SG

Spent three days and two nights in Singapore for Laneway Festival and well, some leisure. It was my first international trip and it was pretty fun and worth it. Here are some photos I took using my brother’s digital camera. (I was supposed to bring the Nikon D90 but my luggage was getting too heavy that I decided to ditch it. It was cool, though, the digital camera still worked well for me.)

My first photo taken in Singapore. SG’s SMRT is a very convenient way of transport. It makes everything in Singapore twice as near! Was on my way to Tanah Merah exchange this time then on another train going to Lavender where our hostel, Drop Inn, is.

Finally, the highlight of my trip, Laneway! Here’s my left hand holding a Laneway programme under the scorching sun. Singapore’s weather is basically the same as the Philippines except that their sun sets at around 8pm. Makes you crazy to think that kinder students gets dismissed at 7pm! Haha. Here are more photos of our feet killing and energy inducing Laneway experience!

Shine and Erin, my co-Lomography girls!

Luis and Shine checking out the line-up, thinking of an artist(s) we could skip for food/rest/drinks/shade.

Shinji hamming it up for "Ate Austra" on the LCD.

Part of the crowd. There were probably hundreds of Filipinos in the fest!

Below are some photos of the Laneway artists that I saw. I don’t have photos of every artist because a.) I was too far b.) I was tired and lazy  c.) the camera was acting crappy or d.) I just wanted to watch and dance. Anyway, bands I enjoyed the most were Yuck, Girls, The Drums, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Toro Y Moi, Feist and M83!

The Drums!!! Watching them felt so surreal. Johnny's energy was infectious and they sounded really good live!

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Peggy Wang was so adorable! The crowd loves her!

Toro Y Moi. Fell in love with Chaz during that night! <3

Leslie Feist! It was a dream five years ago to see her live. Never thought it would happen!

And the show ender, M83. My only photo of them (forgiveness, it's an LCD screen cap) but that tells I really enjoyed! Their set was epic and made every single person there to stand up and dance!

Laneway ended at around 1am and man, were we tired! It was an awesome experience all in all and I would love to be a part of it again come 2013.

Got a cab (trivia: cabs charge you an additional 50% from your meter reading after midnight) with Shine and met Shinji and Erwin who were drinking outside Drop Inn. Had a few sips, some stories, several tweets, a shower and ta-da, bed! (P.S. The aircon was really cold.)

Here’s Day 2!

The morning after. Hello Sunshine, open lockers, and towels!

My Laneway strap. Too tough to remove I had to knock next door and borrow a scissor to be able to cut it.

On my to Bugis for lunch with Shine and Erwin. Look at my tired feet. Gross, I know.

Had some tofu and chicken at Bugis Junction and met a Filipina. It was pretty funny because we were looking around food in this stall and she suddenly said “Ano po?” with a very charming smile. We all just laughed and had some chit-chat. Didn’t get her name but she said that she’s from Fairview.

You’re In My Blood Like Holy Wine

…

Of course I had to start this post with a James Blake music video I’ve been watching every day for the past week. Beautiful, yes, add the title which was a reference to the song. Thank you, Joni Mitchell and James Blake, you made my holidays lovelier than ever.

So it was Christmas and it was an awesome one! Fortunately, I was able to spend the Christmas weekend with my workmates, my high school friends, and my wonderful family, of course!

Spent the 23rd of December with my Lomography Manila family through a small (yet fun!) party along with Lomography’s BIG BOSS, Wolfgang Stranzinger, who tagged his family along. Wolfgang’s wife, Otchie, is a Filipina which made Wolfgang’s heart closer to us Filipinos. Such a nice guy you would not think he’s the owner of Lomography. A gentleman, too! He kept telling his two boys (shown in the photos below courtesy of Shine and Minde) that they should be kind to us girls.

Lomography MNL with Wolfgang and son Yohan Stranzinger in the middle.

With the most adorable baby in town, Liam Stranzinger! <3

Some lovely Lomo girls! From L-R: Jean, Joy, Shine, Chamie and I

The party was real cozy but we analogue people definitely knew how to make it fun! It was one of the best nights I’ve ever had with my workmates. And oh, we also made some LomoKino movies! Can’t wait for them to be processed!

