Saturday, December 17, 2011

21st

(Sorry for bombarding you with past events, etc. We need to catch up, blog.)

I turned 21 last September 2. The things is, I don't feel any older. 

The main reason why I decided to pack up right away and leave some unfinished business in Legazpi was because I wanted to celebrate my birthday in Manila, with the people I love. Being stuck in Legazpi for more than 6 months made me miss all the luxuries I had when I still resided in the Metro. Also, eating out without worrying about the expenses is something I always looked forward to.

We decided to go to Rockwell to have my mini-birthday dinner. Everyone was craving for steak so I had to succumb even though I badly wanted to eat sushi. My uncle led us to Pepper Lunch, the first steak restaurant we saw. It seemed like a good idea to stay and just eat since I was starting to be grumpy. Hungy Pauline is not to be messed with. Something sparked inside me upon seeing the Japanese characters on the sign, I didn't expect too much though. The restaurant was partly Japanese, so I settled with that. Silly liason, I know. 

We arrived there around 6pm, dinner time and man, costumers were starting to pile up. Good thing the line didn't take too long. I got myself the Pepper Steak and they got the Rib Eye Steak, Beef Pepper Rice and Chicken Pepper Rice. It wasn't really "fast food" unlike what other people said. It took them long enough for us to be too grumpy by the time they pulled it out from the kitchen. It was rush hour, what did we expect?

Friday, December 9, 2011

North point 2

(Note: I know this is an extremely late post, 2 months has passed since I promised a part 2. Pardon me.)


Hoping for a calmer weather, we decided to start our trip to La Union in the middle of the day. We were scared out of our wits when we descended the foggy mountains of Baguio. It was such a scary 2 hour ride.

Imagine this: Zero visibility, heavy fog, heavy rains, zigzag roads, cars with no headlights on, and cars surprising you on your way down. You can call me a wuss for not wanting to drive in that condition (let's pretend I could already drive). Anyone would be crazy to drive in that kind of situation. Well, my uncle and my mom are that crazy. 

I was extremely sleepy, but the thrill kept me up. I wanted to close my eyes not because I was tired, but from the butterflies in my stomach. I thought highly of my uncle after the trip for being that brave. Yay for a cray cray family! 

We were wrong in our assumption that the weather was better in San Fernando. To think of it, the weather was worse, minus the crazy fog. It was a good thing the town wasn't prone to floods during the 2 days we were there. My sister and my uncle wanted to play at the local mall's arcade, I just wanted to sleep and play Pottermore. I'm such a lazy-ass sloth. I went to the north to sleep and play Pottermore, such a thrilling vacation! 

My favorite thing about San Fernando, aside from the beaches, is a restaurant called Subong Kawali. They have the best kinilaw I've ever tasted. I think I had all two servings to myself. I wasn't worried about "getting sick" since this kid has been eating street foods since '94 (Oh, have you tried Morayta's hepa lane? I bet you will be horrified). Since my mom's already a suki at the place (it was her team's favorite tambayan), we we're seated at the meeting area. We were so comfortable, we were a mess. We were the only people laughing and chatting inside. I loved that particular moment of our trip. 

It was already Monday and it was time for us to head back to Manila. A trip to the north wouldn't be complete without passing by Manaoag. 


On our way there, we picked these two up at a Total gas station. 

Monday, November 7, 2011

Life so far: tvN 360

I blame our cable provider for this current wave of obsession. I'm pretty sure I'll rid of this after a few months or so, but I'm in a very deep situation right now. I caught the KPop bug and I can't get out of the trap. The trap had many beautiful androgynous Korean men and I can't help but test out if it really worked. Hell, it does, and it won't let go of you.

I was once a Kpop crazy girl when I was 16. I was once a fan of F4 (a thing which I purely regret up to now. If only I could refund the CDs I bought.) and Wang Lee Hom, and thought of trying out Korean artists. I started with Rain and BoA and eventually got on to Se7en, Shinhwa, TVXQ, etc. The whole thing didn't last since I was too busy being "mature" while starting college. Also, I didn't know how to tag the songs (particularly TVXQ, they have so many names). Man, I can't read Hanggul. Thank God it didn't escalate into stage F4-crazy. Clazziquai was the only one I kept listening to, 'cause they actually sound great and are not embarassing to listen to. People here haven't caught the Hallyu wave yet so it's I hopped on to Alternative then the Indie scene and never looked back... or so I thought.

