On the road - Sagada

And here is proof that sometimes it is about the journey and not the destination. After traveling several hours in the early morning darkness, my wife and I decided to pull over to stretch our legs. If there was still any doubt whether we had reached the mountain province, the following vista assured us.

Paranoia

I ran across this picture in my library, it was taken in Moscow. The picure itself isn't that interesting but the story behind it is a bit. The yellow building behind the monument is the headquarters of Russia's FSB (Federal Security Services of the Russian Federation) basically the successor to the KGB, NKVD and the soviet-era Cheka.

Although the I found the building via a guide book, which means it's basically a tourist destination, there was just something very unnerving about lugging my camera gear to the front of the building and snapping away at it. I half expected an unmarked van to pull up beside me with burly men in pulling me inside and presto, no more sleepingonthebus (maybe kidnappedinavan might be born). In any case, I decided to cross the street and take a picture of the memorial to the victims of the different agencies. At least they recognize the wrong doings of the previous institutions, but it still doesn't lessen the paranoia.

Exploring Batanes

Okay, there are only a few places in the Philippines that you can go to that seem remote. The northern most islands of Batanes is one of those places. We used to hear sketchy stories of hardy travellers going off to the storm beaten islands only to be stranded for a week since the commercial pilots refused to land because of the adverse weather conditions.

Shockingly, when we arrived we were greeted with sunshine, beautiful grassy fields, smiling people and just beautiful weather. Our hotel manager couldn't even remember the last time they were hit by a storm and she says flights run like clockwork now. Oh well, you can't have it all.

New York, New York

I love black and white film, it makes everything look so old and classic. Take the above pic for instance, it looks like NY in the 70's but it was in fact taken in 2001. Must be the grainy nature of B&W film, love it.

Mount Mayon

When I arrived in Legapsi City in the province of Bicol I walked from the plane to the terminal, as you have to in most provincial airports. I looked back and saw Mount Mayon and took the above shot for the heck of it. Good thing I did, for the next 2 days that I was going around the city I would not get another clear picture of the volcano. It turns out it is constantly covered with clouds. Photography lesson - take the shot, you never know what the conditions will be like the next time.