Guardian Angel

This song is called Guardian Angel by Hong Jun Yang. I fell in love with while watching Angel, I love you aka PS i love you.



Last night was a blast! the last "inuman" before midterms. Patty, Rach, Eunice, Sam, Maj, Chris, Dae, Ces, Hazel and I (after a grueling day of studying) decided to have a midnight "break" from being nerds. Leaving our books at Starbucks, we went to Good Earth and drank.

Eunice: There's nothing wrong with putting your best foot forward. After all, it's still your foot.

un na! Thank you, girls, for a great great end to a boring day!

Right now, i'm off to Starbucks to study. I needs lots of luck next week for midterm exams.

Angel I love you...

One of my favorite scenes...

Roy went to get a drink for Tammy and was gone for a long time. Walking back to Tammy...
Tammy: [irritated] Stand there and don't follow me. [walks away]
Roy: [obediently stays where he is while people pass by him in the middle of the path]
After a while, she sees him still standing where she left him and feels sorry.
Tammy: Why are you still here?
Roy: You told me to stand right here.
Tammy: Are you stupid or what?
Roy: I am stupid. That's why i made you angry.
Tammy: I'm very domineering, right?
Roy: [shakes his head]
Tammy: I get angry over trivial matters. It's not too late for regrets now.
Roy: I have no regrets.
Tammy: I get angry over trivial matters.
Roy: I'll keep quiet and wait for you to finish throwing your tantrums.
Tammy: I'll run away too.
Roy: I promise you that i'll stand here and wait for you.

Roy: [after drawing on her apartment wall a cartoon of their wedding] Do you like it?
Tammy: [nods and smiles]
Roy: Besides being your guardian angel, i would like to spend the rest of my life with you.
Tammy: Why should I promise you?
Roy: Because I don't know who else to love except you. You're very important to me. I'll always care for and protect you. Wherever you are, i'm always only a turn away... so that you can see me easily.

and he died. She waited for him, not knowing that he died. She waited for him to come back. And he did in the form of an angel, pushing her to find happiness in the arms of another man.

How sad. (T.T) But i'm such a sucker for tragedies and one-time-big-time love. It's exactly my kind of movie.

A Rainy Saturday

It started out my usual Saturday - a whole day of leisure and net-surfing, went to mass with my roomies, and planned to study at Starbucks. Unfortunately, the looming rain decided to pour [and i mean POUR down right after mass, may kasama pang thunder and lightning (T.T) which i absolutely dread]. Ces, eunice and i were trapped and stranded in school along with those who had no umbrellas (Rihanna's song comes to mind here. Ela, ela, under my umbrella). After their round of yosi, we decided to brave the weather and go to Market Market! [ kyaaa! *grins with anticipation* another spontaneous adventure about to begin...]

Dinner at Oody's [ugh, my burger steak has veggies in it *pukes*]. Shopped a little. [ces and euns got "nerdy" glasses! haha]... [oh, and ces was seriously contemplating buying a phone! thank God, she resisted that temptation] Transferred to study at Serendra.

On our way to Bonifacio High St. parking, we saw that the oh-so-new Fully-Booked bldg had Starbucks on the 3rd floor with a balcony. And it closes at 12 midnight. Perfect. The night was turning out really nice.

It was my first time in the new Fully-Booked so I was impressed at the size of the store and the very "Fully-Booked" kind of lay-out. Loved it! *dancing around with glee* Reminded me of my National Bookstore heaven in Cubao. And this one is nearer and newer. I had to force myself to sit and study *sob sob* coz i really wanted to explore the place. [?wondering why all this time we never entered the building everytime we went to coffee bean?] We even met Ma'am Maita Chan-Gonzaga [surprisingly, we always see her at various Starbucks]. *wink wink*

Sadly, the clock struck 12 and the Cinderellas had to go home. But, we promised ourselves that we'd hang out and study there again soon. ;-)

Movie Marathon

Thanx to my friends, this week I watched two movies - The Simpsons and Ratatouille.

