Henry's Grille

Jescia, Tintin, Camille, Dani, Michelle and I went to Henry's Grille [sp?] today. It's this tiny little restaurant about a block away from our house, which, according to Dani, served really great chicken, so we decided to try it. The restaurant was quite small, but it had a good and bistro-like atmosphere in it.

We ordered two servings of Chicken a la Henry and two orders of Grilled Stuffed Shrimp for our main courses. It was good. Pwede na. The stuffing for the shrimp was cheese and tomatoes, quite unique, but tasted pretty good just the same. The chicken reminded me of the Italian chicken in Fazoli's, minus the yummy basil and oregano sauce. Instead, it had this slightly smoky flavor.

Most of the time we goofed around and took pictures with Camille's camera. There was this candid picture of me caught in mid-dance with a funny expression on my face. Needless to say, they laughed themselves silly when they saw it.

Dinner soon came to an end and we had to total up the expenses, my least favorite part when it comes to gimmicks [I speak from experience], and we were still debating whether or not to order dessert. In the end, we just decided to go home and have dessert at home. Haha. I came home with my hair smelling like barbecue.

It was so fun. It almost felt like a college reunion wherein we hadn't seen each other for decades. Too bad Koko and Lois and the others weren't able to make it. It would've been funner. Oh well. Maybe next time.

written at 5:31 AM

sing back that old tune

Ces has been talking a lot about music lessons the past few days, and hearing it makes me miss my music lessons a lot.

When it came to piano teachers, I teacher-hopped. Wala akong permanent na teacher. My first one was a woman who lived here in our village and I'd just go to their house and have my lessons. She was pretty decent. At least I got past John Thompson's Book 2 for Beginners or whatever it was and she was the one who taught me note reading and how to play the scales.

The next was a teacher from the Miriam Music Center. She wasn't too bad, but she scared the heck out of me. Every single note had to fall on the exact time and if couldn't do it, she'd make me stop and go over the start of the line, or if she was in a bad mood, the start of the whole piece. I lasted a summer with her.

The next one was a teacher from CMM and lives just a few doors down from us. I didn't like him. During our last lesson, I couldn't get the correct timing for the pedals and by the end, he was practically yelling at me. Needless to say, that ticked me off, I mean, no one gets anything right the first time, and I didn't want to continue lessons with him anymore. So now, I'm teacher-less. Anyone know any decent piano teachers out there? Haha. Let me know.

For my violin lessons, I stayed with one teacher, and she was terrific. Her name was Miss Olga and she was from the Music Center too. She was part of an orchestra, so she was really good. During the times I'd scrape and squeak away in my violin while she would play waltzes and sonatas on hers, I wanted the earth to swallow me whole. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star na nga lang e, mali-mali pa. Haha. I stayed with her for two years until school work interefered and I had to stop. I kinda miss her now.

It's just sad that I have to stop music lessons because I'm too busy. I wish I had more time, so I could immerse myself in all that again, even if it's just for a really short while. I could play my violin again, and finally get the timing for the pedals right.

written at 3:33 AM

High School Musical || Dancing the Conga

Watched High School Musical last night. I think this was something na tinutukan ng mga tao sa school, since for the past week, I've been hearing nothing but High School Musical this, and High School Musical that. I've heard people singing the songs. So, to see what the fuss was all about, I watched it last night with my sister.

It was quite nice, but it wasn't that cracked up to be. Hindi siya yung tipong paulit-ulit mong papanoorin hanggang magasgas na yung cd. Not like Amelie. Haha. The songs were typical Disney and the plot was well, typical Disney too. The only difference was that people kept breaking out in song and dancing. I liked the way they attempted to not stereotype the students, like yung sa smart kids, they can dress quite well, and hindi sila yung recluse and loners. Kasi mostly in movies, they're portrayed that way, all nerdy and geeky. There's also this kid who's a basketball star, and he bakes really great food. It shows kids na just because basketbolista ka, you should stick to your status quo. It just doesn't work that way.

The Zac Efron dude is kinda cute, but not drool-worthy. Haha.

****

I'm supposed to get my hair cut today, but sadly, a relative in Quezon passed away, so my mom had to leave for Lucena. Grabe talaga, you never really know when you're going to be taken. It's just so unfortunate. *sigh*

On a happier note, I, or rather we, just got some very good news today. Very good indeed. Call it mean or whatever you like, but what can I do? My joy knows no bounds! Haha. Some were even putting up a front of "crying" and "pleading", but I know they were dancing the conga inside.

*sigh* Why is it that everything I write is nothing but bloody, bloody drivel?

written at 3:00 AM

Haha. Tried a new layout today. It's quite simple, and the hearts are a tad bit too much, but I liked the swirlies. I can't ged rid of the headshot-yourdead.blogspot.com thing under the swirls, though. Does anyone out there know how to get rid of it? If you do, please tell me how. Haha. Thanks.

written at 7:06 AM

T.G.I.F.

