"Mean Girls" at 4

Yay! No class and I get to watch Harry Potter today! :)

I find it sad that I already have to deal with bitchiness among 4-year old girls. I mean, what have their parents been doing all this time?! If this is how they act toward their peers at this age, how much more evil could they manifest when they're teenagers?!

There are two girls in my class who always play together, as they were classmates since last year. Princess A is curly-haired, dark-skinned, chubby, with big eyes and a know-it-all. She insists on getting her turn all the time, she makes "irap" when she gets bumped, stepped on, etc. and makes sumbong to her teachers all the time. She used to be a crybaby last year, insisting that her parents watch her by the door as she plays, probably making sure that she's got her back covered and she can do anything she wants.

Princess B is a pretty ballerina with a good heart, always helping her classmates to open their food, getting their nametags, etc. She's very gentle, soft-spoken and smart too. (I guess you now know whose side I am on.) She adores Princess A so much that she's like a sick puppy following her around. Princess A (or Evil Stepsister) gets too annoyed that she ignores her completely (thereby making her cry and tell her teachers, "She's not talking to me!") OR she orders Princess B around and tells her to do things for her!

One time in the playground, we overheard Princess B said, "I'm going to be the princess!" and Evil Stepsister retorted, "It's not your decision!" which made Princess B shut up. And there was another time when I was playing a game to test how fast they can answer correctly. Napikon ata with me because she can't get it right. And when she did get it right once, she stuck out her tongue and exclaimed, "You're a loser! You're a loser!" WHAT A BITCH! Hindi na nga maganda, pangit pa ugali!

Anyway, I think Princess B is starting to learn that if her old friends don't treat her right, she's always welcome to make new ones. Now she's befriending the other girls in class and I secretly hope that Evil Stepsister will eventually feel left out! Haha.

HELL in the mornings

For the second time this week, I was 45 minutes late for work. It took me more than an hour and a half to travel from Sucat to Alabang last Monday and this morning. It's so unfair to be leaving at the earliest possible time and getting stuck at a standstill and missing a third of my class time. For someone who's almost always the first one to arrive, it's very frustrating. This morning was the worst, because I had no choice but to endure Sucat traffic because of the nasty rains and flooded bottleneck at CAA. Haaay!

So it's not just the confusion at work or the rowdiness of the kids that makes my head hurt. Everything's really testing my patience nowadays! It's been raining almost nonstop, here's hoping that I get to sleep in tomorrow morning... crossing my fingers for a long weekend! :)

Boracay in July

Peejo doesn't like it when I stay up late to go Facebooking or blogging, but since he already bade me goodnight and he doesn't go on Multiply... I think I'm safe. Haha. It's been a while and I kinda missed it, and I have a lot on my mind lately, so maybe I ought to be given credit and try to unload my thoughts a little bit.

This is just one of the many breathtaking views I captured from my window seat aboard the PAL Express to Boracay last Thursday. I didn't tell people I'd be going back to the island for the second time this year, my boss even forgot I filed for a leave to accompany my balikbayan relatives to their first ever trip to a Philippine beach (I insisted that they visit places other than malls). Anyway, I wasn't really expecting a fantastic vacation because I had my period to begin with (boohoo), but I welcomed the change in environment because I had been sick since the week before and I felt that things weren't going well for me at that time.

When in doubt about God's presence, go ride a plane. The islands down below that are outlined in white and surrounded by blue and the white puffy clouds just like these can only lead you to believe that there really is an omniscient being responsible for all these beautiful things. A sore throat has been bugging me for almost two weeks, my patience was wearing thin with the kids at school, and I felt I was losing my touch in terms of work, and it led me to dread waking up in the mornings. That getaway came right on time, just when I needed it.



The waters were rough on White Beach, it was drizzling/raining all the time, I was cold and the clothes I brought were all beach wear, my cough was still there, and I was feeling fat. I thought the only redeeming moment was when I ordered a 7-cheese pizza with bacon and pesto all for myself. I got stranded in the restaurant and ate half of it, only to find out it wasn't as good as it once tasted. Sigh.

