My Most Memorable - 2011

Earlier this afternoon, I tweeted about my 2011.

However, when I was compiling the pictures I have shot this year, I realized how I wasted much of my time worrying about tomorrow when I could perfectly enjoy and get lost in the moment. How this was a good year never really struck me until its last few hours.

Japan

My 2011 started in Japan. I've grown quite accustomed in independent living for quite a while, in retrospect, I actually enjoyed it. My friends and I also traveled from Tokyo to Kamakura, to Hakone, to Kansai Region (Kyoto, Osaka, Nara), to Hiroshima.

I'm so blessed to be given the opportunity to just travel this year despite many things.

That's me in thick clothing in one of those steaming areas in Hakone where a scenic view of Mt. Fuji could be seen.

Here are some of my most favorite shots from my living in Japan.

I saw one of the most beautiful and historic cities ever where I'm eyeing to stay for retirement, Kyoto.

The most breathtaking tourist spot I've seen (Kinkaku-ji in Kyoto). Looks like a shot from postcard?

This one's the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Dome.

I also experienced working as a part-time employee in a store in Ginza, tutoring Japanese students while being a foreign student myself, some really cold winter weather and snow, amazing (and very breathtaking) Tokyo moments.

Besides that, of course was March 11, 2011, 2:46 PM, the Great Tohoku Earthquake. I hope that will be the only time I'd experience a magnitude 9 earthquake.

Proud of that country that was able to slowly move on from such a disaster.

Tokyo is very much like a love affair, and leaving was very much like a break-up. I had a terrible and difficult time moving on. Sometimes I still experience relapse, though I am a proud of the little progress I have made adjusting. :)

Internship with Selecta

When I got back Manila last summer, I was still looking for things to do when a good opportunity opened up for me. I was able to get an internship in Unilever for none other than...ice cream! For one summer I got to eat so much free ice cream my tummy grew happy.

Completing a Degree

So this is how it feels like to have graduated from college. I haven't attended my graduation rites yet, which probably is the reason why I felt like graduation is just like suddenly stopping schooling, except you've finished it. I was so blessed to graduate Magna Cum Laude. Man, those sleepless nights must have paid off!

Really missing Diliman badly!

Nestlé MILE

Another opportunity that was opened up to me was being part of this year's batch of MILEes! Even if this experience lasted only four days, it seemed like there were so many things I've brought out with me from this experience. MILE was a chance for me to explore things I did not know I could do. It was also an opportunity to build friendships.

Manila Foodistas

And before the year ended, I got to join a food blog, Manila Foodistas. I'm no food connoisseur nor have I any professional knowledge on nutrition. The great thing about food blogging for me is the fact that you don't need to be a professional to share some of your thoughts on eating... you just have to be hungry and love food.

...And many other things

I've had some personal bouts which I treasure about this year. The dog that I loved the most died all of a sudden, and that was really devastating for me. This December too was not really a good month for many reasons, but I still choose to put my faith in Him.

I was able to strengthen my family relationships, re-build relationships with others, and form new ones- some of which are those which are really precious to me.

My sole resolution for the new year is to walk more and sit less.

Thanks Lord for what was 2011.

Danne

Gotta Stop

I always had a never-say-die attitude when it comes to two things: workaholism and worrying. People close to me would know that I rarely give myself a break when it comes to these two things. Workaholism probably stems from my being driven and from the belief that time is never enough and so many opportunities out there are to be taken advantage of; and worrying from my attitude of always taking calculated risks for whatever it takes.

And as young as 22, my body is telling me to stop stressing over things. I would like to shift to having a healthier lifestyle. I want to have a sound mind-- to breathe more and hold my breaths less.

But then such a shift in thinking and lifestyle has to have some operational definition (like what we do in Psych) in order to actually happen.

At the moment however, here are just some of the thoughts I have:

1. Life should be at least: 50% serious and 50% pure fun.

We have responsibilities which of course, need to be taken cared of (such as work, duties, etc), but from what I noticed those take up 90% of my time and effort. I rarely do things just for fun. Therefore, I think I should increase the frequency of fun, relaxing, nonobligatory duties if I wanna live a long, healthy, swell life.

