FIGHT ON!!

Senioritis

2008-01-23T19:48:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been a while since I posted on my blog! What has happened in my life lately? Hmmm... Not much. The only major thing is that I'm about to graduate! Wohooo!!! 4 months to go and I'm officially a college graduate.

I'm also glad that I already have a job waiting for me once I graduate. I don't have to worry looking for one this semester, I can just relax. The job is actually pretty good! It is with a top Fortune 500 company and they have really amazing benefits not to mention their generous compensation. Even though the position requires 100% travel, I like it. That's the reason I chose this kind of career, I don't want to be boxed inside a cubicle in an office.

I am also liking my class schedule this semester. I'm only taking 4 classes with a total of 10 units. I only need 2 classes to complete my requirements but I'm taking a couple of classes for a particular certification. Since most of my classes doesn't start 'til late in the afternoon, I can sleep late and wake up late. How sweet is that!!

After graduation, I got a few months off then time to start paying off those pesky student loans! Hahaha!!!

desperate

2007-10-12T23:24:00.000-07:00

Okay, since Tops asked for an updated, I'm gonna write one. Hey, why did you erase your blog anyway?

I did not actually expect the issue about the Desperate Housewives dialogue to be a big deal! I was actually watching the season premiere of the show a few weeks ago when I heard Susan mention the word Philippines. I heard the entire dialogue and I understand the context but I didn't actually think it was derogatory at all. The first thing I thought was that, "That was neat! She mentioned the Philippines!" The next thing I know, I got an email from the groups of an org in UP with a link to an online petition regarding the dialogue Susan made. Then I looked online about the issue and it was a big deal in back there! A couple days after, it was on the local news here in LA since there is a big Filipino community in the area and the segment was titled Desperate Filipinos which I think was more annoying than the issue itself.

I just don't understand why people would take that particular line from this show seriuosly. I mean, c'mon! It's a comedy show and it was said by Susan who is the most neurotic character in Wisteria Lane. There are other shows out there that make derogatory comments/jokes about different countries as well as other races but people don't make a big deal about them because they are comedy shows (Will and Grace, Scrubs, etc). When can Filipino people learn to lighten up?!

I cannot believe that the Senate and the Congress would waste their time in demanding an apology from the creator of the show and trying to ban Desperate Housewives. Don't they have anything else to do, oh I don't know, maybe tackle some serious issues in the Philippines such as poverty and corruption?! And not waste their resources over some silly show?!

I also understand why Filipino people in the healthcare profession might pissed about this since Susan implied that the medical training in the Philippines is sub par but I think that American people are smarter than to believe what they hear on a comedy show. If Filipino people in healthcare are scared that US hospitals would not hire them because of that particular dialogue, then they are better off because that hospital is stupid enough to believe that line. Let's also not forget about some of the controversies in the medical field in the Philippines such as the nurse's board exam cheating.

Name that tune game

2007-08-19T23:58:00.001-07:00

I know I haven't posted in a while. I was just being lazy since it's summer. My summer vacation went well I guess. Spent a month in Honolulu to visit my family. Also went to Maui for a few days for sightseeing. When I got back to LA, I still got a month to go before school starts so I went to Las Vegas to visit some relatives. And I won $30 on the slot machines! But I lost it the next couple of days, also on the slot machines. Well, you win some, lose some.

Before I left for Vegas, I spent the night at Zyra's because she was gonna drop me off at the airport (don't wanna drive). I was supposed to leave Sunday afternoon (Aug 5) but it turns out, the freakin' airline was fully booked!! Their earliest flight was Monday morning so I had no choice but to take it and stay at Zy's place for one more night.

The night before my supposed flight, Zyra and I watched The Bourne Ultimatum. On the way to the theater, we decided to play name that tune. I plugged my iPod to her car's stereo and while she was driving, she has to guess the song that I'm playing. Then, something funny happened!! I was playing the intro to the song My Sharona and you know what Zyra guessed? Mickey!! I was laughing so hard because she has a point, they do sound alike but I never have thought about it! So I started singing Mickey to the tune of My Sharona and it sounded hilarious! You guys should try it!!!

I included the songs below so you guys can hear it for yourselves! Galing mo Zy! Hahahaha!!!

couple of things

2007-06-17T19:54:00.000-07:00

There are two things I am raving about. First is the movie Knocked Up and the other is the show Man vs Wild.

I saw Knocked Up with Zy and Meg at Third Street Promenade. I've been hearing a lot of good stuff about this movie so I was excited to see it. This movie was from the writer and director of the 40 Year Old Virgin. Since I liked that movie, there was a good chance that I will also like this movie. And I did! It was freakin' hilarious! I liked the Debbie character (Katherine Heigl's sister in the movie) because she's always insulting her husband.

Favorite line from the movie was when they were searching for the best Ob-Gyn. They were having a check-up and the woman doctor said, "Ooooops. Thats not your va***a, that's your a**hole." She said it calmy and with a smile! It was so funny!

Man vs Wild is an awesome show on the Discovery Channel. I just started to watch this show because of its endless commercial for the new season. They had a marathon the past couple of days and I was able to watch a few episodes. This show is great because it teaches people how to survive in different situations such as being stranded in the French Alps, the Moab Desert in Utah, the Sierra Nevada, in the Alaskan Mountains, in a Pacific Island, Florida Everglades and others. Bear Grylls, the host, have eaten a lot of disgusting stuff but I guess you cannot be picky if you're trying to survive. He has eaten a live snake and a live frog, maggots from a dead deer, raw and live fish as well as raw meat from a dead zebra! He even drank the liquid that he squeezed from elephant dung! How amazing is that! He's my hero! If I was in one of those situations, I'd die immediately! I would not last a couple of days!

By the way, we saw Hilary Swank at Third Street! She was with a guy, probably her bf. We were inside a store when I saw her walk past carrying a few shopping bags. We were gonna follow her but we lost her on the crosswalk. We only got to follow her probably a good minute.

Number Twenty-three

2007-06-13T21:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, it's already my birthday. How time flies! I feel that I'm still a teenager. Or maybe I just want to escape the responsibilities and problems of adulthood although that's inevitable especially here in America.

Since it is my birthday, it made me take a closer at what's been new in my life since last year. Well... nothing at all! How pathetic is that?! I've known the same people, did the same things. Didn't meet anyone new that's memorable and nothing happened that's out of the ordinary.

What's my wish for my birthday? Hmmm... I don't know, maybe to be happy with my life. I sorta feel empty inside. I always try to distract myself so I don't feel depressed. Sometimes it works, most of the time it doesn't. It's a wonder I still have my sanity.

I don't know but it's just hard for me to make new friends. It's not that I hate people, it just that I don't like some of them and I'm scared. I would like to have more friends but I guess it's fine being a loner. It has been working the past four years that I've been living here.

My friend from work told me that I should put myself more out there, make new friends. But I just can't do it. Maybe this is what I really am. Sometimes I wonder if I'll be alone when I get old. I'm not scared to be alone actually, it's just that it's sad. I'm used to doing things by myself. I've gone to the movies by myself, no one drops me off and picks me up from the airport, I've dined out by myself, hell... I even went to the zoo and a couple of museums by myself. I don't mind doing stuff alone but it would have been waaayyy... better if I could share it with people.

On a lighter note, I saw this movie, the number 23 with Jim Carey a few months back. Since I'm 23 years old, I wonder what other numbers in my life are 23? It's really hard to come up with 23! Bday? No. Phone? No. Student number? No. SS numuber? No. The only thing I can think of is my house number, 3720-> 3*7+2=23! I really thought hard for that one!

Hey, my birthday next year is friday the 13th! Cool!

after 7 years

2007-06-06T23:58:00.000-07:00

After seven years, nagkita na rin kami ni Meg nung Monday. Taga-Northern Califonia kasi sya at kalilipat lang nya dito sa SoCal dahil sa trabaho at mag-ga-graduate studies sya sa UCLA. Di pa sila nagkikita ni Zyra though kasi may trabaho sila pareho. Maybe this coming weekend.

Kapapanood lang namin ni Zyra ng Pirates III at ang masasabi ko lang ay, ang haba ng movie! Sobra! I was so bored and didn't pay much attention to some parts of the film. There was a lot of unnecessary scenes. I would have liked the movie more if it was shorter, like 2 hours instead of almost 3 hours!

Madalas na kaming nagkikita ni Zy ngayon, di tulad nung my school ako. Kasi lagi akong bored sa bahay so pumupunta ako kina Zy once a week para maglaro ng tennis. Nag-i-improve na kami ngayon ni Zy! Humahaba na ang rallies namin!

anong balita ngayon

2007-05-16T23:36:00.000-07:00

Okay, sinipag ako ngayon magsulat dito. Dahil bakasyon na at wala akong magawa, eto ako ngayon at nag-u-update ng blog. Ano nga bang mga nangyari mula sa last post ko? Wala naman, after spring balik ulit sa school. Usual stuff- assignements, projects at exams.

Nanood kami ni Zyra ng concert ng isang band nung April 12. Mag-u-update sana ako tungkol dun pero sinumpong na naman ako ng katamaran. I-po-post ko sana ngayon yung mga pics na kinuha ko nung concert gamit ang blackberry ko pero, nanakaw sya 10 days ago!!! Di ko pa sya na-do-download sa laptop ko at nandun pa naman lahat ng telephone numbers ng contacts ko! Ako pa naman ang taong hindi nagba-back-up ng mga bagay. At oo, uso rin dito ang nakawan ng cellphone pero hindi naman kasing lala sa Manila. Napilitan tuloy akong bumili ng bagong cellphone. Blackberry ulit ang kinuha ko pero white naman. Pag nawala ulit to, cheap na cellphone na lang kukunin ko dahil wala na akong pera!

