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16 September 2009

From China With Love

Look what Cissy got us from her three month study tour in China.


 

I asked for chopsticks longer than the regular one, so she got me ones that were designed for a distant relative of Paul Bunyan.  I love it!

Thanks Cissy!!

14 September 2009

Cosplay Mania 2009

From 10AM til 8PM, Nards and I (mostly Nards) took photos of cosplayers at Cosplay Mania 2009.  We're quite happy with how it turned out.   Some of the costumes were okay, but there were a few that knocked our socks off.

Here's a compilation of our favorites.



For the rest of the photos, click here.

12 September 2009

A Stitch In Time...

... saves me from utter disgrace.

My dress strap snapped as Nards and I were on our way to Padre Faura for Mike and Anna's wedding.  My ever boy scout of a husband, bought a pocket sewing kit from a 7-11 across the street from the reception venue.



While the other guests trickled in to the venue, Nards and I stayed in the car, while he stitched my strap back to my dress.  He also reinforced the other strap to avoid anymore wardrobe failure.   I must say, he did an awesome job.  The strap remained intact all through the night.



Best wishes Mike and Anna!




Last two photos taken by PhotoBot Manila.

10 September 2009

Dissidia

I am a certified die-hard fan of Final Fantasy.   I knew it was coming out, but I wasn't sure when the US/European version is coming out.  (Unlike Loco Roco and Patapon that you can figure out how to play even if it's in Japanese.)

Nards surprised me and just handed me the PSP last week, with the US version of Dissidia already loaded.  (He's sweet and sneaky that way.  He knows exactly what I want, doesn't let on that he knows, and then he just gives it to me.  Then he graciously gave up his personal time with the console to let me play.   Even though, he's dying to play the newest Madden Football.)  I was immediately hooked!    I can't stop playing, and reading walkthroughs.




Dissidia is perfect for those who do not have the time and patience to go through the usual FF games. It tells the story with FMVs and goes directly into battle plays. Definitely not your usual RPG. but still manages to entertain RPGamers like myself.

All the great heroes and villains from FF I to FF XIII are there, in fantastic animation, as well as the soundtrack.

And I'm really glad that Yoshitaka Amano illustrated for Dissidia. I just love his art.  More so, after I saw the bit he did for Neil Gaiman.

This is all for now.  Nards is done with the PSP.   My turn.

09 September 2009

Clearances and TORs

I miss the sun.  I really do.  I love rain, but it's been days.  The last hint of sunshine we got was early Monday morning, and it was quickly obliterated by dark clouds and heavy downpour.  With a wedding and cosplay mania this weekend, I'm hoping that the weather improves.


* * * * *

Nards and I plan to finish all the designs and layouts within the day, which means we'll both be glued in front of the computer the whole day.   So yesterday afternoon, we decided to run our errands in UP and to make a quick trip to The Block in order to avoid going out today. 

In the years I spent teaching in UP, I have forgotten what it was like to run to and from one end of the campus to the other just to get a document.  It's been a bit cushy for me, because I simply put in my request to our academic staff and they do the rest.  Nards, on the other hand, have not experienced what we did yesterday in years.  Not even when he was taking graduate courses in Finance.

We wanted to get a copy of Nards' TOR, but before that can be done, he needed to get cleared by the registrar for his brief attendance in BA.   The procedure was pretty straightforward: 1) fill up the clearance form; 2) wait about ten days to get all the necessary signatures; 3) get the form and assessment from the registrar; 4) go to the cashier's office to pay fees; 5) return the form to the registrar; and 6) claim the completed clearance form.  After that, he can apply for his TOR.   So he filled up another form, and then we went back to the cashier's office to pay for the fees.



All in all, we made two trips to the cashier's, and visited the registrar about three times. This, plus the long queu at the cashier, took us two hours.   We have to go back again to claim the TOR because by the time we got back from our second trip to the cashier's, the registrar was closed for the day.

