As Seen by TV

San Juan… a small beach town located on the western coast of Luzon, just north of San Fernando City.  Very popular surf area… small, quiet and the perfect getaway from Baguio City.

Easily one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen…

Kota Kinabalu part II, a day of lounging ended with one of the most dramatic setting suns ever… you can see in the photos how the sky changed colors, it was quite spectacular to say the very least.

What made the experience all the more surreal was that this boardwalk was closed off (just to the right of the above image), secured from public view and guarded by the United States Navy.  We were talking to one of the guards, a older gentleman telling us of his previous tours, who then warned us for the possibility of a not-so-quiet night ahead, as it was the first off-duty time for over 4000 Navy military personnel  from an American aircraft-carrier docked just off the coast.  Wonderful.

In the last two images you can see the restaurant/market I mentioned in my previous post (yes, we ate there again).  After shooting and dinner, we went to a bar for a drink… and I felt like I was at some sort of strange frat-party with an South East Asian twist… the Navy kids had swarmed the small downtown area and were yelling, screaming and drinking (then puking) everywhere in sight.  It really made me not miss living in the US.  Shame that people behave that way, especially when you are a guest in a predominantly Muslim country!

I ordered a bucket of beer and watched the mayhem from a bar balcony, while my girl ordered a margarita (but they had ran out of tequila), then ordered a mojito (but they ran out of rum), so she got a vodka pineapple.  Luckily the obnoxious Cinderella’s had to be back aboard their “carrier” before midnight, letting the town of Kota Kinabalu lull back into tranquility (albeit with the stench of alcohol and vomit still lingering a bit).

The next morning it was off to country number 30something for me, bye bye Kota Kinabalu. hello Brunei Darussalam!

…the moon treated us to some wonderful nightscapes…
(could not have asked more from a leap-year day)

The sunset over Sunset Bay, evening #2!

Just got back from anther amazing trip… 2 weeks in Malaysia/Brunei/Indonesia.  Not too happy to be back, but am happy to be posting again… so let’s continue where we left off, the Philippines!

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After heading up into the mountains around Baguio (for the flower festival), we got a car and drove right back down to the coast, destination: San Fernando City… more specifically: Sunset Bay.
You can see why………

We arrived very late at night in Pagudpud… it was pitch black and the sky was utterly breathtaking.  Seriously beyond words (see pics!).  The stars… I could not quite believe it (living in cities like New York and Shanghai you can sometimes forget how magnificent the night sky can be).

Waking up the next morning I was once again a little surprised… as I again stood standing and looking at something beyond words… a pristine white sandy beach, all to ourselves.

I could not think of a better place to drink $1 beers.

I experimented a little with super long exposures (up to an hour!), some were hit, some were miss.

I am going to keep the description short, because I think the photos speak for themselves, what a stunning place.  Write it down, Pagudpud.  Not the easiest spot to get to (but that is part of the reason it is so striking), as we had to fly a tiny propeller place to Laoag City, then take a local bus a couple hours to the very most northern tip of the Philippines (map).  The bus dropped us off on the side of the “highway” (1 lane in each direction), pretty much in the middle of nowhere.  It was COMPLETELY DARK.  Pitch black.  Luckily a friendly (and slightly drunk) man and his friend stopped their jeep (to our anxious waving) and then offered to drive us to our “hotel”, it was the only car we had seen since a good half hour down the highway.  As I mentioned before, when we arrived I couldn’t quite take my eyes of the sky.  Breathtaking.

Amazing night.

Just a bit after 0:00…
(after those fireworks were lit 10m away from us, we couldn’t hear a thing anymore… hence the yelling)

Just a bit of an hour after 0:00…

Full day of Ko Samui, driving clockwise around the island to the south coast, then up into the mountains at the center and then back the way we came…  what a stunning island!

View Koh Samui trek in a larger map

Beaches, waterfalls, elephant trekking… what more could I possibly ask for in day… everything was so beautiful.

…oh yeah, and it should go without saying that the night was met with more street food (from yet another night market!) and Long Islands Ice Teas!!