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Category: Travel, travels

TRAVELING LIGHT WITH MY CANON G12 and iPHONE

Filed under: Asian Holidays, Europe, Food Trip, Spain, Travel, travels — 12 Comments

July 22, 2012

My Canon G12 packs well in my handbag! Have you read my earlier blog on my non-DSLR cam-toting travels around the country? Well, the same P&S traveled with me and i adore it!

The lovely temple in Punakha, Bhutan housing over 600 monks and where 2 rivers merge and then flow as one.

Parque Maria Luisa in Sevilla, Spain

Even if I wanted to, I can’t hold a heavy cam well. No worries. My Canon G12 suits me well. And hey, this is not a paid advert. Just happy with my P & S. I don’t even need to lug it inside a backpack. My small handbag will do. When in a crowded place, I hang it around my neck and zip up my jacket to hide it….. Only to bring it out for a few seconds to snap a shot. I call it “no frills” photography. 🙂

Ton Le Sap Lake filled with water……..emptying out as Siem Reap’s dry season approaches.

Imagine Lara Croft lurking somewhere here in Ta Phrom, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Neither is it a demanding camera. It thinks on its own. I have experimented with the settings but really, it is simply a memory catcher for me. Memories captured to be revisited at some future time. Available for easy review. I need not be too technical about it. 😉

Yummy Vietnamese snacks!

So colorful in Wat Po, Bangkok, Thailand!

Freson Con Nata is the specialty snack here in Aranjuez, Spain. That’s strawberry with real fresh cream for you and moi!

So there. And my G12 has a lovely travel buddy. My iPhone takes pretty good photos too. Yes, it’s good for those days you want to just step out with a fancy belt bag, or no bag. Tucked inside my pocket, I’m able to step out with a few bills and my iPhone. Loving it!

Oh, ok. The iPhone is likewise handy for a few stolen museum shots. (Mi apologia. No flash, of course)

My handbag easily fits a Canon G12, my iPhone, a bottle of water, a chocolate bar, wallet, brush, powder, lipstick, some snacks and a book!

Tags: Camera, Canon, canon G12, Digicams, Point and Shoot, Traveling Light

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AT HOME IN TAGAYTAY CROSSWINDS RESORT SUITES

Filed under: Don't Skip Manila!, Philippine Travels, Travel, travels — Leave a comment

July 17, 2012

Tagaytay has always been a favorite day trip and weekend destination. Just an hour and a half drive south of Manila. What new things can we do here? It wasn’t like we needed a new adventure. Perhaps we just needed to be someplace cooler where we can be together and be a family.

We booked ourselves at Tagaytay Crosswinds Resort Suites. There are other new hotels in the area but we liked the idea of having our own condo-like suite where we can actually cook in. That meant doing our groceries in a nearby supermarket to buy steaks and chops, corn and rice. The not-so-little ones loved our steak dinner much and the idea that we can actually cook in!

The suites are complete with kitchen essentials from rice cooker to frying pans. The elves watched TV while we prepared dinner. There isn’t much to do after, so we got busy with our iPads and iTouch after 😊. I skipped breakfast the morning after, choosing to have an extra hour of sleep. Breakfast was served in a hall in the next building. Hopefully, Crosswinds will have a new dining destination within its complex the next time we visit. That, plus wifi INSIDE the suites.

You don’t get a view of Taal Volcano from your room nor anywhere within Crosswinds area, but you may enjoy an early morning walk around. Pine trees everywhere and the cool breeze make you feel you’re somewhere near Baguio. Since the hotel is right within Crosswinds (the subdivision), it’s more quiet and peaceful here. Of course you can always drive out to dine in any of the many bistros and cafes along the Ridge.

Tags: Crosswinds, Tagaytay, Tagaytay City, Tagaytay Hotel, Tagaytay Weekend

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Happy With My Point – and – Shoot Cam!

