Sandy Iggy loves Corniche

Sandy Iggy avoids the outdoors lately because of the occasional sandstorm in the UAE. That's a signos that summer is approaching. While it doesn't hurt that much like in its neighbouring countries, it is best to always be armed by sunglasses and other protection. But Sandy Iggy misses the Corniche already. Gladly, the weather cooperated and granted that one fine day for the photowalk with her sisters.

Corniche is a favorite of those who are fond of solitary and joint walks anytime of the day. At the back is one of the usual informational campaigns about the activities happening in Abu Dhabi. Surprisingly, it has no English translation. We've gotten used to seeing documentation of almost everything in Arabic with an automatic translation, side by side. (Even the subtitles in the cinemas which come in Arabic and French for English movies.)

(That interesting architecture is a restroom.)

There are not too many billboards (yet) in the emirate. They normally pertain to government project announcements and information related to the royal family. That corner as you see in the photo is reserved for the late Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan, the first  president of the UAE. (Even non-Emiratis regard him highly because of  his selfless approach to governance in the past, even before and after the discovery of oil in the UAE.) Lately, the shift to billboard advertising seems to have started and so far being tolerated by the government.

This fountain area is actually a part of the underpass. I haven't tried going down though.

The tourists doing a whirlwind trip in Abu Dhabi frequent this side of the Corniche because it is near to the Heritage Village, Marina Mall, and Emirates Palace.

That's the skyline of downtown Abu Dhabi.

That's a distinct roofing style of the restaurants near the beach.  And ooops, Sandy Iggy had to stop. A young lady wanted to give her a flower.

Sandy Iggy posed by the Corniche Beach. The flower came in perfect timing.

On her way out, she was startled... ran... and climbed! There was a barker!

Doggie: Sorry, I scared you. I wanted to know if you're human or not.

Sandy Iggy: Have you not met a doll before?

Doggie: I had. But I got confused because you have a baby. I didn't know dolls can have babies. 

Sandy Iggy: Hahahaha! Of course, that's possible. 

After an interesting conversation, she found herself laying on the bed of... flowers. Errr, Sandy Iggy is not sure what kind of flowers are these.

There is an abundance of not so familiar flowers in the UAE. But these are not homegrown.

(That's Emirates Palace at the back where Sandy Iggy must head next. Captured, too, were those fishing and crabbing.)

The government has allocated funds for the maintenance of these plant/flower boxes. It is interesting to note that the flowers being planted change quarterly. Sandy Iggy cannot help but think of the balance in God's provisions. The well of oil and flowers don't come in one place. Life becomes more beautiful because we all need each other.

Merry Iggy Visits Kenwood

Last weekend, Merry Iggy (Miss Iggy from Maryland) and I strolled underneath countless blooms of Cherry Blossoms in Bethesda, MD. There are several places in Maryland where one can witness the Cherry Blossoms in full bloom and one is in Kenwood. Unlike DC's park like setting, Kenwood's Cherry Blossom trees are absolutely charming because of their residential setting; it is more quiet and idyllic. Merry Iggy and I wandered the streets and marveled at the pale pink Cherry Blossoms.

The streets were lined with these Yoshino Trees; their flowers are already pale pink which means they're almost ready to fall off the tree.

Wandering the streets of Kenwood was fairytale like.

We thought this tree has character.

Getting up close and personal with the flowers.

Merry Iggy and I spent three hours at Kenwood and we both agree that the Kenwood experience is magical.

Soon, all the Cherry Blossoms will be gone but we look forward to their beauty again next year.

Happy Earth Day from Central Park's Boathouse

The tulips were truly blossoming around the Loeb Boathouse in Central Park. This iconic location by the Lake is sought after for leisurely boating trips and for its full-service restaurant. The Boathouse is featured in the movie "27 Dresses" starring Katherine Heigl as her dream wedding venue. To see other film trivia involving the Boathouse, click here.

Happy Earth Day! Hug a tree, smell a flower. Better yet, plant one or the other!

Stop & Smell The Easter Bunny

Miss Iggy felt Easterrific at Rockefeller Center recently when she found the Easter Bunny made not of chocolates or marshmallows, but of ivy and colored daisies! This floral bunny wanted to impress because it had a giant egg on its nose!

All around were easter lilies and azaleas that just screamed "Spring!," although the weather has been more summer-like in the city lately.

