After our snorkelling on the sixth and last full day of holiday, I just had time to sketch this on the beach outside the place we were staying. Most of the time I was sketching this I was surround by a crowd of kids who were watching me, with some telling me how they like to draw too…that’s always one of the most enjoyable parts of sketching in public (once you have plucked up the courage). I wasn’t very happy with the sketch though – it somehow seems too flat.
Thu-2-Jan-2025
On our fifth day in Puerto Galera we tried to go to the Tukura Water Falls where you get taken to the falls in a cart pulled by a Carabao. Unfortunately rain and high water levels meant the Cart Association (the sign said “Cart Ass”, which made us giggle) wasn’t operating. I started the first of these two little sketches while we were waiting to find out if we could go. However we did stop at the Tamaraw falls (along the road) on the way back and then went on to see the weavers in the Iraya-Mangyan Village, where we bought some souvenirs. The second sketch was done on the sixth day of our holiday when we had lunch at a place called Robby’s, before we went snorkelling from a Banca hired from the Muelle pier again.
Wed-1 to Thu-2-Jan-2025
On our fourth day we went to the Muelle Puerto Galera pier to arrange for island hopping. It was easily arranged and great fun. Our boat-man (Francis) took us to three beaches and naturally I decided to do a quick sketch on each one. The first sketch is of “Heart Beach” (named after a shape in the cliffs you can see from the sea), where there was a washed up (huge) buoy. The second one is of a log (also washed up) on “Long Beach” and the third is of “Haligi Beach” (which according to the internet means post or pillar). The ticket I stuck in was given when we paid the “environmental user fee” (a fee that is supposed to be used to help local government address environmental issues) when entering Puerto Galera
Tue-31-Dec-2024
After lunch (upstairs at Lalaguna Beach Club and Dive Resort) on our third day, we went and sat on the beach again and I sketched this view of all the bancas lined up on the beach. A banca (sometimes spelt as bangka) is a dugout canoe-style small boat, with outriggers used by fisherfolk. If you look carefully you can see someone laying down reading a book in the shade of one of the boats. Round the point is another beach called Small Lalaguna Beach…hence the title of this.
Mon-30-Dec-2024
This is the second sketch I did on our third day when we moved from Sabang beach to Big Lalaguna beach. This little boat caught my eye immediately. In the water are little launches that lots of Chinese visitors were using to go out scuba diving…wearing some very odd looking outfits to my eyes.
Mon-30-Dec-2024
This sketch was done at Café Marco on White Beach in Puerto Galera when we ran for cover from the rain. As soon as I saw this cafe on our way to the beach I wanted to sketch there – what sketcher could resist all those scooters and motorbikes hanging on the wall? At first we thought we would sit outside as we were dripping wet, but the person serving kindly let us inside.
Sun-29-Dec-2024
Here is the first of my beach sketches done on our little holiday in Puerto Galera. On our first day we went to ‘white beach’, which is one of the most popular beaches in the area – and it supposedly has white powdery sand (though I have been to beaches with whiter sand and I don’t really care what colour the sand is!). This is the first sketch in a newly made sketchbook – this time using 300gsm Baohong Hot Pressed paper (quite expensive but 100% cotton and acid free) and using a “spineless” method to bind it (inspired by a cheap sketchbook that a friend showed me), which makes it easier to fold the pages out completely flat.
Sun-29-Dec-2024
Here is a sketch of the place we stayed in the Dulangan part of Puerto Galera (called home of sunrise). We were right on the beach…there is a hint of the sea outside the window. The interior of the place was mostly white, but somehow as the sun went down all the colours changed (hence the title of this). I also got the scale of the stuff on the kitchen island wrong…the bottles are far too large! I am ever my own worst critic.
Sat-28-Dec-2024
After our Christmas celebrations we took a trip to Puerto Galera (on Mindoro Island) for a little holiday. We travelled via the Ro-Ro (roll-on/roll-off) – a ferry that takes cars, trucks, and buses – from Batangas port. But what was supposed to be a trip of a morning lasted all day, because at the port there seemed to be some typhoon damage to their ramps and they could only use one, shared between several ferries. Why this information couldn’t be shared online so that passengers would know of the delays in advance, I don’t know…we ended up waiting about 6 hours to get on the ferry (when I did the first of these two sketches).
Then we sat on the ferry for a further 2 hours (when I did the second sketch) waiting for it to depart! You’d think, given the Philippines is a nation of more than 7,000 islands, that by now the ferry system would be efficient and well run…but no, it’s all rather haphazard.
Fri-27-Dec-2024