Of Photographs and Unexpected Meetings

I have always been a fan of Carina Santos' work and was pleasantly surprised when the beau said we'd go to her exhibit's opening this Saturday. So with just a few hours sleep, we hauled our butts off to Blanc, Manila Peninsula to gawk at Carina's art and (finally) meet the artist herself.



Carina lets us peek into her personal life through photographs of herself (most specifically, her feet), stitched faces of her family and also shares with us some bits of history with cutouts from books and magazines (like the three XOs). Much like Joseph Cornell's boxes, the pieces evoke nostalgia, a stirring of one's rememberance, be it the audience's or the artist's own.



Collages had never been one of my finer crafts (mine always look so disoriented) so I have HUGE respect to people who can actually collect ordinary objects and turn them into art.














































And I finally got to meet Carina! Yaaay!



I think a lot of the Tumblrfolk went to the opening and it was fun to see all these wonderful people in one place to support Carina. It really was heartwarming.

Speaking of Tumblrfolk, I had been wanting to see all the friends that I met through Tumblr. And I was so glad I finally got to meet all of them at the opening! Who would've thought we'd bump into each other here...



Jaime + Fatima and Shinji + Jel

So from the exhibit, we found ourselves in the middle of chaos at the Fete dela Musique Rock and Indie stage at B-side, Collective in Malugay, Makati. I remember asking myself, "how in the world did we end up here...?" and realized that yes, they told me they're playing amd yes, it's for Fete. I know... I was too excited to comprehend we were going to a rock fest. Hah! So we went there and listened to The Strangeness.









And some shots of the Fete people:












Oh hey it's Myrene! (the boyfriend was fanboy-ing at the time)




We had to go home early that night. But for the short time that we spent "meeting" people, I'm pretty happy and I couldn't have wished it any other way. :)

hello my name is ashton dwyke

I'm almost 6 months old and have recently learned how to roll over on my tummy.

Nowadays, I like looking at myself in the mirror.




My aunt's iPad is pretty awesome. I can stare at myself for hours aaand take pictures as well!















See you around, internets!!

(the kid really DID take all these pictures by himself. haha!)

a treat for sore feet

I must have had an inkling, a premonition if you will, that we would be getting ourselves lost in Singapore last weekend. I wasn't even worried about what clothes I should be packing. Heck, no. Loose fitting shirts, a couple pair of shorts, some unmentionables, and I'm good to go. I was more worried about what shoes I would bring.

For somebody who doesn't like dressing up that much, shoes should be the least of my problems, right? But hey, like I said, I had a premonition. And yes, it came true.

The minute we decided to walk from the train station to our hostel (which was my idea of adventure. hah!), I thank my lucky stars for my decision to stash these babies in my bag:







These are, without a doubt, the most comfortable ballet flats I've ever worn!

Aside from being ultra comfortable, The Shoe Room gives you the option to customize your own perfect little flats. Just follow the steps and wait for the SMS. And I must say, they have superb customer service. Abby Medina, the shop owner was so kind to accept my rush order and got the flats delivered the day before our flight. Our flight was a Saturday and the couriers only deliver up till Friday. I was really surprised when the guards told me that I have a package waiting for me. The two pairs were done in less than a week!!

With that kind of service, coupled with quality work without the high price tag, I say that I would be buying more flats from this shop. And yes, you're feet will thank you for it. Why opt for flipflops when you have this classier alternative?

new hair for the new year

Whaaaaaat... I don't know what happened but this post is long overdue. About a month overdue, I might add. So yeah, I fianlly got a new haircut for the new year. It was a spur of the moment thing; we saw a salon and in we went. I've actually been looking for somebody who can give me this set of bangs but alas... Either I look too 80s or just plain ugh.

That is until I went to this particular salon on this particular day (which happens to be the day before the new year. heh.) So I went from this:




to this:



He chopped off a huge chunk of my hair and for that I am grateful.

I kind of look like Dora the Explorer but I love how short it is now. Good thing he (aka my favorite stylist since thist day) knows how to listen to his customers and knows what looks good and what doesn't. Even the boyfriend had his hair cut!



We shall be coming back to your salon good sir. Just as soon as I find your calling card again.....

All Hail the Queen (of Lomography)!!

I just realized that I forgot to blog about this and I've had this camera for a few months now. Eeep.. So alright, a little background...

For as long as I can remember, I have been praaaaying for this camera. It's one of the premium cameras of Lomography. So I spent my days just browsing through the LCA+ gallery  and sighing. Theeeen, I found this baby on eBay. The owner was selling it for half the price of the brand new one and it's slightly used (as in she used just 1-2 rolls with it). I was so excited!! The beau was wonderful, by the way. We paid for this 50-50. I can't wait to try it so I loaded 2 rolls in a week. 

What I saw just blew me away. I guess you can't really start to love something this awesome until you had a chance to use it. The 2 rolls were Solid Gold 200 and a Provia. Both gave unexpected results.

I love the "legit film" feel of the photographs, whether they're from a negative film or a slide film. I love that it's small enough to fit in your pocket. I love taking it with me on walks. I just absolutely love it!! She truly is THE queen. So glad to have the chance to own one of these gems.