Photoblog - Day 265 Dec 30, 2010

Auld Lang Syne:

Way back when... in Boy Scouting days to be exact, was when I first got to learn about this song. One that was sang as people in the Jamboree we were attending were parting ways. Back then it did not really sink in - probably because as the first stanza would say 'Should old acquaintance be forgot...' was simply alien to me.

Now I have to admit, I have had some forgotten old acquaintances - some because we were just too busy to keep tabs with, as life (more likely, work) pulled us apart. Well, this picture is of my old I/ACT colleagues - who have made it a point to still keep abreast with each other, and every year-end, they get together for one last hurrah. I used to join them - but as I said, we got too busy, lost touch and contact for such a get together.

I realized this fact upon seeing facebook pics of these reunions - and realized what I missed. Well this year, thanks to FB, I made it a point to be part of said reunion - and keep tabs. I just wanted to make sure that I let 'Auld Lang Syne' be a song... and not a reality.

Photoblog - Day 264 Dec 29, 2010

Cuenca Christmas visit:

This item was long overdue - our visits to Cuenca are planned trips... it's just too far to do on a whim, as it involves preparation of what to bring - and the assumption (though it has not always held, of course) is that we would be going as a family. After all, we may see Bing once in a while, when she travels to Manila, and the same can be said for Tizza - though I guess, in rarer terms. But to see my mom, we have to go there. She isn't well enough to handle long trips to Manila and back to Cuenca... and even if we could come up with a car to allow her to travel, she gets tired and I guess, Manila travel and air isn't too good for her these days (fatigue plus pollution).

We normally schedule our Christmas trips earlier, but this year, things were just too hectic for me - so we decided to hit two birds with one stone, seeing as we were going a bit late anyway - and come on Migs birthday as well... I believe, this is a first for us... normally going for the Christmas celebration and well, just telling Migs his advanced birthday greeting.

It may even be better... who knows - I'll see how busy I get same time in 2011. But I don't mind traveling on the 29th... though I would prefer more time to plan things out better... not that this was a disaster (as the picture is proof) - just that it leaves little time for cleaning up for the new years, is all. But still... this trip was purely Kairos time - which is how trips like this should be.

Just what are they laughing at? Who cares, really... the fact is - and the important matter IS that they are laughing. Rare as our visits are, it's situations like this that make the planning and travel time worthwhile.

Photoblog - Day 263 Dec 28, 2010

Christmas done, but not yet gone:

One of the great things about our Christmas season here in the Philippines is that it sort of starts early (December 16th is the official celebratory prep time via Simbang Gabi) and goes on until Three Kings (the first Sunday of the new year). That said, the Christmas decors are set up earlier than usual (compared to the rest of the world) and are not torn down right after New Year's celebration.

This allows us to better appreciate the decors which we may have missed due to all the Christmas shopping rush - which in turn creates the pre-Christmas traffic jams.

After Christmas, though. things look very differently - and it is not a disturbing effort to get from point A to point B in the Metro. That said, take this simple yet poignant display... so simple with all it's white lights - yet elegantly done. I refer to the display of the Podium.

Why was I at the Podium? I was going to get some barongs (office attire dress shirts with a local feel) since some of my older barongs are ready to retire. But since parking in Mega Mall is a nightmare... even in non-Christmas rush days, the Podium offered a saner place to park - and eat. Plus I had to meet my dad, so he could give me something to bring to Cuenca - where I would be going tomorrow.

As for the picture... we definitely don't have White Christmases here - but at least we can simulate it some way... and still keep form freezing. That counts for something, right?

Photoblog - Day 262 Dec 27, 2010

High School BFFs:

Today happened to be Barbie's reunion with some friends she has not met since... well, since high school, if the story is to be believed. I mean, think of it... these are people I've never seen (except for Jay, of course - 2nd from right and not jumping) when I met and courted her. Yet these people had shared a great part of their teen formative lives together. Amazing that after so long a time, they find the opportunity to get together. Thanks in part of rediscovering each other in Facebook.

So when Barbie mentioned this... I could not, in all conscience, say no to her wanting me to drive her to their meeting place - which to me was a chance to do some exploring myself. After all, I did not mind going to Mall of Asia to hang around while they got reacquainted. I got a few comics to read and for the rest of the time... well, I could always explore.

