The Trigger-Happy Penguin

Peru - Day 2: Machu Pichu

2011-04-19T20:50:00.770+08:00

Matthew 7:7 "Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you will find" So that's what I did. I asked the Lord and less than a year later, found the majestic view of Machu Pichu! :)

5:00 - Coldest morning ever

Because of the next to non-existent insulation in our hotel room, I woke up to 5° celsius room temperature that makes me want to not come out of my 3 layer non insulating blanket.
Good thing though that two out of the three in our trip was very dedicated to keeping up to schedule (clue: not me); so we were still able to bath, pack, eat, check-out and go to the train station.

6:30 - Bus Ride to Olantaytambo

The original plan was to take a train from Cuzco's Wanchaq station straight to Aguas calientes (base camp of Machu Pichu). But due to some heavy landslides, all train rides where cancelled to clear out the tracks. In exchanged though, Peru Rail (train company) booked us with a bus ride
from Cuzco up to Ollantaytambo, and start the train ride from there.

The bus ride took about 2hours, crossing a mountain or two and some very nice scenery of the country side.

8:30 - Ollantaytambo train station

Arriivng at Ollantaytambo proper, we still walked about 15minutes to go to the train station. But with a view like this who would complain! (Well I guess the people who have luggage trolleys.)

Truth be told, I was extra giddy when I saw the train. Maybe it was the scenery or the big piece of heavy machinery or both! But my gulay! daig pa nito ang sinabawang gulay! All out of words giddy again.

9:30 - Inside the train that can

The train consists of different carriages having different level of luxuries depending on the ticket price. From the carriages for the local where you can sit with the chickens and vegetables to the exuberant Hiram Bingham.

We were able to book everything online for about USD$48 to Aguas Calientes and a much steeper price of USD$60 on our way back. I'm not really complaining as the sight while on the train was well worth it.

From the mountain ranges of the Sacred Valley to the rivers of Urubamba everything was a sight worth seeing again and again. Play the video to see the river during it's calmer moments.

11:30 - Aguas Calientes and the search for Green Nature
Finally arrived at Aguas Calientes which you can consider as the base camp to Machu Picchu. First agenda was to go immediately to the Green Nature Hostel to leave our backpacks.
The immediately became an understatement as it took us almost 30minutes to find the hostel that was alongside the train station. This I would gladly blame to a not so precise (about 3 blocks and a bridge off) location map from their website. After asking different locals, which oddly enough, did not know where the hostel is, we were finally assisted and escorted by a town policia.

12:30 - Once upon a time in Chayña
We ate our lunch, had our way with chicha (drink made from purple corn) and had a little rest before heading for Machu Pichu.

13:30 - Bus pa pichu
Since we were not able to buy Machu Pichu bus tickets at Cuzco, we had to buy it at Aguas calientes. The bus ticket costs around USD$15.50 for tourists but much cheaper for locals.

The bus ride took about 20 minutes driving from a very steep dirt road up the mountain. The road can only accommodate two buses side-by-side from certain points of the road. With that the case, one of the highlights is when the bus suddenly stops when and has to drive in reverse just to accommodate an incoming bus. This happened several times on the curve part(blind spot) of the mountain.

14:00 - Machu Pichurs! \:D/

One word, majestic! One of the things that i liked is the way the clouds create highlights on certain areas of Machu Pichu and the surrounding mountains.

15:00 - Finding his new groove

The Machu Pichu aside from being a well maintained ruin by their government, is also a sanctuary for several Llamas. They freely roam around wherever they want and could care less about the tourists in their paths.

16:00 - Inca Bridge

There were a lot of tour guides at the main entrance of Machu Pichu. They offered their services to us for SOL100 which is roughly PHP1500. Too expensive! So that's that.
We were roaming around the area and trying to just ask around where several paths would lead to. There was this Indian family who said that they will be walking to the 'Inca Bridge'. Having no idea what that is, we decided to go to there. Having no idea what it looks like,we were excited to go thinking to see some kind of big hanging bridge connecting two mountains.
20minutes walking on a very narrow cliff cutting half the excitement... and then we were there... saw the bridge and killed the other half. :))
That is if you considered the bridge as the piece of wood separating the other side of the ravine. But if you look closely and included the thousands of stacked up rocks in between the the wooden plank and think how in the world did the Incans pulled the construction off, then it is a very nice piece of architecture.
Too bad though that you cannot cross the bridge; I'm guessing for both the bridge's and your personal safety.

16:15 - father, daughter and the path to llama

There were several others also looking at the Inca bridge, one was a father and daughter tandem. They were ahead of us on the way back to the Machu Pichu ruins, and on one point of the path they were waving to us saying something which we understood what it was about less than a minute after. :))

The llama ignored us, so we did just the opposite by posing, taking a picture of it and the only thing missing is his/her autograph. ^__^

16:45 - Almost ready to go back

But first some more picture taking. \:D/

19:00 - Pasalubong shopping
Aguas calientes has a big souvenirs market and allotted an hour to buy some..... souvenirs.. what else. :))

20:00 - Happy Indian
We ate dinner at Indio Feliz, a resto in Aguas Calients that was recommended by our friends Con and Radda (one of our info sources for our Peruvian trip.)The place was pretty cozy and a good place to relax after a long walk on the mountain.
Everything was almost perfect except for the fact that the food then dessert then bill (all of them!) arrived very very late. :|

22:30 - Lights out

for tomorrow we conquer the mountain. :D

yes!!!!

Peru - Day 1: Cuzco

2011-04-18T20:31:00.004+08:00

Since venturing last year to South America, I've been searching for some epic place to visit. Thanks to divine intervention, a lucky week long holiday and some well saved moolah we packed our bags for destination: Machu Pichu, Peru. \:D/

First, let me start of with an informative blog post from a very well traveled man on the preparations needed to travel to Machu Pichu, Peru.

Now on to the adventure!

14:00 - Touchdown to Cuzco

After a travel time of six hour from Montevideo we finally arrived at the Cuzco airport. Being turistas and a bit afraid to get ripped off, we decided to avail of the airport taxi for 30 soles (Php450).Which essentially is the same as getting ripped off. :))

14:30 - Hotel Mister(s) Inka(s)
Arrived at the hotel were I think the owners couldn't make up their mind if it's Misters Inkas, Mister Inkas, Misters Inka or Mister Inka.
While the attendant prepares the room and before we were able to check-in, we rested a bit in the lobby and had a treat with some free mate de coca.

The place was pretty decent at first glance and the room is spacious with 3 queen size beds.
Since we have a very tight itinerary, we made sure to pack light and I was able to fit everything in a single backpack! So after unloading our packs for the day, we were off to tour the city!

