18 years and now it’s over!

18 of my 20 years of living were spent in school. I started going to school when I was 2 years and 7 months old. My dad wasn’t really planning on sending me to school at such a young age but an incident in a mall (or store) made him do so. We were looking for school shoes for my sisters who were then already going to school. When we were at the mall (or store.. not sure) my dad just allowed me to try some shoes there and when we were about to leave I did not take off the shoes so he asked me if I want to go to school. The little me promptly said ‘YES!’ and so he sent me to school on that school year. I can’t really remember any significant thing that happened to me during my nursery years. The things that I can remember are those which are being told to me by my batchmates. One of my batchmates would often tell me of a story that when we were in pre-school my yaya would always pinch me and he would feel sorry when he sees me being battered. Haha! Too bad I can no longer remember those days. I was a lampayatot kid in school. I did not have any close friends in fact all of my friends were mostly civil friends. I was a silent and aloof kid then. Honestly when my batchmates would share stories about our childhood my memory would go blank. I really can’t remember those things that they are saying except for some like the strict teachers that we had and some of the productions that we did with our clown costumes. Hahaha!:P

After 4 years in pre-school grade school came, I was really excited to finally reach grade 1 because I really want to go home late like afternoon because of the cotton candies being sold outside the school. My elementary years were better than my pre-school. My 6 years in elementary was very colorful. Hahaha! I was sent to the prefect of discipline when I was in grade 1 (I think or grade 3) then sent to our class adviser in grade 4 then was called again by the prefect in grade 6 (I was accused of cheating! But I really do not consider it as one. The teacher simply did not do her part in changing the questions of her quiz.) our punishment that time was to pick up garbage inside the campus. We tried to outsmart our prefect so what we did was get the garbage inside the trash can and put it in the plastic that he gave us to fill. It was fun! Hahaha! I also had my first failing mark when I was in grade 6 (science!! I’m not a fan!:P) my interest for sports like soccer and basketball also started when I was in elem. In fact I almost made it to our soccer team too bad my mom did not allow me.:(

Then high school came, the happiest and most memorable time of a student’s life as most people would say. First year, many new students enrolled in our school including my high school kabarkada dennis and andrea. It was fun meeting new people from different schools. I really did not like first year because we had two science books and I am just not a fan of science! Hahaha! Good thing our science teacher was our adviser. One thing I liked in our first year in HS was we had two math subjects! Yaaaaaaayyy!! I know most students hate it but mathematics simply interests me. I really like it because all I need to do was to understand the process and no need to memorize anything meaning no need to study at home! Weeeeeeee!!:D Even if my grades were not as high as those in the honors’ section but the bliss of not having to study the subject simply makes me happy!:D Second year, our ‘sardinas’ year. Our batch had three sections when we were in 1st year but when we were in second year our sections was minimized into two. Meaning there are 40+ of us in each class. At first the idea did not please me. I was placed in the first section with the honor peeps! (BOOOO!!!) having said that, the pressure being in the first section was often thrown by our teachers. They would often remind us that we should behave properly and get high scores which made me ‘hate’ the thought of being in the first section. I find it more fun being in the next two sections which we would often call section B because there’s no pressure. We simply can play around but still manage to pass our subjects. No pressure attached to the section. At times I would feel sorry for those who are in section A because there are a lot of expectations from them it’s like they are living in other people’s standards and that is SAD (of course this is from my point of view.. a point of view of a ‘normal’ student! Haha!). But one thing I liked about our set up was that it made the batch become closer. Third year came, ‘the hardest year in HS’. 3rd year was all right for me. I did not fail any subject.. I like chemistry because just like math all I need was to understand the equation and I’m good to go! haha! I forgot to share that I failed my biology in 2nd year (1 or 2 out of the 4 terms) but my final grade was okay! Going back to our 3rd year, the highlight of this year was our Juniors’ retreat, it simply made us open ourselves to one another and made the batch as one. Some of the barriers were torn down by the retreat which was good for the batch. This was also the year for our English play!:D the play was really fun and it demonstrated the unity of the batch when the backdrop fell off during one of the sections play. Fourth year came, ‘the good bye year’. In this year we really made the most of our senior year. I think we were the most childish batch! Haha! We would play Chinese garter, tigso and all those running around games in school. Our principal would always talk to the seniors and remind us that we are the ‘cream of the crop’ and therefore we should behave properly which we simply took lightly and fondly called our batch as the ‘kreme of the crap’! haha! We also had our seniors’ ball where we dressed up and looked decent atleast for a night. The seniors’ retreat was also fun especially when we had out banquet night where the boys would draw a name of a girl and that girl would be his date for the night. Then graduation came and we had to part our ways.

Hello college! I never thought it would be this FUN! I met a lot of wonderful people in this stage of my student life. Not to mention, I can say college helped develop my leadership skills. It gave me avenues to showcase what kind of a leader I am. Not only that, I can also say I became a better student in college than I was in my high school. My first year in college was something I never thought it would be. Honestly, I thought I would never build friendships in college good thing I thought wrong!:) I was able to meet a lot of good and different wonderful kinds of people which has also contributed a lot of who I am today. College is something I’ll never forget. I was also able to build good relationships with my teacher who until now I still look up to and see them as mentors. I give my utmost respect to these people who have molded me to who I am today. College had a lot of twists and turns, with all the projects, requirements, quizzes, exam, plays, and of course, the pain in the ass teachers (sorry for using the word!:P). But all these helped compose my wonderful college experience.

