MAU'S ROAD TO 25

I don't really post stuff like this. But now that it has sunk in, I can't help but be emotional. This phase was hard for me - juggling work and school. My friends and family know what I'd been through. I settled for a day off instead of two. Passing through some exciting events and opportunities at work. 

There was even a time when I thought of skipping this coming sem but thanks to my friends who told me to do otherwise. Please forgive me. I'm just so happy. Thank you. Thank you. :) #MausRoadto25

FIRST HALF OF 2015 As personal as I can get

At the start of this year, I went to Pinatubo with my friends. That place was one of a kind. TRULY MAJESTIC. Plus, I got to be with my BFF who is based in the Land Down Under.

4x4 on the way to the crater

The Crater!!!

Pope Francis visited the Philippines and we walked from Welcome Rotonda to UST then from UST to West Triangle. We were so happy to have seen him for just a glimpse. It was an indescribable feeling. 

Walking from Rotonda to UST

While waiting for the Pope :)

Then I got a new job in an awesome company where I get to be heard and appreciated. Although, I had to leave my previous job and sadly, the people I care about – my second family, life had to go on.

March came together with its bag full of goodies. Ed Sheeran happened. It was such an amazing concert. I only dreamt of seeing him perform live and that dream came true. Here's the story behind the ticket: tickets got sold out the first day they were released. The second time they released tickets, I patiently waited for the site to open but minutes after it was opened, the system went down so I rushed to the nearest SM Mall to purchase a ticket and unfortunately, I was late – 30 minutes late for the mall opening and a line too late. Only 11 tickets were sold on that branch and other fans cried. I just couldn’t give up that easily. A friend told me that from time to time, seats get available online. I kept trying and checking and FINALLY got one! It was…meant to be mine! 

Here's one of the videos I took. Thinking Out Loud

Another good thing that happened on March was the Hong Kong trip. It was asked to come about a month or a month and a half before the trip. Who was I to decline? I mean who would decline an offer like that?! My dream of going to Disneyland came true and it was SURREAL! I just didn’t show it much but I almost cried. That’s how happy I was! I was supposed to be there years ago but it didn’t happen so when it finally did, it was overwhelming! March was so good to me.

FIRST TIME EVER!!!!!

@ Victoria Peak

I passed CPTE entrance exam and I go to school every Saturday. I am so happy with where I am right now and with my work. But I need to chase my dreams. Even just for a fallback. I enjoy school so much. It brings back memories and it gives me new friends.

It was my first time in Cebu. And it was because of work. I can't post pictures of the event but I can post photos of when we visited churches. 

CHAPEL OF SN PEDRO CALUNGSOD 

MAGELLAN'S CROSS

Basilica De Santo Niño

I DO. :)

I know, I know. July isn’t part of the first half of the year, but just recently, I went to Hong Kong again. God’s gift this year just keeps on pouring on me.

DISNEY LAND PICTURES

AND A HUG FROM MICKEY!!!!

Besides the fact that I want to share my experiences this year to the readers (if there are), I would also want to say that life is full of trials. Fate would storm you with it. But with enough courage, prayers and help from your loved ones, you could face them easily and with grace. The latter part of my 2014 was a disaster – work wise. And a part of my 2015 was shaky, too. I think I needed to experience those for me to appreciate life even more. One can’t really be happy all throughout his/her lifetime. Bumps will come our way but we’ll get by eventually. 

™LIVE LIFE, LIVE THROUGH LIFE.

My Favorite Indie Band: KING THE KID

  From left to right: Jose, David, Ricky

I do not own this picture

Months ago, I listened to Kurt Hugo Schneider's 22 - Taylor Swift (Alex Goot, Sam Tsui, Chrissy, King The Kid Cover). And I was like "cool" because I've been following Kurt Hugo Schneider for a while now and I love their covers. So anyway, I noticed this band King The Kid and my reaction was "oh they're cute!" I searched the band in Youtube, watched a video which I think was We Are The Ones and that's it.

