UP Diliman: Lantern Parade 2010

This blog has moved!


WALK FLY PINOY:
Travel, Photography, Asia
www.walkflypinoy.com

The holidays are mostly about tradition. One of mine is being able to attend the UP community's annual lantern parade. I attended them when I was still a student in the university and I still attend the event yearly as an alumni.


One thing I noticed about this year's floats and lanterns was that there were less large-scale, grand, colorful group projects from the different colleges, offices and organizations. Save for some lanterns from the College of Fine Arts, this year's lanterns were mostly small held by, operated by or mounted onto one or two people.



Of course, UP would not be UP without advocacy and protest. And the community welcomes them, even those advocating what would be unpopular opinions in a very liberal environment. Think UP students against the RH Bill. You would think that that idea would be unthinkable, but in the case of some students, it is not.



Some colleges, and by that I mean colleges other than the College of Fine Arts, stood out this year, most especially the College of Science with their enormous beaker and test tubes, and the energy-themed, Meralco-sponsored College of Engineering.





Finally, and this has to be said every year, the College of Fine Arts takes the cake with their nautical-themed floats and lanterns. Every student, every class, every organization paraded their own sea-inspired projects.




As with tradition, the night is capped off with Beta Epsilon's fireworks display, something which never seem to disappoint the spectators of the parade. And when the last flare exploded into a colorful frenzy in the night sky, every one knew that the holiday vacation was officially begun. Christmas has indeed arrived.





More photos in my Flickr set: UP Diliman: Lantern Parade 2010.

See the rest of the post here...

Manila: Manila Ocean Park

This blog has moved!


WALK FLY PINOY:
Travel, Photography, Asia
www.walkflypinoy.com

When I first heard that the Manila Ocean Park, a marine park, recently opened in my city, Manila, I thought that that was so first world. Parks of this kind that I know of only existed in countries like the US, Spain and Japan. To be inside one of those tube aquariums, I thought, I would have to travel to those countries. Suffice it to say, that no longer applies.


Admittedly, our marine park is smaller than those in first-world countries. And it is. Depending on how fast you walk, you'll probably be able to go through the whole park in half an hour. But then I thought, hey, we got enough biodiversity in our seas to fill our marine parks with.


The park starts off big, literally. The first aquarium is that of three giant freshwater arapaima, a tropical fish normally found in the Amazon. They are big. I mean, Nat Geo Monster Fish big. I particularly enjoyed seeing them up-close because I am a huge fan of the show.


After the freshwater aquariums, you move on to a gallery of smaller ones, with a lot of interesting-looking fishes. Some elegant, some with elaborate fins and spines, some snaky, and some cute. I think this part would definitely be most enjoyable to kids.




Then, there are the ugly and scary ones. A rock fish which you would totally mistake for a colorful sea rock. Unfortunate, really, because they're poisonous. There's thing tank, too, full of sharks. Two or three of those sharks are so huge they can swallow a child whole. Really scary.




After the seawater fish gallery, you come up this huge atrium, the walls of which had huge built-in tanks of deep-water fishes. Some of them, I thought, looked plump enough to make good dinner. Haha. The atrium then leads off to the tube aquarium, which I very much enjoyed. You can tell by now that I am a fan of larger-than-life marine creatures.


The 400-peso entrance fee (350 for children) is not bad, actually. Well, I got in at a 50-percent discount because the company I work for chose the park as the venue for its year-end party. But I'd pay 400 for it. I'd pay a little more if I could actually get inside one of the tanks and be really up-close and personal with the marine life. Fortunately, they do have this activity. Aquanaut Voyage, they call it. One of these days, maybe.

See the rest of the post here...

Manila: Intramuros

This blog has moved!


WALK FLY PINOY:
Travel, Photography, Asia
www.walkflypinoy.com

It has to be done. I have been to quite a few places in and around the country and yet, I have never really explored the history of the city I was born in, at least not in recent years. I have seen and photographed remnants of the Spanish occupation in other parts of the Philippines. I guess it was time that I did so in my city, the country's capital, Manila.


Intramuros, Latin for within the walls, is a small territory located in the western part of Metro Manila, right by the bay and on the southern banks of the Pasig River. Back in the day, this walled city was considered the whole of Manila itself. Over the years, the territory covered by "Manila" expanded to the chaotic urban sprawl you see today.



The most prominent landmark of Intramuros is, of course, the Manila Cathedral, our first stop. The original church was erected here in 1581. It has taken quite a number of beatings over the years, including a world war, and so what we see today is actually the sixth incarnation of the church.



The cathedral interiors are palatial to say the least, the kind of place a lot of couples would want to be married in. The church is notoriously booked though. We're talking years, not just months. In fact, in the hour or so that we were there, we saw at least three set of wedding entourages pass by. Crazy.


After the cathedral, we walked the stone-covered General Luna street onto Casa Manila. It is basically a museum, a showcase of the architectural style and design popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. It costs 75 pesos to go inside the house itself and cameras aren't allowed. Needless to say, we contented ourselves exploring just the exteriors, including the courtyard, which were enough really.



For our final stop, we went back up the road, past the Manila Cathedral and the Palacio del Gobernador, into Fort Santiago, a defense fortress which was a necessity and thus a staple of Spanish colonies founded at the time. The fort forms part of Intramuros' actual walls but to get in, you need to pay 75 pesos.


Most of what Fort Santiago is right now is a well-manicured park/museum which houses memorabilia and other historical artifacts in the life of Filipino national hero Dr. José Rizal. It is a widely known fact that Fort Santiago served as Rizal's final holding prison before his execution on December 30, 1896.


