Please just don’t play with me
My paper heart will bleed
This wait for destiny won’t do
Be with me, please, I beseech you
Simple things, that make you run away
Catch you if I can

-My Paper Heart, The All American Rejects

I met you again for a reason.

P&G Consumer is Boss Game. February 11, 2012. I joined this game P&G hosted last Saturday. (Yes, by all means laugh at my face. I was ecstatic. Haha.) The game was like a strategy game where you had many options for each phase and each option leads to the next set of options and so on. It was very interesting and surprisingly fun. I had a great team: Lea, Anj, Pao and John. We had to present for 2 minutes explaining why we chose the strategies, I think we did a pretty good job. I prefer to think it was concise. Haha. I was pleasantly surprised when they announced we won third (!!!) which meant P5000 gift certificate for Ayala Malls = P1000 gift certificate for me!!! The best things in life are free. Happiness.

SOM Games: Bataille. February 14, 2012. And this is how I ended up spending my Valentines – with a lot of intense girl action. I wasn’t supposed to play that day but just so we wouldn’t default, I played anyway. You can observe that three of us were wearing skirts. This is how we roll. Again, surprisingly, we won. The game was intense, I didn’t cause the team to lose (unexpectedly because I suck at sports) and I walked away from that three rounds of intense girl fights  with no wounds and sandals still intact. Happiness.

I’ve been jumping from the tops of buildings. For the thrill of the fall. Ignoring sound advice.

P.S. In the midst of all my frustrations and bitterness (I know I could be very annoying when I spiral into this ranting and blabbering and overthinking and jealous me), my friend Lea just said: Tiwala lang yan. And I suddenly realized that I forgot to just trust that everything will be fine. It’s actually one of those things I’ve always strongly believed in but somehow I lost sight of it. Chos. But really, thanks for that reminder Bb. Pilipinas 2013. So now everytime I get frustrated or bitter or anything, I just remind myself: Tiwala lang yan.

With every single word I withhold. With every single word you say. Again.

]]> http://timmycaparros.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/reminder/feed/ 0 timmycaparros photo 1 photo 4 429531_10151285105455215_755915214_23063352_218949294_n http://timmycaparros.wordpress.com/2012/02/14/happy-hearts/ http://timmycaparros.wordpress.com/2012/02/14/happy-hearts/#comments Tue, 14 Feb 2012 15:23:34 +0000 timmycaparros http://timmycaparros.wordpress.com/?p=976 Read More

Happy Valentines Day everyone! (Though the day is about to end. I know I’m late). I wanted to post these notes stuck on roses I received today. They’re not from romantic someones, but they are from special someones – two awesome people in my life: Aiko and Keith! Though I would’ve loved to feel kilig kilig and all today, no worries, because I gotzz myself awesome friends. We promised each other during first year that we would give each other roses every Valentines Day. I know it’s just been three years but it’s been three years! Times does fly really fast. I know we haven’t been spending much time together lately (I am now officially dying from school and upcoming tests and all) but it’s still really cool that we still remembered. Yaay for us. And so I just want to share the looove with everyone and anyone out there who’s looking for it. Chos. As long as you have the best-est friends, you’ll never run out of love to share and I think that’s what really matters anyway.

Also, Cha suggested that I take a picture of the note so that one day when I finally meet my one true luuurve I get to show him this. Though it’s actually from Keith (I think), the idea is still pretty cute. So future dude, thanks for the rose. And I cannot wait to meet you.

Cheesy.

On a different note, I’ve been feeling really down lately because of school. So I thought I would post random things that make me happy from time to time. Just so I don’t go completely crazy. Here’s the first:

#1 Sweet gifts from sweet friends Lea  saw this bracelet in some H&M in France and got it because she felt it was so “me”. It made me very happy and giddy, so thaaank you Leapaard! You have made me really happy! Cha also got a floral headband from Cotton On in Singapore. I haven’t gotten the chance to wear it because my hair is not artificially straight anymore. Haha. I will soon. She also got it because she said I always wear floral things. More than the gifts girls, I appreciate that you notice these little things. And since we’re enumerating gifts already, thanks Calvin for treating me that red velvet cake in jsec. It was really really good. Hang out tayo soon, promise. Thank you people for making me smile. I know I need to keep remembering happy things in the coming days. Happiness.

