travel inspiration

iPhone photos snapped of shop windows in greenbelt 5 - makati

i find that travel feeds my inspiration like nothing else. so i thought i'd share some beautiful things i spotted in the fabulous, upscale greenbelt 5 mall in makati. i snapped the photos with my iPhone and unfortunately failed to note the names of the shops, tho' they were all local filippino designers. the bold necklaces and the simple dresses were inspiring to say the least. as usual, i don't really know what i'm going to do with the inspiration yet, but time will tell.

i did buy a simpler version of the necklace in the lower right, so perhaps i'll make something simple and elegant like the upper left and wear them together.

what i'm enjoying most is the sense of possibility just thinking about it brings.

oh the joys of travel

whether you mean it to be or not, every journey is a voyage of discovery. often self-discovery. in the wee hours of a long-haul flight, when sleep eludes, or in the quiet moments soaking in a sinfully deep bubble bath in a luxury hotel room, there is time for reflection, time to hear your own thoughts, time that doesn't necessarily appear in the reality of everyday existence.

travel is also jarring...the fact that a few hours on a plane can transport you to a different climate, to a different culture, to the other side of the world...is hard on the body. and the mind. and sometimes it's hard to catch up. but it's mostly amazing. and a privilege. 

travel makes me feel alive. it inspires me. it clears my head and gives me the time to think that i crave. breathing new air, drinking in new experiences, talking to different people, these things feed my soul. make me feel complete. and even when the journey is long and tiring, i find it somehow exhilarating.

traveling to distant shores helps me know who i am.

everything i needed to know, i learned in the lobby of the manila pen

night in the lobby of The Pen - hipstamatic style

i'm in the heavenly lobby of the manila peninsula hotel, which is perhaps my favorite place on earth. everything seems clearer here, more relaxed and mellow. and it occurs to me everything i ever needed to know, i learned right here...

- white wine is best served in a chilled glass by a cute waiter with a flashing smile.

-  life should be accompanied by a live orchestra.

-  lighting is everything.

-  palm trees totally work indoors.

-  the ceiling can never be too high.

-  true gentlemen hold the door and greet you by name.

-  wireless internet is key.

-  it's good to read the IHT on a daily basis.

-  you can learn a lot (possibly about the US military) listening to other people's conversations.

-  people like to talk about themselves. rather loudly (at times).

- time truly does fly when you're having fun.

-  if you have to stage a coup, choose a really elegant place to do it.

-  travel is key to my existence.

-  being recognized and valued is important.

-  a proper pedicure goes a long way (ok, i may have learned that at the big mall across the street).

-  heaven is indeed a place on earth.


do you have a place that taught you what you need to know in life?

* * *

i got an email yesterday, telling me that i was one of three winners of a photo contest from the viking harbor museum in bork havn. i get a big gift basket and a season ticket to the musem.  and what's even better?

...my zen master elizabeth's husband was one of the other two winners!  yay for us! :-)

here's hoping your week is as awesome as mine!

stories abound

priorities straight - pedicure first, everything else comes second.

already, just being on the road has promoted so many thoughts and topics to blog about that i am practically unable to type because so many ideas want to come tumbling out of my fingers. there's nothing like travel to get your juices flowing...whether you're standing in line at passport control or looking around on a crowded plane or watching the sociology of baggage collection at the belt, there are stories everywhere. stories in the shopping center, at the starbucks, in the lingerie section of a department store, at the salon/spa where they pampered you for three hours, leaving you completely relaxed and with the most gorgeous blue nails.

stories hit you in the face, knock you down, whisper to you, sit beside you and right in front of you, they jump out at you from the pages of a newspaper and drop stuff on your head from the overhead bin, sometimes they curl themselves into such a small ball next to you that you wonder if they're still there at all...stories, stories, wanting to be told.

and since i've been 36 hours without sleep, the stories will have to continue to wait to be told.

going on about the philippines

the last time i was in the philippines:

~ obama was elected.

~ i bought a really big ring to celebrate.

~ i bought a 14-year-old chocolate and champagne.

~ i stayed at the manila pen.

~ there was no coup attempt. (tho' frankly, if i was going to stage one, it would be there.)

~ i spoke at a conference.

this time, i'm going to:

~ see old friends.

~ start new projects.

~ visit old haunts.

~ get a pedicure.

~ eat tapas and fried tofu and wagyu beef

~ drink in the energy it gives me to travel.

~ love every single minute of it.

