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Guess who’s baaaaaack! ; )

Hey, Candy girls! Missed me? :> Yes, I’m still around and no, I didn’t disappear because of love problems — though you can believe that if ‘I had love problems’ sounds better than ‘Life just decided to eat me alive and regurgitate me in time for midterms’. I’ve been in a dream state recently, but whether I’ve been having good dreams or nightmares is debatable. Considering how this is my first blog entry in almost forever, though, I should probably skip the gory details and head right on to what I’m supposed to say! (You know how I ramble.)

Since my last entry, so many things have happened to me—and that, my dears, is an understatement. I returned from California, where I learned to take care of children—specifically, my many younger cousins—properly, to make faster calculations from dollars to pesos and vice versa, and to use the balisong. I bade goodbye to two close friends, Pat (who is now in Michigan) and Monica (an Arizona Sundevil), as well as a relatively new but good friend who is currently studying in Australia. The biggest change, though, is that I’m finally, finally in college! Yeah, you guessed right (scarily right, actually, since I never talked about my college choices). I’m an Atenean now! : D

As you probably know, this year is Ateneo de Manila University’s Sesquicentennial—or, in terms people outside ADMU tend to use, “150th Anniversary.” To make Batch of 2013 even more awesome, among other things, the organizers of the OrSem decided to schedule our Orientation Seminar at the start of July instead of at the beginning of the school year. (All right, all right, you got me—the main reason for the postponement of the OrSem was A(H1N1), but we try not to talk about that.)

Since my block mates and I knew nothing about our new school during the first few weeks of classes, we had to start learning everything on our own. We relied on our printed-out campus maps to get around, pretty much learning through trial and error. I split my three-hour lunch breaks between bonding with my block, Block Y2, and that with my longtime f(r)iend Paola. I shamelessly made myself at home on campus, talking to anyone and everyone in order to glean inside information about what I’d be going through in the coming months. I did my best.. and learned from every mistake I made. Right now, I’m definitely better off compared to my panicky but excited self two months ago!

I know that I’ve only been a college student for a short time, but I already have a list of the seven basic things freshmen need for survival on the hallowed grounds of what we mortals call University. They’re stuff people tend to overlook or forget easily.. hence their inclusion in this little list! I’ll be adding to this as time passes, and probably making new lists too, but for now, be content with this:

Seven Things (Every College Student Should Have)

7. Extra Clothes

One day I made the unfortunate mistake of wearing a dress to school for what was supposed to be my block’s Dress Day. Apparently, the night before, they changed the outfit theme to Plaid/Checkered/Stripes Day… and Plaid/Checkered/Stripes Day turned out to be the hottest day of the week! I was forced to borrow clothes from a dormer block mate of mine—let your imagination answer ‘Why?’—and while it helped me become a little closer to her, not having to go through the entire ordeal (plus embarrassment) would have been better!

As much as possible, have an extra shirt/blouse with you every day… and if you can stick it in #6, by all means, go for it! Wardrobe malfunctions aren’t uncommon in college… Don’t think that life’s any easier because you don’t have to wear the same thing every day!

6. A Locker

I used to think that lockers were only for American teenagers, and I scoffed at my brother’s using them in his new school, ISM. When I entered college, though, I realized that lockers are the administration’s way of saying, “Yeah, we’re giving you a heavy workload, but at least you have a place to put all your things in between class.” :D’

My locker is located in SEC-A, the building where practically half (or more than half) of my classes are, making leaving my books there very convenient. It’s near the bathroom and right outside my English/Literature classroom, too… strategically located in case of bad hair days and other emergencies! I put my PE clothes, thousand-page Botany book, my rubber shoes, and other objects in there as often as I can. (That reminds me—I have to buy my own padlock! I’ve been borrowing my other block mate’s padlock for the past month. #6 therefore is “A Locker… and A Padlock!”)

5. Closed Shoes

Ateneo’s Zen Garden is filled with rocks. Rainy days are here again. It’s extremely difficult to keep one’s nails nice and pretty for five days in a row, especially if they’re exposed. Put all those sentences together and you get “Closed shoes are a necessity.” Wet feet are so not fun!

I used to be in love with wedges, but a week into college life, I learned that they’re so not good for the first semester. Now I use my brown Croft & Barrow flats and my black Charles & Keith ones on a rotational basis or at least I’ll keep on doing that until I get more pairs! Remember, girls, closed shoes are a MUST. You need at least one good pair to survive!

