Vacationing on an island with white sandy beaches, clear blue WARM water (very unlike Northern California)? Seeing family that you haven’t seen in years? Shopping and eating like no other? What more can you ask for when you go on vacation? Oh wait… did I mention white sandy beaches, clear blue water? Oh yeah I did. =) Hope you guys enjoy the pictures!
First thing on the trip? I had to go visit my grandmother. There’s this Chinese (?) tradition where you have to do some sort ceremony on the 2nd or 3rd anniversary of a person’s passing. I don’t really know much about it, but standing there witnessing family (who came from all around the world) remembering and honoring her, touched my heart.
These were taken at the temple.
Remember Typhoon Ketsana (Ondoy) that flooded Manila and killed a lot of people? Yeah… that’s a 3-4 story gate right there. Imagine that happening in the US. Yikes =T
This is my family. Well, it’s a very small part of my family. Visiting family in the Philippines is pretty much a 1 – 1.5 week ordeal. hahaha.
The next part of the trip was at Boracay. It’s a pretty famous island resort in the Philippines now. I was there 8 years ago. I recall swimming at the hotel pool and receiving the news of 9/11. So much has changed now. Before there wasn’t much of anything. Not that many tourists around. You could actually go and sit on the beach, relax and forget about your worries. Now it’s a pretty major tourist attraction. Restaurants and shops EVERYWHERE. Once you walk off the hotel property, you’re bombarded with people asking if you want to go banana boating, para-sailing, jet skiing, etc. etc. One nice thing is that those people aren’t allowed within 50 feet of the ocean. You can actually relax and sit and sunbathe without anyone trying to sell you clothes, toys, services.
This is my cute nephew at the airport. He was pointing and waving at airplanes.
The hotel we stayed at. Tropical setting for a tropical island? I love it.
The back entrance of the hotel. The steps up lead to the hotel rooms, steps down go straight to the beach. What’s really cool is that after your last step off the stairs, you’re on white sandy beach. Great huh? One interesting fact, ALL the tourists walking by with cameras took this same picture. Most with them or their loved ones in it. I figured I was a tourist too so why not. haha.
THE BEACH! =D
A couple of us decided to go para-sailing. This was the small boat that took us to the larger para-sailing boat.
Shot of the island from way out there.
Back to the hotel. This was their swimming pool that I didn’t partake in. Why would people swim in a pool when you have a warm clear ocean to swim in? I have no idea.
But they had a freaking awesome hot tub.
Some decor at the hotel
One of the restaurants we ate at. Photography nerd speak warning. If you were looking at this scene you’d think that it was pretty bright. It totally wasn’t. It was “romantically” lit. Shot at ISO 6400 @ 1/20th handheld. That’s right you heard me haha. I LOVE my d700. I actually can’t wait till I get 1 (hopefully 2) d3s. They’ve squeezed a whole stop of light and made ISO 128000 usable. I can’t wait!
This was one crazy looking fish. I think they called it a rock or stone fish (it’s not, I googled it) or something. But it looks absolutely prehistoric.
Can’t leave an island resort post without a “corona” and/or a sunset shot. =P
This at the hotel we stayed at in Manila. I just thought it looked cool.
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