Colorful sunsets and farewell to a most eventful year 2020

My daughter and I were having our afternoon walk when she pointed to the skies. We love the sunsets from our place and have come to appreciating them even more this year as we endured the effects of a pandemic we never thought we would experience in our lifetime. I took several photos of the skies against a variety of trees as we continued our walk. I won't be commenting on the photos. The colors, the beauty of the sunset speaks for itself.

Goodbye 2020! We are thankful for many things especially the blessings and a lot of the lessons we've learned this most unforgettable year. We look forward to 2021 and the hope the New Year brings.

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Christmas in the time of COVID-19

This Christmas is quite different from Christmases past. For one, there is a guarded feeling about it and around us as we found ourselves reeling from COVID-19. Large gatherings, the ones we usually have during Christmas, are discouraged if not prohibited. We are asked to exercise self restraint and caution vs. gatherings that may spark infections at this time of year. Yet, we find ways to make up for these restrictions. "Tuloy ang Pasko!" as we say. It is a defiance to the gloom brought about by the pandemic, and reflects our hope of the latter ending soon.

After all those months of restrictions, we decided to put up our parol (Christmas lantern) in October, even before Halloween. To be honest, we had never removed our lantern for a couple of years but then had to make some house repairs after quarantine was eased. We removed the lantern from our balcony and tested it to see if the lights were all functioning. They weren't and we had our parol repaired before re-installing it way before Christmas. Anyhow, we like to joke about the Christmas season in the Philippines beginning when the first month ending in 'ber' arrives. I got this parol around in 2016 in Dau, Mabalacat, Pampanga. It replaced an older one that was damaged and which hung from our old home.

It felt great to hear Christmas Eve Mass from the Sacred Heart Cathedral (Yamate Catholic Church). It brought back a lot of fond memories. I served in both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Masses there in the 1990s. I did one reading for Christmas Eve Mass and two during the Christmas Day Masses, when most people were at work and few if anyone volunteered to serve (December 25 is not a holiday in Japan). I usually took the day off from my laboratory. I have a fond memory of one time I came to school after church. My sensei reminded me that it was Christmas and told me to go home or be with my friends. He laughed as we shared some wine that evening before we called it a day.

We have two belens at our home. This one that we got at the Padre Pio shrine near Eastwood is set-up at our living room and is a permanent fixture there.

This second belen we acquired last year (2019) and we intend to set-up during Christmas in order to preserve it. We have another, older belen, which was a gift from our Ninang Mila when I was still single and residing in Yokohama. It is made of crystal so we chose not to bring it out while our daughter is still quite clumsy. She turns 7 in January though and perhaps next year, I will bring out this belen.

From our family to yours - A Blessed Christmas! May we all find peace, love and hope in this celebration of life!

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Non-motorized deliveries

I spotted this cyclist apparently en route to a delivery. It is nice to see bicycles being used for deliveries anywhere.

Fast food delivery can definitely be done using bicycles especially in service areas or neighborhoods where their use is very suitable.

I have seen only a few of these services using bicycles so far and its probably the same guy on the same bike. I have also seen at least a McDonald's bike and maybe a few with Grab and Lalamove. These are rare sightings, however, and so not many establishments have been using bicycles yet in our area or elsewhere where I've been since the easing of the quarantine. I hope these catch on and there will be more bicycle deliveries for food and other items. Of course, its more convenient for couriers to use motorcycles instead as they are faster and won't tire their riders. No matter how strong the rider is, he will wear down if he has to deliver quite frequently during his shift.

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Vintage Seiko 7016-5020 "Monaco"

 Perhaps one of the most popular and collectible watches is the Tag Heuer Monaco. This was the one worn and promoted by Steve McQueen in one of those classic movies featuring car races. Other watch companies have gone on to produce homages or their versions of the Monaco but perhaps one of the more successful and popular would be Seiko's take using its Cal. 7016 for the chronograph. It is not difficult to find these watches but they can be very expensive though not as much as the original Monaco's.

After taking opening the courier package, this box was revealed.

 

First time I saw the watch after I removed the bubble wrap protecting it

Close-up of the dial showing the second sub-dial, the chronograph hand, and the day and date complications

Wrist shot when I first wore the watch

The following photo were taken the following day. I felt I had to have good lighting (i.e., daylight) to give this watch justice for my documentation here on my blog.

The brown dial shows a watch that has aged well.

Side view showing the crown and the chronograph buttons. The quick sets work with the day adjusted by pushing the crown and the date set with the first pull of the crown.