About a month ago, I visited Kurt Hugo Schneider's channel again and watched 22...again. King The Kid caught my attention yet again and what I did was I visited their Youtube channel, I watched their covers and vlogs and I just couldn't stop. I remember I have work then, a graveyard shift and I usually sleep like four hours a day because I had to watch their videos. And I must say, after just days of being hooked to this band, I asked my sister who lives in the States if she can buy me the tank top they are selling and because my sister is awesome, she said yes! So right now it must be on its way to her but it will take time for me to receive it for she will not be sending it to me right away. You might not know this but I am born and raised here in the Philippines. But the important thing to me right now is that I technically have a KTK tank top. WOOHOO! :D

No question that I am a fan, huh? 

Okay first, let's learn more about KTK. HAHAHA the way I composed that was kind of lame. Anyway, the band consists of 3 members. Namely, David Michael Frank (DMF), on vocals and bass, Jose Mostajo on guitar, and Ricky Ficarelli on drums. I believe they had a band named Wellington which include another member whose name is Troy Romzek. It obviously got dissolved which was unfortunate and I am sorry to not know the reason behind it. As for their band name, I would have to quote this one. 

BOP Tiger Beat interview

"@fickyricarelli: how’d you come up with the band name?"

"King The Kid: It was in our long list of band names that we’ve been building on for a long time (with potential names such as: Meat Shampoo, The Pijama Llama, Dirty Santa, Reese Withoutherspoon, etc). But “King The Kid” was really representative of our band’s attitude during its inception. The name references self-empowerment and taking your life into your own hands and living life your own way (hence Live Like Royalty). The album title “Start Something” also follows the same theme."


Let me just say, cool meaning. These guys know what they're doing. Intellectual kids.

What does Urban Dictionary have to say about the band?
CLICK HERE
Coolest dictionary in the world!

I find KTK awesome. Being a 3-member band and still kicks ass. I have read a lot of interviews/articles and watched a lot of interviews and videos about their band and about their tours. I am well aware that most of independent bands manage almost everything on their own, hence, independent. And I admire these guys for that, handling everything and all. From booking tours, interviews, recording songs, producing them, creating album, and a lot more. I  find it amazing for them to find a way to get where are now and to strive more to be a greater band.
 
King The Kid just captures my taste. They're so fun to watch and Ricky the drummer, is so hyper it kinds of brings up the mood of the whole band.  Not to mention him being particularly naughty. 

I am writing this to help the guys. They are worth listening to. So I suggest click on the links I have provided in this blog and for more information about the band, here are the sites you can visit. ;)

Twitter

Facebook

Tumblr

Website

Merch

Individual Youtube channel:

DMF
Ricky Ricafelli
Jose Mostajo

P.S. In my opinion, Jose is conservative (he likes Hunger Games too), Ricky is naughty (I like the fact that he likes Harry Potter and that he is a Directioner), DMF (...hmm) is maybe in the middle of serious and naughty. What?! I, too, do not know what that means.

And, I noticed that episode 5 of their summer tour has been posted late but here it is now. Episode 5: STRIPPED Down - SUMMER TOUR 2013 (King The Kid BTS). FYI, they post Summer Tour BTS every Sunday 3PM EST, 3AM Manila, Philippines.

Oooh links everywhere. ;) Please bear with me, I can only post too much in here. THANK YOU!

ENJOY!! :* :)

Love from the PHILIPPINES! <3

WHICH DISNEY PRINCESS DO YOU LIKE MOST?

I love Disney. Sitcoms, DCOMs, characters. I just love it even up to now. Plus, I have been dreaming to be in Disney World. heehee

I've always liked Cinderella when I was young and while growing up because my mom bought me a Cinderella pop-up book. :) But I'm realizing how cool Ariel is. 

Okay now, I compare. Hahaha sorry it's just what I like best. Haha

First of all, her parent is not an evil step mother, it's a king and and it's her real dad. COOL. Almost (let's stress this one ALMOST) all of the other princesses have an evil step mother. Ariel is the only one who's a mermaid! She used to have a tail. COOL. The rest obviously walk. Lastly, red freaking hair. SO COOL. Their hair color's either black or blond or whatever.

