I’ve always been interested in the crafting aspect of life and it extends to games and fantasy worlds. I love collecting materials and ingredients and then turn them into something more valuable. I prefer a peaceful existence, distancing myself from combats and guild wars. I can picture myself living in small but beautifully crafted cottage in the forest, surrounded by huge oak trees that shield my home from extreme heat in the summer and from the strong winds brought by the chilly winter. I can hear the steady stream of flowing water from the nearby, where all kinds of magical forest creatures stop by for a drink of refreshment. Whenever the wind blows a soft whistle, it forms a wonderful melody with the rustle of leaves and the chirping of birds nested on the thick and high branches of the majestic oak trees that surround my home.

One can usually see me walking around the forest, poking and peeking on thick shrubberies and searching for ingredients I can use for my potions and crafts. I am always looking around for herbs and spices to use on the rejuvenating snacks and breads that passersby purchase for their long journeys and training. I also frequent the clearest area of the river to get the fresh cool water for my fruit juices. Novices in training love to purchase them because they’re cheaper and pack a punch even if they’re in small vials.

Passersby who are quite hungry but have no coins to spare, usually offer materials they gathered in exchange for some food and temporary shelter. I do accept these materials, especially the fabrics and threads, as well as precious stones and gems. I love to sew in the afternoons after I’ve finished all work in the kitchen, so I create comfortable and sturdy clothing that I sell to other passersby. In the weekends, I love to spend some time creating talismans from the precious stones and gems I received. I wrap each of them delicately with a silver transparent thread that I weaved from the air and water during each months full moon and attach it into a cloth neck strap that people can wear comfortably around their neck during their journey. This protects the stones from harm and allows its powers to protect its bearer each time he goes into battle.

That is how I envision my life in Taborea. Peaceful and content, thriving with happiness from the ability to do what I want. We all need a little magic in our lives, this one is mine.

I have been always drawn to digital art. It started with 2d and 3d characters on the games I played and eventually moved on with adoptables and pet site art. I still spend a lot of time browsing through finished digital artworks in DA and wonder how people can do them. I spend some time each week trying to learn more about the tools of my trade which consists of Photoshop and Paint Tool SAI. I still feel that I need to learn more and I am considering applying in a digital art school once my budget allows me to.

I found out about First Academy of Computer Arts a year or two ago through Google while was searching for a school that offered web design and PHP courses. I even went on to inquire through email about their courses back then but wasn’t able to actually attend their courses because I was still finishing school then. Last year, I learned that one of my classmates took a course there and she recommended it highly when I mentioned I was interested. I’m glad I stumbled upon their website again now that I am focusing my career into pet sites and adoptables. I find their list of courses interesting and I am highly interested with their multimedia arts offering since I would like to learn more about concept art. Here are a few examples of their students’ works:

Basically what I found is that they offer the following main courses:

3D Arts that includes 3D Modeling & Design, Texturing & Rendering, 3D Animation and 3D Effects.
Multimedia Arts that tackles Concept Art (2D), Digital Animation and Basic Motion Graphics.
Print Media which contains Graphic Design, Graphic Illustrator and Page Design & Layout.
Web Design which includes techniques in Photoshop, xHTML, CSS, and Dreamweaver.

They also offer several workshops in case you have a specific area you want to focus on. In case you are interested to find more information First Academy and their programs, you can check out their website, www.firstacademy.net or call 898 27 24 to 26 and ask for Ms. Ciel C. Luy their Marketing Manager. The school is located 2F Saville Building, 8728 Paseo de Roxas corner Sen. Gil Puyat Ave. Makati City.

Flawless is an aesthetic beauty clinic which was created in 2001 with a vision of providing superior and medically-supervised skin care treatment to its clients. Eight years later and with 32 branches nationwide, it underwent massive re-branding has emerged as a valuable beauty solution for many women and men in the country.

Picture Flawless, the search for the Forever Flawless Face and Body Center’s next endorser, was culminated at the Eivissa Bar in Tomas Morato, Quezon City where the 23 Flawless Finalists were presented to the media. The event was hosted by Butch Francisco and Tess Bomb, with a dance number performed by Flawless endorser Alyssa Alano and the finalists. Lorna Tolentino, another celebrity Flawless endorser, announced the winners of the contest.

Robert de Claro and Julieanne Arcenio the search’s first prize winners were each awarded a year-long endorsement contract, billboard and Php800,000 in cash. They are shown above with Butch Francisco, Lorna Tolentino, Rubby Sy Coyuito (Flawless CEO) & Tess Bomb.

