There's a point in time

..when you realize you've changed - for the better.


I’ve honestly changed - mentally. It’s not a sudden change, but i’ve realized this over time. Even though i look young for my age, my mind is different. I don’t fuss over little things, I don’t complain over trivial matters, I don’t make up lies to impress people, nor do i impress people who are not worth it. I no longer hold grudges and before i know it, i’ve already forgotten them. I try not to judge anyone, and i know for a fact that i’ve improved on that. I’m not the type to fall into peer pressure. I do things i want and what i know is right. Whenever my friend would talk crap about someone’s appearance/personality/reputation, im not the one to agree with them. Instead, i say things like “Aw i feel bad for her”, “I don’t know him personally so i can’t say the same thing about him”, and what hits them the most is when i say “I don’t want to judge her/him”. I’m a lot more honest, responsible, and truthful now. I’ve learned not to depend on others when i know i can handle simple things like that. Im always known as the ‘little girl’ but i act a lot more mature than most of my friends. I handle situations in a way i know best. Killing them with kindness. I confront them honestly and go straight to the point i want to come across. Thinking back, i’ve only achieved this because i have been through so much. It’s because of my experiences and mistakes - especially when it comes to friendships, that i have been through different kinds of stereotypes and positions. I know that i am still so young and i have a lot more to learn about life. I still have a lot to go through, more struggles and pain to overcome, achievements and goals to succeed, and i know that i have to stay humble and true to myself. And i think i am ready for that. I’ve grown, and I’ve matured and realizing this makes me feel good.

Spring Break 2011

March 12 - 20, 2011

Saturday: Cousin’s bday at 3, left at 5 for FemPro rehearsal. Finally finished the dance! We need to clean it up though. Headache, 3 hour rehearsal. Home by 11pm.

Sunday: Way too tired to go hiking. So only the adults went. Church at 12, food and boba after. Dropped off at cousin’s to go buy some baggy jeans and other costume elements. Ate yogurt, ah-so, saw a really really attractive guy coming out of a car. We call him sam.

Monday: Bro’s birthday. Had to clean the house all day, then went to practice this filipino traditional dance at my cousin’s. Waltzed, Ballroom, and played in the jumpy inflatable house. FUN. Went back home for the party, ate good food, charades, danced, finished Deuces choreography by Dejan Tubic! After watching the video, picked up the choreo pretty fast :)

Tuesday: Looked up and applied for some scholarships and colleges. That took me the whole day almost. No jukebox workshop today for me :/

Wednesday: My bestest viet friend drove all the way here to visit me! Arrived at my house around 8:30, brought strawberries for my fambam (what a sweetheart), BP came with as well. Ate breakfast at iHop, drove around Norterra but all the stores were closed. Went to BP’s house, watched music videos, funny dad. Went to my house, took a whole lot of webcam pictures! Funny stuff. We were planning to go to the mall but her mom called and wanted her back at chandler. Good day.

Thursday: Did some more research about colleges, cleaned the house, danced. At night, GC came over, KD picked us up, went to Norterra to watch Red Riding Hood! It was good because of unexpected outcomes. Lots of twists. Walked around Norterra, Subway, couches, talked and laughed a lot. Good night.

Friday: Mother dropped me off cousin’s apartment at around 8 in the morning. Uncle picked us up, dropped us off at Jukebox. The whole building was closed. Saw KL and JD. Drove to The Streets, drank some boba. Went back to the studio for our dress rehearsal for Boogie! 3 hours, all fun and hard work. Uncle picked us up again, dropped me home, cleaned the house after brothers and cousin left for Kumon.

Saturday: BOOGIDABEAT DANCE COMPETITION. But first, SB picnic at 10am, ate good food, danced, fooled around. Phoenix Prep Academy by 2pm for the dance today, fixed our hair and makeup, tech rehearsal, lots of amazing dancers. Open Style battle at 5, but started at 6. Long line for the audience, took a pic with Andrew Baterina, way too many dancing, amazing crews, and not so entertaining crews. Performed, I love my FemPro girls so much. One of the best moments in my life. Ate, left at 11pm. Exhausted. GREAT DAY. Im so sad its over.

Sunday: BOODIEDABEAT WORKSHOP. Ready by 8:30, dropped off at cousin’s. Workshop started at 12pm. Danced to April Bambao’s choreo of ‘Swag Thru Da Roof’ I actually got that one. 3pm Phillip Geniza’s choreo to ‘Unusual’ awesome choreo but way too exhausted to actually learn it. 4pm Andrew Baterina’s choreo to ‘Gotta Be Your Man’ Fun, amazing, cute guy! Long speech from the instructors, lasted til 7 almost. Home by 8. Slept at 11. Damnschooltomorrow.
So basically, I was EXTREMELY BUSY this Spring Break. But its one of the best weeks for sure.

When it was all we longed for (FP)

Female Prophecy Dance Company. Auditioned at the start of this year.

