When does the time photography becomes a hobby?

• When you enjoy taking photos and share it online
• When you love to view others photographs
• When you are learning by example and loves getting feedback
• When you have so many photos and saved on your external hard drive to back them up 
• When you spend lot of time watching tutorials and reviews about lenses and cameras 
• When you know how to manipulate camera controls 
• When whenever you have a great shot it makes you smile

I think if you really love something you will spend time for it and I'm proud for his willingness to learn. Now, he was enjoying his 3 months old Canon camera and I saw a lot of improvement in his shots, from his first shots up to his 100. I do also want to learn, I think I need to buy camera too. :) We are just getting started with photography as a hobby and looking forward to learn more. You can visit EJ Frias flickr account @flickr/ejfrias

Wednesday palang pero may yaya na ng inuman. Madalas Friday ang ayaan ng inuman pero ngayon napa-aga. Hindi na din kame tumanggi dahil noong nakaraang linngo ay nakatanggi na ako at sila-sila nalang ang nag-inuman.

St. Remy Authenthic French Brandy ang nakahanda para sa tagay. Naglabas naman ako ng R. Lapid's Chicharon na binigay samin kahapon ni Ate Mishie na galing pa sa Pinas. Ang buong akala namin ay may birthday dahil mukhang special ang tatagayin pero kunwari lang pala ito. Apat kameng tumagay ng St. Remy, pero sa umpisa napatagay din namin si Ate Tina na nagbabantay pa kila Duke at Prince.

Unang tikim namin ito ng St. Remy Authentic Frenh Brandy, masarap pero napakainit. Wala kameng halo sa brandy, mabuti nalang at may mga tira-tirang softdrinks sa fridge kaya nahaluan namin. Nagbukas pa ako ng Century Tuna Hot & Spicy para may ibang pulutan. Para sakin matapang ung St. Remy Brandy, ang sagot naman ni EJ ay parang Matador daw. Heheh.



Halos dalawang oras na kwentuhan at tagay ang nangyari kahapon. Salamat sa St. Remy Authentic Brandy mahimbing ang tulog pero sabog kinabukasan. :)






Have a blessed night! :)

My first time visiting the Jade Buddha was last Thursday, my colleagues invited me to come and see the Jade Buddha For Universal Peace at Takashimaya located in Ngee Ann City, it takes just about 10 minutes from the office.


The viewing was started last January 14 and will end on January 26, 2012. Jade Buddha was the largest jade Buddha statue in the world, weighing 4 tons in 2.7 meters tall. Some of the event highlights are Blessing from Holy Relics, Viewing of Holy Relics, Construction of Kuan Yin Sand Mandala, Tara Puja for Peace and Happiness and Dzambhala Puja for Wealth and Prosperity.


There were also offerings and prayers. When you go inside you will see a bunch of rice available for offerings. The rice cost $5 per kilograms, there were 50,000 kilograms of rice available to the Jade Buddha statue throughout the exhibition. There were fliers and reading booklets available for free distribution. You can donate at whatever amount you have.


First, we walk three times in clockwise circumambulation around statue of Buddha while we are viewing Holy Relics.  Then we queue to received the Blessings of Holy Relics. Relics was referring to a kind of pearl-like crystals found after the cremation of Buddhist Masters. I watched them first to see how to received the blessings. First, kneel down in front of Buddhist Master and he will placed the Holy Relics while praying on your heads. I do what they do. My colleagues asked me if I'm feeling comfortable and I said I'm fine. Even I'm not Buddhist and it's my first time to experienced this I feel fine and comfortable. I respect their beliefs and faith. When I kneel down I closed my eyes and made a wish. We also went at the Sand Mandala, it was very amazing. The monks were carefully placing the sand beads on the mandala. Along the sides, I bought t-shirt for EJ. The t-shirt says "Live Work Die Meditate Enjoy with Compassion." I also tried spinning the Prayer Wheel on the exhibition.


The second time was on the second day of Chinese New Year, I invited EJ to come and visit.


My third time visiting was last Wednesday with my colleagues again. In almost two weeks Jade Buddha was in Singapore I visited three times and the experience was amazing.

Mahaba ang bakasyon dalawang araw kameng walang pasok nung Chinese New Year, bago magChinese New Year tanungan na kung saan kame pupunta o anung gagawin naming dalawa. Wala talaga kameng plano nun kaya siguro wala ding nangyari. Gusto sana naming bumisita sa Chinatown at Marina Bay Sands pero hindi kame natuloy. May friend naman ako sa Facebook na tinatanong na kame kung saan kame sa Chinese New Year pero wala talaga kameng plano kaya sinabi ko nalang sa kanya iyong event sa Takashimaya.

