My Asinine Thoughts

I’m a HUGE Daria fan.

I MISS Daria.

Where are the dvds? MTV, hello?

It’s a good thing Allen gave me avi copies of all Daria episodes a few years ago, but still.

Yesterday was the last day of orientation for international students at my school, and after being advised by our counselor about what subjects I needed to take, I was finally able to register for classes and pay my tuition (ouch). Now all I need to do is sit back and relax until the 22nd of September when school starts. So what have I learned the last few days?

A significant percentage of the Chinese student population  is here in California. Everywhere I turn I keep meeting kids from China, Hong Kong and Macau. I’m sure the students from these countries are wondering whether they left their country at all.

I can pass for a college freshman apparently, so there’s no need for me to wear my Winnie-the-Pooh and Cinderella t-shirts to fit in.

I’m getting a record number of zits on my face. My skin’s contribution in my desperate bid to reclaim my youth.

The sun is scorchingly hot and I can’t use my umbrella for fear of alienating people and repelling potential new friends.

Sunvisors? Forget it! I’m sticking to my shades. I can’t do anything about the freckles but I can certainly do something to prevent getting premature wrinkles from squinting too much.

The boys during orientation are exactly that, boys. I’m too ashamed to even find anyone attractive. I don’t want to be a cougar in my late twenties.

I’m excited about courses I’ll be taking next year such as astronomy, visual arts, geology, human sexuality, introduction to film/tv and music: rock from roots to rap. I wish I had courses like these when I was in college the first time around. It would have made going to school less tiresome.

School, work, volunteering. School, work, volunteering. School, work, volunteering. School, work, volunteering. School, work, volunteering. School, work, volunteering.

This is THE PLAN.

My sister and I went to Great America yesterday to have some fun fun fun! I remembered to wear the right pair of shoes (can be tied securely to my feet), the right top (long sleeves to cover my arms… freckles, you know) and the right bag (small and cheap). What I forgot was to put on sunscreen. Crap. So now my nose is sunburned and I have two new freckles on my chin. Next time, I’m going to make a checklist.

We tried some pretty cool rides but I wouldn’t recommend Vortex and The Demon to roller coaster lovers because they suck. Demon would slam your head side-to-side and front-to-back and in atsi’s case, pull your neck. Vortex isn’t any better. It’s the only stand-up roller coaster in Northern California and that’s a good thing because it will make you feel uncomfortable in the nether regions. The less I see of stand-up roller coasters, the better.

I highly recommend Flight Deck, Fire Fall and Survivor: The Ride! I also highly recommend the last ride that atsi and I took which was Extreme Skyflyer. You have to pay extra for this though because it’s an added attraction. According to Wiki, it’s a 170 ft (52 m) tall skycoaster flying 17 stories at 60 mph (97 km/h). According to atsi naman, she will never do this again hahaha! Extreme Skyflyer looks a lot like bungee jumping and skydiving. So I’ll just describe it as bungee flying.

To give you a clearer idea of what extreme skyflyer is, check out the video below which I found on youtube. We actually had the option of getting our bungee flying on dvd but atsi and I were too cheap to shell out 30 bucks for it so I’ll just have to settle for someone else’s video of their extreme skyflyer experience.

(I can’t view this video using the latest version of Firefox, but when I switch to IE, the youtube video is there - scratch scratch head)

Decisions, decisions:

For someone who was not a big fan of school when she was younger, I’ve been going to school a lot the past few years. It’s not because I’m fond of studying because I’m not, nor is it a desire to feel young again because I’ve always felt young. It’s because I have difficulty deciding what to do with my life that’s causing all this matriculation. So now, I’m back to school again and have decided to enroll in a community college instead of a university. I thought about what to do for months and months and months… I really wanted to go to San Jose State (SJSU) for my graduate studies but I also wanted to go to De Anza to get an associate or at least a certificate in early childhood education. A decision had to be made and I suppose it was made easier by the fact that my I-20 from SJSU got lost somewhere between California and Manila.

