Santa is alive!

The most wonderful present I received this Christmas was an LED TV from Abhie. She told me that her present was something I would not expect. True to her word, I was surprised and did not even had a hint that she will be giving me a television for Christmas. Correction, it was an LED TV! Whew. Now the TV is the main accent in my room.

I have always wanted to have an external flash for my SLR, I have for years been salivating for a 580 EXII. Finally, I have one! This was an unexpected gift from a person I never even have thought would be giving me a present. He told me that he wanted me to pursue what I love and just keep silent on who gave it. Below is a photo I took with my new 580 EXII!


Thank you to Abhie and to the other person!!!

Don't be deceived

Last Saturday, I was invited by my colleagues from my previous employer to go in a comedy bar. We went to Zirkoh, a comedy bar owned by TV personality Allan K. I was hesitant at first because I was trying to save up. Since my friends assured me it will be fun, I just neglected the Php 500.00 entrance (non-consumable) and Php 85.00/bottle red horse. Ang cheap no? But they were correct, I had a great time. There were performers who you would think they were female if you would just listen to their voices. Legit ang boses.

Opening act at Zirkoh


Pambansang Ilong


Regine Smith (boses Regine Velasquez, mukhang Pepe Smith)


Congressman Poohkyaw made an unexpected appearance. Ang galing din niya. What I find impressive with stand-up comedians is how fast they can come up with punch lines.


But the main highlight of the night for me and my male colleagues was Rufa Mae Quinto. She is jaw dropping. I was speechless… until now. ;p I feel I am drowning when I am staring, probably ogling, at her.


At the end of the night, we spent more than Php 1,000.00 for 12 bottles of beer and a serving of onion rings. Whew. Would I go back? If Rufa Mae will be there I would definitely go back. Haha. ;p

Becoming a godparent

How do you choose a godparent for your child? I was invited to be a Godfather for two of my nephews this year and I am wondering why my cousins chose me. Is it because I can be a good role model for their children, do I appear to be generous, do they see me as a father figure that their children can run to or do they just find me handsome? Haha.

When I was a kid, I was dreaming of a Godparent who would always give me gifts on my birthdays and Christmas, or a godparent who would always give me “aguinaldos” on Christmas and New Year. But being an adult now, I am not sure if I can be the ideal Godparent I had when I was a kid. Magastos pala ang maging ganon. Hopefully I would be able to make up to my godchildren.

Sleeping Soundly

Proud Dad

I gave two pairs of baby sneakers to Noah because that is the collection I want to start now. Let’s see if I would be able to influence him on this interest I have now. Wanted to give him a camera since that is my ultimate interest, but he is just too young to be able to use one.

There is a hole in the wall steakhouse I discovered sometime June where there is excellent steak, generous servings of food and most important of all, cheap. The place is called "Everything at Steak". I like it a lot that there are now many places in Manila where you can get excellent food with prices friendly on your pocket. You just have to be adventurous and patient to find them. The T-Bone Steak that comes with a cup of rice and generous side dish costs only Php 195.00.

Pumpkin soup (Php 120.00 ata, I can't remember the price)

My T-Bone (Php 195.00)

My camera died two weeks ago, brought it to the service center but the repair would cost half of its price when I purchased it. The repair cost would also let me buy a new point and shoot camera so I am torn whether to have it repaired or just buy a new one. The problem with buying a new one though is that I still don't have cash and I could just save the cash to buy a new DSLR. Oh well, bahala na muna si Lord.

Here are the last shots I was able to take with my camera before it gave up.

It's time for french fries

Warming up before the drinking climax

Something new I discovered

The FINAL shot

For the meantime I am using my old film camera that was originally owned by my grandfather.

Film is not dead

My trusted camera crashed Friday night. I don’t know why. All I can remember was that I was playing with its settings, found an interesting function then when I tried using it again, it won’t turn on. As a result, I was not able to capture incriminating moments of my colleagues like I always do. How unfortunate.

I brought my daily companion camera to the service center this afternoon. Since I am used to having a camera with me always, I took my old bulky and heavy camera that was handed down from my grandfather to my dad, then from my dad to me when I was in grade 5. Imagine how old this cam is? Despite of its age, it still takes good photos. The only downside is it is costly because I have to buy film and have it developed. Also, I have to finish a roll, actually five rolls, before have it developed so that it will be cheaper. But the wait and anticipation on how the photo would turn out is fun, exciting and rewarding if it turns out great.

I also love looking at photographs that were taken on film. There is a unique sensation or feeling that it brings me. The colors are also very different from photos taken from a digital camera. I don’t know if I am sad that I won’t be able to use my daily pocket digital camera or excited that I would again be able to use my old film camera, I find it bittersweet. Was looking at some of my photos that I took on film while I was writing this and I feel inspired, which is good. May start shooting with film again.

This is my nephew during the funeral of my grandmother. It was raining that afternoon which explains his rain coat.

