After Hanging Out For A Few Hours, She Had To Go Because Her Three Kids Were Home From School ♥

Pikachu’s Vacation (1998)

I forget how lucky I am.

the way that AOC is an icon.

“BUT HEY, BITCHES GET STUFF DONE!!!”

awwwwwwww, here it goes.

the last time i went on a major trip outside of the country, i went to england and france during my junior year of high school. when i boarded the plane that would take us from france back to the u.s., i thought to myself:

"wow. what an unforgettable experience. i'm gonna remember this for the rest of my life."

unfortunately, beyond what i can remember by looking at the few pictures that i took with my digital camera, i really don't remember much about that "unforgettable experience." i can remember what the paris skyline looked like, but i don't really remember what standing on the top of the eiffel tower felt like. i remember that we ate authentic fish and chips in london, but i don't really remember what it tasted like.

i don't know if the "let's-see-how-much-we-can-do-in-two-weeks" nature of the trip, my poor memory, or just the fact that it's been three years is responsible for my inability to remember that trip. it's probably a combination of all three. i wouldn't expect this issue to get better with age.

HENCE, THE TRAVEL BLOG.

in case you don't know, or if you couldn't tell from the ridiculous title of this blog, i'm studying abroad in AUSTRALIA. for four months. that's way longer than two weeks. so, this blog isn't only gonna contain what i see and what i eat; it's gonna be a document of what i feel; what i taste; what i hear; what i think. yeah, it sounds a little corny--but that's okay. i want to remember every single detail of this trip. i hope you'll read this often and enjoy reliving the experience with me, even if i italicize and bold my words excessively.

so, in the weeks leading up to my departure, i'll be making posts about how i'm preparing to survive in another country for an entire semester. i'll talk about places i want to visit, things i want to do, any traveling tips i come across, and how much i'm freaking out/hyperventilating/sh*tting my pants/crying as july 15th approaches. STAY TUNED, MATES.

Gay USA (1977) dir. Arthur J. Bressan Jr.

whos granny smith where shes getting all of these damb apples.

Anti-racist mural in Miami, Florida

contact lists.

these days, a new cell phone means a new phone book--a new list of names and numbers that you can access easily with the press of a button. many cell phone providers conveniently offer to reprogram the numbers from your old phone into your new one. having little to do while my family was partaking in the chaos of after-christmas sales, i decided to reprogram the numbers into my new phone manually.

as i went through the list, i noticed that there were several numbers that i didn't really need to store in the new phone. of course, there were the numbers of the acquaintances and the partners for school projects that i didn't really talk to after the first time i met them or we had worked together. but there were also the numbers of people who had at one time been my close friends.

i hesitated to let go of those numbers, i think because it meant that i didn't really foresee a time when i would try contact them, or that they would even try to contact me. i thought about things that kept us apart--distance, time, forgetfulness, school, differing social groups. and it was surprisingly disheartening.

but then i looked at what remained after i chiseled away at the old numbers in my digital phone book. i scanned the names, recalling the last time i had seen each person--maybe a couple of months, weeks, days, even minutes. i thought about the next time i would get a new phone and would have to select from this batch of numbers and decide which ones i would keep. i thought about the numbers that i would add in the future.

i guess what i value the most are the numbers that i had kept since my first cell phone: the numbers of my siblings, parents, and best friends. people who have supported me, loved me, taught me, made me laugh, kept me going--and continue to do so to this very day. and i felt pretty glad. i think that with time and change comes the need to let go, to clean out our phone books of the traces of people we've somehow lost touch with (or maybe even lost completely) along the way--but i think what matters is making the most of the time with the people who stay with you throughout it all; those people who are on speed dial, whose numbers you could dial with a keypad without having to check the number under their name. and with things like facebook, twitter, skype, and mobile phones, the connections we have with these people should be stronger than ever, even if we leave them to go to school or to go back home. and of course, there's always the chance that we could find ourselves reprogramming the numbers of the friends we once thought we had lost back into our phone books.

happy holidays, everyone! i wish you all the best in the new year :)

play me on wordswithfriends--username: cabanayan