I have been wanting to write about this for the longest time.  Music (for the most of us, if not all) somehow has been an instrument of making one's situation better or maybe sometimes worse (in some ways).  There are those lyrics that seem to relate to just about everything that you are going through in your life, both good and bad.  And sometimes it just makes you feel good and happy even if there's a need to search for its meaning just so you could understand it.  I remembered listening to kpop back in early high school where no one seems to relate with me except for the people I've got to know through the internet then bleeding out to Mayday Parade's Three Cheers for Five Years, Taking Back Sunday's Cute Without the E and The Used's Blue and Yellow (just to name a few) til early college sophomore year. #realtalk hahahah! 

So I'd like to share with you artists that I have grown to love more and more this year.  I have learned to like different genres no matter how opposite they are with the previous ones I've liked.  Some of these artists I just discovered recently, but some I knew about from way back.  I hope some of these artists provide you that feel good feeling after listening to good music.

This list btw is in no particular order.

1.) Matthew Mole

Due to the autoplay function in Youtube, I got to hear his music August of this year after listening to Jeremy Loops. Please please please listen to him live, he is sooo good! I love artists who perform exceptionally well on live shows.

I have a lot of favorites from this guy but my top 3 would have to be Take Yours, I'll Take Mine, The Wedding Song and Same Parts, Same Heart. I just get all kilig and feel good when I listen to his songs 😍 And I must say that I also like his take on Will.i.am's Heartbreaker.

"The Wedding Song"

I can't profess that I understand it
But I see me holding your hand ❤️❤️❤️

This. I cant even. 

2.) Of Monsters and of Man (OMAM)

My friend told me about this ages ago but I only got to really listen to their songs, that was around June or July this year, from again the autoplay in Youtube right after The Lumineers' Hey Ho on repeat.  My favorites are Crystal Eyes and Little Talks.

"Crystal Eyes"
I know I'll wither
So peel away the bark
Because nothing grows when it is dark
In spite of all my fears
I can see it all so clear

"Little Talks"

Though the truth may vary this ship will carry our bodies safe to shore

3.) Us the Duo 

Thank you to Facebook friends who shared their video on their covers and for the movie Book of Life (which I love!) for introducing me do this talented couple! My original fave is No Matter Where You Are and cover faves are Titanium and Don't You Worry Child.

"No Matter Where You Are"

I will hold on to everything we've got

A quitter, a regretter, and forgetter

Is everything I'm not ❤️

4.) Jeremy Loops

Well I have Ben Brown to thank for for introducing me to this very talented man! I've been hooked  since last year and it has been a regular on my playlist ever since :) It has been one of my dreams to be a volunteer and help plant trees, like what they do in an organization he co-founded called Green Pop :) No, I don't have a green thumb like my parents do but I would really love to try and do it as well. If you know of any org's here in Davao please do let me know. I have tried it before back in High School and College but didn't really know the importance and its impact.  I was just merely submitting to the school requirements. tsk 

My hands down favorite would definitely be Down South. And let me just say that I love the music video they made which came out days before my birthday this year.

"Down South"

In the light of day

With open eyes

In the time it takes

To decide

That I wanted you to stay and

I didn't wanna go

I wouldn't take it away from you no no

5.) Mumford and Sons

I just can't remember the first time I listened to them, where and through whom. My favorite is Wait for You. And yes its because of Book of Life. Hahahah! Because I just love that movie! Aaand Hopeless Wanderer. I had a good laugh at the music video, if you haven't yet, check it out 😉

"Wait for You"

So I'll be bold

As well as strong

And use my head alongside my heart

So tame my flesh

And fix my eyes

That tethered mind free from the lies

6.) The Lumineers

Favorites are Hey Ho, Stubborn Love and Ain't Nobody's Problem. Uhm. Sorry. I also forgot who I listened prior or who suggested the band. Maybe it was after listening to 2 Door Cinema Club or Capital Cities? Idk.

