Yes! You've read it right! 2019! This post has been postponed for so long... like a year-long to be exact. And just so I can finally let it go, I really have to post the details of the trip.
Here is a super late snap of my travel journal. I'm an Abbey Sy fan so that explains why I did some drawings. I haven't finished coloring the food yet. 😂
Disclaimer: I'm not much of an expert in the field of photography, so I apologize for the blurred shots.
"So
you would think that at this moment, I would be in utter despair. Here’s what’s
strange. The main thing I feel is a sense of relief. That I can give up this
game. That the question of whether I can succeed in this venture has been
answered, even if that answer is a resounding no. That if desperate times call
for desperate measures, then I am free to act as desperately as I wish."
--Suzzanne Collins, Catching Fire—
I have to say now
that I’m now a certified Collins Fan. I have watched and loved the first movie
and now totally hooked with the trilogy after watching Catching Fire last
night. The movie was action packed that I can already imagine how more amazing
it is in the book. (BTW, haven’t read them all yet) Of course, just like the
other book series turned movie (i.e. Harry Potter, LOTR, Twilight), the book of
course contains everything the movies can’t show.
Abot-tanaw ko na ang Polauan Port ng Dapitan. Sa wakas ay mararating ko na rin ang bayan na tanging sa aklat na Sibika at Kultura ko lamang naririnig. Siyempre, bilang isang AB History na estudyante, interesado rin ako sa maikling panahong ginugol ng paborito kong bayani na si Jose Rizal sa bayan na ito. Kinailangan ko pang pilitin ang pinsan ko na si Leah na samahan ako sa paglalakbay ko upang payagan ako nang aking ama na makapunta sa Dapitan. Nakapagdesisyon na rin kasi ako na gagawan ko nang Thesis ang naging buhay ni Jose Rizal sa loob nang apat na taon niyang pamamalagi sa bayan nang Dapitan.
Ayy… ako nga pala si Josephine Valdez at nasasabik na ako sa kung ano man ang matutuklasan ko sa Dapitan.
It's been a month since I last posted. Urrggg... I've been very busy settling my documents at school so I can finally be free from MSU-IIT. I just got my Cum Laude certification and transcript yesterday and this monday, they'll be releasing my diploma. I've also attended my cousin's wedding and right now is spending quality time with my room mates that I'm about to leave behind in my very beloved dormitory in Iligan.
Anyway, I'm not going to be dramatic over my departure from Iligan. I am about to share to you my beloved readers my very first published Tagalog Romance Novel. (Drum roll please...)
Bookware's My Special Valentine published The Hired Wife just last May 23, 2012 and I've only known about it just last week which made me realize how "not cool" not being online especially when there are important news like this.
So this story is about Pam(short for Phoemela) who lost her job and was forced to go home and substitute her mother as a secretary in farm where she's going to meet Kaira, the stunning grandson of the owner of the Hacienda and the next thing she knows, she became Kaira's hired wife.
I won't talk much about it since I haven't read the final published book yet and I really want you to read for yourself and I hope you'll enjoy reading the story and feel free to post your comments or reactions here in Blah Blah Notebook.
Actually, I've written and submitted this story late 2010
and finally it's published. It was actually my 2nd manuscript. My first
manuscript got rejected. I can't explain how hesitant I was when I
clicked the send button of my email when I sent my manuscript and how
excited and afraid I was when I opened my inbox and saw the publishers'
email. To be honest, I covered my mouth when I read their message
telling my that my manuscript was accepted because I really hate
screaming. LOL. Para akong kinikilig sa sobrang tuwa no'n. Hahaha.
My advice to other aspiring writers, don't get easily discouraged. Just write and see it turn into something you can hold. Just trust God because He will never fail you.
I really enjoy window shopping online but never really got a
chance to order online since I’m still looking for an online shop I can really
trust and not that complicated when it comes to payment method and shipping.
It’s amazing how Nuffnang seemed to have answered my thoughts by featuring
ZALORA in “My ZALORA Wishlist”. Of course, who wouldn’t be thrilled joining the
fun? The site really got some awesome stuff from branded names. What’s more
amazing is that it’s a Philippine online shop so I guess payment and shipping
methods wouldn’t be that hard. Now, I think I know where I’m going to hang-out
online for window shopping hobbies… lol…:D
Anyways, they really have a lot of nice RTW, foot wears and
cool accessories. Unfortunately, the wishlist is only up to 5 items so though
it was really hard to choose, I was still able to come up with my 5 items for My ZALORA Wishlist.
