I know it's been years since I last posted here. I don't know if someone still reads this blog but if there is, I would like to thank you. I came to realize after so many years that my stories here weren't so interesting at all. Haha.
Anyway, I'm doing this post to let you know that if you miss reading my posts here, you could just head on to my Facebook or Twitter or Instagram account. Or you could backread my emo posts from 2009. Or you could also read my other blog Within a Spiral which is also not active at the moment but has some good literary stuff.
I'm not sure whether I'd write something here again but for now, Adios!
I haven’t written anything for the last couple of weeks, except for personal information required in processing papers for graduation. I must admit my writing got rusty and my thoughts are currently messy. But I’ll try to put it all together and share it with you.
My time with GMA ended a day before my birthday. I treat the Reporter’s Notebook team with two boxes of pizza and they sang me a birthday song. That moment, I felt special. I would really miss some of the people there. But no, I’m not gonna miss the work. Hahaha! I really think that that job is not for me. By the way, I’m so thankful to have met Sir Jiggy Manicad and Ms. Maki Pulido in one of their spiels shoot. They were really cool! I have never really thought that my dream of working with them would come to life. It was definitely one of the best birthday presents I ever received. Anyway, on the day of my birthday, I got my completion certificate from GMA. That night, I invited my friends for a birthday dinner at Cubao. A nice double celebration, I should say.
After I completed my internship, the next thing I focused on is our seminar for our course, Media Literacy. It was our last requirement before school ended and we were blessed enough that SOCO partnered with us. I organized most of the details of our seminar. I swear, I’m not gonna do it again. Alone. Organizing the event was not a piece of cake especially when your blockmates, who are supposed to help you, are busy finishing their hours for internship. But despite the lack of meetings and such, we successfully pulled it off.
For two weeks now, I am spending my time fixing papers and pictorials prior to graduation. Long lines, lots of paper to fill up, different fees to be paid. I just hope all of these get accomplished this coming week. I wanted to be free from all these pre-graduation stress so I can already relax and be a complete bum. Well, at least for a month or two.
PS. For my final semester in college, I had a record-high GWA of 1.25!! Can you just believe that?
PS. I’m looking forward to all the big things that are happening this week! Also, two weeks to graduation.
Hooray for it’s the second day of the New Year, 2015!
2014 had been wonderful. Well, school has been really stressful because of my graduating status but talking about other stuff besides school, I can say that it went great. Anyway, in tradition of my blog, I will do my year-ender post (even if it’s a bit late!).
I failed to do some rundown of the events that happened last year so I decided to do it today. It will be somehow different to my previous recaps for this will not be bulleted anymore.
I can’t remember much about January but I can vividly recall how February played with my feelings. I had a simple celebration of my birthday with my close friends. Lunch-out/videoke with my blockmates and dinner with Ina and my new Japanese friend, Sayaka. I also got to meet Mitch Albom and he personally signed my book. That was one of my dreams, coming to life. But a devastating accident happened also on the same month. Tado was one of the passengers of the ill-fated bus that took away lives. I got to visit him on his wake and it was just too saddening and painful. Definitely, something I wouldn’t forget even if years pass.
March was kind of light on its first week but as its last weeks approached, it seems like it was putting me to tests. The preparation for our thesis topic defense was unimaginable like we don’t deserve rest. Gladly, we made it through the defense and had our topic approved. And right after the day of our defense was my flight to US. It was my first time to travel alone. When my family fetched me at LAX, all the ‘missing feels’ were gone. I had a good one and a half-month vacation with them. We went to LA a couple of times, to Santa Monica Pier, to our relatives in Arizona and a new destination for me, Las Vegas (which I’ve been aiming to visit ever since I came across the series, Las Vegas).
By June, I got to have my first concert experience! I’ve seen the Manila leg of Taylor Swift’s Red concert. June also marks the start of my last year in college. I had a minor subject and two major subjects (which includes the thesis and internship). My minor subject, which is ecology, has been hard on us but in the end, we won over it. Meanwhile, I had my radio internship at Easy Rock. It was a fun learning experience plus the people there were great. The thesis part took most of our time on that semester. It was a sem of research, revision and data collection. I cannot forget all the assistance of the universities which we surveyed. I am really grateful to UST, FEU, UDM and PUP for their help. And yes, we made it through our final defense by December. The final defense was actually put on hold for quite a long time because of different circumstances but thank God, thesis is now partly done. Except for the last part which is signing of approval sheet and binding (that needs to be accomplished before this month ends). I really hope that we can finish it on time.
