Musings of a Holy-Wannabe Cross-dressing Professional Celibate | |
Dooooooooooood, I spent Tuesday and Wednesday in Zobel.
Was able to talk to the Grade 7 and Seniors. Missed Grade 6 because I was being bangag. Will try to get class to class audiences to pay for my sins... next time, Grade 6. The Seniors took their sweet time getting settled but we eventually had a nice time together.... shared with them my special yearbook pictures... if only I could burn all the copies of my freshman yearbook...
Was able to go class to class with Senior Prep. Was happily shocked to see the children of people I know, grew up or worked with... Jiggs and Ven's daughter and their niece and nephew (care of John L.), Eds daughter and nephew, the next generation of Ignacios (nephew of Tracy, Grace and Greg), Mau's daughter...
Watched Leah's Baby Gap girls and their respective admirers (that would be Pompeyo (how can you forget a name like that), Joses (?) and their friend whom I stole a shoe from...
Spent some time with Grade 3 as well during their recess. They don't use Kush Ball's for dodgeball... some strange plastic ball thing. Was witness to the great Gr. 3 line formation... medyo maingay...
Raided a Grade 3 PE class as well... had to confront a hula hoop which, sadly, did not cooperate with me.
Visited 7D and 7E (kasi sina Mrs. Coronel and Mr. Fabian ang teacher)... watched 7E squirm and complain as they took a Math test... was transported back to my 7A days when I, too, couldn't make any sense of Mr. Fabian's questions... saw Brian A... my Audi friend...
Met my old friends, the formerly-Sophmore-now-Junior Research Boys (Gwayne, Louis and Gabs)... turns out they seem to be good in basketball... varsity pala ang mga 'to.
BroKen and BerDen joined me during the Senior talk. BroKen invoked Br. Felix so I couldn't really say anything against him... not that I would... hehehehe... after that we went around the campus with BroDen... and, fortunately, Br. Ceci was able to come back from Makati to assume his undisputed role as Brother Campus Digital Photographer...
Looking forward to my next visit to Zobel!
My cold has intensified as a result of the soak-down I received yesterday.
Went to the guidance center and came back. My schedule for Zobel has been pushed to tomorrow. I still have to pack my things.
Got the Run pictures from Marc G. and Jing E. Okay naman. Although some people's imaginations are certainly on the green side... see the public art pictures in Serendra Boni High Street...
My brain isn't exactly on a creative high.... so am shutting down...
Zobel bukas... :)
Wooohooo! Alma Mater! Animo Zobel!
Well, I really wasn't running...
Sometime between Friday and last night, I decided that I would be wearing the robe during the OneRunOneFamilyOneLaSalle event... the me of last month would've probably thought about it and discarded the idea on the day itself. But I am slowly getting a better feel of the me who is me today... maybe that's part of the growth that I should be experiencing from my growth sessions.
So, this morning, around 4:50 am, I slid through my robe and rode the LSGH Hi-Ace with Brs. Felipe, Dodo, Dante, Marc and Manny H. I didn't know what time we actually started the course but sometime around 6:20, I found myself walking with the hordes and hordes of green-clad Lasallians around the Fort in Taguig City. My first walking partner was Br. Jimmy but I eventually found Br. Ceci and walked with him until the end. Wearing the robe doesn't really give you much choice... you don't really run... especially if it's raining... was it a heavy drizzle or a light rainshower? Basta... basang-basa yung robe ko... but my undershirt and pants were relatively dry... so were the three phones and the watch that were unceremoniously dumped in my care... the downside of having more pockets than you actually need. Now that I am writing about my experience, I realize that I have an unclaimed watch stashed in my robe.
Miraculously, despite the rain and the puddles, the whiteness of my robe was maintained. It was only after we finished the grueling 3km walk and we had to step on the muddy field that my robe got sullied and soiled (literally).
I didn't place at all... maybe because I really wasn't registered... but I can safely claim that I won (in my mind) the best dressed award or, at least, the best in long ceremonial gown award.
