Christmas in Boracay

So hello! I'm finally back from our Christmas vacation spent with family in Boracay~ It's been a while since I've been on hiatus; if Instagram wasn't so picky I would have already left you all with some pictures from my trip. Haha! But anyway, anyway.

Before we go into the nitty-gritty of my experience, I just wanted to take the opportunity to greet a very special actor/singer dear to my heart:

December 26: Tenimyu Seigaku 2nd cast's Tezuka Kunimitsu, Shirota Yuu

During our last day in Boracay, I decided to do a little sand kanji for my favorite actor Shirotan~ Granted the first kanji should be more compact, but it's not that easy to raise sand, mind you. x) But birthday greetings all the same~

It definitely took some time but it was well worth the effort!


That aside, onto some pictures! Our dad drove us to the airport early in the morning to catch our flight at around 7 in the morning. We managed to all get on the same flight as opposed to taking two separate ones, so all 19 of us rode on the same airplane headed for Caticlan.

Since it was just a small plane, it was a first to actually board the plane on the runway, and get down the same way. The airport (picture on the right)was very accommodating and modern, which was pretty neat considering the last time I came to Boracay was some years ago when I was a wee little child who came last minute. xDD


After that, it was a series of transportation via shuttle, boat and van just to get to the resort, which was all the way in Station 1. But boy was the trip worth it! We stayed at the Boracay terraces Resort, which is technically the last resort along the white sand beach, which was perfect since it was rather secluded.

Not surprisingly, swimming turned out to be a necessity despite the salty content. The water was cool and the waves that frequented coming our way was just another excuse to have fun in the sun. Sunsets always made it more and more breath-taking, a testament to an experience at the beach.

The afternoon of December 24, I went with a little troupe of hikers down to another resort called Nami, which is owned by my cousin's boss (who I met back during my time at the Global Enterprise Challenge). Here's me and my mom posing by the beachfront sign after looking at the place and having a very refreshing glass of Lemongrass tea

On our way back to our resort, we spotted someone in the distance. And lo and behold, it was my dad! He came up with an ingenious plot to trick my mom into believing that he wouldn't be able to come with us to Boracay this Christmas. He apparently wore a disguise and all but was thwarted by my sister's keen eye. My mom and I ran over to him to give him a big glomp. Uberly pumped to know that he would be able to join us for Christmas after all! For dinner that evening, we headed off to Guily's Island for a buffet and decided to walk along the beachfront. Below is a picture of me and my dad in front of Friday's during out walk~ The second picture is a family picture taken after our dinner.

 After hearing 9pm mass, we headed off to Epic since our cousin was a guest DJ come Christmas Day (poster below). Of course it was a truly epic experience (no pun intended), but since I'm not one to drink I headed home early.

 We made a return trip to the Nami resort for Christmas Day lunch care of my cousin's boss, and below you see a picture of me in front of the entire resort. It was gorgeous, but the steps and elevator brand it as a resort not for the faint of heart. Regardless, the view was to die for~

That evening, since the family was complete and it was raining, we just decided to call in for a Yellow Cab delivery (yeah there's a Yellow Cab in Boracay!) while we watched Shrek Forever After on HBO. Good times and good company especially. :3

The last three pictures mark our last day in Boracay before our return to Manila. It was a truly new experience, celebrating Christmas at the beach, but when you bring together the merriment and company of family there can be no greater experience. This is one to remember, and I'm more than grateful that we got to spend it together as a family. Until the next time, Boracay!

  

Christmas Break!

So today was the first official day of Christmas break!!!

These next two weeks will be devoted to parties and Christmas celebrations, but of course it didn't come cheap. Two days ago I finished the draft for our thesis paper, making sure that it's done well before Friday so I can use Thursday to relax. Of course, that meant that I had myself an early celebration by going out on a date with Kai that afternoon!

So last Thursday she and I went to Eastwood to have lunch and watch a movie. We originally wanted to watch Tintin, but they weren't showing it in their cinemas so we settled for watching Immortals instead. Admittedly, I was so tired from the night before that I nodded off during the dialogues, but I was perked awake by the fight scenes. Hehe. Lots of gory blood and epic fight sequences, and hot guys to boot. Hahahaha!

Tomorrow the family will be holding an exchange gift tomorrow night in lieu of the annual Christmas Eve celebration since we'll be going to Boracay for the holidays. I happily have my gift wrapped and ready to be given. ^o^/

On Tuesday I'll be meeting with my blockmates to have a Christmas block party. Surprisingly enough, the boys were the one who did the planning this time around, which was in itself a surprise. Let's see what happens out of it. Hahaha.

For this break I've got some things I need to do: write a PCSC paper with my thesis-partner, read some books for Philo class, and prepare for Theo midterms and Game Design LT. So much for a break. But then again, that's what cramming is for! xD

ALLS Christmas Dinner

So last night was a most interesting party! I celebrated a Christmas Party with my ALLS (Ateneo Laboratory for the Learning Sciences) family at school at Narnia! Okay, it wasn't really Narnia, but it was the epic house of my thesis adviser. It was great heading there with my fellow friends and teachers; the journey to and from, and the food!

