As the Shutter Clicks...

Not the End...

2012-01-03T10:36:00.002+08:00

... but I am going to close this blog. If you want to continue viewing pictures I have taken, please check out my new photo blog - The Point and Shooter.

See you there!

Hear Ye, Hear Ye!

2011-12-12T14:01:00.003+08:00

I am thinking of closing down this blog - having two photo blogs just doesn't seem "right," but because I still can't decide, this blog is on hiatus 'til the end of the year. I will decide on the first day of the month if I will continue or not... as I am thinking of making specific niche blogs by the start of the year.

Thirst Quenchers

2011-12-05T21:12:00.004+08:00

It was last year when I first went to Sidcor Weekend Market after transferring sites. That day, I was with my cousin and our neighbor Ria and we just went there to check it out, but of course we did some money so we can buy certain items that caught our interest.

It was a bigger site than the former location. A lot of goodies to choose from... and a lot of food to eat, too! Roaming around the market can be tiring and when we saw this stall selling drinks, we knew it was the perfect thirst quencher.

My first choice was the Citrus Malunggay (Moringa) because I do eat moringa as vegetable, but it was the first time I saw moringa drink. It was a very light drink - kinda like water with a hint of citrus and sweetness. Ria chose the Pineapple Cucumber, very refreshing, too, but it was a little thicker in consistency.

We rarely visit the market place, since this visit, I always make it a point to buy myself a cup of the Citrus Malunggay whenever I go there. It's been a while since I last dropped by the Weekend Market, hopefully before the year ends I can have the time to go there and shop...

...as well as take pictures.

Sunflower Cupcake

2011-11-28T09:38:00.003+08:00

I miss updating this blog! Well, dieting and exercising can be time consuming, but I will definitely try to maximize my time and manage it wisely so I can do everything I need to do.

Anyway, my picture share today is a cupcake given to sister when she (and mom) attended a wedding. The couple did give out souvenirs (pictures and small potted plants), but some of the guests were able to receive some cupcakes, too, which my sister decided to take home.

I photographed the cake the time sister handed it to me, but I got to taste the cake the day after. I only ate half of it - just so I would know how it taste like. I love how pastry artists are becoming more and more talented with their ways of presenting cupcakes. I hope next time I can see a cupcake with a quarter moon topper. :)

1955 Sarao Jeepney

2011-11-08T15:05:00.002+08:00

This 1955 Sarao Jeepney can be seen at the garage of the Sarao Jeepney Factory in Las Pinas. Last year, K and I went there because he told me wanted to check the factory after seeing it featured at a TV Show in England. The first time I saw this factory was lotsa years ago when the Amazing Race (season 5) visited the Philippines as part of its stops. Prior to this trip, I actually thought Sarao already closed its factory, but thanks to K's request, I found out they are still manufacturing jeepneys. Even more thankful were we when we found out the gates of the factory is actually open to people without paying for any entrance fee and without any written or formal request to visit. Of course, it would be good if you give them a call a few hours before your visit so they would know and wouldn't be surprised.:)

Late 1990s, I was able to travel to Malolos, Bulacan and saw jeepneys as small as this - something that could carry six passengers (three per each side). I am not sure if the jeepneys there are still as small as this, but times like this - with so much traffic and prices of petrol going up (and up and up), jeepneys are getting longer (longest I have seen can carry 20 passengers - 10 each side) to carry more passengers while saving time and petrol expenses.

Brush Time!

2011-11-07T21:27:00.002+08:00

I never really had a favorite toothpaste until I used this - the Colgate Fresh Confidence in green. It's not so minty... and I just find myself brushing my teeth longer than the usual because I love how it feels in the mouth. I still don't know why Colgate products aren't widely available in SM Supermarkets, but it's a good thing that there's Watson where we can buy our toothpaste. :)

I brush my teeth every after meal as I find it a good way to lessen my cravings, as we know food would taste bad when you eat right after brushing the teeth, and personally, one more reason why I can't eat even an hour after brushing the teeth is because I feel the food would ruin the minty feel in my mouth. Hahaha.

Thunderbird Resorts

2011-11-02T21:37:00.003+08:00

My share this week are pictures taken last March, when sister and I went to the Thunderbird Resorts in Poro Point (San Fernando, La Union). It gained popularity because of its Santorini (Greece) like features, but it gained more popularity when actor/host John Estrada married beauty queen Priscilla Mereilles, and when it was featured in the movie "No Other Woman," the highest grossing Filipino film of all time.

When sister and I went there, security was a bit strict because it was the day after John & Priscilla's wedding, and we were told there were still some VIPs at the resort. We were still allowed to get in, thank heavens. :)

Sister and I watched the sunset as we ate our own slice of cake. Olives Restaurant sells cakes for p150 each with unlimited coffee, and because I wasn't able to try it the last time I was there, I took this chance to try it.

It's a good thing that even if the resort is 5 star, they still allow outsiders like us to come in, although of course, we can't use some facilities - we can only eat the restaurant and go to the boardwalk. Still, entering is reason enough for us to go there over and over. I think every time we travel to La Union, we will try to visit the resort.

Easy Pha-Max Wheatgrass Drink

2011-10-31T19:56:00.004+08:00

After sharing the mango coffee cooler yesterday, let's go for something healthy. :)

I was blessed to receive a lot of goodies from the Blogapalooza, and one of which was a goodie pack from Easy Pha-Max. It contained four kinds of powdered drink, and sister chose the original one.

Even if this was the basic of all drinks, it actually tasted okay for me. Wheatgrass has so many health benefits, but it's still difficult for me to include this in my daily food intake because I find it quite pricey.

Mango Cheesecake Coffee Cooler

2011-10-30T16:26:00.004+08:00

I admire people who can keep up with multiple blogs and still have a "full" life to live. I definitely need some lessons on effective time management, but recalling this certain blog thingy wherein one takes the challenge to blog on all days of the month (gosh, I forgot what it's called***), I am trying to achieve just that, and in order to do that, I need to really devote a little of my time to each of my blogs so I can be successful. This challenge does not apply to my travel blog Jenn on the Go, because editing pictures for that blog would eat my whole day.

Anyway, on this blog, I post pictures of different colors per day, and since there is no specific color meme for Sunday, I will post my Mellow Yellow Monday posts every Sundays.

Today am sharing to you the Mango Cheesecake Coffee Cooler, which mom had when he had a food trip at Cafe City 1888 (SM City Fairview). It sure was interesting to combine mango with coffee, but since I am not a big fan of mango (I do eat mangoes, yes, but I can also live without it), I didn't really like it that much. Mom said the mango gave it an interesting twist, so I guess one should really like mangoes to appreciate this drink. Hahaha.

It's been a while since we last ate there. While I don't really miss it, sister seeing me editing the pictures made her wish we would eat there on our next food trip as she wasn't around the time we went there (I was with mom and bro). Should this push through, I think I will just go for their light snacks and a cup of hot coffee.

*** Edit (4:54pm) - the term am looking for was NaBloPoMo.

From Our Morning Walk

2011-10-24T13:28:00.003+08:00

Making another two-in-one post, I always forget to post my MYM post on a Sunday.

Sister and I went out Saturday morning to walk and jog. Since this was our day to be out and "be one with nature," I took my camera with me, so I can capture images that would take my interest.

However, we saw rain clouds from afar, and it was actually raining at our would be destination. We had to cut our walk and take a different route, but we still was able to get in touch with nature, because of these pictures.

I took this near the neighborhood's chapel. The yellow flower looked a bit like squash's but am not sure if it's the same plant as I still haven't seen a squash flower that looked like this (ones I saw had a little pointy petal tips).

I sure hope this weekend the skies will be clear so sis and I can enjoy a much longer walk, and jog as well.

Brown Snake

2011-10-20T20:55:00.002+08:00

I just resized, watermarked, and uploaded pictures from Zoobic Safari on my Facebook account, and I just realized there were quite a lot of brown images there, so today, I share to you a picture of a brown snake. The Zoobic Safari had different attractions, and this was taken at the Serpentarium.

No need to worry, though, the snakes were housed in different terrariums. Although, I'd say I had a difficult time taking pictures as the place was so dark and I can't turn on the flash as the light would bounce off.

Still, it was a fun day out.

ODM Watch

2011-10-19T13:44:00.002+08:00

Haven't updated this blog for a few days, I just got busy over many things, but here's an image for Wednesday Whites...

Yesterday, brother and I attended the Canon Pixma Event at SM City North Edsa. Both of us hoped to win any one of the Canon Pixma printers at the raffle, but we didn't win. No need to be sad, because my name was picked at the raffle, too, and I got to take home this cute digital ODM Watch.

I still don't know how to set it. I am not a watch person, so I am not sure if I am going to use it or give it to any of my goddaughters for Christmas, but winning something sure made me happy. :)

Oh... bro and I still get a chance to win a Canon Pixma printer, because they have an on-going contest for bloggers who attended the event. :)

Dried Flower

2011-10-06T14:13:00.002+08:00

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of tasting Cha Dao's milk tea with my sister, my cousin Marge, and my blogger friend Daryll. After taking pictures of the place and our drinks... we were left with enough time to enjoy our drinks and catch up on life stories.

We decided to take the table with big pillows, as it felt homey doing that. At the center of each tables were little accents, and our table had this little bowl, with dried flower and wood chips, probably from a bag of potpourri. The textures and the colors were just inviting that I snapped a picture and share it to you guys. :)

Lampara

2011-10-04T16:16:00.002+08:00

I took this picture December last year, while dining at Bacolod Chicken Inasal. It was December, the Christmas season, and the restaurant adorned the wall lamps with poinsettia. Bacolod (a capital city of Negros Occidental in the Visayas Region) is known for its Masskara Festival, hence the masskara (masks) wall paper.

It's still October, yes, but Christmas season here in the Philippines actually start the first day of September, and as early as now, different establishments have started embellishing their shops with Christmas decors.

Finger Chilis

2011-10-03T14:14:00.002+08:00

This picture was taken last year as my entry for another meme, which required participants to take a picture of "unity." That time, we have a lot of these chilis because sister and I wanted to cook the Dinamita Wraps. I decided to get a bunch of chilis, tie it and photograph it.

I didn't use any background to take this picture; that time, I was still using my Canon Powershot A1000is, which allowed me to take great macro pictures with flash. To capture this, I simply set the exposure to -2, just to make everything dark, so when the flash fires, it will only illuminate the subject. Sadly, my new camera (Canon Powershot SX130is) can't take good macro pictures with flash, because its flash is located at the upper middle part of the camera, and the lens hinders the light to illuminate the subject. Whenever I try using my new camera, I'd always get this spot in the image - mainly because of the lens protruding.

Higad

2011-09-29T13:30:00.003+08:00

The rainy season made snails infest in our garden that no matter how often I check the plants to take out the snails (some days it felt like picking berries). However, when I went outside of the house yesterday morning to see if any of our plants got knocked out because of typhoon Pedring, I was so surprised to see these caterpillars. Looking around, I realized there were so many of them.

I don't know what's in our garden, but at this moment, with lots of snails and lots of caterpillars, for sure our garden is one big smorgasbord for them.

Of course, I am not happy about that at all.

Chocolate Blanco by Pan de Manila

2011-09-28T16:11:00.004+08:00

Yesterday was a "brrrr..." day for most of us, and even if storm Pedring has already left the country, there were still chills in the air, so let me share this:

A hot cup of Chocolate Blanco by Pan de Manila. The last time we visited their store to buy some bread, sister saw their rack of instant drink mix, and her getting a sachet of the chocolate drink mix gave me the desire to taste their coffee mix. Since there were only three drink mix, we decided to get one of each so we could taste it all.

Sipping this one tasted like melted white Toblerone. It was sweet, creamy, and perfect for breakfast, or with some snacks... or simply for moments when one needs comfort - especially during rainy days.

Hope you're all safe and sound.

Made for Each Other

2011-09-24T20:56:00.004+08:00

Saturdays are my lazy blog days. I am online everyday, but during weekends, I just find myself either watching videos or just browse all sorts of websites I can hop into.

Today, I told myself I am going to blog, but right after doing the laundry, I just went in my room (which is more of a storage room than a bedroom because I abandoned it a few years ago - I sleep on the living room floor) and started cleaning it. It ate my entire afternoon, and because I feel quite tired, I was thinking of not blogging, but I decided to make this post just before I call it a day.

Whenever I go to the weekend market, I spend hours taking pictures of the flowers because our own garden doesn't have that much flowering plants. Since I don't get to visit the market that often, I do make sure my camera's memory card has enough space to save nearly a hundred pictures because I do take pictures of a particular flower over and over.

Pink and lavender are my favorite colors. They just look so good together, and even this flower didn't look that fresh (too many dark speckles), just seeing a flower having two of my favorite colors was enough to make me take a picture of it.

It's been month since I last went to the weekend market and I do miss it. I really should convince the girls (mom and sis) to go there soon.

Cadbury Chocolate

2011-09-22T14:11:00.002+08:00

Going with an easy share this week on Thursday Brownies...

