i'm just kidding! today wasn't really utter shit. at least it was better than yesterday - a day of utter shit.

there's not really that much going on. i've abandoned the treadmill but i plan to get back on it tomorrow. in a little more than a week, i'll be having my first day of college. can't go around looking fat. i've decided to really stick to it this time and be prepared. my first experience taught me a lot (plus i finally read some tips on the internet). also, i've been snacking on junk food like crazy because that's what i do when i have nothing to do. that and watch TV. i've discovered this show on velvet called make it or break it and i really like watching it. at least it's not set in some high school like 10 things i hate about you (which i tried really hard to like, but i ended up liking 90210 more. go figure.)

after going to mass, my mom and i went out for dinner at luk foo (it's awesome having a really good chinese restaurant within walking distance from our house) because she says she's too tired to cook. she called it our reward for being "help"-less for the past week. as in, we don't have a helper here in the house. it's hard because there's no one to wash the dishes, feed the pets, clean up after the pets, keep the floors clean, etc. those things that i took for granted because i never really had to do them. it's a reward dinner because my mom has managed to make me do those things (with her nagging) and i've managed to do them (with a lot of grumbling). you see, our helper's baby got really sick (she said it might be dengue) so my mom let her go home last sunday. the thing is, she said she would return on monday, and she never did. we got one text from her (since she doesn't have a cellphone or a landline) that said that no one was around to watch her kids.  it's really terrible because we've gotten used to her and she was becoming a real asset to the day to day activities here in the house.

oh well. mom hired a part-time helper for now, just to keep the house clean. sheesh. a'ight. i gotta go. gotta have some "me" time. (rolls eyes)

currently listening to: on to the next one - jay-z

hey! it's been a while since i wrote on this blog. all i do on the internet lately is reblog stuff on tumblr. it's crazy. i remember a time when i said that my tumblr account would be for posting pictures that i don't think is relevant to the purpose of this blog. and now, my tumblr has taken over my whole life. i don't mind that much though since i don't have too much to write. my life is that boring.

so the last post ended with my enrollment for college. let's continue with celebrations now because there was a lot of that going on.

MOTHER'S DAY. to celebrate this hallmark holiday, my sister and i got our mom a cake. it's just the two of us this time so we didn't get to do much. we actually celebrated it on the 8th since ate ida had to go on duty at the medical city. i also made my mom a card/poster thing that i put op on the hallway mirror so everyone would see :D

SAM'S 17TH. ahhh! sam's birthday. on the day itself, i just greeted her through text since i wouldn't be able to see her that day. the next day was where the real celebration began because we went to trinoma for the partay. so the movie we saw was nightmare on elm street (after much debate between that and miley cyrus' the last song). the movie itself wasn't scary. it was the suspense that had me covering my eyes halfway. after that we ate at taco bell. while we were waiting for the food to arrive, koko, daryll, and i snuck out saying we were headed to the bathroom while we got sam a cake at red ribbon. we just joined forces because the three of us didn't get her a birthday gift. (sorry, sam! i wanted to get her this shirt that had the word LONDON written on it in bold. the lettering was a loud neon green. but i decided against it because the style of the shirt had this wraparound thingy on it and it just didn't look good) anyway, here's what we had written on it:

ATE IDA'S 27TH. so after sam's party, i had to get ready for dinner out with my family to celebrate ate ida's birthday at this restaurant in tomas morato. we went to yakimix, this new teppanyaki restaurant that offers japanese and korean cuisine. i had fun cooking the food and all that. we even saw polo ravales in there with his girlfriend. is he even in showbiz anymore? my dad was really annoyed at this one guy who keeps cleaning out the lobster every time they refill it. so rude. some respect for the other people who want to eat lobster too! jeezus. i checked out the reviews on the restaurant beforehand and it was really mixed. some enjoyed themselves and promised to return while others swore it was the worst dining experience they've ever had. i liked the restaurant though and i'd recommend it. we probably won't be going back anytime soon because my mom really doesn't like to go to buffet restaurants any more.

