Reach for the Cable Car

Photo of the Day

Happy 1st day of the Month

( Fuji Provia 100, Holga 120 )

Did anyone notice that days goes by very fast recently? Like you wake up on Monday morning and suddenly its Friday already. I passed the month of July in that kinda way.

Boracay II – Notes on Distance Travelled

Boracay by Dusk

It is dusk and we are riding a trike.
Earlier on, we recieved a text asking us if we can go to a certain Puka Beach to gather Puka shells. I asked the cafe barista how far it is. He looked at his watch, frown creased his forehead and said "alis kayo? dapat ngayon na" (you should leave now) with the emphasis on NGAYON na.

So off we go on a 100 pesos (one way!), 20 Minute trike ride going inland of boracay. We passed the end of station 1 at Friday's and went uphill. Gone were the foreigners, gone were the beaches, gone were the resorts. Instead we were greeted by the natural provincial scene. Shanties and nipa huts aligned along roads to the right and a view of the vast ocean to the left. The farther we go in the more local life we see. At the beach, tourists are common sights, but inland we can feel the stares following our speeding trike. Nothing hostile though, It is more of a curiosity towards us, obliously tourist pale Pinoys, and what we are doing this far from the beach. 

The trike driver never runs out of praises of how isolated the cove is, how clear it's water, and the absence of seeweeds.   We arrived at Puka beach uneventfully, and the sight was quite interesting.

Puka beach is what you'll consider a "local's beach". There are no high end resorts, and no loud bars. Instead we were greeted by a community-made welcome ark and the sound of children laughing and people cheering. At the left part of the entrance there was a beach volleyball competition, but instead of bikini babes playing, and throngs of tourist as audience, we have a mix of old and young, both male and female players with their families and neigbors cheering as loud as they can. Dark skinned Aklanons with flashy white smiles followed by peals of laughter.
At the beach there are a group of teenagers swimming with their shirts and jeans. Further down the shore, half dozen Bancas where lazily floating and swaying to and fro with the waves. They are used to carry pails of fishes and supplies, and not to ferry tourists.  

As opposed to powdery sands associated with Boracay, the beach at Puka is pebbly and littered with well, Puka Shells. We walked a for some time and instead of soft thuds from the sand, we can hear the crunch of our every step. Puka has its own merits though. While this is not the part of beach for proper relaxation, it has the greatest view of the sun setting. With the horizon uncluttered by the sails, and no passers by shading the view, you can observe the blue sky turn yellow, to orange to red and to violet tinge.

We reckoned that if we turn back time before Boracay became what it is now. We'd be somewhere like Puka beach too. Rustic and cheery in a natural way.    

Manila LRTs - Photos of Distance Travelled

Shots taken in different LRT stations in Philippines with my beat up Holga 120 and various slide films

Between travelling by sea and air. I’d prefer the sea, but when it comes to land transportation, I go hands down with trains. It can burrow underground moving through the claustrophobic walls of concrete. Sometimes it runs along the ground racing against the EDSA traffic. Most of the time it moves through the city above roofs with sweeping panoramic panoramic view of the Manila skyline.Its like neither here or there and I like being in between.

Doroteo Jose Interchange

Carriedo Station

Libertad

Cubao

Underneath Pedro Gil

 

Emergence to the light

** afterthought, I just realized some of them got a little of tilt shift effect. Weird.

Techie at Heart Techie at Work

Is your station in a compromising position? Is your back exposed to the whole world (in my case office) which also means your monitor is wide open to receive the stares of busybodies passing behind you and ready to report to the boss that you are “unproductive” and “distracted” when they see a hint that your are not reading your email or working on an excel file? Most importantly are you only allowed “limited” (read: nil) time to browse the internet save for looking up some obscure cities and google maps looking for unknown hotels?

Well, we are in the same position, and if you are reading this, I might just change your boring office life.

I just devised a way how blend my online life and my work. Nope, its not a faster version of ALT + TAB. There are only 4 steps

1. Install Google Chrome

 

2. Open your email / outlook

3. Choose a Chrome Theme that will blend to your email

 

4. Minimize and layover to fit in your reading panel

Awrayti. Feel free to thank me at the comments. 

Kayangan Lake – Bucket List 1

We were in Busuanga, Palawan, on a banca speeding towards Cayangan Lake on the island of Coron. Half an hour later found us in a lagoon at the foot of an imposing wall of limestone.

Up a steep flight of steps, we eventually huffed-and-puffed our way to a look-out point with an expansive view of the islands. Then it’s down a jagged trail until we descend onto the shores of an emerald-colored sea. Nice, very nice. And the brackish seawater? It’s less than salty because of an an active underwater freshwater spring.

Kayangan is, after all, a sea lake completely enclosed by limestone cliffs. Along the water’s edge, there’s a faint echo that gently envelopes you, like whispering waves inside a seashell. And the water? The color is alive… my photographs fail… this place is enchanted… put it on your bucket list… Enjoy.