snowflakes

Home in Bed

2009-03-06T13:18:00.002+08:00

Ok. I've contracted Shingles, and I've been at home in quarantine for this entire week. Hopefully I'll be well enough to go to school by next week. -_-

I'm getting as much bed rest as possible and trying to limit my activities to certain areas of the house because this thing is pretty contagious. One of our helpers has been getting on my nerves about it, insisting that it's chicken pox when it isn't and insisting that it isn't contagious, when it is. Grr... Her favorite is 1) my face is destroyed 2) when you're poor, you get chicken pox all over your body, but since you can afford medicines, you only get it on your face 3) it's not contagious. Baaah!!!

I've told her a billion times that it's not chicken pox. My mom has told her, even her companion told her it isn't. She just doesn't get it. T_T And she keeps bringing her kid in the room with her to observe the progress of the infection, can't she understand that it's contagious, ESPECIALLY to little kids? Argh.

I honestly hope her kid doesn't get infected.

And the other day, my dad got mad at me for not going to school. Well, sorrreee... The doctor told me not to go. It's not like I want to miss such crucial accounting days during the last stretch of the semester. Honestly. When you're on questioning the chances of passing a course, you don't willingly miss classes for that same course. It's just suicide. And from what I hear from my classmates, things are getting tougher in class now. Every meeting, everyone has to put their bags in front and answer a bunch of exercises that have to be returned to the professor. No one is allowed to keep copies because it's really comprehensive. Everything we've been doing this while semester is culminating in those exercises, and I can't even see them because I'm sick. Shet, I really want to pass this course and graduate this sem. Talk about awful timing. T__T

On the lighter side of things, my mom bought me two of the books I really wanted, because 1) I offered to pay for one, and 2) they must have pitied my horrible looking face and pathetic circumstance. ^^;

More on the shingles. I actually have it on my face, which makes it 1) a dangerous kind of shingles, 2) give me really really severe headaches and 3) impossible for me to go to school. If I had it anywhere else, I could still go to school, and so can you imagine what kind of luck I have? Not only is shingles already rather unusual, it also just had to happen on my face.

And the headaches are hell. I'm not prone to headaches, but these were so bad, I kept throwing up. Thankfully, I was prescribed some painkillers which I have to take daily.

I mentioned that it was dangerous, and that's because it's also close to my eyes (it spread partly on my right eyelid). If it spread further, it could have gotten into my eyes and scratched it and resulted (worse case scenario) in blurry or lost vision. I was horrified. The dermatologist even made me visit an Ophthalmologist for "eye clearance".

But, I'm optimistic that I'll get well before the week is out. We caught it pretty early (and there is a story there too) so hopefully I'll make it for my Monday exam. :D

Anyway, I noticed that my forehead was itchy last week, friday, but of course, I though nothing of it. By afternoon, I was feeling the symptoms of fever, which had me worried since I had to retake an accounting exam that Saturday. I was feeling better on Saturday morning due to several doses of paracetamol. My friend noticed that the red spots on my forehead seem to have spread, but we all thought nothing of it. By Saturday night the fever returned and again, I felt better the next morning. My forehead, however, was really bothering me. The irritation had spread to my eyelids, and it was itching (and tingling) so much I was getting snappy and cranky. I was so bothered I forced my mom to take to to the doctor or something (not a usual thing for me to do), and my mom took me to DermClinic in SM, since she said the clinics in the hospital would be closed. So we went and they said I had allergies. They prescribed all sorts of medication, about 3 pages worth, including moisturizer. -_- I was a bit suspicious (you would be it you watch House and you see how cool diagnosticians are) but I was also relieved it wasn't anything worse. Like shingles. -_-

But by Monday morning, I had a really really bad headache. As in I'd burst into tears everytime I tried to talk, and I was getting nauseous. It was that bad. T_T I begged my mom to take me to the hospital. And one quick look at me and the doctor was grabbing a mask to cover her face. It was obvious what it was. She even said that the doctors at Dermclinic aren't really doctors, and that's just like getting your maid to diagnose your disease for you. Plus all the meds they prescribed were wrong. Baaah! And the doctor was really nice and she showed me pictures and explained eveything all the symptoms, and even why the rash looks the way it does.

Apparently Shingles is the reactivation of the chicken pox virus (varicella zoster) that lays dormant in your system. When your chicken pox heals, the virus doesn't entirely leave your body but sleeps happily somewhere along your spinal cord. Then several years later (for causes still unknown) they'll happily decide to show up again, and they become shingles, which only infects one part of your body, and obeys an imaginary midline, so if it's on your right side, it'll never crossover to the left.

I did a bit of internet research, like the doctor suggested, and learned that since it's highly contagious, you can easily affect others as well. If you infect a person whose had chicken pox, they'll get shingles, if you affect a person whose never had chicken pox, they get chicken pox. Same virus you see. It perfectly explains all the symptoms, headache, fever, etc., it looks right (like the pictures) and it even obeys a midline (I have it on my forehead, and it's only spreading on the right side). But the thing is, I've NEVER HAD CHICKEN POX. I did, however, get a chicken pox vaccine, and that's the only explanation I can offer to this crucial missing bit of the puzzle.

There's a shingles vaccine, btw, and I wish I'd known about it and had it done before this all happened. What a time to get sick. Just when you think think you're safe. Tsk tsk...

beginnings and endings

2009-03-06T11:41:00.004+08:00

I suddenly noticed: sometimes, when you get to the end of something, you just can't help but think back to the beginning. It may sound lame, but the phenomenon just suddenly hit me.

I was being asked about a memorable CE experience as my farewell to CE (since I'm supposed to be graduating this sem) for Ventures, and the first thing that popped into my head was the Applicant's Orientation I attended with Vigile, Bong and Rachel in my 2nd sem in UP. Of course, Vigile was all: "I already have an org, I don't want to have another. I didn't even want to be in an org in the first place, etc., etc." and Bong was curious since she's never had an organization before, and Rachel really wanted to join because her friend Kevin joined in the previous semester and was already an officer. I was also curious since I didn't have a college based organization, and I thought: "Well, it IS my college."

There we had to decide what committee we'd like to join, and though we'd originally hoped to join 1 committee, Rachel really wanted to join marketing where Kevin was, while the rest of us were still unsure (though Vij and I were sure we didn't want o join Marketing^^).

I was a bit torn between Operations and Publicity, but the committee presentations eventually tipped the scales for me. Every committee was presenting skits, spoofing scenes from movies like Ang Tanging Ina where the Finance VP, Lady, was the kid who gets slapped unintentionally by Ai-ai. The Publicity committee was the last to present, and all they had was a super cool powerpoint presentation and a little speech by the Pub VP Raul, where he basically insulted (in good humor) all the other committees for lowering themselves to embarassing skits. It was hilarious and impressive.

So I made up my mind (though I knew nothing about Photoshop, etc. at that time) and I persuaded Vigile (who was still changing her mind about joining every few minutes) and Bong (who kind of wanted to join other committees due to a self-proclaimed lack of artistic skills, which is baloney, if you've ever seen Bong's sketches, and she's better then me at crafts, since I grew up to be more techie :p). I specifically remember telling Vij that the committee was into graphic and web design, etc. and I remember hearing Bong saying she'd like to try marketing, but she'd pick the same committee we'd choose. (Bong is so nice. ^^)

Well, what followed was a couple of semesters of fun. We all ended up really loving CE and Pub. Bong even ended up as Vice President. (It was also offered to Vigile, but she turned it down).

The ending was a lot less memorable and disheartening, for me at least. Vigile left CE early on for Tennis UP, Bong left it gradually after her term to focus on her thesis, and Rachel kind of left it when her relationship with Gil ended. So I've had CE for more than a year longer than they did. It was still fun for a while, when Ivan and Levs were still around, but after they graduated, it's been downhill for me since.

Which is pretty sad. I still love the old CE, but the new CE is a little disheartening. The sem after Levs and Ivan graduated, Gil was assigned CE week and I was made a staff for some adhoc. Things happened, and I was so disheartened with CE and how people worked. *won't go into details* I ranted to Gil and he agreed, so it's not just me. He seemed pretty pissed with CE back then too.

There are a few members that still make me feel hopeful, but it's quite clear to me that CE underwent such a huge (negative) change from what it was during that really energetic first Apps Orientation I attended to the current in-tambayan-genmeets. Huge leap. Everyone's asking (even the non-CE people) "What happened?" And even I don't know.

This ending feels like a really tattered edge to me. With pieces breaking off and everything. It has come to a point where I don't even feel sad about actually leaving CE behind. Though looking back, there is sadness there, but more for what CE has fallen to. It used to be such a hopeful, bright and energetic organization, with people teasing each other and healthy committee bashing comments fly around. Now VPs are resigning, committees don't attend another committee's projects, some people don't make an effort to understand their co-officers, members and apps, and there are occasional bitter fights. It's really sadly different.

Maybe I stayed too long. Gil's reconciled to CE again because he's found someone, but I'm still bothered. Honestly, my farewell is a little muddled, I don't know what to say, I don't know how to say certain things I want to say, basically I don't know where to begin.

In the years that I've been in CE, I've heard countless people say: "I wish I found CE earlier, I wish I had more time with CE" when saying their farewells during our tribute genmeet (genmeet for graduating people). Of the people who've heard those statements, only a very few of us remain, and I doubt any of us would share that sentiment. That line has always had a big impact on me, since I was in first year. I've always expected to feel the same when the time came. But I don't. And that's probably the saddest thing about this ending.

I feel like I've betrayed the older CE generation. And I'm really sorry. Sorry to Lyka, Ate Judy, Ate Ainee, Ate Sheesha, Janna, Kate Reyes, etc. Make no mistake, I don't regret joining CE, and I still love the CE of the old days, but things are different now.

Urgh. I sound emo and I;m starting to go in circles. ---______--- I better quit now. If I have any typos, grammatical errors, etc., sorry. I'm really not good at typing, and I kind of feel lazy about rereading. :( So sorry nalang. :P And sorry for the Emo-ness... ^^;

shameless plug~

2009-01-10T21:30:00.007+08:00

My my... it's been such a long while since I've last posted. ^^ well, it was inevitable, especially since most of my friends (even the most unlikely ones) have given up their blogging, more or less, and as a consequence 1) I don't have a lot of blogs to visit anymore and 2) they rarely visit my blog as well. Hence my blog seems inclined to join its friends in waiting in the shadowy and forgotten corners of the world wide web. ^^

Before I leave my blog to more waiting, however... SHAMELESS PLUG!!!

http://hiddenshop.multiply.com

A really really cool shop of random finds, and what not. I feel too lazy to get the actual description, but the items are nice. :)

Here's a picture of my friends with some of the shop's merchandise. ^^

http://cookiecaboodle.multiply.com

A place that sells cookies. My friend loves them to death. She can eat a huge tupperware of them in an afternoon. Dangerously addicting, shall we say? ^^

cute tophats~

2009-01-10T21:30:00.000+08:00

The cherry on top

2008-11-27T19:34:00.002+08:00

I just found out that the i-frame buttons for this lay-out are all wrong in Internet Explorer! X( Argh... How do I fix it when they seem fine in Firefox anyway? @___@

Ranting and whining. As always.

2008-11-27T19:04:00.003+08:00

Forgive the whining. I just need to get it off my chest since it seems like no one has the time or patience to lend me an ear. >_<

I've been having a pretty bad week recently. >_> pffft...

But anyway, let's zoom in on today. For one, I really hate Tuesdays and Thursdays. I have a really bad schedule that usually leaves me with nothing to do for an hour and a half with no one to hang out with. My classmates don't start class (and are likely not in school) till 2thirty. My only other friends who might be in school are officers of an organization I'm not part of, and hence they hang out in their tambayan. I don't want to hang out in the CE tambayan cause I didn't reaff this sem, but it's a bit awkward to hang out in the JPIA tambayan. :( That leaves me with the library. But first, I have to go eat lunch with myself like a true loner, and finding a place to eat (at 1pm when the BA cafeteria is closed) is another big issue I'd rather not deal with.

And then today, urgh. Not only was I late for my first class, my second class (the one that starts after my unwelcome break) was cancelled, therefore leaving me with 3 hours with nothing to do. I didn't bring any additional study materials or any leisure reading or anything. @_@ Sure cancelled classes are a good thing, but blank streches of boring time is annoying. So i decided to have a food trip *by myself* since i hadn't had lunch anyway and of course, it rained on the exact thirty minutes that I was outside BA. -_- And then my friends texted that they won't attend our third class because as luck would have it, they attended an earlier session for it, but it was an unplanned thing so they weren't able to tell us sooner. :( So i was pretty aghast to learn that I could have been on my way home by 4 but had to wait it out instead. -_- If only i had known. (I told some of my other classmates about it, and they all reacted: "Pwede pala yun? Sayang!")

Anyway, in that blank stretch of time, i managed to draft an outline for a short story, i attempted to draw, I finished reading a short story saved on my phone, I tried sleeping and I listened to music while staring blankly out at space... Pretty much everything I could think off to pass the 3 hours I had with nothing but my phone, some notebooks and pens in my bag. -_-

Plus for my foodtrip, i decided to eat 2 packs of instant pancit canton. And for some reason, it's sitting a little too heavily on my stomach, so much so that I couldn't even have dinner. Shame. Our dinner was pretty good. Maybe later. @_@

Urgh. I think I'll start reading a book and bring it to school next T/TH. >_<

Vote for me~

2008-11-23T23:09:00.003+08:00

My design might not be the nicest, but in my defense, it's cause my first design was accidentally deleted by some mistake of mine. @_@ At least my color choices are pretty right? ^^

My design number is 1227448409

Please vote for me! ---> http://www.designs10.com/ph/

And i'm usually on page 30 when you sort by date. ^^

I think I'll try making more designs soon. ^^ I joined the amateur competition, so we have to use the given tools. :p I'll try harder next time.

Nevermind. I give up. EVen I like other designs more. :p Not all, but a few. ^^

Cancelled trip :(

2008-11-23T21:06:00.002+08:00

Damn, just when my dad said "yes" to the Bohol trip with my friends, my only two confirmed companions suddenly backed out within 20 minutes of finalizing the plan. :(

Crestfallen. :(

I was already researching the plane fares and what not, and we already agreed to reserve our seats within this week. We even had accommodations already. Now all that planning and excitement were all for naught. :(

Not that I blame them, I just feel the bitter disappointment of feeling such glee (I was jumping around in happiness, really, cause my dad rarely gives such permissions with no questions asked, plus i figured that if we take a trip now, we can take another in April before I hole up for the CPA board exams this summer, plus Stacy starts work in Januray, I think. Huhu...) only to tumble down from such exhilarating heights to nothing.

I hope at least that my family's trip to Baguio pushes through. Or else I'll sulk all the rest of the semester. Mark my words. :( :( :(

~EMO EMO EMO~

People Magazine's Sexiest List

2008-11-22T19:07:00.003+08:00

Yes, I like following celebrity news. Hehe... And just a few minutes ago, I spotted a newsflash from Yahoo that People Magazine had recently released their list of "100 Sexiest Men Alive" and E! Television released a Top 10 Sexiest Women in the World". As usual, my favorite couple Brad and Angelina made it to their respective lists, and there were some other surprises as well. ^^

1) Ed Westwick, aka Chuck from Gossip Girl, made it to the list. Aww~ ^^ see here!
2) Robert Pattinson made it to the list. EEEeeewww! >_< see here. >:P
3) Hugh Jackman topped the list and is 2008's sexiest man alive.
*and while Brad isn't in the link I just gave, he's in the cover of the magazine! So my guess seems well substantiated. ^^

And lastly, the lady who topped the Women's list, Karolina Kurkova, is a Victoria's Secret model with no belly button. ^^ (Axylle! istatchu?)

First day of Latin 10

2008-11-20T17:40:00.002+08:00

Well, i missed the first day, so while this is actually the second meeting, it's technically still my first day right? ^^

Anyway, our teacher used to be in the Semenary like Vigile's father, and he can speak a ton of languages! Fluently and with the proper accent! ^o^ He was supposed to teach Greek as well as Latin in UP, unfortunately, no one was interested in the subject. ^^ He can also speak Anglo-Saxon English (amazing!), Mandarin, Castillian Spanish (there are many kinds), Parisian French (it's the purest kind), German, and a bunch of others. We know cause he demonstrated. ^^ I also have the feeling he knows Japanese, since he told the class we should learn at the very least the 5 most popular languages (spanish, french, mandarin, german and japanese) and if he can say "at the very least", that must mean he knows them too. ^^

Just sitting there in class for the first time, I really got to appreciate 1) a little bit of history, 2) foreign languages and 3) Filipinos. ^^ This class is waaaay~ interesting. ^^

Really, considering I'm pretty fond of European history, i was really pleased to hear about Castille (Isabella!) and how they spread their language through conquests, etc. About the Greeks and the Romans (Augustus was mentioned) and the English (Elizabeth I and King James). I didn't know much about these things since my history is really rusty from high school, but it was really interesting to hear about them. *u* I really may have developed a thorough interest in the subject due to my reading historical novels lately. ^^;

And hearing so many foreign languages, it was making my heart glow with amazement! Castillian Spanish is beautiful~ <3 I think I want to learn it too. And I already love French, so now I want to learn more than ever!!! Must. Learn. I know the desire is getting both greedy and unreasonable, and I can't even imagine having time for lessons anywhere in the future. Plus the fact that I'd need someone to take the lessons with me so I can converse with at least someone. ^^

And finally, apparently, learning new languages is in our blood. Due to the fact that we've been colonized thrice in our history, we've developed an adeptness for languages. Unlike other countries (like the US?) we have a softer tongue for learner and acquiring accents comes to us more easily and naturally than it does for others (at least so my teacher claims, I haven't had any means to verify this. ^^)

And I even got to see how other countries view us. Particularly the Spanish. In this day and age, they're pretty shocked that Filipino tourists come to them and speak English. They honestly think (since we're considered a hispanic country by Spaniards) that we can speak Spanish fluently, and they're flabbergasted and disappointed that we no longer can (we could at least until around the 80s), unlike a lot of other used-to-be Spanish colonies. And our type of Spanish is even the best type. The Castillian, which was the original and pure type. I can't really explain or capture the feeling, but trust me, this was a totally different perspective about Filipinos. ^^

And for other bits of trivia and what not, did you know that there are several types of Latin? When I told my classmate I was taking up Latin, for instance, the Latin she had in mind was the ecclesiastic kind. There's also another type, but I can't spell it. ^^ Then there's the scholary Latin, the Classic Latin, which is the one we have in class.

And yet another bit of trivia that horrified me: apparently, you should learn your languages before the age of 21. Beyond that, it gets rather difficult and you'll have a harder time getting a grasp of the accent, etc. In short, it is recommended that you learn before you reach 21. @__@

Well, the age thing aside, I found the class very very interesting. My teacher is quite nice but he's rather strict with attendance. For instance, in the future, you can text him any Latin phrase for translation and he promises to reply as soon as possible. ^^ He's rather old, but he speaks really well. I dunno, but I was reminded of Vigile's dad a few times. Maybe it's because there's something familiar about the way he speaks? Can't place it though. ^^

I just hope this subject won't clash with my majors. Becauase as early as now, we were being warned about how difficult this subject is going to be. So difficult that any other language you take afterwards will be a piece of cake. Which is why Latin is often viewed as a window to other languages. ^^ It also promises to improve our English and our vocabulary by "leaps and bounds". I hope it's true. (The leaps and bound part, not the difficult part.) XD Although the opposite is more likely. ^^

Anyway, forgive me about any typos, wrong spelling and wrong grammar you might find. For some reason, blogger doesn't spell chack for me anymore. ^^ And I'm pretty lazy enough not to want to reread everything I just typed. Maybe later or this weekend. ^^

Gossip Girl - DIE Vanessa! DIE!

2008-11-20T16:25:00.003+08:00

Gawd! I've had it with Vanessa!!! I've hated her for several episodes now, but it only gets worse. Get off that high horse you lying cheating hateful woman! How dare you treat Blair and Chuck like the scum of the world when you yourself are as manipluative as you are???

1) If you didn't butt in with the whole duchess thing, Nate would have been in a better situation thanks to Blair's negotiations with the duchess. Act sorry, but it's all your fault. If only you were just a little more patient and less prideful.

2) Blackmailing is blackmailing no matter who you do it to and for what cause. I'll forever hate you for it.

3) It's not like Chuck and Blair did anything to you when they made that bet. In fact, Chuck was serious about investing in your crappy building! And you made it impossible for him to do so just because your stupid pride was hurt? If that building gets demolished, it's all your prideful fault! >_<

4) The bet thing again? The worse that happened was that they deleted some pictures that you used to blackmail Blair! You're in the wrong, if you ask me, not them! And what do you do? Tell the world that you were the butt of some sick game ala Cruel Intentions? Chuck was sincere you moron! And because of that you ruin whatever chance they had to be happy? Urgh. (Referring to the time she told Dan not to help Blair just before the Chuck and Blair rooftop scene. Argh.)

5) Lowest of the low. Don't say words like: "Our friendship is more important than some guy" when you don't mean it!!! Sure you're willing to forgive Jenny now because she didn't get the guy and you did. Don't pretend otherwise! You told Dan you didn't want to see Jenny before you finally got your claws on Nate. Two faced woman!

6) And to steal Nate's letter to Jenny? Urgh. You're a liar, now a thief too. I hate you as a character and I really like the episodes that don't feature you. Seriously, I hope Nate drops you as quickly as he's dropped the other girls that he's liked in the series.

And what makes her even more horrible is the fact that she's portrayed as the good girl. The quirky, organic eating, home-schooled, rally-joining, artsy best friend, good girl. -__- The one who claims to have morals and ethics, and who stares down at people like Chuck and Blair for being "manipulative". And she acts like the victim all the time, and that she's always right. Mark my words, when Jenny finds out about the stolen letter, chances are she's gonna eventually forgive Vanessa and get sucked back into the happy friendship thing with her because of another lie like "Our friendship is more important that some boy". =__= She's forever going to be the nice girl.

Gimme a break! For one thing, at least we understand why Blair turned out the way she did. But Vanessa has no excuse. And to act like you're so much better... urgh. >_<

Watching Trailers

2008-11-19T23:45:00.003+08:00

I'm supposed to be writing an essay on internal control for Mam Agustin right now, but I decided to take a break to check out the movies that are showing this week. Instead I ended up watching a few trailers and making a mental list of movies I want to check out. ^^ Here are some of them:

Bolt
Cute doggy~ That alone is enough to make me give it a second look. XD

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
I watched the trailer, and I have plenty of good expectations about the movie. <3

Bride Wars
Light hearted comedy. The best type of movie when stressed out. ^^;

Bloom Brothers
I dunno if it's any good, but there are a few Oscar winners in this one, and it seems interesting, with all the scheming and plotting and what not they promise, plus it looks like the type of movie with a feel good ending. ^^ Good for stress. Hehe..

