Breakfast Buffet at the Hotel

The cereal dispenser Bro was so fond of

Apparently me and my sister have the same taste...

The bacon was so… shiny! LOL. But not in the too oily type of way. I can’t describe it really… it’s just that it really really looks good to eat. And the eggs were so creamy! Potatoes? Straight to my thighs. And you can’t have a proper French breakfast without their signature croissants.

The first part of day two was spent sightseeing around Paris in our tour bus, just to give us an ‘overview’ of things and possibly list some places we’d go during our free day (though I already had places in mind. I came prepared of course )

First is along Champs Élysées then passing around the Arch of Triumph. Not as famous as the Eiffel Tower but still one of the signature landmarks of Paris. I couldn’t help but remember Madeline when I saw it, haha.

Arch of Triumph

Then of course comes the most awaited sight of Paris: The Eiffel Tower. I swear I gasped out loud (loud enough that you could hear it over the tour guide’s voice on the microphone that is) when I saw it from afar. I couldn’t react or process what I even felt when I saw it. It seemed like taking photos, many photos, was second nature to me. I guess, in a lesser degree, I felt like Rapunzel from Tangled when she saw the lanterns up close. As cliche as it sound, it was a dream come true.

First shot of the Eiffel Tower!

Never mind that it was Winter, that it wasn’t really the best time to take a picture of the Eiffel Tower in all its glory because of the bleak weather, seeing it up close is still amazing to me. Especially after when I’ve seen dozens of pictures (quality ones too) on Tumblr, I feel a rush of pride that I’ve seen and been to this place.

One more pic because I cant get over it...

The beauty of Paris didn’t fade in my eyes even after I’ve seen its signature attraction. Next we went past the École Militaire or the Military School of Paris. It doesn’t seem like a Military School to me… more like some fancy palace or museum. And the students (or trainees?) must be so lucky to be so close to the Eiffel Tower… or maybe they’re getting tired of seeing it everyday. Well, I won’t.

The École Militaire

The Eiffel Tower and the Military School run along Champ de Mars (with reference to the Roman god of war).

Napoleons Tomb

Then we passed by Napoleon’s Tomb, also known as Dome of Les Invalides. The tour guide explained to us that the top of the dome is really made of gold. Wow. About 10 kilos of gold were used to decorate it.

Random sights around Paris. Everywhere is a sight to behold!

Because all buildings in Paris are photo worthy.

The topmost photo on the right side is the “White House” or “Malacañang” of Paris where the French President lives. It looks kinda… forbidding during winter. Especially with the lifeless trees and cloudy weather, haha.

Musée dOrsay

The Musee d’Orsay is one of the museums I really really really wanted to visit in Paris. It used to be a train station but now, it houses the impressionists’ paintings. The inside would’ve reminded me of London’s King’s Cross station and the big clock/s reminded me of the Big Ben. I saw a photo once of a close-up of the clock dials and I really wanted to take a picture of it (reminded me of a scene in Anastasia with Rasputin and one in the movie of The Series of Unfortunate Events) Haha, for some reason, I developed a fondness for clock towers. I was planning to visit that museum during our free day but sadly, when our itinerary changed, our free day was moved to a Monday and the museum was closed then. Oh well. Maybe next time :>

Notre Dame

Notre Dame! Another significant sight in Paris. Where is Quasimodo and Esmeralda? Haha. We’ll visit this Church during our free day since it was not in our itinerary. (and there 2 unexpected finds near it )

Fontaine Saint-Michel

Palais de Justice

Finally, our bus stopped near the Moulin Rouge where we were to take a train up to Montmartre.

Moulin Rouge

Mom and Day acting lovey-dovey again.

And then there is us. The kids. Not arguing or annoying each other. wooh.

If the front is taken, resort to the the back view - better than the side view.

And then we’re off to the top of the hill of Montmartre where we will visit the famous Sacré Cœur overlooking the city of Paris.

Sacré Cœur

The two statues are of the patron saints of France: St. Joan of Arc and St. Louis. The Basilica also features gargoyles on the sides, like in Notre Dame.

Outside, there were a lot of people selling trinkets and such. There were also a few uh… moving statues? I don’t know what they’re called. I was reminded of an episode in Mr. Bean wherein people were painted to look like statues and if you’re going to drop a coin or so, they’d move to thank you. Haha. I didn’t expect there were like those in France! And during the winter when it’s so cold!

Unfortunately, picture-taking is not allowed inside the Basilica. All I can say is the inside was just as majestic as the outside.

After we said our prayers, lit a candle to pray for Lelang, bought Lola Mimi a rosary and a gold coin souvenir for us, we headed outside. The open area at the side was crowded with birds! My baby brother immediately whipped out his cereals to feed them, haha. How cute!

Zoom in: My mom. The only person who would wear sandals during winter.

Admire the adorableness that is my baby brother! :”>

Aww! Theyre following him up the stairs! LOL @ Ally. For someone who wanted to be a vet when she was young, shes afraid of the birds now.

Near the Sacré Cœur, there’s sort of a courtyard where there were artists selling paintings and commissioning photos and at the sides are different shops and restaurants. One of them is La Cremaille where we ate lunch. The food was very delicious! And the atmosphere in the restaurant was nice too – sort of the relaxing, casual yet classy type of setting I’ve always imagined places would be in Europe.

Even the ceilings have beautiful vintage photos/paintings.

Food photos! And yes, they’re as delicious as they look.

Charlotte de Thon aux Legumes Croquants // Charlotte of Tuna in the Crisp Vegetables

Eufs Cocotte au Saumon Fume // Eggs in Cocotte with Smoked Salmon

Cuisse de Poulet Rotie au Basilic // Roasted Leg of Chicken Basil Flavor

Pates au Basilic et Tomate Fraiche // Home Made Fresh Pasta w/ Basil and Tomato

Gateau au chocolat // Chocolate Cake LOL =))

On the way down...

