My journey in ENGLCOM! :)

State competencies in reading and writing in English acquired/honed through ENGLCOM. What areas/weaknesses have you improved on? Were your expectations (the ones you stated in the entrance reflective essay) met? Do you think the course has helped you achieved your goals? Explain.

When I was still in my frosh year – second term, some of our block mates are already taking up ENGLCOM. They were telling us their different perspectives through their experiences in their class. I heard both negative and positive opinions, but people are more on the positive side. With that in mind, I was afraid, at the same time excited when I found out that we will be taking ENGLCOM for the following term.

I can say that ENGLCOM is one of the classes I think I have improved on. I write and read better now compared before. I even use deep words every now and then, which I am not even familiar with before taking up this class. As I was browsing through my essays and blogs, I noticed the improvements I make in every essays I have submitted. In this class, I learned how to create an outline with my ideas properly to produce nice essays and was able to distinguish the difference between topic sentences and thesis statements.

Taking up this course, I found out that we should be giving importance not to only to the writer, but as well as to the reader. I use to believe that writing is as simple as expressing ones self and write about anything under the sun that pops out of your mind. Everything changed when I took up this course. There are more to writing than just expressing anything and everything. Writers should also think about the person who they are writing to, and they should adjust to the culture of the readers as well.

I can say that this course helped me achieve my goals when it comes to both writing and reading. Every meeting, I attained to learn different and new things to excel. I can say that after every ENGLCOM class, I became better when it comes to my writing and reading, and it is very fulfilling to know that I, myself, is improving.

Highschool is love.

They say that high school is the best part of our life as a student, and I second demotion to that. I can say that my high school years were one of the best parts in my life. It was the time of our adolescence, where we experience and discover new things and when we learn best. High school years are the years where I was molded into who I am right now.

My first year of high school was certainly the craziest year among the four.

New time schedules are given, there were male teachers, and a lot more were different compared to my elementary years. It was when I became mindful of my actions and learned to lead people.

I believe that sophomore was the best year I had during my high school years.

That was the time where I met my up-to-now closest friends. Maturity strikes, as well as being conscious when it comes to our actions and words. And being a sophomore, the parts I like best were the time we dissected frogs and won as first runner-up during our chorale competition.

with our english and chinese advisers

Junior was the toughest year I had in high school.

It was a serious year for everybody, wherein we should give extra attention to our grades for it will be sent together with our college applications later on. It was also the same year our school was celebrating its 60th anniversary. Therefore, i believe that it was one memorable year!

At PICC complex for the celebration of our school's 60th anniversary

Volleyball intramurals

Our class with our english adviser!

Classroom :)

Last but not the least, the year with the most memorable and bittersweet farewells, Senior Year.

Everybody gets excited talking about college and their entrance exams. It was also the year when the most awaiting event of every student in our school happens, the 4-day retreat in Calamba, Laguna. However, it was also the time where we say goodbye to our Alma Mater and be known as an Alumni.

2nd runner-up

all glammed-up for our graduation picture

chorale competition, 2nd runner-up

Chilling during chinese class.

Retreat!

Graduation time!

I really really miss my Alma mater! Every memory in it.

The addicting Nutella!

Have you ever heard about Nutella? The spread where everyone, meaning everyone worldwide, is crazy about? Nutella is a brand name of a chocolate hazelnut spread. It’s manufactured by the Italian company Ferrero which was introduced to the market in 1963.

Yesterday, when I went to my friend’s house, my friend brought along a big bottle of Nutella. Since everyone was crazy about it, I was excited to see it on my friend’s hand because I never tasted Nutella ever in my life. As he opened the bottle, I can already smell the goodness of the spread. It’s the same scent as the Ferrero chocolate that everyone loves! We mixed it first since the oil was already at the top of the bottle. We first tried the spread with bananas. When I took my first bite, it was like paradise!

good company on my first time to taste Nutella

Since that bite, I can’t stop eating! It was that addicting!

Nutella, I swear I'll look for a bottle of you!

Birthday Cakes. Yum-yum-yum!

Cakes are one of my favorite desserts of all time. Having that in mind, receiving so much cakes for my birthday was overwhelming! I felt so loved and blessed with my family and friends! It’s my first time to receive this much amount of cakes for my birthday. Below are the following cakes I received for my birthday.

Cheesecake (Ahya steven, my sister's boyfriend.)

