The Christmas Sermon

As like every other day of obligation, we went to church on Christmas day. We attended the 9:30 AM mass presided by Fr. Benjamin Sim. Sad to say, I was not very attentive throughout the entire service, having just had a couple of hours sleep due to our little Christmas Eve celebration.

The Gospel was over and I was still spacing out, unable to retain even a single word of what the priest was saying. I'm hoping God will let this inattentiveness pass by...this being Christmas and all... :D The priest started the sermon, and I continued staring off into space with a blank expression on my eyes, hoping I looked like I was really listening to what Father was saying.
hehehe

I was able to catch just the last part of his sermon... but it made a great impact on me. Fr. Sim said:

" A smile is contagious, let's start an epidemic!"

Merry Christmas everyone! :)

Filipino-Chinese

My fil-chi friend tagged me in this note in facebook.. and i just wanted to see how many of them applied to meee :D

1. your standards for evaluation are limited to "not bad" (bwe-phai) and "good enough" (ham-ham).

* Hahaha not really..my comments are usually expressed in the superlatives. Like "nindota ana uy!! (That's so great!) or Batia ana uy!! (That's so NOT great!) hahaha

2. you watch the old chinese variety shows on cctv and the rest of the chinese channels on cable.

*Hahaha sometimes I do. But I really really love old Chinese movies, especially the nostalgic Chinese ghost movies. And a recent IP Man movie night has me quite taken too :)

3. the only thing you can read in a chinese daily newspaper is the daily's name .

* Correct!hahahaha

4. your pinoy friends ask for tikoy/hopia/mooncake from you, and they're more excited eating it than you are.

* Quite right. I never did seem to like these delicacies...only the ube-flavored hopia from OngPin.

5. you're usually not allowed to wear black, although you want to look thinner.

* Super NA! I have a lot of blacks... and I want to look fatter!hahaha

6. your family car's plate number begins with 8.

* The family car doesn't, but my car does. Though I don't think that was done on purpose :))

7. when you speak to an elder and you forget the chinese term for a particular item, and say "hio-nge hio-nge hio-nge basta hio-nge, la!".

* Haha, for lack of better things to say, mouth hio-nge three times:))

8. your friends greet your parents "a-pe" or "um-a" or auntie, or uncle.

* Yes we doooo=p

9. you affix "-la", "-lo" to your pinoy/taglish sentences.

* Hahaha, no I don't!!:))

10. you affix "ba", "naman" or "pa" to your chinese sentences.

* Hahaha super guilty of this one. But really, hello? Gua bui KA kong STRAIGHT eh Chinese MAN!hahahaha :))

11. your food vocabulary consists of kiam-peng, cha-peng, am-beh, mi-sua , cha-sio,ma-ki-mi, hee-chee, mazhang.

* All my favorite foods in the world =p

12. your parents think that a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship is the same as getting married.

* To that effect..yes!:))

13. you speak chinese at home, speak filipino with friends, and write in english!

* I speak Bislish, and Taglish to friends ; Chinese to the oldie Chinese and parents of friends; and whatever language at home!hahaha

14. you love lao fu zi even if you could never figure out what they were talking about.

* No I don't. I tried to read, and maybe even muster a fake laugh...but nooo, I dont really get lao fu zi.haha!

15. you know the beneficial effects of chrysanthemum tea and black duck soup.

* Haha I don't, but I love tea ^^

16. you say "wa-kong-ah !" or "wah-pai-ah!".

* No no...

17. you have a cough, and your mom insists that you drink 'pei-pa-koa' and for stomach ache, 'tsing-lo-ing'.

* Hahaha YES! Pei pa koa is my staple cough medicine, along with the coconut extract, and the ball medicine in wax. :))

18. when seated around a chinese lauriat, you insist back and forth that other people take the first serving.

* I thought that just meant I had good manners^^ Hahaha!

19. you mix the hard-boiled egg cooked in adobo (lo-neng) with your rice.

* Yes, it's my favorite!! :D

20. you had culture shock in college.

* No, not really. :)

21. your pinoy friends ask for the chinese translation of "i love you", and certain "curse words".

* They also ask me to baptize them with Chinese names!hahahaha :D

22. the only first aid kit you bring with you is white flower.

* And the ever reliant jap Stick.hahaha :))

23. you are a tsinoy, when in math class, you mumble the chinese multiplication table when mutiplying numbers. ex. di it di (2x1=2) ; di di si (2x2=4).

* So truuuueee! LOL

24. you understand why "kai-shao" is more complicated than a "blind date".

* I dooo.hahaha

25. the first reaction from new pinoy friends is "mayayaman ang mga intsik!".

* Yes, this one is true as well.

26. you greet a friend on the phone by asking if he's eaten (dee chia beh?) or what he is doing (leh tshong shia?).

* But that's how you should always greet people right??

27. you say: (a) 'kain ng gamot' instead of 'inom ng gamot' (chia iyo kasi, eh) (b) 'hugas ng picture' instead of 'pa-develop ng picture' (swe siong kasi, eh).

* hahaha, d sad uy!:))

some of the "down sides":

1. your 'howe' must be a chinese too.

* Nope, but I have a partiality for cute oriental looking guys man.haha!

2. literacy in fukien is a must.

* Yes if you hang out with the older peeps!

3. black is a big no.

* N/A :)

4. you should be home by 9pm or 10pm (for girls with extremely strict families) or 12pm max (for girls with medyo strict families)

* Extremely strict diay ko na category!hahahah :D

some of the "good sides":

1. you get a lot of "ang pao" during your birthday, christmas, chinese christmas, new year, and chinese new year.