]]> http://timmycaparros.wordpress.com/2012/02/14/happy-hearts/feed/ 3 timmycaparros 9 photo http://timmycaparros.wordpress.com/2012/02/05/open/ http://timmycaparros.wordpress.com/2012/02/05/open/#comments Sun, 05 Feb 2012 11:47:47 +0000 timmycaparros http://timmycaparros.wordpress.com/?p=961 Read More

]]> White Beach, Puerto Galera. January 21-23, 2012. Melissa and Jihed came to visit us here in the Philippines! They pinky-promised us back in HK and they kept that promise. For the weekend, we decided to go to Puerto Galera since it is the nicest nearest beach (I think). Titi and Dom tagged along with us. Titi, a French exchange student in my university, is practically a local and he arranged the place for us since he’s been to White Beach already (and all the rest of the beaches in the Philippines!). Dom has just been here for a month since he’s part of a special foreign program which starts halfway through the semester. And so, together, we had a blast riding the banana boat (where Kathleen and Melissa fell before we were supposed to fall), island-hopping, snorkeling, taking pictures inside the cave, eating, swimming, stargazing on the shore, playing luksong-baka on the beach (I don’t know what they call it), and singing karaoke. Doing great things in a great place with the best company. What more is there?

United Colors of Benetton.  Before riding the banana boat, Jihed asked me “Is it okay that people are staring?” I told her, “Of course, they’re staring because you look different.” Then she said, “But they’re staring at you two.” I hadn’t really noticed but she was right. People were staring at us. And I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised because it was indeed an unusual sight – two Filipino girls who look like little kids (or so they say), with an Austrian guy with green eyes, a very tall Portuguese guy (who’s actually French), a Tunisian girl (who’s also actually French) with curly hair and a French girl with light brown hair. What could explain such different-looking people sticking together and having fun on the beach? I can’t really imagine what everyone who stared at us were thinking. But when we were island hopping, Manong asked us if we met in school and we explained our part. And I felt really happy explaining. I was hoping that while I shared, I could be a concrete example that yes,  people who look very different (Asians and Westerners) could very much like each other and get along well together. We were not tourist guides but we were friends.

 

My mom told me before that some guy told her that our society is converging into one big community – a world without borders. And I believe I like the idea of that. And if that’s the case, then we’re not heading to a such a bad place (maybe the place might have lesser trees, but we’re working on that as well). During my first two weeks in my exchange semester, I told Kathleen that it’s starting to sink in that cultural differences were indeed significant and it’s a little hard to talk to these different people. This completely dissolved away when I actually got to know these people (especially Jihed and Melissa), how their lives are back in HK and what they think about things. We don’t agree on everything (such as divorce and religion) but this never clouded our friendship. Not once. We shared our sides and views, respected them and sometimes just laugh at each other’s disbelief. These girls helped us a lot, I trust them completely and I know we’ll be friends forever (cheesy). I guess you can guess what I’m driving at. I believe in this world without borders because I have experienced it first hand. I know I’ve only met a very small fraction of the world outside my country, but this experience is still evidence that it is possible.

And so next time, when you see a diverse group of people (like my mom said we looked like an ad for United Colors of Benetton), maybe the first reason you should think is that they are just a group of friends having fun. It doesn’t matter that we don’t look alike and we probably didn’t grow up in the same place, because really, it doesn’t. They might call luksong baka in some other language and some other name that doesn’t involve cows but what simply matters is that we were enjoying doing it. Language, skin and eye colors don’t really matter. It is interesting , yes, but what matters, in the end, is that you respect each other’s differences and you appreciate this world even more because of them. And with that, world peace everyone!

On our last day while singing karaoke, Dom sang “Where the Streets Have No Name” by U2. He explained that the song is about the situation in Ireland (I think), where people discriminate against each other (based on religion, if I remember correctly). And he said, you will know which side one is on just knowing his street name. And so U2 writes and sings about a place where the streets have no name. I think the song is worth sharing. World peace na talaga ito.

I wish I could bake a cake at of rainbows and smiles.

 

 

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I’ll be there for you because you’re there for me too-oooh.

