Summer Skin

Well, I am definitely back in my home for eight months of the year--Portland! I've been busy for the past few days helping out with new student orientation, which will get even more interesting since majority of them will arrive all throughout the day. However, I'm more or less done with my responsibilities with that orientation so my focus has just slowly been shifting over to academics and student government. Oh, and there's unpacking and setting up the apartment.

Hopefully I'll find time over the next couple days to write up a "proper" post but I doubt I'm going to be any less busy... It's all good though because I really am glad to be back. It's wonderful.

It's still summer in Portland so that is absolutely fantastic. I'll be soaking up the rays and enjoying the warmth as much as possible before we get the grey and the rain. On that note, I am off to enjoy the sun and to do a bit of work.

Soon.

I'll admit that one of the reasons why I'm so excited to go back is to see him. (I don't know if he feels the same way or as strongly at the very least but I hope he does :-P.) Just a little over twelve hours and I'll be back in his arms.

A Jet Lagged Headless Chicken

Mmm. Don’t you just love jet lag? It’s been close to a week and my jet lag is only starting to slowly wear off. Well, by ‘wear off’ I mean I can still only fall asleep at around 2am and wake up at around noon. Hopefully that will change once New Student Orientation commences since I need to be up and awake to volunteer starting at 8am! (That’s on Monday, mind you.)

I’m rather excited for New Student Orientation even though I will be extremely busy for a whole myriad of reasons: NSO, student government, and unpacking, to name a few. I’ll basically be running around like a headless chicken trying to help out the new students, preparing for the upcoming academic year, and moving in to my new apartment. Believe it or not, I honestly think that the lattermost task will be the most stressful because I have a lot of boxes to unpack.

Oh, I will finally get to see my boyfriend again so I’m going to be busy with him as well for obvious reasons. ;)

On a random note, the (not-so-ritzy) hotel I’m staying at has a hot tub in the room. In the room! It’s rather creepy because it’s probably covered in, um, stuff. The rancid stink of cigarettes is also stuck on all the furniture, which gives me quite a headache and has made me realize that I could never seriously date someone who smokes. It’s a nice little hotel though. Definitely much better than what I was originally expecting.

Anyway, ‘The Hulk’ is on TV and I want to watch it since I’ve never seen the movie before.

EDIT: Don't bother watching Hulk. Complete waste of time.

PDX, ftw.

I'm back in Portland! It doesn't feel like I'm really back though; I feel like I'll wake up in my bed in Manila if I fall asleep even just for a second. Everything feels rather weird and surreal, but in a good way.

Reality just needs time to sink in, I suppose.

Or perhaps it's just the jet lag talking. Nothing really makes sense right now because I'm so tired.

It Was Beauty That Killed The Beast

I just saw the 2005 re-make of King Kong for the first time and I liked it. (It does not take a lot for me to say that I liked a movie; however, it does takes a lot for me to say that I absolutely loved a movie.) Anyway, of all the movies and animations made of this illustrious creature, this is the first full-length King Kong anything that I have ever seen.

Now that I understand what King Kong is about I can conclude that it is more or less a love story between a pretty blonde and a larger-than-life primate that simply was not meant to be. They were just smitten with the beauty that the other possessed--the type of beauty that surpasses the externalities. Of course, there is more to it than that but that is some of it. Right?

Okay, there is one other thing that I would like to gossip about that is irrelevant to King Kong so I shall move on.

Now an ex-boyfriend and I do not get along despite efforts on my part to mend the situation and salvage whatever friendship we had left. Our sour relationship is the result of how he thought/thinks that I had cheated on him and even though (time and time again) I told him other wise he still refused to believe me. After one chat I finally gave up on trying to fix things because I no longer saw the point and I was perfectly happy with my life and I did nothing wrong. Its been two years already!

And then a week ago I receive a text message asking if I wanted to meet up. The number did not register on my cellphone so I sent a text asking who it was and turns out it was him. Then I asked who was going and when because I was getting pretty busy with preparing to leave. All of a sudden he responds with, "WHY? What if I said it was just me? I bet you won't come if it was just me." I was taken aback by that accusatory statement so I decided not to respond.

