2016, Unwrapped.

3:38 PM Unknown 0 Comments



I can't believe 2016 is over and it's officially time for a new year. I'm currently trying to write this as I mend a cold because I really want to publish one last post before the year ends. 2016. This year has been wonderful.  Here's a list of some of my best times this year:

1. I flew back to the Philippines for the first time after 15 years.
     I will be the first to admit that I didn't plan on returning to the Philippines any time before 2016. However, as soon as my mom asked me if I wanted to go back, I couldn't say no. Although it wasn't for the happiest reasons, it's another memory I'm glad I can cherish and remember. Before February 2016, I had cousins I knew of but never met. I definitely don't regret the opportunity to meet them and spend time with them.

2. I went to New York for the first time and fell in love with the city.
   Anyone who knows me knows how much of a city girl I am and how long I've wanted to go to New York. So it came as no surprise when I texted my parents during class hours my flight itinerary and with the caption "I'm going to New York for spring break!" I remember being in class and somehow ended up going through different flights to New York then with no hesitation booked tickets to NY I liked.

3. I graduated from university!
    My four years in college are some of the best years of my life. I learned how to be responsible. I learned how to handle the consequences of my decisions and live with my decisions. I learned how to take care of me and take chances. I learned how to stand behind my beliefs. But above all, I learned the importance of education. I met some of my closest friends at CSULA and made some of my favorite memories on and off campus.

4. I went sky diving in celebration of my 22nd birthday.
    Sky diving is listed as #59 on my bucket list. The story behind me going sky diving is kind of funny- My brother's girlfriend at the time was speaking to my mom and my mom was telling her of a story of the time I tried jumping of our house's staircase cause I wanted to fly. After hearing the story again, it sparked the idea in me. I ended up researching skydiving places by LA, called a few, then picked my favorite. I will definitely be going again.

5. Spent a weekend on a cruise to Mexico.
    The first time I went on a cruise I was 15. Going on a cruise to Mexico at 22 with some of my friends is a lot different than going at 15. We spent the weekend having fun, enjoying the city, and being in the middle of the ocean.

6. I went to Hawaii for the first time and fell more in love with the ocean.
     In February, my brother asked me, "Want to go to Hawaii with me for my 21st birthday?" Who says no to Hawaii? I spent one of the best weeks of my life eating cups of shaved ice, getting sun burnt, and living out my inner islander self. I checked "Learn to surf" and "Drive a convertible" off my bucket list. I even missed a flight for the first time and swam in the ocean after years of avoiding the Pacific ocean.

7. I got my first full-time job.
    There came a point after graduating when I stopped applying for jobs cause I was tired of sending out my resume and writing cover letters for people who may have never read them. However, the job I have now, was definitely worth waiting for. I work with some of the most humble and caring people I have the pleasure of being around with on a daily basis.

8. My family took a spontaneous trip up to San Francisco in celebration of my mom's birthday.
   There are 5 members in my immediate family- dad, mom, me, and my two younger brothers. Have us all in the same room and we either get along really well, or we end up disagreeing/bickering/arguing. However, our spontaneous trip up north went really well. I'm pretty sure each of us were surprised of how much fun we had with just each others' company.

9. My family moved.
   Lastly, this year gave my family a new beginning. A new house- a new home. A new place to make memories. For years we lived around the same neighborhood and now we've moved the furthest away from the streets I used to call home. I'm no longer walking distance from my favorite coffee shop and can no longer take my favorite running route. However, I'm excited for what 2017 has in store for our new home in our new area.

This year allowed me to learn and grow. I traveled more than I ever thought I would in one year. I made new friends I'm great to call friends and grew closer to other friends. I allowed myself to be vulnerable. I allowed myself to be raw. I allowed myself to be real. And although it scares me more than anything to stay vulnerable, I allowed myself to feel- feel hurt but also feel and accept the love others give. I conquered some of my fears. I opened up myself to different opportunities and choices. I've learned so much more about love and loss this past year. I overcame so many challenges but accomplished more than I could ever imagine. Not only did I learn more about myself, but I learned how and who I am in chaos and during celebrations. I learned to cherish the good but also rejoice in the bad. I can't even express how grateful I am to my family for their support and love. As tradition, I've personally thanked individuals who've helped me along the year because without any of my family and friends, I wouldn't be as happy as I am alone. So here I am, saying thank you, to you. Thanks for reading my posts, answering my calls, and/or replying to my texts - whoever you are. I hope you take the time to reflect on how much you are blessed with this year because everything happens for a reason, and you never know... maybe next year will be your year to shine. After all, the best wave of your life is still out there.

