|2nd_starbucks.planner|

one last moccha frap and i'm on to get my second starbucks planner! maybe i'll have one later after our annual family christmas gift-giving thing.

one more to go! 

|merry.making.@work_on.the.eve.of_christmas|

as usual, we just make do with what we have in order to feel the spirit of christmas even if that means we have to be at work. this is my third year that i celebrate christmas eve at work. i can't do anything about it but definitely we can do whatever it takes to have some fun as well.

|merry.holidays|

as the famous song goes, ..."it's the most wonderful time of the year", this is truly the most wonderful time of the year! believe me when i say that i can smell christmas. for whatever it's worth, for whatever your reasons may be, whether your rich or poor, young or old, i wish everyone could take a moment and remember the true reason for the season.

|countdown.till_christmas: 2-days.to_go|

it's almost the end of the work week again for me and in two days it's christmas--my favorite time of the year. in between work and the so-called-life that i have, i was able to do the following:

-shop for last minute christmas gifts for people at work and the ones i forgot to add on to my ever extending list.

-finish wrapping christmas gifts. this year's motif is gold wrapping with red ribbon and trimmings.

-attend various christmas parties: company, team, friends from work, friends from school, close friends, etc.

-almost get the 21st, the very last sticker for my 2nd starbucks planner (yes, i'm doing it for a cause).

-get to blog events that transpire on the most wonderful time of the year �.

-redo the playlist in my iTunes that recently got corrupted.

-dvd marathon of 6 feet under and csi las vegas (season 2).

i believe this year had been a very good year for me. a year filled with challenges, trials, triumph over obstacles and second chances and i'm still very thankful for a lot of things.

purple blast 

|my_recent_trip.baguio|

my recent trip to Baguio City was a long awaited one. the last time would have been before the earthquake that shook the country way back in july 1990. so many changes had taken place to the summer capital including a newly constructed SM Shoemart outlet. though it would be another entry here in my blog, let me tell you more of my baguio market experience. since i'm not very fond of buying merchandise from the ukay-ukays and going to baguio's tourist destinations that i've gone to gazillion times before, i ventured to the city's public market and took some shots of the produce section. first item that tickled my fancy was the golden sweet corn near the entrance of the market. the vendor politely asked if i wanted to have some since i showed so much delight on the bright yellow corn on the cob. it was only for twenty pesos a piece and with it a thin coat of margarine and salt sprinkles. it was really good and i was able to take a picture of it and went on to search for other interesting subjects to take a snap on.

|makati_shangri-la.christmas.bash|

the December 11, 2004 Sleepover will definitely be an event to remember! it was the annual Christmas bash of my closest/ bestest friends that I've had for the longest time (yeah since grade school!). the superb Christmas decorations of the Makati Shangri-la bring so much life to the season as colored illuminated giant fiberglass balls are scattered in front of the hotel and the palm trees are dotted with white lights. guests are welcomed to colored pyramids that appear like christmas trees of various heights. it was somewhat a jolly mix-up of sorts: Christmas dinner at Friday's slash Korean tele-novela marathon slash gift-giving slash pajama party slash late-nite coffee drinking with stories and laughs. nothing spectacular was scheduled with this year's festivities except that everyone's cousin aprille graced us with her presence and that nikki asked her better half to tag along so we finally got to know him more...as in totally! � with us barely getting enough sleep, we all headed to Cirlces for a big breakfast buffet treat and alas more picture taking followed as we headed back to our rooms.

|past.two_weeks.at_a.glance|

i've not been blogging for over a week now. busy with a lot of things--of course with work and the christmas preparations, especially the shopping! work is still work...and the remaining days of it, being a leader to a small number of people is tough stuff. oh well, but i know i'll get better.

so these are the snipets of events that relevantly transpired spanning over two weeks.

december 2, 2004

a very stormy thursday 

this was taken in the afternoon before typhoon yoyong wreaked havoc to the metro. the ibm and citibank logos can be barely seen on the buildings. while the government suspended all classes in all levels and government work for the whole country, we had to be at work, "thank you for calling dell technical support. my name is dan, how may i help you this stormy day?"

this is a nice flower! 

this flower was too good not to be captured on my camera on the day the storm was expected to hover the country. i was able to shoot this when i got home that same afternoon.

december 3, 2004

a big christmas tree  

amidst the rains and strong gusts of wind, i still managed to go on with my usual roundabout and took a shot at the big tree at the shangrila mall.

december 4, 2004

the new sm in makati city at 10:23am 

the next day i went out again and took a picture of the newly renovated sm makati. it's expansive area was too wide for my camera. it more looked like an airport rather than that of a shopping mall. and it is an sm supermall after all! after days, the sun decided to shine on us.

on that same day, i was decided to go to greenbelt 3 to take a picture of a very nice fountain to see how the trickling water would look on my camera. this is somewhat like the miniscule version of the Fountain of Wealth at the Suntec City in Singapore.

the fountain of wealth at the suntec city 

minus the tourist in front, the fountain was like a big version of the one in greenbelt. anyway, it was just the first thing that i could think of when i describe this fountain in greenbelt 3.

oody's greenbelt 3 

i wasn't satisfied with what i captured in my camera lens when i stopped by at oody's to have lunch hence took a shot of it from a differnt angle as seen on the next shot.

the ring at greenbelt 3 

december 6, 2004

the monday after work, i went to school to get some documents and happened to have passed by a colleague's research lab. guess how much i miss being chemist? i decided to take some shots of the "stuff" i used to literally play with in college and during my short researcher stint in the university.

i started with the faucet and sink. since i have fascination to flowing water, i decided to capture running water off the faucet.

this one i like...a lot! 

this picture i absolutely love. i used the built-in stitch software of my canon camera to piece together two separate pictures. i got as close as possible and got the effect i wanted and at the same time, voila! this is pretty neat! that's why i'm lovin' my canon so much!

glasswares galore! 

from the sink to up the glassware rack...

100mL cylinder 

to this piece of thing and other weird pictures that followed.

weird green concoction on a bulbous filtering device. 

nice blue light over green luminescent peaks 

december 7, 2004

i thought this picture was interesting. so i added this to my collection and decided to post it here as well. i just noticed this when i gazed out of the window to look at the traffic.

scribbles galore 

december 8, 2004

my wednesday midweek was pretty much the usual. i went to robinson's galleria to purchase a 512MB compact flash for my camera and decided to take a snap or two of things while having a break from walking.

iced tea break 

iced tea break 

what i like about this camera it that it "intelligently" chooses what points in the image to focus on. it has a 9-point system where in the picture is put into 9 frames and you can select which frame it will focus on therby achieving this effect. nice.

my dog chuck-- he doesn't like to be part of my test shots in my camera. 

when i got home that night, he didn't appreciate me disturbing him during his sleep. don't ask me why.

december 10, 2004

friday was pretty much ordinary for me. i decided to stroll in araneta center along the araneta colesium and took the train going home. no wonder if there's anything i love in this country, it's spending christmas here. everything turns out great every year. people seem to have a more jolly and jovial disposition becuase of the festivities. the decorations add and bring about smiles to every kid and all of those kid at heart.

reach for the stars...on trees 

starbucks christmas! 

to put a night cap to my friday, i just had to have coffee. merry christmas to everyone.