That Filipino Chick

"Simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.”

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One of my favorites from Ed Sheeran’s new album + a photo I took in Baguio last January 💙

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“There’s a special quality to the loneliness of dusk, a melancholy more brooding even than the night’s.”

― Ed Gorman, Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool

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And so I'm back!

From outer space.....🎶 HELLO TUMBLR!!!! It's definitely been a LOOOOONG while. More than a year's worth of "while" actually. I've been backreading my entries (there wasn't a whole to backread anyway haha) and it has made me miss everything about Tumblr. So like so many times in the past, I have decided to revive this blog! 2015 was a tough year and unexpectedly, 2016 was too (on a personal level, I know 2016 was tough for the world haha). And so I hope 2017 will be a better year for me and for everyone else!! Belated Happy New Year ❤️

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J & A

A: Ganda ni Lola no. Tapos ang gwapo ni Lolo. I guess that's why I'm pretty.

J: I guess that's why I'm in love.

A: I'm kidding okayyy...

J: I'm not.

[abialba]

So earlier today, my boyfriend and I climbed Mt. Pico de Loro as my pre-birthday hike! :) I'll be posting about that soon! And now it's almost 2AM so I guess it's officially my birthday. Can't believe I'm already TWENTY! Does this mean I have to say goodbye to my teenage years.... OR I COULD BE TWENTEEN INSTEAD and cling to my youth. Two decades in this world and I still don't know where I'm headed. Let's see what my twentieth year will bring, shall we? 

[abialba]

Early Bird Breakfast Club

When I first heard about the Early Bird Breakfast Club, it was like any other magical moment in a Potterhead's world..."DID I JUST HEAR SOMEONE SAY BUTTERBEER...IN THE PHILIPPINES?" And finally after months of living without tasting the drink that would bring me back to the time I was lounging at the Three Broomsticks with Harry, Ron and Hermione (JK Rowling decided to write me out, thank you very much), I finally got to try it at this quaint, happy restaurant. 

One of the things I loved about the place (besides the butterbeer) was the newspaper menu. Whenever their customers would look at the menu aka the newspaper, you could almost imagine people eating breakfast and reading the morning paper which I think was the whole point. And of course, as a breakfast person, I loved the food they served. We ordered the ultimate grilled cheese with tomato soup, the poached salmon ravioli, the bacon and egg nest, the early bird toast and *drum roll* the butterbeer. 

Of course, my fave dish would have to be the ultimate grilled cheese because yknow CHEESE. I loved dipping the sandwiches into the tomato soup which made it taste even better! The poached salmon ravioli was good because yknow SALMON. Haha! The bacon and egg nest was alright. It had veggies which I don't really enjoy eating... :( The early bird toast was pretty normal, though like my aunt commented, their bread's really good even for the ultimate grilled cheese.There were also a lot of eggs in the dishes which made it really heavy and satisfying. All the dishes were really rich, so I don't recommend going there with a not-really-hungry-but-I-want-to-try-their-food kind of mood. The butterbeer tasted really gooood. There was sort of a root beer taste to it and though I don't like root beer, this one, because of it's subtle and not overpowering flavor, I love. :) 

The Early Bird Breakfast Club was a haven of comfort food: cheese, eggs and bread. For those breakfast lovers out there, this place is a must try!

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Hitting two birds with one stone. #alsicebucketchallenge #makeuptransformation

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I finally created a VSCO account the other day and here it is!!!! TADA! http://abialba.vsco.co/ 

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Meet one of me and mi love's babies, DAISY, the sunflower....s. Okay so Daisy used to be just one big sunflower which we bought when we went to Tagaytay for our anniversary (which I will be blogging about soon). Then Mother Daisy died and these other sunflowers grew but they're all named Daisy.... so they're basically "Daisies the Sunflowers." I know it doesn't make sense in a grammar nazi's world but it does make sense in ours. <3 

[abialba]

Turista sa Manila (It Rhymes!!!)

So my boyfriend invited me to go on a Manila tour with him and his office mates and despite my awkward shy self, I decided to go for the sake of exploring the beautiful city that is Manilaaaaa and of course to spend time with my love! ;) 

We started off at Plaza Roma which is this...plaza... yes, at the center of Intramuros. There's this fountain in the middle, which despite the kinda dirty water is still pretty awesome since it has the original statue of King Charles IV from way before! They actually made a joke about how the water was dirty coz that was the original water lol but no, it isn't, obv. Haha! 

Right in front of the plaza is the Manila Cathedral! I've seen it once before but never really got to go in that time so when I went in, I was like woah. The architecture is amazing and there are probably lots of other churches with wonderful architecture but yeah...Manila Cathedral. \m/ There's also this 7/11 nearby which I wasn't able to take a picture of....and you're probably thinking okay, there are like a gazillion other 7/11 stores all around but this branch is pretty special coz Padre Burgos (the BUR in the GOMBURZA) actually lived in the same spot! 

On the right side of the plaza, you get to see the Palacio del Gobernador!

