The Benefits of Oregano

Oregano (Scientific name: Origanum vulgare) is also known as Wild Marjoram, Mountain Mint, Origanum, Wintersweet and Winter Marjoram.

Hand of Hope: Samuel Alexander Armas

A picture began circulating in November. It should be "The Picture of the Year," or perhaps, "Picture of the Decade." It won't be. In fact, unless you obtained a copy of the paper, you probably will never see it.

Tracey Connelley, Baby P's Evil Mom, Shows NO Remorse

I have never been affected by any story as much as Baby P's story has affected me. Yesterday evening, I found myself sobbing twice! I just can't get over the sheer horror of the story.

Baby P's Murderers -- Why Are They Being Protected?

In my country, it has never happened before that the media and the people have been forbidden to actually reveal the names and faces of TC and SB, the murderers of Baby P.

That Winter The Wind Blows Finale: Did Oh Soo Die?

Over the holy week break, I spent the entire four days just watching the 15 episodes of this Korean show. Yes, I am a self-confessed Korean drama addict. I already have my favorite actors and actresses; albeit, I don’t know their names.

Dec 30, 2007

Tom Cruise as Amy Winehouse

This made my day. Click!

Hilarious!

Dec 28, 2007

Diagnosis: The Dwarves Envied My Daughter

A phone conversation between myself and my friend, Cheryl.

Me: Che, Paige was sick.. blah.blah.blah. So we went to the doctor and brought her to the hospital and they couldn't find anything wrong with her. blah.blah.blah. We brought her to the quack. Amazingly, her diarrhea and vomiting stopped altogether. blah.blah.blah.

Che: That's what I learned to. Now, before I bring Jade to the doctor, I make sure that I go to the quack first.

This conversation really happened. And yes, she really did say that.



Being mothers living in a country where there are beliefs like a child can get sick when a dwarf envies her or likes her, you learn to bring your child to a quack doctor before bringing her to a real MD.

I learned this after Paige got sick and we had to bring her to the hospital where she stayed for a week. The doctors couldn't find anything wrong with my daughter, so we were forced to bring her out. She was still so sick. We decided to bring her to a local quack and after a 15-minute healing session, Paige slept. When she woke up, she was feeling so much better.

This taught me to bring her to the quack to avoid unnecessary medical expenses. Unbelievable, but true. true. true.

Today, Paige was vomiting all over the place. We then brought her to the quack again because we thought that she might be suffering from "sibang".

In our place, there is a belief that if someone is really really hungry and you came across that person, he or she can caused you to be really sick. There is a belief that only when that person puts his saliva on your stomach that you'd get better. The condition is called Sibang.

The session with the quack was pretty weird. First, she diagnosed Paige with Sibang, Lapo, and Suba.

*Sibang -- someone who's really hungry caused her to become ill.
*Lapo -- It's like a broken bone or a strained ligament. I do not really know how to define it but the idea is the same.
*Suba -- dwarves envied her so they made her sick.

She then rubbed a lot of leaves on her. What amazes me is that the healing process seems to change with every visit. One time she rubbed a lot of paper on Paige. Now, its leaves! leaves! leaves!
The whole thing lasted about 30 minutes.
When we came home, Paige slept.
She woke up half an hour later
And amazingly... she was whole lot better.

My friend, Sussette, a doctor came over and I insisted that the quack cured Paige.
She answered dismissively, "ah...huh."

Benazir Bhutto and Buto


Back in High School, I had to know by heart the history of Pakistan. I was then 14-years-old, but I knew who Benazir Bhutto was.
We always had a difficult time saying the word, "Bhutto" because in our local dialect there is the word, "Buto" which if you must know means, "Testicles".
So, whenever we had to pronounce the word, "Bhutto", you could probably imagine the giggling behind your back.
It was really difficult to say the word then. So, I never forgot Benazir Bhutto.

Anyway, knowing their story, I was saddened by the news of her being assassinated.
I was saddened by the truth that sometimes somebody has to be assassinated before people would act against the atrocities of the government.


But you know what? I think this country (Philippines) needs someone to be assassinated. This country is begging for someone to be a hero -- to sacrifice his or her life -- before people would wake up from their stupor and do something about our hateful president.

