what would become of him

the world he knew changed. he wasnt quite sure how but it was gone.

back then impulse and desperation had a strong hold of the boy and as the jubilee of his decision finally settled he felt the sting of a very obvious conclusion.
the morning after he walked inside a post office and handed a pair of 2x2 portraits along with a form. he stood and he waited as the agent lazily inspected and shuffled the forms.
"ok, everything's here." the boy's jaw relaxed and breath returned to him.
he was a few steps towards the exit when the agent hollered "expect your passport in about a month" his spirit was crushed, you could see it on his shoulder; the weight of everything he was fleeing from, all of it on him pressing down. 
the next two weeks a popcorn ceiling and a rusted mailbox syndicated themselves in the life of the boy. he somehow managed to come up with the extra cash to get things expedited but deep down he knew there'd be no guarantee. again and once again he was left at the mercy of his Creator.  

he woke up late one cold january morning 2 days before the big day. the popcorn ceiling looked the same and he was afraid the mailbox would give him a similar greeting. he was at the front door when his mother stopped him; she handed him the envelope not knowing if her son would ever return    

a wrap on the vx launch of maui

just finished checking-in the last few maui guests bound for san francisco and i'm throughly BEAT.
earlier today, 5 minutes into opening the ticket counter, our entire system came crawling to a halt.

an hour goes by and still nothing. at this point we're about to start checking-in guests the old school way, which is hand writing manual boarding passes and bag tags. luckily our IT team found a fix moments before we pulled the trigger and we quickly checked everyone in. 

our entire VX team at OGG stepped up big time and we were able to knock out the whole flight way before we even began boarding.

this whole day has been nuts. our inaugural flight from sfo to ogg landed at 1340 and you could sense the jitters; not just from our own vx team, but from the rest of the ogg vendors around. our bird landed and was greeted by two water cannons provided by the ogg fire dept.

it was a beautiful sight to see, especially with the backdrop of the mountain accompanied by blue covered skies and fluffy clouds lingering behind.

im here for another 3 days and now that the biggest hump is behind us, i think ill start exploring a bit more and start working on my tan.

mahalo!

the jet-lag and off to maui

the jet-lag never was this bad. i guess three weeks is alot of time to be hanging on the other side of this planet but it also might be the fact that im just getting old. the jet-lag would usually last two days tops but its been six days now im still having trouble sleeping.

but yesterday i hopped on a flight from los angeles to maui and maybe working from maui might help. its an exciting time for virgin america and im thrilled to help open the new station. i also heard the poke and loco moco have therapeutic/sleeping agents  known to knock grown men out.

yes please.

bangalore to los angeles via hong kong

today is tuesday

november 24th, 2015

im currently debriefing inside a starbucks a few blocks from home after a long long day of traveling from bangalore, india back to los angeles, california. 

the day began yesterday but technically yesterday is still today from the point from where i started.

ok,
moving forward...or backwards? 

bangalore time: monday nov 23th

we hopped on a cab at 9pm monday night. 2 hours later, after a bloc of akon and eastern european dance music along with close calls dissecting through the horrific evening bangalore traffic we made it to the airport. it was 11pm and the flight to hong kong was scheduled at 1:15am the next day.  

hong kong time: tuesday nov 24th

our flight landed at around 10am and the connecting leg was scheduled at 1:35pm. we walked around the airport for a bit and grabbed some some iced tea/coffee along with some pastries and waited for the flight. we found a good spot with chairs down at arrivals and relaxed a bit. the exhaustion was beginning to show in brianne's hair and eyes and in me through my speech; i tend to slur and not make cohesive thoughts when i dont get enough sleep.
we got our seats late so we had to move fast. when we reached the gate i noticed that boarding had just begun. we took a breather and i looked at my boarding pass, seat 72E, the middle seat at the last row on a boeing 777-300ER. i dreaded the flight at this point, which was estimated to take a little over 12 hours. before take-off, as i sat on my seat, i said a quick prayer to my Maker and off we were.

los angeles time: tuesday nov 24th

we landed at around 9:35am that same day, 4 hours before our flight took off. i got around 4 hours of sleep on the flight, not nearly enough. my shoulders were soar, i felt a bit groggy but we were back. i got home at 1pm and what was to be an hour nap became five. my shoulders didnt hurt as bad and the warm white chocolate mocha that sits comfortably in my right hand is taking a little of the edge off. the journey back home was long but when youre traveling with good friends while make new ones, there is nothing else id rather be doing. 

now back to the grind. i think

thekkady rub-down

i just want to preface this by saying that i havent had that many massages in the past. the way this one went down mightve been due to my lack of knowledge. you decide

i was brought into a room measuring 6"x10" and was asked by a young 18-22 year old thekkadian male to remove my shirt, pants and while i stood there wearing only my briefs, the thekkadian brought me this thin strip of cloth that kind of resembled a seatcover, which he then wrapped around my waist.

the next thing i see are my panties dropping to the floor and finding a hand reaching in-between my legs for the other loose strip of cloth, which was lazily laying on top of my crotch. 

a few reach arounds and he found it and with a tight and quick snug he brought it back up my crack and we were set.

to summarize the rest of the experience, i was dripped in this warm curry sauce from head to toe. 
was it really curry sauce? brianne says no but i guess ill never know. 
the next hour i was slapped, rubbed, gyrated, and tickled. while ass up, another young thekkadian came into the room and this is when the tag-team began. one heated hot stones and the other rubbed and placed them on my joints. this part i actually did enjoy. 

