traveler defined....

I almost forgot this pic...

This was taken at Fully Booked sometime February a year or 2 ago. I know that picture taking isn't allowed inside the store but I'm a klepto so "picture stealing" is my thing, sssshhhh. But if my memory serves me right, my sister and I got caught, but we didn't throw much fuzz about it coz i got my desired shot, shamelessly that up there is my "desired" shot. I know I know... but whatever! ..

Enough of the "desired" shot instead let's delve into the essentials behind it. If there's one thing my circle knows about me it's my lust to wander. If I could be anything in this world I'd like to be a nonstop traveler(... or to put it in a single word.. nomad...) Worrying about where to go to next the moment I wake up would be dream come true, for it would mean that I am (literally) moving towards hmmm... somewhere. Although in my own micro-tiny-puny-little way, I consider myself a traveler.
The extent of my definition in the word traveler, lies not on the many (as if) places I've been to, but on the number of places stamped RESEARCHED in my list ! So to cut it short, Yes! I am a traveler... in the virtual world.
It's pathetic I know. But in some weird way I find satisfaction in researching this and that island... how to get to Greece... where to go to in Thailand...or what to expect in Prague and etc. etc. and eventually hurt myself when I get to the HOW MUCH part. It sucks being poor, but it sucks more to be poor and covetous of the worldy things. note to self --> you are rich in your own micro-tiny-puny-little way. smile ;)

Seriously though, researching places has sort of become a guilty pleasure of mine, a hard habit to break. Though as much as I'd like to break of this addiction, I can't, not especially when I have these two sites bookmarked as my faves..

the lonely planet
and
pinoyexchange's travel and leisure forum

Haaaay life... too many dreams... triple the costs! but like I always say, by the power of positive thinking... I too shall someday put to good use my researched infos. Crossing my fingers...

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blog track...

Jamiroquai - Corner of the Earth

Once...

It was a year or so ago since I got acquainted with this movie but it was only yesterday that I came around to watching it. To begin with it was the soundtrack that got me hooked, but now that I've seen it, it's the movie itself that got me passing it forward to 1 or 2 or 3 of my reader/s slash loyal buddies. haha.

Why i like this movie is because of it's very simple plot and the fact that it's not your average girl-meets-boy-and-off-to-wonderlust-kinda-thing. It's very platonic yet very compelling. And if I were to meaningfully dissect it further, I'd say that it's simply about how ONCE in our life's journey we encounter stranger/s who, unknowingly, can lead us back to the track of our destiny. SWELL!!! as in like The Swell Season, the band that stars in this movie... again... SWELL! (wink*)

for ONCE enjoy....

that 4 letter word...

it took a while for me to finish reading the book Odyssey by Homer but there's a reason why only after hours of reading it i picked up the book When God Writes Your Love Story that my good friend Sheengai literally forced me to read...


while the Odyssey is a classical ride of adventure, the latter is a modern day spiritual journey. what connects them though is that the latter book was able to use excerpts from The Odyssey to get its point across. and i just simply love how i can relate to what the authors were talking about. like if the authors and i were sitting across each other and discussing about it, i'd be nodding my head in a frenzy and say "LIKE I SO KNOW THAT, IN FACT IT'S IN THE PAGE BLAH BLAH OF THE ODYSSEY!"... but truth of the matter is, i'm not nerdy enough to remember such bookish details.... or if i am, i'd be a total social misfit in the nerdy world.. ha!

on a serious note, When God Writes Your Love Story (such a long title therefore i shall abbreviate it to WGWYLS... hmmm still kinda long) made me remember about a conversation with my wise Dad. not long ago he once said that the measurement of a person's success in life is in his/her choice of lifetime partner, because from there everything will fall into place. that's why he told us that it is very important to pray for your future husband / soul mate. it's kinda cheezy to think and even discuss about it, but when your parents set such a good example then you can't help but think otherwise.

i have to admit that issues like love and relationship can be a sensitive topic for me to touch on because there are some points that i feel strongly about. such that i believe that there's nothing wrong when you set such high standards coz if you know your worth or your value as a person then you should expect nothing less. i know it might sound too cocky but don't we all need to be cocky for a change?. a friend of mine even once told me that i can be too idealistic, but what most of us fail to realize is that perfection is in the ability to harmonize with imperfections of others, and grow in contentment with it. and it's just a matter of time before that imperfect person bumps into your life ready to compliment your own imperfections.

perhaps i'm just inlove with the idea of love or that my feet are just swept off by the cloudy romanticism in my head, but to simply put it in words, as what another friend of mine once said, people get what they deserve. I just hope that majority of us wake up one day and realize that we deserve nothing but the best.

frankly, i'm not the most ideal person to talk about this kind of melting cheezy thing called LOOOOVE... but when you know what you want, therefore you know what you're talking about.

but because that four letter word is such a universal topic full of intertwined complications... let me just leave you with a funny little irony of faith from the movie Alex and Emma...

