The Afterglow by Christina Zabat

Yesterday my family and I went to my uncle’s 80s themed party at Quezon City Sports Complex. It was super fun! We prepared for this event. We almost bought wigs just to suit the character we’re playing as. I’m just bummed that I had to change my outfit because the top I was supposed to wear went missing. So I just went for a dark ensemble and added some accessories which didn’t suit the 80’s era. Anyhow, I liked what I was wearing that night.

I just donned a Fedora hat to be a bit Jackson-esque. I was supposed to wear something white. :(

We were legally allowed to drink by the adults. Although it shocked Tita Joy that we know how to drink alcohol already. Yeah. Well, I didn’t need a teacher for that :P

My cousins and I in our costumes. Clo as Michael Jackson, Alyana and Ate Det as Madonna, me as just somebody who clearly doesn’t live in the 80s and our youngest cousin, Paula as some 80s chick.

Tita Pinky was pretty much active the whole night. It made me think if she was a big party girl back in her college days. LOL 8D Tito Gerry was the host of the party and we really enjoyed it! It was made of awesome!

Abby and I took some pictures under the lamp shade in a poster somewhere inside the venue. I adored it so much that I didn’t want to leave without having my picture taken! I loved how it turned out! :)

I don’t usually get a ton of pictures of myself when I’m behind the lens. When I do get the chance, I force or ask anyone/someone to take a picture of me for me. 8D Thanks, sisturr! 8D

And then we took a family picture before we left. Some of us didn’t want to leave yet but two of my cousins had classes that morning. *Boo* We left at 1 and then got home at around 2am. It was fun dancing with family. My family is cool. We’re a cool family. We roll like that. 8D

Last Saturday my family celebrated the 50th wedding anniversary of my grandparents. It was a night full of reminiscing, surprises and family bonding. I really love my family. :)

Three of my dad’s siblings are living abroad. So for my grandparents’ golden anniversary, they all went back here in the Philippines to prepare. For this event, my cousins and I prepared a dance number. I’d just like to thank Sean T for the choreography for Love Game. :3

We met with Uncle Steve, my aunt’s husband of two years for the very first time. We heard a lot of stories about him from my grandparents. We were excited to finally meet him. He’s a cool guy! This was also the first time we saw Tita Joy in more than 9 years! We met them at the Grand Hamptons after my dad and grandparents fetched them.

On the day of the anniversary, we went to Intercon to have our make up and hair done by Eggay Dacay and his team. I wanted to have an updo but they told me to just keep my hair down. They trimmed my eyebrows and I didn’t get used to the feel of it right away.

We left Intercon at around 5pm. I had to go back to our house just to get my mom’s jewelry. I thought she wanted me to go get her necklace but it turned out she wanted me to get her earrings. Oh well. So much for that. I also forgot my shoes that I used for our dance number.

Traffic in McKinley. >.>

We arrived at O-Club before 6pm! There were a lot of people already and we’re already assembled for the mass.

We were all tired. I was wearing my heels for about 6 hours! I treated myself to a foot scrub when we all got home. The party was very wonderful! We had tons of fun. We all did great! Happy 50th, Lolo Ben and Lola Ning! :)

I can’t believe it babe, you got me disarrayed. I stand up, end up, it’s like I’m stuck on place.

So at the most, baby we might play the silent game, catch each other’s eye again.
But that’s where it ends.

I’ve finally calibrated my MacBook and configured the graphic settings of my Firefox. Finally. At least my pictures won’t appear too desaturated when I upload them online.

Last Friday, we celebrated the birthday of my cousin, Paula. The adults weren’t able to come home immediately since they were all caught in a traffic. Tito Gerry (Paula’s dad) in Makati and my Mom and Dad in EDSA. So we ate dinner by 8!

We ate at Trellis in Market! Market!. Before we even went there, it was quite a drag that my grandmother forced me to drive. I hate it when I’m forced to drive. Besides, why should I bring my car anyway? It’s not as if the Revo will break down or anything. I actually intend to ride with my Mom after Paula’s dinner treat. ._.

Jobo, Amanda and Abby. Ugly people.

Tito Gerry and Paula

When we got home, Alyana and I decided to have a mini shoot. Before we could do that, Ate Det prepared a surprise treasure hunt game for Paula. She needs to gather up clues and answer them in order for her to get her gift.

Paula got a new phone from her Dad! Good thing she got a new phone already. She really needs one. :P Belated happy birthday!!

In other news, Alyana and I will bid you adieu now. Ta-ta~

Today, my cousins went to fetch Milo, the toy poodle, from my cousin’s friend. It’s a birthday request from Paula, our youngest cousin. Milo is such a cutie! I really really adore him. My parents loved him too!

