Santi's fury

October 31, 2009 marked another stormy calendar day.  Early that morning at the break of dawn, the eye of storm Santi passed through our village.  The winds were strong and the rain was pouring heavily.  As the winds pass through, you can hear the howling sound it makes.  I can't help but remember the previous big one just several weeks ago.  God spared us through this one as He did the previous one and I am thankful.  Santi's wake was the sight of trees down on the ground, electricity being out for most of the day as poles fell down, and debris scattered everywhere.

Ondoy...

We just went through 3 hours of travel from Alabang to Cabuyao! Grabe and ulan and flooding was everywhere! SLEX is stuck from Southwoods exit pa lang so I have to veer away and went through Southwoods to Carmona. I thought I can get back into SLEX through Carmona exit but the traffic is stuck there too. We took the Timbaw route then and ended up in Paseo de Sta. Rosa after passing loads of water. Paseo to Cabuyao exit via ETON is a breeze and we were in high spirits. However, Cabuyao exit to Pulo was terrible. Then there was several flashes of the brake warning light in the dashboard. That indicates I have a low level of brake fluid. So we stopped by Shell next to the Cabuyao exit and got to pee and buy some grub. A few minutes later, we were on the road (or river) again and that was one of the toughest the van has to go through. The water was up to the knee and we have to go through! Worse is we cannot just plow through fast enough because we were in a jam and we were only inching through the flood. We were praying and praying and God blessed the old van. It just kept going, and after almost another hour, we are now back to home sweeet home! Thank you Lord for bringing us back home safely and we hope others will survive this storm too.

Behind the moon

This is the longest solar eclipse of the century according to the astro gurus. The whole family woke up with much anticipation for this event. After breakfast, it was time to go outside for a little sunshine... literally that is. Joji got the camera and the tank of a tripod she bought and we set it up on the street in front of the house. Once outside, we started hunting for the sun using a 300mm lens. It was an ardous task as I don't want to look at the viewfinder and risk hurting my eyes. So I have to do it instinctively. At an aperture of f45, the sun was still so bright and I need to pull the shutter down to 1/8000s to get a useful image. At a little past 9AM, I was able to capture the sun already eaten by the moon. As clouds cleared, I have to use my wifey's sunglasses to further reduce the light entering the lens.

After a while, wifey asked our eldest to find the old X-ray film she has. It was taken years back when her hand needed to be checked and she kept the film all this while. After getting it, we tried it in front of the lens and viola, we got a very defined capture. The image is warm though but then the edges are clearly very defined. The sun is now behind the moon, well at least partially. The kids were so elated to have witnessed this phenomenon for the very first time.

So when is the next one?

Two of my three girls

The start of the year allowed us a few hours to go up the hill and enjoy some fresh air.  The whole family decided to go on a picnic at UPLB.  It was a cool afternoon yesterday, Jan 03, 2009 and the weather was perfect for a picnic and some photos.  This was one of the shots that I liked from among the rest.  

It conveys a relaxed atmosphere and a cool afternoon climate.  The mountains provide a refreshing cure for the harsh city life and the big tree projects steadiness and strength.  I also like the way my two girls are highlighted by the separation of colors from the background.

After an hour or so, we had to drive down the mountain to a lower location for our picnic.  And a picnic in UPLB would not be complete without the local best seller, the buko pie!  

It was a wonderful afternoon with the family and as we went down for home, my youngest daughter Tonee already made me pledge to go back at least one more time this year.  Of course, I cannot say no.  :)

Preview photos to tease you...

Just a preview of the wedding photos we took before Christmas.  It was a 12-hour shoot altogether and my legs ached a lot afterward, but it was all fun.

Can you see fun in the collage of photographs?  :)

Sirkulo - a play by Gina Marissa Tagasa Gil

In times like these, when wrong easily becomes right, when good is taunted as unwise, when abuse is more common than humility and love, there is only one hope, Jesus, the only begotten Son of God. Do watch Sirkulo, a stage play, on April 26, 2008 at Robinsons Sta. Rosa, and enjoy the blessings of love and forgiveness in your own hearts. See you there!

Tatay and Kids

I have been playing around digitally lately and it has been much fun to turn photos into cartoon-like images. The colors, textures, contrasts, etc can be modified and the results can be amazing. The example below was taken some time back when we were swimming one summer time. Oh, those were the days, haaay!