Into the world of magic...

October 31,2006 12:10

My friends and I were in a taxi cab steadily on our way to Glorietta 4 cinema to watch the new move titled "The Prestige." We've planned this trip a week ahead, so when we received the news that we're to have only half day of class today, we were all so excited to watch this movie. This movie is about two magicians, one working hard to show everyone how well he could do magic tricks and the other fighting hard for fame and the pleasure of receiving applause from the audience after every performance.

October 31, 2006 14:15

After having our lunch, we headed our way to the cinema to watch the movie. Trailers...commercials...then finally, the movie! Wow! The movie starts with suspense, giving all of us some confusions. There was never a moment that I took my eyes off the big movie screen. I was so enticed with the movie that I could hardly talk with my seatmeat if she asks me something. I tell you, if you intend to go in the cinema to relax and maybe get a while of sleep, this movie is definitely the last I would recommend you. Put down your concentration for just a second and you won't be able to catch up for the next hour. This movie, like some detectives/action movies, is full of mysteries. You really have to think while you watch to be able to understand what the movie is trying to tell you. You never know what happens next, everything comes so unexpected.

Some magic tricks were revealed and now I know just how easy they were. I also realized how hard it is to be able to excel in a specific field of profession, especially as a magician. You have to pretend that you're a wizard and make things that are impossible come true. Through this movie, I also learned that life is not always complicated. There are always easy ways to solve problems, it depends only on your way of thinking. Sometimes simpler minds tend to be able to sort complicated problems out through a solution that you would think that's obvious or stupid. But the question is, why haven't you thought of it in the first place if it was obvious?

October 31 , 18:10

Finally, after enjoying some arcade games after the movie, my two friends and I headed on our way home. Okay, here goes the problem, this is the first time we're going to ride MRT (another train line) , we haven't had the slightest idea as where to buy tickets and where to ride the train. Fortunately, a classmate of our's directed us to the ticket booth and we're also able to find the entrance to the waiting platform after a few moments of thinking and deciding. Oh well..it was fun. I've never travelled by the MRT before, the scenes flashing past the windows are new and nice to me as I've never really seen the night time Manila while riding the MRT/LRT. After three stops, we transferred to the LRT and that's when I felt secure. Even if its already nighttime, at least I knew all the stops and stations of the LRT, so I'm not nervous anymore.

My mom fetched my friend and I at the station by car. After we drove my friend home, I arrived home at approximately 19:00. Whew! That was quite an adventure...a long journey :P Now, I could go to Glorietta next time just by commuting YEY!!!

I love this day!!! This is the first block outing we had that I joined. It was fun, with almost all of our class present and watching the same movie, sharing opinions, at the same time. Many of my classmates didn't understand what the movie was trying to tell us, but gladly, I did. I would say that I haven't watched a movie so good as "The Prestige" for so long and I'm really glad that I convinced myself to join this block outing this time. I am hoping that there will be more to come :D

No classes tomorrow!!! YES! (Coz its holloween's day :S) Well...we don't really celebrate holloween here, but visiting the passed-aways is nevertheless inevitable. Good thing I didn't have any dead blood keen here in Manila. I hate the cemetery. I do not like the feeling everytime I go there :) HAPPY HOLLOWEEN"S DAY!!! :D 'Trick or treats!!!!'

Magnificent, is it?

I know this came a bit late, but I can't find time to take pictures of the university I'm studying in now. Until a week ago, I finally had the opportunity to shoot some pictures of the school amphitheater, quadrangle, the yuchengco building, and the study hall(conservatory). Its just a fews shots, I hope you like it. I've come to appreciate and love the environment of the school. Though its not so big, its still got very nice gardens everywhere inside the campus :D Its always the best place to sit under the big mango tree or the stone chairs near the mini fountain to study or merely to just chat with my friends :P

Winner in Heart

Well well...today was our official closing ceremony of the ROTC week. We had sports fest today as our last battle with the other units in military training. The sports included are the basketball, volleyball, soccer, chess, and the game of the generals.