Enjoying Blaugh

I went blog hopping as usual. That's what I do between articles I'm writing. Anyways, I came across Blaugh :). I had a blast with the cartoons. So, I decided to post his best ones here --

Enjoy!

Act Like a Professional

Huge Software Sale

I Really Wanna Wii, Please

Out of CTRL

World's Worst YouTube Video

The Real Reason Aliens Won't Contact Us

Torture 2.0

What is it Boy?

”A

Think Before You Blog

The Truth Will Set You Free

I LOVE this one.

Shrinking Self Esteem

Vowing Wedding Favors

Skyping Baby Names

Online Dating with MySpace and Facebook

Probably the Hardest Way to Make Money Online

How To Get Bloggers To Talk About You

A Hot Date with LonelyGirl15

Dec 27, 2007

Enjoying Archie Comics Online


Did you ever curl up on your bed or the couch while reading stacks of Archie Comics?
God! I loved those days. I would borrow Archie comics from my classmates who had the money to buy those freakingly expensive (for me at that time they were) comics and I would spend hours just giggling over Jughead's antics.

I loved Jughead. I think everyone does. He's lazy and he's a glutton. But have you wondered why he was your favorite?

And of course, who would not love Betty? The poor girl. Always playing second fiddle to the gorgeous and rich Veronica. It's not surprising why I like her. I've always rooted for the underdog.

I came across Just Read It's blog and I came across her article on Archie Comics Online.

Apparently, Archie and the rest of the gang have their own blogs now!
I was not interested in their blogs, but I had fun reading the free comics
they had online.

Dec 26, 2007

My Unfortunate Christmas Dinner


It's ironic how things turn out. I budgeted our money so that I'd be able to keep my promise to my mother that she would not have to worry about Christmas dinner because we'd take care of it. So, on top of every thing we have to buy -- diapers, milk, medicines, etc -- I made sure that we'd have one hell of a Christmas dinner.

But while I was worrying about the freakin' dinner, my parents were worried about their chickens. I've even teased my mother about how she sees Christmas as an opportunity to sell more blasted roasted chickens. They were worrying about how many chickens they'd be able to store, marinate and sell.

They were able to basically store hundreds of chickens. Hundreds and hundreds of blasted chickens. And for the last couple of days, they were busy buying and marinating chickens.

So while I was busy slaving away cooking our Christmas dinner, some I cooked in advanced, some I cooked on the 24th, my parents were pretty busy with their chickens. Erbe even jumped right into the chicken obsession and helped out. So, I was left alone with the stove.

I cooked one heck of a Christmas dinner. Unfortunately, they were all so tired that they ate their dinner one by one and went to bed. Nobody got up for Christmas Eve.

You could say that the chickens stole my Christmas Dinner from me.

Dec 25, 2007

Dec 20, 2007

Charice Pempengo guesting in Ellen Degeneres Show

I was wondering how Charice Pempengco did on her Ellen Degeneres Show guesting.
So I looked for it and I have three thoughts about it:

a. I've seen her do the microphone throwing thing three times already -- in three different shows.

b. I was a little bit skeptic about her being "that" good -- if you know what I mean. I mean, you'd probably see a lot of 15-year-old singers here who are as good as her or even better.

c. But hell damn! She made it to the Degeneres Show! That makes me SO proud of her. She made it there! Hell! If you'd think about it, no one here can say they've been anywhere near Hollywood in the same way. Ask Regine Velasquez and she can only tell you about her one-time stint as a backup to Mandy Moore which in my opinion is an insult to her because she's way, way better than Moore.

Charice though -- well, she's exceptionally good. She got standing ovations for both of her performances.

Here's Charice first video singing well, the same song she sang everywhere --



I bet you would feel awfully proud of her like her good 'ol mama. She's got one amazing talent, huh?

Watch the crowd.
They're just amazed.

Here's her second video -- singing another song I've seen her sang before. Again.



Take note of one of the women in the audience saying, "She's amazing."

Hell, yeah! She is.

Dec 18, 2007

Cartoonize Me



I came across this cartoonize picture of a blogger and I look for websites that would cartoonize my pictures. I ended up with Befunky

Here are some of the pics I was able to "successfully" turned into cartoons.
*Yeah sure. Snort.









My niece Cori. She's half Australian-half Filipino.












