Photoblog - Day 282 Jan 16, 2011

Feast of the Sto. Niño:

First of all, yes... this is a picture of the holy family and not the Sto. Niño (or Christ child), but since I've no picture of a Sto. Niño I could get a hold of for today's shot, I had to just replace one with the other - besides, this too shows a child (though more babe than child at this point - but who's counting? and yes... we don't have a Sto. Niño at home).

The image I took a picture of is actually two-toned... silver and gold, but for this picture, I wanted to experiment with just a monotone - so it looks all silver, due to it's shiny nature... but the picture is supposed to be just black and white.

I also experimented with angles - the first one was from below... and it was an okay picture, but when I tried this other angle. with it's more leveled between the child and parents, I seemed to have a more loving look on the parents and a semi-smiling look form the child Jesus. It may be just my imagination... or play with lighting; either -or, I decided this to be the better angle to use.

The item in the picture happens to be a gift from my mother-in-law to me this past Christmas - guess she saw how I admired their statue... and she decided to gift me with one. I appreciate it, and have decided to put it in a prominent place within the living area.

So here's to the feast of the Santo Niño, which we celebrate every 3rd Sunday of January... and here's to the innocence of children - their easily trusting; quick to forgiving; playful and unpretentious nature. Lord knows we must never lose those traits if we are to thrive as a global race.

Photoblog - Day 281 Jan 15, 2011

Personal Space...

That is what seems to be in Buffy's mind, as Bruce continuously smothers her with his face - and despite how appearances may seem, these two are indeed quite playful with each other - often chasing each other from sofa to dining area, and back... countless times.,, at least, until one just plops down from exhaustion.

So yeah. Buffy and Bruce are best of friends (at least, when Buffy isn't too moody) and as of this day's picture taking, Bruce will be returning to Cavite with Ben, so it's not sure when he'll be back - and if Buffy will remember him when he does.

But I'm sure that the creatures that will miss Bruce the most, are those that ironically fear him - or don't bother mingling with him - these creatures are namely Neko and Nek Nek; the two black cats. Why so? Because when Bruce was not around, Buffy would incessantly play with (and at times, it does look like bullying) the two cats.

When Bruce arrived, these two cats kept themselves hidden (not knowing Bruce) and were likewise spared of any Buffy rough stuff - thanks in no small part, to Bruce keeping her occupied. Now that Bruce is gone, we'll have some semblance of normalcy - and cats being chased by Buffy once again.

Photoblog - Day 280 Jan 14, 2011

High Street Artwork:

It's one of the artistic sculpture attractions that you'll find in the middle of Bonifacio High Street - I don't know if it has any official name, as I just call it the shower boulder (though I think no one is allowed to take a shower under it - but wouldn't that be a picture worth taking? He he).

I used a high ISO here - so I need not hold the camera steady for a long time, and wanted the water to look visible as a continuous line (I actually wanted to capture the droplets looking like droplets, but I think I'll need larger ISO for that... I think) - besides, since it's got it's own lighting, the sculpture did not need to take in a lot of night or background / ambient light to better expose the subject (said rock shower sculpture).

Once again, I believe I would have gotten a better shot - and one with a longer exposure, had I brought a tripod - even my gorilla tripod would do. One thing I did notice is that this piece is cordoned by a makeshift rope fence... not impossible to go over, mind you - but visible enough to ask everyone not to step on the grass and approach the sculpture.

Hey, maybe someone did try to take a shower here one time - hence the cordon. I won't think that an impossible prank. Not that I'd do it... after all, I do want to take the shot... not be the shot.

Photoblog - Day 279 Jan 13, 2011

(Side) Mirror Image:

When I took this picture, I just wanted to experiment - on a whim, with my ISO settings - see how putting it at 100 and 1600 would make a difference - any difference.

Far as I can tell the one with the 1600 took less time to click and process as opposed to the ISO 100 version. With respect to clarity, I'd have to say that the 1600 looked clearer - but that may also be because of less shakes on my end (I was not using a tripod here - and I should have), other than that, the 100 looked a bit brighter... but again, possibly due to shakes, it did not come across as sharper.

Anyway... if you closely at the mirror's reflection at the glass, you'll see a slightly visible formation of my face and the camera - as reflected by the light. The color was really like that - owing to the tungsten lighting, I could have adjusted it with Photoshop, but decided against it. After all, the color is what adds to the image's coolness... and yes, the car is our Toyota, so I was not getting anyone worried by being nosy with their car.

Photoblog - Day 278 Jan 12, 2011

My three companions:

Since I was relatively free from any training-related work this particular day, I found myself just staying home and resting... blogging... uploading pictures... and recovering a bit (just a bit) from the previous night's drinking session at the NBC tent.

