chopsuey :D

...almost 3 months in my new workplace, it's difficult sometimes, fun sometimes, stressing oftentimes, but at the end of the day, it's fulfilling and i can genuinely say i am happy on what is happening to my so called life now. :)

...last 05 December 2013 was my first event - Thailand's National Day at Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati; such a memorable day??? :)why not?? i was wearing my high-heels shoes for almost 16 long hours and then we had to walk around Makati to get a cab :( but again, it was such a great event! :)

...my student life is a bit laid back these days, but i have to be ready for a blow-by-blow puyatan and iyakan (???) early next year back-to-back with the busy preparations for the hig-level meetings!!! Good luck to me! :) Might as well make the most out of the remaining days of 2013 and be tough as 2014 comes. :D

..the first baby in the family is coming in less than 7 months, excited! :) and my baby sister is getting married!!! :)

...it's Christmas Day next week!!! :) i'm going home on the 24th and be back here in Manila on the 25th; i suddenly miss na may looooooooooongggggg Christmas break!!! :D

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2013!!! :)

back to school. ;)

it's exactly three months since i last wrote here... time passed just like that... well, i was back to being a student... i can say it's hard especially during the first few weeks, worrying over being away from school for almost eight years, afraid that things have been very, very different now... sleepless nights, i suddenly hated friday because it means i'll have a class the next day, the weekdays suddenly became like my weekends... tons of readings, nervousness over reports and papers... i started going to school at age 6 in kinder and graduated in college at the age of 20, a total of 15 years in school, countless exams and recitations, but honestly it is only now that i felt being a certified student, studying and focusing on the requirements... it felt like a whole new experience all over again, as i have said on my first day, it felt like i am in grade one again, trying to learn how to do things... barely one month to go, the semester will be over but it still feels like i am still in the adjustment period now... but what is good about all these new things is at the bottom of it is the sense of accomplishment for where i am now... i know i still have a long way to go, but i am glad that i am no longer where i was before, i am more financially unstable now but maybe i just learned not to worry over it too much... maybe i have learned to trust GOD more now, and so far He hasn't disappoint me... i am now more confident on things that is coming my way, if my plans don't go the way i want it to be then it's not the things that GOD has written on HIS master plan for me, as simple as that... few years back, this was just a dream, but it's now here within my reach, i was given the opportunity and all i need is to keep my determination and faith that things will be okay... Thank You Lord for everything... I am glad that i took the risk because i believe i am doing okay now... :)

hoping for the best! :)

it's been months... what's new?? i have resigned from work and jobless for more than three months now... after so much urong-sulong, i finally had the courage to try my luck on my plans of going back to school - to take up Masters in Asian Studies in UP Diliman's Asian Center... i have finally passed the requirements last March 13, and had the Aptitude and Essay Exam today (yesterday, actually since it's April 9 na today) how's the exam? what do you expect? it's a million times harder than the UPCAT!!! i really had my brain cells cracked into thousand pieces!!! hahaha... but seriously, it's an admission exam in UP, no need to ask, right? :) but today's activity is just the second step of a long journey, (the first step is passing the requirements!) the panel interview is scheduled on the 18th, so wish me luck!!! :)

this has been a long overdue plan...
it's hoping for the best and expecting for the worst...
if i'll be admitted and have the chance to pursue it, i'll be very happy but if not, it's just also okay...
at least i had the chance to try and i am really glad enough to reach this far...

I have always believe on God's Master plan for me, ever since! so THY will be done! :)

graduation days

It is now the time of the year when students are anticipating for their graduations; excited to wear the cap and the gown, receive their diplomas, and looking forward for the new challenges after graduation.

Graduation, like Christmas, is an occasion that always gives me a nostalgic feeling (especially the graduation march); happy because I was able to accomplish everything needed to get my diploma, yet sad because I have to leave my comfort zone; excited for the graduation day yet afraid and nervous because the morning after that special day, everything will be different.

I have already been a part of the graduating batch four times, and have worn four graduation gowns and caps, and received four diplomas.

Kindergarten, Batch 1991
It’s been 18 years since my first graduation, and I can no longer remember it perfectly. All I can remember is I received a medal as the top 4 of our batch. As a souvenir of my 1st graduation, I have a close-up picture capturing my “chinita-eye” smile, hahaha; it was taken just beside the then Grade 4-1 room. My mother is the one who made “sabit” the medal to me.

Grade Six, Batch 1997
The graduations in our school are usually held in the morning, but the PTA agreed to do a little experimentation in expense of our batch. Our graduation was scheduled at 1PM. Just imagine, the graduates, parents, and guests are inside the put-up covered area in front of the stage. After the almost three-hour graduation program, we are all like freshly-baked pandesals. Well, I graduated 14th of the graduating class plus a special award of: Maaasahan. We sang “Paano Kita Mapasasalamatan” (our school’s traditional graduation song) and recited the Oath of the Graduates. Our guest speaker was Congressman Ralph Recto (now NEDA Director-General). I graduated for the sake of graduating, so it was not special, people around me expected too much from me and they are soooooooo disappointed. I ended my elementary years with a FLOP!

High School, Batch 2001
Our class performed in an ala flute recital number, hahaha! We sang our graduation song, Journey by Lea Salonga, in the middle of the program (shouldn’t it be done at the end, with matching throwing of the caps?!?); we also sang Hear Our Land by Jamie Rivera, and the JMI Hymn (of course!). I can no longer remember who our speaker was. I received two certificates, one for being an UPCAT Qualifier, and the other one for getting a 91% average in NSAT. Unlike, the previous one, I was happier this time, I have this “I-redeem-myself-and-proven-my-worth” feeling. I was glad that I finished my four years without expectations yet I achieved something on my own parameters. I got the last HURRAH! Hahahahaha!

