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Do video journalists need showreels? While I don’t know the answer to this question, for the past two years I’ve gone with —yes. However, the science of creating a (show)reel is seemingly far more complicated than one might believe.

Showreels have traditionally been made by cameraman, DP’s and those of us in the photography industry that find themselves on the film side of things. However, as I explained recently, video journalists, cinematic news photographers and documentary makers are certainly in a gray area between film and traditional video journalism.

When DP’s, directors and producers need cameramen its normal for them to request to see a reel. Since going freelance, I’ve had weekly requests for these from various people around China. However, it would not be so normal for a newspaper or magazine to ask to see a reel. So if you work in news photography, why would you make one and what are the challenges?

WHY: With converging media, its certainly becoming easier for photographers to jump from one industry to another. If you can film a news clip, chances are you might be useful as a cameraman in motion picture or documentary. So having this tool together is useful when someone is in your office asking for it.

WHAT: Now comes the tricky part — what do you put in your reel? I’ve found this tricky because it really depends on who you are showing it to. In many ways, this creates the possible need for more than one reel. You might have one to show documentary makers and another for a commercial client. Further more, you might need another one to show your ability with motion graphics or post production work. If your video has too much post production, it might reflect negatively if the inquiry is for documentary where the look is supposed to be more natural.

While last year I was doing much more still photography, the product became more of a photography show with small video clips embedded. This year I’ve been much more focused in video production and created the entire film with just video. If you notice, the footage kind of shows a cultural and developing world theme. I tried to add some clips of people from different countries to show a larger demographic of who I work with (westerners, developing world peoples and indigenous peoples). However, does this peg me or ‘type cast’ me? And if it does, am I ok with that since this is the type of work I want to be doing? I’ll ponder those questions and get back to you …

SEQUENCE: If you’ve figured out which content you want to include in your reel, you next need to decide how to order it. Since its mixed footage and in many ways simply eye candy — putting the images in an order that logically makes sense might be different for everyone. I’ve been trying to make mini sequences that flow together from one to the next. However, the logic behind these sequences and the order in which they appear is quite subjective. Trying to find logic in this can be difficult.

SOUND: Music is another tricky part. The song I used this year from Hanggai I personally love. However, its pretty distinct and different than what most chose.

Most of my friends’ reels and reels I see online use relatively ambient electronic music. By doing this you certainly push the focus to your images. For me however, I’m involved in production and photography. So I wanted the music and images to compliment each other in making a self contained visual demo of what type of imagery and films I’m interested in producing.

If one does chose this route, you become a bit a risk of offending someone (musically). While I like Hanggai, I can certainly imagine someone not liking it. So by choosing something more subtle, you might be a little more safe of not offending anyone.

I however, aren’t really trying to be subtile with my images. I prefer high impact images. But, this is certainly a style thing as well as a time-and-place thing.

NEVER ENDING FOOTAGE: Perhaps the most difficult thing is trying to figure out when it is done. I’m always creating new images and therefor, feel like I can always replace images with better images. In many ways, this means — you are never done. The images keep coming. So I think its always a work in progress. The version above is a third draft and I have a fourth draft in the works already.

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If you’re interested — comparing last years reel to this years I think it shows a larger change in my visual direction and a bigger push towards video production. But for a quick look at 2010 – check out this video in still photography form.

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As we near to the middle of 2011, I wanted to pause the photo blog and share with you some images from recent trips from the Year of the Rabbit. While some of these images have been published, most of this footage hasn’t quite made it to its final resting home. Ergo, this is a bit of a teaser of what’s to come. Some of these images you may have already seen from the recent project The Fate of Old Beijing: The Vanishing Hutongs. Other clips come from works in progress from India, the Philippines, Beijing and Inner Mongolia. Other parts are snippets of video from Nepal and Tibet that still haven’t found a home.