And finally, my December was a month of adventure. Remember my last post where I stated that I already have an internship placement? I am happy to inform you that I am now an intern of GMA Network Inc.! I must say it was beyond surreal. To be honest, I thought this dream of mine would never come true. But, hey, life indeed gives us surprises. I am assigned as an intern of Reporter’s Notebook. I have six more weeks left to complete my 200-hour requirement which I hope to finish successfully.
And before 2014 closed, we got the chance to travel to our provinces. We celebrated our Christmas with our relatives in Isabela and Nueva Ecija. It was good to see them again and to have spent the holidays with them.
May this year shower us with love and happiness. Happy 2015!
Have I missed a lot? Where have I been? How was life? Okay. I know there’s a lot of questions that I have to answer and a lot of stories that I have to share. And here’s the thing.. I’m back and I will blog again.
First of all, I would like to welcome myself back to the blogosphere. I’ve been on hiatus for five months and it’s all because of school. Before, I thought, the last year of my college life would be so full of free time for enjoyment. Surprise! I was wrong. You know what? On those free times, I would just want to give myself a nap than do other things. It was that stressful. The first part of my first semester was just fine but as the end of sem approached, it became totally crazy. Part of it was internship. The other half was thesis. And that thesis part? I might tell that story on the days to come. For now, let me share to you a glimpse of my internship for radio.
Finally, I got the chance to experience how it is to be on the field of media through my subject/course, Internship. I realized that my learnings in my previous three years in college is equally important with the practice and actual work. For this first semester, we were set to focus on Radio. It was kind of difficult to look for a radio station where I could intern, because even if there’s a lot of it, a lot of students are also competing to get in.
It’s actually like the real world. Job employment couldn’t get any easier – you have to put everything you have on the line so you could land on your goal. I’ve been to several radio stations – some were full, while the others were looking for qualifications which I do not possess. But even before June ends, someone called me up to inform me that I am accepted in their company. I got my internship deployment in Manila Broadcasting Company located in Pasay City.
During my first day, I was assigned in DZRH. I worked with a bunch of people who were assigned to finish an Audio-Video Presentation for the 75th anniversary of the said station. I experienced riding a media vehicle on our way to Intramuros for the shoot. I’ve been a Production Assistant and an Artist in one. The feeling was stirring. I am both happy and nervous because it was my first time to be on the real field. Later that day, I was tasked to write a news for their website. There was a medical mission on-going at their station for the less fortunate as part of their Diamond anniversary. I got to talk with a Congresswoman as well as the patients. I was guided by one of DZRH’s writers, Sir Bono.
Then came July, when I was permanently deployed to one of Manila Broadcasting Company’s FM stations: 96.3 Easy Rock. My work in Easy Rock was not as strenuous as my work in DZRH. It’s probably because DZRH is an AM station which requires a lot of work like news writing and production while Easy Rock is just a cool and chill FM station which plays music and do some discussion and a bit of news. The people here are so warm and friendly. From the station manager, to the DJS as well as the other staff. I can say that I’ve learned a lot from them.
So throughout my days with them, my daily job is to fix the playlist as guided by their music specialist, Sir Alex. I, together with my fellow interns, would load songs for a day or two. We were also taught how to load commercials which are very crucial and important to the station; for the companies advertising through our air waves are very meticulous and particular on that matter. We were also given some menial tasks like photocopying materials and bringing papers to other offices located inside the building. Other things which I’ve learned in the station is sound editing. I can really say that I’ve learned a lot from Sir Philippe, my internship supervisor and the station’s sound engineer. He taught me how to edit recorded spiels and commercials. My other supervisor, Miss Steph taught me about ‘the clock’ or the program flow of each hour of FM radio stations. As an exercise, I also did my own ‘clock’ for my prospect radio station. We’ve also been to a few events handled by the station like the “Easy Rock After-Work Party” which was held in Hard Rock Makati. We were in charge of the prizes for their games. During my last days, DJ Sam, also gave me a task to write for a program. It was like a dream of mine coming to life. As I heard it on air, it gave me goose bumps. It never crossed my mind that one of my works would be aired over a radio station.
With DJ JT
With DJ Chloe
With DJ Kim, Ms. Steph, Sir Philippe and DJ JT
With Sir Alex (and DJ Chloe as photobomber. Haha!)
