Bataan!

Quite funny how my officemates have been calling me Bataan the past couple of weeks, and now I'm posting something about my Bataan trip last June (but me 'being' Bataan and the trip to Bataan have nothing to do with each other). Just saying, Bataan..then Bataan. Okay nevermind. Haha! Anyway, this is an entry long overdue which seems to be the case for most of my pending posts. Since It's been 2 1/2 months since the trip, I don't remember the details of the trip except that it was really hot that day then it started to rain in the afternoon. First, we went to Las Casas Filipinas de Azucar--where the owner just happens to enjoy COLLECTING houses. He had most of the infrastructures in the heritage site transferred from their original locations. The second place we visited was the Mt. Samat Shrine, which was built in memory of the soldiers who fought the Japanese in the 2nd World War. Just to share, Bataan is quite a historical place because it was where 'the scene of harsh fighting' between the joint forces of the Americans and Filipinos versus the Japanese. About 70,000 American and Filipino soldiers were captured. The most famous event that happened in Bataan is the Bataan Death March, where captured troops were made to walk 60 miles from Bataan to prison camps in San Fernando, Pampanga. What made this event memorable was not only because of the distance, but also because of what happened to the soldiers along the way (which are too horrific for me to write so I won't).

I do hope that you guys enjoy the photos :)

Las Casas Filipinas de Azucar

Mt. Samat Shrine

chillin' on a Sunday

Spent the afternoon with my fab friend Seppi. Went to a bazaar near her place then we spent the rest of the afternoon at a coffee shop just talking about random stuff. Yeap, we are getting old haha! By 5:30, I wanted to sleep already. Ergs. So sad, Seppi's leaving for Singapore in less than a month for work. Seriously, she's one of the funniest people I know EVER. Anyhoo, this is another outfit post so yay :) I'm wearing gray again, haha! The dress I'm wearing is one of my go-to dresses, like if I can't decide on what to wear and I just want to feel comfortable I'd automatically go for this dress or either of the two other go-to dresses I have. The Ichigo sandals I wore it with is just so cool--haven't worn it in a while so I decided to take it out today. I think it made the outfit cooler. The shoes plus my Hardy Amies bag I bought from Dy at the Ukay Buffet= ♥.

dress: thrifted

bag: Hardy Amies from The Ukay Buffet

sandals: Ichigo Shoes

ring: H&M

shades: Forever 21

lots of gray with a pop of color ;)

Haven't done any outfit posts in a while, so here's one from this past week. Been extremely busy with work so I've been too tired to post anything, thus more backlog entries haha! Anyway, here's what I wore last Tuesday. Felt like being just a bit boyish that day so I wore tapered pants, folded twice just to make the look a bit more casual. My top was loose enough for that evening's pig-out session with my good friends Annick and Sidelle at Ninyo (which deserves another post). Wore two huge ass rings and a vintage-y necklace to add a bit of color to the outfit. And yes, I had my hair cut last week :) Loving my new do! It's been a while since I've had my hair this short, like almost 2 years. Might maintain this look for a while because I missed it. Note to self: must either fix the camera settings or get a better camera for better shots. Haha!

loose gray top: thrifted find

tapered pants: topshop

rings: Forever 21 (on my right), H&M (on my left)

necklace: bought from an online seller in facebook, hehe

shoes: melissa jelly flats from an online seller

I can't believe I'm saying this but...

Where the hell are all the rain clouds? I mean, yeah it's been raining a bit. It'd be sunny the entire day, then come 3 or 4 p.m the rain just pours for about an hour or two then that's it. Hayayay global warming sucks. Don't get me wrong, I still prefer sunny days over rainy ones. Sorta changing my perspective about the rain this time, though. I've been thinking about how the change in climate has been affecting and will affect crops and agricultural produce here in the country. What about the farmers whose livelihoods solely depend on the income they get from selling fruits, veggies, and what-not? A lot of farm produce are season and climate dependent, and since the climate's been seriously menopausal...I don't know what's going to happen.

thank you :)

To Paco Park, thank you thank you thank you :) You guys made me smile :) It's so great to receive heartwarming emails on weekdays...makes all the stress go away :)

