Home, Sweet Home

I peered out the window of the airplane at Jax's poor excuse for a skyline. It can't begin to compare to New York's, but it's home. And nothing can compare to that.

"A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous." -Coco Chanel

Right now, I'm 3 for 3. Three seasons. Three MBFWs.

It's funny how Fashion Week once seemed like this distant, untouchable thing - only seeing it through magazines, and never imagining that I would actually be here, seeing that white runway, feeling the lights, watching these gorgeous clothes on make believe creatures float by.

There to witness the tents go up in Bryant Park for the last time, and present for the inaugural season at Lincoln Center last spring - not too bad. Not too bad at all.

Lost in Translation

Bridgette is my Construction 3 teacher. Short, curly blonde hair that reminds me of old-school Madonna, pinkish-reddish lipstick, leopard print glasses and a French accent.. She is adorable! Adorable, but a little (a lot) scattered, and sometimes hard to follow. She'll go over one point, then have to back track, and say "Oui, I forgot.." and we'll all be lost.

She was explaining intersecting pleats, and teaching us how to make the pattern, and towards the end, she was folding the paper and slashing and folding and this and that, and we had no idea what was going on. It looked like a big wad of paper and she goes, "And that's it" (include French accent). We were bewildered. Everyone was standing on their stools to get a better look, iPhones poised to take pictures, because apparently we were supposed to have understood what just happened by that point? But mostly, everyone was wide eyed and seemed to be just as confused as I was. I couldn't help but laugh.

Classic moment.

Jet Lag or Insomnia? Or Just Plain Crazy?

It's the first week of my final semester, and I am in turmoil over what's to come. Afraid. Anxious. Excited. All of the aforementioned. No more school to delay this port to adulthood and real life. Lots of big girl decisions in the next few months. Could change my life. And I think I'm gonna let it.

Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens

Brooklyn Bridge Park


Right now, I miss:
Honey Wheat Bread
Going to the pool in February
Feeling my nose and my toes

I really, really don't like:
Walking around in arctic temperatures

But I LOVE:
The option to walk everywhere and public transportation
The change in seasons (Fall and Spring are just beautiful)
Having ANY type of food delivered to my doorstep
The feeling that everyone around you is there for the same reason:
To make it happen

Gilligan (and the Skipper too)

Underground River, Palawan, Puerto Princesa, Philippines


We woke up extra early to go to the Underground River. There were 20+ of us in the van and about 18 of us had flights that afternoon. (This is will important information later.) We get to the docking area after a two hour drive, so it's around 9 or 10. Our tour group is pretty far down the list, so we decide that it's a good time to eat lunch so that we don't waste time. We walk to the resort that provided our lunch, and walk back, hoping it's time for us to board.

Apparently some boatmen are refusing to go because of the waves, and to slow things down even more, they're only allowing four people to a boat rather than the usual eight. With the first of our flights at 5:30, our guide is saying there's a chance we might not go. Thousands of miles to see this Underground River, and he's saying we might not go?! Well, my mom had a few words for him. Others agreed, and I'm sure were thinking the same thing, but still.. inappropriate.

After a bit of a wait, and lots of uncertainty, we all make it to see the Underground River. And it was incredible. Beautiful.

But the real adventure came afterwards. The ride over was already a little rocky. And the trip back, well, it was getting past the break that was most tricky.

The boatmen kept anchoring the boats closer to the cliffs, so fighting the waves both from the shore and the side of the mountain. They'd run towards the ocean, but the boats kept coming back. Some were filling with water. Another broke down, and just kind of sat there. With it getting worse, we were wondering if we were ever going to get off that island and make our flight. My dad and uncle, former and present boatmen, respectively, had to help get those boats back in the ocean.

Well, we made it on ours. We were the last of our tour group that had a flight to catch. We jumped out of the boat and into the van that was taking us back to our hotel. It was 3-something. We had a two hour drive. And the van that was taking us could only fit 3 more people, leaving my mom, my aunt and my uncle behind. We just crossed out fingers and hoped they'd make it back in time. The three of us, my dad, my great aunt and I took van number one, and were going to pack everything and meet them at the airport.

It was about 5:30 when we got to the hotel. We packed up all our stuff and headed to the airport. Our flight was at 6. We checked in our bags. But problem: We were still missing 3 people. We told the airport staff they were on the way; that they were close. Five 'til, and we had about given up. It was the last flight out for the day, and we'd have to wait until around 10am the next to fly out. It wouldn't have been a big deal, except for the next day was Tuesday, Balikbayan Day at my church, where we'd meet the Executive Minister. Just as we folded and as the airport staff walked out to get out luggage off the plane, we saw it. The oversized van came steaming in, and they we caused a whole commotion and they called to the staff, telling them to leave our stuff on the plane. We ran through like madmen. And ran through plane, to our seats. At the back of the plane. Last row. Everyone staring.

Well, I wanted a more exciting trip.

No Man is an Island

Snake Island, Bohol, Philippines


We started the day thinking we'd be going to the Underground River, but since the tide was too high, they weren't letting people go there. Change of plans: We were going to go snorkeling and island hopping instead.

We got to the place where the boats were docked, and genius! I forgot the battery for my camera! It's sitting in the charger, and I packed it up in a hurry. Anyways, we resolved my absentminded-ness, and continued our trip. First thing: snorkeling in the reefs. Pretty freakin' awesome. Now, this is more like it. We finished up there, and the boat left for Snake Island, named for the serpentine shape of its shoreline. So we're cruisin', then click-click-click. The motor stopped. We're in the middle of the sea. Another little boat passed us, stared, then turned around and our boatman throws and rope over and we were towed the rest of the way to the island. Well, we got there. Hopefully, this will be fixed or they'll have sent another boat for us by the time we finished our lunch.

We got to Snake Island and were greeted by starfish and delicious food. Some people on our tour sat and let their food digest, taking a break from all the swimming, others hopped back in the water, or strolled along the shore. I dug around for some little sand dollars, figured I could do something with 'em. Our guide tells us that it's time to go to the last island so we should head back to the boat. They tried to start it. Nope. That's a no-go, sir. Remember how we hoped they would've fixed this problem by the time lunch was over? Yeah. That didn't happen. So we sat there. My dad took a nap on the sand. A solid 15-20 minutes later, the guide tells us to walk back, and that we'd have to wait for a new boat? Really? Wtheck? Nice job, guide. Disgruntled, we mosey our way back, and jump over and limbo under the other tethered boats. We weren't so upset about being stuck on this beautiful island. We were on vacation. What else were we going to do, anyway? We were just kind of annoyed with our guide at this point. He probably should've bought us all massages. One hour later, and we're on boat #2. Relaxed on the first ride over, half of our tour didn't bother to zip up our life jackets. This ride, hah! With the waves getting bigger, and the sky getting darker, coupled with the pitter patter of the engine, I looked around then made sure my jacket was zipped and tied. And every time the boat started to make that low hum, our eyes widened, not sure if it'd stop again. We looked up to our guide for reassurance. He was asleep.

So you'd think that's the end of our island troubles, don't you? Nope. We still gotta whole 'nother day to cover.