Food Trip - Bocas Modern Patisserie - Cebu, Philippines

                    Best dessert I've had so far in Cebu, Philippines
                                           Taste - 4.5 Stars
                                      Presentation - 5 Stars

It tastes as good as it looks!

Scientific syrups

lentils (aka tauge)

Supermoon 2016

On November 14 & 15, 2016, the moon was the biggest and brightest it has been in more than 60 years. At around 7 and 9PM on Nov. 14, Monday, in Talisay Cebu, Philippines, the clouds were so thick then, it was almost impossible to see it, and t'was nowhere in sight.

However, on November 15, Tuesday, no more thick clouds engulfed the skies so it was the perfect time to take photographs of the moon using my Nikon D5200 camera. 

I had been searching online on how to photograph just the moon and found these very useful tips by Nasim Mansurov.

1. Camera Mode: Set your camera mode to full Manual Mode.
2. ISO: Set your ISO to 100 if you have a Canon DSLR and to 200 if you have a Nikon DSLR (basically, whatever base ISO you have in your camera). For most other brands, the base ISO is also 100. If you have a point and shoot camera, see if you can find a menu setting to set your ISO to 100. Make sure “Auto ISO” is turned Off.
3. Aperture: Set your aperture to f/11.
4. Shutter Speed: Set your shutter speed to 1/125 on cameras with base ISO 100, and to 1/250 on Nikon DSLRs with base ISO 200.
5. Lens Focus: Set your lens to manual focus (either through a switch on the lens or on the camera) and set your focus to infinity. Be careful while setting the focus to infinity, as some lenses allow focusing beyond infinity. On more advanced DSLRs such as Nikon D300, there is a handy feature called “live-view with contrast detect”, which can accurately acquire focus on distant objects. I have used it many times for my moon photography and it works great! If you do not have such a feature in your camera, then try setting your lens to the center of the infinity sign, then take a picture and see if it came out sharp by zooming in the rear LCD of the camera.

So I set my camera settings at: ISO 200, Aperture f/11, Shutter Speed 1/250. 

Supermoon 2016, Cebu Philippines

Supermoon 2016, Cebu, Philipines

Supermoon 2016, close up view, using NikonD500 camera.

PLDT Should Rebate on Bills Due to Internet Service Interruptions

I can't count how many times I dialed 171 to report a problem concerning my PLDT Internet connection. At first a customer service representative would say that the connection will be fixed within 3 days and for the meantime will report the problem to their technical team.

Everyday, I call to follow up and they would say "We have reported this matter to our technicians and they are currently testing your connection." They would say these words over and over again, every day of my follow up, until it has reached the 5th day, which have caused delays in my online work.

According to DTI, we are entitled to a rebate when a company fails to deliver the service we’re paying for. We all need to speak out as we had been good customers by paying our bills without delay. Why is the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company taking our money for failed service?

Each one of PLDT customers should also report this matter to DTI as it would only take a moment of our time. If we, as Filipinos do this, there would be thousands of DTI cases against them.

Please share this message so we can make a difference.

Tim Reed Wins Cobra Ironman 70.3 in Cebu, Philippines

By: Ma Cristina P. Lao

On August 2, 2015, about 2,600 triathletes from 52 countries joined Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines 2015, in Cebu, Philippines. The event consists of a 1.9-kilometer swim, a 90-kilometer bike ride, and a 21.1-kilometer run.

SRP Road

The race started at 6AM at the Shangri-La Mactan and expected to finish by noontime. As early as 6AM there were already people lining up and waiting at the San Isidro Road crossing, near the SRP road, which is just a walking distance to where I live.

Under the heat of the piercing sun, everyone was so eager to see who the first triathletes and a few Filipino celebrities to arrive, then at around 7:30 A.M. we can hear the sound of sirens, then come along 5 triathletes on their speeding bikes. The first that I saw has the number 04 on his arms, followed by the other triathletes. I later learned that No. 4 is Peter Jacobs, whose overall rank is the 8th.

