Christmas r & r

The Christmas season has arrived and finally we got the time to rest albeit a relatively short one. To spend the holidays, we decided to go home to lucena and be with my mom for Christmas. besides not being able to be with mama for months already, lucena is a place where we feel like we’re in an inn where we can just relax, rest and eat without paying anything. 🙂

after doing some household chores (laundry and stuff), we packed our things and went to lucena last dec 23. it took us about an hour before we got to ride on a bus though as most buses were fully-packed already. we thought we were finally getting on a bus kaso na-singit-an pa kami kaya hindi na din kami nakasakay at punong-puno na. it was a blessing in disguise though as just a minute later, another bus came by which, even though there were no more empty seats, was much more maluwag than the one that we just missed. God bless the conductor as he directed us to position ourselves near a seat wherein the passenger was just about to get off on the next stop. sa madaling salita, nakaupo din naman agad kami. 🙂

three hours later, we arrived.

we unpacked our stuff and soon we were having dinner already. kwento-kwento with mama habang kain syempre. 🙂 with fifteen cakes to bake the following day, mama had to sleep immediately after dinner kasi maaga pa lang mag-bake na daw sya.


freshly baked chiffon cakes.
we didn’t know that chiffon cakes were such a hit during Christmas. we saw a bakery selling these like hotcakes at sm lucena (oo, may sm sa lucena 😆) and they were smaller and more expensive than these.

everyone who’s got to meet my mom knows she’s a baker like no other. my friends are “fans” of her baked goodies. so much so that we served a couple of them during the cocktails of our wedding. ang bilis nga daw naubos, eh. 😀 sarap naman talaga.

when we woke up the following day, we were welcomed by freshly baked cakes on the dining table. yes, tapos na agad. hating-gabi pa lang, eh nag-start na daw mag-bake si mama. super sipag kasi talaga ni mama (so unlike me 😛). we joined in the fun by helping in wrapping of the cakes. 🙂


(top photo) banana cakes. selle’s favorite
(middle photo) it’s just like wrapping gifts
(bottom photo) the finished product. want one? 😉

much of our stay there was spent sleeping, eating and watching tv. ayos, no? 🙂 we did go to sm lucena for a couple of hours to buy a gift for mama. mali pa nga una naming bili kasi maliit yung size ng sandals na napili namin but since sm was just a 5-minute jeepney ride away, we decided to go back immediately to exchange the sandals for the correct size.

with much free time, i experimented with our compact point-and-shoot and added to our ring shots collection taken the last time we were there.


contrast makes a subject stand out. the luster of the rings makes it pop from the dark background. also, its elegance is a stark contrast to the roughness of the branches.


this is one expensive Christmas ball. 😀


breaking patterns is another photography technique. also, this photo was more effective once it was converted into black and white.


our anniversary’s coming up. 🙂

besides doing ring shots, i somewhat did another front yard experiment, this time in lucena. here’s what i produced… all in lomo. 🙂

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a point-and-shoot event coverage

a couple of nights ago, we just had our company Christmas party. with roughly around 3,000 employees, semphil has been known to host concert-type Christmas parties. this year was no exception.

it was a different experience to simply just be part of the viewing audience for once. it has been a while for we used to be actively involved in Christmas parties with selle being a performer and i being an organizer. with those responsibilities out, this year, we went to the party to have fun, enjoy the music and practice some photography. 🙂

we entered the party grounds a bit late but found this samsung wall unappreciated by the audience. so we took advantage by having someone take a few photos of us. seemingly taking our lead, other employees then started having their pictures there afterwards. typical filipino, kelangan lang may mauna para magsunod-sunuran ang iba. 😆


us with the party organizers, the recreational committee.
(back row, left to right) reccom chairman, jhay and reccom veterans, stephen, yane & vena.
(mid row, left to right) mommy rose and selle

since we came in late, we had to settle for a back row seat. we were situated at the middle aisle, right in front of the control booth. being this far, i took the opportunity to practice shooting panorama. i took 6 shots from end-to-end and stitched them all together in photoshop resulting in this panoramic photo. since i didn’t use a tripod and there was considerable movement amongst the audience, ghosting was still apparent in the photo. but not bad for a beginner. 😉


my wife with the boys of equipment.

the party started with a dance number by male semphil employees. they were amazing and, personally, it was the highlight of the first part of the program. unfortunately, we were just way too far for my point-and-shoot to snap a few images.

star of the night is a traditional award given to the best dressed male and female employee. nakakatuwa kasi makikita mo that some do really put effort in dressing up for the party. it’s even more fun to see that a few of our friends were actually called out from the audience and made their way to the stage as finalists.


