Elegant in Black

While watching The Buzz this afternoon, the first thing that caught my eye was Charlene Gonzales' outfit. I absolutely loved what she was wearing for the talk show. I couldn't tell what material it was made of but I'm guessing it was leather. I loved the dress with the cape. It was in a classic black color but with interesting details like the bejeweled belt and the pair of sparkly pumps, the frock was far from boring! I also loved the conservative length of the dress. Her hairdo was also nice. Ms. Gonzales exuded elegance and opulence today. Whoever designed the dress and whoever styled her today, kudos to you! :)

The Woman in the Septic Tank

Last Friday, we watched an independent film entitled "Ang Babae Sa Septic Tank" or in English, "The Woman in the Septic Tank". Knowing it had a famous comedian as one of its main characters, I thought it was plainly a comedy film. I was wrong. The film was totally different from what I expected it to be.

Basically, the film shows three young individuals in the process of creating their independent/indie film. The plot follows these three in their journey in creating a great film; from the hiring of the  leading actress, finding the perfect location/setting, to the actual filming.

I loved how it showed the process of film making from a different perspective. It didn't depict film making as a glitz-and-glamour kind of business. It showed how challenging film making is in a very raw and real way. Another thing I loved about the film is how it incorporated a social reality, showing poverty in society. The "film within a film" concept was great!

No wonder it won a lot of awards. It's a great movie! :)

Leggings for Men?

I saw a photo of Uniqlo's "men's leggings jeans" yesterday. At first I was, "Whaaaaat? Leggings for men?!" Interesting, I must say. Although, I wonder if they won't look awkward on men since leggings are skin tight. But I guess, Uniqlo was able to pull it off somehow. They must be really comfortable since they're leggings. The comfort of leggings and the classic look of jeans in one? Count me in!

What do you think about leggings jeans for men? :)

Missing The Liars

Watching an episode of Pretty Little Liars season four on TV a few days ago just made me realize how much I missed the show. It's been months since I last watched an episode of PLL. I've been a fan of the show since season one. Following Aria, Hanna, Emily, and Spencer on their quest to catch the masked villain, "A" has always been exciting to watch. 

I actually find it funny how season after season they find out that "A" is actually a group of people bent on using their dark secrets against them. Let's not forget to mention, that the "A" team is actually composed of people close to them like Mona, Toby, and Ezra. It won't be much of a shock to me if one of their parents turn out to be "A" too. 

Sigh, I miss the liars and their outfits. Hopefully, I can do a PLL marathon soon.

Battle of The Sexes

I recently saw an episode of America's Next Top Model's latest cycle, Guys & Girls. It was actually the first episode I've watched of the cycle. 

The episode started with a recap of the previous episode's elimination of Jeremy and Kanani and Marvin crying over the fact that Jeremy's gone. Since it was the only episode I've watched so far, it was difficult to understand why Marvin was crying and why he and Chris H. weren't in good terms. 

The challenge for this episode was a fashion related quiz and every correct answer would earn them money to put together a look. Phil had the least number of correct answers, thus, least amount of money earned. He only had 25 dollars as a budget for the styling challenge. While everyone managed to put together decent looks, Phil ended up with a t-shirt-ripped leggings combo, all bought from the women's section. His look was funny but I couldn't blame him since he only had 25 dollars. 

Personally, I liked Nina's look best. It was very stylized. It showed her personality. Although, I agree with the judge stylist saying that another pair of shoes would have looked better. The cowgirl-ish boots kind of looked "misplaced". I still loved the look, nevertheless. If I remember it correctly, her outfit consisted of an LBD with sheer panels and a plaid wraparound shirt. She looked very chic! 

The photo shoot of the episode was to be living art installations. They had to pose while a bucket of paint was thrown at them. I loved Nina and Cory's photos. I really love Nina's pose in the photo. It's not the usual girly girl pose. For Cory, I love how he's very creative with his poses unlike the other male models who are very stiff. 

If it wasn't obvious enough, my favorite model this cycle is Nina. I love her look, especially her eyes. I hope she goes far in the competition. 

Who's your favorite this cycle? :)

One Bite After Another

Yesterday was a gluttonous day for my friends and I. 

For breakfast, my friend, Shai and I had Spam and Korean noodles. A few hours later, another friend of mine, Jo joined us. She had a big burger with fries for lunch. She shared her fries with us. An hour or so later, I asked Shai to buy me some food at Dimsum Break and milk tea at Cobo. 

While waiting for her to arrive, Jo and I ordered an 11-inch pizza from Alberto's. Once the pizza arrived, we immediately started eating and in good timing, Shai arrived with my steamed fried rice, pork spring rolls and vanilla milk tea with pearls. Jo also had milk tea. She ordered the black honey flavor. She didn't really like it as she couldn't quite explain the taste. haha. 

