WTB: SarBay Edition

Am I feeling already the heat? YES! Am I excited to hit the beach? VERY YES! Today, I'm gonna blog about "What to Bring: SarBay Edition" and "What's in my bag" for the 2 day event! 4 more days left before the biggest beach event in Mindanao and getting Re-tweets from @sarbayfest on Twitter makes me more excited about it! There's no such thing as over-packing bikinis and today I'm gonna show you my new picks! Take a peek on what's what. 

Egyptian Classic

 تحيات And that means "Greetings" in Egyptian! Hello readers! It's been somehow weeks from my last blog post. I've been somehow busy doing my personal errands and such! Well, most of you knew that I am a massive fan of Dream Catchers and to addition of my collections, here's a new one given to me by my dearest Mom which was bought from Egypt by her friend. Oh and by the way, Belated Happy Mother's Day to lovely Mum's out there! Going back, this one's a bit strange since we all know that Dream Catchers are made up of wood, in a circular shape and has feathery designs. This one's made up of metal and shaped like a jelly fish (or am I being imaginative enough? hahaha!) I've been researching it on Google lately since I am strangely amazed with it. It's beautiful, don't you think? Unfortunately, haven't seen any of it on the internet. Even photos, none. I guess I'm lucky enough to have a different aura of collectible. Well if you know something about a bit of this, let me know! And oh, I haven't done any edits with the photos except for adding watermarks, and I am such a happy kid knowing I'm getting better and better on photography. With a little help of my external flash, lighting and good angle. Canon always works awe-incredible-some! 

SarBay Fest 2013

Are you hitting the beach this May? Do you want to explore beaches and places you've never been to? Then this is for you, SarBay Fest 2013 (Sarangani Bay Festival 2013). This is the biggest beach festival in Mindanao, if you'd ask. Sarangani Bay is located on the southern tip of Mindanao here in the Philippines. General Santos City or commonly called by the locals as GenSan is one of the Philippines most important cities and ports, is located on the bay of Sarangani, making it one of the busiest. Well so much for that! Let me take you to the Festival. This coming May 24-25, 2013 (SAVE THE DATES!!!) it is gonna be a one hit of a big party knowing that a lot of people were talking about this on Facebook & Twitter, and that includes us! SarBay Fest will be held at Gumasa, Glan, Sarangani. 

TRIVIA! 

Did you know that the island of Gumasa is titled as the "Little Boracay" in Mindanao. 

You may check out this blog as well

www.senyorlakwatsero.com

or just simply type Gumasa Beach on Google to see more!

Since it's compared to the majestic, pure sands of Boracay it's hence in quite similarities. Though I haven't been there, my friends told me that it has really good quality of sands and clear blue waters of the ocean. Oh, this makes me feel so excited going to Gumasa, barefooted and enjoying the breeze of the wind and the pristine waters of it! Mindanao has so much to offer! I have been telling you this for the longest time. You can never go wrong if you will travel the highlands to Islands of Mindanao.

Motion

It's once another month to deal with. More of only a month before classes will begin and that doesn't want me to start yet! May 1 & 2 has been both productive to me well because of so many reasons. The second day of this month has been more of like it! I did a night photo walk, it's my first time so I am not good at lightning and my I can't control my hands on being shaky. So I decided to title my work today "Motion" since people & cars are moving. The subject I have today is a bit more interesting since I went to two of the busiest streets in Davao City. First stop: China Town (Uyanguren) and the second stop: San Pedro Street. I think most of the photo-walkers loves to go here since it has so much! From dusk 'til dawn or sunrise to sunset. Besides, you can find everything under the sun in these so-called people's shopping retails! If you've been here, probably you know what I'm talking about. Well if you're Manila, it's like Divisoria or Baclaran--- something more of it like that BUT cleaner and much safer because there are Patrols who roam around the street! If you're fun of the so called "Ukay-Ukay" or "Wagwag" then here's the perfect place for you. From clothes to shoes to bags, name it and it's there. Well patience is totally in need to this place since there's thousands (or millions) stuff to find! 

