Baker Diaries

Beyond Condoms: Nation Building and the Youth

2011-09-01T23:49:00.028+08:00

Instead of going to my BA class earlier (God I can’t remember the last time I went to that class!), I attended Mulat Pinoy’s Lecture Series at the Engineering Theater.

Mulat Pinoy is a population awareness initiative for the youth, managed by the Probe Media Foundation and supported by the Philippine Center for Population and Development. It is their goal to communicate essential facts, figures and information to young people through new media activities and reportage of relevant news and events.

Recently, Mulat Pinoy started a lecture series on following Thailand's example in poverty eradication, education and philanthropy. They invited Mechai Viravaidya as the guest speaker for the lecture in UP Diliman.

Mechai Viravaidya is a former senator and activist in Thailand. He is the founder of the Population and Community Development Association that addresses the unsustainable population growth rate in Thailand. During the talk, he basically shared almost everything that he did in Thailand that helped control the population growth and eradicate poverty. He used a variety of humorous, innovative, and unorthodox methods to do so. Mechai mobilized and educated a network of rural school teachers and village community members to make contraceptives available throughout the country.

I just want to say that Mechai Viravaidya is a marketing God. DAMN. If you had seen how he sold the idea of condoms and vasectomy in Thailand, you’d be in awe as well.

See what I mean?

Just a few statistics that I think you'd find interesting:

During the 1970's, Thailand's population growth rate was at 3%. In 2003, it was down to a more sustainable growth rate of 0.5%.
When HIV/AIDS first appeared in Thailand in the mid-1980s, he launched a major prevention program which resulted to a 90% decline in new infections and an estimated 7.7 million lives saved according to the World Bank within 12 years.

It’s just sad that I didn’t get to finish the lecture because I had class. But I’m glad I got to approach him as he was about to leave the building. I told him I missed the latter half of the lecture and that I found the first half very interesting and would like to know more. I asked if he has a website, but he gave me a CD instead and his calling card. So yeah. I should have taken a picture with him!

I really suggest that you guys look him up on Google and read more on his projects. It would be really great for the Philippines if all his projects were to be done here. But then I think that's impossible since religion gets in the way. We all know that the church does not approve of the use of contraceptives.

Anyway, off topic. Vimi posted on Facebook that Parris Goebel will be holding dance classes here in Manila (at Groove Central!) on November 13. Good thing I saw the update right away because the class had limited slots! Only 30 people would get to take the class so I reserved a slot right away. It’s pretty expensive, 750 Pesos per class. BUT WHAT THE HECK, IT’S PARRIS OF REQUEST. SO COME ON.

But I’m quite insecure about my dancing. I’m scared that I might not be able to pick up everything at par with everyone’s pace. So I really have to get fit and get my groove back before she comes! Hope my 100 workout works!

Here's a video of ReQuest of Hip Hop International 2011 World Finals at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Enjoy watching! :)

Yes I do.

2011-08-26T19:41:00.001+08:00

I think I actually miss blogging. If you didn't know yet, I love re-reading my blog entries every now and then. Just finished reading through my blog entries in my secret Tumblr and I realized that almost all of my posts there are all rant posts. I didn't like realizing that. It made me miss reading GV entries like the ones I posted in here. I miss photo blogging! I think I shall go on a photo walk this long weekend, which starts tomorrow, after my IE 141 exam.

Wish me luck kids!

Bum.

2011-04-06T22:53:00.001+08:00

I've been a bum for almost a week now and I'm loving every minute of it. Catching up with missed episodes, downloading movies, playing computer games, bumming at friends' houses, and blogging! HAH. The past semester has got to be the longest and most exhausting semester in my life. Would you believe that I still have to pass one last paper on Friday and yet I'm already bumming? Well my group mates and I just have to make a few edits here and there, have the paper printed and ring bound, and we're done!

Looks like I won't be taking summer classes this time. Now what to do this summer? Hmmm.

EWOC Party

2010-12-24T11:15:00.000+08:00

It was our 11th straight and 22nd EWOC (Engineering Week Over-all Champion) award! I love it. I love the Clubbers. I love IE Club. I think you'd already know that if you have been following my blog :P

Everybody loved this! Thanks Pops! My dad made this using the same red rope lights we used for the big letter C in Indakan :P

So right after the Miss Engineering pageant, where straight guys would cross dress and do something like Binibining Pilipinas (HAHA), all the Clubbers went straight to my house for the EWOC Party. We started at around 1am then the party died down at around what, 7 in the morning? Wild! A couple of people were already down as early as 2am. What is low-tol? HAHA.

Photo by Jephe Baking

My next-door neighbor went to my house at around 4 and asked me to try to keep the music volume down. Hihi. So we did, but that didn't stop us from drinking and having fun - but we did try to lower our voices :P I think this is the wildest and awesomest EWOC party I've attended since I became a member 2 years ago (this is my 3rd EWOC party). Actually, most of the Clubbers said that this is the best and most attended (there were around 70-85 people in my house!) EWOC Party so far - as in from years back pa. Whoot! Cheers to awesome neighbors, cool parents, and the best brothers in the world! *dances*

I'm not quite sure what was happening during this time. Kaguls!

Photo by Jephe Baking

My best friend since prep school, Vana Cord-Cruz.

Photo by Jephe Baking

Some of the 08s present! I love my batch <3

Photo by Jephe Baking

And I also love that a lot of applicants came to the party! What is hayok?

C/o Alvin Intal and Patricia Aguila HAHA. Only two broken chairs by the end of the party. Not bad, eh? :))

Just some of the bottles from the party. Bacardi apple <3 Parang umulan lang talaga ng alak that night.

Indakan 2010

2010-12-22T19:34:00.003+08:00

(Photo by: Ted Cadiang)

I'm just so glad that I got to join again this year. Well not just join, but I even headed the IE Club Indakan team.

Heading IE Club's Indakan 2010 team was such a humbling, mind-wrecking, and stressful experience, but I really learned a lot from it and I had tons of fun with the people I worked with: my dancers, our manager, the prod work team, and our coaches Jim Ferrer and Xernan Alfonso.

(Photo by: Ted Cadiang)

This year's theme was movie musicals shown from the 80s to present. When we first heard about the theme, we already knew that we cannot go with hip-hop - which is our team's forte. Well, yeah, sort of. We took the challenge, stepped out of our comfort zones, and decided to do jazz dance. It was really hard at first because most of our dancers are first-timers in jazz and do not have the technique for it. But we didn't give up. All of us were really determined and eager to learn.

(Photo by: Froy Baking)

Our choreographer, Jim Ferrer, told me after our first training with him, that he was so surprised when he saw us pushing ourselves and just dancing his routine without any complains. That inspired him to create a really nice choreography for our team. Although, when school started, Jim got caught up with his academics and thesis and he started missing our practice schedules. That's where Xernan came in. He agreed to help us out even on short notice (super short!). He's such a good friend and an awesome coach. Thanks to you two!

(Photo by: Froy Baking)

We won 2nd place in both group and pair division. Thank you Lord. :) Hihi.

MEEEEEEEEH. What is ang haba na ng nasulat ko pala? Ang cheesy pa. HAHA.

(Photo by: Froy Baking)

Dancing = ♥

Indakan 2010 Team = ♥

IE Club = ♥

(Photo by: Froy Baking)

I think I'll stop here and I'll just let the pictures do the talking ;) All of the following pictures are by Froy Baking (my dad!)

2nd place baby! :)

EXACTLY.

2010-11-20T21:21:00.005+08:00

Here's an excerpt from my good friend's recent blog entry:

Burn-out. Disappointment. Pressure. Uncertainty. And longing. Especially longing.

