Browsing the blog archive for Destinations: Metro Manila | Ambot ah! Travel Blog

Still Wandering in October

As mentioned earlier, I’ve been AFK (away from keyboard) for a while now. It’s still a busy month of traveling for me. Since I started blogging, it has always been my goal to live the lifestyle of other travel bloggers. To be able to travel extensively and frequently for longer periods of time. If feel really lucky that I’m already starting to live that kind of life and thankful to everyone who continues to visit my blogs and leave comments, which fuels my passion to continue blogging. Here’s a quick rundown of places I’ve traveled to since my last post.

5097019284 77d0646d5f Still Wandering in October
Taken at Kuala Lumpur International Airport just before the return flight from our Singapore – Malaysia trip at the end of September. It took multiple shots … but I still couldn’t keep my eyes open for the shot since I was already so tired.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hidalgo St. Quiapo – cheap camera shops in the Philippines

407 Comments |

If you’re wondering where you can buy dSLR cameras and other photographic equipment in the Philippines for the cheapest/lowest prices, then it’s in Hidalgo, Quiapo. I know Hidalgo Quiapo, in general, is notorious as one of Manila’s shabby and crime infested areas (full of pirated CDs/DVDs, counterfeit electronics, snatchers, garbage).

I was surprised myself after finding out that it’s highly recommended by other photographers in the Philippines as a place to find a wider range of photographic/videographic equipment at a cheaper price than in malls. I bought my first camera, a Canon Powershot A700, in Hidalgo Quiapo when I was in college and a Nikon D40 last year.

I have nothing to complain about the quality of my purchases there.

Read the rest of this entry »

Back to Aliwan Fiesta 2010 plus two surprise trips in April

2 Comments |

I’m still shaking my head on what I got myself into for my travel plans next month. I was originally planning on going to Manila during the third week of April and spending a couple of days to watch Aliwan Fiesta 2010, a showcase of festivals all over the Philippines on April 22-24 but then I extended it to a little more than one week after finding out about the 6th Philippine Blogging Summit to be held on April 16 – 17. So I booked my round trip flights online but after series of unexpected events, I ended up rebooking both flights and with two more “surprise” trips that I’m so excited about!

The Laoag City Float during the Aliwan Fiesta last year

Read the rest of this entry »

A Week in Metro Manila in Pictures

5 Comments |

This is what you get when you give a one week unlimited MRT/LRT flash pass in Manila to a camera wielding travel junkie:

4153946544 7f4d46967e A Week in Metro Manila in Pictures

4051965383 39b0880a8e m A Week in Metro Manila in Pictures 4051965567 8ec6feb629 m A Week in Metro Manila in Pictures 4051965909 55b6ce0b6d m A Week in Metro Manila in Pictures 4052707592 8e7734d676 m A Week in Metro Manila in Pictures

Read the rest of this entry »

Finally! Experiences at the Philippine Blog Awards 2009 – Awards Night

13 Comments |

Now that my October travelling spree is over, I’m finally back home … back to blogging. You’ll probably notice my online activity rising because I’ve cleared up my schedule for the next month so that I can do some major work on my blogs (actually, it’s more like I wont be going anywhere because I’ve got no more money left to spend). During the first week of October, I spent a week in Manila to take some pictures for a new blog I’m developing named “Pueblo Philippines (more about this later).” While I was there, I bought a one week MRT/LRT unlimited flash pass (for P250) and visited many spots in Metro Manila. Though, the highlight (and main agenda) of my trip was actually attending the 2009 Philippine Blog Awards, in which Explore Iloilo was nominated under the Best Travel Blog category.

4051960199 748100b362 Finally! Experiences at the Philippine Blog Awards 2009 – Awards Night

Read the rest of this entry »

Fort Bonifacio Global City (Highrises, Market! Market!, High Street) Nightwalk

8 Comments |

I was excited to go to Fort Bonifacio Global City (FBGC) for the first time. It’s one the newest and most expensive bloc in Manila. I was so shocked to see the level of development there in just a short span of time. I liked Market! Market! because I really did feel like it was a market not just a rip-off name for just another mall. High Street is O-K, the place looks really beautiful but it feels very synthetic there, I prefer the organic urban feeling I get in Makati.

3521526042 e97627ffd6 Fort Bonifacio Global City (Highrises, Market! Market!, High Street) Nightwalk

Read the rest of this entry »

Makati City – the Philippine’s Skyscrapercity

13 Comments |

Back when I was in high school, I was a Sim City 4 addict. I used to spend my nights slaving over making the biggest city my measly computer can handle. There was of course the attempt of making a city that had a road layout of Iloilo City, at the time high quality road maps of Iloilo City was not available (Google Earth, I think wasn’t released yet or it didn’t have hi-res images of Iloilo City) so I started to look for road maps of other cities in the Philippines. One google search led to another and I ended up in Skyscrapercity.com. I visited the Philippine sub forum and searched through the threads.

Makatiskyline Makati City – the Philippine’s Skyscrapercity

Photo from Wikipedia (I have yet to take a nightshot of Makati)

Read the rest of this entry »

Aliwan 2009 sa Manila – Witnessing the Festivals of Festivals at last!

9 Comments |

I’ve been blogging about the annual Aliwan Fiesta for two years already but I’ve never got to see it personally because of schedule conflicts when I was still in school. Now that I’m free, I’m finally going to Manila this last week of April to watch the spectacle from the streets of Manila. Thanks to Zest Air for offering a Manila to Ilolo flight for only P488 (see Zest Air Promo page). I’ll be arriving in Manila on the 23rd and leaving on the 27th. I’ve read from reviews that Zest Air flights are very comfortable since they are using a brand new custom made A320 and they have unlimited Zest-O products on board, sweet! Hopefully I’ll be able to meet my friends from college and skyscrapercity during the trip. I’m also looking forward to revisit old manila and visit more its newer places.

3199758070 f0c1ec38cf Aliwan 2009 sa Manila – Witnessing the Festivals of Festivals at last!

Lomo Manila Experimental Series

16 Comments |

Showing off your camera in the streets Quiapo, Binondo, or Intramuros is kind of risky because it would make yourself an easy target for thieves. I had to take pictures of my trip though, so I just took stolen shots instead and planned on putting a lomo effect to compensate for the lack of composititon.

Here’s my Lomo Manila Series (I hope I don’t offend Lomo purists because I’m not very familiar with this style of photography):

3250521338 9a0677ec57 Lomo Manila Experimental Series

Read the rest of this entry »

Walking Tour of Old Manila

3 Comments |

I was in Manila for 4 days in January 2009 with Vince, who was also planning to buy his first SLR. During the first day, we headed straight to Quiapo for our primary agenda. And then we set out to tour the walled city of Manila, our tour guides were Eric, Bernie, and Igan, who are friends I met over at Skyscrapercity.

3198907323 f7d8c14a98 Walking Tour of Old Manila