my Alma Mater after 10 years

Almost 10 years after graduating in 2000, I'm able to pay a visit to my Alma Mater.  I needed to get my transcript of records (TOR) that's why I'm back to the grounds of University of Santo Tomas.  The moment I saw the main building while walking along Dapitan, a lot of memories came rushing back.  I have 5 years worth of memories (though I honestly don't remember all of them now, given how Dory I am!LOL!) in this school... both good and bad.  I think I have memories at almost every corner of this school, from simple walking on the concrete to our regular tambayan.  I suddenly miss my friends... I miss everything during this chapter of my life.

Anyways, after finishing my TOR activity, I decided to visit our building, the Engineering Building and maybe if lucky, I'd get to meet some of my professors again.  As I was walking, I noticed a lot of changes. Inside the campus there's now a huge parking area with a nice exterior design (looks like a mall!) and there are now a lot of restaurants and food choices! These kids are so lucky! I also noticed the new college uniforms worn by the students. I suddenly got jealous when I saw some kids wearing their cool PE uniforms.  I wanted a pair too, both shirt and jogging pants!! How come our uniforms before weren't as cool? :-(

As I got inside the engineering building, more memories came back... I felt giddy and it was like I was back in college all over again! I went to the new IE Faculty room and guess who I saw?  Nestor!! OMG, what a small world!! He's now teaching there part time.  I also saw Mrs Ngo (previously our IE head) and Mrs Nancy Eleria (Economics prof).  They cannot remember my name but they knew I was their student once.  We did a little of catching up and reminiscing... and it was really good to be back.  

The main building series:

the main building.. sepia version

University of Santo Tomas

this is the countdown to 400 year celebration of UST

the pavement leading to the Arch of the Century (and Espana) from the main building

inside the main building... with the UST model design 

who could ever forget the grand staircase??

I want this big Swatch watch!!! Or maybe I should call it a clock?

the Christmas design inside the main building

the really creepy staircase leading to the 2nd floor (registrar's office)

Engineering Building series:

Engineering building... this is where I spent 5 years of my life :)

our usual "tambayan"... if  we can find a vacant spot

this is what you'll see at the lobby, the rest are pretty much the same

this is our usual spot in between classes... *sigh* I suddenly miss my friends

i still look like a college student, right?? LOL!

IE faculty

Of course, I need to have my picture taken! ;)

With Mrs Ngo, I think she still looks the same even after 10 years :)

With Mrs. Nancy Eleria, our Economics teacher

With Mr. Lugay, our PPC (Planning and Production Control??) teacher

ENG'g Uniform series... I saw this glass encased girls' uniforms inside the building, it's good to know the transformation of our uniforms :)

girls' uniforms from the 50's and early 60's

girls' uniforms from the late 60's to 1970's

from the 80's to early 90's

Late 90's and 2010-present -- these were my uniforms during my time in UST

The rest of UST I was able to take pictures of:

The improved UST Hospital

our neighboring building, the Education Building

wow!! a sports complex?!  This used to be the cafeteria in front of the Eng'g building

the Fountain of Knowledge

at the Arch of the Century -- thanks to Nestor for taking this picture

University of Santo Tomas, founded 1611

It was a great (though tiring) day.  I was able to accomplish what I needed to do and was able to see some of my professors again.  It was really good to be back, even for just a little while.

a toothy problem

Today I was reminded again why I don't jump for joy every time I had to visit a dentist. I had my wisdom tooth pulled out via "normal" extraction. Dang! I forgot how this was done, the last time I had a tooth extracted was when I still have milk teeth... there were a lot of pushing and pulling!! And since it's the wisdom tooth (the farthest tooth!), it took a while for the dentist to pull it off...it felt like my brains will come out together with it! Argh!! *sigh* Thank heavens for the anesthesia I didn't feel any pain... only the pressure pain for too much pushing! Oh, it doesn't stop there, I had another tooth pulled out, but since it's already partially chipped off, the normal extraction doesn't apply anymore.  A surgery was done (my first ever)... I won't tell the details anymore, it's kinda gory! Ugh! Now I have stitches and will have to wait for a few days to go back and have the stitches removed.  After the 2 extractions, I had 2 other fillings and a cleanup.  My jaw suffered most of it, since I have to keep my mouth open for these procedures.  I welcomed the no talking for a while part afterwards. And of course, the choco-fudge sundae!! :) 