I've been running errand for a certain project, and it's burning me out. I am disappointed in the way things have been going, and by the way I myself am handling things and my emotions. I am so pressured, maybe because I don't want to have things half-baked. and now I am uncertain with my capabilities, with the way I've been handling myself, and with the relationships I've had. And I long for security, for a friend to cry on 'cause right now I am breaking down in a big way that I am getting goosebumps.
I miss the security that comes with certainty. I miss the once-nurturing atmosphere. I long for them.

Exactly how I feel.

I'm scurred.

2010-09-27T19:34:00.002+08:00

Like really, really scared.

I need get to get 63% in the finals to pass IE 27. You'd think that's a pretty achievable score, but NO, it's not. From what I've heard from the upperclassmen, Sir Lu's final exam is a real killer - ~~prolly~~ the hardest exam in IE 27. Only a handful of people get 60+!! Fucking scared.

And what sucks more is that, the IE 27 final exam and the ES 11 fourth long exam fall on the same fucking day! I'm SO gonna die on October 4. Please pray for my soul. HAHA. No, seriously. I'm afraid I'd have to sacrifice ES 11 for this. I know, I know. That's not a good thing but at least, failing ES 11 won't get me delayed. But if I do fail IE 27, well then - HELLO SIX YEARS IN COLLEGE... or more.

Then again, WHY AM I IN ENG'G?

---

[EDIT 8:47PM]

I can do this. With the help of the ever so awesome, Andrew Yap, and all my friends and God, of course, I will pass IE 27. Hopefully onse too. I will not sleep tonight 'til I get all the concepts. G.

Discipline is the key. Deactivating Facebook and Twitter is the key. Sadly though, there's currently no disable option in Twitter, so I just asked Andrew to change my password. G.

Saccharine Sin

2010-09-21T23:31:00.028+08:00

UP IE Club Apps' Night (Batch 10A)
September 17, 2010
Penthouse, Bauhenia Towers, Tivoli Gardens Mandaluyong

HANDS DOWN. Good job applicants. You really made us proud, aw aw! :)

I'll just let the pictures do the talking. :) Pictures from Erwin and Maruh. I decided to leave my camera in the condo because... :>

With Inna. Woohoo, hippie bands :)

Big DICKS. I love you to bits!

But I really think we need to think of a new group name, yes?

L-R: Bea, Me, Vana, Cel, K, Sara

ONE. What is a very early EWOC pubmat? Chos.

L-R: Me, Miggy, Karen, Nivo, Eriko, Josh

4 pictures?? Lol I just realized I can only post selected photos. No photos from the program itself oh well. :D

Good vibes!

PS: What I wore: blue boho tunic (thrifted), black shorts (Next), black sandals with metals plate studs details (Trusole), black and gold hippie band (Girlshoppe), black shoulder bag (randomly found somewhere). ;)

DISORGANIZED

2010-09-13T20:47:00.002+08:00

I think I know now why I've been slacking off in school the whole sem... BECAUSE I AM SO FUCKING DISORGANIZED!!

My large tote bag already gave up on me like two weeks into this semester. Well I've been using it since start of 2nd semester last year. Anyway, since then, I keep on changing bags everyday. Sometimes I use my Jansport backpack - which has been with me since 6th grade, and on chill/free days I use the native shoulder bag my brother got me from Ilocos.

So whenever I transfer my stuff from one bag to another, I'd just dump all the extra papers (brochures, flyers, exam papers, quizzes, random notes, to-do lists, etc) I find in my bag into my paper box. I wouldn't bother looking at each one of them and all the more, sorting them into my expander envelope. Hah!

Also, my native shoulder bag is too small for all my stuff to fit in. When I use it, I can only fit in my kikay kit (can't leave the house without it!), lunch box (yes! Saves so much moolah.), my Navi planner, umbrella, and a pen. Yeah, no notebooks. I go to my classes without any writing medium. MAHUSAY.

GRAGH. This sem started out so wrong. And it's so hard to get back on track and pull everything together. :( *sigh*

So anyway, I'm really glad I stumbled upon this video because it's really useful! I actually got inspired. I think when I get all the school stuff (in pretty designs and colors!) I need, I'd be really motivated to study na. :p

Like Elle (girl in the video), school supplies and those cute little artsy-crafty trinkets are my happy things. All my friends know that National Bookstore is my ultimate happy place. I can never leave the store without buying anything - yes, even if I don't really need them... even if they're useless and would just add to the junk in my room.

Watch this:

Her things are to die for. Haha, I'm such a sucker for cute school supplies and trinkets and what nots. GOD, I seriously need to go school supplies shopping SOON. And must find the perfect large tote bag for school! Shopping for clothes na rin ;)) Hihi

Fast forward to second semester please!

HBD, Marly!

2010-09-11T23:47:00.037+08:00

Everyone's getting older. Marla just turned 20 today. Soon enough, I will, too.

Anyway, pictures from the small get-together dinner at her house. :)

L-R: Ryan, Deo, Virgil, Aldrin, Me

Note to self: Wag sa gilid pwumesto kapag wide-angle ang lens. Nakakalapad!

With Lisa. Loved your outfit tonight. Lol, baby catcher!

Happy birthday, Marly! :)

Ain't no birthday without a cake! Look at what Marla's brother did to her Devil's Food Cake. :))

Ah yes, obligatory group photo of everyone who went. :) It's good to be reunited with high school friends one in a while :)

What I wore: Black top from F21, green shorts A&F, brown buttoned flats, vintage Esprit shoulder bag, necklace a gift from a friend, gold vintage ring from mom.

I really love the necklace. It's a gift from Tinay - she knows I love necklaces with cute pendants! :)

Happy birthday again, Marla! :) Stay pretty ;)

Plant Visit Outtakes

2010-09-06T22:26:00.029+08:00

In IE 21, we have this mini-project wherein we have to choose a certain product and document the manufacturing processes it goes through. So this morning, we went to the INCA Plastics factory in Muntinlupa to research on what product we're doing and to document the processes as well.

After interviewing Mr. Ralph Cabrera, INCA Plastics President, and touring the factory, we have decided that we're going to use the Rain Collector. MEH. I'm not actually sure how we're going to do it. :))

Anyway, I just downloaded PhotoScape and I'm currently exploring and experimenting on it. LOL, noob!

1. Various products of INCA Plastics: Kayaks, water tanks, septic tanks.

2. Group photo (Nico Ibaviosa, Gian Abellera, Me, Aldrin Mariano) with Mr... Oh damn, I forgot his name! But he was the one who toured us around.

3. Group photo with Mr. Ralph Cabrera

4. Went to Aldrin's house in Alabang after. While waiting for the food to cook, the boys busied themselves by playing games on their phones. Tetris and Tower Bloxx mania! HAHA.

I seriously cannot wait for this sem to be over!

Happy 1st Blogversary!

2010-09-06T10:40:00.002+08:00

Can't believe it has already been a year.

The Allergy

2010-09-05T16:19:00.002+08:00

I loved their concept! Nice one, WongFu Productions!

Sometimes, all it takes is the right motivation to quit a bad habit.

Sweetheart

2010-09-05T00:58:00.000+08:00

I was planning to stay home tonight since I was out the whole day doing our case study in IE 31. Then my brother reminded me that the Pisay Homecoming's tonight. I said I'll pass since I didn't know anyone else in my batch who's going. All of my friends are going to JMA's Adhoc party. *Heartbreak*

But yeah, I ended up going with him in the last minute - LITERALLY. I just put on whatever clothes I found in my closet. I didn't even get the chance to fix myself!! Like put on some make up or something.

When I got there, I felt like a total loser since I really was the only 08 person present Kung kelan ako pumunta, dun lang walang ibang 08s. HOW SAD.

