The post I was writing as a year ender was wiped out by a freak voltage drop so I'll just settle for greeting you guys

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! GOOD BYE 2006 HELLO 2007!!!

Blogthings
This quizzes I found out from Icai are amusingly right most,if not all of the time. Try some for yourselves. They tell you alot of things about yourself(most in my case I already know. hehe) Here are some of mine.

This one made me laugh. Alot of things here made sense (to me) :P

Your Life Path Number is 9

Your purpose in life is to make the world better You are very socially conscious and a total idealist. You think there are many things wrong with the world, and you want to fix them. You have a big idea of how to world could be, and you'll sacrifice almost anything to work towards this dream. In love, you can easily see the beauty in someone else. And you never cling too tightly. You are capable of great love, but it's hard for you to focus your love on one person or relationship. You have a lot of outward focus, and you tend to blame the world for your failures. You are often disappointed by the realities of life - it's hard for you to accept the shortcomings of the world.

What Is Your Life Path Number?

Already Expected this one. Hehe

You Are A Romantic

You life your life like a fairy tale... or at least you try to. Living for magical moments, you believe there's only one true love for you. Love is the most important thing in your life, and you don't take it for granted. Your perfect match loves to be in love as much as you do!

Are You Romantic or Realistic?

That was amazingly short. And amazingly quite true?

Your Personality Profile

You are funky, outdoorsy, and down to earth. While you may not be a total hippie... You're definitely one of the most free spirited people around. You are very impulsive - every day is a new adventure. However, you do put some thought behind all your actions. Still, you do tend to shock and offend people from time to time!

The World's Shortest Personality Test

Cool. Hehe

You Have Fantastic Karma

You are a kind, sensitive, and giving person. And all your good deeds will pay off - if they haven't already. But you're not so concerned with what you get in return anyway. You have an innate caring nature - and nothing can change that!

How's Your Karma?

Uhuh...

You Are a Prophet Soul

You are a gentle soul, with good intentions toward everyone. Selfless and kind, you have great faith in people. Sometimes this faith can lead to disappoinment in the long run. No matter what, you deal with everything in a calm and balanced way. You are a good interpreter, very sensitive, intuitive, caring, and gentle. Concerned about the world, you are good at predicting people's feelings. A seeker of wisdom, you are a life long learner looking for purpose and meaning. You are a great thinker and communicator, but not necessarily a doer. Souls you are most compatible with: Bright Star Soul and Dreaming Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

People Envy Your Compassion

You have a kind heart and an unusual empathy for all living creatures. You tend to absorb others' happiness and pain. People envy your compassion, and more importantly, the connections it helps you build. And compassionate as you are, you feel for them.

What Do People Envy About You?

Makes sense...

Your Five Factor Personality Profile

Extroversion: You have medium extroversion. You're not the life of the party, but you do show up for the party. Sometimes you are full of energy and open to new social experiences. But you also need to hibernate and enjoy your "down time." Conscientiousness: You have low conscientiousness. Impulsive and off the wall, you don't take life too seriously. Unfortunately, you sometimes end up regretting your snap decisions. Overall, you tend to lack focus, and it's difficult for you to get important things done. Agreeableness: You have high agreeableness. You are easy to get along with, and you value harmony highly. Helpful and generous, you are willing to compromise with almost anyone. You give people the benefit of the doubt and don't mind giving someone a second chance. Neuroticism: You have low neuroticism. You are very emotionally stable and mentally together. Only the greatest setbacks upset you, and you bounce back quickly. Overall, you are typically calm and relaxed - making others feel secure. Openness to experience: Your openness to new experiences is medium. You are generally broad minded when it come to new things. But if something crosses a moral line, there's no way you'll approve of it. You are suspicious of anything too wacky, though you do still consider creativity a virtue.

The Five Factor Personality Test

Well...

You Are An INFP

The Idealist You are creative with a great imagination, living in your own inner world. Open minded and accepting, you strive for harmony in your important relationships. It takes a long time for people to get to know you. You are hesitant to let people get close. But once you care for someone, you do everything you can to help them grow and develop. You would make an excellent writer, psychologist, or artist.

What's Your Personality Type?

COOL. I always wondered what will I be in the cast of Narnia. Hehe

You Are a Centaur

In general, you are a very cautious and reserved person. However, you are also warm hearted, and you enjoy helping others in practical ways. You are a great teacher, and you are really good at helping people get their lives in order. You are very intuitive, and you go with your gut. You make good decisions easily.

What Mythological Creature Are You?

If I do have leadership skills, then this quiz was true: it is hidden

Your Hidden Talent

You have the power to persuade and influence others. You're the type of person who can turn a whole room around. The potential for great leadership is there, as long as you don't abuse it. Always remember, you have a lot more power over people than you might think!

What's Your Hidden Talent?

Small but Terrible. Haha

Star Wars Horoscope for Sagittarius

You are superbly wise and have been known to spread your wisdom widely. You are impatient and pushy when people take your teachings too lightly. And your philosophical side always peeks through. Star wars character you are most like: Yoda

What Is Your Star Wars Horoscope?

There are actually more I tried, but too many to share. Hehe

Merry Merry Christmas!!!
Turned 17, Shattered delusions – the best birthday gift I ever got

It's been 10 days since my birthday and I've been putting off updating my blog because I either wasn't feeling too industrious to type or was just too bored to do it, but mostly because of Christmas parties. My birthday always coincides with Christmas parties. Now I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing; good because it frees me (most of the time) from the responsibility of treating people and bad because it means people won’t be giving me two gifts. I don’t really mind (/care) if people don’t give me gifts. I’m not materialistic. What I do appreciate are experiences, and with this set of parties the experiences were amazing.

My block really had to set our Christmas party on my birthday, and initially I didn’t like it. The Christmas party though was a blast. We had it in Icai’s house, which is now on my list of top 10 largest houses I’ve seen. Anyway, from 8 to 12mn we just ate, played pool sang along, rough housed around and generally bonded. Well, that’s what most people did. There was something else behind closed doors. Continuing, it was a great experience because it was the time I really felt that I was finally “part of the block.” It’s hard to explain. See from the start I’ve felt that I was “detached” from my block. I felt there was some kind of wall preventing me from being close with them. I may not be making sense, but again, it’s hard to explain. But with this party we had I had the opportunity to finally shatter that wall down and open up to the block.

My second Christmas party was with ESS. As usual it was really fun because this time we had a kiddie party theme. We had some weird kiddie games and good food that made party a blast. It was different because I was entertaining a stalker…hehe

Third was back with my old high school. Yeah, I finally accepted the fact that I’m a graduate from high school and should move on, but hey, I’m an alumnus. I could sill come back.

These last 2 and a half weeks have been a whirlwind. There was this thing the week before up to my birthday that began the shattering of my old perspective in life in to something new. It was a lesson 10 months in the making, well, not counting the 2 years leading up to that 10 months, but it was worth it. I’m not one to whine about my problems concerning love life, and I won’t. It’s just this one…hah…this one...I’ll just say Fate’s a bitch. But whatever it was, however it felt it was worth it. To gain a new perspective, to have my neo-classical delusions of romantic and idealistic grandeur brutally shattered by the stone hammer of reality and practicality, was worth it. Mind you, it doesn’t mean I lost my romantic and idealistic view of life, it just means it’s now in a new light, like those priceless vases they said are shattered first and put back together before they are considered masterpieces. I had to look stupid in front of a girl, yes, but it was worth it. On second thought, it wasn’t just this time I looked stupid in front of that girl - I've looked stupid in front of her for countless times. Maybe this time will be the last. But now I’ll walk away having learned a life lesson. All things change. She gave me the best present of all, and she doesn’t even know it…

Birthday song: Kung Ayaw Mo Na sa Akin- Sugarfree
It’s a really cool song. Bathetic, and probably fits me (ask sir Serrano). Watch the video- its funny. Hehe.

Tagged

I got tagged by Icai! (Damn you...joke! hehe)

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. The tagged victim has to come up with 8 different descriptions of their perfect lover.
2. He/she needs to mention the sex/gender of their perfect lover.
3. He/she must tag 8 more people to join this game and leave a comment on their comments saying they've been tagged.* (I'm waving this instruction away. If you like just make your own)
4. If tagged a second time, there's no need to post again.

