Mental!

Went to the mall today to get a new flash drive and buy the chocolates I have been craving for in the last 3 days.

I had lunch at Sizzling Pepper Steak. Their beef pepper rice is good! I haven't tried Pepper Lunch yet (coz it's far hehe) but they're pretty much the rivalries when it comes to this type of restaurant. Check out this review.

Anyhooo, I then went around the mall as usual to check out what's new. I ended up buying a new shirt from Bayo. And then I passed by a new clothing store named MENTAL. Upon entering I was surprised because I was greeted by one of their attendants IN A DOCTOR'S UNIFORM! As in the type they wear in mental hospitals- white, long like a trench coat, with a priest-ish collar. Super mental! 

Written on the walls were counting sticks. The clothes rack were metal shelves and the seats were wheel chairs! Freaky in an amazing way! haha

That store really made my day. I didn't buy anything but it had a very cool concept. Oh, their clothes were wearable to- some were just normal blouses, the others were crazily draped, cut and layered pieces that reminded me of Chuvaness. haha

Another mental thing I did was...I bought a box of Royce White Nama chocolates! I have been craving about it for 3 days and I knew no other dessert can replace my craving. I had to buy it. And that craving cost me Php 580. Crazy chocolates. But now that I'm enjoying every bite of the little squares, I think it's worth it so... yay!

I'm looking forward to a great weekend. Happy weekend/sembreak everyone! :)

Mornings

I miss my mornings. I've been waking up late for the longest time. The only time I got up early was when my dad was here and we had to go to the office. But other than that, I always wake up at 11 or 12 noon. 

Today it was even crazier. Last night I watched 500 Days of Summer and slept at 2 am. I set the alarm at 10 am so I can visit the supermarket and buy my food supply in preparation for the coming typhoon. Hours later my alarm went off and I just couldn't get up. I rolled in my bed and fell asleep. Later I heard the kitchen door open- my tito arrived! I decided to stay in my bed and pretend to be asleep until he leaves. That was like 1 pm already. I was starving. hahaha Anyway bottom line, he left, I was able to go to the supermarket at grab late lunch at Tokyo Tokyo.

I feel so bad for losing my mornings. I would have wanted to be more productive. My dad wakes up at 6 am everyday. Every time I get up, I find him outside sitting and just looking at the birds. He's done with his things to do and the rest of his morning is for thinking. His afternoons are dedicated to TV, naps and TV again. Sometimes he works again the whooole afternoon. But it happens only when it's crunch time.

TOMORROW, I SWEAR I AM GONNA WAKE UP at 10 am at the latest. And I have to keep that until it becomes normal. I'll only oversleep if I was out the night before or if I have no work to do. 

In other thoughts... I have decided not to come to the Plansem of ABAM. I'm afraid to travel north because there's a typhoon. haha I am dedicating my weekend to 'me' time and marehan time. I hope plans push thru! 

Happy sem break to my student friends! :)

I remember the feeling :)

I super miss being in college. Today I was more than glad to attend the 177 final presentation. I went with Aldren because I didn't wanna enter the room alone. Then I met Ian, he graduated October of 2007 and now works in Magnolia. He brought three boxes of Magnolia beverages too. A lot of people from the higher batches were there. Super overwhelming. 

Sir treated the alumni to lunch at ChocoKiss. We were surprised when he gathered us for lunch. He joined us for an Ikot ride to Bahay ng Alumni. While in transit, he showed us his new 'baby', the bread business he recently put up in Cagayan de Oro. The brand is called Pan Time (fun time) haha. Very cute! It's available in major supermarkets (Robinsons), schools and other channels in Cagayan and will be available here in Manila next month. I am just so thrilled about his new business. Super inspiring.

Edge, Ram and Peter joined us at Chocokiss but they left to meet up with the rest of MSV after. But it was really nice seeing them. Parang college lang talaga. haha

When we got back to CBA, we had a pictorial by the steps. Of course, per group with Sir and finally with the alumni. Steeps, Bobit and Major joined the afternoon group of alumni along with people from batch 1 whom I do not recognize anymore. haha

Anyhoo, back to the presentations, here are some good stuff that were presented.