15:00 - Amazing Race Cuzco
We arrived at the Cuzco Plaze where there are more people/tourists than usual because of the coming Prusisyon in the city center later. To tell you the truth, I'm not really a fan of having a lot of people messing up what should have been a very serene photographic opportunity. :))
Alas, before doing the touristy walk, we remembered that we had to find where to pay for our Machu Pichu and Bus ticket first... which wasn't as easy as we thought it would have been.

17:00 - Amazing Race Cuzco.. still..
After several hours of walking and walking we still haven't located the place that we needed to find. But as they say, seek and ye shall find, and found we did in a very discrete side street of Cuzco.

Sad to say that the race was not over though, as it's still not the right place. Thankfully the lady inside do know were we should go and gladly helped us catched a cab to Banco de la Nacion and another bank, which both closes in less than an hour.

17:30 - Almost there
The only course of action is to separate in two teams for each bank, so Manny went to the other bank while Nina and I went to Banco de la Nacion.

So we went in, fell in line, gave our reservation code and just when we thought everything was now going fine and dandy, the reservation code has expired! :))

Apparently the reservation that we did 2 weeks before and every other reservation is only valid for 6 hours. It doesn't make any sense but my theory is that it either forces the tourists to go the travel agencies or the internet shops in Cuzco which helps the local business in Cuzco.

This would have been a complete rant of a post if not for the kind lady behind the counter that made us wait a few seconds then took us in the bank's office and requested some colleague of hers to go to the internet and make a new reservation and print it for us! (HOW COOL IS THAT!) ^__^

18:15 - Tamales
After meeting up with Manny in front of the bank, we decided to try something right but not that much (tama-less lol) and then headed back to the city square

18:30 - First sight at night
The procession gathered a lot of people which is almost like Quiapo church on a holy week but with less dramatics. Our initial goal was to find a restaurant with a good vantage point of what is happening on the city square. But after checking out one with a second floor patio and the waiter saying to us that it is by reservation only, we just settled on the first restaurant that looks exciting.

19:00 - Paititi Restaurant
Finally some decent dining over at Paititi which is also known as 'El Dorado' in the local dialect.

The order here usually takes 30minutes so good thing they treated us with some free glass of Pisco sour! Although the Pisco sour was good, the one drink that I got addicted to was the Inca Kola, not sure why do as it looks like toxic piss. :))

When the food finally arrived I was a bit disappointed because the advertised chicharon is just a deep fried pork meat without any skin or fat. So I was not really a happy penguin at that time. :( Also, one thing that we've noticed is that the general taste of the food here is salty. Like the chef was spilling salt like there's no tomorrow.

all in all the food was ok and the service was almost ok except for the fact that they almost charged us an extra 10 soles (roughly Php150.00). Good thing I remembered the prices on the menu! Too bad for them since now we left an almost non existent tip instead of the non-compulsary 10%.

20:00 - Photo finish
I was almost disheartened by the lack of post worthy photos I took during the day. Good thing (lol a lot of good things happened this day), when the procession was over almost all the people has dispersed, so we were finally able to do some leisurely walking, buying of gloves and the head gear thingy and shooting around the area.

Esquinita

Plaza

22:00 - Cold summer nights

We headed back to the hotel since we still have an early trip tomorrow to Aguas Calientes, the town proper of Machu Pichu. The night was so cold that even under 3 thick layers of bed warmers it was still f cold!! And this was the night I experienced first hand the necessity of room insulation... or lack thereof.

"Promise, hindi malamig"

check-in joy

2011-03-22T22:31:00.007+08:00

Nais ko lamang isalaysay ang aking mga karanasan sa Emirates check-in counter sa NAIA terminal 1 bago lumipad patungo ng Uruguay.

Visa Bisa

FA: Sir gusto lang po namin malaman kung valid pa po yun visa nyo.

Me: Yup bago pa lang yan.
Tapos 90days or 3months from the date of entry to the country ang validity.

FA: Ah ganun ba... Spanish kasi kaya di namin maintindihan.
Tapos yun date dito March 18 at March 14 yun nakalagay, baka mamaya expired na pala visa nyo

Me: oo nga e. Hindi ko rin maintindihan kung kung para saan yun 2 dates
pero I doubt na expired yan since bago pa lang and 4x na ako pumunta dyan with 2 separate visas.
You just need to take my word for it na lang siguro.

FA: Sige sir, hanap lang ako ng marunong magbasa ng Spanish.
Wait nyo na lang po ako sa gilid.

(After 15 minutes...)

FA: Sir, I guess I'll just have to take your word for it.

Me: /facepalm

6 + 8 = we need to debate (para rhyme)

Back pack goes in hand carry luggage

FA: Sir, timbangin lang po natin yun hand carry luggage nyo.... (hithit ng hangin!)
15kg po yun hand carry luggage nyo, allowable po 7kg lang.

Me: Miss nangyari na sa akin to before.

      (opens bag, remove laptop backpack, empty hand carry luggage, put empty luggage at scale)
   6Kg Walang laman yun hand carry luggage ko, nakalagay lang talaga yun backpack ko sa loob para hindi ko need buhatin buong flight.
FA: Sir, 7Kg lang po talaga ang allowable e.
Me: You mean to tell me 1Kg lang ang pwede ko ilagay sa hand carry na luggage?!
FA: Ganun na nga po sir, kasi 7Kg lang po ang allowable e.
Sige po itanong ko na rin po sa supervisor namin.
(after 3mins...)
      Hindi po pumayag supervisor namin e.
Me: Miss, 6hrs ang stop over ko sa Dubai 3hrs sa Brasil,
      ayaw ko magbuhat ng 8Kg backpack kung pwede ko naman hilahin.
FA: Sir, hanggang 7Kg lang po talaga e.
      Hindi rin po kasi kayo papapasukin before mag immigration gate kapag over 7Kg ang hand carry luggage nyo.
Me: (counting from 5 to 1)
       Sorry miss, hindi ko talaga matanggap, pakausap na lang ng supervisor mo.
FA: Sir, uulitin lang po nya sinabi ko...
Me: Pakitawag please, pasensya na ha at hindi ko kasi matanggap talaga e.
Sup: Sige po sir, paghiwalayin nyo na lang po muna dalhin yun backpack at hand carry nyo. Baka po kasi pag nasa airplane na kayo bigla bumagsak yun handcarry nyo sa overhead bin pag over 15kg.
Me: Ok.......... ty.
       (pinapasok sa before mag immigration gate without any hassles)

Nakakapagbagabagtag

FA: Sir eto na po un bag tags nyo.
Need nyo po kunin sa Brasil bag nyo then check-in ulit dun.