Erbe.
Sleeping while on the bus.
I like how it's cartoonized.












My sister Kris and her daughter Cori in Edinburgh, England.













With my soul's own twin -- Settie.

Dec 17, 2007

Answering eWriteLife Blog's Challenge






















I came across this challenge at eWriteLife Blog and I decided to take up the challenge.

1. The Best writing on love - Living, Loving and Learning by Leo Buscaglia. Settie gave me this book. Simply incredible. Buscaglia speaks of love in the most basic level with honesty so raw that you'd get suck in.

2. 5 Things that I love: books, movies, writing, drawing, poetry
5 People that I love: Paige, Mommy, Erbe, Kris, Daddy -- can I include? Cori.

3. My first love was unrequited. The center of that idealistic whirlwind of emotions was not Prince Charming. Nope. He was not handsome at all. He had a crooked nose, ugly teeth, bushy eyebrows, curly hair and he had no eyelids. But he was really kind. A gentleman through and through. I got over my feelings and he became my bestfriend.

4. Love is your commitment to continue loving someone even after the Home Run and the fireworks end. It's holding on when you feel like giving up. It's being completely naked in front of a person and the whole world.

5. Love brings Peace, faith and contentment.

Dec 16, 2007

Not Really About Charice Pempengco

I was surfing through blogs and I JUST found out that Charice Pempengco is going to the Ellen Degeneres Show. Amazing!

Well, my sister loved her and was betting that she'd win that Little Big Superstar contest but alas Sam Conception, with his little voice won. Charice was not really that pretty to begin with and so if you're not really a fan of Little Big Superstar, you wouldn't really notice her.

After I learned about the Degeneres Show, I searched through YouTube's videos for her.
And damn!

After this video --



that voice, the attitude, the stage presence --- A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

Anyways, I continued to look for her videos and ended up with this one --



And now I am officially a fan of Kyu-Hyeon.
His voice is just so amazing! I mean, it's not spectacular like Josh Groban or anything but it's what you'd think all Disney's princes' voices should be like, don't you think?
I mean, it's far cry from Christian Bautista's voice. I don't get the fascination Indonesians have over him. His voice is weird. Ugh.

I was Named WHAT?!


I have had different names for the last 27 years of my life.

When I was a snotty, flat-nosed kid, my relatives used to call me Tinggay or Terenggay. I hated it. When my childhood bestfriend dared to call me Terenggay, I didn't speak to her for two whole months which made me miserable, but it was the principle of the thing I was fighting for. She didn't get it though. So, I thought what the heck and we got back to making dog's shit traps for the neighbor.

We also called each other Chipi One and Chipi Two and got in an argument over the "billing". You see, I was Chipi Two.

Eventually, people started calling me Tere, a nickname which stuck until today.

When I was in 6th Grade, my friends and I decided to change our names and I was Tim, which is better than Buffy -- another friend's adopted name inspired by Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

In high school, I got two nicknames which I hated: Tita Tere and Kantutay. See, who would love the nickname Kantutay?!

The Tita Tere -- I don't really understand where it originated.
But the Kantutay -- my friend dubbed me Kantutay after she tried calling me and I wouldn't respond. Unfortunately, she shouted "Kantutay!" And that was when I turned.
With her warped sense of humor, she even shortened it to "Kantuts!" WTF?!

Now, that was when my bestfriend, Tin started calling me Tetet.
And the rest of my college friends, as well as High School friends followed suit.

Now, my daughter calls me Mama Mey, Papa and Baba.
And when she wants me to pick her up, she'd call me "Hu-hu".

Dec 15, 2007

Perez Vajayjay is Showing


Okay. I like reading Perez' blog
but hello?!

Really!

I wonder how he could diss all those celebs out there when he could spend some major time dissing himself first.

He is not some anonymous little gay blogger anymore. He is a celeb on his own right. How could he diss Rumer Willis calling her fugly when he needs major help on this pic.

What about some pants? Please. You're thingy is showing. Eww. Take some pants off that bag and put it on please.

Weird and Pantyless Nana Delia


In our little barrio, we call our aunts, "Nana"
And even if we don't really know how we are related, we are compelled to call them, "Nana"; otherwise, we'd incur the wrath of the parents.
And we have a particular Nana we call, "Nana Delia".

