Now Reading: Stephen King: Under the Dome

Taking a break from zombies, Shadowhunters mundanes, vampires, werewolves and YA Dystopia novels. Currently reading Stephen King's Under The Dome. 

Seven words: "The best yet from the best ever" -Lee Child 

Oh and there's a TV series too! Yiheeeeeeee!!! :) 

Shot with Canon 500d, Canon 18-55mm, 3,5-5.6, Canon 430 EX II (triggered wirelessly) in a light box. 

Turning Japanese

This Japanese doll and Japanese drum/coin bank was given by my Ninang (Godmother) as additional decorations for our wedding in 2011, which had a Japanese Cherry blossom/Japanese theme. If you have known me long enough you would not be surprised that this was our theme since my debut also had a similar theme. 

Paul has been taking photos of these and he likes trying new angles and lighting conditions. :)  

Shot with Canon 500d, Canon 18-55mm, 3.5-5.6, Canon 430 EX II (triggered wirelessly) in a lightbox. 

Weekend Photographer:

Earlier this morning, I went out for a walk to take some photos during the golden hour. I've researched, what time would be the best time to shoot and prepared in advance to get the most out of the short window time for shooting with an awesome light from the sun.  


It's been quite a while since I went up to this place to shoot during the sunrise.  I've always been fond of this place ever since we moved from the city to the mountains of Antipolo.  I always find the place also known as 'the second floor' somewhat magical.

I've been shooting here for quite some time now, for some weird reason I find myself visiting this place over and over again to think, shoot, or just take a look around and see the city from the mountains.  I didn't take a photo of the city view since I focused on the sunrise and how things look with this type of sunlight.  

It is true what they say about shooting during the 'golden hour' you'll get warm and diffused lighting.  Hopefully next time I'd bring someone to shoot along or be the subject.

Here's a trivia and something you may not know, Ica and I have a few of our engagement photos shot as here as well. 

The Yellow Room Night: Saguijo

Ferown 

August 14, 2013
If you have been following the blog, you would know that we have been posting, blogging and covering events of The Yellow Room Philippines. 

So for the first timers - just what is The Yellow Room? 

Well The Yellow Room Music Philippines is a recording studio, music school and an independent record label that represents both professional and amateur musicians. 

And ever since Paramore Night 3 we have been following the music recorded and produced from their yellow rooms, some of which are recorded in the wee hours of the morning. 

We were at the Yellow Room night at Freedom bar - you can check out the blog post here. 

For the Saguijo leg, we were extra excited well Paul was since Pitik was lined up to play - check out our event announcement and band feature on Pitik here. 

Unfortunately the stars weren't lined up in Paul's favor since we woke up late for the event. You might be wondering - Huh? Woke up late for a bar gig? Well for those of you who don't know Paul and I are part of the nocturnal population that make up the BPO population; so yes we wake up then go to bar gigs. 

So we woke up late and to Paul's disappointment Pitik was up first in the line up so yeah he missed them perform but hey the show must go on right? This also applies to the photographer covering the event.  

Mayonnaise 

I wasn't along for this event since I opted not to ask my boss for a leave- she might give me 'the look', this was on a Wednesday night and Paul has Wednesdays off so no problem for him. 

Even if our usual blogger + photographer tandem wasn't present for this event we still work together even when we are far apart. Paul was basically my eyes and ears for the event so I can what I'm doing now - blogging about it. 

It was also Paul's first time to cover an event in Saguijo in Makati, since we are from Antipolo we rarely find ourselves in this part of the Metro. Its always exciting to cover an event in a new bar since Paul gets to shoot under new lighting conditions with new elements.  

A cute little boy was way past his bed time. 

There is a happy ending in Game of Thrones after all!

Sophie Turner and Zunni 

Actress Sophie Turner who plays Sansa Stark in the TV series adaptation of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice series, adopted the Northern Inuit dog who played her direwolf Lady in the series. 

Followers of the franchise know that its not a happy ending for Lady who was put to death after the evil Prince Joffrey was attacked by Nymeria, another of the Stark direwolves. 

