admiring ads

we just bought the latest issue of wedding essentials magazine this weekend. bakit pa? mainly because of a couple of reasons:

1) the wedding industry is very interesting and we’re planning of slowly creeping into it. we just wanted to be updated on what’s the trend in the industry so that we may be more successful in our planned business.
2) we got to chat with bob just a few days back and besides a couple of exciting news (to be disclosed later 😉), we got to learn that he finally had an ad printed… in the latest issue of wedding essentials.

these reasons were enough for us to buy the mag. we were surprised by the price though… nag-mahal na pala. 😀

just browsing through the magazine, one thing strucked us both. the quality of the ads have vastly improved. though there are still clunkers, there were real winners… and 3 of our favorite suppliers had awesome ads. fol kasi don’t do print ads or else it would’ve been 4 awesome ads. 🙂


we love ads that are subtle yet visually appealing and this ad by kaye is exactly like that. we would bet that kaye herself conceptualized the ad and took this photo. she’s a photographer din kasi… a highly-skilled one. 🙂


one of the reasons we bought the mag and bob did not disappoint. bob took the minimalist approach combining a striking image with a definitive statement.


lanie took an even simpler approach. what more can be more convincing than a pretty face for a makeup artist? it would’ve been better if it’s a photo of my wife though. 😉


as you open the new mag, this 3 page series ad will be the first to greet you. seemingly a master in marketing, jason magbanua used catch phrases to promote his services.


a 4-page folded spread for photographer, lee llamas , showcasing a collection of his shots. this has got to be the most expensive ad in the whole magazine. 😀


at first glance, it seems like another wedding photographer ad with the elegant layouting. but a look closer and it’s an ad for madge , one of the more popular makeup artists.

Read Full Post »

blog subscription

being notified of recent activities in a blog can easily be done using rss feeds. the problem is rss is alien to the general public. kahit kami naman d rin namin alam yun before this blogging thing. 🙂 to reduce the double duty of posting and then sending through email blog updates, we researched in finding a way to just notify people whenever a new post has been published. it took a while… and we tested it ourselves and we think we found the solution.

for those interested in subscribing, go down our blog’s widgets until you see this:


just click on Subscribe to selleANDdyoks and it will lead you to a new window.


then click on Get selleANDdyoks delivered by email which would lead you to a popup window.


simply fill in the required forms and await the email on your inbox. confirm and then you’re subscribed already. 🙂

we took the liberty of subscribing some of our friends already. so kung nagtataka ka at merong email sa inbox nyo regarding subscription to our blog then isa ka sa mga ni-subscribe namin. 😆

interested? subscribe na… 😉

Read Full Post »

firewire

firewire or ieee1394 is a pc interface standard. unlike the more popular usb, firewire offers high speed communication and isochronous data transmission hence, ideal for transfer large volumes of data. the developer of this technology, apple, called this standard firewire and the tag has remained. other manufacturers have their own tags though like sony, which calls their ieee1394 as i.link.

why blog about firewire?

we finally got one! 🙂

what for? to transfer digital videos to our pc for editing.

despite the proliferation of dvd camcorders and hdd camcorders, mini-dv still gives the best video recording quality. yes, those small tapes do pack a punch. those professional cameras wedding videographers use, they all use mini-dv (well, with the exception of very few like the p2 card of the hvx… but that’s a totally new technology and i only know one who uses it. 😉). because of the quality… and security in archiving. but how do you transfer video from tape to a pc? do you use a usb? years back, i thought that was the way. who can fault me? eh, yun ang kasamang cord ng biniling kong videocam, eh. plus, yun din nasa instruction manual. kaya pala pag transfer ko sa pc, eh sobrang pixelated yung video. because usb cannot handle such vast amount of data at high speeds, continuously. later on, i learned about firewire.

we made sure that our new pc had firewire ports. unlike usb ports, firewire ports does not come standard. now we got a pc with firewire ports. we have a videocam (jurassic as it may be. 😆). all we needed was the firewire cable.

this past weekend, we got hold of one. 🙂

pagkadating sa bahay, we immediately brought out our must-be-replaced-videocam and plugged it into our pc using the newly acquired firewire cable. we have read that there was a problem transferring video files using firewire in vista. kaya naman we were a bit nervous too that all those complaints may be true. but lo-and-behold, we got to transfer the video easily. after transfer, i played it and it had audio (another complaint against vista). opened vegas and started dragging and dropping frames and it worked! woohoo!

