Skip to main content

Thinking of Zamboanga...

Zamboanga City just celebrated it’s annual Fiesta Pilar in honor of the miraculous Our lady of the Pilar of the legendary Fort Pilar , which was held October 1 to 12.  Legend has it that the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to a Spanish sentry guarding the Fort during the 17th Century , and alerted the guard of approaching danger. This gave the the Fort time to prepare and save its Christian settlers  against an invading army of Moro pirates.

 Zamboanga City due to it’s hispanic influence, speaks the Spanish creole language  Chavacano .  That’s the reason why Zamboanga is called Asia’s Latin City.  I have always prided myself of having been born and raised in Zamboanga.  Much of my happy memories of youth was in Zamboanga.

Zamboanga, today, despite the bad publicity it gets from the media ( due to Abu Sayyaf kidnappings), is still a nice place to live and visit. The city itself is safe and I would say, even safer compared to urban Manila or any urban city in the world, for that matter.
At the Zamboanga  International Airport tarmac in 2006.

A foreign tourist would have no difficulty navigating the urban streets of Zamboanga because almost all of its populace understands and speak the English language.   Yes, it is safe. Just don’t go venturing out of the city limits.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

LOWEPRO Fastpack BP 150 AW II : A Brief Review

Lowepro Fastpack BP 150 AWII I recently bought a new camera back pack to replace my aging Lowepro 250 AW DSLR Video Fastpack which I have been using for the last 4 years or so,  with the LOWEPRO Fastpack BP 150 AWII . I believe this is the new upgraded version as designated by the AWII. But to be honest, I should have bought the Fastpack BP 250 instead of this model which is the Fastpack BP 150. This model comes in 3 sizes namely BP 150 , BP 250, and the BP 350 . As the numbers suggest, the BP 150 is the smallest. With my impending trip to LA, I wanted a compact backpack to hold all my camera gears and some personal stuff as a carry on baggage. I have a small body frame so I chose BP 150. This backpack can hold my Nikon D500 with a moderate 18-140mm all around zoom lens attached. If your camera has a battery grip attached to the body, this bag can accommodate it with ease.  A second backup body ( my old D90) , a 35mm 1.8 prime lens, chargers, assorted cables etc. Now...
Post a Comment
Read more

EDSA : The Day After

Leaderless Philippine Marines inside the Palace the day after Marcos fled I recently found an old picture which was taken  way back in 1986 among the old file of debris accumulated through the years. This photo was taken early in the morning inside the Malacanang Palace. I was one among the thousands of Filipinos who “stormed” the Palace grounds upon learning that the once feared dictator President Marcos has fled after a relatively bloodless revolution  which was known and imitated throughout the world as the People Power. Armed with my Nikon FG, I strolled inside the Palace grounds and saw a group of leaderless Philippine Marines nervously standing in formation, apparently confused and disoriented as people flocked around them. Their officers were nowhere to be found and it was obvious that all officers had abandoned them. I was amazed as to the near chaos inside the Palace grounds that morning, yet, not a single shot was fired as the crowds inched their way inside th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Having Fun With Selective Color !

A Philippine Navy sailor carries his tuba Playing around with selective coloring can be fun and addicting. This photographic technique may be used for fun and to emphasize the subject. I realize most pro photographers tend to shy away and sometimes can be  so incredibly  snobbish about selective color for some reasons. But hey, almost everybody loves selective color!  There really is no magic or mystery behind this technique. Want to try it? Go ahead and have some fun ! I’ll write some step by step tutorial on selective color next time, as soon as I figure out how to capture my screen for the illustration… In the meantime , you may want to check PhotoShop’s step by step tutorial on this technique, though the degree of difficulty may be in between moderate to hard.  I have PhotoShop, but I use Photo Pos Pro for it’s simple way of achieving selective color. And it’s free.
1 comment
Read more