Clouds of Daet

Last Tuesday, Miguel and I, guided by my cousin, Larry Pioquinto, on-board a tricycle, visited dad's ancestral property in Daet, Camarines Norte. And I took these photos of clouds around Catandunganon.



It was also Miguel's first-ever visit to my dad (his lolo) hometown. He seemed to enjoy walking across the ricefields.

Daet Catherdal

Mid-Sunday afternoon, Robert brought Miguel and I to the new Daet Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity. The place was empty but the presence of Christ could be felt.


I took a few moments to pray for my dad and Tito Rene who had very recently moved on. Guess that was one of the purpose why I am in Daet this weekend.

Below are pictures I took of the Cathedral.



Outside the cathedral lies other buildings which include a multi-purpose hall and the residence of the bishop. What was nice and warm about the place is the presence of trees that shadowed some of the buildings.

Daet, Camarines Norte

Miguel and I are in Daet, Camarines Norte right now. Arrived here last Saturday morning via Philtranco Bus # 795 and will stay here up to Tuesday night. Robert and Cely Pilar will be our kind host for these next few days.


Photo of the Municipal Building. See the Toyota? See Miguel and Robert inside? According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 80,632 people in 16,267 households. The town is a popular surfing spot among surfers worldwide. I remember when I was in high school and my lolo and I made summer trips to Daet and would visit Bagasbas Beach, which had waves similar to the opening credits of Hawai Five-O.



Today, it still has the rice fields but sadly many of the agricultural lands have been converted into growing communities within subdivisions. Maybe, one of the reasons for the rice shortage?

At this Jollibee outlet, we had breakfast and lunch and met Sandy Sumalde. She is a student at the Camarines Norte State College and currently working at this outlet.

These are banners outside the Pineapple Resort, which was reportedly built with a cost of ___ million pesos. You would need to confirm the exact figure. When Miguel (my nephew), Robert Pilar (my cousin) and I visited it Sunday afternoon, there were quite a few visitors.

Trey's Crosswinds House

It was Monday morning when Trey and I took steps outside the comforts of our home and the shade to practice his photography skills. He been snapping pictures of us and his mom and dad, and brother, Rad, and the Parejas all day long. Now he needed to train his eyes on bigger subject matters. Like these pictures of the house during our weekend at Crosswinds in Tagaytay last 8-9 April 2008.

I asked him to photograph the house using the clouds, the trees and the shade as other elements as part of his composition. I even asked Trey to bend his knees a little, or even kneel on the ground to get a better perspective of the house. He would easily follow my instructions. Just very eager to snap a picture using my Canon "Rebel" DSLR.

Chairs and Faith

A few weeks ago, I attended the Inter-faith rally held at Liwasang Bonifacio, Manila. This was the first time I had attended or photographed a rally, since the martial law anniversary rally held at the corner of Paseo de Roxas, a couple of years ago.

But this was my first time to set foot again in Liwasang Bonifacio, probably since the mid-80s, at the height of the "yellow revolution" against President Marcos.

I arrived early at Liwasang Bonifacio, coming from my Friday class in UST.

And snapped these pictures of empty chairs.


One of Manila's famous landmark, the Central Post Office, is seen at the background. Gosh, I haven't entered that building in years. I remember I used to come to the Central Post Office a lot during the 70s, when I was in high school to pick up mails from my penpals.


The Philippine flag flies proudly as a network camera tries to find the best angle to cover the rally. Still the empty chairs await the rallyists! It was already around 2:30pm.


A religious statue stands in the middle of the row of chairs. Am sure many will be inspired to pursue the quest for truth. But how long will it take?


A few minutes after Mayor Alfredo Lim arrived, the rallyists started to arrive too! But they wouldn't sit on the empty chairs.

Trees at Crosswinds

Last weekend, I took pictures of these trees in Crosswinds, Tagaytay. Close friends gathered for a weekend away from the city crowds to enjoy the fresh breeze.



The house in the photo above smelled the flavors of good home-cooked meals by Marivic Pareja. Our weekend meals included my favorite kare-kare!

It was early Monday morning when Chief and I took a leisurely walk through the wide roads of Crosswinds. With my Canon “Rebel” DSLR, I snapped these photos of the “Trees @ Crosswinds.”




No cars on this wide-paved road. Just a few joggers like my best friend, Cesar Pareja.





How many houses can you see behind these trees?



A few years from now, these will be full-grown pine trees that will give more meaning to the lines, "I think I shall never see a poem more lovier than a tree."

Crowswinds Tagaytay has over 100 hectares of residential pine estate. There is peace and privacy. Tranquility amidst a rolling terrain and a green environment.

It just took us less than two hours to drive up to Tagaytay Sunday morning. This included a brief stop at the Petron Station along NLEX and since it was a long weekend, many urbanites were lined up at McDonalds. Chief had her usual Sausage McMuffin (without eggs) while I got my usual two-piece pancakes.

Yes, “Life Is Great” at Crosswinds and many thanks to Bob's brother Eleazar, for allowing us to see the beauty of trees at Crosswinds, Tagaytay!