So I just went wherever my brother went. But later on I decided to split from the 03's and just go around... find familiar faces. Hihi. Got to talk to my friends from other batches though. Then I texted Patag, my orgmate and also a Pisay graduate. "Are you in homecoming? Please adopt me!!" And then 5 seconds later, she was standing infront of me. What are the odds? HAHA

Grabbed a beer with her then bumped into Ching after. Aw, I missed her! Ever since was elected as College of Engineering Representative to the USC last last year, I barely saw her na. Then while we were walking around, we saw Atom Araullo! HAHA Mustered up all my courage a.k.a. kapal ng mukha and approached him and asked if I could have a photo with him. Then we had a short conversation after. We found out that we had a lot of connections and common friends. He also agreed to record a video greeting for my friend, Megs. Aw, such a sweetheart!

With Sir Petri, best Math prof ever.

Pardon the sabog look. Like I said earlier, I didn't get to fix myself... at all.

With Atom. UGH I look so fugly! Messy hair c/o aircoolers. HAHA

Ching, Lady Gaga (Datu from batch 03), and Zai :)

Thank you for adopting me!! *hugs*

We left Pisay 30 minutes after we got there. LOL. My brother and his batch mates decided to go drinking at our place. They got booze as prize for being the champions in the Pisay Alumni Basketball League. LOL. But we ate dinner in Kabab Korner first before going home. It was nice seeing and talking to my brothers batch mates again. :)

Sana next year, better 08 attendance na.

Clap your hands to the beat this instant!

2010-09-04T19:45:00.011+08:00

Awesome way to start September! But the next September days will be... I can't even find the right word. But UGH. PLEASE. EXAMS. :|

Anyway! We had Clubber Can Dance 3 last Friday at the Aerobics Room in Celeb. Really happy that a lot of people came! Thanks for supporting, Clubbers!

Here are the videos:

This Instant (Sophia Fresh ft. T-Pain) Choreography
by: Desa Baking and Dani Cornejo

You're A Jerk (New Boyz) Choreography
by: Miko Monfort

WOOHOO. Awesome. Clubbers can really dance :)

Old.

2010-09-02T22:29:00.002+08:00

Oh wow.

Never thought we'd reach this point this fast.

A job?

Seriously?

Wow.

I feel old.

Sad reality

2010-09-01T20:13:00.002+08:00

My dad has been using his N80 for two months already but he still hasn't figured out how to use it. Last Sunday, come dinner time, he handed me his phone and said, "That's yours na. I bought a new one." I was was like, "REALLY? Why? What's your new phone?"

"Well I gave up on it. That phone's too much for me. Daming pinipindot. Eh I only need a phone for calling and texting. And I want the letters (font) to be big. So I got this one *presents his N1280* and it has a flashlight! Parang yung 1100 ko dati."

CUTE. So yeah. I have a semi-new phone!

Trivia: I've never had a brand new phone. :P All my phones have been hand-me-downs. But I'm saving up for a Blackberry! Hope I'll get to buy one by the end of this year. :)

Anyway. This afternoon, I was sorting my contacts into groups: 08s, 08s smun (That's smart and sun combined. LOL), IE Club, Applicants, etc.

Then I also made a group for my high school barkada: Gaz. After I checked their names and put them in that group, I realized that there are only 7 of us left here. :( Almost half of our gang are studying in other countries: USA, Canada, Australia, and Singapore. :(

I miss everyone. When will we ever be complete? :( December, yes? COME HOME PEOPLE! :(

ALOHA: Hello, Good Bye

2010-04-07T23:44:00.002+08:00

IE Club had its annual induction ball last night (April 6) at Ferndale Homes Clubhouse. Summer themed. I was supposed to wear this summer dress I bought at a thrift shop around two weeks ago, but I already wore it last Friday. So I went there wearing the dress my brother's girlfriend gave me.

Nothing much to blog about. Heh. But it was nice seeing the Clubbers again and oh, my girls! Too bad Alex and Rachel didn't make it. Alex's in Tagaytay and Rach's in Ilo-Ilo. The venue was really nice. I super love their dream catchers! <3

Yes, the sun was still up when we got to the place. Early birds, yeah?

Aw aw! Woodrose girls, Mariel and Jeselle. Rode with them going to the venue.

Celine, your village is such a chill place! If it wasn't like field-trip-far from UP, we'd definitely be hanging out there almost everyday. Aw aw! I had so much fun catching up with my girls, so much chichi's!

But of course, there's the induction of the new members and the old 'members' who haven't been inducted before, and induction of the new officers also. I'm the project manager for the Freshmen Early Registration. Can I just say that I'm so hyped up for this already? It's the first project this academic school year and also one of the biggest and most important. Thank you IE Club for trusting me :) I promise, I won't disappoint you guys!

Aw aw! New members. :)

Photo c/o Edz Sanchez

After the program, more chichi's (btw, if you're wondering what chichi is, it's my short term for chismis HAHA) with my girls and with other Clubbers, drinking... Fun times.

More pictures:

One of my favorite applicants, Carbs. :)

What is makulit, fierce, and mukhang gago? Haha! Love you guys.

Photo c/o Edz Sanchez

L-R: Enzo, Cel, Jeremy, Yosh.

Happy drink! Sara and Cel.

Carbs your hat is ultimately adorable! :)

L-R: Carbs, Vana, Jeremy, Cel, Me.

Polaroid pictures from Bea's Fujifilm Instax. I love these girls. :)

Bottom photo:

Top L-R: Cla, Cel, Vana

Bottom L-R: K, Me, Sara, Bea

08 lovin'! I'm so glad we're visible in IE Club events now. Would've been more fun if there were more of us present! Too bad, the others went home to their provinces already :( Aw aw!

Can I also share what happened when I got home? So Mico brought me home (thank you super!). When I rang the doorbell, I heard nothing... apparently it was broken. Oh no. I was gonna call up my brother or my mom but my phone died out on me!! I tried to borrow Mico's and Beni's phones but unfortunately, their phones were dead as well. :|

You know how I got inside? MICO CLIMBED OUR GATE. OHA. May potential eh! Haha. Our dog was madly barking at him, but I calmed him down by calling his name, letting him know that Mico's a friend and harmless. Lol. I'll never forget this.

Ola, Desab in 365!

2010-04-05T10:34:00.001+08:00

My Project 365 @ Tumblr

http://desab.tumblr.com

Yeah, I got my old URL back. Hihi. Check it out guys ;)

House. Room. Mess.

2010-04-03T16:53:00.001+08:00

Our house has been under renovation since January 27. And since then, everything at home was in total chaos! We had to move a lot of things that would get in the way if the workers, like our furniture and glassware. In addition to that, carpentry tools were scattered everywhere, hammer banging here and there, cement, and oh, suffocating paint fumes, ugh! But it's cool. Everything is slowly falling into place now.

The living room is almost done. Yay! The upholsterers are just fixing our sofas. We had the fabric and the color changed - from maroon to mustard. It's still leather though, just of a different kind... that I forgot.

Then, on Monday, the carpenters and painters are going to start renovating my room. That's why I need to start decluttering now! The flooring in my room needs to be replaced first because some planks have already been eaten by termites :| Pests! Then paint, paint, paint.

I am still thinking about my room color. At first I wanted it to be canary yellow since it's my favorite. Then I wanted it to be apple green, then teal, then baby pink. HA! My best friend, Vana, told me that she has never imagined me being associated to the color pink. LOL.

So what do you guys think? What is the room color that best fits me? :)

Anyway, pictures!

Sorry for the poorly put-together photo. My camera doesn't have the panoramic feature eh.

Would you believe that that computer table is a decade old already? Lol. It's bending na nga eh! I think my parents are buying new computer tables sometime next week. All our computers and laptops will be transferred to the new study room downstairs. So yay, more space in my room!

