...a Digital Rebel and a travelogue...

X'mas Blues

dodongflores — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 13:18:00 +0000

The Photoshoot Blues

Doc Gerry called me up to offer me a ride to the MIP photoshoot at Intramuros. I was with Maldita at that time having our lunch in a Japanese Resto at Pearl Plaza, located at Pearl Drive in Ortigas Center. Free ride is cool but I need to accompany Maldita who had some business to attend to. I told Doc Gerry anyway that I would follow shortly. I didn't emphasize that Maldita would be coming over, too.
At 3:30pm, I was already on a taxi with Maldita. We still have to pick up my photography equipment at the condo I formerly lived with. Christmas rush made the Saturday traffic extraordinarily heavy. Maldita got sick along the way, probably because of the heavy traffic. It was good she always brought with her some medication and I also brought with me drinking water. I was keeping in touch with Doc Gerry and Kuya Rey Nocum.
After we alighted from the taxi, I contacted Denz Dayao who is the Intramuros authority. I was glad Maldita was saying she's getting fine so we could walk to the spot where Denz could meet us.
I was happy to be reunited with the group. Almost everybody was staring at me with naughty eyes. I was sure Doc Gerry was making again a story for me, Hahaha... Maldita was delighted to be seeing again her idol and fashion icon Jennie Dy. I was also most especially happy to be seeing my most favorite writer, and probably the most noteworthy blogger in the entire universe, Dennis Villegas.

Maldita's idol and fashion icon. i.e. Skechers shoes.

Albert's cameras

Doc Ger's D70 and killer Rangefinder.

The Big Night

The group proceed to Ilustrado Restaurant while taking photos along the way. Ilustrado Restaurant is the venue of the MIP's Christmas Party. We got the following photos:

Maldita in action (although nabaliktad ang focusing ko!)

Guess who this guy is?!!

Super Moderator and Macro King Rey Nocum.

What are you doing there, Denz?

Parol sa Ilustrado.

The Ilustrado Restaurant alley.

The Ilustrado Restaurant signage.

The MIP gathering was being held at the Bonifacio Hall, just right for the number of MIP members present at that time. Everybody was so happy and I know the group can never be that merrier without Doc Gerry's fantastic stories. Before the formality of the event, each one of us took turn taking photos of the group. I took these photos below using self-timer mode.

From left to right: (You may also download two hi-res photos here: 1, 2)

Jhun Vibar
Dr. GM Sabado (a.k.a. Doc Ger)
Denz and his better-half Ling
Mae Ann (I refer to here in this article as Maldita)
Jennie Dy (jjpdy)
Oskie
Spectrum
Super Moderator Rey Nocum
yours truly
Dennis Villegas
Albert

Dennis Villegas and Doc Gerry

Maldita

Jennie Dy - MIP Muse, Secretary, etc.
Late comers are Paolo Melendres and Joy Perez. Joy promised me and Pareng Dennis a photo of hers in swimsuit. She must have forgotten it already.
Francis Yanga together with a beautiful lady also arrived but were not late for the food and games. They were not really late since there were still lots of foods for them (including Manong Ken's lechon). They still could join the game which was hosted by Denz.

The most interesting personal experience during the event is talking with Bay Islandboy over the phone. Ironically, I only understood a single word from him because our venue is noisy. I heard the word Jovy from him, probably asking if my girlfriend is with me. Jovy couldn't come with me for the MIP Christmas Party because she's in duty. Islandoy was earlier referred to by Ms. Jen as the mysterious donor for the party. She ended up being teased by Doc Gerry with Islandboy.
When the party was over, Doc Gerry gave me and Mae Ann a lift until Mae Ann's place. I never had slept the previous night so I feel asleep while Doc Gerry was driving. Mae Ann, or Maldita,woke me up when we arrived at Shaw-Pasig.
''Thanks for the ride Doc Ger!'' I was still half-asleep.

