Old Friends

"Chinecheck ko yun every night bago matulog, kaya nga lagi sweet ang dreams ko." - Jayson's reply when asked if he ever reads this blog.

I miss these guys. I had the chance to chat with Jayson and George (a.k.a. Greg) this afternoon, and all I can say is that we need another photo adventure to relive their Unionbank days. Lots of fun.

I promised these guys that I'll write something about them. Maybe in the future, I'm really sleepy right now.

Impromptu Intramuros

Students touring the San Agustin Museum.

I had all these ideas, mostly creative metaphors, going through my head on what to write tonight, and now that I'm typing, they're all gone. Just like that. Anyway, I was lucky enough to have had the chance to return to the walled city today, not only to take pictures, but to accomplish several errands and learn a thing or two about Manila.

I had to go to the BIR today, because according to HR I have to transfer my credentials from my home RDO (here in Manila) to Pasig (where our office is located). So i took a leave today, had the car registration renewed in the morning, lunch with dad, and did that tax thing early in the afternoon. Since the BIR office in Manila is near Intramuros, it gave me the chance to do some unplanned adventure.

Oh how I love that universal sign!

I had a short stop at the Manila Cathedral, said a little prayer (along with some picture taking, of course) before heading towards the San Agustin Church and Museum. I wanted to visit this place for the longest time because of Father Blanco's Garden, but unfortunately, it's still closed to the public (some sort of construction ongoing). But it was still a blast, it was a chance for me to see some of the religious relics from the Spanish era, as well as traverse the creepy hallways of the museum. It was also my first time to see the tomb of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, the founder of Manila. Most of the exhibit rooms are off-limits to cameras, and even though there's a big chance I can get away with taking stolen shots, I decided to respect the rules. Besides, a visit there is highly recommended. I got goosebumps touring the place.

A view of downtown Manila from Fort Santiago.

My last stop for the day was Fort Santiago, a Spanish fort where Jose Rizal spent his last days. before everything else, I just have to get this out: I really can't figure out how to shoot perfect skies. I tried using a circular polarizer, and I tried locking the exposure of the sky, plus some other tricks I've learned from photography forums, but most of my shots still had washed out skies. Again, thank you Photoshop for saving me.

Now back to the fort, as always it rained again, spoiling my visit. Why does it always rain whenever we plan to visit Intramuros? Luckily I was still able to shoot some photos, especially that of the view of downtown Manila. I guess, as always, another return trip is in order.

I really had fun this afternoon, even though it drizzled on me, add to the equation the weight of my gear. My regular weekend was, well, mundane, and this extra holiday was just what I needed.

Again, as always, you can view the full gallery here at my Multiply site. You can also read our first trip to Intramuros this year here.

Almost Over

While waiting for our instructor to come, I'm taking this opportunity to blog a little. Today is our last day of training here at MISNet. We were sent here for a week long training on Core and Advanced Web Applications Using Visual Studio 2005. If all those jargon confused you, it's just a fancy way of saying "building websites the geek way".

It's been a tiring week. Although our instructor Sandra was accommodating, and even though most of the solutions to our lab exercises are readily available, looking at source code day after day is still something not to be desired. But in the end, this will enhance my skills not only in web development, but in critical thinking as well.

The Game Versus NU And Saturday Traffic

I have a week-long training that starts tomorrow, so I will keep this short. I was able to watch the game yesterday between La Salle and National University. Except for the first quarter, the Green Archers were in control of the game, with a final score of 93-69. Everybody in the team got a chance to play, some of the rookies even contributed major points to the cause.

It's my second attempt at basketball photography, and I can't say that this set is better than my previous try. Traffic was bad (more on that later), but at least I made it just in time. Too bad ringside tickets were sold out, so I had to settle for lower box ones. With that said, I had to use my telephoto lens, and sacrifice by using a maximum aperture of f4, which caused a lot of blurred shots. Plus from my angle, it was harder to compose since heads were popping everywhere, it was such a cropping nightmare. I also had the wrong white balance setting, thank God Photoshop's Auto Levels saved me.

