When cars collide

I remember hearing laughter, then frantic horns blaring, screeching tires then BAM!

I check my friend, Bev, beside me if she's alright. She said she is. We get off the cab and take photos of the wreck. The photo above doesn't really give an exact image of the wreck of the cab we were riding. We walk to the nearest shed. I thank God that Bev and I are safe.

I don't remember panicking right at that moment. But when we get on an FX headed for home, that's when things dawned on me.

I could have died. Then a thousand more scenarios play through my head. I arrive home and head straight for my parents room.

I wake up and prepare for work. I ride a cab. The driver steps on the brake. I find myself slightly nervous whenever he does that.

Dear Iskolar ng Bayan,

WATCH THIS:

I am only one but I am one. I cannot do everything but I can do something. What I can do, I ought to do, and with the grace of God, I WILL DO IT. (Monsod, 2010)

Blast!

The crowds cheered. The schools grooved. And five out of 12 teams made it to the finals.

Last Sunday was UP Street's elimination leg for the Skechers Streetdance Battle. The competition, now on its 6th year, has become the biggest streetdance competition in the country since its inception in 2005 - as evidenced by its ever increasing ticket prices.

This is our team right before the compet:

Photo by: Liza Carbonel

Congratulations UP Streetdance Club for making it to the finals! Compet team - Aye, David, Toki, Renz, Jolo, Trizza, Lian, KatM, Miko, JM, Phim, Hannah, Espi, Reg, Canter and Leonard, props to you guys for represnting the org, our school and God, of course.

While we were having a blast with all the dancing, a real blast happened on the other side of town. The usually festive Salubong for barristers ended in tragedy as some got rushed to the hospital because of an explosion along the crowd-filled Taft Ave.

One of my college friends, Estella Maniquis, a current student of San Beda Law is one of the victims of the explosion.

Initial investigation points to frat wars as the cause of the explosion. At least a couple of victims had to have their legs amputated due to severe damage.

Dear culprit, I would wish that you blow up to pieces but I wouldn't. Instead I hope that you'd feel pain that the family members of the affected students are feeling.

Been reading..

a blog for more than a week now. Started reading posts from 2007, I'm now on the last month of 2008.

Funny how some of the posts just hit you on the spot.

Bye now, two more years of posts to read.

Cough and Colds

Two weeks, not getting any better.

UGH.

Hunger Pains and Budget Cuts

The weekend was fun to say the least. But for the most part, I was in pain.

Friday night, due to heavy traffic towards Ortigas, nalipasan ako ng gutom. The Buffalo Wings from Charlie's at 10:30pm (a must try!) didn't help. So my stomach was hurting really bad. Then off to a party at Manor, Eastwood for Vimi's birthday. Joel's back!! Really fun night despite the badly aching stomach.


Saturday morning, woke up with bad headache. Left the house for the Skechers Kick Off Party and first round of college eliminations! Congratulations ate Mycs and LSDC Street! :) Then off to a road trip away from traffic-ridden MOA and EDSA. Roadtrip with some Club friends which took us forever. And it was traffic everywhere in the Metro na nalipasan na naman ako ng gutom. UGH. Met up with Refuge (my GCF growth group) for a birthday dinner then off to Minneli's house to visit her dad.

Sunday, church and family day. Started out okay until really late lunch came with some churchmates in MOA. We ate around 1:30pm at nalipasan na naman ako ng gutom. But the pain was extra hard to endure this time. The coffee didn't help. But sleep did! The pain subsided around11pm.

----

Short story: I NEVER liked Noy. Such a false sense of hope just cause he is the son of Ninoy of Cory.

And then this happened: A proposed budget cut of 1.39 Billion pesos. B is for BULL!


I am an Iskolar ng Bayan - MATAPANG, MATALINO, WALANG TAKOT KAHIT KANINO and I AM AGAINST Noy's 1.39 billion budget cut!

Noy can shove his yellow hope somewhere else, NOT IN MAROON LAND!

thanks to greatgatusby.tumblr.com for the awesome budget cut art.

Blogging again

It's been a looooong time. I don't even remember the last time I updated this blog. But here I go again. The need to have brain and emotional farts is just too strong for me today.

A blog that I've started reading is starting to depress me. Ewan, today's been off. Ugh gotta shake off the blues.

Hello there Mr. Weekend!

The Employed Lad

Wow. It's been a while since I actually wrote something substantial here.

A lot of things have happened already. Quick recap:

• I got a year older.
• Bummed for two months (Dec to Jan)
• Tried the news wire life
• Road ended with the news wire life
  
• Two weeks of dancing
• SFX: Decade. Vision. Dance.

And just like that, I am shoved to a corner inside an office. And work commenced.

I easily got a job shortly after my Reuters stint. Ate Iona (a UP Street orgmate) submitted my resume to her agency. And before I knew it, I am reporting for work a week after.

