Happy Valentine's Day!

Show your loved one that you REALLY care about them.

Valentine's has always been about love and family and food. It has also always been celebrated on February 14. This year, why don't we celebrate Valentine's everyday?

Some restaurants are helping Virlanie do this by being Virlanie's Valentine. When you eat in the following restaurants, part of the proceeds of your meal will feed a child for an entire year. Imagine that!

For more info on how to become a partner restaurant,

visit www.virlanie.org

Virlanie's Partner Restaurants:

Antonio's of Tagaytay
For reservations: 0918-899-2866

Astralis by Diamond Hotel
Lopez Drive, Powerplant Mall, Rockwell, Makati City
For reservations: 703-2688

Azuthai
G/F Milky Way Building 900 A. Arnaiz (Pasay Road), Makati City
For reservations: 817-6252/813-0671

Bizu Patisserie
G/F Greenbelt 2 Esperanza St., Ayala Center, Makati City
For reservations: 757-2498

Capricciosa
Greenbelt 3 3/F Ayala Center Makati City
For reservations: 8171586

Cav Wine Shop Café
G/F The Spa Building Lot 5, Quadrant 8, City Center, Fort Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
For reservations: 856-1798

Cibo Gateway
8003 Aurora Tower, Araneta Center, Quezon City
For reservations: 913-2426 or 9119277

Cuillère
Units 1C-06 and 1C-07 Serendra, Bonifacio High Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
For reservations: 916-7394/856-3325

Il Ponticello
2/F Antel 2000, 121 Valero St., Makati City
For reservations: 887-7168

L'Incontro
207 Nicanor Garcia (formerly Reposo) Street Makati City
For reservations: 899-0638 to 39

People's Palace
G/F Garden Side, Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center, Makati City
For reservations: 729-2888

Restaurant 101 of Enderun Colleges
2/F Wynsum Corporate Plaza, 22 F. Ortigas Jr. Road, Ortigas Center, Pasig City
For reservations: 638-5555 local 101

Sala Bistro
G/F Garden Side, Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center, Makati City
For reservations: 729-7500

BIG PLANS...

Woohoo... I've got big plans for the end of this year... something involving the colors blue & white... hmmm... what could it be? Hehehehe... It's something I will have to save up for...

But that's still a year away... a lot can happen in a year. Til then, I'm off to Macau til Monday! Woohoo! (Not the same woohoo as my upcoming big plan, but a different woohoo... hahahaha)

PLEASE HELP STOP THIS!

...on opportunities...

I was watching Evan All Mighty, and I never really found it that funny. But there were a few lines in the movie that I found very moving.

"When people pray for patience, does God give them patience? Or does he give them opportunities to be patient?"

Sometimes, we pray for signs... and foolishly wait for literal signs. God sends us signs all the time. And provides us with opportunities to get what we pray for every step of the way.

But, he can only show us the door... we have to choose to walk through it.

FINALLY!

After YEARS... I finally added ONE more link in my portfolio for my photos... under "Pixels". Hahahaha... hopefully I'll find the energy to add my music, and larger pop-ups of my graphic work as well some time. Hahahaha...

Bonne Année à tous!

(New Year's Countdown at Fort Bonifacio 31-12-2008)
HAPPY 2009!!!!!

May this year be filled with unexpected
twists...
turns...
corners...
bends...
detours...
(this is getting a bit too driving oriented...)
surprises...
...and everything else that makes life interesting!!!

Joyeux Noël à tous!

"Reason for the Season"

I've been very blessed throughout my life. I've never had a bad job, and I've always been good at managing the little money that I make. I've also never been much into charity (I never really believed in it)... but this year, I felt like doing something different. The Virlanie Foundation is selling Christmas cards, which I bought to give out as gifts to my friends. For a few of my closest friends, I decided to secretly pledge a year (hopefully I can afford to sustain it much longer) in their name. They will get a letter from their sponsored child. as well as regular updates from Virlanie. It's not much, but I hope that the little I can give would at least inspire some of them to donate (or convince their employers or companies to do so) as well.

Virlanie feeds, clothes, houses, and most importantly, educates homeless children with the hope that they may make a better future for themselves than what life has dealt them.

favorite quotes...

