I had myself a merry little CHRISTMAS

Without Dad and bro, it was indeed a little Christmas for me and Mom. But happy, nonetheless. We spent Christmas at Tita Helen’s with cousins and a few family friends. A yet another formal-themed Christmas. On the 24th, I got there on a casual attire and ended up wearing a dress from Ate Jeda, earrings from Wynn, and even got a little made up on the eyes. And then we went “click, click, camera…click, click” almost the whole time. We also did a lot of karaoke singing. We spent the night there…and then the next day as well. Went home on the evening of the 25th. All’s well that ends well.

And some shots from the streets of Vienna with a real living Christmas tree and the Christmas markets all over the city.

Christmas is coming, come play Poker, be an ice skater

My first time to go to the Sunday service at VCF since remember-when. And last night was gimik night after church. McDo@Mariahilfstr. + Köö@Stephansplatz. First Poker game, first winter snow this year (I think the day before yesterday was this year’s first winter snow in Vienna, but the homebody that I am didn’t notice that at all!), and first pic with a real, living Christmas tree.

A White Christmas wouldn't be complete without the ice skating challenge. I may look like I'm enjoying in these pictures, but I really was not. I dreaded it (I still dread it) because I fell several times! But it was worth trying, anyway.

Pinoys go Japanese in Vienna

This last Monday of November, a movie date with my brother and my cousins was planned. But unfortunately, my brother couldn’t make it because he said he has a lot of schoolworks to work on. I doubt it, but yeah, fine. We decided to just cancel the movie date. Luckily, we bumped into Kuya Carlo and his friend Wynn along Mariahilferstraße and ended up eating at a Japanese Resto there since it’s Wynn’s birthday. Kuya Carlo was nice enough to treat me. Aw… After a couple of hours of eating and chit-chatting, we finally decided to go home. But before doing so, we made a little fun of ourselves by going Jap! So there you go…Pinoys going Japanese in Vienna. :)

So damn addicted to PBB

Never been addicted to a show! Most of the time, the very first thing I do as soon as I wake up is to check PBB online forums. And then, I’ll end up spending the rest of my time reading these forums. Before I know it, it’s almost time for my German class. After my class, there’d be no doubt that I’d hurry to my laptop to again check on PBB.

This is so stalker-ish, but the other day I saw a link of J’s friendster account. Could you believe it, tears were falling down my cheeks as I browse the pictures? I actually cried! Gah! I know, this is really absurdity at its best! The few times that I absurdly cried over something were when I’d see pictures of Chris Tiu and when I actually saw Faust in person! But crying over J’s pictures is quite a hundredfold more tears and overacting!

Addiction for me has never been this bad.

Work it!

dear acee v. boredom is a sign of intellectual poverty. get off your butt and go do something productive. peace, man. i only get harsh with people i care about. :D but it’s true. use your head. learn something new. paint. sculpt bubblegum. carve rubber erasers. break the world record for longest paper clip chain. write a novel. whatever. DON’T WASTE YOUR BRAINS, ACEE V. i know you’ve got a brilliant nut in that cranium. WORK IT.

-Patty Ramos (via Facebook post)

That was such an inspiring post, Ms. Ramos! I’ll take it from you and be sure to really work it!

Breaking anxiety's grip

Things would always turn out good for me, somehow. I really wouldn't have gone to the party today if I wasn't chewed out by my Dad the last time I skipped on a party. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Reunion of sorts with old friends and getting to know a few other good people. We played this Ninja game after the party at the venue and in the tram on our way home.

I guess I'm just always anxious for nothing. There's always a room for breaking free! Yes? Yes!

Enjoy life!

-----

Last downloaded: (Francesca Battistelli) Free To Be Me, (MYMP) Now

Happy 21st to ME!

My first birthday in Vienna. It was anything but fabulous. I was even wearing a shirt I wore the last night. Talk about dugyot days and ambush dinner, huh? But it's just the way I like it. No party, just a few good people -- yes, family! I wasn't really planning on doing anything at all. But my parents insisted on going out for dinner. Since I wasn't buying, anyway, I gave in! Haha, I know I'm bad. :D We ended up at a Chinese Restaurant just in our neck of the woods, one block away from home.

It was interesting that the resto was also celebrating it's 21st birthday this year! Yikee! Happy 21st birthday to you, too, Zhong Hua Restaurant! Thanks for giving me my first dose of Peking duck!

