sugar and spice

* cut from the princessfrancesca blog

to quote haz… "girl, you’re all over the place"

so finally i’m back in manila… madaming issues pero lets skip that and go to the happy parts… after more than a year… nagkita na uli kami ni hazel (amazingly pareho pala kaming nasa UP nung april 18) may transport strike pero if there’s a will… there’s a cab… yep, nag cab ako from SC to CHE just to see her kasi hindi na kaya ng aking poor blistered feet maglakad (naka ilang roundtrip na kasi ng AS-CSWCD…malayo yun ha!) at dahil matagal ang bakasyon hindi na sanay sa lakad…

she went back to baguio the following day pero we saw each other again labor day weekend…

road trip

planned to visit her labor day weekend pero the titas wanted to do something and since sobrang fickle ng mga tao at sobrang hirap mag make plans with them, i put off leaving for baguio for 24 hours to give them a chance…

after ilang palit ng plans we finally went to SUBIC saturday to just look around, swim, shop, etc… sobrang daming tao kasi long weekend…

to baguio…

hinatid nila ako sa OLONGAPO only to find out that the last trip left at 4pm… since it was around 7pm na, i was advised to go via san fernando then dau…so hinatid nila ako sa SAN FERNANDO and i took a mini bus to DAU… by myself…kinda scary kasi i dont think i’ve ever been there at gabi na talaga… got there safely naman and walked a few meters to the bus station it was quite a wait… got on a bus to baguio at midnight and settled in for a looooong drive…

buti nalang walang annoying na tao around me…actually fascinating nga yung mga katabi ko and tried to make small talk pa but that is another story… got in BAGUIO mga 4:30am… took a cab(an adventure by itself…dis-oras in an unknown city at hindi ko pa alam saan ako pupunta) and saved hazel a trip to fetch me…

sunday…

after catching 40 winks… had breakfast(luto ni haz!) and went to church… from then on we played tourist! i was a tourist talaga and haz was just humoring me i guess wright park, the mansion, mines view, session road, ukak-ukay, burnham… took lots of pictures spent a lot of money…

monday (may2)…

deciding to extend the adventure…we went to LA UNION… yup just the two of us…commute pa… went to the beach, got really nice tans…i forgot the name of the resort though…anyway, more pictures of us in the sand and sea

went back to baguio after lunch and spent the whole afternoon sa SMbaguio… na extend kasi yung 3day sale… yup, hanggang baguio SM parin

tuesday morning…

got in qc at around 5am just in time for my 7am class…dropped my stuff home, took a shower and was off to class… could hardly keep my eyes open the whole morning….

♦summer class… parang dumaan lang… at least i’m kinda getting used to school again… made new friends…

road trip ulit?

friday of the week classes ended i was off again… still alone but this time south to BATANGAS CITY… tita dolly and kitkat picked me up at the station and we had lunch at….yep, SM…this time SMbatangas naman… sa yellow cab…first time to eat a meal na pizza at chicken lang…anyway sa BCC kami umuwi kasi they live there (Batangas Country Club, they own the place) and i had my own room etc… spent time with kitkat mostly swimming and lounging around by the pool… kasi my tan was fading

sinundo ako nina lolo dad at lola mommie saturday afternoon and sa SAN JOSE naman kami umuwi…sunday, fiesta sa PALANCA so stayed home.. monday, visited SANTO TOMAS sa SAN RAFAEL and we also visited ytung ibang properties sa area… sa SAN VICENTE, MASALA etc ewan pati what used to be the HUGO ESTATE…

tuesday….hatid sila sa airport at nagpa-stuck kami sa MARKET! MARKET! (another first) kasi coding uwi ng san jose

wednesday…on the way naman to NUEVA ECIJA…sa CLSU and PCC stayed sa guest house ng Philippine Carabao Center that’s in the science city of munoz, nueva ecija and met a lot of really fascinating people (mostly scientists involved in biotech, saw their labs and all…)

thursday…back to the big city pero that night we stayed with tita ji…near ALABANG so sa ATC naman ang pasyal (obviosly not a first) pero first time naman mag CPK (salad, pasta,pizza… its so not me)

friday…UP…lunch sa beach house tapos enroll…uwi ng san jose,daaan robinsons place LIPA on the way

saturday…went to BATANGAS PIER to ask about the ferry schedules and rates then on to LILIW,LAGUNA took the scenic rout via TIAONG(quezon), SAN PABLO etc…sandali lang kami kasi it was getting late…took more scenes on the way down via PAGSANJAN, CALAMBA etc… sobrang tiring

