cherry on my sweet day

my kid sister’s ballet recital is the cherry on top of my sweet day. it was really cute and was truly a joy to witness. they even danced to some of my favorite classical compositions, including maksim mrvica's version of the paganini rhapsody.

my 7-year-old indian buddy performed, too. but i was still hurrying from a turnover procedure and a short meeting during her act. it was just chance that her family sat in front of our incomplete “clan”. her mom—who is, by the way, always nice—turned to me and said, in her adorable indian english, that my little buddy would be very excited to see me again (even if i just missed her part of the recital?). we didn't get to be with each other after the thing, though. but there will always be a next time. i hope!

today has been another testimony of the lord’s goodness. i honestly thought i would commit high crime against my super kid sister by missing her performance. i also thought the entire day would be filled with heaps of stuff to attend to. but, lo and behold, the newsroom (i’m already having my internship in a local daily) said i don’t have a mission for today. oh, goody good good!

luzon tour

whoo-hoo! i survived a week of early flights and wake-up calls, long private bus rides, using the tagalog tongue, sleeping in haunted hotels, having to use the men's room at times, being mistaken as a korean tourist once, extremes in philippine temperature, and shopping in big crowded places. after visiting cool media establishments (the educational part), we got to have fun (eating, pasyal and shopping)—so hurray!

here are some of the things, faces and places from our class trip ‘round manila, tagaytay, subic and baguio... in that order. (the pics are blurry as they were just taken with my phone. i need a new cam, i know.)



of all the places we visited, i liked subic best. it's close to mountains and trees and water, the roads are good, not many people live there, and the crime rate is 0. i'm definitely going back for the safari ('heard there are lots of tigers and i love tigers), to swim with dolphins (i miss dolphins), to see the rest of the place, and to stay in another spooky hotel. hehehe.

p.s.: i hope against hope that none of you watched that morning talk show in abs-cbn last thursday... because we were in the audience. whaaahhh. my kid sister's friends called home to let my family turn on the television. they said i looked pretty even with 7 extra lbs on, but these sweet kids love me (so i can't really trust their judgment on that department) and it's still embarrassing to be on national tv being clueless and all.

how i wanna write about so many things!

so much has happened, but i only have a number of minutes to blog. after this, i'm off to genrev night with some friends—i'm excited! 'just came from rehearsals for another play i'm gonna be in. and, oh, i almost forgot about thesis work after the concert.

mag makeover
our literary publication just had a makeover, and people are lovin' its new look. students say they're happy with the new handy-dandy size and the issue's contents, and because it's P8 cheaper than the old glossy mag! hahaha.

it was only yesterday afternoon (when i decided to be home early) that i was finally able to take in everything about the booklet, the ex-mag. after a late (and very short) siesta, i read every word in it, looked at every artwork and picture. the time we spent editing to make it better for everybody is evident in the finished product.

readers' feedback is encouraging. some1 shared she's moved by the short story i made about a suicidal girl. another schoolmate said she likes my artwork on the cover. yay! all other pieces got good reviews, too. thank you, god!


the booklets when they arrived last wednesday

elections
as i was happily flipping through the pages of the new star, a friend/our editor-in-chief texted: "ace, you have so many votes." am i glad i had no idea the counting of the ballots followed right after the voting period! i was scared because i knew in my heart that i was going to win, even if i never asked a single soul to vote for me...

to tell you the truth, a big part of me does not want any position in the council. my reasons are selfish... i only decided to run after being persuaded, and after realizing that i don't wanna look back someday and regret or feel bad that i didn't care or do something about the student body's current place in the college.

my life coach told me i should choose to bring glory to god, and that he has a purpose why he planted me in the student council... after thinking about it, i learned that it's not supposed to be about me (or leadership), so i don't really have to feel bad about winning in the elections... and being given additional responsibility.