4th of july fireworks

© Joselito Briones 4th of july fireworks in new york as scene from our building's rooftop.

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kev's b'day bbq

ribs and oysters! very yummy.

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dinner at the marriott

© Joselito Briones
random pic time. this was at the marriott in manila. wil gave me t-shirt and marco gave me a pair of socks. I didn't have gifts for them so i gave them a steak dinner treat. first time i saw the new! and improved! marco.

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rooftop christmas party

pics from the christmas party at the rooftop of my apartment.

left to right: mikee, d.a., ogie, benjie, rene, chris, josen, jan, jomel

filipino food catered by rommel (center)

all photos © Joselito Briones

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champagne dom pérignon, vintage 2000

ha! i'll finally get to pop this baby.

am having friends over for dinner sunday night and we'll get to enjoy this. was also thinking of making mulled wine but maybe i's a bit to much. we'll see.  i just thought maybe it's a good idea because it's supposed to be a pre-christmas meet-up and it's gotten sorta cold and all and it's gonna be outdoor (rooftop of my apartment).  anyway, someone's taking care of food, so i don't have to worry about that.  i announced in the invite that the dom pérignon champagne will be served at exactly 7pm to entice everyone to come on time :)


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halloween costume shopping in hong kong

Photo: Joselito Briones

the place to buy halloween costumes here in hong kong is a stairs/alley connecting lyndhurst terrace and wellington street to stanley street, a block from where i live.


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i spy

i spy
with my little eye...
something beginning with L and V

hmmm... i wonder who's the gonna be the lucky one.


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what can you buy for $20

as an experiment, i invited my nephews and nieces (and kids) to submit a gift wish for the early christmas celebration - with the condition that it should cost US$20 or less, and that if i can't find it in the price limit, they'll automatically get PHP50 instead.  you should've seen the list they made:  lens for a digital camera, wrist watch, desktop speaker with subwoofer, and the one that takes the cake, a complete kitchen package from ikea. well that one's from my youngest sister, and of course she'd pay for it, but i'm in hong kong and she actually expects me to put the whole thing, cabinets and all, in one door-to-door box.  between her and my eldest sister who thought up the early christmas celebration, i wonder why i bother making up fictitious characters for stories.

anyway, kids today have a very grand idea of what a gift can be, and no idea of the value of money. no one asked for a certain book, or cd (i suspect they all just download anything they want), or any traditional toys, or some special food, or something really basic, like a new pair of socks. sign of the times? i remember when getting ANY sort of gift was a real treat - now it has to be branded products and electronics, and only the latest ones will do.  in a way i guess it's also a good indicator that all the basics are well provided for.  now that's really something to celebrate.


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early christmas shopping

norie, my eldest sister who lives in california, decided she wants to celebrate christmas in september in the philippines (and why not, right?). so we'll have a reunion/christmas party.  i expect lots of food and noise and fun.  photo above is from last year's christmas eve party games.  there'll be a hired band for the party so there'll be lots of singing as well.  in the past it's my nephews and nieces who make up a band, but now two of them have moved to california. we'll also have an exchange of gifts, that's why i'm going christmas shopping this weekend, in the middle of august.


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better be worth it now

floren emailed me these photos he took with his phone earlier today. first one's with the always fab and beautiful faye. am not even sure that's how she spells her name. maybe without e. i don't know. it feels like it should be with an e if only because she has cheekbones sharper than dunaway's.

second one's of me having breakfast. at 5pm, same table. 2 photos a few minutes apart. i know that glass of wine looks very wrong in a breakfast setting. i swear i only had one. not that there's anything wrong with having more. for breakfast i mean. if that's what you're into. woke up very late. i was supposed to be there at 2pm, but then i know that when floren says 2pm it means 3pm earliest. and anyway i wasn't expecting to eat there. i had a couple of snack bars before going. last time we had a mini party there we had to wait so long. i was already very hungry and cranky by the time we started eating. this time i was prepared. i was only going there to chat and catch up with them. that there was food was a plus. it was a bit disappointing that not all of the usual crowd wasn't there. but the ones who were there were fun. especially faye. she was there with her boyfriend simon of course, and their new spoodle (sounds yummy, no? like home-spun noodles) which is a two-tone bastard mixed breed of a poodle and something else. really cute. and looks really expensive. name's charlie. chuckie sounds right. kept fighting for attention against monty. the resident spoiled puppy. purebred poodle. yep. looks just as expensive. no wonder i can't hang out more often with these people (poodle and spoodle owners). they're just so damn rich i can't afford their lifestyle. i'd like to say i hate them but i can't really. they're nice people. okay i hate them. there. hahahaahah. ok not really.  sometimes they feed me really good food. excellent food. oh. speaking of expensive and good. chris told me that on one of their few celebrations this week (his and floren's birthdays are a few days apart), they popped a bottle of 1982 chateau latour pauillac. (that was the part where your jaw was supposed to drop and think to yourself, WTF?).  yes sir. that's HK$10,000-15,000 a bottle bordeaux. naturally i asked if it was worth it (when what i really wanted to ask was why i wasn't invited to THAT party). he said it was really really good but not that much better than other good wines he's had at, say, 5% of the price.  so i said, "well, the only way you can make it really worth its price tag is to tell as many people as possible that you've had it". so here we go.

