Pinoyborian

It's more fun in the Philippines!

2012-01-06T15:34:00.001Z

The Philippines' Department of Tourism unveiled this morning its new international tourism campaign dubbed "It's more fun in the Philippines."

I definitely agree on this statement and I'm helping spread the word. And if I may add, not only the Philippines but also the Filipinos are more fun!

Source: It's more fun in the Philippines

Postcard Friday #10: Ferry Meadows

2011-12-30T22:09:00.001Z

Ferry Meadows is the 200ha (500acre) Country Park located at the heart of Nene Park in Peterborough.

Imagine somewhere beautiful, safe and unspoilt where you can walk, cycle, play, horse-ride, ride a train, go fishing, exercise the dog, jog, push the buggy and explore endless meadows, lakes and woodland - all less than three miles from Peterborough's busy city centre.

You'll find all this and more - including water sports, cafes, hard-surfaced routes for wheelchair users, a busy events and activity programme and endless opportunities for outdoor recreation. (Source: Nene Park Trust)

However, I'm not familiar with the picture used in the above postcard. I have never been to this part of Ferry Meadows.

My family have been to Ferry Meadows a few times as it is a good place to relax in. The Filipino community hold their annual summer Family Fun day in the park, which has been going on for two years now.

Wordless Wednesday #10: Parol

2011-12-28T19:36:00.000Z

Postcard Friday #9: Guildhall

2011-12-23T08:15:00.000Z

Guildhall (1669-1671) is located in Cathedral Square, Peterborough city centre.

According to Wikipedia, Peterborough's magnificent 17th century Guildhall was built shortly after the restoration of King Charles II. It is supported by columns to provide an open ground floor for the butter and poultry markets which used to be held there. The market place was later renamed Cathedral Square.

Guildhall was also known as Butter Cross (also Market Cross). In Wikipedia, a market cross is a structure used to mark a market square in market towns, originally from the distinctive tradition in Early Medieval Insular art of free-standing stone standing or high crosses, often elaborately carved, which goes back to the 7th century.

Originally, Guildhall was also used as civic offices aside from being a market place. It was built by John Lovin, a master mason of Peterborough. For more on Guildhall visit the Peterborough Hidden Heritage website.

Wordless Wednesday #9: Belen

2011-12-21T07:11:00.000Z

Postcard Friday #8: Town Hall, Bridge Street

2011-12-16T18:07:00.012Z

This postcard shows Bridge Street during winter, which is located in Peterborough city centre. In the middle of this old picture is the iconic Peterborough Town Hall, which was built in the early 1930s. This building is still being used by Peterborough City Council as offices and also includes the ceremonial parts like the Mayor's Parlour and the Council Chamber. I have been to the Town Hall a few times, most memorably when our family took oath as British citizens two Decembers ago in the Council Chamber.

The iconic building is currently in the midst of controversy among Peterborians as the city council plans to sell them to save on costs. One option the city council is considering is to use the historic building as student accommodation.

The part of Bridge Street shown in the above postcard is where you find such shops as M&S, Mothercare and many more. Before there is MJS Sarap Mabuhay we used to buy Filipino food products in Janson Hong. Before I wrote this post, I was in Bridge Street today to collect my younger son's prescription glasses from Specsavers.

Wordless Wednesday #8: Into the box

2011-12-14T06:54:00.002Z

Postcard Friday #7: The Custom's House

2011-12-09T15:57:00.002Z

Here's a description of the Custom's House according to The City Scene for Peterborough magazine (pp 4-5 of December 2011 issue):

The Custom's House
former Granary Town Bridge, River Embankment

Originally this early 17th century building topped by a cupola was a granary and owned by the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral. It then became a Toll House for goods shipped up and down the River Nene and was later sold to Earl Fitzwilliam of Milton Hall.

Taxes and tolls were charged on goods that were brought in by barges and Fen lighters that travelled between Wisbech and Northampton. Goods shipped included wood and agricultural products like malt and corn from the fertile Fens. Even French prisoners were transported by river to Peterborough during the Napoleonic War and marched from the Custom’s House, used as a transfer station, to the camp at Norman Cross.

