don't be fooled

the new jollibee crispy fries is not crispy nor yummy. take my word for it.

mcdonald's will never be beaten by jollibee in this product.

my near-death experience

during my sophomore year, for our alternative class program, i decided to go to mt. banahaw. it was my first time to go on a serious trekking (since our high school senior year trip to mt. makiling was kind of like a joke. we spent like an hour or two lang.)

we left school at around 6 then we arrived at banahaw around 9. we were introduced to some locals there and they did some explaining on their religion. they believed that rizal is the present day version of Christ. after the shor talk, we went uphill. i remember we stopped in a place where we "inscribed" our names on a rock which the locals believed that it was st. peter's list of those who would enter heaven. the path was a bit challenging and dangerous. the rain made things more difficult. we got to the top of the first mountain by lunch time and it was my first time to be literally on top of the mountain. and it's really true what they say that when you get on top of the mountain and you see the view, makakalimutan mo talaga yung pagod mo. i took some pictures, but they would have been better.

after lunch, we went up the second mountain, which was more slippery and more difficult. but what was worse was when we were getting down. for some physics reason (gravity and all that shit), it was not an easy task, and i remember that a lot of us got scratches and almost fell down the path. and you have to trust the people in front of you to help you out.

by three in the afternoon, we were to go inside this sacred cave. they believed that if someone is sinful, he/ she cannot go out of it. and if he/ she had successfully pass through the cave, then he/ she would be cleansed from her sins. we were barefoot. the cave was dark. our guides had to light candles. another thing with it was since the cave was small enough for one person at a time (meaning no 2 people can be in the same spot at a time), it would be a hassle if one would go back to the entrance. so all along, i thought it was easy. but towards the end, i got stuck. and so did the people behind me. for like 15 to 20 minutes, i was running out of air to breathe and i couldn't get myself to fit in the small space to the exit. i was really helpless. i felt bad that there were people behind me waiting. i seriously thought i was going to die. when i got out of it, i felt blank. and my classmates were making me drink water. i was sweating real bad and i lay on the floor for five minutes and closed my eyes, trying to get oxygen circulated around my body.

i guess it was my sins that made it difficult for me to get through that cave.

a friendly advice...

for all the travelers out there...

you might want to go to philippine airline's head office to apply for their flying student priviledge. you pay only 50 bucks and you get an automatic 15% off your ticket prices to any destination in the philippines. :)

love these ads

there's a new visa ad. the olympic theme ad. the one with the swimmers. just wait for it. too good to be just described here.

also, the new globe-touch mobile share-a-load ad. the one with the male siblings. simple but funny.

a RELATIVELY happy mid sem

current music: regine v's reason enough album

i say relatively since of course, there are still some things that i rant about such as...

my semi-broken left ankle is bothering me whenever i play basketball and bowling.

my second long exam in abnormal psychology is another failure.

i have to continue working on my thesis' new chapter.

my theo long exam is coming up.

there are no more decent food in the caf.

the weather has been successful in making me sleep all day. it also has made me drowsy (because of the terrible colds that i am having), therefore making me lose my concentration in my classes, history being one of them.

UP is not allowing students from other schools to borrow books. that means, i have to go to either dlsu or ccp (or both) to borrow materials for thesis.

i miss my co-workers in the office.

i miss working.

the readings in my classes seem to be neverending.

i have been and will be missing a lot of movies, namely, collateral, i-robot, laws of attraction, etc.

i have been and will be missing a lot of television shows like queer eye, and hopefully not, even sex and the city.

i miss oh tokyo.

i miss my friends who have graduated and are now working.

my phone line is cut.

current music: gary v.'s beyond words album.

on the other hand... i am celebrating since...

i'm halfway through the sem.

there are three subjects (history, media management, and sports business) in which i have a good shot at getting A.

i'm enjoying philosophy class. and for the last long test, i was given the easier question.

i might go to cebu on the 5th of september with sir chot reyes for a project that we might even earn from! the bad news is, we won't even be staying overnigt. it's a first flight out, last flight in for us.

we'll be watching sabong on the 29th for class. (before any negative reactions, i'm not raving about seeing a rooster die. what i am raving about is the fact that this is a first for me.)

i am getting better scores in bowling and am considering participating in the davao tournament on october.

i am playing better basketball.