4. An Umbrella

Rain, rain, go away, come again another day. It’s the rainy season, as you know already, and walking from building to building in ordinary clothes or with only a jacket over them isn’t the best thing to do. If you can, have an umbrella—those little things come in all sorts of sizes and designs as well as protect you from the evil that is Signal #2. Besides, you can’t exactly share a raincoat with your friend, can you? 

3. Money

A friend told me a few minutes ago, “Money can’t buy you happiness.. but it can get you ice cream, which is the next-best thing.” Shallow as it may seem, money is good if used properly: it can get you lunch, drinks from the new vending machines around the school, and some block bonding time at FunZone, too! : D

There’s no specific amount you need to bring every day, really; whatever is good enough for lunch, a snack, and miscellaneous items should work for you. Even loose change can help  (read: photocopies! Stay away from centavos and large bills; the cashier ladies don’t need the clutter. ;)).

2. Your ID

As my good friend T succinctly said, “ID = LIFE.” Guards and other officials circle the campus, checking people out or, well, they look like they’re checking the students out when they’re in fact checking out their ID’s. People who don’t have ID’s (and who aren’t good at hiding their missing ID strap) actually commit a minor offense in the Ateneo.

I left my ID at home once, and all hell broke loose. During the few hours I didn’t have my security object, I was on the edge. I survived because of a good friend’s help and since that day was the day when classes were suspended at 12:30 in the afternoon because of a typhoon! I’ve been extra careful since then not to leave my ID. Next time I do, though, I’m getting a temporary one!

1. A Happy Crush c:

Now, a HC isn’t a necessity for some people but I wouldn’t have survived these past few months without one! XD My happy crush is my block mate in my favorite class who has this amazing ability to make everyone laugh. He’s nice, articulate, and basically the best choice of crush I’ve had in a long time. He makes even the most difficult assignments seem like fun, and even when I have a perfectly valid reason to be angry with him, getting mad is so hard! : P

It’s pretty shallow to enjoy a class just for a guy; thankfully, that’s not exactly the case with me. He’s just icing on the cake! Sure, without him, my favorite class would be a tad less bright than usual and my inspiration levels would dip a bit but, hey, I don’t think he’s going anywhere! : ) Thank goodness for HC’s. Thank goodness for him! : D

Do you have any additions to this list, stories to share, comments, suggestions, or violent reactions? Leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you! : D If you don’t.. comment anyway! You know you want to. And, yeah, I’m glad to be back!

With love, the soup mentality (ie. kasabawan), and a newfound appreciation for water fountains,

♥ katya

People call America the land of the free. The last time I came, I understood why; through the windows of the airplane, I saw rolling fields, tall mountains, and endless seas. Last Thursday, though, I felt like a criminal: What would have been a normal landing at San Francisco International Airport was ruined by a sudden fire drill and the urgent shouts of the airport guards to ‘Go, go, go!’ Oh, no!

It was an inauspicious start to my trip. All the passengers of the Cathay Pacific flight - Chinese, Indian, and Filipino - rushed into the lobby of the airport, with or without their luggage. That was terrifying.. but it was the only interesting thing that happened that day, so I’ll forever remember it! (:

If it helps, things started looking up right away. The next day, I was able to bond with my grand-uncle Tito Bill over Wolverine! (I love you, Agent Zero!) Tito Bill wanted to watch Star Trek but I convinced him to watch Wolverine with me first so that I could research on ST before watching. He didn’t understand the story that much, but, yeah, it was awesome! I loved it.

Yours truly, my grand-uncle Tito Bill, Mom, Sayuri-chan, Tita Marilou, Tita Mira, Papa Dodi, and Tito Manny

Kenshiro, his father Tito Ray, Tita Susan

That evening, we had dinner with Tito Louie, Tito Ray, and their families for Tita Susan’s birthday. It was fun! I talked in my limited Japanese with Tita Chiyo and the kids (Kenshiro, Shinobu, and Sayuri-chan), and Tito Louie & Tita Jen’s kids (Alexander, Ceska, Bella, Dominic, Gregory, Veronica, and Nicolette) were adorable.
The next day, Saturday, we went to Napa Valley and had a wine-tasting tour at Cakebread Wineries. Our tour guide was a friendly guy named William who spoke really fast English and who would have made sense had he not resorted to wine-making terminology every few seconds. :/ We had a picnic in Sattui Winery afterwards, which was nice, except crows kept on coming up to our table. (This is a YFU ‘08 inside joke, but - Ricardo, I know you love me! 8D)

Then it was Mothers Day! On Sunday, we went out to Ihaw-Ihaw, a small Filipino restaurant nearby, and then we split up; half of us went to the grocery while the rest went to the outlet stores. (I figured that Mom would enjoy shopping more if she shopped only for herself, so..)