We have members assigned to each sport, but the soccer came unexpectedly. The officer-in-charge informed us that there will be a female team OMG! I was forced to join... :S I haven't played for years and how am I gonna play well without any practice? Oh well...there's nothing we could do but to play even if we knew nothing about it. The problem is, the opponent consists of well-experienced members, including a varsity player. Oh boy, I see the big letter "L" ahead, waving at me. I played forward in the first game and goal keeper in the second game. Our score in the first game was 0-10 (we lose) haha and the second game was 4-5 (we lose again), but this time its not so bad a loss. Thanks for my good blocking and kicking skills >:) Kidding! haha

Besides soccer, we lose in all other sports!!! OMG! I can't believe that! Our unit was supposed to be the best, but we lose!!! Except in the Game of the Generals, we won. Our officer was very disappointed, but he said that at least we did our best. We will get our revenge next week, in the silent/fancy drills competition. God bless!!wohoo!

Although we lose, we're happy. I enjoyed the game, so are all the other members of the battalion. It was a hell of fun!!! Therefore, I say, we're winners in heart, even if we lose all the games.

Lasallian Recollection

Lasallian recollection, what is it? Well, it is a day when the students in La Salle will be assigned to attend a mini retreat on the designated place behind the university campus. It is also the day when we confine ourselves to find God, as Christians quote it. Yesterday, the whole class attended this retreat. The scheduled time was to start at 7:30 and end at 16:00.

All of us, of course, haven't had the slightest idea of what people do on the Lasallian Recollection day. As usual, I was the earliest one to arrive the hermitage at 7:10 in the morning. The hermitage the place where the retreat is going to be held. 15 mins later, a few more classmates came and we started taking pictures using the digital camera I brought with me while waiting for the others to come. My classmates were all very vain LOL They would pose whenever they see a camera. But I like people who are willing to join the "pictorial" hehe :P Another 15 mins passed and alomst all of my classmates had arrived. We started with an orientation by the volunteers from the pastoral office of the university. One of the volunteer, named Jay, told us to keep quiet when inside the prayer room because that is the rule. We said "Ok.We'll keep quiet."

We entered the prayer room after we removed our shoes. We were all kinda excited when once we're inside the room. The candle-lit room, together with a mini electronic waterfall on the right side, and the holy music drifting across the room, gave me a feeling of peace and calmness. The facilitator was seated on the left corner of the room, beside the stereo, meditating. There were 37 pillows on the floor for us to sit on. I chose the pillow situated on the right side corner by the wall and sat down. Well, since we're all so excited, we started talking and laughing once we've sat down, totally forgetting what Jay told us about having to maintain silence in the prayer room. After a few minutes, the facilitator quietly stood up and started writing on the white board. He wrote: "If you do not know how to keep quiet, please arrange the pillows and go out of this room and come back only if you know how it is to be in a prayer room." We obediently did what he said, went out of the room and waited outside for ourselves to quiet down. After a while, we went back in quietly and the facilitator welcomed us and asked us to write how we feel about being asked to go out and what lesson have we learned from that. I gladly wrote down that I feel bad and sorry for failing to acknowledge the importance of silence and discipline when inside the prayer room.

The facilitator, after having welcomed us, started talking. It turned out that he was not that bad at all. He was a humorous and cheerful guy. He was only frustrated because we didn't know how to behave ourselves properly inside the prayer room. After that, the retreat started. The facilitator asked us questions and told us stories about God and later, asking us to write our reflections on the paper and read it out loud so everyone could hear. After 2 hours, we were going to have breakfast, finally. We had pasta and punch for breakfast, it was delicious. 15 mins later, we went back to the prayer room and the volunteers assigned to us an activity. We were to find a partner, preferably one of the opposite sex, get 2 ropes with loops. We were to connect the first rope across the other rope and have both of our hands inside the 2 loops of each rope. The objective is to free each other from the knot between us in a limited time without removing the loops from either of our hands. It was really hard. My partner and I did so many trials, but with no success. Finally, after a while, there were 2 pairs who were able to free themselves from each other. It was fun. Then the facilitator asked these 2 pairs to demonstrate to us how they freed each other. The solution turned out to be really simple. I can't believe that it could be done even when sitting, all you need is to insert a loop to the loop of the rope of your partner and there you go, you're freed. The purpose of this activity was to let us know that sometimes, things doesn't have to be so complicated. There are problems that can be solved just by simple solutions, without having to think too far away. How ironic. At least, I learned a lesson from that :D

