R & R

I'm looking forward to a weekend of fun and food. Yet, I am anxious of the upcoming review. But it would be nice to old friends again.

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Our last hurrah

It has been almost three weeks since my friends and I dashed to Splash Island for our last hurrah.

The date was May 22nd, a day before our school year's first day of classes. This "trip" was planned weeks before, yet as expected, only five of us were able to make it.

To be honest, I wasn't keen on joining as well - I'm more of a beach bum than a pool person. Good thing I joined them. It was one of the most fun days of my life.

The main attraction of course are the slides. We raced at the Magellan's Drop, which sadly I never won.

Magellan's Drop from philip_v on Vimeo

This is my favorite slide, the Rio Montanosa.

And this is us screaming our hearts out having fun at the slide.

Rio Montañosa from philip_v on Vimeo

This is us being the epitome of ultra-uber-extreme-super camwhores.

Water and slides will not stop us from taking photos of ourselves.

Even when your friend (i.e. David) goes berserk and tries to strangle you underwater.

Although taking photos while on a slide doesn't guarantee you wholesome pictures.

Summer wouldn't be summer without yummy fruit smoothies.

We played dominos

and had a few games of cards.

Tanning was also a must, especially for Baldo.

We had fun playing frisbee, and even more fun taking that perfect frisbee shot.

A few more photos and we were done for the day. I never expected to have that much fun. We had smiles like these all day.

Splash Island, you will be terribly missed. The next day, classes had begun. Boo.

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The day of almosts and getting tipsy

On Tuesday night, Richard invited me to go bowling the next day. Usually I would have said no, since I live all the way down south and commuting is such a pain in the ass. My friends usually would go swimming or play badminton during the weekends, while I miss out on all the fun because of my geographical handicap. Fortunately, course cards would be distributed the next day so for a change, I will be able to join them.

Early Wednesday morning, I received a message that our grades were not released yet. But what the heck, I was already dressed up and ready to go. I met Richard, Guido, and David at school and after lunch, we made our way to Mall of Asia.

We met Jason and Elvin inside the mall, and proceeded to the bowling alley. Or more appropriately, the still-closed bowling alley. Despite the mini-setback, we were determined to have fun. David had this idea to go ice skating, which he has always wanted to do.

The words ice skating do not ring my ears quite well. Several years ago, I was out ice skating with my high school friends. While they were gliding gracefully around the arena, I was stuck in the corner grabbing the rail for my dear life. I am not good in balancing. I never was. Heck, I don't even know how to ride a bike. But I have to admit it was kinda fun despite not really knowing how to skate. That is, until I fell flat on my back, 2 meters from the exit. Yes, we were on our way out when I suffered that unfortunate fall. I had pain on my neck for a week, and that fall pretty explains why I have a crooked neck.

So we made our way to the ice skating rink only to see a competition was ongoing. Course cards, bowling, ice skating - darn I can see a trend here.

We decided to see a movie instead. I really wanted to see Fracture. Guess what, we were late by ten minutes. Some of us did not like Shrek The Third, so despite Elvin being not too fond of horror, 28 Weeks Later was our best option.

While waiting for the movie, we wasted our time on good ol' Timezone. We played this trivia arcade, in true engineering geeks fashion. Guido won most of the rounds, that lucky bastard. I bought some snacks, and off we went inside the theater.

IMG_1183 Hosted on Zooomr

It was not a bad movie at all, but again like Spiderman 3, I was underwhelmed by the ending. Hey, there's only so much one can do with a main story like that.

After the movie, we exchanged the obligatory zombie jokes. It was too early to have dinner yet, so off we went to Powerbooks. I read some comic books, of course.

IMG_1188 Hosted on Zooomr

David and I seriously looked like fools laughing by ourselves for an hour and a half. Brian met us after, and Guido announced that he will treat us for dinner. Woohoo! The thifty-and-broke-student inside of me wanted to hug him, but fortunately I held back.

After settling inside Gerry's Grill, Guido proceeded to order lots of food. And I mean lots of food. Damn my diet.

They even gave us free crispy pata. Ah, that dinner was heaven. I never really thought we could finish off our food, but my friends are such mean chompers that we eventually did.

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But the best part, for me at least, was the blue margarita. The cheap but lovely blue margarita.

IMG_1193 Hosted on Zooomr

I drank almost half of that collander. And I got tipsy. I never thought I would be tipsy on a Wednesday night from drinking margarita, but I was!

My friends left after dinner, but I decided to stay. I wanted to be sober because I will be commuting, so I needed to detoxify fast. I was walking like a blind penguin, so good thing I was able to reach The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. I ordered a mocha latte on the go, and had to struggle to reach the shuttle. Next thing I know, I was five minutes from home.

I changed my clothes, and proceeded to sleep. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling thirsty and dehydrated, with a headache and stomachache to boot. Will someone remind me again why I love drinking alcohol?