IAC is coming up.

i have more free time.

the ADMU-DLSU game is coming up. sure hope we win again.

i have just discovered that jollibee's tuna pie is yummy, but quite expensive.

my phone line is cut. the feeling of having an excuse why you don't call and text back is great.

currents...

i saw an ad today from yahoo mobile asia. one of their top requested ringing tones is "choova choo choo" by jolina magdangal. can anyone tell me how to react to this one?

anyway, last saturday morning, i was watching CNN. there was this news that some doctor was supposed to operate one guy's testicles, instead, he committed a mistake and cut off the penis into three. latest development? i heard that the guy's wife is sueing the doctor. poor guy.

a 19-year old filipino is the youngest in the history of harvard to have graduated from there. galing galing!

gloria had the cabinet revamped today. it's not really a good idea to place someone in a department when it is clear that he/she is not an expert on that field. tatanga-tanga nanaman si gloria!

the company is back with a new album. yehey!

stevie wonder and barry manilow now have their respective ultimate collection available in the market. hooray!

joey albert is back from the states. yehey! but, darn! i can't watch her concert at either mandarin or the manila penn.

pinoy archer figueroa beat the world champion in archery. but she was defeated by the third in the world, thus blowing her chances in the olympics.

a friend of mine introduced me to happy tree friends. i find them cute. but too bad i just got caught them once on mtv.

blurred orchid 

coke can product shot 03 

marlboro pack 01 

the truth about ateneo and ateneans--at least from how i see it

i know i'll get in trouble for this, but i feel that i have to be responsible enough to say it.

it's a known fact that a lot of high school kids are dreaming to get into the Ateneo. there's no denying i was one of them. sige, andun na ako, na Ateneo provides good education and other shit shit, but then i would like to think that, now being an Atenean for almost four years, it's really overrated. yeah, there are some good teachers who do their job superbly, but then, it's just like any other schools, i'm quite sure that each school has its share of good teachers. and just the same, we have teachers who are quite questionable too.

i wouldn't blame other people if they generalize ateneans as mayabang. it's true anyway. since day one (meaning orientation seminar pa lang), school administrators would tell you that you're the cream of the crop and all that crap. of course, during your stay, maybe 50 percent (if not greater) of all your teachers would keep reminding you of that. in fact, a lot of teachers would make unneccessary side comments such as studying in a polluted area in taft is not really a good idea, or if you study in one of our "friendly neighborhood's schools" (UP) you would therefore be trained to become radical and do nothing but join the kilusang mayo uno in their frequent protests against a new policy to be set out by the government, and other insults. classiscal conditioning theory would of course would say that, on way or the other, arrogance would be habituated in you. even if these "praises" were meant to remind the students that much is expected from us and to motivate us to strive hard and not to be complacent about a guaranteed good job upon graduation, we still can't help but feel flattered and take that praise by heart intensely. when one of my friends from UP told me that an atenean vehemently denied that teachers train us to be arrogant, i felt ashamed. well girl, whoever you are (and i'm guessing you're a diehard atenean freshman as of this writing), you might want to ask your upperclassmen friends if what i am saying here is true or not.

honestly, a lot of ateneans do not deserve the praises given to them by other people. ang hirap kasi with our society, dinodiyos nila ang ateneo at mga atensista. now, let me give you a scenario where people who think this way would change their mindset about ateneans. last sunday, along with my fellow ateneans, i watched the ADMU-FEU game in araneta. we sat in the upper A section and we had a lot of ateneo alumni seatmates and some were even three rows behind us. these guys are supposed to be the "highly educated men for others". when you hear their comments on the FEU guys, you'd be really disappointed. "hoy SANTOS (arwind) mukha kang alien! bumalik ka na sa outer space" or "tangina mong ref ka!" this was just an ADMU-FEU game, what more a ADMU-DLSU game. remember last season when mineral water bottles came out of nowhere? sir sev once told us that in our days, we are less intense an audience than students their time. he said that ateneans and lasallites would literally do fist fights before, during, and after the games. there were even times when the students would flatten the tires of the rival schools, crash their car windows, or scratch the cars. being an ateneo almnus himself, sir sev would often say in those instances, nakakahiya talaga ang mga atenista.

