I felt hungry after my haircut is done. So, I passed by to the nearest public market to buy something to eat. My choice of diet for this morning are the following: bananas (also called lakatan), bread, pork and beans, ginseng tea, and GMA 7's Takeshi's Castle. Yes, I watched TV as evident by the remote control which was included in the photo above. It was my first time viewing that TV program though.

I was going to meet my girlfriend in SM Megamall when suddenly the rain poured down again. We couldn't leave the next two hours because of that.

As soon as the rain had stopped, we walked to Ortigas MRT station and got two southbound tickets. When we reached Taft MRT station, we transferred to LRT and alighted at Carriedo station. We walked to Lacson Plaza, cross the street beside Sta. Cruz church and headed for Binondo. We were traversing Dasmarinas Street when suddenly the rain poured down again. We ran to take shelter under the facade of the buildings nearby and waited for the rain to stopped. That's my girlfriend in the photo below. There were other people walking with us when the rain poured down again. You can see in the photo that the people who walked with us ran away to avoid getting wet. Meanwhile, We waited for the rain to stopped before we walked towards Quintin Paredes Street.

 
Our first stop was Eng Bee Tin Chinese Deli. We bought a lot of hopia in different flavor. The photo above was taken quickly at the cashier's desk while my girlfriend paid for the bill. Quick tip: It is compulsory that the hopia be frozen so for the freshness to last a few days. No preservatives are being used in all the hopia they produced.

Our next stop was at the Eng Bee Tin's Noodle House so I can claim my Txt Fire car sticker. It has been already two weeks since I was texted about the availability of the car sticker yet only today I was able to drop by the place.

 
My girlfriend and I were exhausted running under the rain. We emptied our stomach too. We knew we should eat! Sure, that's what we did. For how can you afford to miss those delicious foods from Eng Bee Tin Noodle House? We ordered one set of Lomi and one set of fish squid siomai. Photos are shown below. We pamper ourselves to satisfy our cravings.

After that hearty snacks, it was time to go back. I was planning ahead of time that for our return, we would take the Pasig ferry. It was meant to be a surprise for my girlfriend as she didn't have much idea yet about ferries servicing Pasig River. I led her at Yuchengco Street and we walked all the way to Escolta. She was wondering why we didn't turn left upon reaching Dasmarinas Street. I told her I would want to take her few photos beside the riverbank with Manila Post Office as the background. She agreed.

She saw the wharf and saw a few signs about ferries so my supposed surprise for her didn't materialize as a full surprise. Anyhow, it was still worth it because she was very happy and was even happier when she saw one ferry approaching. She asked me where the ferry is going. I told her it's bound for Guadalupe. She expressed interest in taking a boat ride so I told here we would board the ferry.

The photos below are taken inside the boat. A public address stated that taking photos when passing by Malacanang Palace is not allowed. I religiously obliged. I noticed there are six drop-off station being serviced so far. These are Escolta, PUP, Sta. Ana, Lambingan, Hulo, and Guadalupe wharfs.

 
The river still looks so dirty but sure there are still lots of scenery along the way you would enjoy viewing.

 
These are few of the scenes you would enjoy to see in the night time. In the last photo is the Makati City Hall.

Travel time from Escolta to Guadalupe took us 45 minutes. It was not long - and we enjoy the ride.

We missed Binondo Church and Plaza Lorenzo Ruiz because of the rain.

I didn't bring with me my SLR. All photos here are taken using mobile phone camera thus the substandard photo quality.

My most recommended link for you to visit: Eng Bee Tin Chinese Deli

You may also read these articles online: a) An invitation: Come on board the Pasig ferry b) Pasig ferry company loses millions a year

This is just for tonight. Good night, everyone...

Technorati Tag: Binondo, ferry, hopia, lomi, siomai, Chinatown

My apprentice posed for Binondo Church.

The following photos are taken in Manila Baywalk.

Technorati Tag: photoshoot, Binondo, Manila Baywalk, McDonalds, church, apprentice

EXIF information:

• Camera Model: Sony Ericsson K750i
• Date/Time stamp: 14 August 2007
• F-stop: f/2.8
• ISO setting: ISO160
• focal length: 4.8mm
• Flash: off
• Comment: SM Megamall Activity Center

Technorati Tag: SM Megamall

The phone in the postpaid plan is a high-end Nokia unit while the prepaid one used an outdated model. But that's not the entire issue. All the data - contact details, and etc. of his friends and relatives here and abroad are all stored in those phones. My girlfriend lost all her energy just thinking of this unexpected event in her life. I was doing something very important last night but I had to give it a break just to be with her. I took the last MRT trip so I could go to her boarding house. I saw she was very stressed and devastated. I understand how she feels. It happened to me as well. In fact, one of the reason that I blogged in the earlier years of the blogging period was just to rant for my anguish of my Nokia 7110 (one of the most expensive phone at that time) which was stolen. I can still find my entry here which was hosted by Fortune City.

