It suddenly occured to me that I can just walk from my office in Shaw Blvd. - Pasig to my wife's boarding house in East Rembo in Makati. With moderate vehicular traffic, it would usually take me only ten minutes from my office to my wife's boarding house. So I estimated, with brisk walking, it would only take me more or less one hour to reach point A to B.

This afternoon, I set my mind for the walk. I didn't have a New Year's resolution so I was thinking if walking from my office to my wife's house is feasible, I'd make it a habit. Came 8:30pm, I started the walk. The route is Shaw Blvd - Shaw Blvd. Ext. - Pasig - Blvd. - C5 - Buting - East Rembo. I had to walk faster than usual. I'm still familiarizing the area I had to walk regularly if the first try would be a success.

The first twenty minutes of my walk covered from my office in Shaw Blvd. to the corners of Pasig Blvd. and C5. From C5 to Buting was ten minutes. Another ten minutes was spent from Buting to my wife's house. All in all, I walked forty minutes from Shaw Blvd. - Pasig to East Rembo in Makati. I was using the stop watch of my mobile phone to clock the time I walked. My pedometer only registered 436 steps. I think it is not working well. Anyhow, I am very happy to have accomplished a simple goal. Tomorrow morning, I'll do it again. I'll bring a spare shirt. I'll see if walking can be done in the morning.

Bicycle and Walking Enthusiast

I'm an ardent walker and bicyclist ever since. It's only that when I arrived here in Manila, I lost all the opportunity to pursue this hobby. My work absorbed most of my schedule that nothing's left for me. If ever I'd be hired with some company I applied for, maybe I can manage my time more freely.

As far as I can remember these are my unofficial logs of the walk that I've done since I can remember. Some had been forgotten, some are being reminisced.

• Jogging 16 kilometers from Butuan City to our barangay in Buenavista when the jeepney I was riding left me. It was already late at night. I was yet in high school.
• Roaming around Metro Cebu on three occassions. The first was in the mid-1980's.
• Walking around Cagayan de Oro City several times since 1993.
• Walking from poblacion Mambajao to Katibawasan Falls (in Camiguin Island) in 1994.
• Walking from Monumento to Bohol Avenue in Quezon City (near ABS-CBN) in 1996.
• Walking from the airport to Bohol Avenue in Quezon City (near ABS-CBN) in 1998.
• Walking from Sta. Barbara to Lapaz in Iloilo in 2002.
• The walking tour around Chinatown Manila in July 22, 2006.

There had been a lot more walks that I hardly recall. I also biked to faraway places but that's a different story.

I simply love long walks and if doing this regularly can reduce my weight, I'll be more delighted. Other than that, walking is not only a form of exercise but also a form of therapy. When I would start to walk, a different dimension unravels ahead of me. While walking, I can relax myself and free up my mind and spirit. While walking, I can see a lot of interesting sceneries. Before I lost my 2 megapixel camera to thieves, I'd usually take photos to anything that inspired me.  There are simply a lot of opportunities to happen when you walk.

I'll end up my post here as it is getting late. Tomorrow, given much time, I'll blog about my morning walk if I can do it. Let's see...

The Photo Above

It's a bulk carrier towed by two tug boats traversing Pasig River. It was taken last November using my Asus phonecam while walking over Guadalupe Bridge in EDSA. I would usually walk my way from Guadalupe Commercial Complex to Robinsons Pioneer to take tricycle to Shaw Blvd.

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Another pre-requisite for the wedding.

Adult baptism and confirmation for my Roman Catholicism were done at the same time. It was the 21st of December in 2008. It should be noted that this event is only six days before my wedding day.

The baptism ceremony could have been exclusive for me. Fortunately, there were several grown ups too who would as well be baptized. The baptism ceremony was done in a very solemn manner, celebrated by the Matalam parish priest, Fr. Tony Lupiba. My then would-be-wife took the photos.

Please click the TiltViewer image below or click the Flickr link provided below to see those photos. Links will open up in a new window.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jovywacay/tags/adultbaptism/

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The adventure continues. In this part of the series, I'd like to show how a covered shelter locally called "palaypay"  was being constructed through the help of immediate relatives and close friends. The Filipino spirit of Bayanihan reigned in this small part of the country. This covered structure would be used for our wedding reception.

Since I was extending a small amount of my effort in building the palaypay, Jovy voluntarily took photographs while construction was ongoing. The photos were then uploaded into her Flickr account. Please click the TiltViewer image below or click the Flickr link provided below to see those photos. Links will open up in a new window.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jovywacay/tags/palaypayconstruction/

See you...

