ain't it funny?

everybody wants ice cream

2012-02-24T15:10:00.000+08:00

Breaking the monotony by showing you what happens when my boyfriend logs into my mail.

Also, feast your eyes on the numerous sites I am subscribed to. They comprise 99% of my inbox.

And! I've been getting a lot of stuff for Summer 2012, who just can't wait and is already letting us experience the intense heat that's supposed to be due next month at the earliest. I'll show them to you, I promise :)

Lastly, you've all heard of this song, and if you havent, you should have.

hipster-y music

2012-02-15T02:00:00.000+08:00

I had a classmate in grade school who was (and still is) the best source for indie music.

When I posted on Facebook that I felt happy when I listen to M83 and I saw he commented, I knew he had some recommendations. And you can bet those recommendations end up on whatever music player I use or looping on YouTube. Or both, really.

As you may have noticed, I'm not very good at critiquing songs. I just tell you whether I like it or not. I don't tell you what it is I like about it because I don't really know either.

One thing that's bound to make me love a song, though, is how much it reminds me of the night. There's just something enchanting about songs that let you experience the night, no matter what time of day it is. Plus points if it's the perfect soundtrack to driving around the city at night with you, the lights, and no one else on the road.

That's my idea of a perfect night out. Lights, camera, no action. Just me. And perhaps a special someone.

(Yes, we all know there's only one special someone.)

The guy behind Toro Y Moi is part-Filipino. I suppose that warrants a mention. Yes it does!

My boyfriend thinks that if this song were a person, it would be THE hipster. And when he says a song is so hipster, it usually means he doesn't like it. We have very different tastes in music. We meet halfway only with classical music and Queen. And sometimes Muse. He's in love with Muse. I've heard only one song that I absolutely like and would keep on repeat (and that he doesn't really like).

As much as everyone would like to make fun of hipsters, I find that I tend to love hipster music. I really do.

This is apparently the most relaxing music you will ever hear in your life. Ever. The band behind this worked with sound therapists to really bring you the personification (soundification?) of relaxation. It's more relaxing than Enya, Mozart or Coldplay music, according to them. I don't know about you, but I don't really find Mozart's music relaxing. It's very stimulating to me. I don't find Coldplay relaxing either.

The Coldplay that song that made it to the relaxing list, and if you haven't watched the music video, you really should. This particular Coldplay song really is relaxing, to be honest. But most of their songs tend to get me tapping my feet, and that's usually something you don't do when you try to relax, no?

Now, I haven't heard an Enya song that doesn't relax me, but this has to be the most relaxing of them all.

I should put up a spa and play some hipster and relaxing music, don't you think?

(A/N I'm writing this at 1:30 am. That's how much I like being alone with all the lights at night. Now if only I could drive.)

week in pictures. and wagw

2012-02-11T11:33:00.000+08:00

wooden reclining chairs, horse, WAGW frog necklace, mountain, flowers that I think I know but dont, WAGW bib necklace

Yeah I bought a loooooot of stuff from WAGW, it's sad because I want to buy some more but my wallet is already telling me I should take a break. But there's just so many pretty stuff up there and they sell out fast!

(This is where, when you want something, you have to go buy it or risk having it sold out and never restocked when you finally decided on getting it. Trust me, I know.)

Seriously, I have never spent this much on clothes in a single month. I regret nothing. Except for the fact that I don't have more money to spend on their stuff.

By the way, to my readers based in the Philippines, you might be interested in the stuff I'm selling on eBay. Yes, basically, if you get those, you're fueling my WAGW shopping spree. It's so addicting. Go on and get them, they're dirt cheap :)

Oh and, heard about this frog?

Dad's birthday celebration

2012-02-08T16:09:00.000+08:00

My dad turned 50 last February 2nd, and he ran away from his friends so they wouldn't bombard him with birthday greetings.

Okay, I don't know why the rest of my family went out of town, but they did. They visited me and my sister (we study out of town) for my dad's birthday celebration.

let's have a party

2012-02-07T12:00:00.000+08:00

You guys know how I'm addicted to Tap Tap Revenge 4 and all, and how I spend several hours a day flexing my tappers. Hey.

Apparently they have a new Featured Song of the Week every Thursday (Friday for me), but for the past 29 days they didn't replace Midnight City and I was starting to get bored of playing the same songs. I was really happy this week because finally, FINALLY! they featured a new track.

Two, to be exact:

The FTOW was Toby Keith's "Red Solo Cup". It's mostly spoken, and I find it a bit funny. It's an enjoyable song.

Plus it reminds me of how my boyfriend uses red plastic cups in his house. What does it remind you of?

Another song that came for free was Avicii's "Levels". Most of you might have heard it from Flo Rida's "Good Feeling". It sampled an Etta James song. A sample in a sample.

Flo Rida nailed it all right. I do feel good whenever I listen to the song. I feel like flowers are sprouting from my mouth. Except when I'm playing the song, because it seems to hate me.

(Can anyone tell me why it tells me I missed even though I tapped it correctly and on time? It's always the tapper thing in the middle. It keeps saying I missed.)

And one more thing. Midnight City was ousted by this cute little track on M83's album "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming". It was starting to sound a bit too noisy for me, plus this other track is just so cute with the transforming into frogs and stuff. Adorable.

Apparently it means "Tell Me A Story". I have no excuse as to why I didn't know that, but French isn't my first or second or third language, and I had only 24 hours of French classes.

Oh, apparently the kid in the song is Justin Meldal-Johnsen's daughter, Zelly Boo. Cute!

Yep, I have very different tastes in music. Enjoy!

Cebu-Negros earthquake

2012-02-06T20:17:00.001+08:00

So most of you outside the Philippines probably don't know, but there was a major earthquake off the coast of Dumaguete in Negros Occidental, magnitude 6.8. The last time I heard, there were seven dead, mostly kids.

I'm currently in Bacolod. I was on the road when the main quake occurred so I didn't feel it, but I've felt three aftershocks. My sister, who is currently in medical school in Iloilo, had her classes suspended.

Please pray for the affected areas. It's already hours past the main quake and there are still aftershocks comparable to it.

I hope everyone is doing fine tonight. Send your best wishes to the affected areas, and if you can help them out, I'm sure they would appreciate it.

organization must haves!

