SomeBreak

I have been drinking more tea in my life. I usually have my own tea party (I drink tea by the pot not by the cup) and I'm loving our percolator (even though we've had it since forever). I drink tea without anything added to it unlike my dad who usually puts honey or sweetener or whatever. Is tea bad for the health?

The tennis season is almost over and I'm having this feeling of "Shoot! What am I gonna do without tennis in my cable?!" It's not as if they're going to show EuroLeague Women in Eurosport. Boo.

Lately, my desktop background is like the United Nations. I have been using different countries' flags and coats of arms as my wallpaper. I started with the Philippines' coat of arms, then at present I have Italy's flag as my wallpaper. I like Austria's coat of arms. Check it out in Wikipedia.

I still think that Lauren Jackson and Stephanie Rice look somewhat alike. Maybe it's because of their eyes. Feliciano Lopez is sooo pretty. Haha. No, I'm not drunk while typing this.

I'll do my schedule for next week. I hope I can follow it.
*AB = or anytime in between
6am-8am (AB) - jogging
9am-12pm (AB) - tennis
12pm-2pm (AB) - eat and/or nap
2pm - 5pm - watch DVDs (TV series and movies) and/or include other activities
5pm-7pm - eat/pig out then tutor my cousin
7pm-?? - watch tennis matches if there are any
?? - try sleeping

If I follow this schedule, I don't know what will happen to me. So there's an 85% chance that I won't be following it.


MORAL: Sembreak is the time to do things you can't usually do during the semester. If you use your sembreak reading textbooks, researching about next lessons, doing advance projects, there's something wrong with you.

Dyesebelat

I am trying to post entries more frequently, so that they would be shorter and more friendly to read, I think I'll start now. My sister didn't go to work today because she said she has a viral infection. She has common colds. If she has a cough she'll tell her workmates, "I have upper respiratory illness, I can't come to work." What she meant was she has a cough. Then she told me she saw Patrick Garcia in Metrowalk. She wanted to approach him and say, "*expletive* mo! Inanakan mo lang si Jennylyn Mercado!" Then she thought otherwise, "What if hindi talaga kay Patrick 'yung bata? Kasi hindi naman niya iri-risk ang image niya, nagkataon lang na siya ang boyfriend noong nabuntis si Jennylyn." Well. I don't really care about them.

Then we got to talk about Halloween. Every year, their restaurant participates in the Trick or Treat. I told her I want to join in Trick or Treats this year, because wearing costumes is a tad fun and exciting. She said she wants to wear a Dyesebel costume. Her friends asked her, "How would you go up and down the stairs?"

"I'll sit and work with each step at a time." Imagine that in a restaurant.



MORAL: You can say anything you want as long as you say it in a manner that is not hurtful or offensive or grave, depending on your situation. You can say anything as long as you say it in a nice way. Unless you don't want to be nice. Sometimes... I run. Sometimes... I hide. Sometimes... I'm scared of you. But all I really want is to hold you tight, treat you right, be with you day and night. Baby all I need is time. Britney is alive, but I'm not really impressed with her new song.

An Entry I'm Not Proud Of...

... because it's just pure fingerwork.

As I type this, Ana Ivanovic and Venus Williams are slaughtering each other in the semifinals of the Zürich Open. Winner meets Flavia Pennetta, who murdered Jelena Jankovic, in the finals. They're in their 3rd set and Venus gets the first break in the final set to lead 4-6 6-3 4-3. Some tennis players produce a sound when they hit the ball, usually called a "grunt" by commentators. Ana Ivanovic produces an entertaining series of sound compressed into one. There are actually 3 different sounds she makes, before she hits the ball, when she hits the ball, and after she does so - all in one packaged sound. With other players, it's just pure lung-sound. Nyeha.

From love-40 (triple match point for Venus), Ana salvages her serve to still be on the board, 4-5. She is the luckiest person during really tight points, the net cord loves her (Ana's drop shot almost dropped her from the tournament but because of the net cord, she's still alive). I still think Ivanovic's forehand is the strongest in the game. When she sets up for it, you'll know for sure it'll be a clean winner after she hits the ball. Venus Williams leads 40-15 for her 4th match point. I think she'll win this. And she does 4-6 6-3 6-4. I still want EleVen shorts.

This is the last Zürich Open. Boo. Tennis season is really drying up. Everything ends on November. Boo again.


