Christmas Eve and Day

(Five) Eleven shots for Christmas Eve and Day 2010

1. Christmas Ball

2. Cafe Lisboa's Really Good Blueberry Cheesecake

3. On The Way to San Ma Lo - For some shopping :D

Still on the way :D

The Christmas Day Crowd

4. Doraemon!!! - The latest addition to my collection, as well as a coin bank which I brought on the same store. Plus a key chain my sister gave me as a Christmas gift :D

Unfortunately these are out of my budget - but their really cute I just had to take pictures

So cute!!!

5. San Ma Lo - Ruins of St. Paul

A Church I forgot the name of

City of Dreams Tour (Macau Day 2)

The Vquarium at City of Dreams, Macau - a giant screen behind a thin layer of falling water. It shows underwater scenes with mermaids in between giant casino ads in Chinese. LOL

The Bubble Fountain - Not to be confused with the Bubble Show :D

Peking Ducks???

Yum!!!

Tickets to the Bubble Show Dragon's Treasure - Admission is Free

The opening sequence of Dragon's Treasure

Dragon's Treasure - Jellyfish scene

City of Dreams Facade - on our way home

We're not exactly lost

 View from the bus

Five Pictures for Day 1 in Macau

1. Reservatorio - The sun is right above me but it's 19 Degrees out. So I wear my jacket :D

2. Am I at the Water Cube in Bejing? - Nope, its actually a Casino

3. Bulls Eye Santa? - I don't quite get this but I like it

4. The "Water Cube" At Night

5. Temperature & Humidity

Let's See If This'll Work

I was blog-surfing a few days ago and I found this: http://snapflashsnap.blogspot.com.

So, being the tamad that I am, I'll try and follow his lead. Write five things, maybe not everyday, and maybe with weekends. LOL. So here goes.

1. Macau - Me, my sisters, brother and Doraemon (see item #2) are here in Macau for the Holidays at our Mom's place. This is the second time were spending Christmas here and the cold weather and anonymity out on the streets are a nice change from the heat and familiarity of Manila. We'll spend New Years Eve here as well and head back to the 3rd World right the next day.

2. Doraemon - I brought along my very first Doraemon stuffed toy from my still humble collection to start this little project I've been meaning to do for quite a while. Take pictures of him around significant places and tourist spots that I've also been to. You see, I love Doraemon. How he would always have a solution to everything and he never backs down from any obstacle he and his friend Nobita is faced with. And the pictures I'd be taking would be a sort of constant reminder to never forget Doraemon's teachings wherever I go :D

3. Ben - So sad that we left Ben at home. All alone. Not literally though as our house help are there with him but still... my sister couldn't help but get teary eyed (literally) as we drove off from the house in a cab.

4. Miming and Kooting - Left them, my little "mag-ina", at home as well. It would've been ok if the mother-and-son cats and Ben get along well, but unfortunately, they don't. I just hope Kooting would still recognize me when I get back.

 

 

5. Christmas Gifts - GRRR!!! The only gift I was able to bring here in Macau is for my mom's. They're all made to order gifts and I didn't know that we had to leave early way ahead of the time that I would be able to claim them. Oh well, I guess I'll just give the rest once we're back in Manila.

The Walking Dead Asian TV Premiere

All I can say is WHOA!!! That first episode was badass!

I have to admit though that it was not as scary as the other Zombie flicks I've seen in the past. Not as gory and brutal (well perhaps that's because of the PG editing) but it sure has its own kind of fright. Plus the fact that this is mainly a drama series than a horror series.

Can't wait to find out more about how in the world did that guy's wife end up with his partner after all the chaos that must have been happening. LOL! Plus I don't quite remember whether it was revealed how long the guy was in coma. Hmmm.

At Boni High Street with Ben and my Sisters

Spent the bisperas ng Undas (All Saints/Souls Day, sorry, Im not into Halloween) with Ben the Beagle and my sisters at Bonifacio High Street. Had fun seeing other dogs and some of their owners wearing halloween costumes. Ben seemed like he had a blast too. He particularly enjoyed roaming and running around the R.O.X. Store where my sisters registered for a marathon run as well as looking at new stuffs at the Hobbes and Landes' pet supply section. My sis didn't buy him anything though.

Back to Blogger

Yep, I switched from WordPress to Blogger. For most people it's actually the other way around but I just couldn't stand the design restrictions with the free WordPess platform. When I saw the video presentation of the Blogger Template Designer, I was amazed with the many possible designs I could come up with! I just spent hours and hours yesterday trying to pick the right background. LOL. I was also able to import most of my posts from WP to here, but I decided to leave out some that weren't worth keeping.

And so I'm back here now.

Besides, I had some problems with the Media Gallery on WP. It messed up the sizes of the images I uploaded. At least here on Blogger, there's Picasa which is a dedicated photo hosting site which I expect WOULD NOT give me the same problems.

Galeon Andalucia visits Manila

A replica of the galleons that once plied the Philippine-Mexico-Spain trade routes docked in Manila last Oct. 6 at Pier 13, South Harbor, it left for Cebu by Oct. 9.

A friend and I was able to see and board it on it's second day here in Manila.

We weren't too happy with how the Filipino organizers handled the droves of visitors who wanted to board the ship though, at one point they announced that the Galleon will no longer take in visitors because it was nearing past visiting hours.

Wawa Dam

One boring Saturday afternoon, a friend and I decided to go to Wawa Dam. I've been meaning to go there since summer when I've read in some blogs that its a nice place for cooling down under the heat of the summer sun. Although I wasn't able to go last summer, I guess its better late than never.

Sem Break... Soonish.

Its past 3am on a Monday morning. I don't usually have the luxury of being up this late (or early, depending on how you look at it) during school season but now that semesteral break is on (not officially though, we still have an hour and a half left for an exam) I can freely resume on my nocturnal habits.

Palawan Trip… (an excuse to make a new post)

My last entry was about me losing a kitten I just "rescued" from the street and that was months ago! That's just unacceptable. And so in an attempt to update this blog, here's some pics from me and my family's recent trip to Palawan.

Kitty Found… then Lost :(

It's official, the first stray kitty that I took home is also the first kitty that left me.

I'm so sad. She was the sweetest of them all. Very young, probably about a month or two. She purrs when I touch her. Calm and well behaved during the hot day but she also gets really playful and active at night.

I first met her outside a restaurant my sisters and cousin were eating at after spending an afternoon walking their beagles. It was just last Sunday. She bravely came near the beagles and was probably telling them to leave cos that particular restaurant was her turf. And just like that I fell in love. Her fur was pure white, a little dirty of course, but nothing a sponge bath couldn't take care of. I started feeding her some morsels and she gladly ate them. She would go under the other tables but when I call her she comes right back. How could I resist taking her home?

(Read more and her picture after the jump)

I Read!

I started reading at a very young age, the first "books" I've ever read is probably the free fairytale pamphlets you get when you buy a can of milk (yung sa Nestle Nido noon, manipis lang siya). Once I learned my ABC's, after dinner, my Dad would tell me to read it to him and he would simply correct me if I get some words wrong. Most of the time, I did'nt have a clue what they were about, English kasi, eh grade one palang yata ako noon.

I believe what really got me into reading is the Archie's Comic Digests. I'd read them during summer vacations from grade school, usually before I go to bed. That's what probably triggered my habit of reading books before bedtime.

Then came the heavier children's books my sisters bought me, the first one was "The Lion King", then came "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", tapos "A Bug's Life" (puro Disney ah?), hanggang sa a few years later, eh mapunta na sa young-adult na Hardy Boys, meron akong Omnibus ng first 3 books nun. Kasabay ng hardy Boys na-introduce sakin ang Harry Potter, mga year 2000-2001 ng mabasa ko yung book 1, hanggang sa natapos ko ang book seven a month ago within 3 days. Oh ha! :D

Sumunod-sunod ko na ring nabasa ang ilang classics such "The Secret Garden", "Dracula", "The Hound of the Baskervilles", at ang "Around the World in 80 Days" and "2000 Leagues Under the Sea" na hindi ko natapos. Haha.

