While waiting for all the bloggers to arrive for the Enchanted Kingdom bloggers' event, I overheard Ria (Yapatoots) talk about the photo hunt and I was instantly interested with it. I asked her to tell me the details, and soon after I learned this very wonderful photo hunt game.

At first I was a bit hesitant if I will join or not, but after coming home from my short vacation, I realized I have 90% of the pictures, so I joined. Thanks to NicoleB for this very fun game.

Here are the items hunted!


1 - Souvenir. As a plus size person, it's difficult for me to buy shirts from the places I've visited. So, in my efforts to take home something from the places I've been to, I buy key chains. Not just any kind of key chains actually, I buy those that is distinctly unique from the place.


2 - Fish. I was so surprised at how big this fish was. So surprised I couldn't help but take a picture of it. It's hard to tell in the picture, but actually, the fish's fin was bigger than my palm! I took this picture using my cell phone at the Manila Ocean Park.


3 - Religious Building. One time, in a forum I belong to, I replied to a post with, "I admire people who were able to photograph the Quiapo Church. It's something I really wish I could do." Seems the universe really worked to my advantage, as just two or three days after I wrote the response, I was already in front of the church, taking pictures of it.


4 - Fire Department. One of the toughest things to hunt, while in my short vacation, I took a picture of the fire truck in San Juan, La Union, but it hardly qualifies as a Fire Department because the truck was parked at the Police Station. Actually, the Fire Department was taking office in the Police Station, but it would be hard for me to "defend" that, so when I saw this Fire Department in Vigan City as the bus passed by it, I quickly snapped a photo. Blurred, yes, but with the paranoia, I decided to be contented with this than risk being interrogated by the officers for taking pictures.


5 - Manhole. I stay at home most of the time, so I thought I would have a difficult time with this, but while walking home from the market, I saw this manhole and was uber ecstatic about it! It did make some people raise eyebrows as I took a picture of it (Come on, who takes picture of a manhole everyday?), but I loved it.


6 - Postcard. Believe it or not, these are postcards! Back in late 1990s and early 2000, the pop culture scene was so great there were actually stores selling different celebrity memorabilia, and it included postcards. I am a big Hanson fan, and these are just three of the numerous I have on album. Although I owned these since 1999 (the oldest), I just took this image before writing this post as I was hoping to buy a scenic postcard. I wasn't able to (I kept on forgetting), so I just tooke these out and take pictures.


7 - Water. In celebration of Earth Day, I went out of our house to take pictures of different nature related pictures. It had been raining all day, so majority of my shots had raindrops on it. This was my favorite in the set.


8 - Communication Device. While chit-chatting with my church sisters during our Household Prayer Meeting, I saw the crocodile stuffed toy. I asked my sisters if I could borrow their cell phones for a while so I could take pictures. I just found it funny to be taking pictures of the cell phones with the toy. With almost all of the people owning cell phones (Philippines holds the record for most number of text messages sent), some complained about the Cellular Companies hogging most of the people's monies because of the charge and all, hence the comparison with the crocodile.


9 - Life Event. Last Friday, my sister graduated in college. What a sweet and fulfilling moment not just for my sister, but for all of us.


10 - Foreign Stamp. One time, I entered a chatroom. I don't know what happened, but instead of going to the Asian chatroom, I found myself inside the African chatroom. Through it, I got to talk to a nice man from Nigeria, who later on became a good friend. We used to exchange snail mails, exchanging religious articles and inspiring stories, but ever since he graduated from college, he became busy with various non-government organizations, trying to teach children to read and write. He hoped of becoming a priest... I wonder if he had fulfilled it already.


11 - Tree. I attended a team building one time, but I arrived early than the call time, so I just roamed around the church's grounds to see the sights. This tree made me so interested that I took a picture of it.


12 - The Living Space of a Non-Human. This is Baluarte in Vigan City. I love visiting this place because it was the only kind I've seen wherein the animals are enjoying the big land for themselves. During late afternoon, this space is covered with all sorts of animals - deer, horses, geese, ostriches, etc. - living harmoniously together. Not only that, people can also touch the animals, but of course, there was a fence in between the animals and people, just so the animals still have a private place for themselves.


13 - Street Mirror. The toughest item in the list. Street mirrors aren't that visible in this country, so when I saw this mirror in a building while walking, I thought, "This can be classified as a street mirror, too, right?" That's me and my sister.


