January 31st 2010
Photolog - January 2010
31 January 2010
The Mabua Beach acrobat boys….
Surigao City
This fish wall decor made of shells is a product of a Canadian man’s passion for collecting shells around Mabua Beach
Surigao City
Drying clothes, Surigao style
Boat garage
Another boat garage
A fisherman’s daughter
The dramatic sunset at Mabua Beach
A village boy caught these two starfish just for my photo shoot. I asked him to throw them back to sea afterwards.
Mabua Beach
At sunset, all boats are moored inland and will, one by one, disappear again from break of dawn
Mabua, Surigao City
In the Philippines particularly in Surigao, girls as young as twelve do the laundry while their mothers earn a living. The mother of this girl has a makeshift barbecue kiosk where she grills fish for beach picknickers. Grilling a kilo of fish would earn her 25pesos.
30 January 2010
If Cuba has its vintage cars, Surigao has its vintage trucks
Ferry Port, Surigao City
Pedicure in the park, come rain or shine
Luneta Park, Surigao City
Like in Luneta Park in Manila, this one in Surigao also has the statue of Jose Rizal (national hero) in the center. The city cathedral towers in the background.
29 January 2010
Faith knows no bounds
Dinos, our Greek friend, enjoying his last few days in the burning sun of Surigao. He must! For when he goes back to Greece in few days, the icy cold winter will freeze his sunburnt skin away….
“Hand me the pair of scissors, please…”
This is not the first time that we were served this paper cutter. We had it in Dumaguete and Siquijor. Is this a Visayan thing? or a nationwide practice? What are they for? They are used for cutting the coffee and sugar sachets!
28 January 2010
Surigao is a jungle of coconut trees
The verdant, almost unspoiled province of Surigao.
Surigao del Norte, Mindanao, Philippines
The Mactan Processing Zone (on the left) seen from the air. As to the settlement on the right, your guess is as good as mine.
Mactan Island, Cebu
The amazing TURBOPROPS of Cebu Pacific’s ATR plane!
27 January 2010
The altar of the Basilica Minore del Sto Nino. This 16th century church houses the image of the Sto Nino which was brought by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521.Cebu City, Philippines
Inside the Magellan’s cross, you will find these ladies selling candles. Everytime someone buys a candle (or two, depending on the number of their petitions), these ladies will perform the prayer dance ritual and when it is over, they will then give the candle to the candle-buyer so he/she can light it at the foot of the cross.
Gated communities in Mactan Island are sprouting like mushrooms! (But as soon as you get out of the gate, illegal settlements (squatters) are not far behind…..)
Mactan Island, Cebu, Philippines
23 January 2010
Day 2 of our arrival in Cebu, the General Manager of the hotel we were staying in threw a grand party. All guests were invited!
Mactan Island, Cebu, Philippines
Painted art at a public elementary school’s wall. There is a large Korean community in Cebu.
Cebu City
23 January 2010
We are staying in Mactan island and have to cross the bridge everytime we want to go to Cebu City.
Bridging the gap between Mactan island and Cebu mainland is the Marcelo Fernan Bridge.
It was built in 1999 to ease the traffic from the older Mactan-Mandaue Bridge
It is a cable-stayed bridge that has one of the longest and widest bridge span in the Philippines
21 January 2010
The airport boys of Mactan International Airport standing at attention while our plane was taxiing down the runway…
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15 January 2010
We had enough time to kill before our ferry trip to England so we decided to stop at the village of Hautvillers in the Champagne region
This is the church where the famous monk, Dom Perignon, was buried
The tomb of the monk responsible for concocting what is now called Champagne
The statue of Perignon at the entrance of the restaurant just fronting the church
14 January 2010
I like your outfit, mademoiselle!
Macaroons from Macon
The artistic town of Valence
The vineyards around Lyon in winter
13 January 2010
We left the house this morning to start the drive towards England where will catch our flight to the Philippines. One of our stops is at the port of Valence where we visited our French couple friends who sold their mansion, bought a sailing boat and made it their home. The port grounds were covered in snow, all the boats in the marina were also covered in snow. But it was warm at our friends’ floating home as they have a wood-burning stove in the boat.
12 January 2010
10 January 2010
Epiphany
Around Christmas and two weeks beyond, you will see in French boulangeries (bakeries) and patisseries (pastry shops) cakes with cardboard crowns on them. They are called Galletes des rois or Epiphany cakes celebrating the Three Kings.
Epiphany cake on display
Our very own galette de rois
A tiny surprise such as this one is hidden in the cake and whoever gets it is declared King and wears the cardboard crown.
08 January 2010
Photos of Menton just at the start of the New Year:
Gelato at its best! Mounds upon mounds of rich and flavour-enhanced fresh and creamy Italian ice cream.
The green-themed La Cure Gourmande is always a feast for the eyes!
Another feast for the eyes, olive and almond oil based soaps in the shape and colour of fruits such as mandarin, lemon…
I thought they are perfume bottles….they are lamps, actually!
The famous limoncello of Menton. This is excellent as a digestif after a heavy dinner!
Back home…
Isn’t that too heavy to transport, Mr Citroen?
Roya Valley, France
07 January 2010
The LookOut
Jardin du Palais Carnoles, Menton
06 January 2010
Saw this guy on the river today. He thought I have some bread for him so he came that close. Luckily for me, I have the camera so hop! that’s a nice close up, pretty boy! Unfortunately, I don’t know what breed of duck he is.
Breil sur Roya, France
05 January 2010
There’s snow everywhere and I thought of making a snowman, but midway, I changed my mind and made a snow pot of mint instead.
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To all my loyal readers and to those who just stumbled upon this site today, let me wish you a very Happy New Year 2010!
Sorry for being offline the past few days. As part of my New Year resolution to be more “RESULTS-ORIENTED” this 2010, I have been very busy lately in creating my very own Flickr site. You may ask, what does Flickr got to do with being “results-oriented”? Well, for one, it can be my vehicle to gain even the minutest recognition of my photographic talent. I love photography and have accumulated tens of gigabytes of them and by posting my best shots on Flickr, it is like holding a Photographic Exhibition, albeit, ONLINE. I know there are already millions of more professional photographers doing it but that doesn’t stop me from taking my chance. As the saying goes, “If you don’t try, you will never know!”
Here are two of the images I have already posted there and you are most welcome to go on a virtual tour:
Bratislava, Slovak Republic
They were on a photoshoot at the castle grounds and I couldn’t resist taking a shot of this specific pose. This picture tells all: their happiness, their contentment. No need for a caption really.
To the couple above, please feel free to contact me if you want the original of this photo.
The blue lounge chair
