hello blogging!

wow. it's been months since i last visited my blog. And hell how I missed blogging! thanks to all those who visited, marked their presence and commented on my posts. Really thank you!

I'm back on blogging now. I really missed you all!

Sophomore na nga pala ako. Can you believe it? I'll be psyching minds in the future. Yes! Made it in CHD-BS Psychology. hahaha!

missed you all!

To the Guardians

Hello grannies, grandpas, ate Nora and kuya Pao. How’s business up there? Have you met FPJ, Jose Rizal and Ninoy Aquino? Have they told you their stories? Life’s a bit rough down here. There were serious problems that come and go, issues left to be discussed and solved, and food scares busying the air waves. But don’t worry about us, we’re all fine and we haven’t had food with melamine nor formalin in it. I wrote this letter to report to you the things that had happened when you guys left. It was difficult for us to adjust to the mere fact that you are physically absent. We sobbed pails or tears to ease out the pain we felt when we knew you’re not coming back. I can’t explain how much pain we had suffered and how long it took us to pick ourselves up. I do not mean you guys had caused us so much pain when you left, it’s just that, we love you a lot, that’s why it has been a long way for us to recuperate from the days of dull.

When you left, there were changes, and there were also the things remained unchanged. Nanay, your house just got renovated; it stands out among the neighborhood for its cool green paint. And Tatay’s and Franz’s remains were moved to a close bone and ash repository near you. And you got another apo from kuya Ajjie, her name is Erica Skye, she looks like IC when she was at the same age. She is turning a year old in November. Kuya Ajjie, by the way, is planning to settle with Ate Joan, an officemate at the company he works in. Mom, Pops and Tita Rose are okay now. They forgot about the old age fights. Chinie and I are in the same university. I’m on my first year while she’s on her third year in Psychology. Mara graduated in elementary, she’s on her third year in high school. Francis got circumcised (hahaha, blimey, he had a hard time moving around the house.) Tita Olive, Tito Joel, and Joey finally migrated in Las Vegas. Joey has grown a lot, and Tita O mailed us-Joey is a straight A student in his school. He said he was lucky he knows how to speak Tagalog because he has Filipino classmates who can’t. Tita O’s house was intruded, and is still on the process of investigation (you know how slow the processes are here.)What else, ah, Ate Trins is getting married in March with his Muslim boyfriend Amir. What’s so cool is that they don’t have problems about their religious and cultural differences. I hope these don’t get in the way the moment they get married. So there you go. A lot has happened, right? But in all these momentous events, you guys are remembered. You all are a part of it.
We really miss you. I know death is a natural phenomenon, but we won’t let death burn the bridges of our love to you. The turn of the century was really difficult for us. But we thank you for guiding us always and for interceding for us. We love you.

Nanay, we love you very much. Mama is just very lucky to have you as her mother. She inherited your great cooking skills. By the way, everybody has been attempting to make your Maja Blanca during get-togethers, but no one has successfully made the same Maja Blanca you make.
Tatay, though you passed away 20 years right before I was born, I look up to you. I’m amazed on how you brought up your eight totally different kids and how you raised your children to the persons they are right now.
Ate Nora, thank you for being the second mother to me. Thank you for taking care of me when I was a baby. Thank you for showing great patience for a brat like me. I never told you this but I really love you.
Lola, though we’ve spent little time together, you know how much I love you. I look up to you. Without you, I could never have the best father in the whole world.
Lolo, I really miss you! Christmas is getting near, it’s your birthday on Christmas! I really miss the days when we exchange Christmas cards and gifts, and your voice when you call us telling you have sent us gifts for our birthdays. I’ll continue your dream for Tito Rey. Love you, lo.

