the perils of

Earlier I was chatting with my friend Lorenzo (I mentioned him in an earlier post ) about going to Manila, and it looks like I'm not the only one who's scared brainless about moving and studying there! That's comforting. No, that's not sarcasm! I mean I'm really, really glad that I'm not doing this alone. It's not just me and Larz here - there's Jason, and Paul, and all the wonderful new friends I made at the OrSem forums who, just like me, are apprehensive about moving there. Who wouldn't freak about having to live in Manila? It is a HUGE city. It's so unlike Cagayan de Oro, where everything is basically within your reach. In CDO, the malls take less than half a day to explore (granted you don't stop to look at much stuff). And in CDO, you don't have to wait for hours on end just to get from one place to another. Traffic isn't heavy. It isn't hard going places on a jeep, either. Everything is just so simple and wonderful and fam

Last Thursday night (and early Friday morning), I wasn't able to get any sleep at all, so I was actually able to go with Dad at 5 in the morning to the airport to drop off Mommy, who was going to Cebu for a business seminar of some sort. This is what part of my house looked like in the early morning light. 8D After that, my dad scolded me for not sleeping, but can I really be held responsible for the strange things my body does? I mean it's not MY fault I have delayed sleep phase syndrome. Anyway, he sent me to bed right after we dropped Mom off. And thankfully, I was actually able to sleep until 12 in the afternoon. I woke up just in time for lunch and a quick shower. Then it was off to Limketkai Mall for some bonding time with the Rotary Youth City Council! (photo courtesy of Nadine 8D ) After that, I took a taxi home to grab a quick dinner, and then it was back to Limketkai with Dad, Caitlin and Lola to catch the Apo Hiking's Farewell Concert! They were AMAZING!

Now that college is only three weeks away, I’m going to have to pick a talent and stick to it. I'm sort of a jack of all trades, master of none. I know how to write, draw, take pictures, do graphic design, and play the guitar, keyboards, drums and bass. Problem is, I'm not exceptionally good at any one of those things. (That's what the "master of none" means, in case you didn't know.) But with college just around the bend, I'm going to need one special talent to hone, polish and rub in people's faces. (Kidding, kidding.) Now that I have to start REALLY developing one of my skills, I figure the one I should choose is making music. Playing the guitar, especially. Because out of all the things I know how to do, that's probably the one I know how to do best! Tried and tested during school Foundation Days and music projects. Haha. Which is why I've been setting aside a huge chunk of my time each day to log onto http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/ .

... until I board that plane to the Big M. I get butterflies in my tummy whenever I think about it! The way I see it, it's sort of like riding a roller coaster. (Before you throw up from the cheeziness of that metaphor, relax, because I'm NOT going to say, "Life is like a roller coaster: you get your ups and downs." I'm NOT, okay!) Anyway. It's sort of like riding a roller coaster. You don't really want go. Heck, if it were up to you, you'd pass the time just by hanging around the frozen bananas stand instead of being strapped down into your seat at the scariest ride in the park. But, you're doing it. You're riding the Space Shuttle. Because your older cousins are making you... Or at least, that's what you think. Deep down inside though, way, waaay past the big lunch you ate that's threatening to resurface at any moment now, you know that you're not just riding because your cousins made you. It's something else. Something la

I've just converted the Pink Room into my own little music room. I brought the piano in from downstairs so I could practice "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley (for Rickrolling purposes, of course). I've already got it on the guitar, so I wanna record both into a computer and see what I end up with! Also, I really need something to do other than Facebook. So, music it is :3 P.S. We're gonna go watch the Apo Hiking Society concert this Friday! It's gonna awesome :3

It's one of those days where I'm hating the TV for putting all these images in our heads and changing the way we understand "beautiful." i.e. Beautiful is being thin and having white skin. We see all these ads trying to sell us "fat eliminators", and drinks that supposedly help us burn fat faster. What disappoints me the most is this advertisement of a whitening lotion made for teens, because "if you start with white, you start right," or something like that. To those people who created that product AND ad I want to yell, "Back off, you jerks !" Beacause we teen girls don't need you to make us feel any worse about ourselves. Don't you think we've got enough problems to deal with already? Boys, school, hormones - and now you're adding to that list self-image ! Did you know that 92% of girls say they want to change at least one aspect of their physical appearance (with body weight ranking the highest)? Two thirds of wome

Hello dear reader. Before you proceed any further in my blog, I have something important I really need to tell you. I'm not a fun person. I'm not interesting, or extraordinary, or anything . I'm the exact opposite of all that. I'm a very very very boring and unremarkable teenager. And no, I'm not being sarcastic, or even fishing for compliments. Because this is the truth. It's the reality of my life, and I thought that it just wouldn't be right leading you on. So, hello. My name is Aimee, nickname, Bea. I lead an uninteresting life for now, but I'm moving to Manila in a few weeks' time, so try checking this blog by then and maybe I'll have something even remotely stimulating to offer you guys. . . . If you're wondering, by the way, what took me so long to "come out of the boring closet," well it's just that in the past two days I've gotten two invitations to go to the movies in Limketkai Mall. One from my friends from the R

