Bar Hopping at Ormoc City

Me and my colleagues decided to go bar hopping one night at Ormoc City. Our team was augmented there for about 2 months. Before we go back to our home base, we went to some bars of Ormoc and tried to relax and had some beer. One bar was Vivo KTV Bar somewhere in downtown. They have private rooms for you and your friends to hang out and sing the Karaoke. I manage to take some snapshots inside of the private room and at the hallway. I forgot the names of the other bars where we entered but yeah, its just there somewhere at the downtown Ormoc.

Bokeh of a lamp inside the private room of Vivo KTV Bar

Colleagues

The hallway. Those lights both sides are the door for their private rooms

Palm Beach Resort and Spa Mactan Cebu

You see, I really don't have something to do inside our room at the Palm Beach Resort and Spa at Mactan Cebu so I was again playing with my brother's camera. The room we occupied was good for the whole family. It has 3 beds, a fridge, a lavatory, an LCD Television, a hot and cold shower etc. One con that I observed during our stay is that the Wifi signal can't reach the 4th floor. So I'll have to go to the lobby just to surf, good thing I was registered to Globe's Unlisurf999. So here are some of the pictures I took inside the room. It is the night before the Ironman 70.3 Triathlon at Shangri-la Resorts and Spa Mactan Cebu

The vase right beside my bed

Featuring Nokia N8. :D

Parents smiling back at me. Woot!

Ironman 70.3 Triathlon at Shangri-la Cebu

The Ironman 70.3 Triathlon at Shangri-la’s Resort and Spa in Mactan, Cebu City, Philippines has been a very nice experience for me and my Family. My brother joined the competition for the second time around (I don’t know if it was Ironman 70.3 when he joined Triathlon at Subic). This year's Ironman 70.3 was hosted by Shangri-la Resort's and Spa in Mactan, Cebu City and Governor Gwen Garcia mentioned that they will again host another 2 more years of the Ironman 70.3 Triathlon. The Triathlon was composed of 1.3km swimming, 90km cycling and 21km running. Bad news is, there were 2 casualties during that day. One died because of bike accident at the SRP Underpass in Cebu and the other one is because of heat stroke. The heat stroke incident was just told by my brother’s competitor at a bike shop in Cebu. Anyway, enjoy the photos!

See those yellow heads? :D

The living proof of No Fear!

My brother going to his bike

Audience waiting at the finish line

Kuya finished the 90km bike ride

Starting of the bicycle

Anne Curtis near the transition area

Kuya finished the Triathlon

Bycicle parked for the transition

Tatay at the beachline of Shangri-la

Bike display during the competition

Troubleshooting a car that won't start. Not

Fixing a car is not an easy task specially that I am not an experienced driver mechanic. I can drive well but when it comes to troubleshooting, I'm no good at it. Maybe I can fix basic stuff but that's up to changing lights or checking the oil and water. Yesterday, our team's vehicle, the devil's car broke down and it won't start. No reaction when you try to start the engine. I checked on horn and lights and it was all working well. So battery is not the problem. I remember an experienced driver who tried to fix the car checking on the cable of the battery if it's all connected together. I tried what he did by pulling one big cable that goes throug the bottom of the engine. I believe that was the cable connected to the starter. When I did what he did before and the engine started. So I came into conclusion that it might be the starter cable who's trying to mess up with me.

We travel almost everyday and I can't do the cable pulling everytime I start the engine. So I asked for the assistance of my friend who's a driver too to help me fix the cable. We were both inexperienced in being a mechanic. We did everything we think that could expedite the problem but its getting worser than we can imagine. The cable pulling doesn't work anymore. I called my father for help and advised me to check if the cable is dirty or the battery is producing salt. I checked on it and everything seems fine. But that was just on the battery's side. We checked on the cable connected underneath the engine and yes, it was all rust and dirt. We removed the cable and cleaned it. That was our last resort before we hire a professional mechanic. We connected the cable through a bolt after finalising the cleaning of the cable. Tried to ignite the engine and voila the engine had a reaction and it started. I felt happy accomplishing this mission on the devil's car. Now I'm learning new stuffs when it comes to troubleshooting a car. Woot!


P.S. This post was created via Blob, Blogger's client for Nokia mobile phones.

Hanging Boat

I was resting at the back of our barracks and trying to feel the sea breeze. This boat is newly painted and so I took a photo of it because it seems so nice. This shot was taken using my Nokia N8 phone and edited through Molome.

The Philippine Flag

I am a proud Pinoy and I want the world to know! Share this picture if you're a proud Filipino! Sharing will not cost you P1.

Copter

Took this photo somewhere in Boyscout near McArthur Park Palo, Leyte. Of all the photos I took during the activity, I think this one is my favorite.

