Today�s the last year in the Chinese Lunar Calendar. 2 hours,21 minutes and 53 seconds more and it will be the Year of The Goat. Hope this year will be a good one for all of us. Projections for the New Year are good, since goats are usually peaceful and tame animals�something I learned from the papers.

Today was a rather busy day. I was early in school and it was so cold in the canteen. I already drank a huge bowl of soup and a cup of coffee and still I was chilling. Patrick and I decided to stay in his car to warm up and talk stuff. Something hilariously funny happened. While we were in Patrick�s FX, we saw a student pressing her car alarm�s remote control and guess what happened� it triggered the alarm of the car BESIDE hers. She wasn�t able to leave since that car�s alarm just wouldn�t stop beeping. When she clicked it first, her car doors opened and the car beside was honking loudly. She clicks it a second time. Her car doors lock and the car beside stops honking. I had fun looking at the electronic device go bonkers. Patrick and I went on to check on it. Just before we went near to help, the alarm stopped beeping already. I guess the car was afraid that we might do something to it. Bwahahaha�

We went back to the canteen, since the weather was already getting warmer. Edwin and I were busy tinkering with Patrick�s palm pilot� playing the Love Calculator. Geesh! No wonder Adrian posted that very nasty tag on his site. Thanks a lot, Jed. I knew it was you making waves out of our little game with the palm pilot.

I had a busy day thanks a lot to my 2 Computer Engineering classes. So much work was done today and I feel so happy that I�m keeping busy. I guess I�m the only person here who becomes happy when a lot of work is given to me. i-career na jud ni. I�m really enjoying using Maia�s new vocabulary. Bwahahaha�Ngek ngok.

After my laboratory class, I attended the CompE Council meeting with Tot, QP and Plum. We discussed matters pertaining to our CompE week this month. Plum invited me to join VOT, the school paper for USC TC. I signed up and will be having an entrance sortie tomorrow after my Saturday laboratory class.

I�m now home from my evening class�relishing the posts of QP and BM. Dinner tonight was absolutely great. Everyone�s here at home celebrating Chinese New Year�s Eve. The food�s absolutely great! Gourmet to the MAX! I�m blogging now and looking for some nice Chinese New Year photos to post. Hope you had a wonderful night with family and friends. Kung Hei Fa Chai!!!

Plum, welcome to the blogging world!!!

My Hist17 teacher was reading to us our evaluation of him as our teacher. We had fun listening to the comments of our classmates...some people can really go far when it comes to making sipsip. While the teacher was reading our evaluations, I had one ear stuck on my walkman earphone. Bad! Was listening to some music and writing down the lyrics of those songs. I kept on rewinding and playing the tape, till I was able to write the lyrics of 3 songs. Boring noh???

I then went to the canteen. I was alone there for a few minutes, then Mellibeth Go sat on the same table as me to keep me company. We talked stuff while she was waiting for her chauffeur to pick her up. She was helping me get through this stage I am now in, since she is experienced in stuff like that. Definitely, experience is the best teacher. Felt better after she talked to me, but the pain recurrs after a few hours. Temporary medication only. Joy and Mary Ann then arrived and I introduced Beth to them. Joy and Beth knew each other, since their relatives are related in someway. Beth left as soon as she saw her car already outside waiting for her. I also had to leave the canteen since I still had a class at 10:30. My EE12 teacher taught us how to make glass and silica from sand. Next time I go to the beach, I'll give it a try. Hehehe...

Met Michael Tee who was kind enough to transfer tables to keep me company in the canteen. He was supposed to go to his Filipino class to watch Anak, but he said he saw it a million times already, so we just talked through lunch. At about 12+, I met Peter, Disney, Jessie, Edison and Lito. They invited me to play basketball at Peter's place. I went with them, since I had nothing to do in the canteen till my next class which was 3 hours away. Met Joy and Ann on the way to Disney's car and Joy handed me some... cash. Rich!... Too bad it's not for me, it's for something else.

Played basketball at Peter's house. We won the first game, but lost the second and third. Disney played really well for our team, but we were already tired nearing the end of the 2nd game. Disney, Jessie and I then played Crash Bandicoot... Playstation in Peter's room. We went back to school 10 minutes past our 3:00 classes. Good for me, my teacher was absent so I just went back to the canteen. Mitch, Benny, Angela, Stephanie, Marie and Wendy were there. It hurts a lot inside whenever I meet her in campus. Sakit jud kaayo, but there's nothing I can do about it. I guess only time can heal my wounded heart and perhaps make me see her like an ordinary friend...an acquaintance...a person of the past. To make things worse, almost everybody in school is talking about V day. Kept on mentioning in their conversations terms like Valentines...Feb 14...Cupid and other stuff related to it. Argh! Goes to show how broken hearted I really am. *Hides in shame

So now, I'm blogging at an internet station inside school. I'll be leaving in a while for Ayala to do something for my dear friend Joy. Thanks again for your visits.

Sorry for the late post. Though this will be dated January 30 by the blog system, it�s my post for the 29th.

Boy!!! Was today�s weather something or what! It rained in the morning and the winds were icy cold. I had to have some noodle soup at the canteen to warm myself. Last night, someone must have tossed by jacket into the laundry bin, so when I woke up, our household help had just placed it in the washing machine. It was so wet that I couldn�t wear it so school. Brrr�

Where was Adrian today??? I think he took a day off from school again. Bad Adrian! Didn�t see him for the entire day. Nin, I know that you have ES14, ReEd40, Phys32 and Engl3 classes for today. I hope you didn�t cut ALL of them.

At about 10:30, Joy and Mary Ann invited me to accompany them to do Joy�s errands. I passed on it, since I promised Patrick that I�d meet with him at around 11:30. He wanted to talk to me about something. As early as 11, he was already at the canteen. We talked till 12:30, which was the start of my first class for the day. It was nice talking to Patrick. I felt lighter and happier knowing that I�ve helped someone. My condition may not have gotten better, but at least I get to make it better for others. Hmph.

My CompE teacher was absent, but there was a substitute teacher who happened to be a fellow Sacred Hearter and a good friend of mine wayback high school. We used to play Magic cards and till now, he still asks me if I still trade cards. Hehehe� I jokingly asked him how I should address him� Brian or Sir? Hehehe� His reply: He asked me to discuss infront instead of him doing it� pa humble effect. Ngek ngok!

Went back to the canteen and the wind was still freezing cold. Michael Tee was there, so was Jed and Edwin. Mum picked me up at 2:30 and we went to Makro to buy ingredients for our store�s main kitchen. We then dropped the goodies off at our commissary and headed for Ayala.

I was making rounds and at the near end of it, I met Tian-tian. Walked about with him and asked him about CYF. I�m kinda interested in joining�sorta need to get in touch with my spiritual side. Not sure though since I have Friday evening classes, which would interfere with their weekly sessions. Mum called me by cell, so we parted ways and he was waiting for his car to pick him up.

Helped around the store for a while and Raine Pimentel texted me asking where I was. Told her I was at Ayala, so we met at Coffee Dream and had a long talk there�30 minutes or so just to catch up with the times. We became good friends when I was still studying at Ateneo and she at UP Diliman. She�ll be returning to Diliman next year to take up Advertising after graduating a Mass Comm. degree by cross enrolling here at UP Cebu.

Went home from Ayala, had dinner and was busy playing Playstation with Jaymes. Edwin then dropped by our house to pick up a book he needed for P.E. I had lots of pages to read on Rizal History�5 chapters (pages 113 to 166) actually, but my mind was not tuned to it yet, so I went back to playing. I can�t study when my mind isn�t set to it yet. When Jaymes reached his bedtime, I stopped playing and read through the book on Rizal�s life, highlighting the important details, �coz the teacher might give us an exam tomorrow if he sees it fit. Hehehe�better to be ready than sorry. Read and studied for 2 hours, and blogged as usual. Sorry for the delay again.

I just came from Joy�s birthday party at Golden Cowrie. Everybody was there. The food was super great. People talked a lot over the dinner table. We took lots of photos and it was getting late, so we left the place at around 9. The rain was pouring heavily, so some of us got wet when we rode in our cars. Joy opened the gift Mary Ann and I gave her. We knew she was wanting that Clarins Lip Balm all along way last Christmas. I didn�t have much money left for it last Christmas, so I gave Joy something else. Now that I don�t have to save for a February event, Ann and I decided to buy it for Joy. She was so happy to open the package to find the thing she wanted. I guess she almost cried at that instant. Nah! Hehehe�I was really happy to see her so pleased with the gift. It�s really nice to see friends so happy.

At my stage right now, Joy�s been like a mum and a dad to me. I draw strength from her very well-grounded principles. Throughout our friendship, she has helped me control my emotions. I�ve been too trusting of people. It�s not wrong to trust per se, but when people abuse my goodness, I have learned that it�s gotta stop for my own sake�and it�s doing me wonders�at least I don�t get hurt easily.

When I arrived home, I continued to read the book I borrowed, since I�ll be returning it by tomorrow. My Aunt Eya opened a bottle of EJG Cabernet Sauvignon and I had three glasses of it. Mum and my two aunts are still outside at the dining table talking to my uncle and aunt through the wires. There�s a family feud going on in our big family. It�s about my uncle and aunt. Don�t wanna give the details, �coz I might not be able to paint the scene for you correctly. I find it very annoying when husbands and wives fight and they drag other members of the family to it. It�s got to stop soon for the peace of mind of our family.

Anyway, I was just done texting Disney and I�ve told him how I�ve thrown all my cares away to the Person above� how I�ve thrown in the towel and left it up to fate, faith, time and space. I�ve had quite a fair share of storms in my life and I�m just tired of trying to fix every bit of it. I�ve realized that there are just some things that are way beyond my control. A person could do as much as he could and if things don�t go the way they should then it�s for fate, faith, time and space to decide. For all I know, I did my best, I gave the little that I had, I did it right and it just went the way destiny dictated. As the wise Karen said, someone will just enter my life and love me in the same manner as I shall love her. (Thanks Kar for dedicating one day�s post to helping me, appreciate it a lot).

Somewhere out there�there�s the right one for me�and I hope she�s doing fine. I�ve prayed to the Lord to keep her from harm, make her days countless, her heart as sweet as the songs of the nightingales.