For lunch, we met up at the house of my grand-uncle Tito Manny and his wife Tita Linda! We had a surprise guest, Tita Marge from Florida, who came at around midnight to surprise her parents. Sweet, huh? I got to meet Tito Albert, Tita Trisha, their kids (Keana, Chloe, and their younger sister whose name I forget), as well as Tito Jobert and Christopher..

Aaaand after that, we crashed Tito Louie and Tita Jen’s house for dinner and got to see the other kids again.. which was fun! I hung out with the adults, mostly, but it was fun all the same. I want kiiiiiiids.. or, well, I want my friends to have kids so that I can play with little critters, minus the headache! :>

So, that was an update about my first four days. I won’t go into detail, but the fifth I can’t remember; the sixth was the most amazing nature hike I’ve ever been on, when I got to meet the national personification of America, Uncle Sam; and the seventh was a fun family dinner! More to come next time, Candy girls.. Talk to you soon!

Cheers,

Katya (: !!

There’s a song by Phantom Planet called ‘California’. I used to be irritated by it because of how monotonous it was and by how average the singer’s voice seemed to be. The thing is, right now it’s stuck in my head - especially that one line, ‘Californiaaaaaaaaaa, here we cooooome~’ It’s true for me, after all!

While I spent last summer reminiscing about my Japan days, taking up Japanese classes again and generally making the most of what I’d learned from my month abroad, in May 2007, I was touring the United States for the nth time, going from sunny California to windy Chicago, and to other East-coast areas like New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Washington, and Florida.. and theeeen back again to California. I wasn’t sure when I’d next return, so I maximized my stay with my parents and brother, keeping an amazingly thick travel diary, taking hundreds of pictures, and hunting for squirrels. (In the States, squirrels are their little furry rats, but they were so new to me.. and cute!)

I said that I didn’t know when I’d return, right? Well, tomorrow - yes, tomorrow! - ‘I’m leaving on a jet plane (/don’t know when I’ll be back again)’ for San Francisco, California, where Mom and I will spend the next month. Mom will disappear off to Seattle for a few days, but I’ll be in Cali the entire time.. which is just as cool as it sounds.

Since I don’t have anything interesting to update about yet, I’ll just share with you some pictures from my 2007 trip to California, and a bit about the rest of the trip. Maybe the next time that I write here, I’ll have funny stories about Tita Marilou (my paternal grandfather’s sister) and Tito Bill (her husband), their kids, and their grandkids.. and, hey, maybe a picture of my new crush. 8D (Bring the guys on, America!)

- - -

With my Tita Marilou in Napa Valley, CA; Mom took the picture!

I arrived in SanFran last year on April 25, and went out to Napa Valley the next day. Napa is known for its vineyards, though, according to one billboard I saw, only 9% of the land is used for vineyards. Wow. (I also called it ‘Mapa’, but that’s since Napa sounds just as foreign as Mapa, no kidding.) We spent a few hours in V. Sattui Winery and had a picnic under the trees. For the first time, I SAW A SQUIRREL! 8D

Arnold Schwarzenegger in jellybeans.. Bean there, done that! ;D

On the 27th, after visiting some of my cousins, we went off to the Jelly Belly factory for a guided tour! Jelly Belly is a jellybean factory, basically.. and it manufactures Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans! YES, THOSE BEANS. I have so many pictures from there, but I look like I work there (as in the pictures, I’m wearing the Jelly Belly equivalent of a Krispy Kreme paper hat), so I’d rather not show those. You’d be surprised by the variety in the flavors, though.. and by how much sugar they have in each jellybean! As good as they taste, I swear I cut down on my jellybean intake after that!

Cousin picture! ..I

The last thing we did that day was have a family reunion at Tita Marilou’s brother’s house. I got to bond with my tito’s and tita’s and with the rest of my cousins, whom I hadn’t seen for years! I hardly remembered any of them, though my Tita Jen was like, ‘Of course I remember you, Katya.. You were the flower girl at my wedding!’

I just stared at her, my expression like this: 8D. It was funny, but what was funnier was that, upon hearing this, Tita Jen’s son Alexander started treating me with grave respect. I realized that he’d just figured out how old I really was!

