A perfect day for a picnic

In the Roman Catholic calendar, November 1 is All Saints Day and November 2 is All Souls Day. The difference is a matter of faith and theological doctrine, and too long to discuss here, so just follow the links to Wikipedia if you would like to know more. Whether Catholic or not, however, most Filipinos spend November 1, a holiday in the Philippines, at the graves of their loved ones. And except for some prayers, there's usually nothing solemn about it either. The day becomes a reunion of sorts for family and friends, with food and drinks, and lots of talk and laughter. No, it's not disrespect. Rather, think of it as thanksgiving and a celebration of life—both of those who have died and those who are still here. One thing I'm glad about though is that Loyola Memorial Park has finally banned blaring music—hearing more than a dozen songs playing loudly at the same time can drive one crazy. Families who expect to spend the entire day at the cemetery rent tents to provide shelter from either the sun or rains, either of which we can get at this time of the year. Because I don't like crowds, I went to visit my parents' graves on October 31, which was hot and sunny. I'm glad I did because it was drizzly the whole day yesterday.

City in a valley

A view of Marikina City and the mansion-like homes around the Capitol Hills Golf & Country Club under a bright blue noon sky filled with puffy little clouds. The city of Marikina is built in a valley between the foothills of the Sierra Madre mountain range and the ridge which marks the boundary of Quezon City. My father used to tell me how this fertile valley—a river runs its entire length—used to be nothing but rice fields. During the worst of our annual typhoons, the Marikina River always breaks its banks—good for paddy field agriculture but not for human settlements. In fact, Marikina City was one of the worst hit cities in Metro Manila during last year's devastating Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana).

Visit the Sky Watch Friday home page and tour the skies of our beautiful world.

Nothing extraordinary

The atrium of SM City Marikina looks great from the inside, but from the outside, it looks like any other SM mall.

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Calling all City Daily Photo bloggers! In the past, the theme for the first day of the new year had traditionally been the best of the year past. But because of some slight confusion in a discussion a month ago, our theme for January 1 is now Changes. There are currently two polls in the forum too, and I would like to request all of you to please vote. One is asking when we would like to have the Best of 2009 theme, and the poll closes on Sunday, December 27, 11:46am (a U.S. time zone but I don't know which one), so it's kind of urgent. The other poll is for the February 1 theme, assuming that February 1 will not be our Best of 2009 day. Please vote and spread the word!

Red

I had to buy some things for the office yesterday and ended up in another SM mall, this time the one in Marikina City. SM is the largest chain of malls in the Philippines and it currently has eleven in Metro Manila alone, not counting its stand-alone hyper-supermarkets. The mall in Marikina is its newest and though it's the one closest to where I work, it was the first time I went there. Its main entrance leads to a three-story south-facing atrium which fills this part of the mall with bright natural light. Great space, and it looked even more impressive with the gigantic Christmas ornaments.