Semester Break Journal
Posted at 06:37 PM
This entry is actually around five and a half days late. I promised myself that despite the fact that my semestral break would be the only authentic "rest" that i would be getting in almost two years, I would not be lazy enough to type something to place it in my magnificently green side of the web. I think and honestly hope that this entry would be the longest one of mine in the history of forever and i doubt anyone would be bored enough to finish reading it. But not all things are meant to be read or things are not meant to be read by all... wahaha.. i am starting to blab... i better start typing. ^_^ Feel ko ang daming typo and grammatical errors.. pero who cares di ba!? wahahah
TRIUMVIRATE
After a fair share of failed attempts to meet up once again, the triumvirate was able to do so after almost 2 years. Honestly, I expected that there would be some awkward moments, after all, it has been a long time since the three of us actually met - a long time before terms like "democratic success" could authentically be used. For all who are not that familiar with the term triumvirate, here is a possible definition:
tri·um·vi·rate n. (1) The term triumvirate (Latin for "rule by three men"
or troika in Russian, is commonly used to describe an alliance between three equally powerful political or military leaders (2) group of artists Raphael, Leonardo and Michael Angelo (3) group of talented and smart troika - Aldrich, Daniel and Justin. (4) A body or group of triumvirs (5) An association or a group of three
Justin and I came from the Cubao station of the MRT. Daniel told us that we would be meeting sa Starbucks in Makati. The thing was... we got lost. It took us almost ten minutes only to realize that the Starbucks he was talking about was in Greenbelt, thousands of kilometers away from the MRT station. Wahaha.. as expected, Daniel was giggling when we arrived. A couple of awkward comments here and there and we were laughing, i mean really laughing just like our high school days. People were even looking at us so we decided to eat in Avenetos (an example of the democratic success at work!) After that, we were not sure what we were going to do.
So, we decided to watch a movie : Into the Blue. Before that, Daniel bought some candy - including three big, and i mean big-that-you-cant-hardly-fit-it-in-your-mouth big jawbreakers. So while watching the movie that we did not really want to watch and did not really like, we, all three of us spent our time sucking on this huge candy. Buwiset yang candy na yan.. wahaha... binili na nga siya, nakakaubos pa ng laway, nasugat pa yung tongue ko, tapos nakakafrustrate pa siya! wahahah... not to mention the stain it had on my clothes.
After watching, we were planning to go bowling, supposedly the first time i was going to go bowling but then when we reached the place that Justin said we could play bowling, nateardown na pala yung place so we just had to go to the nearest mcdonalds. BTW, nagkaroon ng 2 "bona" moments wahahha... hanggang ngayon natatawa pa rin ako.
Key words : Dito kasi yung screen & Kotse ka ba?
Tapos, finally naniwala din si Justin na at least pumayat ako! It took daniel'word to at least confirm na nagimprove din ako kahit papaano. Go democratic success! Daniel had to go home na at around 9 or so.. something new kasi it is usually me who is the first one that is being asked to go home. Magpipicture-picture sana kami pero since si Daniel lang ang may camera phone at ayaw niya magpapicture (for a reason na ewan ko kung ano).. na-veto ang democratic success. So, Justin and I took the last train back from Ayala to our respective MRT stations. It was only during my jeepney ride home that I was finally able to taste the center of the stupid jawbreaking - hours, and i mean hours of licking that damn candy! amaingly enough, there is a certain sense of accomplishment when you get to the center of your first jaw breaker.
Trip to Changi Airport
It was not my first time to travel so I was not that anxious but this was the first time that I was travelling alone. I did not pack that much of clothes since I plan to do a bit if shopping once I land in Singapore. Following the advice of my mother, I took the MRT to ayala station and rode a taxi from there to the airport. It proved to be a good thing since I arrived an hour and a half ahead. Buti na lang talaga at maaga ako dumating kasi sobrang haba ng pila. The security was so strict.. i had to remove all metal items.. including my belt and my watch thrice which was such a hassle. I decided to change my clothes last minute so I went to the CR.. lo and behold there was this guy who after doing his "business".. "forgot" how to flush. Ewwww.. I had to get out of there and go to another CR fifty meters away.
Anyway, after passing through immigration and everything, I was finally seated on the airplane. The plane was small, or at least smaller that what I was used to riding, probably because I was forced to take a Philippine Airlines flight. One of the reasons why I dont like flying PAL is the lousy food and that day was not different. Four hourse after, I had an upset stomach, tired legs and a dry mouth. I landed in Changi Airport - very similir to the Kuala Lumpure International Airport but this was different because there were so much orchids! Ang ganda ganda ng airport na ito! wahahaha... After getting my bag, i saw mommy and daddy na! wahaha... it has been a very long while since I last saw them. Nalost kami dun sa payment ng parking kasi everything in sinagapore is automated with cards and everything. A few minutes of asking around, we were able to settle the bill and get to our car. Wahaha.. nalost nga rin kami kasi they forgot where they parked the car! wahahha...three levels of parking spaces din ang inikot namin before finding out na nasa ibang building pala yun! 
Crossing the Border
My dad now works in Mutiara Johor Bahru so we had to cross the border to Malaysia. It is simply amazing how near Malaysia is to Singapore. I am typing this entry on a laptop and I can see the lights of singapore! Ang lapit lapit lang niya... and travelling from the Philippines to Singapore and then crossing the border to Malaysia added so many immigration stamps to my passport! wahahaha... ang babaw ko talaga. I arrived at 6:30 in Singapore and then in just a matter of minutes, I was eating Chinese food at the Chinese restaurant of Mutiara Johor Bahru. While I was eating my second serving of peking duck (sp?), i realized something : OMFG, i am going to gain weight!
Oktoberfest and Ramadan
First time ko magpunta sa Malaysia during my sem break. I forgot na oktoberfest pala! wahaha.. the hotel had this group of musicians who played some music during the opening of Oktoberfest in the Hotel. I am not sure if this is true for most germans, but the members of the german band hardly spoke any english! Buti na lang marunong si daddy ng konting german! Too bad i chose spanish as my foriegn language.. sayang talaga. Medyo awkward kasi most of them just smiled and laughed at every comment of mine but then it was fun! Buffet na naman so again I overate. The next day, we ate dinner once again with them because they were leaving the next day for singapore because they had another gig there. We had steamboat that night - boiling vegetables, meat and squid balls are not my thing so i just drank a lot of water to fill my stomach.
This is also the time for Ramadan. Malaysia is a muslim country to a majority of the population fast from early morning uptil around 7 in the evening and then they compensate for that by eating a lot, and i mean a lot from 7 in the evening till before early morning. Nagulat nga ako kasi at around 7:15, nagsara na halos lahat ng shops sa mall! as in.. first time ko lang nakita na everyone stopped what they were doing and then sat down and ate something! ahahaha.. ang saya ng feeling that christians do not have to do these things... so sobrang saya ng mga chinese, indians and foreigners like me who do not have to undergo fasting!
The Wife of the Prime Minister
Have you ever seen a country stop everything? Just a few days ago, the wife of the Prime Minister of Malaysia died and everything literally stopped. Dumoble yung kapal ng newspaper with whole page ads in newspapers offering the condolences of numerous companies and individuals. She was supposedly a very influential person and had a good heart.
I was reading the newspaper tribute for the woman and i was surprised to see Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in the front page! wahaha.. pati ba naman dito nagpapacute si PGMA! wahaha.. she looked good with the black thing over her head while she was pouring the scented water over the grave of the Prime Ministers wife. Ang bilis din ni GMA nakarating sa Malaysia. I was in Kuala Lumpur when the wife of the prime minister died so i was literally within 10 miles away from PGMA... shet nga eh... i am a big fan of PGMA yet I have not once seen her! Hay nako Gloria.. mabuhay ka.. the best ka talaga. Maaga kasi siya nakarating. Buti na lang kasi unlike our culture na may mga 4 days na burol, muslims i think only spend a day of mourning and then bury their dead. Hhahah.. ang cute niya talaga dun sa suot niya.^_^
Trip to Kuala Lumpur
Daddy needed to go to Kuala Lumpur to do a presentation thingy there so we had to stay in Kuala Lumpur for 3 days and two nights. This meant that mommy and me had to days to do shopping! shet... sumakit talaga ang mga paa ko! It is amazing how Kuala Lumpur has improved. When I last went there, a few years ago, 2 lang yung MRT lines niya but now, Kuala Lumpur boasts 6 MRT lines! Tapos iba iba pa yung mga designs ng MRT na ito - not like the square trains we have in the Philippines.
Halos 6 rin na malls ang naikot namin ni mommy! haha... masaya din pala ang pagiging only child... halos lahat ng nabili ay para sa akin! wahaha... mukhang maeexcess baggage yata ako eh. Namiss ko rin yung sundae ng mcDo dito.. as in it is double the height of the sundae in the Philippines! Now i know that I am definitely gaining weight. Tinry ko rin yung vegetable burger and that is when it occured to me : I am never going to be a vegetarian.. hindi ko talaga kaya lalo na ngayon at may mga lamb chops and sirloin steaks to tempt me! shet... tumataba na naman ako... i think i need to swim bukas, do some laps in a desperate attempt to maintain my "ok" figure... wahaha.
Food and Family
My Uncle Selvam came today to join us in celebrating my father's birthday - he is turning 49 this year. Ngayon ko nga langnarealize na this is the first time I was with, as in with my father during his birthday kasi most of the time, october is a busy time for hotels so he can not come home to celebrate it with us. There were actually two dinners for this celebration a.k.a two-dinners-to-make-me-gain-even-more-weight! The first one was in the hotel's chinese restaurant- famous for its szechuan cuisine. We had some guests and without my sister's presence, the attention was all for me.. shet... it was so awkward but the food was great especially the chicken.
The next celebration was at the Grand Straits Restaurant. It was near the seaside and you could have a very clear view of singapore from where I was sitting. The exterior decors were great. A friend of my father said that the total cost of building this restuarant exceeded 20 million ringgit - roughly 300 million pesos, if my zeroes are correct. Ang ganda nung place as in ang ganda nung mga aquariums. At first akala ko display lang siya pero yun na pala yung food! wahaha.. you just choose and then they will cook it for you! shet... the lobster was so good! Tapos yung sauce niya had cheese so that meant na super rich and puno ng calories yun!
Haaaaaaay! shet... tataba na talaga ako dito. Tinatamad naman ako magexercise.
