Prenuptial shoot: Aleng & Topher

I knew this couple thru Pinoyexchange last January 2009. From then on, they've been part of our usual weekend/holiday escapes. We have travelled, got drunk, sang, ate, watched movies together. So when I was asked to shoot their prenuptial, I didn't think twice in saying Yes. Knowing the couple personally makes it easier to take their pictures. And I wasn't wrong... all my CF cards went full from this shoot and I had a terrible difficulty in deciding which photos to post. So, here are some of them. These are my top favorites. Please see my flickr account (http://www.flickr.com/photos/irobot773) to view the rest of the pictures:

Addition to the pack!

So, I'm one year older now. The parties went well (at least from what I saw, don't know what I missed though! hehe) and I'm left with a big balance in my credit cards. But that's okay. I only grow old once a year and each birthday I believe is a celebration of life! So, a little expense here and there is not a big of a deal... (although I have to keep my promise that this only happens once a year. That's the most difficult part). You may have noticed I used the plural form of "party". Yep, I had several parties (although not all can be considered the fun, loud and crazy parties). I somehow was able to share the celebration in the Philippines by sending my family to a swimming getaway. I also held a small party in our apartment and bought tiramisu cakes for my colleagues in Cambridge.

And just like every wife (umm...I'm actually not certain), I was so excited to receive the husband's gift. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't actually asking for an expensive, over the top gifts. Being a couple for more than 11 years, I definitely know my husband - He is not into extragavant gifts! But the element of surprise gives me a rush of excitement. Well, I can honestly say that this year, there wasn't much effort exerted to surprise me. This in one way or another, made me sad (and the husband knows this, hehe). But that's okay... let's just say, I got over with it. Anyway, the husband hasn't been so successful in surprising me no matter how much effort he gives in the planning stage, hahaha!

So, this is what I got on my birthday from the husband - an addition to the pack:


CANON POWERSHOT G11
I can say that I already had an idea what he was supposed to give me. I have long been contemplating on buying this camera...maybe for more than 1 year now. But not this particular model, but its predecessor- G10. Before, I was planning to buy this using my hotel points...but other priorities came. So, when the husband gave me this, I was so ecstatic!

Why I like this:
My main problem with my SLRs is that they're very bulky and heavy. It frustrates me that even if we're just going to a restaurant, I have to carry a big camera bag*. And lately, I've been trying to avoid that so I was just putting my camera in my shoulder bag. But this has put my camera and accessories in danger for so many times. So, I told myself that I really NEED a compact camera so as not to exacerbate the damages that my paraphernalia have got into.

However, my main concern with compact cameras is that the quality and controls are not good. I might as well just use my phone in taking pictures. But that is not a problem with this G11. The controls are comparable to an SLR starter and the quality of the pictures is just amazing. Not to use so much jargon but this camera has a vari-angle 2.8" LCD screen (which I really, really, really like!), DIGIC 4 image processor, 28mm wide angle lens (It's incredibly wide for a P&S camera!), can shot RAW images, maximum aperture of f2.8 (nice!), and of course, the famous Canon technology - the Optical Image Stabilizer. These are the only features that I'm really raving about, please check this link for its other features. And another bonus that I really like is that I can use my Speedlite 430EX with it. I really think that this camera is overqualified to be considered a compact camera but underqualified to be an SLR. Anyone who wants some features that are not in this camera should just buy an SLR (in my opinion). This really solved my problem and the quality of the pictures is way beyond the quality from a normal point&shoot. Samples are below (None of these images was post-processed. These were directly downloaded from the SD Card and were shot in JPEG :

Low light, with flash (I am not sure if I used my speedlite for this one, but my guess is that I used it by just looking at how the light was dispersed.) @ 1/8 f3.2

Low light, without flash @ 1/6 f2.8

Indoor (top view - this is one thing I really admired the camera for... I can shoot in different angles without having to put myself in a crazy position....can shoot discreetly too!) @ 1/8 f3.5

View from my room on a cloudy day in Cambridge @ 1/800 f2.8

Tried the macro mode, not bad! @ 1/8 f4.5

Just outside our apartment @ 1/320 f4.0

Tried zooming in and there was just a slight noise @ 1/15 f4.5

It also has video but with a disappointing 640×480 pixel capture. But that's fine. I'm not really into videos but basic video capability would work for me in times I need it. These were just my first few shots with the camera, testing whether I like it or not. Another observation I have is that the camera captures so much light. It is just amazing (how many times do I have to type that word for you to believe me?) My only complaint is that it is quite slow in transitioning from view mode to shooting mode... and I'm a very impatient person, hehe. My rating? 4 out of 5 stars! I really, really like it and thankful to the husband that he fulfilled one of my dreams. :)

*Another thing I haven't blogged about is the camera bag I bought myself for quite sometime now... to which I am very satisfied and happy that I purchased. I'll try to post my review in my next entry!

My most reluctant model. Not.

The recent economic downturn has caused too much damage on many people's lives in many aspects. I can say that we were one of these people affected by the greatest recession of all time. My husband lost his job one year ago. However, now that the economy is slowly picking up, the Lord God above has finally set down his plans for my husband. He just recently landed a job and today was his first day (after exactly 1 year of being SAHH - Stay at home husband).

My job gives me opportunity to work from home 2 days every week (yep, every week - unless there's a requirement for me to be onsite the whole week and this seldom happens by the way). So, today, the feeling was so different that I'm home alone. The place looks empty and quiet. To maximize the opportunity of serenity, I was able to dig (yes, I'm not yet done with my digging!) some of his old pictures (not that old though, maybe a few months or a year old). To show my appreciation of my husband's never ending hope and faith, I offer these to you (I hope this would make you smile even for just a bit) :

"Basura na lang ba ako sa buhay mo?" (March 21, 2009) Because the weather was nice that day, we, together with a couple of friends, decided to go to Lake Shore and relax. I remember that we also ate at a nice Korean restaurant before going to Lake shore.

"Dala mo na ba ang mga epektus?" (December 2008) This was at O'hare International Airport - Northwest Airlines Terminal. We were both so happy during this time. This was the day we were going to Philippines for vacation. *sigh* Wonder when we would set foot again on our mother land.


This was sometime in June 2009, inside the Metra Train (Northwest Line). We were on our way to downtown Chicago to meet with a friend from Cayman Island. He brought my old camera (which I still dearly love) for his use and snap! I took his picture while aiming at something (I don't know what).

So, there you go. Meet my most willing model. :)

...more Abstracts & Concepts!

My previous post has inspired me to dig up more in my hard drives. And these were my finds (I told you, many of them are still hiding in their folders):

LIGHTSCAPE
Taken @ O'hare International Airport, terminal C concourse. I've been wanting to take a picture of the lighted ceiling of this airport. Did some magical spell to my camera and voila! - July 2009

RUSH HOUR
Taken @ O'hare International Airport. We were rushing to our flight going to Charlotte, NC (ultimately going to Nassau, Bahamas) from Terminal B to Terminal C - July 2009

Abstract Photography

I've always regarded photography as an opportunity to see beauty in an object's mediocrity. As most people have put it, "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder". So let me share you how I see beauty in life's ordinary.

While arranging photos in my computer, I saw these pictures sitting in their respective folders waiting for my attention. Life has become so busy lately that I haven't been posting any pictures. So, here are my payments to my IOUs:

This photo was taken at JFK Museum, Boston MA - July 2009

GIANT ASTERISK - This photo was taken @ JFK Museum, Boston MA - July 2009

WIND BENEATH MY WINGS - This photo was taken from inside a United Airlines plane in one of my flights from Boston, MA to Chicago, IL - May 2009

My title for this photo: "Who says you can't be in a non-self portrait you take in a handheld camera?" This was taken along Butterfield Rd going to Oakbrook, IL from Mt. Prospect, IL - April 2010

THE LONG WAIT - This is just a number/menu holder in a restaurant. April 2010

DE-LIGHTED -One of my bokeh trials. Not that good...but I just love how the bokehs shape themselves into a smiling face. This was taken along Algonquin Road on our way home from Schaumburg, just today. Exposure time: 1/10

Also taken today. Along Elmhurst Street just before entering our apartment community entrance. This is actually a small hotel close to our apartment. The lights smudged are the signages of the hotel. Exposure time: 0.3

IM FALLING FOR YOU -This was taken in the Harvard Museum of Natural History (if I'm not mistaken) - Boston MA. This is one of the ceilings of the museum. March 2009

And that's about it for now. I hope you enjoy viewing them. I'm pretty sure that there are still some other left in my hard drive. I'm just so sad that I've not been keeping close track of these pictures that I tend to lose some of them. I really need to do a huge reorganization of my pictures. It's 1:13 am and I'm now signing off. :)

Wishes do come true... (my birthday mantra)

An e-mail from work has reminded that my birthday is coming up. Our project end lunch party falls on my birthday! So, after receiving the e-mail, I came to ask myself "So I'll be getting old again. What do I want for my birthday?". I have this tradition of rewarding myself with something that would inspire me for the new year that God has given me. For this year, I can't think of anything grand that I can give to myself. I actually have one thing in mind but I just want to brush it off for now...mainly because of budget constraints.

