Basic Digital Photography with Sir Nicolay

On a previous post I mentioned my interest in Photography and how I've been inclined with several type of cameras which were upgraded once in a while. This love and passion for photos wasn't just that. As they say, you have to work hard and learn from it.

My interest in Photography heightened in 2008 when digital cameras were emerging in the market. Come 2009, Digital Single Lens Reflex cameras popularly known as DSLR also became popular to the masses. Before, you can only see it carried by professional photographers but from 2009 to date, it has become an accessory. It's sad because some just buy it for luxury and status symbol without maximizing its awesome features. I hope they realize its beauty like we photography-enthusiasts do.

To learn more of it, I sought for professional help. Self-taught photography works for others but it's good to learn from the pros once in a while. My blockmates and I were psyched to know that we will be having our PhotoJournalism class as part of our Third Year Curriculum. As a preparation, most of us on our block bought DSLRs only to find out in 2011 that we will be using the old school analog/film cameras for our PhotoJournalism class. Anyway, back in 2010, my friend Pam shared this Basic Digital Photography class by Sir Nicolay. I found it interesting since I was really looking for one. She gave me the link, I checked it and I immediately counted myself in. However, she wasn't able to join me for some reason so I asked my cousin Jam to enroll with me. Good thing her Mom was supportive. I enrolled us on the April 6, 2010 schedule and we're good to go.  

As background, Sir James Nicolay, a photography-lover and an academic teacher in Xavier who graduated in UP has been teaching Photography for the past two years. He holds his Photography classes in UP Diliman. There are several courses he offer and they come with certificate: Portraits 101, Still-Life and Landscape Photography, Basic Editing, Black and White, Outdoor/Street Photography and etc. You may check his website here to know more about his updated classes, rates, reservation and work. 

Our Basic Digital Photography (BDP) class was four hours worth of lecture and application. First, we were introduced to our cameras, tried its features, learned the basic rules of photography and then finally we were asked to apply everything we have learned. We were about 4 or 5 in the class and that makes Sir Nicolay more hands-on with his teaching. That makes it a good learning experience. If you are a photography enthusiast, I encourage you to take the class too. It's not a hassle for it won't took long and you'd learn a lot. Here's a photoblog of our BDP class with an anecdote for that day:

That is my classmate's Sony DSLR and my Telephoto lens in blur. Our gears for the day's class.

DJ Quentin Mosimann is coming to Manille!

Last May, Filipino fans got the chance to watch the Swedish DJ Avicii perform. This August, another renowned DJ is coming to Manila.

After the Close-up Summer Solstice, Swedish Mafia and Avicii’s concert, here goes another surprise for the party people out there. The grass in the party-music scene looks greener as more and more international DJs are visiting the archipelago, DJ Quentin Mosimann will be joining the list.

DJ Quentin Mosimann at work (Photo credits)

Manila Ocean Park Year 1

Wonder how Manila Ocean Park looked like in 2009?

I could not believe it's been four years since Manila Ocean Park opened. Time flies cliche hits again and again. This is one of the many experiences I failed to blog. As promised I'd be blogging them one by one. (Not necessarily in order). Here's a post dedicated to my first visit to Manila Ocean Park in March 2009.

I've never been to Subic's Ocean Adventure so I have nothing to compare with MOP locally speaking, however, I've been to Osaka Japan's Ocean Park so that may be the closest thing I could compare it with. Of course, OJOP's bigger than MOP but it was alright for me. During my first visit, I gave it a benefit of the doubt since it just opened and there are room for improvements. By now, I can say I was right.  In 2009, some facilities were still under construction, no Hotel H2O yet, no shows just pure life-sized aquarium with different species being displayed. Some of the stores and restaurants were still closed then but yes, there was already a fish spa. I already forgot how much the entrance fee was then by I think it's around 500 PhP or below.

Here goes a sort-of-photo-blog to give you a view:

Crocs

Upon entering MOP, you will see a dark hall leading to a dry place where reptiles and fish pond's located. There are plants and man-made falls placed on that area establishing nature's beauty. You will be welcomed by these crocodiles. They are real but you can't touch them. They are living in a very secured area so no worries.

Something fishy

There's a stair leading to the fish village, I forgot what it's called but that place is really dark. Cameras with flashes weren't allowed. Several species could be found there, for instance on the photo above: stone fish, star fish, sea horse, eel fishes and the rest of Nemo's gang.