"i know in my heart that i am the right man and i know that the perfect woman is out there. someone who's smart funny and beautiful, but here's the tricky part, interested in me."

love love love

WGWYLS... highly recommended...


thanks for forcing me to read it sheengai...you just got yourself into my team... if you know what i mean ;)

****
blog track for the future love...er...

Glen Hansard- Falling Slowly by verticalexit

color my world...

because i am not the most colorful person in the world, i am on a mission to prove my friend, Ciarra (who by the way is the most colorful-lisa-frank-esque-person in my world), that i can be as bold as i can be. so...

Shock-your-eyes!!!!!!


my nails...

but don't stare at it for too long coz you might get dizzy, and keep your expectations at low coz that's the farthest i could go -- for now.
but for the record, i have nothing against colorful achoo choo choo. in fact i like looking at them for they make the world a little more whimsical than it already is. however, as much as i hate to admit it, i strongly believe that there are only a handful of the lucky ones who can pull off a colorful ensemble together. and unfortunately, i belong to the unlucky ones.
on the second thought, there's a real purpose to my bland, safe, boring and etc. etc. taste and that is to provide comparison. for without us --> bland, safe, boring and etc. etc. people, there would be no one to appreciate the splash of colors in this world and envy those who can pull it off... right?! wink! ;)

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blog track:

Jonsi - sticks and stones

2 or so weeks ago...

2 or so weeks ago, the 3 little pigs had a drive down south. it was fun, it was cool and it was tadaaah!....spontaneous! but forgive if this story is kinda delayed, coz the other pig got a little lazy with the uploads... but then it's easy to forgive that pig when it was him who drove our way to the south and stopped at our favorite spot....

somewhere in Barili, Cebu... (i think?!)

favorite spot in the whole of Cebu. I could just sit here all day long and be catatonic. well not really, coz i'll surely be swaying my head to the hits of jack johnson while sipping some cold cold cold beer. haaaaay that spot.... could make me lie about my ability to be catatonic....


the spot may have made us giddy with excitement, but it was surely this pig's playlist that made us giddy all through out the ride. and as much as i hate to admit it, this pig got helluva playlist! his song choices is probably the reason why i'm friends with him, because without him i'd have no one to steal music from. i think that's your real purpose in my life piggy P... so don't ever let go, unless of course, you'll leave your playlist behind ;)


i've never been to basdaku in maolboal, and i've never tried stopping by the "kadaruhan" just to have that picture perfect pictorials! dancing in the middle of the road to cam whore and getting occasional BEEEEEEEPPPPs from tricycle drivers passing by isn't embarrassing... just CRAZY! but that's understood coz i had the crazy pig with me who only-God-knows-why-i-heart-to-death!!! now thinking about it, i think there must have been something she placed in that sandwich she bribed us 7 years back.... hmmmm....


but looking at these pictures, i guess it's really me who attracts all sorts of craziness in this world. but with these pigs... who wouldn't go loco ?!

so the three lil' pigs left their shadows behind, hopped on the car...

and chased the sunset like madpigs in competition with nature.

2 or so weeks ago... that was how i kicked off the summer of 2010 and i can't wait for the next one ride... ;)

****

soundtrack of the day:

Florence and the Machine - Dog Days Are Over by Welcome Hunters

hushhhh....

I've never been fond of anything mainstream. I detest it. I abhor it. Especially when it comes to music.

I don't listen to the radio so I don't know what's "IN." I work hard at discovering unknown artists and cool songs (trust me, clicking my way through youtube and different sites can be very stressing to my index finger). That's why I take very serious precaution by not sharing my likes too much. But today, I feel generous, so I'll share the current faves on my playlist. You may have heard some of it, others you may not. Nonetheless, in exchange for my generosity, I beg of you to keep it all HUSH HUSH and keep it between the two parties...You and Me.


