.
Purple Fire Truck
Isn’t this just the coolest? I found this in Binondo (Chinatown). Apparently, the Chinese think it’s unlucky for a fire truck to be red. Hence the purple color of this one. 
It’s been a tiring yet interesting day, and these have got to be the saddest pictures I have ever taken. I really want to take up a basic photography class; I think I’ve got the potential to be great.
View more pics of Quiapo and Intramuros.
Filed under Photoblog | Comments (3)Something I could stare at for hours on end
Say hello to the new occupants who share my living quarters with me.
Clockwise from top left: Shere Khan, Confucious, Kitty, and Tutankhamen.
The sudden inspiration for me to get an aquarium came after my visit to the shrink this morning. I noticed how I always stare at her fish tank of goldfish whenever I talk, and it occured to me how relaxing and therapeutic it is to just watch them swim in circles. Plus, I felt the sudden need to have a living, growing thing in my room (and no, my sister doesn’t count because she’s not a pet). We’ve never owned an aquarium at the house because my mom insists that according to Feng Shui, everyone in the family except my dad are Fire people, and it’s apparently bad luck for a Fire person to own an aquarium. I don’t believe that bad luck or good luck run the course of our lives, so upon my insistence (and my reluctant agreement to pay for everything with my own money), I eagerly traipsed over to the pet store to choose my fish.
Putting together an aquarium was a lot more complicated than I thought it would be. It’s a lot more than just water and a fish bowl; you need pebbles, plastic seaweed to make the whole thing look pretty, a filter, and anti-chlorine. It took me a while to do the landscaping of the aquarium. I got dark gray pebbles, which I regretted at first because it made the whole place look horribly dull. But then I added white seashells all over, which stood out amongst the darkness, making everything look pretty. Still, it looked empty without flora, so I looked at every single accessory the pet store had to offer just so I could find the most authentic, non-tacky-looking plants in there. Add the filter to a corner of the tank, some anti-chlorined water, and voila! My aquarium is ready to be inhabited by finned little beings.
Choosing the fish took a while too. I could only get four because of the size of my tank, and I couldn’t get the really colorful ones that I like because they’re really fierce and will end up killing or maiming the other fish in the aquarium. I got two rainbow fish, a catfish, and a goldust molly. (Later on, I learned from my sister’s friend that mollies are little bullies. So much for peace and order in my tiny ecosystem.)
I picked out my fishes’ names based on what I observed about their personality (or lack thereof).
Shere Khan is the easiest to name. It’s the fish with angst. It keeps attacking the filter and all the other fish.
The logic behind Confucious’ name is stupid. I picked it because it keeps ramming itself against the glass, like it wants to get out of the tank and can’t remember why it’s trapped inside in the first place. I couldn’t think of any other name that meant “confused”. So Confucious it was.
Kitty is a catfish. Enough said.
Tutankhamen just lies amongst the plants or bubbles and doesn’t do much, like the child king of Egypt who is already dead.
My sister upon learning I gave one of the fish the name “Shere Khan”:
“Ooh! Shere Khan! Isn’t that the panther from Bambi?”