I hope you all have an amazing weekend and I wish you all a year full of love, peace, and happiness for 2017!


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2016,

Chasing the Sun: My Hawaiian Dream

4:00 PM Unknown 0 Comments



Hello everyone!

Here I am presenting to you the last summer adventure for my Chasing the Sun summer series! For Labor Day weekend, my brother and our friends took a trip to Hawaii. We planned it in February since it's my brother's birthday weekend and it was one of the best decision I've ever made. As soon as August hit I was always looking at my calendar to countdown to the day our flight would leave. The sooner August 31st came, the more excited I got. Prior to our trip, the four of us (Ranie, Melanie, Ashley, and I) purchased things we thought we'd need for the adventures we planned. We bought snorkeling gear, aqua shoes, and bathing suits (because you can never have too many). We packed our stuff and at 5 am of August 31st, we left our homes to head to LAX.

After checking in, going through TSA, we headed to our gate, and guess what... Lemonade was right next to it! It was only 6am but they were serving breakfast so we bought food. That totally made my morning. When it was time to board, Melanie noticed that Bretman Rock was on the same flight (she and Ashley are big fans), so that was cool to see. We boarded our plane, took off, and waited 5 long hours to start our long weekend. Every time I fly, I specifically request a window seat because I love looking out the window. I always look at the flight tracker just to see where the plane is on the map. When I saw that we were only 14 minutes until touchdown, I open the window and see Hawaiian land right beneath us. Let's just all agree, that when it comes to flying, there's nothing that beats airplane views.

The moment we step off the plane, humidity and heat immediately embrace us. That was the weather all week long. We get out the airport and after trying to decide whether or not we should take a Lyft/Uber, shuttle, or cab to our hotel, we call a cab company. We get to our hotel around 1:30 pm, but check-in wasn't until 3pm. However, we needed to buy tickets for a dinner cruise for the night of my brother's birthday, so I ask one of the employees at the front desk if we can use the computers since we couldn't check-in. However, the woman (Anna) was able to check in us early. She gave us our key cards and we headed up to our hotel room. We unloaded our stuff and looked around the hotel. After awhile, we all agreed that we wanted to get food so we went back downstairs and I talked to Anna about her favorite spots to eat. She recommended a place and our group decided to walk there. There was a hurricane that was heading towards the Big Island so the moment we walked out our hotel it was really windy. We ate and then went back to our hotel room. It took us a long time to find a place to eat and when we got back to our hotel it was already evening. We decided to spend the night swimming in our hotel room because we knew we weren't going to do it any other day. Soon after we finished swimming jetlag took a quick toll on all of us. Around 9 pm, we were all pretty tired from the traveling so we grabbed a quick dinner then called it a night.

Thursday, September 1, we woke up early and went to a McDonalds. My mom and her best friend both recommended going there for breakfast because they had a different menu, so we took their advice and had it for breakfast. They served spam, rice, and egg for breakfast. I stuck with pancakes and eggs. Afterwards, we went to the car dealership we made reservations at and retrieved our car. When it was time to get a car, I asked the guy if they had any upgrades for a jeep. He said, "No, but I can upgrade you to a convertible." Ranie, Melanie, Ashley, and I looked at each other and silently all agreed we'd be renting a convertible for the day. We were all stoked. Although the car was signed under my name, of course we'd be taking turns driving it! We hopped in the car and I drove us up to North Shore.