I hope I can try this again soon, and improve on my mistakes. Maybe on Saturday against the University of the Philippines. By the way, please click here to view the whole gallery.

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Speaking of traffic, I really hate Saturday traffic. It's often much worse than traffic on a work day. It usually adds an hour to my travel time, thanks to 18-wheeler trucks coming from the port area, add to that families and barkadas going to the mall.

Dubai Lovers

Thanks to Sherwin and Beth for a wonderful dinner treat last Friday. Everyone had a blast eating...

...and it was evident in some of the guests.

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On a side note, after reviewing some of the pictures from yesterday's DLSU-NU game (to be posted soon), I realized that my white balance setting was wrong. No wonder I have this blueish cast on the pictures above (and a yellowish cast on most of yesterday's takes).

Early Morning Woes

I hate rats.

I woke up fifteen minutes earlier than planned this morning, and I usually start my Friday mornings by checking my car's engine. Upon opening the hood, something really shocked me: a rat sitting on top of my engine. And much worse, rat droppings were everywhere. I have had this car for almost two years, but this is the first time that something used my car as some sort of restroom.

I swear, this almost ruined my morning. I'm thankful though that apart from all the rat poop, everything still seems to be in order.

But in the end, I still hate rats.

Nifty Fifty

I miss taking pictures, I mean, I miss going places and just shooting away. It's either bad weather, too much work, or just plain laziness (sometimes sleeping all day is just too much to resist). My plan for today was supposed to be a solo trip to Manila Zoo, my 400D was really screaming for action, it's been inside a makeshift drybox for weeks. But as luck would have it, it was raining since yesterday and my body was screaming for some sleep.

So to kill the itch, I grabbed my 400D from the drybox and bonded it with a familiar friend: the Nifty Fifty. It's actually an alias to the 50mm f1.8 lens (regardless of brand). It's cheap (around PHP4000.00), but performs well, especially in low light. Sometimes, I find its colors more vivid than my other more expensive lenses. Although not intended for macro work, it can still produce some nice closeup images.

It's actually one of my first lenses (the other being the kit lens), and for a time I extensively used this lens, until I invested in my first professional lens. It's a really fun lens, and it really trains you to compose and zoom with your feet. And the wide opening can produce some really nice bokeh.

The faucet shot above inspired me to use this lens again. I was in the bathroom doing... maybe it's better not to go into detail on that one. Anyway, I was in the bathroom when I noticed this mundane faucet (which is actually leaking) and I had a mental picture. I decided to include the watch and the lens cap, just for fun.

Hopefully, I can go on a real photo adventure again soon.

Macro With Wedding Rings

Jhen loves giraffes. And thanks to destination wedding photographers Mimi and Karl, I was inspired to do something similar. They may not be the best macro wedding pictures (hey, they were shot using a makeshift setup in Jhen's office), but at least we had fun trying to become wedding photographers for that day.

Thanks again to Jhen and Don for letting me shoot these sacred objects. More pictures here.

Rants And Updates

Thank God for 24-month warranties.

My laptop conked out last Friday, it would not power up, even if it's plugged in. I had to bring it to the service center in Megamall, and I only got it back this afternoon. Turns out some of the contacts inside were dirty, and as a bonus, Teng, the technician, fixed the hinges of my laptop as well. Now my laptop is good as new, thank you so much.

Now for my rants, I never got a ticket for Sunday's game. It was said that there were around 22,000 paying patrons inside Araneta Coliseum last Sunday. The Green Archers lost, which is really sad for a fan like me, but hey, at least I was spared from seeing them lose live (as well as the human traffic after the game).

My Internet connection (PLDT MyDSL) is also loopy this past couple of days. Weird thing is my connection was best when my laptop was under repair. Talk about bad timing. Thankfully, my mobile phone has WiFi. I tried calling customer service, and I was advised that our wireless phone may be the culprit, and that I need something known as a micro filter. To date, our wireless phone is no longer connected, but I still don't have a micro filter, it turns out they are quite pricey.

On a positive note, I had the chance to photograph Jhen and Don's wedding rings. Jhen was kind enough to post them (view pictures here) since I have yet to upload and post process the pictures. Hopefully I can post them soon.