**Just so you know, I initially didn't want to post these photos because it's embarrassing! You guys will see how messy my room is and how unorganized I am. But whatever, I'm posting so you will be able to compare when I post the post-renovation pictures soon. :p

As Promised

2010-04-02T19:25:00.002+08:00

A person left a message on my Formspring around a month ago and he/she asked me to update my blog. But a month ago, I was still busy with school so I just promised him/her that I will update my blog when summer comes. Sooooo, here I am!

That's all. Kbye.

LOL just kidding!

I haven't done much since summer started, which was after I had my last final exam last Tuesday. HAH.

But, just two days ago, I had another impromptu trip to Ace Water Spa (first time was with Vana) with two of my best friends, Prana and Erix. Too bad Vana wasn't allowed to go out then! My body was all sore from the demo classes I attended in Groove Central last March 27 and 29 - I haven't danced in ages eh! So I felt like I needed a massage and a nice swim too, so duh, AWS was really the right place to go to then.

Gotta love their hot herbal pools<3

So anyway. I've been busy rebuilding my music library since yesterday - I only found time to do this now! I had to download everything again since my brother didn't bother backing up all my music files when he reformatted my computer last December! UGH. But it's totally fine by me.

Not only have I been rebuilding my music library, I am also expanding it. I remember having a conversation about songs with Kel last year, and she told me the my music library is so small and limited. If you know me, you'd say that I'm more of a pop-hip-hop-rnb kind of person. So I'm venturing out now.

I was browsing Marla's Tumblr this morning and I noticed that she has posted a lot songs. I listened to them all and found them interesting. They're more of the Indie-Folk Rock genre. Interesting, really interesting.

ANYHOW! I will be starting a Project 365 blog soon, maybe this Sunday. But I won't be using Project365.org. I'll be making a new Tumblr (Oh I missed you so!) for this.

Stay tuned readers. :)

Bringing it back.

2009-11-14T14:24:00.002+08:00

Sorry if I haven't updated this for a loooong time. And I guess I'll just be updating this blog weekly, I think that's okay naman, right? I'll keep this post short.

Just so I don't have to answer this question a million times, I'll write it here na:

"Desa did you delete you delete me as a friend on Facebook or you deleted your account?"

I deleted my Facebook account. Fin.

I am now officially on rehab. No silly, not the real rehab establishment. It's more of a self-imposed kind of thing. Plus my laptop was confiscated and it now belongs to my brother, Jephe. All social-networking sites are banned in the desktop computer they gave me - Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, Multiply, and even Blogger. I am just using my Mom's laptop now :P So yeah, that leaves me with pretty much nothing else to do on the computer, so I don't use it often na.

First week of school was awesome and you know what? It really feels good when you come to class prepared. Meaning, I do my homework na and I know what we're discussing in class pa. Not only am I reading things in advanced, I am also doing requirements which are due like more than a week from now pa. YES, I AM SLOWLY TURNING INTO A DORK :))

But I guess Dorky Desa is waaaay better than Clueless-about-everything Desa. Yeah?

PS. Happy birthday Tiffany Dy! See you on the 21st ;)

SYTYCD 6: The Top 20 Competes

2009-10-28T20:24:00.001+08:00

I AM SO LOVING NATHAN AND MOLLEE.

Like they said, they're the dream team. WOOHOO. Nathan's so cute and adorable, and Mollee's so quirky and cute too. CUTIEPIES! Haha. And both of them really dance so well!

Mollee may seem familiar to all of you because she's one of the principal dancers in all three High School Musical movies.

It's just sad that Billy Bell had to drop off the competition cause he has this illness - they didn't say what, so GAAH :|

He also can't go to Julliard School because of his condition - but I think they are still offering him the scholarship.

He had to stop dancing first because his doctors said that if he doesn't, he can die. Now what is he really sick with? :( I read it online though that he's out of the hospital now and is feeling better. Thank God. I sure hope he tries out again next season!

Booo. Two of my favorites this season have already dropped out: Paula Van Oppen and now Billy Bell. Aw aw.

Anyway!

THERE ARE TWO FILIPINOS IN THE SHOW! Pauline Mata (jazz) and Brandon Dumlao (hip-hop).

Brandon was the one who replaced Billy Bell. Sadly though he got eliminated in this episode. He had to dance for his life and was up against krumper Russell Ferguson. Russell killed his solo - there was no doubt that Brandon was going home after that.

Nigel said he'll try to allow Brandon to try-out again next season because the show basically forced him to replace Billy then promptly kicked him out. HE WAS PITCHED IN ONE AND A HALF DAYS BEFORE THE PERFORMANCE LANG. Come on :|

Looking forward to seeing more of these awesome pairs:
- Nathan Trasoras and Mollee Gray (duh)
- Ashleigh and Jakob (I think Jakob will go a looooong way. Jakob and Billy as Nigel said in the beginning of the episode were the most talented guys in this season. WHA BILLY :( Sigh.)
- Karen and Kevin
- Kathryn and Legacy

And individuals: Pauline and Russell. :)

I seriously can't wait for the next episode!

Paula Van Oppen

2009-10-23T00:52:00.003+08:00

I just finished watching Episode 9 of So You Think You Can Dance (Season 6). They revealed their top 20 dancers already and man, am I really sad right now.

Paula Van Oppen has been my favorite ever since I watched her audition piece in Los Angeles. She was so pretty and had really good technique. Right there and then, I knew she was going to make it to the top 20 this season. She auditioned last season but unfortunately got cut upon the selection of the top 20 dancers.

In this episode, it wasn't really much of a shocker na when the judges told her that she's in the top 20 because I was already expecting that. She's really good kasi, okay? Look at her, looking so pretty and hot and yaarr-piratey!

But what really surprised me is that SHE TURNED THEM DOWN. Call me OA or whatever, but I cried a little when she was telling this to the judges. She said she was offered a contract to this movie so she can't continue SYTYCD anymore.

PAULA TURNED THEM DOWN TO TAKE A FREAKIN' MOVIE ROLE!!!

Awh poor honey, she was crying when she was telling the judges she can't continue. This is the part where I cried a little. GAH. Why and how did I get so attached to this dancer ba? :|

WHY PAULA? WHY? :( You broke my heart honey. :(

You can see in this picture that she's really torn between the show and the movie. Well, maybe she just wanted to be practical so she chose the movie over SYTYCD because she’s gonna be earning more money there.

BUT! Dancing is her life! Movie =/= Dancing okay? Sorry but WAH I’M JUST REALLY SAD :( I hope she’s happy with her decision and that she won’t regret turning SYTYCD down.

[Pictures are screen captures from the SYTYCD 6 Episode 9. I just enhanced them a little in Photoshop to make them sharper]

On a lighter note, I'm really glad Russell Ferguson got in! He's the first KRUMPER ever sent to Las Vegas, and all the more, first KRUMPER TO GET INTO THE TOP 20! Legacy, the master break dancer is also in. And my favorite guy contemporary dancer this season: Billy Bell!

We also have three tap dancers this season. Intense, I know! Tap year baby. Haha.

Anyway, here's the list of your top 20 for this season (in alphabetical order and their forte):

Arianna DeBose (contemporary)
Ashleigh Di Lello (ballroom)
Bianca Revels (tap)
Billy Bell (contemporary)
Channing Cooke (contemporary)
Ellenore Scott (jazz)
Jakob Karr (contemporary)
Karen Hauer (ballroom)
Kathryn McCormick (contemporary)
Kevin Hunte (hip-hop)
Legacy Perez (hip-hop)
Mollee Gray (jazz)
Nathan Trasoras (contemporary)
Noelle Marsh (contemporary)
Pauline Mata (jazz)
Peter Sabasino (tap)
Phillip Attmore (tap)
Russell Ferguson (krump)
Ryan Di Lello (ballroom)
Victor Smalley (contemporary)

So, who are your bets? :)

Swinuman

2009-10-22T11:15:00.002+08:00

Okay I know I said I'm going to be on hiatus after my previous post, but gaaagh, I really can't help it. This account serves as my journal na rin kasi.

