Neighborhood.

 

There will come a point in your life when your sense of self-importance is thrown into a bowl with a pinch of ennui and exhaustion to taste. This almost inevitably leads to an insert-fraction-of-average-lifespan crisis, which in turn would lead to a disconsolate feeling that life is full of routine, repetitiveness, and redundancy. Fortunately, I haven't had the displeasure of experiencing this in a very long time, but I just felt like writing a dramatic intro (ba-dum-tss).

In my defense, I did just survive my last year before I finally get that tangible proof of the decade and a half I spent toiling in school - my college diploma. While I think sentimentality is justified this time, I'm not quite feeling it since I'm extending my stay in the university for another year to get my Master's degree. Nevertheless, there's no denying that this year was full of lasts, and being the change-wary person that I am, I can't help but get that usual disorientated sensation, like losing my way without seeing where I'm supposed to go. It's the season of mists once again.

All these disgusting feelings aside, truthfully, I haven't really been able to think about these things until the week after my last day as the work kept me busy. Which is why I'm glad that half of last week was spent with some of the people who watched (and helped!) me survive my college years. And all this begins with the graduation dinner at Chateau 1771 (Greenbelt) of a very good friend since high school, Johann.

In the photo above, by the way, is his cousin Mark whom I have known for three or four years more or less, and whom I have carefully evaded like a skilled Pokemon (I have been accused of constantly "evolving") until that Monday when reflex got the best of me and we were finally introduced.

The next day (Tuesday) was my last day of freedom. Unfortunately, I had to cut my supposedly three week-long summer break into two days because I have to get my internship out of the way in time for my vacation. That last day was spent photographing two shoots, spontaneously crashing a friend Jam S.'s house (and being fed Belgian chocolates by her mother!), and catching up on life and death and everything in between with two awesome people (Jam T. and Mark L.) in the new milk tea place along Escriva. I can safely say that that day was a day spent well. Friends and art-making are a foolproof mix, no?

The final hurrah of that week-after was the extremely belated Share Your Life Day with the other five from the original six (made up of four professors and two students), plus three new recruits we're more than happy to include. We had it at our friend Philip's house, who incidentally is my former professor who lit the spark of my ongoing love for Dante Alighieri. It might sound odd on paper that we voluntarily spend time out of school with former professors, but it feels nowhere near that way in reality. We're all just friends now. I'm not sure how that happened either, but it did, and I'm glad it did because it's been a fantastic year and a half of this - even though in principle, hanging out with professors steals away our childhood. Heh~ On a side note, I finally found the time to bake again so I made sugar cookies for the occasion.

And well, that's that. I'm obviously a bit behind on the posting schedule, but hopefully, that would be corrected soon. Aside from the Holy Week entry I have planned, I'm also supposed to put up the photo shoot pictures soon. Maybe in the next week. Don't count on it? I'm religiously un-religious about this. Till then, some teasers. 

Have an amazing Easter, kids! ♥

Sunny February

At the beginning of the year, I had imagined a long and excruciating wait till this semester finally ends and I get my summertime. It's now almost a week into the third month of the year, and I've got to admit, the first two flew by unexpectedly quickly. It's the final sprint till my college degree, so these past few weeks (and those to come) have me filled to the brim with school work. Blogging is a luxury I can barely afford, hence, I am cramming the latter half of February in this one post.

On the twenty-second, a good friend of my family from Japan (plus another new family friend) came visit so we went out for dinner at Zao, a Vietnamese restaurant at Serendra. Masaaki-san (the said family friend; farthest right in the last photo) is this really awesome (I do my vocabulary no justice, but I cannot find a more befitting word) director-composer whom we have known since 2007, and we are his, and I quote, "family in the Philippines". He has this unbelievably adorable son whom my sister and I always volunteer to babysit in spire of the glaring language barrier. Their family will be coming to visit this April so that's one other thing to look forward to this summer.

The day after was The Father's birthday, and we had a small celebration at Amici in Megamall. The cakes and gelato in that place are so interestingly designed so those always make for good photos.

In the week after that came the highlight of my month. The twenty-ninth marked the day of our batch's graduation photo shoot. It was one of the better reminders of our inevitable aging and the looming grand change in our lives. For my creative shot, I chose to immortalize my geekery by going as a modern-day Princess Leia, complete with See-Threepio and Chewbacca Mighty Muggs, and a sith lightsaber. I spent most of the day with two of my favorite girls, Lavina and Lesley (to whom the photos of us three are credited). In my best stereotypical surfer dude accent, that day was pretty rad, bro.

And that, boys and girls, is my two weeks in a nutshell. Till then, I will be chained to my corner in the library, by the window with the view of the tree, waiting for this semester to end. It will be fantastic.

Cheerios! ♥