(Have you noticed that I never smiled in my old pictures? I was way too serious.. and possibly insecure? Ha ha!)

&&

Then we were off! On May 1, Mom and I went on the plane to Chicago, where I watched “Wicked” on Broadway and shopped like mad. We met up with Dad and my brother in busy New York, where we got to watch “The Phantom of the Opera” on Broadway together. Then I started searching for colleges: We checked out NYU, but I wanted a place in a less-populated area.

We went on to Boston, Massachusetts on May 3 to check out MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), the third-best university in the world, and Harvard, which has the top spot! I loved Harvard and its old-world atmosphere, but I didn’t like MIT as much because its aura is.. different, and it specializes in maths and sciences, while I’d rather stay away from those subjects! ;P

(Also, though I didn’t visit it, last year I applied for Mount Holyoke College, an exclusive all-women liberal arts university in Massachusetts. The school wait-listed me, but I’m going to Ateneo this coming June instead, which I don’t mind at all! :D)

We were in New Haven, Connecticut on May 9 to look over Yale, which my brother fell in love with. It’s his dream to go to Yale now.. which I believe is a very attainable one! Then we took the train to Washington, DC and visited the White House and other historical monuments.

Florida was next, on the fourteenth; I fell in love with our hotel in Key Largo and admired an awesome waiter from Cuba who had an amazingly mixed accent. We went to Orlando, FL to meet our old neighbors (who’d migrated to Florida a few years before), went to Universal Studios, and generally had fun. Go, Florida!

Soon, I found myself heading back to California with Mom, sans Dad and my brother, who went back home. One of my most memorable experiences on that plane ride was talking to the man seated next to me, a WWII veteran named Charlie, who told me about his life, his children and grandchildren, and elections in the United States. He told me, “I wish you the best in whatever you choose to do [in the future],” and shook my hand as we were about to leave. Obviously, I never saw him again.

&&

Finally I was back in CA! Tita Chiyo, the Japanese wife of my Tito Ray, had a baby shower and she asked me for suggestions on what to name her child. I made the most of my last two days there, chatting with Tita Marilou before I had to leave on the twenty-second. Funnily enough, the person who accompanied Mom and me to the airport, besides Tita Marilou, was my actual tito, Tito Louie, who scared me to death because of his swift and silent personality. (He’s a detective, which is cool, but there’s something mysterious and therefore terrifying about him.)

- - -

As I said earlier, this year, I’ll be in California the entire time, meaning I’ll be able to be present in my cousins’ lives like never before (which is both a good thing and a bad thing, ha ha!).. but, hey, it will be tons of fun. I learned a year ago that ordinary days are just as special as fun-filled ones, but for different reasons.. so I’m totally psyched for the trip! Things will go fantastically, I’m sure of it!

Wish me a safe trip and talk to you all soon!

Cheers,

katya (: !!

So, guess who had a fantastic Tuesday? Wellllll, I had a great Tuesday this week, but I’m going to give you a recap of what happened on the seventh of April—one of the days that started the month off right! (Besides, you know how addicted I am to karaoke, yeah? ;D)

The other Tuesday, I hung out with three of my classmates—Paola, Nicole, and Sally—and four of our guy friends Renz, Ari, RA, & Ton. It was way fun, no kidding. I love my friends!

I met up with Paola & Sally at the lobby in front of Fully Booked and surprised them with my new haircut & dye job! :> From there, we met up with Ari & Ton. Ari purposefully misled us by saying that he was at Krispy Kreme when in fact he and Ton were at Max Brenner. LIAR! D: (Later on, he said that he’d been at Krispy Kreme upon texting me, then he’d gone on to Max Brenner, but, psshhh, he could have texted me to update me, right? :> Sorry, I like messing with him.)

I met Ton for the first time there—he’s a friend of Sally and the other guys—and he surprised me by by how articulate he was. I was thinking, “Oh, dang, I cannot keep up with you!” because, whoa, he talked so fast & so well! He also said that, just before I arrived, he’d asked Ari how I looked like. The reply? “She’s the one with long wavy hair.” When Sally, Paola, and I arrived though, Ton was like, “Which one is she?!” and Ari narrowed his eyes and went, “..unless she changed her hairstyle..!” :> Yes, I threw them off-track. Love it!

