Of Cancelled Flights, Gay Writers and a supermodel Photographer

Whoah! Been kinda late to update recently. I’ve been quite busy especially with the coming holidays and money just simply slips by so fast and I haven’t even completed buying gifts yet. Anyhow just some brief accounts of my 5 day long trip to Tuguegarao.

It was my first time going to Tuguegarao actually, which is the capital of Cagayan. I was accompanied by Büm, the associate Editor of the magazine who will also do a feature on the churches there. He’s kinda crippled at the moment after an accident during motorbiking in the sand dunes of Ilocos. Now he can’t climb stairs and has to be assisted. Accompanying him was the other Photographer, Sara, quite well known now in the industry as she has works in “People Asia” and shot popular celebrities as well. This half-filipina, half-british, standing at least 6 feet tall was a former commercial model as well (as I’ve been told), who later pursued her passion for photography and now have her own studio somewhere in Makati. At the age 23, I think she’s doing good with her career. She has an assitant with her to bring her Photgraphy stuffs along. A day later, another writer, Earl, who is a friend of Büm, followed.

The flight to Tuguegarao took only an hour but being beside the window, I was able to see the devastation of the storm “Yoyong” in the nearby provinces. The storm actually left “Tracks” on the landscape!

During the duration of the stay, we were able to visit some churches like the church of Piat, some caves like Callao and Sierra, did some kayaking and a little rapelling as well. Since we have a “Sporty” issue next, we had to take some nice action shots of the activity. We were accompanied by members of SMOC (Sierra Mountaineers Outdoor Club) Arvin and Jason, who were also the staff of our office there. They were kind enough to accomodate us there and show us around, as well as pose for our shots ( and repeatedly brave the currents of the Pincanauan River more than a couple of times).

I must say that I’m still getting used to this things. I never really expected to be on this trip and take some photos and I was so scared to screw it up. I’m more of hobbyist really and don’t have all the highend equipments like Sara do. Geez, I even have to borrow her Titanium Powerbook Mac to save my photos so I could clear up my Memory Card to shoot more photos. Anyways, she’s really nice as well and I’ve gathered some tips working with her as she has been working as a professional for a year now. I know I still have a lot more to go but I’m getting used to it. And I think I’m ready to do another assignement. Hehehe. More prepared now. And slowly will build up on more high end equipments so I can shoot more better photos.

And being with a new set of writers was also a learning experience. I could see their styles on how they work and how they try to get ideas and by how they interact with people. Both of the writers with us are both gay and they don’t deny that. But I must say professionally they are good. Büm is really a crowd drawer with his perky personality despite his injury. Earl on the other hand is more reserved and quiet but sharp and smart. Quite a movie critic as well.

The trip wasn’t without convenience though. Asian Spirit has this bad Habit of cancelling flights there, due to an earlier weather indication. Büm, Sara and her assistant Jerry was supposed to have left earlier Monday but the flight was cancelled. Büm had to a 10 hour long trip by Bus, despite his injury so he could meet up with a deadline on his other work. Sara, decided to move her appointments and stay until Wednesday. But when it was our time to leave, our flight was cancelled again! It was imperative that we leave though so there was no choice and had to fly on Air Philippines which didn’t cancel their flight! We got back to Manila in the afternoon and I was still able to catch our Xmas party that night! It’s kind of hard to promote a place like that if it cancels flight frequently like that. They should try to improve their guidelines on flight cancellations.

Still the trip was well worth it despite the inconveniences and I’ve learned a lot from this trip. Now I’m really excited to work on the next issue.