Graduation weekend

It's now Wednesday afternoon, three days after an incredibly eventful graduation weekend. I meant to write about everything sooner, but I guess I've just been reeling. I've spent the past three days at home, catching up on Grey's Anatomy and other shows via SurfTheChannel or SideReel, save for yesterday afternoon, when Ruari and I watched 17 Again, as per Karen's recommendation. I haven't been able to get myself to exercise, which I sorely need after having indulged myself over the weekend. Not to mention the occasional potato chips and cookies here at home while watching my shows.

Anyway, grad. Saturday was the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy Graduation at the University Theater, while Sunday was the University Graduation at the Quezon Hall Amphitheatre. Now looking back, the two days were mostly a blur of sablays, white dresses, medals, flashing cameras, lining up in the heat, sorority paraphernalia, heels sinking in the grass, and endless smiles. But there was also a delicious family dinner, a hospital visit, an alarming fire, a miraculous sunny day following a rainy week, and a renewed friendship. :)

All in all, it was a wonderful graduation. I really couldn't have asked for anything more. Except for that brief moment when I thought I might lose something so precious, the weekend was perfect. I felt too blessed, if such a thing were possible.

Amidst all the excitement for med, graduation gave me a chance to also relish my last moments as an undergrad, to reminisce on my four-year stint as a psych major in UP Diliman. Though I didn't shed any tears, nor was I able to sing UP Naming Mahal without looking at the lyrics, I still very much felt the UP spirit. School spirit is not something I feel everyday, unlike students from other universities. But I felt it then, and I felt thankful. Thankful for the past four years behind me, and thankful as well for the five years yet to come, all of which I have carried and will proudly carry the name Iskolar ng Bayan. :)

Ruari took this. :) Could I pass for a college graduate?

Sendoff 2009

I just got back from my third and last PMHS sendoff. As with the first two times, it definitely felt longer than an overnight trip. Possibly because, just like the first two times, I got very little sleep, most of which was had in the car on the way home.

What made this sendoff different was that I was a sendoffee this time. It felt really nice not to have to help prepare food, assemble souvenirs, or coordinate transpo. I didn't even have to pay for anything. :p That scav hunt they put us through was such a workout though. I initially just wanted to relax and not have to play any games or what, but I have to admit that I really enjoyed it. Especially since Tribe Kiat-Kiat won. Haha competitive forever. :p

I was so impressed by how the whole sendoff turned out, how the mems and inductees pulled everything off. The venue was really nice, not as far as last year's, and with a really pretty beach, too. The waves were the best! The food was great, especially that heavenly chocolate fondue. A lot of us just wanted to drink that chocolate straight. Transpo couldn't have been easy to fix, with so many mems and inductees in attendance, even if we were just ten sendoffees. The Survivor theme, from the welcoming spiel, to the scav hunt, to the touching AVP, to the candle torch ceremony, was truly inspired. And I love the souvenirs! The little Survivor dolls are the cutest. Thank you and congrats again, PMHS 09-10, if any of you happen to be reading this. :)

Thank you, love, for this weekend. As I've already told you, it meant the world to me that you came. Even if you injured my arm before we'd left UP. Haha! I took one for the team na ha? :) Thank you for taking care of me and not letting me drown in my drunken stupor. I really hope you had fun, too; I'm glad you enjoyed the waves, the fondue, and your ultimate frisbee. I really prayed for this sendoff, and you know why. I guess we've come full circle, huh? I couldn't be happier. I'm a lucky little ogress. :)

[EDIT 19 April, 8:34PM]

Thanks, Burn, for this picture. :)

The kiddie-like play

In keeping with summer mode, Ruari and I went swimming this morning. He arrived at the house at quarter to eight, which is the earliest he's ever been here, as far as I know. After a big breakfast of Spanish omelette and chipolata sausages prepared by Mama, we went to the village clubhouse, where the pool was practically empty. The water was nice and cool, and we had the pool practically all to ourselves. Just one complaint though--the water was overchlorinated, and it made the skin on my nose burn. We swam only until ten, since Ruari needed to be home for lunch and more and more people were arriving to swim.

I felt so, so tired after swimming that I took a two-hour nap. I woke up at one and had a late lunch. I planned to attend the Days meeting, which I assumed was at three-thirty like the one two weeks ago. So after lunch I was just killing time until three, surfing the internet and whatnot. It was only when Mich texted at two-thirty asking if I was still coming to the meeting did I think that I might have gotten the time wrong. When I checked the emails about the meeting, they read 1 PM SEC FOYER. Haha. Serves me right for skimming over emails.

We sort of participated in Earth Hour. Mom and I turned off everything in the house except for a couple of lights and the aircon. She said she wouldn't be able to take the heat, even for just an hour. No big deal, really. Honestly, there are better ways to take a stand against global warming. Ruari said they even staged a show at the Mall of Asia and there were a bunch of Earth Hour features on TV precisely during Earth Hour. How ironic.