If you look at the the map, the registrar's new building is near the executive house; and the cashier's is behind the PNB building.  We're fortunate that we have a car, and it's easy to zip through the side streets and avoid the long winded one-way academic oval.  If we had to commute, we'd be at the mercy of the ikot/toki jeeps that normally take 15 minutes to complete its route.   Just imagining it gave us flashbacks of our undergrad days.  But back then, the registrar was still beside AS, far more accessible on foot and on public transport than where it's located now.  It's certainly a bit more difficult for students nowadays to do their business with the registrar.

Tomorrow, we go back to get his TOR.  I hope it won't take a much time as the clearance.


Photo from http//science.upd.edu.ph

06 September 2009

Genius

It's a Sunday night, and I'm updating my iTunes playlist; and, deleting and making new playlists before I sync it to my iTouch.   I am terribly constrained with its current capacity because I can't upload all my albums, videos and apps.  I don't even bother uploading photos there.  I'm hoping Apple can come up with a higher capacity for this device soon.

Nards and I used to get defeated by iTunes, especially when we have to sync three devices--all with different contents.  But we both got the hang of it eventually.  I particularly like the Genius feature.  Click on the button and it generates a hundred song long playlist.  I'm a very eclectic listener and I listen to different genre's depending on my mood or activities for the week.  I used to spend at least an hour just constructing playlists, and now it takes me less than five minutes.


At present, this is my favorite playlist that Genius generated from Adele's Right As Rain.  It's been on my device for the past three weeks (the longest so far).   The others normally last a week, before I go and shuffle it up again.


And this is my second favorite.  I play it often enough that I sometimes catch Nards singing Popular or humming What Is This Feeling.  

Wait a minute.  Mistake, mistake, mistake.  It's not my second favorite.  Genius placed both our bridal march and wedding recession here. This gets bumped to the top of the list. :)

05 September 2009

Indulge Me


Just in case you happen to get your hands on the most recent issue of Wedding Essentials, kindly flip over to page 178.




Thanks to Deepa, Marbee and Jessie for including us in your feature. :)

04 September 2009

Backlog

Thanks to my long stint in the hospital and afterwards in recovery, Nards and I had a massive backlog.  One of them was editing the photos of the newborn and family shoot we did a week or so before I got confined.  It's finally done and here's one of my favorite photos from that session.

 
I love love love babies.

There was also Claire's album that we delivered to her parents just hours before they boarded a plane back to LA.  Here's a page from the layout; it's the first spread.  Her wedding was orchid themed so I went with a lavender and cream palette.  I like this pattern on the left side of the photo because it gives a modern and chic feel to the album.


For the next two weeks, I'll be on this mode because of all the layouts and designs we still need to finish plus preparations for cosplay mania next week.  After that I'll have to switch to academic mode for a workshop and case study for a foreign funding agency.  (Can't remember which, I'll have to check.) 

Pause work mode, and on to weekend mode.  Nards and I hope to go out tonight.  A friend invited us to watch his film before the cast and crew leave for Venice for the film festival.  I hope the weather is cooperative.

03 September 2009

Sinigang sa Miso

Nards loves home-cooked meals.  So I try to cook as much as I can.  We've both been hankering for sinigang, so I called my Dad to ask how he cooks it with miso.

The ingredients are simple: garlic, onions, tomatoes, miso (I like the yellow one), sinigang flavor, mustard leaves and a pack of salmon belly.   The trick to getting the bitter taste out of mustard leaves is to wash it, slice it, then soak it in water for fifteen minutes or so.  I do this just before I start to saute the garlic, onions and tomatoes.
 
 

The miso is mixed in before adding water.  Then the water, then the a packet and a half of sinigang flavor and then the salmon belly.  Bring it to a boil and turn off the heat.   That's when I put in the mustard leaves.  I let it sit to let the leaves cook while I set the table.  (Nards hemmed and hawed when I bought table napkins and started using matching silverware at the dinner table.  But now he grins appreciatively every time he sits down for dinner with the table set properly.)


I'm afraid there's no "finished product" photo.  Nards was too hungry to take it.

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