We came to Intramuros in the afternoon. By the time we finished, it was already getting dark and we were getting really hungry. So we did the natural thing to do. We crossed the river into Binondo, Manila's Chinatown. After about a fifteen minute walk into Binondo's busy streets, we settled for a place that served all kinds of Chinese-Filipino dishes. At that point, we all knew we had a very good day. A very very good day.

For my complete gallery on Manila: Intramuros, please go to my Flickr set here.

See the rest of the post here...

Lakbayan Update: Puerto Princesa

This blog has moved!


WALK FLY PINOY:
Travel, Photography, Asia
www.walkflypinoy.com

Updating my Lakbayan map.


My Lakbayan grade is C.

Finally got to Puerto Princesa. The city is very clean. Tourist-friendly, too. Well-deserving of its reputation.

I really should make my way through Northern Luzon next. It is embarrassingly unshaded.

(To get your own Lakbayan grade and map, please visit this website, created by one Eugene Villar.)

See the rest of the post here...

Puerto Princesa: The Baywalk

This blog has moved!


WALK FLY PINOY:
Travel, Photography, Asia
www.walkflypinoy.com

The hotel we stayed in while in Puerto Princesa, Puerto Pension, had this restaurant on its highest floor. And since the hotel sits on top of a hill overlooking the Puerto Princesa Baywalk, the restaurant had a 360-degree view of the place. This view was what greeted us in the morning for breakfast. It was perfect.



This gave me the idea that maybe, I could shoot one of Palawan's famous sunsets from the Baywalk. However, on our boat ride back from exploring Honda Bay, we could see ominous rain clouds in the distance. I guess I would have to wait another time, another trip, before I get another chance to capture a Palaweño sunset. I was not hopeful, to say the least.


Still, though tired from all the beaches we visited the entire day, I dragged myself onto Puerto Princesa's Baywalk, just a few meters from our hotel. It was really cloudy that afternoon. Plus, I was not even sure if the the city's baywalk had sunsets, if it faces west. I went there still, tried to capture whatever was worth capturing.



Most of the people I saw on the baywalk were locals. The baywalk concludes their long day, I guess. I was about to conclude mine as well when I suddenly saw the colors of the "magic hour" come my way. Puerto Princesa's Baywalk do get sunsets, I was very happy to discover.


In my travels, I notice that a place rewards most those who are open enough and patient enough to stay with her. The point of traveling, I think, is for the traveler to open himself or herself up to new experiences, new sights, new people. You do miss a lot when you stay inside your comfort zones during your travels. Like this Puerto Princesa sunset, I am glad I witnessed it.

See the rest of the post here...

Puerto Princesa: Honda Bay

This blog has moved!


WALK FLY PINOY:
Travel, Photography, Asia
www.walkflypinoy.com

It was rainy the previous two days. So we were really banking on what locals were telling us that because Honda Bay was on the side of Palawan facing Sulu Sea, a much smaller body of water than the South China Sea on the other side, Honda Bay gets little to no rain. Thankfully, local knowledge didn't fail us.


Again, tour operators in Puerto Princesa are sort of centralized. Your hotel reception will know the people to contact to get you into a tour group and the people in charge in the tour group will know the procedures, permits to get, etc. Puerto Princesa is well set up for tourism like that.


The tour group we were on picked us up by van from our hotel and took us to the Honda Bay Port. On the port, our guide registers at the tourism desk and orders us a boat. A few minutes later, we were off.


Honda Bay is a relatively big body of water and the destinations, the islands we were hopping to, were sprawled around a wide area of sea. There were basically three destinations with one or two pit stops. The first, a pit stop, was Luli Island, named so because depending on the tides, it surfaces or it sinks. In Tagalog, lumulubog, lumilitaw. It was high tide when we got to Luli. Basically, we just passed through it.


Now, at this point, I may have already concluded that Puerto Princesa is a very touristy destination, which, I know, does not necessarily have to be a bad thing. It makes for a very easy-to-organize, safe family vacation. You would clearly feel that touristy air in this Honda Bay Island Hopping tour. More so, I think, in our next destination, Starfish Island.


Being Starfish Island, I would have guessed that there would be a lot of starfish on the beach here. I did not find any. The boatmen had some with them and apparently, the popular activity here was the distorted perspective photo-op thing. The photographer holds the starfish close to the camera while you, standing at a distance, pose like you're holding a giant starfish above your head. Something the kids would enjoy, I think.



Starsfish Island makes for a good swim, though. The water is crystal-clear and calm. It does entice you to get in and enjoy. The sand is white and fine, too. And the island had a long, partly submerged sandbar, which I always like.


We left Starfish Island at around 11:30 a.m., just in time for lunch at the next island destination, Snake Island. No, the island was not home to a huge population of snakes. Rather, the shape of it, the beach and the sandbar, snakes through the water.


Our guide told us to do whatever we want (beach bum, swim, snorkel, whatever), while she prepares the lunch. Yes, lunch is included in the tour cost. And what was lunch? Fresh, freshly grilled fish, shrimps and liempo with adobo eggplant on the side. The kind of foods that tastes best when eaten on a beach.


We stayed the longest on Snake Island, I think. Because after lunch, being full and all, nobody wanted to do anything, naturally. So, we walked further from the beach, settled on a sand bar away from the crowd, and had our this-is-the-life moment. It was sweet.


The last island we were to visit on this trip was Pandan Island. Our guide tells us that this is where a lot of colorful fish and coral reefs are located, the best site yet for snorkeling. Local knowledge succeeded again. At this point, I decided to put down my camera and enjoy the beach one last time. It would be a while before I go to another one. I am glad I made the right decision.

See the rest of the post here...