I'VE JOINED THE BANDWAGON.

TUMBLR.

This blogger account will still be my official web log.

Tumblr's only for my quick posts :)

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questioning reasonings; dealing with the things at hand.

You can take the girl away from the city, but you can't take the city away from the girl.

jacket- Anthology; boots- Zara
Finally got to update my LookBook and Chictopia accounts. Hopefully I can squeeze in more time for them in the coming weeks.
I don't usually prepare a Christmas wishlist but there are just two things I've been lusting for.Apple magic mouse Sam Edelman Zoe boots
And oh, a quick trip to the beach please. It's been a while.

Videos from my iPhone 3Gs

The iPhone 3Gs can take videos on portrait mode!

Now I'm questioning whether there's really a need for me to buy a new camera.

It's hard to take self-shots since you can accidentally hit the video mode button.

The lighting was good and I wanted a vain picture. But whooops. I took a video of myself instead--lookin so dumb.

While rewriting the song "Uncertainties". Thanks for taking the cam from me, Rico! LOL.

(Uhh we sound so lazy. Been singing for hours tryin to improve the arrangement and lyrics. It was rainin cats and dogs outside, too.)

My cousin Alecsandra. My mini-me! :)
*edit: hosted the videos through Flickr this time. Much better.

for the love of HD videos

Here's another gadget dilemma. I've been eyeing on the Flip MinoHD Camcorder and the Nikon Coolpix S70.
Flip MinoHD (60/120 min.) Camcorder
What I love:

• You don't need a memory card for it. It stores 60/120 minutes of video (8GB internal memory) and all you have to do is use the USB to transfer and upload files to your computer.
• The sleek chrome or black finish- sooo kickass. It'll match my gunmetal-colored titanium iPhone case.
• You can also use a photo to design your own cam! But I need a friend to purchase it for me in the States since they won't allow an international billing address for checkout.

What I loathe:

• Offers only up to 2x digital zoom
• It's not intended to be a digital camera. No event/party/vain pics.

Nikon Coolpix S70
What I love:

• HD movie mode- records video clips of important moments in high-definition up to 720p with sound
• 12.0 megapixels of photo awesomeness
• Touch screen display! (Tried using it at Best Buy and they made the controls similar to the iPod's)
• Optical VR image stabilization!
• Smile shutter and blink warning
• 5x optical/4x digital/20x total zoom
• Up to 6400 ISO (even beats my Nikon DSLR!)
• Skin softening feature (Smoothes skin tone at 3 different levels for great-looking portraits.)

What I loathe:

• Only has 20MB of internal memory (but that can be fixed with 4GB SD card! lol)
• It's obviously more expensive than the Flip cam

So yeah, I'm asking for help here.

One reason why I'm considering getting the Flip cam instead of the Nikon is that I already have a Canon Ixus 65 (sorta dying on me cos I have to replace the battery). But I think I need to upgrade my point-and-shoot camera. My iPhone takes pretty clear videos but I can't use up all my memory to record clips and audio. I've been wanting to get the Nikon but the Best Buys at NY and SF ran out of black ones (I didn't want to get a ruby-colored camera).

Message me if you have any (good or bad) reviews about the Flip cam or the Nikon S70, please! AND if you can suggest better (HD) digital cameras for me to consider, send me note as well.

:)

Back to black

I swear all my hair's going to fall off soon.
I kid! Thank God the people at Emphasis Salon had gentle hands, so dyeing it after only 2 months of lightening + perming it didn't damage it completely. And yay, I got my hair cut after a whole year of growing it into mermaid hair! Quite happy with the shade since it's gonna match my get-up for halloween. Issa and I are gonna be wearing the same costumes. Wooooh!
Haven't had any time to take photos of myself lately. Got tons of other photographs to work on. That means I've been neglecting my Chictopia and Lookbook accounts for a couple of weeks (err, months!) now. It's funny how I still get recognized cos of them. Like a while ago while doing the model's makeup (umm, I still play the role of MUA occasionally), she kept saying that I looked really familiar-- and oh, surprise, she recognized me from Lookbook! Anddd even Miss Cecile Van Straten (who sent me a super sweet package btw) said in one of her e-mails that she's seen me somewhere (again from LB). So why is everyone getting into Lookbook now that I've established a hiatus in posting? I mean I haven't completely ran out of outfit ideas. Getting notifications from those accounts in my mail just makes me sooo guilty for not being able to reply and post new looks. But that's not my priority right now... Juggling soooo many things which I can hopefully update you guys on later.
These dark circles around my eyes are getting too rebellious. Thankfully I've restocked my basic makeup loot. Smashbox Camera Ready Full Coverage FoundationMy 2 seatmates and I are hooked on this! It's replaced my concealer. It's not even the thick, cakey form of foundation so if you're looking for full coverage, this won't work for you. As for me, I like it light because of the weather here. This is also a cream to powder formula so it's good for oily skin types.
Smashbox Anti-shineI needed a good mattifier and I'm loving this one.
Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Pencil in ZeroThe creamy pencil glides on smoothly and after 30 seconds-- poof! Waterproof! Nars Blush in OrgasmA cult favorite, now I know why. It's always been out of stock here in the Philippines. Shoulda bought more from Sephora.
And as for skin care, I tried switching up my cleansing routine by using this Neutrogena 3-step system with Salicylic acid as its main ingredient. It was good for a couple of days but my skin turned out horribly dry after which made it shine! So now I'm back to using Proactiv. (Can't seem to find that Neutrogena kit on the net! Discontinued it I guess)
I'm looking for a good dermatologist around Manila. I wanna get a facial! LOL. I've never had one in my entire life and I think I need one. Please e-mail me if you happen to know a good derma around the metro.
:)

from the laureate

Few languages capture the essence of the wave quite like the Cebuano variant; almost perfectly emulating the smoothness and solidness of water is it crashes against the surf, the sift and swirl of water as it curls inward and out from itself. This collection is a tribute to the ocean that has forever kept the island city of home home in its undulating embrace.

