Halloween’s been long over and I know this post is weeks past its season, but I thought why not. This could be a reference-for-the-future kind of thing. I know I procrastinated too much about this and I apologize. In my last blog post, I talked about posting some graduation stuff in my “next” blog post – mostly about that dress I almost sold my soul for. In hindsight, it doesn't really matter what I wore since it was covered up with a Toga. I was going to write about it when I realized I haven’t transferred the photos from my parent’s camera to my laptop when they’ve left the country already. Not that I can’t get the files anymore, I just didn’t want to have them e-mail me all 500+ photos in a day. Hah! More excuses. I’ll see what I can do.

Okay. Now that that’s out of the way. 

About Halloween. 

I LOVE HALLOWEEN. Who doesn’t? Halloween in the Philippines isn’t as crazy as it is in other countries – not that I would know personally. Maybe it’s because there isn’t really any cultural tie to it here than it does elsewhere. Where other people like to get drunk and wasted in all the festivities (a good scare does scream for some company), we young adult Filipinos like to get wasted on that sugary-sweet candy. 

No.

No we don’t.

I may be over generalizing this. 

There are some Halloween parties here and there, but most of them are either for kids or company gimmicks, so adults (legally, I am an adult now) don’t really get to do much. There are some adult parties at clubs and bars deeper in the city, but that’s not really my type of “scene”.  

The reason why I love Halloween so much, other than getting all that free candy, is because I really like dressing up. Some may call it cosplay, others may think of it as living out some hidden fantasy; maybe it's just flat-out being weird... or a little bit of everything. I like to think Halloween is a free pass to be a weirdo-amateur cosplayer for a day. You could wear practically anything and pass it off as a costume. Plus, it gives you more confidence to just dress how you want because everyone else is being a weirdo-amateur cosplayer themselves.
 

Anyhow. I don’t really have that many reasons to participate in Halloween parties, mostly because they’re seen as for kids and the other “adults” like to sit by the side line (even though deep down I know they want to suit up too). Fortunately, a friend of mine invited us to his village’s Halloween party and of course, I was eager to say yes. I wasn’t sure if my friends would bring costumes themselves, so I’ve been putting off assembling one ‘til the last minute because I didn’t want to be the odd one out.  

You can't see it here, but the gun's strapped to my thighs.

What am I wearing?

I already had a Grey wig lying around at home so I wanted to conceptualize around that. I was planning to be a ghost at first, with [fake] blood coming out of my forehead and dark-brooding eyes, but I didn’t have enough materials and time to find plaster and food color (for the fake wound). As an alternative, I just made an angel costume. Now that I think about it, angels and ghosts are pretty much the same. They’re both dead, they like to haunt people, and they’re often portrayed in white. Fortunately, there are tons of costume paraphernalia at Divisoria, specifically in Tabora, for very cheap prices – you can even haggle them to get a discount. If you're in Manila, going there for your costume needs is worth the trouble. The white wings costed me about Php 350. The dress I got at 168 Mall, a few meters from Tabora, for Php 300. You'll pass by tons of [washable] wigs there at different lengths, probably around Php 150 to 300 depending on the length, while you roam in between streets; it's not hard to miss. Personally, I could say the quality is between Class C and B, which is good for its price. I bought a gold metal head wreath for Php 100 as a halo. Perhaps the priciest part in the whole costume was the gold finger gloves. I found it in a store at 168 Mall [3^rd floor], the ones that sold kinky netted stockings (I forgot the name though). It was Php 220 and I couldn't haggle it any lower, but I just had to have it. The toy gun I bought for Php 50 – luckily it’s already gold so I didn't have to repaint it at home. I reused my coffee-colored stockings and my white Adidas Superstar, made some arm bands and voilà, you have yourself an angel costume for less than Php 1,500.

Sorry about the photo quality. It was getting late when I took this shot.

PS: I'm no makeup expert. I use it no more than 5 times a year -- that's how inexperienced I am. I played with some eyeliner and yellow-gold eye shadow then colored my lips pink. To the makeup gurus out there, I'm sorry if this image makes you cringe. I think it looks okay though, considering I was sweating underneath all that costume.

Kudos to these people (and the owner of that house) for shamelessly wearing costumes themselves -- even though I had my doubts :P

True enough there were mostly kids roaming the village that night. My friends and I had our laughs and had a good amount of candies to spare. To think that at this time next year, we might all be busy working to bother do this again. Who knows. I’m just happy I got to spend my first and 21^st Halloween with such great people.

