Remember December

School for this year has officially ended that's why I'm here posting a new blog entry! A lot of things happened to me this month and it's not even the end of December yet.

• December 1: Sunday foodtrip with family @ Yellow Cab & Krispy Kreme then we went to Star City hehehe everything was unplanned 
• Got a new phone! Yay for Samsung Galaxy S 
• UST CHRISTMAS LIGHTS <3 <3 <3 
• Threw a mini surprise for our high school friend
• Dad's birthday dinner @ Max's
• Christmas (Pizza) Party with my blockmates!!!!!!
• Received a flower crown and pens from Lea <3
• PASKUHAN!!!!! <3

Also, VSCO for Android is here! I've been waiting for a long time already and I just can't hide how excited I was when I saw this on Google Play. I downloaded it right away and started editing pictures. Hahaha look!

But even though I'm in the middle of Christmas break, our profs gave us a lot of projects/plates. I'll put them in a list so I won't forget anything :)

• Visual metaphor plate (photography)
• Black and white plate (photography)
• UST folder design (design workshop)
• Own product report (visual design)
• Watercolor plates + prelims (figure drawing)

I dunno when should I start working on them 'cause my problem right now is.. what should I give myself for Christmas? Hahahaha

Cartoons We Grew Up With!

The theme for this year's CFAD week was cartoons from the 90s! I had fun covering the parade and seeing how my favorite cartoons came to life. Say hello to our college's official mascot, Vinci!

Me and my friends made this "Gameboy color" that was used in the float. Too bad we didn't able to take a picture inside the console.

Here are some of photos I took during the parade:

Sesame Street & Aladdin

Toy Story

For the next 4 months x Life

I enrolled for 2nd semester yesterday with daddy and was so surprised that it only took me less than 5 minutes to process everything. Everyone else also noticed that hassle-free enrollment, yay so proud of you UST! Got my schedule for the next 4 months a.k.a. 2nd sem.

I posted this on twitter then my friends noticed the simple design right away. They were like "naks walang triangle/galaxy =))))))) #NotTooHipster #Pastel" and "Bat walang galaxy? Hahaha!!" Oh come on guys, you know I do make designs WITHOUT using galaxies & triangles sometimes hahahaha!

I'm not sure what to feel about my new sched. I mean I really hate 7 am classes, but after two consecutive semesters, I don't have Saturday classes anymore! I was also wishing for a night sched 'cause Christmas lights were already up around the campus, I'm telling you it is really magical <3 Oh well, I can't do anything to change it :(

By the way, there were small happenings that I wasn't able to blog these past few weeks because of my final exams but here are they:

1. Dakasi's Roasted Charcoal milk tea topped Spot.ph's list of best milk tea in Manila and I just had to try it. Went to Trinoma with friends but then they told me that there's a branch of Dakasi just outside our campus lol. Obviously, I ordered Roasted Charcoal and loved it haha though my friends kept on saying that it tasted charcoal- literally and in a bad way.

2. Second BGC date with these people <3 (2nd photo from Leah) Just kidding, we went there to shoot for our Photography class' final requirements. Leah also treated us at Krispy Kreme then we got free honey glazed doughnuts for answering their survey haha lucky us!

3. Our 6th year of joining the La Naval Procession. We were actually required to join every year during high school but I still continue this tradition with my family even after graduating.

Right now, I'm still figuring out how to be productive this sembreak. Hope you guys are enjoying yours! :)

Hire Me!

One of our requirements for Design Theory class is to make a single-fold brochure showcasing our skills, talents and sample works as if we're applying for work. 

I came up with a galaxy theme (cause I love galaxies so much) though I didn't intend to make it look so hipster-ish. I chose my favorite artworks and shots to use in this brochure :)

By the way, SEMBREAK OFFICIALLY STARTS TODAY YAY! Time to catch up on my reading challenge, be an active blogger, sleep and just do whatever I want! Any suggestions on how I can fully enjoy this short break? Hahahaha

Friends friends friends

It's almost finals week! I have tons of things to do from research papers + interviews to plates for different courses. I just can't wait for sembreak to start that's why I'm doing my best with these last requirements so I can just relax when grades come out. Hahahaha

Just a quick update about my life lately through instant photos <3

09182013: Yellow day to support our players (UST) against Ateneo in a do-or-die game for the final four!

Hi there friends (Junice, Yanni, Leah, Eira, Me, Bianca, Chummy & Czandra) We had a hard time finding someone to take these pictures because everyone's hands were so dirty with charcoal hahahaha

09212013: Micka's 18th Birthday celebration!

She only found out that she's having a party week before (I think) so she told us about this only days before the event. All of us wasn't able to buy a gift :( Though it's okay with her hahahahaha maybe we'll just give her something next week.

My favorite high school girlies <3 (L-R Me, Marion, Micka & Jena)

Best stress reliever ever! Hahaha <3

All for the love of Instax camera

I finally bought an Instax Mini 8 last week (09062013) using my own savings! I'm so happy that I was able to cross another item on my 2013 bucket list.