I just came from Joy�s birthday party at Golden Cowrie. Everybody was there. The food was super great. People talked a lot over the dinner table. We took lots of photos and it was getting late, so we left the place at around 9. The rain was pouring heavily, so some of us got wet when we rode in our cars. Joy opened the gift Mary Ann and I gave her. We knew she was wanting that Clarins Lip Balm all along way last Christmas. I didn�t have much money left for it last Christmas, so I gave Joy something else. Now that I don�t have to save for a February event, Ann and I decided to buy it for Joy. She was so happy to open the package to find the thing she wanted. I guess she almost cried at that instant. Nah! Hehehe�I was really happy to see her so pleased with the gift. It�s really nice to see friends so happy.

At my stage right now, Joy�s been like a mum and a dad to me. I draw strength from her very well-grounded principles. Throughout our friendship, she has helped me control my emotions. I�ve been too trusting of people. It�s not wrong to trust per se, but when people abuse my goodness, I have learned that it�s gotta stop for my own sake�and it�s doing me wonders�at least I don�t get hurt easily.

When I arrived home, I continued to read the book I borrowed, since I�ll be returning it by tomorrow. My Aunt Eya opened a bottle of EJG Cabernet Sauvignon and I had three glasses of it. Mum and my two aunts are still outside at the dining table talking to my uncle and aunt through the wires. There�s a family feud going on in our big family. It�s about my uncle and aunt. Don�t wanna give the details, �coz I might not be able to paint the scene for you correctly. I find it very annoying when husbands and wives fight and they drag other members of the family to it. It�s got to stop soon for the peace of mind of our family.

Anyway, I was just done texting Disney and I�ve told him how I�ve thrown all my cares away to the Person above� how I�ve thrown in the towel and left it up to fate, faith, time and space. I�ve had quite a fair share of storms in my life and I�m just tired of trying to fix every bit of it. I�ve realized that there are just some things that are way beyond my control. A person could do as much as he could and if things don�t go the way they should then it�s for fate, faith, time and space to decide. For all I know, I did my best, I gave the little that I had, I did it right and it just went the way destiny dictated. As the wise Karen said, someone will just enter my life and love me in the same manner as I shall love her. (Thanks Kar for dedicating one day�s post to helping me, appreciate it a lot).

Somewhere out there�there�s the right one for me�and I hope she�s doing fine. I�ve prayed to the Lord to keep her from harm and make her days as sweet as the songs of the nightingales.

--+--!!!HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOY!!!--+--

Had my History class this morning. I got good grades for my midterm exam. Our teacher said we'll be going to USP Museum this Thursday. He said, we'll all meet at the USP gate. I don't think so, 'coz some people might get hostile at us Carolinians, so I asked Beth to meet with me at Select before going to USP.

Met Mary Ann, Joy and Jan at the canteen. Ann, Joy and I had noodles for snacks, while Joy was studying chem and I was busy reading Winter Of Fire, a book Stephanie lent me. I took my EE12 exams at 10:30. I finished early, the teacher checked my paper and another ace it was. Met with Mary Ann and Adrian at the canteen and we went to Ila Puti to have lunch. All of us had their silog special. After lunch, Adrian went to blog at Avalon. Ann and I killed time at Ila Puti. I was reading the same book and Ann was doing kid stuff with a coloring book I got last Christmas. Hehehehe...

We'll be going back to school now. Ann's class starts at 1:30, Adrian and mine will still be at 3. After our class, we'll prolly ride to Ayala and then head off to Golden Cowrie for Joy's birthday bash at 7. Hope you had a wonderful day!

I rode to school with my bro and my cuzin Timothy. I took my EE17 exams today. Both Mitch and I got a grade of 70. Way to go man! 70's good enough. Imagine, we'd get zero if the fuse blew up. Good thing it didn't in both of our cases. I wired the circuit really well, I just missed to add an extra feature, which cost me 30 points. Have to haggle with the teacher on the 30 points. But, it's good enough for me. Met Joy, Mary Ann, Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, Plum, Benny, Adrian and Jed at the canteen. Went with Mangkay to her class to pay her a chika I owed her. Met Mercy who was still the funny person that she is. She was consulting us about a hairstyle she opted to have. Was busy helping BigMac and Plum in their Philo2 assignment. Had lots of laugh on the examples they gave.

I attended my Computer Engineering class at 12:30 and was still at the canteen by 3:30. Wanted to ride with Adrian to Ayala, but I wasn't able to inform him ahead. We weren't able to ride together, and in the midst of traffic, I saw the jeep he was riding just a few meters ahead. I went down at the Ayala stop near Albert Arriba. I dropped my things of at our store and went to buy a gift for a birthday girl. You know who you are. Isang tulog na lang.... Went around the mall with Mary Ann. Our feet were tired of walking, so we went to Arcada and sat there to talk stuff... lotsa stuff. Parted ways with Ann by 5:30. I rode on a jeep to school. The jeep was so full, so I had to stand near the exit, gripping the bars tightly, with barely half of my body hanging above the road. What a ride!

Met Miat, Peter and Jessie at the canteen before attending my ECE 13 class at 6:00. Blogging now in school and have to go now, 'coz my chauffeur is already outside. Enjoy your evening.

Woke up to a better and brighter day. It�s so cold outside. My teeth were chattering as I went out to the garage to drive my brother to school. He will be taking his Architecture exams from 7:30 to 5 this afternoon. Good luck bro.

Yesterday was a family day for our family�sounds redundant. I didn�t swim with them at City Sports �coz the pool�s not that interesting and only the little kids were swimming. I�d look like a big whale playing with some little fishies. Instead, my brother and I played billiards below. I invited Jed and Adrian to our pool game. I was with my brother, while Jed and Adrian were on the opposite team. We played 8-ball challenge. Our team won twice out of 7 games. Yech! My brother played well, but I sucked so we lost. We changed partners. Jed was now on my team and my bro with Adrian. Never won a rack there. I sucked a lot. No one beats Adrian in pool, except for Jed�sometimes only though.

After the billiard games, we went up and Adrian found a playmate in my cousin Jaymes. They were playing hide and seek by the pool area. Jed and I enjoyed watching the two KIDS playing. Hehehe� We then shared a clubhouse sandwich for snacks. My family was already leaving from the club by 4:45, so Adrian and Jed left ahead for Ayala. Jed was planning to buy something at the mall and Adrian was going to attend the 5:30 mass with his family.

Coming from the club, my Di-ku dropped us off at Ayala. Jaymes and I enjoyed a few laps of racing the ACE Driver and Daytona at Timezone. I then accompanied Jaymes and his mum to the Metro Ayala Grocery They bought 2 bottles of wine and 2 cans of Pringles. We then had dinner at Caf� Wien�my mum�s treat. I had their Beef Stroganoff. Loved the cheesy mushroom sauce that went with the dish. After dinner, we went to National Bookstore where Jaymes bought a Harry Potter coloring book and a pack of crayons. We then went to Portions where my Si-ee treated us to a second dinner meal. I didn�t eat anything there. I was busy reading their magazines, besides I�m starting my fasting and abstinence�sort of an early Holy Week special for me. I drove all of us home and I slept the moment I reached home.

Well, that was yesterday� and now I�m back home from driving my bro to school. I�m already like a dad in this family. I feel like I�m so old already�like an Angkong. Argh! I�ll be attending the mass at City Sports Club this 11AM with my mum. Then I�ll get myself a haircut at Annie�s since it�s gonna be Chinese New Year this Friday (thanks for the correction, Mangkay) and it�s also gonna be the birthday of a close friend of mine soon. Prolly phone Adrian this afternoon just to kill time. Sunday afternoons are normally long boring afternoons for me. Gotta go now �coz I still have to take a hot shower. Thanks for visiting again and thanks for your posts.

--+--!!!HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICKIE!!!--+--

Please take time to read this. It's long and I just want blog so long till I drop.

I was crying so badly throughout the night. I�ve been silently weeping under my pillow so my family, especially my mum, won�t see me. I�ve never liked the idea of crying in front of people�s faces so that they won't get worried over me. I just woke up from barely 3 hours of on-off sleep. I turned on my computer and logged on to my site to check out if everything�s okay with Melvs seeing that tag-board mess last night. I also feel bad when others try to hurt my friends. I�m a very protective kind of person. As I read through my tag-board, I saw Melvs post that I should read Adrian�s blog. I immediately went there and began weeping again as I read every letter, every word, every sentence of that very long blog of Adrian.

I�m very lucky to have great friends in all of you, especially Adrian. To tell all of you the truth, I value Adrian most among my friends. From the start of our friendship, my mum was against the idea that I have him as my friend. Mum would call him bad influence because of some family member in Adrian�s family that she didn�t like. Whenever mum knew that I was going out with Adrian, she�d try to pull me away by sending me off to errands, threatening that I wouldn�t be able to enter the house, or she won�t let me go to school, that she�d cut off my allowance, etc. Adrian, you already know the rest. She did the same with Jed, but when mum knew Jed's aunt, she sort of gave in a bit. But through it all, I believed that I was old enough to choose my friends, to choose the roads I�d traverse in my life. The decision to decide which road to take in a fork was now mine, all mine. I really fought for Adrian�s friendship, �coz somehow I knew Adrian was a gift and a grace to my life. I fought hard for it. Got scolded a million times. Mum would even appear plastic in front of the two of them, but I always told Jed and Adrian to understand my mum, 'coz she's never the trusting kind of person. Did everything my way, and now, my mum allows me to go out with them whenever I want. Last night, I thought I'd get scolded for going home after the time I told my mum I'd go home, but she didn't. When I reached the house, I was prepared for a series of lectures, but there was none for me. My mum has grown to trust my two friends, because she has finally learned to trust me in the choices I make in my life. Prolly all of you thinking I'm gay to be saying all this. I'm not. I'm just one person who gives credit where it's due. I hope you guys still understand what I�m mumbling �coz I�m overwhelmed with emotions now. There�s extreme joy for the blessing of such a great friend, there�s the deep sorrow of losing someone whom I really cherish. I don�t know what to feel. *sob

As to Adrian's blog, I'm a FRIENDS fanatic too. Being one, I was also able to watch that episode. When I saw it, I knew that what Ross did was one of the biggest sacrifices he had to do. We all know how high Ross' pride is. But he gave that up to see that precious smile from Rachel's face. Because to him, that smile was worth more than his pride or the money he had to shell out for the bet. I believe all of you would agree with me on this point. It was heart wrenching for all of us to see Ross see Rachel fall for so many guys. We all know how Ross loves Rachel. We all feel sorry for Ross every time Rachel flirts with another new guy. That's because we are like his friends. We are the people behind the scenes. But if we were an outsider, not being able to know what really goes on inside the characters, we won't be able to appreciate everything Ross did... the moment Ross volunteered to take Rachel out to the prom since her partner stood her up (which was quite disappointing 'coz Rachel's partner arrived just when Ross was about done changing his clothes). I guess you all saw the episode when Rachel finally saw what happened on that prom night, just before she went to the party.

