Life is the same old, same old. Writing for a living, writing for fun. Playing with my dolls. Experimenting on food. Working on improving my photography. It’s the same old grind. Not that I mind of course. I’m a creature of habit and working on things slowly but surely keeps me going.

On major thing I’m working on that’s very new to me is fiscal responsibility. I’m actually trying to save up and clear my credit card debt. I plan to get rid of one before the 3rd quarter of the year. The other one, I’m keeping for my online shopping but I plan to zero out the balance. I guess I am growing older and more responsible. Not a bad thing, right?

~ ~ ~ ~



Half a year after I visited Singapore for the first time and I’m still not done sorting my trip photos. Uploaded a new batch last night, will be adding more this week, I’m halfway through the last and largest folder---my Singapore zoo photos. As always, food on Kitchen Cow, general travel photos on Flickr and personal photo crap soon to be up on Multiply.

What was that New Year's Resolution again? Update my eljay more often? *cackles madly as she falls to the ground in classic failure pose* OTL



Here's Junpei looking cute, just so you guys will forgive me.

On the brighter side of things, Kitchen Cow is still being updated regularly so you can go there instead of here.

Oh yeah, and going fairly okay with my Movie / Book goals this year. Between the last post and now, I managed to watch Slumdog Millionaire and read Austenland by Shannon Hale. Must watch at least 5 movies for February to make up for missing one week in January. Still manageable, methinks.

i. preludes
I should be writing a year in review thing. First post of the year, it would be appropriate. But I've been gone too long and it just feels so difficult to get back in the swing of things. Where do I start? Do I go back to my last post? And I've been putting it off because of that. But the first week of the year has past and still no update---whatever happened to my resolution to update my livejournal more? So I might as well get started.

ii. life changes
2008 is a pivotal year in my life. I'm not exaggerating when I say the year and its milestones changed the way I see a lot of things. My priorities have shifted and somehow, I feel older---in an I've grown up sort of way.

So resolutions?
• Be more responsible with my expenses.
• Update blogs more.
• Start writing again.
• Read more.
• Travel.
• Learn something new or improve old skills. Take classes.

iii. film & book goal list fail
I was mostly on track with my video goals last year but I failed to record the last two months of my movie and video viewing. I was planning to sit down and write everything down but I couldn't find the time and ended up forgetting.

For my reading goals though, while I hit the target, the figure is mostly factitious because while I read a lot, it's mostly manga. It really defeats me telling myself I need to read more. So I figure this year, I'm going to separate my book and manga list. Instead of the old 52 books a year, I'm putting the book goal to 26. That's one every fortnight, no comics or graphic novels. Considering the pace my life is going, that sounds a bit more realistic.

So here are my advance apologies for the next three posts which will come consecutively, but could look spammy to you guys. I need to post my book and movie goal lists separately for easier archiving.

iv. photo projects
After last year's 365 Toy Project (which I finished after much skipping), I've chosen to embark on two more doable projects this year. A Doll a Week and Dolly Diptych Weekly. I must confess, I didn’t know Dolly Diptych existed when I signed up for A Doll a Week but since I have signed up already, I figured I might as well stick with it. It looks feasible anyway---I can take solo shots from the Diptych project for use with ADAW. Anyway, I've taken a photo for each to cover week one.



v. shameless plug
Raffling off a signed, first edition, hardcover copy of Anthony Bourdain's A Cook's Tour (which I honestly want to keep for myself). Win it for yourself at Kitchen Cow.

Written for OAP's Pluey Contest.

Where is your favorite place to travel on a rainy day and why?


Sachiko and Seiji at Washington Sycip Park, Makati City

Run. Leap. Stroll. Dance. No matter what you choose to do, the best place to be in on a rainy day is a place surrounded by greenery. Whether it's a park or a garden, here, you can enjoy nature as she is meant to be enjoyed. Freshly rejuvenated by the rain, everything is perfect. From the cool, refreshing mist, to the breeze perfumed by fragrant blooming flowers, to the dewy grass and lush greenery, down to the dusky, dreamy atmosphere, it all makes a picture perfect moment you'll remember forever.

i. because memes with photos are fun
Flickr Meme, copied off Toni.

