Livin' High and Takin' it Easy

Lia and her Mama at Makulay Lodge, Caalan, El Nido, Palawan

18 Jul 2012 2 Comments

in Family, Life in El Nido, MOMents, Palawan Tags: Caalan, El Nido, Lia, Makulay Lodge, Makulay Lodge and Villas, Palawan

My Flickr Pro is expired so I can but see 200 of my most recent uploads. This makes it difficult for me to look for old photos I need for some comparisons or reminiscing experiences whenever I feel so inclined. I have not felt the need to renew my Flickr account in the past 2 years, especially last year, when I was busy managing the bar in Naga City and had absolutely no time to take photos. I feel the urgency now though. It seems that every other day I shoot at least 200 photos – and about 20 of them would end up being posted or in the very least, blogged about.

Lia’s first few days in El Nido were blessed with excellent weather. It was really bright and sunny and we went to town and the beach every day. She and I also took a lot of photos.

I have been quite busy too testing my Vitacon wide angle lens converter and I think I have decided that it is best that I shoot two of whatever it is I fancy every time – one with the converter and another without it. The converter comes with vignetting and other “effects” that I find only acceptable for certain artistic inclinations – the edges become soft or smeared, there is considerable image quality loss and I get a fish eye effect.

I still have a lot of problems with regards to my shooting and post processing workflow as I feel that I’m not being as efficient as I should or can be. I am badly in need of a refresher on workflow management.

Since I cannot see my old photos, I had to repost some of them. Only because I wanted to show a little bit of now-and-then.

At the corner going to Caalan, there is now an outpost for El Nido’s Protected Area Management. The first photo was taken last week with the Nikon D90 18-135mm lens with an attached 67mm Vitacon .5x wide angle converter while the second photo was taken December 2005 with a Pentax Optio WP point-and-shoot camera. I cropped the first image to make it as wide as possible without the vignettes. I suppose one of these days I’m going to make a blog about this experience/review of converters for other people who might be interested in getting one.

Though the coconuts still stand tall and proud, and they are most familiar, there have been some considerable changes on this beach. There used to be a little downhill part where the breakwater ends, and now there is none. The ground has been leveled, and another breakwater has been added. The path has been made higher than the beach, something that I suppose is most useful during the month of December when the water would crash right at the gate.

I remember how Armie would tell me back then that this was her favorite spot for her alone-time in 2003 and 2004. There was nothing there except a piece of coconut trunk lying on the ground and she would just sit there by herself. Now there are hammocks and benches.

The red paddle boat over there was Kuya Loy’s (guitarist and vocalist of the local band Islanen) but he kept it over there in Caalan, and allowed us to use it whenever we wanted to.

I’d like to think that it was just the sun’s light quality given the time of day that made the sand look brown or my saturation and vibrance settings, but no, the sand is really browner now. I’d also like to think that it’s only brown because it’s been raining, like when I was in Sugar Beach in Sipalay, Negros Oriental, and was surprised to find that the “sugar” that was being referred to was not white but brown, because of the river water emptying into the bay during the rainy season of September that I was there, but no, I think that the sand is actually not as white as it used to. If my heart could bleed, I suppose, it did just a little bit here. I’d prefer not to expound on this right now. In another blog perhaps.

This is what used to stand in this corner – Rose and Rudy’s house.

And this is what now stands there now – Makulay Lodge.

Lia loves hanging out at Makulay because there are always dogs and cats hanging about, and she absolutely loves the hammocks.

Funny how she has found a way to swing by herself.

Lia and I will always be fans of hammocks.

This was the old gate.

And this is the gate now.

The place has undergone a lot of changes in the last seven years. I’ve seen how all these took place, but I am nevertheless grateful for the fact that there are now tables and chairs, and a comfortable place to just chill right by the beach.

Here is a series of photos that Likha took of Lia. I can’t help but feel envious that Lia has allowed this to happen. Hahaha. She always hides when it’s me holding the camera, so I’m stuck with doing paparazzi shots half the time.

And this photo below is well-admired by friends, at least according to the number of Likes on it on Facebook.

I love it too!

Lia always has the coolest hairstyles! She can make messy look nice and pretty.

I took the photos below while we were in the tricycle going from the school to town. This is her favorite spot when riding tricycles.

And this just ousted “HiddentM-I-C-K-E-Y mouse Lia” out of being my most favorite Instagram photo of Lia to date. I am her number one fan.

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