Just a quick post to wish everyone a Merry Christmas...or as the say here in Tagalog: Maligayang Pasko ! I hope you all have a great new year as well.
I probably won't be posting anything for a week or so. We're going to go to Bohol and then Bantayan to spend some time on beaches and maybe do some diving.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Thinking ahead...
I've had a lot of time on my hands the last few days so I started thinking a lot about what to do over the coming weeks. Then I started thinking about what I'll do after I get home. Top of the list is looking for work. I have a few ideas but I figured I'd start with posting my resume on here on the blog. The link is now on the top of the blue sidebar.
So if you know anyone who's looking for a Mechanical Engineer with some good design and manufacturing experience, please forward the link to them. Please feel free to pass on the link to this blog as well. So far it looks like I'll be back home in Canada around the first week of February.
Some geeky techie stuff:
I generated the pdf using a handy little tool called CutePDF Writer combined with a GPL licensed postscript converter called Ghostscript. It behaves as another printer on your machine. To generate a pdf of any document, you just select "CutePDF Writer" in the printer list. A dialogue box will come up asking you for the file name.
I stored the file on online file storage site at www.box.net. You get 1GB free by signing up. The upload time depends on your internet connection, but with broadband it's pretty fast. They have deals for more storage, but for sharing small files like documents the free storage size is more than enough.
So if you know anyone who's looking for a Mechanical Engineer with some good design and manufacturing experience, please forward the link to them. Please feel free to pass on the link to this blog as well. So far it looks like I'll be back home in Canada around the first week of February.
Some geeky techie stuff:
I generated the pdf using a handy little tool called CutePDF Writer combined with a GPL licensed postscript converter called Ghostscript. It behaves as another printer on your machine. To generate a pdf of any document, you just select "CutePDF Writer" in the printer list. A dialogue box will come up asking you for the file name.
I stored the file on online file storage site at www.box.net. You get 1GB free by signing up. The upload time depends on your internet connection, but with broadband it's pretty fast. They have deals for more storage, but for sharing small files like documents the free storage size is more than enough.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Manila and Josie's Wedding
We left for Manila on Monday morning. The flight itself was short, but the landing was a little bumpy due to turbulence. The pilot had to abort the sequence and start over again.
Manila itself is a lot nicer and cleaner than I remember it. Getting around town is a real pain though, the traffic is brutal. It seems like we spent most of the day on Tuesday in a vehicle stuck in traffic. We stayed with Jasmine and her brother J.P. J.P. was nice enough to drive us around to do some shopping and meeting up with people. I also met some of Aimee's Manila friends later on in the night...a lively bunch and really nice people.
For those of you that don't know, filipinos use different terms to refer to their relatives and family. Tita is used for Aunts, Tito for uncles, Kuya for older brothers/cousins/male family friends, Ate for older sisters/cousins/female family friends, and Lolo/Lola for Grandpa/Grandma.
I had to buy a traditional formal shirt for the wedding called a barong. Looks thin, but it's kind of like wearing a windbreaker...not much in terms of ventilation. We lucked out with some cooler weather so it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
The wedding itself was good. It was nice to see some relatives that I hadn't seen in years and meet some relatives that I had never met before. Some of the relatives that I thought would be there weren't so I'll have to make some plans to go visit them in the coming weeks.
The pictures don't look that great. The lighting was low and I tried to get away with not using the flash too much. The 400ISO setting on the camera is junk, but here are some anyways:
Tita Salud and Tito Pepe checking out some video on Jon's phone:
Inside the church:
Jon, Aimee, Tita Beth, Tito Candido and his wife Tita Carmen, Dr. Cecil Ramos, and me:
Ate Leida and me:
Tita Salud and Tito Pepe making some short speeches:
Ate Josie and Andrew cutting the cake and the toast of the night:
Here's one with Kuyas Junjun and Boy with Tita Salud and me. I'm not sure who the older couple is, but I'm sure mom will know:
Whew ! This was a long post.
Manila itself is a lot nicer and cleaner than I remember it. Getting around town is a real pain though, the traffic is brutal. It seems like we spent most of the day on Tuesday in a vehicle stuck in traffic. We stayed with Jasmine and her brother J.P. J.P. was nice enough to drive us around to do some shopping and meeting up with people. I also met some of Aimee's Manila friends later on in the night...a lively bunch and really nice people.
For those of you that don't know, filipinos use different terms to refer to their relatives and family. Tita is used for Aunts, Tito for uncles, Kuya for older brothers/cousins/male family friends, Ate for older sisters/cousins/female family friends, and Lolo/Lola for Grandpa/Grandma.
I had to buy a traditional formal shirt for the wedding called a barong. Looks thin, but it's kind of like wearing a windbreaker...not much in terms of ventilation. We lucked out with some cooler weather so it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
The wedding itself was good. It was nice to see some relatives that I hadn't seen in years and meet some relatives that I had never met before. Some of the relatives that I thought would be there weren't so I'll have to make some plans to go visit them in the coming weeks.
The pictures don't look that great. The lighting was low and I tried to get away with not using the flash too much. The 400ISO setting on the camera is junk, but here are some anyways:
Tita Salud and Tito Pepe checking out some video on Jon's phone:
Inside the church:
Jon, Aimee, Tita Beth, Tito Candido and his wife Tita Carmen, Dr. Cecil Ramos, and me:
Ate Leida and me:
Tita Salud and Tito Pepe making some short speeches:
Ate Josie and Andrew cutting the cake and the toast of the night:
Here's one with Kuyas Junjun and Boy with Tita Salud and me. I'm not sure who the older couple is, but I'm sure mom will know:
Whew ! This was a long post.
Beach resorts at Mactan
I tagged along with Aimee for a Christmas party with the girls from her flag football team. We hung about a couple of beach resorts: White Sands and Shangri La's Mactan Island Resort and Spa. Pretty fancy places and on the pricey side, but really really nice.
