Kingdom Hearts Day

Rewind to that nasty habagat in July, Alex and I pretty much conversed nonstop about Kingdom Hearts, mostly because she had just started playing KH: 3D. The habagat lasted a week right? Our conversation started from the habagat, plus around 2 or 3 more weeks. I also started downloading all (save for 3D, since that's still a relatively recent game) the KH movies during the habagat; movies, as in all the cutscenes merged into one to make a 'film'. It was then decided that Alex and I were to devote one day to have a KH movie marathon, to be christened as 'KH Day'.

I casually mentioned it to Terry and she totes wanted in. Fast forward to around September, we decided that October 17 should be KH Day, because it was already sem break by then and because October 17 is a month after the 10th anniversary of the game's North American release (KH was first released in the NA on September 17, 2002). We thought it'd be a nice way to commemorate the franchise's 10th anniversary since Squeenix is doing nothing but pushing Kingdom Hearts 3 further and further back I MEEEAAAN

Terry's place seemed ideal to commemorate the day, so we had a sleepover there. Some of our other friends made a wild appearance so half of our KH Day was somewhat... side-tracked. But wtvr, it was pretty successful all in all. (Read: ALL MY TEARS ALL MY FEELS) I was falling asleep towards the half of Birth By Sleep though, so I plan to re-watch that along with Re:coded, which we skipped altogether because that game is a troll and the only important part of that game was the ending.

Our sequence went as follows: KH, CoM, 358/2 Days, KH2, BBS. We saved BBS for last because the secret ending coincided with the ending of KH2, and KH2 was the last 'main' storyline in the franchise before 3D. Also, it would be more fun to watch BBS after meeting the Organization XIII members in KH2. ALSO, BBS IS FULL OF FEELS. NO BETTER JUSTIFICATION.

Most of our documentation from that day was when we were making sea-salt ice cream. Because a KH Day would be incomplete with sea-salt ice cream.

Even the vlog documents more of the ice cream-making than anything. It was also decided that we should come in a KH-inspired attire. We neglected to document said outfits, but you can catch glimpses of it in the video. Terry was Marluxia (she wore a floral shirt under a sheer black top), Alex's peg was Aqua (really funky pants and shoes), and I went for Terra. We would've made a complete Wayfinder family except Terry was still unfamiliar with BBS. My outfit was the most literal inspired outfit I've ever made so far, and at the end of the night when Terry finally knew who Terra was, she told me, "I hate you."

We followed this tutorial and our mixture was pretty much the perfect shade of the ice cream, but the next day after freezing it turned out more greenish than blue. Maybe it was because it was mixed in with the batter, hence the color change? Final verdict: IT WAS WAY TOO SWEET FOR ME I COULDN'T EVEN GET THROUGH HALF OF IT and we might've not put enough sea-salt?

When I got home the next day I decided to re-watch KH2 (Riku!CoM prior to that), because we skipped most of that as well since it was the one game we were all mostly familiar with (I never got far with the first KH, Terry and I never got to play Days, etc.) Days was re-watched with Terry while I was still at her place. The re-watching was prompted by the fact that we could understand nothing in the middle of all the racket our friends were making during the planned maratho . (Also, they could not understand our feels and were just poking fun. GTFO LET ME WALLOW IN MY TEARS FOR MY KINGDOM KOKORO)

Watching an HD!file of this game on the PS3 on a good telly = the closest thing I'll get to an HD!remake for now. Everything is beautiful.

