Biyaheng Sagada was originally planned late last year. Dapat mga around December 26 to 30 ang alis pero naudlot dahil sa busy ang karamihan. Na-sked ito ng panibago ng January 21 – 23. Good thing that Monday January 23 was declared a holiday because its Chinese New Year! We we’re composed of 1 Kymco Like, 1 Wave 100 and 2 Mio Amore. 4 riders and 1 backride. (Mine was the Pink Mio Amore)

So ayun, we (ViaJista – ang ViaJerong Turista) were all first timers on this road trip which we called “North Loop Junior” (Manila – Bulacan – Nueva Ecija – Nueva Vizcaya – Banaue – Bontoc – Sagada – Baguio – Manaoag – Manila).

1st day - Red Line / 2nd day - Violet Line / 3rd day - Green Line

That’s why  we also make it a point na magtanong at mag-research beforehand (road guides, how long does it take, gas consumptions, road conditions, places to stay, food to eat, tools needed, etc..) para kahit papano me info kami along the way. We have gathered enough tips and info’s pero siempre iba pa rin pag yung mismong in real time na, hindi na nasusunod yung ibang mga tips hehe. Like when we got lost at Villaverde, Nueva Vizcaya (the town after Solano) sa map kase there’s a shortcut to Bagabag going to Lamut. Mapunta ba naman kami sa mga pilapil ng bukid at paliit ng paliit yung daan. Siguro kung trail bike kakayanin naman at mag-eenjoy pa hehe. Nasayangan din kami ng mga 1 oras mahigit dun dahil kakahanap ng daan. At grabe kase biglang baba ng temperature nung nasa parteng Lagawe na kami. Maulap ang daan at super ginaw brrrrrr! Naisip namin wag ng ituloy ng Sagada yung biyahe that day kase alanganin na at sayang din kung hindi namin ma-view ng maayos ang Banaue Rice Terraces.

We actually take-off at around 5:30am at Lagro Novaliches, with an average pacing of 80 – 100 kph, some gas stops, food trips, sightseeing and pektyur-pektyur. We finally arrived at Banaue at around 5:30pm. Our calloused butt’s finally rested at around 7pm at Terraceville Inn, Banaue after travelling a gruesome 350 kilometers that day.

Tomorrow’s destination – Sagada. We took off at around 8am. Mejo sikat na araw, ganun talaga gusto namin para makita ang mga rice terraces, kase the first day we arrived eh dapit-hapon na at super foggy pa kaya almost zero visibility talaga yung mga views.

We then then traversed the breathtaking road to Bontoc going to Sagada. The dizzying zigzag road are well paved. Me konting parte lang na inaayos pero overall smooth naman siya. Super ganda ng tanawin along the way. Kitang-kita ang kabundukan at ang mga ulap na napakababa. Sarap pati ng simoy ng hangin! Nakakatuwa kase its something na you won’t usually see and feel in Manila.

From Dantay Crossing, its another 12 kilometers to reach Sagada and its not an easy one. Not only that its uphill but its also a rocky road. Me part din naman na sementado. Paputol-putol. Pero mas mahaba yung bako-bakong daan. We finally reached Sagada, just in time for lunch tapos konting pasyal-pasyal and as usual pektyur-pektyur. We decided to left at around 2pm kase baka kami gabihin sa Halsema Highway going to Baguio. Its only around 130 kms going there. Kung iisipin mga 2 – 3 hours lang ito kung straight yung kalsada ang kaso almost 95 percent eh zigzag at palusong pa. At ayon din sa mga napagtanungan namin, aabutin nga raw ng 4 – 6 hours ang traveling time.

Super lamig ng ride namin along Halsema Highway. I think umabot sa below zero yung temperature lalo na at naka-motor kami, mahangin at padilim na rin. Lahat kami ay nanginginig sa ginaw habang bumibiyahe. Walang nagawa yung leather jacket ko para kontrahin yung lamig. Nakatulong naman yung baon kong scarf kahit papano. Three of my co-rider even wears surgical gloves underneath their riding gloves para hindi manigas yung hands nila gaya ng napi-feel ko sa kamay ko na super naninigas na sa ginaw. Nagsuot na rin sila ng rain coats to battle the cold wind.

Likewise, its another breathtaking sceneries at Halsema Highway, (considered one of the dangerous highway in the world) mountains everywhere at sa wakas mararating ko na rin yung target kong famous road sign ng mga riders. Its the marker known as the Pali –  Highest Point in the Philippine Highway System, located at  Cattubo, Atok, Benguet after we failed to reach it last year.

