[jamjmnz]

Hail, Caesar! (2016) Joel and Ethan Coen

“If there’s something that’s easy, is that wrong? Easy to do, like an easy job.

There’s this other job that’s - it’s not so easy, in fact it’s hard. It’s so hard father, sometimes I don’t know if I can keep doing it but it seems right.”

[jamjmnz]

Romeo + Juliet (1996) Baz Luhrmann

Romeo: “Sin from thy lips? O trespass sweetly urged! Give me my sin again.”

Juliet: “You kiss by the book.”

[jamjmnz]

Playing It Cool (2014) Justin Reardon

“If you have to give up everything else and spend the rest of your days on a boat, who are the must haves, the ones you can't live without? Figure out your own list and then do everything you can to let them know how much they mean to you.”

[jamjmnz]

Captain America: Civil War (2016) Anthony and Joe Russo

“Compromise where you can. Where you can’t, don’t. Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right. Even if the whole world is telling you to move, it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye, and say ‘No, YOU move’.”

[jamjmnz]

Thailand 2016 | #Thainally

I have a confession to make – I have never been out of the country. Ever.

That’s why in every New Year’s goal list I write, I make it a point to include travelling – locally and internationally. I was so jealous when my brother went to Japan early last year, that’s why I quickly said yes to Aicha when she found round trip tickets to Bangkok last July in a seat sale. (We got it for only Php 3,000!) Finally, I went on an out of the country trip last February 19-22. THAINALLY!

Our flight was scheduled at 9pm but the last thing I want to happen is to be late because of the Manila rush hour traffic. So we left Makati at around 5-6, got at Terminal 3 pretty early so everything, including queuing and waiting for boarding was really chill.

Rockwell talaga ang landmark ng Pilipinas.

After our three-hour flight, we were finally at Suvarnabhumi airport! Everything I have read about it was right – the architecture is stunning. So we went through the airport and immigration processes smoothly, and we were ready to leave.

But no, you can’t have your first out of the country trip without anything going wrong. That’s when I realized that I FORGOT TO WITHDRAW HALF OF MY MONEY IN NAIA. At first, I wasn’t really panicking, I had my ATM with me, and there are a lot of machines at the airport, so what can go wrong?? BUT NO, MY CARD HAS NO VISA OR MASTERCARD LOGO. DAMMIT I FORGOT TO ACTIVATE IT. And then I started panicking.

We decided to just go first to our hostel because it’s still 40 minutes away, we could just think of ways overnight. We took a cab since it was already 1am and the airport train was already closed, and since we were too tired and stressed, we agreed when the driver negotiated 600 baht for the fare. Do not do this, it’s obviously way cheaper when you insist to use the meter.

We arrived at Surawongse Road where Just Beds is located and thank god because the room was lovely! (Especially the bathroom!) Ours was the Standard Twin, which includes two beds, a TV, bathroom with a hair dryer, mini closet, safe vault, refrigerator, free water, coffee AND A FAST WIFI CONNECTION. It was such a steal for 550 a night! Location wise, it’s 10 min away from the Surasak and Saphan Taksin BTS Station (We recommend using the Surasak station) if you walk, it’s a nice neighborhood, so walking wasn’t a problem.

Sadly, I don’t have any photos of our hostel but this was the neighborhood going to the Surasak BTS station.

Upon settling in, we started thinking of ways to solve my problem. When we realized that we can’t and Aicha can’t lend me money because her atm was left in Manila, we just decided to sleep it off. In the morning, I decided to do my final option - ask my brother for help (oops), we agreed that he would send money through Western Union. After sending the details and some sermon on the side, it was done; THANK GOD the banks in Bangkok malls are open even on Sundays. LIFESAVER!!

So now that’s done, I’ll go into details of our itinerary for two days. But lesson learned – exchange your money here in Manila before flying out, less hassle.

FEBRUARY 20, SATURDAY

Temple and Street Hopping

Aside from solving the money issue and visiting Siam Center first thing in the morning, we were off to discover the temples! So we took the BTS again to Saphan Taksin station and walked to the Tha Sathorn pier where we boarded the boat along Chao Phraya river and man it was quite a bumpy ride! The only way to go around the temples was through the boat – just take note of the stations per temple.