Church bells cast at William Penn’s foundry located near to where the Town Hall is today were also transported by barges. River traffic included passenger vessels or packets which did journeys three times a week from Peterborough to Wisbech. Apparently in 1810 our local poet John Clare used to make this journey regularly.

Over the years the railways took trade away from the river and in the late 1920s very little trade was done by river between Peterborough and Northampton with the exception of Fen lighters that traded up to Wansford for stone.

Before the improvements of the 1930s, the River Nene which was made navigable in 1713 was tidal up to Peterborough, but even so the tide only gave enough depth for the passage of loaded lighters on approximately five days in every fourteen. Those that did run had to be helped over the Northey gravel shoal between Peterborough and the Dog-in-a-Doublet by the release of water from Woodston and Orton staunches.

The Custom’s house is constructed mainly of rubble with dressed stone with the east end being constructed of brick. It has a Cooley Weston slate roof and a hexagonal cupola with a weathervane mounted above.

In 1888 planning permission was granted to convert the west end of the Custom’s House into a residential dwelling. The interior was converted to make three bedrooms on the first floor, with a sitting room, kitchen and back kitchen on the ground floor. No gas or water pipes existed at this time and heating was by coal fires.

Many long standing residents of Peterborough will recall that the Custom’s House was occupied by the Hammond family in the last century. They operated a boat hire business from the Custom’s House wharf and many a pleasant time was had by locals and visitors alike who chose to hire rowing boats for trips along the River Nene.

Since 1942 Peterborough Sea Cadets have used the building and they continue to do so – operating as T.S. Gildenburgh – under the present-day guidance of Major Andy Tannock R.M.R.

June & Vernon Bull – local historians and authors

I sometimes drove past this building, which is not really eye-catching as to attract one's attention, when my family gets a craving for KFC chicken, which is located along London Road near the football stadium of Peterborough Posh. Also, I've not been to nor near to the building but it would be interesting to do so.

Wordless Wednesday #7: Christmas guides

2011-12-07T18:41:00.001Z

Coca-Cola Where Will Happiness Strike Next: The OFW Project (w/ English subtitles)

2011-12-06T01:15:00.000Z

This video is going the rounds in Facebook at the moment. What more can I say? It is a very touching story of Christmas. As a Filipino expat myself who celebrated Christmas again in the Philippines last year I know how it feels. It has been 8 long years since I last celebrated Christmas in my homeland. It is even more memorable because it's my children's first Filipino Christmas.

Bonusprint promo: 5-15 December 2011

2011-12-05T23:32:00.036Z

Two New Promotions Starting Today!

15% Off Everything (when you spend £15 or more)

Promo Code: AF1515

Starts: Monday 5th December 2011

Expires: Thursday 15th December 2011

15% Greetings Cards

Promo Code: AFGRT15

Starts: Monday 5th December 2011

Expires: Thursday 15th December 2011

Note: This great Christmas gift idea is only available to UK customers.

(Disclosure)

Wordless Wednesday #1-4: Backstory

2011-12-04T07:19:00.000Z

I try to be true to the objective of Wordless Wednesday by posting only pictures as the blogpost. However, I feel there is still something lacking to complete the picture (pun not intended). And that lacking element is a description of the picture used in the Wordless Wednesday blogpost.

So, for every four (may vary in future) Wordless Wednesday posts I published in this blog, I will write a backstory post. I will start with Wordless Wednesday #1 to #4.

Wordless Wednesday #1: Mother and sons is a picture of my family taken in late winter 2007 using an Olympus u725SW camera. I chose this picture for this theme simply because I just love looking at the happiness in my family's faces. This photo was taken near the Cathedral Square in the city centre of Peterborough. I went to tiltshiftmaker.com to create a tiltshift effect so that the focus will be on my family's happy faces.

