[Life Update] Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! Even though we don't "sincerely" celebrate that here, I can feel the spirit of Halloween because of the scary shows they're airing on TV. There are also a number of costume parties happening in town though. When it's Halloween, we Catholics go to the cemetery to visit our loved ones that have already passed away.

Since my mom's birhtday was on the 30th, it has been a tradition in our family to visit her grave on her birthday instead of going there on All Soul's day. That way, we can avoid traffic and the crowded cemetery too. So on her birthday, we cooked some food, bought her flowers and visited her. I wish we could visit her often but the cemetery scares me a bit not because of lost souls but because of the people living near it because they can be dangerous sometimes. haha. One time, we went there and we encountered a crazy guy, because it was only me and my sisters, we got really afraid. Sometimes, you'll get to meet some drunk guys on the way there too. And there are only a few jeepneys that goes to that part of the Barangay so sometimes you'll have to wait for an hour.

One more day, and it's gonna be enrolment period. I can't believe we only had barely one week for our semestral break! I don't want to go to school yet!

By the way, I am now officially hooked with A.N.Jell!! hahaha! My sisters and I are having a You're Beautiful marathon these days. It's really a good drama, not to mention the cute, and definitely, angelic, A.N.Jell members.. weeeeee! I will post a review of this drama soon. ;) I'm still on episode 6.

I didn't notice that I only had one post for October. I've been really busy with school stuff. So there, happy halloween everyone, enjoy your trick n treats and costume parties.. And to my fellow students, enjoy your sem break! ;)

The Good that Ondoy and Pepeng Brought

On September 26, 2009 Philippines was hit by a very strong typhoon that put 25 provinces under the state of calamity. Typhoon Ondoy, internationally known as Ketsana, was brought the worst amount of rainfall in Metro Manila. It was the most devastating typhoon I have witnessed happening to my country. Flood water went up to the 2nd floor of the houses in Metro Manila. There were cars floating and a lot were stranded. That time, I hated watching the news because the calls and text messages of people asking for help and the videos and photos of the situation in Luzon really made my heart break. The typhoon was even stronger than hurricane Katrina that hit the US in 2005. Up to now, there are still people missing and the trauma it caused to Filipinos is apparently hard to take away.

Just days after Ondoy, another typhoon, Pepeng(international name, Parma), came and made a landfall. It was a super typhoon and was much much stronger than Ondoy.. The Philippines haven't even recovered yet from Ondoy and then a much stronger typhoon comes to our shores again. At first, since the Filipinos were a little prepared, days before Pepeng made its landfall, people from those areas predicted to be affected by flood and rains were evacuated, it was "okay" since we only saw Pepeng damaging our agriculture and homes instead of lives. Pepeng was about to leave the Philippine area of responsibility when another weather activity near it brought more water to the typhoon and made it even more stronger and made a U-turn back to Central Luzon. Flood water covered a lot of provinces leaving people trapped in their roofs and a lot of rice fields washed out by water from the dams surrounding the area. There were also land slides that left many people homeless and lose their families.

This is probably the biggest calamity we had to face this year. Central Luzon is the rice and vegetable bowl of the country. Prices of such commodities are now going up and people from Luzon are now being supplied by Mindanao. People lost their homes, families, and their means of living.

During these times, what amazes me is the Bayanihan spirit and kindness of Filipinos.

[Life Update] One FUN Day

Yesterday was a long, tiring, yet very happy day. We started the shooting day at 7am and I got home at 7pm. I had lots of fun. We went strolling, biking, and picture taking. There were minor accidents and wounds but the laughs we had outnumbered them all. I had fun learning how to bike. Yes, I don't know how to bike. Such a loser. hahahha! Up to now, I still don't know how. But soon, I'll be able to ride on my own. ;P
I hope to have more bonding times like this with my treasured friends. It was a great way to spend the holiday. :)

Can You Keep a Secret? (Orphan Movie Review)

This is one suspense movie that’ll make you be afraid of adopting children from orphanages.

The story starts with a couple trying to find a child to adopt in an orphanage and discovers a child there so different from the others, loves to paint, with a prim and proper façade, and talks so mature for her age. Esther is a nine-year-old girl originally from Russia. The couple, who thought of adoption for them to recover from the loss of their unborn child, ended up adopting Esther. What they did not know was that Esther is not the sweet and modest little girl they thought she was. As she lives with her adoptive family, a series of horrible events lead them to suspect that there must be something wrong with Esther.

Actually, she’s from a mental institution in Russia and has the record of being the most violent patient there. She has a very rare genetic disease that makes her appear like a child but she’s actually already 33 years old. It turns out that she had feelings for her adoptive father and because she saw her adoptive parents having sex, she started to get mad and caused those terrible events like killing the nun that visited their home to warn her parents about Esther’s past records, setting a fire on her foster brother’s treehouse, and cutting down the roses that were her mother’s remembrance of her unborn child.

