I decided to walk in the Soho building area yesterday because I wanted to check out their little mall. Like so many things here, there are all kinds of places you can not go, places that are off limits. I made a move to walk down the hall by the Sto. Nino doll, and the security guard said "wait, you can't go there". There are still many stores and offices that remain closed due to Covid. I gestured with my camera towards St. Nino, and he said "Yes, ok". I asked "is the Supermarket downstairs open?" He said "Yes" again, and gestured with his hand towards the stairs. As I turned to go down, he asked me "can you take my picture?" I said "yes, of course." And then two young men to his right asked "can you take our picture?" It's getting easier, taking these people photos, especially when they ask me...

 

 

I head out in a different direction every morning, for my walk. I want to get out a little earlier, but my routine of having my morning coffee and watching the sunrise has been difficult to change. After my first cup of coffee, and checking for texts from my family, I start looking through my photos...and sharing them on FB. FB has become a more pleasant experience since I changed my primary FB focus to Photography. These are from my walk yesterday.

4 years ago - 22Jan2018

I enjoy my editing sessions, almost as much as the actual photo walks. I get to go on the walk a second time, and then I get to play with the images. Sometimes, usually with plants and foliage shots, I fall into a "rabbit hole" of sorts. It's fun, and it's sort of like looking through a mental, visual microscope? My current cover photo was the last image from one of those sessions. This series was from yesterday.

I'm looking forward to getting up into the mountains, doing some island hopping, etc, but these walks on Cebu's city streets still have lots of foliage, all kinds of color, and something new everywhere I point my camera.

 

The statue of the Child Jesus (or the Santo Niño de Cebu) is one of the oldest Christian relics in the Philippines. The original statue was given as a gift to Cebu by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521, and the statue/dolls have become a regular feature of the The Sinulog-Santo Niño festivals held in January. These photos are from an exhibit at the SM City Mall last weekend.

My bother Mike told me once "there are no people in your photos". I've always been more comfortable with trees, nature and city streets shots. That has continued here in Cebu, but I'm getting a little bolder. I've actually asked a few people recently, "can I take your picture?". They've said Yes, and smiled for my camera. That said, I still like the colors, the architecture, quiet streets, graffiti, etc.

 

from 18Jan2021: "I love wood. I walked through the UW Bothell campus again yesterday, and I took more photos of the larger than life wooden figure sculptures. I looked closer at the shapes, and the grains of the wood. It was a damp and gray day, and I took these shots with my cell phone."

5 years ago, 17Jan2017: "yesterday morning with a blue sky and amazing colors, on our road trip back from Portland..."

Over 80% of Filipinos are Catholic.

"The devotion to the Sto. Niño in the Philippines is as old as the history of Christianity in the country. The image of Sto. Niño was given to Queen Juana by Ferdinand Magellan after she was baptized with her husband, King Humabon, in Cebu in 1521."

https://santoninodecebubasilica.org/chronicles/viva-pit-senor-viva-senor-santo-nino/

I visited three of the Buddhist Temples in Cebu City this past week. The young man in the last photo was returning home from a Santo Nino celebration.