Safari Year Five

I quietly celebrated my photoblog’s fifth year online this week. While swimming through some posts through the years, I am grateful for having experienced so many places, so much culture, and myriad events. I am even more grateful that I have began to see anything and everything as “blog-able” – no need to wait for an elusive double rainbow or the perfect symmetry of sun, sea, and sky. The last five years online have helped teach me that I make the so-called Kodak moments, and each is a Kodak moment- if I choose it to be. No scenery is too grand or too murky for beauty and wonder to reside in.

To celebrate my blogoversary, allow me to re-dedicate this blog with words I have used to launch it five years ago:

This photoblog is inspired by Dan Eldon, a young photojournalist who was killed while on duty in Somalia. Reckoned by many to have been a premature death, he left an extensive set of journals chronicling a life that was short but truly well-lived. Thank you, Dan, for reminding me that each moment is a golden photo opportunity, to be grabbed, savored, captured, framed, and shared…

This safari that is my life is still so good.

--==+==--

I am a firm believer in Dan Eldon’s mission statement that

"The most important part of vehicle maintenance is clean windows, so if you are broken down, you will enjoy the beauty of the view."





In a recent road trip, I am glad the owner of the vehicle we were in was of the same thinking, too. The view from Valencia City to Cagayan De Oro City was simply awesome- a 130-kilometer trip punctuated by rolling hills, gorgeous skies, and imposing mountains. Now, I had to be a bit creative to capture my surroundings since we were cruising at a speed that was meant to enable us to join a meeting without being late.

on the road in Bukidnon,April 2012, using a digicam.

PhotoHunt: DUSTY

"The most important part of vehicle maintenance is clean windows, so if you are broken down, you will enjoy the beauty of the view." - Dan Eldon, photojournalist, 1970-1993

on the road somewhere in Nueva Vizacaya, July 2006, using a digicam.

PhotoHunt: CLOSED

I pass by this car repair shop twice everyday, and I find it always closed, probably because my day starts too early and ends too late compared to the shop's. I hope the only thing that will draw me to it is its funky color and not any car trouble.

near the corner of Nagtahan Bridge and UN Avenue in Manila, March 2011, using a digicam.

Wordless Tuesday: SALES, DRIVE

Traffic jams have spawned micro-entrepreneurs among those living near the roadways. From bottled water to quick nibbles, newspapers to cigarettes, this 'captured market' is not too difficult to sell to.
along the South Superhighway, March 2011, using a digicam.

PhotoHunt: CAGED

While driving, especially when I'm stuck in a traffic jam, I while away the time by guessing where this vehicle's been or where it is going.

In the Philippines, the first letter of the license plate defines the region of the country where the vehicle has been registered. So when I see a license plate that starts with "H", for example, I'd say to myself that the driver's traveled far because H means the car has been registered in provinces some 800 or so kilometers away from the capital.

Or there maybe severely dust-covered vehicles. I'd muse that this guy must have done some off-road adventure. Or s/he may just be one rather lazy car owner with no time to have the car washed.

Then I'd meet often 'passengers' in a similar state as the ones photographed above, probably on their way to be in many a human's tummy...

December 2008, using a digicam.


--==+==--

EARTH HOUR HAPPENS TODAY!
8.30pm - 9.30pm
WHEREVER YOU ARE ON THE PLANET!
TURNOUT THE LIGHTS!
A symbolic first step towards becoming better citizens of the planet =]

PhotoHunt: SCHOOL

From mastering how to maintain one's wits as one endures a bumpy inter-province evening back-of-the-bus ride (desperately attempted to be captured above), to effectively budgeting time and money so as to see all sights in a new city, to understanding the subtleties of a town's language, food, and faith- traveling has been one of the best means by which I have learned about the greater world around me and the inner workings of my own heart, brain, and soul.

Can't wait for the next adventure.

on the 8pm bus traveling from General Santos City to Davao City, March 2009, using a digicam.

--==+=--

The fourth anniversary of my main blog is coming up and I'm celebrating with a contest. Know the details by clicking the badge below.