A picture of my sister's Cadbury Chocolate. Our late father had the sweet tooth, but because he would hoard all the chocolates a balikbayan friend or family member gave us, I somehow adjusted to live without chocolate. I do eat chocolate-flavored foods (cakes, ice cream, etc)... but the chocolate bars/candies were something I can live without.

This big bar of chocolate was given by someone dear to my sister, and because she seemed to have inherited dad's hoarding ways when it comes to chocolates, this actually sat inside the fridge for so long before she decided to open it. As you can see, there were already traces of milk because one family member would take it out of the fridge hoping sister would share it, but sister would put it back in the fridge. Well, I didn't have any problem with that... I actually never gave this one a taste. :)

Sister in Greenbelt

2011-09-21T19:58:00.002+08:00

I just uploaded pictures from mom's birthday celebration last year, and doing so made me see this picture of my sister, which I took while the family were strolling around Greenbelt after a very sumptuous lunch at Mr. Jones.

My sister isn't sexy sexy to many people's standards... she is actually a chubby young lady weighing 150+lbs (the time this was shot), but ever since I have always admired how my sister carried herself. I admire how she can dress up and go out wearing short shorts despite her frame.

I so want to be just like her. I always tell her once I get the same body frame as hers, we'd shop together because between the two of us my sister is more into fashion and other kikay stuff than I am.

Yellow and Green

2011-09-19T13:32:00.003+08:00

I was supposed to update this blog yesterday, but because the weather was cloudy and that it rained in the afternoon, internet has been a big pain in the bottoms. :) So... this means I'd post a two-in-one post for today.

This yellow/black bird was something I saw when we visited Bohol's biggest python. Since many wanted to get up close to the snake and had their pictures taken, we decided to leave the cage after we had our turn. Some of our companions still had to take their turn, and because there were other animals around, I went to take more pictures. The cage of this kind of bird (there were about 5 birds in the cage) was located somewhere people can't see at first glance, I just had to thank their yellow feathers that quickly caught my attention.

This picture was pretty much SOOC, and I really loved how my point and shoot camera was able to create that depth of field even if I was shooting on "auto" mode (because I asked mom to take a picture of me near the snake). Actually, as long as there's enough source of light, this camera of mine can do wonders. :)

By the way... I was pretty amazed, too, that even if the space between the chicken wires were quite small, zooming in on the bird made me eliminate the traces of wire. :)

For my Green Monday post, I share to you some stuff inside my loot bag when I attended the Blogapalooza at Bonifacio High Street last Saturday. The loot bag had so much stuff in it, but I noticed I grouped a few green colored items close to each other, so before I placed the items back in the loot bag, I took this picture first.

Yeah, Christmas came early to me (and 149 other bloggers) this year. :)

A Critter on a Bed of Petals

2011-09-16T14:26:00.004+08:00

While at the Simply Butterflies butterfly sanctuary in Bohol, my companions were busy taking pictures of themselves, and since I don't ask any of them to take my pictures that often, I just roamed around to find photography subjects.

It was the pink flower that I saw first, but when I came near it, I was surprised to see this little fella sitting pretty on the petals. I am not really sure if this one's a beetle or something else, but it sure looks cute where it was. :)

Thai Products

2011-09-15T14:38:00.002+08:00

I was editing pictures I took from the Weekend Market at Lung Center of the Philippines when I saw this image, and thought of sharing it for Thursday Brownies.

Aside from the stalls selling flowering plants, one that would always catch my attention whenever I go there was this stall that sells different products from Thailand. From small items like chopsticks and coin purses to the big house decorations... you'd find it here. Actually, walking through the weekend market and making a stop here felt like I was shopping in Thailand, that the very very first time that I went to this weekend market in 2008, I actually asked my brother to take a picture of me here (hahaha, feelinger-zee).

The weekend market is now located that an open area in Centris (Quezon Avenue cor.EDSA). This stall is still there, so if you want to buy some Thai products without having the need to travel overseas, you can just come here and shop. The weekend market is open every Sundays, 6am-2pm.

Fan Adorned With Flowers

2011-09-13T14:39:00.003+08:00

Last Saturday, mom attended a wedding celebration, which I unfortunately wasn't able to attend because of a tummy ache. When she got home, she quickly showed me this fan, which was given to the female principal sponsors so that they would have something to use to cool themselves as weddings here in the Philippines oftentimes require people part of the entourage to wear gowns. Well, I guess weddings at every part of the world are like that, too. The white roses were starting to wilt already; I took this picture the day after the event.

The color motif of the event was red, and sister told me the whole celebration felt so magical. Too bad I wasn't able to attend it.

The Chocolate Hills of Bohol

2011-09-05T15:01:00.003+08:00

Normally, I'd pair my Green Monday post with Mellow Yellow Monday, and I would pair Red Hot Mondays and Ruby Tuesday with Orange Tuesdays, but when I took this picture, I knew I had to pair Green with Red. :)

By the time we reached Chocolate Hills, my camera's battery was already about to die. It was a bad decision for me to go on a city tour with 25% battery juice and taking only 1 pair of spare batteries, which I still haven't tasted how long its power would take. Thankfully, my cell phone was fully charged by the start of the day, ensuring me that I could still take pictures to my heart's delight.

I was able to take pictures of the hills, but some pictures - including this one, was taken using my cell phone. Taking the stairs to the peak, I saw this group of hills with reddish plant on the foreground, and thinking it looked cute, I stopped for a picture.

There are so many legends as to how the hills were formed, but one thing's for sure: this nature's wonder is proudly Filipino! :)

A Wasp, Maybe?

2011-09-05T14:34:00.003+08:00

Like what I shared on my other blog, this yellow flowering plant was something I took while vacationing in Cebu. After taking several pictures of the bee, I was able to see this critter - which I think is a wasp (correct me if I am wrong).

Ain't it cute? The flowers were yellow... and the critter had a hint of yellow, too! :)

Eastwood City

2011-09-03T18:46:00.003+08:00

Weekends are my lazy days, but since I cannot play the Sims on our old desktop PC, I can blog today. Purple is a favorite color of mine (as well as pink), so when I found about this color meme, I already wanted to join, but it was just now that I was able to join.

I don't have that much purple pictures, so for this post, am sharing to you two images I took at Eastwood City (Libis) a year ago. It was my first time to see a dancing fountain, but now that there's one at the QC Memorial Circle, I don't feel the need to go to Eastwood anymore.

...but of course, doing food trips there is a different story.

Pink Star-like Flower

2011-09-02T15:32:00.002+08:00

Transferring the August 2011 pictures made me realize I am way, way behind my uploads in my Facebook page. I am now trying my best to upload as much pictures as I can so I can finally catch up.

Anyway, while uploading July 2010 pictures, I saw this picture and thought it would be perfect for Pink Fridays. I don't know the name of the flower, but every time I see one, I just can't stop myself from taking a picture of it.

The time I took this, the rain just stopped... it was already dusk, so I turned on the flash of my camera to take this picture. I just love how my old camera captures night macro.

Brown Candle

2011-09-01T15:15:00.002+08:00

Hello again, I am back! I've been away for almost a week - traveling to Cebu and Bohol, and although I enjoyed the six days vacation, it was really comforting knowing I am now home.

while in Cebu, we stayed at the house of Tita Fe's sister Tita Zeny (Tita Zeny is one of mom's colleagues), and since we basically have just one full day in Cebu (we arrived late night on 25 Aug, we crossed over Bohol morning of 27 Aug), we took this time to check places. I already traveled to Cebu in 2009 and was able to visit quite a lot of places, but what made this trip really, really special was that we were able to visit the church of Birhen sa Simala - Lindogon, approximately 2 hours away from Cebu City. In 2009, I was able to first see the image of Birhen sa Simala - Lidogon when it was transported from her home to Cebu Cathedral, and on this day I was able to see her own home. It was a very touching moment for me, and I cannot explain, but there was some kind of connection between us, of which I am most thankful.

This was one of the many many candles lit located at the side of the church. I, too, lit a candle, but my candle's fire was quite big (I can't move my camera near), so I decided to just take a picture of one of the much smaller candles.

Palm

2011-08-22T14:19:00.002+08:00

Back to leaf pictures for Green Mondays. :)

I took this one Palm Sunday of 2010... we forgot to buy the palm we would take to the church so we just took some off our palmera plant and arranged it to look like what most people took to the church.

It was a very sunny afternoon, and while taking the first few pictures, the sun rays hit the jalousies and it resulted to some flare. I liked the effect so I went ahead and took the picture.

Coffee Beans

2011-08-18T10:09:00.002+08:00

I do love drinking coffee (got addicted with it when I was a kid, actually), but I grew up drinking the instant kind, so I am not much into brewed coffee - I just loved smelling it. My brother on the other hand, is addicted to caffeine. He can't get enough of soft drinks and coffee (any kind).

Last Christmas, mom got to take home a coffee maker from their office party. She taught we could just use any coffee with it, and was a bit sad that her gift wasn't something the family could use everyday.

When cousin Mhai stayed here for a few weeks, she saw my brother using the coffee maker (a neighbor whose daughter works at Starbucks gave us a bag of coffee), she said they have a lot of coffee bags at home - something cousin Theresa sent from England. Since they don't have a coffee maker and Aunt Lorie thought boiling a pot of water with the coffee was a tiresome chore, she started giving away the bags of coffee. Brother asked if they still have some left, and cousin Mhai said she will take some if there are any.

This were some of the coffee beans from the bag of Marks&Spencer coffee cousin Mhai gave us. I took this picture before brother grounded it. :)

Little White Flowers

2011-08-17T15:00:00.002+08:00

This picture was taken the same day I took the Kalachuchi flowers I posted last week here on Wednesday Whites. I don't know the name of the flower, but I did love how good the pictures came out. I actually took about 6 images of this flower - different angles, different composition, and all turned out good, I didn't have to delete any one of them. Actually, this picture had very minimal post-processing... I just tweaked the curves a bit to make it look a bit ancient, but other than that (and adding the name stamp, of course), I didn't do anything more to this picture.

Seeing old macro pictures taken by my old P&S camera made me miss it a lot.

Let's Drink to That!

2011-08-15T10:59:00.003+08:00

Doing a two-in-one post today...

Last Saturday, sis and I attended the Cooking Demo presented by Yummy Magazine and Knorr, and after, we passed by Chatime to have some drinks. I chose to drink their bestseller - the Pearl Milk Tea, while my sister had the Mango Smoothie (left picture). I did like her drink, but the flavor of the mango was quite strong.

The picture on the right was taken last Mother's Day, when the family had some drinks at Starbucks - taking part of their 50% off on their frappuccino. My family chose the coffee/chocolate based frap, while I went for their Green Tea frap, just to taste it. It was good, but the Venti size cup seemed to be too much for my tummy to handle.

Kalachuchi

2011-08-10T10:54:00.002+08:00

Like what I have shared on my other photo blog, taking pictures everyday and visiting multiple places in a day whenever I am traveling caused me not to post most pictures. I am well aware of the memes I join in, and whenever I am out, I'd take pictures of this subject for this meme... take a different picture for this other meme, but because I take pictures everyday, sometimes, even if I knew I took pictures for a particular meme, I'd end up sharing the newest ones.

If you're my friend on Facebook, or if you're familiar with my travel blog, Where My Feet Took Me, you'd know I am behind one year when it comes to sharing pictures and stories. This morning, I was selecting some pictures to be used for a post when I saw this picture of kalachuchi and knowing I still haven't shared this one, I thought I'd share it for Wednesday Whites.

I took this September last year at the Sidcor Weekend Market, located then at the grounds of Lung Center of the Philippines (the weekend market is now located in Eton Centis grounds). I was there with my friend Nathalie, and from QC Memorial Circle, we walked to the market to eat lunch. Of course, we also took time to take pictures, and yes, we spent a lot of time taking pictures of the flowers.

Kalachuchi may be beautiful and may have this very sweet smell, but because it is associated with death or cemetery, I feel quite bad for the flower because it is something people don't really use to decorate their tables, and it is something people don't want to plant in their garden.

From Two Festivals

2011-08-09T22:30:00.003+08:00

Another two-in-one post for me this week... I guess I will be putting these two memes together from here on out, and if my last week's pictures were taken from one location, this week's pictures were taken from two festivals here in the Philippines.

This was taken from the Panagbenga Festival in Baguio City last February. These girls were waiting for their turn to perform. For three years now, I have been watching the festival's grand street parade, and next year, I hope to watch the float parade, too.

This, on the other hand was taken from the Pahiyas Festival in Quezon last May. It was one of the most colorful festivals I have seen, but because there were so many people packing the narrow streets of Lucban, it was quite difficult to take pictures, too. Even if we walked around for two hours, I wasn't able to take much pictures because of the clutters brought about by the people's heads. :)

Green Mondays | Seafood Pesto

2011-08-08T20:04:00.003+08:00

I noticed I have been sharing a lot of leaves picture for Green Mondays, so this week, I'd switch to foods! :)

Last grocery day, us girls (mom, sis, and I) went to eat dinner at Le Coeur de France in SM Fairview before going home. Mom and sis went for pasta + half sandwich, and mom's choice of pasta was the Seafood Pesto, because she really loves shrimps. This tasted really good - first time for me to taste shrimps on pesto (normally, I eat it with grilled chicken), and I am thinking of eating this one should we go back to eat there again.