Cream Silk

Tagline: You are the Universe

I wasn't able to watch this group (because they were the first presenters!). But when I entered the room, they gave me a pink balloon with a little card which had 'You are the Universe' written. Over dinner they showed me their tv ad, super sweet ad, I love it.  I found out in that they gave all the ladies pink and white balloons like what I received also.

RC Cola

Tagline: Lagi mong ka-trip!

True to their tagline, ang lakas talaga nila mang trip. They are the only group who actually moved the whole class into a different room for a change of atmosphere. They did a super goood job in shifting RC from a cheap brand to a cool brand. Yay! And their tv ad was really good I'm so sure everyone in the room was smiling. And as a bonus, Sean Tiu reported with the group in fluent Filipino! Everyone was cheering for him because he doesn't really speak Filipino. He's very fluent in English which made some of his words slang but nonetheless great effort. 

Sting

Tagline: Astig Ka Ba?

This was presented by 5 boys, all in a super hyper mode all throughout the report- somehow we thought they drank liters of Sting before reporting. Very good delivery of report, very executable campaigns and they really owned the "Astig" image.

Dunkin Donut

Tagline: Pasalubong ng Bayan (retained the current tagline)

To quote Sir Acedera "If we count the number of wows, this group probably got the most wows today." And I tell you, they really had WOW ideas, it was so exciting. They had witty traffic signs "DONUT BLOCK THE DRIVEWAY, PAPUNTA SIYA NG DUNKIN DONUT" and "DONUT DELAY, HINIHINTAY NA NI BUNSO AND DALA KONG DUNKIN", amazing donut MRT cards and "mouth" machines (I dunno what they're called haha), etc. Really really refreshing, and funny approach to the brand. They even chose Santino (as in the teleserye kid) as their endorser.

Rankings are as follows: Tied at 3rd are Cream Silk and Dunkin, second is RC Cola, top team is Sting.

Sir had to convene the alumni outside to check if we were all on the same page about our verdicts. We had unanimous choices for the top 3 groups but we differed in the order. It was purely chikahan because it had no bearing since the grades were combined inputs from Sir and the class.

I still remember last year, we had no gifts, no notebooks from Sir, no stuffed toys for the winners. But it's all good. It's very flattering to be part of the class because you really see how the class evolves as batches pass. At the end of the announcement of winners, Sir Ray asked for final words or comments from the alumni. Jeff Garma from batch 1 proposed a round of applause for Sir Ray for investing so much time and dedication in creating a class like this. It was the sweeeeeetest, most flattering and most fulfilling gesture we could have given Sir. Too bad for the students next sem, he won't be teaching because he wants to focus on his bread business. When things are stable he will definitely come back to teach. So I'd like to think that the great applause is our pabaon to him for the duration of his break from teaching.

He's cooking up a facebook group for BA 177 where we can share new ads, crazy ideas, and inputs - all batches. I'm excited! All thanks to the inspiration and knowledge from Sir Ray, we will never stop learning. :)

As a side note, I found this on facebook. Really funny I thought I'd fit my post title too. hahaha

"Hindi porke’t madalas mong ka-chat, kausap sa telepono, kasama sa mga lakad o ka-text ng wan-tu-sawa eh may gusto sayo at magkakatuluyan kayo. Meron lang talagang mga taong sadyang friendly, sweet, flirt, malandi, pa-fall o paasa."

Happy weekend guys! :)

THE Awwwww Moments :)

I just got home from a dinner with some BA friends. I really missed going out with them. Jave was getting emo he reminisced about how we'd drive to Eastwood to eat or watch a movie after class. Sweeeet! I remember we had merienda at Jack's Loft then watched 300. I really wanna remember all the fuuun college memories I had with everyone. I firmly believe college is a part of my life that I don't want to forget. Except feasib. ahahaha

And then today I just witnessed the most kilig 'look' on a guy's face when he saw his female friend appreciate the same thing he likes. Super awwww! EEEH I'M NOT DROPPING NAMES but I swear I fainted deep inside. hahaha

Sayang Kyle arrived when we already dispersed to go home. hahaha Mali eh. Katawa!