14 - Decoration Fixed in the House. While staying in a rest house in Tanjay City, Negros Oriental, I saw this stone decoration near the stairwell. So pretty, isn't it?


15 - Foreign Flag. Flags, that is! =) I took this picture during the Singles for Christ International Conference in Cebu City. It was my first time to attend such event, and seeing different flags in the location made me feel happy to be part of it.


16 - Fire. Whenever I am in La Union, I always make it a point to visit my father's grave and light a candle for him and his nannies (whose bones were buried along with him). It's my way of giving my dad my respects, and to talk to him as well.


17 - Antenna. Most of the houses here have aerial antennas, and it was difficult to take pictures of our neighbor's roofs as we don't have an attic and I cannot climb to our own roof, so when I spotted this, I asked my brother if this qualifies as an antenna. He said yes, so I am posting this one. This is a cell site, by the way.


18 - Phone Booth. During a photo walk with my friend in the grounds of University of Santo Tomas, I saw a row of phone booths that seemed to be as old as the university (just kidding). Truth is, the phone booths were already out of order and are very old.


19 - Verboten Sign. Saw this view while brother and I were walking to the Rizal Boulevard in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental. I found it funny to be seeing this many "No Parking" signs in one area. "How many signs do you need so you'll know parking is not allowed here?" Hehehe.


20 - Beach. My mom hailed from the wonderful town of Bolinao in Pangasinan. The beaches here were so beautiful!


21 - City Scape. A picture I took from the window of the room in 22nd floor of the Richmonde Hotel in Ortigas City. It was the first (and probably the last) time there, and I didn't let the moment pass without taking a picture of the view from the window. Very tricky, though, as the curtains and parts of my camera can be seen in the image!


22 - Something Goofy. I was once privileged to be given a treat at Burger King (along with three other people of my choice), and I asked my brother and mom to come with me as my sister had an educational trip at that time. We had the newest Burger King burger, and here, brother was trying hard to bite the burger as big as he could!


23 - Something Carved. A stone design from a stage I saw in Baguio City. I didn't get the name of the artist behind this, but truly, I was so impressed with this!


24 - Eye. While in Fort Santiago doing some portrait shots of my sister, I noticed her very pretty eyelashes, so I asked her to stay still as I take a picture of her eye. I love my sister's eyelids and eyelashes!


25 - Something Rural. Farming here in the Philippines by far is the most noble profession in my opinion. Taken from the town of Balaoan in La Union.

Twenty Five items hunted. I really had fun with this game, hopefully there will be one coming up real soon! Thanks, NicoleB!

*** Jenn ***

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

25 May 2009

Even though we woke up early, brother and I still left the house a little later than the original plan. It was still okay, though, for the bus arrived just a few minutes after we got into the bus stop.

First itinerary for the day was the church in Candon City. Whenever we go to Vigan City, we always just pass by this place, so I thought, why not visit the church before going to Vigan? Brother and I had a hard time with all the bags and things we were carrying, but glad we were able to manage. There was a funeral the time we reached the church, so it kind of delayed the flow of our schedule. Well, I'd rather wait for long hours rather than take pictures of the church with coffins and crying people.

The church was simple, but what made the church remarkable was the mural in its ceiling. I forgot who painted the mural, but it features all the mysteries in the rosary. Very amazing!


Brother and I then had breakfast in Jollibee. We don't know the time Viron Transit arrives, and we waited an awfully long time before we were able to get the bus going to Vigan. I had a pleasurable trip, but all the waiting really ate up much of the time. We ate lunch in Jollibee again (this time in Vigan), and we proceeded to the list of Vigan things to do.

This was Nth time to visit Vigan, and I have blogged many things in the area, so I felt as if I really didn't have to take much pictures. But, while on the bus going to Vigan, I thought of doing a "Vigan in Sepia" theme, to give the visit a much different atmosphere. First on the list was the National Museum (Padre Burgos House), but sadly, the museum was closed every Mondays. Awww...

I then thought of going to Syquia Mansion (former Philippine President Elpidio Quirino's residence). Brother and I walked to Calle Crisologo and rested for a while and did some posings with Bernie the Dog. Back in November when I last visited Vigan with my friend K, I already saw the dog, but was afraid he might bark or bite, so I didn't hope to have pictures with the dog. When I saw one of my Hanson friends have a picture taken near the dog, I said to myself I will have a picture as well, so happy was I to see the dog. This is the kind of dog I want to own!

