The Emergency Singing Sensation

SIKAT! Ever After

2006-08-30T17:11:00.000-07:00

SIKAT celebrated it's 3rd anniversary last night. The theme for this year's celebration was ROYAL BALL. At dahil royal ball siya, sinuot ko yung debut gown ni ate (kahit na maluwag siya) na ang design ay talaga namang pang-royal ball. Ayun, I won the Ultra Baroque Award (Best in Costume). Sabi nga ni mother sobrang baroque daw talaga yung design ng gown na sinuot ko. At siyempre, grand entrance ang drama ko. Escort ko pa si Papa Bear (nabuhay ang peyups loveteam). Sobrang nangabog na naman daw ako.

I miss SIKAT soooo much. Ay, ito yung nakakaloka. Ang alam kong kakantahin namin ay Seasons of Love lang..yun lang. But nooo....nagulat ako kasi pinakanta ang SIKAT Powerbooks Trio (ako, Jerome, Jeff) habang kumakain ang mga tao. What did we sing?
Seasons of Love
Ever After
Through the Fire
Saving all my Love
Sukob Na

Nagulat talaga ako!

Karamihan sa Alumni ng SIKAT ay nakapunta, kaya super happy!

SONA 2006

2006-07-24T16:20:00.000-07:00

I found PGMA's SONA kinda weird. It was full of economic discussions and video presentations. She just enumerated the roads to be built, like expanding the SLEX, connecting the NLEX and C5, and building a road to connect the provinces that comprise Panay Island. I didn't even hear her say anything about foreign policy, or what the thrust of her administration will be for this year. And, for some reason, the people just kept on clapping, to the point that it was becoming obvious that all the clapping was scripted.

Much has happened...

2006-07-22T22:42:00.000-07:00

It's been more than a month since my last post. Minsan kasi, tinatamad lang talaga ako mag-update ng blog. hehe! Pero wag ka, masipag ako ngayon sa pagsagot ng friendster survey.

BUHAY MAG-AARAL NG PRANSES
Yeah, I am currently studying the french language. wala lang..don't ask me why. Although, when I was still in UP, I took French as my foreign language elective. Enjoy naman ako sa aking new school, at may classmate ako na UP Diliman graduate din. Super varied ang classmates ko. May 12-year old Indian national, meron din 19-year old pure Filipino pero sa Germany siya nag-aaral at nagbabakasyon lang right now. Meron ding 2 madre na ipapadala sa Montreal, Canada ng kanilang order. In other words, maraming iba't-ibang karakter. Final week na ng aming Module 1. I will definitely enroll for Module 2. Tomorrow, may lunch date cum group study kami.

BUHAY SIMBAHAN
You know what's weird? My weekends are busier than my weekdays. Lalo na pag Sunday! For all Saturdays of June, (and also yesterday), I sang at weddings. O diba? Wedding singer ang drama! Tapos pag Sundays, lector ako. Minsan 2 masses in one day. For some reason, sabay-sabay kung mawala ang mga LAC. Some are on leave; some aren't available on Sundays from time to time. Nagsasawa na nga yata sa amin yung mga churchgoers eh. Tapos may dalawang bata sa children's choir na nagpapaturo sakin ng songs.
Pinapasali na rin ako sa Music Ministry para wala na daw issue yung pagkanta ko ng salmo at sa weddings. OK lang naman sakin eh, I just hope they don't give me all the Sunday masses. That will really drive me crazy.

By the way, may lovelife ako ngayon. hehe!

Culture Shock

2006-06-11T18:25:00.000-07:00

Nagkasakit si ate. Tumawag siya dito sa bahay at nagpapasundo sa San Lazaro Hospital. So ayun, sugod ako. At dahil hindi ko naman alam kung saan yung San Lazaro, I took a taxi from ate's dorm.

Hindi naman exactly culture shock ang nangyari sa akin when I arrived at San Lazaro. Pero na-shock ako kasi parang hindi pang-ospital yung environment dun. Yung tipong pag pasyente ka dun, eh nanaisin mo na lang mamatay. Sabi nga ni ate, "this is the state of Philippine Health". While I was walking around San Lazaro, I saw broken glass windows and holes on the roof. You know what's ironic? San Lazaro Hospital is in the same compound as the Department of Health.

Pero may government hospitals naman na maganda, like the Philippine Heart Center, NKTI, Lung Center, and Philippine Children's Medical Center (all of which are found in Quezon City).
Na-shock lang talaga ako.

Favorite ko ang Electroworld

2006-05-09T23:13:00.000-07:00

Favorite ko na ang ElectroWorld.
Matino kasi ang service nila, and usually libre ang repair as long as sa electroworld mo binili yung ipapa-repair mo.

Anyway, panarot. na-snatchan si ate ng cellphone, sa outpatient department ng UST Charity Hospital. Buti na lang, naka-line siya sa Globe. So Globe cut-off the old SIM and gave my Ate a new SIM with the same number.

At dahil nga na-snatchan si ate ng cellphone, binilihan na siya ng bago. Dalawa pa nga eh, isang cheap at isang maganda. Itong picture sa gilid ay kinuha gamit yung magandang phone ni ate.

Tinodo na namin yung shopping sa ElectroWorld last Sunday. Bumili na rin kami ng digicam, a Sony CyberShot na 6 megapixels, and a new printer. The other printer is with ate, and the new printer stays here at home. Yung bagong printer ay EPSON CX3700 na printer, scanner, copier in one.

Ah basta, favorite ko na ang ElectroWorld. May suki na nga akong salesperson dun eh. Pati yung taga-ayos ng PC, kilala na ako by face. hehe!

Graduate na ako!

2006-05-02T15:35:00.000-07:00

Bohol Bee Farm Conference Room ---> this is just a portion of the conference room. The materials used come from a 130-yr. old house, which Miss Vicky Wallace bought and transferred to the Bohol Bee Farm in Dao, Dauis, Panglao Island, Bohol.

Graduate na ako!

I officially graduated from UP Diliman last April 22, 2006. On time naman ako, which means 4 years.

Ang haba ng graduation namin! Sabi nga ni Dean Lee, kami daw ang biggest batch to graduate from CSSP. Guest speaker nga pala namin ay si Juan Miguel Luz, whose name was in the papers recently because he resigned from the DepEd.

Tapos April 23, nagpakain kami dito sa bahay. I invited relatives, friends from highschool, and friends from church.

April 24-May 2, nasa Bohol ako. I went to the newest resort named "Flushing Meadows Resort and Playground". Ok naman siya, pero mahal nga lang. Php 300.00 ang entrance, consummable. Pero yung pagkain nila, higit pa sa 300pesos. Kung ako lang, I still prefer Panglao Island Nature Resort.

Pero favorite ko talaga ang Bohol Bee Farm (they serve organic food). At nakakatuwa ang newest addition ni Miss Vicky Wallace. Meron nang conference room ang Bohol Bee Farm!. Kakaiba siya kasi may "homey feel" ang conference room.
Ok, yan na lang muna. I'll prolly upload the other photos some time soon.

Post-election fever et.al

2006-03-19T16:28:00.000-08:00

I know it's been more than a month since I updated this blog. Naging busy kasi ako sa elections. Anyway, oath-taking na mamaya ng incoming CSSP Student Council.

Ito na ang aking election story. This year, naging Personal Campaign Manager ako for Paolo Sanchez.

Minsan lang ako makakapag-PCM, kaya super detailed na ng blog entry kong ito.

CSSP’s miting de avance is a much-awaited event in UP. Anyway, the day before the miting de avance, binabaliw ako ni Papa Bear. He kept on texting me this and that. Basta ang requests niya ay: 1. meet him at the AS lobby at 7am; 2. let his supporters, especially UP SIKAT wear Papa Bear posters; 3. ikalat na ng todo ang pins niya; and 4. that I stay by his side the whole day (siyempre, ako ang personal campaign manager niya eh).

I gave in to all of his requests. For the first time this second sem, I woke up at 5:30am to arrive in school early. Required kami magsuot ng blue shirt pero I chose to wear a white shirt with a teddy bear design in front. O diba? Pati ang shirt ko ay campaign mode. Pero grabe, bago ako umabot ng UP, inatake muna ako ng rhinitis. I kept on sneezing and my nose and cheeks became red. Anyway, I made it to UP on time.

Para naman sa posters, pina-run ko siya kay Kyzel (app ng SIKAT). Grabe ha, pati si Chris Lao ay napasuot ko ng PAPA BEAR poster. I put my hair up in a very high ponytail so that the poster I stuck at the back of my shirt would be seen. At dahil PCM ako ni Paolo, puro pins na lang niya ang sinuot ko. Umabsent ako sa MBB1 because I promised Paolo I wouldn’t leave him.

Ano naman ang gimik na ginawa ng SIKAT? Well, Mother made a blue banner which said, “SIKAT! Wagi sa puso naming si PAPA BEAR Paolo Sanchez” tapos may blue bear paw sa banner. I requested people to bring teddy bears. I made a super limited edition of Papa Bear pins. Basta maliit siya, made especially for teddy bears. Sabi ni Papa Bear, na-touch daw siya ng todo sa gimik na ginawa ng UP SIKAT. As usual, my voice became hoarse after the miting de avance.

Papa Bear’s performance during the miting de avance surprised us. Sabi nga sa peyups.com, nagging “Grizzly Bear Sanchez” siya. Basta, lahat ng BUKLOD councilors ay nag-shine.

Nung day of elections, as usual, hanapan ng violations. Hehe!

For this year, I did not pollwatch. Nag-entertain kasi ang SIKAT sa HQ para makalimutan ng candidates ang elections. I actually found out the results for CSSP around 1AM. I was ordering sa counter when Tonton Mina came to me and told me “No. 1 si Papa Bear. Hindi pa alam yung ranking nung ibang councilors pero sure na yung kay Papa Bear”. Siyempre, keep quiet ang drama ko. When Tonton and me sat down at our table with Papa Bear, malaki ang ngiti ni Tonton tapos ako mukhang troubled at malungkot. I am sure that everytime Papa Bear eats at any McDonald’s branch, he will be reminded of me and Tonton Mina. Secret na lang kung bakit. Hehe!

When Paolo and I had our first meeting as PCM-Councilor Candidate sa Third World Library, he gave me the number of votes he wanted to get per department. When I totaled the number of votes, I told him “Gusto mo maging Sec-Gen?” (In CSSP, the councilor with the most number of votes is automatically the secretary-general). Sabi ni Paolo, hindi naman daw. Pero gusto niyang manalo. Syempre gusto ko rin naman siyang manalo. Anyway, it did become the aim of Team Papa Bear to let Paolo win at the top. It’s a wonder how you aim for something and actually achieve it.

MY FOOT

I know I mentioned in a previous post that I my left foot has a congenital defect. I just found out last Saturday that it actually runs in the family (father side). I have an uncle and a cousin who also have to wear arch supports (I'm not sure if they're required to wear metatarsal pads too). Now, I don't feel so abnormal anymore.

Fans Club, hehe!

2006-01-29T16:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, UP SIKAT had a performance at the 2nd National ECE Students Summit which was held at the UP Theatre.

