The Beauty of Fo Guang

What: Chu Un Temple
Where: V Rama Ave. Cebu City
How to get there: Since its within the city a taxi cab ride would suffice. Its about 45 minutes from the airport, 20 minutes from any major shopping mall and 15 minutes from downtown Cebu.
What to expect: The serene feel of Buddhism in the middle of the city; A view of the middle of the city and the hospitality of the people there. Even get invited to dinner…

the temple at day

the temple at dusk

Brief History:
In 1988 the temple was built by Mr. Paterno Luym and his wife Rosita. Even though Paterno being a devout Catholic they decided to build the temple in the loving memory of his late mother who was a very ardent Buddhist. The temple was finished in 1990 when Abbot Venerable Hsing Peng led a group of disciples to the temple to mark its completion by the purification ceremony of the Kuan Yin Shrine. The Building is named Ti Tchang Shrine and has been made a milestone in the History of Buddhism in the Philippines. There are 3 building sitting in the 1.8 hectare land which are the Kuan Yin Shrine, the Bamboo Garden Dining hall and the Ti Tchang Shrine. On another not the back of the bamboo dining hall is an abundant amount of crops and vegetables which the disciples tend to. The Chu Un Temple is currently under the direction of Fu Guang Shan Manila Abbot Venerable Yung Zhao.

last rays of light behind the temple

Personal Experience
I knew about this temple when I was reading the newspapers back in 2008. When the temple held a photo contest named “The Beauty of Fo Guang”. The contest was aimed for professional and amateur photographers to document the activities, the people and the architecture of the temple. I decided to join the said contest and went there. I had a hard time looking for the temple since I didn’t know where in V Rama the temple was situated. I started going there for a preliminary ocular of the place and see if how light would fall at dusk.

long exposures on a windy dusk

When I got to the temple grounds I was caught unaware of the huge lawn that fronted the temple grounds. I didn’t expect to see a temple built on a hilltop in the City. I went straight to the Bamboo Dining hall to ask about the temple and the contest. An old Chinese woman gave me a registration form for the competition. It was my first time to interact with a Buddhist and I was very careful not to tread on their customs and traditions. They invited me for dinner and I humbly accepted even if I was on the verge of running away (I don’t accept hospitality very well). They had a prayer and people started eating.. The food was very a vegetarian's delight, it included nuts and a lot of garden fresh green leafy vegetables grown on the temple grounds. There was this saute of tofu and peanuts that i really liked. During dinner I got in the spirit of things and asked facts about the temple. After dinner I went home to wake up early the next day to shoot.

a mix of red and gold

insert incense sticks here

a hundred golden Buddhas

I woke up 3am to get ready; I went out by 4am to wait for the light to be perfect. I got there at around 5:30am but the weather was cloudy. So I took time loafing around the temple and checking out the architecture and the interiors of the temple. The interiors are your typical Chinese; interiors were littered with gold and red along with Chinese inscription which I couldn’t understand. Later that morning there were people practicing for a Siddhartha musical. I went to one of the performers and asked about additional facts about the place. So far I went back a couple of days trying to get a winning shot of the temple. One of my favorite parts of the temple is the koi pond, i love fish and seeing a lot of full grown koi was a sight to see.

a Siddhartha performer

my favorite koi pond

Come awards night I was blessed to be the 1st runner up on the photo contest, I was happy that all the patience and time spent photographing this wonderful slice of land in the middle of the city was worth it.

my winning shot


yours truly and Venerable Master Ru Xin during awards night
(photo credz: Melvin Tezon)

Thanks for reading! its been a while since i blogged since last week was a very busy week for me. Watch out for my next article further this week. :D

The Vegetable Bowl of Cebu

What: Mantalongon Public Market
Where: Mantalongon Dalaguete
How to get there: 3-4 hours ride from Cebu City
What to expect: a ton of vegetables, a lot of portrait photography and a photo journalistic feel.

Manatalongon public market is the so called vegetable bowl of Cebu, the weather there is typically reminiscent of Baguio and Benguet. I think the abundance of vegetables growing in the are is pretty much credited to the temperature. While going to the market you'd start to notice that the temperature changes drastically as you wind up the zigzag roads going there. Another thing to point out was the difference of the surrounding trees and vegetation on the side of the road. You start to notice the abundance of pine trees and other trees similar to birch. If you're lucky you could catch people hauling huge baskets of vegetables up the mountain path, these baskets can typically reach a weight of 90 to 140 pounds. people strap them to thier back as they make way to the market.