i was helped from the massage bed to this wooden box that had hot coals inside. i sat on this chair and then they closed the wooden box around me with my head the only thing peaking out. i roasted for about 10-15 minutes and while my body dripped and sweated the curry sauce, one of the young thekkadians began to show off his bruce lee stances and then proceeded to moon walk and show me some of his best michael jackson moves. i wanted to clap but i was in a box 

when they opened the box i was bit dizzy so they helped me up. at this point i thought the massage was over but no, it wasnt. 
it only kept getting better. the pair of thekkadians meticulously began to dry me off, limb by limb. the next few minutes were filled with awkward small talk. many thoughts began to race through my head: i thought the about current language barrier i had with these thekkadians along with the cultural differences and all of the life choices ive made that led me to this moment in time standing practically naked completely drenched in sweat and curry. 

when the drying was done, both walked out of the room and closed the door. the next few moments as i put my clothes back on i took everything that had just happened and i laughed.

brianne came out of her room maybe 10 minutes later looking all greasy. we parted ways with the staff shortly after and walked outside. our driver sumesh was there waiting for us

on the car ride back to the hotel i told brianne my experience and she laughed. 

last days in kerala, india

originally i began writing this post a few days ago back when i was still in kerala but ive been in bangalore for three days now and alot has happened since.

but back in kerela, before hopping on our houseboat in kochi, our days began with 4-hour road trips across southern kerala. we drove from munnar to thekkady in the morning and if it weren't enough, munnar sent us off with even more breathtaking views of its tea covered hills and countryside. the fluffy clouds hovering right above munnar's peaks placed a huge accent everything. it was sad to leave

but off we were and finally arrived in thekkady. we stayed at the spice grove hotel where the lobby staff greeted us with some fresh lemonade and then proceeded to place something like clay on our foreheads. the hotel staff upgraded us to a family room, which we didnt need but didnt mind at all. an hour later and we were on the road again headed to the thekaddy tiger reserve where hopped on a river boat hoping to spot a tiger, preferably chowing down on some nice tender deer or monkey or human, or whatever; the entrance to the park was riddled with monkeys so yeah, why not monkeys. 

after some drama trying to get our tickets, we finally got on the boat and went around the refuge. a little under 2 hours later and my report includes a flock of weird looking deer, a pair of horny miniature komodo dragon looking lizards, some colorful birds but sadly no tigers. 

we grabbed early dinner then walked around the uneven streets of thekkady. it was a busy night, the shops were mostly full of locals going about their normal business. we walked for about an hour, got lectured on the difference between pashmina and cashmere and then we heard thunder; the rain began shortly after. luckily we were close to our our next stop, the rangerwood hotel where we had scheduled massages earlier in the day. 

the experience? memorable

i began to write the experience on this entry but it got a bit long so i made it into its own. 

the next day we drove to kochi and caught an overnight houseboat that i still cant believe was just for us. we spent the night cruising down the narrow alappuzha straits and backwaters of southern kochi. we saw young children diving into the murky waters, ladies washing and beating their clothes on the stone walls and the countless other houseboats that trailed behind. we passed the time lounging and re-telling stories of earlier travels. the experience was heightened by the sheer beauty of the landscape around us; it was simply surreal. the morning after we took to the sights and explored fort kochi and saw the medieval looking chinese nets that hung next to the river, the jewish quarter and synagogue, walked around hill palace, got close to deer and a huge t-rex, then headed back to the hotel.

we said our goodbyes to our cab driver, sumesh, who had been with us for the past 5 days. we flew the next morning to the big city of bangalore and just like that kerala slowly became just another beautiful memory.  

morning: munnar, india

im still trying to process this morning's view
it was unlike any ive ever seen. 

the misty clouds didnt seem to move much, they stayed put like a well trained mascot. down below they were all nestled together in the deepest part of the valley while pockets of them hid below the forrest right above the surrounding tree lines. 

sunrise was at 06:16 and with coffee in hand i had a cool 3 minutes to savor the moment. the birds kept arguing down below our balcony, they were at it for the past few hours but i didnt mind it much. some of the neighbors began chanting and singing something traditional that i can only assume is local munnar tunes. 

the sun finally rose but it wasnt strong enough to pierce through the clouds. nevertheless, the sun's rays did something to the forrest. the clouds that were motionless a few minutes ago began to sprawl up the valley like a giant octopus. something unseen was set into motion: the clouds knew it, the birds knew it and now i knew it. 

i still cant believe im in india. i remember the look my mother gave me when i told her that i was coming here and to a certain degree, rightfully so. ive seen alot of faces on my travels and now that theyve brought me here, i can see why alot of people have a certain impression of india. 

from how they approach customs & immigration or their driving with seemingly no rules of the road but a simple set of car honks. add the long and lingering looks of strangers and india to the western newcomer might seem like a frightening place. 

but if you wait a question through the long gazes might emerge with a "hi, where you from?" or "can i take picture with you?"
out of those loud and annoying honks a pattern will begin to emerge and will quickly realize that all those cars are communicating. 

and, if you wait just a bit longer, out of those long and unwavering stares a smile will peak through. 

this will be day 2 in munnar, india and i feel like ive seen and experienced alot already. ill end with some wise and uplifting words i read this morning from c.s. lewis' mere christianity.

