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!

A Letter to my Future Girlfriend

Dear “My-soon-to-be-girlfriend”,

It does feel weird writing to you considering that you do not exist. Or rather you exist; I am just unaware of your existence. But I’m not losing hope that someday we will finally meet. And in time, we will fall in love and write our own fairytale. I am the prince, you are the princess and of course, we will live happily ever after. Never mind if this is just wishful thinking, darling.

Please understand that I’m not perfect. I’m very far from being one. So, I hope that you will love me the way I am. I’ve had only one relationship prior to ours so don’t expect me to be smooth in any means. I’m not even romantic but I love doing cheesy stuffs. I will ask you to go out with me on a tissue paper, or if you like, I will just shout it in public, loud and clear. On our first date as a couple, allow me to bring you to my house. I will introduce you to my mom and sisters as my girlfriend. That’s the time that we know that you have me and that I have you.

I don’t know how to cook but for you I’ll try my best. I just hope that you won’t laugh at me if it get burned, turned to mush or taste like paste. But I assure you that I look handsome in an apron. I would really love to calm you down when you’re pissed. It makes me glad to see your mood lighten up, especially knowing that I am the reason behind the smiles.

Please accept the cheesy love letters I will give you not just on our monthsary or on your birthday but also on some lazy afternoon. And, I am more than happy to be your alarm clock. I will wake you up in the morning and send you to sleep at night. I will keep checking you out to know how your day went or what’s on your mind. Always remember that I am not just your lover but your best friend as well.

I don’t have a good singing voice but for you I will sing. Sorry if I am out of tune but believe me, it’s the best that I can do. I love to travel and I hope you also do. So don’t wonder if I will pack a bag and we’ll fly to Cebu to celebrate a special day. And if ever we will have a fight, there’s no need to freak out. Allow me to invite you for dinner and let’s talk it over grilled-pusit and crab rice. That’s yummy. I swear.

As of now, I don’t have a clue on how we will meet. I don’t know how long we will be together or how we will break up. I don’t know too much about love. All I know is that true love is not only loving the person you are with but loving the person you become as a result of the person you are with. I know one day I’ll find you. I know you will find me too. Just keep believing in love and destiny will bring us together.

Although I have yet to find you believe me when I say, I LOVE YOU.

Love,

“Your-soon-to-be-boyfriend”

EPIC FAIL!

Sorry guys, this is just so late. I wrote this 7 weeks ago.

I am not happy with the Pilipinas Kay Ganda brand. It was such a pathetic attempt from the brainless DOT. It is two strokes from a porn site and too close to be Polish. And have mercy, this one is in Tagalog. As if the whole world could understand what it means. I don't think I would go to Croatia if their marketing slogan is HRVATSKA, TO JE LIJEPA. It's a stupid slogan. It's simply won't sell. Really. I wanted to rip the guts out of the DOT Undersecretary that wasted 5 million bucks for a so nonsense output. What's his name? Ah, Enteng Romano - what an idiot!

Shame on you Sec. Lim. Stop defending your amateur-ish project. You're just making a fool out of yourself. You said it's a result of a rigorous research, huh. And how long is that again, four months? FOUR FNCKING MONTHS! Nice try Sec. Tell that to the morons. It also amaze me that people can be paid gargantuan pesoses for a very mediocre work like this. Heard that Yolly Ong and friends? Ironically, you guys doesn't have a lot of grey matter in your brains.

If those geniuses at the DOT had only use their imagination- even a bit of it, why not make use of the tag line “More Than The Usual”. I personally love it, yeah, I love it more than “Wow Philippines”. And it's ad is probably one of the best tourism ads I've seen along with “Forever Young” and “If you've been waiting, you've been waiting too long”, both from New Zealand.

Why not reinstate “Where Asia wears a Smile” slogan? It’s probably one of our best tourism taglines ever. Isn’t it that we are known for our hospitality and cheerful spirit? There’s such thing as ‘truth in advertising’, so we better capitalize on it.

The DOT said that they wanted to put out Kay Ganda just like Hawaii’s Aloha and Japan’s Sayonara. WTF! Seriously, if the DOT wants a Filipino word, it should be Mabuhay Philippines.

It’s also 100% guaranteed that we have some of the best beaches in the world so why not “Philippines, Life’s A Beach”. But then, it could also mean Life’s A Bitch and the CBCP people won’t like that, that fo’sho.

And I’m also in favor of “Destination: Paradise Philippines”. It’s pretty. Who came up with this? Nice suggestion dude. Or what about, my personal suggestion, “Philippines More Than You Can Ever Imagine”? Now, that’s what you call c-a-t-c-h-y. It’s like an interesting country to visit and who wouldn’t want to travel to see that.

But hey, “Pearl of the Orient Seas” is still the best – hands down. Why don’t we just snatch it back from HK? They don’t deserve to be called as such.

I have no problem believing that the (brainless) DOT had the best of intentions in wanting to replace “Wow Philippines” with something new. Unfortunately, it is inferior in every angle to the old one. That’s a consistent problem with this administration so far, GOOD intentions but a FAILURE to deliver.

A message to the DOT: There are still millions of people who do not know where the Philippines is exactly located and who do not know how we are called, yet you have the creative and brilliant idea to market our country in our native language. Epic fail!