Chauvet Cave, France

http://instagr.am/p/JRyIpTFfX4/

a montage of 32,000-year-old Paleolithic paintings in a cave in a France... 

And I thought Lascaux Cave was the only one. Amazing art on stone.

Filmed with permission by the French Ministry of Culture, by Werner Herzog - Cave of Forgotten Dreams.

Jasmine Tea

http://instagr.am/p/JOR21OlfTp/

That's a cup of loose leaf jasmine tea. I always have one after dinner.

Testing my Instagram app on Android. It has a bug w/ uploading to 3rd party sites like twitter or tumblr. Forget about Facebook.

So I just hit upload and it posted to my instagram account and that allowed a sharing function to here - my Blogger account.

All this executed via my android phone.

Good Weekend

Busy Saturday spent running errands. Got a tablet too. Free. Capped off the day as a dinner guest in a country home. Had fresh oysters as appetizers and dungeness crabs for dinner with salad, rice, and white Zinfandel. Got so stuffed by the end. That was pretty good.

Saw a robin in the process at the back porch too. First time to see one. Didn't think it would be big but it was. Hehe.

Introversion/Extroversion & Workplace Mgm't

Just recently Time magazine ran an article on the power of shyness or introversion.  Having read it, as well as seeing there's a book about it, it's good to know that finally, more people are getting it.

I am an introvert but not excessively so.  Just that I'm not really the sort to talk a lot or talk loud.  I can start conversations but I don't feel like I necessarily have to.  When I do, it means I'm being polite/considerate and approachable.  So if you feel I don't talk much, don't be offended, that's just how I am.  For the likes of myself, there's a time and a place for such things.  I don't mind when others are loud especially when they're funny.  But if you're loud but not funny, only annoying, unprofessionally noisy and disturbing others at work, and bitchy, well, don't expect me to enjoy being within hearing distance from you.  Lol.

Anyhow, other similar articles and comments have sprung from such a topic.  One of which posted: "It's OK to cross the street to avoid making small talk."  Believe it or not, I have crossed the street to avoid making small talk.  Lol! But mostly because the people I crossed the street away from are the ones (former colleagues) whom I'd really not make friendly chitchat with.  Time is gold, and it's best spent doing things we enjoy and spending it with people we like or respect.  hehe.


And another apt quote by Lao Zi: "Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know."  Lao Zi, don't you know it!  Hehe!  It's just unfortunate that a more extroverted American culture permeates corporate workplace culture such that uninformed managers with less experience tend to think that the more vocal and "out there" you are, then you are a good "leader".  I beg to disagree.  I laugh because case in point:  this quote applies precisely to someone I had the unfortunate opportunity to work with. 

Let It Snow. Let It Snow. Let It Snow...Not!

December was a rather dry winter where am at.  It snowed only once, overnight, and was gone the next day.  But this month of January, winter has indeed come.

It had started snowing one night last week.  Since it's my first time overseas during winter in a place not normally known to snow everyday, the sight was quite a surprise to witness in the late evening.  The scene and sky was sort of red, with flakes falling fast.  It didn't look like my usual evening.

that's pretty much the color of what I saw that night

I took a video from the den/balcony of the snow falling that evening.  Hehe!

 a closer look at a tree branch near me

using auto white balance, scene turned bluish green

So it snowed in the past 2 days or so.  Today is no exception, it snowed in earnest today. 

More Fun in the Philippines

The Philippines's Department of Tourism is launching its new tourism campaign "More Fun in the Philippines".

I found it simple yet effective and easier to promote.  Many people do.  It's been quite successful locally.  No wonder there's now even an online More Fun in the Philippines meme generator, whereas the official campaign site hasn't yet gone live (now that's a fail.  Tsk!).


Anyhow, I posted a photo I shot in Panglao Island with the meme via the morefunmaker website:

It's true.  Some activities are indeed more fun in the Philippines.  Now if only traffic/driving/and the commute isn't so stressful in Metro Manila (definitely not fun!), then I could have had more fun in the city.  Lol.

Yes many things, activities and people are more fun in the Philippines but some of the customs people (on arrival in the country) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 -- the oldest NAIA terminal -- certainly aren't.  And they're notorious for this. 

