HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I'll just post some of the pics that we had at our recent trip to Pamarawan. I'm supposed to write here about our recent adventure at EK, but I'll just put it in here later. Enjoy!!



barkada pic!!



ambal and me...beautiful!



ren, ta, rhose and ivy



beeh!!



first voyage...



boat ride!



barkada at the boat!

I should be wirting about what I will be looking forward this coming year. But I just couldn't help feeling so depressed about what happened last week, when most Asian countries were hit by a humongous tsunami, the worst natural disaster in recent history, and the second worst ever in 100 years. The tsunami brought destruction in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, going as far as India, Sri Lanka and Maldives. Good thing it spared our country, because we are just trying to pick up the pieces after we were hit by three super typhoons, and our country cannot take any more disasters.

The tsunami was brought about by a magnitude 9 earthquake, when Indian and Burma plates collided with each other. This is called a tectonic earthquake, much more violent compared to volcanic earthquakes. With the earth-shaking occurence comes the huge tsunami that almost wiped out some countries in the Asian map and killed thousands of people all over the continent.

(enough of this scientific discussion, I'm beginning to feel like a teacher!)

As I was watching the news, I cannot help but feel sorry to those people that were killed by this natural disaster, most of them tourists just wanting to have a good time this holiday season. Most of the famous beaches in these countries became sanctuaries for dead bodies and all of the survivors were still in a state of shock, still cannot believe that this tragedy would happen to them, and holiday season at that.

On the other hand, I feel grateful that our country was spared, or else this is another burden for us and I don't think we can take that any longer.

I pray that the souls of these people would find peace that they didn't find here on Earth, and be this a lesson for us that when Death strikes, we are not spared no matter what we do or where we are.

I arrived 1 hour and 45 minutes late for work tonight. The reason is this: I consulted a Seer, a manghuhula! I wanna know what's gonna happen to me this year, hehehe! Rhose and Tata joined me in my quest to know my future. I was supposed to see Nanay Lita (that's the name of the Seer) weeks ago but the two instances I went to see her, she was out. So on my third try, finally I got hold of her! But I tried not only one, but two manghuhula all in one day!

The first manghuhula, is an old lady based in Quiapo. She was just using a plain, old playing cards, not the usual tarot cards used by Seers. I was kinda hesitant at first, but what the heck! I was the first one that she "read", and these are what she told me:

---I'm going abroad! (hmm...maybe I should have my documents ready)
---My family is having a trouble right now (true...)
---I'm going to have lots of money! (uuhhweee!!!)
---I'm going to achieve all my dreams in life
---Mike loves me (like, yeah..)
---Mike is the jealous, sensitive type (uhuh...)
---Someone is inlove with me aside from my boyfriend (my gosh, I wonder who this is?!?!)
---Mike attracts lots of girls (that I know...)
---Someone in my family should be careful with accidents on the streets
---I should be careful with water, fire and vehicular accidents

Hmm, sounds pretty convincing, I must say.

The second manghuhula that we went to is a devotee of Nuestra Señora Dela Paz y Buenviaje. She is Nanay Lita ( I think that is her name), and she uses tarot cards. Her tarot cards were impressive. But her predictions about me were not.

Her prediction about my life can be summed up into three sentences: I am in a mess, (not really, actually), I should get married soon (which is oh boy, not again!!), and I will have money in the future (the best!).

I'm not convinced with her reading because, one, she asks so many questions, and I think she based her readings with the answers that I gave her. Two, she is insisting that I should get married soon, which is HELLLUUURRR?!?!?!? I'm too young to get married, I'm not ready to get married, AND I DON'T WANT TO GET MARRIED YET!!! I don't really see the logic of getting married too soom without fulfilling alll your dreams. And besides, I still have so many things to do, like to travel around the world, or have my new house, have something in my bank account. Marriage is not something that you rush into, just because you are in a very long relationship with someone. You should be ready physically, mentally, financially, and emotionally, because I value family so much.

