Summer in pictures

The rain is starting to fall and the weather is getting cooler every day. Which only means one thing, SUMMER IS OVER. I always love summers, not because it's my birthday but also because I love the beach and traveling. So before the rain falls today, I say goodbye to my summer 2014 and hello to the rest of the year :)

1. Random lunch/merienda/dinner/inuman dates with friends. I can be the most kaladkarin friend you can have and this summer, I texted almost everybody when I don't have any hangouts. So there were a lot of catching up done this summer :)

2. Finishing all my book buys last year. I have bought so many books after my breakup last year, thinking I will have more time to read. But no, all my reading time were allocated to my gimik nights. So now, the every night gimiks were lessen so I had more time to read this summer :)

3. Yes, I turned 24 today. I still kept forgetting that I'm 24 but hey, I would always look young. It was a night of celebrating with my family :) Just had my favorite steak and pumpkin soup c/o Ate Lyn :)

4. Bayani Challenge 2014. I blogged about this here. 

5. Dumaguete-Siquijor trip. Yes, I found a new place if I want to slow down and get away from the city. I also blogged about it here.

6. Sining's 7th birthday. (For those who doesn't know Sining, she's my niece) I can't believe she is 7 already!! I saw her grow up and now she's so beautiful and modelesque. Sining, true to her name is a true artist that's why her birthday party theme was an art fair where kids painted, drew, made button pins, colored and decorated a cookie. It was a fun children's party.

7. Subic trip with the clingy friends. This trip was supposed to be cancelled already but Nina texted on the day itself that we will push through with the trip. So I took a half day leave at work to go to pack and do some grocery shopping. It was one of the best unplanned trip ever where we started drinking at 10am. Good times.

8. Papa left for Canada last May for a 2 month vacation. So this summer was full of facetime/viber call dates from him :)

9. Day out ng mga tita. I swear, ang lakas maka-tita vibes ng spa date. Ter treated us all for a massage date just because we are all stressed in life. I really never liked massages because I get tickled so easily but since this is free, I went. I was laughing and giggling the whole time. Good thing my masseuse was very patient with me :)

This was one of the best summer of my life. I love catching up and going out so yeah. BEST. SUMMER. EVER.

Keep Calm and Watch Movies

I love watching movies, from indie films to the commercialized ones. I am fascinated by great stories, amazing scores and awesome animation by talented people. I could really watch any genre, except those horror/scary movies (No. you can't make me watch another movie as scary as The Ring or Shutter!!!) 

I believe that most of our interests now came from our childhood. We were molded when we were still young to love what we are doing now. I'm trying to pinpoint the moment in my life when I realized that I love watching movies and there's only one movie that I can remember from my childhood.

This story is quite embarrassing for me and I never really tell anyone about this but this movie is so relevant for Nuffnang's question, "What movie made you fall in love with watching movies?"

Yes, for those who know Sarah: Ang munting prinsesa, you're probably my age. I think this was the first movie that I can remember watching in the movie house. Whenever I see this movie again, I will always be reminded of that afternoon at Ever Gotesco/SM West (/North, it was still called SM West back then) where I cried (so hard) because I don't want to leave. My parents kept on telling me that we have to leave already but no, I wanted to watch it again. Unfortunately, they didn't let me haha! I don't know why I loved this movie so much when I was a kid but as the time passed, I realized a few things:

1. There will always be rainbows after the rain. Sarah was rich, became a servant then got rich again. Life is a wheel, my friend. There will really be days when you are up there and sometimes, you're way way way down. But don't worry because you will surely be on top again ;)

2. Friends are important. I think Sarah survived all the hardships because Becky, Ermengarde and Lottie were there for her. She remained strong because she focused on these people :) So focus yourself on all the Becky's (doesn't necessarily be beki pero pwede rin) in your life and not the Lavina's. 

3. Being on top doesn't mean that you should act like a bitch! Sarah was the smartest kid in their school but she still helped out others. She didn't act so bossy and all that shiz like Lavina. She even became Lottie's "mother". Why would a kid do that? Seriously. If Sarah, a 10 (I'm guessing here!) year old kid can help others, why not 24 year old people? So learn from her! Even if you are on top, be kind to people :)

So maybe this movie hit me so hard because of these life lessons. And a bigger part of me is guessing that I loved this movie because she's rich and she can buy all the things that she want. That birthday party, gah!! (haha! Yes, I was shallow when I was a kid!). Well, you can create anything in movies. Just use your imagination. This is why I love movies, because things that might not happen in reality can happen in movies :)

so many *feels*

My first heartbreak in high school was one of the loneliest time of my life. Since my relationship with my boyfriend that time was a secret, I couldn't tell my family about it. Whenever I'm at home, I would maneuver my attention to music (just so I would stop thinking about my ex). This was the time I first loved Sugarfree and their music. I could relate to it so much that I bought their albums with my small allowance. When I heard that they are disbanding, I got really heartbroken but I still went to their final concert at Eastwood last 2011. Yes, it crushed my heart but their songs will forever be special. 

Anyway, Ebe Dancel, the lead singer of Sugarfree became a solo artist after Sugarfree disbanded. Of course, I'm following him on instagram and he posted that he will have a gig for his birthday *yay*

I immediately texted my friends about it but unfortunately they didn't reply. I was decided to not go but on the day itself, my friend (who's very heartbroken) texted me that she'll be going. After dinner with Ter, I went straight to Conspiracy. Ebe's set started at around 11pm.

What will you expect from a few bottles of beer down, a heartbroken friend and Ebe singing Unang Araw/Telepono/Paalam Kahapon? Yes, waterfalls everywhere.

I've been crying the whole night not because of the memories each song brings back but because of seeing my friend cry. This friend of mine has been in my life since Grade 5 and I always see her as a very strong woman. That night, I saw her break. She cried buckets of tears and even Ebe Dancel noticed her (and he gave her a free beer). I was just hugging her all night and yes, crying with her. 

Ebe Dancel will always give me chills when he sings and his songs will forever touch my heart. I saw his Youtube cover on Moonriver a few years ago and I loved it. He sang it that night and I can't believe I heard it live. Yes, I cried. He's such a great singer and he writes so poetically that's why I love him as an artist. He makes me believe and love OPM more ;)

After his gig, we chatted with Ebe for a while then of course, we ate :)

That night reminded me of memories that I do not regret. That night also reminded me to always, and always choose love ♥ ♥ ♥

So I will end this post with lines from Ebe Dancel's Paalam Kahapon, one of my favorite songs from his solo album. This song relates to me on so many levels.

"Paalam na kahapon.
Kailangan na ako ng ngayon.
Alaala mo’y ikakahon,
Ngunit kailan ma’y hindi kayang itapon.

Tila utos ng mundong mabuhay
Akong pasulong, at ‘wag paurong"