Para Kay... Ewan Ko.

Para siguro sa mga taong nakakaintindi.

It's eleven at night and I just got home from Manila. Since Monday, I had set foot in my own home for such a short time that it caused suspicion from the family. I slept over at Joey's house, along with my laptop and stuff, for a purpose my parents didn't understand. Truth is, I went there for an overnight Bleach marathon; and Joey luckily had a spare bottle of red wine that we shared during that early morning. Being the bunso in my family, I had to explain in detail why I was leaving again today for the metro. I actually had no reason, so I just said I'd follow up a certain job application (which I never really did). I just felt the city calling me.

During the sleepover, I was also able to borrow Pops' copy of Ricky Lee's scriptwriting manual entitled Trip to Quiapo, the Signed Copy which she and Jay won at a raffle in Trinoma. This copy, as it turned out, would have something to do with today's Manila escapade. I borrowed it because of a secret dream that's not so secret anymore. I already started with the book but stopped; because all of a sudden I thought that if I was to take Ricky Lee's writing advice, I would have to know him first. Sure, I've watched and loved a few of his movies and saw him on TV a couple of times, but I had to know, erm, understand him. So I had to read Para Kay B.

So today: When I got to the mall I love most in Manila, the first thing I did was run to Power Books for a copy of Para Kay B. Due to force of habit, I turned left towards the free reading section of the store. I admit that sometimes I am a freeloader. Immediately, I saw five copies of Para Kay B on the shelves for in-store reading and didn't even blink as I grabbed one. I immersed myself in the book for the next four hours. The Power Books crowd had changed numerous instances by the time I finished the novel. Quoting the Boy Abunda review of the Filipino novel, "Hindi ko mabitiwan ang nobelang ito maski ihing-ihi na ako." The book put a spell on me. I felt stupid thinking that it was the only reason why the city called me, that I rode the tricycle, bus and jeepney for several miles just to read this book?! Oo, alam ko, may National Bookstore naman sa Santa Rosa.

I was still in a daze from reading when I met up with two college friends during the afternoon. The meeting was short and sweet, just catching up with the latest personal events. One of them asked me, "Why are you here again?"

I said I don't know. I made the trip just because of a gut feeling. When they left, I opted to stay in the mall because I felt the day wasn't done. I began the late afternoon searching for techie accessories but found none that I need. Suddenly, the day that had no purpose became a day of searching. I paid a visit to my alma mater, specifically to a certain laboratory. It was the lab I wanted to work in. I looked for a former classmate who worked here only to find her bench unusually clean and the only hint of her presence, a lab gown, perched on the old coat hanger. I left the building, literally circled my old campus three times,  catching glimpses of med students getting busy with books and chitchat. Some faces were familiar but most were strangers.

I knew I was looking for something but didn't know what it was. I went back to the mall and walked all four levels in an hour. Then there was this urge to search for a tea shop, which turned into a search for books on sale, then for a good Japanese restaurant, then turned into a search for the best takoyaki. When I felt discomfort in my stomach, probably PMS, I settled in a Japanese cafe, satisfied a craving for takoyaki and milk tea as I drowned myself in oddly familiar J-pop music.

Even on short notice, I ended up meeting a friend who I've had for the last 13 years. We had dinner, caught up with our lives, talked about family, life, love, career and comedy. A most refreshing conversation after such a long time. The same question popped up, "Why are you here?" I was looking for something, I answered. My friend offered to help me look for it but I said it would be better for us to spend the night over dinner. We were just there, amidst plates of Italian food... talking.

I took home leftover pizza and pasta to my family, perhaps to thank them for today's freedom.

Just so you know, I didn't find it. Whatever it is.

For Them

The recent shutdown of numerous big companies and the consequent lay-offs have been polluting the news these days. Unfortunately, I’ve seen this. We were also affected by this meltdown and I’ve watched people go in groups, with false smiles amidst pained expressions and teary eyes. I saw how the boss regretfully announced the sad news, the initial breakdown, the look of understanding on their faces and the peaceful resolution that came soon after. I’ve seen many of them strive hard for their dreams and families, only to be put away with all their hard work made to mean nothing. And as for us who were left behind, I know that no amount of sympathy from us can match the frustration and disappointment that each of them felt.