So, just so that I would have a documentation about these predictions, I'll put it in my blog. But I know I will make my own destiny, and I just hope that the good things that they said would come true.

I have always wanted to be a writer. Or a reporter. Maybe even a news reader. In short, I have always wanted to be a part of the media industry,. Heck, if I have given a drop-dead gorgeous face and a nice bod, I'll try to be an artista! I bet I'll lord over all aspiring teen stars wannabees joining teen quests and artista searches! hahaha!

Seriously. I have been exposed to shows like 5 and Up, where children were given a chance to experience the joy of saying what they want to say without the pessimistic and cynical view of adults. And as a kid, I love to voice out my opinions about things, and I think I would be able to do that once I get started in the media industry. I remember the feeling of envy and jealousy to those fortunate kids on TV that were given a chance to travel, meet different people, and experience that wonderful feeling of of small voice being heard by the people.

So when I entered school, I would always join essay contests, scriptwriting workshops, press conferences (where we compete with other schools for categories like news and feature writing, copywriting and editing, and other newspaper categories) just to hone my talents. Back in high school, I joined the school organ, and imagine my elation when I was named the editor-in-chief of our school paper! I thought, maybe journalism is mine for the taking.

It only follows that I took up Journalism in college. (well, it's a bonus that this course also has the least number of Math units, just Math 1 and Math 11! hehehe!) And after finishing my course, I was lucky to have my internship as a writer in a government agency. And as they say, the rest is history.

But right now, I'm having doubts if media is really the industry for me. Well, I haven't been into the mainstream media. And people would ask me why I don't try to apply to networks. I always tell them the same thing: they would rather hire people with influential backers within the network. It's true. But maybe the reason why I don't try it is because I am afraid. Afraid of regrets. Afraid that they would tell it to my face that I am not for media.

Maybe this is just nerves talking.

After I told everyone that I want to become a full-fledged writer, now I don't know what to write anymore! My life is so boring nowadays that I can't find anything great to write about.

I just want to say thank you to Ails for commenting to my previous entry about me wanting to become a writer. Hearing that from someone who really doesn't know you, and yet believes in your potential is really something. But now, I feel so empty. I think I am suffering from a writer's block. And I don't like it. I am like a prisoner deprived of her freedom. And it's really killing me. Hope this will end soon.

By the way, I just changed the background and color scheme of my blog. This is just temporary. I am trying to design my own template but due to time constraints, I just downloaded a free background from the net. Since I'll be having my leave (yehey!! next week, I think I'l be able to find time to redesign my site. For the meantime, enjoy the stars!

I noticed that tabulas has a new user interface. But what the hell happened in my blog's template!?!?!? And I visited some sites, and the templates are all the same?!?! Is this temporary, or do I have to update my template again?!?!?

I am at the second day of my vacation leave. My leave started last Monday, and will end on Sunday. And look how fast time flies! I hope I'll go and see Liza in Baguio, but because of the meningococcemia scare that made Baguio looked like a ghost town, I won't be able to do my greatest wish right now: to smell the fresh, cool air of Baguio and visit my friends there, sadness.

It is really fitting that I have my leave this week, because I am not feeling well right now. I think I am suffering from sore eyes! Well, my right eye is really itchy, and it's really red. Tears are flowing, making me dificult to see things peripherally. This reminds me that Il buy eye dops in the drugstore after this, hehehe!

The worst, I should say, is that I have a pigsa! Don't ask where it chose to pop up, but it is really painful! It is on its early stage, where it is still trying to "ripen up". What a way to have my leave, eh?

It's really odd, but whenever I get some time off, that's when my body would start acting strange! I would be sick, as in really sick, and not just with one ailment, but as many as 5 ailments all at the same time! My mom said that she is really worried everytime I get sick because my ailments are more like a "package deal", like they would all want to pop at the same time.

I remember my first year in UP. I was going on my semestral break, and after my last exams in Comm I, I was complaining of muscle pains already. I just thought this was brought about by the after-exam stress, after a week of grueling finals. So I just popped some medicines and ignored the pain.

