bora the explored.

title fail. HAHAHA. BUT TOMORROW IS BORA with friends ate vir, kate, leinard and sir jet!!! too bad paolo can't come because of. hahahahaha. okay. anyway!

so i'm still sick. i look like a carrot. no i'm not orange, my face just has bumps everywhere and red spots growing all over like crazy. i was afraid it was chicken pox for the second time around, but it wasn't thank God. so my doctor gave me again lotsa medicines. i need a fast recovery. or else i won't be able to enjoy bora. i'm not allowed to drink with my medications though, so i guess i'm sticking to just iced tea and mango juice. looooser much. huuhuhuhuuh.

i've been wanting to post about how i spent my freedom after acads, but i'm waiting for certain pictures. hihi. :)

i feel like i want to sleep and sleep until the time i wake up when everything's alright. huhuhuuh. please Lord make me fine. huhuuhuhuhuhuuhuhuhuhu.

so, check out my new blog. it's a disgusting blog actually, you don't have to follow or read it. HAHAHAHAHAHA. kthnxbye!

www.thesickbuff.blogspot.com

you wait for me.

12 days till bora. you are so near yet so far.
there are still things in between us: tagaytay, mommy's arrival, and enta plevsem. you are just soooo near. in 3 days, countdown will be in one digits. WOOH.

and just so you know, ever since i made that decision,
i've never felt better. :)
i'm handling this better than i expected! :)

The Pomegranate Phone

CRAZY PHONE. can it please come with a boyfriend? i'll take ten.

i feel weird.

still. i think i'm crossing over. HAHA. if you've seen Baby Geniuses, you'd know what i'm talking about. and no, this is not hysterical pregnancy (GLEE much!) because i do not want to get pregnant YET (even if facebook says i was supposed to get pregnant last Oct10,2009 haha)

i just feel weird.
para akong nauntog at nandidiri altogether.
my tastebuds taste different, my body is not cooperating. it's not sitting the way sitting should suppose to feel, my head seems to be floating still and walking doesn't feel the same anymore. It's like i've learned how to walk in a new way (like learning a new language). Stretching my arms doesn't seem to be how it used to stretch. My back hurts like hell, i feel like i just came home from carrying the world behind me.

if you're thinking this is a hangover, no, because i didn't drink last night. okay, i did, but i was not drunk. in fact, sleeping kept me sober for the rest of the night.

i feeel weird.


but i'm sure of one thing right now, i don't like IT anymore.
i don't deserve this. :)

timee feels weird.

i don't know why.
weird. weird.
didn't go to the bonfire last night, figured i'd get bored.
went to the enta sausage party last night,
it was fun.


but i still feel weird.
blecchhhh..

healthy lifestyle update

Day 5. I'm struggling. HAHA.
Yesterday i was at my tita's house and discovered 'talong tempura'. i don't eat vegetables, but i love love love talong tempura. i will introduce this at home when i get back. :) :) :)

but for now, i'm making sacrifices. huhu

i'm going to have a FREE DAY every week. meaning i can eat WHATEVER I WANT for that day! :) just so that i have something to look forward to every week, and so that i don't die of eating just fruits and veggies every time i want to eat. huhu.

From Top to Bottom (haha): Veggie Salad, Apples, Pineapples, Carrots

here's what my fridge looks like.

I CAN DO THIS. :)

GLEE 7!! Finn and Rachel sing NO AIR!!

this is EFFING COOL.

GLEE: “No Air” @ Yahoo! Video

I CANNOT WAIT.
I haven't seen the 6th yet because i'm in my tita's house and torrent is being a b*tch. I can wait. I LOVE GLEE.

I WANT TO EAT!!!!!

i first heard the term steroids when i was in gradeschool when a teacher used it as a metaphor for bodybuilding guys. She said that Arnold Schwarzenegger was a "hump-of-steroids" hump? lump? load? i forgot. HAHA. ever since then, my schema of steroids was something one takes to get bigger.

