ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS...

YOU.

LAOS, thank you!

I'm very proud of Team Philippines.

The biggest and much awaited sporting event in the region has concluded yesterday. Though Team Philippines was out of the Top 3 again, there are still something to crow about.

I am loath to admit this, but the handling of the training programs of our athletes has been so half-assessed; add to that, the national team lack lacks funding from this fnckin' government. But, these not became a hindrance for Team Philippines to do well in this SEA Games edition.

Our athletes were able to pulled off a modest, yet, very surprising finish in the 25th Southeast Asian Games. Behind its 38 gold medal output, Team Philippines finished fifth over-all, only trails fourth running Team Malaysia by 2 golds and 5 behind third running Team Indonesia. Ten time champion Team Thailand led the pack by amassing a total of 86 gold medals, just a mere 3 gold medals from second placer, Team Vietnam.

The RP water polo team clinches our first medal, which is a SILVER, after scoring a 13-8 win over Team Indonesia. (FACT: This is our third consecutive water polo silver medal in SEA Games)

The hot hot hot trio of Camille Alarilla, Janice Lagman and Rani Ortega gave the Philippines its first GOLD by ruling the Woman's Poomsae event. (FACT: The trio were the winner of the recent Fourth World Championship held in Cairo. Very impressive!)

Our most prolific medal earner is no other than Miguel Molina which handed us 6 medals --- 2 golds, 3 silvers and 1 bronze medals. Applause applause!

Also worth mentioning are Filipino double gold winners golfer Chihiro Ikeda, cue artist Rubilen Amit and tennis player Cecil Mamiit.

I want to salute ALL the athletes - who delivered a medal or not - for putting up a good fight in Vientiane. We are very very proud of you!

***

Maraming maraming salamat Laos for staging an excellent Games. I've got to say that you exceeded all my expectations. Kudos!

Goodbye and see you at the 26th SEA Games in Indonesia on 2011.

***

Tomorrow until Tuesday will be an overkill for me. (No) Thanks to my make-up duties which will completely savage me. For three straight days, my duty will start from 7am to 11pm. YES, a total of 16 hours per day. Oohh! This is so haggard-ing.

:|.poOt!

R stands for RANDOM

Do I still need to reiterate that it's just nine days before Christmas? *bells ringing in the background*

I.MEMORIES IN NAGA

The BUTC Pep Squad

I'm going to miss the 10th PNSA- Regional Congress. *sigh* Last December 3, I got to watch the PNSA PEP Squad Competition and I was on Team BUTC of course. I hate to do the story telling; all I can tell is that this was the most heated PEP squad competition I have ever witnessed! Congratulations to University of St. Anthony for winning though I think that Immaculate Conception College of Albay was more deserving of taking home the plum. Meanwhile, BUTC squad failed to penetrate the Top 3. But according to an insider (and as confirmed by Kuya Alfred), we are the 3rd runner up (again? that's also our ranking during the BU Week) WHOOAH! Not bad! At least, we were able to defeat nothing less than University of Nueva Caceres and (the so proud) Aquinas University of Legazpi among others. My salutations!

But, the thing that will be inscripted in my almanac for sometime was the Search for Ambassador and Ambassadress of Goodwill 2009 when "BU spirit" was felt all over the UNC Sports Palace. Three BU campuses (BU Tabaco Campus, BU Polangui Campus and BU Main Campus) cheered together to support our 5 candidates. I got to tell you, I almost lost my voice there. HAHA.

II. THESIS! THESIS! THESIS!

Last week, I submitted three title proposals to my professor in Research. And luckily for me, he approved the one I like the most: "Health Consumer's Perception on RA 9205 or Cheaper Medicines Act of 2008". YIPEE! Now, I can start making Chapters 1 to 3. But, I don't have an adviser yet. I gotta look for one first.

I think four of my batch mates are already scheduled to have their pre-oral defense on Thursday. Whatevs.

