For our Christmas dinner this year, Louie and I decided to try something a little different. A few weeks ago, in one of his weekly meetings in Rockwell, he made a reservation in Barcino at Power Plant. We figured it would be a great way of celebrating my last semester in law school, his career progression, and also the year that was, which is definitely - for lack of a better term - one for the books.

Oddly, despite it being just a few days away from Christmas, I haven't been 100% into the Christmas cheer. I suppose it's just because the last few weeks have been about studying for finals (my final finals, so the pressure was on), that I didn't have time to really embrace the whole holiday spirit right away. But when we got inside the mall and I saw all the lights and decorations, my eyes lit up like a 7-year-old on Christmas morning! It was beautiful. Each beam was adorned with green garlands and red ribbons, and the hallways were lined with potted poinsettias. (Alliteration is awesome!) It was quite a sight; what a way to trigger all my Christmas-y emotions!








When we finally decided to have dinner, I was surprised to find out that there was only one booth - the wine cellar. All the bottles adorned the shelves, and we had the small room all to ourselves. Lovely wouldn't even begin to describe it. It was nice because we felt really ~VIP~ and special.




Louie ordered Spanish wine to pair with our cheese and chorizo platter. Admittedly, I'm not much of a wine gal (beer or Long Island iced tea is more like it, LOL) so just having something new to try was exciting. In addition, we also had seafood paella, because I was craving it. A few years ago, we used to have paella at my Wowa's house in Batangas for Christmas. Recently, however, we've just opted to check in a hotel to celebrate, since my aunt's passing and my Wowa's accident. The staycation is less of a hassle for everyone, and it's great because we get to eat out. But of course I still miss Wowa's paella, so this was a great way of being reminded of the good ol' holidays :)

The cheese was good, but to no one's surprise, I still didn't like blue cheese. #uncultured :)) It reminded me of an awkward moment of mine when we had a trip to Amish Country in Ohio a few years back. The elderly in the community were showing us their products, and being the polite (and naive) girl that I was, I tried out their samples. Wrong move to go for the "cookies-and-cream-looking" cheese! I couldn't hide the disgust on my face! And while I uttered my revulsion in straight Tagalog ("Ang panget ng lasaaaa!!"), I'm pretty sure they could tell I was not pleased. I still carry the Amish grandma's disappointed face with me every single day of my life :))

...sorry, I digress!

Anyway, I am not ashamed to say that Louie and I almost finished everything. I wish I had a better word for delicious, because it all tasted so, so good. That, or we were just tired and hungry because traffic along EDSA is terrible! And justthat in general 2016 was such a mess, so we felt like we deserved to wolf down a meal to reward ourselves for surviving it! :))

But no, really, the food and wine was fantastic.






Jologs Girl fun fact: This VIP room was the exact spot where James and Nadine officially became a couple! Hahahaha! :)) More than all the fancy stuff, this little trivia was what took the cake! :)) Thank goodness for Louie who understands my #fangirl heart. :))




I guess that's it for our 4th Christmas dinner together. It was quite a year for all of us but at the end of the day, there are still many, many things to be thankful for. It's good to be reminded of that every once in a while :)

Happy holidays! ♥

For our Christmas dinner this year, Louie and I decided to try something a little different. A few weeks ago, in one of his weekly meetings in Rockwell, he made a reservation in Barcino at Power Plant. We figured it would be a great way of celebrating my last semester in law school, his career progression, and also the year that was, which is definitely - for lack of a better term - one for the books.

Oddly, despite it being just a few days away from Christmas, I haven't been 100% into the Christmas cheer. I suppose it's just because the last few weeks have been about studying for finals (my final finals, so the pressure was on), that I didn't have time to really embrace the whole holiday spirit right away. But when we got inside the mall and I saw all the lights and decorations, my eyes lit up like a 7-year-old on Christmas morning! It was beautiful. Each beam was adorned with green garlands and red ribbons, and the hallways were lined with potted poinsettias. (Alliteration is awesome!) It was quite a sight; what a way to trigger all my Christmas-y emotions!