Here’s something I get to say for the last time after 4 years: Graduations coming up in a month. Finally, all the years of enduring boring classes, months of studying for exams, and days of merely getting by my classes will finally pay off – in one sense or another. As “D-day” approaches, there is but one final exam that awaits us all: hunting for that perfect graduation dress… and by “us” I mean us girls. The same way the celebration of a debut serves as a rite of passage, signifying our readiness to enter into womanhood, I believe that a graduation is also seen as a rite of passage of sorts. Not to be sexist or anything, but you have to admit, women are more “invested” at finding that perfect attire to match such joyous and triumphant occasion. Hazah! Where men just need to find that expensive tux and worry about what color “matches their eyes” (I say that with sarcasm), women, on the other hand, slave hours of going through mall stalls, surfing through countless online catalogues, fitting – and unfitting – dresses that would make them say to themselves: “This. This is the dress that is worth 4 years of slaving through tears and sweat for”. Pretty superficial, aren’t we? In one way, I envy men for not having to worry as much as we do. Well, that may just be me talking.  

So… here’s a little fact about me: I hate shopping for clothes.

I do, however, like to dress up. Ironic isn’t it? ‘Is there a difference?’ you might wonder. Well, for me, shopping takes [a lot more] effort, dare I say, talent, whereas dressing up just requires making do with what you have. I never had that eye for what some people call “class”, “elegance”, or as what my mother simply calls “taste”. It was always hard for me to visualize how one blouse would fit over a skirt without me having to try them on. That’s why I like dressing up better. Other than just having to make do with what you already have, sometimes you just have to look for something based on a given image – like cosplay. There’s no effort into thinking what fits what or what should go with what, you just have to worry how something will fit you. So whenever I go “shopping”, I prefer being alone rather than being with company since I usually take hours just going through stalls, trying on clothes, then going to other stalls, only to find myself going back to the one I originally went to in the first place before I could find something that I’d actually buy. Add to that the fact that there’s this creeping voice at the back of my head, saying I might find something “better” other than the one I already had in my hands. Some people would find my routine tiring, others just find it frustrating. 

Quite frankly, it frustrates me too.

Where was I going with this?

Ahh.

I went on that mini-adventure to find that dress – the dress that would “materialize 4 years of hard work”. I had no idea what I wanted to wear, no idea what I should be looking for, and on top of that, I had my mother with me. After we passed by one of those Japanese two-dollar stores, we went ahead and find my dress. We started out hopeful as we entered stall one. Then stall two. Then three. Then fourteen. A complete Saturday nightmare. Yeesh. Don’t get me wrong though. I don’t have high standards on clothes; but I do have peculiar tastes. I like clothes that look simple, classy, and versatile – something I could wear again outside of graduation. Do you know how hard it is to want something versatile and at the same time have the inability to imagine how two things go together? It’s like a mouse to imagine what cat fur would feel like.

We were walking for a good five hours before I found “the one”. I could see the sigh of relief on my mother’s eyes. I just felt relief on the fact that we won’t have to it all over again tomorrow. We finally paid (bonus on the fact that it wasn’t that expensive), treat ourselves to some nice frozen yogurt, then went home. All was well, and the kingdom would live to see another day. The end. I’ll probably post some photos on graduation day. I can’t wait!

Side note: Where I lack the talent to shop for clothes, I do make up for it with my talent to find things I absolutely do not need but want anyways. Just take a look at this keychain! (I named it Mankey because of obvious reasons -- it's a monkey-keycain).

I found it on our way to pay for the things my mother bought for Halloween at that two- [SGD] dollar store. We were queuing up (there were surprisingly a lot of people looking for Halloween décor), when this little cutie caught my attention. At first I was like “I don’t need it. Plus, it isn’t that cute, right?”. Then I was having some kind of withdrawal and I was just “Nope. I NEED THIS. It’s a monkey bell keychain. Who doesn’t need this?”. If you can’t tell, it’s inspired from the three wise monkeys – hear no evil, see no evil speak no evil. I went home more satisfied having bought my monkey keychain than having bought my dress. Something must be wrong with me.

It’s been a little around 2 months since my last blog post. I’m sorry about that. It's not that I’ve given up blogging. When I made this blog, I made a small pact with myself to always post something at least every other week – no matter how random or adventurous it would be. I wanted it to be my goal to just keep writing, find things that would make my day-to-day more interesting, keep my “creative spirit” fueled. Two months in and I already failed. Yeesh.