Mom, I love you

Today is the last day for the month of April. Let me just take this opportunity to express my gratitude to my mom (well both of them though). But since the celebration for Mother's Day will be more days before, I will just post this then. So my mom had her month vacation back here in Philippines. I just can't believe that she has to leave so soon, which was yesterday! I actually don't feel bad (okay, a bit) but not really since I had a month with her. Spent so much with her! I just miss my mom that much, even one month isn't enough! I've never been so happy having her here, I can share gazillions of thoughts I've been thinking and then there's mom, always ready to listen and advice such things. I mean, to anything I guess! She's the best ever. I couldn't ask for more or so! Last night, she has to say good bye to the Philippines and head back to Africa, since her job is there. Last nigh (my dad, cousin and I) accompanied her to the airport. Her stay in this country was really not enough but at least, I know she enjoyed it. Love you mum, you're the best-est person I've ever known! Enjoy the photos! :-)

Teenage Kicks

What has been up, readers? Today, I'm gonna blog about what we did that is so cool and interesting which I have been doing from the past 3 years already. Ever since I got into photography, Canon is always the number one camera/DSLR I consider the most easy yet sufficient and elegant. Every year, Canon is holding a Photoskwela from different places in the Philippines. This year, they take off to Davao City which was held in SM Atrium. The guest speakers were Troy Monsod and Mr. Per-Andre Hoffman. If you're familiar with them, then you know what who the people I just mentioned. Both of them are big names in the industry of Photography. They're both ambassadors of Canon Philippines. I've met them before so I was familiar with their works and shots. It's always nice and different which is great! Talks and techniques that they have been sharing to so much people from the past few years. Every time Canon will hold Photoskwela's, the Canon team never fails to send me mails or contact me personally. I'm so glad they remembered me! Thanks for that. So to make the long story short, take a peek of today! Enjoy :-)

Day Four: Just Capture It

Our fourth and last day of the tour has finally come to and end! Awwweee sad but at the same time, we all had fun! So our itinerary for that day was to visit Overview which is amazeball, lunch at Seagull mountain resort and lastly, visit Philippine Eagle Center. Leaving Bukidnon was so much in a hurry since some of us woke up late and I haven't finished packing my stuffs yet. But thank God, the bus didn't leave us then. We have to travel hours to get to our destination, which is first the Overview in BuDa (Bukidnon-Davao) road. I have nothing else to say but... the view was truly captivating. It's so nature-y and refreshing but everyone went loco to the "pasalubong" corner which is on the hallway. So much for that, enjoy the view and the photos! :-)

Day Three: Bukidnon City

Blog post tour finally on day three! Hooray! Well, it's sad to leave and say goodbye to the awesome Cagayan de Oro but everyone has to. On the third day, we are heading to Bukidnon. It's like Tagaytay/Baguio scenery, yet it's located in Mindanao. It's cold and foggy even if it's summertime. The place is totally relaxing since there are thousands of pine trees surrounding the place! The view's are great too, sad to say I don't have photos of most of it since we were sleeping all through out the travel. This wasn't my first time in Bukidnon, but first time in Waig Crystal Spring Resort. Yep, that's we're heading. We had an overnight there, which we were freezing in coldness plus the air-conditioned rooms were bummers! There's so much in that place, though. You may avail with their cable cars, horse back riding, hanging bridge, the zip line and their pools and so much more! Check out their official website, just click the link: Waig Crystal Spring Resort. The tour wouldn't be complete without photos, right? Check out my shots! Enjoy :)

Day Two: Iligan City

Second day of our tour! This day for us has been sooo tiring and exhausting but it was all worth it. We have 4 destinations to visit for this day namely: Divine Mercy, Maria Cristina Falls, Timoga Spring Resort and last but not the least, The Tinago Falls. Before leaving Cagayan de Oro City, we had breakfast at Marco Hotel, the food were really great! Before 10am, we depart the place and head on to Iligan City. Iligan City is a first class highly urbanized city in the province of Lanao del Norte which is also in Region X, Northern Mindanao. If you're familiar with this, I bet you know what I'm saying. If not, you may read their Wikipedia. It is just a small city, people that're simple living and it is the home of The Majestic Falls. The supply of water in this place is massive! Why? Because Maria Cristina falls is located here. You'll know so much about this later! Second day of the tour has been amazing, seeing the wonders of nature you could ever imagine! I never thought even just in Mindanao, there are thousands of beautiful creations. It's truly more fun here, I preach that! Anyway, this is a long blog for tonight! So much views I'm gonna share with you. I hope you will have fun and gain knowledge on this. Enjoy! :-)

Day One: Cagayan de Oro City

Hello bloggers! It has been almost a week since I last updated my blog. Well, as promised I am going home with so much for you to look forward to! I am heartily so excited to share with you what has been up from the past 4 days of our Cagayan-Iligan-Bukidnon Tour! I am sure, you do too. I hope! 3 words: I HAD FUN. So let me start it right now. Last April 15, 2013 we had to prepare for our stuffs that we're gonna bring, we woke up as early as 3 or 4 am to make sure we will not be late for the trip! As early as 5am, we assembled and waited for the 2 buses in school. Luckily, we waited not too long. It's actually not my first time to travel there since I was born in Cagayan de Oro City! We were all patiently waiting for our first destination which is our Breakfast en-route in Traveler's Fast food. After 2 hours (estimated) we arrived there. Our lunch was served in Bukidnon, a local restaurant (which I forgot the name) couple of hours away. After which, we got excited because we're about 4 hours more travel to Cagayan de Oro City! Here's a suggestion, if you love nature I bet you will be amaze with the view of the mountains and green leafy trees! I assure that. You should travel by morning to see the thick fogs within the mountains and see it clearly! We can't stop along the highway to check out the view because we're on a scheduled tour. But it was amazeball! Nonetheless, I will not take this any longer, here are photos from our Day One in Cagayan! :-) Enjoy! 

