The Un-CANCELLED: Cinq's 2010 Cancelled-Uncancelled-Cancelled-Uncancelled-Again Christmas Reunion

- December 28, 2010, Tuesday (Yay, David Archuleta's Birthday!!)

- How this day came to be has had a long history. Dwight the great, our awesome events organizer, wanted to organize another reunion this year. Earlier this December, he realized that the people's schedules couldn't work out on the supposed date of the reunion. On Christmas morning, he suddenly sent out a memo that our reunion would push through -- in a highly expensive restaurant. Due to lack of prospective attendees, he cancelled the event again, only to re-uncancel the event yesterday. Finally, we ended up, again, in Dwight's roof deck, beside the unforgettable Eiffel-tower-esque PLDT tower, and had fun.

- I was assigned in the program committee (by committee they meant me, myself, and I,) and was tasked to organize games for the night. Although it is one of my fortes to host events or whatever, I am the last person to go to when it comes to organizing games. First, I rarely played games, and second, I can only think of corny, risk-free games. Thanks to Adrian and some people around me, I was able to come up with three games: Star Genius (aka Pinoy Henyo, but the words to be guessed are related to the whole class, or a particular person in class,) Let's Get Physical (a sheet of paper would be picked, and the pairs should touch the body part corresponding to the one written on the paper,) and of course, the ever-so-mysterious werewolf game. Oh yeah, since I was the one in charge of the prizes, I just decided to buy candies. Winners get more candies, and "losers" would get fewer candies. Haha.

- This evening, I went to Dwight's house with Bless and Nathalie via 2 jeepney rides.Upon arrival, the three of us went to the wrong house. It was a good thing that both houses were Dwight's. However, only one of the houses had the stairs to the roof deck.

- This year's record of attendees beat last year's record. A total of 23 people attended this year, more than than half of the class, as compared to last year's mere 18 people. Kim Hybee also showed up tonigh; I haven't seen her since prom!!

- As for the food, instead of Dwight catering again, the food committee bought food, and all of us had to pay our share. I guess the food committee did a job-well-done with the food. Simple, delicious, and inexpensive.

- After everyone had eaten, the games started. I was glad that people participated in my games even if they weren't really the most exciting ones. At least everyone got candy. HAHA. Before I started the second game, some people had to leave already. We decided to have a "class picture" (minus the ones who came later on,) and had the "raffle." Kim Hybee won the raffle, and took home a jar of Stick-O like sticks. (I hope she enjoys them!!)

- The werewolf game was the most exciting game, I suppose. It was a game proposed by Kimberly last year; I just reused it because I knew people enjoyed it so much last year, and honestly, it's an addicting game. I had a bit of difficulty explaining the mechanics because I really expected Kimberly to explain the mechanics again. Gladly, Jean was able to save my butt, and facilitated the game, together with Kimberly. As expected, people liked the game so much, that they even created some twists to the game, like adding a new character to the game (Cupid.) Well, the mysterious vibe we had last year was a bit disrupted by Dwight fixing the karaoke machine (prepared especially to those who had heaven-sent singing voices. Haha.) -- Come to think of it, the werewolf game reminded me of the up-coming "Red Riding Hood" movie. I really look forward to watching that. Hope it'll be a great movie.

- After the last round of the werewolf game ended, most of the group decided to have drinking games, which us, the non-drinkers, just hogged the karaoke microphone, or talked amongst ourselves. Of course, as expected, I was kicked out of the karaoke booth because of the weird songs I chose to sing (and because I don't have a heaven-sent singing voice.)

- A light drizzle visited us towards the end of the gathering. Most people prepared to leave, while some of us stayed behind to wait for Erlyn's car, and/or helped Dwight bring some things downstairs so they won't soak in the drizzle.

- Although most of us had many awkward moments during the night, I guess this is so much better than what we were during high school as a section. I do hope that many more yearly reunions would follow. It's also possible to hold it in a(n inexpensive) restaurant for a change, I suppose, although it won't be as fun as if it were held in a private location.

- I am also thankful that Dwight has once again opened his heart and home to all of us, for going the extra mile to gather everyone together, and enjoy another night of wackiness, silliness, corniness, and most of all, happiness. Maybe soon, we'd be able to have a perfect attendance of 41 people, with their own special fields, professions, (maybe families in the maybe-almost-near-future??,) talents, skills, and uniqueness. Many people might have forgotten much about the past, or some pieces of seemingly useless information about people, but one thing is clear: there is hope for happiness and unity from a group of extremely diverse people.

- Happy Orange Christmas Cinq, and Have a Rocking New Year!! :D:D:D:D ♥♥♥♥

Who Said Christmas Was Cold? - Trinoma With Friends. :D:D:D:D

- December 27, 2010, Monday

- We finally found time, again, to meet up during this Christmas break. Well, we really needed a venue to conduct our exchange gift thing. Today was also a special day, because we were joined by Eleazar, former kinder classmate, transferred schools, and now, Jessica's suitor. *OMG I STILL CAN'T GET OVER THISSSSSSS*

- Anyhoo, before going to Trinoma, we helped Oliver find Nathalie's gift. Nathalie wanted a pair of closed shoes. We went to Farmer's Market, the mall where the MRT is connected, to find hopefully-cheaper shoes. Instead of Oliver buying a pair of shoes, Bless was the one who fulfilled her sandal-needs. Hahahaha!!

- We were able to arrive at Trinoma half an hour before our 3:45 movie. However, we were a few minutes late for the movie because some people had to do some errands (including finding a gift for Nathalie) in Trinoma. All of us watched "Father Jejemon," starring Dolphy. We wanted to watch Tanging Ina, but the tickets were sold out. Father Jejemon was OK, I suppose (in terms of the humor and punchlines,) but the climax (anticlimax perhaps??) went too quickly. I nearly died laughing and being confused. I also noticed that Eleazar can pass as a really Chinese version of EJ Falcon (who is French-Pinoy.)

- After the movie, Eleazar told us that he needed to meet up with his cousins and other family members, and left Jessica "to our care." We, or rather, I, decided to eat at Cyma's since we can't really decide on a decent place to eat (and exchange gifts.)

- After ordering, we started exchanging gifts. To my surprise, or not so surprise (for some reason I had this feeling that she was the one who picked me,) Jessica picked me. Jessica wasn't able to find my Josh Groban CD, and the books that I listed on my wish list were too expensive too. Instead, Jessica gave me a nice beanie!! Seriously, I not the beanie type, but I always wanted to wear a beanie - I haven't found the perfect beanie, but Jessica (and Eleazar) picked one with a nice color. :D:D:D:D On the other hand, I picked Bless, and I gave her a 2011 planner for yuppies. Hahahaha. (Dang, graduation's around the corner....)

- After dinner, which I treated, Genevieve claimed her two boxes of free donuts from Krispy Kreme. Since Nathalie needed to buy something from the nearby SM North EDSA (ahh, David Archuleta memories,) we left one box of donuts to Bless, Karel, Oliver, and Jessica, while the four of us accompanied Nathalie -- and took pictures while we're at it.

- Going home was supposedly a regular thing. We knew it was late, but we were able to ride the MRT to Cubao. However, we missed the last train to Recto. Instead of riding the train, like we had any choice, we rode the jeep to Recto. It was a long ride, but full of chatter and sharing. Thankfully, Erlyn's dad was able to give most of us a ride home. (Erlyn was our saviorrrrrr~~~~~~~)

- Next agenda?? Tomorrow's Cinq Reunion!! WOOHOOOOO~~~~~ :D:D:D:D

Sawatdee Khrap, Christmas Break And Thai Food!!

- Decemver 23, 2010, Thursday

- Sang and everyone else planned to eat out today at Som's. I was almost reluctant to go because I still have my semi-epic "flullergy." Since I was supposed to get my Korean scrapbook from Sang (although he ended up not bringing it haha,) and I wanted to try Som's since forever, I decided to go today.

- Charmaine and I arrived at Som's a few minutes past 11am, after a long train+train+jeep ride, and a short stroll in Powerplant. Since everyone was still far away, and we were a bit (ok, VERY) hungry, we decided to order a plate of Pad Thai for ourselves.

- As everyone started to arrive, Charmaine and I were 3/4 full. I guess we should've ordered an appetizer or two instead of the big Pad Thai platter, because we all ended up ordering a lot of dishes.

- Ordering the dishes was as much fun as eating the dishes later on. Bea (well most of us) had a hard time deciphering the dishes, aside from the famous ones that we knew (eg. Pad Thai, Tom Yum, etc.) Bea said that we should order a weird-sounding dish to have that "exotic" vibe - and thus, Bea's infamous "Nam Jem" joke. She saw the name "Nam Jem" on the menu and wanted to order it (so badly,) but we didn't order it; it wasn't on the best-sellers list. However, based on my a-few-minutes-ago research, Nam Jem was a sotanghon-based noodle dish. (Dang, maybe we should've ordered that too. HAHA. Oh well, there's still a next time.)

- Before leaving, we found out that Willy and Sang paid for our lunch (which was a bit expensive since there were seven of us.) They said it was their "Christmas gift" for us. ♥♥♥♥ (Korp khun mahk mahk!! - Thank you very much!!)

** Btw, I wore my minimalist Thai outfit to match the ambiance of Som's. True enough, the place was authentically Thai, especially because of the portraits and statues of Buddha, King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit of Thailand.

Japanese Night With Some CKSC People. :) :) :) :)

- December 21, 2010, Tuesday

- I finally finished my classes for 2010, and I'm headed towards the heaven I call "REST." Well, maybe I can't rest that much since I have Christmas homework to do.

- Honestly, I could've rested at home since I am half-sick right now. (My cough and nasal allergies are making it hard to breathe walking around my big school.) I also wanted to attend the Korean dinner for my Korean class, but I am too sick to go, and my friend who I was supposed to be my ride home also wouldn't be able to go. She's also sick. Because of this, I think the heavens were giving me a sign to not go to Korean night. Don't get me wrong, I would really have gone to the Korean dinner; I even packed my hanbok in my school bag.

