Day 56, Jun 04, 2011

Dragon boats:

It seems to be the new cheap form of healthy, sporty living on the weekend (at least, it's what I saw on this Saturday morn). It's called a dragon boat, where people paddle on both sides of the boat - but you only use one paddle.

Naturally, precision timing and coordination is important, hence you normally have someone either shouting or beating a drum, so you all can coordinate your rhythm and have an optimizing effect with the boat's acceleration. All you need it proper coordination and your paddle. The boat, of course, has to be a given - but people form groups and practice at the Manila bay early morning. I mean, this photo was taken roughly around breakfast time (8am). What was I doing at the bay area? I had brought Bryce to school, and decided to wait for him while I enjoyed breakfast at Starbucks.

By the way, I used my telephoto lens to take this... that way, I need not have left the inside of Starbucks while clicking away. Cool environment, and great pics - coupled with wonderful coffee and a sandwich. Yeah... that's the life.

Day 55, Jun 03, 2011

60 days and counting...

Okay, it officially becomes 60 days tomorrow - but since that happens to be a Saturday, we all decided it was better to celebrate now, while everyone was around. Today was also the day we sort of celebrate the closure of Gate 3 - and we even had some give aways to celebrate the moment.

Notebooks (apparently spare ones - but nonetheless, still very useful - and of good quality I might add), small pillows - for those who really need to take a nap in between exhaustive work and we even got to choose a swatch watch. How about that?

I mean, aside from the jersey, the t-shirt (although one size small for me since they ran out of shirts my size) and a small towel when I first joined, we now have these. This is really a project that loves giving - and I'm not complaining either.

It also happens to be a project that loves celebrating, hence the  karaoke microphone on standby - just in case anyone would like to sing. I had to take a picture of the mike, with the U2K2 countdown as its background. Looks like no one took the challenge though - well except for one.

I took this picture without a flash to see the background clearly... giving the mike that golden hue.

Day 54, Jun 02, 2011

Birthday tradition:

Yup, that's Barbie blowing out her birthday cake's candle - which will simply symbolize the blowing of many candles, as the cake may turn into a fire hazard like mine almost did.

That said, I decided to have the symbolical candle, rather than just get the number candles (in which case, anyone seeing the picture will recognize that as her age - personally, I don't mind), or - heaven forbid, get individual candles which might pose as a problem as we would try lighting all those candles.

I shall keep my wife's dignity by not mentioning her age here (for fear of reprisal later on - he he he), and just wish for long life, health, wealth and happiness - so I and the kids can likewise share in the blessing.

Happy Birthday Twitart! And yes, even the dogs have their names inscribed on the cake... just to show you how closely knit a family we are. After all, their names likewise begin with the letter 'B'.

Day 53, Jun 01, 2011

Release 7 training.

It's a bit technical, but this training was to prepare people for the Intensive Care process, which is about - oh... two months from now. Now you'd think that this is still so long a time, but mind you - the days seem to move faster, as the countdown approaches.

That being the case, this training laster for tow days - covering a myriad set of topics for many people in different walks of the project's life.

Yeah - I just wanted to capture this for posterity,,, a reminder to myself that this was approaching the 60th day milestone - and as I was taking this, I was also preparing the project's milestone documents. It will get arduous as we come closer to Go Live, but I hope our professionalism and patience as well as our propensity to see humor in a lot of things, will carry us through these stress-filled times. Here's wising us all good luck.

Day 52, May 31, 2011

My new pets:

Yes, that is a shrimp... specifically, a cherry shrimp (due to its color, naturally), and this lady is familiarizing herself with her new surroundings - how do I know it's a her? Elementary, my dear Watson - if you look carefully, you'll see a yellowish substance by it's middle... and those happen to be shrimp eggs.

The focus is a bit off... so I can't say this is my best shot - but when you're trying ot capture life, it becomes difficult to do so without a tripod - and well, by the time I set things up, I may miss the opportunity to catch this shrimp. So I make so with what I have, and get what I can.

Oh yeah... that blue and red blur? That's a cardinal - so if you're familiar with said fish's size - that should give you an idea of just how small my shrimps are (I bought 10 of them). Hope they live long and multiply.

