I swear, my english block (and professor, of course) is the best english block in the entire Ateneo. I often tell stories to my other friends about how much fun my classmates in engish and I have. The best part about being in class R-11 is the out-of-the-classroom education, also known as field trips. We had one last sem in Mt. Banahaw. It was fun although it would have been better if every one had gone. This sem, Sr. Migs, our beloved english professor, planned a trip to the annual hot air balloon festival in Clark, Pampanga. Just like last sem’s trip, an incentive or bonus would be given to those who would go. Wow, getting a bonus for doing some thing fun – now that’s R-11 for you.    

            The day before the trip, my Fil block mates and I participated in the Sagala ng mga Sikat which left me exhausted, to say the least. I went to bed immediately when I came home from school so that I’d have enough energy for the following day. Finally, Saturday came. I woke up around 3:30 am so I’d have 10 minutes to shower, 10 minutes to get dressed and another 10 as time allowance in case I forgot to do some thing. I left the house at ‘round 4 and arrived in Petron, Katipunan 5 minutes later. I saw some of my friends inside the convience store waiting for the others as well. When every one was finally there, we said a small prayer and left. Anton, Sandra, Gliza, Sevy, JJ, Patrick and I rode with Pao in his car while the others went with Mej’s and Janyn’s cars.

            Most of us were still quite groggy during the hour and half trip to Clark. Pao played a lot of songs on our way, most of them reminded me of last sem’s field trip. When we got to the event, first thing we did was eat and eat a lot. My mom insisted that I eat breakfast before leaving but I didn’t, telling her that I could end up being late if I did. But I guess I was just too excited. The place was awesome - wide stretches of green grass everywhere and the cool morning breeze blowing against our faces. There were hundreds of people, a lot of them flying colorful kites. The main attractions were, of course, the hot air balloons but none of them were flown because of the strong gusts of wind.

            The trip reminded me of two things. First is that genuine learning is not limited to the walls of a classroom or the school campus. By “genuine”, I mean the things that you learn not only through the mind but heart as well. Practicality is one thing that can be learned outside the classroom – knowing how to use public transportation, knowing which routes to pass when going to a certain place, communicating with different kinds of people, even etiquette and propriety. I believe that text book knowledge would be useless without street smarts.

            Another thing I re-learned is appreciating the people around you. I’ve been staying in the same room for 2 hours every Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays with Poch, with Janelle, Anton, Cy, Aileen, Karlo and all the other R-11 people for almost a year now and during the trip, I realized that I never really took time to know them more. I know that college is not like high school where you spend your breaks with almost the same group of people from your freshman year ‘til you walk down the aisle to get your diploma during graduation. But the field trip gave me this feeling, this wow-I-didn’t-know-that-hanging-out-with-you-would-be-this-fun feeling and if things were to go my way, I’d like to spend at least an hour of class with these people for the next 4 years of my stay in Ateneo.

So I found this picture of my classmates and I back in 3rd year high school while cleaning my room last Friday. Seeing it gave me nostalgic feelings. It was one of those moments where you completely stop what you're doing and sit down in one corner and reminisce. 3rd year, to me, was the perfect year in high school.

- class president   =D
- my grades were "tight". 'cept for chemistry
- best teachers in school
- best recess and lunch barkada
- sweetest girlfriend
- great chemistry with every one in class

This is a short one, a very short one. And weird.

I was walking in the middle of the road with all the cars speeding past me, most of them honking and yelling at me to get off the road. I don't know why but I like doing that. =D

So yeah, I was walking when all of a sudden I hear these rumbling noises coming from behind. When I turned to look, I saw this giant green thing (looked like an m&m) heading towards me, crushing every thing that was in its way (cars, people, etc.). I did what any sane man would do in a situation like that and ran like heck away from it.

I woke up soon after that and I was like, "Wow pare, ang labo naman nun!"

I woke up early last Monday but it wasn't because of school. Hell no. Ateneo had this 'President's Day' or something going on so we didn't have classes. I woke up early to watch Super Bowl 42 on TV.

As soon as I opened my eyes, I grabbed the remote and turned the TV on. Unfortunately for us Sky Cable subscribers, none of the channels covered the game. I texted a couple of my friends asking if they had live coverage of the game.  After 30 painful minutes of waiting, I decided to just forget about them. The game was starting without my eyes glued to TV watching it.

