Friday is Self-declared Holiday!

Because I want to take a break from studying first, and because I still have something to say, another blog post it is!

Last Friday was my self-declared holiday! Despite my scheduled exams on ChE 123 and ES 12 today, ChE 131 tomorrow, Kas 2 on Saturday, plus papers and exams, I pushed through with my declaration anyway! Mama stopped over in Manila (she went to Tagaytay) before heading home and so Ate Elvy and I arranged a lunch date. By 11:30, I fetched Mama from the bus terminal in Cubao and then we went straight to Ate's office somewhere in Buendia. We dined at Teriyaki Boy, and it was Ate's treat so I was giddy. I told Mama to order the most expensive meal. HAHA. >:D

And so my mom ordered this.

Seafood Teppanyaki

 I went for this because of the egg!

Gyu-Yakiniku Don

 My sister had this.

Curry Nasu Raisu

The service in that Teriyaki Boy branch was poor. But Mama liked their food so we will let this one pass. HAHA. Our lunch date was just so short, but quality time nonetheless.

Ate Elvy and Ma

Ma and Mae

Ma and her mango shake :D

By 5PM, Mama was already homebound.

Meanwhile, I went back to the dorm first to rest and then prepare again for another appointment: dinner bonding with Kalay roommate, Hazel, and neighboring friend, Twinkle. This had been our second meet-up for this sem!

We originally planned on having dinner at the Van Gogh Is Bipolar restaurant in Maginhawa but unfortunately, it was closed that day. :( The caretaker told us that the restaurant is not allowing walk-ins anymore; clients must inform the management beforehand. And so, we just walked and walked along Sikatuna Village to find a new place to eat. Ahhh, walking with friends is simply one of the joys of life!

Now, can you guess where we ended up? Gayuma ni Maria. Another concept restaurant in the best food hub in the metro. I have already been here twice, but it was Haze and Twinx's first time so I indulged them. Anyway, I don't know if we will still find a place to eat if we walked further.

The concept of the restaurant is, well obviously, love and potions. The place is dimly lit, which gives its intimate feel. Also, there are many cute and creative details all over the place which never fail to catch the diners' attention.

Details on Gayuma ni Maria's walls

Nice ambience

For the romantic touch

My roommate Hazel pointing at her favorite potion

Go on. Read it. I know you want to!

Enough with the place. Let's go to the food. For the past instances I went here, I haven't yet tasted something I can call unique to the place. Sure, the names in their menu are catchy--Rock Me Baby, Hinugot sa Tadyang ni Adan, Chinoy to the 7th Heaven, etc.--but as for the appeal to the palate, nothing special. Although I have to commend their desserts. If there's anything that will make me go back, it's their Beats Sex Anyday cake (which I ordered again this time). So yummy!

Twinx ordered this chicken with cheese on top. I like!

I Love You, Cross My Heart

Haze ate braised beef with mashed potatoes. I like again!

Secret Lovers

Mine's not too impressive again. WHYYY do I always pick the wrong things? Mine is cream dory which is supposed to be chocolate-crusted. But then, there's only so little choco, mustard taste dominated more. I did not expect that so yeah, I was disappointed again.

Once You Go Black, You'll Never Go Back

BUT! Let us not forget how heavenly their dessert is, compensating for the low points in our (or maybe just mine?) gastric experience. There's Beats Sex Anyday again. And now they already got mango cheesecake which they called Pacute. My tummy is now happy. :)

Pacute

Beats Sex Anyday

And here are our pictuuuuuuures!

And that's just the main course!!! Next blog post will be about another gastric experience at another fun, fun, concept place in Maginhawa. :) For now, I have to go study transport phenomena first so I could pass the course and become rich someday as chemical engineer and so to afford more galas in the future! Toodles!

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! :)

One Month Down

January had been good to me: First, I started going to the gym (with a total of 10 sessions for this month--my goal!) and had my first ever sauna experience with my sister. Second, being a CAPES member, I experienced helping out during the Eng'g Jobfair and dressed up in corporate attire for a week! My design for the lamp posts (thanks to Jona and Karmina for their big help on this) was turned into actual publicity tarps which was posted not only around the academic oval but also along the university avenue. Plus, I also got the opportunity to design the Resume Book CD cover! Third, I got to reunite with my Kalay roommate and neighbor Hazel and Twinkle. It was a sudden yayaan, but still it pushed through despite our lack of common free time. Fourth, my attempt to reach bibliophile status is underway. Yey! :) For month of January, I finished Jessica Zafra's Twisted 8 (I know this is an anthology and may not count but, hey, I'm new on this so be considerate. Haha. Besides, I did pick up a lot of interesting ideas and loads of movie and book recommendations!) and have already started reading To Kill A Mockingbird. Just this Tuesday, which is the last day of the month, I bought two new books--Bridget Jones's Diary: Edge of Reason and Flipped. And so I got more reasons to read. Fifth, I got to watch new shows including Arrested Development, and new episodes of anticipated shows like Sherlock. I also consider January as my French film appreciation month because of the number of French movies I have just watched (Jeux d'enfants, La vie en rose, Paris Je t'aime). Sixth, I am beginning to like vegetables! And finally, for my seventh reason, I successfully saved money, and that still excludes the one I reserved for my gym payment.

For the downside, I had more clingy moments during this time of the year (although I felt less depressed). Still had not overcome my bad habit of staying too long on social media sites, reading other people's updates and filling my head with unnecessary information. Failed to post more entries on this blog (although I have written quite extensively on my diary) due to my lack of inspiration to hit Adobe LightRoom button and photo process documentations of recent happenings in my life. Unsuccessful in my goal to keep self abreast about news and current events. Following ANC Alerts, Inquirerdotnet, Rapplerdotcom, Maria Ressa, and Karen Davila on Twitter is helpful though. Finally, I'm still on the habit of preparing homework the night before it is due. Not good.

Overall, I consider January as a great way to kick off the year because the positive outweighs the negative; new experiences and new milestones over the same problems. I just hope February will be more promising!