(top row) office buddies, tin and sarah strutting onstage. tin gave the most eloquent personal introduction while, sarah made up for a near accident on stage by having the most graceful ramp model walk.
(bottom photo) biboy representing. yeah! 😀
(images captured from video taken by jim buico)

with the departmental contest about to start, we transferred to the front row so i can snap some pics. there we joined selle’s best friend, mommy rose, who shared her seat with my wife.



this year’s departmental contest was coined as “i want my mtv” contest. simply put, each department will reenact a music video.


tantal male engineers performing buttons by the pussy cat dolls.
(image captured from video taken by jim buico)


the crawl. the move that had the loudest uproar.

intrigued? watch the complete performance here. 🙂



trivia: a couple of days prior to the party, we were seated besides these very engineers over lunch. dun nila na-kwento na wala pa daw i-pre-present ang tantal. suddenly, i had this whimsy idea (uh-oh 😉). why not have guys perform a pussy cat doll song? aba, syempre ayaw nila. 😆 pero kinulit-kulit namin nina selle at mommy rose sila. aba, that afternoon selle shared to me na pumayag na daw sila. 😀 tapos ngayon tuwing nakikita nila ako, parati nila sinasabi na ako daw may kasalanan. kasalanan? nanalo naman kayo, ah… so ok na yun. 😀

besides tantal, i also was awaiting the performance of support because they have been known to excel in this type of competition. also, this year, a couple of my departmentmates wholeheartedly 😉 volunteered to participate so i wanted to show support. another thing, sweethearts yane and ruby organized the presentation so it must be good.

unfortunately, their intricate presentation did not appeal to the judges (it didn’t help that the lights and camera man didn’t follow very simple instructions) hence only a third place finish.


(top) the “spice girls” on their spice car.
(middle) jim couldn’t get a clear shot of the stage as there was this guy, who i hope was not the official photographer (but it sure like he was), who just remained standing right in the middle of the stage. obviously, unobtrusive was not part of his dictionary. photographers should shoot then step out but this guy was nailed there as if he was part of the presentation and shooting video with a compact point-and-shoot. yah, a point-and-shoot so he must not be the official photographer but he sure was not an employee.
(bottom) charles and dex having the time of their lives. 😆
(images captured from video taken by jim buico)


post presentation photo.
(left to right) dex, jim and charles
now, don’t they look happy that they just got to perform onstage? 😀


the 2007 semphil idols perform songs by daughtry, imago and fergie with red, selle’s former bandmate, leading the semphil band.
(from top to bottom) francis (mlcc), babylyn (tantal) and semphil idol, tata (crystal)
ang galing nyo!
(images captured from video taken by jim buico)

parokya ni edgar, side a, bamboo and kamikaze. big name bands have guested on our annual Christmas party and this year it was sponge cola!



no longer being in the know about the local music scene, we didn’t know much about sponge cola. other than a few songs, there was not much we can say about them. but we knew that they had a reputation of being awesome rockers and we, being rock music lovers, were stoked when they finally got on stage.

these guys didn’t disappoint. though they had a relatively short set, their energy and musicality was way up high and we enjoyed every minute of it. 🙂

besides witnessing that sponge cola was for real, i also realized that i might have outgrown our point-and-shoot. slow focusing and poor low-light capabilities were the problems i encountered while trying to capture some photos. i still got a number of nice shots though but these were mostly aided by post-processing. if only i had a dslr for Christmas… 😉


yael in lomo.


yael in soft glow.


post party snapshot. yah, we had a great time. 🙂

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expanding the collection

if it’s not too obvious yet, i love pampering my wife. 🙂 this season for giving, it took me some time to decide on what to give her. you see, i do not believe in asking would-be-recipients kung ano gusto nilang matanggap na regalo. i think that defeats the purpose of gift-giving. para kasi ang dating eh nagpabili na lang sya sa iyo. part of giving gifts is thinking and deciding on what to give. it can be difficult but that’s part of the beauty of it.

