Post-nup pictorial

October 1, 2011 | beautyqueenfromars

by Mark Cantalejo Photography

post-processing by myself and Kid Soltis

post-processing by Kid Soltis

Reception at the beach.

October 1, 2011 | beautyqueenfromars

It was a far cry from our original plans, but without the need for rhyme or reason, it was more than perfect in the end.

my adorable little bride, Krishamor

Our wedding cake with my design.

Our endless thanks to my colleagues, David and Denise for singing at my wedding. Also to ninong Jefferson Brana for attending to my wedding.

With a special number from Arra Arricivita.

My acoustic band who played romantic songs all night. They were simply superb.

The happy ever after

October 1, 2011 | beautyqueenfromars

Date: May 21, 2011

I will let the photos do the talking. Thank you to our dear families and friends for making this event very special.

Land of the Hippies.

October 1, 2011 | beautyqueenfromars

Date: September 9, 2011

My idea of a great travel is always the one unplanned where I just need to sit back and relax and enjoy the spontaneity of the moment. There would be no time pressure of where I needed to go and I would have no damn notes to follow of what to accomplish for the day. My last visit to Los Angeles was one of such. I did not have any plans for two days. When Anacio invited me out, I thought it might be better than just to stay put in the hotel.

Starting my day right with:

A big, fat dinner.

and shopping! A new watch for mommy and new pair for bad-ass kicks for baby.

The day after.

Alana’s driver’s license was used to get a car though it was Anacio who took the wheel. Men are always better with directions so even if we were sorry for him for driving the whole day, he had to. Besides, I love being in the passenger’s seat. I could take a nap whenever i want and I could enjoy thinking about a thousand things in my mind while watching trees and houses pass by in a blur. So go ahead, boy. Drive! 🙂

The weather outside was really lovely. Quite warm for a BER month. I had my cardigan on but it proved to be a hassle later on. Alana and I had our bikinis under our clothes because we were heading to the beach while Anacio brought along his longboard.

Anacio and Alana figuring out the GPS.

A skaterboy rolling his wheels along Mindanao Way.

I also saw Palawan Way.

We finally arrived in Venice Beach around 40 minutes later. It was a wonderful way to start any day. I was in hippies heaven. This was this whole avenue of restaurants and stores selling cool stuff from souvenirs, skateboards, beach outfits and “medicinal” marijuana. There were some hawkers laying their wares on the sidewalk like dream catchers, herbal incense and many other stuff that were too weird to identify.

For me, palm trees represents California as much as Hollywood does

We had a quick breakfast at a Mexican restaurant with a group of people smoking weed across the road, only ten meters aways from us. A girl in a bicycle passed by wearing only string bikinis.

Adult-themed products were in abundance.

One of the many stores selling marijuana.

photo grabbed from brisbanetimes.com.au

Perhaps the main attraction were the homeless people with lots of sense of humor. Here are some photos from the web.

photo grabbed from oxyweekly.com

Other homeless pickup lines include:

I wanna be a pornstar. Need money for penis enlargement.

I need money to reduce penis size.

Pay advice: 1$

I need$$$ to buy beer to get wife drunk so I can get laid.

There was one homeless who got “Feed me. I’m homeless” on one side of his cardboard when the cops were doing rounds and “Need pot?” on the other when the cops had left.

A building with petrified wolves guarding from the outside.

My favorite painting on a building facade: Van Goh's Starry Night.

The Muscle Gym, where Arnold Schwarzenegger was spotted.

I would love to have a balcony overlooking the beach someday.

These tiny side streets added intimacy to this laid-back neighborhood.

The most important part--the BEACH!

Few brave souls paddled farther into the water to wait for the right swells. One wrong assumption could mean being pushed back to the shore by a useless wave and would need to swim back against the current for 100 meters.