2. Dismiss worry thoughts.

It's a struggle to actually do this, I find it difficult to not build on my worries. However, if I could not do anything at the moment about my worries, I should let go and let God take care of them.

3. Live for the present.

Worrying and being driven are both cognitive mechanisms targeted to the future. I keep thinking, I want my future to be this and that, but I do not enjoy the present, which was the future I was thinking of yesterday. So what's the point right? It's counter intuitive to not enjoy the present moment. (Makes sense, huh?)

So those are very random and unstructured thoughts I have for being stressed out and consumed all the time.

Gotta stop it!

Christmas Cards

Since Christmas is nearing and I still can't feel the fuzzy feeling I decided to make handmade Christmas cards! I'm thinking of sending these out by snail mail but I wonder if it will ever get to people's houses so until I think about what to do with these, I might as well share them with you guys!

They pop-up when you open them!

Hihi Merry Christmas

メリクリスマス！

Edit: I'm selling too! You can commission me to do a design you like! :-) Leave a message in the comment box. :-) Merry Christmas

On The Top Of Their Game

Before you read on and before you are able to understand how much passion I have of this band, you should watch this. (You're not gonna regret it.)

I was lover of hit charts and music when this band released one of their first big singles ever, Yellow. However, the problem was I disliked them. I dunno why, I was a judgmental young girl who childishly thought boring music videos equated to poor music. I was blinded by MTV.

Fast forward to almost ten years after here I am loving this band to bits I could not even contain it. So I am writing about it.

I used to write a fan mail to them in 2010 which I doubt they ever read. But I'm happy that in 2011 they released a new album called Mylo Xyloto, probably their best yet.

It took them years to make this record and I must say that it shows how their motivation for creating is art rather than profit.

As a fan, I believe that I have followed their career closely and that I would know when my favorite band's fully "ripe" and on the top of their game. I could not stress any much more how their time is now.

My thoughts were further affirmed when I heard on the radio that they are on their way to becoming legends.

Their songs have a story and that's what I like best about them. The sound of their instruments come in close second.

In case you didn't notice I really love Coldplay.

:-)

Danne

Weekdays & Weekends

Trying to go out as much as I could, to see the world!

Yum Yummy Weekend

I had a very eventful weekend full of eating, and it's to go on until tomorrow! We have a bloggers' invite for a buffet and I'm preparing my tummy!

I will post most of my food pictures soon. I realized that food is one of the most photogenic things ever.

Meanwhile, check my latest blog post on Manila Foodistas about The Iscreamist. Click away! :-)

Har har.

Danne

I Wish We Had A Lot Of Museums

In the Philippines, we have lots of malls. Malls are sprouting like seedlings everywhere. It's not like it's bad. It shows that people are spending money, which could actually be good for the economy (if you look at it that way).

We have very few parks and museums though. Those are two places where it's good to be after a tough day, on a date or just to clear our head out.

Museums are places where we could be inspired, brought back to the past, be reminded of beauty in a chaotic, wicked world.

The star in most museums all around the world are paintings. There are breathtaking works, and then there are abstract works which make you think hmm I could have done that-- splattered random paint all over the canvas, that is.

My most favorite painter is Vincent Van Gogh, for the most part, because of his story. The anxiety is there. You can feel it emanating from his works.

The first one I've ever seen was his work entitled Roses. This picture I took of it (from the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo) doesn't give the painting justice, but I'll post anyway just because I was so happy I couldn't contain it when I took this photo!

It's like being a Beatles fan and seeing Paul perform live onstage. O_O

Here's a Van Gogh lithograph I'd like to see in real life. It's called At Eternity's Gate which was eventually painted two months before Van Gogh shot himself.

(Photo not mine)

Sigh sigh! I wish we had more accessible museums here in the Philippines where we could just randomly go at the end of one stressful day.

I hope they'd build more parks too.

Danne

Ergo, nomics

One of the most interesting things I have read about is ergonomics!

