selleANDdyoks » Leisure

electronics, seafood, cheesecakes and friends

selleanddyoks — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:29:02 +0000

two months ago, we posted a similar sounding blog entry talking about a day out with friends. this past weekend, we found another excuse to hangout. before it was cars… this time it was consumer electronics. before it was our “plan” to buy a car… this time it was vena and neriz’s plan to buy an lcd tv.

unlike our gimik two months ago, this one was a bit less planned and bit more impromptu. we actually just talked about it just the day before our actual gimik. consumer electronics live was touted as a gathering of all consumer electronics manufacturers showcasing their latest products and technologies. this sounded interesting especially to vena and neriz as they have been searching for a two-tuner lcd tv for the longest time.

since this was really a vena and neriz gimik, we assumed they’ll be bringing their d60. so we decided to wear our matching l-o-v-e shirts, wanting to put their d60 into good use (post-nup pictorial. ). what we did not expect though was our shirts would grab so much attention as mall-ers kept on reacting to our shirts as we walked through mall of asia. selle can vividly recall one specific couple smiling from ear-to-ear and reading our shirts aloud… love.

yun nga lang hindi naman dinala nina vena ang dslr nila. hehehe. tapos point-and-shoot lang ang dala naman namin. hehehe uli.

consumer electronics live was held at the new smx besides mall of asia. we don’t frequent this area much so we were not really familiar about the place. actually, it was only our second time to visit mall of asia and our first to see smx. francis even commented that once we saw smx, we will be proud that the philippines has such a convention center. with its structure and sprawling space, he was not kiddin’. maganda nga sya.

unfortunately, the event was a disappointment. the organizers failed to fill the hall and some notable electronics manufacturers (such as panasonic, philips, nikon… etc.) were not even present. mas marami pa atang participants pag nag-a-appliance fair sa mga mall eh. we still enjoyed walking through the booths though. (no pics to show though as the sd card on our point-and-shoot got corrupted while we were there then we fixed it afterwards. ). we spent an extended period of time at the samsung booth, amazed (and salivating) at the new plasma and lcd tv’s. truly, samsung continues to lead the industry in lcd/plasma tv’s.

we then…

walked to the sony booth and laughed at the marketing trickery they’re doing in promoting high definition
marveled at the crispness of the 25k bose laptop speakers (ang mahal!)
was amused by the nintendo wii being played on a humungous projection tv
was intrigued by the adobe training platform being demo’ed

afterwards, we walked towards the bay…

…and ate dinner (lunch + dinner for francis and kathleen) at trinity ihaw-ihaw. this whole row of restaurants had a “dampa” feel to it so the prices were cheap and the servings were aplenty. sobrang dami nga eh at sumuko na kami in the end. pero masarap talaga. nakauwi na nga kami eh sobrang satisfied pa rin si selle sa pagkain dun. great restaurant choice, kathleen.

we gotta have dessert after. we strolled along the bay looking for dessert (and, in the process, steph lost her slipper ). sa sobrang haba na ng nilakad namin… we ended up at cheesecake etc… again. and, as usual, kwentuhan galore.

after dessert, francis, kathleen and steph went ahead as it was getting late. kami naman eh sumama kina vena and neriz as they went center table hunting and shopping.

before going home, we witnessed an actual pick-pocketing incident at bread talk. galing nga ni vena at neriz dahil na-block nila yung way noong pickpocket. yun nga lang, yung security guard at the area eh andun lang at pinanood all the commotion at hinayaan lang makaalis yung perpetrator. makes us wonder if the guard was into the whole operation or not. hmmmm…

ayan tuloy, d na kami bumili sa bread talk.

we had another enjoyable time with these guys. we’re done with cars and consumer electronics… what could be next?

…at kelan ang viewing party, vena and neriz?

a quick glance of thailand (and the disadvantage of having a dslr)

selleanddyoks — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:07:12 +0000

a couple of weeks ago, after numerous postponements, i finally flew to thailand on a three-day business trip. besides work, i had two goals on this brief trip:

1) to experience the famed-bangkok shopping experience (and buy gifts for my wife syempre )
2) shoot, shoot and shoot with our d40

i focused my free time on accomplishing these goals. kahit saglit lang ako sa thailand, i wouldn’t pass out the opportunity to experience and photograph amazing thailand.

