Europe-bound.

I’ve been sitting on something big for a while now, mainly because I did not want to say anything until I knew without a doubt that it was going to happen. But now, it looks like it is totally happening – if a brand-new visa sticker on my passport and confirmed travel bookings are any indication, that is.

Friends, I’m going to Europe!!! Aaaaahhhhhhhh!!!

It all started when Chin said she’ll get me an invite to the International Film Festival in Rotterdam for the world premiere of Mondomanila. Before I knew it, I was buried in a flurry of paperwork, trying to get everything sorted out in time for the festival. And well, I did, and I didn’t. To make a long story short, I got my visa . . . but my validity dates were a bit later than everyone else’s, mainly because I was the only one who applied through the Dutch Consulate in Cebu. So right now, while Chin and the rest of the Philippine delegation are on their happy way to Amsterdam, I’m stuck here, waiting for the first of February to come (and missing the Mondomanila premiere in the process – bummer).

Anyway.

I will also be visiting my best friend Kaye and her husband Bram, and I get to crash in their place, Y-E-Y! And of course, how can I possibly go to Europe without side trips to Paris AND Rome??? Even the thought of having to sacrifice Venice and Florence couldn’t dampen my elation – there’s always next time, after all! I’m also hoping to get to Berlin in time for the Berlinale, too, where Pusong Wazak is premiering. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that my budget will allow it.

If I’m honest, I would say that the past few months have been a huge strain on me. Work, home, and pretty much life in general have all been kicking my ass at practically every turn, and well, it’s been hard. It was all I could do not to lose faith, not to shatter into a million unrecognizable fragments of myself. I really am not as frivolous as most people think, but if I can be frivolous just once in my entire life, this is it. I’ve worked long and hard enough for it, after all. I have made my sacrifices – too many of them, in fact – so how can I not deserve this?

I’ve been raised to recognize opportunities, and take them as they come. And if – for once – I make a couple of my dreams come true in the process, well, that’s just fan-fucking-tastic, isn’t it?

So expect a bevy of new posts and photos by the dozens. For sure, I’ll have truckloads of new stories to tell, and I’ll be snapping away like nobody’s business (though I’ll try to draw the line on decorative switch plate covers, tee hee).

This is definitely shaping up to be a very good year.

P.S. Pardon the bad photo quality. I took this with my phone because my camera’s memory card has gone a’missing!