So for those who fell victim to life’s little naughty jokes. For those who are feeling like they just hit a wall. For those whose worlds crumbled down in mere seconds:

I can say this about failure: Today you can cry hard about it, but know that someday you'll laugh even harder; because by then you're stronger, smarter and better than you could ever imagine.

Good luck.

Kampai!

Late friends-only post: Should have been in 2008.

As you all know, I'm not the type of person who comes to school or work half-sloshed. Well.

On the 27th, we had our traditional holiday celebration as eight-year friends: the usual, binge eating and anime marathons. I brought cookies, bacon and green salad and we bought packets of chips and cooked the traditional carbonara. Last year, the pasta was great but the sauce was burnt. This year, the sauce was perfect but the pasta got burned. Even the cat wouldn't eat the pasta, haha! By Angela meticulously picking out the burnt pieces and me salvaging the sauce just in time, the carbonara was the best we've made so far. So next year, we SHOULD get this right! (Or else, what the heck would we have? LOL)

People in my office said the carbonara was really good, by the way. Somehow, I know next Christmas we'll finally get this.

After a few hours, the seemingly innocent soju bottles came out from the fridge. They were purchased from a hidden oriental store I found during my escapades in Manila two years ago. I introduced the store to Joey back then and that's how this imported rice wine found its way to Laguna, haha.









The motivation for the following pictures should probably be clear by now:
Obviously, we were not really drunk. If we were, I don't think anyone will be sane enough to handle a camera. Right? LOL. After three bottles, we were thinking  how we should have bought ten instead! In the end, I had 6 shots of soju minutes before I left for work. (FYI: Soju is like Korean vodka, a little stronger than sake but less intoxicating than regular vodka.) I actually stopped myself as they continued for 4 or 5 shots more. I wasn't tipsy yet, but no matter how much Astring-o-sol I gargle, I know natural body scent won't lie. As I said, I'm not the type who shows up anywhere with a scent or much worse, a hangover.

Despite being so close to just dropping dead at this boring job, I still want to keep it. I still want my money. So after one last swig, I left to take care of Life as they finished the last few shots and continued with a Bleach marathon.

Oh, Nine?

My first thought as we entered 2009: I want to have a drink, please.

Again, I spent New Year's Eve at work; a strange yet interesting way to start the year. Bosses gave away chocolates after the dreary countdown was over. People applauded and stood up to spread lousy greetings while I lazily type away in my computer. So I officially spent the last minute of 2008 and the first minute of 2009 working. Moments later, my colleagues talked about the pasta, variety of salads and leche flan (which turned out to be just delicious leche) that we were about to share for an early morning meal.

Come mealtime, we had a festive Media Noche sustained by mere initiative to bring whatever we can or had. It wasn't the worst New Year's celebration for me... because at least we were not compelled to walk a kilometer to the nearest Jolibee just to have decent pseudo-festive food, which isn't even that decent. Much better, AT LEAST we were not relatives who pretended to like each other at family reunions, or awkward friends of friends who were forced to socialize at a party. We were just people who happened to be in the same place at the same time doing the same thing. It really wasn't that bad; but I just wanted to have a drink, that's all.

I was too hard on myself for the past year, the least I could manage was finish off with a swig of liver poison. On to sober 2009 then.

Noche Buena

There are few things in the world that get my attention these days, and the holidays, don’t attract me any more than they did when I was five.

I spent Christmas eve and the first few hours of Christmas day at work. So me and my colleagues were mocking ourselves by setting a stopwatch in the computer and counting down to the official start of Christmas day. As soon as the computer clocks struck 12, people began greeting each other ‘Merry Christmas’ in a manner like strangers greet ‘Peace be with you’ in church. Applause and cheers flooded the once quiet office. Some tears were shed for those who missed their families. I was laughing through the cheekiness of it all, but I thought it was amazing: Some people actually feel it that much.