Filed under: Philippine Travels, Travel, travels — 9 Comments

July 9, 2012

All my life, I have only owned 4 cameras. Imagine me traveling with only a disposable cam before. No wonder I had very few shots — all blurry — back then when everything was an adventure. Many first times then, largely undocumented. A pity.

Twilight in Donsol, Sorsogon, Philippines

I owned my first digicam only in 2004. Away with trips to the photo shop to have my films developed. Away with photo albums. These days, we simply just snap away and store what we like and delete the rest. I look at others and at times, feel envy watching them change their lens, set up their tripods and the like —- all for a better shot. I don’t have that option. My bad neck and shoulder won’t let me carry all that weight around my neck nor balance that cam even with 2 hands. Thanks to many photo editing apps, I am now able to “improve” even bad shots taken on a whim.

BenCab Museum Garden in Baguio City

Traveling around the Philippines, I began to appreciate my new Canon G12. It’s light and easy to operate. I set the cam on automatic and it makes all the decisions for me. Other times, I pretend to know my stuff and tinker with the camera. I sometimes end up with better shots but most of the time, you couldn’t tell whether I set it on automatic or not. 🙂

The Face Masks @Balaw Balaw Restaurant in Angono, Rizal

There is no reason to complain. I do not have to tote around a heavy DLSR and adjust my lens or set up a tripod. God knows I’d easily lose patience and interest if I have to go through all these steps just for a good shot. It is enough that I find something worth photographing as a memory aide so I can revisit my fond memories anytime I choose. When I am in the mood, I would choose an angle or several angles to take a photo. Often, I love taking distant and close-up shots of a place. Human interest shots are swell, but they come and go. One has to have quick hands to get the cam ready or you lose the moment. I have been lucky with a few. But they are few.

The Street Vendors of Quiapo, Manila

Wish there were more.

Sheltered, Educated, Loved. These are the boys of St Martin de Tours in Bustos, Bulacan.

Tags: Around the Philippines, canon G12, Digicams, Donsol, Photography, Point and Shoot Camera, Travels

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BACOLOR, PAMPANGA: San Guillermo Church

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Filed under: Philippine Travels, Travel, travels — 3 Comments

July 2, 2012

I have never been to San Guillermo Church in Bacolor, Pampanga before. But I have certainly heard about it, and grieved with many when the mudflow (lahar) from Mount Pinatubo left the church and many parts of Bacolor, Pampanga half-buried in nature’s wrath.

San Agustin Church was built in 1571. San Guillermo Church dates back to 1576.

Mount Pinatubo put us back in the world map with its disastrous eruption after a hundred years of dormancy. A sleeping monster. The ash fall covered a large area just as I was spending a holiday in a beach in Zambales that sad day in 1991. We cut short our holiday then, but it didn’t end with that. The large deposits of lava emitted by the volcano was a serious threat to the areas surrounding the volcano each time the country experienced some heavy rainfall. Four years after the eruption, the town of Bacolor, Pampanga met its sad fate from nature’s fury. San Guillermo Church was not spared.

Sad to think that a church nearly as old as the San Agustin Church in Intramuros stood helpless when lahar flowed from the slopes of Mount Pinatubo on that fateful day of September 3, 1995. Four years after it erupted on June 15, 1991, Mount Pinatubo continued to wreak havoc on this Philippine countryside. Half of the 12 meters of this baroque and neo-classical architecture lay buried in mudflow. Yet faith and perseverance united the Bacolor folks who wasted no time excavating the religious statues, altar and retablo which they carefully and lovingly relocated under the more spacious church dome where it would fit.

They moved the altar and retablo in this space under the dome, where it would fit.

Those bats gave me the creeps…………

We were the only ones visiting the church at the time. The silence and presence of bats guarding the retablo added to the mood. Such sorrow at seeing this church “halved” by this catastrophe. We entered and exited through what used to be the church windows. We lamented seeing the arches touch the ground. So with the windows touching the now-tiled floor. We stooped through low archways to get inside the Adoration Chapel. Thank God many of the religious icons were salvaged and painstakingly restored and preserved.