Puerto Galera is where I first fell in love with the sea. My favorite memory will always be the one where we were dragged by a small boat to see everything underwater. My breath was really taken away (as if breathing through the snorkeling gear wasn’t hard enough). I felt it was a whole different world down there, and it seemed like one huge garden underwater. Awesome. (Note: I must learn how to scuba dive very soon.) The resort we stayed in (Coco Beach) was very nice as well. We stayed in small nipa huts and as you can see the resort has a very nice pool. I remember they also have silent pools and some places where you can play different games.

Even arriving at the place was extra special. There were people with guitars welcoming you while singing and offering you nice shell necklaces and buko juice served in the actual buko. Haha. I loved the place and it’s just one among the many beaches in this awesome country. It’s more fun in the Philippines and I’m super proud of it! My family has this goal of going to all these beaches featured in one calendar. We’re still far from completing it but we’re working on it!

I’m so excited because really I’ve never been to like a paradise before. – Ilkka, before going to Coco Beach

]]> http://timmycaparros.wordpress.com/2012/01/27/flashback-friday/feed/ 0 timmycaparros IMG_7173 IMG_7179 IMG_7186 IMG_7183 IMG_7194 IMG_7210 http://timmycaparros.wordpress.com/2012/01/27/its-a-small-world/ http://timmycaparros.wordpress.com/2012/01/27/its-a-small-world/#comments Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:33:15 +0000 timmycaparros http://timmycaparros.wordpress.com/?p=937 Read More

Hands down, this has been one of the best weeks ever. First week of school is over and I’m freaking out, yes, but the best part is that Melissa and Jihed came to visit us! In the Philippines! Yaay. They’re back in Hong Kong now and I know I will miss them but all good things come to an end. C’est la vie. I know we will always be in touch and I will find a way to see them again very soon! (If you girls are reading this, I will try my very very best to find a way!) I know it’s time to come back to reality, I have a lot of things to fix in my life and everything else. But, I wanted to shaaare the joy and since Thierry hasn’t posted his pictures yet, I will just share some of my favorite videos I never get tired of watching. At times of stress, you need little reminders of why you’re doing what you’re doing.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Where the Hell is Matt? Melissa showed me this one. I clearly remember we were in our dorm room, Room 319 South Tower! I miss saying/writing this. I was just so amazed by this guy. If you haven’t figured out yet, my dream is to travel the world. Sadly Luckily, I am not made out of money, but it’s okay. I do what I gotta do. And so far, it has been awesome and I couldn’t ask for anything more. I envy this guy and I really really wish he goes to more places. He deserves it and it’s so awesome how he shared it with everyone. It never fails to give me that fuzzy feeling.

LEARN from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

Learn. This is just one of the three videos that went viral on fb some time ago. The Move video was the most shared one, I think, but this one is really my favorite. These are the things that I want to do when I actually get to see the world. I just don’t know which tours offer these activities. Haha. Awesome people. I am so happy people do this and share it with everyone. Means a lot to dreamers like me.

I wish I get to make something as awesome as any of these. Someday.

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Ng Tung Chai Waterfalls. November 26, 2011. Hidden somewhere in the New Territories. We joined the HKBU Mountaineering Association because our friend Mikee Lee told us it would be a good idea to join them on their hikes. Glad we followed his advice since we got to see this waterfall with them. It was a pretty long hike (maybe not for pro hikers but for lampa me, it was long and high). We went to the different points of the waterfall (bottom fall, middle fall, high fall?) The place was good, the water was cool and the falls were making loud but peaceful noises. It was nice to just sit down on a nice looking rock and watch the water fall.

Lamma Island. October 9, 2011. Our first trip with the mountaineering association but we ended up with Dong and Bernie (our favorite Austrians). We ran into them in the beach and decided to tag along with them. We hiked into this “path”. It really wasn’t a path. I remember we stopped at this viewing pavilion, saw the beach and Bernie said “Okay, I think we can go down here.” And so we did, and really fought against vines and tall grasses. Again, panicky me thought we were lost and we wanted to go back but a few more steps (made possible with Bernie’s determination), we found this quite strip of beach with few people. Wisdom earned. Haha. I was not prepared to swim, and there was no shade in that peaceful strip and so I stayed under Dong’s umbrella. Of course.A few weeks later, we came back with Jihed, Melissa, Chloe and Pierre. This time prepared with our swimsuits but I decided not to swim because there was something strange in the water. So, instead, I bought this bubble thing and spread bubbles in that beach and we played Uno cards. Three days well spent! 