"Hey Ho"

I belong to you

You belong to me

You're my sweet heart ❤️

7.) Odesza

Aaaaand another thank you to Ben Brown for using Waited 4 U on a lot of his vlogs which got me addicted to this artist. I would have to admit that there was at least a month or two, that I would only listen to Odezsa. Perfect road trip playlist.

My favorites are Say My Name and Waited 4 U remix (Wow! Such a shocker, I know), original is by Slow Magic. I remembered getting a little bit cray cray when I heard Say My Name play in American Eagle. Yep. I'm crazy like that.

"Say My Name"
I always call for confidence
Your compliments look good on me

8.) Gavin DeGraw
I just get to imagine romantic moments more perfectly when I listen to his songs. And I've got One Tree Hill (So high school. And oh, Naley btw is still the best couple ever!) for introducing me to such a talented man! He is so underrated! And people who really know me knows that I love me some underrated artists 😉

Really, I have a lot of favorites from this guy.. I've been listening again and again to Soldier, Best I Ever Had and Make a Move for like a million times starting the love month of this year. I've heard of these songs before but maybe I just grew attached to them this year. I even included a line from Soldier on my blog post, Valentines Day Gift Ideas.

"Best I Ever Had"
You said take me home
I can't take this place
There's too many hipsters
And I just can't relate

You're my neon gypsy
My desert rain
You're my helter skelter 
Oh how can I explain?
...
I think I love you
But don't even know you ❤️

9.) James Arthur
Oh he got my ears hooked through Impossible.  I kind of disliked him at first as he seemed a bit conceited (that's just me though) because probably he know he's good.  But damn.  He is good. hahahaha I got goosebumps while listening to his final performance for XFactor.

My original fave just has to be Recovery.  I loved his performance where he got to joke around with the crowd by calling out to the male fans like dogs.  It made me laugh.  His eyes in that video looked so good 😍

And his full sleeve tattoos made him a lot hotter! Just like Gab Alipe and Chris Carrabba. My crushes 😍

"Recovery"
In my recovery
I'm a soldier at war
I have broken down walls
I defined, I designed my recovery

10.) Sarah Bareilles
Her music is close to perfection. Ah. Just like Gavin DeGraw, I've been a fan for years. This year, the dominant songs have been Love on the Rocks and her cover of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. I remember listening to both songs back again late April.  It just kept playing in my head, I had it on repeat when I decided to resign for work on my birthday.  Perfect music for what I had been feeling at that time.  Sipping on some wine and listening to her. Aaaaah R&R mood. I tried playing it on the piano but I couldn't really play the exact chords that she's playing. Please hit me up if you know it.

Check out her Goodbye Yellow Brick Road cover.  Even Elton John approves of it!

Other favorites are I Choose You ❤️, Uncharted, King of Anything.. Well actually there's a lot! lol

"Love on the Rocks"
I needed a raise
I worked so hard for this love mine
Still I got nothing to show for it

Here's a simplification of everything were going through
You plus me is bad news

"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"
Maybe you'll get a replacement
There's plenty of me to be found
Mongrels who ain't got a penny
Sniffing for tidbits like you
... I've finally decided where my future lies
Beyond the yellow brick road

11.) Shawn Mendes
Just could not let it slip that I missed to include Shawn Mendes so I felt the need to edit this post.  I first heard of him when I had my first trip to Mati last April as the girlfriend of my friend had Stitches on her playlist. 

My favorites are Show You, Something Big, and I Know What You Did Last Summer with Camila Cabello.  The latter has been on my head for a week now and my office mate seems to get in to this song as well :)  I can imagine singing this with my girlfriends, it will be so much fun!  I also like Stitches and Aftertaste but not as much as those 3 songs.

Check their performance of IKWYDLS live if you haven't yet 👌

"I Know What You Did Last Summer"
He knows dirty secrets that I keep
Does he know its killing me?
He knows, he knows, does he know?
That his hands have touched my skin
I wont tell him where I've been
He knows, he knows, he knows

I know what you did last summer
Just lie to me there's no other
I know what you did last summer 
Tell me where you've been
I know what you did last summer 
Look me in the eyes my lover
I know what you did last summer 
Tell me where you've been

--edited on Dec 9--

YES!!! Finally got into blogging again!  A lot has happened in the last 2 quarters of this year and I just got to take a break from it all.  I am glad though that despite of the busy schedule (and stress) that I had for the past couple of months, I hadn't got sick! YEY!  *pats self at the back*

Still a couple of weeks left before the year ends so we still got time to check off some things on our 2015 Goals ;) I've been failing at trying to eat healthily year after year so it was a treat when I had finally tried a cold pressed juice.

