What I Like About...ChristmasTraditions

I love traditions and Christmas time is the best time for observing traditions. Traditions always bring happy memories and we never grow tired of them.

One of the Christmas tradition that I love is - caroling.

When I was in high school, we had a group that cut across the four year levels. Our group would always go caroling once advent starts. We would go around our small town and carol house to house. The money that we got from caroling was used to buy little gifts for children of underprivileged families in our town. We distributed these gifts during Christmas day.

I have written a longer article about caroling as a Christmas tradition. Please check this out.
Christmas-Tradition-Caroling-in-Small-Towns-and-Big-Cities

My daughter and her friends caroling at home

What I Like About ...Christmas

Christmas is my favorite time of the year. Everything about Christmas makes me feel warm and cozy and happy.
So below are some reasons why I love Christmas... or what I like about Christmas:

•  I love the spirit of giving
• the sounds of bells especially during early morning
• the sounds of Christmas carols
• the cool air and nippy weather
• the sparkling lights
• the decor
• the Christmas trees
• the food especially the baked goodies (I don't like fruitcake though, sorry!)
• the happy faces of everybody. Somehow everyone seems to be in a happy mood
• the colors 
• the tradition

Oh, I could go on and on about Christmas but you get what I mean. There is really something special about Christmas. So I thought I would write a series about Christmas.

I have just published an article about the Christmas colors. If you want to know how the Christmas colors originated, then please check out my article over at HubPages. Please click on the link below.
http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Colors-of-Christmas-Red-Green-and-Gold

What I Like About ... Frames

When you exhibit photos or art works what do you usually do? Frame them, right?
Frames always add something to the photo or the painting. Frames can be simple or can be ornate. Either way, they always add context and focus to any picture. However, the frames that I am talking about today are the frames that you create while you are still taking a picture. This is a photo tip that I learned early on when I started my photography adventure.

Adding a frame to a scene or object as you take the photo somehow creates a more focused and interesting picture. The frame can be natural or it can man-made. Do check out my hub on how frames add something to a photo.
http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Improve-your-Photography-Frame-It

Frame it!

What I Like About...Names

As I redesigned and organized this blog, I realized that I lack the letter "N" in my alphabetically-likes series. I wondered what happened to the "N" blog and then I remembered that I pulled it down because it contained so many personal details. I was warned by some friends not to put out on the web so many personal details.

So today, I decided to fill in the missing "N". I still am going to write about names, but this time, the names will be generic and not personal. I will write more about the reasons for giving the specific name.

Anyway, I find names fascinating because there is always a story behind the use of a certain name. Why were you given a specific name? I discovered several reasons. If the reason for your name is not in the following list, then please add it here. I would like to hear from you.

what is in a name?

Here are some reasons why you are given a certain name:

• Your name is based on the saint's feast day on the calendar. This is especially true those who are Roman Catholics. So for example if your birthday is today, you might have the name "Callistus" because it is St. Callistus' feast day today (Oct 14).
• Your name is based on the favorite actor or actress/author/singer/idol of your parents. So for example, you might be named Harry (Potter) or Charice (Pempengco) or Angelina (Jolie) or Oprah or John Lloyd (Cruz) or Rafael (Nadal).
• Your parents hope that you will turn out to be the next scientist or world leader or philosopher so you are given the name "Einstein" or "Indira" or "Corazon" or "Descartes"
• Your name is combination of your parents' or grandparents' names. So it might be "Jonel", a combination of John and Elizabeth, or "Jumila", combination of Justo and Milagros
• You are born on a specific day of the week or month of year, so your name is "May" or "Tuesday" or "January"
• You are born on a significant date or day, so your name is "Millenium" or "Ondoy" (typhoon here in the Philippines) or "Katrina" (hurricane in the USA)  
• You are the junior of your parents. So you are John, Jr., or Marian, Jr. I know of certain families who name their children as John, Jr, John II, John III, John IV, etc. 
• All the names in your family start with the letters of your parents names. All the boys follow the father's name or the girls the mother's or it can be the other way around. So if your parents names are Peter and Mary, then maybe your names are: Paul, Pedro, and Pistachio; or Martha, Maritess, and Marilyn; or Patricia, Peggy and Paula; or Mario, Maximo, and Medardo
• Your parents stayed in some foreign country or studied some foreign language and they fell in love with some of the foreign sounding names like: Keira (Irish), Mahinhin (Pilipino), Akiko (Japanese), Celio (Portugese)
• Your parents consulted numerology or horoscope so your name must exhibit a certain vibration or must sum up to a specific number, etc. So your name is "John Paul Castro" which comes up to the number 11. Number 11 is characterized by high spirituality, intuition, etc.
• Your parents were hoping for a baby girl or boy so they prepared only for girls' or boys' names. Then you turn out to be of the opposite sex (this was before the advent of ultrasound) and your parents did not bother to find another name but just changed the sex of the name. So your name was originally "Teresita" but you turn out to be a boy, so now you are named "Teresito"

