Lola Basyang

It's that time of the year again! GCI Manila South's own Lola Basyang sleepover party!! Every year, our church allot one weekend for this. After worship service, we would cook dinner or bake some pastry, even the guys are forced to do so. But this year, we pulled off a surprise birthday party for our fellow youth, Clarisse, so we had an early dinner instead. Once the party's over, we put on our coziest pj's and let our Lola Basyang (Tita Evelyn) tell us what to do. 

We had to make chili tuna pasta and bread roll. I tell you, it was the tastiest bread roll anyone could ever have. Why, you may ask? Uh, our secret ingredient... 30 hands from 15 people made it with love and their own flavor (if you know what I mean *wink wink*).

Before we devour the dishes we made... we had to sit for 'Ang Mga Kwento Ni Lola Basyang'. This year's topic: "Paano ba mangligaw?" and "Paano ba mag-paligaw?" Kabataan nowadays love this topic, no wonder. Lola Basyang told us her stories while she was in her kabataan days, how she got annoyed with all the harana, how her bestfriend fell for her, how she handled the pagkakulit of  her manliligaws, the one time someone made a huge metal thingy with 'I LOVE YOU, EVELYN', how her manliligaws compete for her attention, how she discovered the biggest deal-breaker and how she finally found the one. 

At the end of the "kwento", all of us had common ground. 

For the guys: 

"Ligawan nyo yung totoong gusto nyo, hindi yung liligawan lang dahil may gusto sa inyo." and "Wag kayong magpapapikot!" 

For the girls: 

"Kung hindi nyo gusto, sabihin na agad. 'Wag na paliguy-ligoy pa." and "Wag mang-pikot!"

Hahahaha! Oo nga naman!

After the "kwento", we played bato bato pik gambling version. Then, we stuffed ourselves with tuna pasta and bread roll before we dozed off.

Bread roll in the making

This is how it's done, baby

That golden brown goodness haha

Lola Basyang begins

Clearly, girls are way more attentive

Heart heart <3

Play money

Lola Basyang Quiz!

:D

Midnight snack!

The morning after... I'm never a morning person hahaha

Birthday!

I attempted to vlog that day but ehh *shrug*. So this is the only footage I got hahahaha. Besides nothing dramatic happened naman. On the 22nd, we had a family reunion/our great grandma's 99th birthday. Oh di ba? The epitome of ah tibay ah tao! We got two rooms at some hotel nearby, ordered pizza and chill until 3am. Oh and we got the pizza from the pizza place where my Mom had her first date with her ex-boyfriend when she was in Pampanga. And there she was, telling her tales of pagka-mahabang hair. 

The next day, we woke with no sight of my parents. They went to Tarlac to visit a project site. So we went to my Uncle's place and gained "Happy Birthday, Chel", headed downtown to get our nails done, and ordered greasy burgers. 

If you ask me, yes, I did have a happy birthday. :)

I Believe

The One When I Talk To The Camera

I'm annoying.. and weird. Sorry.

The One When I Got a Swollen Face

Out of my 3 weeks stay in Dubai, I spent one whole week suffering with a swollen face. My front tooth got hurt really bad that I started crying. My Auntie made me take 2 tablets of Panadol and some antibiotic that my Auntie took when she had her operation. Apparently, that's not the best idea. After having those medicines in my system, I started palpitating and I can literally feel my face swelling. The pain never went away. Later that night I felt feverish and my face was bigger than ever! I again took a lot of meds, with prescription this time, and the swelling wore off after 5 days. 

We went to ride Wonderbus on my third day of having umphh face...

Types Of People in Coffeehouse

Now that few coffee shops made it a tradition to almost force everyone to purchase as many as beverages as they can within the month of November to January just to avail a free planner, coffee lovers and pretend coffee lovers fill up every space in coffee shops. 

I, for one, am not a coffee lover. The last time I drank coffee was 5 months ago, but I love coffee shops. I rarely go to coffee shops with anyone though, I'd rather be with no one but myself. It's one of those "date yourself" moments that I love. I get to sit by the corner, read my e-book, let the coffee aroma fill my system and my most favorite part... people gaze.

If you read some of my previous blogs, you might know now that I love watching/judging people and as I watch them, I create back stories of them in my mind. But this time, I'm just going to scratch the surface and distinguish the types of people in coffeehouses.

