Roen

This is Roen, another one of Roxanne's nephews. I'm guessing that he's going to love photography when he grows up, he had as much fun as I had taking pictures.


Thanks Roen for dropping by.

Playful Xantino

Before anyone reacts, that is not a real LPG tank. It's actually a coin bank, clever isn't it?

So Xantino dropped by again yesterday. Last time he was here, my camera malfunctioned. Yesterday, he actually "helped" me test my newly refurbished unit. It was quite tiring following him around (at his age, he really wants to explore everything around him), but it was fun. I just hope next time he stays still a little bit longer.

Debbie's Birthday 2009

One more post before the long weekend ceases.


Photographing children can be unpredictable. They move around a lot, but on the other hand they pose and smile whenever they see your camera pointed at them. It's hard but fun.

Last week Debbie celebrated her second birthday, and it was a chance for me to practice photographing kids. Having an external flash gun was a big bonus to doing this, especially when it communicates well with the camera (E-TTL II).

And I also had the chance to play around with Canon's Digital Photo Professional software. In a lot of ways, it's similar to the more expensive Lightroom, but does the job pretty well, especially for Canon RAW files.

So that's it for now. Tomorrow works starts again, but thankfully there's something to look forward to for next week. Stay tuned for that. For now, please see the rest of the pictures here.

Xantino And My Malfunctioning 400D (Again)

A cute face is what my camera last saw.

My godchild Xantino dropped by last Saturday, and to my dismay my camera acted up again. Well, it was able to take some shots before finally conking out, driving me crazy along the way.

So now my camera is back at the service center, and hopefully this time they can get rid of that Error 99 syndrome.

Oh, and thanks to Gelsen for that neat bounce trick using your built-in flash. You can learn more about it from his tutorial here.

Tatang Manny

I got caught up in work and a lot of extra curricular stuff that sometimes I tend to forget a few things that actually matter.

The day we got back from the US, we received news that Tatang Manny passed away from a lingering illness. If not for him, I wouldn't have learned how to drive, and do some minor car troubleshooting. And a lot of times he was there to help us whenever we had car trouble (like now, but that's another story).

So thank you Tatang Manny. This tribute is long overdue, but it's better late than never.

Xantino Has Been Christened

Another godchild added to my list.

Yesterday, Xantino was welcomed to the Christian world. He was first mentioned in this blog here, and now that he's "family", he may become a regular fixture in this site, just like Debbie. But for now, I won't post the rest of the pictures, and let his parents enjoy them privately.

Babies (And Other Stuff)

Okay, one post (again, condensed) before another week of work. This time, it's full of "baby talk".

My niece Debbie has grown so much over the past year. Here's a picture of her taken barely a month after her birth.


And here she is now, taken just this afternoon.


And like other growing kids, she's really hyper and all. It's becoming harder for me to take pictures of her, thank God video is always there to the rescue. Here's a video taken this afternoon in our garage, she really likes playing with our cats.



And here's a picture from not so long ago, again playing with our cat.


---

And speaking of babies, this is Xantino (I hope I got that right).


Xantino is Roxanne's newest nephew, born just a few days before the new year started. Another cute being introduced to the world.

---

This time, no babies involved.

I just received ten email messages from Mac, all containing pictures from our Avilon Zoo escapade (100MB worth of pictures). They're mostly group shots, as Mac was sort of designated to take them (he had the tripod and the wide angle lens to do the job). I'm looking for the rest of Mac's takes in his Multiply account.


And Burn has also posted his takes here. And in case you haven't seen my shots, just click here.

---

And yesterday, Roxanne and I celebrated our fourteenth month as a couple. Something we're happy about.

So that's about it for now. Have a happy week ahead.

Saturday

Yesterday was a Saturday filled with reunions of all sorts.

Surprise Visit

Christian's friend, Christian, Auntie Lily, Auntie Ching, Kuya Eric

I was actually expecting Debbie and her babysitter when I heard knocks on the door. To my surprise, it was Kuya Eric and Christian, together with Auntie Ching.

Although Auntie Ching is a regular here in our house, I haven't seen the other two for quite a long time. Kuya Eric is my cousin from the US, he was our tour guide when we were there several years ago. He's here on vacation with his wife, and we had fun chatting about photography (really enjoyed playing with his Pentax DSLR), going around the Philippines, and his work in the US (which, like the Philippines, is full of politics).

