Let's Visit Big Bear Lake, California

A breathtaking trip to Big Bear Lake. I've always been fascinated with lakes. If you're a lake lover this is a place to be.

Big Bear Lake is a reservoir in the San Bernardino Mountains in San Bernardino County, California, USA. It is a completely snow-fed lake having no other means of tributary or mechanical replenishment. Max. length: 7 mi (11.2 km); Max. depth: 72 ft (22 m). Due to the 6,790-7,200 foot (2,069 m) elevation of the weather station. The Big Bear Lake region is unique among populated areas in Southern California in that, because of the elevation, it normally receives significant winter snow. Snow has fallen in every month except July and August.

Big Bear Lake provides an attractive setting for many outdoor activities, including fishing (trout, bluegill, crappie, catfish and largemouth bass), pleasure boating, and water skiing. Because of the very cold water and the presence of underwater obstacles near the shorelines, swimming is discouraged. The lake is patrolled by the City of Big Bear Lake's law enforcement.

Many lakeside residents have private docks, and visiting boaters obtain mooring in several of the marinas found on both shores. San Bernardino County provides a public launch on the east end of North Shore. Local marinas rent various sport and pleasure boats, and parasailing is available.(wikipedia)

My shots: (ALL RIGHTS RESERVED)

..Special thanks to Robbie for showing me this wondeful place.

Belfast Tour

Let me tell you a bit of my place…Belfast!... I’ve been here for five long years. I admit before I first arrived here I’ve never known or heard this place in my entire life. I have made a brief research about the place. Oh, It’s in the United Kingdom! Now I've known it. Thousands of miles away from home! Where Queen Elizabeth resides. British pound- money currency. Makers of Burberry, Paul Smith, Boudoir, Ghost fragrances. Mr.Toni Blair was then the Prime Minister (Mr. Gordon Brown at present). We were also brief by our agency about the culture, traditions, slang words used and… Urr, the weather of UK. Since then it has always been my fascination to learn more about the place.

Belfast (from the Irish: Béal Feirste meaning "The sandy ford at the river mouth") is the capital of Northern Ireland. It is the largest city in Northern Ireland and the province of Ulster and the second-largest city on the island of Ireland. It is the fifteenth-largest city in the United Kingdom, but the eleventh-largest conurbation.

Belfast is situated on Northern Ireland's eastern coast. Belfast is located at the western end of Belfast Lough and at the mouth of the River Lagan making it an ideal location for the shipbuilding industry that once made it famous. When the Titanic was built in Belfast in 1912, Harland and Wolff had the largest shipyard in the world. Originally a town in County Antrim, the County borough of Belfast was created when it was granted city status by Queen Victoria in 1888.

Belfast saw the worst of The Troubles in Northern Ireland, with nearly half of the total deaths in the conflict occurring in the city. However, since the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, there has been significant urban regeneration in the city centre including Victoria Square, Queen’s Island and Laganside as well as the Odyssey complex and the landmark Waterfront Hall. The city is served by two airports: The George Best Belfast City Airport to Belfast Lough and Belfast International Airport which is near Lough Neagh. Queen’s University of Belfast is the main university in the city.(wikipedia)

Here are my shots: (ALL RIGHTS RESERVED)

Donegall Street

City Hall

Shopping Centre

Botanic Gardens

Belfast Wheel

Hazelbank Park

Grand Opera House

Queen's University

Albert Memorial Clock:...Constructed mainly of sandstone, between 1865 and 1870,

Harland and Wolff shipyard was formed in 1861

where RMS Titanic was built in 1911 (Titanic Harbour)

LAGALAG: The Journey Ends. And Now it Begins.

I just talked to the brain of "LAGALAG: The Traveling Journal of Filipinos Project", Mr. Wilfredo Pascual. A two-time winner of the Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature. He broke the good news that we have just completed a remarkable journey. The two notebooks have reached its final destination and the official handover was covered on the front page of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Here's the link:

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080727-150928/Filipino-diaries-reach-final-destination

I personally thank Mr. Pascual for the opportunity. It is my privilege and great honor to share my story. Our ultimate goal is to share this with as many people as possible. We have accomplished something significant here that it has touched a lot of people. More power!

