I was lucky enough to be in Melbourne when Peter Moore released the sequel to Vroom with a View. He has a book launching in Melbourne and for weeks, it was the only thing I was looking forward to. I wasn't able to go to the launch though - my sister had a meeting schedule that same night. Luckily, Peter invited his Melbourne-based readers for a chat and some drinks over at the Esplanade Hotel in St. Kilda.

<center><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nina/2190077222/" title="Fangirl moment! by nina_theevilone, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2132/2190077222_98d0f7d846_o.jpg" width="469" height="560" alt="Fangirl moment!" border="0" /></a></center>

He was very down to earth, and sounded exactly as he does in his books. He and Brian Thackeray (another travel writer), inspired (and shamed) me into seeing more of the Philippines. Yup, I'm sticking to domestic travel this 2008. Camiguin, anyone?

Head on to Justwandering.org to find out how you can win this Lonely Planet travel journal.

Because <a href="http://dhonjason.multiply.com/journal/item/428/What_My_Name_Means">Dhon Jason</a> is my idol...

You entered: ***************************

There are 24 letters in your name.
Those 24 letters total to 104
There are 10 vowels and 14 consonants in your name.
What your first name means:Spanish Female Hope.
French Female Hope.


Your number is: 5

The characteristics of #5 are: Expansiveness, visionary, adventure, the constructive use of freedom.

The expression or destiny for #5:
The number 5 Expression endows with the wonderful characteristic of multi-talents and versatility. You can do so many things well. The tone of the number 5 is constructive freedom, and in your drive to attain this freedom, you will likely be the master of adaptability and change. You are good at presenting ideas and knowing how to approach people to get what you want. Naturally, this gives you an edge in any sort of selling game and spells easy success when it comes to working with people in most jobs. Your popularity may lead you toward some form of entertainment or amusement. Whatever you do, you are clever, analytical, and a very quick thinker.

If there is too much of the 5 energy in your makeup, you may express some the negative attitudes of the number. Your restless and impatient attitude may keep you from staying with any project for too long. Sometimes you can be rather erratic and scatter yourself and your energies. You have a hard time keeping regular office hours and maintaining any sort of a routine. You tend to react strongly if you sense that your freedom of speech or action is being impaired or restricted in any way. As clever as you are, you may have a tendency to make the same mistakes over and over again because much of your response is glib reaction rather that thoughtful application. You are in a continuous state of flux brought by constantly changing interests.

Your Soul Urge number is: 4

A Soul Urge number of 4 means:
With the Soul Urge or Motivation number of 4 you are likely to strive for a stable life. You tend to follow a rather orderly pattern and systematic approach in your endeavors. You have an inner desire to serve others in a methodical and diligent manner. You want to be in solid, conventional, and well-regulated activities, and you are somewhat disturbed by innovation and erratic or sudden changes. Excellent at organizing, systematizing, and managing, you have a way of establishing order and maintaining it. You are responsible, reliable and in the final analysis, practical. Highly analytical, you can see your way through all sorts of situations and generally have a clear understanding of the issues. You are a very honest, sincere, and conscientious individual.

The negative side of the 4 is rigid, stubborn and somewhat narrow-minded. There is a tendency to hide feelings, or to really not be aware of real feelings. Avoid being too rigid and stubborn in your thinking, and try to always see the big picture rather than becoming to involved with the detail. Don't be afraid to take a chance once in awhile.

Your Inner Dream number is: 1

An Inner Dream number of 1 means:
You dream of being a leader and one who is in charge. You want to be known for your courage, daring, and original ideas. You seek unconquered heights. People may get a first impression that you are very aggressive and sure of yourself.

Yes, I can't stop blogging about it. :P

Visit my travel blog at Justwandering.org

A follow up on my link entry on the program Recolored.

Tried out the program on a B&W picture of Khaye, then a colored picture converted to B&W of Yanee (Hope you don't mind Yanee :D)



Khaye

Yeah. I tried it again with a picture that's originally colored for easy comparison. Also, I thought of using the eye-dropper tool to have a closer match.


Yanee

The first result ended up with Yanee's face too red; much redder than it was in the original picture. I erased the old colors, then replaced it with something close to her natural skin tone.



Next hurdle were the design of the back of the sofa. Should've picked a picture with less detail. Those diamonds were a pain. It's either I leave all the junk grey, color it but not the sofa's details and have the colors smudge or color each diamond. Bleah.

But I think the end result was pretty good.

You scored as Cultural Creative. Cultural Creatives are probably the newest group to enter this realm. You are a modern thinker who tends to shy away from organized religion but still feels as if there is something greater than ourselves. You are very spiritual, even if you are not religious. Life has a meaning outside of the rational. Cultural Creative 88% Existentialist 81% Idealist 63% Modernist 50% Materialist 44% Postmodernist 38% Fundamentalist 38% Romanticist 25% What is Your World View? (updated) created with QuizFarm.com

Eh?

Camille was so wonderful as to share this very nice link for a halloween greeting.

http://sugarqube.com/Ecards/CardView.cfm?CardID=1228&L1=0&L2=0&L3=0&Page=Top

Okay, no go forth and do some CSI-esque murder investigation! :D

No, I didn't just come out of the toilet :p

My sister, her daughter and I went to Divisoria today. Her to buy her youngest's costume for Halloween tomorrow, and me to buy stuff I'm sending to my sister in Australia.

Divisoria is this really great place for getting great bargains, from clothes to crafts. With just Php1,500 (approximately US$27), I was able to buy: a watch, underwear and denim shorts for me; summer dresses, cutesy clothes, leggings and sweaters for my niece Erika; shorts/boxers and a dancing santa for my sister and her husband, and; a kilo of fuji apples.

After getting home and trying on our purchases, I received an sms from my mom: a parcel from the Australian Embassy came. I immediately called her and asked her to open it. The documents were picked up last Wednesday, and I was worried about the speed it was returned, thinking whether her document was rejected or not.

It wasn't. Her passport now has a stamp of a temporary stay tourist visa.

Finally, I can breath easily again. Now, I just have to make sure she gets on that plane.

Finally, after a stressfull week, I get to have 3 days off from work.

For the past weeks, I have been rushing to get my mom's documents together for her visa application. It pains me that I have to work so hard on her visa and receive her e-ticket on my email, when I am not even going. Bah.

I am in need of a vacation. A co-worker is inviting the rest of us to Vigan, where he's competing in some skateboard competition of some sort. Hmmm.. should I go?

Meh, I'm taking it slow this weekend. Going shopping with my sister tomorrow for the stuff our mom will bring to our sister in Australia and a costume for her youngest daughter for halloween.

Ahh, retail therapy. Oh yeah, loan payment. *groan* I really should go find an advertisement program of some sort for my site to help raise money. Know of any?