Random Detox » Photography

Lantaka by the Sea

Flisha — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 15:57:51 +0000

Lantaka by the Sea

We got caught in the rain while joyriding through the streets of Zamboanga. We were about to drop by Paseo del Mar, but it was full of Sunday folks. So we decided on Lantaka by the Sea instead, even though the rates were considerably higher, the solitude and quiet would be well worth it.

And a good decision, too, since mere minutes after settling in our cozy little hut, the rain started pouring by the buckets.

We ordered Pasta Marisco (seafood pasta) to share, Choros de Chocolate (bread with chocolate) for dessert, a Cookies and Cream frappe for me, and two San Miguel Lights for him.

Spent the evening just taking photos, eating good and having fun, until the rain let up and we were able to head home.

Getting caught in the rain always leads to fun times when I’m with Gimmi.

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Post tags: chocolate bread, Holidays, lantaka, paseo del mar, seafood pasta, Zamboanga

Tags: chocolate bread, Featured, Holidays, lantaka, paseo del mar, Photography, seafood pasta, Zamboanga, Zamboanga

Astoria Regency Zamboanga

Flisha — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 20:16:00 +0000

These days, when I think of Astoria Regency in Zamboanga City, I think of swimming. With my going back and forth Manila-Zamboanga, it’s been awhile since I was able to take a nice long dip in a swimming pool.

I miss those days. I am at a crossroad. Tomorrow I am supposed to return to Manila. (I just came back home for four days, to attend my boyfriend Gim’s graduation. He’s a doctor now! Photos of that soon.)

However, all I want to do is stay here, with him. Because he really makes me happy. Wish I could steal him away for a long long cruise, where we can forget all our troubles, drink and eat and be merry, and smile all the time. I want to just keep him and be with him for always.

But, the rainy days always come. And I have to give up being with him, again. I’m not sure for how long this time. I am at a crossroad.

I will just have to keep looking at photos of summer and happier times. And hope the rains pass quickly.

Tags: Manila, Photography, Zamboanga, Zamboanga

Blue Beach Park in Golf, Zamboanga

Flisha — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 15:21:00 +0000

Easter Sunday, the day before I came back to Manila, Gim and I decided to visit Golf Beach, on a whim. Not to bathe; I don’t think I can ever bathe in less than white sand beaches (Dakak spoiled me). But rather just to enjoy the last few tendrils of sun. I don’t even have photos: it was much too dark.

After ten minutes of standing around near the water, we mounted Bastian (the bike) and left. But not before touring the entire beach, so we headed deeper into Golf.

At the end of the road, we saw this:

A new restaurant! What a surprise! And so pretty! Instantly I was saddened we hadn’t gone there earlier. It would have been a spectacular sunset.

Gim and I decided to have dinner there. It was very peaceful, we had the place to ourselves, as you can see in the photos below. I didn’t have a tripod so I had to set my camera on the table to get the photos (thus the awkward angles).

There wasn’t much beach, but there was a small park, and an exquisite tree parked on top of a hill, filled with sparkling lights. That was really the one thing that made the park beautiful, that tree.

Random aside: did you know that apricots came from Apricot trees? I thought they came from bushes! (It’s like how some people think pineapples come from trees, but don’t.)

I will return there, soon, to take more photos in better lighting. And in sunset! Oh I am so excited to return there on a sunset! These photos of mine do not do the tree justice.

Having the place to ourselves, Gim and I photowhored away. Much of it is blurry since we had to hold our breaths for ten seconds at least per photo. And one time, the waitress was coming with our food so I left my post midfreeze (that’s the one where I turned into a ghost).

The food was great! We ordered beef tapa with onions, it was so good, I loved it! We also ordered camaron rebosao (sugar roasted shrimp) but it was not available so we had to do with crispy shrimp, which was okay, not terrific. And of course, the requisite garlic rice (which was yum).

I apologize if the photos are a bit unfocused. We were too hungry to wait for the perfect take.

All in all, it was a very fun day. Gim and I had some heavy stuff to sort out so it was a good thing the place was clear of guests. We’re good now, though.

Here’s a bonus photo of the pretty tree. I tried my best to hold my breath while taking the photo, but it came out blurred anyway. Still you can see the potential.

Tags: Photography, Zamboanga, Zamboanga

Curacha in Alavar Sauce

Flisha — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:17:00 +0000

Gim and I had a spectacular lunch today. Curacha cooked in coconut milk and Alavar sauce. Divine!

Curacha is a type of crab commonly found in the waters of Zamboanga. As such it’s available in the city markets round the clock. I would love to eat it as regularly as I eat lechon (roasted pork, goes very well with a Sunday) but unfortunately my cook is a bit allergic to crustaceans. He gets hives all over, and hyperacidic, when he eats too much crab or shrimp. So I have to wait several weeks in between curacha fests.

