Friday, April 25, 2008

THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

I would still like to add some text but I am just dying to post this entry so expect a follow-up on this. :)
***
I would just like to share what I read four nights ago from the latest issue of the Reader's Digest (Asia). This might just be the lone helpful post in the annal of this blog ever.
10 Ways To Turn That Frown Upside Down

1 BE LESS VIRTUAL, MORE 3-D. "If there's one thing that separates happy people from ridiculously happy people, it's the quality of their social relationships," says psychologist Todd Kashdan of George Mason University. If you sit at a computer all-day, get up and indulge in some human contact instead.

[jailbird] For all you know, I busily devote most of my time resting my ass in front of the laptop after the mandatory housekeeping. Household responsibilities are very withering since most of us find it as a chore (because I really do not mind watering the plants) but it can just be as boring as net surfing despite the countless activities and possibilities it has to offer. But before I forget, hey! I've got cousins in the neighborhood! At the dreariest time frame of the day, I brushed my ass off, turned-off Pav, walked to my grandparents' place and bonded with an older-but-of-my-age-bracket cousin.
You are a social being─ allow yourself to interact. And when I said interact, that excludes adding "friends" in Friendster, sharing applications in Facebook, throwing comments in Multiply or giving away your seclusion in Blogger, Wordpress or LJ for a change. // [jailbird]

2 4,6,8...WHO DO WE APPRECIATE? Making a list of things you're grateful for may seem silly, but it's been proven to work. In fact, counting your blessings may be the single most helpful thing you can do for your happiness quotients, says experts.

[jailbird] She resolved to detach herself. Her classroom experience was always penetrated by loneliness on her own account but she found solace in a piece of paper and a retractable pen. *Maybe it was my love for doodles. Amidst an interesting class where all auditory organs are lent except my pair, rolling friction materializes before my eyes. I found myself listing my inner circle. I love scribbling the names of true friends. Those squiggles are nothing but a natural spring of joy. Yes, it is a silly act but I cannot deny that it is a caress in my back. // [jailbird]

3 RACK 'EM UP.
Think of every positive experience during the day as a bead on a string and see how they add up. This simple exercise makes you focus on even the smallest positive moments, like an e-mail from a friend in a spam-filled inbox.

4 THINK MEMORABLE, NOT MATERIAL. If you have to choose between a new car and a family vacation, pack your bags. Even the sexiest sports car becomes routine over time. But the memory of a good time with love ones will last forever.

[jailbird] From all the toys you unquestionaby discarded, from all the clothes you purposely handed down, from all the spring notebooks you barely write at, from all the shoes you hardly wear, from all the mobile phones you intentionally disposed, you should know by now.// [jailbird]

5 GO TO THE FUNNY SIDE. "Humor is like salt on meat," says psychologist Martin Seligman PhD. "It amplifies everything." Watch reruns of classic shows that never fail to make you laugh. Try to smile at the absurdities of life.

[jailbird] (Sometimes) Forget poise, laugh out loud! Embrace rowdiness with open arms. :) //[jailbird]

6 ESCAPE TO YOUR STRESS-FREE ZONE. Think of a place where you always feel calm and happy. Then, when you are tense and miserable, call it up mentally, with as much detail as possible.Smell the suntan lotion. Feel the sun. Hear the sea. Play this video in your mind when your spirit plumps.

7 SEE THE GLASS AS HALF-FULL. Whenever possible, try to look at the bright side. You might be feeling like your life right now is one giant downhill slope. But if you stop and assess it honestly, you'll see you actually have it pretty good.

And if things truly are against you...

8 FIND YOUR INNER ARTIST. Think back to when you had time for creative expression. Were you in a rock band? Did you write poetry? Did you like tinkering with cars? Remembering feeling so engaged that you lost track of time? Joyful expression can bring happiness.