2. you get new set of clothes during chinese new year.

3. you get a lot of stuff during mooncake festival at "pua tiong tsiu"

4. you are always fetched by car (for girls with extremely strict families :)

New Friend

Last week, we met a Korean who was visiting here in the Philippines. He had already graduated with a degree in Computer Engineering and had served in the military for quite some time. He was a friend of my friend and was introduced to us as he was staying in Cebu for two days.
At lunch in Jollibee, we got to know him a little more! :)


Everybody, meet ...
WINTERS! (or WonChoeLee in Korean...)

-Who loves to have his picture taken "naturally"... I think what he really means is that he wants "candid" shots as he dislikes choreographed ones, but his English is not so good so we had to settle for his "NATURALLY" posing preferences.hehehe :D

- Who refuses to disclose his real age, thinking we might find him to be too old to hang out with. :D

- Who was almost conned by a taxi driver to pay a taxi fare of PhP300.00 on a taxi trip from Ayala to IT Park.

- Who I asked about the Korean movie "Sassy Girl" which he says is not familiar. Who after a long racking of his brain suddenly exclaims: "The title is... Sexy Girl ?!"

Oh my, what must he have thought of me.HAHAHAHA :D

- Who got my ketchup without asking!hehehe

-Who I asked to talk about the scenery in Korea. When asked about the beaches, he said that the water was not as nice as the beach waters here in Cebu.

Lea: Why? Are they dirty?
Winters: (with a lot of gestures and head movements) No, no, no..not dirty..ahhhhh....
Lea: Murky?
Winters: What is murky?
Lea: Err.. not clear?
Winters: (Looking exasperated) Ahhhh...uhhhh.. shhhh....uhhhh... (smiles) Yes dirty.

HAHAHAHA! :D

-Who after a whole lunch hour of conversation, reduced our English into simple, one-worded sentences with no articles. :D

- Who wrote super nice things about us on his blog. Awwwww :)

Let's hope we see him again soon! :)

Oil Pulling

Have you heard of this new (or maybe not so new) breakthrough?

I've been trying to regularly perform the oil pulling process, and have successfully done so for the past 3 weeks. I'm trying this out mainly because I want to stop serious bouts of migraine that I keep having. It's also supposed to give you better sleeps at night, improve your heart's condition and remove toxins from the body... If it really does work, I'll disseminate the information! :)

Click on the link to find out more about Oil Pulling.

This frustrated photographer may have a future...

... I think! :D

I love taking pictures! Scenery, people, animals, flowers, infrastructures and all else. I have long admired people who could take such wonderful photos even with simple, low-end cameras. I view people's works on deviantart and multiply and flickr, and scan over photos I find breathtaking and beautiful... I then sigh and wish I could take pictures as great as those. :( I had two informal shooting lessons from my friend Ryan, who covers weddings and pre-nups and shoots models as a sideline. It was with him that I was able to first hold and shoot from a DSLR camera. Since then, I've been shooting at every occasion that I get... Only I had to do it using the family camera, a Sony point-and-shoot digicam, or my phone (a 3.2 MP Sony Ericsson). The results were not bad... but they were not good either!hehehe :(

I got a chance to shoot using a DSLR again during last semster's Market Expo, ME/IE International Conference, and during the summer at another photography tag-along in Taoist Temple. I have fallen in love with the DSLR camera, and spent the summer of 2008 trying my best to earn money to save up for my very own DSLR, and the semestral break helping out at home to try and get on my dad's good side so he'll sponsor my dream cam.hahaha When at long last my dad gave in and asked me to canvass for the cheapest price of my desired camera model, I was so excited that I spent the whole day comparing prices on the Internet. However, I found the prices to be too high, and felt guilty at having to ask for something so expensive. So I momentarily abandoned the dream of owning a nice cam.

But YEY of all YEY's! Last Wednesday, abovementioned Ryan was going to buy new lenses from a "suki" store in Manila (that costs PhP82,000...wahhhh!), and told me that if I bought my camera along with his lens, I could probably get it cheaper, and that we could also split the freight cost. To make the long price story short, I got my camera (with accessories) at PhP10,000 lower than the price of the same model sold at SM, and PhP2,000 lower than its price at the cheapest camera store in Cebu! :D Not only that, but I got a FREE camera bag that should have cost me an additional PhP1,900! My cam arrived last Friday ( November 21), and I already got to bring it to the farm to try it out. :) Like any brand new thing that I get, my new cam is getting special care and attention. It is stored safely, carried around carefully, and meticulously guarded... hihihi :D
hehehe OA I know, but give me a break, considering how hard it was to finally acquire it. Give me a couple of months and I may be able to behave a little normally.hehehe :D

I'm hoping school will be a little considerate in the following days so I can get out and have time to try stuff out with it. It hasn't left its case since Sunday...but the manual does not anymore look new!hehehe Anyway, enough of this long introduction. It's time for the climax of this post.hehehe Meet my Nikon D60.... Archibald! :D

fs

I rarely show myself in YM. I go online but use my stealth settings to appear invisible to all my YM-mates.hehehe :D Oops, secret's out! =p Well, out of desperation in searching for a Feasibility Study to conduct for our, well...Feasibility Study course, I decided to go online with a status message that read:
" Any topics/suggestions for our Feasibility Study?"

