Forget Me. Forget Me Not. I`m 21.

I turned 21 just recently! Not that anyone really cares. And it’s no big deal for me, really. I don`t celebrate birthdays. And I can’t remember a time that I celebrated my birthday in a grand way (except when I was a kid). I rather have a “me-alone” time, watch a movie, shop or something to that effect. I’m always single during my birthday so I don’t have any dates with whomever. And I don’t receive gifts during my birthdays, probably because: 1) my friends are kuripot (on second thought, so am I) or; 2) they perceive me as someone who is not materialistic which is partly-true.

This birthday was no exception. I did not celebrate grandiosely. Because the 17th fell on a work day, it was work-as-usual for me. I went to work and was surprised that “Happy 21st Birthday Jubert” was all over the place. Then in this instance, Ate Ching (a midwife that has been working in the hospital for 20 years) greeted me. It kept coming as I saw work mates whom I identified as friends greeted me. I could scarcely say “Thank you” knowing that I nauseate from corny statements. I may not show outward signs of being (over-acting-ly) thankful but deep inside, I was like “Okaaay, I wanna cry”.

But it was just like any other day (or so I thought). I was busy most of the day. I even accompanied a patient who went to a tertiary private hospital for a scheduled CT scan that afternoon. After about an hour, we went back to the hospital. The patient’s wife gave me a take-out pre-dinner from Jollibee and her daughter-in-law (she prolly overheard my work mates or read it in one of the posters at the station) greeted me “Happy Birthday”. I reciprocated by giving a humble smile. I was touched. I really appreciated the nice gesture. The next day, my workmates surprised me with a birthday cake and ice cream. Wow, ang sarap sa feeling. It was the first time that someone gave a me cake (aside from family members). 

Me and my cake <3

Thanks to all those (1) who celebrated my birthday with me, to those (2) who were with me that day but didn’t celebrate with me, and to those (3) who said they would celebrate with me but didn’t. I love you all! Thank you to everyone who took the time to greet me personally, text, call, sent me TA, sent me PMs, tweet, and post their words on my wall. This so overwhelming and touching knowing you people remembered and took even a little time and effort to greet me. I’m also grateful to those who knew my birthday from somebody else’s mouth. Ang sarap ng feeling that I had a vast social life. 

Cheers to being an adult now. Goodbye teenage years, you were pretty darn awesome!

Cebu baby, here I come!

I always dreamed of going to Cebu since, uhm I-don't-know-when, well let us just say, since the time I first dreamed of it. This is one of the most raved about places in the country and been receiving a lot of good reviews from tourists. Now, I will murder (or hang or whatever) my curiosity and find out why. Courtesy of Mama and Papa, of course.

It was December last year (while eating in this certain overrated fast food chain) when Mom broke the good news that we're going to Cebu this month. Yes, my mom told me that we're going, uhm not only going but spending seven days in freakin' Cebu. YEEEEEEEHA! I may not have shown signs of excitement but deep inside, deep inside of me, I was screaming like crazy. Why wouldn't I? This will be my first time to set foot in Visayas and believe it or not, this will be my first plane ride evaaaaaar. So please understand if I am making a big deal out of everything.

I've mentioned before that I'm reviewing for the NLE. So ayun, I asked the permission of SRG Legazpi Head if I can take a more/less two-week vacation. There's no reply yet pero echos lang yun. With or without permission, I'll go on with the trip. I wouldn't miss this for the world. Sorry Sir P. XD

(Good pm Sir Pogi! Sup? I'm gonna ask permission lang po if I can take a vacation from April 19 to first week of May. We're going somewhere with my family. I promise to scan my notes while I'm away. :))) I'm hoping for your kind consideration. - JUBERT)

UPDATE: May reply na si Sir: Okay lang. Basta aral ng mabuti.

Our primary reason of going there is to attend the wedding *bells ringing* of my Tito Ninong. As of now, I do not know our itineraries yet but I'm already researching for the must-do and must-visit in Cebu, just in case, they asked for my help. Well, if you're a blogger it's as easy as ABC. Thanks backpackers! （´ 3｀)

The bride and the groom
(Stolen from Tito Ninong's Facebook account. Peace!)

As early as now, I am super duper excited to see the wonders of the Queen City with my very own eyes, to indulge my taste buds in a food porn, to meet creatures as awesome and as gwapo as me (meron kaya?) and on top of everything, to be in the company of my family - as far as I can remember, our last family bonding (with Mom, Dad and two sisters) is way back 2005 in Baguio.