Nana Delia is a peculiar character.
If you've seen movies with weird old ladies in them or read books with an equally cuckoo old lady in them -- well, that's Nana Delia in my life.
She pops up whenever she wants.
She leaves her house and her husband without telling him where she's going; and off she'll go to the city and visit every person she knows, transferring from one house to another.
And sometimes, she stays in the city for months that her husband has gotten used to it.
She doesn't stay in a particular house for too long lest she becomes a nuisance though.

Now, she goes around the city dressed in this pathetic old clothes - scruffy blouses that she probably wore when she was 16 and scruffy old skirts that was her grandmother's probably.
And mind you, she goes around ala Britney Spears -- yup. No panties.
And she carries these plastic grocery bags where she puts her clothes and stuff. This drives my mother crazy. I think she gets kicks out of getting bags for her clothes wherever she goes. My mom has probably given her three bags but she always comes back carrying plastic bags.
And she has this rolled long cloth wrap around her waists where she puts thousands and thousands of money.

She used to go to this free massage establishment several times a week until she abruptly stopped.
Why?
The management asked her to take a bath because the other customers were complaining of the horrible stench.
Yes, she doesn't take a bath. Or at least, she takes a bath once a week.
Tonight, she dropped by at 10 o'clock in the evening. Like, it's the usual visiting hours. Mind you. And yeah, we didn't have to worry about feeding her she brought her own food because she doesn't like the fats were stuffing our faces with.
Later, I heard her knocking on our bedroom door.
She was standing there clutching her plastic bags calmly telling me to close the door after her because she was leaving.
I stared at her.
Huh?
It was two o'clock in the morning.
All I could say was, "Uh? Nana, masain po kamo?"*

*where are you going?

Dec 13, 2007

Revealing Secrets about Yourself

I came across this blog Beaman
and he had an entry where he revealed 7 Things About Himself


And finding this interesting I want to follow suit and if you read this perhaps you can send me a comment where you'd tell me at least three things people do not know about you.

So, here goes.

1. If we are not really close, you wouldn't know that I wrap my feet with mosquito net when I go to sleep. Now, you'd probably think that's weird but I'll have you know that 2 out of 10 people in this freaking country have the same affliction.

2. I love cartoons. I don't think I'll ever grow out of loving it. I seem to love Jimmy Neutron these days. Weird.

3. I love country music -- American country music, that is. The sappier, the better.

4. I am a Catholic but I question the doctrines. But I will not ever change my religion.

5. I believe I have failed the Bar Exams and I am just waiting for the results to confirm that, but I worry that I probably jinxed it by believing that I failed.

6. I don't want to regret my life. Period. So, I leave no room for thinking, "Do I regret my life?"

7. I am afraid to die but sometimes I think I'll die ahead of people I really love. Morbid thoughts.

Now, your turn.

Dec 8, 2007

Why Tom Cruise is a Kook

I was curious about Scientology. I've always shrugged it off every time I'd read things about it. So, I finally decided to read where all those Alien Jokes were coming from.

And what I discovered?
Yeah, Tom Cruise deserves those alien cracks about him.

So, here are some of the beliefs I find really weird.
They believe that psychiatry and psychology are destructive. In fact, they blame almost all the wars in the world to psychiatry.

They believe that Xenu, the alien ruler of the Galactic Confederacy, dumped billions of people in volcanoes and blew them up. We have those people living inside us now. We have to remove them and spend $360,000 while doing so.

Delivery rooms should be as silent as possible.
Easy for Hubbard to say. Nothing is as painful as labor. I wonder how Katie Holmes kept her trap shut?

Their disconnection policy in which members are encouraged to cut off ties from people who are antagonistic even with their families.

The Anderson Report which revealed that the auditing process (one-on-one communication with a Scientology counselor) involves hypnotizing the patient.

The Operation Snow White and equally frightening and weird Operation Freak Out

Heck. Almost all religions have their own kookiness and quirks. Catholics are being lambasted for their statues and all. In fact, if there are no historical basis for Jesus Christ, the whole idea would be probably weird.

But what gets to me is Xenu. WTF?! How the hell did Hubbard come up with that?! That's a pretty good theory though if you consider that theory that we came from Mars and all.