We encountered two minor troubles along the way. The Kymco Like has carb difficiency kase dumalas yung pugak ng pipe although kaya pa naman tumakbo pero mejo hirap na sa mga paahon. Tapos yung Wave 100 naman tumigas yung throttle cable, which is quite dangerous kase you need force talaga para maibalik sa menor. So dito nagsimulang bumagal yung biyahe namin. I need to be at the back of the Wave 100 just to be at hand just in case something bad happens.

We reached La Trinidad capitol at around 8 pm.  After 6 hours of travel from Sagada. Challenging talaga yung pinagdaanan namin pati ng mga motor, unlike when we travelled to Pagudpud na pulos straight highway lang ang dadaanan. Dito sa Sagada Road Trip na ito eh dapat mas me experience yung rider kase mas technical yung dadaanan. So if you’re just a newbie in motorcycling mejo hindi advisable to take this route as your first road trip. Andito na kase lahat ng klaseng road tracks and road conditions. – long straight highways, uphills, downhills, zigzag, rocky roads, hairpin turns  - uphill and downhill, single-track, muddy, watery roads, road cliffs, night ride,  and chilly weather. Not to mention na seldom ka lang makakita ng kabahayan, tao, at gas station.

The next day we part with the two troubled bikes kase they decided na ipaayos muna yung mga motor nila sa Baguio and will be staying a day more. So ayun, konting ikot sa Baguio, bili pasalubong, pektyur-pektyur then off we go.

And since my my ride buddy Eric eh gustong makadaan at magpa-bless na rin ng motor sa Our Lady of Manaog, nag-drop by na rin kami duon at dun na rin nag-rest at nag lunch.

We left past 3pm na rin. As we were riding along Dau Pampanga, merong nag-cut sa akin na tricycle ng alanganin that it made my rear brake cable snapped! Thank God that it happened here kako sa patag na. Kase kung dun napatid somewhere in Sagada mas delikado. So yun, we were able to find a shop naman na merong replacement cable. Then along the way meron pa kaming dinalaw na kaibigan along Angeles at dun na rin kami nag-dinner.

We have reached the same place we started at Lagro Quezon City at around 10:30pm. We thanked God for our safe travel and to all the wonderful places we’ve been. Until next time po

More photos of our Sagada Road Trip – http://www.facebook.com/raredog?sk=photos

Like ViaJista on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/viajista 

This photo of two men on board their racing bicycle while practicing at the Sports Center in Marikina City is one of my favorite action shots of mine. It’s actually one of my first few panning photos when I decided to practice the technique, and I started to like panning pretty much since then.

It’s actually taken by my now hibernated Canon A710is. I recently submitted it at Dpreview for the Photo Challenge “Action series…. Racing“, in the end, it landed 38th out of 60 entries.

Any pinoy or pinay can support this propaganda by making their own photo meme and uploading it online. Just be sure you are the rightful owner of that picture or have asked permission from the true owner. And lastly, its not scandalous haha!

Here’s mine, hoping it hops on the trend. Trending ka ba?

The story of the Accidental Macaroni con Fruit Salad

Its a festive mood at our house on the last day of 2011, my cousin was playing loud music on our karaoke as I was busy preparing for two salads,  macaroni salad and fruit salad. The ingredients were all ready on the table.

Macaroni Salad

cooked elbow macaroni
boiled chicken breast (shredded)
cream
onions
raisins
mayonnaise
salt

Fruit Salad

1 can fruit salad
1 condensed milk
1/2 jar kaong
1/2 jar nata de coco

As we all know, salad preparation is just simple. All you have to do is mix all ingredients, and that’s it, and I’m so excited since this would be my first on both salad. So I prepared two large container for both salad.

Again, the busy mood of everybody plus the ear-breaking music must have distracted my focus on what I’m doing. That’s when the accident happens! I mistakenly poured all the content of the condensed milk to the elbow macaroni, I was thinking it was the cream that I was holding haha!

There’s no way to separate the two (macaroni and condensed milk) so instead of spoiling my macaroni, I decided to just mixed all ingredients of the macaroni salad and fruit salad into one bowl (minus the chicken, onions and the mayo).

