Snaps and Thoughts

When in Venice

2010-08-31T21:19:00.000+02:00

Beauty under make-up

2010-05-30T03:47:00.003+02:00

Trip to Bojnice

2010-05-28T19:33:00.006+02:00

I am sharing some photos from our trip to Bojnice Slovakia. Even though we have hectic schedules from our work my co-workers and i were able to sneaked out a 3-day trip to a nearby country Slovakai.

Photos of the day

2010-05-03T11:07:00.004+02:00

These photos were taken from my Iphone.

Snaps everywhere

2010-04-12T08:45:00.003+02:00

People

2010-04-10T01:22:00.013+02:00

I miss home

2010-03-28T23:56:00.010+02:00

How time fly so fast. It's been almost three months since i came back from my vacation in the Philippines but the memories of happiness and laughter of my former vacay are still fresh on my mind. There's really no place like home. Wherever you are, whatever you do the memories of HOME will never be forgotten. I posted some snaps i took at our place. This is where i grew up, with my family...my mom and dad, my sisters, lolos, lolas, uncles and aunties. and i miss this place. I really miss home and mostly i miss my departed loved ones that i will not going to see forever. Wherever they are, i really miss them as much i miss my HOME.

Portrait

2010-03-20T13:23:00.003+01:00

Prayers to Saint Jude

2010-02-21T20:46:00.002+01:00

Are you faced with a desperate situation? The prayer to St. Jude (pictured at left) printed below helps remind us that nothing is impossible with God, even help when you’re at your wit’s end. Considering that thanksgiving notes appear in newspapers to this patron saint of desperate cases, praying to him must have some effect!

St. Jude was one of the twelve Apostles. Mark’s (3:18) and Matthew’s (10:3) gospels refer to him as Thaddeus (a surname meaning “amiable or “loving”), possibly in part to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot, our Lord’s betrayer! John’s gospel refers to him in the last supper as “Judas… not the Iscariot” (14:22).

The evangelist no doubt wanted to make sure that he would not be confused with the man Jesus Himself referred to as the “son of perdition” in John 17:11!

This prayer to St. Jude touches on that:

Oh glorious apostle St. Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the name of the traitor who delivered thy beloved Master into the hands of His enemies has caused thee to be forgotten by many, but the Church honors and invokes thee universally as the patron of hopeless cases--of things despaired of. Pray for me who am so miserable; make use, I implore thee, of that particular privilege accorded thee of bringing visible and speedy help where help is almost despaired of. Come to my assistance in this great need, that I may receive the consolations and succor of heaven in all my necessities, tribulations and sufferings, particularly (mention your request), and that I may bless God with thee and all the elect throughout eternity. I promise thee, O blessed St. Jude, to be ever mindful of this great favor, and I will never cease to honor thee as my special and powerful patron, and to do all in my power to encourage devotion to thee. Amen

St. Jude is known as the brother of Saint James the Less. According to tradition, he wrote the epistle bearing his name in the New Testament as well, although this is not as certain.

In his letter he stressed having faith in apostolic teachings in the midst of heresies through fraternal charity, prayer, and loving obedience to God. According to the historian Eusebius he assisted in his brother St. Simeon’s election as Bishop of Jerusalem in 62 A.D.

St. Jude is said to have preached the gospel in such regions as Judea, Samaria, Libya, and Mesopotamia, before suffering martyrdom in Armenia, which was then part of Persia. According to one account, he is said to have cured the King of Edessa’s leprosy in Mesopotamia with an image of Jesus’s face that our Lord had pressed on a cloth.

The king was so impressed he converted to Christianity, along with much of his family and kingdom. Talk about a picture being worth a thousand words! St. Jude converted countless others to the faith as well.

He is often shown in drawings, like the one above, holding an image of Jesus in one hand and a club (a symbol of his martyrdom) in the other. Often the Holy Spirit is seen over his head as a tongue of fire (in remembrance of Pentecost when He came upon the apostles).

These two prayers to St. Jude, like the previous one and some others listed here can be used as a novena (a prayer said for nine consecutive days).

O Holy St Jude!
Apostle and Martyr,
great in virtue and rich in miracles,
near kinsman of Jesus Christ,
faithful intercessor for all who invoke you,
special patron in time of need;
to you I have recourse from the depth of my heart,
and humbly beg you,
to whom God has given such great power,
to come to my assistance;
help me now in my urgent need and grant my earnest petition.
I will never forget thy graces and favors you obtain for me
and I will do my utmost to spread devotion to you. Amen.

St. Jude, pray for us and all who honor thee and invoke thy aid.
(Say 3 Our Father's, 3 Hail Mary’s, and 3 Glory Be’s after this.)

Note that in addition to saying a prayer to St. Jude, we can invoke his aid by offering Holy Masses and Communions in his honor. We can also engage in charitable works in his name.

As St. Leo once said “Prayer has the greatest efficacy to obtain favors from God when it is supported by works of mercy.” Don’t forget to help someone in need as part of your prayer to St. Jude.

Ondoy

2009-09-28T04:06:00.002+02:00

I have no words to utter. Every videos and photos I've seen are really devastating. I just prayed.

Updates

2009-09-18T00:27:00.007+02:00

Whew! It's been ages since the last time i wrote something here. To be honest i became an addict user of facebook since i started using its applications and don't want to be rehabilitated yet. I'm enjoying it. In fact i'm always running out of time to visit my blog sites. Anyways, the summer is over :( but i'm excited for the coming holiday ^_^ (the sad face turned into smiley face in just seconds). If i can just put the time in its fullest speed i'll do it. Yes, i'm going home. Back to the Philippines. The last time i was in the country was four years ago and can't wait to see my "home" soon. For now i will just cherish my excitement.

Drive safely....save a life.

2009-06-16T01:46:00.004+02:00

One of the most touching videos i've ever seen. really touched my heart. This video shows how lives can be taken just by single snap. To those who are driving out there, limit your speed. When speeding...no one thinks big of you.

Sarah Geronimo's newest album

2009-06-11T00:32:00.002+02:00

SARAH GERONIMO - JUST ME FULL ALBUM PLAYLIST

Night out

2009-05-11T23:45:00.013+02:00

Tried Manolo's bar with friends. Not so cozy as what i thought. It's too loud plus the fact that it's along the corner of busy streets and the place is too small.... i can go with the drinks but not for the food though it's affordable. For those who wants coziness this bar is not for you. Had fun though.

Gone to casino afterwards. Played 20€ and won 80€ :). Not bad at all. I don't really play afterall. We ended the night at 2am.

It's mom's day!

2009-05-10T01:09:00.000+02:00

What the color says

2009-05-09T22:09:00.016+02:00

They say violet color symbolizes royalty. The color of good judgement. It is the color of people seeking spiritual fulfillment. The color is best used for meditation. It also symbolizes magic and mystery. It is also said that if you surrounds yourself with this color you will have a peace of mind. Hmmm…then this color might be a good color of my room?

Violet speak of honor, spirituality and self - steem. I’m not an avid fan of color violet but because it is IN nowadays, i used to have it in my color. I don’t even remember that i have purple in my fave list of color. Not to forget that when i see violet the first thing comes to my mind is church.

Gray is neutral and useful as a background to other colors. They say Gray is the symbol for security, maturity and dependability. Its energy imparts void, emptiness, lack of movement, emotion, warmth and identifying characteristics. Because of this, gray can be restful. It has a detached and isolated feeling. Gray can have a cooling effect when placed next to other more vibrant colors. It has a stabilizing effect, making vibrant colors stand out while muting their vibration. Gray is one of my favorite. As they say it's nuetral like the whites, i can easily pair it with different color.

I like also brown. It can also be mixed into many surroundings. It can be a stabilzing color. Brown gives a feeling of solidity, and allows one to stay in the background, unnoticed. Brown create a warm, comfortable feeling of wholesomeness, naturalness and dependability. If you want your life have a solid wholesome feeling put some brown in it.

I love pink. It's the color of universal love. A quiet color. Pink provides feelings of caring, tenderness, self-worth and love, acceptance and contentment. And not to forget it neutralizes disorders. Hmmm...this might be a good help for me, hahaha!