UP SIKAT has performed at the Theatre several times already, but yesterday was my first time to join them in the Theatre. The UP Theatre is home to several presentations such as: SOP Campus Tour, Miss Earth Beauty Pageant (both local and international), UltraElectroMagneticJam Album Launch, StreetFuzion, UP Pep Squad's Concert, Awitan, etc.

We performed our standard "voice talents" (this was the request of the organizers). I was using one of two cordless microphones so I was the first to enter the stage. I greeted the audience and introduced myself when someone from the audience screamed Ay! Si Marian! I had no idea who it was...I'm guessing it's one of my batchmates from highschool. Because of that, I had an instant fans club. A lot of the audience cheered me whenever it was my turn to perform. It was really funny because usually it's Drewla who'd be the crowd-pleaser but yesterday, it was me.

I'm really curious who screamed out my name. I did introduce myself when I entered the stage but the person who screamed out my name seemed to recognize me. Even my orgmates were surprised. Sabi nila, "kabugera ka talaga, pati ba naman yung audience?" Drewla was jokingly giving me dagger looks because of my "fans club".

LINGUISTICS CULTURAL NIGHT
I would like to say that I performed Matud Nila even better than what I did during the Sing-A-Lingg contest. I also sang Ginoo, Walay Sukod since the request was that I sing Visayan Songs. Kahit sila Mother Jeff ay na-shock kasi bumirit ako habang nakaupo at kahit ako ay hindi makapaniwala sa nagawa ko. Jerome also played his guitar very well. You see, Jerome has the tendency to get nervous and mess up the chords during actual performances but he performed quite well during the Ling Cultural Night.

To watch more of UP SIKAT, here's our schedule:

February 3: Music Night at the Treehouse Restaurant, 7pm
February 11: PowerBooks Greenbelt 3 (tentative pa yata ito)
February 13: Tau Alpha Night, UP Fair, 9pm
February 16: Sigma Beta/Gawad Kalinga Night, UP Fair (tentative)

Dorm tour schedule will follow.

Plug-ins etc.

2006-01-22T17:31:00.000-08:00

PLUG-INS

Watch UP SIKAT perform on the following dates:

January 25--> Linguistics Congress Cultural Night (International audience ito, namely Russian, Chinese, American, Indonesian)
Para sa Linguistics Congress, pinapakanta na naman kaming mga winners ng Sing-A-Lingg. In other words, I have to sing Matud Nila again.

January 29--> UP Theatre, at 3pm. Hindi ko pa alam ang name ng event eh, hehe!

February 13--> UP Fair, Tau Alpha Night, 9pm ang slot ng SIKAT.

Visit http://carverhouse.blogspot.com for details about ZsaZsa Zaturnnah Ze Muzikal

Para naman sa aking mga dushkang friends, visit http://www.bryanboy.com. You'll surely enjoy that website. Bryanboy is like the male version of Paris Hilton, and he's Pinoy.

PACQUIAO BOUT
So, kahapon nga nangyari ang rematch ni Pacquiao and Morales. It was a nice, clean fight. Tipong alam mo kung sino ang naka-score. Tsaka nabawasan na ang dirty tactics ni Morales. During the first bout of Pacquiao and Morales, Morales was very fond of headbutting Pacquiao. Kahapon, may tendency si Morales i-clinch si Pacman. Yun bang iniipit niya ang leeg ni Pacman at hihintayin yung referee na i-break silang dalawa. Delaying tactic siguro.

Around 12nn, may nag-text sa ate ko na natalo daw si Pacman. Panarot diba? Nung nalaman ko yun, parang nawalan ako ng gana panoorin ang laban ni Pacman and Morales. But still, I watched the bout on TV. Then around 2pm, my mom called and said that our beloved Pacman won. Eh di syempre ginanahan na ako manood.

Tapos after the showing of Round 6 on TV (by the way, sa round 6 lumabas ang powers ni Pacman. He clearly won that round), I switched channels tapos ayun, sa ANC in-announce na winner na nga si Pacman. Ang laking pasasalamat si PGMA dahil makakalimutan na naman ng mga Pinoy ang mga problemang pulitikal.

So I watched the rest of the bout, which lasted till round 10, with much enjoyment because I already knew for sure that Pacman was gonna win via KO.

Pero naawa din ako kay Morales kasi talagang ang sama na ng lagay niya since Round 9. Beginning Round 7, Morales was obviously tired. Sa round 9, saved by the bell lang si Morales. Tapos nung round 10, natumba siya tapos binilangan nung referee but he stood up at the count of 9. Then Pacman gave him another flurry of punches and the referee stopped the fight kasi hindi na talaga lumalaban si Morales.

For that, the Pacman pocketed $2M. Pero siyempre, babawasan pa yung dahil sa tax plus bayad kay Freddie Roach (who is really a good trainer...very good trainer) and bayad sa promoter. Pero kahit na, malaking halaga pa rin ang maiuuwi ni Pacman.

JACA BOUT

Sino naman si Jaca? His full name is Jimrex Jaca and is a Cebuano boxer. Bale, may bout din siya kahapon. It was an undercard bout and Jaca was up against a boxer from the Dominican Republic. TKO ang pagkapanalo ni Jaca. Paano ba naman, 43 seconds into round 1, napatumba na niya yung kalaban niya. From what I saw on TV, Jaca hit his opponent in the face tapos natumba yung kalaban niya at humiga pa sa canvass.

POLITICS

Well, nagsisimula na naman ang election fever sa UP pero ayoko munang pag-usapan yun.
I've been watching CNN lately and I noticed that in countries with elections this 2006, there are women among the candidates for President.

In Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has just been sworn-in. She's the first female president in any African State.

In Finland, Tarja the Conan O'Brien lookalike made it to the runoff elections.

Saka ko na babanggitin yung iba..inaantok na ako.

On the last day of the year....

2005-12-30T16:28:00.000-08:00

Since it's the last day of the year, I decided to update my blog. I've been meaning to update this blog but I just felt pretty lazy after being sick. Even my computer is "sick" so I'm using my sister's laptop. As usual, I'm gonna enumerate the things that I want to share.

1. I finally got my arch supports with metatarsal pads. It's a bit heavy but I'm getting used to it.

2. I wasn't able to complete the Simbang Gabi, but our parish priest joked that I'm still good for a silver medal for having had only one absence.

3. Because it's Christmas time, I was assigned to sing two psalms. One was during the December 24 midnight mass and the other was for our December 30 parish fiesta. My Christmas psalm wasn't my best performance. I was sick that time but I couldn't back out of singing. It was like getting sick at the last minute.

4. I was really sick on Christmas Day. When I woke up, my throat felt soooo bad that I instantly asked my mom to look at it. When she saw my throat, she immediately ordered me to take antibiotics. I also had no voice that day. Basically, I spent my Christmas Day in bed and slept for most of the day. I did have visitors though. I had two of them (Angel and Buboy). It's a bit funny because I was just starting to fall asleep when I heard Angel say "Marian! Merry Christmas!" The two of them saw me in my worst. Then I found out that our parish priest sent them out to buy drinking water. Unfortunately, all drinking water stores were closed. I just gave them water as a Christmas gift to our parish priest.

5. Yesterday was our parish fiesta. It was one of the best fiestas in our parish. I was assigned to sing the psalm for our bishop and I am happy to say that I had a better performance. I watched the fireworks after the mass and it was pretty cool.

Ok, now I have to make fruit salad for us to eat this midnight. Au revoir!

On the last day of the year....

2005-12-30T15:59:00.000-08:00

Since it's the last day of the year, I decided to update my blog. I've been meaning to update this blog but I just felt pretty lazy after being sick. Even my computer is "sick" so I'm using my sister's laptop. As usual, I'm gonna enumerate the things that I want to share.

1. I finally got my arch supports with metatarsal pads. It's a bit heavy but I'm getting used to it.

2. I wasn't able to complete the Simbang Gabi, but our parish priest joked that I'm still good for a silver medal for having had only one absence.

3. Because it's Christmas time, I was assigned to sing two psalms. One was during the December 24 midnight mass and the other was for our December 30 parish fiesta. My Christmas psalm wasn't my best performance. I was sick that time but I couldn't back out of singing. It was like getting sick at the last minute.

4. I was really sick on Christmas Day. When I woke up, my throat felt soooo bad that I instantly asked my mom to look at it. When she saw my throat, she immediately ordered me to take antibiotics. I also had no voice that day. Basically, I spent my Christmas Day in bed and slept for most of the day. I did have visitors though. I had two of them (Angel and Buboy). It's a bit funny because I was just starting to fall asleep when I heard Angel say "Marian! Merry Christmas!" The two of them saw me in my worst. Then I found out that our parish priest sent them out to buy drinking water. Unfortunately, all drinking water stores were closed. I just gave them water as a Christmas gift to our parish priest.

5. Yesterday was our parish fiesta. It was one of the best fiestas in our parish. I was assigned to sing the psalm for our bishop and I am happy to say that I had a better performance. I watched the fireworks after the mass and it was pretty cool.

Ok, now I have to make fruit salad for us to eat this midnight. Au revoir!

SIKAT Before CHRISTMAS

2005-12-09T17:19:00.000-08:00

Happy! I'm feeling so happy!

Last night, SIKAT performed SIKAT Before Christmas Part4. It was the best performance ever! The audience clearly enjoyed our performance. Even our costumes were fabulous!

Congratulations to the CSSP Student Council for having pulled off a very successful Carolfest!

*CHANGE TOPIC*

I went to the Phil. Orthopedic Institute and had a checkup because my left foot has been painful for 3 weeks now. The doctor said that the pain is due to the fact that one bone is not aligned with the rest. The unaligned bone catches all of the pressure when I walk. Apparently, it's congenital. I have to wear arch supports with metatarsal pads to ease the pain and the pressure. Oh well, nobody's perfect.

A lot of things

2005-11-28T08:42:00.000-08:00

I think I will put together a lot of different things I want to say in this blog entry.

1. It's been a week since it happened. You see, Dr. Remedios Cotangco (a family friend), passed away last November 14. I found out about it because I read through the Obituary Section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. The creepy part is, I don't usually read the Obituary. I used to read that section when we were still subscribing to the Manila Bulletin. But when we switched to the PDI, I quit reading the obituary section. It was really weird...it was the first time I read the Obituary of the PDI...then I found a name I knew.

2. Poor Paolo. He's got all sorts of illnesses right now. Acute viral exanthem, UTI, Tonsillitis and Skin asthma. I hope he's out of the hospital by now.

3. I got to light the first advent candle in our chapel. Yay! I've always wanted to light the advent candle, hehe!

4. I took the UP LAE yesterday. A very deadly exam. It was tiring physically and mentally. Right now, my neck is painful. I can't even do a neck rotation. Booboo...

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

2005-11-20T09:25:00.000-08:00

I watched Harry Potter yesterday afternoon with my sister and Angel. The movie was good! The director, Mike Newell, did a good job in cutting the movie. I mean, Mike Newell removed a lot of parts from the book but still, it did not change the essence of the story.

MOMENTS WHILE WATCHING THE MOVIE
When Cedric Diggory came out, I heard some girls gush "oh".
When the Patil sisters came out, the guys seated directly behind us said "ay, ang baho naman".
The Weasley twins were really funny in this movie.