With Boss Ed
Definitely I found a home in Manila Broadcasting Company, most specially in Easy Rock, where I stayed for two months. It was a fun and exciting internship journey that I will never forget.
Fun, right? That semester might have officially end but the thesis part isn’t over yet. To give you a quick story of the thesis experience: worked so hard on the whole course of the study, passed the thesis defense and right now, we’re working with some revisions. We hope to finish it before Christmas break and I’m crossing my fingers that it’ll be approved by the panelists immediately. I seriously want to get my real life back. And by the way, I and my friends have a TV station already where we can intern! I’ll also tell more of that soon.
I've always loved being on the other side of the world. First, because I get to be with my family. Second, I get the chance to go to places I've never been to. Third, because there's so much food (and we don't have to worry about getting short on our budget). Fourth, greater chance of seeing people I admire. Fifth, the weather!
There are so many things that I'd like to share about my previous summer vacation. And before classes legitimately resumes, let me rant about random things which I may not have shared yet.
People always ask me what do I do whenever I'm in Mexico or the States. Well, believe it or not, I do what I usually do. I'm always online, I watch series or movies, I read books, and I fangirl. So what's the difference? There's a smaller chance of being annoyed because the internet connection there is speedy! Actually, sometimes, I feel like I've watched all the videos I want to watch and I am left staring at the wall, wondering what to do next.
Where do we buy groceries? Little items which can be usually brought from a sari-sari store (when there are no sari-sari store in sight)? We usually buy at Walmart (if we're in California or Mexico) or Ley (if we're in Mexico). The meat there is cheaper compared here. But vegetables are precious and hard to find. When it comes to buying little items, we go to the nearest OXXO. (There are numerous OXXOs available) It is a convenience store that sells a variety of products. Yes, even vegetables and fruits.
The border! Since we're staying in Mexico, we have to pass the border inspection for us to get to California. There are different types of Border and Customs officers. Some are jolly while others are strict. We are asked basic questions like the purpose of our visit; or what are we bringing to the States. We cross the border almost every week so we're used to the same routine. Some recognizes us, Filipinos and they try to connect by creating a little chat about the Philippines.
The police in the states are strict and friendly at the same time.They will not call your attention unless you did something wrong or there is something that you have to know. I remember, we were once pulled over and I was wondering for what reason. Can you guess why? The lights on our car's plate number went out. Fortunately, we were not given ticket but we were reminded to fix it. By the way, they talked so nice and polite.
We feel closer to the Philippines by buying groceries from Seafood City or by eating out at Goldilocks or Jollibee or Chowking or Max's. Seafood City is a supermarket that sells Filipino grocery items. Their staff are also Filipinos.
In my one and a half month stay, we've been to Downtown LA (when we accompanied my sister to a kpop boy band-concert at Nokia Theatre). Nokia Theatre is just across Staples Center so we had to take an obligatory picture there as well. A little walk will bring you to the Grammy's Walk of Fame too. I really enjoyed strolling!
We also visited our relatives in Arizona. We enjoyed swimming and I got tanned. My cousins, Dana and Lucas were playful as usual. I love them like that.
Then before leaving for the Philippines, we went to Santa Monica Pier!!! I've always wanted to go to Santa Monica because Josh Duhamel's charity run are regularly done there so I got to feel Josh Duhamel's vibes. Also, the whole place was picture-worthy. An amusement park beside the ocean. How cool is that! (literally and figuratively.)
As I have said in my previous post, I'm going to tell about our trip back to Mexicali and our Vegas trip. Daddy chose a different route to Mexicali. We had the San Diego route instead of Arizona. And we stopped on scenic views to take pictures. We had lunch at Chowking so it felt like I'm home away from home. Then we shopped for Filipino grocery items at Seafood City.
We arrived at Mexicali by 7 pm.Then we headed to a Pinoy party + Manny Pacqiuao fight viewing.
The week after my arrival, we had a nice 2-day vacation at Las Vegas. It was an achievement for me to go to another state since I am only familiar with California and Arizona. I was starstrucked with the place because I only get to see Vegas in Josh Duhamel's series, Las Vegas. Walking along the strip and seeing the place in the flesh gives me a sense of legit feels of the Sin City. People with glamorous clothes, walking along the strip with open beer can on their hands, that's how I see Vegas. Hotels and Casinos and Shopping Stores. Besides the strip, I personally enjoyed our stay at La Quinta Inn. It is quite inexpensive compared to other hotels but its service is never compromised. My sister and I had fun beating the heat by swimming in their pool. They also have spa.
