23 June 2011: Ate I's Birthday

One of the things that Sheila, my kabarkada, and I have in common is that we each have an older sister. Five years older to be exact. In fact, our older sisters were classmates and friends in Poveda, and it was through them that we met each other. It wasn't friends at first sight, as Sheils and I each had our own first impressions of each other. She thought I was maarte and I was too envious of her curly hair. But we soon overcame our impressions and became pretty good friends :)

One of the nice things about our barkada is that our siblings all got to know one another. In fact, sometimes we all even hung out together. But not asoften as with Iris and Sheila Jumao-as. :) I remember that there was one summer when we were all still studying in Poveda. We saw each other almost every day. We would hang out in my house or go swimming, either in my tita's house or in Polo Club. Sometimes it would just be the four of us (me, Sheila, Cathy and Miki). But mostly? It would just be me, my brother and the Jumao-as siblings.

That was one of the best summers in my life. I have so many fond memories. In fact, I think that we began to look a bit like each other already because of the amount of time that we spent together. Each time Ate I and Sheils would come over, they would hitch a ride with their dad as he went to the office. Hence, they would be in my house by about 7 or 730 am and go home at around 10 or 11 pm. Needless to say, those days would start and end in bed. Hahaha. Too sleepy in the morning, then too tired at night. Ah, good times...

It was a summer like in themovies. We went swimming. We played video games.Ate I tried skateboarding. I think it turned out to be WAY harder than it looked on TV. Hehe. We even taught Sheils how to ride a bike. We would give her a little push to start her off then sorta run along beside her on all sides, just to keep her on the path. And to protect the cars. And her, of course. Other times, we would lie around, eat and just talk. It was the best. It was as though we adopted each other as sisters. Well, one can never have too many sisters after all :)

Of course, aswegrew older, and graduated from Poveda, we rarely saw each other. But we tried to keep in touch. Earlier this year, Kuya K, one of Jumao-as brothers, got married and invited our barkada to the wedding. (By the way, we all had a crush on Kuya K at one point in our Poveda lives. I don't think he knew it then, but he knows it now!) Haha. Only Cathy and I were able to go, but that was all right because they all made us feel as though we were part of their family. :) It was great seeing all of them again.

In fact, sometime after, I was even able to watch Ate I's bandplay in Route 196, along Katipunan. They were great! My friends and I totally enjoyed the show :)

( So a little plugging for them, for those who haven't, go add Flying Ipis on Facebook so you can find out when you can catch their gigs. For those who already have, go catch one of their gigs! :D )

And now, today is Ate I's birthday. That gave me my smile for the day. Since I was still awake after midnight, I greeted her through text and then on Facebook. And I was already awake when she replied to my text early this morning. Then, being the ate she is, she told me to go back to sleep. Hehe.

Love you Ate I! I hope that you had a fantastic day! Happy happy birthday again!

P.S.: Hello to the rest of the Jumao-as family - Tito and Tita, Ate Yas, Kuya Mark and Ate Rica, Kuya K and Ate Mara, Sheils (and Karlo)!

22 June 2011: Pop My Corn

Each person I know has a different way of dealing with their sadness or stress. Some shop. Some eat. Some go on some sort of trip. Some drink. Some go out with friends and talk it out. Some just simply wallow until they're ready to move on. But in each and every case, you will always try to bring yourself out of the funk. As to the length of time you need, well, that's different for each person.

When I'm sad or stressed, I think that I pretty much go through with all of the above. Haha. Not all at the same time, of course. My choice of comfort would depend on the level of stress/sadness, my finances and my overall mindset. But one of my favorites, and the simplest, is my popcorn.

>

I love microwave popcorn! My favorite is the Kettle Korn flavor of Orville, but I can't seem to find those in the supermarkets anymore. So, in case someone sees it, please let me know so I can hoard :p But seriously, none of the other brands have the same flavor and the like. Now I have to settle for Act One, which isn't so bad, but it just isn't the same. Microwave popcorn is my relaxation food. It's perfect for those times when you just refuse to do anything serious, and you just really need to unwind. So, I set up my laptop with a good movie, or a new series, pop some corn, and maybe make some hot chocolate :) Given the weather lately, I'm feeling as though I want to do this more often. Hahaha!

So, for today, Kring and I were studying with Mark. And pursuant to his campaign to make us fat, and therefore make himself feel even thinner (evil guy), he kept trying to feed us. He was offering us all sorts of food - dried mango, beef jerky, etc. And then he hit my weakness - he offered me popcorn. My golly. Haha. I think I ate half on my own. That's how addicting it can be. But it did make the reading of my Criminal Law book slightly less depressing. :)

21 June 2011: Twinkies!

Today was simply a study day for me... As every day until November is supposed to be. It's days like this that make it hard for me to find something to smile about...

Well, I was able to pretty much reach my goal in terms of number of pages read. Hopefully, this will continue on for as long as it can :p I suppose that that in itself should make me smile, but my goal for this project of mine is to find something, NOT connected to studying, to smile about.

Turns out, I found my "thing" when I got home. After arriving in my room and dumping my bag on the couch, a box near my bed caught my eye... It was my Twinkies!! :)

My sister went to the States a couple of weeks ago, and one of the things that she brought home were Twinkies! I haven't eaten them since forever! Haha. Actually, I still haven't eaten them. But I remember that it was happy food. Maybe it's because of the sugar overload. :p Imagining the taste is enough for me :)

20 June 2011: BBGW! Lunch at ChocKiss

My high school barkada and I have rarely seen each other since we graduated from high school. If we're lucky, we get to see each other once a year!

During our college lives, we all went to the schools in the same area, along the one same road - Alyans and I went to Ateneo, Cath and Sheils went to UP, and Miks went to Miriam. And once again, we rarely saw each other. Despite the fact that some of us were in the same schools, we still barely hung out!

But we tried. Starting 2008, we really tried to see each once a year, although we were rarely complete. There was Christmas, a random meal out, birthdays (none of us will ever forget Alyanna's 26th!)... For some strange reason, our plans to get together more often never seem to work out!

Our most recent get-together was almost 3 weeks in the planning and resulted in a couple of reschedules. But finally, we settled on June 20. First, it was supposed to be dinner, but then it was moved to brunch. And lo and behold, as of the night before, we were all going to go! It was too good to be true. And true enough, by the next morning, Miks and Alyans backed out.

Oh well. But no matter, Cath, Sheils and I still met up in Chocolate Kiss for brunch. It was great! We caught up, ate good food and just enjoyed seeing each other. The best thing about our barkada is that no matter how long it's been since we last saw each other, things never change. :) (Although, at time, I'm not entirely sure if that's a good thing. Hahaha)

Love you guys :) BBGW! :D