I just feel so hurt that the news had to come from someone else. For all the efforts I've made for Wendy, I tried to do everything right. I stopped my torpe habits. I had to surpass all my shy attitudes, 'coz I know when you love someone, you've got to be bold enough to stand firm for your feelings toward that person you love. I didn't even think of getting to know her through text. I struggled with making eye contact when I talk to her. Just so that I could talk to her and get to know her better. Coz she gave feedback that I was not interested in her with the way I talk. It's because I don't make eye contact. I just shrink and get goosebumps when I see her straight in the eye. I surpassed this and talked to her during midterm week with perfect eye contact. I thought I was doing well, that I had it going well to my deadline, until the bomb was dropped on me. When people ask whether I like her, I always admit. I've never gone around the bush and kept people guessing. I was transparent. Clearly, all of you could attest to it. I was planning to ask her already this February 14. It was the deadline I was talking about in my past blogs. I could remember Adrian counting the days for me. He'd say "25 days to get closer to her". But somehow a good friend of mine saw my pity state and sort of saved me from the possibility of a very heart-wrenching moment. I guess everyone knew the verdict then, but no one dared to tell me for fear that I might go wild. I promised to myself that I won't do the old things I'd do to hurt myself. Absolutely no more of that. I guess what my friend did was a blessing in disguise. Although it hurts a lot now, I guess it would have hurt more if more time passed by. Seeing her yesterday almost made me cry at Metro if not for Adrian and Mary Ann who tried to create diversions for me.

I'm feeling like this 'coz I'm the serious kind of guy. Sometimes Pandi would scold me for being too serious. I think I should have listened to him and none of this would have happened. To me, courtship of a girl is no joke, 'coz it's not easy to give your heart to someone. It's no game to me. I'm not the flighty type that changes his object of affection by the minute. When I court someone, I don't look for other prospects. I'm too loyal to shift from one to the other. When friends throw opportunities for me to like someone knew, I always pass on that opportunity 'coz I know that if I were Wendy and if she had feelings for me (which I know now that there's none), I'd get hurt seeing the guy jump from one boat to another. I wouldn't feel good also having so many women to share my affections too. I never court many ladies at one time. It's a big no-no to me. I've always gone by the rule one guy for one girl. That's why it hurts so much, 'coz I pour everything I've got to only one, and if I lose it, I guess friends are all I've got left. So, once again thanks to all my beloved friends who are with me through this stage.

I just have one puzzling question left in my head. If someone asks for the chances and the response is a simple straightforward "Wa.", does it mean one should quit. Or does it mean "Now's not the time." I took it as the former, not the latter, 'coz when there's no chance, there's nothing I could do, whether now or sometime in the future, to make it happen.

Till here peeps, 'coz the office will be closing for lunch break.

A million thanks again to my friends for being at my side throughout this stage in my life. Your kindness and understanding will never be forgotten.

After posting my last post, mum picked me up in school and we went to Ayala. Met up with Adrian and Mary Ann near Globe. Planned to watch The Ring, but we were late for the 3:30 show. So we planned to watch Half Past Dead instead. We went around the mall, since the show would still be at 5:10. Met up with Marie and Wendy at Metro Ayala. I was still hurting inside, so I just played deadma to Wendy. I'd rather be seen hurt than appear plastic. Wendy left after doing groceries, so we went to the movie house after with Michael Tee, Marie, Tian-tian, Adrian, Mary Ann and I. I was chilling inside the moviehouse. I think I'm feverish now. The movie was not so nice. Not my kind of movie...with nig**s talking in the bad English they speak.

I went home after the movie, while the rest of the gang went to their CYF fellowship. I'm now safe at home and shocked to see my tag-board looking like an mIRC channel window. I erased the posts, since I intended this site to be as friendly as possible. I don't want to see people fighting, and worse fighting under aliases. A simple request to the "other" melvs, please be considerate! I want some peace in my life, especially at this stage, so please cooperate and make this world a better place. Thanks a lot for understanding. Good night people! Thanks again for the regular visits!

--+--!!!HAPPY BIRTHDAY PATRICK!!!--+--

Yesterday was terrible and my sincerest apologies for troubling you with my post. My heart had no way of letting the feelings out, except to just say whatever that was left inside.

I woke up to another day... realizing that despite life's most frustrating moments, one must rise above the ashes like a phoenix. I went to school and brought along my medication... a tapeful of music. Only music can nurse a broken heart. I'm so hooked at Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli's "A Prayer" and Jim Brickman's "The Gift". Kept rewinding my tape to play just those two songs.

I talked to two of the best friends the world could offer. You know who you are. They put a lot of sense to me and sort of gave more ground for me to stand on. Knowing the fragile situation, they took good care of me. They took me out to lunch at Orange Brutus at JY Square. They talked to me a lot and kept my worries away. We discussed plans to put up a business. I kept my mind occupied by constantly thinking of a nice name for a dessert shop. Any suggestions? Please do tell.

So now I'm back in school. Met Edwin and Adrian. Adrian and I are now at Avalon blogging. Prolly we'll watch "The Ring" later at 3:30. That's all for now my beloved friends. Just wanna post something so as not to worry you. Take care!

The Gift
Jim Brickman

Winter snow is falling down
Children laughing all around
Lights are turning on
like a fairy tale come true.

Sitting by the fire we made
You're the answer when I prayed
I would find someone
And baby I found you.

All I want is to hold you forever
All I need is you more every day
You saved my heart
From being broken apart
You gave your love away
And I'm thankful every day
For the gift.

Watching as you softly sleep
What I'd give if I could keep
Just this moment
If only time stood still.

But the colors fade away
And the years will make us grey
But baby in my eyes
You'll still be beautiful.

All I want is to hold you forever
All I need is you more every day
You saved my heart
From being broken apart
You gave your love away
And I'm thankful every day
For the gift.

(instrumental)

All I want is to hold you forever
All I need is you more every day
You saved my heart
From being broken apart
You gave your love away
I can't find the words to say
And I'm thankful every day
For the gift.

I just talked to a close friend over the phone and she made me feel better, so I�ll post something shorter than usual for you to read.

I went to school at 7. Met Chicken Joy and Mary Ann who left school to do some business errands. Met Peter, Disney, Jessie and Edison and we all went to McDonald�s JY Square to have our lunch. We enjoyed talking about the 3 ladies seated at the other table. One of them happened to be Jessie�s future sister-in-law as he would put it. The guys were studying for their Solid Mensuration exams, while I was helping them solve some problems that dealt with geometric analysis. Benny, Mangkay and Vanessa followed. For more jokes about Benny, I hope Mangkay has them in her posts, �coz I�m really not in the mood to joke around.

We transferred from 1st floor to the 2nd floor. At around 1:30, they were all busy solving Differential Equations problems, except for Peter who had a slight injury on his elbow. He was able to join in soon. Nearing 3:00, Disney and I had a brief talk. He was following up something he asked me to do. I told him I didn�t do it yet. Wanted to do it sometime February. Gets! He then dropped THE BOMB which left me at a trance while I was riding back to TC in his car.

Cried me a river at the soccer field with only Mary Ann�s voice over the cellphone to console me. Stopped flooding the world with salty water, which by the way refused to come out of my eyes even though how painful my eyes were. I went to 265T to wait for Adrian to finish his Economics exams. Rode with him and Mercy on a jeep. Mercy went down near the fruit stand at Banilad. Adrian and I split ways at the Ayala terminal.

Stayed at Ayala for a while and met some high school classmates who invited me to a drinking spree tomorrow to celebrate the end of midterm exam week. I think I�ll pass on that. Depends.

Drove home with an expressionless face. Couldn�t care where the swerving cars were headed for. Reached home, posted 2 notes on my tag-board, skipped dinner and called up a friend to pour everything out. So I�m now blogging for you people to read. I know you visit my site, so I didn�t want my emotions to get in the way of my service to you. Good night and please include me in your prayers likewise!

Another �school day� for me. I�m no longer required to go to school till next week, since I no longer have midterm exams to take. But� I just ran out of things to do. Wednesdays are usually chore-less days, so I made up my mind to just go to school and perhaps talk to people in the canteen as usual. Mistake� I didn�t consider the thought that most people will be studying for their exams, so it would be a bad idea to engage in conversations with them.

At the canteen, I met Michael Tee and Joy. I wrongly spelled Michael�s name in one of my posts. Erratum: It�s �Tee� not �Ty�. We accompanied Joy to the Bursar�s Office so that Joy could pay her midterm dues and receive her midterm admission slip. Joy then went off to do some errands for her family. Michael and I went back to the canteen. Walter, Darrell and Adrian then arrived. Followed by Angela, Stephanie, Marie and Wendy

When the clock struck 11:30, the canteen was almost vacant, so I went with Adrian, Angela, Stephanie, Marie and Wendy to their Physics exams at room A111. I stayed outside their room and waited for them to finish their one and a half-hour exam. I was just standing outside enjoying the view of students scratching their heads, exercising their eyes, stretching their necks, performing hand signals and other forms of ahem. I really pity them, �coz I could see their gloomy facial expressions as they answered the exams. After the exams, everyone was busy discussing their answers to the questions of the extra-long exam. We all went back to the canteen. It was around 1:00 and they had around 30 minutes more before their next exam would start. Adrian went home afterwards. Everyone had lunch before the Physics exam except Dearest. So she bought a sandwich to munch through the break.

