Düsseldorf

This weekend is definitely the last summer weekend of the year. On Saturday (27th September 2008) we made a day trip excursion to Düsseldorf, Germany which is about 2 ½ hours drive from our home.

It was very hot and sunny, almost no cloud in the sky as you can see from the photos.

We arrived at Köningsallee (King's Alley in English), which is the famous shopping street of Düsseldorf that is comparable to New York Fifth Avenue. All the luxury fashion brands have a store here. Since I wasn’t in the mood of shopping, the stroll along Köningsallee wasn’t that interesting to me especially strolling among/against the crowds.

I was in search for the Rhine River bank and also some historical site, but Düsseldord appears to be a very new and modern city, not much of the historical architecture left.

The late afternoon by the Rhine River bank was great. Lots of crowds gathered at the bar, beer halls, terrace mostly drinking beers and watching football.

We also enjoyed our tea break at a Turkish like Cafe close by the river bank.

It was a pleasant day trip, the sunny weather basically sprinkled an additional atmosphere and excitement in the air.

Passport to the Sun - Valencia, Spain

We just came back from Valencia, Spain yesterday. We made a very last minute and impromptu journey to the sunny destination refusing to accept the fact that the Netherlands is embarking into a cooler prologue, another episode of winter is lying ahead. Valencia – the third largest city of Spain despite of lack in characteristic and great history, the city still have enough to offer.

An experience that bring us back to the future - the City of Arts and Sciences. A state of art and the largest cultural-educational complex in Europe. Strolling at the compound is a very futuristic experience with buildings and architectures that resemble spaceship and the future.

Journey through the Past – In the city center and the old town, there are still enough impressive architecture in a different era – Gothic, Moorish or Renaissance. The most impressive one is La Lonja (as seen below)

Mediterranean sea , the coast is just 2km away from the city of Valencia, which is perfect to combine sightseeing and sun worshipping. The September Sun in Valencia is still very hot and the sea water is equally warm which makes it a perfect combination for sun bathing in the late afternoon

For now, this is the general thoughts of Valencia. More photos and impressions to come....

The Wisdom about Fishes

But Jesus fed not just our physical bodies but also empowers us to fulfil His Great Commission. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19

Photos: Above – fishes at Sapi Island, Below – fishes at Manukan Island

“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime”—Confusus

Mighty Mountains

Above: Mount Pinatubo, Philippines

Below: Mount Kinabalu, Malaysia

Psalm 121

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?

2 My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

~~~~

P/S: This is a thought about the 2 mountains that I have seen recently.

Sunset

Psalm 113:3 From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised.

Photo taken on 6th July 2008 at Tanjung Aru Beach, Kota Kinabalu where many local people are enjoying the splendid colour of sunset together in harmony.

A day in Manila

3^rd July 2008

Weather: 32C, cloudy, humid with occasionally sunshine

This is our 2^nd day in Manila, we slept so well the night before and by the time we woke up, it is already past 10am. Feeling a bit more energized and adventurous, we decided to walked to another malls within Ortigas area i.e. the Podium and the SM malls. SM malls are huge and covering 2 big buildings which is a bit overwhelming and made us feel lost in the mall. The brands are primarily the same but this place is definitely lack of charm but huge in size. We didn't spent very long here but head back to the hotel with a coffee pause at Starbucks located at the Podium.

Makati City

Having enough of Ortigas, we took a cab to Makati ciity which is may be 5 to 8 km away from Ortigas. The taxi ride experience was okay, not as scary as what described in lonely planet or hotel warning. Makati is a new blooming commercial and financial centers where most of the five stars hotels are located here. This is definitely a better part of Manila where again boasts of more shopping malls. We walked around the Greenbelt square which is like an oasis in the midst of the concrete jungle. In the center of the park,, there is a church and surrounding the church is a man-made ponds, plenty of leafy greens and fauna. The 5 Greenbelt shopping malls are evolving around the park. We spent most of the time walking at the park than actually going inside the malls (we already had enough!!). The place and concept reminded us very much of Florida, Miami. Partly due to the humidity of the weather, but mostly is due to the merchandised brands are predominately from the USA. Banana Republic, Bubba Shrimps, Guess, Nine West, outdoor cafe concept etc you name it, they most likely have an outlet here.

Mabuhay Manila

2^nd July 2008

Weather: 32C, cloudy, humid and drizzling

After slightly over 12 hours we finally arrived at Manila International airport (including a missed landing). The flight was almost full but passengers were quite polite. I watched August Rush, Atonement, Charlie Wilson's war, Linger (Cantonese movie), Micheal Clayton, Match Point and etc. The immigration and custom were quite welcome. We were greeted by the pick up driver and directly transferred to the hotel. The view along the ride were quite depressing, even though I already kind of expecting it, perhaps the recent after typhoon effect worsen the city view and the cleaning up is definitely still in process. This is particularly clear at the slums nearby the airport.

Once checked in to the hotel, the Lord blessed us with an upgrade to a suite. We slept for hours as soon as we saw the bed, although the original intention was for a quick nap, the jet lag is definitely after us.

We spent the rest of the evening checking out Galleria Robinson which is a relatively small (big to western standard but small compared to other shopping malls in Manila) and discovered that things are really cheap here.