First of a series of photos I took, accompanied with a song that’s been stuck in my head for weeks. Flowers in the neighborhood are blooming because it’s Spring.
*Photos taken by me, with my Sony A6000.
What we ate and what you should eat when in Paris
We only had two must-do’s for our trip to Paris: (1) Spend a day in Disneyland and (2) Eat. I’m not the type of traveller that puts so much importance on eating local food. I’d much rather stop by a local grocery and make my own meals in order to save on money and time. However, Paris is a different story. French cuisine is known worldwide for being one of the best (if not the best) so I had to make an exception plus it was Matt’s only request.
For my research, I found Condé Nast Traveler extremely helpful because of their Best restaurants lists (50 best and 24 best in Paris). The website is a great resource for everything travel related and since Paris is a major city, there was more than enough information readily available.
Croissants/Bread from neighborhood Boulangeries
On our way to the metro stations, Matt and I would always pass boulangeries with windows filled with all kinds of bread and pastries. This is a great option for people on budget and are just looking for a quick bite before starting the day. A croissant can cost you as little as 1€ and are made fresh every morning.
Continue reading “What we ate and what you should eat when in Paris”
Dear Leon,
The following is a blog post that was written some time ago, during a wet, rainy day here in Amsterdam.
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I have no idea when you will find yourself reading this or if you’d ever come across this open letter to you at all.
Today was a Wednesday, meaning a short day at school today. I did the usual routine of strapping the car seat on to the bakfiets, carefully placing Kate into the seat and cycling to school with Alex and Harvey. I didn’t expect anything out of the ordinary today.
When Lewis left for football and Billie went home to her house next door, I asked you if you wanted to come on Maxi’s walk with Kate and I. Normally, you don’t say yes because you’d rather spend the time on your half an hour screen time but today, you decided to come along. It was 4:45pm, the rain had stopped for a bit so it was the perfect time to go out and do a nice long walk around the lake.
Like our usual heart-to-hearts, we got into the topic of how long I’ve been in Amsterdam for. “Since tomorrow is February 1… It’ll be about 3 1/2 months now”, I say to you while pushing Kate’s buggy. You proceed in telling me that Lewis mentioned that Alex hasn’t reached a year with their family yet. I chuckle and correct you, telling you that Alex has actually been around for more than a year and will be marking her 2 year anniversary with their family in the summertime.
You look at me and ask, “When will Alex leave then?”
“Alex’s situation is quite unique. She’s planning to move in with her boyfriend so she’ll definitely stay in the Netherlands. But they can’t do that just yet, she still needs to save some money.”
“And he is still in school.”, you added.
I smiled. “Yes, that’s right. And to move in together, they’re both going to need money. But it’s nice for Lewis and the rest isn’t it? Alex gets to stay with them for a lot longer.”
“I wish you could stay longer.”
My heart swelled up a few sizes bigger when you said this. This always happens when the topic of me leaving comes up. What you don’t know about this time was that I was already seriously considering finding ways to stay in the Netherlands; not only because I’ve already started building a life here but also because of you and your sister. Every time you ask me when am I leaving, I bite my tongue before I could get the words “I don’t plan on leaving because I want to stay near you. I want to still be around when you become 10, 11, 12… I want to be around when Kate goes to school or when you get your first girlfriend.” because honestly, who knows? Things may change in the next few months and I didn’t want to get your hopes up.
I have not known love the way I have come to love you. Taking care of you, learning with and from you, has been the best part of my 2017 and is what I look forward to everyday. All these emotions I feel for you and Kate, I never would have expected to feel in my lifetime.
And it’s prompted by the little things that both of you do. Like when Kate makes a new sound and giggles whenever I imitate it or when you talk to me about your Harry Potter progress. I have a new appreciation for all the maids and yayas that have spent part of their lives taking care of me and my sisters.
But instead of saying all these to you, I let the emotions settle in. I look at you and touch your back and reply simply with “Me too, buddy. Me too.”
Paris 2018
Last weekend, I was fortunate enough to find myself on a plane from Amsterdam to Paris-Orly airport. It was freezing in Amsterdam that day (-8 degrees celsius!) so saying that I was ecstatic over Paris’s barely-above-zero-degrees weather was an understatement.
Matt and I were in Paris for a long weekend and had arrived late on Thursday evening. We made our way to our Airbnb host’s house in the 11th arrondissement with ease, despite him being exhausted since he came straight from work. Because our trip was a quick one, I had planned majority of what we were going to do more than a month prior so that we could get the most of our time in the French capital. The typical tourist spots were on our list but our trip was focused on two things in particular:
- A trip to Disneyland Paris; and
- Eating as much good food as possible.
And I’m happy to report we came home happy and more than content. Paris has always been my dream city and finally being able to walk the streets, stare at all the chic fashion boutiques, order croissants in the morning and use my shitty French has definitely left me more starry eyed. 3 days was definitely not enough to see, eat and explore what Paris has to offer so don’t be surprised if ever you find me back in the near future.
Delft, Den Haag, Leiden & Woerden
The wonderful thing about the Netherlands as a country is that everything is close by. You can go end to end of the Netherlands within a day; hours even! Which is why I jumped to the chance to explore a couple of places with Alex, my closest friend here in Amsterdam. We met Friday night to discuss what our game plan should be then woke up extra early the next day and set off on our adventure.