Fast forward to yesterday, I receive another text while I was out with my family asking if I could go meet him at a particular mall that very moment. I decline saying I was busy hanging out with my family and that we had no intentions heading over to where he was later on the evening. But of course, it would not be a funny story if that actually happened.

My family ended up going to that mall several hours later because it had something we wanted. As we were walking into the mall I hear someone screaming, "MADS! MADS! MADS!" Immediately, I mutter to myself, 'Oh you have got to be kidding me.' I ignore it but it only gets louder. I turn around and, yes, it was him. We wave to each other before the car he was in drives off. He sends me another text and I was just, *Rolls eyes.*

I have no doubt that he thought he 'won' whatever there was to be won and that he was the better person because I was "avoiding" him and I say this because you expect it from him given his personality. I was indeed avoiding him though, but for two good reasons: 1. I was honestly busy with running errands and spending the last few days with my family, and 2. I have just grown tired of having to deal with him.

Anyway, I laugh all by my lonesome when recalling all this :). I will admit it was pretty amusing.

50 Things About Me

"Fifty things about you..."
RBJ August 2007 Collaboration

Some random things about me.

1. Pineapples on pizzas is something I despise. If I have no choice but to eat a pizza with pineapple toppings then I’ll go out of my way to pick them out one by one.
2. “What’s your favourite …?” questions bother me. I either lie or sit on the fence when answering such questions.
3. I sometimes daydream about having those sappy and cheesy romantic relationships that you only find in the movies.
4. Although I have adopted both Filipino and American cultures I still adapt myself accordingly to where I am. In the Philippines, I let loose with what I say and how I say it. In the US, I make a conscious effort not to say things such as ‘Open/close the lights’ and ‘Can you turn on the aircon?’ However, I know that I fail at times. Especially when my American friends smile slyly and ask, “Can you repeat that?”
5. I hate flying because it scares me but…
6. …I like being at airports because they feel like a second home to me.
7. I (secretly) enjoy boy bands.
8. The Backstreet Boys was my favourite band back in my teeny-bopper days, and I’m going to (secretly) buy their new album when it is released in the fall.
9. Rubik’s cube and I do not get along.
10. Sudoku puzzles make me happy. I can work on it for hours not get sick of it although I tend to work on several puzzles at once.
11. I enjoy rice a lot. I would have rice for breakfast, lunch, merienda, and dinner if I could, which happens sometimes whenever I am back home. However, that results in severe withdrawal symptoms whenever I leave home.
12. The smell of hospitals makes me feel anxious.
13. My shoe size is either a 4 or a 5 depending on if its sneakers, flip flops, etc. but I tell people that I wear either a 5 or a 6.
14. I may not be the type of girl that can stop any guy in his tracks with her drop dead gorgeous looks but I know there is more to me than meets the eye.
15. Backpacking around Asia is something I would like to do even though the “real” backpacker’s backpack will probably be bigger than me.
16. When asked about my height I say that I am 5’ tall. I am actually 4’11.5”. Okay… 4’11.4” (Whatever 148cm is in feet).
17. My cholesterol levels are so ridiculously high thatI have to start taking medication for it.
18. I like the smell of rain.
19. I will re-write something I just wrote by hand simply because I do not like the way my handwriting looks.
20. When people tell me I look like a twelve year old I do get upset…
21. …But I feel okay afterwards because I know I won’t look as old as they do when I’m their age.
22. Every once in a while I need to be reminded that I am loved.
23. I am extremely jealous of people who can sing.
24. Whenever I am alone I always pretend I can sing as well as those people.
25. I absolutely love seafood.
26. Hopelessly romantic, I am.
27. I do not like candy…
28. …But I do love chocolate.
29. Cooking shows are very addicting for me. There are a couple cooking shows I watch religiously.
30. I plan diversity and multicultural events of all sorts at my college.
31. As selfish as this may sound, I wish I was recognized more often for what I do. Then I realize I probably do not do much.
32. Come fall semester I will be living with three guys, which I am excited (and worried about).
33. I hate soda. I only drink it when I have to choose between soda and dying of thirst.
34. I guilt trip really easily.
35. Believe it or not, I do not mind watching porn with my boyfriend.
36. I collected stamps as a child because I felt like I needed a hobby. I ended up with hundreds, if not thousands, of stamps that it has now become impossible to organize the collection.
37. Traveling makes me happy. I wish I could to do it more often.
38. I secretly feel bad when the gifts I give to people are better than the gifts they give me.
39. I am painfully shy around anyone whom I do not know well, which is rather unfortunate because my shyness is mistaken for aloofness.
40. Shoes. I love shoes.
41. I play the guitar and the piano. Neither very well though, unfortunately.
42. Give me a bowl of Banana Nut Crunch with ice cold milk and I will be happy.
43. I enjoy baking and then giving away my baked goodies.
44. Ever since I found out that I have bruxism I keep waking up in the middle of the night to me either clenching or grinding my teeth.
45. I started playing NeoPets when it was first launched online, and I will admit that I still play some of the older games when I’m bored.
46. Singing in the shower? No thanks! I dance in the shower, and I mean full-blown, booty-shaking dancing.
47. I like helping others but I often feel it makes up for being unable to help myself.
48. Something I am afraid of is not having strong and meaningful friendships.
49. I prefer things to come in multiples of either two or five.
50. There is nothing I like doing more on a grey and rainy day than snuggling in my bed under my warm comforter.
51. I like balut, kare-kare with bagoong, laing, lechon, halo-halo, dinuguan, and sisig. <3