1. Business meeting

You'd see various types of business meeting in a coffee place. There are those who have their laptops, iPads, blueprint and papers on the table while pulling off the most stressed out face. While there are business meetings where you just see one or two people speaking to the other, with a product and a folder on the table. 

2. "Let's have coffee some time."

You know where this is going... coffee date. There are certain stages: (1) Awkward coffee date - this is when someone invites you for coffee and yet you barely know him, so there's pretty much nothing to talk about (2) "Tell me more about you" coffee date - the getting-to-know level of flirtationship that you see either of the two looking so attentive and eager to hear the other one has to say (3) PDA coffee date - when they make the single people in the coffee shop feel miserable about themselves (4) Hubby & Wifey - "We've past those stages. We're here for coffee."

3. Alien

Foreigners are everywhere and apparently they love coffee. They would walk in and be all like "I'm so tall and white. And hey, I'm not Asian." or "Look at how I cute I am and holding this cup will make me cuter! Kawaii!"

4. College Students

"Walang wifi sa dorm. Starbucks na lang tayo." 

Students would take almost half of the place. They'd sit comfortably on the couch and even on the floor, having their laptops, handouts, books, highlighters and their annoying classmates. Guilty as charged. 

5. Too cool for school

While students cram up inside the coffee shop, there are those who puff their lungs out outside. "Duuuude, pare! Grabe! My life's so effed up!" "Can you believe him? Omg. Like, sabi nya I'm too conyo for him. Like, I'm so not gonna make him kopya na my Algeb exam. Ugh!" *smoke* *smoke* *smoke* #lungcancer

6. Such a loner 

Soul searching. Char. People buried their faces in their books or laptops as they shut the world around them and could stay in the coffee shop for half a day,

What Are You Grateful For?

It's that time of the year when the western part of the globe celebrates Thanksgiving Day. In the country I live in, we don't have that tradition of having to prepare roasted turkey, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, stuffing and any other dish Thanksgiving Day requires, having to gather and sit around the table with family or friends and have everyone in the table say what they are grateful for. 

As for Filipinos, we would just go on with our day knowing that it's Thanksgiving Day to other countries and pretend that they too celebrate Thanksgiving Day by posting a photo of their lechong manok. But despite the cultural differences, Thanksgiving Day shouldn't be an alien to non-Americans and non-Canadians. This may sound sobrang gasgas na, but we all should take a moment and ponder on what we are grateful for. 

Some may say that they have nothing to be thankful for because they think they have the shittiest life in the history of mankind, but if they just fix their minds on what they have right now, they might find hope in life after all. You see, people see their lives miserably because they take too much time paying attention on what they don't have and the problems that hinder them from living a happy life. Taking a moment to be grateful on everything God gave you, what you achieve in life and the people around you would make life easier to handle. 

Now, now... Let me walk you through expressing gratitude even for the most simple things...

I'm grateful for the life God gave me.

In general, I'm thankful that I am God's child and He gave this life for me to enjoy. 

I'm grateful for the people around me.

Having a family that molded me into who I am right now and who showed me nothing but love and compassion is the most precious gift anyone could ever have. And being able to have friends who stick by me and who I know I can trust have me feel secured.

I'm grateful that I'm physically complete.

I love watching BOTCHED, a reality TV series that reconstructs failed plastic surgeries, and looking at how discontented those people are with their body baffles me. I'm thankful that I have two eyes, one nose, one mouth, two arms and two feet and I couldn't ask for more. 

I'm grateful that I eat a million times a day.

I'm beyond thankful that I get to re-energize my body with the food I eat (almost excessively). 

I'm grateful for my dentist.

No, being grateful for your dentist isn't silly at all. I mean, really. I've gone through several root canals, fillings, x-rays and tooth extraction because of her loving hands for almost 11 years now. I love her, okay?

I'm grateful that I get to go to places.

Do you get super pissed when you get stuck in traffic? Do you just wanna tear your hair out because you're late for work or school? Get this, be thankful that you have a car to drive or a jeepney/bus/cab driver to take you to where you have to be. And be thankful that you have somewhere to go to that makes your day productive. 

I'm grateful for my dogs.