See you Radisson!

For now, I'm in the last-minute preparations. I'm going to Pampanga tomorrow and we'll be staying there for a week. And on the 27th, we'll fly down south. Vavush! I will get back to everyone as soon as I can.

As I go on, I remember what?

I wish Mom and Dad had a child before I was born ‘cos I was thinking if I have a big sister/big brother, at least, they can kinda orient me on the do’s and don’ts in college. Perhaps had I had these tips I didn’t made some really huge mistakes and learn things the hard way.

…

I’m still in a bit of daze brought about by thinking that just few weeks from now; I would take that long (and flashy!) walk to the podium to grab with my splendid right hand the piece of paper that I worked hard for these part four years. Shikes! Has it really been four years? It seems just like last year.

When I made the decision to take up BSN, I knew it would be hard – I just don’t know how haggard-ing it would really be. Oh freaking gawd! It completely savaged, ruined and destroyed my sleeping time (read: laging puyat!). It semed like I had a thousand of stuffs to do every day and sleeping was, well, my last option. Believe it or not, I became accustomed to 18 hours a day, 7 days a week schedule. (Don’t take up BSN unless you love going to school on weekends.)

During the first few weeks in school, I missed my family so badly. (Newsflash: I’m staying in a dorm) That was the time that I realized that I had reach the point in my life where mom and dad will not always be around. I must take responsibility for myself which mean I must take off my diaper, wipe off the milk in my lips and do things for myself.

I learned how to cook for myself – just a little bit though. I tried to cook pancit canton with sabaw once and the taste was urgh. Don’t try this at home evaaaar! I had a shoddy affair with attendance especially in the first two semesters. I was tempted with the usual things like cigarettes and alcohol. Don’t worry, I’ve already stopped it. I forced myself to eat carinderia foods whenever possible. Noodles are well, not nutritious but I learned that it’s very cost-effective. I learned that bringing my student ID at all times do wonders. I check Facebook at least three times a day; I double it on weekends. I became used to taking a bath with cold water – yes, this is a big deal for me. I became a celebrity blogger, in the campus at least. Whenever I go home, all I do is to eat as much as I can, sleep as much as I can but I don’t do the laundry. Let’s be clear on that. I let my Mom do that wonderful job for me. I almost give up this course for a stupid reason that I cannot share here. I learned that having a girlfriend is just a waste of money. I flirted with girls on Facebook – not cool! I joined a pageant in the campus. I’ve met tons and tons of awesome people and some annoying ones. I learned that to budget your allowance is harder than taking an exam. And so many other memories. And oh yes, lessons too!

I would have to admit that mine was a typical college experience. It was tough! I faced a lot of adversities. I have always wanted to go to a certain elite school in Manila but belonging to a lower middle class family, I wasn’t able to fulfill that particular dream. But I’ve always conditioned my mind that bad things happen to everyone. What I need to do is to work my ass off to ensure that no opportunity is rendered spoiled. And with this comes the realization that true success is not defined by the status that you have or by the numbers in your bank account, but it is how you worked for it. Once you learned that lesson, you’ll get along much better in life. You might say that I am not in the position to say this ‘cos I’m just freaking 19 years old – I repeat, nineteeeeeen – but I think you don’t have to be as old as Lola Basyang to share a little bit of what we call, wisdom.

I don’t know where this is going anymore or how I am supposed to end this post. I still had a lot of thoughts going on in my awesome awesome head but lemme just say how thankful I am for everyone who made this journey of mine smooth from start to finish. Some of them will not make it to my post-college life and I to theirs and it’s a sad realization. Really, that really hurts. It is sad and a little thrilling! But I should never say bye.

…

When I look back in my college days, I see so many mistakes that I (or my friends) did that are inevitable. It pisses me off that I screwed things up pretty bad. So for you to not make the same mistakes that I did, I scribed down some nice (and sensible) college tips that you can ponder on.

1. If you are going to study in a big state university, prepare for the dog-tiring registration process.

2. No matter how much you disliked keeping trashes, don’t throw school receipts.

3. If you have early morning classes, set at least 3 alarms. You don’t want to be late, don’t you?

4. If your class got a load of attractive people, the easier it will be for you. Trust me!

5. If you have a unique feature or whatever, chances are a nickname will emerge and stick harder than a bubble gum.

6. Befriend the campus’ “sekyu” in the beginning of the semester ‘cos it might work for your advantage in the future.

7. Don’t forget to bring your student ID wherever you go.

8. Be cool when dealing with professors that don’t like your point of view. Don’t get upset or anything. Your (stupid) professor might take it out on your grade. It should never happen but it does.