Let me share with you the good...and the crazy ideas people had.
Friend 1: Casino La! Feasible man sya!
Friend 2: Disneyland theme park in Cebu! Or if mas nahan mu lower scale sa... Enchanted Kingdom!
Friend 3: Try daw chopsticks na hollow para pwede mahimu ug straw! Chopsticks when eating, then just submerge sa imu drink to sip... hahaha
Friend 4: Drive thru movie, like sa Flintstones!
Friend 5: Try doing a business with a concept like ebay...except for the online part. People leave stuff they want to sell with you, and you just put a markup on the original prices they give.
Friend 6: A mall! A mall!
Friend 7: Customized coffins! Hahahaha
Friend 8: Tshirts that insult other schools!
Friend 9: Vendo machine na RICE!
Friend 10: Reloadable cards na e swipe nalang ig ride sa jeepney La! Suwayi daw...hahaha
Friend 11: Kanang foldable na chair nga naa nay umbrella, cup holder, etc! With all accessories na!
Friend 12: Instant egg! para ma eat anytime...anywhere!

Hahaha! Thank you YM-friends, I had a lot of laughs that night :D

Purple Fiasco!

Our female labrador Debbie has been having flea problems for quite some time now. My mom, ever sensitive to the needs of everyone around her, could not stand Debbie's suffering itches. So she went ahead and bought a medicinal spray that guaranteed the elimination of every single inhabiting flea on a dog's body. After incessant egging from my mother to treat Debbie's fleas, my brother finally gave in and went off to spray the medicine on Debbie. Unknown to us, the spray was not your ordinary odorless, colorless aerosol. It had a color...
PURPLE!

Thus happened Debbie's purple fiasco!hehehe Pictures to follow! :D

Flowers for Algernon

My Japanese teacher made us bring home a book, "Flowers for Algernon", by Daniel Keyes. It's supposed to be a classic, yet I have never heard of it. With nothing better to do after we got home from church last night, I started reading it. I just finished the book and I have to applaud the storyline. The book is in a journal-entry form that records the author's intellectual progress credited to an experimental surgery. It is so well-written that except for a few momentary lapses, you actually see the world through the eyes of Charlie Gordon. You feel his struggles, his confusion at all his newfound knowledge, and you feel his fear of being laughed at and his fear of regressing back to his original retarded state.

The parts of the story that touched me the most were the parts of the journal when Charlie innocently marked down happy events in his life when he was laughing with the people that he thought were his friends, yet was unknowingly the butt of their jokes. His simple mind did not permit him to see what was really happening, and so he saw only good in everything and everyone in his life. Sadly, attaining intelligence turned Charlie into a suspicious cynic who became angry at the world.

A must-read!

Things I Learned in College (cont...)

Sad to say, I missed blogging about the second semester of my third year in college. I'm sure I had a pretty good excuse at that time, although now I can't seem to remember what it was.hehehe :D
I think it's a waste to not finish the series of 'things i learned in college' posts I started since my first year of college, more so now that I'm already in my 4th year and just have 1 year and 1 sem to go!

So here goes!
This 4th year 1st semester, I learned -

1. That right now my typing position is not ERGONOMIC. My elbows do not form a 90-degree angle, my feet actually need a foot rest so that they do not suffer from strain, and that my lumbar spine is not getting enough support!

2. That if Ma’am Dakay has a toothache, we either have no classes…or we get a relatively easier exam.

3. That OC does not only mean “Obsessive Compulsive” nor “Orange County”, it also stands for “Operating Characteristics”.

4. That I need a thicker notebook and more ballpens if ever I will be under Engr. Cabilao’s class again.hehehe (thank you diay sir for our grades!wahhhh)

5. That I need to thank the makers of Excel OM and Excel QM, because without them POM would have been a lot lot LOT harder!

6. That people sometimes go crazy during the making of case studies. ( I heard si Peter daw kay mag sayaw2x?hehehe )

7. That Peter(again), Sheng, Cinco and Jing2x prefer their rice to their viands=p

8. That if Engr. Cabilao gives out tables that you are clueless about, you SHOULD REALLY ask him about it! It’s the basis for his FINAL exam

9. That it can take as long as 45 minutes for you to travel from school to Neo Neo riding an average jeepney. Riding with Aaron however (shortcut), can eliminate at least 25 minutes waiting time.hehehe

10. Likewise, it will take you as long as 1 hour and 30 minutes to travel from Echavez to USC-TC on a very busy Tuesday on an average jeepney.

11. That Sir Gimena is also known as Sir Chbz!hehehe

12. That if…

“All girls are beautiful.”
and,

“Lea is a girl.”

Applying the rules learned in this sem’s Logic class will yield the following VALID conclusion:

“Ergo, Lea is beautiful.” Ha-ha-ha ” <---THE laugh! :D

13. That according to the speaker in the convention:

“Customer loyalty is more important than customer satisfaction. Because there will always be times when you cannot satisfy your customers…but some customers will return anyway out of LOYALTY to the company.”

14. That Ladygay is a GREAT test subject for I/O Psych

15. That walking under a midday sun from UC to USC (for fear of being stuck in traffic and ending up late for OR finals) is no mean feat! You’ll feel even WORSE when you reach school all sweaty and find out that the exam has been postponed, and won’t start for another 45 minutes! Wah!

16. That…

“More and more companies are realizing that the cost of hiring the wrong employees greatly outweigh the cost of investing in good employment screening and selection programs.” (Ni gawas jud pag finals..hehehe!)

17. That to get a BIG grade in OR lab… you have to utilize every color and hue available in MS office to beautify your tables and graphs!!!hehehe

18. That the boys in my batch are GREAT dancers! Always I wanna be with you…nananana…HARMONY HARMONY oh love…hahahah

19. That Jing2x’s burgers are lifesavers! especially on Wednesdays when we have no… as in NO… breaks!

20. That POM is super duper useful in English class where we have to make stuff up for business letters for our respective fictitious companies.