(note: the photos embedded here are downsized for web usage. to see the full resolution photos, visit our multiply site here.)

upon arrival in bangkok, the thing (or things) that really struck me were the cars and the roads. para kasing bago lahat ng sasakyan nila dun. kung sa pinas eh ang mga taxi eh vios, sa thailand, ang mga taxi nila eh altis. so kung ang altis eh taxi lang sa kanila, ang parang common sedan sa thailand eh camry. lupit no? but what was more impressive was their roads… or should i say, their road. man, they have this looooooong skyway that seemed like it had no end. sobrang haba talaga. we asked the thais how long it was and they said it was about 100 kilometers long. imagine 4-5 times the length of south superhighway… lahat yun skyway. ganun kahaba. impressive indeed.

from the airport, we proceeded to the hotel which was located just outside of bangkok. check-in lang tapos dinala kami ng aming host sa mall na katabi lang ng hotel. seacon square is megamall-esque in size but lianas-like inside. actually, some parts lang naman ang parang lianas… the rest is more like… waltermart.

anyway, we planned in spending the afternoon searching for the perfect pasalubong for our loved ones. pero bago yun, we wanted to try some thai food and the easiest place to get one is… at the food court.

soup ang gusto ng mga kasama ko. so inikot namin ang food court… the problem is, most of the menus were written in thai. buti na lang meron kaming nakita na may english menu so syempre, dun na kami bumili. tom yang soup ang ni-target naman. it sounded good… and it looked good din sa picture. we ordered one each but soon realized there was a different payment system in there (thanks to a friendly thai girl na tinulungan si jhay with this ). sfter going through the payment process, we then proceeded to taste our tom yang. i love spicy food but this one was freakin’ spicy hot!!! kuha-kuha pa ako ng chili powder ha eh d ko naman pala kakailanganin. grabe ang anghang. todo tulo pawis namin. i ate only half of mine. darwin managed to eat it all (at sobrang pinagpawisan nga lang ). vena ate about 1/4th of his while jhay almost didn’t touch his. mahina pala sa maanghang tong si jhay.

they have system similar to time zone. bili ka ng card then swipe away.

eagerly awaiting their tom yang…

the menu, the condiments and the soup.

after the tom yang experience, nag-ikot na kami to do some shopping. pero, since this was like lianas/waltermart, medyo nahirapan kami maghanap. it’s a good thing there was this korean crafts area where we got a few stuff. kaso we weren’t that satisfied (at least kami ni vena). we continued going around the mall until bumigay na sina jhay at darwin and they went back to the hotel. kami naman ni vena were like energizer bunnies and kept going… and going… and going. yun nga lang, wala pa rin kami nabili. *sigh*

we went back to the hotel and waited for our semthai hosts at the lobby as they were gonna treat us dinner. while waiting… surprise, surprise… we saw a familiar face…

it was duane… a former colleague at samsung. he’s now working for cigi (and mighty successful i should add) and has been to thailand numerous times already. like a blessing from God, he volunteered to take us to the bangkok night market. woohooOoOo! pasalubong problem solved.

we ate dinner at a blue wave-esque place. authentic thai cuisine minus the spices. kasi naman si jhay eh binanggit nya sa mga thais na ayaw daw nya noong tom yang kasi maanghang daw… so d tuloy um-order ng maanghang yung mga taga-semthai. boooo! nevertheless, masarap pa din… especially the lapu-lapu in garlic and pepper. yum.

the following day was all work. i’ll just skip this part of my thai trip.

dinner plus tokens from the semthai president himself.

a couple of after dinner shots. (photos courtesy of vena)

after dinner, vena and i met up with duane at the hotel and immediately proceeded to bangkok night market. we took a cab, the railway and then the subway to get there. here we further realized how efficient public transportation was here in thailand. meron na silang sobrang mahabang skyway, meron pa silang mrt at tapos… meron pa silang 2-level subway. thumbs up to the thais.

