a cup can make me :)

12 hour shifts are something my body has to adjust to or another speeding ticket on my way home will just make me broke. Yes, I got a speeding ticket going on 58 miles per hour on a 45 mile speed zone, which I wasn't aware of because I was just exhausted and driving like a horse with blinders on. Commuting to Weho from the valley is killing my patience as well, so it's a given of why I got a speeding ticket. I'm just anxious of how much speeding tickets cost because nowadays the government has evil ways to take my money when I "break" the law. In the midst of ending a semi decent day of hard work to the shits, I treated myself to nice cup of tea with my new tea/coffee cup Hamtaro. The hamster puts a smile on my face for some reason and so it relaxes me. It maybe the tea, but I like to believe Hamtaro's cuteness has some aphrodisiac effect on me.

american presidents

I stumbled upon this picture in flickr and it will direct you to the artist who cleverly illustrated the history of American presidents. Yup yup, change.

peruviana

Woo hoo, I finished sprucing up my flickr account and added my fotos from my short little adventure in Peru. I've been slow in updating this blog, but I try to make my posts as interesting as possible but like everyone else in this world, there are lots of days spent doing mundane things, and who wants to blog about it? My most memorable days of October was when I trekked out to Peru. It was a mixed of emotions when I went since it would be um, gosh I don't remember, but I traveled by myself again. I didn't really want to go on my own to Peru, but plans change and so I went because when I set my mind into going somewhere, I usually go. It was an adventure indeed since I got to speak my bad Spanish, experience high altitudes of the Andes, eat alpalca meat and buying anything alpalca (ie. sweaters, beannie, gloves, socks etc.), and experienced Machu Picchu. Enough said, enjoy my pictures via flickr.

frisco fun

My sister, cousin and I decided to head up north since we were all off from work for 3 days. It was kinda my idea since I wanted to see Frida Kahlo's exhibit and we all love the unique shops up there, it was meant to be. There were some memorable moments, like lost reservations and panic to where we are going to sleep. So with all that ishness, we were able to get a room at the Maxwell Hotel for a 4 star price in 2 star accommodations (never again)! The upside about the Maxwell Hotel is the location. We were near everything and we were always out and about, so it wasn't a big deal if the place was getting remodeled and the sheets have holes in them. A lesson learned from this experience is never buy into that "hook it up" thing unless I see a reservation number, a last name of the friend, and I gave my money up front for this hook up and even then it seems shady business. Other than the drama, it's always good times in frisco.

peru

Peru is in my top list of travel destinations because of the architectural wonder, Machu Picchu. The days when I'm up early, I watch the Today show, and a few years back they were doing this special "Where the heck is Matt Lauer?", and he was in Machu Picchu that one day. I was just in awe of how beautiful Machu Picchu was on t.v. and I made sure I would see it in my own eyes. You don't think about it for a while and you even visit other places on your mental list. Then you start to think when is it going to happen? Well, I will visit this sacred place this year, next month in fact. It's just fitting because I will start my new job late October, and I wouldn't be able to travel anywhere until next year. I'm just excited it's actually going to happen because planning a vacation can be a tedious process and an itinerary can get expensive I might add. I'm just happy I still live at home so I can take off to places without worrying about paying rent, and I have been rollin' around the same car since high school can be a plus too. Nevertheless, oh so excited for my trip to Peru next month!

meiko @ borders

My sister actually introduced me to her music, which is adorable I might add. I found out that she would be at the Hollywood Borders to perform and sign her new album. So I called up a friend, enjoyed some overpriced (but delicious) tapas @ his hood, and then we were off to see Meiko. It was only Meiko, her amazing voice and skills on guitar. The show was nice and intimate. I was able to get her to signed my cd with a tribute to my sister who couldn't join along and enjoy some good music.

moca free thursdays

Lately I've had tons of time to kill because school mode is officially over and somehow your suppose to get back to life mode in a snap of a finger. When I was in school, my mantra would be "When I'm done, I have to do this, or that, or go here...", quiet difficult with my limited resources and gas prices nowadays, I have to really think if I should trek out to San Mo or even the farmer's market on Fairfax. Nevertheless, downtown L.A. is fairly close to my house and MOCA is free on Thursdays after 5pm. I have been meaning to catch the current exhibition of Marlene Dumas because, a) she currently resides in Amsterdam, so there would be lots of racy art, and b) get myself out of this San Fernando Valley heat!

