December 2011
1 post
November 2011
2 posts
6 tags
The joys of snail mail
A few weeks ago I ordered The Ballad of Paper Ships, a collection of gorgeous moody folk songs by Odessa Chen, a super-talented Bay Area singer-songwriter. She even took the time to write a note! yay free shipping! Doesn’t that just make you feel all warm and fuzzy? You can’t replicate this sort of experience on iTunes or Spotify. Odessa’s album is supposed to come out...
6 tags
Songwriters' haven: my experience at The Texas...
(me :P )
A few months ago I entered a performing songwriter competition held by the organizers of the Texas Independent Music Expo (TIME) in Dallas, Texas. Ultimately, I wasn’t chosen as one of the ten finalists (but I got honorable menton woot!) but I thought it would be fun to attend the actual expo.
My dad and I headed out early morning Saturday to start our 3 hour trek to Dallas....
October 2011
1 post
July 2011
3 posts
7 tags
Jammin' with FOLK U! Backless to School
Wooo! A music post! Yes, I still play music, and lovin’ it! :)
Last Tuesday, I played at the monthly FOLK U! showcase, subtitled “Backless to School” and held at Route 196. FOLK U! is an amazing haven for singer-songwriters who desire a safe space and attentive listeners to share their original music with. It’s definitely one of the things that I will miss when I...
8 tags
The last orientation: Cavite!
Man, I write my posts like I’m the screenplay writer for Memento. So this actually happened the day before I left for Palawan; Friday, June 17th was the scheduled day for the last of the on-site trainings and orientations for the worms project I’m assisting with at the NIH, taking place in Cavite.
Cavite is a province two hours southwest of Manila, just past Tagaytay (a popular...
8 tags
Pretty Pretty Palawan!
A couple of weekends ago I went to Palawan, which is a group of gorgeous islands southwest of Luzon. It was a spur of the moment sort of thing; a group of med students from Pittsburgh doing research with the NIH (where I work) invited me to come along, and it sounded like fun :) I met the med students at the Puerto Princesa airport; once we were all there I used my Tagalog to help haggle down...
June 2011
6 posts
Fulbright Flashback #2: Business and pleasure in...
Second on the flashback list is my end-of-March trip to Baguio, an idyllic mountain city 6 hours north of Manila. What sort of business brings me there, you ask? Well, Baguio is one of the six research sites targeted by the study I’m attached to on worm infections in adolescent females (see my previous post on the trainings in Tacloban and Cebu).
Preparing each site for the demands of...
9 tags
Fulbright Flashback #1: or, "how I somehow got...
Hello, and welcome to Fulbright Flashbacks! As I approach these last (eight) weeks of my Fulbright grant, I’ve decided to take the time to backblog a few cool things that I’ve experienced these past few months in the Philippines.
First up on the list is the conquering of Mt. Apo back in mid-March. The tallest mountain in the Philippines, standing at 9,692 feet, Mt. Apo is no walk...
WatchI <3 Bon Iver. Like, man crush on Justin Vernon-level of <3. And this performance of “Skinny Love” makes me smile like no other :)
9 tags
Double whammy in the Visayas: two trainings, two...
(packing for orientations. Lord help(ed) us.)
(Bear with me, this happened about a month ago :) But I should be keeping a better record of what I’m doing research-wise, so here ya go!)
Quick recap: my main Fulbright research is a Department of Health-funded study on worm infections in adolescent females and pregnant women. My role in the project is volunteer research assistant, while my...
bicol-deactivated20110628 asked: what's up in the music world of andrewplan?
February 2011
1 post
What am I up to with my research?
team meeting at the National Institutes of Health. yay for Powerpoint!
I love how my last post is titled “Three weeks in…” and now it’s literally three months in. I can’t believe I’m already a third of the way through my grant — in many ways, I feel like I’ve just started to settle into my little life here in Manila, physically, mentally and...
December 2010
3 posts
wooo gusto ko Christmas Break!! :)
the first three weeks or so
(told you I’d show you the sunrise!)
Man, this is what I get for procrastinating; so many thoughts running around without a home.
Living alone has been pretty good; my summer in Mirrilees honed my stirfry skills well, so I get my share of veggies during the week. Every day is full of little victories, like buying groceries with my Tagalog at the San Andres market or managing a trip...
bicol-deactivated20110628 asked: why you such a jerkface? hehe. :)
November 2010
4 posts
7 tags
Week 9: the funnel of free + looking back on the...
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6 tags
Greetings from Manila!
my favorite food on this earth: sisig. mmmmmmm
my little studio (or as my cousin likes to call it, the bachelor pad)
I can’t believe I’m finally here. Well I’m here, but I’m not quite here yet, if that makes any sense (probably doesn’t).
It’s the second day of my nine months here in the Philippines for my Fulbright fellowship, and I’m...
9 tags
The U.S. Farewell show: a recap.
Two Fridays ago was my last show in the United States.
Ok, well for 9 months anyways. #melodramatic
I had this show at Red Rock booked for a couple of months now; it’s my favorite venue to play in the Bay Area, as it’s got a really nice, chill vibe and cool patrons. If I was going to bow out from the U.S. for a while, I might as well do it in a space I love playing in. The evening...
