Peace Cafe

This past Wednesday, my friend "Will" and I went to Peace Cafe. Peace Cafe is located in the Moiliili district in Honolulu. When we stepped into the cafe, I felt like we weren't in Hawaii anymore! The atmosphere was like a warm cabin, the accessories and furniture where wooden and earthy, and the vibe was cozy with the aroma of vegan homemade food. 

Will throwing up his peace sign. Will is my good friend, I know from cosmetics. The clip photography background is so cute!

Will ordered the Cilantro Hummus Sandwich. Which is made with cilantro chickpea hummus, lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, sprouts, and homemade aioli spread. He let me try his sandwich, it taste amazing. He was saying how the texture was like chicken salad, except there was no meat! He also got a Soy Latte.

I ordered the Moroccan Stew, which is made of chickpea stew with brown rice. I love how the meal  had a light spicy kick to it, topped with veggies, a tasty and healthy combo.

For dessert we had ice cream. Will chose the Candied Nuts flavor. And I had the Avocado flavor. The ice cream taste so good, and whats amazing about it is that its homemade and made from all organic ingredients!

My friend/assistant manager "Keito"(her jewelry line is sold there) has been encouraging me to try Peace Cafe. She told me so many good things about their food, and told me I would love it. She is so right, I love it so much that earlier this afternoon I met up with her and our manager to eat there again. Indulging at Peace Cafe promotes healthiness and positive vibes. This is definitely one of my new favorite spots I will be going to all the time.

p.s.: Shout out to the waiter who served me and Will, her name is "Jasmine." She is very pretty, sweet, and is interested in my blog. Thank you so much honey!

burning my passion pineapple incense in my clay lotus holder while peace fills the air,
Deanna

M.I.A.

Last Thursday, my friend "Lisa", and I went to Fresh Cafe to attend the monthly event "Art and Flea." When we arrived, Lisa asked the waitress if the art and flea was that day. The waitress told her that its actually next week, and that night there was going to be a writing prompt session. I was so excited, and told Lisa we should stay and attend. As we ate and caught up in the cafe, it was already a little past the starting time for the writing session. We looked around the cafe, but didn't see anyone who was looking for it too.

I got up and asked the waitress where it was, she said they already started in the stage room. I rushed back to Lisa and told her we need to go to the back. As we walked in late, the group welcomed us, and shared a group mad lib poem that they finished. The theme of the writing prompt that followed after was "feelings".

One of our writing prompts was inspired from an inspirational talk led by "Craig Santos Perez", who is a creative writing teacher at UH Manoa. He shared with us how he is from the island of Guam. He also shared how he felt when he re-visited the outside of his old home that he grew up in, on his home island. He then asked up to close our eyes for a couple minutes, and think back to the house we individually grew up in, and let our mind flow as we go through the house.

The writing prompt that followed after, was to express all the senses that came to mind as we went through the house. He then asked us to choose one thing from the experience to make another free write inspired poem to. We did that a couple times, breaking it down to create different angles of poetry. 

Another writing prompt was inspired by two of our classmates, who paired up to do free style acting scenes. They were so hilarious, very natural, and talented.

We ended the writing workshop with an open mic, where we got to share any of the writing prompts. Everyone's pieces was so beautiful, unique, and abstract. After the session, I introduced myself to the founder/coordinator of M.I.A, "Jaimie Gusman". I thanked her for having us and expressed to her how much fun we had. I asked her what M.I.A. meant, she said "Mixing Innovative Arts". She was so sweet and invited us to the next event for next month. 

After the writing session, Lisa said sorry, and admitted that she knew that the whole time that they started in the back but didn't say anything, for fear of her writers block. But when I checked and found it, she tried to act shock lol. In the end she was glad that we stayed. I told her that it was meant for us to be there even though we were moded about Art and Flea, this experience inspired us to grow as writers/poets.

pretty painting on display, I love how it goes off the center

  

pen ink flows in my owl dreamer notebook,

Deanna

Something New/Hau Tree Lanai

These past couple months, I have been learning to do things by myself. Usually I am occupied by my friends, when I go places. These days, everyones schedule is busy, and sometimes doesn't match. So when I do get time off from my busy schedule, I take advantage of the time to go places, get things done, and try something new.

I know some people who are scared to be alone, and always have to have someone with them at all times. Some people are like this, because they are so used to having company, which is understandable. If only they took a chance to step out of their comfort zone to break away from that habit, then they can experience the good feeling of not having to be dependent on or follow anyone else. By trying new things, life is more exciting, adventurous, and you develop personal growth.

