Traveling is fun!

No, not that basketball violation. ;-D I'm talking about going to places where I can enjoy the beauty of nature, escape all the stress at work and the pollution from the city.  The smell of the greenery and the ocean also heals me from all the negativity. And, of course, I also enjoy taking photographs! :-)

One of the prettiest places I’ve been to and enjoyed the most (so far) was Bohol. I was inside the plane when I first saw the breathtaking white sand beaches. Seeing the color of the ocean and trees from above tells me that I’m already away from Manila’s pollution!

Click the photos to view the original size.

We landed safely at Tagbilaran Airport and waited for our tour guide to meet us there. For our three day vacation there, we stayed in Dumaluan Beach Resort 2, visited tourist spots from morning ‘til afternoon and swam the rest of the day. The food was also exciting. You should try the exotic ice cream flavors from the Bee Farm and the buffet style luncheon in a floating restaurant in Loboc River. And, of course, you should see the Chocolate Hills, Bohol's most famous tourist attraction.

Baclayon Church

Baclayon Church (back)

Baclayon Church's mini museum and souvenir shop

Snatcher caught by Spiderman LOL

Chocolate Hills

Chocolate Hills

Man-Made Forrest

Bee Farm

Bee Farm

Bee Farm

Butterfly Garden

Immaculada Concepcion Church

View from museum of the Immaculada Concepcion Church

Loboc River

Floating Restaurant in Loboc River

Sunrise or sunset? :-)

Second in my list is the Guimaras Island. We were in Iloilo visiting our relatives and decided to go to Guimaras since it’s nearby. From Iloilo City we only took a ferry boat to get to the island and a tricycle ride to get to our destination. Aside from the sweet mangos they produce, their beach is also quiet and relaxing compared to Boracay and Puerto Galera. We stayed in Raymen Beach Resort which is the only commercialized resort there. The boat ride cost P13 per person and P500 for the tricycle since there were eight of us, back and forth.

If you want a great summer vacation but has a tight budget, you should plan everything ahead of time. You can find a lot of great promos online for airfare and hotel accommodation. Make sure to prepare all the things you need for the trip. Travelling also becomes even more fun when you’re with your loved ones. Enjoy and God bless! ;-)

The Good Samaritan

A week ago, I stumbled upon a photo of an old lady shared on Facebook and read the story about it. I felt sorry for her and admired the person who helped her. He fed and even gave his remaining cash to her and only left enough fare going home. It's nice to know that there are still kind-hearted people. The problem is the people who take advantage of it.

I found out last night from Glaiza as we were nearing her office that that old lady has been wandering around Ayala Avenue since she was just starting. Glaiza even mentioned seeing her smoking a cigarette or drinking coffee. I do kind of remember seeing her a few times when I accompanied Glaiza to work. It was disappointing to think that she has been deceiving people that long (or longer!) and felt sorry for the guy and all the others who tried to help her. I went back to that fb post and read some of the comments and saw responses from others who got fooled! Poor them! They were just trying to help.

I'm not trying to discourage everyone to help but rather be cautious when doing so. Let's be smart! For example, if a person is lost then take them to the nearest police station or social welfare agency. NEVER take them to their place yourselves. If they're hungry then give them food! I don't think giving them cash is a smart thing to do. ALSO, always think of your safety first before trying to help others. Take care everyone and God bless! :-)

New Home

We were previously using Wordpress and were happy with it until I learned from Sir Jomar Hilario that we could do more using sites like Blogger. I was a bit skeptic at first but realized after exploring that it's actually better and simpler. Don't get me wrong, Wordpress is a nice and useful blog site too but I think Blogger suits us better.

Our first "ordeal" was renaming our blog address to a much more suitable one. The address "rawthird" doesn't really work well. It sounded like a professional wrestler's blog. We came up with some nice ideas but were already taken and argued with a few that sounded like it's from a company. It took us about half a day until... "Photographs and Beyond" was born! It's not really original and we don't know if you guys will like it but we do. Why that? Well we thought it'll work since we also share other stuff aside from our shots. And again, we like it! :-D

Our aim is to share what we have learned about photography and show proof! Second is (hopefully) to earn from it. :-D We'd like to hear from you guys so please do leave a comment and tell us what you think of our blog and if you have suggestions. We thank you for visiting and hope to see you again once we have new stuff to share. God bless! :-)