Lakambini (Bing) Sitoy currently teaches English at Studieskolen and Cambridge Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark. She has published three books of fiction (Filles de Sweethaven, Jungle Planet and Mens Rea). She holds an MA from Roskilde University, Denmark, in the fields of English Studies and Cultural Encounters, both under the Department of Culture and Identity. She paints in pastel in her spare time. Bing was a semi-finalist in the Man Asian Prize (2008), has received numerous prizes in the Philippines (Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards, a National Book Award, prizes sponsored by magazines). As a journalist, Sitoy was a lifestyle and cultural section editor for various papers, and was a columnist and section editor for the Manila Times. She received the David T.K. Wong fellowship from the University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom in 2003. She holds dual Danish and Philippine citizenship.

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Over the Alps

I spent my birthday in Pompeii, visiting the ruins there and making the short drive to nearby Herculaneum. The day before, we were in Pæstum to visit the old Greek temple complex before taking the winding Amalfi coastal road and turning east over the mountains back to Pompeii.


But the story of those trips will have to come another time. Here instead are some photos I took, using my phone camera, during the flight back from Naples to Frankfurt the following day.

It wasn't the first time I had flown over the Alps, but previously they had been shrouded in clouds, or it had been after dark, or I hadn't gotten a window seat. My first view of the Alps, however, was in 2009, on a clear day with the sun shining with much greater intensity than it is in these photos. It struck the peaks and turned them into a pure glimmering white. I had never seen such beauty in my life. Alas, my camera was nestled in my check-in bag. But life gives you a do-over, so now I have these images as well.