But I guess any kind of seascape have calming effects on everyone. It was a treat walking barefoot along the beach and seeing the nearby island get all fogged up from a distance. It's not so bad after all. I figured that the kids are still going to be as many and as rowdy as the last time, that work will still pile up, that I will still get confused or rattled along the way, but it's up to me to do something about it. Should I wallow in frustration or accept and make the most out of it? In the end, it's just going to entail a change of perspective.

I hopped on the plane ride home with the giddiness of a schoolgirl, missing Peejo and getting myself all wound up to face the traffic, the noise, the busy-ness of the coming week. Note to self: Steer clear of Bora from July onwards, you'll spend the rest of your vacation holed up in your hotel room, freezing your ass off.

Of doors and weird stuff

It's been a while since I last updated Multiply (crazy about Facebook and learning about Twitter now), it's just today that I've been sneaking up on some people's accounts and finally realized how I've wasted my time. There isn't really anything that I wanted to write about... until I noticed that my closet door was ajar about an inch. Of course I had to close it even if I feel so tamad and sleepy already, because I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep if I had left it open. It goes the same for any other door ajar - I always will get up to close them, like my subconscious is telling me that a cold, bloodied hand or some other scary creature will crawl out of it if I don't. Yikes. And so goes my quirk, which probably is not that uncommon.

Which brings me to what happened last night. Got home around 12 from a party, and Peejo and I had to pee so we entered the house. The front door was locked, but the key was hanging from the window (like always). Anyway, we were done and I went back to the car with him to get something. I distinctly remember leaving the door ajar because I knew I won't take long. Nevertheless, I brought the key with me. When he left, I walked to the door to find it CLOSED AND LOCKED. The dog was lying in front of it.

DAN-DAN-DAN-DAN!

But I still opened it with the key, didn't bother turning on any lights downstairs, and went up to my room with just the thought of crawling under my sheets in my airconditioned room.

Of copycats and American Idol

Now only 3 contenders for American Idol left. Felt sorry for Allison who recently got voted out, I really thought that she was able to hold on longer after her smashing duet with Adam last week. Well, I guess she doesn't have enough fans to keep her on top, but I'm sure she won't go home emptyhanded. I just can't get over the fact that she looks so much like Ruby Rodriguez hahaha! Anyway, Adam, Danny and Kris really are the top picks for the season, and this is probably AI's best season yet. It used to be that "birits" and a large vocal range can already land you a recording deal, but with Adam's theatrical gimmicks, much higher standards have been set. Lil Rounds is the perfect example. I was amazed how she sounded so much like Mary J. Blige, but unfortunately for her, she couldn't get out of the mold of Whitney Houston, Tina Turner and whoever else she borrowed songs from for the competition.

At hindi rin naman nalalayo ang mga Pinoy celebs. Pagbali-baligtarin mo man, people took notice of those singers who sound EXACTLY like the popular singers. Every single one of them who can sound like Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, etc. sumisikat. It's not so bad naman, because some of them do prove their stellar power by having their own style, their own number one hits and the like. Kudos to Sarah Geronimo and Charice for that (who incidentally looks so much like Journey's Arnel Pineda with their super straight limp hair! Hahahahahaha!)

Which brings me to those annoying Sunday variety shows with MYMP and Nina as mainstays. Heard MYMP sang a Miley Cyrus song which was sung exactly the same as the original, and I switched channels right away. What else is new? Sumikat lang sila sa puro covers which were run-of-the-mill, boring renditions. I wonder if they ever paid any royalty? Blatant copycats. At isa pa tong si Nina. I saw her in the middle of singing the piano version of Lady GaGa's Pokerface and the stupid audience were applauding her as if it was her own brilliant, unique arrangement! Pwede ba! Malamang they haven't seen or heard that version yet. Really, we shouldn't tolerate these so-called stars and allow them to rake in the fame and the fortune they don't deserve. That's why I look forward to each AI performance this season, because the contestants have no other choice but to define who they really are. Otherwise, they will just be another one who bites the dust.

So who's your pick? It's always been Adam for me, but who knows?

What happens in the classroom

I think I lost count already...

This happened sometime last week. Summer class started, and we have a new Korean boy in the Blue Room, apparently from the rival school right across us.

