SELF-PORTRAITURE: April and May 2011 and HAPPY BLOGOVERSARY

to me!

Wow I didn't even get to post the past couple of months... that's how time flew. I must've had fun.

Blog! It's been 4 years. Man!

I have nothing much to say except I need to get some sleep because I just came from a long ass ride home from Dumaguete City with my family and I am not myself when I am this tired. Travel is a bitch when you ain't rich. Ha.

For documentation purposes, I'm just going to leave these here:

shit-eating grin - on my way to Hush Hush 5 - April 2011

my birthday, May 2011

My face is a mound of dough right now. Food's been my best friend and worst enemy lately and forever but I want to go to the gym because I want to fit into my old hipster clothes again. Ha. I kid.

I'm home

since three days ago and I had a great time because I was able to achieve half of my to-do list for the trip which is quite impressive if you knew me.

So, I had the Baconator the morning I got to Manila. It was meh. I didn't like the patties and the buns. I kind of felt robbed by Wendy's. Great job at the advertising, though. All I can say is that I make a meaner burger that would make you want to do suicidal shit like marry me or something. Ha!

We stayed over at Kenji's place in Wack Wack Tower in Tiger City Mandaluyong. (I love saying that! Tiger City!) It was Tobal, Jan Sunday, the entire QCC and I who were in the same flight at 5:55am. We have not slept the night before so we inevitably crashed when we got to the swanky air-conditioned condo unit. (Super thanks, Kenj!)

23rd floor. We were fly.

When we woke up at around noon-ish, Dianne arrived, we got ready, Keida picked us up and brought us to Asia Pacific College, where he teaches Advanced Photography. They were having their college days and we got to hang a bit in there. I loved their cafeteria! There was a band playing inside and we got to meet some of Keida's students, and we got to roam around the halls.

Giant hotdog float with mustard jizz iz funny.

Fast forward to about an hour later, we met Jon Earl AKA Ears With Feet AKA the long time internet friend I  have never met when I've met almost every long time internet friend I've ever had.

I forgot to check if his ears did have feet. Damn.

Sorry, I am super awkward. Unless you crack jokes and ask me questions, I black out and do not know what to say. Meeting someone for the first time is overwhelming especially when that someone is important. But I'm glad we got to silently hang and they brought us to this place called The Collective in Makati. It's supposed to be this counterpart of Cubao X where there are creative shops and stuff. Here are some photos.

Vinyl On Vinyl. It's an art space and a store.

A cozy vegetarian food place. Great Miso soup.

A sweet collection of spectacles in a hip shop called Hysteric.

It was nice. Saw Mango Red shoot a pre-nup in there and I was in awe. They are like the best in the thing they do. I wanted to ask to have my picture taken with them but welp, I pussied out again. Sorry.

It's theeeeeeeem! *gushes*

After the hang, Keida drove us to the Terror show where we reunited with the "CCHC" people haha. IDK why I find this label funny but anyway, Cheryl (my Lavi) arrived and we got to take a photo with Scott Vogel and got my humble KOTF postcard signed by him. That was a happy moment indeed!

It's taped on my bedroom wall now! :)

It was an awesome show even though the place wasn't big enough and the sound system was a bit off, the energy everyone gave off emanated in the room and turned it into a piece of hardcore heaven.

This happened! I was there! Great photo by Mel Lacson Dolorico

Tobal and I stayed 3 more days after the show. There were times he wanted to just stay in and give up on the idea of walking around. I'm glad I convinced him to get up and walk with me to Megamall, ride the MRT, hang at Cubao X with the Lavies, go to MOA and meet Moshi before our flight home and stuff.

Some people wouldn't think it ideal either, braving the heat and the people and all that shit but I love it. Okay, I hated the heat but I loved the concrete jungle. The dirt, the buses, the MRT, the giant billboards, the confusion, the uncertainty, all things opposite of super chill Cebu City.

I may sound like such a weirdo but, Manila, I love you. I'll be back. Somehow.

TRAVELOGUE

I want to make tiny films about my travel to Manila tomorrow. I don't know if I can pull off a voice-over but I'm most optimistic about a soundtrack! YES! A playlist! Should I decide on the songs now or should I come up with the songs while I'm there? Or maybe I should pick the songs when I'm home and I'm editing the videos. Hahaha. Tiny projects make me go giddy.

So, TERROR. Tomorrow. And also, I'm gonna meet some faraway friends. I'm gonna see Manila again. I'm beginning to believe there is an unseen force that makes me travel there every year. Sometimes, without that much effort (around 90% of my travels were paid for by someone else - without asking for it). I don't know, it's just a little bit odd, but really good nonetheless! :)

I'm going to be there for 4 days with my friend, Tobal. All the others are going straight back home the day after the show. So it's just the two of us, three days to roam around the metro. My plans are:
1. Eat at Wendy's.
2. Find cheap stuff to bring the fam bam.
3. Go to Forever21 and just look around. (broke)
4. Eat at Wendy's.
5. Look for fake Supreme stuff. (haha)
6. Eat at Tokyo Tokyo.
7. Do a photowalk.
8. Meet new people and quit being shy all the time.
9. Pray for a miracle that will bring me to Ocean Park's OCEANARIUM.
and (drumrolls!!!)