On the way to North Shore, we didn't really have any plans on where we were going or which places we'd be visiting so we looked at a map and then just pointed to a random place. We first stopped at a random beach by Haleiwa. The water was calm and nice so we took the time to take pictures. We grabbed lunch at Giovanni's Shrimp Truck, then kept on driving. We ended up at Pupukea. We looked around for a while then got back in the car. Next, we went to Waimea Bay, made a pit stop for a restroom break and saw peacocks and chickens walking around everywhere. We stopped at Sunset Beach and Kawela Bay. The more north we got, the harder the waves were. Due to the hurricane, the waves were a lot harder than we expected. After making one more stop around Laie, we decided to just spend the rest of the afternoon at Lanikai Beach. (I have to admit, prior to our trip, all our family and friends recommended that we go to Lanikai beach because it's their favorite. After going there for myself, I'll give in and say it's definitely one of my favorites too). At 15 years old, I decided that I no longer wanted to swim in the ocean along the SoCal coast. But I couldn’t hold back from getting in the Hawaiian waters. It felt so good to swim in the ocean again, especially because I grew up spending my summers swimming (in pools and in the ocean). Once the sun began to set, we decided to go back to Waikiki. After struggling to look for parking and deciding if we should rent the car for another day, we decided to return it since we wanted to stay in Waikiki the following day. After showering did I notice that my body got sunburned from riding with the top down the whole day.

Lanikai Beach, HI
For Friday, September 2, we originally planned to go hiking. However, after waking up later than we expected, we got ready (ready as in put on a bathing suit and a cover up) then headed out. We went downstairs and bought tickets for my brother's dinner cruise, and decided we'd go snorkeling. The guy recommended we should just stay at Waikiki beach, so that's where we went. Melanie can swim, but she can't swim at the deep... after taking photos and messing around the shallow waters, Ranie, Ashley, and I swam further out with our snorkeling gear and saw fishes! It's on my bucket list (number #77) to go snorkeling and scubadiving, so I was glad to cross half of it out (I have to scuba sometime). Later on, we got lunch at one of the places nearby that had food trucks. Throughout the trip, my brother asked that we try as many Shaved Ice places as we could. He looked up one nearby and we walked until we found it. Later do we notice that it was quite further than we expected. We got some on our first day and had more this day. Afterwards, we walked into an ABC store and Melanie bought a floating tube so she can head out to the deep waters with us and go snorkeling. We walked back to the beach, inflated the tube, and got in the water again. We went snorkeling all together and swam until sunset. That night, my brother wanted to grab dinner at Cheesecake Factory. When we called to make reservations, we had to be there and it was an hour wait. We called CPK and we were able to make reservations on the phone and got ready. Once we got seated, we immediately began talking to our waiter. One of my goals throughout the trip was to talk to as many locals as possible. When he came to ask for what we wanted to drink, I told him that we were visiting for the first time because it was Ranie's 21st birthday the next day. He asked to see Ranie's ID and decided to hook him up with a beer because it was 9pm Hawaiian local time but 12 am LA time. I love pina coladas and he recommended me a Lava Flow (pina colada with strawberry). I decided to give it a try and I loved it.

Waikiki Beach, HI


September 3, it was my brother's birthday! He wanted to go to the Aloha Stadium for the marketplace and swap meet, so we went. We took the bus, got lost, and on the way, it began to drizzle. When we got there, we didn't realize how big the place was until we looked at the time and it took us almost 3 hours to walk around the entire place. Afterwards, we headed back and grabbed a late lunch at a poke place that our waiter from CPK recommended. On the way back, my cousin, JR B. and, his wife Ashley B., messaged me about meeting up since they just landed. We told them where we were having lunch and they met up with us. They offered to give us a ride back to our hotel and we didn't deny after commuting locally and we saw they had a Jeep! We had lunch pretty late and we didn't realize that we'd be having dinner soon because the sunset dinner cruise we got tickets for was at 5:30 pm - 8pm but we had to board the ship by 5pm. We went to our hotel, got ready and took Lyft to the dock. Once we got to the dock we got in line to board. We were greeted by dancers and servers then led to our table. Our server gave us a round of Mai Tais and we took sail. The dinner itself was delicious (who doesn't like unlimited crab). After dinner we were free to look around the ship and take pictures. When the performers began the show, we returned to our table and our server gave us Macadamia ice cream. The cruise was 3 hours long and it went by pretty fast. Afterwards, we took a Lyft back to our hotel and packed our luggage since we were set to leave the next day.