It’s really a very intriguing movie that will surely make you think and analyze. Isabelle Furhman, who played the role of Esther, really portrayed her character well. And I also think Vera Farmiga, excellently played her role as Kate, Esther’s mother. The development of the characters in the movie was showed excellently too. This movie is definitely a horror movie that you should not miss. And who survived in the end? Well, it’s for you to find out. You better watch Orphan now and find out what is really wrong with Esther.

Watch the trailer here :

Where is RJ-45?

Whew. I have to admit I hate attending make-up classes because most of the time, if not all the time, they're boring. I also hate waking up early on Saturdays because it's my me-time. It's the time when I stay in bed almost whole morning and just get up when I want to eat and take a bath. It's been two Saturdays now that we've been having make-up classes for our Computer Networks subject. Even though this is what I want to Major in IT, it's not an exception when it comes to taking away my me-time. It's not that boring though compared to Bio classes but still..

Well, still, I had to deal with it.

Today's class was very frustrating. We had to crimp three UTP (unshielded twisted pair) cables for our hands-on exam. Yesterday, I was pretty excited for this. But dang, I didn't know it would be hard and FRUSTRATING!! No wonder Network Technicians get paid Php1000 for crimping just one cable. hahaha! It's hard aligning those color-coded copper wires to the slots of the RJ-45. When you cut it, it's straight but when you put it in the RJ-45, some wires fit and some are too short to reach the end of the jack. So what you're gonna do is to cut it again. I guess, my one-meter cable lost 1/4 of its length because I couldn't do it right. Phew. Such a clutz. Good thing I'm not the only one. hahaha! A lot of us were whining. After you align the color-coded wires correctly, you'll crimp it and viola, - a crimped UTP cable. But it's not yet ready to use for connecting your networking devices, you still need to test it. And when it fails to function using the tester, you'll have to do it again - cut a portion of the cable that is connected to the RJ-45 and bye bye RJ-45, you're now a garbage! We were only provided 6 RJ-45s, just enough for making 3 cables - the straight-thru, the crossover, and the rollover cables. So... saying bye-bye to an RJ-45 is really painful. hahaha!


It was a busy afternoon. We were like busy buzzing bees packed in the inadequately air-conditioned classroom. Everywhere you go in the room, you'll hear people saying, "where's the stripper?" or exclaiming, "hey, who took the scissors??" But what'll really sting your ears would be, "Oh, no. Where's my RJ-45???" Well, goodluck with that. hahaha

I actually lost my other cable. I only finished the straight-thru with my friends to rescue me in the midst of my frustrated state. And until now, my thumb still hurts for pushing the wires just to fit it into that RJ-45. Good thing our teacher said that submitting one working cable would be fine. I was saved!

[Life Update] It's Depressing

There's not much going on these days, lots of suspensions of classes, lots of lazy days for me, and lots of food trips. We also have lots of school requirements to pass but I haven't started doing one - lazy days, lazy days.. When will I ever stop cramming? It's already rooted in my system ever since highschool. I can't generate good ideas anymore unless it's the eleventh hour. Just as what my teacher once said, "deadlines make miracles." I know I should change this. I hate being almost-late but I like the rush of beautiful ideas during deadlines. hahaha!

Kpop scene is depressing. Jaebum left for Seattle last last week leaving 2PM without a leader and one member less. That's not 2PM anymore right? Sigh. I'm actually upset with Korean netizens for making such a big issue about those MySpace comments. I mean if I were a Korean, I'd also be mad about that but considering that those comments were written years ago, and after reading Jaebum's explanation, I'd forgive him. I understand what he was going through that time enduring a very stressful training away from home without even an assurance that all his hard work will pay off. Also, even though he's Korean, he was basically new to Korea that time and found it hard to adjust to a culture so different from American culture where he grew up. I just think that Koreans were really really unfair to him. 2PM activities were also postponed and appearances of other members in shows(regular shows and guestings alike) were called off. Well, he voluntarily left the group and abandoned his position so I'll respect that. He needs time to be away and reflect too. On the other hand, the controversy involving TVXQ and SM Entertainment also worries me. I don't want TVXQ to separate. They're the best Korean boyband I know in terms of singing abilities. And after so many years of being together and so many albums they released, it would be really hurtful for fans like me to see them break up. I'm not saying they are on the verge of breaking up but logically, if the two parties cannot have an agreement that will settle the issue about TVXQ's "slave contract" with SM, I don't think it's possible that Changmin and Yunho will stay at SM and Micky, Xiah and Jaejoong will leave SM and they'll still be TVXQ! There are even rumors that their upcoming performance might be their last performance together as TVXQ. Oh no. I pray that it won't happen or they will break millions of hearts of the biggest fan club in the world.