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The fast few days have been crazy

Well, it's crazy enough for me not to blog for more than a week now. So this entry will be long, and full of random stories.

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April 30, 2007

My professor called off classes today, which left us with a four-day vacation. Great. Just when I was getting the groove of studying again, this had to happen. I hate that.

I woke up late and realize I was alone. My parents must have gone to the mall, leaving me with a few strips of bacon for lunch. I opened up the computer while reading the morning 'paper. The phone rang, and this girl from Citibank was looking for my dad.

Me: Di ko alam kung anung oras sya babalik.
Girl: Sino to?
Me: I'm his son.
Girl: Ilan taon ka na?
Me: 20.
Girl: 20 ka lang? Di nga?
Me: Uhm, oo.
Girl: Meron ka nang credit card?
Me: Yup, HSBC.
Girl: Extension ba yan?
Me: Nope. Ako yung primary.
Girl: Oh. Saan ka nagwowork?
Me: College pa lang ako.
Girl: Talaga? 20?

And then I wondered if I was already that old to be studying. I know I am older than most of my batchmates, but the tone of this girl's voice really left me doubting my studying status.

Girl: Saan ka nagaaral?
Me: Sa La Salle.
Girl: Talaga? Sa Main or sa Benilde?

Ugh. Why does everyone have to ask if I am from DLSU-Manila or from CSB? As in everyone. If I was studying in CSB, I would say so matter-of-factly.

Me: Main.
Girl: Wow. Anung course mo?

And this is when her voice started to sound a bit different.

Me: Engineering.
Girl: Ah. May girlfriend ka na?
Me: Wala pa.
Girl: Talaga? Bakit wala pa?

Now she sounds like a child ready to devour a big fat piece of marshmallow. I gave my usual spiel of why I still do not have a girlfriend, which I have already memorized for convenience.

Our talk shifted from my perpetual single-ness to my bedroom exploits, which is nil, zilch, zero, if you believe me. I would not go into further details so as to salvage the little reputation I have left.

Girl: Anong gusto mong gawin ngayon?

This is the signal for me to hang-up. Even if she sounded pretty AND perky. I still have my dignity.

Feeling weird and bothered and excited, I searched the Internet to find solace. Looks like I am not the only victim of horny sales agents.

Now this experience reminded me of a not-so-nice experience I had only a few weeks ago. I accompanied my mom to Makati, because she does not know how to get there.

As she was being interviewed by sales agents (see any pattern yet?), I stayed in the office's lobby trying to organize my impending beach getaway with my friends.

I was approached by this lanky male who introduced himself. I introduced myself as well and soon, he joined me in the sofa and was asking me questions. When I told him I'm 20, he seems not convinced. Do I not look like 20, I asked myself. And then I delivered my usual spiel about being single and all, heck I just really wanted to be left alone as I have a trip to plan and a non-replying friend who still has not confirmed if he would be joining.

He asked a few more questions, and soon, he was too close for comfort. I am not really a friendly guy and definitely not a touchy-feely person.

Lanky male: May scandal ka ba dyan sa celphone mo?
Me: Wala.
Lanky male: Ow? Patingin nga.
Me: Puro ako lang.
Lanky male: Pwede ko bang makuha ang number mo?

I sat there. Frozen. And shaking. I have never been asked for my number by a fellow male specie in that way. Ten seconds of awkward silence and all I cold mutter was

Me: Secret.

It was stupid. Dumb. Childish. But he left and never looked at me again, obviously embarrassed.

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May 1, 2007

Labor Day. Again, I had no class. But I had to wake up earlier because we're spending the day in Mount Sea Resort together with my relatives from my mom's side. It was a quick hour trip from our house to the resort, which is located in Cavite. Apparently, my relatives did not enjoy our summer trip last year to Virgin Beach Resort. No, not because the place was not nice, but because the trip was long - three and a half hours to be exact - and travelling along rough roads were not their idea of a relaxing summer getaway.

The resort was fairly clean, and best of all cheap. It was not a bad Labor Day trip at all.

I love the sea, and good thing the resort has a nice view of it.

Peaceful Hosted on Zooomr

Being the active family that we are, we played frisbee and volleyball,

Volleyball Hosted on Zooomr

billiards,

Hustler Hosted on Zooomr

rode the slide a few times,

Pose Hosted on Zooomr

and made our way through the obstacle course.

Yeehaa Hosted on Zooomr

I also swam around 20 laps in the pool. I am ecstatic about this, for I have been extremely out of shape lately.

But I made sure I had time to relax, escape from the city, and work on my tan.

Tan Hosted on Zooomr

All the activities and prolonged exposure to the sun left my body beat. Not exactly what I had in mind for a summer getaway. By the time we got back to the city, my brother had this brilliant idea of catching Spiderman 3. How could I resist a free movie?