Prizes in the form of Adgitize ads and EC credits await lucky participants =]

PhotoHunt: UNDESIRABLE

I am not a fan of driving through a downpour: the rains create conditions of poor visibility, puddles slow vehicles down, chaos is inevitable. To amuse myself while trapped in the traffic jam, I'd sing my lungs out along with whatever music the CD or FM radio bursts forth.

Now THAT is undesirable.

Makati City, July 2009, using a digicam.

Monochrome Monday: TRAVELERS

From So far, so good

This serendipitous experience is just too good to not share (again). This photo and accompanying text already appeared in my main blog, February of last year.

On the way to Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya- some 200-plus-odd kilometers north of the Philippine capital of Manila, the 4x4 we were riding in had to stop to give way to the oncoming downhill traffic, given the limited width of the gravel road.

These farmers and sellers are about to bring themselves and their produce to the lowlanders' markets. They gamely tossed two pieces of a local citrus fruit called dalandan our way as they passed, perhaps to thank us for letting them through, or perhaps to send a lifeline to a weary-looking bunch of travelers. We were on the road for at least eight hours already.

Regardless of the reason, their generosity, in the midst of their own economic hardship, is refreshing.

en route to Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya, July 2006, using a digicam.

Litratong Pinoy: ASUL (Blue)

Pangarap ko na makabuo ng isang libro ng mga larawan at kwento sa likod ng mga pananda sa pagitan ng mga bayan o lalawigan. Ang higanteng isda na ito sa Gumaca ay isa sa mga pinakapaborito ko; ang kanyang kanugnug na Look ng Lamon ang lugar kung saan ko gustong isabog ang abo ng aking mga labi. Para sa akin, kumpleto ang larawan na ito: ang mga gawa ng tao na kinagigiliwan ng isang manlalakbay na tulad ko- ang aking lumang sasakyan at isang interesanteng tanawin ay nalulukuban ng hiwaga ng kalikasan- langit... karagatan...

Ang buong kwento ng paglalakbay na ito ay matatagpuan dito. Pakisadya kung may labis kayong panahon =]

ASUL = BLUE One of my ultimate dreams is to publish a book of photographs of the boundary markers between Philippine towns and cities and provinces plus their accompanying tales. This giant fish is one of my favorites. The waters of Lamon Bay adjacent to it shall be the final resting place of my ashes. For me, this is a perfectly framed snapshot of my life as a traveler: my trusty decade-old car, a point of cultural interest, under a canopy of blue skies, cradled by the sea...

More details of this roadtrip can be found here. Kindly drop by if you have the time.

Along the Maharlika Highway, Gumaca, Quezon border, 2007, using my Canon A430 digicam.

Litratong Pinoy (LP): KADILIMAN (Darkness)

Hangga't maaari ay iniiwasan kong maglakbay nang gabi. Hindi dahil takot ako sa aksidente o sa multo. Hindi ko rin naman naging ugali ang matulog habang bumibiyahe (dahil madalas ay ako ang nagmamaneho hahahaha) Gusto ko yung nakikita ko yung daan. Gusto kong nilalasap ang kabuuan ng aking kapaligiran. Para sa akin, ang paglalakbay ay hindi lamang ang makarating ako sa aking paroroonan kundi ang maranasan din ang kulay, saya, kasalatan, kapayakan, karangyaan ng kalikasan, mga gusali, mga tao- dahil sa bilis ng takbo ng buhay ng isang manlalakbay.

KADILIMAN = DARKNESS Whenever I can, I don't travel at night. Not because I was afraid of accidents nor because I was afraid of ghosts- both of which prowl about dark roadways. I seldom sleep while traveling (usually because I'm my own designated driver hehehe) I just like watching the road. I want to savor the environment around me. For me, a journey's goal is not just to get to my destination but to experience the colors, the joy, the poverty, the simplicity, or the exuberance of nature, of buildings, of people- because the life of a journeyman is but fleeting.

somewhere along the North Luzon Expressway, 2006, using my Canon A430 digicam.