October 2010
13 posts
Year of Song #9: Porcelain
hey all! my...
Year of Song #8: Piggyback Ride
From mid-August...
7 tags
Week 7 of Music Success in Nine Weeks: build,...
This week was intense! There’s a reason why Ariel suggests that you set aside only a few times a month to really build the email list.
So what was I doing to build my email list? Facebook messages. Lots and lots (LAL?) of messages. I felt like I was actually living online. Only the sunlight and eating differentiated me from that dude in their parents’ basement.
When I...
“Pay no attention to what the critics say… Remember, a statue has never been set...”
– Jean Sibelius (via livejamie)
7 tags
Week 8 of Music Success in Nine Weeks: networking...
This week of Music Success in Nine Weeks focused on networking. And boy, what a week it was — probably the most draining yet profound week of MSiNW.
Why?
Networking is like fundraising — you pitch yourself, do the “ask,” and follow up if necessary. And as I’ve learned time and time again, it’s really important that you yourself are settled in your...
Year of Song #7: Say Yes or Say No
this is a...
Year of Song #2: “Paris”
...
7 tags
Week 6 of Music Success in Nine Weeks: the human...
Ah, this was a fun one. This week of Music Success in Nine Weeks (MSi9W) centered around connecting with fans through the ol’ mailing list.
Before beginning with the MSi9W program, I had a mailing list set up through HostBaby but barely used it at all. Like a lot of musicians, I don’t really comfortable sending out emails to the list unless I feel like I have something to talk...
Year of Song #6: “One of the Boys”
...
Show at Red Vic today, 8:20 PM!!! details here: http://ping.fm/cdG70
September 2010
15 posts
11 tags
Week 5 of Music Success in Nine Weeks: omgosh...
For those of you following along, I’ve been working steadily through ArielPR’s Music Success in Nine Weeks (MSi9W) to establish a foundation for my career as a singer-songwriter. Week 5 of MSi9W focuses on the epic topic of blogging; bloggers and their content constitute a major pillar of the contemporary music community, so it’s really imperative that artists learn how to...
8 tags
Year of Song, Week 5: “Who’s Your...
1 tag
charice owned glee. soo good. pinoypride
11 tags
Reflections, Part 5
So I didn’t make this clear earlier on, but all four projects (Philippines, Thailand, Saigon, and Hanoi) are all happening pretty much concurrently. Unfortunately, this means that I was only able to make it for the last three days of Project Vietnam-Hanoi 2010 (PV-Hanoi). It’s a shame, but hey, better late than never, right? Right. At the Hanoi airport, I was greeted by a...
15 tags
Week 4 of Music Success in Nine Weeks: navigating...
Oh man, is social media overwhelming—
ahhhh, no. Gotta stay positive :P
This week’s chapter of ArielPR’s Music Success in Nine Weeks (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for all working musicians) is dedicated to helping musicians navigate the constant flux that is Web 2.0. Web 2.0 refers to the rising of interactive social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc. that have...
12 tags
Reflections, Part 4
Ho Chi Minh is a fun place to be. There’s really nothing like it — crossing the street is a dance with death, a tense tengo with the thousands of motorcycles that take the place of public transportation. I stayed at my friend Tu’s place, which has a gorgeous view of her neighborhood. And there’s a market right outside where she lives! So cool. Stepping foot out of...
11 tags
Reflections, Part 3
dude plays a mean “House of the Rising Sun.”
Ah, the city of a thousand motors.
Ho Chi Minh City quickly overwhelmed my senses as I made my way to the hotel where the Project Vietnam-Saigon team is staying. With the help of the team member who picked me up from the airport, I dropped off my bags and camped out at the nearby Highlands Coffee till the rest of the team returned...
14 tags
Week 3: let's optimize! (my website)
Aha, so I know this is two weeks late. But the way I see it, I’ve been working on weeks 3, 4, and 5 concurrently so I’ll be caught up by the end of the week.
But yes, this blog is about week 3 of Music Success in Nine Weeks, which talks about optimizing the music artist’s website. Let’s get on with it then…
For the past year or so I’ve been running a site...
10 tags
Year of Song #4: Family Is King
“Family...
7 tags
Week 2: Pitch, Pitch, Pitch!
(this was supposed to be up week 2, around 8/15, but for some reason it didn’t go through to Tumblr server. oy, technical difficulties…)
So this blog entry is a bit late; I’ve been running around Southeast Asia, helping out with service projects run by SEALNet, the Southeast Asian Service Leadership Network. A few hours ago I left a project site in Lampang, Bangkok and am now on my...
Reflections, Part 2
Disclaimer: this post and subsequent parts are about my project-hopping trip as a co-president of the Stanford chapter of SEALNet, the Southeast Asian Service Leadership Network, which brings together college students from around the world to carry out service leadership projects that strive to serve communities in Southeast Asia and empower high school students with the tools for positive...
Reflections, Part 1
“humility starts with a smile.” — student of Cebu National High School.
Disclaimer: this post and subsequent parts are about my project-hopping trip as a co-president of the Stanford chapter of SEALNet, the Southeast Asian Service Leadership Network, which brings together college students from around the world to carry out service leadership projects that strive to serve...
7 tags
Year of Song #3: “Wherever love...
August 2010
3 posts