2012-02-05T14:06:00.000+08:00

Finally, the long-awaited organization post. Yep. I told you I'll make this post probably three weeks ago but I haven't gotten around to posting it. But now I have! Here they are:

The title might be a little bit misleading, so before I go on, let me clarify: This isn't a post about interior designing and room organization. I'd love to post about that but I wouldn't know what to say since I really have no idea how to organize my room. It's a complete mess.

I do, however, have an idea of how to organize and manage my time. I'm not very good at it yet, but I'm getting the hang of it, and I have these things to help me out:

~

1. Desk organizer or monthly planner

Most schools put out a calendar of the school year's events at the start of the school year, and I've found it very useful for plotting out those days. I'd know when my long weekends are, when I can have sleepovers and/or pool trips, when I should pull all-nighters, etc. Planning out an entire year is too far-out and dependent on chance, so I usually just lay out all the events happening on each month. I get a desk organizer since it has ample space to write the important events and tasks for every day, and also doubles as a calendar.

-
2. Weekly planner

This Belle du Jour planner is my absolute favorite. Not only does it function as a weekly planner for me (I find those quite boring), it also works as a grocery list, a menstrual planner, a vacation planner, a source of inspiration...if I wrote them all in here I wouldn't have enough space to write about the rest! I love the stuff they put into it, they're what make me pull it out of my purse and fill out the weekly planner part!

Did I mention they have over P20,000 worth of coupons? And if you can use up at least 50 coupons, they'll give you not one, but TWO planners for free!

Since the BDJ power planner isn't available outside the Philippines, I do suggest getting a really fun planner that makes you want to come back to it all the time. You can even make your own planner and spice it up yourself!

-
3. Random notebook

Ever since my mom bought me a diary for my freshman year in high school, I've constantly made trips to the bookstore to get a nice notebook to write my thoughts in. I've gone past the diary part, but I haven't gotten over the buying really pretty notebooks part! It's funny since I buy so much of them but I don't use them at all. It's like I just want to keep them in a glass case for all to see but not use.

(Okay, actually I haven't completely gotten over the diary part. I still keep a diary, but I make sure to write only the good things in it. Because it's such a pretty notebook.)

A lot of things go in this notebook. It sometimes functions as a grocery list, sometimes a to-do list. It's just something handy that I keep with me all the time so I can write down something I have to take note of.

And sometimes it functions as a coaster.

-
4. iPad

Killer internet.

Okay, here's me being a complete Apple fan girl. I am actually one of the last people to buy an iPad. (I got mine last December, when people were putting off getting the iPad 2 because the iPad 3 is coming out soon.) Originally it was because I was addicted to Tap Tap Revenge 4, then my laptop had to be repaired and it gave me more reasons to get an iPad.

(Yes, you guessed right, I use a Mac.)

The timing could not have been more perfect, honestly. You know how Apple brags about the iPad's built-in apps? They're not the apps that would keep you entertained for hours, but they sure are useful for the hectic Christmas Eve/New Year's Eve shopping. My parents tend to bring me with them when they go to the mall and the supermarket and stuff. The downloaded games keep me entertained when I'm too bored, and I can write stuff down in it when they ask me to remember something. I can also plot down the announced quizzes and get the iPad to remind me at a certain time and date so I'd have no excuse to say I forgot about it. Yep.

Also I've blogged about iTunes U, which is honestly the best thing that has happened to my school life. My personal favorite is the Introductory Biology course at MIT. They have the best videos.

~
And there you have it! My college time management must-haves. Maybe I can make an actual room organization post after we've moved to a different house next June.

What are your time management must-haves?

finally, a picture post

2012-02-04T09:17:00.001+08:00

Someday I'll have those iPad memory card reader plug-ins. Or my laptop back. But while I don't, here are some pictures I've taken.

Yeah, I didn't notice they were mostly food.

connecting the dots

2012-01-27T21:05:00.001+08:00

(another purely textual post)

Almost exactly two years ago, the exams to the big four universities in the country came out. I was so excited since I was really looking forward to see myself walk down the halls of the schools, meeting new people, realizing my potentials and being where I wanted to be. I dreamed big. I dreamed very big. And you know what they say, the higher you fly, the harder you crash.

I passed the UPCAT, but I wasn't qualified for the campus of my choice. I chalked it up to my skipping almost every Filipino question in the test because it was right minus 1/4 wrong, never mind that statistically I would have done better if I as much as guessed the answer. My campus of choice had the highest cutoff score, and when we were in college my classmates told me my UPG qualified me for UP Diliman, but since they considered not only your entrance exam result but also your high school grades, I didn't make the cut.

It made the blow much harder because the results for Ateneo de Manila University came out around the same time the University of the Philippines results did, and I found out I was wait-listed. It was as good as a non-passer for me. It broke my heart so bad that I lashed out at every person who congratulated me on at least making it to their wait list, and I forced myself to walk several kilometers so I can calm down and forget how miserable the exam results made me feel. (People sent a barrage of congratulations after I got home though, which negated the effects of walking several kilometers and hiked up my blood pressure once more.)

I passed the De La Salle University and the University of Santo Tomas entrance exams though, but among the big four, UP and AdMU were really the two schools that I dreamed of getting into. All those time spent dreaming about life in those schools, walking down the halls that the greats once walked, flying high and reaching great distances and -- gone. Shattered.

It really shouldn't matter what the results are, honestly. I knew from the start that my father wouldn't let me go to Manila to study. In fact I didn't bother applying for a scholarship to AdMU, because I knew I'm never going to set foot in their campus. But it hurt anyway.

I currently go to a state university in the province. The university as a whole hasn't made an imprint in the history of education in the Philippines yet, but its colleges have, specifically the College of Medicine, which beat UP for second place in the physicians' board exam this one time, and the College of Nursing, which consistently ranks first in the nursing board exam.

I have to admit though. Even if I'm not where I once wanted to be, I'm quite content with where I am now. Sure, I'm not living the life I dreamed of two years ago, but I didn't have much assurance that it was really how I would be living. My separation anxiety is quite crippling, and I have a tendency to freeze up when overwhelmed. I went to Philippine Science High School in Iloilo City, and I was separated from my parents shortly before my 13th birthday. I didn't perform very well in school, but I survived. I have decided to lay low for past two years and for the next two, since after this I will be pulling all-nighters every night in medical school.

