We can get through this...Pinoys always do

As I sit and worry about my sister being stranded in her Makati office Saturday...
I stay glued online and saw all the updates as cyberspace became the
hub for Filipinos sending out help and reaching others who badly need rescue and relief
amidst the onslaught of the Storm Depression (say what?!) Ondoy last September 26, 2009
- a memorable date in the history of Metro Manila for sure!

to view more click on the photo above

Ondoy battered Manila around Friday night and the whole day of Saturday, bringing in
a month's worth of rainfall in Metro Manila and most provinces in Luzon...
You know the updates and listened to the radio and watched the news so I need not reiterate this...

Check out GMA7news

I have never been more thankful for having unlimited broadband access -
and electricity! - we live in a village in Las Piñas that doesn't get flooded thank God! -
and remained connected with the rest of the worried Pinoys online.
Thanks to the social networking sites for keeping all Pinoys here and abroad connected -
Twitter, Facebook, Plurk!

Emergency hotlines, updates, how to help and even a Situation Map of locations of stranded victims were posted online. And an irate stranded employee even went as far as creating a Tumblr site for Ondoy where he consolidated all updates, photos and links and his rants! while yup! staying overnight in his office.

to go to the site click on the photo

Check out this link to read more on how cyberspace sent out SOS

And as Ondoy finally leaves the Philippines...
We spend another day and night praying for the people stranded in Marikina, Pasig and Cainta - the worst hit by the floods - to finally be rescued by the National Disaster Coordinating Council....
Mobilizing people and Good Samaritans who have started gathering donations and relief goods in different drop-off points in Metro Manila.
Both big local TV networks -ABS-CBN and GMA7 have been televising their telethons the whole day and viewers have been sending and pledging donations.
Once again online sites have been spreading the word on how to help...
And how texters can donate to Red Cross as well.

We can do this...
Heard of the Bayanihan spirit?
Of course we're Pinoys!
We can get through this!

View more photos here

toy cameras teach me delayed gratification

Ever since I discovered the world of lomography...I was fascinated by the fact that there is no one lomo camera with all the features and settings that you would want...


Case in point check out these:



The first photo is taken by an LC-A - famous for its wide angle lens (and expensive to boot! check it out here) ... The 2nd photo is taken by a Holga bc135 - see the dark rounded corners?...The last photo is taken using a Fisheye camera - one can buy the camera or buy the fisheye lens and attach it to their lomo camera, you just have to check the compatibility of course...

to see more lomographic cameras click here

What makes lomography so expensive is that you would end up buying different toy cameras and accessories to go with it, just to experience the various artistic styles and outputs of the shots you take...and don't forget buying rolls of films and having them processed!!!


So of course you know that I bought my first toy camera - Holga Starter Kit or the Holga 120 CFN and have been gradually getting the feel of it...I'm currently on my 7th roll if I'm not mistaken...

And as my multiply contact (Hi Jennie!) told me...
"you've been bitten!" coz now I have a new toy camera!


The Supersampler!

When I was searching through lomo sites for my first toy camera, I was already curious about this lomo camera...which has 4-lenses! so just imagine what kind of photos you'd get!

Cool! Gosh! I just got my new camera last Wednesday and was so excited to use it..no matter how complicated it seemed to me... - there's no viewfinder - just that little slip of a square thing at the corner which usually lomo photographers remove anyway - so you don't know where exactly you're aoming at that's why lomography is famous for : shooting at the hip! - and it has a ripcord for advancing film - and no batteries! OMG!
I wondered if I'm taking shots right! And to top it all off! Bummer! I wasted one roll of film haha! oh well!
I guess I didn't follow the instructions in rewinding the film properly...
There's always a first time haha

So I had to wait to get home and put a fresh roll of film - had an extra one at home that time and experimented with the inanimate objects at home! haha ...


And you know what...one thing I've learned with using my toy cameras - the Holga and my new Supersampler - is what I would like to call: delayed gratification!... Since my cameras use film...I really would have to wait for the films to be processed to see how my experiments turned out!
Gosh! I do believe I'll pass the marshmallow test with flying colors for this one haha

Am so excited to see my supersampler shots from my first roll of film!

