COLORCHROME Photography

Some moments just shouldn't slip past us without leaving anything of which to remember it by. Thanks to the discovery of photography that allows us to capture good memories in still imagery.

ColorChrome is one of the emerging groups in Cebu that offers photography services for occasions such as weddings, birthdays, and any other arranged photo shoots. The team, a crew of six photographers, are hobbyists who value the need to record special moments of fun, elegance, and significance into souvenirs of a great experience.

Here below are ColorChrome's latest services and package rates:

Wedding Coverage	Price
Inclusions:    - Crew of 5-6 (4 Photographers and 2 Staff)    - Photo coverage from Preparation, Ceremony, up to Reception    - AVP of pictures edited on-site (pics and music)    - High resolution JPEG copies of all pictures (raw and edited) taken during the event in a DVD.    - 100 pcs 4R prints	13,000
Pre-Nuptials
Inclusions:    - Crew of 3 (2 Photographers and 1 Staff)    - High resolution JPEG copies of all pictures (raw and edited) taken during the event in a DVD    - AVP for presentation (pics and music)    - 1 (6x4 feet) Tarpaulin for backdrop	5,000
Photobooth
Inclusions:    - Crew of 2 (2 Staff)    - 2 hours usage    - Unlimited prints    - Studio setup    - Props    - JPEG copies of all pictures taken during the session *    For every additional hour, a reasonable amount of 1500 Php is charged.   ** Price for this service does not include any rental or electricity charges imposed by the establishment. It should be shouldered by client.	4,000
Add-ons:	Price
1 (40pages) 8x10 Leather album	8,000
1 (20 pages) 6x8 Photobook of pictures taken during the pre-nup session	3,500
1 (20x30 inches)Blown-up picture (glossy paper)	1,800
1 (20x24 inches)Blown-up picture (glossy paper)	1,400
1 (20x24 inches)Blown-up picture (glossy paper)	1,000
1 (24x36 inches) Blown-up picture (canvass)	3,000
1 (24x30 inches) Blown-up picture (canvass)	2,500
1 (20x24 inches) Blown-up picture (canvass)	2,100
1 (16x20 inches) Blown-up picture (canvass)	1,500

 Book your event with us!

Contact ColorChrome at info.colorchrome@gmail.com.

Corregidor: A Walk Through the Ruins

At P500 a night, The Lodge accommodation already provides a full bed for two regular-sized adults, an extra bed, and own bathroom. One needs not be very picky to survive a bathroom that only has a curtain for a door. The place has no canteen but it has a little pantry, such that, if you need to drink hot coffee and make payments early at dawn, you just have to wake the attendants to get all that done.

As soon as everyone has packed, we hailed a trike for P40 to get us to the Cabcaben Pier. We were told that the earliest time boats are available is 5am. We got there at 5:30am and were told to wait for the owner of the boat so we can make the necessary negotiations for the price. While waiting, we watched the gradual appearing of sunrise until its full encompassing glare. Just somewhere in one of the junctions of the street stretching from the baywalk, we got excited by the smell of hot arroz caldo. We bought and ate their local produce for breakfast to store enough energy for the anticipated journey to the historic Corregidor Island.

Here are the prices of my energy boosters:
 Arroz Caldo (rice congee) - P20
 Puto (rice cake) - P10
 Malagkit - P6
 Biko - P6

Take-out snacks: Mr. Chips (P20) and Mineral Water (P15).

CABCOR (Cabcaben-Corregidor Motorboat Association) is a cooperative for the seafarers whose motorboats are rented and hired for a trip to and fro Corregidor and Bataan. They are responsible of regulating the standard rental fees of the said motorboats. In as much as we would have wanted our route to proceed from Corregidor to Manila, we were unable to insist since the trips going to Manila are monopolized by Sun Cruises. We sealed Bataan-Corregidor-Bataan negotiation at P3000 for 1 motorboat.

After being at sea for over an hour, we docked at the port of Corregidor. From afar, one could already sense the quietness and almost deadening silence that only the splashing waves seem to break. We may have been the earliest tourists that day.

An entrance fee of P150 per person is collected inside the ticketing office. The hourly rate for the jeepney transport cost us P800 which already covers the major spots in the entire island. More than the boat ride, the jeepney experience was both arduous and fun. My only problem then was the limited time we were given per stop. Because we hired it only for an hour, the driver was very stringent in terms of time compliance that it kind of pissed me off. There were so many great places in the island to take pictures of but 5-minute stops are hardly enough to get creative juices to work. Nonetheless, I decided to shake the frustrations off by moving fast, covering as far as I can get myself with the 5-minute allowance and shooting trigger-happily.

Our last stop was near the back part of the Mile-long Barracks. We entered the museum to get a glimpse of the islands history and gain understanding of the reasons behind the war that happened a long time ago which left 900 dead and 1,200 wounded from the Japanese troop and 800 dead and 1,000 wounded from the US and Filipino defenders. (1) Although the Japanese have seiged Corregidor, the effort put in by both our local troop and American allies have definitely delayed their scheduled attack to other nations like Australia.

These preservation of remains and ruins of the past has allowed us a peek to the struggles our descendants had to go through to win freedom for all. They have not ceased to assert their ownership of the Philippines even if it cost them their last breath. They are the unnamed and unsung heroes who knew that our God -given justice, Filipino identity, and freedom are worth fighting for. 

Corregidor, to this day, stands a witness of the bloodshed that once was. I would be dishonest if I say that the visit did not bring chills and there was nothing creepy about it. In fact, the horror and scare continued even on my way back from Bataan to Manila. One female soldier at her late twenties sat beside me on the bus and testified that she had friends who came back haunted by the ghosts of Corregidor. She said a few had to overcome nightmares in the evening and ghost apparitions after their visit. To me, it was more of the sad recollection of deaths and killings that pulled me down.

In reflection, greed and haughtiness always have its own repercussions. Amplifying them by personal nurture can bring forth death both on the guilty and the innocents. Live content.

Further readings:
(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corregidor 

How broke was I?

It started here:

Where to Stay in Angeles
Where to Eat in Angeles
Korean Bakery
Pampanga's Ikabud
A Beautiful Aftermath
Treetop Hopping and Dropping
Where Humans are Strangers
Befriending Bataan
The Splendor of the Shrine of Valor
The Past Today

The Past Today

From the top of Mt. Samat, we headed back down to Diwa Hi-way through the same trike that took us on the way up. During the descent, we were engaged by the tricycle driver to a conversation with the obvious intent to convince us to hire his cab for the drive back to Bagac at P900. It got us a little confused at first but we eventually decided not to take his offer and will try to wait for a passing jeepney or bus at the highway instead. We paid him P75, crossed the street, and true as hoped, a jeepney stopped, not even 15 minutes since we started waiting. Off we went back to Bagac terminal. From the terminal, we messaged Kuya Willie to take us to their eatery for lunch.We ate as if we skipped 2 meals that day:

  sauted gourd (upo) - P35
  chicken escabeche - P35
  laing - P35
  shrimp sinigang (sour shrimp stew) - P35
  rice - P10
  soda - P15

I especially like Ate Marivic's "chicken escabeche" because from where I came, escabeche is a fish recipe. After eating, we hurried to make it in time for the next tour schedule in Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar which was at 3PM. Once again, Kuya Willie and his wife, our unexpected hosts, were very kind to get us all set for Las Casas. We were taken to meet a quiet and decent kid whose name escaped my memory (my bad .. tsk) and with whom we were chaperoned to the site.

As soon as we arrived, we registered and entered through the huge bricked arc entrance. Before our very eyes stood beautiful Spanish houses laid out like they do in most villas and subdivisions. The 400-hectare area includes a rice field that extends to the mountain, Umagol River, a pool and many more.

We were just in time for the tour so we squeezed ourselves in the crowd of tourists to listen to the pretty guide in Filipiniana dress. She took us from one house to another while giving glimpses of every house's history. The stories behind each house were interesting especially that she details the beginnings until how the houses were turned over to the Acuzars. One story caught everyone's attention about one of the houses, Casa Unisan, formerly owned by a surviving member of the prominent Maxino family in Quezon during the Japanese occupation. It was said that the youngest child was the lone survivor when the family massacre happened in the hands of Japanese tulisan. The yaya's decision to keep the child hidden inconspicuously saved the boy's life. Today, the lower ground of the said house was converted into a restaurant.

Spanish Artifacts

 While house hopping, i noticed that the backyard of one of the houses had what looked like a poultry.
Fat feathery roosters freely roamed the place making it feel like as if you have visited a home in a not very expensive province. It kind of make you forget that day tour costs P600 pesos (prices may have changed). When the tour ended, we maximized what little time we had left to take pictures of the houses without the distraction of loitering tourists. We roamed amazed at the different carvings and sculptures scattered around the vicinity. Of course, we took time to pose for a picture with the sole mode of transportation in the location -- kalesa.

We bore the heat of the day and took our time to enjoy the place. Our last stop was at the famed pool which is open for swimming even for day trippers. When it was already 4PM, we were taken to the terminal by Kuya Willie for our bus ride to Balanga, then to Cabcaben in Marivelles where we leave for our trip to Corregidor, the day after.

The activities we did that day is best described as historical. It was so enlightening and stoking to be transported through time and feel the way our Filipino soldiers felt during the war and at the same day walk along the streets adorned with beautiful Spanish houses which tell a lot about why we are who we are. It's like finding missing pieces of the puzzle and every piece brings an answer to the questions we held on for so long. Travels certainly widen our perspective and understanding.

Here's my breakdown of expenditures on the second half of day 4.

 

Backtrack:

 Befriending Bataan

The Splendor of the Shrine of Valor

See Yahoo pictures of Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar here.