Twin falls and a typhoon

Back in '06, in spite of typhoon Utor (Seniang), my photo buds and I went on with a planned shoot in Tanay, Rizal.

Our destinations are a lighthouse and the twin falls of Tanay.

With a steady drizzle coming from above, our convoy headed for the place east of Marikina. Jake, Dwight, Christian and I were pooling in Jake's Isuzu Crosswind as we chattered away to make the long trip to the lighthouse a bit manageable. Dwight and Christian, being doctors, narrated their (and other doctors, for that matter) experiences from petty ER incidents to OR booboos. I tell you, during that time they were narrating those stories, my respect for medical professionals went from a hundred percent to almost naught.

Anyway, the roads to the lighthouse was scenic enough for the convoy to stop and take some pics.

PARC and I shooting at one another, oblivious to incoming traffic. Hey, I got his back and he's got mine. No worries. ^_^

The drizzling still hadn't let up as we reached the historic lighthouse of Tanay -- the Parola. The skies, as expected, was overcast with gray clouds. Everyone hoped that the weather would cooperate and turn for the better. It didn't. Being the courageous "cowboys" that we are, we let our gears out of their comfy cribs, covered 'em with plastic bags and took advantage of the given situation.

Tanay's famous lighthouse, the Parola.

The area around Parola offered a beautiful view of Laguna de Bay along with its friendly residents.

Laguna de Bay.

Some of the more colorful "manongs", or male elders in Tanay.

The group savored lunch in one of the many restaurants lined-up at the area before proceeding to our main destination. The drizzles are starting to look line rain now... sigh...

We reached the twin falls just before 2pm and the rain is getting heavier as each moment passes by. I don't know if I could call the downpour as a blessing in disguise, but locals say that the falls are usually crowded during weekends. This particular rainy weekend, however, there were only a handful of visitors. Yup, it's a blessing indeed. Less people means less obstructions to the views.

Our cameras, still covered with anything and everything made of plastic (plastic bags, trash bags, etc.), bore the brunt of the worsening weather. My then-new $6M Crumpler was begging for mercy... and hindsight made me wish that I had brought my AW Lowepro instead. Every available weather protection was utilized (even plastic tables!) for my companions' DSLRs. Water was literally everywhere! Above us, the rain... in front of us, the falls... below, the pool and torrential water. Nobody held back. Too late for that now. We did what we came to do.

Batlag Falls

Brave as we are, we were only able to shoot Batlag. Shooting Daranak was virtually out of the question as the rain-gods seemed determined to stop us at all cost. We can always come back for another round. It was time to go.

Max's restaurant along Ortigas Avenue extension provided a more welcoming environment as round after round of bottomless iced-tea came our way in the midst of our obligatory de-briefing after each photoshoot.

We all went home soaked, literally and figuratively, with memories of Tanay... not to mention priceless photographs.

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