Anyway, SWINUMAN! My IE Club batch had this swinuman last Tuesday at Sara's condominium in Mandaluyong. We were supposed to start at 5:30 but most of us arrived there at 7 o'clock! So none of us swam na (given little time left). So from 'swinuman' it became just inuman.

Inuman + food + games (mmhmm) + pictures. Good times, good times.

But it was so bitin! I swear. The pool has a 9pm curfew, so by 9pm the guard went to our gazebo to tell us to move out. We were going to ask for an extension, but then he saw we were drinking. Apparently, drinking wasn't allowed in the pool area (safety purposes).

"Nako ma'am! Bawal po uminom. Hayaan ko po kayo dito kahit hanggang 11 o 12 basta wala na lang iinom okay?"

So yeah, that was really kind of him to let us stay there until whenever. But but, no drinks? SAD. I needed booze okay. So... Do I hear a Swinuman Part II? :)

Here are some pictures from the swinuman.
(Credits to: Flo Magboo and Mimi Lucas. Thanks!)

Hi Girls!

And boys plus me! I'm such a huge singit.

Look at the way Lance, Miggy, and Flo are looking at me. Intense naman guys!

Nyees. Ateneo boys complete!

As you may have noticed, I'm addicted to this pose na.

SUCK IT!!!

Aldrin with his stash, me with mine.

(Sorry for the sabaw look.)

"Sucking does not kill"

This is obviously for those who want to quit smoking, yeah!

And the face of the night:

INNO BANSON.

Hahahahaha!

I like this picture with Inno. :)

And finally, my outfit:

Tube dress from Soulier (it's Prana's) / gray crochet vest (thrifted) / gray metallic havaianas

Of car accidents and fail police officers

2009-10-08T21:58:00.004+08:00

Yesterday was pretty eventful - I've been in a car accident within the university, and actually went inside the police precinct (It was my first time!).

It wasn't really an intense car accident. Sorry, I'm not a pro in car language but I'll try my best to describe what really happened. So Math class was done and we were going to Melchor Hall na to work on our ES 1 project. Inno was driving, and then when we took a left at the Science oval headed to Velasquez St., a black Honda Jazz hit us.

Before the collision, Inno noticed that the Jazz was running at a high speed and estimated that it will hit us, so he hit the brakes real hard to prevent the collision - hoping that the Jazz would stop as well. BUT THE JAZZ DIDN'T. The driver didn't seem to step on the brakes and actually thought the she could pass through without hitting our car. Or maybe, like what they all say, once you're in an actual accident, you just can't think straight and you get all panicky. Maybe that's what happened to the Jazz driver.

We were all clueless about what's supposed to be done. Good thing I had the UPD Police number stored in my phone. I was about to call them when Inno and the girl agreed to just stay at the Math parking lot and wait for the police. I told them we shouldn't leave the scene so the police can determine whose fault it really was. But the girl said she'll take the blame because it really was her fault.

When we got to parking lot, we went to the guard station and used their landline to call the police. Then I took pictures of the damage on Inno's car.

Big scratches and shallow, wide dents.

Damaged from half of his rear door to the trunk :|

We were waiting for an hour and a half already, but still no police. Alex and I got to eat lunch na, still no police! GAH. The headquarters wasn't that far from Math building okay? Nakakainis sila, ang bagal umaksyon, batugan, parang walang pakialam. We got really pissed na because we were waiting too long, so we decided to just go to the station and get it all done with.

Doesn't look like a real police station, no?

Inno and Alex narrating what happened to the lady officer. I had no idea that the receiving desk was that high! One guy officer told me that it was made that way because usually, the drunk guys attack the officers manning the desk. :| Scary shit.

Inno had lots of friends with him - Me, Alex, Lance, and Tedmund. Dave was with us also when we were in the Math parking lot. The girl (in yellow, the Jazz driver) only had her classmate with her. Her boyfriend (I think?) came to assist her later on.

Inno looking stressed. Awwh. I think this was when the police officer told him he had to go back today to get the report. He wanted sana to have everything done na yesterday eh. Oh well.

And of course, wouldn't want to miss a photo op! This officer had to button up his polo pa before we took the shot. HAHA.

500 Days of Summer: Charming yet brutally honest

2009-10-01T16:36:00.000+08:00

This is the first Zooey Deschanel movie I got to watch. I think she's okay… didn't find her acting remarkable in this movie. But she's so pretty! Her eyes are so gorgeous, and so is her smile. I find it creepy though that she and Katy Perry look so much alike. Anyway.

(Picture from: http://beyondrace.bom/images/stories/500_days.jpg)

500 Days of Summer is a modern tale of love and young expectations. It qualifies as a good date movie - I watched it alone though (torrent). It looks good, feels good, and it avoids clichés. The only cliché I noticed was Tom's impossibly wise beyond her years, advice-giving younger (waaaay younger) sister, Rachel Hansen (Chloe Moretz).

The movie revolves around Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a frustrated architect working at a greeting card company, and Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel), the attractive new assistant of his boss. Tom gets love-struck when he learns that Summer likes his favorite band (The Smiths) too.

So yeah, they started going out, making love and all that, but a problem arises. Summer wants to keep things casual and doesn’t want to commit, while Tom begins to fall madly in love with her.

Oh wait! I just remembered the movie He’s Just Not That Into You. 500 Days of Summer could be its counter-movie: She’s Just Not That Into You. HAHAHA K.

It’s really refreshing to see it from a man’s point of view and that for once, the girl isn’t the one who ends up crying and heartbroken. The movie gets boring as it progresses though, because not a lot happens action-wise.

It’s a good watch people, watch it :)

Proud Mommy

2009-09-29T21:28:00.003+08:00

I am so proud of my babies! IE Club Applicants 09A.
Quoting my boss, Memcomm VP, Cedric Palomares,

"Great job guys for holding a successful Apps' Night! The food was awesome, the place was awesome, the games were a bit too kinky.. but still awesome (haha!), the apps were awesome (nyesss!) and the members had a lot of fun. I hope you enjoyed and learned a lot from this experience in holding an event. Projects in IEC are much much bigger than this; but this is a good stepping stone for you guys."

Yes the games were really kinky. First game: LS (my buddy) and I had to bite the ends of a string and then we had to work our way in to eat the marshmallow tied on the center of the string. Our lips almost touched, but good thing we were good, so they didn't touch. Haha.

(All pictures are mine. :) Flo let me borrow his DSLR :p)

If you can't imagine the game, here's a picture:

That's Maruh and Arjay. Arjay as you can see in the picture, had a hard time working his way to the center. They were the last pair to finish, or wait, I don't think they finished the game. Haha!

This is me and my buddy :P

We won, BTW. If you're wondering why he's dressed up like that, all the applicants cross-dressed. :))

Gabe's entrance was my favorite. "Oops, nahulog." HAHAHA

Ning Ningg was really pogi that night. HAHA.

Wild applicants. Choq you're a really aggressive... girl. Oh poor Anne. He must have felt so harassed!

Anyway, the next game was supposed to be the love dice game, but the clubbers weren't really game for it... TOO KINKY GUYS! That game is a barkada-slash-soiree kind of game.

The best part of their presentation was the boys' dance... "boys" LOL. Bigay na bigay silang lahat! Feel na feel nila yung dance.

And then Juno showed off his break dancing skills. He's really good, you know?

BREAK DANCING IN A SKIRT, how cool is that?

Not much pictures because I left early! It was raining and my Dad doesn't like driving when it's raining plus he knew there's a storm eh (Ondoy :( Hay) so I left at 11. I just saw the pictures in Kache's Facebook and MAN DID I MISS A LOT. Haha. Sayang! But it's all good because I had a really great day.

