May your Christmas be as bright and bountiful as the Christmas lights all around you!




The Christmas rush, preparing for the trip back home, and the year end demands of work left me with too little time to go around and see the spectacle of Christmas lights displays around the metro.



My favorite Policarpio Street in Boni, Mandaluyong (since its near where I live) has a lot less lights this year. Most of the houses did not put out their yearly light display but the popular House of Santa and fully lighted Dalisay mansion just across it are still as bright as ever.



Beautiful as they are, I hope we all look beyond the extravagant display and find the true spirit of Christmas. As the lights shine brightly around us, may we ourselves shine light into the lives of the people we meet.

Located about 20 kilometers north of the surfing town of Baler in Aurora province, many photographers frequent this beach for its distinctive sea stacks and large smooth boulders lining the shore.

For two successive mornings my fellow photo enthusiasts and I dragged ourselves out of bed at 3AM, rode a tricycle for about an 45 minutes to get to this place. We arrived there while its still dark, sat on the rocks by the beach and listen to the Pacific waves thunder as they pounded the shore. Patiently we wait for that glorious light of dawn.


silent and resolute

Sunrise did came, as expected, but without the glorious colors I hoped for. But what the dawn lacked in color it more than made up for in the mood and character of the light.


smokey

That's one of the things I like about landscape photography, you'll never know what you'll get. Nature always has some surprise in store for you and its up to you to make do of what it dishes out.

This amazing wonder is not called Aurora's "Mother Falls" for nothing. Standing more than a hundred feet, water thunders as it hits the catch basin. I watched in awe as the spray swirled around us. Standing a few feet away from the falls, I could certainly feel its power.

The falls in nested in a glen at the foot of the mountains bordering the town of San Luis in Aurora province, a picturesque province in Luzon's eastern side (made popular by the surfing spots in its capital town of Baler). The falls is a good 30-45 minutes hike, depending on where you'll start the hike. The rough road leading to the actual trail head (where you'll see a non operational hydro electric power plant) gets pretty bad at times.



From the trail head, we followed the river upstream. The water was icy cold and there are sections where we had to climb over slippery boulders. If you are hiking there with your camera gears, a dry bag is an absolute necessity. Along the way you'll see the water pipes that lead up to the falls.



This falls was one of the challenging ones to shoot. A small dam was constructed to close its catch basin and to get its full length, you'll have to come closer and be in its "spray zone". It was practically raining in there and everyone of us were all wet. I was glad I brought a "camera raincoat", thus my camera was protected as only the front of the lens is exposed.



There are spots were the sprays are coming from above and from the back. These are the sweet spots where you'll least likely to get water droplets on your lens.

The mist is constantly swirling around us, as if we're in a vortex. This is being fueled by the strong wind generated as the water hits the catch basin. But there are lull times, a window of a few seconds where you can take off your lens cap, shoot 1 or two frames before your lens gets fogged up again. Its a lot of work for a few shots, but seeing the beauty of the place was enough reward.

It has become a yearly pilgrimage: trek to the bird sanctuary in Candaba wetlands on the first week of November (last year I went there on November 1 - the All Saints Day feast), and wait for the sun to go down. Its a perfect day trip, watch the birds feed at sundown, and be rewarded with great sunset colors.

Candaba is home to wild migratory birds trying to escape the winter cold of the northern hemisphere, some just passing through, while some never left and made the wetlands their permanent abode.


Located between the towns of Baliuag and Candaba, the wetland is an ideal nesting ground for the birds. The road between the two towns is muddy at best, and every once in a while the swamp reclaims the road. There are no public transportation plying that route, who would when one day the road is there, the next its gone after a heavy rain. It was a perfect place for the birds, nobody is there to disturb them.

But maybe not for long.


The cemented highway is already half way through the swamp. Soon it will reach the town of Candaba. Soon there will be lots of vehicles that will be using that road. The sanctuary is also shrinking as more and more lands near the road are being used for farming.


This year I did not see much of the birds, I thought I came in the right season (Nov-Jan is supposed to be the "birding season").

There were a lot of people on the highway that afternoon, some working on the concreting of the road, some drying their palay. I decided to hike further into the swamp, about 1.5 km from the road, on a muddy trail. Not many birds along the way.


But what it lacked in birds this year, the swamp made up for by giving this surreal sunset colors. A few minutes before the sun went down, the dark rain clouds on the east suddenly gave off this otherworldly  glow. It was as if someone shone a huge amber fog-light through the clouds. The place was suddenly flooded with this warm soft light.  I've seen countless warm sunset, but nothing like this. For a moment I forgot that what I was supposedly shooting was the setting sun at the opposite direction.


Its a great feeling being lone in the middle of nowhere witnessing the day's curtain call. I would have stayed much longer but then reality kicked in: its getting dark and I have a long hike back (alone) to the main road.


Along the trail I could hear all sorts of noises - the squeaks and squawks and the rustling of the weeds as they sway with the soft evening breeze. The birds are still there, not in plain sight, but they are still there.

