China Wrap

So... I had this China Travel Diary thing that went on last year.  And I was not able to finish it.  Like I mentioned in my previous post, I want to fulfill those things I've meant to finish, so, we have here my final photo blog on the several remaining days for our China 2013 trip.

I have photos of Din Tai Fung, which I wish to visit again in the future. This post is making me hungry!!!

Also, I have two photos of my OOTD.  Lol.

Sorry, this is not so much of a chatty post, but I hope you enjoy it still.

Yza

A pre-debut shoot. :)  Please view my Flickr for better quality. 

Cold Tone

Late night blogging.  Late night editing.

 A few weeks ago I arrived home and was surprised to find our house and neighbor houses without electricity, basically there was a brown out.  I wonder if its called brown out in other places or black out.  If you know me, I'm not the type to panic and be disappointed when there are brown outs, unless I really need the electricity (for work and for taking a bath).  In most cases, I find it as a chance to unwind.  My latest "unwinding" session was in the form of self-portrait-taking.  Long time no self-portrait actually.  I've been into self-portraits since the beginning of my Flickr life and actually think I did better back then.  I just kinda stopped when I started getting a little chubbier, when I lost my tripod, and when I just got plain lazy.  But here I am again, resurrecting my old hobby.  

A shoot with no light?  Technically, I used an emergency light, but I just wanted to challenge myself I guess and play with the light.  I had a flash, but I don't think it fired for these 3 photos.  I want to note that the last one is straight out of the camera. :)

Now, lets wait till the next brown out. :)

Thoughts on Technology

This morning I forgot my phone.  I left it charging.  While driving to work, I usually review in my head the things I have to do once I reach the office.  That is when I realized I have left my phone at home.  No doubt, the number one thing I have to do when reaching the office is call somebody.  I couldn't go back just yet as I had an applicant to interview.  Every time I am in a scenario like this (or when I end up lining at the bank for almost an hour), I feel bare and restless like how girls feel when they don't have earrings on or in my case a watch.

Its funny how people now are so dependent on their gadgets and devices, when we've had several years of existence without them.  There's obviously the older generations who are affected by all these and even aloof of what kids are capable of these days because of technology and there's my generation who at least has tried a bit of both.  When I say both, I mean the "days before technology" and today.  Its also our generation who sorta saw and experienced the rise of all the gaming consoles, the growth of the cellphone, music players from Walkman to iPods, and the introduction of "touch screen" things.

What I'm just saying here is that I do appreciate all these gadgets and I am very thankful being one who's fortunate enough to have them, but I do miss the simpler things.  Pen and paper.  Card and board games.  Letters.  Actually meeting each other to chat.
 

Travel Diaries: HK Take 2

Hi there!

My family and I went to Hong Kong after Holy Week.  Last year, I went with a different group.  So, as it was my second time to visit, it was my family's first time and it was quite nice that I was showing them around some places I was familiar with.  The experience was very different though since I was with my family this time and we haven't been out of the country for some time.

We stayed at the YMCA Salisbury Hotel.  Almost everybody I talked to about our trip were curious as to why we booked in a YMCA Hotel.  Despite the images the name of the hotel might give you, it isn't bad at all.  The lobby was sort of rustic and modern at the same time.  The beaten up leather couches paired with great wooden coffee tables and side tables mixed well with the clean fixtures of the hotel.  

Other than being satisfied with our family suite (which had a King sized bed for the bedroom, a sofa bed in the living room, and a fantastic view of the harbor especially at night, in time for the light show), location-wise it was perfect.  A few minutes walk you could already hop on the train.  A few minutes walk to the right and you could shop at all those designer shops.  

Because of our failure to actually plan the trip, we ended up commuting via MTR everywhere we went except maybe for the trips to and from the airport (we took the A21 bus), which I think turned out better since it is pretty convenient and a fun way to explore the city.  Also, it allowed us to save money.  We bought tourist passes/tickets instead of the Octopus card that I think you put load on.  We had a lot of photos in the train.  Typical tourist moves.  LOL.

Since we were still really small kids when we first went to Disneyland LA, of course we had to go again.  

We rode one of the more thrilling rides in Disneyland, Grizzly Gulch.  And because it was raining hard while we were on the ride, we were soaked.  It was a fun experience even if in the photo we don't seem to look it.  

We decided to spend only half a day though in Disneyland.  Earlier that day we went to Ngong Ping 360 which is HK's infamous cable car ride.  There was the standard cable car and there was one where the floor was clear so you can see through it.  I applaud my mother for enduring it even though we all knew she was scared to death, especially when it stopped for a few minutes and the wind was swaying us.  LOL.

