Gallery: La Lune

The enigmatic moon charmed me last night to try and dabble in some lunar photography.

Err.. I don't think I have the skill and equipment yet.

Someday perhaps.. :D

Holy Week 2008

It was a little reminiscent of a trip I had a month ago, I was on the car with some friends -- Chrie, Fi, Francis and Giles -- driving south at 3am in the morning to meet up with Rollie and his family.

The only difference was that the metro was more like of a ghost town than an urban jungle. Well, what would you expect, it was Good Friday.

Imagine this, the metro was so empty that our drive from Bicutan exit up until the Petron Gasoline station in SLEX only took 10 minutes!! I initially estimated 30, but according to the display in Francis' car, we covered that much in 10 minutes.

We arrived in Anilao a little past 6. And the first thing we did was grab a pillow and head off to bed to catch up on some precious sleeping time -- most, if not all of us, haven't slept yet.

As soon as we woke up, we started doing our "rounds", photo op rounds on our side of the beach and retreated back to bed to get some more sleep.

Children playing on the raft near
the resort we were staying on

At Nightfall, things started picking up. People started acting weird from the super charge they got from their (almost) all day sleep.

Francis singing his heart out

After the sun has completely set, you would see the little lights from a distance. Clustered and distant lights would inspire one thing -- long exposure shots..

The other side of the beach at night

Group shot less Fifi

It pretty got creepy when we started capturing ghosts on film sensors..

A ghost appearing beside me

Chrie apparently felt the ghost and freaked out

The ghost didn't really creep us out. Hence, we continued enjoying the night more with our camera, the darkness and the LED light in our hands. And what did we get? Light paintings..

 
An angel on earth **

 
The devil wears yellow, go Cory! **

 
A street fight **

 

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** Camera sponsored by Chrie, Colorsplash flash sponsored by Francis,  LED light sponsored by Rollie, Craziness by everybody

Gallery: Anilao, Batangas

Plagued with boredom and left with nothing else to do during the long Holy Week break, we (Chrie, Fifi, FG, Giles and me) invited ourselves to go join Rollie and his family for a weekend in Anilao, Batangas.

Yes, but of course, this is all but an excuse for us to meet up and fill up our calendar similar to what Pam, Jill, Ruby (and J?) did with theirs since we all didn't get the chance to plan something else for the long break.

While Pam and Jill trotted and ransacked the streets and shops of Hong Kong, and while Ruby scoured the province of Dumaguete for um.. men, we were in Batangas enjoying not only each other's company but as well as the beach sea, fantastic food, and of course the unparalleled hospitality of Rollie and his family..

Thanks Rollie!

Office Bloopers

This morning, I have a teammate (let's call her AL) who was talking to our teamlead over the phone. Seems like they were discussing what to do with the new resource that just joined our team today..

Team Lead: blah blah blah..
AL: OK na. Binigyan ko na sya nung checklist of items na gagawin niya.
Team Lead: blah blah blah..
AL: Teka.. Teka.. Ulit. Ulit. BLURRED ka.

Err.. She was talking on the phone.. Bakit blurred?!

 

*****

 

I was in a conference call a couple of months back with AL. We were on the phone talking about a big project that both me and AL will be heading. Our counterpart just finished discussing the tasks to be accomplished. Towards the end of the conference call we were throwing questions and clarifications to our counterpart so as to be clear and be sure that we were on the right page. Towards the end of the call..

Counterpart: So, do you still have any questions?
Me: As for me, I don't have any other questions. All's good.
Me: How about you AL? Questions?
AL: Actually, I have one last question.
AL: (looooooong pause)
AL: Which I actually forgot just now.

TOINK!

 

*****

 

Going back a little further, I was assigned to Canada with 3 other resources. And in these 3 resources, AL was one of them.. We were in Niagara Falls trying to take a group picture. Since there was no one who could hold the camera for us, we set it up to self-timer.

Resource 1: Oh dali na, pose na kayo dyan. Timer ko na lang to 10 seconds.
Resource 2, AL, and ME: (poses)
Resource 1: (presses the shutter button and runs to his position)
Resource 2: Ayan na!!

(camera beeeps.. 10.. 9.. ... 3.. 2.. 1..)
CLICK!

AL: Uy! Ulit!! Ulit! Nakapikit ako!!
Resource 1: Bakit natin uulitin? Eh nakashades ka naman?!?!

 

GOODLUCK!

Gallery: Fuego Point

It's a sickness of mine to plan and hope on the things around me to their utmost detail. But no matter how I try, these details do not always come to pass most especially on times I badly expect them to be. I have been trying to live with it. But I wish I have at least some control with it.

Come to think of it, the details I have in my head both happen and do not happen for a reason. No one really knows who decides on that and what are the reasons they happen for. Looking at the instances that I got disappointed doesn't really make sense.

But looking at the entire picture does.

A first: Pre-Nuptial Shoot

More than a week ago Jill invited me to accompany her in a pre-nuptial she's covering. And since the shoot was gonna be in Punta Fuego, I didn't think twice about tagging along.

I have never been to Punta Fuego and I have never been to a pre-nuptial shoot. You can just imagine how the excitement built up towards the day of the shoot.

In as much as I would like to shoot stuff for myself, I got myself busy assisting and shooting with Jill and Jason (Jill's second cam). I wasn't really supposed to shoot with them, so I just tried getting out of their way. Thus, I got shots of the couple usually with their backs on me or are either too far from me. Nonetheless, I was quite satisfied with my shots. Not bad for someone who was just tagging along.

 
Jill though scared of heights braved her fear for the shoot..

The masters shoot, I take notes from afar..

At some point in the shoot, we went to a place they call as the fuego point (I'm not sure). It was one of the rocky cliffs which was overlooking the sea. It was a bit cloudy which pretty much gave a good drama for some of the pics I took home with me.

The fuego point

A speed boat drives by fuego point

Mariah's Single -- Ken Lee

In 1994, Mariah Carey released a third English single entitled "Ken Lee" from the album Music Box based on the original version of Harry Nilsson's song.

According to Wikipedia, this became one of Mariah's most soft rock-style productions showcasing her voice from high to long notes in the entire song. It has been said that this song remains the biggest hit outside the U.S. having been largely successful across Europe.

I'm pretty sure you don't remember the song, maybe the music video could help stir things up.. Don't you just love her?! Mariah Carey, I mean. :D

Wishing for Spitzers in Manila

It came as a shock to me when I read about Gov. Spitzer's involvement, more so his VIP membership, in the Emperors Club. This is not the first time a US public official has been indicted of such moral charges – Pres. Bill Clinton for one was involved in one. The list would go on, but that's another story.

With the wire-tapped evidences coupled with bank transfer trails, the governor is likely to plead guilty in court. Two days after such allegations came out, Gov. Spitzer resigns from office and told reporters, and I quote, "I cannot allow my private failings to disrupt the people's work."

And in a People Magazine interview he said, "I am deeply sorry I did not live up to what was expected of me."

Gov. Spitzer may have done wrong, but he has earned a little respect from me – not for his short-comings but for what he did in response to it. Admitting one's mistake is humbling, but voluntarily vacating an office that dictates and requires transparency, morality, integrity and honesty from its occupants is far humbling enough to earn respect.

Sana minsan, may mga pulitikong maruning ding umamin ng pagkakamali dito sa Pilipinas. Minsan lang naman, is that too much to ask??


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** Photo courtesy of NY Daily News