Mrs. OSINT Challenge 4

Welcome to Mrs. OSINT Challenge 4: Pink Umbrella. This one was another fun and engaging challenge to solve, but it has a lot of questions to be answered, so fair warning. Throughout this challenge, I dedicated myself to meticulously analyzing every hint and clues found. Each piece of information plays a crucial role in unraveling this challenge.

I stayed away from using reverse image techniques since I wanted to practice paying close attention to details and develop my observational skills further. Instead, I focused on gathering data from various sources, cross-referencing information, and keeping an organized approach to my findings. Without any further ado, let’s get into it!

Challenge 4

Task:

• Identify the exact location (street name, city/state and country) shown in the photo provided.

Bonus Questions:

1. Coordinates: What are the approximate geographical coordinates (latitude and longitude) of this exact location?
2. Visual Clues: Identify and describe at least three visual clues (signage, language, transportation, architecture, businesses, etc.) from the image that helped you pinpoint the location.
3. Time of Day: Estimate the time of day the photo was taken, and share what clues led you to your conclusion.
4. Businesses: Based on what you see in the image, determine whether the businesses cater primarily to locals, tourists, or both. Explain your reasoning.
5. Nearby Geography: From visual analysis alone, can you deduce if this location is near a body of water or further inland? Share your analytical process.

There is so much information in this picture that I wasn’t sure where to start. There are so many signs… I am pretty sure there must be an easier way to solve this challenge, but here is how I did it.

I first tried searching for “Galaxy Club,” but this was too generic a term. The locations found did not match the surroundings. I tried testing my luck on TikTok, assuming someone would probably post it there.

I found some of the same results, but one of them stood out more because it had the same kind of red-paved sidewalk and had the word “Boracay”.

Looking back at the picture, we can see that same word on the white van. This would have saved me a lot of time. Sometimes, the answer is right in front of us.

I searched on Google Maps for “Galaxy Club Boracay” and started to try to find what I thought would be an intersection, or at least see the red sidewalk. This turned out to be more of a guessing game, so I decided to change my strategy.

Towards the left side of the original picture, I was able to make out the word “appeTea.”

A quick Google search revealed that this was a partial sign for Bon AppeTea. The street view showed old imagery, and it was kind of difficult to confirm I had the right place. Since the picture seemed to have been taken from a distance, I went across the street to see what the view was from there.

You can see in the screenshot above all the things I was able to match. Turning the camera around gave me a view of what I think is the little green area in the bottom right corner of our challenge picture prior to construction.

Now we can move onto the bonus questions.

Analyzing the picture, it seems like the shadows are short, close, or right under the subject. Usually, if it’s early in the morning or late in the afternoon, the shadows tend to be bigger and longer.

This time I was not able to find any metadata. If I had found any, I would use the date and the coordinates we found to try and replicate where the sun is likely to be and see shadow length or any other information to compare with the picture and have a more specific guess for the time.

Without this, I would say this picture was taken close to early afternoon since there is still a considerable amount of light despite the rain and cloudiness.

As far as who businesses serve, I would have to say both locals and tourists. There seems to be a lot of English signage for tourists.

To further confirm my suspicions, I went on Google Street View and found this famous place. Would you have guessed it was nearby?

Next, based on the picture alone, I don’t think I would have guessed it was near a body of water. Reading the question made me more aware and started noticing the palm trees in the background. Once I found out this was in Boracay, a popular island in the Philippines, I knew for sure it had to be close to a beach or some other body of water.

Task:

• Identify the exact location (street name, city/state and country) shown in the photo provided.
  • Solution: Boracay Tambisaan Jetty Port Rd, Malay, Philippines

Bonus Questions:

1. Coordinates: What are the approximate geographical coordinates (latitude and longitude) of this exact location?
   • 11°57’47″N 121°55’35″E
2. Visual Clues: Identify and describe at least three visual clues (signage, language, transportation, architecture, businesses, etc.) from the image that helped you pinpoint the location.
   • Galaxy Club sign
   • Red pavers on the sidewalk
   • Partial Bon AppeTea sign
3. Time of Day: Estimate the time of day the photo was taken, and share what clues led you to your conclusion.
   • Early afternoon
4. Businesses: Based on what you see in the image, determine whether the businesses cater primarily to locals, tourists, or both. Explain your reasoning.
   • Both
5. Nearby Geography: From visual analysis alone, can you deduce if this location is near a body of water or further inland? Share your analytical process.
   • Yes

This exercise made me think I would be able to find the location right away due to the high number of signs, but I was not able to. At least not until I found the island name on TikTok, thanks to the Galaxy sign. After that, my next breakthrough was thanks to a partial sign from Bon AppeTea.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post. As always, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below. I would love to read how you would have solved this differently.

Resources

• https://www.mrsosint.com/challenge-4-pink-umbrella/