I am not looking for a fight here. I just like Ariel. She's pretty and the red hair!!! Haha 

😄😊😄😊

What is FRIENDSHIP?

I've been itching to write a blog about friendship for like a year or maybe longer than that. And now I am so excited to share.  

First, I'm going to define friendship. No, Merriam-Webster dictionary is. It says "the state of being friends, the quality or state of being friend."

Let me define friendship according to my perspective. For me, friendship is a relationship between/among persons that DOESN'T include JEALOUSY, BETRAYAL (The words are in capital letters just for emphasis not because of bitterness or anything) and that EVOLVES around  LOVE, TRUST, SUPPORT and UNDERSTANDING.

Friends are there through your UPS AND DOWNS.

Friends support you even with your FAILURES or ACHIEVEMENTS.

Friends are there to guide you through your MISTAKES and CERTAINTIES. 

I think real friends are there with you no matter what happens. Distance, that should not be a factor. Communication will always be there, believe me, I know. 

And through the years, I have proven that time is really not a basis of what real friendship is. I have found real friends in college. And that is just 3 years ago. They are 3 of my best friends. I know I can trust them. I have friends since pre-elementary and where are they now? Uhm...I don't know. I feel like you call them friends but they're really not. I am sure that whoever you are reading this can testify to that. Although my cousin and I have been inseparable since the day she was born. FYI, I am just four days older than her. 

I have a lot of friends, acquaintance I might say. But my real friends, I can count them on my fingers. Those friends whom I can trust, tell everything and not judge me. 

I hope you readers have found hour real riends too. :)

Shout out to Mia who told me she thought I copied this from a thought catalog. I'm flattered, actually. :)



TFs®

The Magical Tayor Lautner 2013 Manila Visit x TFs

I have been trying to post this since Monday morning but there’s something wrong with my browser. Well anyway, here it is.

This was the bouncer’s ID. He was right in front of us…I mean the bouncer. HAHA :P

I see Taylor Lautner up close ONLY in MY DREAMS and in MY IMAGINATION. This fairy tale-moment came true because of a Bench event. It was a meet and greet but we (Mia, Mona, Charlene) weren’t part of that. I think the event was on a first-come, first-served basis and you need to buy something from Bench. We arrived at 2-2:30pm and the event was at 3pm so you know how we didn’t qualify to be part of that.

We were waiting! From left to right, Mia, Me, Mona, Charlene and a little photo bomber. heehee

It didn’t start on time but we patiently waited until Sam Oh came out, said some things we didn’t understand, by the way, the audio was BLAH! Talked, talked, and finally called Taylor out! We planned to be at the back so that once he comes out, we’ll see him so close and THAT WAS A SUCCESS!

He just got up the stage and Sam was talking to him. (Sam Oh has met a lot of international actors!)

He said some things but the only ones I understood were Mabuhay and Mahal ko kayo, partly because the audio was BLAH! and partly because he was so MESMERIZING. He started signing posters, hugging girls (damn those girls! haha), and kissing some (again, DAMN!).

We decided to go somewhere far so that we could see the whole thing: him, him signing the posters, hugging some girls, kissing some (!), just everything that was happening. We went up the 2^nd floor, to get a better view. When the meet and greet was done, he went off the stage and started signing autographs on random fans’ papers and things. It was a unanimous decision to go down and go back to the place where we were (we like to call it THE backstage; D). He went to every corner, well not really, facing the audience, he started on the center, to the left, and then finally to the right. It was magical. It was like a movie in a slow motion—him slowly moving towards our direction. I was not exaggerating when used the word magical. I can’t even explain. Every word that I can think of is like an understatement. I mean it was TAYLOR LAUTNER! COME ON!!!! And he finally got in front of us. He was just right there! Sharkboy, Elliot, Jacob, Willy, Nathan, Andy, TAYLOR LAUTNER! I stretched my hand and showed him my notebook for him to sign. AND HE DID SIGN IT! Dang that was JHGHJTYJCRDRCJHD! It’s UNEXPLAINABLE.

HE WAS SIGNING MY NOTEBOOK!!!!

