Chiz the camera!

We appeared on mainstream TV today. (No big deal, we were just re-enacting a scene out).

This might sound stupid, but that’s one of my gazillion life goals crossed out. Hehehe!

Despair is

..just a fleeting concept meant to be defeated by strong contenders of a difficult mental fight, enunciated by the despised pairing of these two words: Solo+thesis.

…!!!

 

***

Hooray for friends we can hang out with under the scorching noon sun any day to talk unwanted angst away! 

Sister

Don’t you just love it when she smiles? :)

I luv herrrRRRrrrr..

Gwahaha…!!

I love you too bro! 

Do you watch Philippine Travel Shows?

Me and two of my closest friends in UP Diliman would love to know what you think of them!

Kindly give us some ten minutes of your golden hours to answer this survey for an ongoing undergraduate thesis on Local Tourism in Philippine TV.

Why answer this survey?

Because YOU who watches this TV show is HARD TO FIND. And we’d love to see if YOU believe these shows/networks yourself, being someone who actually lives in the areas they feature. Kumbaga, walang tatalo sa first-hand experience at knowledge mo tungkol sa lugar na un! Your opinion and recommendations can make a difference in maintaining the standards of quality Philippine travel TV shows! (Besides, you’ll be giving out priceless help to us students :D)

Thanks in advance! O game, click the link na!

Receipt origami

The luxury of boredom (or idle hands):

***

“Bored”?

Lucky you! Read Johnson’s  “The Joy of Boredom” to know why ^_~

For What It’s Worth

I woke up today feeling like it’s “Sunday Morning”, a description I reserve for days when I feel strangely good and relaxed and refreshed.. like Sunday mornings.

Good morning Kuya and Gyunyu! My brother and pet cat sleep together like this all the time.

**

I had the most unlikely IM chatmates and conversations, and talked to people I never thought I would yesterday. It’s been a while since I had a Friday night at home :D I watched with Kuya and my dad that Seth-Rogen-raunchy-and-surprisingly-feel-good movie, Zack and Miri Make a Porno. 

Despite its expletive-heavy comedy script and “R-18″ graphics (they DO make a porno after all), there’s something sincere and very human in this movie, that’s why I like it. It’s a “MAC” movie, too–Justin Long, the “I’m a Mac” dude from the Get a Mac video series makes one of the funniest cameos I’ve ever EVER seen :D Bentang-benta! Oh, and forgive me for the stereotypes, but I think it’s a geek movie, too– the Superman Returns hotness named Brandon Routh is there (PANALO RIN ‘TO!), along with slips about comic books, sci-fi, high school memories, barista dreams, online shopping, etc.

If you liked Jun, Superbad, or Definitely Maybe (remember Emily, the first girl? She’s Miri!), you’ve got to see this movie. 

**

Going back to the feel of Sunday Mornings: Besides accidentally stumbling on this rare optimistic blog entry from a friend who has been facing tough times lately, I also saw a previously unseen comedy photo albums of me and my elementary school friends. Heck, the weather participates, too!

With some decent sleep, these simple life-things must’ve kicked those rusty happy screws in my head back to life! Yeah, it’s a peaceful weekend :D

 

Finally, to end this entry is this soundtrack of the day, a song from the mellow-alternative days of The Cardigans, For What It’s Worth. It reminds me of  the simplicity of admitting the truth as they happen, minus the self-consciousness of “what others would think about” :)

 

For what it’s worth, I like you.

And what is worse? I really do.

 

Shoes and surveys

On the first day of classes of 2009, my groupmates and I delivered a report in management class in corporate attire.. a “culture” which is very NOT U.P., even according to the president of the university who also happened to be our professor in the class.

We sort of grazed the concept of “corporate culture”, and our professor suddenly inspired began pridefully spilling out what the UP “culture” is like. In a nutshell it’s one where we can wear pambahay cotton shirts and thrice-worn-nonwashed jeans everywhere, where a “boss’s” words are never The Rule, and where we can get away with almost anything we want done, even if it means fighting authority. Where we’d rather lose the job, than that effing dignity and reputation we’re notoriously known for. And hello, this IS the university president at seven in the morning revealing the embarrassing-gratifying-narcissist(?) ”humble” image of her work culture’s constituents (go judge it yourself).

The UP president wears awesome rainbow-hued corporate couture everyday, yet she understands and respects the rest of us who just want to be comfortable and “ourselves”—she’s a “UP person” I have high respects for, especially with the way she seems to balance these contrasting things in her life: classes, chancellors, “regular” or “activists” students and professors, staff, the government, the masa… then there’s her fashion, her family, her sleep time (she always arrives at our 7 AM class earlier than me)..Wow. I feel lucky to be learning the corporate culture, and management from “the best”, especially when I’m not a management student– there’s the comm director of this huge accounting firm in the country, the president of the premier state university of the country, the owners of one of the remaining export businesses in the country, my father… S#&%, I just realized, I SHOULD be really good at it myself too! O_O uh-oh.

