Today is the last day of our Germany-Czech tour before returning to Frankfurt for our flight to Manila. It’s the 31st of October. Commonly, on this day, the Philippines is really busy – cleaning the nitso, the puntod, and the mausoleum of dead loved ones. The next day is All Saints’ Day, and on 2…
Category: UNESCO World Heritage Site
Once upon a time, there was an “Artist Playground,” somewhere in Germany
They call it a colony, a space where people with a shared interest live together. The interest: German modernist art, particularly art nouveau. It was my second time in Frankfurt—for the same reason: to participate in the Frankfurter Buchmesse. I was here in 2017 to launch a book at the Philippine stand (there was not…
Ayutthaya: The Interplay of Hindu and Buddhist Creativity
Ayutthaya is located in central Thailand, about 90 km north of Bangkok, the gateway to this popular SEA destination. The city, also known as the Historic City of Ayutthaya, is home to magnificent temples and other structures that are important both historically and architecturally. As one of the world’s largest cities of its time and…
Tallinn: From Russian Nobility to Baltic Cultural Identity to a Fairy Tale Wonderland (Part 2 of 2)
If there is another interesting historical moment in Tallinn that I learned from our trip there, it would be the Baltic Way Revolution, a peaceful political demonstration which took place on 23 August 1989. An approximately two million people joined their hands forming a 600 km long human chain throughout the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia,…
Suomenlinna Fortress: in a Kingdom by the Sea
Eh kumusta naman ang iyong trip sa Helsinki? asked by a colleague. It took me a long time to respond. A part of me would like to say it was traumatic. I wanted to tell her that a group of pickpockets took my wallet and I lost all of my money for the trip, including…
Jerusalem and its Old Walls: Site of Memory?!
It’s Holy Week 2024. To commemorate the passion, suffering and death of Jesus, the Christ for many faithful, I share my experiences and a little reflection about my visit to Jerusalem in December 2022. As mentioned in an earlier post about my travel experience to what is identified as the Holy Land (the region comprising…
Forts and Castles in Ghana: The Stories Must Go On (Part 2 of 2)
Ghana is a rising tourist destination in West Africa. According to its Tourism Department, foreign tourists come to this African nation to enjoy its all-year-round tropical warm climate and the wildlife, particularly the spectacular natural parks and natural reserves. However, tourists also come to Ghana to experience the historical castles and forts along the coastal…
Somewhere in the Arabian Sea: The Elephanta Caves of India
I mentioned elsewhere that my idea of Mumbai was the Juhu slums as depicted in the Hollywood blockbuster Slumdog Millionaire. As I also wrote previously, this perception was demystified when I got a chance to see the city myself and hinted that Mumbai’s charm is peculiarly beautiful because of its furiously chaos-in-order aesthetic. What I…
The Pyramids at Giza, and what we can learn about death
The Great Pyramids at Giza Complex is another highlight of the Holy Land Tour I was part of in December 2022. To describe the pyramids at the complex as “great” is an understatement methinks. They are massive. They are really, really overwhelmingly amazing. Since arriving in Cairo on 9 December, I have been anticipating this…
Yogyakarta: Journey Towards Inscription as a World Heritage Site
It’s the time of the year for the United Nations through UNESCO to inscribe new world heritage sites (WHS). The period between July and August is often the World Heritage Convention (WHC). UNESCO cancelled its usual face-to-face conventions since 2020 due to the global health crisis caused by Covid-19. July last year, UNESCO announced on…
Tanghal Kultura 