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Hotair Balloon Fiesta for 2009 will be on February 12-15, 2009 at Clark Economic Zone. I wonder who among the photobloggers here in Manila will be coming over. I'm also wondering who amongst my fellows in MIP will be coming too!

For those who are planning to go, details of the event are in their website:
http://www.philskies.net/library/pihabf2008/.

Good luck!

The truck though could not really reach up to the shrine since the road is very slippery and muddy. All of us had to get off from the truck and start walking all the way to the shrine.

More photos in my TiltViewer gallery. You may click the thumbnail to zoom in and/or zoom out the photograph. Click the flip button to see the title and description. The link will open in a new window:
http://digitalrebel.marexflores.net/shrinevisit/.

There could have been more photos had my CF card didn't get a virus infection.

To follow the thread of this series, please visit this link: http://travelogue.digitalrebel.ws/northcotabato/

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Composite Images

There are basically a few reasons why you should "Photoshop" a particular image. Sample photos above surely will tell you so. For composite images, be sure you're only using your own photos to layer with your digitally altered one. A lot of people turned to Google Image Search to look for nice background for their to-be-enhanced image. I discourage anyone to do this. Those photos found by Google Image Search may be in public domain yet the copyright still belongs to the owner. That is why, for my composite photos, I was using my wife's two photos below which was shot using Canon EOS 750QD with a Fuji Superia 400 film. The landscapes are actually and in fact very much located at the back of the covered structure where we were taking our photos with gifts.

I appreciate comments. Please tell me what you think

Images can be added to the gallery from a XML file or a Flickr account. A good example of this is the Lake Agco Photos of my sister-in-law Malou that she had posted in Flickr. Here's the link of the Tiltviewer accessing the Lake Agco Flickr photos:
http://travelogue.digitalrebel.ws/2009/01/lakeagco/. (See related blog entry here)

If you're interested with this application, you may download the file and try it out for free. This is the download link:
http://www.airtightinteractive.com/projects/tiltviewer/tiltviewer.zip.

You may also want to read TiltViewer's documentations from these links:
http://www.airtightinteractive.com/projects/tiltviewer/docs.html
http://www.airtightinteractive.com/projects/tiltviewer/config_options.html

Shutter Speed: 1/50 sec / F-stop: f/5.6 / ISO Setting: 100 / focal length: 55mm /flash: off / mount: handheld

Shutter Speed: 1/250 sec / F-stop: f/5.6 / ISO Setting: 100 / focal length: 300mm /flash: off / mount: handheld

Shutter Speed: 1/320 sec / F-stop: f/6.3 / ISO Setting: 100 / focal length: 300mm /flash: off / mount: handheld

Shutter Speed: 1/200 sec / F-stop: f/7.1 / ISO Setting: 100 / focal length: 70mm /flash: off / mount: handheld

Shutter Speed: 1/200 sec / F-stop: f/4.0 / ISO Setting: 100 / focal length: 70mm /flash: off / mount: handheld

Shutter Speed: 1/320 sec / F-stop: f/7.1 / ISO Setting: 100 / focal length: 76mm /flash: off / mount: handheld

Shutter Speed: 1/400 sec / F-stop: f/9.0 / ISO Setting: 100 / focal length: 70mm /flash: off / mount: handheld

Shutter Speed: 1/50 sec / F-stop: f/4.0 / ISO Setting: 100 / focal length: 70mm /flash: off / mount: handheld

Shot in several location around barrio Lampayan in Matalam, North Cotabato on December 15, 2008. Time span is 5:46am to 6:04am.

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Even when Jovy and I were already backed to Manila, wedding gifts still kept on coming. Last night, Jovy and I finally decided to open the gifts sent to us from friends around the metro. There were kitchen utensils, foodkeeper, coffee maker, water dispenser, and this is just to mention a few. Most of the gifts we received were all left in the province (since I'm running my North Cotabato adventure as a series, I will mention about those gifts received near the end of the series).

Last Saturday, Jovy and I met up with a dear friend - a fellow blogger and fellow MIPer who is based in Cubao. He treated us with heavy meal in Sbarro in SM Megamall. He's also bringing to us his gift for our wedding. The gift is contained in a huge box.

We were clueless as to what was inside the box until last night when my wife opened it up. I almost couldn't believe myself what was inside the box is the seventh in my personal wish list!

Yet, since I wrote my wish list November last year, it was just sitting down in my Draft folder. Nobody had known about the list, not even my wife. Was it simply coincidence?

