My Life, My Way!

Femme GLAM Convention

Last September 19-20, 2009, I attended the first ever Femme GLAM Convention. Femme is a french word that means “female.” GLAM stands for God’s Loving and Admirable Maiden. This convention was attended by only females. Since this was an open convention, even though it was a YFC activity, I was able to join despite not being a member.

On the first day, our convention started with an amazing race. The race started at the CFC YFC Center and ended at the venue for the convention, which was at Brgy. D. Some of the activities we went through during the race were singing worship songs, drawing posters about the theme, buying ingredients in the market, riding a tricycle to the venue, naming the books of the bible, and cooking our lunch, which was the last activity in the race.

After lunch, we had our workshop activities. For me, I joined the baking/cooking workshop. During the workshop, we made brownies and noodles. Those who took the workshop in cooking/baking were able to be the first to try out the yummy noodles. As for the brownies, we ate them the next day.

After the workshops, we had an anticipated mass, all in semi-formal dresses. Right after, the talks began. Aside from the two speakers, there were also intermission numbers, and also some presentations which served as an intro or ending for the talks. There was the fashion show, the dance number, singing, etc.

Some sharing came after the talk. At about almost 10 in the evening, we started our worship which was done every before and after each of our activities.

We went back to our respective rooms. My roommates were Jessa and Cheska. We also had our frequent visitor, Carla. It’s funny in that every time Carla comes into the room, all three of us always get surprised and shocked! When it was some time past 10 already, Carla went back to her room. At almost 11:30, the three of us went to sleep.

The morning call was supposed to be at 6am. I work up at 5:30 and decided to take a bath early. By six, Jessa and Cheska woke up and took turns at the bathroom. It was 6:30 when the wake up call was heard. By then, Carla had already dropped by our room.

After breakfast, one more talk was made as continuation from last night. After the last worship, we had more picture takings and the convention ended. I was able to meet a lot of people from different places and also got to know members of the YFC. Besides that, I got to experience worshipping and stuff!!

Add comment October 27, 2009

Intramurals: Day 3

September 12, 2009 | Saturday (Yesterday) | Track and Field | Steps and Sounds

It’s Saturday and the last day of the school intramurals. We had to wake up early because my brother is participating in the track and field events and it starts at about 7 in the morning (Actually, it’s supposed to be 6 but you know, Filipino Time). I’m also cheering for the runners in our team!

Upon arriving at the oval in the Ormoc City Central School, I went up to the audience seat while my brother did some warm-up and my mother went walking around the oval. I found one of our runners, Angelie, to be already there.

By groups, people started arriving, both participants and audiences! After Angelie, who arrived before me, the next participants to arrive was Ivy then Villaruel and boaquin, who came after I did. Next came Cheyenne, Pia, and Giji. After them, Gatchalian and Penetrado arrived. Then, finally Vince and Lavine and John. Taneo and Mark also came. Last to arrive was Albiso.

We assigned the participants to the events they were to participate in. The following are the events for girls: 100 m dash, 200 m dash, 400 m dash, and 4×1 relay. The events for the boys were: 100 m dash, 200 m dash, 400 m dash, 800 m dash, 4×1 relay, and 4×2 relay. The aforementioned events are for high school and college. Elementary students do not take part in the boys’ 800 m dash and 4×4 relay.

My brother participated in three events. 100 m dash, 400 m dash, and 4×1 relay. He placed 2nd in the 100 m dash, 4th in the 400 m dash, and his team was first in the 4×1 relay where he was the last runner.

