Snaps and Scribbles

Hi! I'm Lausanne, a 20 year old student from the Philippines. An awkward weirdo who prefers food over people, who likes taking pictures but hates having her picture taken. Most likely to spend hours inside a bookstore. Can probably be bribed to do things in exchange for pizza.

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I have this thing with floors.

Puerto Princesa, Palawan

July 2015

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Puerto Princesa, Palawan in squares

July 2015

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Life Lately

Hi! I suck at updating this blog.

Anyway, here are a few things I’ve been up to lately:

I graduated from college (!!!)

The road to my graduation was long and exhausting (and may have included some nervous breakdowns), but I finally got to march under the sweltering sun in my painful heels (lol)! College has been a wonderful experience for me, and tears were shed as this hit me while singing our university hymn.

I moved back home

With my graduation came my moving out from our apartment in LB, and more tears were shed (people aren’t kidding when they say that graduation makes you emotional). I’ve been living away from home for the past four years, and this apartment right here has been my home for the past two years, and it bore witness to a lot of memories, be it happy, sad, or cringe worthy. But mostly happy.

I went to Palawan with my best friends

Our Binondo food crawl last year inspired our biggest adventure yet, a four day stay in Puerto Princesa, Palawan. We stayed in the cutest inn ever, gorged ourselves in the best seafood, and basically Instagrammed the hell out of nature’s beauty. 

I’ve been trying to get back to doing things I love

The limbo after graduation and before getting hired means a lot of free time, so I can finally do all the things I want to pursue but never had the time to. I finally have the freedom to read to my heart’s content (or at least until to my eyes’ strain), write, practice photography, and even start lettering! I’m also volunteering for a cause/event I’m really passionate about, so my days are busy but I’m positively buzzed about things. 

What’s next for me? Wow artista question

I honestly don’t know. My friends and I are all experiencing a crisis these days, what with all the pressure to get hired instantly and our confusion as to what we really want to do. I’m trying my best to look for a job that’ll excite me to go to work every day, something that’ll make me beam with pride when I look at my output. Or maybe I’m being too optimistic. I hope not. 

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Laiya, Batangas (April 18, 2015)

Getting my dose of Vitamin Sea with the Del Rosarios at Laiya. The resort we stayed at was noisy and overcrowded and the water was murky, but we solved this by piling on to a boat and island hopping (where the water is clear and the shore pristine) and snorkeling. 

We only stayed for a day, but I could have stayed there forever.

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Sofar Sounds Manila, April 25, 2015

Sofar Manila's 10th show! A friend and I were lucky enough to land a slot on the show, and we brought two more friends along for a night of getting lost in the streets of Makati, faking probinsyano accents, arguing for the sake of it, and discovering good music.

That night's performers were Mirror Masks, Oh Flamingo, and Bullet Dumas.

PS. Funny story, I've been a huuuge fan of Bullet since I first saw him perform in La Union last February and on the day of the Sofar show, I briefly mentioned to my friends that it's been so long since I last saw Bullet (March) and I'd love to see him again. To my surprise, Bullet turned out to be one of the performers for the night!! Thank you, life, for supporting my fan girling. <3

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March highlight:  Project Voice MNL

My birth month got off to a good start because I finally got to see my spoken word heroes (i.e. Sarah Kay and Phil Kaye) perform live. It was a surreal, hair raising experience seeing these poets in person when used to see them only in YouTube videos. I even got to high five Sarah Kay! And I haven’t washed my hands since March 2 (lol joke lang)!

Seriously though, it was hard to control my tears as Phil delivered one corny adorable joke after another, and as both of them bared their hearts through their words. It may have helped that I watched the show alone, so I had to control myself lest I look like an idiot crying with no one to hold on to. 

Ah, thank you, universe, for word warriors like these two. <3

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Spring cleaning

A few days ago as I was busy brushing out dust bunnies that resided in my book shelf, I came across old letters, faded pictures, and useless knickknacks saved from what seemed like a lifetime ago, by a person I barely recognize. Section patches salvaged from old uniforms, Christmas gift tags from then-treasured crushes, never worn necklaces and friendship bracelets, all kept in pristine condition. As I looked at them, half-laughing and half-cringing, all sorts of feelings crept up inside me: embarrassment at my then priorities, fondness for all the memories made and the friendships forged, and pride. 

In a rare moment of self-pride, I became proud that I've veered away from my high school self; far from the fucked up priorities, all the superficiality, the fake friendships, the forced feelings. I'm grateful that the greatness of my days are no longer measured by the times I've seen my crush, that the value of my friendships are not assessed by mere physical presence and proximity, that my worth is not evaluated by how many boys have asked me out or by how many girls are dying to be friends with me. 