Geese

2011-08-03T21:10:00.002+08:00

After visiting daddy's grave for his 4th death anniversary, my sister and I went to Aunt Lorie's house to meet up with cousin Mhai because we planned to go to the hanging bridge. When we got there, she was taking a nap (we had to wake her up), and while waiting for her to get ready, these geese walked by, which freaked me out a bit because I have this small fear of big birds (because of the beak). However, they're just way too cute, and we don't see geese everyday, so I got my camera to take a picture. I don't want to get near them, so I just zoomed my camera to take my picture.

Both From Colinas Verdes

2011-08-02T22:08:00.002+08:00

Shengkay invited me to join her color-themed photo meme, so every Tuesdays, I am going to share orange / red pictures. This week, pictures I am sharing are both taken from Colinas Verdes, but pictures were taken on two different days.

This type of hibiscus always gets my attention because it's bigger than the normal hibiscus I see, and I love photographing it while it's not fully open yet. When I saw this, I immediately came near it to photograph it.

With lots of green trees and grasses, this red tree truly stands out. I don't know if those are its flowers or its leaves, but whatever it is, it's just so beautiful!

Seeing the pictures I took from Colinas Verdes made me miss jogging there. It's been so long since I last went there, and I do hope typhoons would take a break in visiting the country so I can go back jogging there and take new pictures.

Green Mondays | "Water Drops"

2011-08-01T17:13:00.002+08:00

I want to unearth some pictures, so here I am sharing another picture from the vaults.

After a few days of rain, many were thankful that the heavens finally stopped crying. That morning, I went out of the house to call a tricycle for my mom, and while waiting for one to pass by the street, I went over our neighbor's garden, just to check on a plant that was knocked out by the rain. Beside it was this euphorbia plant, which had something interesting - the water drops under the leaves.

I sure want to get my lens as close as possible - hoping to take an image of the reflection in the water drops, but because I was using a point and shoot camera, this was the best I could go for.

*** Jenn ***

Anthurium

2011-07-29T20:55:00.003+08:00

One typhoon left, but a new one's here again... hope you peeps here in the Philippines are doing a-okay.

This morning, I decided to germinate my zinnia seeds. I know it's been raining and all, but I figured I might as well start with my zinnia project so if the seeds germinate and grow, I might have plants big enough to be replanted outside.

I also took time to check on my tomato seedlings - reinforcing the sticks that keeps the plant standing, and after my little garden errand, I saw that our pot of anthurium now has three small flowers. My camera was on my hand as I took pictures while gardening, and thought I might take a picture of this flower, too.

Among the flowering plants we ave here at home, this is one of the oldest. Thankful are we that it still hasn't stopped blooming.

*** Jenn ***

Thursday Brownies | Chocolate Bars

2011-07-28T20:55:00.003+08:00

I decided to share this post this week because I feel bad about something. Of all the time for the typhoon to come, I couldn't understand why it came when I was about to attend an event. Obviously, we (my sister was part of the invitees, too) weren't able to attend because of too much rain, and with two reported road accidents because of the typhoon, I chose our safety over some food tasting and mingling with co-bloggers. :(

The event was for the 1st anniversary of MedChef Cakes by Chef Hasset Go and Paul Jayson Carlos. Apart from the event itself, I was actually looking forward to this event because I could finally meet Madey in person - a blogger whom I met through Multiply circa 2005. Well, I just hope there will be more events so I could finally meet him.

This picture was taken last June when sister and I went to the Mercato Centrale (Bonifacio Global City, Taguig) to pick up my Choconut Mochicko. Sister and I also took the time to roam around and do taste tests (so many delicious foods!), and this picture was taken at MedChef's booth. They have quite a lot of pastries to choose from, but the person manning the store was busy talking to other customers, so we weren't able to ask much about it.

I look forward in coming back to Mercato Centrale because I felt the time we spent there wasn't enough to cover everything.

*** Jenn ***

Wednesday Whites | Tea Time

2011-07-27T20:08:00.002+08:00

I initially took this picture for another meme, but the SOOC shot wasn't really the "star" of the meme, but the post-processing by adding textures, so I decided to share this image here, too.

My mom has this fascination over white teapots; this teapot was given to her a few years ago by one of her colleagues, after she sort of annoyed the colleague saying she wanted it. :) My mom said this teapot was bought at a store in Dapitan (Manila), but when I visited the place last year, I wasn't able to see some. Currently, mom has about four teapots that we don't really use because we are not really tea drinkers; if we wanted to drink hot tea, we could just fix a cup for ourselves.

*** Jenn ***

My Scribble Partners

2011-07-26T20:23:00.004+08:00

My share for Red Hot Mondays / Ruby Tuesdays are these scribble partners, which I received from attending blog events. The pen is from Scan Asia (distributor of President Cheese), I got from the Yummy Eats event. Personally, I love my pen to have thin writing because my handwriting depends on the pen I am using, and I like those thin ink pens so I won't use too much space. What made me stick with this pen is because it writes smoothly, and I don't have worry about pen caps anymore.

The small red notebook on the other hand was something I received when I attended the first Bloggers' Buffet at Carol's Texan 5. This notebook is something quite special to me because the cover of the notebook was made from genuine leather, and if I am not mistaken, it was Ms. Carol Chua, the owner of Carol's Texan 5 who personally sew the pages / paper of this notebook.

This pen and notebook are always in my bag since I received it, because I want to have some things to use whenever something came up that needs jotting down - like little events that matter, or new ideas, or new things discovered. I wrote my first words last Sunday, and now I am looking forward in filling this notebook with words about life and such.

*** Jenn ***

Green Mondays | Sampaguita Leaves

2011-07-25T15:28:00.003+08:00

Happy Monday, everyone!

I am sharing another 2010 picture here on Green Monday. I was greatly fascinated seeing new leaves on our sampaguita plant, so I went to get my camera to photograph it. Sadly, the plant is now dead as one of the typhoons that visited the country that year knocked out the pot and we weren't able to revive it anymore.

*** Jenn ***

Euphorbia

2011-07-22T22:10:00.003+08:00

First time to join Pink Fridays! This is one of my favorite colors, so I am very excited in sharing the many pink stuff I have here at home, as well as other pink colored subjects I photographed as I go through life.

This was one of my old pictures that I wasn't able to share in any of my blogs. I took this after the rain, and the water drops were the main reason why I took this picture. I photograph this using the macro mode with the flash on, so the bottom right corner was dark.

We used to have this Euphorbia plant that seemed to bloom non-stop, but for some reason it just died. Now, we don't have any Euphorbia in our garden, and I think we need to add some more flowering plants in our garden to give it more life.

*** Jenn ***

Oriental Pasta Delight

2011-07-22T21:58:00.003+08:00

It's rare for me to share food pictures on my photo blog(s), so this week, I am going for food:

My sister cooked this one the other day, following the recipe we learned from a food demo we attended at the supermarket near our place. She added quite a lot of chili garlic sauce, but it still came out good. Our brother ate a lot that time. If you want to cook this, too, you can check the recipe HERE.

Enjoy the weekend!

*** Jenn ***

Thursday Brownies | Spider

2011-07-21T19:51:00.004+08:00

Brown is the color of my Thursday, but since I don't have that much brown pictures, I checked my vaults for this one:

I took this one while vacationing in La Union with my sister. We just got home from Urbiztondo Beach (watching the Surfing Break). Since our bathroom was near the back area of the house, critters can freely enter the windows and I was so surprised when I entered the bathroom and see this huge spider.

Surprised as I may be, I wasn't scared of it - in fact, instead of using the bathroom, I went to my room and get my camera to photograph it. :)) I like this kind of spiders - very still, and such a willing model. :) I actually took this with the camera's flash on and it didn't even move! When it comes to macro with flash, I miss my old p&s. My new one can't do such wonders.

*** Jenn ***

After the Rain

2011-07-20T20:44:00.003+08:00

Third day of joining color-themed memes, and White is the color for Wednesdays! My share:

I was uploading June 2010 images on my Facebook (yeah, I am so way behind on the uploads - editing each picture while juggling work / home chores / personal time is eating so much time), and when I saw this, I knew I'd make it my first post for Wednesday Whites.

I took this while walking to the nearby market, just outside our neighborhood. To save money and to exercise, I decided to walk. The rain just passed, and the rain drops created embellishment to the flowers and leaves. At that time, I was also doing my Project 365 (my first attempt), and seeing a housefly on the white flower, I took out my cell phone to take a picture. Despite the gloomy weather, I was pretty impressed at how my cell phone was able to capture this image well.

*** Jenn ***

Datu Snoopy

2011-07-19T22:52:00.003+08:00

I was cleaning the house this morning, and while wiping the Snoopy toys, I decided to take a picture of this particular toy.

This toy (along with the other 27 figurines) were something really memorable for the family, because we all went crazy scouting different McDonald's outlets just to buy their Happy Meals because we wanted to collect all 28 toys. It was a moment when we all could say we didn't want to eat their burger again because we had to eat a McDo burger multiple times a day, hahaha. But even if we were getting tired eating McDo burgers, we were happy when we were able to get the last batch of toys.

Of the 28 Snoopy figures wearing different national costumes, this is my favorite because this was the traditional Filipino costume. Well, not the typical costume I knew of, but this Snoopy is wearing the traditional "Datu" costume. People from the south part of the country wears this - if they are a Datu, of course.

*** Jenn ***

Critters in the Garden

2011-07-18T11:22:00.003+08:00

I realized this weekend that there are photo memes devoted to colors... so while I am joining the usual memes I do for this blog, I am also going to join the color memes, simply because I think life is much better with a splash of color. :)

For Mondays, I noticed there were four color memes: one for Red, Black, Green, and Yellow. The Red one I will do on Tuesdays, so for this day I will do Yellow and Green.

Both images taken April last year while jogging around the neighborhood plaza. Near the Multi-Purpose Hall was a garden, and it was really a delight to see critters greeting "Good Morning" (of course, not literally). Living in a subdivision in the city, it's rare now for me to see these fascinating creatures, so it was such a blessing that I was carrying my camera with me as I jog. Well, I do bring either my camera or my cell phone whenever I go out, so I would be ready in taking pictures of things that captured my interest.

Happy new week, everyone!

*** Jenn ***

Fabulous Friday | Berry Berry

2011-07-15T15:37:00.002+08:00

Last Tuesday, I went out the house to find subjects for another photo meme, and it led me find these berries.

Even if I took this stem off the plant just so I can have a subject to take pictures of, I did love the outcome of the shoot. I shared one image over my other photo blog (reasons why I have two is a long story to tell, haha), but there was this other image I took that I really liked and I decided to share it this week on Fabulous Friday.

Editing this, I used the Ancient Warm action and Kim Klassen's "The Wall" texture.

*** Jenn ***

Sweet Shot Tuesday | Higad

2011-07-12T15:52:00.003+08:00

I was very happy now that my ampalaya plant started bearing fruits. I took the time a few days ago to cover each fruit with paper to protect it from insects, when I spotted this hairy caterpillar. Seeing that it was stationary, I went back in the house to get my camera. The shot was gritty because it was already dusk. The wind didn't help with the situation as I couldn't lower the shutter speed of my camera without having blurred images.

Anyway, thankful I was that my skin didn't touch this critter while wrapping the fruits, or else, I might need a liter (or more) of calamine lotion. Hahaha.

*** Jenn ***

{A Photo} Challenge | Patriotic

2011-07-11T21:25:00.003+08:00

Happy new week, everyone!

This week on {A Photo} Challenge, the prompt is "Something Patriotic." I already shared the latest picture I took that would fit this prompt, so for this week, I opted to check my files again, and found this:

A picture I took last November, while on a vacation with K. The first time we met in 2008, the Rizal Park was one of the places we visited, and somehow the place had a connection with us, that when he went back here, we visited the park again. Not too much pictures like the first time, but of course, we took the time to relax, enjoy the view, and be grateful for the freedom.

The place formerly known as "Bagumbayan" was where the country's national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal was executed. It was then transformed into a park, with a huge monument of him to honor his sacrifices, his intelligence, and his ways to fight for freedom. I couldn't find any more patriotic than this image.

*** Jenn ***

Paper Heart Photo | Magellan's Cross

2011-07-06T23:57:00.003+08:00

I just changed the header of my "other photo blog," and was about to call it a night when I read Nathalie's entry for this meme, and since it doesn't have any specific theme, I decided to hop in and join the fun.

My share this week is something I took some two years ago. This is the Magellan's Cross, which can be found in Cebu City (to read more about this, please check this post). So.. why did I decide to share this old picture? Well, not that I don't have any new pictures to share, but since Danielle's post was about "motivation," I thought this was a very fitting photo.

