new hair!!!

new hair
Originally uploaded by wanderlust_junkie.

new year, new look, part deux.

now people can't mistake me for anything else BUT asian.

LOL.

State of the Nation

Misinfomation, views and more opinions are racking the country as the nation struggles amid this SOE.

I wonder what will happen tomorrow. This is getting too much of a headache --- too many people trying to change so many things, each with his own agenda, believing that his idea is better than the others.

I wish i can be apathetic, but i can't. I wish i can easily choose sides like the people on thes treets, but i can't. What i believe in before is now questioned --- too much misinformation, too many emotions running on high --- it's almost impossible to point out who's right and who's wrong. Too many figures utilizing the confusion, using EDSA, using this hullabaloo for their own purposes. Just what is it do you want?

Change is inevitable, yes. But what makes you think your change is the better solution?

We are here to develop our country, not tear it apart.

a not so distant memory

malaysia
Originally uploaded by wanderlust_junkie.

i wanna go back!!! Wanderlusting strikes again...


*SIGH*

signs of the times.

State of emergency thoughts, more of this through Psychicpant's links.

Oh, dear. We seem to have the penchant to be on the news... in a bad way. i hope to GOD this madness stops soon....

blink

Sit down and have a cup of tea. Yes, i know, it's not fancy or anything, but it will keep you warm. Don't you remember? You don't drink that much coffee. You said you preferred tea. Come to think of it, every time we went out for coffee you never ordered the damn thing.

+ + +

Silence is comforting, don't you think? i had my cup of coffee today, amid the bustle of ortigas. I lost myself in the flurry of the hotel lobby of the Shangri-La, momentarily getting away from Manila's reality. Yes, for a while it felt like Kotah again. Ahhh..again with the wandering thoughts, you would chide me if you were there!

+ + +

Walking around is too much, especially in this heat. i wonder how people do this all the time, not that i am against it or anything. In a more bearable weather i may be able to, but not in this humidity. It sticks to you like a wet blanket, icky and moist and dreadfully uncomfortable.

+ + +

nognog

I am finally back and i have the tan to prove it. LOL.

Too tired to post pics, too damn lazy to write anything but

I HAD DAMN GOOD FUN. :-)

later.

la familia on Vday 06

la_familia on Vday 06
Originally uploaded by wanderlust_junkie.

celebrating Vday with family! :-) here's a not-so formal pic of us at dinner :-)

happy hearts day!

JP_n_me2

JP_n_me2
Originally uploaded by wanderlust_junkie.

my lil' bro, soon to be a college student ---proud sis ba?? hehehehe

big_bro_n_me2

big_bro_n_me2
Originally uploaded by wanderlust_junkie.

my brother, often mistaken as " the boyfriend" --- LOL!!!

halo halo spatial!

FINAL INVITATIONS [Converted]
Originally uploaded by wanderlust_junkie.

cousins and coffee

thirdy_n_me
Originally uploaded by wanderlust_junkie.

Introducing my caffeine partner in crime and fellow insomniac, cousin Thirdy! Got to chill with him tonight (he's off duty from the hospital) and share a cup of joe before going back to the bedlam that is work (and school...) yey!

wanderlusting again!!!

oh, the anticipation... in a few days i will be trippin' again and hoppin' to check out wonderful Malaysia! :-D cheers.... hmmm. already i am restlessly packing and unpacking, wondering how the HELL i'm going to survive the immediate environment change and yes, wondering if i have starved myself enough to do justice to my suit. Hahaha. fat chance of THAT happening, but all the same, i am psyched, looking forward to four days of sun, funa nd yes, wanderlusting :-D

Il Ponticello events

OVERTONE
Originally uploaded by wanderlust_junkie.

inevitable

Allow me to take this time and immerse myself into a mini-rant.

I hate the despite the fact that my freelancing is doing nicely, certain people still don't give a sh*t or at this point, still look down at it as "some hobby" i'll be getting out of and doing "real" stuff. Shet.

Some things just don't change. Geeez.

+ + +

i feel the need to de-stress. I scored 73. How did you do?

Paoie and Lette

heh
Originally uploaded by wanderlust_junkie.

taken at Donna's car's blessing celebration --- that's her bundle of joy, paoie, whose cute charm and hyperactive behavior was a sight to see. Ain't he a cutie?

sheep-ish

rocketing rabbit, that's me. How did you score?

+ + +

It's a start of a new week and i'm feeling sluggish. Maybe it's the lack of excitement in my life. Maybe it's the lack of rice in my diet. Whatever it is, it's giving me no energy. *sigh*

I need a life.

+ + +

memoirs of a geisha

store check

store_check
Originally uploaded by wanderlust_junkie.

Finally got my first project for the year out. yey!

breakpoint

Oh geez.

A fake bomb threat crushes a throng of people, yet despite the tragedy and cancellation, we hear thousands shouting thatthe show must go on.

Watchingthe tube earlier on Willie's teary apology and hearing all those people urging that the show be pushed through, a thought crossed my mind: incredulity. This is a wake up call on me that yes we are lviing in desperate times --- that amidst the sorrowful tragedy we hear the cry for sheer desperation to win. Yes, money, i can hear you loud and clear.

Good Omen?

(and on a friday too..)

The Bottom Line

Someone's generosity may seem suspicious, but they are not out to gain anything.

In Detail

The powers that be have tossed quite the dilemma your way. The good news is it involves someone you miss -- someone you've been missing dreadfully for a good, long time. Once you bump into them or hear their voice on the phone, force yourself to calm down. Content yourself with just working like crazy around your home. You know how you are when you're mulling things over, and keeping busy with mindless tasks is the best way to make your decision.

+ + +

coffee gals

donna_n_zsa
Originally uploaded by wanderlust_junkie.

my caffeine buddies!

memory lane

February na naman!?!!!

WTF!??!!!

ang bilis ng panahon...
so many things happened.
so many faces changed.
so many memories stored.

i wonder how this uber commercialized holiday is going to affect people's reason.

hahaha.

let the love hate begin...

playing turista

So i decided not to go to Cebu. As early as 3am this morning, my mom and i decided that A) my being there was not productive since i will be wandering the streets like a nomad while she does her thing, and B)i just didn't want the experience of being there without anything to do or anybody to hang with. Hmmm.

So i decided to do some "turista" thing on my own here in Iloilo. As early as 9am i left the house, doing my errands/roundup. The thing about Iloilo is, there's a particular street foreverything. Iznart street, for example, is what i call the "financial district", with all sorts of banks just siding up to each other. There are, FYI, two BPI banks just facing each other from each side. After scouring through the streets of downtown looking for the elusive BPI Family Bank (damn, all those banks and none of them are Family Savings!), i finally get to do some banking.

I decide to trace remnants of my childhood by going over some fave haunts. The Birdhouse, one of my favourite restaurants was still there, whoo-hoo! It holds special memories forme and my mom since after school we'd meet up there and eat some of their famous uber-thin crust pizzas and lovely desserts (choco mallows, yum!) Of course, there's the SEBA Bowling alley, just above it where my family would go bowling back in the day (duck pins, anyone?)--it featured soem very interesting lanes as well as honing you into doing the scores manually. I walked over to the Atrium, where i spent most of my high school days being a mallrat (it had the first McDonald's ---something of a wonder when it finallyopened,and i wasin high school already! I tell ya, the probinsyana in me was so happy when good ole' Mickey D's finally said hello to Iloilo.)

The heat is just atrocious outside, hence my turista trip endshere for now. Maybe later i will venture to see the lovely artworks in Museo Iloilo. Hmmmm....

fast track to Cebu

So my mom drops the bomb earlier:

"we're going to Cebu tomorrow".

Uh, ok....

this being my response after telling me, of course. My mind is racing. I'm not really sure what to do when i get to Cebu, or if i should even go. But hey, paid vacatiion, lots of sightseeing (the euphoria will probably last until day 2)and a chance to get some pics :-) Cons? I don't know anybody there.

Hmmm...oh well. Maybe i'll just soak up the sun. weh.

Will update later on how the "trip" is going. hahaha.

Conan O'Brien speaks out!

Commencement Speech to the Havard Class of 2000
by Conan O'Brien

I'd like to thank the Class Marshals for inviting me here today. The last time I was invited to Harvard it cost me $110,000, so you'll forgive me if I'm a bit suspicious. I'd like to announce up front that I have one goal this afternoon: to be half as funny as tomorrow's Commencement Speaker, Moral Philosopher and Economist, Amartya Sen. Must get more laughs than seminal wage/price theoretician.

