Philipp and Joan

This picture will be a year old this week, so I decided to post this as my way of greeting the couple a happy anniversary.

Among the Rama boys, it was Ivan who is mom's godson. Since their family just moved in the neighborhood a year (or so) before Ivan was born, Philipp (the older brother) also started calling mom godmother, and this gesture didn't change until all of us grew up. When he married his girlfriend (and the mother of his daughter Pau) Joan, they decided to make mom one of their godparents, something my mom was happy about.

Obviously, I was just one of the guests. Since I seated near the aisle, I was able to take this picture. It wasn't as vivid and as sharp, but I do like this picture.

To Philipp and Joan, happy wedding anniversary to you both.

*** Jenn ***

Chapel's Bell

It was daddy's birth anniversary, and the family wanted to eat out for lunch. Mom went to the chapel, so we (my siblings and I) decided to meet her at the chapel before we go to the mall. We didn't want to interrupt the service, so we were just outside, and the big leafless tree caught my attention. I rarely go out the house without a camera in my bag, so I started taking pictures.

Our neighborhood is just small, so the bell is smal as well. It may be small, but we certainly can hear it even if our house is three blocks away. :)

*** Jenn ***

Strawberry Parfait

On the second day of 2011, us three girls (mom, sis, and I) went to watch movies that were part of the Metro Manila Film Festival. We decided to go for two movies - one after the other, so when we were done, it was already past 3PM and we still haven't eaten lunch.

When we took the escalator down, the first food place we saw was the Iceberg's, and since we still haven't eaten there, we figured it would be good for us to eat there. Iceberg's are known for their ice cream desserts, but they do serve rice meals and other snacks, too. We all went for something heavy, and my sister opted to have this - the strawberry parfait - instead of having drinks. Well, the place give free glasses of water (upon request), so sister thought it would be great to have a free drink and have a good dessert instead.

They have their own line of ice cream and for some flavors they use the Big Scoop brand of ice cream. It was really delicious - gliding the spoon downward to get the whipped cream, strawberry ice cream, vanilla ice cream, and strawberry syrup then tasting it all at once was a great burst of flavors in the mouth. Sadly, I only got to taste it twice because I told myself I really have to eat healthy now. Well, looking at the bright side, at least I got to taste it. :)

*** Jenn ***

Christmas Village

Well, it's the Christmas season... so obviously my posts for Ruby Tuesday until the end of the month, or possibly until the first week of January (because Christmas season ends on the first Sunday of January here in the Philippines) are connected to Christmas.

When I went to buy some food items to take home from Iloilo during my recent travel, the store didn't have much decorations, but they were playing Christmas tunes and on one corner of the store was a Christmas Village. I love looking at Christmas villages, because I know each piece has to be bought, and the village is somewhat up to the creator's imagination.

It wasn't the most beautiful Christmas village I have seen, but it was really pretty. Actually, even if the store crew has already packed the goods I bought, I stayed in the store for a few more minutes because I was watching the figures dance and yes, I also took pictures.

*** Jenn ***

Carolers

The big gingerbread house in the open area of the new annex really draws a lot of shoppers. They love taking their pictures there, and kids just like the look of the house. I admit, I was one of the people who had a picture taken by the house - I just didn't want to miss the chance. :)

Around 7PM after we had our dinner, we passed by the annex again and there was a group of carolers singing great Christmas songs. I could have stayed there and listen to them, but the family was just about to leave, so I just went near and snapped a picture.

11 days...
Christmas is really fast approaching!

*** Jenn ***

Lego Christmas Village

When I last went to SM Mall of Asia with K, we roamed around a bit after we ate lunch. Near the big Christmas tree and Christmas house where mall goers took their time in taking their pictures, there was a display of a Christmas village made using Lego. I was really impressed with this because I used to play with Lego when I was young, and I found it really difficult to come up with shapes and forms.

The Christmas village was placed in a terrarium, which made it difficult to take pictures of because of the reflections in the glass walls. I took this picture blindly; realizing the top part had no glass panel, I just held my cell phone up and clicked the shutter. Not a good picture, but I think it wasn't bad either.

*** Jenn ***

Waiting Time

23 November, K and I were supposed to cross over Guimaras from Iloilo, but because we felt we still haven't roamed around Iloilo that much, we decided to skip Guimaras and just stay in Iloilo.

We continued with the church hopping, and one of the churches we visited in the afternoon was the San Jose Church near the Plaza Libertad. Crossing the park, we noticed that there were teenagers in costumes, and as we exit the church, we saw that there were more people in costumes.

We stopped for a while... tried to take discreet pictures because we didn't want them to feel that we were prying into their personal lives. A woman saw us, and realizing I am with a foreign man, she told us we were quite lucky to be at the right place at the right time because there was an event coming up. Actually, we felt we weren't at the right place at the right time because we needed to leave after a few minutes, and we won't be able to watch the event anymore. We still have one church to visit, and knowing it was quite far from where we were at, we really had to keep going.

Despite only having my cell phone to capture images, I still am thankful that I got to take this picture.

*** Jenn ***