Crushes

Do you keep a list of crushes? Be it mental or a physical list, I'm sure there's at least one person who qualified as a 'crush'.

If you follow me on twitter, you probably read this:

Last night I went out with Fa, Jen and Ja to watch a movie. (I confess. We watched the new Kimerald movie which btw sucks. Thank God for Matet's funny lines which I think saved this movie.) Anyway, we grabbed a late dinner at Cookbook Kitchen and had the chance to catch up with everyone's lives. Fa, Jen and I see each other more often because we take dance class every Saturday while Ja, on regular days, is flanked with so much law school readings.

Probably influenced by the movie to a certain extent, we ended up writing on the paper placemat our list of 'pegs' of our respective dream guys. It'll be our checklist when, one day we finally meet someone that's worth all the trouble. haha I did tell them about the aforementioned tweet and explained how only two qualified.

You see, it's easy to call someone a crush. Someone becomes a crush for so many reasons- he's cute, funny, hot, charming, sweet, engaging, whatever. But from a crush, one needs to go through many levels that will filter that solid idea of the guy one wants to end up with. Meaning, ALL ENCOMPASSING. You have to be able to accept his personality, his profession, way of living, his way of dressing and in extreme cases, even his name. If he makes it through your filters, that's when he becomes the 'partner' material.

So just to illustrate our pegs- I will not reveal who owns the respective pegs (you can guess or maybe you saw on twitter) so here goes.

The good geek who can tame a wild girl.

The bad boy who will eventually reveal his good side when he meets the right girl.

The family guy who communicates well, loves kids and loves love.

And the artsy dude who will introduce a whole new, different, and exciting world to the lady he loves.

The best and probably the most exciting part? We are so sure of what kind of guy we want, and we just might end up with the complete opposite! Like if the girl who originally wants the family guy material falls for the bad boy. Stuff like that. HAHA

Last night's dinner was, like I put it, 'productive' for our future. If it ever happens, that is. :)) And it was one of those feel good dinners- just good friends hanging out.

P.S.

We did Michael Jackson in hiphop class today. For some weird reason Coach Prince picked me, along with Punky and two other classmates to do the sample. Punky, I understand. She always gets picked coz she's really good. But me? I couldn't even finish the routine properly. Of course I was happy but I'm puzzled. Maybe he wasn't watching me closely. HAHAHA

The Sablay

Taken from the website of the Vice Chancellor for Research and development:

The UP Sablay is the official academic costume of the University of the Philippines. The official colors of the University, maroon and green, were used in the sablay. Yellow gold, which stands for the high standards of values and excellence, was also used. The colors, based on the Panthone ProSim color chart, are Panthone 195 CVP (maroon), Panthone 349 CVP (green), and Panthone 138 CVP (yellow gold).The indigenous letters originating from the indigenous alphabet called baybayin or katitikan, are equivalent to the Roman letters “U” and “P”, respectively. The curvilinear design called ukkil or ukit, which resembles a sprouting plant, signifies life. The geometric designs (in zigzag and diamond patterns) are common design elements gracing the attires and functional objects of indigenous peoples from Batanes to Tawi-tawi. Arranged continuously and rhythmically, these geometric designs highlight the diverse cultural communities in the Philippines and the University’s pursuit of knowledge, cultural enrichment, and scientific advancement.

Did you ever wonder who makes our sablay?

In my most recent trip to Iloilo, Mom and I visted a family friend who's a famous hablon maker in Iloilo because she was going to order a few pieces. When we entered their house, piles and piles of UP sablays were on their couch. She makes them year-round. (Well, if you supply the whole of UP System, you'll need the whole year to satisfy demand. hehe) She even took us to the workshop where they house hablon weavers. I felt so bad I didn't bring my camera so I just used my poor phone camera to take shots.

When we visited there were two ladies working. I have a feeling they're the only people assigned exclusively to weave the sablay. I observed how they shift the threads by stepping on some bamboo and then sliding the threads across the sheet. It's crazy. I did get to try weaving during a field trip in Ilocos. It was pretty easy but only because I just did the sliding of the thread (sorry, I don't know the exact term) a few times.

Anyway, this post is initially about my visit the the sablay weavers but I discovered while researching that some douche is selling our sablay on ebay as a 'Philippine souvenir'. I'm insulted! The sablay is something sacred for UP students. It's a symbol of hard work and excellence. You represent the university anywhere you go. When I attended my St. Benilde's graduation, there were around five professors wearing their sablay. Apparently professors wear the academic costumes of the schools where they graduated from. So others were in their togas with red, purple and blue bands- depending on the colors of their respective school. So you don't just sell the sablay as a souvenir. People work hard to earn the right of wearing one. I already messaged the office of the vice chancellor regarding this. I hope to hear from them soon.