Peter Jacobs, 8th Place.

Leading the Race

On the other side of the road, I saw another triathlete in orange, whose number is 08, later became the overall Champion. He is Tim Reed from Australia who finished this triathlon race at 3:46:03 hrs. He is followed by Tim Van Verkel (2nd placer) and Brent McMahon (3rd placer).

Tim Reed, Tim Van Verkel and Brent McMahon won 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Every participant is eyeing to beat Brent McMahon who was the Champion in 2014. This tough triathlete finished at 3rd place this time, at 3:50:23 hrs. 

“Oh man, you’ll bleed from the ears,” said McMahon, who stayed right behind the two bestfriends Tim Reed (1st) and Tim Van Berkel (2nd) in the bike segment only to slow down late in the run leg. “It’s so hot here. Those Tim guys, they’re fast,” according to a report from the Inquirer.net.

Brent McMahon, 3rd Placer

Everyone was also very excited  to see the Filipino hearthrob and actor, Piolo Pascua.

Piolo Pascual

Piercing Sun and Minor Accidents

The weather may look peaceful and sunny in these pictures but in reality it's really piercing hot! I cannot imagine how these triathletes withstood the heat of the sun that day. I saw that a few had some minor injuries, scrapes on the legs and arms. At some point during the race, there were rumors of minor accidents at the Cebu SRP tunnel and somewhere in San Roque, Talisay. I've heard that one participant was brought to Talisay District Hospital. Overall, local newspapers reported the next day that the race was still successful with no major injuries brought by major accidents. 

 

Check out other bicyclists here:

Congratulations to the top 10 triathletes as follows:

OVERALL RANK: 1

Tim Reed, No. 8

Country: Australia

Swim: 22:57

Bike   2:03:21

Run    1:16:35

Overall  3:46:03

OVERALL RANK: 2

Tim Van Berkel, No. 6

Country: Australia

Tim Van Berkel

Swim: 22:58

Bike   2:03:15

Run    1:16:42

Overall  3:46:05

OVERALL RANK: 3

Country: Canada

Brent McMahon, No. 1

Swim: 22:51

Bike   2:03:17

Run    1:21:01

Overall 3:50:23

OVERALL RANK: 4

Mitch Robins, No. 16

Country: Australia

Swim: 22:58

Bike   2:08:05

Run    1:21:00

Overall  3:55:20

OVERALL RANK: 5

Craig Alexander, No. 3

Country: Australia

Swim: 23:01

Bike   2:07:53

Run    1:22:50

Overall  3:57:11

OVERALL RANK: 6

Luke McKenzie, No. 5

Country: Australia

Swim: 23:00

Bike   2:05:47

Run    1:25:26

Overall  3:57:45

OVERALL RANK: 7

Team, Rdak-C, No. 3117

Country: Philippines

Swim: 25:58

Bike   2:15:22

Run    1:12:40

Overall  3:58:20

OVERALL RANK: 8

Peter Jacobs, No. 4

Country: Australia

Swim: 22:56

Bike   2:08:04

Run    1:24:11

Overall  3:58:51

OVERALL RANK: 9

Sam Betten, No. 2

Swim: 21:51

Bike   2:08:58

Run    1:27:10

Overall  4:01:23

OVERALL RANK: 10

TEAM LA EUROPA: No. 3128

Swim: 25:50

Bike   2:16:00

Run    1:24:31

Overall  4:10:29

Now Ranked 29 on Elance Under Admin Support

As of June 2015, my rank jumped to 29 under Admin Support category out of 11,339 companies worldwide. 

Thank you Elance for given me the opportunity to help clients worldwide and offer them my expertise in data entry, email list building/marketing and web research. This only shows that I work with passion and dedication in every project that I undertake. 

I thank my clients from different parts of this world, for given me the opportunity to work with them, it's always a pleasure working for each one of you no matter how small or big the project is. With almost 50% repeat rate, I'll will try my best to make you happy with my work.

Vanessa Jay's Inspirational Quotes..