Dome and Bell Tower

It's been a while since I last did Sky Watch Friday - my apologies, I have been busy lately.

My share for today was taken from Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, Manila. That day, I met up with Shutterbug friends, who set out to take church architecture pictures. I wasn't part of their club, but because I do belong in the same forum with them, I got invited to come with them. I saw it as a nice chance to take pictures, so I went.

Normally, whenever I am at the Cathedral to take pictures, I would just take pictures of the facade. Happy with this shot, because I also was able to capture a different side of the church. It had been a great day for me, actually, because I was also able to take pictures inside the church.

*** Jenn ***

B - Butterfly

This round on ABC Wednesday, I will be featuring animals, and for letter "B," I chose butterfly. This image was shot in Baluarte, a one of a kind zoo in Vigan City (Ilocos Sur), May 2009. One of a kind zoo because most animals are free to roam around the grounds, and people are most welcome to pet them. Of course, children has to be supervised by their adult companions. Anyway, there's a butterfly sanctuary in the zoo, and although people aren't allowed to touch any of the butterflies, people can always take pictures of them.

One of the friendliest species of butterflies I have met was this kind - which is very much willing to pose for pictures. It doesn't fly that easily, giving me a chance to take as much pictures as I want. Actually, I was able to let it sit in my finger, but because no one is allowed to touch the butterflies, I put it back in the plant branch after taking some pictures.

*** Jenn ***

Strawberries

Continuing with the food posts for Ruby Tuesday...




When we did grocery shopping last weekend, I was amazed to see big strawberries on the shelves. These fruits were imported from Korea, and were very much bigger than the fruits being grown here in the Philippines. The fruits weren't that red, probably not fully riped yet, but there's something about strawberries that draws people into it. I am not a big lover of this fruit, but every time I see one, I always wanted to eat one.

But of course, we didn't buy these, because it was way too expensive. Maybe I will just wait for next month when I travel to Baguio City where most strawberries were sold. For now, I will just settle for this picture - which is also the wallpaper of my cell phone.

*** Jenn ***

A - Ant

Round 6 of ABC Wednesday, yey! For this round, I decided to post images of animals.

A is for ant. I am a person who really dislike ants, but ever since I started taking pictures of ants, I have grown to love them. Like what I've said in old posts, we have this hibiscus plant in our garden that serves as a home to lots of ants, and whenever I wanted to take pictures of anything, I would always go to our garden and take pictures of the ants.

The day I took this, I noticed a fold in the leaf that seemed to house a lot of ants' eggs. I aimed my lens on the opening of the leaf and spotted this ant biting an egg. The ants move fast, so taking this shot made me feel really good.

*** Jenn ***

Budding

Continuing with the flowers taken with flash pictures...





Our garden doesn't really have that much flowering plants, but whenever the plants give us flowers, I always make sure I take pictures of it as my way of appreciation. One of the plants that constantly gives us flowers is this one - yeah another nameless one for me. Since the day it started bearing flowers, it hasn't stopped blooming. And I loved it more because it's purple - my favorite color.

*** Jenn ***

Manipis (Thin)

Nang mabasa ko ang tema para sa linggong ito, ito kaagad ang pumasok sa isipan ko - mga Razor Fish na nakunan ko nang magpunta kaming pamilya sa Manila Ocean Park noong nakaraang Disyembre. Noong una, inakala kong mga naglulutangang mga seaweeds lamang sila, pero nang tignan kong mabuti, mga isda pala sila. Nakakaaliw pagmasdan sapagkat lumalangoy sila na para bang nahuhulog na balahibo ng ibon.

{When I found out about the theme for this week, I immediately thought about the Razor Fish pictures I took when the family went to the Manila Ocean Park last December. At first, I thought they were just seaweeds floating in the tank, but upon close inspection, I realized they were fishes. Fun to watch because they swam as if somebody dropped some feathers.}

Hirap lang akong kunan sila ng litrato... hindi ko alam kung paano ko ise-set ang camera ko, at sapagkat hindi ko mabago ang bilis ng pagkuha ng litrato, marami sa mga nakunan ko ang kaagad kong itinapon. Hindi man nakakuha ng magagandang litrato, masaya ako na makita ang mga nilalalang dagat na kagaya ng isdang ito.

{I just had a hard time taking their pictures. I didn't know how to set my camera, and because I cannot change the shutter speed, most of the pictures I took were trashed. I might not be able to take good shots, but I was happy to be able to see sea creatures like this kind of fish.}

*** Jenn ***

Steamed Tilapia

During the holidays, Filipinos do serve a lot of foods on Christmas eve, which the family will eat by midnight of Christmas Day. We do know that often times, foods served include a line up of meaty, fatty foods, not to mention a wide array of pastries and sweets, so for Christmas Day, the family decided to cook light foods, one of which is this steamed tilapia, which my sister and I helped in cooking.

Simple as it seem be, we really loved eating this food. Goes to show that it's not the food on your table, it's the people who share the meal with you.

*** Jenn ***