The producers of the series stopped using real live dogs to play the direwolves in the series and opted to using CGI ones, since the wolves do become a lot bigger in the story. 

It's nice to know that you can feel warm and fuzzy even when the topic is about Game of Thrones. :)   

Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark with Lady, in Season 1 of Game of Thrones. 

Upcoming Movies: The Mortal Instruments: The City of Bones

For this upcoming movies blog post I did a special assignment first before blogging about the upcoming movie (showing in theaters on August 21) The Mortal Instruments: The City of Bones and that was to read the book. 

For Novels turned to Movies, my general rule is to read the book first and this is what I did in this case. 

This blog post would be a mixture of a book review, upcoming movie blog post and event post. Well first off, I did enjoy the book - it was an easy read. I found the book to be a mixture of Harry Potter, a bit of Twilight and a bit of Angels and Demons (not the book, just you know Angels and Demons) 

The story escalates quickly in the life of seemingly mundane (pun intended) Clary who sees things - strange things - and she's the only one who can see them. 

A world within our own world is a theme that The Mortal Instruments play with throughout the novel. A world of demons, vampires, werewolves, fairies and probably every other magical creature out there and the Shadowhunters of course.  

Based on the first book from Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments series, The City of Bones takes an unlikely heroine into a journey to discover her true nature as a Shadowhunter and uncovers some old family secrets. 

Considered as one of the Novel turned Movies that will bring about big buzz among fans throughout the world. The Mortal Instruments: The City of Bones will be hitting cinemas on August 21 and is distributed by Movie Punch- Pioneer Films. 

You can check out the trailer of the movie below: 

I'm excited for the movie - I love Lilly Collins - ever since I saw her in The Blind Side - Yup! Phil Collins' daughter (Yes! She is Phil Collins' daughter - ugh! I hate it - my age is showing) was in the award winning movie with Sandra Bullock. Although I am not a fan of her not red hair in The City of Bones. For me its not red enough but that's just my opinion. 

I'm also excited to see Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones) play Clary's mom - Jocelyn Fray. 

Aside from these actresses, I think the movie did a pretty good casting for the rest of the characters from Simon, to Alec and Izzy and Magnus Bane. Not so much a fan of the casting choice for Jace - but that's just me - no hating please :P Who knows I might get used to him. 

The book had a pretty fast twist and turn on the plot of the story so I'm really looking forward to a fast paced and exciting delivery on the screen also! Plus the CGI work on the demons, werewolves seem very impressive - based on the trailer.  

The Mortal Instruments fan base in the Philippines had a string of activities last Saturday to celebrate the upcoming release of the movie, this August 21, distributed by Pioneer Films and Movie Punch. 

Now, we were supposed to also cover the event but Friday shift was brutal and as you all know we work the night shift so it was really hard for us to go and Paul had work on Saturday soo- apologies we couldn't make it to the event Yes - work can suck a lot of times (which was probably why I was depressed enough to write about this blog post) but here I am still blogging about it since I really admire and believe in the Pinoy Shadowhunters who attended the event which was held in Powerbooks in Glorietta. 

It was a 2 in 1 event - The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones Soundtrack Pre-launch which was held in Astrovision - (you can get copies of the official soudntrack of the movie from Astrovision and I have a blog post and a preview of some songs in the Soundtrack here) and Two Words Collide: Shadowhunter and Mundane gathering. 

Movie Posters to Giveaway!!! 

Sometimes I ask myself -- ?

Okay - so don't be surprised this is not a blog post on an event, or an announcement or a review of anything. This is just me - Ica - letting some steam off in one of the best ways (aside from music) that I know how - writing and blogging. Maybe I need to do this more often or to the limitations to which I will be entitled to but for whatever reason I hope you guys don't get bored or click close - I guess its time I also gave you some personal thoughts and maybe let you know what's going on in my head. I don't know if its' that time of the month again or I'm just feeling really depressed now - so hope you guys indulge and read through :)   

So here goes -- 

Sometimes I ask myself why Paul and I do what we do? Why we spend our time blogging, covering events and writing reviews, among others. Sometimes I find myself so excited itching to start blogging, with thoughts flying across my head just waiting to get posted online. But I'll admit that there are times when I just want to lay down on bed and not do or think of anything. There are times and there are a lot of them, especially when we don't get the invites or the photo pass that we asked for - and I do ask a lot that I just want to pull my hair out of frustration and eat a pizza, blasting angsty music while I'm at it. The market is so saturated and there are so many people who do what we do - blog, take photos and what not and its' just so frustrating and hard to get a place, to get a spot and to squeeze in. You know - just asking for a chance. 