Yes, it reached all the way up there.

The centuries-old religious statues on display is a testament to the town’s faith and pride. A popular TV series (“May Bukas Pa”) had their location shooting in this church. We didn’t miss checking out “Bro” — a statue of the reincarnated Christ. There were more where we found Bro. All equally finely crafted.

Si Bro…..

Don’t You Just Love This Image of this thumb-sucking Infant Jesus?

For sure, “Bro” is pleased that nature’s wrath did not at all diminish the faith in this town. In a way, Bacolor “saved” the other towns in Pampanga as it served as catch basin for all that mud flowing down from Mount Pinatubo. Many lost their homes, businesses and loved ones. One can’t help but feel sorrow for their misfortune. God bless this town.

Tags: Bacolor, Lahar, Mount Pinatubo, Mudflow, Pampanga, San Guillermo Church

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Day Trips From Madrid (2012)

Filed under: Spain, Travel, travels — Leave a comment

June 30, 2012

Here is a summary of the day trips I took while based in Madrid last year (2012). Thought it would be easier to check out which blog interests you by giving you this list. Just click away!

Avila

Saint Therese of Avila

Segovia: Home of Cochinillo

El Escorial: Not Just Another Gravesite

Valle De Los Caidos: El Hombre Generalissimo Franco

La Segunda Vez En Sevilla

Semana Santa In Cordoba

Eating Around Spain : In Madrid and Elsewhere

An Easy Day Trip to Toledo

Early Start To Valencia, Spain

Do-It-Yourself Trip to Aranjuez

Barcelona

Montserrat in Barcelona

Las Ramblas In Barcelona: What’s All The Hype?

Alcala de Henares: A Pleasant Surprise

Tags: Day Trips, Madrid, Spain

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Madrid Blog Series : A Summary 2012

Filed under: Spain, Travel, travels — Leave a comment

When I stayed nearly 3 months based in Madrid, I blogged away like crazy. Like a little girl back to writing on her diary. After all, my human interaction was then limited to a couple of hours max per day. I walked a lot around Madrid. Nearly mastered the “free windows” aka free admission hours of Museums, strolled through the parks and moved around using the metro buses and subways.

My friends would ask which of my blogs touched on this and that……………so I’m doing these summaries of my Madrid Blogs so you can just click on the links. I promised to do the sequel on day trips from Madrid after this. Click away, amigos y amigas!

Just Landed: Day One in Madrid

Photowalk Around Sol, Plaza Mayor and Retiro Park

Rizal Monument in Madrid

First Pass At The Prado Museum

Madrid’s Plaza de Toros: Bullfights, anyone?

Jose Rizal’s Favorite Madrid Haunts

The Best Chocolate Con Churros

Juan Luna in Madrid’s Senado!

Parque de Retiro or Retiro Park

Palacio Real (Royal Palace)

Almudena Cathedral and Crypt

Food Trip #1: Mercado de San Miguel

Plaza Mayor in Madrid

Rizal’s Favorite Haunts: Part II

Food Trip #2: Eating Around Spain

Sunday Shopping In El Rastro

Goya: Off The Beaten Path

Not Just Another Museum: Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales

Museo de Reina Sofia

One FREE Day Around Madrid

Palacio Cristal and the Royal Botanical Gardens

My Favorite Museum: Museo Sorolla

Casa Botin: Last Cochinillo Before I Head Home

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SI TUGAK AT SI KULIGLIG (The Frog & The Cricket)

Filed under: Food Trip, Philippine Travels, Travel, travels — 4 Comments

Read so much about it, but never tried. Till now.

I’ve eaten frogs before in a Chinese restaurant in London. They called it “water chicken” there and I savored the dish without suspecting “water chicken” = frog. Not bad. In fact, I liked it. But I have not repeated that experience since. Till now.

