Just joining the Department of Tourism in their lastest campaign, It’s more fun in the Philippines!

Concept credit goes to JL Acosta (Thank you!).

T’boli farmers harvesting crops in the morning. Photo taken last September 2011 when I visited Lake Sebu, South Cotabato for a video project with Filip+Inna.

Share it?

Locally, we call this Sinigang na Ulo ng Maya-maya sa Miso.

My knuckles were already red and sore from yesterday’s session. I knew that further training will hurt them, but I didn’t expect my knuckles to bleed. I bruised them from training at a boxing gym with Vanessa this morning.

I started boxing last October with my fitness trainer but I knew that if I wanted to take the sport seriously, I have to eventually train with a real boxer. So when Vanessa told me that she enrolled at a boxing gym, I said that I would love to tag along.

It was my first time today to train inside a boxing ring and with a professional boxer. My trainer was a dark-skinned bald man who is probably in his 30s. I call him Kuya Jeff. The first round was quite intimidating because he was very stern and I felt that he was pretty disappointed with what I previously learned. Kuya Jeff hit my arms whenever they made a wrong move — like a piano teacher hitting her student’s fingers with a ruler. I appreciated that he kept on pointing out my mistakes and I was happy that he was able to correct them and teach me proper boxing footwork in the following rounds. He even offered an extra round (they usually do eight for beginners) where he surprised me by dancing Tango (literally) on the ring while we were sparring! Kuya Jeff stomped on the mat and clapped his mitts as we moved along.

The ring defined the experience for me. Being on a platform surrounded by ropes helped me focus on my punches. In every round I felt like I was locked in a different world, only to be reminded of reality whenever the buzzer goes off. I wish we had boxing rings and punching bags at my gym too.

I had so much fun and I’m happy I learned a lot of new things in one hour (Thanks Vanessa!). I’m definitely going back next Saturday for another session. This time we’ll be bringing some friends with us and I hope that my knuckles are already healed by then.

I started the year slow but I went out today to check out some cross trainers because my purple Nike running shoes are getting old and worn out. They’re still okay to use but I’ve been experiencing some pain at the soles during boxing and circuit training. My trainer has been telling me to switch to cross trainers because I think I’ll stop justifying. I’m a girl. Shoes are kryptonite.

I’m a loyal and confused Nike-Adidas fan.

I liked both so I got both. They are very nice and comfortable to wear. I thought it wouldn’t hurt much if these will last for another 3 or 4 years. I also got myself a new hoodie and some new shirts to use for the office. I never thought I’d be spending my Christmas bonus on a Post-Holiday Shopping spree but I’ve been very frugal last year and I think I’m due for some pampering.

These new shoesies should help to get me back on track. My week-long break just added a couple of fat-pounds to my weight. This year will be exciting. I shouldn’t be sleeping around. I should be out there running and moving around some weights!

I am lucky I was able to get up during the countless times that I’ve been let down this year. Some great and life-changing things happened to me. I had new projects, a lot of learnings and a career shift. People were coming in and out of my life. There was a promising multimedia partnership that I started then left. I battled hard with my roller coaster weight. There were first rendezvouses that weren’t followed up. I had some realizations that hit me hard in my head. There was a saturation point I never thought I’d reach. I traveled extensively down south to Mindanao and had the best adventures, but I have traveled down emotionally as well. I am glad to have taken risks and I cannot regret anything because I have learned from my misfortunes.

I never thought that I’d be able to handle that much shit in just 12 months. And I never thought leaving the year would be this memorable that I had to write about it. I am excited in leaving my downs behind and I am looking forward to a fresh start.

I’d like to think that all of my experiences this year just happened to prepare me for an exciting 2012. A bad so-so year cannot stop me from keeping my hopes up for the new year.

Hello, 2012. I’ve been waiting for you!

I’ve never worn any Photography-related accessories except for these neat lens bracelets. I fell in love with the design after stumbling upon them on Photojojo. I was lucky to find a local seller who shipped them from Hong Kong. I got the plain ones from him and the one with the red ring is a present from my uncle who bought it from SG.

Cool stuff! ♥

Bumming (and eating) around made me a little guilty about my weight loss plan so I got myself a jumping rope the other day. I could have run around the village today for cardio, but I read that jump rope training is a must for boxers. I’ve been wanting to take boxing more seriously and I thought playing with the rope was a start.

I started jumping in our backyard early this afternoon. After minutes of jumping, my feet hurt and I learned that running shoes aren’t made for jumping around. I took my shoes off and jumped in my socks. Landing on the cool grass underneath my feet felt good. It felt better than landing on a shock-absorbing gym floor.

I jumped for almost an hour and I was really exhausted. The breeze was pretty cool so I decided to lie down in the grass, under a tree. It was only then when I realized that the sky was a pretty shade of blue. The breeze + blue sky combo was perfect. I lay there and appreciated the beauty.

I cannot remember the last time I was this intimate with nature. Being in front of the computer at least 10 hours a day, 7 days a week has kept me from appreciating the beauty around me.

