A Travelogue Notebook

I hate travelling. Not because I don't like to experience new culture or be illumined by new destinations. It's the travelling itself that kills me: We don't have the luxury of owning a car so wherever I go, I have to commute. But the prospects of going distances, experiencing wide, open spaces excite me. And I am such a sentimental baby. I love to collect trinkets, tags and what nots on every place I go. My old box from Papemelroti was filled to the brim with bric a bracs and I feared that when a certain madness creeps into me, I might burst them into flames.

So, when I have found out about A Beautiful Mess- a lifestyle blog by Elise Larson ( cool girl, dammit!) and her feature on travel journal, I know I just have to do it. Basic things to have, a notebook, a roll of tape and ounces of creativity thrown in!

See. I even print-screen the whole page!

I'll post the progress of my Travelogue Notebook soon!

Xoxo,

Ryan

Maids in Manhattan

Wednesday. Day off. Our amos were good enough to send us out. They invited friends straight from the Social Registry from last night and they all want to linger on. So out the two maids. One has a prominent temple. The other has the hair strewn from a nearby corn farm. One has the bulk of a good book, the other has the skins of fairy tale heroines. They were linked to highly profiled lives. They led lives that shrieked to be profiled.

Joke.

You might think, the write up is taken squarely from a diary of a well-heeled social climber ( but on hindsight, you will think so, hehe), but it's not. It is purely a chronicle in the lives of two ordinary wo( men) and their extraordinary urges walking under broad daylight, snapping pictures here and there, and having loads of fun!

We arrived there at an early time, all the stores were still hibernating!

A Bonifacio High Street flag sign ( ie. Lakas Maka Sosyal!)

A Bonifacio High Street landmark in bed of I-don't know-but-it's fetchin'- shrubs

We so looked like some hitchhike travelers from nowhere but we are lovin the anonymity! We don't care if the resting construction workers of  Avida Condos stared at us, because, anyway, when you're young and beautiful, you will not care a bit! ( Disclaimer: some of my words failed The Honesty Test!)

Ever the vegan, my friend Rizza channeled her inner Heidi Klum

I cajoled Rizza to be my company for this self-dubbed ' April Highlight' and guess what! She OK-ed with it!

How come my photo op here looked pixellated when zoomed! Talk about sabotage!, I  pondered the white line in the middle of the road and watched it crawl! Magical Realism ang peg ko!

I really admired how they maintained the greens everywhere. The Trellis in Part 1, 2, 3..

Rizza with her wind-blown hair below a festival of green

Trailing vines, extending hand

I'm more of a telegenic! The trellis reminds me of a vineyard in Tuscany I've seen from Conde Nast Traveller

Rizza is turning Korean

What happens if you combine an industrial view and a stunning view?  Sword with a sensuality of silk!

Rizza is fixated with this portal

The woman with a thing for astronaut

If this ain't the battle of the bulges, I don't know what it is. FYI, an astronaut suit is refuted to be so expensive it defied gravity! FYI2, horizontal stripes can make you look fat. I'll take  that, next time!

A tiptoe here. A tiptoe there. Repeat the mantra

My ANTM bend

As Tyra Banks would say ' embrace the sun!

4

I told Reese it would look cinematic if I jumped aboard rather than this lazy pose

Reese: The Fly Girl

That's not a stick of cocaine, it's a Watson mint strip

Now, that's High End!

Real wall wear pink ( LOL) Reese is a club princess

I love the waterworks

Lurve the contrasting textures: the curls, the fauz chokers, the fur, Divine Lee and paradisaical leaves 

My Icon of the Month: The Divine Lee. I wish my face could be more matte-finished!

These maids were trained by their amos how to use the DigiCam. Badly and recurrent.

3

Does my ball look tired?

Turbo-charged Reese

You might think that this blog is narcissistic by nature because our beautiful faces are plastered all over the place, please not. Some of the stores that our amos went into were also zoomed in, por in caso they read my post!

But the real score of this trip aside from breaking away from the domesticated stress is to visit my favorite store in all the world, Fully Booked. It's more of like Confessions of the Bookaholics!

All the letters came out of my gargantuan mouth! Lol!

3

And this woman just messed with it!

I'm so disappointed because we were not allowed to take pictures inside the store. I will make sure I'll empty bat Reese's DigiCam. I was most contented reading nalang what caught my fancy including

and

I wish I could buy the whole store! These books alone cost 1500! Di ko sya keri! at all. I could only afford to look up and read!

This starts my bucket list on what mall should I go the next time this itch takes! I'm more of a mall goer than everywhere else. I dunno, I love to look at people walking. No, not to stalk them but to observe gestures. It's a writing thing daw.

I super enjoyed this trip Reese. I'm looking forward for many more. 

 So true. Sob :(

Xoxo,

Ryan

 

Charlie's Mix Tape

Mixtapes are hoots nowadays. Everybody's doing it. In ' The Perks of being a Wallflower'- that introspective book about the wonders of silence, well, near silence, Charlie listed down the songs that make him feel infinite.

                               

Asleep- The Smiths, Vapour Trail- Ride, Scarborough Fair- Simon & Garfunkel, A Whiter Shade of Pale- Procol Harum,     Time of No Reply- Nick Drake,   Dear Prudence- The Beatles,    Gypsy- Suzanne Vega,   Nights in White Satin- the Moody Blues  , Daydream- Smashing Pumpkins, Dusk- Genesis, MLK- U2, Blackbird-The Beatles and Landslide- Fleetwood Mac

                    

I'll be making my own mixtapes soon. A hodgepodge of all the feminist songs I have the pleasure to listen too in all the years of appreciating Good Music. I wish I can figure out how to make beautiful album cover because I'm such a hopeless case in Photoshop. 

