street art.

Meaningful Action of the Day (MAD):
i love street art.
and i have mad respect for those who do it.
and for all those who make art into their living.
it's inspirational and part of me wishes i could do it myself.
not street art per se, but some sort of creative living!
i went over to bushwick earlier today to see my friend, brett, do his thang!

Realization Of the Day (ROD):
words do matter.
you may not think mentioning a random website can impact a person's life.
it can.
you may not think a hi and hello can change a person.
it can.
no matter how seemingly small you think your action is,
it has the power to shift and change people. and yourself!
when we see and realize what kind of impact we can make or have made,
it's a lovely gift and we are lucky to see those results.
most of the time, we never know.
so, i like to remind myself to keep on going and try to create ripples of smiles and laughter.

drag queen bingo!

Meaningful Action of the Day (MAD):

DRAG. QUEEN. BINGO.

nuff said.

And, after keeping mindful of my MAD (Meaningful Action of the Day)
I started coming up with epiphany after epiphany...yehahah
ok, well maybe not thaat grand, but I did come to realize some new things about me!
And now, we have the Realization Of the Day or ROD! yehahaha

Realization Of the Day (ROD):
I have a new pet peeve.
When strangers walk at the same pace as me and there is plenty of room not to,
please either walk ahead or behind.
And when I speed up, that doesn't mean you should too!

eating 2 lunches.

Meaningful Action of the Day (MAD):
i ate back to back today.
was it worth it? oh yes.
clinton st. baking company maine blueberry pancakes with maple butter is a dream come true.
best pancakes i have ever had in my life.

before this delightful treat i had a glorious burger from prune.
i feel like this burger is underrated.
i had my doubts because it came on an english muffin,
but it had me at first bite!

i just got laid off, now what?

I was laid off last week on Wednesday.

Day 0 - State of Shock
I had a feeling there was going to be lay offs, but I just didn't think I was going to be a part of it. Admittedly, I wasn't completely satisfied or fulfilled with my job, but it was good enough. I was getting paid well and I finally felt comfortable with what I was doing.
It was sad. It sucked. Yet, I was okay with it.

Day 1 - I am worried.
I was not worried that I wouldn't be able to find a job. I was worried about what I was going to do next.
I still need to weigh my options and I need some time to settle before I figure out what I am going to do next.
I do not want to make any rash decisions. So, I am going to soak in my emotions and see how the week plays out.

Day 2 - This is exciting!
Yay, I have options! Instead of seeing these options as a goliath of a decision, I'm taking it as time to explore! Trying to take this worry cloud and change it to excitement! See what I really want to do next and what makes me happy.
Being in my upper 20s, I don't want to just jump into anything. I am giving myself the freedom to relax and choose my next step. I feel so mature...yehahahah

I've decided that everyday til I find a job or am in my next move, I am going to post what I did that day that was meaningful.

Meaningful Action of the Day:
I finally visited my friend Mark's place in Brooklyn (whoop, Crown Heights!). He has lived there for a little over a year and I haven't seen it. I know, I know....BAD FRIEND! yehahaa
It's super cutesy with baby blue painting and great details off the Nostrand 3 stop.
Plus, I got to check out and eat at Gloria's. Oxtail with callaloo and mac&cheese on top of rice w/ beans...SOOOOOOOOOooOoOOooOO yummy!! Must visit again! Gloria's and Mark's that is!!! yehahahah

you got some seoul.

korea. korea. korea. how do i describe thee.

party. party. party.

yehahaha

5 words: food. party. drinks. spas. games.

Food 

Janet took the lead and ordered up the food for us.

We ordered a ton of fish and fresh seafood and feasted.

I will remember Korea for the cheap eats.

Food and drinks are so cheap.

It would cost $25 - $30 to be completely drunk and full! WHAT A STEAL!!!

Party

And we went out. We went out a lot.

We went out every night to the wee hours 

and partied the only way TTN knows how.

This was at Boys  Noize. Ahh yes, the cube!

This may have been the night of Polar Bear shots (SO GOOD), 

me wearing a cool bow, and making a grand entrance 

via cart. yehahahah

YES!

Drinks

Ok, maybe this order should be reversed.

We drink and we drank plenty.

Drinking is cheap out and about!

A bottle of soju is something ridiculous like $2

a bottle a 7/11. Don't mind if I do.

We mainly drank at bars. No need to pre-party.

That's me at the wine buffet.

Yes, I said it. Wine buffet.

Yippeee!

Spas

So, I don't have a photo of us at the spa.

Didn't want the camera to fog up.

Biking in Gyeongju.

They are wonderful and what a steal.

I think it was something like $15 for as long as our heart desired.

And they are clean and beautiful.

Yes, loved it.

We had one crazy night where we snuck into the hotel spa in Busan.

We snuck in through the stairs and used the spa in all it's glory.

To make a long story short, 

Janet and I got caught underneath the lounging chairs.

How did we fit, who knows?

Would I do it again? Absolutely.

That was us biking around in Gyeongju. It's so pretty there! Rent bikes and explore this cute town!!!!

The palaces, the history, oh so much to learn!

Of course, not everyone were as fabulous as Janet and I are on a bike, so everyone else went tandem. yehahaah. So much fun!!!! A lot of people go when the cherry blossoms are blooming. I saw a photo and it looks magical.

Games

I love carnival games. LOVE THEM.

And Korea loves them too. 

There are carnival games all over the place.

And we played. I wish the States had them 

everywhere you went.

Nothing like drinking and winning!

Culture and Tourism

We also spent a of time touring all the different neighborhoods.

Itaewon. Hyewa. Myeondong. Insadong. Hongdae. Gangnam.

And a bunch of other places. Luckily,  my friend, Janet, was living there 

and she speaks Korean. It made it a lot easier to get around. 

I didn't have to think much where I was, but was able to just follow the crowd.

We also made it to the DMZ. Learned a lot!

It's crazy to think about. To live next to  another country where you have to prepare in case of invasion.

It definitely opened my eyes.

It was my first time to spend an extended amount of time in a more developed Asian country. I was in Taiwan, but only for a day.

Hoping Japan is in the near horizon!

no big deal.just a quarter life crisis.

Manu, Amazon, Peru

When I think about a moment when I was happy and I mean truly truly happy...I always thinks back to a moment when I was at the beach, diving, hiking, on a river, or anywhere in nature really. It's a time when I thought of nothing. Where nothing could bother me and nothing ever did bother me. I appreciated it for what it was. I thought of nothing else, but what was in front of me. I saw what only was that. And that was that.

And now, I have a 9 - 5 job. What I look forward to are the weekends when I could just sleep, rest, and hang out. Why? Shouldn't life be more than just weekends and bottled experiences?

Life is constantly around me, but I do not see it for what it is.

This is not to say that a 9 - 5 job is the sole reason for my discontent. It's really any piece of my life where I do not accept things for what they are.

I love traveling, but even then there were moments where I wanted to use my brain more and establish some sort of routine.

So, what to do? What to do? I feel like it's a big conundrum. Can someone just solve this for me?

yehahaha. 2013 here I come. I am creating my To Do List. My Goals. My Passion Projects. And doing things that make me happy and comprise each piece of me.

Yippeee!

the daily grind

That's right folks. I am in New York.

I made the move from the beaches of California to the rivers of Manhattan in July 2011.

I've lived here for a year and a half. Yet, it feels like I just got here last week.

I've survived 2 abnormal hurricanes that hit Manhattan. Roamed the streets of New York unemployed. Worked at a non-profit and I am now at a start up.