Thank God Friday na. I'd spontaneously combust if I have to go through one more day of school. I think I've lost any interest I might have previously had for learning. Everything's just so boring, insipid, vapid, jejune, and any other adjective that would mean the same as those. Some of the teachers are quite dull. Sometimes I don't even listen anymore, and I find myself staring blankly into space and praying that I won't succumb to the endless drone of their voices and fall asleep. I mean, it's the rainy season and masarap matulog.

We were up all night yesterday, conference-ing and im-ing each other, trying to think of an investigatory project that we could pass. Yeah, I know that we had one week to work on it and all that, but kami ang dakilang crammers at procrastinators. So there.

Aside from school being boring and all, I actually get to have some fun time with Apa, Lori, Karay, Jolina and Anna, a.k.a. my lovely lovely investi groupmates, when I'm not with the other girls. Haha. Mga alagad ng Diyos....[with matching actions]

written at 4:09 AM

broken record day

Have you ever repeated the same phrase over and over again for, say, thirty plus times? Nah, probably not, unless you were one of those who did the club promotion earlier. Unfortunately for me, I was one of those people, sounding horribly perky and bubbly and repeating "Hi! Welcome to the Culinary Arts Club! If you love to eat and cook, then this is the club for you." countless and countless of times. It became nauseating after the first twenty greetings. *sigh* So yeah, 'twas a broken record day for me. I dearly, dearly wanted to record my voice on a recorder and just press the play button every time people came and it was my turn to speak. After some time, though, I ditched the perkiness and bubbliness, since it was so not me. Haha. Nah, I just got tired of being that way, since standing in front of about ten people and saying the same thing over and over again can be very tiring.

And to drive the point further home, I sounded like a pirated cd when Tintin and I were talking with Ms. Platon. She asked me how Amelie was and I said great. After that she asked me how fourth year was. I said great again and added, "The aircon's really great." Haha. I'm really showing off my vocab there. Testimony to how repeating the same phrase over and over again can effectively reduce conversation skills to monotonous blabbering.

Haha. So instead of doing my homework now and studying like a good little girl, I choose to write here, since blogging offers great [see? still have the hangover of saying great] pleasure after a veeeeeery monotonous day of school. I can't believe I managed to make it, since we had three periods of nothing but sheer, unadulterated DULLNESS. It takes a lot of effort to not let your eyes glaze over and fall promptly asleep. Check our class schedule and you'll know why. It's just our luck that we have to take some, ehem, not-so-useful classes. If only we had that sweet, sweet prerogative of choosing them.

Schmuckiness.

written at 4:19 AM

amelie

Le Fabuleaux Destin d' Amelie Poulain was fantastic. Many, many thanks to the ever-so-great Miss Platon for lending Nicki and me her Amelie dvd.

[spoilers]

Amelie is basically about this shy waitress who began her quest of making other people happy by returning an old and rusty box of 50's paraphernalia she found in her bathroom. After seeing the effect she had on its owner, she decides then to do little things to make others happy, all without revealing her identity. She befriends an old man in her apartment building, plays the matchmaker and brings together two people very unlikely to end up with each other, steals her father's garden gnome and sends it to different parts of the world after he expresses a desire to see the world, and returns an old album to its owner.

Even though she managed to make others happy, happiness, as well as love, seemed to elude her. She remained an unpainted face, an unwritten page, an unfinished song. However, as is with all fairytales, the film ends happily. Love came knocking at her door soon and she ends up with the album owner, Nino. They, together with all the people Amelie touched with her good deeds, all lived happily ever after. All it took was a nudge in the right direction.

Amelie's story was beautifully illustrated in a tapestry of colors as rich and vivid as her imagination. It's also a story of enjoying life's pleasures, no matter how simple it is, like skipping stones on a canal, cracking creme brulees with a teaspoon, or letting your imagination run away with you.

It's a wonderfully heartwarming film, something you'd not tire of watching. :)

written at 11:27 PM

new beginnings

Classes opened today. Haha. Old news, I know.

Most of the complaints of "Ayoko pang pumasok!", "Ano ba naman yan, ang aga aga!" and "Kasi naman, nananaginip pa ako nung dumating yung bus." quickly dissolved into squeals of delight upon seeing their friends. The empty hallways of the school buzzed and echoed once more with the gay chatter and laughter of its students. Stories that accumulated over the summer were quickly exchanged and greetings and hugs were given.

Typical first-day stuff. Nothing new.

A lot of changes happened though. Aside from the gargatuan-texted and weird-looking signs I know all of you have spotted, heaps and heaps of new rules will be enforced this year. The whole day was basically an orientation on that.

