Tag Archives: culture

Accommodation, Activities and Itineraries, Backpacking, Cities, Countries, Food, Leisure Trip, Transportation

Copenhagen: my first impressions

January 25, 2015 geralynrigor 1 Comment

At 530am local time (1230pm PST), Niklas and I arrived at Copenhagen Airport, 30 minutes earlier than our Singapore Airlines ETD of 6am. After completing our immigration check (two minutes!) and being warned of the cold by the lady immigration officer, we set out to pick our luggage and brace ourselves for the freezing cold. It’s 3 degrees, says Merete, Niklas’ mom, as she and Claes, Niklas’ dad, met us. As I prepared myself to cross the revolving door between the airport’s comfortable 22-degree temp and the ear-numbing 3 degree temp outside, I still can’t believe that we finally are here in Copenhagen, in Denmark, in Europe!

Just another street in Central Copenhagen

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Activities and Itineraries, Backpacking, Cities, Food, FotoFolio, Leisure Trip

FotoFolio: Museums of Ho Chi Minh – a glimpse into Vietnam’s history

December 8, 2014 geralynrigor Leave a comment

When I booked my Cebu Pacific piso fare from Ho Chi Minh to Manila way before deciding to actually do a Southeast Asia trip, the driving force was to eat the noodle soup pho and the fresh vermicelli spring rolls in Vietnam.

The ignorant that I am of Asian and world history, the only things I knew of Vietnam were the food I wanted to eat and the war with America.

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Business Trip, Countries, Reblogged

Reblogged: The Taj Mahal – Finally!

October 26, 2014 geralynrigor 2 Comments

Reblogged is a series of blog posts on my life in India coming from the weblogs I set-up. It’s an attempt to put the stories all in one place! The post The Taj Mahal – Finally! was originally posted on October 15, 2012, a month after I’ve taken the trip on September 9. Another post is connected to this one, which will be posted as a Viahera Vlog. The visit to Agra was a side trip before attending the official meetings of the Volunteer Committee (which I was a part of) at the VSO India office (read: no extra cost charged to VSO) to discuss policies for volunteers and put forth comments, opinions and suggestions from volunteers in India for improvement in programme support and effectiveness of volunteer placement and organisational partnerships.

Before coming to India, I only know a few things about this sub-continent and what stands out among these is the Taj Mahal. I barely know the story about Taj Mahal before I came here, only that it is a must-see monument, one of the seven wonders of the world.

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Activities and Itineraries, Countries, Food, Leisure Trip, Provinces, Reblogged, Religion

Reblogged: Weekend in the Village (Part 2 – Getting Up-close and Personal)

August 7, 2014 geralynrigor 1 Comment

Reblogged is a series of blog posts on my life in India coming from the weblogs I set-up. It’s an attempt to put the stories all in one place! The post Weekend in the Village (Part 2 – Getting Up-close and Personal) was originally posted on May 20, 2012 via the Project365: Volunteers for Change weblog I set-up with my VSO volunteer batch. I spent a weekend with the family of my colleague and friend Charu at her mother’s hometown in Taloshi, Mahad, Maharashtra. This is a two-part story for the events and scenes from May 4-8.

You’ve already read/seen how a day in an Indian village goes by. Well, it’s kind of a special day with the festival and all but still, it would look something like that. More or less. 🙂

That said, this post focuses on other aspects of Indian life, not just in a village but also in a bigger picture. Are you ready to get Indianised? :p

Water

Everyone needs water. Some more than most. Especially during a festival when everyone seems to have remembered where they came from and decided to pay homage to their roots. It’s an almost non-stop sight–women queuing for wells and tap areas and walking about with one or two jars on their head. Some include one for the side/hips too!

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Activities and Itineraries, Backpacking, Cities

Reblogged: Old Delhi Red Fort – seat of the Mughal Empire

April 16, 2014 geralynrigor 2 Comments

Reblogged is a series of blog posts on my life in India coming from the weblogs I set-up. It’s an attempt to put the stories all in one place! The post Old Delhi Red Fort – seat of the Mughal Empire was originally posted on May 29, 2012. I visited the Red Fort with my VSO co-volunteers Kevin and Rosie on March 12, 2012.

There was a time, long long long ago, when Muslims thrived in India. However, hundreds of years later, the Muslim population is now considered as one of the minorities in the contemporary Indian society. Nevertheless, the era of the Mughal Empire has been marked with several monuments like tombs, mosques and gardens.

Apart from these monuments and places of worship, the Mughal Empire also built the Red Forts to serve as their seats of power. I heard there are many red forts in India. One of the most famous is the Red Fort (Lal Quilla) found in Old Delhi.

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