bangkok night market at lumpini park is, simply put, 1 gigantic tiangge. duane told us that the market will be open until 2 am so vena and i were confident that we will find the perfect pasalubong here. ikot-ikot kami and saw the usual stuff… until we came into this stall that was selling contemporary wall clocks. perfect! tagal na namin naghahanap ni selle ng wall clock eh. pumasok ako at nagtingin-tingin hanggat may nakita akong magandang design. then dumating si vena at may na-gusto-han din sya. ang problema eh parehas kami ng gusto. we were still hours away from 2 am so instead of arguing who gets to buy the clock eh we decided to continue looking around and just come back later kung wala nang makitang iba. so naglakad uli kami at si duane eh mas marami pang nabibili kaysa amin. we then reached a sampaloc stand at syempre nagsi-bilihan kami. while doing so, we noticed that some of the stalls were closing shop already. teka, teka… baka magsara na din yung nagbebenta ng wall clocks ah. nagmadali kaming bumalik and guess what? sarado na sya. sabi nga ni duane, “sabi ko sa inyo, eh… binili nyo na dapat, eh.”

somewhat defeated, nag-ikot na naman kami but this time, pag may na-type-an na kami, eh automatic, bili na. we’re quick learners naman. wala kaming tigil kaka-ikot hanggang halos maubos na ang mga bukas na stall so we called it a night. we decided to take a cab back to the hotel and experienced something so pinoy… ang na-ngo-ngontratang taxi driver. uso din pala sa kanila yun.

the following day, we were scheduled to go the “king’s palace.” that’s what we heard. d namin sure kung ano tawag sa place eh. bad trip nga ako kasi comfy na ako in my shorts and sandals tapos bawal daw pala ganoong attire dun. grrrr… hindi sinabi agad eh. nagpalit pa tuloy ako. byahe na naman kami past bangkok and to another province hanggang nakarating din kami sa palace. eto naman parang nayong filipino. akala namin we will be riding golf carts around the place pero we remained in the van at umikot. medyo bad trip nga kami kasi d naman na-hinto yung van so we could take some pictures. we just had to shoot through the van’s windows.

finally, the van stopped and we strolled around this mini-floating market… and even beyond.

i was shooting pictures like crazy as seen here. (photos courtesy of vena)

a few images around the floating market.

i found this footbridge interesting especially in black and white.

the guys striking a pose. the one disadvantage of having dslr is you don’t get to be in the pictures.

here’s one of the few photos that i get to be in. i’ve been practicing my post-processing skills and tried to recover this photo. check the before and after comparison. (photo courtesy of darwin)

there was a part in the market where you can feed these tilapia-sized fishes. i took this sequence of shots and turned it into somewhat of an abstract art.

afterwards, we were off to view a crocodile show at samutprakan crododile farm…

…home of over 100,000 crocodiles. that’s a loooot of crocs.

we can’t even imagine how they manage to feed all of them. sobrang dami talaga. we strolled around the place and after a while, went back to the van because, one of the korean expats told us, “dyoks, after 5 minutes… we have to go.” yun pala, what he meant was, after 5 minutes, we have to go to the crocodile show. it’s a good thing we realized this or else we would’ve missed the show.

the show was amazing but, at times, nerve-wracking. sabi ko nga kina vena, ako yung kinakabahan para dun sa mga crocodile wrestlers. watch these and you’ll understand

(videos courtesy of vena)

after the show (actually d na namin tinapos ), we went straight to the airport. checking-in was a breeze… so unlike in the philippines. we had time to do some duty-free shopping so that means more pasalubong for my wife. we boarded the plane and, thanks to vena and jhay, we got window seats… and was able to get off these shots.

darwin even took these takeoff and landing videos for kicks.

overall, it was a nice experience but a short one. we didn’t get to go around much (nor ride an elephant which i wanted to experience ). but it was just a 3 day trip so we didn’t expect much really.

is thailand worth visiting? definitely. but i’d rather visit the many more wonders of the philippines first.

