Candle in the Wind

And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never knowing who to cling to
When the rain set in
And I would have liked to have known you
But I was just a kid
Your candle burned out long before
Your legend ever did

I was trying to think of a song that goes well with this shot and the first thing that popped out was an Elton John number :/

Tried to think of another song but each one came out campier than the last... The Bangle's Eternal Flame ? Take That's Relight My Fire ? Chaka Khan's Through the Fire ?

Any suggestions? :)


#FireFriday   #lyricallyinspired  

[_Source photo taken last Independence Day weekend on the streets of EDSA, the very same highway where the pivotal People Power revolution happened 26 years ago_]


The irony of this scene speaks volumes... a local street vendor selling Philippine flags together with cheap China-made toys while wearing "cool" American-style clothes obviously ill-suited for the  sweltering 35C degree weather. 

#philippinesunday  

Lots of things happening today...

If you're a comicbook geek, its Free Comic Book Day today
If you're mexican, then its Cinco de Mayo
If you're an astro-buff, then its SuperMoon tonight
If you're buddhist, then its Vesak Day, birthday of the buddha

... and if you're a fan of paintography like me, its also #paintitsaturday curated by +Alexius Jørgensen

Posted two post-processed versions - one is still photo-realistic with a bit of fake mist and vignetting and a bit of tilt-shift effect thrown in to make the Great Wall pop. Version two is a texture-map overlay using an ancient scroll painting. Which looks better?

Yet more jellyfish... this one's taken in Iloilo. There was a whole school of them in the shore, these ones have a more speedy propulsion system so their mobility made me think twice of even getting in the water.

For #UnderwaterThursday, I'm posting shots of our whaleshark encounter in Donsol, Sorsogon. This sleepy little town gets a tourism boost during the summer months because it lies in the annual migratory path of these gentle giants. Even though they're the size of buses, they're actually filter-feeders so people don't have to feel anxious being in close proximity to its huge open mouth.

Not all is well with the whaleshark situation in the Philippines however. In recent news, marine conservationists were up at arms when a few whalesharks diverted course to another island in Cebu.

Story here: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/124041/begging-whale-sharks-stir-debate-in-cebu-town

Long story short, the local fishermen saw a cash-cow opportunity in these wayward mammals and started feeding them like domesticated pets in hopes of making them stay.

But large, unpredictable wild animals + untrained locals = Disaster waiting to happen. Not long after, tragedy struck. Unlike the people in Sorsogon who were trained by marine specialists on how to safely interact with whalesharks, the local fishermen here didn't have a system in place yet.

The awful consequences: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/125611/2-whale-sharks-injured-by-spear-motor-banca

"Two whale sharks that frequent Oslob town, south Cebu, were confirmed to be seriously injured, one of them by a spear and the other by the propeller of a motorized banca bringing tourists."

A tale both tragic and cautionary on the folly of man-nature interactions without proper knowledge or preparation.

Leading Lines and Mixed Signals

This shot was taken on top of the city walls of Xi'an (China's old capital). The view made for an interesting contrast between the old watchtowers on the left and the modern buildings peeking out from both sides.

Just as I finished setting up my shot (climbed on top of a ledge to get a higher vantage point and positioned my gorillapod dead center), a bunch of friggin' tourists photo-bombed my frame :(

Five minutes later, they were still happily chatting away right in front of my shot, so what was I to do but click away anyway... with them in it :)

Surprisingly, I liked the shots with them in the frame compared to the ones with just the empty road disappearing into the horizon (feels too empty and desolate for a city with over 8.4 million inhabitants).

But now I have 2 leading lines (???) going perpendicular to each other? Should the viewers' eyes be drawn to the horizon... or to the direction everyone is pointing to?


For #LeadingLinesMonday c/o +Pam Chalkley , +Jakob Nilsson , +CJ Sros

and #MonochroMemonday c/o +Charles Lupica , +Hans Berendsen , +Manuel Votta , +Jerry Johnson

Look! Its Spiderman!

Because not all webs are made of silk, here's one made of metal for #webbywednesday  :D

Agree or disagree +Celeste Odono and +Tarun Bhushan ?  ^_^

"Street Art" in Beijing

A local artisan creates a fleeting work of art by using a huge calligraphy brush to paint the stanzas of a poem (alluding to the arrival of spring, from what I could read of the few characters still visible) using water from the nearby lake. By the time he works on the next line, the previous one would have already dried and disappeared.



For #StreetArtSunday by +Luís Pedro , +Peter Tsai, +Mark Seymour

Tetris Building

A shot of the Lippo Centre in Central, Hong Kong. Its actually a twin-tower but I isolated only one of the buildings to focus on its unique architectural design. Removed the other annoying stray elements in the background and replaced with clouds from another photo then gave it a bit of motion-blur for that faux ND long-exposure look.



For #MonochromeMonday c/o +Charles Lupica +Manuel Votta +Jerry Johnson +Nurcan Azaz +Steve Barge 
( anybody know what happened to +Hans Berendsen ??? )

"Hi, you hang out here a lot?"

"Buzz off, creep"

"But your eyes, they're like a million sparking diamonds that shine in the light..."

"Yeah yeah, I've heard that line before... bet you say that to all the girls with compound eyes."



A post-Valentines special for #BuggyFriday c/o +Ray Bilcliff

The NOT-SO-Forbidden City
( now in eye-screaming HDR! :D )

Background:
Built during the Ming Dynasty during the 15th century, taking 15 years to complete and covering nearly 9 million square feet of palatial estate, the Forbidden City was once home to China's emperors and their select staff.

It was called 紫禁城 [Forbidden City] because no one could enter or leave the palace grounds without the emperor's permission. Now, you only need to pay a nominal entrance fee (¥60 or around USD10) to see it for yourself :)

Shown here is the first palace you encounter when you enter the main gates - the Hall of Supreme Harmony (yes all the palace halls have equally impressive sounding names). The main halls of the Outer and Inner courts are all arranged in groups of three – the shape of the Qian triagram, representing Heaven. The residences of the Inner Court on the other hand are arranged in groups of six – the shape of the Kun triagram, representing Earth.

