So today, I watched Forsaken House. 

(I’ll talk about that some other time, right now I think this post bears more pressing attention). I wasn’t actually suppose to watch but I couldn’t go home because our car’s plate number ends with a 6 and according to the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program, we can’t use it on a Wednesday between 7am - 7pm because of  the “color coding scheme” (which is stupid, I mean seriously they’re filtered by the car plate’s last number, not by the actual color of the car). However, a friend of mine managed to score a complimentary ticket. So I got to watch the play for free while my friends paid for theirs, so it was all good! 

Fast forward, when I got home, my mom immediately called me and got really, really mad about the glass of milk I left in front of her mirror earlier this morning. I had the intention of bringing the milk to school (it was in a tumbler) but I don’t know why I forgot to actually take it with me. And this isn’t the nice kind of upset. This was the “WAS THAT GLASS OF MILK YOURS WHY DID YOU LEAVE IT I HAD TO PUT IN THE REFRIGERATOR WHY DID YOU LEAVE IT YOU ALWAYS LEAVE YOUR THINGS!!!!!!!” 

…mother, what is wrong with you, it’s just milk!!!! I didn’t leave anything valuable and even if I did, I left it inside your room, which is inside our house, which means it is safe to be left there! Sometimes, I think my mom wants to get upset about every little thing that happens in her life - whether it be good, bad, or something completely and utterly irrelevant.

Don’t be surprised that I am weird. The apple does not fall far from the tree. 

And that’s all that I will ever be

Quoting the famous line from Forrest Gump,

“Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get”.

How complicated/convoluted do you think this box would be for people in relationships? Yes, there are moments that you think would never end, as if they were pulled straight out of the movies. In an ideal world, all the clichés sound good and you see the world through rose-tinted glasses. However, physics applies to relationships as well.

“There is always an equal but opposite reaction.”

In the real world, relationships can be messy and there are moments that are straight-out notorious. The random bouts of emotions and paranoia, to name a few, are a constant “normal” thing with couples (unless they’re completely secure. If so, congratulations! If not, well we can’t have everything now, can we?) For most of us who are unfortunate enough to be single, especially in the archaic month of love which is February, we can objectively assess couples and figure out the current state of their relationship based on theories of human communication. Of course, what better way to celebrate Valentine’s and being single than dissecting the dynamics of love between couples who are obviously happy with their own lives, right? 

when I would bear a shred of my actual deep-seated thoughts regarding my not-so-exciting life. (which doesn’t even count really since I’m doing it over the internet so…)

You know the feeling when you just want to break down and cry, possibly throw yourself out of a moving vehicle and or exhaust every possible means of being “emotional?” Today, the feeling’s abysmal. I’m way past that level already.

You know what’s worse? When you know that you can’t do anything about it. 

It sucks when life decides to throw you a wake-up call once in a while.

January 20, 2012 | Friday | 1pm-3pm | 

In the university, we always have this event where student organizations create special classes/seminars for other students. It’s called the Alternative Classroom Learning Experience or the ACLE. This year, the University of the Philippines Speech Communication Association (UP SPECA) brought together two of the most sought-after personalities in their respective fields:

Ms. Riki Flores - Former court side reporter for the UP Fighting Maroons / Current host for Basketball TV (taray!)

and Ms. Divine Lee - Real estate executive, ramp and commercial model, TV personality and heiress (kaloka no?)

Riki opened the talk first to share her past experiences before the entire “court side reporter” persona became huge. She was with her “friend” Mr. Martin Reyes, former player for the UP Men’s Basketball team / businessman.

Mej shy si kuya, di siya masyadong nag-iingay. Pero okay lang yan, at least he’s there.

So Riki told us about her adventures in reality shows and talent searches. Like everybody else, she also has her insecurities and she wasn’t lucky the first few times. Until finally, she landed her big break as the court side reporter for UP. After graduation, she got offered to be the host of Basketball TV and up until now, she’s been seen on the screen delivering basketball news. She also shared to us some of her crazy and interesting experiences during auditions, in her work as a BTv host and her encounters with other personalities. 

