On Turning 28

First post for 2014, yey.

So I turned 28 (#auntie) and here's the year 2 of my travel video project:



Excited for my 2015 video since I just got my Korea and Schengen visa approved. Seoul! Amsterdam! Santorini! Paris!

Looking forward to a great year!

Countdown

So I've been talking about Myanmar in my previous posts but it turns out, I won't be going anyway for various reasons.

Ditched my Burma flight tickets and bought a roundtrip ticket to Manila because it seems more...right. Everything's great here in Singapore but my heart will always be in the Philippines. It's been 2 years since I last stayed in Manila for more than 3 days so I'm not really sure how my upcoming homecoming schedule would be. Less hectic perhaps, but definitely a lot of drunken nights.

True and everlasting didn't last long

We're the lonesome, we're the lonesome, yeah

October Midnight Express to MNL

Returned to Manila over the weekend because OFW. *squeee*

Had family lunch at Yabu which I think is overrated (had better ones at Tokyo). Went to UAAP UST vs DLSU Game 2 aftewards in which my school lost, of course.

Adored Jeric Teng from up here

The game's outcome demanded for more meat so we drove to good old Banawe and had Tasty Dumplings' famous porkchop rice.

So much win for Php115

Post-dinner was the obligatory 9-hour whiskey session which ended at 5am.

1 of 2.5 bottles

Manila trip wouldn't be complete without these ladies!

I'll be home for Christmas but before that would be Myanmar (provided I'll be granted a visa) and DWP13 Jakarta-KL with the usual suspects.

Yes, you know what we are talking about.

"Messages From God" Facebook app nails stuff 8 out of 10 times, I swear.

Anyway, I really should be getting my Myanmar visa now but I'm too lazy to take care of it. Trip's on November yey and I'll be going alone. Can't wait to see Bagan.

Also starting my 2-month yoga classes because I need to get things done because there's more to life than binge-watching Dexter every day. Tonight's the night!

30 Gifs for the 5 Stages of Breakup Grief

Dedicated to everyone who've had their hearts broken.

THE 5 STAGES OF BREAKUP GRIEF

Stage 1: Denial

But everything is perfectly fine!

You've been together in more parties, travels, and family gatherings than Taylor Swift has changed boyfriends. Also, you have a dog. So where's this whole break-up thing coming from?

Stage 2: Anger

Cut to the next scene where you call up your bestfriends and deal with your problem like any mature individuals would

My Bucket List: 35 Things

Because the world is my oyster and oyster goes well with a good bottle of beer.

1. Watch the sunset from Oia
2. Watch the sunrise from Angkor Wat
3. Watch the aurora in real life
4. Be drunk at Delirium Cafe
5. Be sober and dance on the streets of Brazil or anywhere else I won't be arrested by gettin' jiggy with it
6. Celebrate New Year in New York
7. Visit all Disney theme parks in the world and cry after the fireworks go off
8. Visit the Harry Potter theme park and cry just because it's the Harry Potter theme park
9. Watch World Cup Live
10. Watch Olympics Live
11. Watch Coachella Live
12. Go to the Korean DMZ - if war hasn't broken out yet
13. Survive a war, if it breaks out (which I pray it won't). Otherwise, ride a Gondola in Venice
14. Climb the highest tower or building in a city and shout "Fuck you"
15. Climb a mountain and shout "Thank you Lord"
16. Learn to drive
17. Learn to scuba dive
18. Sky dive
19. Walk through [some parts of] the Great Wall of China
20. Stare at the pyramids and not feel rude
21. Bike the Golden Gate from end to end
22. Stand still on a surf board for some good 10 seconds
23. Go to a casino and make a crazy bet on anything. Anything.
24. Attend a Hollywood red carpet premiere and be a crazy celebrity fan, with printed photos, pen markers, and a camera
25. I dislike running. Finish a 21km race.
26. I'm afraid of dogs. Adopt one and understand why they are called man's best friend.
27. Plant a tree
28. Buy something really really nice (and expensive) for my family simply because I love them
29. Buy something really really nice (and expensive but not at all necessary) for myself simply because I deserve it
30. Buy a random gift to a random needy person
31. Make someone else's wish come true
32. Be a good mother
33. Love someone wholeheartedly without forgetting about myself in the process
34. Live a life of no regrets
35. Leave this world with a smile on my face

Viva La 26, Hello 27

Here's my 3-minute video project shot across 13 countries I visited in 2012.