Students of the Harvard Class of 2000, fifteen years ago I sat where you sit now and I thought exactly what you are now thinking: What's going to happen to me? Will I find my place in the world? Am I really graduating a virgin? I still have 24 hours and my roommate's Mom is hot. I swear she was checking me out. Being here today is very special for me. I miss this place. I especially miss Harvard Square - it's so unique. No where else in the world will you find a man with a turban wearing a Red Sox jacket and working in a lesbian bookstore. Hey, I'm just glad my dad's working.

It's particularly sweet for me to be here today because when I graduated, I wanted very badly to be a Class Day Speaker. Unfortunately, my speech was rejected. So, if you'll indulge me, I'd like to read a portion of that speech from fifteen years ago:

"Fellow students, as we sit here today listening to that classic Ah-ha tune which will definitely stand the test of time, I would like to make several predictions about what the future will hold: I believe that one day a simple Governor from a small Southern state will rise to the highest office in the land. He will lack political skill, but will lead on the sheer strength of his moral authority. I believe that Justice will prevail and, one day, the Berlin Wall will crumble, uniting East and West Berlin forever under Communist rule. I believe that one day, a high speed network of interconnected computers will spring up world-wide, so enriching people that they will lose their interest in idle chit chat and pornography. And finally, I believe that one day I will have a television show on a major network, seen by millions of people a night, which I will use to re-enact crimes and help catch at-large criminals. And then there's some stuff about the death of Wall Street which I don't think we need to get into...."

The point is that, although you see me as a celebrity, a member of the cultural elite, a kind of demigod, I was actually a student here once much like you. I came here in the fall of 1981 and lived in Holworthy. I was, without exaggeration, the ugliest picture in the Freshman Face book. When Harvard asked me for a picture the previous summer, I thought it was just for their records, so I literally jogged in the August heat to a passport photo office and sat for a morgue photo. To make matters worse, when the Face Book came out they put my picture next to Catherine Oxenberg, a stunning blonde actress who was accepted to the class of '85 but decided to defer admission so she could join the cast of "Dynasty." My photo would have looked bad on any page, but next to Catherine Oxenberg, I looked like a mackerel that had been in a car accident. You see, in those days I was six feet four inches tall and I weighed 150 pounds. Recently, I had some structural engineers run those numbers into a computer model and, according to the computer, I collapsed in 1987, killing hundreds in Taiwan.

After freshman year I moved to Mather House. Mather House, incidentally, was designed by the same firm that built Hitler's bunker. In fact, if Hitler had conducted the war from Mather House, he'd have shot himself a year earlier. 1985 seems like a long time ago now. When I had my Class Day, you students would have been seven years old. Seven years old. Do you know what that means? Back then I could have beaten any of you in a fight. And I mean bad. It would be no contest. If any one here has a time machine, seriously, let's get it on, I will whip your seven year old butt. When I was here, they sold diapers at the Coop that said "Harvard Class of 2000." At the time, it was kind of a joke, but now I realize you wore those diapers. How embarrassing for you. A lot has happened in fifteen years. When you think about it, we come from completely different worlds. When I graduated, we watched movies starring Tom Cruise and listened to music by Madonna. I come from a time when we huddled around our TV sets and watched "The Cosby Show" on NBC, never imagining that there would one day be a show called "Cosby" on CBS. In 1985 we drove cars with driver's side airbags, but if you told us that one day there'd be passenger side airbags, we'd have burned you for witchcraft.


But of course, I think there is some common ground between us. I remember well the great uncertainty of this day. Many of you are justifiably nervous about leaving the safe, comfortable world of Harvard Yard and hurling yourself headlong into the cold, harsh world of Harvard Grad School, a plum job at your father's firm, or a year abroad with a gold Amex card and then a plum job in your father's firm. But let me assure you that the knowledge you've gained here at Harvard is a precious gift that will never leave you. Take it from me, your education is yours to keep forever. Why, many of you have read the Merchant of Florence, and that will inspire you when you travel to the island of Spain. Your knowledge of that problem they had with those people in Russia, or that guy in South America-you know, that guy-will enrich you for the rest of your life.

There is also sadness today, a feeling of loss that you're leaving Harvard forever. Well, let me assure you that you never really leave Harvard. The Harvard Fundraising Committee will be on your ass until the day you die. Right now, a member of the Alumni Association is at the Mt. Auburn Cemetery shaking down the corpse of Henry Adams. They heard he had a brass toe ring and they aims to get it. Imagine: These people just raised 2.5 billion dollars and they only got through the B's in the alumni directory. Here's how it works. Your phone rings, usually after a big meal when you're tired and most vulnerable. A voice asks you for money. Knowing they just raised 2.5 billion dollars you ask, "What do you need it for?" Then there's a long pause and the voice on the other end of the line says, "We don't need it, we just want it." It's chilling.


What else can you expect? Let me see, by your applause, who here wrote a thesis. (APPLAUSE) A lot of hard work, a lot of your blood went into that thesis... and no one is ever going to care. I wrote a thesis: Literary Progeria in the works of Flannery O'Connor and William Faulkner. Let's just say that, during my discussions with Pauly Shore, it doesn't come up much. For three years after graduation I kept my thesis in the glove compartment of my car so I could show it to a policeman in case I was pulled over. (ACT OUT) License, registration, cultural exploration of the Man Child in the Sound and the Fury...



So what can you expect out there in the real world? Let me tell you. As you leave these gates and re-enter society, one thing is certain: Everyone out there is going to hate you. Never tell anyone in a roadside diner that you went to Harvard. In most situations the correct response to where did you to school is, "School? Why, I never had much in the way of book larnin' and such." Then, get in your BMW and get the hell out of there.


You see, you're in for a lifetime of "And you went to Harvard?" Accidentally give the wrong amount of change in a transaction and it's, "And you went to Harvard?" Ask the guy at the hardware store how these jumper cables work and hear, "And you went to Harvard?" Forget just once that your underwear goes inside your pants and it's "and you went to Harvard." Get your head stuck in your niece's dollhouse because you wanted to see what it was like to be a giant and it's "Uncle Conan, you went to Harvard!?"


But to really know what's in store for you after Harvard, I have to tell you what happened to me after graduation. I'm going to tell you my story because, first of all, my perspective may give many of you hope, and, secondly, it's an amazing rush to stand in front of six thousand people and talk about yourself.

After graduating in May, I moved to Los Angeles and got a three week contract at a small cable show. I got a $380 a month apartment and bought a 1977 Isuzu Opel, a car Isuzu only manufactured for a year because they found out that, technically, it's not a car. Here's a quick tip, graduates: no four cylinder vehicle should have a racing stripe. I worked at that show for over a year, feeling pretty good about myself, when one day they told me they were letting me go. I was fired and, I hadn't saved a lot of money. I tried to get another job in television but I couldn't find one.


So, with nowhere else to turn, I went to a temp agency and filled out a questionnaire. I made damn sure they knew I had been to Harvard and that I expected the very best treatment. And so, the next day, I was sent to the Santa Monica branch of Wilson's House of Suede and Leather. When you have a Harvard degree and you're working at Wilson's House of Suede and Leather, you are haunted by the ghostly images of your classmates who chose Graduate School. You see their faces everywhere: in coffee cups, in fish tanks, and they're always laughing at you as you stack suede shirts no man, in good conscience, would ever wear. I tried a lot of things during this period: acting in corporate infomercials, serving drinks in a non-equity theatre, I even took a job entertaining at a seven year olds' birthday party. In desperate need of work, I put together some sketches and scored a job at the fledgling Fox Network as a writer and performer for a new show called "The Wilton North Report." I was finally on a network and really excited. The producer told me the show was going to revolutionize television. And, in a way, it did. The show was so hated and did so badly that when, four weeks later, news of its cancellation was announced to the Fox affiliates, they burst into applause.


Eventually, though, I got a huge break. I had submitted, along with my writing partner, a batch of sketches to Saturday Night Live and, after a year and a half, they read it and gave us a two week tryout. The two weeks turned into two seasons and I felt successful. Successful enough to write a TV pilot for an original sitcom and, when the network decided to make it, I left Saturday Night Live. This TV show was going to be groundbreaking. It was going to resurrect the career of TV's Batman, Adam West. It was going to be a comedy without a laugh track or a studio audience. It was going to change all the rules. And here's what happened: When the pilot aired it was the second lowest-rated television show of all time. It's tied with a test pattern they show in Nova Scotia.

So, I was 28 and, once again, I had no job. I had good writing credits in New York, but I was filled with disappointment and didn't know what to do next. I started smelling suede on my fingertips. And that's when The Simpsons saved me. I got a job there and started writing episodes about Springfield getting a Monorail and Homer going to College. I was finally putting my Harvard education to good use, writing dialogue for a man who's so stupid that in one episode he forgot to make his own heart beat. Life was good.