***http://www.flickr.com/groups/lagalag/discuss/72157594574208815/

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video credit: Wilfredo Pascual

My First Scuba Diving Experience in Samal Island

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The Island Garden City of Samal is a 2nd class city in the province of Davao del Norte, Philippines. Beautiful and exotic, the Island Garden City of Samal, a part of the Metropolitan Davao area, is a great destination if you are looking for tranquility, great adventures and extreme challenges with nature. It is a coastal paradise located in Davao Gulf, just a stone throw away from Davao City. The place is blessed with beautiful coast having white sand beaches, abundant marine life, magnificent rock formations, and flourishing flora and fauna. Unique to the diving sites are beckoning coral reefs considered as one of the best in the world.

I've tried scuba diving for the first time and that was the most unforgettable experience I've ever had. Mixed of emotions- excitement and petrifying. Excitement, because I always loved adventure and sure I got one! It was such a different world underwater. A dive into the depths revealed colorful underwater vistas with jaw- dropping tropical marine life. We fed the fishes and they were all around us. The different colorful fishes were awesome! I saw "NEMO" there.lol! It was just amazing!

Now, the scary bit? Since it was my first time, we were taught basic technical diving skills before the actual thing. Familiarizing the different equipments used and learned the scuba divers sign language. Mind you, the latter was the most important thing of all. Thirty minutes after the briefing, he had put on my scuba diving set and here I was very excited to try the different challenge. By the way, I always had the instructor diver beside me. We started diving. I used the simple breath-holding techniques in snorkeling and free-diving. But it seemed not right, I felt I couldn't breathe at all. Just few minutes into the dive I began to struggle since I couldn't get any air. Approximately seven feet underwater I signalled the instructor through sign language that there was really a problem. I was struggling! He immediately pulled my emergency button then for few seconds I was on the surface of the water. I couldn't breathe! He said he turned on the breathing gas and it was just my way of breathing that caused the problem. I said that's enough. I didn't want to continue. He insisted that I should continue. It's good that I've known the sign language beforehand. Then he double-checked my breathing gas and we found out that it wasn't turned on after all. He was the one who checked it in the beginning. That's why I struggled!!!! So he turned on and we went ahead. There was no problem thereafter. After all that, I had continued to dive and we reached 25 feet underwater. Next time, I will see to it that everything will be checked appropriately.

If you ask me if I would try scuba diving again? In the blink of an eye, I would say YES!

Magellan's Cross

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-Houses the cross-

Cebu City is one of the beautiful cities I've visited in the Philippines. A progressive place with interesting historical background. The city is the first Spanish settlement in the country. An interesting place that caught my attention is the Magellan's cross.

• Magellan's Cross is a Christian cross planted by Portuguese and Spanish explorers as ordered by Ferdinand Magellan upon arriving in Cebu in the Philippines on April 21, 1521.
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  This cross is housed in a small chapel next to the Basilica Minore dwl Santo Nino on Magallanes Street (Magallanes being the Spanish name of Magellan), just in front of the city hall of Cebu City. A sign below the cross claims that the original cross is encased inside the wooden cross that is found in the center of this chapel. This is to protect the original cross from people who chipped away parts of the cross for souvenir purposes or in the belief that the cross possesses miraculous powers. Some people, however, believe that the original cross had been destroyed or had disappeared after Magellan's death, and the cross is a replica that was planted there by the Spaniards after they successfully colonized the Philippines.
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  Magellan's Cross is a symbol of Cebu City and the chapel's image can be found in its city seal. It is also seen as the symbol of Roman Catholicism and a tourist attraction in the Philippines. (wikipedia)

Not for Resuscitation

..Who gives the order and what influences the decision?