After being home to twenty-four emperors, fourteen from the Ming Dynasty and ten from the Qing Dynasty, the Forbidden City's end came with the abdication of Puyi, the last Emperor of China, whose story was well documented in Bernardo Bertolucci's movie, The Last Emperor.


For #HistoryThursday curated by +Matt Shalvatis

RIP Captain Pook

He was a creepy-looking one-eyed stray that always camps near our patio hoping to get a few scraps from time to time. One eye seems to stare right through you while the other's an empty socket. But he never let his disability get the best of him, he was the meanest ball of fur and claws in the neighborhood. Other cats have learned to give him a wide berth... until one day he finally met his match... 

ummm... we accidentally ran over him :(((
(but I wasnt the one driving at that time, honest!!!)

I guess he really had poor depth perception with just one good eye :(



I took this with a cam-phone a few months back.  I think it was the only photo of him I ever took. I re-did this in Photoshop, with a lot of Liquefy and Ripple effects inspired by Munch's "The Scream"... 'cause somehow it  rather fits the unfortunate circumstance of Capt. Pook's demise :(


#uninspiringsaturday  #caturday

Got a Monkey on your Back?

Great! We'd love to see them! 'Cause its #MonkeyMonday again :)
So bring out all them primate photos and share them to the world!

Go visit the theme-page +Monkey Monday, add us up and tag your photos with the theme-page!

You Belong to the City

Chilling out with the sax wafting from the Miami Vice soundtrack... a bit of 80's nostalgia :)

You belong to the city
You belong to the night
Livin' in a river of darkness
Beneath the neon lights
You were born in the city
Concrete under your feet

Glen Frey-You Belong to the City : http://youtu.be/AczNk1CBTbM



For #LeadingLinesMonday c/o +Pam Chalkley and +Jakob Nilsson

Its beginning to look a lot like Xmas

The holiday colors are slowly starting to show everywhere :)

A bit of an experiment in layer blending to mix color and b/w into one scene.



#ChristmasTown   #paintography  

And now for this week's inspirational words of wisdom...

Mr. Zen Hoverfly would like to impart this nugget of profound wisdom (c/o www.wisdomofchopra.com which generates totally random bullshit, hehe).

Yup I'm totally going through all the horrifically annoying internet memes one by one and since today its #inspirationalsaturday , I'm dedicating this to theme-curator +Mylah Nazario ... may your err... perceptual reality transform your existential potentiality... ommmm :D

(Co-sponsored by #sexyflies ) :D

*Fruity! *
hehe, since I've posted vegetarian dishes, carnivorous dishes... I think its only fair I post a fruitarian buffet this week just to even things up :D

+Buddhini Samarasinghe not sure if the one on the right is also Mountain Apple? It was my first time to try it... kinda bland, but crunchy.

+Natty Netsuwan another shot those mystery fruit in the center :D


#fruitfriday
#foodfriday c/o +Nicholas Ong +Natty Netsuwan +D. DeMonteverde 

Early Morning, Poolside

Woke up before everyone else to take photos of the place uncluttered with other tourists. In about an hour from then, the place will be swarming with people. This is a 4-shot pano-stitch which covers around a 180 degree field of vision.

Its a nice cozy place for lounging around... but gone are the days where you'd see people with a pocketbook in hand and the ubiquitous walkman strung to their ears... now its all tablets and laptops and iPhones... how times have changed. Now people bring all their tech to the beach.

Scrollable version here: http://goo.gl/XPKyG
(grrr... G+ Y U NO make pano-viewing better)

For #widewednesdaypanorama c/o +Andrew Marston +Lucille Galleli , +Ken McMahon

Playgrounds are special, magical places... their sole existence is designed to make them fun. But for children, especially on their first day, it can be a scary, daunting place filled with uncertainty. But once the child has gathered up his courage to take the first plunge, the anxiety is soon replaced by pure, unadulterated joy.

As I'm off to watch the musical Wicked, I'll end with this song in mind...

So if you care to find me
Look to the western sky!
As someone told me lately:
"Everyone deserves the chance to fly!"
And if I'm flying solo
At least I'm flying free
To those who'd ground me
Take a message back from me
Tell them how I am defying gravity
I'm flying high defying gravity
And soon I'll match them in renown
And nobody in all of Oz
No Wizard that there is or was
Is ever gonna bring me down!
- Defying Gravity


For #PaintItSaturday 's special theme "Fun Places" curated by +Alexius Jørgensen

Since there are a lot of Peyups people here, let's play a game...
Maybe this would be good for #MysteryMonday?

The Oblation statue is certainly an iconic statue, but it is not unique. There are several versions of it scattered in different places. Care to guess where this one's located in? Its a SOCC shot so the background may give a clue :D

+Mylah Nazario , +Ria Alcabedos , +nelson hernandez , any guesses?

Breath of the Merlion

Singapore's iconic Merlion fountain, as seen from below...

I went as close to it as I could, clinging on to the base of the fountain for dear life, one foot on the last step before hitting the water and the other foot dangling in midair. Maybe I should have just taken off my shoes and waded into the water instead?

Snapped a few photos until my camera and I were drenched with so much water from the stream spraying against the wind, gaah... the things we do to get that shot :D


For #WetWednesday c/o +Susanne Schweiger

The Torch Burns Bright

A towering sculpture of the Olympic Torch in front of the Bird's Nest Stadium.

Wiki : "Months before the Games are held, the Olympic Flame is lit on a torch, with the rays of the Sun concentrated by a parabolic reflector, at the site of the Ancient Olympics in Olympia, Greece. The torch is then taken out of Greece, most often to be taken around the country or continent where the Games are held. The Olympic torch is carried by athletes, leaders, celebrities and ordinary people alike, and at times in unusual conditions, such as being electronically transmitted via satellite for Montreal 1976, or submerged underwater without being extinguished for Sydney 2000. On the final day of the torch relay, the day of the Opening Ceremony, the Flame reaches the main stadium and is used to light a cauldron situated in a prominent part of the venue to signify the beginning of the Games."