Our results (Sophomores) are as follows:

GIRLS (event - participants - rank)

100 m dash - lavine and angelie - 2nd(Angelie)

200 m dash - giji and angelie - 1st(Angelie)

400 m dash - no participants

4×1 relay - (from 1st runner to the last)Pia, Cheyenne, Giji, Angelie - 1st

BOYS (event - participants - rank)

100 m dash - vince and villaruel - 2nd(Villaruel)

200 m dash - boaquin and villaruel - [sorry, I forgot our rank but it's either 1st or 2nd by Villaruel]

400 m dash - penetrado and albiso - [either 1st or 2nd by Penetrado]

800 m dash - penetrado and villaruel - 2nd(Penetrado); 3rd(Villaruel)

4×1 relay - (I’m not sure about the runners and their order)John, Boaquin, Penetrado, Villaruel - [either 2nd or 3rd]

4×4 relay - (I forgot the other runner and their order) - Albiso, Taneo, Mark - 1st

After the Track and Field, I went back home to rest and have lunch by noon. We had lunch at my grandfather’s house because it was the birthday party of one of my cousins.

After lunch time, we sent my brother to his meeting for the knights of the altar and I went to school to watch the steps and sounds competition.

I found a seat with my friends then the program started! Haha… I made it just right on time! The competitions were vocal solo, vocal duet, and modern dance. The order of performance starts from the college, then elementary, and lastly the high school department. The sophomores are the first to perform in the high school unit for every contest.

For our vocal solo, we had Blingbling who  sang To Love You More by Celine Dion. Then, for our vocal duet, we had Sybil and Joemar who sang Lucky. Our dancers for the modern dance were Reynalyn, Grace, Analyn, Jeorji, Chara, Patricia, Christine, Bianca, Angelica, Gino, Cody, Joemar, and one other girl (sorry I forgot her name!!).

Since I had to leave right after the modern dance presentation to attend ballet classes, I was not able to find out the results of the steps and sounds competition and the overall ranking. But for sure, I’ll be posting it here.

Sorry for posting this a day late! I was too tired yesterday! Haha!

Add comment September 13, 2009

Intramurals: Day 2

September 11, 2009 | Friday | Sports

Both my brother and I went to school at about 7 am. We didn’t know there was going to be a flag ceremony because there was never one during intramurals in the previous years. But there was and gladly, we arrived just right on time then the morning praise started.

After the morning praise and flag ceremony, me, Cheska, and Jasmine immediately went over to the table tennis area. Today, Jasmine will be playing in the Girls’ SIngles while Cheska will be for the mixed doubles.

Since the room was still locked, us sophomores, spent the time waiting by playing on the extra table outside the room. I held up the net since the stand thing was broken! There were five of us sophomores, me (extra a.k.a. audience), Jasmine (g singles), Cheska (mixed), Jason (b singles and doubles), and Roch (b doubles).

Before the games started, I went out for a while to watch the basketball game in the gymnasium which is the game between Faction B versus Faction C. My brother and my cousins, Chabby and Chikoy, are playing in Faction B. After the first half of the game, I ran back to the table tennis area to find out that the Singles games have just started for both girls and boys.

With Jasmine in the singles girls, she lost against the freshman and senior but won against the junior. We had Jason on the singles boys and he lost against the senior but won against the freshman and junior. We placed 3rd on the Singles Girls and 2nd in the Singles Boys.

After the Singles, me and Jasmine went up to get some snacks from the Food Committee for the table tennis players. We went back down and offered the food to the players.

Before we went back, we also detoured to the volleyball courts and the sepak takraw court. Our volleyball  team was losing at the time we went to watch and the sepak takraw team lost and got last place overall.

Back in table tennis, the doubles games started. For Girls DOubles, we had Pinky and Rogelyn. They lost to the freshmen and seniors but won against the juniors. For the Boys Doubles, we had Roch and Jason. They didn’t lose a match and won against the freshmen, juniors, and seniors. The Girls Doubles ranked 3rd, while the Boys Doubles ranked 1st.

By this time, I found out that our badminton mixed doubles lost their match, I don’t know which one. We also received the news that the basketball game of Faction B and Faction C ended with the Faction B winning, making them 2nd place overall after their loss to Faction A yesterday. Our chess was 2nd place overall, with the juniors taking the championship. We were forfeited in our badminton Girls Doubles match because one of the players wasn’t able to come on time.