After a few minutes, we asked Martin to go in front with Riki. Apparently, kinakabahan pala si kuya na baka papuntahin siya sa harap. Yun daw yung iniisip niya nung on the way palang sila ni Riki sa UP. Ayan, nagkatotoo tuloy. Pero to be fair, Martin pulled his own and made the talk even a lot more interesting and entertaining.

Ang cute nga nila eh. Nagaasaran sila in front. Kayo na cute. You already! In spite of the joking around, they were able to share a lot of insights and stories relating to being in front of the camera and their experiences in the business. They also talked about time management, like how they managed their working schedules, school works, training (basketball for Martin, softball for Riki), social life and their personal lives. Buti pa sila. Spanish ko nga, di ko mamamanage eh, sila ang dami. Habang may buhay, may hope at least for me. Hahaha.

Unfortunately, she had to leave in the middle of Ms. D’s talk so we had no choice but to give her certificate and tokens outside.

Sayang, di nakapagpapicture yung madla kay Ms. Riki, pero siyempre kung may chance, I feel she would have happily obliged. My friend (who’s also the organizer of the event. Good job, btw!) grabbed the opportunity to have a picture with the lovely host.

Mother Becky is in the house!!!!! After namin sunduin si Ms. D mula sa kabilang dako ng Earth at after ng tatlong cartwheels, siya na ang next speaker! Oh, partida, naka-heels pa si Ms. D, pero composed parin pag dating, parang di kami tumawid ng tatlong bundok. PAK! Terno pa sila nung couch, ansaveh! 

Contrary to what other people may think because of her glamorous bodies of work and achievements, Ms. Divine Lee is as real as it gets. You might think, “Maarte siguro siya” or something (sabi nga nila, umarte ng naayon sa ganda. Kung ganyan ka ba naman ka-ganda eh afford mo talaga mag-inarte!) but NOOO! Ms. D is super nice and super kalog. How she talks in her blog is how she talks in real life. No joke. Complete with the “choz!” hahaha.

Actually, because of her candidness and realness, she is where she is right now. She told us that she landed her first major project because of her “go lang ng go!” personality. In an audition / go-see she was in, she wasn’t suppose to be accepted. But because of her personality (or baka natakot lang sila sa “kakain ako ng apoy at bubog” stint ni Ms. D), she got the job because at that time, more than just a pretty face, the client also wanted personality. She also shared how hard it was to be your own person. Siyempre, ang father goose ni Ms. D ay bongga, so she really had a hard time making a name for herself, of which I believe successful naman siya. She’s her own person and I love it!

She also shared with us how your confidence and kapal ng mukha can get you places you’d never think you’ll be in. She talked about how sila ni Kermit Tesoro, the very brilliant designer who’s making it big now, were down in the dumps. They didn’t gain notoriety overnight. They had to work their way to get noticed. She shared with us their experiences overseas and how they stalked GaGa’s stylist so that Kermit’s designs would get noticed. After a lot of pagpapapansin, she told us that she walked up to the designer and literally asked him to look at her friend’s design, much to their surprise, he actually likes. Fast forward to today, Kermit’s designs have been already used by Lady GaGa herself and probably by other famous celebrities in the future. Key word: Kapalan ang face! Sa panahon ngayon, di na uso yung pakeme-keme. If you want something, you have to get it and extract any possible means necessary! Go lang ng go!!!

Siyempre, dinumog si Ms. D ng napakaraming questions. Experiences. Practical tips in work, time management. Hanggang sa hair and make-up! Lahat na!!! 

She also talked about dealing with issues, and shared tips on how to stay grounded and positive everyday all day. Whenever she’s sad or upset about something (which I personally believe works) like not booking a job or a failed go-see to name a few, always remember that you’re still lucky. Sabi nga ni Ms. Divine, “Ano namang karapatan mo magreklamo teh, at least may tubig ka at kamang nahihigaan”. A lot of people have less than you do and you should always be happy and thankful for everything you have because at least you have something. She also talked about charities and how as a person who has a lot, it’s your responsibility to give back and to try as much as you can to help people who are less fortunate than you are. In the end, nakatulong ka na and you wouldn’t feel as sad as you should since you know you made someone else happy! :)

Para sa isang nilalang na napakanda, nagkakaroon din si Ms. D ng hate mail. How does she deal with it? - she talks to the person. Inaalam niya kung bakit siya galit so that she can apologize for it (if ever na guilty siya). Like what she said in her “Questions Answered” post “galit na nga yung tao, gagalitin ko pa”, which actually makes a lot of sense. It’s reality. You can’t please everyone. Meron talagang mga inggitera sa Earth. Isipin mo nalang, mas masaya ka kesa sa kanila. Hahaha. 