Still, as plans go... this one did not go exactly as planned - so four of them (with me in tow) had to meet Jay in Las Piñas - a place easier for her to go to, given her not too strong constitution. They stayed in Starbucks' 2nd floor - while I made myself scarce, but reachable in staying at the coffee place's ground floor.

I took this fun shot at their request - before they finally called it a day. As Barbie said... seeing your wife happy meeting friends she has not seen in decades - 'priceless'.

Photoblog - Day 261 Dec 26, 2010

Sunday Rest Day:

For the most part of the day we stayed home - aside from the need to get away from all the hectic Christmas-related reunions, my body was in complaining mode from all the food and drinks I took in; so it went to automatic cleaning mode...don't ask. For those of you who seem to get it, yeah... not an attractive topic for a blog, huh?

You can probably guess that going out would therefore be the last thing on my mind... but it being a Sunday and all, we had to go to mass - and since we did not have anyone to cook at home as Ate VIcky was likewise on vacation, we decided to eat at Pho Hoa of the Shangi La Plaza.

I took the safe road... had a sea food bowl with Barbie - avoiding anything with oil. So yeah, this could be considered the highlight of my day. As for the picture, just a shot of Barbie and Bernice while waiting for their order to arrive.

Photoblog - Day 260 Dec 25, 2010

Chocolate and Cheese:

The two things that seem to go so well with wine - and since Barbie and I were planning to have some wine, well... we decided to have both (in this case, some feta cheese and cherry cordial flavored kisses)

Though the 25th may be a day of traditional celebration with relatives, I was just too tired from all the Christmas prep, visits and traffic. So I just wanted to stay home and have some peace in our home as the entire world was wishing peace on earth. I felt I owed it to myself to just rest after all these hectic days.

Did I feel isolated and detached? Nope... thanks to aps like Facebook, I was greeting people where I could.

Photoblog - Day 259 Dec 24, 2010

Reunions... reunions...

Yeah, it's that time of the year when we get to see relatives we've hardly seen the past months - and I marvel at the fact that without Facebook, I might have missed them out in a crowd... amazing huh?

But reunions like this allow is to touch base - some, I'm sad to say, even just superficially. After all, if you hardly know anything about yourselves other than the fact that you have similar ancestors, what would you talk about? Well, apparently... our ancestors of course. I mean... what else?

I got to know more about a great-grand mother whom I've never heard of... and just realized that her story is being turned into a movie... just so her life and it's hardships can be told (and hopefully, some lessons learned?).

I also learned a story of my dad during his teen years... so yeah, I was laughing out loud at that.

The food was indisputably great... and I really have to watch my weight during these times. So yeah... I felt that if anything else, some more bridges were built between me and my cousins, uncles and aunts. We're not as close as I would like... but at least we have these occasions - and ones not sorrowful in nature (like funerals).

This picture shows my dad (center) and uncles sharing a light moment. So yeah... here's looking forward to the next one - the eve before the New Year.

Photoblog - Day 258 Dec 23, 2010

Last PM School 2010:

I must say that I normally do not look forward to handling PM school - it usually is too stuffed with topics, and should the participants be less inspired to talk, I (and my partner) would be exhausted for talking the entire day. Last time I handled this, I think I had to do a few days alone... so, to be honest, I was not really looking forward to this.

Lucky for me, Gina would be sharing the facilitating load with me... and we would have a class filled with very active listeners and more than a handful of people willing to share their Accenture experience... and we had people from different groups that somehow complemented each other when it came to asking questions raised to the group.

Bottom line? I really loved this session. Even if Gina and I were tired, due to our respective hectic weekends - and hectic Monday (Christmas party, remember?) even if we were going a bit over the official class time, we were both okay with it... heck we even had to intervene a few times to get the conversations to move along - lest we end up really having overtime on the last day.

But the experience shared - both from in and outside Accenture viewpoints; the tossing around of ideas; the invaluable insights into how certain parts of the company worked - this was all very interesting... and needed by these new (and not so new) PMs.

