Post Reunion Thoughts

As more years slip away, the less frequent our high school batch gets together. Perhaps it's because we're getting busier, or the rendezvous is just a little far and inconvenient for some. But I can't shake off the possibility that it is also because we are having fewer and fewer things in common. Each one has walked his own path, met a lot of other people and had his own share of experiences. From that little part of the world which used to be our everything, we learned to branch out and discovered vast new places we'd never thought existed. Ideas filled the nooks and crannies of our mind, numerous events in our lives since graduation day gradually shaped us, and, unknowingly, we changed a lot since. The overlapping area in the Venn diagram of our similarities and interests grew smaller, the things we can talk about after a long time of not seeing each other became scarce. And during the reunion, when the inevitable awkward pause happens, we either frantically rummage our brains with a new topic to discuss, or just submit to the silence and wonder however did we grow so far apart.

Thank God there's still the memories we shared in our four years of high school. We could always come back to that. Although the reunion is characterized by usually starting off with inquiring what's new with you, it always ends in reminiscing what used to be for us. Exactly the logic behind our "out-of-place or OP game" every after a get-together. In this game, we group ourselves according to our sections back in high school--even Elective classes included! And it never fails to excite even the most unenthusiastic person in the group (who has no choice but yield to the group's whims lest he wanted to be "OP" and eternally branded as buzz kill).

Change is already a given but, at the end of the day, the Venn diagram will not cease to intersect.

Ice Cream Cake Party

What's with my frequent galas? I don't know if it's just my coping mechanism from not having Bennard around, or I really have lots of friends celebrating their birthdays on March. Random thought: March babies are conceived on June. Hihi. Anyway, as I was saying, I have been sooo game in almost all invitations from my friends. The latest of which is KEM's induction night and Grace's twentieth birthday. As usual, there is Brige and Jen and Rich for the surprise committee. This time, however, we had with us Ven, Gicka, Kayer and their roommate Nikki.

The plan was to buy a DQ ice cream cake for Grace since I recall her telling me she'd want to try that sometime. Brige and Ven also bought balloons as extras, wala lang, just to get away from Jen's birthday extra which are flowers. The birthday girl, together with Jen, would come from the Induction night. (Segue: Let's wish Jen and Grace good luck and best wishes on their being inducted as Educational Affairs and Ways & Means VPs, respectively!) I went ahead of them because I had to help with the preparations. I don't know what Jen did to convince Grace in going to Kamia (their dorm is the neighboring Sampaguita residence hall) but what I know is that she succeeded in doing so. I guess she used reverse psychology. That always works with Grace. HAHA.

I was in charge of documentation again, so here you go!

Our clandestine operation

Our ice cream cake with candles

Nagslide yung ice cream! Oh noes. 

Surprised June baby

Saengil chukhamnida, Grace!

Good job, girls! :-)

The meltdown!

Symmetry ang peg!

Who's celebrating next?

Dinner. It's more fun with friends.

Three days later and I've got a new post again! Whoah, I am loving this newfound dedication to my blog! *confetti*

This one's about Jen's two-time birthday celebration, and Bennard's first ever organized event (at the same time, his despedida too). Let's start with Jen's actual birthday: March 13. Brige, Grace, Rich, Bennard and I decided to surprise Jen with a cake and a bouquet. It was actually difficult to make our operation clandestine because Jen is such a busy girl and we never really know where she is at a certain time. She's got a Petron scholarship awarding ceremony, and then a group meeting after that so we (just Grace, actually HAHA) kept on asking where she is. We finally made it happen in front of Eng'g Lib. I don't know if Jen was surprised at all, but I'm sure it made her happy! Here are the photos.

Dream came true! LOL

Wishes

Awesome dedication from awesome friend

Culprits and the celebrator

My artsy shot which I'm so proud of!

We shared the cake with Jen and Grace's 124 groupmates and KEMer friends Geordie, Ashley, and Mia. :) Happy Birthday, Jenigurl! Wishing you more happiness and fulfillment in your future endeavors (and we know there are lots)! >:D<

Next story happened just a moment ago. Bennard's organized despedida merged with Jen's birthday blowout. We held it at Conti's in Katipunan. Attendees were: Gicka, Niezl, Rich, Ven, Kayer, Grace, Mae, Timmy and her boyfriend Kit, Raisa, Geordie, Brige, Jen, Bennard, and I. Lea made it by the time we were having our dessert, and Leo, Bennard's brother, joined us too after his Kuya coerced him into staying. Poor kid! HAHA. (Wait, narealize ko lang: Lea and Leo. HAHAHA. Funny coincidence!)

