La Sa Mood...

I'm still not in the mood to tell my NY story...

It's 8:23 am and I'm just waiting for my brother to get ready and then I'm on my way to school. I'm going swimming with Patty and Madel..in our very cool swimming pool. 4 years that I'm there, this will be the first time I'll dip my skin into that pool. Exciting?! The little excitements of my everyday life.

Inspire Me!

Hayy nako.. what a day. I went to school early this morning for a meeting. My gawd..can you believe it? I'm part of our Batch Assembly. I'm shocked myself. I'm not a bum anymore. I am actually doing something productive and meeting new people and friends along the way. The meeting was at 8am!!! I tried to get my ass out of the bed, man. And I managed to stay awake for the 2 hour meeting..well I was late half an hour. But can't be late next time because there's a fine of P50 every 15 minutes. So we planned stuff for our batch..bleh bleh. It was pretty good.

1030. The meeting ended and I've nowhere to go. I hate that. But a friend was there to keep me company for an hour. He was going to Switzerland..bleh bleh. Had to eat lunch with my girls at 1130, so we parted ways and maybe that would be the last time I'll be seeing him. Awww...

At 1250pm, there was a JEMA officers picture taking in Yuchengco and we were all in white. How...boring. I mean..of all colors?! WHITE?! That's blank! Creativity please?!

After that..studied for COMLAW. Yeah.. I will redeem myself, ladies and gentlemen. I can do it, I know I can. Actually, I should or else!!!

Then got home.

This isn't a normal entry in my journal. The details aren't there, the conversations weren't included. There were no emotions. And to think, this was a very looonnngggg day. Damn. Maybe I'm just sleepy. But I think I need inspiration!!! Criminy. Inspire me! Anyone?!

Another Quiz...

"The Secret Garden"

Which Broadway Musical Are You?
brought to you by

Nothing's Changed

I hate my COMLAW2 prof. She's stoned face and her jokes aren't funny...she's a fat biatch. Now, that was bad. I was sleepy the whole day today and then she starts the class with a surprise test?! On the first day?! To hell with her and people like her. Give us a break woman!

I read the frikking book. 10 articles. It wasn't really hard to understand. I got it pretty good, actually. I'm just soooo...Dory. I remember things..it's just that it takes a few minutes. It's not good to startle me with asking me stuff I just learned. I tend to panic and forget..which was exactly what happened to me. Grrr... I answered some of the questions but not very convincingly...I wasn't sure with my answers. I remembered bits and pieces, which wasn't good enough. Excuses, excuses. I just read the thing once and didn't bother understanding it further. And is this how I'll be when I take up law?! Man..I won't survive.

Me?! Taking up law?! Ohhh no. It's like I'm a kid all over again, wanting, dreaming, wishing, praying I'd be a lawyer. Well...I'm not really THAT obsessed to be one anymore. Maybe I'll try it out... Who knows..but as of now..I just hate my prof.. or rather..I hate myself for letting that happen to me.. Life's a bitch...oh well.

So! First week of school isn't so bad. I'm actually pretty psyhed being back. Back to work, work, work.. and will I actually work?! Ohh.. I can't stand myself. I can't believe I always settle for mediocrity. It's sickening. And I don't do anything about it! I keep telling myself, at the start of the term that I'll be different...but NOOO... Nothing's changed. Worse, I know I have to change.

Break...

You scored as Cultural Creative. Cultural Creatives are probably the newest group to enter this realm. You are a modern thinker who tends to shy away from organized religion but still feels as if there is something greater than ourselves. You are very spiritual, even if you are not religious. Life has a meaning outside of the rational. Postmodernist 63% Cultural Creative 63% Idealist 63% Existentialist 56% Modernist 44% Materialist 38% Romanticist 38% Fundamentalist 31% My graph doesn't look how it should be...

Misadventures in Boston

OKAY..THIS IS ENTRY IS WAY OVERDUE..I'M JUST SOOO LAZY...

Upon entering South Carolina, our social status drastically changed. From the Greyhound terminal, Tita Che picked us up and *vavavoom* we were on top of the food chain. I was just so happy to smell the leather seats of their Lexus. No more ugly, stinky people.