Music for this microproject has been graciously released by a fantastic Beijing based band of Mongolian heritage called Hanggai. Hanggai is a great example of a band blending traditional and modern sounds and instrument to create a very unique sound. While my images this year are largely concentrating on cultural issues of modernization in the developing world, Hanggai’s ethno-blend fit well in mind. The track “Gobi Road” comes from their new album “He Who Travels Far.” I absolutely love both this album and their first. You can purchase the album here.

未来看着会很好玩 ~ Wèi Lái Kàn Zhe Huì Hěn Hǎo Wán.

I’m currently in production of 18 different videos – with client’s geographical locations ranging from Beijing to London to New York. So to say the least, I’m busy. While this isn’t a new thing for those of you that know me, I can tell you balancing 18 video projects whose languages go from English to Chinese, to Hindi to Mongolian, to French to Tagalog is not the easiest thing in the world (just imagine trying to get everyone’s name spelled right). While some of these projects are independent, others I have the hutong production gang back together for a series of environmental films from Inner Mongolia, again working with journalist Kit Gillet and the tremendously helpful translator Ami Li.

I’m grounding myself in Beijing for a good bit to wrap up these unfinished projects; however, I’m still taking still photo assignments as they role in every week. This blog will wrap up the India travel photography series soon and then head toward the Philippines before heading to the deserts of Inner Mongolian. As normal, assignments from China will be intermixed with my normal visual, social and journalistic bantar.

Big things are planned for this summer – so stay tuned – and in the meantime, please enjoy some new images and Hanggai’s music.

Cheers,

Jonah

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NOTE FROM JONAH: This is the continuation of a photo series from the Philippines. If you are just joining, here’s what you’ve missed so far:

1. Mabuhay! Welcome to the Philippines
2. The Philippines: By the Numbers
3. Yahoo! and I disagree
4. Two wheels across the Republic of Bohol
5. The Mogwai lives in Bohol
6. Chocolate Hills not as soft as they look
7. There and back again, A Filipino Tale

For a good portion of the last twelve years I have been traveling in some manor.

This doesn’t mean I’m always on the road, in hotels or living out of a backpack. In fact, its quite the opposite. My method of travel has been to move to a location — and travel from there to places nearby. This allows me to learn about a place and culture during my non-traveling periods as well as my traveling periods. I followed this model through my university years and I haven’t stopped since.

Over these twelve years I have been to a great deal of locations. However, what I have not done — is returned to many of those places.

A couple months ago in Nepal, I sat at a restaurant and had a drink with a German traveler. The 50-something-year old had long blonde hair down to his back and carried a guitar. He told me he was returning to Nepal after being gone for 40 years. He also told me — he doesn’t normally return to the places he visits while traveling.

When I asked him why he doesn’t revisit places, he responded: “The memories are good in my head. If I return, I might change them. I’d like to keep them in a good light.”

When I asked him why he had returned to Nepal, he responded: “My memories were good enough that I wasn’t worried about changing them.”

Although I can’t say I completely agree with the German traveler about why I wouldn’t return to a place, it hasn’t been my pattern to go back anywhere. In my mind its hard to justify going back anywhere, when there are so many new places to go. For example, I loved my time in Fiji, but if I were in that part of the world, I would probably chose to travel to Tonga or the Soloman Islands before returning back.

However, with the Philippines I really felt like I wanted to see more — and while I’ve felt this way about many places, normally I don’t get home and immediately buy a ticket back … so I did.

Photographically, the island nation is amazing. Journalistically, there’s a lot of stories. And on a basic traveling level, its inexpensive, easy to communicate and there are far less tourists than in most other parts of Southeast Asia.

I’m following a story in India this month and will be traveling to Delhi, Bihar, Varanasi, Bodh Gaya, Rajasthan, Ranthambore, and Jodhpur. Following my trip to India, I’ll be making a stop back in the Philippines to check out one more destination that I couldn’t hit the first time. This series will pick up then, around March 13 where I’m hoping to integrate some video form this unique island nation.

In the meantime, this blog will be traveling to India. See you there.