The 24th was expected to be a busy one. As usual, when parties are held in our house, I turn into a cook who considers our tiny kitchen her abode. That happened and man, was it tiring! But no regrets here because cooking for one’s family and seeing their reactions upon tasting your labor of love just makes it all worth it. I wasn’t able to take photos of our Noche Buena but the menu consisted of pasta, ham, potato salad, caldereta, chicken wings and tons of pastry we almost died of diabetes. KIDDING.

Though here are some photos my brother, PeeWee, took after hearing mass and before celebrating Noche Buena and my Tita Susie’s birthday. Yep, her birthday was on the 25th that’s why she was named Jesusa, akin to Jesus.

*I got it from my Momma*

Happy birthday, Tita Susie! So cute!

Our relatives from Nueva Ecija didn’t make it in Manila this year but my Mom’s brother, Tito Lito and his two children, celebrated with us. It was fun nonetheless! Celebrations here at home ended quite early (around 2am) so I still had time to drop by my bestfriend King’s place after. Some of our high school friends were there too so it was  a nice way to end the evening’s festivities.

But then not all good things come to a happy end. I woke up on the afternoon of the 25th feeling all sickly – I had a fever and my flu was worst. I felt so bad I decided to stay in bed the whole day…. until Monday. Come Tuesday around 1am, I just couldn’t bear the heavy sick feeling I was having that Mom and Kuya Pao decided to bring me to Las Pinas Medical Center for a check-up. I was hesitant at first but I was also afraid that it was dengue (my fever skyrocketed to 39 then played at 37.7) so I agreed.

Emergency entrance

After a blood test (which brought me to tears when the med tech took my blood. SUCH A COWARD, YES) thank God, it wasn’t dengue. Turns out I have this viral infection caused by dust and pollution which also explains the painful lump I have in my neck. It’s like hay fever but worst. But all is well now and I just have to religiously drink my strong-ass medicine.

I’m really better now that I was even able to attend post-Christmas dinner with my Dumet Skate Crew last night. I did not consume alcohol though because that will fight off my antibiotics. I was soooo tempted to but I’m proud to say that all I had were Sprite and Doritos. Ha ha! Kudos for self-discipline. Also, I was able to work at home today (I filed a sick leave for Monday and Tuesday) and will be able to go to the office tomorrow. I’m really happy about it because my life is running on a normal path again.

Tons of happenings in a couple of days, eh? Crazy but that’s reality! Anyway, I’ve got to get some rest now! Enjoy the rest of the holidays, fellas! Take care of yourselves.

Oh hai

Someone has been pretty busy these past few weeks and you think this blog is dead.

But I am alive. Blogging was just left behind.

I’ll be back, soon!

In other important news… How I Met Your Mother’s pilot episodes are out today! I’ve waited so long for these! Thank you for the double treat, Craig Thomas and Carter Bays!

 

Ms. Scissorhands

Seems like I’m building this liking for cutting hair. See, I cut my friend, Tim’s hair, last Saturday on a whim just because he was looking all dirty with his two-month-grown-hairstyle. (I’m obsessive compulsive like that.) I used sharp paper scissors I found at a music video shoot we were in and did his trim for just 5 minutes. At a snap, I know, but the results were actually good and Tim really liked it…  Really liked it that he even messaged and tweeted me some thanks! Haha. He said he could fix his hair just like Korean actor Kim Bum’s do with the trim I did!

Here's Kim Bum. Ang dreamy pala niya! <3 HAHA.

And lately, I’ve been feeling tired of my hair specifically with my bangs that I decided to give it a go with the scissors!

I’ve always wanted full bangs but was afraid that I might look like a Siopao because 1.) I have a round white face and 2.) I’m part Chinese. Take that, Chowking.

But I really wanted it so I decided to cut them on my own. I’ve cut my hair before but it was always just about trimming my side swept bangs which is reaaaaaally easy. Guess I got some courage earlier!

And I suppose the results ain’t that bad? Heehee.

Tsaran! Bangs not dead!

And you know what? I love it! I might sport this do for a couple of months and grow my main hair at the same time. I’m still bitter with that lady stylist who did my hair during graduation day. I said “trim” not “cut” when I entered the salon but yet she took around two inches from my tresses. Urgh. It’s hard to grow hair, ya know!

On with the good vibes, I hope this liking for cutting hair actually “grows” into something! Anybody wants a trim?