III. WASTED VOTES.

I can't vote for Villar. Uh-oh. I can't vote for Noynoy either. Or for any crap politicians for that matter. Because I cannot vote. YES! I won't be able to participate in the 2010 Elections because it will coincide with our Summer Affiliation in Manila. Holy crap! Kapag sineswerte ka nga naman.
I think, all in all, we are 130 - 140 + 3rd year nursing students and I presume 110 or so are registered voters. That will be the same number of votes that will be wasted next year. Sheeze!

IV. END OF DARK AGE

I'm not a celebrity (not yet) and my love life is plain boring. But, I know some of you are eagerly waiting for the end of the "23 Days of Dark Age". Some are quite curious if it will end well for both parties. Well, the "Dark Age" ended shorter than expected. The night before I leave for the Congress, we mutually agreed to stop this whole drama. And the next day, as if nothing happened. We are seatmates on the bus going to Naga and I can say that everything seems back to normal.

Actually, she celebrated her birthday last Sunday. While our friend (her roommate) also notched another year last year. Happy birthday gals. Thank you for having both of you in my life. Hmmm... where's my treat?

***

I'm still ruminating if I will pursue my plan of creating a blog for the 2010 Elections. Hmp. I need co-authors of course.

God bless us and may Erap not win.

:|.poOt!

--> images courtesy of Kath N. (from her FB)

For the Fossil watch

The past week has been pretty tiring for me both physically and mentally. Folk dance competition. PNSA Regional Congress. Thesis. Classes and duties. *sigh* So, just imagine my delight when I read about the contest launched by Ate Grace as she and her blog celebrates their second year in the blogosphere in January. What a struck of good fortune? YAHOO!

The instruction is as simple as 1 2 3. All you have to do is to create a blog entry stating three of your favorite places that you have been to and three places you wish to visit someday. You may also give brief explanation as to why these are your favorite places and why you dream of going to these places. REMEMBER: they can be anywhere in the world, as in... anywhere. And, the instructions says ONLY 3 so you must stick with it. OK? *wink* Just to be safe.

TOP 3 FAVORITE PLACES I'VE BEEN TO

It's not really hard for me to choose three of my favorite places because I don't travel a lot. HAHA. So little money to spend. I'm still a student, remember?

3. BAGUIO

It's been almost 5 years since my first and last (hopefully not) visit to the City of Pines but the memories are still vivid like it was just yesterday. If I'm not mistaken, that's the first time that me and my family went out-of-town together, making it super extra special for me.

One thing I enjoyed doing most in Baguio: buying key chains. LOL.

PS. Me and my friends are planning to have a quick visit to Baguio next year during our summer affiliation in Manila.

2. I-DON'T-KNOW-THE-EXACT-PLACE, ZAMBALES

My first trip to my grandfather's hometown was very memorable and it will always have a special place in my heart. But, what I enjoyed most about our trip there is when our relatives brought us to - hold your breath - their private beach resort facing the South China Sea. Isn't that wonderful? I apologize because I don't know the exact location of the resort. Oh, my bad!

That's also the time when I saw the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen in my entire life.

1. MANILA

Yes, Manila. Why not? I have been going to Manila two to four times a year since I was a kid (I'm from the province, you know) but this city doesn't fail to amaze me everytime I set foot into it. The lights. The noise. Manila Bay. And not to mention its night life and its beautiful girls. Everything is just beyond the usual. Though it is nothing compared to New York, Paris or London but still, for a Filipino like me, there's no place in the world like Manila.

TOP 3 PLACES I WISH TO VISIT

I'm planning that right after I earned enough money, I'll pack up my things, go ahead and see the world. And these are the three places at the top of my own "501 Places to Visit Before I Die" list. HAHA.

1. VIENNA

I'm dying to visit this lovely European city someday. I'm drooling (yucks!) everytime my mom tell me stories about her travel to Vienna few years back. I would love to see the Imperial Court Theatre, the St. Stephen's Cathedral and the Rathaus.

2. ANYWHERE IN AFRICA

South Africa? Egypt? Or Kenya perhaps? Believe me, I dream of traveling to the "Black Continent" someday. It would be amazing, isn't it? Seeing wildlife at its best. Raaaar!

