Retro, Baby!

Don't you just love it (or hate it!) that when you're on the look out for something, temptations like this one will pop up on the horizon and lets you drool like a hungry wolf? Well, I am no wolf but, yeah, I am drooling!!!

Introducing: The Olympus Pen (not a compact, not a dslr, it's a PEN)

(For detailed review, go here).

And no, that's not my new camera (how I wish!!!) as I cannot afford this very high-end, very expensive piece of toy. But I can dream right? :)

(Pictures were all taken from dpreview.com)

Love affair

2003 nang una kitang nakita, una kitang napagmasdan, una kitang nahawakan. Alam kong merong mas higit ang katangian kesa sa iyo pero ikaw na iyong gusto ko, nakuha mo na ang atensyon ko, at kahit sa unang tagpo pa lang, yari na ako.

First outing natin ang Baguio, at kahit ilang beses ko na syang narating, iba pala ang pakiramdam nung nakasama kita, higit kong nakita ang natural nitong ganda at ikaw ang dahilan sa ibang antas ko ng paghanga.

Nasundan pa ito ng maraming beses, sa iba't-ibang lugar. Kahit ang pamilya ko ay nagustuhan ka rin, at swak na swak nga raw dagdag pa ng mga kaibigan. Higit pa kitang inalagaan, higit pa kitang pinahalagahan.

At hindi mo ako binibigo.

Alam ko ang limitasyon mo, kung hanggang saan lang ang kaya mo, pero nagagawa mong sumabay sa akin kahit sa matataas na bundok, sa malalamig na lugar, sa mga delikadong bangin at mga kwebang kahit pagapang pasukin ay di mo tinatanggihan. Dinala rin kita sa gitna ng dagat at kahit ang hampas ng mga alon ay di mo sinukuan.

Hanga talaga ako sa iyo.

Kasama kita sa mahahalagang pahina ng buhay ko, at kahit sa paglagay ko sa tahimik, nandun ka pa rin, hindi ka bumitaw. Nasa tabi pa rin kita.

Yun ang akala ko.

Unti-unti kang lumalayo. Dahan-dahan mong pinaparamdam na hanggang dun na lang ang kaya mo, na "you can only take so much..."

Para akong binuhusan ng malamig nang noong mismong kasama kita, tumigil kang bigla, tinitigan kita pero wala akong nagawa, nagpaalam ka pa rin. Hindi ako makakibo, naghabulan bigla sa isip ko ang mga taon ng pinagsamahan natin, ang mga sandaling kasama kita habang ako'y pinagpapawisan, noong sabay tayong nahahamugan at magkasama tayong nauulanan. Hindi ako makapagsalita. Eto na ba yung sinasabing wakas?

Sa bawat linggong lumilipas ay pilit kitang ibinabalik pero ayaw mo, blangkong ekspresyon lang ang nakukuha ko, ni ayaw mo akong makita sa sarili mong mata at ni anino ko'y hindi magrehistro sa iyo. Nakayuko na lang akong tatalikod at lalayo sa iyo.

Siguro napagod ka na rin. Marahil naibigay mo na'ng lahat at mali ako sa pag-aakalang inbinsibol ka, o talaga lang oras na para maputol ang lahat?

Naging bulag ako sa di pagtanggap ng sitwasyon, binigyan kita ng oras para makahinga, para makabawi, at minsang di ko mapigil ang sarili, binalikan kita at laking tuwa ko dahil di naman ako nabigo. Muli mong pinaramdam sa akin ang mga taon na tangan kita, muli mong nilampasan ang limitasyon mo at nilabanan ang tawag ng panahon...kahit sa huling pagkakataon.

Mas maluwag sa loob ko ngayon ang tanggaping mawawala ka na, mas bukas ang isip ko ngayon na balikan ang naiambag mo sa akin, na nagawa nating lampasan ang hamon at yabang ng panahon...

Hindi kita ililibing, hindi kita itatapon.

Dahil sa bawat galos ng balat mo ay naukit ang ating pinagdaanan, sa bawat bukas ng lente mo'y nahanap ko ang gusto ko. Dahil sa iyo natuto ako. At kahit antigo ka nang maituturing, kahit 3.2 megapixels ka lang, walang optical zoom, walang manual focus at walang pang-macro, pinamulat mo sa akin pano mahalin ang photography.

Paalam, camera ko at maraming salamat.

(Wala syang pangalan pero isa syang Sony DSC P-32)

What if...

me facebook na noong panahon ng Katipunan?

:)

i hope to post and bloghop more. so happy to be back.

I'm okay...

We're doing okay.

The last two months have been a roller-coaster ride: one second we're very happy, the next moment was the exact opposite.

Maybe it was a dash of reminder that we need to prepare more, psychologically and financially. Maybe it was a way of saying that we cannot rush everything.

Maybe we are being told to wait for the right time, for the right moment.

And when we are really ready, thru His time, on His will, He will finally give us what we thought we already have.

My wife had a miscarriage a week before my birthday, but she's doing fine, we're doing fine.

We're doing okay now, and we just thought of that chapter in our married life as "pang-balanse ng buhay." And the little angel we didn't get to see is up there with my father.

My father told me something in my dream...

I remember Lyn and I slept early that evening, and then I saw my father, very young looking and peaceful, he was wearing a polo shirt and he was with some people whose faces i cannot see, just white-blurry moving images surrounding my dad.

"Dinalaw ko lang kayo." he told me smiling.

He said something though I cannot recall what it was, or maybe I didn't understand, but I remember myself saying "Oo nga Daddy, sana nga."

I was about to say something and talk to him again but I woke up.