Just a few days ago, I was starting to worry that I might not be able to come with mom next month for a few days of vacation in Cebu City and Bohol, because the ticket that one of her friends can't be transferred to another passenger. My mom sort of regretted not telling us about their plans of going on a vacation, and since she already encouraged me to join them (so they can have a photographer and to help feed my travel blog as well), she asked me to check if there will be airline seat sales so I can buy discounted air tickets. Anyway, last Thursday, prices of air fare suddenly dropped, but I couldn't book any flight online because I don't own a credit card. A blessing came when my uncle volunteered to book the flights for me, and now I am excited to fly again.

Am I motivated? Yes I am. I checked past pictures I took from my last travel to Cebu and Bohol and I realized that my pictures back then weren't as good as the pictures I am taking now (thank you God for the growth), and I am motivated to re-take the pictures and capture more images that I wasn't able to do back then. I am motivated to see more of Cebu and Bohol, I am motivated to just aim my camera and shoot away, and I am very much motivated to enjoy life and enjoy the blessings coming my way.

I am now actually taking notes about different places and different scenes I want to take pictures of, but most importantly, I am way too excited to spend a week with my mom exploring places and eating regional food.

*** Jenn ***

Sweet Shot Tuesday | Prayer Hut

2011-07-05T20:45:00.004+08:00

I took this picture last Sunday when I went to the Touch of Glory Prayer Mountain in Antipolo City with my mom and some of her friends at work. They already planned this day trip for more than a month now, but because of typhoons that visited the country, it was postponed until this day.

This part of the Prayer Mountain was something that came as a blessing for us. We were actually ready to leave as it was past lunch already, but after we checked the individual prayer rooms, one of us was able to talk with one of the staff and gave us a short tour - showing us the rooms for people who would want to stay overnight or a few days. Exchange of words brought one of mom's friends to ask about this certain area she was able to see on the Internet and the staff showed us the way and we got to see this.

We stayed in the hut for a few minutes, and as I looked back to take a final shot, this image reminded me of the movie "Eat, Pray, Love..." looks a bit like Liz Gilbert's meditation area in Bali. :)

*** Jenn ***

Oriental Blend Fruit Shake

2011-07-04T22:04:00.003+08:00

There's no {A Photo} Challenge this week, so I decided to add a splash of color on my blog.

This was a year old picture I took at the La Mesa Eco Park when I went there for a photo walk with Nathalie. The first time I went there, I wasn't able to take much picture of the place because we went there for a pre-nup shoot (I was one of the kitty cat photographers). This time, I made sure I took pictures I could use for my travel blog, Where My Feet Took Me.

This was a very cute store. I do like how the main booth looked like the fruit shake cup - with straw at the roof, too! Very few fruits, but because there was no staff at the store, we weren't able to buy a cup of fruit shake to refresh ourselves.

In a place where there's mostly earth colors, this booth with bright red and yellow colors really stood out.

*** Jenn ***

Fabulous Friday | Ampalaya Flower

2011-07-01T16:58:00.002+08:00

One of the favorite pictures I took this week, was this one, which I took two days ago. That afternoon, my siblings were busy checking the roof because the heavy rain fall last week caused some water to enter our house through the ceiling. They were able to fix what was wrong (blame the "back door" neighbors for dumping quite a lot of sand and small stones due to a house renovation), and when sister came back inside the house, she told me that one of my ampalaya (bitter gourd) plants now has a flower. I went to check it and there was this one flower, but because the vine already crawled to the chicken wire fence, I thought I'd just come near and take my camera real close to the flower, but as I used the fence as my leverage, the flower fell. Boo hoo.

It was a good thing I already photographed the flower still intact to the vine a few seconds earlier - I used my camera's zoom, but as I went down to go back inside the house, I noticed the flower fell quite graciously on one of the potted plants. If I wasn't able to get a picture of the flower real close while it was still attached to the vine, might as well take a picture of it like this - afterall, it didn't fall graciously for nothing. :)

*** Jenn ***

Sweet Shot Tuesday | Lady Bug Nail Art

2011-06-28T15:59:00.002+08:00

Sister and I are starting to fall in love with nail polish, and last week I used my GC to buy six bottles of nail polish (5 different colors + 1 colorless). Seeing that we had red, white, and black inside our nail polish container, I joked my sister I should do a lady bug nail art. Checking Flickr for such nail art, I saw one and immediately took a picture of it so I have a guide when I do my nails.

This was done a few days ago, and was a practice nail art. I admit it wasn't that pretty - there were red polish on the sides of my nail and that I didn't wait for the paint to dry before I coated it with the colorless polish, but somehow, I liked this one. My sister said it looked cute, but we really should buy a fine tip brush because the antenna was way too big.

I only did this on my thumb's nail... I still don't know if I am that artistic to actually manage to paint all my fingernails.

*** Jenn ***

{A Photo} Challenge | From a High Angle

2011-06-27T14:51:00.003+08:00

Before I share my image for this week's {A Photo} Challenge, I first would like to share the new blog header, which I made using the "Plentiful" collection, which I downloaded from Shabby Princess. I used to be a scrapbooker, but I am more into doing paper scrapbooks as digital scrapbooking was difficult for me. Now that I am learning more about GIMP, I was able to create a blog header for my sister's blog using a freebie header I downloaded, and my little triumph prompted me to create one for myself. This is the first time I was able to do something like this from scratch, so I am really happy. :)

On to my photo share:

I oftentimes take pictures from my level, so I only have few pictures taken from low and high angles. When I read about the prompt, this was the first thing that came to mind, as this picture was taken the last time I traveled by air.

It was November and my dear K and I were traveling back to Manila from Iloilo. My camera died a few days before, so the entire Iloilo trip, I used my cell phone to capture images, and when it was time to fly back to Manila, K lent me his Fujifilm Finepix S5600 so I could also able to take pictures of the clouds.

This image was taken a few minutes after take off. We took the late afternoon flight, and being seated on the west side, I was also able to take pictures of sun rays.

*** Jenn ***

Fabulous Friday | Wanted

2011-06-24T20:58:00.002+08:00

Last night, my sister and I attended the first ever Bloggers' Buffet at Carol's Texan 5, and one of the coolest things at the restaurant was this wall where diners can have their pictures taken. There were different props to be used - cowboy hats, scarves, as well as toy guns (Western style). At first my sister was a bit hesitant to have her picture taken, but when other bloggers started trying out the hats, my sister went to have her pictures taken, too.

I really like it that despite her chubby figure, my sister really looked confident. She's not afraid to wear clothes she likes, and she doesn't really mind what other people will say about her. I am glad she can now have her pictures taken without really having to smile.

*** Jenn ***

Sweet Shot Tuesday | Mommy Lilith

2011-06-21T23:13:00.003+08:00

I just finished writing something about losing kitties (you can read about that HERE), but I am really thankful that we have another female cat that gave birth a few days after Teddy gave birth. We didn't know where Mommy Lilith gave birth, but when the kitten opened his eyes, Lilith took home the kitty.

At first they were sleeping right next to me - I placed a blanket near my pillow so I can't accidentally roll over them as I sleep. However, the kitty started to wander around, so when cousin Jayson left one day, Lilith found a good place to keep her kitten safe:

In my closet! I knew it would be difficult to take out fur on fabrics, so I just covered my clothes with clothes I rarely wear. I decided to let them stay there because it would be difficult to keep the older cats out of the house - as they might bite the kitten. I seriously don't want to lose another kitten.

Right now, I still haven't given the kitten a name. I still have to wait 'til the kitten started eating solid foods... if he survives that, then I would give him a name. The kitten looks a lot like our cat Oreo, so I might consider naming the kitten after another cookie.

Another problem I have - one of the kitten's eyes is always closed because of thick eye mucus, and I don't know what to do. I hope it gets better soon.

*** Jenn ***

{A Photo} Challenge | Favorite Place

2011-06-20T15:17:00.004+08:00

I remember receiving a message from Mikayla inviting me to join {A Photo} Challenge meme, but I wasn't able to join, until this week. I guess with a prompt "Favorite Place," I surely didn't want to miss this because I am always excited about sharing pictures from my favorite place.

The first time I set foot in Vigan, it was year 2006, and instantly I was captivated by its unique charm and beauty. Since then, I visited the place whenever I can, and even if I have been there countless of times, I still don't get tired going there.

Sure I have been to lots of different places - places considered as paradise and such, but I guess I left a piece of my heart in Vigan, that even if I visit other places, I still consider Vigan as my favorite...ever.

*** Jenn ***

Sweet Shot Tuesdays | People Power Monument

2011-06-14T10:55:00.003+08:00

My share for today is a picture of the People Power Monument, located along EDSA (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue). I took this picture while on a moving bus while on the way home from Mercato Centrale last Sunday.

I actually asked my sister that I wanted to sit on the east side (right side) of the bus because I wanted to take a picture of this monument. Although the anniversary of the EDSA People Power falls on 25 February, I wanted to take a picture of this because last Sunday was the country's Independence Day and I wanted to photograph something that depicts freedom and liberation.

This monument was sculptured by Eduardo Castrillo.

*** Jenn ***

Fabulous Friday | Mt. Pinatubo Crater

2011-06-10T16:18:00.004+08:00

Let me share a short clip first before I share my Fabulous image this week:

The first magmatic eruption happened 03 June 1991, and the first large explosion happened a few days after. When the volcano erupted, I was only 11 years old, and even if we were hundreds of kilometers away from Zambales, we still was able to feel its fury because we had shovel out the ash falls on our roof and bathe all our plants covered in ash. It was a very scary moment for the whole country. Its explosion was so strong that there were traces of ash fall in neighboring countries and it made the temperature in the whole world slightly cooler.

Last Saturday, I was with some bloggers trekking to the crater of the volcano. If I did this slightly two years ago, the trek should be fairly easy because there was a sky way and the 4x4 jeeps would take the people a few meters away from the crater, but because of typhoon Ondoy (international name: Ketsana), the sky way was closed and the trekkers had to trek 10 kilometers just to reach the crater. While the trek was mostly flat lands, what made the trek extremely difficult was trying to keep ourselves balanced while trekking on rocky paths, crossing river streams (very cold water), and putting up with sudden weather change - one part was scorching hot, other parts were rainy. I really thought I couldn't make it, but I did.

I successfully trekked to the crater of Mt. Pinatubo, and seeing its turquoise water from afar just made me cry. I asked myself, how can something so pretty can be ugly as well? The trek was really memorable and a good way of soul searching. Of course, I also took the time to go down and dip my body in its "sulfuric" water. I don't see any reason why not... it's a matter of seizing the moment. :)

Our trek happened 04 June, which made us part of its 20th anniversary since its eruption, and echoing what another blogger said, "I wish the volcano will never wake up again, because she is just so beautiful sleeping."

*** Jenn ***

You Capture | Flowers

2011-06-09T14:36:00.002+08:00

It's been a while since I last joined You Capture... I am happy to be back. :)

It was just this morning that I visited Beth's blog, so it was also just this morning that I took this picture. It's been raining two days here and most of the flowers in our garden have already fallen. Good thing one of the neighbors have this very big hibiscus plant (well, more like a tree now), which never runs out of flowers, so despite the drizzle, I went over to take pictures.

I wasn't able to take that much as it was difficult balancing the umbrella on my shoulder while trying to hold the camera as still as possible to prevent shake. Among the pictures I took, this was my favorite.

This picture was post-processed in GIMP using the vintage script, and the purple hue action.

*** Jenn ***

Sweet Shot Tuesday | Capas National Shrine

2011-06-07T13:21:00.004+08:00

Last Saturday was a very wonderful day for me as my sister and I, together with some Filipino bloggers trekked to the crater of Mt. Pinatubo in Zambales (crossing the path from Capas, Tarlac). While the experience and the pictures from the volcano were enough to make it a favorite, I am going to share a different image for Sweet Shot Tuesday this week.

Before traveling back to Manila, we made a quick side trip to the Capas National Shrine in Tarlac. This obelisk was made in memorial to all the Filipino and American soldiers who died during the Death March (World War 2).

What made me share this picture is because when we got there, I was actually already happy taking a picture of the obelisk from a distance, but my sister suggested I come near and check out the inner part of the obelisk. Thinking it would be long before I can travel back here, I decided to check it out.

Standing in between the three towers (if I can call it like that), I looked up and saw this image. I really liked the contrast between the lines and circles, and with that I thanked my sister for asking me to check it out. Sweet!

*** Jenn ***

Color Splash Sunday | Koi

2011-06-06T14:23:00.003+08:00

I am moving Color Splash Sunday meme here, and here's my share for this week:

It was last May when my sister and I, together with cousin Mhai, aunt Julie, and niece Louianne went to Manaoag Church in Pangasinan. I wanted this visit to be more than just visiting the church, so we all stayed for a while and went to check the Rosary Garden after eating lunch. The place looked different than when I first saw it, so I really took time to take pictures of everything that caught my attention.

My niece had a piece of bread and decided to throw it in the koi pond. The fishes were ecstatic about it and they tried to have a bite of it. We were at a bridge, so I just zoomed in on the fishes, and this was just one of the many pictures I took.

I decided to retain the colors of the yellow one, so I could also link this post to Mellow Yellow Monday meme. :)

*** Jenn ***

Fabulous Friday | The Newlyweds

2011-06-03T10:24:00.004+08:00

Last Tuesday, my mom and I attended the wedding of our neighbor Cindy. It was a celebration that came as a surprise as we really didn't know she was about to tie the knot. They were together for such a short time, but of course we are all happy for her, as she has been hoping to meet her Mr. Right. The wedding was a small gathering - only attended by close friends and families.