Locations: Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hongkong, Macau, Cambodia, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, and Spain.


Viva La 26 from Danissa on Vimeo.

Also, I turned 27 today. :D

How Last Saturday Night Was Spent

Biked to [almost] the edge of Singapore from my place. Started at around 7pm, got home 3 hours later with only 10-15mins stop along the way.

See the yellow line in the map? ALMOST 40KM roundtrip omg. I'm surprised I could still walk after.

That is all.

We Didn't Make It Rain

Ted: You picked the wrong guy. You made a really, really, really bad choice. What were you thinking? That guy? Are you kidding me? Have you learned nothing in the last eight years? You're just gonna regret this. You know that, right? You are going to regret this, and now there is nothing you can do about it because it's too late. All you can do now is go up there and start your crappy, disappointing life that will never be nearly as happy as the one you could have had with me. Good-bye.

Stella: Ted, wait.

Ted: Look, Stella, I am not here to win you back. I am here because I need to know that you know you made the biggest mistake of your life.

Stella: I know

Maybe It Was Too Beautiful To Last

"He gave me the greatest happiness as well as the greatest sadness of my young life. The times when he made me feel most loved will always be like commemorative gold coins in mint condition in my mind.  When you hear your beat in unison with another even for the most fleeting moment, that's one moment you will never forget."

2012 Resolutions

I haven't been posting as much as I used to because I'm lulz like that.

ANYWAY, 2012 YEY!!!

I know New Year Resolutions are crappy but I still intend to make the most out of this year so I resolve to do the following:

1. Blog more often.

This requires a new camera and I'm buying one this weekend, woot.

2009 Philippine Blog Awards

2. Don't be late for work.

I love my new job, VML Qais is the _best_ place to work so I'll wake up earlier than usual to eliminate the constant need of running for the bus. Also, SMRT, I love you from the bottom of my EZLink card. But please work on your 1st World Magic and not be delayed often, yeah? Mwah mwah.

3. Be healthy.

In Gelo's words, "Putok ka talaga ngayon eh" I don't intend to lose weight the fast way but I'll take it slow so I could still enjoy food (like I always do). I need Che and Maui's help for this!

Will it, it will be yours!

4. Save for the future.

I'm 26 this year and it's serious business. I'm greatly grateful to the Lord for the blessings I have received last year and I'm claiming all His graces this 2012!

5. Travel outside Singapore and Philippines

For 2011, I've been in eight (8!!!) flights between Singapore and Manila. The only other place I've been to was in Batam, Indonesia and it wasn't even _that_ fun. Thankfully, I won a contest in www.cheaptickets.sg and I'll be flying to different Asian destinations between January - March this year! Yey! Also, I have planned an epic Europe Trip with my bestfriend Charisma on October. <3 More travels before my passport expires!

Thank you Cheaptickets.sg!

What are your resolutions for 2012? :)

Thinking Twice Could Be A Smart Move

It’s been 3 months since I made a life-altering decision of moving to Singapore. I could still remember the day I was informed by my employer that my work pass was finally approved. I was very lucky, she said, because Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower is very strict towards foreign applicants. Congratulations were in order and the conversation ended with a note that I have a month to process my documents else my employment would be forfeited. With that, massive waves of emotions immediately kicked in—excitement, sadness, happiness, fear, and most of all, doubt.

1 month. 31 days. 4 weeks. 744 hours. 44,640 minutes. Insert song and dance number here. Meh. Kidding aside, a month is not enough to finalize my work turnover, say goodbye to everyone, and prepare for a new phase in my life. The situation got me thinking twice. Am I ready for a big change? Is Singapore worthy enough to leave my career, relationship, friends, and family behind? Do I really really REALLY want this? I had to make a firm decision soon considering the small time given to me. Thankfully, words of encouragement, assurance, and support poured in from my loved ones. “Kaya mo yan, Dani.” I knew then that working in Singapore would be a smart choice.

