To see and experience as much and to capture them in words

I saw Meute last night in Brooklyn, they were amazing. At the end of their performance, I saw things that were raw and beautiful, which brought the concert experience to a whole different level. Those last minutes that lead to an authentic encore was magical. They’re happiness after the performance and after seeing how the audience loved their performance was moving. I will never forget how one of them gave off this almost sigh of relief (for lack of a better term) after he blew his last note. It was as almost he was going to cry because it was over and because they did great and NY loved them. At least that’s how my face would look like if I rocked NY. While I was so touched and tried to stay in that moment, I noticed it wasn’t just my pure imagination that was extending the experience. It was also because people wouldn’t stop applauding. At this point we were not shouting for encore because they already played an amazing encore – they played and danced in the danc...

I went surfing yesterday, drove almost 3 hours to meet my friends and hop on a car for another 3 or so more hours of road trip. My logical self wouldn't let me do this, but surf is vital to my existence that it was a no-brainer. Faces of stoke Post surf aka stoke convos We went to a spot that I've only surfed once before. My friends said the paddle was about 10 minutes but it felt like 30 minutes to me.  The first time I surfed it, we had to paddle against strong current and white waters for an hour, only to catch one wave and almost drown because my leash snapped. But yesterday was perfect for a comeback surf for me and Abe. Beautiful day to be out Abe spoils us with freshly brewed coffee Everything aligned, the waves were in their fun size, the wind was being a bit playful with offshore, side shore breeze, the sun was shining, the blue sky was decorated with cumulus clouds, which created that thousand diamonds imagery, the water was clear enough that it ...

My uncle was killed, we only have speculations for the motives… business, politics. Nothing really worth of anyone's life.   I am writing to celebrate his life, because it's the best we can do while we grieve. I am also writing for Ace (my 2 y/o cousin), Justine, Macmac, Nanay and Tatay, my mom, my aunts and uncle and everybody who is grieving. While everybody was sharing their ordinary yet precious moment with Tito Bicol, I am transported back to 2004. I was mocking him for being in the political sphere, I’ve always thought it to be grubby. During that time he was running back in fort, coordinating for relief operations and resuscitating our town that was dysfunctional for about one month because of a flash flood and landslide. His family along with other family members stayed in our house for over a month because majority of my town was submerged in mud. I had a glimpse of his day to day life.  One day I asked him why he even bother doing what he did, ...

It's been almost 6 months since I moved to NY. It is only now that I am feeling the effects of not being in the water or near the water, technically the last time I surfed was in November and I went to the beach in December.  Long Beach NYC, Nov 2019 I noticed I get grumpy easily and have more sad moments. I've been hacking my way out of it by being more active. I'm doing yoga and capoeira, they're helping me stay fit and I think they are helping me relieve stress.  I'm on my 4th week of yoga and I'm learning the headstand, I noticed my favorite part of the practice is when my world is altered, like being upside-down. I feel the same about capoeira, my favorite part is when we do cartwheels with a partner. I'm pretty sure I'm far from doing an elegant cartwheel, tho.  Both my teachers, Jorge S. (yoga) and Professora Missil (capoeira), are really good and friendly. I went to yoga on valentine's day and Jorge gave dark truffle chocol...