so that's it really. the rest of my days have been super boring and very routine. i was wrong you know when i said driving with my dad was the most stressful thing i've ever experienced. turns out, driving with my sister is 10x that stress. every move i make is scrutinized in a very bitchy manner. i hope she loosens up next time. i really dread having to drive with her in the car. *shudders*

13 days to go until college starts. but i heard on the news that deped is pushing the start of classes of public schools to the 15th. i wonder if that affects my school. but then again, it's CHED that has the final word on that now....i think.

a'ight. g'night. i'll try to blog more often and tumb'l less. :)

i recently went to jakarta, indonesia to visit my sister. it was 2 whole days of sightseeing and picture taking. i really had fun at the safari even though it was crazy cold. my least favorite part would have to be the monas visit because it was ridiculously hot and it just got me into a really bad mood ('cause of the heat). it was a very short trip and i was really sad that it ended. my poor sister cried so hard when we left. i guess it's really hard to be away from family. i can only imagine how hard it is for those who go years without seeing theirs. at least my sister can visit every couple of months or so.

pictures are worth a thousand words so i won't elaborate anymore. i have yet to find a good photo sharing website where i can upload all the pictures. in this day and age, this is my problem.

i was absent from school last monday so i had to make an excuse letter. my mom has been worrying about that excuse letter since i left for jakarta. as in WORRYING. she wanted to say i was sick or some other crazy story. we settled for the truth in the end and when i gave the letter to mrs. sacdalan, she didn't even glance at it. all that fuss for nothing. tsk tsk.

i really hate being absent from school because then, you miss so much stuff. and it sucks to catch up. the requirements to be passed piled up because i didn't do any of them on the weekend. as i'm typing, i'm losing valuable study time but goodness, we all have to vent our frustrations somewhere, sometime.

the day i got back, an elective classmate reminded me of the computer contest i was part of. 3 PM rolled around and the competition started. what we had to do was really easy. the problem was the time limit. i guess we didn't really go about it strategically, dhanna and i. so in the end, we lacked pictures and video. which is probably really important to the final score. i'm glad to say the lyrics were appearing at the appropriate times. that's really the only good part. some pictures lasted for 30 seconds and there wasn't time to put any transitions. so it's time to kiss victory goodbye.

friday, before i left, we had the tle cooking demo. our dish was a success! everyone said it was really good and the best part is, it was really easy to make. hooray for seastrings (patent pending)! i don't have a picture of it, which sucks, but it's okay. i'm contented everyone enjoyed it. we couldn't join the food sale because our product was susceptible to spoilage. i'm cool with that though. my sister concluded that that meant our dish was not "feasible". which made a lot of sense to me.

i'll have more stories to share next time. entering nerd mode in a few minutes.

next up: the things i missed because i went to jakarta.

currently listening to: bohemian rhapsody - queen (whut?)

attended my sister's graduation from medical school yesterday at the picc. i had to watch all 406 of them get called out one by one. not my idea of entertainment.

still, it was a proud day for my parents. my dad even 'suited up'! it's funny 'cause he always wears a barong for formal occasions. his reason: "Para maiba naman!"

we ate lunch at sofitel after. friggin' buffet! let it be known that i love chocolate fountains! really, who does'nt?

my sister got a laptop as her graduation gift. thank gawd for that. she's been whining so much about getting a new one. my parents say that i am the lucky recipient of her old one....joy. they say it's incredible that i'm a mere high schooler and i already have a laptop. gawd. keep up with the times.

currently listening to: stuck with each other - shontelle ft. akon

this had to be the most boring and unproductive weekend i have had in a while. the last time i was this useless was the summer of 2008.

i was so bored, i made leche flan. i mean, who does that?

the highlight would have to be when i went to the podium with my mom, my sister, and my aunt to watch Confessions of A Shopaholic. now that i think about it, you can call that a girl's night out

ew.

before the movie, we had these P100 ice cream cones. oh, excuuuuse me. it wasn't ice cream. it was gelato. before that particular cone, i never had trouble finishing off an ice cream scoop. the flavor was just so rich...you had to take it slow.

the flavor was "after 8"... or you could just call it mint chocolate.

the movie was really funny. i loved it. i'd definitely watch it again. the guy who played Luke Brandon was really hot. my sister said it was just the accent. haha, probably. he's a mix of orlando bloom and a young colin firth. not bad, eh? i would have preferred an all-British cast and the setting would be better in London. but it was still all good.

