Ice Cream For My Soul

Q: Why is it so hard to say you're wrong?

A: Because it often involves saying "I'm sorry" which is even harder. Throughout history, people have found it easier to stop speaking to one another, punch, slander, shoot and bomb rather than apologize.
-Reader's Digest, May 2006

Now this may be reminiscent to the book Chicken Soup For The Soul. On my case, ice cream works better than chicken soup, although I love chicken soup.

As much as I hate to admit, I am one of those people who find it easier to result to less amicable resorts than apologize. At least I'm limited only to stop speaking to the other party. Well, I used to punch (my sister especially), yell and throw things and tantrums yet as I grew up, so did I mature and learn the art and value of anger management. Speaking of the latter, I suddenly remember my explosive uncle back in Midtown. It's because of his volatile temper that I'm living here in Las Piñas now.

Looks like my application to Taft Offshore is a complete bogus. The interviewer told me that she'd update me today through text yet I received no message. Oh well. No crying over spilled milk. Friends like Mr. A and Vincy, both of whom are experienced in call center work, just gave me continuous encouragements. Might as well apply at other companies within Manila. After all, most first times are meant to end up in failure. I failed the first time I tried to walk and failed defeating Xemnas in Kingdom Hearts II. I had to retry more than twenty times just to defeat that damned final boss!!

Ultimately, it simply pleases me just to be able to post in this humble blog of mine. Although hardly anyone comments or even posts in the chatbox, I'm satisfied that I can use this blog to freely express my feelings and insights. But I am confident there are readers! After all, it's not like I post to intentionally attract readers. I'd rather friends drop by.

You like ice cream
You like ice cream
You love it
You cannot resist ice cream
To resist is hopeless
Your existence is meaningless without ice cream
-Ice Cream Truck Speaker, Invader Zim (I love the German accent and Nazi propaganda imitation!)

Party Hats, Anyone?

This week has been a series of parties and horn-blowing.

October 21st, Saturday
Tito Mike, my uncle, and Tita Aileen flew back here from Canada last Saturday to attend a relative's wedding. Since I wasn't that related to the bride who was Tita Aileen's sister, I never did a lot of socializing back at the reception. One thing I hate about such adult parties is it's the perfect place to play the sport of social-climbing. The people there especially the females were all there for show. Good thing I just sat there and remained silent throughout the party and never thought to mingle with the high-nosed slobs. I don't want to be labeled a social climber. After all, the food was great! Lola Bing is a superb chef!

October 24th, Tuesday
Tuesday was my cousin Dana's 10th birthday. What a near coinkydink! Her birthday's prior to my Mom's at October 25th, which I will expound later. Tito Mike and Tita Aileen treated us all to pizza at Sbarro in SM Southmall. Again, the food was great! Good thing the cuisine god has blessed me graciously. I had a Chicago stuffed pizza which my (slim) waist managed to find capacity for. Afterwards we continued to celebrate at Storyland which is also in Southmall. Tita Aileen was kind enough to buy Dana, Eliza and me ride-all-you-can tickets. How great it felt to be a kid again. I did most of the yelling at the roller coaster, pulled them to the other rides and pwned the bumper cars with Raph and Tito Mike. Mom was still the peace-loving rider even in a bumper car. And I stoned myself with snow cones and ice cream. Then before we went home, we ate at Jollibee with the tab on Tito Mike. Tommy was ecstatic since there were no Jollibee's in Vancouver.

October 25th, Wednesday
Then yesterday was Mom's birthday. Although I was born to a family of worrywarts, Mom being the pioneer, I still love my Mom and bought her Monkey Business by the Black-Eyed Peas. Again her worrywart instincts kicked in and searched my bag in the wee hours of the morning for fear that I might not hand it to her. She obviously loved the CD. And to think that she was also pestering me for an album of the Sugababes. I had to resort to partly-spoiling the present by telling her the I bought the Two-Disc Special Asian Edition.

Oh, and my Zhou Xun came over by surprise! He had me expecting that he might not come! I love him so much. He came all the way from Antipolo to Las Pinas to attend Mom's birthday! Yes! He'll make a perfect husband and son-in-law! Oh God, I'm so blessed. The whole day the two of us accompanied Mom to her birthday chores such as buying Pansit Malabon, bringing Eliza to school and doing the grocery. Carlo even offered to take the shopping cart and do the computations! Then we killed afternoon time by playing a few hours of Final Fantasy X-2 and Kingdom Hearts II. How he badly wanted to play Tekken and Final Fantasy X but I left the former in Palawan and the latter, sadly, does not work on my PS2 anymore...