For the most part while watching, I was sneezing and blowing my nose. I had an allergy attack yesterday. My sneezing began when we (ate and angel) were still inside Heaven and Eggs. The sneezing worsened when we entered Glorietta. All the stores were on sale and a lot of their items were displayed outside the stores. I guess the items on display were dusty (after being hidden for the longest time inside the bodega) so it worsened my sneezing.

That's all for now. I have to study (yucky! hehe!)

Inefficient yet it works

2005-11-07T20:00:00.000-08:00

Kakaiba ang title ng blog entry ko noh?

I enrolled today. Kahit pa may CRS na, inefficient pa rin ang registration sa UP. However, no matter how much people complain about it, we are able to get through the inefficient system at the end of the day.

I lined up around 8:30am to get my registration materials. I was told that since I am a graduating student, I had to see ma'am abad (SMA). I went to the line for SMA. I was given a number (I was number five). I was entertained by Ma'am Abad around 9:30am. By this time, the number of the student at the end of the line was 80++. An hour later, I found out the last number was already 138. Around 11:00am, it reached more than 200. Then to make things worse, the last number entertained in the morning was number 24.

I felt pretty lucky that I was number five. Around 10:00am, I was ready to pay my tuition, but the payment center was not yet open.

By 12:55, I decided to fall in line at the payment center (AS Lobby). This time, I was not as lucky. When I lined up to pay, I was nearly in front of the Geography Department. The line was that looong. In addition to that, out of the eight cashiers, only four were there. I was able to pay before 2:00pm. I was lucky in the sense that I was able to finish my enrollment today, plus Paolo accompanied me while I was in line (to pay my tuition). Thanks Paolo!

At around 3:00pm, the line had already reached PH124. See how long the line became? Then at AS 101, the Registration Assistants decided to give the reg mats of those in line for SMA, due to the fact that they would not be able to finish all those in line for SMA (reaching more than 200).

Oh well, I hope the registration tomorrow won't be as bad as it was today; and I hope that I will have a great 2nd sem. I also hope SIKAT gets a lot of gigs!

PPSA Story Part 2

2005-10-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

October 22, Saturday

The Pleanry Session was supposed to start at exactly 9:00am, but a lot of people were late. I had a little chat with Dean Zosimo Lee and Prof. Malaya Ronas.

At around 9:30am, the plenary session started. Ma'am Caoili presented the History of Political Science in the Philippines. Ma'am Caoili's presentation was probably the most exciting one. In her own words, Ma'am Caoili said, "I didn't know that my paper would generate so much controversy". While Ma'am Caioli was presenting her paper, Ma'am Carmencita Aguilar would butt in. Aguilar argued with Caoili while Miranda defended Caoili. It was like the two terror professors were terrorizing each other. It was a really scary moment for me because some of Aguilar's words were harsh. They were raising their voices already. Basta, nadama ko yung harsh words ni ma'am Aguilar kay ma'am Caoili. Akalain niyo ba sinabi niya kay ma'am Caoili ay "Olive, I think you need to change your research method".

After the plenary session, there were 3 concurrent workshops. I joined the workshop on "Teaching Political Science". Lalo lang akong inengganyo ni sir Pilapil mag-MA. During this workshop, I was seated beside Prof. Miranda.

Lunchtime came. I was seated beside Prof. Herman and Aleli Kraft. Our table also had Prof. Jose Abueva. It was fun chatting with them while eating. After I ate my lunch, I went to Sir Naval. (You see, the previous night, sir Naval approached me and asked if I could do him a favor. I asked him what the favor was. He said that he wanted a small tour of Bohol because he plans to bring his family with him sometime during the summer. He also added that his wife is part Boholano).

So after lunch, we went out of the hotel. We were picked up by my lola's driver. My lola and me brought sir Naval to the Blood Compact Site (blood compact of Sikatuna and Legazpi), then to the Bohol Bee Farm. We saw Prof. Athena Lydia Casambre at the Bee Farm (tumakas din siya sa conference). Sir Naval thoroughly enjoyed the Bohol Bee Farm. He said that the atmosphere is quite nice for someone who wants to write. We went to only two places because Sir Naval needed to be back at the conference around 4:30pm because of the business meeting.

The closing ceremonies ended early so we had time to go shopping. Again, I accompanied Sir Naval (parang tour guide ako ng mga propesor). He bought Boholano delicacies for his wife and children. He also bought more of his famous "powerballs". We saw Prof. Tigno shopping as well. After shopping, we went back to the hotel. Ang ka-chikahan ko naman ay sina sir Naval, Ranjit, and sir Ronas.

Solidarity Dinner was held at the Bohol Tropics Resort. It was fun! I got to see the other side of my otherwise "terror" professors. We were singing and dancing (I have pics of those who sang and danced). There was also a game, "Bring Me" and I won a shirt in this game. I just had to state the name of the President of the University of Bohol.

While we were eating dinner, pinagsilbihan ako ni sir Naval. Namamatay na tuloy sa inggit ang queen mother ko sa SIKAT.

On the way home, Ma'am Caoili was telling me to become a permanent member of the PPSA. Sure, why not?

I can't wait for next year's PPSA Conference!

PPSA Part 1

2005-10-24T13:55:00.000-07:00

Here is the first part of my PPSA experience.

By the way, PPSA stands for Philippine Political Science Association. I attended the 2005 PPSA Conference, which was held at the MetroCentre Hotel, Tagbilaran City, Bohol.

October 20, Thursday:
I arrived at the NAIA Centennial Terminal around 6:30am. I saw Professor Olivia Caoili at the check-in counter. I greeted her and told her that I would be attending the PPSA Conference.

After getting my boarding pass, I went to the departure area and was looking for a place to sit when I saw Prof. Crisline Torres and Prof. Gene Pilapil. Ma'am Torres was reading a journal article while Sir Pilapil was sleeping, with his head resting on Ma'am Torres' lap.

I was with several UP professors during my flight, namely: Olivia Caoili, Maria Anna Rowena Luz Layador, Zosimo Lee, Noel Morada, Gene Pilapil, Raymond Jose Quilop, and Crisline Torres. From Ateneo was Benjamin Tolosa.

October 21, Friday:
The outfit for the conference was "smart casual". For the first day, I wore my green bohemian-inspired dress.

As I entered the MetroCentre Hotel, I saw Prof. Felipe Miranda and Dean Zosimo Lee eating breakfast. I proceeded to the second floor and went to the registration booth but there were no registration forms yet, so I sat down at the foyer. While texting a friend, I saw ate France Bitanga (from DLSU and UMak) and greeted her. Then, Prof. Jaime Naval came down and he greeted me. (He's such a student-friendly professor).

Engr. Jes Tirol delivered the Welcome Remarks, while Prof. Jose Abueva delivered the Keynote Address. There was a plenary session in the morning.

In the afternoon, there were nine concurrent sessions. During the second round of concurrent sessions, Profs. Pilapil and Torres, and I went out of the hotel to shop for pasalubong. I was basically their tour guide. Prof. Pilapil offered to carry my PPSA bag and he did not stop doing so till I gave him my bag. Para daw pantay ang weight sa shoulders niya since he was carrying ma'am Torres' bag on the other shoulder.

During the Welcom Dinner, there were representatives for the Tagbilaran City Government and the Bohol Provincial Government. Acting Mayor Zamora was literally starstruck. He felt so honored to have shook hands with Prof. Felipe Miranda, Prof. Jose Abueva, Prof. Alex Magno etc. We (referring to the UP Diliman contingent) were laughing during this part because for us, seeing Miranda et.al. is just a normal, everyday occurrence.

Near the closing of the Welcome Dinner, a raffle was held, but no one from UP Diliman won.

Our first day started 9:00am and ended around 10:00pm. We were all tired.

50 First Dates

2005-10-12T14:20:00.000-07:00

I just watched 50 First Dates on HBO and I totally fell in love with the movie. I wasn't able to watch it when it was shown in theatres, so I grabbed the chance to watch it on HBO.

Now that's what we can call true love. I would like to add that the walruses were cute, especially Jacko.

It's officially my sembreak (since last week), but I still have to submit the final draft of my 199. I haven't even seen my professor since Oct. 3. I'm still nervous about it, actually.

I'm kinda bored here at home. I wanna go out but then I think of the expenses, and I do not have any allowance since it is sembreak.

I'm becoming an addict to Friendster surveys.

Missy's debut

2005-10-03T09:17:00.000-07:00

Wow! ang tagal ko na hindi nag-update ng blog.

Well, essentially ay sem break ko na. But I still have to submit papers, lalo na ang 199 ko. Inatake kasi sa puso yung teacher namin, so hindi pa namin alam kung ano ang mangyayari sa amin.

The happy part is, I don't have to take any final exams! Yay!

Ok, kwento muna. UP SIKAT had a field trip (Oct. 1-2). Debut kasi ni Missy, at dahil taga-Laguna siya, dun kami nagpunta sa Laguna. Her debut was held at the Technopark Hotel in Greenfield City, Sta. Rosa, Laguna.Maganda yung place, very Zen ang design. Plus the hotel is designed for business meetings and conferences. Imagine, our room had 10 beds! Parang dorm na sobrang saya!

Ang bait nga ng family ni Missy kasi binayaran nila yung hotel room namin at nilibre pa kami ng breakfast. Nag-overnight kasi kami para di na kami masyadong ma-haggard. Ang bigat pa man din ng instruments (guitar, jembe, rainstick). Nag-perform ang UP SIKAT. Actually, parang naging event na talaga ng SIKAT yung debut.

Yung emcees, si Drew and Tonton. Singers naman ay: ako, Jeff A, Jeff C, Pats, and Liz. Tugtugeras ay: Jerome and Divine. Pero nung kinanta ang Seasons of Love, ako yung egg-shaker.

Happy naman yung debut, and add to that yung fact na nung lumabas kami, may bumati: "Ang galing niyo, good performance from UP" Plus, natuwa din ang relatives ni Missy at yung mom niya will invite us to perform pag may events daw siya. Dahil sa ganda ng aming room, at lahat kami in high spirits (due to the chocolates), nag-semplanning na kami. O diba?

Table lang ng SIKAT ang walang picture si Missy kasi laging may nawawala at nagpe-perform sa harap. Finally, nung disco time, nakuhanan din kami ng picture na buo.

Si Drew, naglulumandi. May natype-an na cousin ni Missy na 13 years old! Drew was such a girl last Saturday, wearing a green blouse and white pants paired with a pink scarf and pink hoop earrings. Tonton sounded like a dzRH announcer. Basta, super happy ng performances namin, at maganda yung sound system. Ang ganda pa naming lahat!

Syempre, thank you kay Missy sa super-exposure na binigay niya sa SIKAT. Super exposure talaga kasi everytime na costume change si Missy, SIKAT ang taga-entertain.

Thanks!

2005-09-12T21:42:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know I haven't updated my blog in such a long time. Nawiwindang na ako sa isang subject ko...

Anyway, thanks to all those who greeted me on my birthday! Na-touch talaga ako. :D

I can't wait for this sem to end...Lord, sana pasado ako sa lahat ng subjects ko...

I won! We won!

2005-08-28T18:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, my day did not start so well because Paolo "Papa Bear" Sanchez was inconsiderate very early in the morning. Anyway, thank you for making the executive summary for our group.