^o^/

Fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun fun.

Thesis is almost done too, so last stretch this last week of class next week.

Early Morning Drives

Today was the second time this year that I've made a long drive. The first was during this time when I brought my Mom to the airport. This early morning I brought Dad to his office that was practically the same area. Because it was early (some 4 in the morning) he was the one who drove to the place, and told me the needed route to take (which was only one unfamiliar turn before everything else became familiar from previous experience) to get home.

Got back home at around 5:10 since my class was (again) at 11:30, so there was plenty of time to spare (since I plan to nap after I move the car). Reason for subjecting myself to waking up early to bring Dad? To have his car available for use while he's gone until Saturday evening. Hoo-hum.

Anyway, will probably snooze once Mom and my brother are ready to leave and I've moved the car out of their way since I'm blocking their way.

Here's to a sleepless night ahead of me.

Birthday Celebrations + Shirota Yuu

So yesterday I had my birthday. My 21st. Much like most birthdays that fell on a weekday, I went to school, was greeted by some friends, classmates and teachers before going to dinner with family. Lunch was reserved to be spent with Kai, but she was plagued by sickness so we postponed for the weekend.

Last Tuesday during my 7.5 hour break, I decided to treat my fellow labmates to a pizza dinner; a rare treat since I never really was in the habit of doing that kind of stuff unless it was important. In exchange, they got me a nifty birthday cake, so it was a great early celebration~

This weekend is going to be busy since I can relax from all the schoolwork, having a lighter load than most weekends so far, both days practically booked. Tomorrow I plan to spend the day with Kai, go out for lunch, attend an event in the afternoon then dinner out. Then she'll be sleeping over since I have my birthday party the following day with the extended family and some friends. ^o^/

Finally, my fangirling for Shirota Yuu returned while I finally stumbled upon the song he sang with Backstreet Boys' Howie D entitled 'If I Say'~ It was released two months ago but it's still as epic as hell! \*o*/ You can listen to it below~

Semi-Expected

My parents gave me an early Birthday/Christmas present that I've been asking for: an 8gb Apple iTouch!! When my sister was given hers, my parents asked me if I also wanted one. It took my some time before I finally agreed, so it wasn't a stretch to expect it coming after some time.

Funnily enough, I was swamped with writing my papers for Philosophy that my parents came home that fine Wednesday evening to have the case practically shoved in the back of my shirt. That being said, I actually already expected it, but when it did show up, it distracted me for a bit, but nevertheless was a motivation to get things done.

And now, some days later, I present to thee this entry and my new iTouch, Saeki! 8D (named after the epic actor who portrayed Eric Slingby in the second Kuroshitsuji Musical)

Catching Up

Lately for school there's the usual lectures, assigned readings and homeworks. Not surprisingly, I'm tossed back into the world of coding that I realize my logic is not as refined as I had made it towards the end of last year (then again, I've slowly stopped coding unless required, like for thesis). But needless to say, I've gotten back into the swing of Java for one of our classes, and C in another. To suit my needs, I've armed my little netbook (named Agri) with the necessary programs (Eclipse, Dev C++ and Visual C# Express Edition+XNA Game Studio to be specific). That way my programming becomes portable, and I can actually work on thesis with the little guy.

Speaking of thesis, I'm currently starting on the art assets for Stage 2 (3/4 stages), which should take less time to design and prepare for the game. Implementing it will take a bit more time considering inclusion of a timer and what not. So this should be an interesting development. Hopefully Jason and I can get things rolling.

In other news, Kai introduced me to a dating game catered to our tastes. The theme? Prince of Tennis. Not surprisingly, it makes us go 'kyaa' xD. Should be fun where this goes. At least it's an excuse to start playing with my DS again once in a while.

First Week Out

Also celebrated last November 9 was mine and Kai's 3RD ANNIVERSARY! Unlike previous years, we didn't meet to celebrate with a glamorous lunch or dinner to save money and pave the way to attend the upcoming convention: UP AME Monogatari that pushed through yesterday. Instead, we met the day after for a budget lunch at KFC, then spent the rest of the day at her house. I slept over due to plans of going to have our driver's licenses renewed to take advantage of my no class day.

Now more about the convention. Not a lot of pictures for sure, but a lot of interesting events, cosplayers seen and unexpected people spotted. For once, Kai and I did characters from different anime: Kai as Ayuzawa Misaki from Maid-sama, and myself as Ootori Kyouya from Ouran High School Host Club. Thankfully, not a lot of people came up and asked for a picture but there were still that handful of fangirls who did.

Of course, as fellow fans of anime and games, we also had pictures taken with several interesting cosplayers, including a Godot and Miles Edgeworth from the Phoenix Wright series and an Undertaker from Kuroshitsuji: Ciel in Wonderland. Other pictures included me being dragged into a group picture with fellow Ouran cosplayers where I had to shift to be a Fujioka Haruhi in a heartbeat since there was already a Kyouya. Hahaha.

