General Tinio's people; the Papayans Unknown 7:45 PM

Although I'm not entirely sure if they're all locals of General Tinio's or Papaya's or Nueva Ecija's, but they're the people I found in General Tinio or Papaya, in Nueva Ecija.  But actually, I was just trying to compose a sentence and it was a success.. bad intro, but still an intro nevertheless.

My travel buddies were used to me taking stolen shots but they made it clear they don't like it, so I stopped and focused on the strangers instead.. which is more fun, and less awkward.  But I choose my subjects carefully because there are people who not only dislike strangers taking their pictures, but there are those who would think you are a paparazzi.  "Who do you think you are?  You're blocking my view! honestly!"  --that's always ready in my head in case someone approach me with a ready-to-slap-face.  But no, there's no way I could say that, I'd rather just ran away instead of facing the person I didn't mean to offend.  But seriously, you've got to be careful with what you do because you never know what people could do to you.  Golden rule, men, golden rule.

Although that scene almost happened when a foreigner kinda gave me a hand signal to not take her picture.  It's not "the finger" she waved, just a hand, but still.. they emerged in a spot I was focused on and they ruined it.. she and her boyfriend who's got a very nice tattoo at the back if I remember it correctly, it was a dragon.. green??.  I was waiting for them to be gone, but they stayed in that spot so I did what I had to do.

But again, there are those who are fine being my subjects and never mind at all.. and they give very nice results.

Both photos were taken at El Nido, Palawan.. the stories I will tell soon.  :)

moving on..

I did mention that I enjoy taking strangers' pictures; they're actually the highlights of my photos, and of my travel experiences.  I come for the place, but it would be incomplete if I don't get a good shot of these locals or even these tourists as they blend in the scene.  I don't talk to them to get their permissions because I always do it "ninja style", but this one is different.

I was in a bamboo boat, if you could call that a boat, but I was in a balsa or a bamboo float (I think that one's better; sounds cool, eh?) and this little girl noticed that I was taking their pictures.

Our float was going to the inner part of the lake, so I stayed in my phase and tried to catch her attention for another shot, and she gotta hurry because we're moving.  Luckily, I got a decent shot, at least for me, though she's not the center but still I like it.  I think that's her brother and I think that's her family.  And as you look closer, the guy on white sando was also having a time of his life.

That photo above was originally a dim shot, I was playing on the curves on Photoshop when I happen to lighten it and see his face.  I didn't know that could be possible.  I don't know what I'm doing most of the time in Photoshop, I'm just testing everything.. there's always 'undo', or save a copy just in case something bad happen, which is all the time.  The only bad part about this is that he looked like he came from a mud wrestling and went straight to Minalungao to drive the float, because our original driver left us.

(Unrelated)

There was actually a story about men being target of this mysterious creature living in Minalungao.  Apparently, this creature takes these men, good-looking men fyi of his/her desire leaving no traces of the targets' whereabouts.  So be careful, especially if you're not a good swimmer, because some parts of the river are really deep.. you can tell by the color; some are green, most is blue.  Go to the blue!

Seriously though, just enjoy the view, and make the most out of it.