Dear Sir, Due to the use of incorrect forecasting methods, capacity was not able to meet demand…and so on…

21. That I should order the McDonalds Chicken Fillet over the standard fried chicken because I can save more…and I won’t have chicken bones to contend with.

22. That according to our Logic teacher himself: “Lingaw2x raman ning ato!”

23. That if you are stalling for time to think about your next line in a mock telephone conversation, do what Jingle and Dotz did… Sooooo…hehehehe

24. That Peter is always the only person who’s happy on exams!hahahaha

25. That an 18″ Yellow Cab Pizza, a box of Spaghetti, a plate of Calamares, a plate of Shrimp and a plateful of rice is MORE than enough for the six of us, no matter how hungry we think we are!

26. That Mango Jelly is super yummy if it is frozen overnight!

27. That when it comes to paying for our tuitions, in terms of queuing analysis, lambda is far greater than myu. This may explain why a lot of students tend to renege and balk.hehehe

28. That Sheng did a GREAT job as council president this sem!

29. That case studies get easier once you get the hang of it

30. That we’re almost there! Hopefully… 1 sem, and 1 year to go nlng peeps!

The Man Who Can't Be Moved

Have you heard this song "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" by The Scripts?
This is the link to their music video in YouTube.

Going back to the corner where I first saw you,
Gonna camp in my sleeping bag I'm not gonna move,
Got some words on cardboard got your picture in my hand,
Saying if you see this girl can you tell her where I am,
Some try to hand me money they don't understand,
I'm not...broke I'm just a broken hearted man,
I know it makes no sense, but what else can I do,
How can I move on when I'm still in love with you...

Cos if one day you wake up and find that you're missing me,
And your heart starts to wonder where on this earth I can be,
Thinking maybe you'll come back here to the place that we'd meet,
And you'd see me waiting for you on the corner of the street.

So I'm not moving...
I'm not moving.
Policeman says son you can't stay here,
I said there's someone I'm waiting for if it's a day, a month, a year,
Gotta stand my ground even if it rains or snows,
If she changes her mind this is the first place she will go.

People talk about the guy
Who's waiting on a girl...
Oohoohwoo
There are no holes in his shoes
But a big hole in his world...
Hmmmm

and maybe I'll get famous as man who can't be moved,
And maybe you won't mean to but you'll see me on the news,
And you'll come running to the corner...
Cos you'll know it's just for you

I'm the man who can't be moved
I'm the man who can't be moved...

News Number 1: Presley

For those who know me, I have this habit of naming my stuff.
Call me weird but I don't really think I'm the only one who does this. For one, my friend Jane does too. :)

I named my violin Kino, my phones Kane and Eloise, a stuffed toy is now known as Mrs. Clocksworth, an old NEC laptop is "The Colonel", my flash drive is Starfish and my Japanese eDictionary is Arthur.
Well now say hello to the newest member of the family....

My laptop Presley! :D I should think that I would be able to blog more frequently now with Presley. But really my laptop was bought just in the nick of time as schoolwork last semester was making my schedule sooo hectic! Presley was able to lighten at least 20% of the hassle. I love my new laptop! It's fast and I finally have all my stuff organized in one notebook. It makes everything a whole lot easier. From now on, everything blogged in my blogger will be via Presley. Whoopee! :)

I'm Back!

Hello to my blogspot account! It's been a long time since I last checked up on you. Sembreak is here by the way. No, scratch that. I'm embarrassed to say that I'm in mid-sembreak yet I have not had the time to update you. To make it up to you, I'll try and write as many posts as I can between today and until we get back to school...when I'll have to take a quick leave again.

So what have I been up to lately?

XOXO

"You know you love me...
XOXO
Gossip Girl "

I love the Gossip Girl scenes and clothes too much to care about what's really happening in the story. The story is not that spectacular, but I enjoy watching it anyway! :D

I love the fashion, and the elite drama, and the closeted lives each character leads...
... but wouldn't it be horrendous if someone like 'Gossip Girl' was really around? One who spies on your every move and spreads it to others?

Scary...

Ouch!

Last week, my dad cut his finger.



He was soldering together a couple of electronic parts, and was so engrossed with his work, that he failed to notice that his finger had wandered over to where the blades of his mini exhaust fan were. After the incident, he sported a bloody finger and a chipped nail!



Funny how I always see my dad as someone invincible and impenetrible. It's quite shaking to see him get hurt and see that he is still human, who bleeds and feels pain. I am so used to my parents caring for me when I'm hurt that I don't quite know how to react when the tables are turned. . .


Do all children feel like this?

The Evolution of my Phone

Last night I was texting fervently from both my Globe and Sun phones and then it hit me how much the phones I used back then and the phones I’m using now have changed. I know this gets said a lot, but I’ll say it again anyway.

"Technology is really something!"

I made up my mind to “pay tribute” to my old phones that I’ve eventually left for newer models, yet never had the heart to fully discard. Each of my phones tells a story. From my very first, very big mobile phone, down to the one I am currently using.

So this post will be all about my attempt to help you understand the Lamarckism of my mobile phones. Hehehe :D

Though cellphones were already widely used by the time I was in the fifth grade, I wasn’t allowed to have one because my parents believed it was more of a luxury rather than a necessity. And no matter how much I argued my point that if I had a cellphone they could contact me easier, I could not find a suitable argument to the fact that I hardly needed to be contacted since I was sent and fetched everywhere I went.

