Sunday, March 9, 2025

My Trip to Bicol 2025

I started my trip from Canyon Woods in Laurel, Batangas, which is about 10 kilometers from the border of Tagaytay and Nasugbu.


I rode a jeepney to Lemery around 10:00 AM. After about an hour, I arrived at the town center. I took some pictures of the usual subjects of my trip: the main church (usually located in the Población), the munisipyo (town hall), Rizal's monument, the palengke (marketplace), the town plaza, or some ancestral houses.




My next stop was Batangas City. I did the same thing there. Then, I rode a jeep to the Grand Terminal, which is located about 45 minutes from the town center. To my surprise, there weren’t many buses going to Bicol, or at least to Quezon. I asked some bystanders, and they pointed me in the right direction.

Fortunately, there was a non-air-conditioned bus going to Lucena, which is the "bottleneck" city for buses going to Bicol. Almost all buses pass through this part of Quezon Province. I left Batangas City at 2 PM, and the travel took almost 4 hours. The bus that was supposed to go from Batangas City to Lucena passed through other towns like Candelaria, Sariaya, and others.




Finally, by 6 PM, I was in Lucena City. I roamed around the Población area and took pictures of my usual subjects. I also had dinner at KFC. By 7 PM, I was at the Grand Terminal (which is not as grand as its name suggests). There were two bus companies traveling to Bicol. By 10 PM, I was en route to Bicol via Raymond Transport.




The bus had trouble around midnight somewhere in Quezon Province. A mechanic was in the aisle of the bus and went down a stairway leading to the engine. The bus reached Sorsogon City by 10 AM. Yup, it was a 12-hour trip.

The bus' signage indicated it was going to Gubat (Sorsogon), but I was too tired to travel further, so I got off at Sorsogon City. I rode a tricycle (P22) to the city center, took pictures of the church and other landmarks, and had lunch at Jollibee. It was raining that morning.




By 12 PM, I was on a mini-bus to Matnog, Sorsogon, the southernmost part of Luzon. The trip took 1.5 hours. There wasn’t much to see in Matnog, except for the arch that marks the departure from Luzon Island. I took pictures of the church, peed at a nearby construction site within the church compound, had some bread at a local bakery, and then returned to Sorsogon City.




By 3 PM, I was on my way to Daraga, Albay. The trip was also 1.5 hours long. It was cloudy when I arrived. I had to climb a hill where the church was located. It felt like I was in Baguio City. Then I saw it—Mayon Volcano.




Its peak was covered by clouds, but it still looked majestic. I took pictures and videos, visited the municipal hall and palengke, then rode a jeep to Legazpi City.

The RedDoorz I booked was located far from the city center. I had to ride another jeep via Rawis, get off at Pag-Asa Street, and walk about 300 meters to Narra Street, where it was located. There were actually two RedDoorz locations there, one of which was RedDoorz Mariners.




I had dinner at a nearby carinderia. The tapa was delicious and only P75. By 7 PM, I was already in bed.

I woke up around 4 AM. By 4:30 AM, I was already walking toward the giant statue of Our Lady of Salvacion. Fortunately, the road was lit, but I swear, I thought I saw "white ladies" twice, just out of the corner of my eye. It still gives me the creeps as I remember it today while writing this story.




The distance was about 2 kilometers from RedDoorz. The sunrise was scheduled for about 5:50 AM. Thankfully, it wasn’t as cloudy as the day before. I was able to take some good shots of the famous natural wonder and even created a video. I also realized that there’s a smaller Mayon on the opposite side of the larger one.

Around 6:30 AM, I rode a tricycle to the Cagsawa Ruins. The fare was P150, and it was quite a long ride. There was a marker beside the Legazpi-Guinobatan Road, and I walked about 200 meters over a bridge. On my left was the Cagsawa Ruins complex/park.




There was a P45 entrance fee to the park, plus a P20 fee to enter another park closer to Mayon, with a koi fish pond. There were lots of flowers that I used as foreground in my pictures of Mayon.

I saw the signage for Sumlang Lake and decided to visit. There are some popular photos of Mayon Volcano with its reflection on Sumlang Lake. I took another tricycle for P150, but there were jeepneys plying the Legazpi-Guinobatan Road.




There was a P100 entrance fee to the park. The place was nice, with a restaurant that opens at 10 AM. It was very Instagrammable. I also saw an actual Pili tree and the abaca plant, which is very similar to a banana plant.

From Sumlang Lake, I rode a jeepney back to Legazpi City and walked around the city center. The Albay Provincial Capitol was very near the Legazpi City Hall. I didn’t find a statue of Rizal, though.

I went back to RedDoorz, took a shower, grabbed my Dell bag, rode a tricycle, and then a jeep en route to Tabaco City. I thought there would be lots of tabak (big knives) in Tabaco City, but I didn’t see any.




I had lunch at the palengke. I had ginataang langka and toge, which cost around P60. I didn’t see any local kakanin. By 1 PM, I was in Tiwi, Albay.

