Hi, I'm Dave.

A few weeks ago, I started to pick the game up again with my instructor, Erick. The last time we played was at the Makati YMCA, but unfortunately, that has since closed and the site has now been demolished. He suggested that we try going to the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila.

I checked it out and was pretty happy with it. The tennis grounds has 8 courts, costs Php 160 per hour, plus Php 100 for ball boys. Although the guards won't allow cars to enter the complex, there are ample parking spaces available at the curb or at a nearby pay parking lot.

I have since recruited two of my friends, Randy and Rosby, to learn tennis and join me in the fun (i.e. splitting the court fees hehehe). Two weeks ago, Angelo also went with us and took a few shots. (edit: more of Angelo's works here.)

Dave

Some sad(ish) news from the Tale of Fantasy Painters front.

I've decided to withdraw from the online thread since I just couldn't find the time nor the drive to complete my Night Gobbo project.

The above text reads as follows:

Right, I think its time I officially drop out of the Tale of Fantasy Painters.

I'd really love to stay and complete it but I just could not come up with the time and drive to finish my Army. So far I'm about 90% done with my 1000 pt. Night Gobbos. I kinda planned to stop at that level and take up another 1000 pt. army (Lizardmen) for the next few months. The reason behind this is that our gaming group is really just starting and up until now, 2000 pt. battles aren't what we are gunning for.

Anyway, I wish everyone luck in completing your armies! Its been awesome so far.

I'm still working on completing my Night Gobbos. The only thing left to do are 10 Spider Riders. I've worked at my test model and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Next step is to replicate that 9 more times and I'm finally done with Gobbos!

Edit: Here are the pictures I promised! Test Model for my Spider Riders. Sorry for the crappy pictures.

Stay tuned for future updates! It's gonna be a doozy!

Dave

My good friend Matlu recently picked up a good solid SLR camera and went serious with his photography. He always dabbled with it in the past-- then using only his camera phone, he was able to produce spectacular captures of the things around him. Now, tooled with his Canon froo-froo camera (hehe sorry!), good mentors, and general exposure to that field, he is showing real promise with the craft. The image to the left is one of my recent favorites. It is called "Still Life" and was taken during a recent trip to Taal Town with his photography buddies. I really liked the nondescript background, moody lighting, and the bright, bold table in front. Great contrast.

So, what to do with a great picture? Me being into Org Dev and training, the first thing that popped to mind, aber natürlich, was to make it into a Powerpoint presentation background! :p

So, in the spirit of collaboration, I asked permission from Matlu to use his picture for a Strategic Planning workshop with the Small Business Corporation (SB Corp) that me and my boss had to run. Here's what I did to his photograph:

I felt that the image is appropriate since the workshop is set-up as a series of "Strategic Conversations". The pebbled-wall background serves as the foundation of SB Corp-- solid, made up of different components, and generally homogeneous. The Bright, bold table in front represents the participants' task for the next two days-- they are to come together and gather as an organization around "one table" and discuss bright, bold ideas to further strengthen mSMEs in the country today.

So, as promised, here it is Matlu! What do you think? ^_^ 

Dave

Instructions:

Each player of this game starts with 6 weird things about you.  People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state the rule clearly.  In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names.  Don't forget to leave a comment that says you are tagged in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

1. I hate walking behind people. I even crafted a strategy to overtake them in crowded places.

2. I love ketchup with anything fried-- chicken, beef, pork, fish, veggies. If it was deep cooked in oil, it is ketchup ready.

3. I only drive cars. No SUV's, vans, trucks, etc.

4. I'm very flexible. Without even trying.

5. I'm very brand loyal-- from toothpaste to clothes, restaurants to phones. If I like something, it'll be pretty hard to convince me to try the alternate.

6. I don't know how to swim. Even though I grew up with a pool at the house, lived 15 mins. away from the beach, and have stayed and is staying at a condominium with a pool.

Your turn.

I tag Edward, Angelo, Hazel, Borj, Mac, and Paolo!

You read it right! For some unknown reason, Multiply has been unblocked at the office!

Big Yay!

So, to celebrate this wondrous occasion (hehehe) I decided to rummage through my hard drive and look for things to post. Happily, I came across various pictures of my nights out with work colleagues Jazzie, Ron, and Tinggot. The four of us really bonded when we served as Liaison Officers during the ASEAN Economic Ministers' (AEM) Meeting last year.

Anyway, on to the pics!

This was our first post-AEM dinner get-together. Jazzie brought her Umberto and the five of us went to Ebun at Greenbelt 3 for reasons that escape me now. Was it the location? Or was it somebody's favorite? I forget. Well, it didn't really turn out to be a perfect night for us at the resto. The waiter failed to take note of our order and poor Jazzie had to wait quite a while for a measly bowl of soup! Also, since we knew that Ebun and Kitchen have the same owner, we placed some of our orders at the other restaurant. What we failed to consider was that since we were ordering from two restos, we would get billed twice for the Service Charge! Yes, that makes it plus 20% for SC alone. Haaay...