movies i watched this weekend: confessions of a shopaholic, the bee movie, and juno

that just proves how much time i have on my hands.

i was supposed to go to the practice for our play today at meann's house. opted not to. nobody could take me and i could accomplish so much more here at home. out of guilt, i worked on the script and made "director's notes". hope it'll make us more efficient.

okay. that's it.

also, i plan to read a book a week. i'm getting more and more illiterate by the second.

ciao for now.

currently listening to: great DJ - the ting tings

just came back from calapan (again). slept and ate the whole time i was there. if i wasn't doing either, i was probably walking to the table/bed. super lazy the whole time.

got to watch tenacious d & the pick of destiny twice. watched idiocracy with my sleeping grandmother. played billiards with my cousins. nothing too exciting.

lost my appetite for oatmeal.

sorry for my attitude. i'm glad i made it to 2009. :D just not super excited for blogging. i feel like i already have to do a million things and i haven't even started.

which is the truth, incidentally.

i just discovered tumbleblogs.

i have found that on the internet, one thing always leads to another. so i discovered that today. my intent in opening the computer was to find out if there was an easier way to solve using cramer's rule. so how did i end up searching for tumbleblogs?

so i woke up this morning, still suffering from the coughs. i had iced tea and banana cue for breakfast. ooh. healthy. i need to be getting back to my homework right now. 11 more numbers to go for 13-3. bleh. i also need to check the palihan notebooks. ahh. i don't really mind that one. it's part of the job.

the day started badly. we had computer class - double period. i know for a fact that unit #2 has serious problems regarding MS Access. the activity for the day was all about getting formulas right and whoever gets it right can write their class number on the board. intense competition. but i gave up before we even started. since i had my average wrong, everything else was bound to be awry. and i was right. typing the formulae was useless. even if the formula was right, i wouldn't get credited because nothing works. i finally explained my situation to the teacher and she tried fixing it but she couldn't. she had to agree that something was wrong with the computer, not me or my formulas. i ended the computer period with a smile on my face.

the day continued without a hitch. i feel extreme jealousy towards those who are done with their monologue. they don't have any more pressing worries. they can enjoy their weekend...knowing that the worst is over.


i'd love to do my homework right now. but i just don't feel like it.

what brendon looks for in a girl (kerrang! interview)

i changed the look of the blog because i felt that the last one was so depressed and sad. this one isn't very exciting and it isn't sad, so i like it. does that make the layout like me?

friday, june 11. i finally got to treat my friends to a birthday party. it's not really a party because we just ate, but it was fun all the same. we ate at yellow cab along banawe and joked around a lot. nothing really beats just hangin'.

right after, i had to get my things ready for the leadership training. i panicked at one point because i couldn't find any pajamas.

the leadership training was tiring but fun all the same. we had an anticipated mass that seemed to take forever to finish. the team building activities were fun. gawd. i really don't feel like talking about it. too early for jokes.

it's sunday today and i went home at around 10:30 from school. i immediately took a shower and i was sooo ready to go to bed. but alas! my mom tells me to get dressed because we're going to mass at christ the king and then we'll have lunch at gerry's grill afterwards. apparently, it's my brother's despedida lunch because he's leaving for dubai on friday. we might not see him for two years so we have to have a despedida. (*he's not a DH/nurse/caregiver. he's going to dubai as an architect.)

and now, i've just finished the reflection paper on human sexuality and my adv. alg. homework. all that's left to do is study for my english LQ, 2 chem quizzes, and a filipino quiz.

ok. cool.

i've been blogging at wordpress recently. the atmosphere over there is so professional and formal. my teenage self likes it here. i was really amazed by the features they offered so i went ahead and signed up. i didn't realize that i had to pay in order to edit the css. a big part of my decision to join wordpress was for the themes. so sad. but it's nice enough. and easy enough.

lately, i can't stop eating. what's wrong with me?

no matter. i already gained 2 pounds.

