Late Night Shenanigans

It'll be December by tomorrow and I can't help but get giddy just by thinking of what this year's Most Wonderful Time of the Year has in store for me!! 

Blazer and shoes: H&M | Inner top: Topshop | Shorts: Zara | Gloves: from night market in HK | Bag: Michael Kors

My birthday wish for 2016 was all about starting new things and seeing more of the world. How lucky I've been to have both of my wishes come true! I've started ARKIPELAGO with one of my trusted friends Tatiana and I've gone on numerous trips for the past 11 months (and I'm still about to go somewhere this December for the Holiday), at least numerous enough with what my approved absences allowed. Speaking of which, this post is somehow a bit of both. Last February, I went to Hong Kong with my fellow simple girls Tatiana and Abby, and Tats' boyfriend Ron. We coincided this trip with Tats' birthday as well as the pre-launching of ARKIPELAGO.

For our 1st night in HK, we had dinner in Budaoweng Hotpot Cuisine. Then we proceeded to Lan Kwai Fong to get everyone in the mood that dictated the rest of how the trip went: chill and up for anything. I'm a very easy person to travel with, honest! We're all quite chill persons to travel with for that matter so we decided to call ourselves The Simple Girls. Cause you know, we don't require to be fed in fancy restaurants all the time. We get by with food from a decent place and we definitely wouldn't mind buying off from the 10HKD-per-shot lady who's selling it along the street in between the bars in Lan Kwai Fong. Just the same, we wouldn't mind receiving drinks from friends of friends who turn out to be the actual owners of one of said bars. Or we're up for it even if we'd have to buy for ourselves the 120HKD-per-shot tequila just because we can't wait for the friend/owner to arrive. See, we're chill and up for anything right!

I will post about the rest of my HK trip last February in a couple of months. And I promise that I won't leave the blog without any post in December so, later 'gator!

High School Forever

Oh would you look at that! It seems that I owe myself a couple of posts since I have pretty much been quiet here since 2016 began. Let me post two successive entries (the first is this and the next one will be in a couple of days!)

I figured, I've left the blog untouched since my last birthday post so why not continue with another birthday post! These photos were taken last 16 January when I held an overnight celebration with some of my favorites from High School.

6 years after graduating from High School and everyone's still as indecisive, impulsive, ignorant, shallow, and boisterous as when we left the halls of our beloved High School Alma Mater.

Once I was Twenty Years Old, My Story Got Told

Oh my goodness, time! I know I have so little regard of you but must you really fly before my eyes so quickly? I'm still reeling in from my birthday celebrations last January and here we are, almost at the open of May. Give me some leeway here; everyone knows how self-centered and self-serving my January posts have always been owing to it being my birthmonth Hahahaha

Dress: Topshop | Bag: Michael Kors | Watch: Tag Heuer | Shoes: Zara| Laurel headband: from China Town in Malaysia

I celebrated my birthday with my family, friends, and officemates separately. I'll begin with posting my celebration with my family. Since I was, yet again, the center of the night at that time, I got to choose where I wanted to eat. For my special day, we ate at Cafe Ilang Ilang in Manila Hotel.

Once I was seven years old
My Mommy told me that if I do my best and study hard, I would succeed in life. Back then, to succeed in life meant to get a new Barbie or Polly Pocket or another Sylvanian. That's why I studied hard, ate the vegetables on my plate, and obeyed everything that my parents asked of me. 

Once I was eleven years old
I think it was around that time when my Mommy had to explain to me how there are people who would always fare better than I do just as there will be a select few whom I'll end up besting out. It's not that I failed to give my best. It's just that, their best is better than my best. Then again, I didn't fully understand it. Because when you live in a world where everyone around you, from the Grandmothers to our beloved angels (most notably my beloved Ate Lea whom all of my friends from grade school until college know of), tells you that you are the best, you somehow end up believing in them. 

Once I was twenty years old
As far as I remember, the only time I dedicated my focus on studying was when I was in Nursery and in 1st grade. That's it. I never experienced the hardships of studying in college because I'm probably among the laziest and "chill" student there ever was. College life has been very kind to me. Even my thesis let me have a good time save for that 1 week of writing and revising. So now's really the first time I exerted this much effort. Perhaps the reason I'm having a difficult time coping with my demanding day job, attention-seeking side jobs, and equally time-consuming personal activities is the fact that I've never been prepared for this kind of burden. I'm too young to be burned out and I'm definitely not complaining about all the things that are genuinely keeping me busy for months now. It's just that, my 2016 is proving to be a good yet taxing year. It's making me think back to those times when I'm supposed to have learned how to budget my time and work on as many things in my life simultaneously as I possibly could. It's too late for regrets though. All in all, I still consider myself lucky for what the universe is throwing at my way. Never mind the thousands of regrets that I have, I am yet to redeem myself in the future.

I do not fear the future in general especially since I have high hopes for a good one. But I greatly fear having life pass me by. I fear passing on from opportunities just because I didn't have the guts to leave my comfort zone. I fear entering the late part of my life knowing that I do not have any fruits to reap. I'm most afraid of retiring without having anything to secure the 'things that I'm trying to build now'. I've never been the type who has written her Life Plan but I've always been the girl who, like so many others, wants to leave a mark. 

Sometimes there are songs so nicely written that they seem like they're a piece of poetry. My friend and I have been singing this song plenty of times just to remind us why we can't stop.