Love and its actions

2009-05-03T14:47:00.006+02:00

Love shows how powerful it is………………

*******
PACMAN fever.....malamang hilo pa din ang mga tao ngayon sa huling laban ni Pacquiao. Nagbubunyi sa pagkapanalo ng tinatawag na pambansang kamao ng Pilipinas. Hindi ako mahilig sa boxing pero nanonood ako ng mga laban ni Pacman pag may pagkakataon. Aaminin ko, kumampi ako ngayon kay Hatton sa dahilang "wala lang", "trip ko lang" ng maiba naman. Pero aaminin ko din nasiyahan ako ng malaman na panalo si Pacman at mapanood ko ang laban, ang bilis talaga ni Pacquiao. Palibhasa hindi na live ang pinapanood ko, pinaulit-ulit kong panoorin ang suntok na unang nagpabagsak kay Hatton sa first round pero hindi ko pa din matiyak kung saan banda dumapo ang kamao ni Pacman. Napakabilis na parang pinast-forward ang suntok at pagbagsak ng britton boxer champ. Nalaman ko na lang na sa panga pala dumapo ang suntok ng mapanood ko ang slow motion nito. At ang bilis natapos ng laban sa tinatayang 2 rounds na may 2 minuto at 59 segundo lang. Matagal pa yata ang pagkanta ni Martin Nieverra ng Lupang Hinirang at ni Tom Jones ng pagkanta nya sa British National Anthem. Para kay Pacman....congratulations! You made again the Filipino proud.

Reminiscing

2009-04-29T00:01:00.003+02:00

It was summer of 1986 when we hitted by flu way back home. All of my sisters including me had high fever. Our dear mother was the one who took care of us round the clock during that time, giving us cold sponge and medicine every four hours until the fever subsided. It was the last time I remembered that I felt the caring of my mom to us. After summer I went to school located two towns away from ours and only during weekends that I can able to go home. Few weeks after the school begins my mom died in an accident… she was only 39 years old. It was very tragic for us and the rest of our family. It was very difficult for us to accept that in her very young age she passed away. As many years passed the memory of our mother still remains but if I think of it now, it was so vague that I want to turn the clock to felt her presence. Today is her birthday…her 62^nd birthday. Neither my imagination can filled up her absence. Happy birthday Ma and I hope you’re happy wherever you are.

Tidbits

2009-04-28T19:09:00.002+02:00

*******
Medyo pahinga ako ngayon sa trabaho. Pero ang bilis ng araw... matatapos na pala ang ilang araw kong bakasyon. Ano bang nagawa ko? Done some household chores pero hindi pa din matapos-tapos. Ang dami kong iniisip na pwedeng gawin pero katapos-tapusan papasok na lang ako sa Sabado ng walang nangyari sa mga plano ko. Palpak! Lech! Ang dami kong naitulog. Sayang ang araw. Ngayong gabi magdamag akong gising...hindi ako matutulog hangga't hindi ko natatapos ang aking mga paplantsahin. And that's an order!

Flower Power

2009-04-23T23:15:00.009+02:00

Pictures of the week. Flower shots using a 50mm macro lens.

Like tulip-beds of different shape and dyes,
Bending beneath the invisible west-wind's sighs.

If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly,
our whole life would change.

One of the most attractive things about
the flowers is their beautiful reserve.

                                   Just Living is not enough...
                                   One must have sunshine, freedom,
                                   and a little flower.

My sign

2009-04-22T12:15:00.006+02:00

I ~~don’t~~ believe in horoscope. But I would like to find out my character from what my zodiac sign describes. I want to see if i can relate or not. Hmmmm…let me see:

Scorpio Strength Keywords:

Loyal – in once life, sometimes you want a change. But that change should not affect the loyalty.

Passionate – privately
Resourceful – not really :(
Observant – oh yes i am!

Dynamic – not at all time

Scorpio Weakness Keywords:

Jealous – if it’s only has a reason.
Obsessive – oh no!
Suspicious – only if the trust is gone.
Manipulative – i don’t agree that it is a weakness. *wink
Unyielding – i can be hard/stubborn sometimes.

Vintage

2009-04-17T13:21:00.003+02:00

I went to visit a friend whose very significant to me because she was the one who helped me to get here where i am. Actually she was an old good friend of my tita. Her appartment is cute, with a combination of modern and old furnitures like the chair i was sitting on. It was an antique one who hits the 2 centuries of its age. I am not an antique lover, i can’t afford it too. But is always fascinated of the stories behind it. This chair as she said was from her husband’s family. Maybe from a great great and many greats lola and lolo. It has no nails connecting the every part of the chair, as we all know antiques are all like that. Maybe that’s one of a reason why those pieces of furnitures are staying more than xxx of our lives. When i was a kid i remember not appreciating the beauty seen from those old furnitures. I had always the “angst” feeling from those masterpiece. Para bang sa horror film na para bang may kakambal silang lahat na misteryo. Funny…kapag naiisip ko ito ngayon. Pero ngayon sabi nila if you own a piece of it, IN ka.

Nature lover

2009-04-14T13:25:00.006+02:00

Pictures of the week. Photos taken at Donaupark.

At work on holiday....ain't funny.

2009-04-13T15:45:00.021+02:00

There are lot of jobs out there that enjoy the privelege of staying at home or do leisures and not required of going to work, sadly i am one of the million of workers who are lucky to enjoy holidays at work. Does it sound contradictory? Whatever! I sometimes enjoy and sometimes i don't . I envy particularly today, those who are enjoying the very sunny weather. I wish i am off this day to enjoy the heat too. By the way i was out for picnic yesterday. Maybe i just had not enough from yesterday's hella happening.

Talking about the holiday, I am confuse. Today is Easter Monday. A holiday. A day after Easter Sunday. In some large Catholic countries in Europe celebrated it as holiday which is contrary to our culture wherein we observe the entire Lenten season including the Easter Sunday almost a week. It is really odd, isn't it? The much known Christian countries celebrate it only on Easter Sunday and Easter Monday. As i observed for many years of living here, Oster ferien (Easter Holiday) as what they called in their native language only means the bunnies and eggs. Sad to say, that's what i see. Ahhhh...enough of it, that's their culture- not mine.

As i am doing my duty and assigned today for the independent patients, i have enough time to roam around the building, snapping photos of the surroundings where i work using my tiny buddy nokia and finding time to blog during my break (ngayon yun!) I still have 3 hours to work. How i wish it's seven already.

Food For Thoughts

2009-04-12T03:37:00.002+02:00

Holy Week

2009-04-10T14:47:00.003+02:00

Giving time for the church and to our beloved Creator who took away our sins.

Spring…here it comes

2009-04-07T13:20:00.006+02:00

Ang sarap talaga ng feeling kapag malapit na ang summer. Nakakaalis ng depression lalo na at galing sa panahon ng tag-lamig na talaga namang nakakainis ang weather. Ang daming tao sa mga parks, at makikita mong sila din ay nasisiyahan. Ito ang buhay dito sa lugar na mas matagal ang winter kesa sa summer. Ninanamnam-namnam ang pagsikat ng araw. Nagiiba din ang oras tuwing papalapit na ang summer. Ito ang tinatawag na DST (daylight saving time) na sa tingin ko e hindi naman nakakatulong mag-save. Ang sabi nila panahon pa daw ito ng giyera ng gawin ang ganitong sistema, pero sa panahon ngayon kahit siguro kalahating araw ang idagdag o ibawas na oras e walang pinagkaiba at walang maititipid. At dahil panahon na naman ng spring, nandyan na naman ang aking BFF, si pollen allergy. Hiling ko lang na sana magbakasyon muna sa malayong lugar ang aking kaibigan. Kelangan muna naming maghiwalay. I need space!!!! :)

Avatar addict

2009-03-31T02:57:00.004+02:00

Since i have few days to stay at home and no work to think of, i have the chance again to blog. Although i already promised myself to frequent my blogging which turned out the opposite and that is having no to time write…tsk..tsk! That’s why i don’t really make resolutions for myself because i know that it will not going to happen. Maybe the quarter of it but not the most.

I was deleting some unuseful stuffs in my computer when i saw these headshots of mine that i used as avatars in my other blog. I do have another blog but i only use it for online storage of my photos and of course the ever growing "facebook". And when i saw the bunches of it, i just can’t count how many times i had changed my avatars. I made a quick layouts of it to post here. Current year is not yet included and i’m still counting.