9 DO SOMETHING GOOD. Acts of kindness, however small, deliver as much pleasure to the giver as to the getter.

[jailbird] Cook breakfast for the family. Open the door for an elderly. Offer your seat to a preggy in a sea of people in the MRT. And turns out money can buy happiness...if you spend it for someone else. Bring pasalubong from an away day. :) Goodness is innate, people of the world. [jailbird]

10 SEIZE THE MOMENT. Rather than waiting to celebrate a big event, why not do it today? Bake a cake. Take someone out to lunch. Open a bottle of wine and raise a toast to a good day. GO AHEAD, BE HAPPIER.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Before the elite S and B, there was the B and V tagteam. No, it's not Blair and Vanessa. You wish, haha. :)

Thou shall not forget the love-hate BFFship of Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge! :)

Before one has discovered the magical world of Harry or even before one has deciphered the secret of Da Vinci, the Archie Digest Library was a bookworm's doorway to her/his insatiable interest.

My mom really wants my sister to enjoy the pleasure of reading so she dropped her by a bookstore today. Knowing my sister, I know she wouldn't have thought to purchase a reading material. :) So after devoting solid minutes on which coloring book to buy, she finally rested her heart to the Sabrina, The Animated Series Coloring and Activity Book. I really want her to invest in books too so I asked her to suit herself in the Children's Books section. I know I cannot ask her to read the Harry Potter Series at home so I encouraged her to buy a Betty and Veronica double digest which she has foreknowledge of. She enjoys my old copies at home, anyway.

Before I came tapping the keyboards to visit the Blogger page, I leafed through the B and V Digest of my sister. I never held one for ages, until like 30 minutes ago! :)

Remember the people from Riverdale? Course, Archie, Betty, Ron. :) Then there's Jughead, Reggie, Jellybean. Forsythia, Jellybean, Mr. Weatherbee, Geraldine. Daddykins, Pop Tates, that genius guy who played Socrates once.haha. My memory's sorta blunt. :P

Well, if it weren't for Betty and Veronica double digest, I wouldn't learn about Florence Nightingale. :)

***

Well, what else.

***

I guess the last time I read a book was two or three days before the JS Prom this year. Yeah, way back February, Coelho's Eleven Minutes. I just borrowed it from Janella while everyone was practicing for the promenade. And the last time I finished a book was last year as I enjoyed the Horcrux Hunt in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows.

I thought of finishing a book again when Jose told me he was enjoying Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point. There was an abrupt ache in my senses and I yearned for a book. Just the thought of holding one and sniffing a brand new purchase.

I am not really a bookworm mind you, but I read. Well, it would really take one a good book to start to read.

This time, I am trying Philippa Gregory.

***

I got this weird feeling yesterday. So since I am already done with the GG Episodes and all new episodes aren't airing yet, and I just finished the latest epi of OTH,I felt the urge to download. Nothing really, but it's just I don't get this feeling that I need to catch up. :) I've always thought of downloading Heroes 2 and House 1 but I prefer enjoying them on pirates. :P

Well, I JUST learned yesterday too that there was GOSSIP GIRL Revealed. And yes, you got it. Emptiness filled. I am downloading something again. Haha.

Friday, April 18, 2008

ECHOES, SILENCE, PATIENCE AND GRACE.

It has been 27 days since I last watched One Tree Hill. The show left me and the other millions of viewers with Lindsay figuring the comet riddle and running away from the altar, Brooke throwing a flamethrow (You're fired!) at Victoria, crazy Carrie loosing her screws as she kidnapped Jamie and grandpa Dan (now we call him grandpa!) rescuing his nearly-brunette grandson from the wicked witch nanny in its hundredth episode.

One Tree Hill returns with a four-weeks-later setting in Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace, the 13th episode of the 5th season (don't I sound like I write some kinda recap or review writer? :p).

James Lafferty no longer has that appeal to me. I guess Nate [Archibald] took me away from Nathan [Scott]. As for Bethany Joy Galeotti, the makeup artists made a good job in making her look like a mother coping with stress. She really looked drained and worned-out. Is it just Haley or it's Joy we see? I would like to believe it's just Haley. Don't get me wrong, I like Mrs. Galeotti! Maybe I am not just used to see her less glammed up or maybe it is just because I have not seen her for a month.

