Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Tuscan hills: Fiesole

This is a totally late post, but I'd still like to share with you the scenic Tuscan hills of Fiesole. Though Fiesole is still within Florence, the surrounding felt more Tuscan and cozy, so it was definitely a break from walking around the busy touristic city center day after day. And with only half an hour bus ride and 4 euro worth of ticket (to and from the center), we didn't waste the chance of spending an entire Saturday afternoon in the hills.
Playing with light




Church of San Francesco




I remember when we were still looking for an apartment, one of my house mates suggested that we live in a villa in this area. Unfortunately, traveling everyday can be time consuming so we were not quite sold with the idea (although the residence in question is a three-storey, 6 bedroom villa with a large swimming pool overlooking the wineyards of the hills. not to mention, the rent was the same as what we're currently paying right now for our apartment)

Sunday, December 11, 2011

What to do on the Holidays-

Since this Christmas will be a very different one- not being with my family and practically spending it alone or with some friends on most days (insert awwww sound here), I decided to create a checklist on the things that I need to accomplish to lessen the loneliness. And since traveling outside Italy might be a little bit impossible since i'm running low on my measly student allowance LOL So here are some things that I need to do during my month-long school break.

1. Spend a few days away from Florence
2. Accept more online job assignments!!!!
3. Get to eat Filipino dishes on a Filipino Christmas party
4. Learn basic Italian (since I've been missing my Italian classes like crazy)
5. Start creating my portfolio which might be useful after May
6. Catch-up on my series
7. Tour some friends around Florence
8. Take cool pictures which are blog and tumblr worthy
9. Start thinking about my thesis LOL
10. Have a great New Year's Eve celebration

-just trying to psyche myself that this won't be a lonely Holiday season for me.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Oh Hello Birth Month!

In between finishing Studio design works and working on my online job, I still managed to squeeze in a short time to produce a decent blog post. Not that i pride myself in being too good with time-management, but i succumbed to distractions well enough to remember that it's actually October, and my birth month deserve a post on its own. lol

October is my favorite time of the year, not just because my birthday falls on this month, but because a lot of things take place in October. However, being out of my comfort zone, I'm quite not sure what this month will hold for me.

but here are some sure things that will take place/planned this October:


Moving in to the New Apartment!!!!



Possible trips

 Cinque Terre!!!! (photo from weheartit)


Chianti!! (photo from empson.com)

Can't wait to get out of town. Not that i'm tired of Florence, but the city is so small, you could literally walk the city center in less than three hours.


lol, definitely not an interesting post. i just blab and blab for hours when i get excited

Monday, September 19, 2011

Ciao, Firenze!

S. Maria Novella



Duomo!!!!!

While walking to the other side of Arno


Piazza Michelangelo (with the view of night time Florence)

Attraversiamo

I've a lot of things to say but school work is taking up too much of my time. Ci vediamo!

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Tục tưng ơi, tục tưng à, tục tưng nựng cái nà



 Apparently, i was no responsible passenger. I left a bag full of pasalubongs at the terminal. heehee



*photos from my officemate's and cousin's fb account

Monday, July 11, 2011

El Nido, Palawan








We've been totally busy for the last 3 years, and this would be our first out-of-town trip together after graduation. 3 days in El Nido with these girls is never enough.

Gratitude List

people are really nice to me.
1. my client gave me a hot pink Longchamp Le Pliage. not that i'm ungrateful, but i decided to google what makes an original Longchamp Le Pliage. i'm glad to say that what they got me is an original. kiliggsss.
2. we're currently setting up our online store and i've been searching for models. fortunately, i have some photographer friends who are willing to pull the stops and got us models and some more photographers who are willing to work with us despite the financial constraints.
3. in lieu of my upcoming international studies, i was considering whether i should buy a new digicam or get myself a 2nd-hand dslr (but was quite adamant with the latter option, since there might be hidden damages on the product) Luckily, a very good photographer friend Cherry offered me a very good deal with a her Canon DSLR. no questions asked, and i'm pretty sure her dslr still looks and performs like brand new (she's really OC, btw).

so there, i hope i can post pictures real soon. my blog is quite a bore

Monday, July 4, 2011

Ci vediamo presto

Being the frustrated Italian speaker that I am, i seem to be making a lot of posts with this phrase.
in a few weeks, i'll be moving a part of me to Firenze.

