Thursday, March 31, 2011

Day 90: Silenzio

Wall ornament at Apartment 1B.  They weren't kidding when they claimed to have gourmet comfort food.  I found the place really cozy and quiet.  Now, if only they had wine on the drink list...

So, Raise Your Glass (Pink)

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Day 89: Tastes Like Summer

Mangoes used to be seasonal.  Now, we get to produce sweet, ripe mangoes all year round.  Sweetness.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Day 88: From the Courtyard

A view from the building's courtyard at 7AM.  I did not have Nino, and would have loved to play around with this scene.  Too bad. 

About five to six years ago, some friends and I would spend countless hours in this courtyard talking, smoking, trying to take pictures using the VGA camera from our phones, and just pretty much wasting away.  I was young, and I was a brat.  I did not know better then, but thought I did anyway.  I've come a long way from being that girl.  I don't spend as much time in this courtyard anymore, even if I did end up working in the same building again.  I quit smoking over a year ago.  I've leveled up from my old Samsung VGA camera phone.  And if truth be told, I actually didn't end up being such a waste.  Not bad, Faith.  Not bad at all. *Pat on the back*

These things though, these scenes from the same courtyard, remain a memory.  These things, I Still Remember (Bloc Party).

Monday, March 28, 2011

Day 87: Voodoo

I remember getting this voodoo doll as a gift a couple of Halloweens ago.  I also remember thanking my friend, but not really knowing what to do with it.  It looked so emo.  Like something an angsty 15-year old would own.  I have since realized that it makes a cute accessory on my otherwise dull corkboard, and an interesting subject on otherwise dull Mondays.

It's just another Manic Monday (Bangles)...

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Day 86: Mochi

I love mochi!  I got this at Hatchin yesterday.  I went there looking for the ice cream mochi, but I guess they didn't have one.  This is good enough, anyway.  It was a bit of a tiring Sunday, but I learned a lot.

I got lost in reading Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami the moment I got home that I almost forgot to post.  It's a very interesting novel.  Toru feels a bit like Holden Caulfied from Catcher in the Rye, that when one character mentioned this I laughed.  I guess, even Murakami sensed that.  I'm only halfway through, though.  I wonder how this story will end up.  I'm tempted to flip to the last page, but I'd only be cheating myself.

Norwegian Wood (The Beatles)

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Day 85: Turn Off the Lights

8:30PM.  I was in a cab on the way to meet my sister for dinner, when the city turned a bit darker - literally.  Ayala Avenue's streetlamps were turned off, hardly any visible signage was on, and a city that never sleeps was enveloped in darkness.  But it did not feel dreary, or somber, or even scary.  The only lights functioning were the ones needed for businesses to continue running, traffic lights, and candles. 

It has become an annual event for me to follow for the last three years, and it requires such a simple act.  Turn off the lights for one hour.  Not much sacrifice, if you ask me.  What's an hour to give back?  Earth has given us so much more.  It's phenomenal to watch for me.  I love lights in the dark, but seeing it all turned off at the same time for a cause is even more amazing. 

Music in the dark: Turn It Off (Paramore)

***

A little bit of history, Earth Hour was initiated in Sydney, Australia in 2007 as an act for people to take a stand against climate change.  It has become a global voluntary cause since.  The gesture it requires is so simple, but the message is so resounding.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Day 84: Chocnutful

If you can bottle up happiness in a jar, it will include ChocNut.

Fill the world with Love and Happiness (Al Green).

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Day 82: Partially Retiring

Not much imagination, but today I'd like to pay homage to what made me survive the first 76 days of this project - my phone.  I have this habit of giving my inanimate object names.  This is Eight.  I called it so because it's a Nokia N82, and I've probably dropped it at least eight times since I got it. 

Eight has served me well, though.  I am not officially retiring him.  I cannot really lug Nino around everyday, you know.  I'm just probably going to focus on using Eight for other things.  Like, I don't know, being a phone maybe? 