In a recent trip to Pampanga, lunch was in a place called Apag Marangle in Bacolor. Literally translated as “hain sa bukid”, or dining in the farm, this 4 year old restaurant is located along the old Olongapo-Gapan Road (now JASA) in Bacolor, Pampanga. Fast gaining popularity for its authentic Kapampangan dishes, the native cottages lining a man-made fishpond with grazing ducks add just the right touch.

Pampanga is regarded as the culinary capital of the Philippines. One story goes that the Muslim royalty driven out of Manila settled here with their royal household. Another version is that many Spanish friars who oversaw the construction of several 17th century churches here had their own coterie of artisans and kitchen masters. I’m more inclined to believe the former story, quite unable to imagine the likes of Padre Damaso feasting on frogs and crickets.

Unlike the frogs served in London, the Kapampangan frog dish had no pretensions. The frog — called “tugak” — was served skewered, 3 to a stick. There is also the stuffed version (“Betute”) but I went for tugak 😪. No one wanted to share the dish with me. But I had company when the mole crickets were served. Boiled in vinegar and garlic, then sautéed in chopped tomatoes and onions. Crunchy at first bite, moist inside. Again, no pretensions in serving this bug dish called kamaru or kamaro. Never disguised. They all looked like they were crawling just moments before they were served. Awwwww 😣😢😝

You don’t need a stomach made of steel to try these exotic dishes from this foodie province. Just a lot of spunk and “fear factor-ish” sense of adventure. Don’t worry, there is no scratchy texture to the cricket dish. Why, you ask? The cook makes sure they have rendered the mole crickets lame by removing the legs and wings. Aww! 😣😢😓

To be sure, order some other non-exotic Kapampangan dishes in Apag Marangle. The grilled seafood and steamed vegetables served with buro (fermented rice) perfectly complement Tugak and Kuliglig. And the carnivores can still satisfy their Lechon Kawali fix served with liver sauce while deciding whether to order the more exotic Betute. I opted out. Stuffed with minced pork before deep-frying, the dish looks like an oversized, obese frog to me. 😢😣😜. Much unlike its skewered cousins who can do with some muscle toning. 😱

On our way out of Apag Marangle, we spotted some reddish thingy clinging to the bamboo poles and rocks. We were told they were snail eggs. We dared not ask if they were edible! 😝😝😝

Tags: Apag Marangle, Batute, Crickets, Culinary Trip, Exotic Dishes, Frogs, Kamaru, Kuliglig, Pampanga, Tugak

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LOOKING UP, DOWN AND STRAIGHT ON AT BETIS CHURCH

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Filed under: Philippine Travels, Travel, travels — 3 Comments

June 29, 2012

It is actually named Saint James the Apostle Church. But you’d get by asking for directions to Betis Church. After all, every person in Pampanga has every reason to be proud of this historical and architectural treasure.

Huge, but it doesn’t look much from outside. And for a moment, I wasn’t sure if the 1- 1/2 hour drive from Manila is worth it. I’ve seen many photos of this 17th century church and its famed frescoes and murals but thought it could all be hype. That happens. So I braced myself not to expect much.

As we entered, we were pleasantly surprised to walk on wooden floors. Dubbed the “Sistine Chapel” of the Philippines, local artist Macario Ligon certainly didn’t disappoint. Biblical scenes and cherub paintings on the ceiling are guaranteed to give you a stiff neck while appreciating the majesty of this ceiling art. It confuses the senses whether to walk appreciating the native wood used for flooring, craning one’s neck so as not to miss the majestic “Sistine Chapel-ish” ceiling frescoes, or walking forward to get closer to the lovely and ornately-designed “retablo” of this church in Guagua, Pampanga.

Don’t miss standing in the nave and spending a few minutes there just to take it all in. Check out the baptistery on the right side, “guarded” by a statue of the Nazareno, before taking baby steps towards the altar.