Dad at 45

At Brandauer's with family. Spareribs overload, but yummy! Ordered "Schweinbraten mit Knödel". It's basically thin-sliced pork and flat-sized bola-bola in gravy. I liked it!

2 am, twice it was!

My computer clock struck 2am twice! When it’s about to turn 3am, the clock struck back to 2am. Cool. It’s the time of year when they adjust the time here in Austria (and some parts of Europe). It’s nice, people get to sleep longer.

The Symptoms!

It’s undeniable!


Early in the morning…
…woke up from a dream
…found it hard to breathe
…then, checked on my phone
…and kept telling myself this could not be “IT”


This could not really be it, right?

Plans, plans, plans

It’s really a pain in the ass when things don’t go as planned. I am so used to planning ahead, writing every single detail on my planner. When something suddenly comes up out of the blue, I get all sorts of agitation. Like how I planned to be home from September 2 to 13 (12 days), leave on the 1st and go back on the 13th. Actually, last night I was supposed to head off to the province up north. Unfortunately for me, I made some miscalculations. The event in the province down south would actually be on the 13th and so I have to be there on the 12th, which means I have to leave on the 11th. That’s minus 2 days. And also last night, to my surprise, someone called to say they’re coming over. They have something from my parents for me, which means I have to move my trip today. That’s minus 1 day, all in all that’d be three days less. It’s not that I blame anyone for it, I just feel stressed that’s all.


Having said all that, it is a mystery that I don’t see a clear view of my future. I mean, the bigger view. It is, to me, still as vague as it has always been. Being so into details makes me miss out on the main point. I guess I’m just constantly going with the flow. Wherever river I’m in right now, I hope it’ll lead me to the right sea.

Mar Roxas gives way to Noynoy Aquino for 2010

I’m teary-eyed while listening to the speech of Senator Roxas. It gave me goosebumps. I just hope that the selflessness he talked about will not be just on pen and paper. Pinas, ftw!

Adventures of the traveling feet

With the foot photo at the center (2007, one rainy and a little floody day, wearing my favorite Dupé flips) as my header photo in my multiply site, "Adventures of the traveling feet" was born. Since then, I've collected quite a few foot shots of myself.


The first one on the leftmost part was during my thesis experiment at the Natural Sciences Research Institute (NSRI) in U.P. where I spent the whole day on that lab, monitoring my experiment. Below that was a shot while riding an Ikot jeep in school. The second picture on top was taken on my way from U3 to Tita Helen's place. Right next to that picture is technically not a foot shot but a slipper shot with my legs crossed. That was one mood swing attack at Karlsplatz on a Sunday with Tita Helen and Mom. I ended up going home shortly after we arrived. :) The second picture at the bottom was on a snowy Sunday at Schönbrunn. I remember how my hands freezed and got really numb (because I didn't have my gloves and I was taking photos out in the cold) I had to really rush home. And beside that is a photo while walking on a pedestrian lane on my way home to Linke Wienzeile.


The topmost photo on the rightmost part was taken along the small alley on my way home to L. Wienzeile. The next two pictures below that was at Cagayan river and along its shore during one of my Echague home visits. Below that is a picture of my black nail polished toenails, the first time I voluntarily had my toenails get polished, dated March of 2008. And last, but not the least, is a photo of my feet donned in my Puma sneakers at the Marine Science Institute (MSI) lobby while patiently waiting for my class to start.


Because I often stroll alone and I am not so much of a sel-ca (Korean slang for self camera shots) fan, I figured that maybe photos of my feet would be just as great to capture memories. True enough, my feet always had adventures to tell.

Diego Luna

he’s coming to Manila for the Cinemanila.

He looks pretty much the same in his two movies that I’ve seen — Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001) and Dirty Dancing (2004). And the picture of Diego Luna in my mind looks like this.

Now, this is Diego Luna at 29.


In this May 2009 photo, he is with his bestfriend and Y Tu Mama Tambien co-star Gael Garcia Bernal. The latter didn’t change much from the 2001 movie. In fact, I think he looks better than before. But Diego Luna? This is definitely a far stretch from five years ago. I must say I got the shock of my life! He looked older (of course he’s older!) and different with the hair, facial hair and all. I guess I’ll never get used to his this-is-how-you-should-look-when-you’re-about-to-be-thirty look. Nonetheless, Diego Luna, you’re still the man!