i have friends who feel strongly against about our bench culture. i can't deny that having such is not something that we should be proud of. it's another manifestation of our arrogance. i feel guilty about this because we also have our own, but then, i would have to say that we don't treat strangers harshly except when needed. the wooden bench outside the caf (although i did and do have good friends from there), they used to treat strangers (those who do not belong to the bench and sits there) badly. sometimes, they would make parinig something like "is this guy supposed to be here?!" or sometimes even tell it to you straight that "hey you don't belong here! (kulang na lang sabihin na rin nila "...so get your ass out of here") and iniirapan nila sila. good thing though they have tamed down a bit.

as i have observed, the ateneo student population has two dominant groups--the coño crowd and the "indie" group. the coño crowd usually are composed of the models, children from buena familias, residents of ayala alabang/dasmariñas/forbes park/ san lo and other affluent residential areas. they usually speak in english (and not to mention bad filipino speakers) due to their upbringing by their seconday schools-- poveda, assumption, la salle zobel, ateneo high, and southville to name a few. people's usual complaints about them would be that they are too mataray, mapangmata and even choosy (when it comes to friends, since you have to be within the same crowd for some of them to befriend you), and people accuse them that they know nothing but parties, fashion, and other pasosyalan stuffs. the "indie" group usually are com/ fine arts students who "excel" (or at least think that they do) in doing films/ videos, photography, art, and music. you can find a lot of them in sec buildings. a lot of them have or belong to indie bands, usually classified under the alternative genre. they are great great fans of NU 107.5 (quark must be happy for this). what turns me off about them is that they take their works too seriously and are very critical of "neophytes". i sometimes can't help but think of their passion as an overreaction and sometimes using it as a license for their arrogance. when they criticize other people's works, they really use words which when you hear, would make you lose your zeal in pursuing your craft. they really make it a point to tell the whole world that they are THE authority in art. NOT ALL of their works are worthy of praises anyway.

the institution is not spared from corruption too. the com department lacks modern equipments (cameras, television sets, LCD projectors, microphones, editing machines, mixers, etc.) because some of the school officials would rather spend the money on reconstructing buildings that are undamaged, and other useless expenses. in the caf, in spite of us paying so much on electricity, they charge for 50 pesos per hour when we connect the laptops to their sockets or when we charge our mobile phones. pays are relatively too low for a lot of teachers who deserve much more. there are, too, arrogant professors and deans--rudy ang of school of management is one of the best examples. *see past entry. etc. etc.

in spite all of this, i love my school nonetheless. however, my point is that my friend was right when she said that ateneo and ateneans are not worthy of being considered gods. and it's sad that things are blown out of proportion despite the "man for others" motto and philosophy and ethics classes. much is expected of ateneans but only few seem to realize the real meaning behind this.

pinoy action movies

i have yet to see a decent pinoy action movie.

after last semester's film and television class courtesy of dr. capino, i have regained my disgust over filipino action movies. there aren't any new formulas so why bother watching them. here are some realities that make the pinoy action movie a pinoy action movie.

1. there must always be two ladies. one slutty (the one that gets to have fulfill the sex-hungry hero and in the end we discover that she helps in the enemy's plot to kill the hero) and one goody girl who is usually held hostage by the bad guys (and more often, the goody girl is so respected by the hero that she only gets a sweet innocent kiss from him).
2. if the hero rides in an old rusty box-type car, the car's going to be blown up. the studios here are way way stingy compared to hollywood. you can only count with your fingers the number of the new cars that get destroyed.
3. when the car gets blown up, there is always a slow motion scene where the hero holds the hand of the girl as they run away from the explosion.
4. in fpj movies, there is always a singing portion featuring him and the whole neighborhood. this probably is the known secret on why he's the action king. trust me on this.
5. also, in fpj movies, there is always a scene where he does fistfights, and uses one-liner threats to his enemies that make up the film's title.
6. fpj will always be a hero, never a villain.
7. the hero can live on his own. he is a one-man army and a sharpshooter.
8. the hero is always poor.
9. the enemy is always some rich filthy guy who usually is a drug dealer and never runs out of prostitues. he always has a glass of brandy on his palm and a cigar on his other hand. he always wear some expensive necklace and ring.
10. the ultimate goal of the hero will always be to rescue the girl.
11. some of the more popular settings of fight scenes are the warehouse and some forest in a province.
12. the villain and the hero always make the best phone pals.
13. the sidekick has to be a comedian or at least trying to be one.
14. the police force's reputation in action movies are tarnished. either they are accomplices of the villain or they get to the crime scene the latest. (i'm not complaining with this one)
15. pinoy action movies seldom have soundtracks (maybe never).
16. if the chase scene is in a forest, the hero and the girl will also have a slow motion scene of jumping off a waterfall.
17. the goons are the same people in the action movies. most of them are fat bellied dirty looking guys with mustache.
18. the hero never seems to run out of ammunition or guns.
19. the hero knows how to opearte a truck, a car, a boat, a helicopter, and an airplane, despite being a nobody.
20. there always has to be an intense conversation when the hero and the villain meet toward the end of the movie. this is usually the part where the hero shouts to him the title of the film.
21. the sound effect for the guns are the same with almost all the action movies.