As you know, I'm on a profession hiatus (I just made it sound pretty) and I've been doing stuff bored people are supposed to do, which is to frolick around the interwebs. I was in Manila for a while, and because of the mind-blowing connection speed there, I was able to spend my whole day watching senseless videos on Youtube. I re-watched GD & T.O.P's Knock Out MV, which I thought was really cool. Dude, these guys had the right swagger and were the free napeun namja's (bad guys) of the KPop scene. I developed a crush for T.O.P and it led on from there.


I got sidetracked and thought of checking out TVXQ's Why (Keep Your Head Down) MV, a song which I've been secretly listening to since the start of the year. Curious as to what their new materials sound like, I tried out their recent album and TONE. I liked it a lot.




These past 2 months have been annoying for my sister. I've started listening to a lot of KPop music and she's also at the receiving end of this. I've turned her into a GD & T.O.P. fan after a few repeats of their album. "Knock Out" eventually became our jam. She was even singing along to "High High" proudly during our flight to Legazpi, not minding our seat neighbor. She doesn't approve of my support for Tohoshinki and forever questions my short attention span.

Don't think I only like these guys for their looks. If you look past the exterior, these people are amazing performers. They show where hard work can lead to. Reading about their training and what they went through, you at least have to show them respect. The genre might be a bit formulaic and sometimes really cheesy, but it works... at least for me.

I've admitted very embarassing things in this post. Things I've never thought of writing about. Things I've promised to keep hidden in a place where a fangirl resides whose favorite hobby is to squee. My last.fm is now tainted with a lot of Hanggul characters and Hallyu wave artists. Bon Iver might not like the ambiance there now, but I don't care. I've liked a music genre when a few months ago, I vowed to never get into it. I hated seeing these people dominating music channels. And now I scream along fangirls. One thing I promise though, is to never be a crazy stalker one.

I like having a short-attention span (though sometimes expensive).

Friday, October 7, 2011

Whining About The Future

I wanted to make a Things I Love Thursday post but my sister reminded me that it was already Friday today, so I didn't go through with it. Maybe I should just make a Things I Love September post for the tons of blessings I've received for my birth month. This is not related to my real intention for coming up with this post, too much for that.

I'm making a quick post for my future self to reminisce at. I'd look back a year from now and see if anything has changed at all, or if I'm still a slacker who waits for opportunities to come to her. One thing for sure, I still don't see myself being a big shot pro at my profession. Sad to say that I'm still coming to terms that I'm stuck in this class and economy where high paying jobs are more important than your dream. Now, there's the obvious problem. I've seen only a few people living up to their childhood-teenage profession dreams. For sure, I'm not one of them. My head's still stuck up in the clouds thinking that I could get away with not having a life and living off my mother's pay check. But no matter how much I want to run from it, I have to face the reality of me being 21 years old and the responsibilities that come with that.

The thing that I hate about this lag period is the endless nagging from my relatives abroad. I want to hide from them and not answer their long-distance calls. I know my gestures are a bit ungrateful, don't get me wrong, I'm thankful they are there to help me but I don't like the tone they use when they talk to me about my future. As if they have the full authority to dictate every move I have to do in my life. I have to do things on my own time. But I also have to move fast, or else it would be difficult to get in the next time. 

So right now, I honestly do not know where to stand. I'm a bit clueless about my future. I'm not even sure if I love what I'm doing.

Do I sound like a teenager who is whining about people ruining her life?

Friday, September 23, 2011

No0b Watches a Football Game


I was so stoked to hear about ICanServe Foundation's Football Invitational. Three teams are up for a friendly match: Kaya FC, Global FC and the national team, PHL Azkals. Upon reading the news posted on my Facebook wall, I itched to get tickets to at least one of the matches. I'm a new football fan and I was ecstatic to watch a game on the newly renovated Rizal Stadium football pitch. I was eyeing on the Kaya FC vs Azkals Sept. 24 tickets but they weren't sold in advance. I was able to get my hands on the tickets for the Global FC vs Azkals match which happened last Wednesday.