In this episode, the two seeked the help of a therapist (I like the questions the therapist are throwing at them.) to save their almost 6-year marriage. The couple struggles with acting their age. No, they did not act their shoe sizes. They acted like sick burned out teachers who...whatever. There's no way their marriage is falling apart. Their tandem is the last thing OTH wants to alter. I love Nathan and Haley (and Jamie), always and forever. :)

Jamie is sooo...Jamie. Jackson Brundage is such a beautiful kid and his talents are superb. He's very promising. If more doors will be opened, I won't be surprised if he gets himself an Oscar! I realized I missed the kid when I watched the episode an two hours ago. Here is the feeling: You suddenly realize you miss the person upon seeing him when you haven't felt the longing at all in his/her absence. You get that feeling too, don't you?

Regarding Lucas, he spent the last weeks in Andy's yacht, waking up every morning thinking of Lindsay. Oh c'mon. I thought the Lindsay phase is ooover. She's just a guest star! She's not even in the header of the OTH page in cwtv.com or in every fansites there are (I suppose :])! Get over, Luke! Give it a break. The thought of Linday in the comeback epi is sooo predictable but I mind her presence. Well, she's in the latter part of the epi, looking bigger than Lucas as usual.

And guess with whom Hilarie Burton shared her scenes? Drumroll please...tada! Mark Schwahn, brainsource and executive producer of the show, on cameo. Look who's running out of actors. Haha. Schwahn played the owner of the record store in Tree Hill frequently visited by Peyton as you witnessed in the previous seasons. But was it really him? I don't think so. It was some pale-looking guy who definitely doesn't curly tresses if my memory doesn't betray me. Ha. Going back to P. Sawyer, I missed seeing the bulimic bitch (as how Lindsay labeled her in the Tree Hill library) and her lines. I missed how she insecure me with her gorgeous legs and slender frame.

Brooke Davis comes back on a serious panorama. No Owen in this episode. I really like her relationship with Jamie! Cool godparent. :) Victoria was absent in the epi but her bitchy intervention never fails to butt in. Eh yes, she failed to convince the adoption agent. I don't really have any idea what's coming on Sophia Bush's character...which means there'll be a lot of things to happen and we'll all be thrilled...again :)

Okay, so I just read something about the OTH creator's cameo. Well yes, my memory betrayed me. Mark Schwahn, as I've read in BuddyTV, appeared in Season 4.

It was not really an eventful episode but it was very verbose, which only means, more lines to quote. :) I really like the transition and the connection of clips, and if you are a Tree Hill fan, you know what I mean. They are just so great with that.

So did I just sound like the first person who watched the epi when I am actually two days late? I did, I did. :P

Thursday, April 17, 2008

PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE.

When my mind is illegally lagging (go on, burn your neurons. what do i mean? it's not merely a wordplay :p), I do not permit The Remedy to be on a turtle pace. Lately, I am having problems with the thing that at the very least keeps me busy occupied. Why on (global-warming-threatened) Earth is my Internet Explorer giving up on me? Okay, I’ve got Firefox too, but it’s worse and I’ve decided to delete the application, thank you. It’s just ultra frustrating that I really arrive to the point wherein I restart the system.

Viruses. Yeah, that came in my mind too. :

***

Well, anyway, finally! I am done with Gossip Girl! Yey! I just finished A Thin Line Between Chuck and Nate a couple of minutes ago. Actually, watching the thirteen episodes took me almost a month (I started late Holy Week). I finished super later than expected because, yeah, I wasn’t expecting downloading wouldn’t turn out smoothly compared to my One Tree Hill downloads. Our cable line doesn’t include ETC so pity me, I really have to download everything. Well, at least, I am updated. :)

I guess I totally forgot about Brooke, Peyton and Haley for a while because Serena and Blair and Chuck so to add were purely amusing. :) I even failed to recall that the all-new episodes of One Tree Hill aired last April 14. Oh at least, I just started downloading the One Tree Hill’s latest epi.

I’ve read reviews saying the TV Series is less entertaining compared to what the books tell like how the Harry Potter movies turned out to be boring. I’ve always seen the Gossip Girl series in the bookstores but I never really showed interest. I don’t remember coming close to the shelves and surveying a copy. I dunno, I guess I felt it was some chic-lit I don’t plan to invest. NBSB by Claire Betita is the chic-lit I own actually.