 Towards the end of the ride, on the way to the small town with the monastery, you would easily see the Buddha on top of the hill.  Too bad it was really gloomy and foggy on all the days we were there, raining even.  The ride would have been better.

We're lucky to have a dad too that's very keen on documenting EVERYTHING! hahaha.  Its like we had an official photographer or paparazzi.

During our last night we visited Temple Street.  The locals looked like they were enjoying their food very much along with a big bottle of San Miguel beer.  

I don't know what you call these things (photo below), but from what I saw, you write what you wish or pray for and hang it in the wall along with the others.  Pretty nice idea.

It was a great trip despite the shortness of it.  We brought home a ton of pictures that we don't even think were enough.  We had three cameras during the trip: a Canon 600D, Canon Rebel XSi, and the latest edition to our camera family, a Canon S110.  We wanted a small camera that we could easily bring and put in our pocket.  It has wi-fi too so you could easily send it to your phone, tablet, or your online accounts.  Above photos were taken by me, my sister, and my dad.  

How's everyone's summer?

Until next trip!

The Perfect Shade

I picked up this lipstick at the HK airport on my way back to the Philippines.  I'm quite excited about it cause its my first "luxury" beauty item.  Despite the cost (which doesn't seem that bad since I bought it in Duty Free), I just feel like a million bucks just holding it and knowing that I own such an item.  Its even cool how it opens and stays closed.  Photos won't suffice to demonstrate that.  Anyway, the point of this post is that, I think we should indulge ourselves once in a while.  :)

P.S. This is the Chanel Rouge Allure Lipstick in the shade no. 92. :)

Sundays

Sundays as a student and Sundays as a working person who works on Sundays are totally different.  Nonetheless, it still is the official end of a week.  This post might be too personal or irrelevant to you, but I just feel like posting anyway since I haven't posted anything in a while.  Bad blogger.  

As a student you sorta had the liberty to enjoy Sundays the way you wanted to less the assignments, papers, and reports you had to do.  I know I haven't been a student for a few years already, but there will always be some Sundays when you wish you had that same set-up.

Even if my week didn't turn out the way planned, as it usually goes, I still feel pretty productive.  Sunday is usually the day when we reflect on the week that's passed and the week that's about to come.  I wish I could post a photo that's more happy than the photo above, but I think the photo above sums up how I feel at the moment, which is TIRED.  I do not know why.  A year ago, I think I was more capable of balancing my social life, work, family, and alone time, than I am now.  Or maybe its just the events that have been happening lately.

Hopefully, this coming week will give me more chances to have time for this blog.  :)

The Tourists

Last weekend, my friends from college came up from Manila.  After years of convincing, this was the only time they were able to come and enjoy Baguio. :)  I volunteered to take some shots while they were here.

We had breakfast at Little John's, located at the commissary part of John Hay.  Their Rib Eye Tapa's quite good. :)

Next, we walked up to The Manor and I showed them the garden.  Their restaurant's dining area leads to this lovely garden with a view of the log cabin-inspired hotel.  You can visit it even if you're not a guest or even if your not dining.  I think.  LOL.  Its a great place to take photos.

Because my two guests wanted a more "Twilight" feel (as in the forest where Edward and Bella roamed around), I brought them to the site where my sister and I shot last December.  I couldn't quite capture a shot as if they were moving and jumping from tree to tree, but I think the picture came out quite cute anyway.  

Also, my friend was trying to do a spoof of our shoot and here's the shot.  Not bad. :)

Here's a shot of me and Karrots, one of my best friends during college. :)

We headed to Chaya after that mini photo shoot and after a brief visit to Mines View, cause I know they like Japanese food.  Which reminded me, I haven't given my thoughts on Chaya, but to sum it up, I love it.  And my friends loved it too! :)  Mines View is still a nice place to visit if you're a first time visitor, but its too crowded that you might just appreciate it less.  

During lunch, we were too preoccupied with our food and our conversation that we didn't really take photos anymore.  It was really fun catching up and seeing my friends in a different setting.  We had a short shopping trip after at the infamous ukay-ukay.  Ukay-ukay's are so expensive now.  Still, we were able to find some things.

Hope this post helped anyone planning a Baguio trip soon. LOL.  I wanted to bring my friends to other more places, but time was our enemy that day.  Anyway, there's always a next time. :)