Notice how almost all the sentences in this blog post have food in it. We ate that much that day. If you could only imagine how full and bloated our stomachs were that afternoon. I even told myself that I was so full that I couldn't eat dinner anymore. But then, I ended up eating my own words (pun intended :p). All three of us still ate dinner. 

As night struck, I slept with a happy and very contented tummy but with a weeping and wailing wallet. 

Staring Out The Window

As I was sitting in the car, sipping a cup of orange juice, with the songs of David Gates and Elton John playing on the radio, I fell deep into my thoughts; almost like a trance. I watched the trees and grass swaying in motion with the wind and the little splashes of water that the waves create as they crash into the sea wall. At first, I was just staring blankly out my window, fascinated by how beautiful the afternoon was. Little did I know, I was thinking about the future, my life, my family, my education, and my future career. It's weird how far my thoughts went but it's also fascinating at the same time how small and random things trigger your innermost thoughts. 

For The Love of Crackers

Every time I have classes early in the morning, I always skip breakfast because I always wake up late and I wouldn't have time to eat or else I'll be late for my classes. Last year, I got sick because of this bad habit. I realized that breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. So, I made sure to always have something to eat while travelling to school. It was then I discovered the tummy-filling powers of crackers. Ever since, I always bring crackers with me to munch on in the morning. So guys, NEVER SKIP BREAKFAST or if you have to skip it for some reason, have something to eat, just to relieve yourself of hunger pangs. Trust me, crackers can go a long way. 

As The Games Come To An End

Today is the last day of our 3-day intramural games event. For the first time ever, I got to play an official game of soccer baseball. Yay! We lost though. Boo! haha. Just kidding. It was purely a friendly game. It was a great experience that left me with a deeper appreciation for sports. It even inspired me to MAYBE play soccer baseball again next year.

Aside from soccer baseball, us, scrabble players, also played our last game in scrabble for this year's intramurals. We won! It was the only game we won out of three, actually. haha. Oh well, at least we gave it our best and we had fun.

In the afternoon, we went to Jelly Citea for some afternoon refreshments. I had their "Paris" drink. It tasted okay but it was too sweet for my liking. I prefer their vanilla milk tea more. We basically just chilled out at the cafe' and chitchatted. The school was getting too hot for us to bear so the air conditioning was definitely refreshing.

That's it for this year's intramurals. With all my new experiences in sports, I can't wait for next year's intramural games. :)

Some K-Pop and Milk Tea

A few days ago, we visited Gentlemen Cafe', a small cafe' owned by Koreans across the university where I, together with my classmates, attended a talk about journalism. 

After ordering our food, we headed to the main cafe' where the tables and chairs are. The interior design is quite cute; an abundance of stuffed toys, some posters and pictures, and some quirky knick-knacks. There's also this big TV playing Korean pop music videos. Since I was facing the TV, I watched and listened to a lot of K-Pop. I can't even count how many music videos I watched. I haven't had this much exposure to K-Pop. haha. 

Let's move on to what I had, shall we? I had a caramel milk tea and a waffle. These two are bought as sort of a meal, by the way. The milk tea was yummy, so was the waffle. Although, I found a little bug in my milk tea. So my friend asked to have it replaced and they were kind enough to do so. I wasn't able to finish my milk tea, though. 

The real fun started when my friends and I started playing different kinds of card games. It was one crazy and fun afternoon. 

The Sandwich I Love

After school, we stopped by a McDonald's drive-through to buy some food. I've been craving for a McSpicy burger for weeks now and seeing its commercial on TV over and over again was just absolute torture. So I took this opportunity to satisfy this craving. I ordered a McSpicy Shake Shake Meal: it consists of a McSpicy burger, flavored fries, and a drink.

And there it was.. the beauty that is the chicken sandwich in my hand in all its chicken-y glory. It was a sight to behold, I tell you. It was the highlight of my day. 

The fried chicken fillet+crispy lettuce+mayo combination kind of sandwich/burger is one of my all-time favorites, especially when the chicken is spicy. Yum! The flavored fries was okay. The barbecue powder sort of solidified and weren't really in powder form. But the burger was still good!

It was definitely a great (and filling) way to end my day! :)

The Fun in Sports

Today is the first day of our intramural games event; which meant food carts, cheers, visitors, and sports... A LOT OF SPORTS. During last year's intramural games, I wasn't really able to appreciate and understand some of the sports especially soccer baseball and softball because I had no idea of the rules and how the game goes. While everyone was screaming at the top of their lungs, cheering on for their team mates, I was just sitting silently in the corner, with a big, fat question mark on my face... and a cookie in my hand. 

