since 1993

Third grade.  Probably one of the most memorable years of my childhood.  We would catch dragonflies in the morning before classes started and put them in our pockets when the teacher arrived.

It was also the year I met some of my oldest friends whom I keep in touch with up to now (yes, even without Facebook).  We meet at least once a year (since graduating from grade school), and it feels like we're back in our old school again.

This post is for Cha, one of my closest grade-school friends.  We used to spend long hours on the phone talking about Boyzone.  We would save our lunch money so that we could buy magazines, posters, and postcards with Boyzone it them.  (She was able to watch them live when they went to Manila!  Haha.)  Anyway, Cha sent me this postcard from Stanford University, where she's taking up an environmental engineering course.  She said she reads this blog, so, Hi Cha!  I hope I got the info right.  She also has her own blog.  I think she's really masipag in writing and so good at articulating her thoughts! :) 

Wow at Stanford.  My first "boyfriend" (I was in high school, so you know what I mean) lived in Stanford.  Stanford Street, in the university town of Cubao, that is.  

I'm really happy for Cha and the awesome opportunity to study abroad.  One of my anthropology professors once said he envisioned me taking up my PhD in Cornell.  (I wish!  I haven't even finished my Masters yet!)

Now for some pictures!  Here's me with Onay, another of my elem-school barkada.  I think this was during our sixth grade Christmas party.  Can you see the orange lantern on the ceiling behind us?  I made that!  Oh, and look at my Tretorns.  I miss wearing them.  And I am totally not alone in the skirt-and-socks combo.

And here is Cha, probably looking at a Boyzone card.  :P

Tinette, Cha, and Onay from when we went for coffee last December.  

We look just the same, don't you think?  I hope to hang out with these girls again soon.  And maybe gush over boybands again.

easter sunday afternoon walk

aside from the easter celebration, yesterday was also the Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day (it's held during the last sunday of april, i've just learned).  since i had nothing planned in the afternoon, i decided to take photos using the pinhole camera ("catcam") that ige made for me.  i've shot only one roll with it since 2008 and i did say i wanted to try again.  the photo below is from that first roll.  this is the "ooh, there's an image!" shot.  it's the tree in our atrium.

so yeah, i wanted to try again, and what better opportunity was there than the golden easter sunday afternoon slash worldwide pinhole photography day that's so perfectly laid out before me?  (whew that was a long sentence!)  i got some of my dad's electrical tape (using up a third of it) to double-seal the film box and prevent any lightleaks from coming in (which might cause overexposure, like what likely happened above).  after sealing, i put fresh film in, closed the box, and crossed my fingers.


oh ye photography gods, please please let there be images on my film.  as a plan b, i borrowed my mother's digital camera.

"what's that?" she pointed to catcam.  a pinhole camera, i answered.

my mother was in great doubt, and had a lot of questions.  i answered as simply as i could ("it has a hole instead of a lens"), and i hope i made her understand why there was so need for a viewfinder and focusing.

"how do you know when the picture is there?"  well, you just follow the instructions on exposure time, i said.  actually it's more of hoping, hoping, and more hoping that what you did was enough for a decent exposure.

"it's a toy," she said.  i smiled.  she says the same for almost all of my cameras.


i went out and took a walk in our subdivision.  last saturday on my jog-walk, i was awed at how beautiful the trees were in the early morning light, and i made a note to bring a camera the next time.  the trees have a different drama in the afternoon sun though, but they were still worth taking photos of!

while i'm waiting for my pinhole shots to be processed (hoping, hoping, crossing my fingers, and hoping again), let me share with you the plan b/digital photos.

 one of my favorite trees is this fire tree.  there are a few early blooms--it'll be flaming red soon!

males doing something with the ring at the basketball court.  i don't really know why they didn't just get a stepladder.

 another favorite is this acacia tree, which is at its loveliest during summer mornings.

 tendrils

roof tiles

 a baby yellow flame tree.

 the closest i can come to living on a meadow.  that's not my house though.

 this is a kapok tree.  it's in "bloom" right now--the seed pods have popped and the fluffy cotton-like seeds are all over the street.  it looks like it's snowing--so pretty!

 the colonel's dogs out for a walk.

 a kapok seed clump.

 kapok on the grass.

 another fire tree in the afternoon--notice the early bloom?  it's there at the lower right corner.

 watering the plants.

the little park where i run.