Happy Birthday, Gingmaganda!

Miss Iggy joins the sisterhood in wishing Gingmaganda, our bus-chasing, pinkophile correspondent in Cainta, Rizal, Philippines a very happy birthday today!

Until they invent a "Magic Bus" that can fly you to places beyond your wildest dreams, this bus is for you!

Goodbye, Mrs. President

Miss Iggy would like to take this moment to announce the Philippines' great loss when former President Corazon "Cory" C. Aquino passed away in the early hours of August 1st in Makati City. She had succumbed to cardiac arrest as a complication of her colon cancer. She was 76.

President Aquino, a self-proclaimed housewife of slain Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr., was a devout Catholic who defeated dictator and former President Ferdinand Marcos in a snap election held in 1986. This sparked the historic People Power Revolution in EDSA which literally embodied the phrase "power to the people," ending a 20-year dictatorship by her deposed presidential opponent in a peaceful way.

Her battlecry was "Laban" or Filipino for "fight," symbolized by the L-shaped hand sign. Her trademark color was yellow, inspired by the song "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree" which she had dedicated to her exiled husband who was kept as a political prisoner by Marcos and who was later assassinated.

President Aquino became the first Female President of the Philippines and of Asia. She was honored as Time Magazine's "Woman of the Year" in 1986. All of us at Miss Iggy's Sisterhood were mere kids at the time, but we grew up learning about the important political event that changed our country, and so will future generations. During her term, a new Philippine Constitution (1987) was enacted, ensuring the democracy of the Philippine Republic and upholding the rights of people that were abused and ignored under the Marcos regime.

Thank you, Tita Cory, for empowering the Filipino people, for inspiring us with your faith, and for showing us what Girl Power is all about.

[Yellow flowers at the Luneta Park in Manila, Philippines, December 2008]

Birthday Greetings for Sailormoon

Miss Iggy is taking time out from her journeys to brighten Sailormoon's birthday today with bright orange lilies from her Jersey garden.

Sailormoon sails, drives and flies with Mr. Iggy/Makati Maven Iggy and have been to such "B"-eautiful places as Batangas (San Juan); Bicol, and Baguio City in the Philippines.

Have a fabulous day!

feeling at home

hi all, thanks for the warm welcome. *blush*
miss iggy haven't been anywhere special yet, as she's still recovering from jetlag from her long MNL-DUB flight.
she loves our back garden though with the overgrown grass, and gladly posed to celebrate ireland's lovely summer-y weather.

and here she is again, getting acquainted with mr. firefly.
they had a nice conversation it seemed, i even heard mr. firefly counting
from one to ten in Filipino to show off his skills.

anywho, we are very much delighted to be part of the sisterhood.
we're looking forward to be reporting soon what's up and about around here.

bedankt en een prettige dag!

huggles,
ms. firefly & ms. iggy

durian garden in polomolok

you won't miss durian garden atbp. ("atbp." is short for "at iba pa," meaning "et cetera") at barangay sulit, polomolok, south cotabato in the philippines. there's a giant sliced durian at the entrance!

the place isn't just a garden of exotic flowers such as hibiscus of all colors imaginable and other unique flora you just won't see in manila. there's also a butterfly sanctuary, mini-zoo of animals, some endangered, such as the bird on the painting which miss iggy got to see for real.

and yes, they have ostriches!

and that's not all, there's also a restaurant/gift shop where you can taste durian ice cream (see below) and durian pie! they're both delicious! there were bits of cheese in the ice cream. you can bring home some durian polvoron, too! (goldilocks surely doesn't carry that flavor!)

and what's a gift shop without a souvenir shirt, right? they have it, too! and virtually every local food product such as jams/preserves made from pineapples and guavas. also worth buying is their own version of achara or pickled papaya, sold in jars. since they contain vinegar and are in breakable containers, you must pack them separately in a box or styrofoam container and checked in when flying back to manila.

birthday wishes for princess ody in vienna

on behalf of the sisterhood of the traveling igorota, jersey iggy sends these flowers to our "royal" correspondent in vienna celebrating her birthday today--princess ody!

princess ody has traveled with euro iggy/vienna vixen iggy to exquisite destinations (apart from her homebase in austria) such as greece, germany, and turkey! she's quite the cosmopolitan correspondent! of course, miss iggy enjoys that!

have an enchanting day!