pathetic and annoying.

next in line: filipino comedy movies and titles of filipino romance novels and movies.

damn.

i'm supposed to have won a $2100 travel spree to florida. after two minutes and forty-three seconds of overseas call to a non-toll free number, the operator said, "sorry, this promo does not extend to full-time students." ah fuck it!

i recommend...

for the moment, these are what make me look forward to waking up everyday....

television

1. 
   
   queer eye for the straight guy-- the five gay guys are fabulous. kyan is so hot, carson is loud yet funny. wish i get to buy the book soon. mondays 9pm on the etc channel. replays on tuesdays 11-12 am, and saturdays 8-9 pm. (it was dr. capino's class that introduced me to this show way back november. he showed us the episode of the good-looking guy that's having a problem on how to propose to his turkish fiancee).
2. 
   
   six feet under-- it's not as big a hit as sex and the city, but their humor is witty nonetheless. peter krause is hot. i love claire's character. tuesdays 9-10 pm on hbo. replays on saturdays after the saturday night movie premiere.
3. 
   
   sex and the city-- hbo's showing the reruns of fifth season now. i can't wait for the last season to show. friday nights on hbo.
4. 
   
   F!-- after how many years on-air, they still have their charm. sundays 930 pm on studio 23. (gma came up with 3Rs. my advice: trying to compete with F! is not a good idea. sayang yung ideas, but the original is still the best.)

food

1. 
   
   yellow cab pizza-- i've been a fan of this since it was introduced to me by my alabang friends (since the first branch was in their place) two years ago. my favorites: manhattan meatlover's pizza with extra pineapple, #4 cheese pizza, and roasted garlic and shrimp.
2. 
   
   kfc's new fun shots-- since i am not a fan of spicy food, i am very grateful that they came up with their non-spicy version. i have only tried the sour cream flavor and i liked it.
3. 
   
   nestle's non-stop black ice cream-- the color's weird but it's good.
4. 
   
   sbarro's chicago pizza-- two inches thick of mouth-watering all meat and cheese pizza... but quite expensive for a slice (P130).

random thoughts on the 3rd of august, 2004

song playing on my pc: you make me smile by carol banawa

in my three years in college, i have never been this busy in my entire life. as i have mentioned, i am taking 24 units inclusive of an individual year-long thesis, and a lot of uber reading subjects. i am not really a fan of books, so i guess i am in deep sh*t now. aside from academic stuffs, i am also getting myself to be active in organizations and things related to career. i am a member of four organizations, a bowling team member, an officer in a major departmental event (with the task of getting sponsorship from companies-- the worst one can imagine), and a unofficial consultant to numerous projects of my fellow "table-mates". plus, i went back to playing basketball for an intramural athletic competition. all these and still getting to bond with my friends. if you ask me how i get to manage my time, i don't even have a clue myself. don't worry, i can attest that i am a failure at this, but i still manage to survive, but barely.

am i happy? yeah. i feel a lot better doing a lot of stuffs rather than getting bored all day. am i tired? yes. very much. i've never had so many sleepless nights such as what i am experiencing now. i haven't had the chance to really rest at home and just eat or watch television all day. i haven't missed so much great movies in my life. i haven't been this addicted to my computer since i got it. and i haven't had bigger eye bags than today. do i want it to end soon? this is what i ask more than anything else.

so why punish yourself, you ask?

