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Hello, we are Ivan and Khris and welcome to our humble journal. We are a husband and wife tandem from Quezon City, Philippines although we also regularly spend our weekends in San Antonio, Nueva Ecija. In this blog, we share two of the activities that we love most — traveling and dining out.

 

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Our philosophy is that traveling need not be too far. The secret is to uncover the social, cultural and historical significance of the places that we visit, be it a small church, a park, a lonely building or a busy road. That way, traveling becomes more meaningful and interesting.

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We also believe that food and travel invariably go together. A taste of local cuisine is a bite into the culture of that particular place. While we would not go as far as sampling exotic dishes, we make it a point to sample the signature dishes of the destinations that we visit.

On some occasions though, we do love to treat ourselves to dinners in some of the well-known restaurants in the metro.

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Most stories in this blog are written by Ivan while all travel arrangements are courtesy of Khris.

Our humble story

We met at our current job in a bank, thanks to a good friend. During the few times that we initially went out, we found out many similarities between us, among these is our love for traveling and the immense importance that we put in our families.

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We would like to travel the Philippines, and then the world, full time. But unlike other people who can afford to quit their jobs to trot the globe, we have responsibilities that we deem are of greater importance.

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We travel to escape the monotony of the cube farm, to revitalize our bodies so that we may have the energy to take on the daily routine. We travel to learn something new, not just to appreciate the beauty of our world.

We do our best to search for something more profound, beyond the superficial. We particularly like history, culture and heritage. A piece of knowledge, we reckon, is always the best memento that we could take home.

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We have been married since April 6, 2014. Perhaps one of the greatest adventures that we have embarked on was to get married. The wedding preparations took us to different places, allowed us to meet different people and, best of all, tested our characters.

About Images+Keystrokes

This blog consolidates Ivan’s previous blogs (frenchraisins, Until Next Weekend and The Introverted Weekender) as well as food articles in Zomato and travel narratives in Trip Advisor. As such, while this blog has only been launched last June 2016, expect to find articles from way back 2007.

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This blog is not a travel guide but more of a journal of two ordinary people who see beauty in simplicity. It tells stories from the perspective of two simple souls who are both devoid of pretensions or appetite for anything ostentatious.

Images+Keystrokes combines photographs and written words to narrate stories collected from our adventures on the road. We believe that words and photographs create the most effective and powerful stories.

Images+Keystrokes is about living life, pursuing passions, realizing dreams, appreciating culture and history, and just being happy.

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About Khris

Khrisna Macalma-Jose, Khris to family and childhood friends, and Ynah to colleagues and close friends, is a graduate of BS in Export Management from DLS-College of St. Benilde. She has been with the banking industry handling Telemarketing for over a decade. Despite the number of years, Khris has been as passionate with her job as she was in day 1.

She is adept in finding great travel and dining deals, as well as in preparing trip itineraries.

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About Ivan

Ivan Carlo Jose, Ivan to friends and family, is a graduate of BS Geology from UP Diliman. Since high school, he has been in love with writing. As such, even with a science degree, he pursued a career that allowed him to express his passion. He currently works in the Marketing Department of a bank. He credits Khris for helping him realize his dream of traveling. Perhaps one of the most unforgettable gifts he has received is a pair of rubber slippers with a note from Khris that it will take him to many beautiful places.

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50 Replies to “About”

      1. You’re welcome ! I think you’re adventurous and fun-loving and I guess you already been in Pagsanjan, Laguna . May I know if you already wrote an article about Pagsanjan Falls, if any. Thanks for the reply.

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        1. Not yet, we only passed by the town of Pansanjan 2 years ago but I want to go back. I plan to write an article about Pagsanjan town, the falls and the beautiful Pagsanjan Arch. You seem to have read my mind.

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          1. It’s great! Let me know Ivan how I could help to make it possible. I was born in Pagsanjan. I’m a newbie in blogging and your works really inspired me keep to going. May you have a happy weekend with your family.

          2. Thank you again for your kind words! That’s enough to keep me going, too. Sure, I’ll be in touch. For now, if you know of a historian or someone who I can get in touch with regarding Pagsanjan’s history, I’d appreciate the referral. I’m deeply interested with your town’s old gate. If you could also PM me some referrals on tour guides who could help me arrange a trip to Pagsanjan, I’d greatly appreciate it, too. Good luck in blogging! It’s a noble craft, just continue with it.

  10. Thanks for liking my post about Port Arthur. It was interesting to stumble upon your site – I travelled throughout Luzon and (of course!) Boracay, when I was younger, and spent a while working in Manila, and your photos and blogs show just how much has changed! Looks very cosmopolitan now.

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    1. Wow, that bygone era must have been very nice, when Manila is not as congested as it is now, when it was still very grand. I’m interested to know how Manila was back then. Thank you by the way for dropping by my blog.

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    1. Great to know that! What course did you take? As they say, UP students are almost always bound to take the road less traveled. Hope to read more of your stories, too. Do visit my blog regularly as well. Thanks for dropping by!

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  16. Hi, Ivan and Khris. It was through FB that I stumbled upon you. Your writing is very honest, and your love story is terrific – being centered around travel, food, and meaningful conversations. Continue inspiring people with the way you live your lives!

    Cheers,
    Rye

    Reply

    1. Thank you, Rye, for your kind words! It’s such a small world; I’ve just read about your story a few days ago. And then over the weekend, we get to meet you over FB. Your story is equally amazing and inspiring. Keep filling your blog with your remarkable chronicles! We’ll be looking forward to your journeys!

      Reply

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