I dragged my uncle and my sister with me to watch the game. We knew little about the game - well, my uncle played for a school team when he was in elementary, but that was decades ago - and watching the match was a little Football 101 class for us. The Azkals mostly had U23 category players on the pitch with well-known veterans like Caligdong, Gener and Araneta. I was a bit bummed out that the team captain, Aly Borromeo wasn't playing. He apparently had a minor injury during practice. He was the one I was looking forward most to see on the pitch. Global FC's Misagh Bahadoran was such an eye-catcher. Dude has mad skills. I've already watched a few matches on TV and I think I would be able to say that this match was a great one. It was a friendly game, but man, the teams played with so much gusto and aggressiveness. I wished all local games were like these. The game ended with Azkals winning with a score of 3-2.

Saying that I was the happiest kid that day was an understatement. I had a smile plastered on my face the whole night, reminiscent of the day I met 2/28 of the team. People were allowed to go down to the track to meet the players. I got few pictures with my favorites. I also felt stupid for not bringing a shirt for them to sign.

Cap'n Aly wasn't able to play due to a minor injury, but he was there to watch the game!

Monday, September 12, 2011

Mina and Everyone's Ruined Vacation (aka The Trip to the North)

 

The main reason why I rushed back to Manila was because of the long weekend and pre-birthday plans my family had. Despite of the few unfinished business I left back at Legazpi, which I don't want to think about right now, I set my flight the day before the start of the long weekend. I was ecstatic because (1) I was stuck in a routine schedule back at the province for almost a year and (2) a break from all the maturity issues is what I really needed. My grandparents were a little worried about my flight - they always are. That time though, a storm is currently wrecking havoc in the north part of the country, and you can imagine what the reactions of extremely worried grandparents are. It was ridiculous and cute at the same time since we live in the south, but they always say, "You'll never know".

Mina was the name of the storm and she ruined everyone's long weekend. People were looking forward to the much needed rest and family time they have planned since the announcement. We were one of the hopeful ones, waiting for the sun to at least peek out. He never did. What the heck, we still headed for Baguio. It was rainy and gloomy and foggy and wet and extremely cold.


We stayed at this transient condo-house that was pretty decent (and a colorful one too). We weren't able to do much on the first day since the rain and fog terrorized the place. I sat all day at the living room and played Pottermore. Like any other day, I know. Around 5pm the power went out and voila! instant candle light dinner! Breakfast for dinner, my mother's terrific idea. We went to the mall earlier for lunch and to do some grocery shopping, so we had food with us. It was freezing cold so my mom, sister and I pulled the bed together and huddled in a tight cuddling group. Teehee!

We were all bored. Forgive us. 

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Soon-ish.


Long weekend post coming soon.

I'm working on my mom's Mac right now and it doesn't have Photoshop. Since I'm not a Mac person, I don't know how to install the program properly (*wink*wink) without the help of my uncle. I keep on forgetting to ask him. So, my photos have to wait for a while before you can see them. The set does need a bit of editing since I stupidly set the color mode to Soft and forgot to lower down the ISO from 1600. It made everyone look pale. 

I finally have something to post under the "Adventures" / "Travel" tag. 

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Making Things


In today's edition of What Have You Done Today?, I will talk about how my first try in making a guacamole dip failed and how this new layout came about. Dun dun dun...

I tweeted a few weeks ago about our abundance of Avocados at home. My lola came home from the market one day with bags of Avocados. She says she's craving for an Avocado-Banana salad. A few days after, our Avocado tree in our backyard garden finally started bearing fruits. So there. I'm sick of eating the salad over and over again. Though the salad is scrumptious, I can't help but think what are the other things you could make with Avocados. I thought of one thing: Guacamole dip.

I've always wanted to know what a Guacamole dip taste like. I saw one episode of 90210 during one boring afternoon. The barkada went to Mexico for spring break and this chick, Silver, gorged on her nachos and guacamole dip while making sex sounds. Was it that good? (Yes, I know she was doing the sounds on purpose). Haha. Forever the curious kid, I googled a decent recipe and stumbled upon this one from SimplyRecipes. Without knowing what it tastes like, I searched through our kitchen for the ingredients and started to do the dip business.