From Manila to California on a student visa:

Getting a student visa was a breeze compared to what I went through at homeland security when I entered San Fo. I HATE MY PASSPORT! Let me write this again for emphasis, I FUCKING HATE MY PASSPORT!!!

School Orientation:

I attended school orientation this week and I have another week to go. I also took my placement tests in Math and English and I’m so ashamed to admit that I can barely remember Algebra. I used to LOVE Algebra and I always got As in Math during college, the only problem is the last time I attended an Algebra class was 13 years ago. It’s a good thing I have no math pre-requisites for my major. Whew!

Relating to kids almost half my age:

No problem so far! I whine a lot about getting older but age is just a number and it’s a good thing I have the emotional maturity of a turnip so it’s no problem talking to and relating to students who are more than a decade younger than me. Let’s see how things go when school starts though, I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

My friends and I went to Sonya’s Garden for Cresta’s bridal shower. After we finished our lunch, we headed straight to the spa and got a massage. It was all strictly GP, no macho dancers, no porn… we just took a quick look at a racy how-to book and listened to Sabrina’s birthing horror stories.

The Bride-To-Be*

Ok, so maybe it was more of a PG-13 thing*

The Photographer, The Model, The Collaborator

*taken by Rosey

Driver’s License: Government’s License to Hoover Some More Money Out of Our Wallets.

Another story of why I hate the Filipino system. The system sucks. The People who work in the system suck even more.

I went to the LTO near JP Rizal yesterday to renew my license before I leave next week. My license won’t expire until my birthday in October but I figured I could renew it if I tell them I’m leaving the country soon. My sister and I went to the customer service window and I was told that it was too early for me to renew my license and if I am leaving the country soon I should show them proof by photocopying my airline ticket. I was told twice that I needed to show them my ticket. Twice.

Hassle right? I called my travel agent and asked if she could email or fax me my e-ticket and she said it wasn’t a problem and could do it right away. I figured it was doable so my sister and I went to get our health tests near the LTO (yuck! yuck! yuck!) and then went back to the customer service window to ask for their email address or fax number so my travel agent could fax them my ticket. But… but! It was not allowed. Maybe they didn’t have internet access (LTO? Walang access?), or they didn’t have a fax machine (LTO? Walang fax machine?) so I was told to go to an internet cafe or one of the stores across the LTO for fax services.

I went to one of the stores, gave my travel agent the fax number, paid P15.00 and got my e-ticket in less than 2 minutes. Finally! So we went back to the LTO to the same customer service window and talked to the same man and I gave him my e-ticket with a smile and was promptly told this:

“Ok, now give me a copy of your passport.”

What the fuck?!?! Kanina sabi nya to give him the ticket, just the ticket and he said it twice and now that I have the ticket may dagdag na copy of my passport pa? Why couldn’t he have told me this earlier? Had I known that I needed a copy of my passport as well I wouldn’t have gone through with the health tests and wasted P400.00. I would have known then that I wouldn’t be able to complete the requirements since my passport was in Caloocan.

There are no words! No words I tell you!

I wanted to smash my hands into the window and smack his face three hundred and fifty-seven times! In the end I just told ditsi to go ahead with her application while I have my tests endorsed so I can apply in Caloocan instead.

A few weeks ago I was having second thoughts about leaving the Philippines and I actually thought that I’d be better off staying here for school and work. Now that a few weeks have passed, I know I made the right decision to go to California. While I have no plans of staying put in the U.S., I can’t see myself staying put here in the Philippines either. The thought of dealing with government employees prone to power tripping for the rest of my natural life makes me ill.

Note: A story that has some relevance to what I experience whenever I come home. It’s a good read, funny and short.

Note Note: Paano nag re-renew ng driver’s license ang mga politicians at mga Ayala? Sila kaya ang pinupuntahan ng LTO?