ayun lang. time to make a honeymoon video… 😉

Read Full Post »

training trained trainers

it has been a tradition that i give a short talk to the participants at the end of the trainers qualification program. la lang. share ko lang experiences ko sa pagtuturo. conducting technical training used to be part of my job kasi. here’s a glimpse of what i shared this time around. please note that this is from my own personal perspective and experiences. it may not apply to all. 😉

4 TRUTHS (or myths) IN CONDUCTING TRAININGS

training starts the moment you (trainer) enter the training room. – MYTH
for a trainer, training starts way before he/she enters the training room. preparation is key.

in training, less is more. – TRUTH
keep everything simple. have only a few objectives. emphasize on key points.

you (trainer) must have an answer to any question the audience may ask. – MYTH
this is impossible. be humble and have the integrity to admit that you do not know the answer BUT do not leave your participant hanging, research about the question and come back to him/her once you got the answer.

once you (trainer) know more than your material then you are set to go. – MYTH 
there are 4 things a trainer should know:
1) know your material
2) know yourself
3) know your audience
4) know more than enough

i used to train a lot and, frankly, medyo na-ka-ka-miss din. maybe later on (much, much later on… 😀) i would go into teaching. between selle and i though, my wife probably will become a better teacher. unang-una, she has a much better academic background. note, selle was 2nd in her graduating class. talino, no? 🙂 pangalawa, she’s more diligent than i. 😆 pangatlo, she’s more in the mold of a teacher. lastly, selle is really attractive. wait a minute, ano koneksyon nun? wala lang. i just wanted to say it. 😉

quick trivia: selle and i were both student assistants back in college. selle actually was being groomed as a professor in mapua but she accepted work here and the rest is history. buti na rin lang kasi kundi, i wouldn’t have met her. 😉


tqp participants with the judges.
first row, left to right: kiko (judge), loida, ikai, tin, amor (judge), tinay, melissa, led and you know who 😉
back row, left to right: cris, allen, mike, charles, brian, laila

and my special awards:

continuing-the-legacy award: mike
the tqp has yielded 5 graduates from the environment and safety department and, like their superior and fellow judge, kiko, all have been very impressive. it is imaginable how much pressure the succeeding participants from e&s have as they are expected to excel due to their predecessors. with the e&s staple of props and multi-media presentation… plus plenty of humor, mike surpassed the expectations. now, who’s next for e&s? 🙂

walang-karapatan-kabahan award: ikai
a relatively new employee, she was very vocal about her apparent nervousness. but as she finished her presentation, i felt like the “kinakabahan-ako” was all a front/tactic as she displayed the qualities of being a first-rate trainer.

the voice award: hannah
calm, clear and controlled. later on i learned from my wife that hannah was a former call-center agent. now that explains it all. 🙂

Read Full Post »

one saturday afternoon

with work eating up much of our time and add to that regular house chores, our life has been turned into ofc-bahay-ofc-bahay routine. that’s why i took this rare free time we had and planned a devoted saturday afternoon for my lovely wife. 🙂

since we’re residing down south here in laguna, we don’t get much to wander around the city (yah, probinsyano’t probinsyana kami. 😆). at first, i though of bringing my wife to trinoma, the latest mall creating much buzz, lalo na at it’s ayala-developed. but then, it occured to me that she is much of a harry potter fan so i thought it would be better to bring her to arguably the best cinema in the country to watch her favorite movie series.

globe platinum cinema at gateway mall is a premiere cinema. using the most advanced technologies, it ensures the movie-goer maximum viewing pleasure. the cinema itself seats only 40 people. yup, you read that right. 8 per row and 5 rows… 40 people. each person get his/her very own la-z-boy seat. to top it all off, unlimited popcorn and drinks. premium experience does carry a high price tag though but it does not matter, this is for my wife anyway. 😉

i called the cinema a day in advance to reserve tickets for saturday. reserving tickets is a cinch as one can do it either online or thru ticketnet. i chose the later. thankfully, there were still seats available (3 seats na lang, to be exact). my wife was really excited as i told her the news. husbands, don’t we just love seeing our wives appreciating our surprises? 😉

we arrived at the cinema almost half-an-hour before screening time. that gave us ample time to appreciate the waiting lounge. ganda naman kasi. sobra nga ganda, selle even said to me, “dito na lang tayo manood parati.” gulp. patay. 😀

as people started to enter, we grabbed a few popcorn tumblers (ok, ok… 4 tumblers to be exact. hehe) and a couple of drinks and entered the cinema. wow. for a 40-seater cinema, it was huge. like i said, it only had 5 rows with 8 chairs per row. then there were 3 aisles. so it was 2 chairs then aisle, then 2 chairs then aisle… etc. tapos the 2 chairs were not really together as it was seperated by a table for the drinks & popcorn. maluwag talaga. we got to our seat and instantly played with the la-z-boy. cguro, we spent the first 5 minutes just playing around with it. 😆 it’s a good thing we entered the cinema early kasi kung hindi, we would’ve missed the early part of the movie as we were busy adjusting and getting the perfect setting for the la-z-boy. 😀