On play: Loving You Is Easy (Ben Rector)

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Day 81: Buckle Up

I have to admit, I haven't really felt like I've been on the top of my game.  Sure, I did my tasks and probably other things in excess, but I somehow feel that I'm not working as hard as I used to.  That's partly a good thing.  I drove myself to the ground working for a long time, and it burned me out.  Now, when I seem to have lesser responsibilities, my arrogance seems to have gotten the best of me.  I tried to catch up with the things I felt I had to sacrifice at that time.  The reality is I chose to sacrifice them then.  Now that I have the chance to revisit all these things I didn't get to do, I got too happy. 

So, I haven't really delivered as much as I normally would have.  I want this to change, though.  Starting now.  One thing I truly want to rediscover is my ability to make a positive influence.  That's probably what I like best about my work, knowing you can make things change.  So, buckle up.  I'm Ready (Kelly Clarkson) now.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Day 80: Fluffy


Taken on SCTEX in Tarlac on the way back to Manila.

It's so fluffy, I'm gonna die!!!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Day 79: Princess


Fine.  I initially wanted to post the photo I took at Camp John Hay, but that will have to take a backseat.  I'm entitled to change my mind, anyway.  Woman's prerogative.

This is Jaina, my friend's daugther.  She's such a sassy little lady.  It was her baby brother's baptism and she was decked in her Sunday best.  The little girl is a princess, and she knows it.  Her dad was telling us later that she picked her entire outfit for this occasion, from the dress to the shoes.  Even the flowers in her hair.  She's such a Pretty Girl (David Ryan Harris).

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Day 78: Hill Station

I know I don't need to, but I want to explain myself.  This week was both crazy and amazing at the same time.  Work was crazy, but as if that was something new.  It's still the fun crazy kind, though.  I've covered a bit of milestone this week.  I'm not going to get into details, but I feel obnoxiously good about myself for getting past that.  At the same time, I have successfully bought my first DSLR.  Nino has been amazingly patient with me.  Considering I should know better, right?  Apparently, I don't.  I guess that means whatever I knew about photography, I have to learn all over again.  It's fine, though.  Then a semi-promptu trip followed, and I find myself in Baguio.  This is where I'm currently hiding out - Hill Station.  A place for good food, good wine, and damn good apple pie ala mode.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Day 76: Nino

So, guess who got herself a spankin' new toy to play with? 

Meet Nino.  My new baby. :)

Let's now start taking a Picture of You (Boyzone).

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Day 74: Earth

I watched An Inconvenient Truth last year, and was completely alarmed with how much our climate has changed within the last century.  At the rate we're going, global warming can burn us all in approximately a hundred years or less.  Maybe even just about the time when I turn sixty.  And I don't want that to happen.  I want to have children and grandchildren and great grandchildren and great, great granchildren living in a green environment.  I do not live a perfectly green lifestyle, believe me.  I make a conscious effort to do, though.

I'm one of those who believe in giving back to the earth.  This is the only planet we live in.  It's an unbelievably beautiful gift.  I don't want to sound preachy, but I do believe it's our responsibility to take care of it.  If not now, then when?  If not us, then who? 

We start with the Man in the Mirror (Michael Jackson)

Monday, March 14, 2011

Day 73: Crossroads

"Strange and mysterious things, though, aren't they - earthquakes?  We take it for granted that the earth beneath our feet is solid and stationary...  But suddenly one day we see that it isn't true." after the quake: Thailand - Haruki Murakami

In the aftermath of the tragedy that struck Japan recently, I remembered this colletion of shorts Haruki Murakami wrote in reference to a similar event that happened to the country in 1995.  This is an aerial shot of a Tokyo intersection from my Murakami journal. 

I have a fascination with Japanese culture.  Blame it to a childhood heavily influenced by Japanese media and whatnot.  So, the news of the tsunami struck a bit of a fierce chord.  Seeing the video of the water running across a field carrying houses and boats with it brought several thoughts to mind.  One, the earth is bigger than us, and it's beautiful and violent at the same time.  Two, water is life.  Water, also, can take life.  The third thought is probably the most fascinating one.  This did not even come to mind until I have read the outpour of comments from various channels in the last few days.  There is solidarity in adversity, and the Japanese people could not have epitomized it better. 