Me: Ha? Akala ko diretso na sa Montevideo yun bags?
FA: Hindi po, need nyo pa recheck-in ulit sa Sao Paolo.
Me: Ok. Ty. (Walks away)
Nina, saan mo kukunin yun luggage mo?
Nina: Montevideo.
Me: ... (Walks back to the counter)
Miss baket yun kasama ko hanggang Montevideo na ang bags?
FA: Ay....
Me: Galit ka ata sa akin e....

fin.

see ya!

2011-03-02T12:01:00.002+08:00

new template!!!

2011-02-28T17:21:00.000+08:00

Since it's all ready 2011, better start the new year late.... I mean, start with a new template and blog header!

Hopefully I can keep up with the 30+ back log posts that I have.

Wish me luck! \:D/

to end this post, here is a random quote from know your meme:

Who can save a drowning solo? Nobody...

.....

2011-02-25T18:54:00.000+08:00

i wish... i wish.... .... meh.

Jing & Daena Prenup

2011-02-09T14:00:00.022+08:00

Had a very nice prenup shoot with Jing and Daena at Tagaytay. Their relationship is a proof of the saying, when you're meant to be... you're meant to be. :)

Lechon @ Alfredos

2010-12-12T17:00:00.140+08:00

On the last weekend, before going back to the mother land, our Spanish manager suggested a lunch party with a special cuisine in mind... Lechon de leche!

The plan was to have a lunch party at a private park with a very nice lagoon which quickly dissolved by unforecasted rain. Good thing that we had a plan b and went to Alfredo's very cozy house.

The initial plan was we will prepare the little pig (cerdito?) from start (live pig) to end (full stomach). :)) Thankfully this was not the case. A non squilling pig was already found in Jaime's car trunk, thanks to the Mesa de los rancho!

Unfortunately though, we did not have time to create the actual pit roast but fortunately we have the next best alternative, La Parilla!

A fun fact: In Uruguay and Argentina, you will almost always find the parilla, or grill en ingles, in every restaurant. You can't blame them though as they have very good (cow) meat here.

The pig was then marinated with chimichurri. A mixture of several herbs and spices that is even used as a sauce/dip to parillad(?) cuisines.

Since the pig would take a few hours (took around 3-4hrs) to cook, several other dish was cooked on the same parilla and served.
Everythings was que rico! The provolone (a type of chewy cheese), chinchulin (semi-crunchy cow isaw), chorizzo and morron (bell pepper)!

We also did a bit of taste testing of Uruguay's number one drink of choice, Mate (ma-te)!
The addiction for mate in this country is phenomenal, as seen on Daryl (center) imitating a typical Uruugayan on the street. I'm not sure if it is because of it looking like weed, but it sure looks healthy since it is purely organic.

Since the downpour subsided, we decide to have some fun shots in Alfredo's garden.

After a few hours of eating and mingling! Finally the main course! And there is no better accompaniment to a lechon than Mang Tomas sarsa (pork liver sauce).

As for the verdict, the lechon meat was really tender and tasty. Kudos to the chef!
The only thing missing really is the crispy skin that we have grown accustomed to. Maybe next time we will try to create a roast pit create an even grilling of the pig. But all is well and good and everyone enjoyed a very fine meal! ^__^

After several servings, I was so full i wasn't able to take anymore pictures.... the end :))

para mas fotos, puede clic aqui: Flickr: Lechon @ Alfredos

Asado Night

2010-11-19T22:00:00.033+08:00

The Manila Mafia in Uruguay got invited to some fun filled Asado Night(!!!) by the client. The invitation stated that the party would start at 8:00PM but being in Latin America for a good 6 months now we decided to arrive at the venue at around 10:00PM which apparently is still to early. :))

No sweat though as they were already preparing the different kinds of meat to be set in the parilla.

The fun lasted till 4:00AM for us but some still continued till the wee hour in the morning!

As usual, I'll stop writing and let the photos do the talking.

For more photos: RENOV@ Asado Night

Patrimonio, Colonia

2010-11-13T20:00:00.000+08:00

During my last two visit in Colonia, the best place to hang out was in the Restaurante de Patrimonio.

Part of the reason is the loading dock that you can go to to take this awesome photo above.

Too bad though that the it was daylight savings time and even though it was late, the sun was still too high for a decent sunset shot. :(

After walking around Colonia for several hours, the team all seemed very tired.
As all their heads are bowed... oh wait... the resto just have wifi... nvm. :))

Since we cannot hang out without ordering anything, we bought some sandwiches, drinks and dessert (all time favorite)!!

before I forgot, they have very catchy comfort room signs. :p

And that's about it. A fine way to end the Colonia trip and chilax before going back to the bus station to go back to Montevideo. :)

Puperia D Los Farioles, Colonia

2010-11-13T15:17:00.000+08:00

Arriving in Colonia a few minutes before lunch, the first thing we set out for was look for something to eat!

After a few blocks of walking from the bus station to inner Colonia, we decided to eat at the first restaurant we saw. The "Puperia D Los Farioles".

Most of the customers decided to eat al dente, but being oh so hot, we decided to eat inside instead.

The place was like a renovated brick house with some (indian?) tapestries.

So while waiting for the food to come, the only logical thing to do is take some more pictures! ^__^

And now, after a very long wait... some mediocre food! :|
We had some hard Bife de lomo con champignion, Aros (something) and Beef Stroganoff.

El Salmon in mono.

2010-11-05T15:17:00.002+08:00

Several reasons on why we go to El Salmon for lunch:

This is the nearest restaurant we can go to.
Has a nice "bar" atmosphere
cheap! (UY 110-130)
we had a chance encounter with the Uruguayan president. Photo posted in the bar
One of the (only) five available places
The owner looks like master pogi of dragon ball.

con el presidente

REVIEW: Panasonic Lumix LX5

2010-10-21T09:00:00.002+08:00

The Lumix LX5 is the the highly anticipated replacement for the Panasonic Lumix LX3, skipping the LX4 altogether. I think it was because of the 2 year release difference.

Please read on to see my take on this highly rated point and shoot for enthusiasts.