Going in to this event be-robed meant that I would be an oddity and attract people with cameras... [like a moth to a flame]... believe it or not, that wasn't the reason why I did it... I figured if this was a Lasallian event, in the sea of more than 5,800 participants (!!!!), there had to be a Brother in a robe.
Bonus na lang yung photo-ops. :)
It's really cool to be a Brother.
The OneRun has reached its limit of participants for the race. However, that shouldn't stop you from showing up and joining the rest of the Family in celebrating the Lasallian Spirit.
Punta pa rin kayo para mas masaya at para may mag-cheer sa mga tatakbo!
Kita-kita tayo sa Sunday!
My five minutes start now...
Had a hard time sleeping last night... will try to Biogesic my insomnia away... I have a cold so I have an excuse. :)
Went around LSGH today... morning ceremony along the Grade 3 and 1 corridor and the morning ceremony in front of the HS building where one gets to see most of the HS students lined up outside their classrooms. The view is such that you can see who among the boys aren't paying attention to the ceremony. Will go around tomorrow again.
Went to the Guidance Center... had a good session... am one step closer to understanding myself more... 9,999,999,999,999 steps to go... :)
Fell asleep around 5ish while trying to make sense of the LET reviewer I bought... English test pa lang yun... wala pa sa Math and Science which worries me a lot... wala pa sa History and Geography that even worries me more.
Woke up sometime around 7pm. Got a phone call. 2 Brothers and 5 partners were on their way to JT Manukan... the closest thing to Bacolod Inasal here in Manila. I ate 1 Pecho and 1 rice... no softdrinks... :)
5 minutes up... have to sleep... :)
Biogesic here I come.
:)
Ever wonder if the Brothers could do anything besides talking and looking holy?This Sunday, be amazed, as some of us, show our amazing aerobic endurance at the
See you at The Fort, Taguig this July 13, 2008. 5:30am The event is open to all members of the Lasallian community (Brothers, Sisters, students, faculty, administrators and staff, parents, alumni and friends.
I'll be walking the 3K route.
:)
Am in La Salle Green Hills... giving myself 5 minutes to blog...
Left USLS around 8:40. Was scared that I would be late and I had no good reason to be late because I really did take my sweet time in preparing for the trip. Although, I think I planned it better than the last one. All I forgot this time was my seldom-used yoga mat (thanks, Sanya!) and my disassembled yoga book (for more portability). I arrived around 9:05... about 50 minutes away from the time of departure. Consequently, I got a seat waaaaay back... 30A... one of the few times I've been at the back. Slept through most of the flight... even through the fun games which I heard faintly in my drowsy state. Was still a bit spooked from the last time I left Bacolod so any faint vibrations would make me a bit nervous. Flight was uneventful, we landed 20 minutes early but my bag was literally the last bag off the conveyor... I really have to put an identifying mark on my luggage. So points to Cebu Pacific for a smooth flight... (Hi, JC... don't worry, I'll be taking PAL after the second sem starts...)
Traffic in Manila was relatively light... maybe because of the higher fuel prices... we really have to start making our lives more efficient and less wasteful...
Anyway, 5 minutes are up... am late by 1 minute or so...
Good night...
:)
Contemplating on packing my stuff for Manila...
Tomorrow, I fly back to the gloriously polluted capital of our gloriously muddled yet infinitely loveable country to look for the elusive specie breed of Filipino called "mga puwedeng maging Brother." The quest doesn't start till next week but there is that One La Salle Fun Run in the Fort on Sunday... so come one, come all... see me try to run the greatest 3K race of my life... although I've pretty much assigned myself to be the sweeper... :D
The last few days have fun full of watching, singing, dancing, mawdelling (modelling) and still more dancing... though the only thing I really did was watch... and blow the symbolic 56th Birthday candle of USLS during the Birthday Bash at the Coliseum... sana nga may picture ako nun.
Back to contemplating...
:)
 | Home... | Jul 3, '08 10:22 AM
for everyone |
Flew in the 4:55 am flight from Manila. Cebu Pacific.