I took some videos of the church complex, then took a picture of a nice Rizal statue in the middle of the plaza in front of the municipal hall. Then, I walked toward the beach (Lagonoy Gulf and Tiwi Beach). It was beautiful.




I returned to the plaza on an eTrike, then went back to Legazpi. With no other plans, I rode a bus back to Manila. By 2 PM, the bus left Legazpi City. It took 14 hours to reach Manila, specifically the Cubao area. I had breakfast at McDonald's. I got a stomach ache upon arriving in Manila, but thankfully, there was a nice restroom at McDo.

Before lunch last Tuesday, I was already snoring in my sleep.

Friday, November 1, 2024

The Ragnarok Mobile Game Is Out

The Ragnarok Mobile Game is out. It launched yesterday and so far, my first impression is that it is similar to Ragnarok M Eternal Love except for the graphics -- it retained the original graphics of the PC version of Ragnarok Online launched in 2003.



It works on my iPhone 14, POCO M6 Pro and even the Redmi A3 that I have. It also has an emulator for PC via the Google Play Beta, so I can also play it on my Acer Aspire Lite 15 laptop.

This one is more nostalgic that the Ragnarok M version because of the graphics. You really have to see it. The server is South East Asia (SEA) and the publisher is a Thai company. It's an official server.


Saturday, October 26, 2024

A Tale of 3 Printers

 

I started a printshop over a year ago, and my first printer was the Brother DCP-T420W. It’s a wireless printer with A4 scanner and can handle Letter, Legal (8”x13”) and A4 size papers. Ink usage is very efficient. Quality of print is better than my next printer, Epson L5290.



However, this printer has difficulty printing 3R, 4R and 5R size photo paper since it’s using the paper feeder at the back. It’s a hit and miss process. Once, there were ants that setup a colony inside the printer, and you could see it underneath the glass scanner bed. It also vanished after a few days. Since then, scanning / photocopy seems a bit hard because after a few documents, there would be a error that says “Can’t scan AF”

Brother DCP-T420W also prints slower than the Epson L5290.

The Epson L5290 was purchased a few months after the Brother. There’s no issue printing 3R, 4R and 5R on this. I usually use this for the rush ID requirements. It has an ADF for Long 8”x13” documents that needs to be scan or photocopy but it’s a hit and miss process. The Epson L5290 is also wireless capable.



It’s also susceptible for paper jam and I once bought it to the service center for this issue. After a year, it started having issues grabbing the paper (I always use 80 gsm paper) so I have to return it to the service center a 2nd time. The repairman said the rollers needs to be replaced. Unfortunately, it might take a month for it to be replaced since the parts needs to be ordered.

So I bought a 3rd printer – a Canon G2010. The design is similar to the Brother – it’s sturdy. No issues printing 4R and 5R. There was a known issue though – there’s no option for Folio or 8”x13” paper size in the dropdown menu if you right-click a file (JPG or PNG) and select Print. Already talked to a Canon technical support guy as well as install the latest driver, but the issue remains.



The solution I found is to convert the JPG and PNG file into a PDF. Then I customized an 8”x13” size in the Print Server Properties in Printers & Scanners. Then the Long size now appears on Word and whenever the PDF file is printed. Still, it’s a hassle and I hope Canon would find a driver to fix this.

The Canon G2010 also prints as fast as the Epson L5290. The price of Canon’s dye ink (I always use Original) is higher than that of Brother and Epson. The Canon G2010 however is not wireless capable. The one that is wireless capable is the higher model, G3010 but that would cost an additional P1,000. Since I already have 2 wireless capable printers, it won’t hurt if this 3rd printer is USB connection.

What are your current models of printer and what is your favorite?

Thursday, July 11, 2024

Hanggang Saan Aabot Ang P20 Mo?

School year 2024-2025 will start on July 29, 2024 and I’m excited for it. This is the 2nd school year that our small printshop, Larkspur Photocopy Services a.k.a. Larkspur Pasig / Larkspur Printshop, will cater to. I can’t believe it’s almost a year since I opened this shop. I believe I’m more prepared now. I have more equipment (like the ID size cutters) that will help me deliver a faster and more quality products.

My prices is still the same as last year and you’ll be surprise how affordable our prices is. Check out this infographics! Are you also excited for the upcoming opening of classes?

P20 - 1

Tuesday, December 26, 2023

Portfolio

I’m still working on my portfolio but I’m posting here some of the works I did for Mayon Camera Club and for my printshop Larkspur Photocopy Services.

"Different Celebrations" - 1

I use Canva to make the infographics for our monthly photo contest.

 

Project Anecdotes - 1

This is the cover of the book that we’re working on.

 

Taking a break - 1

I am the social media manager as well of our HS photography club, the Mayon Camera Club.