- Since I decided not to go, I pushed myself to go with Lala and company for our Japanese night in Omakase, again, even if I'm ill and coughing like crazy. :|:|:|:| After I arrived home, I had a quick change to my Chinese attire earlier today, into my Japanese attire. I went to Marnie's house, waited for her to finish preparing, and off we went to Omakase in Il Terrazzo.

- I am glad that I had the chance to see these people again this (almost) Christmas. However, many nuances made the night more interesting. First, I saw Jes and DA at the other table. Haha. Second, a group of children and early teens from a foundation (forgot which one,) went inside the restaurant and sang Christmas carols. The elder members played instruments (3 bandurias, 1 guitar, 1 box-thing that acts like drums, 1 violin,) while the younger ones were in the front line, dancing. After their performance, the kids would go around from table to table and ask for donations. They would also kiss random people, maybe as a "cute" tactic to get donations. The children were cute anyway, and the whole group added a bit more light to my Christmas.

- One of the things that made our night a nose-bleeding experience was counting and re-counting who pays how much, and wondering why there was an extra amount of money. After some more tabulations and whatnot by Lala, we realized 15 minutes later that the extra money belonged to Joanna, since she used her own money to change all of us first. Haha.

- After eating, we tried our luck at Banapple for dessert. As expected, the place was overcrowded with people. I really think the place should add more chairs/tables, or better yet, make the place bigger (if possible, which I highly doubt,) so they could accommodate more people. Many people would like to eat there anyway, and they lose customers because not everyone has the luxury of time. Instead of waiting (for eternity,) we just decided to go to Banawe's Dezaato Pan, beside Tempura. coincidentally, the dessert-place was also Japanese. (I guess I was able to maximize my Japanese attire for the night.)

- While finishing our cake slices, we all had really random jokes. Marnie's jokes were the most "sabaw." (Speaking of "sabaw," I really can't find an acceptable translation for "sabaw," aside from "soup," of course.) We also had a bit of planning on the very ambitious abroad trip this summer. If ever this pushes through, I really hope my parents would allow me to go. :|:|:|:|

- I am glad that I was able to enjoy my night even if I'm having a bit of difficulty breathing, and controlling my coughs and sneezes. I know I would also enjoy Korean night with my Korean class, had it not been for this silly little flullgery (flu + [nasal] allergy,) and of course, if my friend weren't sick as well.

- I just want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas. I also wish everyone who's sick, and I know there are a lot (souce: recent experiences in school and the LRT,) to get well ASAP. Christmas ain't the perfect time for flus, allergies, or flullergies. :|:|:|:| I hope I get well soon too. I have to much to do during this Christmas break - and I'm talking about homework. :|:|:|:|

A Day In Media Law Class. Teehee.

- December 10, 2010, Friday

- I decided to bring my camera today to school because I wanted to take pictures of the Christmas Card exhibit by the Modern Languages Department (my Korean Christmas Card is there!!) and the logo of the male CR in Kostka's ground floor. (The picture will show why.)

- Since I wanted to maximize my camera, I also decided to take pictures of a regular day in Media Law class. Well, our prof wasn't around today, but her son substituted for her; he also teaches one of the other media classes too.

- Since our class starts at the crack of dawn (a.k.a. 7:30 classes,) we come to school with our minds that seem to stay in dreamland. This means that we all act drunk and lost, without actually being drunk and lost, and we also say random things. However, most of us head back to dreamland within the three-hour class, for our sanity. It's also great the we get to have 10 to 15-minute breaks around 9am - again, for our sanity, and also for our tummies.

- Our class ended early, and I went straight home. Now, I want to sleep. *SLEEEEEEEEEEEEEP*

Black, White, Happiness: MASCKS and Batch '07's Unofficial Mini-Batch Reunion

- November 27, 2010, Saturday

- OK, I know it's a bit irresponsible of me to ditch the batch pictorial in Ateneo today. Well, they announced it the last minute, and a lot of people wouldn't be able to make it to the pictorial for different reasons. I on the other hand was half sick; I have a slight cold that's been driving me nuts for several days. At least now, my throat doesn't "burn" each time I swallow.

- Since I decided not to go to Ateneo today, I called up Mrs. Villaver and some officers to tell them that I would be able to make it to the MASCKS meeting today. To my surprise, the majority of the members were not informed, and only around twenty people attended the meeting. Also, a big bulk of members were participants in the Student Council's giant-Christmas-card-making contest, and the mopit (Chinese calligraphy) contest. Others were participants, or "required audience people" in the Math contest in the auditorium. Given the circumstances, I still thought that the MASCKS meeting was still very fruitful, because we were able to conceptualize the movie-medley-Oscar-Awards theme of this year's presentation (but not one big play like they used to do.) This is just for this year though.

- Cleo, Anne, Kevin, Karl and I ate a rather early lunch at McDonald's after the meeting. We were very surprised to see an almost-empty McDonald's, because McDonald's was never empty, especially on a Saturday. We did realize, however, that maybe it's a bit too early for lunch. Still, it was nice to eat at McDonald's with PLENTY OF ELBOW SPACE. Heehee. Anne and I also dubbed this today as "Black and White Day" because a lot of us were wearing black and white, and that the lack of people in CKSC and in McDonald's made the day plain - just like black and white.

- I returned to CKSC after lunch, and waited for a bit more than an hour for Megan, since she told me that she was going to CKSC to grab her yearbook. I went to the Music Room for a short visit, played the piano in an empty room, and waited for Megan to call me.

- After Megan arrived, other batchmates came one by one to get their yearbooks too. Wilbur, the former batch president and yearbook committee member, was also there to facilitate the distribution of the yearbooks. I also helped around, since I had nothing better to do while waiting for other friends who I knew would be going to school also.

- The highlight of the afternoon was seeing Leanne, Tina, Tal, and Jane. I haven't seen these people in a long while, and the lack of communication, thanks to thesis, bothered me a bit. Of course, I was also glad to see other batchmates whom I haven't seen since prom.

- Another big and unexpected highlight of the afternoon was seeing my friend Vanna. I haven't seen her since prom, but I still talked to her regularly through YM., and always telling her that I wanted to see her. I also told her to cook for me because she took up HRIM in Benilde.

- I still feel part guilty about not going to the group photoshoot this morning in Ateneo, but I feel that today was one of the most memorable days of my college life. Despite being a "black and white day," I guess this is where this ever-so-famous statement comes into place: "Simplicity is beauty."

Centuries: Our High School Yearbook is FINALLY Here!!

- November 24, 2010, Wednesday

- FINALLY, our high school yearbook is in our hands. Everyone thought that the yearbook would probably be finished after our college graduations - although this happened to our friends from La Salle and Benilde who graduated within the latter half of this year. They also received their college yearbook too. Interesting, isn't it?

- I met Marnie and Joanna earlier today to get our yearbooks and have lunch at Tasty Dumplings. The yearbooks were really supposed to be released in the afternoon, when someone from out batch would be assisting the CKSC office in distributing the yearbooks, but Joanna had classes this afternoon. Funny enough, we were able to get our yearbooks almost instantly, because I was "malakas" in the office, quoting Siensi Wailyn. Haha.

- We went straight to Ongpin after our short visit to CKSC. Before walking to Tasty, we checked out the newly-opened Korean grocery in Ongpin. I forgot the name of the grocery, but it's somewhere across the big President's Tea House, just before the bridge to Salazar Bakery.

- The owner of the restaurant was a nice Korean lady. I can't guess her age, but she seemed young, but I think she's old enough to be "married." The Filipina salesladies were also accommodating. I talked to the Korean lady in Korean, and as always, she was amazed. I told her that I spoke a little, but she got a bit carried away that she talked to me in straight Korean, encouraging me to study more. To those that I didn't quite understand, I just said yes (or "ne" in Korean.) HAHA.

- We arrived at Tasty around 11:30 in the morning, and had a really really big lunch; we even need to rest in between so our tummies wouldn't burst. We even went through the whole yearbook and reminisce our whole high school experience.

- The yearbook was sepia for the most part. I think this was better than the original black-and-white format. It also fit in with the title of our yearbook, which was "Memoirs '07." According to the Sharwin, the yearbook committee head, they wanted to have the looking-back-and-reminiscing kind of effect, and therefore, sepia. Seemed reasonable.

- After Joanna left for school, Marnie and I went to Tutuban to roam around and find something that Marnie needed for school. I was also able to find a very specific "Buddhist" store that sold everything related to Buddhism (from statues, charms, etc.) Although there exist many Buddhist stores not only in Tutuvban, this one, hidden on the top floor of Tutuban, sold kung fu sandals (more "open" than kung fu shoes) similar to the ones my late uncle had.

- Before passing away, he was supposed to let me have his pair of kung fu sandals, since they were still unused and that he wouldn't be able to use them anyway. Sadly, the sandals were too small for me, since my uncle had smaller feet. My mother asked where he bought those sandals, and my uncle said "a store selling Buddhist items somewhere on the upper floors of older Tutuban. (not the side with the National Bookstore)" It seemed easy to follow at first, but when my mom and I went to Tutuban before, we encountered several stores that sold Buddhist things, none of them selling the same kind of sandals my uncle had. My mom and I never checked the uppermost floor since we saw that there were no stalls there. Little did we know that one Buddhist store (that seemed to be a mini-temple inside a mall) was placed there. Today, I have found the store by accident, and I was able to buy the same kung fu sandals my uncle had. (By the way, my uncle's kung fu sandals, since no one would be able to use them, were cremated along with my uncle. Ahh, Chinese burial culture.)

- Marnie and I got tired moments later, and decided to go home - at least in her case. I on the other hand went back to CKSC and helped out in distributing the yearbooks. Sharwin and Thea were there, and we also waited for Bino to arrive after around an hour. Several batchmates also arrived to get their yearbooks, and I didn't miss the chance to take pictures of some of them. Haha. Since I was in CKSC already, I was also able to visit some friends from the (way way way way) lower batches. Yes, I do have that much "connections." Hahahaha,

- Today went pretty well, I suppose. Well I was thinking of spending the whole afternoon studying, but my social life took time away from study time. HAHA. Well, I still have tonight though, and it's not called cramming because I have laid out my schedule perfectly. I am also not in a rush. Still, I think this is just one of those little things that has the mark of "making most out of senior year." Heehee.