 The following morning (September 4), I was the only one who woke up at 3 am. My cousin and I started texting on the plan for hiking. Then we find out that the trail didn't open up until 6 am. I went back to sleep. Around 5am, I woke up again, got ready, and then woke everyone else up to get ready. JR and Ashley picked us up and we got Starbucks before heading to Diamond Head. When we got to Diamond Head, we started to realize how popular the trail was. There were so many people following the trail, from the distance people looked like a trail of ants. At the top, it looked incredible. I've always loved the view after the hike. After hiking, we decided to get breakfast since it was only 8am. When we finished we decided we'd take one last swim in the ocean. Melanie, Ranie, Ashley, and I got our luggage and checked out of the hotel. We brought our stuff over to my cousins' hotel room and we went swimming. After swimming for a while, we decided to rent paddle boards. Halfway through our rent session, we decided to switch out the paddleboards for surfboards. Confession: I've never learned how to surf before, however, I deciding I might as well try, swam out with the surfboard. Once I was far enough with the other surfers, I decided to watch people before actually trying. I ended up just asking someone for advice and he and his friends started to teach me the mechanics of it all. When a wave came by, they'd tell me when to paddle and when to get up. The paddling part was easy. The getting up on the board and balancing was hard. I love learning new things so that was definitely a fun experience. However, my sunburnt got so bad at this point I couldn't even touch my own skin.

Waikiki Beach, HI

After gathering our belongings and returning the surfboards, we went back up to the rooms to shower and get ready for our flight (which was at 2:45pm). When all of us were ready, my cousin decided we'd have lunch together for our last Hawaiian meal. I being worried not making the flight kept reminding my cousin about the time. His response was, "Don't worry. You'll make it." We finished lunch around 2pm. We loaded our luggage in the jeep at 2:20pm. By 2:30pm, he and Ranie decided we wouldn't be making our flight so JR drove us to a shaved ice shop instead of the airport. WE MISSED OUR FLIGHT! I've never missed a flight before, so that was definitely another first for me. Once we got to the shaved ice shop, Melanie and I were calling Delta to explain to them our situation and how we can rebook our flights. Short story: I was able to talk to a woman named, Wendy, who waived our fee and got us out off paying the fee to change our flights. Oh, and we ended up exchanging our flights for the next day, September 5 instead. Whooo!!
Waimea Bay, HI
Truth be told: my cousin, JR, and brother, Ranie, wanted us to stay until Monday, September 5, and it happened. When we got back to the hotel, we decided to make most of the time we have left so we switched out of regular clothes and into our swimsuits. We headed up to North Shore and drove to Waimea Bay. At Waimea Bay beach park, Ashley B., Ranie, and I went cliff diving. The hard part was washing up since there were no lights. After loading up, we headed to the closest Zippys for dinner. Once we got back to the hotel room, we all pretty much crashed from exhaustion.

Monday, September 5, we woke up the next morning and immediately put on our swimsuits. We got coffee then drove to Kailua. There we stopped by Whole Foods for breakfast (pastries and acaí/pitaya bowls). When we were all finished eating, we went to Kailua beach and rented out kayaks. Fun fact: I was so sunburnt from the previous day my skin couldn't take anymore heat on it so I had to wear a sweater. We kayaked form Kailua beach to Lanikai beach. We stopped at Popoia Island/ Flat Island which was really cool because we were able to swim around the island and small tidal pool. Once we finished, we washed/dried up and got shaved ice right next door. (If you are ever in Hawaii and get shaved ice try their POG flavor and Lilikoi, it's delicious). When we all got in the car, we were still hungry and wanted some actual fulfilling food so we went to go eat. After lunch, we drove back to Waikiki and got ready for our fight home. We used our last few hours walking around Ala Moana one last time before heading to the airport. Honestly, we barely made our flight this time. We were one of the last people to board the plane but we made it! Our plane took off at 9pm and we landed in LA around 4 am. I got home and immediately fell asleep.