9. Don’t expect to get high grades when you miss more classes than you attend.

10. You don’t need to be close with your roommate. You don’t need to be friend with him either. But at least, try to be cool to him ‘cos he knows where you sleep.

11. Avoid having to purchase separate body soap and laundry soap by using body soap as laundry soap and vice versa.

12. Study, study and study during “hell week” unless you want to fail.

13. If you don’t, prepare to get a little sleep ‘cos you’ll be studying all the time.

14. If you are accustomed to 8 hours of sleep per day, then you are dead.

15. Check your Facebook only once during “hell week” ‘cos those grades might end up suffering.

16. If you are a guy, don’t enter a serious relationship if you have a weekly allowance of Php2K or below.

…

HIATUS MODE. I don’t want to do this – I really don’t – but I should. I need to isolate myself ‘cos I need to concentrate. NO BLOGGING. No Facebook for two weeks. I know it’s tough but this is the best thing I should do – for myself. Please bear with me. I promise that I will get back to everyone as soon as I can.

PS. I know you would miss me. I just know you would ‘cos

I’m
super
awesome.

Right? Right!

Chillspot turns 2!

In the 8th of February 2009, with no clue of the wonderful things that lies ahead, I started blogging again. The primary reason is to share random thoughts culled from the deep recesses of my existence. HAHAHA, I’m just kidding. Actually, this blog was born out of frustration. So, I never really expected that it would last a year. I wasn’t new to blogging back then. I had one/two/three blogs prior to this one but all were epic fail. Swear! But c’mon we all know that most bloggers started just like that. We don’t need to argue on that, right?

80 blog entries written in two years. 16,174 hits. 1,192 comments. Not too many but at least, I know that some people take time to read and follow this blog. I’m very flattered. I’m also grateful for those who knew my blog through somebody else’s mouth. Sobrang sarap ng feeling! And it’s not ‘cos it gives a sort of celebrity status but ‘cos it shows that I’m doing something right. And that inspires me to continue what I have started.

Over the past two years, I blogged about everything from my dysfunctional lovelife… to Gibo Teodoro… to my dirty little secrets. I even went as far as confessing my admiration to two girls here. And I’m very glad that almost all you kept an open mind and commented positively on my articles. Anyway, want to know my personal faves? I want to keep you guessing but whatta heck, here it is:

PROUD PINOY? [June 12, 2010. Read the entire article here] I never consider myself particularly nationalistic but if there’s one article I’m so proud of, this would be the runaway winner. I’ve read this a hundred times already but some part still send me goosebumps until now.

And the post did sit well with the bloggers.

I appreciate nakagawa ka ng ganitong post. Sobrang pampagising, daig pa ang kape sa Starbucks.

That's what we lack--a single goal, a single direction. Kaya nga kung minsan maganda na may kaaway na bansa ‘cos we are united in difficult times but fragmented during peacetime.

Nahiya ako sa blog ko bigla, HAHAHA! Nice one kid! Mabuhay ang Pinas! Walang sinabi ang Sibika at Kultura sa post mo.

TRIVIA: I have a copy of this in my wallet (that’s the original draft actually) and I bring it wherever I go.

BREAKING THE ♥ OF A FRIEND. [November 8, 2009. Read the entire article here] This is one of the funniest, mushiest and most stupid articles I’ve made – EVER! So, I was really overwhelmed of the response that it got from my fellow bloggers. Some expressed their admiration (or is it?) for my being straightforward. Some made jokes out of it. And some gave upright advices.

TRIVIA: After almost 1 ½ years, this still remain the most commented article in the history of Chillspot.

CONFESSIONS OF A BLOGGER PART 1 & 2 [Part 1: October 11, 2010. Read the entire article here. Part 2: January 11, 2011. Read the entire article here.] There is no need for me to explain why I love these both. I enjoyed doing these and a sequel is already in the drawing board. EXCITED MUCH?

Through this personal blog, I met tons of (equally) awesome bloggers. I can't even count now how many are them. Really. But despite of that, this girl is and will always be my favorite - the supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Ate Chyng (the explorer) of the award-winning and Google-recognized “No Spam, No Kiddin’, No Virus”. She’s my oldest and most-loved link. She was there to see my blog grow. And she will be there to see my blog die. Hahahaha. *knock on wood* I will always be her biggest fan. Please take note of that.

