Sembreak 2009.2

This is the last installment for my sembreak 2009. I'll just write about random things that had happened to me for the past week. :D

Family
I spent undas with my family. We visited our relatives in Cavite and offered our prayers to our departed ones in the cemetery. I enjoyed every moment I had with my lola on our way home. She was totally perky that all she did was tell us of her and my mom's younger years. Truth be told that my lola is exquisitely beautiful. Even though she has children already, this did not hinder her from having suitors in and out of Cavite. But among all her suitors, she only loved Lolo Junior with whom she had 3 children (including my mom). Yet love was not enough to make things work for them. So my mom and her siblings grew up with their mom, grandmother and grandaunt in Cavite.
Three Stories about my Mom in her younger years.
1. Being the youngest, she would always be picked on. She remembers losing her beloved black doll, Pinky and her precious jade ring. Knowing her, she won't lose those items because of mishaps or plain carelessness. Who could be the culprit? Only God and Mama know. :P
2. Mama was also kidnapped by her own father. She stayed in Isabela and was retrieved by her lola and mom after 3 months. It sounds funny to be kidnapped by your own father, but it wasn't for mama. There wasn't any ransom, of course. :P My lolo just wanted to be the one to take care of her. Talk about child custody.
3. Mama wasn't able to attend her college graduation. Why? Because they didn't have money to pay for her toga. Well, Lola managed to get a very old toga for her. But after washing the toga, it literally got torn into pieces. According to lola, parang basang papel yung pagkapunit. Poor Mama. but I'm proud to say that her dream of attending her own graduation came true when she graduated Magna Cum Laude for her Masters Degree. We were all there when she received her diploma. I remember Kuya saying, Tignan mo si mama, mukhang manika. And she definitely was and still is, with or without toga.

BLD Friends
1. Reunited with Pia, Tony and Zayin after months of not hearing from them. Thank you YM! I really can't recall where, when and how our group was formed, but it doesn't matter. I love all of you. hahaha! We talked about our next get together, my and pia's last sem in college, zayin being too matured for her age and uhmm... tony's old age :P. Thank you guys! I'll see soon, okay?
2. Kris Sipin's debut at Ride and Roll. Finally, I got to bond with them again. Everyone looked charming in their 50s outfit. Great party, Kris!

Cheek boy of Manila! Hi Jep!

With girlfriend, Kirae.

Youth with the celebrant

3. Best way to start my semester, celebrate mass with my favorite people, BLDYouth.

Angelo
1. He brought his pasalubong for the whole family after his week-long vacation in Beijing. Hurray for pork and chicken jerky. He gave tea and mugs for my parents, chocolates for my siblings! I love my new bear, pan-pan! Thank you so much, Angelo.
2. We watched PS I love you. *tears* He also helped out in cooking embotido. May sideline na tayo pagdating ng Christmas.
3. Paid tuition together. Such a sweetie, he drove me to Kris' debut and back home.

Rica
1. I'm so hooked to this Kdrama I'm currently watching. You're Beautiful. Plot: Boys Before Flowers + Coffee Prince. So if you enjoyed watching both series, You definitely have to watch You're Beautiful.

You're Beautiful

2. Now that we don't have any housekeeper, I started fixing and cleaning my own room. I also enjoy cleaning our bathroom which includes scrubbing the tiles and cleaning the toiletbowl. I'm so proud of myself. :P
3. Rave: Hello Kerygma magazine!
Rant: Second Semester starts tomorrow! Thesis time!

Mixed emotions ~ Rica

Sembreak 2009.1

Last sembreak? *Crossed-fingers* Hopefully, this will be the last for my first course. I'm still thinking whether to pursue another college degree after Economics. It's actually my mom's fault why I'm having second thoughts of studying again. She never fails to include it in our conversations. She has always been vocal with regards to her wish for me to take accounting after graduation. Studying in another university didn't appeal to me. I tried opening up to her about my plans of studying abroad but she refuses. I approximately have six months to re-consider her offer. *thinks hard* Then I realize, I am suppose to talk about my sembreak. Sorry about the leeway, back to Rica's sembreak 2009.

First Week
October 19-22
Aside from planning for our Evsem that coming weekend, I practically didn't do anything productive that week. I just cleaned my room, fixed my messy table, discarded unwanted things/tests/handouts from my first semester subjects (I did file some important things though) and created this blog. But that's just about it. Over-all, I had the luxury of sleeping for more than 12 hours, pig out without worrying about having a big tummy and just do nothing.

October 23-25
After a week of not seeing anyone from Ateneo (except for Angelo who visited about thrice that week), I was able to see them again. It was one crazy weekend for me. See previous post.

Second Week
October 26-28

Bonding with Angelo. (26) He paid me a short visit before going to his weekly badminton practice. (27) We also enlisted together at my place since he's having difficulties with their internet at home. He brought meatball porridge for the whole family to share. (28) Knowing how poor he is with directions, I accompanied him in giving letters to Phil. Orthopedic Center and National Children's Hospital regarding the blood drive for Kythe Week next year. We also worked on my nephew's costume for Halloween. He wanted to dress up as Micheal Jackson.

Micheal Jackson!

Little MJ! Who's bad?

Isn't he adorable? I think he was able to carry it well. Congrats, Essel!

October 29
Anya and I had our semestral bonding before we get harassed because of thesis. We watched Bruno (Goodness, I don't want to watch that movie again.) and made chickas (as usual). I'm so proud of my DL thesis partner! Good luck to us. Thank you for bringing lots of food. Sa uulitin.