I chose the pink one because I'm so girly lol but seriously, pink will forever be my 1st choice! My mom gave me extra money for the film 'cause my savings were for the camera only. 

And I won't forget to thank Leah & Czandra for accompanying me to the shop! You know I can't go there alone, I'm such a coward when it comes to commuting alone in crowded places. So right after buying, we asked the saleslady to take a picture of us.

Here are the other photos I recently took using my baby:

I actually bought a new pack of film yesterday + I'm waiting for the crystal case I ordered online to arrive. Yay for future adventures! <3

Moonleaf Love

For our Visual Design plates, we're asked to choose a product and create a poster for it. I chose Moonleaf because I love their Wintermelon Milk Tea! Haha! (Moonleaf is a local tea place that offers delicious freshly-brewed tea- check their website for more).

The 1st plate is under the "Heavy copy layout" category wherein the poster contains a lot of words or information about the product/brand. By the way, I got ALL the info from their website.

Got a grade of 96 for this one! :)

Quick shoot turned Family Sundate

I asked the family to accompany me yesterday for a quick shoot for my Photography class. We went to Roxas Blvd hoping for a beautiful sunset but I don't know why it wasn't as breathtaking as I expected. Though the sky still looks pretty against the calm waters.

So we just walked around and take random photos hahaha (1) Mom & Dad (2) Me, Mig & Mom

We intentionally waited for the dark to come 'cause I know night lights look really good in photographs plus this time, I brought my tripod. It was also my first time to shoot cityscape at night! The shots just blew me away (lol I hope my prof will like them hahaha)

Unplanned bonga dinner. Just imagine eating delicious food while overlooking the sea!!!!!!!!! Hay can we please do this once a week? Hahahaha

Can't wait to upload all my favorite shots! Check my Flickr for more :)

A Breath of Fresh Air

I'm currently enrolled in NSTP class this school year and one of the requirements is to go on a fieldwork. Our first trip was last Sunday (08252013) at Brgy. Calawis, Antipolo City. It was actually my 1st time to join a tree planting activity and that experience was too short; the land travel was even longer than the activity itself. :( We're only required to plant 5 trees per person.

Our call time was 6:30 am, too early but I was there on time! Hahaha we left our school at 7:00 after waiting for the others to arrive. I've been to Antipolo City for a couple of times already with the family so I know that it's not that far from Manila.

Here are the photos I took using my phone so excuse the quality.

1.  Arrived at the location. My phone can't detect signals already but the place was beautiful- green everywhere!
2. Kuya taught us how to plant properly. It's really funny when my prof saw that I brought huge plastic spoons instead of hand trowel. 
3. My NSTP classmates planting everywhere. I forgot to bring gloves so I used my bare hands haha it's okay though because hello experience! Hahaha
4. Junice & Bianca! I think this was our first plant so they're still helping each other. 
5. People from other class crossing a stream. Their shoes got really wet! 
6. Cleaning our tools. Look at Bianca holding the spoon that I brought hahaha :)

I also grabbed photos from Bianca's facebook:

(1) Bianca, Me, Eira & Junice (2) Bianca & Me (3) Kuya assisting me while going down that slope, it's scary!

It was a really fun & fulfilling day that I want to experience again. We should always do our best to protect Mother Nature because just like what Gary Snyder said: "Nature is not a place to visit. It is home". 

If not now, when?

I've been stuck at home for almost a week now because of typhoon Maring. As much as I'd like to join voluntary works, I can't, because my parents won't allow me to go out because of the inconsistent and unpredictable weather.

So I just decided to make this day productive since I think classes will already resume tomorrow. I woke up early only to find out that it was still raining. Oh how I miss mr. sun! 

I don't know if you can see it but the rain was pretty hard when I took these photos. 

I exercised right after I woke up. Thank God for good music, I was able to finish my 20-minute goal hahahaha

That doesn't sound so biggie but I really exerted all the courage and efforts to get up from my super comfortable bed + the fact that it was raining so hello bed weather!

My lola bought me my all time favorite "Taho" so I was even more motivated to finish my (exercise) goal so I can finally drink this <3333 Hay heaven though it wasn't that sweet from what I am used to drink before.

Other things I did today: Watched "The Perfect Storm", bonded with my childhood friends, answered my online exams for my NSTP subject and wrote & posted this blog entry! Proudly productive girl over here! Hahahaha

And here's the book I'm currently reading:

Hope you had a productive day! Remember, if not now, when? :) 

ARTsy Tuesday: Meet Talia!

Since it's my free day today, I decided to practice with watercolors! My professor once told us that it's one of the hardest media ever and I just couldn't argue with her. It requires a lot of patience, practice and willingness to learn. 