Ngayon ay summer vacation na kaya maraming free time. Ano nga bang plano ko? Plano ko sanang pumasok sa isang internship kaso nga lang, walang tumaggap sa kin. Malas! Mag-su-summer class sana ako dahil wala naman akong nakuhang internship, na-cancel ang class na kukunin ko. Malas ulit! Ano nang gagawin ko? Uuwi na nga lang ako sa Hawaii at magpapaka-bum. Malas talaga! Dahil ba ito sa nakabasag ako ng salamin?

Flight ko sana pauwi sa Hawaii ay early June para dun ako mag-birthday pero nakabili na si Zyra ng concert tickets for Goo Goo Dolls and Lifehouse sa June 19. Sayang naman yung pera ni Zy kung hindi ako makakasama so pinostpone ko yung flight ko til June 20. Maganda sana kung early June kasi mura pa ang pamasahe, kapag late June ang flight mas mahal. Si Zy kasi eh!

Eto yung video na kinuha ni Zy nung concert:

ETA: Yung banda ay Augustana at yung kanta nila ay Boston.

Eleksyon nga pala dyan sa Pinas ah. Sana naman ay may mga kwenta ang mga nanalong pulitiko! Di ako bumuto kasi di naman ako registered eh! hahaha! Kayo na lang bumoto para sa kin.

spring is here

2007-03-14T22:06:00.000-07:00

I'm currently on my Spring Break which means I got a whole week of free time! I get wake up late and not worry about school work which is nice. I lost one hour of sleep though because Daylight Savings Time is early this year and for years to come. It used to be in April but some senator chaged it to March. I don't know why. I didn't go anywhere this year for Spring Break. Last year I went to Vegas but this year, I'm saving money so I just stayed here in LA. But I wanted to make the most out of it.

Last weekend, I went to see the movie 300 with Zyra at Third Street Promenade. That movie kicks ass! Definitely there in my favorite movies list. I don't care if the movie was not historically accurate! Who gives a crap if it isn't?! I don't. I watch movies to be enjoyed and entertained, not necessarily educated. If I wanted to be informed about what really happened in the Battle of Thermopylae, I would have watched the History Channel and be bored to death.

Yesterday, I went to the LA Zoo which was in Griffith Park. It was nice and I got a good workout at the same time since the zoo was located in the mountain. You have to hike up and down to see the animals. I got there at around 2 pm and most of the animals were having their afternoon nap! The lions were asleep as well as the bears, hippos, chimps and other big animals. I wanted to throw rocks at them so they would wake up. If it wasn't for the kids who were on their field trip, I would have done it. I don't have pics at the zoo though.

Today, I went to Natural History Museum which is located just in front of our school. I just walked to get there which saved me parking since it was $8! The ticket was free since I'm a USC student. There were lots of dinosaur bones inside. I liked the exhibits on different African and North American animals. I wanted to jump over the railings and touch the preserved animals! They also have displays of gems and minerals. They got lots of gold and diamonds in there! Maybe I'll try to rob them!

I also cried today. I tried to cook pasta today and I had to cut the onion. I cried because of the smell! I thought white onions don't have strong scents such as the red onions, I was wrong. They were the same. They said that if you have turn the faucet on, you won't cry when you cut onions because the the running water can help with the scent. Well, idid that and it didn't work. But my pasta was a success! Yummy!

Tomorrow, I might go to another museum. I'll probably go to Los Angeles County Museum of Art then I'll probably drive up to Mulholland Drive to check out LA views.

Winter Wonderland

2007-02-07T22:00:00.000-08:00

It's been while since I updated! My chatterbox was even erased due to inactivity. What's been going on? Not much, same old BS. I'm currently looking for an internship for the summer so I can have work experience related to my major. I'm not really looking for a particular kind of internship, anything will do as long as it will look good on my resume once I graduate.

Last week, I went snowboarding for the first time with 2 friends from work. We went to Mountain High Resort in San Gabriel Mountains. I had to ditch class and wake up at 4:30 am (to avoid traffic) so I could go with them but it was worth it! It was so much fun although it was scary at first. After falling for the first couple of runs, I was getting the hang of it. All I need to practice is my toeside movement.

Snowboarding is a strenuous sport. You have to climb inclines to reach the lift and you have also have a hard time breathing because of the altitude, on top of that you have to drag your board on one foot. If I only knew, I should have done some kind of exercise the day before we were going because the next day, my body was so sore. My arms were sore (since I kept on falling and had to get up lots of times), as well as my back and knees (you always have to bend your knees and your back straight for balance). Snowboarding was like doing squats, except that you're moving down a hill, fast!

New Year

2007-01-08T23:38:00.000-08:00

Welcome 2007! One more year and I'll be done with college! Woohooo!!! That is if everything goes according to plan (which I hope will be).

A lot has happened the past month. I watched the Video Game Awards live, finished another semester, went back to Hawaii for vacation and USC won the Rose Bowl among others.

Something interesting happened on my flight back to LA from Honolulu. It was cancelled. I was suppose to fly out Thurs, Jan 4 but Hawaiian Air said that the plane wasn't going anywhere. Something was broken and they couldn't fix it. We waited more than 3 hours in the gate because we just thought that our flight was just being delayed! They should have just told us earlier that it was being cancelled. They told the passengers that we would be put in a hotel with a $20 dinner voucher. Well, I rather go home than go to a hotel and I did, eventhough the hotel was Marriot. The next day, the day of my rescheduled flight, I overheard a girl talking that they were brought to the Marriot resort. I made the right choice of not going there for a couple of reasons: I've already been there because my uncle is a manager there and second, I got a compensation in the form of a $400 Hawaiian Air voucher which I can use on my next trip. Sweet!

All I did for my vacation in Hawaii was be the driver, run errands and watch Eat Bulaga because we have GMA Pinoy TV. GMA is still better than TFC. I am once again broke because of the Holiday season that passed.

When I was in Hawaii, I took pictures of the rainbow that I see when I drive.

It's Spring semester again!

we lost...

2006-12-05T23:22:00.000-08:00

Okay, we lost to UCLA last saturday, 13-9. We lost after seven straight winning streaks against them. It was painful to watch on tv. Our team kept on making mistakes. I mean, they had like 4 false-starts and we didn't have that much 1st downs because we were always penalized! They didn't look like the team that beat Notre Dame the previous week. Now we're out of the championship game and they're saying that there's a curse in the Rose Bowl 'cos we kept on losing there (championship last January and now). Well, let's see if there is a curse. We'll be playing Michigan for the Rose Bowl title and if we lose, maybe there is such a thing as a curse.

I know why we lost, because the pep rally for the game sucked! The Fray wasn't that good. They only have 2 good songs, Over My Head and How to Save a Life, that's it! The rest of their songs suck, big time! I was ready to leave the concert after their second song but it was too crowded so I stayed. My friend didn't like them either. He said they suck ass, which is true. They were too depressing and I don't even understand what the lead singer was singing about. He kept on eating the microphone so I couldn't hear the words to the songs. I like emo music but they are wayyyyyy emo. C'mon, get over it and stop moping and writing songs about it. Next time they're feeling emotional, they should step away from any instrument. Last year was much better with Jimmy Eat World!

In 7 days, I will be in Hawaii! At last, vacation time! It is long overdue, I'm all burned out. These past days, I was sleeping at 4 in the morning finishing up my papers, presentations, proposal and homeworks. Can't wait for my finals to be over.

Happy Turkey Day!

2006-11-22T20:21:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day and I have nothing to do. I'm feeling lazy so I won't be cooking. I guess I'll just be having takeout then. Meg invited me up in Davis to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with them but I can't because of my work. I wanted to go and see Meg but Thanksgiving weekend is one of our busiest days so it's not possible to get a couple of days off. Lame black friday sale!

Last Saturday at work, I saw Jennifer Garner's ex-husband, Scott Foley (Noel of Felicity fame). He bought a couple of tennis rackets and I was the cashier who helped him out. He's in a new series called The Unit and I asked if it was him from that show, he said yes. I wanted to ask him how Jennifer is doing and if he has seen Violet (Jen's baby). Just kidding! Hahaha! I'm not a Hollywood reperter!

I'm really excited for the Pep rally for the USC vs. UCLA football game. The Fray is performing at the concert and Will Ferrell is the special guest (he's an alumnus). And school will be over in a couple of weeks! Yay!

Beat the Bruins!

laundry day

2006-10-22T20:05:00.000-07:00

Today, I did my laundry after almost 3 weeks. I really have no time to do my laundry but I have no choice. I'm running out of clean clothes (specially underwear!!) to wear. So i separated my whites from my colors, put all the whites in the machine, and put some coins to start the cycle. Then I went back to doing all my homework which I am completely behind. After a few minutes, I went back to the machine to start with my colored clothes, then I remembered, I forgot to put detergent in my whites!! Sh*t!! I just wasted 5 of my quarters!! I didn't want to wash them again 'cos that's another $1.25 so I just selected a few of my whites that needs to be really washed (such as socks and underwears). Plus, even if the colors bleed from washing them with the colored ones, no one would notice. Good thing, they still look the same after washing!! Hahaha!!!