harry potter, although it is really meant for kids, is an entertaining movie. i would’ve personally preferred more fearsome monsters and more violent action scenes kaya i just used my imagination at in-imagine ko na lang na ganun. 😉 i did get lost at times because i have not followed the movie series (nor the book) that’s why i had to ask my wife a few questions from time to time (like, “sino sya?”). overall, it was an enjoyable experience.


our tickets. we’re not sure but we think the 2 small stubs are for the movie pass and then for the snacks. not sure though.


my wife eagerly waiting at the lobby. 😉


another view of the lobby.


even the comfort rooms look nice.


yes, the la-z-boy seats. for the ultimate pleasure in viewing experience.

the pampering did not stop at the movie house. since my wife is somewhat of a fashionista, we dropped by one of her favorite boutiques, mango. we went around the shop and she tried on a few items and saw a nicely-fit pair of capri pants. then she wanted a top also so i searched through the hangers and found a 600 peso mango top. a great find. 😉


ended the day going back to laguna and having our dinner at home. a well-spent saturday afternoon… especially for my wife. 😉

Read Full Post »

meet toni

this past saturday was the “binyag” of our youngest pamangkin, toni diokno. unfortunately, we were not able to make it to the actual ceremony so we went to directly to the celebration instead. this is one of the rare times that whole diokno family was present. 🙂

as in any celebration, food was abundant. sobrang dami nga, eh solved na succeeding meals nila. 😆 selle and i took turns in taking pictures during the celebration pero, our other pamangkin, miggy was the one who became like the official photographer of the event… running around with her mom’s cellphone and continuously snapping shots. hmmm… a protege? or a competitor? 😀

after kainan, we went to my brother’s house. at para d na namin makalimutan manghiram ng dvd’s, like we usually do, eh pag pasok pa lang, eh we went straight to the dvd racks and borrowed 4 dvd’s… 3 of which are harry potter movies (para maintindihan ko daw ang buong harry potter series 😆).

here are more pics from last saturday:


toni with her lola (our mom).


the “official” photographer talking with his clients. 😉


nice captured moment of the family.


miggy trying to get the “perfect” moment.


tickle, tickle… 😉

Read Full Post »

en07

today, members of our church, every nation, from all over the world converge at araneta coliseum for a 3-day conference. it’s the first time that the world conference will be held here in manila kaya it’s kind of a historic event. we are particularly bummed because we will not be able to participate. 😦 it just so happens that the registration period coincided with our wedding preps that’s why we were not able to register. *sigh*

we’re sure the conference will be uplifting, refreshing and fun as well. we’ve been to several na din what more pa this one.

to our spiritual family, we are with you even if we’re not physically there. may be God always be glorified… to the ends of the earth.

Read Full Post »

another 777 wedding

no, we did not attend two weddings last july 7. no, we were not on nikki valdez’s guest list either. teka, nikki valdez? d ba artista yun? yah, she is. actually, to be honest, i didn’t know who she was. my fault because i don’t follow our loca showbiz scene kasi. but my wife knows her… and so does the general public. we know, you’re probably wondering, why are we blogging about her wedding?

bob nicolas, our videographer, has become our friend. with his humble nature, it was too easy to befriend him. being friends, we do checkup on each other from time to time just to see kung anong bago sa buhay. just a month ago, we visited him at the wedding summit. and it was there that let, his lovely wife (congratulations again sa inyong new baby boy :-)), broke the news that bob was the cover nikki valdez’s wedding. actually, medyo matagal na din namin alam na there was a probability that bob was gonna cover nikki’s wedding but there was no certainty back then. noon lang na-finalize. needless to say, we were so happy and excited for bob. funny nga kasi, just a few days before the summit, selle and i were wondering kung kelan mag-cover c bob ng celebrity wedding. ayun, nasagot ang tanong namin. 🙂

kaya we were doubly excited for 777. excited for jc and grace’s wedding… and excited for bob’s first celebrity wedding.

so, why are we blogging about this wedding?

dahil mahilig kami sa showbiz. 😆 just kidding. seriously, because…
…we believe in bob’s skills. we really do.
…we desire that he be recognized for his God-given talents.
…we are appreciative and we just want to share to the world something that is worth sharing.