so how does one go about it? there are several ways.

spying is one way. 😀 observing and picking up clues on what the person needs/wants at the moment. one can use close friends of the recipient as accomplices. they are the ones who spend the most time with the recipient hence are the most qualified to give suggestions.

fishing is another way. talk to the person. use indirect queries and questions. simple-han lang. wag yung diretsong, “anong gusto mong matanggap na regalo?” that’s taking the easy way out. 😛

i had to resort to these tactics whenever i feel like giving my wife something… more so this Christmas. initially, i really wanted to give her a wallet because hers need replacing already. then i noticed that she needed a new bag kasi minsan hindi na kasya sa bag nya mga gamit nya. 🙂 since she’s a bag person (and a shoes person… and an accessories person… 😉), i said to myself, “bag it is.”

just a couple of weeks ago, i did get her an extremely chic nine west bag already. we got it from her sister’s friend who got it straight from the usa (kaya relatively mura lang). selle was so excited with her new bag but her excitement quickly died down because, as we got home, we noticed that one the zippers ain’t working right. we decided to return the bag. no new bag. gone is the surprise factor of getting her a bag. we’re back to square one.

just today, we were scouting for exchange gift items for selle. we had no intention of buying anything else as we were devoid of time. while in the mall, we passed by the guess boutique and, like we always do, just had to go in. even if we usually do not buy anything, we do like to window shop… lalo na dito. favorite brand kasi ni selle ang guess, eh, as proven by our cabinet filled of guess items. 😉 (ok, that was a bit of an exaggeration but you get the picture. 🙂)

we wandered around and checked out some bags and some clothes. while doing so, we did notice one extremely swank bag and just had to return to it. selle did like it but was somehow a bit hesitant to voice out her opinion. siguro kasi wala naman sa plano namin ang mamili talaga (or nahihiya lang 😛). since i have learned to read her already, i knew she loved it and this was the bag for her. i decided then to buy it for her right then and there. 🙂

nagulat at tuwang-tuwa si selle. like i said, this was not part of our itinerary for the day. to increase the surprise level even further, i went straight to the wallet section and lo-and-behold the bag we chose had a matching wallet. without hesitation, i decided to give that one to my wife too. 🙂



selle was an extremely happy wife that moment… and i couldn’t be happier. 🙂 that’s two more to her ever expanding guess collection. 😀

merry Christmas, favy… 🙂


a closer look at the details of the bag and the wallet.


before the bag and the wallet, we bought this just a couple of weeks ago. 🙂


my wife’s favorite brand… lomofied 🙂

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it’s official

after almost 11 months, we finally got our hands on this… 😀





we didn’t think it would take this long but it did. we didn’t mind at first until recently when suddenly we really, really needed to get our contract in order to beat the tax exemption deadline (sayang din yun refund, ha. 🙂) which was up this very week. special thanks to our best man, mike and especially his dad for pulling through.

whew, that was a close one. 🙂

it ain’t over yet though. after this, we need to get the nso certified one. hopefully, that would not take another 11 months. 😆



actual contract signing photos during the ceremony (photos by fol rana jr)


post-ceremony contract signing by our officiant and sponsors (photo by mike crucillo)

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still undefeated

it was a super weekend for sports fanatics. marquee matchups in different arenas and different sports disciplines. reputations were challenged and undefeated records were on the line but when the smoke cleared after all the hostilities, they remained standing with hands up in the air… clearly victorious.


(photos courtesy of msn.foxsports.com and ufc.com)

honestly, for me, boxing has lost its appeal. too many questionable judges’ decisions coupled with too many uneven matchups led the sport to a downward spiral. add to that the rising popularity of mixed martial arts and sports fans began shifting from boxing to mma. this was actually a good thing for boxing because promoters began putting up exciting fights in order to save the sport hence, the resurgence of boxing.

it was dubbed as undefeated. two fighters with unblemished records going head-on. ricky hatton vs floyd mayweather jr. hitman vs pretty boy. england vs usa. it had the makings for an explosive fight.