After the elementary basketball game, there was a basketball game between the Sophomores and the Juniors (Midget). We won the game making us the third overall in the midget category. Our volleyball team lost their game, we were probably last! Hahaha…

I went back to the table tennis area were the mixed doubles matches were currently playing. Our players were Cheska and Jurie. They lost to the seniors but won against the freshmen and juniors. Because of that, we ranked 2nd in the mixed doubles category.

Right after that, I went over to the gymnasium to watch the basketball game of Sophomores versus Freshmen (Junior). On the way, I found out that the badminton Girls Doubles once again forfeited their match because the same person who was late in the earlier match didn’t show up in the second match. The basketball game ended up with the Sophomores winning. Because of that we also ranked 3rd overall in the Junior category. 

I had lunch by that time. I went home together with Cheska as usual and by 1 pm, we headed back to school together.

The afternoon didn’t have much in it. First was the scrabble game where our players were Patrizia and Marian for the girls and Jurie and Glenn for the boys. Me, together with Cheska, Jasmine, Louis, Cipres, Danielle, and Cyrille stayed in the canteen. Danielle, Jasmine, and Cyrille played badminton while the rest of us chatted. By about 2:30, we heard the news that Marian and Patrizia won 2nd place while Jurie and Glenn lost at last place.

Jurie and Glenn arrived moments later and we played scrabble for fun. In the end, Jurie won with 131 points, I placed second with 116 points, while Cheska was last with 98 points.

After that, Cheska, Louis, and I walked around a bit and met with lots of other people. Among those were Fay, Cyrille, Danielle, Bianca, Jonathan, Carlo, Nikki, etc. By 4:30, Richard Gomez arrived at the school as announced earlier at lunch time. He was immediately surrounded by lots of people as soon as they noticed him around.

I left the campus at 5 pm and immediately went to the piano house. After my lesson, I went home! 2nd day of the intramurals is finally over!

Add comment September 11, 2009

Intramurals: Opening and Day 1

It’s an early one compared to the previous years wherein the intramurals would be on the third or fourth week of September, but nevertheless the same. It’s the second week of September and as usual, we open the intramurals with a mass on Wednesday.

September 9, 2009 | Wednesday | Opening

After the mass we had at 7:30 in the morning, which signals the start of the intramurals, we had our Cheerdance Presentation general rehearsal starting at 9:30 am until 12 noon. Right after that, we sophomores, had additional practice before we had our lunch.

In the afternoon, the games have begun. Although it’s still only basketball, but it’s the usual routine we have during intramurals. Our level also had more practice with the cheerdance competition.

The basketball was Sophomore versus Freshmen (Midget). We lost 49-39.

September 10, 2009 | Thursday | Formal Opening | Cheerdance

I arrived in school at the usual time of 7:00 am and I was already in my cheerdance outfit. It was a combination of violet and yellow colors resulting with us being called “Sorbetes!” Haha… Our hair was tied up in pigtails and we used high-cut shoes.

The parade started at approximately 7:30 am. There were three spots were judges were placed and we had to do our yells and cheers in these places. These places were Gaisano, Centrum, and Jollibee. By the time we entered the school gates, we made some cheers once again.

Once all participants were in order in the outer quadrangle, we had the flag raising, the pledge, the flaming torch, and finally, the formal opening by the president of our school.

Right after that, we were given extra time to have our last practices and finalization then the cheerdance competition would start at 9:30. By 9:30, the presentations started. They started with the College department, then the Elementary, and finally the High School.

When both the college and elementary departments have finished, it was time for the high school students. Among the high school, us sophomores were the first to present. 

Before every presentation, each year level would perform a drama and the topic of the drama for high school was “Women’s Issues.” Our selected batchmates who did the drama did a good job.

First was the yells, it was a good start but in the middle we started forgetting our cheers. When we started the dance at last, we were relieved, but after our circle formation, we began making obvious mistakes until the end of the dance.