After reaching the highway, I still have to walk a few kilometers to the nearest barangay to get a ride to the town of Baliuag. I purposely did not arrange for a pick-up, I was actually looking forward to this long "Candaba walk". The moon was up and the evening breeze was refreshing. Perfect conditions for an evening stroll.

A trip to Iloilo is not complete without dropping by a church or two to marvel at their beautiful forms. Iloilo has of lots of these architectural gems, each town has its own iconic and historical church or cathedral - a reminder of the rich Roman Catholic influence brought about by almost 400 years of Spanish rule.
I visited a few on my last trip there, beginning with Jaro Cathedral. I went straight to the cathedral after arriving on an early morning flight. There are vans that conveniently pass by Jaro plaza where the church is located, so it was my first stop before breakfast.


The cathedral is still ongoing renovations/restoration. The last time I visited it, there were scaffolding all over the church interior, and as of this writing, the altar area is still being worked on.

After spending some quiet time in Concepcion, I made it a point to visit Miagao church. Just like Jaro Cathedral on my last visit, Miagao church was undergoing maintenance. This time I'm hoping to take photos of the facade sans the scaffolding.


I took a jeep heading south to San Joaquin before sunrise and got off in Miagao plaza near the church. The 45-minute trip was uneventful and air was cool from last night's heavy downpour. The sky was overcast but I was optimistic the sun will come out. And it did, after almost 2 hours of waiting.


This UNESCO Heritage Site (Baroque Churches of the Philippines) is worth the visit every single time. Its cream colored coral stones and intricate bas-relief glowed in the early morning sun.


On the way back to the city, a dropped by Guimbal's small church. Officially known as Church of San Nicalas of Tolentino, it was built in 1774 under the supervision of a Spanish priest named Fr. Campos.


The church design is evidently baroque, but one can see Oriental and Corinthian elements such as the columns, pillars, and rosettes. The current belfry is not the original structure but the replacement was made to complement the look of the church.


I was not able to take photos of the church interior as it was close to noon already, and I have to hurry back to my hotel, pack my stuff, and catch an afternoon flight back to Manila.

I missed the sunrise that morning, something that rarely happens when I'm on a trip. Blame it on the cool breeze that passes through my open cottage and the lull of the gentle waves, with the light rain around midnight sealing the deal.

I was woken up by the high pitched chirps of sunbirds zipping to and fro between trees that line up the shore. As a kid I find these tamsi (as they are known locally) uhm annoying. We have a lot of them in my hometown but I have not heard or seen one for decades as our place became "progressive". That morning I welcomed their song.



I stepped out of my cottage, felt the warm sand, and head straight to the water for a morning dip. I watched from a distance how the island is a-buzz with activity: sunbirds darting from one tree to another for their breakfast (nectar and insects), the island's resident bantam chickens roaming around, and just off the island fishermen were hauling the nets they cast a few hours ago. Everything seems to be in silent harmony.



After breakfast I went straight to the hammock, flipped lazily through the pages of an inflight magazine, and soon was back in dreamland. I woke up with the sun on my face. The sky was deep blue with puffy white clouds. It was a perfect day.



How I wished that time would stop, but all things perfect come to an end. With a heavy heart I started packing my stuff, time to get back to Iloilo City in a few hours.



My time there was short but sweet, and I try to dwell more on the sweet part. I'll be back to the sandbar for sure.

With a super typhoon threatening central and northern Luzon (and expected to bring heavy rains to Manila as well), I hopped on a early morning flight to Iloilo city. My tentative destination: Bolobadiangan island (name is also spelled as Bulubadiangan) in Concepcion, a quiet fishing town on Panay's north eastern coast, some 2-3 hours away from Iloilo City.

The setting sun warmed up the facade, its blocks of coral rocks turned golden.  For a few seconds, the passing clouds turned pink, providing a great backdrop for this quaint church in Paoay.

Its probably one of the most photographed churches in Ilocos Norte. The church directly faces the west, making it picture perfect at sunset. We made a quick detour to Paoay on the way back to Manila after a weekend further north in Burgos and Bangui (Kapurpurawan rock formation and Bangui windmills).



Info tidbits about Paoay church:

•  Officially known as St. Augustine Church, it was named UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993 (one of the four Baroque churches in Philippines to be included in the list. The other one I've visited is Miagao church)
• Architecture is a combination of Baroque, Gothic, and Oriental designs
• Its 1.67-meter thick walls are supported by 24 curved buttresses, making it very resilient to earthquakes.

Its a surreal place made even more magical by the first light of the day. As the sun rose from slumber, pink and orange clouds accentuated the Kapurpurawan's otherworldly form.

hidden gem

Its unlike most of the waterfalls I have photographed. Instead of single drop, it has a fantastic wide configuration, with silky strands of water flowing over rounded boulders and on to mini-cascades and pools downstream. It looks delicate rather than powerful.
The day I was there was not exactly the perfect day to shoot waterfalls. We were in Burgos, Ilocos Norte a little after 9 in the morning after 10 hours on the road. It was a cloudless day and the sun was shining brightly but my companions and I decided to go ahead with the trek to Kaangrian, I reckon we may never get the chance to visit it again during the rainy season when the falls is fuller.

