Palawan Escapade

This was my first time in paradise. I've never been to beautiful beaches like these. I wasn't an outgoing person to begin with. The reason was money. I only had a chance to go to ordinary beaches because of family outing kind of stuff. Well, that was a long time ago. Since I got my first job, I started to live the life I've always wanted. A life full of adventure. Thanks to my brother and his girlfriend, I was able to check off Palawan on my bucket list.

On our first day, we went island hopping in Honda Bay. We explored the beauty of some beaches in Puerto Princesa. We first went to Starfish Island, it is named as such because of the existence of various starfish in the island. It has a fine white sand. Then we went to Luli Island, which means lulubog-lilitaw. It is composed of 3 sand bars. The last island that we explored in Honda Bay was Cowrie Island. It was where we killed time before going back to our rest house.

Starfish Island

Luli Island

Cowrie Island

On our second day, we went to underground River. It was chosen as one of the New7Wonders of Nature. For me, there was nothing much to it since the exploration was limited. But it was a good experience. After exploring the underground river, we went to Ugong Rock for some adventures.

Puerto Princesa Underground River

Ugong Rock

On our third and fourth day, we finally went to El Nido. The beauty of El Nido is almost surreal: Endless white beaches, crystal clear waters and an underwater world, that will take your breath away. Paradise it is.

El Nido Beaches

I enjoyed every beaches in Palawan. There are still a lot of islands we haven't explored. I hope I can get back soon. 

It's Never Too Late To Sk8

"If Batman has batmobile, Wreckognyz has wreckboard."

Skateboarding is an action sport which involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard. Skateboarding can also be considered a recreational activity, an art form, a job, or a method of transportation. Well, everybody already knows that.

When I was just a little kid, I always wanted to have a skateboard. For me, it's cool to have one, especially when you are riding it. Unfortunately, my parents were the conservative type so they didn't let me have one. As a kid, I remember watching The Simpsons where Bart was skating all over Springfield. Those were the times that I really wanted to have one. Growing up as a kid, skateboard was not popular in my hometown. There was no resources, no skateboarders so I gave up on having one. Time flies and it started to become popular in my hometown. More resources, more skateboarders. Guess what? No, I still didn't get one since I'm not the type that follows trend and I thought I'm done of wanting to have one. My frustration went to collecting skate shoes. I thought it's too late for me to skate.

Years later, around early 2011, I heard that my cousin was playing skateboard so I decided to have one again. One of the reasons why I didn't want to have skateboard anymore was because I don't have friends to play with. Since I thought I already  have one that time, it gave me reason to get one, that's until my cousin's skateboard broke. He lost his interest on playing skateboard coz he's financially not capable of maintaining one. Poor me, I don't have someone to play with again, so I didn't get one.

Fortunately, because of this mini-cruiser, cruiser and long board craze, I had a friend that got into it. To cut the story short, yes, I got one now. Skateboarding is now one of my hobbies and I have the passion for it. Some of my family and relatives always tells me that I'm old for this shit but I don't give a damn. This is one of those things that I always wanted to do when I was just a little kid. I guess I'll never grow up until I have done all the things I wanted that I wasn't able to as a kid. It's like I'm looking for something lost, something from my childhood, maybe that’s why I never really matured.

Surfing, you're next. :)

Team Higup at Pico De Loro

This isn't my first time hiking a mountain but this was the first time I went hiking with my friends. Some said that Pico De Loro is the most difficult mountain to climb. Well, for beginners, at least. Its trail is not as easy as you think. You will trek through forests, streams, and scale inclines.

This was one of the most exciting adventures I've experienced because we went there not to achieve anything but to just have fun. There were trails that we were just racing. We'll rest for a bit then race again. It took us at least 2-3 hours to reach the summit.

After reaching the camping site, we set our tents up, and enjoyed the view. We played around while taking pictures. We took our lunch then drinking session afterwards. The worst thing that happened to me was I got so drunk. I forgot to drink moderately. The next thing that happened was history.

Lesson learned, if you are on an adventure like this, please drink moderately. I wasn't able to enjoy the summit coz of severe hangover. Good thing I was able to recover before we went back down. Overall, I enjoyed this adventure with my friends and hoping for another one with them.

Bantakay Falls and Cave Adventure

This was my first adventure with Adventurista Camping Trip, it's a group of backpackers led by Maximus Jovi that loves to explore and travel beautiful places in the Philippines. This was the first time I joined and met them. Exploring Bantakay Falls and Cave in Atimonan, Quezon .

