Ever since that shit, I've been on a writer's block. No matter how happy things have been to me, I just can't write anything about them. But to have a month-worth of fun is enough to push all those negativity aside. Everyone, meet my October:
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| Hey there, beautiful. |
OCTOBER 4
Smack in the first October TGIF was Outbreak Missions: Adarna Initiative where I ran with old and new friends, alike. Team Lea, as we have come to recognize our sturdy group, is a hodgepodge of working people united by love to run. Or chased by zombies, for that matter. You see, I was just dying to join another Outbreak and here came along Outbreak Missions which entailed group dynamics, a far-cry from the previous Outbreak runs which is a more fuck-I'm-alone-gotta-run-fast scenario. So I rang up some friends and they rang up their friends-workmates and, boom, Team Lea was formed! And as you can see, we survived and managed to get the cure! Hell yeah!
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| Team Lea being their awesome selves. (c) Janelle |
OCTOBER 12
Thanks to that opportunity, I was invited to one of my new friends' - Janelle's - birthday celebration in a halfway home for kids of the abused and neglected. It was a touching event that she opted to celebrate it with these little heavenly pearls who have been broken far too early in their lives. They deserve to be happy and happy they were that day. Despite the crumbs and spills and pee and thankfully no-poo, I felt happy and warm and fuzzy inside. To know that you helped these kids forget their miseries for a bit is just calming and happy to think of. Remembering it just makes me feel warm despite the Hell-has-risen temperature outside.
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| Heart's bursting with warm-fuzzy feels. (c) Janelle |
OCTOBER 13
Next day, I'm off to one of the events that I was really excited to attend: TEDxDiliman! Wooooooh! My second this year, I just got hooked with TED and TEDx ever since our STS professor played TED videos instead of teaching us (which is kinda sad considering how he was supposed to, well, teach us). Making lemonades out of this shitty lemon, I learned to love the videos and before I knew it, I am nerd-over-heels over the concept. I downloaded 10GB worth of HD TEDx videos and watch them whenever I feel sad and down. That is how much it means to me and for me to get a slot to attend this year's TEDxDiliman is just pure awesome.
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| Must have been the most self-centered cover photo I used for my Facebook profile. Not complaining! (c) Ella |
In TEDxXavierSchool, I was a lone wolf but I did not mind it. Although my seatmates back then must have been really freaked out with me blabbering in whispers so I'm just relieved my fellow nerd-geeky friend joined me in this year's event. Now I can have someone to talk to without the appalling need to meet a new person! My introverted self just celebrated knowing she'd be with me. Plus, I met a new friend, Sheena, who also had a bit of a problem in the registration line when our names were not found in the list.
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| Hello TEDx-mates! Have you applied for TEDxADMU and TEDxUPLB already? :))) |
OCTOBER 19
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| The fanboy and the idol. (c) DJ |
I have everything planned out for this day that I even dubbed it as 'Museum-Hopping Day' since I planned to enjoy the Museum and Galleries Month's perks of the National Museum (free entrance!) and then attend Mind Museum's monthly Café Scientifique which featured, drumroll please, Dr. Fortun. Sadly, I wasn't able to go to the National Museum. Thank you very much, oversleeping.
So much fanboy feels when I found this out that I have to share it with my friends. Thankfully, they joined my fanboy feels and came along with me. One of my friend even volunteered to take us there using her car! Just pure joy. I was there, listening attentively as if I were back to my lanky (still lanky now, though) high-school self dreaming of becoming part of the forensics team thanks to CSI. Back then, I was just obsessing how much I would want to be part of the forensics team and how awesome that Dr. Fortun has somehow pioneered the field in the country. I was even more excited while listening to her despite realizing how much backwards our forensics arena compared to that of other countries'.
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| Thank you for tagging along with my fanboy feels. Wala pala yung isa dito. (c) DJ |
For the past weekdays, I have been preparing for my very first panel meeting for our ethics committees. Updating reviewers for their forms and pretty much making sure everything is ready for the 15th had been my core duties the past days. Lo and behold, it was pushed to the 22nd because of a holiday and I really have to set my priorities straight. Eytschh would have gone to the da Vinci Exhibit that day but they did not. I dunno why they cancelled it but if being not there (egoistic thinking, pfffft) is part of the reason, thank you friends. Just imagine how much I enjoyed the days after the meeting. Days that I should have spent polishing letters and other post-meeting shiz.
