mass photo update

van's birthday was last monday but because of the national holiday (SONA), she celebrated it by treating us yesterday and today again for lunch. wow. HAHA!!!

peeekchurs!

am i stupid or what? i keep forgetting that it's just thursday today. NOT FRIdAY.

did you watch yesterday's episode of CSI which Quintin Tarantino guest directed? it rocked! ;)

@ Yellow Cab (will upload more at my multiply account. these will do for now!) oh, van had a special guest!!!! SCURRY!!!! or was it SNIFF? HAHA! no kidding! there was a little mouse at Yellow Cab under the table where we sat! Pie screamed her lungs out. Mitchie too!! it was van's special guest. HAHAHA!

the Samahan ng mga Patay Gutom. HAHAHAHA!!!! (notice that on the left side, we're all single! HAHA! on the right side... COUPLES!!!!)


birthday girl with cake care of Tal and I!


apple and i.


tal, pie, jules, and myself.


apple, van, pao, ave, and mitchie.


tal, me, & apple.

at Go Nuts yesterday with PG & our Bedan friends after school...

phew. that was a lot. HAHA!

i have risen from the dead

yey! finally! i get to update!

hello, folks. i've been busy. acutally, i'm still busy right now but i'm squeezing an entry before i get back to that paper.

it's funny how months before i COULDN'T not find time to blog. but now that i've been gone for a long time (yes, i don't even surf or blog hop like i usually do when i'm not blogging), i sort of got used to the idea of internet deprivation. even the emails of my professor are still unopened. i must update myself with the readers before i get myself into trouble. so now i'm typing and racking my brain at the same time for significant things to say because this might be my only chance to blog after another long (sort of) hiatus.

while i was gone...

1. i read a book that changed my life. it was sort of a reading assignment for five volunteers in Prof Karg's class. i was one of them and i'm glad i volunteered because we were required to advance read a book (a very light read but its contents had a HEAVY impact on ME). the book is called Who Moved My Cheese? by Dr. Spencer Johnson. unlike other psychology/self-help books i've read, this book isn't preachy nor does it force its philosophy on the reader. it presents the different sides of the situation and you take your pick which way you want to go. the author introduced the "cheese story" in such an interesting unboring way by telling a story that anyone could read. that's why i said it's a "light read".

so, move over, Tuesdays With Morrie. Who Moved My Cheese just snagged the #1 spot on Gail's Favorite Books of All Time list. HEHE.

2. had a bonding session with my close friends over tequila. of course this was highly legal. i had to ask permission! they slept over here at my place. over lemon, salt, and tequila... we bonded-- something we haven't done for a long time... just talking for a long time and by the time alcohol started to kick in, we started getting senti but not like before when apple and i cried. she cried over someone at work (for practicum) and i cried over a dog with no name. it just broke my heart because the dog has no name, for crying out loud!! around 2am, i was already tipsy and i was so sleepy that i couldn't open my eyes anymore. the bowl of popcorn i popped into the microwave was already polished, the lemon wedges were already sucked, salt was already licked, and girls were already buzzed. no wait. that was just me. HAHAHA! when our voices were starting to get loud after laughing so hard, my mother texted me and said we should get sleep already.

i'm so thankful for girl friends and detoxifying bonding sessions on weekends when we're busy. it's like taking a load off my shoulders or recharging my batteries before plunging into work and stress once again.

i believe that we all should learn to kick back and relax. as long as it's not too much FUN and RELAXING and you get to balance work and play... you'll not get burnt out amidst the topsy turvey world called "school".

the following morning i woke up with a very ba hangover. tsk. tsk.

3. i cut my hair after a year. it's not that i'm scared of scissors. HAHA. i just grew fond of just tying my hair into a ponytail to get hair off my face and with the heat in Metro Manila, it's icky to let your hair down. now it's shorter (erm, still long but shorter by half an inch), it's easier to let my hair down.

4. i (finally) lost weight. my friends and people from school keep telling me that i've lost weight. YESSS!!!! that's very good news!!!! my jeans are looser than they were before! while a new-found friend said i don't need to lose weight, i still feel the need to to train myself to eat healthy. that's exactly what i've been doing. i haven't stepped into a fastfood joint for a long time and if i do, i don't eat rice or just eat food in small portions until i'm full. i don't eat snacks anymore (except for crackers and fruit) and at home i eat a small serving of rice. this has been going on for just around 12 days and i actually feel healthier. wow. is this psychological? HAHA! nevertheless, i still feel happy! YEY! i'm losing weight! i'm going back to badminton soon too... double yey :)

5. seeing someone. HAHA! no explanations needed. i'm not used to sharing that part of my life through blogging :P but we're friends, i swear! HAHAHA!!!

6. got dragged by my parents (mostly by my father) on road trips. if there's one person to blame for my wanderlust, it's my father! i swear, he likes to drive a lot!!! he has always been like this! two weekends ago we went to Antipolo to visit a church there and just go driving then to Market Market. the past weekend we went to the South to visit friends (one in Las Pinas and the other in Paranaque). this coming weekend we're going to Tagaytay on Saturday and Los Banos in Laguna on Sunday. yikes. i don't know if i'll go though (although i BADLY want to) because i have an exam in Prof Mateo's class and a 20 page seminar paper to research on and then write. yikes.

so yeahhh. HAHA. those are just a few of the things i've been up to. no need to elaborate too much on what has been going on in my world. life is busy. life is good. life is life. it's not always good but at least i'm still alive.

now back to that paper...

you're mine

WOWWWWW!!! remember my super cool uncle slash godfather who introduced me to Harry Potter by giving me the whole set (inlcluding his own books) for my 16th birthday? (refer to previous post). he did it again!!! he came over today an handed me this!!! he went through all that trouble of reserving a copy. WOWWWW!!!!

still busy with school. no social life heeh. that can wait until it's safe to get into the scene again. for now.. i'm very enthusiastic to work on my papers minus time pressure. still juggling a lot of things but will hopefully live.

will write more when i have more time.

bye!

J.K. Rowling might be evil

so the much awaited 6th installment of Harry Potter came out today: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. but no, i didn't reserve for a copy although i am absolutely crazy about Harry Potter. i haven't finished The Order of Phoenix yet because i have no time to read for fun. not with the workload i have especially for this coming two weeks (exams, paper deadlines, etc.).

i thought Harry Potter was a silly book in high school. i'd laugh at the concept of witches and wizards. the magical world, in general, was too childish for me. or so i thought. on my 16th birthday, my uncle (who's also my godfather) handed me books 1-4! books 1 and two were his and he wanted me to have them because he claimed that it deserved to be given a chance. so i started reading right away. guess what? i absolutely loved the book. there was something about Rowling's narration and imagination that appealed to me considering how there's more a child in me than an adult. in senior year, the first movie came out and because i did not want to be disappointed, i was hesitant at first. but my equally geek/Harry Potter fanatics school friends planned on watching the movie so the next saturday, we were all inside Ina's van on our way to Powerplant Mall.

Rowling has created an unbelievably huge group of fans around the globe because of the world she painted with her imagination and her brilliant writing. my sister's friend said that Rowling must be on something to have her imagination work wonders like that. i agree! HAHA! pick any book that's inches thick with hundreds and hundreds of pages. let a child read it. if it's not Harry Potter, they won't even touch the book. but if it's Harry Potter, a child will enthusiastically reach out for the book and devour every single page like a hungry lion feasting on flesh.

Harry Potter may be overrated but i still think it rocks. J.K. Rowling is a genius. other than that, she might be EVIL like what conspiracy theorists say. "it's anti-Christ!" they said.

whatever it is... i got hooked and i don't think there's a remedy for this sickness.

i think i might be Hermione Granger for my creative shot for graduation pictorial next monday. MUWAHAHAHA!