When we finally decided to have dinner, I was surprised to find out that there was only one booth - the wine cellar. All the bottles adorned the shelves, and we had the small room all to ourselves. Lovely wouldn't even begin to describe it. It was nice because we felt really ~VIP~ and special.




Louie ordered Spanish wine to pair with our cheese and chorizo platter. Admittedly, I'm not much of a wine gal (beer or Long Island iced tea is more like it, LOL) so just having something new to try was exciting. In addition, we also had seafood paella, because I was craving it. A few years ago, we used to have paella at my Wowa's house in Batangas for Christmas. Recently, however, we've just opted to check in a hotel to celebrate, since my aunt's passing and my Wowa's accident. The staycation is less of a hassle for everyone, and it's great because we get to eat out. But of course I still miss Wowa's paella, so this was a great way of being reminded of the good ol' holidays :)

The cheese was good, but to no one's surprise, I still didn't like blue cheese. #uncultured :)) It reminded me of an awkward moment of mine when we had a trip to Amish Country in Ohio a few years back. The elderly in the community were showing us their products, and being the polite (and naive) girl that I was, I tried out their samples. Wrong move to go for the "cookies-and-cream-looking" cheese! I couldn't hide the disgust on my face! And while I uttered my revulsion in straight Tagalog ("Ang panget ng lasaaaa!!"), I'm pretty sure they could tell I was not pleased. I still carry the Amish grandma's disappointed face with me every single day of my life :))

...sorry, I digress!

Anyway, I am not ashamed to say that Louie and I almost finished everything. I wish I had a better word for delicious, because it all tasted so, so good. That, or we were just tired and hungry because traffic along EDSA is terrible! And justthat in general 2016 was such a mess, so we felt like we deserved to wolf down a meal to reward ourselves for surviving it! :))

But no, really, the food and wine was fantastic.






Jologs Girl fun fact: This VIP room was the exact spot where James and Nadine officially became a couple! Hahahaha! :)) More than all the fancy stuff, this little trivia was what took the cake! :)) Thank goodness for Louie who understands my #fangirl heart. :))




I guess that's it for our 4th Christmas dinner together. It was quite a year for all of us but at the end of the day, there are still many, many things to be thankful for. It's good to be reminded of that every once in a while :)

Happy holidays! ♥

Hello, I'm Karla Bernardo. If you Google my name, you will find the Wikipedia entry of a Canadian serial-killer (and trust me, you do not want to read about that - but I'm sure you will because now you're curious), which is why I suggest you type Bombastarr instead so you can stalk me better.

I spent eight-and-a-half years of my life in the University of the Philippines, where I graduated with degrees in Creative Writing and Juris Doctor. It is also where I learned how to speak a bit of Italian, got a taste of the best tapsilog, and took striptease for PE.

I love telling stories, as much as I enjoy finding them.

<center><font style="color: #ffffff;">____</font>Want <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/09096636074047764491">more</a>?</center><br>

Featured Works

Stargirl (Cover story for Nadine Lustre, Scout, January-February 2017)
Surreal / So Real (at Scout)
Ode to a Great Love's 17-year-old Self (Love.Life, Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Postcard from Diliman (Youngblood, Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Writer for Philippine Law Register
A Call to Arms (January 2017)
Expecting the Expected (March 2016)

Former Writer for Stache Magazine
The Hero's Journey (June 2013)
The 8 People You Become In Your Youth (June 2013)
The Best Bad Idea That Is Argo (April 2013)
Mike Ross Remembers Everything You Don't (August 2012)
Style Between the Riffs (August 2012)
Book Lovers Never Sleep Alone (June 2012)
A Spectrum of Change (December 2011)
Digital Art (October 2011)
Elements of Style (June 2011)
In Her White Dress (All-Art April 2011 issue)

Morning After Pill (Fervore: Literary Folio 2013, UP Portia Sorority)
How To Make a Blueberry Cheesecake (Kalas: Kalasag Literary Folio 2011, UP College of Arts and Letters)
January 14th (100: The Hundreds Project, UP Writer's Club)