The following day, we went to Hoover Dam. Hoover Dam control floods, provide irrigation water and produce hydroelectric power. The dam's generators provide power for public and private utilities in Nevada, Arizona, and California. The whole structure of the Dam looks very pleasing to the eyes most specially the concrete arch bridge.
The following morning, before leaving for Mexicali, we attended mass at the Guardian Angel Cathedral. Yes, the other side of Vegas. Then we had a mini-picnic at one of the rest stops in Nevada. Guess what we had? A bucket of chicken from Jollibee!
Hello dear friends! I've finally renewed my existence on the blogosphere. You don't know how much time I've spent making up for the last weeks of my previous semester! It was horrifying and deadly and I wouldn't want to experience it again.. ever! But since there's still a year left for college, then I guess it is inevitable to fall in the abyss of hell weeks or months. I just pray that my energy reciprocates with all the things that I'm up to do. But for now, let me experience the perks of my last summer (hopefully) of being a college student.
I'm back here in Mexicali. My family fetched me upon my arrival at LAX last April 11. I thought I wouldn't be able to successfully travel alone. Yeah, because it was my first time to do such. But I was wrong. I did it. And it was even challenging because of the connecting flight. My brother accompanied me to the airport and I got on the plane thirty minutes before its departure. (Phew!) Touched down Japan by past 2 pm and saw a lot of kawaii people and stuff! Then by 4, we set-off for another 9 hours to LA. Happy feels surrounded the place as I saw my family again after one year.
The year had been a challenging one in school most specially of the independence that kuya and I had. But thank God we surpassed it all even if I'm already on the brink of giving up. One more year. Just one more year, hopefully. And I do not have to count the distance from them anymore. :)
PS. Sorry, this post had to be on queue for so long since there's just too much that has to be done. Once I got another time for blogging, I'll blog about my trip back to Mexicali and our recent Las Vegas trip. Happy Summer!
I know it's been years since I last posted here. I don't know if someone still reads this blog but if there is, I would like to thank you. I came to realize after so many years that my stories here weren't so interesting at all. Haha.
Anyway, I'm doing this post to let you know that if you miss reading my posts here, you could just head on to my Facebook or Twitter or Instagram account. Or you could backread my emo posts from 2009. Or you could also read my other blog Within a Spiral which is also not active at the moment but has some good literary stuff.
I'm not sure whether I'd write something here again but for now, Adios!
I haven’t written anything for the last couple of weeks, except for personal information required in processing papers for graduation. I must admit my writing got rusty and my thoughts are currently messy. But I’ll try to put it all together and share it with you.
My time with GMA ended a day before my birthday. I treat the Reporter’s Notebook team with two boxes of pizza and they sang me a birthday song. That moment, I felt special. I would really miss some of the people there. But no, I’m not gonna miss the work. Hahaha! I really think that that job is not for me. By the way, I’m so thankful to have met Sir Jiggy Manicad and Ms. Maki Pulido in one of their spiels shoot. They were really cool! I have never really thought that my dream of working with them would come to life. It was definitely one of the best birthday presents I ever received. Anyway, on the day of my birthday, I got my completion certificate from GMA. That night, I invited my friends for a birthday dinner at Cubao. A nice double celebration, I should say.
After I completed my internship, the next thing I focused on is our seminar for our course, Media Literacy. It was our last requirement before school ended and we were blessed enough that SOCO partnered with us. I organized most of the details of our seminar. I swear, I’m not gonna do it again. Alone. Organizing the event was not a piece of cake especially when your blockmates, who are supposed to help you, are busy finishing their hours for internship. But despite the lack of meetings and such, we successfully pulled it off.
For two weeks now, I am spending my time fixing papers and pictorials prior to graduation. Long lines, lots of paper to fill up, different fees to be paid. I just hope all of these get accomplished this coming week. I wanted to be free from all these pre-graduation stress so I can already relax and be a complete bum. Well, at least for a month or two.
PS. For my final semester in college, I had a record-high GWA of 1.25!! Can you just believe that?
PS. I’m looking forward to all the big things that are happening this week! Also, two weeks to graduation.
Hooray for it’s the second day of the New Year, 2015!
2014 had been wonderful. Well, school has been really stressful because of my graduating status but talking about other stuff besides school, I can say that it went great. Anyway, in tradition of my blog, I will do my year-ender post (even if it’s a bit late!).