The guests came and it was a fun yet simple adult's party. Mom wore my long black Bohemian skirt without asking! Well...that's because I also wore her pants without asking...

October 26th, Thursday or simply Today
Party time's over. Tsk. Although I never made my decision public here in my blog, I planned to work for a call center this following semester. Pops allowed me to enroll to only 12 units hence allowing me enough time to work After all, business back in Palawan is pretty rough and we're hard up now. I've considered first the "big"
call centers such as Convergys and PeopleSupport but their branches are mostly in Makati which is a hindrance to my transportation to and from school.

Thankfully, there's a newly opened call center along Taft Avenue near De La Salle University. Taft Offshore Solutions Inc. is its name. It's along the route that the bus takes to Las Pinas. I made my application last Friday and I've just had my interview just a few moments go. I'm hoping that everything will go well...

Almost forgot!
Yesterday I managed to buy pirated CDs of Unleashed Memories and Karmacode both by Lacuna Coil! I found them at the stalls of fake DVDs lined along the 2nd floor of Star Mall. Contrary to that I'm anti-piracy, drastic times take drastic measures. After all, they're not aiming Philippine sales. And buying items online with a credit card is tempting and risky. And I do have the original copies of In a Reverie which Tito Mike ordered from a Russian eBay member and Comalies which I bought two summers ago from Tower Records at Alabang Town Center. Hopefully, I'll also be able to find Lacuna Coil EP and Halflife.

Freedom and Relaxation

At last. The Final exams are FINISHED!! I've never felt this jubilant the entire semester... All along I thought I'd never run through last month's consecutive projects and assignments, all of which starved my wallet and bank account.

Now just what do I plan to do this sembreak?

1. Go on a treck with Raph at his school De La Salle - Dasmariñas

2. Finish my FFX FanFiction

3. Go on a long romantic date with my Zhou Xun.

4. Have a gaming spree with KH2, FFX-2, RE4, and DMC3

5. Apply for work...

Quicky Post

The hellhole a.k.a. the Final Eams are almost over. I now have only Philippine Literature tomorrow. I was supposed to have it on Tuesday but due to um... lack of substantial information, I had it rescheduled to Saturday. On the brighter side, I'm not alone. Cess, Dess and Nicolette will be taking it with me on the same day!

I think I'll finish for now. Mom's egging me to log off in case my Uncle from Canada calls.

Gaming Life

I personally believe that blogging is a lesser vice than videogaming nor are they vices at all.

On days like these (Sundays, Final exams, Projects), I normally feel anxious a few minutes after a good game of Kingdom Hearts II or Final Fantasy X-2. You know, the feeling of playtime over school labor. I've had this bad habit since I was five and had my first gaming experience. It was Super Mario Kart for the Super NES. Pops was looking for someone to play Battle-Balloon mode with. Since there was no one else in the family he could ask (Mom was never a gaming geek), his eyes landed on me and handed the player-two controller to me. I was skeptical at first but then "It's alright, I'll teach you." I held the controller firmly, anticipating my first ever gamign experience. I lost to Pops with three ballons to zero. I cried at my defeat yet Pops comforted me. "Don't give up after a game over." Dad took me to a whole new world...

Now that I'm in college, I've been having a hard time bringing my gaming life back in motion. My year-and-a-half addiction to Ragnarok Online even pushed it to six more feet deeper underground. Right now I"m feeling a second game of Kingdom Hearts II in Proud mode, still without a walkthrough! I'll do the same with Valkyrie Profile 2 and Final Fantasy XII.

But for now, the Final exams are a bugger. Better get these games off my mind if I don't want to flunk.

50 Last Things

50 of the most random things you probably never needed to know about someone! (Taken from This Other Eden)

1. What's your name spelt backwards?
Aeij Refinnej Eed. Sounds like a name of a Russian sociopath locked in an asylum.

2. What did you do last night?
Went to bed earlier than 10pm which is rare.

3. The last thing you uploaded onto your computer?
Photos.

4. Have you ever licked a 9 volt battery?
Uh, yes. I didn't know what I was thinking then.

5. Last time you swam in a pool?
Last summer in my late Grandpa's friend's summer home in Laguna.

6. What are you wearing?
Faded green sleeveless, green deconstructed pants and a ponytail holder.

7. How many cars have you owned?
None, but I do wish for a Honda Jazz or a KIA Picanto or a Honda Pilot or a Honda Dreamm or a D

8. Type of music you dislike most?
Rap and Hip-Hop. Sleazy lyrics.

9. Are you registered to vote?
No, and I don't plan to.

10. Do you have cable?
Yes of course. I just don't watch TV that much.

11. What kind of computer do you use?
Uh, Simbadda C550

12. Ever made a prank phone call?
No. I was a good girl then.

13. You like anyone right now?
I LOVE someone right now. My boyfriend. ^^

14. Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving?
Yes, in Queenstown, New Zealand

15. Furthest place you ever traveled by car?
Manila to Baguio, Puerto Princesa to Brooke's Point, Las Pinas to Pagsanjan

16.Do you have a garden?
Nope.