Guess who just got a letter from Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. It arrived in the mail this morning (two of them actually), and we were like, “WTH?!” We thought that it was obviously a fake, because it was spelled “Malacañan” and not “Malacañang,” but when I checked the Internet, it turns out that Malacañan is the official English name of the Palace! Weird. How come I never knew that? x_x Anyway, the letter makes references to a government scholarship of some sort. My dad says it’s probably just GMA’s way of saying, “Hey. I GAVE you that scholarship, so LIKE ME, you effin ingrate! ” But you know what I’m thinking? Anthraaaaax! :O

If one of your friends (or enemies) recommends a site called "Sourmath", SPIT IN HIS/HER FACE AND NEVER SPEAK TO HIM/HER AGAIN. Kidding. But seriously though, just DON'T. Sourmath is this prank site that plays a clip of three old, fat men in a shower. When you try to close it, a message box saying "Hello!" will appear, and when you try to close that, another "Hello!" box will appear and you have no choice but to keep clicking and clicking and clicking while the three old men shower in the background. *shudder* It is NOT pretty. Your only escape route is to press Ctrl+Alt+Delete and End your browser. At least, that's what works for Internet Explorer. My friend Jillian is having a LOT of difficulty ending the darn thing, and she uses Firefox. She said she's really close to crying now! Poor Jill. Sweet, innocent, unsuspecting Jill. . . . Anyway guys. Here's your Random Picture of the Day: This is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen,

For those non GMA and ABS-CBN watchers, here's the situation as I know it: One of these stations got hold of this hologram-transmitting technology thingy, and then the other one got jealous and decided they needed one too. Which one of them got it first, I have no idea, but now the two stations fight about it ON AIR, showing it off and trying to see which station's is better. It gets SO annoying. Just give us NEWS already! (P.S. I advise you to click the picture for a larger and more hi-def version, and then right-click THAT and Save. In a few month's time, this picture of the hologram of the 15th Philippine President is going to be PRICELESS!)

I'm writing this for you to read in the future, when you're old enough to be embarrassed of me holding your hand in public. Just in case you're wondering what you were like when you were a little boy. Well, for your information, Future Jiggy, it's Wednesday, May 12, 2010. 3:30 in the afternoon, according to the laptop clock. And you kinda yelled at me for taking a bite out of your McDonald's cheeseburger a while ago. It's just a cheeseburger, and I'm all too accustomed to you raising your voice, but what you did just now really hurt my feelings. Blame my girly girl hormones for this, but that really stung. Why? Because when I asked for a bite you told me, "What? But you didn't even give me anything !" Now that really sucks. Because (Future Jiggy, by the time you read this, I sincerely hope you've learned this lesson already) I'm your older sister, and I make great sacrifices for you. I love you to bits even though you bug the hell o

Just got back from ama's house, and I'm inspired to tell you about how things work over there during family lunches. See, before we eat, we have to go over to the corner with our ancestors' pictures and pray for their blessing so that we can eat. Sort of like praying for their go-signal. In front of our ancestors' pictures are food offerings, things from the meal about to be eaten, like fish and rice, along with candy and cake. My mom says that the ancestors eat the "spirit" of the food, and that nobody's supposed to mess around with their lunch. I somehow get the idea that if you eat any of the ancestor's food, it'll taste like air. Anyway. So we pray in front of the ancestors. The praying is called "po-pi." Each of us holds two lit joss sticks (there's a particular way of holding them too) during po-pi. The fire on the sticks isn't even as big as a candle's; it's just a burning nub, but Ama (grandmother) has stopped g

Good morning world and all who inhabit it. I'm gonna be heading off soon to my Ama's (grandmother's) house for a late Mother's Day lunch, but before I leave I wanna get this up on the Interwebz . I made this picture (sans the cartoon girl, courtesy of glitter-graphics.com) because I just find it funny how people are always getting Chinese people mixed up with Koreans. I'm half-Chinese, but wherever I go, I get dumb questions like, "Are you Korean?", "Do you understand Tagalog/ Bisaya ?" (click to embiggen) "Ching chang chong" - Why do people always say this when they mock the Chinese language? They just end up looking stupid themselves.

