Childish Whim

Late last year, my sister and I started fancying several actors in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise. (Though "fancying" should be substituted with "crushing hard". Probably.) Particularly, Chris Evans as Captain America and Sebastian Stan as Winter Soldier, among the other amazing actors and actresses in the films, captured our hearts in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. (It should be noted, though, that Evans had my heart when he starred as Jake Jensen in The Losers years ago.) In other words, we became passionate fangirls of the humongous MCU fandom. (Alas, my endless list of fandoms!)

Crutches in the corner

Last year, I sprained my right ankle and spent about two weeks going to my classes walking with three legs (read: left leg and a pair of crutches).

It was a difficult period to have to walk with crutches, to say the least. My shoulders and underarms were extremely sore in the first few days. I got slight blisters on my palms. I am always exhausted at the end of the day, preferring to sleep over any school or org work.

On a lighter note, people (my dear friends!) who would lend a helping hand as I went building to building around campus, and up and down stairs and jeeps and cars now occupy a special place in my heart. Teachers who would announce that they won't be holding classes next meeting or gave free cuts became instant favorites. I felt relief more than anything for cancelled classes during this time for a thousand and one reasons.

In the end, I got a few good things out of an unfortunate event: muscle workout for my arms and chest, realization of the importance of a limb that has always been left for granted , and a support system with a lot of lovely people. (Yes, I was able to confirm that I have surrounded myself with people who would readily assist when needed.)

Now, the pair of crutches is left standing literally in a corner of the room, collecting dust. They were my best friends back then, taking on my weight and sweat-stench most days. But I do not want to have them as a necessity again any time soon, or not at all.

Taekwondo

My mother enrolled my brother to taekwondo class to help him "instill discipline and lose some weight." He will start tomorrow. We picked up his uniform earlier today. At home, we tried it on. Yes, we.

Game face: ON 

Garden Show

We swung by the garden area again today. I spent the whole time looking through the viewfinder.

These would be nice at home.

Summer so far

It is that time of the year again when our provincial capitol grounds play host to hundreds of people, locals and tourists alike, for the annual Aklan Piña and Fiber Festival. This includes booths of the different small and medium enterprises, local restaurants, and government units from every town in the province promoting their homegrown produce as part of the "One Town, One Product" advocacy.

Then, as the shops close for the night, food stalls are kept open and entertainment happens-- bands, dancers, singers, comedians. This part of the festival is called Tsibugan sa Kapitolyo, or crudely translated to be "a place to eat at the capitol." 

I have religiously visited the fair since my family brought me there to help out in my aunt's business's booth. Well, I was too small to even help my first time, but when I was mature enough, I have been lending a hand. Thus far, I have not missed a festival week.

Boo!

Sorry, I don't have a picture of me in a costume, but here's a chubby vampire spooking you for a happy Halloween.

Turning legal

They say that when a girl turns 18, her parents would dress her up in the most beautiful of dresses and throw her a party, with all their adult friends invited, as their daughter's debut to adulthood. It is when the parents present to the whole world that their daughter has reached the ripe old legal age, has blossomed into a supposed lady and is high time for her to choose a mate.

Hold up. Does that mean when I turn 18, I need to get married ASAP? I don't even have a boyfriend yet. Can't I just learn to drive and get my license first?

October started

Just when I thought I've seen it all, the Cebu dancing inmates steal the scene and dance to Psy's Gangnam Style. I found this out through a Rappler article and I just can't sit here and not share it. It seems that the Gangnam Style has not lost its touch yet. 

Polarity

This is really a super-duper late article that I shouldn't even be trying to finish because (1) the event took place weeks ago, (2) I still have homework and lots of them, and (3) remembering the night gives me the feels-- that falling sensation in the pit of your stomach, the instant increase of your heart beat rate, and the smile that doesn't leave your face until you realize that it's there. So here we go!

Nobody told me that a night with chemistry majors would be fun. It was a Friday night, September 14 to be exact, when our batch of applicants hosted a party called Polarity. It was a dinner party with a talent show featuring Inversion, our official batch name as this semester's applicants for the UP Association of Chemistry Majors and Enthusiasts (UPACME), and lots of fun games, which I organized. (Proud program committee right here!) It was a Noir-inspired night of mystery and madness and fun-- more on the happy-crazy-parteh side of madness, not the dark Imma-kill-you-and-torture-you-and-possibly-kill-you-even-more-when-I-feel-like-it. (Where did that come from?) Must be because of the three words: polarity, noir and inversion. Get it? Get it?

Rain won't dampen the Filipino Spirit

From the deep abyss of her bed, the blogger gets up as if one of the living dead.