I failed to do some rundown of the events that happened last year so I decided to do it today. It will be somehow different to my previous recaps for this will not be bulleted anymore.
I can’t remember much about January but I can vividly recall how February played with my feelings. I had a simple celebration of my birthday with my close friends. Lunch-out/videoke with my blockmates and dinner with Ina and my new Japanese friend, Sayaka. I also got to meet Mitch Albom and he personally signed my book. That was one of my dreams, coming to life. But a devastating accident happened also on the same month. Tado was one of the passengers of the ill-fated bus that took away lives. I got to visit him on his wake and it was just too saddening and painful. Definitely, something I wouldn’t forget even if years pass.
March was kind of light on its first week but as its last weeks approached, it seems like it was putting me to tests. The preparation for our thesis topic defense was unimaginable like we don’t deserve rest. Gladly, we made it through the defense and had our topic approved. And right after the day of our defense was my flight to US. It was my first time to travel alone. When my family fetched me at LAX, all the ‘missing feels’ were gone. I had a good one and a half-month vacation with them. We went to LA a couple of times, to Santa Monica Pier, to our relatives in Arizona and a new destination for me, Las Vegas (which I’ve been aiming to visit ever since I came across the series, Las Vegas).
By June, I got to have my first concert experience! I’ve seen the Manila leg of Taylor Swift’s Red concert. June also marks the start of my last year in college. I had a minor subject and two major subjects (which includes the thesis and internship). My minor subject, which is ecology, has been hard on us but in the end, we won over it. Meanwhile, I had my radio internship at Easy Rock. It was a fun learning experience plus the people there were great. The thesis part took most of our time on that semester. It was a sem of research, revision and data collection. I cannot forget all the assistance of the universities which we surveyed. I am really grateful to UST, FEU, UDM and PUP for their help. And yes, we made it through our final defense by December. The final defense was actually put on hold for quite a long time because of different circumstances but thank God, thesis is now partly done. Except for the last part which is signing of approval sheet and binding (that needs to be accomplished before this month ends). I really hope that we can finish it on time.
And finally, my December was a month of adventure. Remember my last post where I stated that I already have an internship placement? I am happy to inform you that I am now an intern of GMA Network Inc.! I must say it was beyond surreal. To be honest, I thought this dream of mine would never come true. But, hey, life indeed gives us surprises. I am assigned as an intern of Reporter’s Notebook. I have six more weeks left to complete my 200-hour requirement which I hope to finish successfully.
And before 2014 closed, we got the chance to travel to our provinces. We celebrated our Christmas with our relatives in Isabela and Nueva Ecija. It was good to see them again and to have spent the holidays with them.
May this year shower us with love and happiness. Happy 2015!
Have I missed a lot? Where have I been? How was life? Okay. I know there’s a lot of questions that I have to answer and a lot of stories that I have to share. And here’s the thing.. I’m back and I will blog again.
First of all, I would like to welcome myself back to the blogosphere. I’ve been on hiatus for five months and it’s all because of school. Before, I thought, the last year of my college life would be so full of free time for enjoyment. Surprise! I was wrong. You know what? On those free times, I would just want to give myself a nap than do other things. It was that stressful. The first part of my first semester was just fine but as the end of sem approached, it became totally crazy. Part of it was internship. The other half was thesis. And that thesis part? I might tell that story on the days to come. For now, let me share to you a glimpse of my internship for radio.
Finally, I got the chance to experience how it is to be on the field of media through my subject/course, Internship. I realized that my learnings in my previous three years in college is equally important with the practice and actual work. For this first semester, we were set to focus on Radio. It was kind of difficult to look for a radio station where I could intern, because even if there’s a lot of it, a lot of students are also competing to get in.
It’s actually like the real world. Job employment couldn’t get any easier – you have to put everything you have on the line so you could land on your goal. I’ve been to several radio stations – some were full, while the others were looking for qualifications which I do not possess. But even before June ends, someone called me up to inform me that I am accepted in their company. I got my internship deployment in Manila Broadcasting Company located in Pasay City.
During my first day, I was assigned in DZRH. I worked with a bunch of people who were assigned to finish an Audio-Video Presentation for the 75th anniversary of the said station. I experienced riding a media vehicle on our way to Intramuros for the shoot. I’ve been a Production Assistant and an Artist in one. The feeling was stirring. I am both happy and nervous because it was my first time to be on the real field. Later that day, I was tasked to write a news for their website. There was a medical mission on-going at their station for the less fortunate as part of their Diamond anniversary. I got to talk with a Congresswoman as well as the patients. I was guided by one of DZRH’s writers, Sir Bono.
