Canon S100′s Movie Digest Feature

Here’s a short preview of my recent long weekend trip with Jojo and his team. This is what I’d like to call an accidental editing. Why? Because of Canon s100’s Movie Digest Feature. I didn’t know what the Movie Digest Feature could do but when I got home and transferred my photos and videos to my laptop, the Movie Digest Feature apparently records a few seconds of the photos you take to record instances for the day. It’s one awesome feature I will surely use often in the future. But don’t worry, Flip, I will still use you.

Music: Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap from the 500 Days of Summer OST (I do not own this)

P.S. Please don’t get tired of me saying I love my camera. Because I do.

Kung Hei Fat Choi!

I am currently writing/typing in my ipod touch. And I am somewhere down south for a teambuilding (nope, not my company’s teambuilding). Sorry for the typos.

I like the fact how relaxing this weekend is gonna be. And I am pretty excited too about this year’s travel plans. It’s all about travel, travel, travel.

If you’re someone who is always stressed at work or who has as very stressful working environment, i highly suggest travelling. It helps relax the mind. Yes the travelling part (the road trip, plane hours) is somehow tiring but when you reach your destination, it is worth it. Besides, road trips are fun when you’re with the people you love!

It’s healthy to get away from the busy streets of the city and seek the peace in the provinces. It’s healthy to free your mind and relax a little. It’s definitely healthy to breathe in fresh air and bathe in sunlight!

And that is my to do’s this weekend. To enjoy it to bits. You should too!

My New Baby

So I got my new S100 last night. Weeee! I haven’t explored it yet because I’m too occupied with work (yet I still have time to blog about it) but I am so excited to use it!

I MIGHT post a review of it soon. One item crossed out in my resolution! Yay!

Au Revoir

I hate goodbyes. I am so bad at it. I don’t know how to properly act. I don’t know if it’s okay to cry when the one leaving isn’t even tearing up.

Last January 13, I spent the night (well, just dinner time) with my Digicon Family. Mommy Joh cooked another incredible (and her last) dinner for all of us. Beefsteak, Liempo, buttered corn (my favorite. It’s very easy to please me, really), Caesar Salad, Chicken Lollipops, and Carbonara. Yummehh.

Commercial: Why ‘mommy’?

We all came from a productions organization in DLSU – Green Media Group. And it has been a tradition to call our… elders… or those who already graduated ‘mommies’ or ‘daddies’ (not so much for the daddies). It’s a similar concept to how Filipinos call older people ‘ate’ or ‘kuya’. Only this time, we treat each other as families.

A more sensible explanation is: those who are part of the Executive Board and the Pool Heads were given their own babies at the start of the year. Because our org is big (ranging from 40-90 members), we have to divide the work to everyone, assign ‘babies’ to text for updates, announcements etc. Therefore the ‘mommy’

Going back: Over dinner, we watched The Little Mermaid, to commemorate the recent play that we watched (one of the mommies bought a show and we all watched) and ate and ate and ate. Then a video presentation followed. While watching, it hit me — that Mommy Joh will be leaving, and that night will be the last my time to see her. And 5 minutes into the video, I learned so much about this situation:

• You learn how to let go
• People learn how to move on, not just once in their lifetime
• You learn how to grow and mature on your own given these situations
• You learn how to understand
• You become selfless
• You learn how to accept
• You become stronger
• You learn how to LOVE more

I hate saying goodbyes. I hate seeing people leave. I have this emotional attachment to people whom I’ve gotten close with. But with Mommy Joh’s new life in New York, I realized that it’s okay to be left behind. I realized that it’s okay to leave. Because it’s just another chapter in your life waiting to be read out loud!

Mommy Joh, I will always miss you. The nerdy moments we shared, your OC-ness, your knowledge and experiences, your courage which I admire the most, and the learnings I get every time we’re together – I will always remember them. I will always remember the stories you told me the first time I shared the room with you in my first out-of-town trip/work with Digicon. May you create more memories and stories to share with me, with us the next time we meet. I love you!