The Magical Free Tickets To Harry Potter 7 And The Mystical Flavors Of Gelato

- November 19, 2010, Friday

- My neighbor was able to win three tickets to Harry Potter 7 from her org in school. Sure, I did tell her that "I was available" if she wanted to give me one of the three tickets, but I never knew that she'd really give me one of the tickets. Charmaine invited me last night if I wanted to go to Trinoma with her and her sister today to watch HP7. Although I'm not really a big HP fan (I'm only a neutral consumer of HP movies,) I still said yes.

- Today, while riding the train, Charmaine suddenly remembered that she had forgotten to bring the tickets with her. She dashed back to Recto while Cheryl and I went ahead to Trinoma to meet Charmain's sticker supplier for her thesis equivalent's product.

- Charmaine was able to catch up pretty quickly, and we still made it to the 12:10 showing of the movie without sweat. We didn't bother to buy popcorn since we were going to have a notoriously late lunch after the movie.

- Harry Potter 7, for me, was a big cliffhanger, for obvious reasons (the other 50% of the movie will be showing next year.) I somehow appreciated the build up of the cumulation of the Harry Potter series, aside from the "coupling" phenomena of the certain characters. There weren't too many battle scenes too, to my relief. (I hate battle scenes, especially those that are not well-shot.)

- After watching Harry Potter, we had a small feast at Cyma. I'm not sure if it was Cheryl's first encounter with Greek food, or Cyma, but we did "surprise" her with Cyma's well-known "Oppa!!" ritual for dishes that are flambed in front of the customers. Cheryl was also surprised at the large serving of Cyma. (Again, Cyma's "single" salad can serve two to three, or even four people.)

- The three of us checked out Gelatissimo after lunch since the free tickets came with a buy-one-take-one promo in Gelatissimo. We just checked out the flavors because we were still full. The person behind the counter offered to let us taste all the gelato. Of course, I chose to taste the more unusual/not common flavors first (eg. Guava, Green Apple, etc.) I found out that Gelatissimo's each gelato do not make its flavor (too) artificial.

- Having an idea of which flavors to pick when we return there, we chose to walk around for a bit. We were able to taste Royce's chocolates, and I was able to buy a nice white jacket with musical notes and symbols printed all over it (cool right??) And as they say, or if no one else says, then it would just be me, Ateneans are never safe in Trinoma - aside from Gateway. We all saw random Ateneans scattered across the mall, and it felt like we weren in school instead of the mall.

- We returned to Gelatissimo after a short stroll, and finally ordered our own (buy-one-take-one) gelatto. I had rum-and-raisin, raspberry, and passionfruit. Interestingly, after the three flavors "married" inside my cup, the mixture had an "Indian sweet" aftertaste. I still can't decipher which Indian sweet it is though. I'm guessing it has something to do with anything containing rose syrup.

- We all went home after the really nice gelato dessert/merienda. I am very glad that I can now FINALLY rest my legs. They're still a bit sore from the David Archuleta concert the other day. Well, a fan's got to do what a fan's got to do.

NORTH (EDSA) is the "Other Side of Down": David Archuleta's (REAL) Meet-and-Greet

- Novemer 17, 2010, Wednesday

- NOW THIS IS WHAT I CALL A MEET-AND-GREET - when the fan actually meets and greets the object of fandom, unlike the previous less-than-10-minute veni-vidi-vici "meet-and-greet" episode. This time, Archuleta gave his fans a chance to meet and greet him, after the mini-concert.

- Here was how it went. I read the other day about Archuleta's second visit to the Philippines. The first 400 people that would buy his CD at the venue, SM City North EDSA's Sky Dome, would be privileged enough to sit (ehem, STAND) at the floor-sitting grounds (the closest possible "seats" to David,) and they would be able to let David himself sign the CD.

- Since I had no Wednesday classes, I went to SM North as early as possible. I was supposed to go with my former neighbor Riezeryl, but she backed out this morning. My other two companions, Dianne Sy and Dianne Krupasa, needed to go elsewhere before going to SM North. My friend Eric, however, wasn't sure if he would go or not. (He ended up going anyway.)

- Going to SM North itself was one hell of an adventure. After taking the LRT2 to Cubao, I was supposed to take the MRT to North Ave. However, the line at the ticket booth was longer than the mythical Chinese dragon. I decided later on to take a cab, which was another hassling chore. After finding a cab, which I dubbed as a heaven-sent cab, I gave the cab-driver a generous tip after getting off at SM North. It was early in the morning anyway, and maybe the driver hadn't had breakfast yet.

- I had to ask several guards how to get to the Sky Dome, since I never really went to the new-and-LARGELY-improved (pun intended) SM North. I ran towards the long line, which obviously was the people hoping to be included in the first 400 head count. After lining up, a person from the Archie fan club wrote numbers on our arms with an easily washable marker, just to organize the head counts. I was nervous since the line was equally notorious as the one I saw at the MRT station. Luckily, the person wrote "332" on my hand, which meant that I would be able to meet-and-greet the great and talented David Archuleta (who happens to be three months and three days younger than I am. Heehee.)

- When the "ticket" booth (no actual "tickets" were given, as the CDs or the SM ecobags bought at the venue were counted as "tickets") opened at 10am, the line slowly moved. I stood in the line for around 2.5 hours until I got my CD. Within that 2.5 hours, the girl in front of me fainted because of the sun's intense heat. Gladly, her mother was there to assist her, and I, as well as the person in front of them, assisted the mom by holding some of the things. I was in charge of holding her water bottle. Haha. The girl regained consciousness almost instantly, but it was also a traumatic experience to see someone faint in front of me. I can tell that she wasn't "lying," just in case people would say that she was putting up an act, since the girl became very pale.

- After buying my CD, I waited for the two Diannes and Eric to finish their classes. I also had a quick lunch in Jollibee, and bought 4 Burger Yums to go just in case I/we got hungry while waiting in line for the entrance. It was also a given that my three companions were not going to be part of the first 400 people.

- I walked around the mall, trying to comfort myself, but I just kept on worrying since my companions hadn't arrived, and feared that the wouldn't be able to buy CDs or ecobags, and not be able to attend the mini-concert all together. I also had a Bailey's gelato treat at Art's Cream Gallery. (Yum.)

- I went back in line, this time for the entrance, and was privileged to be one of the first few people to line up. (The line for the entrance didn't follow the number that was written on our arms; it was back to the first-come-first-served basis.) The next few hours were uneventful, and stood-and-sat alternately. I really wished I had brought my PolSci readings to brush up on what I have read the other day; we will be having a short quiz tomorrow. At least I worried less when I saw my neighbor Dianne arrive, and that she was able to buy CDs and ecobags for herself and the other Dianne.

- When the gates opened at around 4pm, we enterd excitedly, of course. We realized, however, that we "VIPs" were not really treated as VIPs. We VIPs were asked to stand (and squish each other) while waiting for eternity, or rather, until David comes out. The ones in the bleacher (the ones who didn't make it to the 400-people cut off, but were able to buy ecobags and CDs, and can't let Archie sign their CDs,) were seated COMFORTABLY at the back seats. At least waiting for Archuleta for a good 3-hour additional waiting time was more bearable.

- Dianne Sy notified me that they, the two Diannes, were seated. Eric also told me that was in the house. I just gave them their numbers to each other so they could find each other, and because my phone was about to run out of juice. Interestingly, I also saw my friend Bernadette from afar with her UST uniform. I called her up to verify, and we saw each other too.

- VJ Julz of Myx came out around 7pm, and welcomed the crowd to the event. I honestly think that VJ Julz was prettier in person; I wasn't fond of her each time I saw her on Myx - but I had to before because of thesis. Aside from the usual greetings, we were surprised to know that there would be an opening act - a sing-and-dance trio that consisted of Rodjun Cruz, Edgar Allan Guzman, and Lucky Mercado (the "Akin Ka Na Lang" Close-up Toothpaste commercial endorser.) Obviously everyone wanted them to end their performance so the people can see David himself. Still, I thought that the three of them performed really well. They also gave their all, even if they were "just the opening act." They were quite funny too.

- The man himself appeared after several stallings by the opening act and VJ Julz herself. He sang three songs, Escalator, Crush, and Something 'Bout Love. I really like how the songs were sung in semi-acoustic; I'm not fond of drums and such. As opposed to the large backup crew David had last year in the Cookchuleta concert, he only had an awesome Mexican guitarist to back him up, or to accompany him when David played the piano while singing Crush.

- David said "mahal ko kayo" and "salamat po." It was the cutest thing ever. HAHA.

- Just as the autograph signing session was being finalized, such as positioning the table numerous times as if the staff was following some sort of Feng Shui ritual, I finally saw the two Diannes and Eric talking to each other. I waved and waved, until Eric saw me. Gladly, they were able to come closer (but not inside the VIP area of course,) and I asked them to take a photo of me as I was getting my CD autographed; taking pictures with David while we were letting him sign our CD was prohibited. (Boohoo.)

- I know I froze a bit, and maybe "stupid" not to have shook David's hand, as I was still in disbelief that he was in front of me, signing my CD. At least I talked to him -

David: Hi!!
Gilbert: Hi David!!
*David signs quickly*
Gilbert: Thank you very much David!!
David: Ok!!
**the best conversation of the day**

- I met up with my companions and took more pictures at the "photo booth." We also decided to have a quick dinner at the nearby Trinoma, since the MRT was connected to Trinoma. We ate at the Food Court, as we all got to know each other. I got to know Dianne Krupasa, and Eric got to know the two Stephenians and vice versa.

- Right now, I still don't want to listen to my David Archuleta CD, since I've been hearing the album being played in the mall the moment I lined up this morning, until the time I set foot in the Sky Dome. I think the fans were a bit tired of listening to the CD over and over again too, even if they still find themselves singing to the songs, especially when "Something 'Bout Love" was played. Still, it was different experiencing David Archuleta himself perform, even if it was just a short short concert. Again, at least it wasn't like the joke-time "meet and greet" last year.

