It’s both comforting and sad to know that I’ve left pieces of my heart in cities miles away from where I am now. Barcelona, Hawaii, Japan, and all the other places I’ve been to will always be my home away from home.
This would have to be one of my favorite dances I’ve ever performed. Check out our channel for more awesome videos!
10 Foreign films that EVERYONE MUST WATCH… PART 2
I absolutely love watching foreign films! They have this raw quality to them that makes all the emotions, dialogues, and the acting seem so real. So, here’s another 10 movies that everyone should add to their “films to watch before i die” list. Again, in no particular order:
1. Spirited Away, 2001 Japan
2. Mao’s Last Dancer, 2009 Australia
3. Hitlerjunge Salomon (Europa Europa), 1990 Germany
4. El Laberinto del Fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth), 2006 Mexico
5. Ladri di Biciclette (Bicycle Thieves), 1948 Italy
6. Paris, Je T’aime (Paris, I Love You), 2006 France
7. Mar Adentro (The Sea Inside), 2004 Spain
8. La Vita e Bella (Life Is Beautiful), 1997 Italy
9. Rashomon, 1950 Japan
10. El Secreto De Sus Ojos (The Secret In Their Eyes), 2009 Argentina
Birthday Weekend!
Started off with a surprise cake from Jopy and his friends
Then surprise birthday salubong with my House of Dance friends c/o Rodge
Then party at Skye with my block loves
Hi Rodge! Thank youuu!! >:D<
Best birthday weekend ever! So happy too cause I won’t be able to celebrate with these people next year, at least I have this weekend to remember. And I got the most thoughtful gift from Rodge. He made a video of all my closest friends’ birthday/goodbye message for me. I was crying from start to finish, seriously. :| I did not expect all these, so friends if you’re seeing this post, thank you!! And I love you all *bow* haha
Behind the scenes of Ethnisyncrasies
Rehearsals at the gymnastics room, which is a really dangerous place for dance practice.
Awesome native costumes for the finale number.
The dreaded Boracay dance :|
Chickens in Hawaii! This was the competition piece we performed in Chicago
Singkil ladies…and a fish haha
Ligawan partners!
My awesome injury, with dedication \m/
Bangon Babae dance with my chetah gurlz/forevah homies
“Eeew siya ba yung prinsesa?”
Playing bato bato pik to pass the time.
And of course the not-so-dancer-friendly but still awesome stage.
I already miss the months of grueling training and rehearsals all for these two shows. I’m so glad the audience enjoyed, I’m assuming since they gave us a standing o (my first one! I nearly cried when I saw the audience haha) Aaaagh I really hope I get to join the company again in 2014. Oh and we got featured in the evening news! Hahaha awesome!
Stressed!!
Things to do before i leave:
1. learn basic french (why can’t everyone learn even just a little bit of english? the better question is why did i take up spanish for my minor??)
2. learn how to cook (unless i plan on living on hotdogs, eggs, and canned goods for a whole year)
3. fix my visa (interview next week, i’m praying everything goes well)
4. review my basic business subjects (good luck to me, i don’t even remember any accounting/finance terms)
5. pack up my entire closet (i’ll probably end up doing this the night before my flight)
I think that’s it. Hmm well there are a lot of loose ends i have to fix, like the lease for my apartment, school requirements/books/etc, documents i’ll need when i get there, and a ton more.
I have 2 months to finish everything!!! Thus, the title. :|
Our Singapore Adventure! 7 days of non stop eating, walking, shopping, exploring, and more eating.
Random fact #8
Here’s a list of things people do that irk me the most:
1. When people speak in taglish and they can’t seem to translate the simplest words. Like when they say “I’m too tamad”. I have nothing against people who speak taglish, but honestly, is that word too complicated to translate? Also, I hate it when people obviously try to fake an american accent. It doesn’t make you look/sound sosyal, just desperate.
2. The usual you’re/your, they’re/their, and other basic grammatical errors. It takes less than 5 seconds to analyze if your usage is correct or not before you hit enter. What’s the rush?
3. When people use hashtags on Facebook. There’s Twitter for that. Oh and people who update their Facebook status every 5 minutes. Again, that’s why Twitter was created (I think). I’ve probably unsubscribed from dozens of people because of this.
4. Ditchers, people who back out at the last minute, and people who are constantly late. I hate it when they don’t realize that they’re wasting my time by being late or not showing up at all.
5. When people wear sunglasses or shades indoors. There’s no excuse for doing this, unless you have sore eyes.
6. Rowdy people in the cinemas. I pay good money for my movie, I wanna enjoy it in peace. Oh and people who answer their phones inside the movie house.
7. When people post things like “share/like if you love God” or “reblog if you like *insert band name here*”, or something to that effect. It’s just flat-out annoying, and totally pointless.
8. When people are obviously fishing for compliments. The most annoying ones? When they post a picture (or even an album) of themselves in a bikini with a caption “ugh i’m so fat”.