____________

changes (the first installment)

yesterday was a blast although i was at school from 7am until a little past 9pm. i was exhausted by the time i got home.

classes supposedly finished at 10am but van, tal, and i wanted to watch the Indayog (UPM's dance varsity) auditions in which apple was one of the panel judges (AHEM!) HAHAHA! then we'd go to the Little Theater to try and sneak in to watch Handog sa Freshmen (this activity for freshmen organized by the Freshman Block Coordinators). but to no avail. we we're seniors for crying out loud! HAHAHA! but we finally got in because of our "networks" or "connections" (both coined by van's brilliant mind). we met friends from YFC (Youth for Christ) and when we told them that we're going to join this week they were ecstatic! then they started introducing us to other YFC members and they all were happy for us. this guy even shook our hands and the others talked to us like we're officially membrs already :) i LOVE the crowd! at the backstage, i sang with the YFC members who performed on stage. the other members asked how i knew the song. they said i even know the lyrics more than they do. they sang "Testify to Love", the song by Avalon (Winona Judd has did a cover too) which i absolutely fell in love with since i sang it with the youth group at the church i attended in Abu Dhabi.

it was Youth Camp when i got introduced to the song. the American couple who facilitated the 3-day retreat sang the song during a praise and worship session and i just got naturally high that it was almost unnatural to be as happy as i was inside that hall. i'll never forget the Youth Camp because it was the BEST three days ever. it's like all the pressure and stress that was inside of me were all of a sudden banished from my system.

Testify to Love
Avalon

All the colors of the rainbow
All the voices of the wind
Every dream that reaches out
That reaches out to find where love begins
Every word of every story
Every star in every sky
Every corner of creation lives to testify

(Chorus:)
For as long as I shall live
I will testify to love
I'll be a witness in the silences when words are not enough
With every breath I take
I will give thanks to God above
For as long as I shall live
I will testify to love

From the mountains to the valleys
From the rivers to the sea
Every hand that reaches out
Every hand that reaches out to offer peace
Every simple act of mercy
Every step to kingdom come
All the hope in every heart will speak what love has
done

UPM's theater group Tanghalang Batingaw also performed an excerpt of a play called "Homeward Bound". they danced Joyful Joyful from the Sister Act movie soundtrack. it was a very lively number! i loved the dance! HAHA! everyone was animated. so i downloaded the song :)

there's a youth camp in august. i can't wait :) van and i are going to attend the meeting on friday after school. i hope THIS TIME I REALLY GET TO JOIN.

but knowing me... once i get to join and become attached to YFC people, it will be hard to let go once i'm done with school. i have separation anxiety and i'm not really good with adapting to new changes.

yesterday while watching the program supposedly for freshmen, we saw the various orgs at UPM. then i thought, "shit. i want to join all of them!". i feel like time's running out. that soon i'll be leaving this institution (assuming that i DO GRADUATE ON TIME). therefore, i want to make the most of the months i have and i think van feels the same way because she also wants to join different orgs. apple wants to join the UP Skindivers (skindiving-- it's like snorkeling and scuba diving combined). they have various beach trips and diving trips so i want to do that considering how much of a nature person i am. but our problem is TIME. yes. senior year is all about paperwork and time management. so in a way, even if we don't directly say it... we're all feeling the same way-- we're trying to do a lot of things hoping that one day when we look back, we won't say the words "I should have...". soon we will have to part ways taking new roads to whatever our destiny is. van is going to law school in Davao. wahh :( so that's another change. soon we won't be eating our lunches together laughing or crying over life and dealing with each other's eccentricities.

speaking of adapting to changes... a blog entry on this topic will follow. i had an epiphany of some sort after reading a book but i can't elaborate as of the moment.

watch out for it! (AHAHA! as if!)

okay bye. i have school work. yes. on a saturday night.

like chezka said upon running through things to do for next week...

"there goes my weekend!"

don't sweat the small stuff

listening to: cocomo - beach boys
feeling: extremely hyper and blessed

i love this song! makes me think of the beach-- sun, sand, and sea!

i just got home from whole day of classes (until past 6pm!) and dinner with my family. i had a bad night last night because my father and i had a disagreement which made me cry myself to sleep. but we're okay now!!! i'm a daddy's girl and i don't think he'd stand being mad at me for 24 hours anyhow :) imagine? last night was our first fight ever! but we're okay and it started from a minor thing! but we've both forgiven each other now HAHA! he picked me up from school then we met up with my mother, my sister, and kuya john at the mall.

i bought a new book!

anyway...