My colleagues brought food and we stuffed ourselves with pasta, doughnuts, brownies and coffee. It was refreshing to share Noche Buena with people I don’t know and who don’t know me as well. Somehow, we were not kidding ourselves.

Merry Christmas.

O Heaven Kissing Hill

That's one of the very few lines that I could remember from my old Alma Mater song (the title of which I can't even recall). What I remembered more was how I almost suffered from heat stroke by standing under the searing UV rays in the sand dunes of that school; just by waiting for the endless ritual of flag ceremony to be over.

So it's easy to understand why I've never itched to visit those sand dunes again. I believed that it was better to wait at least ten years for the full of effect of nostalgia to wash over me the next time I visit. However, I just broke the planned ten-year gap.

Here's the reason: The adopted son of my ninang is graduating from elementary in Dominican next year. He is a smart kid; so they decided to transfer him to a science high school. They got the application, but then the kid was too happy-go-lucky to have it signed to the proper authorities before the deadline and the school had some kind of reputation of delaying applications, so I was drafted by my mom to help. In short, I HAD to see someone I know and have the form signed. (Hence, the private messages on Multiply.)

So Tuesday morning. Around 9 am, the grade school kids were on recess... I came and visited the sand dunes, for the first time in four or five years. Even I never expected how I reacted.

It looks like a freakin' school! A freakin' sosyal private school. The breeze felt a little cooler, because the trees we planted have grown huge. The gym and pool area looked like a resort.

But what was more striking was how the old places looked so new... yet so old. Shet, yung paintings ni Mang Amor nung Grade 2 ako nandun pa. Yung lumang grotto buhay pa. Kahit kumpleto yung pathwalk, I almost tried to walk in the middle of the field under the blistering heat (because the field was calling out to be walked on). Yung high school classrooms: maingay, mainit, amoy pawis. Yung PE teacher namin, fit and jolly pa rin sa umaga. English policy pa rin. The temperature in the building was so alien, I swear, but it smelled familiar (yes, kahit yung amoy pawis).

After a short talk with Ms. Guiao, I headed down the same path and it took me ten minutes to reach the gate. Anak ng tokwa, I just couldn't get over those paintings by Mang Amor. Those paintings always have the same effect on me, whether I waited two or ten years to see them.

-000-000-000-

I have news for the alumni of this crunchy-infested, sandstorm campus: there's a Grand Homecoming next year in celebration of their 15th year. Celebration starts on January 30, with guests Parokya ni Edgar and MYMP. The foundation week commences with the alumni reunion, to be attended by former directresses of the school. However, all the information I have is just the result of an informal conversation so please don't take it as an official invitation or announcement. I'm just giving a heads up so everyone can prepare their post-high school selves. Haha.

Cosplay Debut

Supposedly.

Before it turned out to be the reunion of the bangag sisters.

It was sort of, a well-prepared cosplay... I'd be Kikyo from InuYasha, and sis would be Sunako Nakahara of Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge (which was pretty easy, by the way). Without the convincing bow and arrow and a decent kimono top, I was pretty much desperate to find anything that would complete the Kikyo look. I was supposed to do Gunslinger Girl Claes, but I lacked the familiar brown dress for her character. Despite coming from Makati, from work, without sleep, we had somehow convinced Angela to let me borrow her taekwondo top. So we waited for her to come home Sunday morning so I can fetch the needed attire from her home. We were almost fully equipped - cameras, clothes, accessories, etc.

And by the way, coming from work, I had no sleep as well.

Finally, she was home as sis and I walked to their house, not to mention having to tolerate stares from the SanLo people as we passed by with the semi-anime look. But because dear Angela was soooo sleepy, we ran up to her room and raided it! Lol. Which turned out to be a bad (eventually, good) idea.

The photo that started it all:

We were only trying to see who was more bangag between the two nocturnal creatures you see above. (Sumisilip sa side yung Kikyo ribbon ko. Haha.)

A series of pictures followed, which got stranger and crazier by the minute... or second, actually.