Our colourful boat.

Our first stop was the Grand Palace, the place was massive, beautiful and not to mention, very hot. There were also a lot of tourists going around so it may be a good idea to just do it on a weekday and maybe in the morning? Hahahaha, to save you from all the sweat and sunburn.

Colourful buildings and Tuk Tuk sighting at the market, on our way to the Grand Palace.

Look at those beautiful intricate details!

Hi, Aicha!

After the Grand Palace, our itinerary was supposed to be Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Pho, Wat Arun, Vimanmek Mansion, Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall and the Wat Sraket but unfortunately, the weather was unbearable, that we decided to just finish around two temples. We decided to retreat and go back to the hostel and take a bath again. Hehehe.

Boat ride back to the pier.

But nonetheless, Thailand temples are a beaut! But yeah, choose a weekday.

After freshening up at the hostel, we were now headed to explore the famous streets of Bangkok. We went first to Khao San Road, the street was buzzing with travellers, shops, bars and restaurants. From street food, fruit juices, souvenirs, clothes, etc they have it all here. We decided to try the street food because hello, food!

Their unapologetically spicy red sauce!

After this, we went to Chinatown along Yaowarat Road. At this point, we were too tired from all the walking we’ve been doing so we decided to take cabs – they’re not really that pricey as long as you insist to use the meter. As expected, Chinatown was also a busy street! Filled with restaurants – with tables and chairs extending to the road, filled with happy groups of tourists.

Like a Wong Kar Wai film, pero wala sa Hong Kong. Hahahaha!

We didn’t really stay that long because we were already hungry and we were saving it for the best Pad Thai in Bangkok so we tried to walk to Thipsamai. (Keyword: tried) After a lot of walking and asking people for instructions, we decided to just take a cab – where we got even more lost because apparently the driver didn’t really understand the way I said Thipsamai. (Tip: It’s not Thipsa-may it’s Thipsama-ee) so when he figured out, we finally found it!

And as expected, there was a long line of tourists and locals, which is a good sign!!! While waiting, you can buy their famous orange juice in a bottle or watch the staff cook outside. The queue wasn’t such a hassle so in just a short while, we were escorted inside. Apparently, beyond the al fresco street-dining façade was an air-conditioned area! Of course we ordered two special Pad Thai, and in no time our orders were served.

And yes, this IS undoubtedly the best Pad Thai in Bangkok, wrapped by a thin sheet of scrambled egg with big pieces of shrimp inside, I’m no foodie so basta masarap s’ya promise. After getting our tummies full (I almost didn’t finish mine but no, I have to!) we decided to call it a day at almost 1AM.

FEBRUARY 21, SUNDAY

AKA SHOPPING DAY!!!!

So on Sunday, we decided to go shopping around Bangkok. We dropped by Siam Center first to have breakfast and to get the money from Western Union shopping money, yaaaasss!

Bangkok’s BTS Train is so nice and comfortable!

Where to shop? Of course, at Chatuchak Weekend Market!!! It is so easy to locate, just take the BTS Train Sukhumvit Line from Siam to Mo Chit Station, exit 1 and walk straight – you can see it immediately even from the BTS. And because it is a Sunday, there are a lot of people! But tolerable enough. Tolerable because it’s shopping! Hahahaha.

Not much photos for obvious reasons, we went crazy! Everything is so cheap, like 100 baht cheap – that’s like the base price for everything. From clothes, accessories, bags, sandals, souvenirs, art, furniture, name it – the qualities of the pieces are also good!

Aicha and I were so worried that we might (and we did, btw) exceed our 7kg baggage limit but just as we said that we wouldn’t buy anymore, we’ll see another, and another, and another. In the end, we decided to avail Cebu Pacific’s prepaid baggage.

A typical convo between Aicha and me while shopping:

Me: :Uy, (name of thing)!”

Aicha: “Ang mura, bilhin mo na ‘yan!”

*Buys*

And vice versa. I swear, we are not the best shopping companions.

After the madness at Chatuchak, we took the train again to Siam to shop in the malls. With a big plastic bag from Chatuchak, we managed to go around Siam Center, Siam Paragon, and Central World. All the time we were saying, “Last na ‘to” but we ended up buying more.

