Manila Weekend Warrior

When the weekend rolls in, some yuppies in Manila escape the city, if only to get some peace of mind before Monday rolls in again. I, however, have gotten enough peace and greenery from my fair city to want to crave some of the hustle and bustle of the city I lived in for 3 years. (It's always been a thing my high school friends and I agree on: when we're in Davao for too long, we want the busy-ness of the city, where you never run out of anything to do; when we're in Manila for too long, we crave the peace, familiarity and open spaces Davao offers. If only there was some place we could get both in the right amounts..) Anyway, since our (last) semestral break lasted a month, I had a few days to spare when my bestie Ayessa asked me to accompany her for a few days to the metro.

#LAAGuna 2015: EK Virgin No More; Tita of Davao Yes

When we were planning the itinerary of our plant tour, we had Laguna in mind because most of the manufacturing plants were located there. But other than that, we had a hidden agenda: to go to Enchanted Kingdom! In my 24 years living in the Philippines, I have never stepped foot in the theme park. I think it's cause I know I'll always have the chance to, it being in the Philippines anyway. In fact, I was kidding around with Claire, who also has never been there, that buti pa yung HongKong Disneyland and Ocean Park, we got to visit those first! :P

#LAAGuna 2015

Hi everyone! Sorry for being MIA again. I'm back with a vengeance and I have an arsenal of stories to share to you all. I just got back from a trip to Laguna with my classmates for our plant tour. We have a course next semester called Field Trips and Seminars which requires us to arrange visits to (manufacturing) plants, thus the plant tour. We all didn't bring our laptops because we had limited baggage allowance so I didn't get to blog while on the trip. It was kind of a good thing cause it meant we'd all get to enjoy each other's company. We were away the whole of last week and got back Friday night. On the day I was supposed to return, I met up with my dad and was with him when my mom called. My (baby) brother got into an accident; he fractured his wrist while playing basketball. Imaginary basketball to be exact; he was trying to imitate Barry Allen of The Flash (which is his favorite show by the way), by doing these elaborate dunking/lay up moves without a basketball while his classmates were taking videos of him. (Ohmagawdd what will I do with him??) So right after I arrived, I went straight to the hospital and that's what kept me busy the whole weekend. In fact, I'm blogging from the hospital right now! :/ Anyway, enough of that. Here's what went down on our first day in Laguna.

Travel 101: Packing Tips

Hola everyone! How are you?

The first semester of my last year of college (!!!) ended yesterday so my last ever semestral break is here!! (Kinda wild when you think about it!) My classmates and I will be leaving for our plant tour on Monday, and I'm sure you have trips of your own planned for the break too (for those who came from schools that weren't affected by the academic calendar shift). I wrote this blog post on the request of my friend, who's a chronic overpacker. These are just some things I learned after packing then re-packing for the three years of my life that I spent studying away from home.

Sembreak Chronicles: Blogger Bestie Roadtrip!

Here's one of the few posts I have left over from last year, and one of my favorite moments of 2014! You know the saying "buti pa ang lakad na di pinaplano, natutuloy"? (random outings push through more than planned ones) This was one of those instances!

#MagandangHapon Day 8: Robots, Tokyo Tower and Pokemon

I promised myself that I won't have any more Japan posts by the time 2015 rolls in so here's the second to the last day we spent in Japan! The day started off early as usual, as we'd be traveling back to Tokyo from Chiba. There was a typhoon reportedly coming so we had to leave earlier than usual and take a longer route. However, thanks to Akiko-san and Endo-san's amazing planning powers, we actually got to Tokyo earlier than scheduled, and had to wait a good 30 minutes before the National Museum of Emerging Science and Technology (or Miraikan) opened.

#MagandangHapon Day 7: Farewell

We had only been with our host families for about a day so you would expect little attachment should've been made, but no. They gave us something we rarely ever see in the world right now, and that's kindness. True, pure kindness. They let us into their homes without knowing anything about us and trusted us, fed us, entertained us, got to know us, taught us and just basically treated us as their own. Even though we speak different languages, that resonated so much that I and my fellow JENESYSts were moved to tears at the farewell party.

#MagandangHapon Day 6: A Day with the Horiguchis

In my humble opinion, the highlight of the JENESYS programme is the home stay program. The delegates get to experience living with a real Japanese family in order to truly and fully get a taste of what Japanese life is like.

#MagandangHapon Day 5: A Visit to Josai University and Old Town Otaki

Ohayo, and happy December first! Can't believe it's the first day of the LAST month of the year and I'm finally halfway through my Japan posts. I should be though; my cousin and best friend left for Japan today as delegates of another JENESYS Mass Media batch. Shame that we didn't get to go together! Had I known I could have deferred my slot to the December batch, I would've so we could go together. But then again, I wouldn't have experienced this and met the people of Group A.