Wordless Wednesday #2: Seagull was taken last summer in the beach in Hunstanton using a Nikon Coolpix L110 camera. We went to the resort town of Hunstanton for a day in the beach together with some relatives and friends. I took several pictures of the seagulls and terns in the beach. This picture is one of two that came out decently. I had it Gimped up before posting it on to this blog.

Wordless Wednesday #3: Rick Kirby's 'Vertical face' was taken in the summer of 2008 using an Olympus u725SW camera. This sculpture by sculptor/artist Rick Kirby is just one of many that you will find in the gardens of Burghley House in Stamford. The sculpture was commissioned by Burghley House in 2002. It's made of mild steel and measures 5m x 3m. There are actually two versions of this sculpture in Burghley House gardens. The other one is the picture I used in the post Tilt-shift Photographs.

Wordless Wednesday #4: Bluebells was taken in spring 2009 using an Olympus u725SW camera. This was a weekend day and my older son had brought a teddy bear named Boris as some sort of homework. He has to do some activity with Boris during the weekend and return it to class the following Monday with a report. So, we brought Boris to our nearby woodland and that's where I saw the bluebells. My kids enjoyed that short walk with Boris and my son happily reported it to their class.

Earning money through affiliate marketing

2011-12-03T07:13:00.000Z

In September this year I discovered affiliate marketing through Problogger. Affiliate marketing is a form of online advertising that rewards website owners like me (aka Publishers) for promoting e-commerce websites (aka Advertisers).

In the same month I registered for my own domain with GoDaddy.com. A year’s registration cost money, which I want to recover through advertisement in my blog. Before affiliate marketing, I ran advertisement in my blog through Google AdSense. Also recently, I used Chitika to run advertisement in my blog.

You can participate in affiliate marketing by signing on to ad networks, which is usually FREE. Currently, I used:

The following are the affiliate programs that I participate in (in some of them I have been or is a regular customer which is the reason why I chose them in the first place):

The link may still increase in the future. I know there is a lot of debate about affiliate marketing in blogs. I am just being pragmatic. I only use affiliate programs that I believe in and that I would have no problem becoming a customer.

Note: I will rewrite this post to become a Disclosure page of this blog.

Postcard Friday #6: Peterborough Cathedral Cloisters

2011-12-02T07:17:00.003Z

This postcard shows the Peterborough Cathedral Cloisters. You can go to it via a huge door from the Cathedral's right side. If you wish to go directly to it there is a pathway to the right of the Cathedral in which you can go to.

According to Wikipedia, a cloister (from Latin claustrum, "enclosure") is a rectangular open space surrounded by covered walks or open galleries, with open arcades on the inner side, running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a warm southern flank, usually indicates that it is (or once was) part of a monastic foundation, "forming a continuous and solid architectural barrier... that effectively separates the world of the monks from that of the serfs and workmen, whose lives and works went on outside and around the cloister."

A Clickmas Wish: DSLR camera

2011-12-01T07:22:00.004Z

I'm an absolute beginner in photography, mainly taking pictures of my family. I do aspire to become a better photographer. How I wish I can also take those wonderful landscape and wildlife photos I admire from magazines.

At the moment I own two compact cameras - Olympus u725SW and Nikon Coolpix L110. I bought the former in 2007 and the latter in January this year, both from Amazon UK. I do have pictures from both cameras that I think can pass as decent photographs. I used them in the Wordless Wednesday posts.

Compact cameras do have a lot of limitations if you want to capture great photos. But with a DSLR camera it is a different matter altogether. Since it's Christmastime, or rather it's Clickmastime, once again I am in 'wishing' mode for an entry level DSLR camera. I have been good this year (yeah right) so I might be in a for a surprise from Father Clickmas.

I have been eyeing some 'great to have' DSLR cameras for some time now. I'm no expert and I don't pretend for one moment to understand all the technical description of a DSLR camera. I mainly rely on reviews in order to help me decide on which camera to go for as my first DSLR camera. The number of awards it gets is a big plus for me, too.

