Few articles online make me smile, and the story of Faith the two-legged dog is one of those:

Yahoo-AP story about Faith

Faith’s official website

Mayon Volcano is known for its perfect cone (Photo: My mother)

Mayon Volcano is in the news again because of recent volcanic activity there.

I’ve been reminded that it’s one of the places in the Philippines that I’d really like to see.

The volcano is not only beautiful; it’s also located in Albay, the home province of my mother.

A visit there would be a homecoming of sorts for me.

Exactly a month has passed since the day I first stepped foot on Germany.

But for some reason, it feels like it happened ages ago.

Regardless of the reason though, I’m happy that I was given the chance to visit Germany this year, 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

It was like a 20-day long dream.

I’ve never been to either Canada or the Netherlands, but when I was in Germany I saw things that reminded me of those countries.

I saw many maple leaves in Germany. Maybe there are different kinds of maple trees, but the maple leaves in Germany looked the same as the maple leaf shown on Canada’s flag.

And on our way from Berlin to Bonn, I saw some windmills that reminded me of the Netherlands.

Those windmills were quite “simple” compared to the Dutch windmills I’ve seen in photographs. But they’re still windmills.

I’ve seen so many Catholic churches, but the Cologne Cathedral is a bit different from them all.

It’s the biggest church I’ve seen so far.

The Cologne Cathedral is really massive; I found it hard to look for a place where I could take good pictures of it.

I knelt, walked far away from the church, I tried almost everything and yet I couldn’t take a picture of the church in its entirety.

The only time I was able to take a photo of the whole church was when we were taken to a tower on the other side of the Rhine River.

The Cologne Cathedral reminded me of someone’s words about church architecture: churches are an assertion of the enormous power of God.

You’d be humbled by the grandeur of your surroundings.

The car and the Algerian flag

I will always remember Bonn in Germany as the most laid back city I’ve ever visited.

By 9 PM almost no one is on the streets. Most stores are closed.

And yes, it’s so quiet.

However, the day when Algeria won a soccer match changed that, even for just a few minutes.

My Bangladeshi friend and I usually ate dinner at an Algerian restaurant located just across Bonn’s Hauptbahnhof (main station).

The Algerian restaurant. Photo was taken on my last day in Bonn, not the night of the celebration

But that night, we had to eat at another restaurant that offered Halal food because the Algerian one was packed with people, most of them men.

All of them were watching something on television, which both my friend and I assumed to be a soccer match.

After dinner we returned to our hotel.

From my hotel room I heard people chanting something and honking their car horns incessantly, as if traffic had stood still.

I got curious. What was that noise all about?

I went out of the hotel and hoped that another “loud” car would come.

View Larger Map

Fortunately for me one passed through Thomas-Mann-Straße, where the hotel is located.

I was able to film the mobile party.

The following day I found out on the Internet that Algeria had defeated Egypt in a soccer match and qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

I finally knew the exact reason for the Algerians’ celebration.

Félicitations, Algérie.

BBC pictures showing the festivity

Los Angeles Times blog about Algeria’s victory

ESPN story about the win

Mitsubishi Colt on the foreground. A building partially blocks the view of the Berlin TV Tower

Along Unter den Linden in Berlin

Mercedes-Benz. BMW. Volkswagen.

I’ve associated Germany with cars long before I visited that country.

That was why when I saw a Mitsubishi near our hotel in Berlin, I couldn’t help but ask myself what that car was doing in the heart of the German capital.

I have nothing against Mitsubishis, I see lots of them in the Philippines.

But the Philippines is not Germany.

The sight of a Mitsubishi in the Land of Benzes and BMWs surprised me.

I thought I would see only German cars in Germany itself.

The base of the Eiffel Tower souvenir has the words "MADE IN CHINA" on it

Apparently I didn’t have to go to Paris to be able to buy Paris souvenirs.

The Paris souvenirs that I bought in the French capital were, yes, made in China.

I could have just bought some when I went to China in April this year.

But it’s still much better to purchase Paris souvenirs in Paris itself.

I suppose using euros instead of the Chinese currency, trying to speak French instead of Mandarin and talking to French people instead of Chinese people make the experience of buying French stuff authentic.

It’s still all about savoring the real thing.

I can’t buy that in China.

This Paris fridge magnet...

... was also made in China

Yeah, I know this bull in Cologne, Germany is much cuter

Like a zombie in Berlin's Reichstag, Germany's parliament building

When I saw on German journalist Marcus Bösch’s Twitter page a link to a piece about models taking pictures of themselves, I couldn’t help but click on the link right away and read the article.

We don’t have to be models to take photos of ourselves. Anyone can do it!

I like to take pictures of myself.

Superb background in Shanghai! The foreground? Ummm...

No, it’s not because I’m a narcissist, but because it’s easier for everyone.

I can take a photo of myself a thousand times, literally, but I doubt I’d find someone else who’d do that for me. For free.

Besides, I can get as serious as I want or as silly as I want when I take pictures of myself. I don’t get conscious at all when I do that.

And with literally thousands of pictures to choose from, it’s much easier for me to have very serious or really silly photographs.

The more the merrier, indeed.