Fast forward to now, I'm on my feet, screaming and cheering for my team mates. Woot! I'm proud to say, that now, I actually understand other sports better. *pats myself on the back* I was actually able to watch soccer baseball, softball, and volleyball games today! and I enjoyed watching all three of them! I never imagined myself to be so "sporty".

I can't wait to watch more games tomorrow! :) 

Absence of Light

What happened to me last night was definitely one for the books... a horror book, that is. 

Yesterday afternoon, we had scrabble training, in preparation for an upcoming sports event in our school. At around 7pm, my mother and brother came to pick me up and so we ended the game and I packed my things. When I was about to leave the hall, the lights suddenly went out. Everyone suddenly panicked and started running to the nearest office which was just in the same hall and only a few steps away from where we were playing scrabble. 

I've heard a lot of stories about ghost encounters and paranormal activity that happen in school from students. A blackout and a bunch of ghost stories don't exactly make a pleasant combination. 

As the lights went out, I immediately tried to grab the person nearest to me. My scrabble friends were running, screaming, and knocking down the chairs due to severe panic... it was TERRIFYING. Imagine yourself being surrounded by absolute darkness and you remember all those stories about ghosts. I'll say it one more time: IT. WAS. TERRIFYING. 

I was so scared that I couldn't even gather the strength to scream. All I did was panic and scurry to the office. When I arrived in the office, I was panting and shaking like hell. Thank God, the lights went back on after a few minutes. One of my scrabble friends then said that someone grabbed her hair. It was then I realized that maybe it was me who did that. OOPS. Sorry! I panicked, okay? You can't blame me for trying to save my dear life... even if it meant grabbing someone by her hair.

With Belt Or Without?

Last night, I stumbled upon a photo of FashionBeans (a men's style blog) on my Facebook feed, talking about the belted outerwear trend for men; coats, cardigans, and blazers with belts on the waist.

I've actually seen this trend once on one of the characters of a Korean TV series. It actually looked good on the guy. It's just like the way women cinch their waists to emphasize the shape of their bodies. The trend is quite interesting. I asked myself, "if this trend looked good on women, would it look just as chic on men?"

I read some of the comments on the post and a lot of them were negative. Personally, I'm quite skeptical about the trend. But I know a lot of fashionable men can actually pull off this trend effortlessly. I salute these people! Hhmm, I wonder if I could pull off such a trend...

What do you think about the belted outerwear trend for men? Tres chic or fashion faux pas? 

An "Awkward" Show

I've recently been obsessing over MTV's Awkward. I actually had no idea of its existence before but thank God my classmates told me about it. They were always gushing about how hot Matty was and how sweet Jake was, but at that time I couldn't relate to their conversations about the show. When I started watching it, I said to myself, "WHERE IN THE WORLD WAS I WHEN THIS SHOW STARTED AIRING???!!!"

EVERYTHING ABOUT THE SHOW IS AWESOME; from the characters down to the story line. I love this show to bits! Jenna's very "honest" blogging, Sadie's sass and spunk, Tamara's trendsetting lexicon, Matty's disturbing-but- adorable-at-the-same-time habit of smelling his armpits every time he gets nervous, Jake's boy band looks, Lissa's dumbness,... I could go on and on and enumerate everything I love about this show but then I'd probably be 40 years old by the time I finish, so let this serve as sort of a written "teaser" of the show. If this wasn't enough to convince you to watch the show, I don't know what will.

I can't wait for season four! :)

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A Day with Dim Sum

The weekend has arrived which meant one thing: food trip!

I've been swamped with school work these past few days and I've been wanting to go on a food trip and relax even for just a few hours. And so, after my classes this morning, my sister and I headed to one of my go-to fast food chains for my Chinese dim sum cravings. For lunch, we had steamed fried rice, sweet and sour pork, and spring rolls.

But even if I was more than full after that meal, my food trip wouldn't be complete without my 22 ounces of milk tea.. with tapioca pearls of course. It's been my routine ever since I got hooked on milk tea to have it as dessert every time I eat out. Personally, my favorite flavor is vanilla. It's a safe choice but it's a classic flavor. I don't think you can go wrong with vanilla. 

Hhhmm, just writing this post is already making me crave for another tall cup of milk tea. Darn it. 

Do you like Chinese food and milk tea as well? What's your favorite flavor? :)

Sun Kissed Skin

When you hear or read "sun kissed skin", I'm sure the things that pop into your mind are the beach, swimming, white and fine sand... something like a summer dream. But no, where I got my "sun kissed skin" isn't from a dream at all.

As I've mentioned in my blog post, An Unexpected Kind of Love, I recently ventured into the field of sports, specifically soccer baseball. As much as I wanted to avoid sports, I had no choice. But then again, you always have a choice. Unfortunately for me, I chose to not have a choice. Am I making sense here? haha. 