0.) My perfect lover is definitely a SHE

1.) Simple, and pretty- simple beauty and/or pretty simple 2.) Sweet - tipong Malambing and romantic (or mushy and sappy) 3.) Smart, even smarter than me - but not condescending, yung makakaintindi ng mga Simpsons jokes. 4.) Has a healthy sense of humor - para ma gets mga joke ko and para masaya kasama 5.) Values time spent more than money spent - tipong di high-maintenance and would like to spend time with me. 6.) Non-smoker -or else I'll make her quit 7.) Would understand if I don't call, just text or email or chat - I'm not the calling type, I'd like written para napagisipan, or in person para romantic 8.) Would accept my views, better if we have the same ones - whats the use of being an environmentalist kung malakas naman sya mag aksaya?

Birthday contemplative post delayed because of partying, assignments and schoolwork. Sorry for the inconvenience. Post soon to come! (and perhaps new, easier to read background work)

Last DAY being 16

Well, there goes my last day being young and sweet(ha, yeah) at 16. Tomorrow I'll be waking to the new tune of adult responsibility. At 15 you still sound like you can get away with the naivete excuses of childish teenager-ism and at 16 you might still be able to pull of the "I'm too old to be a child - too young to be an adult" but at 17 your cemented into maturity. Well, assuming of course that maturity comes with each year. I guess I'll be able to think this over WHEN I'm 17, which is still tom. As for today, enjoy life in innocence before the weight of the world- as they say innocence is bliss...

Blog Update: Last days of being young at 16

Oh yeah, almost my b-day. Damn I'm getting old! Hehe. Anyway, been a while since I posted so here it goes.

Last week Reming tore through the Philippines and caused alot of damage. As if we Filipino's aren't used to the fact already. But what gets to me are the people's apparent apathy. I'm not saying we Filipino's are apathetic. I'm saying we only care when it happens to us, generally. We see the destruction this typhoon caused in the already battered province of Bicol, but we all know as we watch that we maintain some sort of detachment to it all. Unless we felt it too. If only Manila got a whiff of what the people in the storms direct path experienced instead of being entirely spared without even a drop of rain. Camarines Norte was also in the swath Reming plowed through, and I shudder to think what sort of destruction was caused in that place. Our friends there aren't even replying to our texts, and we could only hope that they're ok.

Yesterday was our ESS Sportsfest and it was so much fun! All the events we played were co-ed, and a mix of different year levels. We played basketball, agawang-buko(oh yeah), touchball, catch-the-dragon's-tail and Takeshi's castle. Basketball was funny cuz it was a mix of experts and totally novice players. We kept laughing while we played touchball. Agawang-buko and catch-the-dragon's-tail were both incredibly physically battering games. Imagine the girls and boys both figthing over an oily coconut! I myself went against guys who are twice my size and have the body of RM (to those who know him) or your buffed up PE instructors. My body still hurts even now. A funny incident was when the girls were called up and when they rushed for the coconut Ricci was with them. Haha. Catch-the-dragon's-tail became a sumo wrestling of enormous proportions. Then Takeshi's Castle devolved into one large water fight that left all of us soaked through. By the end of that we were all dead tired, sweaty, oily and soaking wet. i'm having a hard time cleaning my white rubber shoes that turned black because of that affair. Yeah, that was a fun experience.

Makes me think about it though; why am I so open with my other college friends yet I feel I have to shut up when i'm among my course blockmates? I feel..repressed among them but when I'm with others I can show my fun(if not true) side. Thats why they think I'm such a quiet serious some sort of unfriendly emo dude. Others know what i'm like when happy and social. There is just something with my block that prevents me from totally letting go of my..shyness?

Bond

I wanted to make a pun about my supposed topic for tonight which is bonding and the fact that I just watched Casino Royale yesterday but meh...I have too much of a headache to make one. I've been keeping busy this past few days, not with school or academic work mind you. Heh, like that's ever going to happen. What I did was something more meaningful (in my twisted perspective), which is to bond with my college friends. Something long overdue in fact. Last Friday, I didn't feel too well but still resolved to watch "Middle Finger Po" by the Tanghalang Ateneo. That was 7pm, and my last class was 3, so I managed to spent the time talking with Anna and Icai in the bazaar. Well, as far as I know neither of them is reading this, but in either case I won't say a word about what we talked about. Well, it was about our dramatic to borderline nonexistent love lives. "Middle Finger" was great by the way, and so i suggest you watch it too, whoever my dear avid reader(if there is even one) is. Then last Saturday spent the day with Mikey and some of my ESS-mates touring Antipolo. Didn't know there was alot of amazing spots right up there. I knew Assumption Antipolo's retreat house was beautiful, but I didn't know it had an Eco-park to boot. That was a surprise, and somewhat mind-blowing. I'll just leave you guys to see it for yourselves, its open to the public. Better that way than me just typing it to you. Try the mint leaves by the way; their really minty(duh) but still tastes like leaf. Hehe. Then we went to Mikey's "second home" owned by a doctor who's name I won't try to write in fear of misspelling it. That was amazing. It was some sort of Mexican style Villa art gallery and other stuff that's equally beautiful. Skipping the empty 1 hectare plot of theirs we went to Ate Carmen's house. Talk about how the other half lived; or house is only half their guesthouse! Wood and glass, much like a resort cabin in the Alps if you imagine yet still Filipino in the inside. There we played MAD(reverse monopoly) and other games until we went into the pool. Mikey and Ricci had to leave early so I was the only freshman left in the group of junior and senior ES and physics majors. Had a terribly pang of body pain because of excessive laughing in the pool afterwards. Headache and body pains didn't stop me from spending our somewhat becoming ritualistic time in McDo with Arwin and Julius discussing about business opportunities. They're both really in to early business ventures, and I guess I am too, but taking that first major step will be the challenge. Until we do, I'll say that our planning will just have been wishful thinking. Yeah, that was my past few days, of suffering from colds,headache and body pains. That's why I've been sort of just rambling in this post of mine, cuz my head still hurts. But it was all worth it, as I got to spend time with my new friends. Still, I'd take a heartache over a headache or stomachache any day...

The Story of the Candy Cane...

"A story is told is told that there was once a candy maker...It was a time when Christians were not allowed by the government to meet together..He decided to make..a candy in the shape of a shepherd's staff as a reminder that the Lord is our Shepherd. He made the candy white to show that God is holy. He put a red stripe to symbolize the blood of Christ..."

That there is what we were told yesterday in Mcdo Katipunan. Who would think of all the places to be talking about God, it would be there. Well, here is the deal. For a few times Arwin and I have been going to there after MWF classes. We talk about stuff and such, and one day we got to talk about the block; issues of it and possible lack thereof. We raised questions like why does our block isn't as bonded, well, like other blocks and why we haven't gone out as a whole block to watch a movie or what not. Well, it was then that we decided to do something about it. Baby steps I suppose, and we got Julius to tag along. It was then that these two guys came up and started 'preaching'. It turned out to be a meaningful yet bizarre experience to be evangelized in a fast food joint. But what we thought was it would have been nice if everyone was there, instead of just as three. It was fitting I suppose, to get a candy cane this Christmas season, shaped like a J for Jesus. Put one more beside it and you (should) get JJ

Ha! Pacquiao won! Why the hell am I writing about it?

What a disappointing fight - cmon, 3 rounds! All that hype for a third round knockout. You know whats truly unbelievable, I'm writing about it. Why? I just find everything so ridiculous. They kept talking about it for the last few months with super media hype and then its over in less time that I type this post! I say those folks who bought tickets in Las Vegas to watch it didn't get their money's worth. Poor Morales though. With all that frenzied preparation I bet he's EGO got bruised more than his body. I mean, imagine yourself, not only is your nemesis gloating over you, he's whole country is gloating over you, you just shamed yourself in live television after that prideful boasting and you just let down your countrymen! I actually pity him. Poor wounded pride. It must suck to be him right now.

My Grandma has just passed away...

