Camiguin Land Tour

The Paras Beach Resort in Camiguin has a Land Tour of the island's different tourist spots which our group decided to avail of on our second and last day in the island. We needed to rise as early as 6am that day since our scheduled checkout time from the resort was at 12noon and start of land tour was 7am. Our group paid 2000 pesos for the tour which included driver slash guide, and transportation.

Our first stop was the Old Vocano  and Stations of the Cross Walkway.

White Island: Camiguin's Amazing Sandbar

En route to Camiguin, second-smallest island province of the Philippines, next only to Batanes, I, together with two office-mates, Mike and Cynthia, arrived at the Lumbia airport in Cagayan De Oro at around 5:40 am.

Together with eight others ( from the same office where Mike,Cynthia, and I work) we were able to take advantage of an airline promo and ended up on an unofficial teambuliding of some sort.

Our eight other companions were not scheduled to arrive until 8 am that day.

Enchanted Kingdom : First Visit to Philippines' First True Theme Park

I must admit, I've been to places far and wide but not to Enchanted Kingdom in Sta Rosa, Laguna. That was, until two weekends ago.

It was a lazy Sunday morning, and mommy Lakwatsera, Lakwatsera's mother, wanted to go to Subic in Olongapo, for some reason. I thought, okay, that's out of town and a potential photo opportunity. Everything seemed fine and we were both ready to go except for one problem-- Lakwatsera.

Either, she didn't have enough juice to drive all the way from Cainta, Rizal to Olongapo or she just didn't have any interest, at all. The three of us were already inside the car but mommy Lakwatsera and Lakwatsera were still arguing whether we should go to Subic or Tagaytay. I decided to keep out of it. First of all, it was Lakwatsera's car and I wasn't the one driving. Second of all, it was mommy Lakwatsera spending for the entire trip. At some point, during their not-so-heated argument, they both agreed on Tagaytay. I thought, OMG, not another Tagaytay weekend. I don't know why, but for some reason, no matter how many times we've been there, I've never been blown away. We haven't gone far enough when another decision was made--Enchanted Kingdom in Sta Rosa, Laguna. It was final.

I thought, it's not as far as Subic but, at least, I haven't been there. Anything first time is always exciting.

We made it to Sta Rosa from Cainta  in one hour, more or less. Although, it was on a Sunday, there weren't too many parked vehicles at the theme park's  parking lot when we arrived, finding a parking space was a breeze. We paid a 50-peso parking fee.

I already had an idea of  what the theme park's entrance looks like, but since I was seeing it for the first time, I was kinda hoping  it would blow me away. It did not.

Photo by Lakwatsero

I thought, oh, well, perhaps, I'd be blown away after we went inside. Entrance was 500 pesos per person for the ride-all-you-can thingy. Inside, the GRAND CAROUSEL greeted us. Ho-hum.

Photo by Lakwatsera

After a couple of photo ops, we roamed around and started trying the rides. Rides that were fit for adults. We tried the bump cars first. It's called DOGEM. It was fun, but not blown-away fun.

Photo by Lakwtsera

Photo by Lakwatsera

We moved on to the next ride. The Roller Skater. The ride was like any roller-coaster ride I've already experienced in many amusement parks. Scary but not scary enough. Sorry, no photos. I thought Lakwatsera already took care of it, so I didn't bother take photographs. It turned out, she didn't.  Anyway, moving forward...

Next, we rode  the WHEEL OF FATE, commonly known as the Ferris Wheel,  at 130ft ,this is the highest Ferris Wheel anyone can find in the Philippines. Mommy Lakwatsera passed. I have fear of heights so I almost skipped this ride too, but, Lakwatsera managed to convinced me to take the ride with her.

Our next stop, the JUNGLE LOG JAM. Scary: Yes. Repeat factor: NO WAY. I think, I almost broke my neck on this ride. Piece of advice: always follow what the signage says. If it says: ALWAYS LEAN YOUR HEAD BACKWARDS, then, that's what you're supposed to do.

Photo By Lakwatsera

We proceeded to Anchor's Away, next. Perhaps, the only scary ride where we had the most fun. Repeat factor : YES. All of us came back for an anchor , so to speak. I actually  rode it 3x.

