A Clumsy Day at the City within a Wall

Hay nako! Ngayon ko lang maiba-blog ang nangyari kahapon dahil sa sobrang pagod ko! As in pag-uwi ko, natulog lang ako... Hindi pala, nagpunta pa pala ako sa birthday ng Ninong ko at kumain. Papalampasin ko ba yun? haha... Nanood din kami ng pinsan ko ng "The Devik Wears Prada."

Anyway back to the story. 8 am, nagmeet kami nina Nica at Jane sa 7-eleven Zapote. Medyo na-late pa nga ako dahil sa Itay kong may ginawa pa bago kami umalis. Hindi ko na sasabihin yon. Pero di siya nag-CON (call-of-nature) ah... Ayon basta.

First destination namin ay UST. Super excited kaming pumunta ng UST kasi...ewan... siguro dahil sa ambiance doon. Basta. Ayon sa nag-submit kami ng application form. Kakainis lang kasi ang sikip ng lugar na tanggapan nila. Tpos isang pinto lang ang bukas kahit na 2 ang pinto nila. Tsk. Ayon. Pagpasok ko talaga sa UST para kaming mga probinsyano... Haha. Feeling ko pag college na ako, ganon talaga ang magiging feeling ko. Meron isang exhibit sa UST na pinasok namin entitled: "Lumina Pandit". Spreading the Light ata ibig sabihin. Di ko matandaan ung sinabi nung guide. 50 pesos ang entrance fee. Pero para sa akin di siya gaanong woth it. Panay books lang din kasi siya na di ko maintindihan yung nilalaman. Example ay ang Doctrina Christiana, mga works tungkol sa theory na sun ang center of the Earth. Mga ganon. Ang mga nakakuha lang ng interest ko ay yung malaking tiger na totoo pala. Fossilized na siya. Kakatakot! Parang susunggaban ka niya any minute. Na-interest din ako sa original copy ng Noli Me Tangere at El Filibusterismo. Tsaka andoon din yung mga kopya ng grades ni Rizal. Ewan ko kung anong nakuha niya, 'wag niyo nang tanungin. Ayon, hanggang nagutom na kami at kumain kami sa Jollibee.

Next stop sana namin ay Intramuros kaso tirik ang araw noon. Mga 12 pm na. Kaya nag-decide kaming pumunta sa Robinsons. Sa makalampas ng entrance, sa part ng parang tindahan ng kung ano-ano na bigla lang itinayo doon sa gitna ng Rob, may isang "magician" na nagpapalipad ng baraha. Edi nacurious kami nina Nica at Jane. Nagpakita siya ng magic trick tapos may point doon na may hawak siyang isang card tapos itatago niya. Nahuli ni Jane kung saan tinago nung "magician" ang card. HULI! wahahaha! Ayon tapos nagpunta kami ng Powerbooks. Ang daming libro na gusto kong bilihin pero di ko mabili. Tsk. Tapos pauwi, kumain kami ng FRIED ICE CREAM!!!! Ang sarap, grabe!!!

Nagpunta na kami ng Intramuros. First Stop PLM. Tapos, Lyceum the Letran. Natuwa naman ako sa 7-eleven doon. Nag-adapt siya sa surrounding niya. Nakakita na ako ng 7-eleven na makaluma ang itsura! haha. Ayon. Pagod kami palakad lakad. Pero worth it naman.

Ang Intramuros ang "City within a Wall" ah. Don't forget that. Ang ganda lang ng tawag sa lugar. Parang iba ang mundo doon sa loob. Iba ang ambiance.

Pinaka-hindi ko mlilimutang pangyayari ay noong napatid ako sa parang man-hole at lumipad ang kamay ko papunta sa tiyan ng isang lalaki. haha... Nung natamaan ko yung tiyan, niya, talagang tumunog ung lagitik eh... Haha. Sport naman si Kuya...

WORD-of-the-day: CON

Badtrip!

Umagang umaga pa lang, kakabadtrip na ang araw na ito. Pano ba naman kasi, bumukas ang inuminana ko ng tubig at binasa ang bag ko! Maawa naman kayo sa gamit ko! Laging nababasa!!!! Pang-asar!

