Skywatch#135 Sunset At El Nido

On our way back to El Nido, Palawan we stopped by Commando Beach, our last destination for the day's island hopping. It rained for a few minutes and afterwards, this showed up.


 

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Skywatch#133 Summer in Britania Islands

We had an early start for summer last month. For years, we have been planning to get to Britania Islands, San Agustin, Surigao del Sur. Finally, after coordinating our group's schedules we did it on a weekend.  With one van full of my friends, we started our trip in the early morning of Saturday. The trip took more than six (6) hours but thankfully, the road was mostly paved. 

Here was one of our rewards after the long trip, a magnificent view from Hagonoy island (one of the 24 islets of Britania islands):



 

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Skywatch#123 Sta. Ana Wharf..For Now

 

Plans are underfoot for the improvement of the old Sta. Ana Wharf. It used to be teeming with people, commercial, fishing and passenger ships when I was just a child. But things changed, the old port looks dilapidated and only a few small ships use it nowadays. Passenger boats plying to and from Samal Island still dock on the port.

 

While waiting for the improvement plans to happen, life goes on. The port is still a favorite among the locals for an early morning walk like the old man was doing. 

 Neighborhood families still bath in its waters although I think it could pose danger to their health.

 

 

Water taxis are already available for island hopping adventure tours at the Sta. Ana Wharf.

 

And tourists, locals and foreign, wait for their boats for Samal Island while ambulant vendors ply their wares to them.  The port has also become one of the favorite locations for photoshoots. Life goes on at the Sta. Ana Wharf.

 

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Skywatch#116 Sunset Rays At Times Beach

 
While we waited for the Earth Hour at Times Beach last March 2012, I took photos of clouds.

Same clouds but with different setting in a span of a few seconds.


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Skywatch#105 Fishing In The Early Morning

An early fishing time for the old man while the sun was just starting to rise. I heard him say it was for breakfast but not sure if he got enough fish when some photographers were asking him to pose (lol!) while he fished. This is my entry for:

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Skywatch#104 Sunrise At Sta. Ana Wharf

It was never easy for me to wake up in the early mornings. That is why I am not crazy about fun runs in the early mornings but when a friend asked if I would like to tag along for a dawn shoot with one of the city's well-known photographers, I readily agreed. It turned out to be a fun shoot and never mind if I was half-awake. Here's one of the photos of the sunrise I took that day..

 

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Skywatch#88 Heaven Is Beautiful

Going home from a business meeting in Cebu, these clouds made me think of heaven.

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Skywatch#86 Dark Clouds Over Willy's Rock

I would have preferred the blue skies and calm, azure waters of my previous visits in Boracay Island but Typhoon Mina (International name: Nanmadol) could not just cooperate. The sun did its best to come out but the dark clouds always hovered over Boracay during our stay there.

Photo was taken at Willy's Rock. Willy's Rock is one of the famous landmarks of the world-renowned Boracay's White beach, considered as one of the best beaches in the world.

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Skywatch#85 Kiteboarding At Boracay

While dark clouds and the sun rays battle for supremacy in that afternoon, I could only watch, took photos and be amazed at the kiteboarders' derring-do as they tackled the tailwinds of Typhoon Mina (International name: Nanmadol) passing by Boracay Island last week. 

As the typhoon battered the northern part of the Philippines, the tailwinds of Typhoon Mina made the kiteboarders' play so much fun and scary to watch in Boracay. Some moments, the wind would take them flying a few meters above the waters and in some moments, the wind would slam them back to the waters that I could barely see the top of their heads. For sure, not for the faint-hearted. I wondered if I could do it, actually.

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Skywatch#80 Sunrise At Camiguin Island

Before heading home from our 3-day travel around Camiguin Island, I decided to wake up early to see the sunrise. On our last night, we stayed by the beach and so I knew that we would be having the best view to see the sunrise. It did not disappoint because it came out blazing with colors.

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Skywatch#76 Up, Up And Away!

I took this photo while waiting for our boat ride from Costa Marina Beach Resort to Davao mainland. I was just thinking that the PAL (Philippine Airline) plane looks like a big bird soaring high through the fluffy clouds.

The flag carrier used to dominate the commercial flights but now, Cebu Pacific Air is doing that. Big thanks to their plane ticket sales promo especially the piso fare and zero fare. Still, PAL has retained a lot of its loyal customers.

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Save The Philippines Seas

The first and only time I did scubadiving, I was tickled pink or should I say, tickled brown to my toes. It happened in El Nido, Palawan.

I was so excited and happy that I could not breathe properly through my breathing apparatus. I even almost forgot to neutralize when I saw the colorful corals swirling like delicate silk curtains in the sea waters. Nemo and his kind was frolicking among the corals and it took me a nanosecond trying to reach out for them. Good thing, my dive instructor who could easily pass up for a movie actor was quick enough to remind me by sign language that it was prohibited to touch them.