My mom's mom passed away yesterday after some time at the hospital. When I received my mom's text saying what happened, I didn't know how to react. I guess I hated to admit that, well... I saw it coming. My father said it when we knew she had been taken to the hospital; "we must accept the inevitable, that she is already old," she said to my mom. And I guess I knew it too. Still, to think of that she is gone...it feels..surreal. I remember the other people I knew who have died. My high school batch mate Jerica, who died of dengue early in our junior year. My friend and bus driver Kuya Jess, who died before he got to see the one thing he always teased me about. Suddenly they were gone. It's hard to think about it, seeing them one day and knowing you' never see them again, to never hear their voice,to never get into those conversations you always took for granted when they were still alive. And with all of them there is one thing I regret; that I wasn't able to attend their wakes or funerals. I was in the hospital suffering from dengue of my own when they announced in our school that Jerica died. I wasn't released till after she was taken to Davao. After not seeing him for a long time, I only heard of Kuya Jess when it was announced during a mass, as if it was a mere footnote. And with my Grandma, she was taken to Zambales, and I cannot go because of school.

I pray for them, that perpetual light may shine upon them, and that they may rest in peace...

These are the times I'd like to bitch slap people who don't listen to environmentalists...

The heat is driving me insane! It's November for Pete's sake! We're supposed to feel chilly already and not in some kind of Christmas barbecue. If its this hot already I shudder to think at what it will feel like this coming summer. And I am taking summer classes. One can't know how to dress for the occasion - in the early morning you'll be shivering for a jacket and two hours later you'll be screaming to take it all off. And they blame El Nino...blame yourselves why don't you. Do you do your part to lessen global warming? Do you? Do you now? C'mon, don't you just feel that heat? We can already see the effects of it as environmentalists have warned us about for years and still we don't listen. When the ea levels start to rise, or when you find yourself cursing that summer heat during the Christmas eve, us saying "we told you so" won't just cut it.

Out of Place in 16 Different ways...

Ever been a Third Wheel? Sucks to be one doesn't it? Supreme feeling of awkwardness and loneliness. Then try being a Fifth wheel for a whole day. Now that really sucks.

This morning was Registration time. Got in a Physics class, no less because of peer pressure, and got into a Table Tennis class, gladly not because of peer pressure. I'm hoping this sem turns out the same if not better as with the last one, both academically and socially.

The rest of the day I spent back in my highschool with Rj. I went along, as usual, and since I have nothing better to do anyway. The HS was dismissed early because a large group of students are practicing for their bigtime presentation this Friday. The reason why Rj went is because he is visiting his sweetheart and I'm smack dab in the middle as a third wheel. It's all good, I have been in that kind of position before. Doesn't make it any less awkward though. By luck we saw Gelo there, and the reason he was there is because he also has a highschool sweetheart still in highschool. Great,I was stuck between two couples as a squeaky Fifth Wheel.

Oh the awkwardness...squared. In that place I assure you that you will not be able to hide that shy,awkward,lonely look of a single person between couples from your face. Trust me, I know.

Still that feeling of being out of place isn't confined to being the extra wheel. I was back in my highschool, and though it wasn't that long since I was part of it, I'm not really part of it now. Even though they are the same friends I had last year, it feels quite different to relate to them as a college student. I'm not part of that circle anymore...

Tomorrow I'm coming back. That means feeling out of place again. But it isn't all bad. I miss being a highschool student, and getting to reminisce old memories is fun. Its good to have a different perspective sometimes, and to me now it's an outsider looking in. But again, as I said, it doesn't make being a Fifth wheel any less awkward.

I fell in love with Camarines Norte…

I just came back from my four day adventure in Camarines Norte. It was a one day travel (15 hour roundtrip), two day Environmental Trainer’s Training Seminar and one day teaching thing which I signed up for since last month. It was a totally amazing experience, one that I will never forget.

Putting aside our commute to and from the place as a minor detail, I shall just focus on what happened on the 3 days we spent there. We were in the almost seaside Institute of Fisheries and Marine Sciences, Mercedes, Brgy. San Roque, a short distance from Daet, Camarines Norte. Our group from Ateneo composed of me, Mikey, Ate Jaya and Kuya Lemarc and Kuya Jodwin. We were to join the people from ISO, and 25 other students from in and around Mercedes. We stayed in the T.H.E House, a small square bungalow with a sala//kitchen/dining room, 2 rooms, and 1 CR, which you could imagine turned to something like a scene from Pinoy Big Brother. Us Manileniyos (with some exceptions) stayed in the two rooms, while the others either went home after our sessions or slept in the living room. There was a TV there, a luxury that could have been done away with but welcome nonetheless, which allowed us to watch the news and other shows ABS-CBN could offer (one and only channel). Whenever it was break time or the end of our sessions we would come back to our little home away from home, 35 something people eating, watching, sleeping under one roof, sharing one CR (it wasn’t as bad as you think. Iconvenient maybe, but not bad).

Our first day was more of icebreaking and getting-to-know you stuff, activities designed for group bonding so that we would be more comfortable with each other. There were group dynamics (GDs), like making a map and a poem and several presentations. These activities were given by Sir Boy. Kuya Manong Sir (as we affectionately called him) was an experienced community educator. He made us do the group works and taught us a lot of action songs, which considering his more than younger self made him look like a big child. Like all great lecturers this did not diminish his credibility at all; in fact it made me look up to him even more. Here was a man who loved what he does so much it wasn’t like a job to him anymore.

By the second day all of us were pretty much friends with each other and were more open. That day was mostly for lectures about Pop Ed and how to teach effectively, though there were still a fair amount of singing, dancing and other GD activities. That evening we were grouped and made ready for our teaching stint amongst the locals the next morning.

On then third day we were supposed to go to the different barangays in our groups (one Atenean per group), but heavy rains that morning made us cancel the whole thing. What we did was just role-play; practice what we learned amongst each other. We were to critic the other groups on how they were supposed to present their modules which they prepared the other night. We were finished before lunch, so what we did was go to a beach. We crossed the Bicol River via banca and took a 20 min trike ride through the country to get to Cayucyucan. There we played on the beach with our new Camarinen friends until it was time for us to pack up and say goodbye as we went back home to Manila that night.

In a nutshell that was the events of my adventure in Camarines Norte. But there was more to it than that. I loved every part of my experience there. The environment, the lifestyle, the simplicity, the friendships. I loved everything to the point that I didn't want to go home anymore.

The environment..ahh the environment. It felt so good to breathe clean (cleaner than the big city at least)fresh air, blown in from the sea by a constant cold breeze. This same breeze blows in rain clouds straight from the sea, bringing sporadic bursts of heavy rain. This rain is different. It is far cleaner,different as you can imagine from the kind of rain you experience in the city, as it did not pass through multiple layers of pollution and whatever filth floats in the air above metropolitan areas. The area all around is green from all the plants, trees and shrubs of diferent kinds. Cocunuts crown most hills, and you can see their tall trunks sway in every skyline. The beach we went to in Cayucyucan was beautiful. You could see the view of a mountain range and a nearby island surrounding it. The beach sand itself was coral, and a few feet away were already rock formations, hidden by calm water. To live in this kind of environment, surrounded by mountains and trees, to breathe fresh air, has always been my dream. Its like my ideal place to live in and I was there. It is even better than Zamba;es, our province. Zambales to me is a rural urban-wannabe, a provincial paradise lost to industry and commercialization and possibly unavoidable environmental actions(read: Pinatubo eruption). All I can remember when I think about Zambales are greys and browns, while when I think about Camarines I remember the blues and greens. At night I would just sit outside and listen to the song of a thousand frogs.
The lifestyle change. The feeling I had to break away from my routine of TV-PS2-Computer here and to experience new things over there was..unexplainable. To me then it was unthinkable of how I lived my whole day slaved to 3 pieces of electronics. There we woke up, ate, did our session, went back home. Even though there was a tv there I scarely cared. I even broke my sacred scriptures of sleep, being during the whole week I had only 5 hours of sleep or even less. During those nights I would stay outside with Kuya Jodwin and possibly others, bugging him on how to play a guitar and singing along with whatever song we fancied to sing that night. We would do this until 10 or 11, then which we would head in and I would go to Ate Jaya nad Mikey's room and chat there with Kuya Lemarc until past midnight. On our last night we didn't even go back to our room anymore. Our group just chatted until the wee hours of the morning when Kuya Lemarc and I just fell asleep right there.
Part of that also is for me not to feel like an only child for a change. There I lived with 30 other people in the same house. I got to meet lots of new friends. I got to have meaningful conversations, chances to sing with people without feeling embarrased, exchanged stories with those who lived a much more different life than me during the times I would be either wasting my life infront of the tv or playing my brains out on a computer or playstation. I had the oppurtunity to bond with my ESS-mates, share things, like the one I never got being without brothers or sisters. I even did something there I never thought I'd do.
To those friends I made in Camarines I will never forget. I got to see the lives of different people, living in a way I wish I did. I felt immediately bonded to them in those 3 days, a stronger than the one I have with my course blockmates who I have been together with for more than 3 months.
I miss Camarines Norte. I miss the friends I made there. I miss the atmosphere of the place. I wished I didn't have to go back home. I felt sad to wave goodbye to my new friends, knowing that maybe that was the last time I'll see them. I felt sad as we left the bus station, knowing that soon the coconuts will be replaced by condos and the cold sea air will be replaced by car exhaust. I felt even sadder when I opened the door to my house and saw the tv, my computer and my playstaion, seeing that I'm back to the lifestyle of an only child. I really wish I didn't have to go back home...