Tapos di ko pa nahiram sa library yung librong pagkukuhanan ko sana ng assignment sa arts... Isa pang pang-asar! Nareserve ko na yung libro't lahat eh!!!

Pero dahil masaya akong tao, may masaya namang nangyari sa araw na ito... Let's welcome a simple dialogue with Pearl (source: Pearl's Facebook Wall)

‎(nagkukwento si aira ng librong nabasa)
Aira: "Nakalimutan ko na yung pangalan eh. Starts with N. Malapit sa name na Nathaniel." Pearl: "Nathan?"
A: "Hinde."
P: "Nate?"
A: "Di rin eh."
P: (nawawalan na ng idea) "Norton?"
A: "Di eh. Di ko matandaan!"
P: (wala ng maisip) "Uh...Nanthony?"
A: "May ganun ba?....AY ALAM KO NA! Nicholas! Ayu...n!"
P: "Grabe, ang lapit sa pangalan na Nathan."


--> T__T sobrang lapit.

Mine

Uh, uh, uh oh
Uh, uh, uh oh

You were in college working part time waiting tables
Left a small town, never looked back
I was the flight risk with the fear of fallin'
Wonderin' why we bothered with love if it never lasts

I say "Can you believe it?"
As we're lying on the couch
The moment I can see it
Yes, yes I can see it now

Do you remember we were sittin' there by the water?
You put your arm around me for the first time
You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter
You are the best thing that's ever been mine

Flash forward and we're taking on the world together
And there's a drawer of my things at your place
You learned my secrets and you figure out why I'm guarded
You say we'll never make my parents' mistakes

But we've got bills to pay
We got nothing figured out
When it was hard to take yes, yes
This is what I thought about

Do you remember we were sitting there by the water?
You put your arm around me for the first time
You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter
You are the best thing that's ever been mine

Do you remember all the city lights on the water
You saw me start to believe for the first time
You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter
You are the best thing that's ever been mine

Uh, uh, uh, oh

And I remember that fight 2:30 AM
Cause everything was slippin' right out of our hands
I ran out crying and you followed me out into the street

Braced myself for the goodbye
Cause that's all I've ever known
And you took me by surprise
You said "I'll never leave you alone"

You said
"I remember how we felt sittin' by the water
And every time I look at you it's like the first time
I fell in love with a careless man's careful daughter
She is the best thing that's ever been mine"

(Hold on, we'll make it last)
(Hold on, never turn back)
(Hold on) You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter
(Hold on) You are the best thing that's ever been mine

(Hold on) Do you believe it?
(Hold on) We're gonna make it now
(Hold on) And I can see it
(Yeah, yeah, yeah)
I can see it now

The World is an Apple

Sobrang excited ako kanina sa competition. Hinaluan din siyempre ng kaba. Kasi, sa totoo lang, magaling din yung ibang sections. I'm so thankful sa lahat ng tumulong sa play na ito:

Props department- hindi talaga nagpatalo. Para sa'kin kayo ang the best!

Utility department- alam kong medyo mabigat yung props, lalo na ung broccoli. So thank you talaga.

Music department- Super ganda ng music! as in! nagpadagdag kayo sa points ng criteria! Tae! Ganda talaga ng music!

Lights department- Super ganda ng lights! Astig! Alam kong nangalay kayo sa paghawak ng sirang switch ng light.

Costume department- ganda ng costume natin! Akmang akma sa status nila! Thank you!

Stage director- Alam kong napagod ka! you deserve the best!

Actors and actresses- Kayo talaga nagdala ng play! Alam ko namang pinilit ninyo ang sarili ninyong gawin ang best ninyo, which you did. I'm so proud of you guys.

Sa aking mga classmates, thank you sa inyong support! Love you guys!!!

Tsaka kay Lord dahil binigyan Niya ako ng opportunity na maging part ng AMAZING play na ito!


Thank you all!

Eleven Minutes

Earlier this month, I've borrowed Paulo Coelho's book entitled "Eleven Minutes." This book is NOT recommended for immature readers which make it recommended for mature readers. DUH. Anyway. If you want to know the story, you can go read it. If you are too lazy to read it, you can just Google it. You'll know the story either way. But the best part of reading the story itself is you get to read those quotable quotes.