My Personal Tip About Good Habits Before Taking Exams:

1. For mathematics exams or any exam during early mornings (7-9AM) have cornflakes with milk for breakfast. You�ll surely reach your maximum potential. This potential
depends of course on how much you�ve studied.
2. Never go to an exam unprepared�duh�and never on an empty stomach.
3. Be careful though with tip 2, �coz the third tip says never have a meal 30 minutes before an exam. If you do, majority of your blood volume will be focused in digesting the
food in your stomach, leaving only a few to fulfill your brain�s demand.
4. For memory type exams, memorize within an hour from the moment you wake up. Memory is best within this period.
5. Never�as in NEVER study or memorize 30 minutes before an exam. Violating this tip and the third tip are the main reasons why mental block occurs�aside from the
memory interference factor.

The 4 ladies left the canteen and took their Management exam. I went to the ChE department to talk with Elaine Shobe to catch up with the times�and the news. Same Elaine as before, but she�s working now. She offered to supply our store with Coke Light, RTO and Sprite in cans. I still have to check our current purchase price. Prolly I�ll have her supply for us, since she�ll be giving us a 10% discount. Great! These days, we get to earn not by maximizing profits, but by cutting costs.

After our short meeting, I went to the second floor to wait for Wuvy Duv to finish her exam. I was waiting outside their classroom when a friend of mine approached me and asked about my blogspot. I was shocked and asked him how he knew I had one. He said �Through Mitch�s site�. He even told me he has a blogsite at Geocities. Cool! Everyone�s blogging!

The Girl came out of her exam smiling. �Twas nice to see her smile. She found the exam easy. The 5 of us then went to the canteen. I sat beside Her and sprang up a conversation. We were talking about movies. She knows my Tito Glenn runs the Ayala cinemas, so she asked me to ask my tito to show �Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers� Hehehe�I�ll try to ask, but I think it will be on the screens in a week or two. Invited her to a movie this Friday. We�re planning to watch �The Ring� with the rest of the gang. Still at a planning stage though. Stephanie was talking about their English research paper tasking. I volunteered to help Wendy research on �How to Increase Efficiency of Workers?� via the internet. I�ll start at Google! The canteen was getting humid, so they went off to IRS to practice for their PE choreographed singing. I didn�t join them �coz they said they don�t want people to watch. Shy� I left the school �coz what�s more left to do, right???

I rode a 13B jeepney to Ayala. I met up with Aunt Eya and Jaymes, who just had a haircut. He looks so cute! We played at Timezone for a while and we had snacks at Oh Georg! I had their Mushroom Al Fresco� truly a delight! Jaymes then asked coins from me so he can make wishes and toss them over the Ayala fountain. He�s so serious with the wishing. He�d close his eyes, wiggle and toss �em coins as high as he could. Amazing kid really!

We then went to SM. Aunt Eya had her camera fixed and we went to b!bo where Jaymes and I rode on bumpcars. Felt like a kid for a moment. Tossed my worries away. We then raced the Daytona and Jaymes found a nice game where he was busy punching popping heads of dogs using a soft hammer. He won those tickets that come out of the machine and exchanged them for bubble gum.

We passed by Leona�s on the way home to buy bread and cakes. Aunt Eya�s cooking Salmon Penne Pasta right now. Can�t wait to try it. Have to go peeps, �coz I�ve got some internet research work to do. Blog you guys tomorrow! Nytnyt!

Something's wrong with tag-board lately... their servers are going bananas. So much for that, I took my HIST17 exams this morning. It was such a long exam covering 10 chapters of the book. Studying 150 pages worth of memorizing surely paid off. I missed 3 items out of 50. Not bad. So that caps off my midterm week. No more exams for me, so I'll be busy doing...NOTHING for the next 5 days. I'll prolly be roaming around the mall or staying in school for no reason at all...*Yawn

After my exam, I tutored Joy a little chemistry...about pH and pOH. I'm not exactly a chem person. I'm more on physics, but I tried my best to help anyway. After tutoring, I transferred tables to talk to Mangkay, Mercy and Vanessa. Mercy and I talked a lot about my Ateneo days, since we both knew 2 days ago that we have common friends who studied at AdMU. I talked about the traditional dorm ORSEM and Mercy laughed her heart out when I told her what my Bang! (...some kind of presentation...ask an Ateneo dormer regarding this term) was. Mangkay also laughed a lot seeing my different facial expressions. But we laughed mostly at the way Mercy was laughing. She looked like someone on TV laughing hilariously with the volume at MUTE. Her face was already so red and it seemed she was no longer breathing. Hehehe...picture it out.

The 3 of them went to take their 10:30 exams. I went back to Joy's table. Joy then went to her chem laboratory class, while Mary Ann, Adrian, Michael Ty and I were left in the canteen. We all went to Avalon since the canteen was pretty empty. Adrian blogged at Avalon, Michael Ty went to Ayala, Ann and I went to Ila Puti to have lunch. Jed made apas and so did Adrian after blogging. Adrian, Jed and I had the silog special, while Ann had a naughty dessert - Peach Crepe with Mango Coulis. Watch your diet Ann.

We then went back to TC. Ann and I went to Joy's chem laboratory class to wait for her class to finish. On the way, we passed by Pharma where we met Michelle Lim and Mercy, the clown. Both were busy studying for their exams. Michelle looked like she was tutoring the whole group...around 10 people seated on the long table by the photocopying machine...the smart girl that she is. We went up to chem department to meet Joy. Ann and I were talking outside while waiting for Joy. Life talk as usual. Joy and Ann ate at the Pharma canteen. For some reason, I didn't join them. I don't know what went into my head.

I met with 4 people who gave me the feeling as if I wasn't wanted...felt like I was being shooed off with monosyllabic answers. Maybe they were just busy preparing for their 1:30 exams. I understand.

I then went to Ayala where Jed and Adrian were playing billiards at Brix. Met up with them at Taco's. We then went to the Metro Ayala Grocery to buy some drinks. Jed bought a Mirinda, Adrian a melon flavoured Nature's Spring Mineral Water and I a Pepsi Blue. Didn't like the taste...too sweet. Jed still kept on teasing me about that thing that happened yesterday. This time Adrian also joined in. Mubo kaayo ug mga kalipay. By 2:30 the two left Ayala since they had things to study for their exams, whereas I went to our store. Stared blankly into the window...watching shoppers pass by. Texted Elaine Shobe to kill time and to make contact after so many months of not seeing her. She's a family friend of mine who studies in the same school as I do, but due to their busy ChemEng'g schedules, we don't get to see each other in school. So here I am posting my blog as early as 4. My blogtime is getting earlier and earlier.

I'll blog till here 'coz I've ran out of things to comment on since my tag-board's dead as of the moment. Thanks again for reading my blogs...even if they're getting longer and more boring by the day.

Photo Test

At 9 in the morning, I woke up, took a hot shower and had Birthday Misua (with the usual red dyed eggs) for breakfast. I tried to phone Adrian at home by 10:30, but he was still sleeping like a baby�aww�aint that cute! So I called up Jed instead and we planned to go malling for the afternoon. Texted MaryAnn but she�d rather study for the midterms. Good student Ann! I didn�t invite others then �coz prolly they�re busy studying. Lucky me, I have only one exam for the whole week, and it�s gonna be tomorrow, History17 at 7:30AM.

After talking to Jed over the phone, I found myself playing with Anna�s baby brother, Michael. He sat on my lap and was busy punching the keys of the piano. Jaymes and my Aunt Eya went to Ayala to buy more Bey Blades. Lots of kids these days are hooked on those spinning tops!

I had lunch at home and was later on my way to Ayala. I met Peter on the way to Ayala�driving in his car, somewhere near Leona�s. I met up with Jed at National Bookstore where he bought some supplies for school. We made a few rounds, then we saw Bunny Tan waiting for a friend of hers. We invited her to join us in our travels around�Ayala. She joined us �coz her friend was still on her way to the mall. We kept on talking as we walked and the conversation got juicier and juicier, so we decided to go somewhere to sit and talk more properly. We went to M! Vida and sat on one of the chairs outside the establishment. Talked about lots of stuff. Jed and Bunny had the pleasure of seriously teasing me. I felt like a kid outnumbered by bullies. Hehehe�but it was all fun. Nothing personal really.

I had to leave the two of them early �coz I still had to go to SM to watch the painting of Juan Luna entitled �Parisian Life�. Our History teacher asked us to watch the exhibit �coz he�ll be asking Qs about it in tomorrows exam. Really magnificent painting! Some work of art! It cost our government 46 million pesos just to acquire it. I�d surely be proud if my paintings sell for that amount�even just half of that price.

I went back to Ayala, had a FlameIt! Burger. Bunny finally met up with her friend and they watched The Ring. Never liked horror movies�the plot is too predictable. Some characters get killed and the rest end up being mortified by the experience. Met up with Jed again, who just came from the grocery to buy some chicheria. Something happened as we went around doing what mall rats do� and that something kept Jed laughing throughout the whole time we were walking around. Jed would talk for a while, then laugh unstoppably, then he�d calm down and he�d produce sounds like some laughter that�s being suppressed. Grrrr!!!

Jed and I went shopping for a birthday gift for Walter. Jed gave one already last Thursday, I haven�t shopped for one yet. We saw Kyle Galanida and he introduced us to his �friends�. Hehehe� They were also on their way to watch �The Ring�. We didn�t join them. I�m no chickboy. I�m as loyal as a dog. Anyway, Jed went home since he still had to do a lot of schoolwork. I went to our store and mum said that we�ll be going home soon. Stayed in the store for about 15 minutes. Jaymes went home with us, while my Aunt Eya went to catch up with her friends who longed to see her after so many years. While I was driving home, my brother and I did something really silly and stupid. Just goes to show how boring my life has become. We counted the number of Oh�s in Nelly�s and Kelly Rowland�s Dilemma. Conclusion: 97. If you don�t have anything to do, do what we just did and tell us if 97 is correct. Geesh! The things people do!

So that wraps up one day in John�s life. Good luck on your midterm exams!

--+--!!!HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNTIE ERLINDA!!!--+--

Whew! Just came from mass at Peace Convent near our house. I was so tired from the beach that I could no longer drive to Sacred Heart Church. My 2-day vacation was definitely a success!

Last night, we ate at Krua Thai at Mactan Marina Mall. My Si-ee treated us for dinner since it was our cousin�s birthday. After the yummy dinner with lots of spicy Thai dishes, we went back to Shang to continue our overnight stay. My family and relatives went room hopping since we occupied 5 rooms all in all. I preferred to spend time at the beachfront instead.

