when you wanna go surfin, surfin BKK!

i'm goin to the islands down south rite now! for new years. this will be my first time. i never went last year, cuz i didn't take advantage of the time i had. so now i am.

me and the boys are goin to phuket first, then phi phi (nicest island?), then ko samui (old people and honeymooners go there), then krabi (rockclimbing), then ko phanagan (for full moon new years party).

we're gonna take a 12 hr bus ride at 6pm. so it will be from 6pm to 6am. don't worry guys i bought lotsa stuffs to keep myself amused and comfortable: water, snacks, drinks, headrest, flashlight (uhhh, i dunno), maybe a deck of cards, a book...ya know. this will be an interesting ride. will give you all the deets when i get back.

phi phi

ko samui

ps- won't be on the internet at all. maybe once. so cya next week in 2010!

the mouth organ

A harmonica is easy to carry. Take it out of your hip pocket, knock it against your palm to shake out the dirt and pocket fuzz and bits of tobacco. Now it's ready. You can do anything with a harmonica: thin reedy single tone or chords or melody with rhythm chords. You can mold the music with curved hands making it wail and cry like bagpipe, making it full and round like an organ, making it as sharp and bitter as the reed pipes of the hills. And you can play and put it back in your pocket.

It is always with you, always in your pocket. And as you play, you learn new tricks, new ways to mold the tone with your hands, to pinch the tone with your lips, and no one teaches you. You feel around- sometimes alone in the shade at noon, sometimes in the tent door after supper when the women are washing up. Your foot taps gently on the ground. Your eyebrows rise and fall in rhythm. And if you lose it or break it, why, it's no great loss. You can buy another for a quarter.



-The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (pgs. 447-448)



ps- this blog is dedicated to tiff (member our seattle adventure?) and to eddie (who just bought a mouth organ yesterday at MBK).

merry christmas baby Jesus!

well well MERRY CHRISTMAS Y'ALL!

it doesn't feel like it, but that's expected, espesh being in hot weather. i skyped with the fam today and then went for brunch with eddie and his bro. that's bout it. now gonna go to a special xmas dinner with some model friends. should be nice. maybe i'll feel a bit 'christmas-y' there. (i just really do miss my brown sugared yams and turkey with gravy).

some fave christmas songs that i keep on speed dial on my laptop (is there such a thing as speed dial on a computer?):

1. Let it Snow
2. Baby it's Cold Outside
3. O Holy Night (when Mariah sings this, it's bone chilling)
4. Silent Night
5. Jinglebell Rock
6. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
7. Little Drummer Boy
8. Deck the Halls
9. Hark How the Bells (i know all the words and can sing it as fast as them)
10. Santa Baby
11. Joy to the World (i STILL remember how to sing it in tagalog, i learned when i was 10)
12. Away in a Manger

so again, MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

i hope you all have a lovely blessed christmas. relax, warm up by the fire, sing carols, roast marshmallows (or chestnuts), drink eggnog lattes, watch Elf and play charades. enjoy your family most of all. and happy birthday Jesus!

God bless you all. xoxo.

christmas ideas with style

...while freakin ants run up and down my leg!!! ugghhhhh, gotta get out the bug spray again. i need to buy some more bug spray!

ohhhhh and i sparkle! i finally wore my 80's gold bodysuit out tonite and there's sparkles all over my body.

so some last minute ideas for christmas gifts (or belated ones) and fun endeavours to make the most of christmas. most of the ideas i got from style.com i luv that site!

1. make a mixed cd specially made to your friend's fave genre of music. (for me it would be old skool hip hop and r 'n b)

2. make some christmas cookies! gingerbread (i like dark molasses) or shortbread (only has like 5 ingredients...soooo easy to make).

3. invite a friend out for tea and biscuits at an old, quaint building like this one.

 4.  trim your front door with fresh spruce/fir branches that smell like christmas and add some holly. OR EVEN BETTER, my favourite mistletoe! just careful who you arrive with at the door!

5. ohhhh another little trademark of mine: i like to wrap presents in magazine paper. it's so eclectic and creative. tearing out some fancy ad or some hot editorial of the moment. (i also like to write notes on the paper and use them as cards. i think marie and laura can attest to that).

6. and then, the easiest idea, candles. it sounds like such a common gift, but not really. and you can make it more personal, espesh if you know what type of scents your friend likes. the candle people can help you anyway. they'll ask you what your friend's personality is like and then choose a scent based on that. i like jo malone candles. but any good christmas shop will have some smellable candles. (gotta light up those cinnamon or gingerbread smells).

awwwwww...it's almost christmas! and i'm here without my family. sad day. that's ok, i have some good friends here. we'll make the most of it. we'll eat some christmas dinner and wear red and green and join arms in a circle and sing christmas songs and drink eggnog and sing silent night holy night and snap the crackers and trim the christmas tree with popcorn strings and open the last door from the chocolate christmas calendar and eat fererro rocher chocolates and teach the thai taxi drivers how to say merry christmas and then try to remember what it is like to be in the snow... (well kinda all of that).

what happened in KL...

currently, i'm eating my breakfast which consists of a coconut pancake i got from the food vendor lady, and strawberry jam on top. MMMMMMMM... good. (just wanted to make you jealous).

so kuala lumpur eh? what happened? well, not much to say, 'cept i had my own personal tour guide (my friend knows the area, so he showed me all the cool spots). I DO LIKE malaysia though. everybody speaks english which is a relief! but their version of english is hilarious. check this out:

the polis

teksi

Changkat Bukit Bintang (kinda like ROBSON in Van, but this street is small).

