THE WIND FARM REVISITED THEN ONWARDS TO FOODIE HAVEN.....

From The Watering Hole.....
















From The Shore.....











Me, Myself And My Shadow.....









Car Stickers?






A funny thing happened as we proceeded to the Bangui Wind Farm. I could not find the famous yellow house! And the terrain that we went through was a different one, as I suddenly found ourselves near a brook where cows hang out and abound. I could not find the trail which leads to an area where a bare shelter exists. All I know is we did not enter the alley where the tricycle terminal is. Have we entered that, then perhaps, I might have seen the yellow house.

I did not expect to see the cows meandering though. I mean, the last thing I would want to see is a bovine get freaked out by the sudden appearance of us humans and then decides to attack us as it goes berserk. It is after all the animal's territory and we were the trespassers. I do admit I was very cautious as I took pictures of the site.

I also noticed the change in the gusty wind when we were at the beach. The last time I was here, I arrived around noon, the wind from the South China Sea coming in towards the shore was too strong, enough to topple someone off balance in some instance. My tripod had to be supported further as I took pictures of the scenery. As we arrived at the farm at around dusk, the sea was calmer and a light breeze can be felt.

Shucks! And I could not think about taking photos of the wind turbines during this time of day as I still thought about that effing yellow house! Ever since we saw a shot of a fellow club member of this yellow house that landed him on the pages of Reader's Digest, there has been a significant interest to photograph the house! And its location has been a mystery since no one in the club has seen it until I finally saw it the first time I was here.

But I am so glad though, as my friends seemed to enjoy prancing through the calm waters as they also took pictures not only of the scenery but also of themselves.

Time to hit the road and head back to Laoag as our day was about to end with the fading light.

After a few moments though, we passed by a bridge and saw the setting sun. A few of us decided to go down in a hurry and run as fast as we can to capture the scene. The others were busy taking sunset pictures but I took photos of other scenes.









Special thanks to my friend Sam Blas, owner of Saramsam Cafe and Balay de Blas. I asked for his help when we failed to secure a decent accommodation in Laoag. He actually made a call to his friend who owned a good hotel in San Nicolas, which is the town before one enters Laoag called Mira de Polaris. I was blown away! He even was kind enough to bargain for the rooms in my behalf! Oh yes, I wanted to go to his place but it was fully booked since it was a long weekend hence the referral.

So we did the next best thing, ate at his restaurant. I wanted to try the Pinakbet Pizza (and take pictures of it too) but the waiter brought us poque-poque pizza instead. But it was delicious! I also ordered their crispy bagnet for Bless, Erwin and Buboy to try. So glad they loved it!



The Crispy Bagnet.....









Vulgar But Delicious, Poque-poque Pizza

LETTING OUR HAIR DOWN.....

Walking In Line.....






Stopping By.....






Sharing The Shade.....






Admiring The View.....






Wow! Matinee Idol!














Leading Star.....













Ahh, Supporting Cast?






Landscape Surveyors.....











I have posted photos of my colleagues caught in the act of shooting their images. But every now and then, we just can't help it if we let our hair down and just be camera hogs in front of our lenses. The crazy poses, the jump shots, and the wacky faces are all part and parcel of this desire to be photographed in an unconventional manner.

I've been telling everybody, that I am more comfortable behind the camera than being in front because of my tendency to really make silly faces and poses. It is perhaps being the comedian in me.

This is a more relax set of photos of my colleagues as we walked the trail towards Kabigan Falls, while we were atop the lighthouse in Cape Bojeador and while we enjoyed the beach by the wind farm. Oh yeah, we enjoyed every minute of it.

A quick note though, for some reason, my camera develops a flare whenever I shoot at an angle with the light coming from the side. And I can't be bothered to retouch the photos since they are just "snaps". However, it does concern me since I am not sure if the flare is caused more by my camera's build quality or has my L lens been "leaking" light? Hmmm.....

THE MAJESTIC LIGHTHOUSE IN THE SKY.....

The Plaque On The Wall.....






A Few Steps Over.....






From The Courtyard.....







BOO!!!!!






Shadow Markings.....






Rooftop.....






Picture! Picture!






Iron Circle.....






Down Below The Lighthouse.....









The first lighthouse that I have been into was the one on Capones Island, Zambales. Lighthouses provide an unrestricted view of the area and is great to take aerial shots of the surroundings. It also provides a sense of history, as one begins to know of tales that a lighthouse played during a certain time in its past. And I also noticed that a lighthouse's "age" can be ascertained by its appearance, i.e. is it modern or old; is the paint on the walls peeling off or freshly coated; are there any junk parts laying around its quadrangle or are the old parts still in use?

The lighthouse of Cape Bojeador in Burgos, Ilocos Sur was built during the Spanish era. It was first lit on March 30, 1892. It sits majestically on top of a hill named Vigea de Nagparitan and can be seen as far as the town of Pasuquin on the southern end and Bangui at its eastern side. It stands 65 foot tall and has an octagonal stone tower. The lighthouse was put up by the Spaniards to serve as a guide for those galleon ships that entered the country from its homeland of Spain. Up to the present, the lighthouse continues to do so.

Today, it is now one of the tourist attractions of the town of Burgos and the structure itself has been declared a National Historical Landmark on august 13, 2004 and a National Cultural Treasure on June 20, 2005 by the Philippine Government.

Now I have also heard stories about ghosts that supposedly hunt the lighthouse. And these stories were not from the average Joe but from local television shows. It seems that the caretaker of the lighthouse has been a witness to these paranormal sightings. I spoke to him about it and he was noncommittal. I guess he just did not want to scare the people around us by affirming my querry. The line was so long when we went there that it took as about 30 minutes to wait for our turn to go up. Perhaps this is just my imagination working overtime but the window that I took a picture of and posted gave me the shivers while doing so! Creepy!

TREKKING TO KABIGAN FALLS.....

The Buko Stand That Was Located Strategically.....






A Rest House In The Middle Of The Foot Bridge.....






Field Of Dreams.....






Leap Of Faith.....






Smooth.....






Towards The End.....






A Boy Watching The Falls.....









Still Enjoying The Falls.....








Contemplation.....









Kanino Ang Mga Itich?.....






Guess?.....






Pagudpud, the name alone conjures a sandy white beach with crystal clear waters to most people, as it is even sometimes called "Boracay of The North".

But we decided to go somewhere else in Pagudpud though. So we hiked a few kilometers and went to Kabigan Falls. At the entrance or base of the place which was near the parking area, tourists are required to hire a tour guide. The guide is actually necessary to someone who is not familiar with the place. But I was grateful to him since he offered to carry my tripod and at the same time, he acted as a "model" in our pictures which needed a human element in it. These guides are actually farmers who live within the area. I think their local government was right in teaching these farmers the value of tourism as an added means of income.

Marc and Ka Luis stayed behind and decided to rest after that grueling hours we spent under the midday sun taking pictures. But because of the fact that there were stretches in the terrain that we walked on that actually was under the shades of trees, we proceeded to go to the falls then. Ah falls! It would have been nice to cool off by taking a dip along its catch basin.