Reflection of the art: Not as racy as I thought. I like her themes of children, pregnant women, the dead, and the female nude, but she could have pushed the envelope a bit more. There weren't as provocative as MOCA made it out to be and it was a bit dreary, but not dreary enough to make me swoon. Overall, you really can't go wrong because it was free and I got to do something different in a late afternoon.

target

Back to school target ads I saw on the myspace log in page. It took a bit of quick action on command keys (shift apple 4) to take pictures of these four symbols. Adorable aren't they?

eames stamps

A sucker for collectible stamps and a fan of anything Eames. Since I can't afford to buy an Eames lounge chair or anything designed by them, stamps are the next best thing. Yup, I still send my bills via postal service. I can't seem to switch to paperless because I like stamps so much. If I worked at a billing place and all I did was open mail, I would definitely be those people who save nice looking stamps. One of my favorites were the Star Wars and DC comic super heroes collections and now these Eames stamps.

coldplay, viva la vida tour

It was great to see them again. A fan since the first album, Parachutes. A bit skeptical about the Viva concert since the album is such a departure from their original sound. There are some awesome tracks, but are they experimenting or what!?! Nevertheless, I heard some oldies and goodies on Tuesday night.

summer skin

A long haitus since I have been caught up with school and left brain thinking. 

I had a time to relax and enjoy DCFC before I embark for some more left brain thinking.

wicked birthday

will write a blog about it... hopefully I will have time.  Oh so good!

cebu, philippines

I finally have a chance to blog about my journey to my homeland.  It has been 21 years since I have been back to Cebu, Philippines, my birthplace.  I was excited about seeing Cebu in my own eyes and nervous about the lack of the Visaya I know.  I can understand Visaya, but trying to speak is a challenging thing.  In conversing with my cousins, I became comfortable speaking Visaya and even had guts to ask random vendors or people speaking my native tongue.  I luv the Philippines and truly luv Cebu.  It was nice to reconnect with cousins who I hadn't seen in years.  I regret not going at an earlier age, but living in regret is dangerous.  I am happy that I was able to visit at this age and time.  As an adult, you tend to see the world in a different perspective and deeply too.  I have seen other places in the world and it makes me more appreciative of where I come from and where I am.  I also I got to see Banaue, the home of the rice terraces.  A goal of mine to see if I ever do visit Philippines and what a journey it was to get there.  It's a 9 hour bus ride from Manila, and getting to the terminal was even drama.  Nevertheless, My sister and cousin Ye Ye were able to see the 8th wonder of the world, world heritage.  We weren't able to stay the night since our schedules were so packed with activities.  But I was just blown away how beautiful the area was and how fresh the air is.  We were able to visit the Batad rice terraces and see the Ifugao people living off their own land.  The Ifugao people are beautiful and proud; life is simple and disease free.  They have no DM, HTN and CA because everything they eat is natural and stress in nonexistent.  When I am fortunate enough to visit Philippines again, I will stay in Banaue for 3 days and also experience living in Batad for the night.  It would be grand.

One thing that really saddened me during my trip was actually at the tail end when we made a stop in Manila.  Manila is bigger and more industrialized.  I expected it, since Manila is the capital of Philippines.  I was looking forward to seeing Makati as well.  I have spoken to people and they have raved about how modern and westernized Makati is.  I was blown away seeing that Makati can exist in Philippines.  Many business people truly invested in Philippines and I say thank you.  What was disturbing about Makati and Manila was how I saw the people divided greatly between the rich and poor.  It made me sick how the rich are richer and the poor are so much poorer.  The Makati facade doesn't match the majority of the peoples' incomes.  My cousins telling me that the age limit to for a decent job is 25 years old.  After the age of 25, your old and good luck finding a decent job.  Some of these jobs are contracted with no benefits and last for only 6 months.  The worker with more experience is ostracized and the newly grad will most likely be hired.  My sis and I wonder around the Ayala mall in Makati and fall deeper into Glorietta 3 and 4 and saw the truly rich.  The rich that can afford to eat in a restaurant with American dollar prices.  The rich sippin on Starbucks, when the price of a cup a joe can be a good meal in SM mall.  The rich shopping in LV and Gucci, with pesos.  It was a crazy realization.  I hope there will  be change. 

Nevertheless, Philippines is an amazing country, especially the island of Cebu.  More pics in my flickr account, click here!

finally...murakami!

The last day of 2007, I got to see some Murakami.  The exhibition was very enjoyable due to lots of colors and of course some L.V.  When those bags came out, I never was a fan.  It's strange how much value the bags have become since they were displayed as art at the exhibit.  I always liked the cherry pattern though.  I never knew the cherries had faces on them, so darn cute.

Also, shutterfly offered some free 3x5 cards again... oh so took advantage anything free.