Monday, May 16, 2011

28 Before 28


I know this is kind of crazy but I love lists, and as much as I can fit a 25 before 25, I know I tend to procrastinate, hence, getting me a lot slower to get some of the things that I wish for. So why twenty-eight? Well, I figured 28 is a good age to marry (hihihih) and I want a lot of things to do before I get tied down. Also, four years is a good number to really nail them all down and make them come true. And if ever I don’t get to marry by 28, it will still be a pivotal age, since, hello, I should really be something by then. So anyway, here are my 28 things to do before 28 (i stuffed all to-visit/to-go categories in one number since my places to visit would take up so much on my list LOL)

  1. See the world by not doing all too tourist-y stuff- not exactly in this order:
  • visit Japan one fine April
  • spend a few days partying and getting sloshed in Mykonos/ Ibiza since Boracay is soo college-student friendly right now
  • Venezia Carnevale
  • chill in Maldives (since there’s not much to do in Maldives)
  • bring my parents to Amanpulo
  • come back for my rocker devata in Cambodia (I fell in love with Siem Reap so I’m going back by 2014)
  • get to ride on those floating markets in Thailand
  • shop my heart out in HCMC and make like a rich backpacker in Hanoi
  • Bohoooooooooooool (coz I’ve been to cebu twice but I’ve never been to Bohol)
  • Wakeboard (and actually learn the proper way) in CWC
  • Visit Anj in Singapore
  • Cruise Rome with a Vespa
  • Weekend road trip in Italian Provence
  • Malta!!!!
  • Spend Thanksgiving and early December in New York
  • Spend a romantic night in Verona
  • Daytime picnic in Paris
  • fabric and accessories-shopping in Morocco!!!!
  • Turks & Caicos
  • Turchia and smoke with my amazing Turkish roommate, Miray!!!!!!

  1. A good international education for credentials and that WOW factor. May include one or two or all of these schools:
  • Kingston University (Design: Product+Space)
  • Chelsea Design ( short course)
  • Florence Institute of Design International
  •  Pratt (Design Management)

  1. Set-up our lighting eco-store in Manila
  2. Set-up an arts store with cool café
  3. Finally start out that glass house guest deck in Samal.
  4. Not get myself into any LV-Gucci-Channel craze and actually finding that perfect luxe bag/accessories for me without the risk of running in to clones. 
  5. Get featured in a local/ international TV show for my designs.
  6. Start my interior design firm before reaching 28.
  7. Learn how to cook a mean pasta dish
  8. Learn how to be domesticated  (i.e. cleaning the house, doing the laundry)
  9. Learn the ways of the cheap chic and the sophisticated glam
  10. Publish/ write articles for a local/international magazine.
  11. Win a Palanca award for short story- 
  12. Learn how to speak at least two more languages fluently- currently studying
  13. Join and place in a major aquathlon competition.
  14. Be featured in an international interior design magazine
  15. Watch the unset/sunrise in Angkor Wat (because this deserves a separate number)
  16. Get to wear  and own a complete four season wardrobe set.
  17. Find the courage to know who the right person is for me
  18. Participate in an international design exhibit
  19. Teach!
  20. Learn how to make a leap of faith.
  21. See the Aurora Borealis and take great photos and videos of it
  22. Achieve and maintain my ideal weight and waist line
  23. Get shit-faced drunk... while walking on high heels. and be totally clueless how i got home or what happened the next day
  24. Be good with one kind of dance (cardio-striptease/ethnic dance not included)- salsaaaa, i shall master you!
  25. experience a different kind of high (if you know what i mean *wink)
  26. Travel in a foreign country on my own.