Country music buff

100% certified! Never will I get tired of country music. There are actually a number of country music sub-genres (bluegrass, new country, blues country, etc.), but I can settle for just anything as long as it’s country. A few of my favorite country artists are Nickel Creek, Kenny Rogers, Carrie Underwood, Dixie Chicks, and Taylor Swift.


My first love was Nickel Creek. Back in high school, when listening to the radio was an addiction (because mp3’s weren’t that much of a fad yet and an hour of internet surfing amounted to 40 pesos), Nickel Creek’s “This Side” was played on my favorite radio station. Upon hearing the first few seconds of the intro, I was instantly mesmerized. It was love at first hear and it was the first song I remember acknowledging as my favorite song.


Including Kenny Rogers on my list is a no-brainer. He’s a legend in country music. “Jesus Take the Wheel” of American Idol’s Carrie Underwood was love-at-first-hear as well. But it was not until I discovered Dixie Chicks that I realized my fascination with country music. See, I’m walking down on memory lane here. I actually can’t remember where and when did I first encounter Dixie Chicks….I really can’t. But I think it was their song “Lullaby” that started it all.


Taylor Swift was my latest favorite. This one’s self-discovered. I think I was searching the Internet for the top 100 country songs (since I’ve already known my being a country music buff) when Taylor Swift’s “Our Song” was on the Top 10 list. Again, it was love at first hear. And then months later, Swift conquered the Philippines with her “Teardrops on My Guitar”. I never heard “Our Song” anywhere here, though. And eventually, “Love Story” and “White Horse” came.


And the rest, as they say, is history.

I think I am

I am a self-confessed anti-social. Relatively, at least. Compared to most people I know, that is. Of course exclude social networking, count that out. I mean, I practically socialize with different kinds of people one-on-one, but being in a crowd of more than 5 freak my brain, stomach, heart, and every organ out. Okay, maybe I am exaggerating but I’m trying to be serious. I don’t know, I just got used to being so immersed in the things I do alone and eventually I ended up living to love it that way. Listening to music, surfing the internet, playing the piano, reading books, playing the violin, watching movies, watching TV, walking, jogging, strolling in malls, gosh, even cleaning. I basically enjoy all these things when I’m alone.


There’s this one time when I bumped into someone in my neck of the woods during one of my violin lessons at the U.P. College of Music and she was like, “Where have we met again?” Major ouch. And so, I told her we’re actually neighbors. Can you imagine? Our units are merely 10 meters apart and we’ve met maybe twice or thrice. And I’ve lived in our compound for more than 3 years now, yet she barely knows me. But I know her, you know what I mean? God, that further affirms my being a sociopath…haha, kidding.

Transition state = high energy, PV = nRT

Today on Facebook, my college batchmate posted a link to her new blog entitled "transition state = high energy".

That definitely caught my attention obviously because I think she got the idea from my comment on her post. :)

In a chemical reaction, it is in the transition state where the highest energy is needed.

Similar to life, whenever there is a transition taking place it takes a lot of energy to cope with the transition. Be it a transition from school life to work life or from bum life to work life.

Also on Facebook, I remember a friend posting this as her status:

It's no surprise that I figured that outright (hello, chemistry major!). And I love the statement! This is from the ideal gas equation PV=nRT, where P is pressure, V is volume, n is the number of moles of gas, R is the gas constant, and T is the temperature. Do the Math and you'll find out that "nakaka-[nRT/V]" translates to "nakaka-PRESSURE". This friend is studying for her upcoming board exam and trust me, I can completely sympathize with her.


I hope I'm not making noses bleed here... :)

Injecting some foreign language phrases into my vocabulary

To start off, my favorite Waray word is “ambot”, which means “ewan” in Tagalog. Having two Waray friends as my closest friends in college didn’t help me much in learning the language. Not that I’m not interested or anything. It’s just that we always talk pretty much in the same language, either English or Tagalog. And so, sad to say, “ambot” is the only Waray word injected to my vocab.


In contrast, having an almost 4-month vacation in Austria and being able to mingle with people of different nationalities there, I’ve learned quite a few of the basic phrases in various languages aside from German.


TURKISH
Nasılsın? How are you?
Iyi. I’m good./I’m fine.
Para yok No money
küçük small
büyük big

SERBIAN
Dobar dan! Good day.
Kako si? How are you?
Dobro. I’m good./I’m fine.
Šta radiš? What are you doing?

