Twisted

Finally getting back to Pole training. It was my second day today and, my muscles are starting to remember their tricks! I worked on mostly tricks with this twisted grip. My next challenge is to do an aerial handspring! And lately, I’m getting used to hanging in this grip. Yey!

I took this photo with my iPhone in dim lighting, which is why it’s so grainy. I actually added the blur in the BG, just to give it a little depth. It seemed off that it didn’t have any grain, so I added some noise to that as well. Then, the rest is just grading.

I’ve finally posted on my tumblr, if you’d like to visit. I post mostly my pole photos and instagram shots there.

(So annoyed that my lips are pursed here >_<)

15 | Where you from?

When you’re Filipino and you go to Thailand, people will think you’re from every other SEA country BUT Philippines. I find it funny, actually!

I went to Phuket, Thailand last weekend and I got some pretty good shots. These are my favorites right here. I’ve already been posting some on Instagram but these ones I did some real post on. But, I kind of stuck with the Instagram / Hipstamatic look.

We stayed in Nipa Resort

Small, but had a gorgeous pool

Which was a short walk away from Patong Beach

I was there with my lovely oz girls

While there were a lot of colorful umbrellas for shade

Some of us wanted a little sun on their backs

Connie’s enjoying her new 200 baht shades.

But what’s the beach,

without a some alcohol?

SangSom, Thai Rum

But I’m not the only Alco in the family. Here’s Rhea with her MASSIVE San Mig light.

We got some night market food too

I had some seafood

Rochelle got some juicy kebabs

While Kat and Connie, well…

We toured around for a day and rode an Elephant,

and drove ATVs.

At night, we watched some Muay Thai

and went to Bangla Road. But what happens in Bangla, will stay in Bangla.

Finally, just to mark my Phuket trip, a little guerrilla pole

14 | Singapore Lay Over

Meanwhile, I’m in this airport for 5 hours before my next flight. It’s pretty quiet…

I graded this photo in Adobe Lightroom. It was quite interesting! I didn’t know there was a brush and gradient tool that you can play around with. I’ve only used the basic color and curves options for when I do a quick grade for bulk photos. Since, I’ve got loads of time to burn, I decided to poke around. I think it’s good enough if you’re not doing major post.

I’m going to go play around and make presets now…

13 | Family Portraits

Just simple portraits to mark the year

Sister

This photo was taken by my one and only sister, Alex. She’s also into photography like I am. And, since I got a 60d already, I’ve passed down my Nikon d40x to her. This was taken when we went to the cemetery last Christmas. I think I was just stretching my back here. I didn’t know she took a photo. I love my back in this shot and the depth is just so nice! Aside from the grading I didn’t do any other post work on it.

Thanks sis!

My sister and I used to fight a lot. But, that’s what you get when you’re 6 years apart, right? I think I was just jealous of the attention she got, being the new kid in the family. I would always hate it when she do the things I do and copy every move that I make. I didn’t want a “mini me”.

But now, we’re getting along better and we’ve made an identity for ourselves. We’ve got our own styles and differences but we still share some interests, like art, photography, piano and pole dancing. Although, I’m more advanced in pole, she’s been dancing ballet more than half her life.

And, it looks like she might end up in the same industry as I am. I don’t mind, as long as she doesn’t get into the same line of work. Another trait we share is competitiveness. So, I really wouldn’t wanna see what that’s like.

Potter Christmas

This is how a corner of my room looks like now.

Yea, that’s a real HP 7.2 teaser!

Z’s gifts were Harry Potter themed this year. He also got me a Gryffindor scarf, a small deck of the other teasers (which I plan to frame too) and these cute button pins of anime versions of the leads.

It is indeed a very happy Christmas. And, it’s not because of that gift. But because of all the love all around. It’s so great to be with family and good friends, just eating, drink and laughing!

Enjoy the rest of the holidays!

12 | Yema Gifts

Happy Christmas everyone!!

I LOVE wrapping gifts! Unfortunately, materials are really expensive, especially ribbons. Sometimes, I end up with a packaging more expensive than the gift itself! Over the years, I’ve tried alternatives to the materials, like, newspaper and manila paper. Last year, I found this huge roll of brown paper for less than 200php in national! So, since then, I’ve been using that as a wrapper and just made awesome ribbons! But, ribbons are also expensive and I really need to save up for my Phuket trip in January.

So, this year, I decided to ditch the ribbons and put cellophane over the brown paper! They look like Yema! Now, I’m craving for some…

I had so many gifts to wrap this year! Not just my own, but mom had me wrap some other gifts. I still like doing ribbons, so I used some left over ribbons for some smaller gifts.

(I asked my sister to do the lettering)

I’m also not a big fan of those pre-made holiday cards that are just slapped on. As a sub, I use big white buttons that I tie to the ribbons. But, my favorite is still tiny christmas balls, which I used 2 years ago. You can’t always find them, though.