I'm grateful for the love my dogs give whenever they look at me. I know that they love me as much as I love them. 

I'm grateful that I get to be alone with my thoughts.

Every morning I have devotionals that help me go through my day and open my perspective on things that need to pay attention on. I'm thankful that I get to choose to live how I want and think the way I want.

I'm grateful for this blog.

For the times I can't say my thoughts out loud and I just need to burst, this blog was and still is my safe refuge. Mspoopypants has been with me through the highlights of my life. Thank you! 

Mindoro Vlog

Kayumanggi

AWKWARD Gives Life Lessons

Just when I thought I was just catching up with Awkward episodes, it made me reflect on how I'm dealing with rejections I got over the past months. Jenna, in the 14th episode of season 4, found out that she didn't got in to SCU. The university that Tamara and her made a college future together and where her Dad went to college. As every senior who applied in SCU got their acceptance letter through e-mail, Jenna got otherwise. It's one of those days when you got a devastating news that could change your future that'll need you to rewrite your plans and make new ones all over again. It sucks. And everyone around you judges you for your failures. It may be one of the shittiest days in your life. 

"Sometimes, things don't work out the way you want no matter how badly you want them to. It doesn't matter if you work your ass off you give an amazing interview or you have an alum parent. You still get rejected, okay? And that's just the way it is, it happens to everyone and I'm sorry but I just can't help it." -Jenna

My thoughts exactly. When you get rejected for more than ten times in a job interview, it just keeps getting better! No matter how you pour yourself out to sell everything you got, if it's not meant to be, it won't happen. But you still goes after it because you badly want it and you just can't see yourself doing anything but that.

Conversation between Jenna and her favorite author (who graduated from SCU) Samantha Perry...

S: I know you're bummed you didn't get in to SCU. But here's the silver lining, all the pain you are feeling will feel you writing. 

J: But how much pain does a writer supposed to take?

S: A lot. Being a professional writer is a freaking nightmare. It's filled with never-ending rejections. Only an insane person would pursue it. But guess what, I didn't have a choice. Telling stories is the only way I know how to make sense to the world around me. Don't you feel the same way?

Well, would you look at that. I'm writing because of the pain all those rejections brought. On a ride home from my recent job interview, I thought of a perfect blog post and I would title it 11 Times a Charm. I would write the journey to my eleven job interviews from different companies and the reasons why I thought I didn't get in. That would be make a loooooong blog post and I know it would be very painful. But hey, it got my writing. 

Convo between Matty and Jenna...

J: Matty, I didn't get in to SCU.

M: Aww. I'm sorry. I think they got their answers out somewhere because they toss a coin. Come on. You even haven't heard from the best schools yet. And you know what? I really think you dodged the bullet.

J: Why?

M: Dude, have you seen their school mascot? It's a freakin' moth! How embarrassing is that?

And even through those shitty days, there will always be people who will cheer you up and keep you to move forward. I'm blessed that I have family and friends who can be my Matty McKibben.  

 "It was then that I realized rejection is easier to accept when you're honest with yourself about the reasons why." - Jenna

Finally, here's what a sophomore, who Jenna recently had New Year's midnight kiss session with, has to say about rejection.

"You know what, you can't let some dumb people on a college acceptance board have total control over your feelings. I've been told no more times that I can count, like pretty recently. So yea, you know, it sucks for a minute but then, I get a feeling that it'll all work out. I'm just not gonna stop going for the things I want, so you shouldn't either, okay?" - Owen 

Okay. :)

Before I turn 20...

It's November? Wait, what? Did I hibernate the whole month of October? Time went swoooosh without even realizing. And before you knew it... I'm turning 20! I don't, I just, I can't. The big two zero gives me so much "Errrr you're no longer a teenager! Act your age!" feeling, and it gives me a little pressure. Notice how I changed my banner from 'MAGNETISM: A Driftless Journal of a Teenage Gypsy' to 'The Birth of Venus'? It's 'cause I realized that I'm no longer a teenager in a knick of time and I had to change my blog page banner before it's too late!!!!!!!! See how much pressure it gives me? It's too much. Too much.

But since I still have more or less 50 days before the celebration of my two decade existence, I still have the time to assess whether or not I ticked off everything from the so-called TEENAGE BUCKETLIST. 