• Not For Resuscitaion (NFR in the UK) or Do Not Resuscitate (DNR in the US) is a written order from a doctor that resuscitation should not be attempted if a person suffers cardiac or respiratory arrest. Such an order may be instituted on the basis of an advance directive from a person, or from someone entitled to make decisions on their behalf, such as a health care proxy; in some jurisdictions, such orders can also be instituted on the basis of a physician's own initiative, usually when resuscitation would not alter the ultimate outcome of a disease, and is designed to prevent unnecessary suffering.

• Any person who does not wish to undergo lifesaving treatment in the event of cardiac or respiratory arrest can get a NFR/DNR order, although NFR/DNR is more commonly done when a person who has an inevitably fatal illness wishes to have a more natural death without painful or invasive medical procedures.
  

• What is it like in the point of view of the medical team? We do our best to help our patients overcome the obstacles during this journey that are posed by various illnesses and accidents. We make them better, and on they go with their travels. But as the patient nears the end of this journey, our focus changes. The intent at that time is not to cure, but to palliate; not to be a mere academician, but to be a sensitive and compassionate physician who respects the dignity of the patient and family, and their right to refuse treatment. It has been said that "a good physician knows the difference between postponing death and prolonging the act of dying."

• We do not have simple answers to the questions of life and death. Science may one day produce human clones, delay or even stop the process of aging, and conquer death; but do we really want that to happen? As a society we might be much happier if we learn to age gracefully, accept death as the natural end of life, and stop putting artificial barriers in the path of this river as it approaches the ocean. (1)

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(1) Ashok Karnik, MD

Brain Drain from the Philippines

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• Philippines is experiencing the worst "brain drain" of any country as highly qualified professionals settle abroad because of lack of opportunity, political instability and the lure of higher salaries abroad. While the estimated eight million Filipinos working abroad make a huge contribution to the economy from the money they send home, services in the Philippines are starting to suffer. Record numbers of Filipinos are leaving - many of them nurses, doctors, teachers and engineers - in the biggest exodus for almost 50 years. The most popular destinations are Middle East, Asia, America, Canada and Europe.

• I, for one, is a very good example. I served my country as a nurse for 10 years then I've got a chance to work here in the UK. The main reason then would be the very low salary a nurse earned. In 10 years of experience my salary in 2002 was P6,000 (Philippine Peso) per month (approximately £65). According to the recent minimum wage rate in 2008, the salary of a nurse would be 10,000Ph per month (£114). In comparison with the salary of a Level 5 nurse here in the UK, it estimates from £1,900 to £2000/ month (roughly 174,780 Philippine Peso). Indeed a huge difference! How can you ever prevent brain drain?

How to make an "ADOBONG MANOK"

Adobo is a very popular dish in the Philippines. It is considered a national dish. Typically made from pork or chicken or a combination of both, it is slowly cooked in soy sauce, vinegar, crushed garlic, bay leaf and black peppercorns, and often browned in the oven or pan-fried afterwards to get the desirable crisped edges. This dish originates from the northern region of the Philippines.

The standard accompaniments to adobo — and ultimate comfort meal for many Filipinos —is white rice.

Here's a video on how to make a delicious adobong manok (chicken). A Caucasian who tried his best to speak the Filipino language. Great effort, Travis!;)

Just Rambling

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• Alright, it's time to update my blog again. So, what's been going on? Just juggling work and home life. Work in the hospital ward has been extremely busy recently. We are understaffed and it makes us demented! Sometimes I wish I have an extra pair of arms so that I could do more things than what I am capable of doing. It is disappointing at times but sure I am just human. Making a difference in somebody's life is more than enough!

• ...There is something I should mention. We are given "Indefinite Leave to Remain" (Permanent Residency) here in the UK. Which definitely makes me glad since I don't need to have a work permit to enable me to work in the UK. As you all know, the employers are now hesitant to issue new work permits to the overseas as the focus is now for the local graduates. Fortunately, I could work to any places where I want to.