When 5PM finally came, I was almost sad to see it end... and surprise surprise... neither Gina, nor I was drained by this particular run. We enjoyed it... and more importantly, our participants enjoyed it. Great way to end my year of teaching/facilitating.

If only all PM classes were like this. Thanks a lot folks!

Photoblog - Day 257 Dec 22, 2010

Celebrating friendship:

This was supposed to be a night for the winners of our singing contest, while also being a night to celebrate one last time with some friends - at least, last time for the year, since they would have no more trainings for the rest of December.

That said, of the group that won, only Francis, Jinky and I were able to be there - accompanied with Lovern and Gina... the other two - Jingo and Brian, were occupied elsewhere... but I thought that was okay, since we also used up some of the cash, as part of our post party celebration. My thoughts here being that if it was near impossible to pull together all five, we could do two separate celebrations - so long as majority of the winners were able to enjoy it. It just so happened that both Gina and I were present in the two celebrations.

as I said though, it was also a night to share a drink with some of them - whom I would not be seeing until January... Jinky, Francis and Lovern fell into this category.

Of course, the evening was also loud... since we just happen to be in one small corner - right beside the karaoke speaker. Suffice to say, once we were done with the bucket of beer we ordered, we called it a night.

Photoblog - Day 256 Dec 21, 2010

December Comics:

I did take advantage of my being in Makati yesterday, to pass a comic shop I rarely frequent (simply because it is out of my usual route), because I needed to get a comic I asked them to get for me... and they called me a few days earlier to inform me that they did have the comic re-ordered. So I did need to go there... and my having to go to the Christmas party was the best coincidence to do just that.

Naturally, I took it upon myself to maximize my visit... deciding to get a few more issues from them - ones I hardly find in my regular comic shops.

That was last night. Reading these comics, however, were more scheduled for today (no time to do it last night, after all), since I was still in the middle of conducting a Project Management training with Gina. So I thought to myself... okay, while Gina is lecturing, I would have time to read these comics.

Most of them were catch-up reading with The Green Hornet, and I did get a comic I already had - simply because the cover was by Alex Ross... a tribute to Vampirella issue #1 back when it was first published by Warren magazine. Though it just showed the back of vampi - with Drakulon (the supposed planet she came from) as her background. I can't remember who painted the cover back then though.

These won't be the last comics I'll be getting this year... at least, I'd like to think so.

Photoblog - Day 255 Dec 20, 2010

Christmas Party:

The occasion is the Phoenix One Christmas party... the location is the rooftop of Asian Mansions in Makati... a private enough place for such a party with about 50 people (approximately speaking); and quite naturally, a place in general that I would want to avoid, since Makati is one of a handful of places in the middle of Christmas shopping madness, and therefore, horrendous traffic jams.

But... it is a Christmas party after all, and it has been a while since I've been part of one - the last one I remember being in was the Orange and Bronze party last year... I think, and I was just a spectator there - an invited guest. Not so here, as the picture shows.

Highlight of the night? Welcome to the Sing-along relay contest where a group of 5 people will be given a random song to sing, and they will have to try their best to interpret it. The thing is, it's virtually anything goes, and you had better hope that you get the luck of the draw with a song you know.

Lucky for us (us being Brian, Francis, Jinky and myself), we have Jingo on our team - but this being a relay, Jingo could only carry oh... 20% of the songs (roughly speaking). First round pick was a familiar enough tune - made famous by Billy Joel... then later, by Westlife (I think) - 'Uptown Girl'; and we squeezed in the top 3 with a 93 despite thinking we were goners.

Well next round was apparently more difficult - 'Staying Alive' by the Bee Gees... I mean, c'mon... really? Bee Gees? If if was 'Charade' - a song pre-falcetto Bee Gees days, I would have a fighting chance. As it was, I had to bring it several rungs lower just to turn in my tune, and the rest gladly followed. But we did not bother thinking we'd win - and I guess that helped. No pressure.

Our score? 99 - from there on, it was just a matter of time. The team that followed us must have been slightly intimidated... and Jingo even commented on the same thing to me. Anything less than 100 would not be good enough for them - and at the best, they could tie with another 99... and they would have, since their song was (at least to my mind) easier for a majority ladies team (Gloria Gaynor's I will Survive).