The P600++ difference between PAL and CebPac equals: - Pangit na terminal. The old Domestic airport is... old. It's crowded, poorly laid out, the ceilings are low, the airconditioning is bad and there aren't any birds that try to fly out of the gigantic cage they managed to get themselves into. The magazine section is comparable to the Centennial but because it is that means I won't buy anything there... MAHAL kasi. The bathrooms in the Domestic terminal are a bit larger though.
- Pangit ang check-in computer system. There was a sign beside the flight info of the check in counters that said that their system was off-line. That's not the first time I've seen that sign. Consequently, ang haba ng pila. Unfortunately for me, the Bacolod trip I got into was full of families and groups (i.e. the Red Cross), it made checking in a bit longer since people had to keep track of the weight.
- No leeway when it comes to going over your weight allotment. Sometimes, the PAL people don't count the 1 or 2 kilos that you inevitably have. When flying budget, you have to pay for the 2 kilos... around P200.
- Aerobic cross-country trek to your plane. There are no boarding tubes in the Domestic airport which means you have to climb the stairs to get to your plane. The Domestic terminal isn't a long building which means the line of planes waiting to disgorge and gorge their passengers is longer than the terminal. We had to walk quite a distance to get to the plane... buti na lang hindi umuulan.
- No snacks. Which is fine by me... I don't really eat the hydrogenated-oil rich amalgamation they pass off as food in the airplane. What you do get is an interesting in-flight magazine called smile... which is far denser than the PAL inflight magazine, Mabuhay.
- Your fellow passengers are a bit more expressive. Basta. May difference... but not by much.
- You can easily spot your cabin attendant. A budget carrier doesn't necessarily equate to low-key color scheme. Certainly not CebuPac. I like the idea of casually-dressed cabin attendants... it's easier to do your job in what they're wearing vis-a-vis their PAL brethren. If ever I get to decide on uniforms for schools, I think I'll take a page from CebuPac... of course, the screaming orange has to go...
Anyway, gabi na. Tulog na me. :)
Am in Da South, dooood. In what has become my pseudo-bedroom in our house. Arrived around 1:40am from Francis A's party. It was a mini-reunion of sorts... BJ, Nancy, Sarah, Cielo, Pam, Angie, Gumsie, Neil, Carlo, Bob, Graham + other people not from the batch... if I forgot anyone, pasensiya na. Matanda na eh. It was very nice to see that some things haven't changed. Magulo pa rin at maingay pa rin... Wild Thing talaga. Tried to catch up on batch news... because so many people have gotten married and have had children already... and because it's been 15 years since we've graduated from Zobel. It was a fun evening and should be followed up soon.
Meet my new favorite thing, MujiOnePointO. :-)  A rubber grip mechanical pencil from Muji given to me by the Benilde Super Twins (see previous entry) who just came from a "seminar" in Singapore. (I'm just pulling their legs... mahirap i-pull yun ha...)
Muji is like Japan's Ikea (a Swedish store specializing in nicely designed but affordable stuff) but cooler... not to say that Ikea isn't cool... the design aesthetic of Muji is more restrained and more minimalist but is as affordable... basta...
I heart Muji and Ikea.
As I was saying, I was in Benilde to help Jam and Kia work on their article for the Benildean. They needed some details for an article they're writing and I did say that I'd try to drop by their "s[k]wanky" office if ever I'm in the area. It was an interesting time for me... I hadn't been in a jam-packed pub (publications) room in a loooong time.
We crossed over to McDo, this time I'm in disguise, and bought some grub. I had to get the Happy Meal so I could get Kung Fu Panda toys. Wala na si Panda kaya I got Shifu.
Teka... I have to go... to be continued... :)
Am waiting for Jing, resident graphics guru of the Brothers' headquarters and erstwhile graphic jedi padawan, to finish his work. Am going to the South... yeah, pare, doooood, da south, pareeeeh... to attend Francis A's (one of my oldest Zobel friend) party. I haven't seen my Zobel batchmates in ages... at least 4 years.