January 21 2012 - Sabado

Pumunta muna kame ng Lucky Plaza para mag-remit, pagkatapos ay naglakad kame papuntang Plaza Singapura. Doon na kame inabot ng lunch kaya kumain kame sa Kopitiam Pepper Lunch Express.










Mula sa Dhoby Ghaut station ay pumunta kame ng Sengkang, bumili muna kame ng Bengawan Solo na cake sa Compasspoint bago pumunta. Pagdating namin nanood kame ng Praybeyt Benjamin. Nakakatuwa at ang dami kong tawa sa pelikula ni Vice Ganda. Kahit na buhay pirata sa panonood napasaya kame ng bonggang bongga. Haha.


January 22 2012 - Linggo
Nagsimba kame sa Tagalog Mass ng Church of the Risen Christ sa Toa Payoh. Every fourth Sunday of the month Tagalog ang misa sa simbahan.


Pagkalabas ng simbahan ay nagpunta kame ng bus stop. May nakita na kameng Bus 88 pero hindi kame sumakay. Pumunta kame sa gothere.sg website para alamin ang daan papuntang Sengkang. Tinuro samin ni Gothere na sa Lorong 6 daw kaya umikot pa kame para hanapin ang bus stop. Nakakatuwa dinaanan lang namin same bus stop na pinanggalingan naming dalawa. Pupunta kame uli ngayon ng Sengkang dahil may Birthday Celebration si Zoey, pamangkin sa asawa ng tito ni EJ.


Chinese New Year - Lunes

Naglinis kame ng araw na to, linis galore ng bonggang-bongga ginawa naming dalawa. Nilipat din namin ang ayos ng mga gamit para maiba naman ang hitsura. Pagkatapos namin maglinis nakatanggap ako ng tawag galing kay Auntie Zarah, niyaya kame ni ante na manood ng sine. Nanood kame ng sine Jack N Jill ni Adam Sandler. Maganda ang palabas at nakakatuwa, bukas pala ang mga sinehan kapag Chinese New Year ang akala namin lahat ay mag-sasara. Ang mga hawkers karamihan sarado na.

Chinese New Year - Martes

Maaga kameng umalis ng bahay, pumasok kame ng isang oras at si EJ naman ay may gagawin din sa opisina. Nagtext sakin si EJ na parang ghost town daw ang Raffles, sa Orchard naman konti ang tao. Pagdating sa opisina ang daming iba-ibang pagkain. Masarap ung Bakkwa at Kueh Lapis, binigyan kame ng Ang Bao o Ang Pao. :)


Nagkita na kame ni EJ para sa lunch. Habang naglalakad nadaanan namin ang magandang display ng Dragon sa Mandarin Orchard.


Napagpasyahan naming dalawa na sa Plaza Singapura ulit kumain ng lunch. Kumain kame sa Pastamania.
































































Pagkatapos ay tumambay kame sa Sentosa Boardwalk. :) Gong Xi Fa Cai! Kung Hei Fat Choi! :)

This was our first New Year's Eve together at Singapore. In the past 6 years of being in the relationship we spent New Year with families around us.

Spending New Year's Eve far away from our families and relatives and most especially far away from home was a new feeling. I kept telling myself, "walang iiyak". I cried a lot last night. Stop crying and missing home. So we keep ourselves busy this day. We need to act the same way to feel like home.

We both miss the Pinoy Style Spaghetti, every New Year we're craving for pasta and pancit for long life. Yesterday, we ate pancit at Kabayan's Restaurant Lucky Plaza thus this day we decided to cook spaghetti. We went at Lucky Plaza MJ Filipino Store to bought some ingredients. We spent $15.50 for the recipes, ground pork, onions, garlic, vegetable oil, pepper not included.

Afterwards, we go at Fairprice Supermarket. We are looking for round fruits. We bought fruits such as apple, green apple, israel sweetie grapefruit, dragonfruit, kiwi, oranges, lemon, mangosteen, pears, grapes and blueberries.


























When we reached home, we clean the room first . Sweep and wipe the floor, do laundry and thrown unwanted rubbish.