No it's not about demand and supply. Instead it's about how machines around us are designed to make us perform optimally and promote our well-being.

I'm the kind of person who wants everything to be 'sulit' (getting the most worth out of everything around), and I think that is the reason why ergonomics appeals to me. Getting the most out of little effort or actually having efficient systems around make life a little less hassle and a little more sulit!

Before you think ergonomics is too complicated to try to comprehend, I'd give you some helpful tips I have read throughout the Internet which you may find helpful and informative.

1. When typing, your wrists shouldn't be arching upwards.

When I read about this, I caught myself doing exactly what the picture above shows! And then I tried to straighten my wrists out and realized that woah! There was so much strain happening while my wrists were arched. Imagine that multiplied into 10 hours of computer time everyday! Whew, I should revise my typing habits! Or else, I might have carpal tunnel syndrome by the time I'm 60!

2. Laptops aren't ergonomic.

I just realized how using laptops, especially the smaller ones tend to be harmful in terms of posture. The rule of ergonomists (is there such a word?) is to have the screen at eye-level and at the same time, wrists not strained. Since the screen is attached to the keyboard, laptops only allow for one of those mentioned. So it's either you strain your eyes and neck or you strain your wrists. :/ Not good news!

3. Door knobs versus door levers

I appreciated door levers (right) because I had them for my door in my room in Japan. Whenever I carried dishes and laundry baskets from my room to the kitchen or laundry, I could easily open the door because they were easier to maneuver. Japan is probably one of the most ergonomic countries there is. They believe in ease of use, among many things, which allows living there to be more convenient in so much more aspects.

Anyway, back to door levers. Those could be opened by disabled people who have no hands by using their elbows, and so could we if in case we are carrying a lot of things. That's probably the reason why, besides its sleek design, that door levers are actually used more and more these days. I read in one site however, that levers can easily be opened by children or pets, so it's a handy thought if safety should be considered.

These are things we barely stop and think about and yet they make so much impact on our everyday lives. Do you agree?

I hope when people design homes or workplaces, they imagine the people who will actually be using them, and consider their convenience. That will definitely be a more wonderful world to live in!

Ergonomics is probably one of the most practical studies there is around!

Danne

Foodie

I like to blog about nice things, dreams, sleep, beautiful photos, poetry, stories, books, pop culture, art BUT never have I thought I'd blog about food.

But then there's room for a lot of new things in this new phase of my life so I decided to accept the invitation of one of my friends to join a food blog. I've known the founders of this blog from college so I decided to hop on and join Manila Foodistas. I love taking pictures, and now I have food to include in my subjects.

Kindly pay a visit to Manila Foodistas: Food, Lifestyle, Travel (<--click this)! There are several nice things to read about over there!

And for my photoblog for today:

I realized that lately I've been posting more snaps than actually writing. Is it because I could express myself better in photos? O_O

I am reading more so I could get back from my writing hiatus. I have no idea if reading and writing are actually correlated but I'd give it a shot anyway.

Danne

Poetry

Sometimes I like to read poems just because they are so beautifully written. The main difference between prose and poetry, probably is the idea that less words are used for poems, so every word has got to count and contribute something to the whole idea of the poem. Premises, reasons, spurs of emotions have to be given in lines, and they have to be properly segmented so that they deliver the real emotion. With that alone, a poem really, is a well thought-out art form, isn't it?

1Q84

Earlier today I dropped by a bookstore by chance. I tried to check out some Agatha Christie books and other nice reads...and I found this.

It's Murakami's '1Q84' (read as ichi-kyu-hachi-yon). It's available in the country already. I want a copy! I'll wait for the paperback version. Haruki Murakami is one of the authors I've learned to love.

Can you recommend other nice reads?

Miss

I miss walking along sights like this! And going to school, believe it or not.

Unibersidad ng Pilipinas

Allow me to write an ode to my most favorite university! It's not that I've attended many universities, so don't take my word as fact. I've only studied in two (one here & another in a foreign country) and I could say that ours could really compete with those abroad.

I can still remember being a freshman, basking in the glory of the Oblation and the AS Steps.