Earth Hour

2009-03-30T10:36:00.003+02:00

Nabasa ko ang isasagawang Earth Power nung nakaraang Sabado ng umaga sa isang newspaper dito sa Austria. Interesting sumali pero sa mga oras ng yun (20:30 o 8:30 P.M.) nasa labas pa lang ako at pauwi ng bahay. Hindi ko naramdaman dito sa aming lugar ang pagpa-participate ng mga tao. Siguro nakisali din ang ilang sektor ng gobyerno pero hindi ko ito naramdaman. Nawala sa isip ko ang bagay na ito dahil sa maghapong trabaho nung Sabado. Hanggang sa napanood ko na lang sa Internet ang pakikipag-participate ng iba’t-ibang lugar sa Pilipinas. Dun ulit sumagi sa isip ko ang ilang minutong partisipasyon na magpatay ng mga ilaw bilang pakikisali sa tinatawag na Earth Hour. Lampas alas-diyes na ng gabi ng ito’y aking mapanood at muling maalala. At naalala ko din na wala akong nakitang nagpatay ng kanilang mga ilaw sa aking dinaanan pag-uwi ng bahay. Ibig sabihin ba nito’y hindi nagpapahalaga sa kalikasan ang lugar na kinaroroonan ko? Pero naisip ko din naman, hindi naman siguro porke’t walang pakialam ang mga taong ito sa mga oras na inilaan para sa kalikasan e wala na din silang pakialam sa kalikasan. Paano kung ang mga taong napanood ko na nakipag-participate na magpatay ng mga ilaw e hanggang dun lang sa oras na yun ang kanilang suporta? At pagkatapos nito’y hindi din nila alam kung paano talaga gamitin ng maayos ang enerhiya? Mawawalan din ng saysay si Earth Hour, di po ba?

Red Carpet

2009-03-15T21:38:00.006+01:00

Had the opportunity to experienced attending the prestigious Women's World Award.

Snowy Wednesday

2009-02-18T11:29:00.008+01:00

Baking time

2009-01-13T21:36:00.005+01:00

I started to like to bake. Di ko alam kung bakit. I just wanted to. My friends and i sitted for one session and shared what we knew. And on that session kahit papano natuto din naman ako. I had four days off from my work at napakalamig ng panahon sa labas, nakakawalang ganang lumabas ng bahay kaya wala akong magawa kundi magkulong. But i don't want to waste my time doing nothing. I had finished all my house chores kaya naisip ko why not try what i had learned on that session. Tamang-tama the bananas i bought for two days are too ripe to eat. These are perfect for a banana cake. And all the ingredients i need are available on my cupboard. No need to run to the grocery although the grocery is just one floor away from my appartment. So convenient no? So here is the banana cake i made. The next time my friends come for a visit, meron na akong maihahanda sa kanila na ako ang gumawa. I used to buy na lang kasi kung anong pwedeng maipakain sa kanila. Pero ngayon meron na po akong alam :)

Photoshop in action

2008-12-29T21:41:00.016+01:00

I tried some actions in photoshop which i saw in the internet. If you like actions just google "photoshop actions" and will give you lots of list to download. You can also make your own action in Photoshop and will save your time for editing and resizing your batch of photos. Try it and have some fun.

                                          Pieces of it

                                                Curled
                                                Puzzle

                                                Lomo

                                             Draganized

What i did last Christmas

2008-12-27T16:15:00.017+01:00

It was not white Christmas as the people waited the snow to fall. But still how we spend our Christmas eve was simple and had little fun lalo na sa pagbibigayan ng regalo. Attended a Filipino mass and went to a friend's house at dun kami nagsalu-salo ng munting noche buena. And during exchanging gifts, the priest's topic in his sermon popped into my mind. As the priest said in his topic, Christmas is not only about Santa Claus and giving extravagant gifts. We should not forget the Christmas story that Jesus Christ was born in a barn and laid in a manger. We are in a modern technolgy wherein we experience all the comfort in life, kaya siguro nakakalimutan natin ito. And it is already an instict that during Christmas, it is the time to buy expensive gifts for our love ones just because Christmas is special. Simple lang ang gustong ipaabot ng sermon ng pari. Our dear Jesus loves us so much that He wants this love to spread to all of us. Love and forgiveness is the best gift to give and to receive.

On the 25th, just stayed at home. Called family in the Philippines and promised them that next year, will try to go home and spend Christmas with them. Iba talaga ang pasko sa atin. I miss spending Christmas holiday in my hometown.

PRAYING FOR A PEACEFUL AND PROSPEROUS 2009!

Days before Christmas

2008-12-22T23:30:00.008+01:00

I've been busy these last few weeks, like anybody else. I'll just post a quick update:

* prepared and hanged Christmas decors.
* made a list, shopped for gifts, wrapped it (hindi lang yung basta shopping na pag may nakita, grab it na. Have to see if it's worth and if it fits the budget)
* worked, work and working (two weeks night shifts, and a week day shift. A week vacation after Christmas....at last!)
* partying (sunod-sunod namang talaga ang christmas parties, at ang hindi mawala-walang birthday parties, sumisingit pa din)
* doing house chores (di po uso ang maid dito kaya all around tayo)
* sending greeting cards (thanks to electronic mails)

HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE :)!!!

New Look

2008-12-08T14:04:00.004+01:00

I got my hair cut. It was long time ago since i got my hair too short. I was used with long hair. Nakakasawa din pala. I tried this time to cut it short. Nag-iiba nga palang talaga ang aura mo kapag napapalitan ang style ng buhok. Honestly when i had still my long hair,i was afraid to cut it short. Afraid na baka hindi bumagay, mahirap magpahaba. Hair extension is so expensive, lalo na dito. Kaya lagi kong iniisip, magpagupit man ako yung hindi masyadong mahaba ang puputulin but this time it was bahala na. Iniisip ko madali namang humaba at sa panahon ngayon lagi naman akong may bonet kasi nga malamig. So it will not be a big deal kung masyadong maigsi. In a month or two hahaba din yun. Yun nga lang parang hindi appropriate sa weather ang buhok ko kasi kung kelan pa tag-lamig dun pa ako nag-paigsi ng buhok.

Emoticons

2008-12-05T14:08:00.020+01:00

I like putting smilies on my emails, or while chatting or texting (through smiley codes). It expresses what i feel. It's quite dull when there are no emotions come through your words. Thanks for these emoticons that give expressions in what I type. And thanks that it is also enabled in blogging. Here are few standard smilies that are supported. I just hope it will also support more smilies in the future. Keep smiling!

:) :( :P :D :$ ;)

~°~

I went into shopping yesterday. I'm really not in moods to shop during winter but i have to because my winter wardrobe is in "crisis". Not that i am updating it because i want in-mode ones (mine is not out of mode naman :)) but because of its sizes. Yes, my dear i gained weight. And i love it. I gained more than 5 kilos and ask me not why i love it. I was hoping this for years and now it just happened. And again...LAVEEET :D. Back into shopping... for more than xxx of trying and long time of waiting to fitting rooms plus the clothes i wore (thick pully, thick jacket, boots) and heated stores (that's why i hate winter), i only ended up in a pair of jeans. Will find time next week to buy Christmas gifts.

A soulful relationship

2008-12-02T21:41:00.010+01:00

If you're not married yet, share this with a friend. If you are married,
share it with your spouse or other married couples and reflect on it.

An African proverb states, "Before you get married, keep both eyes open,
and after you marry, close one eye."

Before you get involved and make a commitment to someone, don't let lust, desperation, immaturity, ignorance, pressure from others or a low self-esteem, make you blind to warning signs. Keep your eyes open, and don't fool yourself that you can change someone or that what you see as faults aren't really important.

Once you decide to commit to someone, over time his or her flaws,
vulnerabilities, pet peeves, and differences will become more obvious. If you love your mate and want the relationship to grow and evolve, you've got to learn to close one eye and not let every little thing bother you. You and your mate have many different expectations, emotional needs, values, dreams, weaknesses, and strengths. You are two unique individual children of God who have decided to share a life together.

Neither of you are perfect, but are you perfect for each other? Do you
bring out the best in each other?
Do you compliment and compromise with each other, or do you compete, compare, and control? What do you bring to the relationship? Do you bring past relationships, past hurt, past mistrust, past pain? You can't take someone to the altar to alter him or her. You can't make someone love you or make someone stay.

If you develop self-esteem, spiritual discernment, and "a life", you
won't find yourself making someone else responsible for your happiness or responsible for your pain.

Manipulation, control, jealousy, neediness, and selfishness are not the ingredients of a thriving, healthy, loving and lasting relationship! Seeking status, sex, wealth, and security are the wrong reasons to be in a relationship. What keeps a relationship strong?