During snack time, he said, "Teacher, you're pretty." I was looking somewhere else and was pleasantly surprised. I turned to him and said, "Thank you." Then he goes, "Why you say 'thank you'? I was joking!"

Ay talaga nga naman! Grrr. Pinagtitripan nya talaga ko. At ako lang.

Like being shackled to my bed

Since we came home from dinner, my butt has firmly lodged itself among my pillows. I'm thinking about a seven letter word for the last two days (nope it's not Omakase although I've been craving for it) and the person with the correct guess wins the prize! Haha. Aside from that, the family's flying to Macau on Friday noon and I'm really excited, especially after my tita showed me pics from their trip last week.

Thoughts that have been swimming in my head:
1. Shall I do a Sky Walk? Is that on the 61st floor or something? Yikes. I might even shudder in fright while looking all the way down from the glass floors.

2. Bungee Jumping at the Macau Tower? They say it's the highest point in the world for a bungee jump. At around Php 12K a pop daw, I think I'm going to barf out all my insides when I do. Or maybe I'll knock myself unconscious halfway down and find myself in a hospital hours after hahaha.

3. Should I try my hand at the Holdem tables? Am I lucky enough? Praktisado na ba ko? I've garnered $474k on the Holdem game on my phone. Pwede na kaya yon?

4. Hoping I take good photos with my reliable, compact T700. I'm still unfit for the myriad of setting that I have to learn on an SLR. My bro will just take care of it.

5. To eat or not to eat? Macau apparently boasts of a unique cuisine fit for the most discriminating of palates. A fusion of Oriental and European flavors that promises a gastronomic explosion in your mouth. Well, maybe not the pieces of tapa-looking "specimens" that we were given as pasalubong and the egg roll with seaweed and shredded pork snack (they were horrible!). I have to choose wisely.

6. Shopping. I'd rather not expect a lot. My tita said there's a new outlet store that opened in HK. But then again, I'm not really in a shopping mood nowadays. Saving up for *ahem*.

7. Cirque du Soleil at the Venetian! Ummm, I just heard. I hope we can watch.

8. Ocean Park or HK Disney? Suntok sa buwan na to.

In this heat

I'm letting the aircon rest for a while because it has been working hard since this morning. I woke up with my hair plastered to my forehead and cheeks sometime 7am and it was only that white box near the window that enabled me to go back to la-la land until I felt it was time to get my butt off the bed.

I finished the last of the baked mac that Peejo gave me before I felt the itch to log on to Facebook. It's been an itch I can hardly contain, with Texas Holdem, Scramble and Yoville to keep me preoccupied the whole day, together with checking out all my friends' updates, albums, status messages and whatever. It really is absolutely addicting, except for the annoying quiz results of everyone that you can actually skip publishing! People, please consider that option so other people's news feeds won't be cluttered with too much of it (trash would perfectly describe it actually).

It was actually a super lazy day, with me finishing off the last of Grey's Anatomy's recent eps. Thank God we finally know what's up with Izzy! Had to pause in between to take a shower so my mom won't have a reason to holler at me when she's dressed up and I'm not. We don't have a water heating system, and during these days when cold showers are most preferred, WARM water came out of the showerhead! I had to wash my hair with WARM shampoo and conditioner, and lather my skin with WARM body wash. Washed my face with WARM facial wash, and the toothpaste was no different, it oozed out WARM! Moisturizers are out for the meantime because it's just going to be so annoying in this heat.

Of conquests and positivity

It’s been a week of conquests so far, to which I’m very thankful of. First of all, I’ve conquered the hurdle that is the proposal defense! This second one had been a far cry from the first; it was too much of a breeze that it was almost surreal. Of course, there were minor revisions to finish by third week of April and that the real WORK begins now. I’m just feeling good about the whole thing that the final defense is something that I’m completely not worrying about as of yet. Or maybe there is nothing to worry about, after all?

Second conquest – I was able to jog nonstop on Thursday and Friday from the corner of Taysan all the way to the corner of University Ave., and the whole stretch of Acacia from University Ave, Country Club Drive and back to Taysan! For someone who used to pant just upon reaching the corner of Mango, this is really a mean feat. I can’t believe it! I hope before the summer ends I can jog the whole route nonstop! By then I’m hoping to be reed-thin… hahaha as if! Most importantly, I’m hoping I could join some kind of running event, maybe those that will be scheduled in June or July.