On to the next story:

This is a bit funny. You see, the last time I joined a singing contest was in 1993, when I was in Grade 2. Now, 12 years later, I decided to join a singing contest in UP out of necessity.

Our org, UP SIKAT is in need of funds because we are going to have a party this coming Tuesday. Then, the Department of Linguistics (in celebration of Linguistics Week) organized a singing contest, entitled "Sing-A-Lingg". The twist to this singing contest is that the contestants must sing in a native Filipino language other than Filipino. We could either sing a song originally written in the native language of choice, or translate a song. Several of us from SIKAT auditioned, but not everyone made it through (although we were hoping we would)

I made it through the auditions. My audition piece was"Cry" by Mandy Moore. I chose to sing Matud Nila for the contest proper, since I am familiar with the song. What I did was to put a twist. Matud Nila is really a sad song, but in the later part of the song, my guitarist played the tune in a "Latin jazz" way. In other words, it became upbeat. The gamble paid off. I won 2nd place!

What made me even more happy is that all of those from SIKAT who made it to the contest proper won. First place: Kwami Biasbas (Idemdem Mallida, an Itneg war song). Second place: Marian Cloma (Matud nila, Cebuano, Pilita Corrales). Third place: Kristian Jeff Agustin (Mahirap Talagang Magmahal ng Syota ng Iba, translated to Ilocano, APO Hiking Society).

After the contest, we had to proceed to the College of Science because SIKAT was invited to do an intermission number for the drag queen competition called Binibini Ba'to. The competition was organized by the UP Geological Society, hence the title has a double meaning.

SIKat was to perform the signature VOICE TALENT. One of the voice talents, Thone, was absent. I had to fulfill my role again as the Emergency Singing Sensation. Luckily, it went well.
The Emergency Singing Sensation did it again! Hehe!

Bago mag-start ng RRL..

2005-08-16T17:30:00.000-07:00

Ayan, mag-update muna ako ng blog before starting my RRL. Marami kasi akong gustong i-kwento (from most recent to least recent) kaso ngayon lang ako nagka-time ulit to blog.

1. Ang haggard maging senior! Grabe na talaga ang 199...hahaayy...

2. At dahil senior nga ako, it's grad-pic time! I am sooo excited! Hehehe!

3. For those who read the Inquirer last August 13, 2005, well, may article dun na entitled "Two UP students charged". Pano ba naman kasi, may frat war ang Alpha Phi Beta at Sigma Rho, tapos to make the story short, kinasuhan ang 2 members ng APB ng frustrated murder. Anyway, I just find it weird that APB is holding some candle-lighting program in memory of Alex Icasiano (who allegedly died during the APB's final rites because of hazing) and to end fraternity violence, when they have just been involved in frat violence (again).

4. Issues writer na ako sa Philippine Collegian. A lot of people say that this year's Collegian is the worst so far, but there are also those who like the new Collegian. Anyway, I'm just happy that I got published in the Collegian.

5. I had a report this morning for my PS171 class and I'm just happy that it went well. Whew!

6. Nag-audition ako para sa Sing-A-Lingg contest. Ang kapal ng mukha ko dahil hindi naman talaga ako singer, more of a dancer ako. Pero kasi malaki ang prize money, at sa panahon ngayon, talagang kailangan natin ng mga revenue-generating endeavours. Tomorrow ko pa malalaman if tanggap ako sa contest or hindi.

7. Si Paolo, umeksena sa council office. Basta, natumba kasi yung bote niya ng Pepsi Blue. Tapos, pagbukas niya nung BLUE, biglang naging super bubbly at umapaw. Imbis na lumabas siya, tumalon siya ng tumalon all over the room eh di syempre, lalong kumalat ang BLUE. Kung di ba naman EKSENA ang matatawag dun.

8. Grabe na talaga ang sem na ito. I am hoping na matapos na ito at maipasa ko lahat ng subjects ko, para di na ako masyadong busy sa 2nd sem.

9. I got a LAE form. Mas mahirap ang mag-apply sa graduate school! Andaming hinahanap. Super effort talaga!

10. Enjoy basahin ang blog ni Drewla!

Paolo, you're forgiven na nga pala. I hope I don't have to give you that "stare" ever again.

Ayan, kelangan ko pa mag-isip ng mga balita. Hanggan dito na lang muna...

Hay naku...

2005-08-07T14:00:00.000-07:00

Hay naku, I was in the midst of finishing a paper for my psych 140 class when I was disrupted badly. Now, I am so disturbed to the point na nawala ang aking concentration sa paggawa nung paper. Nawala ang ideas ko. Hmph.

Hay naku, nangutang na naman sa akin ang mga tao dito sa bahay. Actually, hindi na nga ito bahay kundi kapitbahay. Every week, I try to save as much as I can from the weekly allowance I get. Nag-iipon ako para meron akong mabubunot sa oras ng pangangailangan (emergency expenses or when my dad forgets to give me my allowance).

Naiinis lang ako kung bakit hindi matuto ang ibang tao mag-ipon. Ang nangyayari tuloy minsan, ako ang nawawalan pag ako ang nangangailangan.

Siguro iniisip mo, wag na lang ako magpautang para walang problema. Kaya ko naman gawin yun, kaso ako naman ang magiging masama. Tipong, they'll put the blame on me for their financial woes. Eh sa lahat naman talaga ng tao ngayon naghihirap?

Another thing, yung kapitbahay naming nangutang ay hindi ko ma-refuse. Why? Let's just say na pag tinignan mo ang record nila sa barangay, hindi ito maganda. In a way, I am buying/ putting insurance sa safety namin dito sa bahay.

Naiinis din ako kasi pinaghirapan (in the sense that I cut down on food and I don't get readings) ko ang mga iniipon ko, tapos the time it takes for them to pay it back is longer than the time it took for me to save it. Buti din sana kung mala-5-6 ako, para kumikita naman ako sa pagpapautang. pero di ko rin pwedeng gawin yun, kasi ako ulit ang magiging masama. Come to think of it, ang mga banks ay kumikita sa interest rate. Pero naiintindihan ba yun ng mga tao dito? I don't think so...

Hay naku talaga...it's such a vicious cycle.

hindi ko alam...

2005-08-01T22:05:00.000-07:00

Hindi ko alam kung magagalit ba ako o masasaktan. Nakakainis talaga yung nag-hack ng account ko sa peyups. Heto ang kwento:

Si magnanakaw ng account ko ay nag-post sa thread ng K**** ng mga papuri sa partidong yun. Hindi ko ito alam until someone told me. More like, some alyansa peeps asked me kung bakit ko pinupuri yung partidong yun. Syemps, medyo nasaktan ako dahil forever loyal naman ako to my political party na nagngangalang Alyansa.

Dun ko lang na-realize na kaya pala nagloko yung account ko sa peyups ay dahil may nakigamit. at malamang, yung nakigamit at disabled na ang account dahil sa sobrang violations. Dahil dun, I have a feeling that some of my partymates are doubting my loyalties.

Hay naku, basta alam ko sa sarili ko na LOYAL AKO SA PARTIDO KO!

On a lighter note: Issues writer na ako sa Philippine Collegian.

SONA

2005-07-25T18:50:00.000-07:00

PGMA delivered her SONA this afternoon. This year's speech was the shortest ever...and one could really see the factions within PGMA's government. 10 senators were absent, and the whole opposition bloc opted not to attend. But I think that it was better for them to be absent than to have pushed through with their plan to walk-out.

Drilon, the Senate President, never clapped once for PGMA, not even during the end of the speech, not even out of delicadeza. In return, PGMA never greeted him whereas she greeted Speaker Jose deVenecia twice!

Sen. Pia Cayetano was a standout in her blue terno. Add to that is the fact that she's tall, like a model.

The opposition bloc had plants that bloomed peach-colored flowers (peach, for impeach) while the administration bloc had calamansi plants (which looked very similar to the peach plants) courtesy of Cong. "Way Kurat" (no fear) Zamora.

It was the shortest SONA that drew the largest crowd of rallyists along Commonwealth Avenue.

Buhay Artista (Part 2) and Harry Potter 6

2005-07-17T21:15:00.000-07:00

Natutuwa ako dahil andami kong nagawa over the weekend. Since I knew that I would be reading HP6 over the weekend, I studied my lessons nung Friday night pa. Then yesterday, I claimed my reserved copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Pero nabasa ko ba siya kagad? Hindi. Bakit?

My friend, Bea called and said that she needed talents for a video shoot. Bea' s a MultiMedia Arts major from DLSU-CSB; the video we shot was the midterm exam for one of her subjects. Horror story siya, at ang title ay "Bulong" I played the role of Emily, who's got schizophrenia.

Here's the story: Emily moves into a new apartment (yung opening scene ay hinatid siya ng boyfriend niya sa new apartment). Emily's roommate is named Jessie, who is a bitchy girl. Jessie tells Emily that someone died, a girl named Sarah (na multo sa video) in their apartment. Because of that story, and because Emily has schizophrenia, she begins to hear voices all over especially when she is alone. Emily meets a neighbor and asks about Sarah. She finds out that Sarah used to be Jessie's roommate, and the cause of her death is a mystery. After hearing this story, Emily enters her apartment and confronts Jessie about Sarah's death. She also finds out that Jessie is flirting with Leo, who is Emily's boyfriend. The last scene shows Emily asleep with blood all over her hands and clothes. When Emily wakes up, she does not know why she's got blood all over herself. She follows the trail of blood on the floor and sees Jessie dead. But the twist is, the last scene also shows the ghost of Sarah and Sarah is holding a knife. This leaves the viewer to wonder of who really killed Jessie.

Shooting a video is really tiring and takes long. The setting-up of lights took the crew quite some time. 1970s ang setting nung video kaya retro look ako. It was a good experience, I really felt like an artista. This video lasts for only 5 minutes, yet we took 12 hours to shoot it. I thought, How long does it take to shoot an episode in a soap opera?

Now I have to catch up on sleep.

Thank you, sir

2005-07-14T23:40:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: You may find this post really weird, and perhaps a bit nerdy.

I had the best Polsci 193 class this afternoon. For the first time in my whole UP life, I stepped out of a classroom feeling so touched by what was discussed. I had three "touched ako" moments.

"Touched ako" Moments:

1.)My prof was discussing On Liberty by John Stuart Mill. He wrote something about inaction. To put it simply, JS Mill discussed that an individual may harm others by inaction. One of his examples is "inaction to serve as witness to a crime in court". Nowadays, witnesses may invoke the right to remain silent. But during JS Mill's time, you have no right to remain silent if you are a witness (probably so as not to obstruct justice). For some reason, I felt like a huge burden was taken off my chest when my prof said this. I thought, "At least, I am not guilty of that kind of inaction". I know I did the right thing.

2.)In connection with #1, when my prof was discussing that particular part, we somehow connected. You see, my prof knows about the Kamia Incident. So when he mentioned that particular form of inaction, I looked up and smiled. At the exact same moment, he looked at me and gave me a smile. We gave each other knowing smiles.

3.)When our class was done, I asked him a question about what was discussed. Then, he told me, "JS Mill would've been proud of what you did Miss Cloma". Now, that really made my day. I really enjoyed our PS 193 class this afternoon.

In addition to that, UP SIKAT had a great performance this evening at the Kamia Residence Hall. We made the dormers laugh and they even demanded for an encore.

