Porsche Cayman

Neatly parked in my office desk are my diecast collection. The Cayman Diecast was a gift from my staff back at DBSOFT Days.  I also have an Enzo"Ferrari" a Chick Hicks (sssh. Jeremy owns that) and a few Shell collectibles, 

Whenever my system hangs or I couldn't figure out what to do with my system. I always look back at my cars and dream of having one someday. 

But hey dreams do come true (right?). So I did came to the garage one day and found this...

Like a magical trip to Disneyland. The lines are perfect, nothing to complain, though I would not mind to have it in black. But whose complaining.

Carefully, opening the door, I pop out the keys and started the engine. The sleeping lion roars in the cave. Boy my heart stopped for a while...

Wings Check.

Even if it's still pitch black, I drove the lion out of the cave. The smile in the man's face

tells a lot of store so as the tummy. Blame the latter though on the bucket seat.

Hitting 100kph is like counting 1 to 3 and you're in warp speed, buried deep in the bucket seat.. It's not for the faint of heart as any sudden miscalculations will result to serious damage.

As with all sports cars, Cayman hates traffic. Remember one movie quote "What's the use  of having 300 horses if you have no space to gallop". It's a waste of HP and precious 97 octane fuel. It's eye catching for sure, and the non existent tint doesn't help. You can always tell for sure the onlooker are singing to the tune "Ganda ng kotse".

But in the end, morning comes and the dream end. Back to reality and up we go my trusty old stead.

Travelling to Mindanao via RORO

The adventure of going by land from the comforts of Manila to the Majestic land of Mindanao not to mentioned the forced circumstances of the family business had us crawling to our ever dependedent toyota fortuner. The trip started with the usual planning of where to sleep, gas location and roro schedules. After all was set the trip meter was set and off we go.

Traversing the SLEX was a breeze on an early sunday morning. We reached Atimonan Quezon around 8am

We changed driving duty after Caluag as the road conditions of Quirino highway requires fresh mind and body. I remember back in 97 when the highway was built. After only 17 years the highway undergone several major repairs. From the Quezon province side to Camarines. Indeed many millionaires had risen from this.

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After a gas break at Sipocot. We had a short photoops at Albay. I was hoping I could have a glimpse of the Eruptions.From Daraga, Albay we diverted to Brgy gabawan for a little photoops with the lake.

The Majestic Mayon Volcano from Gabawan Lake

We arrived at Matnog Ferry Station around 7pm. Prepare a few P20 or a sachet of cofee as the guard at the gate. The passsenger assistance officer at the gate and the roro boat vehicle parking assistance have a craving for coffees. The roro trip takes around 1.50 hours and for an SUV will cost us P950.00 including the driver and 115.00 for each passenger. Seniors and kids has discounts. 

Heres the schedule as of this writing.

VESSEL  ARRIVAL DEPARTURE

MV MAHARLIKA 3 2200H 0100H

MV DON BENITO AMBROSIO 0030H 0130H

MV KING FREDERICK 0130H 0300H

MV HANSEL JOBETT 0130H 0400H

MV NELVIN JULES 0400H 0500H

MV DON BENITO AMBROSIO 0500H 0630H

MV KING FREDERICK 0700H 0745H

MV HANSEL JOBETT 0830H 0930H

MV NELVIN JULES 0930H 1030H

MV DON BENITO AMBROSIO 1100H 1130H

MV KING FREDERICK 1230H 1330H

MV HANSEL JOBETT 1330H 1500H

MV MAHARLIKA 3 1400H 1700H

MV DON BENITO AMBROSIO 1600H 1800H

MV NELVIN JULES 1800H 1900H

MV KING FREDERICK 1700H 2100H

MV HANSEL JOBETT 2030H 2300H

MV NELVIN JULES 2300H 2400H

Allen, Samar

We arrived the allen port at around 9pm and stayed at kinabawan for 950 pesos. The room is good enough with aircon, cable tv but no hot water.

Kinabranan Lodge Backyard

Two more wee hours and zipping thru a few bridge work and a few moon like crater and were in Calbayog City, Samar. Beware though of large puddle of water. We almost got stuck from a knee deep water.

There are at least two bridge under repair in Samar

A quick breakfast at Chowking and were off to Calbayog City. Calbayog is a coastal city and a pride of Samar. Though we had little time to explore the city I had this snap shot of the Provincial Capitol right.