By the way, her name's Talia (meaning: flowering; gentle dew drops from heaven) I even searched for a pretty name that starts with letter T (because her hair color is "T"eal) hahaha

I know I still need to improve that's why I'm practicing :) But what do you think guys? Hahaha

Inspire Me Monday: Small Bedroom Ideas

I'm actually sharing a bedroom with my brother but since we're pretty grown ups now, we both want to have our very own rooms. We told our parents about this yesterday and I'm so happy that they also want the idea and my mom's unexpectedly excited about it! Lol

Even though it's going to be a small room, I'm super duper eager to decorate it on my own! I even told my mom that I want to paint it myself and she said yes. I can't keep my excitement so I already searched (I actually saved these photos before for future reference) for bedroom ideas and I just had to blog about this! Hahahahahaha

All photos are not mine, I just got them either from Tumblr or Pinterest :)

1. Workspace 

Since I'm an (self-proclaimed) artist, I want my workspace to be the highlight of my room. I want it to be so inspiring that I wouldn't mind working there 24/7. I'm telling you that's possible! Haha

Though I'm not yet sure if I'll go for something clean and modern or

Girly with a touch of Vintage feel. 

Help me choose! Honestly, this entire blog post obviously shouts a big "HELP ME CHOOSE PRETTY PLEASE!" Hahaha

The start of our Analog Adventure

Leah is a really big fan of film cameras even before we attended this workshop. Every time we go to malls, she & Chummy always drag me to Team Manila's shop just to look at the beautiful Lomo cams and to inquire about them. At first, I was hesitant if I want to have one- because I have a lot of things to save money for and I just can't decide which one to buy first. 

The official ticket of the workshop

As we keep on checking different outlets of Team Manila, I realized that I also want my own Lomo cam- but not now. I will first buy my dream 50mm lens then I'll use my other savings for shopping (lol say hi to my inner fashion-conscious self). 

Hahahaha so back to the original topic of this blog post, we (Leah & I) attended a Lomography workshop at Cafe de Seoul (Taft) last July 27. It was an interactive workshop so we're not just listening but also trying the different DIY tips from the speaker- they even provided the materials we used! 

My table during the event (Forgive me for low quality pictures, I just used my tablet's camera)

2nd photowalk: High Street (072213)

Sorry for the title hahaha I know I need to think of something creative next time! Also, I had to include the date 'cause this is an overdue post. I'm having a hard time managing my time between my school works & personal life so I wasn't able to post anything new this past few days. 

For our 2nd plate, we followed Leah's suggestion to go to BGC after class. We rode the PNR (2nd time for me! Haha) and 2 or 3 jeeps I think. We also passed by SM Aura and I really want to go back there and explore the new mall. Hahaha

Not really a new set of people but 2 of our friends from our 1st shoot at MOA didn't join us in our 2nd photowalk :( (l-r) Chummy, Eira, Aviette, Czandra, Yanni & Leah! Ugh I wish someone (or I) brought a tripod so that we can have a decent group picture hahaha

It's been a while, La Mesa Ecopark

I forgot when was exactly the last time I visited this park (maybe 4-6 years ago?) so I always ask my parents to go there again to see if there's anything new. And since I have a new requirement for photography, I told them that the park is the exact place I need for shooting. Hahahaha wise, eh?

As expected, the place is greener than ever! Trees all over the pace, flowers blooming everywhere and people wandering around enjoying the fresh air. Though I got a lot of mosquito bites so don't forget to use insect repellant lotion if you go there.

Golden hour x Fun shoot: Mall of Asia

Last week, our photography prof gave us our very 1st plate so we decided to have a fun shoot at Mall of Asia. I felt really excited because I thought we're going to ride the MOA eye (it's on my 2013 bucketlist and I just can't wait to cross it out) lol. We didn't able to try it though but I definitely had a great time with them!

Say hi to my ever so lovely friends (Chummy, Leah, Eira, Yooan & Derrick)

Mano Po, San Roque festival: Valenzuela City

It's not my 1st time to experience the festival, actually, we watch the parade every year! My mother was from Valenzuela so we have relatives there. Hahaha

In their city, San Roque is known as the Patron Saint of the unmarried so devotees from different parts of the country (& even foreigners) join the "Sayawan sa Calle" hoping to find their true love.

Exploring Historical Churches in Bulacan

Bulacan will always be famous for different historical sites that can be found there. So last Visita Iglesia, my family decided to go to Bulacan (on the day itself) without any plans. We're only armed with mobile internet to search on Google Maps for directions!

Barasoain Church

Also known as Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish

I’ve heard/read a lot about this church but it was actually my 1st time to visit. According to wikipedia, this church earned the titles “Cradle of Democracy in the East”, “Most important religious building in the Philippines” & “Site of the 1st Philippine Republic”.

National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help (March 2013)

Baclaran, Paranaque City, Philippines 

It's a family tradition to visit a church on someone's birthday. So for my lola's day, we went to National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help (popularly known as Bacalaran Church).

Zambales Beach (May 2012)

Subic, Zambales, Philippines