A lot of good things have happened to me that I think wouldn't have happened if I went to a different university. For one, I met my boyfriend. I'm very picky when it comes to people, and I doubt I would have found my bestest friend if I were somewhere else. I'm also not dealing with piles of schoolwork, so I can focus on other areas of my life, like my health. I'm running now. I've started playing the piano too. My next recital is on March 25th and I am quite excited. And looking back to two years ago, it didn't seem so bad.

As the late Steve Jobs once said: You can't connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking back.

Oh and, we wear uniforms. So I don't have that many outfit posts. :) I do try whenever I can though! I bought a lot of dresses!

viva señor sto niño

2012-01-20T22:15:00.001+08:00

(purely textual post)

So, Kryz Uy made a post about the Sinulog Festival, I don't know a blogger from Aklan who can blog about the Ati-atihan Festival, and I would post about the Dinagyang Festival, but its mostly me ranting about how the roads are closed and the traffic is absolutely terrible where it's not.

Last Friday was the Opening Salvo, which marks the beginning of the festival. My friend Princess and I walked a distance of probably close to 10 kilometers just to get to this resort. Okay, we road a jeepney part of the way, but we walked. A lot.

This Friday marks the beginning of the end of the Dinagyang week. There was a fireworks display at SM Iloilo, and I would have gone there but it's perfectly audible from my apartment. I swear I can hear my windowpanes rattle.

Tomorrow and on Sunday are the biggest highlights of the event. I think this is when the different tribes "dagyang" around the city (or in front of The Atrium, that's cool too), but frankly I don't really know what happens since for me this is when I go home on Saturday and don't come back on Sunday afternoon.

Yes. I am totally killjoy when it comes to this. But hey, I'm not from Iloilo, so I have an excuse. (I still don't celebrate the Masskara Festival in Bacolod though. I was born in Iloilo City, too.) Also, we just had our midterm exams. It was funny how the Miss Dinagyang 2012 coronation was last Wednesday night, and the former Miss Dinagyang had her midterm exams that morning and on the next day. Yes, I go to school with Miss Dinagyang 2011. I even walked past her after my first exam. I didn't remember it was her.

Okay well, I do remember watching the Dinagyang Festival from The Promenade in The Atrium (great view people, check it out). It was pretty cool. Maybe next year I can find a good enough excuse not to go home and just watch the tribes instead.

Hala bira Iloilo!

(I did end up writing about the Dinagyang Festival.)

heads up people!

2012-01-09T20:37:00.001+08:00

I got Jenni Epperson's book. And I tweeted about it. And she replied. Yes!

If you still don't have the book and you like pretty things/pretty pictures/fooooooooood, you should go get it. It's available at National Bookstore because they published it. Unless it's sold out. But you might get lucky, like me.

I posted a video on YouTube about it too, but since I still haven't got the hang of blogging from a mobile device, here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u15CoIuDAw . Enjoy the spazzing. ;)

P.S. My boyfriend likes the pictures, so your boyfriend might too. Then again, my boyfriend cooks and I don't.
P.P.S. I just added learning to cook on my New Year's resolutions.

zeitgeist and all-nighters

2012-01-07T17:19:00.000+08:00

My boyfriend finds it funny how easily I cry. What does it take to make me cry?

This. Especially the Steve Jobs part. I don't care if the iPad 3 is coming out soon, I'm getting the iPad 2!

Also, I pulled an all-nighter for our Chemistry quiz yesterday. It was weird how it was so unlike your typical college student all-nighter. My friend initially planned to sleep until 11 pm, then go to McDonalds and stay there until our test starts at around 8 am. I prefer the opposite: study, sleep (or nap), wake up, go to school. So I opted out.

Here's how it went:

6:30 pm - went to the mall, bought some McDonalds and Starbucks (sandwich) and a loaf of bread, some Ferrero Rocher chocolates and oat meal drink.

7:30 pm - arrived at apartment, was locked out.

7:40 pm - called up sister, found out sister thought I was home so she locked the apartment.

7:45 pm - ate dinner:

Excuse the plastic bag.

Chicken fillet with rice and gravy from McDonalds. Apparently the McDonalds in the Philippines are the only ones in the world serving rice. We can't help it. We love our rice.

Yeah, they gave me a tiny piece of chicken. I preferred the service in the McDonalds across the street from our school, they give you a gigantic chicken fillet and free gravy.

8:00 pm - took a bath.

8:45 pm - tried to study.

9:00 pm - downloaded a PDF on reaction mechanisms, looked up reaction mechanisms and stuff for the Physics homework.

9:30 pm - went down to eat the cookie from Starbucks and the Ferrero Rocher chocolates. Sister went down and ate some too.

And we watched TV.

10:00 pm - gave up and played Tap Tap Revenge 4.

My efforts paid off!

11:30 pm - took a fifteen minute nap.

11:45 pm - took another fifteen minute nap.

12:00 am - took another fifteen minute nap.

12:15 am - took another fifteen minute nap.

12:30 am - took another fifteen minute nap.

12:45 am - took another fifteen minute nap.

1:00 am - sister barged into the room and told me to shut off the AC.

1:05 am - started studying and laying out the mechanisms on a piece of paper.

1:30 am - lightbulb moment.

3:30 am - went to sleep.

6:00 am - woke up. Friend texted me to go to McDonalds. Went back to sleep.

6:45 am - got up, got dressed for school.

7:00 am - went down and heated up half of the beef brisket sandwich, forgot to take a picture. Follow-up studies.

The sandwich:

Photo credit

7:45 am - went to school, fell asleep on the teacher's table. More following up.

8:30 am - teacher arrived. She was late.

And that is how my all-nighter went! It's how it goes. No coffee, just naps. And sandwiches. And my sister ate the other half of my sandwich.

Lastly! Every Thursday there's a new track available for free download on TTR4 (it's available to us on Friday GMT + 8) and this week's featured track is this eargasm:

More French electronica!

Also my boyfriend introduced me to this cute remix featuring snippets from Pixar's Up:

Hope you're having a great year so far! I'm planning to show you guys my organization must-haves for 2012...once I've completed them.

Enjoy!

it ain't the end of the world

2012-01-01T13:39:00.001+08:00

I made this roughly a year and thirteen hours ago. I said I'd make 2011 my year, and I suppose I did.

