gah.

canlubang just got more exciting.

the pioneers came to out house today. we had, like, a get-together party/despedida party for jam, kasi she's going to the US for a few months. yeah, kinda weird. get-together tapos going away party. hehe.

anyway, loads of people came. jam, erika, paola, gracie, zy, kay, aileen, celine, nike, and chem. si meg nagpunta nung afternoon. mga cousins ko nagpunta rin--kuya joe, ate rovi (with iya), tammy, john, nj, paolo, kuya mitch. si jp pumunta rin. so, yeah, astig. nagkasya kami lahat sa house, heehee.

the party was like, usual. just like any other get-together. pero there was one scary, freaky thing that happened.

we had just had lunch. things were getting pretty boring, so people suggested maglakad-lakad sa CERIS. i didn't want to go, so nag-stay ako sa house. then, just when they were about to go off somewhere, something nearby exploded. as in LOUD explosion. kuya joe said baka transformer daw. anyhow, everyone started to panic and people ran off to the direction of the explosion. paolo, who was sitting near me, said, "nakita mo ba? may tao yata eh." malapit lang sa 'min yung place, just a short walk away. i went there, tapos ang dami nang tao. it happened pala dun sa lot na may on-going construction. and the story just freaked me out.

apparently, one of the construction workers was near i dunno what (a transformer?) when it exploded. he fell from the top of the building, then nasabit yung foot nya sa wire, so he was hanging there--with most likely (sabi ni kuya joe) third-degree burns. erika and some other pioneers were at the store katabi nung building. sabi niya nakita niya yung guy, hanging, tapos blood was dripping from his mouth. aacck.

anyway, i'm not gonna be too graphic. it might be traumatizing.

but here's the ending: nawalan ng kuryente.






yun lang.







hehe. just kidding. actually, the whole incident actually became the center of conversations when we got back to the house. so at least there's something they could talk about. and they witnessed something they probably won't ever experience anywhere else.

bleh. i don't want to think about it anymore. but for the record, i don't think that worker didn't survive. may he rest in peace.

it's a girl for Brad and Angelina. Daughter Shiloh Nouvel Jolie Pitt was born 27 May 2006 in Namibia.

yahoo! nice name, "shiloh", haha. 'stig! madd and z now have a new playmate.
CONGRATULATIONS to the Jolie-Pitt family.

ah, i'm tired and sleepy, but all with good reason. just got done with the robinson's nexphase recital. akalain mo nga naman, nag-recital ako! hehe. i thought before puro kids lang yung nagpeperform sa rectials. i never thought i'd see the day na ako rin nandun sa stage, playing something guro ariel taught me. nyak!

anyway, medyo na-bad trip pa ako before i got there, kasi tagal ni mama. we got held up tuloy. instead of getting there before 03pm, we got there past 03pm na. kahiya. although our performance was in the latter part pa naman, so no worries talaga. kaso the thing about arriving on time is pretty important to me, kaya nakakahiyang na-late ako. tanong tuloy agad ni guro, "bakit parang malungkot ka yata?" hehe. parang ganun na lang araw-araw ang tanong nun sa 'kin eh. haha. di pa ba ako pumupunta sa studio na good mood? weh...

anyway, i thought i was gonna be lost sa rob's. never pa kasi ako nakapunta dun before eh. pero it wasn't really that hard to find the place of the recital, since malapit lang naman pala sa main entrance. ayus.

since i always come early during the rehearsals these past few days, halos nakita ko na lahat ng performances nung kids. nothing really new or different today--pareho lang ng sa rehearsals.

i was shaking already kahit meron pang two numbers before nung "ligaya." this girl, patricia, she was a voice student and "ligaya" by kitchie nadal yung song niya. si ariel, sabi ako na lang daw mag-bass dun sa performance ni patricia, so extra ako. hehe. after niya, these two brothers played. one was a drummer, the other a guitarist. their number was "high" by the speaks. sabi rin ni ariel ako na mag-bass, so hindi na ako lumabas ng stage. hehe. talagang pinapanindigan ko yung title kong "dakilang extra." nyaha! after that, i (finally) went down the stage and waited for our number. kulang 10th Muse, wala kasi si loraine, sayang. so si pamboy nag-drums para sa amin. gah, my hands we shaking and i couldn't hit the right strings and frets! hehe. ano pa nga ba? basta ako, sablay nang sablay. the fact that i was using ariel's bass guitar (and not mine) didn't help me. his guitar was bigger and heavier, kaya nanibago ako. we did practice yesterday, so on the whole, ayos naman. kung di ko na-practice yung songs gamit bass guitar ni guro, baka lalo ko nagulo yung mga songs. after us, si rhy nag-drums ng "superproxy 2k6". so cute! astig talaga yung batang yun! hehe.

nexphase played after the students. yay! hinintay ko talaga yung "so complete." nyaha. fave song. nagasgas ko na yata yung "Let Go!" cd ko kaka-play nung "so complete" eh. basta, ganda nung song na yun.

before we all left, they gave certificates to the students. kakahiya, meron pa ako certificate. it's been a long time since i last had a lesson with guro. pero binigyan pa rin nila ako. haha. nice.

birthday nga pala ni kuya ryan. happy birthday po. haha. tagoink!

