Joyous Journeys: Philippines Day 10

July 20, 2014

Pictured above, L-R: Fish ball, Kikiam, cheese sticks.

The day after the wedding was just a day to recuperate and relax, not really doing anything adventurous. I actually don't remember what happened earlier in the day, but after the rain died down and we were left with a sprinkle, my Tita J, Kuya A, mom, sister and I went out to a mall just because my mom never visited this particular mall. Check out the rest of this blog post for more about this day!

Joyous Journeys: Philippines Day 7, 8, 9

July 17-19, 2014

After coming from Hong Kong, back to the Philippines, it was time for all the family to get ready for my cousin's wedding! Matching mani/pedis with the cousins and titas, a.k.a. aunties, were called for. Click to read what else happened the next three days! 

Joyous Journeys: Hong Kong Day 3-4

July 16-17, 2014

Don't get me wrong, I had several helpings of everything for my fuel for my last day in HK ahead of me. And what did my last day in Hong Kong entail? Click to read about my last-day-adventures.

Joyous Journeys: Hong Kong Day 2

July 15, 2014

My view as I had my first breakfast in HK on the nineteenth floor. This second day consisted of a tour then our own self-guided tour around the city. Read on to travel back in time with me as I roamed around HK for a second day.

Joyous Journeys: Hong Kong Day 1

July 14, 2014

After almost twenty years, I returned back to Hong Kong. So obviously, I have no recollection of being in this place, as if I was visiting for the first time. I finally was able to experience the place my dad always spoke of, when he referred to when he used to work in Hong Kong for about two years. It was an incredible(ly humid, hot, and tiring) experience, but a great one that I do not regret. Check out the rest of the blog post for more about my first day! 

Second Year Anniversary

Wow, it's been two years blogging (as of September 14, 2012). It's crazy where I started, and where I am now. This blog has evolved incredibly, and just reflects how much I've grown  within myself. I wonder what's to come for me this year. We'll just have to wait and see, won't we? Hopefully ya'll will continue to support me for the next year to see how much further I can take this personal growth! <3

Joyous Journeys: Philippines Day 5-6

July 12-13, 2014

I made it a goal to visit the hospital I was born in. Mission accomplished. It was quite surreal and the closest I could come to time traveling. It was as if I hopped into a Delorean and was walking through the halls in which my father walked through to get to the Newborn Services Unit to peer into the windows to see my newly born face. It was such a shame when we found out the doctor that birthed me passed away only a few years ago. I wanted to visit the last time we arrived in 2011, but unfortunately I only was able to get around to the church my parents got married in. It was an amazing experience nonetheless. These kinds of trips, along with road trips to provinces, are what I prefer over mall-hopping from clones of glamorous buildings filled with foreign stores (which we ended up doing later that day). However, we also got to travel with my dad's side of the family to a province for an overnight private pool party. 

Click for more details about that!

Joyous Journeys: Philippines Day 4

July 11, 2014

We visited my dad's side of the family the next day for brunch, and they all chatted and caught up over the lost years we have not seen each other. 

Joyous Journeys: Philippines Day 3

July 10, 2014

Food, food, and more food. Exactly what kind? Click to find out (and yes, finally Filipino food galore). 

Joyous Journeys: Philippines Day 2

July 9, 2014

Photo credits: A.L.

Top: Aeropostale || Cardigan: H&M || Shorts: thrifted/DIY || Purse: Fossil (Mom's)

Read on to find out why my photo turned grayscale...

Joyous Journeys: Philippines Day 1

July 6, 2014 - July 8, 2014

(skipped through July 7 because of all that weird time zone stuff)

This day was when my journey began. 

We departed on July 6, 2014 (U.S. time, very, very delayed) and arrived in the Philippines around 7:00AM on July 8, 2014  (from now on, regarding my Philippines and Hong Kong trips, I'll be using their time). It was surreal to be going back to the homeland so soon, the last time being in 2011. Before that we visited in 2004, so imagine how quick it seemed to be visiting so soon. Of course, it would be a dream to travel every summer, but that will just have to wait for another moment in time. 

Click to read on about my first day.

Joyous Journeys

Stay tuned for massive blog posts that wrap up my travels across the sea.

Meaning, I'll be blogging about my recent trip to the Philippines and Hong Kong very soon! I'm super excited to go on memory lane and get all nostalgic while sifting through the thousands of photos I took during these three weeks this past July.