Third conquest - the schoolyear. With my last PTC scheduled on the remaining hours of Friday, the vacation seemed so far away! But the program's done, the paperworks submitted and goodbyes with some parents and children exchanged. Now there's no stopping me from getting first dibs at summer as we fly to Boracay tomorrow afternoon!

Fourth conquest - my craving for chocolate down to nada. This may sound absolutely trivial for most, but the real me gets downright weak in the mere presence of anything chocolate. It was late to offer it as a Lenten sacrifice, but I'm planning to stretch it as far as I can go. I think the rest of the family's doing the same sacrifice, because the ref is already brimming with sweets, yet nobody's touching them! Wow, maybe all of us are unconsciously anticipating my brother's wedding next year, hence the need to trim down to look good for the event.

It's been a very good year so far, with another family trip to Macau mid-April, and relatives from dad's side coming home by July and the excitement of a big reunion. Here's hoping that summer classes and the next schoolyear will be as fun, that I'll can already start looking for a job abroad, and that my thesis will finish by 3rd term!

Resurrection

Imagine my surprise when some friends asked me why I haven't posted a blog in the past month or so. Aba, may mga fans pala ko noh? :) Yeah, I know it's been a while. It's not that it's been a toxic month. As a matter of fact, I already finished my narratives way ahead of schedule and is just highly anticipating my Boracay trip next Sunday, totally unruffled by my defense on Tuesday and the remaining PTCs and the kids' Moving Up day on Friday. Wow, talk about priorities hahaha.

Here I am munching on whole grain cereal (which I never take with milk) and making a mental note to replenish our supply of dried fruit later. I didn't know my mom was already making an effort to eat healthy because she remarked that somebody made ubos her raisins (twas me, because I thought they bought it by mistake haha). It feels good that going organic and healthy is not that hard to do anymore, in fact, I'm even starting to enjoy it! Yesterday, Peejo and I jogged our usual route (Taal-Talisay-Taysan-Country Club-University Ave-Acacia-Country Club-Taysan-Talisay-Taal) and I was able to jog non-stop that whole stretch of Acacia in less than 10 minutes! The rest of the way tho, I had to stop a few times. Pero feat na yon ha! Anyway, I think this is the runner's high they told me about. Sarap! I hope I could jog the whole route non-stop in the next weeks. Just trying to make up for the birthday bingeing a few weeks ago :)

Last week in church I was inspired to write for Youngblood again, in the hopes of being published thrice before I reach 30 (yeah I wasn't focused on the mass, I know, tsk tsk). I only have a week to go because I wanted to write about something related to the schoolyear. I hope I can start it right away.

It's family bonding time again, I'll be back soon!

It had been a great week!

For a number of reasons....

1. Had a heart-to-heart talk with mom that made everything alright. Mahal nya talaga ko.

2. First time that my adviser said anything good about my thesis proposal. OMG after a year! There are still a lot of revisions but she told me, "See, there is light at the end of the tunnel!"

3. Everybody says I'm losing weight. YAHOO! Glad to have worked out thrice this week, stayed away from rice and sweets and munched a lot of healthy stuff without feeling a bit deprived. Boracay here we come!!!

4. Had the opportunity to join my student's evaluation with his therapist. Very enlightening I should say. The most important nugget of wisdom I got from it: Mainstreaming is always the way to go for children with special needs and that early intervention is worth so much.

5. Why is it that the best haircuts I get are from far-flung places? One was 2 years ago at Profiles Katipunan and just this afternoon at Indigo on Temple Drive. I'm loving my short bob! Mukhang kinilig yung stylist when he showed me his finished piece haha!

6. I have a new favorite sandwich - Bacon, Egg and Cheese on a Multigrain bagel from Starbucks! At 90 a pop, it was a cheap but very filling lunch.

Random thoughts part 2

4. Now that I'll be back to work tomorrow, para rin palang nagcelebrate ako ng Chinese New Year Singapore-style -- hindi ako pumasok since Thursday! I hope it brings me luck this year and beyond.

