Black and White Easter - Leslie's Restaurant, Silang, Tagaytay City, Philippines

I spent Easter attending two services in different churches then joining some impulsive friends to Tagaytay. I think taking really clear photos are cool, but sometimes a little blur and distortion can be a good thing. It gives a dreamy feel.

Remembering War Heroes in Capas Shrine, Capas, Tarlac

A few kilometers from Mt. Pinatubo is a war memorial dedicated to Filipino and American soldiers who died in the infamous Bataan Death March.  

The "main attraction" of the monument is the 70-meter obelisk surrounded by a black marble wall containing the names of those who died.  

A poem by Juan Luna

Tired, hungry defenders, like heroes old,

Held their groud, brave and true to the last man

The smoke of the battle cleared.  A crimson flood

Lay like a carpet on the hollowed ground.

O heroes, you died not in vain.  New blood

Picked up your cry in one united sound

Until victory the fight must go on,

Each Filipino heart, A Bataan!

Photo-tripping at Sonya's Garden, Alfonso, Cavite, Philippines

There's a garden-resto in the south where you could eat by the trees and have a good time with nature.  So if you're into eating healthy and fresh, you can try this joint-- only if you've got cash to burn.  It's a tad too pricey for my wallet, considering there's not much meat in the dishes!!


Anyway, two friends and I went there to take some photos.  To make it more interesting, we swapped cameras!  Here are my shots using a point and shoot I borrowed from a friend.

My favorite thing in the entire garden.  It brings back memories from preparatory school where I played the Fiddler on the Roof and we sat on a similar bench singing "Sunrise, Sunset".

I have a liking to bricks, stones, walls and floors.

I know they look overprocessed, but really they're all from the camera's shooting modes/effects.

In the mouth of Mount Pinatubo, Tri-Cabusilan Mountain Range, Luzon, Philippines

Whoever knew that the once destructive volcano will turn into a trekker's paradise?

On a boring office day, one of my friends Skyped me a link to The Travel Factor. I was disinterested at first.. Until I read about their Indochina tour (!!!) this year. Then I started looking at their 2009 calendar. Surfing in Bali, touring Batad and Banaue, wakeboarding in Cam Sur, conquering Kota Kinabalu, white water rafting in Kalinga..

I love traveling and I wanted to join every single trip, but being on a tight schedule and a tighter budget, I opted for the day trek to Mt. Pinatubo.

We had a beautiful time and the photos can speak for themselves. :)

After registering at the barangay hall, we hopped into one of these 4x4 jeeps to take us to the foot of Mt. Pinatubo.

Between the town and the volcano, it was all plain with thick, dry grass growing on each side.

This is the waiting area at the foot of one of the high slopes.  The jeeps had to go one by one to avoid accidents.

A stream flowing down the trekking route, just by the side of the "road".  At times it would cross the walking path and our shoes had to get wet.

At the mouth of Mt. Pinatubo.

Swimming here is like taking a sulfur bath, they said.

On the way back we passed by an Aeta family just chilling under the sun. :)

The white sand-like soil surrounding Mt. Pinatubo is lahar, or volcanic mud spewed from the said volcano when it last erupted.

A*FEST at Gweilo's and Cafe SaGuijo, Makati, Philippines

I attended 2 of the 4 legs of the first ever Asian Indie Music Festival in Manila brought to you by Kindassault and Underground 105.9

Poster by ibleedink and PEEMAHHFCKNWEE

Here are the links to the bands I took photos of:

the sinister left (hk)

ciudad (pinas)

arigato hato (pinas)

free love (malaysia)

velvette vendetta (hk)

deepset (malaysia)

everybody loves irene (indonesia)

pedicab (pinas)

chochukmo (hk)

born to hula (hk)

and here are the links to the photo albums: gweilo's, cafesaguijo

The Seas and Beaches of Bohol, Philippines

We woke up early in the morning to head to the sea.  I must say, sunrises are as equally stunning as sunsets.

When we got there, a lot of boats were already heading out, all of them with the same itinerary as ours-- dolphin watching.

It's quite hard to catch a shot of these marine mammals because you don't know where and when they'll jump out of the water.  Here's one of the lucky shots I made.  This dolphin was also way too close to our boat.  Most of them are at least about 10 meters away.

As most of you know, there are so many good beaches in the Philippine archipelago.  But there are only a few protected reefs like this one above.  It's a snorkeling area maintained and funded, I believe, by the local government.

The Snake Island, named obviously after its shape.  It's not strictly an island; it looks more like a very wide sandbar leading to an island.

The parking lot.

Knee-deep water and grainy, white sand.  See how clean the water is?

Local kids enjoying a swim and doing flips off of the bamboo pontoons of the bangkas.

I don't know how this tire got here, but it made a good element for composition.

Land-tripping in Breathtaking Bohol, Philippines

My first outdoor escape with my D90!

Crispy Squid with ketchup-mayo sauce.

This devil that is called "Happy Horse".  Some drinkers believe that this special bottle (1 in every case) contains a more potent mix than the normal Red Horse beer.

The Chocolate Hills of Bohol.  These 1,200+ cone-shaped hills across 50 square kms are green for most of the year, but turns brown during the dry season.  Best viewed from a plane, the mounds look like little mole hills.  There's a viewing deck in the town of Carmen where the Chocolate Hills seem to surround you.

This two-kilometer road surrounded by mahogany trees is the man-made Bohol Forest.  It can be found at the border of Loboc an Bilar towns.  The road is lined with thousands of mahogany trees whose trunks seem to shoot straight upward from the ground and disappear into the thick leaves.  

The Philippine Tarsier.  

Inside the Baclayon Church, or the Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception in Baclayon is one of the oldest in the Philippines.  The main structure was built from coral stones from the sea, cut and piled over each other.  To get there, you may take a bus or jeepney from Tagbilaran heading to Baclayon.  Some tricycle drivers will also be willing to drive you there.

A few feet beside the monument of the Bloodpact (Sandugo), you will find a dodgy set of stairs leading to a small mangrove forest.  

I was a bit disappointed, not because there was a lack of sceneries to capture, but because I didn't have the tools and/or skills I needed to be able to capture them the way I wanted to. Yeah. It just goes to show that marami pa ako kakaining bigas. :|

My biggest disappointment was when I compiled all my HDR attempts (using the auto-bracketing function), I barely noticed the difference. That's one thing I'd consult the books for. Can't learn from experience if you can't even create the experience.


All in all the trip was worth it!