It’s been almost two years since I last visited Palawan. (Most of my dad’s clan have moved to Palawan from Masbate.) I don’t own a digital SLR camera so I just used a simple point-and-shoot cam. I wish I had an SLR one so I could produce richer and better images. (Come on, it’s Christmas! Gimme, gimme! Haha.)

To enlarge, just right-click on the photo and hit View Image (Firefox) or… err… well, I dunno how to do that using Internet Explorer. Haha.

Dee and Don (left), Dee and Yoshke (right)

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It could have been a horrible Saturday.

I was in the passenger seat. It was a bit raining.

Normally, EDSA gets on my nerves. That’s why I thank God for the MRT. I may have had more than my share of almost-raped mornings while on it but it’s fast and my flat and office are a stone’s throw from train stations. I abhor travelling across the metropolis if not on the train. Like that night.

That Saturday night, the traffic was more terrible than usual. I don’t drive but I know that EDSA is so not a driver’s paradise road. Wrong waiting lanes. Misplaced U-turn slots. Yellow lanes. Stupid pink barricades. Uncivilised people crossing the road when and where they’re not supposed to. Air pollution. Water pollution (Pasig River). Noise pollution. Bayani Fernando Metro-Gwapo posters pollution. Disgusting urinals. And buses. Fucking buses. Fucking, fucking buses. Fucking, fucking, fucking buses.

Fucking buses.

And it’s always dark. My Geology professors said that Manila is one of the darkest cities in the world. Aaaaah, I just hate EDSA. I hate it, hate it, hate it.

I hate it.

That Saturday night, bumpy EDSA was being its usual self. We spent almost an hour stuck somewhere between Santolan and Cubao.

But he was holding my hand the entire time.

And he kissed me.

Then he looked around and then turned his gaze to me. And he smiled. Looked away. Kept his eyes straight ahead. “EDSA is unusually beautiful tonight,” he said.

It could have been a horrible Saturday. But he made all the difference.

image courtesy of jaydigital of Flickr.com

Yes, this is the part where I try to squeeze in some school pride. Hehehe.

UP Pep Squad grabs the 2008 Samsung UAAP Samsung Cheerdance Competition trophy. Happy, happy. “Matatapang… matatalino… walang takot kahit kanino…”

image courtesy of Teresa Barrozo

National List of Passers
2007 FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICER WRITTEN EXAMINATIONS
Held 19-21 December 2007 (Released: 29 August 2008)
Department of Foreign Affairs – Philippines

Gaaawd. Just when I start envying my friends (especially Bebs) for reaching new heights in their careers, something like this comes my way.

From a thousand examinees, now we’re down to 58. (Yeah, the mortality rate in FSO Exam makes us all go suicidal.) I didn’t expect this. I absolutely hoped for it but not expected. I mean, come on, the questions were like:

• Formulate an ECONOMIC policy for the Philippine Embassy in Paris and back it up with a theoretical framework. (I didn’t have any Economics classes in college, thank you very much.)
• Trace the history of the Middle East from the Mesopotamian Era up to the present. (What?! Are you frakkin’ serious? I’m a FILM graduate!)

And there were almost 30 questions. Maybe what they needed was a thesis dissertation prepared within half a day. It was the craziest three days of my life. And knowing I failed to follow some test instructions, I really did not expect anything. In fact, I ALMOST GAVE UP ON IT.

Now, there’s just one more round left. Another 3-day exam. Just one more. I’m gonna need a tuxedo. Haha.

Dahil dyan, magpapa-cheeseburger ako! Burger! Burger!

I am sooo gonna become a diplomat.

Status: All right now.
Music: You’re So Vain – Brooke White, All Right Now – David Cook

Me with my cousins. Second pic: Yep, that’s me, leftmost. Gawd, I’ve just noticed that I was holding a green sausage-shaped balloon. Was that a sign? A foreshadowing? Haha.

Exactly a year ago, my family had a little dinner party. We invited some relatives and friends and had some fun. But that’s about it. Nothing really special.

Two years ago, I was so sick. But I was able to travel from Batangas to Manila, and meet some of my friends at the university. I planned to watch Pride and Prejudice with Josh, but I backed out the last minute because my body couldn’t withstand my aching joints and terrible fever. When I felt a little better hours later, I decided to just push through with the movie thing but because Josh couldn’t make it that night, Andre joined me instead. We spent the rest of the night at Figaro.

Three years ago, Josh gave me a Kitchie Nadal album, and we had lunch at Oz Cafe — my treat. We stayed there longer than we intended to. That night, I had dinner with Ayn. I can’t remember where, but I know I gave her a treat.

Six years ago, I saw a movie in a theatre in Lemery with my girlfriend back then, Michi, and some of my friends. Again, I can’t remember what movie we watched that day. But I know I was really, really happy. (It was Pearl Harbor pala.)

Twelve years ago, my mum threw a very lavish party for me at our place in Batangas. Most of my classmates and teachers were present. It was one of the most expensive parties my mum had ever thrown.

