Psychedelic Adventures: Melbourne, Australia

Yesterday,  my boss confirmed that I will indeed be deployed to the client site in New Jersey for six weeks and will be leaving Manila by February 18 or 23 (depending on when my new passport will be delivered). The news gave me mixed emotions because the timing wasn't exactly ideal as I had planned a trip to Sagada with my family and relatives on February 21-23 and another one to Boracay with my college friends on March 2-5. I had to cancel them all since my boss advised me not to push through with my plans. Bargaining to move my flight didn't work, because we had a specific timeline for our knowledge transfer for Functional Design, so of course, I was bummed. But looking at it in a different perspective, this is still a great opportunity since I would get the chance to meet my onshore counterparts and I'd be able to travel for free with daily allowance. And since I'm going with a Business Visa, I won't have to stay away very long, putting my life in Manila on hold and missing more important events with my family and friends.

New York, 2008 with my friend Carisse

I remember my last business trip in Melbourne in 2011 and all the wonderful things that I experienced in that awesome cosmopolitan city. Unlike my other business trip in Syracuse, New York, which was 5 freakin hours away from Manhattan, I lived in Melbourne CBD which is just a tram away from everything interesting in that area so I got the chance to go around even on weekdays after work. I went out to watch independent films at the ACMI and checked out bands at Fed Square. Eating out wasn't a problem coz China Town was just two blocks away from my apartment at Lonsdale street. I went to Docklands, Harbortown and Queen Victoria Market to shop and the NGV for my dose of Western contemporary and Australian indigenous art. I could never get enough of their parks, really. My officemate who happened to be a frisbee player like me also took me to Albert Park for some pick up games and went on a really peculiar experience of playing Lawn Bowling at Flagstaff Gardens. During the Holy Week, I went to the Shrine of Remembrance and went to mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Living in Melbourne for 2 months was awesome coz I didn't feel like I had to plan a certain itinerary and cram everything in just to experience everything of interest to me. There were pleasant surprises that one doesn't plan for, like a bunch of Street Musicians that I accidentally came across at Swanston Street and Bourke Street or the awesome graffiti art at some corner and the charcoal drawings on the pavement at South Bank. 

Here's a few photos from that trip.

I love night photography! Bright lights everywhere!

Watching a Jim Morrison documentary at Federation Square

Yarra River. I must've taken a hundred photos around this area.

Chinatown, the no fail go to place for dinner

Findlers Street Station where we took the train going to Traralgon haha

Bike rentals for the public

Sand sculptures somehwere in St. Kilda

Australian Center for Moving Image. I watched movies here during the Spanish film fest

Loving the penguins at the Melbourne Aquarium

Frisbee Game at Albert Park with the Fuddle Mucks!

Street performers everywhere!

Live music at Fed Square!

Mosaic at Harbortown

Almost sunset at The Royal Botanical Gardens

Melbourne Museum

A moment of silence at the Shrine of Remembrance

Graffiti art near Federation Square!

I can't wait for the New York City version of this post. I'm certain to get trigger happy and take TONS of photos! 

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Botong Francisco at The Ayala Museum

Last week before going to the DFA in Megamall for my passport renewal, Jim and I went to Ayala Museum to check out Carlos "Botong" Francisco's "A Nation Imagined" Exhibit. The last time I went to Ayala Museum, their Third Floor Gallery was closed, so I contented myself with the Diorama Experience and the Crossroads of Civilizations gallery on the second and fourth floors respectively. It was Jim's first time to go to Ayala Museum so he enthusiastically visited all the galleries starting at the top floor.

Botong's Pista sa Nayon, image from  thegridcrosser

The stunning Crossroad to Civilizations Collection showcased archaeological artifacts from pre-colonial times. It's a 3 part exhibition of textiles, ceramics and gold pieces that made us want to go back in time and see how our ancestors wore and used these items before the Spanish arrived. I especially enjoyed looking at the treasures from the Gold of Ancestors Exhibition which displayed more than 1000 pieces of excavated gold from several parts of the country such as Surigao and Butuan from the 10th to 13th Centuries. It gives the audience a clue of how Filipinos expressed social prestige, spirituality and aesthetic preferences and it makes one wonder (and generally accept) how humans have this innate desire to create and express no matter what the culture or era we live in.