we went to mass at the holy redeemer at 4. i was forced to ride with my sister and her boyfriend in the boyfriend's car because we would be "cramped" in the car. anyway, after that we went to trinoma (ate heny's choice). we planned on seeing Iron Man at 6:10 and then having a wonderful family dinner.

as usual, things went awry. finding a parking spot in trinoma on mother's day was absolute hell. we all shook our heads in regret. the scene was way too familiar (we went to trinoma on father's day '07). we should have known. trinoma is always full. even without a hallmark occasion. we eventually found a spot on the third floor - north area. ate heny and her boyfriend arrived earlier so they already got us tickets. tickets for the 7:10 screening. the 6:10 one was already full.

no on really wanted to brave the crowds so that cancelled shopping as something to kill the time. we were all hungry so we decided to eat at taco bell. we finished earlier than expected. we didn't want to risk being late so we headed up to the movie area. surprisingly, a queue of people were already at the entrance of cinema 3, waiting for the ticket lady to let them in. the only logical thing left to do was to get right in line with them. we were inside soon enough and for once, we didn't miss a single trailer. there are loads of good movies coming out. awesome!

Iron Man was really cool. he was a lot like batman in a way. they're both hella rich, their parents are both gone, and they have unlimited access to cool weaponry. the only thing that made iron man a little bit cooler was that his assistant is a really pretty girl. all batman has is his butler, alfred. but i bet they're equally dependable.

ate ida told us that there was something to watch for after all the credits were gone. we hung around. a lot of people did too. the clip wasn't what i would file under "worth waiting for". it just gave you a small preview of what the next one will be like. i thought that maybe war machine might still be alive. but, as my brother pointed out, he got totally fried. grrreat.

we met up with ate heny on the garden part of the mall. she told us she reserved a table at crustasia. my heart sank immediately. didn't she know that i was allergic to seafood? of course she does! i whine about it constantly!

when we got there, we were immediately given our menus. and as can be expected, 95% of their dishes are seafood-based. grrreat. i finally settled on "chang mai barbecue chicken". my family got a big crab in some singaporean sauce, bouillabaisse (had to use spell check for this one :D), pad thai, and some taco-looking dish.

the first dishes that was served was the pad thai and the taco-looking dish. i took a bit of pad thai off my mom's plate. the pad thai had some big shrimps on it so i didn't bother getting some for myself. i ignored the taco-looking dish. who ordered that anyway? we just had taco bell. the bouillabaisse came next. it was tomato-based so it looked a bit odd. it was laden with everything i was allergic to - squid, clams, etc. i dipped my fork in it and took a taste. i didn't like it.


i remember reading about bouillabaisse in the harry potter books. specifically in the goblet of fire. hermione told ron that it was a french dish and she had it when she vacationed in france. ron really liked it. fleur came over to the gryffindor table and asked if she could have their bouillabaisse. haha. so obviously, i couldn't resist tasting the mysterious bouillabaisse.

the chicken and the crab finally arrived so we started digging in. i took the chicken and my mom gave me a tablespoonful of crab meat. she told me it couldn't hurt. i ate everything and soon enough we were all filled to the brim. my lip started to swell. that's my allergic reaction to seafood. it was so noticeable. my brother started taking pictures to spite me. ugh. i hate my allergies.it was already around 10:30 when we finished eating so the mall was already closed. we took some wrong turns so we ended up in the mindanao parking area instead of in the north parking area. by that time, my stomach was aching pretty bad. by the time we got to the car, i was in agony.

it was majorly cramped in the car. i was already writhing in pain. i thought that it was just a simple stomach ache so i wanted to get home as soon as possible and take some pain relievers. but soon enough, my lips started itching again. my hands followed soon after, then my back, then everything just started itching really bad. we stopped for gas and my mom examined me. i was doused in cold sweat and the itching was getting more uncontrollable. my dad told my brother to stop at the nearest mercury drug to get me some allergy medicine. we didn't find one until we got to quezon ave. my dad and my sisters went inside to get the meds and buy ice cream. they wanted to get ice cream since we had to skip cheesecake, etc. they took their sweet time. by the time they handed me the medicine, i was praying for a scratching post. i took the little tablet and hoped for fast results.

no such luck.

