The Giant Under the Tower

Don't you feel sometimes that you are carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders without realizing that there are others out there that are carrying more?

Rocks, Ripples and the Ocean

There's always something calming whenever i see the Ocean. The vastness of it and the different hues of Blue, coupled with the mossy rocks and the never-ending pattern of the water rings. It just carries me to a place where everything is okay and stress-free... until you find out that your three day vacation is over and you need to go drive a couple of hours back to reality.

The Obligatory Flower Shot

Everybody has one. 

Flowers, no matter how small draws us to capture it with our cameras so that we can take it home and admire it some more. I guess it's the flowers that has captured us instead of the other way around.

In the garden...I see the sun

Our Lady of Guadalupe visits the Capital District

Last Sunday, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that one of the images of Our Lady of Guadalupe (scanned from the original) will be here in Albany and be present in the Holy Family Parish for our monthly Filipino Mass. From what I've heard it is one of 3 (or 5) that is currently going around the US.




After the mass, we had a quick procession around the church. It was raining the whole day but when we went outside, it slowed down to a drizzle, enough to allow us to do the procession without being drenched. Is it an intervention from our Lady? I would like to think so.




After the procession, we finished the rosary inside the church and afterwards was given the chance to come close with the image to personally pray and give our petition and thanks.




A nice way to spend your Sunday if I do says so myself.

Click here for more pictures from the our Lady of Guadalupe's visit.

Easton's Beach, Rhode Island

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 70-200mm Lens - 1/80 Seconds, F4.5, ISO 400

The Cost of Winning

We ate at the Nordic Lodge when we had our vacation(birthday celebration) in Rhode Island and as soon as you go in you have this hunting lodge feel going on with all the awesome stuffed animals. It was awesome until you find out that they really are "stuffed" animals, hunted down for sport and is now on display while you wait in line for the all you can eat lobster buffet. Great.

The lobster was good though...

Sunset at Beavertail State Park

Beavertail State Park, Rhode Island

Shoes

Rhode Island 2010

We just came back from Newport, Rhode Island for our annual Birthday vacation. Each year we usually go somewhere for Shian's birthday. The first year that we were here in the US, we went to Niagara Falls, Last year we stayed-in because Shian had appendicitis! (Perfect timing. Argh!) This year it's Newport and we had a blast! Stay tuned for more pictures from the Ocean State!

Going Nowhere

Going Nowhere, originally uploaded by WhereWeveBeen.

How Do We Go Down To The 1st Floor?

O.Z.

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 70-200mm Lens - 1/60 Seconds, F2.8, ISO 100

First pictures from the iPhone 4

One of the things that we were waiting for with the new iPhone 4 was the new 5 megapixel camera. Coming from the 3G, the pictures that we got was crappy at best, especially if you're used to using a DSLR as your main camera (I know, not a good comparison) but the first few shots that I got is very promising. These came out directly from the phone without any post processing.

iPhone 4 - in the box and setup

Our new iPhone 4 came a day early and we're pretty much thrilled! Fortunately for us, we live in the East Coast and we had a good couple hours jump ahead of the rest of the US when we did our pre-order. At around 730am EST, the Apple store was already having problems the storefront so we went and ordered our phones through AT&T which went very smoothly. I was finished doing both our orders in less than 10 minutes!

The iphones were supposed to be delivered on the same day as "launch day" on June 24 but we started seeing some arriving as early as the 22nd! A good 2 days ahead of schedule. This is a great move  on Apple and AT&T's part so that the activation process will be spread out for a couple of days since I'm pretty sure there will be a LOT of surprises on Launch Day.

The packages came in 2 unassuming boxes left in our front door (Good thing it didn't rain). This is probably the last picture that I took with the iPhone 3G and I can't wait to try out the new 5 Megapixel Camera and HD video.

The new box is deep and shows the new design elements that Apple made for this generation. 

I'm always impressed at how Apple always make sure that the packaging is well designed. Here we see the phone on top which kind of reminds me of those marble coffins with the white rectangular box and a likeness of the person on the top... A little morbid I know but still impressed.

The top face of the phone hits the inside of the top box. There's a thin padding underneath but try to be careful when you get it.

I love the new design of the iPhone, it's sleek and industrial and it feels very solidly built. This felt the same as when Apple just started making the unibody macbook pros. As soon as you hold it you can feel that this is really a well made machine.

