Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Prince Singapore Diary 06: Chinatown

I originally planned to have a lot of shots in Chinatown as we toured the various shops, looked for interesting deals and all that good stuff.

But then we found the Tintin Shop and that just ate up all our time.

So instead we ended up with this short 2 minute video. And I hate myself for not taking a video in the shop, but dang we had a lot of fun there.



And that was our Singapore trip. Hope you enjoyed the videos, Prince! And for the rest of you, well, hope you enjoyed sharing in our baduyness.

Prince Singapore Diary 05: Botanic Gardens

For our last day in Singapore, we didn't have much planned at first, which was rather boring. And since we wanted to make sure we made the most of the trip and ensured that Prince had a fun video to enjoy, we opted to add one more itinerary item to our agenda - to visit the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

But we hadn't expected the park to be that big or the paths so winding and twisty. So a simple walk became a major hike.

But it was still a lot of fun and totally worth the following video:



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Monday, January 30, 2012

Prince Singapore Diary 04: Marina Bay Sands

Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
Image via Wikipedia
The bulk of our Sunday was spent at Marina Bay Sands since we had mapped out a trip to see the Titanic Artifact Exhibition at the ArtScience Museum and to catch Wicked at the Marina Bay Sands Theater. We also made sure to take a lot of videos to give our Prince a quick tour of the area and so he could enjoy things with us.

It's a shame we couldn't take video inside the museum or in the theater, but I think we did a pretty good job with what we were allowed to.

One more day in Singapore to go! Can't wait to get home to our baby!


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Sunday, January 29, 2012

Prince Singapore Diary 03: Up and Down Orchard Road

Most of our Saturday was spent at various locations along Orchard Road. Starting with the National Museum of Singapore for the Dreams and Reality exhibit to the 1 million shopping locations on the famous street, it felt lime we visited almost every one of them.

We bought geek stuff at Paradigm Infinitum, a book at Kinokuniya, some DVDs and of course some gifts for Prince along the way too. We failed in our original objective to buy ourselves some clothes - but the end conclusion is that we'd be better off going shopping at Greenhills with Prince to find stuff we'll like.

Missing our baby Prince so much! But hopefully these videos will act as a great way to both relive our memories of the trip and make sure Prince feels like he was right there with us apart from all the roaming text messages we keep sending him.



Stay baduy people! And if you bump into Prince, remind him that there are two geeks in Singapore who love him beyond belief. =D

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Saturday, January 28, 2012

Prince Singapore Diary 02: Hawker Morning

Continuing our efforts to document our Singapore trip through videos for our baby Prince, here's the next installment as we finally get around to having some breakfast. Pardon my shirtlessness...LOL





NomNomNom, baby! Wish you could enjoy all the crazy food with us!

Prince Singapore Diary 01: Departure

Last September, Tobie and I mapped out our second trip to Singapore even though we had just finished our first one. It coincided with the announcement that the Marina Bay Sands would be staging a run of the amazing Broadway musical Wicked, which I had managed to catch in LA a few years ago and yet Tobie had not seen. Another of those Cebu Pacific seat sales had come along with the right travel dates and thus we booked the very trip that we're on as of this weekend.

But since then,Prince happened and we've reached a new level of Baduy Pride, but sadly it was far too late to figure out a way to bring him along. Plus the fact that Prince had gotten sick just before the trip, it really wasn't an option.

But just because Prince isn't physically with us doesn't mean that we can't find a way to have him experience the trip with us. Given the wonders of technology, we had decided to put together a little "surprise" for our baby.

So here is the first in what will be a series of videos documenting our trip to Singapore. And yes, the videos are addressed to Prince and are not meant as general travel videos, so you may feel a bit awkward watching it when you happen to NOT be Prince.

But this seemed like the perfect baduy thing to do for our baby. We're going to have many fantastic trips together, we're sure. But for this one, we're going to be creative.




We miss you baby! Hope you enjoy your surprise! Obviously, this is the "staggered" version of things, hehe.