Not far behind her is Kuya Raymond of “That’s So Raymond!” – one of my newest links. I just found out his blog recently and I immediately fell in love with it (and the writer too! XD). He’s one hell of a writer-slash-poet. His writing style is engaging. I don’t know but there is something there that would make you keep reading. Seriously.

Initially, I wanted to put all the names of my blogger friends here but I’m thinking if I’ll do that then the list would be longer than the Great Wall of China. HAHAHA. I guess, you know who you are.

On my third year, nothing will change. I’ll still be the same Jubert/Hoobert/Jubibo that you knew. I’ll still publish great (and controversial) articles for everyone to enjoy. And I assure you all that you’ll still get the ULTIMATE CHILLSPOT EXPERIENCE.

I also would like to thank the rest of you who comes here every day but never leaves a comment. Daghang salamat!

Jubert/Hoobert/Jubibo

SENIOR YEAR

Funny how some senior year nursing students still managed to attend the annual Acquaintance Party last Friday night even though we are kicking our asses to finish our thesis – mine is still in coma *laughs*. Lack of sleep (and sex, lol) is apparent in our sluggish-looking faces.

LALALOVE that is Marvs!

Zits and 3-layer eyebags are breaking loose. Super looool!

The search-shit took, like, FOREVER!

But still, almost half attended the party. Believe me when I say that acquaintance parties are not big deal for us, really – these are just for the freshmen. But maybe, we are starting to realize that events like these are a more or less atypical excuse for a break – which we badly need.

With beautiful girls :) They got nothing on you babes!

Because I owe these pics to Hanna babes. Here's her group, the BWAD!

Wacky BWAD!

Because almost all of my closest buddies are there to my surprise, fine, “pretended to be surprised”, I thought to myself that this will be “one hell of a colossal party”. And indeed it was! As soon as the Search for Mister and Miss ACQ ended – my salutations to candidate #1 (Misturr ACQ, BSN) - we strutted our way to the dance floor.

Shakin' those booties!

Super looool :))) Pati sa seats, todo-hataw!

And because we were super-duper busy flaunting our moves, we haven’t thought of taking pics of ourselves. Thanks to baby Bryne for capturing these uber-cool shots. I’m all smiles!

Haha! Funny shot, parang di mga seniors.

Find me!

Everything went smooth from start to finish – uncool lang yung mga nambabasa, they made it a “wet and wild party” literally - so I went home with sheer joy. That’s one of the wackiest, craziest and happiest nights of my college life. Thanks to my closest buddies, friends, classmates and katorse-mates for making this “one hell of an experience”. I’m proud to have you guys! Yikes, I’m beginning to sound like a grown up and I don’t want that. :)))

I can’t wait for the Nursing Ball! Paging John Rhey, Daryll and the rest of the SNAB officers, make it grand!

PROUD PINOY?

Why should I be proud being a Filipino in the first place?

Should I be proud of the fact that the Philippines is the second richest country in Asia... in the fnckin' 1950s? Should I be proud that we are resilient because we can laugh at our problems and we laugh even when there is nothing to laugh about? Should I be proud because we have an elf as a president? Should I be proud of the Ampatuans who put the country in history books? Should I be proud of Noynoy Aquino? Or should I be proud of our 9 (!) medal haul in the Olympics?

Anyone can point out a thousand things which are wrong in this country, from being Asia's most corrupt to the poverty-stricken kids begging for coins in the streets, to the gruesome Maguindanao massacre, to the taxi drivers opening the car door to spit (that's gross!), to the world famous "Filipino time", to the women (and men too!) who loves to bicker, to the unraveling traffic jams in the metros and to the tons (multiplied it by 100) of other things that you want to curse the country for.

And yet. I'm still a Filipino and I love being one. Despite all the misery brought by being a Filipino, my faith and belief in my race is still intact. No matter what they tell about my country, the Philippines will always be where my heart is.

Why not? There is so much to rave about being a Filipino and being in the Philippines. We live on a paradise, we have a rich cultural heritage, our adobo, our "never-say-die attitude", our warm smiles, Dr. Jose Rizal, our beautiful ladies, we decapitated Magellan, we showed the world the true meaning of "People Power", we have Charice and Pacman, our jeepney, the Aquino couple (I will say family but...), we taught people how to smile after a misfortune - oh, I can go forever baby. That's why there's no reason for us to be insecure, to be envy. Because we are so blessed. What more could we ask? There is so much to be proud of and to live for.