A lot has happened since. Calls. Calls. Email. Event. Email. Rounds. Rounds. Rounds. Follow-ups. Calls. Rounds.
Work's something like that.

Rounds. Rounds. Rounds.

I thank God that immediately got a job. Hopefully, I'd be able to perform well. :)

The Online Helper

The Ondoy Chapter is far from over. A lot of things are yet to be done. And online, the campaign to raise awareness about what happened and to rally the Filipino youth was overwhelming. Platforms such as Tumlbr, Twitter and Facebook proved to be such powerful tools in mobilizing the Filipino people to help out and volunteer.

Here are some tools used during the campaign that circulated all over Tumblr and Facebook:

A poster urging people to donate goods at the Ateneo campus for their relief operations.

A poster asking people to help out and volunteer since celebrities from other countries are doing so. Why not us, Filipinos too?

A poster of the UP Sagip Isko relief ops campaign. Go Isko!

A poster encouraging Filipinos to help out in restoring, rebuilding and recreating the country.

A poster asking people to help and volunteer for those who are in evacuation centers.

A poster of the Raise the Roof benefit concert for Ondoy victims held at the Megatent along Meralco Ave.

On Twitter, a lot of Filipino personalities, politicians and celebrities utilized its powers by coordinating and updating volunteers through its micro-blogging capability. Spot.ph's article on the 10 Virtual Volunteers: helping out in the time of tweeting gave a list of ten people who were of great help while using Twitter. And I do have to give credit to Gilbert Teodoro for keeping the people updated with current situations all over the metro regarding NDCC matters and answering people's queries. (He directly replied to my Tweet regarding the supposed loose crocs scare in Pasig and Cainta).

The internet isn't just for porn as Avenue Q would argue. And during the past week, it has proved that it is such a powerful to rouse a nation's consciousness for their fellow countrymen.

Feeling Sick

As I write this, my head is throbbing. My eyes are hurting too. I just want to sleep.

Tiresome Saturday

I haven't been blogging lately since my brain refuses to work. But today, my brain declared war against stupidity and required me to write.

Saturday, September 19, 2009
Day was pretty jam-packed. My usual Saturday would entail waking up really late. Watching an episode or two of a recently downloaded TV show. Going to GCF for volleyball and youth worship service. And eating dinner with friends. But this particular Saturday wanted me to wake up by 8-ish in the morning and battle through the ACET traffic along Katipunan. Spent most the whole morning and afternoon with the awesome people of AComm as they prepared for the upcoming Rhythm in Blue (RiB) inter-org competition sposored by the Ateneo's very own Company of Ateneo Dancers (CADS).

I left around 2:30 to go to SM Mall of Asia to watch the Skechers Streetdance Battle 5 Kick-Off Party. Good thing I was able to catch a ride with Justin F., Jared, Peter and Rapha. We were a little bit late but it's all good. We got to bond with fellow UP Streetdance Club members as we weaved through the labyrinth that is the department store. We purchased a Von? shirt for Kuya Von.

I soon left the group because the AS1 - Gary Valenciano and Martin Nievera cocnert was just around the corner - literally. I got free tickets for the concert because of Facebook. Yes, Facebook! So I met up with my siblings, Nathan, Eki and Lai. And watched one very historic concert. In my mind, it's like Justin Timberlake and Neyo in one concert.

The concert was really REALLY awesome! One of the dancers was Kuya Sherwin and I kept screaming his name, people stared at me but I didn't really care. It was kuya Sher! He's an orgmate!! Gary and Martin didn't fail to deliver the best in Philippine vocals and they were Robin and Gabb's rendition of BEP's "I Gotta Feeling". Although the concert was great, standing for 2-3 hours was not as fun.

Talk about a tiring day. :|

A List

Make a list of 10 types of people that you don't like and tag people to do the same.

1. Alcohol-driven dads who can buy booze but not proper education for their kids.

2. School bullies who can do nothing but bully intelligent kids to do their homework. Airheads!

3. Reckless jeepney drivers who snake their way through traffic but can only say sorry if they bump a private car since they can't afford to pay for the repair.

4. Spoiled brats. Those who throw tantrums to get what they want.

5. Friendster-using, black-donning jumping jologs who live to emo themselves out.

6. Number 5's hiphop counterparts. Salbakuta-loving kids. They call themselves "ghetto" but I don't think they'd survive the real thing. Apparently numbers 5 and 6 have an on-going online war on Friendster.

7. Mocha frappe-drinking, eighth-floor dwellers. But then, I have really close friends in that category. Ooooops.

8. Twilight fans :p

9. Number 2's variation, those who can turn a school's hall into a fashion runway. But are still airheads anyway.

10. Random people inviting you on Facebook and when you ask who they are because nyou don't normally add people you do not know, they tell you that you're an elitist.

Let's see how this improves over the year :)

My Lakbayan grade is C!

How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!

Created by Eugene Villar.

Two Parties and a Night

Sounds fun? Not really. Especially if the other party is actually not work.

