Skywatch#129 Different Skies and Different Timezones

A few years ago, a friend told me that when I get the chance to travel through continents, I should look out for what she called the "timezone sky". She saw it while traveling from the Philippines to Canada and said that it was really beautiful. Not sure if it's her own label but her explanation was that the sky  looks quite different when crossing timezones.

I love taking photos while airborne. Not only do I feel like I am in heaven as what most people say, I also like how the colors of the clouds change constantly. The favorite time for me is during sunset or sunrise when an array of kaleidoscope of colors change within seconds.

The above photo was taken while we were on our way home from London last year. As can be expected, London was covered with clouds.

More than 30 minutes after, the sunset blue hour started and pastel colors started battling over the blue-black color of the skies.

I never got to see what my friend said years ago about the "timezone sky" and so I stayed awake most of the 17-hour trip to home from our Europe trip just to try if I could see it.  When I saw it, it did not disappoint.

This was no ordinary sunset or sunrise colors I thought when I opened the window shade. Before that, I watched about 5 movies on the plane just to try to see if I could catch this. This should be the "timezone sky" my friend was talking about. Checking out the time, I realized that we must be somewhere between Europe and Asia. How cool is that!

 

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Skywatch#125 It's More Fun In Davao

Department of Tourism's present slogan is "It's More Fun In the Philippines!". For me, Davao's got a lot of share of that fun. Surrounded by mountains and facing the sea, we got the best of both worlds. Ziplining, scuba diving and mountain climbing are just some of the activities Davao City offers. I've done most of those activities and I am not finished yet hahaha!

 

In the meantime, the photos were taken during a Worldwide photowalk last October 13. There were three photowalks happening in the city on that day but I chose Sta. Ana Wharf. The photos were of the newly made statues at the entrance of the old wharf. The eagle is city's iconic symbol while the statue of the family is of the indigenous tribe carrying their produce. The backlight was of the sun rising on that day.


 

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Skywatch#120 View From The Plane

The plan was to take photos of San Pablo City's seven lakes from the plane. So, with fingers crossed that I could get some clear view of Laguna Province I held on to my camera waiting for the opportunity.

 It seemed though that the clouds could won over so I just took some shots. And lo! a glimpse of the lakes suddenly came into view. I took several shots but the plane was too fast for me to get some good shots without the plane's  wings. Here is the only shot that did not include the unwanted plane wings...  

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Skywatch#118 Quezon Memorial Circle

I took a chance to explore Quezon Memorial Circle on my first weekend of my study-training. We had rainy days previous to that weekend and it was just such a relief when Saturday promised to be a sunny day. While my roommates were busy lounging inside our hotel room, I explored the circle where the former Philippine president Manuel L. Quezon and his wife are buried.

I got off at the Philcoa Building and walked through the underpass to get to the circle's gate. The park was clean, green and spacious. Families were walking around and there were some brave souls who jogged under the scorching sun.  Security guards were seen around patrolling the area and to my surprise, the park has a lot of interesting nooks for people from all walks of life to enjoy in.

 

 

This monument is located at the center of the circle. Underneath it is a museum housing the memorabilia of President Quezon and also his sarcophagus. His First Lady, Dona Aurora Quezon, is also buried here. The museum is being managed by one of the daughters.

 

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Skywatch#114 Quirino Grandstand, Luneta

Quirino Grandstand is the traditional location of the swearing-in of the newly-elected President of the Philippines. It is  part of the Rizal Park or as most locals call it, Luneta Park. 

 

The grandstand is a favorite location for major religious, political, cultural and social events since it was built in 1949. 

 

But in ordinary days like this one, common people hang out in the grand stand to escape from the summer heat while some brave ones, fly these colorful kites.

 

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Skywatch#110 Philippine Churches#10 San Geronimo Parish Church, Morong, Rizal

I thank God for the blessings He has given me and I just feel lucky and blessed that inspite of the hardships, I could work hard and save enough to travel. I usually learn a lot from traveling especially in my travels across my country.

I have been eyeing the Visita Iglesia travel package being offered by Illuminati tours for more than two years now but could not get synchronized with my schedule. A blessing in disguise perhaps because this year's Holy Week, I not only did the Visita Iglesia in Laguna but I also took my mother and my niece along. Aside from that, we did a sidetrip to Pagsanjan Falls but that's another story.

To start off our Laguna Visita Iglesia, we visited San Geronimo Parish Church at Morong, Rizal.

 

The baroque architecture style of the church is quite obvious in the lines of its three-story facade and its octagonal-shaped bell tower.

 

 
 San Geronimo (St. Jerome) Parish Church is the oldest church in the town of Morong, Rizal. Chinese craftsmen helped build the church which is why it has two Chinese lion sculptures at the entrance. I read somewhere that it is one of the most photographed churches in Laguna.