And then, an insane, inexplicable opportunity came my way . A chance to audition for host of the new Late Night Show. I took the opportunity seriously but, at the same time, I had the relaxed confidence of someone who knew he had no real shot. I couldn't fear losing a great job I had never had. And, I think that attitude made the difference. I'll never forget being in the Simpson's recording basement that morning when the phone rang. It was for me. My car was blocking a fire lane. But a week later I got another call: I got the job.


So, this was undeniably the it: the truly life-altering break I had always dreamed of. And, I went to work. I gathered all my funny friends and poured all my years of comedy experience into building that show over the summer, gathering the talent and figuring out the sensibility. We debuted on September 13, 1993 and I was happy with our effort. I felt like I had seized the moment and put my very best foot forward. And this is what the most respected and widely read television critic, Tom Shales, wrote in the Washington Post: "O'Brien is a living collage of annoying nervous habits. He giggles and titters, jiggles about and fiddles with his cuffs. He had dark, beady little eyes like a rabbit. He's one of the whitest white men ever. O'Brien is a switch on the guest who won't leave: he's the host who should never have come. Let the Late show with Conan O'Brien become the late, Late Show and may the host return to Conan O'Blivion whence he came." There's more but it gets kind of mean.


Needless to say, I took a lot of criticism, some of it deserved, some of it excessive. And it hurt like you wouldn't believe. But I'm telling you all this for a reason. I've had a lot of success and I've had a lot of failure. I've looked good and I've looked bad. I've been praised and I've been criticized. But my mistakes have been necessary. Except for Wilson's House of Suede and Leather. That was just stupid.

I've dwelled on my failures today because, as graduates of Harvard, your biggest liability is your need to succeed. Your need to always find yourself on the sweet side of the bell curve. Because success is a lot like a bright, white tuxedo. You feel terrific when you get it, but then you're desperately afraid of getting it dirty, of spoiling it in any way.


I left the cocoon of Harvard, I left the cocoon of Saturday Night Live, I left the cocoon of The Simpsons. And each time it was bruising and tumultuous. And yet, every failure was freeing, and today I'm as nostalgic for the bad as I am for the good.


So, that's what I wish for all of you: the bad as well as the good. Fall down, make a mess, break something occasionally. And remember that the story is never over. If it's all right, I'd like to read a little something from just this year: "Somehow, Conan O'Brien has transformed himself into the brightest star in the Late Night firmament. His comedy is the gold standard and Conan himself is not only the quickest and most inventive wit of his generation, but quite possible the greatest host ever."


Ladies and Gentlemen, Class of 2000, I wrote that this morning, as proof that, when all else fails, there's always delusion.

I'll go now, to make bigger mistakes and to embarrass this fine institution even more. But let me leave you with one last thought: If you can laugh at yourself loud and hard every time you fall, people will think you're drunk.


Thank you.

anticipating....

Zsa zsa Zaturna lives!

+ + +

I have high hopes for February. Hmmm.... is this good?

pre-dagyang antics

dagyang
Originally uploaded by wanderlust_junkie.

I'm too partied out to write anything. :-P

magkapatid

magkapatid
Originally uploaded by wanderlust_junkie.

and they say we're a couple... LOL

happy thoughts

Good friends / reunions / late night calls (booty and otherwise) / BigSkyMind!!! / coffee and conversations / dinners with great company / late night walks / rainy talks and wine at 3am / movie watching / Makati trippin' / the search for the elusive hand bag! / dinner parties that end with jellos / catching up in the wee hours before my flight ...

It's so good to be visiting Manila.

+ + +

Ps. I love your emails. They were put me in a happy mood. Ciudate

Ink-a-links

Recently browsed over fellow inkies' sites. Wow, found this and i was so surprised! LOL!!! i miss INK! Jovan, pano ba magbayad ng membership fee, ha??


from SuperLuwi's files

trippin'

It's weird. I guess i've never been good at timing.

In a few hours i'll be heading to Manila for a few days. It's funny i was always thinking of heading back ASAP, but never for the reason i have now. Turns out i got to clear an AWOL status in my dear old alma mater (that's for skipping the LOA slip!argh) in order to get a TOR. Geez. All this red tape... I just hope all goes well. Not only that, i'm leaving in the middle of all these deadlines which, for some reason, cropped up at the end of the month. Hmmm...i guess life can throw some pretty oddball challenges one way or another. Then again, living this "dangerously" was always part of my routine. hahaha. (fact is, nothing i ever planned ever really went through the way i want it)

So it's going to be an eventful number of days, hopefully i can squeeze in a coffee date with the girls, some catch up with old friends, maybe a new connection or two and iron out some more details about upcoming projects :-P

Hmmm. man, i need to straighten out my plans before Feb comes in...

+ + +

I love receiving pictures in the (e)mail!!! happy <3 <3

+ + +

whoo-hooo!!!!

Having a Perfect time on the 10th round, Manny proves to everyone that anybody can be a winner. :-)

+ + +

Wow, after this giddiness, i dunno what to do next! :-P

+ + +

rematch

In a few hours, the Philippines' Manny "Pac-Man" Pacquaio will be hitting it off with Erik Morales, his opponent from last year's match. It's a re-match, one that is eagerly awaited by both Filipinos, Mexicans and die-hard boxing fans all over. It's gonna start at around 9PM US time, so since it's live, it's gonna be shown here around 10am. I remember the last time i saw Manny fight.

It was around the same time last year, and my then-boyfriend and i actually woke up early to see it. It was a sunday like this one (it's a saturday fight), and since he had no tv in his apartment, we scoured around Katipunan to find a tv that had cable so we can watch it. It was actually some surreal experience of sorts, given the fact that it was a) a sunday, and i woke up EARLY (hahahah), b) we were actually WALKING around a couple of blocks just trying to find a resto/bar that was open at 8am and had a tv with the sports channel on. We managed to secure ourselves a place in a grill bar which had terrible food but a big ass tv. Sadly, we found out that due to satellite problems, they were airing it a few hours LATER. :-P I remember thinking, i love Pacquaio and my country, but this is bull sh*t. I wanna go to sleep.

Thankfully, another friend who was also into boxing gave us the heads up to spend the afternoon at his place to watch the fight. We ended up not watching it, but hearing it on the radio, which had a faster access to the fight (Manny lost, sadly). At this point i was able to catch some zzz's and well, despite the loss, felt that the day accounted for something. The moral of this story? Well, nothing really, except, better make sure you have access to cable tv if you're planning to watch something that's as hard to watch as this.

So another year's passed and here i am again, awake at the crack of dawn and scanning the schedule to check out the fight. The boyfriend is gone, the cable tv's at my grasp, and yes, i am awake this early, so this rematch might be interesting...after all, it is Pacquaio.

craving for...

craving for...
Originally uploaded by wanderlust_junkie.

i want my vitamin water!!!!

faerie wishes

Originally uploaded by bunnie_lette.

relate (d)

Reading through my friends' blogs, i see this and i am, well, enlightened. haha. Perhaps there is a rainbow's end to this soul-searching.

+ + +

Finally done with part one of my project! whoo-hoo! :-) *dances for joy* NOw if only i can finish that darn paper... :-P

+ + +

pics,pics,pics!:-) *bunnie is happee*

2046

In 2046, they say that if you have a secret, you either dig a hole and whisper your secret to it so it will not be found out. Perhaps a hole in the wall will do too...whatever it is, it is your secret holder. it is your dream catcher.

+ + +

I used to have that, my secret holder. He'd give me a smile and just listen. He'd not say anything,just listen. I tell him my fears, my thoughts, my doubts, my happiness. Though he won't say anything, just having him hear me out made me feel a lot better. Just like that hole in the wall that kept all those secrets, never giving them away.
My dream catcher.

+ + +

Shout outs

Querido, your emails light up my day! :-)

+ + +

Happy birthday to Archie and Berg! Hope you guys have a good one... ;-)

+ + +

Philweavers' MBD is coming up this february. Are you going?

+ + +

Ooh-la-la!!!

Just can't get enough of House --- and i'm so ecstatic to find out they won a Golden Globe tonight! :-) yey!!!!

+ + +

I just don't know why i'm so perky tonight. Maybe it's the fact that for the first time since i got here, i was awake for the day --- went to the gym, had breakfast with my mom and brother, did my errands, went to the doctor and got to chill. Or maybe it's the lack of sleep i have in my system (40 hours and going...)

+ + +

For everything that's happened so far this year, i can't really say i've been much of a people person...so far, i can count the number of people i can safely say "i hang out with" on a semi-regular basis, and amazingly, these include family members. Ahhhgh. I dunno if this is the sign of the apocalypse or just plain seclusion. *sigh*

+ + +

Met some old classmates earlier. Wow, everybody seems to be joining the "diploma mill of nursing" bandwagon --- not that i'm saying that these are not capable of being excellent nurses, but seems like everybody i know is taking up that course just because it's the one that can earn a lot of money (and get you out of here). Sure i'm all for that, but what ever happened to doing what you love or do best??? *sigh* Maybe i'm just too much of an idealist after all.

deadline central

In barely two weeks i'm supposed to have lost 15lbs. I'm not even close to my goal :-P pfffft.

