September Updates

Well, nothing to start the weekend off with a bang... Should have noticed the depression on Friday night which eventually turned out to be quite a wild tropical storm. No one forecasted it and it just slammed into Philippines from midnight... headed straight to Vietnam.



1. Tropical Storm Ondoy - 20090926

Check out the satellite pictures of the hit-zone and travel path of the tropical storm (pic courtesy of Typhoon 2000)

Before (L - Clear bright skies with the buildings visible) and During the storm (R - with vicious and threatening clouds hovering on the mid section of the building)

Depression taking over in just a matter of hours.... the beginning of Ondoy!

2. Huawei Sportsfest 2009 -

And not long before, I was involved in the Sportsfest 09. Originally, we only participated in basketball but due to some fortunate turn of events, our loss in the basketball meant that our schedule was freed up and co-incidentally, the badminton team was lacking of players. So, Ric invited me to partner him and voila... before you know it, we were in the semis and the following day for finals, which we eventually won after rubber match. For me, it was totally rubbish from me but we still won it! muuahahaha... It was totally unexpected and of course, apart from the trophy below, we won some cash as well... it was bonus.

Now, because of that, I am nursing an injury to my arm for 2 weeks now, hahaha... courtesy of the championship win! ... but it was all worth it... nothing to worry about.. just a minor sprain. :-)

Championship trophy sitting pretty in the living room

3. Hari Raya 2009 Philippines -

Last week was the end of Ramadan and of course, even though far from home, we had our fair share of Rendang. We visited the Msian Ambassador's open house in Forbes Park, which is not far from Makati and truly feasted on all those sumptuous delicacies on offer... we had Mee Rebus, Daging Rendang, Dhal, etc. It was really good!

Picture (L) is the official plate for the Msian government while...Picture (R) is the balance of what was left after 15 minutes between 4 of us.

Unfortunately, Malaysians are Malaysians and I was actually expecting more than just the food. However, the reception was lukewarm (although it did not bother me that much). Apart from the initial greeting of 'Masuk Masuk...' and 'Makan makan'... I thought the government officials could have done something more with the 1Malaysia theme! But kudos to them for organizing these functions... at least it feels closer to home. :-)

4. Tagaytay 20090920

Well, it has been a long time ago since I last visited Tagaytay... not since those days when I was still the regional PM for South Luzon and it felt good revisiting the place again. Didnt dawned on me then that the place had anything special but this time around, I thought it was kinda nice. Probably because we had a motive this time. It was a good photoshoot for us... Some of the captured amateur shots below...

I just love the tranquility and the mist that surrounded that moment. Picture captured by Lai.

Sonja's Garden in Tagaytay. Mystifying yet charming. I am already planning a trip there. Its more of a relaxing retreat. For me, its also the photo ops.

...Also part of Sonja's Garden. The plentiful of flowers surrounding it makes nature seem more, pretty. I wouldnt recommend going there during summer though especially for those allergic to hay. :-)

A class above all as well, Taal Vista Hotel where we stayed. It is overlooking the smallest volcano in the world, the Taal Volcano.

Amongst the hundreds of shots taken at Tagaytay during a weekend trip with the group.

5. I am planning on a new toy... the perfect combination of a Canon EOS 5D Mark II Digital Camera (L- body only) and a Canon EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM (R). Surveyed the price and it goes for a whopping (L - MYR 12,750) and (R - MYR9,750)... a combined total of MYR22,500!!

So, apart from the investments I was talking about previously, this will be right there at the top. any philantropist out there? heee heeee... there you go... my wish list! :-)

6. Ric has finally got his blog up and running. Let me welcome him here at http://rastading.blogspot.com/. A new edition from the Madagascar group! hahahaha...

7. This year, I have got more advanced birthday wishes than at any point of my entire life. The only thing I can deduce from this is that everyone is too busy that they might forget the real date when it happens, as it happens. But strange... an advanced birthday wish is somewhat... less of a reason than that of a belated birthday wish. Thats my point of view.

8. Another typhoon is slotted to make its way to Philippines making landfall on 1st October 2009... code named 'Pepeng' or 'Parma'

Prediction path tracker/ plotter for the TD (pic courtesy of Typhoon 2000)

9. Let's just hope it doesnt hit Manila again... OR ELSE... it will be a real disaster since not many have recovered from the tragedy last week. Based on the tracker above, hopefully, it will plough straight into Luzon!

Think that's all for now.... more laters. Ciaoooo!