9. When people pretend to be drunk just to get attention.
10. When people (especially strangers) accidentally bump or hit you and they don’t even look back to apologize.
End of rant. Haha
Of jump shots and dance poses (part 1)
At Pali lookout…
At North Shore beach…
In front of the Hollywood sign…
In front of the LACMA lights display…
Never in a million years did I imagine myself teaching ballet to little kids. I didn’t think I had the patience for it. But thank God these kids are the cutest most adorable and most well-behaved class I could ever ask for. There are no words to describe how proud I am of them. They were beyond awesome! And seeing this card given to me by one of my students just makes everything worth it. It’s sad this might be my last ballet class :(
10 Foreign films that EVERYONE MUST WATCH… PART 1
I’ve been watching a lot of foreign films lately, so I thought I should make a list of the best ones I’ve seen so far. I came up with 10 movies that should be on top of everyone’s To-Watch List (in no particular order).
1. 3 Idiots, 2009 India
2. Amelie, 2001 France
3. Cinema Paradiso, 1988 Italy
4. El Orfanato (The Orphanage), 2007 Spain
5. Grave of the Fireflies, 1988 Japan
6. Les Choristes (The Chorus), 2004 France
7. Jeux d’enfants (Love Me If You Dare), 2003 Belgium
8. The Motorcycle Diaries, 2004 Latin America (not sure which country exactly)
9. Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others), 2006 Germany
10. Y Tu Mama Tambien (And Your Mother Too), 2001 Mexico
Part 2 is coming soon!
Random fact #7
A few weeks ago, I found out I got accepted into a business school in France. I’ll be taking up an international masters in management this september, which means a few things:
1. I have to review before the school year starts. I took up European Studies, which means I barely had any math, economics, and business subjects. Not only that, I graduated last year which means the little knowledge I have of these subjects are probably rotting away in some obscure part of my brain.
2. I have to learn basic french before I actually go there. I guess I minored in the wrong language :| A friend of mine who’s taking her masters in France said that very few people speak English, and most of the people there don’t wanna deal with non-french speakers asking for help/directions/whatever.
3. I have to find a place to live in. Not only is it difficult cause I’m halfway across the globe, but also because most french websites don’t have an english translation. And google translate isn’t exactly accurate.
4. I have to fix my student visa. I have no idea how to go about this, but I think I have enough time to worry about that..for now.
5. I have to say goodbye to dance. Ugh thinking about it makes me cry :(( The longest I’ve gone without dance is probably a month, when I studied and worked in Spain. And it drove me crazy. Now I don’t even know if I’d be able to go back to it.
6. Oh and I have to say goodbye to all my family and friends. But I’ll deal with that later on. Haha
So much to do, and I only have 6 months to do it!! On the bright side, this is probably gonna be the biggest adventure I’ll ever have. So bring it on!
Surfvivor Baler
I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time. And finally, I learned how to surf!! It felt amazing, like a different kind of adrenaline rush.
So my friend and I went to Baler (one of the most well known surfing spots in the country) last weekend. It was a tour package which included surf lessons. We had an instructor per person, so they were able to focus on each one of us.
It took me quite a while to get used to it. But once I was able to actually stand up on my board and reach the shore without falling, I felt like one of those badass surfers in the movies hahaha. I still have a lot to learn, that’s why I’ll be back in a few weeks for sure.
Despite the scary violent waves, bad wipeouts, tons of swallowed seawater, cuts and bruises everywhere, and sore muscles, I had a blast! Surfing is something I want to do as a hobby, and I’m hoping I’ll be decent enough to enjoy doing it regularly haha
Sevy and I in front of the beach, before taking our surfing lessons.
Intense waves, see? They can be really intimidating, especially for a beginner like me. Good thing our instructors were there to help us.
One of my 254634123514356768 attempts haha
Yay for an awesome trip!
Random fact #6
As I’ve mentioned over and over again, I’m a huuuge series buff. I’ve been one since highschool, and now that I’m unemployed, I have all the time in the world to indulge in this hobby of mine. In one of my previous posts, I mentioned that I follow a lot of series. But some of my favorites are currently off the air, so I decided to try new ones.
The first one is Alcatraz.
It’s from the creators of Lost, so it basically revolves around a conspiracy (though I’ve never seen Lost). The premise of the show is: In 1963, Alcatraz was about to be closed down so all the prisoners were supposed to be transferred off the island. But when the guards came to pick them up, all the prisoners mysteriously disappeared. And now, they’re all starting to resurface and, well, kill people.
It’s a brand new series, with only 3 episodes so far. Right now, I enjoy watching it. But I have to wait and see if it really has substance or is just another plot twist-filled train wreck waiting to happen (like AHS, unfortunately).
The second one is Sherlock.
It’s a british series which is a modern-day adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Currently there are 2 series (or chapters) with 3 episodes per series. Each episode is about 1 hour and 30 minutes long, which can be dragging. But it’s actually pretty interesting if you’re dedicated enough. I think the casting here is more realistic than in the movies. Don’t get me wrong, I love Robert Downey Jr. as much as the next girl, but I just can’t focus on his character’s cleverness alone, with his face being too distractingly handsome! Not sure if that made sense, but you get the point.
Anyway, I don’t think these series will be everyone’s cup of tea, seeing as there’s a lack of gorgeous leads to fangirl over, and other typical features present in most popular series today. But I’m definitely recommending these to those who wanna try something different.
