The Earth Hour 2010 - Cebu

I had a great time with the Earth Hour celebration sponsored by the Aboitiz Group of Companies last weekend in The Persimmon Plus, a condominium complex in Mabolo, Cebu City.

I was invited by a friend in my SFC community, Lhai Espina to join the activity.

We assembled in the Aboitiz main office in Banilad. Before heading to The Persimmon Plus, there was a short talk given by running enthusiast Raymund Bontol, MD, for employees and guests. This is not related to the Earth Hour but to Aboitiz's thrust for a healthier workforce. They are planning to organize a running club.





After the talk, the walkathon started. We walked from Banilad to Mabolo.



This is the Metaphil group, that had adopted me for the activity...



It was already dusk when we reached The Persimmon Plus...



This is the facade... This is not completely filled. Construction is still ongoing for some outlet space.



Stairs leading to another section of the complex. This was set as the stage for the night's program.



The opening act was from a local band called Pandora. The band is surprisingly good, and I was impressed. They also sang one of their originals.



After Pandora, another group followed. And then, the much awaited fire dance. I was so taken by the dancers' performances that I have made so many, many shots...



Below are some of my favorites...

Notice the difficulty of the dancer's posture in this one...



This shot is quite overexposed for me, but I like how the light trails formed here...



Intertwining spirals...



Noticed the dragon head?



I'd call these as the different lemon peels...













And this lady held the fire balls dangerously close to her face...



There are other dances presented like the Igorot dance and "singkil." However, the fire dancing has magical effects when captured by a camera.

This I guess is a good endeavor by the Aboitiz group in making a stand for the environment and doing it in a fun-filled way.

For the Coffee Table Book - Issue #20

I had a great time with the Earth Hour Celebration sponsored by the Aboitiz Group of Companies a few hours ago in The Persimmon Plus, a condominium complex in Mabolo, Cebu City. Special thanks to Ms. Lhai Espina for the invitation...

This is one of the many fire dancers who mesmerized the crowd... (One thing good with having a new DSLR is that I get to post pics a lot faster. Hehehe...). Will have a full post dedicated for this event in a day or two...

The 17th Panaad sa Negros

Panaad sa Negros is a yearly event in Negros Occidental held during summer. It is a weeklong fiesta celebration showcasing the different attractions and produce of every town and city in the province.

"Panaad" is a Hiligaynon term which means vow or promise. In the olden days, farmers and fishermen would usually vow to hold celebrations as an act of thanksgiving for a bountiful catch or an abundant harvest. Thus, the Panaad sa Negros is a yearly festival of thanksgiving for all the blessings the town and the cities had received. Each town has a booth showcasing their best produce at very affordable prices.

This year is the 17th year of the Panaad sa Negros Festival. It started on March 20 and will end on the 27th. In recent years, this is the earliest time of the year that this festival was held. Usually, it is scheduled mid or late April.

Since I was in Bacolod during the opening day, I took the opportunity to take some photos. I wanted to take pictures of the different participants for the Festival Dance competition. In this contest, every town and city presents their best festival dance.

As I was waiting for my jeepney ride to the Panaad Park (yes, there is a very large park dedicated for this yearly activity), the parade of the different contingents passed by. Here's a picture of the Bacolod contingent...



After several minutes of waiting, I saw a bus with a "free ride" sign. Shameless that I am at times for photo ops like this, I asked if I could hitch. The bus slowed down and I was able to save a few pesos for the fare to the park... :) Many thanks to the Super Ferry staff!!! "Sakay na!"





When I arrived at the stadium, I was again lucky to be wrongly labeled as part of the press. And so, I had no difficulty in getting near the stage, near the contestants and in the stadium grounds. One person with a press ID even asked me for my publication outfit. I smiled and said, "It's CWW." He nodded and said "I see", faking his acknowledgment, as if he knew what CWW meant... Haha!

The Ati-atihan contingent...



Another group in black. I think their group is from a festival about "murto" or ghosts...



A muse of one of the competing groups...



The following pictures remind me of Mulawin. They are from a town famous for fighting cocks. It was hard to do a shot containing the entire group. So I decided to fill the frame with two of their dancers. This I guess is the advantage of zoom lenses.





This group had really colorful costumes...





The next pictures are of the Masskara dancers of Bacolod City. They performed as guests and not as contestants.





Of the many freezing shots I made when the competition started, this I guess is my favorite.



I was not able to stay until the end of the competition as I had another appointment. I missed out on my hometown's spectacular festival dance "Bailes de Luces." It is always put in the end as the performance requires all the lights to be turned off. One will only see the dancing lights coming from the participants.

The Panaad Festival is ongoing until the 27th of March. If you are in Bacolod, go and check it out...

WP is Acting Up!!!

This is just to let all those WP site owners in my blogroll know that I have been following your sites and have been leaving comments.

Much to my dismay, I have found out today that my comments were discarded.

I searched through the WP forums to find irrelevant answers. Anyways, you may want to review your spam comments and you may find my comments there. Hopefully....

For the Coffee Table Book - Issue #19

On our way to Eden Nature Park in Davao, we stopped by a fruit stand. And I saw these fruits used as decorations. At first I thought they belong to the citrus family. A sister in my community told me it is called mickey mouse plant.

Mr. Google told me the plant's scientific name is solanum mammosum. It is also called nipple fruit. It is also considered a medicinal plant in many areas in the Philippines.