A lot of people asked about practical beauty tips as well, which Ms. Divine has a lot of knowledge about. From kirat eyes, to cheeky faces to creating nose lines and finding your angles. Practice. Practice. Practice. Also, the only person who can make you look the prettiest is yourself since you know your own face, you know your insecurities and you know what you should work on. Totoo nga naman. Mukha mo yan, so alagaan mo nga mabuti. Regarding your insecurities, you can always do something about it. Based daw from experience (hard to imagine how) may mga mas maganda sa kanya. So bilang pambawi, magpakabibo ka! Kung alam mong yung kapatid mong mas maganda yung bibigyan ng pamasko, hala mag-ispageti cartwheel combo ka para ikaw ang mapansin!

She also stressed the obvious things that people often overlook like hygiene (teh, uso maligo. Araw-arawin naman sana natin), the Internet (kahit ano alam ni Google, so gamitin natin siya), and your people skills. You will always need people, so you have to know how to talk to people to get what you want. Paraparaan lang yan!

At siyempre, avail lang ng avail! Over-all, sobrang helpful ni Ms. D. She was very practical, very real, very direct. Walang pagiinarte na naganap ng araw na yun. Some of the best pieces of advice, I heard from Divine Lee. No clichés. Never let any opportunity pass, confidence, positivism, hard work and personality. PAKAK! Her talk was truly one of the best one’s I’ve heard.

Siyempre, di mawawala ang meet and greet portion of which game na game si ate mo! Lahat ng gustong magpapicture, halaaa! Go lang ng go, avail lang ng avail!

The picture the guy in purple is holding is our token to Ms. D. O diba ang taray. Audrey Hepburn classical beauty lang ang peg!

Winner si kuya. Best in avail! May souvenir tuloy siya! Isabuhay ang don’t let any opportunity pass! 

Siyempre, lagi dapat may group shot! Good job to us, guys! (Spot mo nga si Ms. D! Bagets parin siya kaya pang magblend sa mga kabataan!)

Siyempre, kailangan din naman umuwi ni Ms. D, at marami pa siyang bagay na kailangan gawin bilang siya yan, so hinatid namin siya palabas. And of course we would never miss an opportunity to immortalize our time with THE Divine Lee!

May I just say, I would be happy to be Ms. D’s tungkod / bodyguard forever. As in. Pwede ko na siya gawing career path. Choz! Pero seriously, I super love Divine Lee. I love her even more after the ACLE! (please excuse my bungisngis face, sobrang saya ko lang ng best, okay. Ang magjudge, mawawalan ng love life!)

Super thank you to Ms. Riki Flores and Ms. Divine Lee for the wonderful talk. This is one of the talks that I would remember for the rest of my life (no joke). I can speak for everybody who went that we all had fun and we have so much love and support for both of you. :)

(PS: Sobrang dami pang photos, as in. These are just a few from the album. Check out the other photos here)

I finally bought a notebook (using my own money).

But before I talk about my endless love for school supplies (more than what I feel towards people), I would like to chronicle the mundane things that happened to me a little while ago. I was stuck inside a mall for 2 hours waiting for someone to pick me up because traffic here is just horrible. However, I still can’t comprehend how traffic jams just magically disappear. One minute you’re all “God, why is the traffic so horrible it makes me want to hate the human race even more!!!!!” and the next minute it’s all “Oh, cool traffic’s gone, yay!!!”

The only good thing about being stuck in a place is that you don’t have any reason to not do things that you need to, like buying school supplies. I would literally live inside a bookstore if given the chance. 

After 2 months of scribbling on random pieces of paper (which I cannot find anymore, seriously I think my bag eats up 78% of relevant things inside of it) I decided that I actually need a notebook to survive the rest of the semester. 

Also, I bought new colored pens for my planner. I am so excited. Yes, the way I feel about all of these is contrary to how I treat actual, living, human beings in my life.