3. BATANES

In my own dictionary, "traveling" is defined as a time for relaxation (take note of that) so I think Batanes suits me big time. Ever since, I perceived Batanes as a very calm and serene place. And that's the main reason why I want to experience life there.

There you go, my three favorite places I've been to and three places I dream of going to. TAKE THAT!

HELLO! Whoever is reading this who owns a blog, you can make your own post too. You got only hmmm... 4 hours to do it. So, hurry! A Fossil watch is at stake. You want that, don't you? Good luck.

:|.poOt!

THE BIG DAY!

I eagerly waited for this day to come - December 09, 2009. Want to know why? Because today is the day that thousands of athletes from all over the region will gather in Vientiane for the most celebrated sporting event in Southeast Asia, the 25th Southeast Asian Games.

Yes, you read it right. For the first time in the 50 year history of SEA Games, Laos will host the biennial event. But even before it has started, controversies has stirred the 2009 Laos SEA Games. Laos has been criticized for reducing the number of events and launching few Olympic sports and as a result, many thinks that this SEA Games is just for the fame of Laos.

Even basketball, where the Philippines is a powerhouse, was scrapped in the Games. Fnck! And offers from different countries to help in hosting the event were turned down by Laos officials. Double fnck! But the worst is the issue about the collaboration between Vietnam and the host country. According to reports, Team Laos have been training in Vietnam and in order to pay back debts to Vietnam, Lao judges will decide that Team Vietnam will win almost all the events in subjective sports --- like wushu, taekwondo, karate-do, judo etc. It can be noted that in the past three SEA Games, Team Vietnam gained almost half of its gold medals from subjective sports. If reports are true: Triple fnck!

Anyway, let's give Laos the benefit of the doubt. We are not unless it happens, don't we? So far, the expected contenders for the TOP 3 spots in this SEA Games are

Team THAILAND - I'm expecting that this country will still be one of the top countries in this SEA Games. Team Thailand has been doing excellent in SEA Games which I supposed is luck running for this country in 2009 Laos Games. As a matter of fact, it is Southeast Asia's strongest powerhouse country placing 2nd in the 2001, 2003 and the 2005 Games and being the over-all champ in the 2007 Games. It seems that Thais are taking sports more seriously than us, huh.

Team INDONESIA - Traditionally, this country is the strongest powerhouse country in Southeast Asia but in recent years Team Thailand has out placed them in the top spot. But still, I'm expecting that Team Indonesia will be one of the top seeds.

Team MALAYSIA - Another country to watch out for. Team Malaysia is the 2001 SEA Games all over champ and placed 2nd in the last SEA Games.

Team VIETNAM - A TOP 3 finish is not impossible for this country. They've done it in the last two SEA Games and they are 2003 SEA Games all over champ. They are considered as Southeast Asia's newest sports powerhouse.

Team PHILIPPINES - I'm hoping that my beloved country will rebound from its lowest windup in the history of SEA Games when it placed sixth overall two years ago *keeping my fingers crossed* But hey, we got the second most number of medals after Team Thailand - 42 golds, 91 silvers and 96 bronzes. Isn't that fncken good? Team Philippines is considered a powerhouse team because all of the included athletes in the list are gold and silver medalists in the 2007 SEA Games and the others are 2008 Beijing Olympians. In fact, Team Philippines is considered as the 3rd strongest powerhouse country in Southeast Asia.

GOOD LUCK TO ALL ATHLETES!

:|.poOt!

I'M OUT OF HERE!

I'll be gone for three days. Wanna know why? I have a choice to keep you all guessing, but what the heck. LOL.

Together with 150 nursing students from Bicol University Tabaco Campus, I'll be participating at the 10th Philippine Nursing Students Association - Regional Congress to be held at University of Nueva Caceres in Naga City starting tomorrow until the 5th of December.

We will be leaving tomorrow at around 4am, so, I have to sleep early. Pray that we can be able to put a good fight there.

KTHANKSBYE!

:|poOt!