Being blessed with a wonderful girlfriend, she surprised me on my birthday with my new gadget, the Panasonic Lumix LX5!!! \:D/

LX5 vs LX3
I have had the chance to have both the LX3 and the LX5, so let's start off with some noticeable upgrades of the LX5 compared to its predecessor:

Longer Optical Zoom:

From a measly focal length of 60mm to a very noticeable 90mm zoom. (2x to 3.8x in point and shoot terms).
No longer makes the LX series a landscape only traveler's point and shoot! =)

Photo presets:

A new 'My Color' mode with a selection of different preset effects.
Currently my favorites are 'Pin Hole', 'Film Grain' and 'Silhouette

A lot more Video functionality:

Manual exposure control! Heaven sent for the inner videographer in me!
Dedicated record button, no need to jog the dial to Video mode.
Ability to use the Photo presets to add the mood to the video.
Allows zoom while recording.
Allows cutting of video clips in camera.

New sensor:

Better photos on low light condition!

Better Auto White Balance performance:

Provides more realistic color management.

New Image Stabilizer:

Helps better with those hand held slow shutter shots or for taking steady videos

Higher maximum ISO:

ISO max raised to 12800
Not really recommended to use, as it will produce a lot of grain.
Still a good way to help getting those still shots on dim light conditions. (Grain > Blur)

Electronic View Finder:

Allows for an optional Electronic View Finder.
Not really that useful at the moment as the external viewfinder available is not that good.

Built/Construction:

Here is another list of improvements in the construction.

A much wider leather grip. Approved by the butter fingered.
A dedicate video record button. See red button above.
A higher Flash location. Read somewhere that this help reduce ~~pink~~ red eye.
hot shoe cover. (No more searching for a Nikon hot shoe cover. :D) this also serve as the EVF port cover.

A new jog wheel replaced the toggle stick of the LX3 Making it a tad bit faster on changing exposure settings. Unfortunately I can't say if it is an actual improvement as I would've preferred to have both.
A dedicated quick menu button. for those... quick menu options.

Hands on Review:

The LX5 may not be as compact as some point and shoots out there but it exactly fills the gap between not wanting to lug around a 2 kilo DSLR and taking a pocketable instamatic.
The LX3 has always been dubbed as an enthusiast camera primarily because of the amount of manual control (exposure, focus) capabilities you can do with it. Now, LX5 will continue on carrying that mantle with a plethora of additional features to boot!
Here are some features that I have used since I got the LX5. Note that some is also applicable to the LX3.

Macro management:

One big benefit of having a P&S is the ability to shoot macro without needing to purchase expensive macro lenses. The LX5 has by far the closest minimum focusing distance of 0.4" taking you closer to where the action is. Note that the lens almost touches the subject so be careful of doing waterdrop shots. :p

Zoom zoom zoom:

One of the few drawbacks the LX3 has is its very limited zoom range. I mean 24-60mm is ok, but it is a bit short if you plan on going to the zoo. The LX5 has added 30mm to the long end making it a good all around 24-90mm focal length.

But wait... There's more! Panasonic added the Extended Optical Zoom that extends the effective maximum focal length when you reduce the picture size used. Reducing the megapixel translates to a smaller sensor. Think a crop multiplier for DSLRs, smaller sensor bigger focal length multiplier.
Note that this is essentially just glorified cropping although without the use of post processing software.
You can read the other types of zoom (intelligent and digital zoom (which you should never ever use!)) by RTFM.

24mm, 50mm, 90mm

135mm, 171mm

My Color Mode:

There are days went I want to pour some creative juice but too lazy to go to Light Room or Photoshop. This is where the 'My Color Mode' comes in (denoted by the palette icon).

This mode has several photo presets for those moments where you want to be creative or just add a bit of mood to your photos. Panasonic has also added icing on top the cake by enabling the LX5 to shoot video in these presets. (For creating artsy fartsy indie film perhaps? :->)

Sample presets from left to right: film grain, silhouette, dynamic art and my favorite, pin hole.

Video:
As an amateur videographer/editor, this part really shines in my book. Aside from the dedicated video record button that you can use in almost any modes, never before have I seen a very compact point and shoot camera that has manual video controls.
In video mode, the LX5 is capable of using aperture from f/2 to f/f18 and shutter speeds from 1/8 to 1/20000 (yep that's 4 zeroes!).
Unfortunately though, it still inherited the vertical banding problem from the LX3 which, by the way, is common for CCD type sensors.

Summary:
It's hard to be unbiased since I haven't tested the direct competition which is said to be the Canon s90 and the upcoming s95. But coming from the LX3, the LX5 sure is a worthy upgrade for the additional zoom alone.
Before, I really felt limited by the limited (no pun intended) zoom range of the LX3, but now thanks to the additional 30mm focal length and the gimicky zoom features, I can say that this is a good traveller's point and shoot.

But this camera is still not for everyone though. If you are the type who doesn't like to fiddle around with camera settings or doesn't care less what ISO, shutter speed or aperture is, then the LX5 may not be for you. And even with the addition of the My Color mode, the LX5 still has less automatic features (HDR, color accent) than other point and entry level P&S.
That being said, if you know your way around setting your exposures or are willing to learn the lingo of photography and are willing to shell our a bit more for your average point and shoot, then the LX5 is for you! ^__^

El Torreòn, Colonia

2010-10-09T14:00:00.008+08:00

The structure for El Torreòn is actually a tower (in tagalog, torre iyon. gets? :))).
Sadly I don't have any photo of the whole place. As I forgot and was a wee bit hungry at the time.

Note to self: Always take a picture of the outside venue.

The place has very nice ambiance with a bit of cold wind coming from the Rio de la Plata.

We dined al fresco which started (as always) with some bread and being tired with the usual parilla, we went with a hefty serving of fish.
Considering that Uruguay is not known for its seafood, it was still very good. :)

and the finale! Dulce de leche con Helado!! \:D/

note: Paolo's picture is taking a picture of a picture. get it?

setting sun, seeping sun

2010-10-03T19:00:00.003+08:00

best bud

2010-08-14T10:46:00.002+08:00

Re: Dog walker

2010-08-08T01:23:00.000+08:00

initially... pedro berro 640

2010-08-05T23:50:00.000+08:00

feliz cumpleaños Fabricio!

2010-07-20T01:30:00.006+08:00

Night and Day.

2010-07-08T07:00:00.001+08:00

Woke up just in time to see two of God's wonderful creations.

What better way to describe than by my version of haiku.

Topeng's Hainaku

Moon up in the sky,

say goodbye another time.

Sun running after.

Uruguay vs Ghana Street Celebration

2010-07-02T23:08:00.041+08:00

After a very unforgettable win of Uruguay against Ghana, Uruguay has won it's first match to stay in the world cup semis. So what better way to celebrate than to shout it out in the streets!

