This is a super late picture post of the last Daylight Saturday, because of life getting in the way, and the storm and the power outage. I got there pretty late, and I didn’t know a bunch of people. But here, a few meager photos of some friends, new and old. It was such a pleasure. :)

Cel.

Tim & Solo. He gave me film that day. :D

Gabby.

Pasha, sweetface.

Kris’.

Blurry, mustachioed Rob.

Laurine.

Anna.

Kris.

And because this has been both beautiful and sad, here’s a song by The National called “About Today.” This version is the one from the Cherry Tree EP

Tim’s.

More photos under the cut.

Rothko-esque window I passed by on the way there.
Is it just me?

Foooooood.

Haha just wanted this on my blog. <3

Gabby & Kris.

Pau & Clark.

Ice cream/yogurt from Ritual. They mixed these flavors with honey.

Testing the Olympus Pen EP-1 features.

Anna & friend.

Becca.

Pashaface with Carla. <3

Dinner. :)

Saving the best for last.

The Daylight Series started out as a personal project of photographer (and one of my awesomest friends) Gabby Cantero. I’ve actually blogged about her here, when she was just starting one of her earlier projects, These Portraits.

Daylight is a super favorite among Gabby’s friends, friends of friends, and has been featured in a few places. The one happening this Saturday is pretty special, kind of bittersweet—it’d be pretty amazing to share this one with Gabby is what I’m saying. So, go, if you are so inclined. It doesn’t really matter if you don’t know anybody. Well, it’d be kinda awkward at first, probably.

But we’re friendly if you are, too. :)

(Poster is of Wanda, taken by Gabby as part of the series. Kris & I tinkered with it a little bit, and this is what happened. You can click on it to view a bigger size on Flickr.)

For the fourth day we were in Shanghai, we roamed around the city without any itinerary and surprisingly ended up going to pretty interesting places. Before lunch, we headed to East Nanjing Road, which is closer to the city’s center, if I’m not mistaken. We went to The Bund, from which we could see the infamous Shanghai skyline from across the river (Wusong, I think).

We were then able to go see an interesting exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art, which was very near a nice park in People’s Square. At night, we went to Xintiandi, which is gorgeous. It’s a very popular area with lots of restaurants and bars. Most interesting: the architecture and feel of the place. Very traditional meets modern; I quite loved looking around here.

Then, we had excellent shao mai and dumplings for dinner.

Brother.

I don’t know, I like taking photos of strangers.

More photos under the cut; of the exhibit, Xintiandi and some more
from The Bund, and the walk back home.

Park! They were planting in a new tree.

Lots of table games, and lots of spectators.

I must admit, I do not understand.

Best shao mai in the world, pretty much.

My tea & a book.

The walk back home.

Cherries!

Went to the American Cemetery with my dad on a Saturday morning. Mostly because I had to go there for work, but also because I’d been wanting to go there for a while now. I’d talk about it, but I’d just let these pictures speak for themselves. It really was a beautiful place, though. Kinda surprised that something so pretty and clean exists in the Philippines.

It’s really, really hot when we went there, but it feels so nice to walk around, that I definitely want to go back there to spend an afternoon reading or something.

Me & my poppa!

Fake light leaks! I miss messing around photoshop, to be honest.

I don’t know what they are doing, exactly.

Hi, hair.

Heart lit up whenever I saw a rosette beside a soldier’s name.

The mosaic murals of battle scenes were really pretty.

This tree looks like its bark is made out of feathers.

Made me want to watch The Pacific. (I’ve started watching the pilot — be proud of me!). I like it, so far, but I’m not super hooked yet.

More photos! Of tourists, more mosaics, and pretty things.

Pretty chapel is pretty.

Battle mosaics!

I had a great time.

Thanks to Gabby, Aliver & their friends who stopped by, and Nash. :)

The exhibit will be up until May 30, 2010. Gallery hours are 11am-8pm daily. If you get lost, look for Nike & dimensione. This gallery is at the third floor of the building across them (the one that has BoConcept). Click the cut for more photos:

Isabel.

