the hunt begins

i've started apartment hunting and boy, its alot of hard work. its even harder when you're out of state, no income and a student and on a budget. sigh. living in manhattan is NOT cheap. broker fees are 15% of annual rent and so far i've seen apartments that are the size of my bathroom which are going for $1800 or more, i've climbed 5 flights of stairs in walkup buildings only, i've had a door slammed in my face because some rude moron didn't want to let the broker and i into the building to look at the apartment. any amenities of any kind cost more (ie. lower rent does not equal to washer & dryers in the building or elevators) and NY landlords are anal about credit/gurantors. oh well...the hunt for my new home continues with craigslist on my internet browser favourites list and my brokers are on my speed dial.

Studying Photography

Astig Pinoy Photographers
Originally uploaded by -Roy-

So I think I'm not going to do well for my photography class despite my girlfriend being super encouraging. Thanks gorgeous!!! :D
My professor on the otherhand isn't as forgiving. I suppose she does it for good reason - we're all students and she's a professional so clearly, we all suck next to her. Every Wednesday, it feels like American Idol for photographers, I swear.

I think I saw a dead person today

he was just lying there, on pavement in front of the Union Square station with cops and onlookers standing around. after walking by and doing a double take, i was one of those onlookers for a brief minute. he seemed to be a bum - and was pale. no, not sick pale but devoid of blood pale. his body lay on the ground, rigid and still and seemingly lifeless. i asked the woman next to me what happened - she shrugged.

"is he dead?" i asked. no one answered me. distrubed - i continued walking home.

my "Cold and Flu army"

Cold and Flu army '08.
Originally uploaded by Ariel Bariel Long

Back from Vancouver and sick as a dog. Been cooped up in my apartment for 2 days. No school, no work. Just MTV, chicken noodle soup, my laptop and my Dayquil/NyQuil gelcaps and more recently, I've graduated to Robitussin Cough & Cold syrup. And every night I anticipate the sound of my muffin's voice from a money-eating payphone in the land of the rising sun. Hurry home babe!

while he tours Japan...

somehow spring break isn't spring break when I'm not trekking Mt. Fuji, cheering on Sumos, eating sushi & ramen or getting lost in Tokyo with you...
i hope you're having a blast of a time
come home soon.

xx.

i love my iphone...BUT

...never have i owned a gadget where if something goes wrong, my heart literally stops and my life is at a stand still. i suppose it is quite appalling that much of my life depends on this little gadget. my contacts, my music, my email, my weather report, my google maps...what would i do without you? how i did i function without email and internet at my fingertips? ...sad but true, i've become one of those people - who fail to function efficiently without their phone/blackberry/computer/laptop.

my parents have discovered this ever since they got me my 1st laptop about 3 years ago. i instantly became mobile with my internet in my very own home - which meant they actually saw me hanging around the living room rather than me hiding in my room on my desktop. the next addition to my gadget addiction: my digital camera - which i never left home without. which eventually led to my purchase of my 1st SLR camera. Of course, when it came to cellphones, I've been a loyal Nokia fan since day 1 - there was no question everytime an upgrade was needed, that i'd pick the next coolest Nokia phone on the market. Note: the cellphones i owned may have looked cool, but their functions never strayed more than phone capabilities, built-in cameras and mp3 functions i never used.

but my move to the US, made way for a whole new type of cellphone dependency. my dad had purchase an iPhone on a whim when it was first released - only to realise he couldn't use it in Canada. so when the time came for me to move south, he proudly handed me the new gadget in its sealed, sleek, black box and said "here, you can use this". he had found a purpose for his little investment he made months earlier. i was skeptical. i've seen how cool this gadget was but never really thought myself to be one of those who would use it. it seemed like it was too much machine for me...and i was so wrong! it was easy to use and a guiding light in my misadventures to Chinatown and SoHo.

so dependent i've become on my little iPhone that now, i cannot imagine a phone without email and internet! and it doesn't help that the iPhone's interface is gorgeous. i can never go back to regular cellphones - not unless those Nokias have email and internet capabilites. and i've done my research - Nokia does have their little rip-off version of the iPhone in case, i ever feel i've betrayed my brand loyalty :P i am sucha a geek, it is so not funny.

stayin' hip in nyc

living in one of the most fashionable cities in the world has its perks: people are fabulously dressed, whether its uptown luxe or downtown cool, everyone usually looks good. why usually? because like any other city, there are the regular citizens who really don't care about fashion or how they look like on the streets of manhattan. as for me, i go to a fashion school where if you collected all the hip, cool, fashionable & trendy people you know and put them in 1 institution, you'd have...well...us! no one stands out because everyone stands out and even our professors sometimes dress better than us.

the pitfalls of living in one of the fashion capitals of the world? having to keep up with it. for some, its effortless. for others, its an eternal struggle. for many, its burning a hole in their pockets. for a few, its easy thanks to daddy's big allowance. thank god for fast fashion retailers like Forever 21 and H&M, as well as chic, up & coming designers with tiny stores strewn along East Village. shopping at Saks, Bendels and Bloomingdales isn't cheap, nor is trying to keep up with the countless "It" bags that come out each season. after a while, you give up, either that or you don't try at all. thankfully, new york city is also a city of individual style which knows no brand name and allows the freedom of expression in style and taste, clothes and shoes *phew*

now about that new Prada Nappa Striped Hobo bag i saw in SoHo....