*hey, loser! why are you using "toink", huh?! that ain't your word kasi it's from "tagoink"! make your own word, don't derive from mine! haha!*

mama and i went to the parlor today. i had my hair relaxed. then mom said i should have it cellophaned na rin. ayaw kasi niya maniwala na dark brown talaga hair ko, she keeps thinking of excuses to say why my hair turned that color. so now, my hair is black. yuck. di bagay. pangit na nga, lalo pa pumangit.








shite.

yay! finally recital na later. the thought of performing at robinson's is killing me. finally, just one more step and it's all over. nyaha!

shite. there's a spider crawling on the wall near the computer.

it's getting closer.








closer.






closer.





gotta run. mommmmyyyyy!!!

i haven't actually gotten a good long rest since we got back from vietnam, so yesterday, i was so tired. well, until now, i'm still pretty tired. but anyhow, going to UST yesterday, i was asleep almost all the time. going to and from UST. hehe.

but that didn't stop me from going to the studio to see my friends. haha. lee, loraine, and angge were there. then the studio peeps.

we were also there to rehearse for this thingy at robinson's sta. rosa. yeah, w're gonna play "do you believe". pero guro wants me to play some other songs together with the other students. i dunno yet about that one, though. i'm gonna go there again this afternoon to rehearse.

oh well, i still got some LOST requests to do for some forum people, so i'm gonna put blogging on hold.

i am now officially a thomasian. go UST!

i enrolled at UST yesterday. i was supposed to be enrolled last 19april pa, but we since we had our vietnam vacation, my enrolment was scheduled to 22may.

ugh, so many people! haha. kinda like culture shock, since i come from a school with a very small population--and without guys at that. eh nakasabay ko pa naman sa enrolment were mostly guys.

i was completely lost sa campus. walking here, running there. bumping into people. speaking of which, i saw someone in the campus--christian cabrera. *ahem, ahem* he's an old classmate of mine. *ahem, ahem*

anyhow, i felt like, really stupid there. basta. well, i am an idiot, so i guess i have good reason to feel like one.

and...*drum roll, please*...i'm taking softball for PE. yup. i was hoping there's be football, kaso wala. and i am so not taking women's fitness or volleyball or swimming or track and field (if only i had the legs and build for t&f, i would've gone for it, but...).

my schedule is also pretty good. it's okay, actually. except for the fact that i don't have any breaks from 8am-12nn on mondays, wednesdays, and fridays. i get off at 12nn on tuesdays and thursdays, so i have half of the day all for meself. it's almost the same on fridays, except that softball is at 3pm-5pm. so from 12nn-3pm, i'm free. yay!

i just have one complaint: i don't change rooms. all my classes are in one room. darn, i so wanted to walk around the campus...

waah!!!

we're going home the day after tomorrow. whoa. seems like so bitin yung stay here in vietnam. anyway, it's not like anything's gonna change when we get home. i'll still be the bum. i'll still be watching dvds all day. i'll still be pigging out on whatever's in the cupboard and fridge. i'll still be using the internet and photoshop almost all day.

so everything's still the same.

except no dad. yep, no dad.

oh well, we'll be spending the whole day together tomorrow--as a family. hopefully we go to highlands coffee. i feel like having coffee--although i probably shouldn't have any, since i'm still awake at 04am vietnam time. or 05am philippine time, whatever. and that's without coffee.

i'm currently doing a 'The OC' marathon. mom bought a set for somebody, and she asked kung pwede ko daw check yung DVDs. i said okay, and i got hooked to it. hehe.

LOST is taking a backseat since i've been watching it for like, ever. after The OC, maybe, i'd go watch LOST. woo hoo! life as a bum.

we're counting the days until we finally fly back home. come sunday, it's goodbye vietnam, and hello philippines. it's great to be back home, except we won't be seeing papa everyday. too bad.

anyhoo, since we're going home already, we went for a little shopping trip at diamond plaza, which is pretty much the posh shopping center here, like parkson's.

our first stop was at converse, up in the second floor of diamond plaza. astig, maraming designs. there was even this display of shoes set for the world cup in germany. they got england chucks, germany chucks, italy chucks, and brazil chucks.
what's good is that diamond plaza is having a sale this week, kaya may discount yung shoes. all four of us--mama, loser, martin and i--each bought our shoes. haha, chucks family. si papa rin, bibili ng chucks niya when we go there some other time this week. i saw this white jacket rin, which was like, so ganda, kaso it was a wee bit small for me. loser bought the pink version of the jacket, which fit her perfectly. we went around the second floor, punta ng ripcurl and roxy, giordano, benetton, blah blah blah. loser and i bought blouse and pants at viet thy. then she bought white pants somewhere (i forgot the name of the store). i bought a long-sleeved shirt at esprit. i like it, it's red and white, hehe.