If you know me, you’d know that I rarely go out of the house. If I’m not at the university, there’s a 99% chance I’m curled up in a hole at home. I’ll spend half of the day sitting in front of my desk, either going through the rest of my university stuff or browsing the net, and the other half I’ll be switching between eating, sleeping, and binge watching YouTube videos, anime, and  Korean dramas (Be warned: it’s very addicting).

I know what you’re thinking.

This fine specimen must be the pinnacle of a 21^st century lady.

When they look back at history books centuries from now, you would see that exact same image – a 20 year old woman in her natural habitat. Sitting in front of a desk with mountains of paper on the floor, hands on her keyboard, black-framed glasses sitting on her nose, hair on a messy bun, one foot up on the chair and the other just dangling down, all whilst drinking her sparkling water and eating the finest grapes and Doritos cheese the land has to offer.

Fancy.

But that’s not what this blog post is about. Where have I been these past 2 months?

Well, if you must know, I finally went on that Japan trip I’d always wanted to go to. I can’t believe Kyoto looks ten times better than what I’d seen in anime! Seriously, if you had the time to, you have to see the -- is what I’d want to say.

I didn’t go to Japan. I didn't even do anything remotely adventurous. I mean, I want to, but I don’t have the means yet. These past few months I’ve been studying my brains off like I’d normally would. Go ahead and throw all those Asian stereotypes at me. 

Overachiever.

Nerd.

Why-you-no-doctor-yet?! (for those who don't get it. It's a Family Guy reference).

I know it’s an underrated opinion, but I really like studying. To think that after almost 15 years of waking up at 7 am, eating my breakfast, brushing my teeth, and going to school every day, it’s literally pretty much all I’ve ever known, and now, I have to say goodbye to it. I mean, I could go to post-graduate school to continue my studies, but it wouldn’t be the same. It feels like a part of my childhood innocence will graduate with me as I march through graduation.

Oh. If you’re lost in all these gibberish I’m talking about, this term is supposed to be my last term at Uni. I’ve been studying Accountancy for 4 years and now, I’ve finally reached the end of the line. I’ve been wanting to graduate for so long, but now that I think about it, it’s kind of scary that I’m finally “here”. 

Well, that’s something for another time. For now, we’ll talk about what I did for two months (other than studying. No one wants to hear about that). 

For one, I won an Instax Mini at a raffle/contest my previous organization held! I’ve been contemplating on getting one of my own Polaroid-like cameras before but I never really had the chance to. I’ve always been on the fence about it. The actual unit itself isn’t that expensive but the films are. So my biggest dilemma was whether it would be more practical (and economical) for me to just have photos printed at photo stations. Anyway. I wouldn’t make any reviews on it because I’m sure there’s a ton floating around the internet already – plus the product’s been around for quite some time –, but for now, I’m just really happy I won it! I don’t know why but I’ve always had luck with these kinds of things. Maybe I should try betting on the lottery soon. 

I haven’t used any of the films yet, other than that one picture I took of my parents as a test shot. I’m thinking of starting a scrapbook and fill it with photos I take with my Instax when I travel or do something worth “remembering” in the future. I just love going through those old-school photo albums that I rarely see nowadays. Plus, I could imagine it would feel very nostalgic when I reminisce my old memories. I have so many ideas on what I could do with it. It’s so exciting! Anyway, I’ll keep you posted about that. 

I’ve heard of this Japanese band a little over 3 years ago. Well, not of them, but I’ve heard one of their songs on a credit scene of Ruroni Kenshin (can’t remember if it’s the first or second) and I remember thinking:

I waited inside the theater a bit longer because I was really into the song and I was trying to catch some verses to google later on. Then a Japanese verse started to kick in and I was like “wha--- they’re Japanese?!”. So I started googling them up, looked up some of their MVs on YouTube, but that was the end of it. I rarely like songs that I can’t understand (literally can’t because it’s in Japanese), so the only song I remember of them was that one song that played on the credits. When I sing it in the shower, I only sing the few English verses, then I’ll be belting out some random Japanese words in the next verses. 

Part of why I initially liked them is because I really like alternative, pop rock music (not sure if that’s the right term); the side of “rock” spectrum that doesn’t have too much of those loud screams most heavy rock songs have and yet still have those intense drum/guitar instrumentals you could sing to – kind of like the early Fall Out Boy albums.

Anyway.