ALBANIAN
Mirëdita! Good day.
Si je? How are you?
Mirë. I’m good./I’m fine.
Faleminderit. Thank you.

Baklava — My classmates often mention this in class. I’ve known this as a kind of sweet/pastry but I never got to see nor taste it.


DISCLAIMER: I am only writing according to what I remember having learned from my classmates. Ergo, I am uncertain as to the accuracy of the aforementioned words and letters/characters and their corresponding translation. :)

Chris T. on Twitter!!

Eeeekkk! Oh-em-gee! I am now following Chris Tiu on Twitter. How cute. :o

I'm free

It puzzles me how I get weirder everyday. Like how I looked like I got my dream job as I went out of the Marine Science Institute building today — teary-eyed, smiling face and all. Man, I know it’s nuts but I was really elated a while back after my meeting with Ma’am Gisela. Totally unexpected that it turned out perfect, just not the way I imagined it would be. And soooooo, I am soooooo freeeee!…Oh, and jobless, by the way. :D

Ouch!

My back…my shoulders…my arms…my neck! Shouldn’t have practiced playing the violin that seriously. I didn’t push myself that hard, did I? See, I’m trying to play it perfectly but I ain’t perfect. Sadness. If not for my aching body parts, I would have played for an hour more or so. Good luck to tomorrow’s class!


Plus, I’m sick. Blame it on rainy days. This better be not THE virus that’s H1N1! I’m crossing my fingers…

The chicken in me

Just what is it with me?! After all my melodramatic overanalysis of things, crossing Rubicons and stuff, I ended up chickening out in the end. Booooo! Loser. I’m guilty as charged!


After 3 days at work, I decided to pull the plug. As to why I did it? It simply does not suit me and feels like I’d not be happy doing that job for a year. Maybe I can’t put up with the challenge of a project as big as it is or maybe the people, heck. Anyway, I know that in the future I’d be sorry I turned it down. I’ve had my dose of wasted chances. As a matter of fact, thinking about the past year, I realized how unthinkably I’ve passed up several opportunities. However, I’m more attached to the present than neither the past nor the future.


It’s actually hurting me that I can’t think of anything at all that I really want so bad in life. I came across this article that says,

True satisfaction comes from doing what you know you were created to do.

But the question lies on what am I really created to do. Still need to do some soul searching.

Happy birthday, Chris Tiu!

July 15.

Cracked nail and brain explosion

Overslept. More or less, I had about 13 hours of sleep last night. That’s to make up for my sleepless night the day before. Had to rush for my violin class so I merely slipped into my flip-flops and forgot that today is a lab day. Good luck to my feet! Well, starting yesterday everyday would be more or less a lab day except for weekends.


On the way to class, I noticed my cracked index fingernail. Wuhuhu, thanks to violin, which I’m loving, come what may. As soon as I make my first step inside the College of Music building, I can already feel the music! C’mon! Hearing the sounds coming from various instruments while walking along the hallway and corridors, wow, really puts me in high spirits. That’s why I always look forward to Tuesdays because of my violin class. Now, just how great is that? Save for the hassle of carrying my instrument in a jeepney. Still, just the same, no big deal for the hassle. 30 minutes of playtime is just awesome, getting better by the minute.


Enough of my cracked nail. The first two days of my future job was a blast! I say future job because it’d not be official til Thursday. Tomorrow’s Maria’s last day. Hopefully, I can make it through the hang-ups and eventually get the hang of it. Haven’t really felt the boss, though. I only met her once and she will not be visible at work til tomorrow. Oh, shoot! Which means…when she get back on Thursday, which is my official first day at work, I’d finally “see” her! And…she’ll finally have the chance to ambush interview me! Brrrrr…goosebumps! Back to my first two days, I was really overwhelmed by the responsibilities of my position. Information overload was the name of the game. In between Maria’s discussion of things, I find myself either spacing out or almost passing out. I was exhausted to death that for almost 8 hours a day for 3 days I was being told of this and that and these and those. Yeah sure, there are some of those things I already know of, but still there are more things that I need to familiarize myself with. That makes me think twice about doing this job. Yet another aversion to newness attack. Good luck!

Might be crossing a different Rubicon

Change of plans? Maybe. I’m at a loss.