This is a good climb for first timer since it is considered to be a minor trail in terms of its difficulty. It will take 2-3 hours of trek from the jump off point up to camping site; and back again to the jump off point. The trek was not that easy since most of the trail was cemented. It was hard to walk on a wet cemented trail because of rain.

Once we reached the camping site, we set our tents up and took our lunch. We were supposed to climb to go to Bantakay Cave after lunch but since most of us were already tired because of  the trek on the wet cemented trail, we just decided to enjoy Bantakay Falls. Then drinking session and social activities till the lights out.

The next day, we went to Bantakay Cave. It was my first time climbing via akiki trail and it was so exciting. It was hard. Once we reached the destination, we explored the beauty of Bantakay Cave. After exploring, time to go home.

The aftermath from the trek to Bantakay Cave via akiki trail tortured me going back to the jump off point. It gave me so much pain. Muscle pain. But it was a good experience. No pain, no gain. :)

I would like to thank Maximus Jovi and Adventurista Camping Trip for this wonderful experience. More adventure soon.

Photos courtesy of Maximus Jovi and Adventurista Camping Trip

Dutdutan '13 x First Tattoo

I made a bow to myself that I will never  go to a Dutdutan event without a tattoo. For me, that place is sacred for people who are tattoo enthusiast. It's like, if you don't have tattoo, you don't belong, unless you went there to get one. That's what I did, I went there without tattoo, and went out with one. It was also the first time I saw P.O.D. performed live. It was awesome.

Dutdutan '13 ticket

Wreckognyz at Dutdutan '13

Getting inked by Erwin Pascual

P.O.D. performing live in Dutdutan '13 (video clip)

CLICK HERE

Edward La Torre Photography 2.0

Edward La Torre Photography 2.0 is now activated. Deleting old photos with old watermark, completed. Re-posting old photos with new watermark, completed. Updating photo albums' timeline, completed. Rebirth of the photography page, completed.

Visit my page on: https://www.facebook.com/edwardlatorre

A Date with Two of My Beautiful Cousins

I received a call from one of my closest cousins, Cheryl. She invited me to join her on her trip to Tacloban. The reason why she wanted to go to Tacloban was because of her younger sister, Jean Ann. She is working there as a medical representative. So we visited Jean Ann and and explore the beauty of Tacloban and Leyte.

We were supposed to arrive in Tacloban early in the afternoon but we arrived late due to delayed flight. Well, that's life. We met with Jean Ann at Tacloban Airport then we went to Calle Z, one of her favorite bar and restaurant. They have good food. It's a good place to hang out to.

On our official first day, we first went to Canigao Island in Matalom, Leyte. The area is known for abundant fishing grounds and scenic coral reef areas suitable for diving. The beaches have white sand, with tropical sea creatures and extensive coral reef in the surrounding waters. We only stayed half day.

After lunch, we went to Agas-agas Bridge in Sogod, Southern Leyte. It is said to be the tallest bridge in the Philippines. It was built to avoid the perennial landslide dangers in the area during heavy rains. Due to tourism potential, they are planning to have activities for tourists but only the zip line is operational which we tried. It was awesome. It's longest zip line I've tried so far. After we got back to the hotel, we met with Jean Ann's friend and had dinner at Ocho's Seafood and Grill. My cousin has good taste for restaurants. She didn't disappoint our stomach.

On our second day, we went to General Douglas McArthur Park in Palo, Leyte. It was created to commemorate Gen. Douglas MacArthur famous parting words “I Shall Return” that he made good of his promise before he left the country after its downfall to the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. After that, we drove around the famous San Juanico Bridge. It is the longest bridge in the Philippines that stretches from Samar to Leyte. Then we had lunch at Pasqualino's Ristorante Italiano. It's an expensive ristorante but the place will amaze you since they have overview of the famous San Juanico Bridge. As I said earlier, my cousin has good taste for restaurants.

After 2 long days, it's time to go back to Manila. We really enjoyed our stay here in Tacloban. Thanks to Jean Ann, we were able to see the beauty of Tacloban and Leyte. It was a good experience.

Canigao Island

Canigao Island

Agas-agas Bridge

General Douglas McArthur Park

San Juanico Bridge

Pasqualino's Ristorante Italiano

Pasqualino's Ristorante Italiano