And that's when I really got hooked. I don't know. There's something very different about reading books which feel sort of "more personal" than watching a movie or tv show. Parang, dama mo rin lahat ng hirap nung author sa pagsulat niya nung kuwento. Immersed ka sa lahat ng mga pangyayari sa istorya. I like the feeling of being in a different place and time everytime I read a new book. Or even an old one, there's nothing wrong with revisiting the places you've been in naman diba?

Plus, I began the habit of reading in public transportations na rin. Si Nitta Sayuri ng "Memoirs of a Geisha" ang kasama ko nung nag-aapply ako ng passport. Dalawang "tuesdays people" ng "Tuesdays With Morrie" ang kakuwentuhan ko tuwing bumabyahe ako papunta sa part-time job ko last-year. Nakilala ko rin sina Lestat at Louis, si James Patterson, si Elie Wiesel, sina Charlie at Algernon,  at marami pang interesting personalities in my readings.

Right now, I'm reading "Stiff", a book about the interesting "life" that human cadavers go through, kakatapos ko rin lang ng "The Perks of Being a Wallflower, at "Night" na first part ng "Night Trilogy" ni Elie Wiesel.

I wish I could share to you some of my insights about these books, but the drive to do so is not enough for me to actually do it right now. I guess I'll be keeping them to myself for a while, only until sipagin akong mag-sulat at mag-bigay ng opinion. Hehe.

For now, I hope you can go through some of the books I mentioned and read one or some of them and then, perhaps, you might like to share your own views and opinions based on what you've read.

Enjoy Reading :D

(originally from "My Library" page which has been deleted)

Summer Project

I've been doodling these weird/cool/sharp/organic-looking shapes for a few years now. It started back when I was bored waiting for calls to come in when I was working at a call center. I just took a piece of paper and armed with a nice gel-inked pen I started doodling. Just whatever shapes my had could come up with.

I once turned them into bookmarks and gave them as Christmas gifts.

This summer comes what is probably the biggest challenge I could take with my doodling. I decided to cover a small table with it. Here's some pictures. I will do my best to finish this within a week from now... Wish me luck!

[slideshow]

Bisita Iglesia 2010

Who likes churches?

I do! Especially the really old ones or those that look pretty old. I just love looking at them. Here's a fresh batch of Church photos from Easter Sunday's Bisita Iglesia. Went to Intramuros to see Manila Cathedral and San Agustin Church. Was supposed to visit a bunch of other churches but got too tired and sleepy. Oh well, will take a shot of those next time :D

[caption id="attachment_313" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Manila Cathedral"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_315" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="San Agustin Church Facade"][/caption]

And here's a pretty famous and historically significant church in the Philippines that I went to last week. It's the Barasoain Church in Malolos, Bulacan. Got there through a side trip from swimming in a nearby resort.

[caption id="attachment_318" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="In front of Barasoain Church"][/caption]

This church is known as the Cradle of Democracy in the East. Find out why and learn more about this church on Wikipedia.

There's also more churches on this old blog post of mine. It has lower quality though coz I was just using a camera phone.

Pyramid by Charice and Iyaz

Not a big RnB fan but I really like this one. It's pretty catchy and light.  Charice and Iyaz' different vocal styles beautifully complement each other. The lyrics are simple enough yet sounds so deep and powerful.

Plus it's Charice!!! It's Pinoy Pride, come on! Read somewhere she's gonna be releasing her international debut album on Oprah. WOW.

Xtina’s Not Myself Tonight

Ha! I have no idea what came over me 2 days ago when I first heard this song and said I didn't like it. Maybe my ears just needed some Q-tips coz now - giving it another go on YouTube - makes me take back what I said the moment I heard the first few beats again.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!!