I got to play Monopoly again after so long! We had a three hour break again last Friday eh. Originally, we were supposed to stay at the AS parking lot lang, but then the parking was full because the Sigma Delta Phi bazaar occupied the whole lower level parking. So we went to Inno's house instead and had food from McDonald's delivered there.

We didn't get to finish the game because the food delivery came already. Aw aw. I WAS WINNING PA NAMAN!

LOL. Hi delivery boy!

I love this picture of us three. :)

I told them that if you lock all the blood in the tip of you finger then you prick it with a pin, blood will squirt out of it. And they were like, "Awesome! So ganito kami magdidilig ng halaman." CRAZY KIDS.

One last picture before leaving pictures house. Bea, you are forever win.

I rode in Lance's car back to UP. We were cruising White Plains Avenue. And then on red light, I rolled down my window and took their picture.

So yeah, I don't really mind missing the fun (a.k.a. wild drunk people doing wild stuff) stuff after I left the Apps' Party. :P

Cheers to a new beginning!

2009-09-23T22:36:00.004+08:00

Today was a really fun day. We don't have ES 1 classes anymore so my friends and I have three-hour breaks every Wednesdays and Fridays, and that's from 10 to 1. Inno, Lance, Alex, and I would always wait for each other at the second floor of Math building after our Math classes finish then we'll drive to Eng'g for ES 1 (WF only). Today, since we don't have ES 1 nga, we decided to go to the Physics Pavilion to wait for the others. When they came out, we asked them where they wanna stay and eat. Well the original plan was to hang in Inno's place in White Plains and just chill.. Maybe play some Wii, but yeah we ended up in Trinoma.

Desa, Vana, K, Celine, Alex, Sara, Lance, Inno, Eriko, Flo, and Gian. ♥

Just so you know, I really hate thinking about and deciding where to eat. Good thing I have decisive friends, so we all ate in Sbarro. I had a slice of white cheese pizza, forever favorite! Their pizza slices are really big and super heavy, so one's enough for a meal. Sara was laughing at me 'cause my supposedly white pizza turned into a red pizza because I put too much chili flakes - eh WTH, that's how I like my pizza eh, really spicy. Kwentuhan + tawanan + good company + good food = perfect. Too bad I didn't get to take good pictures. Oh well.

Inno, Flo and Celine outside the Physics Pavilion.

In Sbarro. See, crappy pictures! I got lazy to take pictures din kasi.

Anyway. I've been itching to cut my hair since last week. Last night, I went to the salon to have a haircut already but there were too many people inside! I got there at 7pm and when I asked the desk girl to estimate what time I'm going to be attended to, she said 9:30. FREAK. So I went home, frustrated. :|

After lunch at Sbarro, they went to Dairy Queen for dessert while I went home to get money for a haircut and a facial treatment. I had the facial treatment first. SHIT ANG SAKIT. It's been a while since I last had a facial treatment plus I haven't been getting much sleep these days so HELLO INTENSE PIMPLE OUTBURST! So after Che (the manager) put the antibiotics powder thing on my face (for faster scar healing, I think?) I went outside to have a haircut. I told Che (yes, she can do facial treatment and haircuts and lots of other beauty things) that she can do whatever she wants with my hair, just play around. I just want it cut short. Then while she was working on my hair, this gay dude cleaned my toenails. SARAP. Perfect me-time today.

And now, presenting the new Desa B:

This was what I wore to school today (minus the gray crochet vest):

- White tank from HerBench;

- Black rolled-up skinny jeans (Erix! I like 'em rolled up na rin);

- Black flats from Trusole;

- UP Industrial Engineering Club lanyard (LOL, really had to include this eh?)

So what do you think? Like it, love it, hate it? :P

[I have yet to write about my whole GREENLIGHT experience. RAR. Next time! Still on draft :p]

GREENLIGHT HIGH

2009-09-20T21:50:00.176+08:00

This is a really late post but thanks to Blogger, I can modify the posting date and time. Hehe. And this is going to be a long entry BTW. (Pictures are from Me, Flo Magboo, and Melissa Tan.

So anyway, Greenlight. I don't really know how I'm going to write about the whole thing since this is the first big event I handled and organized. Uhm, I guess I'm just going to narrate my whole Saturday to Sunday morning - from beginning to end. Don't worry, you won't get bored because I'll be using pictures and not just long sentences and paragraphs.

Call time in UP was 6am for KALYE KASAN: UP IE Club's Road Race 2009.

I manned the first station (Parking of Palma Hall Annex) for the third task (collecting recyclables that would amount to 25 Pesos) in the first pit stop (UP Diliman) of the race. It was fun during the first hour but I got really bored waiting for the remaining 5 teams to get their tin cans from me. Good thing Alex kept me company and Pads offered to buy breakfast for us.

After the race, our team went straight (not really, we had lunch at Wham Burger first) to One San Miguel Avenue Building to start setting up. At around 2:30 in the afternoon, the skies started to get darker and the wind has gone berserk! I told them we should go inside before the rain starts to pour. So we walked towards the door - super hirap walking against the wind! Tinatangay kami and I am not exaggerating, okay?

So while waiting for the rain to stop, we brought the drinks that we got from our sponsors, upstairs.
I love our marketing team. They're so awesome! We got 23 sponsors, big time yo.

When it finally stopped pouring, we brought the drinks outside. I look very macho (and angry!) in my picture. And and and I learned how to work a beer keg! YEAAAH.

And this is the GREENLIGHT TEAM. ♥♥♥

Desa Baking, Nico Ibaviosa, Kathryn Sison, Celine Bautista, Vana Cord-Cruz, Lara Inguito, Benedict Andrade, Jen Paderna, Jana Cruz, Dana Galang, Yosh Sakurai, and Carlo Padilla.

(Not in the picture: Marco Adalia, Camille Llanes, Seiji Lidasan)

After setting up the place, Nico called for a group picture because he knew we won't get to have one during the party - and yes he was right. We were all too busy checking if everything's okay and of course, entertaining our guests. After taking this photo we checked in the Astoria Plaza to rest, take a bath, and get dressed up for the party.

These are our awesome hosts from RX 93.1: LA Ferriols and Mark Laguna (CLUBBER ALUMNUS!!)

We started the night with a wild drinking game. Three teams with three members each. No girls joined the game, I guess guys really are the drinkers. On the first part, one contestant must be seated while drinking the beer held by his teammate. Then after drinking, they're going to bend and turn 10 times then do 10 jumping jacks after. First to complete the routine wins. I SWEAR I SHOULD'VE CAPTURED THIS PART ON VIDEO! Rellan's fall after the turning part was EPIC.

Second part (on the left): The next contestant has to drink two cans of beer, crush it using his hands only, then shoot it in the right garbage bag - the black one for non-biodegradable. Drink, crush, then shoot.

Third part (on the right): The last contestant is given a whole bottle of The Bar vodka (or gin?) and a shot glass. The one who gets to drink the most wins.

And the winners: BRUCE LIM'S TEAM! Woohoo. Hardcore man, hardcore.

Next was Re-STYLE: a fashion design contest using recyclables only. Too bad I wasn't able to take pictures of each contestant :(

On the left: Lexi Noval and Ella Santos. Ella used black and white plastic bags. I think she got the 2nd place?

On the right: April Japzon and Lenvil. They weren't able to land a top spot, but I just love the Aprils Lady GaGa hair.

And the winning piece by Kel Dumana. THIS IS JUST TOO AWESOME. The dress was made from mirrors and silver paper plates. WILD, RIGHT?

Awesome judges.

From L-R: Tracy Dizon, VeeJay Floresca, TJ Agulto

I think they're from Project Runway Philippines. :)

The Myx VJ Hunt 2009 Finalist got to plug and ask for people's votes after the fashion show.

VOTE JADE SISON!!! :)

Now I shall flood you with other pictures. Haha.