These are just some of the reasons I gathered why you are given a specific name. If you know of other reasons, please add them here in the comments. Thank you!

I wrote a longer article about names. Check out this link.
What-is-In-a-Name-How-Did-You-Get-Your-Name

What I like about...photographing old buildings

Inside an old Spanish building

I love photographing old buildings because of their architectural details. I took this from inside an old Spanish houses found at the Villa Acuzar resort here in the Philippines. Aren't the lines and details cool?

What I Like About ... Architectural details

I love looking at and taking photos of architectural details in buildings. These details always tell some story about the building and its owners.

What I Like About ... Boracay

I love going to Boracay. I have been there countless times but I still keep going back every year. Why?

Well, there are reasons and reasons and I have written about these in hubs before.

A-Paradise-Called-Boracay

Why-People-Love-Boracay

However, aside from all the reasons I have written about before, there is one more reason, and that is – I keep discovering something new every time I visit. There is always a new hotel, or restaurant or activity or product to explore. 

What I discover is not necessarily new in Boracay but just new to me, just like what I am sharing today – the Boracay Beach Club. This is not really a new beach club in Boracay but I only learned about it when I visited last August.  

Frontage of Boracay Beach Club

So how did I discover Boracay Beach Club if it is not that new? Well, Olga, their Director of Sales & Marketing, read one of my hubs about Boracay and sent me a letter when she learned that I was going to Boracay again last August. We then agreed to see each other and so we met.  The rest as they say is history.

So in this blog today, I am sharing some photos about Boracay Beach Club (BBC), my new discovery about Boracay. 

Boracay Beach Club although it is along the main road of Boracay, is not easy to spot because of its unassuming frontage. That’s the reason why I did not notice it during my previous trips to Boracay. However, once you get inside, you will discover a very welcoming and relaxing atmosphere. 

receiving area of BBC

The view from their top floor is that of the famous Boracay beach.  So how would you like to wake up every morning and have a view of the beach while having your coffee and reading the papers? Wonderful, isn’t it?

View of Boracay beach from the top floor of BBC

 

 Even if the Boracay beach is just a few steps away, BBC (just like most of the hotels in Boracay) also has its own swimming pool.

BBC swimming pool

Boracay Beach Club

 

BBCs rooms are comfortable and reasonably priced plus they have promo packages all year round. http://boracaybeachclub.com/index.html

Olga invited us to visit Ariel’s Point, BBC’s eco-adventure get-away. BoracayBeachClub-arielspoint Unfortunately, I got sick the next day and so we did not get a chance to visit this wonderful place. We will probably try it when we visit Boracay again next year. This is something I look forward to.

By the way, I wrote about our (Olga’s and mine) encounter in a previous post. Both of us are RedGagers. Thus our meeting last August was really exciting!

------------
Additional info:
I have just published one more hub about Boracay. Please check it out.
The-Best-Beach-in-the-Southeast-Asia-Side-of-the-World

What I Like About...Watching Ants

 I love watching ants. I always learn something from them as I watch them go about their "business" of making a living.