Naturally, I had as companions, the three dogs in our place... Bubbles and Buffy of course, being our pets - and Bruce, our visiting Pug (lower right portion of the picture). Ben brought Bruce to our place and Bubbles quite naturally adopted Bruce with little fuzz.

Buffy, on the other hand, well it's still a confusing aspect with her - take for example this picture... here we have all three dogs co-existing peacefully - in fact, Buffy and Bruce were playing and running around. But prior to that - and even later still, Buffy seemed to be getting angry with Bruce. Huh? What gives, right?

It is for that reason that we can't still keep Bruce out of his cage... unless we're around. After all, Bruce may be close to Buffy's size, but he's still a puppy - then again, so is Buffy... though she's at least 4 months older than Bruce.

On taking this picture, I was patiently waiting for them to all be in the frame - a near impossibility, as both Bruce and Buffy were al over the place - and in some situations, Bubbles woudl be in the wrong place... totally blocking out the two smaller dogs. Then this happens - though they were all looking in different directions - but seeing thsi opportunity, I readied my camera -gave a very brief loud kiss noise for them all to turn in my direction... and took the shot.

Ben was watching me when I took the shot and he knew I got that rare shot of them all looking at me. What can I say... sometimes I amaze myself too.

Photoblog - Day 277 Jan 11, 2011

DLSU 100 yrs - kick-off:

So how did you spend your 1-11-11? Well the DLSU Alumni Association decided to spend the evening in the NBC Tent, with the intent to kick-start the Centenial celebration of De La Salle's presence here in the Philippines.

This picture shows DLSAA Chairman Henry Atayde (in disguise) showing everyone the activities map - while informing us all just how the celebration is being planned and naturally, what's in store for La Salle.

I came in as both an LSGH batch 78 alumni and a DLSU batch 82 alumni - met a few people I haven't seen since... well, since college days, actually - and even met a few new people too. Over-all things look exciting. But don't expect me to attend everything. As for souvenir items, well... I did not really see anything worth getting that evening - hopefully, as the Centenial comes closer, there will be better shirts or jackets.

Photoblog - Day 276 Jan 10, 2011

Future Team Leads 2011:

This is a Team Lead School - a two day training for new TLs, to get them started on knowing what is espected of them.

the course is a hodge-podge of many ideas taken form other courses... with the main intent of giving the TLs an idea of what they are expected to do... process to follow and experiences to be shared.

That said, this particular training was different because I mostly sat at the back and acted as an added resource to the training while my partner in this conduct - Lina, went through all modules (a first for her) to see what she could do, and whether she could finally conduct things like TL school without getting away with only the easy modules and letting her partner handle the bulk of the training. This time, the show was in the other foot.

I made it appear that I was there to help - but not handle modules... to interject, but not facilitate. We needed to see if she could really study and conduct the course, and for the most part, she could wing it by redirecting questions from the audience - back to the audience. At the end of day 1, I gave her my observations... for her consideration - and hopefully, a better day2.

Photoblog - Day 275 Jan 9, 2011

KFC Lunch:

This Sunday, we decided to do things a bit different... instead of waking up late, we opted to get up earlier than our usual weekend manner (where half the day is over by the time everyone is up), and go for an early mass (as opposed to going to mass at 6pm) in Greenhills.

Then we'd take lunch and and be done with all our obligations and walks early to enjoy the rest of the day relaxing at home - in preparation for the regular classes and work days.

Now we normally look for a place to have lunch - and we considered KFC an option acceptable to all - hence here we went... to KFC in Shaw Bldv. We enjoyed our lunch... and made true the option of relaxing the rest fo the day. How so? In the kids' case - the usual internet and afternoon siesta... while in Barbie and my case - a DVD movie viewing. We decided to watch Percy Jackson.

All we did was wait for dinner time - while really just enjoying the slow and peaceful day. A far cry from the hustle and bustle of the work days... so I guess I was likewise recharging - after all, at the end of last Friday's training, I already had coughing fits... an itchy throat and really felt dead tired - so I really needed this weekend rest.

Photoblog - Day 274 Jan 8, 2011

Dentist's orders:

Yes, you read right. This was just what the dentist that we went to ordered... after cleaning the teeth of Bryce and Bernice - and having had a tooth (or portions of it) extracted from them, the dentist did say to treat them with ice cream.

Now, since we have not been to Robinson's Galleria for years (we used to regularly grocery there - until Robinson's Pioneer opened... the need to get ice cream was dependent on where we'd find such. Lucky for us all (that is - Bryce , Bernice and me, we stumbled upon 'Carra Mia' - so I asked them if they wanted to eat there and they naturally said yes.