Communication, intimacy, trust, a sense of humor, sharing household
tasks, some getaway time without business or children and daily
exchanges (a meal, shared activity, a hug, a call, a touch, a note).

Leave a nice message on the voicemail or send a nice email.

Sharing common goals and interests. Growth is important. Grow together, not away from each other, giving each other space to grow without feeling insecure. Allow your mate to have outside interest. You can't always be together. Give each other a sense of belonging and assurances of commitment. Don't try to control one another. Learn each other's family situation. Respect his or her parents regardless.

Don't put pressure on each other for material goods. Remember for richer or for poorer. If these qualities are missing, the relationship will erode as resentment, withdrawal, abuse, neglect, dishonesty, and pain replace the passion.

The difference between 'United' and 'Untied' is where you put the i.

In my control

2008-11-30T13:41:00.009+01:00

Having difficulties of sleeping from 12 hours of work. And that 12 hours became 19 hours of no sleep because until now i'm still awake!!!! I don't think it's because of cup of coffee i had this morning. The effect of it won't take that long. I even never had a minute of sleep at work, not this time that our chief nurse is always reminding us of the possibly surprise visit from our head nurse in the wee hours of the morning. And i don't want to take any other upshot for that.

~°~

I got the chance to chat with an old good friend of mine back in my high school/college days. It's quite good enough to have a chance to talk to your old friends, isn't it? Thanks to our modern technology.

Time to brrrrrrr

2008-11-28T15:23:00.015+01:00

Brrrrrr is here. At talaga namang super lamig. Tagos hanggang buto. Sabi ko naman sa lahat ng pinakaayaw kong panahon e panahon ng taglamig. Pero wala akong magagawa dahil nandito ako sa bansang halos kalahati ng taon e malamig ang panahon. But i can say we did have a good fall. Dahil noong nakaraang October napakaganda ng panahon. Ito yung time na nagsisimula ng mag-brown ang mga dahon at naglalaglagan na kung iisipin mo parang(?) namamatay na yung mga halaman. At hindi gaanong kalamigan compare sa mga nagdaang taon na September pa lang naka-winter jacket ka ng talaga. But this year, tamang-tamang sabihin talaga na fall pa lang.
Anyway that was month ago. And now is the time to get your thick jackets and coats from your cabinet. Lahat ng makakapal ilabas na. Last week came the first snow fall. Hindi naman masyadong makapal dito sa City pero tumagal din ang pagbuhos almost the whole day.

This coming Sunday is the first advent. Yehey lapit na talaga ang pasko! Advent came from Latin word adventus, meaning coming. This is the period of preparation for the celebration of Nativity of Jesus. Or in other words the period immediately before Christmas. Dito sa Europa, ito ang simula ng kanilang christmas decorations na inuumpisahan nating mga Pilipino pagpasok pa lang ng buwan na may ber sa dulo (September, October, November....) Nandyan na din ang tinatawag nilang Christkindl Markt (Christmas market). Ito yung mga maliliit ng kubol na tinatayo, bilihan ng mga kung anu-ano, lalung-lalo na ang mga things pang-pasko. Sa madaling salita tyangge sa pasko. And they are open until 10pm, which is unusual here dahil ang mga shops dito impunto alas syete ng gabi nagsasara na. Pinakamatagal na ang 8pm once a week. Kaloka di ba.

My natal day

2008-11-17T20:10:00.011+01:00

My birthday celebration was just simple but i had fun with my closest friends and family around. I don't actually celebrate my birthday with all that party stuff but this time (last year was a surprised party) i don't know what came into my mind to invite few of my closest friends into my place to have a simple dinner and "inuman" ( hindi ito nawawala....i guess). With all the kwentuha and bidahan, we finished off at five o'clock in the morning! I don't drink that much, a little sip of that and a little sip of this lang. But because it was my birthday i have to drink with them. It was my first time to taste a whisky, i usually drink the more sweetened one like eristoff and the likes. Hindi naman pala ganun kasama ang lasa, with coke as a chaser "LOL". The day after was a disaster, i woke up at four p.m. with a headache. That's why i hate to drink too much. I hate the after effect. The following are snapshots of my birthday celebration.

My gift

2008-11-14T01:45:00.014+01:00

At last, my wish just came true. A brand new camera. And it came before my birthday. At first, medyo napamahal dahil out of stock na ang body lang. They only have the camera with kit lens. Hindi daw pwedeng tanggalin ang lens dahil nakapack sila as one. And as the saleslady told me maybe 5d will soon be phased out by Canon because the new 5d mark II is already out in the market. But as of now wala pa daw nito dito. Hindi ko kelangan ng kit lens ng 5d dahil meron na akong ganung klase ng lens. Buti na lang save by the bell ako ng isa naming friend who happenend na kabibili lang din ng 24-105 na lens. And thank you na din sa consumer's right na pwedeng ibalik ang binili mo within 14 days kung hindi mo gusto, be sure na naka-pack pa ito at may kasamang receipt. I talked to the store na pinagbilhan nya and i told them i was the one who bought it at ayaw ko na sa lens na yun. Sa madaling salita they gave back the money at yung kit lens na kasama ng camera ko ang binigay ko sa friend ko. Ayun, solved ang problema ko. I saved little money (compared sa price ng body only) for the camera because i deducted the amount of the lens bought to me by my friend and he also saved money for the lens because i gave him the price which is lower than the market's price. I was excited like a kid when i got home. Isa na lang ang wish ko, and sana before christmas meron na din ako. A new lens. I would like to share some pictures of what i've got and some pictures of my friends i took from my new baby :D

Studio Photoshoot.....the return

2008-11-12T18:40:00.006+01:00

Got the chance again to shoot in a studio after a long time. This time a photog friend of mine put up his own studio. A big and comfy one. All i have to do is to bring him models. And it happens a co-worker of mine asked me to take pictures of her and her friend who is a Persian. And me, as a hobbyist always excites to do it, give them a shot. My friend's studio is just a few walks away from where i lived, so it's actually very comfy for me. Here are my shots of Victoria, my co-worker and her friend Maryam.

Scrapbook

2008-11-05T12:05:00.012+01:00

I remember when i was in high school i love doing scrapbooks. And i remember i can't even afford to buy then a scrapbook from bookstore, that's why i just made an alternative one. I bought a cheap drawing book with white plain pages and from there i started to make my own scrapbook. I pasted everything there that were memorable to me. From tissues to chocolate and gift wrappers to love letters "lol!". And pictures of course. At marami na din akong nagupit na magazines ng lola ko. I just stop doing it when i went into college. Lack of time, maybe. And now i am again into scrapping but now digitally. Hindi na ako mag-gugupit ng mga magazines to put as designs in my scrapbook. With a help of scrapbook software i found in the internet (there are lots free out there) and of course with photoshop. Pagpasensyahan na lang itong first try ko :$

~°~
Ten days to go and it's my birthday...hmmmm another year of good and healthy life. Thank you God!

Tid Bits

2008-11-04T22:19:00.012+01:00

Wow! I have only realized i am blogging already for more than a year. That means more than a year of writing nonsense here....hehehe. Whatever you call it, i just merely satisfied of what i'm doing. You can think it nonsense?....who cares! i just simply love doing it. So, many years more of blogging :)

~°~
I am now hooked on finishing the season I of Heroes. I know i'm more than late of watching this series. A colleague of mine has complete seasons and he was kind enough to burn me copies of it, (opppsss infringement ba ito? shhh....) the third season is not yet finish. i like the character of Hiro, the japanese. He's so funny. Para syang laging natatae when he's using his power. I am opting to finish the first two seasons para makahabol ako. I'm amaze about the writer of this series, how he make it so perplex and originative one. I guess he is brilliant!

Taking better pictures?...read this!

2008-11-04T22:11:00.002+01:00

Everyone has cherished photographs of the important people, places, and times in their lives. Then there are the ones that you thought would look great - but just didn’t work out.

How can you get more cherished photographs and less of those that just aren’t very interesting?

No matter what type of camera you use. From the simplest point and shoot to the most sophisticated 35MM single lens reflex, following three simple rules will help you to improve your photography.

1) Know the theme or subject of your photograph.

2) Focus attention on your theme or subject.

3) Simplify your photograph.

Let’s go into each step a little further...

KNOW YOUR SUBJECT OR THEME:

Is the subject of your photograph your Mom? Or the Glorriette in Schönbrunn? Or the majesty of nature? Whatever you subject or theme, make sure you have an idea of what is is as you look through the viewfinder. Which leads us to our next step.

FOCUS ATTENTION ON YOUR SUBJECT OR THEME

Just because your Mom is in the viewfinder, that doesn’t mean that your eyes will be drawn to her when you look at the print. Too many times folks create photos with distracting elements that pull the focus from your intended subject. What can you do to create focus on your subject? Here are a few techniques:

1) Placement. You may have heard of the “rule of thirds”. This is simply dividing your frame into thirds and placing your subject on one of these imaginary divisions. Thus your subject will be slightly off center. This makes for a more interesting photograph, one that will help “pull focus” onto your subject.

2) Relative size. This is simple. Make sure that the subject you want to focus on is large in the frame relative to other elements in the picture. Fill the frame with your subject!

3) Framing. This is a very versatile technique, there are many ways to “frame” your subject. For instance, you could frame your Mom sitting on her front porch. Frame her either by the vertical porch posts, or the horizontal porch railing, or both. There are many ways you can frame a subject. When photographing a distant scene, such as an expansive landscape scene, try framing the subject with a nearby object. A tree or fence line (framing along the bottom) works well for this. You’ll frame the subject and help to enhance the sense of distance. If your camera has a zoom lens a wide angle will aid in creating a longer depth of field for distance shots with nearby framing elements. Also, if you can control the aperture on your camera, using a higher f-stop (smaller aperture) will also help create a longer depth of field. (More on how to use depth of field below)

4) Lighting. You can use selective lighting to help create emphasis on your subject. For example, you can compose your photograph so that your intended subject is lit while other elements of the picture are in the shadows.

5) Converging lines. An example could be your Mom walking down a path in the distance. The sides of the path appear to converge in the distance, creating the emphasis on your Mom. If you camera has a zoom lens, use of a wide angle helps to exaggerate this effect.

6) Selective focus. This is another use of depth of field. Instead of using depth of field to give a sense of distance in relative sharp focus (shorter focal length and/or small aperture), you can use a shallow depth of field to create a selective focus on your subject. Your subject is in sharp focus, while surrounding elements in the picture are out of focus. If you have a camera with a zoom lens use a longer focal length (zoom in). If you don’t have a zoom lens, move in close to you subject if you can. If you have aperture control with your camera, use a larger aperture (or lower f-stop) to create a shallow depth of field. Using these techniques, focus on you subject and surrounding elements will be out focus, thereby creating a selective focus with emphasis on your subject.

Depth of Field tips:

1) The longer the focal length of your lens (i.e. “zooming in close), equals less depth of field. (see number 6 above)

2) The shorter the focal length of your lens (i.e. “zooming out”), equals greater depth of field. (see number 3 above)

3) The smaller the aperture setting (higher f-stop setting), the greater the depth of field.

4) The larger the aperture setting (lower f-stop setting), the smaller the depth of field.

5) At any aperture setting, there is about twice the depth of field behind the point of focus as in front of it.

Let’s not forget our third rule for better photography...

SIMPLIFY!

You’ve decided what the subject or theme of your picture is, and you’ve used one or several techniques to help emphasize that subject or theme in your frame. Now you need to look in your viewfinder and notice what elements you see that are not crucial. You have your Mom nicely framed in you viewfinder, off to one side just a bit (the rule of thirds), very nice. Do you need the garbage cans along the wall of the garage in your picture? For that matter, do you want the garage showing at all. These may be elements that just add clutter to your photograph. Get rid of them! move the garbage cans, or move your Mom, so that you don’t see the garage. The point is to eliminate unneeded clutter in your pictures to help produce clean, sharp composition of your intended subject.

What to do if you have an “automatic everything” camera.

Many cameras today are “point and shoot” types with sophisticated chips inside that take care of all the focusing and exposure (shutter speed and aperture) tasks for you. This can be great, except you loose the control you might want to create a more interesting photograph. Don’t despair. There are ways that you can “fool” your automatic camera into giving you the settings you want. If your camera has “automatic program” modes, as most do these days, you can select the program that will give you the kind of exposure settings you’ll need to use some of the techniques described above.

For instance. Most cameras will have a “normal” mode, some sort of “slower speed” mode (this may be called something like “landscape mode”), and a “higher speed” mode (sometimes called “sport” or “action” mode”. A slower shutter speed will mean a smaller aperture setting, and a greater depth of field. A faster shutter speed, on the other hand, means a wider aperture setting, and a narrower depth of field. You can adjust your automatic mode to best suit your needs.

BONUS TIP:

The most common reason that some pictures turn out blurry or apparently out of focus isn’t really due to the focus at all - it’s called camera shake. Make sure that you are standing with your feet slightly spread apart and support your arms against your chest to help support your camera and keep it steady. The best way to eliminate camera shake is to use a tripod. This is especially true when you are taking pictures in a low light situation or any time that your exposure settings utilize a slow shutter speed.

To recap, keeping these 3 steps in mind as you take your pictures -

Know what your subject or theme is.

Emphasize your subject or theme

Simplify your picture

will help you take more interesting pictures of your loved ones, travels, treasured moments.

Iphone's ringtone

2008-10-25T23:43:00.007+02:00

I've got a 3G iphone since it was released in the market but until now it is not jailbraked yet. A friend of mine who jailbraked my itouch says he is still not sure of jailbraking the 3G model. So wait na lang muna ako. I am using Apple store for some applications for now. And i heard they are already offering ringtones for 2 dollars? hmmm... it's quite expensive for a 30 sec. music huh! i searched the internet for this and i found out that there are lots of helpful hackers out there who are stretching out their efforts to beat the continuous updates of Itunes to enable the iphone owners to use free homemade ringtones. Here's one i found in the net.

Wanting these....

2008-10-16T12:22:00.003+02:00

I'm wanting to have these for so long that my budget can't still afford it. But i think i will only have a few months to wait and will able to purchase these stuff. i'm keeping my fingers cross that will able to have these very soon. Canon 5D is an old model, and it is only that i can afford. I can buy 5d Mark II but how about the lens? Yes, I also want another lens. So i have to choose that will really fit my budget to have both.

Crystal....ness

2008-07-11T10:10:00.017+02:00

Es-varofs-ki....that's how they pronounce it in German. Wherein the W pronounced as V, and V pronounced as F. kaloka! These cut of glass were known before in Chandeliers. People around the globe especially in our country who wants their light holders made of these crystals spend lots of money on it while it has to be imported from Austria. And the hight of it even here in Austria these cut of glasses are quite expensive too. The miniatures alone cost not below 50 euros! But what i want in Swarovski is their line of jewelries. Not only that it is very in nowadays but the designs that they made of those glasses into a piece of art is extremely lovable.

How i want these crystals behind me in my room....o di ba bonga :)

A visit in an old castle...

2008-07-03T12:43:00.012+02:00

A part of our company fieldtrip was in Lockenburg. A town in the provice of Burgenland on the border of Hungary. One of the main attraction in this small town is the Lockenburg Castle. One of the oldest Castle in Austria and was built on the 13th Century.

I've been to many castle's here before but i was not intersted in photography yet. And that was a failure. Since i've got interest in photo taking i look forward to visit nice places like this, but my time doesn't permit me mostly.

Portraiture...the other side

2008-06-30T20:59:00.004+02:00

I was strolling with my friends in Stephan's dome and saw this girl sitting for a portraiture session. This guy who drew her really got a talent. On the spot drawing session is not quite easy for sure. I just don't know how long does it take to draw her face. And the highlight of it was that they were just doing the session along the street. Everybody who passed by took a halt and watch them. Watch the video clip i made with my cellphone. Maybe one day, i will sit there and make him also draw my face.

Summer is here!

2008-06-26T14:21:00.007+02:00

I've been very busy that was not able to post here in my blog. i am visiting it frequently though i have no time to post....hmmm this summer really excites me. I feel really different during summer. maybe because of the ambience, ibang- iba talaga kapag summer. the sunny day makes you cheer up kahit uber ang init. summer here where i am now is really short. kumbaga bitin, kaya sinasamantala lahat ng araw na gawin ang mga hindi nagagawa kapag winter. nakakapanghinayang nga lang kasi i have no vacation, i have to work grrr! nyway, i have to enjoy to the fullest na lang during day offs.

sunny day, nice clouds, you can appreciate the views, you can go out without thinking what thick clothes to wear, and mostly you have the appetite to eat :) san ka pa?

Facts about Cancer

2008-04-15T00:43:00.004+02:00

Check this out if it's for real...
AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY AND ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHNS HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY .
Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins:

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These
cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests
until they have multiplied to a few billion. When
doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more
cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it
just means the tests are unable to detect the
cancer cells because they have not reached the
detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10
times in a person's lifetime.

3. When the person's immune system is strong the
cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from
multi plying and forming tumours.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person
has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could
be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle
factors.

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional
deficiencies, changing diet and including
supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the
rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys
rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow,
gastro-intestinal tract etc, and can cause organ
damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also
burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and
organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation
will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use
of chemotherapy and radiation do no t result in more
tumor destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from
chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is
either compromised or destroyed, hence the person
can succumb to various kinds of infections and
complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer
cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult
to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to
spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve
the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it
needs to multiply.

WHAT CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it
cuts off one important food supply to the cancer
cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet,
Equal,Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it
is harmful. A better natural sub stitute would be
Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small
amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it
white in colour. Better alternative is Bragg's
aminos or sea salt.

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially
in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on
mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with
unsweetened soy milk, cancer cells are being
starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A
meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat
fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork.
Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth
hormones and parasites, which are all harmful,
especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice,
whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help
put the body into an alkaline environment. ; About
20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh
vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are
easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels
within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of
healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building
healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice
(most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat
some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are
destroyed at
temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high
caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has
cancer-fighting properties. Water-best to drink
purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins
and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is
acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires
a lot of digestive enzymes. Undi gested meat
remaining in the intestines become putrified and
leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering.
By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more
enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells
and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the
cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system
(IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins,
minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body's own killer
cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements
like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or
programmed cell death, the body's normal method of
disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and
spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help
the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger,
unforgiveness and bi tterness put the body into a
stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a
loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and
enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated
environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing
help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level.
Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy
cancer cells.

Forgive and Forget

2008-04-14T08:27:00.009+02:00

In life only one thing is certain no matter how hard you try, no matter how good your intentions, you are going to make mistakes, you’re going to hurt people, you’re going to get hurt and if you ever want to recover there’s really only one thing you can say… I forgive you.

When someone hurts us, we want to hurt them back. When someone is wrong we want to be right. Without forgiveness old scores are never settled, old wounds never heal and the most we can hope for is that one day we’ll be lucky enough to forget..

*Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy

A glimpse of Salzburg

2008-03-20T23:11:00.019+01:00

It was raining on Saturday morning here in Vienna, the clouds were hiding the sky and quite cold when we were heading for a trip to Salzburg. I was so excited because it's my first time to see Mozart's place. Though we are going there for a business trip and not for pleasure but i don't give a damn. All i care was to take pictures of the beautiful Salzburg if i find time. Half of the trip was raining but in Salzburg was a 16°C sunny day. Wow, cool! I never put on my winter jacket. I stepped out of the car with only a thin jacket on. How come here was already quite summer and it seems in Vienna, the winter has made its comeback? Does the 396km distance really make a difference?

So this is Salzburg, i thought. The buildings are not that tall compared to Vienna. Although Vienna has neither a Golden Empire Tower-like building. The roads inside the city are quite narrow. The so called one of the best- preserved city in German-speaking world can see its preserveness in every baroque building i saw. But the saddest part is i didn't find time to take snaps of this beautiful city. Only a click or two and nothing more. Because we had run out of time. I never thought it was already past midnight when our business "thing" was finished. Well...nevermind, I have just thought tomorrow for sure i will have time to roam around before heading back home. And the next day came, but what a S****, it was raining!!! And as i saw of it, the rain will not going to stop until the following day. So now i believe, weather in Austria is so unpredictable. Sigh............... I promised myself i will arrange my schedule to have day offs and drive back to Mozart's hometown. As we approached Vienna, it was still raining :=( and the next day, and the next day and the day after. And know what? As of this moment the snow falls. Grrrr!

Presenting Smilebox

2008-03-20T21:13:00.010+01:00

I saw Smilebox in my bookmark. Maybe i had it bookmarked for quite a long time ago and easily forgot it. Or maybe because i am not used to view what are in my bookmark lists. Anyway, Smilebox amazed me of its hundreds of free layouts that can be used in emails and blogs. And can be printed too for photobook collections. Below is a sample of what i did. The layout i picked is perfect for the coming spring. Make one, it's easy!

Make a photobook - it's easy!

click play to view and arrows to flip

My first HDR

2008-03-06T19:51:00.014+01:00

click for larger view

A HDR or High Dynamic Range photography can be created by taking few photos with different exposure, then combining them in the software into a high dynamic file.This is my first trial of HDR photo. Shoot this building in 3 different time exposures (10sec., 15sec. and 20sec. exposure), using a tripod of course and combined them using photoshop. After combining the file was converted into jpeg to be able to view in screen, to print or to post in web.

Sino nga ba ang nagsasabi ng totoo?

2008-03-04T18:13:00.009+01:00

Mahilig akong manood ng mga palabas sa atin sa isang online streaming site, mapa kapuso man o kapamilya sya. Nakakaalis sya ng pagod, nagbibigay ng aliw lalo na sa mga taong nasa labas ng ating bansa. Masasabi nating updated pa din tayo sa mga nangyayari sa ating bansa sa kasalukuyan dahil nakakapanood tayo ng mga palabas sa atin sa internet kahit na malayo tayo sa ating bayan. Pero aaminin kong paminsan-minsan lang akong manood ng mga balita, hindi dahil wala akong hilig kundi dahil sa ang mga balita sa atin ay puro na lang pulitika. Hay naku, hate ko talaga ang politics. Walang pagbabago. At ito pa, ng minsang sumilip ako sa TV patrol nagrarally na naman pala sa Manila. Gusto ng paalisin si Gloria dahil kurakot din daw. At ang isang sumisigaw sa demonstrasyon ng "ILABAS MO NA ANG KATOTOHANAN" or something to that effect ay walang iba kundi si Estrada. What the hell!!! Ang kapal ng mukha ng isang ito. E sya ba nagsabi din ng katotohanan sa mga nakurakot nya dati? At ang taong bayan naman parang nakakita ng kakampi kay Erap. May amnesia na ba ang mga Pilipno sa ginawa ni Erap noon? Huwag naman sana nating kalimutan na ang isang ito ay nagnakaw din sa kaban ng ating bayan.

Sweets

2008-03-04T17:57:00.004+01:00

Something that is sweet to the taste. Take your pick =)

Food photography

2008-03-02T23:10:00.013+01:00

I was sorting out and cleaning my files when i saw these bunch of food photos i had taken in different time and locations. Thought might share it with you.

*a photo addict took snap of whatever he thinks looks good, wherever he is, whenever he feels, whenever he has his camera with him.

Spring sickness

2008-03-02T20:52:00.016+01:00

The trees have still no leaves, the leaves are still dry but my pollen allergy is already attacking me. It is not even spring yet. What more during flowering season? I love spring. For me it is the best season of all seasons. I just hate what i feel during spring. It is pretty nice to go outside and make a leisurely walk in the park. Take snaps shots of different kind of flowers, macro shots of bees and butterflies. But how can i enjoy it when my nose doesn't stop sneezing and can't stop my eyes from itching plus banging headache? I guess you can easily imagine how i am feeling. Taking antihistamine tablets doesn't help a lot either. It just make you feel tiring and sleepy. Last year i had an steroid shot which really helped me a lot and very thankful of the effect although i've read and heard it is not good for the body. But as i am searching the internet now , steroid shot is not harmful at all. Hmmmm....which is which? I have an appointment in an allergy center tomorrow. I'll ask the doctor if he can give me another shot. And if he may not, i'll be sucked with antihistamine pills and tons of tissues then....**********sigh

Personalizing my Signature

2008-02-27T21:56:00.016+01:00

I am still in front of my computer and doing my blog hopping. Glancing at the lower right corner of my screen and it says 21:56. Whew! i logged on at 10:00. But damn, i don't want to admit it.... i'm not a surf addict! (Hey! i slept in betweens naman...hehehe) Anyway, as i was browsing, i ended up at this site My Live Signature. It's cool. You can try it and it's free. You can use it in your emails, blogs, forums etc.

Here is my try out:

And this one:

And another one:

Blog...blog...blog......................