Although natuloy pa rin yung cosplay... sa loob ng kuwarto!

 

Naisip ko, ngayon lang... mukha kang server sa ramen house! LOL

Remind me, girls... why was there a show of feet? LOL

And why were we UNDEAD? (Dahil yata yun sa paa? LOL)

Natawa ako dun sa isang pic... sayang. :)

Just when we thought we were a little less abnormal... finally...

... there came the SENSELESS  fits of laughter.

Grabe. Honestly, sumakit talaga tiyan ko dito. Hehe. Si Pops, super flushed! x_x Bakit nga tayo tumatawa ulit? May reason ba? Pero tama si Tita, buti na lang we don't work in the same office! Kawawa ang colleagues natin.

And this: (whatever it is you'd call this)

OMG.

Can you imagine we actually had the stomachs for two family-size pizzas after all this? And we were actually able to sleep and wake up sane again?

Oh well. I was kinda glad I didn't cosplay anyway. There's always another Otakon next year and perhaps 50 more years after that. I bet not even the huge otaku conventions can beat our craziness. Haha!



***credits to joeynikaede.multiply.com and wikipedia for the pics

Adult High School

I suddenly had a flash of memories about how I was in high school.

 I have always been a nerd. I had an unexplainable obsession for learning. I felt comfortable with formulas, numbers, essays and experiments. I looked forward to every release date of the school paper I was once part of. I liked exam days - because I can watch TV during the later half of the day and exams were, well, easy. Then there were all those fun essay-writing contests that I could always be in just because few people wanted to participate in them. Along with the downtime we get from all those extracurriculars, it was ridiculously easy to pass the courses. The only problem I had with grades was how to get higher marks than my friend (LOL), and everyone else for that matter. (And believe me... arrogance aside, it wasn't that hard.) I was used to rubbing elbows with the teachers- be it biology, chemistry, math, or English, even with the prefect of discipline that everyone feared. I don't know how, but it comes naturally. And you know what my most dreaded event was? The annual Intramurals. It's a full week of sports and cheerdancing; and a full week of me clumsily trying please my PE teacher at a sports event I can't play properly.

So you see why I loved college. It was different. I suddenly had less hate for PE only because I get to choose what to do. In academics, passing actually became extremely difficult. I had to cry, lose sleep, faint and literally get showered with acid in the process of trying to get that marginal tres. Professors were at both sides of the spectrum - the hip, young ones vs. the terror conservatives. And there I found my fellow nerds. They were just as weird but cool in our own sense. I even had a whole family in there (hello guys! *waves*). The whole four and something years squeezed the most blood, tears and sweat out of me but it's something
I'd do again in another lifetime (Asus... haha). Come to think of it, laziness set in a lot but I wouldn't have endured traveling several miles everyday if I didn't somehow like going to school diba?

Then there's life after college. It's that fork in the road covered by blinding fog and littered with sharp rocks. I hoped it was going to be like university life (considering that I came from the university that best captured The Real World). But then just now, I discovered, this is Adult High School. Beautiful people are still the head-turners, orange hair and black nails still look evil,  who dumped who and who hooked up with who still matters, gossip is still the lunchtime appetizer and us nerds, are still, the unusual nerds. I know there's a world out there that's better than this. But just like school, I guess I have to get through all this high school-ness all over again before I can graduate to that other world.

I can't help but start this wave of nostalgia. Haha.


So... do you still remember what high school's like?

Do you still remember what YOU were like back then?

Dimsum, Noodles and a Jacket

Then it was pizza and roses. Now it's Chinese food and a jacket.

Somehow I ended up choosing the most congested and inconvenient of all days in Quiapo, a Friday. People flocked to the church and the surrounding plaza for the weekly mass; adding to the already disordered Carriedo markerplace. But then my desperation due to recent incidents led me to endure standing for an hour in the plaza watching the priest from the projector screen. A drizzle followed after the mass which I thought was some kind of blessing (or so I hoped).

Anyway I was so hungry after that; but my onee-chan took me out for a lunch treat. Yay! Siomai and Noodles! And the best part was that it was free. JOKE. Hehe.