"when a man is getting better he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him. when a man is getting worse he understands his own badness less and less. a moderately bad man knows he is not a very good; a thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right. this is common sense, really. you understand sleep when you are awake, not while you are sleeping. you can see mistakes in arithmetic when your mind is working properly: while you are making them you cannot see them. you can understand the nature of drunkenness when you are sober, not when you are drunk. good people know about both good and evil, bad people do not know about either."

God bless 

tokyo, japon: round dos

we woke at the crack of dawn and flew from kyoto to tokyo on peach airlines. its probably the cheapest way to travel and if you have solid plans peach is a good option. but my travel plans werent solid, they never really are so i booked a refundable fare but peach makes it a nightmare to make any changes to your reservation even if you book a refundable fare. you only get your cash back in points and the points arent automatially placed into an account. it takes a few days for the points to appear, which come in the form of an email where you are given a voucher number. none of this is explained on the website, its all very obscure and you're left in the dark not knowing what the hell is going on.

"why not give them call?" you might say. 

i did, several times, at different times of the day, and all i got was a pre-recorded peach message. luckily i cancelled my leg in advance and got the points voucher a few days before i needed to fly but if i was truly in a bind id be screwed.

ok, so back to tokyo.

tokyo was fun, tokyo was intense, tokyo was tokyo. 

we stayed a few blocks from machiya station with some co-workers from our seattle station. in total, there were 10 people, included us staying at this house and we were crammed. it was all good though, like all trips you never really intend to spend your time at the place youre staying at. we went out the same night and headed to the hirajuku area. the group wanted to shop, i just wanted to eat. we walked and walked, saw some interesting outfits and finally found some chow. it was a gyoza restaurant, nothing really fancy. we ordered 4 fried rounds and 2 steamed and it was heaven. the rest of the night we walked, hopped on trains, and walked some more. we had some drinks but all i really wanted was some sleep. 

the next day we really didnt have anything planned. it was our sole day in tokyo, the following days would be spent in tokyo disney and tokyo disney sea. brianne had never been to tokyo, aron and i had. we were hungry so we looked up a sushi joint that had great reviews and off we were. after some wrong turns and walkin aimlessly through subway tunnels, we finally found our spot. it was one of those conveyor type sushi joints where the plates are priced depending on the color. the three of us went to town. the sushi was cheap and tasty, no waiting no hassle trying to translate; just look and grab. afterwards we headed to tokyo tower, then went to zojo-ji temple where they were having another yearly furniture burning. last time i was in tokyo they were having the same event, i should probably look into it. it looked cool though, there were munks humming, furniture burning, and it was just an odd sight to see.

we walked some more after that, stopped for some manaken waffles, then headed to shibuya to walk the five corner intersection. but not before having some bubble tea on the way. once we were done taking mandatory selfies and touristee videos of the shibuya crosswalk madness, we headed back to our hood and had some tempura. it was good

the next 2 days were spent in tokyo disney and sea and it was a fun time. if i had to choose a park id have to with disney sea. its bigger and they have journey to the center of the world. the food options arent the best but you will come to find massive lines for the popcorn. didnt get to try any but there was one that definitely got away, soy sauce and butter popcorn. there is also something to be said of the tokyo disney staff and that is that they are AWESOME! i hardly ever use all caps but they truly are. every single worker is giving 100% in something in as simple as hello and goodbye. i honestly think that was the most impressive thing about tokyo disney; not the rides, not the food (soy sauce & butter popcorn maybe), but the staff. makes you think twice about what you do and where your passions lie. 

from disney sea we went our seperate ways. aron flew back home to LA, and brianne and i continued on our travels. tokyo was fun but its such a massive city. it needs to be broken down in a manner that suits you, which takes planning. next time i might take some of that advice and plan a little more but judging from the little ive seen i know that tokyo wont dissapoint. 

but now im in the abu dhabu, uae waiting on a flight to india and something tells me the best is yet to come.

up next: kochi, india

kyoto, japon

in order to get to kyoto from osaka's kansai airport we needed to hop on a train; easier said than done. once you narrow down all of your options and decide which rail pass makes the most sense, you quickly realize that none of the train ticket kioks take credit cards. i brought some american cash and converted to yen and we were on our way. a little under 2 hours later and we were in kyoto.

it was overcast, a bit chilly, and the train station was crowded AF. it didnt take long to get oriented and we quickly found our way to our airbnb. the place was tiny but comfy. all i wanted to do was nap, which would've been a wrap on the day but i was also starving. brianne and aron weren't quite at the same crossroads as i so we began to walk towards kyoto's main rail station, which is also a massive underground shopping mall filled with delicious restaurants. we had something that i really cant recall, i was exhausted and hungry and everything was a blur. after dinner we kept walking through the mall then headed back to our place. sleep quickly settled in 

the following morning i felt like a new man. i was well rested and after surviving the tiniest shower in my life, i felt like i could take the world. aron on the other hand was not. aron stands at 6'3 and if the shower was too tiny for me, i could only imagine what kind of cirque de solei moves he had to bust in order to get things properly washed... 

also, i apparently have a snoring problem, which was never that bad but by the morning looks of my travel mates its taken a turn for the worse as...the trip would prove later on.

a cloudy, chilly and now rainy morning greeted us, you mix that with hunger and chemistry tells that you automatically get ramen for breakfast; you just cant disupute the science. and we just so happenned to find thee best ramen spot in kyoto: daiichi asahi.