I've heard about Soul Kitchen Co from my best friend but never really got to try what they had to offer until one fateful day 😋 

A close friend of mine whose overseas asked me to get fresh fruits at Soul Kitchen for his sick girlfriend a couple of months ago.  I downloaded Waze but since i have a crappy data connection, it wasn't of good use 😓 So just with their address at hand I hoped that my inner GPS wont fail me... And it did. Hahah! If your coming from Lanang/JP Laurel Ave., turn right to Torres St. The street is between the two gas stations Shell and Caltex. So just go straight until you pass by Davao City Natl High School or Mabini St. Soul Kitchen is located at the right side of the street. You'll see establishments like One Fab Pooch and Cafe Demitasse.

So I tried out one of their cold pressed juices, Cure. I've always thought that these juices would taste bland and that I would never want to try one again. But it didn't even taste one bit like that. In fact it tasted great! 👌🏽 The Cure had a mix of Watermelon, Apple and Flax seed oil (if I'm not mistaken). 

Cold pressed juices has gotten a lot of hype and I can definitely understand why. These juices are made with no preservatives which makes it so good! The juice extraction from the fruit or vegetable is done by using a hydraulic press. The vitamins and minerals from these fruits and veggies are still preserved in the juice instead of killing it in the process. So its not just good, but its also healthy. It helps your body cleanse/detoxify leaving you feeling refreshed and energized! Cold pressed juices are to be taken within 2 days after extraction (as mentioned, it does not have any preservatives).

I will definitely come back and taste the rest of the goodness that Soul Kitchen Co has :)

Its almost the end of love month but it doesn't mean that the loving stops there.  February 14 / Valentines day is just a reminder to all of us that we must continuously show our care and affection to our loved ones.  Come to think of it, if February 14 wasn't known for Valentines day then it would have been a normal day.  Love shouldn't only be shown or given during that specific day.  Make them feel special the whole year 'round and celebrate when deemed necessary.  You'll never know what life may bring, one day you and you're partner will still be together and the next you'll be away for a long time temporarily or even permanently.  Its not about how much you spent on your gift or if you gave none at all.  What's important is the time you spent together.  Priceless moments of such as watching the sunset, admiring the moon, sharing a morning jog, spending a chill day at the beach or just by having that comfortable silence in between those coffee sips - or tea in my case ;) 

Follow @bestsayingss and get your dose of life quotes :)

Was out and about with a good friend last night.  Its been almost a year since the last time we've hung out that long.  We've talked and planned a lot of things and I cant wait! I'm even excited to write about it if some of it will push through. 

Anyway... we tried out this Pizzeria called Classio, fronting the Caltex gasoline station near the flyover in JP Laurel Ave.  Whats amazing with this little pit stop is they make the pizzas fresh and bake them in a wood-fired oven at a back of a converted multi-cab type of thing.  Sorry if I'm describing this poorly/wrongly though.  

The verdict.  We had the Nacho Pizza and Pepperoni.  Surprisingly, I liked both of them!  I didn't expect that my taste buds would approve of the Jalapeño's on the former, as I have a low tolerance for spicy food, but I guess the amount of chili's was just right for me.  Added a bit of Heinz Ketchup on both of it (I'd add up a dash of cheese as well if I can) :D  

Pizza was good considering the very affordable price, location isn't bad at all if you have your own car (its a bit difficult to ride a jeep there going Sasa or downtown), the music is a tad too loud though (or I'm just getting old?) but overall I'd give it a B+.  Will surely be back and try all of the other flavors.  I'd recommend it to my family, friends and to all of you and those travelers out there who happen to drive by Davao.  

