And the winner is...

Who do you think won? Visit this page.

For the Coffee Table Book - Issue #14

I have been quite busy these past days that I was not able to post any pictures. I am supposed to conclude the Ilocos series with another post. Will publish it soon...

In the meantime, let me share my very first shots of the sunrise while in midair inside a plane...



After a few minutes, here's the sun in the sea of thin clouds...



Have a great Thursday morning!!!

Farewell Frank!

One of my literary heroes passed away today (July 19 ’09 in NY, but July 20 ‘09 here in the Philippines). The best selling and Pulitzer Prize winning author succumbed to melanoma.

I read the news with a heavy heart. For me, there is no other author who has written about extreme poverty with arresting candor, joy, sadness, resiliency and hope. From Limerick, Ireland, he went to New York and worked his way to become a teacher. And a good teacher he was. He inspired many with his stories and his innovative teaching style.

And just when he thought life has completed its servings on him, he became a bestselling author. His book Angela’s Ashes became a bestseller and earned for him a Pulitzer Prize. And he thought it was over. He eventually wrote two more books – ‘Tis and Teacher Man.

Ever the optimistic, he wrote about his life with compassion and zest, so much so that while writing about extreme poverty in Angela’s Ashes, his memoir is filled with nuggets of joy and love for family.

Farewell Frank! Thank you for the stories. Thank you for the inspiration. And most of all, thank you for giving me hope to fulfill the rest of my dreams!

*photo credit here

Contest Update and the Answers...

The contest is officially closed! These are final blog entries:

Redlan's Web of Arts- One of the most creative bloggers I know. He tinkers with postcards, turns pillowcases to body bags, transforms paper scraps to exquisite paper covers, and many others. Visit and discover creative ideas.

Tanging Yaman- Sandi's blog is profused with positivity and kindness. A much needed breather in the many rants inside the blogosphere. Visit and be refreshed.

Going Beyond a Hidden Sanctuary- Isay's blog reflects the beautiful person inside and out. Her blog is a testament to her inner strength. Visit and be encouraged.

Dencios - The architect from the Middle East who blogs about body building, politics and even religion. Visit and be prepared for a lively exchange of ideas.

Ax Realm - Ax dreams of being a superhero and writes haikus, short stories and open letters. Visit and be amazed of the abundance of ideas he has to offer.

Libre Lang Mangarap - Otep believes all dreams are free and continues to fuel them to reality. Visit and see that some dreams indeed are without charge.

No changes to these post will be allowed. Comment count will go on until 12MN of July 25, 2009.

And for those who wonder what are the answers to the questions for the first part, here they are...

1. Since the migration of Nooks and Crannies from Blogspot to WordPress, how many blog posts has been made?

Answer. 56 posts were made between June 17, 2008 until June 17, 2009.

2. Among the bloggers in Coolwaterworks’ roll, who was the very first to comment after the WordPress migration?

Answer. Kwan of Palagpat: Mga Paugat kag Paugtas ni Kwan

3. Name one out of the top 5 persons who have made the most number of comments in Nooks and Crannies.

Answers. DFish of DesertFishing, Sandi of Ang Tanging Yaman, AC of Awefull, Isay of Going Beyond a Hidden Sanctuary, and Jorge of Certified Palaboy.

Any of these 5, even if paired with other bloggers will make the answer correct.

4. “Nooks and Crannies” was not the original title of this blog. What was it?

Answer. A Serving of Grace.

5. What is Coolwaterworks’ profession?

Answer. Product/Test Engineer. Kudos to Redlan for being able to find my Friendster page... :)

6. Name two of the advocacies that has been promoted by several blog entries in Nooks and Crannies.

Answer. There are only two advocacies that were promoted here: Pens of Hope and World Vision.

7. Aside from photographs, Nooks and Crannies has also featured videos. Name the owner of the very first video posted in this site.

Answer. Matt Harding.

8. To date, there is only one post with a comment expressing dislike for the featured photograph. Name the blogger who made the honest comment.

Answer. Brother Utoy. See it here.

9. What is the significance of February 11, 2009?

Answer. I had an accident. I was hit by a passenger multicab.