Transferred to Taft yesterday (yet I'm in GH... yes, it's strange but I've always been weird...) and met up with the Super Twins of the Student Publications (that would be Jam and Kia) in their swanky (it's one letter away from being skanky) office. It's a bit crowded...
Saw Martin (LSCA) with his friend na girl na maaring girlfriend na niya. Maraming tao pero dapat i-mention ang star photographer na si Yuggy... see this entry.
Teka, aalis na pala kami... to be continued...
Just came from night prayer... which we did in honor of a long-time teacher of the Graduate School of Business and parent of La Salle Green Hills. The thing is that we don't really pray night prayer in Bacolod (see Divine Office for more details about night prayer). I was leading the chanting when we got to a part that I totally forgot... it took us four tries before we got it. But okay lang naman...
I love Xara Xtreme Pro. It's the only reason why I have Windows on the office Mac.
Around 3pm I started losing steam... couldn't work as my eyes were closing involuntarily. Had to take a short nap then went down to continue working.
Went around LSGH HS this morning with Brs. Dante and Marc. Raided some of the rooms (at least the one's with teachers that we knew). Also paid a visit to Brs. Sockie and Alex's classes. Will go around tomorrow again... this time with a robe that's cleaner and freshly pressed.
Taal Tapa is great. Thanks Rich!
Need to have the office mac checked... the battery doesn't hold its charge anymore and I can't work without being tethered to a power outlet. It certainly defeats the purpose of having a laptop.
Will turn in now because I need to normalize my sleep patterns. Will wake up early tomorrow to exercise. So please pray for a greater portion of self-discipline for me.
:)
Stream of consciousness - used to chronicle the thoughts and feelings of the main character in a story as the character passes through a series of experiences. The character's mind becomes the stage, looking at trivial thoughts and mental reactions. Details, moods,and analyses of the character, while jerky, are focused on. (www.daffodil.ca/english/glossary_of_literary_terms_dir/glossary_of_literary_terms_5.html)
Just came from exercise. Back to zero after a torpid and aerobically listless May. Walked briskly around the oval for around 30 minutes. Will do it again tomorrow. Because I'm fat. There I said it. But being fatter doesn't change the fact that I'm enormously famous and cute... and desperately trying to cover up the fact that I'm fatter with hyperbole and delusion. (Sige na nga, slightly famous and fantastically super cute na lang...)
May Jelly Tongue Apple na ulit sa Bacolod. Wanted to right about that but I kept on forgetting. Life is betterer with Jelly Tongue. I'd make a great copy writer... not.
Did my version of office work. Repurposed some graphics to become wallpaper, requested 3 giant Brother tarps for printing, sent several email, procrastinated.
Cross-country in the early morning. Came from wet Lipa, left around 4am to bring the birthday boy, my soul Brother batch mate, Richie to the airport. He flew off to GenSan. Arrived in Green Hills around 6:30am.
Today, I found out that the Lozada kids are fellow Avatar fans. Although it was a bit embarrassing to find out that I was more a fanatic than they were. Imagine, a 32-year-old professional-celibate follower-of-a-French-founder cross-dresser slash illegal recruiter being more knowledgeable in cartoons than kids who are barely into their puberty. But that is the beauty of life... :)
Anyway, I gave myself only a few minutes to meander in the stream of my murky consciousness... more streaming tomorrow...
Welcome back to school everyone... :)
P.S. Multiply is experiencing strangeness... my home page isn't rendering properly... reverted to a non-CSS linear format while waiting for them to sort it out...
Expertly and artistically taken by Yuggy from DLS-CSB. Photo shoot produced by the crazy but beautiful people of The Benildean (Jam, Kia and Happy with special participation of Yuggy)
There can be miracles if you believe. Mukha akong banal dito... :)
Final Destination is a 2000 supernatural thriller, about a group of teenagers who 'cheat death' by avoiding a plane crash when one them, Alex, has a premonition of their deaths. Soon after their escape, they begin dying one-by-one in mysterious freak accidents
I'm not a big fan of the supsense/horror/thriller genre. Stick me in a romantic comedy, scifi, fantasy or even a pinoy movie and you'll be my best friend. I'm the sort of person who switches channels when things get too gory, too violent, too embarrassing, too uncomfortable... basically when things get "too real".