Oh happy day...oh happy day..when Jesus washed my sins away. He taught me how to walk, to fight and pray....

Ano na?

2005-07-10T22:50:00.000-07:00

Ano na ba ang nangyayari sa Pilipinas? Dyusme, araw-araw na lang parang paiba-iba ang stand ng mga tao. Sobrang nakakabaliw na hindi mo maintindihan.

Updates muna sa mga buhay-buhay. Ayun, success naman ang performance ng SIKAT last Friday. Kung may palpak man dun, hindi kasalanan ng SIKAT kundi kasalanan ng sound system. Going back to the success, gusto ko lang sabihin na ang signature voice talent ng aming org never fails! It always..as in always...makes people laugh.

Nung Friday din ay nagpunta ako sa isang forum. It was organized by several groups at dahil kasama dun ang Dept. of Political Science, syempre go ako. Ayun, ok din kasi ang speakers. Yung tipong diverse ang backgrounds nila kaya maraming points if view. I also saw some of Alyansa's political foes.

Ayan, nag-submit na rin ako online ng aking abstract for my PS 199.

Oh well, Monday na naman bukas. I can't wait for the next weekend. Hehe!

Hello Dolly!

2005-07-04T19:15:00.000-07:00

Share an experience/something that shows classical conditioning which explains an abnormal behavior that you have (eg. phobias, fetish, etc.)

The above statement was an exercise my psych140 class had today. I shared something in my class and I thought of sharing it here too.

I can't sleep if I am not hugging my doll. I've been sleeping this way for as long as I can remember. You see, my mom's a doctor and she goes on overnight duty every other day. When I was small, I probably used my doll as a "mommy replacement".

I remember the evolution of dolls that I have slept with. The very first doll I remember was a really fat doll, wearing a house dress. I don't remember her name anymore, but she was really fat (while I was a very thin child). She wasn't stuffed though, she was a plastic doll. I have a picture of me hugging that particular doll.

I also had the "Cory" doll. It was a doll produced in 1986-1987. Now, I find it funny that I used to sleep with a doll looking like Cory Aquino.

Next came a doll I named Pinky. Needless to say, she was pink. I don't know what happened to Pinky. I think she was thrown away by my yaya. Anyway, she was also fat. Pinky was a fat ballerina doll. Her hair was up in two ponytails; she wore a pink tutu and pink ballet slippers. I see replicas of my Pinky being sold in Coralyn stores, but for some reason, I don't buy the replica. Maybe I don't like the idea of replacing the doll I once had. But I do hope to have another Pinky. My Pinky was sooo cute.

Ansherina came (when I was 5 years old) after Pinky. I called Ansherina as such because she's from the Ansherina line of dolls. Ansherina was a red-head doll, wearing a green long-sleeved dress. She was even used by my ate in a Declamation contest as her props, and my sister won first prize in that contest. One night, when I was 9 years old, I got the hives (weird-looking rashes all over the body). My mom thought it was an allergic reaction to Ansherina (who was very dirty that time). Because of that, Ansherina was thrown away.

By then, I had gotten very used to sleeping with a doll. Since Ansherina was thrown away, I asked Santa Claus to give me a doll. The doll that Santa gave me is still my doll until now. Her name is Dolly. My mom tried to wean me from sleeping with dolls several times but she has given up now. I don't think I'll ever outgrow sleeping with a doll.

Oh well, that's all for now. I just felt like writing here in my blog what I shared in class.

HAPPY FIL-AM FRIENDSHIP DAY!

May license na ako!

2005-06-29T21:01:00.000-07:00

Yehey! May license na ako! Finally! ayan, I'm happy! To make life easier, nagpa-assist na lang ako sa driving school ko (para hindi ako mahirapan sa loob ng LTO).

Nakakapagod siya, pero it was worth it.

Natutuwa din ako dahil napuno ng ALYANSA ang PH 400 last Tuesday! But then, our speaker was Prof. Randy David, baka reason din yun. He's a good speaker; he really makes the audience listen.

Pero back to academic stuff muna. I have to think of a topic for my research proposal. Any suggestions?

SIKAT!

2005-06-25T09:00:00.000-07:00

SIKAT! Yan ang pangalan ng org ko. Natutuwa ako kasi dumadami na ang gigs namin. Imagine, We performed twice in yesterday's Dept. Of History Freshie Orientation and Career Talk. Plus, we have an upcoming dorm tour (all Tuesdays of July). Plus, we'll be part of the CSSP Freshie Concert (which will have a LIVE BROADCAST on Wazzup! Wazzup!). Nakakatuwa!

Kailangan ko na talaga maging studious. May recitation kami sa Monday. Well, at least nag-announce yung prof namin.

My PS 193 class watched "The Age Of Innocence" last Wednesday. It was an Oscar nominee in 1993 (unfortunately, it lost to The Piano and Schindler's List). Medyo boring and dragging (kasi malalim yung theme. Victorian Era pa). Pero winner ang acting ni Daniel Day Lewis. Maiinis ka talaga sa kanya. Kasama din dito si Winona Ryder. May classmate ako na tuwing eksena ni Winona, humihirit ng "shoplifter".

Ayan, kakaiba ang post ko ngayon. Pinaghalong English and Filipino. Inaantok pa kasi ako (bagong gising).

Oy Drew! I-kwento mo naman nangyari sa date mo! Bagong lovelife na ba ito?

Fear? Paranoia? Kamia Incident Part 2

2005-06-18T07:05:00.000-07:00

Today, I attended my Psych140, Polsci 199 and Polsci 193 classes. I missed those classes last Thursday because I was quite busy with the CSSP Freshie Orientation.

My Polsci 193 class will be taught by two professors. This afternoon, we discussed the house rules for 193. One of the rules was if you know that you may endanger your classmates physically, then don't come to class. This rule is directed particularly to fratmen. But it triggered something in me. I guess I'm still pretty paranoid even if I am done with my court appearances.

Since I had to submit an excuse letter (for being absent last June 9) and a photo, I met my prof after class. Then, for some reason, I told him about the Kamia Incident and how I am involved in it. I told him that it had something to do with the "physically hurting your classmates" rule. I have this really weird idea that Richard Ong (the defendant in the criminal case) will appear or stay outside my room.

Nung ako’y tumetestigo sa korte, hindi ko siya tinitignan. Dahil alam na niya ngayon ang itsura ko, pakiramdam ko pwede niya ako i-stalk. Minsan, nakita ko siya sa AS. Anong ginawa ko? Tumakbo papuntang council office at nagtago. Hindi ko alam kung bakit. Hindi ko naman siya dapat katakutan. Pero paranoid pa rin yata ako. Aaminin ko, matindi ang trauma ko. Pero, bakit ganun?

Meron din akong takot na baka isang araw, lalapitan niya ako, o di kaya ng pamilya niya, at mag-o-offer sila na bayaran na lang ako wag lang magsalita sa korte. Pero buti na lang at tapos na nga ako sa aking court appearances.

My prof then told me that my idea is a bit far-fetched, a bit remote, but nevertheless possible. I told my prof that I don't think Richard Ong would hurt me physically but if I do see him outside our classroom, I would most likely not get out of the room.

OK, ok. I admit, I still get or maybe I still am paranoid. Sabi ng prof ko, kitang-kita sa mukha ko ang takot at paranoia nung nag-uusap kami. Dagdag pa niya, hindi ko dapat katakutan ang lalaking yun dahil marami na siyang problema. Kung makikita niyang takot ako, baka i-take advantage niya yun. But if we do bump into each other, we'd probably stare at each other (another scenario I don't want to happen).

My prof and I had a pretty long chat. It did me good though. He clarified some things for me. I have never thought of them. Like, it seems that I look at Richard Ong as a very evil man because of what happened; because he is partly responsible for the trauma inflicted on me and on other people as well. I must keep in mind that his case is homicide and not murder. The Kamia Incident is an accident, and not something he did deliberately. A lot of people drink but that does not make them evil. Malas lang talaga at naisipan niyang mag-drive habang lasing siya. I should not be paranoid because it magnifies the fears that I have. In addition to that, he told me that I should speak up more about this experience. Harboring it inside is being an introvert and is much more dangerous/harmful to myself.

Everything about the Kamia Incident is still an open book for me because the case is still ongoing. Up until now, I’ve had doubts about whether or not to go to law school. But what my prof told me removed all doubts. He told me that perhaps going to law school would be a good healing process since I have gone to court several times.

Ok, I am now changing the topic .

Para sa ibang tao:

Akala mo ba nakakatuwa ang ginagawa mo? Excuuuse me...grabe ka na nga makasakit ng damdamin eh. Sinungaling ka! Malas mo lang at nakakalimutan mo ang mga inimbento mong kwento, kaya hindi ka consistent. Ayan tuloy, huling-huli kita. Tandaan mo, it takes two to tango. Kung akala mo effective yang style mo sa akin, sinasabi ko sa iyo HINDI. Iniisip mo pa lang, nagawa ko na. Chikadora nga ako, pero alam ko ang difference ng mga bagay na pwedeng i-chika at hindi pwedeng i-chika. Kaya kung wala kang mas mabuting gawain, wag mo na akong kausapin at distorbohin.

Kamia Incident

2005-06-11T10:10:00.000-07:00

I wrote this article almost 2 years ago, and it has been revised several times already. I decided to put it here because I am done with my court appearances.

CLOSURE

I thought I already had closure. But the sight of my classmate, crying because she witnessed a crime reminded me so much of my own experience. It’s been over two years since it happened, the so-called Kamia Incident. The difference of only a few seconds changed the lives of so many people, including mine.
I was not hurt physically, but I was traumatized by what I saw. A speeding car, hitting the pavement then flying into the air before coming to a stop, lying on its side. Along the way, that cursed BMW hit several students, resulting to the death of one, Precious Zignet Baldo.
It took quite some time before the realization of what I saw and its implications dawned on me. I could not sleep. I kept on dreaming that the car also hit me, and that scene still keeps on playing in my mind.
To this day, I consider myself lucky because I was spared; I was not hit. But I am unlucky because I doubt if my emotional scars will ever heal. To tell you the truth, I get scared whenever I hear a tire screeching, because that is what I heard before the victims got hit.
Recovery is hard; recovery is tough. I always thought that I had already gotten over the incident. But I now see that I have not. You can’t help the fact that at times, the incident plays in your mind. Added to that, there are instances when you are reminded of it. People around you make you relive what happened when they ask for your story. But I am most especially reminded of the incident when I see that drunk driver walking freely around this campus. Criminals do come back to the scene of their crime. This drunk driver does so and walks as if it was not his fault that the old yellow steel triangular gate (it has been replaced now) in front of Kamia no longer stands.
Only a matter of a few seconds spelled the difference between life and death. Sadly, it spelled death for one. I hope that we do not forget what happened on February 18, 2003 and February 22, 2003. A last reminder, PLEASE DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE. Life is too precious.

Now, here's the continuation of my story. I was called to testify last May (mentioned in one of my previous posts); that was my direct examination. Last June 8, 2005, I had my cross-examination, with a continuation of my direct examination.

