The Traveling Spiderman

Spiderman spotted in Wayna Picchu, Machu Picchu, PERU

Spiderman Travels Around the World!

How I wish Spiderman would be able to travel the whole world and I would be more than ecstatic to be the volunteer to take him there.  

Last year I got hold of this Headware multipurpose head bandana (made in the Philippines!) with Spiderman's cover printed on it.  It inspired me to try and do this. (^o^)/

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Mount Pinatubo Trek in Pictures (Zambales, Philippines)

Trekking Mount Pinatubo
February 2013

Here's a travel guide in pictures on what to expect when you go on a trek to see Mt. Pinatubo's crater lake.

The gateway to Mt. Pinatubo Trek is in Sta. Juliana Capas, Tarlac, Philippines.  You'll know you've reached the right place if you see the sign above. Register right away and rent a 4x4 all terrain vehicle to take you the the trek start point.

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Island Hopping Tours El Nido Philippines

Island Hopping Tours in El Nido

There are 3 basic island hopping tours in El Nido, Palawan.  These are labeled as Tour A, B, and C.  Upon the recommendation of my friend's sister, we took Tours C and A.  According to her, Tour B isn't that nice because it mostly involves exploring caves.  If you like that kind of stuff then you should take Tour B.  With tour A and C on the other hand, you'll go snorkeling in lagoons, beaches, and hidden coves.  

Island Hopping Tours in El Nido - Do's and Dont's Please READ.  Click on the image to view a larger picture

We weren't disappointed.  For first timers, you must take Tour A as this offers the more usual attractions.  Personally though, I was blown away by the beauty of Tour C.  The places you go to in tour C are magical.  And I guess I enjoyed it much more for the simple fact that there were less tourists around.

(Island hopping tour details and pictures after the jump)

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El Nido Palawan, Philippines

El Nido, Philippines

Star Island in El Nido Palawan Philippines - snorkeling stop part of Island hopping Tour C.

Sunset in El nido Palawan Philippines - Cadlao Island view

A Paradise in our midst.  Truly one of the best places on earth. (More pictures after the jump)

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Jump Shots in El Nido

Tourist arrivals has hit an all-time high in the first quarter of 2012.  A record 1.148 million tourists visited the Philipines from January to March.  It seems like the number will just get bigger and bigger from now on as the Department of Tourism launch their "It's More Fun in the Philippines" tourism campaign.

We better get ready.

Graceful Jump Shot in El Nido, Palawan (Entalula Island)

In a recent trip to El Nido, some topics of interest that are probably uniquely Filipino, during conversation with foreigners were:

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Things to do in Legazpi City (Philippines)

If I had a day or two to explore the wonderful city of Legazpi in the Philipines, I would do the following all over again:

1. Eat at Bigg's Diner.  A local fast food joint serving Bicol delicacies.  I had Porkchop with Laing. Yum!

Bigg's Diner Legazpi City 

Porkchop with Laing at Bigg's Diner

Bigg's Diner mascot

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Intimidated Yet?

Fiddler crabs are known for having one big and one small claw.  You would think that they use the bigger claw to catch prey, but no, they would use it to wave at females in order to attract them for mating.  This guy certainly knows his priorities.  They also use the larger claw to fight off other suitors.  

A little intimidation is necessary.

While you would think that having a larger claw would be best, I read somewhere that larger claws actually tend to snap easier compared to smaller but more compact claws.    

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Spotted in Italy! Rome Artifacts ++

Spotted in ROMA! 

Some cool things and artifacts I've spotted on my recent visit to ROME, ITALY! 

SUNJUN is GOING GLOBAL woohoo!

Art vendors at Piazza Navona.  Buy one to take home as souvenir!

This is what happened to David after Michelangelo made a statue of him!  Even him couldn't escape the effects of too much spaghetti!

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Spotted: Holding Ahhhhmmm ...

When your sweetheart longs to hold your hand when 

they are not free, opt for the alternative ....

Holding Legs 

... Hold legs (interlock legs) instead! (^0-)v

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SPOTTED: MOSQUITO in the BIG CITY

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The Early Birds

I couldn't sleep and so i went out of the room and lazed around at the beachfront huts at The Villa Amparo Resort in Samal Island.  Thought I could get some shut eye while enjoying the cool breeze but as it turned out, the birds were busy and chirping away. 