WONDERMILK cafe. the name alone is rad. they offer flavoured milk (i had irish cream milk), cuppacakes, lomo cameras and other merchandise.

they EVEN had curly chips. :)

look guys! it's the SPACE NEEDLE! in malaysia???

lastly, the MINI skytrain, the LRT (light rapid transit). it fits like only 50 people in each one, but supposedly it's quick and efficient. (i don't hear any complaints).

aside from all that, i wouldn't mind living here for a bit, or coming here to model. (a friend suggested me to her agency in KL). i think it's a lot easier to get around AND speak english too. it's still humid, same temperature as bkk. BUT for now, i'll be here living in and luving bkk.

weekend getaway

i'm goin to Kuala Lumpur this weekend (in Malaysia). will be nice to getaway just for a bit. (haha talking like bangkok is my home na. well it is now...) will update this when i get back on monday.

traffic in the sky

There's traffic in the sky. And it doesn't seem to be getting much better. There's kids playing games on the pavement. Drawing waves on the pavement. Shadows of the planes on the pavement. Its enough to make me cry. But that don't seem like it would make it feel better. Maybe its a dream and if I scream. It will burst at the seams. This whole place will fall to pieces. And then they'd say...

Well how could we have known? I'll tell them it's not so hard to tell. If you keep on adding stones. Soon the water will be lost in the well. Puzzle pieces in the ground. But no one ever seems to be digging. Instead they're looking up towards the heavens. With their eyes on the heavens. There are shadows on the way to the heavens.

It's enough to make me cry. But that don't seem like it would make it feel better. The answers could be found. We could learn from digging down. But no one ever seems to be digging. Instead they'll say...

Words of wisdom all around. But no one ever seems to listen. They're talking about their plans on paper.
Building up from the pavement. There are shadows from the scrapers on the pavement. It's enough to make me sigh. But that don't seem like it would make it feel better.

The words are still around. But the words are only sounds. And no one ever seems to listen. Instead they'll say. Well how could we have known? I'll tell them it's not so hard to tell. If you keep on adding stones.

Soon the water will be lost in the well.

-Jack Johnson -"Traffic in the Sky."

rain down on me

while i'm here in bkk i'm taking an online course. it's Latin American Studies and i luv it! some of you know how i will randomly start talking to you in spanish cuz i either don't want you to know what i'm saying or just cuz i think it's a beautiful language. i took 5 years of it, but i'm not quite fluent yet.

one of the assignments i have to do is research Diego Rivera, the infamous Mexican painter in the 40's and 50's. remember him? he had a tumultuous relationship with Frida Kahlo, you know the one with the uni-brow (and also a painter). it was quite enjoyable looking at his paintings. some of them make me think of Picasso. i felt you should remember him again.

i'm sure you all recognize the second to last painting of the nude. it reminds me of my aunt's house cuz she owns this painting. rivera had a thing for calla lilies.

so this is what i've been doing in between castings and with my spare time. (sometimes).





ps- listening to "eye know something" by K-OS while flicking through rivera's galleries.
pps- i am officially sick. sore throat and stuffy nose. yuck...

books i've read

i am a bookworm. (if some of you don't already know that). i have loved reading ever since grade 3 or so i can remember. 'member when we had silent reading time in elementary school? that was my favorite part. this blog was inspired by amazon's top 100 books of 2009. i enjoyed going through them. and then i felt inspired to share with you my top 8 reading list:

1. The City of Fallen Angels by: John Berendt
my all time favorite. it's about venice. ever since reading this book, i have fallen in love with venice. the canals, the secludedness, the alleys, the cobblestone, the palazzos, the cafes, the gondolas.

2. 100 Years of Solitude by: Gabriel Garcia Marquez

this colombian author gives mysticism, realism and magical notes in this novel. it goes through 100 years of 5 generations in a family. so amazing. you'll get lost in the huge, descriptive paragraphs.

3. The Alchemist by: Paulo Coelho

this brazilian author wrote this in 1988 and it's still a masterpiece. it just became more popular recently, being translated into many languages and being added to many book lists. it's about a young boy's fight to find himself and his future.

4. Memoirs of a Geisha by: Arthur Golden

if you've seen the movie, it's NOTHING compared to the book. seriously. books are always more realistic and descriptive, and this book is no exception. about a japanese girl growing up and becoming a geisha.

5. To Kill a Mockingbird by: Harper Lee

i haven't read this book in ages, but i'm sure if i read it again, i'll remember it all. i think most of us read this in english class in high school. it talks about racial injustice and the destruction of innocence. the author addresses issues of class, courage and compassion, and gender roles in America. (i'll never forget my grade 10 humanities teacher reading this out loud to us in her different character voices. it was memorable).