Blue Beach Blues

Now, Maldita was making it sure to where I should sleep. Our condo's administrator had changed the gate's padlock after I relocated to Antipolo. It was digital that required passkey intentionally not given to me. During my date with Jovy at the baywalk, I slept outside the gate because of that. Those things Maldita didn't want to happen to me again. She couldn't accommodate me in her apartment because of other female housemates. I told her I would sleep in our condo. It is no longer possible because it was already too late, she knew it. She didn't stop nagging me for a specific place to where I can possibly spend my night with, and I finally told her I would sleep onboard a moving bus going to the province. Maldita dragged me to 10/Q convenience store and bought a lot of snacks for me; C2, cup cakes, breads, etc. I told her I didn't need those and all I need to do is to travel lightly. She insisted saying her Ate Jovy (my girlfriend) will be upset if she is going to starve me.

It was past four o'clock in the morning when I woke up. The Five Star bus I was riding already arrived at their Dagupan bus terminal. I was no longer sleepy. I briskly disembarked from the bus and was met by several aggressive tricycle drivers. I paused for a while and waited for a tamer driver. I found one later, named Louie. I told him to bring me to Tondaligan (the Blue Beach)and find a considerably rated lodging house for me. I asked him how much he would charge me for the ride from the bus terminal to the blue beach. Eighty pesos, he replied. I told him I'd hire him for P100 and he's happy.

Louie brought me to Snow White Inn. Before I could get in, a fat woman suddenly blocked my way asking if I was looking for a room to stay. She offered me a room for only one thousand pesos, good for 24-hr stay. She further told me Snow White Inn is more expensive. She was already grabbing my back pack away, a behavior that easily distinguished herself to be a hoax. I sensed something is wrong, and since I was already at the entrance of the Snow White Inn, I seized my back pack from the fat lady and followed the driver Louie inside the inn. It turn out that the 24-hour stay at Snow White Inn cost only six hundred pesos. I was glad that I was not tricked by that fat lady lurking just outside the door of the Snow White Inn. Louie volunteered to pick me up the following day if I want it to. I arranged him to pick me up at three o'clock in the morning and bring me to Victory Liner. I had to emphasize to him that he should bring me to Victory Liner instead of Five Star to where he picked me up earlier. With Victory Liner going to Pasay, that's only a single ride for me until Boni Avenue in Mandaluyong. He understood.

I took shower first and decided to go to the beach to scout for beautiful sceneries. I was trying to look for local fishermen working with their fishing gears. They are naturally good photography subjects. I didn't find even one and ended up being annoyed by kids along the beach. At first, I tried to avoid those kids but they kept on tagging behind me. I was losing my patience and decided to go back to the inn. I was wondering why there was no sun at that time.

Frank Bautista's burger kiosk :-)

The blue beach in the morning.

Ynnad's dog on the loose...

Blue Beach boats

When I lost the kids, I started to go to the opposite direction. I was walking under the coconut trees trying to find local fishermen. I stopped in a Frank Burger kiosk and decided to get a cold drink. While at rest, a young girl suddenly appeared from nowhere, spoke to me in Tagalog asking whether I would want a companion. When she told me I can hire her for anything, I sensed something is wrong. The girl is obviously selling her flesh. I couldn't believe at that early morning, somebody with the kind of livelihood is gutsy enough to show up. I turned her down and walked back to my inn. I wanted to eat my breakfast on a restaurant but Maldita sent along with me lots of food, so I thought of consuming all of those first.

Back to my room, my girlfriend texted me up asking what time I'll be in SM Megamall. I replied I'm already at Blue Beach in Dagupan. She called me up. I had to transcribe here the ensuing hilarious conversation between me and her, although for me, it was not really funny at all.