For the first time ever, I saw Tito Emi's enormous house. It smelled good too. Tita Che had to leave for work right away, so we were left there with nothing to do. Man...what could we possibly want to do in that huge house? I mean, after all the dishwashing we did in Chicago, I thought..YEAHHH!!! But no. My father wanted to organize the house. Things everywhere. Fine. First two days, we cleaned the house. We found expired stuff in the fridge and the pantry. Actually, food which were expired since 1998. Wow. I can't believe it. They had a lotta stuff there, and more than half of them were expired. I decided to clean the entertainment room. Their CD's, VHS, DVD's..everything. More than half of the CD's there weren't there..just a bunch of CD cases. There were a few duplicates actually. They probably can't find what they were looking for, so they decided to buy a new one. Sweet. Typical wasteful Americans. And I don't mean that the bad way..or maybe I do. It's just that it's really like that in the States. Here, we have left overs. We have so many things to do with left overs. They're pet food, give it to the street kids or we can eat it the next day by cooking it as something else. There, the food left will be thrown in the garbage. And just imagine the servings they have back there. They're HUGE! So huge that no one can really finish it. But my oh my. The explanation of my weight gain? I tried to finish everything. I remembered the poor people here in the Philippines with nothing to eat. Hayyy...

Friday came, and we were off to New Hampshire. Took two planes on the way there. Then Tito Emi rented a van for all of us. Road trip to Exeter. We stopped by this lobster restaurant. It was really good..and I was really full after eating. I felt like throwing up. (Oh and yeah...after eating heavy meals...I slept. I mean..I can't help it! That's what I do on roadtrips! Another explanation for my weight gain). What to say about New Hampshire? If I remember it right, it used to be called as New England. The houses there, just like the normal houses in the US, were like boxes. But there, it was different in a way that the designs were really old. Or I would assume the houses were old. Spring's just arriving so the trees weren't as green as they should be. It looked just a little gloomy with all the fog, but the flowers were starting to bloom, so I'm sure it's a pretty sight on Spring and Summer, although it was still very nice that time.

By 6pm, we reached Exeter. I was really excited to see Angelo. When I saw his school, I thought..wow. It's bigger than the whole Ateneo University. There were kids on their shorts, some didn't even have shirts playing frisbee. I thought..finally!!! It's not cold in here. But when I stepped off the car..crap. It was freezing. Then we met Angelo. *Kodak moment?! Haha.. He first hugged everyone. Zaza and I were basically strangers. I offered my hand, he had his arms open. What to do what to do?! Hand shake then hug. Haha. He was really tall and boy was he handsome. (We ALL know which side of the family that came from! But surprisingly...he looks a lot like Tita Che). He brought us to his room. His weird room mate Dylan who aspires to be a US President. Haha. Whatever suits him. Then he toured us around the campus. We went to their library, which happens to be the biggest library for HS students in the whole of the US. The architecture was amazing. It was like the one in The City of Angels (I forgot to ask him if that was their library), where when you're in the center and you look up, you'll see huge circular windows. Then we went to the Science department or something. Again, the architecture was wowowie. I've never seen anything like it. And somewhere in there was a display of a skeleton of a whale, which the students dissected. Those were frikking high school students!!! Then we went to this Music building or something. There were artsy fartsy looking kids in the lobby, as expected I guess. Each room has its own piano and board. So we went there and Angelo played us a song. I know I'm nowhere near the definition of good when it comes to playing the piano, but I know good and he was gooooodddd.

Then, off to Boston! Bonding bonding in the car..bleh bleh. Angelo warned us that there was a storm there the next day.. WTF?!

It was about 9pm when we reached Boston so we headed straight to the hotel. I can finally say, I've been to a Hilton Hotel because we stayed in Embassy Suites. It was a pretty nice hotel. Our suite had a good view of the city and I can't wait til the next morning. The adults stayed in the room with the two twin beds, Zaza and I slept in the sofabed while poor Angelo slept on the floor.