It tasted like salsa. The Avocado kind of acted as the tomato sauce and it's distinct flavor didn't really stand out. Haha. I didn't follow the right proportions anyway. I also improvised almost half of the ingredients. I squeezed about 3 medium-sized Calamansi into the mixture and put too much tomatoes and onions. I also didn't have proper nacho chips.

This is the second time I've done this. Last year, I tried making Ddukbokki and it tasted like crap. I also didn't know what the Korean dish actually tastes like so I can't compare it with anything. Even if I had something for comparison, I'm pretty sure the one I cooked will still taste like crap. I assumed Dduk (rice cake) is like a palitaw, so I tried making my own Dduk. It was gross.

You might have noticed the new layout...

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Of Packages and Today's Events



Today is a pretty wicked day, thanks to these two wonderful packages I got from the courier. I know these are the type of things that should go into Ang Kartero (which, by the way, I haven't updated for a while). I still had half of my allowance in my account and thought, what the hell, I'll treat myself for enduring 6 months of the professional world. First one is from Fikafikafika which is owned by the lovely Liarnie and the latter is the order I got from Human Heart Nature.


The packaging is amazing. Never have I opened such a wondrous parcel (no offense to my mailpals, but this one tops it all). I want to re-seal the whole thing and open it up again just to feel that burst of something. I got the July-August issue of Frankie magazine from the shop, as well as a subway map postcard set. Usually with online sellers nowadays, it's all straight-up business talk, but it was such a joy talking to Liarnie. She's a fellow snail mail enthusiast and we exchanged a few e-mails about our frustrations about our local postcards. If only more people still supported the snail mail business...


Here is Celine enjoying her The Little Prince notebook that was included as a freebie. I mentioned to Liarnie that my little cousin wanted one of those Le Petit Prince set of notebooks; I asked her if she could inform me when she has stocks of them again. But now, see, she gave her one as a freebie!

You could go to Fikafikafika.com and see what adorable things Liarnie has for you. Also, as far as I know, she's one of the few people (or the only one, I think) who sells Frankie locally. So if you're a fan of the Aussie  magazine, check her shop out.

And now, on to today's edition of "What Have You Done Today?"

Monday, June 13, 2011

Realization (And The Infinite Sadness)



I used to spend a lot of my, as I'd like to call it, in-between free time (the lag period between post-graduation and training) on Tumblr - discovering a new different set of people. People who are actually cool and I wished I knew in real life. I'm not the 13 year old kid who used to talk to everyone she meets online, so I follow and stay quiet and be amazed at how awesome these people are. Thanks to them I opened my ears and eyes to limitless number of films, books, bands and crazy good music which are most of the time obscure and/or classic. Though it's quite late to think of it, I set myself on at least being half of what these people are. Now, I always feel unaccomplished whenever I compare myself to these 20-something year-olds. I envy them because they're happy with what they are doing... and I'm not.

Believing that I'm still experiencing quarter-life crisis, I convinced myself on continuing what I've already started doing. Try it out for a year or two and see what happens. But almost 5 months into it, I'm already feeling tired and drained. Both drained of energy and interest for this job. It doesn't help that a lot of the people I've met in this training are old hags and witches. Yes it's a rough world out there and nobody, NOBODY could have it that easy (Okay, maybe kids like, oh I dunno, Paris Hilton), I understand that.

I feigned my extreme headache so I could skip work today. I'm not getting paid anyway. I'm just tired and I need a big bear hug from someone who could comfort me and encourage me to hold on. Only a few people could do that and they're so far away from me, it's making me depressed.

I hate that I'm so pessimistic. I spend a lot of time everyday convincing myself that what I'm doing will benefit me in the long run. This is experience and experience means job with pay and job with pay means overseas work and overseas work means lots of money. This third-world mentality is ridiculous.