What I have in the picture is a strawberry-banana ice cream cake... with lots of chocolate to go with it. It's taste sort of reminds me of a banana-split. But don't take my word for it... by all means, try it out... either at the Robinson's Ortigas area or at theGreenhills area - beside Amicci.

Yup... 2011 is when we finally decided to go to the dentist and have our teeth fixed, pulled or generally repaired. After all... Bryce will be needing braces.

Photoblog - Day 273 Jan 7, 2011

Shades and Shadows:

This picture won't be possible in the mall's usual working hours... for one, there'd be too many people going around. Two, the sun might be too high so as not to reflect it's rays in the inner corridor of said mall.

That said, I was able to get this picture as I saw the sun's rays shining into the corridor. At first, I was the opposite end - taking pictures of the chairs and tables with the natural lighting. But when I went to the opposite end of said corridor, I was struck with how the lights and shades played with each other - how the arches were emphasized - giving the place a sudden exotic eastern look.

I realized that this was a much better view and had to take the shot. Heck, if I had to consider adding to this, I might think of adding a shapely model standing under one of those arches - letting her silhouette play with the light as well. But as it is... it shows a beautiful scene. Guess there are advantages with coming in real early.

He he... yes, I did have my breakfast in McDonald's - as it was one of the few opened places at that time.

Photoblog - Day 272 Jan 6, 2011

My first comics for 2011:

Yup - another hold-over from 2010... and way longer that that, is my hobby of buying, collecting and reading comics. I still have my usual list of must reads. In this case, I looked forward to Captain America, Green Lantern, X-men, Superboy (surprisingly good) and S.H.I.E.L.D. - easily my favorite in this bunch. In fact, I just might make an inspired review of S.H.I.E.L.D. - just deciding whether to wait for it to end first; or do it now.

There are a few other titles I might be discontinuing - Secret Warriors (as it is winding down), Avengers... but on the other hand, there are others that look promising, hence my starting them like Batman: Dark Knight. Then there's a hold-over form the holidays - Orange Lantern and the hilarious story in it... no real bother as it's just a one-shot issue.

So... if this is a start - I guess I can imagine how my collection will once again grow by end of 2011... assuming I continue collecting, that is.

Note to self... remove plastic covers to prevent glare - or shoot away from a window.

Photoblog - Day 270 Jan 4, 2011

Back to the grind...

Yup - vacation was over on the 3rd of January, as I greeted 2011's work week by handling a Project Management School training for Accenture. Does this mean I'm destined to teach PM-related stuff for this year? Can this sustain me all throughout the year? Hope it can. Will I change work mid-stride? I am thinking about it.

So the first work week of 2011 found me busy the entire week - since PMS is a four day course... and for a moment, I thought I needed to teach it solo. Luckily, Gina was able to join me in day 2 - with her personal emergency taken care of. By Wednesday, as this picture represents, other trainers were already present in McKinley as well. So yeah... everything was going back to the way things were before the Christmas-break.

If there was any hidden meaning to the fact that PMS was the last training I had in 2010 - and now in 2011 it 's the first... well, I'll just leave that to more learned people. Me... I'm just glad I've got work to ofset all my holiday spendings.

Photoblog - Day 271 Jan 5, 2011

I/ACT pioneers:

Would you believe that there's a real good chance I happen to be the youngest person in the group? I said chance because I was too polite to ask - but one thing is a fact. Everyone - and I mean every single face in this picture with me - was in I/ACT before I joined.

For those not in the know, I/ACT was the premiere computer institute of the 70's - and at it's peak, had branches in other ASEAN countries... and these people were the ones responsible for all this. It was in I/ACT that I started learning my I.T. skills in programming and systems analysis... hence the start of my journey in eventually becoming a facilitator, corporate trainer, coach and consultant.

Imagine that... this particular evening, I was technically representing the 3rd generation of I/ACT. I think others might have come after I left... too bad I wasn't able to rub elbows with them again.

This gathering, is, in fact... an I/ACT pioneers reunion... and I happen to be there as well by simple luck... through Benj Santillan (the guy in front of me) - and if I'm to consider the story right, all these were made possible because of Ime Ponteres. All these people knew Ime... many visited her wake... and were reunited. They kept in email contact - and organized this reunion.

It was nice to meet some people - people whose names were constant mentions to me in my I/ACT days... and I would have stayed longer had I been able to better plan my joining this group's reunion. I also wished I knew more people here... but that's okay, there'll be more opportunities for that.

Photoblog - Day 269 Jan 3, 2011

Need a break?

Break from what exactly? From the holiday rush... from the holiday food... from anything holiday-related? Yeah, there are times I felt like that.

