nueva nueva york

dinner and drinks at asia de cuba

what?!?!? its now october 7th? which only means its been a month now since ive been back from that trip to peru. wow, i guess i sure have been slacking with this bloggin thing. needless to say the readjustment back here has gone quite smoothly and quite eventful (hence the disregard for bloggin). the trip had somehow lit a fire somewhere coz the way ive been viewing and living the city sure has been with a bit more gusto. bueno, lets get this entry going.

party hearties

celebrating stacy's bday

there's certainly been quite a bit more socializing and parties since the return. some of us from work got treated to dinner and drinks by the production house we always use. they brought us to asia de cuba at the morgan's hotel, to enjoy the tons of asian/cuban dishes and glasses of wine and cocktails.

hookah bar

have been going out quite a bit more as well with officemates. one night saw us celebrating a colleagues' birthday at a moroccan place in the lower east side which ended up at a bar nearby, and then to a hookah bar. all the food, smoking and liquor messed up the throat and system a bit so the long midnight walk home over the williamsburg bridge was certainly quite a treat.

ateneans in NYC

another night saw me going out with some other filipinos, mostly from the university in manila. though im one who usually shies away from the usual chinatown mentality of "stickin with yer own" parties, it was quite good seeing everyone again for a change. and of course being able to speak and use the native language was quite ayos as well. bwakanangtaglish, ang sagwa ng tunog! ha...

workity-work

pitch ad

on the day that i got back from peru, i actually went to work in the afternoon. sounds crazy obviously but it was more of a personal choice coz we were in the middle of a pitch then and i obviously wanted some piece of the action. was happy to see that of the 3 concepts we were showing, one of them was mine (and the great part of it was that it had barely changed from how i presented it before the trip). feels good knowin that my creative contribution's valued in the agency. (here's a secret: just might be moving up again this coming january but shhhh).

driven from work

good news too was that a week and a half back, i was part of the judging committee at the global awards of the new york festivals. it was a great opportunity to see the work of other agencies and also of other countries. unfortunately, i realize there's tons of crap out there but thank god some good inspired stuff as well. it was quite a nice pat on the back as well being in the midst of other judges who were several years and titles ahead of me.

hey that's me

next up on the "work meets fun" series is me running the advertising workshop next saturday at the art directors club. apparently i did quite a "good job" the past seasons (their words, not mine), so ive been reinvited again to run it. planning to run the same slide and 99cents store show with a few modifications here and there to hopefully make it even better. either way, it should be fun.

on with the exploring & learning

chili pepper fiesta

peru and machu picchu, where its but natural for me to be in a constant state of awe, may be miles away. but thankfully, the sense of wonder and adventure has somewhat stayed. of course it takes a bit more effort here where i've lived for the past 5+ years but it sure is possible. a sunday bike ride to the brooklyn botanical garden brought me to a chili fiesta. the food could have been better but the live performances and documentary i saw were great treats.

helvetica film

movies have also been a great way of being taken to a different world. as usual, my focus has been mostly on the foreign or documentary type. since ive been back, ive seen: helvetica, eastern promises, my kid could paint that, cama adentro, and 2 days in paris. of course, i have yet to overcome the bad habit of mine of taking 5 minute naps in the middle of movies, but even without those 5 minutes i must say all those films are quite good.

a good read

and though im probably one of the world's slowest and most impatient readers, ive managed to finish karim rashid's book, design your self. so ok, it's not really a tough read with all the quick bulletpoints and large type, it's a good resource nevertheless. right now, am in the middle of the power of now. it's a tougher read what with all the new-agey stuff but at least it somehow reminds me of all the philosophy and theology i took back in college. you gotta be kiddin me. oh and ya, ive managed to turn myself into a vegetarian for the month of october. does that make me officially crazy? i figure with all the church's chicken crap ive been stuffing myself after peru, i gotta eat clean at some point and october happened to conveniently start on a monday (although of course, pizza and ice cream are still part of what i eat—thankfully though, im averaging 2.5 bike-to-work days a week and im also doing 2 spinning classes a week).

---

chocolate truffles

one of the more memorable treats over the past month were these truffles from a nearby pastry shop—2 of them to be exact. it's not that they were particurly great great chocolate truffles, really. it was just that the storekeeper gave them to me for free after a nice quick chat. it was a nice little treat to be reminded that peru sure has no monopoly of good people and small memorable experiences here and there. somehow, the truffles reminded me of how new york is new again.