17. What's your favorite comic strip?
I don't really know...

18. Do you know all the words to the national anthem?
Yes.

19. Shower, morning or night?
Day and night

20. Best movie you've seen in the past month?
Click starring Adam Sandler

21. Favorite pizza toppings?
Mozarella Cheese and Pineapples

22. Chips or popcorn?
Chips with salsa dip.

23. What cell phone provider do you have?
Two Globe SIMs. An ordinary one and a modified one provided by Lyceum.

24. Have you ever smoked peanut shells?
No?

25. Have you ever been in a beauty pageant?
No no?

26. Orange Juice or apple?
Orange. I hate apples in their sub-standard forms.

27. Who were the last people you sat at lunch with?
My cousin Raph.

28. Favorite chocolate bar?
White Toblerone and Hershey's

29. Who is your longest friend and how long?
Monica. From first year high school. Supposedly Eths from Grade Six but we've lost complete contact since...

30. Last time you ate a homegrown tomato?
Huh?

31. Have you ever won a trophy?
No, but I've won ribbons.

32.Favorite artist?
Kuya Wine and Myself.

33. Favorite computer game?
Sonic the Hedgehog, Street Fighter, Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country, Samurai Spirits, Star Fox 64, Rockman X4, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Suikoden II, Legend of Legaia, Harvest Moon, those are not yet my MOST favorite, mind you.
Here's the REAL list: Final Fantasy VII to X-2, Kingdom Hearts, Metal Gear, Zone of the Enders, Brave Fencer Musashi, Tomb Raider, Parasite Eve, Devil May Cry, Resident Evil, Star Ocean, and so on and on and on...

34. Ever ordered from an infomercial?
No. I'm not a sucker for fakers.

35. Sprite or 7-UP?
7-UP.

36. Have you ever had to wear a uniform to school/work?
All my school-life. Pre-school to College.

37. Last thing you bought at Walgreens?
I don't know what Walgreens is.

38. Ever thrown up in public?
Once in elementary during a flag ceremony.

39. Would you prefer being a millionaire or finding true love?
Millionaire. Because I've already found true love. ^^

40. Do you believe in love at first sight?
No. Never did.

41.Can exes just be friends?
No way in hell.

42. Who was the last person you visited in the hospital?
My late grandfather. It was his last days then...

43. Did you have long hair as a young kid?
Yes, although I cut it short once in a while.

44. What message is on your voicemail machine?
I don't have voicemail.

45. Where would you like to go right now?
Auckland, New Zealand.

46. What was the name of your first pet?
Chicky. A chick I bought from a peddler near school. She lasted only a week.

47. What kind of back pack do you have, and what's in it?
Small, red and beige.

48. Last incoming/outgoing call on your phone?
Pops greeting my sister a happy birthday.

49. What is one thing you are grateful for today?
Cookies and Cream Ice Cream.

50. What do you think about most?
My future New Zealander citizenship. And of course my Wu Zhou Xun. ^^x

And let me have this chance to greet my sister Jenna a Happy 4th Birthday. ^^x

Chemical Chaos

Chemistry is insinuatingly a minion of Satan due to its complexity and its power to be a pain in the ass for any ordinary student. Come off it already! Here are the reasons why Chemistry should NOT be included in the curriculum of AB Journalism.

1. How in the world is Chemistry relevant to Journalism? To survive gas attacks?! (Quoted from Kuya Wine)

2. Please don't tell me we never spent one damn year learning nothing but painful formulae. My boyfriend even shared that his teacher gave him a test on completing the entire Table of Elements.

3. Carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, oxude phospate and the like. What rubbish. My professor once encouraged us to speak the language of Chemistry. *Scheiße. I'd rather speak Deutsch or Español.

4. Most of all, Chemistry is just a plain pain in the ass.

5. And one more thing. The word Chemistry is an anagram of "Shit, me cry".

*Scheiße (pronounced "Shaisse" with heavy emphasis on ß)
-A local German expression literally meaning the famous profane word "Shit"

GameBoy Advance SP

For so long, I've always dreamt of a GameBoy Advance SP. It is simply a more convenient and user-friendly version of its predecessor the plain GameBoy Advance.