I just want to be happy with what I'm doing. You can't love what you're not happy with.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

An Overture to Realization


I sure can list a number of alibis to tell you why I have been slowly disappearing from the wonderful world of interwebz. One is I'm happy living as a lurker and a ninja who occasionally posts just to say I'm still here. Two is I really am busy with my training. It drains all the happy thoughts in my head and the only jolt of jolly energy that is left in my body. And Three, let's stop with three, is that I choose to be a pig all the time. Uneventful is the perfect word to explain my life right now.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Wants (And The Lack of Motivation to Do/Get Them)

Spurts of envy makes me write blog post. I'm not a regular blogger, hell even an occasional one. Reading other amazing people's blogs inspires me. The problem is it lasts for about a millisecond. I tend to get tired (read: lazy) after I make a concrete plan on what I want to write about. After the thought process, if I'm not too drained, I end up writing about, well, things like this. I am in denial that these are just excuses. My English high school professor once told me I just needed a little polish and maybe, maybe I could be a good writer. That person is nowhere to be found.

I want to write a book review, write a movie review, write a proper blog post. I want to read more books and watch more movies. I want to go on a diet. I want to start my own paper crafts business. I want to take more photographs and make prints out of them. I want to be a better hobbyist. I want to achieve awesomeness. And it's sad that all of these don't relate to what I am doing right now. Eh.

Why is laziness taking over my life?

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Observations:
- I notice my excessive (and sometimes incorrect) use of the Oxford Comma.
- My posts needs proof-reading.
- I need to act on what I really want to do.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Project 52: Weather, Pfft




9/52
We're having yet another sleep-inducing weather this week.  It's always like this here in Legazpi. I dread the rain because of the feeling it gives off. I hate the sun during high noons because it makes me sweat like a pig running on a treadmill. Last month's weather was spectacular. A bit hot, but the breeze feels cool and the clouds perfectly cover the sky. Plus, I could whip off winter-y clothes (let's pretend I have real ones) any time of the day. Now, it's either rainy or hot, and I hate it. But I'd go with sunny over rainy any time. 


Thursday, March 3, 2011

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

The Product of Laziness (Or Lack Thereof)

So hello. If you thought I forgot about this little corner, no, I haven't. Things have been happening and it made me too tired (or lazy) to write. I do get spurts of adrenaline and inspiration when I read other people's blogs, but with my too short attention span, anything can get in the way. A mind reboot is needed. My head must be filled with all kinds of thought-bugs that slowly eat away whats left of my creativity and eagerness to write. I mean, why do I find it so hard to write about what's been happening to my life, when it's the easiest topic there is. I was  doing pretty good during the start of the year with all these personal resolutions and shiznazz. My training must be draining all my energy.

It's fairly obvious that I haven't updated my Project 52 for the past three (?) weeks. Fear not, I have the pictures stored in Cosmo's memory card. My only problem is the content that has to go along with it. If my memory fails me, then a cluster of Project 52 posts, including week 10, might just present itself to you on Thursday, my off-day for the week. It's starting to become an obligation instead of a motivation to write and to keep on doing what I want. Well, hello there near-quitter. And here are the other things that are raping my life right now.

Frak you February. I hate what your month-ender. What happened came a surprise, considering that I was just about to enjoy the company of other people I was working with. You also made me quite sick than I've ever been. I've had bouts of hyperacidity, flu and fever during your second-half. March, dear, please make up for all the crapfest February put me through.

Well, I figured this would be a short post. Just thought on updating you why I am not around much these days. The best place to look for me is the PC Forums, and my e-mail.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Project 52: I Would Kill to Have Time for Sleep


6/52


I've been doing half-assed works lately. Even this 6th week's picture is taken randomly. I'm aware that it's not a healthy thing to do, but there's a whole reason behind this half-assed-ness. In my 30 days as a trainee, I've come across all kinds of sleeping and metabolic troubles. I found out I have a nasty hyper-acidity that attacks at the most unconventional of hours. I don't know if I should eat (because I'm hungry) or not eat (because I feel bloated). Meh, too much for being in this profession. I hate sleeping during the day. My body is used to being asleep during the night and being up during the day. You get what I mean. It has been that way for 20 years now. I'm having difficulties adjusting to these random shifts.