Let the Sunshine In

Oh hooow there! I never in my life was a morning person. For the record, I sleep by morning and wakes up by afternoon. That's how my Summer rolls, maybe I just have to deal with it. Why don't I like mornings? First, I don't get the essence of waking up so early. Though I like watching the sunrise and that's it. After watching, I get back in bed. I know, I'm that weird. Since today is a Sunday, family day and so on. This has been my first time for a longest time to wake up as early as 5AM, because usually during regular days, I get up by 7AM and do something real productive. Like today, going to church with my Mom, listen to the homily and be blessed! After which, the mass ended at 7:30AM which I still got to drop by at McDo and eat something while going back to the house. Actually, the real deal is, church is just blocks away from home which is having an option between walking and walking. Just kidding! But it's actually true. As promised, I had a mini photowalk with my camera (yipee) and Mom who held my things. Thanks Mom! 

I got some shots while passing by to the streets. Since it's early in the morning, it's not yet a busy hour for mostly everyone. And it's Sunday, like duh! Anyway, the morning was gloomy. So I didn't get too much of what I was about to. 

Call It... Summer

When talking about shopping, always count me in! I think for most girls, shopping is one of the ways we can express our emotions. Physically, and the way we choose our products. Right? Correct me if I'm wrong. Today, my parents and I had a quick shopping before my 4-day tour. It's a class tour for Tourism Students that has Philippine Domestic Tourism course. So before it, my mom treat me to... voila, my second favorite to H&M, Call It Spring. After a long wait, it has finally opened its door to Davaoeneos last March 22, 2013 in the newest mall, SM Lanang Premier. Nonetheless, while we were looking on the bags (which is... all my favorite!) this vintage looking bag caught my attention! From far, I fell in love with it! I know, cray but superb! So anyway, I wasn't gonna buy it but I can't take to prolong it since I've 1 day left before tour. Thanks to my Mom, which has also a crush on the bag.. she bought it for me. Sweet mother of Christ! ;)

P.S. And as a promise, before I have to leave for our 4-day tour on Monday, I promise to have my Sunday post which is tomorrow! Stay tuned for it and enjoy this blog post.

Sparkle Up

Hello ladies! One thing you should know about me is that I am a massive fan of nail polish. I own like more than 20 of it in different colors! Mostly, I only like putting something natural colored-enamels and nothing else. I don't do sparks or nail arts. But somehow, when my mom and I were in a shop, I fell in love with this Winmax Nail Sparks, if I'm not mistaken it's a Japanese nail enamel. It's not familiar to me at first but when I tried it on my index nail, I just loved it. Unlike any other sparkies that doesn't last too long, Winimax is different which is nice. They also have different colors of sparkies but I chose this nude one and pair it with different colors I have. Let me share with you with boosts! :) Enjoy!

Shutter

I know, I know my blog title for today is a little bit creepy. Haha! Not that I will be talking to the Thai horror movie "Shutter" but I will be talking about my camera. Yes! I got it back today! I was in Canon center earlier this rainy afternoon with my mom to get it. It's been away to me since last week of March! Ugh, such a very unlucky time. But anyway, the photos below are some of my "excitement shots" riding home Lol! Feels like I have my new DSLR but not! I missed it big time. It was away from me for almost 3 weeks because it got to the Error 99 which is the error for shutter. I consumed 100k shots from the past years I've been using this babe. If you're a photographer, you'll be familiar of what I'm preaching about. So, to get this straight I had to leave my camera to them, change some parts which is the shutter and the battery holder. Big cost but let's not just talk about it here. Naaweee, I am just so happy to have it back and update my blog from day to day since it's also summer vacation for mostly all of us. Better stop talking and let the photos do their thing. Not much but I'm working on it. :-)

Jump In

Spending one of the last days of being a freshmen with these people! From the past few weeks, well as we all know, March is a graduation month for almost every schools in Philippines. Some people has to say goodbye to their Alma Maters and in their case, move on to the next chapters of their lives. But in our case, more of trial and error process for the next 2 years. (If I don't transfer school, or in fact, us). I mean, for some reasons of course. So, let me start this out. PWC got its huge lettering just in about the entrance to our school. You can obviously see it whether you like it or not. Totally contrast the colors since it's already summer. Our classes will totally end on April since it's a Trimester school. We have to bear with it. Leaving you with some... or should I say our vanitation-salutation. Haha! ;) Enjoy!

