working weekend

Last weekend was a working weekend for me, we have a shoot in Batangas. We left Quezon City Friday night, around 6:00pm and the traffic was horrible, from C5 to Expressway. We arrived at Caltex gas station past 8:00pm and had dinner at Tokyo Tokyo restaurant. We were hungry na and the sumo meals we ordered barely kept us full hehehe...we arrived in Tagaytay past 10pm.

With my cousin, Nessan and nephew Miggs

There was nothing to do much in Tagaytay, while my Dad and I went to Batangas for the shoot, my mom, sister, cousin and nephew ate, slept, watched dvds, and walked around the subdivision. The weather was really nice, not too cold but not too hot, tama lang. Temperature drops in the wee hours. My nephew really liked the fog that appears early in the morning, it was his first time to walk in a fog kasi hehehe...


My family eating, doing nothing....just eating : )

We went back to Manila on a Sunday, after lunch. This time traffic was a breeze that we decided to drop by at Serendra at the Fort. We did some window shopping and my ever hungry nephew bugged us to eat, after buying some doughnuts at Krispy Kreme, we ate at Brother's Burger. Good thing there wasn't much of a crowd that day, we were able to get a table, some days it gets crowded there its impossible to get a table. After merienda, we went home na...tired of driving around, we slept the whole afternoon.

Photos taken at Serendra "under" a fountain

yummy goodies

some yummy goodies i've had in the past days...

below, Sapin-Sapin from Aling Kika's authentically from Cainta, Rizal. Very well-known in the area when it comes to native delicacies. My mom asked a helper to buy this for my nephew's school assignment --which is to bring any filipino food for sharing with his classmates because it was Linggo ng Wika. I am not really fond of kakanins because I find it too heavy for my tummy, a small slice is more than enough for me. This Sapin-Sapin is okey, not too sweet and a thin strip of langka gives a different flavor. But I'd still prefer palitaw or maja blanca over sapin-sapin.

Napansin niyo ba? The box says Special Bibingka, pero Sapin-Sapin ang laman....what kind of Bibingka kaya do they have? Hmmmm....maybe next time I'll get that one...





A couple of weekends ago, I experimented again and volunteered to cook our dinner. Based again on Yummy Magazine, I made a version of Coco Pollo or Ginataang Manok (photos above). Ingredients were coconut milk, chicken, garlic, onion, kangkong and chicken stock. I sauteed the garlic, onion and chicken, followed by the coconut milk and chicken stock, after simmering, I added the kangkong leaves. I think I used a lot of coconut milk and chicken stock causing a soupy viand, it should be creamy. Sa katamaran ko, I only eyeballed the liquid ingredients, feeling ko ang galing ko na hehehe....I will try again and will follow the exact measurements. The taste was okay according to my guinea pigs (my family) or maybe they just said that kasi wala na silang choice but to eat what I cooked. Wala na kasing ibang ulam hahaha...


I've had a homemade pizza courtesy of my sister, i don't know what kind of pizza she made, but it has pepperoni, black olives, mushroom, onion and cheese (dont know what kind too). the dough was chewy, I prefer it to be crispy. Though the flavor of the pizza sauce is good. She is experimenting with pizzas and calzones lately, so I hope to eat some more hehehe...

cge, kakain muna ako ng flat tops nagutom ako sa post ko hahaha!

batchmates

Last Monday the Philippine government declared a non-working holiday, its National Heroes Day. This made it possible for me and my sorority batchmates (me, Karina, Dots with hubby Bingo) to have lunch and catch up on what's the latest. Karina organized the lunch cum get-together cum kwentuhan chismisan session.

We all met at Chelsea Cafe in Serendra, Fort Bonifacio. Though it was drizzling we had a great long lunch catching up on things. We went to Sonja's for coffee and dessert where I ate a flourless choco cupcake which is soooo rich, that its meant to be shared according to Arlene. Then we went window shopping to burn all the calories we ate.

We talked about family, college friends, work, kids, even insurance and trust funds! Which I believe reflects our age because we never talked about this before, and we now meet for lunch! before we meet for dinner and to go out, and way way back we meet to party and drink! hahaha!

Here's a pic of us (wipe out yata ang food!) courtesy of Arlene, hope to post some more from Karina's camera.



Those who weren't able to make it, Kim, Gayle and Lorie, next time ha...when kaya yun?

