2013.

A new year in 3 days. 

A new day.

A new start.

A fresh beginning. 

Don't you just love the feeling

of knowing you can start all over again?

You have a chance to redeem yourself 

You have a chance to learn from your mistakes

You have a clean slate.

I'm honestly kind of scared of what 2013 may bring.

2012 was not exactly the best year,

but I certainly hope it'll be better this time around.

Time to be a better me. :)

FINALLY.

After almost how many days,

I am finally done with my painting!! 

It probably took me around 4 - 5 days finishing the drawing

and three days to paint. 

I can't stress how much patience it took for me to actually finish this. 

There were several times when I wanted to scrap it.

Eehehhe.

So I'm currently making something

for my best friend.

I'll be showing you crappy photobooth pictures

of what I've done so far. 

My friends really loves skulls
and I saw this photo on tumblr
that really represented her
and I thought "Why not paint it?"

So here I am,
my first attempt in drawing intricate details
and skulls. HAHA.
The things I do for my friends.

I'm obviously not done yet, so
I'll be taking more photos of the progress 

and keep you updated :) 

it's supposed to be in watercolor

but i decided to draw it first before painting.

la-to-the-dee.

So my last three posts are 

kind of rants to myself...

Something I needed to get off my chest 

at that moment. 

Next posts will hopefully be 

a whole lot less serious. 

:) 

++ I shall find time to scan my photos 

that i took with my Holga n120

(warning: my photos aren't that nice. only a few of them are.)

Wanted.

Sometimes, all you ever want is for him to look at you

for him to love you the way you do

for him to treat you the way you treat him.

Sometimes, all you ever want is for him to want you. 

I know that's what I want. 

I just want him, no one else.

It hurts me when I see him with other girls,

knowing I could lose him to any of them.

but does it matter?...

I've hurt him so many times,

I guess I deserve it. 

Oh well. 

He's the best thing that's ever happened to me,

he's changed me into a better person,

but what am I to him? 

Do you know that feeling when 

you just love & love & love?

It just comes pouring out and drowns you?

I love him so much, but does he love me?

He says he does. 

I should be happy.

love.

Love is something we all have experienced.

The love of a mother, the love of a father, the love of a child. 

The love of a grandparent, the love of friends, and the love of a special someone.

We all love, and are loved in return.

Love is more than a word, and more than feelings.

Being loved by someone is indescribable. 

No word can truly explain how much you love him or her.

To love is to live, because without love, where would we be?

Love can drive you to do crazy things.
It pushes you to your limits
to see how much effort you would put in for a person,
to see how much you would sacrifice,
to see how much you can give.

Loving and being in love are two different things.
You can love two people at the same time,
but you can't be in love with both.

Love can bring out the best in a person,
it can bring out something you never thought you had.

but in the end,
love is love,

in all kinds of forms. 

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."

- Lao Tzu

overwhelming.

Do you ever feel so angry at the world?

Nothing ever goes your way, and you're just there, suffering self defeat.

Constant frustration.

Constant depression.

Constant dispair.

When you feel like life isn't worth living anymore

and there's no reason to find the light.

hold on. 

Hold on tight. 

Just because today you feel this way, it doesn't mean it'll be like this forever.

When you feel like letting go the most, you must hold on tighter

because you may never know what you're losing.

Be strong.

Only time can tell what may or may not happen.

We do not control our fates.

There are so many things that are not in our control. 

but that doesn't mean we cannot control ourselves and how we feel. 

Hello.

Hello! 

As you have probably noticed, this is my first post in quite a long time.

I got lazy to update my blog but recently, I decided to start blogging again. 

So yes. 

More posts to come. 

xx.

Wicked!

Yesterday afternoon, I got hungry & wanted something different to eat.

So I thought, Wicked Oreos! 

They're basically deep fried Oreos dipped in pancake batter.

I know, unhealthy... But the last time I ate this was probably last year so... YAY!

 I'll be sharing how I make mine after the break. :)

Pat-a-cake. Pancake.

hello! 

Are you tired of your plain old boring pancakes?

And fan or cinnamon and sugar? 

Well, this is the one for you! 

These are called "Churro Pancakes" because of the cinnamon and sugar. 

It's really simple. 

Once your pancake is cooked, put it on a place and smother it with butter.

Then add the sugar mixture on top and you're done!

The sugar mixture is: 2tsp Cinnamon and 1 cup of sugar. 

I used brown sugar because I like it better than white sugar. 

But it's really up to you, you could use either. 