Really, we were so loud in the lower hall of the said restaurant. I just hope no other customers complained because of our noise. They were speaking in conyo (I refuse to admit I took part in said activity) and if I am right, it's because the food was a little higher off our budgets. It was really funny! If someone must win the Consistency Award, it's Grace. If it's Attitude and Execution Award, it's Mae. HAHAHA. I pity the waiter who Mae picked on!!!

Here's what happened:

Waiter: Okay na po ba lahat ng orders nila? 
(silence, because we already got our food)
Mae: Iced tea.
Waiter (surprised, then relieved after coming up with this idea): Ah, mag-oorder po kayo?
Mae: No. I ordered. 
Waiter (epic face of confusion and shock)
Mae: I'm kidding.
(laughter breaks out, Kuya Waiter smiles an embarrassed smile)
-----

This ones' are the most benta anecdotes for the night, if you ask me:

(Niezl and Gicka convinces Jen to buy Chardonnay)
Gicka to Niezl: Di ba ito yung nasa song na Ironic? (sings) And isn't it ironic?
Grace (out of the blue): Don't you think? Aww, Nay, I like that song also!

(Mae puts Kit into hotseat)
Mae: Ahh, so you've been into Daet already? Wow!
Grace: Yes! He's been in Daet! I saw...(long pause then laughter, because Grace pronounced it as "so")
Jen: You "so" them?
Grace: Hahaha. Grabe, you didn't let me finish! I meant "I so know him na!"
(...ayun naman pala eh. HAHAHA)
-----

I hope everybody else had fun as much as I did! Thanks to Jen for our free desserts! Thanks to the Conti's crew for a lively Happy Birthday song performance for our celebrator! And congrats Bennard for a job well done! Have a safe flight to the States with Leo and your dad. I'll miss you!!!

Before I go shed a river of tears, here are the photos.

Organizer and dessert financier

Kit and Timms

Brige and Kayer

Gicka and I

Raisa and Geordie

Ven and Grace

Niezl, seriously drawing her Monster costume for the Gaga concert (just my assumption)

Frappe girls

Angel and the Younghusbands HAHAHAHAHA

Ex-roommates

Chubbers

Of course, as much as possible, I selected the photos with me in them! Create own blog if you want to flaunt your own face. >:D

That's for now! Looking forward to more events like this! *coughGrace'sbirthdayonthe21stcough*

Extra Fun on Extra Day of the Year

It's 12:14 in the morning and I am still up even if I got no acad work to do (I do have, actually, but they are not yet due tomorrow hihi), even if I have a 7AM class later. First few minutes of March and I am spending it writing this entry even if I should be sleeping now. Blame it on the blueberry yogurt I have eaten for dessert, I am still up and running until this ungodly hour. And I don't think I will be sleeping anytime soon.

So to make my time worthwhile, I'll just post a recap of how my day went. Or at least the parts I think are eventful for me.

1. Thankful to God because my acad day wasn't that burdensome. It went smoothly, with no major hiccups. Another example for ChE 131 and some wake-up call from Sir Bok. Another classroom moment with Mae.
Lesson on Free Masonry and the deviant history for PI 100. Complicated first lesson on reactor design (application of all past ChE courses) for ChE 126 which I hopefully will still understand (from my notes) when I review it for future use. Also thankful for not succumbing to sleep even if lesson was dealing with lots of differentiation and integration, and for a professor, like Sir Patrick, who teaches real well.

2. I went to the gym with Bennard and I enjoyed the bath, as usual. Whenever I take a bath in the gym, I forget the time. HAHA. I didn't get to go to sauna though. Another good feature of the gym was its overhead fan in the ladies'. Instant blower for me! Hence, my love for my hair until this very moment.

3. While on treadmill and watching news (with no audio), I have seen KEMer friends on TV Patrol. The news was about the impending tuition fee hike (again? >_<) for SUCs this coming June, and of course it showed some shots of students around UP. There I saw Grace Ti, my buddy Torio, and Sam. :)

4. The unexpected leap-year dinner with Bennard, Gicka, Grace, Ven, Niezl, Kayer, and Timmy. Timmy was the organizer this time. Yay, it was a success (unfortunately though, I didn't have my camera with me)! We had it at Shakey's and I was really stuffed! And yes, it was their blueberry froyo which still keeps me awake. We had lots of fun! We were just there, talking about the most random things, a little high school reminiscing. It's a great thing to know that in our lives, we will always have these kinds of people who we will never get tired of spending time with.

