Vacation Home Furniture Dilemma

I mentioned a few posts ago that I was planning to have a theme for our home in TAGAYTAY, a province just in the outskirts of Metro Manila. Since the ambiance was a little "Country" I was thinking of a way to put in rustic furniture on it. The goal was to at least give it that natural feel since the place was going to be in the middle of a coffee farm and surrounded by big trees and shrubs. It would also have a modern element to it because we mostly want it to be made up of a combination of industrial steel and natural wood. This would be a little hard to provide as an initial concept for design, but that is what my family wants for this small vacation home.

I guess I have to start somewhere to make this a reality. We already have a couple of pieces from our original house that we plan to transfer to the new house. The bed however needs a little replacement because our old one signed up for retirement. It's not infested with termite or something but it just is a little too old for the place. Maybe the bed was just a part of early 60's modern design but looking at it, it just does not fit in the whole picture. It looked like pop art all over again. We would be a laughing stock if we forced that into place. I hope we finish everything before my brother arrives from Ireland. He is going to be upset if that does not happen. I know!

Spending Wisely... Yeah I Hope!

Seems like there is no end to the agony of "spending" heheh. I'm planning to buy a couple of things for Trish (my Nikon D60 DSLR camera), first things first so its going to be a UV filter so I can get the lens protected. After that, a pop up flash diffuser, a tripod and a remote for my camera. How in the world would I be able to take self portraits if I don't have one obviously!

Not that its pleasing to see, I know I look good but I guess I've gained a lot of weight from eating too much. Don't be too shocked, I know how I weigh because I check it every now and then. I just don't have to tell you though... heheh.

Aside from that, I am in the process of editing the photos I've taken this weekend and am learning a lot. Though I have some reservations on what looks good in my photos, some of them are a little bit blurry and not sharp but I guess that comes with the process. I guess even my intermediate skills in photoshop has not gotten me anywhere near what I should see. I'm going to check out some sites later so I could at least learn these things a little bit faster.

This coming Saturday I will be with them again for a photo walk in Quezon City Parks and Wildlife for some nature shots. I don't know how I fared with that when we had some sessions with D60'rs but here's some samples of it. Wish me luck on Saturday! Ayt!

You Have to See Things Clearly

I was window shopping a few days ago and chanced upon an optical shop in the mall. They had various colors of contact lenses available and I wonder if it was safe to wear even if I did not have eye problems. In the Philippines, it was almost a norm to see young men and women to wear it for fashion. The deal is, they don't really know some of the dangers in wearing it. Predominantly, Filipinos only have black or brown eyes and going beyond that is unique. This is the biggest selling point of most optical shops, but here's a story.

Sexy local film and TV personality MAUREEN LARAZZABAL went out with her friends wearing her best evening clothes and green contact lenses to accent her look. She spends quite a fortune for it and in 25 years, it would have cost her roughly around $20,000. This is quite a big amount because a single US dollar equals 47 Philippine Pesos in this side of the world. Tired and weary from her travel and shows, she forgot to take them off and slept throughout the night. When she woke up, she felt terrible pain and could not even open her eyes anymore. She was rushed to the hospital and doctors found out she was already suffering internal bleeding because of the contact lenses. She almost lost her sight on both eyes. They were able to save her but needed to rest for a few months and she was not able to work during this time. A lot of people were worried for her safety and realize that fashion is not going to be on top of a person's health. We all should know how to wear contact lenses properly or else, we will lose our eyesight.

As expensive as she might have spent for the lenses, she was still not safe. In this time where money is pretty hard to find, we should find ways to live within our means. There are procedures nowadays that can do better things for our eyesight. LASIK has been part of a huge eye health revolution when it was patented in 1989. Thousands have benefited from this and there are new developments in LASIK surgery. Today, the iLASIK procedure only takes minutes and the cost has dramatically gone down over the years. There are computers that can literally generate blueprints so that each cornea reshaped would be perfectly done. The technology has gone advanced that a friend of mine who has tried the procedure even went home the same day. I hope people get educated and be given sufficient information so nobody would suffer the same fate as Maureen did. Get those eyes fixed instead of resorting to temporary solutions that could further damage your eyes. We all deserve better!

My 2nd Photoshoot: DPP Digital Katipuneros and D60'rs

It's been one heck of a week! My new baby named "Trish" (a Nikon D60 DSLR Camera) just arrived and the need to practice pressing 'em clickers and learn photography just sent me into a whirlwind in practically 2 days. I joined well known forums for the hobby and guess what I picked up... "NEW FRIENDS":

Yeap! They were all so nice to teach me a thing or two about photography. I get to interact with people of the same interest... I was happy as a kid!

No, it was not just because I learned a lot in that photo shoot, nor because we had these awesome and beautiful models...

But it was because I had the chance to get to know more people... it was not the normal night out where I usually hang out in Embassy, Warehouse, The Fort or The Manor... but OMGWTFBBQ there is nothing more good than spending a few hours of chit chat with people who love their craft. This frustration of mine which led me to a WHOLE WORLD of possibilities, where I still get nose bleeds every now and then with the technical jargon... I'm so happy... I got to shoot until I wore out my hand and get tired of it... I have never taken so many pictures. in my entire life.. though I plan to beat that... I'm so proud of what I have done in a short while. I'm really looking forward to another week with them. They are all so nice, I could not really thank them enough about everything!

Thank you Digital Katipuneros for the REVOLUTION you have imparted to people like me (noobs).

Thank you Nikon D60'rs for the great morning - till afternoon photo walk... I enjoyed every minute of it! Manila Cathedral and Fort Santiago was awesome and nostalgic!

This experience indeed taught me something and I'm still in the process of learning a lot from them...
Until our next photo shoot! Peace out!