the perils of

[above photos] Chilling in the LS Bookstore with Jhalec, AC, Julian and Cheryl (who took that last one). It was a much-needed break from English class, in which I am not doing so well. It's a good thing I arrived early for class, because I had to go to this 24-hour Internet cafe' along Katipunan to have some readings printed. But even then, I forgot to pick up a copy of Clifford Geertz's Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight , and so spent English class copyless. Which was NOT good, because Sir Pulan asked me about the opening anecdote of the essay (which I had not read, of course) and Deo, God bless him, had to whisper to me a quick summary, which I then told to Mr. Pulan. Very high school, but what choice did I (and poor Deo) have, really. When I felt like I was in the clear, Mr. Pulan asked me to continue summarizing the anecdote, at which point I just kept my mouth shut and hung my head in shame. SHAME.  For Lit class, we had a test on the Elements of Fiction,

          I was taken off the Internet some two weeks ago because of this long test in Chemistry that I'd been so dreading. Chemistry never was my best subject, and the memory of the last long test I had taken (Subject: Math. Grade: C.) was more than enough a reminder to stop procrastinating and start hitting the books.          The results of that test were released today, and I got an 87 out of 105, equivalent to 82.9%. *Sigh.* What a let down. I guess it's not a bad score (it's a B), but it's not a very good one, either. I want an A!!!          *sigh, again* I didn't find the test that difficult, actually. In fact, if I were sure that Ma'am Terrado would never find this page, I'd go so far as to even call it easy. But... 87 :'(          All the grades I've been getting so far point to one thing only: I. Am.  AVERAGE .          Average average average!  I used to excel in high school, and that was without  having to put in all the extra work. B

        Something about living on my own and learning how to budget the P300 my mom's allowing me per day is turning me into a real cheapskate. This week, I started keeping track of my expenses for my meals. I wrote them all down in this purple notebook my sister had gotten me for my birthday, and ever since then, I've been obsessed with figuring out how to cut back.          I think that being able to actually see those figures written down on paper like that instead of mentally keeping track of them is what's suppressing my impulsive tendencies. Sudden decisions to order dessert, or last-minute detours to Rustan's Supermarket to pick up cookies or cold juice - such was my life before the Purple Notebook. There's my magic little notebook. This picture was taken in Cagayan, the night before I moved to Manila.            Today, I learned when NOT to be thrifty. It was raining buckets here, you see, and because of that, my Smart Bro connection wasn't workin

Oh, Uncle Remus. You went too soon. You and your family will always be in my prayers.  God saw you getting tired and a cure was not to be.  So He put His arms around you and whispered "come to Me."  With tearful eyes we watched you, and saw you pass away.  Although we loved you dearly, we could not make you stay.  A golden heart stopped beating, hardworking hands at rest.  God broke our hearts to prove to us, He only takes the best. You were one of the greatest, kindest, and most selfless men I've ever known. Rest in peace 'col.

I'm too lazy to write anything right now. So, I'm filling this post up with pictures, pictures, and more pictures, and then a picture of an ice cream fish. Big, big thanks once again to the anonymous commenter who keeps on reminding me to update this thang. :) (Oh, and you can right-click any picture and open it in a new tab for a better view.) . . . It was  Karl's 18th birthday, and classes were only until 9:30 in the morning. Karl was taking us all out to Yellow Cab in Katipunan. So, having two hours to kill before lunch, Block XX decided to hit the Ateneo Art Gallery in the old Rizal Library. We were greeted by an intriguing piece of art outside the building. "Balete," by Leeroy New, located at the old libe. The "roots" reach all the way up to the third floor! (Also in this picture: the Manuel V. Pangilinan Center for Student Leadership, as seen in the back.) . . .         Inside the library, we went to view an exhibit by artist Kiri Dalena ent

OH YEAH!!! At long last, I've finally gotten an A on something: an essay for Filipino! I now get this nice medal stamped on my paper. Ahh, it fills me with pride. Now, back to studying Chemistry!