I had dinner with my high school friends at Zao the other night to celebrate Sabrina’s birthday (part 2). I organized the get-together this time around and my hair almost turned white because it was so difficult finding a day when they would all be free. We finally settled on Monday night and when I got to Serendra, the place looked almost deserted because: #1 it was Monday, #2 it was raining incessantly, #3 it was Monday.

It’s probably been a few years since we were complete like this because I’m always out of the country and Cresta is always either out of town or out of the country as well (she’s an FA). This dinner was also important because it would be a few years before we could ever get together like this again since Rosey is moving to Texas and I’m going back to California.

It’s stupid to think that things will not change when everything changes all the time. Someone gets married, someone starts a family, someone moves abroad, someone is always busy with work, or someone’s mobile number and home address keep changing (Mawee? Where are you?). But I’d like to think that the one thing that cannot be changed is the friendship we started when we were kids. These women will always be my friends no matter where I am or no matter how many years have passed since we saw each other last.

from left: Neth, Rosey, Sab, Crez, Me, Jo

newlywed Lyneth, ready to move Rose, MIL sufferer Sabrina

sexy Cresta, crazy Me, supermom Jo

may nakita si Rose sa kabilang table na mukhang interesting so nag order din kami

Mukhang kropek, amoy kropek, lasang kropek... it's KROPEK!

Jo's dessert (Chelsea)

Zao: The shaking beef was tasty and oh so tender.

Chelsea: The chocnut and nutella cakes were yummy! I want to try the cookie dough cheesecake next.

I had the chance to see Lifehouse up close last Friday when I went to 94.7, unfortunately the only proof I have of seeing them is a blurry shot of two girls and the top of Jason Wade’s head which is really no proof at all. Shyet.

When I entered the station, there were four tiny girls sitting there who looked like they were still in high school (one still had her uniform on!). I sat down beside them and hung my 29-year-old head in shame. Things didn’t turn out the way I’d hoped and I almost backed out when I found out that the people who were supposed to join me couldn’t make it. But I was already there so I figured what the hell, andyan na eh. I held on to my camera and waited. A couple of minutes later a burly guy (who was incredibly rude) told us to sit in one row because the band was on its way out. I turned on my camera and then saw several Pinoys surrounding the band, herding them as if they were surrounded by a throng of insane, screaming fans instead of 4 quiet ,teeny girls and bewildered me. There was this feeling-bouncer guy who kept shielding the band members away from us… anong akala nya? Threat kami? Did he think we’ll assault the band with our cameras or worse… with kisses? O to the A! When Jason Wade walked in front of me, we only had Mr. Feeling-Bouncer between us, unfortunately Mr. Feeling-Bouncer was tall and wide and Jason was kinda short. The only opening I had was ruined when two of the girls stepped into my line of vision just as I took my shot (ergo the blurry pic mentioned above).

Later when all of us were waiting for the elevator, one of the girls was checking her camera and moaned, “Manong! Ikaw tuloy yung nakunan ko!” Well, I wanted to say “Miss! Ikaw naman yung nakunan ko!” but I kept my mouth shut, we were all disappointed anyway. When I got down to the basement where my car was parked, naabutan ko pa yung band na pasakay ng van, but I was too pissed off to even do anything so I went straight to my car and just thought of what I wanted to have for lunch.

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Saturday, July 26, 2008

Lifehouse Concert at the Araneta Coliseum

#1: Mr. Humongous Bighead.

Pinoys are relatively short, even the men so imagine my disappointment when a tall, white man sat in front me. WTF? Of all the people that could be sitting in front of me, why does it have to be a white man with a big head?

#2: I was waiting for the opening act, but there wasn’t any. I was under the delusion that it would be Matt Nathanson because he’s the front act for Lifehouse’s current tour in the US. Asa pa, and I was so looking forward to telling Jeff (and making him feel bad) that I saw Matt perform live. The best laid plans nga naman o…

#3: The band members tried to rock and jump around, but most of the audience remained immobile. Filipinos are screamers, not jumpers. To be fair, we’re excellent screamers - loud and creative.