More pictures after the jump ...

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Peek-A-Boo!

Peek-A-Boo! A hermit crab checking out another shell.

Happy Halloween!

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Alor's A Home Kitchen Davao - New Menu

In the company of friends, I got to try out a few new addition to Alor's A Home Kitchen's Menu.  With these additions, Alor's is definitely transitioning from home-cooking goodness to heavenly gourmet. If you haven't been to this restaurant in Davao, check out my recommendations for Alor's A Home Kitchen here.  

Warning: These pictures could possibly be detrimental to your health.  View with caution.

ROAST BEEF - USDA CHOICE GRADE

Roast Beef (USDA Choice Grade): Melt-in-your-mouth tenderness paired with an intoxicatingly good Pepper Gravy.  Gather a group of 6 and your group would be better off eating this rather than eating the steaks at Sarung Banggi. 

More pictures after the jump!

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Molten Lava Chocolate Cake Recipe

Chocolate Fondant (Lava Cake) Recipe

My passion for cooking and baking has been ignited again after watching the season 2 of MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA.  I was rooting for Callum Hann, the youngest contestant in that season, simply because he's comfortable in making desserts and he seems to know flavors really well!  One memorable moment was when he and another contestant made a chocolate fondant dessert!  

When you hear the word fondant, you'd probably think of that thick white icing used in decorating wedding cakes.  And if you've tried one, you'd definitely think it's nothing special!  It's just white and very sweet.  Even barely edible in some instances.  A Chocolate Fondant however is not an icing, it's usually a cupcake that been baked just about enough time to solidify the edges but not the insides.  In so doing, hot chocolate syrup flows out from the center when you cut the cake!  A very lovely surprise awaiting the diner for that theatrical effect.  After all, we always eat first with our eyes!  And melted or gooey chocolate always tastes good!

Chocolate Fondant with vanilla ice cream and Orange Coulis - How do you like my presentation?

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A Chick's Story

This was originally posted in my old Photography Blog: Samurai of Light.  The tree where this nest was found has already been cut down.  It's a sad thought that I wouldn't be spotting a similar kind of nest anytime soon.  If ever I do see one again in the future, I promise to leave it alone.  I'm posting this again here to commemorate one of my greatest finds ever.  

A CHICK'S STORY

On the start of the month, we noticed a small bird building a nest on the tree that's closest to our house. We left it undisturbed so that it would push through with its plans of laying the eggs there and rearing its young. 

This picture shows how the nest looked a week ago (May 2008). It got bigger and bigger as the days progressed and as strong winds challenged to rattle it off the tree's branch. Our constant peeks and glances must have contributed to that as well.  Although we didn't touch it or anything, it must have despised the extra attention.  At one point, I even tried feeding it earthworms!

In this next picture, I was able to capture one of the parents.  It's the closest I could get to the nest without scaring them off.  And I was only able to take a shot like this with the help of my new lens the Sigma 80-200mm Telephoto lens.  ^^

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A Picture Paints a Thousand Words

The picture above was taken in New Delhi, India.  I was on the bus when I noticed this guy riding his scooter with a cool mask on.  I snapped the photo and was glad to see that the guy I wanted to capture was in focus.  Technically, I liked the picture because I was successfully able to use the auto-tracking auto focus feature of my Lumix LX5.  This feature allows you to keep moving subjects in focus while you compose your shots.  I never realized the full potential of this picture until I snapped this specific photo.  This fact alone made this photo great for me.  However, posting it in Facebook revealed a much more intriguing concept that made this photo even greater.  Read on to know the full story.

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Spotted! Your Majesty, the Queen!

We were so lucky to have the Queen grace us with her presence on our summer outing trip to Villa Amparo Resorts in the Island Garden City of Samal. Before I introduce her to everyone let me just segue a bit on how a close friend described this beautiful resort.

Villa Amparo Resort in the morning - Samal Island

Summer is all about the sun, the sea and great times outdoors! Again, we're so lucky to live in a city where a wide range of options are readily available. How can we forget the torture we endured last year where we had to line up for 10 hours for the barge going to Camiguin Island? Hah! This time, all we needed was a 10 minute barge ride to Samal and a 20 minute ride to reach our new discovery. 