#MagandangHapon Day 4: A Day in Mobara

Although it's been 2 months, the memory of Akiko-san (our Japanese coordinator) telling us about the survey JICE will be sending is still fresh in my mind. (She said to answer it no matter what the cost because the emails will continuously be re-sent; reminded me of a Howler) Fast forward to yesterday, JICE sent us the obligatory post-trip survey we'd need to complete. Nothing like that to remind me of how a crappy blogger I've been! Really, has it been that long? But I mean, if Tricia Gosingtian can blog about her travel from four months back, why can't I? (feeling Tricia G levels)

Taking Chances

There's often a risk involved when one decides to put themselves out there. For example, when I put up my fashion blog, I knew there was a chance I could get teased or even criticized for it (thankfully, I haven't heard of anything bad so far) but I chose to do so because I liked what I was doing. As long as I wasn't hurting anybody then I know I'm good. Risks aside though, the rewards can be even greater. There's a perk to putting yourself out there too--it sets you apart. I know so many beautiful, talented, smart and fashionable girls who I believe have more right to have a blog following than I do and have the potential to be famous at that. I've tried suggesting this to them but they are scared to and thus, the world does not see their awesomeness. I get it though. "It's often not cool to be the person who puts themselves out there", goes one of my favorite quotes from Emma Watson.

#MagandangHapon Day 3: UEC and Kasamori Kannon

So after a few "intermission" posts, as I'd like to call it, we're back to the Japan posts again! :P I can't believe I'm only on the THIRD DAY of our Japan trip and it's already been a month since we left for Japan! I knew I should've gotten a head start on my posts while we were still in Japan..now I feel like my posts are stale and you guys are sick of them. I hope not! I really take a long time to edit, write and post because I want to try to share as much detail about Japan as I can--my readers only deserve my best effort! :) So anyway, as I've mentioned on my previous post, on our third day, we visited a Japanese University, went to the Kasamori Kannon and moved to our assigned place, which is Mobara City in the Chiba Prefecture. 

Sweater Weather Giveaway (CLOSED)

On our third day in Japan, one of the things on our itinerary was a university visit so I made sure to look the part. The same day was also the day we'd be moving to our respective provinces so I made sure to be in something comfy. I wore my dad's sweater. He didn't know I brought it with me, though days prior to my departure, he's been offering to let me (no, bugging me even) take it. Cute dad is cute. 

Shibuya Roll Call

After the orientation and discussion, the whole of group A decided to stay a little longer to talk about post-dinner plans. A lot of us wanted to go to Shibuya to shop and check out the famous crossing, so it was then that we worked out logistics, mapped out routes and even calculated how much time we'd spend at dinner, how much time we'd have to look around, travel and get back to the hotel before curfew! I guess you could say it was like our own secret mission, but we all agreed that that was the time we became united as a group. That's when we became #TeamAWalangIwanan.

#MagandangHapon Day 2: Asakusa

Our second day in Japan started bright and early. We had a buffet breakfast at the hotel. I was a bit surprised to see that they served french fries and pasta(!!!) (and here I thought I wouldn't get to eat Italian for 9 days!) in the morning, but other than that, everything was standard fare. Our agenda for the day was to visit Asakusa, one of Tokyo's top tourist spots, and have our orientation in the afternoon. I'll be splitting my second day into two posts, cause that night we got to see the other, more modern side of Tokyo. Such a play in contrast, right?

#MagandangHapon Day 1: Ohayo Tokyo

I realize it's been more than a week already since I've left Japan. How I seamlessly got back to my routine makes me feel like the trip I took was just a dream. I have to look at my photos over and over again before it sinks in that yes, I was there. I was in Japan. Thinking that I was just in Japan up until a week ago is beyond me. I've put off writing about my Japan trip for two reasons. One, academic work. When I got home, I had 2 long exams waiting for me the very next day (I took 9 in total; 4 on Monday. ikr?). Second is, I did not know how to begin. I had 3 memory cards filled with photos and videos. How can I even begin to start editing? I just wanted to savor my hangover from the experience for a few days, but at the same time, I just couldn't find the right words to say. How does one write about a trip that gave so much to learn, so much to treasure, so much to remember?

Seagull

meh at the yellow chair

"Life is a journey, not a destination"--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Just some photos from the trip my family and I took last Monday to Seagull Mountain Resort in Buda. I wish the photos I took did it justice but it didn't. HAHA. Really, it's that gorgeous there! Plus, I also fell asleep after lunch (the weather there was too divine!) so I wasn't able to go around as much as my mom and aunts. :(

Anyway, hope you're having a good Friday!

I am still stuck home with the chicken pox. Oh how I loathe this disease! :(

Manila Trip Photodiary

Hong Kong Day 4: Ocean Park

Hong Kong Day 3: Shopping!

so this is what McDonald's is like in other countries. Check out the butter!!