How Great The Philippines Is!

Americans, you have Disneyland and Universal but the Filipinos have things as well! Have you ever been to the Manila Ocean Park? Yes, we do have that as well. We have teeny tiny fishes that remove your dead skin cells on your feet. What about the specialties? It has a restaurant and hotel but no massages. Loyola may be scary but it's perfect for a picnic. But not on the cemetery. Have you seen Glorietta? It's absolutely gorgeous! Look at the shops and stores to be found, not to mention FOOD! San Miguel Bay is just like Times Square because there are stores and eateries! Americans, do you have this?! Enchanted Kingdom with the cool rides. Star City with a Snow World that has a temperature of -15! Americans would be delighted to be here! OFW's, why don't you come back?

I May Love The Oldies: My Music Story

In my last post, I told you my secret obssession on Steve Perry, Gary Barlow and etc. so now I'm gonna tell the entire story. At 3, I started listening to Sergio Mendes, then 4, I listened to Lea Salonga, Mike Francis and Natalie Cole, 5, I adored High School Musical, at 6, it was back to the 70's 80's and 90's, this was Take That, Hajji Alejandro and Joey Albert and now I passed by the 60's, Engelbert Humperdinck, Tom Jones, Neil Sedaka and etc. Now I'm just happy with my playlist. Here are my recommended picks:

If You Leave
Tarzan Boy
Secret
Oh Sherrie
I Just Wanna Be Your Everything.

Playing By The Rules Of TV And YouTube

I'm very fond of TV and ever since I got my cable back after we moved to our new house, I was ever so grateful so after homework even late at night, I would just turn off the TV. But I would see warnings buzzing into my head. What if there are romance scenes that aren't suitable for me? This is a warning for everyone. Did you know even YouTube was dangerous? Yes, even my pal YouTube is strictly dangerous. Here are ways to survive seeing kissing scenes anywhere:

Start with TV

Look at the program guide in which channel the scene is in. If you realize the program is one of the ones that your mom watches like teleserye or Charmed, don't watch it even if your BFF spills something about a dashing cute scene there. I'd rather not!

Another way is not trying to be that addicted to TV but it's OK to still watch because I'm not saying it's forbidden to but just stick to the same ol' favorite channels like Nickelodeon or Disney Channel.

In YouTube

I have a secret obssession on Steve Perry, Gary Barlow and Mike and The Mechanics so sometimes I use them as a soundtrack. Now, while doing this entry, I'm listening to Foolish Heart by Steve Perry and I looked at the video and there's no girl he's seeing there so that's the thing you should know. See if there's any suitable scenes or even words for kiddies like us to see. If there's none and that's the only thing you wanted to see, why not save energy? Listen to your IPod with the music that will calm you down or play with your cellphone. Ever heard of Nickelodeon? Why not just watch TV?

The Chaotic Moveout

It was my exam week and it was time to move out and go to our new house in Spring Country until the first people refused to load our stuff into their bus so we had another day in our old house. The next morning, it was Monday and I told myself" It's the exam!" So I did my best. I went home and told Mom everything. I undressed myself and the second men deafened me like there was a drill in my ear. After about 3 hours, we left for our new house in Batasan. It was sure a long way because Batasan was so far and there were tons of subdivisions in Filinvest II. We exchanged tons of stories while Mom and Dad would just exchange stories about their office deals and their officemate's embarassing moments until we arrived. The dresser, the sofa, the furniture, they were delivered. I sat on the dresser's seat and grabbed my book and began studying for my Filipino exam the next day until the horns beeped so loud, some stuff crashed and distracted me. I pleaded Mom" May I not study anymore, Mom?" She said" OK, just do your best!" That was absolutely awesome but the bad part was no TV but thank goodness Mom allowed me to not study.