Now after my student years, I look forward to what God has planned for me. I am not certain of what will happen to me tomorrow but I have faith in God who I know for sure will never leave me or forsake me!

For sure it would be another one FUN ride!:D

the unfulfilled promise

Weeks before the Christmas day of 2009, I made a promise to myself that I would write something about Christmas but sadly I failed to fulfill my promise. And now, after the Christmas celebration and as a New Year unfolds I would like to carry out the promise that I made to myself. So here it goes…

Christmas is a season widely celebrated across the globe, primarily Christian countries. It is the season where we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Traditionally, people celebrate this season through parties and gift giving. I could also consider it as the busiest and most meaningful holiday of the year. However, more often than not when this season approaches people tend to worry and think of the things that they would do or how they would spend the holiday with their friends and loved ones. In which it causes us to overlook the true essence and meaning of this festivity. As a Christian, I grew up celebrating the Christmas day that is December 25, with food, gifts and fellowship with loved ones. But one thing I noticed during this celebration is that the reason for the festivity or the celebrant Himself is rarely being talked about or discussed. I am not sure though if we really understand why and what we are celebrating or do we just do it out of tradition. I hope during the Christmas that has passed we were able to silence ourselves and think about the Reason for the Season.

Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords came to earth approximately 2,000 years ago. When He came there was no festivity, in fact He was born in a manger. Jesus humbly came down to earth to live with us and taught us how to live life as how it should be lived. He was the great Lamb and the One and Only Son of God. He was mocked, spitted on, insulted, doubted and falsely accused by men. On top of that He also experienced temptation by Satan when He fasted for 40 days and nights in the desert. But amidst all these, He was able to live a righteous and holy life. Jesus was able to go through all of these things because of His love for you and me. His eyes were fixed on His goal of saving us from sin in which the punishment is death. Through His death on the cross He was able to pay for the punishment that we deserved. He was the ONLY ONE who could possibly save us primarily because He is the only man who has never sinned. Furthermore, Jesus did not only die for us but He also conquered death for us to have life, He rose from the grave on the 3^rd day. What a great thing He has done for us!

But all of these things are of no value for those who have not received and believed in Jesus as their Lord and Personal Savior because without Jesus in your life, you won’t be able to receive FREELY the GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE, a life eternity with God in Heaven. You won’t be able to have all of these perks that we Christians have. So how can you have this gift? All you have to do is to pray and confess that you are a sinner, ask for forgiveness of the sins that you have committed and acknowledge that you need a savior which is Jesus Christ to save you from the punishment that your sins deserve and accept and believe in Jesus as your Lord and Personal Savior and give Jesus the full control of your life. After which repent from all of your sins, ask God to help you in doing so. I guarantee you that after you have said this prayer sincerely, you would have a great feeling of freedom from sins and life would be more meaningful.

For me, this is the Reason for the Season, the birth of our Savior, the birth of the hope of our salvation. Without Jesus’ birth, life would be meaningless; life would be hell if we don’t have this hope. We can all have this hope if we choose to have it.

May we truly see the meaning and value of Christmas and choose to have hope.

belated presents!

Richard Tamala, Jr. gave this to me before our philo class, while waiting for our teacher. He said it's his belated bday gift for me.

THANKS RICHARD TAMALA, JR.!!!:D

Kim gave this to me while we were about to go home after our Service Marketing class. She said it's her belated bday gift to me. At first i thought the design was body parts but then she said it's an alien!!:)) (dirty minded?? sori!!!:P) When mom saw it she asked where it came from then I told her kim gave it to me then

she said (mom): 'hala gwapo lagi ni? ako na ni' (while untying the ribbon)

i replied (yang): 'gi hatag na ni kim sa ako'

mom: 'magamit nko ni, asa ni niya napalit?'

yang: 'i think sa ikea kay na read nko ang knife naay ikea'

mom: (whispered to herself) 'ako na ni'

yang: (stared at her)

mom: 'magamit ni bah'

She did not stop there, when she saw the card she took it and attempted to open it then I rapidly took the card

yang: 'mi wla pa nko na nabasa.. ayaw na basahi'

mom:' basahun lang gud nko.. ok lang man na'

yang: 'dli ko oi, absent bah ka tung gi tudlo ang 'respect for privacy'?'

mom: 'dli ko absent, wla lang gyud na sa amung panahon' (laughing)

yang: 'hahaha!:))' (mabuang ko sa imu mi!!:)))

THANKS KIM!!!

happy birthday!

November 17, 2009 is the 20th year of my existence in this world. There's nothing really special about it except for people with huge smiles greeting me a happy birthday. The day went as it normally does. Nevertheless, it went as how I wished it would be. SIMPLE. :)

Thanks for all who greeted and wished me well on my birthday! God bless!:D

welcome back!