Recommendation: to get the most thrill , choose the seats at farthest ends of the ship-- the fist row in front or the last row at the back. Sitting in the middle lessens the thrill factor, but, it still scary. The farther you are from the center, the scarier.

The floating swans, looked like a relaxing ride from  afar. The ride is called SWAN LAKE. Lakwatsera and I lined up. When it was almost our turn to hop in on one of the floating swans, we realized that the ride was pedal controled, not motorized. You need to pedal like you would a bicycle, to get the ride moving. Tiring, we thought. We left, and searched for better rides.

If your looking for a boat ride that didn't require too much physical effort, try the bump boats, called BUMP N' SPLASH, instead.

Photo by Lakwatsera

I then decided to take the mother of all rides at Enchanted Kingdom, THE SPACE SHUTTLE.

Lakwatsera has ridden it twice already when she  made her first visit a couple of years back. She said there's no way she was gonna take that ride again. I almost had second thoughts but decided to do it,anyway.  Repeat factor: NO WAY!Once was enough for that day.

Photo by Lakwatsera

Photo by Lakwatsera

We went to the RIALTO next. If you're an adult,  there's no way you'd find this ride exiciting The build up was exiciting, yes, but, the ride was ridiculous. We sat in a theater with moving seats, and watched a car racing movie. The seats' movements--left,right,backward,forward--were supposed to go with the movie scene to simulate race car driving. Well, most of the time,they didn't. We all felt that we were just being rocked in all four directions, for no particular reason, while we watch a really boring movie.

Photo by Lakwatsera

It was a good thing that the RIALTO theater is located in one of the most picturesque areas at Enchanted Kingdom-- Brooklyn Place. Enchanted Kingdom is divided in to 7 areas. The other 6 areas are  Boulderville, Jungle Outpost, Midway Boardwalk, Portabello, Spaceport, and Victoria Park. You could ask any of the staff near the entrance for a map of the theme park. Here are some of the Photos we took at the Brooklyn Place area.

Photo by Lakwatsera

Photo by Lakwatsera

Photo by Lakwatsero

We also tried a couple of rides that were dizzying but lacking in thrill: The FLYING FIESTA, and UP UP AND AWAY.

Photo by Lakwatsero

Photo by Lakwatsera

The RIO GRANDE RAPIDS  looked boring at first, and we didn't realize it had so much fun factor until  after we've tried it. EXPECT TO GET WET, though. All belongings, especially, electronics, must be left to the custody of one of your companions. Otherwise, you will be forced to bring them along since you will not be allowed to leave them behind under the custody of the staff. We were not able to take photos since we kept the camera inside the camera bag all throughout the ride. Did we get wet? YES! A lot.

After trying all rides that appealed to us, we waited until it was dark so we could take some nigh photos.

Photo by Lakwatsera

Photo by Lakwatsero

Photo by Lakwatsero

What did I think of my first Enchanted Kingdom experience? I believe it is still the the only  true theme park here in the country. The closest thing the Philippines has to Disneyland, so far. Other people say that Enchanted Kingdom fails miserably  in comparison to theme parks in other countries. This maybe true, but, I think, it is still a good place for a family get-together; especially for those who have kids.

I think, the only problem is there aren't too many exciting additions or major new rides from when it first opened several years back. According to Lakwatsera, some attractions that weren't there during her first visit include the Zorb ball, The ATV Ride, Kart Trak, Xtreme Paintball, Bungee Fun, 4D Discovery Theater(a better version of the RIALTO, I hope), and, some others. The drawback is almost all new attractions require separate Admission Fees.Which means they're not part of the 500-peso-ride-all-you-can ticket.

My first visit did not really turn out disappointing. I was not blown away, but, I still had fun.

I believe that if you try to look at it from an unbiased child's point of view, Enchanted Kingdom can still be a magical place.

Travel Directions:  

DRIVING:  Go to SLEX, take the Sta Rosa Exit, toll fee is 70.00pesos(as of posting date). After the toll gate, turn left and continue straight until you see Waltermart or Jollibee fast food restaurant. Turn right  to the street between Waltermart and  Jollibee. Straight ahead, in less than 5 mins you'll see Enchanted Kingdom's entrance to your right..