I'm smacking myself in the head for these short posts. I feel I have so much to say about what's happening to my life right now, but this inborn laziness is such a drag. I can't figure out how to write the events that are changing my routines and taking away my circadian rhythm from me. Short attention span is what I have. Maybe that's why I write like this. I ask myself how do all these bloggers elaborate their lives in these long-ass posts while I'm sitting still trying to contemplate on how to tell you more about me. 

I'm learning. That's the important thing now. I'm learning and I'm meeting new kinds of people and I'm figuring out how to fit in my new life here. All is well. 

I'm writing this just for the sake of posting something. Isn't that sad?

Project 52: The Grown-up Theorem


5/52


My good friend Yvette and I routinely indulge in conversing about our adult lives. Though we don't have much time to be random with each other, we still find time to fit our conversations into 140 character replies, thanks to Twitter. I'm 9 months out off college. I have an on-going training. I live in the province, in which the pros outweighs the cons (the only con I could think of is being not able to go to malls and get fat with greasy food). And I am quite satisfied with the life I'm having right now.

We still can't believe the fact we are adults now.

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I know I have stubby toes and ugly feet. I had the sudden courage to show them up-close to the judgmental people of the intarwebz. Haters gonna hate.

Books in the picture: In The Floyd Archives: A Psycho-Bestiary by Sarah Boxer and Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield which are incidentally the books I finished reading this week. 

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Project 52: Correspondances




4/52


The end of January is here. This month has been great so far. Many things happened and I learned a lot of lessons as well, profession-wise. On the darker side of things, I also foresaw some conflicts that might arise next month. Let us not dwell on the negative matters. 

This week, it has all been about postcard, mail and parcels. I have many swaps and tags on queue since December and I've been waiting for them to arrive since the start of the month. Add to that the packages I was expecting from Moo.com (which is a prize from the Postcrossing forum lottery) and Book Depository. I feel stupid whenever I look back at myself a few weeks ago. I was making rounds, walking about our compound, secretly waiting for the mailman to arrive. I was impatient, also disregarding the unfortunate truth that international mail arrives at least 2-3 weeks after. Things come, when you least expect it. True enough for me, our house was flooded with mail the next week. 

If you ask me how many postcards and letters I've sent this month alone, I'll answer you with I didn't keep count. But if you really want to know, it's an estimate of between 35-50, 3 of which are letters. It is becoming quite an addiction. My grandparents are making it a topic at any conversation they're in, and starts with "We don't know why Pauline is receiving these postcards, and mind you, they're from different countries...". Even our mailman is boggled at the amount of mail that's arriving for one person. He must be thinking, wow this kid should get a life. The short-haired woman at the post office knows my face and whips out the latest philatelic stamps they have on-hand when I knock on their window. How neat (but at the same time unbelievable) is that? I think they (people from the post office included) should've figured out by now that I'm a postcard-slash-stamp collector. 

And this Monday, I'm going to the post office to drop another batch of postcards bound to Czech Republic, USA, and Netherlands. 

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Project 52: Vital Signs and Admissions



3/52

WEEK 3
Pauline Yu is a Nurse in training. She is 20 years old and wishes to get rid of procrastination. She is currently cherishing her 2 days in a week offs and spend it by sleeping through the day...
Today marks my first week as a nurse in training. The experience has been great so far. Once you get to know the work, you can do things easily. The thing with the ward I am in right now is that it usually has patients with the same diagnosis, medications and nursing actions. It is quite lax. Admissions and many patients could make the ward toxic but it can be managed quite easily once the team is together. The people at the station are really great to work with and you could easily get along with some of them. I know I'm saying too much for the first week knowing that I will be assigned here until the end of February. Much more things to come.

I find it fulfilling when I do a lot during the 8 hour shift, especially the hands-on care. The usual things to do are to remove IV and IC lines. The rest are paper works i.e. charting. It's a bummer we're not allowed to give IV meds. I really should apply for that IVT Training once the dates are announced. The work could get really tiring once you're not prepared for what is to come. I fail on completing my intended 8 hour sleep (because I'm a tad obsessive compulsive) and as a result, I look like a zombie the rest of the day. Oh, and I couldn't get rid of the massive black circles around my eyes, hello Taylor Momsen.