 

Photo is from John Patrick aka "Daboy" :D

And oh, happy CNY everyone!

Our internet connection has been off / phone connection has been intermittent for a week now.  When we get the chance, we call up a service/technical line to have it fixed but it seems that no one wants to help or nothing an agent says helps.  Please at least try to let us feel that your doing something about it.  We've been receiving the same feedback and no ones seems to tell us the reason why it even happened so we could try to understand.  We've been a loyal customer for almost two decades now, PLDT.  I spent a few hours on a coffee shop which I rarely do and got an internet load on my phone just so I can use it for my work/studies when I'm home.  Having additional costs for something that you're paying monthly on time for isn't a good thing.  I had not imagined myself that I'd be feeling bad for something like this but at this day and age the internet has become a necessity.

*sigh*

Its February!  And hearts are all over the world this month ;)

Anyway.  You always want to do something special for that special someone to make them happy, right?  Especially this time of the year.  There are tons of gifts that you can think of and maybe you already ran out of ideas.  So I thought of sharing with you these Vday gift ideas for him / her that could help you out, two of which are DIYs. No need to worry as these are so easy to do and the materials are inexpensive, and you can actually customize each gift any way you want it to be! 

4 Valentines Day Gift Ideas

1.) Bamboo Bonsai Plant
I'm not sure if these are sold all over the Philippines but these are available in Malls here in Davao and quite affordable too! You can leave it as it is or you can put a little note around it like "You can plant a dream" -Anne Campbell

What I like about this gift is the idea of having to take care of something, just like a relationship.  You need to take time and effort to water it so it wouldn't wilt and die.

This one is priced at Php 300.00 (around US$7), and was bought at Gaisano Mall of Davao.

2.) Power Bank
Well, in this technological era you can never go wrong with this one!  You can also look for Power Bank's with 2 output ports so that you can use it together when your phones are running low on juice. Sweet!

Price depends on the battery capacity but you can buy these for as low as Php 305.00 if your lucky ;) So check out affordable Power Bank's in Lazada. Though may take some time on the delivery (5-10 days).

You got the couples shirt, the couples shoes, now you have the couples power bank! Promate 5200mAh for Php 1900.00

really digging on these Airborne Tech ones though and I want to get one for myself! 11200mAh with one 2.1A and one 1A output priced at Php 2,650.00 (about US$ 58.88).  This isn't affordable for me but if this was on sale for 50% off I'm definitely buying it :P

Checked a Momax power bank at a shop in SM Lanang Premier, it is 11200 mAh with the same outputs with the Airborne Tech's priced at Php 3750.00 (about US$ 83.33).

And now for the DIYs...
3.) Wall Art / Frame Art

This is my favorite! This takes minimum effort and may cost none at all for some (like I did).

Materials needed:
-a picture frame
-short/long bond paper or colored paper or photo paper
-scissors(optional)

3.1.) Think about his/her favorite Bible verse. Or just look for cheesy or inspirational quotes on the internet!*

3.2.) Measure or try to give a good estimate of how big you want the printed art to be taking in to consideration the size of your frame. 

3.3.) Type it* out as a word document and play with the variety of fonts, colors and sizes.

3.4.) Create a border so it will be easy for you to cut it out (this step can be interchanged with 3.3. or can be left out if the paper your printing on would fit perfectly in to the frame and needs no cutting).

3.5.) This step is optional as you can leave it already as it is, plain and simple. But if you want you can add in little graphics here and there.

3.6.) Adjust the paper size if needed, then just print.

3.7.) Trace and cut out the border if needed

and...

3.8) Place it in the frame! Simple as that!

NOTE: If you're good on your editing skills, then use photo shop or any editing software you have and get extra creative! (Not going in to the details as I easily fail in those type of things :P)

4.) Candy/Chocolate Dynamite
This is just a unique twist to one of the most given item this season.

