#ProjectNostalgia

[ejamesquijano]

LET’S GET OUT SOMEWHERE FAR THIS TIME In search of kindness, purity, and serene happiness

There is this one question that always stuck with me ever since I have read it somewhere: When was the last time you did something for the first time? Such a simple sentence yet the weight of it lingers in me thereafter. Today though, I’ll have an answer to that question, this is also a simple one but certainly one for the books of this dear existence too — Another first time to ever happen in my life was that I lived in a different country for a month.

And it really warms my heart to meet you again, Taiwan.

Since I tell the stories of my life in here and if you’ve been reading them, you would know that I did have a rough start this year and it was just recently that I am slowly bringing myself up from the chaos. But in the middle of 2024, I was offered an opportunity to work overseas and I seized it immediately. I can say now that it was one of the best decisions I have made this year because I never thought that this work trip would save me in more ways than one. I was working, yes, but for lots of reasons this felt like some sort of an escapade.

The Supercut:

Quick stop at Geo’s. Morning rush. Sunny flight. Hello again Taipei. Meeting the Taiwanese team. Stayed at Taoyuan. Life in Aspire Inn. Rm 3107. Ah Mu Ping adventures. Ximen Reservoir. Sesame Hotel’s grandeur. 13 shooting days. 2am Walk. Quick visit at Dihua St. Reverse Shoot calls. Nightly pagpags. Rainy afternoons. 7 Eleven nights. Google Translate. Night out at a Breeze rooftop bar. Midnight snacks at Mcdonald’s. An afternoon photowalk in Taoyuan. Digicam Memories. Fun times with actors and crew. Learning Taiwanese phrases. Appreciating new-found Taiwanese friends in the same field. 2 days in Taipei. Night biking at Chiang Kai-shek Park. Dinner x Booze night with Art Department. One bottle at Revolver. Visited Eslite Bookstore. Golden hour walks at Chiang Kai-shek Park. Foodtrip at Raohe Night Market. Booze night with Camera Department at Jellyfish Bistro and Bar. Picture wrap at Sesame. Afternoon road trip to Taipei. Quick photowalk x biking at Ximending. Visited The Red House x DVD Shop. Passed by Fong Da Coffee. Explored the roads around Ximending. Wrap Party at a KTV room in Partyworld. Sing-along featuring Meteor Garden OST. Bought treats x Xing Fu Tang milk tea at Ximending before calling it a night. Packing my stuff at dawn. 6am ride to the airport. Feeling everything at this point. Lim Giong’s 單純的人 in my playlist. Airport things. Afternoon Manila touchdown. KFC for lunch. Another stop at Geo’s before my bus ride home.

Sometimes my life seems like a blur when I am working, but as I write this and reminisce, I can actually say that I was so fucking happy. This second visit to Taiwan was an escapade indeed, and now it seems like I am coming back to reality. Well, it just feels surreal living somewhere far for a month and doing the job that I love which is making a film. What an experience, truly. And it felt really bittersweet to think that every great thing always ends in goodbyes. But I am happy, I won’t dwell in the blues today ‘cause this memory will always bring me indescribable delight.

That’s a wrap Taiwan. You will always have a special corner in my heart, so I’ll see you again someday.

*** 35mm Kodak Gold 200 June, 2024

[elilune]

Life is getting a bit boring lately.

[romanlane-blog1]

Project Nostalgia. #louisville #kentucky #selfie #portrait #photography #photographer #photooftheday #instagood #instadaily #502 #incognito #a7s #carlzeiss #zeiss #projectnostalgia #romanlane #romanlanevisual #rezint

[lettersandkisses]

3/365

I tried water color painting today and I'm still no good; there's no harm in trying they say.

[andiheardameowinthenight]

Si Boy-Ambing #projectnostalgia #onesketchaday #instaart #art #graphiteonpaper

[otravida-otravez]

Cassiopeia

Opposite of the big dipper rests Cassiopeia. You drew a line, pointed out five distinct stars forming what I could only understand as an empty chair. She was the most beautiful queen. Sometimes I enjoy the astronomy lessons with you.I enjoy its ironies. How beauty became as unintelligible as constellations and as I look up to its invisible vanity, it leads me to your own bodily constellations. I have mapped out my own star points on your outstretched body laid down on the space of our bed, sheets like the night sky. There are five moles from your neck down to your chest and I lick through its invisible trail. You are the most beautiful of all my constellations.

  That is an empty chair. It was the saddest group of stars I saw tonight. Maybe that is the end of all beauty,burning so bright falling into the consumption of the self. Like a black hole, like a super nova and I wouldn't know all these things without your astronomy. Probably, like you.

  Cassiopeia was consumed by her own beauty that one day she decided to leave, solitude is the best vanity. We appreciate ourselves more, alone. I grow tired of the stars, of all your lessons coming down, like meteor showers beautiful and tragic at the same time. The bed lays empty, sheets dark, your stars no longer there, you left with all your beauty I once admired and wished upon, like all falling stars.

  Your constellation was the only memory left, an empty chair.