The highlight of our visit was the showcase of National Artist Botong Francisco's artworks.  The exhibit was a collection of 40 artworks including large scale paintings and sketches and studies that were never before displayed in public. His works usually depicted Filipino folk traditions like Pista sa Nayon, Harana and Bayanihan sa Bukid  and important historical events such as the famous Martyrdom of Rizal, First Mass at Limasawa and Blood Compact. You're probably familiar with his more famous murals in Intramuros, National Museum and UST but it was surreal to be seeing his sketches and studies up-close. It somehow shows you a glimpse of the artist's creative process and allow you to connect the dots on how the he was able to conceptualize the image from his head down to a small scale study, then to a larger scale painting. While the massive oil paintings were spectacular, I was more enamored by his smaller watercolor artworks. The precise lines and the technique of his washes is nothing I have ever seen! Mukhang vector art sa sobrang linis! I was really itching to take photos, but as an obedient spectator, I kept myself from using my Lumix inside the premises and respect the rules of the museum. Here's a photo from outside instead.

Nakaka OC lang yung second "O", tagilid!

The Botong Francisco's A Nation Imagined Exhibit runs until March 31 at the Ayala Museum, located at Makati Avenue corner Dela Rosa St, Makati City.
Entrance fee: 225 Php

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My New Guitar Baby: Daniela

Photo from http://www.dd-customguitars.com

Waaaaah I have a brand new guitar baby!! Ze boyfriend bought a D&D Slim Standard Natural Acoustic Guitar for me yesterday!!! I was overwhelmed despite picking up a hint from him when he was asking me to test it. I had the initial impression that it was really for him coz he keeps on raving about this brand every time we pass by a music store. So even though he just purchased a Fender acoustic guitar late last year, I still thought he was buying the thing for himself. He was telling me about how heavy the fender was; hard case and everything, so I thought he wanted the D&D for mobility. Plus, he's a true certified guitar junkie so the idea of him buying another acoustic didn't seem fishy to me at the time.

When I played the Slim Acoustic for the first time, I was immediately smitten. I was never a good guitar player to begin with, but the sound I made wasn't half bad when I tested it. I love that it has a slim neck and a thin body, coz I haven't developed calloused guitar fingers just yet, and the slim design makes it more playable even by an amateur like me. Gushing at the full bodied sound even when unplugged, I contemplated on buying the same model myself. I have an upcoming gig this Feb at Boho Sarapsody, CubaoX and I'm still practicing songs using my 6-year old Lumanog, Noogie. Noogie's bridge is too high, so after a few songs, my fingers start to hurt already. When we plugged the guitar to an amp and tested the equalizer, I was even more impressed. I told Jim to accompany me by end of Jan so I can buy my own.

My babies Daniela and Noogie side by side.

While Jim was urging me to keep on playing and testing the guitar, I had some sort of a "Teka lang, para sakin ba 'to" moment but I thought maybe he just wanted my opinion. I thought we were there to just get a feel of the instrument, but i was surprised when he said he was going to pay for it already. Huwaw ah, impulse purchase?! While he was making the transaction at the cashier and the sales guy was putting the guitar inside its softcase, Jim asked the brand of strings used for the guitar. Jonathan the sales guy responded, D'adario size 10. My clever boyfriend suddenly said, "O, tandaan mo ha. Size 10. Pwede rin naman size 9 pero mas manipis tunog" or something to that effect.

Thought bubble: Omg. teka, akin ba talaga 'tong binibili niya?! 

I managed to keep it cool and restrain myself from asking him the question as we left Pro Audio Music Store coz I didn't want to assume. Needless to say that i didn't have to, because my super sweet boyfriend suddenly exclaimed "Happy 123!" with a silly sorta gotcha grin on his face. Apparently, this is his belated monthsary gift.

SABI NA EH!!! 

Gosh. a new guitaaaaaaaar! And a D&D at that! Level up sa Lumanog ko! That super made my day, my week, my month and my year so far. Good Lordie, this boy. nakakahaba lang ng hair. :D Been playing the pretty thing all evening, and im so inspired to make music again. 

You can find out more about D&D Guitars here.