Fast forward to 2016 and I had this weird urge to look back at that song for no reason while I was waiting for my night class to start. I had my earphones out then one of my friends noticed the familiar video on my phone screen. She started getting all excited, talked to me about them, asking me what my favorite song was and how she finds singer the cute, and I was just sitting there, taking in all these alien-fangirl-excitement directed towards me. 

A little backstory: I’ve never liked a band/group so much to the point that I’d actually “fan girl” over them. So to me, who was just a casual listener, it really shocked me at first and I was kind of lost since I didn’t know how to reciprocate her “feelings” in a way. 

Then she started to mellow down (probably hinting at my overwhelmed reaction), then asked me if I watched their Yokohama concert. Naturally, I said no. Then she showed me their “A Thousand Miles” cover, and I just fell in love. For one, because they’re Japanese and they were covering and English song, live, with almost 90% correct pronunciation. For another, because the drummer (who had green highlights and mid length hair) was playing the xylophone, the bassist (who had tattoos all over his torso) was playing the keyboard, the guitarist (who seems to be the most mellow of the four) just immersed in his strumming, and the singer just singing his heart out with his eyes closed and drawing everyone in. It was just stripped down, acoustic, heartfelt music. And it just felt so genuine. Knowing that they’re a band to normally sing upbeat, rock songs, with light screamos and guitar solos, they had this versatility that peaked my curiosity and made me want to watch the whole concert. And I did that night too. It was a 2 hour video and I sat through it, even though I had an exam the next day. I had no idea what the singer was screaming about 99% of the time, but I liked how they sounded so much better live than they do in recordings. Plus, you’ll be pretty amazed when you see the singer, bassist, and guitarist jumping all over the stage like ticks on the back of a dog for 2 hours (probably more since the video has cuts in it), all while performing as if it was nothing. Now I’m fangirling. Jeez.  

So anyway, in case you’re curious about what concert I’m talking about, the video’s up on YouTube (something along the lines of ONE OK ROCK-Yokohama Stadium-Mighty Long Fall would hit something up). They’re a pretty old band now since they started way back in 2005 (I think) and they’re really big in Japan too. This brings me to my next topic.

I know. Or rather. わかった [Wakatta]. Years of watching anime will finally pay off. 

It’d probably take me 2 years minimum to be able to speak and listen to Japanese fluently, another few years before I could write Japanese on a middle schooler’s level, and so on. I may stop liking the band even after then, and they’re entering the international scene by composing English songs now too, so it might make more sense to just listen to their new albums. But I thought it would be a great if I could learn a new language. With learning anything, I should start with whatever peaks my interest, right? So I’ll start learning Japanese, listen to some audio books, watch some anime to practice (aaand just because I like it), etc. We’ll see if I’m having progress in the next few months.

And that’s about it. Two months of my life revolved around the fact that I won an Instax camera and got strangely addicted to ONE OK ROCK. Well, that and I’ve been fighting the urge to just cry over all the exams lining up one after another. Now that the finals exams are over and I’m just waiting for my graduation (I’ll definitely post something about that in the future), I’ll be crying over my impending board exam next year. *Cries in a corner*.  

We were roaming around the ArtScience Museum for a good 3 to 4 hours, by the time we finished, we just weren’t as tired yet. The sun was still high up and we didn't want to waste our vacation lazing around the hotel the rest of the day, so we decided to head towards the nearest tourist spot in sight: Gardens by the Bay, which was just parallel to the museum. I say "in sight" because you wouldn’t really miss that gigantic faux tree landmarks; you could literally see it from a mile away. We weren't really sure how we would get there faster/easier, so we used the oldest mode of transportation known to man and walked our way there (which was probably a good 15-20 minute walk). 

The Gardens showcase two separate, well, in a lack of a better term, gardens (which is separately priced): the Cloud Forest and the Floral Garden -- whose theme at the time was Tulips Mania. My mom is an avid plant lover so of course we had to visit both. 

FLOWER GARDEN: TULIPS MANIA

No one would notice if I'd pick one off, right?

By the time we finished our laps around the flowers, subconsciously deciding which flower was the prettiest, it was already night time. We decided to stick around a few more minutes and wait for the night light show at those faux tree thing that’s such a huge landmark (I don’t know what they’re called; forgive me). The lights dance to the tune of classical music and some pop music, that’s definitely one to capture in pictures. You’ll get entranced by the lights; some visitors were sitting on the floor (and it just rained a bit earlier too!), some were even lying, and others were synchronizingly swaying their heads and hips. As you watch over the lights, you’ll forget the pain from your aching feet as a result of kilometers of walking. Truly, nature is a hypnotic phenomena.

it’s JACLYN

• • • 

A diamond is a girl’s best friend. Am I right, girls?