Overall, it was tiring but a fun time since we found some interesting company and finds, including a cat hat (>w<)  for Kai for her birthday, an interesting bell collar chained to a wristband (that we used to help her not get lost), a live-action Ouran drama DVD, several photocards of Tenimyu actors and a Sebastian mobile strap. Thanks to some connections I managed to find us a ride over to the general area (thanks again Keiko!) after halfway commuting. In essence it was a good experience but we're hoping that things relocate to a place closer to home.

And now, back to reality, back to school, back to some seriousness. Thesis and readings here we come.

Last First Day

Ironic as the title of the entry sounds, it's *knocks on wood* the last first day of my college life, and I'm hoping that it will be a nice step forward to completing my college education.

Since it's Tuesday, I have an uber long break (7.5 hours to be exact) between my first two early morning classes, so it's a good time for both lunch and an early dinner, thesis work and reading time in between. I elected returning to Father David for my final Philosophy class, for the reason that I already have some idea of his teaching style. Notwithstanding, he claims to be more strict this time around but fingers crossed that he does lax a bit through the course of the already constrained time we have. Besides that, I also have my first and last Theology class in Filipino taught by the infamous Bobby Guev, who actually turns out to be very engaging despite the semi-nosebleed Filipino usage. xD

Another thing to note is that today is the birthday of my favorite chef: Gordon Ramsay! Hooray~ I wish I could say it's a cause for celebration but it would seem short-lived until I can get into the groove of things, especially once I've attended all my classes. For now, I'll end this entry here and feast on some good ol' Lechon Kawali for lunch. OuO

Playing on Accents

I wanted to talk about Puss in Boots. Kai and I went off to watch it some days ago and might I say, what an excessively cute, hilarious and sensational movie it was! You can't go wrong with cats, and adding Antonio Banderas voicing the rogue cat was just the cherry on top.

Now, with every movie and great actor, physical or voice over, it's a funny little habit of mine that I end up coming away with some sort of accent to do. Such was the case with Puss, but this has happened on more than one occasion. One such instance was Real Steel, where I came away with a nice Hugh Jackman accent that Kai was highly amused of.

But of course, there's always the showings of Hell's Kitchen, where I end up borrowing the accent of the infamous Gordon Ramsay with his British tone. It may not be up to par with actually sounding exactly like them, but close enough to make my girlfriend have a good laugh (or swoon) about. xD

Food and Chef Ramsay

Now, for these past few days during the semester break, I've definitely been spending more time browsing the internet and watching TV to catch up on stuff. Of particular interest to me was tuning in to regular screenings or replays of Hell's Kitchen 9 and Masterchef US 2 on Star World. Why?

Chef Gordon Ramsay.

I may not be a cook, but you've got to admire the man's blunt honesty. His professionalism and attitude towards people and food is admirable and infectious to say the least. xD 'Course, that doesn't include the swearing (at least to his magnitude verbally).

That of course got me interested to search through YouTube to watch segments from his TV show appearances, as well as his other shoes such as Kitchen Nightmares, which is absolutely bloody brilliant to watch! Now I'm finding myself in a fix and wanting to watch other shows and more of him and his attitude in and out of the kitchen. :D

Anyway, speaking of food, my sister came home with a plate of cupcakes today. Red velvet with cream cheese, she says, and the mini-cupcakes actually taste nice. :3

Last Ride

Today was the release of our first semester grades. As you guessed, I'm already on semester break before resuming classes some two weeks from now. It would kind of explain the lackluster of postings to this blog since I was either lazy or busy spending time with Kai to make anything decent.

My QPI's going rather steady, being part of the average bunch of cats in the school sitting just under the 3.0 mark; my semester's QPI stands at 2.74, bringing my 4th year QPI to a 2.93 (3.88 for the summer), and my cumulative QPI to a 2.87 (reminder: 1 is the lowest and 4 is the highest on our grading scale). The minimum grade to be eligible for graduation is a 2.00, so I'm looking pretty good if I keep up the good work. ^o^/

So what exactly have Kai and I been doing lately? Well, hanging out basically, and spending time at a sports complex that my family's a member of, just to utilize the privileges. We ended up playing bowling, billiards and went swimming aside from feasting on the food, so it was a good run.

Oh, and we finally got our pictures back from the photoshoot we did last September! ^o^/ Pictures came out great! You can find the album of our pictures here. ^_____^

Last Hurdle, Real Steel and Avengers

Thursday mid-morning and I'm back from my Economics Final Exam. I can admit that I don't know the fate of my grade until the very end, but I think I did alright. All that's left is for me to get through my Philosophy orals tomorrow afternoon and I'm home-free!

To celebrate the occasion and to psych myself up for the rest of the day, I came home to make myself some breakfast: my ever favorite Cheese Bread! ~u~

Now, because yesterday was the birthday of the epiceawesome Hugh Jackman, Kai and I decided to watch his latest movie Real Steel tomorrow to celebrate the sembreak! ^o^/ You can find the trailer below~


In other news and Marvel-related, the teaser trailer of The Avengers is out, and looking awesome! Out of this bunch I personally enjoy Iron Man, especially portrayed by the great Robert Downey Jr. This is sure to be part of my To-watch list this year!

