TIME TO SET

I will end this year for my blog with photos of an amazing sunset we were gifted on the end of our first day in Coron. As the path on our way back to town was surrounded by scattered islands, the changing of hues of the sky made it difficult for me to focus my attention to one side alone. In my left is an unbelievable silhouette of an island with the orange outline, and to my right was the sight of another rock formation painted with colors of pink, light purple and orange. It was a feast for the eyes.

It is in moments like this that I am reminded of the kind of abundance I have in life, and that I need not to worry too much of it sometimes.

Happy New Year to you! :)

A HOPE TO STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

When it comes to technology devices, GAS (Gadget Acquisition Syndrome) is inevitable. This certainty has doubled up on me when I started shooting with film cameras such that it only took me three months from using a Superheadz Ultra Wide and Slim plastic camera to a Canon AE-1 Program SLR, five months to acquire my Pentax KX (also an SLR), and only a month to bite the bullet on a Konica C35 EF.

It is almost a year since the last purchase, but this does not mean I do not bleed inside every day to the parade of cameras for sale on Lomomanila, Film Photography Swap and Soviet Camera Store in my Facebook feed. Oh what a beautiful pain it is to endure this heartache sometimes!  Geeking about them on screen is mostly enough to nurture the passion and fuel the inspiration in trekking life with this hobby.

Although caving in to another purchase is always an almost, I told myself what I had was enough since I still feel pretty much confident on using my current cameras with what I usually want to achieve in taking photos. I guess the Universe noticed this "sacrifice" of mine and (dare I say it) rightfully so, gifted me generously this Christmas hahaha.

It is quite unbelievable to see the Red Dot staring back at you :) 

I have not used it as much as I can, just a few tinkering captures here and there using the obsessive monochrome setting. I am sooo glad for this because I do not feel the slightest urge to need to edit the digital images at all. Here are some:

On a related note

Over the last few days, I am getting more interested in giving street photography a try since I can bring the camera with me all the time because of how compact it is. So far, I'm trying to read and digest Eric Kim's and Dave Powell's blogs and watch some Garry Winogrand Youtube documentaries. I love how all this new information geeks me out haha.

More so, when I stumbled upon the story of Vivian Maeir. WOW. Am I the only who knew about this now? It really does boggle my mind to know how extensive her collection of undeveloped film rolls (about 1000!) were until John Maloof's discovery. Her work in street photography is also so, so good to marvel about. They are simply exceptional. I cannot imagine the strength it took to photograph life daily and not see them for yourself.

I don't know how to feel about the business side of what has been done, though. A part of me feels thankful for the discovery, restoration, exhibition and archival, and how this can help both historians and photographers in re-living life at that time (they were dated 1950s-1990s). However, it also seem weird of me to feel a tiny bit of invading Vivian's privacy, maybe because of the fact that the world has seen her photographs first and she will not, ever. I am nowhere near knowledgeable how everything works in business, but when I think about it, it makes me cringe how someone else has profited generously from the work of a dead woman. Is intellectual property really out of the question when there's no heir?

coron: banol beach

After a few minutes of lada-di-das in CYC Beach, we were summoned back to our boat to hop on the next island: Banol Beach. The insanely beautiful view approaching the island was more than enough to feed my vision: trees randomly sprouting from the rock formations, undeniably clear water and nipa huts nestled just a foot or two away from the white sand shoreline.

However, our bodies needed to be fed too, and demanded real food haha. After we found shade from the harsh noon light, it was not long until food was served in our hut. Pritong Isda, Inihaw na Liempo and fresh seaweeds, partnered with a bowl of soy sauce, calamansi and tomatoes is how I spelled perfection at that time.

I hoped to cap off the meal with an afternoon nap, but as I was lying there, I ended up staring at the sea instead.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Remind me again to never stay up late until 3AM on Christmas eve (or day?) because then I'll just end up sleeping the whole way through Christmas day (not that I have better plans to do haha). 