~ take a zillion pictures.

philippine dreaming

late afternoon sun shone on my jar of shells and coral gathered over the years on various philippine beaches. my little pieces of a tropical paradise, right here in the low-ceiling-ed living room of our old farmhouse in denmark. i'm sad to say that it's been two years since i've been in the philippines. but next sunday, i will remedy that. make that monday, as it takes awhile to get there. i really need a change of scenery and manila is just the place. old friends, good food and a bit of shopping squeezed in between a few meetings here and there. i. can't. wait!

randomness from a jetlagged brain

i made it to manila. i'm sitting blissfully on the club floor, enjoying tea and scones and watching CNN broadcast the daily show episode with barack obama. who knew CNN broadcast the daily show? cool, it looks like they're changing over from afternoon tea to snacks and drinkie poohs. have i mentioned that i love this hotel? indeed i have.

i've been catching up on my blog reading as i fight to stay up and not give in to the desire to go to bed now (it's 6 p.m.) and then wake up at 2 a.m. i think there are new random character algorithms that are more word-like than they used to be. have a look at these:  cogismat, hypercen, geducen, patturo, vemputis, subedi. amanda actually noted this last week and even managed to offer cool definitions for the words. that is currently beyond the capability of my jetlagged brain.

on my flight, my seat malfunctioned and wouldn't lie down all the way. i thought at first that i was just too stupid to operate it (on singapore airlines once it was a good two hours into the flight before i figured  out the seat), but it turned out to be broken. business class was totally full, but, lucky for me (and unlucky for him), one of those people was a KLM employee, so they had made him trade with me, since i was a paying customer. that was cool, tho' i only slept about 3 hours of the 12 hour flight.  i have to say that KLM is very service-minded.

i watched mamma mia! on the plane and must slightly sheepishly admit that i totally loved it and even cried several times, i was so touched by it. it is a testament to abba's music that pierce brosnan's singing can't ruin it. it also seems there is an abba song appropriate to any and every occasion. i am so having an abba-themed party when i get home. everyone will have to dress up and maybe we'll even watch mamma mia! at the party.

since i arrived in manila, i have had a pedicure, manicure and a fabulous facial. actually, i had them all at once...there was a whole fleet of people working on me. it was wonderful! i have also visited the gap (it's a weakness, i know, but borne of the fact that where i live there is no gap, so it seems special), where i bought jeans. they have the best jeans, it's like they're designed specifically for me.

i have a 13-year-old with me who looks like she's going on 25...tall, willowy, draping herself all lolita-like around the place. and it has struck me several times how hard that must actually be...to be still a child, but not look like one. people have expectations of a certain maturity level and it just isn't there. and by people, i mean me. i have to keep reminding myself that she's only 13 and 12 hours is a really long flight. but it's really interesting to see this place through her eyes. i'm certain that i can learn from it.

ok, freak 50-year-old american men nearby discussing bible class and church teachings...gotta run...

molecules humming in perfect alignment

this is quite possibly my favorite place on earth. the lobby of the manila pen.

i sat there this evening, eating this:

and pondering what makes it such a heavenly place. there are a number of factors--the lighting, the colors, the live music wafting down from above (you can see the guys on the right of the pic above), the height to the ceiling, the decor, the palm trees. it all combines to create the most relaxing atmosphere. literally when you step in from outside, you leave the world behind and enter the safe cocoon of the lobby. you wouldn't think that such a massive room could be so inviting, but it is.

i came to the conclusion, sitting there, trying to put my finger on exactly what it was, that it must be the very center of a vortex. like people search for near sedona, arizona. because i feel that when i enter, even if i step out of the elevator from my beloved club floor, it nearly instantly relaxes my body and pulls all of the atoms of my being into perfect alignment. my very molecular structure hums in perfect harmony. a friend of mine in denmark, who has her various dwellings tested for "jordstråling" would think that the jordstråling in the lobby of the pen was perfect. (sorry, i don't know what that is in english--the "earth beaming" if i translate literally).

but, whatever it is, i completely feel it. if i were to stage a coup, i too would stage it here. it has got to be one of the very best places on this planet.

a whole 'nother world

overheard in dashing divas...

conversation between two young filipino women of privilege, whom i learned in the course of the overheard conversation, were 32 and 33 respectively:

the conversation started because they were complimenting one another on their Chanel flats. one of them had them in black and the other in teal. they bragged on and on about what other colors they had at home and how much they loved them except for this one little pinchy place, but what a great everyday shoe they were.

from designer shoes, the conversation moved on to bags because one of the girls had a #30 Hermes bag in red. she had many Chanel bags at home, but was selling them, except for a few of her favorite everyday ones, because "once you go to Hermes...."(this is a direct quote which she said at least 5 times, warning the other girl to enjoy her Chanel while she could because it just wouldn't be the same after the Hermes, which the other girl was anticipating getting for her 35th birthday).

it seemed that both of these girls were actually making a business of acquiring, using for a while and then selling on their designer bags. they hadn't met one another before, but had mutual friends in the "bag trade."

it was clear from the conversation that bags were a subject they were very passionate about (and i can understand this, since i have a bit of a bag collection of my own--just no Chanel or Hermes). although it sounds like an incredibly pretentious conversation, believe it or not, they actually did not come across as pretentious. this world of traveling to hong kong or japan or hawaii and acquiring bags, using them for awhile, selling them (to others like themselves, i guess) and then buying new ones was simply the fact of their way of life.

what i sat there thinking about (aside from the fact that my brand new Coach bag, which i adore and which was on the seat beside me was probably not high enough end for them), were the poor sweet little nail girls. there were two of them working on each of these girls, plus the two working on me and the two working on the woman on the other side--so a total of 8 girls who are no doubt working VERY long hours and long weeks for astonishingly little money--all sitting there listening to this conversation. i tried to read their faces to see if the conversation hurt their feelings in any way. other than one small rolled-eye gesture which i silently coaxed out of one of them whose eyes caught my eye, there was no sign.