With their tenacity, verve, and exemplifying Flawless values through and through, Aris Corrales and Doris Cheong landed the first runner-up positions, while Rafael Nanquil and Abigael Arazo grabbed the the second runner-up positions. The following finalists also received special prizes from Flawless:

Apple Seva whose common sense and bubbly personality quickly made her a crowd favourite, received the Flawlessly Photogenic award.
Jenny Regaspi who is a loyal Flawless patron and mother bagged the Forever Flawless award.
Iloilo’s Trina Espia, who is a determined and beautiful woman got Flawless Beauty Bod award.
Keina Fawaz, a gem with a big sense of humour, and plenty of intelligence and affection received the Flawlessly Witty award.
Johnru Villamor, whose loyalty integrity, sincerity, and genuine concern for others endeared him to all, was the Flawless Personality awardee.
Cebu’s Serafin Letim, who is a thoughtful and generous example of southern hospitality, took the Flawless Sweetheart award.

Images:

Keina Fawas & Robert de Claro

Jayson Ryan Sumang & Catherine Santos

Jennifer Regaspi & Eric Akhaton Eleazar

Julieanne Susie Arcenio & Paolo Antonio Jereza

Stephan Schielmann,Rubby Sy Coyuito & Rose Carmel Pagtalunan

Food was served by Bravo Ristorante Italianno.

I was in the mood to watch a movie and I wanted to watch something that had food and love as its theme. I couldn’t find anything good on cable so I thought it was a good time to use some of my funds in my iTunes account. Initially, I thought of getting “No Reservations” which starred Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart but was swayed by the reviews saying Mostly Martha (the original movie where No Reservations was based) was better.

I decided to get Mostly Martha since people thought it was good enough to have an American remake. So I waited for around half a day for my download to finish and I settled comfortably in the couch with my iPod Touch in hand. I was a little worried because someone mentioned that it was hard to read the English subtitles because it was too little and it was in yellow but I found it pleasing to the eye and easy to follow.

Martha Klein is a beautiful character. She is determined to be the best chef and is passionate about her cooking, this passion and determination makes her seem cold and oblivious to everything else. The movie started out with Martha lying in a couch talking about food with her therapist. Her therapist asks her why she goes to therapy and she says that her boss would fire her if she doesn’t. Then cue in the opening kitchen scenes where food and dining preparation is shown and it was made so beautiful you’d want to go out and eat dinner. The next scenes show the audience the reason she was sent sent to theraphy. Martha has self-control issues and is prone to outbursts whenever a customer complains about her cooking. Whenever she’s stressed, she goes into the meat locker to think clearly.

Once she’s home, she gets a call from her sister who would be visiting Martha with her daughter, Lina. You can hear from her voice that her sister is one of the few people who really knows and understands Martha. She goes to work as usual and receives a call in the kitchen where she is informed about her sister’s car accident. She then goes to the hospital to see her neice and takes her home with her until they find her Italian father. She is unable to connect comfortable with her niece especially when its time to eat. Lina hasn’t touched any of her food since her mother died and it has started to worry Martha.

Once she goes back to the restaurant, she finds out that another chef (Italian chef named, Mario) has been hired to assist in the kitchen especially because one of the kitchen staff is soon to give birth. Her control and trust issues start up again but she tries to control it especially since she has to take care of her niece.
Mario then tricks her into eating one of his cooking by pretending it was a recipe given to him by her dying mother on her deathbed and when Martha finds out, she storms back into the kitchen even more pissed at Mario. They continue on without talking much in the kitchen but then Mario confronts Martha if there was anything wrong with his work and Martha tells him its her kitchen and wont let anyone take it away from her. Mario then tells Paula that he was quitting and the only person who can decide if he would stay was Martha. She concedes and Mario stays.

Martha then enlists Mario’s help in finding Lina’s father. Martha brings Lina to the kitchen since Martha doesn’t have anyone to babysit and Mario finally gets her to eat. Martha and Lina gets into a fight when Martha forgets to pick Lina up after school so to make it up to her, Martha tells Lina she can have any wish.
Lina starts becoming close to Mario and she tells Martha her wish. Martha’s day off was spent with Mario and Lina, and for the first time you’ll see Martha really letting her guards down. The school official calls on Martha to tell her that Lina hadn’t been attending classes and that Lina has been spreading lies about Martha. They both get into a terrible fight with Lina running away from Martha. Troubles start brewing in the restaurant as well when one of Martha’s patrons call on her to praise the dish they ordered which was actually prepared by Mario.