_____________________________

so what are steroids?? (source)

Steroids (sometimes called corticosteroids) are substances that are naturally produced in the body. They are made by the adrenal glands (small glands above the kidneys).

They help control many different functions in our bodies such as the way in which we use fats, proteins and carbohydrates. They also help to reduce inflammation. They regulate our immune system and the balance of salt and water in our bodies.

Possible side effects of steroids

Irritation of the stomach lining. Steroids can irritate the lining of the stomach and may cause a stomach ulcer, or make one worse. The tablets should be taken with meals or a drink of milk to help reduce this side effect.

Temporary changes in blood-sugar level. This may happen if you have high-dose or long-term treatment.

Increased appetite You may notice that you want to eat more than usual while taking steroids.

Behavioural changes You may notice mood swings, difficulty in sleeping and perhaps anxiety or irritability. These effects happen mainly with high-dose or long-term treatment and will stop when the steroid therapy ends.
_______________________________


meet prednisone20 and seretide. i have to take 4 tablets of prednisone everyday, which makes that about 80mg of it a day. the seretide is around 125mg per puff (tama ba) and i have to puff four times a day. both are steroids. prednisone is short term, only for about 5 more days. and for the seretide, i've been taking this forever since highschool. so. yeah.


pwde ba akong mag rant.

KASI GUSTO KO TALAGANG KUMAIN. AS IN KANINA PA AKONG NAGCCRAVE NG YELLOW CAB, O KAHIT ANONG PIZZA MAN LANG, OR CHOWKING!!! KAHIT CHOWKING NALANG!!!! KAHIT 3 ORDER PA NG KANGKONG SA CHOWKING KAININ KO PARA KUNWARI MAY VEGGIES BASTA MAKAPAG CHOWKING LANG!!! HUHUHUHUUHUHUHUHU STRUGGLE!!!!

tapos kanina i was talking to my mom over the phone sa may MICROWAVE AREA. MGA 10MILLION NA TAO NA ANG PUMAPASOK AT NAG MIMICROWAVE NG PAGKAIN NILA IN FRONT OF ME. IN FRONT OF MEEE!!!!! huhuhuhuuhuhuhuh. gusto ko ng hotdog, ng spaghetti, ng burger sa mcdo, ng sprite float, ng mozarella sticks, ng inengs' barbeque, ng donuts, ng noodles, ng ICE CREAM!!! HOMAYGAD ICE CREAM. ARCE DAIRY MANGO or VANILLA ICE CREAM HUHUHHUHUHUH.

i also want michelle's (my cousin) newest masterpiece, the oreo cheese cupcake. i want manang elsa's adobado (it's fish with gata, sobrang heavenly i can eat this forever) back home, and Imay's (a restaurant in iloilo) special kangkong recipe (it's kangkong with gata). i want kanin club too.

I WANT TO GO TO CEBU AND EAT AT HARBOUR CITY DIMSUM!!!!! AND ALSO SUNBURST CHICKEN. HUHUHUHUHUUH oh i want to eat at Max's... chicken, tapos tofu. tapos buko pandan. ARRRGGGHHHH.......



NAKAKAFRUSTRATE ITO OKAY.


okay na ako, will go jog now.

healthy lifestyle update

it's day 2 since the beginning of my major lifestyle makeover, and yes, i've done some changes. HAHA. i've been faithful in taking my medication (because usually i don't haha).

1. no more itunes or movies at night. and i feel better waking up! :)
2. lesser internet time? struggle much. but i'm trying.
3. sleeping position. i've been very conscious with this. i wake up in the middle of the night with my face flat on the bed, so i change my position. haha. i'm trying trying.
4. stress management makeover. uhm. well, i'm not sure with this. yet. haha. i'm not stressed anymore, and i'm taking as much rest as i can. :) now that i'm FREEE. :)
5. exercise will start tonight. healthy food choice? CHECK. i've made sure that i'm eating vegetables EVERYDAY and at least 2 variations of FRUITS. and i bring a water jug now, to increase fluid intake. haha.
6. clutter? i've... cleaned up a bit. when my mother comes here, we shall fix my corner. right mother? hahaha
7. sleeping early. well. i've been sleeping before 2am, so it's still an attempt. hahaha.


kaya ko toh.

school has gone wild.

