IDIOTS. Oh my god. Idiots.

AAAAAHHHH! TAKBO! TAKBO!
DIYOS KO PO! TAKBO!

I was leisurely walking along SM Fairview's Annex building. I was about to go home when all of a sudden, everybody around me ran. Everybody was running mad while I was still walking. I assumed it was already 7:00pm (I didn't have a watch) and the fireworks have started. Before that, the management kept on announcing over the mall PA that there are fireworks at 7:00.

Everybody were running and I was still walking, thinking, "Woah, they must be so excited to see the fireworks." But if they want to see the fireworks then they should be headed for the other direction. So I was like, "Wtf? Is there a celebrity around here?"

But they were all scared. Scared faces, I tell you.

And so, I too broke into a dead run.

I ran because I was afraid of getting crushed by a stampede. Everybody were ducking into various stores and so I decided to seek refuge into one as well, Office Warehouse. Inside, the old women and families were making sign of the crosses.

That was when it hit me.

A terrorist attack.

But I was still skeptical. Although I was a bit confused, irritated, and nervous in the case of a hostage, some form of terrorist attack or whatever because I might be stranded there for an awful long time.

And then my imagination kicked in. What if the "terrorists" chance upon Office Warehouse and decide to take me as hostage?

This prompted me to duck behind a rack of folders. Or a rack of envelopes. Or a rack of staplers. I don't remember.

I asked the people around me, "What's happening? Isn't there a fireworks?"

Nobody wanted to listen to me. Even the employees were afraid and confused, so they pulled down the metal shutter things.

It was when two kids said to their mom, "Mom, isn't there a fireworks display?"

After 3 to 5 minutes, they let the other people go out, deciding it was just the fire works display. By this time, I was laughing my head out. Everybody must've thought I was pretty crazy. Some girl laughing alone albeit the scary situation. BUT it was announced! They kept on announcing there was a fireworks display every 10 minutes over the PA!

All I can say was:

Oh my god, their idiots. Whoever initiated that stampede, for fear of a terrorist attack was an idiot. Whoever thought there was a terrorist attack because of the loud "bangs" of the fireworks, their idiots.

And so, I went home and got cornered by a bunch of kids going around the village singing Christmas carols and stuff. They were forcing me to give them some coins although I had none.

And they had the guts to call me stingy. Hey, if I had coins, I would've given it to them. Damned kids.

CommonWEALTH? Update

Dixi and I have finally gotten our asses off to do the CommonWEALTH? series. We've ventured the long major road in Quezon City, which is called Commonwealth. Along the road, you find a lot of things contradictory to that.

We got on and off jeepneys, our main means of public transportation since it's the cheapest at P5 (we have student discount heh) per an initial number of kilometers (that's $0.09 to you people in the States), walked some of the dozen or so foot bridges/overpasses scattered along Commonwealth avenue, ventured into wet markets, went under fly overs, etc.

We packed some lunch and ate at the Quezon Memorial Cirlce, a park. We dropped by school to fix some recommendations, midyear reports, etc. for US college apps. Then we went to the nearby mall because I had to type my Northeastern article that I dropped in that afternoon for courier.

We also went to the MRT station hoping to find the many kids in the stairs up to the station, sleeping and begging. We only found one though.

It was a very interesting day. We bought candies from street vendors, and asked if we could take their photos. Gave sandwiches to little kids. There was even this one kid who climbed on to the foundations sealing the underpass from commuters overland! He could've easily lost his balance and fallen to his death.

I hope to upload the photos very soon at http://cultureddirtbag.deviantart.com

We sure wil be plunging into another adventure again. The streets are an interesting place to be.

What is the after life like, really?

WHAT THE EFFIN HELL. I made a long post only to get it erased.

Anyway...

*Shakes fist at monitor*

Okay...

Here's a reply I made to Dixi's post that concerns the after life. I added some bit in parenthesis:

Wait... We're preparing for the afterlife? I don't know. Doesn't feel like it in my case. I'm just living each day. I'm just trying to live this life that I know exists. (Wouldn't it suck to know that even this life is NOT real? But I'll keep my word on it because sometimes, the only thing that's needed to make something valid is your belief on it. Descartes: I think therefore I am.)