I wasn't much of who I am back then, and if I was, I wouldn't have been as afraid to approach her as I was. There she would sit, by the breakwater, brown shoulders curving in the sun; white frills of a hiked-up Sunday dress gathered at the knees, a wide-brimmed hat falling in soft folds over her face. A silhouette against the rising sun that would recur always in what I'd do. I never even knew her name. That's how I'll remember her.
Words, photographs and designs by Vito Selma.Check out his new page HERE.

Contemplation

Leatherette, metallics, blacks and acid wash.


models: Daphne Galvan and Camille Colights c/o Edric ChenMUA: Joyce Mayoshots taken around the Hortaleza residence. Clothes by CoexistShoes by Michael Antoniophotos for Coexist Online
Contemplating on:1. Dyeing my hair blue-black once again (I miss it so bad, plus it'll suit my costume for halloween better!)- Don't worry, this is after some reassurance that my hair isn't dead yet. Plus I need a haircut! I currently have mermaid hair since my last haircut was around October 2008. I am worse than a guy. 2. Adopting a toy Yorkshire Terrier OR buying a teacup Pomeranian puppy3. Naming that Yorkie SOHO♥4. Going to Cebu on the 31st for another Halloween ball (I'm attending one here in Manila the night before that.)
Who among you are going to C.R.E.A.M. on the 30th? Or that other bash in Cebu/CICC on the 31st?
:)

Olga Francine

photomanipulation by David Decena

He used this photograph from my 'backyard' shoot

model: Olga Moriles

Styling + makeup: me

photos by Jon Unson

post processing by me

Olga's been my online friend since High School but I never got the chance to meet her in Cebu. Just this year I met her at one of the clubs in Manila and finally said hello after recognizing each other. Agreed to have a photo shoot with her since she had to update her modeling portfolio and I wanted to do something fun during a quick trip to Cebu. Didn't plan the shoot properly so we ended up doing it in my house after lunching and luckily I had a few clothes sent over from NY at that time.

It's weird how I meet Cebuanos in Manila instead of getting acquainted with them in Cebu...

Oh yeah, INCA's in need of a WEB DESIGNER! Must be knowledgeable in CSS, Flash, HTML and Graphic Design. Must be based in Cebu or Manila. E-mail me if you know someone or if interested.

:)

The way she kicked her heels & threw her fists in the sky.

Paul Van Dyk was awesome!

Vito is here for Manila F.A.M.E.
Cebu friends spending their term break in Manillie. Yay!

Benilde girls.
Buzz off!
Ah, yes. Backlogging.
Here are a number excuses:

• Since day 1, we've been given tons of plates to do for each subject in school
• The number of photos I have to edit are accumulating. Thankful that I'm getting more opportunities to shoot, but it's odd that it immediately happened hours after I declared that I was gonna put my self-paying hobby to rest.
• I'm back in the choir. And have loads of catching up to do. Limiting myself to doing one production per term, but I think that's impossible now that I'm one of the remaining oldies left in the group.
• Riz and I have been gigging. She's hella busy as well, so we haven't been posting any songs together. Our schedules are really different that we have to resort to rehearsing in our getaway van.

And yesterday....

Didn't get even a minute to sleep since I was seriously anxious for this killer exam we had to take for Materials & Methods II (each quiz is a fraction of our finals//cumulative score for all quizzes is our grade at the end of the term). I've never been more nervous for a subject in my entire life. It's funny how some people still think that we don't have to READ in our course. Excuse meeee, we got TONS to read. LOL.

And ooo we randomly went to PVD since we scored free tickets. Thanksss uber mucho to our benefactor!

Did a collab with another artist and will be posting that plus some photos I took for Coexist.

Time for schoolwork. Weather's not cooperating once again.

:)

And whooooops.

This Friday- gig at Mag:Net High Street. 9PM-ish.

+

If you're from Ateneo:

Seeyaaaaaa.

Firsts

First time for my photos to take up full pages in a magazine!

Thanks to Camille and Coexist!

Just when I was about to say goodbye to photo shoots and photography (now that I'm in school again), my dad messages me about seeing my photos in some magazine. Thought it was going to be a small feature but it was a whole spread! So surprised. So yeah I'm taking it as a sign to not completely turn my back on taking photos. I have to study up and learn more about it! First I have to learn how to take photos in a real studio with lighting equipment (obviously I never use studios and lights) so my photos are cleaner and so there's less for me to edit. I think I'm more used to taking photos outdoors since I can always play around with the elements around the area and planning outdoor shoots takes less time (or no planning at all).

And then... I'll be exhibiting my photos for the first time (not really my first exhibit but this will be the first time I'll be exhibiting fashion shots).

Opening night is moved to October 17.

:)