The Beauty of Solitude

Being alone and being lonely are two totally different things, I believe. One can choose to be alone, for personal matters, for example, but loneliness is a feeling that slowly creeps up on you, possibly without you even knowing it. Sure, sometimes, being alone can make you feel lonely, but even if you're in a crowd or with friends even, loneliness may keep you company. I myself have been in this position on more than one occasion, and you know, it really sucks.

But when you choose to be alone, it can turn your mood around. I've had my shares of alone times for myself: watching a movie, eating out, going shopping, even going to a concert! Some couple years ago I went by myself to see Katy Perry for the first time because I couldn't find anyone to go with. I never hesitated on going alone because I know I'd still have a great time because I'm seeing an artist that I love. And of course, I was right! I remember having such a huge smile on my face after the show even though my feet hurt so bad from standing for too long and jumping and dancing along to the music. It's still one of the best nights of my life. I always believed what they say, that happiness is a choice. And when you're alone, you can choose to enjoy it by doing things you love doing on your own or you can sulk in a corner feeling sorry for yourself.

Another perk of solitude is having time to think. For me, having a lot of time to think is a bad thing because I tend to overanalyze stuff. But I love having a moment to myself to just think things over, or clear my head, or simply appreciate everything in front of me, you know?

Talking about this reminds of something I read on Tumblr, which I'm sure you'll probably relate to more than all of my blabbering:

"I like being alone, but I hate the feeling of being lonely. When you’re alone, you have time for yourself. Your thoughts finally catch up to you. You set your mind on things and everything is just clearer. Nothing’s bothering you and everything just feels right for once. When you feel lonely, you feel as if no one’s there for you. It feels like no one understands you or is willing to listen. It feels like you’re screaming in a crowded room, yet not one person hears you." (Source)

What's your favorite milk tea?

I'm a late bloomer when it comes to food fads and I don't really know why. I guess I just don't like jumping onto the bandwagon too soon in general. Or maybe, I'm simply not used to trying new things. Anyway, with food crazes, I let things settle down just a bit and allow myself to look into other people's opinions. This way, I can gauge how I really feel about a certain craze. (Yes, I'm too over-analytical like that.) But when the time comes that it's my friends who come to me and recommend things, I usually cave in soon enough. 

When I finally tried the milk tea, there's no denying that I loved it, and I was sure that I'd go for more drinks. This was probably the time when people realized this isn't just a fad and that it's something that could be a staple for its kind of business, like fast food chains and coffee houses. Sure enough, milk tea places around the metro are still quickly growing in numbers.

I myself have tried more than a few different milk tea places as well as flavors:

1. BubbaTeaLicious Pearl Milk Tea Place is not much of a place than it is a push cart/stall. I think this was the first milk tea I tried in UST. I've only tried their Royal and Caramel Milk Tea, but I also tasted a couple of their fruit tea variants, Wild Berries and Mango Delight. I'd have to say BubbaTea isn't my go-to milk tea place, though, because they are kind of inconsistent with their flavors. At least, that's based on my experience upon having Royal Milk Tea at different branches. But it's one of the most accessible places for me since there's a branch in UST and also, at SM malls around the area.

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2. Golden Chopsticks is located at the 2nd flr. carpark in UST. Since I already graduated last March, I am hoping that they would have other branches soon so I don't have to go to UST everytime I crave for their milk tea. I love their Coffee Konjac (with coffee jelly) and Charcoal Collagen Milk Tea!

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3. Simple Line is another local milk tea place for UST students located in Dapitan St. I had a friend who has been a long time customer, way back when they were still called "Simple Life." I've tried their Caramel and Oolong flavors, which I both loved.

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4. Happy Lemon is one of  the milk tea brand imports that easily gained a cult following locally. I was happy to find out that they opened a branch in Trinoma since it was the closest to my area. I've only had the Cocoa with Rock Salt & Cheese the one time I was at Happy Lemon and it was really yummy! I preferred drinking it mixed. I'm looking to try their milk tea variants in the future.


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Friends on a Rainy Day

Left the house yesterday thinking, "Oh, it's gonna pour... Oh, I hope it doesn't pour hard!" I've never really been a rainy day person. Actually, I'm not that much of a sunny person as well, unless it's sunny AND windy. I'm more of the cloudy kind. Chill weather, I love that. Because all I ever associate with rain and too much sun is stress. Haha.

I went to Katipunan to meet up with my girlfriends and by the time I got off the LRT it was thundering hard. Thankfully, by the time we arrived at our stop for lunch, the rain has subdued. We decided to eat at Crazy Katsu in Maginhawa St. because I'd told them a bunch of times that I really wanted to try their katsu!

Photo from Crazy Katsu on Facebook

Photo from Spell Saab
(The rice is served separately)

We all tried their best-seller, which was Chicken Katsu, and it was really good! I liked that the sauce was tangy and just spicy enough for me. Just looking at the picture makes me want to run to the place and order some more katsu!

After having our fill of yummy food and good talk, we headed to Moonleaf for a milk tea fix. Then, more catching up about our lives and other milk tea places we've tried (more on this on another post!) ensued. By this time, the sky was cloudy and I was happy. :)

When in good company, a gloomy day can turn into one of the nicest days you've ever had.

Movies: 2012 Watchlist

I'm just gonna go ahead and start this entry by admitting I haven't yet seen "The Avengers." The last new movie I saw was "Battleship," which was a really good one so if you haven't seen it yourself, you should definitely go! Have I mentioned two awesomely hot guys namely Taylor Kitsch ("Friday Night Lights") and Alexander Skarsgard ("True Blood") star in the movie along with Rihanna (yes, this is her big film debut!)?

Anyway, aside from that big superhero movie, I'm also looking forward to see some other big films this year (including another a couple other superhero movies):

1. Dark Shadows. Why? Because it's Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, that's why. Plus, have you seen the trailer?





2. The Lucky One. I've read the book and it's one of my Nicholas Sparks favorites. Also, it's Zac Efron!!!