Lina then runs away from home but gets caught in a train station buying a ticket to Italy. They finally make amends in the car and by the end of the day Martha and Mario finally gets together. The next day, Lina’s father arrives and takes her back to Italy to live with his family. Martha starts becoming cold again and pushed Mario away from her life. Mario stopped going to the kitchen and when Martha finally couldn’t focus on her cooking, she left the restaurant to ask Mario for help in getting Lina back. In the end they got married and is shown to be looking for a place which might be their own restaurant.

The movie was really good and I did enjoy it. It has replay value as well which is very important for me when purchasing movies. Its one of those good finds that I’ll be sharing with my family and friends. If you don’t have the money to get your own copy, at least rent it out from your local video stores. It’s worth it.

I figured this would be another awesome SM experience since it will be the first time I will really get to know Batangas-based bloggers (or would-be bloggers). I already met some lovely people last year when we had our WordPress Pinoy‘s EB’s when Ate Kengkay and Ate Beng came to the Philippines.

SM (or what I usually called Shoemart when I was still little) has been part of my life even before I started to go to school. I remember fondly going to SM Cubao a lot when I was little because my grandmother on my Dad’s side lived in Cubao. We’d stroll around the mall to find new toys that caught my fancy and just spend some family time together on Sundays there.

A few years passed and I started going to school in Tanauan. I always got excited when the month of May would roll by because it was time for new school supplies. It meant we would go to SM Cubao and shop for school supplies there. Then when they opened SM Southmall, shopping became easier for us because it was nearer. Dad started working in Alabang that time so we would visit him in Southridge, then we’d head off to Southmall after he was done with the things at work so we can eat and shop around.

A few years later, more malls popped and since ATC was nearer than Southmall, we’d opt going there. I missed SM by then but it was easier to go to ATC and Festival especially when the rush-hour starts. After a few more years, Robinson’s Lipa came and I was hoping we’d get an SM there as well because I grew up with SM. So when SM Lipa was opened, we were really happy that we can go there again as a family.Whenever we had extra funds, we would go out and eat together in SM. These were taken in Flavor’s of China and the other 3 ones were taken at the food court on another family bonding:

Then here are a few snapshots of our team’s get together in Yellow Cab and Greenwich early this year:

These are just part of my awesome experiences in SM malls. I have a lot more of them stored in my hard drive and my old school film photoalbums but it will take so much space. I had my birthday a couple of years ago in MOA with two of my friends and I’ve had other meet ups with blogger friends there as well apart from lunch and dinner dates with my sister.  SM has been a part of my life and will continue to do so because my life’s journey has been made more special with the memories I’ve had in SM malls.

If you haven’t seen yet this adorably sweet viral video going around the internet, you should.

I seriously love this clip. It was so sweet and cute that I was going, “Awwww!” and smiling seeing her throw a foul ball back on a Phillies game and then getting a bearhug from her Dad after. Some people might have freaked out but its really adorable how Steve Monforto hugged her daughter Emily Monforto after she threw the ball. I kind of had a feeling she would do that because children has a tendency to throw especially when given a ball. My younger siblings used to do that when given a ball when they were little.

If it weren’t for her throwing the ball back, they wouldn’t get to appear on the “Today Show“, get a ball signed by Jason Werth and get personalized Phillies jerseys from the team. Her cuteness and throwing reflex definitely paid off. Who knows she might even become a softball player in the future.

Wow. Just, WOW!

I am seriously amazed at the video for Oprah’s kickoff party. xD I saw it earlier when someone shared it through Facebook and I was really speechless while watching it. At first I thought, what’s up with the girl in front cheering madly? Then when the other people started dancing, it reminded me of that train station dance I saw in YouTube.

They said it was 2100 fans who were taught the dance a day or so before the kickoff party to surprise Oprah. If I was in Oprah’s place, I’d be very surprised too. I really am amazed at how they were able to successfully pull it off with the huge amount of people in the crowd. I think it would have been more amazing if you were personally there. I wish I was. xD

The second time I watched it, I was more observant and realized that it was practiced because the crowd wasn’t relaxed and moving with the music like one usually would when there’s a group singing/performing on the stage. Still, the whole dance was amazing.