A lot of things have happened in the past year. I've sort of set my priorities straight, found my best friend, went to my grandfather's home country, got the screaming of a lifetime c/o my parents, turned legal, wore skirts, made this blog, learned to smile...it still hasn't sunk in that it's already 2012. I still feel like it's 2011.

Maybe because we didn't have fireworks last night. What a Chinese family.

At least we had cocktails and Belgian chocolates though.

Cheese platter before

sparkling grape juice, margarita, martini

Cheese platter after

I actually have no idea about wearing polka dots for New Year's Eve. I just really like polka dots.

Have a great year everyone!

Top and shorts from Primadonna, belt from Promod

a toast to the new year

2011-12-31T21:55:00.001+08:00

Happy New Year everyone! This has been a great year and I'm sure hoping everyone's welcoming 2012 with open arms :)

top from Primadonna

the freshman experience from the other side

2011-12-27T14:17:00.001+08:00

I wrote this long post last night but then learned the hard way that no, Blogger won't publish your post on a browser in a tablet. Anyway.

I would love to tell you all the reasons why I absolutely love CollegeFashion.net, but that would take up too much time and space. Instead, I'll just confess that I discovered it when I was already a college freshman and I read this post as a sophomore. I think it's a very helpful post, except a tiny thing that just won't work here.

I actually came across this one article that said college degrees aren't as important in getting a job, that you can get a job totally unrelated to your major and it would all work out okay. It's not how it works here. You should know what you want to be for the rest of your life when you're sixteen, otherwise you'll just be jumping from one major to another and never knowing what to end up as. What interests us take a back seat, what's bound to give us a six-figure job is the driving force here. This Christmas, I've been furiously downloading introductory biology classes from MIT, and I've learned to appreciate everything that's being put out there: DNA synthesis, molecular structures of proteins, stuff like that. When I brought it up wig my dad, he sort of frowned upon it, joking that I'll just end up as a teacher with a 9-5 job and stuff, instead of the doctor that I was trying to be. (I'm in premed and he's also a doctor. Both of my parents are.)

I don't know if it's just here in the Philippines, but college isn't just an extension of school for us. It's where we decide, as teenagers nonetheless, what jobs to take up, what to do for the rest of our lives. We're expected not to make a wrong move, or at least correct it early on so we don't have to spend our lives trying to fix it. It's not just a life-changing experience, it's something that you will be living with for the rest of your lives. And you're expected to have made up your mind before you take that college admissions test.

I honestly love the part where she recommends going to college without declaring your major. I'd love to have done that. Several times I've asked myself if I was on the right track, of I've made the right decision or if it's too late to change my mind. The loophole in making a sixteen year old decide what to do for the next fifty or sixty years is so huge that I can fit this entire country in it. So many people I know have jumped from one major to the other because they had fleeting interests in vastly different things. It's sad to think that they wasted so much time because they were forced to come up with something when they weren't even old enough to drink. When I was fifteen and a junior in high school, I wanted computational finance. When I was in grade school, I wanted to be a doctor, because my parents were doctors. My dad have a speech at his alma mater when I was senior and it made me decide to be a doctor again. Now I'm interested in pure biology, not the applications. What am I supposed to do now?

Overall though, it was a wonderful article and I think it would have helped me greatly as a fresh high school graduate. There are just some things that aren't universal to all educational systems.

That's all :) Happy holidays everyone.

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas!

2011-12-24T17:17:00.001+08:00

Or whatever holiday you celebrate. In this part of the world we celebrate Christmas, and we're seven hours to midnight! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!

I am actually preparing for Christmas by watching Dr. Graham Walker's lectures. iTunes U is a gem. You should try it out, especially for you college and upcoming college students. MIT has the best lectures.

It's beginning to look a lot like (insert holiday)

2011-12-18T19:01:00.001+08:00

We went to this Christmas party last night dressed as a bunch of Native Americans. The motif was headdresses and my mom decided to put on a full costume complete with an elaborate headdress made of feathers and paper. We won two awards, Best Family Headdress and Most Nature Friendly Headdress, and everyone was saying we didn't win in the Best Male and Best Female and Best Male Child AND Best Female Child Headdress because if we did, we'd have won everything. Except the Most Unoriginal and Boring Headdress. Santa Claus won that award.

Also, I just made a YouTube! Woot. Nothing really, it was because my boyfriend wanted to see a recording I made of me playing the piano, and it was too big to send through email. But hey! YouTube.

My older sister wasn't with us. I wasn't with them in last year's Christmas party. Same venue.

My mom and I bought those shoes a few hours before the party. We were scared we wouldn't find a pair that looked exactly like she wanted them and that would fit me (I have very tiny feet), but we did, and it was the last pair. I just tied some shoelaces around them to make them look like the improvised boots they used to wear.

We may have won the most nature friendly headdress award but my outfit was the most animal un-friendly! Wearing a rabbit fur shirt and a suede skirt, and a headdress made with chicken feathers. Poor animals.

People thought we really went out of our way to look for a Native American costume, and my mom casually told them she just put them together from stuff in her wardrobe. Only the tunics and the headdresses, and my sister's outfit, didn't.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Custom-made headdress and tunic; earrings and shirt from eBay, suede skirt from DKNY, suedette boots from SM Department Store

Last school week of the year

2011-12-12T21:37:00.001+08:00

The iPad's camera is pretty subpar compared to the iPhone's, but it sure beats nothing. And also carrying your bulky camera to school.

We had Physics and Chemistry today.

New toys

2011-12-10T18:03:00.001+08:00

Yes, I am incredibly vain and proud and whatnot but I am happy to tell you that I can now update my blog more frequently. Actually the reason why I could barely update is because my laptop was broken and I use my mom's laptop and only when I'm at home, so I could post only on the weekends, but now I got myself this new toy and I'm still on the OMG NEW TOY phase so expect very frequent updates.

happy Christmas!

2011-12-03T22:58:00.001+08:00

Hey guys! Once again I'm so hoping you're all doing fine. December has been pretty good so far, it's been raining which is a bit out of the ordinary but it's all good.

