The Dubai Chronicles: Rebirth

about dxb chronicles

The saga of Jeff living in the City of Gold. Presently living in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, unravel his journey throughout the city with memoirs and everyday life stories.

baronesa, danke!

i got the package from germany during our anniversary (dec21) celebration. as promised, baroness neng muller sent her goodies like costumes, chocos, and bag (is this for me? hehehe) for my juliana.

i know it's kinda late for halloween but we tried it on...

once again, thank you neng!

discoursed by jeff @ 5:36 PM | 2 comment(s) | permalink

Sunday, December 25, 2005

merry christmas

first of all, after these busy scheds and gatherings...

10 am, december 24
i did the last minute shopping on the 24th since i'm still lacking gifts to give on my list. i went out early from laguna to sm southmall in las piñas to shop for my dad-in-law, bro-in-law's wife, pocket book for wifey while she's staying in bed and to the housemaids and to julia's yaya. it took me till three in the afternoon and the traffic was horrendous. after an hour and half of wasted travel time, i got home and took a short nap...

...when they told me to be ready at six for the reunion. dang. i let the kids got dressed and prepared the gifts to give when suddenly out of the blue i decided to have a new look...

...what do you think of this one?

7 pm
usually, during the 24th evening, we go to my in-law's reunion before to my family's reunion. since a lot of our relatives were out of the country, we decided to go on christmas day itself. here are some of the pics before christmas eve:

a little bingo game before midnight

wifey's relatives

1 am, december 25
we headed back home and celebrated christmas with my wife (she's sick and cannot come to the party due to mumps). as soon as we arrived, the kids opened their stashed gifts from ninongs and ninangs (godfathers and godmothers). they slept at two.

2 am
i've greeted and chatted with my friends at dubai and other places thru ym messenger.

3 am
sleep

8 am
woke up and prepared for another reunion and this time with my relatives. little kids have grown up and bigger than me, old and new faces appeared, and of course, food and chit-chat.

my relatives

vergara family

2 pm
had a drinking spree with my brothers and cousins. they left me in the table and went to sleep for second time around (first time was my homecoming).

5 pm
went back to laguna and visited few friends i've met in dubai. delivered the gifts to my aunt's place.

6 pm
went back home and later on... sleep.

merry christmas to you all!

discoursed by jeff @ 11:57 PM | 9 comment(s) | permalink

Friday, December 23, 2005

mumps

it was supposed to be our house blessing and my wife's birthday bash. unfortunately, she had mumps. now, everything was cancelled but i bought pancit malabon and roasted chicken just for a thought of celebrating her birthday.

happy birthday, wifey.

quarantined...

my nephew and nieces. it's been a while i haven't seen them... and they've grown up very fast!

spent the whole afternoon with my kids playing.

discoursed by jeff @ 11:45 PM | 1 comment(s) | permalink

Thursday, December 22, 2005

the shopping rush 2

this time we're prepared. pedro and i left for divisoria at five in the morning. while on the way, we went to mcdonald's drive thru in slex and ate it while we're in the parking area of 168 mall in divisoria.

small big breakfast

although we had an adequate sleep (is four hours sleep adequate?), we were drained after the shopping. we took only two hours straight shopping and hell, we're very tired. i wonder why girls can shop longer than us?

after the ordeal, pedro has to get back to office for work. i tagged along the way and tried to finish my shopping to ayala center area.

yosi vendor along buendia avenue

yummy adobo flakes from world topps in salcedo

guards told me not to shoot the establishments... and so i did it.

father and son

shot from an elevated walkway near landmark

i got home by five and few hours later, went out again to go to another mini-reunion. i made a surprise visit to my friends who were in the sound-and-lights business who were also my former partners. everybody got drunk and went back home at two in the morning.

reunion with my friends at sound and lights system.

busy, busy, busy...

discoursed by jeff @ 8:48 PM | 0 comment(s) | permalink

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

taho!

my morning coffee. it's been awhile that i haven't tasted this. i loved this when i was a kid, waiting for the guy carrying tin cans on a scale by his shoulder and shouting tahoooooooooo! (pronounced as ta-ho)

know more about taho on pinoycook.net

argh, it's becoming a food photoblog! nah, it's just for the holidays... hehe.

