beach bumming in punta fuego

tina, joan and me


...i bet we can do this all day...


i didnt write those, but they were true for me nonetheless



was afraid im going to declare: failure to launch

actually, we lazed around the pool more than we did on the beach because we were avoiding the noon sun and didnt really hope to get some tan. but i insisted and told tina and mommy jo that we cannot leave punta fuego without getting to bum around the beach.

so bummed around we did, which meant that we laid on the almost white sand, jumped in unison (several times to get the perfect shot), sat and stared at the sea (or sometimes nothingness), took photos every now and then, and of course, went swimming on the beach. the water was clean and warm on the surface which made swimming and dipping and diving really pleasant. it was not as clear as you would see in bohol or puerto galera, but it was pretty good enough for us to enjoy.

strong waves were not frequent, so waiting on them hoping to get washed ashore was not an option. i chose to lie on my back, floated and watched the clouds go slowly by. to me, that was the best part and i could only wish i could go drifting that way more often. 100% stress-free!

if it weren't for those "things" that bit on our skin and leave them itching, we would have stayed longer in the water. the last time i was in a batangas beach (2008), i had the same experience. something on the water bites and it gets really annoying after a while. what are those, anyway?

i actually would want to go for another trip on the beach in batangas, perhaps stay at a resort overnight and drive to tagaytay the following day... but im concerned that i would again be bothered by "the biters". and that's not something you can look forward to in a vacation of any kind. sayang. i hope someone can do something about it.

lampa-taba

...i did my best, but my best wasn't good enough...

patawa talaga when they told me i had to participate dun sa tug-of-war. two girls per group were required to join and since there were only two female in our team, kasali ako by default. i kept saying, i had ZERO strength AT ALL and that there's no point in competing pero they wouldn't believe me. i guess they had to see before they can believe. or i guess, they were simply left with no choice.

so ayun, i pulled once and then i fell on the ground. HAHA. it was hard! i thought it was strategic to lower yourself on the ground, but it didn't work for me. nakaladkad lang ako at napatid pa ang tsinelas ko, haha! grabe, walang tibay na maaasahan! i do not know what would work for me when it comes to physically demanding sports or games, actually kasi im so LAMPA lately! LAMPA-TABA, hehe!

i feel like the official weakling during the entire avanade outing. there was another round with the male members of the team for the tug-of-war challenge and although it was a lot easier than just us girls pulling, i found that round hard pa rin. i was pulling as much as i could. but i could still feel myself being dragged towards the opponent's direction and that wasn't a good feeling at all. napatili na lang ako. i think i was screaming harder than i was pulling, hehe! i actually heard other people laugh because of my screaming. comedy talaga!

pero BUMAWI ako later on, ha! from being last, our team standing went up to 2nd overall. i will tell you next time HOW. also a funny story :)

kahit lampa, cute naman! hehe!

pure joy

i rarely post anything about gadgets in here. im not really the type who goes out of her way to know the greatest and latest in mobile phones or computers or game consoles or anything like that. my philosophy in buying things is that whatever allows me to do what i need to do, is easy to carry around or hold, is somewhat pretty and offers a few advancements should be okay.

my ipod is the old 512MB shuffle (bought last 2005, vintage almost) and my cellphone is the nokia 2600 which im beginning to despise because of its slow performance when it comes to loading my inbox and outbox. in any case, im not writing to complain about my cellphone... although i think i should... im actually here to tell you about the love of my life: my asus eee pc 1000H.

i only said its the love of my life because i spend so much time on it when im at home. it even sleeps beside me and i carry it with me, almost everywhere i go. it's perfect for my computing needs. at some point, when it was still somewhat acceptable to do so, it was serving as my office workstation.

i love it unconditionally and without complains... except when im working on something in photoshop in which i have to add layers upon layers of adjustments to modify the hue of the photo, render some lighting to it, adjust the color balance, the highlights, the curves, the shadows, edit this and that... that's when i start feeling the pain of not having the latest and the greatest.

earlier today we saw the asus world in megamall at the cyberzone area. i got really excited and thought i would bring my asus eee pc 1000H in there as soon as we get our bonus by the end of the month! i know the RAM doesn't cost that much (just P1400, really) but im broke, so everything for me is expensive, hehe!

i cant wait. just imagining myself and the realization of this plan gives me pure joy. sheer delight!

beautiful seed

last week i headed to "fully booked" in boni high street in order to find a new movie to add to my collection. i was thinking of buying either "wall-e" or "satc the movie", but when i saw the shelves and the many titles they have to offer, it became painful for me to decide which one to get.

i then began to notice the song that was playing within the record bar section. i initially thought that i might be hearing sarah mclachlan, but was not sure. i asked the person behind the counter who it was and he told me it was Corrinne May and handed me a copy of the "beautiful seed" album. i have seen that cover many times before. i remember carrying it around but never really got the chance to listen to the songs. without any further hesitation, i decided to proceed three floors down and bought the CD. i have no idea who she was really, but something inside tells me i have got to have the album.

it wasn't difficult to fall in love with the songs. they were beautifully sang and beautifully written. i could not agree more to what Corrinne May said in one of her interviews: the album is full of hope, full of optimistic joy. i even told JP who was driving the car, listening with me, that she sings as if there were tears of joy in her eyes.

here are my choice cuts:

"On the Side of Me"
I'm not the easiest person to love
I'm often the one who lets things go unresolved
Yet you choose to be
On the side of me

"Shelter"
I know you've been through rough times
Kicked around, thrown to the ground
But you've always been the strong one
So don't tell me that nobody gets you
'Cause I'm standing in your corner
Knocking at your door
You don't have to be alone

"Five Loaves & Two Fishes"
Take my five loaves and two fishes
Do with it as you will
I surrender
Take my fears and my inhibitions
All my burdens, my ambitions
You can use it all to feed them all

"My goal in writing a lot of these songs, was to make an album full of hope, full of optimistic joy. I think we often forget how the smallest, most seemingly insignificant things can have such beautiful possibilities. All it takes is one person to make a difference in this world. People like Mother Teresa, Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. testify to this fact. But often, we are so afraid to try, to speak up, or to make a difference." -Corrinne May

i feel it's important that i share her music with you. you may listen to the sample songs in here. next time you're at a record bar, i do hope you'll look for her in one of the racks.

the great Fort EB

...the goofy bunch at the Fort EB...

...nothing to do but make pa-cute...

upon realizing days beforehand that we needed new activity partners, mavic and i decided on joining the great Fort EB organized by an active DPP member (mic narra) last april 4. each one had to pay P250 for our permit (which was good for an entire day) and our official ID. we were allowed to shoot at anything within the fort bonifacio area except the sculptures and serendra (but i know some of us shot at them anyway, hehe).

the group is a mix of serious hobbyists and aspiring pro-photographers from different backgrounds. some are working at call centers, some have businesses of their own. but we have one common goal that day: meet fellow photography enthusiasts and try to learn a new thing or two about our chosen craft while having fun.

the permit allowed us to shoot even at the construction sites which was something i have been dying to do for a while now. that was the first area mavic and i went to and after shooting for almost an hour there, i thought i had enough and felt that the day was worth it already. i will be posting something about it in my photoblog sometime soon, hopefully.

after the construction photos, i thought these pa-cute photos are the most fun to shoot. the idea came from the strobists amongst us, lead by mark, who was the person responsible for arranging two flash units on each side in front of us. soon after a few minutes of setting things up, we started jumping in front of the light sources one by one. a few minutes more and we were all jumping up and down, synchronously, and trying to come up with all the wacky poses we can think of. the goofier the better.

it didnt bother me that mavic and i were the only females in the group. i did not feel awkward at all. all i wanted was to have fun and to shoot some good photos while doing it. and fun was what we had.

for me, the EB was a blast. a much needed relief. i cant wait to join the next EB and shoot again with my new found strobist friends.

Unfold

words from the song "unfold" from the album of the same title. written and sang by marie digby, who started to catch people's attention when she published a youtube video of her playing an acoustic version of rihanna's "umbrella". i personally took notice of her when i saw this video of her singing her heart out to the song "say it again" which she also wrote. marie plays the piano and guitar and started composing songs in high school. she is half japanese, half irish. more about her in this wiki page.

i recommend you listen to her youtube channel once in a while or check out the album in record bars and decide if her music is for you. i thought it was good and worth having in your collection. other songs i liked are "miss invisible" and "stupid for you" which is one of the more upbeat songs in the album. as a bonus, her more well-known songs are available in both acoustic version and well, non-acoustic.

What I can remember
Is a lot like water
Trickling down a page
Of the most beautiful colors
I can't quite put my finger
Down on the moment
That I became like this...

You see I am the bravest girl
You will ever come to meet
Yet I shrink down to nothing
At the thought of someone
Really seeing me
I think my heart is wrapped around
And tangled up in winding weeds

"I live and breathe music. It is all that I do in life and all that I want to do for the rest of my life." -marie digby