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(eta: currency)

chris

© Joselito Briones

last week was floren's, today is chris' birthday. photo taken when mati and i visited them in hong kong late last year. we had lunch in their balcony. chris flipped burgers for us. ha! (he grilled 'em in the balcony). happy birthday chris! 

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floren

© Joselito Briones

it's birthday greets time! this one goes to floren. photo taken of him in his seriously posh home office, something i'm so hugely envious of.


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And the award goes to...

© Joselito Briones

Good news! My sister Irma, ("Neh" to the family) was awarded the "Global Achievement Award" in her company. She's an industrial engineer managing production in Africa and the Middle East of products distributed in mainstream U.S. markets (Saks, Target, GAP, etc.).

Congratulations, Neh! We're proud of you!

(Photo taken in Dubai)

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lovely dinner

© Joselito Briones

After Dovedale, we all went back to the house for the dinner that Ann's group prepared. It was most excellent. Salmon and vegies on bread and olive-filled mini pastries for starters, perfectly done roast leg and shoulder of lamb and potatoes for main, and Eton mess for dessert. This is what holidays should always be like.

Photo above is Jerome carving one of the two big pieces of roast. We finished all of it.





© Joselito Briones

Chow time!





© Joselito Briones

Ann and Chris making the dessert.


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group photo

© Joselito Briones

After Chatsworth, we all went back to the cottage for dinner. The system was that the guests (everyone but the two birthday celebrants - Marco and Wil) were divided into two groups who would take care of food in the house. Today's group in charge is lead by Ronnie. For dinner we had pork stew with potatoes. I'm excempt from doing any of the cooking and serving duties as I was the token photographer.

After dinner, I asked everyone to put on the best clothes that they brought for a group photo in the living room, to commemorate the gathering. Left to right: me, Mati, Chris A., Michael, Ann, Marco, Ronnie, Wil, Gau, Chris O., and Jerome.

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Fischers Baslow Hall

© Joselito Briones

Today's lunch was at Fischers Baslow Hall, a one-star Michelin rated restaurant in Derbyshire.

© Joselito Briones

Photo above is the reception area where guests can have drinks while waiting for the table.

© Joselito Briones

And this photo above, in the main dining area, shows (clockwise from left) Chris A., Ann, Ronnie, Chris O., Wil, Marco, Jerome, Michael, Gau, Mati and my pork dish.

Next: Bakewell and Harthill.


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de-stressing

© Joselito Briones

More birthday greetings. Marco flew in to Portugal from Manila for a bit of R&R, and we'll be celebrating his and Wil's birthday in England this weekend.

Happy birthday Marco!

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No cat needs saving

© Joselito Briones

On my last birthday, having mentioned to him that I now want to make a full length film (ha!), supportive as he always is, Wil sent me a big box of books on film making - everything from screenplay writing, directing, story bording, and digital videography. I managed to read through the books in two weeks and was psyched to get started, so I thought what better way to practice skills than to try to shoot footages on our forthcoming trip to the English countryside. Guided by the screenplay writing book "Save The Cat", I started doing a screenplay, planning to use only the (would-be) available resources - friends to be in it, locations we're gonna be in anyway. It was gonna be a totally camp "Emma" (location, location), but it proved too much in the end. The project is cancelled and instead (as per Wil's request) we're gonna do a video montage to a song. It's his birthday, and the weekend trip to the English countryside to celebrate his and Marco's birthday, so yay! Should be fun.

Happy birthday Wil!


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The Fall of Bastille

© Joselito Briones

The photo above is of Ronnie and Jerome, taken during the Regent's Park picnic that followed "The Fall of Bastille" (a.k.a., their official partnership registration here in London). I've got way too many photos on that day, having had 3 separate events to commemorate the occasion... the ceremony itself in the city hall near their apartment in Baker Street, this picnic in Regent's Park, and a Boat trip along River Thames.

This was taken 14th of July, Bastille Day. We didn't tell either Ronnie and Jerome that we'd be able to make it to celebrate with them, so they were very surprised to see us during the ceremony.


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London trip confirmed

© Joselito Briones

Mati has been for sometime asked by his company to work in England again, but he hasn't really been agreeable with the terms they offer, so he's declined it (and it's in some other city, not in London). This time they offered him a short-term assignment instead (6 weeks) in London, so he took it. I've also got several things to do in London (Ronnie and Jerome's partnership ceremony, Wil's housewarming party, iStock minilypse), so I'm tagging along. So yeah, for the next 6 weeks starting Friday, Mati and I will be in London.

Photo above is one of my absolute favorite places to visit in London, the National Portrait Gallery, taken during my recent trip there. Okay, it's actually the building behind the ornate wrought iron street lamp and kiosk. I've always been fascinated by the human face as photography (and drawing) subject, and this place has a treasury of the different styles different personalities have been portrayed.


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