Final statement: I have so many hopes and dreams for this boy. I have a theory involving him and Ven. ROXAS' ENTIRE RAIFU WAS JUST SO UNFAIR OKAY I HAVE SO MANY HOPES AND DREAMS FOR HIM AND MY THEORY SEEMS PRETTY FEASIBLE AFTER WHAT I'VE HEARD FROM ALEX ABOUT 3D I MEAN I MEAN I MEAN

I REALLY WANNA BLOG I REALLY DO

ESPECIALLY BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT I'M IN HONG KONG

YES HONG KONG

YES INA HAS REACHED INTERNATIONAL WATERS

I HAVE TOUCHED INTERNATIONAL SOIL

LOL

I am itching to blog about my ~*~Hong Kong~*~ adventures so far but silly me forgot to bring a card reader so lolno not happening. I'll be sure to blog when I get home, but it may or may not be in parts because of all the photos I've taken! (Although a majority of them so far have been of the Hong Kong Museum of Art... and maybe some street photos, lol.)

Just so this post isn't so devoid of visuals, here is a Photobooth!shot of me holding up some ~*~Chinese~*~ (that's racist!) tissues:

Before I left, Terry's dad asked for some pasalubong. I told him I'd get him some tissue. I was serious.

GUYS I HAVE AN ACTUAL PHYSICAL COPY OF ZIPPER HUHUHUHU I AM SO HAPPINESS. I have ALWAYS wanted a copy of Zipper (or Kera) but I've always just stuck with downloading and stuff. I saw a copy of Kera but I wasn't sure if I really wanted it but whatever if it'll still be there then it will be there.

On another note, I totes forgot to blog about that magical day Alex, Terry and I had before I left. It involved some really sweet ice cream, Kingdom Hearts, and lots of feels.

Teranina Day

So a while back (read: 3 months ago), Terry, Ana and I got together for some catch-up-on-chika-bonding time. I don't know why I only got around to blogging about this now, but there is this related post, and this video, and another related outfit post by Terry. It was really convenient that all three of us had vacant Wednesdays this semester. I wonder what next sem will bring us...

There came a time when I'd always forget Ana's hair was colored and no longer black. Like even if it was months after she dyed her hair, I'd suddenly get surprised when an updated photo of her surfaced on Facebook and I'd go, "Oh right, she colored her hair." I even remember the day she had it dyed; she texted me all happy and excited, and I was so excited for her too! I remember her target color was actually plum/purple, but the end shade came off more reddish than anything.

BHS visits are never complete without Fully Booked. It is worth noting that I got Ana to wear heels that day, and she had to follow. Of course, because I am Queen Regina and she is Princess Ana, so the hierarchy demands her obligation.

While Terry and her cousin went ahead to the ~*~newer side~*~ of BHS (idk what it's called... that area with Jamba Juice?), I accompanied Anette to Krispy Kreme because she wanted to get a box for her famiry. I ended up getting treated with a donut as well. Thank you Ana! 8D

Kabaklaan.

We also spotted our friend Alex and her family in the area. Talk about pleasant surprise!

In other news, ADMU won the UAAP finals today. Congrats, but I'm actually kinda bitter? Mostly because I'm already a senior and I never got to watch a game live. Maybe that's also a fault on my part, but wtvr. UST's gone through a pretty shatty week or two, what with that whole stabbing incident in FEU, then the whole BS with that Varsitarian article, and now this. Sigh. Good game though? (Or at least that's what I heard. I didn't want to watch at all if it wasn't live because it would just stress me out.) OH WELL NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT NOW GUJAB EBRIBADI

I'm getting teary-eyed, but maybe my hormones are just excited for The Monthly Visitor. Whatever, a final exam (that I still haven't studied for, go me Best Student Award 2012) awaits me tomorrow.

Boracay 2012

Something I never blogged about. I went to Boracay this past summer for the first time in over 10 years.  Maybe it was 13 years ago? Something like that. My family and I went during that Labor Day weekend, so there were more people than usual. Like, seriously. We booked this trip at the start of the year for the promo or whatever, but I remember getting into a fight with my mom because the trip clashed with my ongoing OJT at the time and I was stressing out and stuff.

It's a shame that I could only hear in one ear for pretty much half the trip. Water got into my ears the moment I submerged myself underwater, and I couldn't hear in my left ear for about 2 weeks. Cue a visit to an obnoxious ENT doctor. We're not going into that story.