October 30
Shopping with Mama is love. Shopped for clothes and more clothes.
Let me share to you why I love shopping for clothes. When I was younger, I was never used to shopping for my own clothes. I only get to buy some during my birthday and Christmas. My closet was practically full of hand-me-down clothes from my cousins. But that was never an issue to me. Everything was the same until I entered college. Since Ateneo didn't have uniforms, I was pressured by the thought of wearing the same clothes in less than two weeks. Mama was indeed my savior that time. She would spend so much (and I've never imagined her spending that much) just for my clothes. Mama has her reasons for buying me clothes now that I'm in college. She says that I'm in the process of establishing who "Rica Gran Flores" is. Aside from shaping my inner self, I should also be mindful of how I look and dress. People I meet don't always get to see the real "me" but only a reflection of who I really am. And she would always remind me, "Minsan ka lang dalaga, i-enjoy mo na." Which I frankly agree. I don't dig the latest fashion. I prefer plain black, white, red and brown tops. Don't get me wrong, I'm not choosy. I'll wear whatever it is as long as it looks nice on me. Oh my love for clothes!

I know, this entry was a bit boring. Sorry. I'll post another one maybe two days from now. I'll try to make it more entertaining.

Enjoying her sembreak ~ Rica Gran

My Last EvSem

AEA Evsem 2009

Last weekend, I officially had my last Evaluation Seminar in my college years. How time flies so fast that I can still recall our Planning Seminar last summer. Not to mention the dreadful thing they did to Perfect. Though some were not able to attend, I still enjoyed this crazy weekend with the AEAmazing execom.

We had difficulties planning for our EvSem. Karen, Ari and I were all going gaga about the venue, transpo, food, and waiver forms. Even the night before Evsem, we were still doing last minute planning. I also had to stay up late to work on my presentation for the next day. Talk about cramming.

First day of EvSem went well. We stayed at Carrillo Garden Resort. I love the place and the cottage where we stayed except for the fact that we all had to share 1 bathroom. The owner was also sweet enough to lend to us one of their function rooms for free. For 3 hours, we evaluated all the projects for the first semester. Tiring? Definitely! But going through the process was worth it. By doing so, I think we were able to pin down all the strengths and weaknesses of each project. I was also able to show them my team's girly presentation. Hindi nga lang masyado pinansin, at least my deputies liked it. We also had our Execom Evaluation. Words of encouragement, praise and some expectations flowed during the whole discussion. Compared to last year's EvSem, this time we were really able to realize a lot about our org, projects and ourselves.

Me together with my deputies presenting project evals. Chuck discussing External's department. Kris' catching-the-flying-cereal-using-his-mouth stunt. Julius, Meryl, Precious and Karen during one of the GDs.

Second day - Half of the day was set for planning and presentations of our second sem projects. I'm impressed with the Gant Chart which Karen introduced to us. Afterwards was free time!!! Most of us enjoyed the pool, freezing air breeze (with thick fog) and alcohol. While the others preferred to stay in the cottage and watch 500 days of summer, do some girl talk and sleep.

Kris and I (with the rest of the top 9) discussing the budget for the whole Evsem. Girls' prank on Ari. Everyone enjoying the last night at the pool area. Last pic before going home.

We left the place at around 11:30 am last Sunday and had our lunch at Mcdo. Budget, 150pesos per person. Thank you, Jeanne for the MCDO gift certificates. Hurray for 2-hour drive back to Manila. I'm super happy we got back earlier than I expected. I really hate long travels, they never fail to make me dizzy after.

That weekend was both work and play for me. I felt like I was the "adult supervisor" that time. I took charge of the finances while Ari wasn't around. First day, we had Andok's chicken.for dinner. I was accompanied by Migz and Ken that night. It was my first time in the bayan so I really didn't know where to go. I have to thank my parents for making me eat in carinderias. When Andok's only had 11 order of rice, I had to look for a carinderia so that I can get enough rice for everyone. Second day, since everyone was busy planning, Ari and I went out to buy lunch and dinner. We still bought Andok's chicken for lunch then ordered barbeque for dinner. I had the chance to bond with Ari for an hour while waiting for the barbeque, rice and pictures. Even though he was sabog, he still made sense when we were talking. Last day, when I needed to turn over everything to Ari, I thought I lost 600php. Then after re-computing, lost was down to 300. And then after re-computing again, no lost incurred. God knows how scared I was when I thought I lost 600. Now, I know how it feels to handle a huge amount of money - such big responsibility.

After all the stress, finally I got to rest at home. Angelo even paid me a visit that Sunday after driving all the way from Punta Fuego. He brought me 3 sunflowers and fruits. He really knows how to make me smile.

Personal Messages
AEA Execom:

Guys! You were all AEAmazing. One more sem! kayang kaya ito. I love you all.

For everyone: I hope your weekend wasn't as crazy as mine. And if it was, I know you were able to handle things well.

~*~*~*~

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

If you noticed, aside from my usual blog, I have another project for my little library. On my sidebar, I included my project, PHOTO OF THE WEEK. Here, I shall share to you my favorite pictures both old and recent. I'm certainly excited to update this every week. :D

For my first photo, it's a stolen pic of me and my dad taken during my 18th birthday celebration. I guess I really am a daddy's girl. (Actually, I'm both mama and papa's girl. :P) I was teary-eyed after our dance. I love you, papa.

~*~*~*~

Tata ~ Rica Gran