The party itself was a lot of fun with the girls getting really silly with their secret santa gift exchange. They brought enough food to feed a rugby team and their pets. Spent the night at White Sands and kind of snuck into Shangri La to hang about the beach for the morning. I didn't bring a camera though...probably a good thing.
The party itself was a lot of fun with the girls getting really silly with their secret santa gift exchange. They brought enough food to feed a rugby team and their pets. Spent the night at White Sands and kind of snuck into Shangri La to hang about the beach for the morning. I didn't bring a camera though...probably a good thing.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Malapascua and diving...
Aimee, Jon, and I went to Malapascua on Thursday and came back yesterday afternoon. It's a small island north of Cebu island that's famous for beaches and diving. It took us about two hours to get to the ferry (forgot the actual visayan term for the boat)and about a 45 minute ride to get to the island. We stayed at a small inland resort called Kuan Ba or The Wobbly Boot. Uncle Geoff is part owner of the place.
It was a good chance for me to get some diving experience. I managed to get the Open Water certification in two and a half days. It was a lot of work and not much time to really relax. When I wasn't in the water, I was busy reading and testing for the knowledge base that you need. I got certified by Thresher Shark Divers under the instruction of Ravi Jassal...great guy and a pretty good instructor. I don't have the certification to dive deep enough to get to see the thresher sharks or some of the manta rays that they have around there. I imagine that I'll head up there again to get the Advanced Open Water certification to do those dives. I'll have lots of time again after the new year to head up there for a few days.
I didn't take many pictures of the place because I was fairly busy. Aimee took some so I'll have to get them off of her before I post some pictures. We're heading up to Manila tomorrow morning and I still have to pack so no time to post any pictures. I'll get around to it after we get back.
Update: Here are some pics
Aimee chatting up a german dude on the boat ride over:
A view of the island boats:
Gearing up and looking like divers:
It was a good chance for me to get some diving experience. I managed to get the Open Water certification in two and a half days. It was a lot of work and not much time to really relax. When I wasn't in the water, I was busy reading and testing for the knowledge base that you need. I got certified by Thresher Shark Divers under the instruction of Ravi Jassal...great guy and a pretty good instructor. I don't have the certification to dive deep enough to get to see the thresher sharks or some of the manta rays that they have around there. I imagine that I'll head up there again to get the Advanced Open Water certification to do those dives. I'll have lots of time again after the new year to head up there for a few days.
I didn't take many pictures of the place because I was fairly busy. Aimee took some so I'll have to get them off of her before I post some pictures. We're heading up to Manila tomorrow morning and I still have to pack so no time to post any pictures. I'll get around to it after we get back.
Update: Here are some pics
Aimee chatting up a german dude on the boat ride over:
A view of the island boats:
Gearing up and looking like divers:
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Hanging about...
We were supposed to go to Malapasqua on Monday, but the typhoon had stirred up the waters in the area and diving would have been bad. So we decided to wait a couple of days before heading up there.
I spent more time at the gym boxing and swimming, went to see "Casino Royale" with Andrea, and being a mall rat.
I also took Aimee, Jon, and Uncle Geoff out for dinner at a cool japanese place here. The food was really good and the atmosphere was nice. Jon's a bit of a celebrity around here because of his modelling work so some of the girls on the staff were giggling and trying to get a picture of him.
There's a wierd phonomenon here with cell phones. It's kind of like yawning...one person starts and then in a matter of minutes the people around are doing it too. In every conversation there's a moment when everyone is fiddling with their phone. Here's what it looks like:
I stitched two pictures together using
autostitch. It's neat and it works well. The demo version is free, but I don't know if there's a limit on how much you can use it.
I spent more time at the gym boxing and swimming, went to see "Casino Royale" with Andrea, and being a mall rat.
I also took Aimee, Jon, and Uncle Geoff out for dinner at a cool japanese place here. The food was really good and the atmosphere was nice. Jon's a bit of a celebrity around here because of his modelling work so some of the girls on the staff were giggling and trying to get a picture of him.
There's a wierd phonomenon here with cell phones. It's kind of like yawning...one person starts and then in a matter of minutes the people around are doing it too. In every conversation there's a moment when everyone is fiddling with their phone. Here's what it looks like:
I stitched two pictures together using
autostitch. It's neat and it works well. The demo version is free, but I don't know if there's a limit on how much you can use it.
Badian
A bunch of my cousin's friends decided to go on a weekend trip down south to Badia. The family of one of the guys have a beach resort there. The four-hour trip there was interesting, but a little long...can't really drive too fast through those windy roads.
A Catergory 1 typhoonblew here the same weekend too. The storm was enough to postpone the ASEAN Summit here until January. Although I think that they used the storm as an excuse because they weren't ready to host it yet. The convention centre is still under construction.
We weren't affected too badly by the weather. It was just gloomy and rainy...cold for the natives, refreshing for me. Andrea's family beach house towards the north of the island got hit hard with really strong winds blowing trees over.
The weather wasn't conducive for being at a beach but it was still a good time. With everyone speaking cebuano most of the time, I pass the time having a one sided conversation with a bottle of Tanduay rum. We brought food with us and the people at the resort did an excellent job of cooking it up. We also bought some really fresh fish off of some fishermen who were paddling by.
We were supposed to go check out the Kawasan falls in the area, but the weather was still bad and there was no point to trekking in the mud and rain to get there. We might head back down some other time to check it out.
Unfortunately, my digicam doesn't work too well in the rain and all my batteries were drained. It was a shame because I wanted to get some shots of pigs getting transported in tricycles here. Really unique ! If I see any down the road, I'll make sure I get a picture.
A Catergory 1 typhoonblew here the same weekend too. The storm was enough to postpone the ASEAN Summit here until January. Although I think that they used the storm as an excuse because they weren't ready to host it yet. The convention centre is still under construction.