A little anecdote on the place, however, dark, I saw my then blockmate Alya. It was unexpected, she's with her family and I'm with my mom and relatives. We hugged, introduced each other to the parties we were with and had a little catch-up since that was a summer vacation.

What's inside your bag?

The photo above were embryos of a certain fish, again I forgot which kind. It's amazing to watch because they got heart beats already. I'm thinking it could pop-out any time soon.

Big fish

Here we go to the Oceanarium part of MOP. I actually have a photo seemingly kissing this big fish on my 2009 and 2012 visit. I might show them to you on my future MOP post as a throwback. We'll see.

Floating Malabon resto afloat for more than a decade

text and photos by ROSETTE S. ADEL

University of Santo Tomas Journalism program

MALABON CITY—A FISHING pond here has become the 12-year-old beehive of a floating restaurant here in this flood-prone city. 

Now, 12-year-old Balsa sa Niugan added a relaxing place for coffee lovers out there.

This floating restaurant and fishing garden in M. Aquino Street, the first in the city, just opened its coffee shop. Its capacity is 300-strong.

Balsa sa Niugan was established on July 18, 1998 under the ownership of a family-owned corporation, the Centennial Raft and Allied Services Inc..

Asked about the name ‘Balsa sa Niugan’, Manager Loreta Geronimo said that it was her husband, Santy, who had thought of it. Most of the facilities they have were made of rafts which are literally called ‘Balsa’ meaning floating raft made from bamboos that is why they used the name ‘Balsa sa Niugan’. 

Mr. Geronimo was also the one who conceptualized the design of Balsa sa Niugan—to cover the dining area, extension area, The Balsa area, Kubo area, Pavilion area, fishing area, and the “Kapihan sa Balsa,” which was opened last June 20 (Father’s Day). 

“Each area was gradually added as extensions for our facilities,” Mrs. Geronimo said.

The said areas may be used for events like weddings, baptismal, seminars, reunions, birthday parties and conferences as well as occasional reservations.

“Balsa sa Niugan caters to people from all walks of life, from classes A to C,” says Mrs. Geronimo. 

The restaurant’s menu consists of Filipino dishes, seafoods, sizzlings, Japanese and Chinese foods, and cocktail drinks which are being served daily on their operating hours from noon till midnight. “Kapihan sa Balsa” serves brewed coffee, cakes, and pastries.

Dining afloat in a fishpond with a cool relaxing ambiance of our open-air place makes us distinct, says Mrs. Geronimo.

Having been in the industry for 12 years now, Balsa sa Niugan has established its niche in the food retail industry in Malabon. 

However, like any other business in Malabon, the location itself is a drawback. Mrs. Geronimo said that because Malabon City is a flood-prone area, whenever there is flood or typhoon, they cannot operate. 

Its owners refuse to disclose how much the restaurant earns annually.

As for the community, Barangay Kagawad Rizalito De Guzman said that he sees no problem with the establishment of Balsa sa Niugan.

“Since the establishment is being featured on television and newspapers, our Barangay (Brgy. Niugan) is also being promoted in the process.” Johanne Bautista a resident of Brgy. Flores, Malabon City said that the concept of Balsa sa Niugan being a floating restaurant “is a good one”. She said that because of this people from other places visit Malabon to experience dining in Balsa, therefore it promotes local tourism benefitting the flood-prone city.

“Balsa sa Niugan a good place for sightseeing, although one thing I find negative about it is that there are lots of mosquitoes during night time because the water is stagnant,” says Marion Karenina Sagun, a resident of Brgy. Tinajeros.

But with simple rafts serving as the restaurant’s humble beginnings, the little pond where Balsa sa Niugan started has become a sea of livelihood for the Geronimo family and the city.

Rosette Adel, a third year Journalism student of UST, submitted this story for her Newspaper Practice and Management class.

Author's note: *I am just reposting my article from our Newspaper Practice and Management class. It was also posted in Pinoy Community Newswire 

-September 13, 2010. This was a site organized by our then Asst.Prof. Jeremaiah Opiniano. This article was also published in: The Philippine Business and News Forum

-November 10, 2010. However they already removed it when they updated their website.*

On why you should Overexposed

Overexposed album cover (Photo from Google Images)

Isn’t it ironic that an introvert like me is a concert-goer? I don’t know maybe this is just the fan girl in me I can’t seem to just shrug off. Part of the mainstream me, I guess. This is also the late bloomer outgoing self I have been gradually cultivating since College. For almost four years that I’ve been fan-girling, I already lost count on  how many concerts, fashion shows, plays, gigs etc. event I’ve seen and gone to, paid or for free. God, I’m such a scenester! Well, admittedly.