Phone #1:

One summer when I had just graduated from the Sixth grade (Yes, I still had no phone at that time), relatives from my mother’s side of the family came to visit. They stayed at our house for about two weeks. One of my aunts owned a Bosch cellphone that she permitted me and my sister to use during her stay here. We texted and miscalled and explored every feature it had in that glorious two weeks. Before we knew it, my relatives were going home. And guess what? My aunt decided that the phone could stay. So that was my very first phone --- which I shared with my sister. She got to bring it to school of course. And I got to bring it on special occasions (my birthday). Hahaha, I know, I know. Loser. :D

My sister was eventually given a Nokia 3310 by my parents when they themselves finally had to admit that a cellphone was also quite useful to us kids. So I now had full access to the Bosch phone.

I forwarded quotes to people on my phonebook, miscalled my friends, used it as my alarm, and carried it around proudly wherever I went with its noticeable antenna sticking out. At around this time, more and more Nokia phones were already emerging with new and better features. Suddenly I wanted a new phone.

Phone #2

I struck a deal with my dad. If I make it through the first year of high school at the top of my class, he would give me the phone of my choice. You would not have guessed how hard I worked during that school year. I studied and strived and solved just so I could get what I wanted. And the phone was indeed a good motivation for I did emerge on top of my class. When I got the news that I had succeeded in this almost impossible feat (considering that Ralph the boy genius was my classmate), I was literally white with disbelief. That summer, I got a Nokia 3350. You can imagine how I treasured that phone considering how hard I worked to get it. I bought it lots of casings and even bought it the latest craze at that time which was an anti-radiation device! After three and a half years, my Nokia 3350 started behaving strangely. It started to have a mind of its own. It turned off without me asking it to, its keypads were no longer working, its LCD starts blinking in the middle of the night, and the mouthpiece no longer worked. This time my dad agreed I deserved a new phone.

Phone #3:

Say hello to phone # 3! Colored phones were coming out and I really did want one. I didn’t mention this though thinking that this was too much to ask since colored phones were a little expensive at that time. But during Christmas of that year I received a gift from my parents. I unwrapped the gift to reveal a Nokia 3350 box. I thought they had gone out and bought me the same phone model! Much to my shock, I opened the box to see a different phone… a Sony Ericsson T610i! I had a colored phone! And...it had a 1.2 Megapixel camera, which was already big news at that era.

As you can observe from the picture, my third phone has minimal scratches despite its years. This is because by this time, I had grown up and had learned to take better care of my things. I loved my T610i so much that I invested hundreds of pesos to buy it crystal covers for protection. I did not mind that it made the phone bulky, just as long as my T610i was covered and protected from any damage.

I am still currently using my T610i as my Sun phone. It has now been with me for five years and it's still very much functional.

Phone # 4

I still do not know how I was able to swindle my parents out of a few pesos to buy me my fourth phone. My fourth phone is the phone I am currently using for my Globe sim. I saw it in the Internet when I was looking up Sony's newer phone models. My fourth phone is a Sony Ericsson K800i. I got it for my birthday last year and now it has totally become an integral part of my life. It still looks new, because again I have been investing much in protecting it from scratches and any other possible damages. I love its sleek look and I love its features!

It's becoming easier and easier to replace phones nowadays. Unlike before when phones were so expensive and when there were still few models available. But I don't think I will ever discard any one of my phones. They have so much memories attached to them. The things that happened when I was still using those phones, the people I texted with and called on using those phones, and everything else that I am able to remember just by looking at them.

Nobody throws away memories, and I'm definitely not letting go of any of my phones. Irregardless of how scratched, gashed, damaged and dysfunctional they may be. . . :)

Twilight

I have just read the first of the Twilight saga by Stephenie Meyer and I am in love!
...with the characters. hehehe

I am happy at the character of Isabella Swan, who like any ordinary girl, is beset with insecurities and flaws. She is one of the few heroines in books who was not described by the author to be inhumanely beautiful. She may even border on being a very awkward teenager.
I loved the way Edward Cullen was described by Isabella to be one who possessed unworldly looks. You see, I sympathize with how Bella viewed herself as someone who was not even worthy of a glance from someone as gorgeous(?) as Edward. But I also loved the way she described Edward to be someone who was utterly good-looking. Because in my opinion, if you get attracted to someone, you will most probably end up describing him as ethereal and heavenly as how Bella described Edward. Awww... :)

I was very much enraptured at how the story unfolded. The book was written so well that it makes you feel like you really know the characters...and I am not exaggerating even a bit!
I love its vampire-meets-human love of his life plot, and I thoroughly enjoyed Edward's inner struggles with his human and vampire self.

I didn't really have the book since I never got the chance to go to National Bookstore due to the messy enrollment transition from ARIS to ISIS, so I settled for the e-book. I haven't attempted to read an e-book again since the last Harry Potter book (which I couldn't afford) because of the bad migraine I experienced right after. But the book was just so captivating that I ended up reading it till the very last page... and then getting my expected migraine last night. So to anyone who's reading, one of my gift wishes for this Christmas would be the Twilight series. (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse) ---- My very own paperbacks that I can read over and over again whenever I feel like it. hehehe :D

And one more exciting news still very much related to my happy new find! They are making a MOVIE from the book! Twilight will be showing in theaters early December of this year. I am definitely watching! Look the trailer up in Google or something to get you as hyped as I probably am right now.