2008-02-27T12:07:00.016+01:00

Few months back i started blogging though i admit i'm not good into writings but i don't care.....i just feel it and love doing it. At first i was hesitant of creating a blog account but sometimes i feel of talking to no one, myself or everybody so why not blog it. But hey, what really a blog is? According to my dependable friend and friend of everybody whose name is Wikipedia a blog (came from web log) is a website where entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog. Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal . A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art, photographs, music and videos are part of a wider network of social media. Micro blogging is another type of blogging which consists of blogs with very short posts. The modern blog evolved from the online diary, where people would keep a running account of their personal lives. And that's partly what i'm doing. An online diary. I can say whatever i want to say. Share whatever i want to share. Remember we are in world wide web, and sky is the limit. You can do whatever you want to do.

And speaking of our friend Wikipedia, maybe we can request him to put our language Tagalog in his language list. He has only Ilokano which is not bad because it is one of our many dialects, but isn't cool if he puts Tagalog there? What'd you think?

I hate Itunes

2008-02-12T15:00:00.000+01:00

I'm really pissed off with Itunes nowadays. I can't synchronize my videos or even photos to my itouch now. Whenever i open my itunes it has this January Software Upgrade thing that when I click the button "remind me later" or "no, thank you" redirects me to Itune's store. The page for synchronizing my itouch doesn't show off anymore. How can I sync my itouch then? Should i buy those software first before it quits showing this damn page? Arrrggghhhh!!!!!!! Why had I in the first place upgraded my version 1.1.2 to 1.1.3 then? I don't need it anyway. If only I can find the solution for this. I don't have time yet to browse the whole internet to find one. Or emailing them how to get rid off that page. Why can't they offer consumers purely satisfaction and not being annoyed of what they think is better. All is for money- and that counts!

Glamour-look tutorial

2008-02-11T17:41:00.000+01:00

Do you want to turn your simple photo into glamorous one? Try this tutorial which i find very easy to follow. And i guess many out there are also doing this steps to make their photos look like glamorous. For a newbie like me, i tell you this is not a camera trick but a photoshop magic :)

So here we go....
1) Open your desired picture on photoshop.

2) Duplicate that picture - Go to layer then duplicate layer.

3) Be sure you are on the top layer on your layer palette...now go to Filter and choose Blur- Gaussian blur. Make it slide to 25 pixels and above ( it depends on how big your file is). Now your picture looks like very blurry. Like you're wearing an eyeglassses with +XXX grade, hahaha.

4) Still on that layer now go to Image, then to Adjustment and go to Brightness/Contrast. Now move both the slider to +15.

5) Lastly go into your layer's palette menu and choose Overlay and boila! your picture looks like very glamorous. You can also adjust the Hue/Saturation for the reds so that your picture won't become too reddish.

Here is my example. I played with my own photo. Actually i also changed the background. I cut it and paste in another studio-like background but that is another story.

Adobe Photoshop

2008-02-10T03:48:00.000+01:00

A friend of mine who's a photographer-hobbyist suggested these photoshop books to me. Try to get one, he said it really helps a lot. For the beginners up to profis. Hmmmm i'm excited about this book!

OR

Studio Photoshoot...another try

2008-02-10T02:14:00.000+01:00

It was a nice experience for me to shoot along with other photographers - hobbyist and professionals. A local camera and studio lights shop held a free seminar for studio lightings with a try-out to shoot in a studio set-up lighting. They have not only provided the studio lights with different settings, also a model as well. Although i was feeling tired and have not gone for a sleep for almost 24hours ( i came straight from a night duty) i found it interesting and fun. Every shoots i attended were all exciting because every now and then i am able to learn new things, exploring and sharing and getting ideas, perspective, etc. from others and most of all - new experience to me.

The model said her name is Sophi. I'm not sure of the correct spelling but I written it this way, Sofi looks good too or can also be Sovi (pronounced as So-fi) when it is written in German :)

Studio Photoshoot

2008-02-08T17:13:00.000+01:00

A girl named Alexis, who has a resemblance to local artist Nikki Valdez was the one i tagged along this time for a studio shoot. These photos were taken sometime in November last year. Due to holidays and all i was not able to upload it before.

Layout

2008-02-06T16:03:00.003+01:00

I started to try doing some layouts of the photos i recently shoot. It's kinda fun. But spending most of my time just sitting in front of computer and thinking what idea should i put into it. Gathered almost what i know about photoshop and put into one. Whew! That is something of a kind, hahaha. Well, I want to learn something different but because i am new to it, i just did only the basics. People out there who are really professionals of doing it might say my work is a disaster. Yaay! Anyways, everybody started as nothing. The professional ones also started from scratch, right? What's wrong of trying something new, who knows i can perfectly make it someday - what an illusion, hahaha! Anyway, here...take a look of some of my works.

What a chance!

2008-01-31T08:58:00.001+01:00

Nothing is new. The month of heart is coming up. For those who are in love this month is extra something else. But i think it's kinda OUT if you try to wear something RED just because it's February.

I was on my way home from a night work reading early morning newspaper. I had read this add: Answer the question what is the number one newspaper nowadays (of course the answer is the one what i was reading) and send your answer thru SMS to this number_ _ _ and you will have the chance of winning 200 euro. Note* per SMS will cost you 50 cents. Well, i just don't buy it.

COLOR Therapy

2008-01-23T22:46:00.000+01:00

These four shades provide major mood-boosting benefits.

Red increases your heart rate and excites sexual glands, so you’ll get giddy…and maybe a little horny.

If a lack of motivation is dragging you down, orange will come to your aid. It’s the Energizer Bunny of brights.

Let the sunshine in! Soaking up a sunny shade of yellow can relieve depression and improve your memory…so you can reminisce about all the good times you’ve had.

Mint green is seriously soothing. Read: You’ll be too relaxed to dwell on life’s downers.

Christmas Gifts

2007-12-30T01:31:00.004+01:00

I am more than happy that my Christmas wishes came true. A Macbook, an iTouch and a crumpler bag for my cam.

Macbook is so handy that i can slip on my shoulder bag whenever i want to take it with me. No more boring nights during my night duty, can watch video, play games, editing my picture works. Isn't cool?

Ipod touch is also cool. I have the 8Gb iTouch to play my favorite mp3s, storing my favorite pictures and i can also load one or two films on it. And a good PDA as well. In fact i had loaded some ebooks that i can read during my way to work.

And a red crumpler bag for my cam of course. The bag is just like a messenger bag mostly use by schoolers :) And it is not easily recognized that you're carrying a bulky camera with long nose and a camera-size-liked flash. Unless you know what crumpler bags are for.

Today is my birthday!!!

2007-11-15T11:20:00.001+01:00

Thank you God for another year of my life. I thank you for all the blessings you are giving me. The strength, the health and for the love. There's is nothing special on this day except that it's my birthday, i don't use to celebrate it with a party. a small special dinner with family and close friends will do. But it was though a party, on the 10th of November was supposed to be a surprised party for me but unluckily i discovered it days before. The party was pretty cool, everybody enjoyed it especially those who went home with a case of beer, hahahah. Thank you guys.

I am waiting for the snow to fall. I read yesterday in the newspaper that it will snow today and tomorrow. The first snow fell last Sunday but i didn't have the chance to take photos because i was in bed the whole morning. After partying the night before, i was not in the mood to go outside too early in the morning and take pictures. The flakes was pretty big but it didn't stay long until noon. Quite excited of the whitey surroundings that we didn't have last year. As the weather bureau says, this year will gonna be a snowy winter. Last year was too cold that it really hurts the ears, plus the gloomy weather (this...sucks!!!).

Monochromatic

2007-11-07T20:00:00.000+01:00

I am still in black & white fever. This time in portraits. Tried some black & white conversion tutorials that i had found out in web particularly on Matt's blog page . Just added some curves and levels to taste. Dodging and burning helped a lot too. Thank you photoshop.

The hobbyist in action!

2007-10-23T23:03:00.000+02:00

Whew! We're in action here. Thanks for the Video Rob, hehehe.

Black & White series

2007-10-17T14:19:00.000+02:00

I love black & white photos. It reminds me of historical thingy which i always saw when i was a kid in our school books. Black & white have a power that i can't just ignore. Nowadays make us easy to produce black & white photo, like what i did here in my shots. I took it with colors though i can use my monochrome settings in my camera but i did not prefer to use it. It was just the help of photoshop. It was also sort of exploring the tools and layers of photoshop. I played with different variations of black and white. From more red, to more blue or less yellow etc. And here are the results. Added some effects and it looks now like something from the past.