30 September 2009
MEMO TO: The Loyola Schools Community

FROM : Ma. Assunta C. Cuyegkeng
Vice President for the Loyola Schools

SUBJECT: After Ondoy

For the past days, we have been hearing stories of loss and devastation experienced by many members of our community. We share in their grief and hope to share, too, in the rebuilding. This aftermath of Ondoy challenges the University's traditional learning environment; however, it allows us to learn and grow in different ways.

Thus, the Deans, Associate Deans, representatives of various sectors, and I have agreed on the following:

1. Unless otherwise announced by CHED, Malacañan, or the Quezon City government, classes will continue until 21 October 2009, but there will be no final exams.

a. The basis of the final grade will be the current class standing of the student.
b. If a student wishes to raise his/her grade, s/he will have the option of taking the final exam or fulfilling an equivalent requirement. The deadline for completing INC or NE may be extended.

2. Classes can be used to deal with the aftermath of Ondoy, e.g., apply knowledge, skill sets, and values to understanding and managing disaster, rebuilding and rehabilitation of communities, or organizing and implementing support systems. _________________________________

that's just half of the memo. the first time they announced this during the relief operations, i didn't want to believe it at first.

CURRENT STANDING IS THE FINAL GRADE?!?!?!?!??!?!
NO FINAL EXAMS?!?!?!
REQUIREMENTS BEYOND SEPT30 ARE OPTIONAL?!?!?!

srsly.

people kept spreading the news around, on facebook, multiply, yahoogroups. but i didn't want to read them, i didn't want to hear about it until i got my life back. i mean, until i got organized and stuff...

and so, since i was not able to go to class last Monday (because my doctor advised me not to and to rest instead), here's the news on what my subjects are planning to do with the rest of the semester.

HISTORY
it's up to you if you still want to attend class. FINAL exam will be optional, the coverage will only be on martial law. (finals were supposed to be comprehensive) and i'm planning to take the finals just to pull my grade up. :)

PHILO
it's also up to you if you still want to attend class. everything will be optional. you don't have to take the final orals if you don't want to. your current standing will be the final grade. and so far, i'm doing okay in philo. :) :)

ITALIAN
the last lecture will be on wednesday, sir will just have to finish the last two lessons on the book. but it's also up to you if you want to go. final oral exams will also be optional. current standing will be the final grade.

EDPSY
We will still be going on with the final reports, and submission of stuff. idk, we haven't met as a class yet. but this is okay. i'm confident i'm getting a B+ in this. HAHAHAHAHA kapal much! but seriously. i'm doing good. 43/50, 46/50, 50/50 in one paper, and a 92/100 in my report. i'm so mayabang, but i'm proud of this. yaay. :)

THESIS
NO MORE ORAL DEFENSE!!!!!!!!!! homaygad. i'm so relieved to hear this. we don't have to be in our corporate attire, and defend our thesis. i know this is part of thesis, but since it's no longer a requirement, we don't have to do it. what our class voted on was to have a sit-down 'consultation' with our thesis adviser and the panelists. we DO need the feedbacks so that we will be able to execute the rest of the thesis properly. and we also have to submit the final proposal. we have to. thesis won't be thesis without this, graded or ungraded. and we want to do it anyway. THIS IS OUR THESIS. The essence of our being psychology majors. :) so it's okay. :)

ABNORMAL PSYCH
today, we discussed about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. here's what was flashed on screen before Sir Davis started the lecture.
- since we're going to talk about PTSD, if you have PTSD, you might want to sit this one out.
- in other words, today's lecture is voluntary
- if you feel stressed out already, feel free to leave at any point.