Connecting samar and Leyte is the infamous San Juanico Bridge. San Juanico Bridge is part of the Pan-Philippine Highway and stretches from Samar to Leyte across the San Juanico Strait in the Philippines. Its longest length is a steel girder viaduct built on reinforced concrete piers, and its main span is of an arch-shaped truss design. With a total length of 2.16 kilometers (1.34 mi),[1] it is the longest bridge in the Philippines spanning a body of seawater.

San Juanico Bridge

Next Stop is Tacloban City. The City was heavily damaged by Typhoon Yolanda (International Name Haiyan). The city is moving forward. Aside from some business establishments that are up and running, the settlers in the coastline are also back.

Informal Settlers back in the shoreline

Palo Leyte is just 15mins from Tacloban. It was also damaged by typhoon Yolanda. It was a beautiful coastal town. Here a few pictures.

The Leyte Gulf

Palo is famous for the  landing of General Douglas MacArthur and staff land at Palo Beach, on October 20 1944. A memorial was established by then President Fidel V. Ramos on October 20, 1994 almost 50 years after the landing.

There are still a lot of tourist spots from Leyte to San Ricardo Port. We had to hurry as to catch the RORO schedule of San Ricardo Port (more on the schedules below). We decided to take the San Ricardo Port as the regular Liloan Ports takes 5 hours to reach Lipata Port.  San Ricardo is at least 41km away from Liloan Port. Be careful though especially at night as the road is quite twisty. Blowing your horn is a must especially at the curves. Also if you're using the AVT GPS, there is an error on the navigation after you passed Liloan Port as it diverts you to a rough road. Stick with the main highway.

1,000KM and 600 more to go...

Agas-Agas Bridge

.

San Ricardo Port

San Ricardo Port has limited roro schedules and mostly operated by the Montenegro Corp. Here are the schedules from San Ricardo Port to Lipata Port

4:00am, 1:00pm, 4:00pm and 8:00pm.

Be at the port for at least 1 hour before the schedule departure.

Lipata to San Ricardo has this schedules:

2:00am, 6:00am, 10:00am, 2:00pm and 6:00pm

Be ready lto shelter 2,150 for an SUV and at least 125 for each passenger. 

The Gateway Hotel Surigao

Lipata Port, Surigao City is at least 1,200Km from Manila. The almost 1 1/2 hours from San Ricardo had us arrived in Surigao @ 11pm. We stayed at the Gateway Hotel. The hotel cost us 1,700. It has two single beds, Hot and Cold Shower, Cable TV, WIFI Connections and Aircon. The breakfast is good. A reminder to Christians as since you are in Mindanao the chicken and beef are mostly Halal.

Mabua Pebble Beach: More Stones Less Sands

Surigao is considered The Gateway to Mindanao. A 15 mins drive brought us to the Pebble Beach of Mabua.Unlike the usual sandy beaches, Mabua Pebble Beach, as the name implies, is uniquely dotted with smooth stones. Cobblestones are naturally- rounded stones used in landscaping, making pavements and pathways. Comparatively, pebble stones, which are smaller, serve a useful purpose in decorating fountains and garden pathways

At least 1 hour drive lead us to Lake Mainit. The town of Mainit is at least 4 kms away from Maharlika highway. Its beautiful, calm and simple town reminds you of how noisy the city life is. It's a perfect getaway from the busy city.

Lake Mainit from the Highway

Exploring Lake Mainit

The Road is silky smooth from Surigao to Davao City with a few road works. There are section that are having 4 lanes once you reached Davao Province. Along the way we passed by Agusan Marsh and the once infamous Bunawan the home of Lolong. One of my comeback list is to visit the Marshland.A few photoops i got along the way.

Toog Tree (Philippine Rosewood) 

- One of the Philippines Tallest Tree.

Scientific Name: Petersianthus quadrialatus

Height: 57.4 Meters

Diameter: 82.76cm

Estimated Age: More Than 60 Year

The tree is endemic in the Agusan, Surigao, Davao del Norte, Leyte and Samar 

The Toog Tree near the provincial capitol of Agusan

Stay tuned for the next part of my blog... Davao.. 

Driving the Hyundai Grand Starex

FILIPINO families are fond of riding in groups in style. Car companies such as toyota grab this thought hence the success of Toyota Tamaraw FX, Revo and Innova. It didn't take too long for other companies to follow suites. Thus the birth of AUVs. 