***

What now…Just can’t wait for The Blair Bitch Project! Uh-oh.

xoxo. =)

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

I DON'T UNDERSTAND!

German schoolboy, 13, corrects NASA's asteroid figures: paper

BERLIN (AFP) - A 13-year-old German schoolboy corrected NASA's estimates on the chances of an asteroid colliding with Earth, a German newspaper reported Tuesday, after spotting the boffins had miscalculated.

Nico Marquardt used telescopic findings from the Institute of Astrophysics in Potsdam (AIP) to calculate that there was a 1 in 450 chance that the Apophis asteroid will collide with Earth, the Potsdamer Neuerster Nachrichten reported.

NASA had previously estimated the chances at only 1 in 45,000 but told its sister organisation, the European Space Agency (ESA), that the young whizzkid had got it right.

The schoolboy took into consideration the risk of Apophis running into one or more of the 40,000 satellites orbiting Earth during its path close to the planet on April 13 2029.

Those satellites travel at 3.07 kilometres a second (1.9 miles), at up to 35,880 kilometres above earth -- and the Apophis asteroid will pass by earth at a distance of 32,500 kilometres.

If the asteroid strikes a satellite in 2029, that will change its trajectory making it hit earth on its next orbit in 2036.

Both NASA and Marquardt agree that if the asteroid does collide with earth, it will create a ball of iron and iridium 320 metres (1049 feet) wide and weighing 200 billion tonnes, which will crash into the Atlantic Ocean.

The shockwaves from that would create huge tsunami waves, destroying both coastlines and inland areas, whilst creating a thick cloud of dust that would darken the skies indefinitely.

The 13-year old made his discovery as part of a regional science competition for which he submitted a project entitled: "Apophis -- The Killer Astroid."




***

nosebleed, mare!

severe epistaxis. :

I saw this article in the Y! homepage and I find it worth the click.

Pagdating ng fourth paragraph...Walay na. Is this another language? I don't understand it anymore. *_*

Science sucks. I suck in Science. They work to me both ways.
There's a lot of truth to that. *_*

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

STORIES LEFT UNTOLD

February 29, Friday
THUNDERSTRUCKED. After the first test of the final exams, I went straight to the St. Augustine room. Andrei received a text message from Lance. It was all around the latter’s network. He sent a group SMS asking everyone’s prayer for her mom who suffered from stroke. I was jaw-dropped frozen. I did not presume though that Mrs. Rosales was on a severe condition. Knowing how Lance’s Mama looks, she defied 40─ blooming and beautiful.

I FEEL FOR YOU. My cousin*cuzzo is very tight with Pat, Lance’s sister. She went straight to the hospital from school. We exchanged text messages regarding the incident and I learned from her that Tita Ochie was already braindead, breathing through artificial respiration. I spent the night sobbing, ignoring the exams the following day. I felt terribly morbid. I was grief-stricken because of the circumstances Lance’s family is braving through. Moreover, I was disappointed with myself for not being there for my friend, telling him it’ll be okay while patting his back, when I could’ve come. I did not opt to visit his family that day and extend my warmest consolation all for the lousy reason that his other group of friends chose to come around that afternoon. I fumbled with my core emotions.

March 1, Saturday
IN THIS CHAIN OF DOUBTS AND RAINY CLOUDS. There were moments when my eyes wandered nowhere, totally ignoring the density of the final exams. I was greatly waiting for dismissal so I can finally assure myself that I won’t be compromising for any awful excuse. And boy, how glad was I when the clock stroked two.

Friends and I contributed to bring something for Lance, his Papa and his Ate. Sam and I volunteered to purchase the food. When we reached the Mendoza General Hospital, I caught sight of my friends─ calm and collected. His other group of friends were there too. It was relieving on my part that I am there too. Then, there was Lance.

He immediately brought Sam and me upstairs in the ICU. There we were, standing before the two-door entrance, absorbing every sad microelement in the atmosphere, glancing at Lance’s Mama lying on the bed and his Papa, caressing his better half’s hands. “Brain dead na Mama ko,” Lance uttered in a vulnerable-strength-fighting- deep-grief tone. It was very heartbreaking.