#4: Special request ang Take Me Away and Blind.

After the band performed “Blind,” Jason said that they haven’t played it in years but they found out that the Pinoys loved the song, as well as the next song they will perform which was “Take Me Away.” Buti na lang pala nalaman nila ng maaga.

#5: Maganda ang boses ni Jason, powerful and distinctive, kaboses nya yung sa CD… hmm that sounded kinda estooopid.

#6: Masaya naman ang concert, I was with Rosey and she took lots of clear pictures yeehee!

…that is a silly question.

I came back to the Philippines a little over a week ago and as soon as I came home and ate aning’s beef steak and papa’s breaded shrimp, I immediately unpacked the boxes in my room filled with books, clothes and knick knacks. I placed most of my books in the bookshelves, organized my closet, arranged my earrings, fixed my dresser, hooked up my computer and printer, checked my sheets and then plopped down on my bed delirious with happiness.

My two months in Taiwan was fun but painful and now that I’m in the comfort of my own room, I can say that I’m glad I went back. I had to go back to know that I made the right decision to leave last year. Taiwan will always be my second home, especially since there are people who live there whom I care about a great deal. If I ever do go back in the future, I know that it will only be for a short visit and I’d probably just travel around the island.

Then in about 3 weeks I would need to start putting most of my things back into the boxes again. An exercise in futility you might think, but not for me. After moving around for the past 4 years, nothing will take the place of my room and my space here in our house. It was nice to see most of my things together, to have them within my reach and not thousands of miles away even if it’s only for a few weeks. I’m happy about leaving again but with apprehension on the side, nothing new.

I haven’t been doing anything much for the past week, just hanging out at home and taking it easy but I suppose I better get moving soon since I have so many things I need to do. I have to organize 2 birthday dinners, a bridal shower, a reconciliation between 2 friends if it’s possible, meet up with several friends and cousins, go to my dentist, my doctors, my dermatologist, to the spa, get a blood test, buy pasalubongs and things I can’t buy in the US, fix my papers, go to embassies etc etc etc. I think I’ll start next week… or maybe the week after that.

I did get a facial this week though. I went to Belo and had a glycopeel and a power peel in one session. I thought I was going to end up looking like Freddy Krueger afterwards but I discovered that the glycopeel treatment was just cleaning with no peeling involved and the power peel was the same as the diamond peel so I didn’t look so scary when I went out, my bangs on the other hand were definitely scary because Doris butchered them last Sunday (Why Doris? Why?)

I just saw an episode of Men in Trees and during the last few minutes of the show I heard a beautiful song playing in the background. I immediately googled the song and it took me a while to find it, but find it I did! The song was “Love When I Can” by Nat Jay.

She’s a Canadian Indie Folk/Pop singer who doesn’t have a record out yet so her song is only available on iTunes or CD Baby. Since I only have $0.09 left in my iTunes account and I can’t get hold of an iTunes card in this part of the world I thought I’d try CD Baby and maybe it would actually let me pay for a song I like. Unlike some online music retailers hmph! I found out that CD Baby is a site where independent musicians can sell their music and CD Baby only takes a 9% cut for mp3s and $4 for cds which leaves more moolah for the musicians, which is as it should be.

So there it was on CD Baby, “Love When I Can” by Nat Jay for only $1.00. I’ve never bought anything less than $4.00 using my credit card before and I didn’t even think it was possible to use my credit card for a $1.00 charge, so I was a little hesitant about making this purchase. I researched CD Baby for a while to make sure that it’s a trustworthy site, I also researched credit card policies about minimum purchases and nothing I read raised alarm bells. After more than an hour of indecision, I finally took the plunge and bought the song. Less than a minute later I got an email from CD Baby confirming my purchase and when I went back to my CD Baby account, there was the song I bought, ready for me to download. Yehey!

It would be interesting to see my credit card statement next month, that’s for sure!