With a recommendation from a good friend, we visited Villa Amparo Garden Resort. It's one of the many resorts being constructed in the Island. The development is still ongoing, but you can see that they will soon become one of the must visit resorts in Samal. 

There were a few disappointments but I am sure these can be well managed when they go full blast. Nevertheless, we all had a great time! Pristine beach. Superb food. Reasonably priced amenities. Clean and cold rooms. Best of all: They have Video-Singko! 

-Bunny Sy 

Villa Amparo Resort at night - Samal Island

The resort is pretty small. There are not much open spaces to roam about but if you can get the place all to yourselves, it's a very nice place to chill out and relax. I also liked the fact that they preserved a portion of the corals found at the boundary so one can still go snorkeling without having to go way out into the open sea. I hope they can truly preserve this as the corals are getting a lot of damage already from being easily stepped on during low tide.

With such a scenic view, it's no wonder the Queen, herself, would visit such a place. She had a suitor stalking her though - he even tried to steal a kiss! Not just once but thrice! Check out the pictures after the jump.

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Project 365: Photography by Kenneth Diaz

Do you know what this is? It took me quite a while to figure it out!

Fellow blogger and friend, Kenneth Diaz, launched Project 365 last year (2010) with the objective of taking at least one picture a day.  On his final entry, he wrote some insights he learned after taking more than 365 pictures in one year!  Great insights that I personally uphold as well, that's why I'm sharing them here with you.

• There are lots of good pictures out there waiting to be taken and it can be a simple matter of opening one's eyes.
• Corollary to no. 1, always bring your camera with you, even on the most mundane occasions.  You never know what'll come falling from the sky after taking that left turn on the street.
• Creativity requires ***a lot of work***.  It can be exhausting, but ultimately, rewarding.
• Still, it helps to be lucky ... most especially in photography ...
• I'm starting to appreciate this thoroughly postmodern notion: Nothing is original.
• Very Important: Things aren't always how they appear to be.
• Empathy is useful.  But so is a sense of humor.
• Technical perfection is not the end all and be all of the photograph.  It is the story.
• Sunset photos are cliches, but one can't help taking a picture of it every time you see one.
• No matter how many times it's been said, or how corny it sounds, it still rings true: the world is beautiful.

Kenneth Diaz - Chronicles of a Disturbed Mind Project 365

All the pictures in this page are from his collection!  I took the 3 best pictures that I liked.  If you wanna see more visit his site at Chronicles of a Disturbed Mind.

Kenneth Diaz. Chronicles of a Disturbed Mind - Project 365

This was quite a feat my friend! Congratulations! Continue telling beautiful stories and taking beautiful pictures.

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Hermit says ...

Hermit the Crab says ....

BE PATIENT  

There's no need to rush.  Be patient.  

It may just save your life.

STOP LOOK & LISTEN

Learn to assess the situation before taking any risk.

It pays to be well-informed.

FIND A BIGGER SHELL

Continuously look for a bigger shell.  It is by looking for a bigger shell that we allow ourselves to grow.    Aim bigger and never stop growing!   

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Spotted: Bee at Santushti

SANTUSHTI SHOPPING COMPLEX

"Santushti" means "satisfaction" in Hindi.  We went to this high end shopping center enclosed inside a military camp in New Delhi.  Photography was not allowed inside and so after taking these photos, some store owners were already staring at me.  I guess looking very Asian saved my butt this time and they forwent the incident without even giving me a warning!  I wasn't very fond of the shopping but this Bee frolicking with the flowers really made my day. (^o^)/

Sizing up the enemy and contemplating whether to strike or not! Yellow Pollen sacs on the side highly visible.  I thought they might be the collected nectar as well.

Sensing no danger at hand, or simply ignoring me as a not so worthy opponent, it goes about doing its own business. 

I think that I shall never see 

A poem as lovely as a BEE

A Bee whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the flower's sweet flowing breast.

Poems are made by fools like ME (and Joyce Kilmer)

But only God can make a BEE.

Hahaha 

(adopted from Joyce Kilmer's poem TREE)

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