we were supposed to get a light bulb…

selleanddyoks — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 14:59:05 +0000

…but ended up getting these…

with a smile like that, who needs a light bulb?

back at bella vista

selleanddyoks — Sun, 25 May 2008 15:16:33 +0000

we blogged about this a couple of weeks ago and, as planned, we, along with our dear friend, cel, dropped by the siytangco’s to say hi, visit and support their event.

as expected, we were greeted with the same warmth we’ve always experienced from the siytangco’s. actually, at first, we were kinda hesitant to approach either deedee or sandee as they were both busy entertaining guests. but, sandee approached us and maybe feeling our hesitation, flashed a smile and simply said, “of course i remember you…” that easily broke the ice and again, they made us feel like family.

soon after, we were in the living room, exchanging stories and enjoying k by cunanan’s sumptuous food.

speaking of kaye, we just missed her when we arrived at bella vista. sayang nga, eh. it’s been a while since we last spent time with our favorite caterer. we did get to spend a few moments with ann (hope we get her name right) while we were going around the garden. like kaye, she’s a nice girl too.

it was a highly relaxing afternoon and a time well spent at bella vista. as if the warmth and hospitality was not enough, sandee and deedee even gave us a gift for our visit… our very own bella vista bird house.

thanks to sandee and deedee, bella vista is really more than just our wedding venue to us. it will remain to have a special place in our hearts.

afterwards, we decided to stay in tagaytay to relax some more. we went to cliffhouse to check out the restaurants there. but before dining, we marveled first at the view tagaytay is famous for.

and we’re not the only ones enjoying the view.

after checking out the resto’s, we decided to eat at platito simply because it offered a breakfast menu at this late in the day.

it’s here we spent a couple of hours chatting away. ganyan talaga pag matagal nang hindi nakakasama ang kaibigan… especially one as talkative and bubbly as cel. we would go on to other stops after this (domicillo home gallery, razon’s, all flip-flops). kung wala lang pasok kinabukasan, we could go on much later into the night.

warm hospitality of hosts. cool tagaytay climate. relaxing view. chatting with friends. overall, we say it was a great day spent.

breaking the work-home routine

selleanddyoks — Sat, 03 May 2008 14:24:19 +0000

our blog has been inactive lately mainly because of waaaay too much work. we’ve had this strenuous work-home routine for quite a while now.

so what happens when we get this rare opportunity to break out of this routine?

what else but my wife going on a shopping spree!

being the fashionista that she is, i got her a couple of new jeans, a new top, new slippers… and of course, her favorite magazines. needless to say, she had a great time. anything to make my wife happy.

not to be outdone, i got something also…

…a new haircut.

looks like a fair deal to me.

craving for…

selleanddyoks — Fri, 02 May 2008 13:22:19 +0000

the temperature has been scorching for the past month or so. sa sobrang init, our electricity bill almost doubled compared to last month’s. summer time is officially here and what could be more pinoy than to enjoy halo-halo with friends.

razon’s halo-halo is composed of three ingredients only. yup, tatlo lang. leche flan + macapuno + saging. yum, yum, yum!

just last week, vena mentioned a new razon’s branch here in sta. rosa. razon’s was a familiar topic of ours (reccom) a few years back as we were discussing about the best halo-halo in the country. since, back then, the nearest razon’s branch was in taguig (market market), we (reccom) weren’t able to try it together. then came this welcome news from vena and we agreed to troop to sta. rosa just to partake of the famous razon’s halo-halo. sobra kasi kaming nag-cra-crave ni selle for halo-halo lately eh so this was a perfect excuse to go to sta. rosa.

we had dinner and, of course, the famous halo-halo. more importantly, we got to spend time together with friends. two newlywed (sort of ) couples exchanging stories and doing some catching up. a night filled with laughter, stories and good food. a wonderful way to cap a day.

jan 2007 couple and sept 2007 couple chillin’

btw, two years back, we did try another famous halo-halo joint. that time it was in cavite and a local tv show dubbed it as having the best halo-halo in the country. intrigued, we went out of our company outing venue just to try it out. all we can say is it was worth the trip.

