This is how my batchmates and I looked like around June of 2007…
Four years, 144 units and a whole lot of experiences later, this is how we look like now…
A lot has happened in between but I’m just so thankful and happy to have spent four amazing years with these people! Kami na ang nostalgic na we really have to re-create that first batch photo! :)) Anyway, I love these guys!
To the first batch na inabutan ng TOFI (Tuition and Other Fee Increase) sa UP Diliman and the last batch for the Broadcast Department’s old curriculum, good luck to us as we conquer the “real world”! Carpe diem! 🙂
Photos taken by Camille Ventura during our batch lunch last 8 April 2011. Fore more pictures, click here.
Okay, the title is lame and this is a super late post.
My summer vacation kicked off with a two-day all-expenses paid stay at Bahia de Baler courtesy of Mr. Angelo Palmones. This trip is the reason why BC 196 (Crisis in Broadcasting) is always in demand among students, aside from the free lunches and the relatively easy uno. Usually, this is done every semester and students can bring plus ones, but this time, my class last semester were combined with this semester’s BC 196 class and plus ones were not allowed. Sayang kasi konti lang din ang nakasama kasi maraming seniors ang ipit sa thesis.
Since my other friends were among those who were stopped by thesis from joining this trip, I bonded with Audrey during this trip. Though our bonding started when we arrived at the resort already because she was asleep most of the 6.5-hour trip.
Kumpleto sya sa props.
Sa sobrang haba ng biyahe namin to Baler, dinaanan na ata namin ang lahat…
kapatagan...
kabundukan...
At anyong tubig.
When we arrived at Baler, nagkaroon ng agawan sa mga kwarto, but it was settled at the end. Say hello to my roomies (minus Audrey, JT and Rachel)!
With waves that big, hindi namin pinalampas ang mag-attempt mag-surfing! Some of my classmates and I braved the huge waves of Baler with a surfboard. Some of my classmates were successful na makatayo, samantalang ako… hanggang luhod lang tapos lulunurin na ako nang sunud-sunod na alon.
The "I-did-my-best-but-my-best-wasn't-good-enough" picture.
After the surfing session, sobrang sakit ng katawan ko and I knew it was bound to get worse (and I was right, I was paralyzed for almost two days because of it, but it was all worth it)!
We had an early dinner. We don’t have anything to do at around 8 in the evening. So my roomies scouted for a sari-sari store and bought some booze, and we had a room party. It was fun and when we got bored in our room, we transferred to another room to get buzzed. I will not elaborate on the goings-on, just fade up Katy Perry’s Last Friday Night. Hihihi.
The next day, despite body pains and hangovers, we had another disaster preparedness seminar. This time, it was about rescuing drowning people and survival swimming. Yes, the instructors made us swim across Baler’s strong waves. What is dagdag sakit ng katawan. But I did learn a lot.
After the seminar, we were free until lunch to do whatever we want. We left Bahia de Baler after lunch for a short tour, then we were homebound.
Actually, the “tour” was a 20-minute stop at this park overlooking the coastline of Baler. It was such a breath-taking sight and we couldn’t resist doing a photo shoot. :))
There were also some attempts to do “hipster” photos. You can see some of the pictures at Joxx’s Tumblr. He’s a new-found friend and our “official hipster” photographer.
It was as Rebecca Black would say it — fun, fun, fun, fun! It was a great way to finish college and start summer! 🙂
Ma’am Data already signed all four copies and these bound babies are now sitting on Dean Tolentino’s table, waiting for him to affix his signature. I’m one step away from bidding goodbye to the College that housed me for four years and to the University that thought me all I need to know. 🙂
I met Ma’am Data today because she returned my fourth thesis draft. When I arrived at the department, she was busy talking to Sir Choy, so I just sat down and waited. I was very nervous. “What if she’s not yet satisfied with it?” I thought. Then Ma’am Data approached me and handed my draft. “Read the comments,” she said then returned to talk to Sir Choy.
I took a deep breath and opened my draft. No more major comments, just copy editing symbols, grammatical corrections and some revisions for sentence construction. I felt slightly relieved. I told myself not to expect much because Ma’am Data might still want me to do a fifth draft.
After talking to Sir Choy, Ma’am Data approached me. “Ano? Nabasa mo na?” she asked. I just nodded. “Proofread mo na lang ‘yan, tapos iche-check ko sa Monday yung format… pero for binding ka na.”