Firecrackin'

July 4, 2014

Photo credits: A.B.

Tank top: thrifted || Top: Old Navy || Jeans: PacSun

This was the last gathering before we headed off to the Philippines on July 6! We celebrated the U.S.'s Independence Day as usual: going over to a friend's house, gorged on the potluck dinner, walked over to the fireworks, and walked back to her house to eat some more and chill. Click to read more! vvv

Haul: Aeropostale

June 27, 2014

Photo credits: A.B.

Top: thrifted || Shorts: thrifted/DIY || Creepers: Nordstrom Rack

Today was a successful haul, and ended up coming from Aeropostale. Surprisingly, they had very simple yet fashionable crop tops that have been popular this summer. Most people I've seen get their tops from Brandy Melville, or if they were really splurging, American Apparel. Fortunately for my sister and me, they were on sale, our favorite word. Each top was only $3.99, so I ended up with three, along with some basic black workout shorts (that can double as swimming shorts). Thank goodness we waited it out and did not buy crop tops from the first store we checked out, which was at Abercrombie & Fitch.

All's Fair in Living Life

June 28, 2014

Photo credits: E.M.

It was the first time for me to attend a huge county fair (my church has its annual festival for charity, but it's much more intimate and the same local people attend every year). It was great to be let loose and run around with some of the childhood friends while the parents rested up and chatted around their overpriced festival food. Read on to see what we ended up doing the rest of the day...

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Be prepared for an onslaught of blog posts (as you can already tell, I've been QUITE behind). But don't worry, lots to share (if you are vaguely interested in my life, then here ya go)! 

Rewind, Relax, Refresh

June 24, 2014

Movie: Pumpkin

Throughout the summer, especially the first third, I spent most of it doing the things I wanted during the hectic school year: give myself countless manicures while watching one of the many films on my list, read one of the many unread books on my bookshelf, doodle, blog, take evening strolls around the park, and just breathe.  

Look Ma, I'm Famous!

June 21, 2014

Today was the only day all of the Trio+ came together and hung out (wow, the only time?!), and we had a lot of fun, in part due to helping out our friend with his Youtube video (unfortunately it's not as active as he wanted, but definitely check it out: https://www.youtube.com/user/jayrmolina)

Read on for behind the scenes of his video and our very rare hang out!

Start of the Food Trips

June 20, 2014

Just sayin', this was my life the first third of the summer. I kid you not, I probably had this everyday for a week (or two). Chipotle who?

Driving on In

June 17, 2014

I can finally check off "go to a drive-in movie" from my list of summer things to do. Guess what we watched? (Hint…the most talked about movie among teen girls). The Fault in Our Stars you say? Ding ding ding, you're the winner (the second movie was Blended)! I read the book several months before, so I was interested in seeing how the film would play out (especially since John Green played a big part on the screenwriting process). Unfortunately, we had some EXTREMELY annoying neighbors…making comments every 5 seconds throughout the WHOLE movie, and another car that blasted another theater's audio, overpowering our own audio for this movie…All that made me just turned off from drive-in movies, but I suppose I'll give this experience another try. Because of that, I definitely need to re-watch this movie because there were several moments of dialogue I could not hear, but at least the visuals weren't affected. 

At least with friends, we were able to giggle over the funny comments annoyingly coming from our neighbor.

Stuffed Sushi Stomachs

June 15, 2014

Wow, I didn't think I would ever get sick of sushi, but during this dinner, I was definitely tested. And my stomach lost. It was a very cool experience to eat sushi the more traditional way, in a closed off environment, with the table closer to the ground and shoes outside. The ambience was definitely different from eating in a regular restaurant, more like an at-home dinner experience. 

Official Taste of the Summer Days

June 14, 2014

Photo credits: L.P.

Top: school shirt || Kimono: H&M || High waisted shorts: thrifted/DIY || Shoes: Vans || Socks: Cotton On

BrandBacker: Makeup by One Direction Giveaway

Honestly, when I first heard about the new One Direction makeup line, I was skeptical. I wondered, what could they possibly sell to their beloved teen-girl-majority-fan-base? Bright pink lipstick, crazy colored eyeliner, neon eyeshadows? However, when I got my sample in the mail, I was instantly surprised and impressed with the packaging and the contents. Read on to find out what's inside and how to enter a giveaway to win your own One Direction makeup...