We weren't affected too badly by the weather. It was just gloomy and rainy...cold for the natives, refreshing for me. Andrea's family beach house towards the north of the island got hit hard with really strong winds blowing trees over.
The weather wasn't conducive for being at a beach but it was still a good time. With everyone speaking cebuano most of the time, I pass the time having a one sided conversation with a bottle of Tanduay rum. We brought food with us and the people at the resort did an excellent job of cooking it up. We also bought some really fresh fish off of some fishermen who were paddling by.
We were supposed to go check out the Kawasan falls in the area, but the weather was still bad and there was no point to trekking in the mud and rain to get there. We might head back down some other time to check it out.
Unfortunately, my digicam doesn't work too well in the rain and all my batteries were drained. It was a shame because I wanted to get some shots of pigs getting transported in tricycles here. Really unique ! If I see any down the road, I'll make sure I get a picture.
Beach on Mactan Island
I met a guy here at the kiwi lodge from BC who's a snowboarder. It turns out that he's good buddies with Paul Horton, who's out there in an effort to make the olympic team for boardercross. I tried emailing Paul about it, but the address I have for him didn't work. If any of you are in touch with Paul...please tell him I met "toaster" here in Cebu.
Anyway...Toaster, Andrea, and I went to the Portofino beach resort on Mactan island to hang out there for the day. The place turned out to be a pain in the ass to get to partly because the cab driver didn't know where it was. It was a small beach...nothing spectacular, but it was nice to sit there, have a San Miguel Light, and chill out for a bit.
The weather wasn't that great. It had rained in the morning and the sun was struggling to poke through the clouds, but it was still nice. Here are some shots of sand, dead jellyfish, and the beach area:
There was a hobbie catameran lying there at the resort. I thought about taking it out, but it looked like it hadn't been used in a while. If I had another beer, I probably would have taken it out, but the service was poor and I never got to order another drink.
We had lunch afterwards at a bar called MB's Tavern. Apperently it's another popular hangout for expats here. It was started by a german...the schnitzel was good.
I decided to go play basketball with Jon and a bunch of other guys. I was terrible out there: a couple of airballs and some porous defence. I rememebered why I stopped playing though. I was hobbling around for a couple of days.
Anyway...Toaster, Andrea, and I went to the Portofino beach resort on Mactan island to hang out there for the day. The place turned out to be a pain in the ass to get to partly because the cab driver didn't know where it was. It was a small beach...nothing spectacular, but it was nice to sit there, have a San Miguel Light, and chill out for a bit.
The weather wasn't that great. It had rained in the morning and the sun was struggling to poke through the clouds, but it was still nice. Here are some shots of sand, dead jellyfish, and the beach area:
There was a hobbie catameran lying there at the resort. I thought about taking it out, but it looked like it hadn't been used in a while. If I had another beer, I probably would have taken it out, but the service was poor and I never got to order another drink.
We had lunch afterwards at a bar called MB's Tavern. Apperently it's another popular hangout for expats here. It was started by a german...the schnitzel was good.
I decided to go play basketball with Jon and a bunch of other guys. I was terrible out there: a couple of airballs and some porous defence. I rememebered why I stopped playing though. I was hobbling around for a couple of days.
Comments...
I was wondering why nobody was commenting on the site anymore. I thought I lost a lot of love...started feeling emotional and distraught. Then I remembered I turned on the comment moderation feature to see what I can do with censoring comments...especially those by a crazy kiwi. Apparently I have to approve every comment before they're posted. I turned that feature off, so comment away !
Some people are still commenting anonymously. Please sign your name...It'd be nice to know who is saying what.
Some people are still commenting anonymously. Please sign your name...It'd be nice to know who is saying what.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Boxing
I got a month-long membership at the gym where Jon and Aimee work out. It's good...sort of like a typical Goodlife Fitness gym back in Canada, except that they have badminton courts instead of squash or racquetball courts. They also have boxing training. Jon actually was in a celebrity boxing match in Manila a couple of weeks ago...yeah, he's pretty good.
Anyways, he took a video of my first go at it with his phone. Have a look:
I look really slow and standing straight up. I'll try to keep up with thte training and we'll take another video in about a month from now and see how I look then.
Feel free to come up with some boxer names for me and post them in the comments. Here's mine: Ramzi "Slohanfaht" Asfourrrrr !
Anyways, he took a video of my first go at it with his phone. Have a look:
I look really slow and standing straight up. I'll try to keep up with thte training and we'll take another video in about a month from now and see how I look then.
Feel free to come up with some boxer names for me and post them in the comments. Here's mine: Ramzi "Slohanfaht" Asfourrrrr !
Saturday, December 02, 2006
CFFL Superbowl
Sadly, the Pink Flamingos got spanked really bad by the Sharks. It was tough to watch but here are some pictures. Josh animated and going over offense plays, a cute one of Tonet, and my entry for the Silliman U mascot.
Typhoon
A Taoist Temple in Cebu
Andrea and I went to check out the Taois Temple here in Cebu. I don't know much about Taoism because there wasn't much information about it there and didn't bother asking anyone about it. You can't take pictures of the statues inside the temple either. They did have a poster about some kidney shaped wood blocks that people use to ask a question when they pray. They think about the question and then drop the blocks. How the blocks end up give a yes, no, or maybe answer to the question. Seems a little strange to me, but if it works for the people that believe in it, so be it.
Anyways, I got some nice pictures there. Could have had more, but the batteries in the camera died on me. And the spare ones I was carrying turned out to be dead too. I managed to get a couple of this really cute baby girl there. Have a look:
Photoshops of what the diety for the Macho Temple looks like seems like a fun politically incorrect thing to do here. So far F's been the only one to send me something for the Silliman University mascot...see this one.
Andrea got us lost on the way out of the gated neighbourhood that the temple was in...It was pretty hot walking around there. She's a crazy kiwi girl that I met the first week I was here. Her family owns and runs the Kiwi Lodge here in Cebu. It's close to the centre of the city and the food's pretty good.