The next day, I told my wife about it and she said "Baka naman numero sa lotto yun, di kaya? hehe" I just smiled and remember that the lotto jackpot is nearing the P200 Million mark. I also told my mother about it and she said the same thing (lotto numbers).

It was only maybe one or two weeks ago when I found out what my dad's telling me and no, it's not about lotto numbers and I am not one of the two winners who split the more than P350million jackpot...

It's more than that, and an early birthday gift.

Yes, that's two lines for positive!!! Good news Pilipinas!!! We're going to be mom and dad soon. :)

Mt. Talim Apo

It was a nice feeling going back to mountain climbing after almost a year of outdoor inactivity. The last time that i climbed was in March 2008, something like a pre-birthday climb in Batulao. It's good to see the same old faces and meeting new ones, and taking care of first time climbers in the group is an enjoyable but also a hell of a job, now I know how the veterans felt when I came ala-turista on my first ever climb hehehe.

Mt. Talim Apo (also known as Mt. Tagapo to locals) is located in Brgy. Janosa in Binangonan, Rizal. It is very visible when one is passing the South Luzon Expressway, at Laguna de bay, it is the towering almost cone-shaped mountain. For 2009, this is the first Friendship climb organized by our group, Yapak Mountaineers, Inc., and what a way to start the year and for me to go back in climbing.

four of the seven-member group that i was assigned to guide

Here are some of the shots that I took during the climb. Enjoy. :)

daing na ayungin

lonely tree on a blue sky

one hour before six (while waiting for the sunset)

hand to heaven

almost sunset at the summit

happy weekend, everyone. Kanpai!!!

Weddings 101: Where to say "I do" (part 1)

(Just a little note though, you may or may not agree on what is written here, but this was our experience, this was how we saw things and our preparation was basically treading on the practical side of everything).

You agreed on the date, and to keep the ball rolling, you should also agree on the place: the church, plus the reception venue.

Even before we become engaged, Lyn and I already agreed on having a simple yet elegant and intimate wedding. We want a small church/chapel, a reception venue near the church and a hotel near to both. Hitting three, not just two, birds with one stone. And we hit them, bull's eye! Why on such goals? Two words: Convenience. Practicality.

The choice of the church all depends on what the couple wants (especially the bride; the groom can only say yes or honey, it's up to you hehehe, joke). Some want it to be grand (the likes of Manila Cathedral) with a long aisle that can echo a very dramatic entrance for the bride. The long walk to the altar may be dreamy and one can float to the ooh's and aah's as she made her entrance, but, what if the church is empty? I mean, what if it's too grand for the number of guests that you had and/or too big for those who actually came to the church ceremony? Knowing how we Pinoys think and do, most of us will only show to the reception venue especially if the venue is faaar from the church. Trust me, the last thing that you would want on your church wedding (and on your wedding pictures) is a huge space of unoccupied seats. We prefer a small wedding, right? So the grandness is out of the picture and we're more than happy to see the smiling faces of people close to us than the mighty architecture or popularity of a certain church.

Some couple would want a church on location (Calaruega, anyone?), most of them are intimate and quite romantic actually AND, well, more expensive. I can say this here that out-of-town weddings (meaning outside of Manila) entail additional costs, let's say, at least 15% more on each wedding supplier that you have (especially if all of them are Manila-based) to cover for the obvious additional costs (some would even asked you to shoulder their accomodation, whoa!). Aside from the more expensive tag, it can also be a possible bottleneck of complications, from the guests accomodations to their transportation to everything! So we just roll our eyes on this as we do not dream of holding our cellphone during the wedding to check on everyone. (That's just one way of saying "we cannot afford this" hehehe).

When you already decided on which church suited you best, call, or better yet, visit the parish office at once to check its availability and ask for their list of wedding requirements. Now, this is getting more exciting. The basic requirements for the couple are:

1. Baptismal Certificate

2. Confirmation Certificate

3. Marriage License (To get this, you need an authenticated NSO-released birth certificate, Certificate of No Marriage or CENOMAR, also from the NSO and a trip to your neighborhood municipal hall. I'll make a separate post on this)

4. Canonical Interview (with a priest)

5. Seminar

6. A certain church document/certification (I forgot how's this being called but it's the one wherein names of the marrying couples will be read and/or posted on the parish church/es where the couple resides).

There are more documents needed for those who came from an annulled marriage, those who'll marry a foreigner, for those who married first in a civil ceremony, and others, but the above are the basic. Depending also on the parish, there maybe more requirements (like a mandatory three-sundays seminar, a list and/or a certain number of principal sponsors, a priest-approved misalette, etc.) so do asked them.

And of course, it's not for free. ho-hum.

A one-hour church ceremony is now ranging from a low of P5,000 to a high of P25,000.00 or even more, depending on the church and "upgrades". So, if you're thinking that getting married will dig a hole on your pocket, well, this is where the digging officially starts. :) I am not going to comment further on this (as I may end up ranting hehe), let's just say, they also need some money for the church maintenance and operational costs. :) The parish office will usually ask for a non-refundable deposit and the balance to be paid before the wedding (in our case, we paid the balance during the canonical interview which was done two weeks before our wedding).

St. Pancratius Chapel.

Our chapel of choice: dome-shaped, small, with an aisle of not more than 15 meters, exquisite surrounding with its outside stonewalls covered by moss and the simple interior can hold about 80-100 guests, located in Paco Park that was once a cemetery where Jose Rizal and GOMBURZA were buried, with a guarded park ground surrounded by trees and flowering plants that can accomodate about 300 seated guests, with at least two hotels nearby, enough parking space and a romantic ambiance when night falls...what more can we ask for? :)

Photos taken by Nice Print Photo

(To be continued...)