Calm before the Storm

This week being finals week, you'd expect me to be hectic about the upcoming exams and orals that come with it. Not surprisingly, I slack off until I need to get something done. Schedule for my finals are as thus:

• Tuesday (11-Oct): History Final Exam (11:30am-1:30pm) ; Games Design Defense (2:00 - 2:25pm)
• Wednesday (12-Oct): Theology Final Orals (2:30-2:40pm)
• Thursday (13-Oct): Economics Final exams (7:30-9:00am) + optional assignment
• Friday (14-Oct): Philosophy Final Orals (2:30-2:45pm)

So as you can probably see, I'm booked for the next few days, so my time of panic has already started to settle in during this time. Hopefully things turn out okay for me as this semester draws to a close.

Wish me luck!

Close to the End

I want to take this time updating you all on last few requirements for school. We're down to the last week, the finals week of my 1st semester of senior year, and I'm somehow not pressured as I should be. Considering that the stress comes in the latter four days of the week (Tuesday-Friday) with 2 exams, 2 orals and 1 defense, I suppose out of all that I can say that "at least I can sleep soundly knowing my thesis is on track".

Collectively, it may only hold 3 units out of my entire college life, but that might spell the difference between graduating on time or not. So to consider it just as important since it's a year-long process of research and development, a cumulative of what we learned and what we'll leave behind.

So here's to a good end to the semester!

Happy Teacher's Day~

So today is World Teacher's Day.

My academic upbringing, until now, has me meeting numerous individuals designated as teachers, allotting a lot of their time and effort to impart their knowledge onto us students. But something that's interesting is my little ability to be a different kind of teacher's pet.

Growing up from elementary through to college, I had a knack of befriending them outside the classroom. From frequent acknowledgments passing them by in school, to small talks about random topics, it's a real treat knowing that they're more than just teachers; they're people like us so getting to know them just a little bit more outside their facade as educators.

So here's to all the teachers who've touched my life. I'm grateful for all of you, helping me to become the kind of person I am today~

Fail Coffee

Earlier today I was early for my 7:30 class; so early that I decided to get myself some coffee from vending machine, a rarity. I decided to get a Cafe Mocha since the description slayed me with a coffee + chocolate, no sugar somewhere in the mix. After I ascended three floors, settled myself down while waiting for the classrooms to be opened, I sipped on the substance, hoping that I'll keep me awake since I was sleep deprived from last night's series of events that ended up with me only getting roughly 1 1/2 hours of sleep.

Funnily enough, as soon as I finished my coffee  I slumped into a power nap.

NOT HELPFUL AT ALL.  =.=

Anyway, that aside, today I got to continue working on paper revisions for our thesis. I'm hoping to get them done before Friday so our adviser has time to read and make any suggestions before we submit it as a final requirement for the semester. It's fulfilling knowing we're on track with several of the non-Affective thesis groups in terms of getting everything in in time.

To cap off the day, I found out that I wasn't failing my enemy Philippine History; in fact, our professor even encouraged me that he I could get a B on the final exam if I put my best foot forward. Hope I don't let him down! After that, I accompanied Lev to help her learn how to put on and remove contact lenses since she acquired some two pairs from the Internet. It was funny watching Lev fumble with the soft lenses and constantly mutter how 'scary' the how prospect of sticking your finger into your eye was, but in the end she got it in and I think that's what's important!

Will be meeting with Kai tomorrow to spend the day to de-stress from the fast approaching Finals week. Last stretch and we're home free!

Random Quips

Today was an interesting day. We (me and Jason, as well as TC and Rina) were interviewed for the Mind Museum set to open on the 15th of December later this year to talk about our ongoing thesis projects. It should be a lot of fun if and when I decide to grace the area of Taguig.

Anyway, the random quip I was mentioning for purposes of a title of this particular entry centers around the outfit that I chose to wear today:

JoyceR: Trish I like your outfit!
Me: Thank you~
JoyceR: Mukha kang Japanese street singer! [You look like a Japanese street singer!]
Jason: ACTUALLY... Yeah.
Me: Okaaaay xD
Jason: But you know, Japanese street singers are actually good.

So yeah. your call readers. xD

Post-Defense

Yesterday was a stressful day. Besides it being the last day of the month - not that that's a bad thing -, Jason and I scheduled our second thesis defense to present recent developments, inclusive of our prototype. It was a happy time, and I must say it went well! Happy time~

TODAY, it's a special day today~ Happy birthday to Tenimyu Seigaku 2nd cast, Fuji Syuusuke, Aiba Hiroki today! Not really sure if it's some form of celebration, but I'll be meeting with Kai and her mom later in TriNoma for lunch and watch Glee 3D concert~ 

Affected by Typhoons

Yesterday was a stressful day. It was a day of panic and boredom at the same time it was almost frustrating. Why, you ask? Let's look at what happened.

My typical Tuesdays would normally begin with me waking up to my 5 AM alarm since I usually hitch a ride with my mom early in the morning to get to my 7:30 AM class. Rains and strong winds were both a factor in effectively waking me up after every attempt at trying to get back to sleep.