but what was amazing was that these two sets of young woman are living in the same country, but are worlds...no, GALAXIES apart. it did strike me as more than slightly rude of the two young women to have that conversation there in front of those girls who could scarcely even dream of having a copy of a Chanel or Hermes bag. but, it was clear that that didn't cross their minds. it was almost as if those girls were invisible to them. and i really have to stress that it wasn't in a haughty or snobbish way. it was simply clear that they had been brought up with maids and nannies around the house and were completely accustomed to conducting their lives without noticing them.

i can't help but find that a little bit sad..for both sides, actually.

doesn't it just figure?

so, as soon as i invest in a better digital camera, it seems that i learn that the latest, coolest trend in photography is something called lomography. which is, in effect, taking pictures with old crap cameras and expired film, although there are new cameras (the diana+, apparently the primary one is called) with fisheye lenses and such. however, ideally what one should have is an old soviet camera.

here is a photo (taken with my new nikon) of a lomography exhibit i just saw this evening out at serendra:

way cool stuff with fisheye lenses and strange colors and light effects. it's clear i must try this. why oh why didn't i buy one or more of those old soviet cameras back in '94 when i saw them in russia?

it's big here in the philippines, so i'm going on a mission tomorrow. luckily the stores are open late, since i'm working all day!

how do i love thee, manila?

...let me count the ways:

1. the smiling, friendly people


2. people who hold doors for you


3. watermelon shakes


4. delicious vinegary sauces


5. crunchy, savory fried garlic


6. attentive waiters


7. sweet, smiling sales girls


8. that there are at least 3 girls at every checkout counter in landmark--one to key in the items, one to check her work with flourishes of red circles on the receipt and one to put it in the bag. sometimes there's even a fourth girl who is separating and opening bags. they are all beautiful, petite and perfectly made up. lovely.


9. sweet sales girls in landmark who remember me even when it's been 5-6 months.


10. musicians playing spanish guitars in the tapas restaurant in greenbelt.


11. the tapas restaurant in greenbelt


12. salty watermelon seeds


13. when it rains, it doesn't mess around, it REALLY RAINS!


14. the fact that chivalry is not dead and you never have to carry anything yourself for very far.


15. stores that sell only havianas--and which are jam-packed with people


16. fresh mango


17. security guards flashing sweet smiles at every entrance


18. that little ceramic dish of bath salts in the bathroom at the Pen.


19. jeepneys packed with people


20. manicure and pedicure at dashing divas.

heaven is in manila

groggily made my way to the airport this morning, the coffee i grabbed at the hotel before i left, doing its work to wake me up. checked in (being assigned a window seat (not my thing), but since the flight was full, not really arguing about it).

made way through passport control, located the tax free refund shop(s!) and got cash back on camera and gap purchases. then looked for the henry kloss. no luck in the shop where i thought it would be. :-(

made attempt to find highly desirable hendrick's gin (loved by a small handful of people, all over the world), but apparently not in singapore. :-(

bought highly cool blinged out heart-shaped hair clip at chomel.

checked price of nikon D60 in camera shop. was reassured that i got a good deal.

finally located shop with black iYiYi, but no iSongbook, cutting down on deliberation over which one to get. bought last iYiYi in the airport at discount price since it was display model. tried BOTH iPods that were in my possession in it to ensure that it worked before agreeing to purchase display model.

very nearly bought PSP in lavendar while waiting for the iYiYi to be packed up, but grabbed hold of the reins and resisted.

boarded plane. seated in row 55! wondered whether plane was large enough to accomodate so many rows.

forgot to mention totally fabulous new coach purse and wallet which accidentally fell into my possession (mental note: do not convert prices into danish kroner, it makes them seem extra cheap).

was seated next to coolest possible person on the plane--italian captain who was joining a bulk carrier in manila (more about that tomorrow since i'm currently hitting the wall (it's 2 a.m. and i've had two nights of 3 hours of sleep)).

arrived in manila, baggage came off belt in the first 5 bags, manila pen limo waiting for me right outside.

greeted by the lovely staff at the manila peninsula who said, "so nice to see you again, ms. broberg." and escorted me to the club floor to check in.

quick change of clothes (sending most of them to laundry and dry cleaning) and popped over to the giant mall across the street for manicure and pedicure (which looks lovely and cost a total of $8 USD including tip for BOTH!!).

located the gap and experienced nirvana in the jeans department.

bought new version of manila mug (featuring cool red jeepney) at starbucks (along with much-needed double latte).

back to hotel to bathe and then meet old friends for a WONDERFUL dinner at sala.

it's difficult to express (at this level of sleep deprivation) how great it is to be back at the Pen. but it's wonderful beyond belief. it's like my soul comes home when i enter the doors. and there's absolutely NO sign whatsoever of the tanks that burst through, guns blazing, last november, just a few days after we left. to be honest, it wouldn't affect my love for this place in the least if they burst through while i was standing right there. it's heaven. heaven is in manila.