Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Trip Lang!

TRAVEL is my "raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens". The build up of excitement days before any trip is like "Silver-white winters that melt into springs". It is truly one of my favorite..... hmmm, my favorite thing!

The atmosphere of arriving in any new place is comforting. The warmth of something new embraces you the moment you've touched a nonnative ground. Your senses help you feel her welcome. The smell of her food (or it's people in some cases), The touch of its climate, The sound of a new language, The taste of its local cuisine; The humor of its culture,... all new to you. Anything 'New' amazes most of us. Somehow, all I want is to be amazed and Traveling never fails to provide.

Being from Iloilo as a child, I always wanted to go to Manila. Local Philippine destinations were once my dream targets. My first ever travel out of my native village was in nearby Guimaras Island. Back then, Guimaras was a sub-province of Iloilo, so its not considered as out-of-town trip but that was my first ever experience of riding a Banca. Something i wont forget as a child.

When i was about 9 yrs old. Mom and Dad brought me to Cebu, my first ever Plane Ride .. and my first ever Hotel (Montebello Hotel). Being a kid, riding a plane and seeing Cebu was one of my happiest moments. Maybe, this is when my love of travel started. New experiences stop me from my track.

I was 12 when I first visited Manille. Luneta and the Manila Zoo were a must. But eating at Jollibee and McDo was the thing ill never forget about Manila. It was something new to me. At that time, we dont have those in Iloilo yet. The large Coke amazed me. And the fries never tasted that good.

I first visited Boracay when half of the island has no electricity yet; When Bazura was still the 'In" place to go at night; When you can still see a group of fish swimming at The White Beach; and When a lot of Foreigners do naked sunbathing without hesitation. I was 15. Of course with Family.

The first time I traveled with Friends was also in Boracay. Those with Mama O, Ekra, Kelly and others. All we did was Swim, Eat, Drink and Dance. Yes, no Sex... we were still teenagers at that time, when Mama O used to be fat. Charot! Every six months we went. We were lucky to have a friend whose family has a resort there. Win!

Bohol, Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro and Camiguin were the rest of the places in The Philly i've been to.

My first ever trip outside the country was Sydney (Yes! had my first ever Gay Parade @ age 25!). Dubai was next until I moved and lived here in San Francisco. America needs to be explored too. Seen the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, Chicago, LA, DC, Vegas, Toronto, etc but Asia is, so far, my favorite destination. The beaches in Thailand and its people (what a sex trip! Ching!), The Angkor Wat, Kathmandu, Bali, but the one that amazed me most? INDIA! (Northern India to be specific)... despite my unpleasant experience with some of its people, the place is still truly as they advertised it, Incredible!

I’d love to visit more travel destinations as much as I can. If I could afford it and get more vacation hours from work, i'll go every six months. I want to do it now when my knees are still strong enough to endure the adventure. When health is still wealthy. Here's more places I want to See:

Phillippines: El Nido, Caramoan, Banaue/Sagada, Batanes and Vigan

And the Rest..... (My Top 5 Dream Destinations):

5. Petra, Jordan

4. Iceland

3. Machu Picchu, Peru

2. Easter Island, Chile

1. Maldives

One thing I learned from traveling is that when we travel we begin to realize there is more than one way to live life and be happy. We learn to understand, we learn about other people's differences, and sometimes, we learn to discover something new about ourselves. Kaya tara na mga Bakla, Biyahe tayo! Tse!

NEW Mimikri & Southpaw!

Mimikri has a flirtatious new summer dress in the shop that makes a perfect cover-up at the beach! Breezy comes in 8 delicate colors fashioned in a playful polka dot linen fabric. The dress has a fancy ruffled collar accented with pearl buttons, undone in front, revealing two different patterned panties. Selma's Golden Heirloom Necklace is a pretty new piece from Southpaw that's made really well and looks fabulous on.