Men carrying huge baskets of vegetables up the hill

each basket can weigh from 90 to 140 pounds each

a co-worker fixes his hat

Upon arriving at the market you will obviously be taken by the hustle and bustle of the market. Not your typical market the so called "palenke" is a huge open gym where you can see mountains of baskets filled to the brim with vegetables. The variety of the vegetables were a little bit disappointing for me since i was expecting a myriad of vegetables and there was only about 10-14 different types of vegetables available. What was surprising was the sheer amount of vegetables exchanging hands in the market. As noon arrives the more you'd see people come in with their baskets of goods and the trucks loading the purchased vegetables come and go. The busiest day of the week they say is Thursday and the it was a week end when i went. So far it is still the little Baguio of Cebu.

an old woman showing her goods

now counting the money she gained from the exchange

a man wrapping onion leeks for retailing

a proud kid holds Sayote in her hands

A tired child rests as i take a picture of him

if lucky, people can hitch a ride on these trucks going to the market

Hope you had a fun time reading my entry, till the next time :D

St. Michael de Archanghel Parish ( CDP South Safari II)

What: St. Michael de Archanghel Paris
Where: Argao Cebu Philippines
How to get there: 2 to 2 and a half hours south of Cebu City via car or public Transportation
What to expect: An old heritage site built in 1783 and gloriously painted ceiling depicting St. Michael the Archangel.

Brief history:
In the year 1960 Argao was considered as a visita of Carcar till its first titular came on 1735 as St Michael the Archangel. It was later changed to Nuestra Señora de la Consolación. The construction of the church was much credited to Fr. Francisco Espina (1772 to 1798) which who's name is engraved in the on the right transept of the church. During 1876 much of the convent of the church lost its tile roofs to typhoons and was replaced with galvanized iron in 1924. The Church depicts a very well thought of design compared to other churches of the same caliber. The interior designs are reminiscent of chrysanthemums, showing a decent of Chinese influence. As cherubs and other flower motifs garner the interior sides of the church to its altar.

interior facade

intricately painted ceiling

Altar

I'm not one to speak about churches since i know very little about them but one thing I'm sure of, i do like photographing them. The church is a very good example of a glory ill reminiscent of its days, i do hope that people spend more time preserving the church and its heritage value. Its one of the churches that Ive went to that felt very Hispanic in a sense that you feel that you can shoot a colonial Spanish short film here. Not to mention the aroma of old wood that is very dominant in the air gives a museum feel. The Church also sports a organ on the upper right of the balcony, unfortunately i couldn't climb up to the balcony for better shots of the organ and interiors.

balcony and organ

Organ

altar close up

I hope this entry was informative and enjoyable to read. Thanks for reading!

Liloan's Old Sentry of the Sea (Bagacay Point Lighthouse))

Liloan lighthouse 2009

What: Bagacay Point Light House
Where: Barangay Catarman, Liloan Cebu Philippines
How to get there: About an hour and a half’s ride from the city via car or public transportation.
What to expect: A scenic breathtaking view of the Mactan channel and the lighthouse grounds which are considered one of the most romantic places in Cebu (not to mention a lot of bridal photography happening here once in a while). If going there in the evening, insect repellant and a flashlight is a must.

The Bagacay Light house is a locally treasured landmark of the town of Liloan Cebu. They say that the lighthouse has been protecting their waters more than over a hundred years. Once a lonely watchtower on the cliff overlooking the Mactan channel built in 1857; the old lighthouse is situated nearer the coast is now in ruins. You can see it from the newer lighthouse built in 1904 by William Howard Taft which towers 72 feet and can be seen as far as 20 kilometers out to sea. During Sundays the lighthouse isn’t on but you can see it from afar as the superstructure is lit by nearby spotlights making it more attractive but harder to photograph.

Liloan lighthouse 2008

Liloan Lighthouse Dreamscape Series 2007

Liloan Lighthouse Dreamscape Series 2007

the Mactan channel far back

Liloan Lighthouse Dreamscape Series 2007

Dusk at the Bagacay Point

At present, the Lighthouse sits beside a newly made subdivision called Amara, you can see it at their website and another addition is a karaoke bar to the far right of the lighthouse paving way for local tourism to cherish this much loved site.

Liloan Lighthouse Present

Liloan Lighthouse Present

Liloan Lighthouse with Amara Entrance to the right

I’ve spent almost two years coming back photographing this place, so far it holds so much good memories of friends that have come and go. But here’s the caveat I’ve compiles the best photos that I have of the lighthouse for this blog post. Some of the photos here were never meant to be shared since I love some of them so much. Some pictures were taken with my Nikon D80 and some with Harry’s old Nikon D70 but all the pictures are mine. I’ve prepared a mix of pictures of the lighthouse in different times of day and night; so far I’m proud of my night shots of this place. I hope you like the read and pictures, Thanks!