Like many people, I guess, who are planning to get a DSLR camera for the first time, I tend to choose between the two greats, Canon and Nikon. If I am to come up with a list of five to choose from I can easily pick out only from either Canon or Nikon, or from both.

The five entry level DSLR cameras (not in order) that I have been eyeing for sometime now are:

In the end, it would be a very tight fight for Canon EOS 600D, Nikon D5100 and throwing in the Sony A35 as the dark horse. Father Christmas, now you know what I want for Christmas this year. Make my Clickmas wish come true. Pleeeeeeeease!

How about you? If you are to buy a DSLR camera for the first time, what will it be?

Wordless Wednesday #6: Tarsier

2011-11-30T06:31:00.002Z

Amazon UK's 12 days of Christmas sale is on!

2011-11-29T06:58:00.000Z

Yesterday was the start of the annual 12 Days of Christmas Sale of Amazon UK, helping you find great prices on gifts for the whole family:

Clothes and Shoes – 10% Off with this voucher – Offer ends Dec 5th: Buy clothing, shoes, jewellery and watches from Amazon.co.uk and you can claim 10% off the Amazon.co.uk selling price with promotional code AWFASH11.

30% off on selected clothing

50% off selected shoes

Do you like Olly Murs' music? If so, then you will like this week's album offer, Olly Murs' In Case You Didn't Know - only £3.99!

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Disclaimer: I am an affiliate of Amazon UK. I also buy regularly from their online store.

Bonusprint promo #4

2011-11-28T06:45:00.002Z

Two New Promotions Starting Today

Monday 28th November 2011!

20% Off Photo books

Promo Code: AFXSTK238

Starts: Monday 28th November 2011

Expires: Sunday 4th December 2011

Prints & Enlargements 15% Off

Promo Code: AFPRT15

Starts: Monday 28th November 2011

Expires: Sunday 4th December 2011

Watch this space in the weeks to come for a cracking series of possible new promotions coming up over the Christmas period.

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Disclaimer: I am an affiliate of Bonusprint.

Sport Fashion shopping at Puma online

2011-11-27T17:26:00.002Z

Photo: Free-Extras

PUMA is one of the world's leading sportlifestyle companies that designs and develops footwear, apparel and accessories. PUMA starts in Sport and ends in Fashion.

The official PUMA Online Store provides the largest selection of PUMA shoes, clothing, accessories and equipment available. Their Sport Performance and Lifestyle labels include categories such as Soccer, Running, Motorsport, Golf and Sailing.

Sport Fashion features collaborations with renowned designers such as Alexander McQueen, Yasuhiro Mihara and Sergio Rossi, and modern collections such as Urban Mobility (with creative direction by Hussein Chalayan) and Rudolf Dassler Schuhfabrik.

PUMA created such famous sneaker styles as the Suede, El Rey, Roma, Clyde, Mostro, Speed Cat, First Round and Cabana Racer. Their Motorsport collection features officially licensed Ferrari and Ducati logowear.

In soccer, PUMA is the official supplier to five European national teams, including former world champion Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Bulgaria and Czech Republic.

In addition, PUMA has a long-standing relationship with 11 African soccer federations including current African champion Egypt, Ghana, Cameroon, Angola, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia and Namibia.

In the United States, PUMA is the official sport and lifestyle apparel, footwear and equipment supplier to the Women's Professional Soccer league (WPS).

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Note: this post was partly written with information from PUMA.

Disclaimer: I am an affiliate of PUMA.

Quality art materials from GreatArt

2011-11-26T23:19:00.001Z

GreatArt offers the UK's largest range of Art Materials online, offering over 40,000 products. This is made possible through an ultra modern 215,000 sq ft distribution centre where all GreatArt products get dispatched and tracked to artists all over Europe.

Gerstaecker Group which is present in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France and the United Kingdom (under the name GreatArt) has over 50 years experience of being Europe's leading retailer for Art Materials.

