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#134 The Mighty Mount Apo

Partially hidden from the clouds, Mt. Apo stays majestic. We were trying to catch a few more photos before it was hidden entirely by the clouds. It has always been considered as the grandfather of the Philippine mountains. Not surprisingly, as it is the tallest at more than 10,000 feet. It is also a popular must-climb, must-see destination for climbers. The peak season is during summer in the months of March-May. It has a number of trails but the Kidapawan trail is considered as the more accessible. Some people are proposing to build stairs to the peak but I personally could not agree about it.
 

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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#132 Windmills of Tarifa

 
They were like sentinels fanning the clouds. The windmills of Tarifa were lined up on the hills and valleys and can be seen along the highway. That day, we went out of our hotel in Seville in the early morning for our destination, the small town of Tarifa. The town is our jump-off point to the continent of Africa. Tarifa is a small town in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia, on the southernmost coast of Spain. The town is located on the Costa de la Luz ("coast of light") and across the Straits of Gibraltar facing Morocco. At exactly 36 degrees latitude, it is the southernmost point of the European continent, situated south of both African capital cities of Tunis and Algiers.(source: Wikipedia)
 

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Skywatch#131 Twilight Skies Over Christchurch

Twilight was setting in while we waited on the line to get into the Christchurch Museum in Oxford, England. It was eerie but beautiful.
 

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Skywatch#130 Silhouette of Philip IV

Silhouette of Philip IV at Plaza de Oriente 

The statue is located at the east side of the Royal Palace of Madrid, Spain.

Philip IV of Spain (Spanish: Felipe IV; 8 April 1605 – 17 September 1665) was King of Spain (as Philip IV in Castille and Philip III in Aragon) and Portugal as (Portuguese: Filipe III). He ascended the thrones in 1621 and reigned in Spain until his death and in Portugal until 1640. Philip is remembered for his patronage of the arts, including such artists as Diego Velázquez, and his rule over Spain during the challenging period of the Thirty Years' War. (source wikipedia)

 

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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#128 Dark Clouds Over Big Ben

A friend said that London's weather is almost always unpredictably gray. Meaning, London would always have gray clouds and intermittent rains hovering above but in a few lucky moments in a day, blue skies would peek out to tease and then, it would be back to gray clouds again. I definitely agreed with the observation as can be seen in the photos below: We started our day with threatening gray clouds over London but we kept to our itinerary for the day. As we went from one place to the other, taking photos here and there, I took photos of the Big Ben in a span of a few minutes. The photo above shows dark gray clouds over Big Ben but.. in a few minutes, blue skies are peeping out to tease.
 

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Will Travel

Source: FastLoanTree.com

When I came back from my Europe travel late last year, my mother asked me when will I ever stop traveling. My answer was, "Never." I will save, I will take credit, I will work hard for it and I will always plan for a travel at least once a year.

There is something about traveling that is quite addicting. There is so much to learn, to see, to experiment and to explore when traveling that it is like being young and bold again.

Not surprising, my mother caught the travel bug last year when I took her with me somewhere in the northern and central Philippines. She was amazed of what she had seen and experienced that she was asking when would be our next travel again.

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Save And Travel

Some people think that one needs to be filthy rich to do some traveling. With this mentality, a lot of people have given up their dream to travel to some distant land because they thought they could not afford to do it. Sure, to travel means to spend some money but there are several ways to save for one's dream travel. I am no millionaire but my friends and I have found a way to get to places we wanted to get to by just saving, strategizing and planning. People get jealous that we could get to places we wanted to get to but it takes a lot of discipline, will power and careful planning and strategizing before we could get to where we want. Taking out a loan helped a lot along the way but saving did more. For long travels, I saved for years. The first one was my first China travel. I saved for five years and most of which were done through the Pag-IBIG Fund's Pag-IBIG II program. The said program offered higher dividend rates than most if not all saving institutions. The rest of the expense for the said travel, I saved little by little. So, one needs not to be filthy rich to get to Spain or France or just even to Boracay or Sagada. One just needs to save and work hard. The destination awaits, excitedly.

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Last Minute Bargains

To minimise the headache of searching for your next family getaway, it makes sense to book holidays online.

Why? Because searching and booking through the internet is one of the quickest ways to find the holiday to suit all of your requirements. It saves time and money as you will be able to search quickly through thousands of resorts to find the one which is most suited to you and your travelling companions, as well as by the amount you want to spend.