After lunch, we rode the “train” again back to Moulin Rouge where our bus was waiting. Our next stop was at Galleries Lafayette for shopping! And the only time we ever did manage to shop during the whole trip actually…

Look at the pasta shapes on the bottom right! Nice

For dinner, we ate at a Lebanese Restaurant (much to the satisfaction of our companions and to my disappointment) Well, at least we ate Peeta- I mean, pita bread.

We were so tired that night – still adjusting to the time I guess. Mom, Me, Ally and Bro decided to sleep in early while Dad went on to watch the Moulin Rouge. Before they got back to the hotel, they decided to stop over near the Eiffel Tower to take pictures. Look at what my dad took, the moon is just at the top of the tower. Amazing

I admit, I was jealous of Dad. But Ill get my turn the next day

Next day (Day 3) is when we go up the Eiffel Tower and explore the Lourve.

If someone told me that I’d be ending my second semester in college with a 7-day trip to France, I’d tell him get real. I mean, I am so sure that I’d visit Paris one day – it’s the first on my bucket list. But I never imagined it would be now, during Finals week. And certainly not before I turn 18.

I’ve always told my family that I wasn’t interested in a debut. I’d half-jokingly, half-seriously add that I’d rather go on a Euro Trip, or maybe just to Paris. And God has granted me that wish. Best birthday gift ever.

The day before our flight, I was abusing my brain. I had my exam in biology and European Languages the next day and in the evening, we’d be headed off to France. I had barely packed and everything felt numb as I went through the day, trying to focus on evolution and bio warfare than on anything Parisian~ Of course, it was difficult. Especially since my advance exam would be about the French language.

My EL 50 teacher (and her other students studying French. Coincidentally? I think not.) wished me a bon voyage! I also couldn’t help but notice I understood some words in French she was teaching – I wrote down a couple of them in my notebook, haha.

When I finally got home, I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. (Maybe I was smiling all the way home in the MRT, who knows.) My whole room was in a bigger mess as I hastily shoved all of my things in my luggage, packing and unpacking. When we arrive in Paris, it would still be Winter. Nearing the end, but from what I researched (of course I researched), it would still be cold for someone used to tropical weather.

And even in the airport, I was giddy and couldn’t stay still. My baby brother and I often chanted in a sing-song voice “We’re going to Paaaa-ris! We’re going to Paaaa-ris!” But eventually my exuberance died down as I felt the tiredness of the day. I also felt irritated at the long line in the airport. Isn’t there a priority lane for those with children? (Meaning my brother and evil sis of course.) At the end, we did manage to skip the rest of the line. Not because we have kids but we have a connecting flight. Hn.

Oh, and the plane was late.

The flight to Dubai was uneventful. It’s been maybe 4 years since I’ve last rode an airplane to Dubai but I found myself quite relaxed during the 9 hour flight. I was born to fly, haha. Whut. As usual, I was amazed at the list of new movies available. I found myself watching The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Finally. Ben Barnes… haha) and a little bit of Never Let Me Go (Andrew Garfield!) before I fell asleep. The food was delicious… for airplane food, though I can’t imagine spending a whole week eating it, haha.

Bro eating. LIKE A BOSS. Haha.

And then we landed in Dubai. We’re going to take a connecting flight from there to France. And of course, Dad’ll meet us in Dubai and we’ll all go together.

I swear it’s still the coolest airport I have ever seen.

PARIS - Our connecting flight.

Do we look tired from lack of sleep?

Crying in the airport is not new to me. I’ll miss my Dad always whenever he goes, but I was always sure I would see him again. But this time, we cried for a different reason other than usual. When we arrived, Dad told us that he received a phone call from my Tita saying Lelang, our great grandmother, just passed away. It eased our hearts that at least, we were able to say goodbye to her. Before we left, Lola told us that if ever Lelang would pass away while we were on the trip, we shouldn’t come back for the funeral. We didn’t take her seriously then… But then it was time, I guess. Maybe it’s also Lelang’s plan, because she knew we would put off our trip to be with her… 101 years – it was a life well lived.

The airplane that we rode to Paris was nicer than the one we rode to get to Dubai. (I didn’t even know how it could get better but it did.) It was amazing that the airplane had a second floor – for the first and business class passengers, of course. And the individual screens looked newer too. Though the list was the same. And I was able to continue watching Never Let Me Go.

It was a 7 hour flight to Paris, and for the half the duration of the flight, I was either sleeping or listening to Katy Perry’s album on ICE. The other half, I was reading Melissa Marr’s Darkest Mercy. I couldn’t put it down! I know, it’s supposed to be my “travel pocket book” but before I knew it, I had finished the novel. It was amazing, haha.

Coincidentally, I was reading the second book in these series summer of last year when we went to Bohol.

And finally, after 7 hours, we landed.

Look at Bro in the corner! So cute!

Guess who's just as excited as me?

The first thing that popped into my head as we got off the plane is “It’s so cold.” Second is “ASDFGHJKL! WE’RE HERE! WE’RE IN FREAKIN’ FRANCE!”

Not as big or as cool as the airport in Dubai but I’ll definitely get used to it if I visit here often, haha.

Well, skipping other things that happened a.k.a Evil Sister’s Big Fiasco, we finally loaded up into our tour bus together with our other companions a.k.a Dad’s other coworkers. We weren’t in Paris yet and it was about a 30 minute drive from the airport to the hotel.

Ally (still looking a bit green) and Bro, Mom and Dad (Already feelin' the City of Love) and Me (Forever Alone with the other bags. boo. haha)

Ta-da! We’ve arrived at Hotel Concorde Lafayette, the tallest skyscraper in Paris. It’s near the Champs-Élysées which is a really famous avenue passing through the Arch of Triumph.