It really does taste like a pancake version of a Churro. Hahah!

It was really good, but very sugary too. 

Just look at all that sugar! Hahah. :) 

Well, I do hope that you try this out. 

Im glad I did. :) 

Day 4.

This was probably one of my favorite days. 

Why you ask?

'Cause we had LECHON! 

For those who do not know what Lechon is, it's basically a whole roasted pig.

Oh the goodness. For those of you who don't like pork, forgive me. 

I love Lechon! 

The crispy skin, the fatty juices, the tender meat. 

Oh just kill me now. 

(I'm not being literal here.)

Say bye bye little piggy! You shall be devoured now. 

That basically sums up my day. We didn't go anywhere 'cause we were tired from the days before. 

Hurray for the lazy days. 

Want to look what crocodile skin looks like up close?

Well here you go!

Part 3 of 3.

After visiting the open church area, it was time to eat! 

We went down to Jack's Ridge and ate at this place. 

I saw about 5 doves in the area.

We ate outside so from the area where we sat, we saw a nest!

Hurray for doves. <3

ANYWAY, BACK TO THE FOOD!

Inside, they have cakes, brownies, and cookies. 

And on their menu, there were burgers, sandwiches, pasta, beef, other dessersts, and coffee!

I ordered their Oishi Burger which was a regular burger with CARAMELIZED ONIONS. 

It was my first time trying a burger with onions, and I must say, it really delivers a kick.

Their burger is something similar to Brother's Burger.

It has the right amount of cheese, the burger is so soft, tender, and juicy.

The buns were soft, it was served hot, and oh my goodness. 

When you bite into the burger, you just can't stop eating it.
I cannot stress how juicy this burger was, like seriously.

Which explains why I wasn't able to take a photo of how it looks like when I take a bite out of it.

I just wanted to keep eating this delicious burger. 

It really filled me up. Those potatoes on the side were good too! 

I highly recommend that you go here, their burgers are really good. 

Part 2 of 3.

After the beach, we went to a place called Jack's ridge. 

There are restaurants/cafes where you can eat and this other place where you can pray. 

I'm not so sure what it's name is but there it is an open church (which I didn't take a photo of...)

I have no idea how long it took from the Water front to here because I was asleep the whole ride. 

(hehehe! a day at a beach can really tire you out ++ less than 7 hours of sleep too)

The open church area is really beautiful.

There are so many trees and the grass is well maintained as compared to other places.

This is only one part of it, it's so much bigger than what's seen here.

After the break, it's just more about the area.

Part 1 of 3.

On our 3rd day here, we went to an island called Samal Island.
It's a 2 hour drive from Kapalong, Davao to the Water Front.
and an estimate time of 10 minutes to get to the island by boat.

There are several resorts here but we decided to go to Chemas.

Chemas occupies only a small portion of the island but the ambiance is what we come back for.

You can either have a day trip or an overnight stay & rent one of the cottages they have here.

Their style is very Bali-inspired. I didn't take much photos though...

If you wish to know more about my day trip here,
click Read More. :) 

Its been so long.

Hello!! :) 

I'm sorry for the delayed post. The summer lazy-ness is getting to me. 

I arrived last Saturday from Davao, Philippines. 

We visited several places from our farm to the beach and caves. 

I wasn't able to take much pictures the whole trip 'cause my dad had the camera most of the time. 

Other than that, here you go! 

Day 1 & 2 after the break. 

6.

Hello! 

I'll be out of town for 6 days, and I wont be able to blog about anything while I'm out.

But when I'm back, I promise to blog about my trip. :) 

'Til then, goodbye. 

Here's a penguin from Adventure Time (his name is Gunter) to keep you company!

credits to the owner who I do not know...

Welcome to the Arts

I don't remember the first time I picked up a brush and started painting or when I first started to dance.

But what I do remember is that ever since I was a child, I have always been into art.

Whether be it drawing or painting, music or dance, I was always fond of it.

I remember joining a summer art workshop when I was around 6 years old,

it was my first, but it certainly wasn't my last. 

Yesterday, April 28, I attended Valerie Chua's workshop on watercolor painting.

I've probably attended 5 different workshops and I've got to admit, hands down,  hers was the best.

All the other classes I took, I couldn't really understand what the teacher was saying.

They made it so hard to grasp, using terms that I didn't know and didn't bother to clarify.

Or they barely even taught at all, leaving us to do whatever we wanted to do. 

Valerie's class was everything I expected it to be.