- I also realized that if I combine the minutes that I "sat down" the whole day (before I arrived home that is,) I think the total "sitting-time" wouldn't have lasted an hour. My legs are still very sore from standing, and I now appreciate chairs more (yes, I do realize that it's possible to sit anywhere, even without a chair.) Well, a fan's got to do what a fan's got to do. :|:|:|:|

- THANK YOU FOR VISITING OUR LITTLE (BUT PROUD) COUNTRY AGAIN. PLEASE COME AGAIN. MABUHAY AND GOD BLESS~~~~

On Your Toes: Divisoria Surprise!!

- November 16, 2010, Tuesday, Eid al'Adha

- My friend Mac woke me up from my deep slumber early this morning through a text message saying that he and his groupmates were in the Divisoria-168 vicinity to buy certain items for their Leadership and Strategy class (thesis counterpart for business courses in school.) He asked if I wanted to tag along (and be an interpreter,) unless I didn't want to.

- I haven't seen Mac in a long while, so I obviously agreed. I took a bath, changed, and dashed to the trikes parked in front of our building, still half-asleep. Upon arrival at 168, still half-asleep, and realized that I couldn't find the escalators for some odd reason. I approached the concierge, and asked where the "LRT" was to the upper floors. Good thing I corrected myself when the lady gave me a weird daze.

- I was able to meed Mac and Janelle in the 168 Foodcourt after walking several rounds at the Foodcourt, trying to look for those two. Moments later, I met Mac and Janelle's two other groupmates, AJ and Madel. Later on, their groupmate Cy tagged along too.

- The six of us went around 168 to scout for the items needed for their small business. We even needed to go to Divisoria because some things can only be found there, and prices in Divi were also cheaper. However, going to Divisoria (even from nearby 168) was the biggest pain in anyone's behind. There was a literal ocean of people, and from my experiences, I think this crowd was worse than the ones I encountered in Quiapo. I guess today being a holiday was also a factor.

- After going around Divi for several minutes, with me trying to bargain with the Chinese salespeople occasionally, we sat down for lunch at the food court. Waiting for vacant chairs was also a bit tiring, although the ones who got to dine first were sensitive of the amount of people waiting for them to finish their food (so they can sit and eat.)

- After eating a fast lunch, we searched for the remaining things that hadn't been crossed of the list, and had to go through the same old jam-packed crowd. It was also amusing that we were able to see some people we knew in 168; apparently they were also hunting for things for their own LS business thingies. I also saw my old friend Pei Mei. :D:D:D:D

- Before walking home (trikes can't even pass through the crowd,) I was privileged enough to try Mac's group's produce (flavored green tea, but not as sweet as C2 products.) At least I am hydrated enough to walk home, rest, and pray for being lucky for tomorrow's event. :D:D:D:D

A Starter to Sem Break Part 2?? - Maybe, Maybe Not.

- November 15, 2010, Monday

- Because of my no-class Mondays, Grace being a graduate, and Marga not having classes in the afternoon, we all decided to watch Easy A today. As always, the plan was for me to go to DLSU, wait for Marga to finish her stuff, and wait for Mary Grace to fetch us with her car. However, the simple "plan" turned out to be a wild goose chase from McDonald's, to Kenny Rogers, to the many odd ends of the La Sallian territory, and meeting several people I know along the way (with matching La Sallian wonder and fake-rage of stepping on La Sallian soil.)

- We arrived at MOA around two in the afternoon, and immediately headed towards the cinema to buy our Easy A tickets. While we were walking the long walkway, a stall in the middle caught our eye. The stall that may be selling beauty products was manned by several foreigners, to our surprise. One specific salesman engaged us too much by telling us in a really "creepy" that he wanted to "show something." He was holding a box, and we didn't know what was in the box. Since we didn't want to be bothered by him, we were a bit in a hurry to get an earlier screening of the film, we just told him properly that we were not interested. The foreigner kept on insisting, and attempted to engage in small talk by asking what movie we were going to watch. He even followed us for several meters, which added to the creepiness; I do think he was being friendly though, but maybe he still wasn't too keen on the concept of "personal space." Since I was interested to know which country he came from (just in case I had the chance to practice one of the languages that I knew,) I simply asked where he came from. He said he came from Israel. (Drat. I don't speak Hebrew. Wanna learn Hebrew some day. Seriously. :|:|:|:| ) To sound a teeny weeny bit like an Israelite, I just said "shalom!" He greeted me back. Hahahaha. By the way, the stall's name is "Jericho." :D:D:D:D (Again, disclaimer: I am not being "racist" about all this, just in case someone reacts. I'm just saying that the salesperson was a bit too engaging, although the effort of being friendly and warm to his customers was seen and appreciated. He might just have shocked/ surprised us in the middle of walking towards the cinema and continued to talk nonstop. Israel is a beautiful and holy country home to one of the most beautiful people on Earth.)

- After buying tickets, we realized that we had around ten minutes before the theater would let people in. Great, just enough time for popcorn. Marga and Grace chose to buy a small bucket of plain popcorn. Since the plain popcorn didn't really taste like anything, Marga almost emptied the salt bottle halfway in order to "season" the popcorn. I told her that she and Grace might end up having kidney stones. Haha.

- I really wonder why there were a bit too many people in the mall for a weekday. Normally, the mall is "empty" during non-holiday weekdays. The cinema was also filled by a good number of people. Trust me, I really find this strange. Still, we all enjoyed Easy A. "Easy A" is a rom-com movie had a really light plot with highly amusing dialogue. I am also interested and "baffled" at the use of a highly-Catholic theme in the story, which is not really expected from the usual American film. A few plot twists also spiced up the rather "easy" movie.

- After the movie ended, we decided to roam around the mall and shop - well, at least they shopped. I did see a few interesting pieces while going around the mall. I saw an orange tee that I semi-liked with a pumpkin design at Topman, and a few "adventure" coats from the Surplus Shop. I even saw a yellow-and-black blet at oh-I-forgot-the-name-of-the-store, which really matched my bumblebee getup. Well, I didn't buy any of these since my mom doesn't like my spending a lot, and that I don't need new clothes anyway - I bought a few new clothes (with good bargains) during my birthday, so that settles that I guess.

- Walking in a big (**cough** ENORMOUS **cough**) is such a chore after several rounds, even if you're with people you like to hang out with. Of course, for those who know me, I was the first to suggest "eating" after every store that we went into.

- I don't know why Marga suggested eating at Sbarro, but she did, and we all wound up in Sbarro. I like Sbarro because of their variety of pan and deep-dish pizzas, not to mention the variety of pasta dishes and side-orders that can be matched with the pasta dishes. Maybe the dishes can be a bit pricey, but the serving is definitely American-sized.

- As always and forever, we rode home after a long mall trip while listening to K-Pop via Marga's or Grace's iPod. Grace and I squealed upon hearing SHINee sing, and Marga and Grace squealed upon hearing a Super Junior song. For some unknown reason, Grace's driving was a bit off today, and we all acknowledged that. We had a bumps, and might have hit a few humps, but it added a little thrill to the car ride (and at least those were small bumps and humps....I also run out of "-ump" words that would fit well here. Sorry. HAHA.)

- By the way, I named this entry as a "second part" of my "sem break," since I would be having a roughly 10-day vacation this week, just after classes had started last week. had two weekdays off, and all the other days were hit by school and national holidays. I only need to go to class on Thursday, where almost half of my classes on that day are either affected by the academic event, or the nice prof gave a free cut. (The classes left are fun and nice classes too. Yay!!)

- Another thing, thank you Multiply for fixing yourself after almost 24 hours. I feared you wouldn't resurrect. :|:|:|:|



Small talk of the day:

(Marga trying on flip-flops in the department store.)

Marga: Mukha bang mataba paa ko?? (Do these sandals make my feet look fat??)

Mary Grace: Marga, mataba na talaga paa mo. (Marga, you had fat feet to begin with.)

(HAHAHAHA.)

"Going to MOA was Megamind's Idea." - Bless and Gil

- November 6, 2010, Saturday

- Bless and I were obviously discontented with last night's short adventure with the gang. Since most of the gang were not available today, Bless and I decided to go to MOA to watch a movie after my orientation in Ahead Reveiw Center.

- We arrived at MOA around noon, and bought tickets to the 3:45 screening of Megamind 3D before eating lunch at Sakae Sushi. Sure enough, we availed the sushi buffet, since we wanted to eat out hearts out in celebration of a very-well spent semestral break.

- While almost giving up on eating and paying the bill, we went around MOA to settle our tummies before going to the cinema and availing our free popcorn. As we almost rolled around the mall, we came across really neat winter clothing that obviously didn't suit the country's climate. I also got a chance to try on a pair of Uggs that actually fit my large fat feet. Of course I didn't buy the pair of Uggs since my parents will kill me if I did, and I wouldn't really use them anyway in this tropical country of smiles.

- We arrived at the cinema around 3-ish, got our popcorn buckets, and proceeded to the theater. As we were expecting the usual credits to roll, we were surprised by two cinema staff who held their microphones, and welcomed us guests to the cinema. Instead of playing trailers of upcoming movies, we played two rounds of Winema (Wii + cinema.) All of us were tasked to raise our arms, and move them side to side, depending on the game. The first game we played was to move a lever from side to side to prevent "Chuckie" (yes, the cow on Nestle's Chuckie) from falling. The second game was to move Chuckie walk from left to right so he could catch the falling Nestle Chocolait tetra packs from the sky. Hahahaha. Funny.

- After the epic winema thing, the screen immediately played the movie. Megamind, for me, was a movie of cliches, although the witty nuances in the movie, from the animation to some punchlines, amused me. I was able to predict a lot of the lines and maybe the ending, but the movie did touch my heart in a way. It allowed the viewers to realize that "sticking to the status quo" will not always be the best thing to do (take that High School Musical!!) Hahahaha.