discoursed by jeff @ 6:23 AM | 11 comment(s) | permalink

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

what's inside my wallet?

inspired and answered the dare by abaniko, it's time to show what's inside my wallet. at this time of the season, a lot of stuffs were inside.

wallet. it's been ages that the stitches were torn and the leather was worn out. there is an old saying (feng sui or myth?) that you shouldn't buy your own wallet and let someone buy it for you or else it always run out of money. although i don't believe such a thing but instead to the sentimental value in it. my wifey's aunt gave it to me when she was in hong kong.

jesus and the prayer book. mom is a religious type of person and she gave that to me before i left for dubai. although im not that religious, i use it on rare occassions (especially when i fly).

pictures. pictures of my wife and kids, my short-haired passport size photo and family picture with my in-laws.

business cards. i only possessed three. one was from my former boss-owner who was arrested for the suspicion of smuggling military goods in iran, the other, my present boss' card and lastly, a girl who works for an events management here in ortigas that gave me few days ago while i'm shopping at the ruins. she thought that i was a prof photographer because i was carrying the camera that time.

driver's license. it's already expired and the card was missing due to the incompetence of pncc. they took it when i hit their gold-priced wooden barrier on the tollgate of skyway when it wasn't really my fault (their e-pass system failed that time that the barrier went down earlier before i got a chance to pass through). i paid the damages but they lose my license. stupid #&*(#&$&*.

plastic. no it's not credit nor atm cards. i don't have much that money and i avoid credit cards for my whole life. these are sim card holder with puk codes in it and a pldt touch card. these are for emergencies for communication.

remittance card. i use this to send money here in the philippines on monthly basis.

bills. phone card renewal, remittance, and food receipts i got recently.

reminders. favors from dubai that i should buy two bottles of tequila when i get back with stapled money in it and the deposit slip for the bottles i've used for the last week.

cash. couple of hundreds and five hundred pesoses, the whole currency set of uae dirhams, and just a few dollars.

now, it's time for you to try it... and it's up to if you want to cheat. :P

discoursed by jeff @ 1:49 PM | 8 comment(s) | permalink

Monday, December 19, 2005

homeboy part ii

after an exhausting event yesterday, i decided to stay home and do the cleaning...

...the computers.

teensie weensie spider...eewww creepy!

left behind by her mom

horny, wifey's flowerhorn

tech support during vacation

discoursed by jeff @ 4:04 PM | 3 comment(s) | permalink

Sunday, December 18, 2005

the shopping rush

after the party, pedro, yetski and i went to starbucks along south superhighway for a little wake up call. they ordered cold frapps, espresso for me. it's already four in the morning and we have to leave at five thirty for divisoria. wifey's already awake and she sent me sms just to remind about the time.

no rush.

as promised, i bought her breakfast at mcdonalds and went back to my place. as scheduled we left at laguna with my parent-in-laws. with no sleep and time is running out, pedro and i have to struggle the shopping. we got there at seven thirty in the morning and the place was already jampacked with people. we went first to the 168 mall to see what they're selling there.

most of the stalls were opening and the goods are usually most for clothing, novelty and stuffs for women. there were toys but quite a few of them. dad told me that there was a building nearby that selling toys and for kids only. after passing the people-congested street, we got there... but it was still closed. so went back to look for a place to pee and an atm machine to cash out. after the ordeal we went back and thankfully it was now open. i took out the list for me to buy (and it's a lot...most of them, godchildren) and helped pedro to shop with his lists. to avoid inconvenience to both of us, he does the paying and later on, divided the cost when we went back.

one of the goodies sold at the stalls

as far as shopping is concerned, it's better to buy here by bulk because it's cheap but it's very tiring and irritating if you don't have much patience. also, keep your money in front of your pockets rather than in your bag or backside to avoid pickpockets... or separate it between pockets if you have large sums of money in hand.

haywire

we left at divi around ten thirty and went back to parañaque for lunch and recharge our already drained state. we feasted on beef misono (and of course mixed sushi for me) at tokyo tokyo at sm sucat mall. we got to pedro's place around one in the afternoon to take a nap because we're going to another bazaar called the ruins.