My girlfriend: "Honey, anong ginagawa mo diyan?" (Honey, what are you doing there?)
Me: "I want to witness the Blue Beach sunset!"
My girlfriend: "What sunset are you talking about? Di mo ba alam na may bagyong Seniang?" (What sunset are you talking about? Don't you know a certain typhoon Seniang is approaching?)
Me: "We'll, hindi ko alam yon. Wala namang binanggit si Mr.Ube News na may bagyo. Sa Yahoo! Weather forecast, sabi okay naman ang weather." (Well, I didn't know anything. Besides, Mr. Ube News didn't tell anything about approaching typhoon.
My girlfriend: "Ewan ko s'yo. Kung ako s'yo, babalik na lang akong Maynila. Bagyo ang ma-picture-ran mo diyan at hindi sunset." (I don't know with you. If I were you, I'll go back to Manila. You'll be taking photograph of typhoon instead of sunset.)

True enough, it started to rain. Even if I want to go out, I just can't go roam around without risking my camera to rainwater. Besides, I don't think rain is an interesting subject for photography, unless I'm purposely documenting rain. I ended up watching cable TV the whole afternoon. I was still eating as lunch all of those foods Maldita had stuffed for me.

No sunset :( Only big waves >:<

Blue Beach blues...

At four o'clock in the afternoon, the rainshower had stopped. I went to the seashore and brought with me my tripod. It was frustrating. Everything is overcast. There had been never a sign of sunset. There were no interesting photography subjects, too. I came across Bay Ynnad's dog but at that time he's no longer conscious enough with the people at the sea. I was getting hungry and decided to find a seafood restaurant. The nearest I found is Matutina's Seafoods.
At the restaurant, I was expecting I can eat seafoods, only to find out that seafoods are for group serving. Single servings did not include seafoods. At that time, I wish Tito Andy and Manong Frank is with me... We all could have eaten seafoods together. I ended up ordering Sinigang na Malaga, pork barbecue, fresh young coconut that are available for single serving. The coconut is fresh but is no longer young.

It was a wrong timing with the Blue Beach; no Blue Beach sunset, no seafoods... Had I known of it ahead of time, I could have gone directly to Tito Tom's birthday in La Union.

Belated Happy Birthday, Tito Tom!

Reminiscing Taal Photoshoot

dodongflores — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 13:29:00 +0000

I should be writing my own travelogue about the Taal Photoshoot but I didn`t finish editing my draft yet until this time. Meanwhile, I can offer you a slideshow of my photos while you may also see Dennis Villegas` and Jennie Dy`s write up. You may follow the following links:

The photo album of my Taal photoshoot can also be viewed from this link: http://dodongflores.multiply.com/photos/album/3

Is Mobile Digital Imaging Going to Replace Conventional Photography?

dodongflores — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 17:21:00 +0000

This is a Sony Ericsson K750i photo.

The print above read as follows:

The following rules are to be observed at all times:

Limit all reading to short stories, poems and notices.
Absolutely no sharing of seats.
No loud philosophical thinking.
Cross-eyed guest and drunks with bad aim MUST BE-SEATED.
Be courteous. Give way to dire emergencies.
Don't write on the walls. We don't use stationery for toilet paper.
This is the best seat in the house; treat it with respect.
Even if you are in rush... please remember to flush.
Smile at the mirror... you are being observed.
Relax... this is probably the only place where you are probably sure of what you are doing.
Notice: Obey all rules - permission to use this facility

Last December 2, I slept in my girlfriend's house. At the toilet, I saw that poster above nailed at the back of the door. Reading the lines, I thought it was cool. I wanted to share it with my brother Marex. As I wanted to do it quickly and wanted to show him the real picture, I took a photo of it using my Sony Ericsson K750i. I should send it to him via multimedia messaging (MMS).

The following day, December 3, a Sunday, I was in SM Megamall with my girlfriend. We were supposed to do photo shoot of the Sumulong strip which is overlooking Ortigas Center. It should be noted that last January, from this very vantage point, I had Ortigas Skyline photographed from sunset until the evening, and that was exactly what I wanted my girl to witness. We even planned to proceed to Cloud 9 night if there would be sufficient time. Unfortunately, everything didn't turn out well. It was gloomy the whole day and there seemed to an approaching rain. Just a few days before, the country was devastated with the super typhoon Reming. Because of the weather situation, we decided to cancel our Sumulong Strip Photoshoot. So I didn't bother to get my Canon SLR from our staff house in Mandaluyong City.

