feeling jet-setter kuno

the past couple of months have felt like a never-ending flurry of activity that i really haven’t been able to sit back and relax much less find time to sit down and write. i did promise earlier this year to write more often so here’s some pathetic attempt of an update of what i’ve been up to…

Boracay, 02.17-02.21

a bunch of my former teammates from the jogadores and i flew to boracay to witness the wedding of one of ours, taty, to the love of her life marcus.

pic by redsheepphotography

the wedding was beautiful, truly beautiful. the couple wrote their own vows and taty’s vows left some of us wiping tears from our eyes.

one of the highlights of the wedding for me was the bouquet toss. well, no one really does the actual bouquet toss anymore since we don’t really want to catch it anyway. this wedding, the bouquet toss was an improvised game of musical chairs with mr. garter sitting on one chair. when the music would stop, the first girl to sit on him would be eliminated. i was the slowest (although i still think the game was rigged) and ended up being ms. bouquet. during the couples pic, we were being teased to kiss too and after saying no the first time i figured there was no harm and did it. jencarps said i pretty much surprised everyone after doing that. haha!

this weekend confirmed a few things:

1. benta talaga ako sa mga puti. the groom described me as having the face of a filipina but the body of a european woman. o diba? 😛
2. i want a beach wedding. it’s so chill and laidback and nothing beats a party on the beach.
3. i’ve learned to be comfortable in my own skin enough to hang out with a really hot guy alone and not feel intimidated or shy, ergo…
4. i’ve become a flirt. *sigh*
5. boracay is always a good idea.

Singapore, 02/28-03/12

the day after i got back from boracay, my boss informed me that the singapore office wanted me to fly out the next week. it was a miracle that i was able to file everything i needed to file in time. my first week there was very quiet since i got a bad case of colds shortly after arriving.

i more than made up for this on my second week. i started hanging out with a french friend i met from late 2008 and his friends. it’s really funny how i keep ending up hanging out with the french crowd when i couldn’t even speak the language. they were really nice and accommodating albeit always speaking in their native language when they were all together.

here’s what i ended up cramming in my last 7 days there:

• relaxing at the singapore botanic gardens
• shisha’s at haji lane
• mint tea at arab street
• indian food at little india
• drinking beers at the clarke quay bridge, chijmes and even my hotel room patio –> hoegaarden is ♥!
• cycling at palau ubin and some chili crab after
• laughing to some really good stand-up comedians at a comedy bar
• window shopping at bugis street, arab street, haji lane and orchard road
• eating lots of ice cream. ice cream stands were practically around every corner
• watching alice in wonderland in 3D

i was actually sad that i had turned down the opportunity to stay there for another 2 weeks. hopefully i get assigned there again this coming june or july.

Boracay, 03/13-03/16

i had approximately 4 hours since arriving from singapore to pack my stuff before returning to the airport again for another boracay trip. this time i was flying there to watch the annual beach ultimate tournament. i decided not to play this year because i really hate running in the sand. i didn’t realize how exhausted i was from my singapore trip until i got to boracay. nina was down with a cold and had to work so the two of us were barely visible the entire weekend. it was pathetic. oh well, when your body crashes on you there’s nothing you can do but give in to it and enjoy the sleep. haha!

since my return from boracay i’ve gone to a bunch of parties, watched Cecile Licad perform Chopin’s preludes and worked a lot. this long weekend was supposed to be spent cooped up inside my house for some much needed rest and “me” time. well, at least, that was the plan. i ended up spending thursday, friday and sunday with nina with only saturday completely to myself. somehow that 4-day long weekend did not feel enough for me to recharge yet but i’ll take what i can get.

coming soon…

• yug & rose’s modern filipiniana wedding
• musical theater classes for the months of april and may with a dreaded recital after
• a family trip to kuala lumpur
• still unplanned trips to palawan and perhaps some other local destinations

here’s to living life to it’s fullest right? 😉

hello again =)

yes, i’m alive. i know… i know… i’ve ignored this blog for too long already and it isn’t because nothing interesting has been happening to me lately. i guess i’ve been too preoccupied with tumblr and facebook. truth is, i haven’t felt like writing in the past couple of months. i’d start an entry then have no time or inclination to finish it through.

i’ll try to run through the stuff that’s happened to me since i last posted.