Some things I tried/will try by myself for the first time:

-Eating at a nice restaurant (Hau Tree Lanai) for brunch (last Thursday)
-going to the movie theatres to watch Friends with Benefits (yesterday)
-attending a writing workshop (this upcoming Wednesday)

Payday recently came, so I decided to treat myself out to a nice restaurant called "Hau Tree Lanai." The Hau Tree Lanai is located in The New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel. For brunch I ordered the breakfast special "Egg Benedict Kaimana". Which consists of turkey, Canadian bacon, poached eggs on grilled muffins, topped with Hollandaise sauce, and served with breakfast potatoes. The dish was delicious. Overall the restaurant was really lovely, good service, and fulfilling food.

  A large Hau Tree stands in the restaurant with the background of the beachfront. (you can't see it in this photo, but where the glow under the tree is, is the view of the ocean, sorry about the lighting!)

always looking for something new to try,
Deanna

Reorganize Your Life

A couple weeks ago, my sister and mom came to visit. They stayed with me at my studio. As my sister and mom walked in they started laughing. I told them, that my studio is my zen space. They both laughed and said "yeah, ghetto zen." So, to make my room over, my mom took my sister and I to Target. She bought so much stuff that the taxi driver and everyone was asking if it's the first time I'm moving here lol.

 Before:

After:

My good friend, Angelina, made me the beautiful, flower art above my bed. She used card board and oil pastels.

Its important to have a laundry basket! So your clothes aren't all over the place!

fact: it's important to keep your room clean in Hawaii, or else the roaches will come and parade all over the place a.k.a Roachville! LOL

As you can see, my favorite color is turquoise. The symbolism for turquoise is "to heighten creativity". This is why I love Kailua so much, the water is all turquoise.

My mom said I chose too much turquoise, to compliment the color, she mixed earth tone accessories with it.

The cute cubicals, are not only chairs/decoration, they are also used as storage when you lift the lid.

My mini lounge...

my mini office...

Vacuum is a must, to suck out all the dust bunnies and hair!

My sister and mom built and put together the closet, desk, and wooden/canvas cubicals. 

Its important to have drawers, to keep all your files/documents/crafts in order.

She also bought me a new curtain. (I sometimes dye my friends hair, and the dye got all over the old one) This time she bought two, black on the inside and turquoise on the outside. So that when I play salon again, I don't have to worry about stains, instead it will camouflauge. 

She also bought me this basket to put all my necessities in, so that everything isn't scattered all over the place. Its stylish, convenient, and easy for my guest to help them selves too.

      The built in storage mirror, that came with the studio, keeps products cool.

I love Targets brand "Method", dishwasher soap and hand soap. It's cheap, biodegradable, and the bottle shapes are stylish.

The hooks that came with it also, I hang some of my long necklaces here, so they don't get tangled up, prevent the jewelry from rusting fast, and for wall decor.

Back home, my mom re-modeled and designed the whole house. She is very creative(she's like an under cover architect/constructor, who never went to school for it). The latest project she did to our home (back in San Francisco) is amazing. She tore down the wall that divided our living room and kitchen lol. She also designed our new, renovated, modern kitchen. Since the wall isn't in between anymore, we can see the view of the Bay Bridge as we cook and eat in the kitchen. She is so artistic (I get my creativity from her), she's not scared to try new things, loves to travel the world(we always go on family trips, her theory is to try to see most of the World before we die), she inspires me so much.

For the past two years (thats how long I have been living in Hawaii), I have lived in two places so far. And in my past and current location, I kept moving my bed/furniture around, hanging stuff up, pulling it down, over and over again. I was never satisfied, no matter how much I changes things around, I never felt like I was at home for some reason. After my mom and sister re-modeled my studio, only then did I feel like I was at home. Because my mom designed it, the style is very modern(ikea), and it looks like a mini version of my turquoise room back in San Francisco. I have my mom and sister to thank, I love them both so much.

My mom knows how much I love my busy, on the go lifestyle. She told me that in order to be productive, I must maintain it by cleaning and organizing my life.

throwing out the dirt to make space for the new,
Deanna

Burlesque

Lately, everyone has been telling me that they watched the "Burlesque" movie, and they think of me lol. Back in February/March, I took a Jazz Burlesque class at the Art at Marks Garage taught by Ke'ala (hosted by the Cherry Blossom Cabaret). The CBC dolls are the pussycat dolls of the island. They are well known throughout Chinatown, and are known to put on amazing shows at the hottest venues. 

When some people aren't familiar with and think of Burlesque, they automatically assume that they are only strippers. They are wrong, Burlesque is the art of tease. There are many forms of Burlesque, besides comedy striptease(they don't fully strip, only down to their g-strings and pasties), they showcase a variety of  artistic talents such as: Aerial, Jazz, chair dancing, singing, acting, poetry, and more.

