Gala Pinoy Redux

The first photo story I’m going to feature here is Jerome Baluyut of Balintataw.

From Jerome: I took this photo last July 5, 2008 at the Pasig River, Manila on a ferry route to Quiapo from Guadalupe Station. It was my first time to join a photo walk and to ride the Pasig River ferry. I never knew how colorful the houses are along the river banks until that day, good thing I saw an approaching boat perfect for the composition I wanted to achieve.

Thanks Jerome for sending your photo story! How about you, do you have a photo and a story to share? Send them to cedric @ galapinoyredux.com, and your contribution could be featured next!

Inside the Jiabong Cave.

Today started early, but then again not early enough for us to reach Catbalogan by 7:30am, as our itinerary suggested. By 6:30am, we were just leaving Biri, and the trip from there to Catbalogan takes several hours.

It was almost noon when we arrived at Catbalogan, the capital of Samar province. And though it’s been almost two decades since I last remember setting foot here, it was still basically the same as I remembered it. It is still a bustling city with streets filled with jeepneys and buses that come from other towns and pedicabs that take locals around the city. Its skyline is dominated by buildings and signboards of businesses with the mountains of Samar as its backdrop. To its west is Leyte Gulf and one could easily see the island of Biliran from a distance.

Catbalogan is Samar province’s center of commerce even back in my grandparents’ days, a status that remains to this day. So if you’re looking to buy anything from clothes to local raw materials, you can find them here. It also has a Jollibee—perfect for anyone craving for the usual artery-blocking, yet sinfully satisfying fastfood, which is a rare sight on this island.

But we didn’t go to Catbalogan for the fastfood, nor to go shopping. Rather, it would be our jump off point to the nearby town of Jiabong. Plus, it is also in this city where Joni Bonifacio is based. He is to be our guide in our spelunking trip in Jiabong, Samar.
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Hi there! This post has been moved to my photography blog. Check out Camera Review: Using the Fuji X100 for Street Photography.

Canshoot.com is where I’ll be posting camera reviews, photography tips, and other photography-related stuff from now on. Click here to visit it.

Thanks!

- Cedric

I was walking towards SM Cebu when I saw this kid wearing a cute native Filipino costume, presumably for the ‘Buwan ng Wika’ (literally Language Month) celebration. I just had to take her photo, but I didn’t walk fast enough to capture her facing the camera. It was a good thing, though. I was pretty happy when I was rewarded with this happy hop she made instead as she went down the stairs, holding her mother and nanny’s hands.

A snapshot of one of the rock formations.

I’m up early. Way too early. My clock says 3am and it’s an ungodly hour for me who usually sleeps at 2am and wakes up at 9am. I haven’t really slept a wink, but mixed emotions of excitement, anxiety, and sleepiness put my head into a spin. I’m going on a four-day trip with people I haven’t met, writing about a place that’s dear to me, and I haven’t slept a wink. I get antsy when I don’t get enough sleep.

I try my best though to find my own corner at the Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, to be silent, slow down my mind completely, and hopefully doze off. Moments like this make my judgment hazy and lead me to doubt about everything I know at that point. Is our trip really today? I check my calendar for the date, the exchange of text messages I had with my contact, and other information that would put my mind at ease.  Did I bring enough clothes with me? Did I bring my spare camera battery with me? Well, there’s no use thinking about that now. So I just sit still, wait for the other folks who will be traveling with me, Marian, the editorial assistant and Joi, the photographer.

Destination: Samar Island, particularly the areas of Biri, Catbalogan, Jiabong, Calbiga, and Guiuan. I haven’t really thought of Samar as an island, not even a place on the map. For me, it’s just my second home, well at least the third of it, Eastern Samar. I honestly could care less about the other two thirds, since it’s been ages when I last set foot on its western and northern parts.

Vague Flashbacks

My earliest memory of Samar was when my grandfather—my father’s uncle—accompanied me on a plane ride going there back in the early 90s. I was barely in grade two then, and I remember that we rode the 4 or 5am Philippines Airlines (PAL) flight to Tacloban. During that time, they still served empanada unlike today when all you get are a pack of cookies and peanuts.
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