It was indeed a very unhappy way to smooth the path for the march of March. There are a lot of emotions to deal with but I know if paving way for the awaited month of our senior year meant helping a friend get through a difficult time, then that’s the way I want it to be.

Darkness was falling and there were now only eight of us left. Lance brought us to the second floor. We hanged out in the staircase and the corridor, literally making it difficult for passers-by. The next thing I knew, we were having a good conversation, laughing our asses off. Lance was even laughing hard too. It did not make things better for all I reckon but at least for moments, he was able to let go of the heavy feeling. Thanks to Jose’s dilemmas. The past days had been somewhat cold for me, missing friends even though they are just there. It was very heartwarming to hear Juanito saying, “Namiss ko ‘to.” Good things really happen in an unlikely place in the unlikeliest circumstance.

Then there were four of us left. Andrei. Sam. Zobar. Ako. As much as we would we want to be physically there for Lance, we were basically tired and sleepy too so we considered going home. Yet I kept extending the length of my stay. We went downstairs and waited for Lance since he was in the ICU. When he came down, he broke to us the news. The neurosurgeon said they would just be waiting for his mother’s heart to succumb.

I went through extremes today.

March 2, Sunday
SUNRISE DOESN’T LAST ALL MORNING. My cousin and I were walking home from the church. I was telling her stories how my friends felt about the situation, how Sam asked me “Sa tingin mo ba may pag-asa pa?” as we bought food for Lance and his family yesterday, how I felt when he said that, how I poured my despair to Zob and how Zob told me, “Wag mong isipin ‘yon.” I just reached the house when, the phone rang. It was my cousin. She told me Pat texted that their Mama passed away by 3AM. For seconds, my mind was blank. Every bone in my body was frozen and every nerve in my system was immobile. I felt dark. When she learned about it, Queen Elizabeth immediately decided to visit the wake after our family day-out.

Life is full of surprises, you know that. Money comes in an instant. Downfall happens in a snap. Fame rises in a flash. Sad to say, death may also come in the same package. :(

March 3-7, Monday-Friday
To relieve the pressure of the deadlines and clearance week, I have pictured since then that this week will be carefree. Together, we’ll all be the blithe people of the world. We’ll all just be cherishing our last days in high school, patiently waiting until the day we march down the aisle and receive our diploma. But since last Saturday, it already unfolded before me that this will not be the week as I imagined. Lance’s pain is all ours too.

SILENCE SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS. I always try to come up with the comforting words but it never seemed helpful. I do not know the perfect words to say. I am not sure of the gestures to perform. All I can do without a glitch is be there for him. And yes, my friends and I made sure if the least thing we could do sit beside him, then we’re resting our weights on our buttocks.

LET IT GO WITH THE WIND. I never saw him cry but I know he did because it is necessary. There’s a lot of truth in that. He doesn’t buy the myth that if you are a guy; you have to act in a certain way. My friends and I admired him on the way he handled the situation. Needless to say, he has given so much reason to be strong and vice-versa. As days passed, his strength all the same made us feel easy.

March 8, Saturday
CURTAIN CALL. It was my first time to attend the funeral. Again, I found myself overlayed with deep sadness. Everything on my part was kindly unspoken. Hearing Lance’s Papa cry is the saddest song ever.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

CRANK YANKER.

Ah ulol: Hello, pwede po ba kay Karen Anne?

AKO: (Ay mukhang may hahabol ng haberdey :D Assumer talaga o) sino ‘to?

Ah ulol: (Parang ‘di sigurado) Si Choko.

AKO: (Ha? Sino?) Sino?

Ah ulol: Si Choko.

AKO: (Niloloko mo ‘ko, Choko ka diyan.) Ha? Sino?

Ah ulol: Si Choko.

AKO: (Hindi mo nga kaboses si Choko eh.) Bakit?

Ah ulol: Si Karen Anne ba ‘to?

AKO: Bakit?

Ah ulol: Si Karen Anne ba ‘to?

AKO: Bakit?

Ah ulol: Si Karen Anne ba ‘to?

AKO: Bakit?

Ah ulol: Si Karen Anne ba ‘to?