The other side view. The dial features raised hour markers and the lumes on the hour and minute hands are practically gone. The crystal appears to be a replacement as it is in great condition

Case back showing the serial and model numbers. The serial number indicates the watch to have been manufactured in September 1976.

Another close-up of the dial

An even closer look at the dial's bottom part shows the dial number jives with the model number in the case back.

I replaced the strap with a rally strap from Hirsch. The black and red seem to bring out the watch's beauty. Some people prefer a polished, new-looking watch. I am okay with the 'used', vintage look of these watches. Of course, the movement inside the watch is the more important aspect that I am more concerned with for my collection.

 

The watch is powered by Cal. 7016 that runs at 21,600 A/h with a potential reserve of 41 hours. I was a bit surprised to find the lugs to be at 22mm. I was thinking this to be 19 to 20mm. The straps are okay for now but I think rally straps will be perfect for this watch. This model, after all, was inspired by the original Monaco that was promoted for car races.

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A new chess set

I decided to acquire another chess set that's made in my country. I knew there were good makers here as I owned one particularly nice set that I bought in the mid 1990s during one of the trips that took us to Paete, Laguna. Paete is well-known for its wood carvers and once Japanese visiting professor was so impressed that he and his wife commissioned a 14 stations of the cross that they shipped to Japan and donated to their church!

Browsing the internet for a nice set, I came upon a marketplace post of a set with the black pieces made of kamagong wood. Kamagong is a rare hardwood native to the Philippines that is known for its weight or density and is highly regarded and prized for furniture and other woodcraft. It is also commonly called "iron wood" for its properties. "New" kamagong is hard to come by and is much regulated by government (although there are many instances of illegal logging) and so scraps from the more expensive furniture likely find their way to become chess pieces. Here are photos of my new chess set made of narra and kamagong. Note that only the black pieces are made of kamagong.

The set the first time I laid the board and arranged the pieces at the office. I had this delivered at my office where the address is easy for couriers. We also have a disinfection routine when packages are received by the guard-on-duty.

Finely crafted chess pieces made out of kamagong (iron wood).

I remember one article from a long time ago stating that knights (horses or kabayo as we commonly refer to them) made in the Philippines are among the best in craftsmanship. I agree and here is a close-up of the white and black knights from this set.

My first set was a hand-me-down kleine from my father. That perished in the floods back in the 1980s. My next set was a cheap set. These are the ones you can buy at the local bookstore or sporting goods shop. I bought a tournament size set from my high school allowance. I think it's still at my parents' home though there's some water damage from the perennial floods we experienced in Cainta. I already wrote about my 3rd and 4th sets in a previous article. The 3rd one is similar to the new set I purchased. I also got it from Paete but the entire set is made of narra.

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Vintage Rodania triple date watch

I already had two Rodania's in my collection when this one came up. It is a rare piece that features a month and day complication, a second sub-dial and a date hand. Perhaps the only thing lacking is a moon phase complication. :)

The watch has a day, date and month features that makes this watch a "triple date".

Side view showing the crown and two buttons that make it appear like a chronograph. The buttons at the 2 o'clock and 4 o'clock positions are for the month (upper button) and day (lower button) settings. There is no quickset for the day

The other side view showing a crack on the crystal stretching from the 9 o'clock to the 10 o'clock markers.

Case back showing the watch to have been 'waterproof', having an incabloc shock resistance, and automatic.

Close-up of the dial showing what used to be lumes on the hour hand and the day pointer.

Wrist shot the first time I wore the watch, which was after I changed leather straps (also for the first time for this watch).

 

The watch is supposed to be an automatic but that was not working as declared by the seller (maybe that's one reason it was cheap?). I am not yet sure if I will be keeping this watch. There's a likelihood I will be unloading it this December.

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Eating out in the time of Covid-19: Cafe Mediterrranean at Estancia Mall

We have been very strict with ourselves vs eating out even with the easing of restrictions. Covid-19 is very much around and we are very aware of the risk involved given that many other people might be carriers or so-called super spreaders. And so we take note of where we might be able to have meals out. The first time we did so was lunch at Mary Grace at SM East Ortigas. That was when Metro Manila first went into GCQ or General Community Quarantine. This time, we decided to eat at Cafe Mediterranean at Estancia Mall at the Capital Commons. Having gone there previously for errands and purchases, we have seen that there was usually less people at this mall. We also had missed eating at this restaurant that also 'proxied' for the Indian or Persian food that we like to eat from time to time.

We decided early on to eat at Cafe Mediterranean as we missed their food, which was also the closest to the Indian or Persian food we love to eat.

Beef kebab with basmati rice

Chicken kebab with rice pilaf

They also had these hummus bowls but we decided to order only the appetizer version.