5. Channel 2 bothered to resurrect Jojo Alejar's career with a supporting bit in their version of Betty La Fea, gay role pa ata. Haha wala lang. Too much boob tube time for me nowadays.

6. If my laptop could talk, it would ask for a vacation. I'm currently on a part-time writing stint, and hopefully it could finance my summer trips!

7. The holdem poker application on my phone made me think of life's probabilities - just when you think you have a winning hand, out comes the river. And then you realize you went all in pala. Hassle. Buti na lang game lang sya.

8. It's already the middle of the week tomorrow! Yahoo!

Some random thoughts

1. I need a makeover! My hair is limp, thinning and undernourished. Makes my face look rounder than it actually is. Melanie Brown, hope to see you on Saturday or sooner!

2. Did I just get amused with watching Wowowee? Since Thursday I join my parents in watching the noontime show since my butt is permanently stationed on the sofa. Some studio contestants were just hilarious! I don't really watch it, and I was really surprised how people will fight tooth and nail just to be on that program and get a chance to win the cash prize. Of course I didn't find any value in all the sexy dancing, cheesy numbers and irritatingly high-pitched voices of Willie's co-hosts, but well, I'm not a target audience anyway. But for those who were hoping to win, it's their only ticket out of poverty.

3. I will forever be grateful for the Internet for providing me with unlimited up-to-date information, means to communicate with old and new friends, and job opportunities! Even if I was sick, I had been very busy. Parang ayoko na pumasok...

Figuring it out

I was about to reapply another coat of ointment to my rashes (which are scabbing now, thank God!) when I was bitten by the blog bug again and remained in my comfortable position on the sofa. O di ba, inuna pa ang pagsulat ng blog kesa magpagaling. Anyway, since I was told to take a leave Wednesday night, I was racking my brains for reasons why I was singled out by the varicella-zoster virus at this point in my life.

The two doctors that diagnosed me (had the second one because my mom only believes what her doctor says) said that one only gets inflicted with herpes zoster or shingles are those over 50 or those who have a poor immune system. I was given, together with the antivirus, some Vitamin B-complex tabs. I definitely can cancel out the first one, but the last???

In this household of ours, it's only me who gets into some form of exercise. Ang mga tao dito sa bahay, kung hindi nagtatrabaho, kumakain ng marami at natutulog. I consider myself very fit if they are deemed the status quo. In terms of good eating habits, well, ang uso dito kumain pag oras ng pagkain kahit hindi gutom, tatayo lang pag busog na busog, at hindi titigil ngumuya ng mga pantawid-gutom (kahit hindi gutom) hanggang maubos.

What could be the reason, then? I control my food intake, I exercise regularly. What was I missing? Peejo knew the answer right away. It's sleep. As much as I deny it, I only get as much as 6 hours a day with my early teaching hours and my blog and Internet addiction at night. I may have avoided night-outs for a considerable time already, but what about the lifestyle I led years ago where I didn't give prioirity for sleep and rest? Its repercussions may already be catching up with me, in a form of medical condition that I just cannot set aside.

How about you? What have you been lacking so far? Don't wait until you get rashes like mine before you take action. Not only they're ugly, the pain can get really nasty.

Greetings from my crib

It's 4:17am and yes, I'm in bed. Stinging pain woke me up at 3:30 - I dunno where it's coming from anymore - and I cried because I'm scared. Scared that tomorrow or the next next day or the day after next will be more painful, scared of the possibility of worse complications that might prolong my recovery, and scared that I might not wake up when I sleep. I know it's the paranoia talking, but I can't help it! I think I have a blog post somewhere about death being a fact of life and welcoming death with open arms. Now that I have a medical condition, I realize that death will have to wait. Because I'm young whichever way you see it, and there's still a lot that I want to happen. I want to get married and have kids, I want to work abroad, I want to see my grandkids, I want to travel to Europe, I want to learn how to drive, I want to learn how to cook, I want to make more money, I want to learn more, I want to help people, I want to spend more time with my parents, I want, I want, I want....

