Day 316, Feb 18, 2012

Fables Deluxe 4!

This one was literally one year in the waiting. I mean, I'm a fan of the series - yet I find the need to wait for the deluxe version, for I feel that it is the better - more appropriate version to collect.

This is not to say that I'm tempted to read forward - to find out what is happening to the characters I liked. But for some reason - and I am really surprised by this, I was able to hold off getting or reading the paperbacks. Sure, I'm not updated with the stories - but who cares? This is not really a shared universe with the heroes I normally read - so there was no real urgency to hurry up reading these stories.

The only time I read and bought a Fables story outside of the deluxe volumes was the stand alone Snow White hardbound regarding the Arabian stories. I felt that it was a safe purchase, as it did not interfere with the story chronology I was reading from the deluxe volumes - and just to give an indicator of just how much stories are out there, I am reading year 4 (yes, each deluxe volume represents a year) so I'm somewhere in issue 37. Meanwhile, in the regular series, the issues are already beyond 100. So go figure... I'm reading stories several years old as far as the loyal followers of the comic book versions was concerned. But as I said, I don't mind. In fact, there are other ways to read this if I even wanted to. A friend even gave me soft copies of the complete (by then) run. I have yet to read them - not saying I won't... but for now, I'll just enjoy this fourth volume.

Addendum: wouldn't you know it... said Snow White Arabian story I mentioned happens to be half of Vol.4? Nuts...

Day 315, Feb 17, 2012

Swing Night at Vogue:

It was supposed to be a night of dancing - and it was. Trouble is, I haven't danced in so long a time, I'm probably not just rusty... but rusted out of such an activity. After all, at my best, I was a very amateurish swing dancer (preferring the less coordination-intensive dances by individuals - but being envious of how others seemed to make this dance look seamless and easy).

As it was, I didn't dance this evening, but I did like meeting friends - we talked a bit, and naturally, I tried taking pictures (though the evening wasn't conducive to experimenting, so I just set things to automatic). Still, it was a nice night. I decided to head home a bit early - after all, talking, taking pictures and listening to good 80's dance music does have its limits.

Day 314, Feb 16, 2012

PADD class:

This is not the first time I'm conducting the Packaged Application Detailed Design class - but it's the first time I'm doing this by myself.

Normally, I'd have either Jinkee or Gina doing this with me - and there is a good reason for this. PADD is known to be a very talk-intensive conduct... now, consider that when you add the fact that this is a 3-day course. Ouch... right?

Unfortunately, for this particular conduct, I can neither get help from GIna and Jinkee, as they both are assigned to other conducts. This will definitely be a challenge for me - but there is one silver lining to this... I get to control the pacing of the conduct, and this may mean that I can make adjustments (like what I did today) regarding timing, pacing and discussion. Even then, I finished the training for day 2 at 5:30pm exactly (same with day 1). Now I have to rest, so I can be ready to conduct day 3... at this point, I'm simply taking this one day at a time... and I'm glad that there's just one more day to go.

Day 313, Feb 15, 2012

Inside a droplet:

It started out as an experiment in getting a picture of a droplet a lot closer than I did the last time. It would up in my getting real close... closer than I expected. In fact, this entire green thing that seems unfocused is the droplet itself (note the slight light reflection on the lower right?), and I actually got an almost microscopic picture of the bubble's inside - specifically the small air bubbles trapped between the water and the leaf.

The semi-circular pattern is possibly because of the bubble's rounded top.  As pictures go - this has to be one of my more surreal shots. So how did I do this? I used my lens and connected it to a reverse ring - trick taught me by my sister-in-law, Bea for taking those really close shots for small things. The ring allowed me to do this hands free from holding the lens in place. I also got my gorilla tripod for that added stability - though in hindsight, I think I needed a slightly taller tripod (or my monopod), as the gorilla tripod could not reach certain leafs, forcing me to look to lower ones.

But once everything was set up, it was just a matter of focusing and capturing the shot. Oh yeah... I definitely got the leaf close up too - after having moved away a bit from this real close encounter.

Day 312, Feb 14, 2012

Valentine dessert:

Its not as if we had plans, but Barbie and I did talk about meeting after work - even if I was at the UBP, owing to the fact that she decided to take the day off, so she was in the Greenhills area - though the plans would be that we'd meet in Shang (which is seemingly closer to UBP).