I won't be going home until the 16th, but next weekend my parents are dropping by and they might bring my laptop with them, depends if it got fixed already or if it's still with the service center. They're also bringing me an early Christmas gift, which means more blog posts and pictures. Yay! I might show you a glimpse of my school life too, if it's not too much of a hassle.

It's almost Christmas! Isn't it awesome how quickly time flies? One moment you're celebrating the new year, the next you're celebrating Christmas a.k.a the year-ending holiday season or something. I saw this sciencey explanation of why time flies faster when you're grown up, so I guess I'm getting old eh?

Merry Christmas everyone!

Badgley Mischka?!

2011-11-26T18:48:00.000+08:00

Today had me waking up at 4, taking pictures of stuff to sell, rescheduling piano class, playing stuff on the piano, looking at more pictures, making squeaky noises, reading up on the Mulberry Alexa (and realizing my replica seems to be of better quality), wanting a Proenza Schouler PS1, finding a box of Badgley Mischka Couture perfume on my dad's desk, taking more pictures, and musing about stuff.

Yeah, that's a Mulberry Alexa replica I got in China for 730 yuan. That's around 120 dollars, or a tenth of the price of the actual Alexa. I'll talk about that soon.

And wow. It's as dark as 8 pm.

Oh, and a little video, because I haven't shared music in a while:

Remember when I was being thrown around inside the boat? This was what I was listening to.

Patchwork shirt: eBay, shorts: What A Girl Wants, brogues/oxford flats: Forever 21, purse: China

Welcome to the family!

2011-11-25T16:24:00.001+08:00

The ride home was so scary and bumpy. The boat was practically jumping off the water, and I kept distracting myself with Safri Duo tracks and reassuring myself that, hey, it's a catamaran, it's not toppling over. I swear it was the worst thirty minutes I've ever experienced. Well, okay, I've had worse, but it was pretty terrible.

It was all worth it though, because upon coming home I was greeted by the newest member of my shoe collection!

You wouldn't believe me if I told you I got this pair for only 2,500 pesos (around 57 US dollars) and you would really ponder on its authenticity if I told you it's Prada, but Filipinos are accustomed to inexpensive quality stuff and they really can sell authentic Prada for rock bottom prices. Otherwise no one would get it.

(Sometimes they do it to gain a lot of watchers who will then overbid each other until it reaches the retail price of the item)

So I completely forgot about being thrown around in the boat, put them on and dressed up as – guess what? – a sailor!

I'm Popeye the sailor man!

shirt: Moschino Love, belt: Forever 21, skirt: Zara, boots: Prada, hat: thrifted, bag and bracelet: China, watch: NY&C

Maybe she's born with it. Or maybe she picked it up somewhere.

2011-11-18T12:08:00.001+08:00

I am actually the only girl in this family who has no idea how to put makeup on. Luckily I have a mom, two sisters, and a friend who do.

When I was younger I used to pretend i know how to put makeup on, and I would use my younger sister's face as the canvas. I would use lipstick all over as the eyeshadow, blush, lip color, etc. Then she learned how to put makeup on and now she's experimenting on me.

My first makeup was this Maybelline mocha brown eyeshadow palette that my mom bought for me a few months ago. I don't think I still know how to use it. Like, after we came home, my mom instructed my sister to teach me how to use it, and when I left I texted her saying "I still don't know how to use this." She was like, "oh dear..."

All the makeup I own. :D

My mom also gave me this lip and cheek tint from The Body Shop, and around last week, in a boredom spell, I took it out and played with it. I also played with this ash eyeliner from Elf that I bought around the same time my mom gave me the palette. I then realized they were all too dark, and I went on eBay and bought as many pink lip glosses and brown eyeliners that I can find (and afford). I also went to the mall with my friend and bought a white eyeliner and a brownish tannish eyeshadow palette that I have been using for the past week. I actually enjoy it!

My lip glosses just arrived and I can't wait to play with them!

Shoes!

2011-11-13T15:23:00.001+08:00

Okay! I don't usually write several entries in a single day – at least not anymore – but today I will make an exception because it's the thirteenth which means it's the last day of Kryz Uy's Comfit giveaway!

(It's also been exactly nine months since my boyfriend asked me to be his girlfriend. And we completely forgot about it.)

Yes, I have just found out about it and I feel completely embarrassed because I watch her on Bloglovin and I have like, daily visits to What A Girl Wants, but anyway, I have found it, and I will tell you about it! Because it's about shoes. Did I mention I love shoes? No?

Yes!

Well! I do. Whenever I go shopping, online or otherwise, I always make a beeline for the shoes. More often than not, they don't have my shoe size (I'm sometimes smaller than a 5 and sometimes exactly a 5), but that doesn't really deter me from loving shoes! Also I have a few – okay, a lot of limitations, like I can't wear boots that hit around the ankle, I can't wear flats that cover the top of my feet, and I don't like going around in heels because the surfaces here are downright terrible, but I work around with it.

And! So. This Comfit brand of shoes promises really comfortable shoes. The first thing I'd probably purchase are a pair of heels to test out their comfort factor, but I usually go for classics first, like plain black ballet flats or loafers or what. I'd really love to win a pair of shoes from Comfit since I am honestly tired of compromising style for comfort, and I really want to go out of my comfort zone but of course not sacrifice comfort! (Okay, how many times have I said comfort?)

Wish me luck!

Initiating launch sequence in three...

2011-11-12T20:30:00.001+08:00

Don't ask why I had that title. It just popped inside my head around a second after I started thinking of relevant titles. Yes, you bet it's not relevant.

Anyway, last September my mom got an iPad (the first one, she got it secondhand off of eBay). Yeah, we just got introduced to iPads last September. Before that I was like, I'm not going to save up for an iPad, I'm just going to get one if I have money to burn. But she made me tinker with it so I can tell her how to use it and two months later --

BAM! Mom, I will now burn this money for an iPad.

Before you leave though! It's not a post about the iPad. Hold up.

My sister came home from school that afternoon and saw I had an iPad in my hands, so she asked to borrow it and she tinkered with it some more. She then called me and asked me to play Tap Tap Revenge with her.

I was like, what is this crap?

It's Tap Tap.

I went to play with her anyway, because I had nothing to do, and two months later I'm now a Tap Tap Revenge junkie. My brother says I spend 24 hours a day, seven days a week on TTR, but that's exaggerating it greatly since I go to school outside town.

