San Mateo In Monochrome

When somebody hears the word "San Mateo", folks where I live would instantly think "San Mateo, Rizal". I however, remember "San Mateo" differently...

This is a man-made stream that runs along Park Place in the Archstone Apartments area in front of Whole Foods.
It has decorative fountains on both ends and bridges in between. It's a romantic place. Even if you're alone.

The Bellagio Dancing Fountains

This was taken last October of 2012 on my first visit to Las Vegas. Needless to say, this was awesome and spectacular for a fountain show, or any other outdoor show I've witnessed for that matter. This was the last show for the night too, hence the national anthem accompaniment. I've never gotten excited over fountains until I witnessed this first hand.

I've Seen Mexico

Yep. Yes I did. And without a Visa too. It looked nice but I don't think that it's my cup of tea. 

Beyond this sign is the border. The horizon is already Mexico.

Ok, so this is the closest I physically gotten to Mexico. The mall where I took this picture from already felt like Mexico,
filled with lots of latinos and latinas and almost everyone was speaking Spanish.

See? Told you so... I saw it. I didn't necessarily say that I visited it.

Throwback Thursday- San Mateo

A couple of years ago I was given the good fortune of being assigned to the USA. I was working in San Mateo, it's a not-so-often-heard place that I haven't heard from any Hollywood movie. It's located around 20 miles south of San Francisco. Unlike the crowded 'Frisco though, it's actually very peaceful and quiet. It is by far among the best surprises I ever had. The town is very upscale and folks are friendly. This is one of the few places that I'll definitely remember.

I got a good chance to take evening walks and a nice camera at the time. Here are some of the pictures I've taken around town. A lot of these are experiment shots, since I was new to the handling of the E-PL2 at the time. So it's not surprising if you see several shots of the same view with slightly different settings.

Other than my long exposure shots, I also got a good chance to shoot the moon while testing my then-new lens, the Samyang 500mm f/8. It's a decent lens, to say the least.

This is one place that I long to return to someday.