there is no day in my life when i don't stop and say thank you to GOD for blessing me with a great family. of course, for watching over me too, and for giving me a life worth living -- one that is anything but perfect but i still feel that i'm the luckiest person on earth. life is ironic by slapping you with harsh realities but then it throws back realizations your way showing that it isn't bad afterall if you only look at the brighter side of things. and always... you will find a light at the end of the tunnel no matter how you cringe at the those words because it has become a cliche. i truely believe that happiness is not a privilege. it's a choice.

it's either we're proactive or reactive.

today at Prof Karganilla's class, he mentioned the book 7 habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. i bought the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens version of the book when I was in high school and i remember it immensely helping me get through my angst-ridden phase. but i vividly remember the concept of being either PROACTIVE or REACTIVE. what is this concept about?

Covey's example on the concept of being PROACTIVE and REACTIVE is simple. as a teenager, we have a lot of worries and insecurities that we don't have to sweat too much but we still do anyway.

example # 1: you fail to accomplish a certain task or you don't get to reach your goal. instead of moping about it and hating the world for conspiring against you, you can stop being REACTIVE by looking at the other side-- failing doesn't imply that you're a loser. it's just life's way of challenging you to strive harder or work your way up one step at a time. by thinking like this, you are being PROACTIVE because you take a challenge positively. you turn a bad thing to a good thing and sometimes it will surprise you because you'd actually learn things from being PROACTIVE!

example #2: a break-up. instead of crying over spilled milk and the shattered pieces (REACTIVE), you can be PROACTIVE about it by thinking that some people are just not meant to be and that some people are meant to just stay a while in your life to teach you lessons you wouldn't have learned otherwise.

so Covey's REACTIVE and PROACTIVE concept is like saying that you either choose to be an OPTIMIST or a PESSIMIST.

in Don't Sweat the Small Stuff for Teenagers (Richard Carlson Ph. D.), the author mentioned that people often ridicule optimists because they think that they are mere illusionists. these pessimists don't like labeling themselves so because they think they are "realists". when you think about it, you'd think they're making sense. but then again, HAPPINESS or rather... OPTIMISM is a choice. it's either you go with the flow and turn your back against the world for conspiring against you to make your life miserable or you choose to take the other road and not sweat the small stuff.

oh, i just want to share this:

"life is no straight and easy corridor along which we travel free and unhampered, but a maze of passages, through which we must seek our way, lost and confused, now and again checked in a blind alley.

but always, if we have faith, a door will open for us, not perhaps one that we ourselves would ever have thought of, but one that will ultimately prove good for us." A.J. Cronin

come to think of it... i haven't finished 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. i should go back to it once i'm done reading stuff for school and Harry Potter: The Order of Phoenix. HAHAHA!!!

i'm off to work on that Powerpoint Presentation for the org -- OrgASM(Organization of Area Studies Majors). why the name? don't ask!

_________

kamusta ka na, Pilipinas? okei ka pa ba? nahihiya ako sa 'yo. sabi nga sa paborito kong patriotic na kanta...

pag laya mo'y babantayan, Pilipinas kong hirang.

pero hanggang ngayon di ka pa rin malaya at patuloy pa rin nagkakagulo ang mga Pilipino. sana makaraos ka na sa kaguluhan na 'to...

random thoughts. brain not functioning properly.

i ripped a couple of my old cds consisting of songs that i used to listen to. i then transferred them to the ipod. after a few minutes of listening to the songs... i don't know HOW I WAS ABLE TO LISTEN TO SLOW SONGS, the way senti kind!! no point in getting all senti especially on a rainy afternoon like what we had a while ago. i swear, i was getting senti. i lay there on my bed under the covers with eyes closed. slow jams streamed from the earphones and if i did not catch myself earlier than i did, i would've wallowed in self-pity and just pure sentimentality. so up i stood and listened to the usual music i listen to-- pop rock, alternative, noise.. whatever you call it. it suits me better.

i forgot to tell that i finally saw the Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire trailer when i watched Fantastic Four. WOW! i was salivating over it but the trailer was just a teaser. too short! SHOW ME MORE!!! i love Harry Potter! if you saw the trailer ages ago, please ignore my enthusiasm or this whole post in general :) i'm just excited :) plus... the next installment of the book is coming out too! *dances around* i'm currently reading Book 5: The Order of Phoenix but blame school for my lack of free time to read. BLAHHH.