 

a sleeping arthur when i got back home.

and that's about it for now.  i hope you all had a meaningful week.  :)

friday sketch

the view from our pantry slash conference room slash stockroom: the backside of the san martin de porres (medicine) building.

if there's one visual art form i wish i were good at (well aside from photography), it would have to be sketching.  i can't draw a straight line to save my life, and i was more of a reader than a doodler as i was growing up, and so i hope you can imagine the amount of *hard work* i put in to every sketch.  haha.  i've been following the urban sketchers blog for quite some time now and the entries never fail to inspire me to do my own on-site sketching. 

i also want to learn how to use watercolor as medium.  i've been using watercolor pencils and i think they're awesome.  however, there's something about applying paint directly from a brush that makes me feel like an artist more connected with my work. (#blah)

i want to sketch and color more, which makes me want to go out and just sit at a corner and watch people (and buildings, and cars, and plants...).  who wants to come with me?

this past week

ige's dad is home from a two-year stay in canada. 

balikbayan goodies!  i got a digital watch (yay--no more guessing how many minutes i've been running, or attempting to), a camel-colored sweater (which really makes me wish for a cooler climate), a pair of gold sandals, a brown tote bag, and a heavenly piece of caramel chocolate.  :)

the title of this post is also the title of a radio dept. song, and hey hey hey, they'll be here for a gig on april 20, and we are definitely going! 

we bought tickets at gweilos bar in makati (he had san mig light; i had cerveza negra) last monday before heading off to

mimi and wes's show over at blanc gallery.  it was awesome.  they're quite a pair, and their works fuse well together too.

yesterday we got our office uniforms (do i hear an "eeew" from the audience?), and i had to return mine because they didn't fit.  either i got thinner (hallelujah!) or i was wearing ridiculously thick clothes when i had my measurements taken last year, because my uniform was really ill-fittingly loose.  well i do wish it's the former.

speaking of the quest to have my college body back (good luck with that, chum), i've been getting questions about where i do pilates.

i have my yogilates, jazz, AND sexy hiphop (yep there's sexy in it) classes over at Peak Performance in quezon city, along roces avenue.  it's on my way home which makes it very convenient, and classes are cheaper too, compared to other dance studios (in gyms, which i do not like) in the area.  i'm growing to love the studio, its staff, my dancemates, and of course the instructors, especially the owner and head instructor Jill Ngo.  she's so warm and friendly, and doesn't look a day older than twenty (she's actually in her thirties!).

i got a taste of zumba last night after hiphop--my dancemate and i (yes just two of us last night--another plus for the studio is the small class size) were curious about it, and as our instructor was a certified zumba instructor, he gave us a sampling.

(as of today) i like hiphop better.  heh. 

we'll be holding our office team building activity (a.k.a. outing) in baler this may.  i made reservations yesterday and i hope it pushes through.  hello beach, hello waves.  i'm getting myself a long-sleeve surf top this time; tan lines on my skin take forever to fade.

i am still without a digital camera.  it's okay.  i always have a film camera with me anyway--this week i have the lc-a.  here's to film photography!

i'm reading globalization-related stuff again to keep my mind active for that still-nonexistent thesis.  oh my poor academic health.  i'm currently reading pico iyer's the global soul, where filipinos have been mentioned at least ten times already (i'm still at page 150 of 300), in a not-so-new light either as domestic helpers or night entertainment workers.  it's getting boring.  when i get bored enough i just pick up another book, heheh.  the book does reaffirm that filipinas are pretty though.  :P

will i add this to the bunch of books i started but never finished?

anyway, that's about it for now.  high fives all around!