Blame it in on a overactive imagination that has too much time on its hands... not because there's not enough to do but many times it just refuses to do what must be done. Procrastination... in other words. Why I procrastinate is a matter that will take too long to discuss in just one entry... let alone an long winding prelude to another entry.
Here's my true-to-life thriller...
I flew in from Bacolod yesterday afternoon. I was supposed to be on the 1:30pm Air Philippines flight but they cancelled it.
Buti na lang we called up the office... after last Sunday's hypertension-inducing experience with Air Philippines, I asked Ms. Jing, queen of the USLS president's office, to call up to check. I really think Air Philippines has a chronic customer service crisis... they didn't even bother to call up the office to inform us that the flight was going to be cancelled.
I was lounging in my room, lazily and procrasticatingly packing my things at around 10:40am when the office called to say that I had to be in the airport 2 hours ago because they put me in the 11:30AM Philippine Airlines flight. Consequently, I had to grab whatever I could so I could run down to the car and speed off to the not-so-NEW Bacolod-Silay Aiport in Silay (around 30 minutes away). Consequently, there are things in my room that need to be with me here in Green Hills but are there in Bacolod...
Just as I clear the first (and only working) x-ray section in the airport and just as I hand over my e-ticket to Mr. JR A. (the designated Air Philippines ground staff who was assigned to meet the harassed Brother... who turns out to be a fresh HM grad from USLS), I hear the first call for boarding for the flight I'm supposed to be on. All in all, it took me just 10-15 minutes to get off the car and into the plane.
But the fun doesn't stop there.
I thought that the relative darkness of Negros was just part of the normal June rainy climate. I only found later, when we were trying to make our way up to our assigned flight altitude of 23,000 feet, that just several hundred kilometers (around 323 kms according to Google Earth's measure tool) away, Samar was experiencing Storm Signal number 3.
The human mind isn't really that adept at imagining how far 323 kilometers and how powerful a storm can be until the body the brain is housed in finds itself in an airplane being buffeted moderate to panic-inducing turbulence while trying to get to a high and SAFE altitude. It's like trying to fight your way out of an extremely crowded mall looking for a floor that doesn't have as many people... except that it's much scarier and certainly much more life-threatening.
It didn't help that everytime that plane dropped (and your stomach got left behind in the space that the rest of your body once occupied) there would be keening, moaning and an occasional involuntary epithet that could be heard behind me.
Even though I knew that there's was nothing I could do to keep the plane stable and un-vibratory, I stubbornly refused to remove me feet from the floor. Feeling ko kasi kapag inalis ko yung paa ko, lalong uuga yung plane.
It was probably the longest plane ride of my life. The whole time I was on the edge... I couldn't relax because the fasten-seatbelt light and sound would go on and off periodically and that would signal the activation of the plane-on-vibrate mode...
There's nothing like a turbulent plane ride to get you thinking about your life, your relationships with others and with God.
Meanwhile, to put things into proper perspective, let us pray for all those people in the Visayas who are experiencing the storm.
I've been in Bacolod since Sunday and I must admit that there is something about staying put in one place without being bothered by the thought of having to pack up and move out anytime soon. Of course, having said that, I really should start preparing my things for my next set of travels... starting tomorrow afternoon. Sigh. It was too good to last but I look forward to a travel-free August and September. At least, I spent 5 days in Bacolod.
Last Sunday, my flight was majorly delayed. I was supposed to be in Bacolod by 12:30. I was supposed to board my plane 11:00. By 11:40, the people at the counter announced that our flight was going to be delayed and that boarding would commence at around 2 p.m. I don't mind getting delayed. What I do mind is being told about it 40 minutes after the delay. If you know there's a delay, and I'm sure they knew about it an hour before it happened, break the bad news immediately to the passengers so that they can make plans. Hay.