A Close Encounter with Ondoy

i actually have a half-finished entry on what happened to me and my sister that fateful day but i never got to finish it. so here’s my sister’s account and some pictures for those who really want to know what we experienced. for those still wondering… yes, i did save my lingerie collection. it was one of the first and few things i ended up saving from my room. 😛 surprisingly (or maybe unsurprisingly), that’s the question most of my friends have asked me post-ondoy. well, at least i can say my friends know me well.

when events like this happen, you get to ponder on a lot of stuff. i realized how lucky ayn and i were that we just lot material stuff and neither of us got hurt. it was a miracle that the water level stopped just three steps shy of the second floor, or else we would’ve had to move to the roof.

my mom was here on and off since then since repairs had to be made to the house, and each sunday she’d bring us to church. i remember that first sunday, sitting in the pew, watching a video montage on the havoc that ondoy wreaked in metro manila, struggling to fight back tears as images of loss and destruction filled the screen. so many people lost so much… valuables, houses, loved ones. a part of me felt the pull again, the same pull i felt when i requested to be baptized. it’s like God was saying… come back to me child. but once again, i’ve brushed it aside. perhaps someday i’ll be ready to embrace my christianity again but right now i won’t be able to fully commit to it yet.

Meet Lexi

i’ve finally gone digital. do i hear sighs of relief from some of you there? haha! well, i’d already bought a D40 kit when i was in the US but it didn’t arrive it time. since the kit is more expensive here, i reconsidered and decided to get a Lumix LX3 instead but then there wasn’t any stock available anymore. so i had to wait months and months before i finally got my hands on this baby. and i am loving it oh so much! don’t worry, this doesn’t mean i’ll be ignoring my film cameras (any more than i have been lately. haha!). i love shooting film too and don’t plan to stop any time soon. 😉

The Sweet Escape

aaaahhhhh boracay…. the fine white sand, clear blue water, relaxing atmosphere and hot guys (huh? who said that? hahaha!) before you think, wow ang payat naman ni tisha sa pic na yan, hindi ako yan ok!?! date and i decided to join mela (girl in the picture with nina) for an impromptu trip to boracay for halloween. it was very last minute since we booked our tickets a couple of weeks before the actual trip. and it was just perfect! it was a great weekend… we partied all night, slept till noon, watched a few games of ultimate, sunbathed, drank mojitos during sunset, dressed up for halloween, flirted with cute guys, met some cool new people, laughed a lot, swam in the cool water, walked along the shore… *sigh* i really wish i lived by the beach.

Thrilla in Manila

i haven’t been training lately. i’ve been too busy with work and fixing the house. but i still decided that i wouldn’t miss Manila Spirits so i joined the party team, Breakfast Club. i finally got to wear a pink jersey!!! yey! it went perfectly with my black&pink cleats, pink socks, pink sports bra and pink bikini bottom. even my skirt had a touch of pink. matching kung matching, diba?! 😛

we didn’t win a lot of games (understatement of the weekend!) but it was still a whole lot of fun. the sun was unforgiving on sunday though, the reason for which i was sick the entire week after. i realized i miss ultimate so much. i should make more time to train again. 🙂

~

so there you go… that’s what i’ve been up to while i’ve been MIA. there still are quite a few stuff lined up the next couple of months. christmas is fast approaching and so are the parties! i promise to write more often though. 🙂

and now back to my regular programming

so, i’m back from the US. i arrived home on the 4th of may but had to stay home for a couple of days to nurse a bad cold (which wasn’t the swine flu!!!). my internal body clock was a bit cuckoo for the first week. i kept waking up at 5am despite sleeping at the latest 1am. this means, i started showing up at work at 830am which i haven’t done in quite a while. the rest of my first week back was pretty eventless since i had to be home early because my mom was still here. yep, i’m a good girl when my mom’s here. ;P