After the dance, we all agreed we would have last place. We watched the other performances and predicted the resulting rank. All of us were correct in our prediction:

1. Fourth Year - Seniors | Bluffalo (Blue Buffalo)
2. First Year - Freshmen | Green Tigers
3. Third Year - Juniors | Red Lions
4. Second Year - Sophomores | Yellow Panthers

Add comment September 10, 2009

Buwan ng Wika

Buwan ng Wika 2009 Theme: “Wikang Filipino: Mula Baler Hanggang Buong Pilipinas”

August 7, 2009 (Friday)

 - Pagsusulat ng Tula [our contestant was Danielle]

August 10, 2009 (Monday)

 - Bulletin Board Contest Judging

August 14, 2009 (Friday)

 - Pagsusulat ng Sanaysay [our contestant was Giji]

Since August 3, 2009 (Monday), we have already started practicing for our Sabayang Pagbigkas (Speech Choir in Filipino). We were given our piece which was “Huling Pahimakas ni Jose Rizal” otherwise known as Huling Paalam(Mi Ultimo Adios). It was composed of 14 stanzas. We were only given the whole piece and it was up to the class to do the rest.

Other things still needing attention aside from memorizing the piece were:

• Blending of the Alto, Soprano, and Bass voices
• Formation of the group
• Choreography
• Costumes
• Props
• Scenario
• Background Music
• Humming Tunes
• Money for the costume/props/CD/etc.

Add comment August 28, 2009

Teeth | Acquaintance | Joint-Birthday

TEETH
Last Monday, July 13, 2009, at 5:30 PM just right after our gardening in Biology, I visited the dentist together with Mommy Yeng and my mother. The left side of my throat has been aching for a few days now and I was guessing it might be because of the teeth that have not been in good shape since a year ago.

Well, there were two of them. Two teeth in question and two ways to solve this problem. Solution A - I would go through root canal. But, we had already been told that if the pain persists even after a week after the procedures, I would have to get the teeth extracted. We were informed that even in doing root canal, there was little chance of success. But it was better than no chances at all. Solution B - I would simply need to get the two teeth pulled out. No more, no less.

I went with solution B. Although I have been told by my dentist that root canal would simply be the same feeling as extracting the teeth and it wouldn’t be that painful, I wasn’t sure about it. Besides, having it pulled out is faster and easier.

After the two-tooth extraction, I had to skip school the next day to rest. By wednesday, I was able to attend classes but had to be excused from the PE activities.

ACQUAINTANCE
July 17, 2009, Friday, was the Acquaintance Party of the high school unit of SPC. We had to go to school at 7 am, the usual time because they say it is a regular class day. But, officially, the party starts at 9 am. At quarter to 9, our whole class went down from our classroom to settle down in the gymnasium for the party.

The main parts of the party were the Class Presentations, Lunch, Band Presentations, Raffle Draw, and the Awarding of the Winners of the Competition for the class presentations. There were lots of exciting intermission numbers performed as well.

Most of the class presentations were dances. Only the sophomore classes had song presentations. What I noticed was that there were lots of presentations that used songs and dance moves by Michael Jackson. Especially the 1st Pilot Section of the Seniors, who gave a tribute to MJ. Our class, as well, sang You are Not Alone by Michael.

Games followed after the class presentations of the Freshmen and Juniors. We, the sophomores, won the game! Yey!

Lunch, as usual, was one of the best parts of the party! LOL! Our class had only a little food so some of us even bought some from the canteen since most of the little food that my classmates brought were desserts. Band Presentations were going on during and even a while after lunch.

In the afternoon, we continued the class presentations which were not finished in the morning. First were us, the second years, then the Seniors.

We had the raffle draw. First prize was a cellphone, other prizes were G-tech ballpens and Flash Drives. One of my classmates, Danielle, won a ballpen. A junior student won the cellphone.

In the awarding, all classes who presented were given wall clocks as a token of appreciation for the cooperation. I, as representative of my class, initially received a gray clock. But, fortunately, the president of another class in the same year level, received a green clock. He wanted the gray one so I happily exchanged it. I asked my classmates if they were fine with the exchange and they said it was better than the gray one so I’m happy they didn’t oppose my decision. (or else, I’d have to go to the other class and beg for the gray clock to be given back! Haha)

In every year level, all the 1st pilot sections won except for the sophomores. We, as 1st pilot of our year, didn’t win. So, we were the only pilot section who didn’t win 1st place! Hahaha..

