Monthly Archives: March 2015

Brave Tales #2: Beautiful Sunset at Suba Basbas

While out biking in my usual Marigondon Beach, Suba-Basbas, Guerillero, Quezon National Highway route, I had to do a detour when I reached Suba Basbas Elementary School because I saw a really rounded setting sun. Unfortunately, the school was already closed so I had no vantage point. I thus just drove around until I reached this spot.

Beautiful, isn’t it?

I was a little late because the sun was already almost halfway on the horizon when I arrived so I had no choice but to keep on snapping photos in Auto mode.

Here’s my favorite from this set.

Don’t you love how this tree provided an interesting backdrop to this fiery sunset? The tree is a frangipani and it’s almost in full bloom so I plan to visit it again to take photos of its flowers.

By the way, here’s a zoomed-in shot of the rounded sun.

Sunsets have been so fiery lately and perhaps it is because it’s summer.

When I couldn’t see the sun anymore, I decided to head home and chanced on these orange clouds at Guerrillero.

All photos taken using my Sony Cyber-shot Digital Camera RX 100 II.

Photo+Text: Wanderlust

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The above photo was taken in Batanes using my trusty Canon Powershot G12. Painting effect courtesy of my Sony Cyber-shot Digital Camera RX 100 II. Border added using the Android app Pixlr-o-matic.

I chose the above quote since it’s something I can very well relate to. Since being bitten by the travel bug when I traveled to Ilocos from Manila for a class trip in 2000, I’ve been traveling non-stop. To date, I had been to the US, Russia, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. I have also visited about 30 of the country’s 60 provinces.

Travel has such a profound effect on me. I love the experience. I love not just seeing places but learning from different cultures. Travel teaches me to respect other people’s traditions and appreciate diversity. It ignites my sense of adventure and the change in scenery rejuvenates my spirit.

Summer’s Here (2015 Edition)

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I’m officially welcoming summer 2015 with snapshots of my workplace-cum-home in Cebu, the Queen City of the South.

The above is a photo of Plantation Bay’s beachfront taken just last Monday.

I love how the water looked light blue by the beachfront but darkened to deeper shades of blue when farther out. And the clouds looked so defined.

Next I have a photo taken from the second floor of one of my favorite buildings: Edo Hall.

The resort has only three floors so each room has really good views of our man-made saltwater lagoons.

Since it is summer already, Frangipani flowers are also in bloom, and I love how they make a perfect frame for this photo.

On the ground floor, Frangipani, which we locals call calachuchi, also framed my view of the East Lagoon and Peninsula Beach.

The room where this was taken is called Lagoon Side because it’s only a few steps from the water (I just zoomed in this shot thus it looked so close).

I am blessed to be living inside the resort so I have daily access to this paradise and get to use its facilities for free. Always.

And when there are moments when the view is more stunning than the usual, I only have to whip out my phone to capture it.

The above was taken after I had my breakfast at Kilimanjaro Kafé, our main restaurant. I took this because I got so fascinated with the clouds.

Kilimanjaro Kafé is surrounded by Kilimanjaro freshwater pool, which is our main freshwater pool and we recently refurbished it. Here’s how it looks like now from the third floor:

Doesn’t the water look so inviting?

Here’s a panoramic shot, still taken from the third floor. Note the clouds.

Now, isn’t my workplace and Cebu home a paradise? It is specifically a photographer’s haven because anywhere you look, the view is beautiful.

What more, it has everything a water baby like me loves – beachfront, saltwater lagoons, plus 4 freshwater pools of varying designs.

I’ll end this post with a photo of my favorite building.

That’s our Chenonceaux House (farther out are Dune and Edo). Chenonceaux and Dune house our Water’s Edge rooms. Water’s Edge is our most sought-after room category because from the balcony, a guest can jump straight into the water.

Now, excuse me while I don my suit and enjoy summer in my tropical corner of the world.

All photos taken using just an iPhone 6.

“Autumn” in the Philippines

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Summer’s here and while I associate this with the sun, the sand, and the sea, I was amazed when I chanced on this during one of my walks.

Who knew some of our trees change colors and shed their leaves as they embrace summer?

The above is a mahogany tree, Swietenia mahogani (L.) Jacq., and I saw it just when its leaves are a beautiful mix of green, yellow, and orange. Pardon the photo quality as this was a zoomed-in shot using just my phone, which has limited zooming capabilities.

Mahogany is native to the West Indies and valued for its wood. For further reading, click HERE.

Here’s a photo of another tree experiencing “fall.”

We call it a Talisay tree in the country, though it is more popularly known as Indian Almond or Tropical Almond, Terminalia catappa. It’s also called an Umbrella Tree, and perhaps it’s because of its large leaves, and the fact that its branches are distinctly arranged in tiers.

A trivia: I found out HERE that before falling, the leaves of a Talisay tree turn pinkish-reddish to yellow-brown due to pigments such as violaxanthin, lutein, and zeaxanthin.

Here’s another tree that I found to be changing colors.

I don’t know its name though, so if anyone can identify this, that would be nice.

All photos taken in Cebu using an iPhone 6.

Today’s Sunset, March 18, 2015

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The above is by far the most perfectly rounded sun I’ve seen from my side of the world. I actually did not notice the plane until I zoomed in for a shot and by then, I was a little late (who knew a plane could fly so fast?!) and missed that moment when the airplane was not directly beneath the sun. It would have been a better photo frame-wise and I would have captioned the above “into the sunset…”