Then came July, when I was permanently deployed to one of Manila Broadcasting Company’s FM stations: 96.3 Easy Rock. My work in Easy Rock was not as strenuous as my work in DZRH. It’s probably because DZRH is an AM station which requires a lot of work like news writing and production while Easy Rock is just a cool and chill FM station which plays music and do some discussion and a bit of news. The people here are so warm and friendly. From the station manager, to the DJS as well as the other staff. I can say that I’ve learned a lot from them.
So throughout my days with them, my daily job is to fix the playlist as guided by their music specialist, Sir Alex. I, together with my fellow interns, would load songs for a day or two. We were also taught how to load commercials which are very crucial and important to the station; for the companies advertising through our air waves are very meticulous and particular on that matter. We were also given some menial tasks like photocopying materials and bringing papers to other offices located inside the building. Other things which I’ve learned in the station is sound editing. I can really say that I’ve learned a lot from Sir Philippe, my internship supervisor and the station’s sound engineer. He taught me how to edit recorded spiels and commercials. My other supervisor, Miss Steph taught me about ‘the clock’ or the program flow of each hour of FM radio stations. As an exercise, I also did my own ‘clock’ for my prospect radio station. We’ve also been to a few events handled by the station like the “Easy Rock After-Work Party” which was held in Hard Rock Makati. We were in charge of the prizes for their games. During my last days, DJ Sam, also gave me a task to write for a program. It was like a dream of mine coming to life. As I heard it on air, it gave me goose bumps. It never crossed my mind that one of my works would be aired over a radio station.
With DJ JT
With DJ Chloe
With DJ Kim, Ms. Steph, Sir Philippe and DJ JT
With Sir Alex (and DJ Chloe as photobomber. Haha!)
With Boss Ed
Definitely I found a home in Manila Broadcasting Company, most specially in Easy Rock, where I stayed for two months. It was a fun and exciting internship journey that I will never forget.
Fun, right? That semester might have officially end but the thesis part isn’t over yet. To give you a quick story of the thesis experience: worked so hard on the whole course of the study, passed the thesis defense and right now, we’re working with some revisions. We hope to finish it before Christmas break and I’m crossing my fingers that it’ll be approved by the panelists immediately. I seriously want to get my real life back. And by the way, I and my friends have a TV station already where we can intern! I’ll also tell more of that soon.
I've always loved being on the other side of the world. First, because I get to be with my family. Second, I get the chance to go to places I've never been to. Third, because there's so much food (and we don't have to worry about getting short on our budget). Fourth, greater chance of seeing people I admire. Fifth, the weather!
There are so many things that I'd like to share about my previous summer vacation. And before classes legitimately resumes, let me rant about random things which I may not have shared yet.
People always ask me what do I do whenever I'm in Mexico or the States. Well, believe it or not, I do what I usually do. I'm always online, I watch series or movies, I read books, and I fangirl. So what's the difference? There's a smaller chance of being annoyed because the internet connection there is speedy! Actually, sometimes, I feel like I've watched all the videos I want to watch and I am left staring at the wall, wondering what to do next.
Where do we buy groceries? Little items which can be usually brought from a sari-sari store (when there are no sari-sari store in sight)? We usually buy at Walmart (if we're in California or Mexico) or Ley (if we're in Mexico). The meat there is cheaper compared here. But vegetables are precious and hard to find. When it comes to buying little items, we go to the nearest OXXO. (There are numerous OXXOs available) It is a convenience store that sells a variety of products. Yes, even vegetables and fruits.
The border! Since we're staying in Mexico, we have to pass the border inspection for us to get to California. There are different types of Border and Customs officers. Some are jolly while others are strict. We are asked basic questions like the purpose of our visit; or what are we bringing to the States. We cross the border almost every week so we're used to the same routine. Some recognizes us, Filipinos and they try to connect by creating a little chat about the Philippines.
The police in the states are strict and friendly at the same time.They will not call your attention unless you did something wrong or there is something that you have to know. I remember, we were once pulled over and I was wondering for what reason. Can you guess why? The lights on our car's plate number went out. Fortunately, we were not given ticket but we were reminded to fix it. By the way, they talked so nice and polite.