totally unassuming and a few blocks away from the beehive of kyoto railstation.

we must've gotten there a few minutes after they opened. the patrons were mostly locals, the place was small and intimate with a rectangular kitchen in full view with one cook manning the dull pans sitting on the burners spewing steam like locomotives. put simply, it was the best damn ramen i've ever had. there were no pieces of paper to fill, the only choice to be made was the type of meat you wanted and then it was brought to you. ive never not finished my ramen, in fact i usually order extra but not this time. there was a point when i didnt know if the ramen would end. the broth had a great balance, not too thick and not too thin. the noodles were thin but hearty and had a fresh quality that i really cant describe.

the rest of my eats in kyoto can be described the same way. everything tasted fresh and there really wasnt anything i didnt like.  

after ramen we spent the next 2 days hopping from cab, bus and trains to the many temples and shrines all strewn across kyoto prefecture. brianne, being the planner that she is already had a list of the best temples we should hit like enko-ji, kinkaku-ji, tenryu-ji along with the bamboo forrest, and fushimi inari-taisha just to name a few. every single temple was beautiful in its own respect (my favorite being fushimi-iinari), some more grandiesque than others, but each one had its one serene and tranquil vibe that everyone needs from time to time.  

one thing that you will find yourself doing alot in kyoto, besides the eating of course, is walking. unless you're a baller and have money to spend on cabs from shrine to shrine, temple to temple, it would be wise to buy a local kyoto bus day pass. its not that expensive and they go pretty much everywhere in the city. the local subway does not as we later found out. also, if you're american or if you're using an american debit card, the only places that you'll be able to take out cash will be in two spots: 7-eleven and the japanese post office. 

in short, my stay in kyoto was great. it was sad leaving all of that serenity behind but something tells me that ill be back.  

japan, lets try this again

we're on the last leg of a 48 hour journey across the pacific. in a perfect world brianne, aron and i wouldve been in kyoto having already enjoyed late night sushi over some hot & rich sake. instead, we spent a night in marina del rey at aron's, and the following night in seoul, south korea.

regardless, we're on a flight out to osaka, japan and that's all that matters at this moment. the last time i was in japan things really didn't go according to plan and what was supposed to be a week long trip ultimately became just one night. id like to think of myself a bit wiser this time around with friends that continue to help me grow.

japan: day in t-minus 30 minutes   

monday was a pretty crazy day

my alarm went off at 4:00am but i snoozed a few times; i rolled my eyes, i didn't want to start the day. my flight to jfk was scheduled at 6:59am and there were two airport shuttles from downtown montreal that i could take: 5:01am or 5:31am. i knew it'd be risky but i went with the 5:31am not truly knowing how much of a risk it'd actually be.  

along the way these were some of the challenges that i encountered:

the shuttle was 10 minutes late 

my metro card for some reason wasn't reading but by thee grace of God the driver let me on

by the time i got to the american airlines counter, i was late for international check-in

the check-in lady must've felt sorry for me because the next thing i know she hands me a boarding pass and tells me "give it a shot, but we will not wait for you" that was all i needed. i thanked her and bolted towards the gates. i thought i had things in the bag but i quickly realized that it wasn't going to be that easy.

US customs and immigration is done at montreal airport so when i got to security the line was out of control. i was about to throw the cards and give it up but then i realized that there must be a global entry line somewhere! or not. 

i frantically looked but nothing, no signage, nada. i approached a security agent and asked him if there was a global entry line, he paused, my sphincter tightened, and then he slowly pointed. directly behind me, a few yards away, right next to the crew-member & airport employee line there was a sign that read global entry

my heart lepped. and yet again global entry saves the day. i've had global entry for a little over a year now and its probably one of the best $100 dollars i've ever spent. seriously. seriously seriously.

it was 6:25am when i got my customs slip from the kiosk and it was 6:35am when i got past the CBP officer. i was greeted by the pre-boarding announcement when i reached my gate. it was a sweet sound. there were so many variables in play that had to go my way in order to get where i was at. not just at the boarding gate but in general. a few minutes later i was given my seat and a moments later i was sitting in 18a waiting for push back.

i wish i could say that that was it but my day had only just begun. from new york i flew to san francisco and from there finally to seattle. it was long long day but thats the kind of job and life i signed up for. wouldn't have it any other way. God bless!

montreal: leisure or work?

i've answered this question many times before but this time was different; still, i checked the box that said leisure and went with it. as we got through the customs line the agent looked at my sketchy and battered passport and asked why i was in montreal.

i didnt freeze but i will say that she caught me taking an extra second to answer, which then prompted her to send me to secondary questioning. i walked inside this office that kind of resembled a clean DMV - if there was ever one - and standing in front of the line there was this huge black guy. he didnt seem all that happy, which was cool because he caused a scene and began demanding an explanation of "why am i in this damn line for?!" the customs agent was having none of it and quickly put him in his place "sir, you can go back if you want." he changed his tone and then i was called.

the agent, a young dude, hipster looking, asked me why i was in montreal and i said primarily for work. he suspiciously looked at my customs form and asked for who and for how long. i answered and he flipped through my passport a few more times. i flipped my shit a few times being that i didnt have anymore room in my passport. he didnt seem to care though and stamped right on top of another country and said welcome to montreal.