MORAL: When you just feel like typing/writing/anything, do so. With tennis season fast approaching the end, I need to find another thing to look forward to, aside from the Holidays. I still find Coldplay's music video of Viva La Vida (which is playing while I'm typing this) annoying. I like the song, I find it amazing, but the video, uhmm. This should not be in the MORAL part of my entry but I just type words as they come along.

Netherlands, You're the Land!

5 reasons why (for me) Netherlands is so cool it could make you freeze to death. Death by coolness! How awesome is that?

1. Marijuana is legal here and people don't make a big fuss about it
2. Same-sex marriage is allowed
3. Prostitution is legal
4. Tennis-friendly place (Why, how? Richard Karjicek was born (1971) here. He won Wimbledon in 1996 beating Pete Sampras in the QF.)
5. Flying Dutchman (people in the Netherlands are called Dutch) - Even Spongebob Squarepants would agree

I know have a promise that I will visit Netherlands when the time and opportunity permits. Come with me! Focus, Netherlands, focus. Yet for now, I would imagine the Philippines as the most awesome place on earth. Note: I'm not on drugs, I just well, like to imagine the Philippines could be a neat place for most people.


MORAL: Now, where are you going?

Resist Temptation

I am so tempted to post an entry about the WNBA Playoffs (and more) but I won't because:

1. West (ft. LA, San Antonio, Seattle) lost
2. Silver Stars (ft. Becky, Ruth, and Erin) lost
3. Sparks (ft. Candace, Lisa, and Sidney) lost
4. Storm (ft. Sue and Lauren - who was injured) lost
5. I know the three teams I mentioned above all belong to the Western Conference and they all lost (not because of me)
6. East won (duh, West lost so definitely the East won)
7. I watched most of the Playoff matches and watched the 3 Finals games (live telecast - my body clock is screwed a long time ago so it's not a big deal watching live telecasts from half across the earth)
8. San Antonio Silver Stars were swept like dust
9. WNBA season is all over and tennis season is nearing the end as well
10. Candace Parker is the MVP, Rookie of the Year, & the Face of the Year which is non-existent
11. Diana Taurasi is as hilarious as you could imagine
12. Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird do buddy blogs which is equal to hilarious squared
13. I don't know how I could watch the EuroLeague Women
14. NBA season is here and even the NBA Live 09 is here
15. I can type words and sentences the whole day about basketball, tennis, swimming, life, etc. but I won't

So I won't.


MORAL: Procrastinating is unhealthy. I know, I am doing it right now. I must've been typing about my Business Intelligence individual term paper but here I am, posting an entry after watching tennis shows. Could someone please tell our cable provider to fix the Eurosport channel right away? I don't want to be pissed off (or on?) because I don't want to. Do you? I don't.

BirDee

I never thought Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi would be given the gift of sense of humor because they're really great basketball players. I think having sense of humor is a gift, ok? Then I read their entry/post in the WNBA website. Dang it. They're really funny they even posted the video clip of Lauren Jackson and Yao Ming. Haha.

Some excerpts. It's kinda long, but it's worth it. I'm not posting the whole thing, you can read it here.

_start_of_copy_paste_thing_

Buddy Bloggers Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi were in San Antonio on Friday for the All-WNBA team announcement. Waiting patiently for their awards, they decided it would be a perfect time for a tag-team Buddy Blog effort:

Dee: So I guess we're supposed to give our thoughts on Game 1.

Sue: But you didn't watch it.

Dee: Aww, come on now. You weren't supposed to say that. I don't have cable at my house yet.

[...]

Dee: San Antonio went 14-0 against the East this year! 14 and 0! 14… and 0!

Sue: That's cuz the East is weak! Same team in the Finals every year!

[...]

Dee: Yeah, being at the Olympics was fun. Oh, what about Lauren running up and trying to talk toYao during the Closing Ceremonies!

Sue: That was hilarious. If you haven't seen it already, please go YouTube it right now. "How am I gonna live without Yao?"

Dee: I think she's kind of infatuated with him. She talks about him a lot. They're good friends through basketball. In a non-romantic way.

Sue: Yeah, he's married. To a former Chinese national team player.

Dee: Yeah, but she's no Sui Feifei. Or Miao. Miao was BALLING at the Olympics.

[...]

