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!

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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