Despite the despair and the pain of loss, there seems to be no hatred.  This is a country who is trained on how to react to these tragedies.  They could have all gone amok after and be justified.  If given that they've lost lives and property, they could have, but they didn't.  Instead, they find ways to make it easier for each other.  No one looted.  Drivers gave way to each other.  They shared their food.  Even gave strangers what they had.  When you're on a crossroad where you're made to choose between your own security against that of others, it's so much easier to make a selfish choice.  An entire nation, though, has managed to show that it isn't too difficult to give away.  It makes me wonder how selfless I could be if faced with the same consequences. 

I pray for the people of Japan.  I pray for the country itself.  I have learned more from you within the last few days than I have in the years of exploring your culture.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Day 72: Here Comes The Sun

I was taking random photos to pick for the day when Here Comes The Sun (The Beatles) played in the background.  Perfect timing.  Just as the sun was rising, too.  It certainly goes with the thought I had while my friend and I talked the night away. 

Here comes the sun
And I say, it's alright

Here's to great mornings, and a great morning song to go with it.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Day 71: Bedtime Stories

I promised to read at least one book a month this year.  Which is why joining a book club was also timely.  Last month, though, I started reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson and was not able to read the assigned book.  Before the end of February, things got a little hectic.  Just when I was close to finding out what happened to the girl who disappeared, I somehow did not get to pick up this book again.  Until this week, that is. 

I want to finish this one if only to figure out what the hell happened to Harriet Vanger.  And to finally start reading The Remains of the Day, which is what I'm supposed to read this month.  Reminds me that I need to drop by a bookstore to get a copy. 

Bookworm mode: Tashika na Koto (Oda Kazumasa)

Friday, March 11, 2011

Day 70: Bean & Stick Stories

Another Ayala Triangle story.  Another four-hour long breakfast.  This is the coffee machine at the counter in Banapple.  I went back with another set of friends and loved it all over again.  I swear, I'm so stuffed, I feel like a tomato on toothpicks. 

This is probably not good.  Sure, I've always wanted to gain more than two plies of tissue, but I had hoped they would be in the right places.  Well, so much for hoping.  Pft.  I remember eating lunch the other day and stopping halfway through because I felt like I couldn't breathe anymore.  I may be taking this love for food one step too far.   I mean, my arms and legs still look like mangly sticks, it's just my tummy that's getting bigger.  If you grease me up, I could probably pass as a malnourished kid in some remote region.  Thing is, I cannot avoid food.  I love it too much to let go.  Maybe, this is nature's way of telling me to get off my butt and workout.

Hmm...  So, what kind of workout can I actually do?  *Google mode*  In the meantime, a slice of Cadbury Old Gold Oreo Cheesecake please. :)

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Day 69: Frenemy

C: Bibili na ba ng tickets?
B: Hindi ako bibili.
C: Ay mahirap...
B: Hindi ako mahirap, mayaman lang lahat ng nagmamahal sakin.  E sa 'yo?
C: Ang kinis-kinis mo naman...
Faith: Wahahahaha...

I could have taken a better photo.  My subjects, though, were mobile and hungry.  So, I had to make do with this.  Here's a couple of my friends who lash at each other at any given opportunity.  They're friends, don't get me wrong.  They aren't hypocrites, either, who only go behind each other's back.  In fact, they seem to prefer to insult each other up front.  Thing is, every conversation they have comes out really funny.  Hanging out with them for fifteen minutes is enough to make me laugh hard enough to make me cry.  So, imagine hanging out with them for a couple of hours.  Or an entire day.  Laugh trip.  This is why I love my friends.  They sometimes work better than ice cream.

End of day: Funny Little Feeling (Rock 'n' Roll Soldiers)

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Day 68: A Favorite Thing

This is probably one of my favorite things.  I like the ornate design and antique feel of it.  Very baroque.  At the same time, the silk necklace makes a nice modern contrast to this locket.  My sister gave it to me before she left for the States.  I think sisters are a funny sort.  You hate them a lot of times, but you love them anyway. 

