The year in (people) pictures

Some of the reasons why memorable 2007 will be missed. Link to slideshow. If I missed you, sorry. I took about 9,000 photos this year so I just scanned through my files quickly.

I'm thankful to the people who let a stranger like me into their homes. People who I met once and never saw again. People who have made me feel welcome to their country. People who have bothered to type the URL of this blog onto their browser or looked at my Flickr photos and YouTube videos. You have all made this year exceedingly special. I wonder how any year could be better, but we'll knock on wood that things will continue to look up.

Happy New Year to all!

Ye olde wooden Christmas decor

Deck the malls: TriNoMa

TriNoMa is in parts Glorietta/Market! Market!, in parts Greenbelt. I can't say whether or not I like the place, regardless of the pretentious name.

With friends

Saying that I've been to seven malls in ten days and met friends in five restaurants and two cafes sounds hectic, but it's not. That's Manila life for you.

Deck the malls: Gateway, Araneta Center

I was looking up from the ground floor. The butterflies appear to be made of paper.
Can't decide which version I like. The middle one is the original.

Sa araw ng Pasko

Christmas Day was great for taking photos, all the more because we were not at our house.

On the eve

Church of the Gesu, Ateneo de Manila

For your mp3 collection, part 10

Some seasonal ditties. Enjoy!

Bananaskin:"Lotta Love"-sounds just like that

Brian and Chris:"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"-spin a classic

The Dimes:"Salt and Foam"-but nowhere near the beach

The Hermit:"It Was A Better Time"-sounds like Gwen

Hello Saferide:"High School Stalker"-so high school, so fun

Maia Hirasawa:"Roselin"-missing a girl

Mojochronic:"Yuletide Zeppelin"-rockin' holiday

Owls:"Peppermint Patty"-like a Julie Taymor dream

Snow Angels:"All I Ever Get For Christmas Is Blue"-me too

The Superfantastics:"Tonight Tonite"-happy, really happy

Wild Sweet Orange:"I'm Coming Home"-para sa aking mga kababayan

The Miniature Earth + Consumerism the Musical

Over a year old, but worth seeing. These two together are thought-provoking. Merry Christmas, everyone.



[via forwarded email from Mems]



[via Boing Boing]

Pasko@Shangri-La Mall + tennis

The under the sea theme produced this cute jellyfish (right). The sound of the opening bars of Mi Mancherai pulled me out of Rustans and brought me to the performance area. Watched classical singer Jonathan Badon and three musicians on flute, piano and violin. He did an encore: Granada. He has amazing control of his voice, as well as some dedicated fans.

Papa played a few matches in the tournament at the hotel tennis court. He makes me laugh when he moves because he's so animated. But my favorite subject has to be the umpire, who didn't even have his own seat. The court lights lit him up well.

Babalik ka rin

Couldn't sleep on the 12-hour flight to Hong Kong, so I watched four movies. (Love video on demand on BA!)

Packing was an overwhelming task because my cabinets have just been fixed and everything in my room has been rearranged. Just like in Denmark, I collected a variety of cards in London.

Familiar faces. Just the first of many meet-ups to come.

Winter and the wardrobe

It might be a while before I dress this way again.

(Just finishing off my London backlog posts.)

Pop! goes the Weasel

Ceci pointed out to me that a verse of the nursery rhyme Pop Goes the Weasel refers to The Eagle pub on our street.

Autographs

You've probably heard who's the best and worst at giving autographs.

The first autograph I remember asking for was Ely Buendia's. That was in the 90s. It seems strange that ten years later, I'll be asking for autographs again. Worthless scribbles? Maybe so. But for at least two seconds, my journal was in their hands, and that's enough.

Can you tell which is whose? It's tricky but shouldn't be too hard if I give you the choices.

Keira Knightley
Jamie Foxx
Jennifer Garner
Cate Blanchett
Colin Firth (since donated to M)

Didn't include Kenneth Branagh, Daniel Craig and Geoffrey Rush because their autographs are way too obvious.

Meet me at St Pancras

St Pancras International, the new home of Eurostar.

Last scene syndrome

I thought this was hilarious.

My last night in London this year. I'm not dressed as respectably as my housemates. Harhar.

They wanted Belgian waffles. I wanted Ben & Jerry's (never tried it). As we couldn't have either, we all had gelato.

The Trafalgar Square tree was a letdown. Sure, it's tall, but it ain't pretty at all.