Kuya Pao, you’re unfair. How could you leave so soon? Mama and Papa had a hard time recovering from the pain. Until now, they’re still crying about the fact you’re not physically with us in our new house. It’s been five years, but it still pains us to see a vivid picture of you gasping for life. Francis is acting like you when you were his age. He’s 15 now, and he acts exactly like you. Remember our major fight? When you shot a pencil toward me and it has nearly blinded my right eye? I still have the pencil mark a millimeter away from the corner of my eye. But I’m thankful you did it. Because it taught me, a kuya will always be a kuya. I miss the days when we go to school together, when you drag me by the neck when we cross the streets. When I got in 4th year high school, my teachers were your teachers when you were in your 3rd year. Remember Ms. Galang, the one who embarrassed you in your class? She was my adviser. Mrs. Tare, Mr. Octavo, Sir Jove and Ms. Regala knows I am your sister. You left a mark in E.S.P.S. Haha. Remember your favorite song? “Now this looks like a job for me so everybody, just follow me coz’ we need a little controversy coz’ it feels so empty without me.” Yes, it really feels empty without you, kuya Pao. We love you sooooo much.

Until we meet again, guys. You are loved, being loved, and will always be loved and remembered.

A New, Clean Slate

1st semester has officially ended, as I sweaty registered myself in for the 2nd semester of College of Liberal Arts. It’s a fulfilling chapter for me as a student, because through it I knew I can survive in college. On the flipside, it was difficult because starting another semester in college is a stepping stone, meaning, things would be much difficult and challenging. As I write this, my phone keeps vibrating on the class card-cluttered desk, which means it is being bombarded with messages from my block mates. But this time the messages isn’t the usual “ano homework?” nor the “good morning!” messages. They were messages of “thank you”, “sorry” and “I’ll miss you.” On the next days, we won’t be laughing at the same jokes anymore, nor can we share the same table for lunch because for the next semester, we won’t be in the same block again. We were re-sectioned according to our Grade Weighted Average (GWA). Being in one of the top classes doesn’t make me feel happy at all, because it is difficult to suddenly withdraw classmates-turned-friends from the daily scene of going to school. I will really miss the joke shows and “okray” sessions, and our favorite past time taking stolen pictures of drooling classmates and sleepyheads. But learning and fun doesn’t stop there. That is the reality and it has to be done. I must move on. My world doesn’t rotate by a single picture; it rotates because of a reason. And that reason must be known, that is why it has to be learned. But as I move on, I have with me memories and hopes that the friends I knew will be the same friends I’ll be meeting in the crossroads for the next years. I will truly miss my block mates, specially “kabaklaan” (it’s what our block mates call our group, because we mainly call each other bak or bakla, even if we have straight guy/s (you know what I mean, mga bak) in the group) Chai Retorta, Sarah Rosales, Jam Camaclang, Mark Quinto, Chiela Ramos, Joanna Perez, Alyssa Salanguit and Mike Timonera, if you’re reading this, ILY, mga bak!

This is just the beginning. At certain points in college, we’ll have to let go of friends and make new ones. But that doesn’t mean replacing friends to new ones. Remember that Soc. Sci line? “Man is a social animal.” The magic is adding more friends, keeping them, and loving them. It is just a question of belief and a matter of change. After all, we’ll be in the same school breathing the same air, learning the same ideals, and whining about the same Math “Happy” quizzes. After those eight semesters, we will be born to a bigger world which demands greater things from us, till we forget old friends, make new ones, and retrieve old friends from the hollows of forget. It’s not yet a goodbye for us, Block 29.

2nd Semester...Thrill or Shrill??