basically we just talked about how to deal with PTSD, and stuff. talked about our experiences with Ondoy. Sir Davis is currently spearheading a research team in the psych dept on creating a module for Ondoy survivors. something like that. woooh. :)

the effort of the psychology department is basically focused on counseling and therapy and stuff like that. they've been giving talks on how to do counseling sessions for ondoy survivors, and now they're looking into how to talk to the children about their experiences with ondoy. :) pretty cool. a lot of people need to be psychologically healthy too. to keep people sane. you know. :)

thesis class.
spent an hour just talking about our experiences during Ondoy.

all we've done today was talk about our experiences with Ondoy. i've heard about people crying and breaking down upon hearing the sounds of the raindrops on the roof. they've been traumatized, and this is normal. this is expected from people who have been affected by the calamity. there are stories about neighbors who only had one floor, and as the water was rising, they were just embracing each other waiting to die. it was so depressing. one knew a young boy who kept on crying because he couldn't get the people's screams and yelling for help out of his head. and when you're trying to help, you can never tell them "it's going to be okay.." because it's not okay. you can't comfort or console them as of the moment. all we can do is to be supportive, help them clean their houses, help them put their lives back.

today was my first day in school, and it felt like the usual first day high. the one where you spend the first few days orienting the class on what they're supposed to do during the semester. in this case, we were oriented on what's left to do and what else we can do. other than that, we are free.

i am assuming, and i am highly hopeful that my current standing as of the moment is passing. and i'm okay with that. i will still do as much as i can to pull my grade up, but other than that, i'm FREEEEEE. :) i'm actually relieved that i have time to do things already. that i don't have deadlines, and that attendance is optional for all my classes. the image i have in my head on what's happening in school right now is that of a wild animal on the loose. wala na. bahala na kayo lahat. kung gusto nyo mag-aral, di mag-aral kayo. kung hindi di wag. walang bearing sa grade. go run free wild animals. parang ganon.

still, there's so much to do with the communities that were devastated by ondoy. good thing pepeng has not further damaged what ondoy has already done. i really want to volunteer and get deployed to places where clean up is needed.


but. after being hospitalized. i think. i have to. learn how to REST. :)

speaking of rest, it's 1:13 am. i have an 11pm deadline (but i just arrived. i got home at around 12:30 from burger machine+kopi roti date with pao, ate virr, kate, robert and vian!). i'm going to sleep before 2!!! PROMISE. goodnight!

GLEE 6 SNEAK PREVIEW

Will split them into two groups: boys vs. girls. Each group will perform a mash up, complete with costumes and choreography. and then i saw this.


i cannot wait.

asthma fail.

Sunday October 4, 2009 9:00 a.m.- I was already having a difficult time breathing. I took all my maintainance medicines (including a puff that should only be 4 times a day, was taken 10++ times that day), even nebulized like what ERs do (ventolin nebulization every 4 hours) and puffed some more, but nothing seemed to work. I stayed put and concentrated on my breathing, maybe i'm just breathing the air the wrong way (yes there's such a thing haha) or i was moving around too much. So i just sat, stared, breathed. When my family called me up, i started to cry (bwaha) because i was panicking and stressed that nothing was working for me. thus, making it harder for me to breathe.

3:30 p.m. - Nang Marie's (my cousin) doctor friends came to the dorm to see if they could give immediate remedy for me, but they also brought a nebulizer. Eh, i already had 3 nebulizations na. So they advised me to go to the hospital na.