Reggie Yuson’s magnets are all over High Street.

Papa.

Mama.

Nash.

Me & Nash.

Making a Blue Roast video… Or trying to. Stay tuned for it!

I already posted one over here, but it’s so fun to use to write or draw with. Try it!

 
Gifts!
My friend Carla found this little gem and gave it to me. I was super happy because I’ve never seen a license plate with my name on it (I usually end up getting ‘Samantha,’ which is my second name). So, thanks, Carla! I really love it so much, I could cry.

• a reminder from Billy Corgan & Co.
• iCarly¹
• wonton soup <3
• collaging

For the past few days, I’ve settled into a sort of after-graduation “summer mode” that tends to stretch into a deep and dark Oblivion, also known as Unemployment. I’ve been drawing a little (mostly letters), and writing a little (mostly about feelings), eating a lot and watching a lot of television that I missed when there were still things I needed to GIT ER DONE. Oh, and I’ve been collaging a little and it really feels good to be doing it because I hadn’t been making anything with my hands in so long, I was afraid I’d maybe forgotten how to.

Here’s another one that I made tonight:

Tomorrow, I have to run a couple of errands and attend a meeting. On Tuesday, I will probably be at the beach, but to do PA stuff, and I really, really want to start taking good(-ish?) photographs again, because it used to be such a big part of my life, and it’s kind of sad how, suddenly, it’s not.

Yeah. I told you this post was about nothing.

———
¹ You’re not allowed to make fun of iCarly. It’s one of the funniest shows in the world. Sure, there are cheap, obvious jokes here and there, but there’s a lot of really unexpected, genuinely laugh-out-loud moments. Plus Freddie is adorable. YOU CAN’T MAKE ME NOT WATCH IT.

So, I waited for it to come out.

Hi, clouds. You’re real pretty, but get outtatheway!

And then, the sun came out.

Pretty.

———
¹ Lesson Learned: You must bring any sort of recording device wherever you go. Think of everything that you will miss!

I think I’m bringing the camera around a bit more often. I miss they way I used to see the world, when I held a camera.

My Flickr • Gabby’s Flickr

Paulina Paige.

Gabby and her medium-format camera. Drool.

Yay.

The rest of the photos:

Waiting in Starbucks. I “studied” and looked at old pictures.

Then I saw some balloons outside!

Then we saw Evee!

Werking itttt.

:)

Check out the books. Flaaaaail.

That’s it, the end.

1. Today is the first day of Hogwarts, aka my real school.
2. Today is the birthday of someone who will not be named because I am ashamed that I know this birthday. Ahem.
3. Today is the beginning of my birthmonth!

As such, I got this pretty stupid, ambitious idea to blog here everyday for the whole month of September. They’re not going to be big-ass, profound posts, just random what’s-its from day-to-day. Obviously, it’s not going to just be stupid things everyday either. Just. I’ll just be around more is all. Yay.

So, yesterday, I bought a Flickr Pro account. I had been thinking about getting one for a while, but kept on putting it off so I finally asked my dad if I could borrow his credit card and he obliged. After entering the information, and confirming my order, I realized that I probably couldn’t afford it right now (given that my current laptop is still being paid for. By me. HEH.) but then I justified this (seemingly) impulsive purchase by telling myself that it’s a birthday gift. To myself. So, I spent a few hours yesterday updating it with old photos that I had lost the will to put up on my Multiply account, which used to house all my photos.

Because I am a needy loser, here are a few of them:

After tinkering with the interface a bit more, I realized that it actually was a good purchase, since there was so many things you could do for a relatively small amount of money. And I don’t know, it seemed really useful to me, since I plan on hosting my photos over there from now on.

I actually missed taking nicer pictures when I was looking through my old things.

In case anybody wants to look at it, here is my Flickr account: PRESIDENTS. Add me if you have one, too. I only have 28 contacts, so far. It’s getting a little lonely.