The quotes hit me like a wrecking ball that I jutted down quotes. Here's some of them:

1. At every moment of our lives, we all have one foot in a fairytale and the other in the abyss.

2. In the end, the most interesting people leave.

3. When we meet someone and fall in love, we have a sense that the whole universe is on our side.

4. How is it possible for the beauty that was there only minutes before to vanish quickly?

5. Life moves very fast. It rushes from heaven to hell in a matter of seconds.

6. Everything tells me that I am about to make a wrong decision, but making mistakes is just a part of life.

7. What does the world want of me? Does it want me to take no risks, to go back where I came from because I didn't have the courage to say "yes" to life?

8. Sometimes, you get no second chance and that it's best to accept the gifts the world offers you.

9. Anyone who has lost something they thought was theirs forever finally comes to realize that nothing really belongs to them.

10. I can choose either to be a victim of the world or an adventurer in search of treasure. It's all a question of how I view my life.

11. Love was undoubtedly one of the things capable of changing a person's whole life.

12. All my life, I thought of love as some kind of voluntary enslavement. Well, that's a lie: freedom only exist when love is present.

13. In love, no one can harm anyone else; we are each of us responsible for our own feelings and cannot blame someone else for what we feel.

14. No one loses anyone, because no one owns anyone.

15. Being young means inevitably making mistakes.

16.Love is not to be found in someone else, but in ourselves; we simply awaken it.

17. The universe only makes sense when we have someone to share our feelings with.

18. Really important meetings are planned by the souls long before the bodies see each other.

19. It was normal to feel jealous, although life had taught her that it was pointless thinking you could own another person-- anyone who believes that is just deceiving themselves.

20. The strongest love is the love that can demonstrate its fragility.

21. The world enjoys suffering and pain. There's sadism in the way we look at these things, and masochism in our conclusion that we don't need to know all this in order to be happy, and yet we watch other people's tragedies and sometimes suffer along with them.

22. When I had nothing to lose, I had everything. When I stopped being who I am, I found myself.

23. Original sin was not the apple that Eve ate, it was her belief that Adam needed to share precisely the thing she had tasted.

To a Wife, a Mother-- My Grandmother

Dear Lola,

Up until now, the fact that you're gone is still not sinking in. Every time I enter your house, I go straight to the refrigerator, hoping to find something to eat (even though there's none), I wait for your voice saying, "Walang laman 'yan! Dun ka kumain sa inyo!"

Or I would scan your living room to see if you're tuning in to your favorite AM station, waiting for sleep to arrive.

Or see you at the back of our house every morning having a good morning exercise.

Or see you go to and fro your house to ours just to check if we have food for you to eat.

I'll miss the times we have a good laugh, teasing each other. Your laugh was the best sound I've ever heard. Why? Because it's not fake.

I'll miss the times you fart infront of my face or fart with Lolo in synchronization.

I'll miss the times you call my name so hard to give us orders to buy you the usual SALONPAS, BISCOTSO, NESCAFE 3in1.

I'll miss your curses every time we play BINGO. Your goal when we play is to make everyone happy even for a little while. You always give me money just so I can play.

I'll miss your very long sermons why I should keep myself fit. You'll always say, "Masama ang kumain ng kumain!" When I ask you if I'm fat, you'll always say, "Okay lang ang ganyan." But still you want to get me in shape.

Lola, you're the best. 15 years of my life is not enough to thank you for everything you've done for us. I always knew you are afraid of death. Why? Because I know you still want to see us in the future and what we will become.

Lately I've been thinking. What if the day comes that I will forget about her? Her face, her laugh, her gestures and mannerisms. I don't want to forget. I want all of her memories be intact with me. She's the most caring and loving Lola.

Now I regret the times I disobey you or shout back at you. I wish I could turn back time. I wish that I could have cared for you even more.

But no, I can't turn back time. Nothing will change. I just hope that you are happy wherever you are now. I know God will not let you on your own. You will always be in my prayers.

I LOVE YOU, LOLA!!!

