There's a first time for everything

🎻 What is the backstory of Puu?

It is sappy.  I got Puu after my father passed away in 2021.  

As stated in the description of this blog page, Puu is Yusuke's (Eugene in the Filipino version) soul.  

Azy the cat and Puu

Yusuke was a high school kid with a bad boy persona who sacrificed himself by saving a kid from getting hit with a car (but later revealed to him that the kid would have been fine so his heroic effort was futile).  

Because of his unexpected action, Koenma (aka Jesus) or maybe his dad, King Yama (aka God.  But wait, aren't they one and the same?  We're not going there.) decided to bring him back to life with a 'soul egg' inside him and when the right time comes, it will hatch and will determine if he has a good or bad soul. 

You guessed it!  That 'soul egg' was Puu.  His normal form is a blue bird with Yusuke's hair but became a phoenix-like character later on.  

So is Puu a good or a bad soul?  Well, you just need to watch the anime and find out for yourself.  I just want to give a super-short gist of it.  

Bringing it back to the backstory... the need to feel the presence of my father and the regret of not spending time with him was breaking my heart (still is). 

I was reminded of Puu and thought he will be a great representation of my father.  He's small enough to be a super big keychain (so I can take him anywhere thus spending time with my father) but big enough to hold for comfort (as it relates to feeling the presence of my father).

I got Puu in 2023 and started tagging along with me - travelling, camping, hiking, kayaking, even snowmobiling.  He will not be on all of the pictures but he is most definitely sharing these adventures with me.

📝Why start a blog?

Short answer: see the next section and make up your own conclusion.

Not so short answer: 

I have this notion that everything around me is simply passing by.  

It started when I realize that I will not see the same cloud formation ever again.  Ever.  It's probably not true but the point is, if I don't capture that moment on camera, it'll only live in my memory.  Which is fine but it'll be cool if I can share it to the world.  That was over 20 years ago.

Then I started studioBella in 2020 just to have a brand.  Do I make money off it?  No.  But I take decent enough pictures that I can be proud of. 

And then came the urge to inspire others with quotes and express my feelings through music at the same time.  

And then and then... (last and then... at least for this part) creating pictures with quotes and music in Instagram isn't enough anymore.  I need an outlet to frame my mindset.  To tell the story behind each picture I'm taking.  What I'm feeling while taking those pictures.  

It's not just point and shoot anymore.  

I want to share the joy when I'm on top of a mountain after 2 hours of trekking or the horror and fascination of taking pictures when I'm above the clouds or the serenity of looking at the night sky.  I want my images to inspire people to take the first step, to make the first leap, to empty out the vault just to give yourself a chance to make precious memories.  Because after all, that's all we can take with us when our time is up.

✈️ Where was Puu's first adventure?

Puu's first travel adventure (aside from shipping from China [I think] to my house) was to the UK.  He travels free (again, except for when he was shipped to me) so why not.

We went to London for my sister's wedding.  And then some.

We got to London NYE of 2024.  We bare the cold and the crowd and went to see the fireworks at the London Eye.  It was worth it.  The firework display was amazing and the drone formations at the end was awesome!

The commute home was really interesting.  We had to take the tube aka the subway.  Need I say more?

But while waiting for the crowd to die down a little before heading down the stairs and underground, we sat at a bus stop when all of a sudden a group of rallying, protesting, celebrating (I'm not really sure what their purpose was) people emerged from the street.  It didn't get out of hand or anything but what they were saying in their native language was so passionate that it scared the crap out of me (but of course I did not show it in front of my family).

Then there was the wedding.  Like any normal wedding, there was a lot of emotions, food and booze.  Unlike any normal weddings, there was no drama or hook ups.  It was a simple, small wedding that my sister and her partner in crime dreamed of, saved up for and made into a reality.  

In front of their two baby dinos, their families, their friends, the photographer, the magistrate and the one other town hall person, they vowed to try not to kill each other when the going gets tough and to continue building their family in accordance to the rules of society.

My sister had pendants created with our father's picture in it.  She put one in her bouquet and she gave me one as a keepsake.  It's now Puu's hair jewel and been with him ever since.

And then... we went to Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland.

The plane ride via Ryanair wasn't expensive at all.  I think it was about £70 from Stansted to Edinburgh and back.  But the plane's air pressure system was te.rri.ble!  Maybe it was just me but my ears did not pop at all while in the air.  It was very uncomfortable.  Luckily it was just an hour nineteen min flight.  

We stayed at Stay Central in Edinburgh for two nights.  The hotel was walking distance to the castle and to the main road.  It was inexpensive, clean and comfortable.  I would totally stay there again.

I love love Edinburgh!  I love the history, the architecture, the scenery, and they have Jollibee!!! (yes, 3 exclamations to properly convey how I feel about Jollibee)

I feel like I was transformed to medieval time while we were there. 

From our hotel, we walked up a cobble stone road and stairs to St. Giles Cathedral.  You can't help but think, 'how did they build this road?', 'why this type of stone?', 'where did they get this stone?', 'I wonder if Lady Macbeth walked this very same path.'.

And then you see St. Giles Cathedral towering in front of  you.  And I thought 'Whoa!  That must be expensive to build.  The Roman Catholic church is really loaded!'

  

And then there was the Edinburgh Castle. The surrounding architecture leading to the castle was jaw dropping.  

There's a fee to enter the castle but even if you don't go in, for me, the view of Edinburgh from the castle's gate is good enough.

 

 

The next day we went to Glasgow via 45 minute train ride.  

The architecture in Glasgow was not as impressive as Edinburgh but it has a different picturesque vibe.  It's more contemporary for sure.  Except for the Glasgow Cathedral.  Massive arching ceiling.  It was an OMG moment.  

And the catacomb was chilling and impressive at the same time.  There was a moment of feeling like you're not alone in the basement where they keep dead people but hey, YOLO.  

 

   

Speaking of dead people... adjacent to Glasgow Cathedral is the Glasgow Necropolis. 

I live in Milo, Maine where my jogging route includes a mile around a cemetery so yes, this feels like home to me.

 

But I think the most impressive part of Glasgow is the mural trail.  It is very inspiring and artsy.  The time, thought and creativeness of the artists truly resonates their work.  Every time I look at those murals it makes me want to be a better photographer.  It motivates me to actually work on processing them.

Smug (Sam Bates) is known for his photorealistic portraits painted the St. Mungo mural.  Other contributors are Bobby Rogue-One, Alasdair Gray and Dan (Spraywell Murals).

 

And when we got back to London, crossing Abbey Road was definitely on the list.

Abbey Road is located in St John's Wood, a neighborhood in north-west London.  We probably crossed the road 10 times to get the picture and video right, using multiple phone cameras.

Crossing this road is surreal just thinking how many famous musicians and artists have crossed the same exact pedestrian crossing.

Second to the left is my mother.  She's a trooper.  She can't walk straight anymore but she did just for the shots that we took.

A few months later, Puu and I would cross the globe for her.

Where to next, Puu?

States side so stay tuned!  There will be mountains, rivers, lakes and beaches involved.  In the meantime, follow my Instagram page, check out my studioBella store or download free stock photos.

Be inspired.  Breath fresh air.  Don't just survive.  Thrive.