Anyways, I got some nice pictures there. Could have had more, but the batteries in the camera died on me. And the spare ones I was carrying turned out to be dead too. I managed to get a couple of this really cute baby girl there. Have a look:
Photoshops of what the diety for the Macho Temple looks like seems like a fun politically incorrect thing to do here. So far F's been the only one to send me something for the Silliman University mascot...see this one.
Andrea got us lost on the way out of the gated neighbourhood that the temple was in...It was pretty hot walking around there. She's a crazy kiwi girl that I met the first week I was here. Her family owns and runs the Kiwi Lodge here in Cebu. It's close to the centre of the city and the food's pretty good.
B&W Album
I uploaded the b&w photos to India Album 7. Some of them look crooked. I'm not sure if the negatives look that way or the scanning system did it. I've had the problem before...not paying attention to the frame lines of the view finder. I'll have to be more conscious of it using the camera next time.
B&W pics from India
I finally got some of my black and white film developed. The pictures turned out great. I took them using my Olympus XA compact camera and Kodak 400CN film. I wish they made a compact digicam with a fixed focal length lens and a quality that rivals the lens on this little camera. I like the ease of use of digital photography, but I have to say that I still prefer the look of film taken with simple old cameras that have very high quality lenses. Especially using B&W film. Anyways, here are some of the pics. I'll have to put up another album for them sometime.
Developing film here is pretty cheap. I got 3 rolls developed, prints, and CDs done for around $15. The same thing back in Canada would have probably cost around $50.
Developing film here is pretty cheap. I got 3 rolls developed, prints, and CDs done for around $15. The same thing back in Canada would have probably cost around $50.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
New Album
I added the final album from India: India Album 6. Finally got through it...lots of pictures !
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
More from around Cebu City
I've taken to going for walks around the city. I get bored every once in a while so I head out with my camera to see if I can get some good shots.
Yesterday, I made it down to the Santo Nino Church downtown...another one of those spots that I've been to when I was last here. I didn't recognize much of it, apart from the statue of the baby Jesus with dark skin.
After the church, I wondered towards the Carbon Market. The Lonely Planet lists it as a place to check out, but I'd advise against it. It's dirty and smelly; interesting to see, but not exactly the safest place. I was pretty conscious of the people around me when I was walking through there. Here are a couple shots from there:
That looked like a kids pool table, but those guys were pretty serious about it. They were using playing cards as part of the game. Not sure exactly how, but I think each card represents a ball and when you turn up a card you have to sink the ball that it represents. I'm sure there was some money involved somehow.
And in the middle of all that, there was a basketball court too.
I'm not sure what it is, but I haven't been taking many pictures lately. I'm not really focused on the subject like I was in India. Maybe the security of being part of a group there helped me out. Walking around yesterday, I was trying to pay attention to my surroundings rather than relaxing and looking for nice shots. I'll try to get into a groove again...
Yesterday, I made it down to the Santo Nino Church downtown...another one of those spots that I've been to when I was last here. I didn't recognize much of it, apart from the statue of the baby Jesus with dark skin.
After the church, I wondered towards the Carbon Market. The Lonely Planet lists it as a place to check out, but I'd advise against it. It's dirty and smelly; interesting to see, but not exactly the safest place. I was pretty conscious of the people around me when I was walking through there. Here are a couple shots from there:
That looked like a kids pool table, but those guys were pretty serious about it. They were using playing cards as part of the game. Not sure exactly how, but I think each card represents a ball and when you turn up a card you have to sink the ball that it represents. I'm sure there was some money involved somehow.
And in the middle of all that, there was a basketball court too.
I'm not sure what it is, but I haven't been taking many pictures lately. I'm not really focused on the subject like I was in India. Maybe the security of being part of a group there helped me out. Walking around yesterday, I was trying to pay attention to my surroundings rather than relaxing and looking for nice shots. I'll try to get into a groove again...
Monday, November 27, 2006
New Album...
Added another //a href="http://new.photos.yahoo.com/rasfour/album/576460762353763476#page1" target="blank">album/a// from India. I have a couple more discs of stuff that I have to sort through, but hopefully I'll get around to it by the end of the week.
Yahoo Photos has a new look. It seems like they're trying to evolve it into more of a photo sharing/storage site. Right now you can upload your photos at full resolution, but only download them one at a time. Not really useful for online photo storage.
I've been shrinking the photo sizes down to make the upload time faster using the batch resizer from rw-designer.com. They have some other useful tools as well.
Yahoo Photos has a new look. It seems like they're trying to evolve it into more of a photo sharing/storage site. Right now you can upload your photos at full resolution, but only download them one at a time. Not really useful for online photo storage.
I've been shrinking the photo sizes down to make the upload time faster using the batch resizer from rw-designer.com. They have some other useful tools as well.
Quebec as a nation ???
I was flipping through some news sites this morning to discover that the house of commons passed a motion recognizing Quebec as a nation within Canada. I think it's a silly idea. Quebec is unique, but so is everywhere else in Canada. Newfoundland has its own unique culture and heritage...some would argue that it even has its own language that nobody else can understand. You can say the same thing about the praries and the west coast. Toronto by itself is unique as well.
There are some good points about this vote. //a href="http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1164409810997&call_pageid=970599119419" target="blank">Chantal Hebert/a// and //a href="http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1164456970860&call_pageid=968256290204&col=968350116795" target="blank">C.E.S. Frank/a// talk about them.
I still think that Harper and the Cons are a bunch of weenies, but this looks like a very smart political move. It has no practical meaning though, it's pretty much just a play on the definition of the word "nation". Credit has to go to Michael Chong, Ken Dryden, and Gerrard Kennedy for speaking their minds on the topic.