I mean what am I supposed to write about? I can't be a foodie- I am a very picky person when it comes to food, I bet that if you made a list of things that I eat to a list of things I don't eat you would have a longer list for the latter and its' not like we can afford to go to the swankiest of restaurants to try out their food either. Tried my hand in product reviews and make up blogging but that didn't really work out either - for the same reason of not being able to afford to have product haul after product haul of beauty products to review. So Paul and I settled to something that we both love - music and the pop geek culture. While we get invites on events and gigs, there is always that feeling of wanting to do more, as man has been known to feel but not getting the chance and the opportunity to do so. Covering these events means spending money on gas and food - while Paul and I are extremely grateful for the opportunity and the invites presented to us, maybe some people don't realize what it means for us to go on an event especially when we are on critical wallet day and are on a tight budget. Sometimes I ask myself what we get from all of this? I don't know if I'm just having a bad day or if I have a legitimate question. I do appreciate and I am grateful to the wonderful people that we have met while embarking on our adventures and meeting them and supporting music have definitely been one of the better things in these things that we do and spend so much time on.  

Paul has been pushing himself with his photography, since he wants to improve and become better but photography is a very expensive hobby and it really does hurt me looking at him becoming frustrated since he wants to improve so bad with his photography and of course that means needing funds for new lenses, a new body and other camera paraphernalia. He goes out every day making sure that he has a photo of the day and he is really pushing himself to learn more and more in photography, reading blogs and watching videos online. I know he wants to be a photographer professionally and that it is his dream - maybe someday we would get to see that dream lived, maybe. 

Circa Habang Buhay Music Video Launch

Right where they belong: Circa 

First of all, our apologies if the photos of the event were uploaded first before this blog post. We try to make it a point to upload the blog post at the same time as the photos on the Facebook page, but for this instance there was a disconnect and misunderstanding from Paul and myself, brought about being tired and lacking sleep. So that is why the photos and album in Facebook was posted first before the blog post. 

Never the less, here is the blog post on Circa's Habang Buhay Music Video launch. 

Music Video launches, or any launch for that matter is always a cause for celebration and indeed even before the video was debuted there was already a lot of cheering and clapping from the crowd since they were watching the talked about Gilas vs. South Korea basketball game on TV. 

It was a win that had news paper articles saying that the win meant a lot to Filipinos as, pride was swelling in each and every Pinoy who watched that basketball game. Jokes were cracked left and right about how the Philippines won over South Korea last night. One tweet I read said, - 'Korea you may have our teenage girls but basketball is still ours' while a number of tweets were about how OPM had one up on KPOP and indeed OPM did have a one up with the launch of Circa's music video 'Habang Buhay'. 

Thumbs up! From Circa guitarist Arkho at the end of their Habang Buhay Music Video Launch. 

Another reason why I love Music Video launches is that aside from the happy and festive atmosphere Is the great line up of bands performing and there were great and amazing bands lined up for the video launch. 

Recording Producer, Manager and all around 'Kuya' Monty Macalinao was present with his band - Mayonnaise - although made up of other session members, he himself was also a session guitarist for Ferown. 

I admire the passion that he has for music, even helping out up and coming bands like Circa - make sure to check out his very own The Yellow Room. 

The Yellow Room is a recording studio, music school and an independent record label for both professional and amateur musicians.      

Make sure to like their Facebook page HERE - for updates on amazing and talented musicians! 