Mona did it too but she was holding her phone and he signed her phone case!

HE WAS SIGNING MONA’S PHONE!

Borbs (Charlene) tried to stretch her phone out too but it was almost a riot out there. I couldn’t see Mia but I was sure she was enjoying and appreciating everything that was happening too. After the signing and all, he took off through the stairs that led to a basement or something.

See the video HERE!!!!

It was HEAVEN! We were on CLOUD 9!  It was CRAZY!

UNEXPLAINABLE!!!!!

But we were sure IT. WAS. THE. BEST. FEELING!

It still feels so good.

It was a once in a life time moment that we will NEVER be ashamed of. NEVER!

Oh Taylor…we can’t top thinking about you, talking about you, just….

It was the HAPPIEST MOMENT.

And hey! We had dinner at Shakey’s and wrote goals. HAHA

What can you say about my friends?

This is the summary of our WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL day!  

Cookie Butter from Mia (THANKS!), my notebook and Mona’s phone signed by Taylor, the earrings I bought for TFs, and the time capsule.

Thanks, Mia, Mona, and Borbs for that experience. It wouldn’t be the same without you. :D CHEESY. :D

Perks of Being a Wallflower FILM ADAPTATION

I love the film. Honestly! And not so many movies that I've seen received applause as the credits come out. Well, only The Hunger Games and it was an advance screening. I watched Perks of Being a Wallflower on a REGULAR SCREENING!

It was well...should I say executed? And we all know that in a movie adaptation, not every scene, not every page, and in this case, not every letter of the book would be included. There are a lot of letters from the book that I really, really, REALLY wanted to see in the film. I was being a critic as I was watching the film. It was just so well done that I think I'm not mad of the fact that I didn't see what I wanted to see. (Am I being redundant of what I am saying/writing? hahaha)

Scenes I love:

• EVERYTHING!--shocker

Scenes I would have loved to see (and imagined to be included in the movie):

• Candice being mad at Charlie for catching her and her boyfriend having sex on the couch
• Charlie telling Sam that he dreamed about them having sex 
• Sam telling Patrick about Charlie's dream
• Candice asking Charlie to accompany her to a check-up ('cause she taught she was pregnant)
• Charlie smoking
• Charlie telling Sam about him seeing a girl being raped
• Charlie going to his Aunt Helen's grave
• Charlie telling Bob that Candice's boyfriend hit her and she gets mad at Charlie
• Charlie telling Candice he loves her and Candice saying it back
• Charlie saying "Oh my God!" "Tomorrow's a school day!!"
• Charlie meeting Bob and Bob's wife
• Family gatherings
• Charlie and Patrick going to the park
• Charlie meeting the sports guy on TV news in the park
• Charlie telling his family about what the sports guy told him about his brother
• Them emphasizing that Charlie gave Sam and Patrick books he read and owned (it was shown that he gave Sam books he owned but it wasn't shown that he gave the rest to Patrick)

I know. I know. It would be a long film right? :) I know if I keep remembering what I was thinking when I was watching the movie, this blog would be too long. And I am being to wordy right now! It's just that, I really, really love this book. I scan it sometimes and read a letter. As I've written in another blog, I feel like I have a friend named Charlie. How I wish he could write me more letters. 

When I saw the trailer I hated the idea that Patrick was an outed gay. Because when I read the book, I saw him as a regular guy and I got shocked when it came to the point of knowing that Patrick and Brad were kissing! (Or maybe it was just me?) But in the movie, Patrick was okay. He was so cute. Ezra Miller was good!

As for Sam, Emma Watson, I imagined her as a wilder girl. But, whatever! I love her even before! :) 

I...we even thought that Logan Lerman being Charlie wouldn't be good because Charlie is a loser while Logan Lerman is this hot and handsome guy. He acted so well that him being hot and handsome didn't matter. It was Charlie in Logan's body! Really! 

The movie gave justice to the book. Well...Stephen Chbosky being the director, right? 

I cried while reading the book and cried while watching the movie!!!! It was great! It was BEAUTIFUL.

MUST WATCH!