Today happened to be my lucky day. I slept in the whole morning and when I woke up, Chef Gim had already gone to the market, bought three large curachas and whipped up my favorite Guinataang Curacha in Alavar sauce! Yummy! So good it deserves to be on the menu of a five-star New York City hotel.

Alavar is a famous seafood restaurant in Zamboanga City, and they sell Alavar sauce, which is a secret concoction of aligue and spices. Whatever they put it in it, it’s sinfully delicious and makes every seafood dish doubly tasty.

In Chavacano, Curacha means “cockroach”, but the similarity between the two creatures ends in their furry-looking legs. Curacha is a wonderfully tasty crustacean. It is meatier and much cleaner than the mud crab, though ironically with a slightly earthier taste, and it’s meat a little less smooth but just as juicy. However the difference in taste is very subtle and I am sure most people would not be able to differentiate the two without checking their shells. I’m not yet sure which I favor more, the mud crab or the curacha, so I prefer to have them both in one dish!

Jump inside to see more photos of today’s lunch, and Chef Gim’s simple Guinataang Curacha in Alavar Sauce recipe below.

How to Make Guinataang Curacha (or Crab) in Alavar Sauce

Ingredients:
1 kilo curacha or crab
1/2 kilo grated coconut
1/2 kilo Alavar sauce
1 bulb of garlic
1/2 thumb of ginger
4 pinches of salt
4 pinches of monosodium glutamate (Ajinomoto)
1 1/2 cup of water

Wash curacha or crab. Place in cooking pot. Set aside.

Place grated coconut in a mixing bowl. Pour water and mix. With your hands, squeeze all milk from the coconut. Set aside.

Mince garlic and ginger into tiny pieces. Set aside.

Sprinkle the salt, Ajinomoto, garlic and ginger all over the curacha or crab.

Pour coconut milk all over the curacha or crab.

Turn stove on high heat until the coconut milk comes to a boil. Then drop the alavar sauce into the pot and lower the knob to medium heat. When the coconut oil starts to surface (happens after around 20-30 minutes), turn off the stove.

Serve.

P.S. If you don’t have Alavar sauce, go right ahead and do the recipe without it. It will just be Guinataang Curacha, then.

Tags: Foods, Photography, Zamboanga, Zamboanga

Dapitan the Beautiful

Flisha — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 17:00:00 +0000

I don’t remember uploading these photos of the last time I was in Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte. That was about three months ago. Although I do not miss my very poor living quarters there, I do miss the beautiful, relaxing sights of Dapitan.

Nature never let you forget her majesty in Dapitan. It was easy to just let the romantic days wrap themselves all over you… ’til you forgot that there was more to living than the here and now.

So… enjoy these photos.

Tags: Dapitan, Photography, Zamboanga, Zamboanga

Solar Eclipse 2009 Pictures

Flisha — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 20:00:00 +0000

The first solar eclipse of 2009 fell on January 26 (coincidentally, the Chinese New Year) and I was there to see it firsthand. Lucky for me I live on the edge of the Philippines, in Zamboanga City, Mindanao. At 4pm Monday, I parked on one of the benches along the coast, armed with my Canon S5 IS and some old floppy disks, then started shooting.

None of the photos below have been altered save for some resizing (the original pics are too high-res), bordering and watermarking. Take a look!

The Red Series

I don’t have a high class IR filter for my camera, or anything like that. All I did to be able to capture the solar eclipse in photo was to dig out one of my dad’s old floppy disks, take out the black film thingy from inside it and then manually hod the film in front of the lens of my camera. How very old-school, huh?

All photos below are arranged in the order of when they were taken (mostly).

The Black and White Series

The Mixed Series

I find I like this series best. Using the floppy film brought out the solar eclipse but it also blacked out everything else. I liked just covering part of my lens with the filter so my camera could capture the ocean in full color.

This woman had no idea there was a solar eclipse behind her. In fact, very few people knew. There was this one guy who seemed frustrated that his DSLR + zoom lens + very long hood could not capture the eclipse. He kept stomping around in vain. There was a family of three who were trying to see the sun without so much as a pair of sunglasses to block the sun’s rays, so I have no idea if they were actually able to see the eclipse. Most people were just enjoying the sunset, like any normal day. Very surreal.

The Non-Series

No filters were used for the non-series. As you can(not) see, it was next to impossible to see the solar eclipse with bare eyes. But I liked the way that my camera somehow captured the reflection of the partial eclipse. Very pretty. The eclipse was only visible during the last few seconds of the sunset. Unfortunately, the sun petered out before it reached total eclipse.

A Nice Day at The Beach

The Props and Photog

Yup, that’s me in the second and third pics. People were passing by, looking at me with a funny look. I must have seemed quite strange, hahaha. And… that’s Zamboanga City’s busy coastline in the last pic.