Hahaha, ok, where was I?

The UP “corporate” culture is a lot like what you see in this picture: my groupmate-friend here couldn’t take her the agony of her “heels” anymore, she simply took it off while we were walking to the next building.

Well, she did have her every-reliable tsinelas in the bag anyway.

***

Something related to the “corporate career” talk:

As I was hanging out with two friends at Sunken Garden, two UA&P students approached us to survey us on our perceptions of call centers and BPOs as graduating students.

This is a personal observation among UP students: surveys are so close to heart (because everyone in UP has done a sturdy at some point of their college lives), and sometimes we even love answering it.

For one, me and my friend also do research (I’m a communication research major while he’s in business administration): we know how devastating it feels to be refused by informants. Both of us felt kind at that glorious-windy-sunny-day-sunken-garden-moment, and didn’t want these other kids to suffer the same pain as we have in the past.. so we took their instruments and chick-checked our perceptions away.

Second, answering surveys could be a learning moment for ourselves. One doesn’t get see survey results in a snap, but a bit later while answering, one may suddenly be hit by personal revelations like hey, my friends didn’t invite me to go BPO-ing with them because they couldn’t see me happily working in one, awwwww. 

A life tip (maybe): please answer surveys, especially when they’re by students, AND when you believe you’re still in that student-”I really don’t know what I want to do in my life” phase. Who knows, you might learn about yourself (even if it’s simply your “perception” of some X and Y brand-shampoo, or chocolate milk drink :D)!

The power of a one-line message

“Who wants to eat at banapple with me t0m? :)“

- reads somebody’s text message, dated 02/01/2008 17:39

 

The power of a one-line text message can pull together nine people out of their lonesome, innocent Saturday evenings– mix them all up for an exciting night of gatecrashing..

and datecrashing!

..and of course, of catching up on who’s the unexpected prom queen of someone’s high school, and confessions of love that withstood college and high school (and gradeschool) years! Coolness XP

I’m really happy I somehow landed in a small school in elementary– everyone understands others a little better without all that effort of fitting in! And besides it’s the season to be decidedly-not-lonely– I feel super lucky these people always manage to pull me out of ruts I could never get myself out of.

**

“Spend as much time, with as much people close to my life as I can,” reads the sole new year’s resolution of one of my friends.

And sometimes, all it takes for people to be together is a simple, hopeful single-lined message from one person to another. Believe in your luck of a “good timing”, everyone needs this sort of thing once in a while :)

Squidman’s new year

One of my favorite neighbors, the Squidman, went over to my house amidst the Silent-Hill-ish 2AM weather, to greet me Happy New Year, and to hug and wish me luck on withstanding a recent, unintended/unexpected karma.. Thank you Mr. Squidman! I hope your blushing-red first lady will finally realize and accept your worth with all her heart! (And I think she will, I really do! Let me be your godmother or fairy someday :D)

***

New year’s eve here in Quezon City was cold, and hazy, and rainy. That’s why all those thousand peso-pesoses burnt days ago buying Dragon fireworks were, in a way, wasted. Who wanted “supot” fireworks anyway? Thank you Rain, for making the place feel soggy! You see, there’s less trash and pollution the morning after because few would’ve bothered burning paper and powder because of the rains. And it’s less scary going to and fro places for people– no exploding fireworks on the street that could freak you out or harm you like hell!

Many in QC watched the rain and the fireworks together through the shelter, warmth, and safety of their homes.. also through gritted grandmother’s teeth (the late hour, the weather), the noise of the kapitbahay’s R&B/Hiphop-blaring stereo, and unbelievably congested cellphone service provider networks (well, there has to be someone, anyone you texted that first minute of the year.. Who was it? :P).

This holiday season has been on of the most insane periods of my life for me, I’m glad I’m still “alive”, I think! ;D

I’m alive because of family and friends, of promises that give mankind, of God for “bombarding” us with challenges and sneakingly equipping us all with all that it takes to survive these amazing race of life :P Hello, 2009! How will you surprise us this time?

Circle

“Soliddd..”

This is me and a group I never thought I’d be with up to today, my grade school classmates (here we go again, haha.. but I love them :D). None of us really thought we’d be driving each other to go to the “dream” theme park when we were young (the ONLY “theme park” in the Philippines, Enchanted Kingdom), nor that we’d still hang out even after we’ve met so many other interesting people in high school and college and work— these are things we all did today. And more. We hung out and talked like never before. Whatever connections we had we still there apparently. Life is awesome that way :)

I want to still be able to take a similar “unite” picture of us a decade from now.

***

*Sniff*

“What will happen to us now?”

*sabay hikbi uli*

***

Will A. really end up becoming a pastor? Will L. become a sell-out commercial or indie director? Will Z. go to Australia for good? Will J. and  T. end up being together? Will our restaurant/jetsetting/drag-racing/hospital-/school-building/true-love-seeking dreams come true? I wonder what kind of person will I be then? 