summer league

i showed up for the 3rd week of summer league (my first week) really scared and anxious. you would be too if you’ve been MIA from training for a month. to say that i am out of shape is an understatement! my heart was beating so fast that i even held off on drinking my extra joss till the 3rd game of the day. it didn’t help that i’m playing with T1 again for this league which means running after faster girls. our first game was against sexual chocolate which we won by a universal point. yeah, it was a real nail-biting experience since i was in that last point praying that the girl i was marking would not sprint to their endzone on a turnover. i was slow and i seemed to have forgotten some of the basics like faking and pivoting properly. oops! in our 2nd game, we were down to 4 girls in our lineup but at least that game ended quickly and without any mishaps. as is usual, i don’t eat between games because it’s hard to run on a full or semi-full stomach. by our 3rd game, i was pooped! i could barely run anymore and i felt like i’d blackout in any second. the weather didn’t help because it was hot as hell! we survived that too though, playing 5-2 on offense when necessary. needless to say, when i woke up on monday morning i felt sore all over. i really have to build my endurance back up again and brush up on my field fundamentals. i’m glad to be back playing though. i love ultimate! 😉

oh really now?

it’s quite a suprise that the comments i’ve gotten since i’ve been back is that i’ve lost weight. one girl even told me, “aren’t you supposed to gain weight when you go to the US?” apparently, it was the opposite for me. honestly, i feel like i’ve gained weight given all of the junk we ate over there but who am i to reject such ego-boosting compliments. haha!

epic FAIL!

most of you know that i was planning to buy a DSLR kit in the US. i actually did buy a Nikon D40 with 18-55mm and 55-200mm VR lens kit BUT it didn’t arrive in time. *sigh* it wasn’t my fault though. i ordered it on time, paid for it on time, confirmed the shipping address on time BUT they didn’t ship it on time. the reason i really wanted to buy the camera there was that the 2 lens kit was such a steal. now, i’m back to debating whether i really want a DSLR or whether a really good point & shoot will do in the meantime. you see, the 2 lens kit for the Nikon D40 is not available here. i’ll have to buy the Nikon D40 kit and add an extra minimum Php10K for the 55-200mm lens. not to mention, i want to buy a Lensbaby composer too, which is another Php13K! gastos noh? i was thinking that maybe i really do not need all of that equipment since i really just enjoy the lomography way of shooting. so now i’m seriously considering just getting a Panasonic Lumix LX3. i’m still waiting for the money i paid for the Nikon D40 to be credited back to my account before i’ll be able to buy anything though so i’m taking my sweet time in deciding again. any suggestions?

speaking of lomography

the newest addition to my film camera collection, a russian cyrillic Lomo LC-A, got fixed just in time for my trip to the US so i got to take lots of pictures with it. it is ♥♥♥♥♥!!!

however, my favorite lomo pic from my trip was taken using my holga 120gn…

this was taken in the santa cruz beach where we stopped by before watching vienna teng perform. i wanted a picture of the seagulls flying so i kept approaching them and saying, “fly! fly!” i was able to take i think 3 shots in one frame before realizing that i was using ISO 200 film and that i might overexpose it. i love the finished product! the fun thing about lomography and film photography is that sometimes you never know how a pic will turn out until you have it developed. there are no second, third of fourth takes. just that one!

there can be only one…

AMERICAN IDOL!

my top two prediction has come true and we’ll be having an Adam-Kris showdown next week. i secretly wanted an Adam-Allison showdown because that girl can sing! but well, she didn’t have a big enough fanbase. i really think Adam will win. he is truly blessed with amazing vocals. Kris is good too and he’s not as flambuoyant as Adam is sometimes. i love his cover of Kanye West’s Heartless. galing! anyway, i’m sure everyone will be in front of their tv’s next week as this is sure to be one exciting final.