We were able to travel to a number of places because I had purchased discounted tickets from the Albert Heijn (a local grocery chain) which gave us unlimited train travel for only 15 euros! So the main goal of the whole day was to make the most of these tickets, not necessarily experience everything each town had to offer. I’ll save that for another trip. 🙂
Delft
Our first stop was at Delft, a cute city populated by cobblestone streets and amazing doors. I took the most photos here because everywhere we went was picturesque. Delft is known for blue porcelain, Johanne Vermeer and being one of William of Orange’s residences.
Don’t forget to love yourself.
I just spent a good portion of my day watching Youtube videos of people giving expert advice as to how to get someone to be attracted to you. I was doing this because I wanted to find answers. Weeks ago, I met a guy that made my heart skip a beat. He was the person that I always said never existed: someone who could make me fall head over heels at the first meeting.
After pondering over these alien feelings, I realized that I had indeed fallen for this person who was essentially, still a stranger to me. I’ve barely skimmed the surface of what makes him a person and yet, he’s the only constant thought that I have every single day since that first encounter. I will even go as far as saying that I think I’m already in love with him.
How strange is it to feel this way about someone whom I barely know.
A letter to Amsterdam
I didn’t know what to expect when I stepped on to the plane heading towards you back in October. I cried millions of tears from the Immigration counter to my seat on the airplane because finally, I was starting the long journey I had been dreaming of. The sheer amount of blog posts, testimonials, youtube videos, and guide books that I had read could not prepare me for what was in my future, when you and I would finally come face to face. Honestly, I still cannot describe how I feel about you despite having been with you, in you, for about a month and a half already.
I will try to illustrate my thoughts in bullet form for the time being.
- Everyone was right about your temperament. In a single day alone, you would give me a bit of sunshine only to be followed by endless bouts of rain, scattered all throughout the day. I can’t tell when your tears will pour so I find myself staying in my waterproof boots and bright, yellow raincoat.
- You are kind. I lost my wallet about a week ago and somehow, it found its way back to me. If that had happened anywhere else, I knew I would have had to kiss Chewy goodbye.
- Nothing could have prepared me for the money situation. I was not previously informed that you promoted paperless transactions, so I was quite reliant on Anna ’til I was finally able to get a bank card of my own. This irked me for weeks even if I knew it would get better in the long run.
- You have so much to offer. I could get lost in the mazes of your museums for days, maybe even weeks. Don’t even get me started on the houses! The streets are generally quiet but nothing short of interesting. I could stare at you and never get bored.
- You are home now, but not really. I still feel like an outsider not because of the language barrier or my ethnicity. You are beautiful but a stopover, if that makes any sense. I was waiting for that feeling everyone talks about when you know you’ve found the one; that it’d be love at first sight and that I would settle here for the rest of my life. I honestly was hoping that from you, for us but sadly, it doesn’t appear to be so.
I hope you don’t mind these letters, Amsterdam. I feel like this is the first of many that I will write over the next year.
Love always,
Puerto Princesa in Film
I remember the day we booked our tickets for this trip as if it had just happened. It was a rainy December afternoon and I was stuck in traffic with Ralf. I was mindlessly scrolling through my emails when I came across PAL’s announcement for their annual holiday seat sale. I scrambled to sit upright on my seat. I clicked the link and checked our dates for our Palawan trip. Our roundtrip airfare only cost P1600 inclusive of taxes! I opened our Telegram group chat immediately and typed with the speed of light.
“GUYS. ETO NA. SEND ME YOUR DETAILS.”
One by one, the personal details started pouring in. Prior to this, I had never booked a flight through PAL’s mobile website so it was a bit of a challenge since there were 5 tickets in total that I had to buy and not mess up any information. I read it again once, then twice, and one final time before I hit the PURCHASE button. A familiar email ringtone later and I had it: the tickets to our first high school barkada trip together (ever).
Crystal Beach, Zambales
One fine Saturday morning, we piled into the car and headed north to Zambales for some much needed sun exposure. It was my first time driving that far and my first time that far North. Crystal beach is actually just 4 hours from Manila (more or less); I just never got around to exploring (Luzon in general) so this was a real treat. Mini-adventure with Kate and Timmy, my best friends from those DLSU days.
We arrived at the town of San Narciso around 12pm. After checking into our room and resting for a few minutes, we went straight to the beach.
Inner monologue
It’s been so long since I’ve “written” anything with my magnets. So many times, I would sit there staring at all the words and come up with nothing. There was nothing that inspired me and there was nothing to be said. But finally, FINALLY, something came to me.
I woke up at 3AM this morning. I tossed and turned for a good hour before deciding to just give up and get up and eat. I decided to plan my week and catch up on some writing. This year, I decided that I was going to start writing in a journal again but the catch is I wouldn’t just write whenever I had something to say. This year, I will write about every single day of 2017 and haven’t missed a single day so far.
It was while writing that it came to me. I pulled up a chair and stared at all the words once more. I slowly weaved them together until they made sense. I felt triumphant and relieved that I finally got it off my chest.
March, like every month that came before it, was tough on me but it gave me something the others did not: laughter. I laughed and cried so much in March. It started off difficult but redeemed itself in its last days. I met old and new friends. I experienced and learned new things. I finally got back on the mat and my practice is slowly steadying itself like before. Life is good and I’m hopeful for the months to come.
JAMIE SEES 