I have always loved watching last full shows and this time was not an exception. Spontaneous, out of the blue moments like these last two nights are the "cherry on my cake" kind of happenings.

Thursday night was a blast. First because the Blue Eagles won against the Green Archers.(bleh! ;p) And we had class from 4pm-8pm but we got to watch the last 10 minutes of the game. Our very green-blooded professor finally realized that conducting recitation while in the last quarter of the game in a classroom of mixed die-hard greens and blues while the hallway right outside is packed with shouting fans is not such a good idea. So with a promised quiz on Tuesday, we were allowed to shout our hearts out while watching the game. Haha, it's a school holiday on Tuesday (Sir, naisahan namin kayo!). The school literally shook with the school cheers. I miss watching the dlsu-admu game live in araneta. I miss my heartbeat thudding in time to the drums.

To cap it off, we (Ces, Carlo, Eunice, Patty and I) decided to watch The Simpsons. High from the win, we laughed till our tummies hurt. The movie was a no-brainer and I was with the perfect people to watch it with. It was the perfect way to end the night.

Friday night was even better! After dinner, Ces decided not to go to a party she was planning to go to and invited us to watch Ratatouille. She hurriedly bought us tickets and managed to convince Ana to go with us. (Lakas talaga ng convincing powers ni Ces!) I'm so glad i got to watch Ratatouille with my friends! (Ana, Ces, Chinky and Hazel, thank you for a great night) I loved the movie. Pixar has proven once again that animation can be such a hit even among grown-ups. Plus, i love those mini-movies before the main show. I do have a favorite line in the movie:

Father: Where are you going?
Son: With luck, forward.

And so i end this night with a big smile on my face for an awesome week! I look forward to days like these.

Avilon Zoo Pictures

Presenting the animals of Avilon Zoo...

Ibong Adarna

Meow meow

Ruf ruf [big bad dog with a strong bite]

Ugly Duckling

Sad-eyed agila

Ssscaaarrryyyy

Creepy Crawlers

Ssssss... Zzzzz...

Ninja Turtles

Turtle Island in NeverEnding Story aka Land Before Time

Reptile Island

Pong Pagong and friends

Bambi

Avilon Zoo

Last Saturday was one of the best weekends of my life. I volunteered to be an "Ate" for a day to the kids of APS staff. We went to Avilon Zoo in Rizal and spent the day touring the oh-so-large-and-amazing zoo.
I was a little hesitant because i was out of practice in dealing with kids. Good thing my "kids" were wonderful, John Patrick [12] and John Prince[10]. My kids were pretty adventurous and we always got ahead of everyone else or got almost left behind.

My silly fears drowned the moment we saw the big fishes in the pond [really big koi-like fishes about 4-5ft long that happily scramble for raw chicken heads]. We saw hundreds of animals ranging from flyers, walkers, crawlers, swimmers, stalkers, meat-eaters, etc. We touched and petted "Narda" and the green parrot, hesitatingly held the yellow snake [eww, it was cold and scary], and secretly fed the big fishes with friend chicken until the water turned oily [whoops, konsentidora kasi ako]. Though we walked for 2 hours and slept through the ride home, we all enjoyed it, kids and kids-at-heart alike.

I miss the feeling of being "ate." I miss caring for someone younger who seems to need me. I miss being with kids. I miss Kaingin.

The Consultation

I went in that consultation with a residue of that spine-tingling recit. Hence, I was my quirky self and I was in the mood to talk. The consultation was great! It was supposed to be for a Legal Counselling class which diverted into a thesis consult which diverted into a chikahan/asian drama discussion.
It made me think... If my prof was a few decades younger, he would have been a great kuya. I got off with a comment

Prof: That's good. Continue your childlike wonder.

Yipee!
I really enjoy one-on-one's... learn a lot and talk a lot. I'm not much of a party person or a big crowd social butterfly. Probably because my attention span compares to that of a fly. Plus, I tend to shift topics faster than a racer shifting gears. Haha! I like meeting new people, getting to know them and them getting to know me. Yay, today is such a wonderful wonderful [isa pa] wonderful day!