  -the Inspiration for this piece came from projectnostalgia's "Aldebaran, Crux, Canis Major" http://projectnostalgia.tumblr.com/post/53085347398/aldebaran-crux-canis-major

[theociffer]

This is for that 'friend' of mine that's going thru a tough time. Just saying I understand.

[ejamesquijano]

I ACCEPT CHAOS ‘Cause I know I will win in the end

Pt. I I’ve always dreamt of having a black cat, and LVNA you were a dream come true. Thus, one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life was when I adopted you. It was a great 3 and a half years ever since, my little boi, and you will always be a part of me. I will forever think of you and thank you for saving me during, perhaps, the lowest point of my existence back in 2020; you came into my life when I needed you the most and with that, I am so so grateful for those years that we’re together. I love you so much. I love you forever.  After all, it was a good life and a good fight with you, LVNA. You’ve been a very brave boi. So run free, my love — up in the rainbow bridge to heaven where there is no more pain. We’ll see each other again someday, that I promise you.

Pt. II Amidst every financial, mental, and emotional mess I have been dealing with at the moment, another bullet to the heart has been made: I am a candidate for retrenchment at my day-job and I cannot put it into words anymore. Every punchline was being thrown at my face and I just have to be strong again today.

Pt. III I have lost so much when I started this year. What a cruel January. I miss my cat every day. I was at my wits’ end when I ended this month. I am so confused right now. I am a candle in the wind. And the only saving grace maybe were the times when I escape and try to still see the beauty in little things. God, I want my fire back, I want to break free. I am at that age wherein all I ever want is peace and calm, but somehow chaos always finds its way to me. But I am built different, I believe. I would feel every single sting of pain, walk through fire, might end up half my weight, but I will stand still in the end — because every fucking chaos in my life right now shall pass.

*** 35mm Fujifilm C200 January, 2024

[elilune]

CINEMALAYA: BREAK THE SURFACE 08.11.16 Day 2

[lettersandkisses]

Last Four Days Before '15

1. 28th December: I re-invented this 5-year old metallic voodoo doll that I got when I was in Senior High. I remembered how I forced a classmate of mine to give me this project from our art class. Ha!

2. 29th December: A special person in my life riht now gave me this a holiday gift, and you have no idea how much I love this so much.

3. 30th December: I am loving my wall right now, but will still fill this more in the coming year with art.

4. 31st December: I bought this planner over a couple of weeks ago but it was just now that I got the chance to plot my 2015 schedules.

I am freaking excited for the new year.

[andiheardameowinthenight]

Si Yoki Man Ni nanginsik man. hehe #projectnostalgia #onesketchaday #instaart #art #draw

[cherrylisraindrops-blog]

I have so may things to tell, so many realizations to process, and quotable lines to hold and make fun with from meeting my Bs, but I am saving it all for a proper blog entry. On the other hand, I just can't hold up on sharing this photo. I miss them. 

[ejamesquijano]

THE SUN IS OUT And so am I

Around 2017, a dear friend of mine once told me this: That he thinks I am the kind of person who will still have a little percentage of sadness in me no matter how happy the situations I am in. I was a bit stunned by that statement but I cannot blame him because I think he was right. 7 years later and here I am, still dealing with so much internal bleedings and wars both within and outside my mind. But growing up and growing old, I am proud to say that perhaps something had shifted — today I think it’s the other way around, I really believe that even though I am amidst the pandemonium of my life, I think I still have even the slightest bits of warmth in me, a never-ending fire as I have told before, and it’s still on no matter how small, no matter how cold the night could get.

March was a huge aid in surviving these silent battles, somehow the universe offered so much comfort and I was taking it all in because I deserved it. Firstly, I had my very first shoot of the year – a music video of the band, Lola Amour, and it was so much fun to do. Second, I am really grateful to say that I still get to keep my day job because I fought for it, my department head fought for me too and that was greatly appreciated also. On days when the schedule wasn’t as tight, I still bike around my hometown to feel life, take photographs, and just seize the moments while I’m this young. Third, I also love how I get to meet a lot of my friend circles this month, they are really one of my lifelines to be honest. I also like to thank Wence, the love of my life, for we’re always so happy together creating little paradise in my bedroom every single time he visits. Nothing more, nothing less, I am just really fucking grateful for everything. Happy that slowly, the winter of my life is fleeting and today I am welcoming the summer’s sun.

*** 35mm Fujifilm C200 March, 2024

[elilune]

CINEMALAYA: BREAK THE SURFACE 08.07.16 Day 1

[lettersandkisses]

X.

I have always wanted to visit that place.

But like most of the places in the city, I am a stranger. I wanted to make myself known to them, and little by little, these places seem to like me, need me, caress me. I am in a love and hate relationship with the city I'm in, but that place was an escape. Underneath the polluted oxygen I breathe, there comes a paradise. Not so filled with angles, but filled with deadly halo's and wings that can make you high.

Way back August 2014, I met you.

I guess I need to back in this place soon so that I can tell more stories on how I loved this place. A breather from the high monsters and shining knives of the urban.

[andiheardameowinthenight]

Missing home already! So I'm starting this new project: #projectnostalgia - sketches of my beloved #onesketchaday #graphiteonpaper