2 hours later, we were to have our lunch break. The lunch was delicious too. It was something of pork and some vegetables. After the lunch, we all rested for a while, took some pictures, and later went back to the prayer room. It was then that another activity was assigned to us. It is called the "Game of Life." It was a very strategic game. All of us had to travel across to the other side of the room and inside a rectangular area enclosed by the tape. We have to travel without leaving any boxes of the "bridge" that will lead us across empty. We have always to have at least one foot stepped on the tiles. If anyone violates the rule, he/she will be dead. He/she will then be directed to the "graveyard" and wait for someone to rescue them there. It was fun, suspensory, and at the same time, unnerving. The first chance we had, we lost. We were unable to complete the designated task within the given time period. On our second chance, we became more serious and started planning what to do and who to go first. In the end, we won. All 37 of us were able to fit in the small rectangular area without falling out. The purpose of this activity is to show us that we do not have a second chance in life. Every experience is different, it will never happen again; therefore, we must make good use of every chance we have in our life.

After the fearful "Game of Life," will be our mass time. The priest came in the prayer room and started the mass. I was kinda lost at that time, as I'm neither a Catholic, nor a Protestante. The fact is, I don't have any religion, but I believe in the existence of God. All I did was to follow what my classmates were doing -- singing, reciting, and listening. The Christian songs were really nice. Every song implicated the meaning of life and the love of God for all of us. After the mass, we will be leaving, and the retreat shall end.

I feel so relaxed and happy after the retreat. I didn't expect it to be this enjoyable. I think that a retreat was only all about sermons, but it was not. I was in fact, very interesting. Through activities, we realized what were rights and wrongs were. Through activities, we learned how to make ourselves efficient and help ourselves in the future. This day will be one of the most memorable days of my university life. After this year, there will come 3 more Lasallian Recollection days. I hope I would equally enjoy them, as I had with the first one.

What gives us the most happiness?

"The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved." -Victor Hugo

When I came across this quote while I was browsing websites, it made me thought of something very important. Don't people always say that one should tell his/her feelings for another person while they have the chance, for we don't know what might happen in the next moment of our life? I think it is very true, but sometimes, there are just feelings, mixed with complications and barriers that made them so hard to say.

Many people die with regrets. Some were not able to tell the people they loved that about how much they'd loved them. There is no harm done when one could be courageous enough to shout his/her feelings out loud. We should never ask for any return from what we say. Some people were not able to confess because they fear that that person would reject him/her or that it would be very embarrassing. Well, in that case, it would be the pride problem. Even sometimes, we'll have tob end our pride a bit only to realize that the world would be a completely different one if we could express our feelings and thoughts freely.

I could tell you that there's nothing to be embarrassed of. If there's something you have to say, then say it, so you will not die in regret. Again, emphasizing the quote by Victor Hugo, the feeling of knowing you are being loved is very wonderful. It gives you motivation and will to live and be with those people whom you love and loves you. Dreaming is inevitable, yet even dreams can be achieved, provided that you believe in yourself and know that your loved ones would always be there for you, supporting and encouraging you.

Right now, I feel happy and contented. I have loving parents, family, relatives, and friends. What more could I expect? I don't know, maybe a successful career and a wonderful family in the future. These are part of my dreams and I am positive that I could attain them someday in the near future. I fantasize a lot and often find myself caught in the midst of these unfathomable dreams. But knowing that there'd be someone to catch me if I all, I am not afraid to fulfill my dreams anymore. That is the kind of love and trust I feel from the people surrounding me. Vice versa, I'd also be there to help them when they need me. There is always a return for everything you take from others.