That's all. Just wanted to document my nice morning, sabog afternoon, and dark evening. Haha.

And oh! Sir Sumera replied to my email last night. I passed the Chem 31 third exam and am exempted from finals! :D I'm not even considering taking it anyway to possibly raise my grade. Goodbye forever, organic chemistry! Now just 135 to deal with.

Talking sh** about a pretty sunset

It was a nice, slow weekend. I didn't really go out, save for a quick dinner with Ruari last Friday (Pancake House, where we ordered pancakes, potato salad, and meatless pasta). Tagaytay doesn't count much, since it's still technically our home. I specifically requested for us to spend our weekend there, for it was one of the rare occasions when I didn't have to attend any activity and had little work to do. I love my family for giving in to my wishes, despite Papa having to give up tennis, despite Monch's need to study for final exams, and despite having to face traffic on SLEX (we left at 4ish). We watched Slumdog Millionaire, ate good food, heard a good mass at Focolare, and generally enjoyed each other's company.

I think it was Karen who asked whether I liked sunrise or sunset more. Other than the fact that I'm rarely up to witness sunrise, I just love the colors of sunset. These were a couple of pictures I took on our way to Tagaytay, at around 6:00 PM. I wanted to capture the way the white, pink, blue, and purple lights swept across the sky, though I couldn't do much with a non-SLR camera inside a moving car. I still like the effect that came out--especially the way the trees fade like wisps of smoke in the second photo.

I spent the whole day at home today, primarily because I chose not to attend the Pi Gamma Mu induction ceremony. I figured the only use I'd ever have for it would be if I wanted to obtain a scholarship for a fellowship abroad in the future. I'm hoping that by that time, I'd have credentials other than my membership in an honor society that was expensive and didn't really do much for its members except to give them an extra line in their resumes. (Actually, my resume can read invited to the Pi Gamma Mu Honor Society, haha.) If ever, Ate Carol said I can still get inducted next year. Also, I'm leaning towards joining Phi Kappa Phi instead, since this one is an all-discipline honor society, not limited to the social sciences. Seriously, my parents have more important things to use their money on then my membership to two honor societies. Yay for more responsible spending!

Anyway, I spent today at home. I watched a few episodes of House Season 5, and slept slept slept. I'm still recuperating from my cold and cough; my voice hasn't gone back to its normal, non-sexy-bedroom state. I think the cool, fresh Tagaytay air did me a lot of good, though. However, summer has officially started (according to PAGASA), and the heat definitely doesn't help much.

The coming of summer has, thankfully, motivated me to finally start dieting for real. I'm not following any strict plan like the three-day diet, nor am I completely depriving myself of any type of food. It's more of making better choices, such as choosing to order a sandwich with tuna instead of one with bacon. Or opting for water instead of iced tea or any other sugar-laden beverage. I'm also trying to minimize on rice and dessert. The dessert part is harder, especially since we've just loaded up on treats from Rowena's--bañadas, cassava cake, and napoleones! :((

Let me end this post with a quote from Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood, a book I've put off reading for quite some time, and I don't really know why.

"I can never say what I want to say," continued Naoko. "It's been like this for a while now. I try to saysomething, but all I get are the wrong words -- the wrong words or the exact opposite words from what I mean. I try to correct myself, and that only makes it worse. I lose track of what I was trying to say to begin with. It's like I'm split in two and playing tag with myself. One half is chasing the other half around this big, fat post. The other me has the right words, but this me can't catch her."

Have a good week, everyone. :)

If you liked it then you shouda put a ring on it (LSS of the month!)

Another weekend post. And what a weekend it's been. In fairness to me, I was able to refrain from blogging prior to my chem exam. Not that I spent all that time studying. Haha.

Friday was UPCM interview day. I got there late and therefore rather panicky, since I knew I had an essay to write. But everything turned out rather okay, I think. There were a couple of surprises. :) It was over in about an hour, but it felt like fifteen minutes. I'm so so relieved, yet scared as well, knowing that there's nothing more I can do and my fate is no longer in my hands.

Funny though, I realized only when I got home that I was wearing one pink pearl earring and one white the entire time. Hahaha. :) Mom didn't even see it, and she was seated across from me throughout lunch. She treated me to Secret Recipe in Shangri-La "to ease the stress." Their lamb stew was to die for, and the phad thai was quite perfect as well. I also ordered the marble cheesecake, which was their bestseller. It was really good, rich and creamy and everything, though I wasn't a big fan of the oat and nut crust. I'm definitely going back to try their other cheesecakes. Here are a couple of pictures. These were taken using my Nokia 6500c, so forgive the quality please.

This is the phad thai, before they mixed all the ingredients together. The noodles are wrapped in a little egg package. :)

Marble cheesecake. So good. I would've preferred a graham cracker crust, though, instead of the oat and nut. Or an oreo crust. Yay for cheap taste. :p

Next was dinner at Dencio's Rockwell to celebrate Ats' and Tito Popot's birthdays. As if Mom and I needed any more calories! Food was good; I especially enjoyed the chocolate truffle and sans rival from Sugarhouse. Bonding was great, as usual. I will upload pictures in my multiply. I missed Mr. and Ms. Psych though, which I rather regret. It was my last chance to attend, too. Oh well. Family first.