of my turtlelike PC (in pace) and of field work

argh! stupid PC won't recognize my cellphone as a disk when it's connected even if i've installed the PC Suite already. arghh! plus, i tried burning folders and folders of pictures from the digicam to free space in the hard drive but the cd i inserted was already full. so now i'm lazy to try again. maybe later or tomorrow.

lately i have been putting my Sun Cellular sim into good use. when i first go the sim i didn't want to give the number away except for a select number of good school friends. i'm not really the call-me-lets-talk kind of person. or actually, it depends on who i'm talking to. nor am i a texting person but lately when i'm bored, i seem to be really entertained by texting people. HAHA. call me pathetic, i don't care. my sister called me "the worst person to text". i can't debate with her on this because i actually am! at home, my cellphone is completely ignored. like i can leave it in one place and go back to it at the end of the day. by then, guess what? i get 5 messages or more which is why it is mortifying whenever someone texts and i don't get to reply. i, myself, hate it when people are hard to contact. i.e. when you're really expecting for a reply and they don't until hours later. but sadly, i have turned into THAT kind of person. or sometimes i'm exchanging text messages with someone and then i get caught up doing something and COMPLETELY FORGET that i was texting someone. i know, it's rude! but it's a bad habit i must do away with. so yeah, if you're one of those people who i forget to text or reply really late... I AM TERRIBLY SORRY! i am slowly getting the hang of bringing my cellphone everywhere and paying more attention to it.

Ina asked me once, "what do you reach out for first thing in the morning when you wake up: the ipod or your cellphone?" without a doubt, that would be the ipod! HAHA! seriously. also, there was this one time when i was on the way to meet up with her. i already sent several text messages already and she still wasn't replying. then i texted, "itapon mo na celphone mo!!! it's not serving it's purpose!" (throw your cellphone away!) HAHA!!! then she replied right away. then i forgot to text back. she went, "hoy! itapon mo na celphone mo!" (throw your celphone away) HAHAHA! okay that was stupid.

____________

i'm going back to Pasig City Hall tomorrow probably after lunch. Pasig City Hall is sooooo far! my idea of Pasig City was just the Ortigas Center area so i figured going there weekly would be no biggie. i got the surprise of my life on my first visit. it was SOOOOOOOO FAR! when i got to the town proper, i felt like i stepped back into time. the town's center is so Spanish in structure! the plaza, an old church, the city hall, and the feel of OLD TOWN. but it was interesting. my grueling task to search for information was not interesting at all considering that i was pointed to this and that direction which got me dizzy. but the City Assesor was really nice. he gave me two thick books giving me all the basic information i need and a photocopy of the City Charter free of charge :) yeyness!

i'm conducting a research on Pasig City Hall with focus on the Local Government and other information connected to the governance of the city. this is for our Urban Issues class for Prof Karganilla. it's going to be a major paper at the end of the sem. one of our many papers... that is. lucky ducks Van and Apple got Manila City Hall which is just a jeep ride away from school!!!! Chezka and Pie too because they got Quezon City Hall. arghhh. i could've gotten that! but noooo. i was absent on the first meeting!!! serves my lazy ass right. but then again, i already started with Pasig City and i'm already into it. i love field work minus the hassle but i'm glad it's still interesting, nevertheless. i just hope people won't be rude or unhelpful when i go back tomorrow.

anyway... i'll leave you with a peekchur of my girl friends and i during our 3 hour break. this is us at Brownies :) if you want cheap mocha that's really good... GO TO BROWNIES!! :)

apple, van, me, and tal

p.s. i'm still trying to ignore the fact that i missed the Neil Gaiman book signing this weekend. :'( no, no, no, i will not be depressed over it.

groans

yeah. right.