I'll probably be spending crumbs of this day reading Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham, and drinking wine later. On a more celebratory note, Merry Christmas to you dear reader! I'm sooo glad I still get to spend another Christmas with this blog.

How's Christmas at that part of your world? :)

coron: cyc beach

With only three days to spend in Coron, we coordinated our island tour quickly just as we have settled our bags in the hotel. It started by a tricycle picking us up, delivering us to the dock, and then ushering us into our own boat. This was around lunchtime, so the sun is pretty hyped up, and with twenty minutes to spare while we sail to our first island, we spent it putting sunblock on in slathers.

The sight of the rock formations in the horizon did not leave us until our first stop, CYC Beach.

This photo did not come out as I have expected, because the colors are much better as I have seen it! I have posted a similar shot on my Instagram with no filter for proof :)

While our two accommodating boatmen/tour guides stayed to start cooking our lunch (yes, they can cook on the boat!), we went down and walked through the crystal clear water until we reach the shore. And just as we did, I was immediately welcomed by two sweet dogs! Heehee.

I circled the beach which was surrounded by a lot of mangrove trees and more rocks. The texture in them was so photogenic, the Ektar helped me capturing them as I have intended :)

arriving in coron

It was my second time in Coron, and as it did the first time, I was fixated on the sight of a horizon of rock formations covered with greens. They were hovered by a spread of clouds, making a shadow play on the "humps" from a distance, which was a sight that grew larger and larger as I came close to it. The sun was a bit on the harsh side, but a sparkling sea always sizzled me on the inside.

My photos cannot be trusted on capturing how it looked like because the view was much, much better in real life :)

A TEASING PALAWAN

My film scans that I took from Coron, Palawan have arrived last week, and I thought of sharing a few captures first just to try to influence your travel plans for 2015 (it's Visit the Philippines Year, by the way) haha! The rest of my Coron stories will follow in the coming weeks :)

And then there's this beautiful happenstance, that the Philippine Department of Tourism released a 30-second clip a few days ago to tease you (and I) with the grandness and gorgeousness of this island. Enjoy! :)

ANTIQUES AT YOKI'S FARM

Aside from the hydroponic plants being grown at Yoki's Farm, it also houses a huge variety of antiques and private collections of the owner. Some of the most fragile ones are kept in a glass room, but my favorites are the very old models of telephones and typewriters :)

IN MY ROOM

I'm blaming it to the human dietary change that our jawbones today could not fully accommodate all of our teeth, hence they've got to come out later in life and sprout from a totally unacceptable angle that the only way to get them out is through a minor dental surgery, which costs so much, I had to scrimp on gift-giving this Christmas, and yet I still have to settle on referring it to as wisdom.

Phew.

I have a few more days to recover, and by the looks of it, my room and I will be spending some more time together after this weekend. Hopefully, I can do something creative, or at least productive out of this bed (ar)rest. So far, what I have only done was to:

• watch movies
• Frozen
• Yep, just watched it now, I can't believe it myself either
• Begin Again
• the original soundtrack is GOLD
• I want all of Keira's clothes and sandals
• This Is Where I Leave You
• Tina Fey is still my hero (esp in sarcasm)
• Jason Bateman is still the love of my life
• What is there left to say aside from Jason Bateman and Tina Fey in one movie is my dream come true and it has been all sorts of awesome as I expected it to be
• get up to fetch some
• soup
• chocolate drink
• meds

Ideally, I hope to:

• write some more
• read Fangirl or Landline
• do something crafty
• assemble my calendars
• try to draw and watercolor

Let's see how I fare tonight and tomorrow. Meanwhile, we are gearing up again here in the Philippines for Typhoon Hagupit, which means lash in Tagalog. I wonder why they made the international name in Filipino.

Anyway, happy end of the weekend to you!

A BRIGHT DAY IN HARBOR SQUARE