Monty Macalinao of Mayonnaise

Sheric Ranning of Declared Already 

Comeback gig for Midnight Meetings 

Incidentally it was also in Route 196 where Midnight Meetings had the successful launch of their Music Video - Pwede Ba? Blog post here. The video is currently in the Myx charts-make sure to log on to myxph.com to vote! 

You can click here to watch the video. 

Rockstar PH which is a Manila-based source of original band shirts imported from the US also had a booth set up during the event. It is owned by Ashley Gosiengfiao and Guada Tagalog from Midnight Meetings. Click here to check out their Facebook page for amazing original band shirts from the U.S!  

Sorry there were no photos of the shirts from Rockstar PH or the booth - by the time Paul worked up to getting a photo the girls were already setting up on stage - maybe next time eh? I did purchase Velvet Cupcake flavored Chapstick from them - which I love - never leave the house without it :)  

Pcheng Photography Give away: SIGNED Midnight Meetings Accoustic EP and MORE!

FINALLY! We are posting this super late MIDNIGHT MEETINGS GIVE AWAY!

Up for grabs!

A SIGNED Midnight Meetings: Pwede Ba? Acoustic EP

A Midnight Meetings Keychain

A SIGNED Midnight Meetings print! 

If you check out our Midnight Meetings EP Launch post, you will read that the packaging of the EP itself is hand made and has that DIY charm you can't buy in record stores-definitely a collectible item! 

The keychain is also an original band merchandise from the band! :) If you check the photo you can see Ashley wearing it as a pendant. 

It's easy to win!

You just need to do the following: 

1. Like Pcheng Photography on Facebook. 

2. Follow Pcheng Photography on Twitter. 

3. Follow Pcheng Photography on Instagram. 

4. Send an email to paulcheng311@gmail.com and tell us why you should win these Midnight Meetings goodies. 

We will send a DM to the lucky winners and send the prizes to them.

In the mean time you can watch the video of Pwede Ba? below! 
Don't forget to vote for the video on Myx! Just log on to www.myxph.com  

Project 365: Week 13

When we keep hammering ourselves to improve and do what we love we would do it no matter what. So far, I have posted 84 photos, and many more to come.  I still have a long way to go till I reach 365, but so far things seem to go smoothly as taking a few shots per day became a daily routine.

Week 13 of Project 365 starts with me off from work.  Like most of my days off, me  and my wife go out to cover events and blog them.  April 19, 2013 was Earth day jam is one of those events that we went out to  cover and take some photos.  

I had a hard time getting my shot down for this day because there's just so much going on, and most of the light is directed on the stage.  I took some photos of performers on the stage, but I just cannot deem it as my shot of the day since, almost everyone has a photograph or even video of the performers.  

April 19, 2013 - Light and shadows

I went around the area which was in Bonifacio Global City, to hunt for my shot.  I remember viewing the spectators from afar and was lucky to capture the people from a raised ground watching the stage from a far. This is one of my favorite shots so far. 

April 20, 2013 - The pantry

The shot above was captured in our 17th floor office.  As captioned, it is the pantry of the said floor.  I was fond of how the light cast a nice shadow of the tables and chairs.  I had this shot with an iPhone 4S, and post processed in Snapseed. 

I had to try and tap on the phone a few times to get the desired exposure.  I just wish that I tried a different angle here, as it seems ordinary, and not thought of.

April 21, 2013 - As time passes

Going back to where, with each of us worried with what we'll be doing after our account has pulled its business out.  You can see and feel a gloom in our work area.  Here I caught, Joseph minding his own bees wax, but somehow the silence that loomed during the day prompted me to take this shot.  

Shot with an iPhone 4S, post processed with Snapseed.  I remember that I shot this a few times to get the focus and exposure right since the device tends to hunt for focus on it's own. 

April 22, 2013 - Wine rack

Coming off a weekend, my family planned to have a nice buffet lunch at Vikings in SM Marikina.  I had shot a lot of photos during our stay there in the restaurant, but I picked this one as my shot for the day.  There were lots of interesting stuff, mostly food but I went at the front of the restaurant and shot the long wine rack from it's right and composed it as so.  

