USA

First month in New York [via iPhone]


Hi, I'm alive! Here's a mishmash of iPhone photos since I don't have my computer yet and I just recently got my camera's charger in the mail.

Enjoy the lack of structure in this post- just wanted to share a bit of the nicer things during my crazy first month in the city... 

My broker suggested Stone Street and it was actually my first time here. Enjoyed some of the cute & quaint restaurants lined up! 

I also went on a Literary Pub Crawl around Greenwich Village with my cousins Beatrice & Mikey. Learned about most of the writers and artists who used to live in the village as well as the history behind these brownstone houses. This was a fun tour so I'd recommend it to all of you bookworms! Check out their tours here.

Not really prioritising my outfit shots right now, LOL. Besides not wanting to carry around a huge camera, my looks aren't so blog-worthy at all and I'm fine with that. This city is more interesting than I am right now. 

Obviously coerced into doing this shot, black on black foreva! 

Some cute things around the 'burbs. 

Well of course you have to go on the toughest ride first when you arrive at Six Flags. Kingda Ka was seriously fun, especially when you get to see everything at the top for a few seconds. 

Yes, I did this at Six Flags. I'm expecting the indoor walls here to be tougher than ours so I'm definitely keen on checking those out. 

Because I'm not allowed to change the structure of my apartment here, it's been a bit of a challenge to choose the furniture and decor. I really miss having a construction team and having the freedom to design my space on a budget. The lengthy process of finding an apartment and finalising the lease took up most of my time on the first few weeks since we had to go back and forth from the suburbs to the city, but my broker was extremely helpful. I ended up buying almost all of my furniture online after visiting tons of stores to save time. It's been fun having to put most of them together. Times like these I'm thankful that I'm not a weakling since everything here is DIY OR DIE. 

Enjoyed this restaurant beside one of the hotels we stayed in- Piacere situated at Little Italy. The owner was even kind enough to offer us more rose after he saw me post this photo on Instagram! Definitely going back with some friends since I enjoyed their burrata. 

A great view from one of the units we checked out.

I met up with Maxine before they drove to the Hamptons since it's been 5 years since we've last seen each other! Max is still the same giggly girl I became close to back in freshman year. 

How do you like my photo? This broken neck pose has to be my new thing. 

Engineering building at Pratt

Interior Design department 

The view of Manhattan from Ray's dorm room in Brooklyn. 

This is Ray, we instantly clicked during the foreign student orientation since her opening line to me was, "I like your face!" plus we're both obsessed with B L A C K. I'm not even kidding when I say that she's seriously my Estonian counterpart, it's pretty creepy. 

Times Square is always crazy so enjoying it from above is a slightly better.

I stay in a historic art deco building. I love the location and I'm so glad we found a reasonably priced unit in Manhattan! It was meant to be, haha! I originally wanted to stay in Brooklyn to be closer to my school but I figured that I'd be cooped up in that area if I were to live and study there.   

The gym is HUGE. This isn't the entire view, taken from the cardio area. They have some equipment for TRX and even crossfit! There's also a studio for yoga and pilates. 

The view from the roof deck is also BEAUTIFUL. Posted a 360º video on my Instagram

Grad school isn't fun at all so I'm really happy I get to come home to this view everyday. 

[view full size HERE]

Will be blogging more as soon as I get my computer. Hope you guys liked this short update! 

❤︎

Golden Gate + Sausalito + POFA


Obsessed with these dusty sneakerboots. If I could buy safety pairs, I would. 

When you have impatient and unwilling siblings as your photographers you can't help but flash this look of annoyance on 50% of your photos. Shoutout to my lazybutt siblings! Thanks for putting up with me anyways. ✌

C'mon, a trip to San Francisco isn't complete without a touristy photo of the Golden Gate Bridge! 

the city ♥

We visited Sausalito and I fell in love with the place! All I could do was daydream about having a house on top of the hill and owning a yacht.  

Special post with my mum since I liked her outfit today. Teased her about her getting style tips from this blog but she denies regularly visiting my site! My dad reads every post but how come my style/aesthetic won't rub off on him? Hmm.. 

We dropped by the Palace of Fine Arts. 

It reminded me of being in design school and having to memorize the parts and details of columns/classical orders. Not part of my favorite memories of interior architecture at all. 



Tomorrow's going to be our last day here in America and I can't help but think of how much I'll miss San Francisco. The number one reason why the fam chose this place for the holidays was the weather- it never gets too cold or too hot. Everything is accessible downtown and staying at the JW Marriot Union Square was really convenient for us. We're also thankful for family friends who were kind enough to drive us so we could tour around a bit. 

On our first week I expressed how I really missed Manila, mostly because of the weather, but later on I think what I missed the most was having my own place/personal space. Two weeks with the fam was a bit overwhelming for me- having people constantly talking and moving around me 24/7 is something I haven't been accustomed to for 7 years now. I like being in America obviously because it's a lot cleaner and organized than the Philippines, but it will never replace home. 

Because of friends and family I'm always tempted to move or work here. I can honestly see myself being here in the future but I don't think I'd be able to really settle here because of the weather (again, I HATE the cold) and me being an antisocial grinch- it makes me crave for happier/warmer people whenever I do decide to go out. That quality about Filipinos just keeps me sane. 

I'm excited to go back home and get back to working but I'll definitely miss San Francisco (except the food). 

Happy new year, guys! Hope you guys had a blast welcoming 2014.   :) 

Castello di Amorosa- photo diary

Umm... I am obsessed with my GoPro! 


I had a scarf with me that didn't make it to this photo, but yes it was crazy to wear this top considering that it was 8℃ out this afternoon. Never got to wear it more than once in Manila since I always managed to sweat in it even if it's supposed to be breathable but I guess that doesn't apply to all climates. 

Frescoes in the Great Hall were done in 18 months by two artists from Italy. So beautiful! 



We visited the Castello di Amorosa this morning for a tour of the castle and to taste some of their wines. Learned so much from this trip and I'm glad I didn't back out since I thought it was going to be boring at first. The authentically styled 13th-century Tuscan castle/winery was really pretty and I can only imagine the grand events they have around the place each month! They had so many things brought in from Europe and the imported materials to build the castle alone amounts to at least $40,000,000. I especially enjoyed the torture chamber with authentic tools & machines, as well as the great hall with frescoes by two Italian artists. If you're visiting San Francisco I'd recommend driving up to Napa Valley if you're into wine and your group consists of mostly adults (my brother didn't get to sample the wine so it wasn't as fun for him).