Australia
Nicole Kidman is one of my favorite actresses. Plus Hugh Jackman is good too. ^^

Twilight
For Siggy~ XD I was hoping I can watch this with Levs, or at least someone who shares my desire to bash certain aspects *cough* of the movie. ^^; My classmates love (adores, swoons over, etc.) the lead actor of this movie. Tsk tsk...

Burn after Reading
I'm quite a fan of Brad Pitt. ^^; Well, the movie seems interesting, and the cast is all star. ^^

And finally (this one doesn't have a trailer, but it promises to be good. ^^)

Sherlock Holmes
This one stars Robert Downy Jr. as Sherlock and (get this!) Jude Law as his sidekick Watson. XD Seems very interesting to me. Especially after watching House and Wilson toss around comments about Sherlock and Watson, I'm definitely going to see this movie when it comes. ^^

Ooh~ the movies are finally getting interesting. ^^ Cutting this short... must write that essay! X_x

Big Weekend Break

2008-11-18T20:11:00.002+08:00

Thanks to the fact that our BA 123 teacher is "in transit" abroad, I've had a very restful and fun weekend which was only made better by the fact that Kimmy celebrated her birthday last Saturday and France came over to sleep in our house. We even baked some cookies~ XD

Anyway, France and I were able to finish both xxxholic (which I really love) and Disgaea, 2 anime series that I've had in file for quite some time now. We were amazed that we were able to watch so much. ^^

Anyway, I'm downloading the second season of xxxholic now. wheee~

Also, Kimmy took really fun/ny pictures of our dinner, thanks for treating us out to dinner Kimmy! :D Belated Happy Birthday! Hehe... And thanks to Kimmy and Vij for dessert! XD you can view the pictures in Kimmy's multiply. Take special notice of Vigile's super silly pictures. XD

Gah.. the only downside was that (probably) because it was such a happy weekend, I completely switched around the class schedules in my head and missed our first day of Latin. ARGH! I don't even know anyone from the class so I can't even ask what happened. :( But since it's the first day, it can't be so bad. *crosses fingers* And I studied for the wrong subjects and brought the wrong books to school and everything. ^^ tsk tsk...

USB from P&G

2008-11-12T22:41:00.002+08:00

Today I lined up in front of the BA-SE CAP's P&G booth to get a free 1Gig Kingston flash drive. My classmates and I were a little worried that we might not get one, but we were lucky enough. ^^ Anyway, while waiting in line, we were kidding each other about how the flash drive would contain viruses and stuff, and true enough, as soon as I scanned the said drive with my 2 anti-virus programs at home, I got not just 1 virus, but 4! Imagine! Considering it was a new flash drive, I'm pretty sure we all expected that it would be empty and would therefore be relatively harmless. WRONG! @_@ Thank goodness for paranoia! ^^; And get this, the viruses in it aren't even all detectable by one anti-virus. That means if you only have one running in your computer, chances are you'll still get infected. -_-

Tsk tsk... Giving away infected freebies? Not the best idea. Although I have to admit, giving away free 1gig flash disks are such a big plus anyway, I can absolutely forgive the viruses. Can't forget it though. :p

Sig is gonna love this...

2008-11-12T10:30:00.002+08:00

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=4226712&cl=10622484&src=news

XD

Imagine, a broken nose? I can just imagine sig's reaction. XD

Sembreak Game Results

2008-11-11T22:03:00.012+08:00

Note: I added an extra rule to lessen the value of certain bonus items. I don't think anyone would mind since this actually make the game harder. ^^

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RULES

Penalty:
+ 20 pesos additional penalty for every number not reached or every task left undone (note
how many times it should be done)

Bonus:
- 10 pesos from the total penalty for every movie watched this sembreak deduction to the
total penalty at the end of the break
- 10 pesos for every additional task done above the specified number required
- 10 pesos for each bonus task performed :p
- 5 pesos for anything half (at least half - ex. half a movie/book/series)
- 2 pesos for anything less than the task required (ex. short story/fanfic)
- 20 pesos for recruiting others to try the game XD

Additional Rule:
- 2 pesos for each blog entry, photoshop creation, grade and new ikariam boat (imagine this used to be worth P10!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

REQUIRED TASKS (see progress report for details)

At least...
1) watch 3 anime series (finished 2)
2) ~~learn 1 new recipe~~ (finished 4)
3) ~~do 2 old recipes~~ (finished 3)
4) write 1 short story
5) finish 10 manga volumes (finished 4 volumes of skip beat)
6) read 2 novels (not even half of one, so it was uncredited. :c)
7) ~~get 1 rare egg (dragcave.net)~~
8) ~~finish 2 series (US/Asian)~~ (finished 3)

and...
9) ~~buy a router~~
10) ~~get a haircut~~
11) ~~install office - done~~
12) ~~clean up last semester's things~~
13) ~~return vigile's clothing - done~~
14) swim/play tennis at least once
15) ~~draw at least once :p~~

Other "to do" things:
A) upgrade ikariam defenses
____1) ~~spyhuts - at least lvl 10~~
____2) ~~walls - at least lvl 10~~
____3) ~~shipyard - at least lvl 5~~
____4) ~~barracks - at least lvl 16~~
B) get a bag for **
C) ~~Visit someplace new and/or far~~ (visited 4 places)
D) ~~Barkada gathering~~ - done - October 23
E) ~~take pics of "new haircut"~~
F) wallpapers for ventures donors
G) ~~new blog lay-out~~
H) ~~fix/update pillage list~~ (major updates done twice)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BONUS TASKS
1) begin work on a costume
2) outline of article for kule
3) ~~Stalk the song XD~~
4) ~~play a prank~~
5) sew something

ADDITIONAL BONUS
1) ~~buy/prepare notebooks and bag for next sem~~
2) burn files - not needed. ^^
3) ~~buy new stash of blank DVDs~~ ~in SM Marikina!
4) ~~post the actual issue of ventures in multiply~~ ~ see it in my multiply~
5) get my phone's software updated

Special Bonuses (PHP2 pesos)
1) ~~any photoshop creation*___~~ I created 6~
2) ~~blog __~~~11 blogger posts, 2 multiply albums
3) ~~get grades~~ - 2 out of 5
4) ~~new ikariam boats (start counting at 80)~~ - got 7 new ones~

ADDITIONAL TASKS - NO BONUS
1) ~~type out next sem's schedule~~
2) buy a mouse for HP
3) ame con - missed it :(
4) read the presidential speeches

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DETAILED REPORT

Movies watched
1) Penelope
2) Birthday Girl
3) half of HP 5 (on HBO)
4) Georgia Rule (on HBO)
5) Atonement (ulit. :P)
6) Cry Wolf
7) The Orphanage (El Orfanato)
8) The Last Unicorn
9) City of Ember

Photoshop Creations
1) personalized dragoncave scroll link for self
2) personalized dragoncave giving tree link for self
3) Kada GIF
4) JPIA AR Amazing race blue poster
5) JPIA AR Amazing race white poster
6) JPIA AR Amazing race avatar

Recipes learned
1) Potato Salad (in e-mail)
2) egg tart
3) empanada
4) lava chocolate cake

Old recipes
1) cheesecake
2) revel bars
3) yang chow fried rice

Anime
1) Natsume Yuujinchou
2) Special A
3) ~~1/3 of Ayakashi Japanese Horror Classic (???)~~ - NOT CREDITED

Rare Eggs (dragcave.net)
1) chicken egg
2) silver egg
3) halloween egg
4) paper egg

Asian/US Series
1) Hanayome to Papa
2) Kurosagi
3) Honey and Clover Live

Far/New Places Visited
1) Serendra (far & new)
2) ATC (far)
3) SM Marikina (new)
4) Glorietta (far)

Counts
1) Photoshop work - 6
2) Blog Entries - 11 + 2 multiply post (album)
3) Game Recruits - 1
4) Ikariam Boats - 7

Other worth mentioning (but no bonus) activities
1) Met up with Mia
2) Met up with Aji
3) Met up with Levs
4) sleepover with france
5) Drummania and Guitar Freaks date with Gremio my Gremio

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I stood to lose: PHP800 *scary music*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

END RESULT
Worth of Required Tasks left undone: PHP240
Bonuses: PHP351

Loss: PHP 0.00

@__________@

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DETAILED COMPUTATIONS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Afterword. ^^

Wow. I never imagined that it would turn out like this. And I was rather looking forward to a fun dinner/lunch with the kada, or at the very least withe the trio. ^^ I guess I may have been too lenient with the bonuses. I really expected to lose about 300 bucks though. Nover imagined this outcome. ^^

I had fun though~ But man, as excited as I was to tabulate and post my results, I couldn't have had a harder time if I had purposely made it hard. (Forgive the confusing last statement, I've been typing this entry for a good 2 hours, i think.) Unlike vigile, I wasn't keeping a very updated list, I'd just type in "done" after a done task, hence this evening was full of formatting and what not. ^^ I also had a hard time computing, so I decided to use a spreadsheet to do so, as you can see. Overkill? Maybe. ^^ (if the spreadsheet is too small, i'll post a larger one. ^^)

Anyway, it was a fun sembreak. Though I'm too tired now to recap what deserves to be recapped. :(

But before I go, I mentioned a level 2 to this game right? Before level 2 takes place however, I'd like to announce a level 1.5 which takes place before the Christmas break and ends when Christmas break begins (when my last class ends). Since those are really busy times, I'm not going to require myself to do harder things than in Level 1. Instead, all the tasks not accomplished in Level 1 will be the tasks for Lvl1.5. Hence the name. ^^ Well, i'll be sorting through the list, because some might not be feasible, and I may have to add things. Well, at least if I fail this time around, then I'll be treating some people to a nice near-Christmas-time lunch/dinner.

I'll come up with the official list next weekend, if I decide to push through with it at all. BA 123 is really starting to feel like it should own a semester of it's own. And if a homework and quiz is not enough, how about adding unluckiness to spice up the night? Not only was I the first to be called to recite in class (about the readings which I was unable to read), but I was also the first person to be called to do boardwork (for the homeowrk I didn't finish). Talk about unlucky. Some people didn't get even called at all. T_T Unfortunately, we can't complain since he uses a deck of cards to pick out names. It's totally random. :( And we have a new set of homework for tomorrow, and a bunch of quizzes. @_@ Did I mention that I failed today's quiz as well? T_T

And I attended a talk recently, and one of the audience members (not from UP I think) brought up this school that I used to dislike, and he was promoting it for its Entrepreneurial course, which is coincidentally the very thing that made me dislike the school so much since I was in high school. -_- In this day and age, damn those schools that offer entrep courses only to their male students!!! Gender discrimination in the academe? What century are you from anyway? I hope they've changed their policies since I last heard of the issue, but I don't think I can ever trully forgive them anyway. Schools should be at the forefront of casting aside such discrimination, not advocating it!! *disgusted* And it's a pretty prominent school afterall. :(

I have a lot more to blog about, but my mind is getting clooudy. It's 12:33 am, so I think it's time to wrap up. Good night!

Living on the edge

2008-11-10T22:00:00.002+08:00

~a "farewell my beloved sembreak" entry~ LOL.

This has been a very eventful vacation. I'm very pleased with how the sembreak game (see previous posts) turned out*smug*, and i'll be posting its results very very soon. (like tomorrow~ ^^) The world (or at least the few readers of this blog) will finally get to know how much I lost due to my laziness. ^^

But before the post which officially marks the end of my less-than-two-week break, I think I feel dramatic enough to give this (last) sembreak of mine a well deserved farewell.

Farewell~ XD

This already promises to be one of my most memorable sembreaks, thanks to the game. ^^ The game is strangely addicting, and I might do it again for my Christmas break. Stay tuned. I'm already hatching a scheme/twist for level2 and 3 (this game has levels like LiarGame? *gasp*).

Anyway, living on the edge. I've been repeating this line to vigile a lot today. ^^ First I was living on the edge because I spent almost all my money today. Tsk tsk. Going out to three different places and eating lunch and dinner out with almost no money? That's cutting corners and as I jokingly pointed out *drumroll* living on the edge! XD I even miscalculated the amount I'd need to get home, which gave me a little problem that was solved by once again *drumroll* living on the edge. A little more accurate to the definition, Vigile and I decided to take the more dangerous bus route home, instead of the train, despite hearing that there have been an abundance of bus accidents in the area of late. ^^

I'm also living on the edge of my sembreak, literally/figuratively(?), but it seems silly enough not to warrant a full explanation. ^^

And finally, living on the edge of sanity! 9 quizzes, 1 really really long written homework due tomorrow and several chapters of reading assignments all for just this first week of class? How can anyone expect us (my batchmates) to get through that alive? FOr heaven's sake a lot of students haven't even gotten back from the province yet! And this week alone we'll have around 11 hours of classroom time for just 1 subject (the bloodiest accounting subject anyone has ever heard of), if my recollection serves me right. I know I'm still on sembreak mode, but our teacher e-mailed us already, and I nearly got sick just coping with the stress it put me through. @_@ God save us. Please? T_T

For happier and much better news... the trio had dinner with Mia several days ago and we got to meet her little "demonita" daughter, the vainly adorable little Allychia! XD She's really cute and funny and totally, undeniably vain. XD It adds to her charm. ^^ It was a shame Tita selda wasn't there to meet her. ^^

Vij and I also had lunch with the super (amazingly) thin Aji today. I was expecting to be surprised by how thin she was, but I didn't expect to be THAT surprised. ^^ And we had a ton of fun gushing about novels and movies (pearl earring, twilight, etc) and pastimes and whatnot. Fun! We seemed like a book club of sorts, and I've always wanted a book club. XD (Aji also loves Tudor history! XD)

Looking back, this day was really quite pleasant, at least the hanging out and talking part. The other parts, which entailed me trekking about makati and making vigile wait, as well as thinking about the assignment were the only rain clouds on this happy parade. Although on hindsight, I'm a little mortified to realize that I probably talked 70% of the time while I was with Vigile. ^^ Sorry. Next time, i'll try to remember to cut down on talking and to listen. ^^

Anyway, I have to keep this short so that I can start my homework. The sembreak game results will show a big chunk of what happened to me this sembreak anyway, so I'll leave the rest to tomorrow. @_@ Good night!

New Lay-out!

2008-11-09T18:27:00.004+08:00

Yay! New Lay-out! Woot Woot~!

It's always a grand day when a new lay-out is released. :D Or at least it is for me. Hehe... And this one has been long overdue, so I'm especially pleased to make the change. *shakes head at lazy self*

Anyway, this lay-out is inspired by the starting song of XXXholic, which I like quite a bit. :) I'm downloading the song as we speak *ahem, or as I type, more accurately*. It was sung by Suga Shikao, who is also the singer of my favorite Honey and Clover song August Serenade and is the model for the character Mayama in the said anime (if I understood Ivan correctly :p).

Anyway, I hope you guys like it. I personally love the color scheme. Hehe... For some of you, it might bring to mind a set of posters I made some time ago for the CEWeek project planning simulation, and yes, the raw materials are pretty much the same. ^^ I haven't been flexing my photoshop muscles in a while, so I'm a little low on creativity right now. But I think it turned out okay. :D

Enjoy~ And if you spot any problems, tell me immediately. And yes I know that the scroll bar looks bad on internet explorer. And maybe a whole bunch of other things. But just to make it clear, this lay-out works best with Firefox. ^^

AME CON

2008-11-09T11:57:00.002+08:00

I was so irritated with the world yesterday, I actually got a headache. -_-

Kimmy and I have been planning to go to the AME convention since the Enchanted Kingdom trip we had last month(?). And when the convention finally arrived and Kimmy, Vigile and even France was already there, certain events conspired so that I was unable to go. Grr... I was so angry. And it all begins with inconsideration.

My mother does this a lot! >_< Only a handful of people in this world have ever caused me to be angry enough to get a headache, and unfortunately, she happens to be one of them. -_- I don't want to recall too much of yesterday, cause it just irritates me. So many unlucky things happened to me, grr... from someone slamming into me while walking (hard enough to cause me to swear involuntarily) to those super annoying ladies who keep asking you if you have a credit card so they can reel you in on some insurance or whatever scam-like-thing -_- (one even had the audacity to ask me my age when I told her I didn't have a credit card. Why? Will that tell you if I'm lying? *growl*) and then to finally getting slightly sick that evening due to the fact that i didn't have lunch till 4.

I was so angry, I splurged a small bit of my mother's money on a late lunch for myself. Wendy's Combo number 10, changed drink to iced tea, plus upsize. >_< It only gave me a small bit of satisfaction, which was washed away by the fact that the Block removed the chairs they had in the middle of their ground floor to make way for some Barbie event. I had to walk really far to find a place to sit and eat. -_-

I know I must be blabbering the most confusing things and I'm probably not making much sense. Forgive me, but I just had to get a part of this frustrated feeling out of my chest. ^^ I'm really starting to believe that I might potentially develop an anuerysm if this keeps up. I need... House, expert diagnostician! XD

Finished another series

2008-11-07T13:53:00.002+08:00

I just finished watching Yamapi's dorama Kurosagi. Urgh. I can only give it bad reviews so maybe I shouldn't start. :( I was watching this series sometime back but stopped because it was getting too emo and it was making me roll my eyes too much. Can't be good. But since I downloaded and burned it already, it seemed like a waste not to finish it, but it was just ick. :( Sorry to the Yamapi fans out there, and the Maki fans as well, but I used to like them both till I watched this series. My friends were right, it's not very good at all. I guess it was getting high ratings simply bacause Yamapi fangirls out there were enjoying how he paraded about in different costumes.

Stick to Nobuta. It's way better.

And the antagonist of the story, the police inspector, has a grating super annoying fake laugh that I seriously dislike. I felt like breaking something everytime I hear it. Poor actor. Tsk tsk.

Better restrain myself now before I let lose a torrent of bashing. I'm saving that for the Twilight movie. :p Pattinson=Eeewww!

Ventures

2008-11-06T22:56:00.004+08:00

For our dearest donors, friends, supporters and readers, here is the soft copy of the ventures edition you all helped to create!!! :D

~click here~

Exciting~!

2008-11-06T13:19:00.002+08:00

One of my favorite authors has a new book coming up!!! XD It was originally scheduled for release in November, but was moved back to March. Aww... But that's better than nothing.
I've been searching all the second hand bookshops I can find for his books and I have electronic copies of some, but they're really nice so I wanted the actual paperback books. ^^ Unfortunately, they're pretty rare, and I've only succeeded in acquiring the Last Unicorn, which was great. ^^ He released a new book some time ago entitled Tamsin, whichI was able to buy and which I liked as well (Sig seemed to like it too. :D)

Anyway, so if there's a new book coming, chances are there will be a lot of copies available (if it's made available here in the Philippines) and I might be able to get a copy! Yay! :D

Meanderings...

2008-11-05T11:32:00.001+08:00

...is the title of a chapter in our 6 1/2 year old story the Phoenix Pendant. Sadly, it's taking us too long to finish certain parts, hence we have tentatively abandoned it. Too bad though, that one had the makings of a really good literary work. *cough* Now, the same team who brought you ~~the attempts at completing~~ the Phoenix Pendant is working on a new original story, with no title as of it. Currently, the story centers around 3 youths of very different backgrounds, coming together to protect mankind from certain destruction. As familiar as that sounds, it promises to be really good, and our boss hates typical storylines, so there's a very little chance that we'll end up with such. ^^ There. Now it's official. There's no turning back now team! XD

So on with the rest of my life. Just as I suspected, my sembreak does end on Tuesday, Nov 11, instead of on this Friday which is Nov 7. That means the deadline of my sembreak game can be rightfully moved as it has been moved. ^^ My friday classes have all already announced that there will be no class that day. Woohoo~ We're pretty efficient that way.

And speaking of efficiency... I'm done enrolling. My star-crossed and obviously one-sided love affair with the class Hapon 10 has ended in vain. -__- After 5 years of hoping, and despite finally having been able to enlist the said subject on CRS, fate made it so that I'd have to cancel it for the most important subject of my curriculum, BA 123. *sigh* And there are no more slots to enter other schedules of the class too. :( So i was left with the next two languages that I'd like to take. Franch and Latin. Though I kind of love French more, Latin had a better schedule and had fewer slots, so I took that one instead. Well it's better than nothing. :( Hopefully Vigile still remembers her Latin so I can practice on her. XD

And speaking of languages, I'm currently reading a World Fantasy Award Finalist book entitled Faery Reel. It's an anthology of short stories by different Fantasy authors like Neil Gaiman, etc. Among the stories is Night Market written by Holly Black, the famous author of the Spiderwick Chronicles (it was turned into a movie recently, if you remember). What makes this story stand out for me (altough I've only read about 1/3rd of the book, is that it's set in the Philippines, and hence contains aspects of Philippine folklore and Filipino phrases and words to boot.It makes mention of mga enkanto, albularyo, "tabi tabi po", gayuma, sumpa and even paksiw na pata. XD She also sees a mananangal in some part of the story. ^^; It's pretty cool. ^^ Story goes this way: a girl has a beautiful older sister who falls ill after seeking shelter from a tamarind tree (with a nest of ants) during a rain storm. Apparently, some enkanto fell for her and is making her ill. Hence our heroine goes out and tries to save her sick sister. ^^; I'm not done yet, but it's pretty interesting so far. :D

And today, Tracy and I had a really fun date/gimmick. I don't really understand why it was so fun, it just was. ^^ At some point we just bought snacks in the grocery and then sat down to eat them. Literally just hanging out. It was practically a food trip too, cause we ate in Burger King as well. :p We also played the guitars, and we were *almost* screaming all over the place cause we were kept dying at some point or another (or at least Tracy was exclaiming loudly, I was biting my lip with intense concentration cause the more I react, the more I die). ^^ But I think the people around the area warmed up to us, cause they were giving us tips and even inviting us to play with them. ^^ And we got a free game. Hehe...We also played the ball throwing game I played with Levs, Ivan and Gil, and it's still super fun and addicting, no matter how many times you play it. XD We also roamed the grocery, which was strangely entertaining, and we particularly enjoyed ogling at the baking/cooking supplies they had there. I saw the pan I've been looking for! XD And I'm starting to notice that I'm developing a fondness for headbands. Is this the result of watching too much Gossip Girl? ^^

And btw, I finally have a laptop!! XD Yay! After years of saving (and not collecting birthday gifts from my parents), we were finally able to purchase one! A little belatedly, I admit, but better that than nothing, right? *Deja vu?* The deal was that I'd have to pay for half, like Bianca did for her laptop. It was about PHP1.5K out of my budget, but I guess that's fine, since we were buying it from one of my dad's friends (to get it cheap) and there was only 2 models to choose from. And I checked out it's price in SM Cyberzone and found out that we were actually able to buy it for about more than 10K less than it's retail price!!! Considering Rachel said laptops in SM are already cheap, I'd say we got a good bargain. Thank heaven that my dad has friends who are into selling computers and laptops. (My dad knows nothing about computers and laptops. He wouldn't even know what's over or underpriced for things like CDs, let alone a whole laptop. ^^) And vigile, don't give me that "kami 11k lang - or free - yung laptop" and all those price comparisons, cause I have a hard time with really really small keyboards (I've tried -_-;) plus this laptop is pretty cheap already. :p Your guess as to its price was off by about 10K as well. ^^

I've also been watching the 4th season of House lately. I soo love that show!!! <3 It is definitely, utterly, and totally my favorite US series of all time! I'm still in episode six, but there are already episodes good enough to make me feel a lump in my throat and almost cry. ^^; And it's funnier and smarter than ever before! I admit that it's too smart for me to follow at times, but you gotta love it. I was worried with the way season 3 ended, but the writers are obviously way too good to let this show fall short of its previous seasons despite certain handicaps. *gushy mode*

And finally, prank's up! I didn't really cut my hair very short. I just took a bunch of really good misleading pics cause my new haircut has layers that can be fixed to look like I have short hair. XD Forgive me for the joke, but it was on the list. The prank was meant to be a halloween one, but I'm a little more soft-hearted towards people who are easily scared this year. Probably because I'm starting to be one myself. ^^; I dunno why, but it may be due to the fact that in the past month (or maybe 2 months ago?) Vigile and I may have seen ghosts. I saw a lady in black sitting in the backseat of my car, while Vigile saw a guy standing outside her window. So weird and creepy. @_@ We're still not sure if what we saw what we think we saw, but personally, my possible sighting scared me quite terribly. T_T

Belated Happy Halloween everyone! Stay safe! ^^

PS: AME con happens this Saturday, Nov 8. Anyone wanna go? :D

In an afterthought...