The night before I read an email from our Economics professor (the heathen 7:30 class) that due to the storm and the UAAP Finals Game 2 that was originally scheduled yesterday (but was rescheduled to Saturday at 3PM), she wouldn't be checking attendance but would still hold classes unless the admin suspends class. After some contemplation I decided not to go to class. I was lucky enough to decide that as I received a text from TC at around 6AM informing me of the suspension of classes. Happy with that, I sank back to get more sleep.

About an hour or two after, I woke up to the strong winds pounding harshly against my closed windows. Seeing that my fan was still breezing, I noted that the power was still okay and decided to charge some of my electronic gadgets, foreseeing a possible power outage later that day should the storm pursue. I also had the impending dilemma of finishing our group's game script that was due today. It was on Google Docs so I had the mind to download it to Word should anything bad happen. Not long after that the power start to fluctuate and eventually die down altogether, so I was inwardly happy to have done that else I was screwed.

Wanting to save battery I shut my laptop down and decided to work on a draft of the chapters I had yet to write down on pen and paper. Satisfied after writing down two chapters worth of script, I decided to take a break and take a nap since the pounding rain and winds just give me nothing more to do but that. I awoke around 4PM when I realized that the power had revived itself. I managed to watch a few minutes of the Game 1 replay before the power died again. Bored altogether, my sister came into my room wondering what to do before I broke out the question cards from my Harry Potter Scene It? game to pass the time, considering we were both Potterheads.

Soon after, dark came after another nap, and we three sibling had an early dinner with what little outdoor light there still was before we were plunged into pure blackness that the evening brought. Rain continued trickling down and soon my dad, and my mom came home from their work, and we all decided to go out to grab some internet time since power had still to return to our house. What was ironic was that half our street already had power, so it was pretty unlucky for us to still not have ours back. We spent the time from around 7PM until 10PM at Flapjacks, Techno Hub leeching off the free WiFi and giving the parents an opportunity to have some dinner for the lack of any.

During that span of time I took the opportunity to have a chat with Kai who was alone in the house, which was never a good thing since their house had tendencies of flooding during typhoons so of course I was worried for her. On the back of that, I still had to update the script with the draft I had constructed and compose two more chapters before I could put a pin on it and consider it done. I never got to finish it until we got home, where we found to our dismay that there was still no power. We ended up going to bed with the lack of anything more to do.

So on one hand, I should count my blessings that compared to others, Typhoon Pedring handicapped us by chucking away our power most of the day. On the other hand, the power of Pedring that's swept away trees and flooded streets and houses, inconveniencing a lot of people is no laughing matter. Stay safe everyone.

Writing Fever

So this little entry comes rather late for the simple fact that the very reason I'm typing up an entry this late into the night is because I've spent practically the whole day in front of a laptop typing away. Whether it's constructing words and sentences, backspacing or alt-tabbing to switch between windows to check sources, I can say that I spent a good portion of my day dedicated to getting thesis work done, which is actually saying something.

Between me and my partner Jason, I handle more of the paper content and coherence, as well as the art assets for the game, leaving most of the programming in his capable hands. I'll agree he tends to spazz out from time to time in agitation at failing to understand why his theory to get a method isn't working, but he gets the job done so there's not much for me to complain about. The guy's pretty smart in the programming department (the better among the two of us for sure), so I can count on him to get things done. It's all a matter of cracking the whip whenever necessary, especially when deadlines are looming.

Since he and I are one of the groups among the Affective thesis groups that are on par with the rest of the groups, I'm pretty confident that we can get our prototype working for our upcoming defense at the end of the week. Considering I've just sent the draft of our paper to our adviser crosses out one agenda off my writing list. Thankfully one less thing to worry about for the time being.

The other writing assignment I'm stressing over concerns the script for our game in our Game Design class. The deadline's on Wednesday and ideas are flying around in my head. Since I have the day planned out for tomorrow I figure I could get to work on that when I get home and just do things gradually from there. It's a fun and tedious task but at least I get to apply what I do for a hobby (roleplay~) with this assignment.

So after all that, I surprisingly come up with a lengthy post, which is a rarity among many of my blog entries. I'd add random smilies across the board but my eyes are closing and telling me to get some sleep if I want to even wake up to go to class tomorrow. So I bid you all goodnight~

Lunches and Coloring

So just a little entry about today. After the longest time, Kai and I got to go out for lunch today! We decided to try out the Set for 2 over at Pizza Hut, and Kai was doubly surprised when I complained about her hogging the Caesar salad. YES I EAT SALAD NOW GO FIGURE. xD

Anyway, after that we went to meet with her mom to go and get her costume made for the upcoming UP AME we plan to attend. I'm still on the hunt for a blond wig if I plan to cosplay a character from the same anime as the one she plans to do - which will be classified until further notice - or just pull out one of my other costumes (most likely Kyouya. Right now I'm bending towards the latter idea since I miss the blazer. xD

And then of course there's my accomplishment of the day! I finished coloring a new manga page today that I wanted to share with you all from Shin Tenipuri Volume 2, Chapter 11, Page 1:

Field Trips

Today I wanna talk about the long-short of our field trip to Malacanang earlier this afternoon. There were about 80 of us that went from our Philippine History teacher Sir Mendoza's various classes, and most of us opted to commute the route that Sir had suggested.