I have a new job function as Animator... the College GReetings Officer... College GRO for short. I figured that since I go around the entire IS before school starts in the morning, I might as well complete the circuit and include the college in my rounds as well. So, at least once a day, I, in my robe, go around the various nooks and crannies of the college to lock eyes with and say good morning / good afternoon / good evening to unsuspecting teachers, staff, students and visitors of the college.
The downside to this added function is... dehydration. The last few days have been particularly humid in Bacolod and wearing the holy habit isn't exactly the most sensible thing I've done in humid weather. It's edifying but not particularly sensible. There's a verse in Corinthians that is very apt to this phenomenon of wearing the holy habit ... 1 Corinthians 4:10... being one of the “fools for Christ’s sake."
So, happily I hail unsuspecting Ilonggos while I have on the holy habit in horrendously humid weather.
:)
Ayalah Ahlahbahng Geelage
Parking lot of SM Southmall
Alabang Zapote Road
McDo on a Hill in Town Center, DLSZ Bus- driver of the Bus (hindi ko alam yung name)
- Kumpareng Jopay (na asawa ni Kumareng Lorie (dakilang reyna ng PPRO mula 1997-2002) na nanay ng aking inaanak)
DLS-HSI Van
- Mang Sergio (hindi asawa ni Marimar pero palaging tinatanong kung nasaan si Marimar)
Daang Hari
DLSU-D: Brothers' Residence
- Ramil (isa sa mga dakilang kasama sa bahay ng mga Brothers)
- Br. Mario (7th dan black belter na hindi naman black yung belt kasi ibang level na talaga siya)
DLS-HSI: Angelo King Cancer Research Center: 4th Floor - Around 400 new students of Nursing and Physical Therapy
- their deans and professors
- Ms. Yeye (ang bagong secretary ng VC-Academics)
- Dr. Monette (ang bagong Vice Chancellor for Academics)
- the person in charge of the hall that we had the assembly in (met him before but his name eludes me)
University Medical Center, room 3401 - Br. Ceci, who was confined but was still online using his SmartBro (smart Bro talaga siya)... he's okay nothing to worry about. He just wanted to head off any major sakit...
Huang Building - Ms. Celie ang dakilang secretary ni Br. Gus sa HSI
- ang kasama ni Ms. Yeye sa office na hindi ko pa masyadong kilala
Mercury Drug
DLSU-M
South Gate Corridor
Brothers' Community
- Ms. Charrie and her husband
SPS Lobby - Micah (DLSL-IS) and her blockmates
- Br. Bernie
SPS 5th floor, Student Publications - Ms. Fritzie and Ms. Virgie, guardians of the Student Publications office
Yuchengco, 3rd/F, President's Office - Gelo (Aspirant)
- Ms. Bing (one of the queens of the office)
- Sir Lysander (teaching partner in crime of Br. Armin)
Lasallian Pastoral Office - Don (blessed to be the bestest best friend (only) of all girls)
- his also-blessed friend whose name eludes me
- another friend of theirs who hasn't been blessed (by me...)
Hepa Lane - Freshmen who remember to say hello (FWRTSH)... you know who you are... God bless you... :)
Br. Andrew Hall, 20th floor, 6th floor, lobby - JE (keeper of Br. Armin at DLSP, slave force)
- Jay Calleja (fearless, peerless leader of the DLSP slave force)
- Pogz (who says he's a friend but acts likes he's [insert name of my favorite person there)
- Jen (whom I acted with in Fiddler on the Roof around 10 years ago and is now part of the DLSP slave force)
- Erwin (slave force member, so full of energy he literally vibrates)
One of the super crowded student elevators of Andrew Hall - Levin (DLSL: whose hair I have much to talk about but I won't right now)
- around 8-9 other FWRTSH (see Hepa Lane for full meaning of FWRTSH)
South Gate Pedestrian Crossing between McDo and CSB Road to SDA
DLS-CSB SDA Building - Freshmen who remember to say hello (FWRTSH)... you know who you are... God bless you... :)
9th Floor, LAMMP office - Cecile
- Ms. Mela
- the secretaries
- Sir from LMO who isn't Polie
12th Floor, Br. Vic's Office - Ms. Yeng (secretary to Br. Vic)
- Br. Vic (some random Brother president who looks like Tim Conway)
- Jam (DLS-CSB Student Publications, can't say much kasi papatayin niya ako....)