On my first day in college I could not be more excited to see life, in its depth and breadth, unfold right before me. I initially thought college was like a huge bowl where many ingredients mix, and that you'd come out of it as a yummy muffin or a pretty blueberry cheesecake.

I was not wrong! (Sorry for the double negative.) To add to the baking analogy, I think studying in UP allowed my baking bowl to be filled with more 'exotic' ingredients. By exotic, I don't mean frogs or cats (which we both dissected), but that instead of having 'chocolate chips', we have 'decadent chocolate chips with drippings'. That just means in my own point of view, studying here allowed me to have very enriching experiences. And I am glad to have maximized college like that.

I met so many awesome people: some were eccentric, others were geeks, many had quirks, but most are brilliant. People excelled in their own fields; or some, in multiple fields.

Teachers in this university have so much passion in their craft, and I think this is what fuels most students to study harder than they normally would. I would consider them heroes since they chose to stick around and serve despite and in spite of the lack of swell compensation. And you could say that they are not sticking around just because this is the only job they could get. Huge companies would hire them, yet they stuck around with us, students who often rant (with heart) about deadlines and requirements. Besides our parents, I think we also owe it to them to give a good future to this country.

I admit that I am not the most nationalistic or patriotic of sorts. I have strong feelings about certain issues, but I am not really the radical type to outwardly express them. However, being educated in a national state university instilled in me a sense of responsibility to Filipinos, 90 million of whom I barely know. I do not want to disappoint the taxpayers who spent so much so that I could get an excellent education. Pessimists could try and discourage us but I believe that UP students are not the kind to be shaken. Idealism that belongs to an Iskolar ng Bayan will go a long way because he can back it up.

Besides all these, I will miss the breath of fresh air the campus offers. In a toxic metropolis like Manila, it is a breather to go to school everyday with trees and sunlight greeting you. You could always get your own tree and sit beside it and just hug it or whatever, so that makes studying in this school a notch more awesome.

The World Without Deadlines

First of all, there would be no procrastinators because really, there would be no deadlines to be met. There would be no crammers even, since there's no to target to run after. Oh what joy, that's the kind of world a student would love to live in!

I just realized how it's truly difficult to work without a certain timetable in mind. The element that's missing is not the deadline but the sense of urgency! I cannot explain exactly how sense of urgency propels me to work. It's just like lighting a time bomb-- every action is suddenly motivated twice or thrice the intensity.

I think that the sense of urgency is one of the most powerful unseen forces ever. It gets things done! It moves muscles to work!

Urgency is actually made of uncertainty, nervousness and belief that hard work pays off.

To Love

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

Wow, now I wanna read that book. I really believe C.S. Lewis is one of the best writers of all time.

Beautiful Things

It's a shame how I fail to update my blog when I keep saying I would. Maybe a lot of things have been going on in real life, I find dissonance between it and my cyber identity. I admittedly became distant to Yahoo Messenger and Facebook ever since I posted a status message saying "I think I should Facebook less and live life more" which I've been faithful to. It's true what they say in social psych, the more you publicly profess things the more you become it.

Anyway! So I tried to take photos of beautiful things I see everyday from my random walks to my workaholic-sleepaholic life. Beautiful things, because really, hey that's what all of us should focus on.

Sometimes I wish that color in the world is less saturated. Lighter blues and fainter pinks, I think, look better, than the full blown, in-your-face kind of color. Makes a lot of difference.

This month would be a turning point in my life for many reasons, one of which is (hopefully) graduation. I hope everything goes well so I can make a smooth transition from student-hood to life after school. When I think about it though, I don't see myself as an adult, but instead, as a little girl who just wants to walk the world and create and make meaning out of beautiful things.

And with that I'll update my blog more often. With beautiful things!

xx

O_O

My previous post just jinxed my sleeping pattern. I have never slept normally for the past week. Either I went to bed super early or never went to bed at all, it's insane.

I've been awake since yesterday, and I'm amazed by my wakefulness at this hour. My eye bags are excellent measures of number of hours awake!