When I took this picture, I was actually fighting for a space as there were also a few people who wanted to take pictures of the newlyweds. The spot I found was blocked by the flower vase and I could see from my camera's LCD that the focus was on the flowers. I tried to turn the cam on and off, yet the camera was still focusing on the flowers, probably because the light was quite bright on that side. The newlyweds might be out of focus, but somehow I liked the effect, and this has been one of my favorite pictures from that day.

*** Jenn ***

Edit Me! | Week 03

2011-06-02T09:10:00.006+08:00

Happy Thursday, everyone!

The "Edit Me!" meme is fast becoming my favorite because it allows me to be creative and it allows me to experiment and try new things when it comes to editing pictures.

This week's image is by Courtney of "One Mom's Perfect Imperfections." Editing this picture would be difficult for me because the image was colorful. I didn't want to turn this to sepia or black and white, so I came up with this edit:

Steps I made to this edit:

Resize the image to 640px on the width side.
Ran the vintage script to mellow down the colors.
Ran the National Geographic script using the default setting.
Ran the Retroactive action and flattened the image.

I decided not to put any textures on the image because I still have to learn how to effectively erase textures on the skin (especially on the girl's face).

Anyway, just for kicks, I am sharing another edit I did for the image:

This is the first time I tried my hands on turning an image to a Pop Art image, and I think I did okay with this. It was time-consuming, yes... but coloring each of the components in the image was like going back to childhood. I truly enjoyed it.

Unlike with the first image, though, I worked on this edit using the original size as I find easier to work with bigger images especially if I have to work on different components. After finishing the pop art, I then changed the width of the image to 640px.

Coming up with this edit, I just followed the tutorial I got to watch from YouTube. I personally would like to thank Malgalin for sharing his brains and his talent. :)

Both edits I loved, but I guess I could say I loved the second picture more as it was my first Pop Art edit. If you still don't know, I used GIMP to edit the image.

*** Jenn ***

Photo Hunt Challenges | May 2011

2011-06-01T11:43:00.002+08:00

First up, I would like to say thank you to the judges of last month's hunt because 8 out of 12 pictures were chosen as favorites in different categories. Big thanks!

It's the first of June now, so here's my take on the May 2011 hunt:

01. Wind

31 May 2011

Quite difficult to photograph something that is not seen by the naked eyes, but yesterday when mom and I attended the wedding of one of our neighbors, the photographer asked someone to hold the veil as high as he could and asked him to drop it so it would create some sort of a drama. The wind was able to hold the veil long enough for people to take pictures of the veil before it hit the ground.

02. Sprout

10 May 2011

I first placed the tomato seeds in one container, and when the seeds sprouted, I transferred each seedling in small growing pots. As of this writing, the tomatoes are big enough to be transferred in bigger pots. Hooray for growth!

03. Fresh

01 May 2011

Sister and I went to the Sidcor Weekend Market, and since I had my camera with me, I was able to photograph these eye candies! Now, where's the vinaigrette? :)

04. Vibrant Colors

15 May 2011

Just one of the many, many awesome colorful house display during the Pahiyas Festival in Lucban, Quezon.

05. Unique

07 May 2011

Sister and I attended a children's party, and one of the games the kids play was this - them holding an illustration board and on the host's cue, they'd draw shapes until they complete the face image. Since the kids couldn't see what they were drawing, it resulted to different funny looking faces, but one big reason why I chose this to be my "unique" picture is because... nobody is perfect, and even if some of us have things to be considered funny, we all have one unique thing in us that makes us truly one of a kind.

Echoing a Backstreet Boys' song, "What makes you different, makes you beautiful."

06. Wet

15 May 2011

Rice sprouts sprinkled with water - something I took during the Pahiyas Festival.

07. Lines

21 May 2011

After the event sis and I attended at the Enderun Colleges, we walked to the Venice Piazza in McKinley Hill to take pictures. I wanted to take a picture of the place, but sister was sitting near the fountain, so I just asked her to pose.

Anyway, I guess this picture depicted quite a lot of lines - vertical, horizontal, even curvy lines because of the water in the fountain.

08. Spring Activity

06 May 2011

There is no spring here in the Philippines, but I guess the idea of "spring" is when everything comes out... including animals. Well, I don't normally see hoppers in the garden, so I guess this critter coming out is a signal of spring.

09. Reading Material

21 May 2011

The library of Enderun Colleges.

10. One Line Perspective

11 May 2011

Sis and I went to visit ten churches this day, and one of the churches we visited for the first time that day was the San Sebastian Church in Manila.

11. Something Juicy

14 May 2011

This has to be the one prompt I wasn't able to take a picture of... but seeing this picture I took last 14 May while visiting the "Kamay ni Hesus" shrine in Lucban, Quezon made me think this might pass as "something juicy." Well, juicy being the apple Eve was offering to Adam.

Whew! So thankful I was able to hunt all images. To view other takes, please head to the Photo Hunt Challenges website.

*** Jenn ***

Sweet Shot Tuesday | Still Life

2011-05-31T21:19:00.002+08:00

Last Sunday, I set up one of our cleopatra chairs for a short shoot. I needed to come up with "Classic Still Life," and since my early knowledge for still life often involves a table set up with fruits and vase or wine glasses, I just made use of the plastic fruits we have since I wasn't able to go out and buy fresh fruits.

I took several pictures, and I chose this for my share because this focuses more on the fruits. I didn't add any textures for this, what I did was to run this image using the vintage script, then ran the sov:normal script with grain. The grain added the texture in this photograph.

*** Jenn ***

Quotography | Memorial Day

2011-05-30T14:11:00.004+08:00

The Philippines doesn't celebrate Memorial Day, but I still wanted to join this week, and here is my share:

This picture was taken November 2010, when K and I were on a holiday. The day I took this picture, we were in Metro Manila and wanted to roam around. Our destination was supposed to be the Sarao Jeepney factory, but when we found out that the factory closes at 4pm (it was already 3:30pm), the driver of the van we hired just suggested we go to Fort Bonifacio instead. I quickly thought about this cemetery, and we were happy that the place's guards let us in.

This picture is just a part of the Manila American Cemetery. At 152 acres, it is the largest cemetery in the Pacific for U.S. Personnel killed during World War 2. There are also several Filipinos and one British National buried here, but this cemetery is primarily for US personnel killed during the war. That means, if a US citizen living here in the Philippines served during the war and died just today, his remains can't be interred here in the cemetery.

I chose to share this picture not only because this is the American Cemetery, but also because in the short visit we had, one American man came to us and shared to us stories of some of the buried personnel. War is a very selfish thing - it rips relationships, it breaks the hearts of many, and the people who selflessly offered themselves are really heroes. Each cross in this cemetery is a testament that there are indeed people who are so willing to give up many things.

*** Jenn ***

Live Every Moment | Vibrant Colors

2011-05-28T14:25:00.003+08:00

For this week's prompt, I chose this picture from the Pahiyas Festival, which I took last 15 May. Every festival celebrated here in the Philippines is actually a feast of vibrant colors, but since most of the popular festivals are very far from where I live, the Pahiyas Festival was the second festival I attended, thanks to an invitation from a neighbor and friend whose family hailed from Quezon Province.

The colorful lanterns and flowers are called "kiping," these are thin wafers made from rice paste. They uses big, mature leaves as molds, and is actually edible, though of course you need to cook it. The Pahiyas Festival is celebrated every 15th of May in honor of San Isidro Labrador (St. Isidore the Laborer), in which the people of Lucban are offering different kinds of produce.

*** Jenn ***

Fabulous Friday | Sunset 052611

2011-05-27T16:30:00.004+08:00

I really thought I would have to choose another picture from last Saturday for my photo share this week. It rained almost everyday the past week, causing me to stay at home, so I wasn't able to take pictures even if I wanted to.

Yesterday, I was creating and installing the cute little page tabs and cupcake icons on my Food Blog - I Live to Eat! when a friend tweeted, "I just saw the sky turned to dark gray from bright orange, keep safe everyone." Metro Manila was spared from the wrath of the strong typhoon, but because it was too strong of a typhoon, some areas in the northeast part of the country still had some rains. A few minutes after reading the tweet, I looked outside (our front door is always open) and saw a streak of orange in the sky. I quickly grabbed my camera and took this picture.

In April, I got to take the fiery orange sunset color from this side of our house, but the wire fence was blocking the view. Feeling a little gutsy, I took the metal ladder and climbed to its topmost step and took this picture (I zoomed my camera 8x, by the way).

I feel really blessed seeing this awesome sunset colors, because about 10 minutes after taking this, the rain fell.

*** Jenn ***

Edit Me! | Week 02

2011-05-26T08:57:00.004+08:00

Welcome to the second week of Edit Me! The image was posted last night (my time), but it was just this morning that I was able to work on the edit.

The SOOC shot was provided by Misty of "Through a Photographer's Eyes." She is also this week's guest judge.

For this image, I was able to do two edits:

As soon as I saw the image, I thought it was like a painting. It also looked a bit vintage-y, so with that I came up with this steps:

Applied the Vintage Effect action.
A pass of the Brauer's Warm script set to 25%.
Applied the Canvas Texture set to multiply at 75%.
Applied Kim Klassen's Yesteryear texture set to overlay at 50%.

I was actually quite happy with this one, but I thought the canvas texture was quite too strong. I actually was already writing this post when I decided to play with the image again and I came out with this:

This one, I guess is more on the vintage side. This was a very drastic edit because I edited out the houses behind. With this one, I wanted to concentrate more on the wagon. Since it was at the center of the image, I decided to take out the houses to make the image more balanced, since it had more space under.

Steps I made:

Using the clone tool, I edited out the houses and the itty bitty details - like the electric posts, and the brown things on the lower left side of the image.
Applied the Vintage Effect action.
A pass of Brauer's Warm script set to 25%.
Applied Kim Klassen's Yesteryear texture set to Multiply at 100%.
Applied Kim Klassen's Sweettart texture set to Soft Light at 75%, just to give it a pinkish tone, since most vintage effect pictures tend to look a bit pinkish.
Unsharp mask set to 0.75.
Burn set to Shadow with range of 10.0 and opacity of 100%.

As always, both images were edited using GIMP. I do hope me taking out the houses was okay, I was a bit hesitant in doing that, but I still went with it.

*** Jenn ***

Sweet Shot Tuesday | The Venice Piazza

2011-05-24T20:36:00.003+08:00

Last Saturday was probably my favorite day of that week because not only was I able to eat awesome foods, I was also able to set foot at the McKinley Hill in Fort Bonifacio for the first time.

This part of the Fort (including the Bonifacio Global City) looked so posh that I somehow felt I was traveling overseas. True to what the name of the place is, it partly looks like Venice (Italy). Well, I still haven't traveled out of my country, but based on the books, magazines, tv shows, and movies, this place really gave Filipinos a slight taste of what it's like being in Venice.

This picture was post-processed using Kim Klassen's "not too shabby" texture.

*** Jenn ***

Quotography | Photography

2011-05-23T15:09:00.003+08:00

Every Mondays here on this blog, I do Happy Monday, but I haven't participated in a while, so I decided to join Quotography, and here is my share:

This picture was taken April 2009, when us Litratong Pinoy bloggers met up for the 2009 Aliwan Fiesta. We decided to meet lunch time so we could eat together while chit-chatting, then after, we walked to the CCP grounds to take pictures.

It was still quite early when we finished eating, and since it's rare for us to personally meet, we went to Harbour Square to take group pictures and the signature "1, 2, talon" (1, 2, jump) pictures. While Lino was setting up his camera for the group shots, we took our own moments to take pictures of the harbour.

The woman in the picture is Iana, whom I personally met for the first time that day. She is one awesome photographer, and her photographs are really great!

About the quote, I chose this one particular quote about photography because it is something I agree with 100%. Whenever I take pictures of places and things, it doesn't matter if the subject is good or not (in anybody's opinion), it's just a matter of perspective, I believe.

This picture was processed just today - using GIMP, Kim Klassen's portrait texture (one set to overlay 100% and another layer set to multiply at 50%), and Pea Zobrist font. The quote was taken from Think Exist.

*** Jenn ***

ps - linking this picture to Color Splash Sunday, too.

Fabulous Friday | Lucban Church

2011-05-20T16:16:00.002+08:00

Since I got home last Monday from a weekend getaway in Quezon Province, I still haven't had the time and the urge to go out, and that I still haven't transferred pictures from my camera taken Tuesday 'til today, so my share for Fabulous Friday is still something from last Sunday's Pahiyas Festival.

After checking out the Kiping Adorned Houses along the streets of Lucban, we went to eat lunch at Ground Zero, then went to Lucban Church to pray. We were hoping there would be a mass - as it was Lucban's feast day and it was a Sunday - but when we entered the church, it was just full of people who wanted to seek refuge from the blistering heat, and it was also full of people who wanted to take pictures. After saying my prayers, I joined the many people taking pictures inside the church, and some minutes after we decided to go out.