#1... I’m a shoe addict especially when it comes to sneakers. Tretorn Skymra Canvas looks really promising and really looks like could fit to my everyday-me-getup. Besides, I love its
simple style and color. It’s totally cool and no need for shoe laces. For
someone who is always on the go like me, this one would be very perfect.
Heart's month is finally over. It's MARCHing month now and there's a lot to do especially for those who are going to graduate this month.
Wow! It's such a relief to be able to update my blog. I've been busy these past few weeks because of our thesis and our minor subjects required a lot of assignments, papers and other activities...
Anyways, this post is my break from all the hectic schedules and stuffs. My latest addiction now is Photography. This is because of our Humanities subject. We've been asked by our instructor to submit photos of different subjects. Here are they. Feel free to comment.. :)
It's kind of strange that I accidentally found ANOTHER piece that I wrote when I was still in high school. LIFE IS LIKE A ROSE was written when I was in my sophomore years. Two years later, I was 15 and in my senior year and was part of our school paper organization "The Pioneer", I was one of the news contributors and the feature writer who wrote Filipino feature articles. This piece just actually came out of nowhere after hearing news on TV. The moment the news ended, I was already writing as if words just kept on popping out of my head. Anyways, hope my Filipino readers appreciate this piece written by the 15 year old me.
This post is in Filipino so I would like to extend my apology for some of my readers who can't understand it. Feel free to use Google for translation... :D You can also read it in Definitely Filipino. It's my very first post there.
Punit-punit na Pangarap
Napakaingay ng mainit na lansangan...abala ang lahat sa kanya-kanyang pagpapatakbo ng buhay...negosyo. May ngumingiti, tumatawa, umiiyak na mga bata, may mga tulala at mga paslit na naglalaro lang at walang kamuwang-muwang habang ang mga matatandang ale at mama na nasa malapit lang ay panay ang sigawan at murahan na para bang wala nang bukas.
Ilang segundo lang.... BOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM..............................
Magdadalawang linggo na matapos ang nangyaring flash flood sa Iligan at CDO. Napakasudden talaga. Baha here and there. Baha everywhere. Hooh.... Until now, hindi pa rin ako makapaniwala but then I'm just thankful kay God for the lives of those who were able to survive. At least bagong buhay. Time to reflect and change. Of course, hindi ito magiging madali. I've seen the destruction. Naputol na tulay. Ruined houses. Dead bodies. Nakakatakot at nakakalungkot.
It happened so fast. Walang mag-aakalang at exactly 1am... some lives will end. Karamihan pa ay mga bata at matatanda. That night of December 16, kahit ulan nang ulan, party everywhere. Christmas party nga kasi. Institute party nang MSU-IIT, department parties. Personally, I was happy that night of December 16. Umuwi galing Laguna ang isa sa mga closest friends ko and she even visited our department and kind of joined the party. It was the awarding night of the 2 day Skills Competition nang department namin. Foundation day kasi nang depatment namin. We had so much fun habang nagbabatuhan nang pick-up lines. By 10pm, we all went home while ako naman, went straight to Jolibee to meet the unit head of CYA, we were going to have an overnight christmas party at Linamon. Humabol lang ako dahil nga sa christmas party namin sa department.
7-30-2011. this was an amazing day. I’d say I experienced two first time experiences that day. It’s been two weeks already and it’s frustrating that I haven’t posted a blog about it until now. Anyway, I’m sharing now what happened that day.
Saturday, 7-30-2011, it was a date. CYA was going to hold its fellowship on Ma. Cristina Falls. Of course, I was very excited. It would be my first time to go to the place. I have been to Tinago Falls and Abaga Falls, unfortunately, I forgot to export all my adventure trip photos from Friendster which is why Tinago, Abaga Falls and Mt. Agad-Agad will only be memories on my head. Anyway, like I said, I have been to Tinago and Abaga Falls, but Maria Cristina Falls? I never had the chance to. Iligan is of course the City of Water Falls but of all the falls there, I’ve only been on the two. Anyway, I can’t blame anyone for not having a chance of going to Ma. Cristina. Ma. Cristina is a private place. Not everyone can go there without having to log-in and ask permission on the office. Ma. Cristina is the no. 1 source of Mindanao’s electricity.
