CURRENT MISSION

To see as much of the world as I can. The more different it is from where I sprung the better. People understanding each other is the key to the future. So I would love to meet interesting people from all over.

ABOUT ME

Bohemian at heart--- the kinda girl who really truly thrills to beautiful sunsets and poetry and song and wine and freedom and all that. Three short days in Barcelona, Spain was enough to make my inner gypsy-slash-busker feel at home in that faraway land, where I knew no one except the friend I traveled with.
But I was brought up in Southeast Asia so I was taught to abide by respect and tradition and discipline and duty and honorable work and all that.
I still love and sorely, sorely miss my hometown Manila and its familiar warmth and comfort and all my personal stories interwoven into the city's nooks and crannies. But there were moments when I felt Manila was too jealous, too possessive, too protective. I didn't like Manila very much in those moments. So I would leave, wanting to be free. And yet I found myself coming back again and again.
Now I am slowly but surely falling in love with my new playground, Jakarta, a new, different and overwhelming city with an intriguing past. Sometimes, when I don't understand its moods and it leaves me too lonely, I find myself not liking it very much too.
Complex relationships are often love/hate, you know.
I like food, fashion and music and fancy myself to be a writer.
And needless to say, I love to travel. I came to the traveling party late, because I always thought you needed a ton of dough to do it. But I think I've done pretty well for myself in the traveling department, having visited several cities in China, India, Thailand, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, France, Spain, and Italy. And of course several beautiful local places. I try to do one local trip for every foreign one that I take.
So there you have it. Let's discover the world together, one person at a time.

PHILOSOPHY

Life is only as beautiful as you are brave.

Interests

Writing, books, poetry
Singing, music
Fashion
Food (and the occasional bottle of wine)
Travel
Advertising, pop culture
Laughing
Good conversation
Meeting other people who are interested in the world beyond what they know

• culture
• writing
• books
• poetry
• singing
• folklore
• fashion
• dining
• wine
• partying
• traveling
• music
• swimming

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: Fury (Salman Rushdie), Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand), Eat, Pray, Love (Elizabeth Gilbert), and the Harry Potter series for the idealistic child who still peeks through occasionally
Movies: Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Roman Holiday
Music: I will listen to (and probably try to sing) anything. But the music of Eva Cassidy, India Arie, Adele and others of that ilk never fail to soothe and move me at the same time. When I'm in a poppier mood, Alicia Keys and Beyonce can get me to move it.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Sitting on the steps of the National Academy of Music in Paris, at sunset, filled with the delicious warmth of crepes and au chocolat chaud. It felt like I was right in the middle of that storied city, watching the whole world in all its different colors go by.
Swimming from midnight to the wee hours of the morning at the hot springs in Ciater, Bandung, Indonesia, surrounded by mist and darkness, with three very kind, funny and colorful Indonesian friends.
Going with my parents, at 7 years old, to the first EDSA Revolution, the one that ended the Marcos regime and put the Philippines on the map for being the first country to have a bloodless--- and successful--- uprising. I only remember sitting on my dad's shoulders and being amazed at the number of people around me. If only I knew how earth-shaking that moment was.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, China, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Indonesia, Philippines

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