Ria (our neighbor and our "tour guide") told us there will be a parade later in the afternoon, so the next best thing to do was to find us a spot to watch the parade. I made a request for us to exit by the front door so I could also take a picture of the church's facade.

Part of the parade were the giant human forms, and I was really surprised seeing two giants walking around the grounds of the church. The other one (a male giant) was already making its way to where the parade would start, and his lady love (the one in the picture) was slowly following, so I just took my time to take pictures. Can't let this moment pass. :)

We weren't able to watch the parade anymore because it was just so hot that afternoon. Sad, but no regrets.

*** Jenn ***

Edit Me! | Week 01

2011-05-19T14:59:00.002+08:00

When I went online this morning, I saw Ashley Sisk's take on this meme, and I did find it interesting, but I am still new with the post-processing world, so I was a bit hesitant to join, even if I want to. When my friend Nathalie joined, too, I realized, I shouldn't put on walls in front of me. Like what I said when I commented on her post, "All of us had to start somewhere," so here I am.. joining as well.

The original author of the meme provided the image to be edited, and as soon as I saw it, I knew editing this picture would be difficult because it was already a a beautiful image to begin with, and I don't know if my edit will give justice to the image.

Using GIMP, I came up with this edit. The steps:

Resized the image to 640x427 pixels, with resolution of 300.
Gave it a pass of Cooling - Wratten 82 set to 50%, to make the coconut greener and the sky a bit bluer.
Burn, set to shadow range at 30%
Added the "Old Paper" texture set to normal at 50%.
Another pass of the burn filter, still set to shadow range, but with the opacity of 50%.
To highlight the brown tone of the texture, I also gave it a pass of Brauer's Warm filter set to 25%.
Finally, added my name stamp using the Jane Austen font.

I am not sure if my edit was good enough, but I hope it is. :)

*** Jenn ***

Sweet Shot Tuesday | Pahiyas Festival 2011

2011-05-17T14:31:00.003+08:00

I have always dreamed of seeing the wonderfully decorated houses in Lucban, Quezon every May when they celebrate the annual Pahiyas Festival - a colorful festival in honor of San Isidro Labrador (St. Isidore the Laborer), the patron saint of farmers. Every 15th of May, people of Lucban decorate their houses with different offerings, all related to agriculture.

This house in particular, was decorated with yard long beans, tomatoes, bell peppers, finger chilies, and rice. Other houses were adorned with carrots, gourds, coconuts, and a whole lot more. Though houses may differ in decorations (there is a contest for the most beautiful decoration, too, by the way), one common decoration the houses have was the "Kiping," the leaf shaped decorations made from rice paste. In this image, the kiping were the ones used in making the petals of the flowers, as well as the dangling decorations on the top part of the window. The same material was also used in making the diamonds/triangle shapes, as well as the background for "San Isidro Labrador."

Taking part of this year's festival was a dream come true for me. I am blessed to have a friend whose family hailed from Quezon Province (but their family is from the neighboring town of Tayabas), who invited me to come see the festival.

*** Jenn ***

Live Every Moment | Green

2011-05-06T21:08:00.003+08:00

Our very tall macopa tree has lots of fruits now, but because we couldn't get the fruits, they just fall off the ground, and everyday, I found myself sweeping off the flattened fruits (well, there are vehicles passing by the street). This afternoon, I remembered a meme featuring "green," and I decided to take a pause on the sweeping and take a picture before it gets darker and darker.

I first took a picture of a hibiscus' bud (no flowers yet, just all green), but it seemed lame. I tried to find another bud, it was a bit high so pulled the stem downwards, and surprise surprise... I saw a baby grasshopper!

Taking a macro shot at dusk was way too difficult, so I turned on the flash of my camera to give a little illumination (I set my camera to -2 exposure, 1/2000 shutter speed, -2 flash power, 80 ISO), and I liked how it came out, though I still don't like the fact that the flash of my camera is in the middle - the light bounces off the lens of my camera! The past point and shoot cameras I used produces awesome images when the flash is on (it somehow sharpens the images and freezes the moving subjects good), but with this camera, it just sucks having the flash on.

Good thing this little critter is a very willing model - it didn't move that much while I struggled how to position my camera. This picture, I am linking up to Fabulous Friday, too.

*** Jenn ***

Sweet Shot Tuesday | Hibiscus

2011-05-03T15:19:00.003+08:00

My favorite picture from the past week was taken last Sunday, when sister and I went to the Sidcor Weekend Market to buy some things for our little vegetable garden. While my sister was checking different stalls selling garden soil and fertilizer, I busied myself taking pictures of flowers near me. One of those was this hibiscus, and although I only took a few pictures as I don't want to lose my sister, I was happy I was able to take this one good - having the pistil/stamen clear and the rest a bit blurred.

I loved the colors of the flowers and how it all turned out, that I didn't bother doing anything to the image. I think the SOOC shot was beautiful enough, I didn't need to edit it more, though of course I re-sized the image and added my name stamp.

*** Jenn ***

April 2011 Photo Hunt

2011-05-01T20:04:00.006+08:00

It's the first day of May now... time to present the pictures for the April 2011 photo hunt.

01. Animals

(30 April 2011)

Well, just an "animal" for me... I took this after I took pictures of the sunset clouds. For a few days already, I have been hearing a different kind of chirp, and while taking pictures of the clouds, I heard the chirp again and saw this bird. It was pretty, but because it was dusk already, my camera wasn't able to capture its colors well (it's brown with white).

02. Bedroom

(29 April 2010)

I just changed the linens because mom told me cousin Jayson might arrive today. I didn't bother clearing up the desk anymore since this wasn't my bedroom anymore, but later that day, I found my cat Orange-y sleeping on the bed! This cat really loves fresh linens (I can't blame him - who doesn't love the smell of fresh sheets?), so I just let him sleep for a while. Of course, I gave the linen a pass of sticky tape to take out the fur.

03. Best From 16 / 17

17 April 2011

My sister and I went to the Sidcor Weekend Market, and before going home, I asked sister if we could pass by the plants section so I could take pictures of the flowers. It was already near lunch that time so there weren't that much to take pictures anymore, but I was able to see this passion vine flower hidden somewhere - hooray!

04. In Fashion

(04 April 2011)

A rather "stolen" shot of my sister wearing tank tops and miniskirt - something in fashion this summertime.

05. Lawn / Garden

(17 April 2011)

Another picture taken at the weekend market.. I am not sure what this plant is called, but I typically see the yellow kind, so seeing ones in purple made me very interested in taking pictures of it.

06. Lazy

(10 April 2010)

A few years ago, I got to read an article about cats being the "masters" and not a pet because of how it manipulate its owners to do things for them, and that they are always asleep, etcetera etcetera. Digging deep about it, I tend to believe it, and my cats aren't different - they surely love to sleep and relax. :)

07. Playtime

(05 April 2011)

Another picture of my cat Oreo. I was playing computer games that day, which made him a bit jealous I guess, so when I wasn't giving him much attention anymore, he decided to jump up the desk and lied on my net book! What a way to ruin a playtime. :)

08. Rain / Water.

(30 April 2011)

My old Troll doll taking a shower in the sink.

09. Silhouette

(30 April 2011)

I was writing a blog post when a Twitter friend of mine twitted, "Sunset Alert!" It made me check the sky and true enough, it was beautiful! Well, there's a big house hindering my view of the sun, but the colors of the sky were so beautiful, I went back to get my camera. I took this from the side part of our house... we had some chicken wires as fence to deter robbers (well, there was a high concrete wall anyway, we just had the wires installed to add more protection), so as you can see, there were "mysterious" lines in the image.

Framing the shot... the neighbor's avocado tree was just there - so might as well include them in the shot. The warm light from the sun provided a good silhouette look on the tree, don't you think?

10. Something Tiny

(01 April 2011)

A macopa flower I was able to take a picture of. It had so many tiny pollens (am I right?) that made it really, really pretty.

11. Something Huge

(27 April 2011)

Well, the fish wasn't huge to begin with, but seeing the cat and presenting the image in this perspective, it really made my cat small and the fish huge.

12. Texture

04 April 2011

There is texture from the strawberries, but as I post processed this, I incorporated two textures I downloaded off the Internet. This was the very first image I post-processed with textures, so I don't know if I did good or not... I just experimented with the image.

By the way, the textures I used for certain images were taken from different sources. The pink one, which I used in the strawberry image was taken HERE, the grungy old paper which I used both in the strawberry image and that of the macopa flower was taken HERE and the last, which I used in the bird image was taken from HERE. My biggest thanks for sharing your talent.

For more takes on different items for hunt, please check the Photo Hunt Challenges website. The May 2011 photo hunt list is now up, as well... see you all again next month, and thank you for dropping by here.

*** Jenn ***

Don't Disturb!

2011-04-30T20:02:00.004+08:00

I have always wanted to join Live Every Moment since Simple Life Photographs hosted "Flowers on Saturday," but weekends are my lazy days to blog, and I always kept forgetting taking pictures of the prompts. I feel lucky today because there is no specific prompt, meaning I can finally plunge in the fun. I am also linking this up to Camera Critters because I might be out tomorrow.

This is my cat Oreo. When he and his siblings were a few weeks old and they started opening their eyes, they used to sleep next to me, occupying a part of my bed. Now, they don't like to sleep near me anymore, but I realized that whenever he sleeps, we would always sleep like this - kinda like a human lying on a bed.

I just finished tending my little vegetable garden, and when I got back inside the house, I saw Oreo sleeping in the terrace and thought it looked cute, so I took a picture using my cell phone, which was always inside my pocket. I just took a picture for the Art of Composition meme so my cell phone was still in B/W mode, which I didn't bother changing, since I didn't want to miss the moment, should the cat wakes up upon sensing me coming near him.

Well, I guess he was really sleepy because he never moved even if I already took the pictures.

*** Jenn ***

5 Minute Friday | If I Could, I Would

2011-04-29T22:11:00.002+08:00

I wasn't able to do anything online this afternoon because I watched the coverage of the Royal Wedding... and now that's over and that I was able to finish editing Facebook pictures for upload, I can now start writing for my blogs.

Topic for Five Minute Friday is, "If I Could, I Would..." and here's my take.

GO.

If I could erase all the negative vibes and the pains in my heart, I would. It would surely be great being in a happy state - away from everything that's pulling me down, but I do know that would be impossible.

If I could just forget every wrong thing people said and did to me, I would. It surely is nice to move forward feeling brand new, but just like me, I know everyone have their own scars they wanted to erase.

If I could be away with problems, I would. It surely is nice living a great life without having to think of responsibilities and obligations, but I know problems will always be there to test us, and that sometime we are the ones who create our own problems.

If I could be all these, I would... but I know I can't, and I totally understand, because problems, negativity, pains, and scars aren't things given to me to wear me down, but little challenges to test my faith and courage. Problems are part of all of us, and thinking hard about it, if there are no dark sides, life would surely be very boring.

STOP.

Wow, that is quite a long entry I got there for five minutes. :) The picture in this post is actually a scan of a 12x12 paper scrapbook I created in 2007. That was the year I lost my father, and I used the pain to create this layout, and a letter for myself. I really love this layout because I was able to finish this in one sitting. It was quite an easy layout to do, but cutting the letters I used in the title took sometime because I printed very small letters.

Anyway, being positive is a learning process for me. While I could say I am doing good at it - there are times that I really struggle, especially now that there is a little hatred brewing up. Well, not really hate, but I could say I am starting to dislike a person and I hate myself for feeling like this. I have already lifted up my concerns to God, and I know He will help me ease the pain. See... there is beauty in pain, because I can use it to come closer to God and to my family and friends by seeking their opinions and advices.

*** Jenn ***

Orange-y's Playtime

2011-04-26T20:57:00.003+08:00

I have two sets of AA Batteries left for my camera, and it was quite unfortunate that I wasn't able to charge the other set while using another, so both of the sets were not available for quite sometime this week. Most people were sharing pictures from Holy Week, and I feel a little left out because I didn't go out to do Visita Iglesia (church hop - a tradition among Catholics here in the Philippines), and I also wasn't able to attend church services because all celebrations were done at the parish church and not here in the sub-parish. I did attend the Easter Sunday mass and we had our own time for reflections and contemplation, so I wasn't as guilty as I should be. :)

Anyway, my favorite shot from last week was this - a picture of my cat Orange-y I took last Sunday. This cat of mine was a bit aloof and didn't want to mingle with the other cats (he's also the one that always love to be indoors and could stay inside the room whole day if we allow him to), so after eating his lunch, he just went to lie on the desk in our terrace and played with this little plush toy. It just looked so cute - a male cat playing with a plush toy, so I quickly grabbed my cell phone to capture it. I set my cell phone's camera to macro, and it took a while for it to focus and capture the shot, and when I looked at the image, I was quite amazed seeing Orange-y sticking out his tongue like that.

I am happy Orange-y is feeling much better now... last week he was having a cold and a flu (well, he was so hot whenever I would carry him and he would just sleep all day and would walk a bit sluggish), and although he still wheezes from time to time, seeing him with so much life makes me a happy mama.