It's a different kind of high

RECITATION.
As a student, I should have gotten used to it by now! I've been studying for 18 years. But I never have. I've always been terrified of public speaking. Always.
I remember standing in front of the whole grade school after being chosen to say the Lord's Prayer.

Joan: [anxiously waiting for the Lupang Hinirang to end] breathe in. breathe out.
[my turn to hold the microphone] Our Father... Our Father... Our Father who art in heaven... hik! [throat closes]

Same thing happened when I joined the Oration contest. I forgot the lines and had to stop for a long while. I repeated the whole thing. Aba, hindi pa talaga nagtanda, nag-join pa ulit. Extemporaneous speaking contest. Kamusta naman ang 3 sentences lang ang sinabi for 5 minutes! I kept paraphrasing the whole 3 sentences. The very recent "most embarassing" recit was the one in Intro to Law class. I got called to recite a case and I ended up repeating the case title thrice. That was as far as i got.

But today, I was so down [due to a bad recit yesterday where i got called to solve the a problem on the board] and I was waiting for a good recit. I love the anxiousness of waiting to be called. I fear it. I hate it. I crave it. The feeling of my stomach dropping to the floor, my heart at my throat, my thoughts free falling to blankness. The suspense of it all...

Joan: [explains in a very malumanay way] Hence, it cannot be done because the law is clear.
Prof: [looking skeptic]... That's a good answer.
Joan: [big audible sigh of relief] [sits down with a big smile and spine-tingling sensation]

After that, it took me 15 mins to stop shaking. It's a different kind of high, really.

I envy you...

... you sleep peacefully without a care in the world. Curled up on a lazy afternoon, enjoying the breeze. You look so cute, all snuggled up. You sleep as if it's the only thing that matters. Deeply asleep. No worries, no pressure, no responsibilities. How i envy you.

The lazy cat lounging in the frontyard

Courage

A friend finally had the courage to ask out a guy she likes! Yipee yay for her. We all gathered to give her moral support and await the guy's reply. We had different reactions to what she wanted to do. I wanted her to get it over and done with, but with a warning to make sure that she'd be okay with whatever the reply might be.

Message sent...

And the wait begins. We couldn't seem to concentrate on studying, checking on her every minute if the guy replied. She jokingly said, "Baka abutin ng 2 weeks bago mag-reply un."

1 Message received...

Okay. Okay!!! They're gonna try the whole dating thing for real. Double yipee yay for her!

I'm proud of her. She laid down her cards, threw her pride away, bared her feelings and was somehow rewarded. She took the first step. Now the journey begins... i can't wait to witness this adventure.

Tada, Kimi wo Aishiteru (I just love you)

I love this one... My addiction at present.
Renai Shashin (photographs of love) by Ai Otsuka.
I admire this artist. great composer. lovely voice. beautiful music.
She also sang the main theme for Hana Yori Dango 1 entitled "Planetarium."
This one is the ending theme of the movie Heavenly Forest (Tada, Kimi wo Aishiteru) which stars Aoi Miyazaki and Hiroki Tamaki. It's an adaptation of Ichikawa Takuji's novel, Renai Shashin: Mou Hitotsu no Monogatari. Ichikawa Takuji also wrote Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu which was also made into a film entitled "Be With You." Both are touching love stories that ranked top in my favorite movies list.

Happy Birthday...

... to my yaya, Tita Fel. I can never thank you enough. You may not be able to read this post but i still want to do this. My childhood would have been lonely without you. Thank you. You have been a constant companion. my best friend. my secret-keeper. my confidant. my adviser. my mom. my roommate. my scapegoat. my cook. my yaya. You are one of the reasons why I can't stand not being able to go back home during school breaks. I appreciate everything you've done for me.

Pseudo fiction

Look back, she thought.

Call out my name, he thought.

The silence was deafening, broken only by the sound his footsteps. He took one step. One step towards the door. One step farther from her. Two. Three.

