Wherever You Are

I'm easily one of, if not THE most, emotionally attached people ever. I used to be so good -- so good, you won't imagine -- at keeping my composure and holding in my tears. Somehow that all changed when the Anina friendship came together because I found out how Ana can easily let her tears go when it comes to dramu films and I guess she just rubbed off on me. (CONGRATS ANETTE YOU HAVE THAT HONOR -- man I should've added this to your palanca) Since then, I've been capable of crying just by listening to songs that remind me of sad times or when I think of moments I miss.

I WAILED LIKE A BABY FOR HOURS WHEN I FINISHED FINAL FANTASY XIII. Until now I haven't been able to play it again because doing so just depresses me. (I promise to go back to it once school's over.) I STILL CRY WHEN I LISTEN TO THE THEME SONG SKDGJHSDJKG

Whatever. I'm so emotional right now because of The Visitor and the gifts of hormonal imbalance. My cousins kept me company over the weekend and it was weird because I had the hardest time focusing on my school work. I think it was because I had this mindset that I had 'guests' over so my mind was telling me it wasn't a 'normal' day, even if it WAS just a regular day anyway.

It's strange. We grew up together in the same household for years and I've only moved out for nearly 3 years and already my mind's telling me that being in the same house with them isn't part of the norm anymore. When we were kids we'd look out this window and see an empty lot, not this little hut. It's another testament to how much has changed.

I remember looking at this window watching as my parents drove off to work in the morning and having this longing look in my eyes because as soon as they left the house, I'd miss them already. (See, I've had attachment issues since I was a kid HAHA) I remember throwing out my glass of milk mixed with grape juice on this roof because it tasted disgusting. (I mixed them together, naively thinking it'd taste good. Nope.) I also remember looking out this window while watching Dragon Tales as a kid, and the sound of sliding the window closed whenever we'd turn on the air conditioner or when the rain got too strong. I also remember the roofs being green back then, and how we'd look out the window during Ondoy, watching the waters rise and how it slowly -- oh so painfully slow it was -- receded later on.

I remember these stairs and how I lost my footing and slid down these steps a couple of times as a kid. Going down these stairs whenever I visit feels so foreign now.

And then there is this room, which we called 'The Playroom' because it was where we'd go to play. Back then it didn't have these writings on the wall, and I have a pretty solid guess as to who put these there. I remember watching said guess play a Castlevania game in this room, as well as watching his dad play Tomb Raider and Metal Gear, and the times when we'd play Metal Slug and that time we played Little Mermaid games all day. Not to mention that Barbie horse game his sister and I played a lot -- and I remember how we even played it the night before our first holy communion.

In this room I remember looking down the window and seeing the back of our house and thinking how it provided such an interesting perspective of that area -- seeing the laundry, some of the dogs, household help, and other stuff.

We moved after Ondoy happened. In the first year of living in our new home, I was so lonely. So, so lonely. After living with so many people in one house since I was a kid, I wasn't used to the house being so quiet all of a sudden. Of course, living with all those people would get on my nerves from time to time, so the distance did our relationships good for me anyway. But it was such a lonely time in my life! And the fact that it was college freshman year, and I missed all my favorite people and all the stress and adjustment of college life was still getting to me.

I'm at my loneliest again and I can't focus with the presence of other people in the house. Life is so strange sometimes.

Have a Date

So have you noticed the minor changes in my blog? It's all thanks to my friend Ana! I was feeling something off with the looks of my blog, so I asked Ana to do whatever she wanted with it. That included changing the header and sidebar images! (Thanks again to Dg and Camille for the old ones!) Thank you Anette! (So many exclamation points!) My blog looks so clean to me all of a sudden. Also, that's way too many renditions of my face in one picture.

Last night I dreamt that a stray cat that looked way too much like Tofu was getting eaten by snake. Right outside my house. Where I could see through my window. Here is a picture of a cat.

This was my sister's late birthday gift for me. I had been wanting this palette ever since I saw it on one of xSparkage's videos, but the brand didn't come to the Philippines until late last year.

LOOK AT THOSE NEONS MAN!!! LOOK AT IT! I love it.

About two weeks ago, Hello Kitty and I attended a despedida for one of my friends. (See this post.) It was my first time at Skye lounge and I thought it was pretty cool. Hello Kitty and I ordered two bottles of Hoegaarden for ourselves because, even if I don't like beer, it was the cheapest on the menu and this was the brand that the waiter recommended. Our verdict? It tasted like a garden of hoes. Definitely lives up to its name, alright.

The building's elevator was such a pleasant surprise because of the cute brick walls AND THE FAKE GRASS!!! How cute. PARTY IN THE ELEVATOR GARDEN, Y'ALL!