From O_O at 3am yesterday to a -_- while taking an exam today and a ._. at around 7pm, and back to O_O now. See, my eyes, they are bionic.

Also, I realized that sleeping less means compensating through eating and drinking.

I keep on feeling the nauseating kind of headache especially while walking or when I'm inside a moving car. I think I should really rest.

Therefore, REST IT IS! The weekend will be a soft, fluffy bed I will sleep on!

Pre-sleep Ritual

One of the most sacred hours in a day for me is that prior to sleeping. It's sacred because I work hard in anticipation for slumber time. I try to do homework days before and I keep my deadlines far away so that I could be assured that I need not do an all-nighter. And then of course, I live not so I could eat good food or watch good movies-- I live for quality sleep. (Who am I trying to fool right there? When I sleep I am unconscious, now how am I able to enjoy that? BUT STILL, I BELIEVE I DO!)

Anyway despite the irony of enjoying sleep, I recently found out some insightful things by doing experiments on myself. To get quality sleep, I now try to incorporate a 10-30 minute winding down period prior to heading to bed. The winding down period comprises of soothing instrumental music or silence, reading of poems by Pablo Neruda or quotes from ThinkExist, and praying. Sometimes I write too, just like tonight. Those 'rituals' somehow cleanse my mind and soul from all the clutter that day. Besides that, I also make a learning list in my head: a list of new, may it be trivial, things I have learned earlier that day.

Then I get the quality sleep that I need (and worked so hard for.)

I don't know if this set-up works for everyone, but it leaves my mind free for what's to come the next day.

It has been my dream to buy a huge Tempur mattress. Meanwhile, I'll bank on this ritual to get me some hearty Z's!

I Want A Boy

Earlier today, I was browsing through files in my hard drive for artworks I've done in the past and photos I've taken which I eventually organized in a portfolio. *TimetopanicI'mgraduating*

I came across this which I wrote in 5/29/2008.

It says something like this:

"I want a boy, a nice and bad boy. He will miss me at 3 in the morning. He will tell me how much he loves me in front of his friends. We'd always take pictures in photo booths and go out at night to see the stars. I want a boy who would dare argue things with me. He would sing to me our song even though he may be out of tune. I want a boy who could break my heart, but would not dare to. I want a boy who can surprise, who can shove ice cream on my face just for fun. I would not cry because of him, but if I do, he'd be there to work out things just fine. He will come with me to see my favorite band play even if he will hear their songs only for the first time in his life. And when we're eighty, he will still give me the same butterflies he does when he kisses me."

I would have not posted this then! My sentiments though, stay the same even if I'm already twenty-something. I think even then what I wanted had always been clear to me.

I realized that finding love is not the same with getting good grades. Getting good grades is mostly based on effort, finding love is not. It doesn't mean that if you actively and effortfully search for it, you will be sure to find it. It's all about the right timing, chance and circumstance.

Yeah, it's so!

Flowers

These days, flowers tend to bring a different kind of sunshine in my life. They remind me of sweet summers and happy days.

A Little Quiet

In the crazy, busy, toxic environment, there is no way to survive if you're on the Internet 24/7, or if you constantly hangout with people, or if you're stuck with too much work, or if you're all three. Our minds will eventually get clouded which isn't gonna be healthy in the long run.

If you've heard of the phrase 'me time' and had tried to incorporate that into your schedule, well then that's good. However sometimes, that time alloted for you to hangout with yourself turns sour when you try to sneak in one homework or one round of that computer game. So it turns to be not 'me time' at all but 'me time plus a little distraction on the side'.

It's hard to stay away from musts and shalls because they're there to lure you and pull you. Okay, I'm not saying that we should totally ditch our obligations. What's there to say is that there's a fraction of the time (for example, a good 10 to 20 minutes) when you can stop and drop everything and do something you don't feel obligated doing, which involves less thinking. It will afford you more... space. If you're familiar with disk defragmenting, then let's take a metaphor in that. 'Me time' is something that will help you organize your thoughts so that you can function more efficiently as a person, by letting you feel less suffocated.