20 BEFORE 20

1. Have an epic kiss - x

Uh, are my parents reading this? If they are, then... "Nooooo way! Kiss? Na-ah!" If not, then I would say hmmm no. I haven't had the upside-down Spiderman kiss or prom night Troy & Gabriella kiss. Maybe it's within my definition of epic, and sadly I haven't had that yet.

2. Take a Road Trip - ✓

Check! I always go on road trips with church friends and cousins, but my last road trip was beyond amazing. We had no itinerary for 3 days, we just let our feet take us wherever. And the most awesome part is, I'm with the unexpected people who turned out to be the best people to go on road trips with. (Check my Cebu & Dumaguete blog posts!)

3. Try a Food You Can't Pronounce - ✓

I can't remember if I ate something that I can't pronounce, but I'm pretty sure that I have since I eat almost everything anyone makes me eat. But I think eating adobong pagong would count. I can pronounce it but never in a million years would I find myself eating adobong pagong, but I have. 

4. Record a Cover Of Your Favorite Song And Post it On YouTube - ✓

Done! Love Is An Open Door was my favorite song at that time and I posted my own version of it along with my vlog. (starts at 3:39)

5. Go Skinny Dipping - x

Hehehehe. NO. -_-

6. Participate in a Flash Mob - x

I would love to!!!!!! Maybe sometime this month. Eh? Eh? *wink wink* 

7. Fall in Love -- And Get Your Heart Broken - ✓

Yes! It was tragic. I fell in love with Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev (a.k.a. Damon & Elena) during Season 2 of The Vampire Diaries and got my heart broken when they broke up (in real life) one year ago. Still in the process of getting over. Bazinga. Haha. Of course, I have. And I didn't regret that I fell in love and got my heart broken. Because it was a pleasure getting my heart broken by him. Char.

8. Sleep Under the Stars For One Night - x

I haven't, but I love star gazing though. But I think my Mom wouldn't let me sleep outside during cold nights. I can hear her say, "Hindi pwede. Baka sipunin ka." Hahahaha #babyfeels

9. Pull a Fun All-Nighter - ✓

Pulling an all-nighter during college was both fun and not. Haha. Fun, 'cause you get to annoy everyone who's working on their shizz and make chika. Not, 'cause the thought of having an all-nighter means that you're cramming. But I did have just pure fun all-nighter. Picture me at 5:30am in the pool reminiscing my first years in college with my friends.

10. Go Electronics-Free For 24 Hours - ✓

Thanks to typhoon Glenda last July that left almost everyone in Luzon area without electricity for 3 days or more. 

11. Vote - x

Heeheeee. Haven't gotten my voter's ID yet. Well, that I can't do before I turn 20 huh.

12. Have a Meaningful Conversation With A Stranger - ✓

Now that I think about it, actually I have. 3 months ago, I was in a room along with people I'm competing for a job position. There were four us, the two got interviewed first and there left me and a guy who's around 24-26 years old. There was the inevitable awkward silence at the first 5 minutes, until he asked me if I'm a fresh grad. It started from there, until he told me about his previous jobs, how his part at some commercial got cut off, the Stuart Edge in him as he do his social experiments and eventually gives me a life advice which I carry until now.

13. Get a Passport, And Take It Somewhere - ✓
Check. I got my passport in year 2010 and flew to Singapore the same year. And referring to blog posts below, I just recently came back from Dubai.

14. Learn To Play A Song On An Instrument - x

I tried! I grabbed my brother's guitar one morning, searched for tutorials on YouTube and I try to play 'Revelation Song'. It's not as easy as it looks. I always forget what finger goes where. I chickened out and never learned. I'll try to work on that. 

15. Get A Job. Any Job - x
You don't think I'm working on that right now? Huh? You have no idea. But before I turn 20, getting a job is my main goal. Not just any job though. I mean, there's no such thing as "any job", as if you're belittling some other jobs. If I land on something that's worth my time and effort, I wouldn't say that "I just got this job. Eh. Any job would do anyway." 

16. Write A Love Letter To Yourself. Open 10 Years Later. - ✓
Done! It's in this blog.. in my draft.

17. Learn To Have A Basic Conversation In A Foreign Language - x
I tried to learn basic Korean when I saw an English-Korean dictionary in our bazaar when I was in college. Well mostly, I made fun of how it was pronounced and never really got to learn and retain anything. 