For Cherish and Martina, we miss you guys!

sunday cooking

I am not much of a cook, my family and close friends knows this BUT i love eating, buying food and reading anything about food. I love food magazines, food blogs, watching the food network etc. Most of all I LOVE going to the grocery! I even want to have an S&R membership but Fort Bonifacio is too far from my house for my weekly grocery shopping...I hope they build one near Marikina or Libis or Cubao -- calling S&R!!!!

My sister is more talented when it comes to this field especially baking, she is a doctor wannabe baker/pastry chef. I am her willing guinea pig and I buy her the utensils and ingredients she needs if budget permits.

But last weekend, I was able to cook a dish called 3-in-1 casserole which I got from Yummy Magazine, the recipe is by Pixie Sevilla-Santos. This pasta dish is so simple and very easy to make, both young and old will love it. The dish has fettucine, corned beef, cream of mushroom, creamstyle corn, cheese, butter, bread crumbs, garlic and onion. I use canola or olive oil to saute the corned beef for my diabetic honey and light unsalted butter. Eat with toasted garlic bread or french bread...

Here's a pic courtesy of my sis



If you want the recipe, just e-mail me : ) I also made hummus to be served with pita bread, though I was able to finish the hummus, I didn't serve it last weeked...it went to the ref due to abundance of the pasta dish and 2 kinds of pizza made by my sister. I plan to eat it later tonight, midnight snack hehehe...

Kazu & Mae

Date: August 8, 2007
Preparation: Manila Hotel
Church: Manila Cathedral
Reception: Villa Immaculada
Gown: Edward Teng

Kazu and Mae got married on a stormy day, but no rain, wind and flood will stop the young couple from getting married and having a good time. It was after all a sunny day for them : )

my morning walk

Just this morning, I left the house around 9:00am. I usually walk from our house to the village gate to take an FX that will take me to the studio. The walk takes about 5 to 10 minutes and I do enjoy this because it serves as an exercise for me. This morning walk is different from my previous walks because it happened to be that a neighbor was just about to leave for work too and decided to walk with me. Although I am not really close to our neighbors, I know their names and some kind of history about them. My neighbor is the same age as my mom and works as an insurance agent and since I am polite and respectful, I greeted her...but I think I should've seen what is coming... the conversation went something like this (though medyo shortened na):

Me: Good morning po
Neighbor: Hello good morning! Kamusta ka na?
Me: Mabuti naman po
Neighbor: Saan ka na nagtatrabaho ngayon?
Me: Ay sa studio po namin, matagal tagal na po ako dun...
Neighbor: Ano ginagawa mo doon? Nagca-camera ka na rin ba?
Me: Tumutulong po ako kela mama sa studio (i didn't elaborate on my duties ...)
Neighbor: Ahhh masaya ka ba dun? Okey ba ang trabaho mo?
Me: Okey naman po?
Neighbor: Yan ba talaga ang gusto mo sa buhay? Magkano ba ang kinikita mo? Baka gusto mo kumita ng mas malaki?!
Me: (I know where the conversation is going and I know that I dont want to say yes) Okey naman po
Neighbor: Ah talaga? E kunyari ngayon may gusto ka bilin ano yun?
Me: Ay wala po! Masaya po ako, di ko po iniisip mga materyal na bagay lahat po ng kinikita namin para sa pamilya, sa mga pamangkin ko na nag-aaral
Neighbor: Ganun ba? Kasi magkano ba kinikita mo ngaun yung sweldo mo?
Me: Ay wala po ako sweldo sa mommy ko
Neighbor: Eh bakit?
Me: Di naman po kailangan, pag may kailangan ako sinasabi ko lang (I am wary of people who asks how much you earn, especially if they are not family or very close friends,its something personal and money is always a bad subject)
Neighbor: Aahhh, okey kasi iimbatahan sana kita maging agent sa insurance company ko. Yung ate mo nga eh na-invite ko na kaya lang lagi syang busy yata
Me: Naku marami po kasi kame ginagawa ngayon, grabe ang trabaho din nung ate ko tapos nag-aasikaso pa sa mga bata
Neighbor: Kahit ikaw na lang at mommy mo
Me: Wala po kasi kami talaga time diyan eh... (im walking faster now para makarating na ako sa sakayan so i can bye bye na)
Neighbor: O sige, can I just make an appoinment sa office nyo para makapag-present sa inyo
Me: Ah eh sa bahay na lang po siguro pag hindi na kame busy (nasa sakayan na at gusto ko na pumara ng FX)
Neighbor: Ganun ba? Kunin ko na lang celfone number mo
Me: (Patay!) cge po, 0917XXXXXXX (neighbor saving my digits to her celfone)
Neighbor: Ah iha ano nga pangalan mo?
Me: (Ano??!!!! Di mo alam pangalan ko? Kanina pa tayo nag-uusap at more than 15 years na tayo magkapitbahay! Hallerrr?) Ah Sheila po name ko
Neighbor: Ay nakua pasensya ka na, nalimutan ko, ikaw nga pala si Sheila. O sige, tatawagan kita ha.
Me: Sige po, sasakay na ako