michelle was waiting for me at the bottom of the escalator and she couldnt have looked more beautiful. maybe it was the possibility being detained or deported back to the states, but it felt so great to see a good friend on the other side. we quickly figured out how to get into the city and found our hostel in minutes. the next 2 days were crammed with walking, climbing, laughing and eating. we had a great time exploring montreal and its definitely a city worth coming back to.

the sound of rubble & ash

its been a month since i woke up in the city of chicago. for some odd reason i was up way before my alarm went off. aron and brianne were still sleeping so i quietly packed my gear and stepped into the calm and breezy morning. it wouldve been a nice walk to the L but i hopped on an uber instead. halfway to o'hare was when it hit me that it was august 1st.

a day before chicago i was in the city of denver packing my gear and saying goodbye to the crew of the untitled denver project. we shot for nearly a month and through the course of some strange and unorthodox storytelling, i feel like we all made something very beautiful together. the wrap party really got going around midnight and after some tense moments and hearty goodbyes, i took off, picked up my gear, and went straight to the airport. it was 6am, i was exhausted but somehow managed to make it sort of on-time. tsa was crazy but after a few minutes in i completely zoned out. the next thing i remember is sitting in 12E getting ready to take off. as we climbed through the clouds i began to think of the last 12 months. 

a year ago i was in a similar situation. it was morning and i was headed to the airport. but instead of a calm breeze, i walked into the busy and sweltering morning of singapore.

i was a complete and utter mess. 

id just broken things off with my gf in the worst imaginable way. i paced back and forth outside her condo a few times torn at what i was about to do. as i made my way through the swarms of singaporeans riding the MRT, i began to feel invisible; kind of like marty in back to the future, you know, the part where he almost doesnt get his parents to kiss?

august 1st, 2014 mustve been the longest and most agonizing day of my life. longest because id spent that day in both changi and hong kong airports for almost 24 hours over some freaky weather delays. when i actually landed in lax it was morning and august 1st had just begun! it all felt like one huge cosmic joke. through the course of that long long day i also had to live with the fact that i just ended things with someone i loved, the girl i was going to marry and have bi-racial babies with.

i ultimately chose my career over amerie and even though she roams the halls of my heart, i knew i had to take care of myself first. there were and still are many aspects of who i am that need work and amerie pointed alot of this out to me. i owe her alot and for that i will always be indebted to her. during these 12 months ive given myself completely to my craft, which has challenged me in many ways to say the least. ive also become closer to my family, which was something that was lacking for a while. more importantly though my faith has been strengthened and the realization of how infinitely short i fall has renewed my spirit and strengthened my resolve to be better. 

my twenties were mostly all about experiencing and seeing new places, things i read about in my social studies class and it was all fun. but fun only got me so far and if thats all youre looking for then youre probably going to hurt someone you love and live a lonely life looking at your instagram pictures. im looking forward to changing gears and seeing were these thirties lead me to. God bless!

untitled denver project: week 3

things got dark on week 3. somewhere in-between, reality got muddled and the line between whats real and what isnt had been crossed; im perosnally finding it difficult to pinpoint when we actually crossed it. a big part of my job is to objectively listen between tracks and channels in order to make sure i get clean dialogue and proper levels but this production has been strange in the sense that since we really don't have a script, the majority of what we get has been dependent on what is currently hapenning; life is basically shaping this film. our directors, nathan and mike, have had the crazy task to lasso these crazy situations that they're placing our main character not fully knowing how he'll react and trying to piece the story together.

as the sound mixer/one-man-band, i usually dont get too attached to the actors but in this case i have but the twisted part about week 3 is that i dont even know who that is anymore. all i know is that this doc/narrative feature will be one big mind f#%k and im very excited in how our directors and editor will piece it all together. we have 2 more days of production and something tells me that this rabbit hole goes a bit futher and possibly darker.

stand by.

 

untitled denver project: week 2

it was a thrilling week 2 for the crew of the untitled denver project; specifically for sound. we filmed at this dive bar called the nobb hill inn right on the footsteps of denver's main drag: colfax ave. it was a big challenge trying to record clean audio being that the bar's front door, which leads directly into busy colfax had to be open. this among other factors had me rubbing my eyeballs deep into the farthest corners of my skull. it was a constant battle between myself and noisy colfax but in the end i was able to pick up decent dialogue from the lavs and make it work.

recording location sound in denver right now is a pain in the ass in general though. i've been out here for 2 weeks and this whole city is pretty much under construction, which means noise, lots of it. but thats the job we sound mixers signed up for and even though we can't control all of these external forces, sometimes we can work around them and if we're lucky we get great sound.

we filmed at nobb for 2 days, then we moved and filmed at l'eagle, a marijuana dispensary and grow room in the outskirts of denver. the location was also a bit of a challenge but nothing compared to nobb hill. the a/c was turned off but the fan would not stop...i got room tone and made sure i pointed my shotgun away from the vents and pressed record. 

after the shoot, the owner of l'eagle gave us a tour of her garden. she was lovely and spoke with a true passion about her bussiness and to break it down, l'eagle would be pretty much the pavillions or trader joes of weed; everything is organic and takes longer to grow in order to get the best out of the plant. she showed us the baby buds and the process of placing rfd chips on every plant to mark them as inventory for the goverment; crazy stuff. the whole time i felt like we were going to get raided by either the goverment or the cartels hahaa

the story itself also took a turn, which was a good thing for the movie. our main character was becoming somewhat predictable/stagnant and our directors were having none of it. things got dark and uncomfortable on-set and as i watched the action unfold in the monitor and while i heard my raw mix of the arthur, mike and nathan, i knew that we had captured something magnificent. these 2 guys are really something, they're amazing to work with and im so blessed to have been given this chance.

