I'VE MOVED

This blog has served me well but it's time to bid adieu! 

Please visit my new blog: Love, Paola.

Thank you!

Happy Birthday Taylor Swift!!!!

The very first Taylor Swift song I heard was Mary's Song (Oh my my my) and I was sold right from the very beginning. It was 2007 and I was in 2nd year high school. My overly dramatic 13-year-old self thought that there was nobody who understand me better than Taylor Swift. I started learning her songs, started playing the guitar, started researching about my new found favorite celebrity until one day, she doesn't seem like just another idol, she seemed more like a best friend - the kind that you always wished for but never quite got. 8 years, 7 albums, 4 world tours and countless awards later, I still very much feel like she's my ultimate bff. Her unpublished songs, songs she sang to auditions when she was 13 years old, her radio guestings - these are all saved on my iPod till now. 

Speak Now World Tour Manila in February 2011

She had two concerts here in Manila and I was lucky enough to attend both. If I were to rank the most memorable moments of my life, seeing her perform live would definitely be in my top 10! That's why my heart broke into tiny pieces when they officially announced that the 1989 World Tour does not include the Philippines! HUHUHU still hoping for the second leg!!!!

Red Tour Manila in July 2014

So since it's her birthday, here are my top 13 favorite lines from her songs:

1. "It's hard not to find it all a little bittersweet, but looking back on all of that it's nice to believe" ~ Tim McGraw

2. "He's the song in the car I keep singing, don't know why I do. He's the time taken up, but there's never enough and he's all that I need to fall into" ~ Teardrops on my Guitar

3. "Well maybe we got lost in translation, maybe I asked for too much and maybe this thing was a masterpiece till you tore it all up" ~ All Too Well

4. "Ten months sober I must admit, just because you're clean don't mean you don't miss it, ten months over I won't give in, now that I'm clean I'm never gonna risk it" ~ Clean

5. "Back then I swore I was gonna marry him someday but I realized some bigger dreams of mine" ~ Fifteen

6. "The best people in life are free" ~ New Romantics

7. "All those other girls, well they're beautiful, but would they write a song for you" ~ Hey Stephen

8. "Forgetting him was like trying to know somebody you never met" ~ Red

9. "With your face and your beautiful eyes and the conversation with little white lies and the faded picture of a beautiful night you carried me from your car up the stairs and I broke down crying was she worth this mess after everything and that little black dress" ~ The Other Side of the Door

10. "And if you ask me if I love him, I'd lie" ~ I'd Lie

11. "I'm on my guard for the rest of the world, but with you I know it's no good" ~ Sparks Fly

12. "Darling I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream" ~ Blank Space

13. "Today was a fairytale, you were the prince, I used to be a damsel in distress" ~ Today was a Fairytale

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAYLOR!!!!

Love, Paola xx

My Thoughts on MockingJay

Off the bat thoughts? I didn't like it.

Out of the 4 movies produced for this trilogy, I'd say MockingJay part 2 was the least likeable. Hunger Games was good, Catching Fire was better, MockingJay part 1 was uneventful but substantial. I think it would be better if they just created one movie instead of having it in two parts. There were just so many dead moments. I can only imagine how it was like to watch the movie if you've never read books. Conversations were too long and it lacks actions.

When I read the last book, I was quite at a loss in imagining the final scenes - the journey to the Capitol, the pods scattered all around, the underground escape. So I didn't have a solid picture in my head on how it looked like but I did like how it was interpreted and presented in the movie. At least cinematography was good. My biggest issue, however, is that the movies failed to show the great love story between Peeta and Katniss. They simply lacked intimacy and chemistry. The story line focused on the uprising and the war so much that they failed to show Katniss' pain when Peeta wasn't himself, Peeta's struggle with his feelings for Katniss which were clouded by torture and the journey they had to go through together when they were fighting in the Capitol. It was seriously the best love story in all the dystopian books I've read. But at least they put in my favorite line in the entire trilogy:

One last thing, Finnick's death was so underwhelming!!!!!!! :( His death will always be one of the most painful fictional deaths I'd ever have to live it. 

I was obsessed with this trilogy once. In fact, I also made movie reviews of Hunger Games (here) and Catching Fire (here). And now that it's over I'm a little nostalgic. Maybe I should re-read it for nth time?