Snow Patrol. HEARTBREAKING. almost all their tracks can easily be the soundtrack of your life. or slash life... make it love life!
Fiona Apple. CAPTIVATING. pure artistry beyond words!
The Weepies. FEEL GOOD. the kind of songs you wanna wake up to or take a long drive with. :)
Angus and Julia Stone. LAID BACK. i don't know if there's anyone who'd agree with me on this particular feeling or thought. but their kind of songs are super laid back that it reminds you of the sepia color. i know. how can a track possibly remind of you a color!. silly but true. listening to their songs just brings back sepia moments. moments that were unhurried and precious.
Slackstring. BEACHY. imagine laying on the sand, sipping piña cola, looking up to the blinding sun, and listening to your mp3 with their songs on. scene - PERFECT.
Tycho. ORGASMIC. actually it's chill, but i love that word orgasmic, so orgasmic it is. hehe. the kind of tracks that gives you a certain kind of high just like moby's. it makes you wanna lay under the blanket of stars do nothing but just stare at them till they become stars no more. that kind of high!.

***

So there. Before I end this blog, let me remind you once again. Between you and me... HUSSSSSSSSSH.

strolling in MANILA...

2010. First Stop. MANILA.

"Well, I felt like having a coffee so I flew to the Capital"....riiiiight! wish I could say this, but I highly doubt that I would ever be able to say such a thing AT ALL! Because no. 1, I am very much aware of my lowly disposition in this so-called "social stratum" and no.2, I never liked coffee.

Despite the way it looks, my sister and I went to Manila for a very important reason, however let's just say that the seriousness of the business never hindered us from taking advantage of the chance to enjoy the less serious matters. And it all began with...

Yup. That's it right there. The Manila Ocean Park, which by the way we mistook as the Manila Sea World. No wonder why those people were clueless when we were asking for directions. Silly us!

Truth be told, ever since I've been to Sentosa's Sea World, I've already developed this adversity towards the concept of keeping animals away from their natural habitat. I strongly believe that living things in any form should be given the freedom to enjoy the comforts of their destined world. Or maybe I'm just getting sentimental remembering those sharks crammed in an aquarium small enough for their growing bodies. Still the concept just doesn't give justice to the ecology of things. But....

I have to admit, seeing those odd-looking-colorful creatures brings out the annoyingly wide-eyed kid in me. And that admission just cost me the model citizen award from PETA. Oh well, I guess I'm just not a model material. LOL.

On the other hand, speaking of hands, my idle hands seemed to enjoy themselves very much. It's as if they started breathing a life of their own every time it reads a HANDS OFF PLEASE sign. It's either the neurons on the brain of my fingers are working in reverse or it simply just doesn't understand the word please. Good thing it didn't get us in trouble except for a few cold stares. Also...

it's good to know that the aquariums are big enough for the fishes and their friends to hang out and chill around. Those creatures are cool. In fact they're so cool that you couldn't help but goof around with them. But since they couldn't smile for the camera with me I found myself other living creatures to goof around with. Presenting...

"ang mga walang kamuwang-muwang na mga bata." I actually asked permission from their teacher to pose with some her students, the moment she agreed the kids started to line up ready to smile for the camera when...

I said: Look! (pointing at the hovering sting rays above)
Boy in the middle: Punta tayo don ate? (with all innocence)
I said: Hindi, pampapicture lang.
Almost all kids : Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhh....

Click. There goes the shot.

By the way to that one kid, I can tell what your future would be like... haha. Anyway...

the next stop was the FISH SPA. I forgot the name but I think they were doctor fish or fish doctor, either way they're all therapeutic. My sister and I were looking forward to this part of the package, because clearly we've seen it on TV and as everyone knows TV is very influential. The experience was very tickling. Because of our very ticklish nature, my sister and I spent a few good minutes laughing so much in between dipping our feet then pulling it away before we finally got the hang of it. I think that's the reason why we felt cheated of our 20 minutes.

Just a short story, based on the info posters hanged on the wall. This kind of fish therapy was discovered by accident in Turkey when a shepherd took a rest from his work and dipped his feet in the water. Then he felt that tickling sensation coming from the fishes and realized that it did some bodily good. So he spread the word about it till reached the Philippines, particularly the Ocean Park.