Love you so much.
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Friday, January 27, 2012

Heading Back to Singapore!


By the time this post publishes, Tobie and I will be on a plane headed for Singapore! Exciting!

Given this trip had been planned out since September of last year, it's a shame that we couldn't bring Prince with us just yet. But I'm sure we're going to have even more wonderful adventures together with him very, very soon - in fact we already have such a trip mapped out for this February.

We'll do our best to post updates regularly! Otherwise, catch you next week and continue celebrating the baduy life. =D
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Baduy Pride 2.0 Upgrade


When Tobie and I started Baduy Pride, we wanted to create a blog that celebrated love and added a positive voice to an often bitter LGBT blogosphere. Since its creation, we've used the blog to the best of our ability to document our happiest moments, commemorated major milestones and basically added a heck of a lot more sappy cheesiness to the internet in general.

And strangely enough, you people keep coming back here to read about what silly things we did as a couple or how we continue to give romantic comedies a run for their money. And we really appreciate all the support you've provided me and Tobie. Seriously, it's been a big boost for our morale and it has really done a lot to encourage us continue living the baduy life together.

Well, as Tobie announced the other day, we've decided to upgrade, in a manner of speaking.

Monday, January 23, 2012

And Prince makes Three..



Cheers to love. 
Big love.



And yes, we're all proudly baduy.


Friday, January 13, 2012

Just saying I LOVE YOU


This is probably going to be a strange entry.

I am certain it is because not everyone will grasp what this is about.  Or why this post is necessary since it doesn't seem to say anything new.  But I still want to post it because it is something which I feel is a landmark about how rOckY and I work.  In all the years we have been together, things have been wonderful in its own way.  We definitely had our ups and down, and we have definitely had our own share of trials to face.  But man, I will have to say, I have NEVER ever been in such a relationship where I truly and absolutely feel I can be myself.

rOckY and I have been together for nearly three years now.  And with each passing year, I find myself finding more and more reasons to celebrate having found him in this huge world we live in.  Today, I cannot help but feel overwhelmed at how happy I am that we still see things eye-to-eye no matter how strange or weird or complicated things might be for other people.

I don't plan to get into the details.  Why?  Because I'm not posting this to start any debate or discussion.  This blog post isn't intended to say, "This is us, are you that great?" or anything like that.  Instead, this blog post is just me saying, "I LOVE this man so much because we get along in such a way that I've never experienced before."

Currently, rOckY and I are going through things that other couples would probably struggle to comprehend.  Or find themselves caught up in a whirlpool of doubts and insecurities.  But us?  No.  We're celebrating and enjoying each and every single moment of it.  We're openly discussing what we see in the future and delightfully sharing what we can see on the horizon.  This man is such a wonderful part of my life that I honestly struggle at times to accept that I am this blessed.    But to be brief, we stand at a point which many other relationships would find as a negative turning point in their lives.

And for us, it is one we mutually celebrate.

Here's to finding a house that we can someday officially declare as our home.   Here's to sharing the immense love and passion we have for each other.  Here's to celebrating each and every single day this way.  Here's to the future.

I love you, rOckY.
Absolutely.

Thank you for choosing me.


The lucky dog.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Pamilya Egg

On March 26, 2009 at about 04:36am, I received this text message:
My adoptive name: Antonio Ricardo Dominico Sunico Abad V. Haha in short, Ard.
Given I was at work at the time, it was a rather bizarre and hilarious message to receive. But it firmly established that Nico was going to continue to play a very large role in our forming relationship, among a bunch of other things at the time.

And yes, I've kept the original text message all this time.

I say the message was rather unexpected given the timing - I was still in another relationship and Tobie and I were still in that weird getting-to-know you stage where we danced between being friends and something more. I know it doesn't sound at all nice - I can't claim that it was nor will I. Owning up to the fact of the matter, it wasn't exactly a clean transition from one relationship to another.