+ + +

My right hand is bruised from tennis. I blame it on bad grips and my incessant need to be better than my folks at this (i'm not). So now, i semi-painfully type my frustrations into this blog. Dammit, i can't even type my article properly! :-P

The good news though is that i have a ready excuse for being so poor at tennis. Hahaha.

+ + +

...and we'll all float on okay

Smile Like You Mean it
The Killers

Save some face
You know you've only got one
Change your ways
While you're young
Boy one day you'll be a man
Oh girl he'll help you understand

Smile like you mean it
Smile like you mean it

Looking back
At sunsets on the eastside
We lost track
Of the time
Dreams
Aren't what they used to be
Some things
Sat by so carelessly

Smile like you mean it
Smile like you mean it

And someone is calling my name
From the back of the restaurant
And some one is playing a game
In the house that I grew up in
And someone will drive her around
Down the same streets that I did
On the same streets that I did

Smile like you mean it
Smile like you mean it
Smile like you mean it
Smile like you mean it

Oh no
Oh no no no
Oh no
Oh no no no.

insomnia rants

I lay awake watching marathons of Nip/Tuck to keep me sane. Somehow, i am glued to medical dramas/comedies these days, although i swore to myself not to get attached to them --- i truly am a sucker for punishment, aren't i? :-P

It's amazing how life is really. One day you're all together, the next, you're just a statistic waiting to be plugged out. (WTF!???!) These ramblings are just evidence of how bizaare life is for me right now --- my sleep timetable is shot, i have no schedule or priorities whatsoever, and everything else is just passing me by. I'm facing the fact that pressure is getting to me (if not already in my system) and with it went my sanity. Lord, give me some sort of clue on what to do please...

*sigh*

Top ten things about Me

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Wanderlust junkie!

1. Michelangelo finished his great statue of wanderlust junkie in 1504, after eighteen months work.


2. Wanderlust junkie can jump up to sixteen times her own height.


3. Wanderlust junkie was named after Wanderlust junkie the taxi driver in Frank Capra's 'It's a Wonderful Life'.


4. If you lie on your back with your legs stretched it is impossible to sink in wanderlust junkie!


5. Cats use their wanderlust junkie to test whether a space is large enough for them to fit through!


6. Wanderlust junkie invented the wheel in the fourth millennium BC!


7. Wanderlust junkieology is the study of wanderlust junkie!


8. Marie Antoinette never said 'let them eat cake' - this is a mistranslation of 'let them eat wanderlust junkie'.


9. If every star in the Milky Way was a grain of salt they would fill wanderlust junkie!


10. Carnivorous animals will not eat another animal that has been hit by wanderlust junkie.

I am interested in - do tell me about
herhimitthem

The Angel and the Devil

angel and devil
Originally uploaded by bunnie_lette.

Taken last Halloween by my cousin. My first halloween and i get to wear my devil's hair! yay! My cousin Justin does a real good angel when he wants to.

who's older?

siblings
Originally uploaded by bunnie_lette.

"family portrait" --- LOL. Dammit, i should have drank more milk growing up! :-P

On the brighter side, i think being the only girl in the family gave me more benefits than my two brothers combined. Haha!

damn

Nothing wakes you up like a fight early in the morning. *sigh* I'm getting too old for this sh*t.

+ + +

Another email to light up my day! (Thanks i really needed that -- besos muneca!) It's strange how the wonderful world of the internet can bring you closer to a person without having to do anything but type a few words in. Ahh, technology...

+ + +

Sometimes i wonder if i should talk to you. *sigh*

lusting for...

ice_cream
Originally uploaded by bunnie_lette.

oooh, yummy.
happy friday the 13th everyone!

it's friday...

...once again! And yup, i'm up as always (so damn early if you ask me). Just finished some revisions on a project which looks promising (yehey!).

Last night (yeah, technically) had thursday night with the gals @ Al Dente. After dinner with the folks, had some fun chatting and catching up with the gals and finally got the whole thursday club started! Coffee galore, some good chow and getting to know our new german galpals Julie and Stephanie made the night pretty fun and exciting. Topped off the night having a drink or two at Shellsyd with Zsa, Anne, Donna and Jojo. Ahh, ce'st la vie...

+ + +

Happy bunnie strikes again! I'm lovin' the emails i'm getting so far. *sigh* Mababaw man, masaya naman. Like what Donna said, count your blessings. Having great friendships are truly a blessing, and making new ones are definitely nice too! :-)

This year is definitely looking bright ;-) Let's just hope this is just the beginning...

+ + +

Onga pala, Happy birthday Julius and Jomike!

it's thursday, baby!

Messages so sweet
Simple lines to tickle me
and make me smile
like crazy
It's thursday, baby!

+ + +

No tennis today. I think i hurt my arm playing an extra two hours yesterday. *sigh* i will regret the binge. Yes i am regretting it already.

+ + +

I remember the pancakes by the beach. Do you? We ate them for breakfast. Those little pancakes that they smeared strawberry jam on and placed cut little bananas so we'd roll them up and eat them. Yummy.

Banana Pancakes. Hmmm.

+ + +

midweek blahs

Sometimes you just wonder if everything in life is pre-destined.

+ + +

A friend of mine is going to North Carolina for a few weeks come the weekend. It's all expenses paid and work-related, but he gets to visit Washington D.C. for a few days. Lucky Bastard. Then again, he did promise to buy me my supply of beauty stuff (yey!).

+ + +

Horoscope: There's temptation to fall back on an old habit. Remember, you stopped for a reason!

Oh joy.

+ + +

I drown my blahs by reading psychicpants' interesting translations of my fave Eheads songs. Idol ko talaga! :-)

+ + +

Dinagyang is coming up sooner than i expected. Hmmm. I do hope things will be jumpin' a bit.

Plus, Feb is so close!!! Malaysia, here i come!!! :-D

+ + +

fun (in more ways than one)

Be curious. Like, i wonder how buko pandan flavored toothpaste would taste like.

+ + +

Explore your creative side. Make a comic strip.

+ + +

Be discerning with calls. It's weird fielding interesting offers in the middle of the night...coffee dates, chickas, booty calls (WTF!?) and transatlantic text messages.

+ + +

Write. Like that essay i STILL have to finish....

Sunday

The late night milkshake+espresso drink kept me up till the wee hours of the morning (I swear, even if the latte tastes that sweet and milky, i will NOT repeat the experience --- well, perhaps in an earlier time, not say, 11pm). My cousin provided good company depsite weird calls from the pasts (his problem) and bizaare text messages (mine). Ahh, Saturday night into the early light....

+ + +

Lunch at Breakthrough. The fact that i woke up before 11am is a call for celebration. The family and i (plus cuzin Thirdy) head to lunch by the sea. Ahh, the smell of food in the morning! Haven't had that in a while... it was all good fun though.

+ + +

Tennis at 5 made me realize that you have GOT to have a "power song" to keep you focused. Slammed the ball to the tune of The Killers in my head. Ahh, nice. My forehadn was nice (said the coach) but i gotta work on my backhand. *sigh* oh well. Can't win them all. After all, it's the first day of rally. :-P

+ + +

Post dinner coffee with the bro and cuz at the usual --- Starmart Molo! The only place where late night coffee is not frowned at and you don't rush the caffeine intake. Thank God for small miracles! We chat about zombie plots, weird phone calls and text messages and music (In my head the Killers still reign supreme). A good thing to top off the night.

Now if i can only get started on that other essay, i'll be off to a good start of the coming week! Hmmm......

kapal

feeling philanthropist ba?
ano akala mo sa sarili mo,
God's gift to women?!!
such arrogance to say
that you are "helping"
my plight
If you want it just say so
why the pretense of being helpful?
yours is not the first offer
i've heard
plain and simple

late night galtalk

messages of lost loves
missed encounters
sexual escapades
themind is reeling with opportunity
lost and found
what is it about saturday
that makes you talk like this
with friends?
it's liberating
to speak out
free your mind
be not repressed
by such conventions
no inebriation to make
as an excuse
just the honest opinion
that comes out
secured by the trust
that you don't breach

all hail gal talk

LSS on a saturday night

Mr. Brightside
The Killers

Coming out of my cage
And I've been doing just fine
Gotta gotta be down
Because I want it all

It started out with a kiss
How did it end up like this?
It was only a kiss
It was only a kiss

Now I'm falling asleep
And she's calling a cab
While he's having a smoke
And she's taking a drag

Now they're going to bed
And my stomach is sick
And its all in my head
But she's touching his chest now

He takes off her dress now
Let me go
And I just can't look its killing me
And taking control

Jealousy turning saints into the sea
Swimming through sick lullabye
Choking on your alibis
But its just the price I pay
Destiny is calling me
Open up my eager eyes
'Cos I'm Mr Brightside

(Twice, then...)