Xoxo,

Ryan

Sparks Fly

Zac Efron and some indistinct girl hit the theaters soon in the nearby movie houses. The question would be is     ' Are you gonna watch it ? My answer is no. I have read the book already. In fact, it's the very first gift that I received from my brother, together with Ricky Lee's Para Kay B and as much as I want to, every time there is a new film based on the novels of my favorite Nicholas Sparks, I felt compelled to dislike it ( except The Notebook and A walk to remember). 

I'm in love with Nicholas ( lakas maka close). From the very first book that I've read from him which is A Walk to Remember to the tears I've gushed from The Notebook to the constant search for his memoir Two Weeks with my Brother, I have been telling anyone who'l listen that at least read one Nicholas Sparks book and you will have renewed sensibility about the complexities of the crazy thing called Love.

Sparks on a roll. My dog-eared copies of his novels. ( not in the picture:

A Walk to Remember, The Rescue, The Wedding and The Last Song)

My Nicholas Sparks bucket list:

* The Notebook

* A Bend in the Road

* Three Weeks with my Brother

* True Believer

* Dear John

* The Best of Me

For complete information on anything Sparks, visit his website

Xoxo,

Ryan

A Patch of Sky

         There is a corner in our house where you could frame high heavens. It's actually the place where our daily roundup of laundry is done, also the ' pissing' place when the nearby loo ( brits lang!) is occupied. When it's sunny all over, a shaft of light cascades down, when the rain pours, drizzle sprays like April baby showers!

Sometimes, the weather update from my own sliver of sky is reputable than those of PAGASA. ( lol)

Xoxo,

Ryan

A Matter of Appeal

To some, this is a near-pathetic case. Appealing to some to gain more, but I have to do it once and for all.

1. To all those who viewed my blog either accidentally or intentional, either by StumbleUpon.com or some channel blog surfing, please leave a comment. I would be too happy to give you credit. And follow your opinion on what can I do to make my blog so much better.

Maraming Salamat/ Thank You.

   Xoxo, 

Ryan

Bloggers' Essentials

image from Apple.com

and

image from http://www.itechnews.net

Xoxo,

Ryan

Me Time via Mary Kay

I'm a sucker for inspirational stories. There are loads of those in a regular Chicken Soup for the Soul book. Even if that stoke the ire of my Journ. teacher back in college. You should graduate from those stuff, he'll tell me and I just rolled my eyes, because I couldn't stomach reading the travails of  Imperial families. When the time comes that such family would be looking for an heir to a throne, count me out not to care a bit. ( lol) 

So, reading about a certain Mary Kay Ash could not be helped. Her experiences are one helluva ride of trials and predilections and she survived those, winning the admiration from women, and men alike, the world over.  More of her inspiring story from a Wikipedia entry here.

One day, on my way to school, I noticed changes from my colleagues. Their faces become fairer, smoother to a sheen.I marveled at how they look and they pointed out the product. Mary Kay. And wheels started to turn.

When a new friend ( which so feels like an old one, because of how loud she could be and like so me) introduced the product, I felt skeptical. First, the pricing bordered on the ridiculous, but when she started telling me tales about how little amount is used every time you slather this and that to your face et.al, my skepticism flew and today I am a certified Mary Kay disciple. 

I have three Mary Kay products and I felt like am breaking the bank, looking so fab and fetchin'. 

         This foundation works like a dream. With just a little dab on your

       face key chakras points, smear it using your beauty finger ( ie.ring 

       finger) for a matte-finish look without the ewwness of oil. You will 

       not appear like the man/ woman with a petroleum issue. 

   

 Featuring the crisp scent of Lotus and Bamboo and the beneficial extracts of blue lotus and passion flower, the spritzer is 2 in 1 marvel. It could work as a perfume and a deodorizer. 

Disclaimer:

 Before you use it, remind yourself how costly this thing was and you would just be content with 2 or 3 spritzes daily. But, believe me, you'll bite your tongue when that super clean smell reached your nostrils. 

This gentle, aromatic piece of heaven on earth features a fusion of skin-smoothing botanicals including bits of natural loofah fiber, bamboo powder and kiwi seeds. This is a gourmet for the body!

Beauty Triumvirate. Mary Kays aplenty.

PS.

I wish I could receive the limited edition note bag from my friend. I'll be happy to post it in my next blog entry.
Done! 

Xoxo,

Ryan

Breathing Books

My ultimate dream is actually to be featured in Hoarders. That American show that caters to collector-sociopath in us. 

Before, I really loved collecting key chains from all places in the country and the globe. My aunt from Japan sent me most of those delightful thingies, but when I moved to Antipolo, I sort of forgotten to add more to my collections. Notwithstanding the fact that I left huge of those back in the province.

 My student gave me this:

from St. Thomas, U.S Virgin Islands

So, I had my attention set on the books. If you have been following this blog ( if not, humor me), you will know that most of my posts are dedicated to the power of books to arrest, disarm and to take you to places. And you know my door will give you the reason why.

Ever wonder why it's 'R'. Guesses. Guesses. This is 

achieved by inter-connecting my little books jackets. 

The books to my name are budget-friendly. I only go to FullyBooked and Powerbooks when I am feeling rich and that happens once in a blue moon. So, if all the Booksale outlets in all the reach of metro had an attendance sheet everytime I go( or squat, or sniff), I might have been The Best in Attendance!

P.S

 The photos have grainy qualities because I've taken it with my cellphone camera. More of my collections in the next post.

Xoxo,

Ryan