2008-11-04T11:38:00.002+08:00

I decided to move the deadline of my sembreak game to after my Tuesday classes. Why? Cause I'm likely going to be spending my friday afternoon, saturday, sunday and monday like I'm still on sembreak. ^^ I might not have friday classes, and even if I do, we'd get an orientation, not a real hard-core class. And 3 days is a long time to waste. I can watch a whole anime series in those 3 days. ^^

And I really want vigile to help me make a new lay-out for multiply, the way she did for her site. Or at least tell me how she did it. I've been clueless about multiply lay-outs since I've been a member, and that's quite some time. ^^

And I really have to get this out of my system (cause thinking about enrollment makes me cranky, and I just blogged about it so here are the vestiges) I was looking at vigile's multiply account and was frustrated that a lot of pics came out blurry. Phone cams shouldn't claim a certain amount of pixels if they can't deliver. hmph. But I still love vigile's cam. *disclaimer bigla eh. XD* It has been with us through thick and thin, and comparing her photo-taking diligence to mine, I guess I shouldn't complain about resolutions. It's all about the people taking the shots. ^^; No matter how nice your cam, if you don't use it, it's erm... useless. ^^

CRS and Queues

2008-11-04T10:46:00.002+08:00

Students beware! CRS and enlistment has become a bloodier and much more horrible system then ever before! (or maybe just in CBA?) bashing and complaing up ahead (You've been warned.)

Imagine, to enlist in a subject (even if it's required in your course and part of the block system) you have to write a letter to the college secretary and line up to have it approved before you can do anything. Why do we have to get it approved? Considering there was enough slots (thanks to the ESFs) and that they know I have to be put in the subject anyway, why waste everyone's time? You know we need the stupid subject. We used to have an okay system in CBA for doing this, now its all haywire. -_- To prerog, you have to write a letter to the department head and have it verified before getting your subjects enlisted. To block hop (due to schedule conflicts and such) you have to write a letter in triplicate and get it approved by at least 2 people of authority (college sec, dept head, etc.), to cancel a subject, you have to line up in the computer center and wait for someone (RVC) to do it for you. For waivers, requests for overload (important for graduating students) you have to again write a letter in triplicate and have it signed (again) by 3 people of authority. I've never seen so many letters flying all over the place. -_-

GAWD! Who invented this system and why are they so freakishly sadistic? Without this system, I would have been given my BA 123 immediately (as part of the block system) and would have been able to leave campus early. Instead, I had to write a bunch of letters and line up for 2 HOURS in front of the college secretary's office. And talk about inefficient. Since pretty much all requests have to be approved by the college sec, everybody with a letter (overload, prereq waiver, block hop, enlistment, etc.) all have to line up to see just one person. Have they ever heard of task division? Oh! And I forgot to mention that to cancel certain subjects, you have to go to different people to have it done. And to enlist for subjects in other colleges, you have to go and get letters again or something. bahala ka mawala. >_< How pretty is that overly tiring and sadistic system?

Calm me before I get an aneurysm. I know you probably don't understand half of what I'm saying, but I've never felt so frustrated during enrollment before. And for ***'s sake! I'm a graduating student!

Complaining

2008-11-02T23:52:00.002+08:00

Gahh! I can't believe I have to go back to school tomorrow! >_< I'm enjoying this sembreak way too much. I'm already starting to question where the break has gone, it's too short. Grr... Definitely not enough to relax my tense brain muscles from the academics of last semester. Thankfully, there's Christmas vacation, but *AMAGAD* this is going to be my last sem! Shall I start playing the sentimental music? ^^;

BTW, my game ends officially when my class starts, meaning I tally (and maybe post) my results in the afternoon of the first day of class.

Halloween Activities

2008-11-01T14:08:00.003+08:00

*france doesn't know how to spell Halloween. >:P*

I've been working on my sembreak game slowly but steadily. France came over to visit (she always hangs out with us during Halloween) so my progress has slowed, but then we decided to bake something (and vigile came over to help) so it wasn't entirely stopped. Hehe... I've noticed that we've been baking a LOT this vacation. There was the six-dish baking/cooking sleepover, then now we have a 2 dish baking visit. ^^

Anyway, we baked molten lava chocolate cakes and (the always overrated, but still irresistible) revel bars. The lava cakes seem to taste better every time you eat it. Lol. France even had this idea to put ice cream on top. Hehe...

And, true to our usual Halloween tradition, we tried watching a few scary films/series. As usual, we had a few bloopers (we've had bloopers since waaay back, for instance, we thought Death Note was of the horror genre, so we first watched - and fell in love with - the series about 2 years ago, Halloween night. ^^) This year, we watched a Spanish film called El Orfanato. I haven't watched western horror films in a while, and though the kind of scariness can't really match up to the Asian horror films, I've confirmed that I have indeed become a scaredy cat. T_T Grabe! Western films seem to bank more on surprise than fear, but the heart stopping feeling still isn't pleasant. Plus the movie itself was kind of different. Like Pan's Labyrinth different. There was a good twist at the end, very creepy though. @_@

And then we tried watching Ayakashi Japanese Horror Tales. This is the part where we had a gazillion bloopers. First we watched a different Ayakashi anime, then when we finally downloaded the right version, it was in Spanish. -_- So we downloaded english subtitles, but they were in .ass format. Then when we figured out how to use that, the subs weren't synchronized with the video. Etc. Crazy not. We got it all sorted out though. And the show was creepy. @_@

Well, that's my halloween. As usual, there's the creepy vids, and the sleepovers. ^^ All we lacked was a little dressing up. ^^

~BTW, I got a vampire dragon for my dragon collection! Wooh! XD

Here's my list and some updates on my sembreak game

2008-10-30T10:20:00.006+08:00

Sembreak Game
(refer to previous post for an explanation)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
REQUIRED TASKS:

At least...
1) watch 3 anime series
2) learn 1 new recipe
3) do 2 old recipes
4) write 1 short story
5) finish 10 manga volumes
6) read 2 novels
7) get 1 rare egg (dragcave.net)
8) finish 2 series (US/Asian)

and...
9) buy a router
10) get a haircut - DONE
11) install office - DONE
12) clean up last semester's things - DONE
13) return vigile's clothing
14) swim/play tennis at least once
15) draw at least once :p

Other "to do" things:
A) upgrade ikariam defenses
1) spyhuts - at least lvl 10
2) walls - at least lvl 10
3) shipyard - at least lvl 5
4) barracks - at least lvl 16
B) get a bag for ******
C) Visit someplace new and far
D) Barkada gathering - DONE
E) take pics of new haircut for multiply
F) wallpaper for ventures donors
G) new blog lay-out
H) fix/update pillage list

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BONUS TASKS (not required)
1) begin work on a costume
2) outline of article about peso
3) Stalk the song XD
4) any photoshop creation
5) blog
6) get grades
7) play a prank
8) sew something
9) new ikariam boats!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

RULES

Penalty:
+ 20 pesos additional penalty for every number not reached or every task left undone (note
how many times it should be done)

Bonus:
- 10 pesos from the total penalty for every movie watched this sembreak deduction to the total penalty at the end of the break
- 10 pesos for every additional task done above the specified number required
- 10 pesos for each bonus task performed :p
- 5 pesos for anything half (at least half - ex. half a movie/book/series)
- 2 pesos for anything less than the task required (ex. short story/fanfic)
- 20 pesos for recruiting others to try the game XD
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PROGRESS REPORT

Movies watched so far
1) Penelope
2) Birthday Girl
3) half of HP 5 (on HBO)
4) Georgia Rule (on HBO)
5) Sleepy Hollow *invalid*

Photoshop Creations
1) personalized dragoncave scroll link for self
2) personalized dragoncave giving tree link for self

Recipes learned
1) Potato Salad (in e-mail)
2) egg tart
3) empanada

Anime series completed
1) Natsume Yuujinchou

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You stand to lose: PHP800 *scary music*

"The Sembreak Game"

2008-10-29T12:55:00.004+08:00

Just to make it official... :p

This sembreak, I devised a game for myself to add a little thrill and excitement to this already fun-filled vacation (and to ensure a bit more productivity then usual). ;) Anyway, for simplicity and lack of originality, I'm calling it "The Sembreak Game". It's nothing as sinister as "the Liar Game" or anything like that, but at least it's fun.

The rules are simple: follow the tasks. Failure to do so by the end of the sembreak results in a PHP20 penalty. How will this penalty be enforced? Well, I can either treat some people out or give it to charity. ^^ But of course there are bonus items to lessen the total penalty at the end of the break, so I won't get so bankrupt. ^^ Such bonues items include 1) watching movies, 2) writing a blog entry *cough* 3) making photoshop creations, and 4) doing more than the task requires.

Anyway, I don't have the updated list with me here right now, and once I upload the list, there's no changing plans or numbers. At the moment, all the tasks amount to around *Beethoven Symphony No. 5* 800-900 bucks of penalty. That is.. if I don't do a single item on the list during the whole sembreak. *horror* Fortunately, I've started. Hehe... Keep you guys posted. Exciting already, isn't it? XD XD

Gossip Girl ranting again

2008-10-13T01:02:00.002+08:00

Spoilers ahead.

Gawd... i so love the characters of Chuck and Blair. Even apart, I think they make the story really interesting. I just finished episode 5, and I'm seriously fuming about how disgustingly self-centered and evil Serena can become. Argh. How can you possibly say talk about outshining someone, especially when that someone is your best friend? The best friend who had your back when you were having really low times (remember Georgina?) and forgave you when you didn't deserve it (Nate.) And the fact that Serena ran off without saying anything to Blair before the show. I can just imagine how horrible Blair felt then, with her father suddenly leaving their family, and then her best friend suddenly disappearing. And then to find out that that best friend left because she slept with your boyfriend? Sick.

And now Serena is doing a "I've been bending over backwards for you all my life, blah blah." If i recall correctly, it was Blair who used to take care of Serena and clean up for her when she was still a bad girl. Remember thanksgiving? Blair was such a nice friend panicking herself over drunken Serena. Grr...

And considering how badly her mom treats her, I totally understand why Blair turned out that way. A good mom would have taken the side of her daughter and put Serena where she deserves to be. -_- I mean, they got their socialites, right? This girl just wants someone to really love her. Under all that scheming (which only makes her cooler than Serena or anyone else in the show except for maybe Chuck, they're on the same level :p), you can see that she's pretty insecure. *nods head*

And Chuck. Oh Chuck. =u= Hands down my favorite male character in the show. I really loved it when he asked Dan "Are you gay?" And I really felt bad for him when he saw the notes Dan had on him. :( That's a guy who just wants a good steady presence in his life. See how he takes care of Nate? Selling the shares to the club he loves (and helped develop?) with no qualms at all just because Nate's family needed money. Considering the number of times he's had Nate's back covered, you'd think he deserves a little something back from Nate. Bah!

Snippets

2008-10-12T22:04:00.003+08:00

Success in a lost cause is exhilarating.

Thanks again to everyone who donated to Ventures. :)

Feasib is over for a little while. Defense nalang!

Begging...

2008-10-10T00:02:00.000+08:00

hi guys!!! please click on the lists part of my blog and click on the eggs that are shown there. They'll die if they don't hatch in time. :( please?

The OtakonEK event

2008-09-29T17:16:00.002+08:00

Amazingly, I did attend. Despite the fact that I had a family affair that day, and woke up at 10am with no inkling of my setting foot anywhere near Laguna, I was able to follow my friends and enjoy the free rides. ^^ Talk about spur of the moment.

My friends have been planning this trip since Tues (I think) but due to a now canceled but then uncanceled JPIA event, plus a scheduled family lunch for Bianca and Renzo's birthdays, I was forced to pull out of the plan and simply wallow in the opportunity of being 'emo' due to feelings of jealousy and out-of-place-ness. :p

So on Sunday, my friends took off at (as I estimate) 6am for Laguna while I Zzz-ed all the way till it was time for the gate opening at EK. Then around 30 minutes later, I got several phone calls that shook me awake. At first I thought they were just calling to tell me how great it was, so didn't put much effort into waking up. ^^; But then Vigile's aunt(?) called, and then I knew something was definitely up. Then Stacy texted to repeat the news that Vigile's aunt just told me, and that got me up and banging on my parent's door for permission to go to EK. Apparently, Vigile left her car keys in the ignition, and her car was locked with her things inside and everything. So someone had to deliver the spare keys to her. ^^

So Vigile sent me on this 'rescue mission' all the way to Laguna, followed by the ominous command: 'come in costume'. Funny thing is, I didn't have a costume. :p

But I was able to pull a lot of strings (fortunately my mom and aunt were planning a trip to Paranaque that afternoon and agreed to bring me), plus there just so happened to be enough black clothes in the house, so I got there just in time in a makeshift Sandman's Death costume. At least it was free. ^^

And then since everyone (except me) started their day really really early, all my companions were practically dropping off to sleep by the time we left. ^^ I even had to drive Vigile's Pajero home. Not that I minded, cause I can't even touch our Pajero at home and you guys know how much I love that car. <3

And, I did enjoy seeing cosplayers walking around the place. There were a lot of costumes I really liked, but since i don't know their anime/show/movie/comic/game, I can't really name them. Except maybe the Nana and Ren couple which I found really amusing, the Gothic Loli girls in the Rio Grande line, and the gang of Pirates from Pirates of the Carribean who I thought actually worked in EK cause their costumes were so good. And of course, Jin Joson and company in their Naruto attire. Their costumes (the wigs particularly) were so cool, I just had to take pictures. XD XD

That last bit left France damning me for my luck, but oh well. XD

marking this date...

2008-09-09T18:55:00.001+08:00

09-09-08
A very very lucky day. :)
(Or maybe it was just because I was wearing my favorite t-shirt. ;P)

Temporary Lay-out

2008-09-02T11:20:00.003+08:00

I'm changing my lay-out cause it felt weird using a deviant creation of some other person. ^^ I know it's weird, but just in case. HEhe... I'll try to make a new layout soon. :D

Bumming around~

2008-08-27T23:35:00.003+08:00

Since my acconting exam is over (and as always, a great storm is followed by a certain lull of peace), I've been ~~over~~indulging myself in some of my most favorite pastimes: reading and watching some of my downloads. Hence, as a result, I was able to finish the ebook I've been reading for a couple of weeks now, as well as an anime series that I watched out of the blue simply because its CD was partly ruined. ^^;

First, the book. It was The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory, and it focused on the life of Queen Katherine of Aragon, first wife of King Henry VIII. Sounds boring? Well, I'll explain how I came to read such a novel pretty shortly. It's a historical novel, so most of the events in the book actually occurred in real life. What the author did was to simply take these events and think up reasons and motives for why such things happened, etc. It actually added to the depth and to the fun of the book, in my opinion. Like the time when I was reading Tracy Chevalier's Girl with the Pearl Earring, I would constantly look up things, people and places in Wikipedia and experience a profound delight in finding evidence to support the novel's story. XD Plus, it makes the tragedies and triumphs much more touching since you know that they really occurred (like the various miscarriages of Katherine. Sad... T_T)

Anyway, so why in the world am I even reading a historical novel? And enjoying it too, at that? It all started about a year ago(?) or maybe more, when I found an interesting mystery novel, WychWood, in a secondhand bookstore. The novel was really good. (In fact I let France read it because I wanted desperately to discuss it with someone - but I had already told Bianca everything about the book hence making it useless for her to still read the book - and my little cousin liked it. Bianca thought was interesting as well.) The novel's heroine was a Tudor scholar, and the novel itself slightly circled around a love triangle between Catherine Parr, the 6th wife of Henry VIII, Thomas Seymour the brother of the third wife i think, and Elizabeth, Henry's daughter. This led to a self-imposed crash course on the Tudor (that's what this family and their reign was called) History c/o Wikipedia, which also led me to download and watch one of the Elizabeth movies of Cate Blanchett. Later on, I was very amused to find out that a new movie was coming out, the Other Boleyn Girl, and that it was about the 2nd wife of Henry, Anne Boleyn. So I ended up reading about Anne Boleyn in Wikipedia, and then watching the movie, and then reading the book. Consequently, it had a sequel/prequel (i really don't know), the Constant Princess. ^^

I never thought I would end up a slight history buff, and if you had asked me before all this, I'd have probably said that I Vigile had a greater tendency for it. I mean, she actually wanted to read our History textbook over summer. ^^; But really, the Tudor history is quite fascinating, and it touches on other things that I remember feeling curious about in high school. I remember one of the few things in High school history that I found interesting was the stories about Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille, about how they married and united two warring kingdoms of Spain. And here is their daughter Katherine, with a very good story of her own. ^^

I was actually very very very surprised when I got to the end of the book, cause it came a little abruptly, and besides, it's sometimes hard to gauge your progress when reading an ebook. So anyway, being that the novel I'm reading is either the sequel/prequel of another book, the story somehow jumps forward in time at the end, and if I wasn't observant enough to notice the sudden 14 year advance in the date stated in the chapter, I probably would have been confused out of my wits. :p It was a historical novel, and if you remember me ranting about the last book I read, the one where 2 of my favorite characters died while the third lived a totally wretched life somewhere, this is its prequel/sequel, and Katherine was one of my favorites. Hmm... I think I'll declare it the prequel. Though chronologically this story happens first, the other one is the more famous aspect of the story, so the author may have written the other one earlier. @_@ Plus the jump in the end might not make sense if you don't read the other one first. But then again, the way she didn't mention who was who at the end.... Erg. Fine. I won't confuse you any further with this internal debate. @_@

I have to say though, I have a feeling that the author is a bit too promiscuous. -___- She made most of her characters waaay too sensual than I think was proper for that period of time. It's understandable in Henry VIII, cause he really turned out to be a disgusting old man, but not for the others. :p Trust me on this. I'm not being delicate. --___-- I explained it to Vigile, and I think she agreed. ^^ That's my biggest complaint, but other than that, the story was pretty good. ^^

Moving on...

Next is the anime, Lunar Legend Tsukihime. It was ok, overall. I kind of liked it, but not enough to send me gushing about it. ^^ Old-ish anime, art is ok - sometimes not good sometimes good, I wasn't too crazy about the character designs although I got used to them eventually, and it had a so-so ending. I think it ended too abruptly as well. ^^ It's a vampire anime, but i think the producers couldn't properly fit the story in just 12 episodes, so the ending was so rushed. @_@ And some things weren't fully explained. I guess that leaves room for thought, but I'm not in the mood to think much right now. :P All I can say is that it's always so much more painful to be the one left behind than to be the one leaving, even if the one leaving has always been the one waiting. u_u

That's it, I'm tired. @_@

Lot's and lot's of updates.

2008-08-25T09:41:00.002+08:00

First things first. I know I'm probably weird, but I've been enjoying the different Google page pictures dedicated to the Beijing Olympics. And now they've ended. Awww....

I'm currently very addicted to this new online game, and it's taking quite a bit of my time. ^^ It's called Ikariam. You get to build up a town, and then when you're a bit strong enough, you can start colonizing other islands or pillaging your neighbors. It's fun, but each task takes really long, like a building upgrade can take 8 hours, and a research finding can take days! I think it's mostly a waiting game though, so it shouldn't take much of your time. ^^ But addicted is addicted, so I check it every few hours, I sometimes even leave word for others to check up on my account while I'm away. -__- I think Sig is even starting to regret that she introduced me to the game. ^^; (Actually, she really did say something to that effect. u_u)

Anyway, and that last paragraph there is utterly detrimental to my academic life because I had another accounting exam this weekend. Urgh... Every accounting exam is a drainer, but this one more so than most, for some reason. @_@ I was so tired, I couldn't even pretend to be emo while texting Vigile after the exam (you know, the usual cry of the accounting student after an accounting exam about dying somewhere along the way or after it). I'm just thankful that I have the nicest accounting teacher in the world who actually insisted on more short problems and on removing as much complications as is fair, and considering his co-teacher for this subject is Mam Dani, I think he's faced quite a formidable task. ^^ And he's funny too. He kept making these side comments and jokes, so the aura of the room wasn't of the dark evil of panic and confusion. XD We were even provided an amortization table. :D Unfortunately, the exam was still difficult and I didn't finish it, as usual. Which is a shame cause for the first time, there was a bonus question at the end, and it was worth 5 points. And believe me, every single point is necessary if you want to pass.

Anyway, as I was saying, I was so mentally drained that I drove home with a little difficulty (the shock of almost hitting a jeep shook me to a temporary alertness), but when I got home, I was too tired to even check on Ikariam. Vigile actually thought I was under Ikariam-withdrawal. ^^

I was actually very impressed that Vigile brought up the term withdrawal, cause I have been subjecting myself to its very pain recently, just for the accounting exam. Not Ikariam though, as I've been telling Vigile, but from reading a certain tragedy filled book. *heartbreak!* But before that, I'd like to explain my reading life a bit.