There are many ways in which to search for your holiday. As the internet has become so advanced it has meant that by modifying the search box on the travel agents' website, you can see a list of results that will offer you a seemingly tailor-made holiday. During the search, filter the results by the things that matter to you - such as your chosen destination, desired holiday date, star rating of your hotel, board basis and also any additional requirements such as kids clubs or adults only. This will ensure that the list of hotels presented to you will be the most suitable. You can also narrow it down by price to make sure that you are right on budget.

Another great way to find a holiday to match your budget is to snare a cut-price package. The best way to do this is to book last minute holidays with Thomas Cook. A little trick is to decide when you want to go away, and then search through the website a few weeks before the departure date and look at the deals best suited to you. You can leave booking right up to the last minute to really catch a bargain, but if the location and facilities are important to you, especially if you are travelling with youngsters, it may be worth keeping your options a little more flexible.

There are plenty of different ways to find the right holiday - it's just a matter of setting out your priorities and budget, doing your homework, and choosing the one that best fits your wish list.

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Skywatch#127 Last Full Moon Of The Year

 

The full moon the other night was obstructed by clouds and I was already itching with the camera. Thankfully, the clouds cleared momentarily tonight allowing for a few shots. The next full moon will be happening next year.

 

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Skywatch#126

Photo taken at Hyde Park, London, UK.

We communicate to God through prayers (sometimes they become solicitation of favor/s) but one way of giving back what is due Him and appreciating of what He did for us is to appreciate nature. To stop for a moment in a day to see, to feel, to smell the wondrous thousands of colors a day could evoke, from sunrise to sunset. I dare say, God will feel really appreciated for 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#124 Sunset At Airport

Fly in, fly out. That's what we did this week in Manila. While on the way to the airport (NAIA 3), I saw the sunset peeping thru the trees and just had to take a photo. Thankfully, the traffic lightened for a second for me to steal this one.

 

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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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Kadayawan Backdrops

They were used as backdrops and fence/cover for the participants. They are commonly colorful, with intricate designs, made of light materials mostly wood, cartoon, sometimes foam, plastic, or even cloth.

 

 

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Skywatch#122 Kadayawan Floral Float Part 2

With the sky blue background and some green colors from the tree leaves, this floral float participant for the Kadayawan Festival floral float parade was one of my favorites.

 Its most prominent feature is the Child Jesus and the Philippine eagle.
  

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Skywatch#121 Kadayawan Floral Float Sky

The rains kept coming in the afternoons and in the evenings consistently for weeks now. Heavy and sudden, they flooded the streets almost immediately. So, the blue skies during the Kadayawan Float festival (Pamulak sa Kadalanan) last August 19, 2012 was a real gift. And oh boy, did the people come out! in droves!

This float by Kisan Lu Lands is this year's Best Floral Float. They truly deserve it with dancers garbed in tribal costumes high up the ground.

 

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Explaining the allure of last minute cruises

You would be forgiven for thinking that the phenomena of the last minute holiday bargain are only to be found in the world of sun-drenched seaside getaways but you would be mistaken and it is time you knew the truth. Yes indeed, you can pick up some eye-watering discounts on quite superb family holidays that will take you and your party from one amazing destination to another day after day. And you can see it all from the comfort of your sun-lounger or as you gaze out from the side of what is always likely to be a quite magnificent vessel.  

These days in fact, last minute cruises are an increasingly common feature of the holidaymaking picture, with families, individuals and groups of friends all taking a chance to see the world in style and at seriously discounted prices. As we know by now, booking last minute can mean making significant savings but if you're considering the option you would do well to be flexible about the kind of trip you take and the places you line up to visit. But being flexible on these points can work out beautifully in a way because you are relieved of the tough choices most cruise holidaymakers must make and it all adds to a sense of genuine adventure.

You might be surprised about the scale of discounts that even the most reputable holiday companies are ready to offer on quality cruise holidays as the relevant departure date approaches. Clearly, it is in no one's interest for rooms aboard the great sea-going entertainment and relaxation paradises that now cruise the oceans to be going unused at any point and the savviest among us have been quick to take advantage. In fact, a little homework and decisive action could soon see you and yours setting off on a truly amazing journey and perhaps even the holiday of a lifetime.  

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