I got myself enrolled for the second semester. I can’t imagine how fast those five months passed. First day, I introduced myself to total strangers, the next day here I am saying my goodbyes to them, then the next day, I’ll be doing the same introduction to total strangers once again. The twist is, we were sorted according to our GWA, and I was transferred to one of the top blocks. I was shocked when I saw it in my registration form. I'm thankful, but I'm not that happy at all. So what are the things to look forward to in 2nd semester? NIRVANA. No College Algebra, Trigonometry’s turn, at last! It’s our turn to have our Natural Science 11 which happens to be Biology. I soooo love Biology. But the sad part is….drum roll…..CHEMISTRY FOR 5 UNITS! I happen to hate Chemistry when I was in high school. But the good news is, we had some Chemistry during the first semester, which would (hopefully) help us with this bloody 5-unit subject. Bad news, I failed to get in soccer for my P.E. because the enrollment system is unjust. Only blocks 1-20 are allowed to enroll in the morning, and enrolling for P.E. is a first-come-first-serve basis. Meaning, as exactly quoted from Mark “Latak na P.E.” The good news is, I am still left with choices: Ballroom, Philippine Folk Dance and Softball. I decided to take Softball instead of dances. I don’t like dancing that much and I think softball is just as fun as soccer. The good news about it is, D.O.M. P.E. professor is handling swimming, which means there’s no way he’ll be my professor in P.E. Yehey. My schedule, though, is just as hectic as it was. Well I guess I will have to wait for next year for a better schedule. Saturday is my day off, and I got three-and-a-half hours vacant before P.E. during Fridays.

Cooking Sinigang + more

To make some relevance out of my 17 days break from school, I took over the kitchens, and yes, I cooked. Well of course, with nerves as I stir the Sinigang soup. Well, it was worth the nerves because according to the mouths I fed, pwede na akong mag-asawa (remember that tv ad?), Hahaha. Not in the near future, of course.

It was totally scary cooking a "serious" food for the people here to eat for lunch. It would be much easier for me if I don't have anyone to share it with. Of course, I don't want to hear complaints about the food I cooked. That's worst case scenario for chef- wannabe like myself. Add in the fact that it is the first time I'll be cooking viand for 6 mouths, and the only thing I knew close to "serious" cooking is cooking instant noodles and hotdogs ( do you actually call it cooking?) and I can't even perfect frying sunny side up eggs. But hey, they said it's good.

The first thing I cooked was Ginisang Munggo. My tita just gave me the instructions on how it's cooked, and I just followed it. I was not satisfied, though. My tita said chewing the meat was like chewing bubble gum. But the taste wasn't bad.

Ginisang Munggo with Bubble Gum meat. haha.

And then the next day, I was asked again to cook and buy the ingredients for sinigang. Buying the ingredients was easy (of course, I have a list in my pocket courtesy of Tita Mar),but cooking was difficult. I was not sure about how much salt to put in, how long will it take for the pork to get cooked and the like. And then the hour came when I said to myself, "it's done." Judgment time. I was nervous (I felt like a contestant in Iron chef), but the judges had spoken, they said that my Sinigang was good. So there, I can proudly say I cooked Sinigang and Ginisang Munggo without asking help from anyone. (:

yum. (:

* * *

I checked my email today and a friend sent me this youtube url. Watch this vid, surely you'll be touched, if not, teary eyed.

Do you ever think
When you're all alone
All that we can be
Where this thing could go
Am I crazy or falling in love
Is it real or just another crush
Do you catch your breath
When I look at you
Are you holding back
Like the way I do
Cause I'm trying, trying to walk away
But I know this crush ain't going away, going away . . .
LSS. (:

I ♥ BLOGGER

Waaaaaa... At last, nakapag-online din ng walang ginagawang related sa school! I missed logging in my friendster account! I missed reading e-mails! I missed blogging! It's been a while...I missed you all!

Been out of the blogosphere because of school. Yes, college life demands more time and effort. First semester was really hectic for me that I failed to check on my e-mail, and my friendster account! If my memory serves me well, when I went online the last time, then number of e-mails in my inbox was 150 or so. Now, I will have to deal with 1309 e-mails. I even failed to check out my friendster account on my birthday. I still have birthday greetings left to be approved, and heck, it's October now, I don't think anyone would even care reading those comments considering my birthday was ages ago. I got approved by PPP ages ago but I still haven't accepted any jobs either.