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Moonrise Monday

Ah, Monday. It's the dreaded beginning of week madness. Things are starting quite slow because it takes time for me to get back into I.T. mode. So. What do I need to do today? Ah, metrics reporting for the past week. I shall create my report to see if we are on schedule and on budget. First, I enter all my resources' actual hours in the Project Plan. Next, compute for the Cost Performance Index and Schedule performance Index based on the Earned Value, Planned Value and Actual Costs. George Harrison's Let it Down plays in the background then transitions to E-Pro by Beck. I sent this to the Senior Manager for review coz this will be seen by the client from our Management System.

Then I meet up with the Senior Manager for resourcing discussions. She asks for my recommendation for certain roles for the next release and asks for help for some management documentation to be reviewed by the client. The Foo Fighters play in the background, Summer's End.

I go out for lunch at about 2:00 PM. One of my resolutions this year is to actually leave my desk during lunchtime instead of eating while I do my work. This way, I get to appreciate my time--that sacred one hour supposed to be spent offline and away from work without any guilt. I take the stairs and decide on where to eat. Today, I go to Coffee Bean and get myself a Chinese Chicken Salad. It has romaine lettuce (obviously), almonds, fried noodles, fried wanton wrappersand asian dressing. I dunno if I like it. It has too much wanton wrappers to make it look like the bowl  is full. I brought my notebook, a pencil and my ice cream eraser with me and start doing a sketch of Suzy and Sam from Moonrise Kingdom on my red Scribe notebook. This is where I keep most of my drawings these days, kind of like a diary. I recall Sam's fur hat and boy scout uniform and Suzy's heavy eye shadow, pink sunday school dress and her binoculars. Jim and I watched this movie last Saturday and I told him I wanted to draw the characters. This movie is so peculiar, we both think, but we enjoyed it very much because of the overly stylized setting and visuals. The story wasn't extraordinary, but the way it was told was so strange. Wes Anderson has a weird yet beautiful way of telling stories.

I go back to the office and take the stairs again. I finish the draft of the work package. Later on I find out I *might* go to the US for 6 weeks this February. I pray that it pushes through on March instead because my family has planned a trip to Sagada on Feb 21-23 and my relatives will be going for a visit in Manila on Feb 10. I print my Passport Renewal Application Form that says my renewal schedule is on Wednesday. The final decision about my business trip will come in later this week.

After all my tasks are done, I meet up with Jim and we talk about the day's events and the recent news of my impending trip. Oh dear, magiging uso nanaman ang Skype! The day ends with Jim bringing me home and giving me a hug before leaving our front porch.

Long day, but it's still a good Monday. :)

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New Layout and A Tiring Game of Tennis

Hurrah, I have a new header and a new layout! I must admit, despite being a Computer Science graduate, I'm not quite adept with CSS, so it took me a while to figure out to change the template. I added a couple of pages for my old illustrations and sketchbooks and hopefully I can add more drawings as I go along.

Today, I pretty much did nothing but sleep which I believe is how Sundays are supposed to be spent anyways. I  attended Sunday Mass before having dinner with a wonderful homecooked meal by my sister. Beef stew, chicken wings and garden salad with butterscotch brownies! Super yummy!

So I'm writing now just after Novak Djokovic won a suspenseful game of tennis with Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland. Omg, what an insane match! The game lasted for 5 hours and the last set was so intense, it reminded me of last year's Australian Open finals with Novak vs Rafa playing on the court. LASPAG KUNG LASPAG!! I'm actually a Federer fan all the way, but I've gotten to love Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic too. Nadal won't be joining the festivities this year at the Rod Laver Arena coz of his injury, but he grew on me as I followed his matches against Federer. He plays with so much heart and fights like every shot is his last. Djokovic's personality is so endearing, he's hilarious and he's also got the will of a true champion. Even during this recent game, he lost to Wawrinka 6-1 during the first set but emerged and took the 2nd and 3rd sets. Kudos to Wawrinka, seeded at number 15, who fought all the way and tied the match on the 4th set. The 5th set lasted until 11 games which was claimed by Nole. Ako yung napagod sa kakanood! It's a game of speed, endurance, strategy and I look forward to watching all the Grand Slams this year!  Oh my goodness, I love tennis even if I can't play for crap. And can I just say, ANG GWAPO NI DJOKOVIC PAG WALANG TSHIRT!

Wawawiwa! Take note: Pag wala lang tshirt. 