Last Friday, I got my new phone. I got a Blackberry Pearl which I am loving right now. It has a lot of features which I am still trying to figure out. What's nice about this phone is that it is smaller compared to the other Blackberrys. The camera's good too! Now I can go online just by using my phone. The only thing is that it's an additional $20/month for the internet feature but in my opinion is well worth it. I can now go on google, spy on people on myspace or check your blogs on my phone! Sweet!

I also went to a women's volleyball game the same day. It was USC vs. UCLA. My friend and I were late to the game beacause we didn't know that they moved the venue. Because of that we ended standing the whole game. Sadly, we lost to UCLA. Damn Bruins!!!!

7 more weeks

2006-10-15T23:40:00.000-07:00

It has been pretty quiet here in my blog. I've been busy with schoolwork lately and work. And being a procrastinator doesn't help very much. My homework have already piled up so I had to call-out from work twice already these past few days. But there's really a lot of school stuff to do. I got:
1 short paper (writing class)
1 article (writing class)
1 proposal (writing class)
3 formal presentations (2 for an engineering class and 1 for writing class)
1 project (eng'g class)

Then there's 3 more second midterms coming up. I have to say this writing class is a lot of work! Damn!

7 more weeks then it'll be my long awaited break! You guys back home are lucky since it's aleady sembreak!

OT, wow there's been an earthquake in Hawaii. Good thing no one in my family was hurt but it's still difficult to contact them since there still no electricity. I think our landline phone is working, the only problem is that the only phone they have is a cordless one so it is no use. How weird is that that my family doesn't have a regular phone that has the regular cord and stuff?! Now, they learned their lesson so my mom said they're gonna buy a regular phone first thing tomorrow. All their cellphones are low in battery so I only got to talk to them for a couple of minutes, which is good enough. I just needed to know that they were fine. Thank God they are.

On my way home from work last night, I tried to take some pictures while driving. I know it's not safe but I just wanted to get a picture of Downtown LA skyline at night, but I failed miserably. I really need someone who will drive while I take some pictures!

Long time no write

2006-09-24T23:40:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I last posted. What has happened:

- it has been a month since school started. I already had an exam in one of my classes. 1 down, 2 more to go so far.

- I just delivered my first oral presentation in my Advanced Writing class! And I was the first one to deliver it because it was done alphabetically, which sucked and was a relief at the same time. Since I was first, I am allowed to make blunders. I can set the bar low but it was nerve-wracking! My prof said it was just one of the few oral presentations that we're gonna make and they'll be longer. Great, more speeches!

3 more months before the Holiday break and the sem is over!

Cute!!!!

2006-08-26T22:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, I found this video online and I just can't stop watching it. Even though I've seen it like 50+++ times, I just can't help but laugh so hard. It's so cute and funny at the same time!

The mama panda just had a WTF moment! hahaha!!!! And the music... genius!!

It's only been the first week of school and I already got a few homeworks. It just keeps getting better and better!!

I'm addicted to golf right now... the cellphone game that is. Since I always arrive early in class, I have nothing to do but play with my cellphone and now I'm addicted to it! Must... concentrate...

first two days high

2006-08-22T18:02:00.000-07:00

I've attended all my classes for Fall '06 and all I can say is that, they're pretty much the same as the past semesters. Since I am taking most of my majors, my previous classmates are the same classmates that I have. People that I don't know except for a handful.

But my writing teacher this sem is kinda H-O-T!! I think she's in her mid-30's. She has straight blonde hair and green eyes. I'm just not to sure about the subject she's teaching because it involves the most dreaded public speaking. Here we go again....

I know USC is famous for having "celebrity" students. First day of school, I thought I saw someone who looks like the daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis. So I searched the net and found out that Rumer, their daughter, is indeed attending USC this Fall as a freshman. I wonder when I might see Demi in campus? Hmmmm... Ashton? not looking forward to seeing him... Then this afternoon, while waiting for my class, a tall guy walked out of a classroom. He looks familiar. After a few seconds, I recognized him as Paris' boyfriend/ Mary-Kate Olsen's-Ex, Stavros. I didn't know that he still go to USC because, oh I don't know.... because he's a freakin' spoiled rich kid who doesn't care about school.

I wish it's already Winter Break so the sem would be over....

Power tripping of LAPD

2006-08-17T14:47:00.000-07:00

I'm really pissed right now! I just got pulled over by LAPD after finishing some errands. I was just 1 block away from my place when this police car came out of nowhere and flshed the lights on me!

I went to the grocery to buy a few stuff (I wanted to cook Beef with Broccoli) and stopped at the post office (3 blocks away) to mail a package for my mom. Since I was only a few blocks away from home, I didn't wear my seatbelt. So when the policeman approached me, I thought he was going to give me a ticket for not wearing the seatbelt, but surprise, surprise!! He gave me a ticket for having tinted windows!!! Whoever made the law making tinted windows illegal is f*cking dumb! It's such a lame law! Now I have to remove my window tint, which I don't want to do since I like it that way and it's gonna cost me, and I have to freakin' appear in court.

Having tinted windows is soooo important especially here in California because of the heat! It also saved me and Zyra during the time we got into an accident. The broken window glass didn't hit us beacuse it was stuck in between the films of the tint.

Those cops were maybe trying to reach their quota and I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. There was even a car with tinted windows that drove past us while they were busy writing me a ticket! Damn it!!!

School's about to start this monday. I'm not to psyched about it.

beach, tennis and the sun

2006-08-06T19:10:00.000-07:00

My arms hurt right now. Not from playing tennis with Zyra last night but from watching a tennis game!! My arms got burned so bad! It's terrible. Lesson learned: Always bring a sunblock lotion when you are going to watch a tennis match during the day.

I had a long weekend and a lot had happened. The timeline:

Thursday: Zyra picked me up at my house for the first time! I was the one who always drive to her house but this time, it was her turn. She still scares the hell out of me when she drives! Like when we missed the turn to the ramp in to the freeway. She had to make u-turn but she hesitated because she thought there were cars coming from the opposite direction. If you drive in LA, never hesitate. If you are about to make a u-turn and you think you can make it, do it. If you think you can cross the intersection in a yellow light, step on your gas. But do not hesitate halfway.

We went to the mall to check stuff out. I ended up buying a pair of Oakley sunglasses and a pair of slacks from Banana Republic. Both impulse buy. I really didn't want to spend money since school is about to start but I didn't have enough self-control. The pants were on sale anyway! Hehe!! Afterwards, we went to Circuit City to buy a GPS navigation system. Her mom doesn't trust her with directions when she drives so she told Zy to buy a GPS. Then we went home.

Friday: We set up the GPS system in her car and we went to Venice Beach using it. On our way, we passed by a street named "Mindanao" and I took a picture of it since I wasn't the one driving (for a change). Strolling down Venice boardwalk with running shoes was quite inaaproprite so we each bought a pair of Havaianas. We ate at a cafe along the boardwalk and afterwards walked in the beach. It is so much easier to walk in the sand wearing flip-flops than with running shoes.

On the way back to the parking lot, we stopped to watch a performer at the boardwalk. It was a black guy doing some dance routine. He was a scary guy though! He was a former crack addict who just came out of jail a year ago, but atleast he's trying to change by doing this kind of job. What I didn't like about him was that he forced people to give him money. I was forced to give him money beacuse if you didn't give him atleast a dollar or walked out in the middle of his show, he would shout bad stuff at you. The only funny thing about his show was that he picked Zyra to be part of his routine!! The routine was about how Asians, Whites, Mexicans and Black girls dance. Zyra was the Asian girl and she had no choice but to dance in front of the people! It was embarrassing!!! Hahaha!!! The black girl that the guy picked was good, she really got down!!

On the way home, I took pics of the freeway since it isn't often that I am the passenger. When we got home, we ate dinner and went out again to watch My Super Ex-Girlfriend. It was an okay movie. It was predictable but entertaining.

Saturday: The big day. The main reason why I asked to have the weekend off from work. Zyra drove and we went to Carlsbad, CA (a few minutes from San Diego) to watch the Acura Classic Open Semifinals. I bought the tickets almost a month ago when I just got back from my trip and Zy was still in the Phils. The tickets cost quite a lot because it's a semifinal game and it included buffet lunches but I figured it would be a nice bday gift for Zy.

The game was held in La Costa Resort and Spa. On our way to the venue, Zy forgot to put gas in the car. So while she was driving, the warning light for low fuel lit up. Zy got all scared because she thought we would be stranded in the middle of the freeway. Good thing there is the GPS and we searched for the nearest gas station. We made it to the station with enough gas but Zy missed the turn, again. Good thing there was another one right next to it.

When we got to La Costa, we checked the place out. The game we were about to watch was between Maria Sharapova and Patty Schnyder. We looked around the place and saw Schnyder practicing in one of the courts. We went behind the other tennis courts and we saw Sharapova. She was having her picture taken with a kid but after that, when a man asked for her picture, she declined. She said she had to go. I was also about to ask the same thing and good thing I didn't. She only has time for her fans that are kids, not the grown-ups. So much for her autograph. I even bought a giant tennis ball for her to sign! Snob. Yeah, I know, she's tall and pretty but you also have to have the personality. I told Zy that we should paid a kid to go to her and get her signature. We just watched her practice on the court.