10. Get this mini-poster signed by all Terror members.

I'm crossing my fingers. There's a wild party in my tummy right now. I'm praying for safe travel and an awesome good time!

Now, to continue packing. I never thought I could achieve traveling light with just a backpack and a small sling bag but I did! Here we go! ♥

Holy Terror!

I have this great nagging regret not seeing Bane when they landed P.I. last year so I'm totally stoked about Terror. I am not crazy about Terror as I am over Bane or over H2O or over my all-time favorite GCF. I am okay with Terror. I understand people going nuts over Terror. The reason I'm going is 1. Jan offered me a trip to Manila (where the show's gonna happen), 2. I got my parents to approve of this travel, and 3. I'm ready to be converted to be a Keeper of The Faith. Haha.

I haven't listened to the entire KOTF album. I haven't listened to "all" of their past releases, either, so I couldn't really evaluate the progress this band has made which means, I am incapable of doing a decent review. Not to come off defensive, I take my hardcore seriously but I gotta know the band's repertoire (and heart) to be able to decide if I love them or not which explains why I only love a few. (This is also the way I think relationships should go! Haha!)

Welp, here goes something! :)

The day is near when

I am finally going to be able to say that my hair falls down my waist.

Every time I feel the ends of my hair touch the back of my arm a little above my elbow, I can't help but smile.

Oh my gosh. I've never had hair this long since I was a kid so it's just surreal.

Oh my gosh.

I know it's too early in the year to swear something but I think I'm not going to cut my hair in 2011.

I don't know! AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHH!!!!

HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!

One of the biggest reasons why I love technology so much!!!

It can do pretty much a lot of stuff. Haha!
I love my sis' little kids. ♥

First beach of the year.

I went to the beach with Mimie, Tobal, and Janet today (Don came so much later in the evening). It was raining mad when we got there in the morning but then the sun slowly made its way out around lunch time. I'm not a big fan of the beach but it's a good place to have good friends around.

Don let me borrow his Canon 60d so I got to take some photos. (Thanks, Don! You're the best!)
Some of my shots after the jump. :)

A couple of cute-lookin' goats.

This is Janet. She's working in London, came here for a short vacation.

Grilled Pork for lunch

At some point, I was tempted to catnap this adorable little fella. :3

They love to fight.

Green jokes all day.

Paul Co Tan :)

Happy!

TWENTY ELEVEN

It's the time for resolutions once more but we all know we can follow our dreams any day of the year, it just really depends on how we feel and what we are going through and all other factors affecting our lives and stuff. So it really is safe to say that we don't have the right to judge people who've made long listas for the new year but unable to accomplish anything over a month.

How defensive.

I haven't had alcohol on the first day of the year and it doesn't feel right but I spent hours in the kitchen cooking for a party of 100. I think I've gotten sick, been coughing and wheezing and having minor headaches. I'll survive this.

Instead of making new year's resolutions, I decided to try to continue what I've been doing since the last quarter of 2010.

I drew and painted, I cooked and wrote and blogged about it and I stayed at home a lot more (which made my parents really freakin' happy). All I'm willing to do now is to stop worrying too much about the future because 1. worrying is pointless and 2. the future should worry about me. I really did LOL IRL.

Seriously, worrying got me nowhere.

I don't know what it is with 2011 but I have a really strong gut feel that it's going to be a much better year than 2010 the same way I kind of felt near the end of 2009 that 2010 is going to suck.

I DON'T MAKE ANY SENSE BUT THIS IS MY BLOG AND...

Writer.

Last Friday, right after I turned in my exam paper, my teacher (who is also our H.R.M. and Tourism department's Chairman) asked me if I'm graduating this year. I said no and that I expect to graduate next year, at least if everything stays smooth-sailing. I asked him why and he told me that he had been planning to come up with a magazine for our department and he'll be getting me as a writer.

I said yes.

I've had some people ask me to write but it's definitely my first time to be asked by a teacher or an authority to write for something as important as a school publication. Voluntarily contributing is one thing but being tasked is a whole new level. I felt glorious. I also thought to myself 'yes, finally.' I wanted to do a Tom Cruise at that moment but there was no couch. Truth is, I've been feeling quite low the past few weeks and this was, as far as I can remember, the best pick-me-up I've ever had.

I've been writing since I knew how. Although I admit that right now, I love reading more than writing. One reason could be because I feel inadequate and that I need to learn more. Plus, I am my worst critic. Thank God for computers, can you imagine how much paper I'd be wasting for revisions? But I figured, I wouldn't be able to enhance and improve myself unless I practice (ergo, this blog among other things). More practice will ensue for me if that magazine will realize materially. I can't wait.

I will totally spill all the details for sure. Celebrate with me when it happens?