Gab Mesina: May 2012

May 31, 2012

May Weather

I'm gonna try and post a cover of any song every end of the month starting now. I will try my best to keep you guys entertained tho since I have to rely only on my voice because I seriously suck when it comes to playing any sort of musical instrument heehee.

'Behind the scenes photo' haha this is me trying to set the camera

3 reasons why I chose this uber sappy song. 1) I used to sing this ALL the time because of its easy flow and it doesn't have any 'omg that is so high' moments. 2) My nose is all stuffy right now haha just thought that my nasally would suit this song well. 3) I was using my mum's laptop which has the most nostalgic iTunes in the house because its the one both my sister and I turned to back when we only had 1 laptop; I had it on shuffle when suddenly this song came up and I found myself singing along!

The vid is seriously 50% my voice and 50% the rain!

May 30, 2012

Ms. Pug Eyes

My first ever semi decent 15 minute drawing! I was listening to an eclectic range of music from hip hop to country while I was working on this and it felt so good. Partly because the lyrics of the songs that I listened to just appeared out of nowhere sort of like having a karaoke in my mind. I've come to terms with the fact that when in doubt I'd end up drawing part of a face hmmm.

I just realized my drawing looks a bit like a pug because of the wayward pupils hehe.

Are U 'Kay?

Ukay-ukays are basically huge warehouses filled with used clothes that are up for sale for only such small prices. They have been the center of some Filipino horror movies. Movies wherein the heroine would buy an old lace-y dress or a handbag without knowing that the previous owner had been murdered while donning the said stuff and they're back to haunt the buyer hehe.

But anyway, last week my sister and I went ukay-ukay hopping! With our maids' advice fresh in our minds, we set forth to Southland and from then on, kept heading west til we reached Toyota which is quite far from Southland if you're on foot. On our mini adventure, we discovered 12 stores!! With only a budget below P1000, all in all we bought around 12 garments! I was so tired when we got home that after trying the clothes on and taking a long shower, I fell asleep for 17 hours straight. The next day, it was obvious that we were still quite hungover because instead of trying to watch Men In Black 3, we left the mall and had a mini ukay adventure again!

After going on about it on twitter, Kigia, Steph, Jhis and I planned on squeezing a hang out before school starts for me and going on an ukay spree! Unfortunately Jhis couldn't come so it was only me, Kigia, Steph, and her cousin Dustin. They arrived early this morning and I was fresh out of bed hahaha what is embarrassing! After breakfast and Kigia's very productive initiation (which included a bunch of shock vids and stuff) and the regaling of ghost stories, we went to Southland for our ukay trip!

So in a nutshell, it was too hot to really concentrate so we just decided to hang out at the mall and go see Men In Black 3! The movie was so darn good. Although I can classify it as torrentable, it still is funny and very very very adorable..................like the people I hung out with today HAHA.

I really like this photo!

l-r. Dustin, Steph, Kigia, me

Art Smart: Mother Monster's Very Eccentric Uncle

At first glance they freaked me out big time. At second glance they reminded me of the creepy bald thing from Pan's Labyrinth with the eyeball encrusted hands. At third glance I found them oddly pretty and just had to let other people know about the genius that is Olivier de Sagazan.

I still don't possess much knowledge about him and his works but I do know that they are very very intriguing. I thought his passion was solely for painting but I was sorely (hehe) mistaken when I stumbled upon a video of his slightly disturbing live performance.

If you didn't watch the video, go back up and watch it! Even if you don't finish it haha. Ahhh the sounds that he makes when he struggles to breathe in and the weird stuff that he chants are just so primal that it sends a shiver down my spine! I'm still figuring out if it's a good thing or a bad thing.

If Lady Gaga is Mother Monster, I can say that Olivier de Sagazan can might as well be dubbed Mother Monster's very eccentric uncle.

May 27, 2012

RAW

I've been obsessing over taking pretty pictures after I got my latest roll of film developed. After realizing that only about 75% of them were decent, I couldnt stomach the thought that I dont get the most of what I pay for when I buy film. So when my mum's office mate told her about this free photography workshop to be held at The Fort, I itched to go there. At the same time, my dad told me that his office mate's husband works as a photographer for a cruise ship is willing to give photography lessons in only a span of 1 week for a considerable price. I was torn because I was only allowed to choose 1 and in the end I ended up doing neither of the two, instead I just wanted to save the supposed money that was gonna be spent for my camera shopping in (I hope) the future.