*** Jenn ***

Happy Monday | Siblings

2011-04-25T21:00:00.002+08:00

I still am not done re-uploading the photo files I burned in DVDs, so there wasn't much pictures I could check for certain memes I am joining. This week on Happy Monday Challenge, the prompt is "siblings," and from the few pictures I had in Facebook and in Flickr, this was the first sibling picture I found:

Early this year, my sister and I found ourselves a little "addicted" to the soft ice cream being sold at a corner store near the entrance of the neighborhood. Every day, we would walk there to buy a cone of ice cream each, but we didn't want to walk back home with a cone of ice cream in our hands, so we would always stay at the store and eat our cold treat.

Anyway, I found a table for us, and while sister was lining up, I saw these two siblings (their father was with them, so even if I don't know who they were, I knew they were brothers) who were also eating ice cream. The younger brother wanted to tell something, but he felt a little shy to say so because their father was there, so the older brother just leaned over to listen.

This may not be captured wonderfully (I used my cell phone here by the way), but I did like that I was able to capture a nice candid moment.

*** Jenn ***

Happy Monday - April Showers

2011-04-11T21:31:00.004+08:00

I already featured the story HERE, but I didn't show the picture behind the story, so I decided to share it today for the Happy Monday challenge, since the prompt was all about "April Showers."

That's my sister showing off the Tangadan Falls, a place we visited together with two of our cousins and some of their friends. I am not much of a traveler, but I could say I have checked quite a lot of places already, and of all the challenges I have faced as a traveler, this would have to be the toughest ever. So tough, none of us were willing to go through it all again, even if the "pot of gold" at the end was a paradise like this one. I guess for now, I will just be satisfied with the pictures, but of course, given another chance in the future (like next year kind of future), I might go through it all again.

Of course, I was very thankful about the trip, and I guess for this year, this was the most rewarding trip I made. There are still eight months to go this year... will this be topped by some other trip? Only time will tell.

Happy Monday everyone!

*** Jenn ***

ps - I encoded a wrong year for the picture... it's 2011, not 2010. Will just replace the picture tomorrow morning, it's way past my bed time.

Joy of Luck - Day 07: My Rainbow

2011-04-11T15:35:00.001+08:00

I wanted to take a fresh picture for this last prompt, but I couldn't find the time and the inspiration to do so, so I will use an old picture.

Day 07 - My Rainbow.

"At the end of the rainbow, you'll find a pot of gold...."

...so goes the first line of the song, "The End" by Earl Grant. When I was a kid, I used to wish I could see the end of the rainbow and find that pot of gold and I would buy lots of candies with it. Of course, as time went on, I realized it wasn't real, though I got to learn as I mature, that rainbows aren't necessarily those seven-colored stripes we see in the sky. Rainbows are something that gives us hope, that gives us a promise for a new day, kinda like when God showed a rainbow as His promise to never destroy the world by flood again.

Currently, I am having a lot of monsters in my head. Discussing the details would take up all the space, but even if I am not going to tell anything about the problems, these problems are slowly eating my mind. For the past few days I have been coping up with heartburn because (maybe) of slight indigestion (I am also involuntarily throwing up after eating for reasons I don't understand), and I always get a little crazy whenever I hear the phone call or when I hear motorcycles passing by. Last week has got to be the "worst," as I start and end my day with thoughts that I am not supposed to think about.

Last weekend gave me a little time to breathe... and though the problems are still there, I know I just have to lift all my worries up to the Lord, and trust Him that everything that is happening is something I can deal with.

As for my rainbows, well, I am pretty much a simple person, so I am praying to have a little piece of land I could cultivate. Just this morning, I discussed with sister the thought of me taking care of some livestock, but yes, as simple as this seem be, it's a big mountain to climb. Should I pursue my dreams of becoming a farmer Jenn may mean giving up the city life, and even if I am a country girl at heart, I am not sure if I can actually leave the idea of giving up certain things, including living away from my family.

I also pray to have a family of my own... I will be 31 next month, and I still am single. I sure hope Mr. Right is somewhere near, as I am waiting so long to finally meet him.

Lastly, I pray to have a good life. A good life that is not necessarily having all the riches of the world, but good in a way that I am happy and fulfilled with the simple joys God has showered me.

*** Jenn ***

ps - The Joy of Luck class has ended, and even if it took sooooo long for me to post all my take to the lessons, I am glad that I was able to get into my inner self and reflect about some things.

5MinFri - If You Met Me...

2011-04-08T20:34:00.004+08:00

Last week, I had no connection, so I wasn't able to join. I am happy that this week, Internet has been nice. This week, the prompt is "If You Met Me." Ready?

Go.

The very first thing you'd notice about me would be my size. However, despite my extra large frame, I seem to be fading in the background because I am fairly quiet, especially during gatherings. Well, at first I could be really timid - I am not really the type who voice out a whole lot of opinions and points of view, but as you get to know more of me, I think I have a little sense of humor and that I am a little crazy at times.

If you met me, you might consider me a walking contradiction because I love organizing my things alphabetically and I arrange my files according to their dates, yet even if I have this OC-ness, I am a pretty messy person literally. I just hate cleaning, so at times my room turns into a storage area.

If you met me, you'd see how I cherish my very few relationships. I don't have that much friends, but I do hold on to those few people. If you met me, you'd see how I love and respect my family. If you met me, you'd see how sweet of a person I am, and If you met me, you'd see how much I strive everyday to see the goodness in all things.

Stop.

Really? That's all I was able to write in 5 minutes? Awwww....

Anyway, time may not be enough, but if you check back here once in a while, you will surely get to know more of me though my pictures and words. Isn't it great to be a life artist? I just love celebrating life!

*** Jenn ***

SST - Anna Sui Slip Ons

2011-04-05T08:48:00.002+08:00

I wasn't able to join last week because I didn't take that much pictures. The past week, I have been a little shutter happy, and among the pictures I have taken, this is my favorite:

I am a person who always wear flat footwear because of my weight. I do own some footwear that provides a little elevation (all have 1-inch heels), but I only wear it if I won't walk that much. I am not into shoes, I just have what I basically need, but I am a woman, too, and there were times that I admire certain girly things... like this pair of shoes.

As what I have written on my other blog, Shutter Happy Moments, us three girls (mom, sis, and I) saw a garage sale and knowing that this pair of Anna Sui slip ons cost only p190 (usd4.27), I instantly grabbed it and bought it, since the original price was p980. I took this picture in black and white, but in case you wanna know, the shoes are red in color. Red isn't a favorite color, but I just don't know what's my connection with red, that I just love some of my things (bags and wallets primarily) in red. Not too long ago, I hoped of owning a pair of red girly shoes (I already owned a pair of red sneakers while I was in college), and now it just came true.

*** Jenn ***

Joy of Luck - Day 06: Biggest Current Blessing

2011-04-02T20:24:00.002+08:00

It's been a while since I last updated my Joy of Luck posts... two more days to go, and here is the second to the last prompt:

Day 06 - Biggest Current Blessing.

Last January, mom told me cousin Jayson (eldest son of Aunt Bing, mom's youngest sibling) will be staying here in our house for two months because he needed a place to stay while reviewing for the ECE board exams. At first I wasn't that happy about it - we weren't as close to our maternal relatives and the family wasn't used to having "other" people in the house. However, I understood the whole situation and we wanted to help him (it would be much better for him to stay here than rent a boarding house for two months), so I learned to compromise.

He is a week or so younger than my sister, so of course I am not really close to him. He is also the silent type, though as the days passed, we were able to share stories and he would sometimes laugh at my silly antics.

When sister and I went for a short vacation in our paternal hometown, brother sent me a message telling our Internet was disconnected. I wasn't able to settle it right away as I am having big financial problems and I didn't want to tell mom about it. When cousin found out about it, he was quick to lend me his Internet Stick, telling me that he rarely use the stick and it was postpaid (unlimited Internet connection), so he sight I might as well use it. I was really thankful about his gesture, and although I have to stay in our terrace so that the signal would be excellent, I happily grabbed the blessing and it made me stay online for as much as I can. The only disruption was whenever he would take it back because he would lend it to his classmate who also needed Internet connection because of their lessons.

Despite him being quiet, he was a real sweet cousin. He would volunteer to wash the dishes, and hearing I love playing games as my diversion while editing pictures or writing my articles, he would sometimes give he copies of games, including the PC version of "Angry Birds," which is annoyingly addictive (I love it).

Just the other day, he came straight to me when he got home and gave a copy of FOOD Magazine April 2011. I was surprised about it, and he told me he passed by the bookstore, saw this and remembered I love reading culinary magazines. I was really, really touched and mom was happy that despite our age difference and our gender, we are becoming good friends. If he didn't stay here, for sure I wouldn't receive all of these blessings.

Thank you for the kindness, couz! I will just let God pay you in my behalf as I couldn't give you anything. I pray you will pass the board exam. Claim your victory, engineer! :)

*** Jenn ***

Joy of Luck - Day 05: What Brings Me Luck

2011-03-29T08:10:00.002+08:00

There are only seven days to this class, and I am still not finished. :) Well, am slowly catching up...

Day 05 - What Brings Me Luck.

For a person who has this small fear of dying while sleeping, waking up to brand new day is something I consider a big luck, or a big blessing. Mornings are my favorite time of the day - breathing the fresh cool air and greeting people (even the cats) good morning is something so special to me, which is why if I wake up very late, like 9am late, I would feel really down as if a part of me was taken away. Waking up to a new day gives me a fresh start... to correct my past mistakes, and to do things that I needed and wanted to do.

This sunrise picture was from my files; I love seeing the sun rise, and I was so lucky to see one when my sister and I went to Colinas Verdes to walk and jog. I never really realized that seeing one is just a kilometer (or so) away from our place, and now that I know, I have another reason to love the morning.

*** Jenn ***

5MinFri - Waking Up

2011-03-25T18:05:00.003+08:00

As I have mentioned in my previous post, I am going to do photo memes here that could impart a personal side of me. For Friday, I am going to do "Five Minute Friday," and this will be a challenge becauseit normally takes me 30 minutes, sometimes 1 hour to do my blog posts (distractions included), but for this meme, I am going to time myself and see what I can come up with in 5 minutes.

Topic for this week is "Waking Up."

Go.

I used to start my day early, but for sometime now, I am waking up later than I should have and at times I do feel guilty about it. Guilty because I somehow neglect fixing my mom's breakfast - she's the main breadwinner here in the house and it pains me that I just couldn't get up to heat some water and prepare something for her. Mom wasn't complaining at all, but of course, being the eldest daughter, I know I have my own responsibilities.

I am actually thinking of setting the alarm so I could wake up as early as 6am. Another change, but I know that if I put my focus on it, I could do it.

Please extend your understanding, mom, alright? The coming week, I will surely wake up early for you. I love you mommy.

Stop.

Whew... I didn't know five minutes could get off as fast as that! Well, I want to become a bit poetic about my post - talking about the significance of waking up as a sign of hope and to correct previous mistakes, but I guess I could write about that next time.

Hmmm... looks like I am going to enjoy this meme.

*** Jenn ***

ps - One thing I look forward to waking up is breakfast. A day is not a day if I don't eat breakfast, and yes, I do love the classic Filipino breakfast, complete with rice and a cup of coffee.

Joy of Luck - Days 03 & 04

2011-03-23T10:13:00.005+08:00

The Joy of Luck classes are moving forward and I am trailing, so today I will do a two-in-one post so I could catch up with the classes.

Day 03 - Lucky Symbols.

There are a lot of lucky symbols, including the four-leaf clover and blowing fallen eyelashes, but I personally haven't seen a real four-leaf clover, and I never really believed the eyelashes thing, so I really thought hard what MY lucky symbol is. I want this class to be as personal as it could be, and when I checked my wallet, I saw this piece of earring, and it brought back memories from not so long ago, and felt this is my lucky symbol.

Last February, my sister and I went to Manila City mainly to do church hopping, and after hopping through three churches, we found ourselves walking to Divisoria, a well known market place in the city. Known for its low prices, it is also known to be one nasty place, and people going there are always advised to wear as casual as they can (if they can roam around wearing house clothes, the better) and to not wear any piece of jewelry. It never crossed my mind to take out my earrings - maybe because it looked silver and no snatcher would take interest in it because silver jewelry don't have much value (my earrings are actually made of real white gold). However, after making a stop from walking, I just felt somebody running from behind, and the next thing I know his hands were already in my ears. It happened so fast, yet so slow - as soon as I felt the hands in my ears it seemed my whole world froze and that my life flashed before my eyes.

When it dawned on me that I have lost the earrings, I tried my best to move forward and to never look back, but someone shouted "miss," I looked back and saw a man reaching out and gave me back this. He told me people got ahold of the snatcher but he wasn't able to get both of the earrings. I thanked the man for his kindness, and even if I lost the other piece, having this one to hold on to was something that makes me satisfied to say the least. I am lucky that day... I brought my camera, cell phone, and some cash, and I know that things happen for a reason. I know being robbed was something that would happen to me that day, and contemplating about it, I was thinking: what if I took off my earrings?