My reading life is divided into two, the tangible and the intangible. At any moment in time since the end of last year, I've always been reading at least two books, one the real, physical, page-turning, paper-paged type of book, the other the electronic ebook I store in my phone's memory card. I've only recently discovered the convenience of reading ebooks on my phone, and though it takes some getting used to, I've finished quite a number of books through the program I installed in my k800i, hence making it one of the most valuable pieces of electronic equipment (along with my computer) in my life. XD After all, though I love reading actual books, I usually find myself in spots without my books, and hence my cellphone provides a very convenient alternative. This also means, however, that I get to finish more ebooks than real books. Anyway, since I have two modes of reading, I also have two book queues, and I usually don't start a new book without finishing the book (of the same type - electronic or not) that I'm currently reading, and though at times I read books simultaneously, I usually stop one before I go very far and then simply continue it after finishing the other. (Makes sense since most books can really hook you somewhere along the way as the story picks up. ;P) So Sig, don't crucify me about not reading the Book Thief just yet, I'm still wading through the last hundred pages of Mansfield Park. It's a classic after all, not the fastest paced and easiest to go through book in the world. ^^; (I'll rant about Mansfield in a while.)

So anyway, back to the whole withdrawal issue (whew... that was a lengthy side trip. ^^) Since I had to study for my exam, having a really really exciting book at the very pinnacle of its climax just at the tip of my fingertips is a real danger to any progress I have to make, especially since I'm a really slow reader and the book a really long one as well. Besides, putting an accounting book and a really good fiction book side by side is too great a temptation to succumb to the latter, and not until the pressure of the exam catches up on you will the former become the weightier choice. But by then, it's way too late and you can't finish the topics outlined for the exam. See the predicament? I know it's all about self-control, yada yada, but then it's also quite easy to look for excuses to take "short breaks", and sometimes these breaks are truly necessary considering the long hours of studying involved, the problem is that this type of distraction tends to eat up more time than you can afford, sometimes without you even realizing it.

Hence, the withdrawal. Would you believe that I actually took out my phone's memory card, put it in its case, then put the case in its case, then put in a wooden box, which I put in the cardboard box container of the wooden box, and then stored it in my cabinet? Overkill, I know. I think the memory card in its case could have just as easily been put in my wallet and I would still have to face the trouble of battling my conscience before taking it out anyway. But I guess the overly dramatic gesture was a way to make it easier for me to let go and... withdraw. XD Hehe. Or I was just prolonging my procrastination. *shrugs innocently* Who knows. ^^;

Anyway, I'd love to stay and chat about the two books I'm currently reading, and the many frustrations they've been dancing about, but I'm getting tired. :P

Last story, as I've asked Vigile, have you ever tried writing a story, and then discontinuing it, only to find it a few months after, when you've forgotten the story and no matter how much you want to continue it, it's gone? I had such an experience lately, and the start was cryptic on purpose, I remember writing it to be that way, with only a tantalizing clue at the end. It was a prologue, you see, and I intended to reveal the rest of the situation in the next paragraph, unfortunately, I didn't have time to do so. -_- It's so frustrating. @_@

Forgive the typos, if any. I just woke up from the aftermath of the accounting exam. ^^;

Brangelina Twins~!

2008-08-07T00:48:00.003+08:00

Waah! The twins have debuted! Here I am waiting for a pic of Nicole Kidman's daughter, and then Knox and Viv suddenly appear! Oooh~ I hear Angelina and Brad got a rumored 14+ million, for the pics, but that they'll donate the entire amount to the Jolie-Pitt foundation for kids... or something. ^^ Hekhek.. Yay! Now that's a couple to love. I really truly believe that their being together has made the world a better place. (Sorry stacy. ^^)

Anyway, isn't it cool that so many celebs are having twins lately? There's JLo, Marcia Cross, Patrick Demsey, and I'm sure there are others. (Julia Roberts had twins several years ago. XD) Apparently, twins run in the Pitt family. ^^

Hehe... just ranting while I upload stuff for 191. Grrr...

HellWeek

2008-08-06T09:19:00.002+08:00

Hellweek is upon me and I didn't even notice. *hits self on the head*

Let's see.. thats one exam, 1 case, 1 feasib requirement, thick feasib readings, 2 mktg lists, 2 wiki evaluations *pesteng wiki yan!*, 1 acctg homework... thank God the other exam was cancelled. As it is, I wake up at 7thirty daily, which is quite early for me, to tell you the truth. @_@

Isang Butil ng Karunungan...

2008-08-06T08:30:00.002+08:00

Reindeer pala si Chopper? Wow!

Tsismis...

2008-08-04T13:47:00.002+08:00

I got this from my friend's multiply, who got it from her cousin...

"ABS-CBN will air the pinoy version of Gossip Girl soon.

FINAL CAST:

Serena van der Woodsen: KC Concepcion
Dan Humphrey: John Lloyd Cruz
Blair Waldorf: Anne Curtis
Nate Archibald: Sam Milby
Chuck Bass: Luis Manzano
Jenny Humphrey: Angelica Panganiban

WTH. sabi nga nila: alam nyong mahal nyo ko. ekis ow ekis ow: chismosang babae~"

I'm not sure I want to believe. @____@

See it here: Ynna's multiply

Cream Puffs~

2008-08-04T13:26:00.002+08:00

Spent the day frolicking in the kitchen, instead of studying in my room, where I should have found myself after spending most of my Saturday at DAR for Bacbacan 1. (I stayed till 10thirty cause most of my batch finished the awards ceremony, noting that only the seniors and terminals stayed behind - we were the only hopefuls, i guess?) Sig and I went over to Gremio's place to try out her brand new electric oven. She chose the recipe beforehand, the "Perfect Cream Puff" recipe, and while all three of us half expected it all to end up in a big blundering mess, it was actually pretty good. XD

See the pictures of the puffs in my multiply: [my multiply!]

Well, that's one fulfilled objective out of two. I failed the second one, leaving Sig to snicker in one corner and then shake her head at my weak-hearted self for not pressing enough towards our goal. :p

In case you're wondering, I did need to study cause I have two exams this week. Law and Tax. What a combo. *tsk tsk* How irresponsible? I know. u_u

Anti-virus-ness

2008-08-04T12:46:00.002+08:00

Well, I recently discovered that my sisters have been using my computer without permission and without care. >_< They open their USBs without scanning it with my anti-virus (Nod32), a big no-no since Bern's computer is so infected with all sorts of viruses it barely functions. @_@ And it has some viruses that can't be found by my computer's anti-virus program once it is able to enter. -_- Grr... So I spent most of my Sunday morning surfing the net, trying to find anti-virus programs to help improve my computer's state.

Here's what I have:

Nod32. My current anti-virus. I allowed it to scan and it found a couple of viruses which I deleted, and a few that had to be quarantined. This is recommended by Gremio, and I trust that she knows about such things. ^^

Avast! 4.8 Home Edition. It's completely (and legitimately) free, and it does a good job too. (It found 3 viruses/worms/trojans that Nod 32 didn't find.) This is the third most popular anti-virus in CNET's download.com.

Avira AntiVir. This also has a legitimate free version available on-line. And this anti-virus seems to work fine with other programs, so I installed it too. The funny thing is that it came across the Nod32 quarantined files and quarantined them as well. As soon as they quarantined it, Nod32 sent out an alert that it found new viruses in Avira's folder (the quarantined stuff). -_- At least they're very thorough. But I decided to uninstall this anyway because it seems to find the same viruses that Nod32 does anyway. Plus my computer says it doesn't have "virtual memory" left. I have a lot of hard drive space left, but I have a pretty small RAM, so I'll just install it again when I need it. :p This is the second most popular anti-virus in CNET's download.com.

AVG Free. I downloaded the latest version, unfortunately, it can't work with Nod 32, so I didn't install it. I'm keeping in mind, however, that it's an available option, cause Sig uses this and she doesn't seem bothered by viruses. But then again, she doesn't have people who infect her computer with a bazillion viruses living with her. ^^ This is the top anti-virus in CNET's download.com.

Lavasoft Ad-Aware 2008. This program was recommended to me by Sig several years ago, and it's supposed to remove all sorts of malware. Again, this is completely free, and it works fine too. This is the top spyware remover in CNET's download.com

I need to upgrade my RAM. And while I'm at it, my hard drive as well. Grr... I've been saving up for this, but it's no longer safe to store money in the house. T_T (I was robbed right?)

Bacbacan 1!

2008-08-04T12:18:00.003+08:00

Yes! Yes! YES! The Terminals won 2nd place overall this year! Woohoo! We gave the seniors a run for their money, and considering we're about less than half their population, what with our BA batchmates gone off to the corporate world and what not, aren't we cool? XD It's usually the Juniors versus the Seniors fighting for the championship, but our intense batch spirit (and ultra competitiveness) somehow managed to help us rise up. They must have been challenged, cause we got 1st place in 5 out of 10 events (the seniors got 1st in the other 5 we didn't get). :P

Definitely a first in Bacbacan history. We came so close to becoming the overall champs. XD And considering that we're just humble *cough* accounting majors. XD But I swear, our cheerdance was so nice! I think some people thought we would win 1st, or at the very least 2nd place. We were on tenterhooks till the very end about who'd win. :P

Here are the results:
1st place - Mr and Ms Bacbacan
1st place - Futsal
1st place - Men's Basketball
1st place - Parlor games - Relay
1st place - Attendance (hello? Sino namang lalaban samin dito? less than 70 lang ata kami. We had almost perfect attendance. :P)

2nd place - Parlor Games - Tug of War (Considering our number, applaud us!)
2nd place - Cheerdance (from last place last year to second! And a lot of the participants were first time dancers too! Galing ng Accountancy Majors! XD)

3rd place - Volleyball
3rd place - Women's Basketball

5th place - Recyclables (Sorry, dinaya kami ng Council dito. *bitter*)

Now I have to step back and admit that I didn't play any game (except I helped in the tug of war XD) but I did cheer my lungs out. ^^; And our batch really is unique. Our men's basketball team, for instance, had their uniforms designed like the old school basketball uniforms, you know, with the really short shorts and high socks. Hilarious. I can only imagine how Sir M*nuel would have reacted to the sight. ^^

Grrr...

2008-07-31T13:59:00.002+08:00

I've been regretting a lot of my decisions lately. Just when I thought that most of them end up neutrally. >_<

these are the things that...

2008-07-30T16:07:00.003+08:00

...made me a little sad this week:

i just finished a book that ended pretty badly for my favorite characters. There were three of them, the first (and most favorite) was killed because he was gay *sniffles*, the second died abandoned by her husband, the third is still alive (thank goodness) but is wasting away in the countryside, married to someone he hates him, and living in utter resentment for his family, and so on. T_T Aark... I almost can't believe I actually followed the pages of such a depressing story. But of course the lead character ended up safe and happy, though much changed and thankfully much wiser. Of course. I'll rant about this later, and in much more detail when I can. (I'm currently in BA's computer lab, supposedly doing a lab exercise. XD The computers here are bad. If some of the words I type lack letters, it's not my fault, hear me!)

The second was the fact that Rafael Nadal is a few matches away from being the world's number 1. T_T Waaah! Federer!

Stress! So many requirements. Wikis wikis wikis. X( Bacbacan. Quizzes! Grabe, who'd have thought quizzes were enough to bring hell to a student?

Plus I just found out that my blog's buttons don't work well in Internet Explorer. :(

made me smile (or laugh). XD

Dallan fending of gay lovers. ("No. No. No. NO...") and Sig saying Aya disheveled would scare Torin. XD And Torin's brothers have a good and finalized future! XD And I did a little researching on Eagles for the new story, and Eagles are so nice. Or at least most of them are.

We finalized our feasib topic! Yay! Vermi Composting is the one!

Batman. Why so sad? XD I'm so glad it beat Spiderman 3 in the box office. Now that honor is deserved. :)

I'm watching an anime called Special A, and though i thought it was one of those roll-eyes-urgh kind of anime, episode 14 was great! I actually now have about 3 favorite characters in the series, though I have to admit that I dislike the lead male character. :p

That's it for now. It's freakishly hard to type with these key boards. @_@

cryptic rants for the bored

2008-07-24T19:30:00.003+08:00

SBN. I have no words...

6 study sessions=6 no class sessions. Same day, same subject. Always consistent. Coincidence? Yes. Fortuitous. Very.

Nice tunes. I love.

My money. My poverty. Theft. Bag, pocket, wallet.. No place is safe for the unlucky I guess.

Grr...

Black Aura?

Mama Mia... mild gay action? @_@

UP Lanyard! Yay.

Oh.. I hear about a new potential couple. Or is it a one-sided thing? *wink*

Aw... Sad, heartbroken or betrayed characters break my heart.*sniffle* Such devotion and constancy, crushed. T_T

Gawd, it's raining tragedies there.

History can be interesting. *nods*

After Exam Perks

2008-07-10T15:50:00.005+08:00

Well, since my exam is over, I'm pretty much free from accounting for a while! XD And free to romp around and sleep and do whatever. Hehe...

+ I didn't have class today since the teachers of my only class, Accounting, decided to give us a free day. Yay!

+ Tomorrow is CE's alumni homecoming! Sure I don't have the funds for it, but I'll work something out. Plus I might get to see Bong, Rachel, Ivan, Levs, Abby, Alpha and so many many other CE alumni! *happy*

+And then after that, Saturday, we'll have our Kada dinner! Yay! Maybe even with Rico, who's celebrating his birthday this weekend. XD Again, I have a problem with funding, but hopefully I'll get next week's allowance early. XD

+ Then Sunday, my mom says we're going to bake another Sansrival. XD Extravagant. HEhe...

I hope everything turns out as fun and great as I hope. ^o^

PS: Could somebody please teach me how to put a space above and to the left of the picture for this type of lay-out? It looks so jammed in the upper left corner of the screen. @_@

The Accounting Exam Ritual, all over again.

2008-07-10T10:17:00.003+08:00

The Week Before:
Of course it begins at least a week before, when almost every waking moment you can spare is used to study the materials for the exam. You experience the perverse thrill of the mounting stress and pressure as you realize that you're nearing the exam and still have more materials than you can make sense of in the time left.

The Night Before:
Cram attacks and panic attacks. You start pulling out exercises you no longer have time to go through and cram everything you can at double the speed you previously employed. Warning: this may include all sorts of stress symptoms, like crying, vomiting, sleeplessness, nightmares, and the like.

The Exam:
Chorus of Whispered Swear words. Feel free to use them as much as you like. Everyone will understand. You thought you were at least a bit prepared, but in truth nothing can prepare you for whatever comes. Nothing. Pray for multiple time extensions, and be very very very careful. Dyslexia is unforgivable. Curse. Pray.

After the Exam - Depressed Day:
Forget that you missed breakfast and lunch to you six hour exam. All you need is sleep right now. And to forget the onslaught that just occurred. Head home in shame, and flop onto bed to get back a week's worth of sleep. Wake up and mope around with a dark black aura around you, and glare at anyone who mentions or asks you about your exam. If your brain is too depressed for sleep, do a low-brainpower activity like watching TV, listening to music, anything to ease the pain.

After the Exam - Moping Morning:
Still tired from the exam, but you need to head to school anyway. Find other classmates and go abuse the exam together. When you see the teacher, beg for bonuses. After this, try to erase the memory from your brain as much as possible. Any remembrance triggers extreme pain and anxiety. Be glad it's over for now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Crazy accounting exam. T_T I thought I was prepared, but I wasn't. Plus I got the bonus of several mental blocks. Perfect. So anyway, immediately after the exam, I headed home and started moping about, as previously mentioned. My depressed day, however, consisted of very productive activities, if I do say so myself. In fact, everyone at home was happily commenting "Okay ka pala madepress". -_-

Why? For one weird thing, after wallowing in bed for a while, out of nowhere, I decided to bake. I pulled out some of my mom's recipe books and even picked a pie with dough! After finishing the slightly burnt-slightly undercooked masterpiece, I watched one jdorama episode and one anime episode (Kimmy's d. grey-man). Then, I started reading 2 new books (I'm currently reading 7 books), and I loaded more into my cellphone. Then I went of to sulk more and be emo. :p Restless much?

On a side note: sometimes, you just can't help but be emo. XD

The next day was just a food-tripping-moping day. Within the span of one class, I managed to chow down a burger (from Jollibee courtesy of my seatmate), Fita crackers, Nissin Wafers, a cup of instant noodles, and a pack of clover chips. After that, I just went home, ate dinner, then *accidentally* fell asleep. I tried to bake again, but everyone stopped me. ^^;

Anyway, since I mentioned it earlier, the books I'm currently reading are:
Mansfield Park, Virgin Blue, Innkeeper's Song, Wicked, Prince Caspian, Love in the Time of Cholera and the Other Boleyn Girl.

I don't even know why I keep starting books when I don't even get around to finishing them. I read either one of these when I feel like it, or whichever is closest at hand, so I'm not even halfway most of the books. -_- Shame. And the mixed and different writing styles is making it hard for me to read the difficult books, especially when I read them after the easy books.

YEah, yeah... I'm babbling... -__-

And for those of you nonbelievers who think I'm just moping and wailing about accounting just because of false humility, you're wrong! I've been getting a line of seven in accounting for the past couple of years (and I've only been taking up accounting for a few years, so you can imagine what this means). And most of my accounting exams in a subject have failing marks. Last sem, I even stayed up till 3am just to wait for the grades in case I had to take the removals. Thankfully though, accounting isn't my only subject, and this is "officially" the last accounting subject of my course (so says my professor), meaning this is last subject we're taught accounting. The rest is just accounting reviews, auditing and accounting feasib.

But then again, I'm glad that I'm still in school and not out there in the workforce. I guess I can never really make myself regret that I chose to stay in BAA instead of shifting to BA or BE or Econ whenever I think of that. ^^;

Techno Problems

2008-06-11T22:42:00.004+08:00

Firstly, Vigile! I fixed the multiply adhoc pic problem. You can probably look at it now. :)

Next, I'm very pleased to say that I discovered something that helped me do away with my virus problem without having to reformat my beloved computer. <3 Most of you probably know about this little technique already, in fact, I've been told about it time and again, I just never got around to studying it cause I never needed it. ^^ SYSTEM RESTORE. What a great function. XD

Two days ago, my mom's USB got my computer severely 'virused'. My task manager and anti-virus program were both disabled and prevented from running. I was so close to reformatting, as in I already deleted a lot of the files I didn't want (or didn't have the capacity) to burn, I made a list of current programs I'd have to install after reformatting, saved my firefox bookmarks and fonts, etc., everything I could think of to help restore my computer to its pre-formatted state. But I couldn't do it. It would have taken too much effort having to work with a practically new and blank state computer, when I currently had mine set-up with everything I wanted just as I wanted it. It got me a bit depressed just thinking I had to reformat. ^^

But I wasn't giving up hope. I ordered Bianca to look at my computer with her Linux OS, just to see if it can sniff out the virus (cause it's usually able to in the past), but then Bianca's Linux CD was damaged for some reason, so she couldn't work her magic. Then I tried getting updates for the anti-virus, no luck. I Googled up possible solutions, and even seriously considered removing my hard drive and using another computer (with a working anti-virus) to scan it. Finally, an innocent Yahoo Answers page revealed a simple suggestion, the system restore. The answer didn't even get any votes, while the answer with the most votes didn't work for me anyway, the one where you try fiddling with the registry -- type "gpedit.msc" in Run, etc..

It just made me realize how much I loved my computer. <3 I'm so at home with my desktop PC, I'd have trouble if I had to own a laptop simultaneously. ^^;

And another problem I encountered today, (though this isn't really computer related) was that this morning, I was musing about my watch and how old and not-very-pleasant looking it was and how I'd like to buy a new one sometime. And then later that afternoon, to my utter horror and mortification (and utter unluckiness, I suppose), I was almost late for a class with my deadliest terror teacher because my watched stopped 20 minutes before the class. And there I was wondering why people were all leaving to go to class when I wasn't even near 2thirty yet. @_@ SH*T! I think time (and my heart) stopped for me for a few seconds when I was told that it was actually past 2 thirty and my watch had stopped. ^^ *panic* But anyway, the coincidence is astounding. ^^

"Wwhaaat thee hEeEelL?" - Couch Potato-ing

2008-06-06T13:41:00.003+08:00

*Entry edited now that I know how the movie ends. XD*

I'm watching a movie with Chris O'Donnell and Renee Zellweger called the Bachelor. Grabe. There's a scene where the two of them are attending a wedding, and told from a guys point of view, O' Donnell compared the bouquet throw to the lottery in that short story he read in high school: The Lottery. Remember it from our high school days? It's the story where one person gets picked in a town lottery and becomes a human sacrifice for the town. Well, he says that for the men, that's what the bouquet throw is. All the men are nervously standing in the sidelines, and whose ever girlfriend gets the bouquet is the winner of the said lottery. The future sacrifice. @__@ At some point, some guy (the granddad) said that love isn't the point of marriage, it's the begetting of offspring, cause in the future, marriage becomes some "cold chaste loveless shell". I'm like, "Whaaat the hell?"..."Men. Tsk." But it turns out fine in the end~~, I think~~. ^^; The bridal mob was funny, and I guess I found it pretty interesting enough to watch till the end. ^^;

And other random things I picked up:
The Mrs Smith role in Mr & Mrs. Smith was originally meant for Nicole Kidman. Wow. Weird huh? ^^
Lucy Liu's role in Charlie's Angels was offered and turned down by Angelina. XD

Bumming around~

2008-06-06T11:24:00.007+08:00

I was going to blog about a bunch of stuff, but I forgot what they were so... :p I'll think of something. ^^

Here's a little something the kada may or may not find amusing. ^^; I was asked to draw my adhoc's page in the JPIA sigsheet, which for years has followed the concept of sketched bodies with real faces, as you are about to see. There were 9 of us in the entire adhoc, and our assigned theme was rock music. ^^ And since I had a little time on my hands, I tried a little experiment. Sorry about the pictures though. I only had a few (around less than 5) kada pics saved in my computer (from the time when I was making Tracy's bday card) so I can't really say that I used everyone's best picture. Plus I had to consider the ease of photo editing. ^^ See here!
*Note there were 9 of us, hence the extra face. And since I only had a few pics with me, I couldn't really put anyone else on the extra person. So I guess Sig can imagine that it's Dwelly, Kimmy can imagine it's Lester, and Rico can imagine it's Austell. XD*

Oh, and I watched Prince Caspian last Wednesday with Bianca and Vigile. I must say, I think I liked it more than they both did, but probably not as much as Tracy did, but bottomline is: I loved the movie. *I can see Sig's eyebrows disappearing into her hairline... And wait! One is coming down so that she can give the one-eyebrow stare. XD* For some strange reason, even Peter's fight scene which a ton of people *probably* found boring was interesting for me. And I was especially pleased that Edmund is now such a good guy and that Susan takes a big part in the fighting, and she fights nicely too. (Personally, they're my two favorite characters, Susan I liked since the first movie for the shallow reason that her weapon was a bow, and Edmund I liked in the books and in this second movie cause he's the smart one. :p) I was really saddened by the revelation at the end though. :(

And I was blog-hopping and I came across my cousin Trina's blog entry about France and Renzo's visit to the US. Argh.. I was so crushed with jealousy. T_T I miss my cousins and I want to see them too! Lucky Sarte cousins. If only we were just as rich. T_T And Renzo's (youngest of the Sartes) parents even intend to send him abroad to study for college and Masters. How lucky can anybody get? If only we could afford such things. I guess I'll just have to work hard and earn money and get rich myself when I grow up.

