We survived the photo expedition! =)

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We survived! Finally, after months of planning and organizing the Batad and Banaue Photo Expedition, we did it! =) The trip itself proved to be quite physically challenging (I am no mountain-person [I love the flat seashore especially during low tide!] so doing a 3-hour trek on rocky little steps that is just about a ruler and a half wide at the edge of a mountain just to get to Batad was no easy feat for me! Going through the rice terraces in the middle of a thunderstorm was another thing! =] ) …but anyways, it was all good …there were hardships along the way, not to mention the unpleasant incident on the afternoon before the trip that started it all but because I had my you-know-who-you-are with me, cheering me up along the way with his happy songs and always sunny disposition, everything was so much more bearable =) …. Organizing a trip like that was, overall, a good learning experience for me …I learned that the next time I organize a trip, I will make sure it is more convenient and more comfortable for the participants…I will also make sure that we stick to the planned menu so we don't always end up having almost the same thing day after day...sheesh...someone who was supposed to make sure everything went by in the proper order as planned unfortunately did not do his homework nor did he value the agreements we made so i can't help but bitch about it here! =]

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Also, things I learned:

1.       ALWAYS bring garbage bags (because when it rains, you can wrap up your backpacks and gear bags in them, and you can also make little raincoats for your precious camera)

2.       There is a BIG difference between water-repellant and water-resistant! (duh! i knew that already but I wasn't really thinking about it and I learned it the hard way…I was wearing a light jacket with me that was water-repellant….and by the end of our trek, I was soaked inside out… =]

3.       Oreos and SkyFlakes are non-negotiable items for me…I always have them in my bag because…I’ll never know what my next meal will be =p

4.       Ok, ok, I won't just "dump" all my stuff on the ground so I can take pictures right away...Sorry for making my jacket/your jacket/our things dirty =( ...thank you, you-know-who-you-are, for not getting mad at me =]

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Happy times: ….reaching out and having you-know-who-you-are’s hand ready to hold during difficult steps especially during the thunderstorm … him carrying all my stuff up and down 50 million steps while he sang happy Carpenter songs (My darn heavy and painful thighs were killing me and I’m sure everyone felt this way about their thighs too…but he was there with his oh-so-positive disposition, spreading cheer not just to me, but to the other slow people who were with us too =) …happy thoughts of halo-halo, chowking, cheeseburger, my future fish-eye lens and the amazing thing he did with the big water bottle …tnx bby =) 

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Thanks to everyone who signed up and joined the trip: jeepney toploader and milk-tea sponsor Minnie, bug-lover shutterbug Wendell, Father and Son team Boy & Dan, cool photographer August, spunky and sassy Liela, funny attorney Allan, super serious attorney Charity, South Dakota super trooper Deb, quiet and low-key Gerry, super blogger Anton =)

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Foodie thanks: thanks Wendell for those 2 super yummy chocolate bars, and to Dan, for letting me finish his Nova chips...being stuck in the middle of nowhere then, those little things to me seemed heaven-sent! =)

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View the great Anton Diaz’s blog entry about surviving the trip here and his top 10 awesome experiences about the trip here =)

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View my photos taken from the photo expedition here! =)

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Comments

[Tatum]

I'm jealous! ring me up next time you have something like this!

[Jamie]

guess you're ready na to coordinate a fusionworks event?!/...congrats on your expedition!