I can’t believe I’m actually drinking coffee right now and planning not to sleep just to do some researching (yahoo-ing, I typed on the yahoo search bar) on “isolation and purification of bioactive compounds from marine organisms”. This is ludicrous defined! I thought of how ludicrous it is just now that I had to stop my searching (I’m only on the 6th page, item #1 of all search results: 51/38,200 results. Uh-oh. Sheez, I’m not planning on looking through all those! Maybe I should stop at page 6 while I still can.) and take time to blog about it.


It has been a long time since I last did this kind of academic routine. And my facebook status?

“can I really say goodbye to bum days??”

What what what? Starting yesterday, life’s giving me merely three days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) to savor my freedom. Since I left my last job (which was mid-December of last year), I have been ultimately on a holiday-freeday-happyday mode, however you may call it. (That includes learning the German language and how to play the violin.) Might be hard to get it out of my system…but, bring it on! It’s just that things turned out to happen so abruptly — almost shocked me to death! Here’s how…

July 7, Tuesday
- received an email from Matet that there’s a job post at the Marine Science Institute for university researcher position

July 8, Wednesday
- thinking time…

July 9, Thursday
- finally sent an email of application to Dr. Gisela Concepcion
- received a reply from Dr. Concepcion telling me to see her Friday morning at her office
- started to research on the Philippines PharmaSeas Drug Discovery Project

July 10, Friday
- got interviewed by Dr. C. for I think less than 2 minutes, with asking my general weighted average (GWA) as the highlight of the “interview”. Here’s a paraphrased summary of our dialogue.

Dr. C. : You’re Raphlin?

Me : Yes, Ma’am.

Dr. C. : Yes, ok. Here’s Maria. She’ll show you around and tell you the things you need to know. Ok, so what’s your grade?

Me : (Ano daw?! Anong tanong? Grade? Oo, grade daw. So GWA? Oo yata. Ah wait…ah ok. Ngayon ko ba kelangang sagutin? Andami kayang tao dito…si Sir Gino, si Sir Louie, at kung sinu-sino pang di ko kilala. Capital O-M-G! Ang alam ko ambaba ng GWA ko eh…ano nga? Ang alam ko nasa recommendation letter ko yun from Ma’am Amor…wait…ah ok.)

Me : Ma’am, GWA is *.*

Dr. C. : Ah ok, pasado naman. Ok when can you start? If possible, sana ASAP.

Me : Ok, Ma’am. I can start on Monday. (Shoot! Sure ba ‘ako?! Bahala na.)

Practically, it took me about 10 seconds to answer the killer question.


Now I’m thinking if my getting that job was matter-of-factly and deliberately thought over by Dr. C. I guess not. Who knows? She might just have been preoccupied by a lot of things that day. I really wanted to tell her that I don’t have enough experience in bioassays and stuff and ask her if that’s fine. Not a chance. It’s really weird that I’m hoping for a reverse of fate that would disqualify me for the job. Feeling the pressure of having two of our chemistry instructors as workmates and considering how big (!!!) the project is, I can’t help but be browbeaten. Ok, so I’m chickening out and all, yes. Nonetheless, I have to constantly remind myself and accept the fact that “Hey Raph, this is the next level, this isn’t high school nor college anymore.” You have to STEP UP! As Melai puts it,

“Wala ng madali sa mundo.”

In reality, my problem may just be a grain of sand in a sandbox-sized problems of the world and I may be overanalyzing things here, but that’s the most rational thing I can think of to simply say to myself, in a consoling manner,

“You can do it!”

…and frankly,

“C’mon, get out of the box, coward!”

I figured that I am probably scared of falling short of people’s expectations. More often than not, I’d rather not try at all than fail. I’m just not cut out for the saying,

“It’s better to try and fail than to have never tried at all.”

Passing by Papemelroti, this one struck me bull’s eye,

“Everybody makes mistakes. That’s why they put erasers on pencils.”
-The Simpsons

So much for the quotable quotes, I should get back to business. I’m crossing my fingers for this different Rubicon I’m trying to cross.

Chillin' with Guji

Saturdays and Sundays, 5pm-8pm at Mellow 94.7. At last, DJ Guji! First saw Guji in an afternoon series of ABS-CBN, Bud Brothers. His character portrayal as Rei is so adorable that minutes later I find myself actually google-ing him already. And here’s what I discovered about Guji. That he is, in fact, a DJ for real! And so last Sunday, I got to finally hear him on his show. It’s pretty much…err, yeah, chillin’ time. Although when I tuned in to the show, it’s almost nearing the end so I didn’t really gauged how good or fitting it was for me. I still have to see in the future.

