the most expensive bags ever

Why Singapore? Well, last month, I was reading The Bag Hag's blog and she mentioned that Cath Kidston was having a sale. I remembered that Hot Tuna, our friend from London, was coming to Asia for a few weeks, and I thought, hmmm... I can order some bags online, have them shipped to his house and meet up with him in Singapore.

Anyway, I told my mom who told my pop who said that he had mileage that we could use. The problem was, due to flight availability, we were scheduled to arrive in Singapore the day after Hot Tuna would depart. Heh. So I never got to see him.

I took a cab to the Holiday Inn Atrium where he left my package.


This hotel reminds me of the Hyatt Hotel in Baguio which was destroyed in the great earthquake of 1990. Same kind of elevators.

I got my package from the concierge. Excited!


I bought two bags. The red one is a giant cloth sling bag which is big enough for my Macbook and cameras. The blue one is a giant PVC saddle bag which is... big enough... for my Macbook and cameras, too! I am pleased. Thank you, Hot Tuna.


The two bags with shipping within the UK cost 75 pounds sterling. The cost of the Singapore trip? Let's not talk about it.

singapore sojourn

This is our third day in Singapore. Lots of blogging backlog, but I thought what the heck-- I'll just work my way backwards.

Haji Lane in Singapore is a tiny alley parallel to Arab Street. It's similar to Cubao X in Manila, except of course, it's in Singapore and it's so clean that you can eat off the ground.

Storefronts of Haji Lane:

So many interesting details everywhere:

Loot from Haji Lane:

Those are new ear rings, except for the crystal bracelet which I bought to ward off evil forces that have been trying to do me in these past few days. More about that later.

I feel better already.

rio, isdatchu?

It's very easy to get lost in Capiz. Everything looks the same. The countryside is very picturesque, the roads are well-paved and the people are very friendly. However, they can't give directions to save their lives.

So we just drove in the general direction of Aklan, our home province. Suddenly, we saw:


OK, you can't tell from that picture, but it was huge. Not as big as the one in Rio de Janeiro, but still shockingly big-- especially when you're driving along and all you see are trees and rice paddies.

Check out the ladder leaning against the statue's base for scale:


It's in a little town called Ivisan. Who put it there? Why? How come there are no signs or plaques? Must ask The Mayor about it sometime.

what's your sign?

Well, it's the thought that counts.

pan-ay church of panay

The first time we saw this church was at night. It zoomed by, as we were in a speeding SUV being driven by The Mayor. He said, "Oh, that church has the biggest bell in Asia."

We therefore put in on our must-see list, for the next time we were in Capiz-- during the day time, of course.

AKA Santa Monica Parish.

Is this it? The biggest bell?

Shouldn't it be up there?

Fantastic weather that day.

Suddenly, I remembered that my Lumix LX3 has Dynamic Black & White! Check out the exterior of Pan-ay Church-- so well-preserved and very, very clean. And may I just say, congratulations to the people of Pan-ay for not allowing anything (lampposts, wires, etc.) to mar the facade of your beautiful church.


The interior was very plain... until seen through the lens of the Lumix LX3 in Dynamic B&W setting. Naks! God is in the details.


My favorite photo of the day:


Some people offered to take us up the belfry, but they couldn't find the key. Gives us a reason to go back.