Toy Pen from Boracay

This pen was brought here by my sister when she came back from Boracay together with my whole family and yeah, I never went there with them! Well, I like its color and tried to take a photo of it, with all the angles, this one is my favorite. I used Molome when taking this picture. ☺

Colored Pencils

Just recently, I discovered a very cool application for my Nokia N8 called Molome. Its like an Instagram for the iPod. You can easily upload your photos directly to your Molo.me account or Facebook and Twitter. I really had fun using this application and I think I'm addicted to it now. Its one of my favorite camera tool next to Joyeye, another lomography application for my Symbian phone.

Waterfalls of Almeria, Biliran

I never really thought of posting this picture here before but when I saw that it was actually nice and good looking, I decided to blog about it. This was my first time visiting this tremendous falls in Almeria, Biliran Province. Going to the place is not an easy task, you'll have to pass through some steepy cliff. There is actually four waterfalls on this side of Biliran. You can pass through them one by one until you reach the fourth waterfalls called "Kinaraha". First waterfalls is Sampaw if I'm not mistaken next is the Ulan-ulan and then Recoletos then lastly the Kinaraha Falls. We went there last May 2010 when some Cebuano friends of my cousin had a vacation at Naval. The Sampaw falls is not very accessible though you can see it while walking going to Ulan-ulan. Kinaraha is a bit far and locals said its a bit dangerous going there. So our party decided to just stay at Ulan-ulan then visit Recoletos.

Jumping from the side of Recoletos

In Recoletos, you can be like Tarzan because there's this rope hanging from a tree that you can ride on then jump off on the water. You can also go near its top and jump from there. Me and my cousins had a great time and enjoyed the beautiful scenery of Biliran's waterfalls. I'm pretty sure our visitor enjoyed their visit too.

That's me! Catching the waters of Ulan-ulan Falls!

My New Toy, the Nokia N8

Sorry, this shot was taken by my Nokia C2-00

Ever since my Nokia N82 died, I have been wondering what phone to use next as a backup camera from my Lumix and then, Nokia N8 was born. It was publicly announced last October 2010 but was able to own it only this November 2011. That was after year, it was because of my very busy schedule that I wasn't able to buy this phone immediately also, I haven't saved a lot of money to buy this last year. Right now, I am announcing this because I want you all to expect that some of my new shots here at Ang Maniniyot are from my Nokia N8 phone. Wiwo! ☺

Place I remember

This afternoon, I had a chit-chat with my classmate about how’s life going on. We were talking about personal experiences and stuff and one topic that brought into us is about the places I’ve been through. I told her that I was raised in Davao City and transferred to Manila to help my parents on their small business. I enjoyed living in Manila because everything there is a challenge. When my parent’s small business went bankrupt, I decided to work at an advertising firm. It’s more of a nocturnal shift so I’ll have to sleep during daytime and will have to wake up at night. Geez! That’s an abnormal life. I am on that way of life for more than 2 years until I got tired with it. So I decided to resign from my post and work somewhere else. Now, I’m here at Naval, Biliran, at my Father’s province and currently doing something that I really like (something I can’t disclose online). I found it very easy to adjust here compared to Manila. People here are very hospitable and very friendly.

Waiting for an MRT at Cubao Station

Kamias Road where I used to stay

Anyway, I am creating this post because there are times that I’m missing Manila sometimes. I never came back there since last year. There are times that I miss the MRT, the busy traffic, the people walking waiting for a jeepney ride at Aurora Boulevard and of course the food there. I can’t find Yellow Cab here or Krisypy Kreme, not even Max’s or Wendy’s or Burger King. I’ll have to travel to Cebu just to ease this salivating mouth. Here are some of my snapshots taken from my late N82 (rest in peace Cammy).

Foodtrip at Max's

Happy Kids

At first I thought this kids were really hard to get when taking a picture of them but when I approached them, they were all very happy and excited. I never had a hard time capturing their smiles because they were all cooperative during the shoot. Thanks to this kids, they are very wonderful! ☺

Rocks and Trees

Rocks and Trees at Baybay, San Jose, Tacloban's shoreline

I was walking along the beach of Baybay, San Jose, Tacloban and saw this huge collection of cut coconut trees. Got interested on their different formations so I took a snapshots of them. Too bad I haven't noticed the uneven horizon at the background because I was totally focused on the trees and rocks.

Police Operational Tactics Training

Camouflaging after crossing a river

Yesterday, I had a chance of watching police trainees of Region 8 in action doing their quasi-tactical operations inside the PPSC-RTS 8 camp at San Jose, Tacloban City. There are different stations that the trainees will have to pass through like the rope course, ambush and the night navigation. Its very awesome how this young men and women were able survived the hardships and all the challenges just to become a public servant.

On the way to the ambush site

Future police officers trying to cross a river

When I was watching them, I realized that police officers are not really as bad as what people believe. They have been very accommodating and very patient to the people watching them. Though there have been a lot of anomalies that involved policemen but let us not forget that they are the people that we call when there are criminal activities happening in our area. They are the one who protects us from evil minds at night when we are asleep.