Anyway, so yesterday, we had one WHOLE DAY just for soccer baseball practice. Days prior to the training, I was bracing myself for the intense pain that I would eventually experience. An hour was already tiring enough, I couldn't imagine how tiring one whole day would be.

When training day finally arrived, I kept a positive mindset that maybe this wouldn't be so bad. I had to find a way to make myself feel better. 

At 10 a.m., my teammates and I started training in the field under the INTENSE HEAT of the sun (emphasis on intense heat). The sun was really harsh that day. I could hear my skin sizzle as the rays as the sun touched my skin. I was like a little suckling pig being roasted to perfection but then, a roasted pig would look so good; a roasted me, on the other hand, wouldn't look appealing at all. 

Finally, at 4 p.m., training had finally ended. I was dead tired, I had tan lines, I got sunburned, I was covered in dirt, my body was aching... I know I sound like such a little brat complaining about such shallow things but hey, one whole day of training under the sun is no piece of ice cream cake. 

As I went home, all I could think of was crashing into my bed (and relaxing in a tub filled with lots and lots of ice cold milk). I was on the verge of fainting (not really). Thank God, I made it through the day. As I tried to think of a bright side to all this, the only thing bright was the sun which didn't help at all. But at least the day was productive; I learned a new sport and got good exercise! Talk about hitting two birds with one stone! :p

The Wonder of An Early Morning

Yesterday, I had to wake up early because I had school stuff to do at 6 a.m. I left the house at around 5:20 a.m. As I traveled to my destination, I was surprised of how beautiful the early morning is. The sky was of a light shade of blue with a hint of orange and yellow, the air was a bit chilly, the streets weren't clogged by cars (yet)... it was a sight I don't usually see. I felt like I was in a different place. It didn't feel like the city at all. Sigh, it was a great start to my morning. 

It's been so long since I last woke up this early that I forgot how nice early mornings are. Waking up at dawn is usually a hard thing for me to do since I usually wake up late. But after yesterday, I realized that maybe I should wake up early once in a while, just to see how beautiful the morning is. :)

An Unexpected Kind of Love

I am not the sporty type of person. Almost any form of physical activity is torture for me. Just the thought of sweating and running makes me cringe. But just a couple of weeks ago, I found out that I was "required" to play soccer baseball and so I obliged and started practicing. I was really scared at first because I had ZERO knowledge about the sport; well, except for the fact that it involves pitching a ball, kicking the ball, and getting your face hit by the ball. This is definitely not my thing. I was like a fish out of water; a bird underwater; I was not in my element at all. 

As the days went by and I got to learn the technicalities of the sport, the fear and the "dislike" started going away. Kick after kick, catch after catch; it was hard to admit but I was actually starting to enjoy soccer baseball. There's a different feeling (aside from pain) I get when I catch a ball or kick it really high. It's a feeling that I don't usually get but in a good way. I never imagined the day when I would actually learn to LOVE a sport. Okay, maybe not "love" exactly but appreciate. 

Before, I never imagined myself playing such a physically demanding sport because I am not exactly the fittest person around but I gave it a try and actually enjoyed it. The greatest lesson I learned from this experience is: Open your mind to new things or experiences. You never know, it might be one of the best decisions you'll ever make in your life. 

How about you? Tried doing anything new lately? :)

The Inception of Ber

It is officially the start of the "ber" months which draws us one month closer to the end of another year. I know 2014 is still months away but these 4 months will just breeze by. It seems like it was just yesterday when I celebrated the new year with my family. Sigh... Time goes by so fast. But rather than getting sad about it, let's make the most out of the remaining months! :)

A Blog is Born

Hello there! Welcome to my humble blog, Il Sognatore: The Journal of a Daydreamer. I created this blog for the reason of self-expression; a way of documenting my hobbies, my little adventures, my passions,... basically anything, really! I just wanted a space where I can express myself freely through writing.

"sognatore": the Italian word for dreamer.

Why Il Sognatore? Well, because I am every bit of a dreamer. I have always been the ambitious type. Even as a little kid, I already had so many dreams and ambitions; some were even very bold albeit impossible. I even dreamed of being able to talk to animals ala Eliza Thornberry. Oh well, kids will be kids. haha.

Call me overly ambitious but I have A LOT of dreams. Some may say that being ambitious is ridiculous because it borders on being delusional; but I beg to differ. I think being a dreamer widens my horizon. For me, being ambitious is not setting a limit to your capabilities; it's believing you can do big things and reach great heights. I'll forever stand by this mindset because it's what drives me to strive hard and succeed. These dreams are my impetus in life and hopefully, I'll get to fulfill these dreams someday; slowly, one by one.

For all the other dreamers out there, may this blog inspire you to dream even more and inspire you to achieve them. For now, this is it for my very first blog post. 'Til next time! :)