Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from my three nephews!!
(T-B) Luis (as a soldier), Diego (as Fred Flinstone), and Don (as a gladiator) :)

Philippine Fashion Week

So for the whole week, editors of noted (fashion) magazines, celebrities and their beaus, fashion bloggers, photographers, stylists, trendsetters, and 'fashionistas' alike and in their own right charged on to SMX for the Philippine Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2012 collection.

My very first experience with this was while I was still an intern for STATUS Magazine. At first, I really wasn't that excited because, personally and honestly, I don't have that eye for fashion. It's not really one of my strong points. But it was a privilege to go in the name of STATUS Magazine.

There were perks: seeing the designers' remarkable collections, front row seats for most of the shows (Read: half-naked male models, up close. Yummy), easy access, early entrance. I wouldn't call it VIP treatment but it was definitely fun to have my first PFW experience like that.

And of course there were downsides: Running from one show to another, getting pictures from the photographers, processing, watermarking, blogging/writing... all in high heels. It was a crazy whirlwind blur last season. But come to think of it, I wouldn't really call it a downside since I had the time of my life even for just that one week.

 My internship ended three months ago but I still maintained that close relationship with the people that I've met there - even though I don't get to party with them most of the time. My fellow intern, Zoe (thebandaiddiaries), was already absorbed as part-time. They invited me to attend Fashion Week with them, but with lack of funds, I could only attend one.

And that one day, they asked me to dress as Tinker Bell, for they randomly decided to declare the sixth day of Philippine Fashion Week as Peter Pan Day. Read more for photos!

Full Stage

STATUS Magazine
August 2011

When they're not managing tattoo parlors or art galleries, hip-hop band MISYONARYO sends good vibes through music, making it a point to "spread positive vibes, friendship, peace, [and] love to everybody," says vocalist Kodah Godarzi.

What are you waiting for? Move.

Underneath the video, the caption says.

"3 videos, 44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousand miles, an exploding volcano, 2 cameras, and almost a terabyte of footage... [All] to turn 3 ambitious linear concepts based on movement, learning, and food... [Into three] beautiful compelling short films... A trip of a lifetime. Move, eat, learn."

This has been probably the most effective way of the utilization of media and world wide web in showing people how to live. If you haven't come across this yet, even if it went viral on Facebook and Twitter, click through to educate yourself.

Leaves of Grass

STATUS Magazine
 August 2011

Note: This was published in STATUS Magazine's August Issue with--yup!--Cassie on the cover. Check out her cover story written by Loris Pena on STATUS Magazine's website under their Features section (http://bit.ly/qwnYbI). And if you didn't know, frontman for Incubus, THE Brandon Boyd was also in the issue! Interview by--die hard fan and was over the moon when she found out Brandon was her assignment--Reena Mesias (http://bit.ly/oO06SM). 
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As VETIVER's music teems with acoustic instrumentations and lyrical themes of travelling, the songs from their fifth album, The Errant Charm, are just as balmy and intoxicating as the scent of their namesake grass itself.

Self-imposed To-do List.

My parents left for the States yesterday morning. For one month, they'll be visiting our relatives across the country like we did five years ago. Only, I'm not with them (as my mom jokingly chided, "Tuition or ticket, your choice.").

Which means two things: one, I'm completely left with the house; and two, I'm completely left alone in the house.

The difference between the two? While the former means that I can do whatever I want and can all day everyday, it backfires on the latter because sooner or later, I'll be bored once I finished doing whatever I want and can all day everyday. And I'm alone.

Siblings have either work or school, and my classes start on November. I really have a lot of time in my hands, and days are pretty long when you run out of things to do. So, I've decided to make a list. A list that would make me productive in the coming minutes, hours, and days spent alone in the house.

Don't worry mom, I won't wreck the house, I promise. Maybe just my room.

In High Spirits

STATUS Magazine July 2011

Note: Published in STATUS Magazine's July 2011 issue.

Allan Lumba, also known as the one-man band MULTO, is more freaked out by cockraoches than his namesake. But he's not really talking about the floating specters when he thought up his name.

Having spent most of his life in San Francisco, it was only when he moved to the Philippines that he started learning Tagalog, and one of the words that struck him was "multo" (ghost). "I always loved the idea of haunting," he says, "the way the past can never really be left behind." Like most ghosts, too, he was uncertain where to move forward to.

When's it my turn?

I just heard news that one of my closest friend in high school gave birth to a healthy baby boy a few days ago. At 20, she has a son already. But, mind you, in this crazy generation, she's pretty lucky to have her loving boyfriend (I know the guy) and her parents (pretty cool parents, if you ask me) to have her back through this pregnancy.

She probably had the most awful timing when she told me she was having a baby. It was around two months ago when she told me that--no, not yet--that a priest from our school died that day, Father Andy. Practically growing up hearing Father Andy's masses, going to confession, and the hundreds of Cloud 9 and medallions we all received every year for more than 10 years of my stay in San Beda-Alabang, it was such a big shock to our small community that we lost a great person.

I asked about the details to his wake and she replied "The wake would be on Friday sa Mendiola, and Saturday sa Bene. By the way ninang ka na."

I was like, teka--ano daw? Fuuuuuuuu--

Musings of a Bum One Year in the Making.

The 8th of October of last year holds some sort of significance in my twenty years of existence in Mother Earth. Even though I don't look a day over 14, I graduated from college that day. I was reminded by a status made by my friend, blockmate, and fellow literature junkie that we reached our, ehem, anniversary of being an alumni of De La Salle University just last weekend, asking, "So, kamusta na ang buhay one year after grad?"

Let's see what I've achieved so far, shall we?

Soul'd Out

STATUS Magazine June 2011

Note: This is a short feature I wrote and was published in STATUS Magazine's June 2011 issue. I just felt like this deserves a rightful place in my blog. I once told myself, as a means of pep talk, that someday, my name will be out there where everyone can see. I achieved that somehow, and this is just the beginning, I tells ya.
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"Audiophiliac" isn't even enough to describe TIMOTHY BLOOM. It has come to a point when he'd steal his parents' keys to the car just so he can surf through radio stations.

The Ropes to Being "Astig."

One of my favorite places to get lost in will always be a bookstore.

And it was in those moments, probably about three months ago, that I was scouring shelf after shelf for which book, which author will be my mind's next victim. One book caught my eye, and it happened to be Tweet Sering's Astigirl--a sort of compound word for the word 'astig' (which would mean 'cool', 'hip', etcetera in the Philippine context), and the word girl, simply put.

It caught my interest immediately but I was saddened when I saw the price; I simply couldn't afford it at that time but I swore that one of those days I will have that book in my hands.

Today was that day.