College, Batch 2005
It was like… FINALLY!!! With all the challenges that I went through, not to mention the ocean of tears that I have shed even before enrolling in college and my vertigo days, I will really say… FINALLY!!! When I entered the PICC grounds, I was really ecstatic, it’s because I can’t see my blockmates (hahaha); but maybe I was not ecstatic but annoyed because I was victimized by those fake (official) photographers!!! But aside from that disaster, I was really delighted to be part of the graduating batch of 2005. I was able to graduate and finish the 4-year course in due time, with no interruptions; that was really a big achievement for me. I am honored to receive a UP diploma, and no matter what happen, nobody can deny the fact that I am a certified UP graduate!!! I (again) got the last HURRAH!!! Hahahaha!

CONGRATULATIONS to all the Batch 2009 graduates, especially to my brother, Macmac, who graduated from high school.

“Graduation is not an end, but only a beginning.”

Passing the UPCAT

“… kumbaga UP or NOTHING”
“… pag hindi ako pumasa, tatalon ako sa bangin, PLAN B, B for bangin!”
“shaded circles”

--- lines from the UPCAT The Movie

I came across this 2-min trailer of the movie from the Youtube, and got these lines. And of course, naka-relate naman ako. Like the main character, I may say that back in high school, I also have that “simple” dream of passing the UPCAT because of:

>>>financial reason – during that time, there’s an insinuation that I should be sensitive enough to understand that it would be too hard for my mother to send me to college; and so I thought that passing the UPCAT would be enough reason for me to insist that I want to enroll in college. Also, most schools cost too much. I only took 2 college entrance exams, one is UPCAT and one from PNU, I passed my exam in PNU… and so my plan B, is definitely not bangin. And I did not entertain the idea of “UP or Nothing” because my primary concern is to study, but if I will study, why don’t I go to UP?

>>>pride, self-satisfaction, and “redeem yourself” thing – From Kindergarten to Grade 4, I was a consistent honor student, in the top 5, if I may say. But just imagine how the world turned upside down when I was in grade 5, I got the biggest flop of my student life when I collapsed from top 4 (in grade 4) all the way down to (there’s still a 4 in fairness!) 14th. I am not so sure how it happened, or what happened to me, but one thing for sure, I did my best (maybe it’s just good enough). Of course, I felt bad, just imagine the feeling of the 11-yr old girl, who used to be part of the recognition program, stepping up in the stage, receiving a ribbon or a medal, then all of a sudden, there she was far from the stage, watching her classmates in the stage receiving their medals. Then she had to answer everyone’s “why? what happened?” question, when she herself, doesn’t know the answer. Obviously I graduated from elementary not sitting in the stage, and never had the chance to receive or passed the “sulo”. So sad! But well, that’s life, and life must go on. Highschool. I just enjoyed myself, well, just a little pressure knowing that my classmates are valedictorians, salutatorians, etc. from different elementary schools in town, plus a little pressure of being known as the “sister of” as days went on, and of course there are some crying moments over the unanswered math homeworks. But aside from that, my high school days were fun; in general I truly enjoyed it. I don’t care if I failed those monthly or even periodical exams, or got a grade of 79 (my only palakol grade) in Biology; my only concern is I need to pass the final grades. Well, graduating in time wasn’t a problem, I knew from the very start that I can (magaan lang ang bangko!).
With what I’ve been through as a student, passing the UPCAT is really one thing I dreamed of. In our school, names of UPCAT passers are displayed near the gate, where everyone can see it, even the churchgoers (our school is just beside the church) and I somehow wanted my name to be part of that “display”.
“Redeem yourself” is from Sir Velandres (+), he often mentioned it in class. He has been my Math teacher from 2nd – 4th yr high school, and without he knowing it, he had instill it in my mind since then. I thought of UPCAT to redeem myself but still I am not 100% sure that I can do it, but I decided to take the risk, after all how can I pass if I will not take the exam.

August 6, 2000: my UPCAT day, I left the house around 8am, and then dropped by the church. Around 10am, we left going to Batangas City; our exam schedule is 12:30pm. For almost 6 hrs, we are inside the testing center, getting sleepy and dizzy rubbing the tip of the Mongol 2 pencil on the test paper to shade more than a hundred circles. After the exam, we dropped by the Jollibee to eat, then home sweet home. Within 6 months before the result came; different emotions, anticipating for a positive result then telling myself it is impossible, then again praying that I will pass, but somehow do not want to expect anything. It was a little torture. February 2001, here comes the result: I PASSED THE UPCAT!

I was so ecstatic during that time; I can’t believe that I really did pass the UPCAT. I was so happy; at least I got something that had at least made me visible. I left the school not just as one of the familiar faces that have spent days sitting in the classrooms and walking along the corridors. I may never have reclaim being part of the top 10 students, but on our graduation day, I was back on the stage to receive the certificate of recognition of being one of the UPCAT passers…. and of course my name had the chance to be part of that display near the gate.

I went through a lot before I took and passed the UPCAT… but before I can enroll and be accepted in UP is another story… and studying in UP is still another story… and graduating from UP is again another story!

So, I have 3 more UP-related stories to post!

UPCAT The Movie *** Robinsons Galleria *** December 3-16