- We went home immediately after watching the movie, as the sun has just set. Although there were only two of us today, we did a lot of reminiscing from high school until now, and felt very thankful that things happened the way the did - at least most things. Again, I am hoping for having more exciting years to come, and that careers and big titles attached to surnames will not hinder us from hanging out, chilling, and having fun. :D:D:D:D

Oh-I-Haven't-Seen-You-People-A-Few-Days-Ago Adventure!!: Rockband With Dear HS Classmates. :D:D:D:D

- November 5, 2010, Friday, Diwali

- After Abi accompanied me to UST, I waited at Starbucks Dapitan to meet my HS classmates - the usual gang. After seeing them, we went to U-Steak, a nearby eatery, and waited for Bernadette and Oliver to arrive. Since Oliver told us to go ahead, we immediately headed towards Usturias, a computer shop found in Asturias Street, and waiting for a Rockband-room to be vacated. Oliver arrived shortly too.

- After having a room for all eight of us, we book the room for two hours of craziness. I strained my vocal chords every time I had the mic, since I sang most of the time. Again, it's never a good idea to give me the mic, especially during Rockband sessions. Hahahaha.

- The two hours that we had was a long-but-fun experience. I guess the bigger fun that we had was looking for a restaurant for dinner. While ranting about not wearing my shiny yellow rainboots, I think the conversations during the big search were quite random and quirky.

- Soon, we decided to eat at Pong's, an eatery-type "restaurant" found somewhere near Espana (someone correct me if I'm wrong,) and they serve typical Filipino food. The price range is quite student-friendly, and the place is (surprisingly) owned by a Chinese couple.

- After the meal, that Oliver generously paid for (advanceeeee happy birthday!!,) we started to head home; it was already around 9 in the evening. Bless, Marvinson, and I went to the nearby Wendy's to meet up with Bless' sister who was studying there. Marvinson and Bless' sister had a short talk about medical school, which alienated Bless and me. Bless and I just talked about the French language. Hahahaha.

- I arrived home after a short trike, together with Bless and her sister, who were also my neighbors. I arrived home really happy because I got to have two separate adventures today (the other one in the previous entry.) What made me happier was that our gang really made the most out of our sem break by going out as much as possible. Hey, we won't have "sem breaks" for the rest of our lives. Still, I do wish that I'd get to hang out with these people even after decades. :D:D:D:D

Diwali Mubarak!!: A Visit to Manila's Little India during Diwali!!

- November 5, 2010, Friday, Diwali

- Like most of my recent adventures, this was also a random, last-minute-planned trip that I brought together last night. Just before going to sleep, my friend Shiveena greeted everyone a "Happy Diwali" through her facebook, which made me panic; maybe the stores would be closed for the day, and the temple might not allow non-Hindus to enter due to the ceremonies and such. It was a good thing that I thought of calling all the places we wanted to go to before leaving the house. Gladly, all the stores, and even the temple, were open today. Diwali by the way is an Indian holiday of lights; almost all (if not all) Indic religions have their own reason for celebrating diwali, but the word "light" will never be missing.

- In this late-morning-'til-early-afternoon adventure, I was accompanied by my neighbor and Abi. Abi is Charmaine's former schoolmate, and my friend as well via our MTG days during elementary to high school. Abi told me about that she wanted to have an adventure with me, especially to Little India, ages ago. Today, it was all our lucky day: out first adventure to Little India - DURING DIWALI.

- My neighbor and I waited for Abi at Times Plaza, the minimall beside the UN LRT station. Since Abi thought that the trip wouldn't push through, she overslept. Charmaine called her up and clarified that the trip would indeed push through, and that we were waiting for her at the minimall. Abi promptly prepared herself, and arrived at the minimall around half an hour later.

- As always, we first visited the Sikh temple (only from the outside,) and shopped for groceries in Assad Minimart. Just as my friend Shiveena warned me the night before after telling her about my plan to go to Little India, the people there were panic-buying food items and other religious items. I was lucky to have bought the usual ladoos, black jamuns, and samosas.

- After arriving at the next-door Talwar's Indian Grocery, Abi was fascinated by all the DVD's, and claimed all the women there as Aishwarya Rai. Coincidentally, the Indian owner of the store was watching a movie with Aishwarya in it. Haha. I pointed out to Abi that the women in the television was the Aishwarya she was looking for. I also bought two money envelopes as souvenirs for my two companions. Of course, they did't know I bought them yet.

- I visited Simron's next, where my companions bought Indian Maggi. The lady in the shop always forgot that I spoke Hindi, and that she was, again, surprised that I did. She thought I was Nepalese, maybe because of my appearance, or my actual Nepalese clothing - I wore my shirt especially for diwali. Speaking of me speaking in Hindi, I unintentionally mix Korean with Hindi, usually replying "ne" or "de" instead of "(ji) han" to people. The former is Korean and the latter Hindi, both of which meant "yes." This is because of my recent immersion in everything-Korean. Hahahaha. At least I was still able to understand what they were telling me, and I was able to respond properly after conditioning myself to speak in Hindi, not Korean.

- Next on the agenda was our epic lunch in Assad Cafe. Since it was directly 12 noon, the place was jam-packed with people, Indians, and non-Indians alike. The non-Indians usually come from nearby companies like Nissan and Unilever.

- The three of us were able to find seats near the door almost instantly, but it took forever for the waiter to come and clean our table, and take our orders. I couldn't blame them though, it was a peak time of the day, and the other customers were far more demanding. Haha. While waiting for our table to be cleaned, I revealed my small surprise for them: the very colorful money envelopes.

- The three of us has mutton quorma (or spelled "korma" in other restaurants,) mutton miryani, and Kashmiri fish curry. The quorma was supposed to be chicken, but the restaurant ran out of beef, chicken, and flat breads. :|:|:|:| It's a shame that Abi wasn't able to experience the "Indian way" to eat: HAND(S) AND BREAD. :D:D:D:D Still, I think Abi had a good meal, along with her mango lassi.

- As the rain started to pour outside, we were trying to figure out if we would go to the temple via trike, or via foot. Gah. They day I decided not to wear my boots, it rains - HARD. :|:|:|:| We decided to ride a trike since one was already conveniently parked outside the restaurant. Still, my Sanuk weren't safe. Again, the day I decided not to wear my shiny yellow rainboots. :|:|:|:|

- We arrived at the temple moments later, and was greeted by the guard and the suddenly-there flower vendors (they sold sampaguita garlands that people would use to offer the gods) with "Happy Diwali."

- The three of us proceeded to the second floor to visit the gods, meeting several friendly Indians, whom I greeted with a humble "namaste," followed by "Diwali mubarak" or "Happy Diwali." Upon arriving at the second floor, I met Mr. Dumri again, one of the high priests of the temple, and was again playing his harmonium. I greeted him, and had some Hindi small talk with me. He asked me where I got my shirt. Haha. Now that I'm writing this blog, I realized that he might have recognized my shirt as Nepalese because Mr. Dumri IS a Nepalese. Hahahaha.

- I proceeded to introducing Abi to all the gods, telling their stories and why they appeared to be such. We all took pictures with the gods since they were all "dressed up" specially for Diwali.

- Before leaving the temple, Ashok Maharaj, the other high priest, entered the prayer hall. I also greeted him, had some Hind small talk, before leaving the temple.

- We all rode the rike to the LRT station, and rode the train home. Well, to be exact, Charmaine was the only one who needed to go home. Abi accompanied me to UST since I needed to meet another set of friends (to be blogged after this,) and Abi needed to do something in UST.

- Even if I didn't wear my boots today, I think this was one of the most special Little India trips I've had mainly because of Diwali. Of course I'm not saying that all my other trips were insignificant; all of my trips, even those not in Little India, are very dear to me. It's just that I was able to celebrate my first-ever Indian holiday today, wearing an Indian shirt, in Little India, as a way to have a break from watching the Vishnupuran series (an Indian series about Vishnu and his avataras) I'm watching this sem break.

Konnichiwa!! Watashi Ga Origami No Sekai De Arimasuuuuuu!!!! Kawaiii Desu-yo!!

- November 4, 2010, Thursday

- I was never really a fan of random/unplanned adventures and stuff, but seriously, I have been bored the past few days. I haven't really done anything productive lately, aside from trying to learn Japanese, and trying to finish the epic-long Vishnupuran series (it's a Hindi series about Vishnu's life, from his birth until his Krishna avatar.)

- After being interviewed online for Clarisse' thesis, I decided to go to Clarisse' house since she told me that she and her siblings were going to make origami stuff while she was taking a break from her thesis. Since I haven't folded a decent paper model in, oh say, the last century, and my boredom wasn't doing me any good, why not?

- I arrived at Clarisse' house minutes later, and folded paper cranes while munching on a moist chocolate cake from Max. Clarisse was also finishing her interview with our friend (who also happens to be my indirect nephew,) and I decided to butt in the online interview once in a while. Hahahaha.

- After talking nonstop and folding nonstop, we heard Clarisse' mom call us for dinner. Of course, I tagged along too, although I was really about to go home around that time. It was nice to see Clarisse' parents and grandmom again, since I saw them last the previous forever ago. Clarisse' mom also gave me a small block of vanilla-flavored Korean ice cream, and three small bars of chocolates from their trip to Korea a few months ago.

- Clarisse' dad needed to go some place else after dinner, and offered to give me a ride home; he was going to pass by somewhere around my area anyway. I was pretty thankful that her dad offered the ride, since it was dark outside already, even if I do think I can make it home on my own. Hahahaha.

- While I was being driven home, I realized that I should've gone to Clarisse' house earlier in the afternoon. Well, I was about to go to Little India anyway with a friend, although my friend backed out because of the sudden invitation. Haha. Still, the really short latter half of the afternoon was one of the exciting things that happened this week, let alone the extremely-fat dimsum afternoon I had yesterday. :D:D:D:D

Fat Afternoon: Who Can Resist Unlimited Dimsum??

- November 3, 2010, Wednesday

- My friend Genevieve, aka Bebang, and I planned a dimsum afternoon yesterday. Since she wasn't available yesterday, we hoped that we'd be able to have one today. Bebang told me about Golden Fortune's unlimited dimsum + shabu-shabu, which I didn't believe at first, since I've never heard of such promo from Golden Fortune. I called all branches to verify, and they told me that they only had the discounted dimsum and shabu-shabu that some of my friends and I have feasted on before.