Cafe Mediterranean's layout at the mall was like al fresco with tables spread out to comply with the physical distancing requirements. Other restaurants also had similar set-up and like what I mentioned earlier, it was not at all crowded at the mall so you wouldn't have to deal with so many people like how it is at SM, Robinsons or Ayala malls.

[Note: We discovered that Cafe Mediterranean donates part of its revenue for the welfare of Syrian refugees. We thought this was a worthy cause and hopefully they can continue to do so in these challenging times for business.]

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Seiko 6138-0040 Bullhead Speedtimer chronograph

The 6138-0040 is one of the more sought after chronographs from Seiko. It has two main variants - one maroon and brown and another blue and black. I have both in my collection that I consider among my favorite watches.

The watch often called the "Seiko Bullhead" or simply "Bullhead" has 2 registers for the chronograph. The day wheel features Kanji and English days.

Side view again featuring the registers. The hour & minute hands are somewhat stained. These are not luminous for this model.

The other side view showing the case and bezel to be overall in great condition.

 

Close-up of the dial showing it to be in great condition. It is aged but I suspect it is not the original one. The dial number matches or is consistent with the model number at the back cover.

The strap is an original stainless Seiko 5 Sports that is from the same period but is not the original for this model. You can find nice aftermarket fishbone bracelets for this watch.

The bull's head features the crown and the two chronograph buttons as "horns".

Case back showing the correct model number and the serial number indicating this watch to have been manufactured in August 1976.

The obligatory wrist shot. I tried to find a photo when I first wore this watch but its somehow lost in an old phone. I wasn't documenting my collection at the time.

The watch is powered by a Cal. 6138B movement that runs at 21,600 A/h with a potential power reserve of 45h. It is the same movement in the Kakume so they actually share parts. A friend even joked that it seems these watches were like Toyotas with the common parts among various models.

Here is a nice reference from The Spring Bar for the Bullhead collector. :)

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"Revisiting" Yamate Catholic Church

I purposely used quotation marks for 'revisiting' in the title of this post as this was a virtual visit to Yamate Church (Sacred Heart Cathedral). By chance, I read in the church's weekly newsletter that there was an online Mass. And so I decided to attend this instead. The 8:30 AM (PST : 9:30 AM JST) was about the same time the English Mass was celebrated there when I was residing in Yokohama. Here are some screenshots of the altar before and during the Mass.

The altar is how it was the last time I was in Sacred Heart in 2013. I was not able to go there in 2014, the last time I was in Japan but I assumed little has changed in the interiors of the church.

The priest is from the Philippines and his homilies are well worded and articulated for an international congregation. I recall that during my 3 years + in Yokohama, a Filipino priest celebrated Mass at Yamate only once a month and on a Sunday afternoon for the Philippine Mass (in Filipino or Tagalog). I must confess I did not attend those Masses as I usually served in the morning 10-11AM Mass. Sunday afternoons were usually spent in Tokyo with friends who are mostly based there or, if I felt like it, on my own personal adventures.

I will try to write about my memories and experiences at Yamate. I still am saddened when I think about all the photos from the 1990s and early 2000s with friends and our activities there. I am just glad I can keep in touch with some of them after we have all left Yokohama for our respective countries.

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Seiko Lord Marvel 5740-8000

I finally got a Lord Marvel. This was even sweeter as it is a rare linen dial with Hindu-Arabic hour markers. The gold plating on the watch is also in good condition and overall the case is in great shape with few scratches or dings. Not at all that bad for a 53-year old watch.

The watch does not have any day or date complications.

 

The side view shown the original crown and a gold-plated case in very good condition

The case back showing the serial number indicating this to be manufactured in March 1967. The model number here is consistent with the one indicated on the dial.

The other side view showing a gold-plated case that's in very good condition

Close-up showing the near immaculate dial

Close-up showing the dial number. The difference between 8000 and 8030T actually indicates this to be a variant of the 8000.

Photo angle showing the linen textured dial

The obligatory wrist shot

Inside the case back, the model number is etched on the metal.

The watch is powered by a Cal. 5740C, which runs at 36,000 A/h. This caliber is regarded as one of the references for movements that were eventually used by Grand Seiko watches.

Here is a nice article about this model: 

https://wornandwound.com/affordable-vintage-seiko-lord-marvel-5740-8000-lm5740-hi-beat/

[I sold this watch in February 2021. Initially, someone made a shrewd offer; obviously someone who was planning to purchase the watch and sell it for profit. I didn't agree and sold it so someone who appreciated the value of the watch.]

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