Unexpected destination/Watery World Wednesday

Expect nothing.

Live frugally on surprise.

~ Alice Walker

Linking to Watery World Wednesday

Power of the sea/Watery World Wednesday

Why do we love the sea?  It is because it has some potent power to make us think things we like to think. ~ Robert Henri

Linking to
 Watery World Wednesday

You're an island/Watery World Wednesday

Your life is an island separated from all other islands and continents.  Regardless of how many boats you send to other shores or how many ships arrive upon your shores, you yourself are an island separated by its own pains, secluded in its happiness.  ~ Kahlil Gibran

Linking to Watery World Wednesday

Persistence/Watery World Wednesday

One of the rock islands in Panay Gulf off the coast of Sipalay.

 Formed by ancient coral reefs, parts of this rock formation have been slowly eroded over time into quirky shapes.  I imagined the mouth of a Jurassic fish.:p

"The drop excavates the stone, not with force but by falling often." ~ Publius Ovidius Naso

Linking to Watery World Wednesday

Journey/Mandarin Orange Monday

The seeker embarks on a journey to find what he wants and discovers, along the way, what he needs. ~ Wally Lamb

Here's to new adventures in 2013!

Join us @ Mandarin Orange Monday

Solitude/Water World Wednesday

“We live, in fact, in a world starved for solitude, silence, and private: and therefore starved for meditation and true friendship.” ~ C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

Linking to Water World Wednesday

 

Wordless/Water World Wednesday

 "What we've got here is a failure to communicate."

Linking to Water World Wednesday

Comfort/Water World-Wednesday

Kayangan Lake, Coron Island, Palawan

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature, and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As long as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles. ~ Anne Frank

Linking to Kim's Water World-Wednesday

Enchanting nature/Water World-Wednesday

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods;

There is rapture in the lonely shore;

There is society where none intrudes,

By the deep sea, and music in its roar,

I love not man the less, but Nature more...

~ Lord Byron

Linking to Water World-Wednesday

Adventure/Blue Monday

An outrigger approaching the shores of Coron Island as we were leaving for another island adventure.

The core of man's spirit comes from new experiences. ~ Into the Wild

Linking to Sally's Blue Monday

Follow your Bliss/Water World Wednesday

 This is your LIFE.
Do what you love and do it often.
If you don't like something, change it.
If you don't like your job, quit.
If you don't have enough time, stop watching TV.
If you are looking for the love of your life, STOP;
they will be waiting for you when you start doing things you LOVE.
Stop over-analyzing, all emotions are beautiful.
When you eat, appreciate every last bite.
LIFE is SIMPLE.
Open your mind, arms and heart to new things and people, we are united in our difference.
Ask the next person you see what their passion is,
and share your inspiring dream with them.
Travel often;
getting lost will help you find yourself.
Some opportunities only come only once, seize them.
Life is about the people you meet, and the things you create with them,
so go out and start creating.
LIFE is SHORT.
Live your dream and share your passion.

  

Linking to Water World Wednesday

Emerald sky [Watery Wednesday]

My soul is full of longing

For the secret of the sea,

And the heart of the great ocean

Sends a thrilling pulse through me.

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

One of the many islands we passed by on our way to Culion Island.

This post is linked to Watery Wednesday

Coron Island: At the Twin Lagoon

It was around 2 pm when we reached the Twin Lagoon in Coron Island.  The lagoons are enclosed by giant walls of craggy rock formations of the Calis mountain.  This place made me feel like I was in a parallel universe.   The air of serenity that envelopes this place soothes the senses.

These photos were all taken at the outer lagoon where the boats were docked.  The two lagoons are separated by a wall of rock.   To see the inner lagoon, one has to pass through a narrow opening by swimming or floating.  The outriggers are too big for the entrance---and since I am not a good swimmer (and a bit claustrophobic), I opted to stay in our boat.

My sister and the rest of the boys tried to convince me to go with them, assured me the life-vest would keep me afloat but I wasn't persuaded (I must be really getting old!).  My sister reported later than a small banca was able to enter the entrance---had I known, I should have joined them.  But according to our boatman, even small bancas wouldn't fit into the entrance during high tide.  Nobody mentioned a raft.

This is how the entrance looks like.

Borrowed this photo from Christian's Lakad Pilipinas

I learned later than one of the boys was also spooked and didn't go into the lagoon.  My sister told me that the water in the inner lagoon was strange---both warm and cold, crystal clear on some parts, murky on the other.  The lagoon has brackish water, it's probably the reason of the changing temperatures.

The wooden footbridge alongside the limestone walls serves as pier for boats and people who want to swim into the inner lagoon.  Snorkeling and kayaking are allowed inside the lagoon.

I spent my time taking photos, staring at the limestone cliffs, looking out for birds, particularly balinsasayaw and just taking in the splendor of this place.  

Twin Lagoon, Coron Island

Calamian group of Islands 

Palawan, Philippines

My contribution to:

Blue Monday

NF Waters
Our World-Tuesday

Coron Island: Atwayan Beach

After spending the whole morning at Kayangan Lake and snorkeling at the nearby coral garden, it was time for lunch.  We dropped anchor at this strip of white sandy beach called Atwayan.  The cove is nestled in the wall of sky-scrapping rocks.

