Ghost Trees

Last November, I had the opportunity to be in California once again. It had been more than 4 years since I was last there and partly expected that a lot of things had already changed. Contrary to my expectation, I perceived that almost nothing has changed. Even the ghost trees along the 17-mile-drive seems to have been completely undisturbed from the last time I saw them (A Ghost Tree).

Two Years in a Dozen Pics

I took this shot during my first photo-op with my new (1.5 years ago) Canon EOS 350D. I had to chase this peacock around the grounds of Eggenberg castle so that I can get a close-up photo.


This is my favorite shot of Graz's clock tower. This landmark is said to be the symbol of the city.


We made several trips to Ikea when we were furnishing our apartment. Finally, we now have everything we need to call our place - home.


One of the most interesting places for me here in Graz is the double spiral staircase. This window is from there.


Every so often, we would go to Vienna to visit my parents. Once during our stay there, I stumbled upon this traffic sign filled with stickers.


A Lippizzaner white horse. Only the best of the best of this breed can go to the famous Spanish Riding School in Vienna.


A glass of Schilcher wine. The special grapes used to produce this wine is only grown in a special area near Graz.


The farmers market is a very colorful place especially during the fall season. I never imagined that pumpkins can come in many different shapes and sizes.


The colors of fall here may not be as vibrant as other places in the world. Nonetheless the fallen leaves still make a strong contrast against the green grass.


Deep red roses to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary.


Easter Sunday morning at the Danube river. Breaking the rule of thirds, my subject, the silver building, is dead center.


This shot was taken at Piazza Navona in Rome. I don't exactly know why, but I somehow really like this captured scene.

Golden Balls

Golden Christmas balls being sold at one of the stalls in the Vienna Christmas market.

~oOo~

More than 2 years have past since my last real photoblog entry (Das Schloss). Do I summarize everything that happened during the last 2 years? Or do I just let it be and start anew? Hmmm, I think I at least need to give some updates of what has and has not changed during the past 2 years.

I'm still...
- living in Austria
- working for the same company
- taking pictures every now and then
- using a cellphone without a camera

I'm now...
- a father to a healthy and beautiful 7-month old baby girl
- working with a lot of Filipino colleagues
- owning a DSLR camera for 1.5 years now
- planning of buying a camera phone (just planning)

That said, I welcome myself back to the photoblogging world! Let's see how long I will last this time.

...will be back to blogging soon...

A Blog To Say Goodbye

I have not been blogging for several months now. It also seems that during this time, geocities has totally deleted my free subscription with them which explains why none of the pictures are being loaded in this blog.

Therefore, I have decided that I will be deleting this blog soon. There's really no point in keeping a blog when it's not being updated regularly, right?

I just need some time to copy all the entries (for sentimental purposes) and then that's it.

So let me just say - Tschüss, ciao, auf wiedersehen für jetzt! Bis dann!

- paupao

Das Schloss

Schloss in German means castle. The building seen in the picture is called the Schloss Premstätten. The foundation of this castle was laid by the knights of Premstätten in 1164. Today, this castle is being used an office by the company that I now work for. So they say that there's actually a lot of history in our workplace. Sana lang walang mga "mumu". Hehe.

As you can see, snow has already started to fall here and the temperature has further dropped to as low as -6°C. My mother thinks that this might be the earliest winter she has ever experienced in her 15 years here. I hope that it won't be the longest though. Right now I'm still enjoying the cold weather but I just don't know for how long.

Ich bin hier!

It has been more than a week since my arrival here in Austria. So far so good. The picture above shows the bed portion of the hotel room where I am currently staying at. I'll be staying here until I find a place of my own. It's pretty convenient since the hotel is only 10 minutes away from the office on foot. My only problem is that during that 10 minute walk, I become exposed to the cold weather. Already, the temperature has dropped to as low as 2°C since I arrived and it is expected to get colder in the weeks to come. Brrr!

One Month Unnoticed

No picture for now. This time I just want to write little bits of things about this and that.

It's been a month since my last day of work in ADI. For short, it's been a month since I became a bum! Not that I'm complaining. Actually, I'm beginning to get the hang of it. Now I understand why a lot of people don't want to look for work. Being a bum is quite enjoyable. Believe me, the whole month of me being jobless passed by like a flash. Unfortunately, it will be over soon. I still don't know when exactly I'll be leaving but I think it will not be later than the 2nd week of next month.

Some people keep a mental list of the things that they want to do when they have the time, but never really get to do them when they do have the time. I'm one of those people. There are some things though that I regret not doing during my month-long break, like traveling to parts of the country I've never been to, signing up for volunteer work for a good cause, dining at places I've always wanted to try eating at, etc. Anyway, there's still some time to do at least one of those things. I think I'll be doing the eating thing!

