mirasol + sablay

Mission accomplished!

Janie and I have been itching to have a photoshoot wearing our sablay (UP's graduation sash) with the sunflowers along the university avenue as our backdrop.  Over the years, we have been wishing for a perfect schedule for the shoot but with no luck. 

Fortunately this year, the Sunflower Goddess finally gave us the green light. Yey! And this is it, our fun Sunday shoot with the "mirasol" and our sablay. :)

Cheers to realizing our little wish!

sunflower kiss! mwah! :)

three. poses. Janie.

when the bee wanders

the bee's reward

just like a dance pose

sablay sharing

keep the flame burning



the Oblation


wander: University of the Philippines
              Diliman, Quezon City

wonder:

spur of the moment

I had a great time hanging out with high school friends last weekend.

Such spur-of-the-moment chillers rarely happen as oftentimes I just eat, sleep and chat with people at home. Plus, I always feel too lazy to hang out, thinking that I need some rest as I always find myself out and about. But last weekend was different. I had the chance to attend a good friend's wedding, visit another friend's house and take home live chicken (!) and lotsa fruits courtesy of his generous mom, and of course, roam around the city with friends in search for nice bars to hang out. All in all, the experience was so hilarious and thrilling.

The cast of characters:

Jonathan - Heidi's boyfriend who was so nice to drive us around the city. From my perception, he enjoyed the night out as well as we did. :)

Heidi - My travel buddy and great friend since high school. She loves to hang out too (watch concerts, have some drinks with friends, or have sleepovers) that's why we instantly clicked. :)
Me! - explanation not needed. haha

Joy - My gradeschool best friend. Funny how we were back when we were little: writing letters to each other saying how we love each other or hate each other. But as we grow older, things have changed and I am quite surprised to see how such a grownup she has become-- work-wise, life-wise, lovelife-wise. Also, she taught me new tricks for drinking booze and playing billiards that night. And I think I did quite well. She said I am a fast learner. I told  her she's a good teacher. haha In addition, she  showed us around the city, bringing us to a good kaleskes (a quirky foodie in Dagupan) kiosk and nice bars.  That night was a great one for us to catch up. I felt so great. :)

David - Our good friend who loves to travel with us whenever he is free. He was most of the time happy and worry-free that night, I hope he will always be like that. :)

After three billiard matches, the girls' team won! Cheers to us! :)



I'd love to play billiards again with these guys.
Hopefully, the girls' team will have a second victory! haha

Grade school best friends :)

After the night out came the road trip the next day. It was another impromptu plan and everyone was up for it. So we all went home a bit early to prep for the early trip. It took us two hours to get to our destination -- Kultura Resort. The "getting there, while there and going back home" was all about fun and more fun! :)

A must-try but too bad I wore the most appropriate outfit of all.haha

Photo creds to Joy :)

wanders:

View Deck @ Quatro Grill, Dagupan City

Mugshotz Sports Bar & Restaurant, Dagupan City

Kultura Resort: Km. 21 Marcos Highway, Brgy. Cares, Pugo, La Union

wonder:

 

a teacher's perception

Last week, my class with these students came to an end. I had 6 weeks of intensive English training with them and it was most of the time, "interesting" (Johnny -my student from Thailand, 2013). As they are from different countries -- Thailand, Brazil, Vietnam, Korea, Japan-- the cultural diversity is very rich, adding up to the dynamism of the interaction. They shared many things about their cultures during the class and even during breaks, making almost everyone feel awe as they had new discoveries about each other's cultures. For sure, misunderstandings (or non-understandings), confusions and disagreements existed, but at the end of the day, I could observe that these people showed respect, consideration and patience towards each other.  

Moreover, not only was the class dynamic and diverse,  but it is also enriching since it  provided me an opportunity to erich my love for travelling, in a virtual way. I did not have to book a flight to go to their respective countries and experience their cultures. By their mere presence in the classroom, I was able to explore different preferences, ideologies, behaviors and traits, social relations and the like all influenced and shaped by their respective cultures.

I have been teaching international students for many years now and it has always been a great experience. All the exchanges, differences, misunderstandings, and adventures in meeting learners of diverse backgrounds make my teaching experience thrilling, challenging and ofcourse, rewarding.


virtual wanders: Thailand, Brazil, Vietnam, Korea, Japan
wonder:

I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides
and my windows to be stifled.
I want all the cultures of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible.
But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.
-Mohandas K. Gandhi

birthday trek

It was a fun, exciting, challenging and blissful birthday!

I'd love to do some more adventures as such every year!

More details of my birthday trek soon! :)

must-have: an herb garden

I haven't checked if I inherited mom's green thumb. I am that lazy-busy kind of person.  But if I did and I had some time, I'd like to have a healthy little herb garden. I think it would not take much of my time, it's more like making time for it. Also, I think if I did have my own garden, it would make me more responsible for I would have little baby herbs to care for. :)

beautiful April!

This month of April started with a lot of beautiful surprises and I can't help but feel so happy and satisfied.
I have chosen top 4 items and let me share them with you:

1. I finished my final course work and earned a satisfactory grade. I am so glad that this unfinished business is finally done. It was quite a struggle and finally I am over and done with it. Yehey!

2. Although it was hard juggling my graduate school, two jobs and travels, I was able to pull everything off with success. I was never late nor absent at work. I attended my Saturday graduate school class despite some temptations to just skip it, hang out or rest. In addition, I had the chance to travel to three destinations during the semester. Everytime I look back at the previous months and how I did all of them, I am in awe. I am happy I was able to manage quite well all these things in my life.

3. As a consequence of Item no.1, I will then start preparing for a big exam. It's not something I look forward to but I have to go through it. It's the first of the three final steps in order to complete my graduate school and finally bring home an MA degree. I am happy I will be taking this first step, despite feeling butterflies in my tummy. haha

4. I am turning a year older on the 9th. Though I know I look younger than my age (haha), I feel like I have gained wisdom from my travel experiences, interactions with people around me and reflections from the things that have happened in my life over the years.

I am glad to have safe and fun travels around the Philippines and even in Asia with my family and good friends. My itchy soles have brought me to places that made me see life outside the box, as my blog's name says. I learned to adapt, be resourceful, be street-smart, be alert and most especially be frugal (in a good way).  :)

Also, as I improve my social skills and open my heart a little bit more to others, I gained more friends (great ones I should say) and they helped me soften my "heart of stone" and become less apathetic.

Further, my life is no bed of roses. I had a lot of struggles, disappointments and heartbreaks and it was difficult to cope sometimes. But because of great people around me who never left my side and cheered me on, I realized that I should keep moving and continue striving to make things happen.


All in all, there's a lot of great things to look forward to, not only this month, but also for the months and years to come. But it feels good to take a step back and reflect on my life experiences so that my moving forward will bring more essence and wisdom.