OCTOBER 23
Since we weren't able to go to the da Vinci exhibit the day before, we decided to push through with the plan this day. Then the unexpected happened, we went to Enchanted Kingdom instead. Long story short, it was coding for my friend's car and instead of trying our luck passing through the strict Makati traffic laws, we decided to go where sane-minded people would go when presented to not take a left to Buendia Avenue when already along Osmeña Highway: go straight up the Skyway and go on a roadtrip down South. And free passes, sponsored by my friend's dad! Parent-sponsored trips, so much win!
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| Spontaneous friends are spontaneous. Thank you, guys. (c) Clemenz |
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| To Jejeland, we go! (c) Clemenz |
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| The house is just full of nationalistic symbols. And passages. Secret ones. |
Remember how the 23rd was a Thursday? Yep. I called in sick and in my defense, a bit of runny nose and a wee-bit of headache constitutes for a sick role, so beat it smart-ass! Since our roadtrip ended quite late the night before, I spent the night in my friend's house in Cavite only to know that we'll be having another trip the next day: Cavite Day! We visited Aguinaldo Shrine where the good curator of Aguinaldo's property showed us all the secret passages between rooms. Imagine that Aguinaldo's private quarters have a secret tunnel to his private swimming pool! Even his library has a connection with the kitchen so the maids can just pop in with his afternoon snack!
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| Promise. Ito lang ang matino nating groupie. |
We also went to Leslie's restaurant in Tagaytay which is known for their sumptuous bulalo dish. And it's delicious alright. Although it may be on the salty side, it's not that oily as other bulalo dishes that I have already tasted. Real good treat while enjoying the cold atmosphere of the place. Although it was foggy by twilight, it never stopped us from taking pictures, even if it meant having a 'white wall' as our backdrop.
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| DJ on some lemonade. The rest on some legit ROH. (c) Dena |
OCTOBER 25-28
To top everything off, my last October weekend has been spent with the awesome people that is Gay Eytschh. Our dear College had not stopped us from going on our roadtrips that can reach as far as Baguio up north (thanks, Geriatric Nursing for giving us that shot) and down to the Queen City of the South, Cebu (we have Graduation to thank that for), so it did not come to me as a surprise that med school nor distance can stop us from having our getaways. This time, even our College was part in choosing our destination: Hugom, San Juan, Batangas! But not before singing our lungs out somewhere in the Tomas Morato area. We should have more concerts like these, friends.
Dear, Hugom. The beloved place where I had my Intensive Community Nursing Experience, we're back not to organize and mobilize people but to organize and mobilize our muscles as we braved the local landform, Mt. Daguldol, and enjoyed the pristine white-sand/pebble-sand beach of Hugom. Despite the endless bashing of rain up the summit - which reminded me of my previous rainy camping experience back in Mt. Makiling - we had a lot of fun. Awesome people in an awesome place can only mean one thing: Awesome time of your life.
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| 672 meters above sea level and we are still together. And all our ka-jeje-han and all. Until the next climb. (c) Joey |
Introverted people recharge by taking some time-off from people and just having some quality me-time. I decided to have mine yesterday. Out of the spur. And I didn't call in sick despite being on a weekday. How? Well, there was a circulating memo that it would be a half-day so people can prepare for the solemn event the next day. And enjoyed the rest of the day, I did! Having been on my October calendar since its first day, I really made it a point to visit the National Museum because of their promo of free entrance for the month of October in commemoration of Museum and Galleries month. There were even new exhibits to boot, one is Baybayin which I particularly liked because it featured installations and exhibits about our ancient script, Baybayin. Heart of art just burst with so much feels that I didn't mind lugging around under the Manila afternoon sun and crossing death-defying roads. Definitely scheduling my next me-time.
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| Is this window idea great or what? I will have this installed in my children's window so they can appreciate and learn what their Daddy wasn't able to learn. |
See? You have a lot to be thankful for, Paulo. Don't let pessimistic thoughts enter your mind. Filter them out. Great things are bound when you follow your heart. Ugh. Cheesiness setting in. One last photo for the road.
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| I've read somewhere that the shape of an anatomically correct heart is half of that of the shape that we are all familiar with. Maybe it was meant to be that way so that when you found your one true love, his/her heart will complement yours. I already made one last 2011 but I decided to make this year's heart white to show how pure your heart's intentions are. Follow your heart. It may lead you to dark back alleys but it will bring you back to the light. You just have to trust it. To those who have trouble dealing with what their hearts tell them (and I know one particular person in this pinch right now), listen and follow your hearts. |
So November, are you up for the challenge?
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