i'm excited and nervous about week 3. the story is about to change and i honestly dont know in which direction. 

well, here's to making movies and storytelling! 

untitled denver project: week 1

denver, colorado has been home for the past week and itll remain this way for the next few. ive been out here working on a experimental doc/indie feature and its been pretty insane. till this point ive never worked on a production that had no script or any kind of shot list, which for a sound mixer can be challenging, especially when you're also booming

    

 but luckily we have a pair of crazy/brilliant directors in nathan silver and mike ott who are steering this ship that for now is being called "the untitled denver project"

so now that week 1 of shooting is wrapped, we get a day off to chill and explore beautiful sunny denver

thirty in cuba

i didn't lose my phone 2 nights ago so ill take it that my 30th went well although my body would like to tell a different story. a few days ago I got hit by denge again, which brings the count to two, possibly three cases in the past year. i wrote about the agony of the first encounter last july; it knocked me out for a whole week. this time it had me out for 2 days.

i never imagined spending my 30th in havana but here i am. it didn't dawn on me till a few days later after i agreed to do this doc that i'd be spending it away from family and friends. for the past 3 years i've had to make these kind of decisions and it seems to be point to a scary realization that i may not be sticking around for too long. who knows
these are the kind of thoughts you get when you're glued to a bed and toilet.

by thee grace of God i was given control of my bowels again and was able to get up and not feel like my bones and neck were about to snap. i took a morning stroll through havana and was finally able to go online and not check facebook (5 months facebook clean).
after 2 week's worth of emails, instragram updates, and whatsapp convos i made my way back to the casa particular.

later in the evening we were invited to an electronic dj set not far from our casa. a few hours later it really got going and we somehow made our way up the roof. as i looked at the crowd i began to think about my twenties and the half-hour or so that were left.
melancholy mixed with havana club began to creep. i thought about my little sister priscilla who just graduated high school, my pops probably watering the grass and yelling at the dog, i thought about amerie's beautiful smile, i thought about all of the great friendships i've made in the past decade and also the ones that don't exist anymore. all the toil, sacrifice, and the pain

a quick jab to the side and suddenly i was back. vanesa, my director/producer wrapped her arms around me just like my sisters would and yelled "you're 30!"
then came chris and albert, my brothers for the past 3 weeks, the cuban skating crew, and others ive met along my cuban experience.

in short the only thing i can truly say is that the only reason why i'm still alive and healthy, and have the ability to do and be where i'm at is only by the grace of God. He's been the only thing that's been constant in my life.

i'm excited to see what my thirties have in store, a new passport perhaps?

un poquito de quito y lo demas: pt. 2

ecuador: galapagos, center of the earth, lizards, evolution, mutants.

these are the images that came to mind whenever ecuador would come up. volcanos and glaciers were not. these were the last things i expected to see or even climb during my stay but thats exactly what happened. the next morning we were off to cotopaxi volcano but not before hopping a cab and checking out the basilica del voto nacional. 

its probably the most beautiful church i've been in south america. we must've been the first ones in, nobody was there and it was great! we climbed all the way up, up some dodgy stairs into open air, and took in our last moments of quito.

it took us a little over 2 painful hours to get to cotopaxi from quito. the journey was not the most pleasant and in particular the last hour when the road becomes unpaved. bryson and i stayed at the secret garden: cotopaxi, which is the same hostel chain we stayed at in quito. this hostel was definitely a step up from the rest of the hostels i've stayed in south america in terms of cleanliness, amenities and facilities (up to par with portuguese hostels for sure). what truly sets this hostel apart was the view though. when its clear the view of the volcano is breathtaking 

we made some swiss, mexican, venezuelan and of course australian friends the first night, went on a hike, i jumped off a 15 ft. bitter cold waterfall and spent the following day doing absolutely nothing. doing nothing was something i had been looking forward to and so while bryson went off horseback riding, i stayed and read paolo coehllo's the alchemist made some new friends, and drank tea the whole day.  

the next day we were up early and headed to cotopaxi. my ears were hurting and already was having shortness of breath; we weren't even out of the van yet! not sure whether i was being a big sissy or whether the elements were to blame. i looked around our group and saw that everyone seemed ok...

we drove up to 14,000 ft. and began our trek up the volcano and to the glaciar. the bottom of the glaciar hanged at 15,000 ft. and at first glance, the ascent doesn't seem intimidating. its pretty straightforward with no deep ravines, or crazy switchbacks. but looks can be very deceiving and fatal. carlos, our ecuadorian guide, was telling me that several people usually die from heart attacks during the climb, being that they don't let their bodies acclimate long enough. comforting 

i began my trek dandy and strong but at 100 ft. i hit a wall. the next 700 ft. were pure hell. 

as i climbed higher a new pain would emerge. my chest was on fire, my calves deadlocked, my core cramped, my thighs jello, my lungs squeezed like a raisin. with every step i took the ground would dissolve and take me two steps back, like i was doing it on quicksand. 

this climb had to be one of the toughest things i've done and many times i questioned whether i could actually do it. there came a point where i stopped looking forward because it seemed like i made no progress. eventually my biggest enemy became my mind so i stopped looking forward and channeled my sight at looking only at my next step. 

