Place of Dreams

Almost a year after, here I am with another post. Been very busy the past year, so I apologize for the lack of update. Thankfully I have a very long and dull holiday vacation (almost a week celebration of eid al adha) so I have some time to post. 

Recently I went outside of my comfort zone and attended two worldwide photo walks held here in Bahrain. The first one was sponsored by 500px last October 5.

                                                                                                     

Walking Away

This was my first time to try street photography. I usually take photos of nature/landscape, food and of course, my family and friends. I found out about this event while I was browsing some posts in the Bahrain Photography Club in facebook. I wasn't even sure if I'll go or not because I am not usually keen on trying out new things.

Shoemaker

I decided to go anyway thinking that this might be a good way to break free from my very mundane routine. So I asked my father to drop me in the event. I didn't know anyone there but fortunately there were some Filipinos also who attended.

Mentor

The shoot was set on Manama, the capital of Bahrain. Around 30 or 40 photographers attended so the group was subdivided into smaller ones, my group (with the group of Filipino photographers "Barkadahan sa Potograpiya") was assigned to go to the old neighborhood on the left side of the souq.

Bearded Man

I was uncomfortable at first because I don't know which subjects to shoot, what settings on my camera to choose (not to mention I was really envious of the cameras they brought to the shoot, they had good quality SLRs and lenses) and which way to go.

Hip shot

But after a while of observing how my group mates take their shot, I just let go of my fears and started taking photos. And slowly I just found myself being one with the street and with my camera.. *Click* after *click* of my shutter capturing pictures of people and just about anything which I found interesting.

What's going on?

I had fun interacting with the locals. Some were very active, they were posing for the camera, asking for more photos and telling that it wasn't their best angle. We even met one man who took her grand daughter from his home so that we could take her photo.

Little star of the walk

It was a good experience. I am very thankful that I decided to come. I met new people, took a lot of photo memories and learned new things about photography and the life here in Bahrain.. Indeed, Manama is a place of dreams.

-Abi.

Bahrain Trip: Al Areen Wildlife Park

Dear blog,

Yesterday was the first day of Eid Al Adha here in the Middle East. Since me and my dad had no work that day, we decided to go to Al Areen Wildlife Park in Sakhir.

Seeing all of these animals is a relief from being confined inside the house almost everyday (Sigh, I'm still working for the same company, but that's another story to tell). It also brings a sense of nostalgia when I was still very much interested with my first course, Biology.

 

Some of the animals looked unhappy and lethargic. 

I've read about the park's program in taking care of the endangered and the extinct species of some of the animals (they take care of the Arabian Oryx, which according to wikipedia, is already extinct in the wild).

  It's good that some people are making an effort to reverse and control the destruction of the world's flora and fauna. I hope more people will be aware and join this crusade to help and protect mother nature.

Abi :)

Hello? Are you there?

Dear blog,

Yes, I know I've turned into one of those bloggers who swore on their first blog entry to always update their blog, then after a month or so, will just pop back and apologize to their so-called "readers" because of being on a sudden hiatus 'cause of some lame excuse like "I was out living my life" or "I got caught up with (insert more lame excuse here").. blah blah blah.

So to live up to that cliche, I do apologize to my readers (if I have any) for not being able to update this blog for quite some time. No lame excuse but a simple confession that my life just got so boring, I don't have anything "interesting" to write. Until now. 

Remember I posted an entry last May regarding my resignation? Well, that didn't happen. I filed but revoked it few days before it was effective. My reason? I don't know, maybe I got too coward to let go of the routine that I was so used to... Until this morning.

As I sat down in my room, I look back and remember the events that occurred. It happened so fast, I didn't get to enjoy the moment when I got my freedom (freedom, overly dramatic naks). I won't go into details, but to summarize, I got tired of my work and just took the plunge, sent a skype to both of my boss and an email to seal the deal. I know it's informal to resign via email/skype but I'm more than 10 thousand miles away from the office right now and I think it's more informal to plainly dismiss the issue and just go AWOL. 

I actually felt good after it happened. I finally stood up and told them enough is enough. In the past year that i've worked with the company, sure I had some glory days, but it was mostly bed of nails. The workload was terrible and these people had no definition of set duties and responsibilities. I guess their motto is: "wherever there's work to be done, you will be assigned there and you need to finish it, pronto!"

I've been a doormat all my life. A pushover. I may exhibit a little bit of resistance, but I accept all shit and say yes all the time. 

Maybe I didn't get tired of my work, maybe I got tired of being the yes man, of not being able to say what's on my mind and just accept things as they come because I am to scared to let go of my routine. 

I was trapped in this bad habit all this time, and maybe what happened this morning was a wake-up call for me to embrace change.

Empowerment. 

Realists vs. Dreamers

“There are dreamers and there are realists in this world. You’d think the dreamers would find the dreamers and the realists would find the realists, but more often than not, the opposite is true. You see the dreamers need the realists from keeping them from soaring too close to the sun… And the realists? Well without the dreamers, they might never get off the ground.”

One of the best quotes from Modern Family. You'd think that the show is just all about fun and shit, but you'll be surprised that you'll actually learn something from watching it...

Well except for this vid: 

LOL. Parrot Scene.

Hilarious.