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Searching for the Lighthouse of Alexandria
It’s been a month now since my book INSPIRED TO TRAVEL; TRAVEL TO INSPIRE – A TRAVEL MEMOIR was published and made available online via Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble. I am pleased with the current interest especially to hear comments and suggestions from those who got their copies and have already read the book. One of my friends was so pleased that I had included Egypt as she is interested to visit the country and is considering traveling probably by the end of this summer. Like most of the questions that I have been asked so far, she wanted to know what made me decide to travel to Egypt…
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Salzburg “The Sound of Music” Tour Experience
“The hills are alive with the sound of music . . .” Salzburg is where the movie The Sound of Music was filmed. It may have been released in 1965, almost a decade before I was born but I must admit that I have seen this film several times. It stars the adorable Maria (Julie Andrews), with the Von Trapp family; the father played by Christopher Plummer. When I decided to travel to Austria and naturally Salzburg I made sure to pre-book The Sound of Music tour. I simply had to watch this classic film all over again. Luckily,…
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Discover Norwich
It was in December 2016 when I first set foot in England via Heathrow Airport where my partner Richard met me. From London we then traveled by train to Norwich, the capital city of the County of Norfolk, in the East Anglia region of England where we spent Christmas with his family. I will be writing a separate blog about my first English Christmas experience but for this blog, I will share with you my perception of Norwich and some of the surrounding areas. Speaking of “Norwich” what initially came to my head was that it’s just a name of an insurance company but not as a place or a…
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A wishful thinking?
Still a wishful thinking? Not anymore. I was, for a time, a Psychology student at Silliman University in Dumaguete City. One of the revered names in the field is of course the Father of Psychoanalysis himself, Dr. Sigmund Freud. Studying Psychoanalysis is one of the major prerequisites of the course, as well as to study the life of its founder and proponent. To realise a long-held dream, I visited the Sigmund Freud Museum at Berggasse 19, in the Alsergrund District of Vienna, Austria. It was founded in 1971 and covered Sigmund Freud’s life story. Standing outside the building, I was probably like a neurotic trying to suppress my extreme excitement;…
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“Because I live, you also will live.” (John 14:19 NIV)
In loving memory of my Aunt Zebel. It was during my elementary days when my Aunt Zebel gave me a book entitled My Book of Bible Stories. This thick yellow book has colorful glossy pages and captivating illustrations. I love this book because of its enticing photos that each alone relates a story even without reading the narratives. Another proof that indeed image transcends language. As the title implies, My Book of Bible Stories is a compilation of 116 significant stories taken from the world’s greatest book: The Bible. It contains selected stories arranged in an order as they appeared in the Bible – from the Old Testament to the…
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The Gretna Green Experience
During my second time to visit the United Kingdom, I asked my partner if we could go to Scotland. Well, my interest had been sprung after having watched numerous movies and series from Netflix depicting Medieval Europe. Like the other prominent figures in history in England, I was also eager to see the place of the famous Mary, Queen of Scots, who was also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland. My interest also includes the history and life of her son, King James VI (Scotland) and James 1 (England & Ireland) (James Charles Stuart 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625). He was the King who sponsored the translation of the…
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“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” – Confucius
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The Capital Capitol
One of the very important things that I would always want to do when travelling for the first time to a particular country is to visit its capital. Indeed, when I visited the United States of America the number one on my ‘to do’ list was to visit Washington in the District of Columbia and have a stroll along its symbolic National Mall that is said to be where the core identity of America can be found. For once on this visit I was not a solo traveler, rather I joined a group and through a tour company from New York, I was able to reach D.C. and had a…
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The Birthplace of Eau de Cologne
One of the things I did when I arrived in Cologne, Germany was to visit the famous place that is said to be the oldest fragrance factory – the birthplace of Eau de Cologne. Like any other individual who works in the perfume industry, I too was excited to visit the Farina Fragrance Museum. “I have discovered a scent that reminds me of a spring morning in Italy, of mountain narcissus, orange blossom just after the rain. It gives me great refreshment, strengthens my senses and imagination.” Johann Maria Farina, an Italian-born perfumer, wrote to his brother Jean-Baptiste when he created a fragrance that would become Eau de Cologne (water…
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Burj Al Arab: Living up to its promise
It was in the year 2000 when I first set foot in United Arab Emirates and since then Dubai has been my second home. As any resident from that time could attest, Dubai has had a huge and wonderful transformation especially when it comes to its architecture and infrastructure. One of the most iconic buildings is the sail-shaped Burj Al Arab, or “Tower of the Arabs”. It is a luxury hotel which stands on an artificial island. For several years I was just one of those admiring its unique beauty from a distance and wishing someday that I could visit and see its exquisite interior up close and personal rather than…