Let's face it, this particular Christmas seemed to have come and gone by so fast, I hardly felt I had time to enjoy it. Oh there were a few days - maybe just one actually, when I would be bale to sit back, relax and enjoy the season - but majority of the time, I felt like being rushed here and there.

Well this particular day was a pre-planned rest day... just stay home... period. If any prep time was focused on, it was to ensure that the 4th (being the official first day of work), would start without a hitch.

As for my picture? It's my way of spreading the news about the new Goya Chunky... it's actually good - with that unique Filipino chocolatey taste as only Goya creates (some of you may vaguely recall the taste - but when you bite into this, you'll be reminded again), plus the added taste of cashew nuts (for those Balikabayans who can still remember Antipolo and the roasted cashews sold there.

Now imagine these in a Goya bar... yeah... Kit Kats are great - but these are no pushovers as well. What I'm showing are the white and dark chocolate variants... there is a milk chocolate variant too - but I ate it before this picture could be taken.

As for the technical details... I wished I had a flash diffuser... the right portions of the bar have too harsh a lighting - so it was hard to come up with a balanced picture showing crisp details and yet have everything almost visible. Either that or take the shot with a tripod next time, sans flash. Lovern - a colleague in training, actually introduced me to this... as it was her gift to us all during Christmas.

By the way... those chocolates under the two bars? They're not real... they're coasters designed like chocolates - a gift from a colleague (Gina Medina) for Christmas. Neat looking huh?

What TV show do you wish would go off the air for good?

drama shows that have little educational or morally uplifting values... the so called shows catering to the masses, thus seemingly dumbing down their plots and characters.

Ask me anything

Do you believe in ghosts?

Oh yeah... seen one when I was a kid.

Ask me anything

What's the most unselfish thing you've ever done?

as a boy relatively fresh in joining the cub scouts, I once saw a tree that fell across the road in front of our home due to the storm - without hesitation, I put on a raincoat, got a flashlight and stood sentry in front of felled tree to warn motorists.

Ask me anything

Photoblog - Day 268 Jan 2, 2011

Dict's Advanced Birthday:

It was a choice between a picture of Dict blowing his cake or of Jude with cake icing on his face - I naturally opted for the latter. After all, we can always get Dict blowing his cake at another birthday (or year, if you want to be more accurate), but when will we be able to get a picture of Jude Brent smiling with icing on his face?

This will be a classic Facebook picture that his mom will love showing off to his classmates in around 10 years time - and I'm just glad I was around to take said picture. You can see the glee in Barbie's face - plus the mischief in her smile (you definitely know who the mastermind to such an act of putting icing on Jude's face was).

Though Dict's birthday would officially be the next day, we had this celebration in Cavite so his (and Barbie's) parents could be part of the small gathering. Plus we wanted the 3rd to be a rest day for us - in preparation for work and school as ushered in by 2011.

Photoblog - Day 267 Jan 1, 2011

Happy 2011!!!

Firs of all... from my family to yours - Have a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

As tradition goes, we stayed up until way beyond the midnight hour to greet 2011, and we had our traditional midnight meal - with some bubblies for the adults (Asti Martini). Barbie cooked up a great meal... Pasta with Tuna and Olive Oil and a few herbs, capers, olives - all healthy and filling, without being too filling.

We also had our choco fondue - with pretzels, melon, and marshmallows for dessert. Prior to all these, I made a pitcher of Red Bacardi Mojitos for Barbie, Ben and me, so we really had a good time as we awaited and welcomed the New Year.

After which, we watched a few fire works... thank God there were less this year than last year - hence less smoke and black nostrils in the morning. Some people say it's because of the hardships they've experienced in 2010... me, I think a lot of people are more environment conscious, and less likely to celebrate with fireworks.

May 2011 be a year of goals reached and dreams fulfilled - and it starts with this day.

Photoblog - Day 266 Dec 31, 2010

Ready for 2011!

How, exactly, is this picture representative of getting ready for 2011? Let me explain.

This is a practice we have been...well, practicing for several years now - and I might as well share it with you. The use of these glasses (and it can be any form of glass, shape and size) comes with the belief that if we greet the new year with these four glasses - and their contents, the coming year will be affect in the following manner:

Cotton - to represent lightness of life's challenges in the coming year;
Salt - adding some spice to life... so it need not be boring and dragging;
Rice - so we may not want, as we will always have food to eat on the table; and...
Sugar - to add sweetness to the coming year, and possibly compliment the spice part.

I know... it's a belief, and there really is no evidence to prove it... but in sheer 'The Secret' style, who knows? It may just be self fulfilling.