Because we couldn't go out, Maldita treated for us a Vietnamese cuisine at Lemon Grass in SM Megamall, Building A. It was also just timely because when we left from my girlfriend's house, it was already late and our breakfast was not on time. It was already late and we didn't have our lunch yet so we thought the Vietnamese food galore is no doubt a blessing.

Vietnamese food galore I photographed using my Sony Ericsson K750i.

We also had the kindness of Maldita to take me and my girl photograph using my mobile phone camera.

Writing a short essay about mobile digital imaging vs. conventional photography suddenly came to my mind when Maldita jokingly told me I didn't need my Canon SLR because of my mobile phone camera. And she followed it up with a question like, "Kuya, when is mobile phone camera to replace SLR and other form of cameras?"

Twelve years ago, mobile phones were rare and quite expensive. Rich businessmen carried them around in suitcases. I remember when I first arrive in Manila in 1995, the car I was driving, a limited edition of 1.6L black Toyota Corolla, had a car phone installed with Extelcom as the service provider. It was cool. And I was a cool guy back then. At present, mobiles are low-cost and everywhere. In the Philippines, mobile phones outnumber their land-line counterparts. Around the world, mobile phones are increasingly pervasive and this is especially true when it comes to developing areas. Didn't I think a few years back that mobile phones can also double as digital camera? Sure, I did. When it was realized, didn't I think mobile phone cameras would be able to replace high-end digital cameras? I didn't think it that way.

Lester Ledesma, known travel photojournalist, told us when we attended to one of his photography workshop last June, that while mobile phone cameras are communication tools, these gadgets will never replace conventional cameras. Instead, one will compliment to the other. Sometime in the future you will see a sports photographer that while in between shooting great action photos with his 16 megapixel digital SLR, would also fiddle his mobile phone camera to send instant photos in real time to his remote contacts. Mobile phone cameras are perfect photographic communication appliances that people carry around with them everywhere. Sharing photos and stories with friends while on-the-go by sending those straight to their phones—what could be easier?

The following photos taken using mobile phone camera will give us insight about mobile phone camera photography over the standardized photography.

This pasta and salad was photographed using phonecam some few weeks back in SM Megamall and was sent as MMS to Maldita so she could be enticed to come to the party very early.

While I was taking Manila Bay sunset during my first date with my girl, I also quickly snapped this photo using my phonecam so I can send this to my brother Marex and tell him how beautiful the afternoon has been.

A phonecam snapshot of Tennessee before we got to board it for the Baywalk cruise.

A phonecam also comes very useful when you want to photograph something very important while there's no available camera around. This photo is the water processing facility of the Divine Bio Purified Water in Antipolo City.

Admittedly, I'm also using phonecam as alternative to SLR in some instances, like this one when I didn't want to alarm people of my taking of photos for this Sta. Barbara church in Iloilo.

Phonecams is simply versatile it can be used almost instantly to document events and anything that suddenly comes into my way. As a travel photography enthusiast, phonecam is very helpful when I can't bring out the camera from my bag because the environment won't allow me to do so. What more I can do when I wanted to take photo of my unique experience with a tricycle ride in Iloilo? The photos below were taken using Asus V66 while I was on board an overloaded and fast-moving tricycle heading to its destination.

While using SLR can be obtrusive, a phonecam can help you to be discreet in taking photos like these. The following photos were taken on a night time at Pechopak in Iloilo.

When you want to take photos with your SLR, what imaging device would you use right at that instance?