Diploma

Nahaaks!! Just got this last Friday, more than a year after graduation. Who’d have thought that this piece of paper…is just a piece of paper?! And one more thing, I never thought it would be written in Filipino. :) Nah, anyway, I had it translated for my graduate studies applications.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star

I just learned how to play this song in my violin class today, which was my second session. I am so happy and I’m pretty much getting the hang of playing the violin! All thanks to my nice and brilliant teacher, Ms. Crissie. Keyword for the day: RELAX. Keeping this in mind for the rest of the session, I was able to play pretty well. In fact, the teacher teased me about playing in the recital at the end of the semester. Whoah! And I bet I’ll be playing together with 7-year old kids. No way! Haha. But of course, occasional squeaky sounds can not be avoided by a beginner. :) Way to go!

Crossing the Rubicon

I am about to cross the Rubicon. Actually, I just made the first step. My Mom called and I told her that I have decided to go there by September. This is definitely a big big move in this time of my life. Uncertain if I am making a right move, I am willing to take the risk. Just thinking that I’d eventually leave Mama, Tatay, Ninang, and the rest of the gang back home makes me cry buckets already! Like right now, I am. The kind that actually hurts my eyes because of the salinity of tears…


It can be helped, but sometimes it really can’t be helped. I have to move on with my life. Spending my time more than a year after graduation without accomplishing that much makes me feel like a dumbass. Nevertheless, I am just so glad that I got to spend time with family and friends. If only I can do that for the rest of my life, not having to earn a living at all, and still live with dignity. Deep inside, I know that’s what will make me really happy…just spend time with Mama and the gang. Oh shoot…how I wish I was born FILTHY rich! But, life says it just has to be this way. Go by the book. To the letters. In time, I’ll prove life wrong.

Bratislava 2009

One Thursday afternoon in a simple and peaceful city in Slovakia.

Viva Venezia!

We were in Venice for a day last Saturday with my Mom and her friend. For me, the highlight of our trip was riding a gondola. This was definitely what I looked forward to before we made the

trip.

Aside from the gondolas, Venice offers a cinematic view that will absolutely make every tourist drop his jaw in awe. In the picture are some rowers on the Grand Canal.

The main means of transport in the main island are the water buses or what they call vaporetti in Italian. But we mostly walked around the city when we visited. One would think that a day in Venice might be too short to fully appreciate its grandeur. I couldn't agree more. I'm definitely coming back to sweet sweet Venice.

Get Lost, 50 Euros!

Watda-ef! Hey, I just lost 50 Euros today on the way to Mariahilferstrasse. How stupid, ja? To think that I was really tightening my belt just so I could spend less. I kept on refraining from buying unnecessary things and yet this? I can't help but sigh... But what can I do? I tend to be THAT stupid at times. Lesson learned: never EVER put anything important on the back pocket of your jeans! Last week, I also lost my library card which I put on my back pocket. Oh well, that seems to be part of MY life.

YMCL in Vienna

Last Sunday, my Mom and I went to watch Sarah G. and JLC in my much-anticipated movie "You Changed My Life" at Donauplex. Lots of Pinoys came to see the movie. I think the movie had 3 screenings, but we went to see the last full show. The movie was a yet another feel-good movie just like the first installment "A Very Special Love". But the experience was not as great as the first one (in Pinas), were the audience interacts with the film with much much gusto. I missed that.


I also had a new acquaintance in the person of April.

Crying over photos of Chris T.

'Nuff said. Tears of awe.

Just one more month

...and I'm off! It's official. I'm flying on the 9th of May. I rescheduled my flight at Emirates from April 17 to May 9. My German course at Interface ends on the 8th and I'm flying the next day. Now, how cool is that, huh? As usual, I'm having mixed emotions. That's just so like me, anxious as always. But because I've met a lot of good people, had some fun, and unexpectedly crossed barriers, I think it'd be a little hard to leave. But not that hard that I can't leave. Definitely, I would most likely leave. Although I'm still uncertain as to what's in store for me back home. What a dilemma! But what can I do? It can be helped. This is life, just go with the flow. With barely a month left, I'm hoping for days well spent! Happy days are yet to come...

So near, yet so far

To think that Chris Tiu is merely about 8 hours (by car) away from where I am now is almost unbelievable. He's currently on training in Serbia with the Philippine National Basketball Team. Now I'm thinking of flying (or even driving) to Serbia. Haha, wishful thinking. On second thought, back in Manila, he's just a walk away (U.P. to Ateneo) and yet I've only seen him once. But I was just really amazed that he's really in Serbia!!

