I Wanna Be Like Kanye

Seeing that I picked a rather 'inspiring song' to open up my 2016 posts, allow me to express how inspired and enthusiastic I am for my plans for the rest of the year. This year's mantra is all about "achieving, succeeding, and conquering". I'm kicking off 2016 with photos taken last November wherein I attended my first official work-related event.

Dress: Topship | Shoes: Zara | Earrings and bag: River Island | Watch: Marc Jacobs

When New Year started, I didn't make any resolutions. There's no point in trying to come up with a list that I'll never see through until the end anyway. If I cannot even commit myself to a monthly ritual, how will I  commit to a change in any ritual at all? So, there. Scrap writing New Year's Resolutions. This transitory year is after all the year where I'm up for anything! So screw whatever will bring permanence and embrace all that promote the illusory grandeur. (Note that that's quite a rich statement coming from someone whose major decisions in life are still heavily reliant on her mother!)

If there's one thing that I like the most about my job, it's the fact that I get to talk and be exposed to people who come from all walks of life. One day I get to talk to someone whose achievements in life would inspire me so much so that it'll make me want to brave the vast ocean of opportunities and disappointments just like he did while on the following day, I'll be talking with someone who'll make my darker, condescending side excited. I keep on oscillating between being thirsty for more and grateful for my blessings.

That's our Ambassador behind me, by the way!

I'm quite happy and contented with where I am at the moment, work-wise. I have a good job - it requires for me to constantly think and act on my toes quickly, officemates who treat me as their equal despite being the youngest and newest hire for the past 3 years, applicants who clearly respect me despite looking and being so much younger than they are (although I'm aware that it's only due to the job title), and of course it's a job that pays my exorbitant bills (at least a quarter of it since my parents, aka the most generous persons in the world, "insist" on paying them). Again, I am quite happy and contented with my job, for now.

These photos were taken in Fairmont Hotel last November, during the celebration of the King's Day.

Title's by The Chainsmokers

Photos from others 

Inside the Pocket of Your Ripped Jeans

If it's any consolation, I'm truly becoming very busy. I'm really growing up (figuratively), woohooo!

Top: Zara | Pants and necklace: River Island | Cap and shoes: Adidas | Umbrella: from Hong Kong Disneyland | Watch: Marc by Marc Jacobs

I am among the immediate beneficiaries of the APEC 2015 traffic scheme. I left our office which is located along Ayala Ave, Makati at exactly 4 in the afternoon, got into a car 2 minutes later, then arrived at a village along EDSA 13 minutes after. Under normal circumstances, that's about as possible as me waking up earlier than 10am on weekends (which is almost never save for the instances where I have no choice but be awake earlier). And then from EDSA, my friend and I drove to Antipolo. We reached our destination in only 19 minutes! Again, that's another impossible feat given that we traveled during the supposed rush hour window. We had another easy breezy time going back from Antipolo. To make things even better, I've been waking up at 6:30am to be at work by 8:30 for the past APEC-affected days. I didn't have to be in the Embassy early since we only had a handful of applicants thus making my life as well as those of my colleagues' so much easier than usual. So you see, APEC has been wonderful to me!

When it comes to dressing up, I'm unfortunately among the majority whose options are quite limited owing to different factors. There's this thing about my height, also my build, and then there are my prejudices. Much as I'd like to be among those supermodels who can pass off as beautiful even in sacks, I'm afraid there are certain styles that I won't be able to pull off no matter how hard I try. I'm not the casual Dr Martens-hipster glasses-effortless girl (although I've a pair of Docs as well as an arsenal of fake hipster glasses. I can never consider my style effortless because despite the lazy outfit I don at times, believe me, there's been even just pinch of thought process that went into it. My vision just didn't quite translate well hahahaha) But seriously, I'm sadly not the girl who can look nice in the simplest of clothes. I'm more conscious of how I look when I'm dressed down than when I'm overdressed. Anyway the concept of being overdressed is just that; a mere concept. As what the illustrious Wilde said in one of his works, no one can ever be overdressed or over-educated.