reccom 2005 escaping from the 2006 company outing to grab some of digman halo-halo.

o, ano, halo-halo tayo…

anna’s sendoff: a night with pisay batchmates, up barkada and bob nicolas’ clients

selleanddyoks — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 02:00:00 +0000

it’s been a while since i’ve seen my friends. excluding our wedding, it’s probably been years since we’ve last spent some time together. kaya naman when anna, a pisay batchmate & college barkada, came calling regarding a “casual” dinner sendoff, we took the opportunity and made it a point to be there. eh matagal-tagal din mawawala c anna kaya dapat lang andun kami.

going there, we expected the usual… casual dinner w/ the usual faces plus lots and lots of kwentuhan… and asaran. when we arrived, something kinda hinted that it would be more than that. the setting was definitely not casual. eh, akala namin pumasok kami sa wedding reception, eh. the food was catered, waiters were attentive, the tables had centerpieces… meron pang floating candles. anna, anna… casual pala, ha.

since not everyone knows everyone at the party, anna introduced us to everyone else (us having the “they just got married” tag. ). this became a recurring chore for anna for every guest that arrived. although merong time na c joyce, a pisay batchmate, ang nag-introduce sa isat-isa. just a few minutes upon arrival, kainan na agad. good thing na din because we’re getting hungry.

from then on, sunod-sunod na dumating ang mga guests and soon the place was packed na. at first, guests were divided in specific groups… we were with pisay pipol, then the up pipol were in another table, then anna’s ofcmates were in another table… etc. d naman yun intentional cguro, it just so happened that way. hindi naman kasi dapat ganun if only kermin (up barkada) sat with us… kaso she soon realized it was a pisay table kaya sabi nya, “ay, this is the nerd table.” patawa ka talaga, kermin.

sooner than later the “groups” broke up and then everyone started to mingle with others. we then found ourselves having a very interesting and lively conversation with someone we only met that night. charrie is anna’s ofcmate… and an indirect recipient of our email blog (anna, finding our blog useful, forwarded it to charrie, whose daughter is getting married later this year). nakakatuwa nga reaction nya when anna introduced us to her, “ah, ikaw c dyoks! i have to talk to you.” feeling tuloy namin may atraso kami. ang saya ng usapan namin. and it is very flattering din na charrie trusted so much our blog that she considered most of our major suppliers. sayang lang kasi most are booked na kaya she was only able to get bob, our videographer. eto pa sabi ni charrie, “we were supposed to get jason magbanua pero after reading your blog, we went for bob na lang.” makes me wonder, ano ba mga pinag-su-sulat namin sa blog? seriously though, we’re just satisfied and confident with our suppliers that’s why ganun mga praises na sinulat namin before para sa kanila. kaya good call, charrie. you won’t go wrong with bob. and thanks din for trusting our blog. buti na lang responsible writers kami.

that wasn’t the only surprise of the party. early in the evening, we got to talk to rheea & gil, both pisay batchmates. they’re not new faces to my wife dahil nakita na nya sila through their wedding video. yes, pinalabas kasi part of their wedding video sa isa sa seminars namin sa church. i could remember pa nga back then noong pinalabas yun, eh. sabi ko kay selle, “eh kilala ko tong mga to, ah.” at maganda video nila, ha… menu pa nga lang, eh, pamatay na. kaya naman instant conversation starter yung pagkapanood namin video nila. and guess what? eh, c bob din pala videographer nila, eh. ah-ah… ano ba to, 6-degrees of bob nicolas?

continuing with the bob nicolas thread, later on the night we spent talking to hes (up barkada) & migs, a soon-to-wed couple na… bob nicolas clients. nakaka2wa cla kasi 7 months pa from their big day, eh almost tapos na cla sa preps. invitations na nga lang ata kulang, eh… atsaka souvenirs. at nung tanungin kung ano color motiff nila, instead of naming out a color, eh naglabas ng swatches. ibang klase ka talaga, hes… kung sabagay, kami din naman ganun.

