Blue
Spring, which is usually around March to May, is the best time to visit Japan. Although this would mean tourist spots and hotels in Tokyo would be filled to the brim with Japanese tourists who are also on holiday, you’ll be assured of pretty good weather, and if you’re really lucky, the cherry tree will be blooming. That’s an apricot blossom, though.
Green
It’s too easy to pick Chefchaouen for the blue category. To be honest, this is the first photo that popped into my head when I thought of green. This little pocket of green stood out among the sea of blue.
Red
Admittedly, there’s some pretty strong Photoshop sorcery happening here. I’m sure there are days that the dawn sky in Bagan would look something close to this. With the aid of Photoshop.
Yellow
We were standing on the dunes of Erg Chebbi at the edge of the Sahara Desert, when we heard roars coming from a distance. It drew closer until it revealed about four or so guys on motorcycles navigating the dunes and headed back to Merzouga. Their tires raised clouds of dust, and as it settled, we saw the silhouette of the two girls from the inn, making their way to the dunes
White
It may be spring down in Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo, but in Hokkaido and the Gifu Prefecture, it’s still winter. Or at the very least, cold and snowy. It was my first encounter with snow, and the time to understand what subzero really means.
The best thing about taking photos while traveling is that you get to preserve a moment that you’ll only get to experience maybe only once in your life. I love how a single photo can tell a story and how it can evoke the same emotions you felt when you were taking it.
To celebrate another great year, I am giving away signed copies of Robert Alejandro’s book, The Sketching Backpacker: Southeast Asia and parts of China, Jetro B. Rafael’s Backpack Photos postcard book and the gift of flickr: a one year Flickr Pro account, which gives you unlimited uploads and unlimited sets and collections. To win this awesome set, simply share your best travel photos and share the story behind the picture.
Biyahilo ba kamo? Spotted at Pier 1 in Cebu City. This photo never ceases to make me laugh.
Simple, no? It can be a picture of the most amazing sunrise you have witnessed in Cambodia or a photo of sea lions sunning themselves in the shores of the Galapagos. It just have to be a photo you have taken yourself, and it has to impress not only me, but also two of the best travel photographers (and my favorites) in the Philippines, Ferdz Decena of Ironwulf.net and Estan Cabigas of Langyaw.com, who will help me pick the winner of the contest.
Backpack: Southeast Asia and parts of China to help you plan your Asian adventure and Backpack photos to motivate you to travel.
To enter, create a blog post with the photo, and share the story behind the photo, and why it was memorable to you. Leave a comment or a trackback in this entry on or before December 19, 2008. The winner will be announced on December 25, 2008. I’m looking foward to seeing your photos 
Contest mechanics:
- This contest is open to all Justwandering readers, either in the Philippines or overseas.
- Create a blog entry in your own blog with a photo you took yourself while traveling. Give a short background about the photo.
- Be sure to indicate in your entry that the post is your entry for this contest, with a link to Justwandering.org.
- Leave a comment or a trackback to this entry, so I know that you have joined my contest. No comment/trackback disqualifies your entry.
- Deadline for submission of entries is at 11:59 pm of December 19, 2008. Winners will be announced on December 25.
Three icons of the Chinese culture: the 8-sided pagoda, the lion and the dragon
First in the itinerary was the Taoist Temple. There’s a huge population of Chinese and Chinese-Filipinos in Cebu, and the influence of the culture can be seen where ever you go. The temple is not easily accessible — located inside the posh Beverly Hills subdivision, you’d have to take a taxi to go there. From the area of the Fuente-Osmeña Circle, the fare is around Php 80. The Cebu Taoist Temple is best visited early on in the day or in the late afternoon, when the sun is not too hot. There are 99 steps to climb to reach the main temple, and from there you are rewarded with stunning views of the city below, as well as the islands of Mactan and Bohol.
The Cebu Cathedral
From the Taoist Temple, we took another taxi to the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral. Since it was a Sunday, the cathedral was packed with people hearing mass. We only took some outdoor shots and made our way to the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebu. The two churches are within comfortable distance from each other. Like the Cebu Cathedral, the Basilica was likewise packed. The church was located in a main thoroughfare, so most public utility vehicles are driving by. There are tons of street vendors outside the church, selling clothes, flowers, balloons, and even prayers.
Burning candles outside the Sto. Niño Basilica
Right beside the Basilica of the Sto. Niño is the Magellan’s Cross. The shrine is filled with tour groups filing in and out at intervals. There are ladies milling around the shrine. For a fee, they will perform the traditional Sinulog — a prayer done while dancing and waving a bunch of candles.
The Oriente at Colon Street
From the Basilica, we made our way down the road to Colon street, the oldest street in the Philippines. I was getting pretty tired and hungry at this time, and I just wanted to breeze through Colon. It turns out that there is plenty to see in Colon. Like the rest of Cebu, there are plenty of beautiful architecture that’s just begging to be photographed and restored to its full glory. Unfortunately, the traffic, the banderitas and the powerlines made for an annoying photoshoot, so we cut it short and hopped on a SM-bound jeep.
Cebu’s CNT Lechon
SM wasn’t really our destination — it’s what’s across SM that we’re after. CNT Lechon’s restaurant across SM was our target. It was already 1pm, yet the restaurant was still packed. This is not a fancy restaurant, mind you. The place was not airconditioned, and it’s like a glorified turo-turo wherein you go up to the counter and point at the dishes you want to order. A trip to Cebu isn’t complete without a taste of the local lechon, and CNT delivers with the cripy skin and flavorful meat that doesn’t have you reaching for that bottle of Mang Tomas.
Guitar from Guitar Master
Our Cebu lechon craving satisfied, we headed out to Mactan, to look for a Cebu guitar factory or store. We ended up at Guitar Master, and after a passionate sales talk from Mr. Ronie, we headed back into Cebu to look for danggit. Tabo’an Market is the place to go for anything dried: they have danggit (rabbitfish), dilis (anchovy), pusit (squid), and every variation of daing (dried fish).
Daing at Tabo’an Market
We were welcomed with mini mountains of every variety of dried seafood. After a round of photos, it was down to serious pasalubong shopping. While everyone is busy buying danggit, I opted to buy some Cebu chorizo, something I just discovered and tried the night before. A kilo of danggit goes for Php 400+, while the chorizo goes for Php 190 per kilo. Apart from the chorizo, I also bought some packets of Guadalupe brand dried mango strips, a brand I read about in other blogs, and something I am longing to find in Manila because it’s so good.
University of San Carlos
With our plastic bags tightly sealed (the dried fish tastes good, but it has that strong smell when uncooked), we jump into a taxi and headed back to the hotel to freshen up before meeting the Cebu bloggers. By the time we changed our clothes and headed out, the sun was almost setting, casting a fine soft light on our hotel’s neighboring building, the University of San Carlos.
Meeting the Cebu-based bloggers was an experience. It was great seeing and meeting new faces. Fresh new faces at that… they were all so young! To Arnold, McBilly, Jorich, Wilhelmina, Aileen, Empress, Xerxes, Kevin, Rodel, Sinjin, Maibe, Winston and Mark, thank you for meeting with this weird group of Manila travel bloggers 
Great hotel deals in Cebu via Agoda