On 21 December 2018, my colleagues, my friends and my partner traveled to Beijing, China on a tour package. Our flight back to Manila was on the 24th of December, with high hopes of making it for the noche buena or the midnight Christmas meal on our respective homes. The original expected time of arrival…
Tag: World Heritage Site
Le Grand-Place, Brussels: Place Making is Community Making
When my book Performing Catholicism (UP Press, 2016) was chosen by the National Book Development Board to be part of the official book launch event of the Philippine Pavilion at the Frankfurt International Book Fair in 2016, I made sure to do a side trip to Brussels. Besides, the transportation system in this European region (i.e….
The Legacy of the Nguyen Dynasty: Hué Imperial City and Thien Mu Pagoda
Earlier, I wrote two posts about our wonderful experience in Hue! The focus of the earlier posts was the Royal Tombs of the Emperors of the Nguyen Dynasty. In the first post, I talked about Minh Mang’s and Khai Dinh’s. In particular, Minh Mang’s was impressive due to the man-made lake fringed with pine trees….
“Forced Migration” of British Convicts in Australia
Once upon a time, the concept of an Australian nation was nonsensical until 1 January 1901 when the Commonwealth of Australia was born. For a long time, Australia was a British colony. But its genesis was not intended for the British colonizers to explore raw materials for the benefit of the British government and its…
The Royal Tombs: The Legacy of the Nguyen Dynasty (Tu Duc)
Earlier, I wrote about the Royal Tombs of Minh Mang and Khai Dinh. You may read the post here. In this post, I highlight our journey to Tu Duc’s Tomb. Nonetheless, the visit to Tu Duc’s was not really an intended one. After visiting Minh Mang and Khai Dinh tombs, we wanted to see next Gia…
The Royal Tombs: The Legacy of the Nguyen Dynasty (Minh Mang and Khai Dinh)
In November 2017, my partner and I decided to travel to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam to celebrate our 12th anniversary. The only thing planned was to tour the sites of interest around the city (such as the opera house, the cathedral, independence hall, and the market area). A few weeks before the trip,…
Amsterdam: An Urban Center Dependent on the Waters
Many European cities such as Venice, Brugge, Gent, Paris, and Amsterdam are entwined with water. A lot of these magnificent cities are twinned with man-made canals, leading to rivers and onto the sea. Of these European cities, Amsterdam is exemplary, in such a way that its canals are significant to the city’s economic development. At…
Historic Centre of Macao and How it “Changed” Me
Macao has a very special place in my heart. My dad used to be an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) for about six years. As the eldest of five siblings, I had the responsibility of joining him in familial celebrations such as Christmas and even Holy Week. Sometime in 2006, I even stayed there for about…
Baroque Churches in the Philippines: 500 Years of Christianity (Part 2 of 3)
In an earlier post about the UNESCO World Heritage Sites (WHS) collectively named the Baroque Churches in the Philippines, I have discussed the impact of Hispanic colonialism in Philippine culture. In particular, I was pertaining to how Catholicism influenced the everyday life of the Filipino people. I also described how the Church through the Hispanic…
Baroque Churches in the Philippines: 500 Years of Christianity (Part 1 of 3)
On 21 March 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan landed in the Visayas. Some say the landing was an accident. For others, the arrival of Magellan in Cebu was a necessary event in the history of the archipelago. Whatever perspective one believes, one thing is clear: Magellan’s arrival commenced the 333 years of divide et impera in…
Tanghal Kultura 