when i finally reached the top, i stepped to the side and i welled up a bit; it was a mixture of alot. exhaustion, relief, surprise. 

besides the constant reminders of my mortality, there came a point as i climbed up the volcano where i descended deeper into my heart and reflected.

i have no doubt that God has ordained every single event and circumstance that's been placed forth in my life. the good, the bad, the horrible, all of it. and the climb was a beautiful reminder that He is completely in control, even when i get brave at 99 ft. God has always been there patiently waiting at 100 ft. with hands wide open.

the view from the top was unreal and was only heightened by God's incredible grace and mercy dispalyed in my life. a few minutes later, after having caught my breath, my phone briefly got reception and i received a text from my mother that a good friend of the family, Francisco Magallanes, had an unfortunate accident and passed away. he was good man, a Godly and kind man who I have no doubt will be seeing again.

the climb down was quick but dangerous. one slip and there wasn't really anything that would stop you from picking up speed and tumbling all the way down. it began to rain the last 30 ft. and by the time i got inside the van, the thick clouds were speedily billowing through the parking lot and i quickly blacked out.

the next morning, we were dropped off by carlos' son on the side of the road in machachi were bryson and i hopped on a bus to baños. 

un poquito de quito y lo demas: pt. 1

things really picked up on day 2 and haven't stopped since. we walked downstairs and a few steps from the hostel we randomly met cleve, a real chill taxi driver who would eventually become our taxi driver for the day.

our first stop was the teleferico. it was about a 10-minute ride up the mountain on the cable car. 
once on top, the view of the quito city/valley left our jaws on the floor.


the altitude definitely played a role in the amount of exploring we did, which at this point was not going to be much. we hiked for about half an hour. the more we hiked the more beautiful the views became. the sun, the clouds, the rays, the peaks, the valleys; quito at this point seems more like a dream.

when we finally made it down the mountain, cleve was there waiting for us. 
our next stop was el medio del mundo but not before cleve deciding to take us up to another set of mountains and valleys where we came to the ancient town of pululahua, which is situated on an active volcanic crater. 

the crater is massive and indigenous people still live and work the mineral rich soil to grow crops.

shortly after we drove down those mountains and arrived at el medio del mundo, which is kind of a rundown town with dirt roads and dilapidated homes and shops. we went into the museum of the equator where we did cheesy equator experiments and learned a bit of the indigenous culture. 

according to the museum, if you looked at the gps, the exact point of the equator cuts through their lot. of course, bryson brought up the point that according to the military gps, the equator was about 20 meters away. whatever, its close enough was my thinking.once we were done trying to balance eggs on nails and walking on the "literal" equator line, cleve took us to grab some chow, which in this case came in the form of a rodent: the cuy 

it wasn't bad actually, kind of in between rabbit and duck? it was a pain in the ass to get meat out of it though, which is mostly concentrated on the shoulder blades, neck, spine, and legs. would i eat it again? yeah, sure if i were in a ecuadorian quinciañera and it was free. 

ok, after annihilating this american house pet, we went to another equator monument that was built to honor and remember the french scientists who pinpointed the spot of the equator in the 1900's.

unfortunately that monument is also off, by a few hundred meters actually, but it was still cool to go.

i dont remember the cab ride back. i was so exhausted and the 
cuy definitely put me over the edge. when we finally made it back to the hostel, we thanked cleve and i went straight to bed. an hour later, bryson and i woke up and took a cab to the night-life center of quito, el fosch, where we grabbed a pizza and a few beers. 

0 degrees latitude 0 degrees longitude

at the moment im trying to remember the word for shadow in spanish but i cant quite make it out. it makes me sad that i cant come up with it on my own but im too prideful to look it up on google. 

i've been in quito ecuador a little over a day now. i didn't expect much from quito, it was going to simply serve as kind if a layover city to plan the rest of our time in ecuador. it wasn't until a few days ago that my friend bryson and i decided to come here and it hasn't disappointed me in the very least.

at this point of my life alot of what i seek has to do about the people in specific and not about what the people have to offer. the importance is really not about the city or the amount of unesco sites it has but really more about what its history does to me and how i treat my fellow humans moving forward.

i feel like every city has a secret and the keys are held in the people; in the eyes of its inhabitants, going into their markets, eating their food, laughing at their jokes, feeling their sorrow. 

quito is snuggled by lazy hills and a bashful volcano and in between you get the ecuadorian people, who are somewhat soft to speak yet you get the feeling that you don't want to cross them. i wont say more because anything else would be coming out of ignorance but i'm enjoying my time here and i cant wait to climb a few volcanos, cram into a few crowded busses, and eat some fat cuy. 

the winner: ecuador

sorry bolivia but you will have to wait. can't say what was driving force in choosing ecuador other than having met a few more ecuadorians versus bolivians.

i am 4 days away from flying to ecuador and i have no idea what i'm getting myself into. its not like im going into a country that has an ongoing war or anything. but regardless i should probably do my homework. its not like i do it anyways when i travel but for some reason i feel especially inadequate on this trip.

for example, last night i found out that ecuador uses american dollars as currency. i also found out that ecuador has one of the largest inca ruins in the americas. what else...

i guess that's it for now. stay tuned

bolivia o ecuador?

these two countries have been on my mind as of late and i need to make a decision soon.

