Chasing Horizons

 

Arrived quite early. Few cyclists, just milling lazily around the start area then. Ride with the Tour De France champion's yet to start. My wave will be flagged off in a couple of hours. Worked on Panda, she's been squeaking like crazy. Couldn't narrow down where the noise's coming from. Hell. Thought of just trying to tune it out. That and her being stuck on a single gear? Things weren't looking bright. Joined the guys from my bike group. All foldies got bunched into one wave. A cut-off time's put up. I needed to do some pushing, hard pushing. I'm more of a "relax and enjoy the scenery" rider. Starting line, right in front. Perfect for photo ops.

7am. Gun fires. People started busting out hard. "Is this a race?" Morbidly obese and asthmatic, I started out slow. Bikes zipped by left and right. I didn't get going until my breathing found a steady rhythm, until I wasn't gasping for air anymore. The ride was good, fun. Even with the heat. Even with the flyovers. Even with the chain slips. 

BGC Cycling Philippines, see you next year.

Pigs Can Fly: A guesthouse story.

It was our first time staying in a guesthouse. By the time the wifey got to checking out the hotels, they were all booked, and so, we ended up with Pig Fly. 

The room was exactly what the pictures showed. It was clean and looked new. Much like a boutique hotel. Elegantly cute. There was a TV, an audio player, a tuck-away mini kitchen, a fridge, and most importantly- wifi.

Chan and his friend (the guys running the place) were nice and friendly. They waited for us 'til after midnight when our flight got delayed. Little P. got a nice little gift from them- it is a pig, of course.

We had no problem getting where we wanted to go in South Korea. Pig Fly is seconds away from the Hongik University (popularly known as Hongdae) subway station, and from there you can got to pretty much any place that is worth checking out.

Excuse me, Hong Kong, South Korea is here.

I had a great time in South Korea that composing a proper blog entry is turning out to be really difficult. Words are just flying by, but they won't behave, won't group themselves into sentences. So....

South Korea. Fun. Family. Love. Food. Trick Eye. Hello Kitty. N Tower. Temple. Lotte World. Toys. Toy Street. LEGO. Sylvanians. Trains. Busses. Airplanes. Food. Food. Food. Pig Fly.

LEGOLand Malaysia!!

From a trip a few months back. 

Enjoyed the Miniland, the Kingdoms - Dragon Roller Coaster ride, the burgers and fries, The Big Shop. The kids loved everything! Some parts of the place were still under construction. Still, a pretty nice place to visit. We will be back!

One Hundred and Ten

I have been messing with my film cameras again. A week ago, I went on a "photowalk" with Little P. and we ended up finishing 1 roll on the Nickelodeon Photoblaster. Aside from the NP, we also had with us my beloved Vivitar UWS and the Vivitar IC100. We did not have a 110 camera with us as the films I ordered did not arrive on time. But, they are here now, and the Matapora is sure to join the next 'walk.

Looks like 110 is alive again. A couple of weeks after I ordered an Ikimono camera Fukkatsu suddenly popped out on Flickr. Just check the load from Four Corner Store, all fresh.

My lowfi beauties are finally getting fed!!

Let Them Go

From the toy loving people of the Die-cast Car Collectors of the Philippines:


Fellow collectors,

One of the annual highlights of the 6th Christmas Toy Fair is the donation of toys to the less-fortunate children of our society. The beneficiaries for this year are Kythe Foundation for cancer-stricken children of the National Children's Hospital and ABS-CBN's Larunungan Kalinga Kapamilya Toy Drive for kindergarten students.

Unknown to some, DCPH is a regular contributor to this cause thru some of our kind-hearted members and it will be more special to participate now because we are staging our 1st Philippine Diecast and Custom Car Show during the Toy Fair event. Years ago, on our own, we also gave contributions to BATA Foundation, a charitable institution looking after abandoned street children, and to National Children's Hospital as well.

On behalf of the DCPH Execomm and 1st Philippine Diecast and Custom Car Show organizers, I'd like to ask for your humble contribution to this cause by donating your unused or extra toys to these children. Let's give our share in bringing smiles to these children's faces and make them forget even for a few moments their unfortunate condition. Toys may not necessarily be diecast cars. You may also donate other kinds or cash directly to Kythe Foundation.