The heat and smell inside the ward is quite repulsive. But what do you expect with public hospitals and the OB ward? Smell of flowers (no pun intended) and air-conditioned spaces? Sadly, no. The heat that radiates from the ward is intense. When I come in during the 7-3 shift, the change in air is very noticeable. I am happy to say I am immune to the smell and I am quite used to it. It's a good thing we were exposed to places like these when we were still students.

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Other things that were relevant this week: Mail Friday, and my loss of self-control, yet again.

I've come up with the term Mail Friday for the weekly arrival of my mails. I always sulked while waiting for my mail during the week since I was expecting the mailman to drop off anything that arrives for me on the same day. It seems that he chose Friday as a suitable day to deliver me the accumulated assortment of letters, postcards and parcel notices. Just this Friday, I received a bunch of postcards and letters from my swaps and my friend Sarah. It is also the first time I received a parcel notice. It has a written note that says: "Pls. pay P40.00 at W#2". I wonder if it really is 40 pesos only. Please, let it be the one from Moo.com aka The Postcrossing Forum 5th Anniversary Lottery Prize.

Saturday morning, I received an e-mail notice which tells me two of my official Postcrossing postcards have arrived. It is only natural that I immediately click on the Request for an address button on the Send a postcard page. Here comes my obsession with refreshing the forum. I lost a little of my self-control when I saw great offers from people. I contacted them and fortunately, they do not seem interested with my cards. Probably because of the quality and the postcard itself. The postcard collector inside me decided to make room for some swaps and tags since I'm making a run to the post office this Monday. I cannot bring myself to add up the money I spent on post alone. Gah.

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Since it's my off day today, I will go to sleep now.   

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Project 52: Maturity


2/52

WEEK 2
While my little cousin studies for her exam, this is the week where I prepare myself for my entrance into the uncanny world of responsibilities and social relations. What more to do than spend my remaining free time on repeatedly doing stuff I like. I will never have this much free time once I dive into the world of adults. 

I was Celine's tutor for the week with a measly pay of meriendas from her mom. I wrote on postcards while she answered her assignments. I am so glad I never chose Education as my area of profession. Don't take this the wrong way. I love kids and their jolly nature, but when they start being unruly, I want to make them stay in the corner forever. Kids are so hard to teach. Celine is exceptional when it comes to English and Christian Living. We start fighting when it's time for Math.

One thing that kept me busy was refreshing the Postcrossing Forum. It also bore a large hole on my pocket. As ridiculous as it may sound, I am turning into an obsessive postcard collector. It's like that time I got addicted to Pet Society, only now I'm spending actual money. Would you believe I sent over 30 cards these past two weeks? I also spent around 300 pesos on sending mail. An enjoyable hobby. But it gets quite expensive when you really start getting into it. The only problem now is that some of the people I've sent to already received their postcards, I only got one from a trade and an official Postcrossing postcard. PhilPost, where are my postcards?


For preparations for the training, I went shopping for some essentials. Two white shoes (which are uncomfortable), 3 lady boxer shorts (which are useless to me right now) and 5 socks. I considered it as a semi-retail therapy. This one felt much better because I was buying things that I actually needed.

I spent so much this week that I decided to make a spreadsheet for my daily expenses. My mom told me it will get old for me soon, that I would put it off as a tiring obligation everyday. It may happen, but I'm proud of myself for coming up with something like this. It's kid's play for others, but I'm serious with this one. See I'm presenting it to you with a straight face. I made a special "miscellaneous" section for my mails and stamps expenses. I had a feeling that this hobby will stick with me for quite a while, so that's that. I really feel ridiculous for doing this, but I think it will help me control my expenses. 


I wrote this today, so there might be some confusion with the tenses. I really should start posting at the end of every week. I thought of keeping up with the Wednesday posting schedule for this project. But I realized it would be hard to write the content for the week that has already passed. It feels funny. Hence, the short entry. 

