Unwind

During the long weekend I decided to unwind in the northern mountains of Kalinga. I visited my miner friend in her hometown in Balbalasang. Its a 18-20 hours trip from Manila, it is tiring but so worth it :)

Top load.Heavy duty jeepneys are used as the main transportation going to Balbalasang

 Chico River. Its rapids is famous for white water kayaks

Balbalasang town proper

The whole town consists pf 177 households, they are all from the tribe of Banao and Ilocano is their native language. They're main source of livelihood is farming and some of them participates in small-scale mining in some areas in Kalinga. The town is powered by micro hydro power plant from the Tupang River. Another river that flows within the area is called the Saltan River, consider as the cleanest river in the whole Region I.

Saltan River consider as the cleanest river in whole Region 1


It's a very relaxing break being surrounded with all the greenery scenes of the mountains and being able to feel its cool breeze during the early mornings and evenings. I had a great time with the family of my friend and feel so welcome even though that's the first time I met them :)

The cool mountains that covers the whole town of Balbalasang 

My friend takes her sister son for a quick dip in Saltan River

A regular day in the mountains

 Fooling around the top of the world :)


I hope its beauty will be preserved for the next generation.

 

8 days, 2 countries, 5 cities, new friends

Its that time of the year again when Chiloy and I travel :) this time our destination is the land of spices and sweet, India. We took an 8 day leave of absence to explore 2 countries and 5 cities.

First stop: Malaysia

We supposed to stay here for only one day and one night but unfortunately we got left by our plane and got stuck for another day. But it still fun and this is the place that I want to go back to and explore more. We only saw the Petronas tower, china town and the a bit of night life in the backpackers area of Jalan Changkat but I know the city offers a lot more than that.

Second stop: Chennai airport

Waah after the hussle of being left behind the airplane we finally reach Chennai :) The most wonderful thing that happened in that airport is the smooth process of our visa on arrival. The lady officer just asked our purpose of travel and how many days we will stay then she just said the amount gave us some papers to fill up and tada! we had a visa!!!

Third Stop: Mangalore!!

We're almost there!! Upon arrival we were welcomed by the hired driver of our friend with our names written in a piece of paper. That is the first time I was able to experienced someone waving my name in the arrival area hehe :)

Fourth and final stop: Udupi :)

We're finally here!!! Upon seeing our friend Nishant we immediately hug each other (waah that is the best moment of this trip) After all the warm greetings he let us wash up first then we shop for our Shalwar to wear for the wedding. We also went to the hotel where his family is staying to have our Mehandi. In the end of the day his cousins brought us to Diana's sweets a family restaurant that has been in Udupi for 50 years and experience different Indian food from the most spicy one to the sweetest :)

Our second day is the wedding itself. The first ever wedding I've attended in my entire life :) Its a very intimate and colorful Hindu wedding ceremony and we're so lucky to be part of the most important event in our friend's life. Its a one of kind experience and words are not enough to explain the joy of seeing Nishant so happy with Swapna ^_^ His relatives were so hospitable that they explain almost every part of the ceremony. The most interesting one is the hiding of Nishant shoes of the groom's family and the mission of the bride's family to find it. If they find it, Nishant's family must pay them their price just to get it back. Nishant's cousins were very clever because they put up a lot of decoy shoes to confuse the bride's family hehe. Its was really funny to see people in formal dresses running and fooling around the wedding hall just to find our friend's shoes :)

Third day in Udupi was spent for temple visits weeh!! Udupi is called the city of temples more than 100 can be found in its vicinity. The one that we visit is attributed to Shiva and Ganesh (meaning). Its a very hot day and we walk bare footed inside the temples and eat free lunch with the people (the best food I've eaten :) Its one of the best experience sitting and enjoying the relaxing atmosphere of their temples. In the afternoon we meet up with Prashant, Varun, Naina, Ratchika, Shresh and a lot of Nishant's cousins and went to a private beach. Hehe its really an unusual thing to do in India but we enjoyed the short boat ride, the walk in the fishing village and the simple relaxing moment in the sand :)

This is also our last day in Udupi next stop: Trichy

Its a small city in South India with the worst traffic that we've experienced and no street lights!!! We arrived at night and ride an auto rickshaw to the Rock Temple to shop for some souvenirs. I can say that this trip completes our India experience because we witnessed how crazy they are in driving. There are no proper lanes everyone can just take over no matter what the size of the vehicles are and there is no street lights!! Everytime we try to cross the street we feel like its our last day on earth every vehicle is just fast and again there is no street lights!!! Luckily we survived that crazy experience ^_^

Trichy is our last stop then off to KL again we waited there for 6 hrs on our flight back home.

