Sprint to North Luzon - March 17 &18, 2011

Disclaimer: My "Sprint to North Luzon" posts do not serve as a travel guide.

"Sprinted to North Luzon" is not a planned vacation but just a weekend of going to the provinces, as many employed city workers do. Despite this, we managed to squeeze in a lot of travel sites (such as Pagudpod and Vigan) and still get back to work on a Monday.

Having a simple job in a small company, I managed to apply and get approved for a one day leave in just a week's notice.  We applied for a Friday leave.  On a Thursday, March 17, we left Manila trying to catch 12AM bus trip with a signboard "Laoag".  In Pasay, Manila you could find all these buses but we have a favorite bus lines called "PARTAS".  Their terminal can be found beside MRT Station in EDSA-Taft.

This type of bus is the new "deluxe" type of bus of "Partas" which can be had for a reasonable increase in fee.  I advise to get this type as it is spacious and has a lot of leg room, aside from less road noise which is helpful to get your night's sleep.
Call Partas' office first and ask when this type of bus is available as the bus is very rare, probably one only in their fleet.

Cloudy Summer 2011

Today's April 09, 2011 and I don't remember summer in the Philippines being so cloudy and rainy on an April, ever. The morning was greeted with a long rain shower that ended in the afternoon and I was able to take these shots.

 

Coron, Palawan - February 28, 2011

Our fourth and last day in Coron, a Monday.  Yes, it was exactly what I felt during that day.  The vacation did not feel as a way to relax and unwind.  I'm not saying it's that bad but the experience was close to adventure where you would explore and discover the beautiful island.

This is the nice scenery which will greet you in the morning.

Coron, Palawan - February 27, 2011

Our third day in Coron.  We're supposed to be island hopping again but was not able due to waking up late since we've been drinking the night before.  We just made most of what we can for the day, after all, we're running out of cash.  

Balloons found in the activity hall of Rudy's lodge which seems like a prom is about to happen tonight.  Picture taken around 8am and haven't had breakfast, and yes, you are right, we're too late for the boats leaving the port for a day of island hopping.

Coron, Palawan - February 26, 2011

Our second day, a Saturday, in Coron.  This picture was taken 7 in the morning wherein the road is quiet as there's not much people and vehicles yet.

We did not contacted our tricycle contact from yesterday's and we walked a little going to the city while waiting for a public transport to pass by. The sign up there reads "Coron Town Proper".

B.O.G. is a coffee shop.  I took a shot of it as it looks nice and well lit by the morning sun from my position.

A view from the side of Sea Dive Resort.  It is one of the good places to stay in Coron.  It's not new or entirely clean but would do for tourists with a spirit of adventure.
We are planning to take our breakfast here, as insisted by me to my friend who booked us to Rudy's Lodge.

Coron, Palawan - February 25, 2011

All I can remember with how my year 2011 started was the urge to buy a new camera, one that can produce images that are worthier versus my previous Canon A310 that I have been using.  This urge was so great that I kept visiting and reading reviews of my favorite cams everyday and night of January.  It was an emotionally driven decision backed by logic that pictures are priceless and that I would be travelling pretty much.  I ordered it in Amazon, delivered to a US-based courier that sends to Philippines, and then sent here at home which went, luckily, with no problems or delays.

After a few weeks playing with it, I brought it going to Coron, Palawan, Philippines on an early morning of February 25.  We got the plane ticket for free as a courtesy from Cebu Pacific due to an inconvenience in departure from Boracay in September of 2010.

Coron is a municipality in the province of Palawan, Philippines. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 32,243 people in 6,264 households.  The municipality covers part of Busuanga Island and all of the nearby Coron Island. The main industries of Coron are fishing and tourism, being a popular diving location.  The aquatic views from the sunken Japanese warships off Coron Island are listed in Forbes Traveler Magazine’s top 10 best scuba diving sites in the world. (Wikipedia)

As many of you know, Coron is not the only destination in Palawan, such are Puerto Princesa and El Nido.  Some tourists include these sites to their travel itinerary when going to Coron as they are south of Coron on the map.

Hi There.

My first post. I’m quite unsure of how to make a page for travelling and photography.  I guess, I’ll have to start here. I titled this Travelling Lightrays as I was looking for a name that would somehow mean travelling and photography.

Tonight is March 16, 2011, wherein current news is the bruised Japan due to a huge earthquake and a Tsunami that followed. Huge gas prices is also news due to political problems in various regions in the Middle East.

Image on the right is one of my favorite images from my first digital camera in year 2002. It was Mustek brand with 3 megapixels point and shoot digital camera using a 16MB Compact Flash memory card. Popular brands of digital cameras during that time were very expensive wherein most people still use consumer film cameras.