236. THE HILLS OF BAGUIO

 

The Singapore and 2 Oz members and Filipino 'contingents' arrived in Manila, the latter from Cebu who touched down at Clark Airbase, and drove at least 5 hours to the Baguio hills where we met up...for several of us, it's our 1st meeting...

We had rabbit food most days when there was home cooking...

The meditative attunements were not recorded as everybody was looking inward! Here, we commune with the Elements, with the rain and the wind and the heavy mist...I was at One with the Elements...it's Peace...

It was the rainy typhoon season many days shrouded in mist. Fortunately, rain was not terribly heavy and we did many things, most days there was enough dry weather to be outdoors. When winds got really gusty, it was night time, I was tucked away under the sheets with a good read and a hot drink...

Overall, walking in the rain and light wind was actually quite invigorating. 

The weather report on the morning of departure was reassuring. The drive of 5 hours was really pleasant - light traffic, light rain, no gusty winds. We arrived in Manila airport in very good time, traffic in and around Manila can get really heavy.

Baguio's really hilly, loads of winding uphill narrow lanes. It must be taxing for the drivers and the vehicles. It's a popular holiday and retirement town due to its cooler temperatures...

The Gang! There was much warmth, friendship and camaraderie

 

I had meat here. After a week of a purely vegetarian diet with some eggs, meat tasted awful. On my return home, it's been veg meals for the past week...

Made a new friend from Mindanao...the rest were from Cebu and Manila...2 others from Australia...

A pitstop aptly named Lion Head - carved out of a rocky outcrop

The female Yin energy - in this case, the Mother Mary...also know as Kuan Yin, represented in many traditions by their various female Goddesses...

Went grocery shopping in this local market. It was like a community center. This zumba session was going on, it added life and fun to this market - it's beautiful to see...the Filipinos can survive in many different environments. A huge number of their people work abroad, leaving home, family and country for an unfamiliar culture, weather, people, at times, hostile...I have a huge respect for them. I've written about this in previous posts. 

Another thing I admire - their adaptability, flexibility and creativity...

The shops have a retro air about them, made even more so with the music they play that go back to the 60's, 70s' and 80's

This tight space has 3 businesses - the hairdresser, the manicurist at the back of the shop, the dentist upstairs...

Taichi in the park on a lovely morning...

Forest bathing, just commune with Mother Nature and her tree spirits...plug into her green lungs...

It's not what it appears - lol!

What's left of a tree that was felled - its roots are left in this park as installation art - beautiful, I love it!

The macrocosm is in the microcosm - I am the Tree of Life. My hair is the roots of this Tree. My torso is its trunk. My arms, legs, are the limbs/branches. My circulatory/venous system, my arterial system, my capillaries, my lymphatic system form the drainage systems, the supply systems of plasma, lymph, that crisscrosses the entire body delivering nutrients and whatever we feed into those systems, be it good or bad stuff...

This is the Duality of Creation and is present in everything in the created world - where there's the physical manifestation, there's the spiritual...

The kitchen floor of my homestay is this floor of broken ceramic tiles which I adore - I've mentioned before how creative the Filipinos can be, I've come across many instances of their out-of-box thinking...

Spotted at Terminal 4 of Singapore's Changi Airport - they kindof hug you as you sink into their embrace...