LP 96: Likas (Human Nature)

Nakakatuwa talaga ang mga bata. Sadyang may likas na pagkamangha sa mundo ang kanilang mga mata. Tulad nitong Higa-onon na bata sa larawan. Bumisita ako sa kanilang pamayanan para kamustahin ang paaralan na sinusuportahan ng aming organisasyon. Kinunan ko siya ng larawan. Marahil, unang pagkakataon niyang makakita ng DSLR, kaya manghang-mangha ang hitsura niya sa larawan. Isa ito sa mga pinakapaborito kong larawan. :)

Children are really amusing. Their eyes have a natural wonder with the world. Like this Higa-onon child in the picture. I visited their community to see how the school we are supporting is doing. I took a picture of her. It might be her first time to see a DSLR that is why her pictures looks in awe. This is one of my favorite pictures. :)

1st Pyromusical Olympics at the Mall of Asia

In 2006, my friends and I went to the MOA PyroOlympics to witness eight countries compete against each other for the best fireworks display. Entrance was for P100 for General Admission and P500 for VIP. It was an awesome treat seeing so many beautiful fireworks in one night. The attendance was so successful that getting out of MOA took more than an hour with the terrible traffic going home!

SM Mall of Asia may have learned their lesson not just on the logistics but for profit as well. Instead of having all the fireworks show in one night, they decided to show it for four consecutive Sundays starting February 14. They also set-up more sections this year for different price ranges. They added "musical" instead of just PyroOlympics so it can be called "first," when in fact they have been doing it for several years already.

General Admission - P100

Silver - P150

Gold - P300

Patron - P500

VIP (with dinner) - P1,500

For those who want to be more practical, there is a Close-Up toothpaste promo that can be availed. 5 50ml boxes, 3 100ml boxes or 2 150ml boxes can be exchanged for a ticket. I'm not quite sure whether it would be a Gold, Silver or general admission ticket. We would have availed of that though because we were running out of toothpaste but we did not have time to pass by the grocery anymore.

We proceeded to get our tickets. There was a promo for the silver section of Buy 2 Take 1 while the gold section had a promo of Buy 1 Take 1. The silver promo was perfect since there were three of us cheapskates wanting to see the show.

Afterwards, we made our way to the viewing area. We thought we missed the first fireworks display because the promotions said the exhibition will be at 7 and 8PM. It was 7:05 when we got to the silver section. Apparently, they were late. The first show began at 8PM. It was Malaysia and Singapore for that night.

It's really terrible to have such an opportunity to take fireworks photos but I did not have a tripod. I was just shooting blind using my head as tripod and just clicking away. I did get a few interesting shots, but not as great as it could have been if I had a tripod. So pardon the photos.

There is really something about fireworks that awe people. For each of the shows, a collective oohs and aahs from the crowd would accompany the music. Whenever there is a new kind of firework -- ooooooh! Whenever the entire sky is covered with fireworks -- aaaaaaaahh! It was nice just to be in a collective moment of young-heartedness. :P

First up was Malaysia, I think. We couldn't hear the entire music but I did catch a bit. Fireworks to Celine Dion's "It's all coming back to me now" just does not cut it. But "It's Raining Men" actually works. I didn't know which classical piece was played but it reminded me of "Fantasia" which was perfect for fireworks.

heart shaped explosions from Malaysia

Half-butterflies? Ribbons? Whatever these were, they looked pretty.

When it comes to fireworks, I am really easy to please. I enjoyed the show a lot. The fireworks were grand and beautiful and impressive. People seemed to have a lot of fun with the experience and so did we.

This coming Sunday would be the last day for the fireworks display showcasing Philippines and Australia. For those who have not yet gone and are thinking of going, do! It was the Philippines fireworks that I was most impressed with in 2006 so maybe we can repeat the feat again. :)

Marquee: Ayala Angeles City

Ayala Malls are always an architecture wonder. Definitely way cooler than the box that SM is (though SM Baguio and SM MOA are major improvements). I always enjoy getting lost in Ayala Malls without ever needing to spend anything.

My friends living in San Fernando, Pampanga was supposed to take us to this local coffee shop but by the time we got there, they were already closed. It was just 10PM. We decided to go to the new Ayala Mall, Marquee, for our dessert instead.

The first thing I noticed was the color-changing fountain. It was way awesome! I felt like a kid again. The water 'choreography' which involved color change and water spewing timing was just so fun! If only for this fountain, I'd go to Angeles City more often.

Of course, I have to have my photo with it!

Aling Lucing's Sisig

Pampanga is known for its delicious cuisine which inspired restaurants like Cabalen and Mangan, Kapampangan words for 'fellowmen' and 'eat' respectively. I lived in the province for eight years back in the 80's yet I was never able to taste Aling Lucing's sisig.

Last weekend was finally my chance. Aling Lucing's was once a small carinderia type stall along the forsaken railroad in Angeles City. The eatery has always been known for the origin of sisig, a dish made of chopped pig cheeks and ears. What was once a simple stall grew into a bigger establishment with two floors to hold the numerous customers that flock to taste original sisig.

The lines are long with people wanting their Aling Lucing's sisig. We were the lucky ones to get the last two servings. After hearing that, the people behind us decided to leave. Understandable because what's the point of eating there if not for the sisig.

The pork ears and cheeks are chopped finely then mixed with lots and lots of onion. I don't know what else they mix in. Outside the sizzling plates are placed on top of the grill. The plates are rubbed with margarine and the sisig is put there to cook.