The game was good. I wanted Schnyder to win but Sharapova won. She also beat Clijsters in the finals which was today. Too bad. It was funny watching Sharapova play live because I can hear her grunts first hand. It makes me really want to laugh so hard because I visualize her having oragasms with those grunts. Hahaha!!! Especially after watching My Super Ex-Girlfriend. There was a scene in that movie where Uma Thurman was having sex with her boyfriend played by Luke Wilson. Because Uma was a superhero, she had super strength so when she thrusts on top of Luke, the bed moves with her and slams againsts the wall. I imagine Sharapovas grunts with this scene. So naughty!!!

I didn't go home empty handed though in terms of autograph. I got Schnyder's signature because she had an autograph session in the afternoon. The only thing that I hated the most with the tennis match was the hot sun!!

More pics and a couple of vids on my multiply account.

Ms. Universe

2006-07-23T13:30:00.000-07:00

Studying at USC really does have its perks! Hahaha!!! It is near the Shrine Auditorium! I just got back from the dress rehearsal for the Miss Universe Pageant and it was good. It was actually like the real pageant except that they have a made up list of finalists. The judges were also from the audience. It was so funny because some of the sit-ins for the judges were guys but the name of the judges were girls, same thing for the girl sit-ins. And the person that they crowned Ms. Universe in the end was a member of the production team.

-opening sequence

-swimsuit portion of the "finalists"

Ms. Philippines had a lot of fans in the crowd. There were lots of Pinoy waving the flag. I didn't cheer that much for her since there were people already doing it for me. Hehehe!!! The contestant who had the most support was Ms. Mexico. It is actually a no brainer since Mexicans are the majority here in LA. And I admit, Ms. Mexico is hot! I don't think Ms. USA has a chance of winning though. I can't even find her in the whole rehearsal.

-final walk of reigning Ms. Universe

-end of rehearsal with the hosts

I was waiting for someone to trip or a wardrobe malfunction but nothing happened. There was a lot of gay people in the audience. No wonder, this is their World Cup!

It's so hot here in LA right now!!! Summer! Aaarghh....

pics and construction

2006-07-13T22:12:00.000-07:00

Dahil ni-request ni Tops, eto na yung pics sa Punchline at sa Somethin' Fishy. Nag-open pa ako ng multiply account para mas madali. Hehehe!!! Sya ay matatagpuan sa http://srbd.multiply.com/

Medyo tapos na nga pala yung bathroom sa apartment ko kaya nakabalik na ako. Although hindi pa sya totally finished, pwede na syang gamitin. Eto yung pics nya during construction.

Kamusta na nga pala si Zy? Post pa kayo ng ibang pics!

Boring ang buhay ko sa ngayon. Puro work. Pero okay lang dahil kelangan ko ng pera! School will start in 6 1/2 weeks!!! Ang init nga pala dito pero hindi katulad sa Pinas. Dito naman may hangin na dumadaan. Sa Pinas kasi napapansin ko, hindi gumagalaw ang mga dahon! Kahit na sumisipol ako, wala! Iba talaga ang Pinas!! Kelan kaya ako makakabalik??

P.S. Di pa pala tapos yung Ms. Universe pageant. Kasi usually May sya ginaganap pero ngayong year na 'to, sa katapusan pa ng buwan. At dito pa sya gaganapin sa Los Angeles, sa tapat pa ng school namin- sa Shrine Auditorium. Bumili nga ako ng tickets para sa dress rehearsal eh! Hahaha!!! Marami kayang magaganda? Sana! para di sayang yung pera ko!

I'm Back

2006-07-04T01:09:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm back in here in LA after my one month vacation in the Philippines. And surprise, surprise!! They're remodeling the bathroom!!! Oh God! I was already looking forward to using the toilet when I got off the shuttle in front of my house. Too much food in the plane made my tummy upset. I was gonna ask my neighbor if I could use their bathroom but no one was answering the door. Luckily, my condition wasn't that bad so I just made myself busy. After couple of hours my neighbor arrived and I was able to use their bathroom.

The agent of my landlord told me that they didn't know when I was coming back so they just started remodeling a couple of weeks ago. They gave me 2 options:
a. They could give me a key to my neighbor's house so I could use their bathroom.
b. I could live in my landlord's house (approx. 2-3 blocks away) since the whole second floor would be all to myself. Complete with my own bedroom, bathroom and kitchen.
I chose the first option since they told me the bathroom will be done by Wednesday, so his agent gave me a copy of the key. He told me to call him if that doesn't work out and I could live in his house for a few days.

I was already sick with the common cold when I left the Philippines but that night it got worse. I had a fever and sore throat and I couldn't breathe. Since I am sick, I need to use the bathroom from time to time. I am now living in my landlord's house. It's a cool place since the whole second floor is mine and it is entirely separate from the first floor. They each have their own private entrances.

I am still sick but I don't have fever anymore. Just sore throat and a runny nose. I only had a day of rest since I have to get back to work on Sunday. The first thing I did last Saturday was get my car to a carwash!! It was already gray in color instead of gold! Poor car!!! Good thing it was still running after being unused for more than a month!

Happy Fourth of July!!!

Happy Birthday Lou and Belated Zy!!!

(Next post na lang yung tungkol sa trip! Hehehe!!)

I got Seoul but I'm not a soldier!

2006-05-29T18:30:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to myself to the beautiful Philippine islands! Beautiful nga ba? Yung ibang parts, oo. Isa lang ang masasabi ko, ang init!!!! Iba talaga ang init dito sa Pinas. Kakaiba! Hahahaha!!! Ang dalas ko na tuloy maligo.

- sa LAX

Ang haba ng aking biyahe. 32 hours sya kasi meron akong 2 stopovers tapos kasama sa stopvers na yun ay 12 hour na layover sa Seoul, South Korea. Buti hindi sa North! Hahaha!!! Korean Air kasi ang pinili kong flight para maiba naman at para makapunta ako ng Japan at South Korea.

Mababait ang mga flight attendants ng Korean Air. At mga bata pa sila at magaganda at laging mga naka-smile. Di tulad ng mga nasakyan kong ibang airlines. Dapat talaga may rule na kapag lampas na sila sa certain age ay dapat mag-retire na sila. Ehem, ehem, Hawaiian Air! Hahaha!!! Sa PAL okay lang pero dapat mas friendly sila and with a smile. Ang galing din ng mga flight attendants ng Korean Air kasi marunong sila ng Korean, Japanese at English.

- view from my window of Tokyo and Narita Airport

Muntik pa ako maligaw sa connecting flight ko sa Japan. Nakisunod na lang ako sa isang group na may connecting flight din to Seoul. Nag-travel pala ako bale ng halos isa't kalahating araw- 11 hours from LA to Japan, layover in Japan for 2 hours. 3 1/2 hours from Japan to South Korea, layover in Korea for 12 hours(!!!), 4 hours from Korea to Japan. Di tuloy ako gaanong nakatulog kahit na may 12 hours ako sa Seoul.

Pero nabusog naman ako sa buong flight. Nakakabusog yung mga food sa Korean Air. Kahit dun sa flight from Japan to South Korea na 3 hours lang eh meron talagang dinner! Kung sa ibang airlines yan ay drinks lang yun, minsan pa ay wala!

- sunset on the way to Seoul
- Incheon Int'l Airport (people were watching the soccer game of the Korean team)

Nakakatuwa sa Incheon Airport, dahil sa sobrang bored ko ay nilibot ko yung airport nila. And dami nilang duty free stores. Tapos sa restrooms nila ay di mo na kailangang maglagay ng toilet seat cover kasi automatic na'to magpapalit, basta i-press mo lang yung button. Tapos meron ding courtesy bell so kapag nauutot ka, i-press mo lang yun at gagawa sya ng noise para hindi marinig yung ginagawa mo. Pero di ba obvious na yun na may ginagawa ka kaya mo nga yun ginamit?

Lagi akong window seat pag sumasakay sa eroplano para kita ko yung views. Kahit na mahirap pumunta sa restroom kasi harang yung katabi ko okay lang. Dun nga sa 11 hour flight ko ilang beses kong hinakbangan yung katabi kong babae kasi tulog sya eh. buti di nya naramdaman nung nasipa ko sya! Hehehe!!!

- hanapin ang Iglesia ni Kristo
- SM ang unang sasalubong syo
- di ko alam kung anong lugar to, basta malapit sa NAIA

- see what I'm talking about?
Nung pababa na yung planes sa Japan at South Korea, ang makikita mo ay mga greens at clear yung sky. Sa Pinas naman habang bumababa yung plane ay dumidilim yung langit dahil sa kapal ng pollution tapos ang daming mga bahay. Nag-iisa talaga ang Pinas!

Adventures

2006-05-24T21:37:00.000-07:00

These past few days have been great!!! Last Sunday, I went to Hollywood to catch the show of UP Concert Chorus. Although the ticket costs $30(!!!) I still went to see it 'cos my blockamate Camille was there. When I was already there, I thought the ticket includes a free program, but no! It costs $2! Oh well, I didn't know that it would be this expensive just to see my friend.

After the show, we had a few minutes to catch up and talk. I wanted to show her around LA but she said they(her host family and the Concert Chorus) already had plans. She said they were going to Disneyland. At first I thought it was lame because I didn't really enjoy Disneyland when I went there and it said in the news that it would rain. She wanted me to come with them but I told her I'll think about it.

