March 16, 2008. Antipolo, Province of Rizal, Philippines. —
The photographs shown here are from my first set of photos for the year 2008. Finally! The very first “click” coming from my Nikon in three months is pure, unadulterated bliss!
The fact that I found time on Palm Sunday, no less, to bring my camera out for some action is truly a blessing. I can feel that this marks the beginning of better things to come as I continue on my photo journey.
There are actually three churches that are closer to home, but since it is Palm Sunday, I wanted to spend the mornng at the Antipolo Cathedral (The Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage). The cathedral feels like home to me, and I call it my personal storm shelter. This is the first place that I would run to in times of crisis, and also when I am exceptionally happy and thankful for anything good that comes my way.
This morning, the cathedral took on a festive mood as vendors filled the sidewalks with palms of all sorts, mostly woven into fancy shapes. The business of making and selling woven palm fronds is an annual family affair for most of the vendors that I spoke to. Said Jay, an FX (public transport) dispatcher, “Wala naman akong duty ngayon kaya tinulungan ko na rin si misis sa pagbebenta ng palaspas.” (I am off duty anyway, so I am helping my wife sell these palms). The kids did their share, too. The young ones made surprisingly good hawkers and ambulant vendors.
The cathedral was filled to the rafters. Those who could not get inside found shelter under the shades of the trees at the plaza. As for me, I was oblivious to the heat. After hearing Mass, I walked around with my camera, hoping to capture all the sights and colors that would mark this as Palaspas, Antipolo style. I saw the usual Sunday bikers. There were the vendors that will hound you no end unless they’re camera shy and get shooed away at the sight of lenses. Oh, and there was Sarge Sagat, my fave policeman. A pleasant surprise running into him today, woven palm in hand, making his way to the elevated platform where elders blessed the palms with holy water.
My Nikon caught a drop of holy water, so I guess you could say that I have a blessed camera. 🙂
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Somehow i missed the point. Probably lost in translation 🙂 Anyway … nice blog to visit.
cheers, Galvanometrical.
It’s a Filipino thing, I guess, and a Catholic one at that. 🙂
Thanks for visiting.
Cheers!