Love, Paola xx

Sadness and Everything in Between

Throwback to a particularly candid and happy photo of me because I spent my morning being sad today. It was one of those please-don't-talk-to-me-or-I'll-burst-out-crying days but by lunch time, I was all out of tears and I was so hungry to even care about my own sadness. I read a quote once that tells us to embrace our sadness and everything that comes with it. There are times when I get depressed over the little things and non trivial matters create a big impact on my disposition. It's frustrating, really. You tell yourself you have no right to lament over this or over that so you get depressed even more because there's nothing worse than not being able to explain how you feel to others, much less to yourself. But I think I'm learning not to belittle my sadness no matter how minute my reasons are. It's meant to be released anyway. So when I'm sad, I give myself time to mourn then after that I get back to regular programming and I'm okay again. You start to realize that in the bigger scheme of things, your worries are nothing but just spec of colors in an intricate painting. It's a #blessed life afterall.  

I'm spending my night with my ultimate lonely cure: food and Taylor Swift therapy. Right now, she's singing We Are Never Getting Back Together as I enjoy my Chef Tony popcorn, cause Taylor knows just which songs you need to hear. So if your sad over the tiniest things, whether it be because of the inconvenience APEC has brought us, or because you will be working through the long weekend, or maybe because a certain person hasn't replied to your text for days, be sad then get over it and be thankful instead. 

Love, Paola xx

Night Owl No More

I am a night owl and now, I am bothered by the fact that I can no longer sleep my way through the day. This Sunday I woke up at 6:30 am. It has been happening for quite a while now, me waking up past 6 am on a weekend, looking at the clock, realizing the time, going back to sleep again and finally getting up at 9:00 am. How very #firstworldproblem, I know.

So like every social media savvy of our generation, I took this dilemma Twitter only to find out that a few my friends are also already getting a head start on their day. Is this a sign that we're finally maturing? Is maturity measured in time - when you start waking up like a normal adult? Or is it measured in preference - when you prefer to wear to loose, white polos over tight fitting bandage skirts that your closet is full of? It might be measured in concern - when you trade your favorite blogs for CNN.com because you crave for knowledge on what has been happening to the world lately. Maybe it's also measured in decision, like when you decide to finally accept the fact that sometimes you won't get what you want and you've got to be okay with that. 

Cryptic thoughts. Something I've gotten out of waking up early. 

Love, Paola xx

I'm Writing Again

Late Friday night thoughts - I have a gazillion of them right now. But probably the loudest one is that: Sometimes you feel loved, sometimes you feel lost. Its a win-lose situation but maybe that's okay.

Maybe its quarter-life crisis, maybe its the amaretto sour, maybe it's the heartfelt talk with a friend or maybe its the fact that I'm so happy I'm with my dog again after another work week. But whatever it is, I'm writing again. I'm so happy I'm writing again. It's my solace for as long as I can remember - from poems, to unfinished novels, to diary entries, to lengthy letters I don't give, to random notes on my phone. It's been so long, but here I am, writing again. 

That's it for now, but I'm writing again. (Can I say it one more time?)

Love, Paola xx

Beautiful Kyoto

Our second day in Japan was spent by touring the beautiful city of Kyoto. Initially, we planned on spending the day at Nara first but when the Nara tour did not match our schedule, we hopped on the train to Kyoto instead. We went to three places - Fushimi Inari, Bamboo Grove and Kiyomizu Temple. All the places we visited are so incredibly beautiful!  

Our first stop was the Fushimi Inari Shrine. The place was brimming with tourists!

This shrine is famous for having a thousand Torii Gates. It was also a shoot location for Memoirs of Geisha.

First few signs of spring!

Walking through the many Torii Gates was an enchanted experience. I can just imagine this place during off season, must be so serene.

It was extremely hard to get decent pictures because the amount of people touring place was crazyyyy!

Our next stop was Bamboo Grove. Discovered this through a blog and I was intrigued by it that's why I requested we visit the place.

I've read so many good reviews about Bamboo Grove but honestly, I didn't get to enjoy it as much because there were just simply too many people. It was a long stretch simply full of towering Bamboo trees. Though I can imagine how nice it would be if it wasn't too crowded.

My first glorious taste of Matcha Ice Cream!!!! It has never been the same since then! 

Right outside Bamboo Grove are food and dainty souvenir shops.

We then went to Kyoto Station (aka the station with intricate details) for our last stop.

Kyoto Tower.

Kiyomizu Temple is UNESCO World Heritage Site. Like Fushimi Inari, the place was full of tourists. There was a part on the way up that we literally had to walk shoulder to shoulder with strangers.

This is place is probably the BEST view for Cherry Blossoms! The highest point of the temple overlooks a hundred or so Cherry Blossom trees.

Kawaii girls in their yukata.

Imagine how amazing this place is when all the trees are in full bloom!

Fun fact: There is not a single nail used in this structure. It's kind of mind blowing.

Next stop, Rinku!

Love, Paola