Visit Paco Park here

Wheeeeeeeeeeee! Spreading the ♥ and positivity to everyone! :)

make you banana pancakes pretend like it's the weekend now

I've only shared this with one person. About 3 years ago, I had my "Banana Pancakes" dream. Imagine Jack Johnson's song entitled Banana Pancakes playing in the background. The setup in my dream was that it was rainy Saturday morning, with me on my comfy bed, PREGNANT, and my husband gently rubbing my big tummy. We were having a very sweet, tender moment--anticipating the arrival of our little one. Cheezy, I know. I've never forgotten that dream because I didn't dream about it once. I've dreamed about it several times. The first time I had the Banana Pancakes dream, the guy in it was the first person who I told the dream to--him (haha!). If you've been reading my blog for a while now, you'd know who I'm referring to ;) The past three years, this dream has recurred more than 5 times. Weird. After him, the recurring Banana Pancake dreams still had a guy in it but I could never really see his face.

It would be a weird yet lovely thing if my "Banana Pancakes" dream did happen. I hope it does :)

Banana Pancakes

by Jack Johnson

Can't you see that it's just raining
Ain't no need to go outside...
But baby, you hardly even notice
When I try to show you this
Song is meant to keep ya
From doing what you're supposed to
Like waking up too early
Maybe we can sleep in
I'll make you banana pancakes
Pretend like it's the weekend now

And we could pretend it all the time
Can't you see that it's just raining
Ain't no need to go outside

But just maybe, laka ukulele
Mommy made a baby
Really don't mind the breakfast
'cause you're my little lady
Lady lady love me
'cause I love to lay here lazy
We could close the curtains
Pretend like there's no world outside

And we could pretend it all the time
Can't you see that it's just raining
Ain't no need to go outside
Ain't no need ain't no need Mmmm MMmmm
Can't you see can't you see
Rain all day
And I don't mind.

The telephone is singing
Ringing it's too early
Don't pick it up
We don't need to we got everything
We need right here
And everything we need is enough
Just so easy
When the whole world fits inside of your arms
Don't really need to pay attention to the alarm
Wake up slow, yeah wake up slow
You hardly even notice
When I try to show you this
Song is meant to keep ya
From doing what your supposed to
Like waking up too early
Maybe we can sleep in
I'll make you banana pancakes
Pretend like it's the weekend now

And we could pretend it all the time
Can't you see that it's just raining
Ain't no need to go outside
Ain't no need, ain't no need
Rain all day and I really really really don't mind
Can't you see can't you see,
You gotta wake up slow

Bale Dutung Preview

I went on a food trip today with a few friends, my mom, and my brother. We went all the way to Pampanga to experience Chef Claude Tayag and his wife Mary Anne's cooking at their home Bale Dutung. I'm too tired to post anything now, but here's a sneak peek...

got my wish

This is a repost of an entry I made about a couple of months ago entitled 'one wish'

I wish I knew how he really felt so I wouldn't feel like there wasn't any closure to what happened. That's the thing with me, I always need closure--like a defining conversation where things are laid out...I don't need to speculate afterwards what the other person is feeling. Ugh why do I need this?!? Is it really a need, or just something I think I need. Or maybe I already know the answer and I just haven't accepted it yet. This is making my head hurt.


I got my wish yesterday. No, it wasn't the defining conversation I thought I needed. I finally found out the name of his girlfriend. Weird. I never thought it would be that easy to feel relieved. For the longest time, he'd just refer to her as 'the gf', never mentioning her name. I was actually a bit surprised it wasn't the girl I thought he was with. I don't even know the new beau, haha!

I've been dwelling on the closure I needed without even thinking that maybe I should be looking at his actions which should have been very clear indicators of how he felt/feels about me. Yeah, maybe there was something there. Was. Past tense. Surprisingly, it doesn't even hurt. I'm actually quite frankly happy that this is finally over--speculating, assuming, whatever. I've been wanting to move forward, full steam ahead, but I've been held back by that irrational need of mine to have 'closure' even if the answer was already staring at me. I say it's irrational because too much rationalizing is just going to make things more confusing. Add a not-so-broken-yet-still-confused heart, now you have a situation that'll just give you severe migraines....

Giddy that this is finally, finally, FINALLY over :)

Have a great week ahead, everyone! :)