January 22 - 23, 2011
I got to learn some amazing choreo at the Jukebox Dance Studio with the FemPro Dance Company; danced for 4 hours straight. Met some amazing dancers and freestyled my heart out. Right after, had some Viet food and boba. Then rushed to freshen up and pick up my friend to watch the school play “Crucible”. SJ was in it, and other amazing actors. Came home to a despedida/farewell party for my grandma - food!

The next day, i learned how to drive! Drove around the neighborhood with the instructor (bleh, couldn’t understand a word, very short attention span), and then moved on to the main street, and drove farther downtown where there were tons of cars! Can’t believe i did! For 3 hours straight! It was easy and i wasn’t nervous at all! Ah so happy.
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February 5, 2011
Back from FemPro bonding at the Streets for some Boba and Ramen; Amazing thrift store next door, bought my most wanted beige/gold (chanel-inspired) shoulder bag, nerd glasses, and braided hairband; Rehearsal at the Jukebox 3:30; Learned Fro’s matrix choreo with amazing music by Oona; Learned House of Balta; Viet food after; more dancing at the apartment; and drove home!
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February 8, 2011
Workshops excite me!
Me and my cousin are allowed to go on tuesday’s workshop only since we live so far from The Jukebox Studio. Waited after school, at her parent’s office, left at 5:30, arrived at the studio, saw leah and balta, and jamz was teaching some kids beginning hiphop. We were a little late but we caught on. Cool song about a guy sneezing. Intermediate hiphop was amazing! Song: Recommendation by Little Dragon, feel-good music to a feel-good dance. Loved it. Lots of swaying, grapevines, jumps, popping, locking, and tutting. I realized that I’m horrible at tutting. Our group danced perfectly until the tutting part. It’s so confusing. Advanced contemporary hiphop was quite fun today. Only me and cousin stayed. Warm ups wasn’t as hard as last week, thank goodness. Song: You’ve got the love (XX Remix) by Florence + The Machine. The song reminds me of a forest with a ton of birds singing. Balta just loves referring to animals and tribes. He even asked us to imagine and create our own tribe and describe them. After a lot of practicing, he asked us to dance, facing each other (which ended in a total failure) and then we had to dance solo. That was good. Left at about 9pm, awkward and nerve-wracking car ride home, then ate Ray’s pizza.
Good day.

A Remake of the Sisterhood

January 15, 2011
Went to the mall with SJC, SC, KD. GC said she couldn’t come at the last minute. Bummer.
But its funny, how different we all are, but are still so close.
KD is caucasian(mixed with some other european decent), I am asian (filipino - which is a mix of spanish), SJC is a heck lot of races mixed together (portugese, caucasian, italian, pacific islander?), and SC is african-american.
At 1:30pm, my mom dropped me off at KD’s house. She had 2 dogs: Tigger, a sweet, quiet, huge 3 feet dog; and (some name i forgot), a small, loud, mean, barking dog. I loved them though. Then her 11 year old brother K was in the room with us, just standing there, awkwardly. He’s cute and funny. Hahh, i also saw her other stepbrother, T. He’s all skater, and has a nice face. We were at her room talking for quite some time, then K have me gum. So sweet. And then, we left their house, with all their family, crammed in a small car. It was funny, and apparently, me and KD laughed and talked the same.
We arrived at the mall, went through JCPenny, then anchor blue (huge clearance sale: bought 2 shirts and bracelets), CharlotteRusse, Apple Store, Icing, then to the Theatres. Heard the most shocking, unexpected story from KD. Which left me disappointed, and dumbfounded. *sadface* Anyways, we met up with SJC, and SC there. We were deciding on watching a movie, but we ended up not seeing one. We walked around, from F21 (trying on skimpy dresses, grandma floral dresses, and other weird things), Food Court (we had pizza, subway, panda express), oh and we saw a lot of people from school, Fountain side of the mall - took pictures, and a guard came up to us saying we cant do that. He was so nice about it though, to Windsor (prom dresses, long dresses - found this cute white frilly feathery dress, it was gorgeous!), then eventually, to Starbucks, where SJC made an impression of the two asian guys who apparently was checking me out. Bleh. All laughs, and we were so loud in starbucks. Talked about who was who in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants - i was tibby ‘cause i took a lot of pictures and videos. We all pretty much matched up to our characters! Back to Anchor Blue where we all tried a shirt, SJC’s embarrassing moment when a guy opened her dressing room while she was dancing and singing half naked to Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, crammed up in my dressing room, and took more pictures. FUNNY. Walked around some more, to JCPenny, random dancing, squished in a couch, and SJC’s parents picked us up. Its kinda sad that we all can’t drive yet - even though we all had our permit/license. Hahhh.
Amazingly fun day with my sisters of the traveling pants <3