Contrary to my reaction when my phone was stolen that I had mourned for weeks, my girlfriend had just recovered after a few hours since the incident had transpired. She's a strong woman, indeed! In fact, she told me, "Don't cry over spilled milk." So, with not much thing to say, I replied, "Yes, life must go on. Those are only phones, anyway."

This morning, she had to go to Sun Cellular business center in SM Megamall to get another SIM. But since she doesn't have a phone yet, I'll be lending to her my other phone, the Asus, for her to be used momentarily while she doesn't have a new phone yet. We'll meet again tonight and bring my other phone to her. Once the new SIM will be activated, she'll get her phone back minus the precious information that vanished away with the stolen one.

Another step she would like to do is to look for that stolen phone's box where the IMEI was printed. It was left in her elder cousin's house in Valenzuela. She already got the NTC's hotline number and will call the agency so that the stolen phone can be permanently restricted into accessing any network regardless of the SIM used. Actually, she wouldn't want to do it, telling me, "Dili na lang tingali. At least magamit pa gihapon siya sa nakapalit adto." (I think we don't need to do that. At least, the one who fenced it might still be able to use it.) I understand her sacrificial feeling, but I explained the action is to discourage phone thief. If everybody who's phone are stolen will be reporting to NTC to have that phone deactivated and put to useless, then there will be no phone thief - minimizing crimes. She agreed with me.

Firefox slowed down to a crawl

For the past two weeks my Firefox browser has become unusable while Opera still works fine. Flock had became unstable, too. Googling over the web, I found one solution that actually had worked after I tried the technique for me this morning. This is the link:
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Creating_a_new_Firefox_profile_on_Windows

If you experience the same problem as mine, you may try to click the link and read what's in it.

Technorati Tag: phone theft, raves and rants

A few of the remaining photos taken during my Around Northern Luzon in 52 Hours.

EXIF information:

• Camera Model: Canon EOS 300D
• Date/Time stamp: 5 August 2007 / 11:12:37am
• Shutter Speed: 1/125 seconds
• F-stop: f/9.0
• ISO setting: ISO100
• Focal Length: 27mm
• Flash: off
• Comment: This photo was taken at the Paoay Church in Ilocos Norte.

Technorati Tag: cross, Paoay, Ilocos Norte

EXIF information:

• Camera Model: Sony Ericsson K750i
• Date/Time stamp: 14 September 2007
• F-stop: f/2.8
• ISO setting: ISO100
• Flash: off
• Comment: SM Fairview

Technorati Tag: balloons

sym·me·try [sim-i-tree]

–noun, plural -tries.

1. the correspondence in size, form, and arrangement of parts on opposite sides of a plane, line, or point; regularity of form or arrangement in terms of like, reciprocal, or corresponding parts.
2. the proper or due proportion of the parts of a body or whole to one another with regard to size and form; excellence of proportion.
3. beauty based on or characterized by such excellence of proportion.
4. Mathematics.
   a) a geometrical or other regularity that is possessed by a mathematical object and is characterized by the operations that leave the object invariant: A circle has rotational symmetry and reflection symmetry.
   b) a rotation or translation of a plane figure that leaves the figure unchanged although its position may be altered.
5. Physics. a property of a physical system that is unaffected by certain mathematical transformations as, for example, the work done by gravity on an object, which is not affected by any change in the position from which the potential energy of the object is measured.

[Origin: 1535–45; < Latin symmetria < Greek symmetría commensurateness.]

EXIF information:

• Camera Model: Canon EOS 300D
• Date/Time stamp: 24 May 2006 / 5:24:55pm
• Shutter Speed: 1/15 seconds
• F-stop: f/3.5
• ISO setting: ISO100
• Focal Length: 18mm
• Flash: off
• Comment: atop the lobby of the Medical City in Pasig

Technorati Tag: Medical City, symmetry

Our company, exclusive distributor of Il Hwa brand of Korean ginseng, has been participating this most visited and awaited event. For this year, our company once again showcased its products with the new variants to the delight of its costumers and would be dealers.

To date, we are the leading brand of Korean Ginseng and the number one exporter worldwide. Its products are the most potent and are proven effective. Only Il Hwa uses world-class and state-of-the-art facilities, the very reason why only Il Hwa is granted an ISO certification.

With Il Hwa’s most stringent quality control measures, consumers are assured that they get the best benefits of ginseng and value for their money. Therefore, when we think of ginseng, let’s think of Il Hwa - the most effective brand.

Technorati Tag: Asia Foods Expo, AFEX 2007, food exhibit, World Trade Center, Pasay City