• Light source: front light integrated LCD
• Size (closed): Approximately 3.3" height / 3.23" width / 0.96" depth
• Screen (diagonal): reflective TFT Color LCD
• Weight : Approximately 5 ounces
• Power: Rechargeable lithium ion battery.
• Battery Life: 10 hours continuous play with light on, 18 hours with light off, 3 hours recharging
• Hardware colors: Onyx, Flame, Platinum, Cobalt blue, Pearl pink, Pearl blue, Graphite, Midnight blue

Here are the reasons why I find it both fun and practical to own a GBAdvance SP:

~It is storage-friendly and can be kept even inside your own pocket. It can also be folded thus preventing the LCD screen to be damaged.
~More hours of entertainment; Provides a blackhole to escape boredom.
~Compact and easy to keep to prevent it from being confiscated by meticulous professors.
~The gaming counterpart of the Sony Ericsson phones. One GBAdvance SP was witnessed to have been dropped more than a dozen times, thrown at the wall and dunked for 2 hours in the toilet. Yet the GBAdvance still works and activates as if it never went through a hellish beating.
~The games are simply badass. All the Castelvania, Pokemon and Final Fantasy installments and most of all, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.

Second-hand units are sold in Greenhills and Vira Mall for around P2,000. I just better make sure the LCD screen is compact and secured. Also, the peripherals such as the adaptor cahrger should be included.

But in the end, it's still somehow a waste to buy even a second-hand unit. After all, my sister Pauline got one brand new from Pops. Maybe I can haggle by offering to swap my PS2 for her GBAdvance SP temporarily!

Educational Slavery

Good God. This has to be the most grueling, expensive and ultimately hellish semester yet!

I hate school. It's not what we call a cliché. It's a motto. Who in this crazy world would like school anyway? Those parties of geeks and nerds might all huddle up raising their hands shouting "We do!" but 90% of the student population would ditch school anytime. After all...

I do not let schooling get in the way of my education.
-Mark Twain

That crystal ball project in Chemistry is no longer a problem at the very least. It's just that I had to spend around P200 for two containers of baby oil, glitters and a small mayonnaise jar which led me to force my sisters to eat.

Then there's another P120 for the research paper in English03 or Writing in the Discipline. Mine's entitled "Status of Organization Membership of the Students of the Lyceum of the Philippines University". The expenses may be a smaller biggie but it's the physical effort that has to be compromised. I spent hours going to and from school to do surveys and make all-nighters just to type the entire damn thing out. I was supposed to defend mine yesterday but due to lack of time (and clothes), I had to be thankfully rescheduled to another day.

Here's my biggest and most expensive problem yet: Philippine Literature. Our professor is either a natural slavedriver or under the influence of drugs. She expects us to read roughly 200 pages worth of menial stories. The sweeter part is she wants us to make a documentary of a selected region of the country and with its native language, list down and recite examples of literature! Yeah, right. Like we can speak and understand Ilocano fluently. What a flipped out bitch. She thinks we have all the money we need in our pockets and as if Philippine Lit is the ONLY subject we signed up for this semester.

Next week will be a trip to hellhole. Almost literally. I dost preparest myself to faceth the Final Exams. Chemistry, Logic and Philippine Literature are all in crises with my grades. Hadn't I gotten sick during the Prelim period I would've an easier time.

Damn. I hate school. We spent thousands of money paying for tuition. What do we get in return? Enslavement.

And oh yes. The winds have brought this memory back to me. A year has passed since...

To Drive or Not to Drive?

Reasons NOT to have my own car:

1. Gas alone can kill my wallet. Monthly gas expenses are almost as much as commuting expenses.

2. Maintenance is a chore; Changing seat covers, vaccuming the floors, washing the exterior.

3. Besides gas, expenses has other minions that come in everyday form; toll feeparking fee, ticket fee.

4. Traffic is another problem. I'd rather commute. That way, I can just sit back while a stranger does all the dirty driving for me!

5. Cars normally don't last in the Philippines due to our poor road conditions.

6. Plus, being carnapped is a perennial insecurity.

7. Ultimately, I don't know how to drive (yet).

Typhoon

Wanna know what's nice? 48 hours with no power and signal that invaded during the deadline of my research paper in English. Now ain't that nice? The nicer thing is I had to postpone the filming of our project in Philippine Literature due to hellacious weather conditions. Is life fuck or what?

On the brighter side, I learned to enjoy mundane card games such as Pekwa and UNO. Aris and JP were all animated players. I never know what I'm gonna do next.

At least power was restored 7pm last night. I celebrated by playing 5 hours worth of Tomb Raider Legend and Kingdom Hearts 2. If only I had Resident Evil 4 then the celebration could have been feistier.

Oh well. Life is like a box of chocolates.