May Kwento Ako

May Kwento Ako #11 : The Vittorio Emanuele II … Mall

Built in 1865, this is supposedly the world’s oldest shopping mall, this should be of interest to many shoppers. It was named after Italy’s first king. Houses expensive brands most cannot afford. But why is this is place always packed with people ?! Because it is beautiful. I see many taking selfies. This writer included.

Interesting enough, this never closes. There are no gates. But there are many police officers in the vicinity. So, i felt safe.

If you see the bannisters overhead, that’s the chi chi Townhouse Galleria Hotel.

May Kwento Ako #10 : Duomo Milano, in my eyes

This world’s fashion capital and leading business center has long intimated me, for some strange and unexplainable reason. After staying for almost a week, I still don’t see why I was. The sights were awe-inspiring. The food was first rate. The boutiques were made solely for the world’s blackbelters.

After a couple of days, I decided to venture near the Duomo. Each step I took towards this Centro, I was smiling at how silly I have been. Every step presented an attraction. Some familiar, most not but all were exciting to me and my Leica.

Many photographs of the Duomo are available online. Yet, I wanted to capture this monument, this Basilica my way.

Here are some of those I took. I actually looked at them first before taking photos. I wanted to appreciate the hands and minds that made this magnificent place of God possible. No wonder, it took several hundred years for the Duomo to be completed.

Thank you to all those responsible for building and making this happen. There must be tons of behind the scene stories that present day folks like me will never know.

The cover photo was taken as several people were preparing a fund-raising activity to feed the hungry in Africa. To you, I salute you all. God bless you. And I pray for you and your beneficiary.

May Kwento Ako #9 : La Traviata, an Opera

This is the first proper opera that I have watched and it was an enjoyable experience. So, I didn’t understand a word, a lyric but there’s much to appreciate from this. Who hasn’t heard of La Traviata? Well, where I come from, pretty much everybody, I’m afraid. So, I bought a “song hits”, a lyric sheet, in English. But I didn’t read it. One day, I hope.

The venue was small, compared to the modern venues back home or in Asia. Maybe because venues here are typically multi-purpose : for a basketball game, a rock concert, a political rally built probably in the past 5 – 20 years. Whereas, this venue was built over a hundred years ago and is used primarily like the way we watch a movie. I quite liked the size of this theater. The size of our movie houses/cinema in decades ago.

During those times, there were no movies, of course hence, people looked forward to a opera. I didn’t understand a word though so I focused my senses on what I could see. I sat in the middle section which is probably about 10 rows behind the orchestra. Decent distance.

Luckily, I sat in the middle of a nice, young couple from Sweden and France who lived in the French border near Liechtenstein to my left and a lady from the South of England who was a member of the Academe that focused in the Arts and Design. What an interesting mix we had that we had a nice chat that evening. And well, none of them understood a word either but that is not always the point of Entertainment. Right ?