I guess that's whats great about Christina. She goes out and explores various types of music and collaborates with different artists and when she's ready to show what she's done after years of production, she delivers something not everyone expects. She has never underestimated her fan's taste by giving them the same old shit record after record.

I mean we saw her go wild and all emo with Stripped, then goes vintage and soul with Back To Basics and now, she gives us music from the future with Bionic. And with the hype she has created online just by the first single alone is proof that her loyal fans are here to stay for her whilst satisfying new listeners to her music.

Not Myself Tonight sounds like something from a club floating on Earth's orbit (if ever something like that would ever exist).

The Fourth Kind

The best way to watch this movie is on the computer with a good screen and with earphones on. That is if you weren't able to catch it on the big screen like me. Thanks to uTorrent, I was finally able to watch The Fourth Kind just now.

Well, I'm a sucker for scary movies. The scarier the better and this movie didn't disappoint. And me blogging about it just minutes after I saw it shows just how I loved it. No other alien flick has made me this scared ever!

I feel like I consciously decided not to watch it in theaters because I thought I just might be disappointed with it.

It seemed like the movie was just capitalizing on the recent success of films that try to pass off as real (read: Paranormal Activity, Blair Witch Project). While watching it though, I realized the movie wouldn't have worked any other way. The format in which it is presented is where the strength of this film lies. This is actually the best decision the filmmakers came up with for the film which enabled them to deliver the biggest scares possible. I can't imagine this movie being as scary had it not also tried to pass itself off as real.

And they even took this format/sub-genre so far as having the lead actress and director telling you right on the film that "this-story-really-happened-and-we're-gonna-show-you-the-actual-recorded-footage-right beside-the-dramatized-scenes-side-by-side-from-time-to-time". Talk about crossing the "4th Wall" as if it never even existed.

Milla Jovovich was just amazing and is another reason this movie is worth watching. Never seen her this good. I now place her alongside Jennifer Carpenter (Exorcism of Emily Rose, Quarantine) when it comes to portraying fear and hopelessness. They both know how to do it just right without going OA (over acting).

Anyways, ran out of words. Here's a trailer just so I can have an excuse to post a video here :D If you're trying to decide whether to watch this film or not, take my word and watch it. If you don't like it, then go back here and just comment that I'm talking BS. After all...

What you believe is yours to decide.

The Bitch (Episode 2)

I just realized very recently that the word Bitch actually refers to female dogs! But somehow, in the modern sense, that word really fits my cat Miming! Haha. My sister came up with that word to describe her when Miming (pronounced Mee-ming) was being particularly bitchy with Ben (my sister's  5month old Beagle). Ben was being quite hyperactive and playful that day and decided to channel his happiness on Miming.

So when the Beagle was taunting and barking at the Cat, wanting to get close and play with her, she went all Crouching Tiger/Hidden Dragon on him. She felt so threatened and mad the hair on her back stood up. She never really got to injuring him with her sharp claws thought. Thank God. It seems Ben is quite adept at evading her weapons.

See Miming hates being touched and caressed and the only interaction she enjoys with other species is when she can bite and scratch them. She hates being touched and played with and when Ben came along, it turns out she hates Ben as well. Did I mention she hates being touched?

Nevertheless, she is my cat. Or should I say I am her human and all of us here gladly put up with her. I went through my Multiply albums last night and saw quite a lot of pictures of her. She actually has an album of her own there. Here are some of Miming's earliest shots that I quite like.

[caption id="attachment_245" align="alignleft" width="210" caption="on her first night @ home"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_246" align="alignleft" width="210" caption="she sleeps comfortably on an extra pillow beside my bed"][/caption]

Paper Cranes 2

See? Told ya I'm hooked on paper cranes. And I actually made an even smaller one! Just about the size of a 1 Peso Coin. Look!

[caption id="attachment_234" align="alignleft" width="216" caption="smaller pink paper crane"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_232" align="alignleft" width="216" caption="still the same smaller pink paper crane"][/caption]