Mrs. Ben's really fun. Thank God I was given a great adviser on my last year in Holy.

My classmates aren't too bad, I admit. I was feeling a bit apprehensive at first. actually, but now, I don't think I have any more reason to be.

The class was divided into committees and I joined the Scholarship Committee. Haha. I couldn't find anywhere else to go, since I can't draw to save my life and I'm not too partial towards Spiritual or Socio-Cultural stuff, even if it does have a nice ring to it.

Fourth year is probably the most desired year since we have one thing the entire school covets: air conditioning. For some unknown whatsit reason, they weren't turned on today, since there was no go-signal or whatever from whomever was in charge. We had to suffer the humidity and fan ourselves with our hands when we could've had a nice, cool breeze provided by the air conditioners. Ha. Dapat bukas air con na the whole day, since hindi naman binuksan yung air con ngayon.

It's good to know that we'll still be having some of our old teachers from third year. It's great that Miss Aniago will still be Pinoy, since we had so much fun with her last year. Thataway, it won't seem to intimidating for us.

My sister started first year today. Yehes, long sleeves na. Haha. It's good that she wasn't traumatized by her first day, although I think napagod siya, since she's slumbering peacefully in the bedroom as I write. I felt kind of sorry for the first years. They went together in tight packs, looking disoriented and fearfully staring at the older levels as if they were going to scold them for simply breathing. They looked awfully small too, in their too-big, kimono-like uniforms. At least they weren't strutting about the school as if they owned the place. Not like some I saw earlier...

I can't help but look back on my first day of high school. People then were unperturbed by the impending horrors related to us so many times, innocently exchanging gossip on Meteor Garden, since it was all the rage back then in first year. Maybe it was because it wasn't so strict then. There're so many new rules now that I can't keep track of them. Haha. I feel sorry for the little kiddies. I hope they get to have fun too, since they're entering what's supposed to be one of the most memorable moments of their lives.

New school year. New beginnings.

written at 2:28 AM

the last outing

*pardon the title. wala na akong maisip.

Went to gateway today with the girls. Haha. It was fun, even though we had but a few hours to spend with each other.

Since it was Koko's birthday last May 20, she treated all seven of us to a movie. Guess what we watched? Haha. Another cheesy pinoy flick, Manay Po. We couldn't watch anything else, since Koko already watched X-Men, and Nicki already watched the Da Vinci Code. Anyhow, the movie wasn't too bad. It made us laugh a fair number of times.

After the movie, we went to i-pose and had our pictures taken. Haha. We took such a long time to decide our poses that I think the dude who was taking our pictures was getting a wee bit annoyed at us.

Went to Timezone after. Played the usual, air hockey, then car-racing. After that, went back upstairs to the other Timezone. Jescia and I went straight to House of the Dead and just blasted and blasted dead people to our hearts' content [well, maybe not to our poor, sore arms]. Played some more games, then we went to the karaoke room.

So yeah, that was basically the whole outing. When I got home, I changed, the plopped to my waiting bed and promptly fell asleep. Yep.

****

On Monday, they're going to have to drag an unwilling body to the school premises. Mine. I don't really want to go back. Not yet. As Koko said, Hindi ko pa feel e. Haha.

written at 5:18 PM

au revoir, review

Okay, so my Expert Guides review ended today with the mock ACET and UPCAT. I guess I didn't do so badly, except in Math [what's new?], wherein I got a 44% in problem solving. I know. Pathetic, isn't it? That's exactly why I need to start practicing more.

Nagulat nga ako. The mock exams were harder than the actual mock ACET and UPCAT. Take chem for example. I was expecting the gas laws problems with the big big figures that takes around three whole minutes to solve, instead, ang lumabas lang yung mga empirical formula, finding the molecular weight, first-quarter-chem stuff like that.

Ang sweet din ng Expert Guides. They gave all of us the 30-peso sized Cappucino McFlurrys [how do you pluralize McFlurry anyway?]. Parang lahat kami napa-"awwwww...". So yeah, 'twas another day of sappiness and good-byes. I'll miss Donna, Lyka, Anna, Leona, Kevin [well, maybe not his meanness and poking] and the rest of the class. The review actually turned out quite well enough, despite the waking-up-at-the-wee-hours-of-the-morning part. Anyway, we'll see each other again on July 1 for the refresher course.

Sayonara, review, and hello to the last four days of summer vacation, if you can still call it a vacation, that is, left. Then, back again to school, homework, and stress again. Pffft.

my uber crazy, jersey-lovin' classmates

still crazy :)

written at 4:13 AM

under construction

jescia koko nicki ces lori jojo tete patice piggy betbet lib kar erin kimmie nikki tan ms lagud ms platon aji camille krista poj abby kaila danica

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