The next morning, we all woke up with a beautiful sunny weather. Not a cloud on sight. Whew! Too much for bad weather already. We enjoyed prepared for our trip and enjoyed our complimentary breakfast. On our way back to our room to get our stuff, we saw that it was raining outside. GREAT. So we had our jackets with us. At the entrance of the hotel as we were waiting for our car, strong winds were blowing that just blew off the style and effort that I put into my hair. So we do bring bad weather wherever we go. I thought we were gonna stay in the car the whole time, which would mean I'd probably fall asleep...but no. See, pictures are really important when you're travelling. For a person to brag about something, you need proof..and the camcorder is the best. Amidst the strong winds and the rain, we went down Boston Common, a park. A very beautiful park actually, even more beautiful I bet when it's dry. Though my hands froze and my hair's all messed up...gotta take those pictures! Second stop was Harvard. Can't let that opportunity pass by man..who knows?! I may never be able to step into the grounds of Harvard again (oohhh...sounds like I wanna take up something in Harvard..say..law?! Hahaha! Who knows?!). My camcorder ran out of battery and tape so good thing there was a shop nearby..then went to the Harvard bookstore, of course. I wanted to get something...I forgot the frikking title!!! (It's about a man who lost all his memory and with him are just pictures, letters, books he used to have and it's up to him to put it all together and figure out who he is..cool..)..but it was expensive.. $30..hmm..I thought..I could buy more with $30 than a book..turns out I really wanted that book..too bad. There were all sorts of book in there.. it was amazing. There's a section for gay/lesbian books, how to masturbate...pretty cool stuff. My mom of course was sort of scandalized.."Ayyy..ano ba yan?! Tinuturo pa ba yan?!" Haha..

Lunch time came, and since Angelo said he hasn't eaten real food in months, it was his choice. He wanted siomai...so we went to China Town. I've never really been inside Ongpin so I really didn't know what to expect. It was raining so there weren't a lot of people walking. The Chinese restaurant Tito Emi was looking for was closed since there's a road construction in front of it so we had to walk another mile. We were starving. Then finally, we reached the place. And wow. Once I entered the restaurant, I was like...in CHINA. I've never seen so many Chinese people in one roof! And it was noisy and chaotic. That was a good sign...it means that the food is great. Endless dimsum, siomai, siopao it was. I love siomai, everyone knows that, so I had 4 of them. Zaza also had 4. But Angelo..ohmygod..he had 8 of them. And the siomai didn't come until we had the pork, the beef, the hakaw, the soup... It was crazy. Tito Emi was hilarious. Since the servers didn't really speak English, he spoke to them in Tagalog and they understood each other. Haha!

Then Tita Che wanted to watch broadway. They've all seen The Phantom of the Opera, except us, the young people..so they wanted to watch The Vagina Monologues. Turns out, the show times were different, so we decided to watch The Phantom of the Opera. So to the Boston Operhouse, THE original operahouse, we go. One block away, you could see the line already for the show. There were a lot of people. We lined up, without any tickets. Ooohhh the excitement. When we entered the operahouse, WOW. My eyes dropped...the ceiling, the walls...it had gold in it..and the chandelier was gorgeous. It was just really beautiful. Tito Emi managed to get tickets for all of us. We didn't get the best seats given that it was a last minute decision but the play was amazing (my vocabulary isn't really big, huh..all I could say is amazing..because it really was!). I mean, except that some people were late and that they had to go to their seats when the Phantom got out of the mirror...so we weren't able to see that magic happen.. And although it was an opera and we didn't really understand what they were saying because of their chilly voices...I love it! I'm still actually in the process of listening to the album over and over again, pretending I could be Christine. Haha.

After that, we didn't know what else to do. There was a heated pool in the hotel so we decided to go for a swim. We didn't have any swimwear, so we went shopping in Target. After that, we had coffee in Starbucks and we grilled Angelo for a bit. Guess what?! It's about a giiiiiirrrrllll. Haha..It's always about a girl. So he says, since he's in Exeter, he's pretty much locked up...it's already given that the girls are smart, pretty and rich. Hmm...I told him to look for a girl with the 4 B's: Beauty, Brains, Bucks and Breeding. That's something for him to remember. He's actually a pretty mature boy. He's very intelligent and from the looks of it, he's sweet...I mean..he's very sweet to his mum.