So what happened during the days I was out? Not much. I went through my first collegiate mid-term and final exams smoothly, and finished 1 of my 8 semesters in college (hopefully), got my first classcards, celebrated my 18th birthday (yes, I'm an adult now), my tita who favored me most of the time passed away, and the latest and saddest event that had happened, my last grandparent alive is now dead. My lola Laly, who suffered from diabetes for years passed away on October 5. I remember, it was at the same month last year when my grandfather left us, right after my birthday. I dunno if my birthday is jinxed or what. So semestral break doesn't sound enthralling for me as much as it does for the other kids out there, now that I'm grandparent-less and left without anything to do. ):

I'll try to create a new layout for this blog to change the mood.

so there you have it. Not much, right?

The Show of the Century: Beijing Olypics Opening

I could have died if I missed to watch the opening of the seven-years-in-the-making Beijing Olympics opening. I don't have regrets watching the opening instead of cramming for next day's Natural Science mid-term exam. I would be totally disappointed if I missed watching (even if it's just on tv) the one-chance spectacular performances of thousands of Chinese people. My jaw dropped with wows while watching the show. Beijing Olympics definitely made me proud as an Asian. How I wish I was there witnessing the stunning performances, and breathing the pollution made by the fireworks. Kidding.

China's skies were illuminated with extraordinary sparkles and colorful glitters of fireworks. The fireworks were stunning and already a treat, in itself. What more about the well-planned and rehearsed performances from the Chinese kids to kids at heart?

Architects all over the world surely envies the architect/s behind the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube, the former is a stadium, and the latter, exclusively for sports event specially built for this year's Olympics.

The Bird's Nest

Water Cube

Watch: The Torch Lighting

The performances showcasing China's rich culture were amazing. The 2,008 drummers who were first to perform was the best. The huge scroll and painting, galing! The kid who sang China's national anthem was charming in her performance. The dominoe-like performance was amazing. The lighting of the torch, awesome! Everything is just superb and owerwhelming!

If you missed to watch the opening, I think you should allot some time to see the opening yourself, because if you don't, you'll surely regret it in your entire life.

To the minds behind the preparations and performances, congratulations and thank you for making us happy for 3 and a half hours.

London should prepare well for 2012 Olympics.

Good thing I was able to multi-task; watching the opening and studying at the same time. Haha.

Watch out world, here comes China to dominate you! Eat Beijing's pollution, er, space dusts!
kidding.
:)

Got approved by PPP!

I checked my e-mail today, and inspected each mails sent to me. Then I saw this:
This e-mail was sent June 24, and it's August already! I could have started earning points a month ago!But that's ok, the approval doesn't expire, anyway. (:

So about money-making, me and my ate are planning to sell printed shirts online, so I would like to know if you'll buy any of these shirts. haha.

Would you buy any of these? Please feel free to comment about the shirts. Thank you! (:

High School Musical on Ice Expee @ the Big Dome

I want fabulous! That is my simple request. Lalalala… HSM on Ice got me singing! Last Saturday, I watched High School Musical on Ice together with my cousins Mara, her ate Chinie, IC, Camille and Tita Rose. We got VIP upper box tickets from Tita Rose. VIP sounds cool, but there’s not much difference with the seats. Except that we got a better view of the stage more than anyone else. The show was just awesome! It reminded me that once when I was a kid, I wanted to be a figure skater. Haha.