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Skywatch#106 Blue Hour At Sta. Ana Wharf

They say the blue hour is the time between dark and light. I posted once taken on a sunset. Here's one from a sunrise taken at the Sta. Ana Wharf..

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Skywatch#103 Madonna of Japan, Tacloban

This Madonna of Japan or Maria Kannon  is standing at the Philippine Japan Commemorative Peace Park located on the slopes of Kanhuraw Hill, Tacloban City. The hill which faces the sea is also where the present City Hall stands.The park is one of the must-see places in Tacloban City.

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Lamdag Dabaw Floats

These are some of the participants of the Christmas Lights (Lamdag Dabaw) float parade held last December 21, 2011 along the main streets of Davao City.

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2nd Lamdag Dabaw Characters

The 2nd Lamdag Dabaw (Lights Parade) was held in the evening of the 21st December, 2011. It was scheduled 6:00 in the evening but for some reason, it started past 7:00 in the evening. By that time, there were already too many people waiting impatiently along Roxas Ave. where we also stood waiting. Nonetheless, the parade was colorful, exciting and fun. Here are some of the character-participants of the parade.

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Skywatch#96 MacArthur Landing Memorial, Leyte

The weather was cranky that day. Rain and sunshine battled with each other while we were on our way to the MacArthur Landing Memorial in Palo, Leyte. Relief washed over me when the sun won out the rain when we arrived at the memorial but the relief was only for a few minutes because rain came hard even if the sun was shining. We decided to have our lunch while waiting out for the rain to stop. Thankfully, our timing was right because the sun shone again after we finished our lunch.

wikipedia:
The MacArthur Landing Memorial in Red Beach, Palo, marks the spot where the American liberation forces landed. The Palo Cathedral was converted into an evacuation hospital for Allied forces during World War II. Hill 522 in Palo was the entrance to the first liberated town in 1944.

I decided to take a photo of the water reflections of the statues of General MacArthur with his soldiers but when I looked closer on my camera, I saw a rider on top of the hat of one of the soldiers. Can you see him?

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Skywatch#93 Mactan International Airport

Once again, Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) got the flak for being on the top 10 worst airports in the world. Most complaints were made against NAIA I which is the oldest among the three NAIA's. Sure, the airport made some improvements all through the years but if comparing it with other airports in the region, there are just too much to be done.

While NAIA is getting bad reviews, airport officials of other airports throughout the country should start taking stock of their own airports which likely have the same problems as that of NAIA.

Photos were taken while we were taking off from the Mactan International Airport. The said airport is the gateway to Cebu City and surrounding areas.

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My World#126 Durian Time

Perhaps it was the heavy rains that have been hounding us too much this year or perhaps there is truth about old folks' saying that durian harvest alternately change volumes every year. So, if there were too many durians last year expect to have a little less this year. We had too much last year that our local hospitals reported a rise in number of admitted patients due to high blood pressure (durian is well-known to increase blood pressure).

Last year was like a record harvest not only for durian but also for some local fruits like lanzones, mangosteen, marang, pomelo and etc.

lanzones vendor

It's already mid-August, durian time should have started late July. Sadly, the fruits that we have been expecting to appear especially durian have yet to manifest themselves on the streets. I miss my durian but gee, I am not buying if it's still expensive.

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My World#122 Cagayan de Oro's Whitewater Rafting

Before Davao City started having their own whitewater rafting adventure, Cagayan de Oro City already had theirs years ago. Whitewater rafting in Cagayan de Oro became so popular that it is considered a must-do for visitors and locals. Years ago, the fee was P2,000 (minimum of 4 persons)  inclusive of free buffet lunch (grilled seafood, rice and roasted chicken, yummy!), a bottle of mineral water,  free use of helmet, paddle, drybag and the rubberboat. I heard that it is now P1,200 minimum of 4 persons but without the delicious buffet lunch.

Before we started tackling the churning waters of Cagayan de Oro river, we were taught the basic rules for whitewater rafting which are: Listen carefully to your leader-boatman. Follow his instructions. Pray, paddle, pray and paddle. Of course, we were also taught how to handle our paddle to keep our rubberboats floating over the churning waters and to prevent ourselves from getting overboard (some did get thrown overboard and survived the churning waters minus the rubberboats).

For beginners, the whitewater rafting runs about 3 hours with 14 rapids to tackle with 10-15 minutes interval for every rapid. Along the way, aside from beautiful sceneries to see, there were lush vegetation and some monkeys gawking curiously at us, water rapids that folded our rubberboat into half, whirlpools and churning waters that almost ate my paddle, and jutting mountain walls (a certain wall had snakes sleeping on its holes/crevices) to tackle.

After some paddling, we took our rest in this cave which turned out to be nerve wracking because of its fast and heavy current that we need to traverse to get to the spot where we can sit on some rocks. Thank goodness for our ever-helpful and vigilant boatmen, they helped us crossed to the other side.

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