In Search of Beauty

Some business signs inspire confidence. Others, well... not so much.

Cebu, 2011

Yet this beauty parlor in Cebu had a line-up of eager customers.

And how could you resist patronizing a parlor that promises, "You don't have to go anywhere, because with our service you will be... too gorgeous"!

Manila, 2011

Linking with seekers of Signs, Signs. Have some fun and check out other informative, humorous and creative signs from around the globe.

K is for Kitchenware

Quezon, 2010

I am linking with ABC Wednesday, where the letter of the week is K, as well as with Wordless Wednesday and Weekend in Black and White. 

The photo is better enlarged.

[Our World] Hawking on the Streets

If you've visited this blog regularly, you know my camera has a soft spot for street vendors or small stall vendors. Just click on vendor and you'll see the variety. So looking back, I'm a little surprised I haven't posted a Manila street hawker before... they sure are a ubiquitous sight. 

 Manila, 2011

What I like about them is their spunk. Some may find them a menace on the streets, but I consider them the most entrepreneurial of spirits, something I can relate to. They are ambitious, persistent, constantly testing their markets with new products, and not afraid to ask for the sale. 

They're full of can do and never say die. And, scurrying in and out among the moving traffic, they certainly are risk takers!

I captured the first three fellas last week, all within minutes of each other, unfortunately through the windshield, so the clarity in these images is less than ideal. This last one taken some time last year may be my favorite photo of a Pinoy hawker I have taken.

This is my post for Our World Tuesday and Walk in the Street.

A is for Amber

Can you believe it! ABC Wednesday is back to the start of the alphabet! After you ooh and aah my photo, go check out what others have been able to do with the first letter A.

Here's a fun shot I got a few years back in Hong Kong, a smiling vendor of amber jewelry. Isn't that an amazing chunk she's wearing? Did you ever imagine anyone could sell ONLY jewelry made of amber?

Hong Kong, 2007

Yellow and Red Fruits

When in season, farmers of Romania come into the cities to sell their fresh fruits. I especially relish fresh plump red (or white) cherries; so when at the start of my walk yesterday I saw this vendor selling them out of the back of her old yellow Dacia car, I took a mental note to get some on my way back home. Unfortunately, a couple of hours later I did not run into any more vendors.

 Bucharest, 2011

I got a kick out of how she was parked in the middle of the road, so I am also posting this longer view.

Plenty of yellows and reds here to link with Mellow Yellow Monday and Ruby Tuesday.

[MyWorld] Flower for Women Power

Today is the 100-year anniversary of International Women's Day. I join the many around the globe celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. 

As I was walking around the central district of Bucharest today, I saw flower vendors on nearly every street corner. It is perceptibly a day that matters in Romania. Many women get the day off work and I even received a lovely white freesia from our lunch waiter. 

    Bucharest, 2011

And this is MyWorld today!

Feeling the Fruit

Delhi, 2010

Today I am linking with Mellow Yellow Monday.

[MyWorld] The BBQ Vendor

With one hand flaming the coal and another swooshing away the flies, this street vendor busily tends to her humble BBQ meat stand across from the wet market. 

 Manila, 2010

She uses barbecue sauce and a Pinoy vinegar concoction to spice the meat on a stick. So what's your pleasure? Chicken innards, blood, pork fat?

This is my world and at MyWorld Tuesday you may get surprised with other fascinating worlds around the globe. You may also want to check out who else is seeing RED today at Ruby Tuesday.

J is for Jewelry

Diamonds may be Carol Channing's best friend, but I'm not one of her girls. I'm not a big jewelry fan at all, really, much preferring a trip around the world to a bauble or a trinket.

Yet a few years ago I got an eyeful of stunning jewelry in Xiahe, aka Labrang, a town built around the most important Tibetan Buddhist monastery outside of Lhasa. This town on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau in Gansu province is busy hosting a steady stream of handsome pilgrims from Tibet, most , both female and male, wearing their distinctive clothing and the traditional red coral and/or turquoise necklaces and earrings. Let me share some with you. You'll see the belts are very unique and special too. [Click images to enlarge for better view.]

Xiahe/Labrang, 2007

And it's the local Muslim or Chinese vendors who sell the jewelry to the visitors. I'm no expert in coral or turquoise, but I do know that at least some of what was in the stores were polyresin reproductions.

This is my J for Jewelry for ABC Wednesday. The link will take you to many other creative takes on the letter J.

Street Vendor in Red

Kathmandu, 2010

Yesterday was Labor Day in the USA. My heart goes out to all the workers of the world who struggle for a living wage. 

For more takes on the theme of RED, visit Mary's Ruby Tuesday.

Please feed the birds...

I won't swear to it... I've surely been known to be wrong before and, in the face of reasonable evidence, will readily admit it... but I do think this woman I saw sitting on a busy, dusty, dirty, noisy, hot and overwhelmingly stinky street in Old Delhi was selling various kinds of bird seeds. In the minutes that I watched her, I did not see anyone pop anything bought from her into a mouth. My guess is further strengthened by there being a mosque across the street:  feeding the pigeons in sight of Allah is considered a form of repentance.

Whatever she is selling, this woman, so elegant in her simple way, and her wares make a colorful mosaic of mellow yellow, rich red, bright blue and pale purple.

Delhi, 2010

Click on Mellow Yellow Monday for more links to takes on that color and click on Mosaic Monday for links to more creative mosaics.

You can see my mosaic better if you click on the image once, then after it opens in a new tab, click again.

Fun on The Great Wall

Yesterday I posted the "postcard" versions of my last visit to The Great Wall of China.  Today I share with you a lighter side of our climb. 

Now get this, to get up ON to the wall, we had to take a closed cable car. So I really wonder HOW this donkey got up here... and WHY?

Beijing, 2007

I suppose this foursome needed a break from the sweltering heat... you can see their t-shirts are wet... A game or two of cards in the relative coolness of one of the watch towers may have been clever. Have cards, will travel?

People who know me know I'm not very good about carrying my cell phone, so I was amused when a call came in... Imagine having to tell a business associate, "Uh... I can't check my files right now; I'm on The Great Wall." Perhaps that is what these men were texting to their friends.

After a few hours of walking the wall, super steep in parts, we were ready for a cold drink, so we were happy to see this entrepreneurial vendor (probably not licensed) with a cooler of drinks - but climbing the extra steps, down AND back up, was not so welcome.

And going down OFF the wall was an adventure. We could have opted for another easy lift down, but instead we chose the toboggan ride.  What a howl! A security person had a veritable fit when I took out my camera on the way down to take this shot of the back of my friend Gloria ahead of me.

And this shot, today, is my contribution to Weekend Reflections hosted by James. Go ahead and click on the link for many more interesting takes on the theme.

You can see larger images by clicking on the photo.