Shot with Canon 500d, mounted with Canon 50mm f/1.8, no flash was used here.  Although it was overcast outside, SM Marikina still has lights to accommodate photo enthusiast like me. Except don't get yourself caught by the security guards.  Malls in the metro don't like people with DSLRs shooting around their malls.

I Went To Fall Out Boy: Save Rock And Roll Tour Live In Manila and lost my retainers

Photo by Magic Liwanag  

August 8, 2013.

I Went To Fall Out Boy: Save Rock And Roll Tour Live In Manila and lost my retainers- true story. Or is one of the stories that was all over Twitter right after the Fall Out Boy concert. Apparently aside from retainers and hearts being lost to the four man band from Chicago, soles, shoes and broken eye glasses were some of the material things lost amongst the crowd of eager fans.  Physically though? There was a lot of pushing and shoving as expected from a rock concert. A couple of girls fainted and were hoisted away by bouncers and carried out via stretchers. Yes - that was how hot the guys were on stage. 

Front act: Local band - Typecast. Shout out to drummer Sir Melvin! :)  
Photo by Paul Cheng 

The crowd bathed in light. This was pretty much our view from our seat. Photo by Paul Cheng. 

Concerned for the fans, bassist Pete Wentz asked the crowd to back up a few steps just to make sure there was enough air circulating. Thankfully there were no serious injuries aside from the hearts of many fans breaking after the concert that is. 

*UPDATE*

Apparently even before Fall Out Boy went up on stage there was already a woman who fainted. Which prompted concert organizers to make an announcement to the crowd not to push or shove - this of course was met with cheers and jeers from the crowd. It was even featured in the Inquirer - headline - Woman faints at Fall Out Boy concert - I kid you not. 

Photo by Mary Miracle Aco  

There are some things that we should be glad to have made a come back (and no Final Destination 5 is not one of them!) and Fall Out Boy is definitely one of them. Coming back with guns-a-blazing after a 4 year long hiatus which lyricist and bassist Pete Wentz talks about needing the hiatus to feel energized and to figure things out. The boys have returned with a spanking new album, a distinct new sound, the same amazing lyrics and a whole new mission: To Save Rock and Roll.    

Photo by Magic Liwanag. 

Interactive Concert 

I believe that one of the reasons why the concert was enjoyable was that, the songs in the set list really have the crowd moving to the music. The songs will have you fist pumping in the air, clapping to the beat and there are a lot of screaming and shouting and singing involved. The crowd held on to neon glowsticks that shone brightly in the darkened Araneta Center - it was a sight to behold. You could event spot glowing bunny ears in the crowd. 

Spotlight on Patrick. Photo by Inna Martinez 

A great live performance

You will always appreacite a musician more when you watch them perform live and this was also the case for Fall Out Boy who showcased their musicality during their concert. I was so impressed with Patrick who sang Sir Elton John's part during Save Rock and Roll and it was a whole range lower than his! A couple of octaves maybe? I'm not sure - any musical expert please correct me. He was going to and from different vocal ranges without a sweat! All this while also showcasing his talent on the piano. Clap! Clap! Indeed! 

Plus I was also able to appreciate guitarist Joe Trohman more, with his awesome 'Beat It' guitar solo! He is no doubt a rock star and with that hair - he can't do wrong. 

Drummer Andy Hurley even stood up on the drums and sang along, it was a sight to behold and his skills on the drums are undeniable! 

Say yeah - YEAH!!!! Amazing view of Team Gen Ad. Photo by Jasper Lucne.

Pay It Forward 

Honestly, this concert experience was very surreal for me. I really wanted to go to the concert and was determined to do so - even if car payments and sending my siblings to school seemed to threaten those plans. I told myself I would go no matter what and decided to buy General Admission tickets should all else fail. I knocked on so many doors but failed, I went through so many negotiations for payment plans on tickets that didn't push through. In the end we purchased General Admission tickets. Then I got a tweet from a former Colleague two hours before the concert, offering me Patron tickets- for free! I couldn't believe my lucky stars! I was so ecstatic and to pay that good deed done to me we gave our General Admission tickets to a friend who wanted to go to the concert. It was a good feeling and I really couldn't believe how everything worked out - from one kind act to another. :)  


A special thank you to Ben Anthony Rones - you have no idea how happy you made me! Starbucks on me! 

