Hello Tonichi

If I could write a definition for summer in the dictionary, it'd be good food, good people, and good places.  Which is why I'm typing this from my quaint little apartment in Italy!.. not. Okay so I'm not exactly vacationing in the summer isles, or roaming around the cobblestoned steps of Rome on a Vespa with Paolo Valisari ala Lizzie McGuire, I'm channelling my inner Italian by inventing summer-inspired dishes. I mean, if I can't go to Europe, might as well bring the idyllic Sicilian summer to Manila.  

December so far has been messy - quite literally, as we've been doing a lot of spring (or winter?) cleaning at home. Being the huge sentimentalist that I am, you can imagine that letting go of old memorabilia - post it notes, movie tickets, and whathaveyou - would be like pulling teeth, but not this time. I'm of the belief that there ain't nothin' like the sound of a digital trash can being emptied out, so I just applied the cold ruthlessness in deleting files on my computer to real life. Quit with all the unnecessary nostalgia and attachment to clutter; it's the memories that count, at the end of the day.  Now that we're on the topic of memories and because I have no visuals to accompany this post, here's a dump of some of the photos I've posted on Instagram over the past few months.  When my family went to Calatagan / Pizza. Every single day.  Beef brisket noodles from Shi Lin (great now I'm hungry) / ice cream happiness / and Bianca...

With one term left before I graduate and the million and one chips making themselves comfortable on my shoulder, I am thisclose to melting into a puddle of feelings (freshly squeezed from fresh tears). 

s p a c e there is a silence that suffocates to wash down the noise a balance of self destruction  between crisp white sheets and pretentious choices

Here's a visual diary of our most recent trip to Hong Kong.

My sister is the best. I was sick with fever and tonsillitis last week, and naturally, she got sick as well (we're clingy like that, haha!), but she still obliged when I casually asked her to model for my Creative Photography class midterms. I was actually only too happy to have her as my subject again, but she was apologetic about how her short hair wasn't dreamy / surreal / ethereal enough for my concept! GUUURL, did we or did we not watch more seasons of ANTM than we'd like to admit?! In the words of philosopher, modeling queen, and professional narcissist, Tyra Banks: WERK IT.  

I don't know what it is about school lately but every week's more dull than the last. Maybe I'm just exhausted from the everyday grind.