The other day my mom and I had lunch at Cafe Mary Grace after the vampires from the hospital took two vials worth of my blood for some tests. (Related post here.) The cafe was such a precious, quaint little place, and the food was great, too!

Even their coasters were cute.

Okay, now I've got a date with my thesis to catch.

Anina Day: Of Books, Boys and Bloggers

Anina reunited! I got to go see one of my favorite people a.k.a. Ana last weekend for a much-needed, long-awaited, always-postponed Anina Day. Thank goodness our schedules have the same vacant days, at least for the time being!

Anina Days have been going on since our high school senior year. I remember the first ever Anina Day was when I went to Ana's place for the first time for a class project. At some point during our 'school work', we decided to go to High Street (pretty much inevitable when you go to Ana's place) where I was decked in Ana's clothes from head to toe (looking like a bit of a hobo) and where we took pictures of each other. In the end the only thing we really accomplished for school that day was putting wings on a photo of our classmate's head.

The last time I saw Ana was towards the end of 2011, and it wasn't even planned. We had been planning to see each other over the summer but it just wouldn't work out with our schedules before.

Say hello to some of the inhabitants of Ana's room. There's GLOL Pulip Girl.

Luke Triton

Fat Cat On A Box (FCOAC)

And Submarine Boy. Okay, it's probably Diver Guy, but Submarine Boy sounds radder.

There's also Korra, who is named after a female character but actually has some male genitalia.

But hey, adorable pup is still adorable.

I owed Ana some major kwento because of the many 'significant' things that happened over the summer. This is where the 'boys' part of the blog post title comes into the picture. Enter Ina's non-existent love life.

After a few minutes of recounting several events from months ago, and a few more minutes of Ana squealing and freaking out, and a couple more minutes of Facebook-lurking (cue more freaking out!Ana), our topic of discussion then turned towards fashion/style bloggers. Ana showed me this one blogger whom she's loving at the moment (she is adorableeee) and I in turn shared several of the style bloggers I check out.

Then we decided it was time for some Fully Booked goodness (as per usual). We took s'more silly Anina shots while waiting for our ride.

Ana has a whole buncha rosaries and rosary necklaces. I covet her neon one ("Look though, it doesn't really follow the rosary beads so I can't pray with it.") because of reasons.

We stopped by Red Mango first for some merienda. This is where we talked about our respective theses and possibilities of future interning. Aaaaah, future.

Fully Booked in High Street is definitely my favorite Fully Booked branch. Four floors of nothing but the goodness of books. Drool, everybody. DROOL.

"Candid ba ang peg?"

Best Naruto manga cover ever: Naruto is not pleased with the conflict between Gai-sensei the Awesome and Paco while Konan rejoices with a paper party in the background.

Then we headed to the children's section where most of our time in Fully Booked was spent.

I found this really dope YSL coloring book. Would've gotten it but I was on a budget and it seemed kind of overpriced for something so small and thin. I guess for YSL it's not really overpriced though?

Ana was going through this books that tells you to look for certain things in a throng of... many other things. This one was special because it involved looking for Pokemon in a sea of Pokemon.

I saw another version of that weirdly cute book I saw last time with Janelle. Then I scurried off to show Ana its kawaii-ness.

... only to find out she found another version of the book to show me as well. Anina powers unite!

Ana found this piece of paper stuck in one of the books she went through. Someone from Thailand says hello! Gosh I should make it my mission to leave random notes in books, too. Or maybe even business cards ala EWWS...

And this is what I got. Of course I spent my money on children's books. OF COURSE. I'm not too sure what Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Death and Dementia was doing in the children's section though.

We then headed to Italianni's for an early dinner.

Back at the Fully Booked counter, Ana was contemplating on whether or not to get this. She was on the phone when we were paying and the cashier counted it as part of the purchases, so basically the decision was made for her in the end.

Ana has this love affair with red pandas, okay. After skimming through the little booklet, she concluded that the purchase was definitely worth it.

She was really excited by this part, too. Oh Anette.

My family and I never really eat at Italianni's anymore because it grew to be pricier and the quality was beginning to differ. Back when I was younger I would always order their ravioli. ALWAYS. A few years ago, maybe the last time had Italianni's with la familia, their ravioli was kind of dry and the portions were smaller than before. This was probably when their 'quality was beginning to differ.' I ordered it again anyway and it was much better than my last experience. Infairnezz, no longer dry. Haha!

Imported beers called Hoegarden and Stella Art. Cool beans.

And then the sunlight disappeared and it was time to go. It was such a great way to start the week. Hurray for Anina!