The next day(Monday), she called while I was sleeping to ask if I was going with them. I figured I won't be able to see her in a few years so what the heck! I told her that I would just meet them there and that I would bring a friend. So I called Zyra and asked if she wanted to come with me and she said yes! So I took a shower, ate breakfast and went to my school to buy a Disneyland ticket. Our school sells discounted tickets to USC students to theme parks and other entertainment locations but still, $64 was expensive for me.

I drove hurriedly to Zyra's place eventhough the freeways were slippery due to the rain so we could get to Disneyland right away. When I was on fast lane on I-105 West, the car in front of me swerved to the left so he could avoid the car in front of him that stopped suddenly. Since the road was wet, he swerved quite hard. When I saw this happen in front of my eyes and heard his tires screeched, I thought I won't be able to brake in time and that I would crash in to him. The first thing I said to my self when I saw these unfold, "Okay, here we go again! Another accident! My insurance will go up!" Good thing I was able to brake and there was no car in the carpool lane. If there was an approaching car on that lane, he might have hit it and he might have spun and hit me beacause I was so close to him, like 5 feet. He recovered right away when he swerved and was still able to stare at the driver that caused the would-have-been accident. When I told Zy what happened, she wondered why the first thing that came to my mind was about my insurance and not about me being hurt or losing limbs. My explanation is that I care more about money than myself! Hahaha!!! Joke! I don't know why. Maybe because I know that the collision won't cause me much injuries and would only damage my car.

Disneyland was fun! Maybe because I was with people my age. When I first went there, I was with my family so I didn't enjoy it that much but this time was different. Before meeting with Camille, Zy and I went to ride Splash Mountain. The group we were with in the log kept on splashing water with each other and we got wet because of them, not beacause of the ride!! We were able to ride quite a number of rides but we weren't able to go to the California Adventure park. We were at Disneyland until their closing time. Then, Camille and I said our farewells. How sad... Hahahaha!!!!

The next day(Tuesday), Zyra and I picked up Yosef near Beverly Center so we could watch The Da Vinci Code at 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica. At first, he didn't want to see the movie because he already saw it but majority won so we ended up watching that movie. We were supposed to catch the 7:10pm showing but we were late beacuse of the rush hour traffic and we ate dinner first at CPK. (I wasn't able to bring my camera so there are no pictures with Yosef)

The movie ended at 11:30. When we got out of the theater, we decided to walk toward the beach to check it out but ended up not going because it was dark in that area and we got scared. We just decided to go home but Yo kept on insisting to see the Hollywood sign. I told him no because it was already midnight and I was already tired. Then we also got lost on the way to Yosef's place! Yosef didn't exactly know where he lives so we ended up driving on Silverlake and Sunset Blvd. It took us 1 hour on what is ideally a half hour drive. In the end, it was fun eventhough we got lost!

movie with Zy

2006-05-13T22:49:00.000-07:00

After few months, nadalaw ko rin si Zyra. Kasi ba naman eh, ayaw nya ako puntahan! Lagi na lang ako! So kahapon ko lang naibigay yung mga padala nyo sa kanya for Christmas at nun lang namin napaghatian yung Cloud 9 at Choc-nut na bigay nyo Rhea.

(may oras pa akong kumuha ng pic habang nagda-drive no?!)

Alam ko late na kami pero nanood din kami ng MI:3. Plano sana namin ay dun kami sa bargain time manonood para mura pero natagalan ako sa pagpunta kina Zy kasi traffic. On the way to theater, si Zy ang nag-drive. Napaka-cautious mag-drive ni Zyra (in other words, mabagal). Pero okay lang, ganyan talaga pag bago. Ang masasabi ko lang sa movie ay hindi ko gusto ang ending. Boring!!

Dapat mas marami pa dito yung pictures ni Zyra eh. Binura ba naman nya nung pinahiram ko sa kanya yung camera ko! Nakakaasar!!! Dapat may 5 pics sya na puro nakatakip yung mukha nya eh. Pinicturan ko sya ulit pero sabi nya di na raw sya magtatakip kaya yan, puro nakangiti yung kuha nya. Bumili nga pala ako ng bagong digicam kaya wala na akong pera. So wala na talaga kayong pasalubong! hahahaha!!!!

Countdown: _ _ days before my flight. hehehe!!!

schoolyear is over

2006-05-09T21:43:00.000-07:00

Wow! The school year is over! How time flies!

presently...

2006-04-24T19:01:00.000-07:00

Eto na sya ngayon. Wala akong magawa no? Pinipicturan ko lagi yung pasa ko. Hehehehe!! Di na sya masakit ngayon pag pinipisil, yung kulay na lang.

Okay, ia-announce ko na nga... Uuwi ako ang Pilipinas this summer break. One month ako dyan. Di pa nga ako nagpapaalam sa trabaho eh pero pakialam ba nila! hahaha!!! After this, matatagalan na ako bago umuwi. Naisip ko kasi na eto na lang ang chance ko para umuwi, next year wala na kasi maghahanap na ako ng internship. After graduation naman di na pwede dahil kelangan ko na magtrabaho para makabayad ng student loans. So mga 5-7 years na siguro yung susunod na uwi.

Di ko sasabihin kung kelan ako uuwi. Basta isang araw lilitaw na lang ako. Susurpresahin ko na lang kayo at para di kayo makabilin ng mga pasalubong nyo! hahaha!!! Wala akong pera pampasalubong eh dahil naubos sa ticket. Okay? Ipasyal nyo ako ha!

i donated blood and all i got was a shirt...

2006-04-21T02:42:00.000-07:00

I donated blood Wednesday morning. It was my first time donating and it went quite well. They gave me cookies, chips and orange juice afterwards! Yum! Now my arm is all bruised from the needle. I actually just wanna know what my blood type is that's why I donated. hahaha!!!

After this, it might be 3 more years before I could donate blood. They don't take donors who have been out of the country.(Hint? Clue? Gets nyo? Hmmmm...)

The pic on left was taken the same day I donated. The other was 2 days later.

It's the last week of the semester and I know I shoul be doing my papers but I am just distracted. This is what I have been doing. Hehehe!!!!

Vegas et al...

2006-03-31T21:59:00.000-08:00

I have never written so much papers (reaction & research) in my entire life until this sem!! Sobrang matrabaho ang GE ko at Writing!! 'Lang ya! Break muna...

papuntang Strip

Anyway, tungkol naman sa Spring Break ko sa Vegas, okay naman sya. Boring... Wala ako gaanong nakitang mga lasing na babae. Maaga kasi ng 1 week ang break namin compared to other schools kaya onti ang kasabayan namin. Puro matatanda ang mga nakita ko, mga matatanda na sugarol. Nagsawa rin ako sa mga slots! Anywhere you look, puro slot machines!! Kulang na lang pati restroom may slot machine! Nag-try ako sa slot machine at syempre, talo!! hahaha!!!

Sayang! Di ko napanalunan 'tong Viper!

Pagkatapos ng Spring Break, sobrang busy sa school kasi naipon ang requirements. Tapos yung midterm ko pa sa Math, aahh ewan! Babawi na lang ako sa Finals! Di ko pa rin tapos ang research paper ko para sa American Studies (GE ko). Tapos may paper na naman para sa Writing. After that, final portfolio naman. Haaaayyy... Siguro pag pinagsama-sama ko ang mga papers ngayong sem na 'to, pwede na syang maging booklet! Wala pa naman akong hilig sa writing!

Nung Wednesday nga pala nag-shoot sa school ang "The O.C." Akala ko kung ano yung shooting nun nung pumasok ako. Akala ko isang B-rate movie/tv show lang sya. Sabi ko na nga ba "The O.C." yun eh kasi may nakita akong mga orientation tables pero Brown University. Eh wala namang school recruitment nun so naisip ko yung show na yun kasi dun gusto mag-college ni Seth. Too bad that I didn't stick around to see anyone famous. Nabasa ko lang sa school paper na "The O.C." nga yun. Oh well... there's still next time.

Maki, ang ganda ng latest episode ng Will & Grace, guest star si Britney Spears. Tapos si Karen sobrang nakakatawa. Kasi tinanong sya ng surrogate nya kung nasan si Stan (oo, buhay si Stan!! Nagkunwari lang sya na patay para makatakas sa kaso nya at gusto ni Karen magkaroon ng baby sa ep na 'to). Eto yung dialogue (ni-record ko yung ep kasi may trabaho ako):

Cricket(surrogate): So how come I haven't seen this husband of yours?
Karen: He's on a business trip in the Philippines. I love Filipinos. They're Asians but not cocky about it.

Gets mo? Sobrang nakakatawa yung delivery nya ng line na 'to!

Daylight Savings Time na naman ngayong weekend. Mababawasan ako ng isang oras ng tulog. Kaasar!

Advance Happy April Fools!!

Pasensya

2006-03-06T23:29:00.000-08:00

Sorry kung walang update... Malapit na ang Spring Break so siguradong magkakaroon ako ng free time para magsulat sa blog na 'to. In approximately 5 days...

Okay, dadagdagan ko tong entry na 'to para naman may kwenta...

Nagkasakit nga pala ako nung nakaraang 3 araw (Fri-Sun). Akala ko magaling na ako nung Sunday kaya pumasok ako sa trabaho tapos bigla na lang ako nilamig at nanginig so nagmakaawa akong umuwi. Buti naman at pumayag sila so nagdrive ako pauwi sa freeway habang nanginginig! Swerte at hindi ako nabunggo! Hahahaha!!! Hirap talaga pag nagsasarili ka at may sakit!! Kinulit tuloy ako ng nanay ko para magpa-check-up so napilitan pa akong hanapin yung Health Center sa campus. At least ngayon alam ko na next time na magkakasakit ako! Hehehehe!!!