So yes, it’s been 3 months. Have I adjusted here? Hmmm…not yet, but I’m going there. :) Do I get sad? I guess it’s perfectly normal to get homesick from time to time. Good thing I have a new set of Pinoy friends here who share my craziness for food and beer. Hehe. Quite honestly, there are times when I feel weak and wish that I could just go back to Manila. But I know I have to overcome my emotions and think twice. All I need is to embrace this huge change in my life and see the positive side of things so I could be happy.

New found friends, yey!

Best. Housemates. Ever.

Thinking twice is not a bad thing. In fact, allowing room for doubt, or change even, shows courage and wisdom. Interestingly, Charmee Breathable Pantyliner recently launched a campaign that encourages women to think twice and make a smart choice when it comes to everyday feminine hygiene care. As a Charmee-user, I could attest for its quality and value. In fact, I have it in my must-include-in-Singapore-luggage list because Charmee is more affordable compared to other brands in Manila and Singapore. I'm serious because I'm a cheapskate like that. ^__^ For only Php1.15 (Sgd0.03)per liner, I feel fresh everyday wherever I am. Very cool, lah!

Think Twice!

Know more about thinking twice and making a smart choice for yourself by visiting the official website of Charmee at http://charmee.com.ph/. You may also follow and interact with your fellow smart women via Facebook, Twitter, or Youtube.

Bad Vibes: Greenhills Elan Hotel Modern

My HS barkada celebrated our annual pre-Christmas inuman this weekend at Greenhills Elan Hotel Modern where three epic LOL things happened:

1. Only Kin, Cha, and I were present
2. We got locked out of our room
3. We got charged Php100 for a missing teaspoon

Before I go into the LOL details, here are some photos of the room and rooftop pool:

comfy beds..they smell good too

view from the 38th floor

jacuzzi

freezing cold penthouse pool

As I mentioned, most of our friends were MIA that day because of several reasons. Nix, Yang, etc. deserve a "Friendship Over" FB wall post just for the pampam. ^_^ 

'sup, friends?

Greenhills Elan is good in terms of location (walking distance to Greenhills) and room quality (clean and comfortable beds). However, things got lulzy after we took our morning swim. We can't get inside our room because our key card won't work! Our room is at the topmost floor (38th floor) and there's no lobby phone or hotel staff in sight. To ask for help, we had to go down the lobby using the very slow elevators to have our keycards checked. Tapos pag-akyat namin, hindi pa din gumana! I think 3 times ako akyat-baba until a staff finally decided to give us an extra keycard to use. Kakayamot, grabe lang. I badly wanted to take a shower and change into dry clothes but we got locked out! :(

It got even lulzier upon check-out when we got charged extra for a missing teaspoon. The front desk said that the house-keeping service cannot find the teaspoon in our room. I was told that I could either go upstairs to look for it or just pay a Php100 replacement fee. Yep. Php100! San ba binibili ang kutsarita na yan? Sa Rustan's?

ano yan, ginto?!

I find it very annoying that I got charged because of their inefficiency! Suwerte nila dahil nagmamadali kami so we didn't bother to "help" find the missing teaspoon. Sana yumaman ang Greenhills Elan Hotel Modern sa bawat kutsaritang nawawala umano ng mga guests nila. Sayang, maganda pa naman yung lugar kaso epal yung serbisyo.

To know more about Greenhills Elan Hotel Modern, visit their website at www.greenhillselanhotelmodern.com

Flight booked, yey!

Got roundtrip plane tickets for Laneway Fest via Tiger Air and a 10usd Phnom Penh to Bangkok flight via Air Asia. YES! 10USD!!! :D That would save me 12 hours of excruciating bus ride. Looking forward to a great 2011! :)

CASA ADventure 77 Bar Reunion

So a few weeks ago (backlog, lol) several UST CASA (Communication Arts Students Association) ADventure officers/members had an epic reunion at 77 Bar Kamuning. The invitation was short-noticed I thought that most people would be MIA again that night.

group shot!!!

It was great to see Sir Bong Osorio and Sir Aries Estrella again! I think the last time I saw them was 2 years ago during a brief yet sweet meet-up somewhere at QC. Anyway, a bunch of CASA batch 2006 were there: Jaemie Santiago, Elvin Villar, JC Santos, Jay-P Bautista, Cyrus Panganiban, Philip Manahan, JC Cardenas, Francis Cruz, Karl Daiwey, France Pinzon, and Nicole Limos. Batch 2007 batch were represented by Nix, Cha, and I. Also, Jesse was there hahahaha.

