Goodbye 2013

Goodbye 2013 and all your drama.

Goodbye 2013 and the whole month I delayed work on my manuscript. But I shall never forget so I may never, or at least avoid doing it again.

Goodbye 2013 and that stupid Valentine's Day I spent the whole night crying because of my manuscript and my then-boyfriend who couldn't be there when I needed him to. But I shall never forget my friends who stayed with me and made the night a little easier to let pass.

Goodbye 2013 and that med school-vs-master's drama. But I shall never forget the first time I made a big decision for myself, regardless of what other people will think of me.

Goodbye 2013 and my undergraduate years. But I shall never forget all the fun, crazy, blurry, drunken nights, the all-nighters, the mini heart attack before checking my grades, the hangovers on morning classes, and the friends who made those four years even better.

Goodbye 2013 and the baby steps to adulthood. But I shall never forget so I may take charge of this new stage better.

Goodbye 2013 and that limbo. But I shall never forget so I may continue making firm decisions and taking opportunities.

Goodbye 2013 and that stupid mistake. But I shall never forget so I may not make it again.

Goodbye 2013 and that heartbreak. But I shall never forget the first time I had my heart broken so I may remember that I am strong. I shall never forget the warm company I received from my family and my friends which was so helpful in getting me back to my feet, which made me realize that I wasn't broken at all.

Goodbye 2013 and those stressful days and drunken nights. But I shall never forget so I may remember to keep stress and alcohol low.

Goodbye 2013 and all those nightmares that happened each time I was awake.  But I shall never forget my housemates who woke me from these nightmares and helped me see how much better I can be. I shall never forget so I may have something to tell my children hahaha

Goodbye 2013 and those wrong moves and words. But I shall never forget so I may be more cautious on my actions and never lead on someone again. I shall never forget the first time I sang with only two of us as soprano. I shall never forget the first time I confessed my feelings for someone - not expecting any reply, but got it anyway. I shall never forget how I sort of believed in Santa Claus again for giving me what I wanted this Christmas. I shall never forget the first time I ran in the beach, felt free, and "saved" jellyfishes. And finally, I shall never forget the first time I felt afraid to fall in love.

Christmas Eve Post

Remember that post where I said I'll write you a story when my heart gets broken? Forget that. He doesn't deserve a story. Remember the post where I said I'll write about the man in white? He wasn't a knight or an angel, after all. He was just a wanderer wearing a white cloak, asking for directions. I hope he reaches his destination soon. He still writes me letters sometimes; he keeps forgetting my advice. I reached the place ahead of him; I hope he arrives soon. This is such a beautiful place.

I would love to tell you how my 2013 went, but I'll save it for the year-end post instead.

It's not the first time our family's incomplete on Christmas Eve, but it's the first time two of my sisters are away. One's in Germany, getting a master's degree. But we're going to call her later and meet her "special friend". I don't know if they're already dating exclusively; I'll ask her later *wink wink* I promised myself I'll only get a boyfriend after she gets one. My other sister is...at "work." But you know what? She's not really at work. I don't understand why she would ditch our noche buena for something else. She doesn't even live here anymore. Doesn't she feel like she should at least grant us her presence?

But anyway, I'm still so, so happy. Even after long stressful hours in the office and so much academic work to do this break, I'm just happy that Santa gave me what I want this Christmas. I'm surprised I'm in his "nice" list, though. Santa's gift is another story. I'll tell you on the next post. For now, have a merry Christmas!

PS

For a Christmas-y feel, here's a picture of our tree with all the gifts I wrapped.

Something New, Something Different

My sister gave me a planner, so I'm obliged to use it. I am also obliged to plan my life daily for the whole year. I normally don't use a planner because I trust my memory, but hey, it's worth a try. Maybe it could help de-clutter my life - what with thesis, org, and med.

What if...I try something new and/or different each month?

Obligatory End of Year Post

Here are some photos from my camera and a few from my friends'. Some of these you may have already seen here in my blog. Click a photo to enlarge. Happy viewing!

These are taken sometime January to March. New Year's Eve in Makati with relatives from Mom's side. Outreach program in an orphanage. Dinner with an old elementary classmate. And a friend's birthday in Ortigas.

Now I have a lot of summer photos.

Thai dinner with my sister. And Holy Week at Bangkong Kahoy.