Prior to this, however, my earlier class had its fourth Unit Test on game ethics, then TC, Lev, Keem and I went to have lunch at a new place called JT's Manukan Grille, located at the 2nd floor of the FBR Arcade building along Katipunan. We sat by a mirror so it was perfect to snap some pictures.

After that, TC, Lev and I made haste to walk all the way to the LRT station where we'd be meeting with majority of the people before heading to Legarda Station, all the way out in Manila. It took about 20 minutes walking time from the station to Kalayaan Hall situated right beside the Palace.

We weren't able to take any pictures inside since they didn't allow us to take them on the tour, but we still learned and saw a lot. Won't go into detail too much since my mind is starting to go to jelly after the long tiring commute coming home. @.@ So yeah.

Kuroshitsuji Manga!

I HAVE THEM!!!!

I went to WakuWaku earlier this afternoon with friends TC and Lev to get the first five volumes of the Kuroshitsuji series!!!

o(〃＾▽＾〃)o

Vol 1 Cover

Pictures below.

Vol 5 cover

Vol 1-5 packaged

Ah finally. Finally finally!! These are just the first five volumes, but I'm as happy as can be. Why?

For two reasons:

1. It's original Japanese manga :*:・(￣∀￣)・:*:
2. I can proudly say "I support Toboso Yana-san!" ☆-( ^-ﾟ)v

Sooooo yeah!

Can't wait to snuff through the pages in all its original language glory, pinch myself again and again that I have original manga in my hands. ﾍ(ﾟ∀ﾟ*)ﾉ

Happy day happy day!!

Return of the Nyan

Good morning! (・∀・)

After my new haircut I'm back to having my nyan hat back on just because. ヾ(▼ﾍ▼；)

Above is my morning look on a typical Tuesday, in my usual spot in the new ALLS venue. Today's a sorta special day 'cause it's my godfather Uncle Pat's birthday today! He's my Sirius Black so to speak since he lives in the US so I only get to see him when we go visit or on rarer occasions, he comes home to visit. So hooray~

Not much to talk about save for announcing a new fanfic I'm composing as per requested by a good friend of mine. They want me to make a Tenipuri Momoshiro x Echizen Valentine's Day themed fanfic, and I took this morning to start it out. Hopefully I'll get it finished in the coming days. (o^-')b

Finally, later this afternoon after my 10:30 class and partaking in lunch, I'll be running over to WakuWaku to purchase those Kuroshitsuji manga I was talking about in some previous post. I can't wait to get my hands on them! Will post a picture with them later on when I get home. :D

At the New ALLS

Hello friends!

I forgot to blog last week about the relocation of our lab! :D It's still in the process of being redecorated and stuff but in the long run it's much more spacious! :D You can tell too that my place is by the window, right across the door. xD Fail. Will upload another picture later of the other side of the room later when I get home. :3 EDIT: Added a new picture below!

The Haircut

So I just got back from the parlor from another haircut~

It's always fun when I'm in the mood for a haircut since the first few days after I can be silly and have some form of semblance with my look-alike in some other part of the world, -coughMatsushitaYuyainJapancough- but sadly I have no recent picture decent enough to put side-to-side with mine so I leave it up to my readers' imagination, photographic memory or Google skillz . xD

Eventful Days

So first was usual Saturday morning class. Woke up at 7, snoozed until 8, showered and drove off to class, thankful that Katipunan was not as crowded with the downtime of the ongoing Ateneo College Entrance Test or ACET. Got to school and parked by 8:40, in time for my 9am class that only lasted until about 11 in the morning so we could avoid traffic piling up with the rush of cars coming to and from Ateneo.

Since my parents were coming in later tonight I essentially had the rest of the afternoon to myself and decided to visit Kai again, who's sporting an aching sprain to her ankle. Spent the afternoon there until I went back home around 5:30 to wait for the parents to come back so the family can go out for a late dinner, which was at around 9pm. Mom had come back from Dubai and it could serve as an actual celebration for Dad's birthday last Wednesday~

We ended up eating at Red Kimono in Techno Hub. Ah, how rice makes you full. ~u~

Anyway, with every trip there's always some souvenirs, and here were mine~ Clockwise starting from top right I got a hat, a pack of KitKat Pop Choc, a blue Terner watch and a shirt. :D

 Thanks mom!!! 8DD I shall happily nom the KitKat. ~u~

Lunch Trips

So today is my dad's birthday! He went out on a flight today and won't be back until tonight, so yeah.

I went to school later than usual, so the usual premise of ordering from the school cafeteria was thrown out the window since I got to school by 11 (when delivery starts) and TC wasn't answering my text. So we just decided to eat out again!