It was a cloudy, drizzly day but I was dazzled by the clear turquoise water and white sand.  The rustic hut at the corner caught my attention.  It was a perfect place to enjoy the serenity and simplicity of this secluded beach.

The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man.

I love how this tree, rooted in rock, with its gnarled trunk and branches, extends over the beach.  This is my favorite spot in Atwayan.

Atwayan cove is being protected by the Tagbanua as part of their ancestral domain.

P.S.  I'll be very busy this week, and may not be able to visit you back right away.  Will catch up later. :)

My contribution to NF Waters and Our World Tuesday

Calamianes: Start off to Coron Island

@ mirandablue
a floating bar in Coron Bay

Despite my achy joints and sore muscles from our climb to Mount Tapyas the previous day, we were off to an early start on our second day in Busuanga.  We couldn't wait to experience Coron Island. It was a rainy morning and I tell you how tempting it was to just stay in bed, have a massage and vegetate.  But we've come a long way, baby...I can vegetate at home. 

The monsoon rain continued to pour but soon after we reached the pier, it turned into a misty drizzle.  I thought we were early but outriggers were already lined up at Coron harbor, waiting for passengers.  Cherry, our guide, told us that we'd be sharing the boat with 7 other passengers.  It was a big boat with a capacity of 12.  Around 8:30 am, 7 of us were assembled by the steps, waiting for 2 more.  Ryan, our boatman, kept calling the missing passengers---we were joking around that perhaps they climbed Mount Tapyas, and were too sore to get up.

@ mirandablue
our boatman, Ryan, a.k.a. Manny Pacquiao, and his co-captain

By 9 am, Ryan received instructions to leave---apparently, our missing companions decided to skip the Coron Island adventure (too bad for them!).

@ mirandablue

Before stepping into the boat, I paused and gave a silent salute to Mount Tapyas---and remembered an old friend who once explained to me why people climb mountains (while we were walking uphill in Mount Hibok-hibok, half-buried in mud).

@ mirandablue
Mount Tapyas from Coron harbor

Coron Island or Calis Island, as the Tagbanuas call it, is a big island across the bay just 20 minutes by outrigger from Coron town.  The island is made up of massive, rugged limestone cliffs, coves, lagoons, lakes, white beaches, coral gardens---all pristine and natural.  Coron is one of the most visited destinations for wreck diving in the Philippines.  Wreck dive sites are found in a depth as shallow as 10-30 feet and as deep as 120-140 feet. Underwater visibility for snorkeling is up to 80 feet.

@ mirandablue

I took this photo as we approached Coron Island.  The rocky cliffs are striking yet unnerving.   I wonder how the Tagbanuas survive on this island for centuries.  Exploring Coron Island must be a formidable challenge even for top-notch adventurers.

@ mirandablue
Coron Island

Coron Island is the 3rd largest island in the Calamian group of islands in northern Palawan.  The island is part of a larger municipality of the same name and part of the ancestral domain of the Tagbanuas.

Get virtually wet at Watery Wednesday

A sugary tale [My World]

@ mirandablue

Sugarcane is a delicate plant, and there was always a need for plenty of fertilizer, irrigation, and a workforce that would work long hard hours of backbreaking labor without complaint---or without choice, as in the case of slaves. Although there was never a slave trade in the Philippines, the sugar industry here has its own unique history of exploitation, excitement, and human drama.

Sugarcane is a massive, bamboo-like grass of genus "Saccharum", tribe "Andropogonaeae", and family "Poaceae". Scientists call it photosynthetically efficient, in that it creates sucrose from sunlight, air, and water better than just about any other plant on earth. The only ones that come close are sugar maple and sugar beet; not coincidentally, those are precisely the two plants that compete directly with cane in the world sugar market.

My mother's uncle acquired a few hectares of land in the southern part of Negros Occidental in the 1950's.  It is a remote area that was infested by communist rebels, and nobody in the family dared to farm the land.   It was only about a decade ago when one of my cousins was crazy enough to invest in sugarcane farming.

Driving to Locotan with my cousins one Saturday in April, I was surprised to see that farm-to-market roads have been developed.  There was electricity, health centers, and according to relatives who live in the area, the communist rebels are either in jail or have returned to mainstream society after the 2007 Amnesty proclamation.

@ mirandablue

Sugarcane farming is never easy, according to my cousin.  In addition to dependency on unpredictable world markets, the sugar farmer is subject to the vagaries of Mother Nature. When it rains too much, trucks can't get out in the fields to get the cane.  To a naive observer like me, a field of blossoming snow-white sugarcane flowers is a sight to behold---the same scene brings a chill to the sugar farmer's spine.  Because those entrancing blossoms mean that the sugar content of the cane is being rapidly depleted, and along with it market value at the mill.  

@ mirandablue

My cousins and I had the crazy idea to walk in the fields at 2 pm when the sun was unforgiving.  I needed the exercise but not heat stroke!  But the view...yes, the view of these rolling hills has a cooling effect even at a 33-degree C temperature.

@ mirandablue

Taken in Locotan, Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental

My contribution to My World-Tuesday