I really hope the weekend plans push thru. I'm so bitin kanina. I'm sure we all have a lot to talk about. Like college secrets that we can now reveal because it's so passe already. hahaha

Another awww moment was when I saw the current photos of my engaged crush (haha giveaway), in my mind "Isn't he lovely?" He is such a family guy he actually skipped a school engagement to be with his family abroad. I mean that's really nice he's happy but it just seems soooo fast (?). Sometimes my friends and I would joke about him not waiting for us. hahaha But still. It doesn't change the fact that he's such a sweetie even to his family. I am tempted to post a wacky photo but nevermind. haha

What are your awww moments in college? Share naman! :) Keep making memories y'all! mmmwah!

Been thinking a lot lately :)

Ohmygosh looong and rainy afternoon today. I tried to wake up at 9 am but I was sooo sleepy and it was a cold morning so who could resist a few more minutes of sleep right? At 10:30 I finally forced myself to get out of the bed. I was still sooo sleepy my eyes were still shut while preparing hot water for my coffee. I know you know the feeling because I'm pretty sure you've been through this. :))

It started raining while I was preparing to go to Comelec. I really really wanna go and register because my conscience will haunt me in the next 6 years if I don't do my responsibility as a citizen. OMG, I had to ride a jeep from our village to get to Quezon City Hall because there are no buses or fx that cover that route. (I've mentioned a few times on this blog that I don't ride jeeps except when I'm in the UP campus because it's sooo hard to breathe in jeepneys.) In fairness to the rain, it lessened the amount of dust particles I inhaled during the ride. haha

Meters away from the Comelec building, I can already see the line! OMG I wanted to faint. hahaha Because last week when I went there (the day we were sent home haha), there was barely any line. I was even able to sit on their bench. So there I was, getting wet because of the rain and sweat, asking random people what each line was for. I was able to submit my forms pretty fast but I had to wait along with so many people to be called back for our assigned schedules. It began to rain again so some of us had to seek shelter under the narrow part of the building which had a roof. Beside me was a mother and her 3 month old baby. There were old people, students, regular employees who probably took the day off to register. 

Those minutes of waiting really made me see how much the Filipinos want change. People stand there in looong lines just so they can make sure they do their part in changing the country. But I believe there's more than enduring long lines now and placing our thumb marks on the 10th of May. We have to help ourselves too. Like the trash that clog the water system of NCR. We can't just expect garbage contractors, the local government and the environmental advocates to clean that up. We need to stop littering in the first place. I hope people who live near the esteros realize how much they can do to change even just the trash problem here in Manila. Or the people who don't pay proper taxes. They can't just use up and earn from our resources and not give back to this country. 

Sometimes I think that those people who don't genuinely care for our country should just leave. I know it's a harsh comment but why should our country take care of someone who doesn't care for her?

And this population dilemma? IT HAS TO STOP. I thought there are only 88 million Filipinos. But no. We've reached the line of 9. Read this article. Stop making babies if you can't feed and send them to school! One class in UP (I think it's Econ) explains overpopulation this way. It seems like poorer families have more children compared to those who live a comfortable life. And why is this? Because they think of their children as assets who will make lives better for them in the future. So more children=more assets=more improvement in their lives. NOT! Because before their children become assets, they start as liabilities that parents need to spend on and take care of until they are ready to make money and improve their family's life. But that's sooo not gonna happen because if they can't eat three times a day, how can they possibly send their children to school, how will the children learn and will they ever gonna get a decent job to improve their standards of living? Only outliers can contradict this trend.

Also, according to the documentaries I've seen, families in far flung areas or provinces have many children because they have no other past time. They don't have televisions, no books to read, no internet, no radio and some don't even have electricity. Nothing really keeps them preoccupied. So when nighttime comes, all they do is some cuddling and you-know-what's-next. Then, surprise! A baby bump! 

These little problems we have, when combined, create a huuuuge problem. If each person throws a candy wrapper, then 92 million wrappers can accumulate and kill fish, or clog our rivers. If we control the population, if we pay our taxes right, if we don't cut trees, if we follow traffic rules, if we care a little more, and if we do things right, I'm pretty sure we'll be in a better place in no time.