The opulence strikes one with this pleasant sensation that a church as lovely as this has been spared from the disastrous lahar or mudflow from Mount Pinatubo. The neighboring town of Bacolor was not as lucky. By God’s grace, this church still stands in all its splendor so many more generations of Filipinos may appreciate this historical, cultural and architectural treasure.

Tags: Betis Church, Guagua, Old Churches, Pampanga, Philippines, Saint James the Apostle Church

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Pansit Na Naman?

Filed under: Don't Skip Manila!, Food Trip, Philippine Travels, Travel, travels — 1 Comment

June 26, 2012

Away for nearly 3 months, I am now nicely settled. Home again. Back to the old grind. The same routine. The same food trip!

There were many food items I missed and you bet I didn’t waste time lining them up to stir up fond memories 😉 First on my list of must-eat was my favorite pancit. Now there are many versions of pancit (fried noodles) in this country and each version I pigged on. Shamelessly, I asked my good friend to cook my favorite pancit from Cavite — the one you eat with kilawing puso and culao toppings, along with a good sprinkling of Chicharon bits! Happiness :))

Then there’s the trip to Razon’s for my halo halo fix and….. yes, the pancit palabok. Again, with generous dollops of Chicharon bits. I’m not sure if it’s really the pancit or the Chicharon that got me hooked. But really, any version of the pancit does it for moí!

Back home, Manang Trining’s pancit is what everyone in the family comes home to after being away. For sure, this pancit stirs up many fond memories as every occasion is celebrated with this dish taking the middle spot on the dining table. The Chicharon is a side serving — like it’s “optional” yet I have yet to see someone foregoing that option when feasting on Manang Trining’s pancit.

The Chicharon never misses making an appearance when it’s the Pancit Luglug or Pancit Malabon version. Some crushed, some in bigger chunks. Some plain Chicharon cracklings, others with a sliver of pork attached to the fatty stuff.

Which brings us back to the question. Is it the Chicharon? Or the pancit?

Tags: food porn, Food Trip, pancit, pancit Cavite, pancit malabon, pancit palabok

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UST: 400 YEARS of HISTORY

Filed under: Don't Skip Manila!, Philippine Travels, Travel, travels — 6 Comments

June 25, 2012

Spain ruled over the Philippines for nearly 400 years. Does it show? I’ve always said that Philippines is your “Latin country” in Asia. We do not have temples and wats, but the archipelago is dotted with many churches which see regular Mass-going Sunday crowds.

UST. 400 years of history.

The oldest university in Asia? Only last year, this Catholic University celebrated its 400 years of existence since April 1611. A quadri-centennial celebration which drew in many alumni from all corners of the world. I had many friends based abroad who came home just for this event. It was a grandiose celebration, helped along by funds donated by its alumni who spent many happy university years here and saw the event as a payback for the education they earned.

UST: Oldest University in Asia

Long before the Americans came, the Spaniards gave us education. This is the oldest university in the Philippines and the whole of Asia. It is also the only university ever visited by 2 popes 3 times: once by Pope Paul VI on Nov. 28, 1970, and twice by Pope John Paul II on Feb. 18, 1981 and January 13, 1995.

University of Santo Tomas.

The students and alumni called “Thomasians” count many prominent Filipinos. Our national hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal (JPR) studied medicine here before he left for and continued his studies in Madrid, Spain. UST also takes pride in counting 4 Presidents among its alumni: Manuel Quezon, Sergio Osmeña, Jose Laurel and Diosdado Macapagal.

The university belt bears witness to daily chaos. Traffic is bad and the streets are crowded with way too many pedestrians and ambulant vendors. The university has the largest campus grounds in the entire city and on the day I visited, I found many students enjoying a breezy afternoon within the “campus park”. A luxury I must say in this tropical country of over 90 million people.