COMMUTING:   Easiest and most convenient way is by the shuttle service to and from Enchanted Kingdom at the Ayala Center in Makati. For contact nos. and  inquires regarding updated rates and schedule, visit www.enchantedkingdom.ph.                                                                                                                                  

Travel Blogging for Dummies

I am not an expert when it comes to blogging. Truth is, I am  dummy myself. I have been working on customizing my template based on some of the things I see on  some blog sites I regularly visit. The new Blogger Templates are already good as they are, and are fully customizable. But there are just somethings that you will not be able to do unless you specifically research about them.

To all of those who are still  new to blogging, like me, I would like to share some very simple things that I've learned, so far: 

How To Make Hyperlinks Open On A New Tab:

When I made my second post, Blogging101, I made references to some travel blog sites the I regularly  visit. To let readers access these sites, I created hyperlinks  targeted  to these site's respective URLs.Now,if visitors or readers clicked on the link, it will bring them to the site of that particular URL, which is the main reason  I created the hyperlinks, in the first place.

Problem is, instead of opening on a new window or tab, every time I clicked on one of the links, it opened on

the same tab where my site was, therefore, closing my own site in favor of the hyperlink's target. I, eventually found a solution on this.

Using the example above, Blogging101, you will see that if you click on it, it will open a new tab, and will not close the current tab where you are currently at. To know more, this link will put you in the  right direction:   http://www.bloggertipsandtricks.com

How to Create Stand-Alone or Static Pages:

I recently added stand-alone pages on this blog. The different tabs directly below my header,  labeled Home,  About, Contact, etc are called static stand-alone pages where you can post different kinds of information regarding your site or blog.

Just go to Postings, click on Edit Pages, then,  click on New Page.

Similar to making a normal post, enter a title on the title field, e.g., Contact,  and on the edit-HTML-Compose field, put the information you would like your visitors to see when they click the Contact tab. Finally, click on Publish Post. View your blog and see the new page element.

You can create as many as 10 static pages.

I haven't figured it out yet, but what I'm trying to do right now is get rid of the blog archive widget on my side bar and and migrate it to the archives static page. Feel free to share your knowledge if you already know how to do this.

How to Get Rid of the Blogger Navigation bar:

Go to Design, click on Template Designer, click on advance, scroll down till you find Add CSS, click, and add this:

 #navbar-iframe {display: none !important;}

Removing the Nav bar is not supported by Blogger, but if you wanna do this for aesthetic reasons, do it at your own risk.

How to add "Categories" on your side bar:

You can't. Unlike in Wordpress,  Blogger templates do not have this option. What you can do as a work around, if you really wanna categorize your posts is use the Labels widget. This requires a lot of work, so, to put you in the right direction, and to let you know that I did not figure this out on my own go to this link:

http://blogknowhow.blogspot.com

This is all part of the learning curve that every newbie blogger go through. I don't mind being labeled as a newbie blogger --because, I am.

Even the successful Travel bloggers that I follow were once newbies too. Lets  see and find out how this blog will evolve.

I think I'm here to stay for a while.

Travel and Photography

Travel and Photography always go together. You probably won't find a travel blog that didn't include a single  travel photo on each and every published article or post.

Photos are important to give readers a better perspective of a blog author's travels.

Photos being essential to travel blogging doesn't mean that it is alright to upload all 800 shots you took in one single trip or travel.

Just include photos that are essential to a particular post. Make sure you have a point in posting a particular photo.

If what you want is to publish each and every photo you've taken on one of your trips, it is probably better to use a different blogging platform. A Photo Blog is probably what you need. And there are sites like Flicker or Tabblo which will give you ample storage space to publish hundreds of photos on a single trip.

And as much as you'd like to post photos of yourself, keep in mind that travel photos posted on a blog should serve as a guide and source of information about the places you've traveled to. Travel photos should inspire others to also visit the places you've been to or, at least, give them ideas on whether or not these places are actually worth visiting.

Travel photos should never serve as as hard-copy proofs  that you've been everywhere. It is better to shy away from posting photos of yourself  all the time, unless, you're blogging about your personal life and not, specifically, Travels or Traveling.