I found myself lying on a beach recliner at the beachfront� enjoying the cool sea breeze, the soothing sound of waves gushing on the seashore� and the amusing wedding reception party of a Filipina and a foreigner by the beachfront (similar to Anna�s 18th birthday). What a sight to behold! As I was lying down facing half the sea and half the sky, I couldn�t resist the thoughts entering my mind. I was playing my life in reverse�rewind�play�pause�rewind again�etc�evaluating every frame of the �film�. I had a lot of insights as to what changes I would make in my life. Several thoughts entered and couldn�t escape. There were thoughts about my own traits (good and bad), my family, my education, my future career, how I picture myself 5-10 years from now, my friends and of course the most dominant thought of them all, my special someone

I spent around 3 hours at the beachfront just staring blankly into the open sea and sky. I felt the biting cold of the night with just my thoughts barely keeping me warm. I realized I should be thankful for so many blessings. I�ve also realized that there are still so much to accomplish with just about enough amount of time. After being sedated by my own deep thinking and analyzing, I decided to call it a night. It was indeed 3 hours well spent being with me�only me. Sometimes I can feel that I�m very selfish to my own self�not being able to enjoy the serenity of being alone and contemplative.

I slept at around 2AM last night just watching TV. Another one of those insomnia nights I guess. I woke up at about 8:30AM and had breakfast with the big family at The Patio I had their buffet breakfast, which I find as one of the finest in the world. After a 30-minute grace period, I swam on the beach with my cousins. Fooled around with my cousin Jaymes who started a �sand fight� with me. He surely enjoyed tossing large mounds of wet sand on my back. I surely enjoyed seeing the small kid enjoy himself. My cousins, Jaymes and Angela, then buried me with sand leaving my head uncovered. I could feel the weight of the sand on my body. In some places, this could pass for a massage.

We then transferred to the pool near the newer wing of Shang. Swam a couple of laps with my cousins Jenny and Charles aka �Ting� We then had lunch at Paparazzi where we had their seafood platter, vegetarian pizza and ravioli. Super yummy! All are must try�s! I was so full that I couldn�t risk swimming afterwards. I walked around the winding terraces of Shang�s beachfront and pool for 3 rounds just to �pahilis� and maybe meet Melvs along the way�which never happened by the way. I just got his post that they went to Plantation Bay. I even texted Melv�s cousin if she tagged along with them, but no response. Forgivable�

I spent the whole afternoon under the sun to get a tan. I have no knowledge whatsoever on controlling the degree of tans. My face feels warm and my back has this tingling sensation. I just checked in the mirror and my face isn�t as dark as I thought. Phew!

Well, that was my 2-day vacation at Shang. Hope you guys had wonderful adventures to tell too. Have to go now �coz my Auntie Erlinda�s party will be starting pretty soon. Good night and Pit Se�or!

I'm blogging now at CEAC 1...one of our 3 computer laboratories. Wanted to check out if what Mangkay said is true. TRUE indeed! There's internet access here...it's illegal, but somehow this unit has access. Someone must have hacked into the system. Anyway, I'll be posting 2 blogs today marked as Last Night and Today. Since my blog yesterday was just a one-liner, I'll blog extra long today just to give you your visit's worth.

Last Night
From school, Adrian, Jed and I rode on Adrian's cab to my house. We stayed there for 2 hours or so before going to Janny's party. Jed and I had lots of laughs seeing Adrian busy playing with my cousin Jaymes. All of you should have seen Adrian... like a 6 year old kid playing with his playmate...not to mention Adrian trying to mimick Jaymes' Australian accent. Adrian surely sounded so funny...so T.H. Hehehe.

Mary Ann phoned us that she won't be passing by my house since it's very traffic and we're kinda late for the party. So I changed to party attire and the other two "smartypants" (term Jaymes gave to Adrian and Jed) freshened up and we left for Wendy's house where all of us were to meet before going to Jan's house. Adrian drove like an F1 racer. I had my back stuck on the chair's back rest and I wonder how Jed managed to stay at the back of the pick-up. He could have been thrown overboard!

We reached Wendy's house in no time. Very windy, big lot with a cozy house, whose house area is proportional to the area for their doghouses..er pens. I wonder who's really living in that lot...Wendy's family or their dogs? A prowler should think twice before entering a Dobermann infested area. We entered the house and were introduced to her family... bro, sis, mom and dad. I was introduced as "John-john" It sounded so kiddie...grrr. I must have shrinked at that very moment. I could picture the same thing to happen in months' or year's time (like it's ever gonna happen???)...if you know what I mean. De ja vu???

After Marie was done with her pa guapa, we left Wendy's house for Jan's. We were in a convoy, since only Joy knew where Jan's house is. We reached Jan's beautiful glass house with a 270 degree view of Cebu City...my dreamhouse. The food was great...they had Red Carpet cater for the event. Nice dinner...nice company...nice conversation...nice view...nice party...everything nice. Everybody was talking about their high school days. I always enjoy talks of such nature. Brings back the good ol' memories.

I forgot to mention who in our group attended the party... Wendy, Stephanie, Marie, Angela, Joy, Mary Ann (dashing sobra!), Adrian, Jed, Edwin, Peter, Disney (with Irene), Jeffrey, yours truly and the birthday boy Jan were all there. At around 10, only Peter, Edwin, Jed, Adrian, Mary Ann, Joy, Wendy, yours truly and Jan,the birthday boy were left. Throughout the entire 4 hour partry, I was only able to talk to Wendy for less than 15...no...10 minutes. Something's terribly wrong with that...not a good sign. I have issues. We talked about her left knee which was hurting. Asked her to see a doctor, but she said she doesn't have the time to see one. Hmmm....wonder what I should have replied to that to make the conversation longer. At about 10:45, all of us left Jan's house since it was drawing to a close and everyone was leaving. I rode home on the SPORTSCAR with Edwin and his cousin...my dearest Wendy. Dropped her off at her house first, waited for her to close the gate, then we headed home to Maria Luisa. Edwin then dropped me off at my shack and he headed off to his mansion up on the hills of our village. Jaymes was already asleep then.

TODAY
I went to school at 8 with my class still 4.5 hours away. Stayed at my pad... met Jeffrey who brought me to the Pharma canteen (for a change!) Met someone from the past... and went back to my pad. The wind was killing my cough, so at about 10:30, Chicken Joy (Jan and Joy), Mary Ann and I went to Jo's Chicken Inato at Lahug to have lunch. We all had barbecue chicken. Went back to TC. Took my midterm exams for my Computer Engineering class at 12:30...difficulty rate: (same as my lunch). Hehehe... understand my situation here.

After the exam, I met Mangkay near the canteen. Had a mushy talk with her...I really don't know what stage I'm in. Mangkay's gonna end up buying me a McFlurry just to make me smile. She's treating me like a kid 'coz...I think I've realized I've been acting like one. I'm deeply worried...worried about me...worried about what's gonna be. I don't know. My Darling Wendy is slipping from my affections lately. Sometimes I feel guilty when I just act so deadma to her...like when we see each other, no conversation springs up. It's just a casual "Hi, Hello...bye John-john" Argh!!! I just don't know why that happens. The chemical equations are not balanced!

There's not one second in my waking moment that I don't think about her... but as I continue to do so, the thoughts just depress me. Sometimes, I feel like quitting the fight, but my friends always give me the encouragement to pursue...pursue till God knows when??? I'll die a martyr! The flame won't burn unless there's a spark. Problem is, I've been rubbing the match stick against that sandpaper thingy for ages....but no spark. The match must be wet...gotta buy me a blowtorch! Karen, help!!!

I might not be able to post a blog tomorrow. I'll be going to Shangrila Resort tomorrow. My Uncle Allan (Anna's dad) will be treating all of us to the beach. Anna will be arriving tonight from Manila to see Jaymes. Anybody wanna join us??? If any of you can take the time off your Saturday, why not pay the resort a visit...and maybe we could meet and have a talk over coffee, sandwiches, gelato ice cream....hehehe. See you around peeps, have to go to my next class. Thanks for reading.

--+--!!!HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAN and WALTER!!!--+--

Just came from the airport. My cousin Jaymes is amusing all of us here. He�s so talkative and has a very nice Australian accent like those in AXN shows... prolly a flat one in speech class. He�s also a very smart kid! While the car stopped as I waited for the red light to go green, a street kid came by the window and was asking for money. My cousin, astonished by the sight the street kid, said �Why�s a kid by the window?�Ahhh�poor kids, I suppose. Do they have family?� Aren�t their parents supposed to follow them around?� Ahh� probably they don�t care much for their kids.� Imagine all this coming from a 6 year old kid. Super Smart! I could say that when I was at that age, I couldn�t care much if someone was knocking over the window.

I�m ordering pizza now for everybody here at home. It�s one big reunion! At least my day has more substance now... too bad it had to come so late as in the evening. I�ll blog more tomorrow since it�s gonna be Jan Allen Go�s birthday! Good night my beloved bloggers.

I woke up rather early today� and rather unnecessarily since my first class would still be at 12:30 PM. I was already at school by 7 in the morning. Once I�m awake, I can�t return back to slumber� and there�s practically nothing entertaining in the house other than the TV set and my PC, both of which I�ve already outgrown.

So I just stayed at my pad in school waiting for the clock to strike 12:30. Had my usual cup of coffee while chatting and singing �oldies� songs with the people who happen to stay in the canteen during their breaks. I refused to have breakfast nor lunch, since I knew by then that my day would be one hell of a nightmare. True enough, the teacher of my ONLY class for today (12:30 � 1:30) did not show up. Argh! I�m really getting a raw deal here in school. It�s like there�s no classes for me for this entire week. It�s either teachers don�t conduct classes or they just mumble nonsense in class. Maybe I should be my own teacher then and USC should pay me for teaching myself. Pathetic! I don�t know what�s going on now in my world. Seems like it�s all crashing down to pieces.

While waiting for Adrian�s class to finish, Pandi gave me a few words of advice about many things in life. Definitely opposite from my point of view, but hey�maybe it�s worth a try. Since everything�s turning sour, his advise might just be the right antidote. I�ll give it a month�s worth of trial. If it works, I�ll prolly start a cult in his honor. Hehehe�

I bought something which I swore I�ll never buy this year, but some things can really push me to the limit. Surely Jed will be happy to share this something with me. Right Jed? Amen.