I remember playing Final Fantasy XIII the night before our flight. I was battling Barthandelus for the first time, and was consulting a video walkthrough. I remember listening to dubstep while waiting in the airport, and even seeing my old friend EJ at the hotel we stayed at when we were getting ready to leave. We were apparently in the same hotel the entire time and only saw each other at check-out. We were on the same shuttle/boat/plane on the way home though.

There were there amazing snake-bone-whatever necklaces at Puka Beach, but they were expensive so I never got them. I settled with a shark-bone-whatever bracelet instead.

I also remember staying in the sun for way too long at the worst possible hours, so I had a really bad sunburn as another souvenir from the trip.

The long nightly walks from station to station were fun. I didn't go out to party at all, despite the prompting from my parents, because the pain in my ear got the best of me and I always wasn't feeling well during the mornings and nights. It semi-ruined the trip, but overall it was really fun. I miss the whole experience, actually. I don't get to travel much as it's a luxury we can't really readily afford, but this return to Bora after 835728395 years was pretty swell. Not sure if I'll ever go back -- at least maybe with my parents, because the crowds were too much -- but it was all worth the stress of missing a few hours from my OJT hour quota. If I could relive it, I would. Sans the sickness I had to nurse, of course.

SLUSHNMUSH: The Sequel

Last weekend was my final gig for Mary Moon Productions. I'll blog more on that on a separate post, but what was notable about last Friday was that I got to go to SaGuijo for the first time ever! I've heard of that bar since I started going to gigs, and that was back in high school. Also notable was the fact that I had 3 bottles of beer -- and everyone knows I hate beer. I don't know why but Red Horse actually tasted good!

Before leaving for the event I had some wine, then during the gig I had some bottles of Red Horse, then when I got home I drank just a bit more with my family... and this was all until 5 in the morning. I had a 10am class the next day, and for that I usually get up at 7.30. One time last year I had a lot of wine and had a 1pm class the next day, and I felt really iffy and sickly that time. After that I swore never to drink on a school night again.

... WELP, THAT OBVIOUSLY DIDN'T HAPPEN. When I woke up the morning after the gig, I was hit with a BLAM of pain in my head, arms and legs. I thought to myself, "HOW DAFUQ AM I GOING TO GET UP OW OW OW" HAHAHA. And I was nauseous too. Then I forced myself to puke just to get the nausea out of my system. I came quite close to just skipping school altogether because I figured I could afford to miss that Math quiz because my prelims grade was pretty good. And it was a Saturday; Saturday classes are the bane of my existence, okay.

But, I persevered and went to school anyway, because I am the most attendance-conscious person ever. No really. I always make it a point to come to class on time and as much as possible never skip and keep a perfect attendance record because I believe that my attendance and class standing have the power to pull up my grades, even if it's just a minuscule amount. Hi, I'm a college senior and I've only cut once in my life, and it was for a contest at that. In that post I said that you may call me a legit college kid for finally cutting class, but I'm even more legitimate now because I went to school with a hangover.

A HANGOVER. I've only ever had one hangover in my life, and it was during the summer before college when I attended a party before a cosplay shoot. There is a mention of that in this post but I never really made a detailed account of that time in my life. Whatever. In that first hangover ever my head didn't hurt at all but I was nauseous for pretty much the entire day and my appetite went back to normal come evening.

Oho but this hangover seemed like the real thing where you wake up feeling like your head was smashed against a wall a bajillion times. But maybe part of this 'hangover' was also caused by fatigue? I MEAN I ONLY GOT AROUND 2 HOURS OF SLEEP WITH LOTSA ALCOHOL IN MY SYSTEM, RIGHT? I've been told that Red Horse has quite the kick (hence the name), but hot daeym it tasted pretty good. Then again the only other beer brands I've had were San Mig Light and Hoegaarden, so I can't deduce much. I was slushnmush, man. SLUSHNMUSH.