P.S. Kathleen and I never got this hiking gear right. First time we hiked, we had our shoulder bags. Second time we hiked, we borrowed a backpack but the place turned out to be a beach, not really something you’d want a backpack for. In fact, a girl from the mountaineering club came wearing a long sheer skirt. Turned out she was more prepared than us. Plus, I didn’t get to bring a swimsuit because didn’t think I could swim. Third time, prepared but decided not to swim. Fourth time (waterfalls), we thought shoulder bags would be fine again. We were wrong. We thought maybe we would need swimsuits this time. We were wrong. Again. The place was cold and nobody planned to bathe in the river. So yeah. I’m pretty sure there’s a lesson there somewhere but I haven’t gotten to figuring that out yet. Hoho.

It’s the climb.

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Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival. October 29, 2011. So this festival is this pretty huge fair or expo of different wine brands from different countries, also lots of cheese varieties (a looot), really cute bakeries and others (e.g. dumplings and lechon). A lot of the vendors were foreigners and the fair is  actually sort of divided according to country (if I remember correctly). There were also live performances in one part of the place and people everywhere had wine glasses and doing some serious wining and dining. You can buy wine tokens for HK$10 each which gets you one glass of wine of your choice (any type of wine in the fair). Some wines require you to give two wine tokens but since we were with our beautiful friend Melissa who charmed a lot of vendors, we got away with using just one for all our wine choices. Haha. I learned three things that night.

One. I know nothing about cheese. All I know are cheddar and mozzarella and maybe some other cheese in Yellow Cab‘s four cheese pizza but apparently there’s so much more to life than just those four cheeses! Haha. Melissa bought this meal with melted Raclette all over it (fifth picture). It was so good. I was so amused with the half of cheese being heated from below and this French chef scraping off the gooey Raclette of the cheese ball to the bread and cold cuts and everything else in that French meal. I bought another French meal, a smaller one with no Raclette. I don’t remember what cheese was included there but it was also very good. Glad I tried it!

I learned later on that Asians come from a lactose intolerant race. And maybe that’s why we’re not so big on cheese compared to Europeans. I later got to try cheese from Melissa’s hometown (I can’t remember what it’s called, I’ll ask later) and cheese from Holland! So many cheeses and in so many forms. Good to know, good to know.

Two. You can injure people with some French bread. I forgot what bread we took home for Jihed but I just remember it’s so hard. It’s really good but it’s hard. We took turns pinching off the bread when we got back to the dorms. I only ate a few pinches but I went to bed pretty full. No wonder most of them say that the ‘white bread’ (aka Tasty) is not real bread because it has “nothing” inside compared to their rock hard bread. They’re kidding of course but now I get why they can get through most of the day with just eating bread.

Three. I do not like real wine. They taste so bitter and pasty and strange. I mean I feel the authenticity of the wine (haha) but it was really strong. I think I have to attend some hardcore training or wine appreciation courses so I’d understand why these things are so expensive and well, how you can tell different brands/countries of origins apart. They all tasted the same to me. At the end of that night, I still preferred cheap ol’ Novelino to those wines.

Going to that festival was a great experience! Learned a lot, tasted a lot of new things and felt so cultured. Even though I didn’t like the wine, I loved the cheese and the different pastries! I would love to try more food expos/fairs here and around the world. Mercato or Binondo, anyone?

Rule # 32: Enjoy the little things.

From Top to Bottom: Dumplings for lunch in this hole-in-the-wall restaurant near the Bell and Drum Towers, Buffet Lunch, Street Food (It’s like caramelized santols on a stick.), Dinner in this traditional Chinese restaurant we found on the street (Most of it were spicy.), and of course Peking Duck (it’s pronounced as peeking)! Just wanted to share something about the food we ate in Beijing. Everyone told us to try Peking duck so of course we did and of course with the cucumber sticks and the special sauce! Reminded me of pritson which I absolutely love as well! The other dishes all remind me of the food we ate in Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Spicy but really good. Photos by Kathleen