Eat alone! Spend a night drinking tea while relaxing music playing on the background, whatever floats your boat.

I was just giving myself a sermon right there.

Game On!

I'm graduating a college few months from today, which alarmingly is not my biggest concern. Maybe it's the time has come when I would not really bother to think what I want to do because slowly I've quite figured that out, and it all seems a little clear to me now. Arriving to what I wanna be or who I want to turn out to become cost me a lot of time, effort, trying out things and a college degree.

Yes, a college degree! I won't say I ever regret taking psychology, because studying it made me learn so much about humanity. It made me learn about how people grow, sleep, feel, talk, think, learn, behave, respond, and so on. All my life from here on, I will be surrounded by humans. This degree would definitely come in handy, all day, everyday. It helps whoever that studies it to become more self-aware. We have also been trained to become good research paper writers and statistical result interpreters (or even excellent at that). But most of all, what I like best about it is that it will help me become a nurturing mother to my future children. No matter how I try to convince myself that I landed in the wrong course, I would not land at a proper justification. I'm glad to have met Erikson and to have bumped into Cattell, spent sleepless nights with Freud and learned conditioning the hard way through Pavlov.

I'm thinking of going back to school after a short while. Meanwhile, I shall go and try to pursue something I wanted all along. Sometimes it feels like there's something out there I'm meant to do, which feels a lot natural, to which I'm hardwired. I think the creative process intrigues me too much for me to let it pass.

So, game on!

That Sweet Purple Potato Latte

Subspace is a little yet home Korean-themed cafe in Ortigas. They serve really good Sweet Purple Potato Latte, which I have been craving for the whole week now. The cafe itself is also photogenic and unique. There were chairs hanging from the ceiling, pretty vintage pieces, and stuff like that.

Yummy!

A. Christie

I've started reading detective novels, specifically A. Christie's infamous Hercule Poirot stories and man, does she write well? I found myself unable to let go of the book the moment I reached chapter four of my first read, which was The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. It turns out to be the author's masterpiece. I'm quite impressed by her poetic English, but I'm more intrigued by the deductions Monsieur Poirot made. It gets my 'little grey cells' going. I don't know why I was not able to guess the murderer. It was too cleverly written, the identity of the killer was never a giveaway.

It's one of those must-read classics. I'm glad Christie wrote several novels on Poirot in the 1920's. I'll read on! I hope to be able to read all the books on the list.

The Universe

They found water in Mars!

It should be the least of our concerns in the age of prospering life on Earth, I know. However, where there's water, there's life, just like where there's smoke, there's fire.

I read that the size of the universe is incomprehensible. All that's out there will never be fully known.

My roommate (also an international student) once asked me about the Christian faith. She did not come from a Christian country like ours so the concept of God and faith was very new to her. She asked me, how come I believe that a God exists out there when there's no concrete evidence.

All I could think of was how special Earth is, that that the universe was perfectly designed. Same goes for the breadth of the universe. And the Earth, why is it placed in a location in space where its neither too hot nor too cold, titled in an angle of 23 degrees? Among all the galaxies, why in Milky Way? Why were humans given such a special home?

And we need not look too far. If you have studied biology, you'd understand that the design of the human body is too complex that any machine ever invented wouldn't even measure up to it.

Some say that science and faith are two conflicting ideas. I believe otherwise. The most compelling proof of a God is the work he created-- the universe.

Soshified

I'm sorry but...

I'm Soshified!

All photos taken from the net.

I've been listening to the Japanese versions of their songs which are so catchy, you won't notice you're humming them all day. Aaa. I think I'm not a KPOP fan, just an SNSD fan. They're so cute!

I used to watch their videos playing in huge screens across the train station near my dorm in Tokyo. People would stop walking and just watch them. I wondered who they were and looked 'em up on the net. I guess that's good promotion.

I heard they're coming to visit Manila some time soon.

My favorite song was Genie which was replaced by Hoot and now Mr. Taxi. Haha! I'm fickle-minded I know. But Gee's got to be the catchiest song ever.

LOL I know right? Even I didn't expect this.