rough sledding

this is it. i am now officially a full-fledged senior. i have begun counting the days of my last year: the final days of my undergrad course. i really think i can do it this time. tonight i bought pasalubong, prayed in church, and went home. i thanked mama mary and jesus for helping me. but of course, i deserve big credit as well. come to think of it, engineering's not that hard if i just really get into it. i nailed every test given to me in the past weeks. thank you, lola. thank you paulo. i'm sure you both heard my 'bulong.'

came across orgmates this afternoon. i missed them so much! they're planning the org's minor production for the coming school year. i must say, the first draft of the script i read was hilarious. a few more changes will definitely make it a big hit! and to my surprise, some big celebrity's gracing it. the girls and gays are sure gonna go nuts over him. ayan ha, may hint na. hehe!

theory II... for the last time i hope

i feel so proud of myself right now. after 2 hours and 7 papers, i finally nailed one item. i'm missing only 3 more points and teacher says i should come back tuesday for the 2nd item worth another hundred points. dapat 3 points na lang but he's saying 50+3. i hope ginu-good time niya lang ako. comprehensive exam. thank god. at least i'm not that worried. and i can resume OJT. thanks for the prayers. keep 'em coming for me and my other classmates.

i perfected a couple of really HARD problems already. now i think i can really do it.

leaving on a jet plane (to heaven)

Trinidad Belano-Abantao

June 15, 1919 -- May 13, 2006

lola's on a jet plane straight to heaven.

life is a journey

my lola had finally gone to rest. for years she had been in the hospital and for more than one year, she laid in a coma. it's funny because when you see us at the mortuary, you'll find nobody shedding tears. in fact, parang piyesta ang meron sa amin. we're all happy that lola's in a much, much better place. who wouldn't want to have a death like hers? i mean, in terms of reception of the last sacraments--which she had over and over, priests refused to give her viaticum in the long run.

one of my vividest, yes it is the correct superlative term of the word, memories of lola is when i'd sit beside her in the afternoons watching pinoy telenovelas like agila, valiente, anna luna and mara clara--at ang mailap na diary ni mareng susan. sa kanya ko nalaman ang ibig sabihin ng salitang VALIENTE. i asked her, "lola, ano ang valiente?" she then answered raising her arms as if a man showing his arm muscles for a competition, "valiant; strong." even when thalia's string of shows came, i watched with her. you can only imagine, high school na ako noon. hehe! umamin kayo, hindi lang ako ang nadala ng hype. after those shows came the 3 o'clock habit on tv. sa mga pinsan kong nandito ngayon, raise your hand if you did try mimicking the voice over for the 3 o'clock prayer. tapos dapat kasabay pa 'yung, "JESUS, WE TRUST IN YOU."

i remember the last time she was able to go on a vacation with us in baguio; the year i learned to cross-stitch. hehe! we brought everything, oxygen tanks and all. most of us, cousins, are technically capable of what caregivers can do: suction, operate the tanks, etc. LOL. that was the time that lola's kakulitan was at peak. she'd call each of us and tell us, "'wag niyo akong pababayaan, ha?" at one time in quezon city, inside her room with me and mommy, she had forgotten something and as if plainly sulking, "anak, ito ang sampung piso. bumili ka ng gaas at sisilaban ko ang sarili ko." funny talaga si lola. who cannot love her?

over the years after that, one can only imagine what she put people through. may pinagmanahan nga kaming
lahat ng kakulitan. hehe! she never was a burden to us. of course, she's family. everybody's just happy that she had lived a good life. inggit ako sa kanya.

i am proud and i laud this family, my family, OUR family, dahil hindi namin pinabayaan si lola.

i would like to leave everybody with this message. this is something i learned from a retreat with our choir: TO LOVE IS TO REMEMBER. thank you for being here, the whole abantao clan is very grateful that you also loved
and love our lola.

we love you lola!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

happy mother's day, mom! we love you very much!

i have dreamed

this song has a very special place in my heart. i have not seen the king and i yet but i have heard this song and when i did, i fell in love with it. this is for nonoi.

I HAVE DREAMED

Lun That

I have dreamed that your arms are lovely

I have dreamed what a joy you'll be

I have dreamed every word you whisper

When your close

Close to me

How you look in the glow of evening

I have dreamed and enjoyed the view

In these dreams I've loved you so

That by now I think I know

What it's like to be loved by you

I will love being loved by you

Tuptim

Alone and awake I've looked at the stars

The same that smile on you

And time and again I've thought all the things

That you were thinking too

I have dreamed that your arms are lovely

I have dreamed what a joy you'll be

I have dreamed every word you whisper

When your close

Close to me

How you look in the glow of evening

I have dreamed and enjoyed the view

In these dreams I've loved you so

That by now I think I know

Both

What it's like to be loved by you

I will love being loved by you

hay life

MY baby, TI-92 (minus the plus)

this is actually nothing worth reading. i'm just trying to fill the whole page with nonsense writing so my profile on the right side of this page will go back to its original position, which is top right. maybe some of the pictures i uploaded effected the changes.

blah, blah and blah.

i'm really tempted to scrap all of my pictures on both blogsites that i have (one in blogdrive and this one). not really happy with how i look in those. hehe! either i'm too animated or just plain--blah. :)

kat's TI-89. i have to start familiarizing myself with this other baby. keep your fingers crossed that i pass summer school. ayaw ko na magextend!!!

pink gun

really anxious about my one and only subject this summer. there's still hope. but why do things always go wrong for me? anyway, my first contribution in health today is out in the may issue. lyn ching on the cover. see previous blog entry for details. not really happy with what i did on my second assignment for the magazine. no work for chalk mag these months so it's okay that i get to make 'raket' in another.