Now I feel like breeding this kind of fish at home, but still, I'll always ALWAYS prefer...

the jellyfish. I LOVE the jellyfish. They are the most magical, hypnotic, amazing, wonderful and everything good adjective in the dictionary. I'm falling in love with them all over again. I want to bring them home. Next to dolphins they're the pet that I impossibly want to have. I maybe bias to say this but trust me... MUST VISIT in the ocean park is dancing jellyfish area. It's a room full of all kinds of jelly fish dancing gracefully to its different glowing colors. AMAZING. This is the finale that made me say the Ocean Park was worth it.

Anyway...

after leaving behind my precious jellies, my sister and I walked around Luneta. ooiiiiiii strolling2x sa Luneta. Finally I knew how it felt to be strolling in Luneta. If I had a date we would definitely be HHWW(holding hands while walking) to compliment the famous scenery. Maybe next time... haha

Luneta was vast. I never expected it to be that vast. I finally saw the postcard perfect Rizal monument and inhaled some nationalistic vibe. It was nice, but I'm just disappointed that the grass in the park is not green, in fact it's balding that it you're just stepping directly on a brown soil and some brown grass or weed?... Perhaps I just expected too much. But generally, that's what I noticed, our parks here are not green it's very different from the ones we see on TV, again TV is very influential. tsk tsk.

The next day...

INTRAMUROS!... I love this antiquated inner city. My sister had been there once before so she acted as my tour guide, without much historical information to share, except for pointing out the Manila Cathedral and San Augustine Church.

The Manila Cathedral was grand! I love it!. It's probably the grandest church I've ever scene. It's architecture is very baroque that it's simply just a feast to the eyes. Just looking at the cathedral made me imagine what awaits in SPAIN or PRAGUE or other European countries that invests so much on architecture. Maybe when that opportunity to visit comes I would have architecture-gasm!

What I love most about it, aside from the surrounding old buildings, is their pebbled roads. It reminded of Vigan and how I still have yet to go there. Kalesas are still there and so are the kutseros in Barong Tagalog. very cute.

But nothing could beat our favorite transportation, our feet. Because just around the corner it took us to...

the SAN AGUSTINE church. The outside was just ok looking not that grand compared to the cathedral but the inside, bling! bling! Literally bling! bling!. Inside is their museum that stores all the gold, ivory, silver, porcelain and other valuable remnants of the old rich friars slash church. You can just imagine the great divide between the filthy rich church vs. the dirt poor nation. Now I can fully grasp Rizal's ranting. haha.

With all the riches inside the church you'd be tempted to take a golden cup home, but the only thing that might prevent you from doing so is the fear of being haunted. There are times when you feel eerily haunted that you just can't last that long in certain areas, like the columbarium. My imagination and feelings probably got in the way that I never spared time to search for the vault of the famous GOMBORZA. Nonetheless...

The seriously dark aura of the church never prevented us from making fun with our shadows. I have to give credit to their natural lighting. hehe. So...

we continued with our wanderings on foot till we got to the muralla, or the great walls of the olden city. I love it there. It's kinda similar to Fort San Pedro but only way way way longer. I insisted that we experience the MRT and LRT ride, so I practically forced my sister on a tortured walk, relying only on the directions of the strangers saying "doon" o "dyan"...

It was quite an exercise, but the view from the walls was pretty good. From the golf course to the university belt to the buildings and etc2x. It was helluva experience! Especially on the part when we had to walk in the smelly deserted underpass just to get to that LRT. Your defensive instinct could easily be awaken and so is the wish you studied martial arts.

Luckily with only a bit of physical challenge, squeezing in between bodies at the LRT and MRT, we finally arrived at Greenbelt. It was only then that we realized that Greenbelt was really far from where we've been and we only had my cousin to blame for that.

At least we were rewarded with a good dinner at CONTI's, a highly recommended resto and the MANGO BRAVO as the highly recommended dessert!. Nam Nam. that cake was soooo good and price so reasonable.

Toured a bit or their malls and makati park before heading off to sleep.

It was my second time to be in Manila, but my feelings towards it still hasn't changed. I can never picture myself living in the crowded Manila. But, to quote unquote my sister...

"I LOVE HOW MANILA MAKES ME YEARN FOR CEBU"

:)