I never
I never
I never
I never

+ + +

Somebody Told Me
The Killers

Breaking my back just to know your name
Seventeen tracks and I've had it with this game
I'm breaking my back just to know your name
But heaven aint close in a place like this
Anything goes but don't blink you might miss

'Cos heaven aint close in a place like this
I said heaven aint close in a place like this
Bring it back down bring it back down tonight
Never thought I'd let a rumour ruin my moonlight

But somebody told me you had a boyfriend who looked like a girlfriend
That I had in february of last year
Its not confidential
I've got potential

Ready lets roll onto something new
Taking its toll that I'm leaving without you
'Cos heaven aint close in a place like this
I said heaven aint close in a place like this
Bring it back down bring it back down tonight
Never thought I'd let a rumour ruin my moonlight

Well somebody told me you had a boyfriend who looked like a girlfriend
that I had in february of last year
Its not confidential
I've got potential
A rushin a rushin around

Pace yourself from me (from me)
I said maybe baby please (please)
But I just don't know now (maybe baby)
When all I wanna do is try

But somebody told me you had a boyfriend who looked like a girlfriend
that I had in february of last year
Its not confidential
I've got potential
A rushin a rushin around

But somebody told me you had a boyfriend who looked like a girlfriend
that I had in february of last year
Its not confidential
I've got potential
A rushin a rushin around

Somebody told me you had a boyfriend who looked like a girlfriend
that I had in february of last year
Its not confidential
I've got potential
A rushin a rushin around.

and they say 2006 isn't all that...

For those born in the year of Monkey
I will place this year at 8 on a scale of 1-10 and this year hold a promise of prosperity and happiness. Your social life will be active and you will develop new relationships and contacts. April, August and December will be the high points in this year. You may monkey with the tiger and this may bring a new challenge in your life. (www.hindustantimes.com)

+ + +

mysterious

snatch letters
whisper secrets
share a smile or two
you tell me sweet nothings
that make me smile and blush
besos muneca

shared stories
cameos on webcams
you are carinoso
yet speak of romance like it was nil
cynical, you and i

tell me carino
why do you utter
these words
to make me melt?
you are too young to
settle down
i am too cynical
to believe you

though your words
give me comfort
and your empty promises
make me smile
all the same
we continue to dance

night owl thoughts

I see you. Invisible to the world but not to me.

+ + +

The night is my escape into what i used to be. Here i can rant, and write and search and create. In this hour i can be myself. I have become once again the creature of the night.

I wonder if people in the 19th century had problems with insomnia.How did they deal with it without all that technology? Hmmm.

+ + +

I'm reminded of the movie CLOSER. God. I hate that movie for the sole reason that it made me feel emotions i do not want to feel again.

+ + +

pakay

Hindi ako kumuha ng medicine kasi ayoko maging doktor.

Hindi ako nag-Law kasi marami nang abogado sa mundo. Ayoko maging isa pang statistic.

Hindi ko pinasok ang sining dahil "in" sya.

Alam ko na ang pera ay nasa pagiging doktor at pagiging abogado. Pero hindi ko pinasok ito dahil ayoko. Ayoko maging isang tao na ang tanging dahilan lang sa trabaho ay pera. Hindi ako pinalaki na ang halaga ng buhay ay nasa pera.

Ang halaga ng buhay ay sa pagiging totoo sa iyong sarili.

worth reading

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS
ni Paolo Manalo

Di na iinom
Ng tubig, kakain na lang ng yelo.

Magke-care-giver in four gives.
Mangfa-five-six ng nang-wa-one-two-three.
Manghe-hello ng call center rep.
Manggu-good time sa bad trip.

Magpaparebond, magpapaputi
Ng uwak at isasali ito sa Starstruck.
Mananalo pagkat walang talent,
Mataas lang ang mga pangarap.

Sa wrong timing, sasalisi.
Sa mga bulag magpapapitik.
Magpapasipa sa pilay,
Mananabunot ng kalbo.
Magpapa-land ng flying kiss
Sa iyong pisngi, sabay daplis.

Hindi na, di na talaga!
Past tense na ang love:
Minahal kasi, expensive na.

Si, senor!

You Should Learn Spanish

For you, learning a language is about career advancement and communication. Knowing Spanish will bring you tons of possiblities for jobs and travel. Bárbaro!

What Language Should You Learn?

de-frag

This title just invites a "de frag and the princess" joke. *sigh*

Been debugging my computer for the past few hours. Argh. I hate dem malwares. Argh. No amount of housecalls and anti-virus can seem to get rid of them. Shit. Somebody help me out here.

+ + +

I have a terrible backhand but my forehand is pretty good, according to my instructor. Oh well, at leasti have good form. hahaha. Maybe i can finally play. Tennis is fun. Then again, it's only fun when you have somebody else to play with.

No wonder i'm not much into contact sports. You're too dependent on somebody else to have fun.

+ + +

Today i made stickers. Yey! i can finally pollute ILoilo with lotsa urban faerie stuff. Look out world! :-D For free stickers/postcards, email me yer snail mail address. :-) cheers!!!

The start of the year....

It's officially the start of the new year for working people. For me, let's just say it's another day in strangeland. I still can't get used to the idea of being home. Literally.

+ + +

New Year's was uneventful. Dinner with family, tv watching by the time the fireworks were done. Stayed up till 5am this time. My body clock will never function the same way again. Spent the time texting acquaintances and good friends. Hit and miss with the signal here. *haaay*

+ + +

Listening to good ole' OPM makes one melancholy about the past. Eheads, you rock, as always.

At least i've crossed out one item off my list. :-) Next....

reunion

reunion
Originally uploaded by bunnie_lette.

some galtalk, coffee/dinner, a night out and lotsa laughs and reminscing. Thanks for another interesting night girls! :-) Kudos to the gals who made this possible!

year end me-me

year-ender me-me (thanks kitty!)

1. What did you do in 2005 that you'd never done before?
* chronicle my wanderlusting (as in, kina-reer!)
* visit the states (and not just one, mind u!)
* travel alone
* spend time with my grandma
* get published in LA!
* get to know and spend time with an ex and his family


2. Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I have a list for 2006…. And hell yeah, I’m keeping it!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
yep. An aunt and some close friends (congrats, tuwa and pao!)

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Acquaintances and a few good people. Rest in Peace….

5. What countries did you visit?
The US. (see previous posts where I was)

6. What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2005?
a high paying job and more travelling! :-)

7. What dates from 2005 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
The months of October and November. That’s when I traveled and got to visit the East Coast, saw friends, met up with old loves and yes, had a FABULOUS time amidst tears, disappointments, and lotsa moolah spending.


8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Learning and still learning. Loving.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Not getting enough sleep.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Severe depression. Thank goodness for friends, writing and the postal service!

11. What was the best thing you bought?
A ticket to New York.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Lotsa people! Kudos to the crew of the West Coast --- River, Gel, Ghenier, Jeff, Harold, Don, Abie, BJ, Dave, Josol, Jason, the Funside gang, my cuzins Justin, Bobby, Jackie, Rico for showing me a grand time…. and the East Coast peeps --- Melissa and her sis Lani, Mitzi, Dave, Osbourne, Hazel, Cha, Tomoko, Lucy, Geraldo, Alvin and sweet Babar :-) (to those whose names I forgot, thank you too…)

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
*pass*

14. Where did most of your money go?
Kape.inom.lakwatsa.banko.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Visiting New York.

16. What song will always remind you of 2005?
- The Way You Look Tonight (classic Ella Fitzgerald version!)
- Mr. Brightside – The Killers
- Chewing Gum – Annie’s Anniemal
- Hung Up –Madonna’s Confessions on the Dance Floor
- Akin Ka Na Lang - Itchyworms’ Noon Time Show
(this is the best album na OPM so far)

17. Compared to this time last year, you are:
cynical.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
I wish I had more time to travel. I also wish I took more care of my heart.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Worrying.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Spent it with my family. All by ourselves (my dad was sick eh) it was a good Christmas tho

22. Did you fall in love in 2005?
I wish!

23. How many one-night stands?
*pass*

24. What was your favorite TV program?
Family Guy, Scrubs, House, Sex and The City reruns, Whose Line is It Anyway?

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Sadly…but hate is such a strong word….