afterwards, we went to the third floor to look for martin's gamepak. kaso wala, so we just looked around for anything else we wanted. then we ate at KFC sa fourth floor. nice lunch, since it's been a long time na di ako kumakain ng chicken, haha.

then we went down to the first floor to look for a mont blanc pen mama's friend asked her to buy. kaso wala yung design na gusto niya. loser and mama also looked at sunglasses, they got everything--ray-ban, d&g, police, armani, blah blah blah. i was too busy playing around with martin, kaya i didn't really look around much.

we left diamond plaza and walked to saigon square. mama wanted to buy some shirts for papa, eh wala kasi siya makita sa diamond plaza. we went to this shop there, tapos there was this young british couple looking around din. the guy was asking for a bigger size of shorts or something, kaso sabi nung saleslady wala na daw ibang sizes. then the guy pulled this pouting face that looked so cute! hehe. basta ang cute cute! heehee.

we looked around for more shirts and shorts for papa, the ones he can use for golf. hirap maghanap.

saigon square is pretty okay naman, loads of clothes and stuff. the only problem is, it's too f*ckin' hot there. as in, sobrang init. the first time we went, i was cursing under my breath because i so wanted to get outta there. going to saigon square is like going to hell and back. talagang ang init.

thankfully, we didn't stay that long. we walked back home. mama probably noticed how exhausted we were, so she bought us coke and cookies when we got to the apartment. hehe.

i love my new chucks!


P.S.
i'm finally getting
the hang of LiveJournal.
Blogger's still easier, though.

i created an account in LiveJournal, for uh, some reasons. hehe.

turns out it's a lot more complicated than it looks. and i'm a complete idiot there. Blogger's easier, which is why i love it. kaso i'll be using LJ for some stuff. pero i'll continue using Blogger pa rin. this is like, my writing journal, and LJ is my graphics journal.

hopefully i'll be able to figure out how to work it. for now, i'm enjoying being an LJ idiot. proud to be! tagoink!

hehe. haven't been blogging much, kasi my time is kept occupied by photoshop. i swear, it's obsessive talaga! or maybe just for me.

at least my work is paying off. more people are finally noticing the things i do, giving more great feedback, snagging it and saving it, and even using it for forums (without giving me credit most of the time, which kinda sucks--but at least they say thank you--and i know deep inside they know it ain't their work. IT'S MINE! haha!). haay, now i feel great about photoshop. although i am still learning...

funny, photoshop takes a lot of my time, pero i still have a life. hehe. there's still life outside photoshop--and LOST.

like, last tuesday we went to saigon square. there were loads of shops selling shirts and pants and blah blah blah. it would've been a nice, new, exciting trip--except it was friggin' hot! i swear, the sun was killing me. haven't been out of the apartment kasi, eh dun sa sky garden naka-aircon 24/7. so when i went out, syet! init! i was like, hyperventilating and quickly losing air. the whole plac felt cramped and dirty and just plain crappy. i was so pissed off, i even passed up on the pizza mama got us for lunch! pizza! i said no to pizza! hehe. so now i'm cooped up in sky garden again.

and then today we went to mass. siyempre, dami ulit pinoy. it felt weirder, kasi i've already met some of the other kids. basta it was weird. tito ogie's 14-year-old 5'10 kid, Paolo, served sa mass. grabe, tangkad ng batang yun! hehe. tan and renz were there, pero walang pansinan. di kami magkakakilala. then sa side namin, there were some other teenage-looking girls who looked so maarte. nakakailang mapalapit sa kanila--mukhang bitchy kasi eh. kaso no choice--after communion, there was no way i was gonna get back to my seat without passing them. there's something very insecuring about those girls. hmm...

i totally forgot it's mother's day yesterday today! hehe. oh well, greet your moms a very happy mothers' day!

chris daughtry was voted out of american idol.

i'm pretty much upset with this. why, oh why, did chris have to go? he did much better than katharine! oh well, mcphee is at the mercy of the voters. if it weren't for them, walang wala na siya.

shit. the whole thing was just so unfair! so sad. i'm VERY sad. kanina nga, i was watching with the rest of my family, i was so close to tears. kaso si papa nandun kaya hindi ako umiyak, hehe.

but really, chris wasn't the one who should've gone home. he was doing well for himself. being one of the bottom two is understandable, but the guy who had to go? no way.

patawa, pati si mama upset with the whole thing. she said chris is so gwapo. hehe. that's something i'll agree with. for all i know, mama has a crush on chris. who wouldn't?

haay, i'll continue to watch the show, though. taylor's still there, and he's really good. and i'm waiting for katharine to get the hell out of the show.

grabe, it's like bo bice all over again! i'm so attached to chris...*sniff*

the last day.

we were supposed to be up early so we could go to church, kaso we weren't sure of the time for mass, kaya we just decided to attend mass in ho chi minh city when we arrive there late afternoon. so, we didn't get up early.

it was 08am when papa called us from the next room. by then i'd fixed myself. my stuff had been fixed the night before. loser and martin were still sleeping. when we were all ready, we went down to the cafe for breakfast.

i had less food than yesterday. everyone else had a lot. i looked around the cafe. less asians, more caucasians. weird talaga.