A lot of dancing and celebrating! It was really a pretty awesome experience to jump and sing out loud even though I don't understand what I was singing. :))

Montevideo Apartment

2010-06-28T20:13:00.002+08:00

Uruguay vs Corea del Sur Street Celebration

2010-06-26T14:00:00.001+08:00

After smashing South Korea, Uruguay was able to enter the World Cup semi-finals leading to a country wide celebration, starting in the streets of Montevideo.

It has been several world cups since Uruguay has entered the semi finals so that made it more enjoyable for the Uruguayans.

Being the only Asian walking along the street parade, I was always asked if I was Korean and telling them 'no' was not enough for them to take a group picture with me. I feel like a celebrity until of course I see a facebook picture of me and a group of people with a caption of "Mejor suerte la próxima vez, coreano dude asiático".

you intelligent virus you!

2010-06-23T09:15:00.005+08:00

I was just uploading some photos over the internetz when all of a sudden, a former office-mate of mine, who I don't usually chat with, buzzed me over YM.

After a few seconds, I realized that this was a cleverly created (in other words, malicious) script that would send a reply whenever you replied back. I really find it ingenious! Kudos to the creator!

As for you my friend.... stop doing porn!!!

Ciao Argentina! Hola Uruguay!

2010-06-21T13:40:00.000+08:00

Embajada de Filipinas en Buenos Aires

2010-06-01T13:34:00.001+08:00

Good thing I thought I would need an NBI clearance to go to Uruguay or else I would have missed going to the Philippine embassy in Buenos Aires.

The Filipinos I've meet in the embassy were very nice and hospitable and wouldn't have expected anything less! :)

TUTORIAL: Adding your name to the Exif Data (Canon System)

2010-05-30T21:39:00.011+08:00

Really want to personalize your camera and each and every photo you take?

Then customize your Exif Data!

For simplicities sake, an Exif data is the properties embedded in the photo.

E.g Camera settings, file size, etc. (As seen on the photo on the left)

The goal of this tutorial is to automatically tag your photos with your name and/or

alias whichever you prefer. (See photo on the left with yellow highlight)

Note: This tutorial only works for Canon systems.

Step 1: Go to EOS Utility

- This is an application that is included in your camera CD installer.

Step 2: Click Camera settings/Remote Shooting

Step 3: Go to Set-up menu.

-Change the following:

- Owner's Name

- Author

- Copyright.

Step 4 and Final step: Shoot it out and have some fun!

Basilica de Lujan

2010-05-26T11:59:00.003+08:00

Leaving for Montevideo in a few weeks, I had to explore somewhere outside of the Buenos Aires Capital! Good thing my friend Ricardo is willing to be my tour guide for the day so onward to the neo-gothic Basilica de Lujan! \:D/

Lujan is a few kilometers northwest of Buenos Aires, so we had to rent a car to go to Lujan.
The church was the tallest structure around the area that even from the highway you can see its massive structure.

Fun Fact: Every state of Argentina has a central city the same name as its state.E.g. There is a Buenos Aires state and a Buenos Aires city. ^__^

Walking towards the church only magnified the grandiosity of its neo-gothic architecture.

The area around the church which I think is about 2 square Kilometers is surrounded by different museums and the streets are covered with crazy cut tiles. Nothing against the motherland but the whole area is cleaner than what I've usually grown accustomed too. :))

Too bad though that it was not cloudy when we went there to add a bit of spice to the plain blue sky background.

Being a neo-gothic architecture there are some gargoyles sitting on the church aside from the usual rock saints.

As a mass was currently on going at that time I was not able to take some photos of the insides of the church. Also I did not go to their advertised labyrinth on the basement of the church. The reason was I was struck by the case of being a penny pincher at that time. =P

After strolling inside the church, we decided to go to the different museums around the church. There were three museums if I'm not mistaken, one with an airplane, an old town hall and a train museum. All 3 were still closed but opened after 10 minutes. \:D/

We decided to just go to the old town hall museum so as we still have to visit El Tigre, another city with a river cruise to offer.

If the representation of the scaled town was accurate, the town was previously a dirt road common to old barrios of the past.

And that is it... now off to El Tigre!!!

French lunch @ Petanque

2010-05-21T13:34:00.001+08:00

Ate lunch at some french place in San Telmo Buenos Aires. Food was good but the serving was too small for my taste. =P

San Telmo Plaza with Oracle Argentina officemates

2010-05-19T20:46:00.013+08:00

Cementerio de la Recoleta

2010-05-15T22:19:00.029+08:00

Finally had a chance to go to the cemetery where Evita Peron was buried. It was quite a unique experience being one of the tourist destinations is a final resting place of another person.

This reminds me of two things, Marcos' Mausoleum back in Ilocos and that I need to go visit the Libingan ng mga Bayani when I get back home.

It's a bit cloudy

and the weather is dready!

a perfect setting to stroll around the cemetery!

camouflage entrance not yet ready

find the hidden mumu!

Hotel Madero: Red Restaurant

2010-05-08T15:50:00.006+08:00

After staying a few days at the Hilton and didn't like the businessy ambience of the Hilton I've moved back to Hotel Madero (also since this hotel has a wonderful free breakfast. :D).

It was already 2PM and my room was still being prepared so I settled to eat lunch at the Madero's Red Restaurant and ordered a grilled rib steak with malbec wine and for desert some parfait .

Even though I was not used to eating at places where there are more than one pair of kubyertos I still found the place cozy. So on with my dining experience:

As with every restaurant that I've been to in Buenos Aires, they serve different kinds of complimentary breads with butter and/or pate. I'm not sure though if it was just my luck that the bread was freshly cooked or was reheated, in any case it was good!

After seveal sips of wine, the main course was served and it was good! (coz everything was good!)

And finally when the dessertcame in, all i can do was make a smiley face made out of cold molten bitter sweet chocolate. ^___^

Norma's Yumpanada and Stroganoff supreme.

2010-05-07T20:46:00.001+08:00

Again with the food! I'm not complaining or anything, it's just so... so... delicious!!!

Thanks again to Margarita and Ricardo for such a wonderful home cook dinner! ^__^

Edenor Project Office

2010-05-06T20:52:00.002+08:00

Some photos of my current office for the coming months.

Humberto Primo 151, Buenos Aires

My own piece of desk space

Bernardo and Patricio

the red brick wall and ceiling

Sylvie and the server room

Margarita and Bernardo

View from the top

Just a moment: A Photo Collaborative

2010-05-02T12:00:00.000+08:00

Good thing a friend of mine Rev, invited me to participate on an NY Time initiative to take a photo on May 2, 2010 at exactly 15:00 UTC which is 12:00PM in Buenos Aires.