Click the pictures for bigger resolutions!

It was a fun day! I love solar eclipses! Do you have photos of the solar eclipse? Leave a link!

If you liked this post, please digg! Thank you!

Tags: Photography, Solar Eclipse, Zamboanga, Zamboanga

Zamboanga City Christmas Lights

Flisha — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 18:00:00 +0000

I meant to upload these much sooner, but I was waiting for my next chance to photograph the lights of Zamboanga City, as I had not taken any of the beautifully lighted Christmas tree in the center of the city nor of the townhall lights in the surrounding barangays like Pasonanca or Sta. Maria.

Unfortunately the holiday season is ending soon and by the time I finish my shoots New Year may well be over, so without further ado, here are my twilight shots of Zamboanga City Hall. Enjoy!

The people of Zamboanga City speak the Chavacano language, the base language of which is Spanish. Thus, on Christmas, we greet each other “Felices Pascuas” (Merry Christmas) and in the dawn of the New Year, we say “Prospero Año Nuevo” (A Prosperous New Year).

Frontal view of Zamboanga City Hall. The lights are truly more impressive this year than last. And I thought we were in recession?

That’s me posing in front of the Belen, also known as a nativity scene.

My boyfriend Gim pretending to offer something to a shepherd. (I think…) You can see a Jollibee franchise right behind us. It started out as only a small business opportunity but now it’s the Philippines’ version of McDonalds.

Plaza Pershing lighted up. And Gim smack dab in the middle of it all.

A tree filled with lights. I love to see trees filled with Christmas decorations. I couldn’t quite capture the beauty of this one, though. The light was dying…

My boyfriend wishing he were as tall as the camel. Ahh, me too. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!!! Wishing you all a Prospero Año Nuevo!

Tags: Holidays, Photography, Zamboanga, Zamboanga

Lazy Afternoon Rice Field

Flisha — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:09:00 +0000

My favorite pastime is traveling rural roads and marveling at how beautiful nature is. It’s a pleasure that costs absolutely nothing. The best things are free, and all of that.

The Philippines is primarily an agricultural country. Rice fields are everywhere. All of them are uniquely different. Some are very organized, proportionally segregated and individually labeled. Some are random, a bit of terraces here, a scarecrow there.

But all of them look beautiful, especially at sundown. I love to see the sun’s fading rays peeking through the trees. Or the glint of gold bouncing off the rice paddies.

I love the wisps of clouds that float serenely across the sky. And the myriad of colors that burst when the sun starts to say good night.

He says I’m a country girl at heart. Maybe it’s true.

Tags: Photography

Best Restaurant in Dipolog

Flisha — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:00:00 +0000

It’s Grandma’s Best, hands down.

In fact, I think it’s the best restaurant in Zamboanga del Norte, and after tasting their Squid Aligue Spaghetti, I’m tempted to say it’s the best restaurant in all of Philippines. Except that I haven’t visited all of Philippines yet.

Grandma’s Best is hidden in a residential part of Dipolog, which makes it a bit hard to find, as coming from Dapitan, Gim and I had to navigate through many roads just to find the elusive little canteen of a restaurant.

There is nothing to boast about the facade of Grandma’s Best, as it looks like an ordinary carenderia. The tables are simple rectangular plastic tables covered with cheaplooking cloth, the chairs are uncomfortable monoblock plastic white chairs, the walls are unadorned except for a few paintings here and there.

Service is nothing special. The waitresses look like that spinster aunt of yours who’s looking after your house while you’re gone (in her pink shirt and jeans). Water is available, but you have to get it yourself in the water dispenser at the back of the room.

But I’m not dissing this wonderful little restaurant. I’m simply amazed that a restaurant that looks so ordinary that it can easily be mistaken for a canteen (unless you happen to glance at the fridge that contains all of their rich-looking desserts) can serve such wonderfully fantastically delicious and divine dishes.

Grandma’s Best dishes I’ve tried and I swear are to die for:

Squid Aligue Spaghetti (Php80)

This scrumptious dish is soooo rich you’ll want to come back everyday to Grandma’s Best for a retaste. It’s filled with squid rings and pasta mixed in a rich and creamy sauce of sinful aligue (crab fat), topped with loads of cheese and freshly cut spring onion. It’s a disservice to call this dish “spaghetti” because it resembles nothing like spaghetti, but more like pasta for the gods, it is that rich.

Lengua (Php120)

I have always loved lengua (literally means tongue, but as a dish it means tongue of cow), and when I saw this dish in the menu, I ordered it right away. The dish I was served did not disappoint me in any way (except that it was served in a rectangular plastic container, but ah who cares if the food tastes great, huh?). The lengua was very soft, and swimming in a bowl of richly creamy mushroom sauce, and bursting with the dark, deep taste of beef. It’s definitely one of my favorites.