4:30 p.m. - My tita and my cousins fetched me and brought me to Capitol Medical Center. They increased my nebulization interval to 30 minutes per inhalation, and then injected a steroid through my vein. nag happy thoughts nalang ako habang pinapasok nila yung needle. both nebulization and the steroid felt like i was floating, and the world was spinning. kaya natulog nalang ako. haha

the doctors advised me to be confined at the hospital, but i didn't want to. it was unneccessary. (wow. mas magaling akong doctor eh. haha) they had to continue injecting steroids, eh gusto ko ba yon. hindeh!!! so they gave me another form of steroid, and asked that i see a pulmonologist today.

i went home to ayala heights at my tita's place so that i could rest. then i went to see my doctor today for check up and he increased the steroid dosage x4. the hospital gave me 20mg of it a day, he increased it to 80mg. wooh. so i'll be on a high for a week, sasabawin ko kayong lahat. haha.


my mother, being the psychologist that she is (and i believe in the things she tells me), says "can i give you a psych work out when you come home? and will you submit to catharsis?" She believes that this is all because of stress. sabi nga sa gen.psych, the mind and body are connected. So whatever is happening to my psychological being manifests in the body. Yes, to the psych work out. Catharsis, uhm. yes, only if someone else does it to me. it's like confessing to a priest, and you prefer that the priest is a stranger priest, not your friend priest.


thus, overnight, i have decided that my lifestyle is stressful and it needs a major makeover.

1. I usually sleep with the lights on, a movie or my iTunes playing all night long. (it puts me to sleep) but last night at my tita's house, i tried putting it off and slept without the lights. when i woke up, my head felt lighter (in a good way) and i was less tired. idk if the change has something to do with it, but i'm going to continue it. it saves electricity too! haha

2. lesser internet time. refreshing my plurk and multiply page every 5 minutes is not the way to go. should internet only when needed:
- school work. research, ym meetings, etc.
- when my friends have urgent and juicy chika. (hindi ba all the time naman toh. haha)
- only when i'm bored na wala akong schoolwork na kailangan gawin. :)
- when the next episode of GLEE is up and i have to download it.
so when i'm online, that's the only time i'll be plurking, blogging, multiplying, twittering, etc. i can already see that this change will only be an attempt and will soon be an EPIC FAIL. hahaha

3. change my sleeping position. i usually lie flat on my stomach facing the bed. this is obviously a FAIL position because it presses against my chest, making it harder for me to breathe. when i lie flat on my bed facing up, i feel like drowning. dunno why. so i'm going to start sleeping sideways. i don't know if it's the same for you, pero don't you feel that there's a perfect side when sleeping? sometimes facing your right is better, and sometimes facing the left seems like the best position. tapos it varies from time to time? diba? no? okay. this is true for me.

look what i found:
i'm the Freetalker oh, "appears brash (brash... shortcut ng hash browns. haha) but cannot cope with personal criticism." i can hear my mother saying 'i told you so!'

4. extreme stress management makeover. i always think that the time i spend not studying is the time i spend to relieve stress. (can you read 'internet time' between the lines? haha) but it seems that this does not work. retail therapy SOMETIMES works, but it's totally unneccessary. there are other ways to relieve stress. some find relief in goods. (HAHA SORRY ANG SABAW) some find postage stamp collecting relieving. and studies (WOW nag research!?) have shown that my #5 below is a very effective stress reliever.

5. i need exercise. lots of it. for health reasons. while i was at the infirmary today, TIME magazine was right up in my face in the magazine rack with the cover title: HOW TO STAY HEALTHY AND FIT. I read it and it said that staying fit gives you more energy, gets your body systems in shape, and let's your mind work properly. healthier lifestlye!! Time magazine says that it should be CALORIE IN and CALORIE OUT. meaning, eating this amount of food should equal to the amount of energy you should spend.

(i chose not to put pictures for this number as it will entice me more)

i should also go for healthier food. load up on fruits and vegetables. get rid of junk food, candies and anything other than water and milk. lessen (yes lessen, because i cannot let go of these) perhaps my bm (burger machine) intake to just one sanzrival per trip. bwaha. i can't let go of cake too. i love cakes. my newest love is Starbucks' Banana Caramel Cheesecake. it's like banoffee pie minus the pie, plus cheese. haha. it's love. (OKAY TIMEE STOP) and as much as possible, avoid alcohol. (i should pretend i'm pregnant to make this attempt successful. haha) i will not condemn it, but i will lessen it.

also, NO MORE JUNKFOOD WITH MY MEALS. NO. okay. i'm fond of this, and this has to stop. i'm giving my junkfood to jermaine. haha.

i'm not a health buff, or an expert of some sort, but this is the first step. i've done this n times already, and usually it's always a FAIL. it works for about a days or so. tapos i get stressed, and my mindset begins to reason out that i need to treat myself to whatever i want to relieve stress.