I just bought and watched the DVD of Rent last weekend nung may sakit ako. La lang, napagtripan ko lang kasi nakakaaliw yung kanta. Basta nakatatak na sa isip ko na there are 525,600 minutes in one year (hindi leap). Okay lang yung movie. Di lang talaga ako sanay na pakanta ang dialogue.

Buti naman at malapit na ang Spring Break pero ang daming kelangang gawin pagbalik. So gagawin ko rin yung mga yun during Spring Break! Kaasar! May 2 papers na due at pagbalik puro exams. Haaayyyy...

Basta, sana mag enjoy ako sa Spring Break na to! Maghahanap ako ng mga lasing na babae!! Sabi nga ng kasama ko sa trabaho, maraming "drunk blonde chicks" during Spring Break, so masaya!! Pupunta nga pala ako ng Las Vegas during the break so sana totoo nga yung sinabi nya (fingers crossed). Harharhar!! What happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas!

only the beginning

2006-01-28T16:51:00.000-08:00

Three weeks has passed since the school started and it has been a lot of work. I have this GE that's a lot of work and on top of that I have Writing. What's worse is that this GE is like 2 subjects in 1!! The lecture class is totally different from the discussion one. Its double the work for the same number of units. And then in Writing there's only 11 of us in class so the prof really knows us and we're required to participate in discussions which I totally hate!

My classes for the Spring Sem:
Math 225
Accounting 410
American Studies 101 (Race and Class in Los Angeles)
Writing 140

Looks like a light load, not really. I only have four courses but all of them are 4 units each. And I also have to work 20 hrs a week. Haaayyy... buhay.....

I'm only worried about AMST 101 and Writ 140. I really hate writing papers!! And these 2 subjects require tons of it!!!

Lory, tulong sa Acct! hehehe!!!

After the Holidays

2006-01-06T22:08:00.000-08:00

Since it's a new year, time for a new template.

My vacation is now over and I'm back at my place where the internet connection is way faster. I can now update this blog.

On my way to Hawaii, I was on the window seat so I took some pics. Can you spot the plane in the first one? My plane left at 5pm so it was already dark. We were going west and we were able to catch the sunset.

It has been a good holiday season aside from the fact that I'm broke and my school freakin' lost in the College Football National Championship, 41-38. Damn Longhorns!!! They have ended our 34-game winning streak which started in 2003!!! But I have to admit, it was a good game and Vince Young is a good quarterback.

I have to say that my break was quite good. I had a haircut since I only get one when I'm home. I don't trust anyone with my hair even myself so it's either my mom who cuts my hair or she has to be present when somebody does it. I was able to go to the North Shore and to the Dole Plantation. We also had a family reunion although not all the members of the family were present. I also watched Cirque Hawaii in Waikiki.

Everytime there is an occassion, I'm always the photographer so it's very rare that I'm included in the photos. And I'm also camera shy so I always end up on the other side of the camera. This is my only solo picture in my entire vacation.

Random pic at the hotel. I was looking for a pretty girl in the pool area but there was none! It was all kids playing! The other 2 photos was also in the hotel but different part of the resort. The Christmas tree was the one in the hotel lobby.

I wasn't driving this time so I was able to take a few pics of downtown and the Holiday displays near the City Lights.

My Christmas gift for myself was a black 30GB video iPod. I didn't really like the iPod at first because I didn't get its point. I thought why buy a $300 mp3 player when you already have a discman but when they came out with the one with video capability, I gave in. And I had to buy accessories for it since what's in the box is not actually complete. They're smart 'cos they know you have to buy those stuff which gives them more profit.

Sa mga Avo, pasensya na sa padala ko. Yan lang ang kaya ko ngayon eh! Next time na lang pag graduate na ako!

Guess how big this chocolate is...

It is huuuuge!!!

Points to Ponder

2005-12-19T14:44:00.000-08:00

Now that my semester is officially over, let me reflect on the things that I have learned since I studied here in America.

1. The pencil is mightier that the pen.
- All the students here use pencil!! Just like grade school!! See previous post on October 18.

2. Birds of the same feather flock together.
- Students of the same race and color flock together. It is very rare that you see a white student and an Asian student together outside the classroom. There is the white chicks group (the sorority type), white guys groups, African-American group, Asian group which is sub-divided to the Chinese group, Korean group, and other Asian nation group.

3. You can wear anything to class
- I know it is also the same in UP but anything here means anything! I had a classmate in a GE class and I think she was wearing the same clothes that she went to bed in to. We had the final exam that day and it was 8:00 in the morning so she probably didn’t have time to change clothes. She was wearing pajamas and a white wifebeater (sando to those who don’t know) without a bra!! She looked like she just woke up. It would have been quite ok if she was pretty but she wasn’t. I really don’t understand those students!! People, have the decency!!! I always wake up at least 2 hours before class so I can take a shower and put on clean clothes!

4. There’s no such grade as A+.
- I thought the highest grade that you could get was A+, my bad. It only goes A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D- and F. The grading system here is quite confusing!!! They give you letter grades then they convert it to 100 scale or the other way around then to the 4.0-1.0 scale. Why do you have to get the letter grade?! All you need is the 100 scale!!

5. Once the class is over, students use their cell phones right away to call their friends.
- They immediately call their friends to ask them where they are or what they are doing or if they want to meet up or other shit. I just don’t get it. They use their cell phone even when they are riding their bikes or skateboarding! No wonder there are accidents inside the campus involving these kinds of students.

6. They also use bluebook.
- I was surprised to know that they also use a bluebook here. It is the same in UP, it is color blue and has the school seal in front. The only difference is that it comes in large and small sizes. But we don’t really use it that often since it just depends on the professor. Mostly professors provide the test papers. We just used it for the essay type exam.

7. The calculators that they use are the graphical ones.
- Everytime a calculator is needed in an exam, students take out their huge graphical calculators while I just use my ordinary scientific calculator. It is kind of unfair because sometimes in the exam, there are a few questions about linear programming and it takes me longer to figure out the graph and the value of the x and y. For them, they just put in the given then tada.... you have your graph and the x and y values. Now, I'm really thinking about buying a graphing calculator.

These are all that I can think right now. I’m already in vacation mode so my mind is quite blank. I’ll just add some stuff later if I remember some more.

the last week

2005-12-05T01:10:00.000-08:00

The past week was preety good! Last Thursday (Dec 1), I went to the Pep rally on campus. It was for the USC vs. UCLA fotball game and they had a bonfire of a Bruin (UCLA mascot). After the program, there was a concert of Jimmy Eat World. The band was great and it was really cool because it was free!!!

It was also the last week of classes. In a few days, it will be finals week.

Not only was it the last week of school, it was also my last day of work (Dec 2). I said that I needed some time-off for the finals and for the Christmas break. They allowed me to have a break and told me to just come back when I'm ready. Great!! Also, John Kerry (Presidential Candidate '04) came in at our store to buy a pair of running shoes. He's a size 11, quite small for his height (6'4"). And he has lots of bodyguards!

I can't wait for my trip to Hawaii. I can relax for a few weeks! But I won't have money since I won't be working. I hope my mom would give me allowance... hahaha!!!

By the way, our class picture in ISE 232 is up. The course is called Digital Manufacturing but it should've really been just Manufacturing Processes. I didn't enjoy this class to be honest...

Happy Thanksgiving!!! WARNING!!! Parental Advisory on the Pic Though...

2005-11-24T23:40:00.000-08:00

gobble... gobble..

Thanksgiving day is almost over and in a few minutes, it will be Black Friday. Black Friday here is different from the Black Friday in the Philippines, it has nothing to do with Jesus. It is all about the huge sales that different stores will have to lure people in. It is the official beginning of the holiday shopping season. It is during this time that people buy their presents. Stores would open early, some at 5:00 AM (like our store which opens at 5:30 AM, good thing I'm scheduled in the afternoon!!), and have specials usually 'til 12:00 noon. This is where a lot of people wake up early and line-up in front of the store and once the door open, there will be a stampede of crazy people.

During Black Friday, people buy stuff that they won't normally buy if it's just a regular day. Just like me. I'm now broke because I just bought snowboard stuff. I haven't gone snowboarding yet but I just don't want to pass the chance to buy those items at a very cheap price. The discount is bigger than our usual employee discount!! Now, I have to go snowboarding. I'll probably go next year since it is currently peak season and there will be lots of people. I'll go when the season is almost over so the resort will all be to myself! Hahaha!!!

This is also my first Thanksgiving by myself. It was okay, peaceful. I didn't have time to cook special food since I worked earlier so I just warmed the ham that I bought at the grocery yesterday. I got the ham as a substitute to the traditional turkey which takes a lot of work to cook. I also cooked some yellow rice and corn. All very easy to cook. Not a bad Thanksgiving after all... Not at all...

Avo party and a midterm

2005-10-29T19:13:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I updated my blog! Since I'll be gaining an extra hour (Daylight Savings Time), why don't I spend that hour writing something. I've been busy these past few days. Tons of homework, midterms, a paper and of course, work. I really can't wait for the semester to be over!