You arrive tired from a trip, looking forward to getting past the airport gates and being home sweet home, but wait, customs person here is definitely sending feelers to get some "goody/ies" from me or whatever are in my/our bags...asking, staring at, and pointing at our huge bags "o, ang dami nyong bags.. ano mga nauwi nyo... ang lalaki ng bag nyo ah?" (translation... it's akin to saying: "Wow these bags you've brought back are rather big... what did you guys bring home?") or something to the effect which didn't sound quite right to our ears.  It's almost like telling us, "If you get my meaning...." Red flag! 

To which I would dearly have loved to have replied, "Sipa, gusto mo?"  (loose translation: Want a kick in the butt?)  hahahaha!  :D  And to think those bags were from a weeks-long trek we undertook in the Himalaya.  Geez.  Sige, iyo na lang my hiking sticks/trekking poles.  Go take a hike won't you?  And never return sana.. hahaha!  *sighs* 

Xmas and New Year's Eve Party Pics

Some new year's eve party pics...

 black forest cake

Some Scenes This Winter

Scenes shot from the balcony...

 

Critter in the Trees

Outside the window...

Gmail Teahouse Theme Screenshots

view of my Gmail account with the Teahouse theme, blurred the

details of my inbox of course

I used the Teahouse theme for my Gmail account in the past few months.  And I noticed how it changes scenes and how the fox character changes locations or activities in the design depending on what time of day it was.  It's fun trying to check out what might be the latest setting for the time I open my email.  So much so that I took to taking screenshots of each changed scene that I catch.  Lol.

fox feeding the birds in his garden

fox in his kitchen

fox watering his bonsai in the garden

fox in the kitchen and food on the garden table

fox watering his garden

Happy Holidays

Snoopy and Woodstock

and "Oh Christmas Tree"

lovely

Happy holidays!

My List of Overrated Films

The following big-ticket films disappointed me and made me wonder at all the fuss.  Will update this post every time I find another film overrated.

1.  Eclipse and all its sequels.
Just when I thought it's done with a part two, here comes a part 3.  Gah.

2.  Shutter Island (by Martin Scorsese)

3.  Inception (by Chris Nolan)
Tried to make its story seem smart but isn't really smart at all.  At least The Matrix movies got it right. lol.

4.  The Departed (by Martin Scorsese)
You'd be better off watching the original Hong Kong version Infernal Affairs, anytime.  And this won an Oscar? *shakes head*

5.  Hugo (by Martin Scorsese)
Attempted to resemble an artsy fartsy French film but story failed to engage the audience.  Too dull.  Felt sorry for the kid who was watching it beside me.  Glad I didn't have to pay to see it (saw it for free care of rewards points from card), but appreciated the cinema history lesson.  Liked the little dogs though. :P

6.  Mystic River (by Clint Eastwood)
No more Clint Eastwood films for me from then on.

7.  Star Wars prequels.
Should have stopped at the 3rd installment of Star Wars.

8.  An Education (by Lone Scherfig)

9.  Atonement (by Joe Wright)

10.  The Notebook (by Nick Cassavetes)

11. vintage drama movies starring Leonardo di Caprio
No thanks.  lol.


For now, it's safe to say that if a film is by Clint Eastwood or Martin Scorsese, count me out of going to see it. hehe.

Putting Things in Perspective

Just putting things in perspective....some words from Bill Gates to members of the Harvard community:

"I hope you will reflect on what you’ve done with your talent and energy. I hope you will judge yourselves not on your professional accomplishments alone, but also on how well you work to address the world’s deepest inequities, on how well you treat people a world away who have nothing in common with you but their humanity."

I might add: ....and not just how well you treat people a world away, but also within your immediate environment.  Hehe!


Referenced from a Businesweek article online about 'idolizing' Bill Gates instead of Steve Jobs, a good read: http://www.businessweek.com/management/idolize-bill-gates-not-steve-jobs-11012011.html

Skip This Book

Have you ever bought or read a certain sci-fi/thriller/suspense book and wished you hadn't done either?  That it was just hype and that it didn't live up to it?  Well, I just recently did and hope others would steer clear of this book -- The Passage by Justin Cronin.  You can perhaps borrow it, but I wouldn't recommend buying it.