But unfortunately, I got drenched with rain on my home home. So the pain grew worse, and I was running high with fever. We thought this was jut an ordinary fever, but when I was brought to the hospital the next day (my fever rose to 42 degrees), the doctor diagnosed that I have measles. And not only that, I was also suffering from typhoid fever, sore eyes, and bronchitis (this was because of the rain). Oh, and my urinary tract infection also stole the show. On top of that, I was having also my period. And I thought I would be dead with all of these ailments! I sadly missed the after-sem blowout of Sir Atoy (my favorite teacher in Kas I). Gratefully, my friends went to the hospital and gave me my classcard. I got a 1!

Right now, I just want to spend my vacation worry and sick-free, for once! And I hope I could go to Baguio, but I know my mom wouldn't let me. Hmm, I wonder what I would do with the remaining days of my leave?

"Time heals all wounds..."

I just had a super time last night with my friends at TransCo. Less than a year after that fateful day, the day when I thought I just burned the bridges of friendship, I met up with Faye, Joie and Ruffy. As always, Paolo was not able to join us, due to a prior appointment. (I wonder what or WHO was that...hehehe!) And Ron wasn't there either. Although I miss them both, it was still a great night nonetheless.

We had a quiet dinner at Marina, apparently recommended by Carmelo, a restaurant somewhere at Tomas Morato. Note: if you have a seafood craving and have a really big appetite, you could try going at Marina, where they serve huge servings of squid, fish, shrimps, and other seafood. You could also specify what dish would your order be, like sinigang, grilled or fried, yum! We had sinigang na sugpo, grilled stuffed squid, and baked talaba. It was really a satisfying meal, peppered with laughter and us trying to catch up with new things in our lives. Joie and Ruffy are now an item (it's about time!), Faye and Emil are still together, and me still have Mike, although they haven't seen him yet. And yeah, Marcel has a commercial shoot that night that's why he wasn't also there.

We finished our meal quite early, so we decided to go on a nightcap at Fleur de Ly's, a coffeshop near Vicky Belo's Clinic. There we continued our talk, me asking questions about people that I haven't been able to see in a while now, and the latest gossips. And of course, our favorite topic: love and relationship. I was able to ask Joie and Ruffy pointblank about their realization that they are really meant for each other, and Faye bugging her when she'll gonna get married. It was a very enjoyable discussion, and if not for Mike, I'll do a sleepover at Joie's house, much like the ones we used to do when I was still in TransCo.

So after a great evening, we had to say goodbye. But I was really feeling very light and happy, as if I'm floating. Never did I imagine that after all that has happened, we will still be friends. And I really treasure them, so much that seeing them makes me wanna cry. (it's my touchy-feely mode today!) I really miss them, and the talks that we had only heighten that. I remember, we always do that especially when we're harassed and need to vent out out feelings, we sit at Barista, and rant until our pent-up energies are gone.

I also told them I'll be celebrating my birthday this year, and said I'm gonna be their tour guide here in Bulacan. And frankly, I'm looking forward to that, even if it is still six months away. I'll just ask Ruffy to invite us to Zambales this holy week, hehehe!

I was opening my inbox a while ago when I got to see the email Ron and I have been exchanging recently. It started with a question I asked about bands in the 90s, and then flourished into a great exchange of thoughts. Let me share some of the enlightening insights we had:


i've always been convinced about the superiority of books with regard to the participation of the consumer--meaning you and I. mas kasama ka sa creative process pag binabasa mo ang kwento

syempre, film has its own advantages. film, being an audio/visual art, will always innovate and captivate us more and more [i don't think something like the matrix trilogy could be sufficiently captured in print]...relatedly, somebody said "thank god for the internet" and i agree with my heart and sould...but the printed word will never die. bwahahaha.

a few weeks ago, the ramon magsaysay awardees were in the country to receive their awards. one of them, the Bangladeshi guy, i forgot his name but i have his card somewhere, visited the inquirer for a more or less informal talk.

he was honored for his contributions in journalism, literature and culture. anyway, he leads this literacy/reading movement. the thrust is to get people reading, from students, to young professionals, to the average barrio people. sabi niya, they are encouraging people [at least the advanced ones] to read one book a week. i don't have the time for that pero na-inspire ako.

magastos, pero and policy ko ngayon ay hindi dapat mawalan ng binabasang libro. these days i'm more into non-fiction. i just finished this book on the general history of India, then another shorter work by the same author about how India was surveyed and mapped through the leadeship of this grumpy guy who eventually was honored by having the world's tallest mountain named after him [George Everest]. his work led to the measurement of many himalayan peaks including the tallest.