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NOTE FROM JONAH: This is the continuation of a photo series from the Philippines. If you are just joining, here’s what you’ve missed so far:

1. Mabuhay! Welcome to the Philippines
2. The Philippines: By the Numbers
3. Yahoo! and I disagree
4. Two wheels across the Republic of Bohol
5. The Mogwai lives in Bohol
6. Chocolate Hills not as soft as they look

Near the center of the island of Bohol 1,776 strikingly similar shaped hills jut from the earth. They are spread out over an area of more than 50 square kilometres and resemble something like a martian golf course (at least what I picture them looking like). While these hills are green during the wet season, the hot sun during the dry season turns the hill undulating lumps a shade of brown, giving them the name the Chocolate Hills.

From a distance these hills look like big sponges protruding from the earth. Perhaps something you could jump on like a trampoline, sleep on instead of a soft bed or just someplace to have a nice picknick.

This is what I thought from viewing platform where many tourists visit every year doing silly things like jumping on broomsticks in front of the hills for a photo, giving the perspective that they are witches … in front of strange hills. After staring at these bizarre earth formations with hundreds of my closest friends who also happened to be on the viewing platform, I thought the best option would be to take the motorbike into the maze and climb one of these chocolate hills.

I began to drive my motorbike away from the viewing platform and the heaps of tourists towards some hills in the distance. We drove through mud, grass and even some streams before we got to the edge of one of the more than 1,700 uniformly shaped, undulating hills.

As I began my hike up, I realized these hills are much steeper than they appeared. I also learned very quickly that the ground which makes up the hills, essentially crumbles as you walk on it.

As I scrambled up the hill, I was determined to not let these things detour me, so I continued on. With the sun beating down, the ground crumbling underneath me all things pointed down. So I looked down. That’s when I noticed how sharp the grass was on these falsy soft looking hills. In fact, the grass on these things is so sharp — I realized I had cuts all over my feet, ankles and anywhere else the grass managed to get …

While I did get cut up, I did make it to the top where I got to stare at these marvelous hills — not surrounded by tourists. While there was a painful price, seeing nature without tour buses around is always worth it.

After a little research, I found out that these hills are covered with hard grass species called Imperata cylindrica and Saccharum spontaneum. The hills range in height from 50 to 120 meters. At the entrance to the area, a small sign reads:

The unique land form known as the Chocolate Hills of Bohol was formed ages ago by the uplift of coral deposits and the action of rain water and erosion.
The grassy hills were once coral reefs that erupted from the sea in a massive geologic shift. Wind and water put on the finishing touches over hundreds of thousands of years.

To anyone near Bohol — these lumps are very cool. Add these to some beautiful beaches, strange monkeys all in an area accessible by bike — and you’ve got one great island. Before I leave you on this post, four amusing myths about the origins of these hills from everyone’s friend Wikifriend.

Legends

Four legends explain the formation of the Chocolate Hills.

(1) The first tells the story of two feuding giants who hurled rocks, boulders, and sand at each other. The fighting lasted for days, and exhausted the two giants. In their exhaustion, they forgot about their feud and became friends, but when they left they forgot to clean up the mess they had made during their battle, hence the Chocolate Hills.[12][16]

(2) A more romantic legend tells of a giant named Arogo who was extremely powerful and youthful. Arogo fell in love with Aloya, who was a simple mortal. Aloya’s death caused Arogo much pain and misery, and in his sorrow he could not stop crying. When his tears dried, the Chocolate Hills were formed.

(3) The third legend tells of a town being plagued by a giant carabao, who ate all of their crops. Finally having had enough, the townsfolk took all of their spoiled food and placed it in such a way that the carabao would not miss it. Sure enough, the carabao ate it, but his stomach couldn’t handle the spoiled food, so he defecated, leaving behind him a mound of feces, until he had emptied his stomach of the food. The feces then dried, forming the Chocolate Hills.