Lakwatsera and I carry three different  cameras when we go out on trips: a Nikon D40 SLR, a Canon DIGITAL IXUS 75, and a Canon S400 with Canon Waterproof Case WP-DC800 for underwater photography.

If you are planning on publishing a travel blog, do you really need all these? NO. You don't need different types of cameras, you don't need expensive, high-end SLRs, and you don't need the latest point-and-shoot digicam. All you need is a decent, not-so-expensive camera and, probably, a good eye for photography.

The photos you see on this post are shots taken by Lakwatsera and myself on some of the places we've been to. This is to demonstrate that you can take decent photos using any type of camera. Taking photographs of the places you travel to  doesn't have to be expensive:

Canon DIGITAL IXUS 75 Photos:

                                                                          

Mt Pinatubo Crater

                                                     

Magellans' Cross

                                                     

On Top of Mt Pinatubo

The quality of your photos depend on the type of camera you use. If what you want is to post quality travel photos but you're not really keen on the technical aspects of photography, then just invest on a good quality point-and-shoot digital camera. If you want to have more control on the overall quality of your photographs, a digital SLR is probably what you need. Digital SLRs though require a bit of technical skill. It is pointless to invest on a very expensive digital SLR if you're just gonna shoot on auto all the time.

There is nothing wrong shooting on auto mode, of course. But it can be very limiting, especially, if you want to produce good photographs. Even the simplest digital camera has different features, controls, and settings. And, learning, at least, the basics on how your camera works will help you take better pictures. Make an effort  to know your camera a little bit. Familiarize yourself with all the buttons, toggle switches, and knobs. There's a reason they're there.

NIKON D40 Digital SLR Photos:

                                                            

Anawangin Cove

             

Pundakit Zambales

Guimaras Beach

Mayon Volcano

Villa Acosta Resort-Sto Domingo ALBAY

Calatagn Beach

Experiment with the camera's different functions. Try taking pictures using manual settings and see how different settings affect the quality of your pictures.

One simple way to see how these different settings work-- aside from reading the manual-- is by taking several shots of one subject using  different camera settings. Use a tripod so you get the same distance and angle every time on each shot. You'll be able to determine which setting works best  and see how each setting affect the overall look and quality of your picture by photographing the same subject using different settings. Also, try taking pictures at different times of  the day to get an idea about the effect of  different light exposures on your photographs.

Canon S400 with Canon Waterproof case WP-DC800 Photos:
                                            

                                              Under the Sea- Boracay

I am not an expert when it comes to photography. Lakwatsera is a better photographer than I am. She has the "better eye", so to speak. But if photography is something you would like to take seriously, starting with an entry level D-SLR, like the NikonD40, would be worth considering.

Unlike ordinary digital point-and shoot cams, D-SLR cams provide the option of shooting with a variety of lenses. Fact is, some shots are just impossible to achieve when you're stuck with the default lens of your cam, no matter how expensive it is.

The original draft of this post included some shots Lakwatsera and I took on some of our trips using a 55-300mm zoom lens. The usual maximum zoom-in capability of a default lens from a Digital SLR  is around 18-55mm.

I wanted to post some paparazzi shots to demonstrate the 55-300mm lens's zoom capability. These were pictures taken using subjects that were very very far from us-- other people perfectly unaware they were being photographed.

Lakwatsera insisted that I refrain from posting those photos.Which is why you don't see them on this post.She said that I didn't have the right to post any photos of other people unless I had their permission. I believe she has a point, but I guess, my point is, those pictures were good images of other people caught in our camera, the shots were taken without any bad intention and none of it put anyone under compromising situations.All pictures looked nice and flattering, to say the least.

I know how to respect other people's privacy and, therefore, I would never post pictures that would put other people in trouble.

By the way, all pictures on this post were uploaded without post processing. They came straight from the camera. There is nothing wrong with using a post processing software to improve the quality of your pictures. The only reason I pointed it out is because I wanted to show that even if you lack any editing skills, or your not tech savvy enough to take advantage of  the latest in Adobe Photoshop, and whatnot, photos can be posted the way you shot them. No post processing necessary. Just take that camera and start shooting. Remember, practice makes perfect.