Long Overdue: Chatime

I’ve been so swamped these past few months that I completely forgot to blog about Chatime. Good thing I accidentally stumbled across the images recently so I figured it would be worth sneaking in a few minutes to write about it.

Anyway, the branch I visit the most often is the one in Pioneer Centre, where me and the missus also usually go for grocery shopping. It also helps that the nearby Chinese restaurant, Zhuang, is a great and relatively cheap place to eat in, so a Zhuang lunch + Chatime then grocery shopping after is the usual routine for us when we are in the area.

Among the various tea places we’ve tried – Moonleaf, Gong Cha, Happy Lemon and Serenitea – this is one of the places I like the best, along with Gong Cha and Moonleaf. The service is pretty fast, as opposed to the HORRENDOUS service in Happy Lemon, which is also, IMHO, RIDICULOUSLY overpriced and overrated (me and the wife have tried more drinks in Happy Lemon than we have at Moonleaf, and I wasn’t satisfied with any one of them, and the both of us prefer Moonleaf by a mile).

This is also the tea place me and the missus have been to so far that offers the most variety of drinks. My usual order is the Formosa Oolong (Regular P70, Large P80), with 70% sugar only and pearls (sago / tapioca) but during this visit I tried out a pretty strong tea – the Anxi Tieguanyin Tea. It was good (although I was the only fan – my wife, brother, and mom were with me and all universally disliked it), but I still prefer a good old FO. My wife’s Taiwan Mango QQ was pretty tasty too.

Taiwan Mango QQ (QQ means pearls and nata), Anxi Tieguanyin Tea, Chrysanthemum Pu-Erh Black Tea, and Hawaii Fruit Tea

The place itself is also pretty spacious, with a very nice and cozy lounge area on the second floor. They offer free Wi-Fi as well, but don’t expect much when there are a lot of customers, which is often (at least during the weekends when we visit). I also like the cue-number thingamajigs they use to inform you when your order is ready to be claimed. Serenitea has a similar system, but their branches are always out of the way for me and their drinks are more expensive to boot – more on Serenitea when I get to visit them again and take photos.

Spacious, fast service and a lot of choices!

If you find yourself thirsty and a Chatime branch is around, you might want to give this place a try. ^_^

Published:
November 21, 2011 – 4:03 PM
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By Tim
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Some Scenes from Taal Lake

To say I miss shooting landscapes is an understatement. I’ve only been on two trips since July, and I’m getting a bit rusty. Needless to say, I’ve also been keeping an eye out for any interesting subjects besides landscapes when I go out of town so I can maximize the trip. Here are some from a trip to the sides of Taal Lake in Batangas.

All In a Day's Work

A lot of people usually just think of Taal Volcano when they think of Taal Lake, never mind the wealth of human interest subjects one can find when traversing the narrow roads that run beside the lake itself. The slow and laid back attitude of the rural settlers is a stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of the city, which is just an hour and a half away.

Living on Water

Sun's Out

Published:
November 16, 2011 – 12:34 PM
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By Tim
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Tonight, the moon*

Tonight the pale moon

tells its tale – quiet, sweet, cold

and melancholy.

————————————–

*Taken with a Canon 7D, 70-200 f4L non-IS, ISO100, cropped

** Haiku is also mine. ^_^

 

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Published:
November 12, 2011 – 11:09 PM
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By Tim
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Food photography at home: Herb-crusted Fish with Lemon Butter Sauce

When you do not get to go out and shoot often (like me) you need to have something to scratch the itch with – something that justifies bring out your equipment and shooting something worthwhile.

And so, with my wife being a great cook, I set myself to try doing some food shoots at home – it helps that I’ve always been interested in trying out food photography.

Herb-crusted Fish with Lemon Butter Sauce

Canon 7D | 18-55 | ISO 100 | Tripod

I usually just set up my camera, tripod, and shoot away. Like in the previous posts, I used ambient light only, without any reflectors, light modifiers and whatnot. My trusty and battered kit lens is always my go-to lens for these kinds of shots – since I’ve retired it from landscape with my acquisition of my UWA roughly a year ago, it’s nice to have a use for it. The macro focusing distance of the kit lens trumps all the other lenses I have right now, so it’s great for semi-macro shots. Of course, nothing beats a real macro lens, but that’s not really financially feasible at the moment.

Styling wise, we really don’t put anything inedible on the plate – unlike in real food photography set-ups – because these dishes are also our dinner. My wife just arranges the elements and I shoot away and then we eat. As simple as that.

I’d also like to think that I’ve got the processing down pat (not that I process a lot), so my workflow for each image is roughly less than 2 minutes.

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Published:
November 9, 2011 – 2:20 PM
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By Tim
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Food photography at home: Spaghetti e Aglio Olio with Seafood

While ‘serious’ food photography is something that involves food stylists and all other sorts of props and effects that in the end, usually renders the food itself inedible, it is possible to achieve food shots right at home – and then eat the thing immediately after!