Despite not being able to walk, my sister, brother, and I went to SM Southmall catch the last full show. I liked the movie, but I hated the ending. It was really underwhelming. It was a really long movie, but I never felt that it was a dragging one. I actually did not feel sleepy, which is unnatural of me, despite the fact that it was already late and my body was screaming to get some rest.

Due to a very bad decision I made, we had to walk to our house after the movie. That was probably the worst torture my body felt. Of course, nothing would ever top my cleaning visits to my dentist, but that is another story. Expectedly, I was a full hour late to my class the next day, which starts at 1030.

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May 4, 2007

We took our second quiz on Engineering Economy today. I was scared of this quiz because a) I did not prepare well, because I was busy looking at my friend's photos from their Puerto Galera trip, which I should have made if I was not taking this stupid summer class, and b) there is this nasty rumor that students who pass this dreaded second quiz can be counted in one hand.

It went well fortunately, but not after I had sweat buckets. The aircon of V501 (or was it V503?) needs to be fixed pronto.

Guilar has linked to my blog and posted this very flattering entry. Thanks for that - it really boosted my confidence. But even better, it reminded me that I still had to submit articles to my organization's newsletter. Check out Guilar's blog.

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May 5, 2007

Jamie left me a comment in my Friendster that she has already received my package. But I already knew that, thanks to Google Checkout's excellent tracking service. That plus the free $10 is great and all, but if only they get more merchants and offer lower standard shipping rates to the Philippines, they would be even better.

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It wasn't crazy at all, was it? It just is a huge relief for me to finally finish this entry I've long wanted to post.

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I am broke, but I still spend

After getting an iPod nano, numerous impulsive buying of clothes, bags, and other things, succumbing to my growling stomach almost everytime, and having a beach getaway with my friends, I am broke.

But with Google giving away free $10, I cannot resist the temptation to spend. I originally wanted a top from Aeropostale, but they do not ship to the Philippines. Heck, all the other shops do not ship to this country. And if they do, the shipping would cost me five times what the actual product costs.

Fortunately, my friend Jamie is currently in New Jersey. So I asked her if I could ship the item to her, and she naturally obliged. You're a savior Jam.

Now, I got hundreds of products to choose from. But being the greatest friend that I am, ahem, I chose a Kingston 1 GB SD Card. Now I searched for hours to find a retailer than can ship for free, but sadly I didn't find any. After deducting the free $10, the memory card would cost me Php 375. The same memory card can be purchased for about Php 750 at CD-R King, so I was happy with my purchase. Yet, it drives me nuts that I have to spend Php 375.

That amount of money is big for a struggling student like me. That could have fixed my mobile phone, which yet again refuses to cooperate by not responding to my incessant presses at the number 8. To my friends: if I haven't responded to your messages the past few days, that means I cannot find a way to reply without using the letters t,u, or v.

Being broke, the engineer inside of me started to work. I opened up my mobile, which alone took me some time, and did everything I could to try to fix it. That is, wipe and blow away the dirt, and pray that it will work. After several repetitions of opening it up and dusting off the dirt, I did what most people do - place a piece of paper, and again pray that it will work. Fortunately, it did. I was so glad not because I got my phone fixed on my own, but because of the idea of saving up Php 250 on repair.

But that is way out of what I was previously talking about. Going back, I'll get my memory card when Jamie gets here by the last week of June. Only to go back to New Jersey by September. Ah, the hassle of getting that Green Card.

Seeing that this post is long but really about nothing, I could now say that my writing skills have officially deteriorated, not that I was a good writer to begin with.

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Left behind

Puerto Galera
Originally uploaded by joshbousel.

My high-school friends are leaving for Puerto Galera tomorrow, and naturally, I cannot join. I have summer classes on Engineering Economy, which I cannot totally understand. Reminds me why I took up Engineering and not Accounting.

Even though they are not really my closest friends, I still wanted to go. I haven't seen those guys, in what, 3 years? Since our high-school reunion actually, which was held less than five months since we graduated.

They say we'd have our getaway at Boracay next year. Uhm, is anyone willing to pay for that trip?

Sigh. To quote Sandwich, I just wanna be on the beach.

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Post-Valentine Roll

After a lame Valentine's, I was on a roll today.

I had promised my best friend Maricar to take her to the movies today. Even though I teased her that she'll receive no flowers, I felt that it was appropriate to give her a gift. It is hard to pick a nice inexpensive gift with 10 minutes to spare, so I was sweating profusely and in panic mode.

Good thing there was Marks & Spencer, the savior that it is as always.

Of course, we can't decide where to get lunch. We ended up at Duke of York Pizzeria.

The place was cozy and well-lit.

We got the garlic & shrimp, and barbecue-something pizza.

I ordered the Queen's sampler

and she chose the Manhattan Brooklyn sampler.