I then felt lucky I had my earrings on. Let half of the earrings go, at least I still have my life.

... and my camera and my cell phone. :)

Day 04 - Seven Favorite Things.

I am a person who take delight in many little things, so to think just seven of my favorite things was quite difficult for me. This picture has seven of the oh-so-many favorite things in my list... not necessarily my seven topmost favorites, but seven favorites nonetheless.

Yoko, my netbook - Something I acquired July last year with the help of my dearest K. I only had limited money that time, so I really had to think which among the netbooks will pass my standard without breaking my budget, and in the end I chose to buy the Lenovo Ideapad S10-2. I was hoping to get the purple one, but the black one was the only thing they had, so I just went with it.
Cysho, my cell phone - I didn't own that much cell phones in my life, so in 2007, when my old Nokia 3210 cell phone died, I was hoping to purchase the Motorola V3x, something my sister used to own because it already has a camera and I already tried having pictures printed in 5R sizes and it looked just fine. Luckily, as I check shop after shop to see which has the lowest price (it was priced 12 thousand pesos that time), I got to enter a cell phone shop selling cell phones with NTC (National Telecommunications Commission) seal - something new that time, and it somehow assured me that I will getting a real phone, not just some fakes circulating here and there. They didn't have the Motorola V3x, but they had the Sony Ericsson K800i selling at the same price, so I just went for it. It was a lucky choice, because it had a great camera (almost like having a real digital camera), and up to this day I am still using it.
Zoe, my iPod Nano. Late 2009, I joined a Facebook contest sponsored by Coke Zero. When I joined, I just joined for the sake of joining it. I never expected to win, but I did! It took nearly a year before I used it; I just let it sit inside my closet because I was hoping to sell it (MP3 players aren't the type of gadgets I took interest in since then), but nobody took interest, so I decided to use it. It has 8GB memory and I already filled half of it, and although I rarely use it, I was happy that I decided to use it.
Zooma, my digital camera. While on a holiday last November, an accident came when the tripod where my old camera was sitting on tipped over the beach shore and the lens caught a lot of sand. I survived the rest of the holiday by using my cell phone as my way to capture images, but a few weeks after, I felt a bit depressed because I felt crippled by losing my camera. I was having financial problems that time - and with Christmas coming, I felt I could use money to get some other important things, and K understood my situation. He felt it was partly his fault because it was his tripod and he did lose one of his old cameras because the tripod tipped over, too, so he sent me some money so I could purchase a new camera. It wasn't much, so even if I have been dreaming to own a DSLR camera, I still couldn't. I am pretty much confident using a point and shoot camera, but I also wanted some sense of growth, so I chose between a Canon Powershot SX210is and Canon Powershot SX130is. In the end, I went for the SX130is - the one with the shorter zoom level (12 times optical compared to 14 times), cheaper cost (8,900 pesos compared to 12,900), but the one with a much greater review from different sites. I still am not fully embracing this camera (I felt its image quality wasn't as good as my old camera and that I hate that the flash wasn't giving me much help because the light bounces from the protruded lens), but it's my baby now, so I have to love it. It's not at all bad, though. I am loving its macro function and yes, the longer zoom level did help me a lot.
The Piggy Socks. I always wanted to own socks with toes because I own flip flops and it would be difficult to wear flip flops going to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I wear socks (after giving it a good rub of petroleum jelly) before I sleep to help in moisturizing my soles, and when I saw this pair of socks at a shop while in La Trinidad, I knew I just have to buy it. :)
Nail Polish. Before, I could only apply nail polish in my toenails because I didn't know how to apply nail polish in my fingernails. Late last year, I decided to grow my fingernails and started practicing in applying nail polish in my fingernails. I still am not good, but now I know I can decorate my nails without having to go to the salon.
Baby Oil. Much cheaper than lotion and much better in moisturizing the skin. I am very happy now that baby oil comes in different scents, and since my favorite color is purple, it's the one I am using now. It smells so good! I don't think I would like to use lotion anymore now that I have this.

I still have a lot (and I mean a lot) of favorite things, but for now this will do. :) The picture in this prompt was taken using my sister's Nokia C3 cell phone, then processed in GIMP by adding some lomo hues.

*** Jenn ***

My Supermoon

2011-03-22T15:05:00.004+08:00

I have two photo blogs, and with so many great photo blog memes, I am having a rather confusing dilemma as to which blog will use a particular meme. Currently, I am using the other photo blog (http://shutterhappyjenn.blogspot.com) as some sort of a "technical" photo blog - using photo challenge memes, and this one would be my photo blog with a personal touch, and will do photo memes which I can impart a personal side of me as well.

For Tuesday, I will be doing "Sweet Shot Tuesday," because its aim was to showcase the best picture taken from the previous week. I figured that is something quite personal, because I had to choose which I think was the best photo for me, right?

My photo share for this week was taken the night of 19 March. I have already read in several articles and heard in some news programs about the "Supermoon" happening this day, but its schedule here in the Philippines will come at 2AM of 20 March.

I checked the sky around 9PM of 19 March, just to see if there would be something different to the regular full moon. Well, the moon wasn't as huge as I hoped it would be, but what amazed me was that I could see the moon's dark spots from where I stood.

Figured I might not be able to wait 2AM and worried that the "supermoon" will hide from our neighbor's roof, I decided to take the tripod out and take pictures of the moon at that moment, just because I don't want to miss the moment. In case the moon would be shy of showing itself at 2AM, at least I already have a picture of the moon. :)

I took this picture using the 12x optical zoom of my camera at shutter speed 1/1250. I have always wanted to take a "good" picture of the full moon ever since I had my camera (which I named Zooma), and now some three months later, I finally have it.

*** Jenn ***

ps - My brother waited for 2AM, but decided not to wake me up anymore because he said the clouds were blocking the moon. Well, I may not have caught a glimpse of the actual supermoon, but I am definitely happy I have a picture of the moon that night.

Joy of Luck - Day 2: Green

2011-03-21T14:59:00.003+08:00

My posts for the Joy of Luck classes are a little delayed because my Internet connection is not so good this weekend and it was becoming a bit of a burden to me, but I am still okay - there are things I cannot control, so I will just let it pass. :)

Day 2 is about "green," and I decided to take pictures of my rosary. Many years ago, parents came home after hearing mass at a different parish, and my dad was very excited to show me their new rosaries (mom and dad had one each), something they bought from the visiting nuns. Dad was happy about it because profits gathered from selling the rosaries will be used for charitable causes. The rosaries for sale was of different colors and each was labeled according to the colors of birthstones. I expressed how cute the rosaries were, so dad told me that if the nuns will still be there come next Sunday, he'd buy us a rosary each, too.

Luckily, the nuns were there, and dad gave me this rosary. I was born in May, so my birthstone is Emerald. Green isn't one of my favorite colors, but I was happy to receive this - which pretty much was my first rosary. Well, I am loving my rosary because it was very distinct - my siblings' rosaries had a hint of blue (so is mom's), and there is no way we could accidentally exchange each others' rosaries. :)

I am not as religious as my late father was - I don't put a rosary in my pocket and I don't place it under my pillow when I sleep... but being a Catholic, I do know the importance of the rosary, which is why I am taking utmost care of this one. I would see to it that I would place it in my jewelry box after using it, so I won't misplace it. This rosary is one of the few tangible gifts my dad gave me, so I am really cherishing this one.

*** Jenn ***

Joy of Luck - Day 01: Gift

2011-03-19T21:40:00.004+08:00

My post for Day 1 was delayed due to Internet problems... but anyway, Day 1 is all about "the Gift," with a question being, "What is a gift that you often take for granted."

The first thing that came to my mind was my feet. Being the bottommost part of my physical self, I often take it for granted - I rarely wear flip flops when at home (I love walking around in bare feet), and the only closed pair of shoes I own are my rubber shoes, which I only wear when I jog. I do own another pair of flats, but I don't get to wear it now as the material already stretched and my feet don't fit good in it anymore. My feet don't receive a whole lot of pampering - I do wash my feet before I sleep at night, but I don't really do much about it - no foot spa, no moisturizing, no massages. Just water and soap at night and I am good. I did get to wear socks before sleeping, but when I forgot doing the routine twice in a row, I was back to my old lax self.

I know I need to give my feet some lovin' because this gift was something I use everyday. I love to walk (whenever I have the chance), and being a traveler, having a pair of feet was one of the best things I have. Heck, my feet were one of the best gifts I received when I was born, come to think of it. I love that I was able to explore places because of my feet, and I love that I am free to go wherever I want (even around the house) without any problems. With everything my feet has given me, it was just right that I give it the love it needs and deserves, but at most times I was totally taking it for granted.

Late February to early March, I went to my paternal hometown and my feet suffered a whole lot of blows. It got dry, my soles got thicker, and on my last day there, I injured my big toe (right foot) because I was stupid to do a jump shot on a hanging bridge. I had to dress my wound time to time and yes, I had to go to the clinic to have a shot of tetanus toxoid... and the whole thing was such a hassle. Still, with an injured foot, I continued walking and traveling.

Realizing that I have taken my feet for granted, my feet are currently on rehabilitation. My toe is now healed - but I still can't cut the nail (main reason why my feet are wearing socks in this picture). I have also started applying petroleum jelly on my feet (including the soles) to soften the skin, too. Just after a day there was an improvement, but of course, I still have to continue moisturizing it. I know my feet won't be as soft as baby's, but at least I know in time my feet will be much better than it is today.

For the gift you've given me feet... I am giving you my gift as well. Thank you for the miles and the experiences, and here's to many more years of walking and discovery!

*** Jenn ***

ps - My cute socks were bought at a shop in La Trinidad, Benguet last 04 March. I really wanted to own socks with toes, and I was very lucky to see a pair while traveling. The socks are now my feet's best friend.

Day 28 - Future

2011-03-15T17:36:00.004+08:00

So here it is.... the last day of Joy of Love. It has been a great month of recognizing the love and joys of loving, but yeah, before I close up, my last picture first:

Day 28 - Future.

My sister is currently unemployed, so definitely, one of her primary goals is to get a new job. I know my sister is hoping to get a job overseas, but currently she is trying to get more knowledge and training here. I know my sister has high hopes about things, and I am praying that she will be able to fulfill it all.

Whatever's in store in the future, all I can say to my sister is to keep moving forward. Somewhere along her way around life she will stumble, she will fail... but the true measurement of man is how he gets up after a stumble, so to you my sister... don't be afraid to fail, don't be afraid to try something new, don't be afraid to risk. Should you fail, get up and use the lessons to make you a better person.

Your family will be here to back you up with any decision you will make. I love you.

Twenty eight days of lovin'. I am so happy I took part of the Joy of Love classes - aside from learning different camera tips, the biggest lesson which I am happy to learn is recognizing the different facets of my family, and be reminded how much they love me as much as I love them.

Cheers to everyone who joined the Joy of Love classes!

*** Jenn ***

Day 27 - What They Say

2011-03-14T20:25:00.000+08:00

Today is supposed to be the start of the Joy of Luck class, but I guess my time zone is quite ahead, so I still haven't received the first prompt yet. With that, I guess I don't have to make a two-in-one post, because if I receive the e-mail tomorrow, I will take my picture tomorrow, too, and share it the next day - meaning, I will share the last Joy of Love picture tomorrow, too.

Day 27 - What They Say.

Of all the prompts, I think this would be the most difficult for me. My sister isn't really verbal about her feelings - I don't expect to receive any cheesy text messages from her, and I don't expect post-its here and there containing notes, because she wasn't brought up that way. Actually, when she was in High School and College, I would call her "abnormal" because I never heard her go loco over some guy - be it a classmate or a celebrity. Totally different from what I was during her age.

Between the two of us, I am the more sentimental. I am the one who would insert notes into her books containing words of encouragement and how much I care about her. I am the one who hugs her more often and the one who would shower her with words describing how much I love her. Even if my sister isn't the cheesy-cheesy woman, I know she cares so much about me and the whole family, too, and yes, at rare times (when she is really tired), she would solicit hugs from us, too.

This picture was taken by our cousin Mhai. We were on our way home from a hike to Tangadan Falls, and our decision to take a different route back made us climb uphill nonstop. It was really tiring, and I found myself panting and asking them them to slow down a bit because my legs were burning. This was one of those "Wait for a while" moments I had... and us looking like this made cousin snap a picture using her cell phone. I thought she was taking picture of just sister so I didn't mind them - I was more concerned catching my breath - that when cousin gave me copies of pictures she took via Bluetooth, I was surprised to see this.

My sister would always go, "Kaya pa ba, 'te?" ("Can you still keep up?") I would always say "yes," because I can still keep up... but of course, given my weight, I just had to take my time. I felt a bit bad about the situation - I am the older one... the one who should encourage and guide her, but it was always her who would ask if I can still keep up - as her way of checking about my state. Between us, she's the one with asthma, yet in this instance, it was like I was the one with asthma who would always catch her breath. That moment, she became my older sister, and I became her little sis. It was a good feeling - sensing her concern and her care.

Of course, I know, I need to lose weight. :)

*** Jenn ***