actionsampled yellowness

an actionsampler is a type of toy camera with four lenses instead of one, so that one click of the shutter button lets you have four different shots of one continuous motion, captured in one frame of film. it's like the "continuous shutter" mode on your digital camera.

miss iggy's colleagues are more conversant with all things "lomo". just look around the archives with the label "lomo iggy" for more lomo-flavored fun.

miss iggy jumped for this flowery shot. can you see the action? (miss iggy is rather demure when it comes to jump shots) to see her with these yellow blooms in normal mode, click here.

miss iggy wishes everyone in the states a happy memorial day weekend! you know what that means...it's officially summer! [go easy on the barbecued red meats! wear sunscreen!]

happy mother's day from myrtle beach!

miss iggy loves flowers, and she's delighted that it's her day today, mother's day!

so to all the loving mothers (and mother figures) out there, she sends these flowers from myrtle beach and a warm hug! you deserve it! (let them do the household chores! relax, see a movie or something! haha)

miss iggy and the tulips

Miss Iggy at the Istanbul Tulips Festival

Apparently more than 10 Million tulip bulbs have been planted all over the city (which has 16 Million inhabitants, by the way)!

staying merry in maryland

an evening stopover somewhere in maryland at a rest area aptly called "maryland house."

miss iggy thought that the cherry blossoms in washington DC should be in full bloom right now. she settled for the white ones at the rest area's parking lot. wait, are they crab apple blossoms or cherry blossoms?

miss iggy cruising through the baltimore tunnel.

happy easter!

hey, y'all! miss iggy just got back from enjoying myrtle beach's flipflop-friendly weather to new jersey's flippin' freezing climate just in time for easter. miss iggy knows that easter sunday has passed for most of you around the world, but it's still easter in her part of the northern hemisphere!

miss iggy is dwarfed by the dazzling daffodils in her jersey garden. they've finally bloomed!

and yes, miss iggy met a rabbit named peter (all the way from london) and his army of lindt chocolate bunnies.

miss iggy is busy unpacking her suitcase full of souvenirs and sorting through her memory stick of vacation photos. she even had an unplanned "side trip" to savannah, georgia! that's 4 hours further down south from myrtle beach! miss iggy can't wait to show you her photos!

mourning for "the man from manila"

on march 6th, the philippines lost a very important entertainment icon: francis magalona. he was 44.

he was known as "the king of pinoy rap" (and deservingly so) for having emerged into the mainstream with his innovative rap music with lyrics that promoted patriotism, for being proud of one's filipino heritage and brown skin ("bilib ako sa kulay ko, ako ay pilipino"--from the song "mga kababayan" or "my countrymen").

but he was so much more than that. he was a loving husband, a father, an actor, a director, a photographer, an artist, an entrepreneur, an MTV asia VJ, and a good friend to many in his chosen industry. for many filipinos who grew up with his thought-provoking songs (and not just the rap ones), the news of his death is too surreal to accept as true.

he lost his "happy battle" to leukemia, but he never lost an iota of faith or optimism during his final moments, as he himself documented in his blog. the "master rapper" is survived by his wife pia and their 8 children.

thank you for the memories, for letting us look into your "kaleidoscope world." the "three stars and the sun" are a little dimmer at this time because of your passing...but it's people like you that made it possible for them to shine brighter than ever.

your life, though cut short, was very well-lived, an inspiration to many. you will be dearly missed. you'll live eternally in our hearts through your music. you gave our country a soundtrack to be proud of.

may you rest in peace, mr. francis M...you're the man! [1964-2009.]

a walk in the park

miss igorota went for a leisurely walk in rizal park in manila last month to gaze at the monument of the philippines' national hero, dr. jose rizal. (click on photos for supersized views)

this popular park is also known as luneta, which is derived from the french word "lunette" or small moon, referring to its shape during spanish times when it was an area just outside the walled city of intramuros. alternatively, it was called bagumbayan which is tagalog for "new town."

miss iggy thought it was fitting that the park would be surrounded with the immaculately fragrant sampaguita (Jasminum sambac)--the national flower.

smelling them made her feel pretty...oh-so-pretty!

miss igorota wants to thank you

miss iggy would like to thank gingmaganda and princess ody for being part of the 'hood, and also the frequent visitors of this blog and avid entrecard droppers for spreading the strawberry love.

happy thanksgiving to all who celebrate it!