To the people who think that there is no hope for the Philippines, to the retarded columnist who called the Philippines a nation of servants, to the desperate housewife that insulted the quality of Philippine medical education, to the Comedy Central loser who called President Cory a slut, to the fugly Adam Carolla who called the pound-for-pound king illiterate, I feel so sorry for you. And to all the Filipinos who proclaim that they are ashamed to be Filipinos, to tell you, I'm much more ashamed to have you as "kababayans".

Excuse me Juan dela Cruz, before you judge our country, before you look down and spit on us, before you shove in anyone's faces that the country sucks big time, pause for a moment and ponder, "What exactly have YOU done to make this the place you want it to be?". If none, then just zip it. You don't have any right to complain, you don't have any right to whimper and snivel because you yourself have done nothing.

I have come to realize that it is the people who makes the country and not the other way around. Moreover, I have come to realize that if we want this country to gain its loss glory, we must put our shits together and work towards a united goal. This will not be an easy ride, there will always be the pain of defeat and pleasure of triumph. But what separates the two is the attitude we Filipinos possess. We are known for our resiliency. We can manage to laugh even after a tragedy. It is not that we can't take anything seriously but because we prefer to move forward with renewed vigor and rising expectation than to just sit down and cry.

Some of us may be exhausted of "Philippines-in-deep-poo-poo" state and some may think that the only way to get out is to give up. No puh-leez, keep holding on. Sino pa ba ang magmamahal at mag-aaruga sa Pilipinas kung hindi tayong mga Pilipino? Sino pa ba ang magmamalaki sa ating lahi kundi tayo-tayo din? If nobody wants to lift our chair for us then we must do it ourselves. Or else nobody will know how much we're worth.

As for me, I refuse to believe that my country is a hopeless case.

I refuse to be humiliated by my own lineage.

I refuse to lambaste my own countrymen.

I refuse to exchange my citizenship for anything else.

I refuse to give up.

I am a Filipino and will always be a Filipino, "sa isip, sa salita at sa gawa".

Forget-it. Forget-it-Not.

Please check the date…

Ok, February 8. Do you remember anything about this date? Whaaat? None? A friend’s birthday or somethin’? None?! Are you kidding me?

(Countdown) Three… two… one… BOOM! It’s Chillspot’s first year anniversary. WOOHOO!

So, expect that MODESTY is not my word today. I will lift my chair as high as I could, I will blow my horn as loud as I want and I’m not going to show even the smallest hint of humility because today is a SPECIAL day.

Exactly 1 year ago, I started this blog out of frustration --- that explains the color of the background. It seems like just last month. Has it really been a year already? Whew! I just can’t believe this.

I always wanted to blog. I started blogging when I was 14. Chillspot is already my fourth blog. My first 3 blogs are so amateur-ish --- non-sense topics, so many grammatical errors. Oh, I’m too shy for this. But I guess, most bloggers started just like that, right?

When I started this blog 12 months ago, I used to ask myself: Who would care? I’m not a celebrity. I’m not a politician’s son and I don’t have 10,000 fnckin’ friends in Facebook. In short, I’m not that interesting. But hey, you guys have me proven me wrong. Now, I know that people are actually reading my blog. Sobrang sarap sa feeling.

I would like to thank the readers who have been with me on my blog in the past 12 months. Yeah, I should thank you here: RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW.

Cool regulars like Kuya Ax, Ate Chyng, Kuya Nonsense, Kuya KJ, Pareng Hamster, Pareng Rye, Fr. Fiel, Kuya Tope, Kelvin, Gervie, Sows, Kuya Stain, Shatteshards, Kuya Pusang-kalye, Kuya Kurog, Kuya Nash, Allen, Fufu, Ate Dhyoy, Kuya Blu, Kuya K, Edz. And most of all, to YOU who is reading this right now, who kept leaving comments to let us know we are loved, THANK YOU very much.

Now, I’m looking forward for more years of blogging. And I hope you’ll stay with me until this blog bid Adieu.

Again, Maraming salamat. Thank you. Sukhran gazillan. Terima kasih. Mille grazie. Khop khun mak. Merci. Va multumim frumus. Danke sehr. Xie xie.

:|.poOt!