 

Official Calendar - Dec 28

I love doing this infographics and post it daily on the Facebook Page for Nagpayong Elementary and High School

 

Merry Christmas! and a Prosperous New Yea 2024! - 1

I am the COO and Social Media Manager of my own print shop that I started last August 2023.
 
Canva 500 Design Milestone Badge - 1

Now I have more than 500 lay out on Canva.

 

Print Shop - Vertical Printable Poster - Services
 
I mostly use Canva for the layout of posters for my print shot – Larkspur Photocopy Services.
 

 

VOTE - Luffy

A mock up campaign poster I did for the recent Barangay and SK Elections 2023.

 

March 2023 Smile - 1

Congratulations to me! Thank you Randy for modeling for me.

 

Dec 30, 2023 invite - 2

I still send printed Christmas cards using my pictures and I do the layout on Canva. 

 

Dec 30, 2023 invite - 1

I also make invitations for our annual yearend party with high school classmates.

 

Favorite Delicacy Dec 2023 - 1

I am the organizer of our monthly photo contest. So I make the certificates.

www.nayonphotographers.blogspot.com

 

Trying my luck at a VA Post

I've been reading a lot about Virtual Assistants (VA) from Reddit the past few weeks and it really sounded interesting. Imagine, being an Alfred to Batman or being Pepper Potts to Ironman -- that kind and level of being a personal assistant.

Happy Growing Old - 1

A certificate for Mayon Camera Club that I made in Canva

So I read some of the posts on how VAs market themselves to potential clients and it consists of a short intro about themselves, their skills and qualifications, the services they do and the software / applications they're familiar with. Some even add the benefits of having them as their VAs.

I created one for myself and followed the same format then posted it on Reddit. A few hours later, I got my first query. He's the telecoms CEO of a small VOIP company near Montreal, Canada. He's a great guy to chat with.

After the introduction, he asked me if I have a portfolio. I said I haven't created one yet but I did gave him my socials and blog URLs. He also asked me to create a mock up of a phone unit that he's selling. So here's the one I created for him as a tryout. I hope I pass.

I'm also including on this post, some of the things I created on Canva, PhotoScape and Lightroom. Some sort of portfolio posts. I'll also be listing down the blog sites I created and probably Wikipedia articles as well. Just about anything to showcase the things I can do for a client as a VA.

I really want to try this type of job and I believe with my experience working in the BPO, I can also work at home as a VA. I had experience working at home during the pandemic and I realized that there are really jobs that can be done at the comfort of one's home.

I could list down a couple of benefits of working at home but the main one would probably be avoiding travel and heavy traffic here in Metro Manila. I am currently spending 4-5 hours of travel time back and forth to our office near Trinoma. That time can better be used doing virtual jobs at home.

Wish me luck guys! I hope I could land a VA job.

Old But Gold - 1

12192023_Books - 1

Here are some of the certificates I made on Canva.

Sunday, November 26, 2023

New Cover Photo

Cover Photo v2B&W November 2023

How often do you change your Facebook cover photo and profile pic?

I initially planned to change it once a month to showcase my favorite pictures I’ve taken recently. However, I’m officially not a DSLR user right now. My Pentax K-S1 suddenly stopped working. It’s no longer turning on. It’s out-of-warranty and I am debating whether to have it fix or not.

Good thing is, I’m an iPhone 14 user now. My older iPhone 12 was replaced with this one by the ISP that I represent as a a coordinator on Reddit. Yup, I work part-time as a go-to person for people who post their internet issues on Reddit.

Other than that, nothing much is new with me. I started a printing shop business a few months ago and right now, I’m still trying my best to capture a decent amount of loyal customers. I am hoping to have at least 1% of the total population of Nagpayong Elementary School, Nagpayong Daycare Center and Nagpayong High School. I’m hoping to achieve it by year end.

If you haven’t Like or follow my printing business – called Larkspur Photocopy Services – you may go to www.larkspurpasig.wordpress.com Yeah I know, I’m a bit old-school by using blogs but I am trying my best to post regularly on my TikTok account. Hope you guys could promote that as well.

Other than that, I’m pretty much the same person. A corporate slave who works 8 hours a day, 5 days a week at a local in-house, financial company in Vertis North. Our client is based in the UK and is also catering to payment solutions in Ireland. So my schedule’s pretty much a mid shift.

I am also a “lolo” now, through my niece Trisha. She’s now a mom of a lovely baby girl named Violet. So I’m pretty much integrating the color to the design and color scheme of Larkspur Photocopy Services. Violet and Larkspur almost share the same birth month.

We’re almost done with 2023 and it’s a great opportunity to start over, rethink our goals and strategies, plan and move forward to new adventures. For the nth time, I am promising to be more active on this blog and my other social media channels. I’ve been active on Twitter aka X and on YouTube recently due to the Israel-Hamas war. I am really hoping that Israel would wipe out Hamas. I’m also hoping that Ukraine would be given the go signal to go all-out-war on Russie to stop Putin’s madness.

That’s all for now and hope to see you in the next post.