Twenty-two years ago, a midwife was pulling me out of my mother’s womb as my Daddy watched. It was a very bloody day.

Yep! Today I turned 22! Happy Birthday to ME!

Honestly, this is the first time since High School that I really anticipated my birthday.

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Uber-excited nako! Goosebumps. What say you?

Status: In Euphoria
Music: What Goes Around – Justin Timberlake

“…What goes around, goes around, goes around
Comes all the way back around…”

I interrupt my regular blogging updates with a great, great news. The UP Pep Squad finally wins back the UAAP Samsung Cheerdance Competition championship. Just when I decided not to go to the Araneta Coliseum to see it live because not the slightest expectation that this would happen entered my mind. But come on, after an embarrassing men’s basketball record, my university turned out to be still full of surprises. So much for balance of nature. I love’t. Congratulations to the UP Pep Squad! At sa lahat ng mga iskolar ng bayan! Yebah. And for that, I shall get drunk tonight. After all, there’s a dinner party at home to celebrate the memory of my dad.

“…Matatapang, matatalino.
Walang takot, kahit kanino,
Hinding-hinde magpapahuli,
Ganyan kaming mga taga-UP!!!”
— UP Default Cheer

Yey. Finally.

pic courtesy of ubelt.com, will change it soon. hehe.

Status: What a humid day. Whew.
Music: Candyman - Christina Aguilera

When they said that they’d be bringing the greatest show to be staged in the country in years, they weren’t exaggerating. The concert was fantastic. I know this post is a bit late, and a lot has already been written about the concert, but I still want to blog it. You know, to remember, in the future.

Weeks before the big night, I was desperately looking for someone who could go with me to that concert but it was tough. Everyone wished to go, and would go had the tickets been not that costly. Until I finally brainwashed a high school friend, Isa, into going with me. We met up in Makati and planned to just take a cab to The Fort (Bonifacio Open Field) in Taguig. Before we left, she was “warned” by a colleague of hers that Christina gets tired easily and her singing suffers after a short while. I just shook the comment off.

Christina opened the show with Ain’t No Other Man. And I just couldn’t believe I was already seeing her perform live. I knew she was great, but I never expected she was DIVINE. I had several goosebumps attack. The first was when she performed Slow Down Baby, one of my two most loved tracks in the album. The other one was Understand. But it didn’t have any massive effect on me that night for she sang it so soon. I was also hoping she would perform some of her old songs from her teeny-bopper days to her bitchy ones. And I wasn’t disappointed.

The theme of the concert was 1930s-60s (?), of course, and it was nice how they were still able to perform Come On Over Baby (tango-like, jazzy, whatever) and What A Girl Wants (no idea what arrangement that was, but it was great and funny) without breaking the theme.

But there was a sudden change of theme halfway. The first part was the vintage theme and all she wore were all white. The second part was very wild, colourful, and grandiose: circus. And man, did I adore the production. It was magnificent. She was handcuffed on a target board, then she was riding a carousel horse, yadda yadda. It was crazy! She was really having a great time, and we were, too.

When drunk navy guys (dancers) emerged chanting “Tarzan and Jane swingin’ on a vine,” the place was almost destroyed with the fans’ tremendous hollering. For starters, those male dancers were oh-so-sexy. To be honest, before that concert, Candyman was not one of my favourites. But after her performance, I realised it was an incredibly fun song. She also performed Dirrty to which everyone was singing along, and as she was dancing there, I noticed someone in the background setting up a couch, and I knew right then that the next one was gonna be Lady Marmalade. It was one of the best parts of the show.

And the best part of the evening? Beautiful. The most beautiful moment was when she performed Beautiful and everyone was singing with her, raising and swaying our arms together. It was sooo moving. I almost cried. Not because I could relate to the song (but maybe I did or do) but because I just couldn’t believe that my most favourite female artist was singing my most favourite record of hers. Gawd.

I laughed everytime the crowd went crazy each time Christina belts out something. But damn, she really deserved all those cheers and applause. Although I was a little disappointed that she didn’t perform her songs which are her biggest hits in the country Genie in a Bottle, I Turn to You, and A Voice Within, I just said to Isa, “My night’d be complete if she would just sing ‘Fighter.’” She did. It was her last song. I was the happiest fan in the world. And then she shouted, “Mahal Namin Kayo!” (“We love you!”) Wow. I swore I could see angels coming down from heaven — NOT. But it was close. Hehehe. Man, I love her.

After the show, I told Isa, “Whoever said she gets tired easily.”

NATIONAL LIST OF QUALIFIERS
Foreign Service Examination Qualifying Test
Department of Foreign Affairs
06 May 2007

Source: Civil Service Commission. Click here to see the full list of qualifiers.

Now, I have a pretty good reason to smile for the rest of the week. One step closer to becoming an ambassador, er, diplomat. Ehehehe.