Christian, on the other hand, is actually my nephew. But since I'm only two years older than him, I consider him as a cousin as well. We practically grew up together, but as we approached adulthood we sort of lost track of one another. We talked about IT stuff, particularly the IT industry. He's now a director in one of the IT companies in Makati (he's been a real computer whiz since high school).

Bilog

Debbie, also known as Bilog

Debbie has a new nickname. It seems like Auntie Lily cannot recall her name, so she calls her Bilog, because of her cute round body. Bilog has really grown so much in just a year.

Oh, yesterday was her dad's birthday as well. Belated happy birthday little brother.

Balikbayans

Dennis, Mac, Burn, Jane, Cess, Shari, Jayson

Cess

Shari

My Saturday was capped off by a reunion with high school friends, with special emphasis on our balikbayans Cess and Shari. They treated us to pizza and pasta, and we had coffee afterwards. If I'm not mistaken, they even had a drinking spree afterwards (I decided to sit this one out).

Shari now lives in Australia and works as a banker, while Cess works in China as an interior designer. It was really nice to see them once again. My attendance was actually a surprise, since I didn't inform them that I'd be coming ahead of time (sorry).

Please check the rest of the pictures here. I'm also looking forward to Burn's photos, hopefully he'll post them here.

Hodgepodge

One tiring week. That's how I describe the past few days, and I'm not even sure why. Apart from celebrating my birthday last Thursday, I can't think of anything that makes this week different.

So instead of creating individual posts, I guess for now I'll combine everything in just one writeup. It's like combining my stories for the week.

"Shuttered" Vision

Shutter shades. I just don't get them. Mom brought home some from Singapore, and I can't believe I actually tried to wear one. Mom actually gave Roxanne a red pair.

Grandma, mom, and Roxanne wearing shutter shades.

Asides the weird eye wear, mom also got us some pasalubong. Mine were a nifty Casio G-Shock Gulfman and a new camera/laptop backpack.


By the way, the pictures above were taken from Solihiya in Greenbelt 5 last Monday. Solihiya is a restaurant that serves Filipino cuisine. Besides the great food, you also get excellent service and a great view of Greenbelt 3.


This one on the other hand was taken outside Greenbelt 5.

Car Trouble

The auxiliary fan of my car went kaput, and thankfully I had some time to have it repaired last Tuesday. Thanks to the guys at L.E. Gallego Auto Parts for taking time to repair my car (although it was quite expensive since they had to replace the fan). So in case you're in the Blumentritt area in Manila and are having some car trouble, check them out.

I would also like to thank Mandy' Car Wash and Auto Detailing, located a few blocks away from L.E. Gallego. Not only did they fix my bumper, they also did a great job of cleaning my car. I have never seen an engine that clean, and my engine was really dirty to begin with.

Fiery Birthday

My birthday was the usual. I went to work and had a little drink in the evening. What makes it memorable is what happened a few moments after midnight.


As you can see, those are firetrucks. Yes, a fire broke out in our area, thankfully it wasn't near, but the sight of firetrucks piling up in front of our house was enough to give us some scare.


Sorry for the grainy pictures, they were taken with a phone camera.

Mall of Asia

We never get tired of SM Mall of Asia. I was supposed to meet up with the JETS, but they left a bit early, probably exhausted from joining the International Coastal Cleanup Day. I wanted to join them on this one, but I had some conflict with my schedule (which didn't materialize anyway, too bad).

Mall of Asia's silent observer.

So instead Roxanne and I just enjoyed the ongoing sale. We also chanced up on KC Concepcion, who was promoting her new album.

Another Loss

Rabeh Al-Hussaini of Ateneo is just insanely good. La Salle lost for the third time to bitter rival Ateneo this year, and if they don't win on Thursday, the blue side of things will get the crown.

Ateneo really has the edge this season. As they say, the guy with the biggest stick usually wins. Having Rabeh in the Blue Eagles' roster is like that, with spikes to boot. I hope La Salle's big men can boost their confidence come Game Two.

I guess all I have to do is keep the faith. Animo La Salle!!!

Happy Mother's Day

To my mom, Happy Mother's Day! Enjoy your new Buddha.

Debbie

This is my niece (and godchild) Debbie. She is my kid brother's first child. Currently, she's the pride and joy of our family.

You can see more photos of Debbie here. All pictures were taken using my nifty-fifty (EF 50mm f1.8).