I really don't have anything interesting to write. Avo had a sembreak party last Oct 27 and I was able to talk to them thru YM. Eventhough it was tough for me to get up early (since I always stay up late, 'til 1 am), I was able to wake up on time to be able to chat with them. I woke up around 6:45am but didn't really get out of bed 'til 7 since my eyes are not yet fully opened and I don't want to hit the wall when I walk toward my computer. The time was just right since it was 10pm Phil. time. I really miss the avo parties! One of these days, when I come back, I'll be there to attend an Avo party. I don't know when but soon (I hope!!!) It can be sooner if someone is willing to give me roundtrip tickets to the Philippines!!!

That day was also my CSCI 101 2nd midterm. I messed up with that midterm!!! I wasn't able to finish writing my program!!! There was a lot of looping going on with the question and the time was just wasn't enough!!! We were given an hour and twenty minutes for the test since that's the length of the class but I'm sure it was less than that beacuse we started late. I was still analyzing what kind of loop I was gonna use when the proctor said there was only 5 minutes left. The program writing part of the midterm was worth 55 points (out of 100) and I'm also not sure with my answers on the remaining 45 points. I just hope they are generous on giving partial points!! Oh well... there's still one more midterm remaining and a final... Crap...

Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo

2005-10-09T11:04:00.000-07:00

The title has nothing to do with my post. I just like this song with the same title. And the video is soooo funny!!! You should check it out! Go to Yahoo music and search for the video! I swear its hilarious!!!

I just got the result from my ECON test and the result is okay (I guess..) Anyway, I want to share what happened during the day I took that exam. The class for my ECON is like the one that I took in UP (the only difference is that this one is MICRO not MACRO), they're both held in this huge auditorium with lots of students.

The test was multiple choice and the answer sheet that they were handing out was like the one for entrance exams, it's shading the circles with a,b,c & d. So I took out my pen and started to write my name down and shading the corresponding letters below it. Then my seatmate asked me (who I have no idea who she is, actually I don't know anybody in the freakin' class!) if I have a pencil. I told her that I don't have any, all I got are pens so she asked her other seatmate if it's really pencil that we need to use. She said yes so she asked someone else for an extra pencil.

I didn't believe what she said, I told myself, "Yeah right, pencil, you can use a pen!" so I still continued shading my name with my pen. Then my professor said to the class, "You guys have any extra pencil for this gentleman over here?" Then I thought, "Why do you need pencil for shading anyway? This is college, no one use pencil for exams!!" Then he said, "You have to use pencil 'cos the machine couldn't read ink, use pencil please." What?! You gotta be kiddin' me?!!! I don't have a pencil!!! And I'm too shy to go in front of the auditorium and announce to the class if they have any pencil that they can lend me. I almost walked out of the exam, I swear, beacuse of I was so pissed!!! Then I thought, relax... this is a test, you cannot walk-out!! So I asked my other seatmate if she has any extra pencil, she said no. Shit! I was seroiusly about to start answering the test with my pen. I don't care if the machine don't read ink, fuck that! I'll just explain that I don't have a pencil and maybe my teacher would be kind enough to understand what I did. Then my seatmate said "I have extra lead (she uses a mechanical pencil)." I told her, "That'll do!" Desperate times call for desperate measures!!!

I was still pissed as I was taking the exam. I was so careful not to break the lead so I could finish shading the 50 item multiple test. What I did was I wrote down my answers first on the questionaire then after I'm done with the most part, I started to shade the circles.

Now I know why lots of my classmates have pencils. They use it even in taking down notes! I've always thought that you don't need pencils if you're in college (except if you have a drafting class or you're a fine arts or archi major, of course! duh?!!) Now I don't leave home without my pencil!!! Ever!!!

Okay, I don't know why I'm posting an entry when I would be late for work if I don't leave in the next few minutes.

The Corrs and procrastination don't mix well

2005-10-03T17:56:00.000-07:00

I've been pretty frustrated with myself lately. I have this assignment in programming that was extended for 2 weeks but I didn't start doing it 'til the day of submission. In short, I procrastinated!!! I also had 2 midterms (Computer Prgramming and Microeconimics) last week so I figured, I'd study for my tests first then do my homework. But it didn't work.

I think I have ADD 'cos when I was studying, I kept on interrupting myself! Like I would go online and search for stupid stuff and watch some music videos or I would play my football or guitar or I'd go on a break and eat snacks. I just get bored out of my wits easily!

I was able to submit my program but I couldn't debug it! It was working but some parts of it don't print properly. Actually, Marco already did a program for that assignment but I don't want to submit an assignment that I didn't do myself so I made one. I just used Marco's program as a guide and a reviewer for my midterm. When the midnight deadline was getting near and I still couldn't figure out what was wrong with my program, I just submitted it. I was also getting pissed with my connection to the school server so I just threw in the towel. I submitted it at 11:45pm with 14 minutes to spare. After submitting it I still continued to debug it, but no luck... Then I tried to use Marco's program and his worked perfectly! ('cos I don't really compile the programs that Marco gave me, I just use them as a template)

When I went to bed that night, I was seriously thinking that I should have just copied Maki's program, I would have gotten a 100. But I thought, "Hey I got INTEGRITY!!"

Okay, I'm procrastinating again!!! I have a midterm tomorrow and the day after that and I haven't studied even one them! Tomorrow's midterm is my East Asian Humanities course and I've got a ton load of reading to do!!! I have more than 100 pages of readings and I haven't started yet. I thought this course would be easy 'cos I'm confident of my Asian knowledge and all that stuff but my teacher is really boring so I'm not really in to it. He just keeps on blabbering stuff about Confucianism and other Asian philosophies in his monotonous voice. I just show up in class for the attendance then sleep through the whole hour and 20 minutes. Good thing the midterm for Wednesday (Introduction to Industrial and Systems Engineering) is open notes, I just have to understand parts of it. All I have to worry about is our group assignment which is due the same day of the test.

Time to stop procrastinating!!! But I can't help it!!!! I love watching music videos of The Corrs. Wow... Andrea Corr is so pretty.... must.... go... back... to... reading...

Emmys and Keane

2005-09-21T22:27:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday was the Emmy Awards and it was always held at the Shrine Auditorium, which is directly across from my school! It is actually one of the main reasons why I wanted to study at USC, there's always some award shows held over there like the American Music Awards and the Screen Actor's Guild Award. I was excited beacuse I can finally see lots of actors/actresses in just one location, plus I might be able to see Jennifer Garner or Mischa Barton.

So I invited Zyra to come with me and watch the red carpet arrivals. We were there at about 12 noon but the stars won't arrive 'til 3:30pm so we had a lot of time to kill. Good thing there wasn't that much people yet so we sat on the sidewalk across the red carpet entrance. We had a really good spot! Wrong!!!! After more than 3 hours of waiting under the blazing sun and when the limos started arriving, the LAPD made all of the people across the street move further down the road!!!! It was so frustrating because they made us move so far that we cannot recognize who were arriving!!! We can only see the color of their dresses but we don't know who was wearing it!! Good thing I brought my binoculars but the police were still blocking my view! And it also gave me a headache 'cos my arm wasn't still.

I saw Ellen 'cos she stepped-out of the venue when it was still early, when the police haven't made us move yet, since she was hosting the show. She didn't even arrive at the red carpet. I also saw Mischa Barton for like a couple of seconds and that was it. I can barely recognize her due to the distance!! It's even better on tv 'cos it's much closer! If only the police didn't make us move then it'll be more memorable!! Because we didn't really see the actors at the red carpet, we just watched the Emmys on tv at Zyra's place.

The next day (Monday) at school, I was so sleepy because I spent the night at Zyra's to watch the Emmys so I had to drive back early to avoid the traffic and to be on time for my 9:00 class. But my sleepiness disappered when I remembered that Keane would be performing at noon. Good thing I don't have a class during that time so I was able to go. I arrived early for the program and got a good spot, I was at the second row. The band was great but it was just a short acoustic set, 7 songs(it's a free concert, that's why!) Anyway, I didn't matter because they stayed for a while after playing and signed autographs. I was able to let them sign my CD jacket! It was so cool!!!

Same location for photos:
http://photobucket.com/albums/a361/sab_rb/
(The quality of the pictures of Keane were not that good 'cos I just used my phone. I didn't have my camera that time.)

America's Next ...

2005-09-17T22:19:00.000-07:00

Okay, napapadalas ang post ko. Medyo marami kasing nangyayari lately at nag-request kasi ako ng days-off from work para sa mga bagay-bagay. Sinundo ko si Zyra kaninang umaga para mapasyal naman sya at ako. Gusto ko kasing ma-explore yung LA at malungkot naman kung mag-isa lang kaya niyaya ko siya.

First on our itenerary: The Grove in LA.
Narinig ko kasi sa radio na may autograph signing ang ibang past contestants sa America's Next Top Model doon so, dun kami unang pumunta. Akala ko late na kami kasi medyo tinanghali na ako sa pagsundo kay Zy, tinatamad kasi ako nung umaga. Buti na lang hindi at umabot kami! May mga giveaway na Chapstick at tank top na may label na America's Next Top Model. Actually, wala akong kilala sa mga models na nandoon. Hindi naman kasi ako nanonood ng show na yun. Ang medyo kilala ko lang na nasa autograph signing ay sina Tocarra, Eva at Shandi. Sila lang kasi ang mga memorable contestants para sa kin. Maganda si Shannon at si Shandi. Naalala ko tuloy yung nangyari kay Shandi at yung bf nya. Nakakatawa kasi yun para sa kin kahit na hindi. (sama ko ba?) Kaya ko naisipan pumunta sa event na'to kasi naalala ko na nanonood si Dyan ng show na'to! Hehehehe!!! Hi Dyan! Gusto mo yung tank top? padala ko sa'yo. Di ko naman yun susuotin eh!