(4) The last legend is about a gluttonous giant named Miguel that eats everything in his path. One day he came to a plain. He saw a beautiful young woman named Adrianna. To win her affection, he needed to lose weight. So he excreted everything he ate. In the end, his fecal matter covered the land and he won Eng’s affection.

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NOTE FROM JONAH: This is the continuation of a photo series from the Philippines. If you are just joining, here’s what you’ve missed so far:

1. Mabuhay! Welcome to the Philippines
2. The Philippines: By the Numbers
3. Yahoo! and I disagree
4. Two wheels across the Republic of Bohol
5. The Mogwai lives in Bohol

Rule number one: Don’t get him wet. Rule number two: Keep him away from bright light. “And the most important thing,” says rule number three: “The one thing you must never forget: no matter how much he cries, no matter how much he begs . . . never, never feed him after midnight.”

Yes — the Mogwai exist on the island of Bohol. Don’t know what a Mogwai is?

Ok, so they’re not exactly the same as the addorable character from the 1984 movie Gremlins but they are certainly the closest thing I have ever seen. So, what is it?

This is one of the smallest primate in the world – known as the Tarsier. Literally, smaller than the hand of Chilean artist Jose Cornejo (above). These little guys are about the size of a coke can and have eyes 150 times bigger than a human’s (in relationship to its body size). So — they’re cute, they’re small, they resemble the Mogwai — but Lonely Planet tells us a little more about these fun guys:

This simultaneously crazy and cuddly looking little primate can fit in the palm of our hand yet leap 5 meters, rotate its head almost 360 degrees, and move its ears in the direction of sound.

The Tarsier is not only one of the world’s smallest primates and the oldest surviving member of the primate group at 45 million years old, it is also endangered.

The Tarsier are found only in a few places in the world, Bohol being the easiest place to spot them. I can’t say they were running around the streets like crazy but there are plenty of places to stop on the side of the road and check them out. Sadly, locals have realized the financial potential of these animals and have captured many and put in captivity.

Tarsiers in captivity usually only live for about 12 months even if handled delicately. Even more sad, is locals will ask for money and put one on your shoulder for a picture. Today, illegal tarsier zoos pop up around the island.

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NOTE FROM JONAH: This is the continuation of a photo series from the Philippines. If you are just joining, here’s what you’ve missed so far:

1. Mabuhay! Welcome to the Philippines
2. The Philippines: By the Numbers
3. Yahoo! and I disagree
4. Two wheels across the Republic of Bohol

Surely the best way to see Southeast Asia is on motorbike. By riding in cars, you separate yourself from locals creating both a physical and mental division. Motorbikes (and push bikes) allow you to connect to a population and give you the option of stopping at any point to talk, eat or photograph. After traveling by boat, plane, bus and jeepney — when I got to the island of Bohol the first thing I did was rent a motorcycle.

While there are inland roads, the big road that circles around the island (above) is beuaitful and well maintained. You won’t see guard railings, traffic lights or other such amenities, but you can drive feet away from the ocean for hours on end. What’s also good is — you fit in. While cars certainly exist on these islands the vast, vast majority of the population are on bikes (both motorized and not). So — excuse the cliché, but when in Bohol … do as the Boholanos do.

The Boholanos, you say? The people of this island refer to themselves as Boholanos — which comes from the islands brief period of independence at the end of the 19th century when it was known as the Republic of Bohol. While today, Bohol is clearly part of the Philippines the island seems cultural and ecologically distinct.

The island is located between the Bohol Sea and the Camotes Sea in the Central Philippines. To me, this small island is a very good representation of why traveling in the Philippines or Indonesia is so amazing — because each island has some much individual identity.

Amazingly bizarre landscapes, unique wildlife, fantastic food and (mostly) friendly people on a micro-geographic level. By “micro-geogrphic level” I refer to the fact that the wildlife on Bohol — is specific to Bohol. The dialect, people and landscapes follow suite.