after breakfast, we went outside to look around the city. we were supposed to go to toys r us at the forum, kaso it was still closed. we walked halfway through orchard road (and it was a LONG road), kaso most of the stores were still closed. at 10am they were still closed! sheesh! i got pretty pissed off by then. it was hot, and i was tired of walking, and we had no idea where to go next. by 11am, most stores finally opened. we went to a toys r us at...somewhere. i forgot the place. basta. we went from one store to another on our way back to the hotel. my wish was granted when we stopped by borders, the bookshop. so many books!!! books kinokuniya seems bigger, but borders was great as well. i saw those books of jodi picoult that i'd been laying my eyes on for quite some time now, and i found the gospel of judas and the jesus papers. there was also david beckham's my side. kaso our little trip was cut short kasi we had to check out of the hotel na. i left empty-handed--again.

i was like a little kid pouting because i didn't get what i want. i was pretty mad at my parents, even if i didn't want to be. so i made a deal with myself, or so it seemed. i saw haagen-dazs in the distance. i said to myself that if papa gives us ice cream to make us feel better, i won't be mad at him anymore. kasi it's like, the whole ice cream thing means he still wants us to enjoy, have fun. like, he wants us to feel better. at least that's if he offers ice cream.

and he did.

so i wasn't angry with him anymore. hehe. shallow, i know. but it worked!

so we left the hotel. a SIA bus took us to the airport, and we flew back to ho chi minh city. the food on the plane was awful, by the way. yucky. eurgh.

but i did get my own TV again! :)

i woke up without any idea of what time it was. this is new--i usually check my phone for the time, to see if i woke up late or not. kaso my phone's battery was dead, and i was too tamad to charge it before we left. so i practically had no sense of time in singapore. all i know is that singapore's an hour ahead of ho chi minh city.

i took a shower and got dressed, waiting for my sibs to wake up and get ready for breakfast. we had a very good breakfast. i think i ate a lot more than i thought i would. while down at the cafe where breakfast was served, i saw this kid who walked along the buffet table, getting his food. he was barefoot, haha. feeling at home siguro siya, to walk around this dining area full of strangers, without his shoes (which, i saw, were similar to my chucks). looking around the place, parang may mali. like something wasn't right. then i realized there were more white people than asians around. i had to ask my parents if we were actually in singapore, or if our plane suddenly changed course and dropped us somewhere in europe.

mr. jeffrey picked us up after breakfast. today's sentosa day. but before going to the island, we went to takashimaya first. the shoppping center was huge! we looked around the place muna, while mr. jeffrey looked for a place for us to have lunch. i remember tan saying something about a huge bookstore here. i don't remember the name, though. alam ko lang it started with the letter 'K'. i looked it up in the directory, and sure enough, there was a 'books kinokuniya' on the fourth floor, i think. loser and i went there while papa went to the golf store beside it. the place overwhelmed me. i don't think i've ever seen a bookstore that HUGE before. so many books! it was like, better than going to hong kong disneyland (which was an option before singapore, thank goodness we didn't go--it was "too chinese" daw, sabi ni mr. jeffrey). the only downside was that we didn't really have time to shop, so i left the place empty-handed. i had my eyes set on 'the gospel of judas' and 'the jesus papers' pa naman. tsk tsk. we walked to angus house and ate lunch there. loser and i shared a steak. grabe, the best steak i've ever had! we were also served dessert, tiramisu. sarap! while eating, i also enjoyed looking down the street and watching the people walking around. i was hoping that before the trip ends, i'd be the one down there walking, too.

we drove to sentosa afterwards. mr. jeffrey offered to pick us up pauwi, pero papa declined na. the guy was already spoiling us, hehe. papa said we'll just commute going home. i was glad about it--adventure, since none of us ever commuted, more or less have been, in singapore.

at sentosa, we first went to the underwater world. i was so happy about it, kasi yun lang naman talaga yung gusto ko eh. i was like a little kid all over again, pleading my parents to let me go here and there. for "adventure" and a "LOST experience," we walked through the pathway, not exactly sure where the underwater world was. grabe yung nilakad namin! i mean, there were buses anyway, but instead we walked. luckily, we got to our destination.

underwater world was a lot of fun. i went to the touch pool, kaso all the fishes weren't being very friendly, and i couldn't touch one. the spotted ray wasn't too much into crowds, either. so i touched to one thing i knew wouldn't give a damn about being poked--the starfish. then we went down to see the fossils, and the crabs, the jellyfish, some weirdo fishes, a few seadragons. then we went through the tunnel. i liked the sharks--A LOT! and the rays, too. big sea creatures have always attracted me, and being in that place brought back thoughts of what i had written in my 6th grade yearbook--i wanted to be a marine biologist.

