Batman: Arkham Knight Batmobile

I recently bought a Hot Wheels Batman: Arkham Knight Batmobile. This Batmobile is pretty unusual because it has quite a few guns.

I actually bought two, as well as an extra “black mirror” 1989 Batmobile. The store had a special promotion at the time I bought these, so I was able to buy them at a 10% discount.

ADNU stamps: A first look

Here are a few photographs I hurriedly took of the philatelic items to mark the 75th founding anniversary of Ateneo De Naga University. Shown here are a sheet of 40 stamps, the front cover of the souvenir folder, and two framed sets of stamps and first day covers.

Maisto Fresh Metal Forces 3.0

When I started seriously collecting scale models (a.k.a. toy cars) around 18 years ago, there were practically no scale model military vehicles for sale. But there have been quite a few in the past few years, although these tended to be of low quality and made of plastic. A few years ago I had some luck and was able to buy some nice quality military vehicles. Today was the first time I saw these Maisto Fresh Metal Forces vehicles.

There were two kinds for sale: The 3.0 series (around 3 inches in length) cost around 100 pesos each, and the 4.5 series (around 4.5 inches in length) cost around 300 pesos each. These two tanks that I bought had “traditional camouflage” paint and are from the 3.0 series, the other tanks from the 4.5 series that were on sale had “snow camo” paint.

Museo del Seminario Conciliar de Nueva Caceres

I recently visited the Ecclesiastical Museum near the Holy Rosary Minor Seminary in Naga City. (The Archeological Museum was closed. I didn’t get to see the exhibits shown in this Wikipedia entry.)

300 Years of Devotion to Our Lady of Peñafrancia

I dedicate this blog post to my friend Patrick, who recently visited Naga City with his wife and children. I took them to a nearby museum where I bought this souvenir folder for 300 pesos, which is a pretty good value considering that it seems to have been sold for 500 pesos when it was first issued in 2010. The souvenir folder contains four mint commemorative stamps and a first day cover of a souvenir sheet celebrating 300 Years of Devotion to Our Lady of Peñafrancia. (It’s too bad it doesn’t contain a mint souvenir sheet or the first day cover of the four stamps.) The folder came in a nice envelope with the PhilPost logo. (Click on the images to see their higher-resolution versions.)

Church of Nuestra Señora de Peña de Francia

The Our Lady of Peñafrancia Shrine is a short jeepney ride away from my house. I’m very fortunate to live in a city that has some of the country’s oldest existing examples of architecture.

Ateneo de Naga University International Research Conference 2015

To celebrate the 75th foundation anniversary of the Ateneo de Naga University (ADNU), the University Research Council of ADNU is holding the Ateneo de Naga University International Research Conference 2015 (ADNU IRC 2015) from November 29, 2015 to December 1, 2015 at the Villa Caceres Hotel in Naga City (Region V). The theme of the conference is The World Beyond 2015: Forging New Frontiers through Research, Development, and Extension.

The conference will have the following speakers:

• Napoleon K. Juanillo, Jr.: Director IV, Office of Planning, Research, and Knowledge Management, Commission on Higher Education (keynote speaker)
• (tentative) Shanaka Jayanath Peiris: Resident Representative to the Philippines, International Monetary Fund (invited plenary speaker: ASEAN Integration 2015)
• Titon Mitra: Country Director, United Nations Development Programme, Philippines (invited plenary speaker: millennium development goals)
• Jane E. Rovins: Director, Disaster Reduction and Resilience Solutions, Ltd, New Zealand (invited plenary speaker: climate change and disaster resilience)

A copy of the first announcement is here.