well, it's hard. i had the option to go on a super light load or this. not that i am a geek or anything, but i just seem to have a new outlook in life. i have become much more impulsive in the sense that i'd rather take what i can take now since there is no guarantee that these subjects would be available again next sem. and the bigger factor is that i don't really want to have so much available time to make me ponder about my problems. i'd rather tire myself to sleep than cry myself to sleep.

next semester will definitely be a better load for me. i will still be taking 24 units inclusive of thesis, but it will be much easier since five of the eight subjects would be communications electives, and since they don't need much reading, i can have an easier time dealing with thesis and all the other subjects. i can have time to plan my vacation with my that is scheduled right after graduation. and i can have much more time preparing myself for either work or further studies.

right now, i am looking forward to october. i wish i can make it this sem.

happy birthday maisie

as what berns said, you are now allowed to:

1. get married without parental consent

2. play in the casino

you owe us a treat.

thanks for allowing me to spend your birthday with you. :)

i am such a loser

i haven't seen....

1. troy (i am certainly missing the asses and butts of eric bana and brad pitt)
2. kill bill 2
3. spiderman 2
4. imelda
5. mean girls
6. the passion of christ
7. the prince and me
8. i-robot (ang hot daw ng abs and butt ni will smith)
9. the girl with a pearl earring
10. king arthur
11. 13 going 30
12. radio
13. the cinemanila (damn!)
14. singles
15. the beautiful life
16. and bobby's muling tumibok ang puso

i haven't read...

1. queer eye for the straight guy book
2. angels and demons
3. the da vinci code
4. confessions of a shopaholic
5. shopaholic takes on manhattan

i have been missing episodes of...

1. queer eye for the straight guy
2. sex and the city (can you believe that?!?! me missing SATC?)
3. six feet under (i feel bad, season's gonna end soon. and i don't even know if nate's wife really died)
4. friends
5. 24 (third season-- my friends have seen it, and i haven't)
6. CSI las vegas
7. F!
8. dateline nbc
9. iron chef
10. one tree hill
11. the simple life (the new season has already started)
12. blind date
13. fifth wheel

blame it on school and my mom

love these ads!

1. bingo crackers tvc

it rarely comes out on tv. i just saw it once and i loved it. it's somewhat similar to the fita commercials, but nonetheless, it's still worth seeing.

plot goes like this:

guy chatting with girl over the net and proposes an eyeball.

so girl says she'll be wearing a pink dress, and guy says he'll be eating bingo crackers.

so the guy waits for a girl in pink dress while eating his bingo crackers in a mall.

a fat ugly girl in pink dress walks toward the guy, so the guy quickly gives his bingo crackers to his seatmate.

but another lovely girl in pink dress is behind the fat ugly girl, and it's too late to get the bingo crackers from his seatmate.

the lovely girl walks to the guy's seatmate (who's now munching on the bingo crackers) and they end up together. the original guy simply regrets.

watch it. visuals tell stories better.

2. surf videoke commercial

"kung ikaw ay nalulungkot, nalulumbay, nabubugnot sa paglalabang walang kabuhay-buhay..."

i just love it. to me, it comes out as a mockery of kabaduyan but not insulting. reminds me of crying ladies. although i have been seeing it so much these past few days, hindi pa rin ako nagsasawa.

warning! i have a mind of a serial killer...

a few days ago, over the phone, my friend gave me a scenario:

i had a dead relative. and during the wake, my sister brought along her boyfriend whom i find irrestistably attractive. on the way home from the wake, i killed my sister. why did i kill my sister?

primarily, on my mind, i first answered it as: i want to get the guy.

but since i thought of it as a trick question...

my mouth uttered to my friend: "i killed my sister just so there would be another funeral and therefore, getting me a chance to see the guy again."

and my friend broke the news to me....

accompanied by a long pause and shock, she asked me, "is that really your answer?"

and i said, "yeah, why?"

and she said, "oh my God. you have a mind of a serial killer."

and i thought she was pulling a joke, "hahaha... ok ka lang?!?"

but along with those words, i was shocked, and actually started to get scared. i felt my heart skip some beats. i kept insisting that she was just kidding or making it up. but after presenting some statistical information where the same question was asked to some serial killers, around 90 percent of them (i think) answered the same way i did, i was really speechless, and partially convinced. she was saying that indeed, serial killers are so superficial.

an 82 percent aggressive tendency + a mind of a serial killer = me?!?

i probably need to see a psychiatrist...