Ang Payag ni MamaGirl

These are photos of the historic At-atihan festival. My husband and I never fail to join in the merry-making and celebration. This year, we even brought along our little boy. We want him to be able to see the outside world, to experience the richness of our culture and traditionse so that whe he grows up he'll learn to treasure all of this; just like what our parents did to us when we were a lot younger.

For more of Ati-atihan, click here for the story. For other Wordless photos, please visit Wordless Wednesday HQ.

Hala, bira! Pwera pasma!

Ati-atihan Festival is held in Kalibo, Aklan in the western part of the Visayas every 2nd Sunday of January. It is one of the most popular, most fun and wildest celebrations in the Philippines. Hundreds and thousands of local and foreign visitors gather at the main streets of Kalibo to see the most colorful parade of the ati (natives), dancing and prancing around the plaza. Notice how colorful and unique the costumes are. Most of it were made from indigenous materials found in Aklan. Onlookers can't help but join in the fun and revelry, painting themselves with soot and dancing like there's no tomorrow.

The Ati-atihan is a feast honoring Sr. Santo Niño.

My husband and son dancing in the streets of Kalibo


Of course, MamaGirl also wanted to have a souvenir photo

My second assignment with Smorty is a review of Ashop Commerce.

Ashop Commerce is a company that provides ecommerce software solutions to online merchants. To be able to set up an online business, one needs a shopping cart service or a payment solution, among others. This is where Ashop Commerce's shopping cart software comes in. Understanding which shopping cart service for your kind of business will spell a huge difference in your business profit and customer satisfaction because website design, security and convenient payment system, as well as customer service are important factors in this kind of business.

An Ashop Commerce package is reasonably priced and it contains some neat web-based features that even a person with little knowledge of internet would be able to use. The designs are all customizable allowing you to modify to suit your needs. What's best is that technical support is readily available, by email, telephone or live chat! Now that's real customer support.

To those who are not easily convinced, you can test drive their demo store, or better yet, avail of the free 10day trial to test the functionality yourself. No wonder, when it comes to shopping cart, the award-winning Ashop Commerce is always come on top of the list.

Last year, I discovered blogging and I must tell you that it has brought me to a different world. I was never a writer and writing is just not my cup of coffee. I do love to talk, and so I thought, blogging is just a matter of pouring out my thoughts into paper, so to speak.

Then I was lured into blog advertising. I got addicted. In not so many words, I get paid to blog and I enjoy it. A LOT. However, due to recent page ranking problems, a lot of bloggers got affected by it, including me. I thought that my paid blogging days were already over. Good thing there is Smorty. Smorty provides opportunities to registered bloggers no matter what the page ranking is. What is important is that the content and traffic are good.

Smorty links advertisers and bloggers. Advertisers choose from Smorty's long list of bloggers and pay them to write a review or opinion about a product or service and links back to the advertisers. Signing up is not a problem, it's as easy as counting 1-2-3; no complicated steps involved. All you have to do is have a PayPal account ready, sign up, and you're already on your way to blog for money. Of course, you have to write honestly and creatively, and for sure, Smorty will send more opportunities into your mailbox!

Please be informed that my template is under construction. I will still continue to update this blog though but please bear with me if the lay-out do not display well and some links are missing.
Thanks.

I had been to Angkor Wat 3 or 4 years ago, and still, I am in awe of the temples. There is some kind of mystery enveloping the whole complex. Too bad that despite efforts of the Cambodian government to restore this world treasure, still there are many people who steal these precious artifacts, and, in effect, destroying it. The photo above shows the extent destruction and also shows how far the Cambodian government needs to go to fully protect its national heritage.

Amongst the five siblings, it is my eldest sister who has passion for photography. As far as I can remember, she was, and still is, very much excited about everything that concerns photography - her camera, the picture that she took, or any new camera accessories. She always looks forward to every picture she takes. She is not a professional photographer, but as an enthusiast/hobbyist, I have to say that she takes beautiful photos.

Whenever she spends for her passion, she makes sure that she gets value for every penny she spends. However, there are some items that she is not so enthusiastic to spend on, such as the tripod. She said that its function is merely to hold up a camera, right? So it was at the bottom of her priority list. Just recently though, after coming home from her Nepal trip, I was surprised to hear her mention about her need for a tripod. It turned out that some of the pictures she took there didn’t turn out well. There she met someone who, sort of, lectured her about the importance of tripods. Thus, began her quest for a good quality and reasonably-priced tripod. We both searched online and there is one brand that stands out from the rest – Bogen tripods.

Many photography hobbyists and professionals gave outstanding review of Bogen tripods. Bogen is an innovator when it comes to tripods. The advent of lightweight digital cameras ushered the digital tripods that are compact and transportable to suit the digital camera users. It has been said that it is very easy to pack and carry – it sets up and breaks down so quickly and easily!

Versatility is also one of the great features of Bogen tripods. Most of Bogen tripod models have a large range of interchangeable head designs to choose from and there are adjustable styles offered for the handles. More so, ball heads are offered in micro size, to support 4 pounds up to the pro size which will support 35 pounds. We both agree that when it comes to tripods, Bogen is the name that best supports the creativity of, not only professionals, but also amateur photographers or hobbyists.

Check out other entries for this week at the Wordless Wednesday HQ.

In the United States, most of the Americans build garages and carports not only to house their precious cars but also use it for storing old stuffs. There are so many companies that offer top quality metal buildings for garages, carports and metal and building roofing systems but only one company lands on the top choice list of the American majority, and that’s the - SteelMasterUsa.com.

It offers a lot of choices for all your building needs. From fancy carports to metal buildings, SteelMasterUsa.com has them. One of the great offerings of SteelMasterUsa.com is that they provide a steel building kit that contains all the necessary equipment to build garages, carports, steel buildings and many more. There’s so much design to choose from and you can even install it yourself!

It’s used by thousands all over America and they all attest to and recommend the genuine and long-lasting quality of the steel from SteelMasterUsa.com. In countries often visited by typhoons like the Philippines, I think steel buildings should be introduced to prevent more houses and properties getting destroyed.

The photos above is one of the many houses that was granted to a lucky indigent families in Capiz through the housing project that I am handling. One lucky family was blessed with a house they can now call their home. It is very much different from their former house, which is only a barong-barong (shanty, made from scraps or used materials). No more worries of leaking water when it rains, the new house has a nice roof made of nipa (palm fronds).

The family is beaming with happiness, having to start the new year with a new home! I and the rest of the project team are happy to be instruments in helping them. A lot of people take for granted the beautiful houses they live in, not knowing that there are thousands of poor families who live in shanties, without proper protection from the weather, no utilities and no security, too.

My project is helping countless other indigent families to have a house of their own. I hope that in the coming new year, we will be able to build more homes.