I do spend practically every waking hour tap-tapping, and eventually I got bored and tried out higher levels. I also was introduced to the free songs offered on TTR.

I've found a few gems there actually, the latest being this by the electronica duo Holy Ghost!

It's also where I found the Bassnectar Remix of Ellie Goulding's Lights, which I probably posted before but I will again anyway:

Kaskade's Eyes featuring Mindy Gledhill:

the Footloose remake starring Justin Timberlake's backup dancer and that girl from Dancing with the Stars, and the songs that came with it:

This:

No words can describe this.

and if I enumerated all of them it might take me forever. Now excuse me while I go play Tap Tap Revenge.

Oh and, never forget:

Barbra Streisand.

The land of our forefathers

2011-10-31T09:20:00.000+08:00

Xiamen from the plane, Peking duck, static, Empress Dowager Cixi's living quarters, nun monks in the Summer Palace, catholic church in Beijing, en route to the Great Wall, Juyong Pass, padlocks, jade carving

scarves and shawls and other pretty things

2011-10-20T17:25:00.001+08:00

I got myself a new play thing yesterday.

It's a gold pashmina scarf! Or shawl. Probably even a blanket.

There was an entire shelf full of them in different colors of the rainbow and I probably spent half an hour trying to decide which color I should get. I was thinking of getting maroon because I was wearing a burgundy belt, but what was really calling out to me were the different shades of brown. My mom has a brown scarf but I didn't know which shade of brown it was, and I wanted to get the shade she didn't have because it would be redundant to get a scarf in the same color.

Well, I bet on this one. I still haven't found out if it's the same color, but I'm having so much fun with this!

Itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow(ish) polka dot shirt

2011-10-16T20:20:00.000+08:00

Polka dotted shirt from the bazaar place in Eastwood City

There's just something strangely funny about polka dots.

Also my last entry was over two weeks ago. Since then we've been to Manila (not actually planning to go there on vacation but to show up at the Chinese embassy) and bought stuff from Forever 21. The only Forever 21 shops in the Philippines are currently located in Manila, and they are pretty cheap. I practically cried when I went inside. I wanted to buy the whole shop.

The Forever 21 branch we went to is in SM Makati. We stayed in Makati during the first day because the Chinese embassy was there, and after the interview, my sister and I walked all throughout SM Makati and then to Greenbelt 1-5. It made me look up to the people in Manila who can actually walk around all these malls in high heels. I was wearing flat loafers and my feet were crying out for help, and my sister's ballet flats were so worn out that we swore there'll be a hole on it by the time we went back to the hotel.

The next day we stayed in Eastwood City in Quezon City (Eastwood City isn't actually a city) where we shopped some more. We were giggling at how there were clothes in the bazaar that resembled those in Dorothy Perkins sold for ten times the price. On top of that we could get it for even less than the declared price. And again, our feet were so sore. It didn't help that our hotel room was on the 32nd floor and the elevators were almost always full.

We just got home from Manila. I didn't get too many stuff, just those that I've always wanted to have but can't find anywhere: plain oxford flats, wide belt, polka dotted shirt and yet another skirt.

Oh, a word about the Forever 21 in the Philippines: I've read somewhere that when you shop in Forever 21, you almost can't fit the clothes because there's so many people. The skirt I bought, I initially bought the medium-sized one (I'm an XS) and didn't bother fitting it, and I wish I fit it so I wouldn't have to go through the hassle of explaining to the cashier that I was being a klutz or something and overlooked the size. You can actually fit the stuff you want to fit in the Forever 21 branches here, granted we shopped on a Friday though. And I've gotten so used to shopping online that I overlook fitting stuff to see if they fit me right anymore. Usually when the stuff I get don't fit (and usually is 99% of the time), I just get them tailored, but why bother getting them tailored when you can just get one that's already your size?

I never thought this day would come.

2011-10-06T21:13:00.000+08:00

This morning, when I went home after spending some time with my parents and sister and staying in their hotel room, I logged on to Facebook. This was the first thing I saw:

Now, I would be lying if I didn't tell you I automatically had Steve Jobs in mind. I mean, I use a MacBook, and I don't know anyone named Steve. But then I was like, no way, Steve Jobs can't die. Maybe it's some other guy named Steve.

Then I forgot about it and went to Cracked.com for my daily humor fix. And as I usually do, I read the comments.

One of them was "RIP Steve Jobs".

And I was like, you're joking, right? I know many people hate Apple and its products and how it sucks you in, and I wouldn't be surprised to see something like that from someone who hates Apple. But it was a bit weird, so I asked my boyfriend.

"What happened to Steve Jobs?"
"He's dead."

(Way to put it bluntly.)

No. He has to be joking. My boyfriend doesn't like Apple stuff either, and I would think he'd say it the way he once said "Blackberrys are dead." But you don't just say that about a person the way you would about a Blackberry. That's just disrespectful, and my boyfriend can be mean but he knows when to be mean.

I checked it out everywhere. I checked out Wikipedia, because no matter how unreliable it is there's still an inkling of truth to it. I checked Yahoo! because they always have news on the front page, even when it's not news worthy. I checked Google, because they always add something to their clean homepage when something happened. I checked Apple, because.

They all said the same thing: Steve Jobs is dead.

I then went to Facebook and posted, I have never felt this sad about someone I don't know passing away. I don't know him personally, but it felt like a part of me died. It's just so unbelievable, like someone dumped a bucket of ice cold water on my head. Steve Jobs was, and I will tell you, still is, one of the last people I would expect to pass on. I honestly thought I would die before he would. He just couldn't leave. It just wouldn't be right.

But, yeah, Steve Jobs just left us. Almost everyone I knew was talking about it, about how they still don't have anything Apple and now Steve Jobs is gone. I've spent time with several Apple products – every laptop at home is a MacBook. If someone were to have a laptop, it had to be a MacBook. Need a tablet? Get an iPad. We don't call them MP3 players anymore, we call then iPods. If our data plan offered the iPhone, there would be more gadgets running on Apple operating systems than all the others combined.

