Salamin sa Mata (Eyeglasses)

Isang madaling tema ngayong linggo, pero medyo nahirapan pa rin ako ng konti kaya humanap na lang ako ng litrato sa aking files.

{Quite an easy prompt for this week, but I still had a hard time photographing one, so I decided to just get through my files.}

Ang litratong ito ay kuha sa Banana Island sa Coron, Palawan nang kami ng aking mga bagong kaibigan ay pumunta roon para mag-bakasyon. Ito ang aking kaibigang si Dianne, at nang makita ko ang mga repleksyon sa kanyang salamin, naisip kong kunan ito ng litrato. Mula sa kaliwa pa-kanan - si Kei, Leila, Ryan, at ako... pero hindi na nakikita ang aking repleksyon, kita na lamang ang parte ng aking camera. :)

{This picture was taken in Banana Island in Coron, Palawan when my new friends and I went there for a short vacation. This is my friend Dianne, and when I saw the reflections on her sunglasses, I decided to take a picture. From left to right - Kei, Leila, Ryan, and I... but my reflection cannot be seen, all you can see was a part of my camera.}

Mahigit isang taon na ang nakalipas... sana makapag-byahe ulit kami.

{It's been more than a year since this trip... I sure hope we can all travel out of town as a group again.}

*** Jenn ***

Exercise 12 - Soles / Feet

I was able to take my picture today because I decided to watch the noon time show in mom's room. Well, theme for this week's 52 Weeks of Me (which I do over my personal blog An Autobiography in the Works) is "Feet," so it was hitting two birds with one stone for me this week. :)




Last Saturday, sister treated mom and I for some "pampering" at the salon. Mom had the foot spa, while I had manicure and a haircut. After the great time at the salon, we walked around the area and we saw a Garage Sale. Mom asked if we could check it out, and I am always game for window shopping (I am not really a shopper as I don't have much money to spend), but when I saw this pair of Anna Sui sandals, I fell in love with it quickly. The price tag was at p980, so I felt sad that I can't buy it. When I saw a woman buying three pairs of shoes, I was quite amazed. I asked the store owner if the prizes on the tags were the actual prize of the shoes, and she said "No... sandals were priced at p190 (usd4.27)." As soon as I heard that, I quickly grabbed this pair and bought it.

I told myself I'd give my toenails some good pampering by painting them, but I am still hesitant about my big toe (right foot), so I didn't push through with it. I will just start doing something about it mid next month... I seriously don't want to be in bigger trouble should I injure it again.

*** Jenn ***

SLT - Hands

This is my first time to join Shutter Love Tuesdays. This week, the prompt is "Hands," and this is my take:






I first featured a picture of this man when for the Scavenger Hunt Sunday meme using the prompt "Life." I did take several pictures of the man (these are different pictures from the one I used before), and when I learned that this week's prompt is "hands," he was the first thing that came to mind.

The man is already in his 70s, but retirement is something he is not considering because he said the people of this town was gifted by so many stones, and just by picking up specific kind of stones allowed him to earn some money. For him, he would rather spend the day collecting stones from the sea shore, than gather dust at home.

His hands is his medium to live, and I know he feels blessed for having having hands that allows him to still earn beyond retirement age.

*** Jenn ***

Pink Lilium

My flower share for today is something I know of as "lilium," but I am not sure if I am 100% correct. The family took off most plants in the garden, but since this was planted in a pot, we just had it moved from the garden to our terrace.

There were four flower buds, but only two bloomed first (the other two bloomed this morning), so I just took a picture of one of the flowers. It was late in the afternoon when I took this, so I turned on the flash in taking this picture.

*** Jenn ***

Exercise 11 - Mirrors

I was supposed to share my take last Wednesday (so I could link the picture to B&W Wednesdays meme), but I seriously don't know how to execute the exercise so it was just now that I am able to share one. I took this just after eating lunch.




I got the idea of taking a selfie like this when I entered mom's room and saw my sister's reflection in the mirror. When she went out of the room, I just set up the tripod and the self timer of the camera and just posed like this. When I took my sister's photo, she was basically just lying on the bed, and for a while I got stuck with what I am going to do because the exercise was about "doing something." I received a phone call while setting up the tripod, and it just struck me to use the phone as my prop. However, my cell phone is quite small, so I unplugged the land phone and used it as my prop.

I used the closet's mirror in taking this; and it just dawned to me now that there were a few clutters in the image - like the closet keys and the top on the headboard, but I guess I could explain that sometimes, when you're "love struck," you tend to lose focus (like cleaning the room) and just concentrate on talking on the phone. Hahahaha.

Hope everyone is having a great Friday!

*** Jenn ***

Sunset at Brittany

Last Monday, the family was invited by one of mom's younger sisters because her daughter (cousin Joyce) just graduated from college. We didn't attend the graduation rites, but we were invited for dinner. We went to mom's office to pick her up and together we went to the restaurant where the dinner took place.




I already admired the colors of the sky that dusk, and when the jeepney passed by Brittany (a housing project), I just can't help but to take my camera out to capture the awesomeness. :) I just set my camera to a faster shutter speed (I tend to run my camera on shutter priority) so even with on a moving vehicle I was able to capture this.

These past few days the sunset has been great, wish I was able to capture it more, but sadly there's this one big house fronting ours that totally blocks the view. Still, I am admiring the sunset colors. Happy weekends, all!

*** Jenn ***

Itim (Black)

The Black Nazarene, known to devotees as Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno de Quiapo ("Our Father Jesus Nazarene of Quiapo"), is a life-sized, dark-coloured, wooden sculpture of Jesus Christ, held to be miraculous by many Filipino devotees. The Black Nazarene is currently enshrined in the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, Manila, Philippines. The Feast of the Black Nazarene is celebrated every January 9 with the weekly Friday Masses held in its honour beginning on the first Friday of the year. {SOURCE}

Noong nakaraang Pebrero, nagpunta kami ng aking kapatid sa Manila upang bumisita sa mga simbahan at ang una naming pinuntahan ay ang Quiapo Church, tahanan ng Itim na Nazareno. Ang aking kapatid ay deboto ng Nazareno, at matagal tagal na rin nang huli akong bumisita sa simbahang ito kaya nang malaman kong bibisita ang aking kapatid, minarapat kong sumama na rin.

{Last February, my sister and I went to Manila to visit churches, and the first church we visited was the Quiapo Church, home to the Black Nazarene. My sister is a devotee of the Nazarene, and it has been a while since I last visited the church, so when she said she will go and visit the church, I decided to come with her as well.}

Bawal kumuha ng litrato sa loob ng simbahan (at hindi ko rin alam ung bakit), pero wala namang misa, kaya humanap na lamang kami ng mauupuan at palihim kong inilabas ang aking cell phone upang makuhanan ang litratong ito. Siyempre, nagdasal muna kami bago kami kumuha ng litrato. :)

{It is not allowed to take pictures inside the church (for reasons I don't know), but since there was no celebration that day, we just went to find a seat and secretly took this picture using my cell phone. Of course, we said our prayers first before we took pictures.}

*** Jenn ***