after a two-hour power nap, we divided the spenditures and went to the ruins. most of the gifts i'm looking for were there and bought them. i also compared the price between there and divisoria and found out that it's three times more expensive the price of the same item i saw. to be honest, if you don't want the hassle in going to divisoria and buying for less items, go to the malls or ruins instead. after completing the list, pedro treated me for dinner at pancake house. our other high school friends were also dining when we got there. kaye, dindin and celeste were too happy for the camera i brought and requested for pics.

sirloin steak, medium well

my high school batchmates at pancake house

christmas lantern, pinoy style

after dinner, pedro drove me back home, hid the gifts away from the prying eyes and slumped to bed.

discoursed by jeff @ 11:54 PM | 0 comment(s) | permalink

high school xmas reunion

it's just another christmas party... but this one's from our fellow batchmates when we were in high school. most of my fellow schoolmates, i didn't see them for more than ten years. different stories were told and nostalgic moments being remembered. of course, picture taking and video recording were everywhere plus of course the booze and food...

...and the main attraction for the night, videoke!

sponsored by

forget the "class picture" posing, alak pa!

this photo is dedicated to bugoyski

check out the gallery here. see you next year, guys! merry christmas!

discoursed by jeff @ 11:16 PM | 2 comment(s) | permalink

Saturday, December 17, 2005

got milk?

one of our fellow web designers from the forum invited us for some designer's challenge. it was a sample "got milk" ad campaign where you can use only certain stock images and text in a 400 x 400 pixels dimension.

the price would be one box of bong bongs (i don't what it is)...

for me, it's just for fun. wanna try? check out the stock images for you to play with.

discoursed by jeff @ 12:15 PM | 3 comment(s) | permalink

Friday, December 16, 2005

my neighbor's c*ck

etisalat might block this because of the title. anyhow, it was actually one of my neighbor's rooster parked along the road...

c*ckfighting is still the sports thing here... just playing around with the neighbor's everyday doing.

discoursed by jeff @ 5:46 PM | 6 comment(s) | permalink

Thursday, December 15, 2005

baywalk

yesterday, after visiting dad and other deceased relatives, my aunt suggested that we visit the baywalk area in roxas boulevard. since i commissioned the vehicle plus fuel, we can go anywhere we wanted to.

and it gave me the idea that i haven't seen the manila bay side area for a long time...

lunch at aling nene's restaurant with special pork barbecue, laing and puso ng saging

right on time, sunset at the manila bay

time's too fast for the kalesa

one of the best sunsets in the world, the manila bay

discoursed by jeff @ 5:20 PM | 8 comment(s) | permalink

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

by your side

note: this post has been updated

i slept around three in the morning and mom woke me up at eight. the reason, to visit dad at the cemetery... let the eyes search for something that might interest me.

the irony of gma's billboard along c5 highway... fast for us, safe for you, mr. yosi vendor?

pasig river in marikina. an albino carabao with the herd?

dad, i'm home. visited him and my relatives at loyola memorial park

wifey's grandpa and grandma's pasalubong from the province, suman

discoursed by jeff @ 6:24 PM | 5 comment(s) | permalink

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

southmall

out of the blue, i got dressed and ran an errand for my wife to buy a sandwich maker. i asked them to come but they felt lazy going out. so i ventured alone.

travel from pacita, laguna to sm southmall, las piñas via shuttle vehicle would take forty five minutes depending on the traffic situation (usually when there's traffic it would take you an hour or more). taxi fare would cost php35 (dhs2.30) per head.

i've been there for the second time since i arrived but we've just passed through because our place in las piñas is located at the backside of southmall. the first thing i went to the shops was a friend of mine who owns a computer-related store. she was surprised the moment she saw me. the usual trade goes on after the talk.

i've also asked my friend, lloyd, to guide me since there are a lot of shops and stores were new to me. he pointed me to a camera shop where they're selling digital slrs. compared to dxb, the price is much way higher. canon digital eos 350d here cost much more (USD$1000+). after browsing, we headed inside to the department store and bought my personal stuffs like shorts (i brought only one pair of shorts).

we went to appliance center and bought the sandwich maker then bought some materials in ace hardware store. after all of that shopping, i treated lloyd at fast jap food at tokyo tokyo.

salmon sashimi and cali maki

pork tonkatsu, sumo size

more shoes for the dunes

ahh, sushi at last.

discoursed by jeff @ 10:08 AM | 4 comment(s) | permalink

Monday, December 12, 2005

homeboy

finally, i was able to post my pics on an internet shop inside a mall. it's been my second time going out of the house and i've been a little bored...