I wonder how life will be a couple of years from now when Stacy and Bianca and Vigile and Kimmy have moved to the US; Stacy as urged by her parents, Bianca cause she wants to work there, Vigile for her Doctorate (or to continue her Masters I heard) and Kimmy to work as a doctor. And then what if France marries some foreigner, Sig marries and moves with Dwelly to Singapore, Tracy moves to Australia to work and Renzo moves to the States to study? Everyone is leaving. T_T

Triomates! Check this out! XD

2008-05-31T19:04:00.002+08:00

We've been published?

Well, not really. Hehe... Don't mind me. I was just bored enough to Google my name. XD

Movies and trips. XD

2008-05-31T11:35:00.003+08:00

I watched Atonement with Bianca three days ago. TuT It was nice! It was sad, and yet strangely not depressing. I actually didn't know anything about the movie, except for the fact that it was mentioned in the Oscars, it's based on a book written by Ian McEwan, and it stars Keira Knightley and James McAvoy. It got me teary eyed at some point, and it left both me and Bianca slightly gushy about the movie. XD

Then last Thursday, we headed to the Manila Ocean Park with three free tickets from the Sarte family. We went crazy taking pictures, unfortunately, there were so many people that we didn't enjoy it as much as we should have. u_u I wonder why? It was a Thursday, and sure kids still don't have classes, but don't their parents have to work? How can they take their children? But it was cool nevertheless.

After visiting the Ocean Park, we dropped by our dentist so that Bianca could have her braces checked. (The dentist is actually my godmother, btw.) My mom had my teeth checked as well, and I had 3 cavities! SHAME!!! After business was done, we played with the various pets she had, and talked to her daughter Cheska about food (pasta, baking, etc.) and pets, like the Micro Mini Pinscher. XD

Then yesterday, I drove my mom around a bit. After which we headed to Gateway to watch a movie with my mom and her neighbor friend. True to what I've been telling Sig, I went to watch Sex and the City. XD There I was, all casually dressed, as casual as casual can be, and for some strange reason most of the people watching it seemed to be wearing their dressiest clothing ever. It made me feel like a dish rag. T_T And Aji was right, Carrie Bradshaw's wardrobe is to die for! XD If I was so rich that I didn't have to worry about saving money ever again, I'd probably go buy a nice wardrobe with nice boots, nice coats, nice hats, nice dresses, nice shoes, all the works. Although of course I'd have to move to a different country first, so that I can wear them without fear of shocking people to death. XD

And I know Sig is probably thinking how weird I am to watch Sex and the City and scorn Harold and Kumar (I know you're thinking it Sig) but at the end of it all, you don't really get the feeling of watching a movie about sex, despite the title. The friendship part struck me a whole lot more, and when the credits were rolling, I was invaded by wistful thoughts on how nice it would be to be with my friends until we're all fifty (and fabulous XD), whether married or single. ^_^

And though I've been trying for the past few days to get myself to study or something, I get attacked by lethargy before I can so much as convince myself to start. @_@ Hence I end up asleep, usually. :P In case you're wondering, I decided (after a classmate of mine suggested it) that if I'm not going to be an intern this summer, I might as well start studying for our law subject next semester, because we angered the teacher last sem, and she promised that next sem she'd require us to memorize things. @_@ Amagad. I'm not very good at law, you see. ^^

Summer Recap~

2008-05-27T13:40:00.022+08:00

The summer is ending already! T_T And because I insist on bumming around today, and procrastinating, I'm gonna do an early summer recap, complete with a few Summer'08 relics. If you're wondering what brought this about, I was doing a little tidying up, and I found a bunch of souvenirs and what not piled in my cabinet. ^^ So here we are:

1) Subic, Zambales - always the start of every summer vacation since I was a little kid. :) Unfortunately, this year was more of a study break than usual, due to the bad schedule of finals week. ~_~ But though I spent most of this trip locked up and trying to study, texting my mom what food to buy cause I couldn't go shopping with them, ruining plans to go to the beach because I had to finish a bunch of chapters, I was at least able to take a turn on the Go Kart track. It was the only break I got, but better than nothing right? XD And it was still junk food heaven.

2) School Ends! (for some other people) There's Gremio, Kimmy, then Stacy, then Vigile and Bong. Grad pic fest! Gotta catch 'em all! XD

3) Bicol!

Here's a freebie I won in the in-flight game going to Bicol. XD

Butanding keychain and cute fish keychain from the swimming with the whale shark part of Bicol. XD Unfortunately, I don't have a relic from the wake boarding part, but oh well.

4) Bacolod

Here's the plane ticket (boy don't we love Cebu Pacific? ^^;) Although Stacy did mention that she found other cheaper flights (*snaps fingers* sayang..), at least our flight was interesting, with the storm and all. ^^

The second artifact is the label of some socks we bought in Bacolod. I know it's weird that I have it, even I was surprised to find it, but it was tucked in between some receipts and the used Bacolod tickets. There's a story to this, in that the store we bought the socks from, Gaisano, totally ripped us off. The price label said one price, but the cashier punched in a much much higher price. Even more expensive than the solo socks Sig bought, which looked prettier on top of everything. -_- I think they do it because if you buy a lot of items most people don't mentally add up the price, and just hand over the sum the cashier comes up with. Evil.

And the last is the souvenir keychain I bought before leaving Bacolod. XD

5) Bumming around times. XD

Yes, as my blog entries probably repeatedly reveal, I've been watching DVDs, downloads, and what not this summer. XD I also got myself a new set of earphones, cause I've been using really crappy ones for the past few months. But because I had to settle for the cheapest one I could find, it's not exactly the most comfortable set in the world. u_u

6) Pagsanjan - no remembrances, except pictures in my multiply. We couldn't even buy food or pasalubong, much less souvenirs. ^^;

7) A ton of Gateway gimmicks. We watched Forbidden Kingdom, Iron Man, etc.

We got a ton of Time Zone free game cards one afternoon, cause they were giving some away in the food court.

8) Vigile's sleep over - I thought I didn't have anything, but then I came across the Jollibee freebie thingys from our dinner. XD

9) Tracy's birthday - Free pizza and popcorn. :D And we were complete, which hasn't happened in a while. We also went to get our picture taken in the neoprint machine twice too! Cost thrown out the window. ^^ (I couldn't take a picture of the 4th neoprint, cause it always came out blurry.) Unfortunately, a lot of the kada left by the time we thought of the neoprint. ^^ Selda! I have the extra (undecorated) neoprint that I should give you cause you found us the scissors! XD

And tracy's birthday card:

Lazy Updates~

2008-05-24T14:10:00.006+08:00

The Sartes are now headed to the US for a three week visit. So lucky! I hope they get to meet up with our cousins in the US, we'll be waiting for news of them. *cough*and pasalubong?*cough*

And I finally got around to finishing Emma. ^^ It turned out to be a better book than I first gave it credit for. In fact, it had me exclaiming, laughing and tsk-ing out loud every now and then while reading. Hehe... I think I'm in a sort-of gushy mood about it. AND~ I may just like Mr. Knightley as much as I do Mr. Darcy. ~~Maybe even a slight bit more.~~ Imagine! And even though Emma isn't as generally loved a heroine as Elizabeth Bennet is, I think I like her about as much. ~~Or maybe even a slight bit more.~~ I have to admit that I still like P&P more though, cause Emma sort of got draggy and slow in the middle, plus the fact that I found it slightly predictable. And unlike the only two Jane Austen books I've read before, the peak came a little earlier for Emma, and the pace sort of slowed down in the last few chapters. But I guess it's okay. I still liked the characters and how the story wrapped up. ^^

And I also managed to finish The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Finally! HEhe... I think I started both books before the summer vacation, and I'm pretty amazed at how long it took me to finish them both. I can, in no way, match Vigile's page-burning book reading speed this summer.
Anyway, the second installment of Narnia was nice. :D I originally planned to read the first 4 books of Narnia before watching the movie Prince Caspian, but I realized that I think I'd rather watch the movie first, that way I can hopefully enjoy it, instead of being bothered by its departures from the book. ^^

And Tracy's birthday is coming up! Fun! :D Gawd~ I think this has got to be my bummest bum summer ever! I keep going out of the house, watching what I want, reading all I can. Yeah! It's a shame we didn't get to go to Subic with the Fabellas, although it probably wasn't a serious plan anyway. XD I hope we get another hang-out/gimmick day before Stacy starts working (or if not, at least on one of the weekends before school starts for the few of us still in school). And maybe one of these weekends we can even get to swim in Selda's ref water. XD

American Idol Finale

2008-05-22T19:36:00.002+08:00

OMG! Robert Downy Jr made an unexpected appearance! XD It was one of the best parts of the show, cause he was being silly alongside Jack Black and Ben Stiller. I think what made it as amusing as it was is the fact that you wouldn't expect such a thing from him. ^^ They actually performed some ridiculous dance moves reminiscent of our kickboxing(?) routine in High School PE (Happy song, remember?) Sure I don't really love RDJ as much as, say, Bong does, but after Iron Man, I have to say that I like him as an actor, so I was very pleased to see that weird performance. XD

And anyway, I have this feeling that someone "up there" dislikes Ramielle or something. Not only did she get the shortest singing part among all twelve contestants, but she only had one solo part, unlike Kristy Lee who got about 4 parts, all each longer than what Ramielle sang. It didn't seem fair. -_-

And I like that they had a white color scheme for the outfits of the 12 contestants in the beginning of the show, and then a black one in the middle, and then a black and white one at the end. I think I'm a bit amused with matching clothing. XD

And David Cook won, just like I predicted. I'm not particularly excited about it, nor am I particularly crushed about it either, and I knew it would happen anyway, so that's that. ^^ David VS. David season. Both of them really are deserving, and they were definitely the best this season. (And I find it funny that Cook just grabs Archuleta for a hug every now and then, or for that matter, I like watching them interact. Cute. XD)

Marking my calendar!

2008-05-21T11:13:00.000+08:00

Sleep Over na! Finally! XD

(For the nth time) CRS blues...

2008-05-18T16:38:00.002+08:00

As fate would have it, I can't take Hapon 10 again this semester. Gawd. How many semesters do I have to try to get into that class? I think I've been trying since I was in second or third year. Even after Vigile cruelly crushed my dreams against the wall time and again, I persevered, and still I have nothing to show for it. I took summer classes and my econ classes in advance just to make room for all three jap courses, and still nothing. WHY?? I'm graduating in a year, and a semester is not enough to take all three Jap courses (three to at least be at the conversational level). When I graduate, I'd either have to pay a really hefty sum to enter into Language classes, or I'd have to rely on my self-discipline to self study. In other words, the likelihood of my learning Japanese after I graduate will be pretty close to null. Nada. Zero.

To make the injury worst than agonizing, the new CRS regime is a little too strict. I'm barred from Latin classes, from almost all Econ classes but the few in my curriculum, and I'm even barred from most BA electives because it's not in my curriculum. And Econ students, even Eng'g students can take the damn class! And according to our college secretary, BAA students can take the BA classes, but CRS prevents us from even trying to enlist. -_- I'm effectively reduced to nothing but an accounting robot. I can't take up foreign languages, econ courses or business courses so I can't even venture into the business world as a fairly well-rounded fresh grad unless I'm willing to spend days lining up to enlist. -_- And it does take days to enlist in BA recently. It didn't use to be this way. *sulk sulk*

I was serious you know...

2008-05-18T16:17:00.003+08:00

...about the kada slumber party, that is. ^^; Here, I even prepared a rough and tentative movie line-up for the movie marathon. Feel free to add to or contest any of the suggestions. They are only suggestions after all.

Proposed Movies:
Battle Royale 1 and 2 (hopefully I can find my copy of this movie. It's one of Selda's faves i think. :D)
Kamikaze Girls (unless we've all seen it already, in which case, we can scrap it from the list)
Wicker Park (Bong's suggestion. :D)
Juno
Atonement
The Last Unicorn
Edward ScissorHands (Just to get your Johnny Depp fix.. :P It's an old movie, but it's good.)
Remains of the Day
Across the Universe (Beatles Musical. Sort of. My classmate loves it, but it was only shown in Glorietta a few mnths ago.)
Batman Begins (so we can see what the success was all about. It was a good movie, I hear.)
Memento (really cool movie recommended by an English teacher, Mam Yap I think.)
88 Minutes (seems cool.. Al Pacino.)
21
Fight Club (Stacy and I started it in the airport, and we were left hanging. ^^)

We could also try an anime series or Jdorama, if we can find a good one in time. :D So how's about it?

gush gush gush!!

2008-05-16T15:14:00.003+08:00

I apologize in advance for the gushing, it's just that it's been a while since I was catapulted into the euphoric state of gushiness that usually comes after I finish a book, movie or show that I really really liked. I didn't realize it till last night (cause I was hanging out with Sig and Vigile) but apparently, when I'm in such a state, I just start gushing about things out of nowhere. ^^ I could gush about anything and everything, probably. ^^; Even imaginary food trips that haven't taken place yet, or other such weird things. Anyway, before I end up with a novel depicting this strange state of mind, I better move on to the object of my recent gushiness. :p (I'm limiting the gushing to the shows I've seen/ finished watching within the last 3 days.)

Kyou Kara Maou.

Yes, I loved it. And I finished it. All 79 episodes of it. This is probably one of the longest anime I have ever watched in my life, because truth be told, I'm not very fond of super long anime (or books even) because I tend to lose interest somewhere along the way. But this was so funny, I even liked the filler episodes. (Although they probably aren't really filler episodes, I just call it that because that's what people call the Naruto episodes that are outside the looooong main story line.) It's pretty weird in a good, funny and imaginative kind of way. Plus the art is great. And so is the music (my favorite song is the 2nd ending). And the script is really funny too. Even the dubbed version is likable, because though I hate Wolfram's English voice, I can relate more to the side comments and crack that the characters love to make. ^_^ And season 2 (ep 39-79) was even better than season 1, and the whole series ended very nicely. :D

I can practically see Sig's eyebrows twitching. XD If you feel like watching something light-hearted and funny, watch this! Sure, there are a couple of gay guys roaming about, and a bunch of walking ironies every now and then, as well as the weirdest sword in the world, but at least we get interesting characters in our story, right?? :D :D

My favorite characters are: 1) Yuri Shibuya, 2) Gwedal von Voltaire 3) Conrad Weller 4) Wolfram (although I have to admit I didn't really like him at first. ^^)

Website Link: [link]

Gossip Girl

She's back, and so are the scandals. ^^; We've watched the 5 available episodes from the newest season, and again we were hooked. *chants: chuck and blair : chuck and blair* We actually hit the sack at 6:30 am this morning, because we started watching it so late and then we couldn't stop. (Which is usually the case with all good enough shows right?) Plus the fact that we have to wait 30 minutes in between each episode cause we were downloading each during the night itself. :p

Nate still is the best looking guy (and last night we noticed just how nice his voice was), but he still is probably the dumbest. Poor Blair. Even in the midst of a big crisis, he's still out courting and dating some girl, leaving Blair and Chuck to unleash all the brain power in their elite little group. ^^ Unfortunately, Dan and Serena still irritate me somewhat, because their relationship is STILL one big roller coaster of misunderstanding/trying to understand the other, making-out, monologues/dialogues on their emotions. Pffft. And Jenny has become... urgh. I wanted to poke out her social climbing, money-grubbing, spoiled and selfish eyeballs about a hundred times already in the few episodes I've seen. -__- And I want to kill the new girl too. Ooohh~ Spoilers? But seriously, why do they keep hiring that actress? @_@ I didn't like her in the show *toot*, and I don't like her now. Sorry. -__-

But still, the story was terribly exciting. ^^;

Kyou Kara Maou~

2008-05-14T21:36:00.004+08:00

I love this anime! XD <3 <3 <3

~hehe... wala lang. Just posting. ^^;

Iron Man

2008-05-14T00:26:00.004+08:00

Iron Man was great! XD Gremio and I watched it together in Gateway, and though we both went home broke, the movie was worth it. :D I wasn't sure at first, but after watching the movie, I think Robert Downy Jr. was perfect as Tom Stark. And unlike the most recent Marvel movies I've watched (Ghost Rider and Spiderman 3) I thought this movie was not in the least bit cheesy. I barely rolled my eyes throughout the movie! XD (Gah! You should have seen Sig, Stacy and me mutilate Ghost Rider in Bacolod. The script was so cheesy, it was unbelievable. @_@) The movie was funny and exciting (too exciting, in fact, that Gremio was hugging my arm for about half of the movie. ^^;) and you can't help but feel amazed at how smart the protagonist is, which of course just makes the movie cooler. This guy didn't need to be splattered with radioactive stuff or didn't originate from some alien country. He's just a really smart guy who found a way to do what he needed to do with what he had, just like Batman. (Which was one of the reasons why I liked Batman, apart from him being filthy rich, which is also something that Iron Man is. ^^)

But Batman didn't have the level of intelligence IronMan had, so I still think that his was the greater achievement, being that he's a more normal guy in that sense. ^^ Plus it helps that he has an all black motif. XD

Although if I remember correctly, Daredevil is supposedly the counterpart of Batman in the Marvel Universe. But if you ask me, Iron Man is more like Batman than Daredevil. :D See this parody comparing the two. I especially loved the line: "Emo!" XD I dunno why, but lately, the word emo has me cracking up all the time. For instance, Vigile said my cousin looked emo. LOL.
YouTube
YouTube2
YouTube3
I liked the crack about crying into a pile of money too! XD

Plus the trailers were great too! I'm really looking forward to watching 88 Minutes, 21, Wanted, Kung Fu Panda, (and maybe..) Mama Mia, Deception, Twilight, Narnia, etc. Wow. So many. ^^;

Anyhooo~ I was surfing the net and I came across a couple of interesting lists. :D :D *very pleased* Apparently, Forbes put together a list of 15 of the richest fictional characters while Business Week has a list of the top 10 smartest superheroes. (I knew Batman wouldn't let me down! XD) The funny thing is, Mr. Monopoly was *apparently* knocked of the list due to a subprime mortgage crash, while Lucius Malfoy of the HP series has been on the list since 2005 (Apparently, he's the richest dude in the HP world. XD)

According to Business Week [link], the following are the smartest superheroes ever! ^^

1. Mister Fantastic (Yay! He's my favorite of the Fantastic Four! XD)
2. Bruce Wayne (Batman)
3. Tony Stark (Iron Man)
4. Ant Man/ Yellow Jacket (I honestly don't know this dude, so... moving on.)
5. Hank McCoy (Beast of X-Men)
6. Bruce Banner (Hulk)
7. Barbara Gordon (Oracle/Batgirl)
8. Peter Parker (Spiderman) -- In fairness, he actually made the cut. Although he didn't seem very smart in the movies. ^^;
9. Charles Xavier
10. Ray Palmer (Atom - don't know him either. ^^)

After reflecting on this, I remembered that I used to like Spiderman... Until the movies came along and ruined everything. -__-

Here's for the Richest: [link]

*the part about Mr. Monopoly is in the extended article, which you can see if you click the [more] link. :D

Enjoy~

Summer Bumming Around

2008-05-13T01:04:00.004+08:00

Yes, I've been definitely bumming around this summer. I've finally found the time to start on the back log of anime, books and movies that I've been accumulating for the past year.

For one thing, I've finally finished Death Note and La Corda D'Oro! Hurrah!! XD I'm currently in the middle of Kyou Kara Maou season 2, Shinigami no Ballad (some random anime I picked up from Kuya Mekke's blog ~ There was a picture there I think, some months ago?), and Clannad. ^^ I also finished watching Coffee Prince, Nobuta wo Produce, a jdorama, and am trying to watch Yamada Tarou, as recommended by Bong. I dropped Princess Hours, cause YouTube got rid of it, and I was starting to sense that the story was going in a direction I didn't want it to go. :p

I've also finished reading Tamsin, Gathering Blue and Messenger, good books all of them. And now I'm currently reading the Narnia series. <3 (And I'm still in the middle of Emma, Love in the Time of Cholera and the Devil and Miss Prym. ^^)

Speaking of Narnia, I finally got to watch the movie a few days ago. I also watch 27 dresses, and the Bucket List. I'm (unbelievably) in the middle of watching Fight Club, and I intend to watch it along with Juno, and a couple of other films, before the summer ends.

Another summer goal I had was to make myself a deviantart account. <3 That's been my plan for quite a long while. ^^ Hehe... And now that we have a scanner at home, hopefully I can brush on my dying drawing and photoshop skills. XD Plus my k800i can now dream of bigger things. ^^ In fact, I'm currently waiting for the e-mail verification thingy right now. ^^

BTW, congrats to Stacy for getting employed! I can only hope I do as well as you do when I graduate! You have to tutor me sometime on how to handle job interviews well!

Guys! I really want to have a slumber party or swimming party or something before the summer ends. We didn't have a Christmas get-together, and our plans to put together a party this summer haven't pushed through. :( Let's have a no-sleep-movie-marathon-ing-food-crazy sleep-over, or let's visit Selda's for more refrigerator water! C'mon! C'mon!!! Please?? *u*

Got this from multiply~

2008-05-02T21:09:00.002+08:00

Rules:
- Pick your birth month.
- Bold the 5-10 that best apply to you.
- Copy to your own journal, with all twelve months.
- Tag 12 people from your friends list.

The 12 Months:

JANUARY: Stubborn and hard-hearted. Ambitious and serious. Loves to teach and be taught. Always looking at people’s flaws and weaknesses. Likes to criticize. Hardworking and productive. Smart, neat and organized. Sensitive and has deep thoughts Knows how to make others happy. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Rather reserved. Highly attentive. Resistant to illnesses but prone to colds. Ideally romantic but has difficulties expressing love. Loves children. Loyal. Has great social abilities yet easily jealous. Very stubborn and money cautious.

