Tag: Chill

WS# 10: Finding Nemo

ws10-finding-nemoCredits:  Digital Couture Chipwglit Alphas, KPertiet Vintage text paper.

It’s summertime… yes it’s time to go diving again… and yes, that’s Nemo!

Nemo in the real (sea) world is called a clownfish.  They are a type of fish that lives in saltwater habitats.  It is also called an Anemone fish.  That bed of soft tentacles that sort of make up their home is called a Sea Anemone.  Clownfish live in a symbiotic relationship with certain sea anemones.  This means they benefit from living with the sea anemone, and the sea anemone benefits from the presence of the clownfish.  In the ocean, the clownfish are protected from predator fish by the stinging tentacles of the anemone, while the anemone receives protection from polyp-eating fish, which the clownfish chases away.

Clownfish have a few ocean predators, but their greatest threat is humans. People who catch clownfish and keep them as pets in aquariums are making a mistake. There are only ten out of more than one thousand types of anemone that are able to host these fish. Many people put the fish in a tank with the wrong anemone. In captivity, the clownfish can live from 3 to 5 years. In the wild, they live 6 to 10 years.

Clown fish live in sheltered reefs or in shallow lagoons, usually in pairs.  They live in warmer waters of the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean including the Philippines where this shot was taken, specifically in Anilao, Batangas.

Anilao, just 3-4 hours from Manila is a popular dive spot known worldwide.  The waters abound in marine life, corals and amazing diversity of fishes.  Because of its proximity, it has become one of my favorite weekend getaway.

I hope you had as great a weekend as I had!  Have a splendid week ahead!   🙂

Source: http://www.tolweb.org/treehouses/?treehouse_id=3390

Posted on by Jenn 8

Panagbenga

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My visit to Baguio,our summer capital coincided with the Panagbenga Festival.  I was there more to support my friends’ participation in the 4×4 off road challenge in La Trinidad.

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But I obviously will not pass up the chance to witness even just a glimpse of the well- attended festival.  We failed on our first attempt to even get close to the area so the following day, we woke up really early (like 5AM), walked to Session Rd. and caught the commencement of the parade.  Come join me in the festivities!

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Panagbenga is a kankanay term for “a season of blooming”.  It is also known as the Baguio Flower Festival.  It is held during the month of February, a month-long annual flower festival and was created as a tribute to the city’s flowers and as a way to rise from the devastation of the 1990 Luzon earthquake.

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The festival includes floats that are decorated with flowers.  It also includes street dancing presented by dancers clad in flower-inspired costume, that is inspired by the Bendian, an ibaloi dance of celebration that came from the Cordillera Region, where Baguio is.

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We didn’t stay to catch the actual parade as there was just too many people and I don’t particularly like crowds.  We instead decided to go to the market while everyone was busy with the festival but I was pleased to have witnessed even just a glimpse of the Panagbenga Festival.

This is my entry to this week’s My World Tuesday.  For a glimpse of more worlds, click here.

Source:  Wikipedia

Posted on by Jenn 12

Long and Winding Road

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On our way to Baguio 2 weekends ago, joining my friends from Tuguegarao I took the long route to the “pine city”.  Took us a leisurely 8 hours (with several stops along the way) to arrive through the newly rehabilitated Baguio-Aritao Road passing Ambuklao Dam.  It was a scenic albeit winding road almost all of 104 kilometers.

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It may be long for me who hail from Manila but for my friends from Northeastern Luzon, the road provides a shorter route cutting 2-3 hours by avoiding the longer Pangasinan and Neuva Ecija route via Dalton Pass.

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At one point, we stopped along the road to take some photos and soak in the scenery.

pineFor more entries of other worlds, click here.

Posted on by Jenn 14

WS #8: Fresh Berry Goodness

Despite a crazy week in Baguio City, it was a weekend full of activities including swimming through a sea of people during the Panagbenga festivities.  This post however is not about the festival (that will be for another post) but about my visit to a wild bluberry plantation in Tublay and the strawberry capital of Baguio, La Trinidad.

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Strawberries (and blueberries) are all-time favorites. Strawberries, however, tops the list especially if they are firm and sweet.  The strawberries that greeted us that day, probably just a few hours after harvest, looked so fresh and shiny, almost like plastic.  I had to restrain myself from eating the whole 2 kilos of it.

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The next town, Tublay where we dropped by a blueberry plantation, is just a few minutes away from Trinidad.  Not exactly the blueberries we are familiar with, these blueberries are tropical and thrive in less harsh weather.  As an aside, I learned that majority of blueberries flourish in harsh weather, the colder it is, the better for the blueberries.  Our blueberries are smaller and have less meat but that tiny piece of fruit is so bursting with flavor.  Because it is grown in the wild, supply is scarce.  It’s virtually gone even before harvest is completed.

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And the view is enough to make the trip worthwhile.

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Lucky for me, berries are said to contain phytochemicals and flavanoids that may help to prevent some diseases.  Eating a diet rich in blueberries, strawberries and other berries may help reduce your risk if several types of cancer.

For more weekend snapshots, click here.

Posted on by Jenn 4

PhotoHunt: Nautical

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The bow seems to be his favorite spot of the boat.  We took this motorized boat or what we call a banca from Bantayan Island to Malapascua Island, a popular dive site where thresher sharks abound.

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This boy, accompanies his dad and helps out by stirring the boat as it approaches the shore.

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This is my entry to this week’s PhotoHunt.  For have a glimpse of more photohunt entries, please visit them here.

Posted on by Jenn 5