But more importantly, Nico remained to be "our" (mine and Tobie's) staunchest supporter even if all the cards were clearly not stacked in Tobie's favor in terms of his risking his heart by getting to know me more. At the time I couldn't understand why Nico was the way he was - I barely knew him and had not interacted with him much at the time. But when Tobie would talk to his friends (now mine as well, of course), Nico was the loudest voice who supported us.

When Tobie and did eventually officially become a couple some time later, it became a bit more "official" that Nico was pretty much our son, as much as any gay couple can suddenly develop a son. And it's something I totally embraced - Nico is a brilliant young man who by then had more than earned my trust and respect and thus at the same time my "fatherly" affection. I have to admit that I have become rather protective of him over the years but at the same time I'm the one most likely to reprimand him more than most when needed.



We then became "Pamilya Egg" or the Egg Family, as weirdly as the term translates. The egg term comes from the fact that this was Tobie's weird code name for me when he'd blog about me during those times since he still wasn't out of the closet. And that's sort of how we referred to ourselves since then. It's a cute little term and it reflects the bond we share as friends. Of course it does mean the need to buy him extra beers sometimes when he's running low at the bar or of course the need to make sure I take good photos of him whenever possible.


We've had a lot of great experiences together since then. Heck, we've even had a "family" trip to Puerto Galera together (which is definitely something we need to repeat this year). I'm also happy to have been witness to his development as an individual and his recent progress in terms of his career. Definitely a proud parent, hehe.



And of course we've seen Nico go through the trials of the heart as well, as is the case for any young man. We've always supported him through the good and the bad, and more recently I'm glad that he seems to have found someone who really makes him happy. It's going to take work, of course, but I have faith in the two of them to keep at it and find their way. And I'm also feeling the same level of affection and concern for our new "in-law" as well.


So this is the currrent Pamilya Egg. I hardly expected to have a "family" before the age of 30, not did I ever expect for the family to grow the way it has either. But given how so many things seem against us in the LGBT community, it really helps when we establish such strong ties among ourselves as a way to forge new paths that society won't consider for us. And our little family is definitely something that I very, very proud of and I feel just as strongly for our two "kids" as I do for my actual siblings and such.
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Monday, January 9, 2012

A Totoro Christmas - The Chibi 9

Well, here's the last figure in Tobie's collection of Totoro figures. Definitely a fun series of blog posts and a great gift that I'm glad Tobie enjoyed.

Although this last one's a little weird.


It was only when we more closely examined the figure that we realized the Chibi Totoros are gathered around a number 9 (we first thought it was a ribbon). Now added to the fact that one of the Catbus figures  seems to involve the number 11, we can only wonder what the numbers mean.


This is another that doesn't stand on its own. And it's not at all surprising considering the back of the 9 is covered in Chibi Totoros!

Sunday, January 8, 2012

More DOT-Style O Bar Posters

So we weren't content with the original 4 posters we created for O Bar in the style of the new campaign of the Department of Tourism. Once Tobie got back from his family event, we got together to brainstorm a few more ideas to continue to support O Bar.

Camp. More Fun in the Philippines

This first one really started as the caption before the poster. It took a while to find the right photo for this and this seemed the best one in my collection at this point. My thanks to Tobie for helping with the tricky color balance.

Double Rainbow. More Fun in the Philippines

Admittedly this started as a favor to our friend, who is obviously the poi dancer in the photo. Captioning was tricky at first, but then being the internet geeks that we came up with a reference to another internet meme. Plus it was a really great shot.

Colors. More Fun in the Philippines

And naturally we had to create an additional one for the other half of the High Voltage poi dancers. Again, the caption took longer to generate than finding this shot. But I wouldn't mind suggestions for a better caption for this particular graphic.

Drag. More Fun in the Philippines

And lastly, I really wanted to find an image that best depicted how drag can not only be campy and fun but in this case pretty darned believable. Yes ladies and gentlemen, that is a man.