we finally got home and i changed out of my clothes. i got to see my body and i was red all over. i looked in the mirror and my face had gone as bright red as a tomato. at about 1:00 AM, there was still no signs that the allergy medicine was effective. i was still bright red (like i had a nasty sunburn) and the itchiness was not going away. i couldn't sleep.

i finally gave up on sleeping and i picked up the nearest book i could get my beyond itchy hands on. gossip girl. reading it made me focus on the story, not the itch. at around 2:00, i stopped reading. i realized that the itch was gone! like a miracle! i was still a bit red but alas! the itch is gone!

after that, sleep came easily. i woke up the next morning feeling normal. finally allergy-free.

the food at crustasia is great, just not for those allergic to seafood.

yay!

in other news, this person's blog looks amazing. there are so many wonderful designs out there. i didn't realize that blogskins.com was only the tip of the iceberg. :O

to be fair, the people who own these amazing websites are skilled web designers or something to that effect so it would only be right that they have amazing blog designs. damn. i wish i can do that.

gee, i hope mr. brad frost won't mind that i took a screenshot of his website. i got the link from smashingmagazine.com :D

i just ate four effin' grilled cheese sandwiches.

that can't be healthy. i've been interested in making some recently. in fact, i lay awake last night because i couldn't get the stupid sandwiches off my mind. how crazy is that? my sandwiches turned out well enough. i guess i was a bit stingy with the cheese so it didn't taste as i would have wanted. i wanted it to be oozing with gooey cheese. it was still good though. traditionally, grilled cheese sandwiches are cooked on a pan or something like that. i didn't want to go to the trouble so i just stuck it in the oven toaster. i got the same results. although, the heat wasn't circulated very well. a part of the bread would be toasted already but a part of it was still resolutely white. better luck next time. (i completely forgot we had a sandwich maker. it would have been smarter to use that.)

i'm going with my mom and her sister to san pablo, laguna tomorrow. my maternal grandmother's birthday is today so i think we're going to san pablo to visit her...grave. which is weird because my mom said we'd be going swimming. ok, mom, whatever.

lately, i've been watching a Samurai X marathon with my brother. it's quite funny. :D

i haven't been doing much lately. at least, not anything particularly productive. yesterday, i made brownies. they turned out alright. not as sweet as i would have liked but it was tasty nonetheless. the middle part of it was especially moist :D. today, my brother and i (but mostly me) made a cheese omelet. it turned out...horribly. it didn't look like a proper omelet BUT it tasted like a proper omelet.

i'm trying to figure out how to make a "grilled cheese sandwich". i always see it on tv. i'll give it a try tomorrow.

in other news, i just found this great website. it's called CliffsNotes. where was this when i was making my book report? honestly. i found out about this while i was reading Gossip Girl. It was mentioned it when gossip girl saw Dan's copy of War and Peace. it basically sums everything up and has some intelligent analysis of the aspects of the book. at least i know where to go if i ever need to make a book report. i also found a rival website called SparksNotes. it boasts that it has "today's most popular study guides". i can't tell which is better between the two. it's obviously more directed to the american system of education. however, i hope that it will be of some help to me in the future.

we've all heard that doing nothing can still actually make you gain weight. even if you just sit on the couch and watch tv, you still gain weight. i heard this from the news a few years ago (i was watching tv). this article really gets into it.

have you read it yet? read it so you know what i'm talking about.

so we have this problem. tv apparently encourages you to eat. so, what do i do about it? simple. don't eat. nobody wants to gain weight unless they're suffering from some eating disorder. i know that that isn't really a solution. but if i can't stop watching tv, this is probably the only thing i can do.

i admit, when i watch tv, it seems ridiculous not to get a pack of chips and pig out while watching my favorite shows. so the only solution is to eat four meals a day an no snacks in between.

haha. don't listen to me. this probably isn't healthy. you might even end up gaining more weight because you'll eat loads during the four meals. haha. i haven't actually tried this yet. i will start tomorrow. i'll try to do this everyday next week. and then, i'll let you know if i gain/lose weight. or maybe i'll just feel hungry all the time.

am i starting a diet? haha. weird. just because i am, i'm not about to start stuffing my face today. who knows if this whole thing totally backfires?