sunday…home(san jose) mostly tapos church nung afternoon and got pizzas (pizza hut naman) from SMBatangas for dinner

monday…LILIW uli ng morning…this time we stopped at NAGCARLAN to see the underground cemetery and the church (yup, where they shoot kampanerang kuba - mas maganda church ng liliw though) tapos went to UPLB (kasi nga parang lakbay aral kami touring state universities) then kanila tita ems naman…lois is so big na…at kilala ko parin sila lahat (tim,kiks,defen,inno,buggy) dinner at kwento sa lola lunda’s sa GROVE

tuesday… on the way back to qc na pero decided to pass by SAN PABLO and visit nica… lunch with her and was on the way na… home(cubao) for a shower then to UP para mag bayad…tried to catch hazel pero no luck kasi she got lost trying to find me in cubao…was supposed to join us in watching LA VISA LOCA… a really good movie by the way…

yun

bakit nagb-blog nanaman ako?

pull out yesterday from the field sites… dahil sa sobrang kasipagan, pumunta muna ako sa munisipyo ng san mateo before going home… i needed some stuff from the municipal planning and development council for my development programs (cd111, diliman based) case study… i got a copy of their comprehensive development plan but shelled out almost 200 for the photocopy … mahal kasi dun (piso per page)… sobrang comprehensive…

ayaw nanaman ako pauwiin ng "mama" ko doon… ‘nak, iwan mo nalang yang gamit mo…’nak, bukas ka nalang kaya umuwi (yeah,  but thats what you said yesterday! pinagbigyan na nga)… i told her i had to be in ateneo early for my weekly swim and i left my swim stuff sa cubao so after lunch, uwi na ako….finally

anyway, kahit na i’m no longer in the field, wala nang pasok kung baga (kasi yung cd111 naka research break) i’m supposed to be my busiest… everyone in school has been asking either about the integ paper (what integ paper? lol) or the case study… ni hindi ko pa iniisip yung project proposal pati yung paper sa macro economic enterprise…hay… tapos nagb-blog pa ako…

yung mga tao sa bahay naman take my not being in school as free na… i.e. walang ginagawa… hello? kung wala nang kailangang gawin, i’d be in davao right?

balik na uli sa work kika…

fooling around with photoshop elements…

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i made dessert yesterday! haha

sobrang unusual yun… i think it has never happened in my ten years in manila…lol

sobtang proud yung mga tao sa bahay (maids especially) parang sobrang laking accomplishment… masarap daw sabi ni tita di… pati si lola vicky… sabi ng isang maid pwede na daw mag-asawa…hahaha

want to know my secret? lemon silk. no-bake from jello. hehe

dont get me wrong ha, sa davao at sa bukidnon minsan tinotopak din ako… i make muffins a lot (binilhan na ako ni lola ng sarili kong muffin maker -lagi ko kasing ginagamit yung kanya)… sobrang suki ako ng mga pillsbury na instant stuff =) … bugsy’s muffin mix (pero pinaka masarap parin ang duncan hines na muffins)…

its usually just dessert that i make though… avocadoes and milk (everybody in a kilometer radius knows how much i love avocadoes, as in people go to our house pag may bunga na yung trees near their house. hehe)… bananas and cream (pag tinulungan ni kuya its bananas and cream PLUS crushed oreos and strawberry or blueberry sundae in the same bowl…takaw!)… before, its usually my job to make the cream for our fruit bar… hay! uwi na kaya uli ako ng davao…lol =)

will add a picture of my lemon silk later. =)

later…

malapit nanaman matapos ang phase2…

ilang tulog nalang pull out nanaman…yey!

mahirap na mag sched… mukhang may mga magtatampo kung hindi na kami makakatulog sa kanila…pano kaya namin isisingit na matulugan yung mga gusto mag adopt samin? pano kaya kami magpapa-alam sa current hosts namin…  kasi naman… as we’ve said before sa mga teammeetings… we’re like the daughters they never had… the daughters the’ve always dreamed of… hehe…kapal ng mukha pero true.  =)

so busy nanaman in the next few weeks… paperworks… yung integ, yung health research, yung mga fieldbased papers sa 132 at 160… case study…

hmmm… mukhang walang tulugan…

next month nasa davao na uli ako… ang bilis.

how often have you had to give the UP campus tour? i mean, even without being part of the FOPC most of us have probably given the ‘tour’ a few times to friends and perhaps even family members (who have never been or havent been to UP for a long time)…

august19 was a holiday and we decided to take wesley to UP to… uhm, show him the sights?

we got off to a late start (as usual) and got to UP shortly before 4… immediately after reaching the favorite hangout (yes, 4th floor ng NEC. office of the budget director, UP-CBO) everybody settled into their favorite positions in their respective places…wesley stretched out on the sofa and proptly declared he was too comfortable to move…

what was i to do? we were losing precious daylight and i wanted to show him my ’school’…

me: wes, do you want to see where the places where people died in this campus?

wes looled at me. hmmm spark of interest…

wes: ok.