In a few more weeks, the fires of the flame will finally reach London, heralding the start of the 2012 Olympics with its motto Citius, Altius, Fortius - "Faster, Higher, Stronger" urging mankind to surpass all known limitations and strive for excellence.

The Flame, sung by Tina Arena: http://youtu.be/K9I-nhHyjgU


For #Inspiringsaturday / #Inspirationalsaturday c/o +Charlotte Therese Björnström , +Khrystiane Friedli , +Mylah Nazario

#SaturdayNightLight c/o +Dirk Heindoerfer

Happy Birthday +Ada M 

Gaah, I cant believe how hard it was to get something to fit for #azureforada  hehe...  but a little sleight-of-hand and...  tadaaah  :D

As Sting says, "every little thing she does is magic" :)

Happy Birthday Ada! 

Dark Knight 3

One last set for the weekend. Off to the movies now, whoohooo! :D
Happy weekend everyone!

One in color, one with a more noir effect. Which one looks better?

Icy Temptations

Cubes of melt-in-your-mouth almond jelly on top of the softest shaved ice and generously drizzled with cream and milk...

huhuhu... I can't stop thinking about this the whole summer. Willpower help me resist temptation!!! How can I go the beach now looking like I pigged out over and over again???


For #FoodFriday c/o +Nicholas Ong , +Natty Netsuwan , and +D. DeMonteverde

A Nosey Little Monkey

These nasally-impressive guys were among my top favorite primates in the monkey house in the Singapore Zoo. Proboscis Monkeys are indigenous to south-east asia but lately their numbers have dwindled to half their original numbers in the last 40 years, putting them in the endangered list.

In their native land Malaysia, they are also locally known by another somewhat politically-incorrect nickname belanda because their noses are thought to remind the natives of a somewhat caricaturish version of their large-nosed foreign colonizers.


For #monkeymonday curated by +Alex Lapidus , +Sandy Schepis #threatenedthursday c/o +Sumit Sen , +Diego Cattaneo +Anette Mossbacher

Patronus!

This shot's the same leaky candle as the previous post, only from the opposite side. 
Hmmm... #RemindsMeOfSomething.... 

Is is just me or is there a spectral fiery stag in the flames? No photoshopping except for color and clarity adjustments, the wind just sorta blew the flame into a really awesome shape. Coolest bit of #pareidolia  I've seen. 

#firefriday  

Because #FoodFriday needs more greens... (right +Nicholas Ong? , heehee)
tadaaah!!!

My most favorite veggie in the whole wide world... Dou Miao (豆苗) aka. Pea shoots (from sugar peas or snow peas)

Sometimes mixed with noodles or other stir-fried dishes, but I like them plain, with a little bit of garlic for flavor. This is most certainly what I'll be ordering tomorrow night... in Beijing :) Yep, packing my bags now, heading off to the other side of the Great FireWall of China so no G+ for me for a few weeks (unless I can figure out a way to bypass them dang restrictions) :(


For #FoodFriday c/o +Lucretia Yeh , +Nicholas Ong , +Bobbi Lance , and +D. DeMonteverde

Guilt-free dining... Trying to eat healthier :)

Watermelons, lychee, pears, mandarin oranges, dates, and lotus root


#FoodFriday c/o +Natty Netsuwan +Nicholas Ong +D. DeMonteverde

#FruitFriday c/o +Peter Teufl and +Vesna Krnjic

Love is in the Air

Its #monkeymonday again... time so show some primate-passion. Follow the +Monkey Monday page and tag us, we'd love to see all the monkey-lovin' you've captured :D

Since I've posted pictures of most the cats in my neighborhood, it's the doggie's turn. Meet Scooby... he's needy, whiney, and in constant need of attention... and that's why we love him so :)

He got really curious when I was trying to take his photo and was trying to sniff/lick the lens all the while. I love this shot of him the best because it captures his regular, everyday dopey look of utter bewilderment.


My belated submission for #FidoFriday c/o +Wes Lum , +mel peifer , and +Lisa Lisa

And since Scooby is the first guy that greets me at the door when I come home (my cats are totally oblivious to my comings and goings, they just appear when they're hungry), this is also my contributions #PaintItSaturday 's "Coming Home" theme c/o +Alexius Jørgensen

I already posted this guy's web early in the week, so these are his close-up shots. Looks like a cross between a hermit crab and a spider ^^ He's got a nice big shell which makes photographing his head a pain :(

UPDATE: This is a spider from genus Cyclosa, a Garbage-Line Spider, they decorates their web with both the remains of dead insect prey and egg sacs. The spiders made prey pellets and egg sacs that were the same size as its own body.
The researchers also found that these decorations appeared to be the same colour, and reflect light in the same way, as the spider's body. In short, the spider made decorations that were of the same size, shape and appearance as itself.
"Our results show that this vulnerable spider protects itself from predator attacks by constructing decoys that increase the conspicuousness of the web, and resemble its own appearance in size and colour," the researchers write in Animal Behaviour.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8135000/8135844.stm


For #SpiderSunday c/o +Chris Mallory , +Kimberly Hosey , and +Kjetil Greger Pedersen

Learning the Ropes

It's #monkeymonday  time again! Time to bring out all your cute primate photography and share them will the world. Check out our theme page +Monkey Monday  , dont forget to circle it so we can share your photos :D

I love the expression on this little orangutan's face, he seems to be a bit hesitant to go swinging with his mom. If you look closer, you'll notice that there are actually two baby orangutans clinging to mommy :D  Talk about kids being a handful!

All Your Bases Are Belong to Us!

+Alex Lapidus 's witty captioning of the previous post inspired this next one... has anyone played a round of Chinese Chess (Xiangqi)?