labandera na naman

we still don’t have a helper so i’ve officially resumed my lifelong dream to be a maid once again. i already did a batch of laundry last night which i’ll probably be ironing come saturday. oh well, life’s like that! i’m glad to be back though! the Philippines may be a third world country but it is my home and well, there’s no place like home, right? 😉

a quick trip to paradise

after getting tagged in more than a hundred photos on facebook, i’ve decided it’s about time i wrote about my latest boracay escapade. as my close friends know, i’ve come home from boracay with some really memorable stories. for those expecting something juicy, sad to say but i was sort of tame this time. 😛 hahaha!

chillax friday

we arrived at the beautiful white sandy shores of boracay early friday morning, had breakfast at real coffee and immediately started working on our tans. (wag na kayo humirit na hindi ko na kailangan ng tan, alam ko na yun. sinamahan ko lang si joy and nina.) we decided to have a seafood lunch at the talipapa where we pigged out big time! we spent the afternoon sunbathing, swimming, watching the pickup in front of hey jude, drinking beers and camwhoring. this would be the pattern for the rest of the weekend.

the registration party was a bit boring, like it normally is, so nina, gb, joy and i hung out at hey jude instead where we met a really hot bartender. after two rounds of drinks we joined some friends at the registration party where we had a couple more beers. nina and joy decided to call it a night but gb and i joined some more ultimate people at a party in summer place. we turned in at 2am, i think. not a good idea considering we had games the next day.

“ay, may tournament nga pala” saturday

yeah, so i really don’t join the boracay open for the games. i already know i’m a klutz when it comes to running in the sand. this time around i wasn’t as bad as i thought i would be. it helped that we were 8 girls in our roster and points were sometimes short and definitely far between. after our games we headed over to jonas for some refreshing shakes. we hung out by the beach drinking beers, and singing and dancing to songs by boy bands, christina aguilera and britney spears.

some highlights from the saturday night party:

• photo ops with marc nelson. hot-ness!!!
• marc nelson giving his number to one of my friends. panalo talaga!
• nina joining the beer drinking contest but pouring probably half of her drink on the sand even before drinking it. daya!
• some really weird dancing and making out happening onstage.
• the shot attack. in fairness, masarap siya!
• finding roxy’s phone vibrating in the sand only to have it stolen later on in the evening
• post-party isaw-an. yum yum!

party sunday!!!

another game day under the heat of the boracay sun! it was pretty hard to be playing while dehydrated from a night of drinking. thankfully, the day passed by pretty quickly and by 3pm we were camped out by one endzone, drinking our beers and watching the finals between the Boracay Lovers, a team from the US, and the Boracay Dragons. it truly is a spectacle to watch the Boracay Dragons play. for the sixth time in a raw, the Boracay Dragons win the boracay open championship proving once again that they are unbeatable in their home turf.

my flight back to manila was at 630am so i already knew that i would be partying all night long. i’m really proud that i didn’t get wasted although i did reach my happy place. i don’t remember some of the pictures anymore. what’s new?! hahaha. nothing really crazy happened on sunday night just a lot of drinking and camwhoring.

at about 3am, we headed to jammers for some food. by this time i was really sleepy so i ordered a cheeseburger and promptly fell asleep at the table. i woke up to eat my burger but then fell right back to sleep immediately after eating it. hahaha! by 4am, we headed back to our rooms to take showers and pack and by 530am we were on the boat that would take us away from the island. i slept most of the way back to manila and my office and felt terrible at work. well, i was sleepy and a bit hung-over so by 3pm i excused myself and headed home.

i brought along a bunch of my cameras and film but was too lazy to take pictures much to my regret. argh! here is a collection of some of my favorite photos…

boracay is always a fun experience especially when you’re with a bunch (and i mean, a big big bunch) of your friends. this trip will be a very memorable one, mostly because of tons of pictures we took on the trip. i wish i could’ve stayed longer but most of my leaves are reserved for my US trip which i’m leaving for next week. yey! so hopefully, i’d have more “interesting” stories to tell from that.

*** pics stolen from joel, claire and joy.

je t’adore, yashica!

i just got the film pictures from our singapore trip and i have to say i’m in love with my yashica. ♥♥♥

see the rest of the set here.