( Meme Rules under cut )



( Photo Credits: )

ii. taeyang quarterly update
Taeyang Quarterly's done! At the very least, we made the finals. Here are our entries ( for the last two challenges under the cut: )

i. singapore. yay!
Will be taking a 4-day (well, 4 and a half) vacation to Singapore starting Friday. Well, more like Saturday really since the plane lands a little after midnight. It will be my first time traveling out of the country so I'm very excited. Travel never really figured highly in my list of priorities but the fares were cheap and Jamie & Gins offered us a place to stay so I decided to go.

Honestly though, it was the idea of shopping for toys that pushed me into booking tickets (Sophie!) but as the trip drew nearer, I'm actually more excited about seeing Singapore now. I've yet to write up our itinerary (I'm going there with my mom) but I know food will be important. I'm even planning to do a Singapore special for Kitchen Cow. And a yakult feature as well, as I heard that yakult actually comes in a myriad of flavors there! Yay, so can't wait!

ii. hongkong, double yay!
And hot on the heels of Singapore is yesterday's work announcement---We'll be going to HONGKONG DISNEYLAND IN DECEMBER! Our company is actually taking the whole office there for Christmas. Yay! Details are still being finalized but either way, yay! That beats last year's Shangri-La Makati Circles' Dinner for sure.

So I really have to limit myself to buying just one Pullip in Singapore so I still have room within my quota for another new doll in Hongkong. Maybe Charlotte for my first Dal? Sounds like a good plan to me!

iii. taeyang quarterly take 2
Some of may remember Seiji's foray into male modeling last year. I had fun going through that rough and tumble roller coaster ride that I signed up for another round of torture challenges, this time with Junpei.

We're up to the third challenge now. ( Here are our entries so far. )

iv. love, stargirl
Finally finished reading Jerry Spinelli's Love, Stargirl. Still as bittersweet as the first book Stargirl, this second books starts where the first one leaves off, but this time, in Stargirl's perspective. So, how do you cope with a broken heart? Stargirl does things the way she usually does---to the beat of her own drummer. But between counting pebbles in her happy wagon and planting spatulas on a hill, we realize that no matter how unusual she is, she still hurts the same way everyone else does.

And because she's now just like everyone else, when it dawns upon her that there's hope for her yet, we realize. There's hope for us too.

p.s. I didn't realize that there's a Stargirl movie in production. Makes me wonder.

On the photo front, I scored a second-hand B&W photography book for just PhP190. It reminds me of FOTOCAM and while most of the things in the book are things we were taught in school, I really need the refresher. I guess I'm taking photography more seriously now than back in college, since I'm doing it because I want to and not because I have Judy Sibayan breathing down my neck. Don't get me wrong. I loved photography then, but somehow, having to do it for the grades made me focus on completing the course, instead of actually learning.

So now, I'll be studying this book, taking photos, and hopefully, enrolling in classes after I go on vacation. I found a class I want to enroll in already. It's within my budget and I like their course outline. It's just too bad I don't have anyone who wants to go to class with me. It would be so much fun if I had someone to learn and compare notes with.

Because I'm talking about photography and stuff, I feel the need to leave you guys with a photo:



No reason why I chose this. I just love this photo. And Ace of course. :P

Looks like Sachiko's having more fun than I am. And no, this one's still taken with Natsume. My brain is overloading with information as I read the manual while fiddling with Natsuki. Truth be told, I'm quite intimidated. I don't remember being this lost during my film SLR days. So many buttons, 80% of them I have no farking idea what for.

Still, despite feeling like such an idiot, it feels good holding a nice, fat SLR. The weight, the grip, the nice shutter sound---it just feels so therapeutic you know? The act of actually putting your eye to the viewfinder, I never knew how much I missed it.

I still have a lot to learn though, that's why you guys won't be seeing pics anytime soon. All the pics I've taken so far are crap. But I'm damned dedicated to making Natsuki submit to my will (or at least arrive at a compromise) so there's hope yet.

i. after the legend
Finished watching Tae Wang Sa Shin Gi / The Legend of the First King’s Four Gods a few days ago. After a couple of nights of minimal sleep, we finally finished it. My mom and I started and ended the series on opposite camps---she was empathizing with Kajin / Kiha, misunderstood, victim of circumstances evil girl while I was happily cheering for wild, street urchin Sujini who was the poised, valiant warrior princess Seoh in her past life.