after underwater world, we take the bus on our way to the dolphin show. there were still a few hours to go before the show, so we alighted at the stop before dolphin lagoon--the merlion. it was papa's favorite place. he was so giddy when we were on our way there, gusto kasi niya pumunta kami to the very top. before we got to the merlion's head, we went for the little show, where i learned the story behind the merlion. i also learned where the name singapore came from: it's from the words singa (lion) and pura (city). roughly translated, singapore means lion city. we went up to the head of the merlion, and the view was breathtaking. then we went down to the mouth, then back down. by the way, at the entrance to the merlion they gave us each a sand dollar, which we were supposed to put into the mouth of the little merlion statues and a card would come out of it. the card said we had a special prize waiting for us. mama, papa, and loser got prize A--merlion keychains. martin and i got prize b--fans. i thought it was unfair, pero my fan did come in handy. it was a pretty hot day.

we made our way to dolphin lagoon and watched the pink dolphins. the dolphins were a real treat to watch, and there was this little girl who volunteered to pat the dolphins. she was so cute! pero the cutest living thing i saw wasn't the girl, or some random guy in the audience--it was jim! who's jim?! well, he's the dolphin trainer. nice bod, cute smile. definitely hottie! haha. syet! hanggang singapore, guy hunting! what the--?

after the dolphin show, we went the musical fountain show na. loads of people were there. the show was brilliant. i really did enjoy it, and hoped it would only be the first of many more fountain shows i'd be able to watch in the coming years.

we said goodbye to sentosa after the musical fountain show. we actually didn't have a clear idea on how to go home, but we were determined to make it. we thought of it as one of those "amazing race: family edition" segment. we rode the bus from sentosa, that took us to the harbourfront mrt station. yay! i was finally able to ride the MRT! i didn't get to do it yet sa 'Pinas, but i sure did so in singapore! i like their MRT. we each got a card that we just show to the electronic thingy, then we got onto the MRT. hindi daw ganun sa 'Pinas sabi ni mama eh. oh well.

we finally got to orchard road, and had dinner at the mcdonald's beside the hilton singapore, and near our hotel. haay, salamat. mcdo! french fries and burgers and nuggets.

singapore trip is finally over. actually, we arrived yesterday, kaso i was too tired to blog. i swear, when we got home , i'd slept and woken up about two or three times. kaya feeling groggy talaga ako. call me wasted, i sure looked like one.

plane trip wasn't all that bad. each seat had its own TV, so i wasn't just stuck listening to music. what's so ganda about the in-flight entertainment was that there were loads of choices. i mean, i've been to planes with like, seven to ten film options, pero sa singapore airlines, they had like, i dunno, double the number.

i sat with martin and loser during the ride to singapore. we were dumped all the way at the back of the plane, in seats 50A, 50B, and 50C. i got treated like a kid, haha. kasi usually, the attendants ask the children first which meal they prefer, so the three of us got beef and potatoes. nauna pa kami kumain kina papa and mama.

the only downside to the plane ride was that it was really short. hindi ko man natapos yung movie. too bad.

when we got to changi airport, there weren't that many people. i didn't have to wait in line sa immigration, which is a good thing, kasi i hate waiting and i tend to complain out loud when i get impatient. i was the first to get done, so i waited for them, si papa kumuha ng fox candies dun sa little coaster that they have sa counter. it's like a welcome candy they freely give sa immigration, kaso i didn't get any na.we went to the SIA stopover holiday counter to ask about stuff. martin, loser, and i were so glad to see a mcdonald's outlet sa airport. lemme see, it's been about 24 days (?) since i last saw a mcdonald's. more than that since i last ate at one. haha, feeling deprived. anyhoo, while waiting, loser and i sat near the SIA area. a group of old women were taking pictures. one approached loser and asked if she could take their picture. eto namang si loser, pa-shy effect pa! she nudged me, pointing to the woman that she should just ask me. siyempre, as always (haha), i quickly said yes, and took their picture gladly. a few minutes later, the SIA bus came, announcing for passengers en route to the orchard hotel. that's our call. surprisingly, dun din yung group of old women. yung "old british friends" ko daw, sabi ng sibs ko.

orchard hotel looked very nice, quite luxurious actually, compared to other hotels i've been to. i kept thinking, this time we're in a hotel kasi we're on a little trip out of the country. before kasi, we used to go to hotels in manila and subic and clark, just for the heck of it. parang wala lang. at least now, i'm in a new place. medyo na-ewan lang kami with the elevator thing, kasi you gotta insert the card to make the elevator move. kaso the card we were given wasn't working well, kaya ang tagal before we got moving.

the room we had was great! sobra! and finally, for once after this past month, i was going to finally sleep in a real bed. not a couch, not on the floor, not in some closet (i slept in a closet once, hehe)--but in a real bed. the TV was great, too, wide and flatscreen. the only funny thing was the bathroom. it had a window that exposed the inside to the bedroom. weird, although meron naman curtain so there wasn't anything x-rated that can be seen.

we arrived there late in the afternoon, so the first thing we did (after settling down) was meet with a singaporean friend of papa's, mr. jeffrey. we met him at the lobby of the hotel, then he treated us to dinner. the nice thing about singapore is that everything's just walking distances away. we walked to tony roma's, and mr. jeffrey treated us dinner. when we finished, papa asked mr. jeffrey how to get to the night safari, kasi we had it planned out as our first activity in singapore. instead of giving us directions, he offered to bring us there! grabe, he went to get his car, and he came out of the parking lot driving a JAGUAR! syet! JAGUAR! we were planning to use the bus or go by taxi to the night safari, instead we get to go there in a jaguar. haha.