First Sem is officially...OVER

My first sem of college is now...over. *sigh* I still can't get over the whole how time flies so fast deal. I've been staring at the screen for over half an hour and these are the only things I could say. The sem is over, and time flies so fast. That's been my mantra lately- of how fast time is. And look, next week is my Camarines Trip. I rather go to Guimaras, but I can't back out on a commitment. Well, I guess since that is the only thing I could say for this time, I'll just update my blog when I return (Unless something happens to me that seems interesting). Oh yeah, Earlier today I rode with the most amazing jeepney driver I've seen, if only it wasn't so scary. I can talk more about it, but I'm not in the mood. Something is bothering me..Could be just the October Cold..

Where there is hope, there is doubt- Finals Update

Lit Finals....headache..Let's put it this way, it was worse than watching C-SPAN for a day. My brain was sapped in trying to fill a white booklet with essayic answers to mr. Pulan's questions. And this was before Math, and with my brain already drained of much of it's mojo, math would have been a problem. There was a glimmer of hope, I passed my last last long test! A rare occurance I'll concede yet it lowered my needed passing grade and increased what little hope I have of getting at least a D. I was even pissed because I can't concentrate, and that was because I needed to pee so badly! Take note my readers, GO TO THE BATHROOM BEFORE TAKING A TEST, ESPECIALLY MIDTERMS OR FINAL. All I can do now is hope. But when there is hope there is doubt,(oh yeah, Ive been trying to make a quote of mine to explain what I've been feeling the entire day and this is what i've come up with), and now only time will tell now if I'll take math 11 again. next sem...

Shout F for Math Finals!!

Yeah, its judgement day for me tomorrow. If my calculations are correct (in this case I hope they are incredibly incorrect!), I'd need to get 75% in my Math finals to get the slightest hope of passing! Kenot and Sunny were lucky enough to be confident of getting a passing grade in the last long test. I, unfortunately, am not. So there's only a glimmer of hope for me to get a D in my math..But of course i'm not one to lose hope. I must do my best to get a passing grade, cuz It'd be hell to take the same math course again, do summer and get a galring F in my transcript. Hayyyy.....If miracles happen, tomorrow would be a very good time for one...

Last Leg of the First Sem

2 more weeks of the first sem...........Hayyyyyy.....Time flies so fast. I haven't even "grasped" my few starting months of Atenean highschool life. Only one last round of requirements and then finals week, and then sem break already. Oh yeah, home free! not quite. I still have to get through this last week. I can't even concentrate on making a decent blogpost.Anyway, I have to concentrate on school work first. Till the end of Finals week...

My multiply account

Ya, I have a multiply account setup already. To not lose the primary function of this my humble blogspot site, which I won't be abandoning thank you very much, I'll just link it here. My multiply will just host my pics, and my blogspot will host my blog. There, my problem is solved. The link is over there at the sidebar.

Flash flooded

Yesterday I already finished typing a long post about Ateneo losing the game and such, and I was already going to press the “Publish Post” button when suddenly a voltage drop occurred and sent all that work into a waste of a 1-second power outage.

I was fine with that. I’ve taken the universe’s little practical jokes many times already to be used to it. But what happened last night was something different altogether.

It was a hard rain that lasted only an hour or two, just a little bit of Milenyo left over. What perhaps most people don’t know is that us folk people in Rizal were flash flooded after that.

We were just about to sit down to dinner when my dad said that it was already flooded outside. I was bewildered; of course who wouldn’t, the rain already stopped. I checked outside and saw a raging flow of flood water, right outside our gate. Nothing new mind you, but as I was watching it I saw that the water level was rising. First, slowly inching up our lawn, then up our driveway, and slowly creeping up to our house. That’s when we started to evacuate our stuff to higher ground. My computer, our furniture, DVD’s, books everything we could move we did as we raced with the rising water. Inevitably, the water entered our house and covered everything in fine muck. We had experience with this kind of thing before, but with my parent’s taking precaution by raising our house it was unexpected. Soon enough the waster was gushing through our house’s doors, but by then our furniture moving was finished. Eating dinner with my legs submerged in floodwater hasn’t been any of the things I wanted to try, but it was a new experience nonetheless.

We went up to our terrace to watch the still rising flood but we witnessed something more terrifying. A loud crash and sound of rushing water signaled the collapse of the walls that protected our street from the creek behind our houses. You see, a creek runs through our village, and with luck it so happens to run right behind the houses of street. This wall has been built, rebuilt and repaired through the years of seasonal rain and flood that turn this small creek to a raging river, but with the recent passing of Milenyo it weakened the dike with falling trees and battering force of wind and water. At least three sections of the wall collapsed, two behind the houses beside ours. We watched as our neighbor’s furniture was washed away. We started to worry about our house too, but thank God we didn’t suffer the same fate.

After a few hours the water started to recede. During that time I just took pictures and videos. Before midnight the water has already gone down to knee level, if your standing on the street that is, or enough to leave our house.

I spent my first sleepless college night throwing out bucketfuls of flood water out of our house, shoveling, scraping and moping mud off our floor, hosing down furniture, and generally cleaning up our house while still videotaping and taking pictures of it all.

This morning you could see the damage that that flashflood did. We are ankle-deep in the slipperiest softest mud, and you can see the neighbors salvaging what they can after the whitewater – or should I say brown water washed away all their stuff.

I didn’t go to my only class today, because I’m still mud in, and there are still more things to be cleaned. I did become the unofficial documenter of the devastation our street experienced. I got like 50+ pics and 5 minutes of video. I can’t post all those pics here in my humble corner of the blogosphere, so that’s why I made up my mind about getting my own multiply account. Yeah, I think that’s a very good idea.

Yey! I have a digicam na!

We all well know what happened with the storm yesterday, but with the 24-hour blackout and all, there was still something good that happened to me, which is that I got a my digicam! That got me to just taking pics to pass my boredom, which are these, during the storm,
and after



Now that I'll be taking alot of pics, that passes the question of should I get my own multiply? I have this thing of not going with the trend, and seeing alot of people got it, well, you get the idea. But it may become convenient. anyway, that will just be something I have to thing over. Its so hard to post pics in blogger, so maybe I should get one.

Oh yeah, that "Philosophy of Sleep" article is a work in progress, one in a series I'll be publishing about my philosophies in life.

Multiply raiding. Bwahahaha!!!

Nah, i'm not really raiding anyone's multiply. First, I get goosebumps when I think about infringing anyone's copyrighted pictures(I know that's ridiculous, but nonetheless). Second, its a hassle to copy paste all those pictures, however I like them. So until I can get a digicam of my own (hopefully soon) I'll be missing on alot of photographable college moments, like that of Tin's debut. Speaking of Tin's debut, better if you look at the multiply's of the people who took the pics, like junno's and icai's who I will be linking over there at the side, because I'll just grab some choice pics from them, not all.