My dad taught me to admire people with incomparable marketing skills, and it was the main reason why I looked up to Steve Jobs. That man knew how to sell something. Before, everyone bought an MP3 player because it was nice to carry something smaller than a CD player. After the iPod, everyone needed an iPod. Before, people wanted a tablet because drawing on your screen was fun. After the iPad, everyone had to have one. Apple wasn't just a brand, it was a lifestyle. You don't say you have a laptop, or an MP3 player, or a phone or a tablet. You have a MacBook, an iPod, an iPhone, an iPad. There are even websites devoted to texting with the iPhone. You don't just come across a businessman who can sell a product like that. You hear of lifestyle brands, but none of them has achieved what Apple has.

Then I heard he has had pancreatic cancer. And he beat it. Anyone who beats cancer is automatically a hero in my book. My mom once said, Lance Armstrong was so tough even cancer can't beat him. That was how I looked at every person who gave cancer the middle finger. They were tough. They were strong. So many people succumb to cancer; they are not one of them.

But then he stepped down as CEO of Apple, Inc. It made me think, perhaps Apple wouldn't be the same again. But then something that's so hyped up doesn't just step off the spotlight. It's not easy pushing Apple off the stage. But it just wasn't the same. And why did he leave? Wasn't he okay?

Then, on October 6th, I heard about it. The whole world knew about it. Everyone had something to say about it. Mark Zuckerberg posted about it on Facebook, US President Barack Obama had something to say about it, even Bill Gates, who was synonymous with the Apple antithesis Microsoft. They all agreed on one thing: The world has lost one great man.

Requiescat in pace, Steve Jobs.

from apple.com

Whose world is it anyway?

2011-09-30T18:13:00.001+08:00

My current apartment isn't too far from my school, so most of the time I walk half of the way home. Most people would probably think I'm doing too much work when I can just ride a pedicab from the intersection to my doorstep, but I refuse whenever I can because I absolutely hate how the drivers catcall whenever they can.

Countless times I've gone home and ranted about how they keep objectifying me. I can take it when it's just an isolated incident, like, some guy calls out to me and stuff, big deal. I'll just keep my mouth shut and pretend I didn't hear it. But it happens every time I pass by them, or whenever they pass by in front of my apartment and I'm waiting for a ride to school.

It's really getting to me. I wear skirts and dresses all the time and four days of the week I'm supposed to wear my school uniform, part of which is a white pencil skirt tightly hugging my sizable derriere. I don't see why I should stop wearing the clothes I want to wear so people would stop making advances. I wish they would stop but I don't know how to. All the time I have the urge to scream at them, to show them just how many swearwords I can name off the top of my head, but I fear retaliation.

This is what I tend to wear every day. Nothing special, but they find it as an excuse to objectify me.

I have a friend whom I'll call Cess here. She stays in a boarding house closer to the school and the main road and she always walks home. On her way home there's this construction site and the workers always jeer at her. I commend her bravery – countless times she's told them off or stopped in front of them and glared at them showing distaste. She's dropped me off several times too, most of the time since I accompany her to dinner. We always ride a pedicab whenever she drops me off since it's usually after dark, and she does snap back at the catcalling drivers. In fact there was this one time when she confronted the driver of the pedicab we were on, telling him women find it absolutely revolting to have men catcalling at them. I wish I had her grit.

I can't count the number of times I've ranted to my boyfriend about how they catcalled again, and I also can't count the number of times he asked me why I let it bother me so much. It's degrading. It makes me feel like I'm only worth my body parts, like I'm not a person, I'm just a huge ass. If there's something that tops the list of things I absolutely hate, it would be people making me feel like I'm not a person with thoughts and feelings.

This one time I finally decided to ride a pedicab because it was raining hard, and the driver called out to everyone that I was his girlfriend. I stormed into the house and gave a long rant about how I absolutely abhor and find it disgusting and sickening that he would make people think I was his girlfriend. My boyfriend asked me why I don't just shrug it off, I'm not that guy's girlfriend after all. Still, I was disgusted. You know the things boyfriends and girlfriends do? Will I do that to him. I wouldn't even bother looking twice in his direction. Recalling this incident makes me want to vomit.

Pedicab (photo credit)

I'm reading this article about catcalling where the author had someone call out to her because she was wearing a dress and boots. I once had that, too. I crossed the street wearing a plain black shirt and shorts and knee-high boots and a jeepney driver actually risked looking at something other than the road to shout something degrading at me.

It's terrible. I hate not being able to walk down the street at night without fear of being assaulted or raped simply because I'm a girl. Is it a man's world where women just live in, where men can do just about anything they please to women? Aren't we people with thoughts and feelings? How would these men feel if their mother, or sister, or wife, or daughter got assaulted? Or like, when they find out that someone sees these women not as women, but as things to ogle at and fantasize about?

I agree with this study by the University of Connecticut – during my rant about catcalling I've brought up how, if it wasn't for my boyfriend and a handful of other men, I would have been looking for a way for women to reproduce through parthenogenesis so there wouldn't be a reason for men to exist. I'm not saying most of the men I come across are dirty lowlifes who only want to fuck and hit on random passersby, thank god, but these lecherous men are making me, and other women, feel like men really are just dirty lowlifes who want to fuck and hit on random passersby.

Perhaps next Monday I should give them a piece of my mind.

There's a huge blue arrow pointing to it

2011-09-24T20:48:00.000+08:00

Once upon a time I opened my web browser and saw a huge blue arrow pointing to the upper left corner of my screen, which says "You+". So I clicked on it and it told me to sign up and soon I realized, oh, this is the social networking site Google made.

Yep. I'm that slow. Anyway, now I'm signed up but I don't know anyone. Except for my boyfriend. He just added me up and I'm like, yeah, I don't know how this goes.

Also, this afternoon we made a few sandwiches. They weren't very pretty, but I realized it's quite fun to eat when you prepared your own food. (No, I have no talent in making food. I only eat them.)

Yeah, it's not something you'd see in a restaurant, but in case you're somehow curious as to what is in this thing, it's just a bun with Spanish style sardines, mozzarella cheese (the one you see behind it) and tarragon. I also made one with Vienna sausage slices and tried to make them a little more presentable.

Sorry for the chunk of fish beside it. It's quite tasty. Mozzarella is kind of bland and tarragon has a really overwhelming taste, so they pretty much go together. And those are chicken Vienna sausages, according to the packaging.