Easy to understand, fun, and I actually got to learn the basics! 

The types of papers, the different kind of brushes and washes, which brush to use when, and more.

I don't know why I took a picture of the paper towel. I just liked the colors.

As you can see here, we were taught 7 basic washes and 2 special effect ideas. 

We also painted the color wheel! It reminds me of a Poke´ ball or the Google Chrome logo.

This was the first time I've ever painted the color wheel...

We had to paint this picture and apply all that we learned. 

I don't know how many minutes later...

I came up with this! 

It's not exactly the best painting out there but oh well! Practice makes perfect, even though achieving perfection is a little bit too crazy. Hahaha...

Here's how the paper towel looked like after the workshop. 

Aren't the colors so pretty?

Well, I think they are. I didn't wanna throw it away (I like keeping things, even wrappers...)

After class, we got our certificates of attendance. 

Yes, Regina is my real name. Hahah! I erased my second and last name. 

I really loved this workshop, I highly recommend you join the next one if you're interested in learning the basics of watercolor painting. :)

Go check out her blog to see her works, they're amazing! 

Especially considering that she's self-taught, it inspires me and I hope it inspires you as well. 

After this class, I think I have found a new favorite medium.

Here's a little somethin' for you

A kiss.

Not just any kiss, a bag of kisses!

My aunt gave this to me when she came back from America. 

I was so happy to receive this.

I just love aerated chocolate, especially if it's Hershey's! 

I love the packaging, it's not like your usual bags of Hershey's kisses.

You have a small peek of how the kisses look like, the polka dots, the kisses drawing.

It's so cute!

Pure goodness, I tell you.

They're so addicting, you can eat more than 6 in less than 2 minutes if you're not aware.

I really love the brown polka dot design.

Unlike the original one, which is plain and boring.

Looks like a regular kisses on the outside, but when you take a bite...

You can see the air bubbles! 

I suggest you go buy these, they taste like heaven.

A "Pleasant" Surprise

WARNING: IF YOU DO NOT LIKE BUGS, MOVE ON TO THE NEXT POST.

Can you guess what's inside this jar?

You can't? Well, here's a closer look! 

It's a praying mantis! 

I was shocked to see one crawling on my window,

 so I got a jar and caught it.

It looked awfully mad at me when I caught it...

Yet again, I can't tell. Hahah!

It looks like it's calling for help.

"LET ME OUT OF HERE!!!" 

I let it go after 5 - 8 minutes of captivation. 

Although, it was still in it's "defensive" mode.

I find the Praying Mantis such a beautiful creature compared to mosquitoes and cockroaches.

It's long lean body and legs, small head and big beady eyes, it's mesmerizing.

This is just my opinion, I'm quite sure people would disagree. 

Peek-a-boo! 

I love this shot, I find it so amusing.

You find this bug sticking it's head out of nowhere, staring at you...

Well, that's all for today. 

Hahah, I'm sorry for such a "disturbing" post. 

Have a nice day!

New Look

Hello! 

Have you noticed the drastic change of design? 

If you haven't, you should go get your eye checked.

How do you guys like it? :)

I changed the background into this pattern I made here. 

You guys should go check it out, you can make & color your own pattern!

It's really fun and can be addictive to do. 

Also, I added buttons!
Here's a brief description about each.

Memories - Posts under this are about a part of my daily life. Once the moment is over, it becomes a memory just like everything in our life. 

           Snapshots - Posts under this feature some of the photos I took. Like  

           the Socks & Lights post. 

             I'm feeling crafty- Posts under this are basically related to art.            Whether be it about paper cutting or something to do with string or even a painting. 

They were all edited in this site called, Pixlr.

What I like about Pixlr is that if you don't have photoshop, this is a great substitute for it.

Although, it isn't exactly like photoshop, only similar.

Also, they have their "Retro vintage effects" which are cool too.
I might add new buttons every now & then if something new pops up in my head.

Tell me what you think. :)

Do I need to change my header?

Add a border?

Suggestions are welcome!

God's Eye

"Sticks and stones may break your bones"

I found this pretty interesting tutorial that you could do at home with the simplest of materials.

You can use different colors of string/yarn and make it as big or as small as you want. 

Here's how mine turned out :) 

Instead of using yarn, I used string instead cause it's what I had on hand. 

It still turned out nice either way. 

Mine is pretty small, it only measures around 7 inches wide.

 I used up a good amount of string because of this, so make sure you have enough.

I hope you try it out, it's pretty fun to make :) 

That's all for today!