Pesteng Pesto

"Pesteng pesto ni Pau, pesteng pesto ni Pau, pesteng pesto ni Pau..." That's what she used to say (as if it's some famous tongue twister like "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper") everytime I bring some of my own little version of the 'spaghetti al pesto' to the office. Yeap, I can cook pesto sauce from scratch! ;)

The photo above shows what I actually had for lunch. Not everyone can appreciate the herby and pungent taste of this pasta, but Anne and I love it! We love it so much that I had to learn how to cook it, which was really not a problem for me since I also love cooking and exploring new recipes.

You know the saying: "If you do what you love to do, you'll never have to work a single day in your life"? This often makes me think that maybe I should pursue a career in the culinary arts. Maybe someday I will.

Out to Sea

"As I sat on the beach watching a beautiful sunset unfold before my eyes, I wondered how life would be in the days to come. I closed my eyes and began to imagine. Immediately, I got this panicky feeling inside of me. No vision came upon me. Yet my chest felt like a field with a hundred racing horses and my stomach like a net filled with a thousand fluttering butterflies.

The warm sea breeze brought me back to reality. I took a long deep breath of relief and opened my eyes again. The magnificent view completely dissolved whatever worries that I had. There’s nothing to worry about for now. Today, I am happy. Tomorrow, we'll see..."

There's a Friendship Band for Everybody

These are just some of the friendship bands being sold at Puerto Galera. With so much designs and colors to choose from, I'm sure there's one that will suit your taste.

A Bowl of Mystery

On top of each dining table in a restaurant called Sentro, lies a small bowl containing salted dried watermelon seeds (butong pakwan). Not your usual free appetizer but nevertheless truly fascinating as eating it is a great pastime while waiting for your orders to come. Although, eversince I have been mystified by this native delicacy. Why? It's because out of the countless watermelons that I have seen and eaten, I have never encountered any that has seeds that are as large as the butong pakwans that we eat. Makes me wonder, where did all these big watermelon seeds come from? I heard a really gross story about how these butong pakwans are made. Don't know if it's true though. I've tried Google-ing for the answer but found nothing. Maybe someone out there can enlighten me...

The Lone Cypress

I wonder if plants really do have feelings. If they do, then this tree along the 17-Mile Drive must be feeling very lonely amidst the cold Monterey Bay. Or maybe not. Often we hear people say that no man is an island. But maybe trees are.

The Vatican Grottoes

Just a level below the main floor of St. Peter's basilica lies the Vatican grottoes. This place serves as the burial site of saints, popes and other very important catholics. Should pope John Paul II be buried in the Vatican, his tomb shall also lie in this place. Others speculate that he may have left intructions for his final resting place to be at Poland, the place where he was born and spent most of his adult life.

San Pietro Basilica

St. Peter's Basilica on a cloudy morning. I hope soon I will be able to go back there with Anne.

A blessed holy week to everyone!

Bamboo Fence

I heard from the local news last night that there's this bamboo tree that mysteriously sprays out water. The water it sprays is said to have healing powers. A miracle! That's what the people who saw and experienced this phenomenon say. Or perhaps, there's a scientific explanation for the bamboo tree's spray of water and, the healing power of the water may just be what they call a placebo effect...

Battered Grounds

This is a sample of how some portions of the grounds at the hot air balloon festival looked like. I guess after 3 days of the event and the amount people that went there, one can't help this from happening. The rubber shoes that I wore there became so dusty at the end of that day, and since then, I have not yet worn that rubber shoes again because I still have to cleaned it thoroughly.

A Few Good Pics

The hot air balloon festival last Sunday was all in all a good experience for me. It's not often that I get to see hot air balloons being inflated just a few meters away from me. It's just unfortunate that the sky was a little gloomy that morning which made it quite hard for me to get good pictures. Plus, the batteries of my camera ran out before noon, which was also unfortunate since the sun suddenly decided to show a little during the afternoon! The picture above is one of the few decent pictures I took during the event. Babawi na lang ako sa festival next year...

Beau Bora

Boracay was where we went to after our big day. It was a well deserved vacation after the stressful preparations. When we came back, many people asked me if it was nice there. My answer - yes! I think its only downside is its being too commercialized, but other than that, it was perfect. Good thing I have my digicam back to capture it. So, I'll just let the picture speak futher on how nice it was there.

My Vow

...To always take care of and take with me

to share and experience life's challenging

and wonderful journey as one. One in heart

and one in soul...