And last of all, I just said that I'm raiding multiply's so that I can see the reactions of the people out there who have them. Not that they'll know I'm just joking, its not like anybody comes here and reads what I post,meaning to whom I'm writing this now can only be cybernetic thin air, or if even if say you a person is reading this, it was written not for you but only to satisfy the raving's of a madman who has found a better alternative than talking to himself, which is to just keep writing in his blog with knowledge that nobody is reading it so therefore assumes that he is in a way talking to himself, which is me. So therefore this elaborate explanation is only to entertain me, thinking that somebody will be reading this but knowing that nobody will, and so therefore have succeded in accomplishing...what? To kill alot of time and get the satisfaction of expressing his notions of absurdity to a void that is the blog which neither listens or reads, and could therefore just be an abyss where one tosses one's thoughts to be lost forever.

The Philosophy of Sleep

It is one of the most natural things to do, but for a hard-working student or an employee it can be a luxury one can’t afford.To me sleep isn't just a thing you do at night. Its an important aspect of my lifestyle. I live by it. Its a healthy drug that makes me forget about my worries and makes me feel better and able to take on that problem when I wake up. Like that graffiti scrawled on the chair that I see every single day I have come to study it, and after a profound secession of soul-searching have actually come up with several classifications of sleep that I experience.

The first is Sleep Sleep which is the simplest kind. I fall asleep, I wake up. No dreams, no thoughts, just a deep slumber to wash away my fatigue and recharge me for the next day. Uneventful, but in the deeper levels its so effective that when I wake up I realize I forgot everything about yesterday and today until it comes back to you 5 minutes later. Once I woke up feeling so good without a care in the world when suddenly I remembered I had my math midterms later.
The second is the Fantastic Sleep, my most preferred kind. It is the kind of sleep in which my mind jumps off into amazing and even ludicrous scenarios ranging from my most romantic fantasies to my most horrible nightmares. It can be one long story or a series of different episodes, but the most amazing about it is that even if my mind is busy living its fantasy nightlife I still get a goodnights’ sleep. A deeper, more rested sleep in fact than the ordinary kind. I get to go off on a Narnianic adventure when I'm snoozing off, and when I wake up I feel as if I had slept for two nights instead of one. Fantastic, aint it?
Next is the Tossing-Turning Sleep, the sleep of a troubled man. I have a 5 page essay due for Friday, an upcoming report, and two long-quizzes to study for. I lay on my bed running over math formulas while already drafting my essay in my mind. I keep thinking about your schoolwork so much that it seems I do not fall asleep at all, until I realize that I have been falling asleep after all, it’s just my mind is still on overdrive that all you I think about is work. You wake up feeling as you didn’t wake up at all, just getting up from your bed. It’s hard to get out of it when it has become a pattern, but the sooner, the better. If you happen to find yourself in this situation, the best technique to remove it is stop thinking. Stop thinking of your works, your assignments, everything. Hard to do, I know, but for starters think about your breathing, or the darkness. Think about falling asleep, then stop thinking at all. Mastery of this technique is vital to regain a normal sleep pattern. I don't know if it will work for you, but it works for me.
The last kind is the Julius sleep, in which a mind-numbing lecture, a boring road trip or just being bored can cause my brain to just shut down. In my opinion it’s a step away from being brain dead as I feel everything just slipping away - eyelids drooping, handwriting turns into squiggles, losing muscle control and drool starts to drip. To me it has turned into a technique, an artform where you can "turn your brain off". Named after my blockmate(which so expertly exhibits this technique), this serves the simple function of killing time from a very long trip or a boring time of the day. It feels like a kind of unholy sleepiness gripping my body that no amount of caffeine can seem to remove. I think it’s my bodies natural defensive mechanism to protect it from harm, say like from math class.
Sleep is important, holding a pinnacle postion to my lifestyle philosophy, as important as eating and so as an absolute rule not to be sacrificied for studying and other less important activities. To me it has evolved into an philosophy, a discipline, with its own set of rules and techniques. To get 8 hours is the best, 7 hours forgivable, 6 hours and less is pushing it. Why lose sleep by studying when the next day your brain won't be working well enough to remember what you studied? why lose sleep trying to finish a paper when you cannot even chain the most rudimentary of words to form a sentence?
Getting enough sleep is the easiest thing you could do to keep healthy. Why not do it? Make it your lifestyle rule too.

Everyday is an adventure

Everyday is an adventure to me. Its just I'm either to tired,lazy,busy or sabaw to write them all down. Yesterday was one such. I accompanied Burger to Gateway, and along the way there were some interesting things that happened. The most interesting to me was of course the conversations. We talked about many, things that would burden me to try to recall and write down, though through that at least I became a little closer with her. On the way the LRT train stopped mid journey. Nothing to worry about(good God), just technical difficulty I suppose and it was a first for me. In the end though we just went around Gateway to find a gift for her friend. I know either she ,(Hi Burger!) or some other will be reading this thats why it seems my storytelling is rather blunt and/or underopinionated. She'll understand.

i'm getting alot of things for free lately. I got a mostly-free shuttling back and forth from Ateneo and Gateway courtesy of Burger. I know I should be the one treating her but she insisted. Who am I to argue?
Last wednesday I got a free slice of cake in Red Ribbon Katipunan. I bought a slice of cake, and after a pretty long while they gave to me one that doesn't quite look like the one I ordered. certainly not like the one I ordered. Its because it wasn't what I ordered. They gave me a much more expensive slice of a different cake and I was eating it already before the my true order arrived. Thats why it my cake tasted more chocolatier than what a strawberry mousse sholud taste like.
Today I got a free lunch thanks to Julius. I should really pay him back, or at the least really consider his business proposal. He is really serious with it, and I think I owe it to him already to try my best.
I volunteered for a seminar workshop thing in Camarines Norte this upcoming October. Its good that my parents allowed me to go. We will be taught how to teach people about to protect the coral reefs. Its a 3-day stay and, the best part i like, its free. i'm already quite excited. I'l place it down there on my "Things to look forward to" list.

Indecisiveness...

I used to pride myself on my spontaneity. In highschool I just do things suddenly whenever I wanted to without a second thought. One time I bought bacon just because I saw someone buying when I passed the meat store, and another time bought a large watermelon while we were doing our Visita Eglesia. I did things just for the heck of it. Now I wonder why did I become so indecisive lately. Why has hesitation replaced my impulsive nature?

I realized this as I watch countless jeeps pass by day by day, wondering why did I not get on that one, or the one before it, or the one that came after it. I let them
pass by without even considering of pulling them over, even if I know that its hard to get a jeep to Cubao.

Today was the same day. I boarded perhaps the 6th jeep for Cubao I saw, and I felt lucky to be a little early to be on my way to school. A woman went down in front of Vista Verde, and as the jeep sped away two men noticed that she dropped her coin purse which she dropped on the floor beside me. I was the one who picked it up, and one man said that I should go down and give it to her. I thought about it, watching the woman walk hurriedly off as we sped farther away.

A good person should, any half-decent person would, and an impulsive guy wouldn’t even think about it. But even I was surprised when the words "Eh malayo na ho sya eh" came out of my mouth instead of "Para". The man asked me to look how much was inside, and to my astonishment there was more than a hundred inside, Php143.24 to be exact. He said, “ihabol mo,baka wala syang pamasahe”. We already sped a good distance away, and it was only then that it kicked in my brain that I should indeed give it back. I immediately went down and ran, looking for the woman who dropped the money I was holding. I reached the gate and continued towards the tricycle station.

I saw a woman there, but I thought that she wasn’t the one. I thought for half a second if it was her but before I made up my mind she already boarded a trike and went off. I continued to look, asking the guard and even a vendor if they saw a woman.(Of course they all saw a woman, we were all at the front of a busy village).

And then I gave up. I can’t spend the whole morning looking for a woman I didn’t even see clearly to recognize. I didn’t even know what she was wearing. And now, because of my indecisiveness I earned 143 pesos in guilt-money, what could be perhaps that woman’s marketing budget, fare, money to buy medicine. The money is still with me, because I’m afraid to touch it. Why did I hesitate? I should have chased after the woman instead of resigning and saying that she already is too far away. I could still have caught up with her. She could even be the woman I saw in the station, if only I asked instead of stand there and watch her board the trike. And now I have 143 pesos and twenty five cents of money that isn’t mine, which I don’t know what I will do with, all because of a moment of hesitation.

