take a pic (meet the queen of pictures)

I've never met anyone so into pictures, until I met my good friend & travel buddy, Bru. Our first local trip together was in Bohol some eons ago. There she bared her true color. She made me or the rest of the group take pics of her every step! ;p which was actually fine with me because I like taking pictures. Plus, she makes a good subject- beautiful skin, perfect set of teeth, ever pleasant countenance, charming smile. No need to prod her, all smiles & camera ready all the time. She has this radar that can detect if a cam is pointed at her.


We get along well during our out of town trips, she likes smiling in front of the cam (need I repeat myself again?) & I like shooting.


And I thought, Bru is camera-hungry & almost awarded her the title of Queen of Pictures. I changed my mind when I met her sister, Tripod Girl & relegated her to a runner-up. TG got her monicker from fellow Pinoy oldie tourists, who were so amused at her resourcefulness & diligence in carrying her digicam & tripod wherever they go. They were also amazed at the huge no. of photos she took of herself (& some with her family) when they toured South Korea . Every half-step maybe. With her tripod, she didn't bother anybody/didn't need their help & got all the good shots she likes.






Thanks to Tripod Girl, we got this jump shot! Timer lang pala ang katapat!







Our friendly tour guide Steph asked me,"ma'am, nag-work ba kayo sa studio?" Huh??!!

"Kasi po ang hilig ng grupo nyo magpa-picture."

She thought we were colleagues. She said she's been in the tourism industry for 7 years now & she's never met a group like ours, taking about 4 shots (we have 4 digicams) for every pose & so many poses for every inch of scenery.





She took, or should I say, we made her take most of the underwater shots while we were busy swimming, snorkeling, feeding the fishies






just plain enjoying the water







posing like Dyesebel.

Thanks to Ate Steph for our attempt at synchronized swimming was captured in photo.

But she's no perfectionist. She said she got a good shot and yet this.

But we loved her just the same. She was more than a tour guide, she was our fotog & videographer & PA rolled in one.

I didn't get to shoot a lot of pics of Bru because I had a new subject, an Aspiring Queen of Pictures. AQP is their sister also. It runs in the family ;p

But to her dismay, TG will not be dethroned.

Better luck next time, girl.

Addendum:

We made a new friend there, Koreano ;p

The next night, he brought his girlfriend Koreana ;p

We also met Lolo Nonoy of Lolo Nonoy's Resto. Can he be mistaken for P-Noy? Nah, he has more hair ;p

Another personality worth mentioning, the hero of the seas, the protector & caretaker of corals & fishies at Siete Pecados. Oops, I forget his name. Should you see him, pls. ask naman & let me know.

By the way, these were all shot at beautiful Coron, Palawan.

the yellow in me

I just knew I had to be there at P-Noy's inaguaration. I've never been to an inaguaration before. This is history and Iwill not be satisfied watching it on tv. So what if GMA 7 is capturing it on 3D, I could watch it at night. Nothing beats being there in the center of it all. Nothing beats saying, "yeah, I was there. You?"

Luckily, my good old friend Manel without need for my persuasive charm agreed to go too. Never mind that she didn't vote for Binay (me too) or Noynoy (me, yes!). So there we were at high noon, armed with our own umbrella (hers) & cap (mine) & me donning a studded Sesame Street t-shirt with a yellow scarf fashioned as belt not only to keep my jeans on but also to show my support (whatever), watching the new president take his oath before 500k sweaty people from different walks of life, armed with their umbrella, fan, dimpo, cap, cam, cellphone, packed or bought food & drinks hawked around, donning yellow t-shirts, pins & ribbons. Wow, fiesta!

(I first thought of wearing yellow of course but I don't look good in that color. What if I get caught on cam & be shown on national tv! Concerns, concerns!)

I was beaming with pride. I wanted to poke everyone around me & tell them I voted for him. First time my presidential bet won. Because I'm sure they didn't know. But they were watching & listening intently. Plus they looked hungry,thirsty, close to irritable even, what with the heat (which by the way, wasn't that sunny) & they had umbrellas. The one with a pointy thing at the end. Ah, never mind, I'll keep it to myself. Anyway, Manel knows. And my family knows & most friends.

I normally don't like crowds. I have phobia for crowds, whatchamacallit again? But those I liked because I knew they were there to show their love & support for the new president. It was an expression of our love for our country too. Yes, 500k sweaty people. "Sweaty" mine, 500K accdg. to a local news station I forget which one because I was flipping channels. The night before I heard the organizers mobilized some 100k people. So that means, 400k came on their own accord like moi? Not bad. I know it wasn't just for the artistas. (Though after the rites, I heard one youngster "frog" say let's knock on that car, maybe Kim Chiu's there.) Baby James??? Maybe. Ok, I admit I'm a fan ;p

500k people in Luneta, hawkers delight. You will not go hungry or thristy. Our entrepreneurial fellow Filipinos took care of our basic concerns. Like SM, they've got it all for you! From ice-cold bottled water, Coke in can, Sprite na coke in can (nye!), the ever present peanuts, candies, banana cue, fishballs, kikiam, hotdog, even chicken skin, to dessert dirty ice cream, fresh fruits- pakwan, pinya, mangoes (I bought). Souvenirs? There were all sorts of pins & ribbons etc. There was even this egg thingy encased in a glass with some kinda decor that had no connect whatsoever with the event. We wonder if the lady sold any.

I saw a man brandishing a framed pencilsketch portrait of Noynoy. Not sure if he was selling or just showing off. Some people thought maybe we'd like to contemplate on buying a condo or a house & lot while there. So they gave away flyers- move in with no dp! Maybe I should have brought mine too (ew!).

The Filipinos are really thoughtful. I told you the entrepreneurs took care of our concerns including our needs for comfort. There we also found hawkers selling fans, umbrellas, raincoat!, slippers of different kinds, rubber shoes, t-shirt, sando, Good Morning dimpo (I almost bought but I know it's a bit rough on the face, right?

), folding chairs, plastic sack so you can sit on the grass. I kind of wondered if I was in DV.

My only regret was not bringing a digicam. So the only pics I took are from my cellphone,

pathetic.

Just the same, I went home elated like most. And it's not just because of the MRT & LRT free rides ;p