exploration

       Friday (which was yesterday) marked the beginning of sem break for me. Officially, though, my last test of the sem ended at 7:30 on Thursday night, so I guess you could say my sem break started then, but I had been too depressed from English work to do anything besides curl up in front of my laptop and eat chocolate. 

       Yesterday, however, I woke up feeling quite chipper. I had made plans to wake up at 5 and go walking around Ateneo, exploring those places I'd made mental notes to check out during the semester. However, I wasn't able to sleep until 3 AM - probably because of the chocolate. So instead, after waking up at 10, I decided to go settle some unfinished business. B-) (No, just kidding. I didn't do anything cool that morning.)

      So first I went to settle this hold order that I just discovered I had in my AISIS. It was from the Associate Dean of Student Affairs. When I saw it, I panicked, thinking it might have had something to do with my terrible performance in English, or that maybe it was some issue with my scholarship. When I went to the ADSA office, however, it turned out to be about this ID violation I had committed last month (the guard at the Dela Costa building had caught me not wearing my ID while I was passing some English requirements. And hey, in my defense, I had just come from PE that time, and I always take off my ID during PE! YOU CAN'T DO TAI CHI PROPERLY WHILE WEARING THAT THING, I SWEAR! IT'S CRAZY! I'M INNOCENT! I'M INNOCENT!!! Funny story though. As I was talking to that guard, I found out that he used to work in Cagayan de Oro, and that he vaguely knows my lolo. He's Bisaya too! I've found that Bisaya people tend to sympathize with each other here in Manila [my Chemistry teacher is from Bukidnon!], so I had hoped that the guard would erase my name from the list of ID violators, but nooooooooooooooo.) 

      Ateneo's got a very strict ID policy. At the ADSA office yesterday, the friendly lady in charge of the hold orders told me that since it was my first offense, she would wipe my record clean, but that if I did it again, I would have to write a letter of apology to the dean! 

     Anyway, once I got that cleared up, I went to the library to pay for all the papers I had printed during the sem. As it turns out, about twenty other people had gotten the same idea - the line was incredibly long, and it took fifteen minutes to get to the front. And when I got to the front, twenty more people were in line behind me.

It had just stopped raining, and so the sky was gray and the air was cool. It was perfect for walking, so I decided to go visit those places around campus I'd been telling myself to check out for so long.

Ateneo is so beautiful. One of the things I love most about my school is all the greenery: there are neatly trimmed trees, bushes, and grassy lawns everywhere. Some parts, however (specifically the areas behind the covered courts), are unkempt and wild, and they look more like a scene taken from Bukidnon than one you can find in the center of Manila. Seeing them made me feel like I was back in that Eden resort in Davao.

This is on the way to the Ateneo dorms, coming from the covered courts.

The Jesuit pastoral center (I think) marked the end of the road I was walking along.

It was quite a refreshing morning, and seeing the side of Ateneo I had never seen before just made me fall in love with this place even more. I suggest you go have a walk around your school to see the sights too (unless you're in DLSU - I'll explain later).

Not quite contented with my excursion through my own school, I decided to extend the adventure into Quezon City. I walked along that street parallel to Katipunan, Esteban Abada, and checked out the stores I'd been meaning to visit since I first got here.

My favorites among all these places have to be:
1.) The Echo Village Store, which sells affordable, earth-friendly products as well as knicknacks handcrafted by the jobless lolos and lolas (profits go to them! yay!). I got some pins and ballers to help raise money for PAWS (Philippine Animal Welfare Society) [oh, and I plan to visit them today to donate some dog food and cleaning supplies!]. I don't wanna spoil the surprise, but I'm sure my sister and my brother will love what I bought for them :D

2.) Crave Burger. I had heard about this place from my cousins, and I didn't know it existed in Quezon City! So when I found it, my mouth immediately started watering. I ordered the Crave burger to eat in the dorm, and it was amazing. It's a bit pricey for a student's budget (P125 for a Crave burger, P175 for a burger, fries, and a drink), but you get your money's worth in the taste and the size of the burger. (Okay, free endorsement much. PAY UP.)

3.) Esteban Labada, laundry service. Clever, right? :D It's a labada service, and it's on Esteban Abada street! Eh? Eh? Anyone? :D

In the afternoon, I went out with Jason, Gerard, Larz and Daryll along with Sean and Dahra (we're all from Cagayan except for Daryll, who's from Baguio), but that's a different story reserved for another blog post.

As for now, I gotta go. I'm craving for a burger. (Pay up, Crave.)