Title's from Lukas Graham's 7 Years

And Yet Don’t Look Too Good Nor Talk Too Wise

Just like how the Kardashians are successful in creating their image as a gigantic brand owing to their special talent which is... which is uhm... oh right, vanity (I can watch them endlessly though!), Christopher Nolan is a brand all on himself. He has distinguished himself for telling stories through movies that continuously aim to expand the viewer's area of knowledge. I like him because his respect for the audience is visible in the quality of his films. The fact that he assumes that the audience is intelligent enough to understand the complex machinations of the mind is a clear indication of how he regards us, mere mortals. I watched Interstellar with my brothers 2 weeks ago. I'm not sure if I completely understood all the scenes but it makes me excited in what the distant future has in store for this planet. The overused time traveling plot my favorite movies have employed has finally been awarded a background that's close to being explained in pure scientific words. I wouldn't even elucidate what I believed was the film's universal message for fear of incorrectly overlooking more valuable scenes in favor of the parts that appealed to my humble understanding more. I got even more invested in the film the moment Professor Brand bid the astronauts adieu with Dylan Thomas' Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night. It's good to meet a poem our HS teachers made us interpret in a set-up that's fitting of what the villanelle was originally intended for - to encourage someone who's facing an inevitable death to not easily succumb to it. The moment Brand used the poem as his goodbye, it had been a telltale sign that the mission wasn't meant for a return. Clever use of literature, right? Nolan, my friends.


I logged in my defunct Twitter account just to look for these tweets. (Who am I kidding? I logged into my account that day because I did the most evil act I can ever do. Don't make me mad, else, I'll tweet about you but I won't tag you. I'm wicked. Mwahahahaha seriously, Twitter makes me laugh)



Black top: Zara (thanks S!) | Shorts: Topshop | Wool wrap: from Australia (thanks Lala!) | Shoes: Zara | Ring: Aldo
I had a long day going in and out of malls as early as 10am and lasting through the night where I had celebratory drinks until just an hour shy away from Cinderella's curfew so comfort played a huge key. Of course I couldn't stop myself from wearing this heavy winter hoodie which my Lala gave me years ago but only remembered now because wearing 100% comfortable clothes is not a good thing as well. Hahahaha.


Last Saturday was an extremely busy yet memorable day for me. I ran around Makati malls trying to fix what I can fix for the Pacquiao fight as ordered by my Dad while squeezing in quality time in the form of a fast yet satisfying lunch in Apartment 1B in Rockwell with my college favorites Lina and Tin. (Kristina, I miss you!!! You have no idea how much sense you put into my scattered brain. Don't be a stranger!)



I've been collecting stickers for the Starbucks planner for a good one week already so I had to drag her there and sat down for a gratifying discussion. When my break was over, I went back to fulfilling the rest of the day's requirements.

Come 4PM, not a minute early nor a minute late, I met up with my best friend in Rockwell. See, in our friendship, there's this special bond that can never be cut all because it's entangled around another person who for almost a year, refused to have any contact with either of us. It could've been an easy break but how do two girls cut ties with a person who has made an impression on them despite only being with them for 4 days? That's rare and in this case, we wanted (desperately, unrelentingly) to believe it's because we're meant to be friends with that person for a really long time. Ha!


As we were capping off the night with the usual drinks in Taft, the unexpected happened. Perhaps we're a little inebriated or the Christmas season is kicking in that we finally mustered the guts to reach out to the person whom we feel emotionally albeit abnormally attached to. We waited for an hour before the person responded to our incessant messages which led to another round of drinks we referred to as the celebratory bucket. Hurrah! We're almost back together! We waited for a year to receive the person's forgiveness, dissected what happened and discussed hypothetically various scenarios, and finally got the permission to call the person on the person's phone. That's victory for us! (Notice how messily I veered away from the use of pronouns? Haha)

To sober up before we separated, we walked along Taft all the way to Starbucks. I've completed the 18 stickers!


I used a line from Rudyard Kipling's IF as guide on how to attack this post. How did I do? (wink wink)

Kicking It Old School

I seldom publish entries that are only about what I did with my friends on a certain night. Especially if it's only the usual drinking sessions. With the exception, of course, if it's my birthday that we're celebrating. Anyway. These photos were taken last 25 April at my best friend from elementary's house. The last time I saw all of my classmates from elementary, I was on the stage receiving my diploma for having graduated 6th grade. When my best friend invited me to attend her send-off party (as she's about to migrate to US come 5th of May), I was hesitant. I haven't had any decent conversation with any of them let alone have quick Hi - Hello chats with the rest. I didn't know how I'm going to act around them. Granted that most of the attendees that night were my close friends as well, I couldn't discount the fact that we were close friends when we were practically starting to jump from being loud playful grade-schoolers to shy awkward teens. Who knows what happened to each of us the rest of our High School and college lives. But I figured, her despedida party wouldn't only be a venue for me to wish her well but also remind the others that I'm not as distant as they were accusing me of. (Trust me, I'm not really aloof. I just happen to function in a time-zone of my own where universal time is normally suspended. Haha!) 

Thanks for all the photos, Tin!!!

It was awkward at first. But you know what I ultimately realized? There was a reason we became friends in the first place. And that's it's because of them that I enjoyed my elementary life. I kind of regret not doing this earlier. It's always been a riot with them. I guess it's going to be like that forever :)