That was very interesting and it confirmed my great liking for things 19th century-ish. It also led me to other titles that i might one day read.

after that, i read this biography of the "father of geology." alam mo ba na in the 17th century and even in the early 18th, the christian world [the british isles included] believed [or were expected to believe] that the world was a little less than 6,000 years old courtesy of this bishop who calculated the years through the reigns of the monarchies in the bible? moreso, people were expected to believe that the bible was a literal chronicle of world history.

anyway, this guy worked for an employer who owned coal mines. doon niya napansin ang iba't ibang strata ng mga bato sa ilalim ng lupa at ang pagkakasunud-sunod ng mga ito. through this system, he realized one could predict what stuff was under the ground and that a map of the world beneath the surface could be made [very useful for land owners who hope that they have coal under their properties]

malaki ang role ng mga fossils para madefine yung system na yun. certain fossils appear only in certain strata, and therefore you get the relative age of the strata (simpler fossils appear in deeper strata, the more complex ones like dinosaurs appear nearer to the surface). Charles Darwin owes a lot to this development in science.

right now, i'm reading about a Swedish contemporary of Rizal, who explored mainland Asia from 1890 to 1915. sikat na sikat siya noon pero nabaon sa limot kasi kumampi siya sa mga Nazi during the two world wars--in other words, di sikat ang mga talunan. the book is part of national geographic society's list of adventure classics.

pero syempre nagbabasa din ako ng fiction. i read angels and demons before da vinci code. halos pareho ang formula pero nagustuhan ko naman. after finishing da vinci i searched the net on the controversy about the book. nakakatuksong isipin na hindi fiction yung libro, pero in the end it is nothing more than that. I'm still thinking if i will read another dan brown novel about conspiracy theories on aliens ['deception point"]

after that i read 'memoirs of a geisha" fiction published in1997 and is being made into a movie starring Zhang Ziyi, Michele Yeoh and Ken Watanabe, that guy from Last Samurai].

last year i read, several Grisham books. Ganda, bumili pa nga ako ng video ng "the firm" which i did not like.

which leads mo to my point: long live books and reading!!!

[trivia, in the movie Sabrina starring Audrey Hepburn and Humprey Bogart, Sabrina's father worked as a chauffer [tama ba spelling?] just so he would have lots of time for his passion--reading]

kaya basa na. kahit ano basta basa ng basa. wag mo lang kalimutang alagaan ang mata mo. ikaw rin, mauuwi ka sa pakikinig ng books on tape o kaya mag-aaral kang kumapa ng mga tuldok sa papel.

Ron


Now here is my reply:


wow friend, you've been reading a lot of books lately din huh?!

yeah, i agree na there are some movies na hindi mo macapture in print, vis-a-vis with works in print na hindi justified sa film (for me, classic example would be the harry potter series, which the movies did not fully justified the creative imagination I got and still get in books!) But right now, I would want someone to adapt the Da Vinci Code in film, para may visual aesthetics. Kasi, with that type of genre, maraming pwedeng gawing atake, don't you think?

With the type of job that I have right now, I think I really have to read just to make my mind sharp. Tsaka for the benefit of the people that I teach na rin, para naman may mapag-usapan kami outside the class topic. And besides, I don't think I would survive a day without reading, promise.