This was our first attempt to cook Pinoy Style Spaghetti. First, I cooked Royal Spaghetti noodles according to my mama's instructions. Put iodized salt and oil in the water. In the sauced pan, put garlic, onions and cooking oil. Added ground pork and let it cook. We didn't have hotdog because we cant find Tender Juicy's hotdog at the store, I missed. Then, added tomato sauce, tomato paste, ketchup, small amount of hot water and fine pepper. We also added cheese and sugar to taste.


We let it taste by our housemate who's watching in the living room and he loves the taste. Hahah. So happy when he said, "masarap! salamat.". I prepared spaghetti and fried chicken in our table for dinner, had few photo shots and we eat yum yum! :)

We went at Marina for fireworks display. I made a wish while watching beautiful fireworks seen lively. I wish to spend my next Christmas and New Year's Eve with my family, wish to have good luck at work, sweet and kisses, good health and loads of fun. I call my mother and sisters many times, hearing their voices makes me feel home. After watching beautiful fireworks display, we greet everyone a "Happy New Year", then we ate again.

Some shots we have.





Thanks EJ, for always being there and not giving up on me. Thank you Mama, Gadz, Grace and Junun for sending me prayers and encouragement to work harder each day.  To all my agaw, ante ug uncle who's always there for me. Thank you to all my friends on Facebook for making time to message me, even on my busiest days. Thank you for my freelance colleague Alexis.

Thank you Singapore for adopting us and for giving us opportunity. Thank you so much 2011. Thanks God for helping me.

“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” 2 Corinthians 9:15

xoxo,
glaiza

Last monday (December 19), nag-celebrate ng Christmas dinner ang company namin. They decided to celebrate it earlier dahil may mga kanya kanyang lakad din sa mga susunod na raw.

Hindi ko agad ma-feel ung excitement sa Christmas dinner namin, wala din namang bonggang bonggang preperation. At bago kame mag-dinner ay halos maiyak ako nung kamustahin ko kay Google ang Bagyong Sendong. Nagulat ako sa mga pictures at videos na nakita ko dahil hindi ko akalaing ganoon pala kalaki ang pinsalang binigay ni Sendong sa Cagayan de Oro at Iligan.

Halos mag-alas-siyete na ng makarating kame sa Shangrila 5-minutes lang ata ang tinakbo ng kotse. Pinagbuksan kame ng pinto. Nang makita ko ang lugar naalala ko bigla si Shangrila Makati, halos magkatulad.




















Dumiretso na kame sa The Line. Ito daw ay isa sa best buffet restaurants dito sa Singapore. Pagpasok isang hilera ng ibat-ibang klaseng putahe ang makikita mo sa The Line, may Japanese, Italian, Indian, Chinese, Mediterranean, Singaporean and Western Dishes.














Una kong tinikman ang Caesar's salad ako na nag-mix, pagtapos ay oyster, hipon, crab, etc. Hindi ako makapag-focus ng kakainin sa dami ng food at they were all looks tempting. Tinikman ko din ang turkey, pasta at konting dessert. Ang drinks namin Tiger beer, kamusta naman ang drinks pero masarap naman dahil malamig.



"Merry Christmas, Cheers!", masayang sinabi ng boss ko at nag-cheers kameng lima sabay inom.

I'm happy makita silang masaya celebrating Christmas. Buddhist ang religion ng mag-bf-gf kong boss, Buddhist din ang OJT namin at Hindu naman ang religion ng app developer namin.

Madadama po pa rin pala ang Christmas spirit kahit nasa ibang bansa. I admire them, kahit na hindi sila Christians they celebrate Christmas.

Ang boss ko nung una ko siyang marinig na nag-Merry Christmas sa kausap niya sa phone, napa-smile ako. He greet all his friends with Merry Christmas first bago kamustahin ang business.

Ang isang boss ko naman, nag-tatanong ng magandang gift ideas to her cats, friends and families.
Ang buong Christmas dinner ay kwentuhan about Christmas. Na-ikwento ko pa ang aking labing-anim na inaanak sa Pinas. Ang sabi ko 'non, 16 ang mga inaanak ko, mali pala, binilang ko kahapon umabot na pala ng 20.

Nga pala, nag-Secret Santa na kame, at ang nakuha ko ay Borjoius Paris na cosmetics.

Masaya ako kahit na maliit lang company at walang Christmas Party gaya ng nakagawian sa na company Christmas Party sa Pinas mararamdaman mo ang ngiti sa bawat puso celebrating Christmas. Totoo nga ang kantang, "It's Christmas all over the world".

Merry Christmas to everyone!