Here is the link to the completed Jazz Burlesque routine(choreographed by Ke'ala Fung), "Show Me How to Burlesque" by Christina Aguilara: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJU-YQBhIqE In this video: me, Ke'ala, Lolli, and Stacey. 

Back in April, my pin-up doll, Lolli(Burlesque classmate) and I attended the CBC play "Varie Tease Carnal Carnival". We went to support our mentors and the ladies. The show was beautiful,sexy, and inspiring! 

Here is a photo of us after the show: Lolli, Shelly, Ke'ala, and I 

Also back in April, I performed a poem at a Hip-hop/Jazz joint called "Jazzminds". The short poem is called "The Beat." Which was about my Jazz Burlesque experience. Here it is:

"The Beat"

The fantasy begins,

as we glide onto the floor,

With the mindset to allure,

The force in our hands,

Hold power, beauty, and strength,

the strumming of our strings

Ties and connects us,

enabling us,

To move together as one,

We shimmy, shassay, and sway our hips,

While we bounce to the beat,

Down to our feet,

Our heels click,

The flicking of our wrists,

Matching the snapping,

of our finger tips,

Our hair flips,

with, full energy,

We rock and flaunt our curves,

As we untangle each angle,

The nonstop stamina keeps us,

Rolling up to the peak,

Then coming back down on the last beat,

Like a fly kiss,

Burlesque visually transfers,

an exotic bliss,
Burlesque is about,
embracing the sexy,

Burlesque is the art of tease,

tempting you,

before you can even release,

leaving you craving,

To keep coming,
back for more

unleashing the inner pin-up girl,

Deanna

My Roots

There have been many times where people have came up to me and started speaking in Japanese. When they see I can't reply back, they ask "Do you understand Japanese?" I shake my head and say "no, sorry." A lot of people think I am either Japanese or Korean. They says its because of my big eyes and round face structure. I think its interesting how my bold features can portray me as another ethnicity.

Here in Hawaii, mostly everyone is mixed (as in 5+ mixed races). Even if they are a little bit of something, they still acknowledge that small percentage in them. This encouraged me to retrace my roots and find out the truth of my background. Ever since I was little, when people asked what I was, I would only say "Filipino."

My parents always told me that we have Chinese and Spanish blood in us, so technically we aren't full. Some of my ancestors were bi-racial(half Filipino/Spanish and half Filipino/Chinese). But as the generation line goes down, the blood breaks down. By the time the blood gets to me, I only have 1/8 of Spanish and 1/8 Chinese in me.

These days when people ask me, I tell them I am mostly Filipino, but also Spanish and Chinese. I learned in Hawaii that it is important to embrace all your cultures. After all, Oahu is known as the melting pot. We come from all over the World to celebrate, blend, and create diversity.

A couple years ago,  for my high school graduation present and for my mom's Ph. D graduation, my family and I went to the Philippines. It was an unforgettable experience. For my bachelors degree present, I want to go to China. And for my masters degree graduation present, I want to go to Spain. I can't wait to see, experience, and feel the other lands of my roots.

Filipino, Spanish, and Chinese baby,
Deanna

The Little Things

This is a photo of baby Rush taken by Molly, Rush is my manager/friend's baby.

Last night, we celebrated my manager's 30th birthday(Olivia). When me and Oli were talking she was telling me that ever since she was little, her mom would tell her to be thankful every day, even if its the little things. And to say it out loud, to give thanks, to bring meaning to life. 

Some little things I am thankful for...artistic expression, mini cupcakes, my voice, family/ friends, my big brown eyes, chance to live, advocados(baby Rush and Oli inspired me to eat these raw, yummy and healthy), and flowers.

What are some little things that you are thankful for?

thankful to wake up to another day,

Deanna

Walk It Out

Lately, I have been walking everywhere! Ever since my bus pass expired, I have been walking everywhere all over the island, as in miles lol. Walking is fun, free, and healthy for your body.

The benefits of walking: 

-reduces from receiving heart disease

-decreases future diabetes from forming

-bone strengthening

-improves memory

-prevent and cures certain cancers

This morning I walked to run my errands, and this afternoon I walked to visit my friend's (Hannah's) new place. She now lives down the block from me. Her condo is pretty, located in a convenient area, and her building includes everything, including a cute, gym room. After we caught up, we worked out in the gym for about an hour. Its always fun to work out with friends, to motivate, entertain, and keep you company. We are currently relaxing, having bagels, and using the wi-fi at our favorite, local cafe spot. I will be doing a blog review on this joint soon. 

My mommy and sister fly in tonight from the bay, so excited to see them, they will be staying with me in the studio. I love summer time, almost every week, and each month friends and family come to visit me. I'm so thankful for my support system off and on the island. I love all of them so much!

walking it out with thankfulness,
Deanna