For the toy donation, you may bring your items during the swapmeet day, Dec. 18 (Sun) and look for any DCPH Execomm member. The official turnover to them will be in the afternoon.

Thank you in advance for your generous contribution and may it reciprocate happiness to you as well. God bless you all and Merry Christmas, DCPH!

Going hungry..

And they have done it. The one thing to hook a toy VW Kombi and LEGO hobbyist.

This is the yet to be released LEGO VW Van - 10220.

No lunch breaks for me now!

* Picture scanned by Captain Eugene from Flickr.

Pour Sugar On Me

For summer, aside from Kiddie Crew, Little P. also attended an art workshop. Here are some of her work, a couple of them done at home.

Swat This Bug.

Here is a another menacing LEGO MOC made by Peer Kreuger (the same guy who made that really cool Metal Grudge). Looking like a mean robotic insect, it is actually an all-terrain camera quadpod with adjustable limbs. It also has a facility for having the camera face upwards or downwards.

Not made of basic bricks but I would take it.

2012 Is Over.

The cover image for the LEGO: The Official Annual 2012, which is talked about briefly here, has finally surfaced.

" This awesome annual is bursting with brilliant comics, games and activities about all your favourite LEGO® ranges, including LEGO® CITY, LEGO® Kingdoms and the awesome new ninja theme, LEGO® Ninjago! With LEGO® bricks to build and play with too, this is the perfect Christmas gift for LEGO® fans! "

Pandamonium

We do not like pandas here.

Table of Plenty

"Jesus said... the Kingdom of God is inside you, and all around you, not in mansions of wood and stone. Split a piece of wood... and I am there, lift a stone... and you will find me."

My Love in 3D

Our Heart

I found out today that the wifey will not be here on Valentine's Day, again. So, here is a quick LEGO build for her.

Yup, I do not have any money to get her anything else.

When Your Steps Get Numbered

Finding it quite hard to finish rolls inside the Photoblaster and the Vivitar UWS. Somehow the spontaneity of shooting goes out of the window when I am using film cameras. I keep on weighing whether it is okay to "waste" shots on garbage cans and street signs or just take photos of Little P. while she turns the house into a "pretty" mess. I did manage to finish a roll of Sensia 100 with the Viv last December. That one remains unprocessed though, waiting for the other two before being sent to the lab.

I am afraid that I will not find an analog groove any time soon. It is no fun when you are over-thinking before firing. My love for my VQs (1015 Entry and 1005) remains unmatched.

From Sand To Concrete

We went out to get Little P's prize from Build City the other day. It ended up being a big Racers set. Not really fit for a little girl. She opened it, looked at the sealed baggies and decided to sell it to her mom for funds to get a City Corner.

(Taken with the LEGO Camera.)

Little P is quite right, you cannot play Sylvanians with Racers.

Heaven In Technicolor

LEGO shopping in Singapore is like heaven. Not only because of the much better selection but also, and more importantly, because of the cheaper price. It is great to see sets going at prices close to, or even lower (with discounts) than, their US retail prices. Our local price goes from double to almost triple of retail, which is just plain crazy.

Of course, since we are trying to stay away from themed sets, we picked up mostly Bricks & More and a couple of City impulse sets with minifigs to go with them.

If you are hitting Singapore and plan to pick up a few sets, hop on over to A Modular Life for a fantastic shopping guide maintained by a nice AFFOL Erica.

It Is A Jungle Out There

The Zoo

We Flew

Pooh went with me.

I ♥ SQ.

So comfy even Pooh fell asleep.

Where to next? (",)

The Stuff That Makes Up The World

Getting the LEGO digital camera somehow rekindled my love for LEGO bricks and building. Little P. and I plan to amass tons of basic bricks for gazillions of constructing fun. Never mind the themed sets. I think having a brick stock and just grabbing some images off the net would be more fun. Plus, we love multicolor builds, "real" colors are just plain dull.