Dad flew to Zamboanga last friday (October 9, 2009) before he went, he told me to sleep in their room so mom would have someone to be with during the night. My mom's first reaction upon hearing it was a little negative because she knew that I often go in and out of the room and she doesn't like it. But still, I decided to sleep with her in their room. For those five nights that I was there, I really tried to minimize my going in and out of the room because she might get irritated. But it was fun though, atleast I was able to spend time with mom even if all we did was just watching TV and share insights about the housemates in PBB. I treasure those moments because I know I am already getting old and I might not have those moments with her anytime soon.

Back to dad! So he arrived this morning at around 8:30 am. His arrival woke me up but it didn't make me get up. After a few minutes of lying down in the bed (awake) I finally got up and found a box full of canned goods and another box full of instant coffee bags and apollo (as usual). Then I went out of the room and joined mom and dad for breakfast even though all I did was watch them eat. After that, I went into the kitchen inside the house and found another box with a lot of sea food inside. Actually, I was already expecting to see it because the sea food in Zamboanga are really good and cheap!:D Then after a while, dad told me to open the bagoong he bought from Alavar and I asked the house helper to get me a mango from the tree we have so that we can eat it. My dichi (second elder sister) went in and joined me in eating the mangoes. Then after all these things happened, everything went back to normal. Dad went into their room and tried to get some sleep and after a while went out again to fix my achi's (eldest sister) car because something's wrong with the car's starter and I also heard from the house helper that mom is going to the market at around 2pm. And as for me, I went to school at around 2pm to meet with my classmates for our techno project but we ended up celebrating Bruce's birthday! belated happy birthday Bruce!:p

smokey's

Yesterday I went home early because I wanted to watch PBB Uber it was about 5pm when I got home and upon my arrival my mom was about to go to victoria because she needed to buy something there. Then suddenly shoti (younger brother) asked mom to buy him a Lay's a potato chip snack upon hearing it I suddenly prompted and said I wanted a Potato Corner Fries but it seemed like mom didn't know what it is or where so buy it so I told her to buy me a Smokey's footlong hotdog instead(it's been years since I had one). While mom was out I waited patiently for her at home while watching TV. When they arrived, I hurriedly went at the back of the house to check and see if she really bought me one. Sad to say, I didn't get my request instead she told me to bring the bag of groceries at home. I was really disappointed because I really waited for my hotdog.:( While we were in the room, she told me to get the bag of Cheetos and hide it from shoti because he might get it and eat it all up. Soon then I realized that she bought me a bag of Cheetos instead of Smokey's hotdog because she knew I also liked it. I was somehow happy that she bought something for me after all.. thanks MOM!:D

Gotta Be Somebody

This time I wonder what it feels like
To find the one in this life
The one we all dream of
But dreams just aren't enough
So I´ll be waiting for the real thing.
I'll know it by the feeling.
The moment when we´re meeting
will play out like a scene straight off the silver screen
So I`ll be holdin’ my own breath
Right up to the end
Until that moment when
I find the one that I'll spend forever with

`Cause nobody wants to be the last one there.
'Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares.
Someone to love with my life in their hands.
There`s gotta be somebody for me like that.

`Cause nobody wants to do it on their own
And everyone wants to know they´re not alone.
There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere.
There`s gotta be somebody for me out there.

Tonight, out on the street out in the moonlight
And dammit this feels too right
It´s just like Déjà Vu
Me standin’ here with you
So I´ll be holdin`my own breath
Could this be the end?
Is it that moment when
I find the one that I'll spend forever with?

‘Cause nobody wants to be the last one there
'Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares.
Someone to love with my life in their hands.
There´s gotta be somebody for me like that.

`Cause nobody wants to do it on their own
And everyone wants to know they´re not alone.
There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere
There`s gotta be somebody for me out there.

You can´t give up!
Lookin´ for that diamond in the rough
You never know but when it shows up
Make sure you´re holdin` on
‘Cause it could be the one, the one you´re waiting on

‘Cause nobody wants to be the last one there.
And everyone wants to feel like someone cares.
Someone to love with my life in their hands.
There has gotta be somebody for me
Ohhhhhh.


Nobody wants to do it on their own
And everyone wants to know they´re not alone.
Is there somebody else that feels the same somewhere?
There`s gotta be somebody for me out there.

Nobody wants to be the last one there
'Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares.
Is there somebody else that feels the same somewhere?
There has gotta be somebody for me out there.

a song by Nickelback entitled : Gotta Be Somebody

emo? no, am not!:p i just find the message of the song true and in a way relevant to my life. I believe if not all, most individual longs to have that someone whom they believe is the one created/destined/meant for them. We long to find this person not just because we need someone to be with like a companion or a friend but more than that, I believe we long to have this person because we long to have someone to share our love with. I can truly attest to that! There were times in my life that I was happy or was able to achieve something. Yes! I should be happy and grateful for my achievements but I reached a point where in I realized that I had no one to share my happiness with. Of course I have friends and family around me but having that special someone would probably make things better.

Wait! Please don't get me wrong. I'm still not ready nor looking for that someone yet!!:p I just wrote this for blog's sake:D