When we arrived, all the ladies (including me and Ally) received a long-stemmed white rose. It made me really happy (and so is Ally, who wouldn’t let go of hers) and I really felt that I was in the City of Love, haha.

We had two rooms – one for Mom and Dad and the other for Me and my sibs. The view was wonderful. You can the Eiffel Tower and the Arch of Triumph (far left)! Amazing // And I wasn’t able to take a pic of our room cause Mom started unpacking and dumping our things everywhere – it’s already a mess. Oh well.

Actually, the first two days in France were supposed to be spent in Euro Disney. But they changed the itinerary so Disneyland would have to be on our last 2 days – maybe because it’s still Winter and we wouldn’t be able to enjoy all the rides because it’ll be too cold… or something, haha. Anyway, that’s okay because it really is cold! You could see your breath when you talk in the cold. Haha, my sibs and I were really amused by that LOL.

We arrived at the hotel at around 5 in the afternoon, and when we went out to dinner, it rained! We didn’t expect that so we had no umbrella. It’s also unfortunate that we still had to walk a bit to get to the restaurant because the bus couldn’t fit in the narrow street. Oh well, new experiences I guess.

Rain or shine, Paris is a really beautiful and amazing city. All the buildings were designed like the old, vintage ones you see in movies or in postcards. Everything is a sight – I couldn’t get enough pictures and videos! But I’ll save the rest of Paris for later, when the rain stops. (Believe me, it’s hard to select the photos I’ll post. Too many and too beautiful sights to leave out!)

So we arrived in this restaurant that I can’t really pronounce, haha. The food was very very delicious! I didn’t even miss rice, haha. I didn’t like the sparkling water they served though. And I didn’t want to drink the red wine (though I was offered some and Mom agreed I could have some) Really, it’s difficult that you’re the only teen present – they don’t know whether to offer you the adult or children’s meal! (And there’s also an anecdote about that that I’ll share later.) I chose the former of course. I want to taste the French cuisine (to the fullest, LOL) as much as I want to see the sights.

I just  realized I can’t describe food properly. I make them sound so bland while they’re far from it. I really enjoyed the salad with white dressing though I can say I’m not a big fan of their onions, haha. The smoked salmon was really great, and I enjoyed the dessert: vanilla gelato and this very very sweet chocolate cake – so sweet, I couldn’t finish it all, haha. See? I’m bad at describing food!

Silly Anecdotes.

1. When our companions asked my Mom how old I was, they were shocked to find out I was 17 – and in college. They thought I was  an 11-year-old. WHUT. I know I’m small – small for my age, but I didn’t realize that I’d look pre-teen (13 would be better!) Or if it’s not how I look (I really think not.) then maybe it’s how I act? Again, I doubt it.

2. Bathrooms need to have symbol. When Ally and I excused ourselves to go to the toilet, we saw that the labels on the doors were simply Monsieur and Dames. Any francophile would know what that means. But evil sis refused to believe me when I pulled her towards the Dames. We were then struck dumb when one of our male travel companions came out from Dames. Ally gave me this “I told you so” look and I could only blink. Just then, one of our other companions passed by and was also shocked that a man came out from the ladies restroom. He laughingly corrected him of his blunder and I just pulled Ally inside the restroom. The right one.

If I wasn't so sleepy I could've stared at this view all night.

And that’s ends the first day of France! Sorry if this blog post became more of a photo dump than a journal entry, haha. More to come later

But I still remember one of my favorite fantasies until now though. Maybe because, with the number of fantasy-themed fiction books I’m still reading today, my fantasy hasn’t changed so much in years.  Now, there are hopes I neatly label as “dreams” – the more probable and achievable ones, and “fantasies” – which I consider breakthroughs in my imagination.

So this is, or maybe was, my fantasy. Greatly influenced by all the Disney movies I watched, and the emergence of the world of magic in Harry Potter, my dream was a high-end fantasy adventure. Set in a mystical world laden with adventures waiting at every corner, I imagined myself to be a witch.

There are many kinds of “little girls” in this world, with different kinds of dreams that fill their minds and hearts. Some dream of an epic romance, a Prince Charming, declarations of love and happily ever after. Others dream of success, the perfection of their craft – be it art, music, literature etc, – and the glory and acknowledgment of it. Most want both worlds. But I often think that the usual Disney movies I watched when I was young focused more on the former though. And I’ve yet to watch a Disney movie with a female lead focused on the latter – that is until I watched the enchanting movies of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli.

Image from sohood.com

Today I finished watching Hayao Miyazaki’s “Kiki’s Delivery Service”. It tells of a young witch-in-training, Kiki, who goes away for a year to another town where she would train and grow. Starting a new life alone is difficult of course, especially when you’re unsure of the direction you want to take and just go with the flow and figure it out from there. Throughout the movie, Kiki encounters many experiences that are not-at-all pleasant, but she learns and grows with them. There also came a time when she might lose a most valuable possession – her magic and ability to fly. She learns that it isn’t enough to just want to be able to learn, to just improve yourself for the sake of training, and force yourself to. Kiki finds out that if you want to continue something you want to do, and be good at it, you need to know why you want it in the first place – find your inspiration and trust yourself, trust your “spirit.” Becoming a witch, at first, was a matter of pride – that if she becomes unsuccessful with her magic, her flying, she’d come home a failure. Kiki realizes that she also needs to love what she’s doing in order to succeed in it.