Blogging for the sake of Blogging...

You know, I'm just blogging for the sake of saying that I have a blog. I admit it, I'm not a really good blogger. I feel stuck between relating and opening up everything about me and hiding those things I don't want others to know. Say I relate an event here, but then I'll leave out something I think about someone, just because I'm afraid he/or she will read it or somebody else will tell them about it. Or I have this recurring thought about someone that I don't want him or her to find out. So what I'm left with is a oversimplified blogpost containing nada or something that resembles a letter with censored parts removed but not fixed to make it readable.

I don't know whether to stop or I can develop a technique that finds a middle ground in problem. Until then, I guess I'll think twice before I post again.

Yey! I got my internet back! Now I could start researching for my ES report (If Alex is reading this, nyahahaha).Last night even our water connection -correction,the water connection for our entire village, was cut off. I was thinking all that was left was our electricity. Good thing all was fixed when I got home.

Now I understand alot of things. Its like I just got an epiphany or something. Because of sir Serrano (smiling, haha) and other stuff I now understand why students smoke, get drunk, do drugs and all of that crap. I now also unnderstand why there is always a massive traffic jam in the Katipunan every dismissal time. I went to the Ateneo GS and there were alot of students. I mean ALOT OF STUDENTS. I don't think the population of the College complex and LRMS put together are equal to that many students. And I now understand why I like going to school every MWF....

PLDT has really crappy service...we have been phoneless for the past week, which means no internet at home for me. Until then I can't really blog away to my hearts content. Sad I didn't get to write about my Intramuros experience and what not. So until PLST decides we are worth sending a repair team, no new post for a while..I just wish they won't charge us in our bills for this lack of service

Warning to all those who pass by in Katipunan

This is why it pays to read my blog right here. I'll tell you a story that happened to me earlier.

My blockmates and I were going back to Ateneo when I was approached by a person wearing a uniform introducing himself as a criminology student claiming that he is doing a survey in the Katipunan area. He asks me a couple of questions like my name and what college do I go to and then things like disturbances or events that occur in the Katipunan. He then introduces his adviser, who wears the same uniform and appears to be the same age. There is also another guy, another “surveyor” with another “surveyee”. We were asked to sit and talk with the adviser in the quaint karinderia across ministop, near the tricycle waiting area. So we talked, first about their apparent survey but then slowly shifting toward frat-related stuff. First he says they had a sister na “binastos” in the here in the Katipunan and they are looking for the ones who did it. He even offered us free drinks, and to win my trust, switched mine with his. I told him I can’t drink cuz I haven’t eaten lunch yet. He then tells us that we must meet their adviser, on the other side of the intersection near the LRT station. Before we go though, he tells us that we have to go with his buddy one by one, and so makes a checklist. He asks us things like do we belong to a frat, what valuables we have, cellfone model, amount of money in wallet, bracelets, etc. He told us to put all our valuables in our bags and leave it with him. Not at the same time mind you. I was to hold the other surveyee’s bag while he goes off and later, when he goes back he’ll hold mine for me. Fine, I said. He left his bag with me and went with the guy. A few minutes he comes back, and my turn comes. I hid my fone (not in my bag, it was still with me) left my wallet (in my bag, after taking the money out) but then I saw my Ipod. I said I couldn’t leave it and put it in my pocket. I left my bag with them and went with the other guy. After crossing the intersection he tells me that I really have to put all things I have in my pocket. We went back, but I didn’t put my Ipod in my bag anymore. I took my bag, told them I was late for class (which made them angry and even hit the tables) and boarded a tricycle.

Ok, so maybe nothing happened to me. But still you couldn’t ignore the fact that they asked me to leave all my valuables to a stranger and expect me to fully trust them that nothing will disappear when I return. It became obvious that they were up to something even as early as when they introduced me to their “adviser”

Now you ask, if it was that obvious, why did I let it get up to the part that I was already walking off and leaving my bag and all my valuables with a stranger? Well, because I was curious. I was playing along. I wanted to see how they do it. I was even willing to leave my wallet there and risk it being stolen (nothing important in it. I took out the money. Only thing they could get there are some prom pics). What I wasn’t willing to do is leave my Ipod, and when they were insisting I had to leave it with them I had to abandon my plan.



I went to the security office and told the same story. They told me that it was a new modus operandi. They even said I’m lucky I didn’t get drugged. They say that they put the drugs in their fingernails and discreetly sprinkle it over a drink. Scroll above and figure it out.

The moral of the story is:
1. be wary of strangers. Never let your guard down, even when they look like college students
2. Be careful when traveling alone.
3. Don’t be like Cid; when you sense something is wrong, find a way out quickly and don’t ride along just because your curious
4. And last, beware of the irony of when someone approaches you claiming to be criminology student doing a survey when he is actually a criminal ^^,

And yeah, now I have to worry every time I have to pass by Katipunan for the fear that they may still be there, for they can surely identify me because we had gotten close at the amount of time we spent chatting together. Shet!

Its one of those days...

Its one of those days...As I started to walk its starts to rain, then can't get a jeep, so I ride the LRT home from Katipunan to Santolan, then trike to somewhere, from somewhere trike to Sta Lu, then jeep and trike home. All in the rain. Annoying wetness. At least I got to see some of my highschool batchmates in Santolan. Thats good.

ESS is getting interesting. We'll start some projects soon. Im looking forward to that. Doing finishing touches to my short story. Falling asleep as I'm typing this. Gud nyt...

Feedback

I'm sorry for not being able to reply to comments, and since there is only one guy that really does comment, I'll just post it here.

--Math... My 'favorite' subject... Hahaha... Okay lang yan. 1st long test ko rin bagsak. Hahaha... Just don't forget to spend some time in the weapon of mass sleep induction that is the lib... Or at Matteo. Hahaha. For me it helped, somehow. Kahit paano, nakapasa pa rin. Hahaha.-- Kram (Comment on SABAW)

It does feel good to sleep in the lib. Hehe. My problem is I that I have an uncontrollable brain shut-down during math class that no amount of coffee early in the morning could remove. I just find myself suddenly realizing our teacher had already finished a topic and is already moving on to another one. Hardwork and dedication nga lang naman, at baka papaano makapasa pa rin. Hehe.

--Use the "one test cancellable" excuse ;)-- Kram (comment on F)

Still, even with that excuse its still hard to make my parents get over seeing an F in my math subject. No harm in trying right?

--are you really that sarcastic in person? i hope not tsk tsk tsk-- anoynmous (post on shoutbox)

Are my blogposts sarcastic? Do I sound sarcastic? Really, do I? I guess since I repress most of my tendencies to say something sarcastic out loud I just pour it all out here. I don't think I'm sarcastic in person (emphasis on I think). Perhaps if you can get to know me. But I don't think I am. (I think)

PS: Pls introduce yourselfs naman when you tag over there in my shoutbox. Its already sad that only a few drop me a message. Sana I know naman who reads my blog. Post anything you like ^__^

My Niche

I've been searching around Ateneo for my little spot, my sort of "niche". You know, a sort of secluded spot where one could be alone and contemplate. Still not getting the picture? Here, in most teen-flick or pre-adolescent romantic chick movie there is that place where a guy takes a girl and tells her either "this is where I go when I want to be alone" or "I love this spot" and its that sort of place like the stadium at night or a building rooftop or an overlooking spot. Thats the sort of place I'm looking for. Not to take which ever girl and repeat the above mentioned cliche lines. Just my one spot where I could be alone and contemplate. Now I wonder, where is that spot I can call my own?...

So the short story is still due next week. Thats a relief. I was already dead set on cramming it through Winword in this last few hours of the night before passing it tomorrow. So thats why I wasn't feeling any sense of urgency even if I wasted all my free time playing DotA with my friends and watching Pirates of the Carribiean, which was by the way a really amazing movie. Hehehe...

F

I'm so glad its saturday again. Finally another break from college. I'm starting to get weary of it. I've been sick - and I am right now- 2 times in as many months already, and I blame it all on the freaky weather. It rains, then it shines, then it rains, then it rains some more. It really makes things so inconvenient. If your not soaking wet you'll be cringing in the heat of the sunlight; more annoying if it happens all at the same day.