Then the next stop was the SM Clearance Outlet nearby, which was kind of frustrating 'cause I intend not to buy anything for a while due to budget constraints. But I learned that even a person as frugal, ehem... as kuripot as me, just won't be able to resist some things.

Guess what, I got this super cool jacket for 200 pesos!


Thank you, onee-chan!

Taga UP

Got these from Verna. Thanks!

[ ] worried about getting bullied by fratmen or getting killed in a riot
[] got bullied by fratmen
[] witnessed a riot
[X] watched the Oblation Run (Maliit lang ang AS, makikita't makikita mo talaga sila. Lol)
[X] made friends with a teacher (Slight. Di kasi ako ma-PR.)
[] was tricked as a freshman into attending a rally / prayer meeting
[X] wore red or black on one of those wear red or wear black days (Once as a freshie and never again.)
[X] wore red on Valentine’s Day (Probably did it unconsciously.)
[X] wore black on Valentine's Day (Probably did it unconsciously as well.)
[X] celebrated a birthday at Robinson's Place, Ermita (We celebrate everything at Rob Manila! Why not? Haha.)
[] learned UP Naming Mahal
[] got on the dean's list as CS or US
[X] slept on a bench (Matigas ang bench. So sa couch ng RR.)
[] was an RA (registration assistant) or SA
[] lied or begged to an RA for a slot in class
[X] participated in a there's-only-one-more-slot-are you-feeling-lucky? (Sa subject. Solo flight na Biochem. At least it's over, kahit maraming weird memories.)
[X] jogged around the university oval (PE Walking finals! Sa Sunken Garden.)
[X] visited the Paco Park (Nadaanan. I suddenly remember the LTS days. Pandacan days.)
[] knew at least 1 xerox lady, manong, or technician by name
[] attended university level graduation (Masyadong bitter para umattend ng grad. haha.)
[] got an activist for a teacher
[] watched a La Salle vs. Ateneo UAAP game live
[] watched a UP vs. any school basketball game live
[X] studied at the caft (Yeah, freshie days nung nahihiya pa sa RR. Haha. We used to disinfect several tables with ROH bago maupo ang buong block. Lol.)
[X] studied in Robinson's food court. (Definitely. Freshie days din, nung di pa ko sawa sa pagkaing food court at amoy ng salisbury steak. Hehe.)
[X] studied along Taft (I guess studying inside a jeep caught in traffic along Taft counts.)
[X] bought food from the OUR (Of course, it's so much cheaper than sa AS caf. Spam+rice+ketchup = pag walang pera. Plus masarap pa ang food dun. Pag bored na sa class ni Sir Billy, dun din ang takbuhan aside from Rob.)
[X] watch a play that's required (What I watched wasn't a play kasi. It was a movie. About gay women. Memories. Lol.)
[X] went stargazing (Curfew is at 9PM. The closest I got to stargazing was looking above rfom the balcony of GAB 4th floor to look for rainclouds. Lol. Plus the overnight "makahiya" adventure.)
[] slept in the lib (Well, I'm a rare visitor.)
[] struck up a conversation with a taong grasa
[] wrote to / for the collegian
[] went to the chapel
[X] cut class with your block to watch a movie (Movie or no movie. No one attends class. Period.) --- Uy, Physics 73 days! Sorry talaga, Doc. Haha.
[] had a voltes V for a teacher
[] lied to the transcript lady to get a transcript earlier than the standard 3 months
[] went to a freshman-only concert where you had to show your form 5 to prove freshmanhood
[X] subsisted on just streetfood (Well, di naman streetfood ang Smokey's footlong. Pero it comes close.)
[] learned how to smoke
[X] went on an out-of-town trip with blockmates or orgmates (Field trip. As if namang may natuloy na batch outing. Haha.)
[] fell in love
[] actually read the book you keep borrowing from the lib (Never borrowed. Sorry.)
[X] played cards during your free time (Mostly watched people play cards. I crossed this din dahil sa unforgettable RR memories. Nahuli kasi, hehe.)
[X] dress in business attire (Happens only during thesis defense and Comm 3. We're very casual people. We like tees, slippers, and... lab gowns. Lol.)
[] got sung to or sung to someone in class during Valentine's day
[X] watched the lantern parade (It was required for PE 1. We didn't have a choice.)
[X] helped out a total stranger (Mostly people asking directions.)
[] helped out a total stranger because he/she was hot
[X] learned to stay awake for more than 24 or 48 hours straight
[] got bullied by fratmen and feeling cool wannabe people
[] took Wednesday and/or Sat classes WILLINGLY
[X] volunteered for the pahinungod (Too bad we've become inactive. Mahirap sabay ang Pahinungod at Biochem. Sayang, naka-attend pa naman na kami ni Faye ng ilang seminars.)
[X] ate "tasteless white sauce" pasta
[] got a boyfriend/girlfriend
[X] took time to read the vandalism in the CR (If only words could kill... I bet nag-evaporate na ang DPSM due to mere CR vandalism. Hehe.)