I really find it funny that she doesn't know me, when she had given me all these spiels and when she acted so friendly and the fact that she tried to recruit me to be her insurance agent or to buy insurance from her (no offense to those who works for the insurance industry, i just know that i am not cut out for this kind of work). at the end of our conversation, tatanungin nya ako kung sino nga ako? hilarious talaga!!!! ay grabe! sobra talaga! natatawa ako when i boarded the FX. I thought this one is for the record. If i saw a familiar face or friend, I wouldn't initiate a business transaction if I can't remember her/his name, its too embarrassing and akward kaya. The mere memory loss of a person's face to match a name is super diyahe what more if you sell them something no?!

Haayyy! So much for my morning walk...I should've waited for my parents na lang kanina hehehe...

Thess

This is a portrait of Thess, she got married to Fang last December 2006. As I was reviewing the photos they selected for their album, I saw this shot. I thought that its a great portrait of Thess and I missed it before when I was scanning their photos, what my eyes sees is different from what you see - maybe that is why i missed this one. I guess it is also true that "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"...

I like the plants in the background, it somehow gives a different feel to the photo, don't you think so?

Opher & Gracia

Date: July 14, 2007
Hotel Preps: Diamond Hotel
Church: St. Michael Church, Fort Bonifacio
Reception: Philippine Army Officer Clubhouse
Make-up: Jacq Laurente
Coordinator: Magdiwang Events/Michael Ruiz

Jojo & Monette

Date: June 11, 2007
Church: San Agustin
Reception: Cherry Blossoms Hotel

black & white

black and white photos are timeless...don't you think so?

website and some fave photos

We are in the process of revising our official website, www.tricolorstudio.com. Our friend from Sheero Media Solutions are helping us design the website. I will blog about it once our new site is up.

You will see one of the photos here in our new website.

Mike & Iya GK Couple

A couple of months ago, we did a pre-nuptial pictorial at a Gawad Kalinga sponsored community somewhere in Quezon City. Our couple, Mike and Iya, suggested this place mainly because it has a special meaning to them -- they both volunteered to teach the kids at the GK day care center. It is a first for us to shoot in a place like this and it was quite a challenge, but nevertheless, we had fun there, the people were nice especially the kids. I love Mike and Iya, they are such generous souls. I hope them all the best in their married life...

Here are some shots....

PLDT update

We got back our phone service last June 22, 2007, finally!!!
PLDT's customer service sent an e-mail regarding the rebate, stating that they will give us a rebate for non-service from June 12 to 21 (amounting to Php200+). Though the amount of money will never be able to compensate the inconvenience they've caused, I am glad that they did not made a fuss about it. However, the e-mail did not mention anything about how they will improve their service to us, which I think is very important. No word on what caused the problem and how will they make sure that it won't happen again. Oh well, I guess I'll just wait and see how would it go for one whole month. After that, we will probably just use our Bayantel number.
So please take note, dial 4338245. Salamat!

new contact number (and a rant on PLDT's service)

We have a new telephone number because PLDT's service is getting bad each day. We don't have phone service now, its been
eleven days, it started last June 11, 2007 until now. We reported the problem at their office last June 12 or 13 and again last June 20. But until now, no service. No visit from their technical service whatsoever. I sent an e-mail to their customer service thru their website and someone did reply, telling how sorry they are and will immediately request for a repair team to check our line and informing me too that we can get a rebate. But here's the catch, the rebate computation will start on the date we reported our problem to 173. Well, we did not call 173 because we went directly to the nearest PLDT office which I think is better than dialing a number with a recorded message which will hold you for about 15 minutes or so. I thought that talking to a customer representative face to face is much more effective than talking on the phone....by the way, their rep at their office did not inform us to call 173. Go figure what their process is when it comes to handling complaints from their subscribers.