It wasn’t much a surprise when we saw a crowd lining up for the show. But the audience is somewhat I haven’t expected. Darn it, I said, because I thought I don’t suit for the show anymore, it’s a show for the kids, not for teens-wishing-they-were-kids-again like myself. Tita Rose asked us if we want something to buy before we get inside, and pointed her lips toward the kiosk selling High School Musical stuffs. All the merchandises are cute, and Tita Rose thought of buying us anything we want. Hell yeah, the stuffs were all good, but the prices are a shock! How much would a bag of multi-colored cotton candy cost? Probably you’re thinking it’s around 40-60 pesos. Guess what? You’re totally wrong! The cotton candy costs two hundred bucks! I’m not kidding! How much would you think a snow cone that comes with a lighting tumbler cost? 50 pesos? 70? A hundred or two? WRONG! It costs 600 bucks! A wand costs 700, an HSM doll costs 800, an HSM tote bag , 900 ; HSM lollipop, 200; HSM coloring book, 300; finally an HSM shirt costs 1,200. The franchisers must be very good at making money, huh? Also, seeing foreigners sell the stuffs was a treat. It was like Divisoria in Cubao. There was this foreigner who sells an HSM book which costs 250, with his chant “bumili na po kayo, mga ma’am” which was delivered with no twangs at all. If that man competed against Ruffa Gutierrez in a Filipino diction competition, Ruffa will surely lose by a total knock out. So after pondering over how the stuffs were priced, we decided to take a picture of the kiosk instead, then we got inside the coliseum.

I thought the show is going to be a bore, but I was totally wrong! The songs got me singing and the skaters got me wanting for more twirls and glides. I enjoyed the sweet laughter of the kids around me, moms asking their children if they were enjoying the show, and the loud screams and tweaks from the audience. I enjoyed everything! What’s so cool about the show is that, if you have watched both films, HSM 1 and 2, you will surely expect that the dance steps performed in the movie will be shown as well on the show. They were able to put the dances on the show with a twist of skating. The casts wore the same clothes, the props are well made and thought of and the effects are WOW. You’ll be surely amazed with the slow-mo basketball game of the wild cats, snowing of basketball balls, and the “kilig-factor” of Gabriela and Troy. The cast portrayed the characters well, and what’s more amazing about the show is that they were able to squeeze in both films in just a couple and a half hour without missing any important scenes in the movie. We were able to take some vids and pics of the show using camera phones and IC’s mp4. But heck, phones and mp4 were useless; they were either out of memory space or low batt. It’s a pity I was not able to bring a camera. Hay, sayang! I’ll post some of the pics and vids on my next post.

After the show, me and my cousins had our very own show as well. It’s called Mayhem in Highschool Musical on Ice. Hahaha! Why? Here’s the story:
After the show, we decided to take some groups pics with the stage being the background. Chinie decided to go farther to get a better angle of the stage, stepped on the seat, and accidentally slipped in between the seats. We were some of the few who went out last, and the staffs were starting to fix the stage for the next show. So we laughed so loud that it echoed inside the stadium! Chinie got a cut on her big toe for the price of taking a souvenir pic of the show. Since she was teary-eyed because of her toe, we went out. It was noticeable that there’s something wrong on her foot because of the way she walks, then a kid approached her and said: “can you dance?” The kid might have noticed the way she walks. Then Chinie said these words: “dumudugo na nga paa ko baka duguin na din yung ilong ko” We laughed so loud that everyone ahead of us looked back.

To conclude that never-to-forget experience, here are some of the things you will get from a VIP access:
1. a better view of the stage
2. a cut on the toe
3. nosebleed
4. Last but not the least, embarrassment.
Hahaha!

For Sunday’s CWTS, we had a getting to know activity. We’re asked to write our first impression on a paper posted on our backs. Here’s my paper (sorry for the creases, I’ve just scanned it) and look at my classmates’ first impression on me. Tahimik ba talaga ako? Hindi yata…ako makakapayag. Tsk..tsk..

Share ko lang... my pamangkin..Erica Skye...cute nya no?? (:

First quarter pa lang!

The first month of being a college student was- well, rough. Count in the chief reason of going to school six days straight, plus the NSTP-CWTS that bores me out every Sunday afternoon which was once a nirvana-a picture of my couch potato self every lazy Sunday afternoon back in high school, plus college algebra, plus the eye bags and dark circles around my eyes. And oh, add in a few classmates who irritate me and a professor who does nothing but talk about sex and preach things about the bible at the same time. Crap.