So, I then decided to just list down the things I *need* but never had the motivation to buy them. I actually have this habit of not buying the things I *need* even though they're just small stuff (and cheap, too!). My usual thought process is: "It just costs $xx, I'll just buy it next week. For now, I'll buy this ______ (something that is way more expensive than the other, even if it doesn't classify to be a necessity)". So, see... I have this problem of differentiating the "need" versus the "want". (Sometimes, I think they're just synonymous).

The list of my wants...errr... needs that I want to have:

(1) Sigma travel brush kit (in pink) - http://www.sigmamakeup.com/products/7015.html
- I only have one set of make-up brushes. These are the normal sized brushes that I use whether I'm at home or travelling. So, every week, after coming from travel, I keep on transferring my brush kit from my luggage to the bathroom countertop (yes, I do my make up in the bathroom *sad face*. But you'll see below that this is something I can fix with another *need*). And lately, I'm getting tired of doing this again and again. That's why I think I need this brush set that I can just keep inside my luggage all month-/year- long!

2) Face mirror - http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?skuId=2090231&productId=xlsImpprod540580&navAction=push&navCount=1&categoryId=cat120100#reviews
- Because I don't have a clearer mirror than our bathroom mirror, as I've said earlier, I do my make-up inside the bathroom. So, I badly need this mirror to somehow give my husband a little privacy when it's his turn to use the bathroom. :) The mirror I'm looking for is the one with light strip around the mirror and has different lighting options with power cord and light switch.

(3) Macbook Pro 15" neoprene sleeve (I'm looking for the one in vertical layout with small handles. Can't find something like this yet, have any idea where I can buy this?)
- Last August 2009, I bought an Incase neoprene sleeve for my 13" macbook. I loved how it hugs and protects my laptop. However, come December, because I upgraded to a 15", I can no longer use the sleeve I bought (to which, the husband is delighted. grr). So instead, I bought an Incase laptop bag for 15". So, problem solved! But that's what I thought! As you know, macbook pros have aluminum unibody. I know this is something that everyone is raving about. However, my biggest problem with this laptop is it radiates terrible amount of static electricity every time I take it out from the bag in airport security gates. You have no idea how much I hate this! O'hare has replaced its trays with non-static ones but Logan airport is still using the old, gray monster trays! So, every week, I still get a big dose of electricity in my body every time I go through the gates! So I think, I badly, badly need this laptop sleeve, or else, I'll be the next member of Fantastic Four.

(4) Little Big Planet sackboy plush http://www.amazon.com/LittleBigPlanet-Sackgirl-Sackboy-Plush-Bundle/dp/B0030DG4SQ/ref=pd_sbs_a_1
- I know this is a "want" rather than a "need". But I don't know what's with this character. I just love him and I'm still waiting for the time that I can convince myself to buy this.

(5) Little Big Planet PS3 game
- I think I've already explained in # 4 above the need for this. You should try playing this game for you to believe that I *need* this. :)

(6) Parallels Desktop 5.0 & Windows 7
- I run Parallels 4.0 and Windows XP for my work. And I want, errr... need to upgrade to the next version to make use of its added features. These are not cheap, so I'd probably think hard when I would get these.

(7) Caboodles' Grande Train Case "Rockstar" http://www.caboodles.com/#/products
- I really like things that help me organize my things. As my husband always say, "Pwede kitang iwan buong araw sa tindahan ng mga kahon at kariton na hindi ka mabo-bore!". Yes, I really love boxes, containers, cabinets, or anything where I can put my things, make ups, etc. Even when I was a kid, I was keeping all my shoe boxes no matter how old they are. And also love going to "Container store" or Ikea. So, when I saw this, I immediately decided that I "need" this... (although admittedly, the husband has given me a Juicy Couture train case last year that I haven't used to its fullest capacity yet). But hey, you can never have too many train cases, right? :P

As I write this, the husband has volunteered to give me #3 above. Yey! So, people, I'm actually accepting donations... hah!