So here's my entry. Note that this is not a contest, just people compiling a snapshot of history. :)

Dinner with the Quinteros

2010-04-30T19:19:00.000+08:00

Since I've arrived on the middle of the week, Friday was just around the corner. And what better way to finish of the weekday than with new friends!

Margarita and Ricardo invited Sylvie, Bernardo and I to some left over food. Which I really looks like a feast!

and after some (a lot, really) food and wine. The group shot.

The night ended late with good laughs and a full belly! \:D/

Hotel Madero

2010-04-30T17:20:00.000+08:00

At last! Finally arrived at the Hotel Madero in Buenos Aires.

The room was cozy and spacious and a small balcony to bum around.

a safe place to store my precious equipments.

But the highlight of the Hotel is the breakfast buffet! Fresh fruits, wide selection of pastries, cold cuts, cereals and juices makes me excited to waking up to another breakfast. :))

But alas the end has come and have to move to the Hilton as Hotel Madero cannot accommodate my hotel stay extension.

happy happy happy happy mushy mushy mushy mushy

2010-04-17T00:00:00.007+08:00

Four happy years have gone by,
more happy years will pass by.
^____________________________^

(='.'=)

2010-04-03T10:45:00.000+08:00

earth hour dinner @ Flapjacks

2010-03-28T22:47:00.008+08:00

Tonight we celebrated earth hour, though unexpectedly, at flapjacks. A supposedly normal turned candle-lit dinner!

It was nice to know that several if not all establishments in the greenbelt area obliged to shut down most of their lights to commemorate earth hour!

for more photos click here

Today is Earth Hour

2010-03-27T01:25:00.002+08:00

Glenn-Ellen Prenup

2010-03-22T23:49:00.006+08:00

two of my friends bridged together by fate and topeng's reto services. lol.

Congratulations! \:D/

for more photos please click here

Bolinao: Third and Last Day

2010-03-22T12:13:00.004+08:00

And now the end is near, so we face the final day of our tour... Alas, every good thing has to end including this one.

7:08AM

The last day started with a simple meal, as usual, it was expensive (good thing breakfast is inclusive with the room rent) and slow to be served.

We were all expecting a buffet just like the previous day so we were a bid dismayed to find out that it was not the case. I think breakfast buffets are only served on weekdays and/or when there a lot of people (other than us).

9:30AM

After breakfast, my lovely assistant and I did another prenup session for Glenn and Ellen.

Note: To those who doesn't know what Nina is holding, that is what you call a diffuser.

You can use almost anything translucent as a diffuser; so in my case i used the inside part of a commercial reflector to block the harsh shadow of some tree branches.

10:15AM

Since we don't want to waste anytime, we went to the jacuzzi as we haven't tried it yet. I was a bit disappointed since the jacuzzi was only pee warm and I was expecting something that could really destress my muscles.

12:15AM
Time to go home! But no trip is complete without group and jump shots!

Time to walk to another space, adventure awaits wherever the place.

Hundred Islands

2010-03-21T14:04:00.090+08:00

Since Bolinao and Alaminos are near each other, both in Pangasinan, what the heck, we included it in our itinerary.

Alaminos is about 2 hours away from Bolinao via private transportation and the home of the world famous Hundred Islands.

As with almost every tourist destination here in the Philippines, the journey begins by registering at the Tourism center. Here you can find all you need to know about the place, like the map of the Hundred Islands and also a ton of people offering their services. So the services they could render here are the boat and the snorkeling gear, which is cheap and sucks... in water.

Trivia: on a high tide, their are a few less island count. ^__^

Before starting the show.. err. journey, one must put first their foundation... err.. sun screen.

and then strike a manly pose up till Governor's Island.

Governor's Island is our first stop. Here contains the Pinoy Big brother house, which obviously was used by Pinoy Big Brother (Sorry I don't watch tv). By stepping a few elevations higher, the Governor's Island also has a man made ridge to overlook most of the other islands. The view is exceptional and breath taking, I'm not certain where the sun will set, but I think this place will be spectacular during the sunset. That's why people can't stop taking a pose. ^__^

coming back down to the shore of Governor's Island also lies a small cavern of some sort that around 40 feet inside leads to a dead end or a light sucking cavern.

After Governor's Island, we hopped back to the boat to go and eat at Quezon Island. Note to those who wants to tour the Hundred Islands. Food at the island is not cheap, so better bring your own food. As for us, we take-out some langhap-sarap Jollibee as we are short on cash c/o food from the place we are staying in.

Now to the fun part of the journey, snorkeling! Currently there is just one snorkeling spot (different from diving spot, which i think the hundred island has several of). The base point has a rope tied to it up to several buoys to help the non-swimmer to still enjoy the snorkel.

The coral reef is at the very center and far from the ropes, so people needs to brave themselves to see the beautiful preserve reefs. It was pure awesomsauce as it was the first time i saw a big clam!

After about an hour or so it was time to hop to another island. The snorkeling experience was almost perfect if not for the cheap snorkeling gear that keeps sucking in water in our eyes and the nasty laceration mush got from the ropes.

Next island we went to was the Children's Island. It was indeed the perfect place for children as the water was shallow and only knee deep. I don't have any photos as I got worn out by snorkeling (lazy excuse for a photographer i know. lol). So after learning how to float laying on my back (with the help of a life vest. lol). I just floated till it was time to go home.

On the boat ride home, I was again awestruck by the setting sun. Too bad we left a bit early as it would've been perfect if the sun was a bit lower when i took the photo above.

after reaching the shore and showering at a Php10 shower joint, we walked around the port of Alaminos, ate some delicacy and made our way to eat dinner at Cindys at Alaminos town proper before heading back to rest at the resort in Bolinao.

Bolinao: Second Day

2010-03-21T07:00:00.007+08:00

7:08AM

Day two of our travel began with a hearthy breakfast, this is the most enjoyable meal we had at Puerto Del Sol. First because we didn't have to wait as it's buffet style, second is because there is a custom omellete stand with chefs extraordinaire. :))

8:00AM

For dessert, a little vitamin D on the shores of Bolinao with Mush.

8:30AM

Pool fun! Puerto del Sol has a big central pool, a kiddie pool and a jacuzzi which we used the day after.

9:15AM

Back to the reason for the season, some more prenuptial moments for the couple before heading to Hundred Islands in Anilao (which deserves a separate post!). \:D/

Nature Lover: Heart leaf leaf shell

Bolinao: First Day

2010-03-20T06:00:00.002+08:00

As I thought I will be leaving on the first week of April, My friends and I were able to come out with an out of town trip for Bolinao,Pangasinan. This was not my first time trip to the Bolinao beach, but I'm thankful to go back here as this will be my first to roam around the developing tourist destination of Bolinao.