Beef Stroganoff (Php100)

You can take this with rice, or with pasta. Gim ordered this dish, and he chose pasta. I had only a few bites of this but I can say with all my heart I wish we had ordered two of these so I could have eaten a whole dish on my own! It may look like squid aligue spaghetti, but tastes nothing like it. It’s soft, tender beef mixed with creamy pasta topped with spring onions.

Apple Pie (Php60)

This dessert is definitely one of the best I have ever experienced. My mom bakes the best apple pies I’ve ever tasted, and I was shocked to find out this pie we had just bought was even better! The best part about this pie is the delightfully crumbly upper crust, which tastes faintly of cinammon and confectionary sugar, and the underside covered with lovely apple sauce. Inside of the cake are apple slices which taste heavenly. The normally strong taste of apple is subdued and the apple slices are soft and tender, just the way I like it. The whole minipie is topped with cheese, and the serving is good for two. This dessert is a must-try if you’re ever going to eat at Grandma’s Best.

Lastly, I also recommend their Roast Beef (Php110), however I don’t have pictures of that since I ate it the first time around, when I wasn’t bringing a camera. (It tastes a lot like lengua.)

More pictures of the above dishes:

Grandma’s Best dishes I’m looking forward to sampling in the very very near future:

Cheese Lumpia (Php55)
Chili con Carne (Php75)
Garlic Mushroom (Php65)
Seafood BBQ (Php120)
Seafood Supreme (Php125)
Thai Fried Rice (Php100)
Pistachio Cake Slice (Php55)
Trouffle Supreme Whole (Php380)

Tags: Dapitan, Dipolog, Foods, Photography, Zamboanga

Travel Zamboanga to Dapitan

Flisha — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:56:00 +0000

To travel Dapitan, Zamboanga (Philippines) and vice versa, you can go three ways: by air, land and sea.

Via Air

The safest option is, of course, via air. But as there’s no available direct flight from Zamboanga to Dipolog (but feel free to correct me if I’m wrong), you would have to fly from Zamboanga to Cebu, then Cebu to Dipolog via Cebu Pacific. From Dipolog airport (do a little bit of shopping in Dipolog if you need to, you won’t be able to do it in Dapitan), you can take a tricycle straight to your destination in Dapitan for an exorbitant fee of Php150. Alternatively, you can walk to the street right outside of the airport, flag down a passing (not waiting) tricycle and get a ride to the bus terminal for only Php7. Then get on an Evergood bus and it will take you to Dapitan for Php20.

Via Sea

If you choose to go via sea, make sure it’s not the rainy season (August – December) because boats tend to capsize around this time of the year. If you have to, bring a vest and a snorkel. (I’m not kidding.) A little ferry from GP Lines travels from Zamboanga to Dapitan and vice versa, and costs less than Php1000 per passenger. The length of the trip is usually around 24 hours. From the port of Dapitan, you can take a tricycle to your destination for some exorbitant fee like Php200 (make sure to haggle heavily to lower the price!).

Via Land

The most common option for people traveling from Zamboanga to Dapitan is to take the bus. A one-way trip from Zamboanga to Dipolog on an airconditioned bus costs about Php400, while a non-AC bus costs Php300. From the Dipolog bus terminal, switch to the Evergood bus which will take you to Dapitan.

Via Stupid

The crazy and lifethreatening way to travel from Zamboanga to Dapitan is by motorcycle. It’s a four hour trip to the “nearby” city of Ipil, then another five hours to Dapitan. And that’s if you don’t stop periodically along the way because your butt is hurting so bad you want to kill your boyfriend for ever suggesting the trip as a “joyride”.

However, there are some nice spots along the way that you just have to stop and take a picture of, because. Like, for example, a rainbow over the ocean. Sometimes, a rainbow is just a rainbow. But when you have travelled for over two hours in the pouring rain on a motorcycle wearing a bright pink plastic trashbag that you bought for twenty pesos from a fisherman, got mud splattered all over your favorite green cottonskinned backpack and staining your pretty blue rubber shoes, and are carrying a large duffel bag about 10 kilos worth of rainsoaked garments on one side, your laptop and your backpack hanging from your aching back that hasn’t rested for seven hours running, plus your camera on the other side…. Sometimes a rainbow is not just a rainbow. Sometimes a rainbow is a calm capresso from God telling you that murder is not the answer, and that this too shall pass.

Not that I ever endured those things because my mother specifically told me that I should be taking the bus to Dipolog, and she even mandated earlier I should take an airplane even if she had to pay my fare but I lipbitingly declined because I really shouldn’t be taking her money and instead should be responsible for my own expenses. So… I was. Via… erm… bus. Not via my newly bought refurbished Honda XL named Bastian (because I sold Pao a long time ago, and he wouldn’t have survived the trip anyways) that my boyfriend drove to Dapitan in both hours under the pouring rain and hours under the burning sun that scalded my skin and soaked all my clothes. Nope, ohno she didn’t.

