The Day After Christmas

Looks just like any other day in Phnom Penh, Cambodia:





The lady at the bus station told me they had to work on the 25th :)

Santa Stops

... to take a well-deserved pee:



It's a loooong way from the north pole :)

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

Christmas Market

The parol market under the Buendia overpass:



You know Christmas is here when you see their twinkly lights flashing :)

Smoking Cook

Seen at a parking lot in Ayutthaya, Thailand:



Cooking sausages was never this dramatic :)

On The Left Corner....

taking the moral high ground, from hills of Pakistan....

The master of disaster...

The beast from the east...

The god of jihad...

The deflorator of nine heavenly virgins...

The bomber man himself...

Osama bin Laden!!!



Manny Pacquiao can kick his ass anytime.

What the Hell is Mel...

Doing?



Photographed, believe it or not, for Time Out Singapore.

El Guardia Civil

Yeah, back then they had flower shop signs written in English:



Just kidding :P

Fire it Up

This fire juggler went crazy the other night....

They Love The Nightlife...

The dancers at Zirca have got to boogie...





Clarke Quay's venerable old Ministry of Sound closed down a few months ago, and this is what took its place :)

Do You Want Me To....

Shoot it?


Swat it?


Get it?


Slam it?


Taken at the recent PBA (Philippine Basketball Association) vs. ABL (Australian Basketball League) basketball challenge double header game at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. The Philippine national selection played under the Pampanga Buddies banner - they lost by almost 30 points to the Singapore Slingers. Damn.

Indoresia Numbah Wan!!

Japanese tourists in Bali's Nusa Dua beach:


Wherever I do fieldwork, the locals always think I am, in order of frequency, a:

Thai
Lao
Japanese
Burmese
Nepalese
Filipino

In fact, I can pass for any of these as long as I keep my mouth shut.

But never ever will you catch me doing the "V" sign. I'm Filipino - I do the "Mr. Pogi" L sign :P

C'mon Punk...

Make my day.



These monks are not to be messed with....

Khao Soi... shhhh...

... that delectable noodle curry dish that's served everywhere in Chiang Mai - you can find it in Chiang Mai Palace, Far East Square Branch.



It's not on the menu, and they won't list it in your receipt if you order it. Don't tell anyone.... :P

Shot for Time Out Magazine. Check out this month's issue on Secret Singapore - http://www.timeoutsingapore.com/

Temple Traffic

The human traffic goes both ways at the Kapalee Hindu temple, the most popular in Chennai:

Medhaaaah

Medha Raghunath, TV host and former Miss Chennai - she's one good reason to tune into Tamil Nadu's SunTV on Sunday nights:

Chennai's Playground

The scene at Marina Beach resembles that of a park, resort and a carnival:

Men from Madras

On the way to work in Chennai, Southern India:



They kinda remind me of the rice gods below... heheh...

Rice Gods

Their faces blackened with chicken blood, an army of bul-ol statues look back at passers-by:



In the Cordillera tradition, these statues kept watch over the rice granaries of Ifugao homes. Now they guard the doors of an antique store at Tiendesitas Mall in Pasig.

"Kasado na Impeachment vs Gloria"

"6 Sundalo todas sa NPA"

A divisoria trishaw operator reads the day's tabloid:



The sports headline reads: "All-Filipino sa Final ng U.S. Open Posible"

Bangkok Hot

The Chao Phraya River on a hot summer afternoon:



The silhouette of Wat Arun, the temple of dawn, in the background screams "Bangkok!!!".

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Elvis is in the building!!!



If you are anywhere in or around Singapore this month, please drop by if you have the time :)

Burmese Cowboy

But this dude herds ducks, not cows:

Seen from U-Bein Bridge near Mandalay.

Afternoon in Bagan

The site of Myanmar's ancient capital glows in the warm afternoon light:

Not much to say now except that the internet connection here stinks. Some sites cannot be accessed. But that aside - damn this is a beautiful country!!!!

Evening in Yangon II

A young monk does his daily pilgrimage to the Shwedagon Pagoda in downtown Yangon:

I'd say this place is the Buddhist equivalent of Quiapo. Foreigners are simply blown away by this chaotic, market-meets-church atmosphere over here, and many of them say (and it arguably is) that this is one of the highlights of any trip to Burma. Honestly, though, my first impression was: "parang Quiapo ito ah!!!!"

:)

Last Time One

That's the name of this man's antique shop:



It's located near the corner of Telok Ayer and Boon Tat street in Singapore. There's so much stuff here that you can spend hours just rummaging thru piles of antiques, looking for anything of potential value.

Last week he sold an old Malay kris for S$200 - turns out its real value was over S$600!

Groovy

Serbian artist Ana Prvacki poses for a Time Out Portrait:



Her last name is pronounced as "Pr-vatch-ki" :P

Old Man and Memories

The former chief of kampong ubin looks out to his shrinking community:

Eat This

Satay!!!



That's skewered beef, chicken, mutton or pork (if you're not muslim) that's grilled to perfection on an open flame, then eaten with a tasty peanut sauce and a densely-packed ketupat rice ball.

Fly This

The view of Singapore CBD from the spanking new Flyer:



Shot for Jetstar Australia Magazine.

Photographer on Top

of this traveling flower hawker...

More of that delicious, delightful...

Vietnamese coffee...

French Breakfast

in Vietnam:



Two bigass baguettes (they call them toast), two omelettes (really just fried eggs), and a cup of strong ca phe sua nong (that's hot coffee with milk). That's the best french bread outside France, and the best coffee anywhere!

:)

Coins for Comrades

Communist coins and medals for sale at Hanoi's Hang Ga street:



Check out Uncle Ho's familiar profile :)

Kung Fu Grandpa

An old man practices his moves at the Hoan Kiem lakeside in downtown Hanoi:



Oh this grandaddy gonna kick yer ass like he did the Americans and the French.... heheheh....

Crossing Hanoi

Look left, then right, then left, then right, then left, then right, before crossing any road in Hanoi:



Man, the traffic here is scary... and they're mostly made up of motorbikes!

Streetside Casino

Place your bets - kuwarta o kahon, pera o bayong, deal or no deal. Davao's streetside gaming establishments are open 12 hours a day:



Kids are welcome to bet!

Our Lady of Perpetual Kinilaw

An image of the Virgin Mary keeps watch over the owners of Luz Kinilaw, a popular Davao eatery that has been serving its signature kinilaw and sinugba dishes for the past forty years:

Dayaw Day

Mindanao's tribes have their day in the spotlight, thanks to the annual Kadayawan Festival in Davao City:

The Meaning of Religious Harmony

It dawned upon me the moment I saw these muslim tourists imitate the Buddha at a hindu shrine in Bandungan, Central Java:



Now *this* is religious harmony... hahahaha!!!!

Framed Fruits

The ingredients for Indonesian rojak peer out from the windows of a travelling hawker's stall in Jepara, Central Java:

Good Old Boro

The Borobodur Temple - still going strong after several hundred years and a terrorist bomb:

Ghost

A wayang orang theatre performer awaits his appearance onstage at the Wayang Orang Ngesti Pandowo in Semarang, Centra Java: