I think NDC Davao is my most difficult tournament to blog about - to process and accept, even. Like, I know it's special and momentous because it's the last. It's one national tournament down, and I have only only one to go before I finally retire. But I can't believe I ended my NDC record with such a strange showing. I know this is the best performance I've had so far, this is the farthest I've reached, etc. But it's all so MEH.

Maybe I still haven't changed my mindset from The Horrible Pre-Davao Week (yes, it's still that epic for me that it's a capitalized event). I was - and still am - expecting NDC 10 to be, well, at least not that much of a jarring, struggling, vengeful, bitter and angry tournament experience.

But whatevs, kebs na sa sentimentality. Who cares about feelings? Whenever I get all nostalgic and mopey, I keep hearing Jovan speak in my head, yelling at me, "Brohelda ka, 'day!" And then I stop because I crack up laughing.

My karma ran over your dogma
The road to NDC 10 started with the failure of the Karma Deflector, i.e. Debsoc's Only Way to Chaka Opponents Without Fear of Divine Punishment, since, after all, we are a very God-fearing society.

In place, we had to instate the Karma Chest by popular demand - because Anna "Good Girl" Arcellana was more frequently going into Elvira Mode and Raymund "Hunchback of Notre Dame of the Janggas" was, well, being himself.

And "because we are free market advocates" (Briguera, 2008), the system quickly turned into the Karma Credit \kred-ich\ so we could cap and trade and all sorts of economic-sounding things. And, also, because of my Pre-Tournament Drama That Shall Not Be Named, I had an overwhelming amount of positive Karma Credit on my side, I could, like, bail out everyone.

Alta, the New Grepa
Anyway, all our anti-bad karma methods were practically fruitless when it came to our choice of accommodations. To be fair, una naman kaming aamin na pinili namin ang pinaka-cheafaz na hotel possible dahil purita na kaming lahat. However, we didn't expect it to be that bad.

Unfortunately, the Alta Pension Inn was that bad. Noong una, akala ko kayang tiisin. After all, pag tumingin ka outside the window, kitang-kita mo ang billboard ni John Lloyd sa gilid ng Gaisano. However, hindi pa rin kinaya ng powers ni Lloydy ang challenges ng Alta.

For example, ang shower sa banyo, nasa taas ng kubeta, parang pwede kang umihi at maligo ng sabay.

Sa isang araw, nakapatay si PJ at Anna - hindi ng isa, hindi lang dalawa, kundi tatlong full-grown ipis!

Ang receptionist "mukhang adik" (Santos, 2008) kaya matatakot kang ibigay ang room keys niyo for housekeeping.

Kapag naging matapang ka naman at nagpalinis ka ng kwarto, pagbalik mo, amoy durian na ang lahat ng bagay. As in, nanunuot sa kumot, unan, kama at kung anu-ano pa. Parang may pumasok na durian sa kwarto mo at nagpagulung-gulong sa higaan mo para lang mang-asar.

"Sa Alta, bawat araw may bagong challenge. Bawat tao hahamunin ang alta... presyon" (Briguera, 2008). Lahat tayo, sumali sa Ultimate Alta Challenge, ang pinag-sama-samang Fear Factor, Amazing Race at Survivor!

In case you want to know, Aaron Chan and Clarisse Osteria were the first ones eliminated from the race. Chan was last seen phoning his father, saying "It looks like Quiapo here!" His excuse to us? Hindi daw siya makapag-concentrate on the championship in those conditions. Enpordat, the next day, they booked a room at the Marco Polo. Makalaglag-keller nalang.

(I don't blame them. Every night, after three grueling rounds of debate, whenever I remembered that I had to go home to our place, I kind of died a little inside.)

Duterte Death Squads
Anyway, Davao was still majorly fun. At first, we were kind of scared of going around because of the MILF violence, but we figured, if Duterte had death squads, why worry?

So, we went around to all the possible cheap, fried-chicken-grilled-seafood-ihaw-anything restaurants. We partied and drank our heads off after the finals night, as tradition dictated. And because we partied and drank our heads off, we ended up wandering around some side streets at about 5 in the morning.

We also ended up watching HSM 3 - "HSSSZZMM" (Zosa, 2008) - in NCCC for only P75! At dahil atat kaming lahat, kebs na kung naka-off na lahat ng escalator dahil last full show na ang inabutan namin. Lahat kami, tinakbo ang three flights of stairs to reach the cinemas.

Kat Usita: Friend, bakit tayo tumatakbo?
Jowee: High School Musical 'to, friend!

And we also headed to Samal Island on the last day. We have no tans to show for it because it was raining during our beach trip, but kebs. Basta masabi lang na nakapag-beach kami! At naglabasan na ang pagka-jologs ng Debsoc. Ang pinagkaguluhan sa beach? Ang paghanap sa Cirenea. At kung hindi ka makalangoy papunta dun, i-o-outcast ka bilang taga-lupa.

And my favorite soundbite while going around Davao?

After passing a Mt. Apo street sign...
Jowee: Manong, doon po ba ang papuntang Mt. Apo?
Taxi driver: Ay, hija, kalye lang yan.

Sure enough, sa next kanto, Mt. Mayon naman.

And then, everything else I can't be bothered narrating
All in all, I think this is the most fun tournament I've ever been to. I got hitched (I KNOW RIGHT), I got to the finals (but couldn't think up of a charot line to begin my speech with), I actually got to debate (THANKS, ALVIN), I got to the Masters semis and finals (my credibility's ultimate downfall) and most of all (or worst of all?), I got voted into the adj core for the Lyceum NDC.

So, it turns out, this isn't my last NDC. Dammit.

I named my thesis (c/o a certain Sam Lee) Maximus.

Maximus Thesis.

Diba? May nalalamang projection of amazingness and ambitiousness and so much win.

Maximus is totally my boyfriend until I graduate. Nararamdaman ko na kasing kailangang ibang level of love ang dapat ma-devote sa kaniya kung gusto kong hindi bumagsak or mapatay by, like, an unknown assailant through a drive-by shooting.

Anyway, true enough, kung kinikilig ako sa thesis ko a few weeks ago, ngayon hindi na. As in, napuntahan ko na ang libraries mula CSWCD to BA, amoy library na ko. At naakyat ko na din ang Main Lib to the nth level. Who knew na may University Archives and Records Department pala sa loob ng Main Lib? Ah-mazing.

Oh, and before I leave this topic, Maximus has a nickname. Maxxie. For when my thesis turns gay. Because god knows everyone turns gay after some time. No judgment.

*

Last week was another episode of Mabibigat Na Salita! And these quotable quotes have come from the strangest of circumstances, okay.

Like, while playing patintero. While our team was trash-talking and pretending to cross the line and Sir was the Butete of Doom.

Sir Martin: Sige, taunt ka lang ng taunt, mag-c-commit din yan!

Oh, and also while playing Pinoy Henyo.

Secret Word: Ermengarde
i.e. Debsoc's retarded expression for "omigod"

Riley: Is it a concept? Can it fit in my bag? Is it abstact? *GASP* IS IT LOVE??

And lastly, again, while playing Pinoy Henyo.

Secret Word: Grepa
i.e. All-around expression for poverty. Because Great Pacific became bankrupt. And because when you walk down an alley at night and you get held-up, and you're stabbed, gi-gripo dugo mo.

Bo: Is it a Debsoc expression?
Team: Yes! *points to BJ*
Bo: Jabar? Bading? GUIMARAS?
Team: No! *points to Jonjon*
Bo: ...Diyosa?

*

Oh noes, it's the dreaded Season of Graduation Pictures and Creative Shots and I need one so badly!

And it's super stressful because the plan for the CMC yearbook is to have the creative shot blown-up in your write-up, not the toga or sablay ones. Which means, Potential Embarrassment Twentimilyen Times!

I need a creative shot! HELP. But, like, no angel wings or jungle backgrounds, okay. No feather boas either. Yes, Mark Dantes. I'm looking at you.

I finally got to watch A Very Special Love! And to the Sarah Geronimo doubters, do not fret. She plays the grepa role, so it's all natural and keri, it doesn't bring down the movie.

At hindi lang ako ang atat manood. Late kami nakarating sa The Block and we had to buy food pa in (the mega-slow) KFC, kaya we missed the first five minutes of the movie. Sa sobrang rush, nag-iwanan na kami as soon as nakuha namin ang kaniya-kaniyang order. Kebs nalang talaga sa iba.

At dahil lahat ng tickets, na kay Alistair, he had to wait for the slowpokes before he could enter the movie. Nakita palang niya si Paolo and Mark Batac from afar, ang ginawa ni gaga, iniwan ang tickets sa sahig at pumasok sa sinehan. Friendship? What's that?

Anyway, dahil Debsoc ang kasama ko, it made it doubly hard to focus on the movie. Like, during the heaviest, most tear-jerking moments, either Sir bursts out laughing or Jovan says something like, "Stress, hindi ako maka-focus sa tatay. Magkapareho sila ng mata ni Chad Osorio."

And Jonjon was the worst! Dahil siya ang natatanging #1 fan ni Sarah Geronimo, may pagka-competitive siya sa panonood.

Anarod: Shucks, ang galing umiyak ni John Lloyd.
Jonjon: Magaling din naman ako umiyak eh. Just give me a chance!

At nang nag-e-emo na si Sarah,

Jonjon: Feeling ko, sa'kin niya sinsabi yung mga lines niya.

Pero kadiri nalang talaga kung kadiri, pero bentang-benta talaga sa'kin ang mga linya ng movie. Excited na kong magamit siya in real life.

*

App-Mem Mini-Mock last Saturday and for the first time in the history of Debsoc Saturday Events, I was one of the first people to arrive. Sabi ko pa naman, late ako dadating dahil first event na hindi na ko TNT VP. But no, pagdating ko ng 7:30, kahit ang tournament director wala pa.

Hemingway, I'm glad to announce that I have finally bagged my first collegiate title evar. Team Yanga, Yanga, 'Di Kami Tanga is the mini-mock champion! ...Okay, I officially grossed myself out now. Two titles nalang, matatalo ko na ang record ni Jonjon as Mini-Mock Diyosa.

A big, big congratulations to my partners, Migs and Aze! Good job, guys. ♥

*

Alice, Carlo and I went to LA's birthday party after the App-Mem mini-mock. It was slightly kind of awkward really fun hanging out with some of the debate crowd there, like DLSU and Lyceum, but it was so strange too.

For one, the Mapua debaters were all boys and straight. Like, after dinner, they all headed inside to play video games. And Alice and I were all, if this were Debsoc, we would have watched a John Lloyd movie already. We tried to imagine Monic, Nash, Yang and even Riley being competitive with the Wii, but our brain sort of died laughing halfway.

*

Our thesis topic got approved! I don't think I've had a happier moment in my academic life. Especially since our first proposal got rejected, i.e. two months of hard work down the frickin' drain. Anyway, Elsie and I are really happy about our new topic. It feels clearer and more tangible, so keri lang.

It's just so hard to do thesis. It's like, even if the deadline is so far away and you technically don't have to start work yet, you just always have to devote every living, breathing moment to it. Stress.

But since it's just the start, medyo masaya pa naman siya. Actually, when Elsie and I started fixing Chapter 1, I was honestly just kilig over everything. Ika nga ni Els, parang pag-ibig ang thesis. Sa simula, kinikilig ka pa. Tsk, mabibigat na salita.

Today, I had to get my glasses fixed in Glorietta because I dropped them again and they finally cracked. I left them in the optical store and had to wander around the mall for about an hour without them. At kung ang grado ng mata mo ay -325, that's practically like walking around blind. In all fairness to my powers though, nahanap ko pa rin ang Zara.

*

Sometimes, I think the most painful feeling in the world is to go inside a store and see all the clothes you once splurged on go 70% off. So, I briefly considered buying more of the sale items just to have my revenge on them, until I realized I was falling into the Zara Trap of Consumeristic Doom all over again.

*

Kath: Why'd you call?
Claire: I have a shopping emergency. I can't choose between two kinds of Keds. I need your common sense.
Kath: Why are you texting me for common sense? Get the red heels. They're basics!
Claire: You should stop being my friend. You're so bad for my bank account.
Kath: Adam Smith said money has no value until you buy something.
Claire: And who are we to question Adam Smith?

*



Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer to win the Wimbledon title! Now he can have hang with fellow Spanish bud and football captain of greatness Iker Casillas and they can both be champions. ♥

Did you see that?

Debsoc will have a booth in CMC.

My worst nightmare has just come true.

*

I realized I can't blog anymore. Like, my brain won't function anymore. I'm taking CW 141 (Creative Nonfiction), and the first thing my professor lambasted were writers who were "pettily autobiographical." I'm petty and I really like writing about myself, so, yeah.

*

I wish I could say my majors or my Pol Sci and Socio electives are my favorite classes, but they're not. What I really, really, really love is Film 178 (Queer Cinema). Our professor is hilarious and the discussion is like Pan Pil 19 on crack.

Ma'am: What kinks depicted in the movie couldn't you accept?
Class: Ma'am, kadiri yung couples vomiting on each other.
Ma'am: Bakit? Bakit hindi natin matanggap ang dumi? Ang ihi? Ang suka? What makes dirt dirty?
Class: ...Whut.
Ma'am: Importante naman sa katawan natin ang dumi, ang ihi. We reject what gives us life!
Class: Ma'am, parang... love?

I'm sure there's a profound lesson here somewhere, but we're usually too retarded in class to notice.

*

I'm sure I don't really hate you. It's really just more of annoyance. Irritation. Or just motherfrickin' exasperation. But "hate" is so much shorter to type and it even has a netspeakz acronym. So: IHU.

PS: I secretly like netspeak. In my head, I talk like a 16 year-old girl on Myspace. Forrealz.

*

UPDS 15th Anniversary Kickoff Party
Where: Alchemy, Pasig City
When: June 28, Saturday, 8 PM
How much: P450, inclusive of buffet dinner
What: CLAIRE'S TEST OF FRIENDSHIP!

Hi, if you're my friend from Miriam College, I just want you to know, I hate your school right now.

Inquirer's doing an article on the tuition fees charged by different colleges and universities for this academic year, and I had to call up the schools to ask about the costs.

And so, the misadventure happens:
1. Claire calls Registrar. They don't know what the exact amount is.
2. Claire calls Accounting Office. They don't know either.
3. Claire gets transferred to the Student Accounts, but the girl who picks up says it's the Records department and could only estimate upon hearsay that tuition was around P40K to P45K. Okay, fine.
4. Claire calls trunk line and asks for the Admissions Office. The Security department picks up.

WTF, world? And for something as basic as the cost per frickin' unit?

Don't worry, Miriam, you're not alone in my bubble of hate right now. I called San Beda College and this creepy automated voice greets every single call with a "Peace be with you." I wanted to reply, "God?"

My brother recently discovered BitTorrent, and since he's a lucky fucker and Ateneo let classes out as early as Feb 28, he's been doing nothing but download movies all vacation long.

And the films he's watching aren't even trashy teenage movies (which I totally prefer--hello, I loved Step Up 2). This morning, he was watching The Bicycle Thief. I hadn't even heard of that movie until we discussed it for Italian Neo-Realism in Film 100.

...How depressing is it that my 16 year-old brother has more culture than me?

My brain is so sabaw from finals week. I was half-asleep when I went down to the kitchen last night to get a glass of water, and I didn't bother to switch on the lightsended up walking right smack into the refrigerator.

Apparently, my mother had this brilliant idea to buy a new ref and reorganize the kitchen around it. It was so jarring, I couldn't even find the water dispenser. So, I gave up and went to bed thirsty. :(

Oh oh oh. And! I was so sabaw when my dad called up the other night. He's in Sydney for a business trip and he was making kwento about his meetings, chever chever. And then I suddenly asked, "So, have you seen any kangaroos?" My dad paused and he was like, "Uh, not in the city, darling." *facepalm*

Then, he was asking me what I was up to since both my parents weren't home. I made a joke that I was holding a really wild party while they were gone. And then he just laughed this kind of patronizing oh-my-poor-daughter-has-imaginary-friends laugh because he was sure I wasn't cool enough to do that. I mean, hello, I've been locked up at home studying.

So, my dad thinks I'm retarded and pathetic. I fail.

To be fair, we were both brain-dead because of school.

Sam: We have a report tomorrow on participatory communication, so we're all gonna channel Steve from Blue's Clues.
Claire: Or or or channel Karol Yee version of campaigning with wide, googly eyes and eager smile!
Sam: It's like RTR Episode 2!

RTR = room-to-room campaigning

*

Claire: Duuude, I didn't know Leona Lewis was black.
Sam: Yeah, she's black sometimes.
Claire: Like Beyonce?
Sam: Like Barack Obama!

*

Sam: dya go to mass com today??
Sam: what is up with our new door okay???
Claire: OMIGOD HELLO I KNOW
Claire: i was like, running into cmc because i had a term paper crammed and i had like, ten seconds til the dept closed
Claire: and then hello potted plants blocking my friggin way

*

Claire: Shit, I didn't buy the apple belt. I WANT IT! But my dad threatened to disown me when he saw it.
Sam: Why did your dad not get you the apple belt?
Claire: He just kind of gave me the look that said 'why is my daughter retarded?' so I kind of dropped the topic.
Sam: I know that look! It's the same look my mother gave me at dinner kanina when I was trying to cut the meatloaf with the not sharp side of the knife...
Sam: How am i supposed to know which side is sharp???

Num num num. Back to work.

A lot of people keep asking me why I ran this student council elections. Time and again, I answered the same thing: I love this party and I believe in what we defend.

I'm a nervous wreck. This afternoon, I was in my happy little bubble because Jali and I went splurging today at the parlor then at Teriyaki Boy. But I go online, and you just can't ignore everyone's blog posts about the miting de avance, their votes, their slate posters and their commentaries.

I think this has got to be the worst week of my life: the preparation, the stress, the judgment, the potshots that I'm thisclose to confronting if it weren't for Chris and Karol's words of Zen wisdom.

Okay, maybe not the worst week. I think that week in Debsoc still pretty much gets that award.

But at the same time, it's still the best: the well-practiced skill of car-stuffing, the Chowking invasion, the late nights and overnights, the Bacchus, the communal C2 and Coke Zero and the slogan t-shirt so awesome, I've worn in thrice in the span of a week.

ISA. This has got to be the best thing that's happened to my college life. Whatever happens, Mallory > all. ♥

---

And because I've been dying for the chance to quote this man:

"Don't let your heads drop... Believe you can do it and you will. Give yourselves the chance to be heroes."

- Rafael Benitez, manager, Liverpool FC
Half-time, Champions League 2005, Istanbul

( It's been one week. )



So, the campaign period officially starts tomorrow.

If the past week was the proverbial 'calm before the storm,' then the elections are gonna be the death of me.

Credit: Elsie for the pictures!

And so my foray into university politics began this week.

I filed my candidacy for College Representative last Friday, and Ayeen and I had to go against all odds to do it. This included waiting around for the College Secretary to approve our forms, five minutes before the actual deadline. Then, there was that race for the one taxi cab--precious because the oval was closed, the jeepney routes were fucked up and time was a-tickin'--and the desperate race to Vinzons. It was all very Amazing Race, except not as glamorous and more "Putangina, Ayeen, hindi tayo mahal ni Lord!"

Ooh, and we had our first of what I predict will be many overnight work sessions. Well, we did kind of work, but most of the time, it was all:

"What do we put in the back of the shirt?"
"Isang CMC."
"ONE more time."
"It starts with ONE."
"...Ano yan, Linkin Park?"
"ONE Love."
"ONE... Republic?"

To be fair, meron din namang deep thinking and all. Ang sakit sa utak mag-formulate ng GPOA ha. Meron pang philosophical questions, nakaka-stress. And I don't even like philosophy. Seriously, what's all the fuss with the "What is a table?" drama?

But, swear, it was surprisingly so much fun. Sure, we froze to the death with our flimsy, bright yellow shower curtain blankets (and bath towels, in Sherwin's case). We bent in crazy angles to fit in the couches in the TV room, and Elsie and I literally died in our 8:30 AM class the next day, pero kebs. It's nice to know that election work won't be as stressful as I thought it would be.

Sabi nga ni Shan (Siya na nga!) during the talk over dinner repeatedly, "Haggard siya, pero masaya."

Winnar. ♥

Like all my blog entries, this will have...

1. Some useless whining about my academics:
   
   Cognitive dissonance stresses me out. On one hand, I know I should totally work hard, attend my classes, study diligently and all. But, I just can't do it! Meh. Sleeping in is just the most wonderful thing in the world. Lazy days are so irresistible, and there's nothing more freeing than ditching a class just to muck around in school or in Trinoma.
   
   For that, karma bit me in the ass and gave me a motherfucking tres in my J 103 exam.
   
   I fail at life.



2. A bit of football:
   
   Capello totally pwns the (lazy, overpaid, underperforming) England squad.
   
   Get this: they're banned from bringing their hairdressers into the team hotel! The horror. Maybe they'll actually qualify for an international tournament now.
   



3. A handful of soundbytes:
   
   Anyway, Valentines Day is just around the corner (Singleness Awareness Day, as Elsie calls it) and there's nothing more I want than persistent reminders of my singleness.
   
   Prof. Teodoro: Your next writing assignment is a personal column. You can write about anything--it doesn't have to be earth-shattering.
   Student: Sir, example ng topic?
   Prof. Teodoro: Like... 'My Life As A Bachelorette.'
   
   Oh. And...
   
   Mark: Claire, do you want to write a Valentines story for GMA News?
   Claire: What? No!
   Mark: Sige na, I'm asking Misha too. But I don't know what to assign to him eh. Ikaw kasi, matagal ko nang alam ang sayo. Singlehood.
   
   Winnar.



4. And a cryptic message no one will understand, unless I've ranted to you recently:
   
   I guess it's true what they say about God closing doors and opening windows. Except, maybe, the God part (...but don't tell my mother I said that).

I'm sure Miranda's really brilliant. He was one of the people behind PulseAsia. He's advised so many presidents and presidential wannabes. His rate per hour is completely ridiculous. So he tells us every fucking meeting instead of discussing Heywood.

And the most frustrating thing is that he just talks and talks and talks about his own life and his own rants about the Philippines. His excuse for not discussing the book? "Because I want to teach you guys something different."

Potangehna. Hindi ko kinuha ang klase niya para kumuha ng "something different."

Especially, if "something different" means strange, out-of-this-world questions. Malas pa ko dahil I get the most retarded ones. Yesterday, he asked me, "Miss, magkano ngayon ang presyo ng patis?

Malamang I stared back at him blankly, summoning all my self-control to not retort, "Are you fucking kidding me?"

Anyway, he ended up shaking his head at me, all disappointed and shit, then he proceeded to lecture on about how UP students--"even women," that sexist--don't even care about prices in the market anymore.

Pero, infernez. Meron pang ibang source of amusement in my wunnerful PS 11 class. For once in my life, nag-pseudo-discuss kanina si Miranda about legitimacy and we somehow ended up talking about rape. (Don't ask me how we got there, it's strange enough we were actually discussing something vaguely related to Political Science.)

At kamusta naman si classmate who decides na today will be the day na magmamaganda siya sa klase.

He asks, "Sir, puwede ka po bang ma-rape ng asawa mo?"

Ay, hijo, may tinatawag po tayong marital rape, ano?

No judgment talaga, pero really, bawal ang tanga.

Things have been getting crazy in the non-existent UPDS tambayan lately. There's now an ubiquitous "Mag-DOTA tayo tonight!" group, ditching usual org gimmicks to play computer games all night. At first I thought, it was straightness hitting back at the universal gayness of the org. But according to my sources, it's Alistair and Nash that are the ultimate DOTA champions, beating the likes of Joe, Lester, Paolo and Joel.

Conclusion: Bading pa din tayo lahat.

This was also highlighted with Channel N!'s exclusive report the other day:

Monic: Andito po tayo kasama ni Joe Aguilar from the, uh, Philippine Gaming Association.
Yang: Bading, Filipino Association for Gamers nalang.
Monic: *corrects himself* Andito po tayo kasama ni Joe Aguilar, ang FAG President.
Joe: 0.0
Monic: So, Joe, paano makakasali ang mga tao sa grupo niyo para maging isang FAG din?

The details are hazy after that, but I do vaguely remember Yang, Monic, Nash and Alistair running after Pluto, shouting "Fag hug! Fag hug!"

Disclaimer: We're not crazy ALL the time. We do debate once in a while.

Le sigh. Post-Thailand has been terrible. I think I've cut more classes this past weeks than I have the entire past semester. Meh.

Post-Worlds stalking, however, has been very very productive, but a bit disappointing in terms of results. At first, it was just Jess, whose prospect claims he "spreads gay ash like confetti." But no, mabilis ang karma, and soon, I find that my prospects are either: 1. married (YES, with CHILDREN), or 2. ESL (no judgment).

Ho-hum. So, I guess I'm back from my blogging hiatus. I don't know why. I think it's because I'm looking for a reason not to study Econ (exam's in precisely three hours).

Whee. My procrastination powers astound me.

Finally, The NDC 9 Entry.

Top of the head: Inn Rocio was kinda grepa. As in, it was an eternal game of "Is there going to be hot (i.e. not freezing) water tonight?". And really, when you come home at 1 AM after four rounds of debating, you really don't wanna have to wrestle with the shower. Needless to say, there were many unhygienic nights. This isn't even mentioning a particularly shitty moment which I will not elaborate on simply because it was really gross. Like, Yang's UPLB IVs dilemma, but ten times worse and needed a plumber and an evacuation plan.

But seriously, I miss the Inn Rocio people! Joel was this year's Celeni, waking up every day at 4 in the morning, panicking because for him, people are supposed to be up and preparing at that ungodly hour. Kawawa nga si Joel eh. I'm sure he had good intentions in waking us all up and inviting us to the wunnerful Baguio City tour. But, yeah. Nasigawan lang siya in the end ng mga half-asleep roommates niya *cough Biboy cough*.

I also ♥ our room for its Ditzy Opportunities, i.e. clothing checkinh, dress swapping, bra fixing *cough Kath cough* and our resident parlorista and baklita-in-the-past-life Ana Rodriguez! Check Celeni's beloved Cleopatra Eyes picture for proof.

Of course, blogging about NDC 9 wouldn't be complete without discussing Jowee's pride and joy, the Philippine Inter-galactic Slut Academy (PIGSA). Hours and hours of critical analysis and discussion in the War Room led to the creation of this wunnerful institution. Siyempre, Professor Emeritus si Jobet. Shocker of the century? Anna and Elvira as Pegasus Scholars. Foyeh.

Favorite soundbyte of the tournament:
Jowee: Omigod, segregation! I felt like I was Rosa Parks or something.
Biboy: Sino si Rosa Parks?
Everyone: Kamusta naman, Biboy. Pol Sci!
Biboy: If I know, hindi lang ako ang may hindi alam.
Marc: Bakit ka kasi nagpahalata eh.

Er, on to the debate part, wuuh. Okay, I'm still a bit disappointed. But, although UPD A may not have gone as far as I wanted to, I think we did pretty okay. Hey, if anything, I did much better than my last two NDC years. I actually didn't get capped now, thank god. Cadet Lucky, along with all our superstitious loot (Unlucky Pear, Even More Unlucky Banana, Lucky Necktie, Tinka's UPD A Shield, Norman) really worked their magic. :P

Hopefully, next year will be better. Actually, it had better. It's my last year. XP

Congratulations to Miko and Gica (ADMU A and The Gang buddies).
Congratulations to our finalists: Anna, who gave the most awesomest speech of her entire life, Aaron and his Amazing Siopao Face, and of course, Jobet and Kath, the two voiceless bitches who spent the whole night nagging us about framing and levels.
Congratulations to Alice and Bo. I'm so proud of you guys for breaking on your first attempt. Puta kayo. :))
Congratulations to my anorexic, dress-code-breaking partner, Tet. I love you, seriously. ♥
Congratulations to all the young adjudicators for a massive break.
Congratulations to the entire Diliman Barangay, especially Nicolo, Carl and Sir who took their time to be there and rally us on through the most Ermengarde-inducing rounds and pick us up with their pep talks in GAs.

Okay, this is really cliche, but I'm ending this entry with this: UP Fight!

As the semester draws to a close, I feel like with each day that passes, my academics are slowly falling apart. I can't believe I've passed so many late papers, if not completely missed passing them at all. I'm thisclose to getting a 5 in Advertising if I don't get a medical certificate to excuse my 4th absence. Waz. I therefore declare the theme of my semester to be "Goodbye, Magna."

Sigh. Why oh why 21 units. At can I just say, nag-CRS ako kanina (at 5 in the fucking morning dahil at any other time, every page took forever to download), at nakakaiyak lang to enlist 21 units again. And I'll be 21 units during my first semester of fourth year too. FTW, I know.

I'm finished with my J 121 classes. Oh fucking yeah. I loved Ma'am Chua, but tangina, the workload was hell.

And I surivived. Barely.

Today was my last Monday with J 121 (aka "The Terror Class"). Siyempre, like all Mondays of late, I had to cut my Psych 101 AND come in an hour late to J 121 because I was up all Sunday night to Monday morning working. Amazing.

I seeded today, oyeh! Twice. That must be a record for me for this semester. Pwede na ko mag-tryout for NDC.

I went out with Norman, Ana, Alice and Nash today. Jolengga kung jolengga.

Norman: Ana, bakit matamlay ka?
Ana: Hindi kaya.
Alice: The tongue can deny, but the heart does not lie.
Nash: ...Akala ko hips?

No matter how bitter I am (and I know a lot of people share the same sentiment), UPLB IVs still remains my favorite tournament.

The UP Los Banos campus is just so refreshing, and the restaurants, bars and coffee shops outside are so student-friendly. Also, it's the fact that it's always held smack in the middle of the stressful semester. There's nothing more enjoyable than being in a tournament bubble, even for just three days.

( Reaching new lows of grepa-ness in LB. )

I was completely freaking out about this tournament because Jowee and I had ZERO training (mabuhay, training and tryouts). Worse, there were no more "older" people to lead prep, teams and even GAs of the contingent. Waz talaga. Step up kung step up. But, I daresay it was a great showing from the contingent. 100% break, foyeh. I will not make comments on cursed NDC break caps.

Anyway, we may have lost in the finals, may mga ipis-like elements mang umaaligid, marami man tayong lahat na hinanakit, I'm sure everyone's still ridiculously happy that the championship is ours.

Congratulations to Tet and Biboy for winning UPLB IVs!
Congratulations to Jowee, Jonjon, Yang and Tet for placing in the top ten speakers!
Congratulations to the entire contingent for breaking!
Congratulations to the new members, PJ and Mahon, for being thrown into their first Debsoc tournament!

Claire: Men are like parking spaces. All the good ones are taken, and the ones left are all handicapped.
Nicolo: You have to be some hotshot CEO at an MNC to have a good one reserved for you. Money, clearly, is the answer to both men and parking.

---

Sa isang freedom wall sa isang kolehiyo ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas...

Hazing: Is it worth the pain?

Person 1: Oo, kung masochist ka.
Person 2: Sadist ako eh.
Person 1: Magkita tayo.
Person 2: Are you into S&M or something?

Person 1: Grabe, kaklase ka 'yun sa Geog 105! ... May exam nga kami dapat ngayon eh!
Person 2: So what kung may exam?

Person 1: Well, yeah, kung kasing katawan mo si Batista.
Person 2: Mananalo kaya si Batista sa Summer Slam?

*Person 1 bilang taong malabo sumagot ng seryosong tanong. Person 2 bilang taong pumapatol pa.

---

Happy birthday, Mels, Tet, Jewellord, Jonjon and Celeni!

I completely love this year's batch of UP Debate Society applicants. God knows my life has been hell, Execom-wise and debate-wise. It makes hanging out in the (posh, but gelato-less) Econ cafeteria so much more fun.


It's MAC. It's gay. What did you expect?
Warm-Up, Apps' Olympics

( More, from the Apps' Amazing Race! )

---

I've been pretty horrible with sigsheet challenges.

I made Ella count the humps in the Academic Oval.

Carla Sia had to engage Alvin in a 5-minute conversation about his latest book, Ancient Rome. At infernez, up to the challenge siya. As in, hello conversation about hieroglyphics and Alvin's new book stand. But no, halfway through, Jess starts scolding and forcing everyone to sign Carla's sigsheet. Let's just say, well, nagmamaganda si Jess na sulit siyang buddy. ;P

Alistair Alice had to profess his love to a scandalized Levi.

Nikki was maligned by Yang, completely divulging her, um, non-crush on fellow app and commuting partner, Nigel. Kamusta naman at ipagsigawan sa Vinzons, "Nigel, mag-ingat ka sa pag-uwi! 'Wag kayong dadaan sa madilim na lugar!"

Ooh, STC kids, nabuhay muli si Lara E.! And like any Theresian, she answered she was a 4 on the Kinsey scale. Surprise, surprise.

---

Soundbytes:

App: Mula nung sumali ako sa Debsoc, okay na ko sa mga... bading.

App: Claire, what's your alias?
Claire: Guess.
App: Homecoming queen?
Claire: *flattered* No.
App: Mischa Barton?
Claire: *doubly flattered* No.
App: Ah! Champion boyfriend?

---

Wahoo. Only three more graded debates, three more graded exams, thirty tambay hours, ten tambay debates, three adjudications, one sigsheet, five committee internships,
one tournament and one last party to go.

Don't defer. This'll be the best app period. ;)

While all classes were suspended last Friday, my Fashion Reporting class still pushed through. That meant I had to complete my write-up of Dita Sandico-Ong in record time. Thank you, last-minute cramming. We also had to drive all the way to Makati for our lecture in the Franck Provost Center for Aesthetic Studies.

Mimi, Elsie, Milgrace, Jen and I were the last people to arrive for the fashion lecture of Mrs. Baby Cruz. She was recently recognized as one of the 10 Best Dressed Women in Manila. At waz, totoo nga. Actually, lahat ng tao sa Frank Provost, super ganda. Nakaka-stress. We all wanted to drop out of school and just take the 800-hour diploma course there instead.

After the lecture, I began to wish all my classes were that interesting. I mean, we learned about body shapes, shopping styles and proper haircuts. They even gave away three of their P1,500 haircuts to lucky J 195 students. Wafaz. I totally raised my hand when they asked for volunteers, but no, they picked Jen because she had long hair.

---

Barangay UP Diliman trooped all the way to Taft yesterday to participate in DLSU's cross-training. Tournament-style tab siya, pero everyone (except for--surprise,surprise--Alvin and Tet) promised to be chever about it. Relax lang muna.

For that, Round 1 palang, Jowee and I were all, "Shet, tinatamad na ko magsulat ng case." Sobrang, no exertion of effort. WAFAZ, natalo kami. Well, second place naman, BUT STILL. WUUH. I'm sorry nalang sa adj talaga.

To redeem ourselves in Round 2, we replaced our "Dito lang kami sa rainbow, pa-slide-slide ever!" motto to "Complete annihilation!" instead.

It all ended pretty well. We finally got into the top room by Round 3, and ended up the 2nd best team in the final ranking. Fo-yeh. UPLB IVs na ito.

---

Kath, Jess and I left cross-training early to de-stress. I mean, come on. This week has been absolute hell, from moving tryouts to maternal scolding. Ibang level. For that, we had to have an all-girls/Execom night-out to refocus on the more important things in life: good food and good buys.

Unfortunately, to get to Shang (BIG SALE + CIBO ♥), we had to take the train. Not good when you have three commuting amateurs.

"Sorry po, hindi po kami taga-dito!"
We were so clueless we had to ask Manong Guard where the closest LRT station was. Surprise, it was right outside the DLSU South Gate. Amazing. For more, we also climbed up the wrong side of the station and got scolded by the guards.

"How do you do this??"
After buying our tickets, we couldn't get them in the ticket slots in the turnstiles, effectively blocking a whole line of passengers, making everyone miss the train.

Three simultaneous girly screams
The train finally arrives, but not without honking its horn loudly. Kath, Jess and Claire scream in the middle of the station.

Taft to Edsa ride
Claire realizes: "I didn't know the LRT was so... grepa."
Jess panics: "Omigod, there are no windows! How do we know when we're supposed to go out?"
Kath saves the day: "I'll count the stations!"

Edsa to Shaw ride
MRT on a Saturday night = HELL. Even in the car for women, children, senior citizens and the disabled.
Kath clings: "Don't board the train without me!"
Claire replies: "Oh no, Jess, Kath's having a Povedan freak-out."
Jess, the brave one, then proceeds to trample over three women to get first dibs on seats.

Claire, crushed by people, advises: "Guys, go to your happy place."
Kath points to lucky woman sleeping in her seat: "She's in her happy place."
Jess freaks loudly: "Someone wet and stinky is behind me! My happy place is gone!!"

I know. Our train-mates probably hated us the entire time. But swear, test of survival siya. Thankfully, we got to Shang in one un-grepa-ed piece, ready to shop and binge.