Oh, and I'll share with everyone where I was able to read the e-book.
http://www.scribd.com/word/full/2960662?access_key=key-19ybf7qgu7aca9ptovkj

You'll find "New Moon" and "Eclipse" on that same site. I'll be starting "New Moon" tonight and brace myself for another bout of heavy migraines. hehehe.
Happy reading everyone! :)

Good People Still DO Exist

May 24, 2008
Papa was picking us up from Japanese class. So there we were in the car, and it was raining so hard that you could hardly see the road even if the windshield wipers were already working double time. Just when we were so near home, the car suddenly lurched over to one side. The car had fallen into a ditch that my dad had failed to see because it was full of water that the downpour had caused. No matter how hard my dad revved the engine, it was just no use. We were stuck in it too deeply. After several other attempts and failed shots at trying to get the car out, dad eventually decided that it was time to concede and call my mom to ask her to send us a tow truck.

So there we were.
Waiting, waiting, waiting...
Cars, jeepneys, and people were passing by and giving us curious looks. They glanced at us sympathetically, and went on their way.

Then there was this guy from a house across the spot where we were stranded in. He ran towards us and offered his sympathy, and would you believe...his help. He helped my dad prop up small rocks to guide the car to break free from the ditch, and even volunteered to help push the car free as my dad gunned the accelerator. Of course he wouldn't be able to accomplish this on his own, the car was just too heavy, and was buried way too deeply. And he actually didn't do it alone. Because about five minutes later a guy on bike stopped and helped, and a guy on a motorbike did too.
Would you believe, that after several propped rocks and several pushes and accelerations later, the car eventually came free.

Quickly calling my mom to cancel the towing services, we watched as our three good Samaritans each went their own way. Profusely thanking them was really not enough, I wished we could have done and said more. But they actually did not mind. They waved away our gratitude and exclaimed that they were happy to help.

Suddenly, I realized that with everything that has been happening in our country and in this world, there are still good people worth believing in.
And that strangely, there is still hope for this crime-infested and corrupted world we live in... :)

Bee in My Bonnet

I heard this from the movie "Akeelah and the Bee" which I saw the other night. And somehow it stuck in my head because of the message it was trying to convey. So I looked it up. And I just wanted to share it:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond imagination. It is our light more than our darkness which scares us. We ask ourselves – who are we to be brilliant, beautiful, talented, and fabulous. But honestly, who are you to not be so?
You are a child of God, small games do not work in this world. For those around us to feel peace, it is not example to make ourselves small. We were born to express the glory of God that lives in us. It is not in some of us, it is in all of us. While we allow our light to shine, we unconsciously give permission for others to do the same. When we liberate ourselves from our own fears, simply our presence may liberate others."

- Marianne Williamson in Return to Love: Reflections on a Course in Miracles

Pillars of the Earth

So one night last week I was watching a rerun of the Oprah show, and they were talking about some of the greatest love stories you've ever heard. Let me share two of those stories that have touched me so much that I actually made a post in my blog for it.haha :D

Love Story # 1

Years ago, a Polish boy and his family were taken by the Nazis from their country and sent to a concentration camp in Germany. At that time, the young boy who went by the name Herman, was still 12 years old. At the concentration camp, Herman worked alonside others shoveling bodies into a crematorium. Of course, in the course of shoveling, one would also have to think if perhaps next time it would be HIS body being shoveled. (wah..)

When he was 14 years old and still staying at the same concentration camp, Herman happened to walk towards a fence where he saw a little girl about his age on the other side. He begged her for something to eat, and she gave him an apple out of her pocket. From that day on, the girl gave Herman an apple everyday for seven straight months.

One day Herman found out he was to be transferred to another camp. He told the girl not to come see him anymore as that may be his last day there. That day, both of them cried at the thought that this was the last time they were ever going to see each other.

Herman was shipped off to Czechoslovakia and was able to evade being put to death by the timely intervention of the Russian troops who liberated the camp.

Fast forward 15 years later, and Herman is in New York on a blind date his friend had fixed up. The girl he was set up with was named Roma. They had a good time talking until they got to the subject of where each other had been during World War II. They found out shockingly that Roma had been the girl throwing Herman an apple everyday for seven months.

Let me quote to you Herman's exact words during his interview with Oprah. He said:

"Well, what can I tell you? I proposed right then and there... I said, 'Look, I'll never let you go anymore. … Now that we're free we're going to be together forever.'"

Herman and Roma have now been married for almost 50 years. And Oprah's very words to describe them was, "You have become the beautiful metaphor for what love can be, for endurance, and fate and destiny."

All together now...

AAAaaaawwwww... =,)

Herman and Roma after 50 years of marriage

Love Story # 2

This is the love story of a 67-year old man named Moti. Many years ago when Moti was still 17 and was living in Israel, he came across a picture of a beautiful woman named Ronit. When he saw her picture, he said that there was something about her eyes that just blew him away, and he felt an instant connection to her. Moti eventually moved on with life, and succeeded in his dreams, but he said that Ronit was always there at the back of his mind. Moti got married, had children, but he never forgot Ronit. He felt that she was always there somewhere deep in his heart. I think at this point in the story Moti's wife had died and Moti thought that he had nothing to lose and would want to try and give love a chance. He had dreamed of this girl for so long and he felt that he needed to try. So he asked around and eventually got her phone number.

I'm at a loss for words on how to tell this so I'll give you their exact words from the interview which I found on a website...

"I heard about this guy that was interested in calling me who has been in love with me for many, many years," Ronit says. "Since I'm a romantic, I decided I would give it a chance to see what comes up."

What do you say to someone who you've loved for years but never met? "I called her, [and] I said, 'You've been in my heart 40 years. I believe we are soul mates, and I believe we might be husband and wife someday,'" Moti says.