Breaking barriers

Something that's so unlike me happened today. Well, not exactly. Problem is, it's hard for me to say "no" to someone. When I'm in a situation where I need to decide immediately, I just can't say no! I hate it. I'm really skeptic about new acquaintances, but unexpectedly, everything went smoothly. I went to a new friend's place, ate some snacks and had a good chat.


I'm still working on breaking language barriers. Wish me luck!

Am I in my grade school years?!

Really feels like in grade school, yes, my German class, especially today. I can't take it that I had to write on our textbook, "Ang pointless ng tinuturo, pang-kinder". Who wants to be complimented when you're actually being praised for answering a question like Euro 4.69 + 0.(something)? Oh c'mon, give the kids a break. I just have to endure it til the end. Nevertheless, learning German is still interesting. It's what I'm there for anyway. So why bother with the grade school stuff. Treat it as part of the fun!

My bro's high on FrancisM

May I just say that. It has been a week already since FrancisM died. Before he died, me and my brother were already following his blog, seeing his pictures while he was still doing his chemotherapy sessions. We were even planning of collaborating with his "3 stars and a sun" business. In fact, my brother sent him a message (weeks before he died) via his multiply account, but we never got a reply. Turned out, he was really having a tough time already.


And so when he died, we were somehow affected, especially when you hear it all over the news on TFC. My brother was really into it that his overnight playlist consists of FrancisM songs that he's been playing out loud all throughout the night. C'mon. Thank God I still manage to sleep well.

Deutschkurs

For a month now, I have been studying German at Interface in Schaumburgergasse. I'm glad to have met new people of different nationalities. Our teacher, Margarita, is from BULGARIA. The rest of the class include Antigona of KOSOVO, Jalena, Maria, Vladan and Anita of SERBIA, Kiranjit of INDA, Nick of AFGHANISTAN, Emere, Abdulasis, and Elias of TURKEY, Ashkan of IRAN, and John of PINAS. I'm somehow getting used to the language that I can actually communicate with them a bit. It's quite a relief though that I have a Pinoy classmate and there's Nick who speaks English.

And for two weeks now, I have been going to another German class at AMS in Myrthengasse. This class is likewise a "United Nations" group, but a smaller one. We're seven in class and we have two teachers in this class: Mag. Munteanu and Herr Nikola. Four of my classmates are from TURKEY -- Özlem Chatoglu, Havva Aydin, Rahime Avci, and Hanifi Gökçen -- and one is from MACEDONIA, Arben Jasari. The other one skips class a lot and so I didn't had the chance to remember his name and where he's from. Rahime and I are the oldest in the group. Yesterday we had our second exam and I got a 30/30. I also got a 30 in our first exam. The youngsters were amazed.Haha. Although I think that the exams were relatively easy, I'll admit that I'm not as good as the rest, except for Rahime, in speaking German. Way to go for me.

So there, Deutshckurs is the only thing that's keeping me busy. I'm still waiting for some things, hopefully more interesting things, to come along the way.

Snow, snow, (delete: go away), come again another day

We're off to Tante Silvia Mondel, my parents' employer. My new pair of boots...ready to run! Didn't really expect that it'd snow today. You can really see the "drops" of snow smack into our car's glass windows. When a drop reaches a surface, it looks like a pinch of crashed ice. And when these drops accumulate, now that's snow time! Too bad, I left my cam at home. Technically, this is not my first time to experience snowfall. The first one, we had to go up to the mountains during spring time.

Tante Silvia gave me a necklace she got from Peru. It's made of seeds -- all "natur". I've got something for keeps. :)


Hope to see the snow again in the next few days!


.Raph.