Photo from papermag.com

Anyway, onto the requisite illustration show and tell. I whipped out my watercolor set again to play around and practice drawing faces. If there is anything that I can draw out of thin air, it's women's faces, and trees and a bunch of flowers. I'm not that good with drawing animals so I always find a picture for reference. My style isn't normally girly, but I love playing with color.

For yesteday's drawing though, I used a lot of pinks and yellows. It reminds me of Barbie slash Tangled.

And that concludes my weekend. Tomorrow, it's back to the office and the world of Siebel Upgrade. I need to catch up on a lot of things because I've been working from home since Tuesday. Metrics reporting is done every Monday, so it's gonna be a busy start of week for me! 

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Hoping To Follow This for 2013

Just a doodle that I did yesterday night. It's a reminder that even if I'm not doing this for a living (yet), I can still draw and create something everyday. 

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A Weekend In The Life of A Multitasker

What a week. I've been filled with so much inspiration despite my body's lack of response to what my mind wants to do. There's been a lot of creativity going on lately, and I'm really thankful. I hope to keep this momentum for as long as possible since I want to improve on my drawing skills this year.

I've been posting a lot of drawings lately, but haven't had a chance to post some personal stuff here, so I'll just put in a few photos from last weekend:

Saturday Morning: My adventure with Ate Inah in Sta Mesa! Super tiring, but super fun. We got lost, we got rained on, but we managed to get to our destination with the help of locals and google maps.

Saturday Afternoon: Meet up with the siblings for Sugar Lily! We checked out this new cupcakery called Larcy's here in B.F. for some taste testing too (checking out the competition? FEELING competitive lang, wala kaming sinabi sa yaman nung may ari ng Larcy's!!). There were a few hits (bananutella and toblerone cupcakes were the bomb) and misses (reds and chocolate weren't my favorite) with the cupcakes, but all in all, the place is great. It had a great ambiance and the space was well designed. We talked about our future plans for the business and brainstormed for marketing ideas. We listed down all the things we need to grow our little venture. I'm glad I get to bond like this with my siblings. It brings us closer and it feels like we're working on something we can really call our own.

Saturday Night: Meet up with my college buddies from DLSU. Louison came home from NY (he brought cheescake all the way from Junior's!!), Cha just got home from L.A. so we had tons of chocolates, and we hung out at Cafe Boheme in B.F. (one of my favorite local cafes here in the south). I've been friends with these people for 9 years already and I'm so glad I got to see them coz I've been MIA lately. It's nice to catch up with them and the usual kalokohans. They managed to persuade me to go with them to Boracay this March, and so I shall! Can't wait!

Also Saturday Night: Lagari mode to my friend Jonjon's despedida after Boheme with my college friends. Jon will be leaving for a job as a drummer at a cruise ship, and he's been all over the world because of his extraordinary talent. I dropped by their place to say hello to friends and get a few drinks. When I got there, they were playing Monopoly Deal. Too bad, Miwa and Alex weren't there because they went on a trip to Boracay (kainis, di na sila sasama sa March!), but I got to see my bandmate Kei and a few other friends from BF.

Sunday: I ran 10km for TENMoves, went to mass and slept all day afterwards.

Photo by Willie Altarejos

And it was goooooooooood. 

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Sicko Weako

Argh, I hate being sick. I've been coughing like a mad dog for the past couple of weeks and thus been working from home since Tuesday. While that could seem like a good thing, it really isn't, coz I feel like I'm still not in the loop when I'm out of the office (despite being online the whole time). Also, I feel so tired all the time and it feels like cactus is attached to my throat 24/7. I visited a pulmonary specialist yesterday and she says I have respiratory tract infection and post nasal drip. What that means, I dunno, I just know that I need rest and I need to take meds. She says it's common these days, so I shouldn't worry.

The advantages of working from home though is that I have time for other things, like painting. While taking small breaks from calls and status reports, I get to doodle or make some calligraphy stuff or practice doing portraits without violating corporate rules about productivity. It's kind of a stress reliever too, so it's kinda therapeutic.

Yesterday, after going to the doctor, I made a stop to the bookstore to buy some paintbrushes and watercolor. I'm starting to appreciate this medium all of a sudden because of the artists that have inspired me lately. I've been a gouache zealot until recently. I love water color and how you can make different washes and blending styles. It's such a light medium, and I enjoy putting small details to my current piece.

Artsy farts show and tell time!