In attendance this time around was just us three: me, TC and Keem. We decided to eat at Sinangag Station, a neat place located at the FBR Arcade building right beside Wakuwaku. There were a lot of interesting choices of '-silog' meals at affordable prices, so happy day~

EDIT: Pictures of Kim and TC~ :D

After I had Baconsilog, I shuffled over to Kuya Joma, owner of WakuWaku, and I spotted him putting a bundle of original Kuroshitsuji manga volumes 1-5!!!! So doing some quick thinking about what I need to save up for and such, I asked him to reserve them for me for purchasing next week. Can't wait!!!

Oh, and afterwards, we stopped by Dairy Queen so I could get myself a Blizzard and avail of the free 12oz-16oz upsize. Mmm Choco KitKat. ~u~

PHDQ Lunch and Dessert

So today was a typical Monday. Since everyone was having a fresh start, that equally meant that more often than not the allowance we bring along for food expenses are of a high denomination, usually in the greater than Php100 bill category (in my case, Php500). So instead of doing the usual routine of ordering from the usual school cafeteria as we always do for lunch - and not to mention the fact that we were worrying ourselves over advisement that sat precariously close to our class time of 11:30 (it started 10:15), we just decided to break in the expensive bills and eat out instead.

In attendance were TC, Keem and Enzo. We headed off after our class and crossed the blue bridge, still undecided of our final destination. We passed by the new Regis Building where the new branch of Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf was located, and my sister Tracy had spotted me and waved hello. xD Anyway, still undecided on where we go, I ended up giving the verdict of eating at Pizza Hut. That being said, it was all an ulterior motive leading up to eventually indulging in some Dairy Queen right beside it afterwards.

So after we seated, the Php198 Set for 2 Super Panalo Meals caught our attentions as we decided to get two of each; TC and I split one, and Keem and Enzo another. The Cream of Chicken was surprisingly good, as was the garlic bread. ~u~ It was funny how we were debating the stipulations of the whole '10 minutes or your meal's free' thing, but decided not to bother about it since the food was actually scrumptious in hindsight.

And then of course came the plague of temptation. I easily gave in and hopped over to the other side to get myself a 6oz Blizzard; the usual Choco Kitkat. TC however was having more worries about whether to try his taste buds at the Green Tea w/ Oreo Moolate. He eventually got one, and as we retook our seats, still not asking for the bill, we eventually did and paid accordingly. The long wait, surprisingly, was waiting for the change and the receipt (which was just Php4, mind you). I had already finished my Blizzard and TC was near halfway through his Moolate before we had reminded one of the servers to follow-up our receipt.

In the end, we decided that it wasn't worth ringing their bell (the one when you signal that you thought the service was good? Yeah). Ah well. Maybe next time.

Driving Adventures

So today was a less-than-ordinary day.

Mom was flying out to Dubai again for work-related business and Dad wasn't going to be back until after lunch. And since my class wasn't until 11:30 - which in this case would be the only one who'd benefit - my dad asked me if I could drive Mom to the airport. Her flight was at 10:30, but of course she needed to be at the airport by around 8.

While I wouldn't exactly complain since I actually paid attention going to and from the airport during several other occasions, the experience is always different as a passenger and as a driver in my case so yeah. But a quick look at the map gave me the directions I needed to head back from the aiport since the route going would be covered by coaching from Mom.

So yeah, today, I woke up when I usually would for my Tuesday-Thursday schedule to bring Mom. Surprisingly, even with the traffic, we got there by 8 and I got here to school at around 9.

And today is mine and Kai's 34th monthsary!!! ^o^/

Tooty Frooty

My usual fix of lollipops is back thanks to the array of candy here in ALLS! Frooty Pop or whatever they're called. xD And yes, I've been wearing my 'nyan hat' to school for the past few days and it's a tell-tale signal that I should seriously get a haircut soon since my hair is already flying away. xD Mmmm cherry and grape. ~u~

Ailing Body

So for the past few days I've realized how my body has been aching in more ways than one. The prominent problems I've had lately concern my right wrist - which complains when I push myself up, and now my left ring finger for reasons I don't even know. I'll try sleeping on it tonight and if things continue to cause problems I'll go and visit the school clinic to get it looked at.

Actually, my dad already offered to take me to the clinic to have it checked since I came down to dinner with said finger taped to my middle finger just to keep it from bending since that's when I feel a sorta pain that I can't really describe all too well.

Now that I think about it, most of my joints seem to complain of pain every so often. I wonder if I should go see a doctor and get a check-up about all this. Ah well. We'll see where it takes us. For now I'll head to bed since it's past midnight and I have class in a few hours. Orz.

The Arrival of the 'Ber'

So September has arrived!

I think I wanted to kick this off with pictures from yesterday, because I was too preoccupied to make an entry. Maybe it was because I was procrastinating worrying over my orals today. xD

So a little background. Our adisier came back from her trip abroad and brought home this box of Giant Chocolate Pocky!!! And if anyone's wondering, the headband I have over my forehead is the instrument we're using for our thesis, and I was testing it out during this time. XD

 Mmmm, a big stick of Pocky = more chocolatey. ~u~ I'm happy.