[X] watched a sexy art film for any GE class (The lesbo movie. Is it sexy? Ewan. It's probably R-18.)
[] got held up or pickpocketed
[X] felt depressed because you were not as good academically as you were in high school (I guess everyone sa Biochem feels this at one point. Like, "Bakit dati ang dali lang ng Chem?" Lol.)
[X] did a last minute paper (Always.)
[X] had spent a lot for 1x1 ID pictures (I thought na mag- 120 pcs recopy na lang kasi sa Alva. ?Bente lang. Haha. Pero ano naman kasing gagawin ko sa sandamakmak na kopya ng face ko?)
[X] got exempted from final exams (Mostly sa GE or sa Bio. I still can't forget that Chem 14 incident. Haha. Si "Sir" kasi. For those of you who know.)
[] got exempted from a final exam but still took it
[X] watched any variety show (Syempre DPSM Week!)
[] promised to quit smoking
[] got into at least one (org- or council-sponsored) adventure race
[X] knew where the best restrooms are on campus (Thesis room-adjacent CRs are most convenient. College of Med washrooms are sosyal. Pharm CRs are cute.)
[X] joined an org (BCS, syempre.)
[X] allowed yourself to make mistakes
[X] took summer classes (Do I have a choice?! Do we ever take summer breaks? No. Once and for all, LET ME SAY THIS. Nag-susummer class kami hindi dahil bagsakin kami. Di dahil adik kami at gusto maka-advance. Di dahil malakas ang trip namin. It's just that, we don't have a choice. We have four years to finish something that could normally take five. Okay?)
[X] admired the oblation (I was able able to make a whole Comm 1 paper solely based on the outstretched arms of the Oble. I admire how much I actually got to write about that little thing.)
[X] made a video for a project (We are masters. At last.)
[] had a crush on a teacher
[] had a teacher who had a crush on / tried to court you
[] faked sickness to get an absence excused
[] took a PE class where you had to pay for tuition (i.e. sportsclimbing, ten pin bowling, etc)
[X] went to school in your crappiest yet most comfy clothes
[] learned how to use the Bayantel pay phones
[X] participated in school activities
[] dated someone from UP
[X] rode an IKOT and TOKI.
[X] found a tambayan (And then sort of lost it. I miss RR. Although my lab space is my tambayan now.)
[X] learned how to beg for a higher grade (Replace that: Learned how to beg for a special exam. My own stupidity got me kasi. Anyways, I wasn't able to take a special exam pero I got a 4. At least.)
[X] used your 6 allowable absences wisely (I tried not to exceed. Lalo na sa GE where they have attendance checks. Sa SS2, exams lang ako nakita ng prof. Sa Bio10, halos ganun din. And many other courses. But 20 absences is the norm sa amin. Joke. Half-meant.)
[] lived in a dorm
[] volunteered to be the blockhead or go-to guy for your group / class
[X] had the worst schedule. (7am to 7pm. No breaks. Uwian sa Laguna. Kumusta naman yun?)
[X] not used up all 6 allowable absences (Sa PI. And the prof still hated me for some reason.)
[X] was active in your org (Active tumambay? Yes!)
[] attended an ACLE
[X] learned how to cram. (Always.)
[] sold tickets for (or watch) an org-sponsored movie premiere
[X] saved money to Xerox all of your seatmate's notes
[X] slept in class
[X] finished a homework / assignment / paper at ALVA (Of course. May bonus ka pang virus after! Haha.)
[] had mountains of unused sample exams and/or old testaments
[X] resolved to be "better this semester" (I guess we all do.)
[X] slept during a test (Sa Genetics Lab. Kasi naman may 2-minute break pa sa isang station.)
[X] had groupmates from hell (ie no-shows, babblers, dependents, airheads, dreamers, idea stealers, plagiarists) - Haha! HE who must not be named. Peace.
[X] learned how to work with groupmates from hell
[X] had a bad encounter with one of the guards on campus (Pero friends na kami ngayon. Well, kilala kami ng guards of all shifts and all days. Even yung Sunday guard, and yung sa gabi at madaling araw. Lol.)
[] developed a love for siomai rice
[X] reserved a classroom, AVR, etc. for a class or org function (LRC days.)
[] attended UP Fair. (Nakakahiya naman, di pa ko nakapunta ng kahit anung UP Fair activity.)
[X] went to a library other than your own college's to research (National Library! The lengthy walks to Kalaw and all that.)
[X] lost a perfectly functioning umbrella. (Nung freshie pa.)
[X] used consultation hours properly (Oo naman. Masasabon ako ng adviser ko kung hindi. Kahit pa nagtatago rin ako.)
[] went to the Guidance Office for real, heart-to-heart guidance
[] attend class with a hangover or tipsy
[] drink beer or alcohol while inside UP grounds
[X] maxed out on the 6 allowed unexcused absences but DID NOT drop (20 absences nga eh. Haha.)
[] got invited or pursued by a sorority or fraternity
[X] wore slippers to school