After that, we went to Syquia Mansion, but the front door was closed. The mansion is open, but we were a bit hesitant to ring the bell. I asked brother if he wanted to visit the mansion and he said he didn't like anymore, so okay...


On to the next stop in the list: Baluarte. My scrapbooking friend Raissa, who hailed in Vigan City recently posted an album of butterflies from Baluarte, so I thought maybe the butterflies were still there. Last time I visited there was only two kinds of butterflies in the butterfly farm. Happy that this visit was different - there were many kinds of butterflies! It was difficult to photograph the butterflies, so most of my shots needed to be trashed, but still, I had enough for an album. =)

We enjoyed this time's visit in Baluarte for there was a white deer that was roaming around (somehow the deer managed to leave the area where most animals were). Very gentle deer.. although he didn't want his antelope touched. =)


We took the tricycle back to Calle Crisologo where we bought some gifts. I bought some chichacorn for my sister, a keychain for myself, and a shirt for my friend Halie. And like what we always do while in Vigan, we just chillaxed in Calle Crisologo waiting for night time!

At about 7PM, I went to take out foods in McDonald's then we went to the bus station. The bus left at 9:30PM, and I just slept majority of the trip. We arrived in their Cubao station at 7:30AM (one hour delayed) of the next day.

A very tiring, yet fulfilling trip. Sad that my "Vigan in Sepia" theme didn't really push through, but there are a lot of next times.

... July?

*** Jenn ***

24 May 2009


I woke up late again. I was alone when I woke up - they all went to the market (as Sunday was market day), but when they returned, I asked brother if we could hear mass in San Juan Church - next town from where we live. He already knew my plans coming into this vacation, and being the trooper brother that he is, he came with me.

It was the last mass in the morning, so it was such a pleasurable time taking pictures of the church. This church was just in the next town, but I still haven't taken pictures of it. Good thing I was able to do it on this day. Happier I was when I saw that the stairs to the choir loft was "open," so I was able to take a "bird's eye view" of the church's interiors.


The cemetery where dad was buried was just walking distance from the church, and brother still hasn't visited him for a long time now, so we see no reason why we couldn't visit him. Actually, it has been part of my plan to visit dad's grave every time I am in La Union.

Brother and I had some snacks there as we wait for the candles to run out. By 11AM, we decided to leave and go back home as brother still needs to do his tuna dish. He and Aunt Julie bought this big chunk of yellowfin tuna and brother wanted to do a kinilaw dish, so we really had to go back home. It was actually a good move, as eating out would create a hole in our wallets. Hahaha.


Later in the afternoon, we decided to go to San Fernando City, to check out the Thunderbird Resorts in Poro Point. When we got to the city, it started raining again, and I was starting to get angry at the sky, for always ruining my plans! =) Brother and I actually called off the trip to the resort and just eat some heavy snacks in Jollibee! Good thing the rain stopped when we got out of the fast food, which meant we can still go to the resort!

We waited in front of the Fiesta Casino for our cousin-in-law, but he didn't show up. Seeing that it was getting late and we had to leave Poro Point by 6:30PM, because if we don't we will be having a hard time leaving the area. We walked an awfully long walk to the resort, but when we reached the place, we were really awed at how the resort looked like! It truly was like being in Santorini, Greece!


By 6PM, we decided to head out of the place. In my plans, I listed seeing the sunset by the Fil-Chinese Pagoda, but it was a bit too late for that, so instead of going to the pagoda, we just went to the beach side... I remember my cousin Karen called this the "mabaho" beach for it was a bit stinky because of the shanties near the area. The sun has completely set, but the sky still looked good for pictures. After this shot, we decided to walk to the plaza where we will take the bus home.


In one of the intersections was a traffic jam. It was typical to have a traffic in the area, but this day was different. When some of the people in the bus started going up and checking what's going on, we found out that there has been a vehicular accident involving a truck, a jeepney, and a motorcycle. After the victims have been taken out, the flow of traffic started to move, and this was the shot I took. Well, I was able to take another picture, but it was a bit heavy to be posted (there were bloods and all). There were no casualties (thank heavens), but one of the motorcycle riders had fractures in both of his legs.

Brother and I reached home at 8:30, and decided not to eat dinner anymore, as Aunt Julie didn't cook anything, thinking we already ate out. Well, I had a heavy snacks at Jollibee, so all's still okay.

Before going to sleep, we packed our things for we will leave early tomorrow morning for our Ilocos Sur day trip.

*** Jenn ***