Elated. Excited. Relieved. [mahaba lang talaga akong mag-blog minsan, gaya nito]

January 31, 2008, 10:40 pm

I feel elated. Glad is an understatement, happy kind of requires something more than what I’m feeling right now so I’ll use elated. I felt like jumping, shouting, reaching for the sky some minutes ago while I was doing my laundry – and thoughts and some of the words you’ll read here are streaming from my head just as I was imagining things.

Yes, after a hiatus from blogging and any sort of personal writing in general, I’m back. And well, I can’t say there’s a better time to start blogging again. Now on to the main thought. All these things I’m feeling stem from my experience just tonight with blockmates Ariel and Imang. We won!

Hehe. We won 2^nd place in the Stat-en-ek-ek quiz show organized by UP StatSoc. Besides 6 bottles of Nestea Apple, we also received P2,000 in cash. Thank goodness. Quiz shows in UP are a good way to get some dough when you’re in need. It’s just that you’re not the only one and you have to battle it out with a number of other hopefuls, and hopefully, snag the prize.

From some 60 or so teams, we made it to the top of the 15 to get through the elimination, and, with a bit of luck in the questions thrown our way, we managed to score in the difficult round to go to the tiebreaking round which we won, thanks to the question chosen by the quizmasters.

We made it since we had Ariel. He knew almost or was that every question asked about UP. I salute you for being able to scan through all the pages of a newspaper and read through each and every issue. I know I should be doing that but when I read, it takes me a long time because there are a lot of articles which get my attention, so I feel that when I read, I’ve wasted a lot of time since I haven’t read much of the current news which are more important. And besides being able to read them all, he also gets to remember them. Wow, astig! Ang galling mo Ariel!

The trend was almost the same during the elimination and the final round, except that we didn’t emerge on top to be able to bring home the P4,000 but P2,000 is alright. At least I have just the amount to pay for the last installment of the yearbook tomorrow to Deb (o Deb, starring ka pa dito hehe). During the first round of the elimination, we didn’t score as well, managing only 7 out of 15 possible correct answers with each question worth 5 points. It was the questions in the second round that propelled us through the top of the rankings, although we only got 7 out of 15 correct, each was worth 10 points and not many of the other teams were able to answer. By the way, we’re Team Yap (Ariel’s doing). He’s always the one who chose our team names whenever we join quiz shows, which may make you wonder how many times we’ve joined already. If you’re not, let me just state that for the record, this is our fifth quiz show together. The first one was the 1^st ICUP Whiz Quiz last year, during their 50^th year. That was when our partnership started and we brought home the 1^st place with an accompanying P3,000. And this was the first time I ever joined quiz shows in UP. The second was in Cliptomania with Epay where we made it to the final around but didn’t make it to the top 3. Next was in CORE’s quiz show where we were not able to get past the elims, and the latest one before tonight was in ICUP’s 2^nd Whiz Quiz last week.

And may I add that besides the prize money, I have another source of elation from the events that happened tonight. I found a new crush. Hehe… Some engineering guy who expressed, um, his could I say admiration for us? Well, he did say “Ang galing n’yo” after saying that we topped the eliminations. Wihee…

Hay… And there’s a smile on my face while I’m typing this. Waah! I’m so thankful. Thanks Imang and Ariel and also to the otherworldly forces at work. Now I will remember the motto of the Olympics, which I first encountered during the first ICUP quiz but wasn’t able to answer. It’s “Citius. Altius. Fortius.” Or in English, “Faster. Higher. Stronger.” Is that right? I feel like I’ve mixed up the Latin words with their English equivalents. And the question about the fair coin seems kind of familiar, like I’ve heard it before, now that I think about it. And I thought the question about Anne Hathaway is showbiz-related. I was thinking, “Did she star in a lot of period movies?” But when I heard the choice that she’s the wife of Shakespeare, everything else clicked into place. It’s also a good thing that I’m from Pangasinan and my mom’s house was just beside the PANTRANCO terminal so I knew what it meant, although I don’t recall how I came to know about it.

Wow, I’m such a blabbermouth tonight.