This was fun, may questions na for UPM talaga. Hehe.

Pizza and Pink Roses

=D.

I hated surprises. I still do. But I guess there's an exception... not if it involves Italian food and roses. Hehe.
I'm running out of things to say. Just...

Thank you all.

Thanks Kenet for asking them to come and for suggesting Sbarro kahit wala naman kaming choice (Joke! Ikaw lang naman kasi ang mahilig talaga sa Sbarro.); Kel and Hernie for bringing the flowers (tsk, guy na may dalang pink? Haha.) and coming back kahit gabi na, Mikki for coming even though you had an exam, Faye and Daal for being there, Kay for the chat the night before and for coming din, and Raymond for texting that he can't make it. (Tampo. xD Hehe.)

I loved the pink roses. <3 They matched my shirt... hehe.
 
When I get my actual schedule, let's have another one, okay?

If I wanted to die, I couldn't have found a better way.

I'm working with fecal E. coli and three strong concentrated acids namely nitric, hydrochloric, and perchloric acids. Like I said... If I wanted to die, I couldn't have found a better way.

My rats haven't eaten in two days. I hope they're still alive and zinc-supplemented enough 'cause otherwise I'm dead, even dead-er than being exposed to hazardous acids. No one warned me it was gonna be like this though. But I'm alright. I'm not commenting any further.

So I'm blogging but got nothing to write about except senseless babbles. I just miss writing. I think it's been more than a month since I wrote something out of random creative juices. For EiC, it's sad that I've got a lot of notes and drafts that haven't been given attention yet. I still can't believe it's been seven years. Seven years. Of loss, realizations, awakenings, reconciliation, ideas and daydreams. Seven years of writing and drawing. It seems we're never going to get tired of it anyway.

So I guess I'm not dying soon. I'm wearing double masks, nitrile gloves, a lab gown and closed shoes; and working cautiously in a fume hood with a functioning exhaust. Just maybe if I survive this, after seven more years EiC might be a masterpiece.

Forgive me, I'm being overdramatic again. :)