FEBRUARY: Abstract thoughts. Loves reality and abstract. Intelligent and clever. Changing personality. Attractive. Sexy. Temperamental. Quiet, shy and humble. Honest and loyal. Determined to reach goals. Loves freedom. Rebellious when restricted. Loves aggressiveness. Too sensitive and easily hurt. Gets angry really easily but does not show it. Dislikes unnecessary things. Loves making friends but rarely shows it. Daring and stubborn. Ambitious. Realizes dreams and hopes. Sharp. Loves entertainment and leisure. Romantic on the inside not outside. Superstitious and ludicrous. Spendthrift. Tries to learn to show emotions.

MARCH: Attractive personality. Sexy. Affectionate. Shy and reserved. Secretive. Naturally honest, generous and sympathetic. Loves peace and serenity. Sensitive to others. Loves to serve others. Easily angered. Trustworthy. Appreciative and returns kindness. Observant and assesses others. Revengeful. Loves to dream and fantasize. Loves traveling. Loves attention. Hasty decisions in choosing partners. Loves home decors. Musically talented. Loves special things. Moody.

APRIL: Active and dynamic. Decisive and hasty but tends to regret. Attractive and affectionate to oneself. Strong mentality. Loves attention. Diplomatic. Consoling, friendly and solves people’s problems. Brave and fearless. Adventurous. Loving and caring. Suave and generous. Emotional. Aggressive. Hasty. Good memory. Moving. Motivates oneself and others. Sickness usually of the head and chest. Sexy in a way that only their lover can see.

MAY: Stubborn and hard-hearted. Strong-willed and highly motivated. Sharp thoughts. Easily angered. Attracts others and loves attention. Deep feelings. Beautiful physically and mentally. Firm Standpoint. Needs no motivation. Easily consoled. Systematic (left brain). Loves to dream. Strong clairvoyance. Understanding. Sickness usually in the ear and neck. Good imagination. Good physical. Weak breathing. Loves literature and the arts. Loves traveling. Dislike being at home. Restless. Not having many children. Hardworking. High spirited. Spendthrift.

JUNE: Thinks far with vision. Easily influenced by kindness. Polite and soft-spoken. Having ideas. Sensitive. Active mind. Hesitating, tends to delay. Choosy and always wants the best. Temperamental. Funny and humorous. Loves to joke. Good debating skills. Talkative. Daydreamer. Friendly. Knows how to make friends. Able to show character. Easily hurt. Prone to getting colds (wow, this is so true, it's weird to find it here. XD). Loves to dress up. Easily bored. Fussy. Seldom shows emotions. Takes time to recover when hurt. Brand conscious. Executive. Stubborn.

JULY: Fun to be with. Secretive. Difficult to fathom and to be understood. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Takes pride in oneself. Has reputation. Easily consoled. Honest. Concerned about people’s feelings. Tactful. Friendly. Approachable. Emotional temperamental and unpredictable. Moody and easily hurt. Not revengeful. Forgiving but never forgets. Dislikes nonsensical and unnecessary things. Guides others physically and mentally. Sensitive and Caring and loving. Treats others equally. Strong sense of sympathy. Wary and sharp. forms impressions carefully.Judges people through observations. Hardworking. No difficulties in studying. Loves to be alone. Always broods about the past and the old friends. Likes to be quiet. Homely person. Waits for friends. Never looks for friends. Not aggressive unless provoked. Prone to having stomach and dieting problems. Loves to be loved. Easily hurt but takes long to recover.

AUGUST: Loves to joke. Attractive. Suave and caring. Brave and fearless. Firm and has leadership qualities. Knows how to console others. Too generous and egoistic. Takes high pride in oneself. Thirsty for praises. Extraordinary spirit. Easily angered. Angry when provoked. Easily jealous. Observant. Careful and cautious. Thinks quickly. Independent thoughts. Loves to lead and to be led. Loves to dream. Talented in the arts, music and defense. Sensitive but not petty. Poor resistance against illnesses. Learns to relax. Hasty and trusty. Romantic. Loving and caring. Loves to make friends.

SEPTEMBER: Suave and compromising. Careful, cautious and organized. Likes to point out people’s mistakes. Likes to criticize. Stubborn. Quiet but able to talk well. Calm and cool. Kind and sympathetic. Concerned and detailed. Loyal but not always honest. Does work well. Very confident. Sensitive. Good memory. Clever and knowledgeable. Loves to look for information. Must control oneself when criticizing. Able to motivate oneself. Understanding. Fun to be around. Secretive. Loves leisure and traveling. Hardly shows emotions. Tends to bottle up feelings. Very choosy, especially in relationships. Systematic.

OCTOBER: Loves to chat. Loves those who loves them. Loves to take things at the center. Inner and physical beauty. Lies but doesn’t pretend. Gets angry often. Decisive. Treats friends importantly. Always making friends. Easily hurt but recovers easily. Daydreamer. Opinionated. Does not care of what others think. Emotional. Strong clairvoyance . Loves to travel, the arts and literature. Touchy and easily jealous. Concerned. Loves outdoors. Just and fair. Spendthrift. Easily influenced. Easily loses confidence. Loves children.

NOVEMBER: Has a lot of ideas. Difficult to fathom. Thinks forward. Unique and brilliant. Extraordinary ideas. Sharp thinking. Fine and strong clairvoyance. Can become good doctors. Dynamic in personality. Secretive. Inquisitive. Knows how to dig secrets. Always thinking. Less talkative but amiable. Brave and generous. Patient. Stubborn and hard-hearted. If there is a will, there is a way. Determined. Never give up. Hardly becomes angry unless provoked. Loves to be alone. Thinks differently from others. Sharp-minded. Motivates oneself. Does not appreciate praises. High-spirited. Well-built and tough. Deep love and emotions. Romantic. Uncertain in relationships. Homely. Hardworking. High abilities. Trustworthy. Honest and keeps secret. Not able to control emotions. Unpredictable.

DECEMBER: Loyal and generous. Sexy. Patriotic. Active in games and interactions. Impatient and hasty. Ambitious. Influential in organizations. Fun to be with. Loves to socialize. Loves praises. Loves attention. Loves to be loved. Honest and trustworthy. Not pretending. Short tempered. Changing personality. Not egotistic. Take high pride in oneself. Hates restrictions. Loves to joke. Good sense of humor. Logical.

~ An dsince I wasn't tagged anyway, I'm declaring that I have the right not to further tag others. XD

Spur of the Moment trip tp Pagsanjan!

2008-04-28T11:53:00.002+08:00

Last Saturday, while I was nursing feelings of getting left-out of the graduation ceremonies going around, my mom, sisters and I got invited by Tita Lea (the mother of France) to go to Pagsanjan with her and her daughter. And so, we woke up at the crack of dawn the next day, and went on a 3 hour roadtrip with the end goal of shooting the rapids! XD

It was great! XD The scenery was great, almost straight out of a safari movie or something, and at the end of the boat ride down the river, we even got to ride a raft under Pagsanjan falls!!! I swear Vigile, you have to try it sometime! It's for nature lovers, definitely. We saw the prettiest dragonflies too! It had a plain black body, with opaque black wings. And then, when these wings fluttered open, they were the brightest green and blue color. Nice. And we also spotted some really cute birds, one with the brightest blue color, and another colored orange and gray. <3

Anyway, shooting the rapids was great, and so was riding the raft under the falls. (We even saw the cave underneath the falls. XD) We then took the three hour trip back to manila and we were home before the sun was gone. ^^ Unfortunately, we were unable to stop by any store to buy pasalubong. T_T And ironically, Pagsanjan is one of those places where my family LOVES the pasalubong food. (Which isn't very common.) There's buko pie and special Pagsanjan bibingka and espasol, etc.

So moving on, I'll try to upload some pictures in my multiply (imagine, I actually braved using a camera while shooting the rapids. Hehe...). Try it guys! The boatmen working there need tourists. There are so many of them, about 950, that they can only take out their boat once a week (cause they have a number waiting line system). So in the meantime while waiting for their turn, some drive tricycles, while others have no other jobs. Kawawa sobra.

my delayed Bacolod entry

2008-04-28T09:54:00.003+08:00

Bacolod was great, but it was so activity packed, I decided to just list down some highlights so I don't forget anything. XD I went with Sig, Stacy and Vigile, along with Sig's family, and we stayed at Sig's family's resort, the Quiet Place. Free of charge too! They're so nice. /hug (I'm actually using Vigile's skeletal entry as a base, cause I get confused with the days. ^^)

Day 1:
Sims and waiting
Departure from Manila. Delayed flight.
Korean couple-stalking at NAIA. 29 matching pairs of clothing. Sweet~
FOREIGN GESTURE. X
I got the window seat!
Storm during the flight. Beautiful lightning bolts. XD
Arrived at Bacolod airport. Brown-out sa airport!!
Vigile.. erm... red week? ;p
Chicken Inasal and Calea cakes with Manang Omi.
The Quiet Place. Roomie Sig in Room 9.
Hector!
Frog Symphony. Ewww...
Began with the "frog-protection-formation".
Monopoly. For some weird reason, stacy's been throwing a lot of doubles. Sig and Stacy tied.
My roomie has a nightly beauty regimen! (And of course I got included a bit. ^^)

Day 2:
The Quiet Place. Went Exploring. Angry Ducks!
Vigile is a tree-hugger! XD
Angry Ducks! Wack wack wack~!
Angry Monkeys. 0_o Pigeons and herons too!
Eating. Mommy Dog? Not sure if this is when we meet her. But we came across her during exploring. I think.
Nognog Si Yuv yuv!!!
Boating! And emptying the boats of rain water. XD
Dinner at Bob's. Dessert at Bob's Cafe.
Monopoly~ I won!!
And our room was so full of static, for some strange reason. It actually crackles when you brush your hair. ^^

Day 3:
We went fishing in Sig's dad's fisheries with live shrimp bait! It was 1hr and 30minutes away from civilization, with the car driving mostly at 120kph. So far! @_@
Stacy caught the first fish! And I caught the weirdest fish. A tadpole looking fat fish. ^^
Crab! Waah! T_T
Shopping. Never in my life did I imagine that I'd go shopping together with some of the Kada in Bacolod. We really were becoming girly. But we did need socks. Poor Vince.
Maru shirt! XD
Pink shirt for Dwelly. Real men wear pink!
Note: Shopped in Gaisano, bad bad place. A sock priced at 180+ suddenly costs about 290+ at the cashier. WTH?!?
Happy birthday Vince! Dinner at Kaisei. Curry Vigile!
Monopoly! and I won thanks to my landing fortuitously on both Park Place and Boardwalk. XD
And we first meet the Baby Seal Shirt while packing for the overnight in the mountains. XD
Went night swimming in the Kiddie Pool cause the main pool was infested with live swimming and mating frogs. X_x I almost died. I had to walk around with a flashlight. ^^
Go Sig! Spit on the frogs in your disgust for their super slow reaction time!! XD

Day 4:
Overnight at Patag Mountain and swimming in the freezing waterfalls.
Vigile is a tree-kisser! 0_o And her cellphone tried to leave her. ^^
Met the Pena (with an enye) brothers and cousins. Codename: Frnd 2.
Tadpoles in the water. One even had the audacity to swim near me, and nobody else, despite the fact that i'm the only one freaked out by frogs and tadpoles. @_@
Discovered "Vince the Twins". Hehe..
James said to Sig: "I love you manang..." and almost got hit by a monoblock chair. XD
Bonfire and toasted mallows!
Fireflies!
Played Mafia. And enjoyed several cracks about sig's brother, Paulo, being not totally useless, cause he can breathe on the plants (or be used as a bad example). XD
Didn't sleep much that night cause it was freezing and the mosquitoes were eating us. One of Sig's brothers said we should have brought Katol, plus we were waiting for the driver to wake up.
Bonded with another Pena (enye) brother. ^^ Who at some point scared me and stacy into hysterical laughter. XD Never watch Saw again Stacy!

Day5:
Descended the mountains at 5 am with Bravo and JP.
So tired, we slept most of the way back to the Quiet Place.
Ate and slept most of the day. (We were supposed to go look at the museum of dolls, meet Stacy's nikki, etc.)
We ate at Pepe's that night with the Pena (enye) clan. And then we had cake a t calea's, and played monopoly with Sig's brothers James and Sean and Vince.
Sig made a crack about lying, not sugarcoating. True~

Day 6:
Stayed at the Quiet Place all day because we wanted to play more monopoly that afternoon, to try the insurance ideas, etc. I almost won, but then Stacy has the greatest luck at throwing the dice. ^^ So I was 2nd place.
Also, we went swimming in the adult pool. ^^ We tried the slide, played Agawan Base, Chicken something, Patintero, etc., but I'd say the biggest success was Pespi 7-up. We changed a lot of rules to make it better, and Sig's poses and the evil race back to the base (evil cause there was cheating, pulling and blocking) made our day. XD
We went to the smallest SM ever! And ate dinner at Bob's. (Weirdly enough, both stacy and I thought we were in Pepe's. :P)
And sig wore the Baby Seal Shirt, today. XD

Day 7:
We decided to head to Guintubdan Falls. It was so nice, except I woke up with a really sore throat, and all my usual symptoms of a coming fever. But I was not about to get left behind. I mean, who knows when I'll be back right?
There was a Carabao in the middle of the road on the way there. XD HEhe.. It was funny. ^^
We saw the flowers that can literally drive you crazy (and we call it the: "flowers na nakakabaliw") and drive past a small nature park on the way back.
And I really succumbed to the fever that night. But my friends were really really nice and helpful and responsible about it. :D This is one of those times when I really feel younger than all three of them, despite being actually older. ^^

Day 8:
Today was packing, *sniffles* and shopping for pasalubong day. I was still a bit sick, but way better at least. We ate at... erm... I forgot. But this was where we bought Piyaya. We visited Sugarland, BongBong's, the Showroom, Bob's Cafe, etc. And then finally, back to the airport. T_T I didn't want to leave! T_T We ate at Jollibee's in Petron Taguig when we got to Manila.
Ooooh~ And this trip ended with a kiss for someone *wink wink*. But not me of course. :P

Things to note:

The scenery was always great. We were constantly driving everywhere. I think the Quiet Place alone was 30 minutes from Bacolod City? But we always had a driver, at Sig's request. XD

We also kept using our foreign gesture throughout the trip. If you play sims, one of the vacation goals is to "Learn a local gesture". In this case, we were in the Philippines, talking to Koreans who couldn't understand us, hence the gesture. ^^

We also kept saying we were living in sin, another relic from our Sim playing (we played before leaving, remember? And my Sim was actually on vacation then.) But whereas in the Sims, living in sin refers to roomies who aren't married and yet sleep together, in our case it just means living in sloth and gluttony. ^^

Also, we kept finding (and giving Vigile) food hearts, namely food that just so happened to be heart shaped. This included a heart-shaped tapa, and a heart-shaped onion leek. ^^

And throughout the trip, I couldn't help but feeling severely underdressed beside stacy, and even Vigile sometimes. T_T Oh well, it was inevitable. ^^

And I think that place contained more frogs than I'm ever willing to see in my lifetime. @_@ I actually took pleasure in the fact that we get to run over them everytime we leave the place at night. ^^ Why did the frog cross the road anyway? Mica says they get shocked by the car's headlights, but i think they're just too slow. One episode we caught of Mythbusters even mentioned a little sport involving Frog Killing. Jamie tried it when he was a kid. XD

Speaking of mythbusters, I don't think I've ever watched so many episodes in one week. In Bicol, when the commonly loved show was House, I kept seeing so many episodes of House, while in Bacolod, the show of choice was mythbusters, so suddenly, mythbusters was always on air. It was weird, but I wasn't able to catch any of the other show in the other place. Confusing? But isn't it weird? @_@

And I have to say, I was unusually observant during that trip. I dunno why. @_@ And we also kept having the WEIRDEST topics of conversation. ^^ My favorite was the name mutilation one, where we talked about the worst variations of our name. Then we gave it a job. (I didn't start it! Vigile and Sig insisted that Genin was a Ronin, so (Vigile) Virgie naturally had to be a clergy. XD Eventually, (Si)Gourney became a Journey, and (Stacy) Tessie became an Odyssey. ^^; Must later, Gournei became a Gourmet. :P)

And sadly, we missed out on a bunch of things while we were there. We missed Nikki (not that we know him personally, only Stacy does, but it was a shame she didn't get to meet him anyway), the Doll museum (cause we kept waking up really late, Stacy must be ashamed of us. ^^), and Lakawon, the white sand beach. But oh well, less sunburn for me I guess. I'm actually darker than Vigile already. ^^;

What a vacation! Please may we come back sometime! XD

Happy Earthday everyone!!!

2008-04-22T18:41:00.002+08:00

Earthday! Nice idea ne? And about time too. ^^ See these screencaps from other websites (disclaimer: I just print screened them, I do not own these sites whatsoever (though wouldn't it be great if it did, like in monopoly XD nor did I design these icons):

What's happening?

2008-04-22T18:26:00.000+08:00

Gaah! I'm gone for a week and my computer is suddenly failing me? Why?!? I feels like it contracted a ton of viruses while I was away. Hmm.. I wonder if somebody used it while I was gone. >_<

Also, I've been watching Princess Hours on YouTube recently, having just finished the very amusing Coffee Prince several weeks ago. To my horror, within the week that I was gone, amagad! It has been removed from YouTube. Noooo~! And it's not on CrunchyRoll either, I've checked. :( Oh well.

Oh! And as agreed upon, 2/3rds of the trio decided to hunt around the internet for a certain past classmate in grade school. Hehe... I found her, and Stacy was right, she's barely recognizable! @_@

And for some bizarre reason, I think I've developed a really really really stupid fear. I think I'm now afraid of job interviews. I swear, i get a really queasy feeling in my stomach, and I get incredibly depressed just at the thought of needing to go through one. Seriously depressed and worried and nervous. I've been trying the tackle the issue internally all day, trying to understand why my stomach is being so irrational and where it all comes from, in vain. Arrggh! Of all things!!! Why am I such a loser!!! X(

Boogie TRap~ Tan tan tan~ XD Bacolod was great~

Blogger managed to fail me again!

2008-04-22T17:04:00.001+08:00

I was looking back at some of my entries, and I noticed that the Bicol entry was unusually short. Grrr.... It turns out one entire paragraph was cut out, the part explaining the "stronger" and the picture. (hehe. the picture must have looked weird alone without an explanation. ^^)

To continue...

The second part of our Bicol trip consisted of a trip to Naga, a part of Bicol 2 hours away from my relatives' house in Legaspi. We had to drive to the place, and since we drove back from Sorsogon that morning (where the Whalesharks were) and the drive to Naga was in the afternoon, my aunt was so tired, she let me drive half of the way. Driving in the province is definitely different from City driving. Too bad my speedometer was busted and I couldn't tell what speed I was driving at, or I'd brag about it here. Hehe... Kidding. ;) Anyway, what did we do there? Upon getting to Naga, we went to a place called CWC (and I already forgot what it stands for, sorry. ^^) where we got to try wakeboarding. Imagine, WAKEBOARDING! For those of you who don't know, wakeboarding is (this is a personal definition, so nobody shoot me) a watersport where you step on a board and hold onto a cable that a motorboat drags around. Cool ne? Except in this place, the cable is attached to a motorized rig that goes around the body of water, so it probably isn't as hard, freaky or dangerous as the motorboat version. And I only got to try the knee board, cause beginners apparently can't start out with the standing ones. ^^

And it was fun. Although heaven knows that you need all the arm's strength in the world to complete the entire round over and over again. (cause you're being pulled around by a string you have to grab hold of right?) More than once I washed out because I lost hold of the cable (all my companions did, in fact). By the end of the hour, my arms were trembling. T_T I sincerely wished that I had still been doing weights while hanging on to the cables. (The picture in the "Back with a Vengeance! XD" entry is me about to wash out. :p

And to add icing on the whole thing, for a water sport, it's really quite cheap! Yay! (Would I stomach anything else? XD) It costs about 160 per hour, all the equipment (board, helmet, lifevest,etc) included, plus a lecture to teach you what to do. :D

And the food there is great too. XD XD You guys should go try it sometime. XD

New Lay-out!!

2008-04-10T12:32:00.003+08:00

It's always so exciting to have new lay-outs! Wheee~ And this layout is so clean! XD

*imagines rolling around on the clean surface like a crazy gif or an anime emoticon*

Although I really really loved my last lay-out, the background was a bit messy, so my posts were a little hard to read. Hence this new one is a bit more bare. Whheeee~ There's a little bit more about this lay-out in the Links part of the blog. Weird, I know, but since I started using iframes, the links section has also housed my "the lay-out" section. ^^ Imagine, I'm on my tenth blog lay-out! XD It's been what, 4 years since this blog was born? HEhe... I'm pretty slow aren't I? XD

Just a passing thought..

2008-04-09T23:37:00.002+08:00

While we were firefly watching in our little boat, a fish suddenly plocked into France, making her scream and jump to the panic of the boatmen concerned with our little boat. The fish had accidentally jumped into our boat, and it was about one handspan long. The boatmen decided to keep it for food, except that after a while, they realized that they've all had dinner and no longer wanted to eat after the trip. ^^ So one of the boatmen picked up the fish and returned it back to the river.

This puzzled us, since we figured they could keep it and cook it for breakfast. So we asked why he returned it. And he replied, so that the fish could go off "at magparami" (and multiply, I guess?). To which France mumbled that it's good that they think that way, because so many others would have been more selfish about the whole issue. It's good to know that there are people like these out there.

I know it seems typical, but seeing it happen really does get you thinking.

Commenting on Vigile's "any suggestion on what I can read next?" entry

2008-04-09T23:23:00.002+08:00

*sorry... it was starting to get too long for a comment. You can skip this one if you guys like. ^^*

I'm amazed. In a good way, just to clarify. We kind of read a lot of books differently don't we? (Question originally addressed to Vigile. ^^) This is one of those time-stopping *yes I'm exaggerating* moments when you realize how one set of words and ideas can be interpreted so differently by different people. Hehe.. While such things always obviously happen in reading poems, I don't usually notice such things when reading novels (as I've noticed it now). ^^ But then again, we're usually directed towards a single representation of what the whole book presents when a book is discussed in class, most likely our teacher's interpretation. S/he directs us to the lines and ideas that struck him/her the most and by discussing it enough, we start to see how s/he first sees the line or idea or why it seems to jump out at him/her, despite the fact that we missed it entirely when we were reading the book on our own. I wonder how we would have interpreted the English Patient if we both read it on our own? ^^ Fascinated. Intrigued.