This plaza (I think it was a plaza) was so purdy, I could imagine myself running around on the grass in a white gown lol 

This guy right here was our awesome tour guide, Sir Alvin Campomanes! He's also a professor back in my university. :)

This is Fort Santiago!!! The facade was beautiful and you can almost imagine how it looked like back in the day. (yes yes I have a B&W version right down here v just to give the olden times feel)

Here's my boyfriend (:3) with the guard!

This is inside Fort Santiago... 

And here's Rizal's footsteps (yes those were his actual footsteps......NOT lol) 

The ilustrados' pose! 

Dramatic B&W stairs....err what is that piece of cloth doing there..... is that even cloth, we will never know.

After going to Fort Santiago and seeing Rizal's Shrine, we ate lunch at Chicboy (yum chicken oil and unli rice). It was cute how the design of the restaurants outside were trying to match the vibe of the city. And the picture above is what you see on the left side of the Plaza Roma in front of all the food places. Imagine that all those years ago minus the electrical wiring and all... @.@ 

Crossing the street Beatles' style (not really) 

Afterwards we took a jeep to the National Museum. It might have been the 18398123th time (that was just an estimate, it was prolly my 4th time maybe?) at the museum but the Spoliarium still amazed me in all its gigantic...ness. S.S!!! (Spoliarium Selfie!!!)  

The old senate session hall! I actually saw this before they renovated it and the old one, despite being rundown, looked like it was oozing with history (oozing....I'm imagining pus right now). 

Here's the very controversial painting of "The Parisian Life," also by Juan Luna who painted the Spoliarium. This painting tho....the interpretations of it are just wow. Who knew paintings could have so many meanings....ok maybe you knew that but still hearing what it might mean was just really cool! (I really need to widen my vocabulary) I'm not gonna type down the whole explanation here coz you gotta hear it for yourself! We weren't able to finish the tour since we had somewhere to go but just so you know the last stop was Rizal Park! :) 

So there! It's kinda like I gave you a tour myself. TOUR GUIDE ABI REPORTING FOR BUSINESSSSS. Kidding. Can't memorize all that history lol

[abialba]

Loving yourself is a struggle That's what they said to me But I fell in love with you anyway And forgot myself completely  I now have so much hatred So much sadness in my soul  For I haven't found myself anywhere And without you I feel so bare I'm sorry you have to deal with this Should've warned you before it all That I'm struggling to love the both of us Because I just let myself fall I lost myself in my love for you Which is never the right thing to do I should've learned to love myself Before I gave myself to you But do not fret for I will always love you Just bare with me and see Please teach me how to see myself The way you fell in love with me 

[abialba]

Torch Restaurant, San Juan 

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The what ifs in life are some of the deadliest things that can cross our wandering minds.

There are nights full of pain, guilt and regret. You stay up trying to keep your mind off them, but there are moments when the feelings strike you all at once and you just stop what you're doing because you're drowning and it hurts... and your mind is full of all the what ifs of the past, present and future. What if I hadn't done that? What if I do this? What if this happens?

Man, these thoughts are scary.  

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I'm starting to like taking photos of trees. 

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A Lover’s Confession in the Afternoon

As tears fell from his deep set eyes And he confessed to all his lies, The lies that hurt me and tore me apart He told me everything to fix my heart.

We sat for hours below swaying trees, Beside the river and buzzing bees. The sun didn’t look like it was setting soon, It was a lover’s confession in the afternoon.

As I watched the summer air Whip through his dark brown hair, My mind wandered through the times before, Making me wonder if there will be more.

I listened to the swimming of the little tadpoles, As the peace connected our souls. I saw the drifting of a child’s lost balloon, It was a lover’s confession in the afternoon

I tied my hair up and looked at him once more, Our eyes met and they held. There was an unlocking of a door, A door of lost love, taking a grip on my heart’s core.

I stood up, brushed my pants and looked up at the sky. The sun was going down as another afternoon went by. A hand on my shoulder was all that I felt, Then a kiss that wiped out my heart’s torment.

-A.A.

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Friday morning

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January Movie List

These are the movies I watched last month....

1. Freaky Friday - It's become sort of a tradition to watch this movie when me and my cousins get together and that's what happened on the first day of the year. It might have been the 82919th time we watched this, but it never gets old! 

2. About Time - Saw the posters when it came out here and it seemed interesting but I never really got to watch it. Didn't hear much about it either when it showed but I've been hearing comments recently on how nice it actually is. I watched it and might I say, it's the best movie for me this January! Gave me such inspirational life lessons! <3

3. Her - This movie was all over my dashboard at a certain point and I thought it looked intriguing..so I watched it and I think it had a pretty unique plot with the main character falling in love with his operating system. I also liked the way they portrayed the future because it seemed like a future that was actually possible. Never watched anything like it before and the cinematography was wonderful as well. No wonder this won Best Screenplay at the Golden Globes.

4. Frozen - Well...who hasn't watched or at least heard of it? Haha! I'm actually pretty late already but I finally watched it aaaaand yes, I might have sang the songs right after (maybe even right now as I type this lol). The movie was good! Disney has done it again. I could relate to the sibling thing as well since I myself have my own younger sister (but I wanna be Anna huhu). I'm still debating in my head though if I like this more than Tangled. I have a feeling I still like Tangled more... I think I should watch this a few times more and see. :p