UPCAT

Today was the first day of the UPCAT. I woke up at 4 am, barely opening my eyes. I said to myself, "The day has finally come." Everything I did before leaving home was a rush. I kept on going up and down the stairs fixing things when there's nothing to fix. Finally, we took off at 5 am. Only an hour and a half 'til the test starts. My dad drove the motorcycle at lightning speed-- I'm used to that. The trip was flawless at first, until my father realized he went through the wrong lane which didn't help especially when you only have more than an hour to get there. And we're nowhere near it. I got nervous when my father started asking for directions from the people we pass by. When we were on the road to PhilCoA, I felt like we were going on circles. I saw PhilCoA twice and I think there really was 2 of them. I don't know the big city yet.

Then there I was, entering Malcolm Hall for the first time. I can't stop but feel giddy because I really was there! I feel like I'm a part of the school. I feel like I belong. I then considered going there for college. Hmmm. How nice. Anyway, once I entered the exam room, the first thing that entered my mind was, "It's friggin' cold in here."

Then we started the test. Actually, there were a few instructions and things to do then we started the test. It was a 5-hour test but deducting the time the proctor issued instructions, it's like 4 hours only. The test was just full of basic everything-- language, math, science and reading comprehension.

Then after what seemed like an hour, it ended.

When I got out, my father was outside, listening to music. Then I approached him.

ME: Ang dali!
TATAY: Anak, punasan mo muna ilong mo, may tumutulo. (referring to blood)

... tinignan ko naman kung meron nga.

Hunghang na usapan ngayong araw na ito....

Tapos na ang PT sa music.. Computer time na at nasa classroom pa kami... Nakita kong wala pa si Janinna dahil nag-organ siya. Kaya nagpasya akong sumabay kina Pau at Pearl na nag-uusap sa teacher's table.

PAULINE: Pakamatay na tayo.
AKO: (lumalapit at di alam ang kanilang pinag-uusapan.) Sabay na ako sa inyo.

Leadership Training

Okay, so matagal na akong hindi nakapag-post. Kaya ngayon, tungkol sa leadership training ang ilalagay ko dito. Last week pa nga ito nangyari kaso nga lang wala akong masyadong oras para mag-blog. Anyway, doon na nga sa Camp.

SURROUNDINGS: Masarap sa paligid, peaceful, tahimik.. (peaceful na tahimik pa. kasi naman may klase ng peace na maingay diba?) Tapos green, as in full of trees. Nakakapagod lang talagang akyatin iyon. Ang problema lang ay yung ceiling, butas. Siguro yung bubong butas din kasi nga pumasok sa dingding ang tubig. Buti na lang nasa ilalim ako ng double-deck na kama. Goodluck na lang kay Aira na nasa taas ng kama ko. wahaha. Eto malipet! Ang BANYO. As in 'yong shower room. Dalawa actually ang shower room ng girls. Una, may 8 cubicle na may 6 toilets at 2 pang shower. Ung pangalawa, 3 cubicle for shower room. Dito sa room na'to, ang pantakip sa naliligo ay pinagdikit dikit na sako. Makikitaan ka na kapag walang naghahawak ng covers.

FOOD: Okay naman 'yung food. Para ka lnag namang nasa evacuation center na ga-bundok ang kanin mo, kapiranggot naman ang ulam. Tapos dapat ubusin namin 'yung nasa plato namin. Eh pano un, malakas ako sa ulam? Sana pala pinabukas ko kayMary Ann ang baon niyang sardinas na hindi naipasa.

PEOPLE: Ito yung mga nakasama ko sa camp, mga galing sa ibang school ng DOPPSA. Okay naman sila, yung iba sa sobrang dami eh sobrang ingay. Inaamin ko, pinakatahimik kami doon. Friendly naman ang lahat.


Pinakagusto kong moment dito eh yung nagpresent na ang St. Joseph. Pantomime ang ginawa namin at kami ang unique sa lahat. Pero maganda din naman ang presentation ng ibang school. Iba lang talaga kami. Gusto ko din yung nagkaroon ako ng friends mula sa ibang school kahit sandali lang. They trusted me enough to let me be thier leader which I refused to be. (Give chance to others)


Eto talaga pinaka di ko malilimutang parte ng biyahe. Pauwi na kami...

FERNAND: (nakatingin sa akin) Tumae ka ba?
AKO: (shocked) uhm, hindi, ang gamol kasi ng CR nila eh...