duh.

I've been making excuses.

and hiding the fact that this isnt really turning out the way I had thought it would.
I guess when one thing's going well, something else has to give.


Still, I have to try and snap out of this.

Socs and the City (was: getting back on track)

I've been idle (photo-wise) enough.

So I decided to step out last Saturday, since the weather is better than it has been...certainly friendlier to a tropical creature like me. The destination: Downtown Manhattan....WTC site, NY City Hall and the Brooklyn Bridge. I think my lack of photo activity in the past month shows in the photos...oh well. I will keep working on them. Like I always do. For now, I hope you guys like 'em :)

me at the WTC site

my vanilla cone on a not-really-that-warm spring day

my favorite Brooklyn Bridge pic, not a very unique take on an often photographed subject I know, but I like it still

in the subway (on 2 heading uptown)

To see my other photos, please visit my pbase gallery here.

my coachella almost-weekend

Got up early on a Saturday morning, I prepared myself for my trip West. I’ve researched the day before and found the shuttle to Newark, my alternative for airport commute. Train direct to the airport would have been easier and shorter, but an early flight means that NJ Transit wont be running in time for my flight (mental note: outbound trips from NY / NJ have to be from 9 am onwards).

I decided to go for the 330 AM PATH train to Manhattan, with connections to Subway’s L and E trains to end up at Port Authority, the shuttle pick-up point. Yes. 330 AM. Meaning I was up by 2 AM. An ungodly hour by anyone’s standards to wake up. It didn’t help that on the train, other commuters were either heading home from a Friday night out or from a late night shift at an all-hour place. I consoled myself that what I lack in night outs on the town, I am making up for with Cali trips and sufficient (sort of) sleep at night.

*

A little background information: I have a habit of giving myself ample time to get lost or become ½ of the TSF duo (read: Two Stupid Foreigners). Why? Because I’d rather be safe than sorry. Having said that, I’d go back to my story and state that I found the shuttle stop at 4 am. Bus arrives at 5 am. Better safe than sorry. Right? Right.

The upside to this is that it was probably in the higher 40s or 50s F tat morning, so I was amply warm. And the lights on 42nd Avenue were up and bright still. This is New York, after all. I would’ve taken a photo, but traveling light prevented me from bringing my tripod.

*

By 530 AM, I was in Newark. My flight leaves at 8 AM, and I had no checked-in luggage. Say it with me…Better safe than sorry.

To brace myself for the 4-hour flight to Denver with no food included in the ticket, I got myself coffee and took out my sandwich, wrapped and prepared at home which I brought with me to save up on cash. Yes, I thought that out too.

*
By now I’m sure I’ve established an impression of being a picky planner. Things have to be well thought out.

Not quite.

My California trip needed a lot of work. I would arrive in Ontario on a Saturday, at 1245 PM, and that is Day 1 of Coachella. My main reason for being there. I didn’t realize that Ontario was 60/70 miles from the venue and Pads would be driving that distance to pick me up. To top it off, Coachella was a 2-day event, and I’ve booked myself on a 630 PM flgith the following day, Day 2 of the event that lasts til midnight. Given the distance, and all other circumstances, how on earth will I:
a) attend both days of Coachella
b) watch Madonna who is scheduled on the evening of the second day
c) get to Ontario without causing Pads to miss the show
d) arrive on Monday morning in time for work

Well planned? I think not.

I considered changing my flight two weeks before to leave later, but rebooking still meant:
a) leaving later on Sunday, but not late enough to let Pads NOT miss the show
b) leaving on a Monday instead…but work issues are among the other things I have to consider
c) paying 300++ in fees

One option I explored was to leave Coachella earlier on Sunday via a taxi to the hotel, and then take an airport shuttle or taxi to Ontario from Palm Springs. This way, Pads wont miss the show. The catch? The shuttle will take me back a whopping 170++!!

The end result? Lets save that for later….

*

After traffic from Ontario, I found myself in Coachella. At last! My first band that day was Wolfmother, an Aussie group according to Pads. Not knowing what to expect, I kept an open mind as Pads and I snuck inside the tent through a side opening. And I was pleasantly surprised. Their music took me back to those HS days when I would lock myself up in my room playing rock music that can be heard all throughout the house. The guitars, the gut-wrenching music awakened an interest I’ve long ignored. This was not the type of group that turned me off from the band scene at all! This was music that grabs me. That, plus the sight of musicians and fans totally into the music made me ask why I became unfaithful in the first place. I was lost and in that Gobi tent, I was found. Sure, my height (or lack thereof) meant I only saw the bouncing heads of the band members every so often, or the end of electric guitar…but the bass and the music was enough to draw me back in. I did not need to see them…and at that moment, I muttered a heartfelt “Thank You” to a God who has given me gift of hearing.

*

Coachella Valley music festival has been drawing bands and crowds of people since 1999. I got myself a souvenir shirt after grabbing a very late lunch. The venue grounds were really Polo fields, I was told. And it was a sprawling venue. Ample parking, layout for 5 music stages and various themed tents, food booths, ‘beer gardens’ and a secured camping are for those who chose to camp out near the venue. I told myself that if I were to attend again next year and budget would be tight (as it probably will be), I would go for the camp grounds too. It has such a “Woodstock” appeal to it, that I just couldn’t ignore. Whether or not it would happen remains to be seen….

*

Common and Kanye West played on the Coachella stage late in the afternoon. I know I said I grew up listening to rock bands, but I also grew up with an inexplicable interest in dancing. And nothing was more conducive to dancing that Common and Kanye West. I bobbed my head and moved my hips to the beat and had an attack of missing-my-dancing-partner-Grache moment…

*

Pads and I broke off with our small group to see Imogen Heap in the Gobi tent. Prior to Coachella, my only exposure to her was a single song which I loved immensely. Watching (yes, I found a spot where I could see her from the shoulder up) and hearing her perform was and is indescribable. This was my most recent type of musical fascination…women artists like Tori Amos and Cynthia Alexander. I wont classify as I’m bad at that…I just know that her voice was and is haunting and her music equally so. I wanted to close my eyes and lose myself in the music. I could stand there with my eyes shut and listen, and I knew that if I did, I would feel as if I’m floating. I can’t explain it. That’s just how it made me feel.

*

By the time Damien Marley and Depeche Mode were playing, it was late and dark and people were more in the mood to dance and move about (although a whole lot more were sprawled on the grass…so we had to keep our eyes open lest we step on some people). The venue was surrounded by Palm trees lit up in various colors and several spotlights were pointing up above Coachella to almost meet at a point overhead. It created a pyramid-like roof above our heads and lying down on the grass, it was easy to think that we were almost always directly underneath the very center.

*

Daft Punk was the perfect wake-me-upper. By the time they played I was awake for almost 24 hours already and traveled from East coast to West coast. The beat and the mix made me wish I had glow sticks while dancing. It also made me wish I knew how to work them. But I danced anyway, a bit, not as much as I would if I were with Grache and the girls maybe, but dance I did. What really caught our attention however, was a couple dancing directly in front of us. They started out with suggestive dancing. Acceptable by ‘Western’ standards, I suppose. And then it got a little more than just dancing. They started kissing while dancing, and my eyebrow raised at that point, and I had a smirk-smile on my face then. Okay, sure, I guess that was to be expected on an evening event where music, dancing and possibly flirting and alcohol were involved. And then it went up several notches beyond that. What was dancing to the music became dancing to the beat of their own drum…a very primal drum beat it was too. The music was beyond Daft Punk. And their hands traveled way outside Coachella Valley…to somewhere where they were on their own I would think. This was Coachella, public event, hordes of people everywhere…and yet they traveled far to their own space. My raised eyebrow was joined by the other, and my eyes widened in disbelief. My mouth gaped open, mouthing OMG. My smirk-smile turned into an audible ‘get outta here and do that in private’. In Filipino of course, to my equally stunned Coachella-mates. And it went on for minutes. When they finally broke off, the guy realizes he lost his phone. Well, you get some, you lose some.

*

Sunday comes and it was time to face the dilemma. I decided to see what earlier flight or later flights I could take that wont cost me an arm and/or a leg in fees. I had a 9 PM option to LAX, and then continuing on with the same flight to Newark. Other than that, everything else was beyond my budget.

Next, I called up hotel reception to book a cab from the hotel to Ontario. All cabs were booked because of Coachella! A quick query confirmed that if a cab were available, it would indeed cost roughly 150++. Left with no other choice, I asked Pads if he could drive me to Ontario, way before my flight just so he could head to Coachella and enjoy the rest of the event. Pads, being such a wonderful pal that he really and truly is, agreed (Thanks Pads!). By noon, we were out of the hotel and driving to Ontario. I paid for gas, which was considerably less than taxi fare.

So in the end I miss out on Coachella Day 2 (but no tickets were wasted in the process, rest assured) and instead, I waited it out in the airport…waaay before my flight was due to board. At least I spent less for the commute to the airport and Pads got to enjoy the day (although he was still late for it because of me…) and well, work won’t suffer because I went away for the weekend….