AKO: Oo, bakit?

Ah ulol: Pa-cheeseburger ka naman!

(Dudong boys on background: Oo nga, gutom na kami! Burger! Burger!)

AKO: (Nangiti! :D) Sino ‘to? (Maniwala naman kasi akong si Choko ka.)

Ah ulol: McDonald, Old McDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O

[bagg]

Binabaan ako ng phone. Okay na sana eh, binabaan mo lang ako. Psssh ka.

***

Whoever brain's behind the McDo Cheeseburger Ad, KUDOS. Such a cool ad. :)

HUMABOL!





WOW.

69 slides yan pag i-open mo sa Adobe ImageReady!

Ang tiyaga ni tamad! :)

Buong araw siyang hindi nagparamdam kahapon. Pero alam ko, ano man ang mangyari, babati yan! Haha. Oo,
assumer na kung assumer. :) Pero naisip ko rin naman, sa rupok ng kakayahang makaalala niyan (ikaw na rin nagsabi niyan ha), 'di rin malabo na malimutan nga niya.

Mga alas-singko kanina, nagparamdam sa Y!M at binigyan ako ng link.

O di'ba?

Bongga. Kailangan talaga, malaki yung mata. Nakapagpangiti ka ha :)


Salamat Rie! Tara, Tanay! :)

THE A-LIST.

Sweet 16 today
She's lookin like her mama
A little more every day
One part woman
The other part girl
To perfume and make up
From ribbons and curls
Trying her wongs out in a great big world
But I remember

-Butterfly Kisses, Bob Carlisle

***

To tohse who neevr fliaed to rmmebeer

to tshoe who hread aobut it,

HOGOUOMNUS TKHNAS. :)

teh ppeole who ceard to clal...

  • IVY SNOATS, it was talotly ucexeptend!
  • EIIKA PRALTEA, clal me on teh 23rd! Msis you for rael. :)
  • SAM BAALG, acroncidg to teh pnohe achirve, we berund teh lnie for apairotempxly 3 huros, 10 menutis and 34 sodcens. C'mon!
teh poelpe who feird a txet masesge...
  • JNINEE SAN JAUN, I kewn it!
  • FEYRA PLAAD, a gniat goldouck to you. Tkae ltosa crae.
  • MI AGNE LEPOZ, fatbooll bsacis nxet week. See you!
  • CEYRNE CURZ, wehre to? Blaatian mo 'ko. :)
  • TE TKWINLE, lvoe you!
  • JSOE FEENARNDZ, sgie MG lnag. :D
  • MEJAT PREEZ, smae wtih Cy, wehre to? Blaatian mo 'ko ha.
  • TITA MA LOEPZ, yuo'er a blot form teh bule.
  • SNAHE HOMEREENGS, see yuo snoo!
  • JCAE PEDINA, sooo haret-wraming. :)
teh pepole who deorppd by Sitaroly Ceenimnofnt...
  • CRIHS CPILAI, I wsih you teh smae tinhg. :)
  • FIVEE SCHAENZ, you took me by sprisure. :)

teh Bloattain Cearmmonds olnine...

  • ARDINE RODLAN, pormise kpet! :)
  • RUH BREDARNO, look! Ardine and you theogetr. The two of yuo wree teh olny oens who gerteed onnile. See yuo soon! :)

l'enfant de co-destin

  • ATE CRALA, 会社をありがとう!
  • ATE YOJ, 会社をありがとう!
  • RON、DJは、幼児に感謝する!

mes parents... MMMOY, DDDAY, mi seize :) J'ai seize ans maintenant.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

FINALLY!

At last!

After more or less two hours, I am now finish with the French aviator Antoine de Saint Exupéry's popular work, Le Petit Prince. :)

Oh yes, yes, a lot of you have finished the text like years ago for less than two hours, so what... :)

I started with the baobabs chapter as I've been doing for the past days. Out of boredom (such an overused word for heartbreakingly dormant homo sapiens this season), I picked up the book, lie down and started leafing through.