• ... Doing freelance photography course is on the top of my list these days. I guess, it's time for me to do the things I truly love... and that is photography. Expressing emotions through photograph is something I most enjoyed doing. It makes me relax and happy.

• ... Approximately two weeks from now would me my 3rd steroid injection to my left shoulder. I had one done in my right shoulder. Calcification developed on both of my shoulders due to "wear and tear" (damage that naturally and inevitably occurs as a result of normal use). Too much lifting in my workplace is definitely the main culprit.

• ..Alright, I shall go back to my bed. It's getting late. Be back tomorrow. Cheers!

Belfast Castle

I love all castles. It's like a fairy tale! Belfast Castle is set on the slopes of Cavehill Country Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland in a prominent position 400 feet above sea level. Its location provides unobstructed views of the city of Belfast and Belfast Lough.

A castle has existed on the site since the late 12th Century built by the Normans. On the same site a wooden castle was built in 1611. This was the home of Sir Arthur Chichester, baron of Belfast but was burned down in 1708, leaving only street names to mark the site. The castle that stands today was completed in 1870 by the 2nd Marquess of Donegall, and was designed by Charles Lanyon and his son in the Scottish baronial style. After Donegall's death and the family's financial demise, the 8th Earl of Shaftesbury completed the house.

It was his son, the 9th Earl of Shaftesbury, who presented the castle to the City of Belfast in 1934. In 1978 Belfast City Council began a major refurbishment over a period of ten years at a cost of over two million pounds. The architect was the Hewitt and Haslam Partnership. The building officially re-opened to the public on 11 November 1988.

The castle hosts an antiques shop, a restaurant and visitors centre and it is a popular venue for conferences, private dining and wedding receptions.

• My shots:

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"Framing" in Photography

sample photo above: by Paulo Sarmiento

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Framing your subject is a wonderfully effective way of showcasing it as the focal point. You can use whatever is handy to your location to create a frame. You can use playground tunnels, doorways or arches, windows, over hanging branches or any other elements that create a visual frame. Your frame doesn’t need to go completely around the edges of your image - they might just be on one or two edges of your shot.

• My sample shots:

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Philippine Traditional Game: "Tumbang Preso"

I literally grew up playing this game when I was still a kid. I played it with my friends and cousins in the streets. We usually called it "Tumba Lata" in Davao City. It was great fun! Kids nowadays have different ways of playing. They indulge mostly in computers or portable consule. Here's how:

• Participants: Three to six persons or more

This is a relatively simple game. At least 3 players are needed, although the more, the merrier. One of the participants must volunteer to be the “it” first. Next, the participants must find a can, or something that can be knocked over easily from a distance. They should place it in the center of the game area (this will be the home plate or base). The game is played as follows:

The “it” will defend the can from being knocked down. While the can is upright, the “it” can chase anyone and tag him or her. When a player is tagged and the can is still upright, the player tagged becomes the new “it.”

The rest of the players must see to it that the can is always knocked down. The “it” can always put it back in the upright position. The rest of the players usually use their slippers to knock the can from a distance. If one gets close enough to the can without getting tagged, he or she can kick it and pick up the rest of the “weapons” or slippers that were thrown. Of course, it is usually up to the other players to get their own “weapons” or slippers.

To be fair, it would be better if the players had only two slippers each to knock down the can, and no more than that. Once all the players are out of slippers, this would be a major opportunity for the “it” to chase everyone before the can is kicked. The can has to be positioned on a place that everyone will refer to as the base.

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source: global pinoy

video:russian13folklore

Only in the Philippines

This video brought back so many good memories. I miss my hometown....Enjoy watching.

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video source: dion

Seeing with Better Eyes (Good Photography)

The psychology of seeing and how it affects composition. Your eye (and lens) sees something, but your eye is connected to your brain …. which interprets what you see….. it adjusts color balance, ignores un-important things, tries to “edit out” those things you don’t want to see. You now must re-program your mind so that you really do see everything.

