I am the TravelPod Video Winner

Four weeks ago, I joined this on-line travel site called TravelPod and I posted photos taken during my recent travel in London. While browsing the site, I found out that it has an on-going competition for members to submit a 10-second video that contains a bday greeting or message for the site 10th year celebration. Since recently, I am also exploring my Sony camera video function, I had it a go.

I gathered all the props - cake, candles, bottle of wine, cards, banner and set-up them in a sofa! I lighted the 10 candles and then started filming it. I did not take several minutes to capture the scene and did more than 5 clips with different angles and movement. Using the Microsoft Movie Maker in my Sony Viao notebook, I edited the film and put some texts on it and other special effects to make it more entertaining and snappy. Finally, I downloaded a free tune from the web and have it as a background to the clip. It was a tough work for having a running time of 10 seconds.

Finally, I completed and sent it to TravelPod before the deadline ended on Sept 30, 2007. Today, I got an email from the site, informing me that I am the lucky winner of the contest and will receive the new edition of iPod Nano! Wow, I am very happy to hear that... It is indeed a pre Xmas and bday presence for me...! It was funny coz my friends were quite puzzled why I have to buy a bday cake and with 10 candles!!! I told them that a close friend of mine is having a bday celebration and I cant attend the party, and so the video will be sent to the celebrant! And they asked me again why 10 candles and I immediately replied that my friend is a 10 yr old boy! I dont want to tell them the truth because if I win, it will be a surprised news for them and they will be the first to hear the good news, which I did and they were laughing out loud coz of my alibi.

Anyway, this is the link of the video and I hope you have time to watch it, The Winner. It takes awhile to upload it but it is worthy to wait and see what Ive done! If you still have time, please visit my profile as well at Digitalexplorer.

You can try this link, The Winner if you having difficulty from the first link above.

By the way, I got the ipodnano 3 weeks after I got the notice of winning. There was a little problem with the postage. I have to pay for the import tax of £35 even it was declared as a 'gift'! Well, nevertheless I love it and uploaded some 800 songs on it.


Finally, I was able to upload my video to youtube site for easy posting here. Hope you enjoy watching this 10-second clip for Travelpod 10th anniversary greetings!

West Coast: My American Summer Fun

DURING MY THIRD VISIT to the US last summer 2006, I was able to stay longer (for almost 4 weeks) and visited some part of California State. San Francisco is one of them for the very first time. A month prior to my departure from Britain, I contacted my friend working in San Francisco with an IT firm if I could stay at his place during my short visit. Being a close friend and the godfather of his only daughter, he did not hesitate to answer 'yes' to my request. So, my accommodation for few days at the city is completely ok except that I will be travelling from my cousin's place in Menifee (one hour away from San Diego by car) to Los Angeles, and then finally from San Fernando Valley to SF.

To save some dollars during my trip, I decided to travel by bus (Greyhound) which took me more than 10 hours along the road, having a two-day stop in San Fernando Valley (LA) and had a quick visit to the Universal Studios. Well, within that long journey it took the bus more than 6 hours to reach SF from San Fernando Valley. But it was a quick journey from the bus station to my friend's apartment in the downtown area using the city underground Muni Metro (light rail) train. After an hour of chatting/exchanging stories with my friend of not seeing each other for almost 6 years, my ultimate mission to experience San Francisco's hospitality and its tourists-friendly environment begins!
Frankly, having spent 3 nights was not enough to explore the entire Bay area and the neighbouring towns like Berkeley and Oakland. Nevertheless, I was able to visit some of its popular tourist attractions within that limited time, consequently enjoyed every minute of it. It is also worth mentioning of my half-day visit to UC-Berkeley's libraries (Engineering, Planning/Architecture and Business) as part of my learning experience, and was able to gather valuable reading materials for my on-going research. And surprisingly using my Olympus digital camera, I was able to capture more than 150 shots (equivalent to 4 film rolls) from my three days tour in SF. Overall, SF is an ideal place for young and old, and an ideal place for everyone where you always want to be during your next summer escapade!

For additional information about my San Francisco trip in terms of siteseeing, dining, shopping and many more, visit this link: San Francisco Summer Holiday

By the way, I also visited San Diego, Los Angeles and their towns during my four weeks vacation in the US. It was the longest summer break I had experience!

My quickie summer break in London

DESPITE MY WORK schedule, I managed to a have a weekend escapade in London (UK) last month and did explore the city at night using my Sony camera. This is my first time to do stroll around this British metropolis and capture its nocturnal beauty.

Additional informational about my trips can be viewed at:London @ Night

London is one of the busiest cities in the world and it is worth visiting and it is a must-see travel holiday destination for young and old! Unfortunately, I was not able to witness the opening of the middle span of the bridge when a ship is entering/leaving the harbour/river.

Down Under: My learning and travelling experience

TRAVELLING IS ALWAYS PART of my agenda in life. Being a Sagittarian, I always believe that my zodiac is destined to explore the globe. My travelling experience is coupled with two things: study/work and hobby. Most of my travels abroad are the result of my desire to pursue further studies and trainings in the field of my profession or basically just part of my job. The never-ending process of learning also gives me the adrenalin to go out of the country and meet a lot of people from different walks of life.
My two-year stay in Australia was a rewarding experience. This was part of my postgraduate research program in environmental engineering at the University of Queensland (UQ). During my schooling, it was a privilege to travel around Australia, especially in its major cities like Sydney (New South Wales), Canberra (Australia Capital Territory), Melbourne (Victoria), and Brisbane (Queensland) where I stayed most of the time. Having a well-organized mass transport system, it is convenient and easy to reach the main attractions of the country. Being an international student, it was also a privilege to have a 50% discount commuting with trains, ferries and buses. To some extent, coming from Australia airfare is a little bit desirable especially for short vacations in Europe, UK, New Zealand, Asia and some parts of Latin America. One of the good things of being a research student is that, I was not obliged to attend classes/modules, except in some cases that the university requires me to take some courses beneficial to my research project. Having such privileges, I decided to spend my extra valuable time travelling within Australia.


For the complete journal please click the link at: Australia

Note: My travelling and learning experience in Australia was published in Picture Perfect of Manila Bulletin in August 2005)