*text message from melai: "nid ur help"

*i reply with "what's up?"

*melai says, "test ur 'friends' by texting "nid ur help" and see if anybody replies. if somebody does, he's ur true friend. congratulations!"

gawd. i hate testing people. sizing them up is okay, but testing is another thing.

*incoming message from jeff: "watyado?"

haay. buti may mga nakakaalala pa sa akin. hehehe! there's nonoi, kong jeff, sun and kel.

----------------
good thing kat's lending me her TI. at least i won't have to compute manually for the final end moments of any problem set we'll be given. it's finals already next week. please, please pray for me. i hope i make it. i'm tired of flunking in school. i wanna graduate so bad.

lord, help me.

----------------
got to bond with nonoi and mark tonight in gateway. had fun. did videoke and each of us had 2 songs to sing. sang superstar of the carpenters and alipin by shamrock. got 98 for both. hehe!

----------------
family will come back tomorrow from naga, bicol. they attended a wedding and dad is one of the ninongs. mon and i are surprisingly not having big fights while alone here at the house. although he tends to be really bossy and responsible-kuno, we get along quite fine.

raket

Health Today, May issue

Lyn Ching on the cover

Page 71. May kapangalan ako.

Hehe!

nieces, night out, party

my nieces, macy and obi

got to take pictures of a performer in BED. dancing to madonna's frozen.

going nuts for this banana isplit

this is pearl, one of the few people i really, really like hanging around with.

one hot afternoon

kawawang mga bata. i bet i'll be seeing these pictures on the internet pretty soon! haha! onli in da pilipins, dir pilipins!

a day late

the beautiful sunset

just got home and ate dinner. sang for 2 masses, as el shaddai's organists were absent. it was so humid everybody was dugyot. i could've wrung my hanky and gotten lots of pawis enough to fill a cup. hehe! anyway, i was really mad i was shaking. some members of the choir pissed me off. girls. magkakapatid pa. it's quite understandable that they were late. hell, i couldn't care less about what's going on in their homes. besides, they're always late. well, almost everybody is. but the way they sing at every mass (our girls are tone deaf--i can assure you that; or maybe they simply don't grasp the meaning of quality) and how, especially tonight, they pinned the blame on us, the 2 tenors (and only guys), grabe. super nakakagigil. it's okay to point out mistakes and laugh about them but what happened tonight, grabe. i couldn't believe my ears. they do not participate in the mass, they always come late, they think the choir is still the best choir in the parish (you don't know how hard it is for me to say that; talk about star complex) yet they barely practice, and a whole lot more. at the 2nd mass, i faced them to bid them peace but they just looked away. the nerve. they've been like this for years. sadly, nobody can really do something about their rotten attitude. hay. right now i just have the drive to finish my 3 articles for a health magazine (a thousand words each, mind you) and study for a quiz on tuesday.

got to go to BED last night with friends! it was just like any other dance floor but the crowd made the big difference. that's just about it, i think. anyway, everybody had a great time!!!

came out to hedwig and kuya buddy last week. hedwig is a german friend with a straightforward personality. i guess that's how most foreigners are. i used to get intimidated by her when we were first introduced. right now she's a friend i know i can always talk to and have coffee with. she admits she's fed up with music already. hehe! she graduated from upd with degrees in music. one of the pioneers of UPCC. kuya buddy on one hand is a first cousin. i'm pretty sure you've heard his name in one way or another. he's from PETA and has appeared in notable films like Jose Rizal, Duda and others. he says he's really happy for me and hubby. even got to meet some of his friends at the badminton games.

anyway, here are some pictures from the choir's outing in bauan, batangas.

to batangas: nasiraan in front of GMA-Edsa; had 2 flat tires and lots of stopovers

welcome to bauan, batangas!

ze mudelz

united colors of benetton???

can't get enough of videoke; nice shot, 'no? :)

stargazing at the pier

playing pinoy henyo with moses; me as arbiter

trekking

guess which foot is mine

manong driver collecting pebbles for bingo on the morning we left for the city

muni

stopover at mcdo slex; mon making pacute kay ronald

i am superman

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman 70% Green Lantern 60% Supergirl 50% Spider-Man 45% Batman 45% Wonder Woman 40% The Flash 40% Catwoman 35% Iron Man 35% Robin 32% Hulk 20%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...

summer na!

These are just some of the pictures taken last weekend. Choir went to Bauan, Batangas for this year's summer picnic. Went snorkeling for the first time and I got to cope up right away! The fishes were great! Most were small but when the big ones came right in front of my eyes, I was just blown away. Ang galing talaga ng diyos.

ALL pictures are uploaded in the choir's yahoogroup: www.groups.yahoo.com/groups/awitpanalangin