Right now I'm on a soft and cold diet because of the surgery.  I have to prevent the wound from bleeding and opening up, otherwise, the doc will have to stitch me up again.  I'm also taking in some antibiotics to prevent any possible infection.  Good thing I ate a lot before heading to the dentist!! Now, I miss rice and ulam a lot!!  I want real food!!  I can't wait for Monday, when hopefully things will get back to normal.

Hmmm... I wonder, since one of my wisdom teeth is gone, does it make me less wise?  Hehe!! :P

I love you DK!!!

DK, my counterpart and a very dear friend from Korea, just made my day today!  He gave me gifts (via Chai)!! It's a passport holder and a calling card holder. But mind you, these are not just ordinary passport holder and card holder... Gong Yoo's (Korean handsome guy that starred in Coffee Prince) pictures are the cover!!!! OMG!!! I'm all giddy!! Yes, I'm a big Gong Yoo fan... and I have a big crush on him.  Who wouldn't?  He's such a hottie! And he's got this manly, bad-boy-yet-sweet look that makes him really hot!  Ugh, if only he's in my world.

I took a picture of my very special gifts... thank you very much DK!! Gomabsumnida sunsangnim DK!

my Gong Yoo card and passport holders! i love 'em!

first day of the last month of the year

Wow, I can't believe we're already at the last month of the year!! Time sure passes by soooo fast!! There seems to be no stopping time... and before I know it, I'm old and grey and sagging!!! Waaaahhhhh!!!! Ok, enough of the "old" talk... it makes me sad.  Ugh!! A few more sleep and we'll be saying goodbye to 2010 and hello to 2011.

So... Christmas is around the corner... too bad I'm too broke to do serious shopping for gifts.  I'd just give a mental (meaning me remembering it) IOU and will just make up next year, when I'm hopefully at a better financial status.  So for all my inaanaks (godchildren) out there, i owe you this Christmas :) 

Advance Merry Christmas everyone! May you have a blessed holiday seasons with your families and loved ones :)

what a great dancer!

My sister, Aryza (but I fondly call her Pyong), is the youngest in the family and she has always been a great dancer.  I think she's been dancing as young as the age of three.  I remember during family occasions like reunions or birthdays, she can be easily goaded to dance in front of everyone, even if she's dancing alone.  Nobody taught her how to dance, I guess the TV did all the teaching for her, and she's one of the lucky ones blessed with this talent.  I didn't realize that she was able to nurture this talent until she started posting videos of her dances.  My jaw literally dropped when I first saw her video... she dances like a pro!! And what amazes me is she never had an official dance lesson in her life!! I asked her once where she learned the steps, she said that she just watches youtube and study the dances! WOW!! 

I'm jealous... I wish I have a talent like this... it would be nice to be able shake my booteeey without looking like a duck! LOL!!! 

Anyways, now she's part of her school's dance club, which will even enable her to learn more about dancing.  But I kept telling her not to do too much physical stress given her heart condition... She had a congenital heart disease (a hole in the heart) and this was operated on when she was 3.  It's ok now except when she gets intermittent quickened heartbeats.  She was in the hospital 3 weeks back because of this where they had to perform cardioversion (according to google, it's a brief procedure where an electrical shock is delivered to the heart to convert an abnormal heart rhythm back to a normal rhythm).  According to the doctor she can go back to her normal activities, but I still kept telling her to be careful and not over exert and not to downplay anything she might be feeling.

Ok, so here's a dance she did for me... I was asking her to dance the Church song from Step Up 2 but she was having a hard time to find videos she can copy the steps from.  So here's what she did instead.... Dang!! I really do wish I'm as graceful and as skinny as she is!