Those Normal Blog Entries

This will be short and sweet, mostly because I'm not at home and I don't really want to spend so much time typing up needless things, and splashes of water are falling onto my palms. xD Anyhow, just wanted to point out that while the strong rains have ceased, the winds haven't around here so it's pretty neat to a point, but here's fingers crossed that the weather doesn't backfire, especially since I'm not in the house. @.@

New Hat

So the family went out to lunch today at Kimpura, TriNoma to celebrate Dad's return from his Belgium trip. It was the first time we sat down at a teppan, where the chefs cook teppanyaki in front of you.

And since were were in the area, I finally bought something in Comic Alley after the longest time: Yei for a new hat~

Meow~

Rainy Commute

One of few times I commute going to school and it rains when I leave the house. I surely had the mind to call a taxi instead but thought of the waste of money so there.

But today in school we had day 3 of our Improvisation Workshop which is basically the essence of our Game Design CS class. Lots of fun. ~u~

An Overall Good Day

So today was a rather pleasant day, minus the overcast grey skies and light rains that greeted me exactly when I was walking around going places. Today was a day I took Kai out to lunch at Teriyaki Boy then dessert at Cerealicious; one of the few dates we have where I actually offered to pay for all things edible. Not that I minded since I was itching to get things back on track after the few misunderstandings we've had over the past few days. Plus she looked gorgeous so I ain't complaining. x)

What I would complain on was the service during lunch. It's almost quite nostalgic really that whenever bad service befalls me when I'm out with Kai, my temper is as quick to burn as my dad's whenever an order was forgotten or it was just plain wrong. Then again, that's the trouble when your server doesn't write the damn order down on paper. First it was assumed we were having it for take-out, then one of our sushi orders was wrong (Futo Maki instead of Tekka Maki). Since Kai's aware of my short temper I told her to deal with the servers so I wouldn't blow my top. But ugh. Jeez.

Then Cerealicious. Sweet, yummy, good. As simple as that. You can never have enough good cereal with snow milk like that.

And then afterwards, we parted ways and I made my way back to school with plenty of time to spare for my 3pm class. While waiting outside my classroom, I noticed that the lights were off, which was strange considering I recalled that there was supposed to be a class prior to mine. Peeking inside, I saw some things on the table and wondered if it was my teacher's (I'd later find out that said teacher was actually sleeping in there xD).

Anyway, while waiting, I finally got a text message from the ADSA concerning the parking violation appeal I had submitted some two weeks ago since I apparently parked in a reserved parking slot. Luckily, it was approved! But I was warned that should I ever get another parking violation I'd have to pay the fine. No biggie. Knowing what caused my initial downfall I'm sure not to make a repeat of it anymore so life was good. ~u~

Relocation

So today we found out that our beloved ALLS venue will be relocating to another room in Faura. More space, thank goodness. ~u~ We'll be moving as soon as we can to kick out the MIS people in F206 (hehehe). But I'm looking forward to the new more spacious area. Yei~ Note that ALLS is a little niche for us thesis-making folk. It's our little home while in school. x)

Souvenirs~

Dad just got back from visiting his mom in Belgium and came back with some awesome souvenirs. For starters, he got me a Brussels baseball cap. For someone who likes hats I have no complaints about adding more hats to the pile. And then there's the pièce de résistance: a Snowy keychain from my Auntie Trinket!

For people who don't know Snowy is Tintin's faithful companion and I've always liked him during my readings of Tintin comics once upon a time. It's a part of my childhood and we even had a dog named Snowy one time so having this makes me genuinely pleased. x)

Here's a picture!

Body Pains

So last Saturday I attended the org Sportsfest, Clash of the Clans with a Triwizard Tournament theme. So there was Basketball and Volleyball with a twist, Quidditch, Dama and the Third Task. Hahaha. It was a lot of fun despite the body pains that followed.

I played everything but the Third Task (relay) since things were already delayed. Sooo yeah. Quidditch was no joke, a rough game. @.@ I tackled and played like it's football, no joke. Hohoho.

In hindsight our batch won, but I paid for that by all these with a sore body. And since I'm allergic to Ibuprofen medication I can't take Alaxan to ease the pain. Buh-humbug.

Creative Pictorial

So with the holiday today my Creative Pictorial schedule continued this morning. Got out of bed, combed my hair, got dressed and zoomed off to school. I sorta kinda regret not having my pictures taken against the black background from the get go but that's okay. It still came out alright. 8D

The first one on the top left is the one I chose to be printed out. And what exactly was my theme for my Creative? Simple: Portraying my twin Matsushita Yuya! xD So you could consider this a cosplay of sorts. xD

Anyway here are some pictures from that pictorial~

Pictorials

Tomorrow is piling up to be an interesting day. Besides the no class day due to Quezon City Day, I conveniently scheduled my Creative Pictorial in the morning. What I plan to wear to it will be revealed when I get back with my soft copies. x) Hehehe.

Elizabeth

So a lazy Saturday afternoon had me finally finish coloring this long overdue page of Elizabeth Middleford from Kuroshitsuji. Whee~