(Side Story: Salesladies in Sephora and Bath & Body Works thought I was a local, so they ended up talking to me in Thai for like 2 minutes while I nod, lol)

While waking back to the hostel, we saw this outlet store – we’ve been seeing it for days and the sign says that it’s a factory store for shoes so we decided to check it out and man, they have super discounted shoes and sports brands and yes, we ended up adding more baggage weight.

The damage.

After all the shopping, we headed back to the hostel to arrange our things because our flight is super early, decided that we need the prepaid baggage, and took a bath again before finishing our itinerary.

We walked back to the BTS station, got off at Sala Daeng and walked to our final destination for the trip – Patpong. Obviously, we just got really curious about the red light district but yeah, we just walked around (quickly haha), and eventually settled for a chicken noodle soup and mango sticky rice meal on the street. YOLO na kung malinis, hahahaha!

We called it a night and went back to the hostel to sleep for our 9am flight.

FEBRUARY 22, MONDAY

Bye Bangkok :(

Going back to the airport, I was able to appreciate Suvarnabhumi more – gah, all the architectural beauty! And Duty Free hahahaha!

Beautiful Suvarnabhumi airport!

On the plane en route to Manila, I was thinking of my next itinerary when I go back to Bangkok – maybe I’ll finish the temples, do more shopping at Chatuchak with an empty baggage, eat more street food, shop even more at the malls and maybe learn some local words because around 7 people in total thought that I was Thai.

Because yes, I will definitely be back.

[jamjmnz]

Dreams and Other Things Ep.1

Isa sa mga resolutions ko this year na isulat ‘yung mga panaginip ko. Kasi medyo naniniwala ako sa dream meanings and also kasi minsan parang tanga lang talaga ‘yung mga kwento sa panaginip ko.

-

Napanaginipan ko si Hiromi, (blockmate ko noong college, baliw din katulad ko) papunta daw kami sa ibang bansa so may plane ride. Tapos, dahil mabait akong kaibigan at gusto ko s’yang isurprise, naglagay ako ng favorite n’yang kanta sa isang SD card tapos ibibigay ko sa crew. Sobrang luma nung SD card pls.

Papunta, hindi ko nagawa, so sabi ko sa flight nalang pabalik. So pauwi, nabigay ko sa crew, na-play nila at tuwang-tuwa s’ya. After, binilin ko nalang sa kanya na kunin niya pabalik yung SD card upon arrival, pero hindi niya nagawa.

Ganun talaga, hanggang sa panaginip 'wag mo asahan na gagawin sa'yo yung gagawin mo para sa iba. Gawin mo lang, walang expectations.

[jamjmnz]

Minsan Kapag Sinuswerte Ka Ep.1: Kuma-Katniss Everdeen

Minsan akong naligaw sa Nuvali, bilang hindi naman ako active and adventurous pati ang pamilya ko, minsan lang ako maligaw sa gan’tong lugar.

Tapos niyaya akong mag archery ng mga kasama ko. Archery, ang lakas maka-burgis na hobby. 

Edi go ako bilang libre naman pala so why not, sinong tumatanggi sa libre? (Excuse me, mahal ang session ng archery). So ayun na nga, tinuturuan ako ni kuya - Ma’am, ipipikit n’yo po ‘yung left eye n’yo hindi right, hilahin n’yo po hanggang chin, steady lang po, three fingers lang po ‘yung gamitin n’yo pang-hila - at kung ano ano pa.

Successful ako sa mga unang try not bad for a first timer, malapit lahat sa bullseye, I made kuya teacher proud. Sabi ko baka eto na ‘yung fallback ng career ko, shet ang lakas maka-Katniss Everdeen.

Eh bilang competitive ‘yung mga kasama ko, naglagay kami ng lobo sa target, kung sino maunang makakapana, panalo. So ayun na nga, ang lapit lahat ng tira ko, with matching kuya teacher sumisigaw (”Ma’am, hila pa po! Left eye!! etc”), ineexpect ko ang ng lahat na matatamaan ko na konti nalang. Pero ayun, in the end, talo ako. 

