All posts filed under: Travel

San Sebastian Church in Photos

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I still remember the first time I learned about San Sebastian Basilica, more commonly known as San Sebastian Church. It was in the late 90s. My mother and I were on a jeepney bound for Quiapo when she pointed to the direction of San Sebastian Recoletos and told me that behind that school was a beautiful church. It was, according to her, famous among soon-to-weds and photographers. Later on, I’d learn from textbooks that it was actually an architectural masterpiece. I don’t know why, but I hadn’t really had a chance to set foot in this church until I joined a guided tour organized by the San Sebastian Conservation and Development Foundation, Inc. last July for an article at WhenInManila.com. Now here are some of the photos I took during the tour: You can read my the complete WhenInManila.com feature here. Advertisements

Throwback: Pahiyas Festival 2015

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Yesterday, while taking a look at some old photos saved in my computer, I came across a folder containing images from Pahiyas Festival in 2015. It was quite a memorable experience. Imagine, it was my first time to attend the festival, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. Yet, I had to have presence of mind throughout the day trip, since I was sent there to cover Nikon Club’s Pahiyas Festival Photowalk for WhenInManila.com. Anyway, here are some of the photos I took during the event: I was also able to attend last year’s festival but failed to take a lot of photos because of the limited time we had. (We were stuck in a traffic jam, so we were late for the event.) And I hope I could join this year’s festivities, too.

My Coffee Harvest Tour Experience

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I joined Cordillera Green Network’s Coffee Harvest Tour last December 10, 2016 in Benguet. And yes, I could say that it was a life-changing experience. Since the tour was set to begin early, I decided to travel to Baguio the night before the event. I booked a room at TALA Share & Guest House, managed by the same NGO. I arrived at around 10pm on December 9 and was welcomed by Kanami and Iuko, whom I became friends with immediately. They were so helpful and friendly. They even offered me coffee, which I learned was free for guests. Then we started talking about a lot of things right away. It was a great surprise, since I am an introvert and I usually find it hard to feel comfortable with people I have just met. I also fell in love with Tala and was sure that it would be my new home in the City of Pines. I decided to sleep around 1am, excited for the following day’s activities. I loved how cozy my room was and I was …

Thank You, Camiguin!

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I first learned about Camiguin during our intro to creative writing class back in college. That time, we were tasked to read a couple of creative nonfiction pieces, including a travel essay called “Camiguin”. Written by Clinton Palanca, the said piece employed a grumpy tone, implying that the persona didn’t really enjoy staying in the place. That piqued my curiosity, of course. Why would the persona talk about it that way, in the first place? Was it that bad? To find out, I tried Googling it and was stunned by its beauty captured in the photographs. I fell in love with it and promised that someday, I’d also visit it and, unlike the persona in the essay, I would not complain no matter how hard it would be to get there. I thought it would always be worth it. Guess what? I was right. I was able to visit Camiguin last weekend with some friends and while we were not so lucky for it rained, I could tell that it was still a great experience. …