5. Talking to Ate Joyce (she visited me in my room to check out the shirt merchandise my org is selling) regarding who we will vote later for the University Student Council elections. I am not really the discerning voter who reads all fliers they hand to me, or the one who attends all dorm tours and miting de avances, but I am sure one who will vote and will vote for who I think is most fit for the position (although the word "fit" is vague; is my idea of "fit" the right kind of "fit" the USC/ESC needs?).

6. Spending time on social media sites. I know this tends to consume so much of my time, but tonight, it feels like I have no regrets about it. HAHA. I went spazzing over Ariel Lin and Joe Cheng of It Started With A Kiss (oh wait, I think I want a separate blog post devoted for this!), and more spazzing again with my online friends who relate with me. I replied to Ate Nia's tweets about her feelings towards Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, films which I sooooo love! Of course, I recommended Julie Delpy's 2 Days in Paris as well. I liked and commented on all friends' status regarding our spur-of-the-moment dinner. I planned another dinner event, but this time, with my elementary classmates. I heard there will be no classes on March 8. Hihi, the things I hear.

There you go! What about you, how did your February 29 go? :)

Girls' Night-out

Yesterday, I organized a girls' night-out just because I'd love to watch the movie "Unofficially Yours" with some girlfriends. I had five attendees (haha)--Gicka, Grace, Jeneath, Brige, and Niezl. We agreed to meet up at 6PM, but Gicka and I arrived at 7PM. In my defense, I accompanied Gicka for her collection of data since four in the afternoon. We conducted surveys in CHK (where she had a crush on one of her respondents, which obliged her to ask all of her respondents' names so no one one will get suspicious that she only want his) and found an obstacle course in the college grounds. The lighting that afternoon was great so we shamelessly took photos of ourselves. Hahaha. I edited these pics so they would look Instagram-ish. #poser

Thanks to my camera's self-timer!

What izz feel na feel, Rhena?

What izz feel na feel, Gicka?

Next stop, we went to Moonleaf Maginhawa hoping to find Clothing Tech respondents. Although I didn't want to order some milk tea, I ended up buying Peppermint (my staple flavor) anyway to have something to do while waiting for Gicka. But she was too shy to ask sooo yuh, failed attempt. Okay lang, at least I saw one cute detail written on our milk teas.

It means "thank you."

It was almost six so we decided to go back, but she said she still has to send the data to her groupmate. Thus, our tardiness. Jen and Grace were in a bad mood because of that (actually, I think it's only Grace who's mad; Jen was just acting to teach us a lesson. I guess she was late herself, judging from her wet hair hahaha). Gicka was silent in our entire trip to TriNoma, which bothered me most since I was the organizer and I want everybody to enjoy the night. Upon reaching the mall, we hurried to buy our tickets, only to find out that the 8:10 PM showing is already packed. Also, the ticket was, surprisingly, priced at 200 pesos! I don't know why a Filipino romcom movie must be shown on THX cinema in the first place. But because we're too lazy--and they were too hungry--to mall-hop and check for cheaper rates and earlier showing at SM North Edsa, we agreed to go for the Last Full Show. Gicka still barely said a word.

Our next first-world problem: where to eat? After long discussions, I finally convinced them to try out my newest Chinese restaurant find--North Park (which I actually first thought as TriNoma's parking space, stupid)! Luckily, they liked it there (I'm assuming lol). 

Happiness at North Park

Also, while we're dining, I thought of a brilliant way on how to make Gicka speak: I asked the girls what happened in Kamia the night before. Knowing full well that she is the only one from Kamia among us, she's the only one who can tell the story right. So there, I did succeed! She did talk! Before she said anything about the incident, she confessed first why she had been silent the whole night and apologized to Grace (and all of us, I suppose?) for coming late. And there, back to our festive mood!!! *so proud of myself*

At our booth

Gicka, Jen, and Brige

Moi, Grace, and Niz

After dinner, we went to Gelatissimo for dessert, just as I have planned. Fortunately, they still have the Buy 1 Take 1 promo when you purchase a movie ticket for that same day. Thus, we got six gelatos while only paying for three! :) I had Roasted Almonds, Jen got Veronese Chocolate, Brige bought Chocolate Truffle, Gicka went for Chocolate Almonds, Grace chose Tiramisu, and Niezl liked the Lemon Cheesecake. By the time we were done with our ice cream, it's already 10PM--just in time to go the restroom first and arrive five minutes early to catch some trailers.

Noticed just now the "Giacomo Casanova" detail!