I spent part of my summer in Sorsogon catching dragonflies and damselflies for my thesis. My field work ended with Dad picking me up in Legazpi and taking me to Tiwi where, after a long time, I had a taste of the famous DJC halo-halo again. It's the only halo-halo I enjoy eating. Some pictures here are from Laiya, where we spent a night. Unfortunately, I only have pictures of the shore because I was writing a paper.

We also spent a night at the Camayan Beach Resort in Subic with my aunt from New York and the rest of Mom's family. Of course we didn't forget to visit Zoobic Safari and see crocodiles, ostriches, camels, snakes, and tigers.

The last wave of summer I spent with my high school friends, this time in Sariaya, Quezon.

First week of classes, yay! This was also the first time I tried the BonChon Chicken in Katipunan. The other half of the collage is a celebration of my sister and Dad's birthdays, and Father's Day.

This summarizes my academic load during the first semester: animal physiology, cell biology, ecology, and plant morphology and anatomy. No picture of me working on my thesis, though. Hmm.

Parties! Plus ecology field work in Atimonan, Quezon.

And more parties! Sometime August the UP Zoological Society celebrated its 60th Anniversary. We also bade farewell to our animal physiology lab instructor.

September is the birthday of many. One of my sisters and I celebrate our birthdays in September. That guy over there is also a September baby. I got lots of surprises: from my male high school friends, my ka-bio, and my family. I had Mediterranean lunch with the latter.

My sister's birthday present for me is a ticket to the Phantom of the Opera. My aunt bought us dinner after - as a birthday present for us.

The first semester didn't end easy, but I'll skip on that. Here's a collage with my favorite girls (and Frank) during our graduation pictorial.

Second semester, yay! We won first runner-up in the annual College of Science Carolfest. Our contest piece was "Paskong Anong Saya", which ironically is one particular Christmas song I hate. Those on your right are from our Christmas party. Yep, I had my hair cut.

Can I afford to miss my last Pailaw and Lantern Parade in Diliman as an undergraduate? 

And then there's Holly, as in deck the halls with boughs of holly. She's a 2 month-old Labrador retriever. And as usual, we spent Christmas day visiting different extensions of our family.

Cheers!

Farms and Valleys

My one week-long summer break is almost over. Though most of it I spent cooped inside the house playing various PC games, I must say that the little time I spent outside made my break a bit notable. That's due to a couple of reasons, one of which I'd rather keep to myself.

We visited the farm. It has been a long time since my last visit. I no longer visit as frequent as before because I was over catching and identifying insects. A lot of things have changed. There were no more sheep and piglets, only sows, chickens, catfish, and turkey chicks. 

We have three cute turkey chicks. This one wandered outside its house and got lost. It ended up with the chickens, looking like an ugly duckling. 

Unlike last summer, there were no lettuce, cauliflowers, and carrots to pick. But there were papayas and peppers.

And that's my sister showing off her dress.

She found these mushrooms growing out of a log, so we had a contest where the one who takes a better picture of the fungi wins.

We had our chickens for dinner. I guess you don't want to read (or see) how those free range chickens ended up on our plates so let me skip to the next day where we drove to the mountains.

We went to Bangkong Kahoy the next day. It's a valley, seated between Banahaw and San Cristobal. The weather was hot and sunny, but windy, which cools the given conditions. We had lunch and raspberry shake first before starting the tour. Did I mention how long the shakes were prepared because they still had to pick raspberries from their farm? 

There were lots of raspberries growing along the way. This one's still too sour to eat.

And then we rode along the zip-line. It wasn't that scary (in fact it's not scary at all) after you've crossed this...bridge. You have to cross the bridge so you can get to the other side and start the zip-line from there. Well this bridge, I refuse to call it hanging because it wasn't hung. It's more like...pinned to the ground. It's actually a wire mesh - some of its parts covered with wooden planks - narrow enough to accommodate your two feet. There were no handrails. You can either hold on to your harness or to the rope above your head where your harness is attached. It wasn't that bad if you don't mind crossing the bridge watching your feet and seeing a glimpse of the canopy of trees way below. You have to watch your feet because the bridge is narrow and you would certainly want to keep it balanced. Anyway, that's not the hard part. The bridge terminates by ascending to where the zip-line actually starts. Covering those last few meters up the slope was the hardest part, for most of us. My heart was beating really fast when I finally got to the other side. I feel like it wants to break free from my pericardial sac ribs. Too bad I can't show you how the bridge looked like. I hope I described it enough for you to imagine it, but this would help.

My sister wants us to go at the same time, so there.

