to go or not to

5 days from now I am bound for manila for the IDC Team building / Xmas party activity. Not that I don’t want to go, it is just that I am a bit short of budget. I have this big project that I am currently putting nearly all my savings into. It is big enough that I really do not have the luxury to spend 4000 php on a Christmas party. In reality, I can. But, I will have to be on a strict financial diet.

At the back of my head, I really want to go. I mean who would not want to, right? The itinerary that the Manila team prepared for us sounds really fun and interesting. We are scheduled for a visit at the Ocean Park in Manila. Right after Ocean Park, we will go straight to Tagaytay and stay at Casa de Carlo. There we will cook our own dinner and spend the night exchanging gifts. The next we are bound to go trekking. Ride a pump boat and conquer Taal Volcano. After the trek we are scheduled to have lunch at Leslies’ Restaurant where we have an overlooking view of the Taal Lake. After lunch, we are scheduled to go to Laguna and straight to Enchanted Kingdom. After Enchanted Kingdom, we will go straight to Pansol where we reserved 3 rooms in a resort with hot spring. The next day which is our last, we are scheduled to go Roam around the Metro Manila and go wherever we want to go.

Now if this trip is not worth the 4000 php budget, then I guess I’m such a loser.

Volunteers give 25,000 meals

Read Full Story Here

Here we have a good example on how we, as a community and as individuals, should spend our holidays. Local city leaders spent the holiday helping the much needful individuals of Orlando. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer aims to give away free meals. Yes, you heard it right. 25,000 free meals. Mayor Buddy Dyer spearheaded the event together with the help of local individuals who wants to take part and share some compassion this holiday season.

The event is part of the annual celebration of the state. The annual Helpings From the Heart Thanksgiving Feast. Working together are Golden Corral and The Salvation Army Orlando to make this event possible every year. This event is now running successfully for 17 years now. Local individuals participated in the event and made it more meaningful. Local chefs took part in preparing the meals while the volunteers handed out the free meals. Every participant was working together in the aim of helping those in need and giving more meaning to the spirit of the holidays.

Although this does not happen on a monthly, weekly nor on a daily basis, we are still thankful for the wonderful hearts of each individual who took part in this wonderful event.

Thanks giving.

where's our cat?

i just arrived from a delayed flight from cebu. as expected, the weathers gloomy around here. that is because of the typhoon that is still within the Philippine territory. i was hoping i would be able to go and take some photo shoots, but it seems that i would be stuck at home for at least a couple of days.

none the less, as i was seating outside our house, i realized that we lost a couple of puppies. i always complain how the puppies and the dogs usually run right at me every time i am home. even though i have not been at home for a while, the dogs still recognize me.  to my surprise, there was just one dog this time. dad said the puppies did not make it, was sick for a while and eventually died. that was a bit sad. but what surprised me more was the fact that i do not see a cat anywhere. we used to have a cat. more often than not, our cats usually had twisted tails. as in literally twisted tails. i miss our cat. not only does a cat makes life fun. they also chase around the rats that stays in our attic.

anyways, i guess I would have to deal with rattling sounds for now.

other than that, i am glad to be home.

Children's Hospital Patient Gets Surprise Visit from Favorite Author

Children's Hospital Patient Gets Surprise Visit from Favorite Author

it is nice to know that there are still some people out there who go out of their way to show a little kindness and make someone’s life a little easier specially in times to hardships and trials. more often than not, people these days only think about themselves. people take charity less more importance not realizing that sometimes, all it takes is just a little show of compassion. we become too busy with our everyday lives, trying to be the achiever. trying to get hold of everything we can, sometimes, even to the extent of stepping into someone else’s lives just to get where we want to be. but not everyone.