I learned a lot from watching this movie. I think Kiki was the kind of “witch” I wanted to be when I was young – independent, headstrong and starting her own adventure! But I guess now,  I can compare myself to Kiki’s new life in town and me, starting out in college. I’m still undecided on what I want for myself in the future, and I’m just going along with what I have for now and doing my best with it. Then I realized, it’s not enough. I may have a dream of what I want but that isn’t enough. I need a vision of what I want and how I can get there. I guess that the reason I’ve become so concerned about the future is because I was scared I was losing my craft as well. If Kiki has flying, I have writing. It used to be so easy to put my thoughts into words – starting out this post was difficult enough as it is. But like Kiki, I didn’t exactly ask why I want to write – and I didn’t have inspiration to either. I forced myself to write because I thought I was losing a skill I used to have and the only way to get it back is to push yourself to. Well, I learned now that that’s not the solution. Wanting, for the sake of pride that you “want” to be good at something, isn’t enough – loving what your doing and finding purpose in it is.

“Kiki’s Delivery Service” isn’t the first Hayao Miyazaki film I’ve watched but it certainly is one of my favorites. Others I’ve also enjoyed watching are “Howl’s Moving Castle”, “Spirited Away” and “Whispher of the Heart” –  movies who also have strong female characters that I look up to. I really enjoyed watching these Studio Ghibli films, not just because of the different kinds of Happily Ever After it presents, but because, no matter how fantastical it is, it gives us a slice of life and a beautiful message that says “Yes, you can.”

(And what do you know, I’ve written 850+ words in just one sitting! Oh yes, I’m definitely inspired now )

I’ve always envied those who are so sure of what they want to be, who they want to become and achieve of their future. Having a general sense of direction and a plan on how to get there would make things be easier accomplished, I think. But I guess I envy more those who are actually on their way, whose dreams are already insight. Or I rather, career and not dream. I guess problem is I don’t know what career I want. The pre-school question: What do you want to be when you grow up? - I still have no answer to. What I do have a reply to is: Where do you want to be when you grow up?

It’s simple: I would be living my dream: I want to study abroad and maybe work there for a while. Like any other person, I don’t want money to be a problem, yet I don’t want it to take over my life as well. I want to be able to write eloquently my experiences and random thoughts and hopefully inspire others to do so as well. It’ll be, in a sense, pushing it forward (or Paying it Forward though I don’t know if inspiration is substantial enough to be considered a “good deed”) I want to travel the world, and I’ll take my family with me. Especially my mom and my titas, who’ve told me traveling was never really “reachable” for them and so they chose not to dream about it (Yeah, choosing not to dream is possible.) Well, I’ll show them it’s definitely reachable. I also want to put up a bookshop slash cafe. Not a chain bookstore with common book titles and an adjourning coffee shop that sells overpriced coffee (I guess I described something there…) It’ll sell unique secondhand books and provide a space for tea (or coffee) and cakes – it’ll be student-affordable so it’s not pricey! The bookshop will be for those seeking peace, quite and literary freedom, away from commercialization and moneymaking-centered businesses. It’s the bookshop I’ve been trying to find here actually. And it’s obvious I haven’t found it.

I entered college not knowing much about my course. I know. What was I thinking? I chose that course – Communication Research – but only because I thought it was based in the College of Arts and Letters! Well it wasn’t – it isn’t – and now I’m very thankful I chose this course on a whim. You see, only two universities in the Philippines offers this course: UP and PUP. And well, have you even heard of this course before? If you have, you are among the lucky few. Communication Research is offered in the College of Mass Communication. What is it about? It’s said in the name – communication (and mass media) and the research side of it. It branches out to advertising, marketing, human resources, politics and governance etc. And I figured, yeah, I’d stay here and keep my options open. I still didn’t exactly know what I want – but I have a feeling I’m on the right course, literally. But even so, here I am, still problematic and aimless-ish as ever.

Sometimes, I think I’m worrying too much. I mean, I still have 3 more years of college to mature and find myself – I shouldn’t rush into things. But other times, I feel like I’m wasting time. I should be doing something productive already! Being young is not an excuse to just… exist. I want more in life, and I want it now. But really, what I want is a direction. Not just forward, wherever the road may take me but something with a sure destination – whether the journey is planned or spontaneous.

And also as of this moment, I want to write about things other than what’s happening in my life and other rants and rambles.

I love long (and sometimes slow) train rides going home – especially when there are only a couple of passengers around and I manage to get a seat and read a book or write in my notebook (Though it’s hard to read what I wrote after, considering my handwriting becomes more illegible than it usually is.)

This week, I started to read Victoria Holt’s The Pride of the Peacock. Don’t be deterred by its’ title, or by the cover and state of this book – it’s actually quite good. At least, that’s what I can say after reading 88 pages. When Maui and I went to Cubao X last month, we found these secondhand bookshops. Maui bought a Nancy Drew novel, and I wasn’t planning to buy a book (I went to Cubao X to buy a one of a kind notebook actually.) until she showed this to me. She said it was a really good book with romance, intrigue and a twist in the story. I thought it was remarkable that she’d remember a really old book (it was published in the 1970s) and give it such praise. So I bought it for only P15.00. And considering I’ve taken risks with other second-hand books that I have no idea whether it’s good or not, for a higher price, I thought it was a really great bargain.

I guess it’s obvious that I love secondhand and bargain books. (Though I guess my love for them rooted from my err… “poverty” – New books are sooo expensive! Especially fiction books in the Young Adult section.) I love the bookshops in UP, the one in the AS where I recently bought a first edition book of Edith Hamilton’s “Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes” (A Must-Have for anyone who loves Greek Mythology!) and the other one near the SC where I bought Ian McEwan’s “Atonement” last January. But my favorite bargain bookshop is still the big National Bookstore in Cubao… which I still haven’t visited this year… hmm, must remedy that soon.

I love KFC’s Chocolate Mousse. Actually, what I really love is cake. But sadly, there only a few accessible bakeshops or cake shops around. So Chocolate Mousse is a suitable replacement. Actually, I think I’ll try the cakes from Choco Kiss soon… or maybe tomorrow.