…

so we began out tour… carla and chona joined us because tita di and tita chel were too comfortable and they already knew all those places anyway… the kids know UP but never associated it with violent deaths…

walked down NEC towards STAT (my former college…building i mean)… which reminds me, i used to have classes in NEC (in my former life, este former course, former college)…went on to the PARISH OF THE HOLY SACRIFICE…talked about the architecture, murals, flooring and gardens (i’ll bet you didnt notice the river design in the tiled floor, did you?)… we saw tita joy in the garden and carla stayed with her… SC…KALAYAAN (hey, i lived there!)… and on to the best isaw place in the world (of course, we had some… plus dirty ice cream - for me lang though)

wes, chona, me and isaw! =)

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…SANGUMAY, MOLAVE (i lived there too! for three years)…ENG’G (ah…. my former college)…teka wala pang namamatay… molave used to be a hospital, does that count?…. BETAWAY/BETAWALK… towards AS…kwento… and as if to emphasize my point, there was still remnants of a candle offering near the AS parking end… AS STEPS, LOBBY, WALK… more kwento… walked down towards the HARDIN NG MGA DIWATA (yes sa FC) and crossed to enter the LAGOON… more kwento but is was more in the procreative side hehe…AMPHITHEATRE, QUEZON HALL (people jump from this building), OBLATION (mahirap i translate sa english yung mga plaque…) tapos MASSCOM, detour to CSWCD (kc i wanted to show him my college), CINE ADARNA before going inside ANG BAHAY NG ALUMNI (yup, popoy lagman… a few meters from my dorm room) to CHOCOLATE KISS!

napagod kami… amazing daw ang dami ng alam kong details about the school…thanks to hum2 (ba yon? made a scavenger hunt of the school’s art for a class)…

btw, did you know na may pangalan yung dalawang stone wall sa univ ave, bandang CP Garcia? yung may sculpture na blocks of concrete? its called the TRIBUTE TO HIGHER EDUCATION

anyway, ang version ni wes nung tour was… kika’s trying to get me killed…lol =)

its such a quiet campus

according to my horoscope today… this experience is a first for you…. and you keep triving.  i just had my first extraction… (that i can recall anyway) and just my luck it happened to be my third upper molar left side, also known as a wisdom tooth…

last week after seeing my xray, i actually considered having it restored even if the dentist’s first recommendation was an extraction…it just seemed less drastic and traumatic (literaly) because i’ve never had a bad dental experience and dental visits for me have only been associated with flouride treatments and the like… (my general overhaul was more than ten years ago and even that was a walk in the park…they did a lot of work but i didnt feel a thing so i love my dentists =))

anyway, i just came from my new dentist (all my previous ones are in davao and tita belen -dentist, suggested i have work done here instead of waiting till next month, which is when i’m scheduled to go back to davao) and it was not much different.  mas worriend pa nga yung dentist kc i have such STRONG teeth daw… ang laki pala talaga ng molar… thank god for anaesthesia! thank god din hindi ako allergic!

…

m supposedly working on either my health research or development program case study  (or both) right now pero the dentist suggested rest… uwi daw agad so i guess saka nalang yun school stuff…

i hope i still feel ok bukas when the anaesthesia wears off and the pain killers runs out… have work pa naman…

looking forward to my halo-halo though…

yup…midsems

kung may sembreak in most schools (most kasi some schools i.e. pisay -wala) sa cd aside from that, we have what we call the midsems… sabay to sa midterms pero dahil midterms is associated with exams, midsems tawag namin kasi usually, wala kaming exam.  its just the mini vacation we have in between phases.

halos buong august ang midsem ko… dapat a week and a half lang (ginawa naming 2 weeks, tapos na-aberya kami ni dwan for a week, tapos… basta matagal bago kami nakabalik)

so, what did i do the whole of august?

nagka-bisita kami (wes, nakakaintindi ka na ba ng tagalog?)… kaso halos parang bisita ko lang sya.  Wes was in the Philippines for a month and was with him most of the time he was in manila (he went around. managed to visit all the major island groups -bicol, cebu and davao).  Super bonding, he was sleeping in my room (i changed my mind about wanting a male roomie -kidding wes).