There are some good points about this vote. //a href="http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1164409810997&call_pageid=970599119419" target="blank">Chantal Hebert/a// and //a href="http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1164456970860&call_pageid=968256290204&col=968350116795" target="blank">C.E.S. Frank/a// talk about them.
I still think that Harper and the Cons are a bunch of weenies, but this looks like a very smart political move. It has no practical meaning though, it's pretty much just a play on the definition of the word "nation". Credit has to go to Michael Chong, Ken Dryden, and Gerrard Kennedy for speaking their minds on the topic.
New Old Look...
It only took a couple of comments for me to change the look of the blog back to one that's similar to the old style. I made some changes to the standard template design to one that looks a little more to my liking.
I'll keep looking for alternate designs though...if I find any that I like, I'll switch it up and ask for feed back again...
Thanks to Anonymous Rick and Andrea for the comments.
I'll keep looking for alternate designs though...if I find any that I like, I'll switch it up and ask for feed back again...
Thanks to Anonymous Rick and Andrea for the comments.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
The CFFL
Jon's in the Cebu Flag Football League...He plays on the Pink Flamingos. Fruity name, but they're the defending champs 2 years running. Aimee plays on a girls team as well called the Alpha Hot Tees...but Aimee's away in Florida, haven't seen her play yet.
Here are some pics from yesterday's playoff action:
The last one is Jon making a nice grab. It's hard to take photos of the game with a litte compact camera...really need an SLR with a 300mm lens at the minimum.
The CFFL superbowl is next week !
Here are some pics from yesterday's playoff action:
The last one is Jon making a nice grab. It's hard to take photos of the game with a litte compact camera...really need an SLR with a 300mm lens at the minimum.
The CFFL superbowl is next week !
Around Cebu
I was kind of bored on Thursday, so I decided to go for a long walk around town. I ended up walking from Jon's place in Mandaue (man-dah-way) all the way to Mactan Island with the goal of making it to the Lapu Lapu monument. The last time I was there was 20 years ago, so I wanted to check it out. All in all, I ended up walking around 10km. I didn't make it all the way to the monument because the sun was already about to set and I was wooped. I hired a taxi to get me there.
The views along the walk were nice especially these from the bridge:
The jeepney conductor on the last one got off and put a block behind the wheel of the car to stop it from rolling backwards then walked over to check out the view. I ended up walking past them about 4 times total...there was some traffic on the bridge.
Here are some shots of the Lapu Lapu monument after I finally got there.
Lapu Lapu is a national hero and was the first native of the islands to resist the spanish colonialization. The monument itself was nice, but different that I remembered it...I thought there was more of a beach area around the place, but it's pretty developed. Yet again, a place can change a lot in 20 years.
The views along the walk were nice especially these from the bridge:
The jeepney conductor on the last one got off and put a block behind the wheel of the car to stop it from rolling backwards then walked over to check out the view. I ended up walking past them about 4 times total...there was some traffic on the bridge.
Here are some shots of the Lapu Lapu monument after I finally got there.
Lapu Lapu is a national hero and was the first native of the islands to resist the spanish colonialization. The monument itself was nice, but different that I remembered it...I thought there was more of a beach area around the place, but it's pretty developed. Yet again, a place can change a lot in 20 years.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
ClustrMaps
I also found and added the ClustrMaps feature in the side bar. It's supposed to show different hits from different parts of the world...the bigger the dot, the more hits it represents.
We'll see how it works in the coming weeks.
We'll see how it works in the coming weeks.
New look...
For some reason, I decided to upgrade to the new beta blogger version. I thought that I'd be able to keep the same look, but I didn't like the look of the upgraded version of the template.
So the old look is history...there's no turning back. This new version has more features in it that I may or may not use.
So yeah, please comment on the new look of the site. I'm still undecided about it, I may change it down the road.
So the old look is history...there's no turning back. This new version has more features in it that I may or may not use.
So yeah, please comment on the new look of the site. I'm still undecided about it, I may change it down the road.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
A note on Cell phones...
For those of you who have travelled around and used cell phones abroad, you know that almost everywhere around the world cell phones work differently than in North America.
Here and in India anyway, you can switch cell companies by picking up a new sim card and keeping your phone. The phones and cell network operate separately and everything is much cheaper. The rates are really cheap and the deals that companies offer are increadibly cheap by NA standards. Here in the Philippines, you can get a deal for unlimited text and calls for 400 Pesos a month (around $10 CAD)...only catch is that you can only contact people on the same network. The deals are so cheap that a lot of people carry more than one phone, one for each network.
I'm getting the impression that people in NA are getting ripped off with the cell phones. We should be able to keep the same phones, but switch networks by getting new sim cards. In theory anyway, cell phones should be cheaper than land lines because the infrastructure is much easier and cheaper to set up. I agree that taxes and overhead costs are higher in NA so that the cell costs should be higher, but I'm not convinced that it should be as high as it is.
That's my 2 cents anyway...
Here and in India anyway, you can switch cell companies by picking up a new sim card and keeping your phone. The phones and cell network operate separately and everything is much cheaper. The rates are really cheap and the deals that companies offer are increadibly cheap by NA standards. Here in the Philippines, you can get a deal for unlimited text and calls for 400 Pesos a month (around $10 CAD)...only catch is that you can only contact people on the same network. The deals are so cheap that a lot of people carry more than one phone, one for each network.
I'm getting the impression that people in NA are getting ripped off with the cell phones. We should be able to keep the same phones, but switch networks by getting new sim cards. In theory anyway, cell phones should be cheaper than land lines because the infrastructure is much easier and cheaper to set up. I agree that taxes and overhead costs are higher in NA so that the cell costs should be higher, but I'm not convinced that it should be as high as it is.
That's my 2 cents anyway...
New Album
Progressing slowly on adding pics to online albums. I added //a href="http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/rasfour/album?.dir=cdd1scd&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/rasfour/my_photos">India Album 3/a// to the list.
I was working backwards before hence Album 4 showing up before.