Christmas is arriving and it's making me so excited that my computer at work is playing Christmas songs on loop, in a scandalizing volume that perhaps everyone in the office now knows that there's a Christmas elf amongst their midst. What can I do, my Christmas spirit is stirring! Soon, I'll focus on blogging about Christmas, Christmas, and Christmas!

Photos were taken in Aquaria KLCC
Title's from Ed Sheeran's 'Photograph' (which I've been singing nonstop as well!)

It's Our Time

Not publishing any entries, be it about the recent book I’ve just read or the place I’ve been to or the dates with my friends or the devastating departure of my great grandmom after her month-long battle in the hospital, drains out more ideas from me than say, when I publish in quick succession. I’d have these ideas that at one point mattered (often, they are bordering shallow and pretentious, to be honest) and let them slip away because instead of pouring my brains out about them here, I’d choose to wallow in my misery (i.e. because of my beloved laptop’s untimely death) and refuse to use available substitutes where I can continue with my normal online updates. Now at 10:17AM, I find myself too lazy to function so instead of doing the work that I’m getting paid for, I’ll  spout out incoherent thoughts here.

Dress; Charlotte Ruse (which my grandmom got for me) | Sandals: Topshop | Necklace: Promod | Bag: Juicy Couture

Several weeks ago, I read an article in Levo that concisely describes our generation. To put simply, millennials are best described as selfish, impatient, lazy, and entitled. (Well, at least for me they’re all true.) Perhaps it’s because our generation is raised in a fast-paced environment, where almost every answer is just at the tips of our fingers that it’s frustrating when things don’t go like the way we’ve intended them to be. I think we are the generation that demands too much from others and takes a lot of things for granted. (Like I said, at least these speak of truth about me). On the other end of the spectrum, the article rounds up its points by stating that although these may be true of the Millennials, it’s not to say that we are the good-for-nothing generation. If anything, we are the go-getters. We want things so badly, perhaps fueled by our innate ambitiousness or our tendency to compare ourselves with our neighbors or just because, that we search for short cuts to arrive at our destination earlier than expected. In a few years, I’ll be a quarter of a century old. By then, I’m supposed to be nearer to whoever I wish to be.

Setting aside my pretentious existential crisis for a while, allow me to bombard this blog with photos taken at varying points. I’m going to use whatever photos are left in my arsenal, including the not so recent ones. (I swear it made me so sad to bid adieu to my 2 year old laptop, what with my thousands of selfies stored in it plus my overconfident narratives. Who wouldn’t be disappointed in losing another know-it-all, right?) Anyway. These photos were taken last May in Green Canyon Resort in Subic. It’s only been up and running for a year so although it’s already satisfactory as it is, there are still lots of possibilities. Still, it’s worth a visit.

Cheers to Nights Like This

I wasn't able to babble for weeks here so allow me to be loquacious. August has been an exceptionally busy month. There were weeks where I had to be in the office as early as 6 in the morning just to clear files of the previous days else they will add up to the current day's files which in turn would end up bulldozing me. I don't even remember if I was able to squeeze in an afternoon or evening hang-out with any of my friends since I had to leave the office in the evening as well. And then for the past 3 weeks, my family has always been on alert. My great grandmother, or Inana as how we call her, has been transferred to the ICU for 2 weeks now after being confined in a regular room for a week. Her health has been oscillating from better to worst that we no longer know which is which. My parents and brother are in Quezon province as I type, after having had to rush in the middle of the week due to Inana's recent cardiac arrest while receiving her treatment. My beloved laptop also proved that the built-in battery of a Macbook Pro, no matter how latest the model is, will explode if left charging overnight (no thanks to my brother Gio for proving this theory). There's also the matter with my phone. It has given up on me two weeks ago. I could've easily ran to the nearest phone shop but my schedule doesn't permit me to do so. This weekend, I'm going to Quezon to join my family and relatives in watching over Inana. So friends, I'm terribly sorry if I'm unable to reply to your text messages. I'm still phone-less! But naturally, there were plenty of good events that transpired in August too. I'm growing closer to my colleagues despite my only almost 3 month stay since I got hired. We've gone out a couple of times just to relieve ourselves of stress only people who work in an Embassy know of (I swear it's difficult for someone who's always relied on others to get things done for her, suddenly rise up to the demands of an Embassy). And then, in the middle of the month, I escaped with my Lala and relaxed in a beautiful foreign land. 