All in all, a mobile phone always comes in handy when you're not bringing with you your SLR. Take this for instance, My girl and Elvie wanted to be taken photo together and they demanded for my SLR that I did not carry around during that time. Arm with my Sony Ericsson K750i together with it's detachable flash, the MXE-60, I made them smile and took an acceptable shot. They hesitated to be taken photograph using phonecam and doubted I could make it better, until I showed them the 8"x10" print outs.

Conclusion: While conventional cameras and mobile phone cameras both take good photos at the present time, they both have specific functions and uses. Saying mobile phone cameras will replace that bigger cameras tucked in your waist is just an overstatement. Personally, I always believe they just do compliment with each other.

The SM Megamall Photoshoot

dodongflores — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 16:59:00 +0000

Except for the Manila Baywalk photoshoot with Jovy, I haven't had much bigger photoshoot after Taal. Everytime I visited their shop in SM Megamall, Maldita would always nag me for a photoshoot. When I would ask for a venue, all of them would answer me in chorus the most familiar word, "Here!"

Seriously, I don't think a shop can be favorable for a photoshoot with lots of things to be considered: customers coming in and out; the distracting elements everywhere; I didn't have a flash; lastly, the activity could be against certain company policies. Anyhow, it was just for fun. So, why don't just do it quickly?

My gears are the following: Canon EOS 750QD; Quantaray 28-90mm f/3.5-5.6; and Perutz Primera Color 100.

Wondering why I didn't use digital? I simply miss shooting in film. I missed the thrilling experience shooting with film, a thrill brought out by the idea that mistakes need be eliminated as every mistake is a waste of film. It's the thrill of not making any optical mistakes during the shooting that keeps rushing my blood.

I repeat, the venue is not conducive for the photoshoot with the presence of distracting elements everywhere. It didn’t really demonstrate the simplicity that I was aiming for. Yet again, it was just for fun...

My girl, Princess Jennie, este, Princess Jovy :-)

A stare...

Princess Jovy with bunch of flowers.

Nice bokeh...

Left to right: Jovy, Maldita, and Marlyn.

Jovy and Maldita.

Jovy's portrait with Maldita sneaking from behind.

Jovy and Maldita with their smiles.

Obviously, Jovy and Maldita's working environment.

Maldita was not looking at the camera.

Princess Jovy and Aling Marlyn.

Jovy with Marlyn in her contemplative mood.

Marlyn and Jovy - all smiles...

Marlyn and Jovy are real sweet friends.

Jovy, Maldita, and Marlyn both love flowers.

Marlyn, Jovy and Maldita pose with their Tsinoy friend Steve.

I have to arrange them this way so the photo won't look monotonous.

Just another shot with Steve.

Maldita in her sweetest smile.

Maldita was lost in her thoughts after her weekend vacation in Baguio City turned out disastrous. Her friend Babe accidentally reformatted the multimedia card of her mobile phone camera that contained all her Baguio photos. She has nothing to be posted to her website. Too bad :(

About Pyra Labs

dodongflores — Sat, 03 Apr 2004 11:12:00 +0000

Pyra Labs, the company behind Blogger, was recently acquired by Google. Please read here: http://www.blogger.com/about/blogger_google_faq.pyra
The Blogger staff and their blog sites:
Jason Goldman
Steve Jenson
Jason Shellen
Jason sutter
Evan Williams, co-founder and CEO of (the former) Pyra, the company behind Blogger. Now he works on Blogger at Google.

Another news that I just read, Google is launching a web-based email service: Hotmail presently offers 2MB of free e-mail storage. Yahoo offers 4MB. Gmail will dwarf those offerings with a 1GB storage limit. Please check this out http://gmail.google.com/gmail/help/about.html

Search Engine Result

dodongflores — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 09:27:00 +0000

So, What If I Spoke in English?

dodongflores — Wed, 28 Apr 2004 16:03:00 +0000

”Miss, any of you can take my seat.” This was my very nice offer to two beautiful ladies who were just boarding the Saulog bus bound for Manila. To my surprise, the entire passenger stared at me – wide eyes opened. I realized I was wearing dirty pants with punched T-shirt. We were just transferring all our equipments from our office in Ortigas to Cavite. And so, this was I dressed since last night, except for my T-shirt.

