from philly, to the philippines, and back again - a forumer's tale

[rdm]

My recent 2 week trip to the philippines this june, 2007. enjoy.

for starters




leaving philly international


flying over pittsburgh


and then detroit


20 hours later - the philippine islands


to be greeted by a butiki (common house lizard)


first stop, father's hometown - alfonso, cavite
st. john nepumocene church - over 100 years old (maybe even 150!)


church grounds










let's go inside


obviously not filipinos


bell tower




now off to...





paradise indeed






it's okay to be a little bit touristy - even in paradise
built it myself!





till next time

now back to luzon island
future site of parents' overseas home - currently a gubat (jungle)


with lots of...










and!


now off to botolan, zambales - mom's hometown (western luzon)
victory liner (greyhound equivalent) snack


ballsy guy - braving manila traffic


countryside (pardon the quality - taken from a moving bus)




to come home to this - scenes from aunt's backyard










a fifteen minute walk...




with such spectacular surprises







surreal

next day - safari! (of sorts)




parents' mango grove






bahay kubo! (nipa hut)




now afternoon at villa carmelita - riverside restaurant/inn


where i

(no piranhas, right?)


and


and


and of course


another island! - grande island, subic bay, olongapo city

was exclusively for the use of US subic naval base workers/residents, now turned into a resort and open to the general public










but unfortunately, had to leave.

at least left in style - sampaguita lounge, ninoy aquino international airport


with a traditional breakfast of arroz caldo (chicken and rice porridge) and coffee


and then back again


thanks for coming

[KevinFromTexas]

Wow! Top notch stuff. I love the look and feel of these. Very nice. Kudos for the flowers and bugs shots. I love macro photography.

This one is amazing.


Very nice, thanks for posting those.

[beanhead4529]

awesome job! i'm going to the philippines in july, can't wait!

[Derek]

Nice little adventure you took there!

[giovanni sasso]

good show, mate! looks like a heck of a trip. the bug pictures are great.

[Swinefeld]

Oh God! Gorgeous photography. Are the Phillipines known as a tourist destination? I honestly didn't know. Looks like a swell place to visit.

And that sandcastle was off the chain.

[rdm]

thanks for the posts guys. it was an amazing trip - nice mix of touristy things and off the beaten path type of stuff.

i think tourism in the philippines (from my impression when i was there) is gaining significant momentum - both international and domestic. it seems like it got off to a slow start compared to its neighbors - like thailand and malaysia. they never did push hard to advertise themselves to the world. i think that was due to the fact that there was such a huge american presence there when the US military bases were open. Upon the closing of the bases, however, it was really left without much international appeal since it had relied, and depended, on the americans for such a long time.

now tho it's amazing - with the tourists consisting mostly of koreans, australians, chinese, and europeans. i highly recommend going there at least once. the nice thing also is that english is its second official language - so getting around is not a problem at all.

cheers! and thanks again!

[MonctonGoldenFlames]

My girlfriend spent over 2 months there last winter, visiting famliy, and being a tourist. After looking thru her photos, it has to be one of the most beautiful places on earth. It truly is becoming a tourism hot spot, too bad the goverment is so messed up, crime seems attrocious at times.

[williamphilapa]

Cool photos.


That bug on the tree looks to be the size of a squirrel!

Is that just zoomed in? What short of bug is that?