Divine Desserts, Cheesecake. (Family)

Conti's chocolate cake (Dianne Uy)

Conti's Mango Bravo (Jeremy Yu)

White chocolate carrot cake (Toni Go)

Cake 2 go toblerone cake (Guy friends)

I can’t even get over with it! I feel like I’m in heaven having this cakes around! HAHAHA I want to thank each and everyone who gave me the cakes above. I appreciate it and overwhelmed to receive this from you guys! I love each and everyone of you! Thank you so much! J

New chapter of my life.

I’m very thankful for all the blessings that God showered upon me for the past 16 years of my life. God guides and helps me in every situation I encounter. He’s always there to support me and always there to hear my problems. Even though He doesn’t answer all my prayers, I know He has a reason behind it and He’ll give it when the right time comes. I’m very thankful that I have met God who guides me to do right things and helps me become a better person.

Now that I’ve turned 17, another chapter of my life begins. More responsibilities and more challenges are yet to come. I should be responsible enough to face the consequences of things that I will be doing and be mindful of my actions. But I know, with God on my side, everything will be smooth sailing. J

Philippians 4:13

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Photo Booth!

We have nothing to do and one benefits of having a mac is taking silly pictures of yourselves and your friends from the amazing photo booth! Photo Booth is a small software application for taking photos and videos with an iSight camera by Apple Inc. Photo Booth has two sets of image effects that can be applied when taking a picture. The first set may be described to contain photographic filters similar to those in such as Sepia, Black & White, Glow, Comic, Colored Pencil, X-Ray, Pop Art, Bulge, Dent, Twirl, Squeeze. Mirror and a lot more! Another latest addition in the photo booth of mac is the back drop! The application incorporates the Chroma key technology which is used in professional film making to replace the background of a frame with an image or a video clip. Photo Booth incorporates this technology by recognizing a still background, then replacing it with either a pre-set image or movie clip, or allowing the user to choose their own background. Below is an example of a picture taken with the Mac's photo booth!

Lez do this again!

Aling Janneal's Ukay-Ukay!

On the last day of our NSTP, we were required to do a family-day activity and have an ukay-ukay.

Aling Janneal's Ukay-Ukay

Together with some of my blockmates, we were assigned to manage and arrange the ukay-ukay area. The preparation was brief since we were only informed a week before the event. We were procrastinating and a lot of ideas was flowing and coming out from the group. In the end, we decided to do the event simple and followed the rules gave to us by Ate Selyn, our coordinator. I was really excited and a bit anxious of what was going to happen.

The idea of the ukay-ukay we had was to sell Php35 for a pack of 3-5 clothes. It was sort of pre-arranged ukay-ukay where for every five minutes, groups of five mothers were allowed to come to the table. Some mothers were considerate and organized, while others were hurling and opening the presegregated plastic bags of clothes. In conclusion of the event, all the mothers were essentially happy as they go home and give their new acquirements to their children.

I may say that it was a job well done, because aside from the happy mothers, our table was left totally empty!

The next big ukay-ukay ladies!

I miss my girls!

I miss my high school barkada/girls so much! Spending time with them was like earning a pot of gold or winning a lotto! That's how happy we are when we're together. I miss eating with them almost everyday too. Imagine fitting that 15 minutes recess time to eat a whole packed lunch! Incredible isn't it? /:)

Ever since college, we seldom talk and don’t have much chances to meet up because of conflicting class schedules.. How I wish, even just a day, everything will be back to high school when we were all together eating lunch in our canteen.

I love each and everyone of you! Miss you!

Proud LaSallian!

For my whole life, I was just a silhouette or a shadow of others, I never thought of venturing out on my life, never did I think of going out of my “comfort-zone”. I was sheltered, loved and encouraged, and I thought everything was complete; my future was in full plan, and life is a blast. But then, before the end of 2010, someone close to me, told me that life isn’t just about the destination, it’s also about the journey. For the trials that every single person faces in life can never be avoided, and if I did everything in my strength, the view of the destination that I’ll eventually reach would be far greater to look at, than anything..

I want to be able to venture out in an unknown world, as an adventurer of my life, I want to steer my life in the direction, where I can fully shine, and it all happened when I entered De LaSalle University. Being a student of DLSU is a big big blessing and gift from God. For DLSU is the place where I learned many great things to cherish and carry on through the rest of my life.

DLSU centennial celebration. Frosh!

Animo LaSalle!

Jho's shirt ♥

I was running late for my first class last Tuesday when as I entered the classroom, I came face to face with Jhoana Javeloza who was wearing a shirt with--just my FACE on it!