I have a cousin who is a lawyer and he advised me that for the cross-examination, I should not answer right away because Atty. Te (the lawyer for the Baldo family) might object. I took his advise. So what I did was to look at Atty. Te before answering and Atty. Te would give me encouraging looks if it was OK for me to answer the question.

My direct examination went well. I can also say that my cross-examination went well. What I don't like about my cross-examination is that I felt that I was being attacked psychologically by the lawyer of the respondent. Of course, the purpose of the cross-examination is to find loopholes in what I said during the direct examination. I just hate the fact that I felt so helpless during my cross-examination. The other lawyer (not Atty. Te) posed some very confusing questions; it was so confusing to the point that I thought my direct examination testimony was of no use. There were some questions that made me wonder what its relevance was to the case. I wanted to cry while sitting in court. Whenever Atty. Te and the other lawyer would argue, I would hold my Our Lady of Guadalupe necklace and ask God to give me the strength to stop my tears. Really, I felt so bad and helpless. My cross-examination was waayyy much longer than my direct examination.

When questioning is going on, the judge has all the right to butt in and ask her own questions. I am happy that the judge in this particular case was very encouraging during my cross-examination. In a way, she calmed me. I guess she figured out that I was already feeling helpless and nervous. Oh yes, I was very nervous, fully knowing that what I say can make or break the case. Even if I was only sitting down, the cross-examination was tiring because of the emotional and psychological stress.

If there was one thing that took away the stress, it's the unexplainable, undescribable feeling I got when the Baldo Family shook my hand and said "thank you".

I doubt if I will ever have closure. But I do hope that this case will be finished before the year ends.

4th year na ako!!

2005-06-03T08:50:00.000-07:00

I still can't believe it. I am now officially a senior, soon to graduate. Gosh, I feel old. I had my fastest registration ever for I was able to get all my subjects via CRS so basically, I only needed to have my Form5 signed by the adviser, pay the student fund and have my form assessed, then pay my tuition fee.Voila! by 9:30am I was officially enrolled.

Remember I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that If I see Paolo Sanchez, I'll see Chris Lao too? Well, that happened again yesterday. I saw Chris Lao and we greeted each other. A little later, I saw Paolo Sanchez so I greeted him too. Hmmm...I wonder what's with them? Maybe, just maybe.....secret!

So here I am, enjoying the last few days of my vacation. Starting June 7, it will be back to school; back to my typical routine of studying, performing, and practicing campus politics.

I got sick after 2 days of shooting. I got really sick, and it turns out I have UTI. But now, my mom suspects another infection; an ear infection. The good thing is, I got sick during vacation so I didn't miss any school days.

I can't wait for June 9 because that's when our video presentation will be shown to the freshies. I will perform onstage (LIVE) too! I am sooo excited!

Buhay Artista

2005-05-28T08:45:00.000-07:00

Ang hirap pala maging artista. Sa shooting pa lang ng UP SIKAT para sa CSSP Freshman Orientation, pagod na pagod na kami, paano pa kaya yung mga artista sa mga teleserye? Imagine, para sa isang 2-minute video, naka-isang oras na kami.

Ang daming sakripisyong kelangan gawin para lang mapaganda ang video. Nag-shooting kami ng tanghaling tapat dahil habol namin ang ganda ng lighting. Dahil dun, mga nasunog kami. Lahat kami ay nangitim. Kahapon naman, buong araw kami nag-shooting. Nakakapagod talaga dahil may costume changes, re-touch ng makeup, lakad pa kami ng lakad all over UP para sa iba't-ibang view na ipapakita sa mga Freshies. Dahil dun, nagka-paltos-paltos ang mga paa ko. Para sa isang portion ng video, kelangan apat na beses ulitin para iba't-ibang angle ang makuha. Isa lang kasi ang cameraman. Syempre, bago ang actual shoot, kelangan mag-rehearse para makatipid sa film at battery ng camera.

Hindi pa iyon ang lahat, may shooting pa kami ulit para naman sa isang music video. Haaayy...nakakapagod talaga. Ewan ko na lang kung hindi matuwa ang freshies sa mga ginawa namin.

Since the last post...

2005-05-23T20:05:00.000-07:00

Since the last post, lotsa things happened already.

1. I went to Bohol last May14-16. I flew on my own (my first time to do so), hehe! I may have stayed only for 3 days but it was jampacked with activities. Mind you, I was sick (coughs, colds, slight fever) during my stay in Bohol.

May 14---> upon arrival, I rushed to our home in Bohol and changed into formal clothes. A grand-aunt and grand-uncle celebrated their 5oth wedding anniversary. In the afternoon-, I went to Bohol Bee Farm and stayed there till early evening with my mom, my sister and her friends. The food is yummy there...we ate Fresh Flower (yes, you read it right...FLOWER) Salad with honey mustard sauce, Unmilled rice with camote, grilled blue marlin, cassava chips, seafood soup, lasagna, honey chicken, bread with honey spread, and squash muffins. Everything they serve in the Bohol Bee Farm is sweetened with honey. The place is nice, and you can select whether you want to swim in the pool or the beach.

After dinner, we went to the MetroCentre Hotel and bought some souvenirs.

May 15---> We went to Bohol Beach Club in the morning. Right after lunch, my lola, my mom and me left because we attended the burial of a relative. My sister stayed with her friends but she was able to visit our dead relative.

After the burial, we visited my grandfather's grave. It's something we do everytime we are in Bohol. Then, we went to the Island City Mall (ICM), the largest mall in Bohol. After ICM, we went to Bohol Quality Department Store. That's where I bought all the pasalubong I gave to my friends.

May 16---> Our flight back to Manila.

2. I testified in court. Quezon City RTC Branch 89. I'll probably tell the story when everything's finished. I still have to be cross-examined.

3. Summer classes ended last Friday for me! My PI 100 class ended with a picnic at the lagoon. We ate pan de rizal and drank maria clara sangria. It was really fun! A great way to end summer classes.

4. UP SIKAT recorded the theme song for the 2005 CSSP Freshman Orientation Program. I never knew that recording a song could be sooo tiring! Watch out for the final version of the song!

5. Today, my sister and I watched Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. It was pretty good. The dialogue may have been cheesy but that's typical of the Star Wars prequel trilogy. Opening sequence pa lang, astig na ang special effects. Ilang milyon kaya nagastos para dun? Now I'm curious about what happened in Episodes 4, 5 &6.

Can I just say that I hate this year's FOPC? The rules are very unreasonable...the chair of the steering committee made FOPC very much un-fun. hmph.

But I have something to look forward to, and that is, UP SIKAT will start shooting the music video for the theme song! Yay!

Now, I'm a stand-up comic

2005-05-12T18:40:00.000-07:00

CSSP Freshmen had their advanced registration this morning. My only intention was to accompany a friend, an incoming Political Science freshman (same as my course). I had to do a lot more than that.

Since I am a member of the CSSP Student Council Volunteer Corps, I have a duty of helping out the council in times of need. Today was a time of need. There were a lot of PolScie freshies and me and Arianne were the only escorts for the polscie freshies. Essentially, Arianne is not supposed to escort them because she's the council's Chair and had a lot of other things to do; but since there was a shortage this morning, she helped me out.

I also had Tyrone/Tyrene/Tyra (referring to one person only) with me. The line going out of PH 400 was really long so we (me and Tyrone) entertained the polscie freshies (they were the last to go for they were a lot...amounting to 4 blocks already). How did we entertain them? Well, I did a lot of talking. I became a stand-up comic. I was doing most of the talking because those who remained were polsci freshies and I am a polscie major so I knew what to tell them. Tyrone/Tyrene/Tyra was by my side, telling me to announce the council activities. I am just happy that all went well this morning. At least all the polscie freshies know my face..haha!

After PH400, we escorted them to AS101 for them to get their registration materials. Another round of question and answer followed. Tyrone and I were the only students answering their questions. Of course, there were parents who asked questions as well. I felt sad for those who were not able to get slots from the CRS. They have to go back on June 1-3 just to enlist. There was one girl whom I sensed wanted to cry because of it. While answering questions, me and Tyrone had to continue "our show" just so the freshies wouldn't feel bored while waiting in line. It was fun though; I felt like a freshie again.

Tyrone/Tyrene/Tyra told me afterwards that we should repeat our show tomorrow for the next batch of CSSP Freshmen. Hmm...maybe I should consider a "stand-up comic" career. I could make it as my sideline...I'll apply at comedy bars in Malate and Quezon Avenue. UP has produced comediennes and comedians like Giselle Sanchez, Tuesday Vargas, Jon Santos, Ate Glow, Ogie Alcasid, and a lot more. Maybe I'll be able to add my name to that list.

Oh, and Papa Bear gave me a new title for what I did this morning. He told me that I am now "The Emergency Joke Time Diva". Thanks Papa Bear!

Mt. Banahaw

2005-05-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

I arrived home yesterday from my PI 100 Banahaw trip. I am dead tired.

Saturday May 7, 2005: Our class left the bus station 7:30am and arrived at Brgy. Sta. Lucia, Dolores, Quezon around 10am. We went around the area, exploring the different Rizalista sects (under the hot, noontime sun). We ate lunch, then started our trek along the "Daang Kalbaryo". Our first stop was the "Buhok ng Ama" and "Buhok ng Ina", found in the "Ilog Jordan". They're two separate falls which we had to pass through.

We visited a lot of caves (kinda like spelunking, hehe!). The caves were really crazy! For every cave we visited, we lit candles because the people living in Dolores, Quezon consider them as sacred places.

Cave 1: San Isidro is the name of the first cave we visited. It was rather small and short and not so challenging to pass through.

Cave 2: "Prisintahan". We literally presented ourselves. We went down using a ladder, lit candles, then stated our names.

Cave 3: "Santong Jacob". This is a difficult cave. We had to go down slowly (no stairs, only rocks) and near the bottom of the cave, you literally have to slide down. I had to stretch my legs, (practically in a split) then slid down carefully. After lighting candles, we took a dip in the water found inside the cave (very cold!it was ice cold!). It was so small, we had to dip ourselves one by one. Also, it was cold inside. The description my classmates used was "umuusok kami sa baba". You know, when it's really cold that when you talk, your breath is frosty.

Cave 4: "Husgado". I learned a word that the natives use. It's "bartolina". If you're sinful, and you do not pray inside this cave, the cave supposedly adjusts it's size so that you wouldn't be able to pass through (binabartolina ka na). This cave was difficult yet fun. For me, getting in is much more difficult than getting out. You see, you literally have to dangle yourself, then jump forward, to get in. If you make a mistake, you can fall into the "bangin". The "bangin" is not so deep, so it's not that deadly, but dangerous enough to get yourself injured if you fall into it.

After Husgado, we went to the peak of the hill. The "Daang Kalbaryo" is really punishing. I had to use all of my strength to climb the rocks. The path was very rocky...I think there were more rocks than loose soil. It was really a vertical climb. You may find this weird but going up was easier than going down. On the way down, it was already dark so we had to use flashlights and candles. Plus, we had to be extra careful for if anyone slipped, the whole class could fall. There were "cliff-y" portions. It took us 30-45 mins. to go up and an hour to go down.