Somehow, I do feel like a zombie because of the consecutive days of suspended classes due to this infernal weather of torrential rains and strong winds that poured from the weeping heavens. I may complain about my academic hiatus (that I shouldn't have in the first place because I still have a pile of school work to finish) and how it made my mind mushy, but that would be very selfish of me. However, I would definitely tell everyone how proud I am of the Filipinos who helped their fellow citizens in the recent calamity. It should be noted that the calamity did not reach any storm signal. It was not even a typhoon but monsoon rains-- heavy monsoon rains that went on for more than 24 hours at that. It was also preceded by the typhoon "Gener", so I think the effects of the previous rains were not, uhm, washed off yet.

Hello, July

Last night, I ended June by cooking pasta for dinner and watching an LOTR marathon in HBO

One does not simply walk into Mordor.
Life is not a computer which can be screen captured, so I just took a picture of the TV.

Teaching Building

Finally! Here are some photo evidences of the new teaching building.

Institute's logo

Three floors of Chemistry

This is the new building of the Institute of Chemistry in UP Diliman. I'm so proud of my home institute! Can't you see the pride oozing in every corner and curves of these written words? I finally took some shots last Monday after our CWTS class (an alternative to the military training in ROTC).

By the way, our institute is accepting donations of cash or kind or air conditioner or room sponsorship. Names of the sponsors and donors will be engraved on a steel plate and displayed in a glass case at the first floor lobby, where anyone and everyone can see. Our institute, its teachers and us students will be very pleased.

Over the weekend

My sister and I aren't masters of the kitchen. Heck, we rarely cook, having no skills to boast of; pancakes here, instant pancit canton there, but never a decent viand. As the need arises though, we have been learning, individually, how to cook simple to special courses through experimentation. (Yes, we are women of science.)

What's left of the diningding when I left the apartment.

Last Saturday, my sister cooked diningding, a Filipino dish with lots of vegetables and bagoong (the sauce part without the shrimp or fish bits). She cooked it perfectly: not raw, not overcooked and with just the right saltiness that I like. We always try to eat healthy if we can cook it since it's very toxic here in the city.

Photos at the airport

Here's some pictures that I took at the pre-departure area in the middle of the night.

Sleeping baby! Hihi :">

I had to take a picture of this baby. She's one of the few children in the pre-departure area. They got on the flight before ours, but it was already past midnight.

Here are the pictures I took while waiting for a frappe. How can we not be sleepy with this around us?

 Remember what I said about an almost deserted airport?

Remaining passengers for the last flight of the hour.

I took this photo a few minutes before we got on board. Whoever's left boarded the flight with us.

Sweets and Dogs

Excuse me for being melodramatic but the last lollicake to be eaten deserves a few moments in the limelight.

There's nothing significant about the R.

After two weeks of saving the lollicake, I have decided to eat it. This was a big decision for me since I have been keeping them from harm's way, such as my brother's binge eating. Being in charge of the lollicakes (self-proclaimed, but still) that are actually my mother's, I thought that it was high time for the last one to be gone for two reasons: one, it might expire sooner than I think; and two, I'm leaving for Manila soon.

More Lollicake Pictures

I have taken pictures of the lollicakes my brother and I have been eating even though they are our gift to our mom on Mother's day. We have been consuming them very slowly, like having to ration food and water to survive. Except it's just for my pleasure of having a lot of one thing at a time. You know, the selfish, hoarder complexes of mine.

Anyway, here are the pictures I took:

Selfishness and Lollicakes

Up until now, we haven't finished the lollicakes that we gave our mom on Mother's Day. You see, I don't let anybody get one and go, even f the cakes are technically my mother's. I have always been selfish with these things-- chocolates, stickers, pencils, stationery. In fact, there's a fine line between me being a collector and me being a hoarder. I just love the feeling of having many of one thing.

But selfish or not, I love taking pictures of the pretty things and pretty people, i.e. lollicakes and my brother. I feel less selfish when I share the pictures I have taken. See?

My brother's daily ration.

New Look 2012

It's summer and my best friend said she is boring herself to death.

It's summer and I have time to tinker with my blog.

And so it began. I have commissioned my best friend again to work her magic in Photoshop to create a new banner and background for my blog. She accepted the job for nothing in return. And, voila!

From this...

...to this.

April Fools

Because there is no better way to celebrate the first of April than to make a fool of oneself.

I have been playing around with the Webcam Toy. I'm not really sure how my webcam vanity started but I have been enjoying it grandly. And here are the evidences. Take your pick.

This is the way to fool around.

Caricature of Me: big eyes and big teeth.

Finals

Lookie what I did with Meme Generator!

Ha! Well, that's just about it. To all students out there whose final examinations are coming, may you be an Isko from UP, an Atenista, a Lasalista, a Thomasian or any college student for that matter, be strong, have faith and study hard. Even if you have piles of homeworks to do like I do, keep calm and finish them all. Don't let your inner demons turn you into a lazy bone. We can do this!

And this is what I do to when I'm supposed to finish my pile of school work. Teehee.