what ever the intention of Mr Frank Beddor, what he did is a very good example of sympathy.
being in a hospital for a child can sometimes be a not-so-good experience. it can be traumatizing sometimes too. but thanks to the author of one the books of the series "The Looking Glass Wars", Mr Frank Beddor. he just made the kids’ day and made it a little easy for the kid. i believe this will also help the kid recover at a faster rate. even a little gesture of kindness can change someone else’s lives forever.

finally

after nights of contemplating whether my adsense application would be approved or not, my account was finally approved. not that its something big, but at least its a start as i can track changes and updates from here on.

i have been trying to get it right or at least get it done. but unfortunately, i cant seem to get it done right. i was starting to get frustrated. who wouldn't be? it's a simple application for adsense and i can't get it right. first i had postal address issues. i was using a new email address specifically for this task so i was thinking maybe because it was new. so i did some tinkering with my account and reapplied just to realize i will just get disapproved. so, i tried using my old email. i made sure i complied with the correct address format that they want. then my application was review status after that. then woolah! i just received an email just today stating that my application has been approved.

so i guess the next thing for me is start making contents for this blog. find ways generate more traffic and eventually, start earning a little more online.

flowers at my moms garden

Today I spent the afternoon lazily swinging on our hand made hammock under our mango tree.
As I lay on our hammock, I noticed my mom’s mini garden filled with blooming plants. Although it is not as abundant as it was years ago, my mom still managed to keep some plants blooming with flowers.

Most of her plants were orchids. She nurtured different kinds of orchids. Some would even come from different places, but most were locally bought. She takes very good care of her orchids, and I would proudly say she is doing a good job doing it. She used to make money out of the flowers from her garden. She has a couple or so customers who would buy her flowers. She would then sell them to moment the flowers are ready for picking. Most of her customers are flower shops owners who sometimes run short of flowers for their flower arrangement business. It made good money for my mom too. For my mom who is working as clerk in a government office, pay is sometimes just enough to keep you going for the week. There are times that when her budgets would run short, these were the times where her income from her flowers would come in very handy.

Although my mom stopped selling flowers, she still has some plants left that still blooms and she’s keeping it now because she loves her plants and the flowers they produce and not because there is a need for it. That I would say is a good thing.

first try at a telephoto

my first try at a telephoto lens. the sigma 70-300mm DG. i was excited when a friend told he will be bringing his telelphoto lens when he visits cebu, the first time for to come back to his second home after he left for kuwait. he is currently employed in kuwait right now, and he has been there for two years now.

for a while i was stuck with my kit lens, the 18-55mm IS for my canon xs. not that i am complaining, the kit lens i have performs impressively but of course i also want to try other lenses that i can use with my cam.

testing the telephoto sigma 70-300mm, i was surprised how far i can zoom. the photos are pretty descent too. i say descent since i have read from reviews that some telephoto zoom lens gives out its image quality if you zoom out your lens that far. maybe because i have not tested other telephoto zoom lens, but as far as performance is concern and market price. it is pretty impressive for its category.

i am going out for a while and have a run with baby and see how it performs. over the weekend, i will have the opportunity to test its performance. we are bound to go on a banca cruise with some friends. we will see just how good this baby is.

i stand alone

of all the photos i have taken at kan-irag park, i say this was my favorite. the composition of the photo reminded me of how difficult and dirty life can be sometimes. despite how the pond was running dry, the water lily still bloomed wonderfully. despite how the pond looks messy because of the dried leaves and nearly water less surrounding, the water lily still stand still in beauty.

i never realized that digital photography has its dramatic side and that is how i feel every time i look at this photo. the photo itself can already be interpreted in so many ways. i guess its true when they say that photography is an art. the best photos are the ones that has its own story. one that has a lesson to teach. one that has deeper meaning.

i guess same goes to the saying that in photography its not the gear, but the person behind the lens that makes the best photos.

as for me, this photo is a reminder that no matter how tempting, how dirty the society we live in, if one has the will, one can still stand out and be contaminated by the ill-will of our society. one can still do what is good and be a good example to every one else.