P.S. The waves were wonderful.

Tags: Dapitan, Dipolog, Photography, Travelogue, Zamboanga, Zamboanga

Sandbars in Dapitan

Flisha — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 11:26:00 +0000

Sometimes the shores of Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte, Philippines seem infinite. What you’re seeing above is a piece of ocean real estate. The tide recedes so low that at times the shore stretches as far as the eye can see.

That’s the village city of Dapitan beyond the shore. The sand is shaped like that because of the action of the waves brushing against the ocean floor.

Gim walked for about ten minutes just to reach the end of the sandbar.

The shore glistens with little rocks and pebbles. There were a lot of snails too.

That’s Gim inspecting the waters of Dapitan.

See how far he is already?

And a wonderful surprise – a beautiful piece of shell stranded on the shore.

Tags: Dapitan, Photography, Zamboanga

Fishnets in Pasil

Flisha — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 21:04:00 +0000

There is an island called Pasil, in Dapitan, Philippines.

It’s right under the bridge that connects two major islands in Dapitan. Passing through that highway everytime we crossed to Dipolog, he and I would always look down over Pasil and marvel at how beautiful and mysterious the place was.

One day we rented a motorcycle from our neighbor and went on a joyride towards Pasil, a place marked by fisherfolk and fishing nets.

Have you ever seen anything like it? Chances are, you haven’t. Most fishing nets are thrown over deep waters in the middle of the sea. But Dapitan has a little something special. It boasts a bountiful sea, and shallow waters that stretch as far as the eye can see. So fishermen plant their nets near the shore, and still get plentiful catch.

Here’s a landscape view of the mysterious fishnet.

I had always wanted to see these bamboo nets up close. And this time I got the chance. We saw a fisherman tending to his net, and approached him to ask if we could take photos. Thankfully, he obliged. This is a photo of him inside his net.

I suppose it’s not clear how this net is structured to catch fish. Perhaps the picture below can offer a better explanation. That’s my boyfriend at the entrance of the net. The entrance is quite narrow, and fish swim through this entrance. Then the net goes zigzaggy, and the fish can no longer find their way out, and thus become “ensnared” in the big fishing net. Late in the afternoon, Manong Fisherman goes inside with a smaller net and gathers up his catch to sell in the markets nearby.

It’s very interesting, being that up close to the fishing net. There’s a lot to see. Many different kinds of fishes. The type you see only on your plate, but at that moment I was seeing them swimming in the ocean. Other sea life also get ensnared in the net, like this hermit crab crawling up a bamboo pole.

A lot of leaves also get caught inside the net, so it can get a bit dirty. And it’s up to Manong Fisherman to clean his net up.

We got to chat with him a little. Well, my boyfriend did. Because he speaks Visayan, while I can only speak Chavacano and Tagalog, neither of which are of any use in Dapitan. Fortunately, I can understand their language so I just listened and took photographs. Here he is laying his day’s catch on the sandy shore.

Most of what he has in his net are leaves and little pieces of trash. Manong Fisherman, it turns out, is not a native of Dapitan. He is from Ipil, a nearby province. Ipil is much nearer to my hometown of Zamboanga. So he must understand Chavacano, even if only a little bit. But I’m too shy and don’t speak up. (Always have been shy all my life. Some people mistake it for snobbishness.)

Finding out he’s from Ipil makes a little bit more sense. He looks Chinese and I have not seen many Chinese people in Dapitan. But there are many in Zamboanga, the local businessmen. It is a bit strange to see a Chinese looking fisherman.

Manong sifts through the day’s catch. He removes the fish that aren’t meant to be eaten, like the few pufferfish he caught. He also removes the small fishes and returns them to sea. He mentions he has a daughter, and she is working overseas. He sounds mighty proud of her. I wonder why then he fishes. But perhaps he enjoys the fishing rather than needs the income. I would like to think it’s like that. But of course we don’t ask.

Here are some of the fish he keeps. Mmm, looks good enough to grill.

(Click on all the pictures for bigger resolutions!)

Tags: Dapitan, Photography, Zamboanga

Guard Dog

Flisha — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:10:00 +0000

He took me on a joyride in Dapitan once, and we entered through the unpaved roads leading to rural communities along the coast.

This day led us to a rice paddy, a common, nevertheless breathtaking, sight in Philippine provinces.

On a bank across the pond walked an old farmer, in ragged clothes and a straw hat. Behind him followed his faithful dog, tail wagging, happily panting. The man signaled his dog to stay, then boarded the motorcycle waiting for him at the end of the dirt road.

