Marshall Monday: Wander-Full

For the 3rd year in a row, I decided to celebrate my birthday by exploring a new island. This year, I visited Malapascua. Home to thresher sharks and friendly locals, the island is small enough to traverse on foot. So that is exactly what we did on my birthday. We took a long walk to get to know the island.

No stopovers for selfies, no complaints about being hungry or thirsty, no awkward or uninteresting conversation. 

Marshall - 1, humans - 0.

Sure, I had to stop when some scent distracted him for a second, but he was always happy to trot alongside me in a heart beat. Here are a few photos from our walk and beach swims. 

Just before letting him loose on the beach.

We went past this sand bar and the mangrove area.

We explored Malapascua's little winding roads. 

Then we came upon this cove covered with pretty red leaves.

Marshall made a friend during our sari-sari store stopover.

Then he went to test the water in another cove.

After about a 2 hour walk, my walking buddy is beat. 

But the next day...

Yup, back on the beach. And this time, with followers. :P

The only one who loves lying on the sand as much as I do.

Marshmallow.

Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. ;)

He looked so happy to be back in the water. :) But, it was time to go. 

Till our next adventure, Marshmallow. Thank you for still being such wonderful and wander-full company.

Kasalang Jay & Thea (The Wedding of Jay & Thea)

"What time is it?"

"Quarter to 6."
"What time is the wedding?"
"6."
"Good job!"
*Nervous laugh*

The sun was setting and we were stuck in a bottleneck traffic situation along Sumulong Highway on the way to my sister's wedding. Unfortunately the Tolentino trait of always being early if not on time was not going to happen today, of all days. In the car our Mom shifted nervously, the rest of us (Ate Data who came home all the way from the US, Monique and I who came home from Boracay), well we just had to make fun of the situation. There was really no point in stressing, but we knew we couldn't be late, we had after all, another person in the car... the bride.

Jay & Thea's "Anti-Pre Nup" more photos here.

I checked on her from the passenger seat and saw her smiling, beaming, calm. I think we all knew that no matter what time we arrived, it was going to be an awesome night.

I knew it from the moment it was conceptualized - a wedding of two musical souls who love good food and have great taste for the rustic and vintage? There wasn't even a need for a theme! They were the theme, and that's what made it so unique.

I arrived a few days early to urge them to do a shoot we later nicknamed the "anti-prenup shoot"- so called because they didn't like the idea of posing and dressing up. Instead, they allowed me to document them one afternoon in their home. The result was to me even more beautiful because it was sincere and natural. I encourage other couples to do the same. You can check the photos here.

As for the wedding night, we arrived in the nick of time and well, I'll let the video speak for itself. :)

Kasalang Jay & Thea Highlights from Denise Tolentino on Vimeo.

A Long Weekend - Isla de Gigantes

Not so long ago, my girl friends and I had a serious case of island fever and wanderlust. So we decided to go on a trip to a place I only heard of very, very recently: Isla de Gigantes.

Isla de Gigantes (Island of the Giants) - legend has it that giants use to roam these islands after 8ft long coffins were dug up along with ancient earthen ware. Cool, noh?

After 8 hours of road travel, 3 vans, and one boat ride, we found ourselves in a place without cellphone signal, day time electricity or exceptionally tall people. Just friendly, accommodating locals who seem to be content in the simplicity of their lifestyle and who knew all the possible ways one can cook scallops!

I took hundreds of photos, as usual. But for this trip I also made a video, which to conserve space is what I would rather share here. :) Enjoy!

A Long Weekend - Isla de Gigantes, Iloilo from Denise Tolentino on Vimeo.

Malalison Island - It Doesn't Get Any Quieter Than This

A week in my Lola's province of Antique can go by really fast. First you sit, then you eat the most delicious homemade food, and before you know it, you have to go.  You realize you never left the dining table and all you did was sit and talk and eat.

Good thing we had a goal. Our beloved island, Boracay was in hyper summer party mode, so our plan was to celebrate the end of Amihan season the opposite way, with total peace and quiet. 

So after spending dangerous hours at my Lola's dining table, Arnaud and I decided to explore dear old Antique. We borrowed my Lola's car and drove around. We stopped by beaches, rivers, drove into rice fields and dry river banks (by accident), got lost, found our way, got lost again, met the town lunatic, took photos, drove again. It was nice.

Then we reserved one day for Malalison a.k.a. Mararison. An island we've been eyeing from Google Earth since let's say, October. We heard it was beautiful. My late Lolo Julit talked about this island to his kids but none of them have explored it. Here's me listening to you, Lolo. 

 It was exactly what we wee looking for. No business establishments, no party music, no crowd. Just...

After talking to the Tourism Officer John John (because you have to see him before you can go to the island), we learned that there were only 2 other tourists in Malalison, a Russian couple on honeymoon. We didn't even see them until the last minute of our visit. 

You could tell that Malalison isn't used to tourism yet. We could feel curious stares from the locals as we walked past their houses. Our guide waved to his friends proudly announcing that he was a tour guide for today. He basically showed us the path across the hills from one beach to another. Apart from that, we were on our own. Really on our own.

We packed our own lunch because like I said, there aren't any resorts or restaurants. But we thought maybe we could get a cup of 3-in-1 coffee from the sari-sari store. We asked our guide if there was a store we could buy from. He looked hesitant, fished his phone out of his pocket and made a call. In a few minutes the Barangay Captain came with mugs, sachets of coffee and a thermos of hot water, all from his own house. Wow. 

So after a late merienda and exchanging stories with the Barangay Captain we decided to go. But as we were leaving, I was already thinking of my return.


Photos 5, 10, 12, 14 & 16 taken by Arnaud Mahe

Up, Up and Away!

We made it! We've wrapped up our trip up north and boy do we have a lot of stories to tell. But we don't want to bore anyone with thick photo albums of half a month's worth of travel so we decided to make a video instead.

It was so much fun, I can't put it into words. All I can say is I love these guys to bits and traveling the north definitely wouldn't have been the same without them. When you're not traveling alone, good company is almost as important as the places you visit. You will see what I mean. Super good vibes.

 Enjoy! (P.S. Watch it with the highest quality setting.)

I will post the sketches I made once I am done (too many things to draw!!!)

:-D

Way Up High

So I'm up north of Luzon. We thought leaving the island for a while to explore other places would be nice. Let me show you some details of our trip so far. (Mama if you're reading this, please don't panic.)

The Plan

Okay, so we don't really have a plan. Just a few places in mind that we want to see. Banaue, Batad, Sagada, Baler, La Union, Vigan and anything interesting in between. 

Companions

I know what you're thinking: "Ohmygod, you better get a guide." "Your trip looks like it's going to be fun." I think so too. ;-)

First Aid Kit

If you're going on an adventure, it good to have one. In our case, we have - one.

It's a cure-all! For headaches, nausea, fever and flu, bug bites, unhappiness... etc.

Attitude

 Rakenrol! Because we're travelers... and because it's totally necessary when your budget is:

Budget

Yeah! Hahaha!

Motivation

Like what they said in the movie UP, "Adventure is out there!"

The photo above is the view of Banaue town. Yup, we made it here, so it looks like things are going well according to "plan."

:-D