Organizing Keychains and Cellphone Swings

Cleaning makes me realize a few things about myself

1. I'm a packrat.
2. I'm a hoarder.

Yesterday was the submission of grades and today was spent de-cluttering my room and doing my laundry. With regards to de-cluttering, so far, I've only been successful with cleaning (my room attracts so much dust), taking out a bunch of papers and re-organizing my corkboard.

Represent: Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Egypt, Paris and Vienna

This corkboard is the backdrop to my study table at home. This is where I pin keychains and cellphone swings. Why pin them there? Because I have so much of them! I have a number of gashapons from college (when I was still addicted to anime). Some of the items are pasalubong or gifts from family and friends. Others are souvenirs I bought from events or from my trips abroad. 

You see, it'll be impossible to attach all the keychains to my bag zippers or all the phone swings to my phone. Initially, I thought about putting them in a box (how typical haha) so that they won't gather dust but then I also thought that I didn't want to simply hide them away so I decided to pin them (on the corkboard given to me by Sty-chan a few Christmases ago) and just deal with the dust every now and then. 

Ah, de-cluttering is far from done. I have a bunch of office supplies that I need to organize. I never knew I had a lot of supplies because I haven't been buying much! Most of these are old stuff (mostly from high school, some from college) and they're scattered into different containers. Time to bring them together but first I have to figure out how to do that.

Stationery, papers, stickers, etc. scattered in different boxes

Organizing is such a challenge for me, a hoarding packrat. But I remember that last summer, I was successful at organizing my closet so I guess I can deal with this too. :)

Action-Packed

Believe it or not, on our second day in Boracay, I woke up at 5am. I don't even do that anymore during classes.

We swam early in the morning and then had breakfast. We also tried the flying fish water activity (PhP350). It's kinda like the banana boat but maybe 50 times more intense! I was seated on the edge and it was fun until I eventually got thrown off the thing (well, that was the goal anyway). It was crazy. It made my arms hurt like hell a few days after. It was a great experience but I swear I'm never doing it again. :))

photo from Ma'am Dora

Some of my co-instructors did helmet diving but I passed.

We had Jonah's fruit shake. I bought a banana vanilla shake.

photo from Ma'am Dora

And then parasailing (PhP650)! Like the flying fish, it was also a great experience but I swear I'm never doing it again. Haha. It was exciting but really scary and the boat ride was just unbearable.

photo from Ma'am Dora

In the afternoon, I chilled by the beach chairs and read the book Sean lent me months ago. AH, LIFE.

And then, in the evening, we had buffet dinner at Boracay Regency.

We were supposed to go to a bar that night but everyone was tired from the activities so we ended up sleeping early!

What Kept Me Alive

Last Saturday, I went to Boracay with seven of my co-workers. I kept looking forward to the trip during the course of the [hell] semester. It's what kept me alive, haha.

Finally, I can compare Malcapuya Island (Palawan) to Boracay. And what can I say? Well, same clean waters, same fine and white sand, same gentle slope. The only difference is that Boracay is a veeeeery long stretch of a beach, it's crowded (it's not even peak-season) and it's very commercialized (I wish I could plaster a huge "NOT INTERESTED" sign on my forehead to ward off people selling things and offering water activities to me).

We stayed at a backpackers' hostel, Frendz Resort, in station 1. It's a two-minute walk from the beachfront, which is good for people who don't want it noisy at night. We rented three private, air-conditioned double rooms and added two extra beds. The rooms are native-style (made of wood, bamboo and nipa) with verandas. The restroom floor and walls are made of marble (and I think they need a little bit more cleaning). I paid only PhP 1700 for three nights, which is really cheap for a Boracay resort in station 1. I have no complaints.

The cozy common area, perfect for meeting new people.

The room facade

I'd like to go to Boracay with my family next time. :) But for now, I have to get back to checking papers!

Boracay Island

...is where I spent the last four days.

Happy-logue 10-19-12

1. Three new postcards this week.

from The Netherlands. I didn't know they had such beautiful castles!

mailed from Austria but bought in UK

mailed from Germany but bought in Barcelona

2. I went to lunch (Mexicali and Dairy Queen) and shopping with my mom yesterday.

3. I'm staying home today, Friday, with my mom and dad! Define priceless. :)

Cocina Juan

I've heard of the place a couple of years before but last Monday night was my first time to eat at Cocina Juan in Maginhawa Street. 