Fantastic Four rocks

so the Subic trip didn't push through because my mother cannot stress her legs out because her veins there are clogged. at least the right leg.

yesterday was much fun. Fantastic Four rocked! WOOHOO! after that, i went out with some people (including my sister) to Timog to hang out. right before midnight i texted Ina. she urged me to drop by her place since a couple of her friends are dropping by to see her off in the morning. so i agreed after pursuading my parents that someone was going to bring me home. i made a complete fool out of myself looking wide-eyed and puzzled while searching for Ina at Starbucks West Ave. there are two, for your information. so when Ina said, "dun sa first Starbucks." i figured it was the one beside Saisaki/Kamayan restaurant. but they were at the other Starbucks!!! sheesh. but it was okay. they picked me up and off we went to Ina's place. we just hanged out. it was awkward at first because i didn't know anyone except Catan. i stayed until a little past 2am because my sister stayed up until i came home. Ina left this morning. i'm going to miss her!

i slept until 9am this morning even if i still wanted to sleep. my body clock adjusts that fast that i can no longer sleep until noon even if i badly want to.

i'm cutting out on caffeine. imagine? i hope i survive!!!

saturday

i am having thesis proposal troubles. argh. you see, we don't have exams for my SocSci Res 192 (Thesis Proposal) class but we're required to keep a blog with our thesis proposal ideas there. this way, the professor will able to monitor the progress of our grueling quest for thesis propsal topics. in my case... i don't know! argh. i must make time to actually focus on writing something decent related to thesis proposals. thesis gives me the shivers. and another paper for this class. actually, it's a "baby thesis", not an essay anymore judging from the requirements he's giving us. shit.

so anyway, i should know better than to go online again after being lectured by my father this morning on radiation from computers and my health regarding my being in front of this machine. phew. that was a long sentence. but seriously. he was pretty angry already and i had to change the topic. i've been getting migraine attacks more often than before and yesterday was a killer. it felt like someone was drilling a hole on my left temple. it was that bad. so i had to take excedrin when advil didn't work. excedrin worked wonders, as usual and i didn't get dizzy like used to.

i watched the music video of Luther Vandross's Dance with My Father, the tribute video for him after he died last week. poor guy. he was so young. but yeah, i had to cry while watching it because it made me really sad. death makes me sad even if it's a stranger.

my family and i are going to Subic tomorrow because my father wants to go on a road trip. talk about spontaneous. i think i got my wanderlust from him. he likes road trips. we might bring Amidala with us! i talked my father into it and promised to take care of Amidala in the car so that she won't poo or pee :) HEHE. i'll bring her little doggie bed with us so she could sleep there.

well, i need to go now. HAHA. before my father catches me.

i believe in GOOD

i believe in good because GOD is good :)

i woke up with a backache. AGAIN. the sleeping in fetal position must stop. i thought i wasn't going to be able to wake up and stand up straight this morning because it hurt so much. but i had to drag my lazy self for my 8.30 am class. in hopes of getting to class on time, i took the cab when i couldn't hail an FX on the way to school. only, i took a cab halfway to save money (yeah right. like i saved taking a cab halfway!). so anyway, my point of telling this story is that i picked up a wallet that somebody left at the backseat of the cab. i was hesitant at first. to pick it up or not to pick it up? then i remembered the time when i dropped my wallet in a cab losing 4000 pesos that i had saved for months in hopes of going on a shopping spree before freshman year of college started. so i know how it feels to lose a wallet along with your important ids and all. i took the wallet and checked phone numbers which i could use to call the owner. the wallet is really tattered and torn. no kidding. plus, there isn't money inside. just two 5 peso bills that they stopped making already and a 1000 Indonesian currency note. it's still inside my bag. i'm still debating whether to give it back personally to the owner after calling the number or like Bea had suggested... just have it snail mailed to be safe. my professor pointed out that the wallet must have already been stolen then the thief took the money (which is why it's empty) and left the wallet in the cab. it does make sense doesn't it? so now i'm scared! what if this guy will think that i was the one who stole the wallet? sheesh.

in Professor Mateo's class, she started by asking us about what are stand is regarding the wiretapping scandal and the president's situation. i'm sure you have ideas about the Philippine's present political situation. everything has gone haywire, if you'd ask me. i pity the Philippines. once again, we're attempting to oust a president. and then what? who will become the next president? the whole system is corrupt itself. don't you see how history is repeating itself over and over again? and that this people power is a cycle? it worked twice. people are attempting to try it again to oust yet another president.

when professor mateo asked the puzzling question: SO WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE SOLUTION?