I wonder where the Dinosaurs came in and where were Adam and Eve when the blowing up of people happened?!

No wonder they think Tom Cruise is a kook. Poor Katie Holmes. Well, she's got millions of dollars to console herself being Mrs. Cruise. Poor Suri. She'll grow up to be Xenu believer.


Dec 5, 2007

Waiting for the Bar Exams Results


Waiting is not easy.
It is a complete torture.
Like you're waiting for someone to give you your breath back.
Like waiting for the ax to fall -- this is how I feel right now.
Waiting for the inevitable.
Unfortunately, I feel like the inevitable would mean sour bitter taste in my mouth,
like ashes falling off from a dead dream.

I've been surfing around the net and have read few blogs about the bar exams. The authors have discussed their answers and they sound so freaking convincing that I feel like my answers were like series of babblings of a 4-year-old idiot.

They sound so convincing and I feel damned when their answers differ from mine.
Thoughts like, "Why the hell did I rush that Legal Ethics exam?"
or "Geeze! I gave the most stupid answers ever!"

Why the hell did I answer, "Yes, he showed improper conduct not befitting a lawyer/judge".
All I can remember is that I was having difficulty thinking of any legal basis for a negative answer, "No, his actions were not improper because -- well, it was his wife for pete's sakes!"

Sometimes, I get caught up with day-to-day activities and I sin. I curse at a driver. I speak a bad word. I miss a Sunday mass -- and I worry that I'd fail. I even had a bad dream where I couldn't find my name in the paper. That basically gave me an inkling about how devastated I'd be come April. Yes, I'm preparing myself for the bad news.

God! I hate waiting. It's pure torture. It's like someone has got a hard grip on my heart and wouldn't let go.

Nov 28, 2007

12 Gifts of Christmas


Giving myself permission to drink a huge glass of hot chocolate on a cold December night with a plateful full of Chips Ahoy cookies beside me.

Allowing myself to enjoy the notoriously noisy carols of neighborhood kids who is out for a few bucks, the mangled and disarrayed Christmas lights, and other holiday touches that my sister spent huge bucks on last Christmas

Getting the complete collection of Sims 2 and all its expansions – now, that would be the nicest Christmas gift ever! And don’t forget the gift certificate for computer memory upgrade to accommodate the Sims 2 collection. This is a package deal.

Feeling more joyful this Christmas which is particularly difficult for me given the fact that I don’t like Christmas holidays because it’s depressing.

Getting a lot of chocolates from New Zealand (clearing my throat for Bes)

My family -- my parents and my very-far-away sister -- and the extended ones including all the dysfunctional, queer and relatively weird ones. They put up with me, spoil me even and provide the stability that I need.

The love and support of the friends that I see or talk to often and those that I don’t see or talk to anymore. Right Nette? Tin? Thank God for small favors like my good friend Ryan who gets pissed off that I don’t answer his overseas calls.

An end to a good year marked with my leap to an unknown, leaving other people to decide my fate and my dreams.

Serenity – knowing in the most real of wordless voices everything as I see or feel them is the way it should be. Even when I refuse to see it.

My husband and my daughter. No words suffice. They’re continued good health and presence equal countless gifts for eternity.

You. Just the fact that you’re reading this and that you’re taking some time out of your busy life to spend a moment here and maybe give a damn about all this – well, that’s a gift.

Lastly, knowing that all these do not have much to do with Christmas, but they are more of taking the time to recognize that I have so much to be grateful for in my life. That, my friend, is the biggest gift of all.

Nov 17, 2007

In My Daughter's Eyes

















In my daughter's eyes I am a hero
I am strong and wise and I know no fear
But the truth is plain to see
She was sent to rescue me
I see who I wanna be
In my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes everyone is equal
Darkness turns to light and the
world is at peace
This miracle God gave to me
gives me strength when I am weak
I find reason to believe
In my daughter's eyes

And when she wraps her hand
around my finger
Oh it puts a smile in my heart
Everything becomes a little clearer
I realize what life is all about

It's hangin' on when your heart
has had enough
It's giving more when you feel like giving up
I've seen the light
It's in my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes I can see the future
A reflection of who I am and what will be
Though she'll grow and someday leave
Maybe raise a family
When I'm gone I hope you see how happy
she made me
For I'll be there
In my daughter's eyes


Nov 13, 2007

How Do You Know You Have a Toddler?