( Cut for spoilers )

Thankfully, Dian came to my rescue with this link about the original script to the last episode. It really makes me feel better and I like to think of it as canon. Even if I can't watch it, it's nice to think that this is what really happened.

ii. ever so busy
We've been so busy at work these past few days. Almost daily overtime coupled with a weekend at the office. So the holiday starting tomorrow will be such a welcome respite. I'm crossing my fingers that nothing will happen to screw it up. Yes, it's that bad. I feel like I can't really rejoice until I'm already on my way home tonight.

Productive to do list:
• Fix up things that need to be fixed up with Kitchen Cow, including layout tweaks, additional plug-ins, and new articles.
• Shoot dollies.
• Get some sewing projects going.
• Bake macaroons. It's very specific since I already bought the dry ingredients a few weeks ago. *laughs*
• Scan some more of Gokusen v11 for our Gokusen scanlations project. Plus, edit my next few assignments.
• Troubleshoot my lighting set-up.
• Do research on possible freelance writing programs.
• Put together a sample work portfolio for freelance writing projects.
• Design and make business cards.
• Get started on 365 Toy Project again.
• Redesign / reconfigure This Doll's Life

What's more likely to happen:
• Start playing Layton again as I have finished (finally!) Apollo Justice.
• Read some of the books I borrowed from Chris.
• Trawl Dollie Mixtures and Flickr for dollie piccies.
• Nap.
• Eat potato chips.
• Snooze.
• Watch anime / jdrama.
• Read manga.
• Be lucky to accomplish at least one thing on productive list.

iii. objection!
I want more Ace Attorney action! Apollo Justice was one wild ride, and I want more! Joining Phoenix, Godot and Iris as my favorite Ace Attorney characters are Apollo, Trucy, Ema Skye and Gavin---Klavier, not Kristoph. So much fun! I hope they release Ace Attorney 5 already. Last I heard, Capcom did a press release about it May 2007. I just hope it comes out soon and is followed by an English language version at once as well. Makes me wonder who'll be in it. A defense-attorney-again Phoenix? Herr forehead Apollo? Or a totally new lawyer?

iv. photo request meme
I've seen Jannie and more recently, Cla do this. Now I want to join in the fun!

Photo request! List up to three things you'd like me to take pictures of. Give me a week to do this, and once I'm done, I'll post your requests.

Just a note, I reserve the right to turn down requests if they're not feasible, are expensive, or is obscene / pornographic.

And Cla, no, you can not request for a Junpei x Seiji yaoi photoshoot.

i. accomplished
I feel so much better now! I finally managed to send out my long delayed Dollie-Mixtures Secret Santa Swap package yesterday. Because I was feeling guilty with the delay (I should've sent it out during the first week of December), I ended up stuffing the jiffy mailer bursting to full with candy. Sent it via EMS so my recipient will get it within the year at the very least. I doubt it'll get there by Christmas.

Last night, I managed to persuade my dolls to pose for me so I finally managed to get our Christmas pics done. Then, off I went to the photo place to print them out so now I have Christmas cards, finally! All that's left is to mail them first thing tomorrow morning then I'm done. Yay! I feel so accomplished!

Sadly, they'll be late for Christmas but I'm still happy because it turned out so nice. So yay!

ii. another accomplishment
And even better, I finally managed to do the next chapter in the continuing saga chronicling the lives of the dolls who rule my life.

The next comic, Welcome home, Sachiko! is up at This Doll's Life.

i. saberday sunshine!
Saberday! Saberday! Yay!

ii. tq
We made it to the 4th round, that's the 10/20 elimination. I should be happy. I mean, I was. But right now, I'm feeling a creeping sense of pressure about churning a fantastic pic. I really really want to do my best, but you know that old song, about my best not being good enough?

Shows my age, huh?

Anyway, to those who haven't seen it, here's Seiji's Sweet Emotion entry - Shyness.

iii. saberday again
Yay! Yay! Saberday!

i. hot film
We watched Beowulf Saturday evening, compliments of Noel (Thanks Noel!) and it was a hot film. Not because of nekkid Angelina Jolie nor nekkid Beowulf. It was because when we got to that scene where the dragon was burning the tower? The film burned. Literally. As the dragon spewed fire, the literal film burned, stopping the movie for a minute or so.