While everybody else around you is gyrating to the thumping sounds of house and trance, your truly walked around with a pen and notebook in hand.

My job? To write down the names of every person that the photographer would take a picture of. Sounds fun? To some extent, yes it was. But at some point, I was aching to dance already. :)

The event was Big Fish's GodsKitchen Worldwide with DJ Sander Van Doorn and it was awesome. This is my second Big Fish event and i can't wait for the next.

Was never a fan of house music until I went to Big Fish's Innovation White party which I then wrote about for Spot.ph. And I am a fan since.

The second party was a walk away from Big Fish since it was also at a.Venue but this was at Attica Bar. It is RX 93.1's 90's party.

This time, I didn't have to walk around taking down people's names. I was just there, chillin' with Kat Cruz and Gabb Agapito. We soon left the party and settled to just sit and talk inside a.Venue.

Got home by 4am. And boy was I sleepy the day after.

Two parties in one night was fun. But heck, I'd give anything to catch the ZzZzZzZzZzs lost. :D

Lunch-hour Teenage Dad

Babies. They're some of the cutest living creatures on Earth. But taking care of one of them for a mere 15 minutes can drain the life out of a fat 21-year old.

I love my god-daughter Mika, but hey, try running around Landmark for 15 minutes straight, with no rest, while worrying that the kid hopefully does not get lost or bumps her head is somewhere, is probably the most exhausting activity I've had the past 21 years. That may be an exaggeration but I'm trying to make a point. :p

I looked like a teen-age dad (I know I'm 21 and I don't look nearly like a teenager but I'm still relatively young though) running after his baby girl.

So I pledge to keep the crib empty until I'm ready to run after a hyper kid again.

Do Not Disturb

Two weeks ago, while rain poured all over Makati and people scrambled for bus space, I sat comfortably by the window. I usually sleep whenever I'm on that side of the bus. Along Ayala Avenue, I was awaken by a series of loud sounds. This fat dude (yes, he's fatter than me in case you're wondering) in front of me is snoring so loudly that everyone inside the bus couldn't help but exhale hearty, you-should-wake-up-and-alight-the-bus laughs. some snores are just plain disgusting to hear, and his was along that highway.

This morning as I rode the FX to Ayala, I experienced another tired person sleeping. And this time, it's not a fat dude but a girl! My ears were plugged with earphones and maxxed volume, yet I could still hear her! The whole 1 and a half hours of traveling was just not bearable.

Oh well, being tired is not a crime. But disturbing other people's peace is!

Photo Credit: blog.cantaloupe.tv

The (Mis)Education of the Girl on the Bus

Tired from work.

On a bus.

On my way to training.

My peace was disturbed.

I know I have such a loud mouth.

But I don't babble senseless things (at least most of the time.)

Was desperately trying to catch some rest since work was tiring and I'd have to exert effort in a matter of minutes.

A girl behind starts talking - loudly and annoyingly.

She starts by telling her friend that she wants to watch the latest Harry Potter flick (an HP film that I'm really interested to watch since I got hooked by the trailer.)

I listen in since she then followed that with a conversation regarding her take on certain movies and literature. (by now you should know that I am such a flick and literature geek.)

Then she said something that made me cringe and pity her very poor sense of literature. She declared that without a doubt, the Twilight series are the best books ever written. I stop myself from laughing hysterically.

She does not stop there. She then says one of the dumbest things I've heard in recent history, "di ko gets kung bakit gandang-ganda sila sa Wall-E, wala namang sense eh." I literally had to cover my mouth to stop myself from answering back.

First she glorifies a series of books that would not even qualify with the ranks of Palahniuk or Murakami (not even Brown's) then she shuts down one of the best animated films ever made. (As in seriously, it would not take a genius to comprehend the satirical wonders of Wall-E!)

Is she kidding me?!?! When they said that the quality of our education is worsening, I did not think it would come down to this! (Okay, that was evil of me. But I could not help it, Twilight series as the best??!?!)

Dear government (and to the incoming one), instead of making yourselves richer, please allocate a humongous budget for education! And please find out where she studied and teach them how to teach literature and comprehension. We badly need it.

Photo Credit: forumgallery.com

Wet Mornings

Woke up with the sound of the pouring rain landing on our iron roof. It's 7am. And I'm late. Usually by 7, I'm already on a PUV on my way to work. Half an hour later, I'm out of the house.

You see, catching a ride to work is always a tough feat. A lot of waiting. Standing. Running. Pushing people aside. And finally sitting for almost two hours to arrive at one's destination. Imagine that at least 15 other people are doing this. And every time, only 10 are accommodated by Manong's FX. Today proved to be harder since it's pouring like crazy.

The sound of the pouring rain that woke me up, continued to generously land on the FX's roof and it's starting to lull me to sleep. After two hours, I wake up greeted by lofty buildings and droves of men and women walking around with umbrellas above their head.

All of us, just longing to arrive at our destination - dry.

Photo credit: travelpod.com