The rules are somewhat similar to its western counterpart with a few variations in the pieces. Most notably, there is a piece called the "Elephant" which moves 2 diagonal spaces at a time and cannot cross the "river" separating your side of the board from the opponent's. This piece gives the game its name 象棋 - "Elephant Game".

The "General" is the king-analog which cannot leave the confines of the palace squares. He is protected by 2 "Ministers" whose moves are also limited to the 9-point space of the palace squares.

Together with the Horses, Chariots, Cannons, and foot soldiers (who gain new moves once they cross the river), the game players quite similarly to western chess.

LingLong Tower, Beijing
 
Served as telecast facility for Beijing Olympic Games and is the tallest building in the central area of Olympic Park. It employs a steel structure framework and is externally decorated with a glass curtain wall outside. It is shaped like an equilateral triangle divided into seven layers. The total height of the tower is 132m.

The weird parallel lines on top are part of a decorative archway I was shooting under. I left it intact in the final crop because it kinda balances out the leading lines of the stairs below.



#nightscapes   c/o +Christopher Prins

Seems Legit

"Hello sir, would you like a balloon?"
:)

#WhateverWednesday c/o +Cicely Robin Laing
#WeNeedALaughWednesday c/o +Pat Kennedy Corlin
#CaptionThisThursday c/o +Jenness AKA Dory Asby

Cry Havoc! and Let Loose the Dogs of War

When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, Come and see! Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.

— Revelation 6:3-4


Time for #horrorpoker Monday again with the masters of the macabre +David Murphy, +J.L. Btwee and +Jimmy Symons

There is nothing truly more frightening than the concept of war, so this week's photography project focuses on that element of terror, that constant shadow of fear when terrorists play with the lives of millions like it was a game for them.

Order of the Phoenix

hehe, was trying to browse through my other candle shots to see if I could make out some other shapes.

I'll stop the world and melt with you...
(blasphemy-of-the-day: I love Jason Mraz' version better than Modern English's)

candle guts... if you had to perform open-heart surgery on a candle while it's still alive... it would look like this...

The wick must have been strung off-center, melting one side faster than the other till everything finally caved in. Good thing this was outdoors... moral lesson: don't ever leave candles unattended.


#firefriday  

P anoramic P ixelBender P aintography of
P icturesque P alawan in the P hilippines

for #PaintitSaturday and #PhilippineSunday

Just a short 3-shot pano-stitch of a typical rural scene in the Philippines with the trademark Nipa huts and Jeepneys, given the paintography post-processing treatment.

Give Me Your Blooooood!!!

In line with July being Blood Donors Month in the Philippines, I'd like to remind everyone of sound mind and body to do your part in helping provide a safe and sustainable supply of blood for those in need.

PRC-WVRBC manager Dr. Judith Jimeno said the theme of this year’s Blood Donor Month observance - Every Blood Donor is a Hero, strongly encourages more people all over the world to donate blood voluntarily and regularly while recognizing the silent and unsung heroes who save lives everyday through their blood donation.


For #horrorpokermonday curated by +David Murphy +J.L. Btwee +Jimmy Symons +Mylah Nazario

and #toytuesday c/o +Lars Clausen

(+ 10 geek points if you can identify which series Mr. Vampire's from)

One of the lesser known hazards of travel is not knowing how your hotel room is designed. Imagine you have to share a room with a co-worker or someone you have no plans seeing them doing their thing... and you check in to your hotel room only to discover to your horror that you can see right through the bathroom because there's a peek-a-boo glass wall, giving you a nice, uninhibited view of the loo.

"Umm.. dude, I think I have to use the bathroom, I think the curry I ate a while ago isn't agreeing with my stomach."

"Whaaat? You mean right now? Do you have to? Really??? as in right this minute?"

"Ummm yeah dude, its rumbling real bad..."

"I'm going downstairs!!!"



For #TravelThursday c/o +Laura Mitchum

Freshest Seafood Ever

This resto has the reputation of serving the freshest seafood around... but we certainly weren't prepared to witness how far they'd go...

Skewered live shrimp with legs still moving when served in your table... and the pièce de résistance... live lobster sashimi... how eerie to see a decapitated lobster head still thrashing about with his angry little claws when the rest of his body has already been neatly sliced into bite-sized slivers of fresh lobster sashimi.


For #foodfriday c/o +Nicholas Ong , +Natty Netsuwan , +D. DeMonteverde

Thanks to a post on +Tish Jason 's page, I finally found out what these things were. All the while I thought they were some sort of fungal infestation because these critters keep producing some weird white waxy substance to cover themselves. Thanks to +Chris Mallory 's quick ID, I now know these to be Scale Insects. These are seriously annoying pests. They mangled our hibiscus plants pretty badly and they leave all these weird whitish residue everywhere :(

For #BuggyFriday c/o +Ray Bilcliff

A shot of the semi-indoor auditorium at the Mall of Asia.

Tried to HDR 3 exposures of the scene but it came out really awful :(
So this is a manual masking of 2 separate exposures. Aligned the 2 layers then erased the light parts so the "outdoor" portions could peek out from behind the darker column's silhouettes.


For the new and improved #MonochromeMonday cast and crew headed by +Charles Lupica , +Bill Wood , and +Hans Berendsen

Card Sharks

A few meters from where the men-folk are deep in concentration with their chess games, the ladies are also hard at play. There are actually hundreds of gamers scattered all across the courtyard. This particular temple has the reputation of magnifying one's luck... if you win games here, the good fortune is said to carry over other aspects of your life... quite the "prize" that everyone is vying for...

Help! Help! I can't swim!

Poor little guy fell in the pond and was struggling to paddle to shore.


For #BuggyFriday c/o +Ray Bilcliff

Flying High in the Sky

Dont you think its time you started
Doing what we always wanted
One day were gonna get so high

Cause even the impossible
Is easy when we got each other
One day were gonna get so high
- High, Lighthouse Family : http://youtu.be/EOBayZ-517k

Heard this old favorite playing on the radio this morning (my favorite station plays old tunes on Humpday Wednesday), got a bad case of last-song-syndrome now...