We feel closer to the Philippines by buying groceries from Seafood City or by eating out at Goldilocks or Jollibee or Chowking or Max's. Seafood City is a supermarket that sells Filipino grocery items. Their staff are also Filipinos.
In my one and a half month stay, we've been to Downtown LA (when we accompanied my sister to a kpop boy band-concert at Nokia Theatre). Nokia Theatre is just across Staples Center so we had to take an obligatory picture there as well. A little walk will bring you to the Grammy's Walk of Fame too. I really enjoyed strolling!
We also visited our relatives in Arizona. We enjoyed swimming and I got tanned. My cousins, Dana and Lucas were playful as usual. I love them like that.
Then before leaving for the Philippines, we went to Santa Monica Pier!!! I've always wanted to go to Santa Monica because Josh Duhamel's charity run are regularly done there so I got to feel Josh Duhamel's vibes. Also, the whole place was picture-worthy. An amusement park beside the ocean. How cool is that! (literally and figuratively.)
As I have said in my previous post, I'm going to tell about our trip back to Mexicali and our Vegas trip. Daddy chose a different route to Mexicali. We had the San Diego route instead of Arizona. And we stopped on scenic views to take pictures. We had lunch at Chowking so it felt like I'm home away from home. Then we shopped for Filipino grocery items at Seafood City.
We arrived at Mexicali by 7 pm.Then we headed to a Pinoy party + Manny Pacqiuao fight viewing.
The week after my arrival, we had a nice 2-day vacation at Las Vegas. It was an achievement for me to go to another state since I am only familiar with California and Arizona. I was starstrucked with the place because I only get to see Vegas in Josh Duhamel's series, Las Vegas. Walking along the strip and seeing the place in the flesh gives me a sense of legit feels of the Sin City. People with glamorous clothes, walking along the strip with open beer can on their hands, that's how I see Vegas. Hotels and Casinos and Shopping Stores. Besides the strip, I personally enjoyed our stay at La Quinta Inn. It is quite inexpensive compared to other hotels but its service is never compromised. My sister and I had fun beating the heat by swimming in their pool. They also have spa.
The following day, we went to Hoover Dam. Hoover Dam control floods, provide irrigation water and produce hydroelectric power. The dam's generators provide power for public and private utilities in Nevada, Arizona, and California. The whole structure of the Dam looks very pleasing to the eyes most specially the concrete arch bridge.
The following morning, before leaving for Mexicali, we attended mass at the Guardian Angel Cathedral. Yes, the other side of Vegas. Then we had a mini-picnic at one of the rest stops in Nevada. Guess what we had? A bucket of chicken from Jollibee!
Hello dear friends! I've finally renewed my existence on the blogosphere. You don't know how much time I've spent making up for the last weeks of my previous semester! It was horrifying and deadly and I wouldn't want to experience it again.. ever! But since there's still a year left for college, then I guess it is inevitable to fall in the abyss of hell weeks or months. I just pray that my energy reciprocates with all the things that I'm up to do. But for now, let me experience the perks of my last summer (hopefully) of being a college student.
I'm back here in Mexicali. My family fetched me upon my arrival at LAX last April 11. I thought I wouldn't be able to successfully travel alone. Yeah, because it was my first time to do such. But I was wrong. I did it. And it was even challenging because of the connecting flight. My brother accompanied me to the airport and I got on the plane thirty minutes before its departure. (Phew!) Touched down Japan by past 2 pm and saw a lot of kawaii people and stuff! Then by 4, we set-off for another 9 hours to LA. Happy feels surrounded the place as I saw my family again after one year.
The year had been a challenging one in school most specially of the independence that kuya and I had. But thank God we surpassed it all even if I'm already on the brink of giving up. One more year. Just one more year, hopefully. And I do not have to count the distance from them anymore. :)
PS. Sorry, this post had to be on queue for so long since there's just too much that has to be done. Once I got another time for blogging, I'll blog about my trip back to Mexicali and our recent Las Vegas trip. Happy Summer!
“For once, for once, for once, I get the feeling that I'm right where I belong .”
- Fun.
This blog was created August of 2008. Putting up an account here wasn't really on my plans. It's just that I was so crazy about Chris Tiu before and he runs a blog so I thought of creating my own as well. Years have passed, and I have grown yet I still keep my personal stuff here. Yes, things may change but one thing's for sure -- I will continue running this blog as long as I can.