Here are links to Some of my other shoots on The Lighthouse Grounds:

- Kimono Kraze, A festive Japanese summer inspired shoot.

- Aris & Beth, An engagement shoot.

I hope you like the read and pictures, Thanks!

Wandering South of Cebu (The road to Kawasan Falls)

What: Kawasan Falls
How to get there: 2.5 to 3 hours drive south of Cebu City
What to expect: Lush cool waters, huts beside the falls and a lot of BBQ!

A couple of photographer friends from Cebu Digital Photographers decided to wander south of Cebu to the rumored Kawasan Falls. So far 3 out of the four of us are not from Cebu and the fourth member of the team has not been there. So we decided to go on a photo safari from Cebu to Badian. We assembled 3am in the morning at Asiatown IT Park and started our run south as Early as 3:30am.

We headed down south using the South Reclamation Road and got to CarCar as fast as 5am. where we decided to go to Argao to Shoot the sunrise from the shore. We found a clearing on the side of the road and patiently waited for the sunrise. Unfortunately it was a cloudy day and the sun didn't grace us with the normal glory of a sunrise. Thus we were forced to make do with the time that we had and took pictures on the shore.

Argao Sunrise

Sand Formations in Argao

After shooting we back tracked to Carcar and went on our way west. While driving in Barili we noticed fog creeping through the crags of the mountainside, we quickly stopped to shoot the fleeting mist. So far this mist shots are one of my favorite in my landscape photos. since the layering of the mountains, hills and fog create a very intricate composition. After a few moments up we noticed this single tree on the cliff and we headed there to shoot more photos. The view from the cliff was very interesting since it gives a nice view of the coast and a fishing village down below.

Barili Mist

Coastal Fishing Village

on the cliff

Once we got to Badian we quickly found the chapel in Barangay Matutinao where we left our car and started the trek upstream. The trek was very entertaining stopping once in a while to take more photos. The cool and clear waters of the stream. There are interesting sights and scenes as you trek upstream, the not-so-normal vegetation and hoots of animals are rampant in while walking. Make sure to travel light and bring as little items as possible. Having Some insect repelant would help keeping the bugs at bay. Another thing is to have comfortable foot wear. As much as possible make sure that the footwear you use can be submerged in water and can hold on to slippery and wet rock surfaces for better experience.

sights on the way

old hydro-electric power plant bridge

On the way you can also see an old bridge, it is a very interesting thing to take pictures of since the vegetation is trying to to retake this part of the jungle. A few minutes more you will hear the unmistakable roar of the waterfalls and by hearing this hastens the pace of our walk.

Upon arriving you can see the majesty of Kawasan, even not as grand as other waterfalls Ive been to it certainly is the first one ive been to here in Cebu. You can see stalls and huts situated around the falls and people will start to ask you if you already have a table. Make sure to choose your hut strategiacally, one where you can see your valuables if ever you decide to go on a dip. People who go swimming here will be required to wear a life vest since you can never be too carefull to swim in cold chilling water. Bamboo rafts are available but has a rental fee of 150 PHP / hour. Using the raft you can tell the oarsman to move the raft directly under the falls. Here you can feel how it is to be under gallons and gallons of water falling onto your body. Not a very pleasing expericnce but an eperience one should try atleast once.

Kawasan Falls (first)

A short walk up from the first falls is the second one, similarly layouted from the 1st the second one boasts two splitting falls and cascading waters. I didnt take pictures of the second falls since i didnt think id be blogging it and there were too many people at teh second falls since the waters around was shallow compared to the 1st falls. In any case you cant take a bath on the main falls there will laways be small but less crowded pools where you can privately enjoy the cool waters.

Smaller yet more private falls

Upon reaching the top of Kawasan you will find a dam, you should cross the stream infront of it and climb the stairs on the right side of it. On top you would be rewarded by a deep blue lagoon of water and a small waterfalls rusing out of the crevices on the rock. Definitely this falls of Kawasan is my favourite. Very pleasant and realxing atmosphere where the sound of the rushing water and hoots of monkeys are the only thing you hear. We stayed here for longest of time taking pictures since from all of the falls here this one looked like the least affected by human contact. No debris of trash or wrappers nor bottles scattered about. After taking our fill of picture we then went back down stram to the car and went home feeling fullfilled that we witnessed one of Cebu's most popular Waterfalls.

Kawasan Falls (third)

I'd like to extend my sincerest appologies for the low resolution photos. its myu first time blogging using blogspot so id make sure next time to mirror high resolution images to another site. thanks for reading.