Case in point:

Spaghetti e Aglio Olio with Seafood

Canon 7D + 18-55 kit lens | f11 | ISO100 | ambient light only

This is one of the first few shots I took. The only styling done was to arrange the elements of the dish in a semi-aesthetically-pleasing manner. I had no reflectors or light modifiers – I just turned on all of the lights in the room. Processing was also very minimal, mostly some minor tweaks then resizing and adding the watermark – one image maybe took me a minute and a half, at most.

I’d also like to add that while I have a 50mm 1.4, I opted to use the 18-55 kit lens because of it’s much better “macro” focusing distance, which enabled me to take closer shots. So to those who are itching to throw their kit away or replace it, I’d think twice, if I were you.  Wink

Once I was done, I immediately sat down to devour it. Cheesy

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Published:
November 4, 2011 – 7:05 PM
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By Tim
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The 3rd PMPC Star Awards for Music

For three years now, the Philippine Movie Press Club has held an annual awards night for exceptional musical artists who have made a significant contribution to Original Pilipino Music or OPM in the country. This year, they also made special mention of several OPM ‘Icons’ who have made an invaluable mark on the Philippine music industry.

Mabuhay ang musikang Pilipino!

OPM Icons Freddie Aguilar and Pepe Smith

Buboy Garovillo and Jim Paredes of the APO Hiking Society

Contemporary acoustic artists Princess and Sabrina

Nyoy Volante and OPM Icon Victor Wood

Former Sexbomb Dancer Sunshine and PDA Winner Bugoy Drilon

The star of the night of course, was the one and only Superstar Nora Aunor, who received a lifetime achievement award from the PMPC. Present of course, besides the press, were members of her very devoted fans club, who were chanting her name over and over again. “Walang himala!”

Superstar Nora Aunor

Nora Aunor, flanked by son Ian De Leon, receiving her Lifetime Achievement Award.

*Special thanks to Maik Beniabon and Beginnings at Twenty Plus for the opportunity to be a part of this event.

Published:
October 31, 2011 – 10:09 PM
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By Tim
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From the HAB 2011: Earth, Wind and Fire

Here, I liked the mood brought by the sunrise plus the contrast of the rugged 4×4 w/ the hot air balloon. Taken at the 2011 HAB.

**This image is my entry for the “Sasama ka bang magbulakbol sa bolero?” photo contest.

Published:
October 26, 2011 – 10:21 AM
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By Tim
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Palawan Series 3: The Puerto Princesa Underground River

I think it’s high time to go back to my Palawan series before posting some red carpet sightings from the 3rd PMPC Star Awards for Music.

This time around, it’s the iconic Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR), which has been increasingly popular over the years, due to the exposure it’s getting as being part of the ongoing voting for the New 7 Wonders of Nature (kindly cast your vote HERE).  While a staggering 1.5 to 2 hours away from the city proper, it is still considered part of the capitol (primarily so its upkeep can be better supported by the local government – that’s bureaucracy at work for you).

The PPUR is located in the midwestern coast of Palawan, and is part of the regular tours offered by the local resorts and government in the city. If I remember correctly, the fee is Php1,200 per head, inclusive of lunch, tour guide, and entrance fees, as well van transfers to and from your accommodations. I’m not sure if the boat ride is included in the initial fee – if it’s not, the additional payment will be minimal.

The whole river is about 8.2 kilometers long, but only about an eighth or so of that length is readily accessible to the public through the tours. Should you want to explore the cave further, you will need to procure a special permit from the local government. The cave is also closed at the other end, so to get back out, you will need to paddle back all 8.2 kilometers the way you came.

Tourists are usually taken in through a 8 to 10-seater paddle boat, with the boatman also serving as the tour guide for the duration of the exploration; and while their spiels were obviously memorized, I liked the whole colloquial character injected into it by the natives who crack memorized jokes in a variety of accents, depending on where they are from.

The inside of the cave is pitch black, with only the halogen lamps from the boats providing the necessary illumination – if you happen to be the person seated in front, you get to be the lightsman, pointing the lamp where the boatman instructs you to. Because of the poor lighting conditions, I have no shots of the inside of the cave. I sorely regret not bringing my external flash, as using the pop-up flash resulted in some horrible images that I had to delete immediately.

The highlight is a section called the ‘cathedral’ due to the enormous shape of the space similar to a huge cathedral, as well as some stalagmite and rock formations that have been chosen to be interpreted as one religious symbol or another. There are also bats inside the cave, and I do not want to know if the drops of liquid that occasionally fell from the ceiling was bat piss or water.

All in all, it was a good experience, the only downside being the long trip to and from the place – that’s 3-4 hours spent just sitting in the van. I hope the local government comes up with a way to make the trip shorter. I also regret not trying out the local delicacy called tamilok which are wood worms found in mangroves. They are traditionally served a’la ceviche, which is a sosyal way of saying kinilaw, or cooked ONLY in the acid from citrus and/or vinegar (which makes them otherwise raw).

A word of warning: if you choose to visit the PPUR during the peak season – which are the summer months – expect to wait for a long time for your turn to ride the boats, as we were told that there are as much as 300 tourists a day. There are also lots of free-roaming monkeys and large monitor lizards in the island where the PPUR is, so that’s an added attraction you can enjoy while there.