Angst

2007-10-13T23:35:00.001+02:00

It breaks someone's heart to see that the one he/she love is happy with somebody else, but it's more painful to know that the one you love is unhappy with you.

*Dictionary: a feeling of anxiety, apprehension, or insecurity.

Portraiture

2007-10-12T20:15:00.000+02:00

Diferrent faces, different locations. Some shots were taken in a studio. Yes, i've already experienced how to photoshoot in a studio, but i'm not yet particular how the lights work. Basta shoot lang ako ng shoot :=) The studio owner who's a good guy is the one who makes the lighting though i want also to learn more about lights. Because PHOTOGRAPHY is LIGHT (heard it from a good photographer i knew) kaya importanteng matutunan ito. Some shots were taken in a party, out of katuwaan i made some impromptu shots. Most of these pretty ladies are my friends.

                               Alexis

                    Sharon

                    Marrion

                  Jennyflor

                               Myla

                    Victoria

                    Babsie

                    Marriane

                    Anna

                    Valen

                    Jenny

                    Reyna

                    May

Most aperture used.

2007-10-12T17:34:00.000+02:00

Got this survey in one of the forums for photography. It was asked what aperture is commonly use by photographers. And here are their answers:

Photographer 1: AV if I am using a lens that has wide aperture.
TV if I am shooting on a very bright sorrounding i.e. outside.

Photographer 2: Depends on what I am shooting:
1. When I'm shooting with flash at parties or indoors, I use shutter-priority. I set it to a shutter speed reciprocally equal or greater than the focal lenght (using the focal-length invesrse to shutter speed guideline).
2. When shooting potraits outdoors (without flash), I use apperture priority depending if i want to give a shallow or more depth of field.
3. For action photos, I definitely use shutter priority.
4. For lowlite to "bulb" shutter conditions, I use manual setting.
5. Landscapes are definitely apperture priority for me.

Photographer 3: When shooting with flash best to use P, A, T modes.

But for me, i only use Manual mode (like he always said, don't be a slave of your camera) and works for me just fine. But also considered these tips and try experimenting.

Feeling sick.

2007-10-12T08:03:00.001+02:00

My body temperature goes up and down. I'm sneezing all the time, my body aches. Thanks that the headache is lil' bit gone. That's why i have lots of time to sit here in front of my computer....typing, searching, checking my mails. I'm suppose to have a photo shoot this early morning, a friend asks me a favor if i can take a few shots of a priest who's going to have a big birthday bash (huge, actually! an open party for 2000 guests) next week. I'm suppose to take a picture of him in his early morning routine and it will be used in a slide show but sad to say i'm sick! i tried to sleep early last night hoping i will feel better today, but this body aches that i can't even perform proper bending plus the fact that i've got fever. I call Fr. Ron early this morning cancelling my appointment to him, though i think he was really expecting me and cancelling an appointment in the last minute is quite awkward. Felt little bit gauche because i never had spoken with him through telephone.

A night without an end.

2007-10-11T01:52:00.000+02:00

A 12-hour duty is no joke, especially during night. I am now waiting for my duty to end, 5 hours to be exact, go home and embrace my bed. I am now in front of the computer and i am very thankful that this time the internet is functioning. My last duty is kinda boring, the internet was off. I am just lucky that the station is quiet, our patients are already asleep. Just one or two need maybe an assistance if they want to peeh. A few rounds to check the patients if they are okay and nobody is lying on the floor. I am also finished preparing the medications for tomorrow's need. What shall i do? I had already read today's newspaper, checked the patient's maps and was prepared for tomorrow's morning endorsement. I even talked to my friend in telephone for almost 1 and half hour! Thanks to 3(drei) i have free unlimited calls =), but my battery is almost drained. Whew! but i think this night and as well as other nights when i am on duty has no end. I just wish i have a laptop so i can photoshop all through the night. Shhh....just quiet that no one from our bosses hear this and give us tons of work during night shift, hehehe.

People come into our lives for a reason.

2007-10-10T00:51:00.000+02:00

People come into our lives for a reason, a season or a lifetime. When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that person. When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend and they are. They are there for the reason you need them to be. Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand. What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.

Some people come into our lives for a SEASON, because your turn has come to share, grow or learn. They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it, it is real. But only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons, things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life. It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

Thank you for being a part of my life, whether you were a reason, a season or a lifetime.

*DISCLAIMER: got from an email

Landscapes & Architectures

2007-10-09T18:00:00.000+02:00

Some of my collections of landscapes and architecture shots.

Church Dom

   Church

Mountain

      River

      Palace

   Zigzag

      Museum

   Reflections

Still life

2007-10-09T17:04:00.001+02:00

Tried to shoot at very close distance. Using 24-105 f/4 lens. Focal length used-93mm in 1/80sec. exposure time with only available lights which was flourescent bulb on a white long table. As a beginner like me and my first time to shoot like those we saw in product shoots, i'm quite satisfied with these.

shots taken: 23.01.2007

The hobbyist

2007-10-06T13:31:00.000+02:00

I met these wonderful guys through a friend of a friend of a friend of hers and a friend of his. They also love taking pictures as i do. In fact i learned a lot from them and i was able to take more pictures because of these guys. If we are all free from all of our works we just hangout and take pictures. They are my buddies in photography at saling pusa po ako.

Hardest things in love.

2007-10-06T00:39:00.000+02:00

Somehow i can relate a few on these lists.

Loving involves two phases. The first intuitive one is loving the person
because of who he/she is. The second nobler one is loving the person despite of who he/she is. The first one sparks love. The second makes it last.

1. flashing your smile to someone u don't want to see.
2. bringing back the feeling u've learned to forget.
3. showing that u care.
4. finding a way to mend a broken heart.
5. learning that u've been used by someone u truly love.
6. saying "i love you" when you mean it and when you don't.
7. letting go of a person u've just learned to love.
8. realizing that u love somebody u've just taken for granted.
9. realizing that u love the person u've just broken up with.
10. waiting for promises you know he'll never keep.
11. saying ur love for someone who loves somebody else.
12. reminiscing the good times u shared together.
13. shielding ur heart to love somebody.
14. trying to hide what u really feel.
15. having a commitment w/ someone that u know would not last.
16. trying to hide the tears that involuntarily fall from ur eyes.
17. sharing the one u love w/ someone else.
18. loving a person too much.
19. giving up someone u never thought of giving up.
20. falling in love for the first time
21. loving someone you haven't seen
22. having the right love at the wrong time
23. exerting effort to make the relationship last or work.
24. not being appreciated when u know u've given ur best.
25. taking the risk to fall in love again
26. hiding ur relationship from someone else.
27. controlling ur feelings to avoid hurting a friend
28. choosing between 2 persons whom u really love.

Baby 400d's first birthday.

2007-10-05T23:34:00.000+02:00

My camera is already one year old. Whew! luma na pala sya. Kelan ko kaya maa-upgrade ang camera ko? Ang sarap isipin, ang daming pagpipilian. Pero tama na muna si baby400d ko- i did'nt baptist her with any names which the others usually do. I just simply can't think of a name to call her. I can still remember, i thought using a dslr is just that easy like any other point & shoot camera. Hindi pala, my first shots were really aweful, i used to take pictures with my G5 before, akala ko ganun din kadali gamitin ang dslr. At dahil gusto ko talagang matuto at para hindi masayang ang pagbili ko kay baby 400d, pinagaralan kong mabuti kung paano sya gamitin. Tanong dito, tanong doon, search dito and search doon until such time na...uy, ok na mga kuha ko. Pero dahil bago pa lang ako sa photography syempre pang-grade 1 palang yung mga shots ko. I started to shoot anything which i think will turn beautiful when it is inside a frame. From candles, to flowers, to small figurines, to ANYTHING na makita ko inside my flat. And now 1 year old na si baby 400d, and i'm also a year hooked into taking pictures :=)

CANDLES

ROSES

My first blog attempt

2007-09-09T13:50:00.000+02:00

I am not good in writings, i don't know how to express what i feel in writing. But there's no harm in trying. From now on, this is the place where i will tell my stories through pictures that i have taken. Yes, i am into photography. Actually a newbie into it and still learning. A fan of great photographers and those people who have really a talent about photography. When the digital cameras came into the world, the pictures came easily with just a snap of a finger. And i observed many had ardently absorbed an interest about photography. And i'm one of those. And why not try blogging?