Sunday May 8, 2005: We went to the foot of Mt. Banahaw. It was fun there because we got to swim. But before swimming, we went into a really long cave. The cave had fruit bats in it. Half of the cave is filled with knee-deep ice-cold water. After that, we went to a makeshift altar, lit candles, then passed through the smallest cave ever. It was soo small, you have to be flat on your chest to get in. I was lucky because I could crawl in it, but most of my classmates had to lie flat. After that, we went swimming!!! It was sooo much fun! Some of my classmates jumped from the cliff and dove into the water. We were all shivering; that's how cold the water was.

Though it was tiring, everything was really enjoyable. I still have some bruises and I am aching all over but it was really fun.

A Hot Afternoon

2005-05-06T16:35:00.000-07:00

I like summer, I really do. But it seems to me that every year, our summer just keeps getting hotter. I commuted home today at a very ungodly hour. My summer classes end by 1pm and this afternoon, I commuted home right away after my last class. Really hot...the jeep I rode in was searing hot.

So I boarded the jeep, and a little later, my prof (Nilo S. Ocampo) boarded the jeep too! Well, at least he paid for my fare...hehe! I saved Php 6.50 for that.

While the jeep was on its way to the MRT station, I was thinking, "there shouldn't be that much people because it's a Friday, and a lot of offices are closed due to the 4-day workweek, plus it's not rush hour". Boy, I was wrong. There were a lot of people at the MRT station and when I got down at the Ayala Station, practically all of the passengers got out too. I guess they all wanted to go to Glorietta/SM Makati/Landmark/Greenbelt not necessarily because they want to shop, but to keep cool. Or, just maybe, they wanted to participate in the Araw ng Makati festivities.

It's been a long time since I last commuted from UP Diliman to my home. I don't exactly enjoy commuting because it is quite tiring. If I'll be coming home straight from UP, this is the order or my trip: jeep-MRT-bus-tricycle-jeep. Of course, in between the rides are long walks.

Though it was very hot this afternoon (I wasn't even able to take an airconditioned bus), I actually felt pretty good when I arrived home.

Tomorrow, I will be going on a class trip. It's called Lakbay Aral sa Bundok Banahaw. It's for 2 full days, and our class will visit a lot of places in Banahaw. Hmm... now I have to pack the stuff I need.

Sa ibang tao:

Pasensya na ha? Hindi ko kasi kaya na masaktan siya. Mas mabuti na malaman niya habang maaga pa, kaysa naman may mangyari sa inyo tapos saka lang niya malaman. Sinasabi ko sa iyo, mas masakit yun para sa kanya.

Hi to my blockmate Joseph John V. Lumanog!!!
Ryan Oliva!!! Nasaan ka na? Miss na kita! Kelan ba tayo gagala at kakain/lamon? Andami nating pagkukuwentuhan! Updates sa mga buhay-buhay.

Hi to Paolo Sanchez too! aka the Green and Black Chancellor! Tambay ka naman ng mas madalas sa council office....miss na talaga namin ang aming resident Papa Bear!

Ok, now I really have to start packing. Till next time! *sings* We've got the whole wide world to explore...

Miss na kita

2005-05-04T18:45:00.000-07:00

Sa unang pagkakataon, Filipino ang gagamitin kong wika sa blog ko.

Miss na kita. Ang tagal na nating hindi nagkikita, halos 3 buwan. Pumunta ka nga dito sa amin pero ako naman ang wala. Andami ko pa man ding kwento para sa iyo. Mga bagay bagay na alam kong gusto mong malaman: kung ano nangyari nung eleksyon sa UP, mga problemang dinaanan ko, tungkol sa iba pang mga tao, etc. Syempre, gusto ko rin malaman ang mga kwento mo.

Para naman sa ibang tao:

Hindi mo na kailangan pang magtago sa akin dahil alam ko na ang totoo. Hindi naman masama itago ang tunay mong saloobin pero di mo ba naiisip na kung ilalabas mo yan ay makakawala ka sa kung ano man ang gumagapos sa iyo?

Mas marami ang natu-turn-off dahil sa bagay na iyan. At ang mas mahirap, pinag-uusapan ka ng patago; hindi kinakayang tanungin ka ng diretsahan. Wala na sa akin ang bagay na yan, at marami na rin ang nakakaalam noon pa man, kaya walang humahadlang sa iyong paglabas kundi ikaw. Siguro, noong una ay nalilito ka pa. Pero sigurado ka na ngayon. Kung ano man ang maging desisyon mo, andito lang ako lagi.

Ito ang awiting bagay sa iyo:

I'm coming out
I want the world to know
Got to let it show
I'm coming out

There's a new me coming out
And I just had to live
And I wanna give
I'm completely positive
I think this time around
I am gonna do it
Like you never knew it
Ooh, I'll make it through
The time has come for me
To break out of this shell
I have to shout

That I am coming out
I'm coming out
I want the world to know
I got to let it show
I'm comingI'm (coming out) coming
(I want the world to know)
(I got to let it show)

I've got to show the world
All that I wanna be
And all my abillities
There's so much more to me
Somehow, I have to make them
Just understandI got it well in hand
And, oh, how I've planned
I'm spreadin' love
There is no need to fear
And I just feel so good
Everytime I hear
I'm coming out
Coming
(I want the world to know)
(I got to let it show)
I'm coming out
I want the world to know
I got to let it show

Especially For You

2005-05-02T19:40:00.000-07:00

Especially for you
I wanna let you know what I was going through
All the time we were apart
I thought of you
You were in my heart
My love never changed
I still feel the same

Especially for you
I wanna tell you I was feeling that way too
And if dreams were wings, you know
I would have flown to you
To be where you are
No matter how far
And now that I'm next to you

No more dreaming about tomorrow
Forget the loneliness and the sorrow
I've got to say
It's all because of you

(CHORUS)
And now we're back together, together
I wanna show you my heart is oh so true
And all the love I have is
Especially for you

Especially for you
I wanna tell you, you mean all the world to me
How I'm certain that our love was meant to be
You changed my life
You showed me the way
And now that I'm next to you

I've waited long enough to find you
I wanna put all the hurt behind you
And I wanna bring out all the love inside you, oh and

(CHORUS)

You were in my heart
My love never changed
No more dreaming about tomorrow
Forget the loneliness and the sorrow
I've got to say
It's all because of you

Nope, I am not in love. It's just that the song is stuck in my head. LSS. I guess it's because I have a seatmate who plays this song on his guitar everyday.

I had a wonderful day. I went ice-skating with Arianne, Lyn, Chris Lao, Chris Ocampo, and Jamir. It was fun! Lalo na't marami kami. It was also fun being a teacher to arianne and lyn especially since they did not know how to skate till this afternoon. Although, I was not able to teach them a whole lot 'coz Jamir concentrated on teaching Lyn while Chris Lao concentrated on teaching Arianne. Chris Ocampo, though it was his first time to ice-skate, did pretty well. He was really fast.

Jamir had a camera with him...which was a good thing because finally, someone was able to take a picture of my Bielmann. Hehe!

Ice-skating is such a fun activity...it exercises the whole body. Plus, since it's summer, ice-skating is a temporary way of escaping the heat.

If there was one spoiler today, it's the fact that my dad supposedly committed a traffic violation. We were on our way home. My dad was driving and we had just gotten out of the parking lot, took a right turn towards Pasay Road. At the end of that block, a Barangay San Lorenzo Traffic Enforcer waved at us to park at the side of Anson's. The Brgy. San Lo. traffic enforcer told my dad that right turns towards Pasay Road isn't allowed from 4pm-9pm. Yes, my dad knows that rule but TAKE NOTE: TODAY IS MAY 2, 2005, A HOLIDAY AS DECLARED BY OUR PRESIDENT. When it's a holiday, traffic rules such as the number-coding scheme, no right turn/no left turn-at-this-hour-of-the-day is AUTOMATICALLY SUSPENDED. It has been like that since time immemorial. Plus, we have been doing that right turn towards Pasay road during holidays and have never been apprehended. The traffic enforcer even had the gall to say "nasuwertehan lang ho kayo at hindi kayo nahuli". Huh? Obviously, the barangay traffic enforcer was being an opportunist. Besides, that area is not Brgy. San Lorenzo's jurisdiction. Pasay Road is a national road in Makati so the MAPSA should have been the ones on duty or the MMDA.

So anyway, Mr. Traffic Enforcer (TE) told my dad to pay Php 2,000.00. My dad said, "wala bang mas mura diyan?" TE said "Php 500.00 ho".

Kaya tuloy ang dami gustong umalis ng Pilipinas. Hindi lang dahil mahirap ang buhay dito kundi dahil na rin maraming mga opportunista, na kahit ikaw ang nasa katuwiran, porke't naka-uniporme sila,dapat sila ang masunod. Ang habol lang naman nila ay pera, pero hindi dapat sa ganung paraan.

On a lighter note, at least we got home safely. I thank God for that, and for giving me a happy day today.

Happy! Happy!

2005-04-29T23:20:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling happy today because it's a Friday. The week is finally over. I had three reports this past week. I had two exams today, but at least, I can enjoy the weekend!

I'll start everything off with a lot of congratulations. Congratulations to all of my orgmates who graduated!

Congratulations to my lobster buddy Ryan Oliva for he is now the News Editor of the Philippine Collegian.

Congratulations to Ryan Balisacan for bagging the position of Issues Editor (Philippine Collegian), for graduating with honors, and for making it to UP Law.

Congratulations to Tin Antonio for getting the SLAAC Committee in the USC.

Summer is really hot this year. It's a good thing the UP has a lot of trees so basically, the campus is shaded and is relatively cooler than other parts of the metro. I am looking forward to going ice-skating in Monday.

I bumped into a lot of people today. I saw Paolo, Chris Lao, Abdel Jamal, Arianne, Jeff A. Jeff C, Pats, my blockmates Joseph, Michael and Marlon. I'm just happy coz I haven't seen these people for quite some time.

I also bumped into one of the best Political Sscience profs, Sir Jaime Naval. I like him because he gives really good advice. I asked him something (this something will be revealed when the right time comes) when I saw him and he answered me, "why should you feel jittery when you are telling the truth? you should always defend the truth." I now pray that I get over the jittery feeling. Sir Naval is right...I am probably feeling jittery because the situation I will be in is a bit intimidating.

Going to Paolo and Chris Lao, it seems to me that these two have a some sort of connection. If I see Chris, I'll see Paolo a little later, and vice versa. In addition to that, the two have love problems right now. Their love problems, I am not at liberty to tell. I don't know why the two are soo connected...

I would like to apologize if what I have written here are not organized. I am basically typing down whatever comes to mind.

Good night!

Uniqua

2005-04-21T22:00:00.000-07:00

My goddaughter Angel says that I am Uniqua in the NickJr. show entitled "The Backyardigans". I like that show! They're called Backyardigans because they are always playing in the backyard. I like the show because of the singing and dancing and cuteness of the characters. Try watching it and see if you'll like it too. It's on Nickelodeon every Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 10:30 am.

Summer classes began last Monday. I am taking up Filipino 40 and PI 100. Wala lang...gusto ko lang siya ilagay dito.

Oh yeah! Congratulations to Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger aka Pope Benedict XVI! My sister woke me up the night he got elected as Pope. I am happy that we have a Conservative Pope, much like Pope John Paul II. I even said, "ayan, marami nang baby boys na ipapangalan na Benedict o kaya Joseph." Then suddenly, I remembered that my sister has a godson already named Joseph Benedict! Cool, huh?