the night safari was awesome. we first watched the 'creatures of the night' show. they had all sorts of nocturnal animals performing and all. hyenas, and bearcats, and otters and a whatsitcalled jumping cat. the best thrill i had, though, was when this guy sitting next to us started to panic minutes after the show began. he was this geeky guy, who suddenly jumped up his seat and started fumbling around his bag,panicking and muttering something about a "maggie." at first, i kinda panicked din, then i realized he was part of the show. he was really funny, though, and when he finally said he opened a toolbox (where he thought maggie was), he pulled out a ten-feet-long python! mama completely freaked out. i was too thrilled i almost jumped out of my seat. sayang, sana bumalik si geeky guy sa seat niya with the python, i so wanted to hold the python! after that we went on a ride sa tram, where it went about the place. we saw rhinos, and hippos, and lions, and all kinds of birds, plus some strange-looking animals. at the sound of the tourguide saying we were now into a part of the "jungle" they called the african lands, i thought of phume, hehe. africa!

before we left, we bought some souvenirs. i got my keychain! a merlion keychain. i'd made it a point to buy a keychain in every place i go to. after that, back to the jaguar. before mr. jeffrey dropped us off at the hotel, he drove us around singapore. i was too tired, though, that my head kept bobbing and my eyes were droopy. i had to be shaken by my mom para magising when we were almost back at the hotel. whew! so much for our first day in singapore!

my worst nightmare came true. *sniff, sniff*

Sawyer and AnaL had their "scene". eeww! yuck! bleh!

i'd post pictures of it--haha, porn!--but it's just too much. *continues to barf*

thankfully it's over now.more than over, actually. AnaL is dead! haha. got shot. thank you, TVgods!

it's midnight here. and i'm still awake. what's new?

but at least now i've got company. tan's online. chat lang kami.

we're going to singapore in a few hours! yay!

...okie, tapos na kami mag-chat. just pretty much talked about how school went.

TAN: sleep already
ME: 12am is still pretty early for me to sleep. why are you still awake at this hour?
TAN: i dunno
ME: sleepy?
TAN: i woke up at 6 wdya expect?
ME: that's around the same time i wake up! but of course, you had school and i didn't...
TAN: yeah u were on ur ass the whole day and i wasnt :D

grabe, i laughed to myself nung sabi niya i was on my ass the whole day daw, and he wasn't. patawa.

TAN: theory is the hardest
TAN: longest
TAN: of the science
ME: hmm...why? what do you have to do ba?
TAN: study all my bio, chem and physics notes of 2 years
TAN: and then answer some questions

pinapagawa yun sa school?! no way! kaya pala di ako pwede sa IS eh. tamad akong bata. hehe.

anyhoo, i'm excited for singapore! actually, gusto ko lang yung plane ride. hehe.

syet, ang lamig dito. the aircon's set to 21degrees, pero lamig pa rin! maybe kasi it's been on since, like, ever. haha. i feel sleepy, but i don't want to go to sleep yet...

my right leg is painful. very painful.

i slept late yesterday, around 2am here, so that 3am philippines time. syet. i woke up pa a couple of times for no reason. tapos there was an immediate black out--basta, parang a minute lang, then the power was back on. kaso i was too tired to reach for the remote nung aircon. my bad. ang init tuloy. by the time i woke up (i have no idea what time i woke up today, surprisingly), it took me a while before everything registered. weird. tapos sakit ng katawan ko. everyone else was up and about, ako nakahiga pa. took a lot to pull myself up. my leg hurt the most. especially the back of my knee. hanggang ngayon ganun pa rin...

anyway, yesterday nga pala, when we went to the reserve, i was wearing an artwork shirt. martin probably had nothing better to do, so as i stood there, he read what was written:

"LOST any and all interest in whatever you're talking about. REWARD for anyone who can entertain me longer than five minutes."

and then martin quipped, "i'll entertain you!"

ah ah. patawa talaga! sheesh! bata nga naman oh. then, all throughout the trip, he kept saying that. sabi niya, "what's the reward? i'll entertain you with my gameboy." tsk tsk. tagoink!

by the way, today was like, lazy day for all of us. kahit si mama, hindi siya nagluto ng lunch for us. instead, we had KFC delivered sa apartment. hehe. rest assured there wasn't any threat of bird flu.

it seems summer's just getting more and more interesting.

we went to the can gio district today. mr. tao, papa's friend, brought us to the mangrove biosphere reserve there. the road going to can gio was long, but fun at the same time. we had to cross the river pa kasi, so we rode the ferry. well, yung sasakyan namin nasa ferry, tapos dun kami sa loob ng sasakyan. aliw!