Oh the joy of hearing those words! A year of hard work has come down to this one moment! Oo, ga-graduate ako for sure! YES!
Sabi ko, hindi ko ilalabas yung graduation picture ko hangga’t hindi ako for binding… so as promised, the world premiere of my sablay photo! Hrhrhr.
I give myself three pats on the back for being able to finish all of my to-do lists for today relatively early. So here I am, making a post that does not contain a picture of me waving back at you.
So last Friday, amidst the mountains of requirements we still have to finish before we could march across the stage wearing white dresses (or barongs) and sablays, Rachel, Rix, Eunice and I took our the night off to watch an Up Dharma Down gig at Route 196. They were big fans of the band, while I, on the other hand, is the friend who tags along because she wants to destress and drink.
Side story: Arianne was supposed to be with us that night. But around 7:30 PM, she texted Rachel that her mom was at the airport all the way from Surigao for a surprise visit! Of course, families come first, so she had to miss the night out.
Anyway, we arrived at Route 196 at around 9:15-ish. I like the place. It’s small, cozy and very intimate. Though the waiters take forever before serving your orders. It’s actually perfect if you want to catch up with friends over good food, some drinks and better music.
The Obligatory Rachel-Alexis Picture of the Night
After a while, Chammy arrived alone. Apparently, she is Up Dharma Down’s number #1 fan! She just came to Route 196 for the sole reason of seeing the band! Saludo naman ako kay Chammy na talagang dinayo (well, not really, since she’s just from Katipunan) pa nya yung gig para lang mapanood sila. Fan talaga!
Sino ang feeling celebrity?
There were three bands that performed that night. First up was Not Another Boyband.
I'm liking the 'fro.
He's the bassist doing his thing in one corner.
I really do not understand what kind of music Not Another Boyband has. They have really good melodies but the singing is off-beat. Maybe they are not just my kind of music, but they were good. They were very good, actually. There was this one song where the vocalist was doing an adlib of the song’s lyrics. Not to mention, they’re very funny and animated. I enjoyed watching them, but I guess their music will take me a while before fully appreciating it.
Next band to play was Hidden Nikki. Now, they were my kind of music — a little pop, a little jazz. Their keyboardist have mad skills, so mad it made me regret stopping piano lessons. I really, really enjoyed their performance.
Finally, the reason why everyone was in Route 196 that night. The main act. The finale. Up Dharma Down.
Armi Millare. Vocalist.
With her voice and her legs, I was easily converted to being a fan. I’ve known the band for a long time already, and I’ve grown to like their music. But hearing them live is just plain awesome! Grabe. No words. Ang galing lang talaga nila. Not to mention na naka-relate din ako sa isa sa mga emo heartfelt song that they performed live.
I am actually considering watching them again live. Hope I’m free this weekend!
Hidden Nikki and Up Dharma Down will be performing at the Earth Hour gathering at the SM Mall of Asia on Saturday (March 26), 8:30 PM.
Forgive me for the lack of updates. I am still stuck in the academic tower and I am yet to defeat the requirement monster! In a week, all these will be over and I will be free!
The other night, I was watching “First Love/Crazy Little Thing Called Love”. It is Thai romantic comedy that claims to be “based on everyone’s true story”. Here’s the bitter reality, not everyone wins the heart of their first love while they were still in their ugly duckling phase and have a happily-ever-after ending nine years after. There might be a few exceptions to the rule, but I just want to disprove their claim that this story is based on “everyone’s true story”, because that just does not happen to everyone.
Well yeah, maybe the whole innocence and naivety of one’s first love is true. I’m sure everyone can relate to Nam, the-ugly-duckling-turned-fashion-princess protagonist of the story. Once in our lifetimes, we’ve passed by a classroom just to get a glimpse of our special someone, dialed their number and hung up when he answers, and did just about everything to get his attention. At one point in our lives, we’ve confessed our feelings to our special someones only to find out that it’s too late or he can never reciprocate the emotions. I’m sure we can remember all of that feel-good/naive things we did for love before heartbreak fucked us up real good. I mean, who could forget? It was such an experience.