But, due to certain delays, we ended up meeting in Greenhills and having dinner in Chili's instead. The ambiance was naturally Valentine's themed - and what we got was definitely filling. Form there, we ent to Cara Mia to get a cake for her mom - and while waiting for said cake, we got a scoop of ice cream. To our surprise, the scoop arrived in the shape of a rose (or at least, as close as they could make it). It was a little gesture, but worth taking a picture of... and isn't it appropriate that we opted to get strawberry? It was a great ending to our dinner... and once we had the cake, we finished our ice cream and headed on home.

Day 311, Feb 13, 2012

Overcast skies:

This is the view from the 33rd floor of the Union Bank Plaza, by Meralco Avenue. The view overlooks the Pasig, Cainta, Marikina, Antipolo and even the Laguna de Bay area and the silhouette of the Sierra Madres... that is, on a clear day.

Unfortunately, its not a clear day as the weather is rainy... which naturally means its an overcast and cloudy sky. Some say there's a typhoon - but neither the rains nor winds validate such.

This picture also means that I'm back in UBP doing some conducts again in this site for Accenture. As I always say, the UBP has a nice near-panoramic view of the East. This shot proves it.

Day 310, Feb 12, 2012

Lights and shades:

This picture is just a simple appreciation of how white shapes can be better gleaned when taking their respective shadows into consideration. Back then (in my first project 365), I had a similar play with whites - and now I just wanted to take this shot of three white vases against a white wall, with the vases framed by dark colored wood. This is from Barbie's and Bernice's skin clinic, and in this instance, I accompanied Barbie to get a diamond peel before her business trip.

If I had control of the clinic's lighting, I would have wanted to move them to lessen the shade - then again, the current shot does emphasize the difference between a well lit, a partially shaded and a nearly full shaded vase - so in that sense, the differences are more visible. 

Day 309, Feb 11, 2012

Weekend afternoon entertainment:

Every Saturday afternoon, the Promenade in Greenhills arranges as its entertainment a blind man (who's name escapes me as of this moment) to play with the grand piano that is located just a bit under the two crisscrossing escalators, rendering timeless classics  and relatively new hits alike. His voice is good, and it is a nice way for people who aren't too much on the go, to just sit back and watch him from the promenade's dining area - or, if you're like me, to sit back and enjoy coffee at the 2nd floor of the Figaro, where I can listen to his rendition of said songs.

In point of fact, this is not the first time I've heard him play. In fact, the first time, I literally just sat down and watch him do his pieces - that is, until I had to leave Promenade - or, as in another time, I stayed until he had done his set.

This particular shot had to be accomplished with my telephoto lens from the 2nd floor - then I just needed to crop all the unnecessary background 'noise' to try and focus on the man ans the piano. Yeah... soon as I remember his voice, I'll post it here so I can be fair to the man. Meanwhile, I hope to hear him play again, in some future weekend when I'm in Greenhills (which is almost every weekend).

Day 308, Feb 10, 2012

Chamomile tea anyone?

Friday at last! Time to unwind, and when it is unwinding that needs to be done, there's one way for us (Barbie and I) to do just that - and its to have a cup of Chamomile tea.

Whether at home or outside, we look for this as much as possible. Of course, there's another reason - mostly if we feel we've eaten too much, and might need help with our food digestion, then tea is most welcome as well.

This particular shot is in Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf; for a second day in a row meeting here - and though it might make some sense to get out of McKinley ASAP, before the rush hour traffic - there will ahve to be some slow down time, and Friday... after a long week's work effort done, is the perfect example of when sipping tea and relaxing should be done. Definitely a TGIF moment.

Day 307, Feb 09, 2012

Shades on a bright afternoon:

When I'm assigned to McKinley, Barbie and I try to meet up after work, so we con go home together. Naturally, we consider where to meet and someplace in Piazza is the default understanding. Often, we try to meet in Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf for several reasons -  great food (snacks), great coffee or tea (depending on our mood) and WiFi connectivity (should we need it). So yeah... other places - like Figaro's or Dunkin Donut Cafe may be acceptable as a meeting spot, but they can't compare to CBTL on all aspects. In fact, meeting in the latter two places are normally an offshoot to CBTL being full.

In this particularly sunny afternoon, Barbie decides not to take her shades (my Christmas gift to her) off, as CBTL's indoor illumination is very bright... owing to the mostly glass walls receiving the very bright outside sunlit surroundings - even at so late a time as 5:30pm.

This, in turn, allowed me to take this shot (one of several), and I must say that its a good picture - without (ahem) being too biased.