I'm not yet sure, nor am I preoccupied with thinking, if there's life after death. But isn't it sweet to think so that you can actually pass on to a place without hassle and worries?

But what if each time we die we're born into a new world, a new life on Earth? Except that that new Earth is worse than the previous one.

Interesting thought, eh?

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Dixi just gave the perfect description for a we're-better-off-without character in school: like a female hitler on steroids.

lol

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Whenever I see or talk about (and thus remember how she looks like) the newcomer actress that's going to play Serena in the movie version of Gossip Girls, I feel like crying. It's because I never thought they'd find a person who looks like Serena in real life. I've never imagined how Serena looks like despite the amount of descriptions on how she looks. All I know is that she's beautiful even though she's supposed to look ugly already. Get what I mean? So when I saw her photo, all I thought was: "Now, THAT'S how Serena looks like," even though I've never seen her before.

Here's a photo at http://www.piczo.com/gossipgirlmovieinfo?g=1810055

Lindsay Lohan's no longer playing Blair by the way, so don't mind that bit about her there.

They can easily make her look younger anyway, if the need arises. Meh. It's Hollywood.

Second?

It's been so long since I made two posts in one day. Yes. So. Long.

I'm in my grandma's house right now and using my cousin's computer. He's on DSL so right now, all's sweet. I've been on for most of the afternoon.

I can't do a full upgrade of my PC at home and can't redecorate/refurnish the room because I'm not sure if I'll leave for sure next year. Who knows, I actually might get accepted to one of the 5 schools I applied to. I don't think I even have to mention them since I've been including a post about them almost every week. But I'll list the colleges and unis again anyway. hahaha So, in order of preference, we have:

1) Swarthmore College
2) Bryn Mawr College
3.5) University of Southern California
3.5) Northeastern University
5) Duke University

Have I mentioned that I got rejected early by University of Hawai'i just because I only have 10 years of elementary and secondary education? Oh yes, I already have.

Enough with this obsession with the future! But what else is there to talk about? I lead a boring existence. And I don't happen to stumble on interesting things often.

ALTHOUGH...

Dixi and I can finally proceed with the project we postponed for this Christmas. Woohoo. I'll try to use slides maybe. Or not. Uhuhm.

The Passenger-Driver Connection

Yesterday, I went to school pretty late. Exams were over anyway and I just went to submit a research requirement plus a make-up swimming class. The research unit was closed at around noon and I forgot to go back that afternoon.

Kaye and I decided to make-up for lost swimming sessions next year instead. So we ended up distributing the Science Scholar to faculty members that afternoon. After which we left for the one and only, as of the moment anyway, Taco Bell branch in the country. It just opened last week or this week at the new Gateway mall in Araneta, Cubao. Oh joy. Finally there's a Taco Bell here.

It was supposedly a class party and Kla's treat at the same time. Well we ended up in two tables. As usual, the girls plus Marvin, Jerms, Gelo was more fun. Neil just kept talking about weird topics in the other table. Poor Sef and Miguel who got stuck with him. haha Well, it was time well spend. We had fun and stuffed ourselves. Wooh.

Anyway, here's where the bit from where I got this post's title came from. At around 10 that morning, I went to the mall then typed and printed some of my requirements. After that, I went to grab an iced latte and rode an FX (well, mega taxi is the proper name. Calling it FX is like refering to tooth paste as Colgate.) I think I almost had 'hyperthermia'. The car's airconditioner was not working properly. And we were cramped in the space at the back of the car. Plus I was wearing a jacket since I forgot to remove it (remember, I now wear jackets to the mall to avoid getting frost bites in that internet cafe I go to). I can't remove it since there was no more space to move. *sigh* Well that's already over.

The damned thing was not sluggish though, so all was good. Up to the point wherein the driver decided to load some gas and drove jerkily fast (to make up for lost time) when we went back on the road.

I was kind of rushing, trying to make it to school before 12. I can almost hear a telepathic conversation between me and the driver:

Driver - Is the car running too slow?
Me - Nar... all is fine. As long as we're not running slower than 40 kph.
Driver - Hmm... I don't know...
Me - As long as you're overtaking the other cars, then that's good.

