Paint the town Red with Canon Photomarathon 2012

Canon has recently concluded its National Photomarathon last Dec. 8 in Fort Santiago in Intramuros,Manila. The event started at around 8am with about 2000 participants. It was well supported by a number of Sponsors. They have 3 categories; Point and Shoot, DSLR and Video.
I participated in the DSLR category. First thing that I got after signing up is the goodie bag containing the shirt,id and meal stubs. I really like the short because it says "Go out and Shoot". Its one thing I should do often. I hope I have more time to do that next year.
They have two themes this year. The first one is:

Entering the seven gates of Feudal Lords 

The Stream of Imagination and 400 year unfolds, 

Fortified from strength 

of Distinguished and ever loyal subject 

Is vibrant urban fabric of life 

where colonial past reflect

The second theme is kinda tricky as well:

A magical city that will shape our 

Future 

With Nationalism embedded in our 

Culture 

The heroic legacy of dungeons you 

will see 

Gleaming with amber spectrum and 

Classic Beauty

For the first theme I went around Fort Santiago but I cant seem to find the right inspiration. Its a good thing I used to study in PLM during college and I know a beautiful place that I've been missing so much. I went to San Diego Gardens. Was a little surprise that I have to pay P75.00 just to go there again. I used to hang out there before for free. I took a photo of the view from from the walls and also of the ruins in that garden.

One thing that I like about this event is that it has given me opportunities to meet new people who share the same interest with me. I met Chelle and her husband Dex and their friend Garry. It was also their first time to join in the contest but they had been taking photos for a very long time now. I'm really amaze with what they do. I hope next time I can join them in one of their photo gigs or in the next photomarathon.

Chelle and Garry

After a long day of shooting, Canon provided a program with Kuya Kim Atienza and Alodia Gosiengfiao as special guest and provided fun games and prizes to all participants. I was lucky enough to win a Tenba camera bag and a small shoulder bag. :)

I was really not expecting to win anything that day since I know there are thousands of other participants in the event. They had also encourage everyone to take part of the Advocacy Group of Canon who assist different organization. They had announced the finalist for the photo contest and there will be live judging on who will get the fabulous prizes. I was really glad that Dex was one of the finalist and two of his photos were chosen to go against 7 other photographers. Being chosen over 2800 participants is a big honor enough for everyone. I hope one day I'll get my chance soon.

Dex and his two entries. 

I really have no regrets on choosing Canon as my brand of camera. They really excel not only in build and quality of their products but also in the aftersale service. The free photoskwela/workshop with the Brand Ambassadors/Cruisaders of Light alone is one way of showing they care about their customers and wants them to improve their skills. I'm looking forward to the next event from Canon Philippines and hopefully win with a great photo.

Coming Back to Taal

Its been a while since I've been to Taal, Batangas. We always come here every Holy Week for the Visita Iglesia. This is also the hometown of my Lolo Candido so there were times that we also come here to visit some relatives.

Casa Punzalan -The Ancestral Home

The family even has its own street :-)

The purpose of my visit this time around is for my gown that I will be using for my Uncle's wedding on June. Taal is well known for the Barong Tagalog and Filipiniana gowns with very intricate embroidery. They also offer the lower cost for made to order gowns compare to the ones offered in Divisoria. The gowns can be found at the market place and they even designated one area for it.

Here are some pictures

sorry for the blurry picture. I was walking while taking this picture. :-)

Aren't they pretty?

The gown stalls.

Some wedding gowns on display

The Famous Taal Tapa

The market is at Calle Diokno.

We also made some stops to the two Church in the area. The first one is Our Lady of Caysasay church. We didnt have the time to go the famous Spring Well but I managed to get some shots in the area:

And lastly the Basilica de San Martin de Tours which is considered as the largest church in Asia and a heritage site. Just by going inside the church makes you feel that you are back in the Spanish era because of interiors of the church.

Well I hope the pictures will make you get your bag and start your own roadtrip to Taal. Definitely a place to visit.

Road Trip

We just had a recent road trip in the northern part of Luzon. I love taking pictures while in the car. Something different to look at especially when you live in a city for almost all of your life. I was just so lucky that even my aunt would drive as fast as 100-140km/h there were still a lot of decent pictures in my camera phone.

We started our trip in Cubao and been planning on where to go first. Shall we go to the farthest which is tarlac or enjoy the nearer city of San Fernando.

While in NLEX, the road is narrower than in SLEX so there are a lot of cars on the highway. Still no great view to take a picture with. Been playing with my aunt's camera and my phone to check which can take a better picture with. :-) Here is one picture using her camera. 

We met her boyfriend first at SM and also to shop for some items. We spent another hour going to Floridablanca to take some pictures inside the BASA Airbase. We saw a lot of old planes that our country used. Most of it are no longer working. Was even more disappointed after knowing that if ever that we encounter a war, we don't have enough planes to defend the country. tsk tsk... 

It's just sad also that the security in that area was too tight also. Can't take much pictures or post it online. But all i can say about the Air Base is that the scenery is beautiful. you could clearly see the sky. You would even appreciate the nature with the beautiful mountains surrounding it. If I could only catch watching the sunset from there maybe I can get a really good picture.

Next Trip was going to Clark for target shooting. it was more than an hour drive but I really like the view in SCTEX. So many nice sceneries. What made it better is at that time of the day, the sun rays gives dramatic effect to the mountains. I also like the part of the highway wherein you will pass a mountain which was aplit in two. And again its another picture perfect moment. 

As we arrived in Clark the place was somehow peaceful. Maybe it helped that it was a former military base and not so many people lived there. We reached the target range and proud to say that it was easy for me to learn how to use the gun. :-) first shot, Headshot!!!(BEWARE!) then the next shots were bull's eye. I'm already trigger happy but this made me happier. :-p. It seems like 50 bullets were not enough for me and for my aunt. We should have gone to 100 (each) \m/. I really hoping that we can do it again(minus the travel time).

As we travel back to Pampanga, we made a stop over at convenience store to buy some liquors. Its just so sad that we got lost on our way back. The designated driver not aware that we already passed the elevated U-turn slot. That situation had added 1 or 2 more hours in the travel time. We were already hungry. I was dissappointed that he didnt want to stop over to the nearest restaurants because they were not serving filipino foods. In Clark, most of the restaurants there are serving Japanese and Korean food. We are almost near floridablanca when we had reached the nearest Jollibee. Seems like you won't be able to talk to anyone of us at that time because we are all tired and hungry. Somehow that had been an interview session for Jepoy and Ate Cel. 

Around 10pm we finally reached Jepoy's house and this is where we will have our sleepover. Had a little drink first. We are already planning the next activity. About to go to sleep but we experienced a problem. BLACKOUT!  It's really hard to sleep when you are not at your own home but it's harder most especially if its hot. It came back after 15 minutes. Took a few hours sleep and I was so excited to start the day because I'm looking forward for our next destination, Isdaan Restaurant in Gerona, Tarlac. I wish I'll have time to post the pictures soon. 

See you on my next trip!