18. Dance In The Rain - ✓
Who doesn't?

19. Date Yourself - ✓
This is something I usually do. Not because I don't have friends (I do, believe me, I do) or I love being alone. It's really nice to just go out and be with no one but yourself. It's when you shut everything and everyone out for a bit and get to know your inner goddess (oh the Anastasia Steele reference). You can check my Instagram posts for when I enjoy my solitude.

20. Learn To Cook Your Favorite Meal - ✓
It's hard for someone like me to have a favorite meal since I love every food I get. But lately, I've noticed that my grilled cheese sandwich keeps getting better. When you don't have a bread toaster, work with your favorite kawali, spread generous amount of butter on two slices of bread, toast each sides for 30 secs., put the cheese in between and voila! Aced it!


Not bad. 12 out of 20. I didn't fail after all. But those 8 items left with x, needs to be worked out on. We'll see. 

Rachel Goes to Dubai

Desert Safari

It's time to purposely be stuck in the middle of the desert! When my aunties booked Desert Safari, I didn't know if I'm excited or terrified for one reason... I'm afraid that I might puke in every corner of the the SUV. I have a low tolerance for car sickness. I once went to Baguio riding a bus and I filled 9 plastic bags of my barf. Not a good picture. I was excited because I'd get to be in the shoes of John Lloyd Cruz in his movie, Dubai, when he barfed on the sand after Desert Safari. Woohooo exciting.. eh?

We killed time at BurJuman as we wait for the vehicle that'll get us to the desert. I went piktyur piktyur by the fountain, went to Saks Fifth Avenue to find Christian Louboutin (ugggh the red soles tho!) Before we leave, I took two Dizinil tablets (counterpart of our Bonamine).. you know, just to be sure and have my family safe from my barf.

When I got out of the van, the sweet sweet smell of camel poop gave me a warm embrace. Mmm mmm! Few other tourists came, there were even two ladies who dressed up as belly dancers and I'm pretty sure they're not one of the performers. 

The moment of truth... Dizinil really kicked in. I didn't feel any motion sickness, so as soon as I assessed myself, I took my camera out and filmed the entire ride. It was fun! The rush you get as you anticipate the drop from the mountain sand is just legit fun! And the driver was very impressive, it was as if he's nagpapayabang with how much reckless he is, but that's the fun of it. When we got to the camp, I immediately went to the top of a tall sand mountain (is that how it's called?) And define nakakapagod but as you see the sunset at the sand horizon... aaaah it's just breathtaking. 

I thought the most exciting part of this trip would be me riding a camel. I take that back. That was scary and smelly. Haha. But I'm glad that I got to tick that off from my bucketlist. Half past six, we find seats, got a 20secs. henna tattoo, watched a spinning guy with a massive skirt, got bored with the firedance because Boracay's firedancers are still the best, and debated with myself if the belly dancer was a woman or a transgender. Had Arabic food for dinner and Pakistani for driver. Heehee. Dozed off on the way home. Thanks Dizinil.

@ BurJuman

The anti-social in me

#BeauteLouboutin

*angels singing*

Looks like an ordinary SUV. But wait, he's more than you can imagine char

So that's where the smell is coming from! Mmmm!

Negotiation in action

The only photo I took while on the ride

Climbing that sand mountain is harder than it looks

Camp from my POV 

Little girls must have emo moment too, okay?

Yaaay! Thanks for climbing with me, Auntie D!

Bahay kubo in the middle of the desert

Bro, piktyuran mo ko

Heehee

Take a picture with the falcon? 10 dirhams please. 

I named them Timmy and Sonia

The struggle is real

Ngiting may halong kaba

Timmy stands up, Rachel goes gaaaaah

Heeeee

Love the #ootd, my friend

One more round

Trying to act normal by awkwardly flipping my hair

3 different smiles

Camp

Ha? Sinong haggard?

Sending love with the sand to my girlfriends!

XB Gensan ng Dubai

20 secs. henna tattoo that lasted for 2 weeks!

Sheeeesh

...

Arabic food for dinner

Werk it, gurl