The Yellow Room Night: Saguijo X Band Feature: Pitik

Got nothing to do on a Wednesday night? Then head on over to the next Yellow Room Night which will be on August 14, 2013 at Saguijo Bar & Cafe in Makati. 

For those of you who don't know yet ~ The Yellow Room is an independent Record Label and Studio that caters to both professional and amateur performers and musicians. 

The studio is owned by Montay Macalinao of Mayonnaise who is the 'man behind the Yellow Room' as he also produces the songs recorded in the studio. 

There have been a number of The Yellow Room Nights already, each one in a different venue/bar across the Metro. Paul and I spent one Wednesday off from work by heading over their Freedom bar leg last July 24 blog post on that here. 

If you we'rent able to catch them for the first few Yellow Nights make sure to mark your calendars for August 14 and head on over to Saguijo Bar & Cafe for a night of great quality Original Pinoy Music. 

There will be performances from: 

Mayonnaise

Circa

Paraluman

Ferown

Pitik

Miromatiko 

The Very First 

Unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to attend the event since I have work, I already went on leave for their Freedom Bar leg and if I ask my boss to go on a leave again she might just give me a kurot sa singet. :P But Paul will be going since Wednesdays are his off days from work. 

Even if we both work as a team, Paul as the photographer and myself as the blogger; there are really times when one of us has to go on an event alone and we just have to compensate for the other. In case you didn't know Paul writes too ~ we both met in the College School Publication after all, so he does write, I just need to proof read it. :P And in fairness, Paul has also been teaching me a thing or two about how to take photos and that's how we work together. :) An acquaintance once told me we have a marriage of talents. :) 

Going back to the event...... Since I already featured Circa, Paraluman and Ferown in my previous post, this post will also be a special feature on Pitik. 

Jio Clavano of Pitik. Photo by Paul Cheng. Taken during Foo Fighters Night. 

Paul is also looking forward to the event since one of his favorite OPM bands, Pitik will be performing. Remember that original The Yellow Room post where I wrote that I loved the girls and Paul loved the boys, well Pitik is one those boys. :) He listens to their songs on Soundcloud. If you want to listen to Pitik make sure to check out Paul's Pitik Music playlist on Souncloud here. 

Our favorite Pitik songs include: 
It can't be me, click here to listen to it on Soundcloud. 
Burn Bright, click here to listen to it on Soundcloud. 

Below you can find the video of Pitik's Lies as recorded in the Yellow Room. The second video is the story of the recording and it is a pretty interesting story with a little history in it. 

Since the video was still made in 2012, there have been a lot of changes already, like Kuya Monty's hair style and a new Yellow Room. 

Pitik - Lies - the recording. 

More Rurouni Kenshin Casting news! Find out who will be playing Yumi!

As production of the two Rurouni Kenshin live action movies is ongoing. Casting news on characters are driving fans crazy with anticipation. So here is the latest line up. 

Maryjun Takahasi will be playing the 'woman behind Shishio Makato' the beautiful and seductive Yumi Komagata and she is half Filipino! :) 

Already previously announced, Yusuke Iseya will be playing, Aoshi Shinamori, the head of the Oniwabanshu. I'm hoping that he and Kenshin will still have that amazing fight scene! 

Ryosuke Miura will be playing 'broom head' Sawagejo Cho of the Jupon Katana, one of Shisho's 'Ten Swords' and judging from his pose in the photo - this casting is spot on!   

Yukiyoshi Ozawa will be playing Ito Hirubumi, a Choshu samurai like Kenshin and a four time prime minister of Japan. I don't really remember him from the anime, or what he looks like. Clues anyone? 

Min Tanaka has been cast as the lovable Okina AKA Kashiwazaki Nenji, of the Oniwabanshu I hope they also show his comedic side, I'm also looking forward to him wielding those steel tonfas.