Out of time and out of my mind, I had an epiphany. I turned the computer on and watched the play-by-play thing they had.

For those of you who don't know what the play-by-play thing is, it's like watching the game in real time but you don't see the players themselves. It just tells you every thing that goes on by the second. It wasn't that much thrilling compared to watching the game live but hey, it's better than nothing, right?

New England Patriots against New York Giants.

The Patriots were on the verge of making history by finishing the season without a single loss. They were heavily favored going up against the 4th seeded Giants (the Patriots, having no losses, ranked 1st).

Long story-short, the Patriots lost 17-14. That kind of reminded me how UE, without a single loss in the elimination round of the UAAP and heavily favored to win the championship game against La Salle, lost 2 straight games in he finals against DLSU.

That just goes to show that nothing is certain in this world.

    I was having supper in this diner near a motel.  I was eating with a friend of mine but he left because he had a speaking engagement (I    think). It was one of those boring evenings with me, myself and I. Or so I thought.

    After finishing my meal and paying for it, I decided to go home and go to bed. But as I was about to head for the door, this girl caught my eye. She was eating all by her (gorgeous) self. She seemed so familiar, like a childhood friend or something. For some (stupid) reason, I walked up to her table and boldly said, "Hi. Do you mind if sit with you?". I'm never like that with girls, or strangers for that matter so seeing me sit with her was kind of a surprise.

    I can't recall exactly what happened after that. All I remember was we had a good conversation. I ended up paying for her dinner because I wanted to leave a good impression. 

    We left the diner and I walked her to her car. I gave her a hug and she gave me kiss. "See you tomorrow night?", she asked. I remember being so happy after hearing her say that. Instead of saying 'Oh wow! Really?! Sure! I'll be here earlier or I can come pick you up if you want. I love you so much. Will you marry me?', I kept my cool and told her, "Sure, I'll be here."

With that, I woke up to the sound of the alarm of my cellphone.

I quit smoking. Hooray for me.

Now that I've "dropped" the habit, I can:
    jog for an hour
    sleep longer (dunno why)
    breathe deeper
    lift heavier weights
    jump higher
    sing better (not that I'm no good)
    laugh longer

A friend of mine once told me, 'once a smoker, always a smoker'.

Isn't that just the dumbest thing you've heard?




Or maybe he was right.

This is a weird one.

My family and I went to a hospital to visit a friend who was diagnosed with cancer. When we got to the hospital, I stayed outside for a few minutes to smoke a stick or two (I don't smoke anymore, fyi =D). I went to up to our friend's room and just as I was about to knock on the door,
I heard loud cries coming from inside the room. 'Probably broke down' I thought. And for some out-this-world reason I went out of the building and walked behind an alley near the hospital and changed into a superman costume (tights and briefs and all that). I saw myself flying to the window of our sick friend's room and I [think] told something to him that made him smile. He said he won't give up on living, not after hearing what I said.

And then I woke up.

My mom and I spent the entire afternoon shopping for gifts. My uncle said that there were 250, 000 people who went to Megamall last Friday. I found that a bit hard to believe. But if you think about it, it's not impossible considering the overwhelming number of people who live in this city and that Christmas is only a few days away. We went to this bazaar in I-don't-know-where and bought a ton of stuff for friends and relatives. I was carrying 30 lbs of I-can't-remember for 3 straight hours which made my back sore and my arms hurt like hell. Don't you just love the holidays? :D

Can't quite remember much about my dream (again).

All I remember is that I was in Paris with Rhonda from the Nickelodeon's Hey Arnold. She was telling me something about a friend but just before she finished her story, she smiled at me (which turned me on by the way :D) and ran. I ran after her and the next thing I knew, I was flying. Weird huh?

I think I'm in-love with a cartoon character.

My friends and I tell jokes to one another all the time. There was this one joke my friend told us that really stuck to my head. Before going to bed last Monday night, I kept thinking about it and in my dream, I saw my friend's (guy who cracked the joke) face. It was a bit distorted which made it funny. I also remember him cracking the joke again and I was laughing my lungs out. I woke up only to realize that I had a stupid smile on my face. I opened my eyes to find my brother staring at me laughing.