Such an effort! I was really flabbergasted!

Every time she bumped into someone we know, she would tell them while pointing at her shirt, "Who's this? Who's this? It's Jaja! It's her birthday!!"

Thank you so much Jho for the wonderful gift! I was really touched! :*

Jhoana Javeloza is one of the most thoughtful and loving person I know. She is caring and loving to every one of us. She always asks if we're alright, if we need help, or simply if we need anything. She's always there to the rescue. She's also one of the most hardworking person I've ever known. She can have high grades while managing to do extracurricular activities like being a member of the Harlequin Theater Guild. Jhoana is just the whole package! She's really beautiful inside and out!

I am very thankful that I met Jho. Without her, my college life would definitely not be as colorful as it is now.

our first ever picture together

I love you, Jho! ♥

I miss "Angkong"! :(

At that time, I felt hopeless. I was just a kid and people may say that I don’t know what’s happening around me; and they hid the truth from me, but I do know that the one lying in the coffin is someone I love and know. And that someone is my grandfather.

His passing was difficult for me even if I was still young. I can already feel the weight that was coming: I started to fail my exams, I can’t concentrate on my studies, and I can’t help but cry in the middle of the day.

I realized that life was not just all about pure joy and happiness. But crying won’t do anything. And I never blamed God for everything that was happening to me at that time. I knew that it was just a trial to make me a stronger person. Without these trials, I won’t realize that God works in His own time.

Good things do not come all the time. Bad ones come more than as often to enable us to learn from the realities of life. I learned to be strong and to keep my faith grounded, to accept the things we could not change and to know His purpose.

I am not that little girl anymore who usually depends on others, who cries in times of fear and who is afraid to seek the truths of the world.

I am now a young lady who is strong enough to face my problems all by myself, who is open to challenges, who can handle responsibilities and manage things properly--a lady who’s more knowledgeable of what she’s doing and where she’s trying to go.

It's been seven years now and I really miss my grandfather big time. I know, someday, I'll see him again on the other side.

I love you Angkong! I really miss you super! :(

Red Mango!

When it comes to yoghurt, there is only one store that comes to my mind. And that is--Red Mango!

Red Mango was established in South Korea in 2002 and opened few years back here at the Philippines. It became a national craze when Red Mango opened it’s first store here in the Philippines at SM Megamall. People wait in lines just to get and taste this well-known yoghurt store in Korea and even in New York.

Last Wednesday, my sisters and I got a chance to eat my favorite yoghurt once again. Let me share it to you guys what we had.

Mine: Original yogurt with Dezato mochi balls and Cheesecake

My sister's: Original yogurt with Chocolate chips and Dezato Mochi balls

My other sister's: Original yogurt with Almonds

I never get tired of eating it again and again. If ever Red Mango is the only dessert store in the world, I can live with it! I swear!

Till next time, Red Mango! I shall see you again! :)

Dianne's Surprise! :)

As you may know yesterday was my birthday. When I woke up yesterday, I did my daily routine before going to school. I took a shower, folded my blanket and look for a clothes to wear. When I can’t decide what to wear to look “sosyal” for our project anymore, I went to my sister’s room to ask for advice. Surprisingly, as I returned to my room, I saw Dianne Uy! I was surprised and coudn’t believe that I’m seeing her right infront of my eyes at an early time of the day and infact that she was at my bedroom! She surprised me with a Conti’s cake and a pasta she made! I was overwhelmed and deeply deeply touched! She even gave me a gift from Hong Kong! I can’t ask for more! She really made my day! I love love love her so much!

Dianne Uy or “Didi” is my bestfriend, my co-surname, my closest of the closest friend and my back to back (B2B)! You may ask why back to back right? Let me tell you this story back when we were 2nd year high school, we played a game called the boat is sinking. The game is about grouping yourselves to a certain number of included people that the host ask for. Back to my story, we were asked to group ourselves in a certain number and three of us were left hanging searching for an available slot. One group was asking for one more person. Suddenly, the 3rd person that was left was fast running towards the asking group. Dianne and I were left and lost the game. That’s the story why we called each other back to back because we never leaved each other’s back! I’ve known Dianne since grade 3, we were friends back then but I never imagined that we would be this close now! No one can set as apart and we’re always here for each other. She never leave me or leave me hanging alone. I love her very very much! Words can’t define my love for her, that’s how big it is!

Dianne's surprise!