 This trip was definitely one for the books. I had such a fun and memorable first time experience in Hawaii and I can't wait to go back (possibly to another island). I'll be the first to admit that I definitely don't regret getting sunburnt and tan during my stay in this beautiful place. Wearing nothing but my swimsuit, swimming in the ocean, and getting excessive amount of Vitamin D is something I can live with. Shout out to my brother, Ranie, Melanie, Ashley L., JR, and Ashley B., for being great company in Hawaii. Thanks for the memories Hawaii!

 If you read this entire post, thank you for reading. Thank you for taking the time to care enough, or curious enough, to read the whole thing. I also decided to vlog my trip since it was my first time. I haven't done this in a long time but it was worth it. Thanks for reading and watching!
Go watch it here: HAWAII VLOG
“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”  ― Terry Pratchett

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2016,

Chasing the Sun: Viva Mexico!

6:00 PM Unknown 0 Comments

Hello everyone!

This past weekend, I went on a cruise with some of my friends. When we were all getting together and planning the trip, my friend Sheryl asked people who would be available for that weekend. The people who said yes were those who could come. Don't get me wrong, we're all friends and have known each other for years, but quite frankly, the eight of us haven't hung out as an actual group prior to this weekend. Nonetheless, it was an amazing experience and such a fun weekend.
Friday, we all met up in Long Beach and parked our cars at a friend's house. From there we Ubered to  the cruise port (by Queen Mary). It was a hassle checking in (but when is it not). We had to wait in line and our excitement didn't really help since we just wanted to get on the ship already. After embarking, we put our luggage in our rooms and began to explore the ship. [Fun fact: My first cruise was when I was 15 years old and it was nice remembering old memories.] After looking around for a while, we went back to our room to unpack a bit. Then it was time to meet at the muster stations to hear about safety drills for emergency evacuations. Afterwards, we headed to the buffet for a late lunch. I'll be the first to admit, we were all definitely excited for the food. Later that evening, we headed to the the dining room for dinner. Then we hit the club around 11pm. After going to the club, we went back up to the buffet area for some late night pizza and ice cream because it's open 24 hours. HA! 
Saturday, we woke up around 6 am to get ready for a fun day in Mexico. We had breakfast then got off the ship. As soon as we got on the bus, a guy was explaining all the promotions and fun things to do. Our group heard, "$25 for unlimited drinks and food," and we all looked at each other and pretty much agreed we'd be there for a while. Got off the bus and immediately got wristbands for the cantina. We got in a few drinks and some chips, then got on another bus to head to the beach. The guys all worked together and they were able to hook us up with transportation from the cantina to the beach (round trip). Our bus driver dropped us off at the beach and we asked him to pick us up again in 2 hours. Some of us went swimming, some of us chilled and took pictures. From the cantina, we got to-go mango drinks and I soon needed to use the restroom. However, we didn't exchange our money. I needed to pay 5 pesos for to use the restroom. I went around asking people, "Habla ingles?" Everyone said no. I was getting really desperate and I asked a woman if she spoke English. She said no, but she proceeded to ask me what I needed in spanish. Let's just say 3 years of spanish in high school helped me in this situation because I was somehow able to communicate with her in spanish. She gave me 5 pesos and I tried to give her 50 cents in exchange but she didn't want it and helped lead me to the people in charge. Afterwards, when my friends needed to use the restroom, did I come to find that the man in charge spoke English! HA!

 
 
Once we were done with the beach we got fish tacos. Who doesn't like a good taco? The place we headed to had several food places right next to each other and one of them sold piña coladas. I bought me and Sheryl one. I was excited. All I wanted was fish tacos and a piña colada during my time in Mexico, and I got it! Our bus driver picked us up and we headed back to the cantina where we ate our tacos. We ordered more drinks and food just because. Who doesn't take advantage of an open bar and unlimited food? Good drinks, good food, fun music, and amazing company definitely set us up with some fun memories. Once the clock hit 5pm, the bus came to take us back to the cruise ship. It took a while to get back on the ship but once we did, we all just fell asleep since it was a long day. We woke up for dinner and we went to our sit-down dining room (instead for the buffet). Our server Jomer was the man! He was so fun to talk to. Also, after having dessert did he tell us that the captain's dinner was that night. We didn't know! We got dinner pretty late and once we were done, we decided to split. Some of us went up to the upper level deck and some of us went clubbing. The hard part when splitting was the lack of cell service and internet (we didn't get wifi), so we couldn't contact one another to find out where the other people were. Luckily around 2 am, my friend Jenilee and I decided to head to the buffet. We wanted pizza and ice cream, and soon after, we met up with our group. Once we were all done eating and talking, we went back to our room and slept.


