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This is it!  The day of my last entry as a Council of Cool member has finally arrived…  And I know that I have a lot to say but I’ll just keep this short and simple (literally!), to not bore you with all my rambling and stuff. haha!

Anyway, I just want to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU to the Candy editors, to my Council-mates (Aura, CJ, Deanne, Dyan, Gaby, Katya, Mari, and Sasha), to all the photographers, makeup artists, hairstylists, and celebrities we’ve worked with, and most especially to YOU, our dear loyal Candy readers!  I’ve had one heck of a year full of FUN and SURPRISES, and Candy truly opened a lot of doors for me!  As I end this chapter in my life (and continue with the rest), I’ll forever be grateful for being part of CoC 9 and of course, I know in my heart that I’ll always be a Candy Girl no matter what!

photo by Patrick Martires

So, to the Council of Cool 10, good luck and I’m sure that you’ll enjoy being part of the CoC and working with the Candy team, just as we did!

Once a Candy Girl, always a Candy Girl,

Mika xoxo

Posted in Red-Letter Days, Reflections, Relationships | 2 Comments »

Sad to say, but if I’m not mistaken this is my third to the last entry! *sob* But I should not be “sad” at all because you, girls, will soon welcome the newest batch of the Council of Cool!  And besides, I’ve had one heck of an awesome time as a CoC 9 member (but more on that on my “last” entry! haha!)

Anyway, enough with all the drama first.  For now, I have to say that I’m in a bit of a rush because I’m already in my 4^th trimester in graduate school and I still have to prepare TWO REPORTS for this coming Saturday! WAH!  Not to mention that I’m working full-time on weekdays (by the way, my third “worksary” is on November 10! Yay!) :D  So, I guess you can call me the ultimate “Cram Queen” one again! hehe.

But before I go back to all the “stuff” I need to do, I just want to share with you how my “Halloween” turned out to be!  Last October 31, 2009, my friend, Vivi Atienza, decided to have her birthday party (but her real birthday was yesterday, November 3), and costume-slash-Halloween party rolled into one!  And if it wasn’t much a coincidence with all the “storm” we’ve been having these days, especially on that particular day, I decided to dress up as Ororo Munroe a.k.a. “STORM” from the X-Men!

let's just say that "Storm" was having one of those bad hair days!

(L-R) alongside “Wednesday Adams” (Vivi, the birthday girl), and our friend, Agnes

(BOTTOM) B1 (Carol, my soon-to-be-attorney friend! haha!)

Havin’ some “spooktacular” time despite my hectic schedule,
Mika

P.S.
Here’s a shout-out to my friend, Vivi: HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!!!

Posted in Red-Letter Days, What's In | No Comments »

It’s official. I’m not a teenager anymore!

Yesterday, October 25, 2009, I just celebrated my 2^nd decade of living here on earth!  Gone are the years when the only thing that changed was the second numeral of my age, and that constant “1″ never left me for 10 years! Haha!  Now, I embark on a new chapter in my life and I just want to share with you a quick rundown on how I spent my “special” day.

No, it wasn’t a grand celebration with a party and stuff, but as my sister put it, it was more like a “staged celebration”—a celebration in stages! Haha!  So, it all started when my sisters and I had a relaxing time at The Spa last week.  But then again, two of my sisters, Malou and Patty, went to the States so on the actual day of my birthday, I spent it with my eldest sister, Anne, and my gifts are still about to arrive on Wednesday. Hehe.

Anyway, first, my sister surprised me by giving me a compilation of “20 messages” from 20 people who are dear to me—and my day literally started with tears of joy! After that, I went to Church, just like any Sunday, to serve as a lector/commentator in our parish.  When we went back home, my sister and I just had a simple lunch and of course, I blew my cake!  Supposedly, we should’ve had some fancy dinner but my sister and I just decided to go with that plan when we’re complete.  So, let’s just say that I spent my day at home but what made it truly special were the greetings I received from the people in my life!

So, I want to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU to all the people who greeted me personally, through text, and of course, Facebook!  Now I know that I’ve truly grown up because unlike when I was younger that I always looked forward for the “presents,” this time, the “greetings” are the only “gifts” that matter to me!!!

Still a “teen” at heart,
Mika <3

Posted in Red-Letter Days, Reflections, Relationships | 2 Comments »

The wait is finally over! After weeks (even months) of preparation, the Candy Council of Cool 9 mini mag is now at your reach!  If you still haven’t got a copy of the October ’09 ish, I say, go grab one NOW!

Why?  Let’s see… For the past week, you’ve read the different behind-the-scenes stories of the CoC 9 mini mag, by my fellow CoC 9 girls! :D  There’s the different shoots, the “busy” but fun BTS work… and now let’s go to the CELEBRITIES! Yay!!!

For this one, I have to be honest, we weren’t able to take a lot of “personal” pictures—but of course, the professional ones were taken by our beloved photographer, Dakila Angeles:

thanks, Kuya Daks

So anyway, just like anything that needs a “finished product” at the end, the CoC 9 girls had a brainstorming session.  And for our batch, we decided to choose Megan and Lauren Young because we believe that both sisters are epitomes of true-blue Candy Girls!

celebrity or not, we're ALL true-blue Candy Girls! (Photo by Dakila Angeles)

As for the challenges we had in store for them, they both had something to do with “time” (if you haven’t noticed, that’s the theme for our mini mag this year):

First, they had to memorize and exchange Shakespearean lines (Act II, Scene 1 of “The Merry Wives of Windsor”) in 10 minutes; and Second, they had to eat the most number of donuts in 10 seconds!