Day 51, May 30, 2011

Our favorite spaghetti:

Funny thing is, even if its a staple for us - a regular item we always order when we go to Amicci, I still can't quite remember this dish's name - what comes to mind is Seafood Spaghetti cooked in Olive Oil - and the servers get what I mean after I describe it.

Of course, their menu shows a picture of it as well, so I can likewise point to that. Or... on rare occasions, I do remember what its called and order the White Vongole don't even know if I spelled it right - as I rely on phonetics to spell it. But yeah... white - representing the olive oil, as opposed to red (tomato sauce). If you pass by and do decide to stop in an Amicci restaurant, you might want to give this dish a try. I always do whenever I go there.

Day 50, May 29, 2011

The Birthday Boy!

Yeah, this is Bryce - though I'd hazard a guess that he's not really thinking here - just sleepy as he waits for us to finish having our nails cleaned.

You read me right, I indulged myself with Bernice and Barbie in a parlor to have my toe nails properly trimmed and cleaned. I mean, let's face it, I sometimes find myself too busy to do these things myself - and while we're at the mall, why not just indulge with the parlor doing the cutting and cleaning for me, right?  Yeah, right!

By the way, as of this picture, Bryce becomes Sixteen - yup... it's his birthday, and we did come from lunch in our favorite spaghetti and pizza place Amicci.. and after a heavy meal, well I felt we had to walk around - and walk we did... that is, Bryce and I walked.

We went to Virra Mall to check on a possible Wii Fit gift I planned for Barbie - no such luck, as the Wii Fit I saw a week ago had been sold. Ah well... so back to the parlor and right there and then, decided to have my toes done... leaving Bryce just waiting on the side of the parlor. As for me... I had bought a few comics in the shop before returning here, so I wasn't bored at all. Oh yeah... nice coincidence - this being Bryce's birthday and my blog's 50th entry. How cool is that, huh?

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Day 49, May 28, 2011

Wacky Family?

This happens to be a picture of  my family while we were waiting our turn in the doctor's office. You see, we were there to see the kids' doctor since... well since he was their pediatrician. Wow... imagine that. We've known him for roughly 16 years (Bryce's age tomorrow), as he tended to the kids' vaccinations.

Doctor Regalado has helped keep the kids healthy - but what keeps us going back to him - and trusting him, is is obvious rapport with his patients. I noticed that as Bryce was the seemingly troubled pre-teen whom I was having some difficulty reaching, just a few inspiring and encouraging words from their Tito Joseph, almost brought tears to Bryce. I wonder if he is truly the inspiration for Bryce to want to take up medicine? Something tells me that's a sucker bet.

Anyway, this just shows how wacky the situation can get - and I'm glad I had the camera to capture such a moment.

Day 48, May 27, 2011

Moisture due to rains and aricon:

This was a very cool day - for starters, it was raining all day, next was that I was in a restaurant where the Aircon was relatively strong and focused on said window.

I got attracted to the obvious clash of differences- how it was wet outside to the restaurant's inner dryness, the weather's coldness to the restaurant's cold aircon - yet warm lights.

Needless to say, this contrast may - or may not appear in the picture, and I doubt you'll appreciate the differences - but at least, with the window showing the moisture.. and the shady image in said window; one can get an idea. This picture is straight forward. Minimal or no post-editing.

Day 47, May 26, 2011

Master Yoda:

This little statue was being sold in Fully Booked and with it came the little background that you see in the picture - but what you don't see is the little book of Yoda Quotes that is hidden in a special compartment in said background.

Normally I wouldn't just get such statues, but let's face it... Yoda has a special place in this Star Wars' fan's heart ever since Empire Strikes Back - which, by the way this particular Yoda portrays - not the younger version many people saw in the prelude episodes.

I still think Empire Strikes Back is the best Star Wars film made amongst all the six... even if it looks kinda dated - effects-wise. Why so? I guess it's because we witness the desperation of the Alliance, the strength of the Empire, and the Determination of the story's heroes. I mean, it could have had so many things going against it... for one, the movie does not end the story right there - and we're all left waiting two years before finally witnessing Return,,, an okay film, if it were not for all the teddy bear looking Ewoks. Nope... if you remove the Ewoks part, then Return might have turned out to be a whole lot better.

Anyway, I used my flashbulb here - thus giving Yoda some harsh light. I was hoping to balance it out via post production editing, but I could not remove the brightness of the cloth seams to make it look more natural. Another lesson I still have to discover.