Mommy, Mommy

I took this shot at a farm owned by the family. I really had a hard time taking this shot because both of them were moving. I think this one is the best shot on this set. ☺

Anchor

I was really wondering when was this shot taken but yeah, I was the one who took this shot. Its somewhere near the Redstone Ville. That anchor was attached to our floating kubo.

Pineapple-like plant

I hope I'm doing better and better with HDR. What do you think? You'll be the judge. ☺

Redstone Ville Sunset Shot

Here's another sunset shot from the Redstone Ville. I was browsing my laptop and checked some of my old photos when I saw this. I wonder why I haven't posted this shot earlier. Anyway, I hope you guys will like it. ☺

Something Green

I was standing just outside the door from our room at my Uncle’s house when I saw this small herbs soaked by rain water. I was always interested about it but didn’t have enough time to take a picture of it. Not until today that I have a fever. I was all alone in our room when I felt bored and checked what’s interesting outside. The rain has stopped and I saw this plant.

Indoor Vase

Its been a long time since I last updated this blog and now, here's my welcome back shot, a flower base from our house at Naval. I was trying my cousin's D90 and I am very impressed with its features and the quality of images it can get. I've been very busy for the past few days and now I'm having a fever but that doesn't hinder my urge to post this picture here in my Photoblog.

How to be a Wedding Photographer?

Being a wedding photographer is one of my goals in the Photography field. I would love to shoot pre-nuptial and of course, the wedding proper. Hitting that goal is a long way to run and I think that it’s too early for me to become a wedding photographer. I believe I still lack some photographic talents that I’ll have to learn. Anyway, just this morning, somebody asked me if I can be the official photographer of her daughter’s wedding. I paused because I was shocked. I didn’t know how to answer that One Million Peso Jackpot Question. I just told her that I’ll have to think about it first. I don’t have enough resources to shoot a wedding but I do really love to do it. Tsk. Maybe in a few years, I’ll be shooting a wedding but if it’s gonna be now, I don’t think so.

Higatangan Island

The Rock Formation at the Higatangan Island

I arrived early in the morning at Naval from Cebu when I heard that my Uncle and his basketball team will be going to Higatangan Island. Higatangan Island is one of the tourist destinations in the province of Biliran. It is located in Naval Municipality. Higatangan Island boasts the finest white sand in the province. Since I haven’t visited the island, I decided to go with my Uncle. It was fun during the first time. We arrived at the island noon time and ate our packed foods. We chose to stay at the back part of the island because it is a bit “virgin” yet to tourists. Only locals know this part of the island. Another part of the island that I liked so much is the Shifting Sandbar. I’ll be posting some picture of it some other time because I don’t have a photo of it yet. My camera went lowbat when we arrived there.

Update (05012011): As promised, I'll be posting a picture of the Shifting Sandbar. Last week, my family and I went to the Island to spend the the last days of Holy Week there. For the Shifting Sandbar, you can't expect too much from it because when we went there, its high tide so we weren't able to enjoy the Sandbar that much. Check on this link to view my story of how I saved a doctor's life in that Sandbar.

The Shifting Sandbar during high tide.

I Joined the National Geographic Channel Asia Photo Contest and I NEED your Help!

All this time I have never been very lucky in joining a contest. Whether it’s a raffle contest or any other kind of contest. The only contest I won was the Schützen® Notebook from Batang Yagit’s contest almost a year ago. Right now, I’m trying my luck in joining a Photo Contest sponsored by the National Geographic Channel Asia. It’s a photo contest about “Migration”. Basically, you just have to tell the world about your own insight of “Migration” with three categories; Born to Move, Race to Survive, Feast or Famine and Need to Breed.

I submitted my Fisherkid photo for the Feast and Famine category. Now, I am asking for your support to just simply like my entry at Facebook. That’s how easy it is for you to vote. I hope I’m gonna get a good feedback about it and Thank you for taking time reading this blog post. I hope I'm gonna win this contest!

Please visit this link to "like" my entry.

Botanical Dos

I don't really know the name of this flower. I just saw it beside the chapel inside the cemetery of Naval. I found it interesting so I took a shot of it.

Botanical Uno

Since I like taking pictures of flower, I'll be posting my collections of flower shots here in my PhotoBlog. This shot was takin somewhere at the cemetery during our visit to my Grandparents and my Girlfriend's Father.

Bagasumbol Festival

The fiesta at Naval was an enormous event with lots of events and presentations. Of course, it won't be possible with the help of the local Government of Naval and the Naval Festival 2010 Execom. The highlight of the festival includes parades, band presentations of different schools of Naval, the Matron Queen of Naval, Bagasumbol Festival, Tsinelas Party and so much more.

Since I arrived late at the Festival, I never had a chance of taking pictures of some of the events in the Festival. Last Saturday, I had a chance of having photoshoot at the Bagasumbol Festival. Bagasumbol Festival is one of the highlights of the fiesta in Naval. Bagasumbol is the commemorating of how Biliranons defend the island during the colonization of the Moros. Here are few of the shots I took at the Bagasumbol Festival Parade and Competition 2010. Click here for more photos!