Dee: So, speaking of foreign policy, I'm all about tax cuts this season. I don't know about you, but I'm voting Obama for yo mama, McCain insane. That's it, print it.

I actually watched the VP debate a few nights ago, but I was in a sushi restaurant and it was on mute. Did Palin hold her own?

Sue: I don't like talking about politics.

Dee: If I hear the word "bipartisan" one more time, I'm gonna kill myself.

Sue: The one that kills me is the whole "hockey mom" thing.

Dee: The thing I love is that when they say, "My friends, you can trust me…" If you believe them, there's something wrong with you. And it's always, "My friends…"

Sue: And what about Tina Fey as the Vice President?

Dee: What?!?

Sue: She does a spot-on imitation of Sarah Palin. She's done it a couple of times on Saturday Night Live. Haven't you seen it?

Dee: I don't have any freaking TV! I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone.

Sue: I'll send it to you. It's really good. "I can see Russia from my backyard!"

Dee: I do love her accent. It's almost a Minnesota accent.

Sue: "Ohhh yahhhhh, we share a maritime border!" … "Can I call ya Joe?"

Dee: Every time Palin was talking, Biden was laughing. That's a bad sign. But Palin's suit did look nice.

Sue: OK… since we've made fun of just about everyone in America now, we'll let you enjoy the rest of the Finals.

Dee: And maybe we'll check in from Russia this winter. Wouldn't that be fun?

Sue: Yeah, and we'll really be able to see Russia from our backyard!

Dee: Yeah, Birdie! Good one!

_end_of_copy_paste_thing_


MORAL: Read the whole thing here. They're talking about other stuff when they're "supposed" to blog about the Finals. Haha. Speaking of Palin, I found out about this from JessicaRulesTheUniverse. @_@

Avril's Panic! At the Dome

I realized I haven't posted an entry about the concerts of Avril Lavigne and Panic At The Disco. I think it's necessary to post about them because:

1. Avril Lavigne deserves to stay in my brain for as long as possible
2. I think my short-term memory is not functioning well and I have to produce an entry about them or else the moment would fly from my hippocampus
3. Panic At The Disco's second album disappointed me; the first one was waaaay better
4. My wallet was almost sucked dry by my expenses - those that I could probably live without
5. September has ended and I haven't written about it
6. I think my short-term memory is not that good anymore. Wait, have I mentioned this already? I'm not sure, though...
7. And the seventh thing is that, I just have to.

Avril Lalalavigne's concert here in Manila happened last September 3 (I know it's been a long time already). Manila's in the Philippines in case you're not really good in geometry. Or is it geology?

Avril's concert was somewhat on time - just 30 minutes late - which is unusual because concerts do not really follow the time set (only movies do). Usually they are an hour or longer. Anyway, there was the pink skull backdrop (her famous logo) and a black backdrop with a huge letter "A" for the 2nd half of the concert. It was really a solo concert, no opening act (Alicia Keys and PATD had opening acts). Song/break intervals were done with her back-up singers/dancers doing street dance, and her band playing remixed melodies of her songs. If I did my math right, she played 15 and a half songs. The half song was Runaway because she played the drums and she can't finish the whole song. Her dancers were with their usual selves, their ADHD-like personality which is good for a concert because you want energy! Hmm, she did a one-hand cartwheel while singing (amazing!), in her acoustic song where she sat on a tall chair, she was scartching her legs (okay), and had different jackets (when her backdrops changed her jacket changed as well). Maybe she thought she's performing in Malaysia. This is the Philippines, and well, anything goes here. You can perform with swimwear on and people won't mind much. She does her own 2nd voice (her back-up singers are completely useless), and she played with a hot pink piano. Paris Hilton would be ashamed. It's really hot pink! One thing is that Avril went down the stage and made hand contact with the fans. My friend told me she doesn't usually do that. Since Araneta Coliseum was pretty much full, and the tickets were not really cheap, it's a good thing she did that considering her cold attitude with the fans when she last came here with Simple Plan (that was like 5 years ago). Avril is not really tall, so when she jumped down the stage to have a fan-artist quality time, she had difficulty going back up. She did what you would usually do when you're in a swimming pool and you're trying to go out of the pool with no help whatsoever from anything/anyone. Cool. Amazing. I love Avril.