Dress, earrings, bag: River Island | Charm bracelet: from Jerusalem, Israel | Ring: Aldo | Shoes: Zara

Due to my jampacked schedule (I know, trust me, it still baffles me how I'm handling the major changes in my supposed grown-up life), I'm slowly transitioning into a shopper who's on the look-out for clothes that are appropriate for my activities from day to night. Something appropriate when I suddenly get called by the Ambassador or the Consul in their offices to explain a few things or when receiving applicants at the counter, or when I still have energy in the evening to go out with friends. But for this particular evening, the highlight of Lala and I's trip (it has to be, since I didn't research for touristic places to go to but I made sure that we've a reservation in the best restaurant in the country), I chose a dress that I would wear if, say, I were to spend an entire day in Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. No kidding, I was thinking of Mirage's attractions such as the volcano or the Secret Garden as the perfect backdrop of my dress. Or or or I could be in another Vegas hotel! Hahaha! But oh well, I'm not complaining even though I was miles away from Las Vegas since after all, I'm in another grandiose place, Marini's on 57 which is located in Petronas Tower 3. I know, I know. There are supposedly only two towers but who am I to argue if the receptionist told me that we're going to Tower 3?

We entered Suria KLCC, the mall under Petronas Towers, to begin our way to our destination. In order to go up to the 57th floor, we had to transfer to 3 different elevators, which was perfectly fine with me! I enjoy the journey that preludes an elegant place. Our server was really nice and guided Lala and I through the menu. We ordered the following: (Note that we weren't able to take photos of the last 2 courses because our phones have already died then. Shame.)

For appetiers:

Ancona fried olives

Apulia burrata, Japanese Momotaro tomatoes & fresh basil

Entrees:

Roasted guinea fowl, fennel, onions, apple & sago tarragon 

Dry-aged Wagyu beef tenderloin with beetroot, cauliflower, polenta & dried mushrooms

Desserts:

Custard Bread

Cotton Candy

Summer chocolate pralines, mixed fruits & gelato served picnic style

I wasn't kidding when I said this in a previous post: Here's to another term infused with mediocre outputs and half-baked enthusiasm, all pieced together with ho-hum objectives. I've always lacked the necessary consistency to carry me through the task. I figured, there is always an easier way out so why go through all the labyrinthine process? But guess what August made me realize? Vacations are even sweeter when an equally tiring and draining work had been accomplished. Guess what the other thing August made me realize? When you give your best, it's easier to dream big. Because at least you know that you're slowly going where you want to be. Take this dinner for example. It's Asia today, who knows where we'll dine tomorrow? :)

Goodbye for now again!

The Last Day of Summer

A few posts ago, I was just talking about how excited I was to see the grown up episode of Phineas and Ferb. Then days ago, what I saw poked my eyes to the point that I couldn't stop "sweating through my eyes". My best friend and I haven't even worn our Phineas and Ferb costumes! (I know what we're going to wear this Halloween, S!)


Dress: Mango | Belt: H&M | Sandals: Zara | Bag: Kipling | Watch: Guess | Perry the Platypus Hat: from Disneyland


SOURCE

I brought my cousin to the mall weekends ago to put a cap on her first week in the big school.

 

My best friend and I love Phineas and Ferb so much so that we have considered naming our to-be-launched shop "Baljeetles". If we won't be able to come up with a more decent, catchy name, then I'm calling dibs on "Baljeet" as early as now.