This vehicle segment may not have enough room to carry at least ten adults. Vans have long been in this category addressing this need. In fact who would forget the days of Mitsubishi L300 used in the movies are bad guys get away vehicle. Remember Paquito? However, with the refrigerator size, non-existing front, and the engine below the driver butt. Most buyers, shy away except those considering for shuttle services. Then came the Hyundai Starex.


With the base price of 1.4M this is not for the faint of pockets. The unit I drove comes from the grey market. Nowadays the grey market shares the same warranty as HARI (Hyundai official distributor in the Philippines) plus other bonuses. I'll discuss in details below.

Starex HVX
 from the grey market. First thing you'll notice is the different design
alloy wheels. The wheels are also larger at 16" 

 

Hyundai Gold with a 15" alloy wheels. 

HVX with Power Sun Roof and Windshield
Mounted Antenna

Starex Gold with roof mounted Antenna

Starex HVX

Starex Gold

Taking Good Photos

Learning how to take photographs these days have become cheaper, easier, and faster than it used to be. If you're also in the habit, these simple tips might come handy:

Decide on your main subject
   A picture is most successful when it tells a single story, so focus on one subject. In Photographing people, capture them while they are doing something they love.

 Using Isolation aperture of F3.5 allows me to focus on the rider 

Move your subject away from the middle
     A common mistake we usually commit is to place our subject right in the middle of a picture. Pro photographers call this mistake. "Bulls-eye". To produce a picture that tells the story more interestingly, try this simple tip: when composing a picture imagine a tick-tack-toe dividing the scene. Now, focus on the four intersecting points on the tick-tack-toe and place your subject on one of the four intersecting points. In the photography world this is known as the Rule of Thirds. Note however, that most DSLRS have the tick-tack-toe or the grid feature. You just have to enable it. Check your manual.

The Rule of thirds.

Avoid shooting against the light
     Unless you're creating an affect, shoot with the light behind you so as it acts as a backlight. Illuminating your photo. You can also use the light coming in from the side of your subject as it flatters most people faces.


Move close
     Close-ups bring a sense of intimacy and enables you to capture interesting details that will otherwise be too small when the picture is taken from afar, liek the dimples on your daughter's cheeks. But be careful not to get too close or the picture will be blurry. The closest you can get is about one step away from the camera. Unless however, you have a dedicated macro lens
you can get as close as a foot from the subject.
 

A dragon fly shot using a tamron macro lens

Direct everyone to look at the same direction
     When taking a photo of a group, tell them to look in one direction - be it towards you (facing the camera) or to another object in the photograph. This unifies the composition and brings visual harmony to the group photo.


Include space
     When photographing a moving subject, like your child playing a soccer, capture the space in front of him to give the appearance that he has somewhere to move visually. Likewise, when the subjects are looking at a certain direction, allow ample space to capture their line of sight to balance the whole picture.

Cycling can sometimes give you this face.

Choose bright colors.

     Make the most important element in your photo the most colorful. Warm hues like red, oranges and yellows are attractive colors for taking pictures.

Good colors are abundant on parties
on children parties

Experiment with camera angle.

     Test all angles possible with your subject - from the sides, behind, high-angle, or low angle. When taking a photo of children. Take the picture from their eye level (get down on your hands and knees if you must) to capture the animated feel of being in their world.

Shot using a single speed light
bounced from the ceiling

Plain background is best.

     Backgrounds, when they are too cluttered and distracting, can ruin the entire scene. A plain background , like a clear blue sky, is ideal because it helps focus the attention to your subject. So study the area surrounding your subject and take note that nothing is growing out of his or her head like a branch a tree trunk or a pole.

Take a lot of pictures. Allow yourself to commit mistakes, and don't expect that every picture you take will turn out a masterpiece. Ask about things you don't understand, and continue to explore the fun and surprising world photography brings.


TC.

Renewing My Drivers License

After almost three years it's time to renew my license again. I don't how hard to renew a license in other countries, but in my beloved Philippines, it's a tag of war between 2 hours or 4 hours. So I decided to create a simple guide that may allow you to cut down the waiting time... here it goes.


Before you go to the licensing centers, be sure to drink as much water as you can. You will need this at the drug testing. Bring your laptop, book or anything that will keep you busy.


Although FIXERS are banned from the centers, make sure you do not talk or hire their services. You been warned. So instead, directly get the Application Form for Drivers License at the Customer Service Counter. 