Since I was lying down, course I have to tell you that I was taking naps in between chapters (imagine! Little Prince doesn't even have lenghty chapter! =>). Pompously I must say, not every chapter though-- accomplishment. Haha :)

Well, thank God I was able to finish it, FINALLY, today. :)

***
Happy Birthday, Arians!
  • to my far-away cousin, Ate Twinkle, how are you Ma'am? I am sooo proud of you, I know you're even tougher than the guys out there (she's a Criminology student! *rounds of applause!*)! I can ride a bike now for real! Haha. Just having troubles with the curves. :) I missss you and how I wish I could seeee you soooon. Happppyyyyy Burdeeeeeey!
  • to my former classmate, Sharina Karnani, yes I never forgot about you. Bleed GREEN. :) Goodluck with college. Small world, I demand a chance meeting with you. haha. Wishing you the sweetest sixteen. :)

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

A DAY OUT.

So basically, my summer is a home detention. :)

While a lot of people are making the most of the bikini season by hitting the vacation spots, taking whatever fruitful lessons are offered and working for money, I am busily embracing barrenness and tedium.

Of course, just the thought of monotony, I miss being out with friends to spice my day. March 29, distrubution of report cards, was the last time I saw some of my friends. I was not able to spend time with them at all because I was basically avoiding chance meetings. :)

Actually, friends have been regularly scheduling meet-ups. For all I know, some still see each other on a regular basis (in the likes of Jose and Pao). Well, it is just that...uhm, I've been turning down offers. :P Simply because I don't have money.

Whenever someone persuades me to join the lot, I would immediately ask in response, "all-expenses paid ba?" And of course, who would dare shoulder my splurges? "Hindi eh." That's an immediate answer too.

In point of fact, the last time I went out the marginals of my parents' estate (oh how sosyal does that sound for a bungalow! haha.) was on the last day of the last month of the first quarter of the year (breathe!)-- in short, March. If you have been reading older posts, you probably know my tale that day.

***

For a couple of days now, my glasses are falling off from where it should be. It's feels uneasy especially when I'm doing house chores so I felt the need for an adjustment. Since my cuzzo will be enlisting for summer classes, I decided to accompany her. I did myself a favor, yey :) Well more than the demand for frame modification, I guess I needed to catch further air to inhale. :D

So I guess I had three things in mind hours ago:


  1. break out from monotony


  2. fix my eyeglasses


  3. train myself on my way to Katipunan


  4. Cello's Doughnuts and Dips
***

I will never be a Maroon but somehow, I had my fair share of the enrolment and enlistment experience in UP (though my cousin told me that wasn't the worst-case scenario yet). Yes, I was merely a companion then and there. I was neither the one filling out forms, deciding on classes and schedules nor dealing with the adviser but I was with my cousin all along. Like she did, I also treaded the streets of the campus, took a lengthy walk under the scorching heat, rode the jeep, went back and forth CMC. Imagine, just being there is a perspiring involvement. Nevertheless, an experience is always an experience.

The two of us spent more or less three hours in Diliman. It was almost 1 PM when we left for Katipunan. We were tremendously hungry and thirsty!

***

The tagteam of chow time and Katipunan only meant Cello's Doughnuts and Dips! Yey :)

If you must know, since I learned about Cello's, I was immediately craving for it! Yeah, silly. My taste buds haven't experienced the Cello sensation yet but badly longing for it. I am really a sucker for doughnuts (now you know what you can give me :D).

So at last, I was there.

From my usual blogosphere treading, I learned that a piece costs P20.00 and a box of six costs P110.00. Beforehand, I intended to buy two doughnuts for my own consuming (in which I planned Oreo will be one) and even bring home a half-dozen box for my sibs (pretty much for my own consuming too. haha).

Much to my dismay, a doughnut costs P25.00 now (I guess it complements to the upsurge of the price of flour.) and P135.00 for half a dozen. Three honey-glazed doughnuts plus a dip cost P90 something. More mouth-watering treats in the likes of Blueberry Cream Cheese flavor cost P35.00.

My cousin and I ended up buying a box of 2 each. Considering the size, I guess Queen Elizabeth wouldn't be thrilled at all at the thought of a P135.00 half dozen box of doughnuts.
Sorry, no sweet take-home for Mark and Icka.