we all had different answers but the most interesting of all is TO WIPE OUT THE OLDER GENERATION. HAHA. yes! like The Great Flood or maybe mass killing of twenty-somethings and above to clean the system and maybe start anew. then again, this is UNdoable, of course. the idea may be impossible but it's the closest to the perfect solution. the majority of political figures will be corrupt eventually because politics is a MUD BATH. you enter it clean with no intentions but to serve your countrymen and then what? you see how easy money is. you become a megalomaniac. you start aspiring for bigger and bigger things. so the system will be corrupt again.

it's really sad. i don't know what else to say, except that i really hope this hoopla ends really soon. this scandal/impeachment attempt isn't painting a pretty picture of the country at all.

my whole day went well aside from the tattered and torn wallet still inside my messenger bag and another incident which i will talk about in the following paragraphs.

i love my urban studies class. it's a three hour class where we discuss about Local Government Units in the Philippines. it can give you a splitting headache but it's interesting to study LGUs, really. plus, Professor Karganilla is such an animated professor. he talks about the Local Government Code, the Philippine Constitution, and anything related to urban studies like it's the most interesting topic on earth! plus today i sat with paolo m., tal, and paulo p. it's always fun to sit with these guys. laugh trip. HAHA. the whole class is fun, actually. lots of laughs. perfect way to stay perky when you're dead tired and all you want to do is crawl under the covers and hibernate.

my father picked me up again from school at 6pm. when i got to the car, i put my book bag on my lap. he suggested that i put the bag on the backseat. he picked up my bag and threw it at the back. i left it there and off we went on our way home. halfway home... i got dizzy so i reached for my bag at the backseat to check my glasses. to my horror... IT WASN'T THERE!!!! i got more dizzy because i knew i was dead meat. my mother was going to kill me either by:

a. strangling me
b. beating me to death
c. psychologically torment me
d. yell at me like there's no tomorrow

so i pretended to sleep because i didn't want my father to notice that i was already in panic. when we got home, he just dropped me off because he was going to meet my mother at a restaurant where they were having dinner with some relatives. i was depressed by then. i didn't know what to do! my mind was racing. i loved those pair of glasses!! plus, it would be a hassle to get another one made and pay for another pair! when my sister came home i told her all about it. kuya John offered to take me back to school to look for the glasses which i was sure i left at school inside my last classroom. so off we three went back to school at 8pm!!! when i got there... i ran to the classroom and it wasn't there anymore!!! i wanted to cry! i told my sister i was really sad. we talked to the guard and the guard helped out but the janitor he asked said he didn't see anything.

on the way home, kuya JOhn suggested that it probably fell in the car on my way home. something inside me told me that it was there and i became happy again. i was praying and praying the whole time since all the commotion started. when i got home, my parents were already home so i had to make an excuse when i got the car keys from my father. my sister and kuya John helped me search the car and lo and BEHOLD!!!!!

IT. WAS. AT. THE BACKSEAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it fell there! it must have fallen when my father tossed my book bag on our way home! oh wow!!!!

i believe in good! i believe in good karma! what goes around comes around, right? i believe that GOD listens to our prayers!!! i believe in the power of FAITH. :D

thank you apple! haha! we were texting each other the whole time and Pao for confirming that i didn't leave it in class because he saw me put it in my book bag.

phew! thus ended my most grueling night ever. it nearly gave me a heart attack!

yearbook write-ups are due soon. i haven't even done mine or should i say...solicited write-ups on myself. but i did ask Ina to write mine since we've been friends since senior year high school. if you're wondering why it's only senior year we became friends... well, it's because i moved to a new school in senior year and i became friends with her and Aby. they were the two closest friends i had way back then.

this just came up. i figured if i were somebody else to write something on GAIL, i'd probably say this:

Gail may seem to be a complicated person but in reality, she isn't really. Or at least she thinks so. She's very shallow-- laughs easily on the corniest jokes and cries easily just the same. She's temperamental too and sensitive. Sometimes even oversensitive. But she oftentimes keeps it to herself-- whenever she's hurt. She chooses to bite her lip, close her eyes, then count to ten hoping that a bad situation would go away like a nightmare that's just a mere illusion. But she knows better. She chooses to confront it. Only, she doesn't really have that much courage to confront her fears. Sometimes instead of facing awkward situations, she chooses to hide in the shadows. But she's been through tests and she survived. She's strong. She just doesn't know it yet.

