I have always known Surigao well, especially its clear warm summer, that time between March thru May or June. During our recent trip there, it was not the Surigao that I knew, especially in the month of March. It was wet and gloomy most of the time.
According to my cousin who lives there, they now have three types of weather there: Rainy, Heavy Rains, Isolated showers and thunderstorms :P He couldn't be right.
Indeed it was generally wet during our three-day stay there, not the type of weather you'd hope for outdoor shoot. It's almost as if the rain comes in waves. It pours hard, clears for a while with a brief moment of sunlight, and then pours again and the cycle continues.
Nevertheless, I told our couple that even if the rain never stops, we will go "wet", and I was glad they are GO no matter what. And wet we went on the first day.
These are just selected few of the collection we got from this trip, I hope you like them.
(Click on the images to enlarge.)
And sure enough, my two buddies are (partially) wet too. I wasn't too worried about the "L" glasses and the two 580-EX II flashes (not shown) as they are (claimed to be) weather-proofed, so I suppose they can withstand such weather punishment as drizzles and brief moment under rain. But the two 5D bodies??? Uh... I kept my hands crossed hehehe. Go for 1D series??
Talk about fresh catch... This little creature lept off their hands after this shot was taken.
Fresh clam, anyone?
Titanic 3?
How wet can you go? As if the rain didn't wet them enough, it was time for a dip.
Thanks to one of our companions (Ivy) for lending her underwater point-and-shoot camera, this shot was made possible. Not a fantastic shot I know, but "okay" :P I have always ignored underwater cameras, but after this shot, I am now entertaining thoughts of getting one. Not that I want all couples to make a splash, but for fun underwater stills and video ;)
Needless to say, the photographer went down as well .... (glug...glug...glug...) :P :P
At first I thought the staircase we saw that led uphill was easy. It turned out there were yet more hidden steps that were way steeper! There were no railings to hold on or prevent you from falling case you stumble, so each step was a careful one. Whew... gasp of air :P
But once at the peak, you get rewarded by the nice sights of Mabua that you forget you are still catching those breaths.
Boats lining up this stretch of shoreline in Mabua, Surigao.
The morning of the second day was neither wet nor clear-dry, but it wasn't a day without showers.
I could have asked for more sun to sculpt everything into three-dimension with deeper shadows, but the weather was not that cooperative, so off we click our way as we went.
Grass...grass...and more grasses. It looks like I am indeed "eating grass" here in the Philippines ;) ;)
Back to the city, we tried the sports complex. Thanks to one of our creative minds (Yan2x) who suggested balloons as props. At first it was a challenge how to make use of it, but later the momentum kicked in and worked quite well!
Third day, was a "break-free" day.... time to pamper ourselves. I welcomed myself to Almont Resort.
Me and my other lense - Ray-Ban
I've always loved Philippine Mangoes. The best in the world.
How about mango shake?
Another wave of rain is looming on the horizon, but it didn't stop us from enjoying the cool dip in this pool.
My brother-crew James, enjoying the cool water.
Our special thanks goes to our cousins Beth and Jochrys Real and their family for their hospitality during our stay, as well as to the family of Rise Faith Recabo (boy I love their nice HUGE house on a quite and scenic hillside overlooking the city). Ang mga Kinilaw, Sinugba, Tinola, Alimango, lambay, Shrimps/Prawns, Inasal, Kanding, etc. etc.. YUMMY !!! And oh, that sweet "Sayungsong", luv it :)