Too bad, Tokyo-Tokyo is nowhere to be found in Katipunan Avenue. We actually considered to kill more time and make our way to North Avenue just to have a Japanice lunch. Bearing in mind our starving stomachs, we compromised to Greenwich. Our tummies were already revolting! They could no longer afford two more jeepney rides to TriNoma!

***

Maybe the most acceptable reason for my day out is to have my eyeglasses adjusted. Guess what? The best reason there is was forfeited. Remember the denim case of my glasses? It was nowhere to be found! Oh the cute case just got lost. The thought of it still sucks. I put the receipt in the case meaning I can no longer avail the free frame modifications. We did not dare go to Sarabia Optical anymore thinking about the charge. Knowing that I will only spend for transpo and food, I did not ask much from my Queen Elizabeth. I think we left the adorable case in the van we rode on our way to Mother Ignacia. How stupid was I!

I consoled myself by searching for a lovely pair of kitten heels. Aside from slippers, I plan to make kitten heels my official school shoes. I really wanna have a pair of Keds Raves if not a Keds Blossom Hi Wedge. I have been visiting
Keds webpage for more than a week now.

***

I cannot resist a Japanice experience so we still ended up in TokyoTokyo! Spicy Kani Roll and the perfect red iced tea. :)



***

Jose and the lot scheduled a swimming at Paradise Resort in Malolos. Jose was uber convincing me last night to join the club, and you know it, I asked if it was junket, but of course he replied with a no. He was asking why I can't come with the crew. Besides the fact that I cannot swim (pathetic.), I have been honest with him that if I have my own money course I would come. Well, you can say I asked money from Queen E today but it is just because I gave her an acceptable reason- my glasses.

Perhaps if I asked money from her for the swimming getaway, I have the foreknowlege that she'll be rasing an eyebrow. You know if she's not into something that will require her money, she acts like she doesn't hear you. If truth be told, I don't have the courage to ask her permissions for day outs because I don't have the most lethal weapon with me-- MONEY.MONEY.MONEY.

Jose even offered to pay one-fourth of my entrance fee. Ha? Not even a half? And entrance fee only? How about my food and my transportation? Haha. I told you, ALL-EXPENSES PAID. :)

I am really sorry guys. Well anyway, I know it's not too much of a deal at all. I hope you enjoyed today. :)

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

flunking, learning and trying


Nothing.

I don't have any narrative these days. Man, it's already April and my academic hiatus is getting boring and fruitful each day.

I wanna be PRODUCTIVE. That is how I wanna label my summer by the end of the season.

Currently, I still managed to be a big P.
Yeah, Pathetic.

***

For two weeks now, my mommy has been mugging up to enjoy the perks of Y!M. Well, as I've mentioned in a previous post, my daddy took time to learn the essentials of internet. In his recent visit in the Philippines (he's an OFW), I guess he learned how much time my brother and I spends in the internet.

Now, my parents take pleasure in video calls and voice chats.

Queen Elizabeth works for a realty company in Makati. In the course of the summer, she has developed the habit of calling by lunch time-- asking how are we, what did we eat, babbles with her youngest and endless reminders. :)

So say she learned the ABCs of chatting now, well, we now chat over Y!M every lunch. :)














Basically, my youngest sib is on the learning process too. :) And eventually, she glued her eyes in the monitor and no longer left her seat. She visited the Pokemon Site (Oh I remember how addicted was I to the media franchise then! I was of the same age she is now) and the Everythinggirl webpage.





Of course, the laziest asshole was seating on his throne.



and where was I?

I found a copy of the third widest-read book in the world in my brother's room. Huwaaat. My brother have this in his room??? I asked him if he already finished reading it, and replied an expected "Hindi pa."



It's the favorite book of a good friend. And well, I have heard a lot of how enthralling the story is. Course, it has sold more than 50 million copies worldwide for a reson, right? :)

And yes, I tried reading the book because it is The Little Prince.



Well, it wasn't a successful attempt. I fell asleep. :)

Honestly, I am not yet enthralled. At the very least, it's a not yet. For now, I am just clinging to the notion that this is Antoine de Saint Exupéry's magnum opus.