I�ll blog till here �coz I have to fetch my Aussie relatives (Aunt Eya and my cousin Jaymes) at the airport. They�ll be staying in Cebu for a month. Maybe I�ll migrate with them back to Australia. I really need a new life and what could be a better place to start�Sydney Australia!

Had a very long break today. After my 7:30 HIST class, our teacher for our Engineering Materials did not conduct class at 10:30, so I had to wait for 4.5 hours before my 3:00 class starts. In the meantime, I hung out at my pad�. My days are getting laxer and laxer. I�m getting bored by the day. Sometimes, I don�t even feel like a student anymore�much more like somebody who goes to school just to see the place everyday�going there for no reason at all.

At about 11:30. Wendy drove us - Adrian, Stephanie, Marie, Angela, MaryAnn and I to Ice Castle for lunch. I had their Sizzling Korean Beef, which made me feel drowsy after. Thanks a lot for the MSG. Had a wonderful talk over the lunch table about romantic movies and how each one behaved inside the movie house. No one beats Adrian in his �A Walk To Remember� experience. Mushy to the max!

Anyway, we went back to school in time for the gals� 1:30 class. Did part of Wendy�s cross stitch project, while they went off to class. I made around 20 cross stitches in a span of 30 minutes. Super slow!!! And the worst part was that I made 15 of them wrongly. It�s right over left. Not left over right. Had to undo what I stitched leaving only 5 stitches done correctly. That brings it to 5 stitches in 30 minutes. My cat could do better than that! Sure lost a lot of points on that feat. *Sigh!

Attended my 3:00 class. Had an exam with 3 problem-solving items. I prolly got none right. I studied hard, but the teacher just refused to cooperate. Come what may. It�s not a major anyway.

After class, I didn�t go home yet since I was planning to ask for something. Didn�t go as I hoped it would go, so there goes my spirits. Till here �coz I have to phone a couple of friends. Oyasumi Nasai!

I'm blogging my time away... My next class will still be at 6PM. So boring to be waiting for 5 hours just staying at the canteen. So Adrian, Jed and I are now at Avalon typing some blogs and checking out other sites.

Started my day with a laboratory class this morning. We didn't perform any experiment, but we were asked to review for midterm exams. Made a few circuit connections and...*BOOM! The fuse of the switch explodes and smoke comes out. Hehehe...wasn't able to see the shorted wire in my circuit. Lesson learned: Don't attend electrical laboratory classes when I'm sleepy. Sheesh!

After class, I enjoyed a light lunch at Jollibee in Countrymall with Joy and MaryAnn. We then bought a few stuff (candies) in the grocery and headed back to the canteen. Joy was kinda feverish, so I played Doctor. Prescribed Calpol Orange Tabs (which we bouat at a pharmacy) and a cup of hot camomile tea. Prescribed also a cup of ginger tea when she gets home. Hope the feverish sensation leaves her after the treatment. Hehehe...

Attended my 12:30 Computer Engineering class. Was dismissed a few minutes after I entered, since I was done early with my oral exams. Hung out at my pad...read "Chinese Cinderella"...20 pages to go!!! Took time off from reading to help Wendy out with some differential equations. She's smart and yours truly was impressed by a shortcut technique she used. You go girl! She left early with Stephanie 'coz they're busy with a project of theirs in English23 (Research Paper Writing). By the way, thanks Stef for the nice talk over the phone last night. Surely made me feel better to know what's on the other side of the world.

Well, I guess I could call it a day....Hmmm... anything more for my last post for today.... Oh yeah, wanna issue something out to protect my tagboard. I would appreciate it a lot if I know who is the person behind your nicknames. Coz everyone here knows each other and if I have unknown guests who refuse to identify themselves, he gets a complimentary IP address ban courtesy of the house. bwahahaha...house rules apply here.

This is my 2nd post for the day. I spent the whole afternoon writing my laboratory report for my laboratory class tomorrow. Wrote 6 pages worth of text, tables and made 5 graphs. Whew! Mercy called my mobile while I took a short 1 hour nap. Wasn't able to answer it. Texted and called her why...no response. Cge fine. Anyway, I really needed that nap to continue making the report. Super long.

After everything was done, I wanted to continue reading "Chinese Cinderella", but I wanted to blog and read blogs first. Anyway, I'm really bothered by people posting on the tag-board without me knowing who they are. It's like someone wants to tell you something, but they're not there to face you.... Anyway, I didn't know so many people know my site na pala. It started off with Maia, Karen, Mimi, Mickie, Adrian, Jed, Melvs, Mitch, Ann, Joy, Miat and She^. But now I think many others know about it. Favor lang for those not in the list...please post who you are, coz I'm not comfy with what's happening.

Had dinner last night at Cafe Georg. Had their usual Beef Tenderloin Tips. Very yum... Drove home afterward to log on to the net and check out my site... Hmmm... a post from a certain AlliE got me to thinking... I'm still confused on how to react to the post. What the person posted was true, but I just wanna know who it is so I can explain if there are misconceptions along the way, so....whoever AlliE is, please mail me who your identity is.

I chatted on mIRC last night. Had a nice chat with ChinaDoll... super heartwarming...thanks a lot. We should do it again sometime. After the long chat, I went outside my house to watch the sky. Finally I have traced the constellation of Orion...from the belt to the sword, the head and the prey. I was looking for big dipper and little dipper, but I couldn't locate them since I didn't know the exact scale in the guide. Have to ask Wendy some Q's on that.

Just came from Sunday mass at City Sports Club. Just had lunch and I have so many homeworks and reports to write pa, so I'll leave you guys with this song given by Mangkay. Haven't heard the song yet, but just wanted to post it anyway.


Tell Her About It
by: Billy Joel

Listen boy
Don't want to see you let a good thing
Slip away
You know I don't like watching
Anybody make the same mistakes
I made
She's a real nice girl
And she's always there for you
But a nice girl wouldn't tell you what you should do
Listen boy
I'm sure that you think you got it all
Under control
You don't want somebody telling you
The way to stay in someone's soul
You're a big boy now
You'll never let her go
But that's just the kind of thing
She ought to know
Tell her about it
Tell her everything you feel
Give her every reason to accept
That you're for real
Tell her about it
Tell her all your crazy dreams
Let her know you need her
Let her know how much she means
Listen boy
It's not automatically a certain guarantee
To insure yourself
You've got to provide communication constantly
When you love someone
You're always insecure
And there's only one good way
To reassure
Tell her about it
Let her know how much you care
When she can't be with you
Tell her you wish you were there
Tell her about it
Every day before you leave
Pay her some attention
Give her something to believe
Cause now and then
She'll get to worrying
Just because you haven't spoken
For so long
Though you may not have done anything
Will that be a consolation when she's gone
Listen boy
It's good information from a man
Who's made mistakes
Just a word or two that she gets from you
Could be the difference that it makes
She's a trusting soul
She'll put her trust in you
But a girl like that won't tell you
What you should do
Tell her about it
Tell her everything you feel
Give her every reason
To accept that you're for real
Tell her about it
Tell her all your crazy dreams
Let her know you need her
Let her know how much she means
Tell her about it
Tell her how you feel right now
Tell her about it
The girl don't want to wait too long
You got to tell her about it
Tell her now and you won't go wrong
You got to tell her about it
Before it gets too late
You got to tell her about it
You know the girl don't want
To wait--you got to
Tell her about it

Blog blog blog.... Hmmm... To start with, I was late for my early morning Saturday class. The Christmas season made me forget that I have a class on Saturdays. I slept late last night 'coz I waited for the sky to clear up. Learned a lot in one stargazing night. Have to learn more tonight. Anyway, when I woke up, I jumped out of bed seeing that the room was already very well lighted by the light of day. I sprung up cautiously so as not to awake my mum. She'd prolly make yawyaw when she finds out I was late. After a quick bath, I drove to school immediately without taking breakfast.

In class, I performed 2 experiments in one sitting... Good job, but I was really hungry. My teacher noticed I was 1 hour late and told me that net time he wouldn't allow me to enter at that late time. *Ducks in shame. Well, I went home after that exhausting laboratory class to pick up the car's spare tire. Brought it to Grand Prix to purchase 3 brand new tires. Went home after to pick mum up, have lunch and went to Ayala. Nobody I know was in Ayala. Adrian didn't go and Jed went to some band showdown at Mango Square. As I made rounds, I saw an old friend Randy Dy and accompanied him to Picture City to have his picture taken for some purpose. He bought a shaver first before having his picture taken, since he wanted to look neat. He talked about his crush whose name was Abigail too. For a moment there, my heart stopped. I then asked, "What family name?" "Quimbo"... phew.

We then parted ways and I was all alone in the mall doing what a mall rat does. A friend of mine texted me where I was, but before I could reply, my phone went *bleep bleep bleep. The rest was history. Anyway, I spent the whole afternoon helping at our store. It was very busy. Had to be an all around restaurateur... washing plates, taking orders, wiping tables, preparing orders and cooking. Phew! I'm so pooped. Mum rewarded my efforts with a Flame It! burger. Yummmm.... When the strore wasn't so busy anymore, I went to National Bookstore to look for a copy of Adeline Yen Mah's "Falling Leaves". Saw 2 copies but didn't buy 'em. Met Jan Allen Go on the way back to the 3rd floor. Had a short chat and off I then went to AV Surfer to read some blogs and to compose this post. I want to start posting blogs at an earlier time, so most of you can read it. So here it is... and have to go have dinner with my family somewhere. Haven't decided where we'll be going. Good night people and hope you enjoyed a hearty dinner!

P.S.
Thanks a lot for your posts in my tag-board. I really appreciate them. I laugh a lot and get a lot of insights. Mangks, thanks for the email.

My Friday started a bit late. Woke up at 10:00AM, left for school at 12, just in time for my 12:30 class. I was dismissed early from my 12:30 � 1:30 class since I was done with my oral defense last Wednesday. No class for me, so I went to the canteen. I was busy reading �Chinese Cinderella� while Adrian, Marie, Stephanie, Angela and Wendy dearest were having their lunch. After lunch, wuvy duv handed over a book entitled: �The Stargazer�s Guide To The Galaxy� I was so happy, since she remembered me asking for a map of the stars yesterday. Was floating on thin air as she handed it to me. That completed my day!