Renz (my partner-in-crime regarding this meet-up) arrived late, and when he called to ask where we were, I said, mimicking his friend, “Krispy Kreme.” He replied, “I’m here in Krispy Kreme and I can’t see you!” to which I replied, “Look to your right.” We were still at Max Brenner, so when he came around, he said indignantly, “This is NOT Krispy Kreme!” I merely replied, “Ari said that this was Krispy Kreme.” (Sorry once again. :>)

Then RA, our resident Edward Cullen for reasons I cannot divulge because of the possibility of disturbing other people, showed up. After some more talking, we headed on for a late lunch at Conti’s, where we bonded over pictures of the dudes’ trip to Boracay, and then to Powerbooks to meet Nicole. From there, we proceeded to—drum roll, please—Red Box!

The girls singing—see my new hairstyle? :>

We girls were great! Paola and I went back in time to our grade school days and sang “Lucky” by Britney Spears. We did some of “Umbrella,” I tried “Bleeding Love,” and all of us attempted “Hot N Cold” by Katy Perry.. We had so much fun with Spice Girls songs like ‘Stop’ (complete with actions!) and ‘Wannabe’ too! We pretty much went on a ’90s spree, singing songs that YOU probably like (but that you are ashamed to sing in public). Name it, we probably sang it… unashamedly! How’s that for incoming-college-freshman confidence?!

The boys, minus Ari, who was out trying to grab us an extra microphone!

Can I just say that the guys were awesome too? 8D Ton had an amazing voice that would earn him a spot on American Idol if he were American (Don’t tell him I said that though!). One of the guys (whose name I will not divulge) sang Westlife songs that made our hearts ache from sorrow (and our stomachs hurt from suppressed laughter)! Ari was sick but he had fun with the aforementioned Westlife friend as they acted out the most well-known Titanic scene, while the last guy joined in, laughing and being vain with the girls because he had an awesome camera. 8>

Together we did some songs like “The Reason” by Hoobastank, some Backstreet Boys things… and other corny songs! I did a duet of “Breaking Free” with Nicole because it’s our theme song and just so fun to sing because High School Musical is just… epic. 8D

Afterwards we hung out near Jellybean as Paola and Sally disappeared to buy makeup. We talked a lot about random stuff (like) before heading to Seattle’s Best. Honestly? Seattle’s Best was a bad idea. In a moment (or hour) of temporary insanity, I drank a brownie Javakula that caused me to lose my voice. Dang.

However, my friends and I enjoyed conversing about interesting topics such as my brother’s being a violist, the love interests of some of the present guys (though this topic I broached only with my partner-in-crime), and high school. After exchanging grad pics, we joked around about Twilight, left-behind and hidden hearts (One guy texted me “Take care of my heart. I’ve left it with you.” when he was bored in Boracay, and I replied nastily :>), and… apples. Mmmm.

So, yes, I had TONS of fun and I am still hungover. To make it worse (or better, depending on your perspective), I’m in Boracay now too, having the time of my life with my close friends as we swim and sunbathe the day away! Wish me a great time (I’ll be here til Monday), and I wish you love, laughter, and less sun and heat than there is over here!

Before I go, here is the song that has been haunting me since April seventh:

That video makes me want to cry every single time but when my friends talk to me, I become happy right away and head off for more fun!

Take care, Candy girls, and have a fab weekend!

Much love,

Katya!

There’s a song that can describe me right now, and it isn’t remotely related to my being sick. That song is Katy Perry’s “Hot N Cold,” which is too funny for its own good, but which I can’t laugh at without letting out a sneeze.

I’ve been sick for two days already. Yesterday, it wasn’t severe, but as night came (and the coughing became more frequent), I realized that I would soon be conquered by the common cold. Today I have a box of tissue beside me (and a roll of tissue paper behind it as back-up) and the sound of my nose-blowing is distracting Dad from his movie. (He’s watching Cinemax in my room.) Dad is sick too, by the way. So is Mom.

You can tell that my life is really interesting. Since I graduated from high school—an event I’d love to write about, but that my headache prevents me from doing—I’ve been hanging out with my YFU friends, taking quizzes on Facebook (What do you think of FB’S new layout? Like it or hate it?), and e-mailing my friends from abroad. Besides that, I’m completely idle, and therefore not a poster child for summer fun. I do blame my cold, though, and the heat. Once I’m completely well, I’ll be up and running around the house, heading off to Boracay, and partying (or, well, eating, which is my class’ version of partying). Yessss!

While I have the option to bore you a little more, I think I ought to leave and take a much needed nap. I now leave you with the aforementioned video (and the hope that my cold will be gone, gone, gone by the day after tomorrow)…

Cheers! 8D