Swan Lake

Here we are at one of the rides in Enchanted Kingdom. I rode one of those when I was younger. Trust me, they are harder to maneuver than they look.

What do you do?

This is what I do for a living. No I'm not the one in front of the camera. I work for a corporate foundation and I make videos for fundraising campaigns, conceptualize fundraising strategies, write feature articles and press releases, produce flyers, brochures, reports, that sort of thing. Kind of like advertising work, but for a foundation. Production work is fun but the hours can get crazy. On days I don't get to post, you know what I'm doing! What do you do?

St.Luke's Hospital: Farewell

I noticed this sculpture of the Holy Family by the elevators in the hospital. I like it, and the great mirror behind it too. It's comforting in an odd way. Have a great Monday folks!

St.Luke's Hospital: The dining arcade

The hospital is complete with a shopping and dining arcade. See the ceiling? It's covered with glass so during the day, natural light filters through and illuminates the whole place. At night, the ceiling becomes carpeted with stars.

St.Luke's Hospital: Health and Wellness Center

So here's their "Health and Wellness Center," for people who undergo Executive Checkups. This is where they sit and worry about their test results. Why suffer in a doctor's stuffy office when you can suffer in style!

And this is me! Couldn't resist taking a photo, with that huge mirror just beckoning for me and my camera.

So, it turns out you might have heart disease, but at least the view's good.

St.Luke's Hospital series: The Kitchen

My friend is good friends with the Executive Chef of St.Luke's, Brando Santos. He was kind enough to take us around his "office" also known as the hospital's kitchen. The meal above is a typical meal of those staying in the hospital's suites.

The "Food and Nutrition" section is, predictably, squeaky-clean. Too bad we just missed the "factory line" of meals and the "plating" process.

The kitchen keeps copies of each patient's dietary requirements, whether a meal should be low in sugar, low in fat, low in cholesterol, etc. I guess you could say their job is a matter of life and death. They keep the meals in these pink trays, which are especially insulated to keep the food warm.

The boys below were kind enough to smile for me. Except for that fellow whose back is turned. I suppose he's a bit shy.

Finally, Chef Brando himself.

Tomorrow, the Health and Wellness center.

St.Luke's Hospital series: The Presidential Suite

The Executive Suite of St.Luke's Medical Center costs a whopping PhP49,000 a month or a little over a thousand dollars. When he needed medical treatment, the First Gentleman, husband of our former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo stayed here.

Look it even has a jacuzzi and a designer chair. Not just any other plain ol' bath and stool. No, it's a jacuzzi and a designer chair.

The pillows, the attendant says, cost PhP2,500 each (or around $60). The photographs on the walls are photos by famous photographer Wig Tysmans.

Just like an apartment, the suite comes with its own dining room.

And finally, what is a Presidential suite without a view of the city?

Tomorrow: a trip to the hospital's kitchen.

St.Luke's series: The Lobby

Things have been crazy busy lately, so forgive me for being on an inadvertent blog hiatus. Anyhow, to make up for my lack of posts, I'll be posting several photos each entry for the next several days. For this week, I'll take you around a tour of St.Luke's Medical Center. A hospital? you ask. What's so special about a hospital that it merits not just a day, but a week of photos? Well, we may be in a Third World country, but man, this hospital is definitely world-class. Just look at the lobby.

Tomorrow, I'll show you the Presidential Suite, where the former First Gentleman, husband of former President Gloria Arroyo stayed during his confinement. The room looks like some swanky Upper East Side New York apartment.

"Brownout"

In Manila, and the whole of the Philippines, blackouts are known as "brownouts." I have no idea why. I'm not aware of any other country in the world that calls blackouts "brownouts." Anyhow, in the wake of Typhoon Basyang's wrath was the huge Luzon wide blackout. If you're in the US, that would be equivalent to a blackout of the entire East coast. Seeing as how I've finished all my Sudoku puzzles, and my laptop has run out of battery and I couldn't finish my Modern Family episodes, I just took out my nifty little point and shoot and tried to shoot whatever I can.

And here's the view from my humble bedroom in our humble house somewhere in Metro Manila during the blackout. That blue light there comes from the Union Bank, just a few minutes away from my house. That blue light served as my only light source for the night. Maybe one day I'll take a picture of that building during daylight.

Jump!

I like how the mall's developers take time to beautify not just the inside of their malls, but the outside as well. Here's a lovely water fountain right outside of Glorietta, near the parking lots.

Speaking of water, Manila was recently struck by Typhoon Basyang. Strong winds and rain battered the whole city yesterday, downing power lines, felling trees and damaging property. Right now, our neighborhood still does not have electricity, 18 hours after the blackout (which explains why I wasn't able to post yesterday and why I'm posting this particularl entry furtively in our office har har). Please keep Manila in your prayers folks.

Mushroom

I don't know who made the mushroom-like art installations in this garden in front of Glorietta, a popular mall here in Manila, but I like them. I like the weaving and it's something different to look at while you're waiting for your turn to park. Tomorrow I'll post another installation, this time of a sea creature.

Last few seconds

... before the day turned into night. I hope you had a good weekend folks!

A city within a city

Eastwood City is not really a city, but its mix of residential and commercial areas makes it look like a real one. It has roads, and a chapel, a supermarket, a business center, several restaurants and cafes as well pubs, plus high-rise condominiums.

Padre Pio's church

Under those arches was where I was standing when I took the previous post's photo. This is the Chapel dedicated to Padre Pio, the Italian monk famous for his his stigmata. On one occasion they displayed a pair of his bloodied gloves there. Too bad I didn't get a photo of the interior. I've heard mass here before and the chapel looks nice from the inside, very warm and inviting. As I suppose all chapels ought to be.

Posh residence

Here we are at the Eastwood Palazzo Residence. The name sounds so... swanky. There is an arch there because I was standing in the doorway of the Holy Family Chapel, a chapel dedicated to Padre Pio, the Saint famous for his stigmata. Tomorrow I'll post a picture of the chapel's facade.

Life's a beach

How I wish I can do this more often. Have a good Monday folks!

Nail Tropics

And here's the nail salon I was talking about. It's called Nail Tropics and they are simply the best nail salon in the metro. In my humble opinion, anyway.

They have the best interiors too. Modern with tropical touches. I think in my other life I was a frustrated architect or interior designer.

Anyhow, sorry for the delayed posts. I just hate it when life gets in the way of, well, life. Har har.

Mani Pedi

Guess where? Clue: When you come here you often hear the words, mani and pedi. Also you won't see a lot of men here. It's the ladies' territory! Tomorrow I'll post just what we're looking at here.

I was supposed to enter this for City Daily Photo Theme Day, but for the life of me, I can't remember my username! Haha! And so I can't log in, even with email. So there. I will just have to email the admins so I won't be so kawawa, as we might say in our lingo.