I can summarize my day in one paragraph: Woke up at 7, went to school, was forced to play this really dorky (and kind of fun) role-playing game for INTAC class, had Chemistry class and got a B on my previous lab report. And now I really want to get an A on something. Anyway, here's our reading assignment for tomorrow's Filipino. I'm posting it for the benefit of the masses who can't seem to find a copy online. Yeah, I'm a plagiarist now. >:D Unang Ulan sa Tag-araw Benilda S. Santos Kapag halos limot mo na ang lasa ng tubig umuulan Gangga-holen ang patak sa bubong at kalsada. Nagugulantang ang mga dahon sa biglang paglamig at napipilay ang talulot  ng mga bulaklak sa bigat ng ipinalalagok. Nagigising din ang mga paslit sa pag-idlip pagkapananghali at walang-lakas ang pagsaway sa pagkauhaw ng laman sa banyos ng langit. At ikaw, ngayon mo na ilahad ang palad sa labas ng bintana. Wala namang masasalo, kunsabagay. Makakatalik lamang sa balat hininga ng Santin

      If you are, or have ever been, a high school student in the Philippines, I'm assuming that you know about the Diliman campus of the University of the Philippines, more commonly known as UPD. Because if you are/have ever been in high school, and you  don't  know about this university, then you should be ashamed of yourself. Go curl up in a corner and listen to My Chemical Romance and cry. I am ashamed of you.*      Fortunately, being the good soul that I am, I will provide you a little background about the place. Be grateful that somebody actually had the decency to relieve you of your ignorance and blindness. Yeah, that's right. Just call me The Illuminator.** And, yes, you are forgiven.     UP Diliman is the Holy Grail of universities here in the Philippines. Its entrance exam, the UPCAT, is the hardest to pass (I think it's because of the right-minus-wrong system). Among all the UP campuses in the country, the Diliman campus is the biggest and most prestigious

(Have you noticed that when you click the title of any of my blog posts, the tab you opened it with is gonna have the words, "the perils of: [blog title]" written on it? This one says "the perils of: a night out". Which I find pretty epic. That's why recently, I've been making sure to name all my posts with nouns. Yeah, useless information... Please still be friends with me.)        Wow. I had an awesome Saturday. This afternoon, I went to the Rizal Library and finished reviewing for the Chemistry long test to be held on Wednesday. I had made plans with Jason to go out to Kenny Rogers for dinner earlier, and he decided to bring along two of his friends from the dorm, Gerard and Paolo.       Gerard is this guy from my city who went to Oro Christian Grace, a school whose history is closely intertwined with Kong Hua's (that's my school). I think we're the only two Chinese schools in Cagayan de Oro, which makes Kong Hua, like, blood relatives wi

(Thank you to the anonymous commenter who wondered what happened last Wednesday after classes got canceled! You are an inspiration.) Lots of my friends ask me what I do to while away the time when there's no class. Well, to answer that, here are a few pictures I took: . . . Okay, I hope that explains it. (Oh, the stuffed toys aren't really good for anything. I just like having them around.) . . . On weekends though, I usually go to the Rizal Library in the Ateneo campus to use the Internet or study. Both of those things I could do in my dorm, yes, but I think it pays to study in the library because seeing the people around you so immersed in their work just inspires you to get serious about yours.

           Hello, dear reader of mine! I'm sorry for not having posted anything insightful, relevant or revolutionary in the past few days. Or in the entire course of my life, for that matter. But anyway, that's because I've had neither the time nor energy to write a "real" post in a while. So here I am right now, hoping to change that. We got a lot of catching up to do.            There was a brownout in the dorm last night, at about eleven o'clock. It didn't seem like a big deal at that time because my laptop was fully charged, and so was my roommate Jean's, and so when we had them on, the light coming from the screens kept the room sufficiently lit (not that I don't have a flashlight). Also, the room was still pretty cool (literally, cool) because the aircon had been on full blast for over three hours until then.            But then Jean decided to turn in before me, and I couldn't go to sleep yet because I had a paper to finish, due 7:

(click to enlarge) My friend Larz just told me to go look up Missy Bon Bon on Google Images, and ta-dah!!! There's my face, and two other pictures from my blog. Interesting. I wonder how that got there!