Saturday was study day with Ruari. We met up at Starbucks Temple Drive at ten. I love how we're so at home there. We each have a round table, and so many chairs for all our stuff. Then when we bought sandwiches for lunch, we moved to another table. Parang lumipat lang from the office to the dining room. :P I didn't get to study as much as I would've liked, because I started feeling sick and had to go home at around four. Not the best state to be in two days before a chemistry exam.

I didn't spend Sunday with the family; I was at Melay's for for PMHS deliberations. I missed a day in Tagaytay, including lunch at Tootsie's. But at least delibs finished earlier than expected, which was a relief. I was able to stop by Bea's before going home. Anything to delay studying! I still felt quite sick all day, and I fell asleep studying at around eleven.

And today was Oscars day! And yeah, chem exam day too. Until this morning, I was still hoping for a reply from Sir Sumera, saying that the exam will be postponed. It was a holiday, after all, and it's really against the rules (of the UP admin, or whatever) to hold exams on holidays. Sadly, no reply. I tried my best (I really did!) to finish memorizing all the reactions and physical properties and stuff, but the Oscars were such a beautiful distraction. Hugh Jackman is Mom's new idol, or so her Facebook status reports. Right after the chem exam, Lee-Ann and I went to Starbucks Katipunan. And because it was so, so full, we decided to just drink up in Cantina with Mara, Perry, Josh, and Caloi. It was just what we needed to forget about the horrid exam.

It was also today that I found out that I made it to St. Luke's College of Medicine. :) Yay for having a future, and keeping my med school dreams alive! The initial list of accepted applicants can be found here.

It is almost two, so I must be off. Tomorrow will be 135 powerpoint-making day. Hopefully I don't just sleep all day again.

It's easy to tease me

It's been a good weekend. Almost a four-day weekend for me. Friday after class was spent with Ruari in Shangri-La. We bought each other our Valentine's gifts. We initially agreed on a budget of P500 but quickly realized that that amount can't really buy much these days. Sad. He ended up choosing a bag (that can fit his laptop, yay!), and I got a pair of flats. Both above the said budget, but not by much. In fairness. :)

On Saturday I was in UP for PMHS interviews. Mom picked me up at around 2 and we headed straight for Tagaytay. We met up with Papa and Monch who had gone earlier because Papa had a lunch at his friend's house there. Mom and I (and Yaya Arlie, too) got there at around 5. The weather was just lovely, still cold and windy.

Our overnight in Crosswinds (only our second ever!) was definitely the highlight of my weekend. All four of us love going there now; there's just something about the weather and the novelty of the place I guess that is just so relaxing. I had actually brought my computer in the hopes that I would be able to get some work done. I ended up reading the new book Mama got me, Surgeons Do Not Cry by Dr. Ting Tiongco, and falling asleep before midnight. Oh, we had a delicious dinner at Teriyaki Boy before that. It's available in Manila, I know, but everything just tastes and feels different in the cold of Tagaytay. We were all in a pretty good mood, too; hardly any of those petty little arguments we have at home. Good family bonding time. :)

We went home too early on Sunday, because Papa had a dinner to attend. We had another heavy meal, this time at this Filipino restaurant in Sta. Rosa. I can't remember the name, but it was Rose something. Haha. We had bulalo, lechon paksiw, fried chicken, fried tilapia, laing. We were all so full afterwards, but we still managed to have dessert in Starbucks along SLEX. I introduced Mama to white chocolate mocha, and she loved it. Not surprising, since she likes her coffee much, much sweeter than I do.

I was at St. Luke's this morning (Monday) for my interview. After a short psych test, Ruari kept me company while waiting for my turn. I was interviewed at around 11:30, and the whole thing was over in around 20 minutes. The doctors were really very nice, and my blockmate who was next in line said he could hear us laughing from outside. They said I should expect to hear from them in about a week or so. :)

I slept so much after the interview, both on the way home and upon arriving home. Needless to say, I barely got to do any work until after dinner. And so my body clock is all screwy again, which is why I'm awake and writing this now, at two a.m. I am also very, very, very hungry.

I think have a hunger problem. I remember taking up this disorder in Psych 155 that was described as the uncontrollable desire to eat. I think I have a mild form of that. Because seriously, I'm never full for more than an hour. Two at most, if it's really big meal. What's more, a meal for me isn't complete without dessert. I need the last taste in my mouth to be sweet, preferably something chocolate. Fruits don't count; they're usually just the preliminary to the real dessert. The result of all this eating? Flabby arms which I absolutely hate. I'm actually avoiding wearing any sleeveless tops these days, because I hate the way my arms look.

I'm looking forward to the Lenten season because then I'll have more incentive to fast and lose weight. It's so wrong. I'm such a sinner.