The timing couldn't have been better.

ii. good parenting
Parents, please consider what movies your kids are watching before packing them off with yaya (nanny) to the movies. Because Beowulf is not something your pre-adolescent kids should be watching unsupervised. Heck, I don't think it should be shown to kids at all. All that gore, inebriation, sexual innuendo, and nekkid Angelina Jolie is not something kids should see.

Especially when your kids are loud, immature and ruin the cinema experience for all. I hope your brats get Grendel nightmares! Though judging by their reaction from Angelina...I'd rather not guess what their dreams would be like. T_T

iii. music & lyrics
Did my challenge 2 shoot yesterday. I found it fun, but a part of me feels apprehensive because the shoot felt so easy. I guess I got too used to complicated set-ups between PF & TQ so now, with a simple set-up, I feel like I'm slacking off---something I promised not to do.

Reminder to self: You loved the new concept enough to drop your initial, complicated set-up. Stop flogging yourself. Besides, the song's goshdarned fun! How can you go wrong?

i. holiday accomplishments
Accomplished a couple of things this holiday---unfortunately, none of them were productive.

1. Finished Phoenix Wright: Justice for All. And is it just me or is there so much more Phoenix X Edgeworth love all around? Heeheeeheee. Sorry Maya, but---Nick and Edgey sitting in a tree... And Franziska! I actually ended up liking her. Oh she's an annoying pain in the butt, but she's a cute annoying pain in the butt.

2. Finished watching Yamada Tarou Monogatari. I actually liked it better than Poor Prince. Oh sure, Poor Prince always had me in stitches, and Vic Zhou and his best friend, the guy who plays Mimura, were sooooo damned hawt. But I like how the Jdrama version added more depth and character to the story. I also appreciate how they fleshed out Takako to be much more than the gold digging secondary character she was in the manga / taiwanese drama. Here, I learned to like---even love the character. And I love the actress' dimples. Sooo cute!

3. Almost finished sewing an A-line skirt for Aki. It's pretty okay and I like how soft the fabric is, even if it's not as trendy as some of her clothes. It turned out pretty well for something I sewed without a pattern. The matching top however...was a disaster.

ii. after aki, it's seiji in the spotlight!
So looking forward to Taeyang Quarterly. It's a new photo contest, patterned after Pullip Fabulous, only it's all male. Haven't sent Seiji's application in yet as we're waiting for his new wig, but we're definitely joining.

And since we're talking dolls anyway, head's up! I posted some pics of Aki and Seiji at Westgate and ATC at This Doll's Life.

iii. i should be moping
...because the holiday's come to an end, but because it also means that the Post Office will open already, I'm actually looking forward to tomorrow. Yay! Yay! Yay! New wig, new wig, new wig!

iv. if you like taking photos of toys
You may want to wander off to Flickr and join the 365 Toy Project. It's basically an exercise where you shoot and upload a toy photo everyday. It doesn't have to be a different toy, but it has to be a new photo each day. I'm on day 16 and am really having. Even if it is a pain trying to figure out how to set up my lights each night since I'm too lazy to put my whole light tent up.

Here's one of mine:


v. positivity project happy thought?
14. No matter how much you hate something, there's always a silver lining. It's like me hating yaoi but making an exception to root for Phoenix and Edgeworth! Now that's OTP.

i. bombings
As apathetic as I usually am, last Friday's Glorietta bombings were more like a postscript to my day. While we're relatively near the place, to me all it amounted to was heavier traffic and a more difficult commute.

We kept abreast of the news while at the production house were we were awaiting a client meeting. We received and sent text messages to people, asking about whereabouts—my mom was just 10 minutes back in the office after lunching in the vicinity when the explosion happened—and ensuring each other's safety.

So Saturday morning felt truly surreal when I received a text message from an old friend that one of our friends died in the explosion. While we haven't been in touch for so long, during the time of our friendship, mid to late 90s when we were still neighbors, we had a lot of laughs, hanging out in the subdivision streets. During special occasions, my neighborhood barkada would stay up til the wee hours, singing along with an acoustic guitar, drinking the occasional mocktail while munching on chips. We'd wake each other up at the crack of dawn to go jogging at a nearby subdivision, burning calories, only to stuff ourselves silly with a heavy breakfast of sinangag, tuyo, eggs and tomatoes.