Know That We'll Still Love Each Other

Mandy Moore did her own rendition of Rihanna's 'Umbrella' for Yahoo! Music's Cover Art series. This version is a lot slower and flows more smoothly than the original, which makes the lyrics stand out even more.

In short, it's a lovely cover so here it is. Enjoy!

Oh Dear.

Yesterday, I woke up at six o'clock in the morning, ate breakfast half asleep, went back to bed, woke up again (this time on my own will), and starved for a good eight hours. I was fasting so I could have some serious blood work done. Yes, I'm well aware it's a lot easier to have dinner, go to bed, and have the test done early the next morning--that's what I normally do. However, someone--not me!--decided to do it differently this time.

Anyway, I picked up my results this afternoon and was disappointed to find out that despite all my dieting efforts my cholesterol has increased by a bit. My HDL cholesterol is high, which is a good thing, but so is my LDL cholesterol, which isn't a good thing. They do sort of balance each other out but that's besides the point.

*Sigh* I'll be seeing one or two doctors this coming week for my cholesterol.

(This will be the last 'Health' post in a while. I promise! Unless the doctors say something so amusing that I must share it.)

Hypochondria / Cyberchondria

I've been hearing a lot about hypochondria so I thought I would write about it. (You'll soon read why).

"Hypochondria -- the conviction that one is ill, despite all evidence to the contrary. ... Hypochondriacs don't just dwell on their disease, they act. They scour the Internet for information, earning some the moniker "cyberchondriacs.""
- WebMD

Hypochondria is an illness that has been known about for quite some time that has only been exacerbated by the advancements in the media. Although those suffering from hypochondria usually obtain the symptoms of their "illusive illnesses" from the internet, which is where the colloquial term 'cyberchondria' comes from, the internet shouldn't take all the blame. I think that in reality the other forms of media (and those behind it) are to blame.

All those ads you see both in print, online, and on the television about illnesses that thirty-, forty-, fifty-, and sixty-something year olds are prone to and what not are to blame. They just throw out a whole bunch of sicknesses in hopes of preventing those sicknesses (and profiting from it perhaps?) when in reality it just scares those people. Then those people start worrying--and believing--that they have all sorts of physical problems...

...When they actually have a mental problem.

I'll admit that I did have the tendency to research online when I felt like I was displaying "serious symptoms" of some random illness. I even went as far as getting one test done after some researching because I kept experiencing tingling sensations at the tips of my fingers and toes (amongst other things). Fortunately, and not surprisingly, the test came out negative. Since that experience I've given up on trying to find out if I have some sort of illness.

I'm better off concentrating on being my healthy self, or at least improving my cholesterol and finding better ways to deal with dysmenhorrea, instead of trying to convince myself that there's something wrong with me.

Edit: Oprah, courtesy of WebMD, tells me that because I'm still in my twenties my workout regime should be: "30 minutes of weight training followed by 30 minutes of cardio 3x a week, plus 45 to 60 minutes of straight cardio 3x a week. One day of rest." Ahk.

What Did You Say?

I do need and want to be reminded sincerely that I'm loved every once in a while. I think that any girl needs that. If that doesn't happen, then my imaginative and pessimistic mind starts wandering into a variety of, sadly, unfortunate reasons for the infrequency.

Quotes & Ewoks

Well, guess who of all people got quoted on Rice Bowl Journals? Me! I decided to visit RBJ so I could head on over to the RBJ Forums when I noticed that my face was on the front page. What were you thinking, Carlos? :-P

RBJ is one of the very few forums I visit frequently though I don't comment on a regular basis. Another forum I frequent is--prepare yourself for this--a Star Wars forum. Believe it or not, it's one of the largest and most active forum of any kind.

My interests in Star Wars don't go beyond the movies, okay? I only joined because of my Star Wars obsessed boyfriend and because I was searching for another interesting forum. The forum does have a 'General' sub-section, which is where I hang out since I don't know anything about Star Wars aside from what I learned from the movies. Oh, I may read "Shatterpoint" because it has been compared to "Heart of Darkness." I find that somewhat hard to believe but I love "Heart of Darkness" so I may just have to read that Star Wars novel.

I digress.

I decided to enter 'Filipino' as a keyword in a forum search and further down the results page there was a link to a thread on real languages that Star Wars languages are based on. Curiosity compelled me to click, which I do. Then I find out that most of Ewokese--the language that Ewoks speak--is based on... Tagalog!

So I decided to look it up on Wikipedia and, lo and behold, there is a section on Ewokese.

"Some have noted that certain phrases uttered by the Ewoks resemble other languages of Earth, such as Tagalog (the major basis for Filipino, the national language of the Philippines). The Ewoks seem to say "Ayon, puno daw ito!" when C-3PO is being worshipped. "Ayon, pinuno daw ito!" means "There it is! This is said to be a leader!" in Tagalog. "Puno" is a root word - from it comes pinuno, "leader", and pamumuno, "leadership". Immediately after, another Ewok replies with, "Maganda!" meaning beautiful. Also, when an Ewok is hit by a AT-ST laser, his companion (probably Wicket) apparently says, "Patay!", which is Tagalog for "Dead!". There are also resemblances to Hindi, an official language of India. "Yeh, Yeh gira." means "This, this fell," in Hindi. Gira also means "war" in a dialect of the Philippines."
- Wikipedia, Ewok.

Each time I've watched Return of the Jedi I've always thought that an Ewok says 'patay' but never did I think of it as anything more than a mere coincidence. I tried to find a clip of it on YouTube but failed. However, you can find clips of Ewoks speaking Tagalog upon the discovery of C-P3O (here).

After a bit more searching I found claims of how an Ewok says, "Muntikan na," which means "That was close," after his speedbike spins vertically during a chase involving Stormtroopers. I found a clip of it (here) but I can't really tell because it's a little too high-pitched.

This was definitely an interesting find, don't you think? I find all of this hilarious but sad as well.

Overwhelmed

I’m rather overwhelmed at the moment because I’m re-writing a ten-page report my internship supervisor dismissed, planning a panel series focusing on cultural identity with the student government I’m leading, and planning a three-day discourse on the Khmer genocide with my boyfriend. Oh, I’m also anxiously (and excitedly) preparing for my return to lovely Portland. This, unfortunately, is when those three tasks must be more or less completed by.

To rise above these challenges I decided to make some use of my college education. I put off all my "grown up responsibilities" by baking oh-so-wonderfully-delicious cookies! College has only further honed my procrastination skills but I don’t mind because at least I’ll have cookies in a few minutes.*

*I’m only kidding. Not about looking forward to the cookies--obviously; I love cookies. College has taught me other things. ;-)