i have always been a mayweather fan. his skills are way above everybody else. he is not the most powerful puncher but his accuracy, quickness and smarts are second to none. i didn’t know much about hatton but with an unbeaten record for more than 40 fights, he must be really good. kaya naman noong nakita namin si hatton entering the ring, with his stern look and solid physique (sabi ko nga kay selle, “he looks scary.” 😀), i knew mayweather is in for a fight.

right on the onset, it was obvious how hatton wanted the fight to be… rough and lots of inside fighting. that was a smart tactic because it would negate mayweather’s definite reach advantage and evasiveness. the problem is, despite being pinned on the ropes, mayweather was still too difficult to hit. nakakatawa nga ang mga abs-cbn commentators because they were all obviously pro-hatton (or anti-mayweather 😀) as they kept on commenting how good hatton is despite being unable to mount a serious offensive. this mugging, pushing, shoving trend continued until the middle rounds. by that time, mayweather started to dance around and launch his seemingly laser-guided punches unto hatton’s head and body. grabe talaga ang bilis. by this time, the abs-cbn commentators finally realized to give up the biased commentary 😛 and started to praise mayweather’s skill set.

and then it happened. sidestep + left hook counter. bam! game over. (actually, nakatayo pa si hatton pero it was obvious na tapos na laban).


(photos courtesy of msn.foxsports.com)
(left) the hitman firing blanks at the “unhittable” mayweather
(right) even in close quarters, mayweather had the advantage

it was also a big night for ufc fans last december 8 (dec 9 dito sa pinas) with the finale of the ultimate fighter season 6. top-billing the finale was a lightweight matchup of two of our favorite fighters, roger huerta vs clay guida. huerta has been undefeated in the octagon (although he has 1 loss outside of the ufc) and has been very busy this 2007 with four straight wins prior to this fight with guida. unfortunately, this fight was not shown on local tv hence, we had to rely on the internet for the results.

huerta wins via submission. just by reading the report, how we wish that the fight had been shown here. as expected, it was action packed. huerta apparently lost the first two rounds to guida but totally dominated the third round leading to the tapout.

we expect big things for huerta in 2008. a lightweight championship bout perhaps? 🙂


(photos courtesy of ufc.com)
(left) huerta letting a left high kick fly
(right) the finishing rear-naked choke for the win

lastly, in the sport of football, the new england patriots remained undefeated for the season. they are now just three games away from having a perfect season. i like their coach, bill belichick. i think he is really smart. randy moss is a freak-of-an-athlete. their defense has always been good. but this year, i can’t find myself rooting for this team. maybe because they are just too good. i don’t know. i thought their streak would end last week against the ravens and that vicious defense. but it didn’t. the steelers could’ve ended it this week… but they made a major mistake even before the game started. nag-yabang sila. you don’t do that to a reeling team. that only woke the patriots up and made them angry. that only gave added motivation to an already very good team. kawawang steelers tuloy. 🙂

dominance in sports is something to revel and applaud at. much props to mayweather, huerta (both of whom we really, really like 🙂) and to the patriots as well. 🙂

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rush job

it would’ve been easy for a professional but i am not one. that was why i kinda hesitated when kathleen’s friends asked me to make an avp for her farewell party. do i have enough time? that was the question that kept ringing in my head. eventually, i relented to their request because, after all, this was for a dear friend. 🙂

this project however turned into a rush job with the materials being submitted later than i needed. being an amateur, i can’t just go and edit right away. first, i had to go through the interviews several times over to somehow get a storyline going. then i had to browse through the photos as well. after plotting the outline of the avp, i then had to search for suitable music to use. all these took significant time and i haven’t even opened my vegas yet.

for 4 consecutive nights, i was parked in front of our home pc trying to weave out an acceptable avp. by the end of the second night, i knew i was in trouble as i estimated that with my current pace, i wouldn’t make it. i then had to speed things up and compressed everything in the next 2 nights which, besides editing, included rendering, burning and dvd design. ano ba tong pinasok ko? 😀

despite overlooking a lot of things and not having the opportunity to fine tune the output due to lack of time (i’m gonna get flack from my friends with this one 😆), thankfully, the project was finished in time. whew. next time, maniningil na ako. 🙂

here’s our audio visual tribute for kathleen, divided into 3 chapters because the whole avp exceeds the youtube time limit.

chapter 1
describing kathleen


chapter 2
personal anecdotes


chapter 3
farewell messages

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