26. What was the best book you read?
How to be Good by Nick Hornby

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
The Killers and Brit Rock… Annie…. Hip Underground bars in New York’s East Village

28. What did you want and get?
I wanted to travel and I was able to travel.
I wanted to see my ex and I did.
I wanted to know the meaning of life. I still don’t know it.
Two out of three isn’t bad. 

29. What did you want and not get?
How to course through my life without getting hurt.

30. What was your favorite film of this year?
RENT the Movie.

31. What did you do on your birthday. And how old were you?
painted pots with my cousin and aunt. Talked to my ex’s grandma. Went out with my cousin in Hollywood and Highlands for a night of fun. EARLY breakfast at an all-night diner later on. Great way to spend my 25th year!

32.What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
loads and loads of moolah to spend. More time in New York.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2005?
Style meets substance.

34. What kept you sane?
Writing….letters, postcards,emails. Etc. Phone calls to friends, designing. Coffee and yosi. Good conversations and lotsa ranting. Great friends.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Steven Strait (he looks like the guy I’m crushing on)

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Political instability in the Philippines.

37. Who did you miss?
my family. Kittykat, Mary, Jac, the peeps from college. Some more people.

38. Who was the best new person you met?
Can’t really say. This year was about re-connections.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2005:
”In a mad world, only the mad are sane” – Akira Kurosawa
Tama si Kits ---“Sex isn’t life. But life’s impossible without it.”

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
”alone again, naturally.“ 

funkygirl and groovychick

funkygirl and groovychick
Originally uploaded by bunnie_lette.

Reunited!??!!! pic taken last time we were drunk (hahaha) --- specifically, a few weeks ago.

To a friendship that will outlast petty sh*t, catfights (meeow!), guyz and boy problems, and other distractions in life! Long live kitty+bunnie forever :-)

salamat sa iyong pag-intindi at sa iyong pagiging tunay na kaibigan. :-)

sweet misery

You wake up to the heat. For the past few hours, the heat is just exhausting. You wonder if this is another sign of the apocalypse.

You want to douse yourself with cold water real bad.

You drown yourself in music yet the OPMs you play only reminds you of your loss. The sweet sentimentality just adds to the melancholy you can't overcome. What did they say about losing the one you love?

Time travel seems farfetched, but you wish it so dearly right now.

*blink*

Walking through the mall --- Cellphones are everywhere yet there's no one to call. The place looks busy but you know nobody's buying. Why then is there a rush?

You look around to try to recognize a familiar face, yet sadly there is none. How bizaare it is to call this place home but you know no one. You are the outsider. You see things from an observer's view, and you can do nothing but sigh.

Dinner with a good friend. He provides the familiarity you seek (aside from family of course) and you welcome the settling calm. The conversation is a bit clumsy, but you don't feel any unease. The company you seek is here. How you wish everything is as simple as his progression in life. Then again, nothing is simple.

Hush, your mind reprimands. Of course it is. All you need is direction. Somebody give me a clue.

The night beckons you to be imaginative. You try and try but you end up short. What is it about provincial air that makes you think twice about things?

Unless you get out, you will become a statistic. Welcome to the land of stereotypes, where creativity is nil and your imagination runs dry.

10 things

10 things that bring me joy (tagged by kittykat)

[01] great friendships
[02] good coffee and conversations
[03] special times with loved ones
[04] love letters, postcards, mushy souvenirs
[05] family moments
[06] travels, road trips and (mis)adventures
[07] time alone with a really good book
[08] music trippin’
[09] great loves
[10] the future


ytagged!

cheers, tears and a lotta breakage

Happy christmas to the peeps.

A lot of love, a few tears shed, and yes, some wistfulness has made my christmas --- it's always good to know that amidst all the melodrama you can be assured of the love that comes from true friendship.

+ + +

sometimes surprises come in small packages. In this case, really sweet messages coming from nowhere. Thank you!

+ + +

New year is so close... i wonder if i'll have enough time to start my plans...

+ + +

To everybody whose numbers i don't have (and whose messages i haven't had the chance to return) Merry christmas to you and your family!

And this is where it all begins...

and this is where it all begins...
Originally uploaded by bunnie_lette.

In celebration of friendships and the new year, i look back to some of the cool ones i've managed to keep all these years despite time, weird scenarios, petty fights and all that jazz. Cheers to the trio that made it through all this... in good times and bad, in drinking and binging, in great loves and terrible heartaches, we are still here sonic and kittee... :-)

cleaning the closet

I found your postcard today.

Your words are written so beautifully, and even as I read it I was close to tears. You always had that effect on me. I wonder if you still have this in you.

+ + +

Last hurrahs earlier this a.m. Bibingcrepes, some chilling at St. Loius, last-minute rundowns and hellos at Big Sky. The conversation was great, and the mood was light. Despite my lack of sleep I mingled. Connections, small world! I feel like the world is conspiring and trying to tell me something… haunts from the past? I hear new names, find new secrets. It’s interesting how things connect…

+ + +

I saw your pic and I smile. I wonder how you would feel if I sent it to you. Would you miss me like I miss you?

catching up

The past is literally haunting me.

Everywhere i go i see pieces of you. Every nook and cranny, every haunt we went to, every person we connected with. It's harder to deal with your ghost that way.

I realize every so often why i left.

+ + +

Drinks with gal pals makes the singleton life a lot more bearable. Free flowing beer, lovely cocktails. The room starts to spin slowly. I love this heady feeling. It keeps the thoughts at bay.

+ + +

The new year beckons. I'll start living again by then. Happy holidays y'all.

christmas week

Tis the season for rushed shopping, heavy traffic (isn't that always the case?) and yes, the commercialism that has become the holiday spirit.

+ + +
The other day:

Spent the day chilling at Makati, reconnecting with old contacts. Had a bitchfest with cohort Mary amidst the Landmark goods --- apparently, SM isn't the one who has it all --- Landmark has some surprisingly good (and BAD) goods that's just worth poring over.

Dinner with Nons at his apartment for some tuna and tomato linguine. Yummy! Had fun learning the rudiments of poker (look out world! Haha!) Chilled at Fiamma later on, mingling with the beautiful people of Manila. Twas crowded, brightly lit and yes, heady. I wonder how people do this thing every week.

+ + +
Yesterday:

Not all plans really go through. Last minute changes resulted to some pretty interesting scenarios, like walking the streets of Makati, downing about 3-4 coffees, hailing a cab in vain for two hours, listening to a crappy band, eating at mini stop in the early a.m. (and bumping into old acquaintances) and chilling at Big Sky till the sun came up. And i thought my night was gonna ba wasted. Made new friends though. Looking forward to the xmas party...

+ + +
Today:

The endless wait continues. What supposed to be was lunch is now turning out to be an early dinner. I am tired of waiting. Also, my flight got bumped off and now i'm stranded in the metro till xmas day. Argh. This is turning out to be some christmas week. Luckily i will be adopted on christmas eve by good friend Jackie and her family (yey!) At least there's still something good about this holiday...

heat wave

I never really got around to walking around the metro, and today i realize there is a reason why i don't. It is soooo BLOODY HOT.

Still, the nuances of not being able to get a cab is why i had to walk 3 blocks to the MRT. Haay. It's really annoying the hell out of me why there are not decent pavements along the roads to encourage people to walk (Makati is excluded of course, though i wish they had more of that). The ride to Makati is less than pleasant, with people from all walks of life coming in and out of the train, bringing with them the smells and odors that when combined is the wors thing your nose can ever sniff.

Note: I have had my share of bizaare rides, and i do not want to come off as a snotty botch, but hell, it was REALLY SMELLY earlier, and the fact that people are too damn close to each other just irritates the hell out of me.

+ + +

I'm not much of a Makati fan, but i do appreciate their long shaded walkways and very efficient a/cs. Plus, they have a lot of bookstores which i can lose myself in and not worry about where to "park".

+ + +

I am lost in the scheming of moolah-making. Argh. I really wish i can do something productive and can give me some decent spending money. Lord, you know what i want!
:-P

+ + +

On a lighter note, kudos to Jac and Zap for the wonderful day yesterday! I truly enjoyed myself, despite the setback of not getting any sleep prior to them picking me up for Tagaytay. I love the long drive, the fab brunch at Antonio's (wonderful place, Jac, we really must go there again!), the wonderful (and very sweet, very touching) gift and of course, the endless picture-taking. :-) Will post them pics up soon, not to worry!

+ + +

saturday

sonic's bday
Originally uploaded by bunnie_lette.

happy birthday sonic! / poker night and sushi galore / the gang's all here!!! / reminiscing college days... / inuman na! / it's great to be back / tv marathons, drinking spree, foodies / it's all in the chips! / "so, how's work?" / "never again!" / cheers to friends / "kulang na lang si Peanut, si Mona at si Mike!" / it's one for the logbook / older, wiser? / "ang tanda na natin!" / happy holidays....

looking up?