Playing: Hey, Soul Sister (Train)

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Day 67: Blue Sky Dreaming

There's a lot of things I'm anticipating recently.  One, it's almost summer!  Despite the weather being completely unpredictable the last couple of weeks, I can stilll smell summer approaching.  The heat is beginning to get scalding, and the skies are getting bluer.  At least, from this vantage point it does.  I've learned to love summer because, other than the Christmas season, I think this season defines my country's beauty best.

Two, I'm closer to getting myself a real camera (misty eyes).  I love my N82 to bits and pieces, but I am definitely looking forward to playing with an actual lens again.  And yes, play.  I'm an enthusiast, not a professional.  In all those times I have taken random photos, I have really just been playing.  I have no real intent of going pro.  I only want to take pictures that I want to see. 

Three, I just found out that Cirque du Soleil is coming to Manila.  Oh.  My.  God....  That's a blue-sky dream, right there.  I have always wanted to see 'O' at the Bellagio, but Vegas is too far away.  When I was in Macau, I regret not being able to book tickets to see 'Zaia'.  My friends who've seen it say it isn't as good as the Canadian and Vegas Cirque du Soleil shows, but this is still CIRQUE DU SOLEIL we're talking about!  This is like the greatest performing acrobatic troupe in the world today!  So, finding out that they're bringing the grand chapiteau to Rizal Park in June is just plain phenomenal! (Insert more superlatives)

There are simply so many things to look forward to.  All of them just in time for the First of Summer (Urbandub).

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Day 65: Next-Door Neighbor

To be honest, I don't really know my next-door neighbors.  I'm not entirely the neighbourly type.  Right outside my window, though, this is what you'll see.  The building I live in is right next to a church.  I sometimes joke that I hardly miss Sunday mass.  I wake up to it. 

If truth be told, though, I haven't heard mass in a really long time.  So long, I've forgotten when was the last time I actually heard one.  With me in the church, that is.  I know that the last time I've been inside a church was because of a baptism.  These days, you don't necessarily have to go through a mass to get baptized.  Which tells you another irony about me.  For someone named Faith, I'm not very religious.  I'm not an atheist, don't get me wrong.  I believe in God.  How can this entire universe be so beautiful and amazing without a mastermind behind it?  Besides, He's about the only constant entity there is.  Everyone else will manage to fail me, except Him.  It's the religion I'm not entirely comfortable with. 

I'm not saying that the Church is bad or wrong ar anything like that.  I just find it difficult to understand how a God so good will punish me so much for cursing every now and then (I've got it better now, believe me.  I used to curse like a sailor until I got surrounded by kids).  I'm not going to start talking against a God people believe in or talk about what I believe in.  This photoblog was not intended for that purpose.  I think that's a choice we all make and have to respect.  But, if anyone's interested about my religion, I'm more or less a nominal Catholic bordering agnostic.

Ending the weekend music: I Run To You (Lady Antebellum)

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Day 64: All is Well

Lazy weekend.  After several weekends of going out, I think it's a good time to stay home and relax.  The agenda included an hour of pilates.  Unfortunately, I'm just too lazy. 

Let me go back then to the word believe.  I did mention in a recent post that I like the word believe.  Sometimes, I end up buying things because I see the word on it.  This is one of those things.  It's supposed to be some sort of healing balm, claiming to cure migraines and such.  I have not been ill enough to need it, thank God.  I like how it smells, however.  Minty.  Sometimes, I'd sniff it after a long day and it helps me relax.  If you think of it that way, it does prove true it's claim - All is Well.