Definitely Summer ☀

It is summer once again. Everyone's heading to their summer destination which is not new to every Filipinos. Philippines has so much to offer. From Highlands to Islands, whether you go from North-South or East-West there are always places to visit. To everyone, it's already summer. But for me, it's not yet. Why? Because we still have final exams on April. And P.S. I miss blogging so much it hurts! I definitely need to get my SLR to Canon but since it's a holiday, I have to wait for their message and confirmation. This post is really old but since I haven't blog this yet, let me. Just for updates on my blog since I missed it badly. It is very common that everyone's heading to the beach or pool to get rid of the heat and or tan themselves. Way back 2012, my cousins and I went to this river which is quite far from the city. It's real good since all you can mostly see are the green leafy trees and everything about nature. Well, I love nature. Here's some of it, get a splash! 

Spectrum Party

 Madayaw! (It means greetings). If you're wondering why I'm not blogging about the festivity of Araw ng Dabaw is that my DSLR is in Canon for the mean time and have to be fix within 2-3 weeks. I know it's horrible! But it never stopped us to enjoy and party! Last night (March 16, 2013), DJ Callum David was in Davao for the Spectrum Party! Everyone was enjoying and definitely dancing to the songs. Callum was there from 6pm for his meet and greet at the Atrium and start the party by 8pm to 12 midnight so it was a long playing sesh! I was with my friends, Shareen, Paul and Ate Neesha who treated us the whole night. From tickets to drinks! Some of the photos below aren't mine so credits to the people who took it. Some photographers also were taking photos of us in groups but I have no single idea on where I could grab the photos and blog it! I wish someone could tag me those photos on my facebook. Haha! If you're reading this, please do :-) Enjoy the photos below as much as we do! 

Eden Nature Park

Today has been my worst yet THE best experience of my life. Worst? Because I flew from Indiana Jones ride-ish. I mean, it's the amenities offered in Eden. And the worst-est was, my DSLR went error and I was about to cry but I still have to check it in Canon. Awful!  BEST, because to sum it up, I had fun and for me, it's also my Advance Birthday Gift. Well obviously to myself since I will be turning 17 tomorrow. I know! :-) As a Tourism student, we have to encounter Tour Guiding which is we are the Tour Guide (with its destinations and attractions separately) just within Davao City. There will be professors who will evaluate our performances. So the main highlight of this Mock Tour Guiding was our visit in Eden Nature Park (that's located in Mount Talomo, Toril, Davao City) which offers so much. From relaxation, sight seeing with the overview of Davao City, and their offered amenities. If you want to stay for a night, they also offers good service and such. Talking about food? Well, I guess they have THE BEST buffet offered. I mean, the fruits were as fresh as ever, ah good food! Before I go preaching over everything we did today, and Eden specifically. I will let the photos do the talkin'.

Let's Celebrate

 It's another year for another festivity to celebrate - The 76th Araw ng Dabaw! Since last week, I can feel that Davao City and Davaoeneos are preparing for the big event held every 2nd week of March of every year. It's one of the grandest celebration for the thanksgiving. There will be street dancing, floral float parades, competitions and after parties! It's all over Davao. Since I live within the heart of the city which is really the downtown and center of all business critics, it will be another jam pack of people for the whole week and it is starting now. Along the Streets of Palma Gil just beside the most visited park in Davao, which is named People's Park, there's a GINuman Fest with the live bands and shots which I know not new to you. So if you want to stroll around Davao, come and join the party. If you're not from Davao City, and really wanting to go here, book a flight and accommodation, ready your camera's and don't forget your smiles! I assure you that you will leave Davao City happy and contented and wanting for more! There will always be more. If you've been reading my blog since, you will experience the Kadayawan every 3rd week of August of every year. Well so much for this.

Running Busy

Finally! I could blog again. The start of this month has been so hectic and way too busy for me and us! But first thing first, I really miss blogging and I cannot believe that this is my first blog post for the month of March. And thinking of my birthday is 6 days away! I cannot believe I'm turning 17 this month! So back to what's up, if you're wondering why we're busy like it was never been before is because we had our Midterms exams, catching up deadlines and we really have to strive hard for each subjects. I am so glad I can rest my feet and body and get back my 8-10 hour sleep (or maybe more!) that's what we really need. And I am really happy that Midterms has finally ended. Now, we're gathering all our energy needed for Finals. But before anything else, let me share with you some mems we had from the busy week!