It's not my intention to give you ideas what to give me on my birthday. But if you insist, the above ideas would help you decide, hahaha! But seriously speaking, I have this attitude of not asking anything for my birthday from people. I'm a very appreciative person (believe it or not!), that I don't usually look at the price tag of gifts. As we always say, "it's the thought that counts!". So, let's see which of these wishes would come true... :)

Turndown service

I should be working at this time, however this sudden knock on my door pushed my fingers to transform my thoughts into writing/typing. It's 7:10PM Easter Daylight Time, Hyatt Regency Cambridge. While reviewing some stuff from work, I heard a familiar knock on my door- "Good evening! Turndown service!". And just the usual, I said - "No. Thank you!!!".

When I was new to travelling, I never heard of this thing. The first time I had this, I was just standing beside my bed while the housekeeping lady was turning my bedsheet and blanket down. I was just literally watching whatever she was doing... CONFUSED. But suddenly got delighted when I saw that she left chocolates and candies on top of my bed. The next day, I heard the knock again. But this time, I told the lady, "Can I just have the candies?". *smiling from ear to ear*

So, for anyone who doesn't know, Turndown service is an evening service offered by some hotels where the housekeeping lady turns your bedspread, blankets, etc down (ergo, the name of the service) so you can just comfortably climb up to bed between the sheets. For some hotels, this is also the time when they put out your bath robe and slippers and get them ready for you, laying them nicely on top of your bed. Some even say that they put candies with mint because some people would want this before they do their *thing* - yeah, fresh breath can definitely go a long way! haha! :P

My first question when I first learned about this (and this is the next day after my CONFUSED scene above. Needed to ask my colleague about it), "Are some people really that lazy that they can't do it themselves?" Well, maybe it's just me. But for now, my stand is to turn down the "turndown service"! hehe! (Although it feels great to be treated like a queen sometimes!)

Wrapping up 2009 travels and activities

Aside from 2007, I can say that 2009 was also a year that had lots of memories to keep. There were bad but I tend to just dwell on the good times. So, in this entry, I'm wrapping up all the activities and travels that we had for the year 2009. I know this is kind of late - posting this 3 months after the close of the year. But as I went down memory lane, I couldn't help but smile on the pictures that I had with my husband and our friends for the past year. I can say that there were really lots of good times that happened last year that I wouldn't want to forget any part of it. So, I tried creating collages for each trip/activity that we had. This was very tiresome since I had to browse and select among thousands and thousands of pictures for each travel. I usually take more or less 2,000 photos for each trip - so putting all these pictures together took me almost 3 days to complete (3 weeks in reality since I only have my weekends to work on this). Most of the pictures included were not post-processed due to lack of time.

I can say that these travels were really budget-friendly. I would recommend travelling with friends so that you can split the costs and save some money. Also, if you have friends from other states/countries - I recommend asking (but not obliging) them if they could spare an extra room (or extra space in the couch or air bed, hehe) for you. Of course, this depends on your closeness with the other person... (I can't imagine myself asking for a favor from someone I just met or someone I was not even close to in the previous years). And also, be sure that you really have the intention to visit your friend and not just to use him/her for you to save money. As for myself, I actually appreciate friends asking for a night or two in our small apartment (I know that not all may have the same feeling about this. I'm just maybe weird). And lastly, of course, don't be hurt if they say no. :) This is the time to resort to your miles and hotel points, hehe. So since travelling is part of my professional job, I usually just use my hotel points and airlines miles in our travels - really a big help!

One thing I appreciate in the US is that you can travel to different states just by car. I think for most of these travels, we just drove with friends. Not only that most of the time, it's cheaper... You can also talk about anything while inside the car...or for some, satisfy their never-ending crave for sleep! :)

So, here are the travels we had outside Illinois (or even outside US for one) in no particular order:

1. Nassau, Bahamas (July 2009) - Thanks to our Bahamas friends - Pussy cat, Lyds, Uditha & Dennis and... to Olan also who introduced us to these fabulous friends!


2. Boston/Cambridge, Massachusetts (January 2009 to current) - Although I've been staying in this state every week since January, there were times that I had to tour some of my friends visiting Boston.