I think I have two more Palawan posts up my sleeve – one for the local city tour + wet market trip as well as the one for the Honda Bay (island hopping) tour, so stay tuned for those in the future.

Published:
October 25, 2011 – 2:50 PM
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By Tim
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I’m a PEBA Nominee!

While I’m hoping I fare better in this year’s Philippine Blog Awards, I’ve also joined a number of other blog competitions, one of which is the 2011 Pinoy Expats/OFW Blog Awards (PEBA). I’m thrilled and honored to have my nomination (not sent by me, incidentally) confirmed and accepted by the screening committee. Hopefully I move on to become one of the finalists, and God willing, win the thing come December. I am sure that I’m going to be up against stiff competition, so a ‘bahala na’ seems to be in order.

I put up this blog a couple of years ago to help showcase both my passion for photography as well  as for writing, and being able to express both and see myself improve, plus have some number of people comment and leave their thoughts here is enough reward for me. Winning a blog competition would be a welcome icing on the cake though, so here’s to winning all the blogging competitions I’ve joined this year. Cheers!

That’s it for now. Will resume regular programming soon.

Published:
October 23, 2011 – 10:14 AM
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By Tim
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Hindi lahat ng laruan, pambata

‘Nung bata pa ako, hindi ako masyadong nakapag-enjoy ng mga laruan. Isa o dalawang beses lang kasi ako ibinibili ng laruan ng mga magulang ko. Minsan lang kapag may okasyon, halimbawa kung may honors ako sa eskwela o ‘di kaya kapag may napanalunang paligsahan. ‘Yung iba kong mga laruan, pamana naman ng mga pinsan kong pinagkatandaan na yung mga Transformers at Matchbox nila, kaya yung iba, kung hindi pasira na, lumang-luma naman.

Dahilan ng mga magulang ko, mas maganda na mga libro na lang ang ibigay nila sa akin – bukod sa mas mura, mas makabubuti pa sa akin kasi may natututunan ako. Kaya naman ngayon na matanda na ako, isa sa mga luho ko ang pagbili ng iba’t ibang klaseng libro (luho, kasi napakamahal na ng mga libro ngayon), lalo na’t isa sa mga hilig ko ang pagsusulat.

Pero hindi maalis-alis sa akin iyong paghahanap sa mga laruan. Syempre nga lang, ibang mga klaseng laruan na ang gusto ko dahil napagkatandaan ko na rin iyong mga Transformers (na sa kabutihang-palad ay buo pa naman at pwede ko pang ipamana sa magiging anak ko) at mga kotse-kotsehan.

Dalawa ang klase ng mga laruang pinagkakaabalahan ko ngayon – iyong Hanayama na cast metal puzzles at Paper Toys.

Napulot ko ang hilig sa Hanayama sa isa kong kaibigan na naaaliw din sa mga laruang ito. May kamahalan nga lang ang isa – mga P575 – dahil imported sa Japan, pero maganda ring gawing collection, kasi matitibay naman sila at gawa sa bakal. Nagustuhan rin ng misis ko kaya added incentive rin para kolektahin. Sa ngayon, meron na akong isang Level 5 (Spiral), at apat na Level 6 (na pinakamataas) puzzles – Elk, Enigma (na hindi ko pa naso-solve), News, at Chain.

Sa ngayon, sa Hobbes and Landes na tindahan ko pa lang nakikita itong mga laruang ito, at balak kong kolektahin iyong iba pang mga Level 3 hanggang Level 6. Hindi naman lahat, kasi hindi ko naman gusto ‘yung disenyo ng iba at kapag Level 1-2 lang ay wala nang challenge kaya parang hindi na sulit bilhin.

Iyong mga Paper Toys naman (o Papercraft din kung tawagin minsan), nakatuwaan ko lang nung nakakita ako sa internet ng mga pattern. Mas simple naman ito at mas mura – i-download lamang ang pattern, i-print, gupitin, tapos buuin. Nagsimula ako sa mga CubeeCrafts, kagaya nitong Wall-E sa ibaba.

Sa Papercrafts naman, kailangan lang ng magandang cutter at cutting board. Mainam rin na i-print ang mga pattern sa clear white na board paper na hindi bababa sa 180gsm ang kapal. Iyong iba, gaya ng CubeeCrafts, hindi kailangan ng pandikit, pero iyong iba naman, gaya nitong ‘Romy’ Robot ko (larawan sa ibaba), kailangan talaga idikit – inirerekumenda ko ang Mighty Bond o anumang pandikit na mabilis na matuyo, para mabilis mabuo ‘yung laruan. Pwede ring gawing collection and mga mabubuo mong Paper Toys, basta i-spray-han mo lang ng fixative, na nabibili naman sa mga suking hardware stores.

Hindi porke hindi na bata ay ibig sabihin na hindi na pwedeng mag-enjoy sa mga laruan – basta panatilihing bukas ang isipan, tiyak na parati kang makakahanap ng mapaglalaruan.

*Ang blog entry na ito ay inilahok ko sa Saranggola Blog Awards 3, kategoryang Blog (Freestyle).

Published:
October 14, 2011 – 1:32 AM
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By Tim
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