Other things I love:

Wrapping new and old books. Fast internet connection. Animes I used to watch like Gakuen Alice, Ouran High School Host Club and Fushigi Yuugi. Waffle Time. Fried Shomai. Playing around with Bro and Migs. Hershey’s Chocolates.

The first week was a busy acad week – days of piling up homeworks, projects and exams followed by long (almost) sleepless nights of studying. I was in total student mode, but of course, procrastination was also nearby.

February 6 was the day of Batch Seraphim’s induction! We welcomed 7 new mems to our UP MCO Family! Congrats Batch Seraphim!  It was also Fiesta for our community but since the induction would take the whole day, my fiesta celebration was limited to eating Crispy Noodles only.

February was also the *extreme* campaign and election month for the student council. UP MCO held its annual Hot Off the Grill and boy, was it intense!  The org also hosted the pre-Valentine party “Foreplay” the day after the debate. (Selling the tickets was also an “intense” job for me. Just realized I need more party-going friends.) Unfortunately, Maui and I couldn’t attend because we had Geog Camp that weekend.

Geog Camp or Geog Ride was… surprising. We thought we couldn’t attend at first. Given that I was reluctant to be absent for my Saturday Aikido classes and Maui had difficulty with the dorm manager and the waiver. But finally, we got our things packed and headed off to Candelaria, Zamabales. It wasn’t as memorable and enjoying as the Kas 1 fieldtrip last semester (and we couldn’t help but compare it too) but we really enjoyed beach on Potipot island (The events before that are another thing altogether though.)

(BTW, I underestimated my camera phone. The pics were okay after you do a little tweaking.)

February 14 is not just Valentine’s Day – I actually didn’t feel the love day actually – it’s also Mariel’s 17^th birthday! My friends and I were supposed to have a surprise her after school but I wasn’t able to attend because my family and I had a meeting with the French Embassy. I still can’t believe getting a Visa is such a hassle, all the processes, the documents and other requirements – man. Mom was really stressed out, especially since we need Dad’s Visa to acquire ours and he still doesn’t have it yet!

Then follows more projects and exams during the UP Fair Week. On February 17, Maui, Yanna and I attended LoveRage – a UP Fair concert! Bandz and the other were supposed to come but it was too late, and our favorite bands hasn’t even played yet when we had to leave at 10:30 PM! But it was an enjoyable evening nonetheless.

The next day I attended another concert. This time with Estelle and Patitay – whom I haven’t seen for sooooo long. We watched Never shout never, The Maine and We The Kings perform live at Greenbelt. It was like Boys Like Girls all over again! The nonstop singing and jumping (jologs, LOL jk.) – I AM HIGH! Haha. After the concert, we ate at Burger King and basically laughed during our whole conversation. I swear this won’t be our last concert we’ll attend together.

More acad stuff the following days and then it’s the first Meriendadate of 2011 with my meriendamates Joanna and Ria! We had loads to talk about while eating at Pizza Hut at TechnoHub, and we even planned our next meriendadate – which will be next week! Can’t wait!

And the finale of February is Maxx’s 18^th celebration. Undoubtedly, the best thing that happened this month. It was also a big reunion of our high school barkada. We had a swimming party/celebration at Club Manila East for the whole day – going down the swirly slide (traumatic), holding hands while riding (sort of) the waves, kayaking and all sorts of stuff. Aside from our individual gifts, we made an 18 Ferrero  Roses uh… thingy for Maxx. She loved it to tears, haha.

(Photos from Maxx and Gieanne’s FB!)

The 27^th of February is a Mother-Daughter movie bonding! Mom and I watched I Am Number Four – awesome movie, awesome cast. Alex Pettyfer, Dianna Agron, Jake Abel and Callan McAuliffe (cutie!) what a great way to end an amazing weekend.

The last day, Monday, was a trip to the dentist and working on the extra homework. I have no complaints.

My only BV days were just probably cramming for the term paper and exams and worrying about Bio getting in the way of our Paris trip. But all in all, February was spectacular (Not counting any political news…).   I hope March will be even more amazing – especially with our Paris Trip at the end of the month!

(And I really need to use my camera – not my camera phone! – more.)

Since it’s Chinese New Year (I’m not Chinese though), I expected this day to be, well, satisfactory at the least. I believe in new beginnings, and being just the 3rd day of February, it’s not too late. Well some would argue that it’s never too late for beginnings, but for sentimental people like me, I like my to start off on more memorable notes – which exactly include dates.

“Things” didn’t go exactly as planned today. I’d normally rant about it, but since this is TILT (and my first one as well), I gotta focus on the positive “things” – which is what I should really be doing in life.

So where to start? Well, first of all, I love talking and joking around, especially with Maui who’s actually the only person I’m in constant contact with as of this moment. Blame it on the conflicting schedules and the distance why I haven’t talked to my friends as much and as frequently as I’d like.

Secondly, I love pasta. From the standard ones like Spaghetti to the newest varieties, like Herbs & Garlic Pasta I ate earlier today. I love tomatoes too. My mom told me she ate a lot of tomatoes when she was pregnant with me (good and healthy food are a must of course), so when I was born, I was red. Hahaha.

I love learning new things – especially about ones that interest me. So even though I don’t really favor the P30 worth of readings for my EL 50 class tomorrow, I’m inspired to read it. We’re discussing the formulation and propagation of the English language now. And on that note, I am curious to find out how come English doesn’t have (at least to my knowledge) any dialects…

And about that, I spent the early afternoon in McDonald’s near the MRT’s Quezon Avenue station. I love quiet (or sort of) and uncrowded places – the ones where you are not secretly perused and you feel uncomfortable being alone. On that note, you’d probably think I spend my time in Starbucks or some fancy yet unassuming bookshop (which doesn’t exist in the Philippines by the way) reading a book while sipping my overpriced coffee. Well, that’s not me. Partly because I think Starbucks is overrated (and overpriced) and because these spaces are… well, too commercialized nowadays. But hell, I was talking about McDonald’s wasn’t I? I just mean that this “spots” that are marketed to be the “quiet spots” are becoming… too overrated for my taste. Just saying.