3. Nevada/Arizona (December 2009)


4. Luray, Virginia (September 2009) (..although we stayed at Falls Church, VA in Angiela's apartment. Thanks, Angiela!)


5. Las Vegas, NV for the New Year! (December 2009/January 2010)


6. Pennsylvania / Niagara Falls, NY (September 2009)


7. New York City/Brooklyn, New York (May 2009) - my birthday celebration


8. San Francisco/Oakland/Santa Cruz/Daly City/Napa, CALIFORNIA (December 2009) - Thanks to Ate Shierra and Kuya Jess for lending us their apartment during our stay.


9. South Bend, IN - White Water Rafting (August 2009)


10. South Dakota (October 2009)


11. Washington, DC (September 2009)

...And these are some of the trips we had within the Chicagoland!

12. Glencoe Beach - Glencoe, IL (July 2009)


13. Paramore/No Doubt Concert - Tinley Park, IL (July 2009)


14. Six Flags - Gurnee, IL (August 2009)


15. Taste of Chicago 2009/with Counting Crows performance - Chicago, IL (June 2009) - We also watched the Gay Pride Parade the day after! :)

Thanks to all our friends who joined us in all these trips..especially thank you for all our combined efforts in preparing itineraries! With all these, I am now closing the book of Year 2009.... while at the same time opening the book of 2010 - More travels to come (I hope!) :)

Iron Chef Randy

Each one of us has something to boast about our father, mother, or even our partner. For many married women, they would say things they like about their husbands such as being thoughtful, caring, understanding, intelligent and the likes. I'm not saying that my husband doesn't possess any of those. It's just that I think the best quality that my husband has is very much different from most men possess. He loves cooking ("loves" actually I think is an understatement) and he cooks well based on my fair judgment.

In our household, Randy (the husband) does the cooking, most if not all the time. Since I travel every week, Thursday/Wednesday nights (the night I'm coming from travels) have become special dinner night. My husband has this habit of preparing a special dinner for us knowing that I'd be dead tired by the time I reach home. He actually doesn't like me being on a first class flight because that means I'd be eating my dinner in the plane. But what I do sometimes is I skip the dinner in the plane just to have an empty stomach and enjoy what he had prepared for us at home.

But lately, he's been running out of options as to what to cook. We got tired of eating the same dish each day. So in one good day, when we were at Costco, I spotted a cook book that has recipes from all over the world, with pictures and all. Whenever I cook, I usually just google something for the recipe and I have been wanting to have either a recipe book or a container/notebook where I can keep/jot down recipes I get from the internet. So when I found this book and after looking at the tag price (it was just $5.99!), I immediately decided that I should buy the book. I have mentioned that it has pictures of each and every dish - which helps us a lot in deciding what we have a taste for for a given day.

Of course, the husband didn't argue in buying the book. He knows that he'll really be benefited by the book. So, I tried taking pictures of what we/he have/has been cooking. I helped in some dishes whenever I'm home and not travelling. But all credits should go to "Chef Randy":


This was our first trial of cooking out of the ordinary. Most americans prefer eating burgers for lunch or dinner. So we tried cooking a home-made burger! I did the 'pisil-pisil' to shape it like a true burger...hehe! :P The recipe for this actually didn't come from the book as we made this even before we discovered the book.

In the following pictures, I will be posting the dishes we've tried from China section of the book. Brace yourself... the following texts/pictures are not recommended to those who are trying to lose weight. :P


And here are the ingredients! The ingredients are somewhat simple -- just whatever was available in our stash.


...and the finished product! Our buns were small. But one bun was more than enough to fill our empty stomach! T'was soooo heavy. Yum! Yum! (We added American cheddar cheese and yes, we forgot some lettuce and pickles).


Beef with mushroom & broccoli from China.


Braised vegetable from China. I very much liked the straw mushroom! :)


Sweet & Sour Pork from China.

And here's the culprit of all these:


The front cover. You'll see that there are post-its stuck in the pages. We actually tag those that we want to try. :)


Sample page of a recipe (Chicken Biryani - we've tried this too!). It has a listing of all the ingredients (swear! some ingredients are never-heard and hard to find!) and step-by-step procedures with pictures and a final product picture. Convenient, isn't it?


And this is how the recipes are laid out. By cuisine.

And these are the cuisines available in the book:
Africa, China, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Middle East, Morocco, Italy, Spain, France, North America, Cajun & Creole, Caribbean, and Mexico.

We have also tried some from Thailand, India and Spain. Maybe I'll save those for my next entry! Bon appetit! :)