10. Name the only blogger in the blog roll (aside from personal friends) that Coolwaterworks has personally met.

Answer. Now this is going to be bloody. :) My silent readers (those who email their comments and thoughts, you know who you are) has bullied me for the answer. And most of them say it is Howie Severino of GMA7. Yes, I met him even before I transferred to WP. That meeting was purely accidental. And we met in his capacity not as a blogger but as a topnotch journalist. And trust me, he does not know me at all even if we met. Haha! :D When netizens decide to meet, we call it EB. So my meeting with this blogger was formal and planned. In one of the clues I have given, I said it was "implied" here that we met. All meetings start with an invitation. And here it is... The answer to this question is Beero of Beero's Intoxicating Misadventures.

All the answers of the participants above through their comments have been disclosed in the anniversary page. You may want to check who has gotten the most number of correct answers.

Winners will be published after July 25, 2009 after the closure of the comment counts.

Thanks and goodluck to all...

Update. Update. Update.

First update...

Thank you to all who showed support for my contest in one way or another. As of this writing there are three participants who have completed all the required entries... I am asking you all to support them by visiting their blogs (and a little spamming on the comments won't hurt... hehe...)

Redlan's Web of Arts- One of the most creative bloggers I know. He tinkers with postcards, turns pillowcases to body bags, transforms paper scraps to exquisite paper covers, and many others. Visit and discover creative ideas.

Tanging Yaman- Sandi's blog is profused with positivity and kindness. A much needed breather in the many rants inside the blogosphere. Visit and be refreshed.

Going Beyond a Hidden Sanctuary- Isay's blog reflects the beautiful person inside and out. Her blog is a testament to her inner strength. Visit and be encouraged.

The success of this activity lies not in the number of participants but in finally giving the book and to help the winner to explore the craft of photography and to help him or her to be better in taking pictures.

The contest is still open for everyone until July 18...

Second update...

Before I even ventured in photography, I have always been trying to be a better writer. Through the years, I have accumulated many materials out of the many moments I mused and wrote in about any material I could find at that moment, from cardboards to tissue paper...

Thus, I am adding another blog to this one. The blog is entitled "A Series of Duration". This is actually the title of my compiled (better) works through the years. I'll be adding new reading materials from time to time. So if you feel like just reading (and really reading), you are welcome to visit this site. You will also find that some entries here in the Nooks and Crannies blog are taken from this compilation. Criticisms are more than welcome. They would make me better. The links in the new blog however will be for selected bloggers who tend to be on the literary side.

Third update...

Since I am now maintaining two blogs, my pseudonym "Coolwaterworks" will be linked to a portal that will let visitors select which blog they would want to enter.

Thank you so much for all the support, and I hope you would also take time to visit my other blog.

God bless you!

This is a sticky post. Regular posts follow below...

Ilocos: The Tour (Sixth Part)

After Vigan, we headed to Baluarte. Baluarte is a zoological theme park whose main feature is that it allows close interaction between visitors and animals. It is owned by Chavit Singson. Entrance is free. There as an afternoon show every 5PM featuring the trained animals of the zoo.

I also met a true blooded writer in Baluarte. Please visit her blog here.

So here's the delayed post on Baluarte. Enjoy the pictures!

This is a blue-gold macaw...





A blue naped parrot...





These are sun conures. I like the way one of them stared into the camera. He seemed to have posed for the shot...





An umbrella cuckatoo...



Miniature horses...







Feeding time... Find the feeder...



An alpaca...



White deers. The first one was a bit sleepy...







A goose and a duck... The goose stared at me for a minute or so, and so despite the distance, I took a shot. This is the nearest that my zoom lens could get.





The animal that I really sought to shot... An enclosed one got excited when he saw me approached his pen... He probably saw me as his meal... :D This one has a mild temperament and was very obedient to trainers. He just came from their afternoon show and I met him along the way to his cage...




To be continued... Next post will be about Laoag and La Paz Sand Dunes...

Related post:

• Ilocos: The Tour (First Part)


• Ilocos: The Tour (Second Part)


• Ilocos: The Tour (Third Part)


• Ilocos: The Tour (Fourth Part)


• Ilocos: The Tour (Fifth Part)

In case you want to have a tour of Ilocos, and you'll be staying in Laoag, you may get in touch with Mang Lito, the man who offered to tour us around. His service is significantly low compared to arranged tours or packaged tours being offered by the hotels in Laoag. He may be contacted through his mobile phone: 09273387969.
I will not promote the hotel we stayed in. Although they had reasonably low room rates, good food and courteous staff, their water supply is not good - it's yellow. Their room rates are also a bit tricky, as this caused a slight argument when we checked out