This year, I’ve been really looking forward to seeing Maroon 5 perform live. I already mentioned that on my personal blog. That’s because I missed two of their concerts here in Manila and I just can’t miss their concert on September 18. However, to my dismay, tickets are screaming SOLD-OUT! Heartbreak right there. But there are buts:

1) But I’ve already prepared myself for this. I’ve been saving money once I found out that they’d be having a concert in the hope of purchasing tickets by September. Bad news though, the tickets were sold out earlier this July. Up to now, I still cannot believe it. The persistent Rosette is still hoping for she is more than willing to spend all her cash to see ADAM LEVINE in flesh! Who wouldn’t want that?

2.) But I’ve already prepared myself for this part 2.  Sorry for the piracy, baby Adam. I immediately downloaded the Overexposed album after the release of Payphone so that I can memorize it and sing along with your band come your tour. Yes, I almost memorized every track. Even the awws, whoahs and the lalalas.

3) But there can’t be no tickets. Sold-out? Nah, I don’t think so. I’d like to believe that Ticketnet or whoever’s in-charge of the ticket selling is bluffing us, that there are still tickets hoarded and will be sold on the day of the concert itself. Hello scalpers! Oops. I mean… Hello ticket promos here and there? I really hope I am right. For if not, lemme just mourn and bawl for a sec for this is my fault. Deluding on some false hope my brain made me believe. Here’s to the hope that we’ll all score tickets for September 18, cheerios! Or maybe, just maybe there’d be Day 2 of their concert.

I’d love to write a track by track review on Maroon 5’s Overexposed album but Billboard already did that and what they wrote were somehow similar to my thoughts. You can check it out here. Besides, I don’t know how to review a track. Everything sounds good to me. I’m sure those tracks will hit like Moves like Jagger hit. Otherwise, I’m just being biased. So go and be the judge. I would just write about the reasons why you should (at least) listen to Maroon5’s Overexposed album, here it goes:

1.       The Wiz Khalifa Collab- Unlike their Hands all over album with several collabs, there’s only one for this album. Go on raise your eyebrows for the Black and Yellow rapper but then again the point of this collab is that it shows the versatility of Maroon 5. From Pop Christina Aguilera and Lady Antebellum to Gym Class Heroes and Wiz Khalifa. Different genres, still making a hit. Come on, the truth is there are only few band who can pull this off.  Widening their horizons and jumping from one genre to another yet still leaving their fans in awe.  Don’t you agree with me? No? Alright, listen to Payphone (Never mind the MTV) and tell me I’m wrong. I’m just waiting for a cover from them. Something like the Coldplay did with Rihanna’s We found love. I believe they actually don’t need that but it wouldn’t hurt if we’d hear them sing another song.

2.       Lyrics- Admit it, most of the songs nowadays have blah blah blah lyrics which really doesn’t make sense at all. It’s disappointing that however good its melody is, they just don’t make sense. Some are just about obscenity and some are just words jumbled. Maroon 5 has a gift in lyric-writing though. Over the years, from This Love to the present, they can pull off a song and yet send the message and emotion of it. We’ve seen it, She will be loved, Sunday Morning, Never gonna leave this bed, I won’t go home without you, etc. In this album, they did it again. Yes there were tracks with songs which have repeated lines but most songs still contain good lyrics. It’s even viral on statuses and other posts. Take Payphone as an example once again. Even the rap part made sense. I know you have that line you wish to tweet… or maybe you haven’t decided which yet. Altogether now: I’m at a payphone…

3.       Tracks are picker-upper- Maroon 5 stayed upbeat on this album. Very eargasmic. There were just about three or a couple of tracks which sounded sappy, “Sad" is one of them, given the title. The rest will make you groove and sing to it however sad the lyrics of the songs are. Most tracks are heartbreak songs but it doesn’t feel that way. I think that’s a good thing. Singing a heartbreak song or dancing on a heartbreak song won’t make you feel sad anymore. It’s like a happy pill that gives you positive vibes. I’m glad this band decided to reinvent their usual lonely-tuned songs into happy-sounding sad songs. Something to look forward to the new Maroon 5.