College is truly something one must consider taking seriously. It will decide on what sort of future you will live- the prosperous life or the lining-up-for-NFA-rice one. Adjusting is difficult; you will have to cope with the new environment, because everything and everyone will have no interest with adjusting for you like how it’s like in high school. There are people whom you will easily get along with, and there are also the ones whom you wouldn’t dare talking or fighting with for the sake of peace and unity. There are great professors who really do what is due doing, and there are some who does nothing but talk garbage and waste hours with unrelated things to the subject which could have been wisely used for sleeping and doing much important stuffs.

And the greatest thing I whine about- my P.E. professor. Why? Mainly because he’s a pervert. He does nothing but utter awful words, talk about sex and human genitals, and, ironically speaking, evangelize us with the ideas of his bible (or self-written bible, I dunno where on earth did he find such ideas, considering that he’s a Catholic), instead of making us do warm ups, play sports or whatever physical activities. I could have been happier if I jog around the campus for an hour instead of hearing his unbearable talks. He was saying blasphemous things about God and Virgin Mary. Like, he clearly stated that Mary was not a virgin. He said that after giving birth to Jesus, she had sons and daughters with Joseph, reached old age and died as opposed to the dogma that Mary assumed into heaven, with flesh and blood, after the ascension of her child Jesus to heaven. Hearing things like this has become excruciating and it was like hitting below the belt. Being a Catholic myself, those things he says are offensive. I don’t have problems with my faith (I thank my school for this), what I worry the most is that, his profane words might deceive people. Grrrr… I think I can’t do anything about it for the mean time. I will just have to hum my favorite song for the next two months whenever he talks. I don’t want to drop any of my subjects, either, but the moment I ran out of patience, I won’t have two minds of dropping his class (it’s not even that important) and report him in the Office of Student Development Services (OSDS) even without the consent of my parents. Hayyyy…

College could have been better for me if, and only if:
5. there are no “maarte” classmates
4. there is a storm signal number four in Gen. Luna cor. Muralla St. in Intramuros every Sunday afternoon, if not, rallyist should rally in Dep’t of Labor and Employment Intramuros 1 pm every Sunday.
3. College Algebra is not a prerequisite to Trigonometry
2. No Prof. D.O.M.
1. SM Manila was just a step away from PLM

So another thing, I took the Ang Pamantasan Examination (APEX), the exams for the new staffers of PLMs official student publication, and blimey, it’s the first time I had a blast in written exams! The test is divided into four parts: the editorial/ opinion, news writing, Feature/ Sports News, and Literature/ Filipino writing, respectively. I enjoyed working on everything. The opinion writing was about student activism in school papers. The next one is News Writing. In here we were asked to look for news around the campus for thirty minutes. By that exact time the task was given, a stock room in GK was on fire. So I decided to write about it, together with my news buddy Ate Chelle from College of Mass Comm. We immediately went to GK to look for someone to interview, but we failed to look for one. We proceeded to the Activity Center and there was someone announcing suspension of classes on affected buildings. After he made his announcements, we threw a lot of questions to him about the fire. Until I asked my last question: “Sir, ano po pangalan nila?” And then the good man told us: “Isulat niyo, Atty. Ernesto Maceda Jr.” Crap. I didn’t have any idea that he was PLM’s Vice President! So with a red face and a never-to-be-forgotten shame, I went off to write my news. That is definitely an experience I will never ever forget. The results were given, and I passed the written exam! The last test, the panel interview, will decide on our fate in the paper. The panel interview is no joke; the editors of each section will be the interviewers together with the editor-in-chief of Manila Bulletin, whose office happens to be beside PLM. Cool huh?

Last one. There was this activist girl who happens to be a year younger than me who tried to recruit me in their group. I met her in APEX and she happens to be my buddy in feature writing. She really speaks very well that all I knew was utter the word wow. But my parents reminded me very well not to join any unofficial group, and I still love my life. Haha.

Hala...1 week 'til midterm... goodluck na lang sa'kin... (:

Hayyy.. Pagod!
(: