Donations

I still don't know what to donate for the Ketsana/Ondoy flood victims. Actually, I already knew but 2 hours ago, a friend told me that PCCM is already telling everyone to give monetary donations instead of clothes, canned goods, etc. 'cause it will be harder to send them and they are already piling up at the centre.

SO, I DON'T KNOW NOW. Malamang pera na nga lang.

But shit, what I actually want to do now is help the schools that were destroyed. I just saw them on TFC and poor kids have no books now and computers. All were swept away by the flood. So I'm thinking...

Heard that a lot of bayans in Laguna are still flooded. I don't really know what to do now. It's sooo hard to be here. Mahirap kasi tumulong nang hindi mo alam kung ano ba talaga ang situation or kung ano ba talaga ang kailangan. Kasi if you want to help talaga, you have to give what they need. Otherwise, tumulong ka pa diba?

Controversial Covers

Saw this at Jessica Zafra's blog. It is included in the Most Controversial Magazine Covers of All Time by the webdesignerdepot.

I like this one the best. Very New York.

The original post can be found here.

Ondoy Flood

Ohmygahd. I can't get over the Ondoy flood. My brother said wala na daw akong sinabi all day kung hindi yung baha. HAHA. Eh pano naman kasi I don't think there was a flood worse than this in recent Filipino history. Even the places na usually hindi binabaha, binaha talaga. POOR PINAS. I read that there were at least 40 people dead already. 35 were from Rizal. They said they are mostly children who drowned. It's sooo sad.

Cristine Reyes, the actress, stranded on the roof of her house. Drenched and frozen.
These cars!!! OMG.

And the underpass!!! OMG. Swimming pool?

Pictures from ondoy.tumblr.com

Flooded

I woke up today at around 6.30 and logged in. I was shocked to find out that the whole Metro Manila is flooded. Apparently, Le Mesa dam was opened to prevent it to overflow so all the water went straight to Marikina and all the nearby cities.


Twitter and Facebook are crazy-full of updates. Got all of my news from there. Lots of people were stranded, had to brave the flood, some people are missing, and some were killed.

A really sad time in the Philippines right now. I just hope stupid politicians won't use this to campaign. Sana masama na lang sila baha if they do. Sumama sila sa bagyo na umalis ng bansa.

Anyway, the parents called my tito and asked how it is in Laguna. There was flood but luckily it didn't reach our house. So everything's good in that area.

In this side of the world, IT'S SUNNY. But I won't go out. I'll just stay at home and read for my thesis. I really have to get my priorities straight. THIS IS IT. If I screw this up, WALA NA. I have to really give all the effort that I can. Other issues that are floating in my mind can now go away. No space for them now. I JUST DON'T CARE ANYMORE about other things. I plan to be more socially active now. I and Lem joined UNICEF the other day and I'm planning to be active. Yesterday, I met the other person who we will be working with on the Shame study. It has only been two weeks in school and I've already met lots of people.

Really, the world is opening up itself for me. I can't just sit here and not do anything.

(Image from: http://www.quezon.ph/2009/09/26/how-to-help/)

Thank You's

And so my birthday is nearly over. LOL In case you didn't know, I don't really celebrate my birthday. September is usually a busy month and every year, celebrating is always the last thing on my mind. Before I know it, birthday ko na pala and I haven't planned a thing. So like any other birthdays, parang ordinary day lang to. The only difference is that I get hundreds of notifications from Facebook. Haha!

But of course, I still have to thank everyone.

I want to thank YOU for the birthday greetings. Can't name everyone coz that will be tedious but you know who you are.

Thank you Maesie for the cute Hello Kitty coffee traveller's mug.

Thank you, Flaminiano, for the card and the early morning birthday greeting that woke me up. Hahaha!

Thank you, Daphne for dropping by (and Paul na rin) and for the birthday card and the gift. Even if I didn't see you kasi I was still taking a bath that time. Haha!

Thank you sa mga Brokebacks and sa HKs. I LOVE YOU GUYS!!! Mga leche kayong mga bakla kayo. HAHAHAHAHA!

Thank you sa aking ama at ina para sa dinner kanina. Haha!


Thank you kay God kasi nag-birthday uli ako. Hehe! Salamat dahil may pinarating Syang message kanina at alam kong para sa akin talaga yon.

Happy Birthday to meeee!

I have no plans as usual.

I don't really care. I hate thinking about what to do on this day. Especially that Septembers are usually busy for me. Anyway,

I received the greatest gift I can receive for this year....



A THESIS ADVISOR.

I'm gonna meet up with her on Monday at 9AM. So it is a HAPPY birthday. Yeeeha!


I will make another post later to thank everyone.

First Day of Fall

And so I started Fall with two 4000 level classes. I'm telling you, it's a different world out there. LOL. It's ALL PSYCHOLOGY. It seems far and foreign from the world that I know. I don't really know what to expect and I also don't know how I will perform. I'm just gonna take it day by day, I guess.

Right now, I have one major problem. I still don't have a thesis advisor.

Summer 09

Summer 09 is over.

This summer I registered for 4 courses: dropped 1 because it sucks, finished 2, and dropped the last one because exhaustion took a toll on me.

This summer I began to read again and watch movies for pleasure's sake. Good thing I took the last month off 'cause I was able to relax and let myself learn from other things other than text books.

This summer I learned to breathe. I slept in and there were days that I do nothing significant and I never felt anxious. It felt like the good ol' days.

This summer things that are long overdue finally happened. It was exactly what I expected. It is exactly how I wanted it to be.

This summer made me realize that dreams are possible. It sounds cheesy but it is true. God gives chances and it's up to us what we would make of them.

This summer is hopefully my last summer as an undergrad. :)

Orientationz!

Just got home from the U1 orientation. Supposedly, I was only going to pay tuition and buy books but I saw friends and I ended up staying longer.

Books: SUPRISINGLY, I SPENT LESS THAN $200. First time in my 4 years.

I also helped Arianne take pictures. She was taking pictures for UMSU, documenting all the events for Orientation Week. Saw a LOT of friends.

I wanted to stay but I have work so I'm home and now I have to leave in 30 minutes. LOL

Gotta keep going. Laterz.

Askinosie Chocolate: Davao Dark Chocolate

Oh wow.

I was bored so I decided to tempt myself and browse Daily Candy.

One article caught my eye cause it says CHOCOLATE. So I opened it, read it, and opened the company's website and I found this.

I didn't know that Davao has good cocoa beans let alone that they export them. I really had no idea so I was thrilled when I saw it. And apparently, it's been getting some good response from people.

Askinosie is a US-based company that make chocolate from the beans. Well, okay, I don't really know much about the chocolate making process but based on what I read the company "...practice direct trade, paying farmers above fair trade prices for cocoa beans and giving them A Stake in the Outcome by profit sharing with them." (Wikipedia) You can even trace the specific chocolate bar that you bought by entering the Choc-o-lot number stamped on the wrapper and you'll be able to know when and it was made and how.

The company also helps kids and helped fund a computer lab for them.

Each bar is $8. Not cheap but if it's gonna help farmers, why not? The wrapper is soooo cool too! I wanna try it. I LOVE dark chocolate. Actually, that's the only type of chocolate I eat. I hope I can buy some SOON.

https://www.askinosie.com/default.aspx

Give Me The Sun, Please

Everyone knows that the equation Me + Rain do not work well. Uggghhh. I was supposed to go to school to pay tuition and buy books BUT I got lazy. I spent 2 hours debating if I should go or not. I ended up not going and I just slept in. Too sleepy for words.

And haircut... not gonna happen too 'cause the person who cuts my hair won't be back until tomorrow. I have work tomorrow so I don't how will that work out BUT I WILL HAVE TO HAVE MY HAIR CUT with or without her. I seriously have to.

The only bright thing today is my taro flavored ice cream. LOL. I opened the freezer and found a small tub. It's heaven, I'm telling you.
Ughhh. I'm so not feeling my best. I do not want to go out but I have to just so I won't waste this day.

It's a holiday! Yeah right!

So summer "vacation" will be over in less than 3 days. I'm not sad but I'm not super excited about school either. I'm just going with the flow, willing to take whatever. Books aren't bought yet. I'm hoping they wouldn't cost me more than $400. Aside from that, there's nothing else to buy for school. Just a laptop bag, I guess which HOPEFULLY wouldn't cost me more than a hundred bucks. Let's all pray that a chance meeting with a very pretty and expensive laptop bag wouldn't happen.

So my 3-day work is over. It was the first time in my life to work more than 5 hours each day in three consecutive shifts. Nakakapagod pala. My legs and my feet were hurting mostly because I'm wearing flats. If I was wearing my beloved flipflops for all three shifts, it wouldn't be as agonizing. Buti na lang HOLIDAY today. It's Labor Day and I'm doing nothing physically demanding. Just REST, REST, REST and lotsa reading. My brain needs to be exercised. I found this website: Psych Central and I think I'll be reading that for the next few days to refresh my memory about everything Psychology. Aside from that, I'm currently in the middle of Milan Kundera's Unbearable Lightness of Being. It's good!!!

Speaking of "good", I watched the movie Up last night. I cried buckets of tears. Holy crap. Who would have thought this old man and this cute, little, chubby boy got amazing abilities. Nagkaroon ako ng puso for 1 hour and 35 minutes dahil sa kanila. Hahahaha! If you haven't seen it, YOU SHOULD. Even just the first 11 minutes!!!

Onga pala, I already have the laptop. I haven't paid the whole amount though. Haha! I haven't had the chance to go to the bank because of work.

And oo nga pala, I've done something stupid. Hahahahahaha. Lahat inaway ako. WELL, GANON TALAGA. Hahahahaha!

This is how I Roll

Naru's Ice Roll is L-O-V-E
Had it yesterday and had to come back today.
Ice Roll = Cream cheese, crab sticks, and some other things dipped in tempura batter and fried. It served on top off shaved ice and sauce.

Naru is located at the Osborne Village beside Baked Expectations.