The food came cold but tasted okay. I loved the pizza, especially the garlic & shrimp half. The fries looked like it came only from the supermarket's frozen section, while the cajun chicken strips were forgettable. I was not sure of her spaghetti though.

I am not sure what I was doing here. Either I was sneezing or praying.

My friend was strangely shy that day.

We watched "The Messengers" afterwards. We have this hobby of seeing together comedy films disguised as horror flicks. While others are screaming their lungs out, we are giggling at the idiotic moments unraveling before our very eyes.

She went home after that, and I attended my first and only class. But not before she toured me in her campus.

I was on a roll. And so were my grades. Rolling down the cliff they go. My first quiz in Signal Processing was a disaster.

I decided to go see the World Light Expo along Coastal Road in the hope of distracting me. But the ticket price was too steep for a student like me. I know it is pretty and all, but I'd rather waste my 300 bucks on coffee or good food.

And that is where I stopped rolling.

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Passed Around

I think no one wanted to have me as their Valentine.

Nah. I'm not one of those single people who weep about their single blessedness or feel hatred during Singles Awareness Day Valentine's Day.

But I quite looked like being passed around today. On the 13th, my friend Claudine agreed to have dinner with me. Cathy would have joined us. But alas, that didn't push through.

So I messaged one of my best friends Maricar if she would like to catch a movie or grab a bite. She said yes, and that she was even willing to flee her dad. It was a date. As I was to leave school already, she said she cannot wait for me any longer. Ouch. We agreed to just catch a flick on the 15th. But I warned her she won't be receiving flowers anymore. Hehe.

So I'm stuck at school. Without a Valentine. (Why do I make it sound like this is such a weird thing, when it is actually the norm?) Luckily, the boys were there to save the night.

So there we were at the trusty Engwalk. Hot single young boys waiting for equally hot chicks to pick us up. All nine of us: me, Lex, Baldo, Leo, Wil, Mark, Asia, Patrick, and Renz.

There was a lot of great talk. And a lot of tasty revelations. It was a great appetizer for the coming night. Unfortunately, Patrick had a date to respond to. That traitor! The esteemed Singles Club is thereby revoking your membership.

Hungry from all the yapping and tired of waiting for girls to pick us up, we decided to move and invade McDonald's. Frank joined us, but Asia had to leave. I was not too sure, but he was wearing red and punching the walls minutes before he left. Go figure.

I learned that it was a sort of tradition for them to eat at McDonald's and just pour their hearts out. Leo and I got initiated. Yaahhooo! Woot! Woot!

Okay, seriously now. I had Valentine's dinner with the boys and I did not regret it a bit. We talked about everything. And it was not just trashy useless gibberish, it was an actual conversation. We talked about our frustrations: academics, women, and friendships. It was surprisingly serious but refreshingly funny.

Wil and Baldo had to unfortunately leave earlier, but we carried on til around 2230. Even though we have obvious differences in interests (read: DotA), I never felt out of place with the group. In fact, I really felt that I belong.

I always have fun with these guys. There is something about them that makes the conversation free-flowing, true, and surprisingly meaningful.

Remember the Tropical Hut dinner a year ago? Battered by summer classes, an uncooperating project, and a lunatic professor, we just poured it all out that night. I saw this dimension in them that I did not even think they had.

That was seriously one of the best nights I ever had. And this one too! You see, I'm a sucker for those poignant talks.

Riding the bus home, I saw the World Light Expo in its blinding glory. It was beeyootifool. I am definitely going there!

I actually felt sorry for my dad today. As my mom was still in the province caring for my grandma, my dad was left all alone this Valentine's. I'm guessing my sister had dinner with somebody, my brother was definitely with his girlfriend, and I was, well, with the boys.

My dad had actually prepared a lovely Chinese dinner for us. I got home at midnight, and saw the cold food, still untouched. It actually broke my heart. So I took a few spoonfuls. Still feeling guilty, I actually washed my dishes for the first time. I actually hope that I can make it up to him in some other ways. But that requires a separate post altogether.

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Unlikely sartorialist

Life always has a way to surprise us.

Never did I think I could regularly have talks with Josef. No, they're not the useless yakety yak kind. We share our frustrations. Talk about different people. Discuss our academic woes. And then comes the fashion.

Yes, most often than not, the chatter are of the sartorial kind. I've never thought Josef has this side of him. It is worth mentioning he often starts these talks.

We gripe about size and fitting. We rave about Giordano, Folded & Hung, and Topman. Complain about skyrocketing prices. Inform each other of current and upcoming sales.

Very masculine, I know.

The end-of-season sales have commenced. Since I'd like to keep up with my fellow students in the blogoshpere, err, here are my recently purchased clothes. All from Topman.

Stripes for the win!

Yes to military.

Look at the detail.

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