4.       Promising tracks- Let’s exclude Payphone because it already got million views on Youtube and made it to the Billboard 100. I’ll play Fortuneteller like one of their tracks titled Fortuneteller. I can see a bright future on most of the tracks from this album. If I’d rate this, it will definitely get a ten, ten being the highest. I’d say 9/10 out of 12 tracks have a potential to make it to the charts. However, I just chose 6 tracks aside from Payphone which you may have to prioritize: Beautiful goodbye, Love Somebody, Wipe your eyes, Sad, One more night and Lucky strike. The rest can be equally rated. Those were just my picks because I find them very promising. I could listen to every single track all day without getting bored. The moment I listened to the album, I knew it will one day land on the charts and will give people LSS like the Moves like Jagger hit.

5.       And Lastly, Adam Levine- Yeah, just ADAM LEVINE, in bold and in all caps. The Voice. The music. The body. One man team actually. His voice swoon me over on this album. What is Maroon 5 without him? I can’t imagine. Plus his good looks and hot body, more reasons to Overexposed.  No need to elaborate. Photos as proofs:

Photo from Google Images

Photo from Google Images

Still a no? One more.

Photo from Google Images

 In less than three days he’d be painting the town maroon, can’t wait! But if we can’t go to the concert, let’s just play their album, blast the volumes and have a mini-concert on our rooms! Come on now, Why don’t you overexposed with me?

*Original blog post was posted on Stay at Home Club., September 15, 2012.  All photos are from Google Images, could not retrieve the exact source anymore, will have to provide exact url for future attributions next time. Apologies.*

Best of EWWM 2012

Cover art by Jelito De Leon

Ellie’s Wicked Wednesday Mixtape was a late music discovery for me. Maybe I listened to too much mainstream radio stations that I was not able to come across this. But anyway, I am glad I learned about it on the latter part of 2012.

Little did I know that Ellie Centeno, who for me is a music savior, is also a fellow Artlet. Had I known then I would have told her how I love her passion for music especially that her choice has a very wide variety and I, being in love with mainstream and indie could totally dig to the mixtapes even if I never heard most of the tracks before. Like I said, learning and discovering is fun. It would not hurt to know a new band or a new song. In fact, it is therapeutic for me. I get to widen my choices as well making me more in love with music.

I have yet to download previous EWWMs and since the segment (as of the moment) is not  being aired I could just follow EWWM which is now Ellie’s Wicked Weekend Mixtape online.

 So far, my favorite mixtape is the “Pity Party: Heartbreak Edition", it could be because it is timely or the tracks are just pleasing to my ears. Please don’t think of me as a masochist. In my defense, I just like the tracks on that mixtape. You might want to check out the preview here so you could get a chance to love it as well: Pity Party: Heartbreak Edition

To prove that listening and saving EWWM is worth it, here’s the list of the tracks from the BEST OF EWWM 2012:

Krispy Kreme celebrates 76 delightful years!

Krispy Kreme turns 76 today!

As a treat, they are selling 6 pieces of their signature original-glazed doughnuts for only PhP 76.00 (1 box). You just have to print or screen grab the voucher and show it via your phones/ tablets. Voucher can be downloaded here: Krispy Kreme Promo.  Details are already indicated on the voucher. You may download as many as you want.

Krispy Kreme Voucher

Each person could only avail maximum of two boxes. Promo runs from 7 A.M.-6 P.M. Hurry and brave the long lines, it's raining doughnuts today!

I already tried my luck today and bought a box for me and another for my office mate at Krispy Kreme, Ayala Branch.I actually didn't know this promo until this morning, I just learned it from my service-mate and since I am an early bird, why not try it?

This is what welcomed me when I entered their store!

Waiting area

People already surpassed the start of the line, that's how long the line is but it's nothing compared to J.Co

.'s line

.

I told you I didn't know about the promo. I went there with nothing. I just noticed the people got print-outs and I asked the lady behind me. She told me there needs to be a photo or a printed voucher. Good thing she was kind enough to lend me the voucher. I took a photo of it and showed it at the cashier. WE FIND WAYS.

Happy birthday, Krispy Kreme!

Look! Monsters University donuts spotted. It's Sulley and Mike Wazowski!

Thank you, Krispy Kreme! You made today special. <3>

Follow them on Instagram: @KrispyKremePh
Twitter: @hotlightgirl

*This is a free advertisement for Krispy Kreme by LadyLuckGazette