Photoblog - Day 254 Dec 19, 2010

Believe:

My kids are at this age where they don't believe in Santa Claus anymore... just paying lip service to the idea (and the person playing the role in this picture). Too bad... I feel that one of the things that keeps the magic of Christmas alive was their belief - and our helping instill said belief, in Santa.

Guess it was bound to happen, huh? And with loss of belief comes a certain added cynicism - though I don't think my kids are too cynical. I can't remember when I realized that there was no Santa... but this did not make me stop hoping or believing in the concept. I guess that sort of explains why I enjoy watching films of Santa, deep inside, I hope and pray that I do see Santa - and not just believe in a marketing idea. It's my inner child refusing to be totally swept away.

Photoblog - Day 253 Dec 18, 2010

Cheese plate:

This evening, Barbie and I hosted our second wine and cheese night for Fred and Carlos. If things go according to conversations from this night's gathering, we might just make this a semi-regular thing. This night, Fred brought his girl friend Clorian, hopefully in succeeding such nights, we'll have Gerry joining us as well (assuming he gets to pull himself from whatever keeps him very busy these days).

The cheese cutter was something I got from the St. James bazaar - something I specifically looked for, as I was getting frustrated with having to scrape the cheese from any knife. Aside from this, one could possibly glimpse some red and white colored plates and matching cloth napkins - all for better presentation... and items that we (that is, Barbie and I) bought from the Crossings Depaartment Store in Shangri La Plaza.

The table looked great, and we had a great time. Though this time, we consumed less wine as Carlos and I were more focussed on savoring a 15-year old Scotch (brouhgt by Carlos). We also had three cakes (two courtesy of Fred). Yup... looking forward to the next one - most probably by next year.

Photoblog - Day 251 Dec 16, 2010

New Star(bucks)!

This new building happens to be a two story Starbucks coffee place located in the Fort. Barbie had visited it and she wanted us to experience this as well. Naturally, I was curious about the new place, and lugged my camera to take a few pcitures.

The place was almost full - despite it's size, and seemingly out of the way location from the High Street and other more densely populated locales within Bonifacio. Still, we did find some seats (barely), and enjoyed our coffee.

Will I ever come back here to relax and enjoy the experience? Maybe... after all, I have no real reason to go back - considering that there are other, more convenient Starbucks locations - with the one if Fully Booked specifically coming ot mind. Technically, this is the building's rear... though it looks a bit more interesting that it's front.

Photoblog - Day 252 Dec 17, 2010

Blue:

As I said im a previous post (two days back), I was planning on taking a shot of me in the blue light. Where exactly did this blue light come from? Simple... I found a room filled with PCs and their monitors on standby Windows screen mode. This was where I took the picture of the clock as prep for my picture. Consdier this my official photo for the month.

It was a bit of a challenge too, considering I had no tripod with me during this shot, and I still had to consider how the camera somehow tried overcompensating to adjust it's shot looking too blue. How did I do this? Putting my ISO setting to 100, to capture light as quick as possible, not use a flash, and make sure my white balance was placed in a bright light mode, so the camera would compensate by making the shot slightly darker. But it didn't end there either... I had to add to the contrast of the pciture - remove the visible monitors and just leave the ligth relfection to do it's magic to me adn my features.

The results hoepfully speak for themselves.

Photoblog - Day 250 Dec 15, 2010

Tempus Fugit:

Time flies... so the saying goes - but at times, time seems to stand still as well... so which is it? The Greeks give us a clue - two actually. That is right, the Greek have two meanings to time that captures this duality. Chronos and Kairos.

Chronos, or linear time, is time that does not wait... the one that flies. It's what people are rushing to catch when they chase deadlines. Kairos, on the other hand, is quality time... the kind we'd like to stretch - to stand still, to freeze and rememebr forever with pcitures or videos.

But enough of this... let's talkabotu the picture. I took this clock in a room lit in blue - funny how just that fact makes an otherwise mundane picture seem to be seen in a differnt light (and yes, I intended the pun - sue me if you find it corny). I wnated to capture the clock in the blue hue... and yes, this was in preperation of another shot I was hoping to take... this time, with me in the frame. Unfortunately, my camera took this time to run out of juice. Ah well... will do this at another date... and post the results here too.