I was just hopping around websites earlier because I was Googling Lumix LX3 which is the camera I am aching to get right now when I stumbled on A Bugged Life’s blog and seeing one of their posts mention that their friend got into the Mabuhay Guides program of the Department of Tourism which naturally upped my curiosity and made me click the link thus ending up in Carlos Celdran’s blog and finding the purpose of this blog post. I think that was a very long sentence and I’d be followed by the grammar police now…O.o

Being the curious and stalkish (yes its not a normal word..haha) person that I am, I decided to read more about it and followed all the links I can find. So what exactly is the Pacific Rim Friendship Park? Well based from Looking for Juan:

The idea is to bring together architecture and art students from different parts of the world who, together with counterpart Filipino students, will design and build a Friendship Park under the artistic supervision of leading artists, architects and urban planners – all in 30 days.

That was what they posted back in December 2007 when they announced that they were building the park in 2009. Fast forward to 2009, the project’s construction will be started next month, May, which is just a couple of weeks from today. On May 3rd, 25 students from China, South Korea, the United States, Russia, Mexico and the Philippines will be converging in Manila to leave for Palawan on the fifth. The launching of the Philippines’ Pacific Rim Friendship Park in Puerto Princesa will be on May 30.

That’s wonderful news, isn’t it? What’s even better is that they are asking for help from artists and writer’s alike to create their own original works with a theme of “What It Means to Be Filipino.” These works will be featured as well in large tarpaulin banners that will be exhibited in a public park or space aside from being exhibited in the Philippines’ Pacific Rim Friendship Park on May 30th. The used tarps will then be donated to Trashe Bolsas which is a livelihood project that creates unique and durable bags by recycling used tarpaulins.

Aside from that they are looking for someone who can help document the building of the Philippines’ Pacific Rim Friendship Park. This individual will get to spend the entire period (May 2-31) with the group to document the progress by taking pictures and videos of it as well as blog about it each day to share to the world what’s happening behind the scenes of the Philippines’ Pacific Rim Friendship Park. He/She will be able to talk and interview the participants as well as create highlights that showcase Palawan and of course the Philippines as one of the best travel destinations in the world. Although his/her main responsibility is to document the whole project, he/she is also expected to help with the building of the park’s design. This experience will enable the chosen individual meet new people, learn about new cultures and take part in a wonderful project. Now who wouldn’t want to line up for that?

If you’re worried about expenses, CANVAS will cover your plane fare from Manila to Puerto Princesa and back to Manila, your hotel stay in Manila and Palawan, board and lodging for the whole month in Palawan and a stipend of at least around P10,000. Who else can offer you that great package where:

you can meet new people
you can experience the beautiful view of Palawan for a month for free
you can get a stipend of P10k
you can add a unique experience in your resume

Just to snoop around, take pictures/videos then blog about it which you already love?

What’s the catch you might ask. There are two.

1. You need to have your own equipment such as your camera and lenses and tripod at the minimum. They may be able to lend you a laptop in case you don’t have one.
2. They prefer to see your online portfolio and blog-writing experience (and a following).

So after listening or reading to everything I’ve been blabbering about, do you think you are the Juan for it? In case you(or someone you know) might be remotely interested in this adventure, do drop them a line at info@canvas.ph.

P.S. I would apply if I had the equipment plus a following. At the moment I only have a point and shoot camera and blog-writing experience scattered around the web. Hahaha. So even if I wanted to apply, I know there are other individuals more qualified than I am based from the equipment and following alone. ^_^

This summer well-know places are making noises again such as Boracay, Palawan, Puerto Galera, Bohol and the beaches in Batangas. Taking a vacation to these spots were a no-brainer especially with the Cebu Pacific flight promos they had back in March. Who wouldn’t want to travel with those low (and I mean LOW) low rates? To those who didn’t choose to fly (well Batangas/Puerto didn’t need flying but I digress), many visited Baguio, Sagada, Vigan, Laoag and Pagudpod as well since many people like heading to the north during the Holy Week season. Even our family used to do that before.

My sister has an upcoming trip to Caramoan Island this end of April where they will also visit the CamSur Watersports Complex more known as CWC. Basically CWC is summed up in their website as:

The Camsur Watersports Comlex is the first world-class watersports complex in the Philippines and in Asia. CWC aims to bring cable skiing to a whole new level and attract watersports enthusiasts from all over the world with its top of the line facilities and relaxing environment. This six (6)-hectare complex, with its 6-point cable ski system, is sure to draw guests, riders and spectators by the thousands. Because of good weather conditions, cable skiing in the park can be done all year round.

Since my friends are a little busy this summer we have decided to go somewhere near home which is Puerto Galera. We chose May since its not as packed up as April and our schedeules only permit us to do it in May. You really can’t afford to not take a vacation in this intense heat. If you don’t have the cash to spare for out of town trips, you can simply head on to resorts near your place. To some, its not really the place but the company that makes your vacation a winner.