Ha, I got the results of my long test. F. It was expected, so no use crying over spilt milk. This doesn't mean though i'm failing college(Oh God I hope not. This is just one long test in math, many more to go. I just have to buckle down and study for real. Only problem for me is that the advisory grades are due soon, and as the only basis of my math grade is are a D and F, I will be hard pressed to explain to my parents that I'm still far from failing (Oh God I really hope not)

Oh yeah, I better get cracking on that short story due for monday. I have the basic idea already, and the only forseeable problem is giving it a title. I'll post it when its done, probably.

SABAW

Sakit sa ulo ng long test sa Math...Ok, I know I failed, who am I kidding. I only managed to answer 2 questions out 7 and I'm not even sure if those were correct. I should really start listening to the lectures and stop dozing off in class. I just have to make up for this one I failed..somehow..

Aside from the headache math caused me, I had to contend with colds yesterdays' annoying burst of rain caused me. That, and the traffic - Oh my God the traffic. It gives me a headache just trying to describe it. The best way you could describe me today is,sabaw. Pure sabaw...

Oh yeah, I already got an idea for my short story. Only problem now is writing it down.

Inspiration

Update: Life back to normal. Not lethargic anymore as stated below. Now I need the inspiration to write a short story. Next week will be an academic week, long tests and quizzes scheduled all over the place so I'll need to work on my short story fairly soon or risk losing myself beneath reviewing and the like. Sir Pulan said it should be realistic, and to make it easy he said we should draw from experience. Now if drawing from experience is the case, what is there better to write about than a page from one's lovelife? Nah, that'll be too cheesy. Though it won't be that hard for me, I have enough material to make a telenovela with. Ha, I just reminded myself that I never really forgot about that. Its always been there, at the back of my head, annoying whenever something reminds me of it, and believe me, there's always something to remind me of it. I must clear my head of this - "distraction". Something should inspire me to write about something soon. Something else. Where are the muses when you need them?

Feeling lethargic.....

Sorry if I had to use that word, I had just been seeing it all the time when I play Cybernations. It means feeling as if you have no energy and no interest in doing anything, which is exactly what I've been feeling the past few days. Its the second day classes have been cancelled, can't really cheer for that cuz I've been dying to do something worthwhile. I'm so bored that when I wake up from sleep I feel even more bored. I even haven't been able to update my blog (until now anyway) and add the new things I've been planning like a shoutbox. And the rain, my God the rain.. I haven't seen that amount of water fall before. I was like, "Damn that's alot of water". Can't go to school, watch a movie, or even play with my friends in the local shop. Oh well, better just study for that test we'll have this friday...

NAKAKA ASAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My parents have finally put their foot down: NO MOUNTAINCLIMBING. Its....UGHHH!!! Annoying!!! They won't even let me try!! Freakin ^&*%$^*&(!!!!! I don't know if I'll just be a good son and listen to their advice guided by wisdom,tempered by time or be independent and confront them to what I like or just backdoor my way to what I want. Its just,.. AGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! %*%$^$@#$&%$&&!

Sadista ang mga nasa ESS! Haha. Imagine making us drink a mix of Raw egg, Kimchi, Wasabi and Tomato Sauce! It was ok actually, and once you get to the Kimchi bits it wasn't that...disgusting.. That was part of a series of challenges they made us do in the ESS orsem. it was alot of fun and I got to meet alot of new friends. I met my classmates who are ES majors during the orsem. They were surprised to see me there, but I just entertained them with my application story(for those of you who don't know, I'm suppose to choose ES, not DS). They say I should shift, but meh...I guess i'm fine where I am already. Still, I'll always be an environmentalist and maybe an "ES major" at heart. Hehe.

Now somebody just said I'm judgemental, but don't want to tell me why. Now I wonder, WHY? Not just why do they think I'm judgemental, but also why they don't want to tell me. I like to hear honest opinions about myself(now just because you read this don't go peppering me with your opinions all at once) so that I know what I'm like to other people. Now I wonder, why am I judgemental?

Must....learn....TIME MANAGEMENT!!!

Things just suddenly piled up on me. Next week I have a talk to attend on monday, 6k runs M-W-F, home org GA which I'll probably miss anyway, a project proposal in LM,a report for ES lab and 5 mini-esssays due by friday, a long test also, and a benefit concert that I still have to make up my mind on attending. Well, I guess I can't really complain - I mean, I still do have a pretty easy schedule if you ask some of the older students. Like what Kram said, "Learning is one thing... Applying is another."

My parents are still trying to discourage me from my application to the Loyola Mountaineers, saying I'm too "frail" to do something like that. Even if I don't want to tell them, what I want is to prove something to myself - That I can do it. I want to push myself to my limit, even it that means I'll have to go behind their back or fight them for it face to face. And even if I can't make it, I'll be happy that I at least tried to do it, not just thinking what could have happened if I did.

Ha! I found my Arnis jacket. One of my blockmates did take it by mistake. Whats wrong is I asked all them that day. Just goes to show you how nobody really listens to me.

Classes are suspended today because of the heavy rains. Caused alot of confusion last night too trying to figure out if indeed they were out. As of now...there are classes tomorrow. Ah crap..oh well, can't complain. It feels both good to have a free day but its also quite boring. I don't really know how to feel about it.

My parents have a real wierd way of talking to me. They sort of encourage and discourage me at the same time. They support me in my choice to try for LM yet keep telling me not to push myself since I'm asthmatic(You'll understand me if you can hear how they say it). No matter who says it, I still have to try.

I know I'm violating alot of rules set by our English lessons about writing, being incohesive in my blog writing and what not. But, I guess this falls into "chaotic freewriting". I don't really have the time (or care) to make it a masterpiece for my readers. What I write is just basically what I think. Well, its only a glimpse, cuz the inner machinations of my mind are an enigma
(I'll give a cookie to the guy who can tell me who really said that.Hehe..)

I'm starting to hate 4:30 to 6...
Thats because all the possible non-academic stuff are scheduled during that time. Now my incredibly free sched is now incredibly full. Thats the demanding LM activities, other possible org activities, teachers scheduling make-up classes and more. Its even more inconvenient if its raining like today. I got home to an already flooded village and an angry dad. It sucks to have classes suspended and your not included since your college already. I still haven't found my Arnis jacket, which if you didn't know I somehow "misplaced" last Tuesday. Im starting to have a headache... And the one thing that keeps nagging at the back of my head is; "When did Superman have time to fool around with Lois Lane?"

Multitasking at its best

YM is a college students bestfriend, I tell you. You could talk to 5 or more people about an assignment at the same time. Well, if I managed my time well I wouldn't be talking with 5 people at the same time about my assignments, but thats not my point.
Cramming has never been easier, not that it was ever easy in the first place.

I've been spending my time going through all this quizzes in quizilla.com (now you know why I'm cramming right now :p) because, well, their right, most of the time. Its amazing actually how someone could tell you more about yourself than you could. I decided to post the results there at my sidebar cuz they could tell yo more about me than me. Besides, the anime pics look cool. Hehe. Try some of them if you like. The pics are great, arent they? Haha

Arnis is so cool! Hehe. I mean I just couldn't stop thinking, or talking about it. The techniques they taught to us are amazing, and if properly executed, or at least decently, could really kill someone. Like what Kenot said, I can't believe this is Filipino, and not many people know about it. Makes me proud to be a Filipino already. Hehe.

I took a somewhat spontaneous adventure today. It started with me and Kenot looking out the terrace of the cafeteria at the Loyola School of Theology and talking about a shortcut down to the Marikina riverbanks through Ateneo, then finding an actual way down. We decided to take it, just to see where it goes and then we found ourselves walking through Barangka(I think),across the bridge, past the LRT station, past Ligaya, and then eventually arriving at Sta Lu. We just basically walked home. I know, that really isn't like a real adventure, like how will you compare that to say, walking in another country? Well, to me that is as good an adventure as any. Doing it with a friend made the trip much more fun.

