raindrops

raindrops, originally uploaded by bR!@n.

it's raining again and you're trapped at home, trying your best to keep dry. the sound of rain banging on the galvanized iron roof almost feels constant that you'll miss it when you wake up one morning and the downpour finally stops.

you feel the cool wind on your face and you see trees swaying outside along with the raindrops. you turn on your tv knowing it's been raining for hours and you see the news.. flooded streets, traffic all around, classes suspended; the usual stuff. you look outside and you appreciate, for the first time, the foreign straight lines over imposed on your familiar background.

it was a welcome change of view. summer's over. your things will get wet, but that's what umbrellas are for.

1999

clock tower, originally uploaded by bR!@n.

1999. The turn of the century.. almost. It was a year of promise going into the new millenium. Somehow, the following year was seen as an opportunity for a new beginning, a time to start over. Possibly due to the fact that three digits of the year will be reset to zero. Square one.

1999. I don't know, something about the figure just grabs a hold of me. It almost literally spells out "anticipation".. "what's next?".. or probably the more appropriate "we got this far, now what?".

1999. I would imagine everyone at that time was busy preparing to go across one millenium to the next. As for me, I was just busy enjoying my final year in high school, thinking what college life would be like, and dreading the long commute I will be facing the next year.

1999. "I got this far.. now what?"

college mornings

grills, originally uploaded by bR!@n.

i start my typical day waking up from bed, which is actually nothing more than an old mattres that i lay down the family room every night. i look out our window grill to see the morning light then i look at the time on the old family wall clock (that we had since i can remember) and compute how much sleep i got after staying on the phone for hours last night. after realizing that it's just been three hours since i finally went to bed and the headache kicks in, i do a quick recall if any of my morning classes have any scheduled exams. if i was lucky and only had lectures in the morning, i will happily sink my head back to my pillow and go back to dreaming. (snooze..)

hours later, when i wake up on my own accord or when the living room gets too busy and i'm forced to evacuate my squatter of a bed space, i would get up, pick up my "bed", and finally get ready for school.

the usual morning ritual follows. eat brunch... or lunch, depending on how much i slept in, brush my teeth, take a bath, and finally get into my school clothes which is usually just the same as what i would wear at home (shirt, shorts, and slippers). as soon as i'm all dressed up like... well, someone buying "suka sa tindahan", i will head on out the door (with a hundred and twenty pesos in my pocket) and take the hell of a commute from Bulacan to Diliman.

#prayforjapan

ohayoo!, originally uploaded by bR!@n.

Japan will always be dear to me. It was my first out of the country trip. It was where I first got into photography. My first time living alone.


On the first morning "ever" waking up on a foreign country, I took this shot out of my hotel room window.


...Today, calamity struck Japan. We are all wishing for the best. The world's prayers are with you.

"when lightning strikes..."

"when lightning strikes...", originally uploaded by bR!@n.

Life has a weird way of doing things. Somehow feels like I'm retracing my steps.

Being back here feels so surreal. I know I've been here before, but somehow everything feels so different and at the same time so much the same as they were three years ago.


How many times have I walked through these same streets, going to the office and coming home? Familiar stalls line up the sidewalks as I recall the times I pass them everyday. Almost all the things I remember stayed the same and it's only me whose changed. It was like being misplaced in time. A younger me used to explore this city, but now it's just me.. all grown up with the burden of responsibility.


The setting was certainly different. The circumstances were all the same. It was work that landed me here before, a junior engineer excited to explore a new town. For one month, this was my city and I enjoyed its experience.


Now three years after, I'm back right smack in the middle of it. A lot has happened and although physically the city hasn't changed a bit, I know I have. 


back from taiwan... (April 29, 2008)
: http://bhry23.multiply.com/journal/item/9/back_from_taiwan...

flame on!

flame on!, originally uploaded by bR!@n.

In memory of the Human Torch.

the long road ahead: 2011

road signs, originally uploaded by bR!@n.

For the third straight year, I find myself on the road starting the new year.

The traditional New Year Road Trip has come to symbolize the long journey that awaits all of us in this coming year. Much like the long road ahead that we need to traverse, all of us will now face another long year. We all have our goals at the end. Let us all remember as we journey through 2011 that the important thing is not reaching our set destination, but learning and having fun along the way.. and of course, making unforgettable memories.

P.S. By now all of you should know that this is just a load of made up bullshit. Cheers to the New Year!


View the complete set on Flickr here...

2010: watdaef?!

all drained out.., originally uploaded by bR!@n.

I was never fond of surprises. Growing up, I was always able to get what was happening before they surprise me. Well, that was not the case this year...

2010 was full of unexpected turns and detours. Starting the year not expecting anything new is a mistake. A new year will always bring about change and new experiences.

How many times will you get to be a bridal car driver in your lifetime? Learn new dance steps and fashion a fedora hat? Pioneer new technologies for worldwide information security. Find yourself to be alone after long good years just for the sake of a good future. Experience Christmas again in a whole new light.

Change is good. It allows us to grow. 2010 has given us all another year's worth of experiences. Hope we all learned a lot from it.

I would say the year was a "transition", somehow preparing us for the things to come. Nobody knows what that is.. guess we'll just have to wait for 2011.

lead the way

turn right.., originally uploaded by bR!@n.

The sun's coming up. We've been driving all night. 


Where the heck are we anyway? Does anybody know? 
Just trust the GPS.


Oooh carpool! What exit was that again? Shoot, we just missed it. Now we have to make a 40 mile u-turn.


This road seems to go on forever... And by the way, we're almost out of gas.


Better stack-up on energy drinks on the next gas station. We have 400 more miles to go.


Cruise control!

"apple inside"

"apple inside", originally uploaded by bR!@n.

I dropped by Trinoma's Power Mac Center today to get my macbook's DVD drive checked out. The optical drive has been acting up since I tried installing the Snow Leopard CD about 2 months ago and this would be my last chance to get it fixed with my AppleCare (which will expire by the month's end).


Had this bad boy for 3 years now and not once did I regret going for it. Who would have thought that my first ever personal laptop will be a Mac? I have always been a Windows guy, sticking to the norm, conservative views and stuff.. but at that time, being radical was the thing to do. At least that's what it felt like. 


I was in a foreign country, far away from home for the very first time. Everyone was speaking strange and most times, hand gestures were the only means of communication. For the first time, I was the minority.. the foreigner in their land. Right there, being different wasn't a choice, it was something to deal with. But hell yeah, it felt awesome! It was ok to be strange, in fact people expect it from you. You stick out from the crowd anyway so you can be as radical as you want. (There was also something about being in Japan that gets you all tech savvy and feel creative and stuff, but of course that was already obvious.)


Of course nowadays having a Mac isn't all that special. Since the boom of the iPod, Jobs has been successfully getting more and more slices of the market share pie. from Macbook Airs to the iPad, I'm not anymore feeling all that special.


Nevertheless, I'm still happy with my Macbook. It's given me three good years and has always inspired creativity when I'm on it. I know it will be time to upgrade soon, but I'm in no hurry.

Mac101 (December 8, 2007) : http://bhry23.multiply.com/journal/item/7/Mac_101

stand still

moo.., originally uploaded by bR!@n.


It's been five years I've had this life, taking it as it comes and living it as it goes. No plans in the works, no decisions being made.. a stand still if you may. One big pile of random things. Not everything has its purpose, but every choice has its reasons. Somehow, in this disorganized heap, there is a means to some end. An end which is not yet realized. And no one's in a hurry to get it figured out. There's still lots of things to do.. and a boatload of mistakes to make. So.. hell yeah, anything goes.