It's my block's monthsary, too! <3

ONE MONTH OF LIVING HERE! This calls for an irrelevant picture of a blobfish!  Oh wait, that seems a bit depressing. How bout this: See? It's a smiley face now! With... two dots under its chin. Meh. Have a great July 9th everyone, and happy birthday to my sole high school classmate in Ateneo with me right now: Jason D! Here's a drawing I made for him: Happy July 9th :3

I CAN'T WRITE!!!  Why do people not notice this? Have you actually read any of my blogs? They're not about anything relevant at all, plus they're all messy and unorganized and unstructured- And now here is this blank MS Word screen that I'm supposed to fill with 2-3 pages worth of words. WORDS. That actually make sense when strung together. COHERENT. SENTENCES. I have to write an essay for English 12 as a continuation of Walter Benjamin's up to present time. Oh, and what's his essay about, you ask? I HAVE NO FREAKING IDEA. Well, actually I do. I get the iea that it's about the work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction. Oh, have I mentioned the title of Benjamin's essay is The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction ?  So basically, I HAVE NO CLUE WHAT BENJAMIN IS TRYING TO TELL ME. All I understand is this: He uses the word "aura" a lot Art is supposed to be reproduced so that the masses can view it How on Earth am I

        Today, our Filipino teacher, Mr. Gary Devilles, returned the essays we wrote on the comparisons being made in Rolando S. Tinio's  Payo sa Bumabasa ng Tula. I find it really cute how he stamps all of ours test papers with these symbols that correspond to your grade, e.g., if you get a perfect score, you get a medal... stamped on your paper. A B+ gets you a bunny stamp!           I got a 6 out of 10, and my equivalent reward for this was a flower and the words  "Let's work together on this one!" stamped on my paper.          This reminds be of my preschool days when I didn't know the difference between "ilog" and "ilong." (And my sentences sounded like, " Marami ang tubig sa ilong ng Cagayan de Oro." )   Yep, that's the accursed paper. And there's the stamp. And, if you take a closer look at the word "work", you can see the number 6 written over a patch of liquid eraser tape.  And at the back of my paper, y

Here I am, in my dorm. On my bed. With my laptop. Writing a blog when I should be doing Problem Set 2 for Chemistry... But I can't. Just can't. You see, my heart is breaking again. I just miss home so much. My flight from Cagayan de Oro to here in Manila was this morning, at 6:15. Opening the gates of my house, I saw through the leaves of the mango tree in our yard the 5 o'clock sky: dark blue, gloomy, but with traces of sunlight peeking out from behind Sa-ku's house. It was almost the exact same sky I was looking at when I left home in the first place on June 6. Oh, I remember the car ride to the airport on that day. On June 6, I mean. My world was falling apart in the back seat of  the family Vios. Mom and dad were up front, and I was just quietly drinking in all the Cagayan buildings and scenery, as I knew that I would not be seeing them in a long while. I felt like I was going to a place of no return, full of despair and darkness. I felt like I was going

As you may or may not have guessed from the title, it is Sunday, and I am at home. When I say "at home," I do not mean figuratively "at home," i.e. "Make yourself at home." I mean literally, I am home. In my house. With my family. In the beautiful, beautiful city of Cagayan de Oro. And what a bittersweet moment this is for me. For one thing, I got to spend three days with my family, whom I have never stopped thinking about since I left in the first place. It's felt like heaven. But on the other hand, I haven't been able to enjoy it all that much. I know that there's a plane ticket waiting for me in my shoulder bag, telling me that an airplane is returning me to Manila tomorrow at 6:15 in the morning. Oh no. I'm going to cry in the plane. I just know it. . . . Anyway, it's been an amazing weekend. It feels so weird coming home for a "break." Before, I had always wanted to go to Manila for a vacation! But it'