For instance, I didn't particularly find striking lines in the book Beauty, but when I talked to Vigile, she said there was a lot. (Is there still a lot now that you've read it twice? Just curious. Hehe..) And I think I can get really sympathetic with certain characters, to the point of near tears (note the word near, not actual), and I can severely dislike certain characters for reasons as shallow as the fact that they seem "oh so perfect in every way that inconsistencies must be put up with" (*cough*Sharra*cough*Jaxom*cough*). Hehe.. I can feel Sig rolling her eyes again. ^^

Books are great aren't they? And they're even greater when you have someone you can rant to about them. Or discuss them with. Or something. XD

Back with a Vengeance! XD

2008-04-09T20:43:00.004+08:00

I'm back from Bicol! A little darker, happier, stronger and wiser to boot. XD

The trip was meant as a visit to our dear Sarte (cousin France) relatives in Legaspi, Bicol, but as it turns out, we had a full itinerary for the visit. We were constantly on the go, so much so that you could actually feel fatigue in your bones already. ^^

Darker - I sunburned my face off. Ah, the pain! If you see a dark wall walking towards you, look closer, it just might be me in black clothing. ^^; Or even worse, if you see a set of teeth floating towards you, try talking to it, so I can reply and you'll know it's me. XD My family went swimming in Donsol (it's part of Sorsogon, Bicol) during the second day of our trip. We spent the morning driving to the place, then we spent an afternoon and a morning boating and swimming. ^^ The goal was to see some whale sharks and hopefully get to swim alongside them. I loved it. I was so pleased with the whale sharks, I actually bought myself an overpriced whale shark ("Butanding") keychain, to remind me of the whole experience. They're such sweet and gentle creatures. I dunno how, but you can just tell. ^^; It's something worth trying. ^^ And it isn't even very expensive really. It costs under 200 pesos per person, if you have enough companions to split the cost with you, to rent a boat (with a guide and spotter) to swim with the Butanding. :) Just remember not to touch the poor creatures, they're very sensitive and I heard from some foreigners that they could catch an infection and die quite easily. @_@

Happier - The night of our Donsol stay, we went on a firefly boat trip (and I thought it was just called that cause the bangkas (boats) were tiny ones, or that the river was named Firefly or something, but it turns out, we really were going to see fireflies in action). Think Samurai X, the farewell scene of Kenshin to Kouru before leaving for the Shishio thing. Gawd, those fireflies were... pretty much magical. They gather around flowering trees like the Talisay and swarm there by the hundreds. You could actually see them from afar. ^^ We even caught some, and one even landed on my shirt. ^^ They look like constant fireworks stuck to one spot, bursting over and over again. Wiser - an issue meant for another entry. ^^

And so I'm back. And for some bizarre reason, I seem to have caught that old summer infliction of Vigile's, the one where the inflicted gets restless all the time and has the need to constantly be out and about. I can't wait for Bacolod! And while waiting, I can't help but bug people to go out or hang out or something! Waaah! What happened to docile homebound domestic old me??? X__x I used to be really content to hang out at home, reading books, watching TV, surfing the net and what not. T_T Maybe it's just acads-inflicted-gimmick-deprivation hang-over from the past sem. ^^ Plus I miss so many people! Kimmy, Gremio, Selda, UP and CE people, etc... Waaah!

BTW, I got a haircut. With most of my adult companions plotting against my hair, I can hardly escape. ^^ It's not so bad I guess. Except that my hair looks even messier when I tie it (which is often due to the hot weather) than before. ^^

My sem has ended!

2008-04-03T14:17:00.002+08:00

And it even ended earlier for me than for the rest of my batchmates. At a cost though. But let's not get into that. I'm feeling lazy, so I don't feel like going into much detail, besides, I've filled in the trio and sig with most of the details of my sem end.

~relieved(?)~

~Worried about my grades~

~Troubled by internship issues~

~still fighting off attacks on my hair~

~Finished and enjoyed Coffee Prince~

~Want to play Sims 2 in Sig's house~

~Looking forward to Bacolod~

~Currently in Bicol~

~sleepy~

Everyone, keep in touch! XD Keep blogging! Keep texting! XD

Calling the techies out there!

2008-03-30T11:46:00.003+08:00

Help!

I think my sound card is conking out on me. T_T Every time I play something on media player and I close it after I finish, suddenly my computer can't detect the sound card anymore. And no matter what program I use, no sound comes out and even the hardware link in my Control Panel says I don't have a sound card. I have to restart the computer so that it can detect the sound card again. @_@ So if I want to watch 5 episodes of a certain series, I have to keep restarting my computer 5 times, or make sure I don't close media player. What's wrong? It's so inconvenient! T_T I can't even decide to play music after using media player to watch a movie, or vice versa. Grr...

I don't have the funds to fix this either! I'm currently planning to buy a new hard disk cause my current one only has a maximum of 18.6GB. Why so small you ask? It's cause this computer is an old computer. The parts are old as well. ^^ Plus, to improve my computer's performance, I'm thinking of getting a new RAM, just so that my current 512 RAM won't have such a hard time dealing with the larger hard disk. @_@

And I think I really desperately need a new place to get my computer checked. The previous place we used to go to has.. erm... been corrupted. They've become greedy. They didn't repair our computer and even installed certain parts wrong (which only damaged the said parts) and then they kept claiming payment. Grr... In the end, I was forced to pick up a bunch of manuals myself and study my computer hardware a little. (That's how I detected that they installed the parts wrong. But I still have to admit that even Sig probably knows more than I do now.) Grr... Hate them! But some things can't be done with just a few manuals. I need to find out if my computer's sound card is busted, what kind of RAM i should buy, etc. @_@ Crazy.

Guess What?

2008-03-26T11:10:00.004+08:00

I won a trophy! Oooh! A nice, shiny real one with a plaque and everything! XD

And so I say again, being a staff for any JPIA project is harder than being a CE chair, but then again, gotta love the perks, right? Just look at that nice shiny gold part. Can't beat that. XD

It kind of reminded me of something though. I don't think I've ever won a trophy for anything. The closest I came to getting one was in high school during the intrams(sp?), but I screwed that up and even *gasp* deprived my friend Selda of her own trophy (or maybe it was just a medal? 0_0) , because you have to win by batch, and I lost the last crucial deciding game. T_T I'm so sorry Selda!!!!

Also, see here! See here! Another hard gay item! Snatch it up before someone else buys it from the store I saw it in. It talks just like the one Kimmy has too, except it's cheaper since it isn't shaped like Hard Gay. ^^; It costs Php95.

I'm starting to miss people again. ^^ I miss Gremio!!!! T_T I miss Kimmy!!! And I miss a lot of old CE people who've graduated and have left UP. (Special mention to Levs and Virge who tried contacting me but I was asleep so I didn't see the text messages about the Glorietta meeting and libre. T_T) I also miss my cousins. T_T

Tools of Procrastination

2008-03-16T12:05:00.001+08:00

I'm currently reading several books simultaneously again. I've long since dropped the habit, but it's back. Probably as a result of the stress, I feel like reading different types of books at different times. @_@

Currently Reading
Confessions of A Shopaholic
Love in the Time of Cholera
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Sunshine

Currently Reading (but put on hold)
Emma

I had to stop Emma, because I think I was able to guess most of the story by around page 25. But I stuck around till page 50+ to see if I was right, and I was, so I stopped, cause it was starting to bore me. The books is around 360+ pages long too. I can rant about this and bore you with a mile long entry, but not right now. :P

Sunshine - I'm not sure, but I think it's a vampire story by Robin McKinley. And I love those things. ^^ Plus Neil Gaiman commented that it was "Pretty much perfect". Hope it is good. XD

Love in the Time of Cholera - I was in the mood for something serious, so I started reading it. Plus there's a movie coming out. :D

Confessions of A Shopaholic - the most recent addition to the list because I felt like reading something light. Ahhh! But I totally forgot that this is the type of book where the protagonist continually finds herself in embarrassing situations (often in front of a guy). *sigh* You know you're reading a chick-lit story when that keeps happening over and over. It doesn't make the book a bad read, it just makes it painful to read sometimes. ^^; But I don't know, cause I haven't gotten beyond a few pages. Also a movie is coming out. Hehe...

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - I loved the first book of Narnia (Magician's Nephew)! I've been insisting that my family buy the box set since Christmas, cause I wanted to read the series, and it turned out to be really nice. I should have known it was, since when I was in high school, Serena (my seatmate and always the monthly "top student borrower" of our HS library) was always on the look out for these books, and I remember her asking the librarian when it was borrowed and what day it would be returned, etc. XD So anyway, here's to the second book!

Taking a break to scout for internships

2008-03-16T00:05:00.002+08:00

Well, I've started e-mailing companies tonight, and I've been texting people most of the day (when my phone agreed to cooperate) for help and information about the whole thing. ^^; (Thanks the most to Stacy! :D)

So far I've e-mailed 3 banks, 2 auditing firms and 2 long shots (as in companies I doubt will even take notice of me), so I'm pretty pleased with my progress. :) Unfortunately, however, I had sent the 6th e-mail by the time I realized that I was using the wrong e-mail address. You see, I've had a certain e-mail account since high school, and I won't mention it so no one can e-mail me (feeling~) but the name is pretty strange. I'm sure you guys know the address, even a couple of classmates have it memorized cause I think they find it funny. 0_o So anyway, I created a new and more professional sounding one. And I forgot to use it. St*pid. --___--

I hope I can get my schedule ironed out clearly so that I can schedule the interviews well. (feeling~ hehe...)

I actually have the following concerns to deal with:
Mar 17 - 117 exam and tax quiz
Mar 18 - law game (which spells our finals fate and requires half a books worth of memorization)
Mar 19 - Interview with the UP Provident Fund for a paper
Mar 20-23 - Holy Week break
Mar 24 - Accounting Exam
Mar 25/26 - tentative Tax Exam / Law Exam
Mar 27 - Accounting Exam
Mar 29 - Accounting Exam
April 1 - UP Provident Fund paper deadline
April 4 - DND paper deadline

I actually have a Bicol Trip on April 1-7 (scheduled way too early actually, cause I still have a paper til April 4. But I intend to work on it tirelessly before then and then help my groupmates through Y!M after. AMAGAD.) Then I have a tentaive Bacolod trip on April 14 (Wooohooo! I'm super ecstatic about this and I really really really hope it'll push through cause I've never gone on an out of town trip with the Kada, save for our school trip to Baguio). Busy busy busy~ XD

Random rants

2008-03-15T14:32:00.003+08:00

Guess who? I used the watercolor effect in Photoshop cause I thought the effect looked nice. XD I think I prefer drawing caricatures and cartoon versions of people, so don't wonder why it doesn't look exactly lifelike. The drawing actually reminded me of Daria, from MTVs old show. XD

And what a quiz! Look at the heading my teachers put. Even they know how bad the test is. XD

And look at this couple. What a disaster. They don't look good together at all! I don't like them both, but I think Katie would look way better without that "short guy" clinging to her. Sorry fans of TC. The picture just looks so wrong. @_@

Venting off steam.

2008-03-13T22:41:00.003+08:00

I've been meaning to blog for sometime, and about something, I think, but right now the thought escapes me and I can't remember what I wanted to say.

Other than that, I just want to share that I had a rotten day today, I've had no more than 2 hours of sleep in the last... (grr! i can't even compute how many hours, so let's just say I didn't sleep the night before due to some paper and report my group had to cram immediately after our accounting exam fried our brains), and that I have been through 2 hell weeks with the prospect of 2 more to go. Also, though I had the rare and happy chance to hang out with the kada last Saturday, the event I had been looking forward to for this Saturday was moved to sometime at the end of March. It's not so bad, I guess, since I have another accounting exam next Wednesday to study for. @_@ You should see my schedule. If I wasn't half dead right now from the lack of sleep, I'd probably be worrying myself dead anyway. :p

This day, this day. After finally scoring two hours of sleep at 6 am, I awaken to find out that my groupmate did not write his part of the report properly, and hence I had to redo it in both the paper and the powerpoint for the report. Then we find out that there is NO available LCD projector for our report time, so we had to scrap our entire powerpoint and create ACETATE summaries. How about that? I had to send my groupmates ahead so they could get the damn things printed, and I left my house at 12:30 for my 12 o'clock class. My mom thought I didn't need the car, so I had to walk in my corpo attire (and corpo shoes) in the high heat of noon, lugging about my groupmate's laptop (which they left in my house so I could finish up something), and then I waited about 20 minutes for a jeep outside our house. A jeep finally did come, but it dropped everyone of in front of the Ayala Hts subdivision in T. Sora cause there was an MMDA catching jeeps that were color coded. Of all the times this can happen to me, it had to happen while I was in corpo attire, with a heavy laptop on me. @_@ I trudge towards BA (what a long painful walk it was) where I finally collapse in my chair, probably dripping profusely with sweat. -__- Class started, but I had a headache due to the lack of sleep and I had a foot sore that needed a band-aid to help relieve it. Then when we finally delivered our report, my teacher did not understand the report (cause I was watching her, and she wasn't listening well, she was actually staring of into space at some point in time). I almost cried after the class ended. All that effort for nothing. T_T

Then we had to fetch Bern and wait for her for about 2 hours in Ateneo, I was half sleeping with my head in my arms in the tables of the jgsom mall (or somethine like that) thinking "Of all days...". Died.

Sisig Alert!!

2008-03-05T17:06:00.002+08:00

As I've told the trio, my dad is experiencing some cholesterol problems and, as such, has taken certain measures to improve his diet. Of course, we're always ready and willing to help. *chuckles evilly* In fact, we've been waiting to help for a looooong time now. For as long as I can remember, the kids of this house have gone as far as scolding the parents to stop eating their chicharon and what not. So lately, we managed to get our hands on a table of cholesterol values so as to help pinpoint the food that's best to avoid.

And it's best you guys know as well right?

But first note that for a person weighing 75kgs, the daily cholesterol consumption should not exceed 300mg. Okay!

1. A 100g serving of pig's brain has 3100mg of cholesterol already. More than 10 times the daily limit! AMAGAD. And what food has pig's brains? Sisig. Well, not always, but most of the time. I got a recipe for sisig online just to check, and 1kg of pig's head is sometimes cooked with 1/4th kilos of pig's brains, which makes about a plate. Shame. I like sisig. :( But pig's brain is an OPTIONAL part of the recipe only, so there's always hope right? ^^
2. A 100g serving of clams contains 454mg of cholesterol. Also more than the daily limit. Fortunately, I don't like clams, at all. :p I wonder if Oysters are just as bad?
3. Squid. For a 100g serving, you get 265mg of cholesterol. Wow. Not quite the daily limit, but close. Unfortunately, my mom loves squid. Who knew right?
4. A 50g egg contains 266mg of cholesterol in its yolk part. The egg white, on the other hand contains no cholesterol. :D
5. Butter (100g) = 260mg cholesterol
6. Vegetable Oil (100g) = 0 mg cholesterol (yay!) -- as in peanut, corn oil, etc.
7. Fruits, Vegetables, Cereal (wheat, etc) (100g) = 0 mg cholesterol
8. Fatty Lamb (100g) = 173 mg cho
9. Fatty Beef (100g) = 125 mg cho
10. Lean Lamb (100g) = 70 mg cho
11. Lean Beef (100g) = 65 mg cho
12. Chicken (100g) = 60-90 mg cho
13. Lean Pork (100g) = 77 mg cho
14. Pork Chop (100g) = 105 mg cho
15. Ice cream (100g) = 45 mg cho
16. Crab (100g) = 164 mg cho
17. Shrimp (100g) = 154 mg cho --- T_T I love shrimp!

I'm tired. This'll do. XD

Tuaz

2008-03-04T18:26:00.002+08:00

I logged in just to see if my account was still alive. And it was. XD I'm so proud of myself for having remembered my password. XD My display pictures and all that, however, are now nonexistent. But I'm nevertheless proud to declare that I now have 40 posts under my name since I became a member in July 30, 2002. XD Nothing compared to Gremio's 8772 post count, but at least right? HEhe... I remember those days in high school, sitting in those round green monoblock tables after we were evicted from the cafeteria-proper, when the kada would discuss how many posts they have, and who's catching up with who, etc., and what size should they make a banner (in pixels). XD I wasn't a member then, so I totally didn't get the whole thing. XD

Why am I online? I just finished an exam a couple of hours ago, and I'm about to get ready for another tomorrow. But one needs a little down time to recharge, neh?

Taking a short break...

2008-03-02T19:37:00.004+08:00

... and found the following cause I was randomly looking at IMDB. :p Some updates on the movie Twilight. :D

IMDB

and so I had to follow it up with this:

Some group pics of the Cullens
More pics of the rest of the cast
Set pictures with the author

Just click the "next" button for more pictures. Argh. I was a bit disappointed. I feel that the some suggestions given in the author's website with regard to the cast were more... pleasant looking. Hehe...

Comments
1. I don't mind that the guy they chose to play Jasper was originally in the running to play Edward (as suggested in the author's blog). What I do mind is that the gave him the ugliest blond mop of hair I've ever seen. @_@ Was this to possibly make the lead guy Pattinson look slightly better? I dunno. Although I have to admit that I prefer the Jasper suggestions in the author's blog better.

Past suggestions for the cast

2. Does Carlisle look 23? I don't think so...

3. And I'm sorry, but I have to agree with a lot of other people on this: Rosalie looks fat. >_<

4. Emmet looks like Norby. ^^ That can't be right. ^^

5. Pattinson. Still so wrong! X(

6. Where is Jacob?? Where where where?!? How can they be filming without him? But then again, he does have only a few parts in this book. T_T