This shot taken in the old 2008 Olympic Village. It was a nice, clear day... perfect for kiting as the breeze was cooperating quite well.


For #windywednesday c/o +Trevor Farrell and +Tricia McDonald Ward

*sigh, if you can't beat them, join them :)

Happy Valentines to all the lovey-dovey couples out there... don't mind us single folk... we just like to stalk... and stare... and take pictures of all you horny folk making out.

Don't say we didn't warn you... now back to your regular scheduled humping...


A #TwoforTuesday Valentine special

Baboons in Bloom

Its always fun to visit the zoo during mating season :)

Baboons are one of the few creatures that show obvious external signs to signal reproductive fertility. When she is ready to mate, her entire bum swells bright red and she presents it to the male baboon for close inspection. Male baboons in turn use the size of the sexual swelling to determine the female's reproductive capability. In one study, females with the largest bottoms reached puberty the earliest and gave birth to more offspring. The same study noted that the males fought more aggressively over females with larger swellings.

The swelling is so pronounced that a female can gain up to 14 percent of her body weight during ovulation. Swelling also hampers movement and makes her more vulnerable to infection.


For #MonkeyMonday c/o +Alex Lapidus and +Sandy Schepis

Granny's Got Game!

My, she's pretty spry for her age... she kicks the shuttlecock into the air with deft ease, passing it along to her waiting companions who flip it back to her with equal grace and precision.

Catwoman versus Black Cat

A bit of a mash-up this week pitting Marvel's Felicia Hardy aka. the Black Cat against DC's Selina Kyle aka. Catwoman... I even tossed in some campy comic-inspired captioning for a bit of layouting whimsy. 

Personally, I love Black Cat better.. she actually has real powers (to curse her enemies with unbelievably bad luck) compared to Catwoman who just struts around in dominatrix attire :/


#toytuesday  c/o +Lars Clausen 

Got down nice and low for this shot of a pair of demons called Jyakis. Who's foot is that then?

That's one of the Guardians of the Four Directions, Protectors of Buddhist Law, Protectors of Human Kind, Protectors of the Bosatsu and Nyorai. They protect the Buddhist realm for Taishakuten, serving as his generals to guard the territories inhabited by humans. Originally from Hindu mythology, and later incorporated into Buddhism. In the Lotus Sutra, they vow to protect those who believe in the Dharma (Buddhist teachings).

This shot was also taken in the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum

For #MonochromeMonday c/o +Charles Lupica , +Hans Berendsen , and +Bill Wood

The Crane Dance

The snapshots I took from the Crane Dance show made for some cool effects once I ran them through Photoshop for a bit of post-processing. Used Topaz Simplify to turn the original photographs a bit more vector-art-like.

As reference, I posted a snippet of the original show for comparison:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/117664165092777516244/posts/68XJY488Gzj


For #PaintItSaturday c/o +Alexius Jørgensen

The countdown to summer has begun :D

Hello sun, surf, and sand. Now the hard part... deciding which beach to go to this year... so many choices, so little time :)


For #wetwednesday c/o +Susanne Schweiger

BBQ Mystery Meat

Wandering the crazy maze-like hutong area of China, the delicious smell of BBQ fresh off the grill caught our attention. I asked what it was, he said it was lamb. My friend said it was more likely rat, cat, or dog, depending on what poor unfortunate animal wandered by. It was then that I noticed the curious absence of any strays in the neighborhood...


#StreetFoodSunday c/o +Tarik Abdel-Monem

Back from a week in Singapura doing nothing but eating, running, getting lost and seeing a lot of cool stuff. Prior to the trip, I actually had a 3-page long checklist of things to do, places to go, and stuff to shove in my mouth (I only managed to do only a third of them... sigh)

Day#1 was dinner with old friends at Din Tai Fung (which seems to have branches in every major city in Asia... except Manila, grrr) So I finally got to try out their Xiao Long Bao dumplings spiked with truffle slivers. OK call me unrefined but until now I still can't differentiate between the holy-cow-why-is-this-$hit-so-expensive-truffles and plain old dried chinese black mushrooms... they both taste and smell the same to me... *shrug


Hope this isn't too late for #FoodFriday (just got plugged into the internet again)
c/o +Bobbi Lance , +Lucretia Yeh , +Nicholas Ong , and +Natty Netsuwan

As the sun comes down Marina Bay, the last of the afternoon sun glints off the towering Sands Hotel, playground of the obscenely wealthy. Below it is the lotus-blossom shaped ArtScience Museum and the equally ostentatious YSL island (yeah, it has its own frakkin island!)

I'm wondering if any other traveler has experienced this dilemma:

You order room-service which has huge servings so you couldn't finish it all in one go. Then you get hungry in the middle of the night but eating cold pizza is kinda bleh. The kitchen won't re-heat it for you no matter how much you beg and plead so what's a hungry traveler to do?


For #TravelThursday c/o +Laura Mitchum

Sanguine Snack

They say blood is thicker than water... its also tastier... (this one actually tastes like cherry... but then I shouldnt actually be drinking my shower gel)

Product link: http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/zombies/d6fa/

In other news, is it just me or is Season 5 of True Blood getting campier by the episode :D


A tad late for #horrorpokermonday c/o +David Murphy +J.L. Btwee +Jimmy Symons +Mylah Nazario 

The Dance of the Spring Fairies

This is of the traditional Chinese dances to welcome the arrival of Spring... the choreography symbolizes the growth of new life as it pushes against the sleeping earth into the welcoming embrace of the sun.