Second stop: Hollywood and Highland
Kaya naman kami pumunta dito kasi nandito ang Hollywood Walk of Fame at ang sikat na Grauman's Chinese Theater na kung saan makikita ang hand & foot prints ng mga ibang artista. Wala naman talaga akong interes sa Hollywod Walk of Fame, ang gusto ko lang makita ay yung hand & foot prints nila sa theater. At saka, ang daming weirdo sa Hollywood Walk of Fame!!! Yung mga tao na naka-costume na tatanungin ka kung gusto mong magpa-picture kasama sila tapos babayaran mo sila. You can see everyone from Spongebob to Spider-man! Nakita rin namin ni Zy yung Hollywood sign. Pagkatapos sa theater ay pumunta kami sa Hollywood Wax Museum at sa Guinness Book of World Records Theater.

More pics:
http://photobucket.com/albums/a361/sab_rb/

hello telephone!

2005-09-17T00:15:00.000-07:00

I just received my new cellphone a few days ago, a Motorola V3 Razr. My old phone was starting to freeze on me everytime I use it so I decided to get a new one and besides, my contract just ended and they have good offers for an upgrade.

I'm not yet used with my new phone because it has different features from my other phone (a Samsung e715, I think). Also the phone is so thin, it feels so weird!

birthday

2005-09-11T21:25:00.000-07:00

Your Birthdate: June 13

Being born on the 13th day of the month should help make you a better manager and organizer, but it may also give you a tendency to dominate people a bit.
You may be more responsible and self-disciplined than you realize.
Sincere and honest, you are a serious, hard working individual.

Your feeling are likely to seem somewhat repressed at times.
You are apt to be much more practical, rational, and conscious of details.
Your intolerance and insistence on complete accuracy can be irritating to some.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

guilty pleasure

2005-09-02T22:57:00.000-07:00

(first tagalog post)

Dumating na rin sa wakas yung DVD ng The OC Season 2 na in-order ko sa Amazon. Nakahihiya man aminin pero nanonood ako ng The OC. Sa totoo lang, pag may nagtatanong sa kin kung alam ko ang nangyayari sa show na yun, sinasabi ko na hindi ko alam. Totoo naman na hindi ko kaagad alam ang mga nangyayari kasi tuwing pinapalabas yun (Thursdays @ 9:00) lagi akong may trabaho. Pero nagbabasa naman ako ng mga recaps online tungkol sa show, so alam ko rin ang mga nagyayari kahit papaano.

Hindi ko maintindihan kung bakit ba ako masyadong naaaliw sa palabas na ito. Sobra syang nakaka-irita dahil yung mga characters ay mga spoiled rich brats na hindi makuntento sa mga buhay nila, sobrang di kapani-paniwala na mga pangyayari (maniniwala ka ba na 17 years old lang silang lahat sa show! as if?!) at sobra silang ma-drama. Pero sa palagay ko, kaya ko gusto ang show na ito kasi yung friendships nila. Hindi naman ibig sabihin na ganun ang mga kaibigan ko. Naiingit lang ako sa kanila kasi wala akong mga kaibigan dito na masasabi ko na ka-close ko tulad ng mga bida sa palabas na 'to. In short, nami-miss ko na ang mga kaibigan ko sa Pilipinas.

Kahit na magta-tatlong taon na ako dito sa America, wala pa rin akong nahahanap na tao na masasabi ko na "close friend." Siguro wala talagang papalit sa mga kaibigan ko (yes, Avo peeps...) o mataas lang ang standards ko. Mahirap kasi maghanap ng mga katangian na meron ang Avo. Malungkot minsan kasi feeling ko mag-isa lang ako kahit na sobrang dami ng tao sa paligid ko (lalo na sa school) pero medyo nasasanay na rin. May mga nakakausap naman ako pero hanggang dun lang. Hanggang acquaintances lang kaya di ako gaanong excited pag pumapasok sa school. There are no people I could hang-out with.

While I am writing this entry, I am watching The OC and thinking how lonely I am right now. How sad is that?! Every night when I come home from work I feel kinda empty. I guees I'll get used to it or I just need some time to adjust (again) and find some new friends, but it's complicated...

And it's hard to be a full-time student and work at the same time.

On my own.... pretending.....

2005-08-21T20:17:00.000-07:00

Living on your own can be very scary, exciting but most of all BORING!!!!!! Maybe it's because I'm new to the place and I don't know anyone yet. But I think the real reason is that, I DON'T HAVE A TV!!!!! All I've done the past couple of days are fix my place, listen to the radio, surf the net and watch my DVDs. Is it wrong to say that television is my life? This would be torture!!!! I'm gonna miss all my favorite shows especially now that Fall season's about to begin!!!!

Good thing I tested my new printer today so I printed my registerd course list. And surprise.... they changed the room of one of my subjects!!!! If I didn't install my printer and print tested my course list then I will be lost tomorrow! On the first day of school!!! That would be so traumatic!!!

I attended the Asian Pacific American Student Assembly earlier today and I was purposely late. I felt that the registration time was a little early so I stopped first at Radioshack to buy a USB cord for my printer. I was just right on time for the welcome assembly so it all worked out fine. After all the workshop and stuff, there was a small involvement fair where all Asian Pacific groups and organizations have tables set-up where you can sign-up. There was also a presentation from the group Troy Philippines and they did 2 Filipino ethnic dances. The first one I don't know what it's called and the second one was Tinikling. I was laughing when the guy was doing an intro for Tinikling 'cos the way he pronounced Tinikiling was Tinik-ling with an accent! It was hilarious for me!!!! I wanted to shout at him and say that it's pronounced as Tinikling and not Tinik-ling. Hahaha!!!!!!

Tomorrow will be my first day of school. I hope everything will go great. Sigh.

Road Trip

2005-08-17T23:01:00.000-07:00

It's been a pretty busy week. This past Saturday was my last day at work but there's still a lot of stuff to do! I have to move my things from home to my apartment and I have atleast one week to do it. I haven't driven this much since last May when I drove myself from Temecula to LAX for my flight to Hawaii. Now, I have logged more than 400 miles on my car in just a couple of days!! And to top it all, I freakin' scratched my car!!!! Damn it!!!!

I packed my bags last weekend and headed to USC and my apartment yesterday. I'm not yet done fixing my place 'cos there wasn't enough time since I had to attend a seminar at school, buy my books and at the same time hoping to go to the new store that I'm gonna work at. I was in a hurry to unload my stuff in the car that I didn't notice a small post when I was backing up in the garage! I was trying to avoid the car parked at my right side that I didn't pay attention to my left side! Now my car has scratches near the top of the rear driver side tire!!! I only notice that my car got scratched when I went to Zyra's place and got out of the car. I cannot believe this is happening to me!!! It was pretty much a bad day yesterday! If the scratches weren't enough, I walked around campus for almost two hours searching for the building where the USC Credit Union was, with my textbooks on hand, under the hot sun!!! That was quite a workout I did yesterday!

I wasn't able to go to my new work yesterday so I went there today with Zyra. After going to the store which is in West LA, we went straight to Temecula to pick up some of my stuff. Our plan was after getting my things, we'll go back to my apartment and leave my it there. We arrived in LA at around 7:30pm and I don't want to be stuck in the traffic so we decided to just do it tomorrow. I just hope that my stuff would still be in my car!

Does spray paint work with scratches in a car?

what's going on...

2005-08-09T00:06:00.000-07:00

Hmmm... What have I been up to lately? This past Sunday, I played softball with my friends from work. It was fun even if we only played for like, 90 minutes the most! We started at a little over 7pm and we didn't have any light in the field so played 'til it was half past 8. Who knew you have to submit a request to the city two weeks in advance for them to turn on the lights?! It's just the freakin' lights! It was funny though 'cos one of my co-worker kept on joking that he couldn't see our black teammates. He can only see a floating white shirt! We didn't keep score but I think we won (of course!)

I'm home alone right now and the next 3 days since my uncle and his family went to Vegas for a vacation. It's cool being alone 'cos I can do whatever I want! I can watch tv 'til the wee hours!! Like what I'm doing right now! And I'm doing my laundry at midnight! Which I know I couldn't do when they're here.

thank god it's friday?

2005-08-05T11:57:00.000-07:00

It doesn't feel like Friday today. It's still one of those boring days. Go to work later this afternoon 'til 10 pm then probably a quick stop at the grocery to buy a few stuff. It goes over and over again. I'm not that looking forward to the weekend either.

Why are some people thankful for Friday? I'm not.

first ever!!!

2005-08-04T12:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, this is my first entry for my blog. I really didn't want to have a blog 'cos I won't have time to write entries in it but, what the heck! I'm on a day off today so I have a few free time. I was gonna go out to watch a movie but instead, I volunteered to babysit my 6 year old cousin. Works for me since I'll be saving $7.00 of my hard earned money for the matinee screening. I need all the money that I can get for my college expenses. And my arms still hurt a litte bit from playing golf a couple of days ago.

Damn, I'm gonna be living alone in LA and going to USC in a couple of weeks and it really overwhelms me! I mean, I'm excited and at the same time scared because I'll have a lot of responsibilities like having a job to pay for my rent, car & insurance and getting good grades. But i know I can do it. I have to do it.