Ganoon talaga, akala mo minsan malapit na, akala mo magaling ka na, todo cheer sa’yo ‘yung mga tao pero sa totoo lang, hindi mo pa talaga oras ‘yun. Or baka naman hindi talaga ‘yun ‘yung target para sa’yo. Oo, nagawa ko pang mafreflect kahit archery lang naman. Bwakanangshet, may pinagdadaanan ba ‘ko??

Obviously, hindi ako ‘yan, hindi po ganyan kapayat ang braso ko.

Pero ang saya, ang saya mag-archery. Sa huli, niloko ko nalang ‘yung nanalo sa’min, sabi ko kaya pala three finger salute ‘yung sa Hunger Games, kasi three fingers din ‘yung gamit panghila ng bowstring, dahil kay Katniss Everdeen ganon. 

Naniwala s’ya, hah.

[jamjmnz]

Hay, Life Ep.1

Dalawang taon.

Ang dami-daming nangyari sa dalawang taon, akala mo nga lima na. Ang daming nagbago, pati ikaw, alam mo’ng nagbago. Kung makakausap ko ‘yung 21- year old self ko, sasabihin ko na mas malupit ang totoong mundo, mahirap pero masaya - lalo na kung hindi ka susuko.

Dalawang taon.

Ang daming bagong character sa istorya mo, pero nandiyan parin ‘yung mga luma - luma, pero maaasahan mo ‘pag hindi ka na maintindihan ng lahat.

Dalawang taon.

Ang dami mo nang napagdaanan, muntik ka na gumive up pero hindi, kinaya mo eh. Akala mo ang dami mo nang alam. Akala mo lang ‘yun.

Dalawang taon din yun. shet. Ngayon, 23 ka na, mas malaking SHET.

Pero dalawang taon lang ‘yun. Sabi nga ni Dumbfounded, “Keep it going, we ain’t there yet.”

[jamjmnz]

Wala Lang Ep.1

Kahapon, habang kasama si Janelle, nag-GrabCar kami para makarating sa Kapitolyo. Nang makarating kami sa lugar:

Me: “Tama po ‘no? 105?” *sabay abot ng bayad*

Kuya: “Opo”

So bumaba na kami ni Janelle at nag-intay para sa isa pang friend, nang tinext ako ni kuya GrabCar:

“106 pala”

So kulang ng piso. Mga 10 minutes akong nag-isip kung ano’ng irereply ko.

“Kuya, balik ka dito, bigay ko ‘yung piso”

“Kuya, pasa-load nalang kita ng piso”

“Kuya, sorry?”

or ‘wag nalang kaya akong magreply??

Pero nagreply narin ako, nakakahiya naman - “Ay kuya sorry, hindi ko napansin”

Naging estafador tuloy ako ng piso.

[jamjmnz]

Guess who’s back

Back again *tenenen tenenen*

[jamjmnz]

'Cause I need to find out how I'm wrapped around your fingertips. And no matter how hard I try to say goodbye, I still wanna kiss your lips. Obsessed with this line, this song, and this band.

[jamjmnz]

Some feelings are better left forgotten

[jamjmnz]

6.04.15 | Profanities

Work friends (a.k.a. Ates of Manila) decided to go out on a Thursday all the way to Katipunan at Route 196 for Sud’s Profanities MV launch.

We actually had the chance to watch Sud live back then, during one of our work events and just like that, we instantly fell in love with their music. (You should definitely listen to Smilky and Profanities!)

Jensen and the Flips was also there, along with Banna Harbera and Conscious & the Goodness.

We got to watch the MV of Profanities first before their set.

These guys are better live, swear. Aaaand, it was also my first time at Route 196 and I really like the place!

It was definitely refreshing to hear some local indie bands, felt like high school all over again. (I am so, so done with my accidental and unexpected EDM phase hahahaha) Oh, and I promise to bring my camera the next time, these were all taken by my phone hihi.

And just like that, the Ates of Manila decided to watch more gigs after work. Hahahaha

[jamjmnz]

Bad girls do it well.

[jamjmnz]

Overdue dagat photos from our company outing last June at Laiya Batangas.

My very first company trip (wow, adulthood).

[jamjmnz]

[jamjmnz]

I guess I'm back.