pink-done
yellow- in progress

Friday, April 15, 2011

oh the little things


i seriously miss going on long road trips especially at night. i used to beg my parents and then my friends (when i got to college) to leave late in the evening so we won't waste the entire day traveling. but really, it was just an excuse to stay up all night in a cold bus/car, just watching the moon and the colorful lights. i also get weirdly excited when we get to a stopover. 

another thing that i sorely miss is doing my "little joys" list. i used to keep a journal with this kind of list when i was in high school, and for a rebellious only child with a lot of shallow issues (which i thought were really serious that time), that list made me grounded and grateful for the small blessings in life. i've no idea where that journal is right now. baka tinapon or i left it in one of my boxes in davao. but i still remember some of the things i wrote: 

* long roadtrips at night
* stopovers!
* the fresh smell and the warm feel of freshly laundered towels (i admit getting really sleepy when i wrap mself in a towel pagkanakakuha ako ng bagong labang tuwalya)
* short lines at the grocery 
* that cold feel from the first drop of a newly opened lotion bottle on your feet (maybe because malamig sa supermarket?)
* nine pillows and my queen size bed (i have a queen size bed in davao. i sleep on a single double deck bed here in manila.. im so poor talaga here)
* pizza and pasta and ice cream takeouts on saturday mornings
* lechon lunch on a sunday 
- when i was in 4th yr, my parents decided to stop hiring househelps since it was hard to find honest kasambahays. on weekends, nakakatamad minsan magluto or too late na to cook after our weekly saturday grocery, so takeout na lang. worked for me <3 <3 <3

* ginataang langka with ribs and daing for lunch after a tiring work on the farm (i only helped w/ the planting one time, since i got really sick afterwards. pero the feeling ng super simple meal prepared by the caretakers of our farm plus mainit na kanin and malamig na tubig (bawal coke) was more than perfect)
* new year's day (i usually get really tired come new year's eve since nakakastress ang ingay ng firecrackers.. new year's day feels a lot more fresher, plus andaming food from last night. heehee)
* eating left-overs from Christmas for the entire week before new year's celebration (one of my favorites!)

these days, with my very hectic schedule and stressful personality (hahaha. stressful kasi akong tao), i rarely get the chance to stop and reflect on these things. maybe its time to bring back those simple joys that give way to silly, involuntary smiles which last the entire day.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

totally sick right now and i hate how every time i get an infection, the symptoms manage to show up in my face. IN MY FACE. so i look like jinombag ni pacquiao for two days and i just hope that this will last only until today. i have a lot of stuff to do before the holy week starts and i need to meet up with a client this sunday for an out-of-town meeting since we need to straighten things up before their trip to China. im so excited with how this little mansion will turn out.

in other news, i got interviewed by the postgrad course director from the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture. a little bit more technical than what i expected but i'm hoping  i did well with the interview.

Monday, April 4, 2011

my days have been taken over with too much requirements. good thing today is the last day for submission. after all the hard work, all i have to do is wait for their decision. for now, i'll keep mself busy with aquathlon trainings, freelance projects and my not-so-demanding office work.

posting this photo from last month to remind me what daily zumba, thrice-a-week pilates and everyday planks can actually turn me into (alienesa ang peg). but i need to clean my room first. pizza boxes and fastfood styros are slowly piling up in the corner..

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

there are days when i wished i'm just some simple girl who wants the simpler, easier things. yes, more often than not, i get the things that i wished for. but then what if this kind of blessed streak suddenly leaves me behind? i'm sure i can do this, but a part of me is still hesitant.

i know being afraid of failing is such a pathetic excuse. i'm not one to back-out just because i'm scared of failing. but really, this time, i am. the next step is such a big decision, packed with bigger responsibilities. i'm stumped.