the perils of

10:30 pm. Just got back from a night out with my friends Anna and Janine, whom I only get to see during my vacations when I'm back home in CdO. Yes, I'm home at 10:30 PM. None of our get-togethers have ever ended this late. I know, it's very grade school. But this is how my high school barkada has always been: super innocent and holy. Not being sarcastic, I really mean it. With Manila friends, it's considered quite normal to have a beer or two and come home at 12. But when I'm with Janine and Anna, we just have Coke and come home early. We've never had any alcohol (as a group) and we never stay out past 9 (tonight was the exception). It's pretty incredible how even though we're all adults, we still behave like a bunch of grade schoolers. And to be honest, that's what I like about hanging out with them. Tonight, we met up at GC Suites and grabbed some 678 Chicken, had Korean ice cream at the movie place upstairs, and then walked a ...

Oh no. Looks like I'm beginning to fall short on my promise to update regularly. I am regressing into a state of blogging coma. But as much as I'd like to return to the regularity of my blogging back in first year, I guess that I've realized since then that there actually are far more important things on this earth than my blog. Like thesis. Or a social life. Or white chocolate macadamia cookies. Mmm. Anyway, I'll make this quick since it's 12 AM now and I have made an appointment with Rap to go jogging at 6. Ugh. Last Friday was ARSAfest (AKA Sinulog in Ateneo)! A much-needed break from all the work we had to do that week. And yes, that is water I'm holding. Leo vlogged about the party  here . Last Saturday after our Physio exams, Anton, Rap, and I drove to the Yuchengco Museum in Makati to pick up some photos from Jacob Maentz , a photographer dedicated to documenting the lives of indigenous peoples in the Philippines. He's a really nice p...

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...

any people come into Health Sciences dead set on being a doctor. But in the past few months of my junior year alone, so many Health Sci majors have shifted gears and decided otherwise. What's surprising is not that people are actually rethinking their choice to go to med school, but that so many of them are doing it in about the same period of time, as if it were a contagious disease.       My apologies for the horrible metaphor. I'm not saying that questioning yourself is a bad thing. In fact, it's a terrific thing. The huge, scary decision of what to do with your life after you graduate is a choice that you will inevitably be forced to make. There's just no getting around it, unless perhaps you plan to flunk your subjects and stay in school forever (a decision I actually mulled over for a while, because I really do love being in college). Otherwise, it's best to be prepared when that time comes. You wouldn't want to be stuck in med school knowing deep do...

I know I haven't been posting as often as I did when I was a freshman. I guess it's because I've actually made some friends now, and am less of a self-absorbed loser. (Yeah, right.) . . . Interesting Thing #1 SPONTANEOUS SHOOTING Last Wednesday, I tagged along with Vito, Diane, Rap, and Andy for an impromptu filming of a top-secret project (you'll know what it is soon). We had to wait until 6 at night to shoot, because we wanted some darkness. I brought my camera so that I could practice using it (I still haven't gotten the hang of it after a year). Here are some pictures (unedited because I'm too lazy). Rap with a Blizzard (and an ice cream sandwich for me). He looks so dangerous. Night classes JSEC at night A little part of Katipunan (taken from the back of Vito's pickup). A behind-the-scenes of the actual filming It was a pretty cool experience, even if the shoot ended a little early. I'm still a really bad phot...