More explosions…BOOM!

I love this bear!!!

If you’ve been looking at my previous posts, you should know by now that I love taking photos of food.

Paella. I’m not sure if it’s somebody’s favorite. It’s just there. Always.

Same goes for the SyCip ham. They switched brands this year and I heard that the firm was raging about it. But it’s still good. Not as good as the old one though.

Goat Paprika. Better alternative to Queso de Bola.

MORE?

Olive Oil & Balsamic Dip with bread, anyone?

Tito & Tita, sweet as ever and still looking young!

Me with the oldies.

I am bothered by the snowflake underneath the seeker of YouTube’s playback controller.

I know it’s for the holiday season but I squirm every time I move it. I get goosebumps as if it’s scraping my screen — like fingernails on a chalkboard.

Yes, I’m weird like that.

Video screenshot is from the cool Meme Proposal.

I can still taste the cheese on the Mt. Fuji Roll.
Just came home from holiday dinner with Angelo & Camo!

Breakfast after a good workout ♥

I’ve been making cookies for Christmas during the past couple of years and 2011 won’t be complete if I don’t make some for friends and family. If you get one from me, it means that you are special and that I’m so thankful that I have you in my life. =)

I had to come up with something using only the available ingredients in the kitchen. Say hello to Salmon in Olive oil.

Great with Fusilli and Parmesan cheese. Yum!

My earliest Holiday present this year is a doll pen from my officemate, Z. This doll kicked out one of my pens from its base. She will be guiding my desk from now on. =)

We’ve got a whole army! Everybody else received doll pens too.

Thank you for being so thoughtful, Z!

You are the fire in my life
Keeping me burning deep inside
You give me something
You give me something
To live for

You are the air I breathe
Keeping my heart beating for me
You give me something
You give me something
To live for

You’re my escape

I told myself that I will only cut my hair when I reach my ideal weight. I have 25lbs to lose. It looks like I have to grow my hair up to my waist!

I tried to make excuses not to be with you that other night but you were too convincing and made me go. I wanted to avoid it because I knew it would be the first and last. I risked my emotions even if I knew how things would end. It ended the way I saw it would, yet I still felt bad of how we turned out. I thought I have already prepared myself. I was wrong. I had so much fun with you and I realized that you had everything that I would ever want in a guy.

You’re too good to be true and too perfect to be mine.

My 2nd (out of 3) Jägermeister with a slice of Apple Pie during our company business (also Christmas) dinner.

“Prove that you work for a German company.
Jägermeister for everyone!”

Ralph

I think I have proven myself after three shots of Jäger followed by a bottle and a half (shared with Andy of SAP) of Underberg (44% Alcohol) and some Irish coffee.

Meh. May pinagmanahan nga talaga ako (Hi, Dad!). I have to start programming myself to be sober for the next couple of months.

Why, hello there.

Touching words from Sensei Steven :’-)

Tuyo & garlic rice topped with raw egg. Yum ♥

Dear doubt follows the story of Ivan as he grapples with paranoia that the love of his life is seeing someone else. The film focuses on the most basic of emotions present in almost all grown up relationships — doubt. The humanity of being paranoid and the humor embedded in these potent emotions if one were to handle it recklessly.

Screened last November 22 at the CCP Dream Theater (Tanghalang Manuel Conde).

Cinematography and co-Direction by Daphne Oliveros (with Vanessa Balagapo & BJ Hernandez)

I just don’t think that you would still care to know.

Still alive after 3hrs of sleep, 30mins of boxing, 40mins of cardio, 8hrs of work & a 30-min jog with friends.

Dearest brown-thing-in-my-mug,

Please help in keeping me awake for the next 8 hours.

Love,
Daphne

2 mocha oatmeal cereal drinks + 3in1 coffee + creamer

Uhr (clock). My work (advertisements underneath) is posted somewhere around Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Not too proud of the design (usually the works of designers get changed by clients to the point that the output is not “ours” anymore). I actually hate it! Haha but at least my work is on the other side of the globe. =)

I’m an only child. I was born to parents who worked their asses off to send me to school. I’m so thankful for that. The consequence of it was that I was always left at home by myself. My parents both had brothers and sisters. They didn’t know how it feels like to not have siblings. I cannot blame them. They value education. They cannot afford to make more children that they can send to a good school.

Growing up alone isn’t actually that sad — especially if you didn’t know how it feels like to be with more than two people in your house. In philosophy it’s something like not being able to define good if there was no evil.

I’m not a loner. I have friends. I used to stay late at school because I enjoy hanging out with them. My friends might be the closest definition of brothers and sisters to me.

Being alone is already a part of me. From school I would usually go home to a house with no people. Even if there were, mom nor dad never really asked about my day. We were all busy minding our own business — they were busy relaxing from work and I was busy cramming my homework and talking to my friends. I think this is also why I’ve been good at school. While they’re busy working, I was busy doing my best to get good grades to win their attention (and affection). Obviously, we’re not very close. This should explain why it wasn’t so hard and painful moving out when Typhoon Ketsana destroyed our home in 2009 (I stayed with relatives whose house was closer to school while my parents went down south to live with my bachelor uncle) then living solo after college.

