Christmas Pics

Cool Christmas trees near my office. Photo by my Aussie colleague, Mike E. :)

This interior of a cab (above) I found quite funny as I got in the cab on the way to work one morning this December. These six cute little santas, swaying and bobbing over the cab's dashboard. I almost laughed out loud upon seeing them as I seated myself.


Office Decor:

office decor 1: dog over my computer monitor

office decor 2: upside-down bear

office decor 3: funny-looking little stuffed toy

Ian Wright's Paintings on My Door

poster with Ian Wright's autograph

That's a poster hanging behind my bedroom door. It's a collage of paintings of travel destinations by Ian Wright. And he autographed it, for me. :P Ian Wright is the wickedly fun and cool host of the Lonely Planet/Globe Trekker travel/adventure TV series which I used to catch on cable. He autographed it while he was in Canada on a publicity tour. This guy has become quite popular he now has an entry in Wikipedia. Lol!

Scenes Outside the Window

Here are a couple of photos taken during the course of a month-long training I underwent at work. Training was by people of different nationalities. And the shots are of scenes outside the window taken during breaks... hehe!

rainy day

my ride, just landed on the helidpad,
come to pick me up (as if... hehe!), rotors spinning...

Hey, wait... It just left me! haha! :P

building maintenance...
And like in the Pepsi TV ad: Don't worry, there's no sugar...

sun, light, behind the clouds, behind the window shade

Books

Got the following books on my shelf, still unread:

- The Purity of Blood/Arturo Perez-Reverte
- The Seville Communion/Arturo Perez-Reverte
- The Historian/Elizabeth Kostova
- The Fountainhead/Ayn Rand
- 5th Harry Potter book/J.K. Rowling
- The Name of the Rose/Umberto Eco

Last Books I Read:
- Captain Alatriste/Arturo Perez-Reverte
- Queen of the South/Arturo Perez-Reverte
- Nautical Chart/Arturo Perez-Reverte

My Spain Photo Badges

The following are photo badges of pics I took in Spain. All are found in 3 corresponding flickr.com sites I created for each.


1. Madrid, Avila, Toledo, and Galicia (A Coruña and Santiago de Compostela)



2. Barcelona

Shots of Antoni Gaudi architecture (Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell), Las Ramblas, etc..


3. La Alhambra in Granada

Shots of La Alhambra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

My Flickr.com Badge of Philippine Photos

Here's a badge of my pics of the Philippines in flickr.com.

The shots are a combination of urban and miscellaneous pics, and scenes from trips out of town to the beaches/islands/resorts (Bohol, Puerto Galera in Mindoro, Coron in Palawan and Boracay), colonial churches, the Banawe Rice Terraces, and other regions of the Philippines.

This is What Extreme Boredom Can Do

Storm made a virtual disaster out of Manila for some days now since the 28th, a Thursday. No power at home 'til this morning (Saturday). Nada. Zip. Ergo, nothing much else to do.

But what did I do that first night of the storm with no power? Took some pics of the lighted candle on the dining table of course. :P

normal shot in macro

used negative effect setting on my Sony
Ericsson mobile phone camera for this one. Nice!

So there was no work last 28th 'cause of the storm. But had to do some reviews in the afternoon, for work, while there was still light. Saw and heard the wind and rains lashing outside my house... out on the street... whipping the trees bad on the lot beside my neighbor's...

Next day Friday, got back to the office. And saw the aftermath of the storm on the way to work. Lots of felled and uprooted trees being cleared from the roads; some big ones too at the central business district.

And learned from my Swedish colleague that he saw the roof of the parking lot across our office building hit the glass walls of our building's lobby as he went down there to get a cab going back to his hotel. Freaky. hehe! And my teammate who was supposed to fly out to Europe last Thursday evening had her flight postponed to Friday.

Then, since the Swedish colleague is going back home to Shanghai today Saturday, we went out to lunch. But lunch was a rather awful experience 'cause the restaurants we preferred were closed, and the ones that were opened, had no AC, and only had pasta available from their menu. Bummer! So in the evening, we dined at a Japanese restaurant at Greenbelt. Streets were quite dark going there. Heavy traffic too. But, we were glad that Greenbelt had AC. And we finished the stormy weekend with great dinner and drinks and pics too (which I can't post here for privacy reasons... sorry! :P). Seems no storm can stop us from getting a bit of a good thing out of it.