I was working backwards before hence Album 4 showing up before.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
More photos...
I added another album to the list in the links...//a href="http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/rasfour/album?.dir=3ef6scd&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/rasfour/my_photos">India Album 4/a//. Don't ask me why I skipped the number 3...don't remember exactly the reasoning, but I can't change the album title, it's set.
I also added David and Karrie's site...they're a couple from Toronto. Really nice couple and great photographers too...they have some nice toys !
I met Mandy and Alastaire on the same tour as David and Karrie. They have their own blog going with some of their pictures.
I also added David and Karrie's site...they're a couple from Toronto. Really nice couple and great photographers too...they have some nice toys !
I met Mandy and Alastaire on the same tour as David and Karrie. They have their own blog going with some of their pictures.
Dumaguete
I took a ferry back to Dumaguete on Saturday. A nice short 1hr ride, but managed to meet a Canadian from Alberta named Kelly. His wife is from Cebu and they were travelling with their 18 month old son and travelling to different islands. Nice guy...has his own business drilling and blasting for oil and gas exploration.
I stayed at the Pura Vida Dive & Beach Resort in Dauin just outside the city of Dumaguete. Nice place, but the beach was dark and coars sand. I hung about the afternoon on the day I got there...just to relax some more and have a couple drinks. I rented another moped the next day and rode around the city. I didn't take many pictures of the place...a little hard to do while riding around. It's a university town so there's a lot of neat little places around. The university is called Silliman University...I wondered what the school mascot was, but never got around to asking.
Feel free to be creative and suggest some names by posting in the comments...I think the "Silliman University Silly Man" is an obvious one...you can use your photoshop skills to come up with a picture of what the mascot would look like. Email them to me and I'll post them on the site...
I didn't take many pictures around Dumaguete. I never really got off the moped and walked around...except to get some sunscreen and a bite to eat. The third day there, I decided to go do some snorkeling off of Apo island. It's a tiny place but with some nice coral reefs around it. I spent about 3 hours in the water.
Note:
Make sure you put sunscreen on the back of your knees when going snorkeling. I never really thought about it before...how often do you get sunburnt on the back of your knees ? Anyways, I was hurting yesterday, but it feels ok now. I'll just try and stay out of the sun for long time for the next couple of days.
Here's a picture from the ride back to Dumaguete from Apo:
And a picture of lizard hiding in one of the lights at the resort:
Back in Cebu for now...thinking about heading to Puerto Galera next.
I stayed at the Pura Vida Dive & Beach Resort in Dauin just outside the city of Dumaguete. Nice place, but the beach was dark and coars sand. I hung about the afternoon on the day I got there...just to relax some more and have a couple drinks. I rented another moped the next day and rode around the city. I didn't take many pictures of the place...a little hard to do while riding around. It's a university town so there's a lot of neat little places around. The university is called Silliman University...I wondered what the school mascot was, but never got around to asking.
Feel free to be creative and suggest some names by posting in the comments...I think the "Silliman University Silly Man" is an obvious one...you can use your photoshop skills to come up with a picture of what the mascot would look like. Email them to me and I'll post them on the site...
I didn't take many pictures around Dumaguete. I never really got off the moped and walked around...except to get some sunscreen and a bite to eat. The third day there, I decided to go do some snorkeling off of Apo island. It's a tiny place but with some nice coral reefs around it. I spent about 3 hours in the water.
Note:
Make sure you put sunscreen on the back of your knees when going snorkeling. I never really thought about it before...how often do you get sunburnt on the back of your knees ? Anyways, I was hurting yesterday, but it feels ok now. I'll just try and stay out of the sun for long time for the next couple of days.
Here's a picture from the ride back to Dumaguete from Apo:
And a picture of lizard hiding in one of the lights at the resort:
Back in Cebu for now...thinking about heading to Puerto Galera next.
Siquijor
I was going to be by myself for a few days. My cousins had some travelling/business to attend to. So I decided to go on a mini-trip at my uncle Geoff's recommendation.
Siquijor (pronounced like a woman you should avoid in Thailand...sicky-hoor) is a small island of the shores of the main island of Negros. The ferry system is pretty neat. I took a 4-hour ferry ride to Dumaguete and then another 1hr ride to Siquijor. I started really early in the morning...6:20am. Got a nice shot from the ferry deck:
The island itself is extremely laid back. It's famous for some voodoo magic and weird medicine, but I didn't really see any of that. Not much goes on there...pretty quiet. There is no night life to speak of. Everyone shuts down for the night at around 8pm. I rented a moped and rode around the island for a day. It's only around 70km to ride around the whole island. The Cambughayan falls are small, but swimming there was very refreshing.
They also have a bunch of old churches around. You can also go spelunking in a bunch of different caves. I heard it was really neat to go, but I decided against going...was feeling pretty lazy.
The beaches are nice...white sand that's easy to walk along. The slope of the beach was really shallow, so a lot of the beach gets exposed when the tide goes out.
The tiny blue crabs there are also neat to watch. They bury themselves really fast in the sand one you walk by. If you stay still long enough they start coming back out and look at you with their little beady eyes.
I stayed their for a couple of nights at the Kiwi Dive Resort. I met a nice older french couple when I got there, but they were on their way out so I was there by myself for the first night. Met some young brits the second night: Marie, Frazier, and Andy. Nice people...they were there to learn how to dive.
Siquijor (pronounced like a woman you should avoid in Thailand...sicky-hoor) is a small island of the shores of the main island of Negros. The ferry system is pretty neat. I took a 4-hour ferry ride to Dumaguete and then another 1hr ride to Siquijor. I started really early in the morning...6:20am. Got a nice shot from the ferry deck:
The island itself is extremely laid back. It's famous for some voodoo magic and weird medicine, but I didn't really see any of that. Not much goes on there...pretty quiet. There is no night life to speak of. Everyone shuts down for the night at around 8pm. I rented a moped and rode around the island for a day. It's only around 70km to ride around the whole island. The Cambughayan falls are small, but swimming there was very refreshing.