All I need :)

Wouldn't it be nice to be neighbors with your best friends like Jules, Ellie and the rest of the gang in Cougar Town?

Whenever I watch Cougar Town, I enjoy those scenes where the gang randomly shows up in Jules' place. Spend the night with a bottle of wine, or their weekly breakfast thing. It's just so nice to have friends within crawling distance, literally.

I find myself missing my friends a lot. I see some of them every Saturday in dance class. We also have the occasional dinner with college friends. Once we went to the beach for the weekend. (I wonder when we'll do that again?)

Two Saturdays ago, after dance class, Fa and I picked up Jen and drove to Bonifacio High Street to do some shopping. We had so much fun laughing during the trip! I have this feeling we're slowly introducing Jen to our jologs world. Now I'm sure she knows Mon Confiado. hahaha When Fa and I dropped Jen off to her house, we passed by this lot in their village that's for sale. It was a huge lot. Enough to fit two houses and is located on the main avenue of the village.

Fa joked 'Ano bilhin na natin?' Me: Oo para araw araw dance class na sa brewing point! And then the joke went on and on until we ended up imagining paano pag tinatamad ka maglakad papuntang Brewing Point? "Eh di gumulong ka nalang. Mga sampung gulong lang or tatlong tumbling, andun ka na. O di kaya, mag kariton ka. Sabihin mo 'yaya patulak sa brewing point. Pipitikin lang ni yaya yung kariton, tapos pag naka-baba ka na, hihilahin niya na pabalik yung kariton wahahahahahaha!" Imagine that exchange of crazy punch lines between me and Fa. Good thing we weren't in EDSA or else we'd be crashing into one of the cars or buses because of laughing too much.

I love my friends! I miss them everyday as much as I miss my family. They're my family here in Manila and I cannot live without them. I wish I see everyone before I leave for Christmas vacation in Iloilo!

I miss

I miss just having us three. It's rare, I tell you.

Joop, Lee, Jom

National Bookstore, 2005. We were buying college school stuff for me and Jom.

Photo taken by my mom.

Jom lived in a dorm in Taft when he entered college. He's used to living in the dorm. I on the other hand, dislike dorms. I hate forcing myself to get to know people. So my epic story goes like this... "Yeah I stayed in Kalayaan (It's the freshman dorm in UP) for two weeks then I begged my mom to allow me to stay at home." hahaha I find that I have this need for a wide personal space and I just can't have that in a dorm. Plus, there's a certain stereotype of dormers. OKAY I'M STOPPING THERE. Don't wanna offend dormer friends. :)

I have reasons for posting this and maybe Raish will understand. Now all I pray for is that Joop makes it to UP or Ateneo so he can stay here at home. Truth is, he doesn't want to stay here because of my uncle. HAHA Then again my uncle rarely comes home so it's almost always just me. But if Joop prefers to live with his friends, that's totally fine. As long as they sleep over and hang out here during weekends. I'm gonna give Joop that T.G.I.S.- GMIK-GrowingUp, 90's kinda lifestyle. You know- they days when it's cool to hangout at home instead of sitting in coffee shops or strolling at the mall.

Before this post becomes even more cluttered than it already is, I'm gonna stop. Happy weekend everyone!

Saturday Night Laugh

Dear Lord,

Thank you for a beautiful day. I had so much fun in dance class today! Prince was late but it was a packed class (15 students) and coach was so hyper so it made the session more interesting. Being with friends makes it a thousand times better.

Thank you also for the chance to meet this pretty mom. Seeing her happy made it easier for me to accept certain things. I was humbled. And happy that such moment reminded me that love exists.

Thank you for reminding me that teaching is a gift. I did not quite enjoy the second class we attended. The instructor was just not connecting with us (or me, I dunno). It crossed my mind that if it was Coach Prince who was teaching that dance, it would've been easier and more enjoyable. Now I find that I'm back to my childhood dream of becoming a teacher. I somehow believe that because I learned from the best teachers, I can teach effectively. Of course, that's just my theory. :))

We dropped by Jen's house to visit her mom. Then it rained but it was quick. We had a short chat, then Fa and I went to lunch then to my place to freshen up. The rain did not stop Fa and I from dragging Jen to go to High Street and check out Muji. We laughed a lot in the car! We did a lot of walking too. Thank you for the good meal at Stock Market. Though I am sad there was no more red velvet vixen at Sonja's when we got there. We had another hilarious ride on our way home all thanks to Fa's Mom Confiado trivias.

Now my legs are tired from all the walking but I'm very happy. This happiness will hopefully last me the whole week. I'm glad that now I have Saturdays to look forward to.

Thanks, super.♥