So yeah. I didn't know at what speed we were running. Probably between 40 and 50. Not F1-fast but it was fine. I was happy as long as we overtook the other cars.

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By the way... I'm starting tog et nervous. What if I don't make it to the schools I applied for in the US? I'm fine with staying here, nothing wrong with that. But I just can't help but sigh over all the money I spent for paying for application and SAT fees.

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I'm watching Samurai Jack right now. I love this show. It looked pretty boring at first but it's just a really good show. Much like a japanese samurai drama but not.

Curse that day

I've been commuting to and from school this past week because I refuse to pay Php1700 for just 10 days of school bus service. The other day, I encountered one of many pseudoinnocent jeepney drivers who gives their passengers the wrong change. I'm a student, as was evident in the school uniform I was wearing and he didn't give me the proper fare discount. And my change was Php5.00 short. I just let it go and decided not to complain about the Php5.00 When these things happen, I just leave it as is and think of it as giving a donation of some sort. The jeepney driver will learn his lesson on honesty and giving the right change some other time.

So when I need Php5.00 in a life or death situation and I don't have it, we now what day I will be cursing as I scream to my death.

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I am now in an internet cafe again. Checking deviantart and all. I also have to type a rush research abstract. And my internet time is ticking. And I have no money with me. And my mom's phone is off so I can't call her to stop her mini Christmas shopping to come over here and give me money.

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When I was lying in bed last night, staring at the ceiling in the dark, I thought of a quick witty/stupid (whichever you prefer) quote of mine. I suddenly thought of how we sometimes say or read or hear "Life's a bitch so fuck it." Then I came up with my own: Forgetting's a fucker and I'm it's whore. Translation: I always forget things. I said beforethat forgetting's a bitch. Well now, it's more of a fucker. Really. Really?

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Well, curse that research abstract. I'm going to type it in school instead.

Aha. And again, I strike back.

I went out at 2:00p to deposit some money in my dormant savings account in the bank in front of our village (Planter's Bank). After depositing a sum of P10,000 I learn that I got approx P800 deducted because my account was inactivve for one whole year. Yeah, I didn't care to put money in it haha. So that's P100 deducted from my bank account every month since this December, and subtract the little P10+ interest I get every month.

After that I went to go rent a computer at an internet cafe in the mall because I still haven't obtained a new hard drive. I will soon though. So don't fret, my beloved AoaCD (awaseedee, adventures of a cultured dirtbag... hahaha) followers (as if I have any!) for I will be able to update thrice a day, being the no-life I am, like before. But seriously, thanks to all the people who've been supplying page hits to my small space online.

I finally gave in and signed up for membership at Netopia by the way since I've been frequenting it so much ever since my computer fried on me anyway. For P200 I get three internet hours free and discounted computer use, printing and scanning discount. So, after that I print out some International Student Financial Aid Information form from College Board and head to National Bookstore to go look around for some potential books to give as gifts. And then I had my printed forms photocopied at the same book store at a scandalous price of P1.50 per page. I didn't know it was that expensive. Really. Compare it with the usual copy charges.

After that I head to Starbucks after much debating with myself. You see, I lost my Starbucks promo card. I already had 4 stickers in there. About 17 more drinks to go before I get my free year 2005 planner. I decided I wanted some anyway so bought without the card. So I stand beside the drink claim spot on the counter thing and got greeted by the guy at the cashier last Tuesday. The girl at the cashier during their first opening (last Sunday) was there too. And I made two new friends, Angela and Carlino (not sure... hehe Oh well, Angela said I should just call him Hero...? I hate having almost-defective hearing haha.) So I stood there. There were no seats inside so I had to wait for my drink before I went to sit outside. We chatted a little. They're fun and really kind.

And then I sat outside and tried to fill up some parts of the Financial Aid form. And since I ordered a cold drink my fingers started to go cold. And we arrive back here at the net cafe, with my drink still not finished, my fingers with frost bite and me telling what happened so far.

I got a new promo fill-up-with-stickers card by the way. Meaning I can go get that caramel frap my sister asked me to buy.

Damned frost bite.

I should've gotten another caramel machiatto instead.