Next proceed to the Medical and drug testing. During drug testing, you will be asked to fill up  to the neck a urine canister. Now is the time to unload the water I told you about earlier. While waiting for your name to be called a the drug testing area, accomplished the form. 


After drug testing, proceed to the Medical Doctor. He/she will ask you some "relevant" question, and then check your eye. For a fee of P150.00, I never saw anyone failed this test. sshhh.


Once you completed the form, submit to the Customer Service. Again wait for your name to be called at the Photo Signature Counter. Now is the time to bring your laptop, cellphone, mp3 player etc. This takes about 30 mins or so depending on the number of applicants. 


After the Photo and Signature, it's time to pay up the government. Bring out your hard earned cash for the kill.  A break down of the expense.


License Fee (Non Prof) - 350
Late Penalty                   - 75. I was one day late, because the expiration falls on your birthday.  
                                                 who in his right mind would want to be in LTO during their birthday...
Comp Fee                     - 67.63


Total: 492.63


After paying grab your gears and be ready for another loooong wait. Your name will be called after another 30 to 1 hour. zzzzzZZ


And then your spanking new license will be released to you. 

Break down of expenses:


P 492.63 for the License Card
    300.00 Drug Testing
    100.00 Medical


Total: 892.63.

A Trip to Hong Kong

Recently  the family of 24 visited one of the shining destination in the South East Asia. It is not the first time we visited this once British colony, it's beauty and its people captured our heart. As a gratitude, I have compiled a simple guide that may help other tourist especially my countrymen navigate the jungles of Hong Kong. 
Please note: a three day trip will not be sufficient to include your shopping agenda, five days at least is recommended.

THE AIRPORT
NAIA 3 provides its users access to the overnight parking facilities for a modest amount of P50.00. However that this is a first come first serve basis. If in case of FULL PARKING sign, just ask the friendly security guard and a slot will pop out. "Bahala na kayo sir" will help you sort things out why. :)


Going through security is a breeze just make sure you have at least 2 hours lead time. Leave the umbrella, excess water of 30ml and other pointed items in your check-in luggage. We brought with us 3 Liters of water, some noodles to save us break fast money. 


The travel from Manila to HK takes about 2 hours. Unlike in my country where you have to sign a lot of forms and declaration, HK provides it's nationals easy access to immigration. By merely swiping their passports they can easily pass by immigration. 


HK authorities provide especial lanes to elderly, disabled and family travelling with small children. Once you get passed immigration; maps, travel guides are provided for free. Grab them all as this will be handy


After getting your luggage, head towards the train ticket counter found on the left and right side of the "TRAINS TO CITY" sign. Ask for the OCTUPUS CARDS. The cards charge for 150HKD for adults and 70HKD for children and seniors above 65. Note: senior discount also applies to foreigners. 50HKD is refundable including any remaining balance that you may have. However a 7HKD is charged upon refund.


GETTING TO THE CITY
Depending on your choice, you can opt for the airport express, taxi or bus. I do recommend for people on a budget or just being wise to use BUS A21 to reach the city for 33hkd. The bus trip covers 1hr but you get a good view of the city.

Cinderella Castle

Day 1 - HONGKONG DISNEYLAND
Visiting Disney requires a little planning. First tickets are cheaper in some hotel, 320HKD compared to 350HKD on the park itself. The park opens at 9am. So getting there early will reap some photops.


Some Pictures I got from Disney

Rapunzel

Snow White

Cinderella

Driving the Honda Dream Adventure

Beauty

Inside the Small World

Part of The Mickey Mouse Show

Day 2 - OCEAN PARK


Unlike any other theme park Ocean Parks provides its patron with enjoying natures wonders and it's awesome rides. Park Opens at 9am with a minimal Fee HKD250 adult and HKD 125 child


Some of the attraction to expect at the park.

On good winds you can ride this hot air balloon

Upon entrance to the park Guest are greeted with this view.

A view of Victoria harbor from the Highlands

Never had the nerve to try this ride.

Get Wet and Wild with the Wild River Ride

The Amazing Jelly Fish Aquarium

Cable Car Ride

The Panda Sanctuarium

The Great Aquarium

The Ocean Park Tower

Day 3 - CITY TOUR


With your Octopus Card, you can ride almost any available transport in HONGKONG. Be sure
to visit one of these great tourist spots.

Ride the Star Ferry and get a great view of the harbor

Avenue of the Stars

The Peak

The Peak Tram

Hope this simple tips and Guide will help you maximize your stay the Hong Kong. Have a wonderful trip.