I love riding trains, especially on the way home when I don’t have to rush. I often read books and/or listen to my iPod on my way home. It’s relaxing. Earlier, I listened to David Archuleta after a long time. I realized I missed his voice. I love rekindling my past… loves? Hahaha. I mean things I’ve been addicted to before, but of course I got “tired” of it after a while… and so now, I’m bringing back. While writing this, I’m listening to David Archuleta’s new album The Other Side of Down – full of awesomeness!

Other things I love: unexpected meetings with friends you haven’t seen in a while (RIA!) and finishing a blog post – gives me a really contented feeling.

So this is my first 2011 monthly rundown. January was filled with so many highs and lows – which I honestly didn’t expect. I mean, I’m not psychic but what happened these last 31 days, well, I’ll definitely remember them when I make my 2011 recap. January 2011 was no ordinary month that just breezed by. Well, it did breeze by, or more accurately, stormed and left… things at its wake.

This month, I started and planned some new projects – for what reason, I don’t know, just for the hell of it I guess – I started a commonplace notebook, which is filling up quite well but is lacking in the variation of topics. I plan to make another blog just for fun, and try to use the Photoshop techniques and tutorials I’ve bookmarked. I made a daytum account where I tally all the number of books I read, movies I watched and fast food I ate – and that makes me one of the millions of teens around the world obsessed with updating their life on the internet. Oh well, I did say I’m unconventional, but I never claimed I was different from any other teen. I also started a planner – and hopefully I’m still using it by the time this year ends.

The highlight of this month is definitely the “announcement” of the Paris Trip. Even though there were a lot of “versions” – like my sibs coming with us, me having to postpone my summer classes and stuff – I was only sure of one thing: I would definitely be going to Paris this year – and nothing’s going to stop me!

Other highlights of this month include two wonderful moments with my high school friends: our super late Christmas and New Year celebration slash reunion and the CSR Fair (though we didn’t spend much time there.) New Year was also a great time – not because it is the New Year but we had a family day at Trinoma – and Lola Mimi agreed to come! All it took was a P1000 gift certificate in Landmark.

As for the low points well, most of them are personal and it’s not really my place to share it (Yes, some didn’t actually happen to me.) The others are just petty things: Aikido classes (to think I lined up to get it!), the mind-boggling and mind-numbing Biology exam (which I thankfully passed but I never want to repeat that test ever again!), and the daily stresses and some rude awakenings. Which aren’t really low points because… well that’s life.

Interests-wise, I’ve been fangirling on the bromance of Andrew “Bambi” Garfield and Jesse “Thumper” Eisenberg on the Social Network. They’re like a new Felton-Radcliffe or Colin Morgan and Bradley James. BUT I’M STILL NOT INTO YAOI. Just so we’re clear. I’m also reading Ian McEwan’s Atonement – that’s a stretch to the Young Adult novels I’ve been reading. Also started reading fanfiction again, and shipping the non-cannon couples like Gale/Madge from THG and Nico/Rachel, Thalia/Luke from PJ. Oh yes, I’m still lost in another world.

February is 28 days of… normalcy, I hope. Mariel and Maxx are going to be celebrating their birthdays – with the latter going on the legal age of 18! The first in our barkada – woohoo! And Valentines Day? Pssh. It’s Mariel’s birthday and we’re also scheduled to meet with the French Embassy then - Je ne peux pas attendre! (Thank you Google Translate.)

Virgo (Yes, with the addition of Ophiuchus, I am still a Virgo – the perfectionist. whut.) Horoscope for the month of February!

You may be making changes in your job/profession, in your relationships with colleagues and co-workers, health and diet. There may be some mental strain, or perhaps financial difficulties, particularly relating to held-up payments that are still pending, salaries, servants, health and employee benefits or perhaps a bad debt and/or a check.Willingness to help and serve will pay dividends, both materially and in terms of a “feel-good” factor. Don’t expect gratitude and appreciation — just go ahead and do whatever needs to be done. This phase presents an opportunity to get rid of what doesn’t work in your life, while also discovering what does. You could seek distinction and strive towards perfection in your work. Efficiency should be your goal now.

You have a tendency to act and reflect automatically, and you could come across as an “open book” now. It’s a favorable time for solving problems and to work on improving your skills. Circumstances are such that you need to become accustomed to communication or travel. You tend to say what you believe now. Keep in mind that what you say or write now has impact, for better or for worse!

Love (and lust) is in the air. It’s now innate for you to turn on the magic without even lifting a finger. More affectionate and appreciative interactions with your children may also figure now. Your powers of magnetism/attraction shall see new heights this month. At this time, you intuitively know how to position yourself in the best light in order to make a good impression on others. Any love affair begun now will be characterized by good liveliness, having excitement, and a fair share of arousing drama!

It’s an excellent time to take care of your health. You might decide to change jobs, and if your work has not been fulfilling in the past, then initiative to make changes should be taken. Such a situation left unchanged could easily result in health problems, just as it could to routinely overwork oneself. Undesirable job pressures may lead to depressions and injuries. Your services may be in demand and you could make some important strides forward. A situation on the job or with your co-workers may seem to be all consuming of your energies, and some review may be in order.

You are tending to be really clear-cut, straight and to the point in all of your interactions. You now do exactly what you think, and in fact are inclined to be aggressive, pushy, or perhaps sarcastic. Your mind is very active now, so this is a good time to streamline your efforts into intellectual or mental work like planning, programming and may be driving speedy vehicles.