I found my wish list absurd I didn't take it seriously - not until this morning I'm blogging about this now. So you would understand, I'm posting below what was once a ridiculous wish list two months ago.

My Wishlist

1. motorcycle (any brand and model basta hindi underbone)
2. Canon 430EX Speedlite Flash[ .]
3. Sun Broadband susbscription
4. 1-year subscription of Philippine Daily Inquirer
5. SM gift cheques
6. National Bookstore gift certificates
7. Hot and cold water dispenser
8. DVD Writer
9. Converse All-Star
10. supplies of film

Now, my wish list is already up and accessible for public viewing. Wierd and seemingly self-centered, it only expressed what my heart desired.

I'm still open and accepting gifts (and will always be, Hehehe). I didn't realize it, but my wish list gradually materialized. A desired water dispenser is starting it now. Thank you for realizing it for me, Pareng D!

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My friend MJ prompted me up the schedule of the event a few days back so I was contemplating whether to go and witness the festival or not. Last night, I decided I should prioritize other things above personal desires. Now, I'm blogging from the four corners of my cubicle here in my work site and is a bit sad for not going the event. Caracol festival will start this afternoon at four o'clock along Ayala Avenue.

For those who can go, I wish you luck. For those who can't make it just like me, you may want to take a look at a few photos taken during last years festival. I found one link over the net here: http://www.lagawan.info/2008/01/21/caracol-festival-makati/...

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Since there was no longer available set for anyone, Jovy had to set on the lap of another male passenger at the front seat. Rain notwithstanding, I had to climb up the top of the vehicle. It was full-packed with passengers I had to find my own place in the middle. I looked so klutzy the way I managed myself up there the jeepney didn't move until I could sit down.

As the jeepney rolled down, I reckoned I might not be able to make it to the town proper alive. There was no place for me to hold on. If not for the other people that served as cushion, I could already have been thrown away everytime the jeepney would sway to the left and right while negotiating gigantic potholes. I was wondering why I haven't heard of jeepney passengers being thrown away on this very rough road. It was actually very shaky up there you could easily get outbalanced when the jeepney had to swerved against road holes. And when the top of the jeepney shake and you have nothing to hold on, you can get thrown away - I mean, literally. The jeepney may looked overloaded with cargoes and passengers. But in the biyaheng langit standard, it isn't yet. The vehicle itself is highly customized for that purpose. The jeepney moved so slowly. Slow travel is safer for heavy-loaded vehicles but I personally felt I needed to arrive to Matalam at once. It was raining and the wind getting colder.

There was no camera up there on the roof deck, not even my phone. Jovy had to bring the two SLRs with her inside the vehicle including my phone because it was raining and it could only get soaked with me should I bring it on top. Beautiful sceneries unfolded as the travel progressed. There were lushed rubber tree plantation.  No words can describe the vast corn field and expansive sugar cane plantation. There was a tiny mosque. An MNLF checkpoint. Calves and goats freely walking in the middle of the road would mean a short stop of the vehicle we were on. The rain didn't stop but it was fun on top of the jeepney - wet and wild experience, I should say so.

While it could only take us 30 minutes for a habal-habal ride going to Matalam town proper, it was a one and a half hour ride via jeepney. The habal-habal fare for the two of us would be eighty pesos from Lampayan to Matalam but one hundred twenty pesos from Matalam to Lampayan. Jeepney fare only costed thirty pesos per head. But Jovy's first cousin didn't accept our fare. The ride was extended to us for free!

It was no longer raining when we reached Matalam. Most passengers disembarked as we arrived Matalam market place. Jovy decided that we get out there too so she could pass by another cousin that she's inviting to attend to our wedding. Jovy talked to the wife of the driver/cousin shortly that I had enough time to photograph the jeepney we were riding using phone cam. With different angles taken, the shot below completely showed the jeepney, its cargoes and the passengers up there. The shot in front of the vehicle is mechanical while the hindsight is so full of life.

The jeepney we were riding. Photographed while on stand by at the Matalam market place.

A Sumptous Lunch

We were visiting Mari, Jovy's cousin that she's inviting for our wedding. Her house was just a five-minute walk from the Matalam market place. I met for the first time Mari and her husband. Auntie Yoleng, Mari's mother and Jovy's auntie was also there. We were offered lunch shortly. It was already lunch time when we got there. It was more of a family adventure so I posted the experience as a separate blog entry in my family website. Visit it from this link:
http://www.walaydulonan.co.cc/2008/12/lunch-with-auntie-yoleng-jovys-cousin.html.

Cheap Banana Cue

Photographed using Sony Ericsson T280i.