All of us were very excited we forgot to have lunch first, thanks partly to the over zealous Burgos policemen who escorted us to the jumpoff point after we failed to contact our guide (cellular phone coverage is spotty at best). Luckily we met our guide along the dirt road leading to the falls.

A few wild guavas (lots along the trail) and an hour or so of hike later, we reached Kaangrian. The last few hundred meters were on slippery and muddy single tracks, but the trail is fully shaded.

So there we were, at lunch time, with nothing but a few cookies and chocolate bars. Lunch will have to wait. The area around the falls was cool and shaded, but the falls itself was in the open. Now we will have to wait.



The say patience is a virtue. I was glad we had plenty of it that day. Our guide and another local who tagged along decided to snooze it off, while we went around trying on different POVs, hoping and praying for some clouds to block the sun.



After more than 2 hours of waiting, just when we were about to pack up and leave, the sky went overcast. It was pure bliss. At that moment everybody went on a shooting frenzy (the guides are still snoozing). After a few minutes the sun shone again, but by that time we all had smiles on our faces.



More about Kaangrian Falls

• Kaangrian means "pungent smell" in the local dialect. This is because of guano from nearby bat cave(s).
• There is a second (much bigger) layer downstream but it requires a bit of climbing down slippery boulders and forest roots. (Reserved for the next visit)

Maira-ira coast, Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte

In a few hours I'll be heading north again, to the magnetic province of Ilocos Norte. Its wild shores, rock formations, and hidden waterfalls beckons.

Tucked in a cove on a sprawling 14-hectare property in Gumasa, Isla Jardin del Mar offers a secluded sanctuary away from the rat race.

Gumasa is a small fishing village in Glan, Sarangani's southernmost municipality. It is known (at least among those in the nearby provinces) for its white sand beaches that has remained largely undeveloped and not frequently visited by tourists, probably owing to the fact that its in Mindanao (alarm signals: Abu Sayyaf). Not just that, its in the southern most part of mainland Mindanao.

There are a handful of resorts there and Isla Jardin del Mar is (currently) the farthest from town. Its hidden in a small cove, detached from Gumasa's main beach.  The beach area is a bit rocky in some portions and the sand not as fine as the ones in the main beach. But what it lacked it made up by offering something even more important than fine sand: peace and quiet. (Boracay comes to mind here: all fine sand)



I'm not a big fan of developed resorts, but Isla Jardin made sure that  man-made structures do not pollute the real essence of the place. Cottages are not visible from the beach area - they are spaced nicely from each other and are well hidden behind palm trees and coastal foliage.



The beach is nicely side-lit when the sun gets low late in the afternoon. If you prefer to a directly view of the sunset, there is a foot trail that leads to a cliff on the western end of the cove. Its the perfect place to watch the sun going down the Celebes sea horizon. Unfortunately sunset that afternoon was a bit overcast, and the tide was against us (coral rocks that would be perfect for foreground elements are underwater). A friend and I ended up shooting a piece of driftwood on the beach.



Isla Jardin also has an area for viewing the sunrise, but unfortunately the trail leading to the sunrise viewpoint is not yet finished. From the beach you would be able to partially see the sunrise. If you are lucky you'd be treated to a great display of colors - quite a good substitute for actually seeing that great ball of fire rise from the horizon.



Our second day of stay was pleasantly sunny - clear azure skies with a thin layer of clouds on the horizon.



It was a perfect to sit under the shade and read a book, or take a quick dip when it gets too hot. It was a perfect opportunity to do nothing at all :).



More photos here. Read about my previous trip to Gumasa here and here.

Check out other views of the world in That's My World.

While its raining almost everyday in Manila, weather in Gumasa, way down south in Sarangani province, was pleasantly summer-like. Last weekend was a few days of sun, sea, and sand (and with a weather like this, one can't help adding another "s" - shoot photos!). I had the whole family with me, but I managed to sneak out a few times to take snaps :D. More photos in the coming days.

My mission that weekend: photograph a waterfalls, no hiking/camping, day trip only, on a shoestring budget. Its rainy season again and its the ideal time for shooting waterfalls.

Balagbag Falls is a perfect candidate for what I wanted. Its just a 3-hour ride from Manila, and its practically near the side of the road (no hiking!). Surprisingly, not a lot of folks go there, so the place is quite pristine - unusual for a waterfalls that is so accessible. I've been there last year and enjoyed the trip so much that I figured its worth another visit.



Weather was (initially) perfect that morning: overcast skies and it drizzled every now and then. Fog still hang around as we snaked our way through the Sierra Madre mountain range. Several friends decided to tag along, excited on seeing Balagbag falls up close for the first time.



But Nature often throws curve balls. As we headed down the Sierra Madre to the coastal town of Real, the sky cleared and the sun shone brightly! Sunny weather and shooting waterfalls do not exactly go well together.


Balagbag on a sunny day

I was able to shoot when passing clouds momentarily blocked the sun, but it was a sun shiny day most of the time. Balagbag falls has a twin cascade configuration but I concentrated on the primary falls to leave out the sky in my composition.



It was a wait and see game. But good thing we had an "alternative" to pass the time while waiting for the perfect moment to shoot the falls :).