From Ask-Oracle.

Photo credits: Patterns, Google Images, Stock photos // Photo manipulation by Moi Yes, I am inspired.

It’s not a secret that I dream of going to Paris. Everybody does, I think. I guess it started when I watched Anastasia when I was young. Anastasia is absolutely my most favorite “Princess film” though I just realized a year ago that it wasn’t a Disney one.

In the movie, Anastasia or Anya as she is called (At that time, I felt really proud of myself that my name also begins with an A, haha.) travels to Paris with Dimitri, her one true love though he’s not that cute but still adorable, and Vlad to meet her “possible” long lost grandmother. It was during that time when Dimitri started acting like a love-sick puppy when he realizes that Anya really is Anastasia and they can’t be together because he’s just a “kitchen boy.” “Princesses don’t marry kitchen boys.” </3 Then there’s the song number “Paris holds the key to your heart” (But Paris is pronounced as Pa-ree~) that completely won me over.

Welcome, my friends, to Paris.
Here, have a flower on me.
Forget where you’re from.
You’re in France!
Children, come!
I’ll show you that French joie de vivre!

Ever since then, I’ve always associated Paris with love and beauty, of art and elegance. The cartoon show Madeleine also made me want to visit Paris – where I thought, if you’re like Madeleine, everyday is an adventure.

A Very Welcome Surprise

A few days ago, I posted this on my tumblr:

I thought I was going to the UK for 2 weeks. United Kingdom, home of Harry Potter and all those cute British guys with their hot accents and amazing London’s Tube (from what I can tell in Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere) and London’s Eye and the London Bridge, the Big Ben and the Buckingham palace and – I CAN GO ON.

You see, my Dad won an award for Employee of the Year (GO DAD! \m/) And the prize (we thought) was a 2-week trip to the UK for two – so that’s Mom and Dad of course. So how’d I fit it? And only me and not my sibs

Well, aside from the fact that I’ve been wanting to go to Europe, mostly Paris but UK is also on that list, since forever and that I’m a die-hard Harry Potter fan and I want to get a picture of me on King’s Cross and that I heart British guys, and that I already have a list of places to visit – I’M TURNING 18 THIS YEAR.

And I don’t want to have a debut. And that I’ve always told them I’d rather go on a Euro-trip than dance in a cotillion.

I always say that I want to go to Europe for my 18th, but a part of me always believed it wouldn’t happen. I mean, I’m sure I’ll go to Europe! Someday, because I promised myself. But I didn’t know it’ll be soon!

This is how I found out:

Me, still groggy from sleep, goes down the stairs.

Ally who was Facebook-ing (as much as I Tumblr) immediately stands up and starts blabbering in that annoying, high-pitched voice of hers: Ate! Alam mo ba pupunta sa UK si Mommy! Kasama ka!

I ignore her, and her words that doesn’t make any sense at that time. I walk into the kitchen where Mom was washing the dishes, and Ally follows me, still blabbering about something I couldn’t remember.

As I pour myself a glass of water (and become more conscious of my surroundings), Mom turns to look at me with a big smile on her face.

Mom: Pupunta tayo sa UK~! (she says in a sing-song voice)

Me: Huh? (I answer quite intelligently.)

Mom: Nanalo si Papa mo ng Employee of the Year! Thru votation daw yun at i-aanounce bukas pero tinawagan na siya ni Tito Rollie mo. Trip to UK for two – with the wife of course – for two weeks!

That was when I woke up. Not from a dream, thankfully. But from the haziness of my mind.

Me: HHHHAAAAAA? TALAGA?!?!? OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (And many more exclamations. I actually tried to rip my hair off, to check if I was still dreaming or not.)

Me: SAMA ‘KO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And then much later, when I finally processed the other things that Mom said,

Me: Votation? Wow. Mr. Congeniality pala si Papa!

I Should Have Seen it Coming

This semester, I’m taking EL 50 (European Languages) classes, and it’s definitely my favorite class. At the moment, we are discussing about the French language. According to my professor (who also teaches French), French is probably one of the most complex Romance language – the French made it to be. They absolutely love their language, no matter how nasally sounding it is – French sounds quite melodic and feminine in my opinion.

The next night, I was reading The Francophonie for the class. Basically, the Francophonie is an organization of countries who had a population of French-speakers. What’s so unusual about this organization is that it was started by the past colonies of France (you’d think they’d want nothing to do with them after being a colony – but I guess that’s just like the Philippines and the Americans) to cultivate the language. And get this, at first, France was reluctant to approve of this organization (you’d think they’d be eager to be in control again, huh?) but then of course later, they agreed. That tells a lot about the French – they view their language as the language of the elite, and although they cultivate their language in the L’Académie française, it’s only for the French people themselves.

After reading this, somehow I’ve become more determined to learn French – even though I’m more convinced that it really is quite difficult. I know that we’re required to take 2 Language elective classes, but I forgot when we’ll take it – second year or third year? Instead of searching through my things for my course curriculum, I googled it instead, haha. But what I found was the course curriculum for the BA European Languages. Curious, I decided to browse through it. And I found out that they have several “Plans” and one of them was to Major in any language while minoring in another discipline, one in particular, is my Communication Research.