Upon entering the hotel, we went to the pool and checked it out. We saw big butts of old and fat women with their kids...it was crowded. So we decided to go for a swim later that evening. Went up to our room, and Angelo played the computer in the hotel, while the adults had their "adult talk"...wait.. I'm an adult! That doesn't sound right! So anyway, Angelo has played almost all the Mario games in there, then we figured out that whatever it was they were talking about made them forget about going swimming. Angelo pulled out his Uno cards he bought from the bookstore and we played. I didn't win.. I almost won..but for that entire night, I didn't win. Haha. We turned on the TV and saw The Last Samurai was airing so we stopped with Uno and watched the movie. It was already late so while watching I fell asleep. A few minutes later, Angelo woke me up and asked me if I was gonna watch it still. I saw that it was the battle scene already so I said I'll watch it. he went to sleep and I fell asleep. Then I heard a beeping sound. I thought it was the TV so I turned it off and went back to bed. But it didn't stop..then I heard a voice ordering us to go to the nearest fire exit. Holy crap there's a fire!!! I reached in for Angelo's head and shook it, tapped Zaza and we were all awake, listening for the instructions. We waited for the old people to come out of their room..seconds later Dad stormed out of their room with his hair all messed up telling us to get our stuff. I just grabbed the camcorder, wore my shoes and got my jacket. Angelo just grabbed his shoes, and I have no idea, what else my mom and dad wanted to take..it was a fire, for crying out loud. We walked to the exit, people with carrying their kids were there. Zaza, Angelo and I were just giggling. His coins dropped to the floor but since it was an emergency, no time to pick it up! "No worries" he says. Hehe..then we started to talk about Uno. When we reached the second floor, a man told us that some guy just lit his cigarette in the elevator. Arghhhh!!!! We went down 9 storeys for that?! So when the people knew it was just that...some got mad, some were irritated. But the firemen instructed that everyone should go out of the building, so we did. It was cold!!! And the wind was blowing. Angelo didn't have a jacket to cover himself up. Haha. We saw firetrucks there and we went srtaight to the lobby. Then it just occurred to me that I was holding my camcorder the whole time...so I turned it on and started to film. Haha! It was just hilarious, but of course at the same time really irritating. I feel sorry for the parents of the kids who carried them all the down for nothing. We came back to our room and.. Zzzz....

The next morning, we drove all the way back to Exeter to drop Angelo off. Our time was cut short. It was sad. I wanted to have more time with him. But! Oh well.. We had a great time and we'll all remember Boston. He gave us his Uno and we bid him good bye. We'll see him when he goes back here in June.

Then we were off to NEW YORK CITY!!!!

Welcome to America! First Stop: The Windy City!

Yey! Internet access..finally. I'm now in South Carolina..got here yesterday via Greyhound bus. Haha! That was an experience to remember. That'll top the charts. Criminy..my Dad couldn't make up his mind whether we should take the bus, the plane or the train. Obviously, we ended up riding the bus..but oh no...not just any bus. It's the Greyhound bus. The bus for the common people. The bus for the hicks, the blacks and for tourists like us looking for adventure. Every individual who rode the bus was a character, as my dad would say it and he could write a book about it. I'll save that for later...


First stop: Chicago, the Windy City

After 15+ hours of plane ride, we finally made it. Zaza and I were just tired when we got to O'Hare International Airport, the world's busiest airport. When Tito Emi asked us how we felt when we finally step foot in the US of A..Haha. I didn't even think of that... Well we had a connecting flight in Detroit so that was the first time we step foot in America. But we were just so frikkin tired that all we were thinking was.. FINALLY!! We could sleep in a bed!

I'm a city girl by heart I guess so I loved everything about Chicago..except it's unpredictable weather. It's soo cold and the wind just makes it worse. I remember when I was younger I wanted to have winter so I could wear all the cool clothes, but damn it. It wasn't even snowing and I was going crazy. I loved it nevertheless. The structures were beautiful. It was clean, and there were lotsa colorful tulips around. It was amazing. Tita Babet's place was the little Italy and it was really cute. I finally met my adorable cousins.

Estefano is a really smart kid. Only in kindergarten but has the reading comprehension of a 5th grader, knows a lot about dinosaurs and he's very philosophical. During Sebastian's baptism, he asked us what the water was for.

Me: It's so that our original sins will be washed away.
E: Where did we get our original sins?
Me: From our ancestors, Adam and Eve.
E: Who is Adam and Eve?
Me: They are the first humans on earth.
E: No. Cavemans were the first humans on earth.

As much as I want to continue the discussion, I've ran out of answers. That's science vs. religion already and c'mon that''ll be endless and I dunno if he'll understand that...other than tha..he'sg ood-looking of course, we all know which side of the family he got that from (haha!). But he drove me nuts. I've a lot of cousins in the Philippines and took care of them but he's just different. He did the opposite of everything his mom told him to do, whines a lot, eats all the sweets but remains thin as a toothpick..well that's all he eats, very hot tempered. According to him, he's a "juvenile" and he "wants to be spoiled."