Since its inception in 2002, GreatArt has become the UK's leading retailer for quality art materials. Their aim is to provide a reliable and friendly service, taking into account the views of the customer so they can offer an unbeatable package. As a result customers return again and again, taking advantage of GreatArt prices and huge choice.

GreatArt stock leading brands like Winsor & Newton, Daler-Rowney, Sennelier, Lukas, Lascaux, Caran d'Ache, Faber-Castell, da Vinci, Mabef, Michael Harding's Oil Colour, Logan and many more. They also offer great prices on quality products: artists paints, canvas, papers, easels, brushes, pastels, pencils, and much more.

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Note: this post was written in part using information and image from GreatArt.

Disclaimer: I am an affiliate of GreatArt.

Postcard Friday #5: Peterborough Cathedral from top

2011-11-25T06:54:00.002Z

Peterborough Cathedral is one of the finest Norman buildings in Europe today and is a UK landmark.

As seen from the top, you will see that Peterborough Cathedral is shaped like a cross. Personally, this postcard is very interesting to look at. I'm imagining myself hovering at the top and looking down below. The cathedral is just as amazing from the top as below.

The origins of the Cathedral can be traced back to King Peada of the Middle Angles who founded the first monastery on the site in 655AD. The monastic settlement was almost entirely destroyed by the Vikings in 870 and rebuilt as a Benedictine Abbey between 960 and 970. The Abbey church then survived Hereward the Wake’s attack on the Abbey in 1069, and remained intact until an accidental fire destroyed the second Abbey here in 1116. It was rebuilt in its present form between 1118 and 1238. It became the Cathedral of the new Diocese of Peterborough in 1541 and it is now known as the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew.

Source: Peterborough Cathedral

New UNIQLO offers: merino, fleece and free delivery

2011-11-24T06:53:00.001Z

This week at UNIQLO there are even more great offers to help you out with your Christmas shopping!

Starting today, Thursday 24th November:

FREE DELIVERY on all orders
Up to £10 off Merino knitwear
Fleece parka from £12.90 – men's and women's styles
Slippers from £4.90 – these super comfortable fleece or flannel room shoes are an ideal stocking filler
Roomwear sets from £19.90 – perfect for a comfortable Christmas morning (men's and women's styles)

These are in addition to UNIQLO's previously communicated amazing offers:

100% pure cashmere from £49.90 (men and women)
Down coats and jackets from £59.90 (men and women)

All of these offers will be running right up until 24th December.

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Note: this blog was written in part using information and image from UNIQLO.

Disclaimer: I am an affiliate of UNIQLO.

Argos offers: live from 23/11/11 to 06/12/11

2011-11-24T00:48:00.002Z

Great Argos offers live from
23-Nov-11 to 06-Dec-11

Starting this week Argos have 4 Voucher codes as well as a huge Half Price Toy Sale and furniture offers to get your home ready for Christmas!

CLICK on the Hot Offers and Promotional Vouchers below for more details.

Hot Offers (valid until 06/12/11 unless otherwise stated)

Promotional Vouchers

Happy shopping at Argos!

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Disclaimer: I am an affiliate of Argos. I am also a satisfied regular customer who buys from their local branch in Queensgate shopping centre.

Wordless Wednesday #5: Autumn leaves

2011-11-23T06:12:00.001Z

Amazon.co.uk's Black Friday Deals Week is back

2011-11-22T10:37:00.000Z

'Black Friday Deals Week' returns to Amazon.co.uk with five days of high discount, limited time, limited quantity deals on over 500 great products from Monday, 21 November to Friday, 25 November.

Following the success of the first ever UK 'Black Friday Deals Week' in 2010, Amazon.co.uk will have deals on twice as many products this year including fashion, beauty, books, music, electronics, home, sports, and much more.

You can keep track of all the deals by checking the banners found above and on the right of this blog. There is also a Lightning Deals widget to the right of the blog if you want to check out quick deals.

If you have not done your Christmas shopping yet then Black Fridays Deals Week is a must!