Normally to find a large variety of landscapes, peoples, traditions or wildlife you must travel great distances between locations. However, in island nations it can be as simple as taking a boat for one hour. Hopefully, your boat will be bigger than the one above …

However, a boat this big is fine for a paddle down the Loboc river (above). But perhaps more fun, and definitely more bizarre, is a tour down the Loboc River on an all you can eat floating buffet.

Imagine a thick, thick jungle with dark green waters (ala Heart of Darkness). Now put a floating restaurant on it and give a 16-year-old Filipino boy a guitar and have him sing Frank Sinatra tunes for a couple hours. This is a bizarre experience not worth missing … and, they serve lobster.

Bohol is known for the Chocolate Hills, the bizarre looking tarsiar, undeveloped white beaches and amazing sea life and diving opportunities. By motorbike, everything is accessible, although some roads can get pretty dodgy. But if you stick to the roads on the map, you should be fine. As for me, that is not always my tendency and I ended up a couple times on steep dirt roads turned mud paths following into the ocean, that had simply been destroyed by mother nature.

However, on these destroyed roads — life still thrives. People and homes — although you’d be hard up to find a business of any kind. I’m not sure if the people leave very often, but there are certainly people there. Most of the houses along the ocean’s edge come on stilts.

While there are certainly far more remote places in the Philippines, showing up on a motorbike at some of these places where roads almost don’t exist is a sure way to turn yourself into a spectacle. In general this happens when you go to someplace non touristy, but in the Philippines people seemed to be very excited to chat, not just stare.

More images from Bohol coming later this week.

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From clowns, hutongs and Prada — we’re back to the Philippines. Boracay was my first stop after leaving Manilla on this recent trip to the Philippines. Boracay, found in the Visayas island group is a small island with a big reputation.

Having lived in Hawaii and on the beaches of the Great Barrier Reef, as well as spending time in beautiful beaches from on the Mediterranean to Fiji and Malaysia — I had to at least see what all the fuss was about. Articles all over the internet saying “the best beach in the world” started appearing in Google searches. Being only 200 miles away in Manila, I hoped on a small plane (for about $50) and landed on an neighboring island before taking a small boat over to Boracay.

To rewind — what are people saying about this island?

From Bangkok Post: Boracay is also known as gateway to paradise. Due to its natural beauty, the island is a top beach in Asia. In 1990 it was voted by the BMW Tropical Beach Handbook as one of the best beaches in the world and again in 1996 by British publication TV Quick as the world’s number one tropical beach.

Most Popular Beaches of 2007: The beautiful island of Boracay in Aklan topped the list of the World’s Most Popular Beach according to Yahoo! Travel. Also in the list is Cebu Philippines which grabs the number three (3) spot. These two magnificent islands are found in the Visayas.

Wikipedia: In 1990, it was voted by the BMW Tropical Beach Handbook as one of the best beaches in the world and again in 1996 by British publication TV Quick as the world’s number one tropical beach.

So — do I think Boracay has the best beach in the world? Before I answer, maybe its good to look at who else appears on these lists.

In 2007, Yahoo’s top ten beaches included (in order) (1) Boracay Island, Philippines, (2) Nassau, The Bahamas, (3) Cebu, Philippines, (4) Phan Thiet, Vietnam, (5) Montego Bay, Jamaica, (6) Phuket, Thailand, (7) Cozumel, Mexico, (8) San Diego, CA, (9) Honolulu, HI and (10) San Juan, Puerto Rico.

After reading this list it occurred to me — by “beautiful” these people might mean “fancy restaurants and comfortable hotels surrounding beaches whose trash is picked up from the shoreline and whose coconuts have been picked from the trees to stop them from falling on tourists heads.” Which is funny, because when I think of my idea of “the most beautiful beach,” none of those things are there.

My ideal would be a beach with absolutely no commercial development, warm waters, vibrant sea life (for viewing and eating) — surrounded by dramatic tropical landscapes and volcanoes. Boracay fits more into Yahoo’s definition of beautiful.