Now, I know why these crazy people stared at me. Hindi pa sila nakakarinig ng taong marumi ang damit na nag-i-English. So what if I spoke in English? I’m used to do it and there’s nothing wrong with it.

Vigan - The Historic City

dodongflores — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 18:20:00 +0000

First and foremost, I'm begging for your consideration as soon as you start reading this article. This has been written using a handheld PC while on a bumpy bus ride going back to Manila so I have to shorten this as much as possible. Not unless I'm writing a thesis, please excuse the typos (blame it to the Graffiti) and the grammatical errors. I didn't spend another time to proofread this. This Vigan adventure is supposed to be done last holy week but since I couldn't get a bus seat reservation, I decided to move the trip the following week.
I started the trip on a Saturday 2am Partas bus ride. I should have started Friday night but a few skirmishes with the boss who insisted that I should have asked permission from him about this weekend trip really caused the delay. In the end, the protagonist won.
It didn't take me long to pack up because I had prepared all of my things already a week before, when I should have left for Vigan during the holy week. Had I wasn't able to catch up the 2am departure, I could have delayed for another two hours that will make me arrive in Vigan in the afternoon. Fortunately, a passenger for seat number 46 didn't arrive so instantly I became a chance passenger.
The bus was clean and comfortable, with reclining seats, adjustable aircon vents, and foot rests. The headrest has side supports so that your head does not fall off the seat as you sleep, so this is very helpful. Do I need to enumerate what's with me on this trip? I always traveled light so I didn't bring another bag for my photography equipments. All of my photography equipments were squeezed inside my back pack together with some clothing that was prepared to last for three days at most.
My photography equipments consists of my Canon 300D, Canon 18-55mm EF-S wide angle lens with polarizer, Quantaray 28-90mm EF standard lens, and Canon 35-70mm fully auto-focus lens. Other equipments include a tripod which is externally attached to my back pack and my trustworthy Kodak Z700 ultra-compact camera as backup. I needed to bring a backup camera to avoid Cunejo's experience in Palawan when his Nikon SLR broke down and everything was, oh...
Since I estimated to be in that historic city for two days and one night, I didn't bring with me chargers. Instead, I brought two more spare batteries for my Canon and 16 pieces of AA rechargeable batteries for my Kodak. I didn't even bring with me my phone chargers. I'm confident my cell phones could last for few more days. Besides that those phones were charged exactly before I left, there are two of them, so the lesser possibility that I can drain their power in just two days.
I also put on my utility vest that I got during the 23rd SEAGames last November. It always saves me a lot of trouble, with lots of pockets here and there. I distributed all of my things that I needed in any case. Kodak camera in the lower right pocket, two cell phones in the lower left pocket, Palm Pilot in the upper right pocket, my wallet in the upper left pocket, ballpens, extra coins, miniature flashlight, etc were neatly placed in the other pockets.