I've recently found a few quotes that I really seem to like now...

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change."
- Charles Darwin

"Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow."
- William Pollard

"Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see."
- Arthur Schopenhauer

"Every time you look into the future, it changes... because you looked at it."
- Nicholas Cage in the movie Next

Fairy tales can come true...

My entry for JPGmag's new theme "Fairy Tale"

"Not by the Book"

Thanks to everyone who attended my sister's book launch "Not by the Book". The exhibit will still be running until Sunday in Greenbelt 3.

Read about it here... Style Bible Ph

Wine tip for the day

Do NOT serve any wine above 20°C (68°F)

Spring cleaning...

Having a cold keeps me from going out... still wanting to be productive (or out of sheer boredom), I decided to continue my never-ending saga of spring cleaning.

I'm just amused at some of the things I found in my pile of junk (It's like an Indiana Jones archeological dig!)... most of them are still functional!

Windmill of my mind...

...on living and dying...

"The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one."-- J.D. Salinger

SonyEricsson WorldView 2008

Please vote for any/all of my photo entries on SonyEricsson's WorldView 2008.

Their site is a bit buggy, the direct link voting doesn't seem to work, so to vote, do the following

If none of the direct links work (SE's site is kinda buggy)

Click here
Then when the new window pops up:
1) On the bottom bar, click China & APAC
2) Select Philippines
3) Look for any of these photos. :P

Parisian sunrise

Tour Eiffel

Place des Vosges

Falling...

Beach wood

Candlelight

*You can vote for all of my photos. :P*

God will save me...

There was an old man sitting on his porch watching the rain fall. Pretty soon the water was coming over the porch and into the house.

The old man was still sitting there when a rescue boat came and the people on board said, "You can't stay here you have to come with us."

The old man replied, "No, God will save me." So the boat left. A little while later the water was up to the second floor, and another rescue boat came, and again told the old man he had to come with them.

The old man again replied, "God will save me." So the boat left him again.

An hour later the water was up to the roof and a third rescue boat approached the old man, and tried to get him to come with them.

Again the old man refused to leave stating that, "God will save him." So the boat left him again.

Soon after, the man drowns and goes to heaven, and when he sees God he asks him, "Why didn't you save me?"

God replied, "You dummy! I tried. I sent three boats after you!!"

------------------------------

I was watching "Pursuit of Happyness" on HBO again, and I remembered this part of the movie... John's moral... some people are just dumb... hahahahaha...

...made in China...

I think it's sad that the world had to wait for this whole milk crisis thing to happen... but in a way, I'm glad it did. I'm so sick of everything being made (poorly) in China. I'm sick of the whole fantasy of having 'cheap quality'... sorry to all the delusional economists out there... you get what you pay for. In the end, the idea of having 'better, cheaper, faster' products... one will always be sacrificed, and in this day and age of microwavable-I-need-it-yesterday-crap... 'better' is always the first to go.

I'm happy that in the search for alternatives to China, companies are now looking to closer neighbors. Some Austrian & German companies are outsourcing to Poland or the Czech republic. US companies are going back to outsourcing in Mexico. Makes more sense, with the rising fuel prices, pay less for logistics, and more for labor. Buy local, buy quality... don't buy just because it's friggin' cheap.

Hopefully this teach consumers a lesson as well. Quality over quantity.

...poor me...

...snif...snif... to ease my "Parisian homesickness" ... I'm now in Bohol to comfort myself by having wine on the beach... hehehe...

..I miss walking...

...I miss walking in Paris... not just for the sights... but walking to everything. I miss walking to my corner baker to buy my breakfast. I miss walking to the Metro. I miss walking along the Seine at night. It's funny because I'm not exactly the type who longs for exercise. I would walk a total of at least 10km everyday.

I actually walked to the local deli tonight to buy bread to make myself a sandwich. I think I can do this tomorrow morning... I've always wanted to be a "morning person"... it's just that the morning always comes so early! Hahahaha. But I enjoyed walking to the deli. Maybe I can make this my morning walk...and give myself an excuse to watch the sun rise.