the party wasn’t over yet pero we had to go na kasi naman ang layo pa ng tinitirhan namin. it was nice that my friends finally got to spend time with me and my wife. nag-enjoy naman asawa ko… masasaya naman kasi kadaldalan mga kaibigan ko. may topak nga lang karamihan (parang ako. ) pero masasaya kausap nonetheless. anna, thanks for having this party. it was well-worth the trip all the way from laguna.

left photo: that’s us besides charrie and more of anna’s ofcmates. btw, to those who do not know, that’s anna sitted right in front of her mom (standing).
right photo: up barkada table. from left to right: fresh-from-yoga lala, 7-months-to-go-and-we’re-finished-with-our-preps hestia & migs, we’re-having-our-5th-baby goshes, i-don’t-want-to-sit-with-the-nerds kermin and of course, the-newlyweds us.

snippets

selleanddyoks — Wed, 16 May 2007 05:48:55 +0000

a series of events occured lately and instead of blogging about each one at a time… we thought it would be best to just collect them all in one single photoblog.

snippet 1: color coordination
half a year ago, we had our prenuptial pictorial at tagaytay with fol & edong. we were excited with our prenups so much so that we kinda “prepared” for it. no, we didn’t bring props (though that would’ve been nice) nor did we practice poses (haha) but we did give some thoughts on what we would wear… or what color for that matter.

prenup photos by fol rana jr (from top to bottom): 1) wearing green & cream pants at bella vista 2) wearing white top & jeans (provides great contrast with the greens) 3) wearing earth/neutral long-sleeved shirts. note: meron pa kaming pink & black outfit that we didn’t get to use. hehe.

fast forward to last monday. we took a stop at atc before going to cavite (selle’s hometown). sa sobrang wala kaming time lumabas, we have been wearing very old slippers at home. eh, ako nga, eh pambabae pa yung gamit ko, eh… hehehe. eh since we were in atc na rin lang, naghanap kami ng tsinelas. and look what we got.

havaianas! it feels so good you wear it even when you have your feet up.

it took a while to select which design we like. we tried several pairs of havaianas at cielo until we both found a pair to our liking. problem is, hindi cla match (haha). yung gus2 ni selle, had prints over it, eh yung ka-match nun… hindi masyado maganda. kaya hindi kami match. anyway, we decided to get the pairs we selected. kaso noong babayaran na namin, sabi ni selle, palitan na lang daw nya yung kanya with a pair na match dun sa akin. that’s cute. pero noong papapalitan na namin, surprisingly, sabi noong nasa cashier, d na daw pwede palitan kasi na-punch na. hmmm… talaga? then sabi nya, pwede daw palitan pero d na ma-re-refund yung price difference (mas mahal kasi yung may prints). kaya d na namin pinapalitan. paglabas namin store, naisip namin papalitan na lang. never mind the price difference. kaya bumalik kami (ay, ako lang pala. hehe) sa store at pinapalitan namin. we did get the refund after all.

and here it is… matching black & white havaianas. cute, no?

snippet 2: long overdue project
souvenirs are common in weddings. actually, it’s so common that it’s more like a given already. we didn’t have any at ours simply because our plan was to give out thank you cards along with our “souvenirs” as one. also, it’s yet another diy project and some materials needed will only be available after the wedding pa. hehe. we didn’t expect that it would take this looooong though. wala, eh… masyadong busy. but it’s finally finished…

the key element in our project… cd-r’s.

materials laid out and ready for assembly.

all six versions of our “souvenir.” yup, you read that right, 6 versions.

thank you card/cd insert. layout by us. photo courtesy of fol rana jr.

what’s inside? avp’s + songs from our wedding. how to get these to you…? now that’s another problem. hehe

snippet 3: photo manipulation
just last week, i was at the office waiting for my wife who was taking korean class (eeeew… hehe). tired from work, i opened photoshop and decided to do some digital artwork. it’s an exercise i do once in a while and look how my little “exercise” turned out.
evolution of a manipulated photo (from top to bottom) 1) original picture. look familiar, huh? yah, our entry in dino lara’s photo contest 2) manipulated picture trying to achieve some lomo action. 3) final photo adding a thin border for that extra kick. ok ba?