And so the Macafruit Salad was born haha! To my delight, everyone who taste/eat it, unanimously said that its so freakin delicous

Paella ni Chef Raredog

Mga sangkap at rekado

hipon – 1 cup (as is, wag tanggalan ng balat)

chorizo de bilbao 1 or 2 pieces (chopped diagonally)

pusit – 1/4 kilo (chopped)

manok – 1/2 kilo (chopped)

tahong – 1/2 kilo

achuete basa – 1 small plastic (lagay sa isang mangkok na me tubig)

bawang – 1 cloves chopped

sibuyas – 2 large chopped

dahong laurel – 3 – 4 pieces

bell pepper – 2 pieces thin sliced

green peas – 1 cup

tomato sauce – 1/2 cup

curry powder – one teaspoon (alternative sa expensive saffron)

asin – 3-4 tablespoon

paminta durog – 1 tablespoon

malagkit na bigas – 1/4 kilo

bigas – 5 cups

Pamamaraan ng Pagluluto

Hugasan ang tahong, manok at pusit (tanggalan ng tinta) Pagkatapos ay pakuluan sabay-sabay ang mga ito

Itabi ang nalutong tahong. At hiwain ng pa-cubes ang manok, yung pusit naman ay pa-rings ang hiwa

Paghaluin ang bigas at malagkit sa kaldero, pagkatapos ay hugasan

Isaing ito gamit ang tubig ng pinagkuluan ng (tahong, manok at pusit)

Magpainit ng mantika sa kawali at I-sangkutsa o igisa ang bawang, sibuyas, bell pepper, dahong laurel, green peas at chorizo.

Pagkatapos ihalo ang tomato sauce, curry powder at atchuete sauce. Haluin mabuti.

Ihalo ang mga rekado (pusit, manok, tahong at hipon) Lagyan ng asin at paminta ayon sa panlasa.

Tanggalin sa kaldero ang kanin at ihalo ito sa kawali.

Gamit and dalawang sandok. Haluing mabuti hanggang sa magpantay ang kulay ng kanin. Pedeng dagdagan pa ng konting tomato sauce at curry. Timplahan ulit ito ng asin at paminta.

Pagkatapos ay ilagay sa bandehado, lagyan ng konting disenyo at ihain. 

Here is a repost from spot.ph on the establishments, places and contact numbers where you can donate to the victims of typhoon “Sendong”. In your own little way, share your blessing to the hopeless communities from the South whose lives were devastated in an instant.

Let’s hope we can give them a smile on their faces with our donations this Christmas season.

In-kind and cash donations through TV stations and other businesses.

Drop-off donations such as bottled water, food, blankets, and clothes are welcome in the following places:

7-11 Stores. Cash donations may be coursed through 7-11 stores without service fees. Official receipts will be provided for the donors.

Caritas Manila. Please call 563-9311 or 564-0205 for pick-up requests.

Civil Relations Office at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City. Call 912-6615 or (0917)247-1252.

GMA Kapuso Foundation. 2/F Kapuso Center, GMA 7, EDSA Diliman, Quezon City. Check their website for info on how to make financial donations.

Kaya Natin/Ateneo School of Government, Ateneo de Manila Quezon City. Donations are welcome from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. until Wednesday.

LBC branches worldwide. LBC will deliver your donations for free; please call 858-5999 to inquire about branches nearest you.

News5 Aksyon Center. San Bartolome, Novaliches, Quezon City. Please call 938-6393.
Cash donations may be sent through the following bank accounts:

BDO Peso Account
Account name: TV5 Kapatid Foundation Inc.
Account No. 005310-410164

BPI Peso Account
Account name: TV5 Kapatid Foundation Inc.
Account No. 1443-05333-2

Sagip Kapamilya. ABS-CBN Foundation Inc. Mother Ignacia cor. Eugenio Lopez St., Diliman, Quezon City. Donations may also be made online at www.abs-cbnfoundation.com.
Cash donations may be sent through the following bank accounts:

BDO Peso Account
Account name: ABS-CBN Foundation Inc.-Sagip Kapamilya
Account Number: 39301-14199
Swift Code: BNORPHMM

PNB Peso Account
Account name: ABS-CBN Foundation Inc.-Sagip Kapamilya
Account Number: 419-539-5000-13
Swift Code: PNBMPHMM

BPI Peso Account
Account name: ABS-CBN Foundation Inc.-Sagip Kapamilya
Account Number: 3051-1127-75 (West Triangle, Quezon City)
Swift Code: BOPIPHMM

Drop Center in Metro Manila c/o StartArt Project. 10A Alabama st New Manila Quezon City. Tel. No. (0926) 711-2450

PnSers Camera Club officers / members will also support this DONATION CAMPAIGN for the victims of this tragedy.