   

I want one!!!

My favorite counterpart, Nicky, sent this link.... hmmm, where can I find this dog?!! I definitely want one!!!

whooooossssaaaaaa....... goosefraba.....

"Whooooossssaaaaa".....if you have seen the movie Bad Boys 2 (with Martin Lawrence and Will Smith), then you'd know what this means.  "Goosefraba"...... and, if you have seen the movie Anger Management (with Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler) you'll definitely know that I was a little pissed off today.

Why?  Because of this dang Christmas party presentation of our department.  This is the last Christmas party for our site before we are shut down and all the departments are required to have a presentation. We were given different themes to choose from and it was decided (via votation) that we'll do a TV series (btw, i voted for a fairy tale theme... just to set the records straight).  At first, a Glee-like theme was what they wanted to do but we later on realized that there won't really be an impact to the audience if we do that since not all of them know this show.  After series of deliberation, we all decided to use Ilumina as the theme given the grandeur of the costume and because people will recognize the show since it's being aired on a local tv station. 

We are now on the last 2 weeks of the preparation before the party and the costumes are not done (not even started!).  The dance steps are not even finished because not all of the dancers can attend the practice time given the conflict with meetings and other work-related activities (and that is another issue!). There had been a lot of discussions about the costumes and when we finally agreed, there's now the issue of the cost. I negotiated on getting a big discount without sacrificing the quality and beauty and ended up with Php1k cost per dress (originally at PhP1.5k). There will be 18 gals dancing and will be dressing up.  Doing the math, that will be PhP18k plus the boys' robes of PhP1.5k.  So the total cost for outfit alone is PhP19.5k.  But this will be divided to 39 people, making it PhP500 each. We are still waiting for some pledges from the managers, so I'm hoping the 500 each will get lower.

Today I sent out the mail about the cost... and as expected there were reactions.  Yes, the total cost is higher than the grand prize of 10k.  Some think that it's not practical to spend higher than what we can possibly get in return.  I understand and actually thought about that already when I got the initial cost, so I came up with a backup plan on how to lower it in case people will not agree to the amount.  What upset me was that people just kept complaining without giving any suggestions! What cost did they expect with 24 people dancing in costumes? Even if the dress' cost was cut in half (500pesos), the total amount will still be higher than the prize!! And there's still no assurance that we will win!! I gave them another option which will lower the cost by PhP164 each and we voted on it.  The original plan still won... I guess most realized PhP164 difference is not that big a deal...

*sigh* Now I'm thinking why did I even bother with this crap?! Why did I even bother to care?! I could've just shut my mouth up and let them do all the thinking of ideas and consolidating...  *sigh*

 

Key learning 1 -- if you don't like how things are done, then do it yourself!

Key learning 2 -- if you're going to complain, make sure you come up with a suggestion to make things better!

I guess I'll just watch this and make myself laugh

 

Ain't this true?!!

Saw this picture at a friend's FB account... and I thought, heck yeah!! LOL!! I think I also saw something similar to this, but instead of kids, the pets are being compared to a husband/wife.  I'll look for that one and post it when I find it :)

So what are you waiting for? Adopt/get a pet now :)

LSS: Jealous

When I turned the radio on, this song is already halfway through... I wasn't sure who sang the song but as I listened to it, I recognize the voice.  It's Nina.  I never really liked her voice (I find it too nasal), but I do like her songs, particularly the lyrics. 

Anyways, I listened and was able to feel the words... *sigh*  I guess this is for the one that got away...

a new beginning...

A couple of weeks back, the "thing" that I've been waiting for finally arrived. It's the deciding factor of the next couple of years of my life... and it comes in just a piece of paper. The information in that paper was the straw if I go or stay. Yes, I have decided to accept it.  I have signed that paper and gave it back to them. I guess this is it, no turning back now... I will be going.