After all that’s said and done, I have to say that Megan and Lauren aren’t your celebrity stereotypes, who are mayabang, suplada, and so on… In fact, we realized that we made the right choice in featuring them for our celebrity section because aside from being loyal Candy Girls, they’re both very down-to-earth and easy to interact with!  Megan even offered us to watch a movie with her, using their laptop, to kill some time while Lauren was in hair and makeup!  Nice, huh?

not just your typical celebrities!

There you have it!  Only 1 month to go before my fellow CoC 9 girls and I will pass the torch to Batch 10… but for now, we all hope that you enjoy reading the fruit of our labor because we put our hearts and souls on our baby!

A “Young sisters” fan,
Mika

Posted in What's In | No Comments »

It was just like any normal Saturday to me when I left my house around 8AM last September 26, 2009.  I was headed to my school, De La Salle University-Manila, to attend my graduate school classes.  As the FX I rode made its way through Taft Avenue, there were already droplets of rain coming from the gloomy morning that welcomed me earlier.  Of course, just like anyone else, I treated those “droplets” as the usual ambon we’ve been experiencing for quite some time now so it wasn’t much a big deal to me then.  Finally, I arrived at my destination and I immediately went to my classroom located at the Miguel Hall to attend the first meeting of my subject, The Philippines During the Japanese Occupation 1942-1945.

For 3 hours, together with my classmates, we were all preoccupied with the lecture of our Japanese professor, who in an adorable kind of way, is fluent in Filipino!  We talked about some introductory topics during World War II, without realizing that in the next few hours or so, we’d be experiencing some sort of a “mock” World War experience too! haha!

And indeed, Mother Nature was at war with us when she unleashed Bagyong Ondoy on Philippine shores!  After my morning class, it was raining cats-and-dogs outside the walls of DLSU!  My classmates and I felt like we were in the infamous Titanic as we struggled to find our way from the far end of the Miguel Hall to the La Salle building!  As we reached the Registrar’s office (after walking through nooks and crannies I’ve never been to before just to avoid walking through the water pooling up! haha!) we noticed that the once grassy and green amphitheater, instantly turned into a “lagoon!”

Right on cue, at the very moment we stopped in front of the amphitheatre (paired with dumbfounded looks on our faces!), it was announced that classes are already suspended.  After hearing that, I immediately wanted to go home but when I reached the south gate, lo and behold!

And so, my classmates and I decided to just stay at the conservatory.  Hours had passed and we could’ve just gone to our missed afternoon class because we stayed inside the conservatory for more than we expected!  It was already night time but the downpour of rain was still very, very strong, as if Mother Nature has released all the angst she has been keeping all these time on the people!  I already accepted the fact that I can’t go to the Candy Fair anymore (I hope there’s a Part 2!) because eventually, water found its way inside the conservatory as well…

Good thing the Lasallian Brothers and the Student Council announced that they’ll be serving hot lugaw and asked us to move to the 2^nd floor LS chapel because water was already flooding the entire 1^st floor!  While inside the chapel, my classmates and I recalled the lessons we just had that morning and coincidentally, the LS chapel was the exact chapel where the massacre of the La Salle Brothers happened during World War II, not to mention that one of my classmates admitted that he has a “sixth sense.”  In short, ghost stories never run out in cases like this! hahaha!

students lining up inside the LS chapel for dinner was served!

But I guess the highlight of the entire evening (aside from the corned beef-and-rice dinner that was served, thank God!) was the classroom-turned-movie house theme!  The entire classrooms of the 1^st and 2^nd floors were converted into instant movie houses, filled with undergraduate and graduate (ehem! ehem!) students alike.  Armed with the full blast of the air-condition, laptops/computers, and multimedia projectors, movie titles were written outside each classroom and all we had to do was choose, enter the classroom, sit back and relax, while watching newly-released movies!  Some of the available titles I can remember were High School Musical, The Proposal, Year One, even Gossip Girl, How I Met Your Mother, and some Koreanovelas!

my classmates and I decided to settle for Nicolas Cage

The next day, I woke up around 4:30AM and the first thing I heard was that breakfast was going to be served by 7AM. haha!  But then, my sisters already picked me up by 8AM and as I reached our home, I had nothing to offer but this story and a learning and worthwhile experience that I know will last a lifetime!

So, with all that said, I want to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU to the Lasallian Brothers, especially to Brother Armin (he was really the one assisting us!), the entire DLSU Student Council for their hospitality, and of course to God, for keeping me and my sisters safe despite of the distance we all had during that time.  Of course, let’s not forget to pray for those who deeply suffered because of this tragic event that Mother Nature has put upon us.  In the end, I think the most important lesson we can get from this is that the words “climate change” and “global warming” are things we should not take for granted, so the best time to take some action is NOW!

Animo La Salle!

Praying that may we all be finally safe,

Mika <3

P.S: According to the news, another typhoon is on its way in the coming days so better be prepared my dear, Candy Girls! Keep safe. *hugs*

Posted in Reflections | 1 Comment »