Our troubles and tears are dust and drinking jokes ten years from now, I bet; I’m excited.

Hooray for age and old friends :)

Just say it

This has been a very testing year for me and some people I know. That’s why for Christmas, I realized I didn’t want anything anymore than to be in the company of people I love.

As we were about to leave her house, one of my grandmothers whispered apologetically to me for not getting me a proper gift. I merely hugged her tightly and blurted out, “Lola, wala akong gustong kahit ano kundi ang magkakasama tayong pamilya.” (Grandma, I want nothing else but be with the family.)

I shocked myself as soon as I said that. I’m never that open in speaking in “telenovela” lingo. But a lot has happened this year; I feel like I understand better now. I think I understand now why some inspirational buffs tell you to just say what you feel at certain moments, or to certain people. There’s no point in keeping ideas to yourself at a certain moment because it could be all gone the next day. So say what you’re thinking about now, share it while you can.

Normally, doing this could be considered rude or intriguing or cheesy, but I guess I don’t care about those anymore. Life is too fleeting these days. It must be the fast-paced cultures I’ve observed lately; it must be the people I hang out with these days. It must be that I’m “growing up” and feel that I’ll miserably face regret again if I keep things to myself or in secret like before.

Well, I feel lucky of this Christmas revelation, so I’m sharing it through this blog as my gift to everyone who stumbles on this entry. So go take your chances, and speak out!

Merry Christmas! :]

Ideals torn apart

I have witnessed friends turn into “tibaks” or activists, a certain stereotype many Filipinos bestow on us UP students. Apparently, most “mobs” or rallies with students in them mostly front UP students. We come from THAT school in the Philippines where students are trained to bravely and confidently question morals, and possibly defy the authorities that give them out; we’d even fight if it was needed.

In college, because we’re young and don’t have much responsibilities like feeding babies and paying bills, sacrificing oneself to physically be present and verbally “fight it out” through petitions, demonstrations, walk-outs (etc) feels.. good. There’s that sense of purpose (I’m doing it for the good of the country, doh), and connection in it (barkadahan, kapihan, and that amazing feeling where you know someone believes in the same thing you do).

Students have a stronger say, and have probably more impact than other activist groups. Students are freshly-educated, and “in the know, now” of both the academe and popular cultures. I think they can “sacrifice” more of themselves too because they don’t have families to provide for at the moment (as for school work, well, we’re UP. We can pull miracle papers and exams off :D).

For clarification, I don’t join these mobs; I go to school. There was a time where one of my closest friends was so close to making me go in one of the event, but I realized at the last moment that I can’t lose sight of the farther future– that I have to “sacrifice” my own time to learn as much as I can so that I can help more Filipinos in the more accepted way: maybe by coming up with a way of giving jobs and venues for development for others.. When I’m ready, and finished off all my selfish motivations (number one is to graduate, number two is to land in a career I’ll love, three is to travel a bit, then four…), then that’s when I’ll whole-heartedly give out what I can for others.

Nonetheless I respect those who do these now. Sometimes I believe they have stronger grasps of meanings in the “real world”, and possibly way more than “apathetic citizens” who themselves undermine the image of the “activist”.

Presentation makes food yummier

..Right?

In a despedida dinner of sorts to one of my best friends who’s off to Cebu, my friends and I ooh-ed and aaahhh-ed at the sizzling/cooking technology of the Japanese in one of the newest Katipunan Avenue restaurants, Sizzlin’ Pepper Steak.

They offer burgers (without the bun but with the sizzle!), chicken, beef, seafood, pasta in mess-free servings (the kind where you’ll literally see “clean plates”). Lots of color, sauces, and “cooking in front of your very eyes” happening there– most meals are served probably 3/4 cooked in these humongous hot plates. A nice cardboard ring covers the sizzling plate to reiterate the mess-free-ness of it all. A giant air vent hovering over each table pretty much vacuums the smoke from the sizzling plates, like this:

Oh, and what’s amusing is that they actually teach you how to eat the Sizzlin’ Pepper Steak way by showing a Japanese instructional video playing in two flat-screen TV sets.

It’s slightly more expensive for regular school lunch fare; you’ll need at least P 250 to get a meal with drinks, but it’s worth it!I guess ultimately we’re paying for the large servings, and food presentation, which is something I’m willing to spend my money for. Eating out is an “experience” where you go for the best, or none at all! :D Because the tables are near each other (12 tables?), plus those air vacuums are kinda huge, the space looks cramped but cozy nonetheless– it adds up to the “charm” and intimacy of the place, perfect for barkadas, or dates, or some spur-of-the-moment Katipunan family dinners.

In the Ateneo-Miriam Katipunan strip, Sizzlin’ Pepper Steak is in the first floor of the new building that replaced the former Chicken restaurant. It’s near Flaming Wings, another fun restaurant with wicked dessert choices and really HOT chicken! But that’d be another blog entry.