It was really dark on the ride home. Practically no lights on the streets and major thoroughfares except for those from the headlights of motor vehicles. And it was raining a little too. Good that there were no floods though. Now that would be hell. Hehe!

Ahora

Right now:
- am downloading another mp3 file (I love Limewire, haha)
- it's raining very hard
- am listening to Juanes off my iTunes
- am uploading some pics I shot in Barcelona to my Flickr site
- am reading a friend's blog
- am thinking of getting my own domain for this photoblog
- it's taking forever to batch upload the Barcelona photos
- am thinking if I should still subscribe for a DSL or faster Internet connection considering that my job might have me work overseas for months at a time before the year ends (hence, such an account might be virtually unused for months too)
- I just finished reading Arturo Perez-Reverte's La Reina del Sur/Queen of the South
- am about to have dinner

Ciao!

Restaurant Interiors and Lights

Inside a newly-opened restaurant across my old office in 2005...

lights hanging over the ceiling

what's on the table

wall and light

At the Central Business District

These photos I took pre-2005.

shot taken at dusk

rush hour traffic at Paseo de Roxas/Ayala Avenue intersection on a rainy night

the same Paseo de Roxas/Ayala Avenue intersection on a clear day that was a public holiday

Binondo Church

These are pics I took of Binondo church. That big old 400+ -year-old church in Manila. I miss churches this old and big. hehe!

viewed from a building nearby

church interior during "simbang gabi" or Christmas mass

Intramuros Pics

The following are some photos I took while in Intramuros (old Manila):

1. San Agustin Church

a hallway in the centuries-old Philippine church,
established when the Philipines was still a colony of Spain

ruins on the church grounds;
a remnant of the heavy bombings Manila suffered during WW II


top view of the church interior

candelabra over the staircase

2. Puerta Real Gardens

one of the tunnels going in or out of Puerta Real

Puerta Real Gardens lighted up for some event

3. Another Intramuros Scene

evening shot of the moon over what remains of an old structure (of the National Archives?)

Mish Mash Photoblogs

The following are some photos I took, mostly pre-2005. My, am not busy today, Saturday, am I? Haha! :P After I've posted these, I can then probably start on my Europe blogs.

1. Badtz Maru, My Melody and Real Madrid

Sanrio characters My Melody and Bad Badtz Maru flanking this stress ball,
a Real Madrid merchandise I bought in Granada, in front of my keyboard.

2. Unos amigos en una estancia en Batangas

A weekend at a friend's place in Batangas.
And us exploring the grounds with the huge mango trees.

3. My Pet is Cuter than Yours :P

Whitey

4. Stuff on My Old Bookshelves

souvenirs from everywhere = Australia, UK, Netherlands, Indonesia, and
Boracay (shells and the little stuffed lizard)

zoom out, Badtz Maru's there again...

5. Old Black Laptop

the screen off my old laptop (which has now rested in peace...)

6. Christmas Lanterns at the Town Center Mall

somehow looks Indian-inspired?

Zidane Retires and Leaves Real Madrid

Here are some press pics of my other favorite football player, Zinedine Zidane of France or Zizou, after his last game for Real Madrid as he retires from professional football last May 2006.

This is the guy whom I came to know with the 1998 World Cup where he led France and won the Cup. These photos are from a photo gallery from the El Pais website. I love these photos because they're expressive and showed tons about the emotions of the moment. Very true, and real.

After 5 years of having played for Real Madrid, Zizou retires and leaves the Spanish football club...

at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium and received an emotive farewell from the crowd,
and he getting emotional too..

with the crowds all around the Madrid stadium holding signs with the number 5 on it,
signifying his 5-year stay at the Spanish club...

waving to the crowds in tears...

overcome with emotion....

Luis Figo Retires from International Football

These are some press photos of my favorite football player -- Luis Figo of Portugal -- when he bid his farewells to the crowds after the 2006 World Cup game between Germany and Portugal for third place. He has announced his retirement from playing for international games for Portugal and this was his last international game. In the background in the second photo are some of his teammates for the Portuguese team which he led.