click here to watch nikki’s onsite video. having watched the video ourselves, we give bob nothing but props. awesome job. 🙂

click here to watch bob’s other works and click here to watch more of bob’s works.


classic rings shot. color saturation + lighting makes a simple shot extraordinary.


how often do you see a car like this in a wedding? 😉


don bosco have glass sliding doors so they had to be creative and came up with the idea of using drapes. taking this shot an angle gives a usual shot a different flavor.


this screen shot is much better viewed on video. selle loved this shot. seems like some low-level, glidecam action going on here. gotta ask bob about this. galing! 🙂


nikki, the bride, exuding with delight and happiness. you gotta have attentive eyes to capture such moments… and bob definitely have them. 😉

Read Full Post »

a point-and-shoot in a 777 wedding

july 7, 2007 or simply 777 was a very, very busy day for those in the wedding industry. i don’t know if it’s numerology or something else but there’s something about the number 7 and its repetition that appealed to A LOT of couples… and we were guests to one of them. 🙂

both of us have known grace for quite a while already. college pa lang, kilala na ni selle c grace. their both mapuans and not only that, their both chemical engineers also. a batch higher nga lang c selle. ako naman, i’ve known grace since she started working here. we used to be departmentmates up until around 3 years ago. kaya naman we’re so blessed to have been invited to her 777 wedding.

during the early part of their preps, we did share our notes and experiences with grace. lalo na kasi noong umpisa, gusto din nila sa tagaytay sana… just like us. their plans changed though and they finally settled for manila hotel. ang yaman, no? 😉

come to think of it, this would be the first hotel wedding reception we’ll be attending. all the other weddings we’ve attended held their receptions at gardens, clubhouses or restaurants. kaya naman this was a new experience for us. sit-down dinner to kaya no standing in line at the buffet table. 😀

weddings are really nice because of the love and the emotion it encapsulates. and this 777 wedding, definitely had it. thanks grace & jc for inviting us… it was an honor witnessing your union. 🙂


we were first to arrive at the church and i immediately took this aisle shot. nice thing about churches are the structures and stained glasses.


jc, the groom, with the male entourage. got to chat with jc for a short while and he admitted na hindi daw sya naka2log the night before. sabi pa nga nya, “ganun ba talaga yun?” inisip ko lang na i might not be the right person to ask that because sa aga naman ng kasal namin, talagang d ako naka2log. 😆


guests, armed with their cameras, eagerly awaiting for that perfect shot.


the church doors open and there stands the bride. what makes this even more dramatic was the backdrop of rain. bigla kasi umulan nun, eh. if only i had a videocam… or if only my camera could zoom more. dslr… dslr… dslr… 🙂


the exchange of vows. ang daya naman ni grace, eh… hindi umiyak. 🙂


the grandeur of manila hotel.


that’s us! 🙂 if you take a closer look at the picture, grace has his new cellphone right on their table, just under her pouch. naka-box pa. the very same fone we blogged about. 🙂


ah, yes, our drivers. 😆 just joking. our ofcmates who drove us all the way home from manila hotel. God bless you hearts, yane & ruby. so, kelan na? 8-8-8? 9-9-9? 10-10-10? 8-9-10? 😉

Read Full Post »

6.9 mm thick… or thin?

samsung has become a major player in the mobile phone market. this has been achieved through aggressive marketing of their feature-filled, stylish phones. the name samsung has been so synonymous to mobiles that whenever someone learns that we work for samsung, more often than not they’ll say,”may discount ba kayo sa mga cellphones?” 😆

to clarify things, samsung is a group of companies and ours, samsung electro-mechanics, is just but one of many. no, we do not produce mobile phones nor do we produce home appliances… that’s all under samsung electronics, yet another samsung company. we just make the smd’s (surface mounted devices) that is inside such items, irregardless of manufacturer (ours can also be found inside sony, apple… etc.). kaya, no, we don’t sell cellphones at wala din mga tv sa amin. 😀

as a priviledge though, managers and, just recently, supervisors are given mobile phones as a benefit. and selle, just got hers. 🙂

the samsung sgh-x820. at 6.9 mm, it’s advertised as the world’s slimmest mobile phone. as you can see in the photo above, we’re not kidding.


being so thin, it’s still packed with features. samsung probably has the best lcd’s in mobile phones with this one having a 1.9″ 263k lcd. it also has 2.0 megapixel camera and by experience, samsung has the finest lens used in mobile phones. add to that an mp3 player and we have an extremely thin yet still loaded phone.


of course, style is important… and samsung is known for their stylish phones. (syempre, extra prenup artbook namin sa background. 😉)

suddenly, my fone looked old. palit na lang kaya kami. 😆

Read Full Post »