I managed to test “Godox” (my cheap slave flash) last Saturday during a Christmas party with my high school batchmates (Lagro High School Batch 8?), and boy it was a blast!

I have seldom used it since I bought it 3 months ago on Ebay and I’m also not at ease in shooting portraits, not to mention its an evening event which make it more harder bcoz I really need to tweak my camera “FudGee” (Fujifilm Finepix S1800) in this situation for them to shine-on on their photos. But to tell you honestly, I really enjoy the shooting spree with my batchmates that night, and obviously so are they haha!

My shooting that evening was spontaneous as all of them are more than willing to strike a pose. I made more than 200 shots that night and its more than enough to say that this Godox is a bang-for-buck slave flash. Just imagine I just normally shoots around 30 – 50 shots during a strenous photowalk with my camera club haha! It just proves that I did enjoy my shooting that night. I feel like a pro strobist with their compliments!

Or maybe my alcohol intake significantly added more passion to my shooting that night haha!

Yipeee! I’m in 3rd place finally!!!! Its actually my first time being third at dpreview and I’m really very happy, although there’s regret that I missed 2nd place by two points only (3,464 and 3,646 points). Nevertheless, I’m still proud of my photo being on 3rd place out of 71 entries at the “Portrait shot using HDR” Photo Challenge at dpreview.com.

This again was a milestone for us point and shoot users, specially my club at PnSers.com! It just proves that its not the camera but the photographer! Or the tagline of our camera club, we say “its not the bow, its the Indian!

Some comment I have received from this photo is that he looks like Moses with a tablet on his hand.  I haven’t thought of that, but hey, he sure do look like Moses.

Kudos to all my friends and colleagues for their votes, and for inspiring me to shoot more quality photos! Maraming salamat po sa inyong lahat!  And lastly, thanks to the old man at Quezon Memorial Circle for letting me capture his portrait. Hope to see him again and thank him personally.

See the results here: http://www.dpreview.com/challenges/Entry.aspx?ID=541395&View=Results&Rows=4

Last October 1, 2011 was a big day for several officers and members of PCC (PnSers Camera Club). As we joined for the first time the famous “Scott Kelby’s Annual World Wide Photowalk”, which I think its now on its 3rd year.

So basically, what is a photowalk? Well, according to Scott Kelby’s worldwidephotowalk website.

It’s a social photography event where photographers get together (usually in a downtown area or trendy section of town) to walk around, shoot photos, and generally have fun with other photographers.

Photowalkers from different countries, cities and location from around the world would simultaneously go for a photowalk on October 1 and 2, 2011, and we (PCC) opt to registered for the Quezon City (Memorial Circle) photowalk, with Sir Tilak Hettige as our Walk Leader. I think we’re about 40 photography hobbyist that day. With PCC being the largest delegation.

Participants are then are invited to join the photo contest and submit their best shot for that day. Leaders would then pick one, and that one will get the chance to be chosen as Scott Kelby’s Grand Winner for the year.

Hoping a PCC member shines on this contest

p.s. as you can see my bike “BIKO” is included in the group shot lol!

If you are an apartment owner or manager, large real estate banners placed on every corner around your building will get the attention of anyone who happens to be passing by. In fact, if you don’t have a banner in front of your building, you are probably one of the last to board the banner train. Every apartment I have ever rented was the result of the banner which displayed the apartment’s amenities along with the prices and the fact that a vacancy was currently available.

Whether it’s a house, condo, apartment or commercial property, you will always want to include all of the important features of the property. Using large real estate banners allows you the room to advertise all of these things and more. Listing more information can save you and your customers a lot of time. For example; if a buyer or renter is looking for a place with a pool and this information is listed on your banner, the chances of you and the client connecting and closing a deal are increased. Conversely, if this same fictitious client does not have access to this simple info at a glance, then everyone involved wastes their time. The client wastes his time stopping by or making phone calls and the agent wastes his or her time describing or showing a property that is unsuitable for the client. Another advantage the banner has over the sign post is the ability to have a detailed image or multi colored design on the front. A fancy design along with the increased size a banner offers will attract many more people to your property. Also, wooden signs fade easily from ultra violet rays, moisture and temperature changes.Vinyl banners can be used over and over again without having to be repainted. They are resistant to heat, cold, moisture and UV rays so they will last many years. If you have a variety of properties for sale or rent, try putting a banner in front of one of them and you will certainly see the difference a banner makes as opposed to your old wooden signage.