Santa Claus Came To Town

Santa Claus came to town all right! It all started 3 weeks ago. I was trying to finish my book, Ella Enchanted. My mom planned that I should start writing a letter to Santa. I got a piece of paper as fast as I could and started writing. I didn't have a stocking since we didn't get to buy one, why? I was so busy watching Piolo Pascual's concert in Glorietta. I went to Dad and asked him for his sock, his biggest and cleanest one. Mom hung the sock by the window near my bookshelf outside our room. After I wrote the letter, Mom checked it and she put it in the sock. Everyday I would check the letter to see if Santa Claus has replied or received my letter.

On December 24, Santa replied to my letter and the good news was I was on the nice list! Wahoo! I slept super late that night and the next morning, Christmas Day, Santa left a bag. It had a Time For Kids 2008 Almanac and a baby doll I named Nicky. That turned out to be the best Christmas ever!

My 1st Christmas Party

I spent my first Christmas Party at school. We were all assigned to wear casual wear. I was so excited because I could show the entire classroom how sassy I look like without the plain shirt and checkered skirt. I came in the classroom, full of excitement. But the party hasn't even started yet. Mommies were inside the classroom telling my classmates to give gifts to everyone. I grabbed a piece of paper that my mom gave me with reminders. It said first" Ask Polly and Sam if they gave the gifts to their mommies". I asked Sam and her mom was there. She said" Hi Angel! Say thank you to mommy for the gift!" That answered my question. So, I asked Polly. She always does "pa-cute" when she talks. She answered" Yeah! My mom liked it!" I went back to my table. Then, my classmates started giving me gifts. I sat next to my acquaintance, Clark. I didn't know that he would give me a gift. So he gave it to me slowly and shyly. I opened it with a smirk. It was a notebook! How would he know what I wanted for Christmas that I forgot to put in my wish list? I got lots more. I looked at the paper with reminders. It said" Give the gift to Sr. Theresia." I forgot her gift in the classroom so my adviser kept it. I asked her" Ms. Vicky, where is the gift for Sr. Theresia?" She said" Oh I gave it to her last night!" So I looked at it again. It said: Give the gift to Amanda. So I did it. After 15 minutes, I went with my adviser to the Telecommunication Center. After that, I greeted Sr. Theresia Merry Christmas. When the party started, stacks of food were piled on the table. There was KFC! It was lunch! I got 3 servings of rice with KFC since that is my favorite type of chicken. After lunch, it was time for Kris Kringle: The Revelation. I was scared because my adviser said we should keep it a secret. But I couldn't keep my mouth closed. I revealed to one trustworthy but makulit girl named Maria. She revealed hers to me as well.

A boy named Jazz picked my name. His gift was so nice. It was a huge teddy bear. Jazz and Maria have been best buds since 5 months ago. My manita was Sophia Nicole. I gave her a Powerpuff Girls Stamp Set and one FLIX Fashion Accesories Set. Then we had games. My group won 3 games while Clark's group won 1 game only.

After the break, we had to go to the gym for the mass and the presentation. The priest was funny. During his homily he said" Kung pangalan mo Kristiyano, dapat gawin mo ang ibig sabihin ng pangalan mo sa Ingles. Example: Pangalan ko Michael Angelo! So magiging anghel ako!" So he kept blabbering until the funny part came" Kung ang nanay at tatay race-car driver, magiging pangalan ng anak nila Honda, Ferrari at Mitsubishi!" Everyone laughed!

Then I looked at my watch. I had to call my mom at 5:00pm because I needed to attend Papa Roding's birthday celebration. When it was 5:00pm, I asked my adviser if I could call my mom on the public phone. She said" No! Stay here! Don't go anywhere without my permission! I'll just text your mom!" Then she told me" Your mom will text me if she's on her way!" My adviser told me to go with her backstage. She was talking on the phone to my subject teacher who is in Maryland, USA. She was the teacher of Gr. 3-OLM. Some Grade 3 students sobbed so hard because they missed their adviser and they were forcing her to go home.

Ms. Vicky met with the choir members and said to them " OK! Tomorrow at 7:30 am! Ask your parents to fetch you on time!" All of them said that they'll go alone. They can even bring cellphones. So, Ms. Vicky continued" Basta hanapin niyo si Mr. Kumon! Tandaan niyo 'to ha! 7:30 am hanggang 10:00am. Pwede may kasama, pwedeng wala. Pwede rin niyo dalhin ang cellphone niyo ha!"