i went out more this month than i ever did… in recent memory. hehe (far be it for some people to dispute this)

week1:  lunch at gateway, ice skating, UAAPgame (first time), conspiracy…all this in the same day

week2: hibernate, had meetings, was in school…

week3: 70’s bistro with nix, PHbistro with jo, virgin cafe and coffee bean, chockiss (dapat d na kasama to kc sobrang dalas ko here pero kasama si wes this time so sulat ko narin =)), sleepovers…

week4: hibernate uli and tried catching up with fieldwork kasi sobrang tagal ko nangang wala…plus midterms sa cd111(kay marion… need i say more?)…bumawi naman by ending the week sa laiya resthouse (kayak,snorkling etc)

week5: yes, may week 5. more field stuff (sa wakas ba?), congo grill and dish, aioli and max brenner

yung mga naka group together same night. hehe

imagine, before week1 d na din ako pumapasok kasi early pull out, and before that davao…

bakasyon grande.

nag end nga yung phase 1… and with it i guess yung kasipagan ko/namin

you see, just before mag end yung phase1 i asked ma’am ging for a 4 day break… i went to davao… no, i was not sick again (at least i hope not, haven’t been to the doctor since just before i came back in april)…vacation lang, it was dad’s birthday (besides i wanted to be the first one to use the new pool =))… i also caught up with old friends… nikki (sa wakas! we were in the same city for how many months and i claim responsibility for the fact na ngayon lang tayo nagkita), minrose ( after ten years… hindi yung expression ha, ten years talaga), and tin (cousin, friend…)

so medyo walang tulugan ito… kasi of course i have to spend time with my family din =)

went back to manila just in time for the phase 1 pullout… swerte.

vacation mode parin kasi ako.

as in bakit?  Bakit walang naka post sa aking friendster blog?

the main reason why i made one was so i can have a friendster photo album (why friendster? may multiply, photobucket, sony imagestation, etc naman -mas convenient lang talaga)

sa daldal ko, even i am amazed na ngayon pa lang ako magpo-post dito… hehe.  so here are the reasons or excuses or whatever…

1. i have a blog. sa xanga. just in case you want to check, its www.xanga.com/princessfrancesca … and if you did check, you may have noticed na its been months since i last posted… and months pa uli before that oh-so-un-recent ‘most recent’ post…

           more excuses… or better yet, a background…

i used that blog to talk to one person only… para bang dedicated blog, so it was a while before nalaman ng iba kong friends na meron nga and even then, incidental lang na may iba na palang audience. =) so for the first few months sobrang sipag ko pa mag blog… and then i got sick…end of story. jk =)

2. nasa field ako. sa field kasi, required ang journal at logbook (note: magkaiba ang personal journal sa team logbook - kahit na pareho lang siguro ang laman).  when i was in the wilds of caloocan, sa office kami nakatira (read that as: may computer sa office) so dahil medyo addict ako sa blog that time(for some reason kailangan ko i-kwento every little thing na nangyari sa araw ko kay… ah ewan) ginawa kong field journal ang aking blog… as in sa midsems i copied all the text that i’ve posted, deleted the stuff that might raise the eyebrows of my supervisor (like bakit gumi-gimick ako when i’m supposedly in the field), printed and submitted it as partial fulfillment of… basta.

this time, urban poor household kami nakatira in the not so different (from any other urban poor area in manila or any other place in this country - i guess) jungle of san mateo, rizal. not all houses have computers (actually kung urban poor ka dapat talaga wala diba?). 

buti nalang, to get myself into the journal writing mood, i bought myself a cool and medyo expensive journal (fine, hindi lang medyo pero its hardbound, thick yung paper, one side lang yung ruled tapos sa likod very discretely nakasulat yung magic word na "journals" -sold!). last year, i searched high and low for the perfect notebook to use as a journal and although the one i did use last year was pretty (bought it sa egg -my then favorite store) it was not half as good (or half as expensive either) as this one.  kaya nga, two weeks into phase1, halfway na ako sa aking journal… ooops! sumobrang daldal naman… pero ang cool talaga nung journal ko (notice that i am getting into my main excuse for not posting anything sa blog na ito)… si ma’am ging (adviser, field supervisor, and department chair) sobrang na impress, ayaw tuloy sulatan. nakakahiya daw -this coming from one of the most OC profs you will encounter in the college and the neatest to boot.

anyway, yun nga… lately, it has all been in the journal (may sense pa ba ang grammar na to?)

ma’am ging promised to return it after the sem (so i can look back etc…) maybe.