The first time Moti called, Ronit says they talked for a long time. "He sounded very positive and [he had] wonderful energy," she says. "I told him on the phone, 'Moti, I am almost 60 years old. I'm a grandmother of eight. Don't expect this 18-year-old to come down the runway.' Moti said, 'I know you. I know you from the age of 18. I know these eyes and I know you. I am waiting for you.'"

A year and a half after their first meeting, Moti and Ronit were married.

What Ronit has to say: "For sure we are soul mates, we are like two 16-year-olds starting all over again. Moti loves everything about me, and he makes me feel like a real beauty queen inside out and outside in."
What Moti has to say: "I had a vision of having her eventually and really connecting with her in a soulful love, but nobody's really sure about this. You have a dream, and you try. You go for it."

What I have to say: "Good thing you went for it" :)

Moti and Ronit (the girl Moti has been dreaming of for four decades)

Why is the title of this post "Pillars of the Earth"? Well, because Oprah advertised it during the show together with "Love in the Time of Cholera". Pillars of the Earth is a love story by Ken Follett which unfortunately, National Bookstore and Powerbooks has run out of. Sigh... Guess I'll have to wait for 2 weeks beofre the next shipment comes. Till then, I'll settle for soap operas! hahaha :D

I NOW KNOW what I want as a job

... and it's not having to sit alone all day long typing.

Don't get me wrong, I love my summer job. Thinking, clicking, typing, sending. I mean it's basically okay, I'm not really that choosy about jobs. But I do see room for improvement in this kind of job. Say...
A person on another computer, doing the same job, within talking distance of me. haha :D
See? Wouldn't it be nice if I had a "jobmate"?or jobmateS is even better! I need someone to talk to so I can coax my brain to come up with more words so that the descriptions I'm typing won't all end up sounding the same. Because at the end of the day, even if I am providing descriptions for different companies... It's all still monotonous work. :(

So back to the title...
YES! I do NOW know what I want to be doing when I get a degree and get a job.
I want a job that involves people!
Meeting people,
Shaking hands with people,
Talking to people,
Drinking coffee with people,
Making friends with new people,
... you get my point. :)

Though some alone time wouldn't hurt, too much alone time is also too much to handle. I want to be alone when I want to think, when I'm reading, when I'm studying, or when I just feel like being alone. But I want company when I'm watching a funny show, eating, talking(duh!), or when I simply need someone to be with.
I think a lot of people will agree with me on this.

Anyway, I have news, but I'll reserve that for my next blog... tomorowwwww. :D
Goodnight dear readers. :)
xoxo

Saturday night...

It's Saturday night and I'm home typing away company description after company description, when I had the sudden urge to write a blog. . .

Wala lang, just wondering...

Five years from now, on a Saturday night similar to this one,

Where will I be?
What will I be doing?
Who will I be with?
Will I look the same?
Will I have the same friends?
Will I have more internet accounts?
Will I be as happy as I am now?
Whose computer will I be using?
Will I be earning enough money?
Will I even BE earning?
Which countries have I already gone to?
Will my hair look the same?
Will I have a new favorite color?
Will I love milk by then?
Will I still have the same mobile numbers?
Will I still be wearing a mouthguard?
Will I still sleep in pajamas?
Will I still need my hotdog pillows?
Will I still watch cartoons?
Will I still swoon over the same matinee idols?
Will my perceptions in life remain unchanged?
Will I gain vices?
Will I love the same songs?
The same movies?
Will I still love dimsum?
Will I have no regrets?

Hahaha! What the...
I think I've been typing too many company descriptions, I need a break. :D

The Fear You Won't Fall (Joshua Radin)

Digging a hole and the walls are caving in
Behind me air's getting thin but I'm trying
I'm breathing in
Come find me
It hasn't felt like this before
It hasn't felt like home before you
And I know it's easy to say but it's harder to feel
This way
And I miss you more than I should
Than I thought I could
Can't get my mind off of you
I know you're scared that I'll soon be over it
That's part of it all
Part of the beauty of falling in love with you
is the fear you won't fall
It hasn't felt like this before
It hasn't felt like home before you
And I know it's easy to say but it's harder to feel
This way
And I miss you more than I should than I thought I could
Can't get my mind off of you
And I hate the phone
But I wish you'd call
Thought being alone
Was better than was better than
And I know it's easy to say but it's harder to feel this way
And I miss you more than I should
Than I thought I could
Can't get my mind off of you
Can't get my mind off of you
And I know it's easy to say but it's harder to feel
This way
And I miss you more than I should
Than I thought I could
Can't get my mind off of you

A Review Spurred by Boredom

While trying to figure out how to pass the time while waiting for my callback from Starbucks...

Ging2x's Top Books:

1. Sweet Valley Series
- My first novels. Perfect for young readers who have huge book budgets. Because you will want to collect as many books in the series as you can. They offer a wide selection for their varied readers.
(Sweet Valley Kids; High; Saga; etc)
Sadly, my entire Sweet Valley collection was given away. :(
If I remember correctly, my first ever paperback was a Sweet Valley High book "Booster Boycott". :D

2. Clearwater Crossing Series
- Involves numerous touching moments among a group of friends you'll wish you were part of. Ideal for meager book budgets as the series does not involve a huge collection. I'm a big fan of the Jesse-Melanie love story.
I lack only 5 more books from the collection!!! :D

3. Five Geese Flying
- Involves a lovely European setting that tackles family, love for countrymen, love for God and a beautiful love story. At the end of the book, you'll find yourself capable of at least ten French words...hehehe
Aside from that, the book is very valuable to me because of Melody and EE's birthday message for me on the front cover. :)

4. The Da Vinci Code
- The controversial Da Vinci Code, but several parts of the book are missing in the movie. And for those who have read the book and like me have never been to Europe, the movie was a great follow-up for my imagination! :)
Someday, I will stand on the exact spot where Jacques Saunière was murdered (hehehe) :D

5. Angels and Demons
- an even more exciting and exhilarating Dan Brown book, and a very unexpected ending!
I never thought _____ was behind it all!