• Here’s my sample photo. A simple case in point:

It's your first time to visit Las Vegas and you see one you like and take a snapshot. You see the outstanding hotel when riding along the road…. but not the car window wiper at the bottom, the car mirror above, the lamp post on the right, or even the half cut building on the right…… your mind ignores those distractions for you.

Here’s what you must learn to do: Eliminate unwanted distractions …. either by cropping them out during printing (like I just did) or move in closer and crop them out with the camera and lens.

Or…… you could think about what you really want to show …. walk around, crouch down, look at it harder …. and then shoot.

The point is you must concentrate and think harder about what it is you want to show… and force yourself to see and eliminate those things you don’t want to show. This should become habit…. you should practise doing this with everything that “catches your eye”. Your eye WILL begin to see better … and you will begin to think about the lighting, the angle, the “feel” of those things as you look around. Sometimes you might feel weird or cursed because of the way you “stare at” - study - things, but it is essential that you develop this habit if you really want to get better. To become a true serious amateur or top-notch professional you need to be constantly studying subject matter, light, composition, etc AND figuring out how you want that shot to look in print.

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Photos: All Rights Reserved

Source:Photography course

Giant's Causeway

This is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. It's like you're on a different planet! So amazing!The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. It is located on the northeast coast of Northern Ireland. Most of the columns are hexagonal, although there are also some with four, five, seven and eight sides. The tallest are about 12 metres (36 ft) high, and the solidified lava in the cliffs is 28 metres thick in places. The extensive fracture network produced the distinctive columns seen today.

• Here are my shots:

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Take me to Edinburgh!

Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland. I've been to Edinburgh twice already and would love to be back again. As a traveller, I fell in love with the place because of its intellectual history. Main attractions would be the Edinburgh Castle, Scott Monument, Royal Mile, National Gallery of Scotland, the Mound, and the old town (preserved its medieval plan and many Reformation-era buildings) and new town (an 18th century solution to the problem of an increasingly crowded Old Town. The city had remained incredibly compact, confined to the ridge running down from the castle).

• Here are my photos:(Scotland)

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Princes Street Gardens

Edinburgh Castle

Braveheart Castle (Stirling)

The Mound

Loch Lommond

Top of Edinburgh Castle

Never a Dull Moment

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Each day is different when you’re a nurse. The fact that no two days are ever the same. That's one of the main attractions of the profession for many people (that includes me) who love nursing as a career. It never gets to a point where we hate our job because it becomes a dull and boring routine. Although many of us may see the same people every day and do the same tasks every day. However, because of the unpredictable human factor, things are always changing. Patient's conditions change, their prognosis changes, their disposition changes, the patients themselves change, other nurses and doctors change, procedures and medications change. In nursing, change is the only thing you can count on to never change. It is hardwork but the challenge is always there. Never a dull moment!

Practical tips for taking better photos

Add depth and create interest with lines:

Create interesting perspective and enhance ordinary shots by using straight or curved lines within the frame.

• Look for a brick walls, fences, sidewalks, fences, and edges
• Shoot lines at an angle for unique shots
• Lines lead the eye to the center of interest

My sample shots:

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New York City

Edinburgh, Scotland

Loch Lommond

Las Vegas Trip

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We had a blast in Las Vegas! Las Vegas is the most populous city in the state of Nevada and an internationally renowned major resort city for the gaming industry, shopping and entertainment. Las Vegas, billed as The Entertainment Capital of the World, is famous for massive and lavish casino resorts, the unrestricted availability of alcoholic beverages (as is true throughout Nevada), and adult entertainment. Once officially referred to as Sin City, this image has made Las vegas a popular setting for films and television programs. We went to the different casinos and I personally played the slot machines (my first time to play in the casino). It was fun and I won few dollars too. The entertainment was awesome! A filipino group band played at Luxor hotel at the time and they were really brilliant. Everyone dancing the night away. There is so much fun in Las Vegas. Can't wait to go back there!

• Here are some of my shots:

..Belagio

..Caesars Palace

..At night!