*****

One look at the quirky-looking Supersampler and you know that it's a camera like no other! This ultra-lightweight, low-maintenance 35mm camera fits perfectly in your hand for spontaneous shooting! Aim the Supersampler at your moving (or non-moving) subject, pull the ripcord, press the tiny button - and voila! You have just "sampled" your subject into four panoramic panels. So how on earth is this possible?! See those four beady eyes nestled in front of its plastic body? Thos are the ultra-talented, super-sharp lenses that slice your image into four panels. Results are wickedly cool if your subject is in hyperactive motion, or if you prefer to shoot non-moving objects, you'll have to do the jumping and moving!

This lightweight shootbox operates without batteries, and needs a high ASA film (we recommend 800 ASA for all lighting conditions) of all kinds - negative, slides, color, or black & white. There are two speeds available - 4 photos in 2 seconds (.50sec/photo) or 4 photos in 0.2 seconds (.05sec/photo). No need to fuss with focus settings, since it has a fixed focus of 0.3 meter to infinity.

With its portability and convenience, the Supersampler is hailed the "Queen of all Multi-Lensed Cameras." Now you know why!

to read more click here

a "stress-full" wedding gig

Once again...I'm tasked to being an emcee in my
perpetual emceeing partner's wedding!
of course she can't do the chore now that she's the one getting hitched!
haha


for some reason unknown to me at the time...
this is one of my "stress-full" wedding stints I had recently...

Why?



aside from having my tube dress on too tight...
I had a headache that night I was hosting!

and like the couple, I hardly ate more than 3 bites of food - which was good apparently.

and instead of going out with my friends after the wedding..
I ended up going home burning up with fever... for the rest of the week!



Yup! I had dengue!!!
and incidentally the Doctor said/asked...
what kind of stress did I have recently?
coz most stressed people get dengue...
well obviously...the wedding was STRESSFULL
if you can conclude that haha






to see more of the photos during the Refran-Santos Nuptials
click here

or go to this facebook account

ranting is cathartic

Let’s see now where do i start ranting about these stupid distracting feelings i have for this one guy lately? Hmmmm maybe focus on the simple fact that i miss him. why should i miss him anyway? I think that’s the better question. isn’t it people miss someone when they’ve been gone for so long. it’s like you’re so used to having him always with you that - when he is not - you end up missing him, you feel lacking, you feel that something is wrong. but i ask myself again why should i miss him?

why DO i miss him? Who is he to me? Better yet who am i to him? I know for sure that he sees me as a friend. simply a friend. he hasn’t said that he consider me as a best friend or a close friend even - just a barkada i guess - but it’s clear that line we have. there are times - lots of long talks and sharing stories - that show how dependent he is on me. coz he knows i am there to listen to him. maybe also because i like the feeling when someone seeks my counsel or when someone wants to hear my views. it gives me this sense of meaning, this feeling that I’m needed - something like that i guess.

i guess that’s what i get with the bondings and long talks that we have. i somehow feel special that among the many friends that he has - i sure bet he has others - he would choose me to confide in haha!

When did all this start? i don’t know really. i don’t know when the tide started to turn - for the worse? Haha!
am so distracted i can't seem to continue writing a coherent thought about him.

i don’t see him as this special guy for me. i don’t see him as the long term thing. my friend is right - this is just infatuation. but still why do we have to go through all these frustrations? Yup! that's what i want to call it - these annoying feelings - frustrations! esp since i am left confused and distracted, dumbfounded even, of what really is my situation. what really is he feeling towards me? Does he simply get a kick out of making a fool of me? haha! i know i don’t want to continue making a stupid fool of myself!

I’m done feeling this stupid. ive heard enough from my friends - them berating me for the tactless inappropriate remarks, for being too forward, too flirty even is what they say. what me!? Haha! or making the wrong moves and saying the wrong things and slipping even more and giving him the upper hand which it seems he has! i really do believe he suspects that i have feelings for him. the question is what is he doing about it? Nothing! Simply nothing - coz for sure it's one sided anyway. So why am i even bothering with this? Am so used to being treated as THE friend anyway so what makes him and this situation any different?

I should simply move on and learn from this lesson - how to temper my feelings - how to simply go back to my original self - being the passive observer, the aloof participant, a bystander so to speak. that way it wouldn’t hurt this much.