it turned out to be just one of the many boat rides we'd be having. when we got to the reserve, hindi pala pwede by car or by trekking. you go from one place to another by speedboat. it was like, one island, then another, then another. ang saya, lalo na nung morning, because it wasn't very hot yet, and the boat ride was exhilirating. as we went through the river, i looked at the surroundings. puro trees and mangroves (duh, kaya mangrove reserve!), but yeah, nice view. that time, just going through that liquid highway, it was like, a national geographic documentary in the works. astig talaga! haha. adventure!

our first island stop was at the bat forest. pagkababa pa lang sa boat, i could hear the bats already. a guide led us to a little boat, like a dinghy, which was pretty scray, seeing as there were seven of us (our family, mr. tao, and the driver mr. linh)--i had a feeling the boat was gonna turn turtle once we got on the water. what made it scarier was the fact that i had my mp4 with me. hehe. mabasa na lahat, wag lang mp4 ko! nyaha. the guide rowed the little boat and we cruised down the swampy area (medyo creepy), while we looked at the bats overhead. loads of 'em were hanging upside-down on the trees, sleeping. i remember mr. tao saying they were flying foxes. akala ko malalaki yung flying foxes--the bats in subic were bigger pa pala eh. when our little tour was done, our guide led us to this little area where they went crab-fishing. basta, ganun. we waited, pero wala namin crabs na kumain dun sa bait namin. so we left for the boats again and headed off to our next destination.

the next island stop was the crocodile swamp. yep, crocs! lacoste, hehe. chorny! anyhoo...at first, we were happy just watching the crocs na. dun lang kami sa may waiting area, tinitingnan yung crocodiles. then they called us. we'll feed the crocs daw. what the--? i offered to be appetizer, kaso i doubt if the crocs would like me. so we went to the boat, and headed somewhere near the center of the swamp. as soon as the engine started and our boat moved, the crocs began circling around us. syet. they weren't just big crocs--they were BIG! the guide gave me a wooden fishing pole-like stick with a dead fish attached to it. yun daw yung food nila. all i had to do was lower the stick, and wait for the croc to get it. riiight. buti sana kung hindi ako sumama dun sa stick pag hinila nung croc, di ba? so anyway, there wasn't any need to lower the stick pala--pinadali na nung crocs yung trabaho ko. they just jumped from the water to get the fish. i put up a pretty good fight with the croc, kasi ayaw ko pakain yung fish eh. eventually he got it, though. everybody fed the crocs, too. i only fed them once, tapos ayaw ko na. i liked watching them, though. i think they're amazing creatures. scary, but amazing, nonetheless.

after that, another boat ride. this time we went to a bigger place. they had this pool where it was really salty, kaya you'll float. we didn't try it, though. we went up tower, which was really, really high. the view was amazing. we went down and saw a few deers.

we walked a lot dun. so tiring, until now my legs are aching. seriously. it was cool, though. and when they said there were wild boars there--ah, LOST na ito! pwede! haha. gawd, my obsession with the show just oozes out. nakaka-high. syet. everywhere i looked, every thing i noticed, laging LOST yung naiisip ko. haha.

so that basically covered my day. yun lang. i'm pretty tired na. although i'd probably still be hanging around, looking for Boone's pictures for a request at the forums. busy, busy, busy.

haha. so baduy the title, noh? syet.

today was SO fun. like, uber fun. yeah, whatta word. heehee. i'm still kind of on a high, and with good reason. haha. ah syet. grabe.

a filipino family invited us over at their place. papa went first, around 05am, to play golf with mr. ogie (uh, tito ogie? i dunno what to call him). at around 10.30am, our driver mr. linh picked us up sa apartment and drove us to the vietnam golf and country club. tito ogie and his family kasi lived in one of the villas sa country club. (mr. linh isn't our driver. he's papa's friend's driver. yung driver namin, si mr. hein, pinahiram namin to some other friend of dad's).

we got to the country club, so ganda. but when we got to the tito ogie's house, it was SO beautiful. their house was just by the lake, kaya the view was perfect. it was really, really awesome.

we were introduced to their kids--bernard and patricia (the eldest, paolo, was playing golf, so wala siya). kaso they were younger than me, like 9 and 12 years old or something, so i didn't have any plans of hanging around with them. another pinoy family came. that of mr. george's (tito george?). his kids were even younger than bernard and patricia. i was feeling left out and lonely na. i had the feeling that it was going to be a VERY boring and long day.

but i was VERY wrong.

after tito george's family came, another batch arrived. pero this time, wala yung parents--it was just two guys. i checked them out (yeah, i did. can you believe it?), and i thought they were pretty okay looking. haha. i didn't get their names, kasi di naman sila pinakilala sa amin eh.

by noon, they called everyone na for lunch. jinky and i got our meals and settled at a table by the living room. so kaming dalawa lang dun. then nakasabay ng mom ko yung dalawang guys, while they were getting their food. so when they were finished and were looking for seats, my mom blurted out, "would you like to sit with ym daughters?"