So although the beaches of Boracay are soft and clean(ish) — the surrounding environment kind of ruins it for me. Its nice to be able to sit and sip a piña colada or chi-chi now and then, but this place reminds me a little too much of Cancun or Bali than a beach on an island that Yahoo! has never heard of.

However, this isn’t to say I didn’t have a good time on Boracay. There are great restaurants and some cool bars. I spent a lot of time boating, snorkeling and trying not to to be bothered by the masses.

But for those looking to get off the beaten path — I would simply avoid this place. As I would soon do, on a fun mission overland through Panong, Iloilo Iloilo, Bacolod to Dumaguette and a trip around Bohol.

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The Philippines is a country of interesting numbers. Over 90 million people are spread out over 7,107 islands. This makes the archipelago the world’s 12th most populous country. Roman Catholics makeup 80% of the total population and the country sends more SMS messages daily than Europe and America combined. This Spanish colony is extremely unique compared to its Southeast Asian neighbors. Catholics in Asia? The birthplace of karaoke? The third largest English speaking population on earth? Yes, the more you examen this country, the more interesting in becomes.

And — its gorgeous. A seemingly infinite number of empty sandy beaches, not yet littered with backpackers, tourists and hotels. Think of Bali without Australia or Cancun, without America. From a single fishing boat reflected perfectly on still ocean water, to lush rainforest to some of the world’s more bizarre wildlife — this place is an adventurers dream. I was fortunate enough to spend a couple weeks here recently and the combination of cultural and physical ingredients are enough that I’m planning my next trip back in February of 2011.

Although the beauty of the country is not obvious when you land in Manila, the uniqueness of the Philippines is evident right when you arrive in the capital city. However, things get real fun as soon as you leave the relatively dodgy city of Manila.

There’s something strange about showing up on a rural island, seemingly very far away from anywhere and having almost everyone speak English. Throw an ancient Roman Catholic church up the background and you won’t necessarily feel like you are in Southeast Asia.

The mix to me, felt more like a Spanish and Polynesia mix. Although, the reality is an extremely diverse population made up of Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Bisaya/Binisaya, Hiligaynon Ilonggo, Bikol, Waray, Malay, Chinese, Indian, Polynesia and Spanish. This cultural grab bag makes traveling within the Philippines quite fun, as people seem to be quite different from island to island.

Getting from island to island in the Philippines is actually very easy and very affordable. Inter-island flights range from $25 to $150 USD without reservations. Inter-island boats are also very cheap and a short ride will usually cost less than $10 — or, if you get on a locals fishing boat, the price will be stunningly cheap. Transportation within an island is also extremely cheap and also fun. Above, you can see a street full of motorcycles with sidecars on them.

This was by far the most popular vehicle in the Philippines. These extremely bright colored vehicles with humorous religious slogans painted on them work as taxis and can hold a surprisingly large amount of people. While these will cost you a fraction of a dollar to get around, the real symbolic form of transportation in the Philippines is the Jeepney.

These are the type of vehicles you can jam an unreasonable amount of people inside, or if it gets too crowded you can sit on the roof. This is a classic Southeast Asian site — and I have to say, it is a lot of fun. Especially when the bus gets overflowed with hot, smelly people — its a real break to have open air around you as you swerve dangerously around blind turns on small island roads (although its clearly not the safest place to sit). The Jeepney is:

Jeepneys are the most popular means of public transportation in the Philippines. They were originally made from US military jeeps left over from World War II and are known for their flamboyant decoration and crowded seating.

While getting around is fun and quite easy, it would be inaccurate to paint such a rosy picture of the island nation without a mention of some of the more seedy numbers. The CIA World Fact Book reported almost 33 percent of the population still living beneath the poverty line. In 2009, the Philippines topped the list for deadliest places for journalists.