Ouch. I'm in pain again. If there's any consolation, I learned something new that I can share with other people. Makes me wish I was a doctor always showing off the things I know haha! Maybe it's not too late to be one? Yawn. Let me sleep on it first.

Shingles

Nope, I am not drunk and slurring my words (yeah I'm part of the Shingles Apostolate *hic*). I'm in bed, laptop on my lap (duh) trying to be as comfortable as I can with my 4 king-sized, marshmallowy pillows. Came from the doctor this afternoon and finally found the answer to the mystery behind the stabbing and throbbing pain that's been annoying me for the last 3 days.

Shingles is apparently more common with people over 50 years (but why do I have it?) and usually attacks those with weak immune systems (me, who rarely gets a cold?). It is caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox, and apparently when you get that as a child, it doesn't really go away, it lays dormant near your spinal cord. For some unknown reason, it gets reactivated and starts to multiply, forming a band of rashes in the nerve area that it affects, which is normally on the left part of the torso.

Itchy? You bet! You'd want to tear out your skin. With it comes sharp chest and back pains combined that comes easy as it goes. It's like you're in a room whose walls are trying to flatten you like a pancake (like a scene from Twilight Zone). Sometimes the rashes feel like there's acid on it, and the rest of my left side torso feels so sore.

For more info, read more here:

http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/23068820/

And excuse me, that is not my photo that you see! Haha.

My boss advised me to take a leave and write my narratives instead (haha). Those who've had chicken pox won't get infected with shingles, but those who are still free from the virus, let's just smile at each other :) I have yet to find out when I can be given a clean bill of health.

Mom, being her paranoid self, thinks that the prescribed dosage is way too high for me - five 800mg tablets a day of aciclovir for 5 days. Ummm... sino ba doctor dito?! Sigh. In too much pain to argue. I hope my dad buys the rest of my meds tomorrow.

Miles away

The whole time I was in the gym this afternoon, I put Madonna's "Miles Away" on repeat. As in yun lang. It has been my favorite song since the first time I heard it early November I think. Astig eh. Pantakbo na, pang emo pa haha. Parang it makes you run longer for some reason, title pa lang eh. Kaya siguro I got depressed seeing my hiphop friends dance to it last Monday, because I wasn't able to attend last week. See them here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yELiwayl4ko

Thanks to Tita A for posting it on YouTube! I downloaded it myself to learn the steps. Thanks to Neil na rin for teaching the first 2 8s.

It was emo Monday nga. First thing in the morning I really thought the iPod shuffle was stolen. It was in the pocket of my other bag after all! It was pretty ok naman how it turned out later on. I just feel fat and bloated and hopeless nowadays. Sigh. Imagine, I ran nonstop this afternoon and in 30 mins I covered 3.751km and that's just equivalent to 142kcal burned! Sigh. To think that a Big Mac sandwich is already close to 700kcal, just like a Frappuccino that you can consume in the same amount of time (both of which I'm staying away from hopefully for good). Sigh. Ang hirap magpapayat.

Back to work

Three bitter-tasting words on everyone's mouth nowadays. It's time to put my overnight bag to rest and pack my gym shoes and my lunch for tomorrow. I just came from an overnight thing in Tagaytay, staying at Tirona Hotel by the highway. Thank you Hani! It a poker-videoke-food trip weekend which was freaking cold, but Peejo and I managed to down some orange ice pops we bought sometime midnight from 7-Eleven that was just a few meters away. Tigas din namin noh? (Credits to Del)



With Mike, Jar and LouAnn, we capped the weekend with a hearty late lunch at 3pm at Buon Giorno's, whose pumpkin (pungkin) soup was THE BOMB!!! Had a hard time breathing from feeling so full and at the same time laughing about the adventures of Capt. Save-a-Ho and his sidekick Super Round Down (guess who? hahaha), the baboon-looking Lil Wayne and the worse-looking Ol' Dirty Bastard, and what Grimace actually represented in McDonaldland (guess what, according to Wikipedia, he's a large, walking, talking tastebud hahahahaha).

Back to the workaday world, back to the treadmill, back to veggies and fruits, and back to saving every peso as much as we can. Have a good week everyone! :)