- Kia (see what I wrote in Jam's part... same applies to Kia... she's a fellow Zobelite)
- Yuggy (Camera Master)
- Happy (beleaguered friend of Kia and Jam... :) )
The Switch Store - Patrick (Switch store designer/progressive architect/future media mogul)
- Kristine Icasas (of the famous Icasas-es of Zobel, frequent visitor of the PPRO once upon a time, now manages the flow of FLOW, galeng dude)
- Br. Mike (my Jedi master)
- Anton (disciple of Br. Richie, LSGH, DLS-CSB)
- Francis (aspirant, LSGH, UP, design jedi master)
- I can't remember the names of the others... sheesh...
- UPDATE: KAT (DLS-CSB Student Council, official unofficial photographer of the SC with her spanking new DSLR that she didn't bring that day so wala kaming photo-op... hay...)
- UPDATE AGAIN: JC (official student photographer of the DLS-CSB MCO, never in the pictures because he's the one taking the pictures...)
sa floor na may Wacom Cintiq
- Si Sir na in-charge sa room na may Wacom Cintiq
9th, 8th, 7th, 6th, 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, Mezzanine... stairs!!! Road from SDA to McDo Pedestrian Crossing in front of 711
McDo (in my robe!) - Jess (LSA-Iligan, now DLSU, the birthday girl)
- Jen (sister to the birthday girl)
- Dindin (last member of the UnHoly Iligan Trinity)
- the rest of Team Iligan (around 15 of them...)
- Levin (again!)
- Micah (sister of Levin, DLSL, now DLSU-M)
- Dominic (1/2 of EmDo... honorary student ng Manila Doctors, DLSU-M, DLSL)
- Grimace (yes, I had a picture taken with him)
- the McDo girl in charge of the kiddie party I found myself in...
DLSU-M Brothers' Community North Gate Pedestrian Lane
Maryville Dorms??? - Carlo (USLS now DLS-CSB, connected to my family via Lolo John)
- Bea (same as above, related to me via a Denise of St. Jo's)
- Enzo (escort to her Blue Majesty, Camille who's in Ateneo)
- Karla (Search In Bacolod who's seen too much of her drunk SI friends)
Sinangag Express (SEX) Marvyille Dorms??? North Gate South Gate DLSU-M Brothers' Community
South Gate - Mario Antonio Lopez and Maria Corazon Lopez (my progenitors)
- Danny (the family driver)
South Super Highway Skyway Ahyahlah Ahlahbang Geelage...
Hay.
Ayalah Ahlahbahng Geelage
Parking lot of SM Southmall
Alabang Zapote Road
McDo on a Hill in Town Center
DLSZ Bus
DLS-HSI Van
Daang Hari
DLSU-D: Brothers' Residence
DLS-HSI: Angelo King Cancer Research Center: 4th Floor
University Medical Center, 3401
Huang BuildingMercury Drug DLSU-M Brothers' Community SPS Lobby SPS 5th floor, Student Publications Yuchengco, 3rd floor, President's Office, Vocations Office Lasallian Pastoral Office Hepa Lane Br. Andrew Hall, 20th floor, 6th floor South Gate Pedestrian Crossing between McDo and CSB Road to SDA SDA Building 9th Floor, LAMMP office 12th Floor, Br. Vic's Office 10th Floor 11th Floor sa floor na may Wacom Cintiq 9th, 8th, 7th, 6th, 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, Mezzanine... stairs!!! Road from SDA to McDo Pedestrian Crossing in front of 711 McDo (in my robe!) DLSU-M Brothers' Community North Gate Pedestrian Lane Maryville Dorms??? Sinangag Express (SEX) Marvyille Dorms??? North Gate South Gate DLSU-M Brothers' Community South Gate South Super Highway Skyway Ahyahlah Ahlahbang Geelage...
