graffiti!

i have always been a fan of graffiti. the nice ones of course. not the senseless scribble that tend to pollute most cities walls. it's street art! it's also cool that in creating that 'art', the artist had to find the right timing when and where to leave his mark. unless, it's like the art districts in Beijing, Berlin and Slovenia where the walls are now homes to free expression done in style! not to mention with the consent of the law. :)

the picture above is of the same 'graffiti'(im not sure what the technical term is for this type of graffiti, the pre-made ones that only require to be stuck on the wall. UPDATE: Sticker Art is the term! a subcategory of graffiti) the one on the left, i saw in berlin a week after easter 2010 and the one on the right, in ljubljana a month ago. i wonder who made these and if they do travel doing that. or if it's one group/crew that has the same set of graffitis. like a berlin chapter and a ljubljana chapter. i find it totally awesome that i saw these two! and i wonder if there are more of this same design in other cities! if you do see one on any wall near you, tell me!

or this one below which obviously is done by the same artist.

goes and wanders

like a broken record

how would you want to die?

would you want to know when you are dying? a slow one which gives you time to come to terms with it and tie up loose strings? one that let's you prepare yourself as well as all those around you?

or would you rather not know the end is near? face each day and not have a care in the world when you will finally croak?spend your last moments oblivious and not trying to beat the clock by clearing your bucket list?

________________________________________________

i was looking through my photos in cinque terre and i remembered that during my last moments in Levanto, right before i went running to the train station, a middle-aged guy drowned. i was there when the lifeguards noticed him drowning until the time they brought him to shore and until 30+ minutes of trying to resuscitate him. i was not able to find out what happened in the end because i had to catch a train but after 30+minutes of CPR, i doubt there was hope left. there was some other grown man crying hysterically, i assumed he was the brother.

that was just a normal day for that family. they went to the beach. got some tan. had some fun. no one could have known it would be the last for one of them. i saw how devastated the brother was. i felt his pain. at least the smallest possible portion of it. i can't imagine what went through the other guy's head when he was waiting to get rescued while the waves knocked the breathe out of him.

so there, thats why i had that question in my head. i've always wanted it to happen unexpectedly. i'd hate to die of sickness. feeling my grip on life lessen each moment. being helpless on some bed in some hospital is not the way to go for me. i'd like to go doing something i love. i used to say maybe while surfing. whatever. anything exciting at least. but then i get to see such an event. i get to see how the brother reacts. so now, i don't know. not that i can help it anyway.

like a broken record, the only way to live is to seize the day. Carpe Diem as John Keating told his students. or how James Dean puts it; Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today.

We can't help it when the grim reaper decides to slash our throats with his infamous scythe but we can make the most of what we have. See the world, readers! whoever you may be.

goes and wanders

make me smile

after more than a year of tinkering with this blog, i just saw the stats part on my dashboard today!

it's cool seeing where people who waste most of their time reading what my brain spits out onto this screen!

it is amusing! and hopefully you are amused by my ramblings too! hopefully, any of my trips inspire you to go and wander! i ask for one favor though! first time i will ever even ask this! can you please spread the word if any of my words do stick. better if you comment but telling a friend about it would be awesome too! follow me if you have a blog yourself! i'd like to see the map on my stats be red on most parts! :) lights up my day! and gives me the boost to write! and at least makes me conscious that i should write better and not make a fool of myself. and, invite me if you're from someplace i haven't been! or invite me back if i missed something in a place i wrote about!

goes and wanders

on the future...specifically mine

have you seen Dont Tell My Mother on National Geographic?

how can i get a job like that? how do i even get close to having the opportunity know people in that field?

:( anyone out there who knows? anyone?

goes and wanders

meeting the world

as of now, the population of the world is 7041196780.

this increases by three every second...

i have/had this longing to meet everyone in the world. have/had because there are times when i am realistic. it's impossible, i know. but the longing is there. weird huh?

i just know there is something interesting about each person. it's like finding a treasure.

this is why i try to talk to random people in my travels. not even close to everyone. but at least a handful from every place keeps me on track.

goes and wanders

just an insight

crab mentality.

ive been meaning to write about this but never got to until now.

i was in Malta walking on the promenade when i overheard Filipinos talking. i glanced and caught their eyes. i nodded, my normal reaction every time i see pinoys whenever i travel. we were walking in the same direction and one of them asks me if i was actually a Filipino just to be sure and then we started talking. they were 2 women and a man. one of the women asks me where i worked in Malta and then i said i was only on vacation and that i study in Italy.

then i hear the other lady 'whisper' (you know when people make the gesture of whispering but the sound is even louder than how they normally speak, thats how she did it)

she said, ah, mayaman ang parents...and to that i said, hindi po, scholarship po yun. and 'whispering' again she says, ah, matalino.

she whispered all of this with the air of spite and mockery. there was no winning to this lady. if it weren't for us walking in the same direction i wouldn't have continued conversation with them. it's annoying how this attitude of bringing down others is so evident in these people. crab mentality has always been a problem in the philippines in my opinion.

as a kid, i remember learning about the term with someone explaining to me how when crabs are put into a container, they all try to get out but once one is near the top, another would see it as an advantage and try to climb over it bringing them both down. sucks for the crabs having such a mentality named after them.

this is one of the reasons we get nowhere. why cant we just be happy for those who make it?

goes and wanders

ps this isn't really much of a travel entry. more of an insight provoked by a travel experience. :)

summer creatures

there are these creatures that resurface every summer in europe. they drive the locals out of their homes and take over the city. oddly misshapen with a huge hump on their backs, they crowd the cities and go around with faces full of glee and excitement for the unknown and unfamiliar they are about to encounter.

i traveled throughout all the seasons of europe and i never experienced this increased number of these creatures in any other season but summer. having been a resident of Padova, i know it is not a city that is on the list of musts of every backpacker but as summer approached, the double decker City Sightseeing bus i have seen full in any other big city slowly filled up. during the other seasons, me and my friends would see this bus with less than five people and to see it in this condition is just a sure sign that summer has creeped on the city along with the empty streets of the residential areas and shops closed for the summer.

im not used to the city's local vibe dying in this season. as a matter of fact, im not used to an empty city at all. in europe, i realized how much they value their time-offs. they take advantage of the weather even with the ridiculously jacked up prices. i guess its a good thing. everyone does need a break but for all to go at the same time is just crazy. once you travel during this period, you just get to meet travelers like you as opposed to my usual preference of meeting the locals. couchsurfing is not a good option in this time of the year too as you can imagine. looking for a couch is frustrating because everyone goes on holiday and can't host! so you end up in a hostel and follow the tourist route. and looking for a hostel isn't easy as well! in cinque terre, i was seriously afraid i'd end up sleeping in the train station with the storm keeping me moist the whole night long. my luck turned as you know and found Levanto!

anyway, all im saying is, im not sure if summer is the best time to see europe for me. the weather can get too hot or too rainy even. im not sure if this goes only for this past year when all the weather traditions got reorganized though. but spring was great for traveling and for me the best time to go around. then, autumn, winter and lastly, summer. winter was cool because i got to see the city under a blanket of snow and got to do winter sports. bad side is that it gets too cold sometimes and the coats and warm clothing take up a lot of room in the luggage. autumn with the changing of colors and spring with the blooming of flowers are the perfect seasons for me. not too cold and not too warm. and lastly in summer, as i have started out in this post, these creatures or should i say, us creatures for a few trips at least, are a bittersweet addition to an experience of traveling.

goes and wanders