Officially Welcoming 2012

(This is going to be a long post. Read with caution hehe)

I seriously believe that the world will end in 2012. No offense to others, but I just like to believe that this event I saw in a movie will happen to convince myself to take chances, do things, explore new places and see new faces this year. And well, do my resolutions. Have you written down yours? Well, mine is longer than last year. But before we go there, let me have this opportunity to go over very special events and highlights last year that kept me sane and crazy at the same time. These are the events and opportunities that I am very much thankful for I know I’m a few days late but hey, it’s now or never right?

2011 HIGHLIGHTS:

• watched more movies in theaters in 2011 than in 2010
• finally applied for post-paid
• more dates with friends
• watched more K-Dramas
• colored my hair + side bangs:

• full bangs :

• KOREA TRIP <3

• BOLINAO for work

• BOLINAO for play

• 2NE1′s The Party

• cute and flirtatious moments with C-Barista

• SINGAPORE

• my brother finished school

(Where are our pictures???)

• CEBU, CDO for work/play (more raket with Digicon Family)

• actually FISHED during Christmas break

• Christmas parties

• BORACAY <3

Here’s a video made by my good friend Kizia about our group’s 2011 highlights:

Remembering these moments made me realize how much I’ve accomplished last year. It’s funny because I remember telling myself “You’ve been so busy with work, you don’t have time for yourself, your friends or family” but just by looking at these, who’s kidding who?

So based on these accomplishments, I came up with my resolutions for 2012. But here’s a summary of it:

• SAVE. Save up for the future!
• SHARE. Help others. Share happiness. Share knowledge.
• TRAVEL. Take every opportunity for travelling. See the world.
• LEARN. Learn a new dance. Learn a new language. Read more books. Learn to be more girly.
• LIVE. Be healthy! Be happy! Update personal journal. Create a travel journal.

It’s basically the same as last year, only it’s more detailed this time (it’s written in my journal. If you want a full list, let me know! haha!).

I feel good about the coming days. I am looking forward to experiencing 2012. And I can’t wait to experience 2012 with a blast!

Let’s Travel the World

2012 is the year for travelling!

During the start of the year, I promised myself that I wouldn’t miss any opportunity f0r travelling. And to officially start this ultimate promise to myself, here is today’s official favorite photo from our trip last year to Seoul, South Korea. <3

Will put more travel stories soon. I’ll just have to write a decent entry (and edit photos) (and edit videos).

I confess that I am a K-drama addict

Yes. Yes. You got me. More than 5 years ago now, I’ve been watching Korean Dramas since they started airing on national TV. And up until now, whenever I get my hands on some show, I can’t help but watch episodes continuously and sleep very very late.

And this is how I celebrated New Year: by finishing Scent of a Woman (SBS, 2011) starring Kim Sun-A and Lee Dong Wook.

(Fact: Lee Dong Wook went to the Philippines in 2006.)

So anyway, since I was crying non-stop for almost 2 hours earlier, I decided to make a not-so-decent review about Scent of a Woman. (This was also Lee Dong Wook’s first drama right after he finished his military service. Fan much??)

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THE STORY

The story is like A Walk To Remember by Nicholas Sparks.

Lee Yeon Jae (played by Kim Sun-A) learns she has Gallbladder Cancer and that surgery is not anymore an option. She resigns from her job, flies to Okinawa, assuming that it’s her first and last trip before she dies. During her vacation, she meets her ex-company’s Department Head, Gang Ji Uk (played by Lee Dong Wook) and fate brings two good-looking Koreans together.

Coincidentally, her attending physician,  Dr. Chae Eun Suk (played by Uhm Ki-Joon) is a classmate from primary school (that’s almost 25 years ago) who eventually realizes that he’s been in love with likes her ever since their childhood days.

To complete the love square, and to make the story more interesting, here comes Im Se Gyeong (played by Seo Hyo Rim) who is the daughter of a big credit card (?) company. Gang Ji Uk and Im Se Gyeong are soon to be wed so the rich people (aka Ji Uk’s father, Se Gyeong and her father) are giving our Yeon Jae a hard time.

