the perils of

        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...

        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....

The day I'd been looking forward to since setting foot in Manila: first day of college! Come to think about it, a college education is actually the whole reason why I'm here. Oh, but not just a college education, but a holistic learning experience and spiritual formation you can only find in the Ateneo. (Shameless school promotion, anyone?) Right. So. I woke up at 6:15, fell asleep, then woke up at 6:30. When I checked my phone after I showered, I panicked because Rap, my blockmate and ally in the war of the races (HALF CHINESE FTW IN YOUR FACE ALBERT YOU KOREAN YOU), was already asking me where I was. I grabbed the nearest pack of Sky Flakes and started dipping the pieces in cheese spread like hell. Breakfast ;) Met up with Andy, Karl, Rap and Kaye at the Gonzaga cafeteria and then caught up with a few more blockmates. We went to our first class of the day, Filipino 11. When we got to the classroom in Berchman's Hall, Room 209, we found most of our other blockmates...