Enzo. Cute Enzo. Well, he's autistic. He's three years old but has the mind of a one year old. Likes spinning things, watches Baby Einstein and Phonics over and over and over again. Bumps his head a lot on the walls and the floors. He has his own world, that I don't think we'll ever understand. Eats only cereals, biscuits, and his "nene" a.k.a milk. He doesn't want to be parted with his dad. Still not toilet trained so he runs around the house with his diapers. Jumps up and down while watching TV. Loves to play rough games..and cries when he sees my dad. Hehe..

Sebastian. Huggable Sebastian. Seven months old. The most behaved of the three. (I wonder why?! Haha..let's wait til he learns how to walk.) He's a white kid. He has began crawling and when we left, he's already trying to stand up. By the time I see him again, for sure, he'll be running around. Loves to be carried around and loves baby talk.

Enough about the kids. Tito Fabian. Oh criminy. Sometimes he's okay, other times I'm just irritated to death. He talks about Lolo and Lola like they're not my grandparents. He doesn't have a job and he complains a lot. Argh. He keeps saying he'll buy lotsa stuff and shit..oh puh-lease. And he's just an angry man. Blames the vaccines for the autism of Enzo, hates the US government soo much, has trust issues with everyone (including his own parents)--the reason why he'll never leave his kids with baby-sitters, collects junk, loves sales, and I think he's sort of a loser. I don't wanna be harsh since he's already family..so he's just "sort of a loser." I mean, I think he's a pastry chef or whatever and when he tried selling cookies, no one wanted to buy from him. He loves conspiracy theories--so he doesn't believe that man has ever landed on the moon. Took the Y2k Bug seriously, which explains why they have loads of stuff in their pantry..they were all there since year 2000. OH CRIMINY! But I have to hand it to him. Taking care of the kids 24/7 will really drive you crazy. And with Enzo's situation, my dad says it's better for him to be a house husband full time and take care of the kids..

Tito Fabian's family was amazing. I met his parents, went to their house. It was the cutest thing. Very Italian. They served us with the most delicious house cooked meal I've ever tasted and even gave me 2 shots of some kind of chocolate flavored something and lemon flavored something. Hehe. Then Serrana, his sister is the super nanny. I loved her. And her daughter Soledad, is a very sweet girl. Too bad, we weren't able to make it to her birthday party.

I also met our cousins, Angela and Jeff. They were cool. They toured us around the city. Took us to a Spanish restaurant where we had Tapas...yummy! We rode the subway..really cool. That gave us the chance to really experience how it is there...and while walking, it started to snow...awww!!! Then checked out Urband outfitters and guess what?! While crossing the street we saw Sandra Bullock! Haha! We went to the Museum of Science and Industry to see Body Worlds. Very cool. Real people whose body was opened up.. It was gross but really cool. Then took the cab home.

Lolo Manny took us to Sears Tower, the talles building in Chicago. From up there, it was just really amazing. Then he also took us to the Skyline for the pictures. I love our pictures. Hehe.

For our stay in Chicago, it was basically baby sitting, helping out Tita Babs in the house with the cooking, washing the dishes, being toured by our relatives and shopping. Ooohh shopping. Well..I don't have a lotta money so I wasn't able to buy lotsa stuff yet, and I'm saving for NY. But I must say, I love the sales people here. They're all polite..unlike in Manila. And they really make sure you're doing okay.. The hard part was when we're in the house. I don't usually cook or wash the dishes but there, we had to. But it was a good feeling knowing I was helping out. Oh and we did our own laundry! Hooray for us. Well, we used the washing machine and dryer of course. Hehe.

But..we had to leave. Tita Babet was crying when we left..and I was really trying to hold back my tears! For a few minutes, I really felt how she feels. Sure she has a family there, but she's still alone in a way...I feel really bad for her..but that's just the way it is..

For our Greyhound experience, maybe when I get home. It's 1:27am already and we still have to pack. Next stop: Boston, NY and I dunno where else. Exciting!

OOohhh and Fuck...all my effort working out gone... I gained 7 pounds. 7 frikking pounds!!!!!

Btw, Hi Charlotte! May bago akong reader. Nice! =) Haha..