The Padul-ong Experience

Here’s my first entry for my new Blog site.
(sort of a tribute to my fellow waraynons.)

My wife and I woke up around 4:30am in the morning just to get ready for the Padul-ong festival here in Borongan, Eastern Samar.  For those who don’t know where exactly the location of Borongan… here’s the link. CLICK ME!

The Padul-ong Festival will start @ the shores of Punta Maria then after the Mass there, there will be a parade of boats from there up to the docks of Rawis. So my wife and I were ready to go to check the Boat Parade… 5am in the morning! (We were told that the start of the parade were 5am, but it was the start of the mass @ Punta Maria.)

We were the first ones to arrive at Rawis.  It was all dark at that time… But luckily,  we saw the beautiful sunrise on the shores of Rawis… Here’s a snapshot of it…

What a refreshing sight to behold! After coming from a 1.5 hour plane trip and 4hour trip by land (van), and sleeping for just 3 hours,  it surely is a rewarding view!

Then, one by one, the event organizer, the hermana, knights of columbus, etc. all arrived at the Rawis Pier. Here are some of my snapshots.

Happy Birthday Mama Mary!

The 3 Knights (of Columbus)

Getting ready to dance the long walk!

  Boronganons are all smiles!

A moment later, the whole pier was congested with people & vehicles! The BDPF  (Borongan Digital Photography Forum)  were also present at that time to facilitate/Join the event organized by BHCS (Borongan Historical & Cultural Society). That explains a lot of photographers swarming the pier. 🙂

A shot using 70-300mm lens. (@300mm crop sensor… still pretty small)

Then, a swarm of boats glide the whole pier side. What a magnificent view it was! The feeling was like pre-colonial era of boat men invading a city! Really it’s worth waking up in the morning! Here are some shots I’ve made.

It’s too bad I missed the opportunity to get some shots on the Dance Event held @ Borongan Plaza after the parade.  But i did some shots last 2009  Padul-ong. (i’ll update this blog as soon as i find those photos.) 🙂