Continuing my first week in Vienna

23-Jan, Friday
Oh, after all, the reason for my wardrobe shopping yesterday was today's walk to Vienna University of Technology (Technische University, TU: read as "te-u"). Pseudo-scientist that I am, I insisted on going to the university on my own to experiment on my yet another adventure. Subtly worried, my brother suggested that I should just take the U-bahn (in Philippine context: MRT). Still, I didn't waver. So I went straight ahead, just as he instructed me. He told me it's on the right side of the road and when I see cars coming from different directions (maybe an intersection) I must be in close proximity already. Upon seeing vehicles from different directions, I looked around but didn't see any sign of TU. And so I turned right, the nearest direction I could see. Alas! Across the street, I saw it! Only to find out that the Institute of Chemistry is in another building. I got to ask the desk officer and he wrote me the address. Guess what? I was fortunate enough to interpret his directions accurately. He can hardly speak English, that's why. In about 4 minutes I'm walking through the door of the building I'm looking for. Hooray! And then I asked for that particular department I'm looking for. Again, damn language barriers! But I got the message, nonetheless. The desk officer answered me in 6 words -- "stairs", "left", "automatic door", "4th floor". Yes, sir, thanks a lot. To be fair, it was clear enough. All I had to do was to follow the exact words he mentioned and voila! I'm on the right track. Who would have thought that I'd meet yet another obstacle? The door won't open. It says "ziehen", which I know means "pull". But the strength of my arms doesn't work at all so I figured I must be doing the wrong thing. So there I was looking around somewhere for some clues. I found one. I found a switch, but I can't understand the words written on top. I had to ask my brother for it. He told me to press the switch and open the door simultaneously, which, by the way, I can't do at all. Maybe because my arms are quite short. Have I mentioned that there are 3 swithces in there? Left with no choice, I pressed all the switches! Yes! Someone opened the door for me!! Well, thank you, Ma'am. What's the catch? Here's the catch, the person I'm looking for is on a business trip and the lady told me to just come back next week. Great. What can I say? 'Twas another adventure for me. Then, I walked home.

24-Jan, Saturday
Woke up early. Dad tagged me along in his sofa shopping. We went to three big stores to look for one that fits in our place because almost everything seems to be too big. When at last we found one, it had to be picked up in the afternoon. Evening came and the sofa arrived. By any chance, did we ever remember to measure the dimensions of our cute little door? Because how else is that sofa gonna enter our place if not thorugh the main door? Nobody cared to think of that beforehand. We're all left dumbfounded. To return or not to return, that is the question. But one of us (can't remember who) suggested that we open the sofa and see if we can unscrew some parts of it to make it pass through the door. After about an hour of trying to unscrew things, everyone seemed hopeless. But after I left the "crime" scene, minutes later, they found a way to unscrew it. Yey! The rest is history. The sofa was put in its rightful place...


...but the bedroom looked awful.


Seems like this would be a never-ending makeover for our home. Enjoy!


.Raph.

Herzlich Willkommen in Wien, Raphlin!

Cheers! My first trip this year, my fifth in my lifetime. Welcome to Vienna! The last time I was here was about four years ago. This is by far the longest I haven't been here. 1996, 1998, 2001, 2005. Uh-oh, I could be wrong. I just felt like it was a long time. In any case, it's been a week already spent in an almost foreign land. I might need to backtrack a few days.



17-Jan, Saturday
Negative 2 degrees Celsius. It's a freezing afternoon at Vienna International Airport. My dad and my brother came to fetch us. Our small apartment unit was a mess when we arrived. We're doing a home makeover. What in the world is jet lag? I ignored that term for a while because definitely I'm not supposed to have one when every thing at home is not in place. So before hitting the sack, we made sure that SOME things were put in place especially the living room cabinet that we had to assemble.

18-Jan, Sunday
With our newly made-over home, this is my new personal space.




19-Jan, Monday
I woke up as soon as everybody did. One by one, I sent my parents off to work and my brother off to school. I'm home alone. Yes, the same old feeling in our QC apartment unit. Feels good.

20-Jan, Tuesday
Dad left me something to do today. He's tasked me to organize sewing stuffs into the brand new sewing box.



After accomplishing my task for the day, I immediately grabbed a plate for my much-awaited breakfast and devoured my sandwich and pasta. Yummy.


22-Jan, Thursday
Time for winter wardrobe shopping! Yiha! My brother volunteered to be my shopping buddy. Aw...how sweet. Haha. We went to Vienna's famous shopping street, Mariahilferstrasse, which is just a few blocks away from home. It's definitely a pain in my a** to buy clothes that I'm not used to wear. We spent more or less two hours trying to find a decent jacket and a pair of boots (yes, boots!!). But at the same time, it's equallt fun to try on these kinds of clothes. My mom gave us a hundred euro to spend. We ended up spending a hundred and forty for two jackets and a pair of boots. Stores close at 7 or 8pm so we just got whatever we saw at the last minute. Whew!


.Raph.