Life’s Lessons

Officially, summer is here and I can’t wait to go to the beach! We’re supposed to go on a week-long vacation but we might be pushing it to a later date. However, knowing that everybody loves the beach, we will definitely spend a day or two in a resort in Samal or in Talicud. Holy week is not a good time for it because beaches are packed with people during those days. We might be going there  before or after the holy week.

Anyway, here’s where we have been for the past years….

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It was a friend’s wedding last Saturday. I am so excited for this event because I’ll be seeing some HS classmates and for sure it will turn out to be a mini reunion. We (I and Ace) really prepared for this event as this will be another photo opportunity and another moment to bond with the FCs (First Class 35). Though Ace has slight fever and headache on that day, he is more than excited to attend the wedding.

If I remember it right, it was almost a month before the wedding when Gizelle (the bride) and I had a chat. They were having problem with the venue because the hotel ballroom where they wanted to hold the ceremony and reception cannot accommodate them on the date that they have chosen for their wedding. I suggested Waterfront Insular Hotel but she has second thoughts because she wanted the venue to be just in the heart of the city and Waterfront is around 15-20 minutes drive from downtown. Anyway, her coordinator was able to book the wedding at Waterfront and so here’s the place!

I personally love this. One of my dream wedding set-up!

While everybody is getting ready for the ceremony (and maybe while waiting for the sun to hide in the clouds which didn’t happen), Ace spotted Gizelle and her groom at the hotel lobby so he grab the opportunity to take portraits of the couple.

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I have a long list of all the things and happenings that I should blog about but lazy bug always hit me everytime I plan to post about it. Anyway, last December we had a reunion. Our relatives from Kabacan drove to the city, spent a day at the beach and spent the night at our cousin’s house. However, not everybody was able to make it.

Anyway, here’s some of the photos of Inang and Tatang’s(+) treasure, their grandchildren and great grandchildren….

the two “olds” in the last photo are our aunt and aunt-in-law.

That didn’t make half of our total number. I guess that’s only a quarter of the gorgeous grandchildren and great grandchildren. Different faces, different complexions, different body builds. Some are fair some are dark. Some are flawless some needs tretinoin. Some are tall, some are petite (in which I belong!). Anyway, I am looking forward for another reunion on Tatang’s death anniversary on April. I hope those who weren’t able to make it to the reunion last December will be able to make it then.

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After being satisfied with the 12×18 prints that I ordered from Artscow, Ace suggested I’d get another batch of prints that we’ll frame. I decided I’ll have our portraits printed but in monochrome and here’s the 5 photos that I ordered from Artscow. After playing with Adobe Lightroom, here’s the processed photos that I am expecting to receive in the next few weeks. We’ll have it framed and hang in our bedroom wall. So I need to set aside the budget for 5 8×10 photo frames next payday.

Nice? You’d be the judge.

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We had thousands of photos taken over the year. Among those photos, I and Ace only have less than a hundred. Some were taken using the tripod and remote controller while others are taken by either Che2x, Donald, Nai or some other friends.

For the record, I wanted to have a compilation of our photos together taken each month but as I go over the photo files, there are months that we neither have one. Note to self, starting this month I should make sure we have a photo together EVERY MONTH. Anyway, here are some of our photos together.

January – taken by Nai on New Year at PIL’s place Read more… »

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A vacation is one thing that most people is looking forward to. Who wouldn’t want it, anyway? It’s a way to forget about all the work concerns and any other stressors in life. It’s a chance to recompose ourselves, rekindle friendships, and keeping family ties together. I and Ace have been to a short vacation with friends, with his family, and with my family but never did we had a vacation for just the two of us. Hence I am also dreaming of a vacation for just the two of us. It might not be like a romantic vacation riviera maya or should I say a romantic vacation in one of the beach resorts along Riviera Maya because I know we cannot afford it this time or even in the near future, but I want to experience a vacation for us, alone. But if fairy godmother will grant me my wish, why not ask for that romantic vacation in Riviera Maya? Given the chance that it’s free, we will surely grab the opportunity to spend a few days or a week in the secluded white sand beaches of Riviera Maya and stay at one of the Karisma Hotels out there. I’m already dreaming!LOL.

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One of my HS classmate posted our scanned photos during high school in FB and it was really a blast from the past. We were all laughing seeing most of us so skinny with out of fashion get-ups.LOL. During our time, it was the fad but now, it’s “kabukian”.

Anyway, below is our class picture for our yearbook taken in 1996 (ok, get the calculator and calculate how old we are now!hahaha). See those skinny peeps? Only few are healthy babies during our HS years.

And here’s a photo taken last month during one of our classmate’s visit. You can easily tell the big difference. We didn’t look old, but we become bigger (horizontally!) and we’re not Mommies and Daddies yet (except for Doc Shella @ the right). Perhaps if we’ll all be having children, we will gain more weight.

Now everybody is claiming “I gained weight!” and we also ask the same old question “how to burn fat?” for we noticed it is so easy to gain but it is too hard to lose weight unless we go into strict diet and rigorous exercise. Well, for those who need to lose weight for some reason, good luck!

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Eman sleeps with eyes almost half open like his Mom!LOL

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I am now counting days. More than a week more and I’ll get to see the photos I ordered from Artscow.com. Since I heard about it months ago, I signed up for an account and was so thrilled with the freebies but never get the chance to avail of it. But last week, I decided to give it a try – to check how’s the print quality – and availed of my free 100 4×6 prints for the month. There should be 100 free prints every month together with some other freebies, I guess and since I didn’t use mine for months, all was forfeited and what was left was 2 batches of 100 prints. Anyway, I ordered 100 prints and had our photos during our trip with friends in Camiguin Island and Cagayan de Oro City early last year. If the prints would turn out ok, then maybe I’d order more prints next time because it is a way cheaper than in print houses even if I’d pay for the shipping. Sign-up now and enjoy lots of freebies and discounts. Can’t wait to see my photos!

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I realized my blogs are becoming photo-less. What’s the use of having a camera if I don’t post photos? Blame that to my laziness in resizing and watermarking photos.

The past months we’ve been thru a lot of activities. Now I will be going over it all and I hope I won’t get lazy “again” to resize and watermark photos. Now I am not actually meaning to post these but because I was “again” reminded by one fellow FPS member to send him a copy of these photos so I might as well post it here.

Last Kadayawan Festival, Canon Philippines sponsored a Photographer’s Summit and Photographer’s Night rolled into one with Mr. John K. Chua as the resource person. I’ve heard a lot about him but haven’t actually seen his work. The crowd were all amazed at all the photos he has taken since his forte is advertising and got his own digital photography business named adphoto. Oh well, what can I say, he has the “eye”, he is creative, he got the BEST gears – and that’s CANON (walang sinabi ang Nikon…hahaha)! I didn’t know that the photos I am looking at in print ads years ago until today are all the work of art of the master photographer himself. Since it seems a once in a lifetime experience to be brushing elbows with the master photographer, we asked him to pose with us.

I suppose you could guess where’s Mr. John in the photo. Yes, he’s that “old” man with expertise in photography honed by the golden years he spent playing with his camera. At his age, he is still as active as a young photograher (or should I say, more active than us.*lol*).

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