6. Digital Fortress
- Perfect for computer geeks. Another Dan Brown masterpiece!

7. Judith McNaught books (Whitney, My Love; A Kingdom of Dreams; Once and Always; Every Breath You Take)
- Lovely settings and wonderful heroines! Judith McNaught books are really worth buying as you cannot help but read these beautiful love stories over and over again. You fall in love with the story, and with its characters as well. I'm still so thankful to Carol for introducing me to her books.
To date, I still consider McNaught's "Whitney, My Love" her best work! :)

8. Shakespeare Stealer
- An amazing literary work that involves the competition and treachery of the theatres long ago during the days of Shakespeare. I didn't know it was that intense.

9. The Five People You Meet In Heaven
- Unexpected but touching. Makes you wonder who could possibly be your own five people in heaven. . . And mortified at the thought that in my lifetime, I could possibly be responsible for the death of my own Blue Man.

10. The Bridges of Madison County
- From my mom's old collection. A love that can never be, but one that stayed with them for the rest of their lives. Awww :)

11. The Secret Garden
- A seemingly impossible girl and a house full of secrets. There were parts in the book that were a bit dragging, but I loved it still. :)

12. Hillary Rodham Clinton : Living History
- Inspriring! Makes me want to read Obama's autobiography for comparison. :D

13. The Harry Potter Series
- Very expensive! But very worth it...
The movies can never compare to their printed counterparts. I have my own softbound copies until Book 5, but had to settle reading eBooks for Books 6 and 7. It's amazing how Rowling can come up with these plots and characters!

14. The Butter Did It
- One of my best finds ever! It cost me only 39 pesos at a book sale back in High School when I used to go to old bookstores downtown when school let out early.
A beautiful Washington setting, with a food critic as the heroine. The book tells of a chef's murder, and dishes described exquisitely by the writer that always ends up making me hungry. :/

15. True Believer
- The mystery behind strange lights in the cemetery of an old ghost town. The journalist investigating the lights ends up falling for the local librarian. Wonderful how he was able to leave everything for her! :)
I want to have this book's sequel..."At First Sight", which supposedly continues the same couple's love story, plus another important character's supposed psychic abilities..
'Till my next trip to Natio...hehehe :D

16. The Reader's Digest Book of Strange Stories and Amazing Facts
- This time its from my dad's book collection of which the Reader's Digest collections is dominant. But this particular hardbound copy is by far the most interesting! It is a very thick book with stories such as Nostradamus' predictions, the scariest places on Earth, the most eccentric people that ever lived, and stories of famous serial killers and mysteries left unsolved.
My particular favorite text in this book is the Lincoln-Kennedy connection and the 'moving coffins' story. :D

17. Agatha Christie Mysteries (The Collection)
- In true Agatha Christie fashion, Christie is always one step ahead of you and you can never seem to predict the true culprits!

Come on Starbucks, call me now...
Or I may end up writing a review on coffee. hehehe :D

Bananas

IE Week, Major exams, booths, projects, ...and I had to catch Amoebiasis. :\
I do not really know where I got it, but I would have to surmise that it's either:
1. The drinking fountain - with its rusty pipes.
2. Siomai-yan - rumored to be so dirty yet ... siomai is siomai. :D
3. The Vanilla Ice Cream we were sharing
4. Utensils in the canteen
5. Water refilling station
6. Contamination by an unsuspected amoeba-carrying person! ...
Of course, there are several other possible causes. I'm just stating the more blame-able ones. :)

So again, back to the top of this post, just when I thought I needed more than 24 hours each day to get everything I had to do done, I land myself in the hospital... Helplessly tied to a dextrose! :\
I could not possibly relax in my room all the while thinking the mountain of work and studying I would have waiting for me once I got out!

Looking at my dextrose made me remember that dextrose tubes are made from special Polyvinyl Chloride (discussed during our Industrial Processes study of the plastic industry), which in turn made me think of my IP subject and made me realize I had to study for three industries for the following week! (Wah, nerdy na kau ko paminawn... )






This was my special diet during my stay there... Full, low fat diet, no milk and milk products + 1 banana per meal Ugghh... I may never drink Gatorade with bananas ever again! :\






Not only does staying in the hospital make you feel helpless and useless, it makes you... BORED :( I had pretty much watched all the sitcoms of VELVET during morning, and watched all of them again during the afternoon. In between this, I was switching channels to tune in to the news ( at the insistence of my mom) who wanted to know what was happening at the Interfaith Rally in Makati that day. But I really was thankful for the wonderful family and friends who visited... Awww... :)

Special mention to:
Aaron and Jane - who brought me IE320 notes, were there during my de-dextrosing (napami video.haha!), and were STILL there when the doctor said I could finally go home,
WHOOPEE! Napami pictures! haha












Hia Ryan (and friends) - who insisted on visiting even when I said AYAW kay wa koy ligo!hmph.. But then ahia had brought his laptop and let me see my shots from the IE Week Opening which I never got around to seeing due to my amoeba-related absence in school. :D

Dave, Uncle Tommy, sgeee si Ian nalang sad... =p ...bsta tnan! :) Hey, I lost my name tag pic :(
Oh well, bananas anyone? :D