Passed the Permit

January 12, 2010
I passed the Driving Permit Test!
After so many delays, i was finally able to take it. It was so nerve-wracking and this one guy came out of the room - saying he failed. Then it was my turn and once i finished the computer (touch screen) test, i turned spazstic from happiness.
Funny story.
About a year ago, during summer break, i went to MVD to take the test (with my uncle). I read the book, took online tests but turns out, i did not bring the right requirements. So i had to wait. After about 3 months, i had my employment card. So i studied some more and went again, but was still missing another card. A month later, my card arrived in the mail. During winter break, my dad came from New York, and he could take me to MVD. I was so ready, the car was about to start up, but i misplaced the card. I searched everywhere but it was nowhere to be found. So we ordered a duplicate, which takes about two weeks to arrive - and my dad is in New York by then. So clearly, i had to find someone else to take me. Then January came, and i had an ortho appointment at 8 am, my mom was planning to take me to MVD afterwards, i studied and prepared myself. But no, she had to go to work right after ‘cause she was needed. The next day, my uncle (unexpectedly) agreed to take me to MVD right after school. AH. I wasnt ready, i skimmed through the book during class periods and just rushed through things. He picked me up, then we picked my grandma up from someplace near MVD, we ate lunch, studied while eating, and arrived at the place. We waited in line, got a ticket, and waited some more. When it was my time, the lady checked my requirements, i had it all, it was perfect, but my parents weren’t there with me. I was so dumb because we NEEDED a parent to sign the paper (my uncle signed it) which could be a legal guardian but it had to be approved with all the papers and such. Darn. So i didn’t take it. We went back to the car, i called my mom to blame it on her, but then, her boss told her to take the day off (unexpectedly). What a surprise, she was leaving right when i called her. So she went straight to MVD, went in line, waited, waited some more, prayed, took the test, passed it, got a horrible ugly picture, and some greek pita - gyros.
Good things really do come to those who wait.

New Years' Sparklers

December 31, 2010 - January 1, 2011
New Year’s Eve Party!
Got ready 15 minutes before we left. I was so not ready. My hair was undone, my face was just a mess, and i had to change and pack as fast as i could.
Re-cap. I went Christmas shopping a few days after i got back from Cali. Bought a slouchy pale-striped dolman sweater (super cute), and a floral 3/4 sleeve baby doll top at F21. Then i got a pair of $10 jeans at Charlotte. I used the $20 gift card but it sucked ‘cause when i got there, there were barely any decent clothes left. They were re-stocking and selling everything they could to make way for new arrivals. Bummer. I kept bugging my dad to buy me a uke.
Morning of Dec. 31st, i got my ukulele. So happy. I was too busy tuning it, and at the same time, cleaning the house, so i could not get ready for the party later that night.
Party: Food, Outrageous developments, sweet compliments about my newly cut fringe, games - charades, treasure hunt (found the hidden cup and won for once), naming game (Female names starting with the letter A, vegetables, states, fruits, body parts - a face off between me and ulrich which ended in rock-paper-scissors since my words were too advanced and i was basically giving him some answers as well, i lost), shoe race (i won), balloon dancing game (me and partner won), balloon popping game (we could’ve won since i was the only one who followed the rules and picked up the popped balloon remnants), trivia game (won the first time), family feud (on dvd), firecrackers, jumping, sparklers. Yipee.
My camera worked wonders and cooperated well with the colorful balloons (but of course, it also depended on who took the picture).

Best of 2010

2010, I must say, was a fashion-forward year for me.
I was so obsessed with different styles, mainly boho and edgy (and i still am).
Fun-filled, crazy year, with disappointments and accomplishments.
So i’ll start from January all the way to December.

• Junior Year, Spanish Class
• Brothers’ visit
• Lake Pleasant, Hollywood, California, Six Flags, Chinatown
• Drove a jetski
• Turned boho/indie
• Movies at the mall and westgate
• Distant Cousin left for the philippines also
• Summer hangout
• Kicked out of the movies when we tried to watch kick ass
• Make up & nude lipstick obsessed
• California with cousins; cousin’s cousin hitting on me ?
• Las Vegas with other cousins, shopped, clothes obsessed
• Shopping for skirts, loved yellow boho purse, thong-kind of gladiator sandals
• Slept over at my younger cousin’s place - baby sitting, Animal Music Video
• California Adventure, and Reunion with my other only-child cousin
• California Again with my other cousins
• Beach, Chinatown, Reunion, Roses, Ukulele, Singing, Talking all night
• Senior Year, 4 classes, ride with my friend
• Econ Class, Anatomy Class <3
• Seventeenth Bday
• Dillard’s Closing Sale, $5 - $10 dresses
• Chinese Resto Reunion, sang, danced, met a distant cousin
• Braces, failed the first time, then switched orthos
• Movie with friends, awkward
• Spirit week, homecoming game, homecoming
• Halloween, hand made gypsy costume <3
• Lace & Leather & Floral fetish
• More reunion parties for thanksgiving
• Black Friday Shopping (clothes and camera)
• Hiking, Circle K French Vanilla Obsession
• Christmas Party (New fringe)
• California to visit grandma (climbed a roof)
• Ukulele for Christmas <3