Foot and Fire

The sun is the king of colors.  Here are the photos of sunrise and sunset behind the Campomanes Bay  which I took during our stay last June...  It was never too late to capture the summer...  *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

I believe that every last-minute booking is always made here at the Campomanes Bay area. That is because the White Beach area located at Punta Ballo, Barangay 4, Sipalay City is always fully booked given that they the resorts there are with their own websites. Also, this is a little farther from the city proper. But since all good things resulted from our last-minute decision to go, I consider our stay at the underrated Campomanes Bay area a blessing in disguise. We don't need noise or Red Horse to while the night anyway... While the Eco-port is the first unsightly view that welcomes you, the island from left to right can never bore you. On the right is the stairs leading cave where the spring water of the community comes from and the marine sanctuary below is located. One can watch the sunrise and sunset with the sound of the cicadas as background. Isn't that amazing? *** Floating house for the Bantay Dagat and Visitors as well. *** The woman doing her l...

The people of Oslob are early risers because the whale sharks locally called "butanding" are hungry and feeding them is the easiest way to the snorkeling tourists and the ever-ready camera! For a fee of P550, one can swim with the whale sharks and have his unlimited photos taken by the assigned photographer and later bring them  home in a cd. This is the flourishing tourist attraction in Oslob. When we got there one long holiday of April 2015, there were hundreds of tourists, local and foreign. But rising up earlier than the tourists is the key. The sun may not have shone from the mountain's side this time but seeing it rising from the ocean is phenomenal for me as seeing meteor showers are for other people. I joked that in this side of our archipelago, my kindergarten drawing of a nipa hut against the backdrop of two mountains with the rising sun and fluffy clouds in between them is not correct. Amazing grace it is to feel the early sun on my face, to receive the li...

This is the Bule Thi (pronounced as Buledi) Temple. If one is staying in the Wetkyi-inn village in the Old Bagan area, this pretty red temple is just a small-distance hike away. This is not a major temple that is why no information on this temple is indicated in the wikipedia and it is not even in the suggested temple to visit in the tourist map of Bagan. The first three photos in this post was taken before the sunset and the next five is taken when we had a sunrise on same spot. I cannot pinpoint which of the two adjacent temple is Bule Thi but I must say that during our visit in April 2014, the sunset is good in this first photo while in the fifth photo, the adjacent and smaller temple from this one, the sunrise is pretty. ***     This is my walkmate and climbmate.  We had a great time posing in the stupas around the Bule Thi temple. *** I cannot help but mention here that this Myanmarese is the sand-painter of the painting we bought in Bagan...

We took time to pose with the children of Bagan who are selling postcards with photos of temples and faces of Mayanmarese as well as collection of their own drawings rendered in crayons. These children are very clever seller and they do this to help their parents since it's their break from class.  Without our knowing, we are leaning on another temple called, Shin-bin-tha-lyaung. It is just next to the foot of "Shwe-san-taw" pagoda and is a long building made of brick that shelters a statue of lying Buddha of 18 meters dating back to XI century. The head of the statue directs towards the south that represents the Buddha's resting. For the representation to entering " Nivana", the head pointed toward the North. (http://www.myanmarmtetours.com/) *** This is the Shwesandaw Pagoda away from the rays of the sun. This a Buddhist pagoda located in Bagan, of Myanmar, formerly Burma. It contains a series of five terraces, topped with a cylindrica...

What else compares to the beauty of the sun setting down? Sunrise of course. What else can cap a Jogger's afternoon walk but a gorgeous sundown. Here are our takes... *** *** *** *** *** *** A little sweat is a lot. *** Oh boy, who needs to sweat if you are this slim??? ***