It was a short ride, but it was scenic and breathtaking. Next time I'll try zip-lines where I can lie on my belly and face down.

My sister and my cousins went horseback riding after the zip-line experience until it was time for us to go home. I almost forgot to tell you that Bangkong Kahoy Valley offers trekking and bird watching! Too bad we don't have much time and most of us (my cousins which are children and my grandparents) can't go on a hike. Oh well, there's a huge possibility I'm taking field biology this summer, so hello mountain treks! I wish we can have a trip to the beach, even just once, and  maybe see fishes, starfishes, crabs, whatever. I'd really like to hit the beach right now.

The Holidays

I had a blast.

Three days before Christmas Eve, my mom took me shopping for gifts. It was exhausting, but she bought me a pretty gift.

She asked me to wrap everything the next day, which I did. I love wrapping presents. There was only one thing I hated that day, that thing in my eye. I don't know how I got thing. I just woke up and then there's something inside my eye. It was stuck there the whole day. When I got so irritated, I called my dad and told him about it. He's always the first one I consult when it comes to my health. Btw he's not a doctor, he's an engineer. He advised me to go the hospital and ask someone from the emergency room to attend to me. I did, although I think it's really funny to be in an emergency room just because I have something in my eye. The nurses never let me walk; they always let me use the wheelchair even if I have to walk just to the next room. It makes me feel like I'm so sick. After cleaning my eyelid and flushing a liter (yes, a liter, seriously) of sodium chloride solution into my eye, nothing happened. I can still feel that thing in my eye. The doctor told me the thing must have been flushed away and what I was feeling was a scratch. She asked me to see an ophthalmologist in the morning.

Mom made me wear an eye pad so I wouldn't get too irritated when I feel the thing. I have a picture of myself with the eye pad, but I prefer not to show it to you :p

I waited in line for an hour. The patient before me was an eleven-year-old boy whose one eye was swelling. When I finally met my doctor, he made me peek into an apparatus so he could check my eye. It turned out that it wasn't a scratch. That one liter of sodium chloride solution didn't flush the thing away. He said that it looked like some part of an insect's exoskeleton. And that particular insect loves beds. So that's why I had it when I woke up. I trembled when I saw him get a syringe and a needle. For a moment there I thought my eye was going to get a shot. He used the needle to poke the thing off and he wiped it on a cotton swab. The rascal looked just like a speck of dust. He told me that my eye had a little scratch and that it would heal before Christmas.

I woke up the next morning to find out that it was really gone. Mom and Dad were working at the farm and they would be back in the evening, in time to make the Noche Buena. They were so tired when they got back that they drifted off to sleep almost immediately. Mom woke up at around 11PM only to find out that it was too late to cook. She made haste to cook anyway. We ate at around 2AM and my sister, who was spending the holidays with our relatives in the US, called. We told her how much we enjoyed our Mango Bravo cake from Conti's (we always have that cake for Christmas Eve) and that she missed it. And since my sisters and I had been nice all year, we gave her our wish list. Teehee.

Noche Buena by Mom

A closer look at Conti's Mango Bravo

I thought the next day would be just like any other Christmas Day - visiting Lolo in San Pablo, Mom's side in Makati, and then Dad's side in Parañaque. For some reasons, Dad's side in Parañaque couldn't prepare dinner so we had dinner at our place instead. It was a surprise dinner so we had to get home before them, clean our messy house, and make dinner. The cramming was successful. Dinner was followed by exchanging gifts, yay!

Those are my cousins with Lolo

I asked Dad to take me to Recto so I could buy cat, fish, and chicken bones. He used to go there back in college. All that walking around Manila gave his legs muscle pains so he asked me to give him a massage. He told me that he's becoming old. That he gets tired easily. He told me that I should have been born earlier so he could take me to Recto and buy stuff without him getting tired easily. I told him to jog regularly again.

I haven't touched my bones yet. Maybe when I get back to school. Anyway, I got a haircut. I was actually torn between growing it long or cutting it. I want nice, long hair to style on December (because my sister's engaged but I don't want to be the one to break it to you but who reads this blog anyway?). However, short hair is easier to maintain and my long hair makes me look ten years older I don't know. I'd post a picture of my hair, but I'm afraid I don't have a nice picture of it.

We spent the New Year's Eve in Makati, with my mom's relatives. She said she wanted noise and all, well, we got those.

Those are my cousins, Deia and Polo.

Cheers for 2012! Break a leg.