Kahit na paasa yung pelikula, I enjoyed watching it just because it’s an hour and a half of Mario Maurer on my laptop screen. Even though the story’s time line went on for almost 12 years, it did not seem dragging. Tamang pang-alis lang ng stress at pangbigay GV sa mga taong pagod. And Thailand is just a beautiful place! Ang ganda nung locations ng movie, especially that one in hanging bridge! So romantic. One more thing, I love about this movie is its soundtrack. Alam mo yung kahit hindi mo naiintindihan yung lyrics, gets mo sya kasi dalang-dala ng melody yung kanta? Yeah.
And one major reason why I finished watching this film (even though I started watching it at around 2AM) is Thai-Chinese-German actor, Mario Maurer (I never thought United Nations could look this good). Others might recognize him from his portrayal of Tong in Love of Siam (2007), which I haven’t finished watching yet because it is dragging. There is nothing special about this model-actor. His acting was just okay, sakto lang para sa isang pang-kilig na pelikula. It is just that he is so yummy. I wouldn’t talk more, I’ll let you decide on your own…
Yesterday, my girls and I had lunch at Tomato Kick for Rix’s “I-passed-LAE” painom (Congratulations soon-to-be Attorney Migriño!). As with any get-together with my girls, it was fun and de-stressing. It was also my first time to try TK’s seafood Marinara. It was okay, but I know I tasted better but I can’t remember from which restaurant! (Boo, I know). Their sizzling beef franks are great! Perfect pulutan — saucy and a bit spicy! And at long last, I was able to try Tanduay Ice. It tastes good kahit na kulay am-in-a-bottle sya.
After carbo-loading at TK, Rix had to go back to CMC to man the on-going job fair there, but Eunice, J-ann, Arianne, Rachel and I were lured into having dessert at Gayuma ni Maria.
It was our first time there and we love how cozy the entire place was! In fairness, nakadikit sa tema yung buong idea nung place. They have floral wallpapers and their tables are like those “seven-minutes-in-heaven” sections na may drapes pa. Since we already had lunch, we don’t have enough space to try their kinky-named entrees and just settled for their desserts. We have no idea what to try so we asked to have the top five best-selling cakes that they have.
(From top left to bottom right) Beats Sex Any Day, Pa-cute, My Favorite Taboo, Stay With Me and Twisted Pavlova
I liked Stay with Me the best! It has this chocolate-y-melt-in-your-mouth sensation that will just make you moan because it’s so good. Twisted Pavlova comes in second with its foamy texture and fresh fruits combo. Pang-alis umay din kasi siya sa lahat nung desserts. Ranking third is My Favorite Taboo. It’s like a cheaper and less sweeter version of Banapple’s Banoffee pie, that’s why it’s just right! Beats Sex Any Day just comes in fourth (well, for one, I don’t have a point of reference yet). It’s just an ordinary brownie-ala-mode-ish dessert. Flaming Wings’ Warm Brownie ala mode is still the best one there is, for me. And last is Pa-cute. It’s supposed to be a mango cheesecake. One, I wasn’t able to taste cheese and two, the mangoes are not just that sweet yet. It just did not work for my taste.
Next time I go back to Gayuma, I’m going to try Unrequited Love. I hope that is delicious! At least, there’s a place where I know I can enjoy unrequited love. 😉
There’s no better to way to start this blog than to share what I think is one of my greatest achievement so far.
(Note: This might get a little cheesy. But bear with me.)
Yesterday, UP MCO nominees for the next Executive Board presented their plans of action for next school year. I was so impressed that every nominee had a very clear vision for the organization once elected. But what touched me most is that I’ve seen how dedicated these “kids” are to MCO. Just like what Rachel said, “Umapaw ang pagmamahal sa org, nalunod ako”.
Having witnessed the growth of the younger ones since they were applicants, it just makes me so proud to see them standing in front of me and continuing (and improving) the paths me and my colleagues have paved. Seeing them with the same (or maybe even better) sense of the values and work ethic necessary to bring the organization forward and knowing that even in my small way, I have influenced them, ang pakiramdam ko kahapon, nakapagpatapos ako ng mga anak ng pag-aaral.
With their smiles, you wouldn't believe that moments ago, they were so stressed.
As I told the nominees the other day, I’ve never been more proud to be an MCOer than I am right now. I can’t wait for the election results to come out. Of course, I have my own bets, but I know whoever wins, UP MCO will be in good hands next school year.
Alex Sees You 