Nung bata pa ako, siguro mga 6 or 7, natuto akong bumasa dahil sa Inquirer. Promise! Kasi naaalala ko, nagsisimula pa lang yang dyaryo nyo, yan na binibili ng tatay ko. Wala akong matandaang ibang newspaper na binabasa kundi Inquirer lang. Kaya pasalamat talaga ako sa dyaryo nyo! hehehe!

Ngayon, halos every week talagang bumibili ako ng books, lalo na ngayon na stone's throw lang ang galleria dito. Paiba-iba nga lang ang taste ko, naalala ko bumili ako ng confessions of a shopaholics, kahit hindi ako mahilig magshopping. Ang cute kasi ng kwento ni Rebecca Bloomwood, isa siyang financial journalist na hindi sanay magmanage ng pera. In a way medyo nakakarelate din ako, kasi minsan gastadora din ako eh, hehehe!

Okay naman ako sa non-fiction. Actually, mas namulat akong magbasa ng non-fiction, siguro bandang mga 9. I remember I was scouring my cousin's textbooks and my lola's encyclopedia then, lahat ng volumes binasa ko more than once. Kahit earth science books tinitira ko din, feeling ko kasi gusto kong maging astronomer balang araw. Kaso nalaman ko na math is the universal language, lalo na sa astronomy. Kaya eto ako ngayon, hehehe!

I would suggest you read din eleven minutes by paolo coelho. kasi this book, among the books I have read by him, seems to be the "darkest" one, with regard to theme. He discussed taboo topics like sex and prostitution, encaptulating it in a character who is a woman, independent and has a mind of her own. Sa kanya ko nga nakuha yung favorite line ko na "freedom is having the most important thing in the world without owning it". Astig di ba?

Nga pala, I have a blog, baka gusto mo bisitahin, www.tabulas.com/~wicked_moonlight ang address. Wala lang, kung anu-ano lang nandun. Baka lang pag may time ka, pasukin mo ang aking mundo, hehehe! sulat ka na din ng comments sa articles, para masaya! Salamat!

PS:
chauffeur ang tamang spelling nya, hehehe!

Khaye


I just love talking to this guy. He has so many insights, so many thing to share that you can talk everything under the sun. Hope I could see more of him this year. Miss yah Ron!

I was exchanging e-mails again with my buddy Ron. As usual, we have an unusual exchange of ideas about almost everything. I have told him about my fears of being part of what I call Chopsuey Generation, where society is developing some kind of an identity crisis, visibly noticeable with the kind of language they use, like the prolifiration of Taglish and Englipino.

It really saddens me that people today don't really care about the use of language. As long as they are "passably" conversing and people understand them, it's fine. It doesn't matter if the grammar or syntax is wrong, as long as the thought is there, it's fine.

A few weeks ago, I watched Y Speak about Carabao English, and the seemingly decline of our society to speak excellent English, unlike before. And I like what a panelist said about this topic. He said that we always aim for the "pwede na" where we can aim for excellence. Which is right. I mean, we all have to aim for excellence, right?

Hey, not that I aim to speak in straight English and completely forget the importance of our native tongue. It also applies to the use of Filipino language. You don't have to speak like Francisco Balagtas or Joseng Batute. One simple rule would be: if you are speaking in English, speak in straight English. Ergo with Filipino.

***That's why I opened a blog, so I could do my writing and practice, hehehe!***

It's always been my dream to learn other dialects. My boyfriend is part Kapampangan, but he can't speak Kapampangan. My college bestfriend also can speak Kapampangan, so in time I could understand some things, but I have to process it slowly, hehehe! Now, since I don't have someone to teach me, I have to start again.

I am seriously considering having my Master's degree, maybe in Media Studies, Urban and Regional Planning or even Education. I am trying to fix my schedule so I could do it.

Hello there!

I haven't been able to update my blog for days now,. Not that I don't have anything to write about. There was a dramatic change in my schedule right now, and I haven't been adjusting to that yet.

I AM NOW ON THE MORNING SHIFT! I started last Tuesday (jan 24), and this will run for three months. After almost a year of being a nocturnal being, my eyes are still not used to light. At this time, my body clock is still used to sleep...