Ok break's up! X(

Last free afternoon

2008-03-01T16:37:00.002+08:00

And so my hell weeks begin! As is the usual habit of my law teacher, last Friday she announced that: "Next meeting(Tues), we'll have our exams." WhhaaaAAAT?!? Nothing on the syllabus, she just decided it. So of course everyone is in a panic. And being that it's a law subject, AMAGAD the readings are long. To add cherries and chocolate sprinkles on top, we have an exam on Wed and Saturday, not to mention two wonderfully dreadful cases care of Sir Pineda and Mam Echanis. @_@ Plus that 1 ream long paper we're expected to write soon. @_@ And that's just next week. The horror goes on till the week after Holy Week, in fact in all likelihood, we'll be working on that ream of a paper during the holidays. Greatness. T_T

~~~

Just want to share that they put back the stupid u-turn in Katipunan back to the way it was. Why did they have to even change it in the first place?? T_T But better that it's back. *sniffles bitterly*

Accident Alert! Round 2~

2008-02-27T20:18:00.002+08:00

Yesterday, my mom finally declared that I could bring a car to school everyday. And I got into a little scrape, forgive the pun.

Today, on the second day of my driving to school, I HIT A CAR. Gaaaah! I HIT A CAR! >_____<

My dad has yet to discover it, but my mom thinks that I'm very very close to being forbidden to drive again. For a recap, I was prevented from driving for more than a year because I totally crushed the car's back bumper on an electrical post.

Accident Alert!

2008-02-26T17:34:00.010+08:00

GraaawhhH! On the first day that my mom *finally* said I could take the car to school everyday, I got into an accident. But of course. An accident. Blah! I scratched up the car in the dangerous U-turn in front of National Bookstore Katipunan. Grr.. It was 4pm, and it was SOOO traffic because the GS and HS kids of both Ateneo and Miriam were all heading home. Aggressive big Pajeros, Innovas and what not were turning the single U-turn lane a double U-turn lane, and some of the cement blocks lining the said turn were moved to the side. And these huge cars were cutting me and so I couldn't make a decent turn, so my car kind of got caught in the stupid cement blocks they pushed to the side of the U-turn slot (as marked down there by the pink arrow). I actually heard a sickening grating sound when I hit it. And then the cars behind me were pushing at me so I couldn't go back, and some stupid container truck decided to make use of the free space in front of me to pass so I couldn't maneuver forward, which only added to my irritation (path marked by green arrow). Sh***T! The scratches are pretty deep, and the edges of my door got a little chipped and very dented. OMG! My dad is going to kill me. And I was so irritated cause I'm usually good (well, at least not bad) at U-turns (coz that's the hardest part of my way to school, so I have been practicing that EVERY SINGLE DAY recently) so I can navigate pretty narrow turns and estimate my distance from the sidewalks pretty well (or at least way better than Bern or Bianca). And it wasn't my first time driving though bumper-to-bumper traffic either. Argh! I was so annoyed and irritated!

My only consolation is in the fact that it wasn't another car or a person that I hit. T_T

Here are some pictures of how I understood the flow of traffic.

simple. clean. neat. easy.

Can anything be more chaotic than the traffic-crazed streets of Metro Manila? @_@ How do they expect anyone to U-turn when evil cars are blocking your way forward and pushing you into corners? I wish I had an SUV. Takot lang nila ibangga yung SUV ko. >_<

Jyu-oh-sei

2008-02-25T14:49:00.003+08:00

I missed the last three episodes on TV, so I had to go download it. :p I had it all saved up in my computer for when I had free time, and today's the day! I FINALLY FINISHED THE SERIES! XD

And OH MY GOD! It was... it was... unpredictable, adrenaline-rushing, scream-and-panic worthy, gasp-requiring, heart-attack-triggering, and all that you could possibly want from an anime that offers sci-fi action and suspense! And let's not forget to mention that the art was mostly good too. Mostly, because the noses were weird sometimes (a left over from the Escaflowne days?) Hehe.. I'm not really into sci-fi, but this one was good. :D

Well actually, the series didn't start that way, (exciting and all, I mean) but as it reached the climax things really started to pick up since this series is composed of a measly 11 episodes. So don't expect to panic yet when you start watching. Or maybe it was the fact that I stopped just prior to the climax and the eagerness just built up, or something. ^^In any case, to be safe, don't get your hopes up too much if you decide to start watching, so you can't blame me for the disappointment. :p

But i have to admit that I felt the storyline sort of peaked at episode 10, only to go a little downhill after that. But I guess that's what happens when the climax offers energy much different from the "falling action" (can't remember the right term) and conclusion, the denouement basically. And admittedly, the ending wasn't that great but I didn't think it was so bad. But then again, I've been hearing about the show's bad ending for some time now, that I think I expected worse, and therefore what was there didn't seem so bad. ^^;

But anyway, this story was SOO unpredictable. Not one of our previous guesses even came close to the truth. And so it earned so many OMGs from me, and an occasional shriek and a million gasps. (Can you imagine?) A lot of events were just so shocking, like in episode 11 where Thor was holding onto Third's hand. Watch it and you'll see. Sure there were some loose ends, but what can you expect with an 11 episode show?

Oh, and the background music was really well suited for the series. I think I almost got goosebumps in episode 11. XD

Bottom line, I liked it. :D Sure, I may be overexcited and overreacting since this is the only anime I've watched in a REALLY REALLY long time, save for the three episodes of Higurashi somethingsomething that the trio watched several weeks ago. (I think that aside from Jyu-oh-sei and the three episodes of Higurashi, the last anime I watched would probably beRomeoXJuliet. :p) I can't even really remember. And aside from that, it's one of the only series that I've finished watching recently, together with Gossip Girl and TARA. And you can see how I've been ranting. That's deprivation for you I guess. XD

Gossip Girl Round 2!

2008-02-24T20:27:00.003+08:00

We finally finished the series! We were only able to watch up to episode 10 last time I posted. So now I'm revising my previous opinion... I LOVE the Nate-Blair-Chuck love triangle. I used to dislike Nate, but he redeemed himself. I want to see the next episode/season!!!!

Blair is the brunette, Nate is the guy in the middle and Chuck is the guy on the right. ^_^

P.S. I totally hate Jenny. She's such a brat. >_<

Gossip Girl

2008-02-24T16:07:00.006+08:00

- with a few season 1 spoilers if you intend to watch -

I love Gossip Girl. Hehe... It's practically the only thing I'm really watching right now, since the only two TV shows I wait for both ended last week, and the other shows I love and want to wait for (like House) I can't seem to catch regularly on TV, though I try. >_< Plus my DVD-ROM is still under repair, so I can't watch the other shows I've been hoarding (not that I have much time anyway). The only reason I get to watch GG is because Bianca and Bernice schedule our watching times, since we're using Bianca's computer, and so the number of episodes are planned and you can't succumb to watching more even if it kills you. Which is good cause you don't have to worry about losing control only to realize that you still have a gazillion chapters to read and no time for it. @_@ And if you miss it, nobody's gonna agree to rewatch any episode with you, which you basically can't do anyway, since Bianca studies on her computer the rest of the time. ^^

Anyway, I think I like the Blair-Chuck pairing. No, wait, I LOVE the Blair-Chuck pairing. It almost broke my heart when I watched the scene where Chuck went to find Blair after the debutante ball only to find her with Nate. T_T (And Nate is a bit dumb isn't he? Though I admit he's way better looking than Chuck. :p) I think Chuck, when he finds someone he likes, will be like his father to Lily. The fooling around will stop, and he'll be faithful. ^^ Plus I totally loved the whole discussion about butterflies. It was so cute when he said he felt a weird fluttering in his stomach, to which Blair said incredulously: "Butterflies?" and then she proceeded to tell him to "murder" the said
butterflies. XD

Chuck: I feel like theres something in my stomach... fluttering...
Blair: Butterflies?! You know that I adore all of God's creatures and the metaphors that they inspire, but those butterflies have got to be murdered.

And I was reading a few reviews and got the following points:
1. Chuck did not undergo a sudden and complete character change. Which is good. He's still conniving and at times evil, and it makes the whole thing a lot more interesting.
2. Chuck obviously really likes Blair. You can see it in his face, when he was listening to her talking to Nate about the ball, when he saw how devastated she was that Nate didn't show up, etc.

OMG! I don't want Chuck to leave!! T____T

Aftershock.

2008-02-24T14:37:00.002+08:00

OH. MY. GOD. What an exam! As usual, we needed extension after extension after extension! We started a little after 1 thirty, I think, and we ended almost at 8pm. Hehe.. They were actually closing all the lights in the BA hallways already, and the guard was already roving about. We even had to use the faculty exit to get out of the building. :p AND STILL, I DIDN'T FINISH THE EXAM! OMG OMG! I wasn't able to answer about 3 questions out of 6. T_T I thought I was going to cry after that exam. And I think I even got a very slight fever when I finally got home. T_T And I got home so late (cause I had to commute home) that there wasn't even dinner for me when I arrived.

>>Long walks. *sigh* Often good after stressful or bad times, but sometimes (like this time) long walks just give you time to think back and gag at yourself. But at least by the time I got home I was more tired and hungry than horrified. :P (BTW, I saw an Ivan look alike when I was passing by some DVD stands near my house. HAha... Totally broke my trail of thought.)<<

You might think I'm overreacting, but hey! This exam I studied my brains out for like no other exam I can remember. And still, I came across things that I COULDN'T have prepared for. Something we weren't prepared for or tackled in class, definitely. But I guess that's how it is in real life eh? Accounting disasters are never limited by the examples given in class, no matter how bizarre those already are. I don't think anymore studying could have saved me. Just as well that I had a good time the night before. :p

And at least Monday is a holiday, so I can nurse my bleeding brain and my mutilated heart in peace for a while. 3 accounting exams to go. Lucky me.

the belated Valentine's day entry

2008-02-17T17:29:00.003+08:00

I can't possibly pass up such a controversial event, can I? Bitterness and sweetness fills the air, not to mention the sourness that the latter sometimes occasions to random (or still hurting) passers-by, and the blandness felt by the people with nothing to look forward to. XD

The interesting thing I have to blog about this event is the different nicknames people have bestowed upon it recently. Topping the list as the most appropriate has just got to be the nickname I picked up from Jessica Zafra's blog: KRIS AQUINO day. *nods head* Yes, it's quite appropriate, or at least I think so. Afterall, Valentines is annoying and so commercial. *cough*And overrated?*cough* We don't celebrate any other saints like we do St. Valentines, not even close. And we don't even know much about him! But still, this is one of those occasions that causes malls, stores, and everywhere to put festive decorations. Though that is not to say that we don't know anything about Kris Aquino. She's one of those celebrities you'd rather not hear about at all, and still the media hoists her on us like rain on the street. At some point, all those companies falling over themselves to hire her as an endorser are going to have to ask themselves, is she even effective? In case they haven't noticed, she annoys a lot of people. -_- Plus she jumps from endorsee to endorsee so much that once her contract ends, the company who hired her probably has to pay her not to endorse their enemy. -_- Anyway, back to the point, before I get too carried away with how annoying KA is.

Name two, SAD or simply Singles Awareness Day. True... Whether or not you are bitter, suddenly friends with significant others are abandoning you or gushing about plans you just don't intend to make. It's enough to make singles arrange huge singles parties, like the OchoUno annual Loveless gathering. ^^;

Name three: C-day. A bitter person's alternative to V-day. Corny, cheesy, cliche, commercial, common, feel free to add more. To quote someone's take on this name: "Parang di mo alam kung madidiri ka or matutuwa sa mga nagdadate pag-Valentines eh. Parang lahat kasi ganun. Corny!"

But personally, I'm neutral. (Hehe.. Did I just hear you gasp in disbelief: "After all that slandering!?! Neutral?") It's cause Valentines in UP means lots of breaks in our subjects due to fund-raising serenades, lot's of jokes and teasing aimed at the "taken ones" or the "bitter ones", free-days from the more considerate teachers, and even gifts like free chocolates and what not from friends with unwanted admirers. Hehe... What's not to like?

Valentines bitterness is an aftertaste. And you can't get the aftertaste without having a taste first. :p So stay away and stay bland and happy! :p

Blogging parin

2008-02-06T22:13:00.000+08:00

Grabe na itong pag-b-blog na ito! Ayan, 5 new entries, depending on the time you checked my blog! XD

Afterall, I'm going to have to find some employment for myself online cause some people DON'T UPDATE anymore. T_T

So blog guys! BLOG!

The Couch Potato: On couples

2008-02-06T20:26:00.000+08:00

Sorry if I'm overwhelming the world with nonsense today. XD My quiz was just cancelled, and after 2 consecutive exams, I really feel the need to unwind.

Anyway, I was watching E! the other day and there was a countdown of the most shocking Hollywood break-ups. Topping their list is Brad and Jen, with Nicole Kidman-Tom Cruise as the runner-up, and "Beniffer" as the third.

Brad and Jen won the top spot even though they weren't together for as long as some of the other couples because they were apparently Hollywood's golden couple. People were sorry to see them break-up cause they seemed perfect together.

Hmm... I'm sorry but I'm going to have to disagree with all that. Well, not really disagree, but I'm a Brad-Angie fan. ^^ I know it's a bad thing that people break-up and all that jazz, but that aside, don't you guys think that the world somehow became a better place after Brad and Angelina got together? (ehehe...) I dunno, the pairing just seemed right. ^^; They look good together, and they seem really happy with their growing family. And if you think about it, aside from how fitting it is that the "sexiest man alive" should end up with the "sexiest woman alive" (quotes from E!, again), they really did do good things for the world. They visit poor countries, they do lots and lots of charity work, and somehow, they even managed to make it fashionable to "get into" charity, and now we have other celebs volunteering at charitable institutions as well! (Hey, I also got this bit of trivia from E!, about how being charitable is now hotter than being a party person ala Lindsay and Britney, so don't think I'm crazy.)

Anyway, their family was also named "World's Most Beautiful Family". (Bet you Tom Cruise is trying to figure out how to land that acclaim. :p) She was even the first pregnant woman to be on the cover of People Magazine. :D

And I quote: People magazine has released their "World's Most Beautiful People" issue. As to be expected, Angelina Jolie lands the number one spot. But that wasn't enough to capture all the beauty of her hand-picked clan. Her, Brad Pitt, Zaraha, and Maddox come together to create the "World's Most Beautiful Family.""

But anyway, enough ranting. Here is my top 3 most shocking break-ups ever:
1. Nicole and Tom
2. Reese and Ryan (T_T)
3. Uma and Ethan

And the couples who are still together and will definitely crush me to see breaking-up
1. Posh and Beckham
2. Brad and Angelina
3. Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr.

Of course there are more, I just can't list them all can I? But I really love the Beckhams. I saw them on Barbara Walters one day, and they're so sweet and pretty looking together. Hehe.. And the thing is, David Beckham is really really family oriented, so when they were asked how long did they think they'll stay together, he replied without a doubt that they'd be together forever, because they wouldn't have married at all if otherwise. And there was a finality and seriousness to how he said it that it was "aww"-worthy. XD And they really love their kids and they really work as a couple. ^^; Victoria even shared that they play soccer together as a family. She's the goalie and the boys kick balls at her. XD

Wala-lang-Links:
Angelina's Cover
Jolie-Pitt: World's Most Beautiful Family
Gwen Stefani's son and Shiloh are friends. ^^;
His face looks deformed. -_- But I really don't like him anyway, so who cares? XD

Fed up

2008-02-06T20:22:00.000+08:00

I was going to blog about something that really got me riled up recently, and though I haven't really changed my mind, I'm a bit more calm about the whole topic, so I won't go into detail.

I'll just leave off with a quote from a friend in the same boat: "Hindi na yan yung ** na minahal ko."

True true...

Another Breather~ :p

2008-02-06T16:38:00.000+08:00

Grabe, that exam was a killer! X( But I was thankfully able to beg Bianca to loan me her laptop, despite the stone-clad rule imposed by our parents upon her receipt of the said gadget: that Bianca cannot and should NEVER lend the laptop to any of her sisters. But this was a very critical situation, so exceptions must be made. Truth be told, if I owned the laptop, I wouldn't lend it either, save for the direst situation.

And as it turns out, good things can come out of evil people's evil deeds. ^^ Because I was to be lugging around the precious laptop, I was therefore not allowed to commute to school though no one could take me to school. Hehe.. Small perks. ^^ For the first time in my life, I drove a car to school! And I was so nervous about having the laptop and the car that I didn't even feel the exam anymore. ^^; I kept imagining coming back to an empty parking lot and having to call and tell my dad that the car was stolen. @_@ I even finished the exam early just so I could get home early. Rarely happens with me. ^^;

And most of my batchmates (yes, an entire batch) also thought to borrow laptops. Hehe, the floors of the classroom had the most dangerous looking bunch of octopus wires I've ever seen. Even our proctor had a comment or two about the logistics problem of our exam. ^^ People brought extension cords and everything, so almost every inch of the floor was covered. Imagine, my whole batch taking exams with laptops plugged into only 4 outlets. I really thought something would explode, so of course, since I was much too worried to risk plugging in Bianca's laptop into this electro-hazard, I was pacing myself by the number of minutes left on her laptop's batteries. See how careful I am? XD But I swear, that was one dangerous exam. @_@

And looking back, I don't even remember the exam much, save for the fact that I can't say I did well. The worry over material possessions while you're taking an exam can be distracting. ^^;

Hehe... I was texting Vigile yesterday that I couldn't give her the Bo's GCs cause the two of us didn't have cars for the day, and turns out that I (the more unlikely one) had a car afterall. Labo. ^^

But I don't think this will be a regular thing. ^^ I was just backing out our automatic Toyota (I've only driven an automatic 3 times in my entire life) around lunchtime, and I didn't even get past the gate of our garage and my mom was screaming at me already for my bad driving. :p Seriously screaming. I dropped her off in Philcoa for some Divisoria errand, took the exam and got home alive. Hehe.. Pat in the back, pat in the back. XD

~~~

Oh, and I'd like to report on the b*dyp*inting event of my other *cough* BA org. There were also only 3 contestants, with female models. Compared to the 7 deadly sins, the designs here were.. disappointing. :( Nothing at all compared to the entries we had. I didn't even really know which to vote for in audience choice. (The price for audience choice was P2000 WORTH OF GIFTPACKS. Why didn't we think of that? -_-) And the overall winner had on more costume than body paint. I was seriously disappointed that that entry won. XP Grabe, only her legs, face and arms were painted, the rest was covered in a big costume with wings. And it won. @_@

~~~

For tear-jerking youtube action, click on this link. It's pretty old, but if you haven't seen it, watch it. It's cute. TuT That's one strong & smart Kiwi we have there. XD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdUUx5FdySs

It was somebody's Master's thesis too. :D

~~~

Oh yes. I'm currently watching this heart-wrenching anime Jyu oh sei. T_T I don't know the ending yet, but so far I like it. ^^ I think it's from the makers of Escaflowne. I watch it once a week, so I can't be accused of slacking off this time. This is midterms week for me after all. @_@

Links:
Wikipedia: Jyu Oh Sei
Another reference
YouTube: for a sneak peak. XD

~~~

Oh! Trivia! Trivia!

The guy who played Morita in the Honey and Clover movie with Sho of Arashi is the same actor who played... *drumroll* ...Casshern! *GASP* Although I have to say that he looked better as Tetsuya than as Morita. XD And the villian in Casshern looks like Dante from Devil may Cry. :p

Some teachers...

2008-02-05T21:38:00.000+08:00

...are just plain unreasonable. -_-

Siya kaya ang magprint ng 586++ slides and other handouts nya at magexam na open notes. Nakakinis na nga na kelangan namin basahin yung 586++ slides na yun for the first 15-question-CLOSED-NOTES-theory-part of the exam, ngayon kelangan pa silang dalhin for 4 on the spot OPEN NOTES case problems. Grrr... Buti sana kung mayaman kaming lahat para magka-laptop or magpaprint ng ganun karami!!! ANTI-POOR ka! HOY! Nagtuturo ka po sa UP! At dahil lang feel mo, babagsak kami sa exam mo dahil wala kaming PERA pamprint ng isang ream ng slides o kaya para bumuli ng laptop para sa exam?!?

*berserk*

Buti sana kung mahaba rin yung oras namin para mag-aral eh. Kakatapos lang ng law/tax exams namin kanina, ang haba din ng readings! >__________<

What's up with me.

2008-02-02T12:20:00.000+08:00

Wow, even I was starting to get sick of my Heath Ledger entry. XD Ivan has a point about the whole updating thing. So anyway, what have I been up to?

Nothing much, I guess. Aside from realizing with such sickening force that I HAVE indeed been slacking off more than usual this semester, as evidenced by the fact that I'm quite suddenly (and shockingly) updated with a lot of books, tv series, tv shows, anime, and movies of late. This I found out after talking to some CE alumni, then some classmates, the trio, and then finally, Mia. XD

Well, aside from slacking off, my unusual "updatedness" could have been helped by the fact that I also haven't been taking active roles in my student organizations this sem. ^^; And the fact that I haven't been sleeping as early as I'd like. And of course the fact that this is the only sem I've ever had in college with less than 17 units. XD

So anyway, I've also been having Triodates recently, and I hope it'll continue until the rest of the trio graduates. T_T

And my DVD-burner is busted, but thankfully still under warranty. So that means a lot of waiting, and in the meantime, I can't even watch a single episode of all the shows I've been keeping watch over (like Mia and John's Higurashi. XD) That's why here I am with a growing pile of books and shows in queue, all still untouched and waiting, and that's how it is. I know of the show/movie/anime/book, but I have yet to try it out. ^^; The DVD-burner is no excuse for the growing pile of books, I'm just slow at reading. Hehe..

And my computer also has so little memory left. A mere 5gigs. T_T I'm really going to have to look into buying additional memory for this thing, to augment its current 18G capacity. Which is why I'm trying to sell our old pentium3 desktop computer, and my creative mp3 player/flash drive as well. T__T If you know a computer buyer, this PC is in good working condition, complete with a monitor, keyboard and printer. I dunno how much I should sell it, so offer me a price, I guess. ^^

Oh, and with the whole password mess that caused Vigile to lose her old blog Spade in mind, I decided to add a few precautions to my own blog. Hehe... *wiggles eyebrows mysteriously* XD

I'm also supposed to attend JPIA's FP tonight. (Just because I'm not super active doesn't mean I don't attend at all.) I'm actually on probation here, so if I'm not careful, they may strike me off their roster of mems. And anyway, the FP will be in Metrowalk, another opportunity to buy DVDs that I can't watch! HEhe.. ^^;

And as usual, my parting line is again: I'm actually supposed to be studying right now, so I'll cut this entry short! Hehe... ^^;

Lamenting over Fictional Characters..

2008-02-02T12:19:00.000+08:00

OMG! I just finished reading Eclipse, and here I am (again) feeling sad for the losing end of a love triangle. T_T Argh. When you sympathize with the losing end, you can't help but feel a teeny bit depressed when the story wraps up, but that's not to say of course that I'm not happy for Bella, the apex, shall we say, of the love triangle. I've been waiting for her to finally be a Cullen (in the mythical sense) since the end of book one. But that doesn't lessen the distress I felt for the ending. T_T I think I want a sequel about Jacob. If anything, just to know that he didn't disappear. *sniffles*

Truth be told, I was actually expecting worse to happen, especially since I heard that Alpha cried for Jake. I actually thought he would die or something. So I spent most of the book on the edge of my seat, praying that he wouldn't die. ^^ So much so that the ending totally caught me by surprise, and I didn't know I was there until I hit my face against the cold harsh wall of the finale in the form of the words "Acknowledgements". That's twice I got caught off guard by the abruptness of the ending, by the same author, mind you. And it was so sudden, I couldn't even react. So no, no tears here.

*sad sigh* I liked the series. And, just to be clear, the ending was nice, though it was really sad. And sad endings are pretty memorable for me, i think. ^^ I guess it couldn't have gone any other way. Funny, but I totally shared Bella's wish that she be split into two. I really did wish there could have been a way. Impossible though. LOL. And I think I liked Eclipse among the trilogy the most, it started out the funniest, definitely. And it definitely had the saddest sting. In other words, the most thrilling roller-coaster-ride-of-emotions among all three of the books. ^^

Although I have to admit that somewhere along the way, I felt kind of frustrated with Jake when he was being annoying -_-, and I was a little disappointed that Rosalie didn't get redeemed very much. I'm probably among a minority with this, but I like Rosalie. Something about the way Edward and Alice don't seem to be too fond of her struck a sympathetic chord in me, and I kept wondering throughout the book why everyone was making a fuss about Bella's transformation when obviously Rosalie didn't experience anything bad enough for her to have been able to keep her "spotless record", especially given the fact that she wrecked revenge on her killers. I dunno. I can't quite explain why I like her, but Rosalie did have her reasons for why she is the way she is, and it seems sad that she isn't really liked by some of her family. I was a little disappointed with Carlisle too, and Alice was a little annoying, though I really liked her in the first and second book. But I still love Jasper and Emmet. XD

And there were some lines that I found really... painful, I guess. Like when Jake said he could have been the sun, and we know that THAT was true. T_T I could almost feel imaginary plastic knives plunging into my sympathetic heart. ^^;

Aww Jake... T_T It's hard to describe, but I think I have a very HUGE tendency to sympathize with characters I get attached to. But don't worry guys, I'll try to get over it by the time we see each other next, so I won't break into a big drowning WHOOSH of ranting. ^^;

Personally, I don't think I'd survive a love triangle. No matter what position you get, whether you be the chooser, the chosen or the loser, you'll always be plagued with "what ifs". Crazy. ^^;

Heath Ledger

2008-01-24T10:47:00.000+08:00

To my infinite shock, I found out this morning that Heath Ledger, age 28, died last January 22, 2008. T___T Why?!? Strangely enough, Bianca and I had been talking about him lately, since we caught a film on TV with one of his ex's.

I found out through this morning's paper, because I saw the headline: "Brokeback Mountain star found dead in New York Apartment". So I turned to that page, expecting to find some other actor/actress who I probably didn't know. Heath Ledger was definitely the last person I expected to find. T_T It's a shame.

snowflakes

Home in Bed

beginnings and endings

shameless plug~

cute tophats~

The cherry on top

Ranting and whining. As always.

Vote for me~

Cancelled trip :(

People Magazine's Sexiest List

First day of Latin 10

Gossip Girl - DIE Vanessa! DIE!

Watching Trailers

Big Weekend Break

USB from P&G

Sig is gonna love this...

Sembreak Game Results

Living on the edge

New Lay-out!

AME CON

Finished another series

Ventures

Exciting~!

Meanderings...

In an afterthought...

CRS and Queues

Complaining

Halloween Activities

Here's my list and some updates on my sembreak game

"The Sembreak Game"

Gossip Girl ranting again

Snippets

Begging...

The OtakonEK event

marking this date...

Temporary Lay-out

Bumming around~

Lot's and lot's of updates.

Brangelina Twins~!

HellWeek

Isang Butil ng Karunungan...

Tsismis...

Cream Puffs~

Anti-virus-ness

Bacbacan 1!

Grrr...

these are the things that...

cryptic rants for the bored

After Exam Perks

The Accounting Exam Ritual, all over again.

Techno Problems

"Wwhaaat thee hEeEelL?" - Couch Potato-ing

Bumming around~

Triomates! Check this out! XD

Movies and trips. XD

Summer Recap~

Lazy Updates~

American Idol Finale

Marking my calendar!

(For the nth time) CRS blues...

I was serious you know...

*gush gush gush!!*

Kyou Kara Maou~

Iron Man

Summer Bumming Around

Got this from multiply~

Spur of the Moment trip tp Pagsanjan!

my delayed Bacolod entry

Happy Earthday everyone!!!

What's happening?

Blogger managed to fail me again!

New Lay-out!!

Just a passing thought..

Commenting on Vigile's "any suggestion on what I can read next?" entry

Back with a Vengeance! XD

My sem has ended!

Calling the techies out there!

Guess What?

Tools of Procrastination

Taking a break to scout for internships

gush gush gush!!