ok, some of you might not have understood what i just wrote in the caption. hehe. my apologies. straight out of wikipedia:

Lomography (or lomo) emphasizes casual, snapshot photography. Characteristics such as over-saturated colors, off-kilter exposure, blurring, “happy accidents,” and alternative film processing are often considered part of the “Lomographic Technique.”

that is the look i was trying to make with what i did. oversaturation of colors was done by playing with curves & hue/saturation points. blurring was done by multiple-layers and masking.

also, i added vignette for that added emphasis. again, from wikipedia:

vignetting is a reduction in image brightness in the image periphery compared to the image center.

add to vignette the thin square border, it leads the viewer of the picture to focus at the center of the picture… which happens to be my beautiful wife. in other words, extra lang ako. hehe.

before this completely turn into a tutorial, i’ll stop right here. hehe.

exciting times are ahead for us. we will keep you guys in tune.

have a blessed day.

hometown

selleanddyoks — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 11:01:33 +0000

we’ve been working for samsung electro-mechanics for around 7 years (my wife just over 7 years while i’m nearing 8 years). for those who’ve been employed or are currently employed at this company, vacation is a rarity… leave of absence, a useless benefit. we usually work 6 days in a week… at times, 7. heck, lately, i can’t even leave at 5 pm but force to stay at least until 6 pm… all without pay (the downside of being in the managerial position. argggh.). that is why this holy week was a welcome break for us… an opportunity to get away from work (yes!) and make use of this spare time that we have.

this is how our vacation went:
thurs-sat: lucena city (my hometown)
sun: bacoor (selle’s hometown)
mon: samsung (:-? trabaho na naman.)

not much activities were done during our stay at lucena. we just stayed at home… eating, watching dvds, resting, playing… and eating again. ganun naman kasi talaga. we wanted to rest this vacation that’s why we opted for these activities. masaya naman. my mom was there… my sister and her family were there… and 2 of our friends, cel and wengi, were there also. kain, tulog, nood… ang saya! just ask cel and wengi (especially the “kain” part. ).

sometime during the stay, the girls (selle, cel & wengi) cooked/baked (or at least watched my mom. )… something they so eagerly want to learn. since i’ve watched my mom bake since i was a kid (:-P), i took our point-and-shoot cam and went around our house and just clicked away.

and since we’re in the midst of studying/commenting our initial artbook layout (malapit na kami matapos, fol… onting-onti na lang. ) and obviously inspired by the great photos fol takes (yes, we are regular visitors sa kanyang blog. ), i chose to take pictures of our wedding rings. wedding ring shots are staple shots in wedding albums kaya inisip ko, pano kaya kung ako’y isang wedding photographer… what kind of ring shots will i take? hehe. here are a few. (note to my photographer friends: wala lang akong magawa nito kaya walang asaran, ha. ).

of all the ring shots i took, this is my favorite. the garden provides a nice background, the railing frames the rings and the sunlight bounces off the stones creating sa sparkling effect thereby emphasizing the rings even further. tsamba.

2 rings. 2 stones. 1 sunray. grabe, pa-ikot-ikot ako sa bato na to trying to find the right angle kung san tatama yung araw sa stones, ha.

i didn’t know that depth-of-field could be realized using a point-and-shoot… but look. pwede na pag-tiyaga-an, no?

i like the colors and the texture. spices anyone?

obviously, umabot ako ng garahe kaka-picture ng rings. pwede na bang pang-commercial? “ford… with you at highest point in your life.” naks. baduy.

it was too dark in the room to use natural lighting. using flash produces too harsh lighting naman (argggh, the limitations of a point-and-shoot). so, i had to be creative and look what i produced. hindi ko ginamitan photoshop yan, ha. not yet, at least.

if the first picture was my favorite, this one has got to be the cutest. interesting, huh?

while i was shooting away at the wedding rings, from time to time, i pass by the kitchen where my wife was visibly observing how to bake… while my friends were… just waiting to eat?

