Balay ni Bambit Kapauan Gaerlan » On the road

Scott Kelby’s Annual World Wide Photo Walk

Bambit — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 00:08:52 +0000

My walk, which will take walkers through a train ride on the Philippine National Railways from Tutuban to Alabang, is here:

http://worldwidephotowalk.com/walk/manila-ncr-philippines-2/

I went on a test ride (first time!) yesterday and snapped a few stolen ones with my digicam:

Application Status: On Hold

Bambit — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 08:19:30 +0000

I put in a bid to be a walk leader at Scott Kelby’s World Wide Photo Walk 2010 last Tuesday, June 1. After a couple of suspenseful days, I got this message in my email:

from   Worldwide Photo Walk
to   bambit.gaerlan@gmail.com
date   Thu, Jun 3, 2010 at 11:13 AM
Subject: Photo Walk – Well… Maybe.

You’re getting this email because, well…we haven’t decided if your walk is approved or not yet. Here’s why…

There’s already a Photo Walk happening in your area that isn’t quite full yet. Since the Worldwide Photo Walk is a social event, it works best when a walk has a lot of people, so if that walk starts to fill up, we’ll approve the next walk request on the list, and that could well be you (well, it’s probably you, but ya never know).

When will that be? We don’t know. It could be tomorrow. It could be in a couple of weeks. It may not happen at all, but either way, at least it’s not a “no!”.

But we wanted to let you know what was up so you wouldn’t be wondering why you hadn’t gotten a response.

Good Luck! We’re rootin’ for ya!

– Thanks
The Photo Walk Team

It took me a full minute to digest all this, and then realized that by “your area” they meant Metro Manila.

By golly.

I replied to this email, but it turned out that pw2010@kelbymediagroup.com is an unattended one that does not accept replies.

This was what I had written:

Hi Photo Walk Team,

If Metro Manila is what you consider my are — that’s a HUGE area.

My proposal, a ride on the old Philippine National Railways line, is a historical ride as well. It hopes to document the re-emergence of the Philippine Railway system, which up to now is sadly neglected by both the government and foreign investors.

My walk will document each station from Tutuban to Alabang, a total of 16 train stations starting in the heart of old commercial Manila and ending at Muntinlupa City.

I have asked for the necessary permissions from the PNR administrators, offering them the pictures that I personally will be taking during the walk, for use on their website and for general marketing, as my personal contribution to this sector of transportation.

A few photographers who know about my walk are rooting for me here too, because no one has of yet thought of leading a walk this way.

And perhaps the reason why the other walks in the Metro Manila area are not filled up yet is because they’re waiting for a walk that is DIFFERENT from the usual routes.

Yes, the walk I have proposed is different. I hope you do approve it.

Bambit Gaerlan

And I honestly hope they do.

Mulling moves and pulling roots

Bambit — Sat, 29 May 2010 23:51:51 +0000

While I would have given anything to have seen my co-worker Ejay and his groomsmen in tuxedos, something came up on the day before his wedding that I had to attend to. Much as I wanted to go to the church and bid Ejay and his bride Maye the best of luck and happiness, a phone call from my father preempted that and presented a situation that I had to discuss with my husband Cris as soon as possible.

The situation presented was the possibility of pulling up our roots again and moving back to where we came from six years ago. Then again, my life has always been about movement and change, and having blogged about it as having completed the circle may have been writing too early.

I have moved house 18 times in my lifetime. Turns out we may have to move a couple more.

On the road

Bambit — Sat, 29 May 2010 23:39:17 +0000

On the way up to La Union a couple of weekends ago, the NLEX stretch was marred by no less than five vehicular accidents involving vehicles of varying sizes. Every now and then the local news on the radio would mention something about each accident in turn, the worst of which was two cargo trucks, one that rammed into the other at about four o’clock in the morning, and had caused the death of four people.

Accidents like this should make vehicle owners think about getting an auto insurance quote, especially when some people actually do without it to skip the expense. Freight moving companies should also have accident insurance for their drivers and truck personnel. Sadly though, with the dearth of jobs available these days, some drivers and helpers accept jobs that offer no insurance.

Some drivers who have heard of this accident say at least one of the truck drivers may have fallen asleep at the wheel. This is another sad fact about a drivers job. Some are so constrained by schedules that sleep or rest seem out of the question, and when fatigue takes over, accidents like this happen.

Visita La Union

Bambit — Fri, 21 May 2010 00:15:57 +0000

The Gaerlan Family finally had our outing to La Union last weekend. A long planned and oft postponed trip, but at long last it happened. Maia had been nagging at us to take her to the beach, and it had been a long time since we visited Daddy Toming’s grave. My camera, although a year old now, has never shot San Juan, the Gaerlan hometown, and so there were several reasons for going.

Accommodations was never the problem, it was finding a way to get there that proved to be difficult. We appreciated the Gaerlan house, although partially unfinished and did not have any Kohler kitchen faucet, which was quite comfortable and convenient as well.

From there we could walk to the Plaza Amparo and to the Church of San Juan, and it was only a short ride to the beach and the watchtower.

We didn’t spend as much time there as we wanted. We left Manila early in the morning of Saturday, stayed overnight into Sunday and was back in Manila shortly after midnight on the following Monday. Next time we should plan a longer stay.