...actually i'm going to buy rca jacks for the home theather system and a couple of shorts (i brought only one on a trip!).

wifey's treat of merienda, puto bumbong

dryin' up the laundry on a rainy day

ego, ever faithful askal to the new master

last night, my high school friends came over to our place and had a little booze of pale pilsen. of course, they've read what's on my mind... they brought lechon for the feast.

i'll post the pics maybe tomorrow... if my sched allow me to.

discoursed by jeff @ 12:33 PM | 7 comment(s) | permalink

Sunday, December 11, 2005

rainy day

it's not bad for me to rain almost everyday. the bad thing, however, was someone stole my money in my wallet. it's a clean cut heist due to the thousand bills were the only thing got lost and not the hundreds and fiftys plus dirhams and dollars. the wallet never left the room and i suspected very few. i can't stop saying the p-word in front of them. an honest earned money only to be stolen within our premises.

ah, forget it... its gonna spoil my vacation.

one thing more, this freakin' internet shop are too restrictive (or probably lazy) in giving usb access to my flash disk drive. i was suppose download emails and attachments, submit my articles and other business related stuffs... and most of all, my today's photo trippin' session.

i'll tell wifey to subscribe dsl in a couple of days.

bwiset. gotta grab another case of beer and invite my friends over.

discoursed by jeff @ 2:43 PM | 4 comment(s) | permalink

Saturday, December 10, 2005

kids treat

my heart's palpitating from last night's drinking and balut. although i didn't get drunk, my system's got haywired.

as scheduled, my wife and kids came to las piñas to have breakfast with my brothers' family. it's a sort-of-mini reunion thing.

julia with her cousins

shutter speed: 1/25 sec, aperture: f/2.5, iso: 200, focal length: 10mm, manual setting

miles with his cousins

shutter speed: 1/30 sec, aperture: f/2.5, iso: 200, focal length: 10mm, manual setting

after ten, we have to go back to laguna to fetch bro-in-law from school. wifey teased me to treat her to jollibee for lunch...

lunch treat

shutter speed: 1/100 sec, aperture: f/2.5, iso: 100, focal length: 10mm, manual setting

you took my burger!

shutter speed: 1/50 sec, aperture: f/3, iso: 100, focal length: 10mm, manual setting

no objection, commander! hehe.

discoursed by jeff @ 10:04 AM | 9 comment(s) | permalink

Friday, December 09, 2005

brother's meet

i felt lazy going to las piñas. if my sis-in-law didn't call, i'll be dozing off... but hey what the heck, my bros missed me.

and so my mom and i met at the bus station and went there together. i bought some lechon, and other foods for dinner. after dinner, i told my cousin to buy one case of san mig light... and let the story-telling begins.

lechon from lydia's... miss you babe.

shutter speed: 1/30 sec, aperture: f/2, iso: 100, focal length: 10mm, manual setting

ah, balut!

shutter speed: 1/30 sec, aperture: f/2, iso: 100, focal length: 10mm, manual setting

official drink of the evening with my in-laws as background

shutter speed: 1/30 sec, aperture: f/2.5, iso: 100, focal length: 10mm, manual setting

it's good to be back.

discoursed by jeff @ 11:48 PM | 3 comment(s) | permalink

Thursday, December 08, 2005

homecoming

home sweet home. my daughter doesn't recognize me anymore but she knows that i'm his daddy. few more days and i hope she will smile in front of cam and holding hands with me...

...the price of being away.

my family just spending a lazy afternoon watching television.

shutter speed: 1/8 sec, aperture: f/2.8, iso: 200, focal length: 10mm, manual setting

shutter speed: 1/100 sec, aperture: f/2.5, iso: 200, focal length: 16mm, manual setting

ah yes, finally, an ice cold beer with sisig pizza.

shutter speed: 1/20 sec, aperture: f/2.5, iso: 400, focal length: 10mm, manual setting

i'll be on a on-and-off hiatus for awhile, most especially spend time with my family and of course to visit friends, colleagues and relatives. if you wanna meet, just email me privately.

later!