Would have been a super awesome picture if Vana was in this photo. Nice smiles girls!

I love my frilly dress!

I love the Tan twins! I can tell who's who now! Grace on the left, Mel on the right ;)

Ochi, Caloy, and Wesley. Ateneo meets Xavier. Haha. I LOVE THEIR PANTS!

With Inno and Lance. I was tiiiired and hungry already!

Hey B, I like this picture of you.

And the sexy back award goes to... Vana Cord-Cruz! Dude, seriously, your top was very hmmm, dangerous. What if someone just unhooked your bra? WOOPS. Haha!

This was before I fell off the railings and Inno spilled his drink all over me. :|

Clean up time. Lots of plastic cups and bottles, and tin cans to recycle! Woohoo. Lots of people got drunk... and they helped save the world. HAHAHA. Recycling's the way to go people.

I really didn't get to help much during the clean up because my feet already died on me. When we got to our hotel room Celine and I immediately took off our heels and left them in the sala.

I really wanted to go directly to bed, but I had to take a bath first to wash out all the alcohol that got spilled on me. Rawr.

We actually had a nice hotel suite. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms (one with a tub) a sala, living room, and a kitchen. Too bad we didn't get to maximize our stay there. Loved the breakfast though. I love hotel food ♥

WHEW. Told you this is going to be a long post. HAHA! Hopefully you didn't get bored reading everything.

'Til the next party!

♥ Desa B.

GREENLIGHT in 24 hours

2009-09-18T20:01:00.028+08:00

For the past 5 weeks, I've been busy organizing this party (GREENLIGHT) for my org. Doing ocular visits, looking for sponsors, doing marketing, looking for lights and sounds, etc. These things plus academics = no time for shopping at all. It's so sad, I know!

So yesterday I went shopping with my best friend, Prana. YEAH! We went to this thrift shop near the Quezon Avenue MRT station. I was searching through the racks looking for a dress for her when I saw this cute gray crochet vest. I tried it on and it looked good on me so I bought it. It was originally sold at 230 Php but I asked the saleslady for discount so I got it for a hundred bucks only! I think she would've sold it to me for 50 bucks though. Prana was looking at the shoes section and she found a pair of black round toe pumps with white striped heels. She tried it on and it fit her perfectly. She got it for 230 Php.

Random picture with Lance at the Math parking lot.

[Thanks for lending me the top and the cardigan Erix!]

At the restroom fixing up.

Then we went to Trinoma after because I still don't have shoes and she still doesn't have a dress. Prana got her dress from Soulier, a boutique inside Pop Culture. It's a black tube dress with zipper details and cute gold prints. Sadly though, I wasn't able to find shoes. :(

I tried this on. A dress from People R People. Prana actually has this one in aqua. She wore it to Power Hour.

Prana with her dress.

Today, Lance, Inno, Flo, Sara, and Alex didn't have ChE 2. So after our ES 1 class, we drove to Technohub to have lunch. We stayed in Razon's but Sara got a hot muffin and a drink from Figaro. Can I just say that the baristas there are very flirty? Or maybe Sara's just too pretty. Haha! One kept on the barista guy "Ui sarapan mo ah para kay ma'am! Ganda pa naman niya." And then when the barista handed the mocha latte to Sara, natawa na lang kami.

Sorry guys, but you didn't spell her name right. It's Sara. :P

Oh dear Lord, I look old! MUST GET MORE SLEEP... and perhaps, a haircut?

Inno, I knew it.

Went back to UP to meet up with Vana and Celine... 'cause we're gonna go SHOPPING!!! But before leaving UP we had to go to the UP Shopping Center first to pick up the full-body mirror from Chlods for Re-Style (Greenlight fashion design contest). Anyhoo, we went to Trinoma... again. GAH. We all have dresses already so we were just looking for shoes, bags, and accessories. Celine bought a black ribbon to style up her peep-toe pumps (with ankle straps), and Vana bought a belt for her high-waist shorts.

Feeling tired and hungry, we took a break from shopping first and so we ate in Burger King.

Celine left after eating because she doesn't like driving at night; Vana and I went back to shopping. We decided to check Trunk Show (didn't get to check the store yesterday!). It's this boutique near Comic Alley, Silverworks, and People R People. I was kind of hesitant to check the store at first because I knew they had weird designs, but I found the perfect pair there! It was on sale, so I got it for 1,250 Php only.

Outside the boutique.

Design: Helen (in Fuschia // size 8)

Just perfect for my LBD :)

GREENLIGHT, I'm ready for you. HERE I COME!

It has been pretty tiring and stressful.

2009-09-16T18:10:00.032+08:00

Oopsie, I haven't updated this blog for a week. I've been really busy with school, that's why. Hmm, I have a feeling that this is going to be a long post... Anyway!

The activities we had last Monday really drained me - mentally and physically. Physics exam from 7:00 to 9:00; CWTS finals from 9:00 to 1:20; then Alay sa Manggagawa from 1:30 to 3:00. Can you say intense?

The Physics test was super hard :( Even those who really studied for it (I didn't!) said that they had a hard time answering the last part of the exam. Dang, I should have brought a four-leaf clover and two horseshoes with me. Haha! So after the test, Lance and I rushed to the Vanguard for the Amazing Race. I can't believe I had to do this thing twice (ACLE with K and Celine)! Pfft. But at least I already knew where some of the pit stops were. I had amazing teammates! Andrew, Aldrin, Carlo, Cla, Enzo, Miggy, Mimi, and Yosh.

First pit stop: Sunken Garden Grandstand

Yosh doing the one-man carry. Miggy's the victim.

Our junior instructor, Justine, didn't teach us any of the carries so the pit stop marshal had to teach us step by step. We only got 80 out of 100, but better 80 than zero, right?

Fourth pit stop: Track oval grandstand

I never want go back to this place again, especially after raining.The track oval totally ruined my shoes, our shoes. It got us all soaked in mud! Look at Pads. That's the perfect "magtanim ay 'di biro" picture. Haha!

Ninth pit stop: Lagoon grandstand - one-rope traverse

We asked Aldrin to do almost all the tasks, hence the dirty-to-the-butt pants.

Then finally, we got to the last pit stop - two rope traverse. Actually, this wasn't supposed to be our last pit stop. It was supposed to be our 6th, but then when we got there, something happened with the equipment (the ropes) and they had to fix it first so they told us to proceed to the next stop. When we've gone through all the pit stops na, we went back to this place. Two girls and two boys from each team have to do the two-rope traverse. There were only three girls in our team: me, Cla, and Mimi. And well, Mimi's not really a girl... Haha! Kidding. So it was down to me and Cla, then Andrew and Pads.

This is us preparing. Doesn't look quite right, no?

I was absent the day Justine taught our class how to do this, so I totally had no idea what I was supposed to do. Well I knew that I just have to cross the rope and then go back hehe. When I was on the rope already, PUTANGINA, I was shaking so bad, I couldn't maintain balance! The junior instructors kept on shouting "Lean forward Desa, lean forward!" But how the hell do I do that? STRESS. But yeah, I was able to go back without slipping. Whew. When I got off the rope and the harness, my arms felt super sore and heavy. My legs and thighs were aching as well. Pagod!

Shaking to the bones. But at least we're done for the sem. See you next sem, CWTS!

Yesterday was the GREENLIGHT team work day. We went around the campus to pin the posters the all the colleges' and organizations' bulletin boards. Then spent the remaining time before the meeting just goofing around. We took lots of pictures again but I'm not going to put them all here. Just this one picture:

I saw lots of people jogging around the academic oval, so I jogged with them too... NAT! But really, I should start jogging already. I'm gaining too much weight! Sembreak's just a few weeks away and I gotta have that beach bod ASAP.