Panic At the Disco performed here in the Philippines last August 14 (and you think Avril's concert was ages ago?!). I'm not really a big fan of Panic at the Disco, but since I kicked myself hard (imagine that) for missing Beyonce's concert (it's BEYONCE for Christssake), I promised in front of my stuff (things in our room) to watch concerts because you'll never know if you can watch them perform live again. So, I decided to watch them and was actually sold by a friend who suggested that Panic is pretty neat. Crowned King opened for them, and my eyes were fixed in the trombone the whole time. Anyway, the concert was disappointing, playing a few songs with no encore (they must've pretended to have, but they didn't). The highlight here is that the 4 of us who watched the concert didn't seat in our proper place. We were supposed to sit a few rows behind (the price range is still the same ok?), but then when the show started things aren't as orderly as you would want it. My heart was pounding the whole time because I don't know when the security guard would come and check our tickets. That's it. Nothing more except Ryan Ross' hats.


MORAL: Money can't buy everything. Money's meant to be spent (Wow, print this!). So, spend it.

Funeraria Water

We've all probably been inside a funeral house, in a wake, in a burial. Here in the Philippines, in a wake, there are tons of food. Some serve snacks while others serve buffet. In the snacks department, pastries from Red Ribbon or Goldilocks are sure-hits as well as tetra paks of juices and coffee. If there were water available, it would be from a dispenser brought by the family of the deceased. However, my dad went home and was excited to give me a bottle from a wake he attended. I know it's not polite to bring home stuff from a wake, but this bottled water was just too much for him to not bring home.

I know it's clean, but I have second (up to a hundred) thoughts of drinking it.


MORAL: When giving bottled water, please just indicate the name of the manufacturing company instead or just have your funeral home's name printed somewhere else. But if it's free, I won't dare complain.

Aluminum Glass Mall

You know that new mall near the Marikina River? The mall with glass one-way-mirror-type windows. It opened last September 5, 2008. Why would I remember it? Well, that Friday (Sept. 5), my dad picked me up from school and we went to Antipolo to get rent dues. Along Marcos Highway, it was urban death at its finest. I was so hungry by then I ate all of the crackers and biscuits we have in the van. To keep a possibly long story short, there were too many people and the traffic was similar to a scene in the movie War of the Worlds.

The mall is okay/nice, parking is good, their aircon is arthritis-unfriendly cold (though I think the rainy weather has something to do with it), neat view from the glass windows, but the mall is pretty small in my standards. My legs didn't even hurt a bit from walking.

So my mom decided to visit the mall and do our monthly grocery there (we live in San Juan and going to Marikina just to shop is something). I had my Green Minded Blue Blooded ESS (Environmental Science Society) shirt on and while I was checking out the food kiosks near the Supermarket with my gradeschool cousin, a 50-ish man (deduced using my judgemental side, which is pretty much always kept in the bag) signalled me to stop. I was shocked and was prepared to do a jumping out-in kick (I'm not a violent person). Then he pointed at my shirt and asked me, "Where did you get your shirt?" He's not a security guard which would make my answer, "I bought it," but based on his attire - he was sporting a shiny Ateneo jacket - he's an alumnus. So I replied, "Oh. It's an org shirt from school." Then he continued, "Ah. College?" I nodded with a "Yup," and he smiled with a thumbs-up gesture. WTHeck. I really think he was about to say something about the bonfire celebration yesterday good thing my cousin pointed at the menu board in the food stall so the supposedly-little-chat was cut.

The disturbing part is not being stopped by random people in the supermarket or in the mall, but when people ask me where I study and when I say Ateneo de Manila University, they follow-up with, "College?"

Just for the record, Ateneo (de Manila) is an all-boys school in the grade school and high school department, and co-ed in the college level. This leaves me with 2 really freaky points:
1.) Do I look like a man/boy/lad/member of the male species/whatever (I don't wear a pixie-cut or a boy's cut and I don't wear loose clothing)?!?!?!? I produce estrogen, not testosterone.
2.) Do I look like a kid regardless of sex (e.g. : I was thought to be a grade 6 student at one point, and high school at most times. And I'm of average height, but if I look young, I would take that as a compliment. Nyahaha.)?!?!?!

I just asked my brother, and he said I don't look like a boy/man. I know there are other Ateneo branches all throughout the country but I am in NCR when these queries happened.
Note: He didn't just say that because we're siblings. He really means it.


MORAL: We're all family in one way or another. I'm a young adult female. Don't you even dare.