Since the space is there and the sub-directory too, I figured I’d continue using it but just as a test blog. This is where I’ll test drive themes I am interested in. Like this one I just installed, Bright Sky.

I’ll try tweaks and widgets here, and then transfer it over to the main blog at a later time, if it makes me happy. hehe.

From me, to you. Merry Christmas!

Oh wait, it’s been three weeks since then, yet I’m still on holiday mode, and still feeling the happiness of the season.

To be honest, I think this blog will be shelved soon to make way to the bigger and brighter blog that I am setting up dedicated to learning photography (and sharing it). For now, it’s still alive. And Christmasy.

More info here: http://verabear.net/2009/12/got-heart-planner-giveaway/

Just sneaking in a quick post because I’ve been MIA for a few days…

Know what this is?

Will post more pictures soon…

But this here, though not exactly focusing on the vegetable lumpia (dumpling) that we had as appetizer that evening, speaks volumes on how I view food and dining:

Alfred and I eat out a lot. If you read my posts under the Food category, you will see incriminating evidence. You’ll also understand why I just cannot lose weight. Haha

Anyhoo, click on the below badge to look at the other entries to this week’s You Capture challenge, and be ready to salivate!

Take a closer look at Max’s Restaurant’s Veggie Bites:

Last year, McDonald’s came out with the limited edition Coca-Cola Olympics glasses from Luminarc. You get them by adding 25 pesos to any value meal you order. I never got one in any of the stores I order McD from. When my colleague Debbie went to Malaysia for a vacation, she came home and brought me one of them pretties. I didn’t use it right away because it was the only one we had but eventually I took it out of its packaging and fulfilled it’s purpose of being used as a glass.

Months later, I just noticed that it was nowhere to be found.

My dad broke it. As to the circumstances, I know nothing of. But it’s gone forever.

This year, the glasses are back. They no longer bear any of the Olympics insignias from last year, but they do come in six different colors.

Since these photos were taken a week and a half ago, I’ve already completed the collection.

They’re still in their packaging though, I’m afraid that once I start using them, someone might break them again. Haha. But it doesn’t feel right to just have them standing there on the counter. I figured I’d buy an extra purple glass which I will actually use, but when we ate at McDonald’s in Greenhills on Friday, they ran out of stocks on any of the colors.

Oh well. I know I’ll use them eventually.

Esban was definitely the most excited about having this PS2 unit fixed, for reasons other than Guitar Hero but there he is enjoying it. And he’s not the only one I got hooked on the game, here are my fellow addicts:

At first AJ did not want to even touch the guitar, saying that he couldn’t do it, that he was too young at five years old. But the next day? He bragged about his 70% accuracy on his first try at the Beginner’s level. He even compares it to my dad’s 20% showing on his first try at Easy. Haha.

See my dad, who on that first night wanted to progress from Easy to Medium by mastering a few songs!

And finally just today, this big guy admitting that indeed, Guitar Hero and Rockband rocks!

]]> http://www.verabear.net/digitalmemories/2009/11/16/too-busy-becoming-a-hero/feed/ 0 http://www.verabear.net/digitalmemories/2009/11/05/faces-of-halloween/ http://www.verabear.net/digitalmemories/2009/11/05/faces-of-halloween/#comments Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:01:50 +0000 verabear http://www.verabear.net/digitalmemories/?p=150 I’ve already posted this on my main blog, but I love looking at this photo and thought I share here too.

Happy faces of my nieces and nephews. They’re the reason why I never get tired of doing this every year. Why I don’t mind spending money on treats and prizes even when they aren’t MY kids.

By the way, I took this photo with my 50mm, without a flash.

He’s always been known as the youngest Ocampo, haha. But he doesn’t consider himself that anymore. When I saw him get out from their bedroom window on the second floor of their apartment, he was all smiles looking at the adventure that was awaiting him to get to dry land. You can still see him smile here!

All the while I kept on cheering him on and saying that he shouldn’t be afraid of the water – he’s a very good swimmer! Of course I didn’t mean for him to jump in and swim in the flood, just for him not to be afraid…

I know, Ondoy is old news by now.

There’s been Pepeng and all the landslides it brought to the Mt. Province, and the flooding it caused in Pangasinan and the rest of Northern Luzon. And there’s the two other storms in the horizon set to hit land very very soon.

Let’s pray that we won’t see much devastation and loss. I hope the government has done some preparation this time around.

Hanna is 10 years old, and is AJ’s older sister. She’s my cousin’s daughter, and also my goddaughter. Her second name is after my mom’s – Laura.

See how she’s smiling? That’s how children in our family are. They’re quick to smile. Better that than have them all crying out of fear because of the continued rain and the rising flood waters.

I wonder if she was asked to write about her Typhoon Ondoy experience in theme writing at school? Do schools still have that? Writing about being rescued from the floods would certainly help the affected kids move on from this experience, taking with them only the learnings.