This morning, I was out with my camera in our small garden. I was looking for something to photograph and I found some ants scurrying about along a metal wire that stretched from our fence to a tree. I have taken so many ant pictures before so I just watched them for a while without taking photos. Then I noticed that several of them were carrying some injured/dead fellow ants while others were carrying eggs. I suddenly thought of an idea - - - what if I placed some food across their path, what will they do?  

So I went inside the house to get some food and put a few pieces along the pathway of the ants. Then I got my camera ready and started shooting away. What I observed made me respect ants even more!

I noticed that those carrying their injured/dead fellow ants or their eggs, just went on with their work and did not even bother to stop where the food was. Only those who were not carrying anything stopped and tried to take bites of the food or went around the food looking for ways to maybe carry it. Nobody succeeded in dislodging the food, but several of them managed to bite off little bits and carried these off too.

       At the upper left-hand corner, the ant carrying an egg, ignored the food in the middle of their pathway.

So I learned that not even food can stop ants (this particular species anyway) from doing and completing what they are supposed to do. Transporting their injured/dead comrades or their eggs are more important than food to these ants!

I have seen movies where people sometimes drop what they are carrying (even if it's another person) if they find food/money on their path. Not these ants! They do what they are supposed to do! Isn't that amazing? That's why I wrote a hub about these amazing creatures! 
       http://hubpages.com/hub/Amazing-Ants

What I Like About...Being in Hubpages and in RedGage

I like being in Hubpages and in RedGage.

I never imagined that I will find true, new, friends in the internet. However, I am happy to be proven wrong in this regard.

I have developed a circle of true, new, and very supportive friends in both sites. And very recently during my trip to my favorite island, Boracay, Philippines, I met a fellow RedGager. Isn't that great?

My fellow RedGager is "OlgaBBC" who works at the Boracay Beach Club. She first read my hub (in Hubpages) about Boracay and commented on it. When she learned that I was going to visit my favorite island, she sent me an email  and we exchanged cellphone numbers. When I got to Boracay last August 23, I contacted her and the next day we dropped by at her place. It was great to met face to face.

Boracay Beach Club is a nice place. Olga gave us a tour of the place. They have some fantastic vacation package offers. I will write about the place in another blog.

For the moment, I just wish to reiterate that I love being in Hubpages and RedGage because I meet some really nice people and develop good friends in both sites.

That's Olga and me from the top floor of Boracay Beach Club. That's the famous Boracay beach behind us. In case you are wondering why the picture is grainy, I used a Photoshop filter here.

What I like About ...Water

I like water. No, I wish to correct that - I love water.

I love water not only because it's the most important and dominant chemical of our body, but because it is refreshing and cleansing. However, what I am going to talk about here is not about the importance of water to our body but about the role of water in photography. 

During my photography adventure, sometimes I run out of ideas on what to shoot. So what can you do if that happens to you? I always remember one advice - "just add water and keep on shooting". So I have followed this advice and have come up with so many "water" shots.

So what I like about water in my photography are:
- water is everywhere - as lakes, oceans, seas, fountains, waterfalls, rivers, raindrops, etc. So I never run out of "water" to photograph                                                                                
- water can awaken emotions - photograph still water and you indicate serenity. Photograph raging water and you indicate danger or rage.

I have so many "water" photos and I therefore gathered them and wrote a hub about my adventures with water. Go check it out at:

http://hubpages.com/hub/Just-Add-Water-A-Photo-Tip-When-You-Cant-Think-of-Anything-to-Shoot

What I Like about ...RedGage

I have only been a month in Redgage and I am already enjoying my stay there.

Just what is Redgage? Well, according to their blurb, "RedGage is a website that pays you for your content and monetizes your social activity. RedGage helps you make money for what you're already doing online and by building traffic to your content on RedGage you can maximize your earnings".

I first discovered RedGage when a friend in Hubpages mentioned it to me. She told me that it is the perfect venue for my photos. You see, I love taking photos and I love sharing them with friends. She told me that I can earn from just uploading my photos. So I got curious and I went over to RedGage and gave it a try.

