People
A trip to the Philippines would not be complete without a visit to my Lola (Grandmother on my dad's side). To visit her, we must leave the chaos of Manila and make our way towards the smaller town of Guagua in the Pampanga Region. Usually, a visit to my Lola's house includes a family meal complete with many Pampangan delicacies like chicharon bulaklak (Deep fried pork intestines) and betute tugak (stuffed frogs). In past visits, we sometimes were treated to my Lola's enduring piano mastery despite her age and lack of mobility. Due to our trip schedule and family reunion, our visit to my Lola was shorter this year. She remained sitting in the chair beside her bed as we all exchanged greetings. Because of the distance and difficulty of travel for my Lola, I've only seen her a handful of times in my life. I'm glad I got to see her this past year and wanted to make sure to take a good photograph of her. In 2017, she will be turning 99 years old.
Moments
Staying close to the topic of my Lola, one of my favorite pictures from the trip was this moment between her and her son, my dad. This shot was taken during the brief visit we had when stopping by Guagua after the Tanjuakio family reunion at Subic Bay.
Places
When visiting Philippines, we usually make time to escape the crowds and chaos of Manila by visiting other places within the Philippine islands. This year, we visited the island of Palawan. This shot was taken at the small port town of Sabang while waiting for our ferry to the underground river. This is one of my favorite shots from Palawan because it shows the beauty and blueness of Palawan waters, while showcasing a staple of Filipino transportation, the tricycle.
Things and Spaces
During one of the last days in the Philippines, we visited the Chinatown section of Manila. Like most of the Metro Manila region, Chinatown was extremely crowded and chaotic. The infrastructure was no different. Walking through Chinatown, one of the things I noticed when looking past the many fruit stands, bakeries, and Chinese restaurants was this mangle array of power lines. Just like the Philippines itself, this section of wires was crowded, chaotic, and unorganized, yet somehow still manages to get the job done.
Check out more pix from the Philippines at my blog archive
Philippines Trip Part 1 - Family
Philippines Trip Part 2 - Palawan
Philippines Trip Part 3 - Manila
Check back tomorrow for my favorite pix from our trip to Arizona...!!