NO TIMEE NO. NO!!!!! OKAY!!!!! okay. haha

5. lessen the clutter around me.
it's just too crowded. i don't really need everything in the shelf. actually, 60% ng gamit ko hindi ko talaga kailangan. i have a plastic container of all my high school and recent college memorabilias na tinitingnan ko once a year. yes, fun, pero totally unneccessary. i have two closets for clothes, but i think i can live with just one. (gonna work on that) i should also change the position of my bed. it's right beside the window, and the blinds on my window has accumulated too much dust already. sometimes i feel like it's falling on my face when i sleep.

ohh. my friends, ate vir and kate have this garage sale very soon. idea idea idea.

6. SLEEPING EARLY. the only reason why i sleep at almost 2am everyday is because i'm online, and if things go well, i should be able to sleep at around 11. okay timee? no more unneccessary agendas beyond 11.


i can foresee the this major lifestyle makeover is a FAIL. well, maybe 50% fail lang. but i'm going to try. i have to. if i don't, then it's going to be like this forever. i'm going to keep on getting sick, have more frequent visits to the ER, and i'm going to keep on making stress an excuse to 'treat' myself to whatever i want. i better stop making excuses. STOP MAKING EXCUSES. not doing this to lose weight, i just need a healthier and a more liveable lifestyle.


mommy come to Manila naaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. :(

can you tell me what's wrong with this picture?

huhuuhuhuhuuhuhuhuhuhuhuuhuhuhuh.
oh that's pwek. haha taken 2 sembreaks ago when we were rehearsing for my debut.

magic 8 ball

i asked my bratz magic 8 ball today.
and she answered:

Peping Update 1:57am Oct3

PAG-ASA will be releasing another update today at 5am. stay tuned.
continue praying guys. :)

i'm proud to be a Filipino.

There are rare times when i'm proud to be one, but this time,
I AM PROUD TO BE A FILIPINO.

got this from ate vir's blog

we may be a 3rd world country, but we have world class bayanihan.

it's awfully quiet and still here in my side of town. my dad says pepeng/parma went south, changed directions this morning. fickle-minded much?!

here's a kanye for you pepeng.

keep safe everyone.

the last family picture

Dad’s lament: ‘I wish I had died with them’
By DJ Yap
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines -- Miguel Asuela's world ended on the night of September 26 when in a matter of hours, he lost everything and everyone he held dear to tropical storm “Ondoy:” His mother, wife and their five children.

How do you measure a man’s grief? In his case, it seems impossible. “I wish I had died with them,” he said in Filipino, his eyes a study in anguish.

As Asuela stood at the El Capitan Memorial Homes in Marikina City, the 33-year-old looked like a man defeated. His shoulders were slumped, his eyes sunken and his cheeks gaunt. Silently he beheld the enormity of his loss: Six white gold-trimmed caskets lined one after another.

At the center was the casket for his wife, 29-year-old Desiree Bonifacio. Tucked into her left arm was their youngest son Lucky, who had been born only two weeks earlier.

Water-filled bungalow

Asuela’s entire family perished in floodwaters that had filled his bungalow on Patola Street in Concepcion I, Barangay Tumana. They were found in a heap inside the house, apparently trapped as strong currents prevented them from opening the door and fleeing.

Desiree was clutching Lucky to her body with one arm and one-year-old M.J. with the other. Beside them lay Asuela’s mother Ma. Flor Bonzo, 55; and Asuela’s other children Ma. Flordeliza, 11; Trixie, 9; and Miguelito, 7.

“Every night I can’t stop thinking about them. I keep thinking I should have been with them. I wish I had died too,” he said, almost in a whisper.