These 8 days are just full of fun, adventure and the best memory of all is gaining new friends hope we can see them again in our next visit to the land of spices and sweets and crazy traffic hehe :)

more photos on this sites:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151262004064048.516033.748929047&type=3
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151260744694048.515847.748929047&type=3

feeling of lost....

Take me away from
this madness take me away
Somebody save me!

day 237-236 : letters

Last December I did a general cleaning in my room and this is what I've found:



Reading old letters from my friends, relatives and my mom is like getting to know myself all over again. Its quite nostalgic and fun



Thanks everyone for these timeless memories :)

day 259-247: the best of 2011

Time for some reflections, the following 12 photos are the highlights of my 2011.


January- its good to see my college friends again after so many years.


February- my first try in shooting wedding (thanks for the opportunity Kuya Mel sa uulitin :)


March- spending my birthday in Saigon with my dear friend and classmate Chiloy ^_^


April- taking lighting sessions with Kuya Mel as preparation for my portrait portfolio for ACFJ


May- after one year of studying and 6 months of working for our final portfolios, we're finally done weeh!! Thanks so much for all our mentors and for the good memories and hardships my dear batch mates hehe kudos to all :)


June- Coron!!After our 2 weeks of sleepless nights preparing for the defense its time to sit back, relax and enjoy the beach weeh!!


July- its good to be back in our province after 8 years maupay!!


August- ever been inside a control room of a nuclear power plant?hehe this is one heck of an experience!! hoping the government will covert this mothball BNPP into a more productive way as a tourist destination rather than operating it again.


September- again another once in a lifetime experience to enter a cold storage area for fish the temperature is below 8 degrees Celsius brr.....


October- my first solo exhibit, Realities a photo story on Cosplay being shown in SM Mall of Asia during the 2011 Cosplay Mania thanks everyone for making this possible :)


November- travel again hehe this time in Angkor Wat wherein I met new friends and great photographers


December- after 4 years its good to spend Christmas with the whole family in the Philippines :)

2011 is a good year thanks to my family, friends and all the blessings and challenges Lord God for this new year I pray that Your will should be done again Glory be to the Highest!!

day 265: traveling feet

“A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.” – Lao Tzu

I never imagine to go back again in Angkor Wat after two weeks but the return trip sure is fun together with my mentors Lea and Grace.Its the lack of planning and pure adventure that really makes the trip memorable and of course its our bonding moments kuno hehe.

Ulitin natin to guys :)

day 276-266: 6 days, 3 countries, new friends, great adventure :)

Where was I a week ago hmm let the photos tell you my tale...



Bus terminal in Bangkok to Siem Riep. I've waited for about 7 hrs before I can board that bus argh!!!



The culmination of AngkorWat Photo Festival 2011. This last night of the festival they showcase the works of 27 young photographers who participated in this year's workshop. I was able to be inspired and to meet new friends and great Asian and Westerner photographers. What a great night of learning, drinking and just having fun hehe :)



Angkor Wat temple!!! Weeh got a tiring and fun tour together with Chiloy's batch mates in the workshop. Too bad were not able to see all the temples but at least we got this nice sunset



After walking in the temple I finally experience a very tickling foot massage :) and its only for 2 dollars with free beer



Phnom Penh a four hour bus trip from Siem Riep, we only stay here for one night just to see the photo festival.



One of the exhibit story in the Phnom Penh photo festival. Its a work of one of Chiloy's batch mate, I just love the lighting in these photos. Good portraits!



Back in the city of motorcycles hehe. Good evening Saigon!!



A pretty cat guarding the bag store ^_^



The greatest ice cream in the world!! Haha why is it that we always have a hard time looking at this place imagine we even go inside a travel agency just to ask for directions ^^;



What a good way to spend our last night in Saigon, eating in our favorite noodle place :)

Great travel, new friends, inspiring photos hehe life is good :)