discoursed by jeff @ 9:47 PM | 1 comment(s) | permalink

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

pearl harbor

on this day of history, japan made a surprise attack on pearl harbor in the island of oahu, hawaii. on this same date, i did the same.

it was a surprise arrival to the philippines. my date of arrival was kept secret from my family back home. only a few of my closest friends in dubai and people who were going to fetch me to the airport know that i was coming.

my colleague drove me to the airport around five thirty in the morning. as soon as entered the passenger's check-in section, things went tense. it was my first time going back home.

the ticket i'm having was for "self check-in" counter wherein you enter your ticket on an automated machine and pick a seat that suits you. it was convenient to both passenger and airport staff. unfortunately, i didn't get the seat i wanted... by the window. after self checking in, i went to the baggage counter and gave my luggage. i was supposed to bring another bag but since my weight limit is only 20 kilos, i packed only one (rumors that it's 32kg not 20kg). after passsing thru the immigration, i stopped by at the duty free. it was huge. i just browsed and picked a camel stuff toy (i didn't know it's battery operated) and two bottles of vodka.

we left dubai airport thirty minutes late due to the carelessness of two passengers who misplaced their passports. i don't mind being late anyway, i just want to get home safe.

inside the emirates plane was very comfy whereas air crew are very friendly and attentive, food was superb, the seats relaxing, and things that will keep you busy on a eight-hour straight flight. although sleepy, i weren't able to sleep due to the monitor placed in front me... it keeps me watching movies such as lotr trilogy, transporter 2, batman begins and others. there were tv reruns as well. i watched only csi: nevada, in which i truly missed it so much.

we landed in manila around nine in the evening. first thing i've noticed to this place was the fast-paced process of landing-immigration-baggage-exit plan. it took me only less than thirty minutes from plane to the waiting area. it took me longer to wait for my transpo. moments later, my childhood friends picked me up and exchanged stories while on transit to my place.

finally we arrived to my place. a lot of things changed since i left. new paint, a big aquarium, a barking dog and a quiet ambience...

they're sleeping.

i didn't wait any longer that i knocked the window where they're sleeping. and as planned, she woked up and got surprised.

"what are you doing here?!"

"i feel bored there, i just want to go home..."

"baliw." (crazy)

fellow passenger daydreaming

shutter speed: 1/200 sec, aperture: f/5.6, iso: 200, focal length: 10mm, manual setting

this stuff didn't make me sleep

shutter speed: 1/50 sec, aperture: f/2.5, iso: 200, focal length: 10mm, manual setting

yummy breakfast

shutter speed: 1/50 sec, aperture: f/2, iso: 200, focal length: 10mm, manual setting

mission accomplished. i'm home.

discoursed by jeff @ 9:44 AM | 3 comment(s) | permalink

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

the fog

a true sign of winter here in dubai. fog was thick this early morning...

walking through the mist

shutter speed: 1/200 sec, aperture: f/6.3, iso: 200, focal length: 38mm, manual setting

towers in the clouds

shutter speed: 1/500 sec, aperture: f/9, iso: 100, focal length: 43mm, manual setting

fog almost over, sunlight reflects to the structure

shutter speed: 1/80 sec, aperture: f/6.3, iso: 100, focal length: 21mm, manual setting

better gear up for the winter season!

discoursed by jeff @ 10:36 PM | 12 comment(s) | permalink

Monday, December 05, 2005

my precious

shutter speed: 1/10 sec, aperture: f/5.6, iso: 200, focal length: 49mm, black and white mode, manual setting

no, it ain't one of the middle earth's coveted treasures but my wedding ring. coincidentally, most of the things placed in our desk are made of stainless or silver. this includes two small digital cameras (my colleagues are gettin' hooked to photography), tripod, ballpoint pens, stainless watch, an optical mouse and of course, my precious.

why silver?

when my wife and i got married by the judge, we used gold rings. later on, when we exchanged vows through the eyes of God and our rings didn't fit in our fingers anymore. due to budget constraints and lack of time, we both agreed on a silver one.

i value it more rather than the stuffs placed around it.

and oh, another precious thing in my life that i should celebrate today... happy birthday, miles. daddy-o loves you!

discoursed by jeff @ 10:28 PM | 0 comment(s) | permalink

Sunday, December 04, 2005

lonely soul

this auto-portrait was taken last friday evening at the creek park.