Bonds with our extended families are not that tight either. I don’t have cousins at my mother side (uncles and aunts didn’t have kids) and I wasn’t that close to my father side. I would see 2nd cousins and other relatives at huge parties that happen once or twice a year, but would never really talk to them during the rest of the year (except occasionally commenting on each other’s posts on Facebook).

I am used to being alone. But as I grew up I gradually felt like there is something missing. I have this emptiness that I feel like I always have to fill. I’m not sad but I know that to be happy, you have to be able to share it with others. I have friends and family but most of the time there’s this only one special person who would care to understand and share things with me. I would always find myself making new friends, then eventually start seeing someone new. I then see us having a great time but things usually are just fun while they lasted. As I struggle to fill the gap and keep things together, I always see rejection saying hello to me when things start to seem too good to be true. I learned later that I have been filling it with assholes who were never serious. All of them just seemed nice at the beginning.

I’m starting to get used to this pattern that always leaves me alone. It’s keeping me from trying. The numbing feeling tells me that maybe I was always meant to go solo and there’s really no gap to fill. I should be used to being by myself. I’ve been alone for 23 years. The definition of happiness could be different for me. It’s possible that the gap should be filled with career and charity. Instead of struggling with filling the gap with people who make me feel worthless, maybe I should just focus on caring for my 6 parents (biological + uncles and aunts who don’t have kids)? Only time will tell.

/drama. I have to stop wasting time pitying myself.

A dirty and leaking car cooling coil. This is why I have been driving with the windows down. I just had it replaced.

I am now a licensed ninja. #SamuraiUmbrella

As each of us has his own impression of Afghanistan that is predominantly marked with pictures of foreign forces, explosions and terror, we were privileged to have access to capture daily life and portrait some people of Afghanistan.

We hope the pictures you know will merge with the pictures you see and will enrich your view on the country in the Hindu Kush.

Beautiful work from Lukas & Salome Augustin!

When I look into your eyes
You’re not even there
It’s just a feeling
Just a feeling
Just a feeling that I have

I’m getting to like this feeling I’ve found.
I’m getting to love
The thought of having you around.
And I will never let you down.

I thought I lost all of my baby photos to Typhoon Ketsana in 2009. But I found this together with some old photos in a box at my lola’s house.

I wish you couldn’t figure me out
But you’d always wanna know what I was about
I wish you’d hold my hand
When I was upset
I wish you’d never forget
The look on my face when we first met

This reminds me of a story of a friend and her guy.
I love Kate Nash’s voice — light and soothing.

I’d like to say I’m sorry. Sorry to all the women out there who have gotten their hearts trampled on. Sorry to the women who feel as though the only way to get men’s attention is to act in ways that are not very you. Sorry to the ones that suffered through the pain of dealing with your cowardly love finding ‘love’ somewhere else. I’m sorry for the way you’ve been treated, the way you’ve been used, and the way you’ve been thrown away like you don’t mean much.

Truth is, you do mean much. You mean a lot. Not just to me, but to the whole world. Look at yourself. Your smile, the way you’re so focused on this right now. You are so beautiful. You really are. And you have a big, warm heart that deserves only the finest of men.

Open that heart to only those who deserve it, and learn to protect your heart from those who don’t. I know you’re beauty, and I know your strength. Keep hanging on, okay? Some of us really are good. You just have to sift through the pain, keep believing and find your way.

We’ll be waiting for you.

Thanks, whoever you are.

StumbledUpon

He’s just not that into you if he’s disappeared on you. Sometimes you have to get closure all by yourself.

He’s gone. Poof. Vanished into thin air. Well, there’s no mixed message here. He’s made it clear that he’s so not into you that he couldn’t even bother to leave you a Post-it. This time you may not be so quick to make excuses for his behavior. It’s so painful, it’s impossible not to be hurt or angry. But because of that, you might be tempted to make some excuses for yourself. You have good reason to want to spend a lot of energy solving the Mystery of the Disappearing Man. But all those excuses, however valid they are, will not help you in the long run. Because the only part of that story that’s important to remember is that he didn’t want to be with you anymore. And he didn’t have the guts to tell you that to your face. Case closed.

Greg Behrendt
He’s Just Not That Into You

Oh sure, they say they’re busy. They say that they didn’t have even a moment in their insanely busy day to pick up the phone. It was just that crazy. Bullshit. With the advent of cell phones and speed dialing it is almost impossible not to call you. Sometimes I call people from my pants pocket when I don’t even mean to. We may try to make you think differently, but we men are just like you. We like taking a break from our generally mundane day to talk to someone we like. It makes us happy. And we like to be happy. Just like you. If I were into you, you would be the bright spot in my horribly busy day. Which would be a day that I would never be too busy to call you.

Greg Behrendt
He’s Just Not That Into You