They also have a bunch of old churches around. You can also go spelunking in a bunch of different caves. I heard it was really neat to go, but I decided against going...was feeling pretty lazy.
The beaches are nice...white sand that's easy to walk along. The slope of the beach was really shallow, so a lot of the beach gets exposed when the tide goes out.
The tiny blue crabs there are also neat to watch. They bury themselves really fast in the sand one you walk by. If you stay still long enough they start coming back out and look at you with their little beady eyes.
I stayed their for a couple of nights at the Kiwi Dive Resort. I met a nice older french couple when I got there, but they were on their way out so I was there by myself for the first night. Met some young brits the second night: Marie, Frazier, and Andy. Nice people...they were there to learn how to dive.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Cebu
I arrived in Cebu around noon today. My cousing Jon picked me up from the airport and showed me around town today. It's been nice and relaxing...we've been spending time just catching up.
I updated the site a bit with some minor edits and added a bunch of pictures. The new pictures start at the entry for shimla...if you scroll down far enough, you'll see the new ones.
I'll see about adding more photo albums tomorrow.
I updated the site a bit with some minor edits and added a bunch of pictures. The new pictures start at the entry for shimla...if you scroll down far enough, you'll see the new ones.
I'll see about adding more photo albums tomorrow.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Off to the Philippines
I've enjoyed my experience here in India. The intrepid tours allowed me to see a lot of the country in a relatively short amount of time. After 6 weeks though, I'm happy to leave. All the vendors, beggars, and pushy richshaw drivers can take their toll on you. I'm also ready to go and relax on a nice beach in Cebu.
I have lots of pictures to put on the site, but that will have to wait for now.
I have lots of pictures to put on the site, but that will have to wait for now.
The Lotus Temple and the Baha'i faith
The lotus temple is a nice white building in the shape of a lotus. Really interesting architecturally...cool and quiet inside. I like sitting there for a little while.
The Baha'i religion is faily new...about 160 years old. It started in the area around Tehran in Iran and spread through Turkey, North Africa, and various other parts. Nowadays you can find a Baha'i temple almost anywhere around the world. It's seems interesting, but I wonder why it hasn't caught on more. It includes teachings from almost every religion. Here's the what the pamphlet I got says:
Basic Principles are as folows:
Sounds wonderful ! I can't say for sure what it's all about, but it seems like it a new age type religion. You can read more about it here.
The Baha'i religion is faily new...about 160 years old. It started in the area around Tehran in Iran and spread through Turkey, North Africa, and various other parts. Nowadays you can find a Baha'i temple almost anywhere around the world. It's seems interesting, but I wonder why it hasn't caught on more. It includes teachings from almost every religion. Here's the what the pamphlet I got says:
Basic Principles are as folows:
- Oneness of Mankind
- Independant investigation of truth
- The common foundation of all religions
- The essential harmony of science and religion
- The equality of men and women
- Elimination of prejudice of all kinds
- Universal compulsory education
- Universal peace
Sounds wonderful ! I can't say for sure what it's all about, but it seems like it a new age type religion. You can read more about it here.
Back in Delhi again...
We had our last meal as group at breakfast. It turned out to be Kathy's birthday also, so we signed a card and gave her a box of Indian sweets. Pravin, poor guy, had to rush because he had to finish the paper work for our group and then lead another tour on the same day.
I didn't do much that day, just relaxed and had a beer or two. I ran into Andy, my roommate on the previous tour, at the hotel and we went out for dinner and a couple of drinks. We said goodbye to some people.
The next day was more of the same...the remainder of us had breakfast together and said goodbyes to Anthea and Reena. I saw Dave and Theresa later that evening.
The neighbourhood around the hotel is usually buzzing at night with the market area, but the last two nights it's been eerily quiet. There's some political unrest in the city with the authorities trying to close down shops and vendors that have sprung up in areas where they shouldn't have be. My understanding of the problem is that some extremely poor and incompetent municipal city planning is to blame. There hasn't been an organized effort to manage the city and now some parts of it are out of control in terms of shops and residences.
Today I managed to get up early in the morning and went to see more of Delhi. I went to the India Gate...a memorial for Indian soldiers. I also went to see the Lotus Temple...a centre for the Baha'i faith.
I didn't do much that day, just relaxed and had a beer or two. I ran into Andy, my roommate on the previous tour, at the hotel and we went out for dinner and a couple of drinks. We said goodbye to some people.
The next day was more of the same...the remainder of us had breakfast together and said goodbyes to Anthea and Reena. I saw Dave and Theresa later that evening.
The neighbourhood around the hotel is usually buzzing at night with the market area, but the last two nights it's been eerily quiet. There's some political unrest in the city with the authorities trying to close down shops and vendors that have sprung up in areas where they shouldn't have be. My understanding of the problem is that some extremely poor and incompetent municipal city planning is to blame. There hasn't been an organized effort to manage the city and now some parts of it are out of control in terms of shops and residences.
Today I managed to get up early in the morning and went to see more of Delhi. I went to the India Gate...a memorial for Indian soldiers. I also went to see the Lotus Temple...a centre for the Baha'i faith.
Amritsar
In the state of Punjab, Amritsar is predominantly a Sikh city and has the Golden Temple. Sikhism is another of India's many religions and historically, it's an offshoot of hinduism. It stems mainly from the teachings of Guru Nanak.
Sikhs follow a disciplined way of life...they don't cut their hair and wear turbans. There are 5 things that a Sikh must wear at all times:
In theory, Sikhism is a very inclusive and tolerant religion. Like many other faiths, extremism can take hold and the result is some violence.
We went to the Golden Temple in the evening to see the holy book get put away for the night. It's a very involved ritualistic process that is neat to see. The temple it self really is golden...it's covered with cold leaf. The rest of the complex is made of white marbel. There is also a pool that surrounds the temple and people bathe in it as a purification thing.