Now I have the energy to write, problem is I don't want to write. All I could thing about now is how my blog can well become a part of my Academic life. Kinda sucks right? But just kinda. The premise is funny actually . We have this lesson in English about keeping journals about what you think of to help in essay writing, and blogs fall into the category. But instead of blogs, we'll use dialetical double-entry notebooks(I just love saying really fast). In a nutshell(hehehe..) what that basically means is you write what you think about something, then after, you write what you think about what you wrote of what you thought about. Gets? Hahaha. It's fun to do, trust me.

I'm excited to start Arnis training tomorrow! Finally I'll be able to do some cool-looking stunts. Too bad I can't join the Ateneo Rifle Pistol team. Hehehe..

Wish me luck on my LM application! I hope I'll be able to pass thier rigorous training/audition process. I really like to be able to join.

Isn't July 5 Jerica's death anniversary? I believe so, and even if I'm not right, don't forget to pray for her. May she rest in peace..

I'm still not feeling so good, and college is starting to eat up all of my spare energy and enthusiasm to tell you all the things I think of my college life(if that didn't make sense to you, I just made my point). Please note I said energy and enthusiasm, not time. The one thing I could tell you guys now is that I love my Fil class discussions. I'll elaborate why sometime later. See ya the next time.

I can talk about alot of things right now, but nah...I don't feel so good..(awww...)

I'll just type them tomorrow, and this tini-winni block of text just serves to distract you while I get some much needed sleep. Ahhh sleep..the one other thing I know I'll miss this year. I'll just see you tomorrow.

First week of college
Yeah, basically ended my first week as a college freshman in the Ateneo(they really have to call it the Ateneo. Why? beats me *shrugs*). Ended much sooner since we didn't have classes today because of faculty day.
Got to experience my first college class, my first block lunch, first free cut, my first english reading assignment thats thicker than all the assignments I've done during my highschool life(exaggerating? I don't think so) and so much more. What strikes me is my seemingly light schedule. Seemingly because some people told me even if I had that much free time it still would'nt be enough once the class work really starts. I only have 4 subjects during M-W-F starting at 7:30 with a 2-hour break after the third, except of course friday's lab day. Then 2 subjects during T-Th, PE at 9 am then 3 hours till my Fil class. See what I mean? It feels like there's so much time to kill in between. Time well spent though if it meant spending time with my block. Hi blockmates! I know your starting to read this na! Come read! Everyone is entitled to my opinion! Hehe, joking of course(no,not really). What I love is just walking around the campus(which in itself is a manner of killing time already), figuring out how to get from A to B. Great exercise, and saves trike fare too. Now I"ll need all the savings I can get after finding out how expensive college life can be. From the books that we'll need(can't find someone I can borrow from,damn) to the 2-inch thick pile of photocopied paper we had to pay for, college can quickly drain your allowance(not that I have an allowance). I even have to get a Php900 Arnis uniform, not to mention the sticks worth 200! Considering the price of Ateneo's - I'm sorry, the Ateneo's tuition fee, I don't want to burden my parents any more than I have too. I guess the only way I can repay them is if I do well, and that's something I have to work really hard on...

First Day in College

College is fun!(so far) Well its only been the first day so I can't really tell(yet). But I got to tell ya, it's way different than highschool. WAY different.

First on my M-W-F sched is 2 hours of english. What greeted us after our prof(at least I think he is) did was a diagnostic test. Finishing that rather quickly we found ourselves dismissed, an hour before our time. Well, that felt strange, in a wow-I'm-really-out-of-highschool-na-and-in-college sort of way. After that was college algebra, and to show you how I'm not really good in math I was placed in a beginners 0 unit course. We'll see if I can get out of it after the placement test. What was good though was that half my block was with me.

What I noticed with my classes were that the rooms were'nt airconditioned. I don't really mind that they weren't airconed its just that, well, were in college so I expected things to be different. It was really hot. They told me there weren't airconditioned because "student's should get to breathe the fresh air from all the trees". That makes sense, still, its hot.

I have a 2-hour break from my sched and so my blockmates and I went to Mcdonalds Katipunan to eat. At least now I got to know my blockmates better, and actually made friends, though I still feel a bit left out. Yeah, thats nice, eventually they'll be coming over here and reading my blog(yeah block JJ keep reading). After that, our Environmental Science subject, which I shall be enjoying(I don't know why my blockmates won't) then hung-out at Manang's for a couple of hours before I went home.

And that was my first day in college...

Orsem '06 Day 3

"NASASABIK SA UNANG ARAW NG ISKUWELA!..."

Its Orsem night!!! But before we got to it we still went through the last Orsem day. We had the usual Morning show where we watched the Orsem Idol finalists perform. After that we got our Org tour, presentations ranging from cheesy films to group demos telling us about the Organizations present in Ateneo. The films themselves were good, some cheesier than the rest, and others well made. We laughed at the Superman trailers spoof they did.

After that we went on group dynamics with our English block. Kenot is my english block-mate, so its kinda nce to have somebody to talk to. But I soon found a new friends to talk with. I actually enjoyed and had more friends with my english block than with my course block. There just a certain thing we had I guess.

Now let's get to the Orsem night!!! First there was of course the Orsem Idol and the winners of it. Then from 4 to 8 pm we rocked non-stop to the beat of famous bands. Each played 3 to 4 songs. Most bands are connected to Ateneo - either one or more of its members are(were)students.

THe bands that performed were Bloom(or Blue)Fields, Dicta License, Rivermaya, Parokya ni Edgar, Urbandub, Hush, Spongecola, Kamikazee..Did I forget someone? Hmmm..I think you get the point.

Those who had their Orientation Seminars in other universities and colleges,imagine ours; three days and with a free concert to boot. Now read those big names I listed above and EAT YOUR HEARTS OUT!

ATENEO RULES!!!

Orsem '06 Day 2

Fight A!(clap,clap) Fight T!(clap,clap) FightEFightNFightE Fight O!(clap,clap)

I had a stressful start to my day, but I rather tell you about the Orsem so I'll sum things real quick. I slept at 11pm, woke at 5, took me an hour to get to Sta. Lu because of the traffic, my jeep broke down 2 times, the second time I had to push, walked with Kenot from Greenpark to the Tropical,then walked all the way to Ateneo from Katipunan, stepped on mud, and arriving at the covered court feeling all tired and sweaty already. nice start eh? I thought so too.

The TnT's were still as perky and energetic as yesterday, and still bouncing upon chairs to the sound of rock music. There was still the morning show, but the thing that was impressive was the Blue Babble. In my Orsem letter its Blue Babble, but I saw a poster that says Blue Battle Battalion, and I heard someone introduced them as the Blue Babble Battalion. It maybe the Blue Babble Battle Battalion, but whatever their real name is, they are amazing. They are the ones in charge of revving up Ateneo's school spirit. They were the wicked sick Ateneo Drum line and cheer dancers. They even taught us the school cheers, but I don't think we will be remembering them anytime soon; they were pretty complicated.

After the kickass presentation they gave us, drum, cheers and all, we went to watch our Orsem film. I kinda thought that would be like an educational film about the school, like the ones I watched in career orientations. But oh was I wrong. It was done by students ofcourse, and it was titled "Lost"(in Ateneo). If you haven't guessed it yet, they did a spoof of the series "Lost". It was so funny, we kept on laughing during the presentation. Curly's bad numbers were grades. Hehe

we did some more Group Dynamics, playing stuff like the group juggling and others. Basically more get to know your blockmates stuff. Speaking of, I haven't talked at all about my blockmates, have I? Well, lets see. We are block JJ, and in a our block of 20 the girls outnumber the boys. We are a pretty diverse group. There's me, K, a Nigerian, some I guess to be Chinese-Filipino's, a couple of Assumptionites, and half of us are English-speakers. A pretty fun group to be with.

After lunch we went on wih our campus and org tour. Now that was as tiring as it was fun. We went from sponsored stop to next stop every 5 mins, in that time getting a quick introduction to the nearby area and whatever product happens to occupy the stop. After exactly 5 min we have to run off to the next one, cuz the schedule is pretty tight. We get had a general overview of the large number of different organizations.

In the end we did a recap of the Atenean cheers(not that that would help us remember it). I'm so tired. I better rest now. I still have to look forward to tomorrow, and Orsem night!!!