Bottled Sky

Last June my friends and I went on a trip to Cebu, where we jumped off waterfalls and took naps on the beach. The post-vacation high somehow managed to seduce my web design muse out of wherever the hell she’d been hiding for the past year.

When I got back to Singapore, I started working on a remake of the summer-inspired layout that I created back in 2006. (Translation: I was too lazy and not quite inspired enough to start from scratch.) Unfortunately real work got in the way and sent my muse packing. I never got around to finishing the layout.

Well, not until now! You see, I went on another trip recently, this time to Batam, Indonesia with two of my fellow slaves colleagues. We went cable skiing, gorged on surprisingly fantastic pizza, tanned poolside, and spent hours being massaged into blissful, boneless relaxation. The trip gave me just the right amount of juice to finish what I started months ago.

I’m kind of in love with it, if I may be so immodest. I found a few bugs just now that would have normally sent my anal side on a rampage, but I’m just so happy that I don’t even mind. Take that, obsessive-compulsive tendencies! Let me know, if the layout isn’t working right on your end, though. I’m not too far gone to not care about that.

Continue reading Summer Makes a Comeback »

I recently took a much-needed break from work to go on a short trip to Cebu with some old friends. Let me tell you, it did my soul good. When I got back to Singapore, at least five different people told me I was glowing. Here are some highlights from our vacation:

We threw ourselves off a bunch of waterfalls. Calling all thrill seekers! If you ever visit Cebu, you have to go canyoning at Montaneza Falls. You probably can’t tell, but that’s me throwing a peace sign while rappelling down a 100-foot waterfall. Pardon my French, but it felt fucking fantastic.

Continue reading Vacations Are Good for the Soul »

If you have hundreds of vacation photos sitting in your hard drive and want to make better use of them, try turning them into cartoon postcards! It’s quite simple to do if you have some basic drawing and Photoshop skills.

In my aunt’s case, she had a niece with a lot of free time. Below are three of eight postcards that I made for her a few years ago (she needed them for a personal project). Click on the thumbnails for a bigger view.

I used photos from her trip to China, choosing those of her standing in front of different tourists spots with very few other people in the background. Those are the best types of photos for this kind of project.

Here’s a rundown of how you can make unique postcards out of your travel photos. One caveat: This is definitely not a tutorial. It’s more of a detailed idea for you to play around with.

Continue reading Personalized Cartoon Postcards »

I suck at blogging. I wrote only one entry last month, and I failed to mention that I moved to another country last week. To quote my friend Chrissa in her latest e-mail:

I’m surprised you haven’t broadcast to the world that you’re already in Singapore! I mean, it’s a freakin’ change of permanent residency!

Bad, Nikki! In my defense, I had every intention of posting a pre-flight entry last weekend, but as they say, the best intentions are fraught with frenzied last-minute packing

So how have I been? I won’t say I’m homesick, but I do miss many of the people and things I left behind. I miss my occasionally grumpy dad, my crazy friends and my hyperactive dogs. I miss watching TV with my aunt Cecile. I miss hanging out with my aunt Irene and her 500 cats. I miss having inane, three-hour-long phone conversations with Chrissa. I miss eating my mom’s pasta.

But that’s to be expected. I have a great life back home; of course I miss it! All things considered, however, I think I’ve been adjusting very well. In fact I’ve already found several things to love about this country. Public transportation is a dream here compared to the dingy buses and annoying jeepneys of the Philippines. I can walk to the supermarket at midnight without fear of being mugged. And have I mentioned how insanely clean Singapore is? It’s so clean that there’s only one brand of alcohol-based hand sanitizer available, and it’s thrice as expensive as any of the many brands sold in the Philippines.

I have a feeling that the longer I stay the more I’ll appreciate this country. Now if only I can get my family and friends to all move here, too…

I’ve had bad luck with summer outings before. For the longest time it seemed like I was doomed to never set foot on a sunny beach again, but last weekend the weather gods finally decided to cut me some slack and gave me two full days of fun in the sun.

I traveled to Puerto Galera, a popular beach destination in the Philippines, with seven of my college friends. It was easily the best vacation I’ve been on in quite a while. The synopsis: We lounged on the beach, swam in the clear sea, got drunk on bonded over a pitcher of Mindoro Sling, hiked through a mountain, took a dip in a waterfall, and went parasailing! If you want the whole tale and the boat load of pictures that come with it, keep reading

Continue reading Beach Trip: Now with Real Sun! »