Idadagdag ko lang na hindi ganun kadalian ang mga tanong. Kung detalye lang ang pag-uusapan, kailangan alam na alam mo ang lahat, hindi lang iyong pangunahing detalye tungkol sa nabasa mo (nag-Tatagalog ako. Naalala ko tuloy iyong haraya, Tagalog (o Pilipino?) ng imagination. Ang galing mo talaga Ariel!). Gaya ng buwan ng kapanganakan ng 97-year-old lang pala na alumnus ng UP na torchbearer nung Centennial celebrations. O iyong cell ID ng last cell sa rightmost corner na makikita pag wala pang data na nakapasok sa MS Excel 2003. Which sa case ng Excel 2007 ay XFD 1048575 (siyempre, kailangan talaga alamin). Mas madami na siya ngaun kumpara sa Office 2003 na hanggang IV lang ang inabot tapos mga 10 thousand lang iyong highest place value. O ano iyong parating ibinibigay ni Alice Longbottom sa kanyang anak tuwing binibisita siya nito. Ang naalala ko lang ay wrapper iyon ng kung alin, pero ang tamang sagot ay bubblegum wrapper. O magdadalawang pahina na tong sinusulat ko sa MS Word. Moving on.

Basta masasabi ko lang, salamat para sa araw na to. Iba pa sa pagkapanalo namin, naipresenta ko na rin ang aking thesis proposal – one hurdle overcome para sa FS199, na kahit di sa ganung kaayos na anyo (bilang may ubo at sipon ako, at nung nagsasalita ako ay may plema na hindi naman lumalabas) ay natapos din. And in record time of 7 minutes ayon kay Kurt. Ewan ko lang kung may tumalo nun nung afternoon session, na di ko na pinasukan dahil natulog nalang ako. Por dat, tapos na ang pagpupuyat para sa proposal at kung anu-ano pang kailangang i-type. Ilang araw na rin akong puyat ha. Medyo matitigil na rin ako sa pagpapa-photocopy ng kung anu-anong journal articles. Hay. Ang saya. Kailangan ko nalang linisin pa iyong konsepto. Konting pagbabasa pa. Tapos kailangan nang simulan ang preliminary study. Wah, thesis na ito. Pero bago pa iyon, may panahon na akong gawin ang iba pang mga bagay na naudlot dahil sa napipintong pagpriprisinta na ngayon ay tapos na. For instance, futbol. Na-miss ko to. Last training ko ay Wednesday, at nung weekend na nasa bahay ako sa Pangasinan, ang kaharap ko lang ay iyong mga journal articles. Tapos matatapos ko na ring basahin ang Anna Karenina (sana ha, ang kapal kasi, tapos mahigit isang linggo nang overdue pero ayaw ko munang pakawalan). Mababasa ko na rin yong mga nais kong basahin sa Kas2. Tapos kailangan ko na ring simulang aralin ang mga talakayan naming sa physics72, na kahit gaano ko masugid na pakinggan ang pagtuturo ng guro, hindi ko pa rin mai-konek sa isa’t-isa ang mga konsepto upang makasagot ng isang problema. Frustrating talaga. Kailangan ko ng tutor, isang taong kayang ipa-realize sa akin ang essence ng electric field, flux, magnetic field, flux, Kirchoff’s junction loop, mutual inductance at kung anu-ano pa, at bakit at paano sila related sa isa’t-isa at kung paano mag-isip kapag magso-solve ng isang physics problem. Nalalapit na ang pangalawang pagsusulit. At mukhang hindi ganun kaganda ang resulta ng unang pagsusulit ko. Reporting na rin pala sa Kas2 so kailangan bibo ever. At interesting ever. Bilang mga bata ang karamihan sa mga kaklase ko (feeling ko ako lang iyong matanda dun, meaning 3^rd year or older), mas mag-eenjoy sila sa isang masaya at magaling na presentasyon. Na hindi ko naman talaga naranasan ever dahil di naman ako usually ganun ka-creative. O pangatlong pahina na to. Na-eexcite tuloy ako sa mga mangyayari. Except sa physics exam. Thesis shoot na ni Dood Joyce nitong weekend. Continuity ako. Na parang ayoko nang ulitin bilang crew sa isang produksyon. Pero dahil wala naman akong silbi sa ibang aspeto ng produksyon bilang di naman ako film major at wala rin akong gaanong karanasan sa pagshu-shoot dahil ma-teknikal din ito lalo na sa lighting, gagawin ko na ito. Sana lang hindi ako makatulog habang nagshu-shoot upang walang laktaw sa dope sheet na kailangan sa editing. Patawad na lang kung makatulog ako.