shutter speed: 10 sec, aperture: f/4.5, iso: 400, focal length: 31mm, manual setting

how it was done?

set on a timer, i stand motionless on the background till i heard the first sound click. this opens the shutter to gather information thru the sensor within a certain time frame which was ten seconds (shutter speed) and closing it afterwards. due to loose soil and leaning to an uneven surface, my body moved a bit and it was captured by the sensor. it gave the "ghost effect" on a low-light condition.

slow shutter speed, higher sensitivity (iso), and bigger opening in the lens (aperture) contributed to the effect of making it more "daylight" in addition to the flourescent lamp post on the left side. of course, this shot wouldn't be possible without the tripod.

want to learn more? just keep on reading.

discoursed by jeff @ 11:18 PM | 10 comment(s) | permalink

Saturday, December 03, 2005

there is something to smile about

first off, i already got my ticket and now i'm counting the days for my homecoming. wohoooo, let the countdown begins!

plus, philippine blog awards released the final entries.

finally, we went out with my fellow photographers for a special photoshoot. although the results were under par, we enjoyed the evening and that's something to smile about...

...and we promised not to post it. :P

discoursed by jeff @ 11:17 PM | 7 comment(s) | permalink

Friday, December 02, 2005

picnic at the creek

it's another unplanned outing. we spent the whole afternoon eating lunch, fooling around, and of course, photoshoot. since today's a national day of uae (and a holiday), the number of friends who came has also increased.

the more, the merrier.

in the evening, we went for an hour of boatride. the cost is dhs120 per boat and we shared the fare. the tour went from the park to shindaga area and back. later on we headed back for some more picture taking and barbecue dinner.

ummm..no comment!

shutter speed: 1/60 sec, aperture: f/9, iso: 200, focal length: 55mm, manual setting

another wannabe class picture during field trip

shutter speed: 1/200 sec, aperture: f/9, iso: 200, focal length: 37mm, manual setting

one-hour boat ride at the creek

shutter speed: 1/40 sec, aperture: f/3.5, iso: 1600, focal length: 18mm, manual setting

more pics to come, i'm sleepy already...

discoursed by jeff @ 11:46 PM | 5 comment(s) | permalink

Thursday, December 01, 2005

glutton's wishlist

hehehe, i can't help it. i'm listing down on what to eat when i arrive home. i'm sick and tired of eating roasted chicken, kfc, shawarmas and burger king. i missed a lot of munchies and i want to taste 'em all.

so here's my top food priorities:

lechon baboy or baka (roast pig or calf). pork is available here in dubai but it was sold frozen. uncool to roast.

balut (boiled fertilized duck embryo). featured on one of the episodes of fear factor, it gives a lot of protein and an aphrodisiac needed for longer bedtime action. :P

sushi. eating japanese is expensive here (one plate in sho-cho would vary from dhs10 - dhs25 each). maybe we'll visit a friend at saisaki and hopefully get a buffet discount fare.

street food. sometimes laced with hepa, adidas (chicken feet), isaw (intestine), kwek-kwek (boild egg deepfried in flour), proben (unknown chicken part fried in flour), and batchoy.

beverage. forget sodas, frappucino and fruitshakes. taho and sago't gulaman are to crave for. for stronger dosage, san mig beer, gin and redhorse.

seafood. baked tahong (mussels), oyster and grilled tuna belly

more meat please. pampanga's sisig, inihaw na liempo (grilled pork spareribs) at evangelista, tapsilog from dongalo, bulalo from tagaytay, porkchops at biñan and women from pegasus...hehehe kidding.

fastfood. pancit palabok and chickenjoy at jollibee, burger mcdo, frostee from wendy's, katsudon at tokyo tokyo, halo-halo at chowking, burgers at burger machine, siomai and siopao at hen-lin.

now im gettin' hungry while posting this... better eat dinner and it's roasted chicken again.. bleargh.

discoursed by jeff @ 9:00 PM | 5 comment(s) | permalink

mother ship

shutter speed: 1/80 sec, aperture: f/10, iso: 200, focal length: 46mm, manual setting

just another chandelier in sheraton hotel in deira, dubai. check out the larger version.

discoursed by jeff @ 8:23 PM | 0 comment(s) | permalink

The Dubai Chronicles