Happy Spring to all those in the appropriate hemisphere of the globe :D



For #PaintitSaturday c/o +Alexius Jørgensen and +Steve Barge

I am almost afraid to post another moth photo with the other one still left in ID-limbo, hehe :D

But this critter's a relatively common sight here so I have a bit more confidence I got the right Tiger moth... but then again it could be an orange headed wasp moth :P

Cooperative little fella, didn't budge at all when I was taking shots of it from all sides... not that it had any choice in the matter.. see how it looks like its floating on air? it's actually trapped in a spider's web :D

Why do I keep attracting the attention of these weirdos???

Thanks to someone who brought this to my attention, some troll is making up these bizarre accusations against me, claiming that ahem, ahem: "Wesley Yeoh was the first guy I ever blocked. His profile pic back in July, was of a guy blowing his brains out with a pistol. I saw that and instantly blocked him"
Link:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/112352920206354603958/posts/cJViyAnyDoV

Since he blocked me, his spiteful comments were invisible to me while I was logged on to my account, had to log out to actually see them. (which raises a whole can of worms about abusing the Block feature, you can actually go around backstabbing people while they remain totally unaware of it.)

Now a few things I wonder:
1. Who is this guy? He's not in my circles and I have never even talked to him to elicit his attention. Random trolling?

2. It doesn't seem to be a case of mistaken identity as he specifically blocked my account.

3. He specifically mentioned July 2011 but I only started publicly engaging on G+ around Nov-Dec 2011 based on my post history. Before that, it was all private posts limited to friends and family I personally knew.

4. I think the people I regularly correspond with here can vouch that the images I use have been my profile pics since the start (I just rotate them from time to time) and that it is indeed me.

5. No way could my account have been hacked because I'm logged in pretty much round the clock and any of my personal friends would spot if something's fishy with my account.

6. And knowing how strict G+ is with violent and sexual imagery, one would think having a profile pic like that would get your account closed in a heartbeat as soon as someone clicks on the "Block and Report" button.


I dont know whether to feel frustrated or just laugh at the irony of it all. This guy is starting a G+ community-building effort of "engagers" yet feels the need to randomly backstab and slander complete strangers? for what? attention? drama? Has social media taken a turn for the worse when people have to resort to cheap tabloid-tactics to gain attention?

OK now that I got that off my chest, going down my soapbox now. But now, what to do? Do I feed the troll or ignore him completely? Decisions, decisions...

This is my 2nd version of +Linda Villers 's lighthouse photo for #HackThisPhoto

+HACK THIS PHOTO c/o +Stephanie Fecik


Inspired by +Dan Peterson 's moon photos and that amazing shot-in-the-dark lens-flare he did here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/108953078780430345161/posts/9kKtxsSgfyD

1. Used the same perspective-altered and cropped version as previous image
2. Adjusted curves, color balance, lowered saturation
3. Nik ColorEfex for the vignetting, spot-lighting, dark-contrast filter
4. Added fake lens flare
5. Added full moon

OK, here my real post for #MonkeyMonday c/o +Alex Lapidus , hehe :)

Though I'd introduce a local primate species endemic to the Philippines... try having a staring-contest with this guy...

The Philippine Tarsier ( Tarsius Syrichta ) is an endangered species of tarsier found in the southeastern part of the Philippines, particularly in the islands of Bohol, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao. It is a member of the approximately 45 million year old family Tarsiidae, whose name is derived from its elongated "tarsus" or ankle bone.

Like all tarsiers, the Philippine Tarsier's eyes are fixed in its skull; they cannot turn in their sockets. Instead, a special adaptation in the neck allows its round head to be rotated 180 degrees. The eyes are disproportionately large, having the largest eye-to-body size ratio of all mammals. These huge eyes provide this nocturnal animal with excellent night vision. The large membranous ears are mobile, appearing to be almost constantly moving, allowing the tarsier to hear any movement.

I shall end the work-week on a campy note, tossing this one out for +Irene Kato 's #alienabductionfriday

Run! run! our cover has been blown! Retreat back to the mother-ship!

(This one taken from the Katy Perry concert, yeah she's one of us, harhar)

I love the Singapore Zoo's collection of primates, its got everything from baboons, orangutans, and a whole family of chimps like this guys over here. A very well designed park, no animals in cages and plenty of room for them to roam around and play. The only problem is the distance which really tests your camera's zoom. Since they rely on natural barriers like moats, rocks, and plants to delineate the animals' boundaries, you have to zone in to get a close shot.


For #monkeymonday c/o +Alex Lapidus and +Sandy Schepis

This is Marbles ( not his real name , I just call him that, he's actually the neighbor's cat, not mine). After weeks of trying to earn his trust by bribing him with cat treats, he finally allowed me to pet him :D

I love his eyes! He's got that rare form of feline-heterochromia, The dual eye color happens when either the epistatic (dominant) white gene or the white spotting gene (which is the gene responsible for bicolor cats) prevents melanin granules from reaching one eye during development, resulting in a cat with one blue eye and one green.


For fellow cat-lover +Alexius Jørgensen 's #PaintItSaturday and
#Caturday c/o +Lee Daniels and +Christophe Friedli

Throwing this out for #HorrorPoker... enjoy :D

When you talk about local horror lore in the Philippines, chances are the setting will either be an old haunted house, a cemetery, or the Balete Tree, also known as the Strangler Fig. Local mythology is rife with tales of engkanto (fae-folk) or lamang-lupa (earth elementals) who take refuge within its maze-like root system. Woe to the unsuspecting traveler who disturbs their domain. One of the most haunted places in Manila is the Balete Drive, home to a grove of Balete trees... and its longtime resident - the mysterious White Lady, a ghostly apparition of a murder victim seeking vengeance for her untimely demise. Motorists are advised not to go near the place after dusk.

Besides its place in folklore, the Balete tree also earns its dark reputation for its parasitic nature. It often kills its host tree slowly, using its network of roots and branches to slowly rob its supporting tree of sunlight and nutrients.


For #TreeTuesday c/o +Christina Lawrie and +Shannon S. Myers

Since +Celeste Odono and +Shane Williams have posted their slug photos, I'm gonna raise them a pair of amorous gastropods. (*gasp, invertebrate-porn!)