I'd be honest and say I'm pretty excited with this move, not only the pay is better than what I have now, but I see this as a totally new adventure, a new beginning, a clean slate. As you may  have read in my profile, I LOVE traveling. It's the thought of seeing and experiencing new things makes traveling so much fun for me! Now, in approximately 3 months, I will be moving to a different country, it may not be purely for pleasure but it doesn't make it any less exciting for me. By March 2011, I'll be one of the OFWs bringing money to the country ;)

Don't get me wrong, I'm a little worried too with this change. There are "conditions" attached to this job offer, including the 2-year bond to the company. The perks of the offer will only be given to us 10 (or even more) days after our first day at work, that means I need to have enough money to live by till then. *sigh* And they call it assistance!! (rolling my eyes) Aside from the financial worries, there's the matter of leaving home indefinitely. I know I can visit anytime I want...errr, budget permits, but it's still different, I'm still technically living thousands of miles away. I'm also leaving my babies behind... as of now I don't have anyone who might want to adopt my Chow.  I'm not so worried for Milo, it can be quite easy to find a new owner for him since he's a small and quite easy to manage and keep.  Kingking on the other hand needs space... and someone who understands big dogs. I already have someone in mind, I just hope she agrees. If only I can bring one of them (or both), I probably would. But that would not be practical and very expensive to do. *sigh* Oh well!

There are so many things to do still, like processing of documents... then there's the moving out of the house we're renting in Cavite and bringing my things back to Antipolo (where we already have too many stuff!).  I'm thinking of selling some of my things off so I won't have to bring everything, but not sure if there will be buyers. *sigh*

I'm still excited regardless of these tiny details that comes along with the move. I'm very hopeful that things will work out alright... Singapore, here I come :)

me and my babies

Something to know about me, I LOVE dogs!! Well, I actually consider myself an animal lover, but when it comes to having a pet, I prefer dogs over the cats.  Some cat lovers may say that having a cat for a pet is better because they are more independent and self sufficient than the dogs.  This is kinda true... you don't have to give cats a bath, they pretty much do it themselves =P   I still prefer dogs, nonetheless, because I personally think dogs are sweeter and if they are brought up properly (formal training is a plus), they can be useful too.  

Anyhoo, I want you to meet my babies... first off, my soon to be 3-yr old Chow Chow.  Her name is KINGKING.  She may look fierce as a lion or a bear, but she is a sweetheart! She's very kind to people, especially females and kids.  Unfortunately she seems to be a man-hater.   Hahaha!! :D  She barks quite forcefully on strangers, mostly men, passing by our house.  Oh, I didn't teach her that!  It came naturally for her! LOL!!  

Don't be fooled however by Kingking's "sweetness".  She may be a sweetheart to people, but she's such a bitch (pun intended, hahaha!!) to other species of animals, most particularly CATS, chickens, ducks and frogs.  The list can go on, but those 4 kinds of animals have been the victims.  I think she thinks that their species is the highest, next to humans.  Either that or it's just that "hunter" instinct in her, innate to her breed.

zzzzzzz.... kingking slept on this pillow, but later on moved out from it :)

Akisha (my officemate's daughter) and Kingking having some girl talk ;)

Kingking giving Akisha a ride ;)

my huggable bear!!

she wants to go down but I won't let her =D

peace out ;)

Now meet the scruffy looking MILO, a stray we (my roomie and I) found on the night of October 25th along Emilio Aguinaldo High Way. I don't exactly know what his breed is, but based on the pictures I've seen on the web, he seems to be a mix breed of shih tzu and lhasa apso (more commonly known as shih apso). I also don't know how old this little fella is, but I'm assuming he's already an adult (probably 2-3 yrs old) given the size of his "thingee". LOL!  We named him MILO, short for EMILIO -- as in Emilio Aguinaldo, where he was found.  We almost hit him that night, good thing he ran fast to avoid us and Julia wasn't driving too fast and was able to step on the breaks. We pulled over and checked if we can rescue this dog. Surprisingly, he approached me when I called (you know, that sound you make when you call for dogs) for him. Milo, by the way, has a leash, a collar and was wearing a shirt when we found him. We didn't have a choice but to bring him home, I just didn't have the heart to leave him along the highway with the fear that he might be hit by another car and end up badly hurt or, worse, dead.  I was a little worried on how Kingking might react when she sees Milo.  I was banking on her bringing the "sweetheart" out and keep the "bitch" side controlled.  Besides, she's not entirely new at having a dog company with her since she fares fairly well when I bring her home in Antipolo (my parents' house) together with REX, our japanese-spitz-askal-mix dog.  I was also worried about Milo being house-broken (I don't want him shitting where ever he liked!) and about the fact that he's almost covered with ticks and fleas.  Eeek!! *thought to self that night, need to buy Frontline asap!*