Wow -- the moment you decide to just let things happen instead of trying to guide them, they really start happening. Putting your strong sense of drive into neutral takes a lot of self-control, but right now it's the best thing to do. Try getting in touch with the cosmic flow -- the moods of those around you as well as your own feelings and intuition -- without being attached to the outcome. Quite soon, some magic begins to occur.

Talk about getting what you wish for. Lord,I asked to see him, the other him, not a scary physical manifestation of my morbid past!!! Next time i should be more specific...

I guess wishing does work, but you just gotta be more detailed.

+ + +

I have been aimlessly walking around Katipunan in hopes to find some sort of inspiration. So far, none comes to mind. I am just procrastinating going home and sleeping. *sigh* Where has my life gone?

+ + +

I think i need a nap. Or some pills to keep me happy. Or both.

check lists

My friend Jac once mentioned her to-do list to me, that is, things she needs to do before she turns 26, which mentions not only practical ideas (cooking, etc.) but the more interesting tasks too (kissing a stranger in a strange land).

Makes me wonder, just what other thigs do i want to do before i turn a year older? hmmm.... In the spirit of check lists, i've decided to make a mental notes of things i still have to do which i want to accomplish for the next year, ranging from the practical to the bizaare:

- lose weight for the feb trip
- fix my portfolio (again)
- have an out of country trip (asia)
- kiss a stranger in a strange land
- get a fabulous (if not better) job
- start a trust fund
- sponsor a kid / join an NGO
- find a new "look"
- date an "opposite"
- go back to the east coast! :-P
- get myself published in the US
- get a MAC powerbook!!!

Ah well, the countdown to the next year begins. Wonder how this will turn out...

the hump day

nope, it's not what you think (though, at times, i wish it were :-p)

Today is hump day, a wednesday (wrong time zone, hence the thursday dated entry) and well, midweek always gives me a mix of excited panic and hope, for some reason. It's the time when you "finalize" weekend plans, start smiling because in a few days' time it will be a weekend again, and yes, take it easy from work or play. or both.

For me, however, hump day gave me a chance to go about the old neighborhood and reminisce (oh dear). I walked around the streets where we used to walk, check out the places (grocery store, internet shop, 711) we used to hang out and drink my cup of joe from where we usually ended up each night. *sigh*

Incidentally, he was the one who oriented me into this whole "hump day" scenario.

Still, it was no sad day. More like a "what did i do wrong this time?" and "how do i get out of this and move to the next not-so-distant-future?" kind of thinking, a first in a while for me... i came up with no answers, yes, but that is merely temporary. For now i'm content to know that i've past the rut stage.

+ + +

Walked a couple more kilometers before deciding to raid the grocery for some much needed food finds and head home for some R&R. Nothing cheers you up better than crawling into a nice sofa and watch reruns of Sex & the City while munching on some comfort food.

+ + +

I wonder often if life can ever be like that of Carrie and her friends. Seeing NY just makes me want to go there and be lost in the city. I try doing it here but everything is just so familiar it's so hard to get lost.

+ + +

I try not to get too cynical though. Living vicariously through another's burgeoning relationship and another's interesting moments, like tonight's cab ride, keeps me in check that life still has a few surprises in store and i should look out for that. :-P

+ + +

strange encounters

i woke up last night to the soft tapping of feet. i didn't think much of it until i sa wthat it was a RAT.

WTF!?!!!

of course, after that, sleeping was the last thing on my mind.

+ + +

Now i'm up after a few hours of troubled sleeping, and trying to make sense of my day. My wanderlust calls me, but my wallet holds me back. oh, the torture.

+ + +

I want to hear from him today. God, it that possible? :-P maybe i can chalk it up to another strange encounter.

+ + +

back in the loop

Makati is bustling and the hustle begins.

I am trapped in my internet bubble, too busy in my attempt to re-connect with everybody. IM doesn't exactly qualify as such.

Had loads of fun hanging with Kitty and Vince during their brainstorming session earlier. Made me realize work can be fun, and now i miss it. It doesn't help that working results to money to blow and spend, whcih i dearly miss at this point.

Had a mini-meeting with my old boss, who in turn gave me a beacon of light to my demise of living in the province. Unfortunately, i would have to put my US trip on hold if i should do so... Then again, i'll be working....here... hehehhe....

I think God has a plan for me. I just wish he'd let me in on it. :-P

coffee, cake and conversation

pao_N_lette
Originally uploaded by bunnie_lette.

Met up with Jolography author and dear friend Pao for coffee and cake at UP's Chocolate Kiss. It's so good to catch up and see what's been happening for the last 6 months... and yes, i missed the kahlua butter cake! yummmy....

Thinking Outside the Box Office

(reposted article By Xeni Jardin)

Director Steven Soderbergh talks about the copyright cops, the remixing underground, and why he'll debut his new movie on DVD, cable, and in theaters all at once.

When Steven Soderbergh releases his next film on January 27, it will have not only the critics squawking, but Hollywood studio execs, too. Bubble, an all-digital thriller, is set in an Ohio doll factory, and all of the actors are completely unknown. But that's not even the interesting part. The movie goes out to theaters, DVD, and high-definition cable TV - all on the same day. It's an experiment that threatens to uproot the film industry's long-standing "release window" formula, which staggers a picture's release on various platforms to maximize profits. Wired caught up with Soderbergh, director of sex, lies, and videotape, Traffic, and Ocean's Eleven, while he was in Los Angeles shooting The Good German, with George Clooney and Cate Blanchett.



WIRED: Why did you decide to release Bubble in all formats at once?

SODERBERGH: Name any big-title movie that's come out in the last four years. It has been available in all formats on the day of release. It's called piracy. Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings, Ocean's Eleven, and Ocean's Twelve - I saw them on Canal Street on opening day. Simultaneous release is already here. We're just trying to gain control over it.

WIRED: So this is a way to combat piracy?

SODERBERGH: It can be. Warner Bros. has talked about going out with low-cost DVDs simultaneously in China because piracy is so huge there. It will be a while before bigger movies go out in all formats; in five years, everything will.

WIRED: Will people keep going to theaters?

SODERBERGH: Always. You're going to see attendance plateau a bit, but it's still the number one date destination. That's never going away.
WIRED: Have you been to the movies recently?

SODERBERGH: I tried to go to a theater yesterday, but the fire alarm went off. The theater experience isn't always pleasant. Theater owners need to address that. There are often problems with projection; tickets and concessions are expensive; theaters aren't always clean; people talk during the movie. They're making it easy for people to stay home.

WIRED: What's the reaction in Hollywood to your release experiment?

SODERBERGH: People are waiting to see what happens. A movie that costs only $1.6 million doesn't have to be a cultural event to turn a profit.

WIRED: What's the biggest impact technology is having on filmmaking?

SODERBERGH: When the changeover from film to digital happens in theaters in five or 10 years, you're going to see name filmmakers self-distributing. Another thing that really excites me: I'd like to do multiple versions of the same film. I often do very radical cuts of my own films just to experiment, shake things up, and see if anything comes of it. I think it would be really interesting to have a movie out in release and then, just a few weeks later say, "Here's version 2.0, recut, rescored." The other version is still out there - people can see either or both. For instance, right now I know I could do two very different versions of The Good German.

WIRED: Have you ever used BitTorrent or other software to download movies?

SODERBERGH: No. I know about it, but I haven't even downloaded music. I'm behind the curve.

WIRED: Should hardware manufacturers be obligated to build copy protection into their devices?

SODERBERGH: It's a tricky question. I don't think somebody who creates something should have their rights violated. Yet we have a culture in which creating something like [Danger Mouse's] The Grey Album can get you thrown in jail. That's sad. It's an astonishing, amazing piece of work that should be heard.

WIRED: Have you thought about making a mash-up?

SODERBERGH: I have ideas like that - video mash-ups. Some of them I've done privately. But there's no way for them to be seen legally. I wish we could come up with a system that allowed someone to do a Grey Album without having to pay millions of dollars for music rights. A system in which rights holders share profits of a new piece of work and people can access it without breaking the law.

WIRED: Give me one idea for a video mash-up.

SODERBERGH: I was channel surfing the other night and Gus Van Sant's Psycho was on. It would be fascinating to do a mash-up of Gus' version with Hitchcock's version, because the whole thing with Gus' version was that he duplicated the original shot by shot.

WIRED: I'd watch that!

SODERBERGH: Yeah! So right now, I could do that at home and give it to a friend, just as something for them to watch on a Friday night. But we don't live in a world where that can be made commercially available. So it goes underground. And underground is just a sexier word for illegal. It's frustrating.

WIRED: You shot Bubble with the same kind of high-end digital cinema cameras that George Lucas used for Revenge of the Sith, but the results couldn't be more different. Instead of flashy effects, there's a stripped-down naturalism.