I should have learned from the bad service they gave us before when we got their DSL service, hindi nila mabuo ang isang buwan na walang service interruption. I decided to unsubscribe from their DSL service last 2005. And now malapit na rin itong landline, my patience is running out. Maybe majority of you out there gets good service from PLDT, and I say you are lucky and I envy you guys. But unfortunately, we are the unlucky ones. So here's our new number (Bayantel service - i hope they are better!) and other contact details. Have a nice day!

Jen and Jun's Wedding

We had a great time shooting Jen and Jun's wedding last April 18, 2007. Although the groom doesn't speak a word of english and tagalog, he is Japanese, it was so easy to shoot him. We had so much fun when Jen started translating what we were saying to Jun because our sign language were not that good hehehe....we were glad that the photos turned out good in spite of the language barrier.

News and Tagaytay

I will not make an excuse anymore for not being a regular blogger because I am really not a regular blogger (but I am still dreaming to post regularly hehehe...). I am more of a regular reader of other people's blogs. I am really busy. My life is like a cycle now, June - busy with weddings and school IDs, August - same with June, September and October - low season in wedding but does post production of school shoots, November - school grad pics and start of busy wedding season, December to early April - lahat na sama-sama...school, weddings, events, March, April, May - wedding pa rin, exhibits/bridal fairs tapos June na again! So its just like a cycle. Wala pa dyan yung ibang work and personal stuff. Minsan nakaka-overwhelm and it just makes me wanna stop and relax. Work sucks hehehe!!!

I got a little bit of relaxation when we went to Batangas for a meeting with one of our clients. After the meeting, we had a quick lunch at Lemery and proceeded to Tagaytay. We visited my uncle's house which is still under construction, pag natapos ito, it would be great to accept Tagaytay weddings which means less cost for us because no need to rent a hotel room for the crew.


On the way home, we had coffee at Rowena's (right side of the road after turning left from tagaytay going to sta.rosa). we ordered cappucinos and i'm sharing with you some "coffee art"




By the way, I had sheperd's pie and hot choco at Bag of Beans in Tagayay. But sad to say, it was quite disappointing. its not good in my opinion. but here's pic


Right now i am craving for these cream puffs! gotta go to megamall for these....


I will post some wedding photos soon! Ciao!

i lost my celfone

this is a rant post. i just lost my celfone a couple of hours ago. there goes the contact numbers of my clients, family, friends and even strangers.but i'd like to correct myself, my cel didn't get lost...it was stolen! stolen by a worthless guy who pretended to be the newspaper delivery boy, telling me that "manang" (the one who really delivers our newspaper) sent him. Stupid of me to believe him....oh well...lesson learned....

and it is also unfortunate that i am 2 days away from a wedding shoot where i have to coordinate a lot of things. i even texted whoever took my cel to just return the sim card and he can have my nokia unit for himself. but ofcourse, i know that he will not return my sim card.

so for you guys who wants to contact me, you may email me at tricolor_studio@yahoo.com or call our studio at 9136553.

next thing to do is buy a new cel....haaayyyyy..........

From This Day Forward: A Bridal Fair

There will be a bridal fair on April 14-15 at Pasadena Convention Center, Los Angeles, California aptly called "From This Day Forward" organized by Lavish! The Art of Celebration, check them out at www.alavishevent.com. We really wanted to join and give our support to the organizers, but due to some commitments here, we couldn't go (its graduation season here so i might get sued if i don't honor our contracts hehehe...). But we have an ad placement for the event's directory, first pic which i posted here.

I wish the organizers and all the exhibitors all the best!!! Show them what we Filipinos can do!

update and thank you themes n motifs!

Its been a very loooonnnngggg time since I updated my blog, as usual I've been very busy with work. After the busy months of January and February for weddings, March and April is here now and I am tied up with school graduations and annual photos. I am really looking forward to having a break during the holy week, i am planning to sort/edit tons of photos and hopefully, some shots could end up in my blog.

I am also quite thrilled that we would get a sure slot or 50% discount on the next Wedding Expo that will be organized by Themes n Motifs! We won this just by having their logo on my blog....how cool is that huh!?! Thanks so much Themes n Motifs and we really look forward joining you again.

I will leave you guys with this photo/flyer for now.....