I helped out with the elections as a PPCRV volunteer today at the Voter's Assistance Desk together with my friends from school. At the beginning of my day I couldn't help but feel excited, because even though I knew it was going to be a battlefield in the COC polling center we were helping out in, our job sounded pretty simple and doable, and consisted of only five steps. Ask voter for name. Type name in computer. Look at voter's precinct number. Write precinct number, room, and floor number on paper. Smile and give to voter :) Buuuut of course things were easier said than done. Instead of people patiently lining up in an orderly fashion like the civilized human beings they're supposed to be, everyone was just in a frenzy, going behind the tables and pressing close to us and pestering us to hurry up and breathing over our shoulders with breath that smelled of cigarettes. To put things into perspective: I wasn't expecting the South Korean military, but I wasn

Wow. I am SO excited for the Freshmen Orientation Semianar (OrSem) that I can't type straight! SERIOUSLY! I have to keep pressing backspace because of all these spelling errors! My awesome friend Ariane (I mentioned her in a previous post ) gave me this link to the OrSem website , and now that I've viewed it, I'm so giddy and excited and prone to typos!!!! This year's OrSem, entitled "ZOOM", portrays college life as another roll of film in your photo album of life; a plethora of fun-filled, life-changing experiences and memories. OrSem 2010 serves as the lens you need to zoom in. Break the ice and have a good time with our Group Dynamics sessions. Get to know more about the different buildings and locations in school as you hitch along our Campus Tours. Familiarize yourself with your course and envision your future with our Course and Departmental Talks. Be entertained as you watch this year's O-film and interact with your fellow TnTs. Last but not the le

For those of you who have just tuned in - Hello! My name is Aimee and this is my blog, which you may or may not have found by accidentally clicking a link somewhere on Yahoo! Answers. See, I originally inteded for this blog to be a documentation of my life when I move to Manila for college ("Oh, that explains the strange header!"), but right now I'm still home in Cagayan de Oro City, so there's nothing much going on yet ("Oh , and that explains the nonsensical posts!"). My flight to Manila is on June Something. (Sorry, but I don't feel very comfortable with disclosing the date and time of my flight on the Internet. It's not that I don't trust you, dear, sweet reader - it's just that I fear the information will be put to malicious use by some creep who knows how to make a liquid bomb.) Anyway, that's about it. My sister's downstairs yelling that it's time for lunch. I shall now leave you with the Random Picture of the Day. I

I'm sorry I've broken my promise to post here daily. I know that not being in the mood is no excuse, and that my pillow probably has more willpower than I do. I's just that lately, I've been feeling so.. . teenager-ish. Hormonal, like everybody else is, and ordinary, like everybody else is. If I were sub -ordinary... Now, that wouldn't be a problem at all, because when you're not normal, you're either two things: awesome, or crazy. And being any of the two would be perfectly fine with me. These days, I'm feeling more and more like a piece of stepped-on excrement that's being dragged around on the sidewalk on a hot summer day. I hate my sissy girl feelings. I hate feeling like I need to lose weight. I hate feeling fat and ugly and worthless. I hate hating. The list of Things I Don't Like About Myself goes on, trust me, but I'm doing you a favor by sparing you from the gruesome details. Curse you, hormones. You deserve damnation.

I have some really nice friends from Abba's Orchard and Xavier University High School who are going to study either in UP Diliman or ADMU. In Manila, we're all gonna hang out and be one happy family and live happily ever after. :) This was back during Rotary Youth City Council week. The best week of my senior life (n_n)

April 22 Registered as a volunteer for PPCRV , or Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, together with some of my classmates and schoolmates. Well, former classmates and schoolmates! April 23 Paid for a room at Dormitoryana , an all-girls' dorm across Ateneo . It's got an aircon , three beds and a view of Katipunan Avenue (can't say whether it's good or not; the windows weren't open). Found that one of my roommates is a fourth-year student taking up Industrial Engineering at UP Diliman ! I hope we get along well... Two words: Communal. Bathroom. Ugh! Two bathrooms, eight girls. Oh dear... Visited my college for the first time, and it's beautiful! Felt really good about going to Ateneo and thought that I can't feel alone when I'm studying there :) April 25 Learned how to ride an MRT ! Well, at least from Shangri -La up to Shaw Boulevard. April 29 Back home, safe and sound in Cagayan de Oro City (because I'm sparing you from the rest of

Hello blogdom! After a one-week hiatus, here I am again, ready to pollute the Internet once more with my pointless musings. If you read my previous post , you will learn that I went to Manila last week to settle a few things at my new college, and to see what there is to see. So what is there to see in the Big M? (P.S., Manila is called the "Big Mango" daw - a Pinoy spin on New York, the "Big Apple") Well, I'll tell you some other post because frankly, I'm just too tired right now. Booo. Hissss. Can you blame me? It's been such a big past week. And I'm not just talking about Manila. See, my sister and I tweaked the lyrics of Tik Tok by Ke$ha to fit into presidentiable Noynoy Aquino's point of view, and it was so lame and crazy that I just had to post it on my Tumblr. When I checked it just now, I was blown away - 1,027 notes! In layman's terms, that's the equivalent of 1,207 reactions (on Tumblr, you can either "like" a post