A friend who studies Art History asked me how my trip to Athens once. Indeed city's monuments, its many ruins and its statues of the most renowned philosophers are all embodiments of such a rich history and culture. Athens is the epitome of History literally rooted in every corner and precipice of the city. In all its glory and beauty, I also remember feeling a sense of gloom. At the centre of the city, surrounded by well-known ruins and other monuments, I remember a young lady, withering flowers in her hand. "Here's a flower for you," she said as she approaches me and proceeds to put a stem in my hand without a second beat. Just as I was about to thank her, she lays out her palm and gestures at her belly. "Baby coming, I need food. How much can you pay for the flower?" I made the wrong move to pull out my wallet because as I pulled out a euro for the single stem, she looks into my wallet, points at my €5 bill and asks for it. At the same time, a younger kid walks up next to her, also holding stems of flowers, and watches me. I didn't know how to react in the moment, and gave the bill away. Suddenly I looked around and noticed so many more of them around the area. There were others who would ask for tourists' hands and wound a bracelet around their wrists or pushed a ring onto their fingers. Just a sad sight to see in a country that has so much to offer.
other gems: overheard conversations at the Parthenon about how its columns aren't perfectly aligned in a straight line, and when I'm lucky, occasional smart discussions about other structures' history and architecture / the many puns and references to Greek philosophers plastered on souvenirs / first time swimming in a natural lake with one of the clearest waters I've ever seen / overlooking the beaut of the city from atop a hill / GYROS EVERYWHERE!! /
A friend who studies Art History asked me how my trip to Athens once. Indeed city's monuments, its many ruins and its statues of the most renowned philosophers are all embodiments of such a rich history and culture. Athens is the epitome of History literally rooted in every corner and precipice of the city. In all its glory and beauty, I also remember feeling a sense of gloom. At the centre of the city, surrounded by well-known ruins and other monuments, I remember a young lady, withering flowers in her hand. "Here's a flower for you," she said as she approaches me and proceeds to put a stem in my hand without a second beat. Just as I was about to thank her, she lays out her palm and gestures at her belly. "Baby coming, I need food. How much can you pay for the flower?" I made the wrong move to pull out my wallet because as I pulled out a euro for the single stem, she looks into my wallet, points at my €5 bill and asks for it. At the same time, a younger kid walks up next to her, also holding stems of flowers, and watches me. I didn't know how to react in the moment, and gave the bill away. Suddenly I looked around and noticed so many more of them around the area. There were others who would ask for tourists' hands and wound a bracelet around their wrists or pushed a ring onto their fingers. Just a sad sight to see in a country that has so much to offer.
other gems: overheard conversations at the Parthenon about how its columns aren't perfectly aligned in a straight line, and when I'm lucky, occasional smart discussions about other structures' history and architecture / the many puns and references to Greek philosophers plastered on souvenirs / first time swimming in a natural lake with one of the clearest waters I've ever seen / overlooking the beaut of the city from atop a hill / GYROS EVERYWHERE!! /
ericka regalado
Welcome to my perpetually unfinished website. As you must've noticed, I only have photos here. And perhaps, the occasional story or memorable memories I've had in the cities I've visited. Anything more I've ever written that could potentially go under a "blog," aren't "publishable" material, aka I've yet to outgrow my perfectionist tendencies. Hence, here are my unedited photos instead. (Disclaimer: I'm not a photographer. Just a kid who enjoys travelling and capturing moments.) That's pretty much the beauty of photographs - there's something eternal in bringing to a standstill that instance you snap a photo; yet to memorialise an unfamiliar space so it stays familiar to you, seem to remain a fleeting and futile attempt. (Or I could simply be philosophising this to get out of the difficult editing process.) Anyhow, happy to take you along to the many beautiful spaces I've been privileged to step into.
> films festivals, photography and art exhibitions, talks, markets, open mic nights, poetry nights, analyses of sport plays; anything, anyone and anywhere that tell stories, I'm there.
> my interests and curiousity jump pretty quickly. By now, I've gathered quite a nice record of beginner level French, Spanish, Arabic, Swahili, Mandarin and Bisaya, all of which I'm trying very hard to learn past the basics before I jump to another language.
> committed to a lifetime of setting aside a consistent budget to making travelling possible every year. adulthood means I, sadly, no longer have my mother's airline travelling perks!
> food that evokes home: 咸魚雞粒炒飯油炸鬼奶皇包波蘿包馬拉糕切雞油雞飯燒鴨叉燒飯海南雞飯墨西哥包
> food that evokes Home: dinakdakan, adobo, dinuguan, leche flan, sapin-sapin, sisig, kare-kare, lechon, bicol express, tinola, crispy pata, puto; Jollibee, Pancake House, Mang Inasal, Shakey's, Red Ribbon.