Belfast Wheel

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Belfast has its own version of the London Eye. Located at the east side of Belfast City Hall, the structure offers spectacular views across the city from a height of 200 feet. Earlier today we went to ride the magnificent wheel. Each observation journey lasts approximately 12 minutes and each capsule can carry up to eight people. Luckily, the weather was awesome when we got there. Admission price: Adult=£6.50 and Child= £4.50.

Creativity and Composition in Photography

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Be different....

......Stand out in the crowd!

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Help, get me out of here!!!

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Macro Photography

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Macro photography is close-up photography; the classical definition is that the image projected is close to the same size as the subject. I personally like taking macro shot. For one, it is very challenging. Excellent macro shot highly depends on your lenses and skill.

For DSLR cameras, using a special-purpose lens called a macro lens having a long barrel for close focusing. A macro lens might be optimized to provide its best performance at a magnification of 1:1. For those with point and shoot cameras, select Macro mode. Macro mode will also usually tell your camera to choose a large aperture so that your subject is in focus but the background is not.

Use of Tripod - in macro photography a tripod can be particularly useful, even if you’re just shooting with a compact camera. Keeping your camera still not only improves your shots (getting rid of camera shake) but it allows you to play around with different settings without losing your composition. ***

Photojournalism

Photojournalism is a particular form of journalism (the collecting, editing, and presenting of news material for publication or broadcast) that creates images in order to tell a news story. It is now usually understood to refer only to still images, and in some cases to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such as documentary photography, street photography or celebrity photography) by the qualities of:

Timeliness — the images have meaning in the context of a recently published record of events.

Objectivity — the situation implied by the images is a fair and accurate representation of the events they depict in both content and tone.

Narrative — the images combine with other news elements to make facts relatable to the viewer or reader on a cultural level.

Like a writer, a photojournalist is a reporter but he or she must often make decisions instantly and carryphotgraphic equipment, often while exposed to significant obstacles (physical danger, weather, crowds).

My Sample Shots:

...Boxing day sale (2007)

..Hongkong

..a tribute to the soccer legend, George Best who died Nov. 25, 2005 (Belfast, UK)

..aftermath of last night's mayhem done by the orange order (Newtownabbey, UK)

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credit text: wikipedia

Taking better pictures: Composition

Good composition is essential in photography. It allows you to convey messages and emotions through the images that you shoot. It is easy to achieve by following a few simple guidelines.

Rule of thirds

Learn the "rule of thirds." As you look through your camera's viewfinder, imagine there are lines dividing the image into thirds, both horizontally and vertically, essentially dividing your image into nine equal-shaped blocks. Frame your subject at one of the intersection points instead of in the center of the viewfinder, as shown in my own photo illustration.

Framing

Careful framing of your subject can make a dramatic difference in your photos. Remember—every photo has a foreground and background, so use them together to add an interesting element to the shot.

Visual cropping

Crop your photos visually before you take them. Look into the corners of the viewfinder. Do you see things that shouldn't be there? You can remove, or crop, these elements from your photos simply by moving closer to your subject, zooming in on your subject, or moving your subject within the viewfinder. Try different angles. Look for anything that will diminish the impact of unwanted objects in your photos.

Angle of the View

Believe it or not, the best angle for a photo is not always upright and directly in front of the subject. Some of the most interesting photographs are those taken from a unique vantage point. Get down to the level of the flowers before taking the picture. Climb a tree to take a picture of a meadow. Always ask yourself if the photo would look better taken as a landscape or portrait shot. Experiment and try different perspectives. Look for angles that are interesting and demonstrate the mood and inspiration you're trying to capture.

Perspective

To capture the essence of what you experience when viewing a scene, it helps to add an element to your photo to convey this perspective. In the following picture, the vine leaves helps to add an interesting perspective to the scene.

These simple guidelines should help you find your "camera's eye." The key is to experiment and have fun, and the resulting photos will wow anyone who sees them.

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credits: photos by Betchay (All Rights Reserved)

author: Kleber Stephenson