It was a long wait for the sisig. The orders were just too many and the servers few. It took ages before the waiters were able to clear our table. Despite the service, people stay on to await the food. But it was well worth the wait. I was used to the crispy sisig of Gerry's Grill so it was a surprise that Aling Lucing's sisig was chewy. The margarine taste made the dish more delectable to the taste.

not a very good photo but it tastes better than it looks!

We also ordered chicken butts. Do not scoff this poultry body part because it is quite tasty. The sauce made it more delicious. Mmmm...

the last of the chicken butts. we were so hungry that i forgot to take a picture.

Have some Aling Lucing's sisig!!!

15th Clark Hot Air Balloon Festival

The Valentine's weekend was spent in Angeles City to enjoy the 15th Hot Air Balloon Festival. It was something I have been wanting to go to for the past few years but I have been away from Manila for the past six years, it was hardly possible.

2010 is my finally my chance to enjoy the festival. A few friends and I took a road trip to Angeles City for this opportunity. Since we left Saturday afternoon there wasn't any thing to catch anymore so we decided to just hang out with friends living in Pampanga.

On Sunday, February 14, we woke up 5AM to get ready for the festival. Despite being early, it was not early enough. The traffic was already heavy by 6AM. It seems that even on the fourth day, people were still trying to catch the activities.

We could already see the inflated hot air balloons from a distance. I can't help but be excited!

There were interesting balloon-shapes including this beer balloon.

So there's my beer. Gimme!

Turtle, barn and well... regular hot air balloons.

Farmville. ;p

What made the festival more enjoyable was the commentator who provided regular annotation of the events. I've been to a few festivals which provided wonderful visual delights but I hardly have an idea what it is supposed to mean or signify. The emcee provided interesting trivia and information for the people attending.

One particular tidbit we got was why the hot air balloons were only released during early morning and late afternoon. The hot air in the balloon makes it lighter than the cool air outside it. Because of that, the warm afternoon temperature makes the air inside the balloon less light which makes it harder to fly. Thanks for that trivia, Mr. Emcee!

He also explained to the audience what stunts the light aircraft was about to do. An eight roll, a four roll and what have you. For me, it made it more fun to watch. :)

One event was light airplanes trying to water bomb a moving Pajero. Nope, none succeeded. I would suggest that they should first try aiming at it while it is stationary then when somebody hits it, that's when they start targeting it while moving. I think the audience will enjoy a good aim and will appreciate more the fact that moving targets are harder to hit. Just an idea. ;p

During the lull, families flew kites. It's more visually appealing than how my camera captures it.

Skydivers dropped from the sky. It's amazing how they are able to control their descent. At the background is Mt. Arayat.

The paragliders flew while the hot air balloons were being pumped for the night glow. I want to do that too!

We thought the hot air balloons would fly in the air but apparently they were to stay grounded. I'm not sure if it's because the wind was strong or whether it was meant to be that way. It was just beautiful when the flames fire up the balloons in contrast to the darkness of the night. At one point, the flares would fire to music. I would have wanted a long musical display, but it was enjoyable enough.

The day ended with the balloons fired up and fireworks in the distance. A nice way to end a long but enjoyable day.

thanks to risa for taking this photo. thanks R for the tripod.

Fingers crossed: Clark Hot Air Balloon Festival

I've been wanting to go to the Clark Hot Air Balloon Festival for many years now. However, living in Davao since 2003 makes it heavy on the budget.

This year, since I am back living in Manila, is my year to witness the festival. Close to almost manhandling my husband, I gently persuaded him to take me there. A couple of friends are going with us and we will be taking a car. Road trips are always fun, so this is bound to be one joy ride!

The schedule of activities can be found here.

Here's hoping the next post is about the festival itself. ;p

Davao Crocodile Park

While Davao City is known as the fruit basket of the Philippines as well as the home of the Philippine Eagle Center, it also boasts of its own crocodile park like Palawan.

Davao Crocodile Park is around 15 minutes from the NCCC Mall via private transportation. It's quite hard getting there commuting, so I suggest taking the taxi which is not that expensive. However, the hard part would be going home because it's quite a long walk from the entrance. Most tourists choose to hire a taxi for the day when visiting the Crocodile Park.

One expects to see crocodiles in a croc park of course.

The picture does not do justice to the number of crocodiles the park has. There are A LOT! In all sizes and shapes. They all look nasty with their sharp teeth sticking out making sure you realize they are not to be messed with.

Crocodiles are not the only creatures you can see in the park though. There are a lot of bird varieties like colorful parrots and white cockatoos as well as that majetic sea eagle below.

I did get to a chance to hold a crocodile. A baby one. Which is a bit of cheating especially with the taped mouth. I felt bad for the little croc being passed around from one person to the other and not being able to snap at anyone it dislikes. I still wanted my photo taken with it despite the ill feeling.

Below is a bayawak or monitor lizard, which as far as I know, is an endangered species. This may be due to many poachers who hunt for its meat. I have not tasted it but I heard it tastes like... chicken. It's allegedly good. But it's illegal now thankfully.

The highlight of that particular trip was having the chance to actually hold a real, live tiger.
The Davao Crocodile Park has a pair of tigers. I'm holding the male. His caretaker came with me to make sure that I make it out of my photo-op alive. The female tiger seemed to be in a bad mood as she was prowling as large cats usually do when agitated. It does not seem to like company. If I were a tiger, I wouldn't be happy either, with people ooooh-ing at me as I'm stuck in a cage.

When in Davao, the Crocodile Park is a must-visit. Depending on the day of the week and times of the day, there are crocodile feedings. In the same compound, you can also visit the Butterfly Park and the River Walk Grill. For those who are into extreme sports, it is where the Davao White Water Rafting office is.