As usual, jokes (thru SMS) have been made about the new Pope. Stuff like, the Roman Catholic church is now being led by a German Shepherd. (The Sunday before the conclave began was Good Shepherd Sunday). In the UK, he is supposedly referred to as "Papa Ratzi" (gets?).

Happy Birthday to my good friend Alessandra Maria Anna Gloria O. Reyes! In short, Arianne Reyes. The incumbent CSSP Chairperson; the Secretary-General of the previous council.

Hi to my blockmate, Mr. Joseph John V. Lumanog! He is now the Editor-in-Chief of CSSP's official student publication, Sinag.

That's all for now. I am already sleepy. Good night!

Finding Neverland and Church Politics (part2)

2005-04-15T21:05:00.000-07:00

I watched the film Finding Neverland last night with my sister and our friend Bea. It was nice! It's about the life of JM Barrie...it's a tearjerker, but you'd surely like the film. The special effects were good. I won't tell much about the story...I might spoil it for you. If you love Peter Pan, you have to watch this film.

I wrote something a few weeks ago..to release my feelings about what happened to me in Church. I received a response from our Church (my parents wrote a letter) and I hope this is the ending I've been looking for. Anyway, I want to put what I wrote here. Sayang naman kung walang makakabasa..hehe..

Everything started during the Holy Week. Holy Monday, I arrived in church around 8pm. I came straight from school and had not eaten dinner. I skipped passing by home (to eat dinner) just to receive a tongue-lashing (in church). A tongue-lashing, because I did my job. The elders in church told me to keep quiet. I myself wanted to keep quiet because I got scared. But to my surprise, on that same fateful night (forever etched in my memory), news already broke out of what happened. At first, I wanted to keep quiet but my heart felt so heavy I just spilled out everything to my dad and I cried. That was the first time I came home from church crying.

The next night, I had another practice in church. By then, I knew that news had spread because my co-LAC (Lectors and Commentators) questioned me. I told them I kept quiet because that was the order I received. So I told my story to them...and they told me (Ate Sol and Kuya Jonjon) that I should have said something right away. To tell you the truth, I did not reply or answer back when I received the tongue-lashing because there were a lot of old people and I didn't want to be labeled as a rude teenager and I did not want to say anything drastic nor preempt things.

Wednesday night: another practice with the choir. The Choirmaster (who lashed his tongue at me) arrived and started to say things directed to me. I just kept my composure and told myself that I would sing the best that I could.

Washing of the feet, Easter Vigil, and Easter Sunday were the days when I had to sing the responsorial psalm. I dreaded seeing the choirmaster, but I knew I had to face him. I just told myself that I had to sing beautifully: for God, for the priest, for the churchgoers, for the LAC, for myself, and to prove to choirmaster that he cannot break me. I am glad to say that everything went fine. I was able to sing without any hitch.

When the First Tuesday of Easter arrived, my parents gave a letter addressed to our parish priest. This letter reached the people it concerned right away. I found that out because I was accosted when I served during the 6pm Sunday Mass. I guess the choir coordinator got the shock of her life. She told me "paprangkahin kita". She was asking why the letter was directed to our parish priest. She thought that everything was okay "between the four of them". Who the four are, is anybody's guess. I am not part of that four. Basically, the issue here is the lack of coordination between the LAC and the Church Choir. I have nothing to do with that issue because I am not the LAC coordinator. But I got caught in the middle of the issue because I got the ire (which should not have been directed to me) of the choirmaster and the choir coordinator.

Maybe age is a factor here. You see, I am the youngest active member of LAC. Maybe they think that they can push and shove me because they know that they are much older (decades older) so I wouldn't dare fight back in front of their faces. To tell you the truth, I wouldn't fight back unless it is done in the proper venue. I hate the fact that these people just accost me when they see me in church. It has become disheartening for me. Can you imagine that I got accosted right before the start of a mass? Really distracting...

There have been times when I just want to stop serving. But I am not walking away this time. This is not a valid reason for me to stop serving God.

Why do I say that I am not walking away this time? Five years ago, when I was still 14, I got involved in a controversy. Our then parish priest, Fr. Doods Coroza, got mad at my elders (I was part of the choir that time). I was absent for two sundays and so he scolded them for tiring me (senakulo rehearsals, juat like my present problem, it was around the Lenten season). In his words, "dati, ang aga-aga andito na si Marian. Ngayon, di na nagse-serve kasi pinapagod niyo". A lot of other issues ensued and so I left. For three years, I did not serve in our parish because of that. But this time around, I am not walking away. I am five years older; I have to face this head-on. Of course, my parents and my sister are by my side. They have to guide me, especially since this is my first time to fight back. Speaking of parents, that's another thing.

When I serve in our main church, my parents usually do not accompany me (they hear mass in our village chapel). Sometimes, I think that's another reason why the feel so comfortable in accosting me; because they know my parents are not around. But what if they are? Would they do the same thing to me?

I believe that my faith is being tested here. But I will hold on; I will not allow my spirit to break. For my friend Paolo Sanchez, these petty problems shouldn't get in the way of my faith and that it's a matter of knowing who my master is and for me, it is God. Chris Lao says that I am a strong person. If one person thinks that I am, then I must be. He probably sees something in me that other people don't.

If there's a silver lining in all that has happened to me, it's the fact that I was able to do my best during the Holy Week. Palm Sunday of 2005, I was assigned to be the narrator (gospel) for the 8am mass. I found out later that people were asking who the narrator was and that a churchgoer got moved to the point that he/she cried. Also, Ligaya Garcia, an elderly who always points out our mistakes, had nothing bad to say during Palm Sunday; she was all praises for the LAC and that she especially mentioned me.

After the Holy Thursday mass (washing of the feet), I got the thumbs-up from my co-LAC; my friends from the charismatic group told me that it was as if they were watching me in concert. Ligaya Garcia asked me if I would be doing all of the psalms and I answered yes and she smiled at me. I interpret her smile as something good.

After the Easter Vigil, I received a "very good" from our parish priest. This surely lit a smile on my face.

Easter Sunday, I was not exactly in the best mood for I was told to sit in a place I did not want to sit in. My wounds were still fresh but since it was Easter Sunday, I had to be happy. I gave the psalm my best shot.

Currently, I am developing a fear. I am afraid of singing the psalm again...but I should not be. As of now, I still do not feel comfortable in dealing with the choir. I will probably sing for the bishop and on special occasions, but not on regular Sunday masses.

Why does our parish have to be super politicized?

Today, I received the reply of our parish priest, as noted by the Executive Committee Chairperson and the Worship Committee Coordinator. I have just been labeled "vindictive" (a label I do not think I deserve; so much for fighting for my right..the right to be respected and be treated properly. In addition to that, my parents wrote the letter because they became concerned. Why would I go home from church crying?)) but they did acknowledge the fact that the choirmaster overreacted and had no right in lashing his tongue at me.

I am hoping that this issue will end. My parents and my sister are not exactly satisfied with what is written in the letter for I have just been labeled vindictive. I told my sister that I do not care anymore what they call me. As far as I am concerned, I will continue serving in church.

Sorry for the long post...I just wanted to let everything..as in EVERYTHING...out.

A sigh of relief

2005-04-11T13:10:00.000-07:00

whew...I feel relieved. Relieved over something I cannot disclose here. Sabi ng ibang mga tao, baka daw masyado lang ako nagpapaapekto. Pero ayoko naman magbulag-bulagan sa mga problemang alam kong nasa harap ko. But I can breathe freely now. I just got off the phone and I'm so glad that I have such an understanding friend; and that everything seems to be turning out fine. I hope it stays that way. I have to admit though, that I was shocked. I was told of something different than what actually happened. But you told me the truth..and you have the right to know my side of the story. uuuyyy...napapaisip na sila kung sino yun! I'm happy that you're always there to listen to me. You've seen me through my ups and downs; you've seen me when I was really troubled. O..ititigil ko na ang kadramahan na ito. at wag niyo na isipin kung sino itong friend na ito...mahihirapan lang kayo.

Yesterday, we celebrated my dad's birthday. I got to see my really big godson. His name is Carlos Joaquin. He's only 9 months old, but he weighs like a 2-year old kid. I also got to see cousins...and basically all of my relatives. Basically, it was a happy day for me..plus it was not that hot.

Woohoo....a few days to go and it's back to school for me!!! I am taking up summer classes so that my academic load will be lessened come AY 2005-2006.

Thought for the day: What is the truth?

Church Politics

2005-04-10T08:40:00.000-07:00

I watched the Pope's funeral from 3pm to 7pm. Yup! That's the entire time it was LIVE on TV. I was even challenging myself with a game "name-the-world-leader-who-enters-the-basilica". Of course, I couldn't name them all...I am not familiar with the leaders from Eastern Europe.

The responsorial psalm was Psalm 23. It was sung, and it reminded me of an experience during the Holy Week. I sang the psalms for the Holy Thursday, Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday masses but the story behind it is something else. I'll probably tell you the story some other time. The story is quite long, but I'll give you a background. I am a lector in church and there is a rule that if you are a lector and the psalm will be sung, the lector is allowed to do so. If you are a choir-member but not a lector, you are not allowed to sing the psalm at the lectern. The thing is, our choir practiced some psalms (they're not supposed to do that because they are aware of the rule I just mentioned) and they got mad at me when they found out that I had already prepared the psalms I was assigned to sing. Prepared here means I already had a tune for all the psalms I had to sing. I received a tongue-lashing for doing what I was supposed to do; I was treated with such rudeness and disrespect that I could only mumble "po" and "opo".

I like politics and I enjoy UP politics no matter how painful it can be at times. What I do not like is church politics! No, I am not talking about how they elect a new Pope. I am talking about the people who try to suck up to our parish priest. Really pathetic, if you ask me. I view going to church as a form of relaxation. But now, I dread it. I sometimes dread going to church especially if I know that I'll see the rude guy. I have been told that I should not mind this church issue of mine when I serve. I try not to, but then, they are the ones bringing it back. Can you believe that I got accosted by one of the people mad at me right before the start of a mass? It was very distracting! It made me feel like going home right then and there, but of course I did not do that because that would have been abandonment of duty.

A New Beginning

2005-04-08T14:25:00.000-07:00

Yay! I finally have my own blog. I am currently in "bum" mode; my summer classes will start after a week so I still have some days to enjoy before going back to "acad" mode.

Last night, I went out with my sister and a couple of friends. We ate at Masas (Greenbelt 2) for dinner and Haagen-Dazs for dessert. The food was absolutely yummy. I felt like a pig after eating...I was stuffed!

Today, I cleaned out my school stuff and wrapped some of my precious books. I also reserved some chairs and tables because my family will be having a party on Sunday in celebration of my dad's birthday.

In case you're wondering why my blog is entitled "The Emergency Singing Sensation", I'll tell you the story behind the name. You see, I am a member of the University of the Philippines' Sirkulo ng mga Kabataang Artista or UP SIKAT. I am really a dancer, but whenever we have a performance and a singer is not available/absent, I am the substitute. Finally, my orgmates gave me the name "Emergency Singing Sensation".

That's all for now. I'm gonna watch the Pope's funeral...may he rest in peace.