from top to bottom: 1) the beginnings of a banana cake. 2) freshly baked cinnamon roll. take note at the eagerness of cel and wengi. easy girls… mainit pa yan.

uno stack-o. a game we used to play in up at the esc room. 10 years has passed and here i am, waging a personal battle with my pamangkin and our ring bearer. ang nakakatawa dito, eh mas na-e-excite pa yung mga nanonood kaysa amin, eh.

successive turns until the downfall of the stack. look who’s holding the last piece that made the stack fall. hahaha. i win! hehe. pinatulan bata, eh, no?

from spending time with our ring bearer in lucena, we went to bacoor to spend time with selle’s family and, of course, present ang favorite pamangkin ni selle at ang amin flower girl na c francine.

francine always ready for the camera.

from left to right: 1) francine taking a shot of my wife. 2) francine taking a picture of me. galing, no? maalam na sa rule of thirds (sort of. ). not sure if it was intentional though.

and so that was how we spent our “spare time.” for now (or since monday), it’s back to work for us. bat ba hindi kami umaalis dito?

newlyweds at the wedding expo

selleanddyoks — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 14:45:13 +0000

the wedding expo… a bridal fair known to be the largest, in terms of number of exhibitors, here in our country. for soon-to-weds, this is the fair to be in as couples can scout around to know what’s the latest in the industry and which supplier fits each couple’s theme and/or budget. generally, soon-to-weds enter the fair with nothing at hand but leave the expo with a bag full of flyers and brochures… waiting to be segregated, studied and compared to one another. just this weekend, the first of two wedding expos were held at the picc forum showcasing a whopping 300+ suppliers… and we, not soon-to-wed but newlyweds, were there.

bakit?

because it is only at the wedding expo that 4 of our favorite suppliers will be present in one venue.

tapos?

since they’ve been very nice since the preps up til wedding day (and even after) and the services they delivered were nothing short of excellent, we decided to give each of them gifts as tokens of our appreciation. as simple as our gifts are (hirap mag-isip ng gifts sa successful people, ha. hehe), hopefully, our gifts would convey how thankful we are for them. kaya sa mga kaibigan namin who are about to get married or thinking of getting married or even those who have no plans yet of getting married, take note of these suppliers… from the persons that they are to the talents that they have… we have nothing but high, high praises.

with our ever-stylish caterer, kaye at her extremely elegant corner booth (always a standout). btw, pics of our wedding setup was being played on the plasma screen shown at back. humingi nga kami copy ng slideshow, eh atsaka hi-res pics.
and another thing, sinamahan pa nya kami sa metro weddings booth para makakuha ng free cupcakes by sonja’s. o, dba, may gift din sya sa amin.
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with our very friendly makeup artist lanie just moments after she was teary-eyed upon knowing we have a gift for her. sentimental moment.
note: na-extra pa ako sa pic na to. hanapin nyo nga ako.
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with our humble but very talented videographer, bob (and his wife, let). same setup na ginawa sa kasal namin w/ the lcd screen. pati onsite namin ni-pla-play at nasa cd sampler. hehe. kaya tumulong na din kami mamigay ng samplers sa mga dumadaan.
pagkauwi namin, we watched bob’s new sampler (all onsite videos) and at lupit na talaga nya. justified ang pagtaas ng rates.
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with our super kulit pero super galing photographer, fol (and the makulit and talented din russ). syempre, tawanan lang pag nasa booth ni fol. unang pic… mali. east digital ba naman ang gawing background. hehe. ulit tuloy… next 2 pics kita na booth nina fol.
ganda bagong artbook paper. gus2 namin ganun.
we also got dvd samplers… 2 pa binigay sa amin ni fol… para tig-isa daw kami. haha. kulet. syempre pinanood din pagdating sa bahay. like all his works, kahit sampler lang, professionaly done. galing.
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shot at fotogra’s clique booth. since pisay batchmate ko naman c karl of fotogra, syempre libreng shoot kahit hindi newly-wed.
kasama din namin c kaye d2 pero shy c kaye kaya d nagpakuha.
clique booth is a nice idea. perfect for cocktails. expectedly, it’s a hit.