the perils of

Judging by my Facebook and Instagram news feeds, #LaBoracay season seems to be coming to a close. The parties have ended, the beaches are emptying, bikinis are being tossed in the laundry, and social media is filling up with pictures of nearly naked boys and girls in their swimsuits. Yes yes, everyone is happy. Except me. Because I hate summer. Okay I don't hate summer. I like summer. But I really hate what summer does to people. To women, especially. Look. Summer is supposed to be a time for freedom. For the time being, you're free from lectures, homework, quizzes, tests. No more thesis. No more thesis adviser. You're free. You've got the time to go head out to the beach with your friends and chill out, and nobody has the right to waggle a finger at you and say, Hey, you crazy kid, you should be in school! Nope. Because there is no more school. Because it is summer. Rejoice, men and women of the world! Only, not really. Because when I'm scrolling through...

Screw your fancy shmancy Boracay trips! For my summer vacation I went to Initao. That's right. Initao . Never heard of it? I'm not surprised. You're just not cool enough for this beach. Yes, this beach. See that shabby-looking tower over there? It holds up the other end of a zip line cord. You actually get to zipline right into the sea. (Tip: Don't wear slippers.) Speaking of slippers... Gigantic slippers randomly turn up on the shore. Now for some more pictures: Does your cozy Boracay resort sell SOUVINERs? Didn't think so. Okay. Enough about Initao. I bet you're drooling already, like my nephew Zac: And speaking of babies, here's my brother Jiggy: Now look at my awesome Various Branches. Now for some more Jiggy. And Caitlin. And a bunch of other stuff: (^ We didn't actually go on a Secret Adventure. We just stopped here for lunch. But I hear this is a nice place to zip line [I...

All places have a story to tell. The challenge for you, the frazzled college student still brooding over last week's exams, is to just shut up  for a little while and listen to that story. Batangas was a conversation that I almost never had. I had found out on the morning of the trip that a revised thesis proposal was due in five days, so a few hours before we were scheduled to leave, I was 90% convinced that I wasn't gonna go. But I still wrestled with the question out loud, and I made such a big fuss over it that Rap deftly reversed my decision by telling me, "See this is why you need this vacation." And so I went. And I am really glad I did. It was my first overnight block outing, and also my first time in Batangas. It's a really beautiful place. What follows is not a narration of the events of the trip. Usually the best parts of any outing (the people you spend time with, the friendships that you strengthen, the priceless conversations that you share, t...

       According to my laptop clock, it's 1:08 in the morning, and here I am, online and sprawled out on the bed in this very awkward and highly uncomfortable position, writing a blog entry and balancing my laptop when I should be asleep and dreaming about nice things that are preferably unicorns. Run-on sentences are becoming my thing.      2010's coming to a close. I would like to make a comment on how my year went, but my mom always tells me to be careful of what I say, because other people have had an awful year. I don't want to hurt their feelings, or make them feel any sadder, so I will refrain from 2010-related discussions. Anyway, I think you can get a sense of how the year went for me by reading through all the lame things I have posted on this blog, even if I haven't exactly been writing every single day as I had originally intended to.     Do I sound somber or what.     Here is an ugly picture of a beautif...