SHITE. parang, what the--?

pero the guys did. we were introduced to them na. the older guy's tan (christian) and the younger is renz. at first, tahimik lang kumakain kaming apat. it felt awkward siguro, like four kids in a children's party being forced to sit together.

after a few minutes, tan started the conversation. ingglesero, probably kasi he's from an international school. he was like, "so what are your names again? blah blah blah..." so i introduced loser and myself again. tapos he asked about what grade i was in, sabi ko i'm going to college this coming schoolyear. he looked surprised, and said, "really? you don't look like it..." haha. uuy, flattened--este, flattered naman ako! haha. syempre. pero loser said, "no, fides is just short, that's why." at that moment, babatuhin ko na kapatid ko eh, buti na lang sabi ni tan, "there's nothing wrong with being short..."

the conversation went on. basta, ang tagal. bagal ko kumain, kasi usap lang nang usap. tan was more talkative than renz, pero he wasn't boring at all. we talked about school, and sports, and travel. mainly travel and tourist spots--he's been to a lot of places kasi eh (england, france, thailand, vietnam, singapore). then when i said we're going to singapore, he told me a few places i'd probably enjoy going to pagpunta dun.

now this one's a real good bit. when i was talking about school, i told them about how weird it is being around guys, kasi i'm from an all-girls school. i said something like, it's kind of a problem for me when guys are around, kasi i don't know how to talk to them or relate to them. then tan was like, "so you have a problem with me being here?" basta natawa siya. syet. he was right across from me on the table, kaya ang weird. haha. so i went, "well, yeah!" pero i was joking lang naman. i did mean it...in some way...hmmmm.

by the time we were having desserts, renz was also starting to talk more. he was so funny. they're like, loser's and my guy versions. laging may silly argument. we were watching them, tapos tawa ako nang tawa. it was something about tourist police around ho chi minh city. basta, ganun. tan was 16, kaya he's like all smarter with renz, who's 12. patawa talaga.

when we were done eating, it got pretty awkward again. tumahimik kasi eh, walang magawa. good thing they were as bored as we were. heehee. then we saw papa and his friends in the backyard, so we went outside. they had a football--squeee! tan, renz, and i went to the field beside the house and played a little. kaso i got tired easily, kaya i begged off na. actually, it also felt weird kasi--hanging out with them. so when i told tan, "i'll go na muna. you guys just play." so he went, "aww, come on..." tapos he kicked the ball to me, alam naman niyang sisipain ko pabalik eh. tapos binalik niya sa 'kin. eh di binalik ko sa kanya. tapos i went with loser and martin na.

we went back to the living room, looking bored as ever. renz went on playing footie; tan sat with papa's company. uminom na isang can ng san mig light. pero sabi naman niya hanggang isang can lang daw siya.

we went to the grassy lawn and sat there. more talking and talking. masaya sila kausap, hindi boring. and very down-to-earth. mga la sallista, sobrang bait. we shared more stories, until we thought we'd shared just about everything (we even had a bit of talk about religion, then about that thing in england where you're already legal to have sex at 16, haha--as in everything, duh buh?).

after a while, when wala na kami mapag-uspan i went to look for mom, hoping she'd get our facial expressions--bored and sleepy and wants to go home. kaso she was talking to the other moms eh.

tan and renz went back inside, and went upstairs to play PS. after a while, tan came back down. pinuntahan niya kami and invited us to go upstairs with him. i dragged my bro and sis up the stairs--susunod naman sila sa 'kin wherever i go eh. i really appreciated tan's efforts to make sure we didn't feel left out. nice tan.

we watched renz beat the crap out of mico, tito george's 5-year-old kid. kulit ni mico. unlike renz and tan, who'd only spent three years in ho chi minh city, mico grew up in vietnam na yata, kaya he didn't really know much filipino. he kept talking in english. basta cute little boy siya.

while we were there, i saw tan just sitting on a chair. he looked more bored than me. kawawa naman. hehe. syempre, ako, dakilang kapal mukha, sinabihan ko siya, "so now you're the one who looks bored and sleepy." yun kasi sabi niya sa 'min kanina eh. haha. he took a book from the shelf, Pride and Prejudice. tiningnan niya saglit, pinag-usapan namin. he asked if i'd seen the movie, i said no. he recommended it to me, kaya i'll make sure i watch it. talking to him was really nice. i think after being cooped up with just my folks in the apartment for so long, it was really refreshing to find someone outside the house to talk to.

then they said they had to go. renz had school the next day. tan's got exams on thursday. pero before they left, tan and i exchanged email adds. haha. no, not phone numbers, email adds lang, which is really nice. it's great to have a new email pal.

when they left, wala na. back to boredom. pero my mom finally called us. we went outside na, with the rest of the parents. mama and papa made me do football juggling a lot. pang-circus ba ako? hehe. but i like it. juggling the football was really fun. and their friends probably gave positive comments about it, kasi sabi ni papa, "sige, magpabili ka na ulit kay mama mo na bagong football." before kasi, when i watched GOAL! and i said i wanted a new football, they both said no. then now, pwede na! yay!

haay, what a day. saya! yep, sobrang saya.


P.S.
i suddenly remembered miss det kanina.
yung name na "tan" kasi eh.
hehe. miss det and tan-tan. tagoink!