But at a glance, who can honestly say that they can separate a diamond from a well-polished cut glass? The truth is, in itself, diamonds are nothing extraordinary. It’s a rock, the toughest mineral on Earth even. If you don’t polish it, cut it the right way, follow the other 3 C's of diamonds (Color-Clarity-Carat), an amateur -- like most of us -- would easily mistake it for a shard of glass. What makes diamonds so special, other than the fact that it's value is dictated by society, is how jewelers make them to be. 

I can't say that I'm not a fan of jewelry though, but then again, I'm no enthusiast either. Like most women, I would also be one to stare from outside jewelry stores, imagining which piece would suit me the most. It’s pretty, it’s classy, and it’s a statement piece, but it’s not really practical for anything other than aesthetics -- at least designer bags get to hold your stuff while you walk. Truly, jewelry is the the epitome of luxury.

Don’t get me wrong, though. I'm no hater of jewelry (or whatever society thinks it stands for). Besides, I still want that cliché kneeling-on-one-knee-with-an-engagement-ring type of proposal as much as the next girl, but other than that, I wasn’t really that interested in jewelry. My intentions for going to the Arts and Science Museum when I was in Singapore were primarily fueled by the fact that I haven’t been to any art exhibits in the past. I didn’t really care much that they showcased jewelry pieces from a high-tier French jeweler, Van Cleef and Arpels (whom, I didn't even know existed until before that day). They could’ve showcased late paintings of renaissance artists and I would’ve been as equally enthusiastic.

Or so I thought.

Going through the exhibit was actually more educational and fascinating than I thought it would be. It was even helpful that they had a mobile application that guides visitors through the exhibit as you look at jewelry pieces across time at your own pace. 

Anyway. The exhibit also had an in-house theater that exclusively presented how Van Cleef and Arpels create jewelry pieces, how one piece goes through a lot of intricate procedures from designing, to processing, to its forging, not to mention the talent and meticulous screening of precious jewels. If you thought making jewelry was easy, that it only requires some sketching and melting of some precious metals and setting up stones, then you're in for a big surprise. It made me, like everyone else in the room with their jaws on the ground, appreciate jewelry more than what it seems to be. It's not just a synthesis of metal and precious stones; understand that it goes waaaay beyond that -- it's a wearable piece of a truly unique art that is able to survive the test of time (and of people's taste). Where everything in the world constantly changes, the one thing in culture we could agree to be constant is this. You'd think that technology may have already taken over this form of artistry, but because it takes genuine talent and innovation to come up with the designs that no one has ever thought of doing for the past centuries, the best jewelry pieces, the best designs, the ones that cost millions with women from all over the world swooning over, are still made by hand.

I mean, come on, if that doesn't convince you, where else could you find a zipper-inspired necklace that's fully functioning like an actual zipper? It's pendant (I think that's the proper term?) could go up and down the chain like an actual zipper! Why? To make it a bracelet, of course! It's taking multi-functional and ingenuity to a whole 'nother level.

If you’re not too much interested in art exhibits, or if you have children with you who wouldn’t really appreciate such (because the environment there is really formal and you would really need the silence to take everything in), then the Science Gallery is a good alternative (located just below the Arts Gallery; tickets sold separately, unfortunately). It’s an interactive space that’s great for kids and kids at heart (I'm not sure which category I fall into though).  It’s less serious as compared to the Arts Gallery, where everything is an interactive space; where you can't touch anything in the Arts Museum, you can touch EVERYTHING in the Science museum! It's where artistry and technology combine. More importantly, it’s also a selfie-haven so there’s still something for everyone to look forward to!

One last note. The Arts Gallery for Van Cleef and Arpel's Exhibit lasts until August 14, 2016. So if you have the time (and if you're near the area), don't miss out! It's not everyday that the French National Museum for Natural History collaborated with another museum for their world renowned collections near you. 

Talk to you next time!

it’s JACLYN

 • • • 

Art  Gallery: I didn't take a lot of pictures in the Arts Museum because I was too engrossed at listening to my audio guide. Besides, you really need to be there to appreciate it (for me, at least). Plus, this was my first time at a museum, so I'm not sure if there's a "proper decorum" to these things. You'll never see people taking photos at museums in movies, right? Unless they were using it for recon. in their next "heist". Maybe not. I have a weird imagination sometimes.