The gals then went to their 1:30 class and I too went to my Computer Engineering Laboratory class. My teacher, Sir Abaquita was super boring. He�s fond of talking a lot. Sometimes I wonder if he�s an effeminate�commenting about this�about that. He asked us one question at the start of the class � �What are registers?� Everyone was shy to answer. Even yours truly was unattentive, since he was busy reading that same book he was reading in the canteen. So, on my teacher went talking round and round about life�about crisis�about buying computers�etc, while I had my head bent, reading the book under the computer table. The 3-hour laboratory class ended without anyone answering that question, without anyone doing anything except listen to all the yaketty yaks.

I went back to my usual pad. Benny, Pandi, Peter, Patrick, Walter, Adrian, Jed, Edwin and Miat were there. I was waiting for my 6:00 ECE class and slowly the people left the place. Patrick, Miat and Peter were the only ones left when I left the canteen for my ECE class. We had an exam on Transistor DC Analysis�and I aced it. *grins Wheeee!!! The Power of Inspiration. Bwahahaha�

After the leaving the class early, I was shocked to see Miat and Peter still in school. Miat was waiting for her mum to pick her up. Peter did not want to go home yet since he doesn�t know what to do at home should he go home early. He even asked if he could tambay at our house for a while before he goes home. Didn�t push through. The reason: Mum was supposed to pick me up, but she was still at Ayala attending to our consultant. So as not to disturb and hassle her, I asked Miat if I could hitch for a ride home. And so I was able to hitch with Miat. So, Peter left for home I suppose or maybe went someplace else. Miat�s mum was driving their Pajero and her mum was asking me if we�re interested in purchasing fresh chicken from one of Miat�s uncles. Their chicken is priced at 59 per kilo. I just asked mum and our going purchase price is at 67 a kilo. This means a lot of savings. I still have to contact Miat to ask whether it�s fresh or frozen chicken. Thanks Miat for the ride home! *winks Our store needs fresh chicken. Fresh is always best! So the next time any of you eat at our store, the chicken served is guaranteed fresh!

I�ll blog till here. Have to check the skies and if it�s clear, I�ll start using this book so I�ll learn more about the heavens. Good night my beloved blogreaders!

I didn�t feel like waking up this morning. It was raining. The room was cold and I still loved to continue my beauty sleep. Too bad, I really had to wake up because I was going to have an exam in my HIST 17 class at 7:30. I passed by my cousin�s condo to pick him up so we could go to school together. I arrived in the classroom 5 minutes after the bell rang. Good thing the teacher gave my classmates a 15-minute time allowance for latecomers due to the downpour.

I was prepared for the exam�or so I thought. There were so many dates and facts that I had in memory. I answered all questions, but got 16 correct out of 20. Sometimes what I study doesn�t come out, and those I browsed through come out. Like I know Rizal�s friend�s name was Blumentritt. Instead of writing Ferdinand Blumentritt, I wrote Antonio. Memory interference � learned it in my PSYC 101 class. Familiar Mickie?

After the exam, a good friend of mine (my seatmate) entered the class just in time before the exchanging of papers. She cried coz she really studied hard those 80 pages I told you about and she was only allowed to answer the essay part. The teacher refused to dictate to her the 20-item identification part. I really felt sorry for her knowing how detailed she studies. Her case: She had to drop off her cousin at SHS-G and when she reached the flyover, she got stuck in the usual traffic and so was late. Experienced the traffic near Crossroads? Very irritating to be changing to the left lane due to the diggings by Globe. Poor friend of mine did something nice for her cousin and ended up upsetting herself. Well, just told her to stop crying coz there�s nothing she can do about it, except to make bawi in the next exam. We just tried to make her laugh by talking about how one of our classmates tried to cheat and ended up hearing the wrong answer. Instead of �Igorots�, he heard �Ignorts�. He was so silly to believe there�s such a word as �Ignorts��maybe in slang. Well, that�s what he wrote on his paper. My friend had a good laugh� and there�s the smile and laugh we longed to see.

After my Rizal class, I went to the canteen to�tambay as usual. Mary Ann then arrived and I was shocked to see her hair cut shorter once again. The hair yesterday looked more fitting, but I think it would be uncomfortable for Ann�s neck. Her hair now is also nice. Gives her that young, attractive look that brings out the�trapped little kid in her. Hehehe� Everyone is a little child deep inside.

Phew! My blogs are getting longer and longer. Just goes to show how exciting and busy it has become. Back to my day. The TC Hunks: Peter, Shotshot, Lito, Edison, Disney, Benny and Pandi had plans to have brunch at the newly opened McDonald�s at JY Square. The guys were still deciding among themselves, so I took a few sips of hot coffee in the canteen while waiting for Marie and�ahem� to reach the canteen so Angela would have a companion before we leave. The two lovely TC Chicks arrived just in time so off I went for brunch with the guys and Disney�s friend Irene.

After McDo, we went back to school since most of us had 10:30 classes. Endured another 1.5 hours of lecture on electrons, atoms, energy and all the Einstein stuff, then went back to my favorite place in TC, the canteen. Met up with Adrian, Mary Ann, Angela, Marie, Stephanie and my luvy duv

We had lunch at our favorite out-of-school diner � Ila Puti (www.ilaputi.tk). I didn�t eat though since I already had lunch� brunch, breakfast and lunch in one. Instead, I ordered their coffee. Guess what there coffee is� STARBUCKS! Missed my Starbucks moments in Manila. They had this Verona blend, which is one of my favorites. Had a refill compliments from the owner, John Rodriguez for being a suki. Thanks John!

Sipped my coffee while writing a letter for Adrian. Sipped it over a blossoming conversation with wuvy dear. Talked about stars, her several breeds of cute pure-breed dogs and puppies at home�etc. She was able to enumerate all 20 names. Wow! I was definitely impressed! Love a good memory. I still have problems making perfect eye contact while talking to her. It just scares me. But I know I should deal with that problem, �coz it�s rude not to look at people in the eye when talking to them� surely makes them feel I�m not interested. Am I right on that? Amen.

After the soothing sips of coffee and the heartwarming talk that could have made me just die right there and then, the gals went back to school for their 1:30 class. Adrian and I went to Avalon, an internet caf� just beside the resto, to log on to the net and check our blogywogies. Hehehe� Adrian saw the finished look of his site. Thanks Kar for the necessary finishing touches! He made his first posts with me, beside him, giving tips and showing him some of the features of the blogger system. I took a short nap in the caf�, while he was blogging. He woke me up and it was my turn to blog. Posted my previous post at that caf�.

We printed that letter I wrote for him and off we went to our 3:00 classes. I had to do a seatwork in our Electrical Engineering class. I finished ahead, so I left the class rather early and met with Miat at the canteen. She handed me two books which I am now reading: �Chinese Cinderella� by Adeline Yen Mah and �The Phantom of Manhattan� by Frederick Forsyth. Thanks Miat for the books which shall keep me occupied for the next few days.

Met with Adrian and rode a jeepney with him to Ayala. We parted as soon as we reached the jeepney stop. He took another jeep going to his mom�s office and I had to report to my commander in our store. Mum still had friends over at Bigby�s, so I went to City Sports Club to inquire on some booking procedures and got some documents. Went back to Ayala and home after. No homework to do, no chores, so here�s the very long blog. Since I don�t wanna take much time from your busy schedule, I�ll stop here. Don�t worry. I�m sure will be able to sleep tonight. Good night and Godbless!

Last Night:
I wasn't able to sleep again. I've been having insomnia/sleeping disorder for the last five days. Maybe it's due to my cough or something else must be bothering me. Only God knows why. I myself don't know. My mum and bro were already asleep by 11. Wanted to blog, but I didn't wanna disturb their sleep and neither did I have anything to blog about. I tried to lie down, but I really couldn't sleep.

At around 12, I walked out of the room into the common area of the house. It was dark, creepy with no lights and there was total silence. I walked out of the house - into the garage then to the garden. I couldn't help but notice the stars. I really love stargazing, but I don't know how to connect them the right way. I only know of Orion and Polaris. Just that...and that you can't see Orion and Scorpio--->(not so sure) together in the same sky. The car of our neighbor just went into the garage as I climbed up to the roof. My neighbor had this shocked appearance on his face. He must have thought I was some burglar or prowler. Hehehe... I stargazed at the very clear sky last night. It was very relaxing. It seemed like stargazing scenes in a romantic movie...except that I was all by myself. I would have wished that my luvy wuvy was there beside me. She knows a lot about stars...reminds me of that scene in "A Walk to Remember". I'll try to do research about stars. Maybe I can also name one in her name. Hehehe... After 30 minutes up the roof, I was feeling the chill of the night. I didn't fear the cold, since Adrian told me to fight fire with fire. So there it goes, fight my cough/colds with cold. I was getting dreamy and sleepy with what I was doing, so I decided to go back to the room...so eventually I was able to sleep.

I'll blog about TODAY later in the evening.

Hi peeps! I just finished an exhilarating 80 pages of Rizal History for tomorrow's exam. Grabe! 80 pages worth of historical facts on Rizal to be compressed inside my brain. I'm gonna end up insane...just like Sisa in Noli. Whew! So much for the travels of Rizal, I'm now blogging while editting Adrian's site. I'm so happy that my very dear friend has decided to join our blogcircle. But as what I said, there is always balance in this world. As Adrian enters, it's quite sad Mimi had to sign off. Gonna miss your blogs. I really do enjoy her blogs, but I guess she has better things to concentrate on...like her studies and her beloved Bubuy. Hehehe...

Anyway, I read your blogs today...not much update. I enjoyed reading the storm of posts you guys posted on my tag-board. I'll post my replies here in my blog so as not to crowd my tag-board. Love to see your posts in my board. Hi she^! Nice to see you visit my site for the first time. Say hello to your cousin Sandy for me. I hope she remembers me though. Hi Ann! Nice hair you have right now. Suits you very much. I like it a lot. I'm sure someone will go crazy with your new look. Hahaha...just kidding. Hi Mangkay! Didn't know you had some admiration for...ahem ahem... ayaw ana kay naa ma suya, hehehe. Hi Melvs! I really enjoyed laughing at your posts on my tag-board. I'll be taking a much needed break from all that talk, posts and discussions about your beloved cousin. It's not doing good for my health lately. I feel like dying already. I still prefer calling her by that name. Bi-gi is not one term I am comfortable with since it's, as what you said, a term your family uses. And certainly I'm not that close to be family. Anyway, I'll blog more tomorrow coz I'm busy updating my links and fixing Adrian's site. Hopefully, it will be completed by tonight. Good night folks!