i was going through my calendar a few weeks ago and i noticed that i have a week and half of vacation in the middle of may and so i'm stuck. i was thinking of flying into santiago, chile taking the pachamama bus up to the atacama desert and into bolivia but now i'm thinking of staying in one country and keeping things within borders.

i have not been to bolivia. i have not been to ecuador.

i've heard great things and google images doesn't seem to give an edge as of which one is the best. they both looks insanely beautiful

anywho, this is where i'm at. stuck

somebody, anyone, help.

portugal: oporto & lisboa

porto and lisbon. lisbon and porto

its been over 2 weeks since i've been back from portugal and yet i can still taste lisbon's warm gooey nata cakes from pasteis de belem,

porto's perfectly balanced dark and sweet galaos from nata,
and the deceptively strong port wine pretty much everywhere portugal. 

for far too long portugal remained on my top 3 countries to visit and for reasons unknown it remained this way. there is so much to say about tiny portugal and yet alot of its beauty i feel comes from what is not said. its hard to explain portugal's charm and beauty and i wish i could be more objective but something ethereal dwells here, something rare that only a few cities have:

havanna, cuba
belgrade, serbia
essaouira, morocco
montevideo, uruguay

well, myself along with 3 friends finally decided to tackle portugal.
our first stop: porto


we landed early in the AM and after a rookie mistake on my part (forgot my passport in the seat-front pocket of the plane...palm to the face) we were off. we took the metro into the city which only took about 1/2 hour and one transfer.



it never fails when you hit that moment as you're riding the escalator up from the metro when you tell yourself "ok, i'm finally here!" as if the beginning of your story was about to fade from black.

daylight and broken clouds greeted us but just like that we were finally in porto. it was late in the afternoon. it took us a minute to figure out our bearings but when we did we quickly found our way to our hostel. we stayed at this place called tattva and it was probably one of the best hostels i've ever stayed at. the staff was friendly, the rooms were exceptionally clean, and its location leaves you minutes away from pretty much everything. also a big shout out to andre, the tattva hostel worker who treated us like royalty and made me tasty mini pancakes every morning.

we gave porto 3 nights. in that span we took a walking tour and learned a bit of porto's history and its rivalry with lisbon.

scoped out the beutiful duoro river
enjoyed fransiqueñas and late late night bifanas
rented a car and followed the yellow signs north into spain and visited santiago de compostela
took a train and visited guimaraes, the birthplace of portugal and enjoyed my first galaos.








our stay was short, too short. i felt myself dragging my feet as we walked to porto's train station.
our next stop: lisbon

we took a morning train and spent the ten extra euro to ride first class; fancy us. it was a quick 2-hour train ride that included a 6-ounce cup of coffee and great views of portugal's countryside.




lisbon's metro took about the same as porto's and with ease found our way to lisboa central hostel.
ok, so i'm starting to think that this might be a portuguese thing but hostels in portugal are on point! to be fair though i've only stayed in two.

lisboa central hostel was a slam dunk for all of the reasons of tatva but not when it came to pub crawls. i felt bad for barbara - our pub crawl group leader - and there can only be two possibilities that would account for such a bad pub crawl and before i even get into it, how do you even mess up a pub crawl?!




its kind of like messing up making a burrito, although someone has made me a crappy burrito before so i guess i get it. so this how i see it, either barbara has no soul who could care less about us and the pub crawl or she was completely out of her element stuck with this hostel duty that by the look of it was very awkward for her to do; i went with the latter. i found myself getting mad at barbara at times for the awkward situations she placed us in, but then i would get sad for her and just smile.






the next morning was much better. we took a walking tour through old lisbon and the following day we took another one through alfama. i like walking tours, they're a neat and fun inexpensive way to learn the history of a city, its neighborhoods and the people that live in them.
i took a strong liking to alfama.

sleepy alfama seemed so separate from lisbon. from the alfama side you get a nice view of lisbon and the praça do comercio (commerce plaza) where all of the ships would dock and unload/load cargo back in the days of exploration. the weather in lisbon couldn't have been better.


we also went inside some extravagant and significant churches, most notable the church of nata cakes AKA pasteis de belem. we heard horror stories of the notoriously long lines but i think we only waited 20 minutes max to secure the goods. the nata cakes from this place are supposed to be the best and prior to this, we'd had a few and they were all good in my own honest opinion so when i took my first bite, it didn't taste new; it was simply damn good!

the last night we finally were able to squeak by and find seats to enjoy some fado at this place called a tasca do chico. the previous night we tried getting seats 1/2 hour before but the place was packed. this time around we got there about an hour before and we still had to wait to get a seat. seeing fado performed was a great experience and had i drank another glass of port wine, i too would've broken out in fado.

so the portuguese have this word
called"saudade"

our walking tour guide tried to explain and he even asked a random man in alfama to explain it also. what i took from it was this:

its that foolish longing for something or someone you know you'll probably never get back. its the feeling you get inside your bones when something subtle like the scent of a flower, perfume or shampoo rocks you in the most awful and at the same time wonderful possible way. for a moment, everything stops and pains from the past resurrect but not enough to open any stitches.


...so lets just say that suadade and myself are familiar with each other.

i got a bad case of saudade the following day as we packed our stuff and headed back home. we weren't even out of the hostel and already i was beginning to miss portugal. 

out of all the western european countries that i've traveled to portugal is probably my favorite.

its been over two weeks and i miss portugial, did i mention that?