Thanks to GlEllen (Glenn and Ellen) we were able to get some decent accommodations courtesy of Puerto Del Sol. Personally I have mixed feelings towards the place, which I will discussed over several of my Bolinao posts.

6:00AM

Arriving at Puerto del Sol 8 hours ahead of the check-in schedule of 2PM, we chose not to avail of the early check-in as there was an early check-in fee (oh my gas!) which is billed by the hour (double gas!) for 10% of the room rate, which for us was 390/hr.

Good thing we can just leave our belongings at Kuya Bebot's Urvan, sidenote, Kuya Bebot can gutter drift along Pangasinans curved roads lol, so we just decided to head to the bayan for breakfast and to do some early touring stuff.

7:15AM
The nearest eatery we can find was beside Bolinao church called Adora's. Again, not that I'm complaining, for me a common tapsilogan should not cost more than Php 80.00, especially since there was nothing special about the taste. Also, it was weird that the menu on the wall has no price indicated in it, which leads us to believe that we got the special tourist price for our breakfast.

8:00AM

After eating and walking a few meters away from Adora comes the Bolinao Church. The inside of the church was under renovation at that time. Not much to see here, so we decided to go the Marine Life Institute! Wohoo!

8:40AM

Which was a FAILure since it was closed for cleaning!

and double fail since we got lost trying to find it the first time.

10:30AM

Near Puerto Del Sol lies the Enchanted Cave, a medium sized cavern filled with a natural pool, that I don't have any pictures of since i thought it would be slippery inside and because I'm itching for a dip.

The pool was a bit cold but relaxing. There was a bunch of ropes tied from end to end for floating support since its hard to walk entirely on the spikey rock bottom. The bantay inside also told us that there is an underwater cave that has not yet been fully explored. I foreigner tried diving for an hour but found his equipments insuffient for the dive, hence he'll be back with supplies and hopefully to reach the other end of the underwater cave.

12:25PM

Guess who's hungry?

12:30PM

Guess who?

1:25PM

At last the food arrived! After waiting for an hour, a well presented dish was at last served. The tuna sisig was good, the kaldereta was a bit tough, the kangkong with lechon kawali was very delicious! (I'm a bit bias since i've been on a no fried food diet for 3 weeks) Overall the serving time was a bit slow even with the excuse of a good food presentation as the price should have compensated for this.

5:15PM

The real reason for going to Bolinao! Glenn and Ellen asked me if I could do a little prenup pictorial for them. Me being a true friend (and also since I'm out of the country for their wedding :| ) gladly oblidged. :) So first stop for the pictorial was near the Patar Lighthouse.

For more photos please click (no wait, I'm not done with the pictures yet. lol)

5:45PM

And next stop, Patar Beach. I was hoping for a good sunset shot, but alas I've missed that precious 5 minute window. So after the short shoot, we had fun at the beach. \:D/

9:00PM

end of the day, dinner again at Puerto del Sol which again was consistent with the lunch, good food, good presentation, long waiting time for the food to be served. Although it was nice that we got serenaded by the manager/guitarista.

10:00PM

shuteye.

Fort Bonifacio 2 in 1 (day).

2010-03-19T09:38:00.002+08:00

since i've started working here in Fort Bonifacio,  3rd Avenue corner 28th  street has been the site of many traffic related accidents but this has been the worst that i've seen so far. 

I hope that no one was hurt badly.

And to top it off, another minor car accident. I'm not sure though how this could happen.

My way or the sideway: 

and all of these happened before 9AM! 

When will we learn people! 

for more photos click here

I choose you! House of Wagyu!

2010-03-17T20:54:00.077+08:00

Celebrating our fourth year anniversary a month in advance, and also since I've lost the bet who will shed 5lbs first, Mushy and I went to celebrate at the House of Wagyu located at the fifth floor of the Podium.

Entering the establishment, you can immediately see a big chiller containing most if not all of their uncut steak.

Inside, you can feel the level of exclusivity of a fine dining restaurant. The ambiance is indeed good for special date occasions. ^__^

| girlfriend | model | winner |

Immediately after being seated, the attentive waiters presented us with the different selection of steaks we can order. We ordered a grade 8: rib eye and a grade 8 tenderloin. According to different sources from google, the higher the grade, the more (healthy) fat content, which attributes to the melt in mouth experience.

As entree to the wagyu experience, they serve the soup of the day, in this case, the spinach soup and an unlimited serving of bread and butter. The soup was delicious for me since i love creamy based soups. (I also love the soup/bread model. =P)

after the entree, the waiter will ask if you are ready with the main course and will politely put on your steak bib (a first for me).

the slab of steak was served a top a hot slab of stone. The rib eye was cooked medium well while the tenderloin was medium. Also, there is unlimited serving of side dishes which we almost ignored since all our focus was on the steak.

since it was our first time eating steak without a sauce, the waiter instructed us to put the steak in a plate, called a 'resting plate', and slice it there and only grill the parts you are about to eat. If i have known this i would've ask them to give it to me raw, so i could have savored the raw experience.

with only salt as spice, it was time for a taste test, the meat was indeed flavorful and the rumors of melt in your mouth steak was true! No words could truly explain how good the steak was so I'll let my model elaborate it through a thousand words.

Alas! all things must end so we finished our dinner with a full stomach, an empty wallet and a smile on our face. The food was great, the service was splendid, the price is only for special occasions. :))

Mushy and the professional waiters

How does Lady Gaga like her steaks?
Answer: Raw raw raw raw raw - c/o Manny P.

Manila Ocean Park: Makansutra

2010-03-06T17:43:00.006+08:00

The perfect ending for our Manila Ocean Park tour, Makansutra, a hearty mix asian dinner right at the heart of Manila Ocean Park! ^__^

We were seated beside the big ass window facing the White Moon Bar and Manila Bay awaiting the sunset (I'm not sure but i think i am becoming a sunset whore). It was around late afternoon and the window lighting is perfect! Too bad it was a bit cloudy and covered the supposed to be beautiful sunset by Manila Bay. >.<

Mushy with Angel Kulit.

sprouting bokeh

glasses | hakao | curry laksa | malay cuisine? (as in malay ko kung ano to, pero masarap) | PERFECTION!