Gail is a believer of good things. People say that she hasn't seen the bad side of the world yet. Oh yes, she has. She just believes in good that much and although reality may sometimes prove otherwise, she strives to stay happy no matter how hard reality bites. A dreamer by nature, she believes that everything in the world is meant to be. She chooses to live in the present all the while worrying about the future and where she would go from here. But deep in her heart she knows that wherever this life will take her, she chooses to live a meaningful life, one that will hopefully touch as many souls as she possibly can.

Lastly, Gail needs to believe in herself. She needs to be reminded constantly that whatever decisions she will makein the future, she should believe in herself. Too many people believe in her and she has to be one of them.

Gail will always be THAT little girl at heart and no matter how scared she is STILL, she knows she will be just fine.

hay. now i'm off to bed.

xoxo,

Gail

healthy living from now on?

i miss being active. i used to be active in sports during my high school days. after watching Million Dollar Baby on dvd last night and the other half of it this morning, i miss being fit. i used to wonder why i was skinny in high school. now i know. i used to be active in volleyball. i was even told that i was good at it. every saturday was spent training in the morning. i didn't mind waking up at 7am in the morning because i was always enthusiastic to play. it gave me a different feeling whenever i'm in the court. it's unexplainable. the adrenaline rush, the nervousness, the excitement. everything added up to sheer pleasure even if i'd pant like a thirsty dog when my throat would get so dry. i could finish a huge bottle of water during a game.

i told my sister that we should go ahead with our badminton plan. all i have to do is buy my own racket so we could start playing already. badminton courts have sprung out of nowhere and are now scattered all over this side of the city. or... i can go running at the Amoranto Sports Complex where they have an oval there. there's also UP Diliman on weekends but i'd have to go on mornings. i think i'll stick to Amoranto because i had an ex blockmate who went running there on afternoons.

i miss the feel of sweat... of exhaustion. the kind when you'd push your body to the limits and see how far you'd go physically. the last time i felt this kind of exhaustion was during that Palawan 4-hour trek just to see the Subterranean River Park. bad weather left us with no choice but to trek to the cave when we could have gone by boat and it would have taken us only 40 minutes instead of two hours on the way and another two hours to get back.

i want to go running. all i need now is a sturdy pair of trainers and sweats and i'm good to go! :) i just hope either my sister of my father is going to be willing to drive me the oval.

i've gained weight compared to my high school days. most of the people i know tell me that being stick thin didn't suit me and that i should not lose weight. my body has matured since then and it filled out giving me curves. i don't like having curves because i'm (ahem) conservative. i don't like people looking at me or men giving cat calls because i hate it. plus, i've gained unwanted fats which i did not ask for. ironically, i used to force myself to eat eat and eat in high school because i felt too thin. actually, I WAS TOO THIN. daivy even told me that i could eat a whole cow and not gain weight! in my too successful attempt to gain weight, i overdid it, i guess. because i feel heavy now. even if i ate more in high school, i seem to gain weight easier now. which is unfair, you know. i must lose weight.

it's even a surprise that the 10 bars of Lindt chocolate (in different variations!) and more than 5 long bars of Toblerone chocolate are still in the refrigirator for months now. i think it will remain there longer now that i've come to a conclusion that i'm going to live a healthy life from now on.

cut out caffeine (WHAT?!???). cut out sugar. cut out carbs. cut out oily food. cut out junk.

shit. will i still be able to eat?

that letter in place of the "*" is the key in the keyboar* that's broken. gets?

hello. laptop still stick. at least one particular key on the keyboar*. yes, that letter in place of that asterisk. will go to makati later to the service center. also known as the laptop hospital. hehe. it's frustrating. must think of things to say without typing that letter.

i am now ABSOLUTELY sure that blogging isn't just some portal so i can attract attention to myself. it's my outlet for my writing because i have too many thoughts that will just rot if i won't let it out.

must go now. cannot think of other wor*s without the letter in place of the asterisk. hehe.

bye!