Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Celebrity
It's been a while since I've read Neil Gaiman's blog, but Nanet recently informed me that he'd just been to Manila, where over 3000 people attended one of his readings / signings. Gaiman is a minor deity (an American God?) there due to the overwhelming popularity of his early comic work and later novels.
The funny thing is, I remember mentioning two years ago when I attended one of his signings in London how people in the Philippines would go mad if ever he came there. His answer was, "I've never been invited". Imagine that.
I like to think that my questions to him at least brought last weekend one step closer to reality. Celebrities who've never been there are always bowled over (Pearl Jam called it their most favorite venue for the Vs. tour). Plus, apparently our calamansi juice is vastly underappreciated.
In the Tent
posted by Neil 7/09/2005 12:54:00 PM
In the Philippines, the people are enthusiastic on a level that makes the Brazilians look reserved and polite. They shout very loudly when they're happy, too. There's a noise that a few thousand of the locals make when they all shout at once to let you know they're happy to see you that made me finally understand the idea of a wall of sound...
The funny thing is, I remember mentioning two years ago when I attended one of his signings in London how people in the Philippines would go mad if ever he came there. His answer was, "I've never been invited". Imagine that.
I like to think that my questions to him at least brought last weekend one step closer to reality. Celebrities who've never been there are always bowled over (Pearl Jam called it their most favorite venue for the Vs. tour). Plus, apparently our calamansi juice is vastly underappreciated.
In the Tent
posted by Neil 7/09/2005 12:54:00 PM
In the Philippines, the people are enthusiastic on a level that makes the Brazilians look reserved and polite. They shout very loudly when they're happy, too. There's a noise that a few thousand of the locals make when they all shout at once to let you know they're happy to see you that made me finally understand the idea of a wall of sound...
Labels: books, greece, london, news, philippines, random stuff, travel, USA
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
The iconic picture of the Acropolis. This was actually the day before Aegina. What a fantastic place Greece is. Apart from an "interesting" incident with the local Transport Guards, the whole 5 days were a wonderful getaway. Wish we could have stayed longer. Ah well.
This is the temple of the Aphaia, the local deity. From this hill you can see the entire island and parts of Athens, Corinth and Delphi. We buzzed up here on a moped - me having neglected to mention to Van that I'd never piloted one before in my life. Heheh.
Day 4 was a doozy. We took the ferry to Aegina, the largest of the Saronic Islands off the coast of the city and once a major rival to Athens. This is the port of Aegina.
This is the Psyrri district, a local version of Malate with gypsies and streetkids included. The bars are uniformly expensive and equally dead on any day but Friday. "Pinatubo" bar (the name is from a Philippine volcano) had weenie tequila shots. The bar across from it, Thirio, was much better.
This is the coast of Voula, a beach paradise less than an hour away from Athens center. No wonder they never get any work done.
The view from the top of the rock of the Areopagos (St. Paul during his caravan days). The oversized nipple in the background is Lycavettos.
Monday, November 08, 2004
A vacation epilogue
Been away with Van on a most amazing five days in Athens.
We tramped through the Acropolis, lounged around on the southern Attican coast, buzzed through the island of Aegina on a moped, and drank coffee and ouzo from countless greek cafes.
I've got tons of photos and memories. We even met a couple of friends. As always, I don't think I'll be able to blog it all down, but I promise to have a few photos up soon.
...And the best part was, I didn't even get a whiff of the global angst of Bush winning till after I came home. In a perverse way, I'm glad our budget hotel didn't have cable or English TV.
More later.
We tramped through the Acropolis, lounged around on the southern Attican coast, buzzed through the island of Aegina on a moped, and drank coffee and ouzo from countless greek cafes.
I've got tons of photos and memories. We even met a couple of friends. As always, I don't think I'll be able to blog it all down, but I promise to have a few photos up soon.
...And the best part was, I didn't even get a whiff of the global angst of Bush winning till after I came home. In a perverse way, I'm glad our budget hotel didn't have cable or English TV.
More later.
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