6. The Kiterunner by: Khaled Hosseini
this novel takes place in Kabul, Afghanistan. it's about 2 boys who are best friends, but one is the servant and the other is the master. it shows the relationship between the 2 boys being a representation of the microcosms of society.

7. Life of Pi by: Yann Martel
this seems so magical, yet real. about a boy being shipwrecked all by himself and has to deal with living with a tiger on a small boat. his life on board is lonely and heartrending.

8. The Grapes of Wrath by: John Steinbeck

this is definitely a classic. i am currently reading this. (i'm halfway). so i can't say much. but it's already so compelling. i love the way Steinbeck writes. his old-fashioned words and the way the charcters speak with accents. it's about an oklahoma family moving west to california and the struggles they have looking for work. YOU HAVE to read this. no ifs, ands or buts. but i will tell you, be prepared to read this for awhile. it has 700 pages.

ps- my throat is starting to become sore! ugghhhh, i think it's from walking down a long line of cars in traffic and constantly breathing in the exhaust smoke. i hope it's not that i'm actually sick. (how the heck do you get sick in hot weather?)

the search for the dragons

eddie, chris and i went to lumpini park the other day to look for dragons. (well that's what eddie calls them). what he means is KOMODO dragons. britt showed me pics from her camera when she went. and i was determined to see them myself.

see the dad and son wearing pink? cute.

paddle boats are fun.

hey look! it's muscle beach like in long beach.

AND NOW, WHAT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR:

we sat down on a bench and stared at the water. literally stared. ok, mostly eddie. i was getting bored after awhile. UNTIL chris suddenly gasped and scared the shorts off of me. HE SAW ONE! (take note: we probably would have been able to see one easily if it wasn't for the big crowds on a sunday).

we caught a glimpse of him swimming in the water. thus began our running efforts to catch up with him and snap as many photos before he ducked under the water.

a beautiful creature. looks like a lochness monster. some look like they're about 5 FEET LONG! that was all we could get. they were too scared of us, maybe cuz i wanted to take it home as my pet.

we EVEN tried hiding behind bushes and trees to see if the dragons would come out.

but it was to NO AVAIL. the dragons were gone.

(next time i'm going on a weekday when no one's around).

home sweet home

i haven't shared with you pictures of my condo yet. i was a little antsy the first week in bkk, cuz i wanted to find a home quick and get settled in. i saw 3 places through friends' references and then decided on the MSI Tower on sukhumvit soi 36.

it's a pretty hard mattress and huge pillows.

good thing i'm not 40, cuz then i'd probably feel the effects from sleeping like this. (ok fine. i probs offended some people. good thing i'm not 50. haha...)

one of my balconies on the left side. i got my friends eddie and chris to help move my dresser somewhere else, so i could enjoy the benefits of having the two. (mostly just for airdrying my clothes).

i luv my couch. i chill here a lot.

note 3 things: 1. my mini gold christmas tree. if you look closely, there's 3 huge baubles hanging from them. it's funny. 2. see that huge water jug? i can now proudly say i can carry it easily from the store. it's no longer heavy. (yes, i work out everyday). 3. my checklist on the door. too bad you can't see it. it's very detailed. (thanks mom for your habit i copied).

i have a weird bathroom. the toilet and shower are in the stall. but my sink and mirror are on the outside, in the room. it's kinda awkward when people are over.

my dresser is so vintage and ancient. but it holds a lot. look at my fridge. it looks so mini next to the dresser. but it holds a lot too. i get a lot of light during the day in my room. but when 5pm hits, it gets so dark. 6pm the sun sets.

my other balcony. (i like this one more, it's bigger). i know it looks like the other one. but i'm proud of my balconies. i've never had one before. i sit here every morning and eat my breakfast and read my devotions. i'm on the fourth floor. usually around dinner time i hear the boy across the street play piano in his house, so then i'll eat my dinner outside or leave my door open.

the tennis courts to the left. it brings back a sort of nostalgia, cuz it's a familiar noise back at home. i should start playing there. but only at night, cuz it's cooler at night.

ps- happy anniversary mommy and daddy! it's their 29th anniversary today! wowee.

the grapes of wrath

Thus, they changed their social life- changed as in the whole universe only man can change. They were not farm men anymore, but migrant men. And the thought, the planning, the long staring silence that had gone out to the fields, went now to the roads, to the distance, to the West. That man whose mind had been bound with acres lived with NARROW CONCRETE MILES. And his thought and his worry were not anymore with rainfall, with wind and dust, with the THRUST OF THE CROPS...

...Eyes watched the tires, ears listened to the clattering motors, and MINDS STRUGGLED WITH OIL, with gasoline, with the THINNING RUBBER BETWEEN AIR AND ROAD. Then a broken gear was tragedy. Then water in the evening was the yearning, and food over the fire. Then health to go on was the need and strength to go on, and spirit to go on. The wills thrust westward ahead of them, and fears that had once apprehended drought or flood now lingered with anything that might stop the WESTWARD CRAWLING.

-The Grapes of Wrath

By: John Steinbeck

(pgs. 267-268)

ps- you really ought to read this book. it's a classic. it will change your life.