Matagal ko na ring gustong mag-jam. Paging alessa, sally, tracey… Si Alessa tutugtog na kasi sa Fair. Astig! Sama-sama lang ako sa jam, kung pwede hehe.. kung kaya ng skills ko ang mga kagalingan na ipapamalas nyo.

Bilang isang napakahabang blog entry, ayaw ko paring tumigil habang nasa mood pa ako. Kahit wala pang ibang ideas. Kasi pag nawala ako sa mood, at wala na akong maisip, tingin ko matagal pa uli bago ako makapagsulat. Na-mimiss ko na ang ganito. Gaya ng pagka-miss ko sa Coffee Prince.

Oo, nanonood na rin ako nito. Una ko siyang napanood sa Crunchyroll, bilang sinusubaybayan ko ang Japanese series starring Jun Matsumoto na Bambino na tungkol sa isang wannabe chef from the countryside na nag-training sandali sa Tokyo. Tapos iyong Coffee Prince episode 7 ay andun sa mga listahan ng links so ki-nlick ko siya. At ayun, na-introduce ako kay Gao Encan at ang isa pa nyang goodlooking coworker sa shop ni guy. Bale Intsik kasi iyong pagkaka-dub so iba iyong pagkakakilala ko. Hanggang episode 8 iyong napanood kong Chinese-dubbed. Tapos sa rekomendasyon ni Kirsten, nagpunta akong mysoju.com kagabi, kung kalian dapat ay naghahanda ako para sa presentasyon ng thesis proposal pero nauwi sa panonood (isang oras pa naman iyon) pero blessing pa rin kasi natanggap ko rin iyong comments ni Mam Djanna sa powerpoint presentation ko para kanina. Dun sa mysoju.com, Korean-dubbed naman so ayun, nakilala ko si Han Soo Joo (siya lang kasi iyong maalala kong pangalan) at si Han Suk Kyul (ito si Arthur(?) sa Filipino-dubbed Coffee Prince). At bilang unang episode, nagalingan ako sa kanya kasi naipakita niya lahat nung mga importanteng tauhan at kung paano sila naging related sa isa’t-isa sila. Medyo astig-astigin pa iyong asta dun sa opening scene dahil meals delivery girl si dating Princess sa Princess Hours tapos coupled with the pseudo-bad ass shots while riding her motorbike, e you get the sense na she’s not like your typical character. And she’s not. Parang ang bilis lang ng development ng pagkakagusto ni Coffee Prince sa kanya dahil by episode 7 ay tsinatsansingan na niya ito nung ito’y nakatulog, at nung episode 8 ay niyakap na niyia ito sa pagnanais na matahimik ang kanyang nababagabag na loob, na hindi naman natahimik. Ayan, na-eexcite tuloy ako. Pati ang katuluyan ng Bambino at Gensomaden Saiyuki. Waah! Puro gastos itey. (Woah, pang-apat na pahina na ito).

Sana mapanood ko rin ang Sweeney Todd. Napalampas ko na ang Transformers, The Simpsons at Stardust sa big screen. Sana wag ito. Tsaka gusto kong mabasa ang Atonement ni Ian McEwan. Meron na b a nito dito sa Pinas? Kung may nagtitiyaga pang magbasa nito, pwede bang i-bertdey gift mo nalang sa akin? Sa Marso pa naman e. May isang buwan pa para pwedeng mag-ipon.

Hmmm. Sige, ititigil ko na dito. Kailangan ko nang matulog (pagkatapos maligo) dahil may klase pa bukas ng alas-siyete. Tapos training sa Sunken (na bagong araro) tapos futsal afterwards. Am excited. I love this life!

(bale natapos akong mag-type nito ng alas-dose nwebe ng unang araw ng Pebrero taong dalawang libo’t walo). J