- Bebang told me that the she saw the poster about the promo at the new Golden Fortune branch in Pacific Centre, the newly-opened mini-mini-mall in Quintin Paredes. Since I was curious about Bebang's claim, I decided to check it out myself. We'd still avail the discounted dimsum + shabu-shabu anyway if the unlimited dimsum + shabu-shabu promo was anything but real.

- We met in front of Jollibee Masangkay around 2:40 in the afternoon after the short heavy rain. (I even wore my bright yellow boots just in case the rain wouldn't stop.) We walked all the way to Binondo, where I even met Bebang's sister's classmates; they were on the way to McDonald's Binondo. Haha.

- We reached Pacific Centre after a long walk, and indeed, the promo was real. For 338php per head, a person can order as much dimsum, soup, soup-noodle bowls, dry-noodle dishes, and shabu-shabu items, and one round of either iced tea or milk tea. The waitress gave us a long list of the chosen items that were inclusive of the promo. This is enough to say that Bebang and I ordered as much dimsum and shabu-shabu items as we wanted, and thought of finishing. By the way, if all the food weren't consumed, the person would have to pay 888php instead of 338php.

- Bebang and I spent around 3 hours finishing everything we ordered. We went to the restaurant with the sun semi-shining, and left the restaurant with the sun preparing to depart the Philippines. Still, we had a terrific time in the restaurant, talking endlessly as if we don't talk a lot online - then again it's always different to talk to people face-to-face.

- As of now, the waitress told us that they had no word from the management about the promo's termination. No dates were also present in the poster. Still, I think the 338php-per-head promo is worth it, especially for big eaters like me, and a lot of my friends. I guess this branch had this promo since it's a bit hidden or far from the "mainland" Chinatown. Still, I'm still a bit "disappointed" since the shrimp hakaw that I love so much wasn't part of the promo. That's just me anyway. :D:D:D:D

My Hardbound Thesis and the Ringbound Defense-Ready Draft

- November 2, 2010, Monday

- Here are the two copies of my thesis about the Hallyu phenomenon (a.k.a. Korean Wave) in the Philippines. The hardbound one is the final (edited) copy that will be submitted to the department, and the ringbound one was the draft I used during my defense last Sept. 29, 2010.

*happy sob*

PHASES 2010: CKSC Unleashes Thespian Skills In St. Paul Pasig

- October 29, 2010, Friday

- Chosen students from my alma mater, Chiang Kai Shek College, were asked to participate in a one-act play competition, organized by St. Paul Pasig's Teatro Paulino entitled "Phases," with the theme of "teenage morality." Most members were from the Moving Actors' Society of Chiang Kai Shek (College,) or fondly known as "MASCKS" - the club I grew up in. The contestants were handled by Mrs. Ong, one of the English teachers in CKSC. I initially had nothing to do with the contest, although they knew that I would support them no matter what, and no matter how I would show my support.

- A few weeks ago, Mrs. Ong asked me to assist her in directing the students, along with Mrs. Villaver, the loving adviser of MASCKS, and Mr. Villaverde, another great English teacher in school. Since the students had only two to three weeks to practice, I tried as much as I can to attend practices, and help them out.

- Today, I went to CKSC early in the morning, excited, and joined the cast in the viewing room of CKSC. They were preparing their hair and make-up, and finalizing things before the competition. Robina's mom, my nursery teacher, also bought breakfast for all of us from Jollibee. *Thank you very much!!* As we rode the minibus to St. Paul - which by the way was the second time I've ridden the "new" CKSC minibus - we tried to calm ourselves by running through some slightly unpolished lines in the play, and listening to Sir Villaverde sing random songs in his infamous falcetto. Haha.

- This afternoon, many schools, seven in all, were gathered in the St. Paul auditorium to compete against each other. Before the teachers and I, as well as some of the crew, sat on our seats, we all joined the cast for retouches and whatnots at the backstage dressing room. We were also joined by Miks, a senior high school student in St. Paul, who was assigned to usher and escort us throughout the whole day. Miks was really nice, and she really made us feel at home. The cast bonded with her more as the other schools performed (the cast and crew weren't allowed to watch other entries,) and I think our crew found her "cute."

- My companions and I (teachers, and some people from the crew) felt that our school had a chance to win, although we did feel that some schools performed really well (even better.) However, there were also entries that assured us that CKSC indeed would have a really good chance of winning.

- In the end, CKSC didn't win, but we bagged the Best Actor Award. The recipient was none other than Henry Morco, a gifted child, and an amazing friend. We didn't feel bad since the winners, especially Miriam College High School who won first, did give justice to their one-act play. Their minimalist set was given color by the simple-yet-unforgettable characters, who delivered their lines clearly, and didn't make the story dragging.

- After the winners were announced, we packed out things quickly, since it was already around six-thirty, and headed for the bus. We all said our goodbyes to Miks, and headed toward CKSC. All of us who were able to be part of the audience narrated to the cast and crew how the other entries went; it was also a way to lighten up those who might have been a bit down from not winning. We also told them that we might have been in the top three, but CKSC was most likely in the fourth place. True enough, Miks texted Mrs. Ong, thanking all of us for the great time she had with the cast and crew, and revealed to us that we were indeed in the fourth place. "See? We told you, we weren't lying!! We know how to evaluate," Mr. Villaverde emphasized, after Mrs. Ong read Miks' text message.

- We all had a safe trip to school, stopping at random points to drop off some people, and best of all, we arrived at CKSC smiling, laughing, and still amazed at Henry's award. Well, CKSC hadn't joined in contests like these, for some reason, and it was a good experience nonetheless. That's why we kept telling ourselves that fourth place was already good. We knew where we lacked, and we knew where to improve ourselves. Hopefully, CKSC will let these students joined in next year's Phases.

The Weather Vortex and Teleportations: Kozui and Serendra

- October 27, 2010, Wednesday

- I started the day by wearing my Filipiniana-inspired outfit, meeting my neighbor, and going to Soler to wait for the ever-so-reliable Danicar. Charmaine and I met Zachary, which was a surprise, since we didn't know that he was going with us on our adventure today.

- The Danicar came later with Danica and Eric, and we were on our way to Kozui Green Tea for lunch. Kozui Green Tea is found somewhere in Tomas Morato, and serves really affordable Japanese dishes (around a hundred something to two hundred per dish,) drinks, and desserts. The restaurant, however, doesn't have credit card machines; all payments can only be made via cash. I think a lot of health buffs out there would also appreciate this restaurant since a lot of the items on the menu also use green tea as a primary, or secondary ingredient.

- After a really inexpensive, light but filling meal, we all headed to the Ateneo to pay out tuition fees. Since other year levels are enlisting today, or will enlist in the next two days, the school was almost empty. Paying was a breeze, and walking around school felt a bit awkward because of the lack of people. While waiting for Danica's driver, Mang Fernando, we sought shelter in the MVP Basement's Loyola Bookstore after the heavy heavy rain fell. We hoped that the rain would stop soon since we didn't want the rain to spoil our trip to Serendra.

- Danica told us that Katipunan had a rain magnet, or vortex of some sort, since storms and rains usually like to hang out around that area, while all the other areas, like Manila or Makati, are still dry. Weird enough, I had the same sentiments too. After Mang Fernando came, we all headed towards The Fort. The moment we got out of Quezon City, the rain became lighter, and ultimately stopped when we reached The Fort. It didn't seem to rain in The Fort earlier, since the roads in Taguig were dry. Well, only proves Danica's theory more.

- We first went to the newly-opened Muji store everyone's fussing about. The things in Muji were a bit expensive, although I think their clothes are more or less reasonably priced, given that it is a Japanese brand, and they're of high quality. I also found the PERFECT UGGS for me, but they (so far) only come in small and medium sizes. I have big feet (size 9.5~10,) so fail. :|:|:|:|

- After leaving Muji, we went to Fully Booked, looked around, saw nice (but expensive) things, and walked around Boni High and Serendra.

- We decided to have an early early dinner in Conti's, since we had nothing better to do, and Zach insisted on going home early, since he needed to meet up with "someone." *ehem ♥♥♥♥ ehem* Well I guess our big big dinner took away some time, as well as a few last minute shopping (food shopping that is) by some people.

- We all got home pretty early (six something to seven in the evening,) although the sky was already pitch-dark. I can feel the Christmas air starting to envelop the city; it also helps that Christmas songs are starting to be played more and more in stores everywhere. Still, for now, I hope for a great last semester, despite being "lucky" to have taken a supposedly terror prof in theology, a subjects I almost always have a hard time in. For everyone not involved in the academic world, advanced Merry Christmas!! Cheers to more (hopefully more exciting) adventures!! :D:D:D:D

KFC: Koreatown, Ferry/Fail, Chinatown with Cinq and Fajj :D:D:D:D

- October 25, 2010, Monday, Barangay Elections Day

- I met up with Bless after I voted for our barangay Kagawad with my mom and my sister. After meeting up with Bless, we both went to McDonald's so I could have breakfast before the long adventure. Surely, we dashed off to our beloved CKSC to meet Marvinson Fajardo aka Faj, and Bernadette. We met Nathalie in the Carriedo LRT station.

- The first agenda in our itenerary is Koreatown Makati's Masan Restaurant. Again, it's the restaurant where the loving Ms. Lee serves everyone with quality Korean food while wearing her hanbok (the Korean national costume.) Since my companions also took interest in "a kind woman with a hanbok," I decided to ask her to have a picture with us. I also got to practice my Korean with her. She seemed to understand me. Yay!! By the way. We got a bit lost on our way to Masan for some strange reason. It's like saying me being lost in Chinatown. Haha.

- After lunch, we went to Wang Mart to buy some Korean ice cream and a few Korean groceries. The kind "uncle" who owned the restaurant welcomed us, and I talked to him in Korean. Since I told him that I was Chinese, he told his daughter to talk to me in Chinese. His young daughter spoke well. As she spoke to me in Chinese, I talked to her in Korean. It was really a fun experience, and a reassurance that I can indeed speak "understandable" Korean, even just a little.