1. She toddles while attempting to run. You could almost piss in your pants. Then she’ll trip herself, stand up, toddle, fall again… and so and so forth.

2. She will climb up the stairs with surprising agility. You’d think she’s climbing the

Himalayas

. Her expression really determined.

3. She eats her toothbrush.

4. She picks up every little thing she can see on the floor and eat it.

5. She dances by nodding her head and by bending her knees repeatedly.

6. She imitates words, “Hal-ka” (Halaka!) “Ba-bye Kokey”, "Tek-ku” (Thank you).

7. She would give kisses or hugs if you beg really well.

8. She puts everything in the garbage.

9. She’d eat something and then starts to spit them on the floor, sit down and wipe the spits with her hands.

10. She’s passionately inquisitive. What’s inside this drawer? What will happen if I push this button? What will happen if I pull this wire? What happens if I just put my fingers inside the fan?

11. She develops irritating habits -- Uh-huh, mama turned on the fan again; time to turn it off.

12. She wakes up at 3:00 in the morning and decides that she’s had enough of sleep; and starts poking and babbling to wake up.

13. She finds every corner and refuses to get out.

14. She starts pulling things off the cabinet and throwing them around the room. Pull things off the table and throw them around the room.

15. She refuses to get out of her tub after every bath and refuses to let me wash her hair; and refuses to stand still while getting dressed

Nov 1, 2007

Ironic

I'm earning my living as a writer.
but I absolutely have nothing to write about.

Sep 29, 2007

Ode to Taylor Swift


Do you know Taylor Swift?

God. I love her. Love all her songs. Seems like she can't do any bad songs.
Well, that depends if you like the kind of music she does.
And I happen to just LOVE them.






I don't know what I want, so don't ask me
cause I'm still trying to figure it out
don't know what's down this road, but I'm walking
trying to see through the rain coming down
even though I'm not the only one
who feels the way I do.

CHORUS
I'm alone, On my own, and that's all I know
I'll be strong, I'll be wrong, oh but life goes on
I'm just a girl, trying to find a place in this world

Got the radio on, my old blue jeans
and I'm wearing my heart on my sleeve
feeling lucky today, got the sunshine.
could you tell me what more do I need
and tomorrow's just a mystery, oh yeah
but that's ok

REPEAT CHORUS

maybe I'm just a girl on a mission
but I'm ready to fly..

REPEAT CHORUS

Sep 28, 2007

After the Bar

The freakin' Bar exams 2007 was not easy.
Seriously!
Well, you'd start thinking, "Why the hell did those people failed the exam?"
And you'd end up bawling your eyes out after the first day.

I went to La Salle.
Waited for more than an hour to get into my building, snickering at people still reading their notes while standing in line.

I was enjoying all the shouting and the crowd who seemed to eager to watch 5,800 people fall in line towards the end of their sanity. Only in the Philippines.

I came prepared. I did.

Or so I thought.

I was ready to answer questions like:

What is the overbreath doctrine?
What is facial challenge?

I did not come prepared for questions like:

True or False.

The official language for instruction and communication, until otherwise provided by law is Filipino and English.

IT is SO freaking basic! Why the hell didn't I know it?
Just like everyone else, I took it for granted that stuffs like that won't be asked.

Why would it be?
There are thousands of questions that could be asked! More complicated! More exciting!
Questions that our reviewers prepared us for.
The truth is we didn't even discuss that in Law School.

I guess everyone feels the same way.
I think the person next to me on the Second Sunday who shit on her pants feel the same way.
She had to bear everyone else's stares and scorn while she smells.
I guess the judge's wife who was caught cheating feels the same way.

Everyone must have felt the same.

Well, I have 6 months to kill before I knew my bar results.

And oh, by the way, the answer to the question is FALSE



A video of Bar 2007 Last Sunday

P.S.

You Gotta to Read
THIS.

My 14-hour TRIP


Being away from your family for a couple of days is... well, tolerable.
Being away from them for weeks?
It sucks!

I was missing Ika so badly that a day after the exams, I urged Erbe to take the day trip.
All the good buses had left so we had to settle with Raymond Bus.
Erbe said it's air conditioned, so it'll do.