It was a game they played. How far can he go without looking back, without missing a step. How far can she let him go without her asking him to say, without her calling his name.

He was at the door, reaching for the handle.

Dammit, stay, she wanted to say.

He sighed. She held her breath.

“I’m leaving,” he said without turning back. The knob clicked as he opened the door.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. Tears started to cloud her vision.

“I know. I am, too.”

With that he left. He left her. The room smelled of sun-kissed flowers.

Damn her pride. Damn his weakness. Damn it all, love is bittersweet.

Balik Aral

Back to school na!!! I'm pretty excited for this sem... New sem, new issues.

I miss my friends. I miss going to class. I miss the panic and cramming moments of recitation. I miss the chills-running-down-my-spine and OMG-i'm-gonna-get-called recits moments. I miss the fun of being in law school.

Now, I'm experiencing it all over again... this time, I'm older [hopefully, wiser]... this time, I'm gonna have fun!

Belated Happy Birthday to Ces! [July 7, 2007] the magical day

Enchanted Kingdom

Clockwise: Me, MZH, Ana, RRR, MMB, PMR [pasaway], MDM, and Kinka

Saturday May 5, 2007

EK day. My first ever trip to EK.
Si Ana ang ganda talaga, ganito ung usapan naming…

Ana: Joan, sumabay ka na sa akin papuntang EK, magdadala ako ng car kasi uwi akong Cavite.

Joan: Okei, cge. Sabay tayong pumunta. [then realizes something] Teka, paano pauwi?

Ana: [naka-smile] Uwi na ako after. Sumabay ka na lang sa van.

Magaling! Cute talaga ni Ana ano.

I rode with Ana going to EK, she fetched me from my dorm. Dahil mga pasaway [late na!], we left before 11am so we can get there by lunch. As it turned out, we were late for the free lunch anyway. But we were reimbursed for our lunch so okei lang.

We wandered around, looking for air-conditioned places to escape the after lunch heat. We met our non-legal staff looking around as well. Everyone seems to be having fun... Finally, we met up with the “singles” group of lawyers – MZH, MDM, RRR, PMR, and Kinka [sana tama ung spelling]. We lined up for rides and tried not to throw up. =) I didn’t dare ride Anchor’s Away, Space Shuttle, and the super slow rides that will more likely draggingly drug me to sleep. In between rides, we ate at different joints and drank shakes, sodas, and water.

The really fun part was riding the Rio Grande TWICE. Once just wasn’t enough. MMB joined us and formed a team of 8, perfect for the Rio Grande ride. I wasn’t entirely wet on the first go and we decided to test the “seat” theory. We switched places and went for the second ride. I gave my bag to MZH so it wouldn’t get wet [just in case I’d be the one under the falls] but, nooooo, MZH and I were both drenched by the waterfalls [kamusta naman ang pagsalo sa lahat ng tubig sa falls?!]

It was an amazingly fun day. It made me want to go back and try the other rides. I wasn’t even car sick!

I ended up going back to Makati with the singles group [thank you to MZH, MDM and RRR for the ride back] and had more fun during the ride talking about pre-law and law school. I’m glad I decided to go.

The first Rio Grande ride... notice, tuyo pa mga damit namin. Walang kamalay-malay

While waiting for our turn... picture picture!

The Intern

Every Friday, we have a luncheon with all the lawyers in the firm. This Friday [May 4], the conference room was jam-packed with partners, associates and we, interns, get to join them. We were eating our food (delicious, by the way!) and the conversation was flowing when out of the blue, I was put on the spot.

One partner said: “Sige nga, let’s test their knowledge. Joan, if the BSP buys silver, what is the tax rate?”

PAKSHET! After overhearing the murmurs of the associates beside me, I blurted out: “Sir, di po ba gold ung binibili ng BSP?”

Partner: “o, yan, alam nga nila eh.” PAKSHET talaga!

The rest of the meal was wonderful, plus, all the cute associates were there! ^_^