coron: kayangan lake

The first time I went to Coron, the one spot that stuck with me long after the trip was over was the luminous Kayangan Lake. I was so enamored by it that I considered it the most beautiful place I have ever been to, in the Philippines. Four years later, it still got a hold of me, and I am amazed how it did not change one bit.

One thing to be noted though, the path to the lake is tricky. Her beauty needs to be earned, you know, by climbing up a hundred plus steps, and then descending to a hundred plus more of uneven stones. By the time you reach the wooden platform to catch your breath, it is going to be taken away again by the sight of the clearest waters surrounded by the rocky mountains and trees. Welcome to a pocket of paradise! :)

The best part: we had the lake all to ourselves until dusk. I carry with me a wonderful, peaceful moment lying down on the raft, softly paddling through the waters with my hands, and just being still and afloat. It was the perfect moment to cue in that Louis Armstrong song: And I think to myself, what a wonderful world. Hahaha, it really calls for being highly dramatic.

2015: the cherry on top

I don't usually admit it to myself, but I have lived life with the saying: Go with the flow. I don't put things back to their proper places. I don't make lists. I have no urge or whatsoever to make a mental note of things (or if I do, consider it forgotten). I have woken up to many mornings thinking that things will fall into their proper places just as they should, because of wrong interpretation of if something is bound to happen, it will. Obviously, things will only happen if you actually make a move for it.

2014 has given me a chance to know myself better, which I am grateful for, and one simple thing I realized and I will easily succumb to on being at fault: I don't make new year goals. It is so laughable, I know. Having known and accepted this, I learned that it is not enough to just have goals, they also have to be smart. And by smart, this means: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely goals. 

New year means fresh start. This could be exciting at first, but also prone to quickly fade out after a few months in to the new year. So here are my 2015 (hopefully) smart goals, which I will look into again in July to check each progress (I tried to be realistic haha):

• Wake up 75 minutes before going to work to make time for stretching, at least three times a week
• Shoot more people, at least six shots in a roll
• Draw (no matter how mundane) once a week
• Join Carlos Celdran's Barter Tour before the rainy season begins
• Complete the 52-week money challenge (in reverse)
• Blog at least three times a week
• Finish a book once a month
• Take photos in my neighborhood/city once a month
• Participate in two photowalks
• Join Alessa Lanot's Watercolor Workshop
• Print at least five photos for every roll of film
• Take Kimi out for a walk every Sunday morning
• Spend only ten minutes in social media before sleeping
• Write in my journal every day
• Visit the National Museum

Some of the things I cannot quantify, but still want to achieve:

• Resist participation in gossips (haha)
• Compliment people more
• Give thanks upon waking up instead of looking for my phone immediately (hehehe)
• Be receptive in small talks
• Choose my words and speak more kindly
• Own up to my photography (and also to this blog :D)

I tracked all of my films, and discovered that I shot 59 rolls this year! 59! I would love to include a goal that involves a direct output from my photography, but I guess this one has to be derived from the more specific photography-related goals I have mentioned above. Printing postcards or bookmarks, perhaps? Doing last year's calendar opened up more ideas on what to do next.

2015 is going to be the cherry on top :) May this year be our most productive one yet!

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.