Eventually, they moved away, and so did we. While I have failed to keep in touch, visiting his wake on Saturday night brought back a lot of memories. It was a study on how frail life really is. On how it's always the hardest on those we leave behind. And how we have to make a conscious effort to keep up with people who've made a difference in our lives and how we should always keep in touch.

ii. pullip fabulous
It's true what they say, we never really realize the worth of something until it's gone. In my case, I didn't know how badly I wanted to get in the Pullip Fabulous finals (probably if I got there, it would've changed into an I want to win this thing).

I couldn't keep still the past few days before it was announced but I figured it was just nerves. I'll be all right whatever happens. But when we got the results---well, to say I was disappointed is an understatement. I'm not knocking the finalists. My personal favorites got in. But somehow, I guess I wanted to be there with them. I wanted to be able to say, "We made the finals on our first try." Pride issues, really.

Still, personal disappointment aside, it was a good run. I learned a lot of new techniques---a combination of experimentation and online research---and took a lot of great pictures. I know I did my best. I know I've shown everyone what I can do. And I know I can go and say, "This is one goddamned good portfolio," and "I'm proud of what pullip fabulous pushed me to do." It was a good run. And yes, I'll be waiting in the wings for the next round of challenges.

( Aki's Pullip Fabulous Run )

And now I shall switch to fangirl mode and start cheering on my favorites! Fight fight fight everyone!

iii. other blog updates!
On the brighter side of things, our Pullip Fab run ending finally allowed me to shoot Seiji this time. His new wig's still not here, I'm crossing my fingers it'll come this week. Anyway, here's our photoshoot. Also managed to do my long delayed Sango Review.

Midway my pullip fab shoot. I stumbled upon an interesting, unplanned execution, and I love it. But still, it would look so much more fabulous if I were using a DSLR. The fact that I'm pushing my point and shoot to the limit and still want more, I think, is the sign that I need to seriously think about getting a better camera.

EDIT:
DONE! While there are some things I would like to redo, given more time a less floppy obitsu, and more hands, the fact that I'm tired, need sleep, am hungry and have only two hands tells me to stick with the program and send the entry already, lest I miss it. I did my best. So did Aki. And of course, little Natsume (my Ixus 55). I keep forgetting to credit him when he's the one who makes it possible.

And no, he's not getting offended about my wanting to buy a DSLR. He knows that even if I get one, it's still always him who'll have a place in my purse.

And oh yeah, I'm getting paranoid about being accused of over-photoshopping...which I didn't! I mean, just the usual curve balancing and all. Guess I'm really getting nervous / excited about the whole challenge. ^_^;;

Round 4, here we come! We made it, yay!

...


But the next challenge...*facepalm*

It's past 2am and I just finished shooting our Pullip Fabulous round 3 entry. Theme is geometry meets fashion. Quite the challenge, especially for someone like me who can't make heads and tails out of clothes. Still, after much planning, plotting and constructing, we did end up with something we liked.

On a side note, while it's really tiring, draining, and making me stay up extra late hours, I'm enjoying Pullip Fabulous. What they said before I joined was true---you really end up pushing yourself. Even for a challenge that I have no clue about, I ended up exerting effort. Thankfully, we were rewarded with something I like. I just hope it can compete with more fashion-oriented people. Honestly, at this point in the game, I'm too immersed in the concept / shoot to judge my work unbiasedly. Hope it still looks good to my eyes come tomorrow.

Much as I'd love to post our pics here now, I guess it'll have to wait til tomorrow afternoon, following the organizer's request that we keep the pics to ourselves til they get released.

In the meantime, I'm going to reward myself with some Kamen Rider Kabuto (around 7 episodes left to go) before sleeping. Sure, I'll be running on coffee again tomorrow but all this hard work needs positive reinforcement, doesn't it?

She looks so nice and sweet and demure right? Right?

( Really now? )

Rest of the outtakes on Aki's Blog.

We made the cut :D

I know I kept blogging about Pullip Fabulous but where are the pictures?

Well, search no more :D Here's our contest entry:



If you'd like to look at the outtakes though, it's on Aki's Blog. I'd cross-post the entry here, but her royal majesty Aki-chan will probably get annoyed if I do. And I'm too lazy to write an entry of my own.

Now, we're just crossing our fingers and hoping we move on to the next round.