The story seemed too long or prolonged.  It read like one long, winding and somewhat badly edited movie with no clear direction.

I can't believe I actually finished reading it.  Lol.  The first part seemed okay.  However, I was expecting an ending, like a loose ends tied ending.  But didn't get it.  Why?  'Cause turns out the book is the first of a trilogy.

And then I find out eventually that the author collaborated with Ridley Scott, and that it's the first novel out of a supposed trilogy.  No wonder then.  It was deliberately written with the possibility of having it made into a movie/s.  Talk about hype and commercialization.

You can bet am not gonna bother with the sequels.  And I say this right after I finished reading it and put down the book, and without having known at the time that it's the first of a trilogy or that it's a collaboration with Ridley Scott.

Oh well.

Good Read

That's the cover of the non-fiction novel Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer.  It's the author's personal account of a tragic climb by a few groups of climbers to the summit of Everest on May 10, 1996, where, by the end, at least 8 people died.  And the author was one of the survivors.

my shot of the outside of Mandala Book Shop

I bought the book at the Mandala Book Shop in Pokhara in Nepal prior to our trek, but only got to read it about two months later.  This version is the British publication of the non-fiction, by the publishing house MacMillan.  There's a newer version printed in the U.S., with more photos.

I just finished reading the book last night.  And man, what a read.  Had a hard time putting the book down.  Some passages also are kind of creepy --

Autumn Collage

some of my shots this autumn... testing Picasa's collage feature.. hehe!

Happy Halloween!

Some pics taken while and about this October..

interesting home window treatment.. frankenstein.

shopwindow

carved pumpkins

Afternoon Window Pics

Just some pics I shot from the window this cool and sunny autumn day...

 

towards the right

somewhat center

 at the left

My Nepal Trek Gear - A Review

Some months back I posted a blog of the gear I planned on wearing and using during my Nepal Himalaya trek.  This time, I'm blogging about some points regarding these gear/apparel after the trip because such info might also be useful to some.

Note that I'm also a photography enthusiast so I also brought some photography gear with me, and the trek was done during the monsoon season.

To start off:

1. daypack

in the bus from Pokhara to Nayapul

I used a Deuter Act Trail 28 SL.  Used it all the way from the flight from Manila, to Bangkok, and to Kathmandu and back, and of course while on the trail.

at one of the teahouse stops

Verdict = essential, but when I bought it, I was looking to buy the 24 SL 'cause it's slightly smaller and I didn't want to bring heavy stuff while on the trail so I thought 24 SL might be enough.  However, since I also used the same pack as a carryon bag on the flights to and from Nepal, the 28 SL was the better choice.

Design and Culture Icon

"We don’t have good language to talk about this kind of thing.... In most people’s vocabularies, design means veneer. It’s interior decorating. It’s the fabric of the curtains and the sofa. But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a man-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service...

.....That is the furthest thing from veneer. It was at the core of the product the day we started. This is what customers pay us for — to sweat all these details so it’s easy and pleasant for them to use our computers. We’re supposed to be really good at this. That doesn’t mean we don’t listen to customers, but it’s hard for them to tell you what they want when they’ve never seen anything remotely like it."

 -- by Steve Jobs

The above was quoted from the New York Times, re Steve Jobs expressing his focus on design in a Fortune magazine article in the year 2000, the year after I graduated with a degree in industrial design.  I couldn't have defined design better myself.  Even back then, while working on my industrial design degree, I was already tracking the comeback of Apple.  And I have entrepreneur uncles who used Macintosh computers in their businesses pre-colorful iMacs.  So about 5 years or so later -- after some messy experiences with Windows PCs and laptops and my non-existent Windows OS reinstall and formatting skills (lol) -- I finally got my own, an iBook running on a PowerPC G4 chip by Motorola (the last of its kind).  

my old Apple iBook G4, at a hotel in Germany

Along with the above info (only emphasized by the Fortune magazine interview), once I got that Mac and used its OS and hardware, I never went back.. hehe!  Best decision I made and money well spent.