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PHOTOWALK: Napanak nagnagna (I went for a walk)

Walking is my kind of exercise. It is easy to do. You don't need a lot of equipment. You can do it at your own pace. You get to see the beautiful things around you. It helps your joints, heart and even helps you to lose weight. To know more about the benefits of walking, check it out here. https://www.healthline.com/health/benefits-of-walking#heart-health Depending on my mood, my route, the weather and time, sometimes I will add jogging to my walking routine. I like taking long walks as well. Sometimes it takes me 1-2 hours walk and probably more. Weekends are the times that I can walk more for I have no work to think about. I like to go for a walk because it helps to clear my mind. You get distracted by the things you see along the way. Whenever I feel like I have gained weight just like now, I'd go for walk/jog. I have to discipline myself to do it at least 4-5 days a week. It depends on how motivated I am. Sometimes I can even go for seven days a week. I prefer walking in the mornings when everything is peaceful. There are less cars on the road. I like observing the world come to life. I bring my phone with me to capture things of interests. I don't have music for I have birds along the way anyway accompanying me. Natural music. If I am in luck, I could witness a gorgeous sunrise. Sometimes that will stop me altogether and I would record it and then I'd go home. Happy to bring home the sunshine with me. Since the start of the monsoon, I can't go out for a walk. For almost a month, I gained back the weight I lost and probably more. When the weather gets better, I'll start my walking/jogging again. This time, let me take you to one of the trails we frequent here in the city.

Camp John Hay Eco-Trail This is a very easy trail. It's just about 1 km long. The entrance could be at the Paintball Republic across Filling Station you you can opt to enter through Panagbenga Park. It's easy to go to and get out of. Just be careful not to go to the golf course because that's off limits.

When we need a quick escape away from the city and a place to relax our body and mind, we come here at the Eco Trail. There is a brook where you can spend your time too. You just have to bring with you bug/mosquito repellant. If you want a quick time with the trees, this is the place for you. During the dry season, the place is not as lush. Wet season is not a good idea to come because some parts are flooded and muddy. It was here that I first saw a scaled-feathered malkoha which is a bird that is endemic here in the northern parts of the country. I was searching for my photo of it but I haven't saved it in my fb. I might have uploaded it somewhere online but I can't remember where. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scale-feathered_malkoha

Back when I was practicing the slow shutter of my DSLR, this is where I did it. I also did some photoshoots here. Nature will always be a perfect subject when starting photography and it's always a subject I keep going back. Just when you think you have seen it all, you'll be surprised that there are new things to discover. There used to be a butterfly sanctuary near the paintball republic but they transferred that to the Panagbenga Park where there is also an aviary and a cafe named *Saleng Cafe*. I like their carrot cake and lemongrass-soybean coffee. Sometimes I buy their carrot cake to take home. However, they have been closed since pandemic hit and as far as I know, they haven't opened yet. One of my memorable walks here was I crushed my current phone during our walk there which is the last one I think - two years ago. Miraculously, my phone still works although not 100% as it was before especially the camera. When I asked around where I can have a replacement for the back case, no one seems to know. What happened was I was going down the steps when I slipped. To break my fall, I used my hand which was gripping my phone. Because it happened so fast, no time to transfer my phone to the other hand. Good thing I was holding my phone face up such that when I fell the lower back portion was crushed to thousand pieces. I thought I would be buying a new one sooner or later but two years and counting it still works! I came out of the trail unharmed but just worried about my phone. If one of these days it will die on me, I'll probably go bury it somewhere along the eco trail.

The photo above of the silky water among mossy rocks was the only photo taken using Nikon D5000. The rest was taken using my phone. I wanted to write earlier on but I just can't. There are many subjects to write. I do have the available photos that I needed. However, my mind just can't do it. I have to will myself to do it but I kept delaying it. Fortunately, once I started it, the thoughts just flowed through my keyboard.

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