That set an idea in my head. What if I shifted? First of all, I get to study French, major in it to be precise, something I’m definitely passionate to learn, and secondly, I can still pursue my studies in CommRes. That wasn’t a bad idea. Somehow, when I put it that way, it’s only logical for me to pursue it. I mean, I’ve never really had a plan, or a dream course in college… I’m kinda still making it up as I go. And then suddenly, there’s this sudden burst of… I don’t know, inspiration I guess, something that I really really want to pursue. And that makes me scared. Following your dreams isn’t really easy, I realized. In a way, I’m taking a big risk if I transfer. If I stay in CommRes, there’s like this assurance of a good future and a stable job – I mean come on, there are only two colleges in the Philippines offering this course, we’re like… rare or something. And I’ve heard a lot of times from different people “Sa MassComm, nasa CommRes ang pera.” I don’t even have to ask myself if I want the money – I do! And not only for myself of course. I’m the eldest child… my sister is 6 years younger than me, and 12 years for my brother. I’d have graduated college and my brother would still be in elementary! And it’s not as if I’m doing something I don’t like – there are a lot of, you can say, “openings” for CommRes graduates – in Advertising, Public Relations and other media. I can even pursue a job in the Publishing business – which is actually my plan.

I was still pondering on that till the next day when my mom gave me the news.

Dad won. But we weren’t going to the UK for 2 weeks. We were going to Paris for 4 days.

On Fridays, I only have my EL 50 class… and yeah, we were studying French. My mind was still reeling from the news, and from what I’ve thought about that night. Was that a sign or something?

Then our professor arrived. She then informed us that she made a mistake and gave us the wrong readings. So instead of discussing today, she was going to teach us French, to give a little “feel” of the language. In my head, I laughed in absurdity. Really, there is no such thing as coincidences.

Bonjour! Je m’apple Annick! J’habite en Philippines, je suis Philippine. Je suis etudiante. J’ai dix-sept ans.

(No google translate for me! Haha)

Everything happens for a reason, it’s God’s plan. But, God, it’s all happening too sudden! So what now? Why am I so worried about these signs? I’m confused. I’m never really good at making decisions or taking big risks.

But bloody hell, I’M GOING TO PARIS THIS SPRING! (which is on March or April)

Thank you Lord. This might be the best (for now) birthday gift ever!

And I still have the summer to decide, don’t I? Hopefully by then, my thoughts and feelings would be clear. And that I’d have the courage to act upon them.

Until then, I’m going to focus on the positive. I’m going to

And I better master my camera by then. I want to take lots and lots of pictures to keep the memory of those 4 days alive.

So yeah. It’s been 15 days in the new year 2011 and I’ve been procrastinating, as usual. And sometimes I even consider blogging as procrastinating so I’m procrastinating procrastinating. So far, 2011 has been good. I want this year to be my year – that I would do a lot of things, make it productive. I can’t be 17 forever or 17 again… so I want to do and learn a lot of things before I turn 18, all legal and stuff. Hmm.

Three days before the end of a decade, I was furiously working on my 7-page, single-spaced PolSci paper – the bloodiest paper I have ever made to date. I wanted to finish it so I can enjoy the first day of the new year without any crap deadline looming in my head. And yeah, I was able to finish it. Maybe partly because I wanted to get it done so I can read the books that I’ve been waiting for since the start of the month. IT FINALLY CAME. Better late than never.

BookDepository is a really awesome site. You can order books from the UK and get it shipped for free! Well, it took almost a month before I received my orders but I don’t care. AS LONG AS I GET IT haha.

I finally got the 2nd and 3rd book of the Bloody Jack Adventures – The Curse of the Blue Tattoo and Under the Jolly Roger. When I got it on the 28th, I was about 3-4 paragraphs away from finishing the paper. And what can I say? Temptations can be as effective as cramming.

I spent the last days of 2010 reading these. I am more than content.

Also, after about 10 years or so, Mom and I slept on the same bed alone together again. My Ninong, Ninang and cousin Miggs took over my bedroom and Ally and Bro also joined them. So for the first day of 2011, I was kicked out of my bedroom. Normally I wouldn’t agree with that arrangement. But I was such in a good mood that being the new year and all and still engrossed with my Bloody Jack novels, I indifferently agreed to it.

As for Christmas gifts, I received an overdose of the same… kind of stuff. I got four bags with amazing prints:

I especially like the sequential-ish train station map of… France?

Anyway, the most I have collected (aside from cash of course) were Artwork Monster shirts. That’s right, I got SIX Monster shirts – that makes 8 in total. I would’ve taken a picture of all of them except they’re all in the laundry.

I want 2011 to be a very productive year. So to start off, I needed a clean bed room. Before 2010 ended, I “sort of” cleaned my bed room – but that included stuffing my things in drawers, vacuuming the floor and arranging my books. I also made a list of books “To wrap” and “To read” and saw that both have accumulated over the years… I really need a proper bookshelf.

This year, I also started to make my own “Commonplace book”. (I saw this cute notebook from Papemelroti made out of recycled paper and yeah, I had to buy it.) It’s an idea that I first discovered when I read The Series of Unfortunate events. Basically, it a notebook full of random stuff – from word definitions to historical references to movie quotes. I like learning stuff (and that makes me a nerd) – stuff that interest me that is, such as history, astronomy and mythology. I already wrote a few things there, things I learned in the last semester in Archaeology and the things I’m learning now in geography (only a bit though) and European Languages.

Also this year, I want to learn a bit more on Photography. I’m not planning to buy a DSLR though – I just want to see how far I can go with my trusty point-and-shoot and photoshop, haha. I really enjoyed taking pictures during the lantern parade (and I haven’t upload those photos yet…) and I think I made some pretty decent fireworks shot then. Well, it was better than the fireworks shot I got this new year. I made only two “acceptable” (at least in my standards it is) shots:

2011 is going to be epic. I can feel it. And not just because 11 is my favorite (lucky though? We’ll find out.) number. And so now that I’ve established it’s going to be epic, I should painstakingly record all of the epic moments here in my blog. That’s right 2011, I’ll be in a more serious blogging/writing mode… something I haven’t done since second year of high school. And what better time to start than on my second year of college?

Till then.