- We went back to Powerplant to stroll a bit, before catching the 4pm Pasig River ferry. We stopped by the arcade to kill time, and headed towards the ferry at around quarter to four.

- After arriving at the ferry terminal, the guard told us that the ferries won't be sailing today because it's a holiday. Surely, I was pissed, since I wanted to share my Pasig River experience to my friends, although we just laughed about how some of the "nice" things or tourist attractions close or aren't available during holidays, right when people have the time to experience or visit them. (So what's the point right?) This was the "fail" part of the adventure.

- So we won't waste any more time, we just walked towards the MRT, and decided to go to Chinatown, earlier than expected, and walk around the new minimall in Chinatown named "Pacific Centre." Pacific Centre doesn't have a lot inside yet. It only has a few stores inside, although quite a few restaurants can be found at the ground floor (not accessible from the inside.) Pacific Centre also has a yogurt place named "Yogi Haus." It's a really tiny (and pocket-friendly) yogurt place. Each serving of yogurt (in slightly medium sized cups) costs 60php for the regular yogurt, and 80php for the flavored yogurt. Each (generous amount of) topping costs 20php. Cheap right?

- At around 6pm, the five of us walked towards Seattle's Best Gandara to have dinner, and to meet Oliver at the same time. Oliver works there. It was also a good thing that Erlyn was able to join us during dinner.

- Since Oliver was an employee, he was able to "let us have" some of his benefits, including a free drink (just one, not one each,) and a certain amount of discount from the stuff we ate and drank. I was also lucky enough to meet Krisan and Jenesa there. They're two of my friends from the other class. :D:D:D:D

- I feel that we're pretty blessed today despite getting lost in the most unexpected places (places that I am supposed to know my way around,) or that we weren't able to hop aboard the Pasig River Ferry. Then again, I was able to meet up with good friends, especially Faj whom I last saw last June 2009. It was also fun to see Oliver at work with his uniform and all, and Hansen, another batchmate who happened to work in Seattle's Binondo too. :D:D:D:D Cheers to more adventures and life. :D:D:D:D

The Moving Actors Society Of Chiang Kai Shek College (MASCKS): After 8 Years of Service

- School Year 2010-2011, my last MASCKS year.

- I have been part of the Moving Actors Society of CKSC (MASCKS) since I was in first year high school. During my 4 years in high school, I was an actor, pianist, choreographer, playwright, and many more. I rose from being a member, the assistant PRO, the head PRO, and a big leap of being the president in my senior year. After my high school graduation, I continued to serve MASCKS by being a visiting director, and an assistant lecturer in various workshops, especially acting workshops. I also got to have minor roles in MASCKS's plays during my college year.

- This photo album is filled with photos during my last year in MASCKS. I am more certain that it would be harder for me to return to MASCKS after college, since many roads await. However, this doesn't mean that I am letting go of MASCKS; it will always remain in my heart and I'll always remember it to be the family that shaped, changed, and added color to my seemingly monotonous life. It didn't only help me become a better actor, but a better person as well.

- I don't know what lies ahead of me, and neither does anyone. If I would be able to serve MASCKS in the future, then good. If not, it won't stop me from being a performer, educating people about the beauty of the empty stage, and the fulfillment of giving oneself to the world as a performer.

- Thank you very much for letting me be a part of MASCKS even after high school. I owe you big time!! ♥♥♥♥

Eat. Pray. Love. Tour. Eat. (Yes, There Are Two "Eat"s): Cebu-Bohol With SOM People.

- October 15-20, 2010, Saturday to Wednesday

- My awesome neighbor and a few friends planned a trip to Cebu and Bohol around a month ago, and invited me to come with them. I was initially hesitant to go because I knew I'd be spending a lot, and that I'd lose 5 days of adventure-ing with other people. Still, I agreed to go, obviously. I knew most of the people who were going anyway, and I'd want to experience having an out-of-town trip with friends; I've never had an out-of-town trip with friends before, not including field trips and camps.

Day 1: Cebu

- We arrived in Cebu around 8-ish in the evening, and was fetched by their friend Nathan. We initially thought that Nathan would only offer us a ride from the airport to the hotel. Little did we know that he would lend us his awesome driver and big van throughout our stay in Cebu.

- We arrived at the hotel, checked in, and brought some groceries in the town circle. We returned to the hotel shortly, and rested.

Day 2: Cebu

- After preparing ourselves, we went first to the Basilica Minore del Santo Nino. The church itself was more or less like any old Hispanic Filipino church; it reminded me of the Quiapo Church, especially with the people selling big balloons and colorful candles outside the church. The small museum within the church was also interesting because it showed the history of the church, as well as the past "costumes" that were used to adorn the Sto. Nino statues.

- We visited the Magellan's cross next, which was a few steps away from the church. One child accidentally let go of her Dora balloon, and the Dora balloon flew instantly to the ceiling of the small room. Dora instantly became a "new" tourist attraction. The foreign tourists who were there took pictures of the Dora balloon instead of the cross itself.

- We went to Fort San Pedro next, which was a few minutes away from the church. The fort looked like a smaller version of Fort Santiago, with cannons, bricks, and tourists. We even saw the Andalucian ship from afar that arrived in Cebu from Manila, but we were discouraged when we saw the exaggeratingly long line to the ship.

- After circling the fort, we had lunch at CNT, a chain of restaurants famous for their roasted pig or "lechon." I can tell that people loved the restaurant because of the long line of people. We even found out that some customers even came from other CNT branches, and were as full as hell too. Waiting was a big chore that tested everyone's patience; those who weren't patient enough to wait just left.

- After finally eating and finishing our plates of lechon, we went to Casa Gorordo. Casa Gorordo is a Spanish-style house that shows what houses looked like during the Spanish era, complete with antique furnitures and photos. It didn't take us long to go around the house.

- The last on our itenerary before dinner was the Taoist Temple located on top of a mountain. The temple was just like any other large temple, but the ambience of being on top of a mountain made it so much more unique than the other taoist temples in the country.

- After circling the ups and downs of the temple, we stopped by ay Ayala Place (a.k.a Greenbelt/Glorietta/Rockwell of Cebu,) and went to Cafe Georg afterwards, since Nathan already made a reservation for all of us. After arriving, we waited a few minutes for Nathan, and went in. He recommended a lot of dishes, all of which sounded good (even those that he didn't recommend sounded so good too!) We even had nice desserts afterwards. We planned to pay for Nathan's dinner, since he already did so much for us, but he rushed towards the counter and paid for all of us.

- After the incredible dinner, we all went to Tops. Tops is situated on top of a hill/mountain, where people can see the whole Cebu from above. (Note: Go there at night. The big lights will inspire you....let's here it for New Yo....oh wait, wrong city.) Willy's Taiwanese friend Ceclia tagged along with us too.

- Tops itself was amazing, but what made it more amazing was that I found out from a friend that I passed the philo final oral exam after checking out my prof's Multiply site for me. What better way to celebrate than shouting on top of a mountain/hill on top of my lungs from excessive happiness; I didn't do well in the midterm orals, so I was worried as hell for my final exam grade.

- We all went home after running around Tops, and rested for the next day's cruise to Bohol.

Day 3: Cebu-Bohol

- We left Cebu around 10:30 in the morning for Bohol via the Super Cat. The cruise lasted for more or less two hours, which meant a good-enough amount of time to catch up on sleep.

- After arriving, we were fetched by our hired van, and went first to the hotel so we could check in. We quickly fixed our things, and went to the Loboc River for our lunch-on-boat river cruise.

- We had a buffet-type lunch on the boat, though the food wasn't all that great (edible, but not fantastic.) Still, the view was calming. I also saw my friend Jin on the same boat, to everyone's surprise, since they never expected me to see someone I knew (our of the bajillion people I know) in Bohol.

- After lunch, and a nice performance by the natives of Bohol, we rushed to Sevilla Hanging bridge, the tarsier place, and drove through the awesome man-made forest while going from one place to another. The man-made forest looked good enough for the Twilight cast to do a scene there. Haha.

- We also took shots of the Baclayon Church, one of the oldest churches in the country, and drove to Aproniana Native Products Giftshop to buy souvenirs. :D:D:D:D Great!!

- Before heading home, we had a seafood dinner in a nearby mall, and hailed three cabs to the hotel.

Day 4: Bohol

- Day 4 was my most dreaded day in the itinerary. It was the day that we were supposed to go to E.A.T. Danao, a place for extreme sports like ziplining, kayaking, rock climbing, root climbing, and etc. For those who know me well, you all know how much I'm not a fan of extreme sports. Well I let others have their fun, while I went by my own definition of fun.

- While most engaged in extremely-wet, heart-dropping/tummy-churning, and force-requiring activities, I chose to visit the nearby organic farm to look around. Maybe the others didn't quite understand me not-wanting to join them, but I just let that go.

- I was welcomed by an empty house-like place in the organic farm. I went around the place, and looked at the herbs and vegetables that were planted. I saw a group of farmers huddled in a covered area, and seemed to be organizing baby plants. One of the women farmers asked a young one to accommodate me.

- Ricky, who seemed to be around 16~18 years old toured me around the farm, explaining everything from what they do and their planting techniques. It helped that I was interested in gardening, especially since I don't have a green thumb, and that I had my immersion for my theo class in Tayabas Quezon with farmers. We had good discussions on organic fertilizer, soil maintenance, and plant maintenance.

- Last, he showed me some bags and other handicrafts that they made. They seemed to be export quality, although not a lot of tourists buy them, according to Ricky, since they were highly-priced. What struck me the most was when he told me that all the farmers there were out-of-school youths who were invited by a foundation for a series of workshops not only in farming, but other things as well, like using computers. I was glad that Ricky and his fellows chose to be productive, and not be like other teens his age who have destroyed their lives further by doing illegal things.

- Ricky left me after the tour so he can go back to his work. I told him that I'll just go around the farm once again to take pictures of plants and insects. Later, I heard them laughing and talking loudly; it was already merienda time. One of them invited me to join then, but I humbly declined. However, as I passed by the back side of the house-like structure, Ricky held a plate with two bananacues and a glass of Coke, and insisted on joining them. Well, I didn't think I could still decline to that.