The International News Safety Institute recorded a total of 132 journalist deaths in 2009 — with 37 of those coming from the Philippines. This was a surprising fact to me as were some of the following results:

After the Philippines, the bloodiest countries in 2009 were Mexico with 11 killed, Somalia and Russia with 9 each, Pakistan with 8 and Iraq with 5.

The Philippines also has a regular history of horrible environmental disasters. Located in what is known as the astride typhoon belt, the Philippines are usually affected by 15 and struck by five to six cyclonic storms per year. There are also many annual earthquakes, landslides, shady volcanoes (not necessarily the fun kind), and tsunamis which seem to reek havoc annually.

And when your house looks like this and is 5 meters from the ocean, you can imagine what type of problems would occur given some of the environmental disasters listed above.

With political, environmental, economic and drug problems, a rampant sex industry as well as a large child prostitution industry — this place is by all means a complicated one.

Yet — the natural beauty as well as the general friendliness of most people you will meet can make you forget about these problems pretty quickly. And yes, you did read that right at the top of the post — karaoke originates from the Philippines, not Japan (although the word karaoke is Japanese). I’m not sure if its this influence or something else — but these are a very musical people. Even in China I see a lot of Filopino bands perform — and most of the time, they are excellent.

While traveling through the Philippines almost every single bar and many restaurants had karaoke setups – even down a dirt road in the middle of nowhere on a relatively unaccessible area. In rural areas, we would pass a small straw and mud hut — yet the ones that had electricity, also had people singing karaoke (regardless if anyone else was in the house other than the person singing).

After leaving Manila, my first stop in the Philippines was at Boracay, an island 200 miles south in the Visayas Region. This island is constantly rated as having one of the nicest beaches in the world. Pictures and my opinion on Boracay, in the next post.

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My opinion on travel: you should go anywhere, regardless of location, if opportunity presents itself. It doesn’t matter where it is or for how long you can go for — just go.

Although I still believe this, my theory in which I have lived my life by for a long time shifted recently when I had the chance to visit and explore the Philippines to do some travel photography. Although my opinion hasn’t changed, I was harshly reminded that travel times in island nations are slow.

While I still believe you should go anywhere, given the opportunity — when its time to go o the Philippines, try to pick a time when you don’t have to come back soon because the world’s second-largest archipelago is a truly remarkable place with so much to see, you won’t want to return after 10 days.

Especially if you’re hanging out with these guys — the Tarsier. The world’s smallest primate can be found on Bohol, a small island in the Southern part of the country. Its about the size of your hand is the closest thing to a Mogwai.

Recently I made a quick 10 day trip to this Southeast Asian unrefined paradise — and I know now, I will be making another trip back as soon as possible. With over 7000 tropical islands, the Philippines is certainly one of the greatest adventure places on earth. While its Southeast Asian neighbors Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Laos and Cambodia swarm with tourists — most of the tourists in the Philippines are segregated into a couple very small areas — leaving the rest of the country “off the beaten path.”

While parts of the Philippines are certainly a bit dodgy, I had no problems and felt completely safe. Although hanging out in Manila is certainly not anything like Kansas. Currently, Lonely Planets travel advisory says:

Travel Alert: Due to the uncertain political situation in Mindinao, including the Zamboanga Peninsula and the Sulu Archipelago, travel to these areas is not advised. Check Safe Travel for current government warnings.

While I avoided these areas I found the general population outside of Manila to be extremely hospitable, friendly and extremely fun. In fact, the Filippino population has so much fun, doing Karaoke at home by yourself, seemed like a national past time.

Geographically the Philippines is very diverse. Above, are the Chocolate Hills which I’ll talk more about later — but are one of the stranger natural phenomenons I’ve ever seen. Almost 2000 uniformly shaped hills spread over an area of more than 50 square kilometres makes this area almost Alien like.

While this travel log won’t be as extensive as the last Tibet and Nepal entries, the next couple weeks will take a quick tour from Manila to Panong, Boracay to Iloilo Iloilo, Bacolod to Dumaguette and a quick trip around Bohol Island. Check back in a couple days for the first post.