Do I hear #MolluskPoker? :)

Day 2 of my photo shower escapades... (eep, I don't think that came out right)

Trying to mimic those soda commercials... does anybody get that "refreshing, thirst-quenching" vibe yet?

He Didnt Get the Memo

Poor General Zhao wasn't informed that imperial China was ancient history... until he read today's papers ^_^

(actually he's just an actor taking a break from taking pictures with the tourists, hehe)

Continuing my current obsession with selective-color processing, moving on to more PS tutorials... Refine Edge tool for masking hair details is friggin amazing!!!!

(For once I am at a loss what photo-theme to tag this under! It doesn't seem to fit any!)

Loading up on supplies for my next photo experiment.

Got the UV light, check...
Tubes of fluorescent ink, check...
Black backdrop, check...

I will either be making a very big mess this weekend, or something new to post :)

For #ColorsOnSaturday c/o +E.E. Giorgi , +Gilmar Smith , +Christina Lihani , and +Erin Henderson

Horror PapapaPoker Face

New photo-theme on the block folks... meet #horrorpoker curated by the sick, twisted minds of +David Murphy , +J.L. Btwee , and +Jimmy Symons :D

Thought I'd start off its inaugural run with a double Royal Flush. Beat that!
Finally I get to show off some stuff from my rather (and embarrassingly) extensive collection of Lady Gaga paraphernalia... a full deck featuring the Mother-Monster herself +Lady Gaga !!! C'mon all you little monsters, let's make #LadyGaga trend!!! Who's with me????

(cricket cricket cricket)

Definitely the best way to play #horrorpoker with the queen of a thousand faces herself, while humming pa-pa-pa-poker-face-pa-pa-poker-face...

Ante up!

Somewhere between #BokehTuesday and #WebbyWednesday we have this little fella who's just finished making his web, all shiny and new... no insects captured yet... but pretty soon an unfortunate bug will wander by.

Oh, and they also come in convenient, ready-to-eat sachets :)

ah, the joys of modern living... you can have spicy chicken feet anytime you feel like it. Haven't opened it up yet though, dunno if I can finish a whole pack in one sitting. And its quite messy to eat it at work, wish they came de-boned.

Hemp Crisps

Something that's sure to give you the munchies, hehe... and no its not that kind of psychoactive hemp :) Hemp leaves are actually vegetables-type foodstuff eaten either as a salad or deep-fried like this.

Tagging +raymond samson for... #weedpoker :)



For #foodfriday c/o +Nicholas Ong , +D. DeMonteverde , and +Natty Netsuwan

I'm almost embarrassed to post my spider shot for the week after seeing all the impressive macro shots everyone's been posting :D

To date, this is the closest I've come to going near a saltie, they're just too errr... jumpy :) but I will persevere and one day some kindly spider might deign to pose for me too.


#SpiderSunday is curated by +Chris Mallory , +Kimberly Hosey and +Kjetil Greger Pedersen

This week's #SpiderSunday critter in a classic stretched-out pose :)
First time I've seen this type so #IDpls

Curated by +Chris Mallory , +Kimberly Hosey , and +Kjetil Greger Pedersen

Shouldn't there be a photo-theme on alcohol? No? then how about Arthropods? What about arthropod-infused alcohol? Forget that Mexican Tequilla Mezcal with worm, or Chinese rice wine with cobra... Vietnam's scorpion wine take the top prize in extreme-drinking games... the last person to empty his glass has to take a bite of the pickled scorpion. Bottoms up!



For #ManlyMondays c/o +Mark Rodriguez , +Alan Shapiro , +Barry Blanchard , +Dave Daniels , and +Kjetil Greger Pedersen ... *whew

Not to be attempted when the lifeguard is keeping an eye out for any pool shenanigans... and yes, I'm taking the photo-theme quite literally :)

For #ThirstyThursday , c/o +Giuseppe Basile and +Mark Esguerra

Saw this little guy scurrying around and the large hole in the center of the web was somehow familiar. Then it hit me, I saw the very same spider in +Tish Jason 's post here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/112119701706188379523/posts/ZScYo3YwBuR

So that saved me from having to ID this little critter :D

For #SpiderSunday c/o +Kjetil Greger Pedersen , +Chris Mallory and +Kimberly Hosey

The Artist and the Scientist

In honor of Salvador Dali's 84th birthday (born May 11, 1904 – January 23, 1989), this is low-angled shot (that's the ceiling in the background) of his sculpture entitled Homage to Newton

-------------

Homage to Newton, 1985
Signed and numbered cast no. 5/8. Bronze with dark patina.
Size: 388 x 210 x 133cm.
UOB Plaza, Singapore

Dalí's homage to Newton, with an open torso and suspended heart to indicate open heartedness, and an open head indicating open mindedness —
the two very qualities important for science discovery and successful human endeavors.



#sculpturesaturday , #silhouettesaturday
#sepiasaturday c/o +Renee Stewart Jackson

What happens when you cross #FoodFriday (c/o +Charles Lupica, +Bobbi Lance & +Lucretia Yeh ) with #BuggyFriday (c/o +Ray Bilcliff )?

You get a mouthful of the crunchiest, most mouth-watering snacks SE-Asia has to offer. Deep-fried to a crisp and generously smothered in garlic and salt, these tasty treats ranging from deep-fried spiders to crickets are packed with protein and are quick, cheap roadside snacks for die-hard entophiliacs who really, REALLY love bugs. So the next time you're in the asean region, don't forget to brown-bag a few.

Managed to snag a Singaporean saltie... in lichen, no less :D

I have no idea what possessed me to go hunting for arachnids even while on vacation... but the interesting part is that this tree is in the middle of a busy highway (long story short - got lost, ended up hiking to the airport instead of the commercial district... my sense of direction is in serious need of patching). So this says volumes on the level of air quality there even in busy highways; no way would you get lichens to grow here in smog-filled Manila.