I'm glad that I underwent all the cheesiness and the awkwardness of puberty, that I actually experienced being a typical hormone-raged teenager, but I'm even happier that I've changed so much since then. I'm proud that I've grown, that while my life is still messy and I still make bad decisions, I've gained ground on where I want to go and what I want to be. And I'm glad to discover that life actually gets better after high school -- rather, that you learn to navigate through life better after high school.

All cringe-inducing flashbacks aside, I'm still keeping the memorabilia. I realized I still need them to remind me to continue growing.

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Firgun: A Book Sharing Event

Last Saturday, I got to attend an event that is basically a dream come true for a bookworm like me: a book swap! Attendees got to exchange their books for new ones, grab a cup of free coffee, and listen to an inspiring talk by self-published author Carla De Guzman.

Congratulations, The Dream Shirt for crating an event like this! <3 <3 <3

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This is how my friends and I chose to spend our Friday the 13th: with matching monochromatic outfits, vibrant backdrops, and shameless posing in a rather busy street.

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Bullet Dumas at UPLB Feb Fair 2015

I first saw Bullet Dumas perform in La Union, and I was really excited to see him again, this time in my beloved UPLB. He was, as usual, really good.

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Zsaris Mendioro at Jetsam Jam 2015 (February 7, 2015)

Zsaris Mendioro sounds a bit like Zia Quizon and Armi Millare (thus automatically gaining my interest), but she sets herself apart with songs that are catchy enough to induce head bobbing and LSS. I hope I get to hear more of her soon.

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The Slinks at Jetsam Jam 2015 (February 7, 2015)

The morning we arrived in La Union, we kept seeing this tall, long-haired woman along the shore. She was really nice and wished us to enjoy surfing. 

Come that night, we were surprised to discover that she was one half of soulful musical duo The Slinks. They mostly sang original songs, but their cover of La Vie En Rose was both heartbreaking and beautiful.

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Marcus Adoro at Jetsam Jam 2015 (February 7, 2015)

Marcus Adoro was obviously drunk when he went onstage, and it was awesome. After his first song, he stopped playing and requested the audience to stand up and dance with him. And the audience did. 

After the impromptu dance party, he sang a reggae version of Eraserheads' Huwag Mo Ng Itanong. It was very different from the original version, but also very Marcus.

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Bullet Dumas at Jetsam Jam 2015 (February 7, 2015)

I've been hearing about Bullet Dumas for quite some time now, and I was happy to finally see him perform a few weeks ago, armed with his guitar and tongue-twisting (but still LSS-inducing) songs. He was so good that a few French girls sitting beside me screamed "more!" at the end of his set and mumbled "I'm sad to see him go." I shared their sentiments.

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Quest at Jetsam Jam 2015 (February 7, 2015)

Here's what happened: after a long day of surfing and exploring La Union with the Wanderrgirls, we were all very tired. Our exhaustion was such that we had no energy to stay up late to watch the rest of Flotsam and Jetsam's Jetsam Jam 2015, so we decided to call it a night and head to our cozy kubo dorm. 

But then we heard the next act playing, and he was really, really good. Because we failed to hear who he was, we tried to guess his identity. We couldn't figure out who he was. 

"My last song is a Tagalog song," said the singer. He then taught the mostly-foreigner audience how to sing the "ooh-ohh" part of his song. And then the song "Sige Lang" started playing. THE SINGER WAS QUEST!

So we got off our beds (very slowly, because our bodies were sore from all the surfing) and raced back out of our dorm. We only got to see him for his last song, but it was amazing. He was amazing. 

And that is how we eventually ended up staying up late to watch the rest of Jetsam Jam 2015.

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So this is Flotsam and Jetsam Hostel, the cutest hostel in La Union. As soon as you enter the premises, you are greeted with bursts of color and great art. Also, every nook and cranny is instagrammable (not to mention very clean).

Ah, I'd love to go back.

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I seem to be living for the weekends these days, as my weekends lately have been filled with lots of wonderful adventures. I'm glad (and proud of myself) that my social life is thriving and my weekends are spent exploring and doing things and getting out of the house, but I'm sad that my weekdays are the opposite.

These days, I usually feel tired without actually doing anything. I sleep, go home early, and repeat this routine the next day. I wait for the weekend, because that's usually when things happen.

I hate it, because it means that most of my days are spent doing nothing productive. I hate it, because it must mean that I'm no longer excited with school and org works and my org mates. I hate it, because I wake up on weekdays looking forward to nothing and going to sleep feeling nothing. 

It's like every weekday is a Monday.

I hope something changes soon I hope I get to change things soon. I'm getting tired of always being tired. I want to be excited for the weekdays again.