Weekend sound trip: Lay Lady Lay (Magnet feat Gemma Hayes)

Friday, March 4, 2011

Day 63: Eating Like the French

A friend told me once that I eat like the French.  This made me curious, since I don't really have any idea how the French eats.  So, I asked and found out that the French eats slowly and savors their food.  Apparently, I do eat like the French.  I love food, you see.  I love to enjoy it.  It feels like wasting food if you eat something and not savor it.  That's why I have always been a slow eater.  I've always been known to spend my entire lunch hour doing just that - lunching.  Eating and drinking is experiential, for me.  I do not even strive to become a food critic.  I mean, I think that salted french fries are one of the most divine things created.  What does that tell you?  You don't really have a food connoisseur here.  There hardly seems to be any bad food for me, to be honest.  Sure, I don't really like green, leafy vegetables.  They make me feel like a horse.  I will eat them, however, if they enhance the flavor of my meal.  Same thought on wine and other beverage.  I like picking out the ones that will make food taste better.

We all have the sense of taste.  I have never really heard of anyone having a taste handicap.  Maybe that's just God's way of saying you all deserve to enjoy your food.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Day 62: Different Strokes

A friend as addicted to office supplies as I am bought these cute little craft punchers.  I've been joining a four-hour call daily for the last week.  To keep my focus in check, I got crazy punching little moons, crowns, frogs, and flowers on my post-its.  That sounded contradictory, but I focus better when I'm doing something else.  Kinesthetic, they call it. 

Fast-forward to the end of the day, and I'm in a four-hour breakfast with friends.  We started talking about differences in people and how these differences bond and break us.  Diversity, in a word.  Sometimes, it's misused and abused.  Other times, people are just confused about it.  I have learned to sum it up with a philosophy I live by: Agree to disagree.  We will all have differences.  I cannot always agree with someone else, and I cannot always disagree either.  I can't always be right, and neither can everyone else.  I have to accept the differences in Everyday People (Sly & The Family Stone).  I have my non-negotiables, of course.  Things like values and beliefs.  There, however, are always going to be different strokes for different folks.  One way may work for you, while it may not work for me.  That doesn't mean I have to crucify you for it.

One may be a moon, another a crown, even another a frog, and another a flower.  The punches we make, though, eventually multiply us all to a pretty cluster.  So, there's beauty in diversity.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Day 61: I See The Light

This shot reminded me of the floating lanterns in the Tangled movie.  Weeeee!!!!

After 61 days on this project, I haven't lost the excitement I get everytime I take a photo that makes a day memorable.  It definitely helps that I'm not doing this project on my own.  I like seeing snapshots of everyone's day on my blogroll.  Sometimes, I look forward to checking their posts than creating my own.  It also helps that the people around me knows that I'm doing this project.  Sometimes, when I tell them that I haven't taken a photo for the day, they would proactively look around for a subject.  It's fascinating to watch, really. 

What I do find challenging is finding something to appreciate everyday.  Something beautiful to freeze in frame.  I mean, I have had bad days.  I will still have bad days.  I may not even always wake up to coffee and feel-good music.  I'm pretty sure, though, there will always be at least one good thing everyday to chronicle into a memory.  Which, for me, is what this project is all about.  To be able to find something beautiful everyday, or find another way to see things so they can be beautiful.  When I look back at it, I now have at least 61 good memories and things to be grateful for.  And I still have 304 to look forward to this year.

I commend the ladies who have endeavoured to take on this project, whether it be your 61st, 31st or even 1st day on it.  It isn't easy, but we're on it, right? 

"All that time, never truly seeing things the way they were." - I See The Light (Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi)

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Day 60: After the Rain

March brought in the rain.  It felt like summer rain, too.  Maybe because it was just so hot the last few days.  It really smells like it's almost summer, and I like that.  It makes you anticipate for summer.  Which is simply fantastic because this country has the best summer in the entire universe, hands down.

Although, I'm probably one of those people who actually like the rain.  I don't like flood, which is an after effect of heavy downpour, but I like drizzling rain.  The ones you get before or after summer.  The kind that comes with a light breeze and leaves a rainbow after.  I like how people move after a rainfall, too.  The closing of umbrellas and the slow progressive movements.  Kind of like awakening.  I like the little puddles in the gutter and the glistening pavement.  It must be the romantic in me, but the aftermath of a rainfall feels like poetry in motion.  It's really like watching something somber turn luminous.  Because believe me, after the rain, would always come the sun.

Nearly summer rain song: Raincoat (A Passing Rain) Tearliner