I Love Tokyo!

It's my first time to visit Tokyo and I'm lovin' it! The people are just very nice, very polite and helpful. Most might struggle to speak English but it does not hinder them from helping people out when you're asking for directions or ordering for food (most menus are in Japanese).

Here are some of my observations during my short trip:
1. Customer service is very good.
2. They (Japanese people) say "thank you" ("arigato gozaimasu") a lot of times.
3. The trains in the morning are VERY packed. Though they queue up while waiting, once the train comes, they would really push you and try to squeeze in.
4. Although most have been influenced by the Western culture, I still see very 'traditional' Japanese companies. While walking to work every morning, I'd see employees exercising outside of the office, which by the way I did for a year when I was still working for a Japanese company 8 years ago.
5. Most toilets are very advanced, equipped with seat warmers and a lot of buttons to press: to spray water, to change the water pressure, etc.
6. EXPENSIVE! :-D

I will be uploading some photos pretty soon!

What is Sari-sari Store?

A lot of you may wonder why I have the category Sari-sari Store. So what is it? Sari-sari Store is, as the name implies, a store which you can find on many streets of the Philippines where you can buy a wide range of products from groceries, slippers, over-the-counter medicines, toiletries and sometimes cooked food as well.

So if you happen to pass by a street in the Philippines and you see a sign like 'Aling Emma's Sari-sari Store', that literally means 'Ms. Emma's Convenience Store'. Sari-sari Store is a local version of 7-11 for the masses, but it's not open 24-hours.

The Road to Creativity

I wouldn't deviate from the norm. As most of the blogs have started this way, I'm going to do the same. So I would say this to all of you...... WELCOME!

This blog would serve as my journal as I walk the path towards CREATIVITY. I'd say that's one thing that has eluded me in my world of photography. Just a brief history on how I got started with photography...I had been taking photos since 1992. I didn't even own a camera back then. I started with a Fuji film camera which I borrowed from my aunt. Then ten years later, I bought my very first digital camera, a Sony DSC P71. It was a 3.2 megapixel camera. I used those two cameras primarily to record memories of my travel adventures. I first used the Fuji camera on my highschool educational field trip to the zoo and the museum.  I bought the Sony digital camera just before I went to spend holidays in Las Vegas, Nevada.