The movie (no, oh no, I swear I'm not a reliable movie critic! Although i watch a great deal of films, I only have a concept of whether I enjoyed it or not) was feel-good with all the John Lloyd's twinkling eyes, benta pickup lines, and crying scenes which make the crowd go "awww," Angel's beauty and hotness (not to mention, her wardrobe!), plus the funny side characters. The fact that Grace commented a lot during the entire course of the movie even made the movie-watching experience fun.

Shamelessly taken from the web. Oh, look at that JLC smile! I just died.

I know some people can relate to it (same as they could have related with Friends with Benefits, and the MTV series Awkward? Or maybe not, since these ones are too promiscuous?) but I sure can't. It's okay, still had fun. I just wished they already deleted the scene where Ces and Mackie shouts from the apartment window how they love each other. Awkward ending is awkward. Hahaha. It was already past twelve when we rode our taxi. Violation it is, all for the love of my first major-major event! :)

My December in a Nutshell

How's your Christmas vacation so far? It's barely three days before the 25th and ten days before the New Year! Yeah, sure I know Math. Haha. I just want to emphasize how near it is already!!! It also means heading back to school again soon. Tsk. Oh well, before I get started in my drama of leaving home again, I will go back to my festive mood first and live each day as it comes. I am spending the holidays with my family. But this year, instead of our having it in our home in Virac, we are celebrating it here in Naga City! And also new this year, Kuya Win is here for Christmas! Nothing beats spending the holidays with your family complete. :)

Okay, now I am getting too excited.

Actually, for me, the holidays already started long before this day. It began after I have submitted my first long exam papers for ChE 123, my last exam for the year. I am doubtful it went well, but past is past so let's just move on from there. Hopefully, I will have better exam results next year to make up for that one. I must have better exam results! Obviously because I don't have Eng'g Week as a reason now.

Engineering Week a.k.a. Eng'g Week, is the most anticipated (I think) ESC event every year by every affiliated engineering student in UP Diliman. The different eng'g orgs battle it out for the Engineering Week Overall Champion or EWOC title. Being a resident member of UP KEM, the consistent runner-up for the title in the past years, I sure find Eng'g Week a big deal, although I admit I haven't really been an active player. I prefer to be more of the cheerer. This year, I have watched Smokers Night, Dulaang Eng'g, and Indakan. I have also helped out in Awitan 2011 as a logistics team member. I am less busier this year since there is no more cheering competition (which I was part of last year) but I watched and cheered for more games like Debateng'g, Dresseng'g, Casteng'g Call and Pipol Pusoy. More than any of the points earned or the titles won, the most rewarding thing to have is that org spirit I saw from everyone.

My tickets for three of the night events

My somehow-active presence during the Eng'g Week is not the only thing new about me. After Bennard's insistent request, I am donning a new hair too!

So.. how does it fit me?

I got my hair cut just in time for the Spartans' Christmas party! Like the last years, it was again held at Anton's place. Thank you Lucille, Anton and family for having us. Had so much fun! :) Here are win photos during the games. Halata bang nag-eenjoy kami masyado?

And because I am vain like that, I'll show you what I wore during our Christmas party. :P

Thanks JK for the gift! I can really make use of this. Thank you, thank you! And Raisa, I hope you like what you received. ;) 

Another thing which made my December a blast was my parents and youngest sister's visit in Manila. Papa and Mama went for their medical check-ups and so Joy tagged along. They stayed for a week and so we were able to spend lots of time together in the city. We also scoured the malls for the chikitings' gifts. Joy and I found these on Booksale.

Books for the kids

Book for me (at 45 freaking pesos)

I even toured my sis in UP during the timely Lantern Parade and we waited for the fireworks too!

Joy and some mascots

White Lady from the Balete Drive and I

Here are photos of some of the floats.

And here are the people I was with during the parade!

Jilly and I (with my Ate singit at the back)

Bennard and I posing at R-12

Me as photographer lol

After staying for a while in UP, we headed to Mercato. Para naman may foodtrip experience si Joy before going home. :) Bennard, Joy, and I had burgers, cheese sticks, garlic and parmesan buffalo wings, macaroon and melon juice. Ate Elvy and Kuya Amar had takoyaki and other Japanese food. The Off Beat burger aka Krispy Kreme Burger which I bought for us turned out to be only good when it's for sharing (the case when I first tasted it). Now that I had it all for myself, I found it less impressive. Joy liked Bennard's burger better which he bought from Ranch something. Oops, sorry Joy. Haha.

So there. This is basically how the first few days of my Christmas vacation went. Many things happened, and I can still make more things happen in the few days left I have before 2011 finally closes.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone!