Trip to the Philippines: Baguio & Palawan

Luke and I had an amazing trip to the Philippines in March! We visited my sister Deborah, who lives and works in Baguio, and she took us on an adventure throughout Baguio City and the Palawan islands. There are so many islands in the Philippines, and they all have their own unique culture and even dialects. The main languages spoken are Tagalog and surprisingly, English! So we weren't too lost as tourists (I only know a few words, but my sister speaks it very well). The Filipino people are so friendly and welcoming (and the island dogs too-they are literally everywhere!). On Palawan we stayed on the northern tip in El Nido. It was so incredibly beautiful there, and we got to really enjoy the islands by taking boat tours, a small outrigger boat that hops around the many islands of the Bacuit Archipelago. Ive never seen sand whiter or more turquoise water! Luke and I kept joking we were in a pirate movie, since the scenery felt so otherworldly and gorgeous at every turn! We saw some awesome caves that you can swim into, as well as the best snorkeling we have ever seen. The water is so clear and the fish so colorful.

Oh and the food, so delicious everywhere we went! We ate the best mangos I've ever tasted in my life, so sweet and juicy. I got my fill of pancit, lumpia, and young coconut. We also tried ube for the first time, a root vegetable that's sweet like yams and made into jam and ice-cream. One night we split a whole fresh caught snapper, and it was amazing! The fishermen bring their catch to the restaurants and it's cooked that night on the grill. And the local beer from San Miguel brewery, a pale pilsen (for about $1) was perfect on a hot day after snorkeling. That beer is so light, and Luke usually drinks ridiculously hopped IPAs, but we enjoyed it so much, I think we drank it every night! 

We brought along a smaller camera this time, a Panasonic Lumix GX7  that was incredibly lightweight and easy to travel with on plane and boat. We took both photos and video, so he'll be editing a short highlight film from our trip. Coming soon!

Hawaii trip

Luke and I recently took our honeymoon trip to Hawaii in January. We got married back in August, but being in the thick of the wedding season we weren't able to take a vacation until winter. We spent three weeks on Oahu, Kauai and the Big Island. Luke and I had lots of lounging beach days, but we also took a week to do one of the most exhilarating and challenging hikes out there, the 11 mile Kalalau trail on the rugged Napali coast in Kauai. Heres a video Luke put together of some of the adventures we went on, from an amazing helicopter tour, backpacking the Kalalau trail, to snorkeling and swimming with dolphins. We cant wait to get back!

highlights from our trip:

- eating some of the freshest fish and best sushi we have ever had!!
- finishing the Kalalau trail, 4 days and 24 miles later!
- first beer and meal after the Kalalau trail (amazing)
- snorkeling with 19 dolphins! off two step on the Big Island
- checking out a Kona coffee plantation Greenwell Farms, that sells to Sweet Marias
- snorkeling with sea turtles at Richardson Park, Big Island
- Kona Brewing, enjoying some of their beers you can't get here on the mainland
- seeing whales breach off of Kauai (Hawaiian humpbacks)
- Luke cracking open a coconut for the first time with his new hatchet
- finding ripe papayas 5 for $1 at a farmers market, what?!
- Pamela not using a blowdryer for three weeks= awesome!

 

 

 

 

 

Wedding: Ours!

Pamela and I are getting married this Saturday on August 18th! We are so excited to share in the joy of joining our love and lives together in our own wedding. The planning process has been a lot of work (as we did most of it ourselves!) and we truly appreciate all those who do this for a living. We will be out of the office until the 25th, and it feels good to have almost two weeks off. We love our clients and will get back to you all as soon as we can!

~Luke & Pamela

Family Vacation: Colorado

The continental Divide

Every two years my family on my Moms side gets together for an amazing reunion in Colorado. This year we stayed in Fraser Colorado, and there were about 30 of us in attendance. (We typically have 50!) Pamela and I had a great time, hiking, swimming, rafting and enjoying the beautiful scenery. I'm especially fascinated with the CLOUDS. Here's a little time lapse footage I shot in about an hour one afternoon/evening. One evening there was a cloud that looked like a flying saucer! (See this, the last clip in the video).

Japan.

Japan was quite an adventure.  I didn't take the time to blog while in Japan as my internet access was limited.

My first night, we stayed in a capsule hotel.  It was pretty interesting, I am extremely supprised that these don`t exist in the US.

The Japanese culture absolutely fascinates me.  I had some of the best food I have ever tasted.

To round it up, some of the things I tasted;

-Chicken Sashimi (raw chicken)  My friend Aya took me to an amazing chicken restaurant.  Raw chicken has an amazing texture, similar to Maguro (tuna).
-Octopus, squid,
-Traditional Japanese breakfast; raw egg, nato (fermented soybeans), over rice.
-Beef sashimi (and a few other raw red meats I wont mention)
-Tons of curry (infinately delicious).
-Fish.  Sushi.  Sashimi. and more fish.  We visited a fish restaraunt where the owner had worked as a fisherman for decades.  He had great connections to get excellent fish.  I must have ate ten different parts/kinds of fish in that restaraunt alone.

I will be posting more photos and explaining a few things we did in detail.  I believe I may have actually shot more video than photos!  Kind of crazy.  I am SO jetlagged, so It may take me a couple days to start feeling normal again.

I plan to attempt to learn more Japanese over the next year and return to visit again.  Thanks a ton to my cousin Nate who showed me everything there was to see, and got me there.

A still life from the chicken restaurant.

One night we stayed in a great suite after a poker game with my cousins friends (view from the balcony pictured at night and morning).

Always chasing pretty light.

My cousin Nathan, myself and my cousin Mike

Chicken Sashimi, wonderful.

Photography in the Boundary waters.

Here are a few quick sample images from my Canoe trip.  I tried to treat the trip as a serious photography expedition however I found myself very much enjoying time away from technology.  I shot almost the whole trip without looking at the screen on my camera, it often reminded me of shooting film.

Been too long...

It has been far to long since my last post.  I had more computer issues recently, now resolved.  I returned back to California from my trip to Minnesota about a week and a half ago.  I'm currently going through several thousand photos I shot on the trip.

More later.

Sunsets in northern Minnesota are beautiful.

BWCA Trip!

I just returned to Rochester Minnesota after my Boundary Water Canoe Area trip.  We had an amazing time and I shot a lot of photos.  I won't be working on the photos for another week, but stay tuned for the updates as they come.

Been a week?

Wow, time often flies. I've been working a bit, and shooting a couple wedding videos. I leave in one week for Minnesota and my trip to the Boundary Waters in Northern Minnesota. TONS of photos to follow. I'm treating the trip as a serious photography expedition.

In the bordom inbetween my friend Alina sent me this a while ago...favorite movie ever.