 Inside the box is the usual accessories that Apple include with their phones. You have the USB sync cable, earphones and power adapter Although one thing that is absent is the wire-paperclip 'thingy' that you use to take out the sim. Although for the couple of years that we had our 3G, we never really found a need to use it. 


Once you're done ogling your new phone, it's time to activate it. According to the email that AT&T sent, you can activate your new phone by calling their activation line or by going to http://www.wireless.att.com/businesscenter/activations/.

When you activate online, the first thing it asks is for your order number and activation number. This should have been sent to you via email when you placed your order.

Then it will ask you for your IMEI Number as well as the ICCID number which is conveniently printed in the smallest caps possible at the bottom of the box.

Once you've entered everything correctly, you'll see this Status screen and hopefully the Activation Status will say 'Complete'. When I did the activation today, it only took less than 5 minutes for the whole process. I wonder how long it would take tomorrow when all hell breaks lose!

The next step would be to turn on your phone and connect it to your computer to register and restore a backup of your information (or start a new profile if this is your first iPhone)

Once you have your phone synced with itunes, you can now enjoy one of the best phones available.


So, what do I think is one of the best features of the new iPhone? Well, the design for me is a given but I think the best feature IMHO is the Retina display. When I saw that Steve Jobs' Keynote I always wondered why he was so emphatic whenever he mentioned the Retina display. Boasting the highest resolution in a phone, He claimed that you can't even see the jaggies or the pixels and that the color and contrast was spectacular. Boy was he right. YOU have to see one in person to believe it. The text is crisp like you would see in a printed book and the colors and sharpness of each picture and icon is amazing. 


There's a lot more to be said about the new iPhone and I've barely even said anything about the new IOS4. But one thing's for sure, Apple really nailed it with this phone and we're just happy and lucky to be able to enjoy it.

Check out Engadget's review of the iPhone 4. They have some really nice comparisons on the new Retina Diplay.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/22/iphone-4-review/

Good luck to everybody that's lining up tomorrow.!

The things people do to lose weight

Seen at work / Hipstamatic iPhone 3G

World Cup Kitten

A little does of cuteness for your Monday blues. I hope he doesn't get trampled!

Source: Paw Nation
Photo: Franck Fife, AFP / Getty Images

Gundam Heads

Ever since I first saw Gundam Seed back home, I've been hooked with collecting and building Gundam models. I always had an interest in building scale models, whether it's race cars, motor bikes or jets but these gundam models really pushed me over the edge. I've since brought all of my models with us in one carry-on luggage when we moved to the US but haven't really found a place to display them. Here's just a few in my collection albeit without the rest of their body. Cheers!

Justice Gundam SD

Gundam MG Strike Rouge

Gundam MG RX-178 Gundam Mk.II (Titans Version) Scale 1/100

Mars

Canon Powershot G5, 1/13 , F3.0

Lines for Apple's iPhone 4 will be HUUUUUGE!!!!

If you haven't heard of it yet (or if you vowed to never watch tv or go to the internet and just sleep under a rock...), Apple has just finished the pre-order phase for their 4th generation iPhone and will start selling them on their retail store on June 24. Given the current figures, they already have over 600,000 iphone 4's on pre-order and now it turns out that this figure doesn't even include reservations or walk-in sales. Given this new information, it looks like Apple will easily double that number on sale day. Hit up Boygeniusreport.Com for a breakdown of some of the apple store numbers. 

If June 15 was any indication of things to come, expect to break out your tents and park your behind to the nearest Apple store that you can find!

Reminder: Apple is not the only store selling the iPhone 4.  You can check out your local Bestbuy, AT&T or Radioshack for stock info.

Check out this dude in Dallas, TX apparently he's the first iPhone 4 camper found in the wild. A little extreme IMHO but for everybody that's getting the newest from Apple on the 24th, I wish you all good luck and happy hunting! [Dallas News via Engadget]

You could also try your paper cutting, folding, gluing skills and make a DIY Paper iPhone 4 while waiting for the real thing!

Spam, Eggs and Rice for Dinner - Priceless!

Panasonic DMC-GF1, 20mm 1.7 Lens - 1/30 second, F 2.0, ISO 200

Love it when we have breakfast for dinner. 

Spinner

Taken by my Hipstaphone

DIY Paper iPhone 4

Everybody is talking about the new iPhone 4 that's coming this June 24 but if you're the type of person that can't wait, you can print out this DIY paper version. The site needs a bit of translating but if you're curious enough, the link will get you to the template that you need! Enjoy!

DIY Paper iPhone