He is one of the world's best football players. And has played for Spanish clubs FC Barcelona (when I first learned of him and became a fan) and Real Madrid. He now plays for Italian club Inter Milan. Viva Figo. =)

Recently Downloaded Mp3s

1. El Cine/Mecano
2. Survivor/Mike Francis y Belen Thomas
3. Un Amore Solo Non C'e/i Ragazzi Italiani
4. Sade mp3s

Smint Galore en Barcelona

I am a Smint mints consumer. In fact, my bag is almost never without a box of Smints, especially the blue one. I buy another box as soon as I run out of them. I take one each time after coffee or other meals. I'm like a pill-popper. Or in this case, a Smint-popper. I pop them like they're my ecstasy pills. Not!! :P haha! Now you know why my name here in my blog is Smint Freak (but not Smint Addict). hehehe!

Smint is a product of Spain. In Manila, some supermarkets sell them, and usually only up to 3 flavors at a time.


So just imagine my reaction when I saw this bunch of Smints being sold in one of the stalls along Las Ramblas in Barcelona (pictured above) near the Plaza Catalunya end as I was leaving Las Ramblas. Hey, Smint in all its different flavors!!! Different colors!! Smint galore!! Cool!! Haha! Naturally I just had to photograph them. What better way to get a pic of Smint mints than to photograph them in its homeland and in different colors. I'm such a ninny!! haha! The stall owner was probably puzzled why this chica asiana was interested in taking pics of his Smint stand. He certainly watched me shoot the photo. hahaha. Behind the Smints, on the left, are books on cannabis. I had not noticed them until now. Plus lollipops by Chupa Chups, same manufacturer with Smint.

I just had fun seeing them and taking the pic, for this blog. This blog used to be called Smint Freak, pertaining to me. But since I don't always get to update this blog, and it's not always about me... I changed it to Just Chillin'. Because that's usually what I do when I update this blog, just chillin'. As I expect so does anyone else who stumbles upoon this blog.

Zizou, Figo y Portugal

This is a cool press photo of my two favorite people in football: Luis Figo of Portugal and Zinedine Zidane (Zizou) of France giving each other a hug during the semifinal match between Portugal vs. France. These two were former teammates at the Spanish club Real Madrid. I believe this 2006 World Cup is their last World Cup participation.

And here's an even cooler pic of the two exchanging their shirts after their match, where Portugal lost. Tsk!

Here's the thing, I rooted for Portugal in this World Cup match not just because I liked Figo, but also because I loved the Portuguese people who were sooooo warm and hospitable when I traveled to Portugal. They helped me without hesitation when I ask them for explanations or instructions on going someplace, some even would volunteer, etc.

From:
- the girl at the subway,
- the girl in the train,
- the girl at the pizza parlor,
- the mother and old lady on the suburban rail platform in Lisboa going to Sintra: Maybe seeing as I was alone, female, and travelling to Sintra with the suburban rail, the old lady offered that I should join her on her train 'cause it's the same one going to Sintra, bless her. She spoke Portuguese, I spoke Spanish. And in between, we exchanged smiles and maybe sign language. haha!
- the guys at a Lisboa street where I got out from the train: The first one being the Portuguese guy who walked back to me as I passed by -- after I have asked him some questions earlier and went our separate ways -- and brought me to two guys who he said speak better English and can help me and who turn out to be from the UK complete with the accent but who don't look English, astonishingly. This Portuguese guy helped me out of his own initiative, finding me and walking back to me after I thought he had already gone ahead when we went our separate ways, and bringing me to the English-speaking guys. And then the English fellows were very friendly and wished me well. If that's not being a very good person at heart (for all of them), I don't know what is...,
- to the lovely couple at the Vasco de Gama mall who seemed like Brazilians and were very patient in explaining to me about how to get to Sintra; practically everyone I approached in Lisboa.

They won my heartfelt thanks and gratitude. I can't help feeling an affinity with them. Made me glad I came to Portugal even though at first I didn't include it in my itinerary until a friend who's been there encouraged me. And for that (not to mention the amazing scenery on the way to Lisboa from Galicia in Spain), I look forward to my next trip to Portugal. Not everyone in Europe is cold and unsmiling. :P