This Side of Heaven... where angels love to tread!

If you are in the Philippines and you are somewhere in the vicinity of the South Luzon tollway in Sta Rosa, Laguna you might have seen the Sakon Thai Restaurant at the Total Gas station. This is a Thai restaurant owned and operated by my cousin Eric. According to my cousin, he started with just one cart at a mall and he did everything: from cooking, to dish-washing, marketing and management. Through sheer hard work and determination, he has expanded his cart to a sit-down restaurant. Now, he no longer works by himself but has hired cooks and other staff to help him run the place. My uncle Boy, his father, sometimes works there to help out if he needs an extra hand. Knowing how good a cook my uncle Boy is, I am sure that Sakon Thai offers the best quality food you can buy for your money.

I look forward to visiting my cousin's restaurant when we visit the Philippines but in the meantime, I will just have to contend myself at looking at his photo menu which looks so temptingly good.

I am sure that a lot of people would share the same sentiments that I have and would like to take this opportunity to thank the late Senator Ted Kennedy for his service. Let us also not forget that his work took a toll in his personal and family life but in the end, he made up for it by leaving a legacy that we might never see again in our lifetime.

A wonderful tribute has been created online by the Boston Globe newspaper of Ted Kennedy and you can read it here.

Here is what the mystic poet, Kahlil Gibran, wrote about "Marriage" in his best selling book "The Prophet":

On Marriage
  - Kahlil Gibran

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.


Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each others cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.


Give your hearts, but not into each others keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each others shadow.

This wonderful and inspiring passage from Gibran's book has been my guide for what I feel should be an ideal relationship especially one where a marriage contract is involved. There are many and varied types of relationships but the most complicated one of all is marriage for it involves the coming together of 2 different individuals bringing their own personalities, influences and backgrounds to merge all that has been accumulated from years past.

If by chance, one understands what Gibran was trying to convey in this message and one is lucky enough to be in such an ideal relationship, then I guess half of life's battle has been fought and won......

Finally after months of trial, error and utter frustration, I was able to upload this video that I've been working on since early January to Youtube. This is just a compilation of family, relatives and friends' photos in 2008. Patience is indeed a virtue... you get rewarded after months of waiting till the time is right :)))))))

I didn't break a sweat searching for this song... and I found the lyrics and the singer... Amber Davis.

Thanks to zsazsa1961 for sharing.

This video makes me want to go home...... baaadddllllllyyyy! Watch it and you'll know why...


Watch Planning a Visit to Manila (Philippines) in Travel Videos | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Now, I can't get the song off my head:


might as well be my mantra until I finally go back home......


Song lyrics | Manila lyrics

Anyone driving thru 495 from the North going South would be familiar with the huge dog standing by this big patch of land off of exit 48 going towards Ward Hill in Haverhill. I remember getting excited whenever I see this dog not because I am a dog lover myself but because I love the art work and I am also curious as to why somebody would put this up along the highway. I even began to think that this must be a sort of a watchdog for a farm situated nearby since we would see signs every harvest time for fruit in season picking. (In the olden days, they have straw-made scarecrows to do the work...) As the years went by, I always tell myself that one of this days, I would take a photo of that dog on the highway. So I would always look forward to seeing this dog of steel proudly standing by the road.

However, 2 weeks ago, we saw a sign on the dog saying that it is on sale. I felt a little bit sad thinking that this whimsical art doting the highway will be sorely missed. I was sure that I was not the only one who share this sentiment...

As luck would have it though, while I was researching more articles for the Shoe-labration event in Haverhill, I happen to see that included in its calendar of activities is the "Big Dog Art" on display at the Bradford Common in Bradford, Massachusetts from the 6th thru the 11th of August. This also provided a link to the artist's online website and from there I learned that his family owns the farm where he set up the big dog (which I later read was actually 16 feet). I eagerly told my husband that we should go see the dogs on display on Saturday which he readily agreed to.

So yesterday, hubby and I had planned to take more pictures of shoes around Haverhill and more... and we weren't disappointed.

We went to Bradford Common first to see the dog art in the park. There on the park were 20 dogs which were about 7 to 8 feet tall and 1 smaller one which was maybe 4 feet. My husband and I freely took pictures and we notice that the park was getting its share of park goers with little kids all enjoying a nice day outside.

We luckily met the artist himself, Dale Rogers, who was pretty amiable and friendly. Talking to him gives one a perspective of the artist's passion for his art and his generosity since he likes to exhibit his art for free to the public as long as he has a venue. According to him, he even spends his own money to have his art moved from city to city or state to state. I guess that he takes great pleasure in seeing people's reaction to his works and most of all the appreciation of people who otherwise would not go to an art exhibit... And besides his type of art would be better displayed on a larger space or outside venue to truly appreciate the scope and magnitude of it. As a result, public display of his works gives him the opportunity to meet people and talk more openly with his art works without pressure on his part to sell nor any pressure on the viewers to buy which I think is what usually happens when you go to an art gallery.

We also learned that the reason why he is selling the "dog on 495" was because he wanted to replace it with a larger one and he wants to use the money to bankroll the project. This is one undertaking that I am eagerly looking forward to in the future.

Mr. Rogers does not only make dogs but he also have a gallery of his works which you can view on his online website. A truly talented young man, my husband and I hope that we could afford one of his works for our front yard pretty soon....

In the meantime, enjoy his works that are on public display in Haverhill. After the 11th, the dog exhibit will be traveling to NH and Maine and then it will be back in Massachusetts to be exhibited in Lowell, Beverly and Newburyport. One of the artist's wish is to be able to have his dogs put on public display in a more highly visible venue... maybe the public gardens in Boston since aside from the local residents, Boston is teeming with tourists most of the time year round. Let's hope that this won't be too far along in the future...

You can visit the artist's website for schedule and to learn more about his art.

I am so psyched.... here's a live performance of Clazziquai's new song and my personal favorite, "Tell Yourself". It's wonderful to watch "Mr Smoothie" himself, Alex, singing  live with Horan and DJ Clazzi.

Love it, love it, love it!!!!!!

The town of Haverhill, Massachusetts came together this year and decided to hold an art event to be participated by the community. As written in their mission statement:


3 years ago, Boston hosted the "cow parade" wherein cows made of fiberglass material were turned into a work of art based on the artists interpretations.

Though we live in Haverhill, we really did not know anything about the community project if it were not that one day we had to do errands in town and passing through Washington St in downtown Haverhill, a huge shoe display caught my eye prominently displayed on the sidewalk. At first I couldn't believe my eyes but when I saw not only 1 but 3 more, I told my hubby that we just had to go downtown on the weekend so I could take photos.

And so, last Saturday after doing errands at the Post Office, hubby and I took some time on Washington St. photographing  shoes... no, its not because I have an unknown number pair of footwear myself that would put Imelda to shame that peaked my interest but because of the art work itself (touche). For real!!!!

Here are some photos that we took:



The information on the web, mentioned that there are 15 shoes displayed around Haverhill and I only saw 4. Hmmm! I guess that this calls for another trip around the town this weekend. The shoes will be on display from July to October and will later be auctioned off on October 24th. Don't miss these works of art... it's worth the trip to Haverhill.