As part of his stay here, I suggested that we do a photo shoot for Milo. So we prepared the stuff needed and coached him so he can pose. XD

You can also see it here: Hi Little Milo @ DeviantART.

Is he for real? LOL

The birthday girl, Paula!

My cousins: Paula, Alyana and I :)

Here’s Milo greeting you a good night’s sleep XD Oh. That’s my sister behind him. :3

I’ve always wanted to try out and experiment with shaped bokeh(s) for a very long time now. My sister did it already. I saw a picture with a shaped bokeh in it and I’ve decided to try it out yesterday. I am no pro but I kind of like how this came out.

I’ll show you how I did mine :)

I used my camera with a 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 lens. I also tried in this project the different lenses that I have. I used my 18-50mm f/2.8 and my sister’s 18-55mm f/1.8 lens.

Here are my other tools. I used a pair of scissors, a pencil, scotchtape and black paper. In my other attempts (since a construction paper can be a bit flimsy) I also use an index card for this and just cover it with black construction paper.

I traced the outline of my lens cap onto the black construction paper I used.

The next thing I did: cut out. *snip, snip, snip* Also, I cut out a strip of paper that I taped around it. That way, I’ll have my own lens hood for my heart-shaped bokeh filter.

But before I taped the strip of paper around my bokeh filter, I looked for the center of the circle and cut out a heart. In order for it to have a good effect, the cut-out heart must be smooth.

I attached my now-messy and taped-filled bokeh filter to my lens. All I need is a subject. I tried it outside our house. Here’s what I got:

I thought I was doing something wrong. Since it turned out to be a bit like a fish eye. My sister and cousin told me that it turned out nice and even asked me how I did. ._. I really don’t know. I think it also depends on the size of your desired shape.

In some of the sites that I’ve visited, one of those mentioned that in order to get the right size you have to divide the focal length of your lens by its maximum apperture.

I searched for our Christmas lights in our bodega. I even saw a dead spider which got me terrified. >.> I’m not too happy about spiders. I used some tape to attach the lights to the box.

Without the heart-shaped bokeh filter this is how the lights looked like. I really adore unfocsued lights XD

Here are my final results for my little project: Some kind of Fish-eyed heart-shaped bokeh! LOL

{Disclaimer: Long post is long. This is a photo blog.}

I haven’t been to a gig by a friend or a band that I like for a very long time now. I think the place and time for Toll Gate Production’s event, Stop Over, was perfect. Ha ha! I went there with my cousin, Det, after Dinner. The gig didn’t start early so we were able to assemble somewhere. The wind was very strong, by the way. XDD

Ate Det, Jc and I at Torre Lorenzo :)

Pao

The girls: Erin and Minay

Fritz

Zeb and Carlo

Eight bands were supposed to play last night. However, two bands backed out that day. Oh, before I forget. The bands who played last night were all from my Alma Mater. The line up consisted of AMT, Auburn Rising, Halibas, Lazy Noon, Ephesus and Wednesday After. Halibas opened the event at about 9:30pm. We got our beers and ears ready by that time.

HALIBAS

As we waited for the next band to perform, my friends and I were goofing around. They were consuming beer after beer together with Tempura (chips).

“Palakihan ng boobs.” Guess who won. XD

Ephesus performed next. They were really great! I loved their set even though it was cut short due to technical difficulties. I actually visited their MySpace page earlier this afternoon. If you want to listen to them click here.

Fritz’ band was up next. Lazy Noon. Ate cheered for Fritz and Carlo took the pictures with Zeb in front.

After Lazy Noon, Auburn Rising went next. They were followed by AMT. The first song that AMT played was Symmetrical Romance composed by Jc. The last song that Auburn played was Muli (lyrics  by Jc). I really liked those two songs. I got dibs on it through my very very good friend, Jc.

AUBURN RISING

AMT

Wednesday After was the last band that performed that night. They started playing by 12mn. My college batchmate is the drummer of this band. His girlfriend was also present. She’s also my college batchmate. He he. We’re all graduates already. XD

I had to leave earlier than I thought. I didn’t notice the time actually. I was only allowed to be out by 12mn. Boo. It’s all right though. At least I got to be with my friends and see some of them perform. Here are our pictures before my cousin and I left Taft.

Thank you to Tiny Pic for not ruining the quality of my pictures. Thank God! :) ‘Till next time! Ta-ta! :3

I don’t exactly know why I get sucked into signing up into these blogs and other social networking sites that I clearly know at some point, I’d lose interest in. In my high school days, I’ve had this keen interest to blog about everything that went on in my life. Subjects such as school work and heartbreaks were pretty much common in my world. However, here I am again trying to make my mark here on Tumblr. I’m joining the bandwagon now. Let’s spice things up a bit in here. Ha ha ha! ;)

Hi Tumblr. I think you’ll be my other companion now. :)