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!

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.

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. :)

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.