J'adore Le Petit Zizou

Today, we thank the Universe for creating one of the very few majestic gifts that keep on giving--Yoann Gourcuff. ♥ End of story. Start of scrolling up and scrolling down repeatedly, until computer crashes from excessive ogling. Go for it.

Choose daze

GPOY: I'm going out tonight but I don't no where to edition. (In full width!)

Chicago, so far, has not shown much promise and talent unlike San Francisco and Florida. By that, I mean their boys who pale (again, so far) in comparison to the artsy hippies of the Hill and the Abercrombie-esque beach boys of the South. I tell you this because I am shallow. And if I do not talk about boys, I talk about food. Which makes me bigger, even when I only think about it. We don't want that.

I really don't have a lot to say lately because I haven't been around much (aside from a shopping mall, and I'm not so keen on shopping because I plan to do it in California). The most productive thing I've done so far is re-introducing myself to Russian culture by watching the film versions of the novels I used to read over and over. Today, I watched two versions of Lolita, (1997) and (1962). I also have a few French films on my list because that's how I roll. In the middle of a great adventure (namely, America), I move on to dreaming about the next one (Europe, in the not-so-near but hopefully not-so-distant future).

Below are the films I have copies of and plan to watch within this week:

1. A Room With A View (1985)

2. A Walk In The Clouds (1995)

3. Agora (2009)

4. Belle De Jour (1967)

5. Cleopatra (1963)

Also, some books for reading because I can sense that I will get a lot of down time in the coming weeks... (I'm not a fan of digital copies because I'm maarte like that. So shoot me, I'm pa-cute.).

Uhm, that's about it. I hope I get more visits and phone calls from other people soon, while I'm in Chicago at least. By the way, this is the song stuck in my head. Download it, it's great.

In the mood for excellence

You know how I love my black and white.

The Terminal

In a few hours, I will be in a new city, a bigger one, so this post will probably be my last post about the home-y down South. First up, affairs with food! Or at least, the last few days. I kind of lost some of my food files in the heat of uploading heaps of dolphin photos.

(From left to right, downwards) 1 The Loop: Bacon and artichoke pizza with 2 Gorgonzola salad and tomato bisque, 3 Molten Lava Cake on the night when my aunts ordered me a Kahlua-laced mudslide (COOL EVER), 4 Chocolate Stuff from Barbara Jean's (but I kind of think the cheap Molten Lava Cake is better), 5 Crab Cake with White Cheddar Cheese Grits and Coleslaw also from Barbara Jean's, and 6 Pad Thai 7 Chicken Tikka and 8 Tom Yum Soup from Salu Thai. All excellent! :)

Yesterday, we had dinner at Barbara Jean's at Ponte Vedra after a quick trip to Fernandina. It was a nice place and I really enjoyed myself because the crowd was a nice mix of classy and friendly (And by classy, I mean they weren't the maingay Southern types who drown out every other voice in the restaurant. Very prevalent in this part of the country). We met a 17 month old butchukoy named Jonathan. He is the cutest, with legs like longganisa and a face as round as buchi. Cute!!! Sana hindi ko siya na-usog. Sobrang cute niya gusto ko siyang itapon sa river. Hahahaha.

Some pictures over dinner. What I love about this place is that the days are definitely longer, meaning more time to spare with friends or family. Like this kind of light is already 07:30pm. The nerd in me is amazed! Hahaha. So much time to be productive! In the outside dining area, boats come speeding by the river and then the diners would wave. Cute.

And then, I also had the time to bike around Hampton Glen and by the beach while I was here (as penance, siguro, for all the fun I've been having and the food that I am eating).

It's hurricane season so the lenses were foggy at first but I manged to capture the sun before it went full blast on the heat. Would you believe that we were biking at 92°F? At 06:00am! Hahaha. Crazy! They also have this thing my Aunt calls "UFO rain" where the rain-sunshine-rain interval is within a mile each, so there would be parts of the highway with pouring rain and then dry parts and then pouring rain again. I would totally laugh about it except I am totally terrified by global warming so I wouldn't. :-O Afraid!

So there, that's about it for my Florida adventures. My aunts just left to board their 06:00AM flight to Pennsylvania. I'm currently waiting for my 07:37AM flight to Chicago. I hope I have as much fun in Chicago as I did in Florida. Tita Girlie and Tita Mousie are a hoot to be with and they give very good advice which I will find useful once vacation is over (Tita Girlie also has these wisdom and life coach quotes she dispenses at her own will so OHEMGEE, may kapantay na si Tita E!!! Hahaha!). They believe in me so much, I can only hope I make it. :)

Till my next update! Tata for now! :)

Part of that world

My aunt took me to Orlando (about two hours from where we stay) last week :) We stayed there for two days, one theme park everyday. Upon planning my trip here in Florida, I had mentioned that I wanted to go to the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It turns out that would be a horrible idea as crowds, both tourists and locals, flock to Islands of Adventure just to sneak a little peek. It would be best to just leave that part of Universal out of the itinerary and come back when the hype is over. The Potterhead in me agrees (because I did come here with a burning fervor to see Shamu, and no one else) :)

I really enjoyed eventhough I was not able to come inside Hogsmeade and the Hogwarts castle:) My love for virtual wastelands of all things cute will never end. As such, I will always be a Simpsons and I Love Lucy fan. Here are some of my photos:

I tried omitting pictures with me in it because you don't really need that. I did include, mainly for my pleasure, a few of the stranger shots I took during the day. And I do take stranger photos wherever I go, sometimes in a manner that is rather very conspicuous.

Yeah, I am creepy. And slightly jealous of carefree, confident girls here in America. Also, if you will notice, most of my stuff are in black and/or white. I'm sorry, I am a lazy dresser.

On day two, I got in touch with my inner Ariel and explored the wonders of the sea. I really like going to aquariums wherever I am, which you would know if you've known me for a long time now. I think Sea World was the highlight of my trip, pretty much. It is my own version of Disneyland. :)

Some of these pictures may have come up on Tumblr already but why the heck not make a double copy? Heehee. :) On our third day, we went on a foodie trip to find Ming's Bistro but when we got there, I got so overwhelmed by the dimsum that I forgot to take pictures. I fail (or rule, whichever) at life like that.

So there. Today we're going to an Antique store and then a nice dinner out, Southern style. Creole cooking and all the other good stuff! Fried everything! Including cheesecake! Hahaha!

An irrelevant post about docks and bays

One day, we went downtown to check out boat shows and people dancing..

There was a short wait in the park next to the dock for the ferry..

And a manatee sighting while we were at sea..

There was a little gathering around the town center...

We tried to soak in the happy hour fun but it was subdued...



And on the ferry ride back, the sky looked a really pretty blue :)