At around 5:30 pm, Ms. Vicky told me that my mommy is coming so, I packed my things and ran down with my adviser to my mom in a taxi then I went home with lots of gifts.

My Experience in The Marian Celebration

I was assigned to dress as an angel for the Marian Celebration so it was absolutely hard to find the costume but we found it. The entire thing was like this. I dressed up as an angel and I was super excited to do it. I looked so great but guess what? The entire thing almost became a disaster since I was almost late. The program starts at 3:00pm according to the Assignment Notebook and the taxi driver along with a worker from Papa Roding's house named Randy came at exactly 2:50pm so I almost became super late for the celebration. We went down when we reached my school and most of my classmates kept telling me" Your name is Angel and you are dressed like one! That means double ANGEL!" So, I saw lots of angels there but the celebration wasn't starting yet. I also saw my 3 best friends too. So, we chit-chatted for a while and my mom and tita gave me a bouquet of flowers to offer to Mama Mary.


The celebration finally started. It was time for the Rosary Dance Procession. Ms. Leslie, the Grade 4 adviser let all the angels hold letters that say altogether: AVE MARIA. An announcer started praying the rosary and after each mystery of the rosary, we would all sing Immaculate Mother. When it was almost the 4th mystery, my feet ached more than ever and my posture was getting lower and lower. I also saw my mom who was with a bunch of other mommies. She asked me" Hi Baby! Do you want a fan?" I just frowned and said" Yes, please!" So she fanned me for a while until it was time to walk once again.

My halo fell down and I screamed" Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" I turned back and saw her still holding the fan, but she can't hear me. If only I could have a voice as loud as a dinosaur's roar, I thought. I continued screaming the word "MOMMY" until the mom of my friend in the other section of Grade 1 approached me and fixed my halo. I told her" THANK YOU!" but I didn't realize I was breaking the line so I ran.

When we reached the gym and the announcer stopped praying meaning it was finished, we stood on the stage for a while and then went down. One high school student told me" Para kay Mama Mary ito?! Sa'kin muna ha? Ok!" We took our seats and I felt so hurt that my bone felt like it had a fracture. Polly said" Do you want me to call a doctor?!?!?!?" I replied" Your mom? She's a leg doctor, right?" Polly said, worried sick" She's a bone doctor as well!" I told her, "quick ! well, call your mom!" Polly said" I can let you go to PCME, it's a children's hospital or maybe I can let you go to an American doctor?!" I replied" Good! I like American doctors! I can communicate with them better!"

The celebration started and the Grade school pupils started dancing the dance we practiced for 2 days so I thought maybe the angels could come down and dance as well but we didn't! I worked so hard on the dance moves and it was wasted! I frowned, so did the rest of the angels and complained" Oh man! I worked so hard on the steps and then it was all wasted!" The high school students did their dance but the problem was.......THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO LIFE IN THEIR DANCE! They all frowned while they were dancing but they were graceful dancers. Also, after every dance, they would move from one line to another to give a vacant line for the next dancers and they would wave flags up high while a person sang" Ang Puso Ko'y Nagpupuri".

After the dance thing, we all played, had a break and we said the Litany. The angels also went onstage and there were students representing I think different names for Mama Mary. Ms. Melissa told us" Ok! Now, punta ka na kay Mommy!" We just all went back to our seats. After the explanation of the different names for Mama Mary, we had a play break then the mass started. After the mass, there was pabitin. It's a game where you try to get as many toys with all the toys hanging up on a big thing. I told my parents" Only crazy people would ever wanna go there!" because I didn't want to join. My mom said" But baby, everyone's going there!" I felt embarrassed and said" Oops!"

After all the mayhem and fun that day, we went to Burgoo to eat dinner and celebrate my dad's birthday. That was the best experience ever next to going to the USA :-)!