Making flower patterns using water color. I think I'm gonna use this flower pattern for my first stamping project on February!

Making portraits again. I used to love drawing women's faces, but I need to get back into the groove of shading.

Journal writing to document last Saturday's events--a trip to Sta Mesa to buy cupcake boxes for Sugar Lily. 

More encouraging words with calligraphy and water color. I love drawing flowers these days. 

Practicing drawing faces. This doesn't look symmetrical haha her eyes are not aligned! T_T

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A Bunch of Drawings and A Purpose for This Blog

This blog was intended to post some of my artworks, doodles and calligraphy when I'm not actually held up at my 9-5 job. Some people are fortunate to be doing what they are absolutely passionate about, while some of us who were late bloomers and thought were being practical, got into jobs that paid well but isn't really as fulfilling as we would like it to be. Define it as lack of direction or perhaps a juggling act, but as I have mentioned before, while my 2012 was the year of balance, 2013 will be a year of focus.

I was reading through Brainpickings.org one afternoon when I hit a eureka moment. You could call me as a jack of all trades, master of none kinda girl. I love art, music, travel, sports, food, reading and writing. Basically any form of expression draws me in and I want to get into it. I dabble here and there and every year I make resolutions to achieve the goal of getting better at something. Well because I just dabble, I find myself knowing how to do a bit of this and a bit of that, but never reaching a level where I could say I'm REALLY good. And that brings me to my goal this year. Be good at something.

There is this article about How to Find Your Purpose and Do What You Love on Brainpickings and it inspired me to really use this blog to chronicle my true passion: To create. It doesn't matter what other people say or if they believe that I am a "real artist" or not. What matters is that I keep on doing what I am doing and I inspire others with my story and what I am making. So I am making use of this blog to to improve at drawing/illustration/calligraphy, share it and be inspired everyday to make something. Anything, as long as I create.

That brings me to the past few weeks' artsyfarts.

Getting back into using gouache and drawing pretty girls

Inspired by Sugar Lily, our cupcake business.

Another random girl drawing

Patterns patterns patterns

Patterns used for stationery

Patterns used for prayers of gratitude

So I leave you with something that I've read in someone's blog that speaks to me like it was directed at me:

Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.

— Ira Glass

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Stamping Crafternoon and Ten Paces

I'm so excited! I got a slot at Alessa Lanot's Crafternoon Sessions at Fully Booked! I've been wanting to get into rubber stamping ever since I stumbled upon a bunch of crafting blogs that made their customized stationery, I wanted to make some of my own for my handmade card projects.

I received an email confirmation today about my reservation! Hurrah!

image from LifeAfterBreakfast

This is one of the things that I resolve to do this year--immerse myself in crafting workshops and study digital illustration. I'm a bit socially inept so I'm not always comfortable hanging out with a bunch of people that I don't know, but I figured, I'd probably be too busy working on my stamps anyway so I suppose I don't really have to talk to them strangers. (Ayos sa attitude, diba?) But then again, I reminded myself that I have to be (and I want to be) open to my surroundings as much as possible this year and not shut people out so I'm going to make this a deliberate change in myself as well. It's pretty much just like going back to school, I guess.

And just like an eager beaver student, I'm already thinking of a pattern for my stamp already! I was looking for inspirations in this blogosphere and chanced upon this site called Ten Paces and Draw. Basically it's a collaboration site that allows a community of illustrators and designers to swap ideas/sketches then come up with a final illustration/design using their own medium and their own style. I've been looking at the before and after photos all morning and these are my favorites.

Pattern Swap

Final – Meera Lee, Sketch – Mika Nakano

Fashion Swap

Siobhán Gallagher – Necklace

Lettering Swap

Final by Kyle Letendre, Sketch by Ann Shen

Atrology Swap

Final by Roxanne Daner, Sketch by Angela Rizza

Cocktail Swap

Final by Julia Bereciartu, Sketch by Tyler Parker

Amazing transformations, don't you think? What has really struck me in these before and after drawings is how the Final Artists have mixed their own illustration and design style with the original idea. They didn't copy each pose for the characters, nor did they replicate each font from the original sketch. It was so refreshing to look at! It's so inspiring how the sketch artists come up with the original concept/idea for the illustration and how the final artists made it their own. 

You can check more Swaps from Ten Paces and Draw here

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