Hey peeps, Adrian now has a blogsite. Bwahahaha...another blog victim...my underling. Check out his site: www.myblogywogy.blogspot.com. It's still under construction. I'll have to edit the HTML code via Frontpage tonight. I'll update the links in my site and add links to Adrian's site. You can start posting on his tagboard and sign his guestbook. They're now operational. Enjoy!

I'm still in school. Just got out from my Electrical Engineering class and waiting to be fetched. It was rather an interesting topic on motors and generators. Now I can fix that busted electric fan at home. I really had a wonderful Tuesday. It kicked off with my HIST17 teacher praising me for my essay on Rizal. He was so impressed that he asked how I knew a lot about Rizal. Well, that's one big thing I learned from Ateneo. That school really taught me well on how to do critics, reaction papers and essays, too bad their calculus killed me. Hehehe...anyway. It's raining again the whole day and my cough is getting better at least. I've become dependent on Halls candies to keep my throat from getting sore. I had to shell out 5 pesos every after class for menthol candies... So much for my cough, won't blog on that anymore.

I had lunch at Ila Puti with Mary Ann and Jed. I treated them both for lunch, but Mary Ann won't let me, so only Jed got the treat. I had the usual silog special. Tastes sooooo good. You should try eating at that resto. It's just across school. After lunch, I went with Mangkay, other CompE officers and Maam Daday to CARDOC to talk to Joey Suaco's dad. On the way there in Mitch's Vanette, I had a very heartwarming talk with Mangkay...heartwarming in the midst of the chilling aircon. Talked about life's little details that I forgot to do. Thanks Mangks for the advice. You are close to that PhD title. Your advice has been noted in my life's little red book and a deadline has been set.

Back to the reason for the trip...Since Joey Suaco was so hard to talk to regarding that failed Christmas party, we sought his dad's help. After some exchange of arguments (civilized way), we got the figures we wanted. The poor dad had to shell out a check worth (amount:confidential) to pay for his son's lousy party planning. That ungrateful son left even before his dad handed out the check. Seems they're not in good terms. I pity the dad a lot for putting up with an @$$hole son like Joey. Since his dad is a Rotarian, he offered terms that were in the name of goodwill. As he said, "Goodwill can't be bought. It is earned." Cheers to all Rotarians for their diplomatic and peaceful traits.

Mitch dropped Maam Daday at Ayala, Vanessa, Tonette and I at TC and Maia at Sto. Ni񯠖illage. I got to my 3:00 class 20 minutes late. The teacher was discussing already, but I was able to catch up. What a day!

Melvs, can't seem to read your chatterbox....so can't read the comments posted there There's an error...something wrong with the HTML code perhaps. I read your daily blogs, but it takes so much time for your site to load. Check it out daw and see what's wrong. Bye peeps, the car's outside already. Hope to read more of your blogs. Ciao!

My cough hasn't left me yet, but I'm now enjoying a hot cup of tea, while reading your blogs. Nice to have known Mickie posted her 1st day of class happenings. A hectic one I might say, but as the day draws to a close, it's fulfilling to know you've done so much in so little time. It's still less than 48 hours since you left Cebu. Friends are everywhere. They bring joy to life wherever you may be. It's nice to have friends from many places.

Well I had to post a blog after that one I made in school. Miat sure did bring the house down. We took turns with the keyboard, while Adrian was relishing the moment behind us. No edits there. Just plain chat type blog hehehe... Miat? Going through a stage?.... Hehe... something new. No wonder what those sessions were about... hmmmm. I volunteered to make her a blogsite, but she thought it was "crap" to put private stuff in the net. Hee... I find it funny when she uses that term. Sounds more crap to me. Thanks Mickie for the extra caution. Will be handling her with care these days! (Miat's now in a luggage with a PAL tape which reads: FRAGILE! This side up!)

Peter just texted to ask some details on posting in tag-boards. Seems he's reading my daily blogs... maybe with the others too. Another would-be blog victim?.... Hehe I hope so. Spread the virus! I'm no blog freak wicked(este ADRIAN!!!). Get your own blog site. Anyway, it's getting late and I have a Rizal class at 7:30AM. Have to do my homework still and be a modern Rizal. Bite me! Good night people! May you have a wonderful day ahead of you.

I'm blogging in school. Nice to have a small "cafe" inside the campus. Only 5 pesos per 15 minutes. I'm having flu today. Caught it yesterday afternoon. I was still enjoying our long talk on the phone 1st with Adrian then with Jed at around 3. It was a long Sunday afternoon and I had nothing productive to do, so I figured out that I wanna spend time with friends (over the phone) as if it were something productive. Anyway, I wanted to call Stephanie at home at around 5, but she wasn't home. The phone kept ringing. Wanted to talk to her about.... and also wanted to ask her how her Hawaii trip went. I enjoy talking with Stephanie, since I feel that our minds connect in our conversations. Too bad, we seldom get to talk in school, because...it's hard to talk about people when they're just across the table.

When I woke up, I thought that I'll have a bad day, since as I told you, I lost my notes. I already had this picture of me copying notes the whole afternoon... This picture even came up in my dream last night that's why I woke up rather early. Slept late, woke up early. ( john, nobody wants to read this crap - miat) (Miat read all your blogs... she thinks its all crap!) (actually it wasnt all crap, seriously people, you need to add some drama - miat) (gi bawi!) (no john, i just care more about their crap than i do yours - miat) (cge fyn!) (cge, continue.....-miat) Anyway, it was a blessing that I met Edwin in the canteen. He had my notebook all along. I left it pala in the canteen just before I rushed to the grocery to buy the ingredients for that Christmas party cookout of ours. (wow, the adventures of john and his notebook - miat) So, my pen was spared from writing all those notes again. ( and now, his pen applause people! - miat) Sige Miat, wanna play that game?... cge, now for my adventures with my paper! (did you have a papercut? finally some action! yehey! cos thats way more interesting than the pen - Miat) Finally, tonight, I'll be able to make that program project of mine. Well, still have a class this 6PM. Hope you had a wonderful first day of classes today.( blah blah blah blah...stay tuned for the next episode of john's daily life involving his notebook, pen and finally his, papercut and oh, c Edwin pa diay - Miat) Miat wanted to post more, but I told her to get the hell out of my mailbox! (Sorry, i couldn't help it, his crap was so full of crap that i had no choice but to heed his words and get the hell out of his mailbox just to avoid puking tata! - Miat)

Guys, sorry for the interruption... Miat just feels so bored of her life... Get your own blog Miat. Pasensya nalang mo tanan...

Consider this as a film review plus my own insights on Filipino-Chinese families. Happy reading!

I watched the last full show of �Mano Po�. There were no seats, so we had to sit on the stairs for about 20 minutes of running film. Then when 3 people vacated their seats, we were able to sit comfortably.

I really enjoyed the movie, especially the dialogues. I guess only Maricel Soriano and Eddie Garcia were close enough to speaking the Fookien language with the correct pronunciation and accent. The rest sounded funny to me. Eddie Garcia deserved the best actor, but for best actress it should have been given to Maricel for her very strict and heartless character. I certainly enjoyed the scenes when she was so cruel that I wonder whether such heartless people still do exist. I still can�t get some scenes off my mind!

The movie certainly deserved the best picture award. It clearly showed the struggles between Filipinos and Chinese�how some Filipinos see the Chinese as belittling them when they(Chinese) start talking Mandarin or Fookien in their(Filipinos) presence�and how some Chinese view Filipinos as always after their money...that money can solve all problems. The culture of the Chinese depicted in the movie are still evident today�like how Chinese families value the family�s image and integrity�that the family could just disown you for an act of indecency or for committing a crime�how Chinese families have connections in places of power (the police and government) and how they wouldn�t want to meddle with politics and be caught in between political strife that could be detrimental to the safety of their families and their businesses.

The customs of courtship still prevail up to this generation�like how many of you have parents who go by the rule �Chinese woman for a Chinese man��that courting someone who is a Filipino could be grounds for being kicked out from home without any support whatsoever. Like when my mum knew about Wendy (long story), she first asked for the family name and when she knew it was Chinese (obviously), she just asked what business they have, since she knows so many Chua�s. I told her and she knew which Chua clan immediately. She knows your dad, Melvs. They were once classmates. And Edwin's dad is a very good friend of my Uncle Henry� small world huh�stuff I never knew off. Goes to show how little I know. Hehe� Anyway, if it had been a Filipino surname, (which happened before), mum would have asked so many questions like what school she�s in, what high school she came from, where does she live, how does she dress�.etcetera�.and even if I answered to all those questions, her reply would be a subtle NO.

And when you ladies get engaged, have you ever asked your parents whether they would require the guy to provide a dowry similar to that in the movie during your Teng Hun? Personally, I don�t see it as a true measure of the guy being able to support his future family. Support doesn�t mean only monetary support. Other aspects must be incorporated. But for formality and tradition�s sake, I think (when the time comes) I would love to have it done the old fashioned way, even if the girl�s parents wouldn�t require it. The only question there would be, �How long till I get the funds to do just that?��ten to fifteen years�I�d be like 40�and how many childbearing years left for my spouse� Hehe� you gals do the math.

Seriously, it�s no joke to put up such a huge dowry. The guy has to offer a complete set of jewelries per rare gem/stone�from diamonds to rubies, sapphires, jades, emeralds and pearls. Plus the usual ceremonyas� walking backwards, serving tea (as seen in the movie), must be executed without flaw, else if the girl trips from walking backwards or the tea spills from the cup, the parents and guests will see it as a bad omen� and you know how superstitious some of us can get. I got so attend only one engagement party of such nature and.... wow! my eyes glared with all the jewelries.

For all the customs and traditions that this culture has to offer, I�m proud to have been part of this unique clan. I get to live life as a human being maybe just once and it so happened that I was born a Fil-Chi. And to live it to the fullest, I must live up to the identity.