I grumbled but I was SERIOUSLY having second thoughts.
Raymond bus? Bah!

I shouldn't have give in.
I knew I should not have.
We left at 12 pm.
But, 3 hours after, at Tiaong, Quezon ---

BAAAAAAM!

I banged my head on the chair in front of me.
We hit a truck that hit another bus in front of us.

What happened?
The freakin' driver was busy eating lanzones. He didn't noticed that the bus ahead of us had stopped. He was busy though blaming the other bus driver.

Later on, we got stuck in that small place, watching Van Damme shoot everyone in the bus' dvd while waiting for another bus to pick us up. Oh yeah, that one was just about to leave Manila. Imagine?!

So I twiddled my thumb until even Van Damme and his muscles got interesting.
God forbid!
I began to even worry that the other bus would come before I finished the Van Damme flick.

Finally, our stupid bus driver thought of driving back to Manila to meet the other Raymond bus.
So, there I found myself watching Van Damme as we rode back to Manila, which if you remember I was very much eager to leave. By that time, it was already about 7 in the evening.

Finally, the bus stopped and the bus driver told us to get off and to wait along the road to jump on the rescue bus. We had a lot of freakin' baggage that I had to fight off the crowd alone to get in the other stupid, stupid bus while Erbe transfers our baggages. Seriously!

And yes, there's no more chivalry today. All the men got in first.
While we, the women, had to squeeze against each other trying to get a seat.
The men reserved seats for the women they were already eying. Stupid.
The poor married couple with their eight month baby had to stay behind.
Because the Raymond bus that was supposed to rescue us took its own passengers!

Erbe and I got stuck in the cramped back with an old geezer hitting on an 18-year-old.

And we arrived at Naga only at 2 o'clock in the morning.
14 hours after we left Manila.

Jun 23, 2007

Reporting to my Bestfriend




Bes, she's big now.

She's almost one year old.


Ahem...

And she loves to watch TV. Stares at it for hours and giggles when she sees something funny.

She loves commercials with babies on them.

And she dances with Wowowee! :)

Sometimes, even when she's really sleepy, she would try to keep her eyes open so she won't miss anything from the tube.


Just like that.

Jun 20, 2007

The Bar is Eating Me








I am almost finished with the Tariff and Customs Law and proceeding to the Court of Tax Appeals.


Nothing is registering.
I've been underlining the same sentence for almost five minutes when I realized that I felt like screaming.

So, I am taking a break.

I realized I have been studying for the past three months and it's really getting to me, but what I hate most is the guilt.

Guilt when you sleep for more than 6 hours.
Guilt when you go out of the house and realized you've wasted three hours on the mall!
Guilt when you take a lot of time eating, talking, or breathing!
Guilt when you realized you've reached your deadline for a subject and you're not even halfway finished!

But what gets to me most is my Mom's statement - that if I don't pass the bar, it'd kill her.

Talk about pressure.
Thinking about not taking it if that's the case.
*sigh.

Things I have not Forgotten

It's weird.


There are things you learned from grade school that you never forget.

My parents enrolled me in an exclusive Chinese school with Chinese priests and nuns running the place. Ironic though, I never learned to speak Chinese. Oh yeah, except those sentences which Fr. Lee taught us but in the big world do not really amount to anything.

Seriously, the sentences include, "Where do you go to school?"

And I have the answers pretty memorized. I can't converse beyond that.

I have learned a lot of things though from that school.

I cannot forget two things:

1. I haven't forgotten the names of the 9 sisters of Rizal.
2. I haven't forgotten the names of cities/municipalities of metro manila when I was in third grade.

Blame it on Civics and Culture.

Jun 6, 2007

Budoy: Sex Education


One of my bestfriends, Sussette (a medicine graduate from UP) gave Paige a doll yesterday, it's actually a little baby boy doll...

Cute little bugger, huh?
We named him Budoy. He looks like a Budoy to me.

Budoy has a secret though...

He is not as innocent as you might think.
Budoy is BIG for his age.










And I mean... BIG!

Well. There.
Honestly, this freaking doll has balls as well!
I texted Sussette about it and she was laughing as she didn't even checked and didn't know that she was about to give my daughter early lessons on sex education.
And hey, this doo-doo of Budoy is detachable.
Imagine.