After lunch, the girls who didn't see each other for years talked like there's no tommorow. The auntie already left to go to another son/daughter in the barrio. Mari's husband had to entertain a few of his friends. I changed clothes earlier soaked with rain and took a nap in a rocking chair. I overheard a deafening silence when I woke up. At long last, the girls were getting tired reminiscing their childhood memories. And so I thought the conversation would never end. It was already late in the afternoon and my demanding stomach did get hungry again.

A few meters away from Mari's house, a lady was selling banana cue. Banana cue only costed one peso per stick - way too cheap! We bought a few stick.

From Mari's place, we toke a tricycle going back to the house of Jovy's elder sister. We still had a few things to prepare for the next day's affair. Once we were there, I can't get off my mind the cheap banana cue. I realized the cheap banana cue parallel the simple way of life Matalam offers. I had to put it this way: Matalam's laid-back and simple way of life is the exact opposite of the fast-paced Manila where I'm getting exhausted day by day. Think about early retirement...

What about you? How much banana cue costs in your area?

Will you be riding biyaheng langit?

Please see related entries:
More photos of Biyaheng Langit
Extraordinary yet simple lunch offered by Jovy's cousin Mari
See all entries of my North Cotabato Adventure here

See you...

Shutter Speed: 1/100 sec / F-stop: f/5.6 / ISO Setting: 400 / focal length: 55mm /flash: off / mount: tripod

Shutter Speed: 1/200 sec / F-stop: f/5.6 / ISO Setting: 400 / focal length: 55mm /flash: off / mount: tripod

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Shutter Speed: 1/320 sec / F-stop: f/5.0 / ISO Setting: 400 / focal length: 38mm /flash: off / mount: tripod

Shutter Speed: 1/125 sec / F-stop: f/5.6 / ISO Setting: 400 / focal length: 55mm /flash: off / mount: tripod

Shutter Speed: 1/160 sec / F-stop: f/5.0 / ISO Setting: 400 / focal length: 43mm /flash: off / mount: tripod

Shutter Speed: 1/400 sec / F-stop: f/5.0 / ISO Setting: 400 / focal length: 18mm /flash: off / mount: tripod

Shutter Speed: 1/500 sec / F-stop: f/6.3 / ISO Setting: 400 / focal length: 18mm /flash: off / mount: tripod

Shutter Speed: 1/640 sec / F-stop: f/7.1 / ISO Setting: 400 / focal length: 18mm /flash: off / mount: tripod

Shutter Speed: 1/500 sec / F-stop: f/6.3 / ISO Setting: 400 / focal length: 18mm /flash: off / mount: tripod

Shutter Speed: 1/400 sec / F-stop: f/4.0 / ISO Setting: 400 / focal length: 18mm /flash: off / mount: tripod

Shutter Speed: 1/400 sec / F-stop: f/5.0 / ISO Setting: 400 / focal length: 18mm /flash: off / mount: tripod

Shutter Speed: 1/250 sec / F-stop: f/5.6 / ISO Setting: 400 / focal length: 53mm /flash: off / mount: tripod

About this photo essay

Shooting for this essay is not that easy as it may seem. I had to face minor challenges just so I could complete this project. First challenge is the dusty environment that can be hazardous to my photography equipment. To overcome this, I had to mount my camera on a tripod so I could cover it with plastic minimizing the absorption of dust. Second obstacle is the risk of getting hit head-on by oncoming overloaded six-wheeler jeepneys. I wouldn't want my photography equipment to get wrecked in case such accident might occur. To minimize this risk, I had to position myself in front of the grocery store of my brother-in-law that faces a sharp bend. That way, the vehicles should already be turning right three meters away from me.

Third obstacle is about the composition. I mount my camera on a tripod and that limited me into moving from one location to another. I have my purpose on staying in one corner though. I had to be less visible as much as I can. I had to consider the sensitivity of the situation. While Muslim brothers are nice and fun to be with as friends, they may not like it being photographed without their pleasing approval being sought in the first place. Some people are already so tired at getting photographed especially those being displaced from war-torn areas. Thus, I prefer to better fix my butt in a single location. If only I have much, much time to spare, I should have befriended people before taking photos of what they do and how they lived. But then, I was on a very tight schedule.

The photos above technically lacked of compositional technique but nevertheless, showed the reality of the people's mode of transportation in this remote places of this country. Dangerous and out of standard, they live by it everyday in their lives. If this blog entry can somehow cause a change the way they ride for the better, then it accomplished its goal.

Shot in sole location, this essay is finished in a span of 31 minutes only.

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