Then our team head, Jana, treated us to dinner at Mister Kabab in Ayala Technohub. First time to eat in Mister Kabab because I'm not really fond of Persian food. I tried their Special Chicken Chelo Kabab and it was good. What I didn't like was the smell of my breath after. HAHA. We had a short meeting after - we had a virtual dry-run of what's going to happen on Saturday night.

We noticed that Yosh's and Pads' ears were pierced so we asked them to wear Vana's pearls. Ta-da!

Oh pretty boys. HAHAHA! [Yosh is wearing K's earring now.]

GO TO GREENLIGHT! :D

Team Logistics

2009-09-10T23:05:00.005+08:00

So the whole logistics team plus Jana, Nico, Celine, and Dana went to One San Miguel Avenue this afternoon for food tasting and to get the dimensions of the walls and other things. We all agreed to meet up in the AS parking lot at 4. But K and I got dismissed at 2:30 and again, we had nowhere to go so we just stayed in her car and waited for the others. Celine arrived shortly after we got to K's car. We got bored after a little while so I decided to take out my camera and get all photo frenzy!

I actually look thin in my photo, I like it! Cel, thanks for the ice cream treat!

K the driver and Yosh the uh.. uhm rich Atenean-looking UP college student. [inside joke HAHA]

Thumbs up for Nico! (Sorry if I look uh... :|)

Vana got a haircut! She's been thinking about getting full bangs since last week, and here you go!

Edna Mode. Kokoko.

K, Vana, Yosh, and Cel. Half of Team Logistics + Cel.

I told Yosh he had to sit in front because he's too big. But he kept on insisting that he isn't big but slim. Ha! Told him let's take a picture together and see who's bigger, then he did this "slimming pose." FAIL! HAHA

I saw this cute pink transparent umbrella at the back of K's car and I just had to have a picture with it.

Oopsie. Youknowwhathappenedhereitssoobvious.

Aaaah, nice view of the city from the 49th floor at 5:26 pm.

Girlfies with Nico. [Shoutout to Bea and Sara: we missed you guys!]

Just doing our jobs and looking... fab? NOT!

Yay Team Logisitcs complete!

Benedict, Yosh, Carlo, K, Vana, and I. ♥
Let's go team!

EXCITED FOR GREENLIGHT YO.

September 19, 2009

49th floor; One San Miguel Avenue

I'm feelin' so good!

2009-09-08T22:16:00.009+08:00

Yes, today's song would have to be Feelin' So Good by Jennifer Lopez. Good vibes the whole day!

It all started with my Math 54 long exam.

I have been studying since 3 in the afternoon yesterday but the real studying started at around 9 because Facebook is such a big distraction!!! I keep on checking it for updates every five minutes (or even less!). So I asked Ryan to change my password and made him swear that he wouldn't succumb to my pangungulit and that he'll only give me the new password after I take my Math exam today. But alas, after 30 minutes, I gave in and clicked "Forgot your password?" HAHA I'm such a huge failure. Good thing Lance kept on asking me True-or-False questions through Yahoo! Messenger about Math so I got into the studying mood. We tried answering all the problems in the exercise sheet our professors gave us, until we realized it was already one in the morning and decided to call it a night.

I didn't go to my first class (Physics 72) because I decided to go to Math early to do some last minute review. At around 8:23, I received a text message from Kat. "...kaya naman [yung test] kapag nag-aral ka." I felt pretty confident after reading her message since I really studied last night. And yes, the test was manageable! Yeah yeah yeah! I have never felt this good since the first semester of first year - well acadwise. So yay! I'm pretty sure I'm gonna ace the test. :)

So what else made me happy today?

My Art Stud2 class got dismissed early.
I had a 30 minute nap in K's car - love love power naps. I really felt recharged after. Thanks to the cool weather and the rain, I got to sleep right away.
Got to hangout with my girlfies again! We had late merienda/early dinner at Cafe Iana - right before the Greenlight meeting.
I ate a lot today! Yes, eating really makes me happy. My lunch baon, Hong Kong friend noodles with dumplings, a huge bag of Marti's (Oishi's vegetable chicharon), a slive of chocolate overload cake from Cafe Iana, and a sisig meal. OHA HEAVEN! Tangina and I was supposed to be on a diet 'til sembreak - woohoo beach trips! <3

This pretty much sums up my day. Hope tomorrow turns out well too :) Ta-ta!

Oh BTW, Carbs wasn't able to get me tickets to the UAAP Cheerdance Competition :( So I guess I'll be watching it on TV na lang. Oh well, GO UP! Sugod, laban!

Snow Globes

2009-09-06T21:34:00.005+08:00

While You Were Sleeping (1995) was shown on Studio 23 this afternoon and I watched it with Daddy. God, the story had a lot of twists! Not just the normal kind of twists but really crazy ones, okay?

So Lucy (Sandra Bullock) works in the train terminal – she sells tickets. She has this crush on Peter Callaghan (Peter Gallagher), whom she sees every day in the station. And then one day, Peter gets mobbed and pushed over the tracks and Lucy gets to rescue him right before he gets hit by the train. Peter then gets rushed to the hospital then goes on a coma. She wanted to see Peter and check how he’s doing but the hospital staff won’t let her. So this nurse helps her get in by saying that Lucy is Peter’s fiancée. Lucy cannot get the courage to tell them the truth and his family takes her in as a member of their family. While with this family Lucy falls in love with Peter's brother, Jack (Bill Pullman). Lucy does not know what to do when Peter comes out of a coma and doesn't remember her. Crazy right? But it was a really nice feel good movie! Sandra Bullock was super young pa and she was really amazing in this movie – just like in The Proposal.

Lucy visiting Peter in the hospital

See? Sandra Bullock was still so young and pretty - well she still is!

Jack giving his gift to Lucy - a snow globe! Awwh. <3

One of the cutest proposals I've seen.<3

ANYWAY. I am really excited for Christmas!!! Seeing all those Christmas decorations in the Callaghan house, the gift-giving and family dinners made me want to start putting up and decorating our 7-ft. Christmas tree. As for the gifts, I already started writing my gift list yesterday. I’ll definitely need lots of moolah to buy everything so I really have to start saving up now. Around two weeks ago, I was chatting with my friend, Lissan who’s in studying in Australia. We were talking about how much we miss each other and the whole barkada. She said she’s going home for Christmas, and so are Leki, Belley, Guio, and Gippo. Since everyone’s going to be back here in the Philippines in December, we thought about having a semi-formal Christmas dinner – girls in dresses and the boys will be in polos. Aw <3 We dunno where yet though. But most probably, we’ll have it in Chiara’s house in Green Meadows or Don’s house in Alabang. Excited!

Gonna hit the sheets now because I'm gonna line up in Araneta tomorrow at 4am with my brother and his girl friend plus some Clubbers to buy tickets for the UAAP Cheerdance Competition next Sunday.

Hoping it's not gonna rain too hard tomorrow,

Desa B ♥

Back on Blogger

2009-09-06T16:34:00.000+08:00

WELCOME to BAKER DIARIES.

First things first: I do NOT bake and this blog is not does not contain baking secrets and recipes. It just so happens that my last name is Baking and most of my friends call me Desabakes.

Q: You have a Tumblr blog already, so why make another blog here?

A: I miss blogging, as in real blogging, if you know what I mean. If you are familiar with blogging in Tumblr, you'll understand. I can't really do serious blogging there because my followers would definitely get bored with my long posts. Tumblr is just perfect for short photo blogging (: So I thought about making a new blog somewhere.

It’s been a month since I first thought about going back to Blogger but I just can’t think of a decent and catchy name. I guess bakerdiaries is okay, no? Lissan thinks it's kind of cheesey, but what the heck! I'll still be keeping my Tumblr account for reblogging though, but all original compositions shall be posted here. Feel free to comment on my posts, okay?

'Til the next post!

Desa B ♥