Materials needed: 
-Candy/Chocolate
-1 sheet of red construction paper (1/4 red cartolina paper or 1 red art paper)
-black fuzzy wire (black yarn may also work)
-Double sided tape for a clean finish, but you can also use scotch tape or any adhesive of your choice
-scissors

For the chocolate, most people are using Nestle Rolo's but I don't think they're sold here in PH.  Suggest to use candy like Polo mints or basically anything thats round so to make this DIY easier.  Though you can also use Snickers/Mars especially if its your partner's favorite.  You can use Hershey's Nuggets which they have in 3s currently priced at Php 36.50 or Hershey's Kisses in 175g priced at 194.50.  I got the Delfi Treasures but in 4s which looked similar to Hershey's Nuggets but only priced at Php 20.25.

4.1.) Divide and cut your paper into 3 sections lengthwise, cutting the excess off if too long for the chocolates.

4.2.) Wrap the chocolate in the paper forming it into a circle (which mine turned into an oblong), and secure with an adhesive as you go
4.3.) Repeat until you have 3 individual candy/chocolate circles
4.4.) For the wick, cut a 4-5 inch long fuzzy wire and glue it on one of the back sides of the candy/chocolate circles
4.5.) Group the 3candy/chocolate circles together and tie them up with the fuzzy wire.
4.6.) OPTIONAL STEP. In a small paper you can write phrases like "you're the bomb", "baby, you're a firework" or "you light up like a dynamite" and glue it on near the knot on the fuzzy wire.

For this one, I spent only Php 68.00 for the chocolates.  Didn't need to buy paper as a used up red cartolina was available at home.  Instead of also buying fuzzy wire or yarn, I just cut up a one inch paper which I covered with black color and cut up some strips and twisted it for the wick part of the dynamite. 

I hope you got some inspiration from these 4 Valentines Day Gift Ideas. I know Valentines Day is just around the corner and you may not have the time to look/make one of these but I'm pretty sure that no matter what you give your partner they will appreciate it nonetheless.  Theres really no need to buy anything material, these are just ideas to help you out.  What's important is you spend quality time with the one you love.

"I'll get it if you need it. I'll search if you can't see it. You're thirsty, I'll be rain. You get hurt, I'll take your pain." - Gavin DeGraw

So last week I got the chance to serve and give back to the community with the help of the Ninerz Choir (an OMPH choir group in Davao City).  Though it was only for a very short time only as I needed to be somewhere else after a few hours, it gave me a sense of purpose and that kind of feeling that made me want to stay longer.

So just to give you a little background of our group, we are volunteers to serve God through our voices.  We are not professional singers, although some of them are :)  We sing in the 9 o'clock mass every Sunday, thus the name "Ninerz".  We are in various age groups, some already have established jobs and have their own families, some are young adults making their way in the real world (like I am), and some are still in College and High School.

Every Christmas season we try to sing carols to family and friends to raise some money to help others.  We have donated money to those who were affected by the typhoon Yolanda 2 years ago, typhoon Pablo 3 years ago, and had our first outreach in Marilog District 4 years ago.  There are also times when we get to be a part of weddings of our family and friends or of some of the members.

I admit that I'm a pretty lousy member as I've been missing a lot action of lately, but I'm hopeful that I can do better this year.  I've considered this group as another branch of my family and it feels different when I am just sitting in Mass than when I am singing songs of praise with them.

Members posing with some of the kids after giving the bags full of goodies.
Original photo is from kuya Leo.

Kids playing paper dance and longest line.
Original photo is from kuya Leo.

The kids were just so nice to watch.  They still enjoy the simple things in life like playing parlor games which I was so envious of as I still enjoy them too ;) Just standing there helping facilitate some of the games made me feel thankful for days like that.  Simple yet so meaningful.  You know what I mean?

Layout was done by kuya Leo's (the group's president) friend.

Original photos are from ate Grace.

The group was able to give out new slippers, a bag full of goodies, some food and toys, faces with smiles and hearts filled with joy to a hundred kids.

It took a lot of effort and coordination to make this activity a success.  Wasn't really able to help out in the planning and organizing, but I was lucky enough to be there on the day.  Thank you again for the opportunity, Ninerz.  Looking forward for the next outreach activities in the future!

I hope that this post inspired you to give back whatever you can to the community.