With our server, Jomer
Sunday was a day at sea! I have no idea what the ship does, but we spend all day in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. We got breakfast then walked around. The girls went to tea time while the guys went swimming and had fun at the water park. We met up to watch Zootopia at one of the big meeting rooms. After the movie we decided we were all tired so we went back to our rooms to take a nap (we had late nights and early morning so we kept going back to our rooms for naps throughout the trip). We woke up and got ready for dinner. Jomer was our server all three nights and that night while we sat down he asked if we wanted Filipino food. Thinking it was a joke, we said yes. After finishing our entrees, Jomer brings us bowls of Filipino food to share for our table. HA! Once we were done with dinner, we decided to go to a karaoke bar. We stayed until closing then headed right next door to the club. The club got tiring after a while so we went to the upper level deck to play mini golf. It was so windy and my feet hurt so I tapped out after a bit. I chilled by the pool and then my friend, Jenilee, joined me. We played some games, went back to our rooms to exchange our heels for sandals, then went back up to the buffet. It was 1 am and soon after, we met our friends there again. It's quite funny actually, because once it hits around 2 am everyone from the club goes up for pizza and ice cream. See the reoccurring theme there? Afterwards, we went to our rooms to pack our stuff since we were heading home to next day.



Monday morning, I woke up first to get ready. Once we were all ready, we went up for breakfast and had a nice last meal. Sadly, we needed to go to guest services and waited in line for two hours. After getting our situations handled, we look around and learn that we were the last people to get off the ship! I was so exhausted from the weekend I got home and fell asleep. Woke up a few hours later, had dinner, and took another nap. Woke up again, chilled with my brothers, our friends, and the family, then fell asleep while watching the Olympics. Although I'm still a bit tired, I'm so grateful to have had such a great trip with my friends. It was nice to be able to spend time with my friends without being distracted by our phones and social media. Also, what better way to build friendship than being stuck on a boat? If you ever get the chance to go, I definitely recommend it!

Thanks for reading!
 
Uploaded a quick video here but the quality decreased. Sorry!

“Traveling—it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.”

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2016,

Chasing the Sun: My Sunlit Sky

1:00 PM Unknown 0 Comments

Hello everyone!
Today's post is kicking off my summer series! I have officially set the countdowns for my summer adventures and this year, I'm calling my summer series: "Chasing the Sun." On Saturday, June 25th, I held my annual welcome summer bonfire. This bonfire was a celebration not only to welcome summer, as well as a delayed graduation celebration.
Last year, I held the bonfire at Bolsa Chica. I liked it so much I decided to host it there again this year. When my friends and I arrived, there were no pits left. Instead of wasting more time in hope of finding an unsaved pit, we set up in the middle of the beach, and spent time frolicking in the water. By sun down, my friends and I were able to find a pit! We were able to roast marshmallows and make s'mores, listen to music, and just be.






One of my greatest treasure is being around water. Whether it's taking a bath, being at the beach, going swimming in a pool... I love water. I grew up with a pool and spent my summer swimming every day. I grew up with trips to the beach and swimming in the ocean. I've always called the beach home because I love being by the ocean. It has always had the power to calm me and bring me peace. 'Till today, I carry the same appreciation for water as I did as a child. 

I've always loved having summer bonfires since it allows me to be around water and spend time with my friends. When I was in high school, my friends and I always had one for our end of the year celebration. I decided to continue it into college. I usually host my bonfires with a specific set of friends. This year, I invited people from different groups of my social circles and loved being around the company of people that bring me so much joy. Last year, I had an amazing summer. I can't wait to see what this summer brings.

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.” —F. Scott Fitzgerald

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