Anyway, here's a photo of Maronne and I from that aforementioned gig:

HOW I MANAGED TO GET THROUGH THE ENTIRE DAY WITH A HANGOVER, I'LL NEVER KNOW. I should get a Model Student 2012 award for making it to class on time and making it through the day without skipping, all while nursing a hangover.

Then again that award would be revoked immediately for having a hangover on a school day in the first place.

Remember when

I don't know what drove me to do it (then again, I've always been a sentimental sap, and these episodes happen rather frequently), but I ended up going through my old blog posts, specifically the ones in my LJ. I've honestly noticed this for a while, actually: I feel like ever since moving to Blogspot, my posts have been less spontaneous and candid. Well, okay, I guess 'growing up' plays a role in this change, but seriously! My latter posts on LJ weren't as candid, but they seemed more personal.

idk maybe it's just me and I have a quiz for Psych tomorrow and I still haven't studied because I'm always like this on Friday nights whenever I have a quiz on Saturday kamon Ina

Whatever. I've already 'let loose' via my previous post AND IT'S GONNA GET LOOSER FROM NOW ON. that's what she said

Aww but really, I miss that old self of mine. I've concluded that college made me really stressed out and emotional (my old posts say so), but it was towards the newer LJ posts did my blogging begin to become kind of... scripted? Still kind of personal, but less than what it used to be before. At least that's what it felt like to me, and I'm someone who treats blogging as public diary-writing, not commercial profiting.

I'm not gonna force myself to go back to that (because that would be... posing...), but I AM gonna try being less, what, stiff (?) when it comes to blogging because I miss that more carefree, albeit younger and reckless and--

Dear Ina, for all you know, this 'change' could all be internal and nobody actually noticed it. Get out. I said GIT!

Also, my old image host hasn't been attended to by its owner/s, apparently, and all my photos from October 2009 and back are now missing. Good thing I only started using it June 2009, so that window doesn't have much, although now I'm afraid that sooner or later all my blog photos will disappear AND THAT'S THREE YEARS WORTH OF PHOTOS DISAPPEARING ON MY BLOGS. Not cool.

And just because I'm no longer used to blogging without any visuals, here is a photo of myself on the stairs. Taken during the habagat when I was a temporary orphan and lived in my sweater.

It is also worth noting that I had pancakes for merienda that day.

They were delish.

TEAM INA IS LEGIT NOW?!

lolno

Just figured I'd share this here before the month ends, because if this should be shared anywhere, it should be on my blog. Simply put, I have a tiny feature in the September issues of both Chalk and Meg magazine! It's so... surreal, and freaky, and strange. But I love it. I shared some sentiments over in this CS post, although I'd like to talk more about the day I grabbed myself copies of these issues.

This needs to be blogged okay. IT'S GOING IN THE BOOKS. WELCOME TO THE OPEN DIARY OF INA, ERRBADY.

So I saw a copy of the Chalk ish when I was in Powerbooks Shang, but didn't get it at first because I wasn't sure if it was the one with what I knew was supposed to have something about Cheapskateers and Andrea Ang's article. En route to Rockwell for some errands with Papa, I text Maronne, and she says yep, September ish's the one. So when we get to Rockwell I go to Fully Booked and grab a copy. While waiting for my dad I go through the pages looking for any semblance of my face (which sounds totly vain, I know, but Maronne told me there was only a quote and a minuscule photo of myself, so that was my basis) but I couldn't find the article. Then I start wondering, "WHAT IF MY ISSUE'S A DEFECT?" HAHAHAHAHA I KNOW RIGHT? So I text Maronne and she tells me the page, and TA-DAAAA I FOUND IT! I felt really giddy, seeing my face and, more importantly, my opinion!!! Isn't that magical? Andrea's inquiries regarding the article were SO interesting and a joy to answer. I rambled on and on and maybe even went off-topic from time to time, but I had a lot of fun answering her questions.

