manila bay February 3, 2010
Posted by jr3 in Photography, Random, Travels.1 comment so far
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.”
– Philippians 4:8 (NIV)
i have seen manila bay in good light. this is how it looks like.
this is the philippines’ manila bay
yes, it looks as awesome as that. i took this picture one early november morning last year. sure, it does not have the cleanest seawater but under good natural lighting conditions and under clear blue skies, manila bay gives one’s eyes a truly amazing sight to behold.
picture was taken using a nikon d60
manual exposure
time stamp: 2009:11:01 06:49:01
tsinelas January 24, 2010
Posted by jr3 in C'est la Vie, Flashbacks, Random.2 comments
“In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary.”
–Aaron Rose
what can you say about a five-year old pair of everyday slippers? that it was black, ordinary, and other than the ’summer walk’ embossed on its soles, it was as brandless as no-name-recall. that it was mine and that, just this morning, it gave up on me.
my 5-year old brandless pair of everyday slippers gave up on me today. there, i’ve written it down. that’s something i just have to let out. wear-and-tear finally succeeded at severing the right half at its weakest link.
it was with me — it was my everyday wear — during my UP diliman days. it traveled with me to mindanao, accompanied me back to manila, stayed with me in laguna, transferred with me to batangas, and, today, it reached its end of duty.
old meets new
goodbye, tsinelas.
you have served me well. i knew when i first saw you that you were not designed for abuse. nevertheless, i bought you for that purpose and you lived up to that. you’ve demonstrated a staying power that earned my amazement. you even put my merrell pair of shoes to shame — that merrell pair which i could no longer use since one year and eight months ago because it hated surviving mud and bowed out of active duty by cracking open in the wrong places.
i’ll say it again and for the last time: goodbye, tsinelas.
you now have a successor. it is white, ordinary, and other than the “palm beach” embossed on its soles, it is as brandless as no-name-recall like you are. but it is mine and, beginning today, it is the new everyday pair for my feet and it shall have the burden of living up to your feat.
p.s. erich segal, the guy who wrote the book, love story, died this week. he started that book this way: “What can you say about a twenty-five-year-old girl who died? That she was beautiful. And brilliant. That she loved Mozart and Bach. And the Beatles. And me.” that, in a way, makes the first paragraph of this write-up familiar.
local travel list/wishlist January 17, 2010
Posted by jr3 in Dreams, Random, Travels.1 comment so far
happy. life. under the tropical sky.
batanes (february 2010! tuloy na ‘to!)
ilocos (vigan and pagudpud)
apo reef
masbate
romblon
anawangin, zambales
donsol, sorsogon for encounter with the butandings and the fireflies
bohol-siquijor (by 2010 mid-year or after; if there’s a side-trip to cebu island, too, why not?)
tubbataha reef (but this will probably be more likely only after i get a scuba diving license)
i don’t mind going back to palawan. i love it there.
i don’t mind going back to bukidnon, either (gotta try that 840-m long zipline 4000 feet above mean sea level; i read about it on inquirer)
tawi-tawi
in and around panay island
mt. pulag
any of those mountains in batangas for some climb training
babuyan islands
those parts of the philippines and then the world!
jumpin’ high
DARE TO TOUCH THE SKY!
This photo was taken at Tamaraw Beach in Sabang, Puerto Princesa, Palawan last August 27, 2009. While others were busy taking pictures closer to the water, I celebrated my first few hours on the sands of truly beautiful Puerto Princesa by playing with the wind, jumping happily, and giving the Palawan sky a well-deserved high five.
now, what did i miss?
a small wish come true December 21, 2009
Posted by jr3 in C'est la Vie, Films & Movies, Flashbacks, Humor, Music, Random.1 comment so far
“.o0 (happy thoughts, happy thoughts. holidays are coming! all in a row, all in a row –
11, 18, 25, 1 | wish kong makita si piolo)”
– my tweet of the day for 8th of december 2009
on december 13, 2009, sunday, my tweet of the day was:
.o0 (i got my wish! i finally saw piolo in person, nakausap ko pa. if ang gwapo n’ya sa tv & print, super gwapo n’ya sa personal.)
proof? oooops! i was sooo starstruck — i forgot about having my photo taken with him or even just taking a close-up photo of him. i got him to sign my copy of his decades album though. here, originally posted in my facebook account on 13th of december 2009:
signed album package
this is what we call christmas and birthday gift
thank you, kuya piolo!!!
—
Val,
Merry Xmas!
Happy Birthday!
Piolo
—
Piolo: Val… na walang malay? 
Val: Hahaha, hindi. Syempre meron!
bicol trippix and through it all December 9, 2009
Posted by jr3 in Music, Photography, Random, Travels.2 comments
11.27-30.09
a long weekend spent in the philippines’ bicolandia
http://kulitjr3.multiply.com/photos/album/538/bicol_trippix
sharing 86 of the 1000+ pics (gasp!) taken while visiting caramoan, camarines sur and legazpi city in albay and the places in between and along the way with anthony and don and our new friends — neil and rachel
places hit: naga city. sabang. guijalo. el centro, caramoan. paniman. lahos island. matukad island. balinan island. minalagos island. tabgon. lahuy island. cotivas island. sapitang lahi island. malilipot. legazpi city. daraga.
i missed the action in CWC but was able to catch up with the group in naga city (i told anthony and don that if they don’t show up and meet me in naga for the caramoan-then-legazpi trip, i won’t hesitate to have their names included in bicol’s police blotter haha!)
why caramoan? it’s the place of choice of survivor spain, survivor france, survivor israel, and survivor bulgaria — yep, survivor the reality tv show
why legazpi city? to see mt. mayon in full glory and to try the zipline in lignon hill!
we have plans of going back to bicol for more of CWC, to see the butandings in donsol, sorsogon, and to explore parts of mayon while riding ATV’s. hehe.
see you in my multiply for the rest of the photos and see you in the next trip(s) — batanes days 2010 are coming near!
meanwhile, you gotta love experiencing,living, singing, hearing, and humming this…
You see me through the seasons
Cover me with Your hand
And lead me in Your righteousness
11.21.09 thank you, Lord for this big beautiful rainbow
picture was taken using my mobile phone while i was making my way out of batangas for manila | vantage point for this particular scene: the spacious vacant lot of the pamilihang bayan ng sto.tomas, batangas
And I wait on You
11.27.09 wow, rainbow!!! | sabang, camarines sur
A hymn of love
For Your faithfulness to me
11.28.09 another rainbow sighting on a saturday afternoon | as seen from sapitang lahi island, caramoan, camarines sur
You never let me go
Through it all
11.28.09 through it all! | the sky gifted us with this awesome sight of the sun rays as we raced for paniman from sapitang lahi island, caramoan, camarines sur