When we got home Kingking was very excited to see another creature with us. Though I wasn't entirely sure if that is excitement on having a playmate or having a "meal".  Haha!! On the first night they were ok with one another... and I was very proud of King, she's really a sweetheart, a very surprising temperament for a Chow.  

Julia and I decided to keep Milo for a while, we'll later on decide to whom we can give him to.  After he was given a bath and medicine for the ticks and flies, Milo was allowed inside the house.  Next step is to bring him to the vet and do a checkup and probably give him some shots.  

I don't exactly know if it was the previous owner's up bringing of the dog or the dog's innate quality but I noticed that Milo keeps on following me where ever I go! If he's outside the house and we're inside, after a while he will start barking that really irritating bark until you let him in.  And when inside, he just wants to be near me... he's too clingy!  We cannot let him stay outside because he'll bark again, and we don't want our neighbors to get irritated because of him!  Clingy dogs can be cute to a point, but after that, it can be a little irritating.  But I have to say, I'm beginning to fall inlove with this fella... he can be sweet in his own way.  

hello there! I'm Milo!! :)

mommy tied my hair to keep it from my eyes... now I look like a girl!!! ugh!

I just don't like it when Milo and King "fight".  Ok, so far the "fighting" is just growling at each particularly during meal time.  Milo will pick a fight with King (i don't think he notices that King is actually bigger than he is), and when King gets pissed at him and growls, he will yelp as if he's hurt.  Quite an actor!! (me rolling my eyes).  Julia thinks King is starting to get jealous of Milo, especially with him always inside the house.  I hope she isn't, but to appease her, I give her extra petting time (scratching of ears and belly... which she really loves) when I'm home.   I just hope that they don't really fight or bite one another when we're in the office... I don't want either of them hurt, especially when no one's there to keep them from the blood bath.

Here are more pictures of them together... ain't they cute!! :)

I tied Milo to avoid him from getting out of our gate... he can squish himself into the gate's bars...

I wonder if all dogs "sit" this way... they seem to have the same sitting position :P

they are both looking at Julia.... see how Milo balances himself on his hind feet :)

*sigh*  I would miss these two terribly when I leave them here next year.  If only I can bring them to where I'm going.... but that's just not possible *sobs*

a new addiction?

I have had several blog accounts before, and the last one was at multiply. com.  However, the "ningas kugon" in me kept things I've started unfinished.  I still have the account but I have stopped posting anything... especially with FB being the commonly used networking site.  Unfortunately, our company started blocking FB in our network, together with youtube and YM.  Then a close friend of mine told me about her creating a blogger account and she was able to convince me into creating mine as well... so here I am, posting my first ever post  in this site.  Hmmmm, I could be addicted to this :)


I warn you though not to expect too much from me or this blogsite... I do not consider myself a good writer, I can hardly organize my thoughts into writing a creative or interesting piece... and I think I still tend to "ningas kugon".  But I will try to keep this one updated as much as I can.  


Anyways, welcome... and have fun :)  Coz I most definitely will ;)


Oh, and PS, thanks to that same dear friend of mine (aka Kalamay Addict) for inspiring the blog name... yes, I do have curly tops (i'm referring to my curly hair :P) and I do love the local chocolate brand Curly Tops =)