We're bound to make more should more captions come to mind. More often than not these ideas start as the caption then we dig through my library for an appropriate image. I'm not sure if I'll ever get around to creating images for the actual DOT campaign in terms of tourist spots since I don't travel much, but I'll certainly find ways to celebrate the country in my own way.

...because it's more fun in the Philippines!

Saturday, January 7, 2012

It's More Fun at O Bar Philippines

While the latest campaign by the Department of Tourism has been met with mixed opinions, I quite frankly like the idea and how potentially viral it is. Social media marketing is definitely a key aspect of branding that can't be ignored, and given our economy it's a lot more cost effective.

And given how Tobie and I obviously love O Bar and the fact that I happen to have quite literally thousands of photos from the bar, it seemed like a fun idea to create a series of posters following the same theme.

Here's the first batch of images with any future ones also uploaded to my Picasa web album:

Royalty. More Fun in the Philippines

Tobie came up with this caption and also found the photo. It was harder to find than you think.

Bird Watching. More Fun in the Philippines

I tend to take a lot of these photos contrasting the laser lights with that particular ledge. Tobie provided the caption.

Drama. More Fun in the Philippines

This one from one of those great moments in bar photography when I managed to capture a great moment during one of the shows. Definitely one of my favorite photos.

Partying. More Fun in the Philippines

As much as it's fun to feature the poi dancers' lights in the dark, it's a heck of a lot of fun when the bar's strobe lights come on and I get much better photos. This is another of my favorite shots from the holidays.

Other ideas for O Bar posters? Feel free to let us know in the comments!

Friday, January 6, 2012

Just Sharing the Love



I promised you many things, love.
And this year, I'm going to continue to fulfill them all.

I love you, rOckY!

A Toto Christmas - Pumpkin Totoro

Another figure that is unable to balance on its own. But then again, it's hard to balance on a pumpkin, period.


At least I think it's a pumpkin. Or some kind of squash.



Etiher, keep trying Chibi Totoro! You can do it!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

A Totoro Christmas - Mushrom Gang

We're approaching the last of our Totoro figures, and this is one of those that don't stand on their own very well.


So we have two Totoros trying to balance on an upside-down mushroom with a dust sprite to boot. Given the lack of stability of the figure, I think that explains why they look so terrified.


To be fair, their experiences seem to change slightly depending on what angle you look at them from. In this case, that Chibi Totoro looks funnier than before. Or maybe it's just me.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

A Totoro Christmas - Flower Totoro

I'm feeling a tad under the weather today, so I figured that I needed something to really cheer me up


My Christmas gift for Tobie seems to present a Totoro for every occasion. In this case, this is one HAPPY Totoro to make even the sickest person crack a smile.


And he has a little flower in his hand to boot. Ain't he cute?


Thanks Totoro, I'm starting to feel better already.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

A Totoro Christmas - Rainy Day

Today marked the first rains for 2012, at least in Manila. And it looks like this Totoro has exactly what we need for the shift in weather:


A handle leaf like that makes for a decent shade in a sudden downpour or a way to channel your natural magics to make things grow.


You have to love the detail of this figure - he's just so darned adorable.


And again, it's hard to explain the kind of expression you can see in his face, but there really is one.

Monday, January 2, 2012

A Totoro Christmas - Scary Catbus

There are those moments when as cute as a lot of the My Neighbor Totoro characters are memorably cute, there are just some aspects that can be rather scary.


Just look at that - the Catbus is pretty creepy in this figure. And just look at the expression on the Totoro's face!


Then again, I'm not sure how I'd feel if I had a Catbus perched on my shoulders.


Just remember that they're all meant to be our friends, right?

Sunday, January 1, 2012

A Totoro Christmas - Flying Totoro

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

And as is fitting for a first post for the new year, let's start with one of the cutest figurines in the set so far.


It's Totoro - flying! Ain't he cute? Or maybe he's offering you a hug?


The only drawback is the fact that he's not designed to stand on his own. 
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