- I knew more about them as I sat down and talked to Dahlia. Most of the people there were scholars; Ricky was a scholar in agriculture. The other younger "farmers" weren't around since there were still in school. Their story somehow touched my heart, and opened me to hope that people who take steps in helping less fortunate ones do exist, and try to make the world a better place for everyone.

- I would have loved to learn more about them only if the van hadn't come sooner. Sadly, I had to go back to "mainland" Danao and meet up with my companions who just came from kayaking. While some of them wanted to rappel, others who didn't want to rappel stayed behind and sat on a sofa with me. I narrated my whole experience to them, and they told me that the experience was like an immersion for Ateneo's Th141 class (theology in the social context.) It was true though. Maybe the others were still a bit annoyed that I chose not to go with them, but hey, like I said, I didn't stop them from doing what they wanted to do in Danao.

- After the others came back from their around-one-hour rappelling, we all hurried to Mira Villa for another seafood dinner. When I say "hurry," I meant it literally. The drivers in Bohol (we had different drivers in our two-day stay in Bohol) drove so quickly that the van seemed to fly off the street. To think that Bohol is a hilly island, riding the van with that speed felt like a roller coaster ride.

- Our dinner in Mira Villa was a really messy one, mainly because of our spicy crab. Much heated debates by some people went on, and those who were tired of listening to them just talked about random stuff to keep our minds off the debates.

- We hurried back to the hotel and rested for an early trip the following day.

Day 5: Bohol-Cebu-Manila

- To "celebrate" our last day in Bohol, we all went to the beach in the morning before riding the Super Cat to Cebu. Again, for those who know me well, you all know how much I don't like the beach. Maybe I like the beach by itself, like, I like to look at it, but I don't enjoy being there. I don't like the sand and I don't like the salty sticky water. All the guys swam, but the girls and I just took pictures. Charlene and I ate breakfast at the beach's breakfast when we got very hungry.

- After around 2 hours in the beach, we headed back to the hotel to pick up our stuff, and went to the terminal to ride the Super Cat to Cebu. Like before, the two-hour travel time was used to catch up on sleep.

- We arrived at Cebu around 12:30 in the afternoon, and Nathan's driver picked us up again at the pier. We ate lunch at Flame It Burgers, and proceeded to do some souvenir shopping, and had a short visit to the Mactan Shrine before going to the airport.

- I wanted to skip the airplane part since it wasn't all that significant, except for the plane landing in Manila 30 minutes earlier than scheduled. All the passengers were surprised too. Well, at least less time to kill in the plane.

- I was glad that Cebu and Bohol weren't affected by the big storm that hit the Northern Philippines. Light drizzles or short heavy rains visited Cebu and Bohol, but nothing big. I was thankful that I managed to have some fun in Cebu and Bohol, even though I had been there when I was younger; I barely remember what I saw in Cebu and Bohol because I was too young to be interested in historical and cultural stuff back then. Maybe some of my companions felt that I didn't maximize my stay in Cebu for being too safe or "corny," but I didn't really feel that way. Maybe my only worry about being in Cebu and Bohol were my expenses from buying souvenirs for myself and for people I love, and getting fatter from all the nice food in Cebu and Bohol. Sometimes I also felt out of place when all the people around me started to talk simultaneously about SOM (School of Management) stuff, since all of them were from that department in the university. I on the other hand am from the School of Social Sciences (SOSS ♥♥♥♥). Still, I had a nice time with all of them. Kudos to everyone, especially my neighbor for planning this whole trip.

Doing Double, Seeing Double: A Saturday of Friends, Dices, Music, Food, and Twins :) :) :) :)

- October 2, 2010, Saturday

- I dropped by the CKSC basement, where the council had their mooncake dice game, to give my friend Robina's sister Robina's gift. It's her birthday today. Since I was already there, the people asked me to join in. (I wasn't going to, but they insisted. Haha. Besides, I had almost an hour to spare before my piano lesson.)

- It was fun to join them, although I wasn't able to complete the whole game. It was also nice of them to invite me, even if I'm not really part of the council anyway (since the day I graduated from CKSC. HAHA.) I do know a lot of them from before, but still, I was glad that the age gap didn't matter. :) :) :) :)

- After my piano lesson, I was able to see some people from the star section 2 years after mine, who also had their own little mooncake dice game in one of the classrooms in the 4th year hall. It was also a blessing to see them. I haven't seen people from their batch in ages, even those who studied in Ateneo as well.

- My stay in CKSC this afternoon was shortened after I met up with the twins, Oi Hing and Oi Kwan, at the waiting room. I haven't seen these two in a long time. It was a good thing that both of them were available today.

- Both of us went to Shakey's Masangkay (always and forever :)) :)) :)) :)) ) and ate a rather heavy early dinner. Still, attempting to finish the table-ful of dishes, with short "tummy rests" in between, was a good excuse to have a long stay in Shakey's and talk endlessly about our lives, even if we do get to talk regularly in YM. Heehee.

- I am glad that today went rather well, as opposed to a confusing, not-too-good, and rainy yesterday. I do hope that the coming days would be nice to me. (Please.) Finals week is coming up in two weeks. :|:|:|:|

TWINS WILL BE TWINS: Birthday 2010 (And the Afternoon Before)

- September 26, 2010, Sunday

- AFTERNOON: Went to RP to meet Tricia, buy my twin Karel's present, and food for my panelists. It was nice to sit down with Tricia and talk, while having hazelnut yogurt in the Coffee Bean. :) :) :) :)

- EVENING: Bless and I met up with Jess and Miguel outside Shakey's Masangkay, and took a sit at the second floor. We waited a while for the others to arrive, including my "twin," Karel. All of us were excited to see each other, especially Miguel and Karel, since we haven't seen those two in a long long long long time.

- After Nathalie, Karel, and Genevieve arrived, and ordered our food, Bless and the others planned to surprise Karel and I with a cake each. The surprise however backfired. Apparently the table across ours was also celebrating someone's birthday. The waiter brought them the wrong cake(s), and the lady even said "Baka sa kanila iyan." Knowing she shouldn't have said it out loud, she even acknoledged her mistake "OH. Hindi ko pala dapat nasabi." Haha. But it was still OK. Karel and I were still touched, and were very much surprised about the cakes. I just told Karel in a joking way that we should act surprised if the cakes would be brought out after dinner (as seen in the pictures below.)

- We took turns narrating current events in our lives, with Miguel lecturing us about theology while having dinner. Trust me, it was enlightening, although I found the setting to be a bit awkward for that "lecture." Still, it was nice to see Miguel being more active than usual. He doesn't hide from the camera anymore!!

- We took pictures the whole night, with Genevieve maximizing my camera's functions like I've never done before. She did take great shots. :) :) :) :)

- We left around 9:30 in the evening, and waited for Miguel's car to arrive. Miguel was nice enough to drop off most of them home. As for Bless and I, well, we had no excuse, and had to walk home (we live 30 seconds~1 minute away from Shakey's. HAHAHAHA.)

- I couldn't have imagined that we had a three-hour dinner that didn't seem to last a second. We had too much fun, too much laughter, too much food (so much so that my new shirt's buttons nearly burst,) too much stories, too much love, and too much memories to reminisce, narrate, and to be fulfilled in the future (they'd be memories after we fulfill them.)

- I hope to go out with these people again during our relatively short(er) sem break. I love these people. :) :) :) :) Go Cinqqqq~~ :D:D:D:D

Birthday 2010 with the Koreanophiles!!!! :D:D:D:D

- Sept. 25, 2010, my birthday :D:D:D:D

- I met Marga in McDonald's Taft around quarter to two. We drove off to Greenhills, and were stuck in heavy traffic, and pulled over by a police person. We arrived at Greenhills an hour and a half later. :|:|:|:|

- We met Venus and Mary Grace somewhere outside Timezone, played for a few minutes, and visited Fully Booked (where I met Berlina, a friend from college) while waiting for our 4:45 movie.

- We watched Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole. CAN I PLEASE SAY THAT THIS MOVIE IS ONE OF THE MOST TOUCHING MOVIES I'VE SEEN EVERRR. The plot itself is a bit simple, though the lines, delivery, cinematography, not to mention the (almost realistic) effects really made the movie one of a kind. I nearly cried during these lines. I could so relate:

(non-verbatim) Soren: "Dad!! Dad!! They're real!! The stories are real!!"
Dad Owl: "Yes. You made them real."

- After the movie, we (actually I) shopped a bit before deciding where to eat dinner. I'm so glad I was able to find nice things in Greenhills. Hahahaha.

- We decided to eat at Little Asia, since it was one of the many nice places to have dinner in. I haven't eaten there in the longest time too. The four of us sat down and talked endlessly, as our dishes were served one by one. After I called for the bill, the waiter brought his batallion, with a tiny mango crepe-cake, and sang happy birthday to me (in Chinese!! Kinda miss singing "Happy Birthday" in Chinese though. Haha.) Obviously, it was the sly work of my three Koreanophile friends. Seriously, I was surprised, touched, and obviously, that made my night!! :D:D:D:D

- After dinner, and the grand surprise, Marga went to her car and drove off, as Grace drove Venus and me to the nearby SM Megamall, since Venus' family was there. I decided to go home with Venus since she lives nearby.

- I was surprised to see Jillian, Venus' cousin, who tagged alogn with Venus' mom, yaya, and driver. All of us rode of to Wack Wack to fetch Venus' little sister Dianne from a debut.

- Just when I thought we were already headed home, we stopped by in a Starbuck's branch in Roxas Boulevard, and had coffee and cookies. (Thank you Venus' mom for treating me. :) :) :) :) )

- I arrived home around 12:30, which means I had be away from home for almost half a day. HAHAHAHA!!!! Truly one of the best birthdays ever!! :D:D:D:D Once again, I really want to thank these three friends for conniving with the waiters in Little Asia for this litte-big surprise, and Venus' mom for treating me in Starbuck's and a popsicle we bought in Megamall. :D:D:D:D Right now, I still can't accept that I need to officially remove the "teen" in my age. :|:|:|:| Good luck to me!! :D:D:D:D