The dog stopped, then obediently sat down. Then it set its shoulders back, sitting straight and proud, dutifully assuming its post on the narrow bank.

Tags: Dapitan, Photography

Fallen Tree

Flisha — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:36:00 +0000

I am experimenting with new ways of presenting my photos. I think my photos look a lot more professional when they’re elegantly bordered and identified.

Initially I was just going for a watermark, to prevent any possible stealing of photos. (Not that it’s ever happened to me personally, to my knowledge anyways, but it’s a common story in my part of the world.)

But I quite dislike watermarks because they tend to ruin photos. And they give off a negative attitude, like a whiff of “I know you’re gonna steal my photo so I’m going to uglify it so you can’t use it.” I’m not dissing the ones who use it, of course. I know a lot of photobloggers only do the watermarking as a last resort, and even prominent bloggers have had to resort to it just to prevent thieves (and yet oftentimes it still doesn’t work).

So, anyways, I’ve seen this kind of bordering done on a few photo blogs so I decided to do the same. I think my photos look majorly prettified.

It’s a photo of a fallen tree along the coast in Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte, Philippines. Mysteriously, the tree is still alive even though it’s been beaten down by wind and sea.

This photo is uncropped and unedited, except for the resizing and the added borders (I used FastStone Photo Resizer because it’s a very small application and it doesn’t eat up a lot of resources).

Tags: Blogger, Dapitan, Photography, Zamboanga

A Katydid in the Kitchen

Flisha — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:44:00 +0000

I was doing the dishes in the dirty kitchen* this evening when I heard something fall from the ceiling. I didn’t see anything on the floor so I paid it no mind. I went about my way and placed all the newly washed dishes on the dish rack inside the house. Afterwards, I went back outside to dry the large mixing bowl I used to carry the dishes.

I was about to place it on top of a stack of bowls and frying pans, when I froze in my tracks. On top of the frying pan lay a freakishly large, very ugly and scary-looking insect!! It looked like it was about to take flight any second, and I absolutely abhor flying insects so I slowly backed off and from a safe distance, ran back inside the house.

The thing looked like this. (You can click on the image for a close-up.)

I called my boyfriend and asked him to take pictures of the insect, because I wanted to blog about it. (I was too scared to go back out into the dirty kitchen so all these pictures are taken by him.)

He told me it was a katydid. I had no idea what a katydid was so I looked it up on the Internet. It turns out that katydids live in trees, and they’re camouflaged as leaves. Our katydid certainly resembled a leaf, but from what tree or shrub, I’m not sure. We have a lot of trees and herbs in the backyard right outside the dirty kitchen, like nangka (jackfruit) and star apple (also known as caimito). We also have oregano, maybe that’s where it lived. Do you think it looks like an oregano leaf?

It’s certainly good at camouflaging, that’s for sure. Look at its legs. They even look like thorns! So maybe it really came from one of the thorny shrubs, though how it got up the ceiling is a mystery. (Well, ok, our backyard garden is running so wild some vines are already creeping into the kitchen.)

Here’s a closer look at it’s head. An hour later, Gim went out to check if it had flown away, but it’s still there, still as ever. He says it thinks it’s in a tree. I say it’s maybe disoriented and doesn’t know where to go. But neither of us is brave enough to pick it up and place it outside, hehe.

Here is more detailed information on the katydid.

*Dirty Kitchen is a term used in the Philippines to mean a separate building or room outside of the main house where all the food is cooked and prepared. This kitchen is often literally dirty. The main house may or may not have another kitchen, but regardless whether it’s dirty or squeaky clean, it’s not called a dirty kitchen, just a kitchen.

Tags: Photography

Marine Curiosity: Silliman University

Flisha — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 12:48:00 +0000

Dumaguete is the a tiny university town. It has a land area of merely 34.26 km² but hosts a total of seven universities and colleges. The biggest institution in Dumaguete is Silliman University which is already 0.61 km² all by itself.

We visited Silliman on our short stop at Dumaguete, and took a look at its many marine life museums.

Here come the pics!

Here I am standing beside the bones of a whale. That’s one enormous animal! (The whale, not me.)

Blowfishes! I think. Heh. I wonder how the students were able to preserve these fishes in their blown-up state?

Gimmi and the Blowfishes.

Silliman’s collection of starfishes.

Er… I think this is a shark. Am not so sure.

Starfishes in all their forms and sizes! Do you know, not all starfishes are pretty? Some are evil, like the ones we have over at the Sta. Cruz Islands in Zamboanga. Those evil ones eat corals.

But I’m sure these here are pretty and harmless.

Gimmi under the bones of a whale.

That’s a scary looking skeleton!

Preserved turtles in swimming action.

Just me, wistfully wishing I were really swimming underwater.

Pretending I’m in the forest.

And in the sea again!