Being underwater was a surreal experience, but I would like to do it over again and again. It was only through that experience that I was able to fully appreciate the beauty of the Philippine seas. I grew up near the waters and I saw how it was a huge part of a lot of people like the fishermen and the families. Fish is also part of the main diet of the Filipinos.

For me, the scuba diving experience made me realize that I've come full circle. A circle that I want to experience again and again.

The recent news of seized contrabands of black corals, sea turtles and other marine life had me worried and angered. How could this black souls decimate an entire coral reef twice as big as overpopulated Manila just for the greed? Have they thought about the effects of what they had done? God knows, it might take another generation or maybe more generations before those decimated coral reefs could recover (if they recover at all).

I really hope and pray that the culprits be found and properly executed up to the full extent of the law. I also really hope and pray that the proper authorities in cooperation of the private sector will work hand in hand to resolve this dreadful incident immediately. The culprits did not only destroy the corals and the marine life of our seas but they also destroyed a huge part of our heritage.

In the meantime, let us be vigilant against those people who destroy our seas.

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My World#117 Boosting Davao Tourism

This is the presentation display inside Abreeza Mall featuring the weaving industry of the indigenous people of Davao. Known for their colorful and intricate designs on their costumes and other wearables, the indigenous people






The City Government of Davao in partnership with Department of Tourism is trying to boost the city’s tourism industry for this year. Already known as the adventure capital of the Philippines for its numerous adventurous activities like mountain climbing, white water rafting, ziplining and more, Davao City is also being geared as the melting pot of Philippine indigenous cultures in Mindanao.

The city of Davao is home to various indigenous communities of which are part of the last tribes of Mindanao. Struggling with the rapid loss of their ancestral lands, extreme poverty, lack of education and apathy among its younger generation, the tribes’ populations are dwindling and their culture deteriorating.

With the thrust of the city government towards tourism industry, the indigenous people are being given hope to show their culture and heritage to the world and at the same time, retain and nurture them for the future generation.

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Skywatch# 70 Bohol Dolphin Watching

My mother thought I was joking when I said we could watch dolphins in the wild while we were in Bohol. She realized I was serious when I hired a boatman to take us to where the dolphins were. The dolphins mostly swam around the waters of Pamilacan and Balicasag Islands.



The day started with drizzling rain and I prayed that the skies would clear and the waters would be relatively calm as we do our dolphin watching.  Years ago, when I first did the dolphin watching, it only took us less than an hour to get to where the dolphins converged. Plus, there were fewer boat rentals wandering around looking for the dolphins.



This time, the number of boat rentals increased by threefold. They were about thirty dolphin watching boats carrying excited dolphin watchers that day.

As the minutes ticked by without so much a ripple from any dolphins' flippers, I was getting apprehensive. I wanted my mother to see the dolphins in the wild before we leave Bohol.  Thankfully, the rain stopped, the skies cleared and the waters were calm which somehow eased her nerves being in the boat for awhile. While some watchers were excitedly waiting ready with their camera, I saw this boatman calmly waiting on his boat.



Finally, a ripple on the waters got the boats scrambling after it. I strained my eyes and just in time saw flippers gently bobbing in and out of the waters. Dolphins!! My mother saw them too and was happily amazed.



Mission accomplished even if I didn't get better photos of the Bohol dolphins.

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Skywatch#66 Out Into The Plaza

This is the plaza fronting the Basilica Minore del Sto. Nino. The locals call it as the plaza but it is actually the Pilgrim Centre which was completed last 1990. It was constructed to accommodate the throngs of people who come and fill-up the basilica during celebrations like Sinulog festival.



Taken inside the basilica.


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My World#100 House Of Hope

A trace of weariness lined her face; a kind of weariness that was commonly absent among healthy kids her age. She tried to smile but while she looked sweet at times, she could not help but grimace at other times. She wanted to keep her shoulder-length hair but her treatment made it all impossible. She even thought her treatment won't happen because they were really poor but thank God to some kind-hearted individuals who helped her, her treatments pushed through. Difficult as it was, she was always hopeful. Her illness made her family poorer but she promised herself that once she gets well, she will work hard. Not only that, she plans to return to House of Hope. The place where indigent children stricken of cancer were being housed while undergoing treatment.

She is one of them now but she hopes she'll be able to get away from it.






Last month, I went on an outreach program for cancer-stricken children who were staying at the House of Hope. House of Hope is a halfway house for children with cancer and their families while they are having treatment at the Davao Regional Medical and Training Center. They were mostly indigent families.

Our group invited some cosplayers to entertain the kids and their families. Canon lent us some digital point and shoot cameras for the kids' use.



At the end of the day, the kids and their families such a grand time. It was so heartwarming to see and I'm proud that I have become a part of it.





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Skywatch#56 In Honor Of The Filipino Woman

This statue of the Filipino Woman is found at the Tail End of Corregidor Island. It is just beside Filipino Heroes Memorial. The statue also faces the memorial parks of Philippine presidents Manuel L. Quezon and Sergio Osmeña.

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