Batch 2007: Cha Torres, Anika Punzalan, Dani Salasalan

UST CASA ADventure: Batch 2006

There were a lot of catching up and it's amazing that members of CASA ADventure are now industry practitioners--media buyers, publicists, marketers, art directors, etc. I'm sure our mentors are very proud of us (hehehe)!

Sir Bong (OT: i can haz buuubz!!!)

With Sir Aries

Elvin & Cha

Cha, Flip, Sir Bong, Jesse, Nix

Lasing na hahaha!

And did I mention...overflowing food and drinks?

Manila Beer! Oh hai there tequila :/

Looking forward to ADventure's Christmas Party!!!!

Tequila Wednesdays at The Reserve Liquor Lounge

Single serving of the day!

Video above shows Cha, Kin, and I acting like kids (read: mababaw kaligayahan) and feeling so fly (like a G6) with our Jose Cuervo shot glass spinner. This was from last night's Kindred Pasana over-due birthday inuman. Buy one Free one for every bottle of Cuervo, only on Wednesdays at The Reserve!

Boxing and Hiphop Classes at Planet Jupiter

Active lifestyle to compensate for a not-so-active love life.

I KEED.

lulzing around after my hiphop class

Planet Jupiter Dance Studio

Cha and I are already on our 2nd week at Planet Jupiter. NAKS. K, so we are now obliged to report for work earlier (read: 8:30am) so we could join the 6pm sessions. I got the 1-month unlimited dance classes but I'll be giving boxing a try! Just bought my own gloves (thanks, Everlast sale!) and handwrap to prepare for this boxing lulz. I need a Gi too because I'll do BJJ next year. Ha!

Studio Planet Jupiter Dance Classes

In preparation for my SG-KL-BKK trip, I'll be dedicating November 2010 for dance lessons.

I badly need to shed off some a lot of weight caused by excessive drinking, emotional eating, blog events, and bumming around. Meh. Lord Google led me to studio along Jupiter Street Makati that offers dance workshops for Php1,800 a month. The fee includes enrollment in all classes: basic/intermediate/master hiphop, jazz basic, and jazz funk. Grabe lang, ang mura! I just don't like the schedule though..it starts really really early, which means I have to be at work earlier so I could take the classes I want.

HIP HOP
- Beginners class Monday,Wednesday, Friday 6pm-7pm
- Beginners-intermediate class Tuesday 5.30pm-6.30pm and Saturday 4pm-5pm
- Masterclass Saturday 5pm-6pm

JAZZ BASIC
- Tuesday 6.30pm-8pm

FUNKJAZZ:
- Friday 7pm-8.30pm, Saturday 6pm-7.30pm

Aside from dance, Planet Jupiter also offers boxing and martial arts classes. The good news is, I could take a boxing class for only Php100/session since I'll be enrolling in a one-month dance program (note to self: print photos of frenemies so I could punch their faces while training).

BOXING
- Daily, 7am onwards

BRAZILIAN JIUJITSU
- Monday, Tuesday & Thursday 8pm-10pm

FILIPINO MARTIAL ARTS
- Friday 8pm-10pm
- Saturday 9am-11am
- Sunday 7.30am-9.30am (special class)

Cha, Jackie, and I will start classes on Tuesday. I NEED TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN.

Celebrating 10-10-10

XXX: October 10, 2010

After several plans (out of town, beach, hotel overnight) we ended up doing what we do best. Drink until the wee hours of morning. This year's venue were Big Sky Mind in QC and The Reserve Liquor Lounge at City Golf Julia Vargas.

 uhhhhh

We tried the Cobra Shot and it waaaaaaaaaaaaas 

Hello there freaky guy at The Reserve

Speaking of The Reserve, they are celebrating their First Year Anniversary / Halloween Party this week, October 27-29, 2010. Different themes/sponsors/stuff per night for all the guests! They play Miley and Bieber, btw. :)

August-September-October

I want to write about SG/KL, Los Balcones-Tali Beach, Nix/Vea Birthday bash at A.Venue Hotel, and the epic 10.10.10 drunk fest.

But...

I don't have time :(

That is all.