But anywaaaaay, the reason why I'm posting is that I tried self-studying last night hehe. I read a ton of pages about photography itself. One of the things I read was the use of RAW. Bottom line is most people dont like it or tend to avoid the said option, which just added fuel to the fire that is my curiosity. So upon waking up and getting a bit of baking done, I went out to our lawn and took some pictures. It's not until I checked the pictures out here in my mum's laptop I found out that when you use RAW, the pictures dont come in .jpg rather they have .cr2 as an extension which just blew my mind because it's my first time encountering it. I had to download an image converter thingy in order for me to view the pictures. But seeing the result, theyve got me thinking that I just might use RAW more often. (Even though it's a huge pain in the butt!)

*By the way, so cool that these pictures are seriously not edited!*

May 24, 2012

This Deserves An Out-Of-The-Box Farewell Song

Our nephew, Tiantian, is leaving tomorrow morning and so before his annual stay with us ends, we decided to throw him some sort of a farewell dinner. After our busy days, we went home, stayed a bit to watch Jennifer Lopez's super sizzling performance on Idol and headed to Le Souk. Le Souk is this Mediterranean-y restaurant inside BF that is so chill and has such delicious food.

Tiantian!

Tian and I

My super bored/hungry dad hehe

A super bored Gab

My dad's beastly fingers

Talk about being in the wrong neighborhood......jk the little guy ordered a Yogurt shake............bleh

THE SUPER DUPER YUMMY BUTTER RICE OMNOM

The little bugger who never stops playing his computer games is leaving tomorrow huhu. He's been coming over for 3 years now. We've spent summer days waddling through the uncharted waters of omegle, defeated Kraid and Mother Brain from Super Metroid and other tomfooleries. Yay I cant wait for next summer!!

Fast Times In Manila

Today was spent roaming around and getting lost in the heart of Manila with my dad. We originally planned on just checking an item off my mini bucket list which was to visit The Oil Paint Store located in the deepest recesses of Tayuman. Before we got lost, we ate at a cozy little Chinese restaurant called Wai Ying in Binondo. We then followed the LRT station's trail- from Carriedo to Tayuman!

Pretty churches

Binondo heehee

We got so lost in Tayuman! The Oil Paint Store is situated right at the intersection of M. Hizon and Yuseco. It turns out M. Hizon is such a skinny skinny alley oftentimes overlooked by the residents and so we spent about 20 minutes asking around for directions and weighing Jessica and Phil's pros and cons.

The store was like a gift from heaven. It was so tiny but what it lacked in size, made up for the mind blowing amount of supplies inside!! They showcase various paints all the way from Italy, they have kiosks for each big time brand in painting, they have a room filled with canvases and get this, they have a mini TV that only plays The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross all day long!!! I only bought 4 miniature head busts of gods and goddesses plus 1 Koi water brush wee.

We went back to my dad's office and on the way, we were freaking out because we still didnt know who won American Idol hahaha. When the time for the final announcement came, our maid called us and we had her put the phone next to the tv so we could hear Ryan Seacrest's voice!

I promptly fell asleep after taking these photos at my dad's office

After waking up, I went to Robinsons to have my camera checked out. Right after purchasing film, the guy behind the counter then chooses that time to say that my camera is a bit wonky and it'll need to be repaired for P680 and will be available after 3 to 5 business days. Ughhhhhh. When the whole debacle was over, I hurried and went to KFC to meet with Cheesecake and some of my old classmates. We ate lunch before entering MaSci for our orientation.

l-r. Orientation, the book I bought from Twinkle yay

I dawdled for a while inside the school grounds and caught up with a few people. I then went back to my lair a.k.a my dad's office. I started reading The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell and got so hooked! It's so nice and not to mention such a page turner. I ended up not sleeping on our way home since I was so immersed in the book hehe.

On our way home for Tiantian's farewell dinner

May 23, 2012

Flash Flash Flash Photography

I was flipping through my 6th grade sketchpad when I came across this unfinished compilation of cameras that I coveted at that time. Not much has changed tho, I still dont possess most of them :( It's such a coincidence because lately I've been craving to get my hands on a couple of film cameras. My small 'obsession' first reared its head when I got my first prints developed. From then on, I've gone downhill and I keep falling in love with cameras heehee. All my searching for online camera stores here in the Philippines has led me to unearth these super beautiful cameras. I hope by the time I turn 16, I can get my very very very eager paws on these babies!