It's located right across Moonleaf and Delish though it's not very easy to spot because the place is covered with vines. But if you see a huge chili pepper-shaped sign, that's it. :)

I was amused the moment we stepped inside. The place was colorful and filled with art. It reminds me of Leona's Art Restaurant.

Liquor bottle corner

Something kinda creepy beside me :))

Free dark brown nachos. Looks highly suspicious but it's just nachos.

Cocina Juan serves Mexican food. I got myself a chicken chimichanga (basically like a fried burrito). It was P199. It looks small but it's very heavy on the stomach. I almost could not finish mine!

It was tasty on it's own. It practically didn't need the lemon yogurt sauce.

Sir Perfy's small-serve pasta on a huge plate

Sir Christian's burrito

Good Mexican food that is worth the bucks, pretty interiors, and nice servers. I'm definitely going back!

Food for the Stressed

Had I known that we'll be departing from the usual cafeteria food, I would have brought my camera this week. Pardon the bad phone photos.

My co-instructors and I have not dined together for a while. We've been too busy. Now that classes are done (though we still have a bunch of MS requirements and checking of papers to do), we were able to finally eat non-cafeteria food together! I miss our Maginhawa Street dinners. :)

Now this dish is from weeks ago but I'll post it anyway. It's K-spicy Katsudon from Mashitta in UP Shopping Center. It's a very weird Japanese-Korean mix. There's kimchi fried rice, kimchi, vegetables and tonkatsu. It was tasty and I like it because the kimchi is spicy!

We went to Burger Project this week. Finally, I tried the Angus beef patty. I do not like beef very much but Angus beef was worth a try. Though I think I'll be sticking to my good ol' tofu patty. :))

Angus beef patty, sesame bun, jalapenos, caramelized onions and garlic cream cheese. I promise to bring my parents to Burger Project one of these days!

Moonleaf Peach Yakult! I haven't had Moonleaf for around a month. Who cares about my cough and colds? I missed this. LOL priorities haha.

A corner in Mashitta. I've been to Mashitta countless times but last Friday was the first time I noticed this cute wall sticker. :))

What I like best about the past two weeks? I may have departed from eating [relatively cheaper] cafeteria food but I did not depart from my budget. ACHIEVE!

Happy-logue 10-13-12

One of my Aggre friends went to Italy recently. She sort of surprise-visited UP this week and gave me these: a postcard and a figurine. I've read a few articles about The Leaning Tower of Pisa for my geotechnical engineering subject before (just some supplementary reading). The underlying clay on one side of the tower is more compressible than the clay on the other side which made it tilt. And ever since I learned stuff about it, I've had a certain fascination for The Leaning Tower.

Beautiful

Karen, a high school friend who currently resides in Canada, also sent me a postcard, which I received this week. :)

What a pretty bridge :)

Ah, sembreak please come to me! Just a few more hurdles before the end of the semester. 

Happy-logue 10-06-12

hell week noun \'hel wēk\ 1. the week where all deadlines occur 2. worst week of the academic term, usually occurs at the middle and at the end of the academic term and may last more than a week

One of the many things I learned during teaching: it's not just the students; teachers experience hell week too.

Now, being both a Master student and a university instructor, I'm experiencing twice the hell. (I can't even call it hell WEEK because it's been going on for months already!) And don't even get me started with research project deadlines.

In other words, things have been totally crazy. I haven't had time to relax, to get a pedicure, etc.

However, there are still a few things that keep me happy.

1. My students. For some reason, I like it when my students ask me questions. It just shows that they're listening and they're interested in what I'm teaching. Most of the time, I get really really tired but my students make everything bearable. Last Friday was the last day of classes. I'll surely miss my students.

2. AME friend Sty-chan just got back from his one-year stay as an exchange student in Tokyo. Before he left, I asked him to get me some postcards. He got me two...

Tokyo Tower

Buddha statue

...plus this cute and shiny Christimas greeting card with Asakusa printed on it.

3. The postcard I mailed to myself during my last trip to Taiwan just arrived! Why self-mail? Well, why not? I bought postcards, I had some stamps and there was a mailbox at the hotel.

4. New Grendha sandals. Parents' gift for me. 

Ah. Two weeks. Two weeks. Come to me, sembreak.