Hay.
Had a nice oatmeal/bran breakfast... with egg, 2 slices of whole wheat bread (with a bit of butter and what we call jam here in the Philippines)... one of my concessions to healthier living...
Borrowed Br. Ray's car to go to St. Jo's... Br. Dindo's still in Luzon (where, I don't really know)... it didn't seem right to start school in St. Jo's without any Brother... so, naturally, since I'm so shy and spotlight-averse, I volunteered to go say hello to the students. St. Jo's is a great school... it's a great model of restrained energy... the students there know when to keep still and when to let loose. Their morning assemblies are out of this world. The students are seated/standing in their respective lines... QUIETLY for most, if not all, of the assembly while ALL the teachers and staff are seated in front. Meanwhile, on planet earth, most, if not all of the other assemblies are... well... let's just say that I always think of St. Jo's when I'm in other schools' assemblies... when I stare helplessly into the noisy throng... looking at the chatting students who are ignoring the teachers standing in their midst... I say to myself, "isipin mo na lang nasa St. Jo ka."
Then, after giving the students their first Lasallian assignments for the year, I rushed back to USLS to face one of the worst tasks in my list of dreaded tasks... packing my things for my 5-day trip to Luzon. As in dreaded...
Mid-way to the airport I realized that I had no money at all. Not a centavo. I had to ask Mang George, one of the USLS drivers, for 100 pesos. In this business, I have discovered that asking for help is essential. I texted Ms. Jing to reimburse Mang George when he got back and when I get back I will reimburse Ms. Jing. One of the consolations of waiting in the airport is that I get to do the work that I normally wouldn't do... like budgets, reports, cash requests... simply because there's nothing else for me to do. Finally got to Manila and since I didn't check in my luggage, I was out of the airport in less than 10 minutes. Unfortunately, our family driver, whom I requested a week earlier to take me to the Guidance Center, didn't have the same luck... he got stuck at the security check gates.
What made the wait excruciating were the Me/Mendez billboards splattered on the pillars of the arrival area (pink background and bald wannabe celebrity tv host of WOW!) and the big government-official-owned SUVs illegally parked on the street... but they didn't have to worry because the airport security personnel were friends with their bodyguards and drivers. One "prettily dressed" tropical government wife with "chic" hat was even escorted to her illegally-parked environmentally-insensitive black Ford SUV by a PNP official. Hay.
Danny, our driver, got me to the Guidance Center on time for my counseling session. Finished by 3:30 and took a taxi to LSGH. Had lunch at around 4pm (since I didn't partake of the sumptuous PAL goodie bag.. full of partially hydrogenated palm oil and processed carbs).
Jing, graphic designer to the Bros, helped me get home by allowing me to hitch a ride in his spiffy red Jazz. He dropped me off by my sari-sari store, SM Southmall now with Starbucks! and I walked home... rather quickly because I didn't want to give the office laptop a bath in the impending rain.
So now, I'm in my home at Ayala Alabang Geelage... about to drift off to sleep because tomorrow I go to De La Salle Health Sciences Institute to welcome the freshmen of the Nursing and Physical Therapy Colleges in the morning and the peeps of DLS-College of St. Benilde in the afternoon...
Happy to report that the first day was relatively smooth... give or take one or two children who cried because their moms were late in bringing their lunch.
No pictures... walked around the entire IS about five times today.
Did one semi-complete round of the the college.
Surprised that some of the people i expected to have long hair had their hair cut before classes started. Of course, there will always be the motley crew of hair rebels.
New batch of prep. Last year's batch kept on coming back to the prep area. Same for the college freshmen who kept on coming back to the high school.
HUMID. Grabe.
Now. Me. Sleep.
Tomorrow. St. Joseph's then Manila...
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