Cambria and the Hearst Castle

Our final stop of this great trip was a little further down the coast in Cambria. Again stayed by the beach and waiting outside the door each morning was our continental breakfast in a basket!

Cambria is quiet seaside community. Lots of hotels and bed & breakfasts.

We then prepared for a full day trip to the famous or some say infamous Hearst Castle in nearby San Simeon. We rented Citizen Kane to get into the mood. Hard to believe the wifey hadn't seen the greatest film of all time, so I figured it was the perfect time to stop by the front desk and rent the movie. Citzen Kane is mostly based on William Randolph Hearst and his controversial life.

Click Here for the HEARST CASTLE PHOTOS

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Monterey

Next stop on our anniversary trip was Monterey. We stayed by the beach next to the famous Cannery Row. Pretty nice view....

Our first walk on the beach was memorable. A baby harbor seal washed up on shore. It was apparently abandoned by it's mother. A concerned crowd gathered. Luckily, someone from the nearby Aquarium came by and took in the emaciated seal.

We then visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Great exhibits of sealife...

..but the ultimate experience I must say is the jellyfish exhibit. I can stay and watch for hours. Very mesmerizing...

For more photos, CLICK HERE

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Kathryn and Eugene's e-pics

Being together since high school, Kathryn and Eugene make for a very cute couple. Our first stop was at the Legion of Honor museum, then a hop to the Golden Gate Park. I gotta give props to my wifey for coming up with most of the poses. At the end is a slideshow video with music of the photo shoot!

Kathryn and Eugene were both good sports because it was freakin cold and windy.

Here's the video slideshow. Enjoy . . .

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1 year wedding anniversary vacation

Wow, I can't believe a year has passed since I got married. To celebrate our anniversary, Aileen and I took a trip up the coast to Frisco and the Monterey/Cambria area.

First stop was San Francisco. As much as I dig the colorfulness of this city, I hate the ever foggy, gloomy and depressing weather. Mandatory tourist stop of course was the Golden Gate Bridge...

We then hopped to Fisherman's Wharf to have lunch and walk around. I've always loved clam chowder, but never in a bread bowl. It was the bomb!

It's always awe-inspiring looking at the Golden Gate Bridge. One of these days I'll have the stamina to walk across it. Ha! Maybe next time.

Before we leave Frisco, the wifey and I got the honor of photographing her cousin's engagement pics, which I'm looking forward to. I'll have those photos up in the next blog entry. Stay tuned....

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New toys for the Canon

I never realized how addicting this can photography thing can be. The wifey and I recently added a few accessories to the arsenal. Thanks to Craigslist, we acquired an affordable 50mm f1.8 lens. It's a little noisy when autofocusing, but this 'nifty-fifty' provides lots of fun with its depth of field - I can finally take those fun blurred background shots, but I'm still trying to get accustomed zooming in and out with my feet!

We also purchased an external flash from B&H Photo. I'm really eager to play around with our new 430 EX II speedlite. And last but not least, I just had to get some lens hoods. I went to Samy's Camera in LA and was I impressed with that place. It's a 3 story building with nothing but camera and video stuff galore. Aside from preventing stray light and flaring, my main motivation for the lens hoods was my long held perception that they gave cameras a more 'professional' look. ha! So, we went from this......

....t0 this!!!!....

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Family Party in Palmdale

It was my niece's and nephew's birthday party. It's always nice to spend time with family and I figured it was also a good time to practice taking photos :-) .....

unfortunately, the birthday girl was sidelined with a knee injury but it didn't diminish her spirits..

this is "Shorty", one of their twin tiny dogs glamming it up for the camera

being Filipino, the birthday boy had to reenact the Pacquiao knockout of Hatton.....

my nieces jessica and marie, all grown up. i remember the days when i used to change their diapers.....

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Colorado Street Bridge, Pasadena

Whenever I'm on the 210 going westbound, my eyes are always drawn to this Pasadena bridge right before the 134 interchange. The lamp posts are so retro and stylish. Little did I know it had so much history. Colorado Street Bridge came to be known as "Suicide Bridge" over the years as people leapt to their deaths 150 feet below. Over 100 people! I had to go there with my camera...

...I went with the wifey at night to take photos, but it took a lot of convincing. She was so scared of the alleged 'ghost sightings' there. Walking along the bridge does give you that eerie feeling....

....Good thing I don't believe in ghosts because there are some great views from underneath the bridge. There's a walking trail that runs through under......

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Vasquez Rocks

Located adjacent to the 14 freeway on the way to Palmdale/Lancaster these unearthly rock formations have been the backdrop of the old Star Trek show and also the new Star Trek movie. Numerous commercials and shows have been filmed here. This is also the backdrop of Rihanna's "Rehab" video...

To give you an idea how big these formations are, if you look closely, there's a person hiking the rock in the middle of the photo below - I think it might have been Chris Brown.....

.....not

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Sierra and Tiger

This is Sierra - our Tabby cat. He was named after our wedding location in Sierra Madre. Yeah, he has a girl name because we originally thought he was a girl until a visit to the vet revealed it was actually a male!

Tiger is the scrawnier one. Named after Tiger Woods, he's one laid back cat...

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Griffith Park Observatory

I recently visited Griffith Observatory because it provides a nice view of the city. Unfortunately, it was a typical smoggy day but I got off a few nice snapshots....

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