On my first day at RedGage, I waited with held breath if the photos I uploaded can indeed earn something. I at first saw some views on my page but there was no money yet. I did not know how many views a photo will have before it starts earning anything. After waiting for a few minutes, I decided to sign out and do something else. Later during the day, I signed in again and lo and behold, I saw $0.01 register in my profile! Wow! I excitedly shared with my family, "I now have $0.01" in my RedGage account"! 

Hahaha! "Big deal" you might say. Well, it was big deal to me! It was the first time I earned from just uploading my photos! So I excitedly uploaded more photos each day and watched my earnings grow. I know it's not much yet, but I am getting there. I am still learning all the ropes about using RedGage.

So, what do I like about RedGage? Well, I like the way it has delivered on its promise of "paying for your content". I still haven't earned enough to receive my first payout yet. RedGage only pays once you reach $25 earnings. However, I can see my earnings growing everyday as I upload more photos, links and blogs. 

I also like RedGage because of the way I discovered friends using both RedGage http://www.redgage.com and Hubpages, http://hubpages.com, two of my favorite sites. My other favorite is of course Blogger. Now, my network has expanded because of these sites.

Because of RedGage, I have also learned more about socializing and using my Twitter http://twitter.com/account. Before RedGage, I only tweet occasionally. Now I have learned to tweet more regularly.

So after a month at RedGage, did my curiousity help me? Well, I can happily say that this time, curiosity  did not kill the cat! In fact, I discovered that what they say about RedGage is true! I really can earn from my photos and other content! And I am having fun too! Isn't that great?

So if you are interested in monetizing your blogs, photos and other content, come and join me at RedGage.

http://www.redgage.com/profile.

By the way, I am known as "lensbaby" over at RedGage. Below is my photo over there. You can cite my name as as reference in case you decide to join me there. See you!

What I like about Youtube

I love youtube! I can get videos of almost anything there - lessons, songs, inspiration, motivation, laughs, anything.

I even use youtube to study photography techniques. It's always so much easier to learn something if they are accompanied by visuals. I am a very visual person, so I learn faster if I see something.

Anyway, I stumbled upon an inspirational website yesterday,  - http://www.arinanikitina.com/. It has this incredible video about "Validation". I liked the video so much, so I followed it over at youtube and now I'm posting the link here. Sorry, I still don't know how to embed a video here so you just have to click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbk980jV7Ao

I assure you, you will love this video. You will feel good after viewing it - guaranteed!

What I Like About Celebrating

I love celebrating milestones in my life. What about you? Do you like celebrating too?

I just reached my 1st anniversary in Hubpages  and wrote a hub to celebrate it.
For a while now, I have been sharing my photos there using different colors as theme. Some hubbers have started calling me as the 'countess of color' and some as 'queen of color'. I thought it fitting therefore to celebrate my 1st anniversary in full color. So please check out what I wrote there. Here's the link below. Thank you!

http://hubpages.com/hub/First-Anniversary-in-Hubpages-Celebrating-with-Rainbow-Colors

What I like about...Hubpages

 I have been writing articles for hubpages since May of last year. I find it very satisfying to write there because I almost always get some comments about my articles. It's good to know that somebody is reading what you published.
I now have developed a circle of friends there and we usually visit each other's hubs or articles. It's really very heartwarming to know that someone else appreciates what you write.
If you have time, do make a visit there. There are so many good writers there who write on various topics. Who knows, you might want to join us there too.
Anyway, here is a link to my latest hub. It's all about roses. You might want to check it out. Thank you.
          http://hubpages.com/hub/Roses-are-Red-and-Pink-and

What I like about ... Photos and quotes

I love collecting motivational/inspirational quotes. When I started my photography adventure, I coupled these quotes with some of my photos and printed these as postcards to give away to friends. Lately I put together some of these cards into a hub and published this in my hubpages website.
The photo below is one example of this. For the rest of the other photos and quotes, please check out the link below. This is the second time I actually did this. You will also find my first hub about quotes there in hubpages. Just navigate around my pages there.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Motivational-Quotes-and-Photographs