Under a whale skeleton.

Why would we find an intact whale skeleton underwater anyway, Gim?

Gim patting the dead turtles.

No. They didn’t fall while Gim was there.

Looking at baby clams!

And shells and mollusks.

These are giant clams!

Whale bones. And Gim. Creepy.

Gimmi in the middle of a massacre.

And then me.

Silliman University apparently likes to collect whale bones.

This is a WHOLE whale.

A crocodile!

Gim looking at crocodile particulars.

A croc lurking in the mud.

A croc on land.

This is an aquarium. Boy I want that in my future home!

Pretty corals.

Sea anemones!

Corals?

A sea anemone close-up!

Nemo, is that you?

Yes it is!

End of tour.

Tags: Dumaguete, Photography, Travelogue, Zamboanga

Halo-Halo on a Hot Day

Flisha — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 12:19:00 +0000

Here in the Philippines, we have a sweet treat called Halo-halo. Halo in Filipino means “mix”. Halo-halo is a mix of ingredients such as beans, flan, fruits, sugar, milk and ice, then topped with ice cream, oatmeal and sometimes a cherry.

It’s a favorite Filipino dessert, and the best halo-halos are the ones made by hand by your parents on a hot Sunday afternoon when you were a child. Save that, there are always the food stalls and restaurants.

Here in Dapitan, the best halo-halo is served in Jana’s Place on Josephine Bracken street (named after Jose Rizal’s lady friend).

Gim and I ate this treat a few days ago, when it was stuffy warm all over Dapitan. It sure refreshed us for a good ten minutes.

P.S. When I went to Japan, they had a similar dessert. They called it Haro-haro. LOL!

Tags: Dapitan, Foods, Japan, Photography

ManPuku Bento in Ayala Mall, Cebu

Flisha — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 09:19:00 +0000

I’m a fan of Japanese food. Save for the raw stuff like sushi and sashimi, I eat it all. All the ~yakis like okonomiyaki (fried vegetables) and takoyaki (fried octopus). I love the ~dons too like the gyudon and the katsudon, mmm!

I have yet to visit a Japanese restaurant in the Philippines that authentically captures the taste of real Japanese food. (Most dishes are flavored to suit the Filipino palate, that is to say, sweetened.)

Still I never fail to try to visit any new Japanese restaurant I see. While travelling in Cebu, I happened upon this Manpuku Bento food stall in a mall foodcourt. So of course I had to try it.

As expected, the dishes didn’t quite taste like the ones in Japan, but still I enjoyed them.

I ordered the Pork Katsudon, since I was thinking it’s hard to go wrong with anything fried.

Gim meanwhile ordered some noodles (I made him do it, because I wanted to try some but they weren’t that good).

He got some sushi, too. California maki and salmon. He loved them, but me, eww, no not so much. I’ll stick to the cooked stuff, thank you very much.

They look pretty though.

He and I will be travelling to Cebu again in November. We both got free tickets from Cebu Pacific’s last 0-fare promo. To get the zero fare, we had to eschew our baggage rights and travel insurance rights as well.

I’m fine with not lugging around any baggage. We’ll be staying only two nights in Cebu anyways. But I’m kinda regretting we didn’t get any insurance. I know nothing’s gonna happen during the flight, but the worrywart in me insists we have some protection JUST IN CASE.

I searched the web for some sort of add-on insurance and chanced upon this travel medical insurance. I’m not sure it’s what I’m looking for, since it caters to travel abroad not domestic travel. But it’s a bookmark I’m keeping anyways just in case I need some protection for a future overseas trip (it covers medical insurance and terrorism insurance, among others).

Anyways, I am sure looking forward to another trip to Cebu. Our last visit there lasted only a day and we only got to do some malling in Ayala and SM Cebu. Maybe this time we’ll get to do some sightseeing instead of just face-stuffing. ;-P

Tags: Cebu Pacific, Foods, Japan, Photography, Travelogue

Bohol Tour Part VII: Statues and Churches

Flisha — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 20:23:00 +0000

One of the most famous landmarks in Bohol, Philippines is the Sandugo site, also known as the Blood Compact site. It happened in March 1565. It is where the Spanish explorer Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and Bohol tribe leader Datu Sikatuna made a pact of friendship by cutting their left arm with a dagger, mixing both their blood in wine, and drinking it.

It is said to be the very “first international treaty of friendship between two people of different races”. This event is important in the history of the Philippines because it marked the first time that Spain successfully established a settlement in the country. Spain had sent five other expeditions before this, and all failed. The most well-known explorer in the Philippines is Portuguese Ferdinand Magellan (serving under the Spanish crown), the first to successfully circumnavigate the Earth (reaching Asia by sailing West). However, he died before he reached his goal, the Spice Islands of Indonesia (a country away). He died in battle in Mactan, Cebu.

