The Nikon D3100- New Travelling Buddy

Letting go of my Sony H7?... Hmmm *it hurts*. LOL

I got my new toy last Feb 19, 2011. The Nikon d3100. I bought it at Mayer's Store in Hidalgo. It's cheaper than the mall price for about 6-8k difference. It also comes with free 4gb SD card, Camera bag and 1 year shop warranty. Not bad!, This is my first ever DSLR camera and I'm happy with this model. I believe that Mayer's price is the cheaper among those camera store in Hidalgo (hindi na ko nag canvass sa iba kase base sa mga forums kay Mang Ramon na yung pinakamababa at nung tinanong ko kung magkano, Pak! mababa nga talaga). D3100 is Recommended to all photography enthusiast as entry level camera! click here for infos from DP Review. I also love the review from Ken Rockwell www.kenrockwell.com Tutorials are great too! I so heart my D3100 partnered with nikkor 50mm f 1.8 lens which i bought in Singapore (Sim Lim Square), but since the d3100 doesn't have a built in motor as well as the 50 mm, it will only focus manually. but i love it anyway... will post sample shots of d3100 + 50mm f 1.8 soon... ;)

Here's the photo of my Nikon D3100

Discover Magalawa Island

Magalawa island is another perfect getaway to spend summer. It is located in Palauig Zambales, approx. 4 hours drive via private vehicle from Manila, then about 5-10 minutes boat ride from Palauig. The island has cream-white sands and the water is ideal for swimming. You can enjoy snorkeling and rafting too. You can also see star fishes around the beach but it is prohibited to pick up those cute star fishes. The island is not yet commercialized and what good about it is, people of magalawa will only allow a certain number of guest per visit/day. So it is advisable to inquire and book first before going to the island (Click here to inquire/book).

Here's our itinerary (Overnight-stay) with transportation, food (4-meals) and Kubo accomodation:

Price: 2500/pax

Day 1:

4am: pick up at Total Gas Station in Libis QC

10:00 am: Arrival at Palauig Zambales

10:15 am: Arrival at Magalawa Island

12:00 nn: Lunch

1:00 pm: free time

7:00 pm: Dinner and Socials

Day 2:

7:00 am: Breakfast

8:00 am: free time

12:00 nn: Lunch

1:00 pm: pick up at Magalawa via Boat

1:15 pm: Van going to Manila

6:00 pm: back to Manila

My Magalawa Panoramas:

Here are some of the photos that i have taken during my stay in Magalawa:

Photos by: Anjella Valino

Magalawa Island Team Building

We had our team building last April 9-10, 2011 at Malagawa Island in Palauig Zambales. I can say that this is the best team building (Division team building) so far (for my 2 years stay at MSI-ECS as a web developer). Magalawa Island is an awesome place for family, friends, lovers and team building activities (I will blog about Magalawa Island soon...) The food was good also especially seafoods-- that's my favorite! All of us enjoyed the trip and we can't really get over it until now. We keep on reminiscing those funny moments and every captured photos in our cameras is indeed memorable.

I'm happy also because I'm one of the game facilitator together with Joy, Jay-a & Lui. The "facis" really made sure that they will enjoy the games and activities in the island. Games includes Sponge relays, ball relays, 2 minutes Cheer-dance with team symbol and the most exciting among them all is the "hiluhan" game which made us crazy and wild because we just laugh and laugh to our peers (lalo na pag nadadapa lol) . Kudos to us because we made them happy! I'd would like to thank Reign for organizing our team building, the rest of the team for coordination and the people of Magalawa island.

Here are the snapshots during our team building!

Enjoy isn't? ^__^

Hit the beach this summer! Book now at Magalawa Island! Here's the official FB page of Magalawa >> CLICK HERE

What a Wonderful Place!-- Coron

Photo by: Anjella Valino

Coron Island Palawan is a wedge-shaped limestone island, with few of its coastal areas being covered by mangrove forests. It has seven lakes, famous of which is the nationally-acclaimed cleanest lake in the Philippines, the Kayangan Lake. It also has a number of islands with white beaches and clear blue waters perfect for snorkeling, deepsea fishing and shipwreck diving. [coronphilippines.com]

Coron is really amazing. The water of Kayangan lake takes my breath away! The coral reefs, the sea connecting to lakes, the lagoons-- Twin lagoons, Baraacuda lake, CYC island, the fishes at Siete Picados, fresh seafoods (We had lunch at Banol Beach during our Island hopping) and the good people of Coron makes my birthday vacation perfect (oops another overdue post hihi) It's not pricey though, the airfare only costs 1158 php for a round trip via Airphil [promo btw]. Maniquit Hot spring gives me a "stress-free" feeling after i soaked my body for 30 mins-- it's literally hot but i love it (pores are widely opened haha) I didn't get much photos during my trip there because I might drop my beloved camera to the water! I advise that you must bring waterproof camera or a digipac for you to be able to capture the beauty of Coron.

We stayed at Coron Village lodge [http://www.coronvillagelodge.com/] Accomodation are reasonable and affordable. You just need to book prior to your scheduled vacation.

How to get there?

Just book a flight going to Busuanga via Zest Air, Airphil or Cebu Pacific.