Thank you Lord for all the things I have now. I am sure I will make the best out of it. For those people who have not told their loved ones their feelings, you better do so quickly. We never know what's gonna happen next. Besides, isn't it great to let the people you love know that they are being loved and cherished?That way, all of you would be happy. Stop being shy or suspicious and start acting :P God bless! ;)

Late Night Post

*Yawn*
I'm bored from studying Economics for tomorrow's midterm exam. I don't know why, but the "powers" I used to have in this subject back in high school seemed to decline. Well, Economics is the only subject where I get A's in high school and I am damn proud of it. But I don't know why, I'm having quite a hard time keeping up with my grades in Economics in university now. Is it the professors' problem? Or was it mine? I think my high school Economics teacher is far better than this university professor I have now. I can't believe it when I get the results for the tests we had -- barely passing grades! Oh my God! That's something that has never happened in my records in high school economics. Curse the prof!!!! >:(

Whenever there's anyone in class who questioned the professor, his answer would always be "maybe"or "could be." What's that suppose to mean? A professor should always be sure with his answers. Seriously, I doubt that this prof would qualify to being our mentor for basic economics. I think we deserve a better teacher, for basics are always important. The other class handled by the same prof has even more students failing than in our class. Anyone I ask who is a student of this prof had the same answer-- "That prof doesn't know how to teach. I learned nothing from him." See? I'll really have to EVALUATE him carefully when we're given survey forms from the university asking us to evaluate our professors.

Tomorrow is my judgement day. If I still don't get an A in the test tomorrow, I'm gonna have a hard time in getting at least a 3.0 general average. *yawn again* I'm done with reviewing now, just hope that everything I studied would cover the test, or else, I'm doomed :( Ah well, never thought economics would be this "hard." I'd rather have math, if we continue to have professors like the economics professor. For two terms, we've had irresponsible teachers. "Ursula"( computer teacher) was certainly one of them, who was fired from the university because of her lack of respect to the parents and students.

I'm sleepy...but I don't wanna sleep yet. I'm afraid that there'd be something in economics that I missed. As always, I'm having another dilema. Well, I guess I'll have to see which would prevail, sleepiness or responsibility.

Apart from studying for the test, today was quite a nice day. My dad and I went to Robinson's Place to buy my headset, some hardware, and have lunch. After searching all around the mall, I finally lose hope in finding the headset I wanted-- the logitech premium notebook headset. In the end, I chose another model of headset. I had no choice because I am desperate in getting a mic. My laptop has a built-in mic in it, but its hard to talk with it. After that, we went home. I immediately plugged the headset in my laptop and started finding someone to test my mic. Fortunately, Nikko was there. I "called" him through msn and we started talking. It was awkward at first, but then I got used to it. Nikko suggested that I summon Jocke so we could all talk together, but Jocke just wouldn't talk in the mic. He said that its strange to talk to himself :( I was disappointed and had gotten quite unreasonable, although I apologized afterward.

Anyway, after Nikko and Jocke "left" coz they have things to do, I told Trudy that I got a mic. She was delighted and told me that she would "call" me after she's done bathing. Then, after a while, she called me. I was nervous...lol I dunno why, but I just feel strange. It was awkward at first, we didn't know what to say. I was controlling myself so hard not to laugh HAHA But later, we started talking. I must say that Trudy speaks very fluent Chinese ( the standard northern accent) and quite good English too. She's a bit shy with her English, but it was alright. (Good job, Trudy!) ;)

Well, thats all for today. I'm getting sleepy. I think sleepiness has prevailed after having an enormous battle with responsibility LOL *Yawn* *Yawn* My eyelids are drooping...I better go sleep. Hej då (goodbye in swedish) :P

Enjoying Freedom

Today is the official day for my freedom!!!

Yesterday, my mom left Manila for Xiamen, China to meet my maternal grandparents flying in from USA. They haven't seen each other for more than a year. They must have really missed each other, like how I miss my mom when she's not around.