Okay, enough of the history lesson. Just look at the pics!

Gim is so silly, pretending he’s one of the Spaniards! Hehehe. I think he looks more like Datu Sikatuna. Hehehehe.

Afterwards, we visited the oldest Church in Bohol, Baclayon Church. It is the second oldest stone Church in the Philippines, and was built in 1595.

It is extremely large, one of the biggest Churches I have seen, and very very beautiful.

Inside the Church, you almost pretend you’re living in the 16th century. In those days, the officiating priest would not sermon at the altar, he would pray on the balcony, above the people. This is because, back then, the priest did not preach to or engage with the crowd in prayer. He would pray by himself, and the people were there merely to join him in his prayer.

Nowadays, of course, prayer is communion. So the priest stands at level with the people, on the altar. And he prays with the people as the people pray with him.

More pictures of the beautiful Church…

And here’s a photo I particularly like, Gim standing in front of the altar, while the rays of the sun, filtered through the colored glass panes, paints the floor.

Baclayon Church also hosts a museum, but we weren’t allowed to take photos inside so I just have this one stolen shot from the balcony of the museum.

Here I am below the church tower. Gim likes to experiment with angles. I like to model. Hehe.

We encountered another old stone church along the way and stopped to take some pictures. I don’t know what the name of the Church was, just that I liked how it looked, with all the columns and old stone. I don’t think it was famous, though, because it was very quiet and isolated.

More of the beautiful columns and arches.

That’s it, one last post on Bohol next week, abangan…

Read the other Bohol posts…
Bohol Tour Part IV: Hinagdanan Cave
Bohol Tour Part V: Panglao Island Beach Resort
Bohol Tour Part VI: Philippine Tarsiers
Bohol Tour Part VIII: Snakes and Flying Lemurs

Tags: Bohol Tour, Cebu, Photography, Travelogue

Bohol Tour Part VI: Philippine Tarsiers

Flisha — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 22:00:00 +0000

When you hear the word Bohol, the first thing that comes into mind are the Chocolate Hills. Did that last year.

The second thing are tarsiers.

Tarsiers are found only in Southeast Asia.

The Philippine Tarsier is, of course, found only in the Philippines, and most famously in Bohol.

It has often been called the world’s smallest primate and the world’s smallest monkey, but it is neither. However, it does carry the distinction of being the mammal with the largest eyes.

Due to the rising human population and the rampant deforestation, the population of the species is dwindling. In fact, it’s conservation status is defined as threatened.

The tarsier (the animal on the left) is nocturnal, which means it sleeps during the day and wakes up at night to hunt for food. It eats insects, mostly crickets and grasshoppers.

It was late afternoon when we got to see the tarsiers. Manong Driver dropped us off a place few tourists passed by, so we were able to get up close shots of the tarsiers.

As much as I preferred them to sleep while we looked on quietly, our steps inevitably woke them up, and for that I felt horrible.

The tarsier keeper, upon seeing them awake, decided to give them some food. He held up a stick with a pierced cricket up to a tarsier, and after a bit of prodding, the tarsier decided to take cricket.

Later on, the tarsier keeper asked us if we wanted to hold the tarsier. I was very uncomfortable (you can probably see that in my face) because tarsiers don’t like to be touched by humans (you can see that in the pictures too).

At the same time I really wanted to hold the tarsier… I know!!!! I am a horrible person!!!!

So I said, only a little while. (And don’t worry, we didn’t use flash the whole time.)

I didn’t want to be KJ (killjoy) too… there were other tourists looking on, and really it was only for a little while, then we let the little critter go back up the tree.

But, oh, I felt so sorry for the tarsiers… They don’t live long in captivity. Most of them die by their own hands, like drowning themselves or beating their heads against their cages. These tarsiers aren’t in cages (the practice is illegal, but there are still very bad people who do that), they’re free to roam around the trees, but still, the entire area is very small… they’re still captive…

I was relieved when we finally returned them to their branches. I hope they weren’t too stressed by our visit. I hope someday, their population will return to a stable size. They’re very good for the community. They don’t harm people, and at the same time, they prey on insects, which is a good thing because insects eat crops, and Filipinos are very dependent on rice.

Before we left, we had to take these silly pics of ourselves as tarsiers. LOL.

I was very happy to finally see the tarsiers. I’d always wanted to see them ever since Gim went to Bohol many years ago and told me all about them.

I hope to see them again someday, perhaps in a more natural time and habitat.

Read the other Bohol posts…
Bohol Tour Part IV: Hinagdanan Cave
Bohol Tour Part V: Panglao Island Beach Resort
Bohol Tour Part VII: Statues and Churches
Bohol Tour Part VIII: Snakes and Flying Lemurs

Tags: Bohol Tour, Filipinos, Photography, Travelogue