Going to Vigan is one long ride of tiring 7 hours or 405 kms. stretched from Metro Manila. To amuse myself during this period, I prepared for myself few entertainment; MP3 music saved to my cell phone and two movies converted to MP4 format. I brought two actually, A Knight's Tale by Heath Ledger and Tomorrow Never Dies, a James Bond flick by Pierce Brosnan. I could have also enjoyed the scenic route along Ilocos Highway if only I traveled during daytime. Anyhow, I was able to take a few glimpses of Lingayen Gulf on my way to Vigan and even going back.
“A Knight’s Tale” was one of those movies that I always wanted to see despite of its historical inaccuracies punctuated by knights calling each other “dude” all set to Queen power ballads. No, actually, there was no “dude” uttered in the film but the “rock and roll” was plentiful and surprisingly complementary. I have to admit, I did find it a little strange in the first instance--the spectators at the jousting tournament doing the whole “We will, we will, rock you” thing. But once I got used to the fact that this was part of the movie and the director was trying to be innovative I let it go. “A Knight’s Tale” is supposed to be a light-hearted adventure, not a documentary on medieval knights after all.
Anyhow, the basic premise is about a peasant boy who wants to be a knight-- anyone who’s seen the preview can tell you that. Getting into a little more detail, the story begins with Will (Ledger), Roland (Addy), and Wat (Tudyk) who are introduced as three poor squires to a recently deceased knight who has been competing in a jousting tournament (and must only win one final match to win the tournament). Caught in this situation, Will convinces Roland and Wat that he can impersonate the knight and complete the tournament in place of the dead knight. Will wins the match (and the tournament) without being discovered (it is against the law for peasants to compete in the tournaments) and all three squires get a taste of the wealth that can be made by impersonating the knight and set off to the next tournament.
Along the way they run into a naked Geoffrey Chaucer (Paul Bettany) who teams up with them and becomes their promoter, a medieval version of Don King. Chaucer is definitely the best character in the movie and provides a lot of wit and laughs. The boy's team up with a gorgeous blacksmith too...she was a pretty shallow character (like most of the others now that I think about it) but there was only one major thing that bothered me about her. She made some special armor for Will and she added her own little logo to it, probably for people to identify her work. Anyway, a little love story goes on between Will and some princess (Princess Jocelyn played by Sossamon) and a little unfriendly competition with (the token bad guy) Count Adhemar (Sewell) results.
In "Tomorrow Never Dies," as all of the James Bond series, the action sequences are suitably entertaining. It's impossible to count the number of bullets fired, and there are pyrotechnics aplenty, including exploding missiles, a fireworks show on the ground, and a fairly spectacular climactic conflagration. There are a couple of memorable chases, including one with a driverless BMW car and another with a low-flying helicopter closing in on a motorcycle. For those who crave flashes, bangs, narrow escapes, and other action film staples, Tomorrow Never Dies delivers.
Ops, why am I doing a movie review here?

Okay, let's get back to the main interest as to why I'm writing this article. Vigan, according to lakbaypilipinas.com, is a great place to visit because it makes you feel that you are living in the past. This is because Vigan still has all those Spanish houses built way way back when the Philippines were still under Spanish rule. Vigan's tourist potential is based on its cultural heritage composed of more than 180 ancestral houses, administrative and religious structures, public squares and other historical landmarks within the poblacion, and built during the 18th and 19th centuries. Being the only surviving colonial town in the entire Philippines, Vigan is being developed as a primary tourist destination in Region I. One should agree that one of the famous places that a person can visit in the Philippines way up north is Vigan. As a travelphotography enthusiast, this is the main reason I'm crazy going into this place.
My accommodation was hosted by Vigan Hotel (www.viganhotel.com). Since it was already off-peak season, I didn't bother to get a prior reservation. I already made a research ahead and I was firmed to check in into this hotel because the name itself rang a bell in me. I occupied a double occupancy room as that was the only available room left for me. The room was very bare, but it was just okay. I've known to be a minimalist. I was just glad there's cable TV with very limited cable channels. Well, for your reference, other hotel choices in Vigan include Aniceto Hotel and Vigan Plaza Hotel.
After taking shower, I walked around and decided to synchronize my researched information with the Tourism office. I was glad I did. The tourism officer was very accommodating and she was very helpful as to giving me the idea how to enjoy the utmost in Vigan. She advised me to walk around by foot the nearest tourist attraction before getting a calesa for the tour. She gave me list of the nearest destinations where I can take a walk. She also told me that calesa ride will cost me 150 pesos per hour. By the way, most of the officers inside the tourism office are real beautiful Filipinas. :) I was also asked to sign the guestbook, I forgot to mention.

Tourism Office	Cafe Leona
Calle Crisologo

St. Paul Metropolitan Cathedral

Plaza Burgos

Plaza Salcedo

Museo Nueva Segovia

I took my lunch at Max Restaurant.