The tarragon I used was from our collection of herbs, so they were freshly picked and really tasty. My mom also snipped off some rosemary, which I find really really fragrant, and I swear I fell in love with it the moment I smelled it. I can't wait for tomorrow's rosemary chicken.

And one last thing, here's a song that's been stuck in my head since five minutes ago.

Nice monsters and scary sprites

2011-09-23T21:24:00.000+08:00

One of the genres that my boyfriend has introduced me to is dubstep. Yep. I say it's a genre because the things I've read about it say it's a genre. Or a subgenre. Also I'm going to talk about Skrillex because hey, I like what he put out.

Actually the first dubstep song I've heard was a remix of La Roux's song "I'm Not Your Toy":

But you know, I'm not a very good critic. I don't like a song because the drop is awesome or what (I don't even know what the heck a drop is), I just like it because I like listening to it. And frankly that one up there isn't one of my favorites. The first dubstep song I actually liked is this, and I didn't even know it was dubstep until I looked it up. I'm not a genre person. I just like songs because I like them.

And yeah, I knew about that song because it was free on Tap Tap Revenge. Yes.

When I found out it was dubstep, I told my boyfriend about it, and he shared this with me:

I liked it at first because it was kind of goofy, then someone screamed about calling 911 and I thought it was creepy. And then I stumbled across this:

Yep. Another Skrillex song. Hey, YouTube puts related videos where you can spot them easily. And this one, I liked a lot. Soon enough I had it on my phone, and this morning while waiting for the ferry ride home I was happily listening to it, when a man sitting behind me started shaking his legs and stuff, and it was making the bench I was sitting on vibrate. I thought it was funny, but it was a nuisance too. First of all it was a nuisance, then I got so pissed off that I told my boyfriend that the guy behind me was masturbating to the Skrillex track I was listening to, which I find funny.

And as much as people love dubstep for the bass, I still liked it even without too much bass. I was using earphones, obviously I can't have too much bass or it'll rip my eardrums apart.

Oh and, I finally got over a million on TTR. Ha! :D

What should I talk about? - Music.

2011-09-22T19:24:00.000+08:00

My boyfriend likes to show me videos I might never come across if not for him. I got to know about dubstep from him, and he also showed me videos of live concerts from this band, and now he showed me a video of a guy doing something I don't really understand. He has something against pop music, like, he really can't stand it. Apparently when he was in grade school and they were made to write the lyrics of this song they really like, he didn't know what he was supposed to write because his favorite music was composed by Beethoven. And as much as he ridicules my love for some of the pop songs out there, I appreciate the fact that his taste in music is practically polar opposites with my taste in music. The only kinds of music we can agree on are classical and Queen. And some of electronica.

(Yes, Queen is its own genre.)

Here are some of the videos he shared with me. Enjoy!

You're smiling because you have a pretty parka

2011-09-21T16:42:00.001+08:00

I'm posting it here because Burberry Prorsum SS12 is all over my Tumblr dashboard, and that really is a pretty parka, and Fei Fei Sun is smiling.

I really like what Burberry has to show this season. I mean, look at those shoes! And the skirts! And the parka! And the hats! And the colors! Well honestly it's quite easy to please me. I always tell the people around me that I only actually speak out if I either dislike or really like something. I always find a way to disprove myself, but there really aren't a lot of things I don't like.

And isn't that Anja Rubik next to her? Didn't she get married? Honestly, I love hearing about people get married. I think it's absolutely adorable. Yes, I'm gushing now.

Of course, no post is complete without a song, so here's Queen and David Bowie.

The college queen has been overthrown

2011-09-21T09:39:00.000+08:00

Back when I was in high school, we had a very strict rule where if the teacher doesn't show up fifteen minutes after classes are about to start, the class is suspended. My senior year Economics teacher even tweaked it so if he's late, there's no class and we all get a perfect score in a 30-item quiz. He says it's punishment on his part because he's late or something and we all deserve credit for being in class on time when he's late.

Now that I'm in college it's changed a bit. Instead of fifteen minutes, we're supposed to wait for thirty minutes. Classes in high school were just fifty minutes long though; classes in college are at least one and a half hours long. Another difference is, no one really bothers to stick by that rule. We're always expected to wait for the teacher until the time allotted for the class is up, and even when you're like "there isn't supposed to be a class, it's been thirty minutes and the teacher's still not here," there's always someone who's going to stay behind and pretend there's no such rule, probably hoping the teacher is going to give them extra points for staying. Which, forgive me for lack of a better word, sucks.

For one, it's a clearly stipulated rule that if the teacher's not in class thirty minutes in, there's no class, even if he still wants to show up. Two, it's very unprofessional for college teachers to be late. I suppose high school teachers being late is at least a little more acceptable, but if college teachers are late then that's just inappropriate. Hey, that rhymes. Anyway.

Actually I'm saying this because I just got home from my nonexistent Physics class. We have this person in class assigned to disseminate information, but she's not doing her job, so her assistant does the job and this morning she didn't do it either. So we sat in the classroom for like half an hour.

Anyway here's Ellie Goulding's Lights (Bassnectar Remix) so we can all cheer up. :)

No, this one is the first post.

2011-09-20T15:30:00.000+08:00

Yes, I've never been gifted with making titles. Hey, there's a separate competition for title-making. I'm just the one who fills up the space under the titles.

Right now my boyfriend is sharing with me music by this guy named Igorrr. He's French. Yep. The only other French musicians I know are Daft Punk and Phoenix, and they're not even in the same genre, so I don't really think I'm entitled to talk about how French people are gods of music and all. But I'm not sure if I've heard a French song I don't like, French song being a song by a French person. Maybe that song Serge Gainsbourg did where the music video has him on a mattress singing with his daughter. Not that it was terrible, I just found it weird.

Anyway here's a few of Igorrr's music. Enjoy!

I made this blog and then forgot about it.

2011-09-20T15:00:00.000+08:00

Then I realized I had a blog and thought, well, that's funny.

I've started a lot of blogs but I always end up starting over again. I don't really understand why. I actually made this to chronicle my college life, since I came from this high school where everyone's a nerd and now I'm forced to fit in with people who don't find my corny jokes funny. Not that it's a terribly hard thing to do, but I got culture shock when I realized they didn't find my jokes funny. Oh well.

I'm starting all over again. I'm trying a lot of things right now. Maybe this is what this blog is for.

Here goes!