An Ode to The Pillow Book (at New-Slang)
Introductions (at TeenInk)
One by One (at TeenInk)

   

Recently

December in UP
Light up the stage
What today was
Timelines
i'll make it to the moon if i have to crawl
blues, grays, and permutations thereof
in a mile you'll be feeling fine
Everyday is a Sunday Evening
Lightning strikes every time she moves
A glimpse of the SC Justice Zone Project

This Is How It Doesn't Start

this is how it doesn't start, in eleven parts

Labels

An attempt at poetry; Books; Bullets; Creative nonfiction; CW; Featured; Feeble attempts at poetry; Fiction; Finger exercises; Law school; Mixtape; Playwriting; Poetry; Senioritis; Shuffle Wednesdays; Summer; The Pillow Book; Thesis; UP

Archives

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Got a comment, question, violent reaction, love letter, or random piece of information you want to share with me? Just fire away. I don't bite.

(I changed my form and went back to Freedback because Ask.fm's being a bitch, requiring people to sign up for accounts before asking questions. Because I love you guys, I tweaked my ask box a bit, so that the questions will now go directly to my e-mail, but I'll be posting the answers still on my Ask.fm for convenience. TL;DR - I'll still be getting your questions so no worries. You're still free to harass me / send me your love.)

Answers

Most Frequently Asked Question

Are you a pornstar?
No, I am not a pornstar, stripper, or your friendly neighborhood call girl. It's just a fancy pseudonym with a long history, and two R's. Rawr.

Bombastarr is my personal blog and my little corner in the Internet since 2005. Yes, I started writing here when I was 13 years old (aka when I was very angsty, hormonal, and always gushing at the littlest things) -- ergo, you'd have to forgive me if you come across an old post that reeks of immaturity and slightly unpolished grammar. I did a lot of growing up here, and from the looks of it, there's still a lot of growing up to do, so I don't think I'll be leaving this place any time soon.

The domain, Bombastarr.com, was purchased on June 2014 and launched on July 2014, on the blog's ninth year (and fifth month, to be exact).

It's crazy to think that this blog is now thirteen years old, because (1) that seems like an eternity in internet years, and (2) that means if my blog were a kid, it's a teenager! That's insane.

Here's to more tales, explosive and otherwise.

If you've been living under a rock and think I'm a threat to world peace or an object of covetousness, sorry to disappoint you, folks: it's just a fancy pseudonym.

As in most things, it started in high school. It began as a joke between me and a couple of friends during our freshman year. We were practicing for a field demonstration dance which involved the use of shawls, and being the crazy-always-trying-to-be-funny person that I was (or I always attempted to be) I started doing poses with the garment. Someone started taking my picture using my phone, and one shot looked like I was posing for those B-list movies (or should it be R-list, as in R-rated?) of the vegetable-nomenclature variety. #IKYWIM. Hence, the word, "Bombastarr." Yes, very cheeky, I know, but for a 13-year-old, it was quirky enough to figure as a username. That was 2005, right around the time I trying to decide on a URL for a new blog. It's been a lot of years since, and what started as a joke became something I've eventually embraced as an identity.

Despite the many other chances I've gotten to permanently move (to Multiply, Livejournal, Tumblr, Wordpress; to a bigger platform where I can earn or use the blog as a venue for commerce), I've come to realize that Bombastarr is something I can never truly leave behind. It is a place I've grown to appreciate and love because it is a place I can call my own. It's a venue for my rants, my views, my writing. It is home, and it is who I am.

Bombastarr is a glimpse of my life: the thoughts, ideas, and stories that shape it into what it is, and what it will still become. This journal has been with me for all my crazy, often embarrassing adventures, but I'm sure there will be more anecdotes and feelings and people to write about. Which is something I'm really looking forward to. After all, you know what they say about the greatest stories - sometimes, there's still a lot that's left unwritten.

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