After the walkthrough, I get a calesa to start getting around with distant destinations. My kutsero, Sir Crisanto Rabacca, who is probably in the late 60s, was already expert in his job and had been doing the same thing more than 30 years, probably even before I was born. Anyway, I trusted him because of that experience. When we started to exchange conversation with each other, I noticed he's awkward speaking in Tagalog. I started speaking in English and that's how he became to be naturally talkative. I realized he is more comfortable in English conversation than Tagalog. I was all spoking dollar to him and for all along during the three-hour ride, I felt I was a foreigner myself right that moment (Hehehe)...

These were our destinations; I mean these are the places the expert Crisanto brought me (in order):

Bantay Church, a beautiful old church with a much-photographed brown and white facade, is the setting of the famous Tagalog movie Panday starred by the late Fernando Poe, Jr. The belfry which sits farther away on a hill, is a brick structure set against a gorgeous backdrop of blue skies and green horizons.

Burnay Jar Factories
I was less fortunate to be here. There were lots of tourists and taking photo of the artist making that clay pottery was quite difficult. I couldn't even setup a tripod. I planned to get a photo of the artist on a slow shutter speed while the pot created is in motion. Realizing it was impossible because of lots of other tourists around, I decided to use flash.

Crisologo Museum
I was asked by the in charge to sign the guestbook and donate any amount. Basically, what can be found inside are things of Vigan’s beloved late Governor Carmeling Crisologo, father of Bingbong Crisologo, and probably the most famous in the Crisologo clan. He was so powerful during his time that he got a lot of enemies, and on one occassion, had him murdered inside Vigan Cathedral. His wife was also, at time, was ambushed but cheated death.
The Museum itself is the ancestral house of the Crisologos. It is a huge, beautiful house, obviously well taken care of. Interesting stuff include a gorgeous antique calesa that according to sources, were both used by Snooky Serna and Cesar Montano in their Maruja and Rizal movies respectively.

Baluarte
Baluarte is Chavit Singson's 70-hectare property with a mini-zoo, a caregiver school, its own chapel, man-made decorative falls, and several other buildings. All animals in the zoo are well taken cared. There are calesa rides offered for free but the horses are just too small :(

Hidden Garden
I can no longer recall exactly the name of the place from which this famous garden is located. Hidden Garden is just a gorgeous haven owned by an architect famous for his landscaping projects. Plants here are sold at very low prices. Unfortunately, I can't buy even one considering my needs of traveling lightly.

Mira Hills Eco-Park

My tour took 3-hours and 500 pesos was all worth it. After which I proceed to Max Restaurant for snacks. Max Restaurant branches are all credit card friendly so I can always make a sigh of relief every time I found one.
After the snack, I went back to my hotel, again, it is just a walking distance away from the commercial center. I watched TV, took a nap, and took shower after an hour or two. It was already dark when I went out again. By that time, I brought with me my tripod. I planned to take a night time shot. Before doing such, I dropped by to a nearest internet cafe (I bet that was the only internet cafe in town) and later went back to Max Restaurant for my dinner. It was a Chopsuey combo, served with buko juice in its shell and sweet pandan for dessert.

Calle Crisologo during daytime

Calle Crisologo - night time

Calle Crisologo
Calle Crisologo, probably Vigan's most famous attraction. Old houses left and right and the horse's hooves on the cobblestone floor indeed seems to take you back in time several centuries earlier.

Burgos Museum

Vigan as can be seen from the top of Museo de San Pablo

Museo Nueva Segovia

Sunday morning, I visited Burgos Museum, Museo Nueva Segovia, and Museo de San Pablo. Unfortunately, contrary to most of the country's museums that close on Monday, Museo Nueva Segovia closed on this very Sunday, so I visited only the two among these three mentioned.

5 o'clock in the afternoon, I was already on a Partas bus bound for Manila.
Excuse me, I have to continue reading my Da Vinci code eBook...