愛 (love)

All Love by Ingrid Michaelson

When I push the sheets away from your face
And watch you sleep all day here
And when I push you away
And say you simply cannot stay here

And it's all love, all love
It's all love, my stupid love

When I say you take away
The most important parts of me with you
When I've had the greyest day
You add more grey, it's just your way
It's true

But it's all love, all love, ohh
It's all love, all love, ohh
It's all love, all love, ohh
It's all love, my stupid love

You can't be the one to kill the pain anymore
You let me in but then you slam my fingers in the door
I've had enough but I keep asking you to give me more

What I say
That is no way

It's all love, all love, ohh
It's all love, all love, ohh
It's all love, all love, ohh
It's all love, my stupid love

It's all love, all love
(It's all love, it's all love)
It's all love, all love
(It's all love, it's all love)
It's all love, all love
(It's all love, it's all love)
It's all love my stupid love


Haha I know the photos and the song that I've chose is contradicting but that's love its all about contradiction :)

travelling....

La vida es sueño (Life is a Dream)
¿Qué es la vida? Un frenesí.
What is life? A frenzy.
¿Qué es la vida? Una ilusión,
What is life? An illusion
una sombra, una ficción,
a shadow, a fiction,
y el mayor bien es pequeño;
and the greatest good is small;
que toda la vida es sueño,
that all life is a dream,
y los sueños, sueños son.
and dreams are dreams.


Photos by: AC Dimatatac

5 cm per second

Do you know? The speed at which cherry blossoms fall… 5 centimeters per second. At what speed must I live... to be able to see you again? ~Tono Tamaki from the movie 5 cm per second





Photos by: AC Dimatatac

a lot of first as the year ends...

...I reflect on some photos that made an impact in my 2012

Hala Bira!!

My first time in attending this colorful festival in Kalibo, Aklan. Ang saya maki sadsad hehe party all day and night in the streets is a good way to begin the year

A miner's life

I was given an opportunity to do a story on the small scale gold mining in Camarines Norte under the NGO Ban Toxic. Its a eye opener story about the dangers of the mines and their health risk in being exposed to mercury. This inspired me to do a long term story on this issue.

City of dancing lights

My lola and cousin travel Hongkong for 5 days its a tiring trip but worth it :)

Like a miniature city

Riyadh on top view my last photo of Saudi

Caramoan!!

Its like little Coron hehe its good to swim again  :)

Sustainable mining

The second part of the mining story is a small mining town called Gaang in Kalinga. Here the miners have been practicing mercury free mining for a year now. I really admire the effort of the Banao people in their high regards to health safety and protecting the environment. Hope to be back on this place next year even though the climb up there is sooooo harddd!!! hehe  its worth it especially if I'm able to take home something that is more than gold.

New hairdo ^_^

What can I say hehe got myself a new haircut and i love it!!

Wedding vows

The first wedding I've ever attended and its in India weeh!! Congrats my dear friend Nishant :)

Run for your lives!!

The first ever zombie run in the Philippines! Its exhilarating and full of thrills :) I'm planning to join next year as a runner hopefully I can survive it

Tour of the Firelies- Bike for Sustainable Energy!

My first time to bike around Metro Manila hehe so fun!!!

 Goddesses No More

I thank the Lord for giving me an opportunity to be part of the 8th Angkor Wat Photo Workshop. I was able to do a story of culture and to meet this beautiful and talented dancers. Kudos to the art of dancing!!

The Last Mambabatok

What good way to welcome the end of the world by making a story about the last mambabatok or traditional tattoo artist in Kalinga. More power to you and your art master Pangud!


As the year closes to an end I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Lord for giving me the gift of photography without it I won't be able to meet this amazing people :) Domo arigatou gozaimasu ^_^

Goddesses No More...

The Apsaras are consider as celestial dancers, they are half women-half goddesses that performed at offering ceremonies and palace celebrations during the Angkorian Era. The elegant form of their fingers and circular movements of their hands symbolise their place between earthly groundedness and heavenly lightness.

Apsara dancing has undergo a lot of changes since the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime. From an important motif in the walls of Angkor Wat it is now a part of tourist attraction where everyone can see in the streets of Siem Reap. The revolutionary transformation of this art is a proof that Cambodians value their art and culture in a way that they are proud to show it to the world.

This slideshow is a showcase on how the dance evolve in a way that the locals wanted it to share to people.

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.

 

in transit...

A different world
People and places to see
It never stops

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

nanay yaka invades hongkong

Last April we treat our dear lola to Hongkong for five days, its a very tedious task but I certainly enjoy it :) This is for you Nanay Yaka and may you have more travels to come. We love you!

day 229-226: a day in the beach

I always love beaches for the following reasons:



its the perfect place to get your perfect tan only if you do it right :)



a good place for relaxation and bonding with family and friends



people watching weeh :)



Lastly, finding a good companion such as these two adorable cats.

day 235-230: Hala Bira!!

The mother of all Philippine festivals, Kalibo Ati-Atihan is consists of tribal dancing parade and ethnic music that accompanied by indigenous costumes and weapons. Its been observed every third Sunday of January in which people smear thmeselves of charcoal or any black substance to look like Aetas.

The name Ati-Atihan means "to be like Aetas" or "make believe ati's". It started at around 13th century wherein a group of Malay chieftains or "datus" fled from Borneo and accepted by the Ati's the early settlers in Panay Island. Its a celebration to seal a peaceful pact between two different races and cultures. It became a religious feast in 1750 wherein a companion priest of Fray Andres Urdaneta and explorer Miguel Lopez de Legaspi baptized in one day 1,000 inhabitants of the town and surrounding settlements in the place. Since then its been celebrated with masses and novenas to their Patron Saint Sto.Nino.

As time passes by,people add modern touch to the festival such as modern type of Ati-Atihan dance and used of creative masks instead of charcoals. The drum beats are also in tune of some pop music. But the spirit of the festival is still there and it became more lively with these new features. People from other provinces and even in Manila visit this place just to participate in the lively street dancing and witness the creativity of the costumes and props of the locals and the Aetas themselves. Many devotees are also flocking the church to attend the masses and novenas as they believe that they will be bless by the miraculous power of Sto.Nino.

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!!