Category Archives: Photos

May Liwanag Nga Ba?

Its Thursday once again. Time for Litratong Pinoy which serves as my “weekly editorial” for this blog.

The theme for this week is LIWANAG meaning light or the absence of darkness.

I thought that this post’s title “May Liwanag Nga Ba” reflects best the global financial crunch that we are experiencing.

People are losing their jobs, their homes, and their bright futures are suddenly dimmed. The financial woes are not stopping.

People are altering their lifestyles to be able to survive with lesser resources and if possible, save some for the rainy days.

People are panicking, withdrawing their investments and bank deposits and putting these in what they think are “safe” places, away from the banks whose integrity they now doubt.

The worst is not in sight and if what the financial analysts say that this is just the beginning of a financial Armageddon, how would we know the answer to “Where do we go from here?”

I hope you have not felt that you have over-extended yourself during these times.

Huwebes na naman, araw ng Litratong Pinoy, ang aking “lingguhang editoryal” sa aking blag.

Ang tema para sa linggong ito ay Liwanag o kawalan ng kadiliman.

Naisipan kong gawin ang titulo ng aking lahok na “May Liwanag Nga Ba?” upang magnilay-nilay sa pandaigdigang krisis sa usapin ng pananalapi at pamamalakad ng kalakal.

Maraming tao ang nawawalan ng trabaho, tirahan at ang kanilang kinabukasan ay tila ba isang madilim na pangitain. Ang problemang pang-pinansiyal ay tila ba wala nang katapusan.

Ang mga tao ay nag-iba ng pamumuhay gamit ang mas kakaunting ari-arian na kung maaari sana ay makapag-ipon para sa kinabukasan.

Naguguluhan ang mga tao. Marami sa kanilang may naitatabing salapi sa bangko ay kinukuha na iyon at inilalagay sa lugar na sa kanilang paniniwala ay ligtas sa mga bangkong ito, ano’t anuman ang mangyari.

Hindi pa yata natin natatanaw ang pinakamatinding dagok. Wika nga ng mga eksperto sa pananalapi, ito ay simula pa lamang ng Armageddon ng Pananalapi. Paano natin sasagutin ang tanong na “Saan tayo patutungo?”

Cropping Your Photo

One of the wonderful things about modern technology is the ability to take as many photos as one can. Coupled with this, one can choose to photo shop the photos for a more effective presentation.

I have so many photographs I have taken that I have put in my blogs. Lately I have subscribed an account with Flickr named GreenBucks.

With my photos, I try to present these as naturally as I have taken these. Of course, there were times when I have to darken or lighten the photo but the most used application for me would be the crop tool.

Imagine presenting a photo like this:

One can see the birds perched on the edge of the roof while looking at something below it.

If I zoom the photo a bit, then crop the part I want shown and resize the photo in a smaller size for easy loading, I will get this:

So, which is the better photo?

Family Vacation

Families take vacations during breaks in schedules. They either spend time at the beach or go up to places where the air is cool and clean. Some even go abroad.

As a family, we love going to out-of-town trips. We wish to spend a night or two when we do so but sadly, we haven’t had a vacation for several years now.

The last one that we spent out of town for several days happened three years ago. We did enjoy that one, swimming, exploring caves, hiking and just simply admiring nature. We didn’t even have our youngest daughter with us then because she was too young to be doing the things we did.

We always talk about doing that kind of vacation every year but we can’t simply because there is no one who will be left behind the mind the house while we are away.

We have been thinking of saving and investing in security systems for the house so that we can at least have a vacation. But then again, the dog is also a consideration when we are gone even if he is practically our security system for now 😉

I hope that we can really plan for the next vacation so that we can have a different kind of bonding time.

I sure need to have a break, even for a few days.

I Want to Try Baking Again

I participate in the Food Friday food photo meme every Friday in my other GreenBucks blog which I feature food that we have had, either bought and eaten in a restaurant or prepared and cooked at home.

If I have enough time, I would prefer trying new recipes for my family instead of the usual food preparation that we have for our daily meals.

One thing that I would want to try would be baking.

We do bake sometimes but we just use the ready-mix cookie recipes in boxes so I do not particularly enjoy these because the mix is just too sweet. Matter of fact I have a container of brownie mixture waiting to be baked. I would rather do some measuring and mixing even if I have to buy the materials for this.

I have always been fascinated with baking, having enrolled in a baking course one summer many, many years ago. I have tried doing chiffon cake, cookies, mango pie, dough for pizza and siopao and a host of other things like making sugar flowers and decorating celebratory cakes.

One thing that I would like to try would be muffins and cupcakes for my children’s snacks. Loaf bread would be nice too, as well as cornbread dressing or maybe, pandesal.

No, I do not want to be a pastry chef because that would probably be the farthest thing in my mind. I just want to try to do things from scratch so that I can serve healthier food for my family.

And besides, serving warm and freshly baked goodies would be great, isn’t it?

Baclayon Church

Baclayon Church in Baclayon, Bohol is said to be the oldest coral stone church in the region and one of the oldest churches in Asia. This is one of the main tourist destinations in the province of Bohol.

Behind the church is a museum where old artifacts and images of saints can be seen.

Beside the church is Immaculata High School founded by my late father-in-law who was a parish priest of the said church.

Ang Simbahan ng Baclayon ay sinasabing pinakamatandang simbahan sa gawa sa coral stone sa rehiyon kung saan ito matatagpuan. Sinasabing ito din ay isa sa mga pinakamatandang simbahan sa Asya. Isa ito sa mga pangunahing puntahan ng mga turista doon sa Bohol.

Sa likod nito ay isang museong naglalaman ng mga lumang gamit pang-simbahan.

Sa gilid naman nito ay isang mataas na paaralang itinatag ng aking yumaong biyenang lalaki noong siya ay pari ditto sa simbahang ito.