As for the Meg issue... I was on my way home, and it was a Friday (I only remember the day because Fridays are the only days where I have to take the MRT home; the other two school days I get picked up from Santolan station, either because it's late a.k.a. 9pm class, or it's a Saturday class) I was in Gateway and decided to give Fully Booked a shot for that Meg ish. I found it, but then I was reluctant to get it because I still wasn't sure of this was the ish with me innit (again, it sounds vain, but the only local magazine I really follow is Preview, and we all know how stingy I am so I didn't want to spend money unless I was really sure this was it). But whatever, I took the risk and bought it, and I was en route to the MRT when I decided to rip it open anyway. And then I found myself HAHAHA I LOOKED LIKE AN IDIOT STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF GATEWAY FLIPPING THROUGH THE PAGES OF MEG.

Oh gosh I must've sounded really vain and self-centered, but I promise you this was the first time I've ever been featured in a magazine, so this was a really big deal. And it just happened to be twice in a month... though that was just a coincidence since my Meg feature was initially supposed to be in August, but it got moved back.

I don't dress up for the attention (at least I think I don't -- for all I know I could be doing it subconsciously), rather I dress up as a form of self-expression and... art? I mean, if you look at it, outfits are like works of art too. It might seem superficial, this whole feature thing, but it's nice to be acknowledged sometimes. OKAY I SOUND LIKE AN ATTENTION WHORE BUT THAT'S REALLY NOT THE CASE LOL. I mean I've always felt like I've been overshadowed (but definitely not under-appreciated -- gosh that would make me seem like some ungrateful little--) with regards to acknowledgements in fashion. Okay, maybe not ALWAYS, but it's happened a lot. I won't elaborate much on that because I know when to withhold (enough) details on the internet else I be judged further and further into the depths of oblivion, but man it's happened several times over the years.

It's not so much that I crave attention, because like I said, when I dress up, attention isn't the case. It's just... that's just it, it's nice to be acknowledged sometimes, especially when I'm not even trying to garner any attention. For all I know this could be rooted back to my self-esteem issues all over again, I don't even know.

In fact I felt a little self-centered when I was plugging the features on Facebook, so that in turn made me feel a little awkward. IN FACT, THIS WHOLE POST IS MAKING ME FEEL AWKWARD, BUT IT'S HISTORICAL SO IT NEEDS TO BE ARCHIVED IN THE BLOG. Truthfully I also feel a little awkward when I pimp my CS posts on Facebook as well -- funny because I only started this whole 'fashion blogging' thing because Maronne wanted to venture into it with me, so I didn't really have any intentions of getting 'anywhere' (that's a very loose term) when we started Cheapskateers. I kind of still don't, because if I did then the whole CS blogging would be really superficial, inorganic and unauthentic. If anything I've actually enjoyed documenting and blogging about my outfits (the documenting part can be a PAIN at times though), because the blog provides a whole visual archive of the evolution our styles.

Not really sure where all that babbling came from, but the closest conclusion I could deduce was that maybe I'm way too self-conscious about this whole getting-featured-and-sharing-the-news thing, so I'm all defensive and have to say so many things in order to shed any form of what could be arrogance to some people. I don't want to come off as 'OH LOOK AT ME I'M IN A MAGAZINE' so I have to explain all my feels and crap. It matters because I don't want to have that kind of image, even if I'm just a little nobody on the internet. I've never liked tooting my own horn -- I swear, never. Growing up I was always reluctant to share or talk about my good fortune in fear of looking like I was bragging. Al. Ways. ALWAYS!

Regardless, thanks again to Andrea Ang and Elisa Aquino for the features! You really have no idea how much this matters to me -- unless you've reached this post, then you might just have an inkling of how much, lol.

Man I don't remember having blogged so much about my feels since my LJ days. Whatever, I'm going to get something to eat now.