All in all food was ecstatic, especially the Curry Laksa, at a very reasonable price. The service was efficient and the view is spectacular. So no doubt I'll be coming back here! \:D/

Manila Ocean Park: Jelly Fishes

2010-03-06T15:00:00.000+08:00

continuing our Manila Ocean Park Tour, we went next to the Jelly Fish museum for Php 150.00 which in my opinion should've been a part of the initial ticket price as with foreign ocean parks i've been too.

Angel with her favorite ocean park souvenir.

i like looking at jelly fishes (they touching me is a different matter) as they seem so calm and serene.

inside the jelly fish museum, they have several fish tanks with different type of jelly fishes (duhr!). One comment i can think of that in a way bugs me is the non transitioning fluorescent light they are using for each tanks. It's not a big deal when taking pictures but it is when you are trying to take some videos. :(

inside the tank!

wonderful jelly fish tubes.

all in all it was worth it only if you haven't seen a jelly fish before or if you aren't satisified with looking at just static pictures, the price is a bit expensive for my liking with just 17 (jelly fish) tanks and only several types of jellies.

PS. I was trying to create a video of the jelly fishes but the 64bit version of Sony Vegas keeps crashing up on me. >.<

Into Manila Ocean Park

2010-03-06T14:19:00.007+08:00

So last saturday, Mushy, Angel and I went to Manila Ocean Park. The Place was huge (too bad I was in a hurry to go to the ticket counter and forgot to take pictures of the building) and is sub divided into different areas.

The ticket price was Php400.00 for adults and Php350.00 for children. Good news to Manileños as we have 10% ticket price discount, just present a valid Id with address.

Unfortunately though, I find the Oceanarium, the main area where all the fishes are, a bit small compared to other ocean parks outside of the country. But I will still give credit to the developers as a lot are still under construction and hoping that there will be more fishes and attractions soon.

One of their attractions was the fish spa, where you supposedly let the fish suck up dried skin tissue. I don't know how true is the medical explanation about this is true, all I know is they it tickles when they suck.

Either they see my leg hair as worms or I have more dead skin than Mush and Angel. :))

Oh, also, I tried a fish spa before in Star City, so I was expecting guppy size fish, I was wrong! They may as well be the Yao Ming of fish spa fishes.

Update: According to my friend Albert Abadicio, these are not the real doctor fishes but are called chinchin or small tilapias that are starved so as to eat even my balahibos. (chinchins are also cheaper than the real dr. fishes.)

Ohm NOM! NOM! NOM! NOM! NOM!

Canon 5D markII and the lack of 60fps

2010-03-05T15:56:00.001+08:00

late last year, Canon announced that they will release a new firmware to add movie functionality as seen on this photo ---------->

Forward to March, they are releasing everything excluding the 720P/60fps!

But since I'm still the optimist, hopefully they would release the 60fps together with the 720P on the next iteration of there firmware!

As I still have a lot of slow motion video ideas that i want to produce. ^__^

the almost lost photos: dinner at chelsea

2010-03-03T21:15:00.002+08:00

pressing the shutter is not the last process in taking a picture, after the event you still need to catalog all the pictures. 

From time to time, especially on back to back shoots, i sometimes forget to save ASAP the photos that i took and one of those photos was the dinner at Chelsea. Good thing though, while browsing my office laptop, that I did save the photos! (just in a different computer. lol)

So enough of the non sense talk and on with the pictures. ^__^

Natuloy na rin ang Dinner for Karl:

Dinner mates:

Food!

Fun Times!

After Dinner Shoot

hmmm... baket ganun... ganito yan... ahh..

cunning linguist

bilog bilog

new friend portraits!

Thank you net cube for providing the background

Manuel the film   connoisseur 

mini visvires get together

2010-03-02T23:01:00.003+08:00

Well it's been a while since i've played WoW, so i've chatted with some of my guildmates and organized a small get together. 

Hopefully we'll be able to organized a grander vis vires reunion in the near future. ^__^

reminiscing Hot Pot

2010-02-26T12:04:00.000+08:00

reminiscing Hot Pot from triggerHappyPenguin on Vimeo.

I was craving for hot pot since last monday.
And was supposed to eat some on a tuesday.
When we came there, it was already closed!
So they told us just to return the next day, wednesday.
It's been a busy week and I forgot it till late thursday,
good thing Line asks suggestions for lunch out come Friday!

lunch out @ zhu hot pot

2010-02-26T12:02:00.001+08:00

thanks to Line and Jun for the lunch ^__^

tayo na sa Antipolo! a pre-valentine road trip

2010-02-13T07:30:00.003+08:00

Since the Marilou Diaz-Abaya film institute, decided to move their seminar at a later date, and joyce, jason, mushy and I, without any other plans for the weekend, decided to head still to Antipolo and go wherever tense could lead us.

First stop: Antipolo Church:
To those first time visitors, you can go inside the church premises and park there, don't make the same mistake as we did, to drive around the area to find parking space, because you won't find any.

Antipolo Church Plaza:
Just outside the premises of Antipolo church lies the plaza with many tiangges.
 
Kasuy at Suman ni Aling Belen:
One of the main pasalubongs that people go to Antipolo for is Kasuy! And here we can find the cheapest kasuy outside of the metro, we were able to buy 1kg of kasuy for Php 550.00 which didn't last us a week. lol.

Lunch at Cloud 9:
There is no doubt in my mind that i will be coming back here well prepared to take a photo of the city scape.
This is possibly the best view of the different business districts of Makati, Pasig and Libis.
Sad to say though that I was so hungry that I totally forgot to take pictures of what we ate.

Meralco Management & Leadership Development Center:
who would've thought that Meralco has an Aviary Park in Antipolo? Perfect place to have a picnic and relaxing afternoon. They have a restaurant were we ate our meryenda.

It was also nice to see signs with quotes regarding the benefits of walking.

Boso Boso church:
We had to cross a mountain or two before reaching this very old church. We almost did not made it, since it was getting dark, but thanks to our perseverance, we got to our destination. :)

Dinner at Cloud 9:
Since i was still in awe with Cloud 9, we (I, the driver, lol) decided to go back to Cloud 9. I think we were all still full from the meryenda at MMDLC that's why we decided to have a 1hour videoke session here.

pollution: The big picture

2010-02-13T06:19:00.000+08:00

as with everything we do,
we often forget,
how careless we've become,
until we've seen,
the big picture.

lumalablyp

2010-02-13T06:10:00.000+08:00

more to come. <3

suprise dinner for linel

2010-02-10T08:56:00.000+08:00

happy birthday ate linel!

click the photo to see the rest of the album:

buhbye.

2010-02-09T14:07:00.003+08:00

till we meet again.

click the picture for the complete set.