NEW Curio GP Acorn Light Chic New Wave1 & Cleavage Option 1
NEW Truth Hair Lucia in Macaroon w/Color Change Headband
NEW Hudson's Ghostly Glossy Grey Eyes
NEW Pixel Mode Subscriber Group Gift Baby T's in Snow White
Manadala TAKARA Prim Nails w/Rings
To see more go here :)

Monday, May 30, 2011

Mantras





Shirt: secondhand Downeast Outfitters, $3.50 from thrift store
Necklace: secondhand, $4 from consignment shop
Skirt: Ross, $15
Shoes: secondhand, $8 from thrift store

This was Sunday's outfit. I liked it so much.





Sweater: Banana Republic, $25
Necklace: Etsy shop, $12
Shirt: Gap, $6
Skirt: Ross, $15
Shoes: secondhand, $12 from consignment shop

This is today's outfit. I don't like it quite as much, I think because there's too much similarity between a loose, long top half and a loose, long bottom half. The outfit I wore yesterday was much more comfortable and flattering, but such is life. I will press on. And thus ends my Weeklong Remix of the brown maxi skirt. You can see my other looks here, here, and here. (And PS: For whatever it's worth, I wore the skirt two additional times this week without blogging about it, so this item has gotten a LOT o' love recently. It needs a nap.)


Something I've been thinking about lately: mantras. A mantra can be a word, a phrase, a syllable -- any speech that you use as an instrument of thought. In Hinduism and Buddhism, mantras carry sacred symbolism and embody some kind of spiritual power, so the repetition of a mantra is a religious practice. I've read about mantras many times before and always liked the idea. As an English major and literary-type person, I totally believe in the power of words. That said, it was just a cool idea and never something I really intentionally used.

In the past few weeks, I've noticed that I use "mantras" frequently, except they're not the spiritually uplifting or helpful kind. I imagine that most of us get into habits of negative self-talk from time to time, and I sure fall into that trap. The harmful things I say to myself aren't planned or wanted, but they're with me nonetheless. I just fixate fixate fixate on what's wrong, so the mantra becomes "_______ sucks" or "________ makes me feel so horrible" or "_______ is always falling short."

On Friday, I had some menstrual cramps going on, and I decided to implement the positive power of words to deal with that. Whenever the cramps would sort of surge or become more distracting, I would repeat this mantra to myself: "This is a productive pain. It's nothing to worry about. My body is doing exactly what it's supposed to do, and it's doing it very well." Know what? It really did the trick. The pain was reduced, and the pain that remained wasn't scary or unbearable.

I'm trying to find a mantra or two that I can use for the emotional woes rather than the physical ones. Any suggestions? I've found some success with "It's okay to feel hurt" and other things to that effect, reminding myself that it's totally normal to feel upset when things I care about aren't quite right, but I don't think I've struck gold with my perfect mantra just yet. If you have any advice for things you say to keep things in perspective or make yourself feel better, I would lurve to know.

Chic From Curio!

I'm wearing Curio's most recent release, Chic!


Chic comes in 5 lovely skintones: Acorn, Bean, Moonbeam, Petal and Sundust. Each skintone has 2 versions of 6 makeups with really cute names: ChiChi, Flair, Mode, NewWave, Noir and Pure. I really like the eyeshadow on ChiChi2, the eyeshadow and lip combo on Flair2, and the sexy orange lips on NewWave1. The Chic skin has blonde brows and a tattoo dark brown brow included.

Chic has an expertly shaded body from head to toe with a sexy round derriere, realistic nipples and a perfectly drawn navel. An individual makeup costs $L1000 ($4.00) and consists of both light & dark tones, with freckled versions of each or 8 skins. An entire skintone or 48 skins costs $L1500 ($6.00). The fatpack has been replaced with a megapack and is your best value. It contains every single makeup, 240 skins for $L3000 ($12.00).

Truth Hair Tamara
Lo*momo SD Bikini in Red
To see more go here :)

Mehgan Heaney-Grier photo pic





Melania Trump photo pic





Melania Knauss Trump photo pic





Melanie Brown photo pic





Melanie Chisholm photo pic