The drama is about how Lee Yeon Jae tries to cherish her remaining days with the people she loves and by doing the things she wants to experience before she dies.

It’s basically about love, life and all the grays in between.

So you see how it’s similar to A Walk to Remember?

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THIS DRAMA:

- TRAVEL. LIFE. BUCKET LIST. CANCER. I can totally relate. Not that I have cancer but I know someone who did. The ‘A Walk to Remember’ similarity hit me an hour AFTER I finished the whole drama. You can see the similarity but you won’t even notice it’s there. ) Another fantastic twist to the world of K-dramas.

- LEE YEON JAE. I like how she handled her situation well. It must have been a stab in the chest to know that you’ve got 6 months left to live, but she handled the situation very well. All the courage she kept inside for a long time, she took it all out, resigned from her job, talked back to the people who looks down on her and traveled on her own. Oh I also like how the other characters, the people around her handled her situation. Yes they pity her, but hope is what they bring her. They keep her alive at heart. And Kim Sun-A is a very talented actress. I have always loved her and up to now, she is still amazing.

- THAT THIS IS NOT ANOTHER “WOMAN FALLS IN LOVE WITH THE MAN, AT THE LAST EPISODE, MAN REALIZES HE LOVES HER TOO, BOOM, HAPPY ENDING.” I know I haven’t seen that many dramas but the story line is new to me!

- TOURIST SPOTS. I love how K-Dramas continue to promote Korea as one of the top tourist destinations in the world. How can you not resist the Banpo bridge, Wando Island, Jeju Island? And well, they also shot in Okinawa, but hey, they did another amazing job at this!

- CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. Hats off to the writer, No Jil-Su and the director, Park Hyung-Ki (I’m thinking of watching their 2010 drama called Dr. Champ. Is it any good as this one?). I fully support what they did to the development of the characters. Not only to the main character Yeon Jae (how she transformed from a low-life, verbally abused and sexually harrased employee to a free person who stands up for what she truly believes in) but also to the rest of the characters.

- HOW THE STORY SHOWS THAT LIFE IS INDEED BEAUTIFUL AND THAT YOU SHOULD CHERISH IT EVERY DAY. 

- SOUNDTRACK.

- KISSING SCENES. ayyyiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. I don’t want to spoil you, so you should watch!

- LEE DONG WOOK. I don’t need to elaborate this. <3

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE ABOUT THIS DRAMA:

- too many flashbacks. Example- First scene. We see Yeon Jae talking to another patient. Their conversation will end. Second scene – We see Yeon Jae in her room, staring at the window. Flashback of the previous conversation. Only this time, the patient is telling her more than what she already did in the previous scene.

I think they edited it this way so that the two-shot/talking scene won’t be too draggin. But… Come on, I think we can handle a few more minutes of their conversation, instead of making it a flashback.

- Seo Hyo-Rim and her eyebrows. Don’t get me wrong here. I love her. She’s really an effective actress. She’s great. I hate her so much in the series because she’s really annoying, thus making her an effective actress. But every time the scene cuts to her close up, my eyes go to her eyebrows. She should at least pluck a little. >_<

- … no. Nothing. I don’t have a third item. That’s it.

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Overall, I highly recommend this drama (MY NEW FAVORITE). The drama, comedy and aegyo of this show blends well together. 5 out of 5 stars!

Happy 2012!

Made a short video of the first 20 minutes of 2012:

Music was blasting through our neighbors’ speakers (the house right in front of us was playing okay/great music – OMG, Party Rock Anthem etc., but the other, almost 3 houses away from us was playing some kind of a Christmas remix of Waka-waka, Beautiful life etc with Jingle bells, Auld Lang Syne – I can’t really understand why it has to be that way) and my siblings and I got carried away especially with the Party Rock Anthem. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to see them dance clearly but you can still see their outlines. hehe. We ended up doing a demonstration of the weirdest, funniest and coolest dance moves we’ve seen during our gimiks and trips to Boracay, Korea and whatever we saw on Youtube.

HAVE A GREAT YEAR AHEAD EVERYONE!