Photoblog - Day 249 Dec 14, 2010

New Laptop:

Okay... maybeit's nto so new, but it's a laptop and it's mine. Consider this a Christmas gift I'm giving myself - and Lord knows I needed one after my old reliable became less reliable. So now I'm going to be luggin around this Toshiba Satellite whenever I need to access my files.

I'd go through the specs - but I think it would not be so interesting to some folks, so suffice to say this laptop is larger, more powerful and heavier than my old one. It's an improvement in almost all aspects - and I'm lucky it fits into my laptop backpack.

I'll admit to still adjusting to the use of this laptop, and I still have to consolidate my files - but with my TB portable HD, that shouldn't be much of a problem.

Photoblog - Day 248 Dec 13, 2010

New Batch:

Yeah, yeah... regular followers of this blog (there must be at least one of you, right?) will probably think 'ho hum, another entry about his comics' - and in that regard, you may be right; but consider the fact that this is a photoblog of how I spent my tear - and if it isn't obvious yet, let me point out that I collect and buy comics almost on a weekly basis. So don't be surprised with these entries (and this certainly won't be the last for the year... or this project).

That said, let me say something about this new batch...

Vampirella! A new number one issue at that. I've been a fan of the character since... well since her Vampirella black and white magazine days. Let's face it, her early adventures were rather okay... but the art, and how her character was written - hoo boy, was she a fantasy piece for every '70s comic geek. I've heard the B&W stories will be reprinted by Dynamite... that's cool too. I wouldn't mind recollecting Vampi.

Aside from that, there's the Chaos War... hmmm... I'm still on the fence on this, but getting it anyway. The Green Hornet is another Dynamite product... and I'm starting to respect this publisher a whole lot more. After all, this incarnation of Green Hornet is being penned by Kevin Smith. The runaway surprise that I enjoyed, though is the Chaos War's Dead Avengers - and though I don't know where this is going yet, it seems well crafted, and I do miss a few of the characters here.

Lastly... Children's Crusade. A good story and a nice twist - great characterization and art... but where is this going, I wonder? Regardless, I'm just glad that Wanda - the real Wanda it seems, is back.

Photoblog - Day 247 Dec 12, 2010

Meet Bruce:

No, he isn't our dog. Bruce is based in my in-laws place in Cavite, and we just happened to pay them a visit today. Bruce was bought by my brothers and sisters-in-law in Tiendesitas sometime November this year. He's just a puppy (pedigreed), though I doubt he'll grow dramatically larger than his current frame. After all, Bruce's breed (a Pug if I'm not mistaken) does not lend itself to growing much larger than his current size.

Bruce's breed's claim to fame came form the movie 'Men in Black', wherein one alien disguises himself as the dog of a newspaper owner - and I remember this becasue I remember a lot of trivial items related to movies... specially comic adaptations (as Men in Black was).

Back to Bruce... he greeted us enthusiastically and as some other pcitures would attest, he is likewise ready to play at a moment's notice. Wonder if his demeanor - and outlook towards strangers will change as he gets older? In this picture, we see Barbie controling Bruce's movements, so he could have his picture taken.

As for the picture itself, since I wanted to use all natural light, I declined using a flash to allow the dominance of orange to come through.

Photoblog - Day 246 Dec 11, 2010

Christmas Bacardi Get Together:

Yes, it's that most wonderful time of the week - a weekend with a Bacardi Night, and not just any Bacardi night; mind you... but one that's got the larger group together for our 2nd Annual Christmas gathering / white elephant - exchange gift game. It's also a great time for us to play catch up with old friends whom we've not seen in a while - or whom we've had little time to sit down and talk shop with - due to the hectic demands of work.

As you can see by the picture, we were able to have a sizable group - counting just four absentees from this gathering. Oh well, next time we'll hopefully have a more complete attendance... and talking about next bacardi nights, before this night ended, we more or less, pegged the schedules and locations for the next two Bacardi Nights for 2011.

For thsi pic, I set the camera on timer mode, and lucky for us all, Nai had a tripod handy. So cheers folks... and see you all again after all these holiday traffic.