SODERBERGH: We wanted to do site-specific films. You hear that term used for other art forms, but not for cinema. The writer and I come up with a basic premise, go to a location, and the people fill it up. We interview people, incorporate their stories, try to make it as organic as possible. The cameras make that possible. You can shoot using available light. I sometimes ran two or three cameras at a time. In Full Frontal and K Street, I learned to take advantage of the mobility that digital provides. With Bubble, I wanted to go in the opposite direction and emphasize stillness. Because there isn't film running through the camera, you get an even more pronounced stillness. That's why you don't see much camera movement in the movie, just a lot of cuts.

WIRED: With all this technology available, do you think the quality of movies is better today than 30 years ago?

SODERBERGH: I think it will be better. As technology gives filmmakers more freedom, you'll see them producing work that is more unique, less beholden to the mainstream film template. That means rethinking the economics. But I'm always willing to gamble.

WIRED: How are you gambling with Bubble?

SODERBERGH: There are risks, and then there are risks. I'm not working in a coal mine. Still, everybody involved did it for scale pay, and everyone owns a piece of the profits.

WIRED: Sounds like the financial model for a startup.

SODERBERGH: Exactly. I'd be thrilled if the model works well enough for me to do that all the time.

+ + +

weekend sked

What supposedly was a lazy sunday turned out to be quite an interesting series of events...

An early (REAL early, like 4AM!!)text from Haydz prompted my day to start at 7am --- fixing up the room, uploading pics from the previous load and getting all ready for the lunch date. Met Haydz at Gateway for some catch-up time and lunch at Italianni's, after which we head over to Starbux Katips to meet up with Kittee, Mary and Lizzie for more chitchat, coffee and ziggies.

Got round 2 of coffee with Clang later on, while ruminating the complexities of so-called labels in relationships and finally walked off the coffee and foodies by walking from Katipunan to UP (thank God for flat shoes!). A quick tour through the alma mater, some mais con hielo along the way, and it's off to a quick dinner and some drinks at Big Sky MInd, where we got to discussing sex, music and everything in between (then again, hanging at the bar for that long always seems to lead to those topics) with the regulars until late.

It's great to be back.

rain, men and all that jazz

It has been an eventful three days since i got back. Not only do i get to see friends and family, i get to re-acquaint myself with the hustle and bustle fo the metro.

Ahh, Manila. the Hotdogs song constantly loops in my brain for some reason.

Highlights of the week? Elvis amidst the rain, Ziggies in the dark, Chocolate Kiss reunions, chillin' at Sonic's, Starbux Katips, Kitaro yummies, haircut!

Now if only the rain will let up, then maybe we can really chill....

the countdown begins...

... for the new year, that is... the possibility of switching into a new career, a new look, a new way of life is evident and with all these endless opportunities coming my way, i knew i had to do something to start it off.

So i cut my hair.

Yup, gone are the locks (well, most of it) :-P tee-hee. One must understand that i seldom do so, and having done this only once every 4-5 years makes this occasion pretty special. No gasping or major feedback yet, but then again, i really haven't gone out with the new 'do. Somehow it felt invigorating to do so, a bit risque and yes, weird. I guess this just sums up the "It's begun" status of my so-called new life.

People have been dishing out new ideas from all over the place of what i should do now that i'm back. Included in the list are some of the most interesting (if not insane) ideas:

- take up Nursing (argh!) or Law (*sigh*)
- get hitched (to whom!?!!! LOL!!!!) and settle down (yeah, right....)
- move back home (yikes!)
- take my MA (hmmm...possibility!)

Oh well. I'm procrastinating as of this time by seeing my possibilities and killing time in the metro. Hopefully i can revive my career as a freelancer or join the wonderful world of publication again (i truly hope so...) and maybe get my MA... as for the former ideas, well, that's just plain silly at this point. Still, who knows, right?

I just hope that i can visit the East coast again soon... with a more permanent status :-))

Guilty Pleasure

Ooh-lala. Wish I was Kelly Preston right now.

and Nietzche sums it up...

"one must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star"-nietzsche

+ + +

It's good to be back.

de ja vu

Is this the sign of the apocalypse or what?

I am ---you guessed it --- stuck in Incheon airport. Again. Just what is it with me and delayed flights?!??!!

I was supposed to be scheduled to arrive in Manila by this time, but due to some amazing circumstances, i not only get my flight cancelled, but i actually stay an extra night in LA (hotel accommodations via the airline) and deal with all the BS most people get from airline people who don't really know what to say, not to mention miss my connecting flight.

Argh.

Ok, looking on the bright side of things...

-I did meet some nice people duringthis weird ordeal.

-I did get to spend an extra night in LA, though it was just me and the tv. (at least they booked me in a nice hotel with a great bar and a very patient bartender)

-I never got to se more of Korea, but hey, it's snowing outside and i have no warm clothes :-P

-I was able to fly back to the East :-))

NOw, if only i can be assured that someone will be picking me up at the airport....

*sigh* I never knew going home can be this complicated.

the aftermath

Ugh.

I've just had the most intoxicating night of my life since i got here, and it's not pretty.

Somebody gimme some aspirin, i feel an immense headache coming my way.

can't get enough of....

music video code by urbnmix.net
rent - seasons (live)

Me Me with 20 questions

Here's a Me Me with 20 questions. Stolen from Vince (salamatski!)

1 If you were to commission a musician to make the soundtrack of your life, who would it be? James Blunt, at this point in time. Or maybe The Shins.


2 What would make you lose sleep?
luvin' (booty call or otherwise)

3 What is the most original breakup line you've ever heard?
"I'm not in love with you anymore" (oh di ba? Harsh, but straight to the point!)

4 What could you have been in your past life?
A cab driver.For some reason i'm good with directions and remember the tiny useless details...

5 If you can travel anywhere in the world, which country will be your first stop?
It's a toss-up --- NY or London

6 If you could belong to any TV Family which family would you choose to belong to?
Family Guy!!! :-)

7 What song reminds you of your last relationship?
You're Beautiful (James Blunt)

8 If the door to your room had a sign on top of it (to at least give the people who are about to enter a warning), what would it say?
Come as you Are

9 You're a cake. What kind are you?
a fluffy, decadent chocolate cake (dark chocolate please!)

10 Fill in the blanks. If I wasn't so _______, I would have been _______ by now.
Broke. An immigrant in NY making a damn good living!

11 What is the deepest, most desperate desire of your heart?
*secret*

12 What is your favorite household appliance?
the ref

13 If you suddenly find yourself onstage in front of thousands of people, what song would you sing?
It's too Late ng Workshy (for some reason, that's the only song i know the lyrics to)

14 What made you smile today?
talking to Margaret :-)

15 What did you eat that gave you food poisoning?
hmmm... too long ago to remember

16 What weird food concoctions do you enjoy?
green mango and soy sauce with salt (hahahaha)

17 If you were an animal, what animal would you be?
a pussycat.

18 Of all of the Halloween costumes you have ever worn, which one was your favorite?
i was the devil

19 What do you do to stay awake during long, boring classes/meetings?
doodle.

20 If there were no tomorrow, what would you do today?
Fly off to where my love is and make mad passionate love!!!

RENT-ed out

So i watched the movie tonight. Boy, i'll be getting this RENT soundtrack LSS for a while... :-) The movie was pretty good, considering they retained most of the original cast (except two), plus the movement was more transitional (i think anyway) because visually they really worked it --- but i guess there is something magical about watching it onstage (i saw the Manila production of RENT). Wish they still ran it on Broadway when i was in NY (that would have been grand...) Anyhoo, i still love it! :-)

+ + +

Will I lose my dignity
will someone care
will i wake tomorrow
from this nightmare

+ + +

I think they meant it
When they said you can't buy love
Now I know you can rent it
A new lease you are, my love,
On life - all my life
I've longed to discover
Something as true as this is


So with a thousand sweet kisses If you're cold
I'll cover you And you're lonely With a thousand sweet kisses
I'll cover you You've got one nickel only
With a thousand sweet kisses I'll cover you

When you're worn out and tired With a thousand sweet kisses
I'll cover you When your heart has expired Oh lover i'll cover you...

+ + +

The heart may freeze or it can burn
The pain will ease if I can learn
There is no future
There is no past
I live this moment as my last
There's only us
There's only this
Forget regret
Or life is yours to miss
No other road
No other way
No day but today

lovin' the red room

yeah, boi!!!!
Originally uploaded by bunnie_lette.

On my last day in DC, stayed over at my friend Cha's place, and had dinner with her, Lucy and Melissa (kinda like agoing away thang). I am soo in love with her place (it's the kind of place i wanna get eventually when i am rich and stable, hahaha)....