So I got there along with some of my dorm mates, friends and other CYAers. It was amazing. That time, the flow of the falls was ravishing. The water falls looked like soap bubbles poured on a pail of water. I could even see rainbows. Totally AWESOME and LEGENDARY. Here is a picture of the falls.
After being totally amazed by the beauty of nature God has created, we then went to the nature park where we watched crocodiles rest with their mouth wide open, ostriches roam around their cages, etc. We played outdoor games as well.
I was so tired that whole four hours that I was so exhausted when I came home. What’s more tiring was that I also had to go to the school gym for the Cultural Night of our College Palakasan. I haven’t eaten my dinner that time and it was already past six when I came to the school and help my classmates with some of the activities we prepared.
I have a continuation for this… “The Over-the-Bakod Experience”
I’m not much of a traveler and I hated riding on buses. Yet I’ve been to many places but I haven’t appreciated much of the places and the environment I passed and have been surrounded by because every time I got to one/fourth of the destination? My head would spin, my stomach would turn and the next thing I know? I’m all over my vomit. Yuck!!! So gross!! I know! Anyway, that was when I was still in high school. I’m more comfortable on bikes and motorcycles than four-wheeled vehicles. It took me three years for the realization to strike me. The bus maybe is one of the dirtiest transportation medium to be in because you got to filter the moist, dirt, dusts in your face while you’re sitting next to the window, you got to smell weird odors, trashes of boiled eggs, junk foods and even saliva but after three years of getting used to it, I found out that life here on earth is like riding the bus.
Unpredictable. You won’t know whose going to be your seatmates. There’s the silent miss who keeps on leaning her head on the window staring at nowhere. There’s the old lady who boasts about her children’s achievements and then changes to a dramatic mode saying “They are living away from me now”. There’s the chubby gal who never stops munching junk foods that you’d be lucky if you are offered to eat. Then there’s this sophisticated chic who shows off her touch screen phone and retouches every time the bus stops. You got to listen to the snores of an emo who sleeps with his ipod on the maximum volume and his headphone as big as an earmuff. There’s the impatient suitcase bachelor who glance at his wristwatch every ten minutes with folded forehead. Then there’s this noisy teenager who keeps chewing her bubble gum for an hour and fingers fixed on her phone narrating how dramatic and uncool her life is. There’s the innocent kid who stares at you until she gets to her destination with her mother. Then there were the ever jologs guys who tries hard to get your phone number. There were also the good guys/girls who are kind enough to offer you seats. Somehow, you share time with them like friends who walks in and out of your life. You share time with them but they’ll have to go and leave. Unpredictable.
Exciting. You got to visit different places every time it stops by. You get to see beautiful views that are rarely seen and not usually appreciated by others. You get excited by events you might witness by just passing by. And just like the seatmates, you get to know and exposed to people with different attitudes which will help you mould your character. Fantastic.
IRRITATING. Yeah! Life is not complete without downs. It can’t be all ups, ups, and ups. That would be boring. Yes!! Traveling is not always going to be exciting. There are times when you get stranded when the bus goes “moody”. And you have to wait for another mean for transport when you are standing by the highway in the middle of an uncivilized location and you got a cell phone which is out-of-coverage or else low battery. Usually it’s waiting that makes you irritated. According to a Factory Engineer of one of the prestigious companies of Philippines, waiting is a waste. Yeah! That is definitely right but sometimes you have to wait because hurrying might go wrong. Everything has a reason and to get to that reason, you have to wait. Just like waiting for a barge and your bus is last on the line or the line of the crowd gets bigger and the door is just like a dot in your sight. Hahahaha!!! And unluckily, you are in a hurry!!! And you have a nth level talkative seatmate who keeps on talking about things that are unnecessary. The conductor keeps on asking for your ticket when you already had one.
Either way… though we get unpredictable, expecting and irritating experiences in our life, at the end, we still get to our destination…. Our purposes… The important thing is we take things in a positive way. We learn from what we see and enjoy every moment of our journey.