The Asuelas were a family of vendors selling religious items like rosaries, religious icons and sampaguita garlands and doing other odd jobs around the Immaculate Conception Parish Church.

That Saturday, Asuela had been working as a barker for jeepneys plying the Montalban and San Mateo route.

“At first, it was just a light drizzle. I didn’t really mind the rain. I never thought the water would rise so much,” he recalled.

Soon, the flood was knee-level and then waist-deep. Asuela began to worry. He rushed to the neighborhood and found that the waters down the ridge were almost up to his neck.

Senior Police Officer 3 Nonie de Belen of the Marikina Police Community Precinct 6 remembered how Asuela had tried to dive into the rampaging waters.

“I stopped him. I told him he’d drown, that he might end up dead while his family turned out to be okay,” he said. But De Belen was wrong.

Asuela said that when the floods subsided, he searched for his family in local schools that had served as impromptu evacuation centers for the flood victims.

“I didn’t go to the house. I was still hoping they were safe,” he said. When he found them nowhere, he returned to his house, accompanied by De Belen.
What Asuela found was more than he could bear.

Heartbreaking sight

He just sat in one corner and started crying, De Belen recalled. The policeman said, “I also couldn’t help but cry. The sight was heartbreaking.”

Asuela said his last moment with his family was over breakfast of hot pandesal and coffee. He said their happiest moment as a family came on July 12, 2008, when M.J. celebrated his first birthday.

“We shared a simple meal. We were all happy,” he said.

Asuela’s mother-in-law, Remedios Bonifacio, 54, said Asuela’s family was not completely gone. He actually has a remaining child, 3-year-old Leonardo, whom Asuela’s in-laws adopted after Desiree had given birth.

“He does not understand yet, Bonifacio said, referring to Leonardo. “When we ask him what happened to his siblings, he’d answer, ‘Sleeping,’” she said.

reposted from www.chuvaness.com
________________

i miss my family. keep safe everyone.

TYPHOON PEPENG/PARMA

Usually, i get cynical when Ateneo calls off classes because of a typhoon/storm, because when they do, it doesn't rain. for the past few days this week, indeed it hasn't rained that much. it didn't matter whether it rained or not, we needed the week for the relief operations and relief goods deployments. now i'm hoping. super hoping that the reports are wrong, that this storm won't be that bad after all, that we'll only be experiencing a few rain showers but not as devastating as the last storm. my being a cynic now is more of being hopeful.

BE SAFE EVERYONE.
charge your phones, stock up on food, water, candles, flashlights.

save these numbers in case of emergency:
National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC)
(2) 9115061 to 64
RED CROSS Quezon City Chapter
(2) 433.2151,
(2) 433.2152,
(2) 468.6653,
(2) 920.3672
Cellphone no. (63) 0917-8542952

relief operations day4

what i love about volunteering, aside from the free food, is that it's a new experience every day! :)

today i went with jer, angelo and cas to the Psych Dept talk on Post-Trauma Debriefing or Counseling for Ondoy SURVIVORS. The psych dept pushes the idea of calling them "survivors" instead of "victims". It's a more positive term. cas says it's the politically correct term. bwahaha.

talk by Sir Weavens Ty

infairness, i like the talk. people always have this connotation that counseling is giving advices to the counselee. actually no, the survivors at this time need people to listen to them. it's not the time to say "kaw kasi! nung umaakyat na yung tubig di ka pa umalis!" or "kung ako sayo pupunta nalang ako sa kamag-anak ko" and stuff like that.

three phases of counseling: facilitation, transition and action

sabi nga sa philo, yes we're all experiencing the aftermath of ondoy, but is it really possible to be able to say "i know exactly how you feel.." to someone? have you experienced Ondoy specifically and particularly in the way the survivor has experienced it? sometimes, the best thing we can do is to just listen. :)

after the talk, we went back to the covcourts and assigned ourselves back to the clothing area. after all, it's the only area where we're good at. (MEH GANON!!! hahaha!)