Thursday, January 13, 2011

To The Point of Being (Almost) Socially Awkward


I usually talk to my friend Yvette about my day. Events which are usually uninteresting. I love her for her patience with a basketcase like me. I feel sorry for her at times when I'm really frustrated, angry and when I think I'm terribly depressed. Last week, we had a talk about (my) past loves-slash-crushes and both of us mentioned the boy I supposedly had my first date with. Think poor man's Atom Araullo. Boy, did I fall for him. After hours of reminiscing, comparing which of my crushes was the better one and crying over spilled milk, we concluded that we should do better this year when it came to our social life and inexistent love life. She's slowly immersing into the single market and I'm stuck in my room listening to Ingrid Michaelson's break-up album while refreshing postcard forums.

Yvette said something along the lines of, "You are always awkward". I also blurted out something like, "OHMYGOD! I really am awkward!". This brings us to this post, To The Point of Being (Almost) Socially Awkward. How do people know what are the right things to say at the right time? I've had experiences with telling people interesting bits about my life where they look at me quizzically when I stop. It's as if they're still waiting for me to end my sentence, when in fact I already did. That forces me to say "Yeah, so that's it" and the awkward silence suddenly fills the air. 

Before the conversation Yvette and I had, I used to think I was awkward only with the people I had bad history with. By "people", I meant the ones who witnessed my embarrassing tirades in high school and the boys I innocently threw myself at. I was a high schooler, I really didn't know that my actions would dampen the spirits of future Pauline. Honestly, I'm laughing at how clueless I was back then. I probably am the most assuming person at that time. High school Pauline didn't know that players existed back then and that she was a victim of poor man's Atom Araullo's evil schemes to collect girls. After that, maturity happened and I will be forever known as one of the most straight-faced, boring people in college. I come to the conclusion that I am now very awkward. 

It would be a nice addition to my New Year's Resolution; Be less awkward. Look approachable. Try to break the ice. Believe me, this, for me, requires a lot of work. I'm terrible at actual conversations with people I barely know. Put 2 laptops in between us, open messenger, I think I'll do better. I'm a dubious person. I think people talk to me because they're trying to be nice to me. It might be because I don't feel well about myself. 

Hello, 2011. Let me be less awkward to people I talk to. 

-

This is a post (kind of) dedicated to Yvette who claims to have been my friend for almost 10 years now. Now I could genuinely use the phrase "We go way back" when I talk about you, without feeling like a creeper. Yvette, you are an amazing friend, for without you, I would be lost in the maze of young adulthood.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Project 52: The Start


1/52

This is the start of my Project 52, in which I will post a new photo every week. I have tried two successive Project 365s and failed to complete them two years in a row. This time, I'll strive hard to complete a less demanding project, along with my new career as a Nurse (finally!). 

WEEK 1
I have started my year with "Read more books" on the top of my non-existent New Year's Resolution list. I am so proud of myself for having read 29 books last year (in which 8 are graphic novels). This is coming from a person who used to not like books without pictures on them. The only thing I would read back then was The Harry Potter series and it took me quite a while to finish The Sorcerer's Stone. That was 9 years ago. This is me trying to educate myself with the various works of fiction and to delve deeper into the human imagination-slash-emotion. 

I have also set a goal for myself, thanks to the Goodreads Reading Challenge. I set myself on reading 30 books this year and try posting reviews of them. Now, I am not a good writer. I have difficulties articulating myself. I have the vocabulary of a teenager in middle school who habitually use the words "awesome, amazing, spectacular, etc." I can't get pass that. So now, I'm trying to face my fear of making a fool out of myself through my future reviews, read more and expand my vocabulary. I forgot I was once a girl who wanted to become a movie critic.


Today, I finished my first book of 2011. Is is considered cheating if I already started reading the book last year? The page says otherwise.


Charles Yu's How to Live Safely in Science Fictional Universe is a fairly enjoyable read. What I really liked about this book is that despite of it's very scientific nature, it explores a lot about family relationships and it's dynamics. Another good thing about it is that it tells people the truth about time and memories. One particular quote that is quite fresh from my memory is this, "You don't have to worry, no matter how hard you try, you can't change the past." As far as cliche goes, I wish I could change the past is a phrase seen and heard everywhere, I bet you have uttered that word several times in challenging situations. Charles Yu, the time machine repairman, is the one who will tell you, "No you can't".