Amritsar itself was pretty busy when we were there...the were celebrating the birthday of Guru Nanak...I was pertty beat so I sat and watched the start of Australia and the West Indies cricket semi-final match. In my time in India, I've learned to like watching cricket...it's an interesting game and somehow I end up watching for a few hours at a time.
Amritsar was the last stop on the tour...we rode yet another overnight train back to Delhi.
Sikhs follow a disciplined way of life...they don't cut their hair and wear turbans. There are 5 things that a Sikh must wear at all times:
- a special Sikh comb
- special Sikh underwear
- an iron bracelet
- a dagger
- not sure about the 5th thing...I think that they shouldn't cut their hair
In theory, Sikhism is a very inclusive and tolerant religion. Like many other faiths, extremism can take hold and the result is some violence.
We went to the Golden Temple in the evening to see the holy book get put away for the night. It's a very involved ritualistic process that is neat to see. The temple it self really is golden...it's covered with cold leaf. The rest of the complex is made of white marbel. There is also a pool that surrounds the temple and people bathe in it as a purification thing.
Amritsar itself was pretty busy when we were there...the were celebrating the birthday of Guru Nanak...I was pertty beat so I sat and watched the start of Australia and the West Indies cricket semi-final match. In my time in India, I've learned to like watching cricket...it's an interesting game and somehow I end up watching for a few hours at a time.
Amritsar was the last stop on the tour...we rode yet another overnight train back to Delhi.
Orchard Hut
Orchard Hut is a nice secluded spot for trekkers and other tourists. It takes a lot of effort to get there, there are no direct roads or paths.
It's run by Mr. Dhami and his family as a business. The food was really good, the accomodations were very basic but nice. It felt like being at a very basic cottage...the were no showers so you had to bathe using a bucket. They had a neat little water heater that used a wood fire. They also had a little pool that a few of us decided to jump into at differnt times...really cold!!! Couldn't stay in it for more than a minute.
A palmist came in and read the palms of most of the people in the group. It was an emotional experience for some people, for me it was more of a learning experience. He told me about the basic areas of the palm and what the represent. The way the lines and wrinkles are located and their lengths tell you about the person. It seemed pretty neat and he was spot on about some of my past and personality traits...apperently the thumb can tell you a lot about the person it's attached to.
Other than that, it was a really nice place to sit and relax for three days.
The trek, Khajjiar, and Chamba Valley
We started the trek early morning from a spot called Lakarmandi. Basically we walked down one mountain, had lunch by a river, and then hiked up another one. It took us about 6hrs to go about 20km. Pretty decent pace. The area is part of the southern himalayan belt of mountains.
Some photos from the hike:
Khajjiar is billed as the Indian Switzerland. It's another spot in India that you would not expect to see. Very scenic and very green a cool. Rob and I went zorbing...the slope wasn't very steep and the balls weren't that inflated. We had two guys helping to roll us along so it wasn't that extreme of an experience, but it was cool.
The hotel had a ping pong table. We got a mini tournament happenning with Rob, Pravin (the tour leader), and I. Pravin turned out to be a pretty good player...I'd say we were pretty even in wins/losses. Rob put up a good fight and got his fair share. Rob and I ended up playing for about 4hrs until past midnight...I was teaching the finer points of the game and he started getting pretty good. If the ball hadn't flown out the window, we probably would have been there for another couple of hours.
The next morning we set out down the mountain into the Chamba Valley area. The downhill was mostly on paved roads...I found it harder than the previous day's hiking, mainly because it was tough on my knees. I managed to survive though. We stopped for a quick lunch and headed off to catch the local bus.
Chaos ensued:
Rob decided to stop and pet some puppies. Dave somehow got roped into taking a picture of someone's wife who was very shy and didn't come out. I was watching what both of them were doing. Meanwhile, the rest of the group had got on the local bus...more light packed into the local bus. The two guides stayed behind to see what the three of us were doing. Long story short, we arrived at our destination by means of a commandeered car, 2 very packed buses, some timely phonecalls, and a ton of very close and touching interaction with the local people...especially the bus conductor.
We hiked up the side of yet another mountain to finally arrive at Orchard Hut. The dinner that night was filled with a lot of laughter as we recollected the chaos of the day.
Some photos from the hike:
Khajjiar is billed as the Indian Switzerland. It's another spot in India that you would not expect to see. Very scenic and very green a cool. Rob and I went zorbing...the slope wasn't very steep and the balls weren't that inflated. We had two guys helping to roll us along so it wasn't that extreme of an experience, but it was cool.
The hotel had a ping pong table. We got a mini tournament happenning with Rob, Pravin (the tour leader), and I. Pravin turned out to be a pretty good player...I'd say we were pretty even in wins/losses. Rob put up a good fight and got his fair share. Rob and I ended up playing for about 4hrs until past midnight...I was teaching the finer points of the game and he started getting pretty good. If the ball hadn't flown out the window, we probably would have been there for another couple of hours.
The next morning we set out down the mountain into the Chamba Valley area. The downhill was mostly on paved roads...I found it harder than the previous day's hiking, mainly because it was tough on my knees. I managed to survive though. We stopped for a quick lunch and headed off to catch the local bus.
Chaos ensued:
Rob decided to stop and pet some puppies. Dave somehow got roped into taking a picture of someone's wife who was very shy and didn't come out. I was watching what both of them were doing. Meanwhile, the rest of the group had got on the local bus...more light packed into the local bus. The two guides stayed behind to see what the three of us were doing. Long story short, we arrived at our destination by means of a commandeered car, 2 very packed buses, some timely phonecalls, and a ton of very close and touching interaction with the local people...especially the bus conductor.
We hiked up the side of yet another mountain to finally arrive at Orchard Hut. The dinner that night was filled with a lot of laughter as we recollected the chaos of the day.
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