Tonight is my grandmother's birthday. My mom is holding a party tonight for the birthday celebrant. I suppose it would be really wonderful as my grandmother's old friends were going to be invitedto attend the party. I hereby, wish my grandmother happy birthday! May she enjoy every moment of her life from now on.God bless!

Well, as I had mentioned earlier, I am now officially free. Why? Because my mom had left for China and I am left to my dad's care. My dad is not very strict compared to my mom. Of course, he has his own rules that I have to follow, but he was always busy with work, so I'm kind of free from the consistent bombarding of my mom's what-to-do's to my ears. Ah...how pleasant...

I didn't mean that I do not like my mom's presence, in fact I missed her a lot, but sometimes, its just hard to keep myself from getting irritated with what she say everyday over and over again. Examples of what she says all the time are "Why are you home so late?" "Turn-off the computer and go to sleep." "I want you to sleep at 22:00 tonight." Damn! I can't help it when I have to use the computer for researching and doing my assignments. I have told her several times that I do not have a choice but to finish my assignments before I go to sleep. If I can't sleep early, then be it, I don't want to fail my subjects.

Parents are always like that, don't you think so? They don't want me to sleep late, saying that the health is more important than anything else, but when I get low grades, they would say that I did not study hard enough. What do they expect of me? I mean, I can't have both two, so why not weigh the importance and choose either one of it. Oh well...its really hard to understand what parents think, what they want, and what they don't.

Above anything, at least I am enjoying freedoom now, even if its only for 10 days. Now, I don't have curfew anymore because I sleep in my own room and my dad doesn't know what time I sleep. During MWF, when my classes would start at 7:00, I would usually wake up between 5:00 and 5:30 to chat with my online friend, who is really hard to catch :P Only in the early morning of Manila time would he be online. But anyway, I am getting used to waking up early. It would make me feel really sleepy if I sleep another hour more, during my schedules of 8:00 class.

One disadvantage of my mom not being here is that there would not be anyone to cook delicious food for lunch and dinner for my dad and I. My dad cooks, but rarely. While I never had the talent in cooking. I would either get the food overcooked or burned. Good thing my mom cooked us some microwavable food before she left, so we could heat them up for lunch and dinner.

10 days...10days...
A time with both pros and cons. If I have this, I won't be able to have the other. *Sigh* that is life, I guess. Although its not a very special day today, I just felt like writing a new post. There is nothing interesting I could write about, but only diaries of my daily life. We're having our midterms next week, by the way, I hope I would get high grades :D Wish me luck!Thanks! :P

Choices and Purpose in Life

Life is hard, as we all know. Life is full of choices, with each choice leading to a different path of life. I have to be careful always in making decisions, for a tiny mistake I make might lead me to a life beyond my expectations. While if I make right choices, I might in the end, get what I truly desire. But the question is, how do I know which choices are right and which are wrong? The answer lies within my heart, for only I would be able to hear the voices deep inside me and know what I want. I have my own dreams. What values for me might just be a trifling matter for another. On the other hand, what values for others might just be something I would never have thought of in my whole life.

Do I have a choice of when and where I want to be born?No, for everything that happens on and around me follows a path, like a train following the rail. True as it is that I can change that path chosen for me and start with a whole new road, a whole new life. But, do I have the courage? I don't know. I am afraid of what might come to me when I start down a road that had never been familiar to me. I might as well try to overcome that fear and prove to myself that nothing is impossible, but as I said, unknown dangers lie beneath the dark forest that I'm about to walk through. Whether I see a path of light in the end and find my way out or not all depends on my own doings. I could either chicken-out and run back the path and take the road intended for me, or gather my nerves and strive till I success.

Alas!Life is so complicated. I feel that I'm lost, lost in the woods, never knowing when I will find my way out. I might need the help of the wise, who could direct me towards the right way. If not, I might have to once again, make a decision, whether to go forward or go back. I want to explore more of the world, yet life is full of uncertainty. I could never know what will happen in the next second. But taking risks is an essential part of the human life. Only through taking risks could I come to a step closer to my goals. I hope to find my main purpose in life and head my way to accomplishing it someday because I believe that God has his own purposes for every life He brings into this world.