This photo was taken in Davao City. I forgot where exactly but I know it’s on the side of Ateneo de Davao facing the Marco Polo Hotel. It just so happened that the three of us were in Davao, I was attending a family function while they just got down from Mt. Apo. We decided to meet up and have a drink at a place behind Ateneo.

There is a restaurant in Baguio City called “Oh My Gulay” that serves vegetarian food. It is owned by the national artist Kidlat Tahimik. I like going to this place because of the delicious food and “artistic environment”. Dapat lang because it is owned by a national artist. I took this photo after I finished my salad and pasta.

My friend has a tattoo on his back that he kept from his parents for quite a while. When he decided to show it to his parents, the reaction of his mom upon seeing his tattoo was “Ang laki!” (It’s big!)

Went to Atok, Benguet to volunteer helping coffee farmers and be immersed on how they live. I was there several friends and met interesting people like Redg (the guy in the middle). He is a CoffeeAider, he organizes trips similar to what I joined to.

I like what I am seeing here, I think I really need to start shooting in film again. Surprisingly, despite the presence of digital cameras there are a lot of film enthusiasts coming out, maybe it’s time for me to join this group again. Film is not dead!

Eating Chinese food does not make you Chinese

Saturday, fortunately I do not have work today. But being the workaholic person that I am lately, I want to be productive and I know staying at home would not let me do that. The bed, couch and television call me when I am at home. I decided to go for a drive to Intramuros in Manila and go to my favorite coffee shop there. Not really sure why I call it favorite but I like going to the coffee shop.

From bullets to coffee

They transformed this old bunker in Intramuros into a nice coffee shop. I do not know how this bunker was used before but I just have this feeling that it was also used to store and keep bullets. The place was always peaceful when I first discovered the place. But now local and foreign tourists frequent the place.

Cityplace (look, the billboard is in Chinese)

After finishing ang pinag ipunang grande cup of green tea frapuccino, I decided to do more driving until I passed by Binondo/Chinatown. Here I saw the old project I handled in my first job. With my previous employer I handled payment collection and customer relation for the Cityplace project at Binondo; it's a 60-story twin-tower condominium at the heart of Chinatown. When I started no one wanted to handle the account because it had problems with the city government and most important of all, language barrier with the unit buyers because they were all G..I.’s ore Genuine Intsik. These are Chinese people who migrated to the Philippines from China. There is this one time that I had to talk to a certain client and since I know na G.I. sila, I asked the help from one of the bosses of sales who knows how to speak Chinese to come with me and be my translator. I told him what I wanted to happen and he did all the talking and negotiations for me.

People always think that I am Chinese and some even talk to me in Chiniese. So what I did during our meeting is what I always do when someone is talking to me in Chinese, I just smile, nod my head, pretending I understand what they were saying. Hehe. ☺ And it works! =p

Had dinner with Abhie Saturday night and we ate at The Legend Seafood. The food is very tasty and the price very reasonable.

The Legend

SHRIMPS

Appetizer na ulam na for me

Though it is meant to be an appetizer, the assorted cold cuts they serve in Chinese restaurants is already an ulam for me. I like the century egg, the white chicken, the jellyfish and the minced ginger with oil that you place over the white chicken. Ohh this is making me hungry.

Lakbay Alalay: Good Samaritans of the road

“Lakbay Alalay” is on its 24th year. I have personally experienced being helped by this good Samaritans every holy week when I was in 2nd year college. I and my 2 cousins were driving along the South Luzon Expressway on our way to Pansol, Laguna when my silver Mitsubishi over heated. In my trunk was a liter of water, which was insufficient to cool down my car’s radiator. A car then pulled over and offered assistance. It’s now my turn to be that good Samaritan who helped my several years back. I can’t remember who that was, but I am definite that he is still with the company.

I, April and the super mechanic Darwin were the first team to leave the base camp and the first vehicle we encounterd is this Mitsubishi Lancer that had problems with its engine valve. The car had to be towed.

This was an interesting group. As the first car was being towed, this group pulled over in front of us. Their blue Honda Civic overheated because of a hose that has a leak. Being Holy Week, most auto supply shops were closed so we waited for almost three hours along for the hose replacement to arrive.

On our way back to base camp for lunch we saw this Isuzu Crosswin that had a flat tire. The driver was unable to replace the flat tire becuase his spare tire was deflated.

When we asked what the problem was to their vehicle, the driver said that their van's fuel line was cut. But it turns out that the cable on the fuel pedal was just dislocated.

This one had an oil leak problem. We had to tow the Multicab.

Eletrical problem. I was not actually able to get what the actual problem was, but our super mechanic Darwin was able to fix it.

Another overheat incident.

The last car for the day was a cherry on top because of its location... ;p The vehicle owners said that no one from the station ahead offered any help.


This was a new experience to me, and it was great.