instructions for the clothing area!!

after a while, our breaks got more frequent. haha. because there were too many volunteers already. plus, they set up the large screen because the ADMU-EU Game 1 was on.

but after awhile, when the announcer was asking for volunteers no one was raising their hands anymore because they were watching the game nalang. sabi ni erick (yung announcer that time) "ah ganon! ayaw nyo mag volunteer! patayin nalang natin yung tv!!" bwahaha parang bata. so there. they turned the tv off, but the small tv was still on. so he kept announcing the score and the happenings of the game while the people were still working. :)

we were then assigned to sorting clothes. basically, we had to sort them according to women's tops, bottoms, men's tops, bottoms, underwear, children's clothing, shoes, bags, socks. it was actually fun. a department store sent over 10+ boxes of shoes and clothes, which we gladly sorted. they were all new, still with tags. :) thank God for beautiful souls. :) yung iba kasi magdodonate na nga lang, wla pang pares yung sapatos at mukhang basahan na yung mga damit. guys, TAO ANG SUSUOT NON. okay. :)

they turned the tv back on during the 4th quarter. what can we say, WE WON! :) after the game, we got back to working. we jumped at any task that needed volunteers, mostly assembly lines.

after dinner, we went back to the dorm to get my laptop and watched GLEE episodes 1 and 2 in the SocSci foyer. HAHA. we returned to the covcourts at around 930 and continued working. we volunteered na for anything, di na kami namili. HAHA. there won't be any relief operations tomorrow because PEPENG, the incoming typhoon is of a higher category, so everyone's expecting the worst. so basically, the people were just re-arranging the goods, covering them with tarps and cloths so that it won't get wet, receiving more donations (the goldilocks truck came by and donated lots and lots of bread wooh!) and making lots and lots of assembly lines. i think Atenistas are super good na at assembly lines. HAHA. makes lives easier. :)

true friends kate and ate virr in the assembly line. :)

the huge huge huge huge huge huge huge tarp enough to cover the whole wall of a 10 storey building used to cover the piles of rice. to protect it from the rain. we had to remove it to put tela over the rice. kasi. if the tarp gets wet, the ink might wash off the tarp and toxicate the rice beneath it. SO, we had to put tela pa over the rice packs, and then returned it back on top. complicated much! :) naman! we don't want to give away toxicated rice noh!

also, thank you to Starbucks who donated coffee for the volunteers!! :) everyone crowded over the receiving area just to get coffee. we'll definitely be awake till 2012. haha.

sir jet!

sir jet and sir tatot were the hosts/announcers for the night. sabaw kung sabaw and funnny! hahaha. they were having a contest to see who makes the most creative acronym out of ONDOY and PEPENG (the incoming typhoon). In fairness, ONDOY was nice.

Our Nation Depends On You. WOOH!

PEPENG had lots of contenders.

People Enjoying Packing Extremely Nice Goods. HAHAHA not bad.
People Experiencing Patriotism Especially Now, GO! HAHAHA pilit!? haha

but this won. HAHAHAHAHAHA
Please Everyone Pray Every Night - God

There won't be any relief operations tomorrow because it is advised that everyone stay in their houses or in any safe place because PEPENG is a category 5 typhoon (whatev that means, it sounds dangerous). It will resume as soon as this hulabaloo is over, so just stay tuned to your facebook and yahoogroups emails.

STAY SAFE EVERYONE. stock up na. buy food, water and candles. but as much as possible, don't go out na. to those who were flooded, try to evacuate your first floor na and save what you can. charge your phone batteries so that you can contact people in case anything happens. also, PLEASE EVERYONE PRAY EVERY NIGHT-GOD. :) :) :)

save these numbers in case of emergency
National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) - (2) 9115061 to 64
RED CROSS Quezon City Chapter -
(2) 433.2151,
(2) 433.2152,
(2) 468.6653,
(2) 920.3672
Cellphone no. (63) 0917-8542952