Wheeee! my 2nd #LichenPoker post :)
And a belated #SpiderSunday c/o +Kjetil Greger Pedersen , +Kimberly Hosey , and +Chris Mallory

Photoshop Paintography

I already posted a shot of the homemade light-jars before. But for this, I removed the LED light inside and used external lighting as backlight for this set. Only have 4 colors made so everyone has to do double-duty, one top-view and one isometric view with the middle tile a jar of mixed colors.


To help kick-off the new theme on the block #ColorsOnSaturday c/o +ee giorgi and +Gilmar Smith
And an early submission for next week's #MosaicMonday c/o +Mim Eisenberg and
+Mosaic & Montage Monday c/o +Carrie McGann

+Fernando Rodriguez already posted the daytime shot of Cordova's famed Calahorra Tower last week: https://plus.google.com/108395588459017017730/posts/Tmu8Q4KxNPp so here's the exact same view, only at night.

Built during the late 12th century by the Almohads, it's the first thing you see when crossing the Roman Bridge on the Guadalquivir river.

This was taken around 1AM when all the tourists have gone and you have the place pretty much to yourself (and yet I still encountered a few locals walking their dog or jogging waaay after midnight, go figure...)


For #FortressesFriday c/o +Benjamin Dahlhoff

Let's all welcome 2012 with a bang! It's a new year and a fresh new start :)

For #SaturdayNightLight c/o +Dirk Heindoerfer

Ah what the heck, one last post-Valentines photo before the week ends. A shot of the neighbor's cute little doggies.... ummm.... showing canine love :)
Can you tell I have lots of photos like these in my archives? For some reason, I home-in on stuff like this...

Lotsa love to everyone, yahooo weekend here we come, I'm outta here!



For For #FidoFriday c/o +Wes Lum , +mel peifer , and +Lisa Lisa

Strawflowers are more commonly known as 'Everlasting flowers' in our country because they retain most of their color and shape even after drying. They're a favorite flower for religious offerings and memorials because they still look good even after their prime.


MARATHON pic 2 for
#PaintItSaturday c/o +Alexius Jørgensen (he's such a slave-driver, hehe)

Some practice shots for the Pyro Olympics this year (taken at the MoA but prior to the event)

squeeeee!!! I'm excited to see all the purty lights in the sky.


For #FireworksFriday c/o +Jörg Seidel

RESHARE:
Just wanted to share +Fernando Rodriguez 's post yesterday of this amazing shot of a fire-dancer.

I was re-watching Game of Thrones last night in anticipation of Season 2 and thought this is what Melisandre of Asshai, priestess of the red god, R'hllor, the Lord of Light and Fire would probably look like on screen. She makes her debut in Book 2 as Stannis Baratheon's personal advisor. Things are heating up for Season 2 as GRRM introduces the new factions that actually have sorcery in their arsenal like Melisandre and the equally wily pyromancers of the Alchemist's Guild.

I CAN'T WAIIIIT!

Reshared text:
An Arabic dancer plays with fire in a restaurant in Fes, Morocco.

For +Women Wednesday, curated by +Niki Aguirre, +Athena Carey, +Lee Daniels, +Christina Lawrie & +Teresa Stover

The style of dance is usually called "belly dance" in the western world, some variants include swords, some, like this one, fire, which makes for a very impressive show.

#WomenWednesday

Just taking a break from posting travel pictures because I don't want to miss +Chris Mallory 's #TrueBugWeek celebrating the diverse and curious world of order Hemiptera.

I found this funny little bug running around with what looks like a tiny seed stuck to its proboscis, hehe :) So I chased around the park seeing if it could shake off the thing. Poor fella, it must have been trying to suck on the tiny berry but got stuck skewered to the thing. So now its running all over the place with the thing bobbing up and down like a lure.

ID help guys? no idea what species this is.

So last week, I met up with fellow Googler extraordinaire +Nicholas Ong for an impromptu photo-walk down Singapore's Chinatown. We had a look-see at one of the biggest Buddhist temples in the area where devotees flock to perform age-old rituals like this one...

Bathing the statue of the Buddha is one of the important traditions of ritual cleansing. It symbolically washes away the impurities from the three karmas - body, speech, and mind. The devotee uses the ladle to pour pure water on the statue of the Buddha three times:

The first is to wash away evil thoughts.
The second is to inspire good deeds.
The third is to encourage the protection of all sentient beings.

This ritual highlights a universal truth that "it is easy to wash away physical dirt but it's much more difficult to cleanse one's 'inner dirt' of greed, anger and ignorance."


For #SacredSunday c/o +Charles Lupica , +Manfred Berndtgen , +Bill Wood
and thank you to the nice aunty who demonstrated how this is done :)

My first submission to #HackThisPhoto
+HACK THIS PHOTO c/o +Stephanie Fecik
Based on the original photo from +Linda Villers

1. Adjusted perspective using Transform tools
2. Cropped to panoramic dimensions
3. De-pooped the rock out-croppings using Clone tool
4. Boosted saturation and contrast
5. Masked foreground, used a sharp paint filter
6. Used a softer pain filter on the background, then Gaussian blur
7. Add birds for flavor
8. Merge layers and add canvas textures

My very first #LichenPoker post! wheee, just when I was about to give up hope of ever spotting lichens in my area. And it was just in a neighbor's tree all that time.

I'm not going to even try ID'ing fungus

Some scenes just defy explanation... but that doesn't mean we won't try :D
Have a go in trying to caption what's happening in this picture!

Game on for this week's #CaptionThisThursday curated by +Jenness AKA Dory Asby

These insects have a rather unique adaptation which renders them immune to the hazards of traipsing a spider's web. Their long, spindly legs allow them to cling from web line to line like acrobats without getting caught it in themselves. They take full advantage of this by actually hanging around established spider webs for both protection and prey.



For #BuggyFriday c/o +Ray Bilcliff