This huge patch of barren land used to be a network of caves, one of those visited by my boyfriend Gim and his partner Marvin during their senior thesis. They’ve presented their data to countless people in the city, in the pursuit of the preservation of our treasured caves. But it seems, people don’t want to listen, as is obvious in this case. My heart hurts at the thought of all those limestone, guano, stalactytes and stalagmytes harvested illegally and brutally. What used to be a beautiful view of sky, ocean and forest has been marred. Whatever will replace those caves will never be as beautiful.
This is sunset in Nangka. Perhaps all has not been lost. The forest still stands, and nobody can ever tamper with the ancient brilliance of the sun and sky.
Nangka is only a few kilometers away from the city – roughly eighteen. But the view from there is wonderful – that of the city, the coast and the islands beyond. We didn’t stay to see the sun set fully below the horizon – that would have made the ride back home perilous for us. We could only imagine how the city lights would have looked at night in Nangka.
I take great pictures, I know. But I couldn’t help but want a picture of myself too! So this is the one taken by Gim, but directed by me. He’s not the greatest of photographers, you know. (I’ll spare you his pics.) In this picture, you can almost sense how high up on earth we were. You can even see the smoke rising from one of the houses (?) within the forest.
This picture is as dangerous as it looks. This cliff is about a hundred feet (judging from the ant-sized man we saw working below) high. And Gim, hardly the risk-taker, gambled his life by venturing out on the very edge of the cliff – the little piece of earth that jutted out precariously into space. I took this photo at his insistence, though I was petrified he might fall and kill himself. Who would bring me home, then? I don’t even know how to drive on two wheels!!! Luckily, he survived. I didn’t take the chance, though. I didn’t want to miss out on blogging our latest adventure.
I love taking photos of the sky, especially during sunset. It’s as if white heaven is burning with an unspoken desire – desire to consume the earth. How melodramatic of me.
Gim and I experimented with the drive mode on my Canon A410 in these photos:
This is the reason I need a tripod desperately:
We invited Paopao to be in our pictures. But then we had nowhere to place the camera! So we placed Gim’s helmet on the ground and placed the camera on Gim’s helmet. Since it was too close to the ground, we couldn’t see whether the pictures would look nice. They sure did – starring the Nangka weeds!
And last but not the least, here are two of my favorite pictures from that day.
Of the ones that I have taken, this is my most favorite photo ever.
“So this is the one taken by Gim, but directed by me. He’s not the greatest of photographers, you know. (I’ll spare you his pics.)” hmmph! i’ll let you know that i took two- read- TWO courses in photography and i DO know how to take pictures. well, maybe i need a bit of refinement but still…hmph! hehe. that really was a fun day, right love? i really like that close up pic of you. and the risky pose of me on the cliff. how come you didnt put in the poses u did near the cliff? anyway, here’s to next time. er, um, about my post, do you think i could be the official driver and tour guide of our blog? u know, u do the posting, i do the driving thingy? hehe. just a thought. love u!