JOINT-BIRTHDAY
Yesterday, July 18, 2009, Saturday, I celebrated my birthday in advance together with Donald, my 1-year-old cousin who also celebrates his birthday in the month of July.

I invited 12 of my friends to the party. Actually, I was going to invite 14 but didn’t get the time to invite the other two. Unfortunately, only 7 of the 12 were able to come. 3 had already refused the invitation due to previous appointments, while the other 2 weren’t able to come.

Those who came were Jasmine, Cheska, Mayumi, Cyrille, Bianca, Nikki, and Fay. We met at Wawa’s at 5 pm. Then, we were able to walk our way to my cousin’s house by 5:30 pm. We ate early dinner, had some desserts and a little chat. We also had a few picture takings.

Mayumi was the first to leave at 6:30 pm. By about 7:00 pm, the rest of them followed. But actually, that’s just the start of the party. My other cousins, usually the older ones, started to arrive. There was singing and dancing, while I munched down on some cupcakes! Burbur spent his time in front of the computer with our other cousins his age.

We went home by about 8:30 pm. I originally planned to type this yesterday but I was too lazy too so I had to do it today! Hahaha..

Add comment July 18, 2009

Start of Classes

A week before:
It was during a week before the year level orientation that my sister was preparing her things for Manila. She would be leaving on Saturday, June 6, with my mother to get used to the place before her classes actually start. She’s going to start college in Ateneo de Manila. By Saturday, they both left. Me and my brother were left in our grandma’s house to stay for 5 days and 4 nights.

Orientation week:
Orientation week is the week when all grade and year levels will be having their orientation. By Monday, it was the grade 6, grade 5, and year IV. Since my brother is starting 5th grade, he went to school. By the afternoon, both of us with mommy yeng went to watch BFF. We bought a bucket of chicken from Jollibee on the way home for dinner! The next day, Tuesday, I spent it inside the house we had no plans and the orientation was for grade 4, grade 3 and year III. By Wednesday, the orientation was for grade 2, grade 1 and year II. I walked to school with Cheska, who spent the night before at Mita’s house. We met Jurie outside the school and went inside with him. During break, I happened to meet KC, who is starting her first grade of elementary in SPC. In the afternoon, I continued to watch 1 litre of tears then went home at 5 pm. Mama with Papa also arrived back today. In Thursday, burbur went to school again because it’s the orientation for all grade levels and year I. Friday was Independence day so we had no classes.

First week of classes:
It’s Monday, June 15, and I’m officially starting my first day of sophomore year! I met the new freshmen and found many familiar faces, some graduates from the same school and others were transferees whom I knew in some way. Jurie was in Bartholomew but since the principal said so, I was pretty sure he would be transferred to our section, and he was 2 days after. I was elected class president and Cheska was also elected as the secretary. I’m also going back to piano lessons after the break. In the afternoon, I went to the YESCAP for the club. I’m also a member of the Math Club which is a special club in more ways than one. I’m president of the Math Club. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Classes passed by as it normally would. By Friday, we had our clubbing time from 4-5. I left the YESCAP last Tuesday (meaning I was a member only for a day!) to become a full-time member of the ’special’ Math CLub. Among the more or less 20 members of the Math Club, there are only 3 full-time members including myself. The other two being Chikay and Kathleen, freshmen students. The three of us spent the clubbing time at our room talking about random things. (Math Club members only meet every Saturday so full-time members don’t have anything to do during the Friday clubbing time)

First 2 day of the second week:
Yesterday, Monday, started the second week of classes. It was the birthday of Jill and her twin brother Jack. Classes were the same a usual, but we already have so many homework and activities. Today, Tuesday, is the birthday of Cheyenne and Rosheen, they have no blood-relation by the way. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Classes were the usual this morning. But, because of the storm, we had no classes this afternoon, which is why I’m here right now (!:52 pm) writing this.

Ate: She’s doing fine, eating, texting us some news, and just last night she said she was tried from the 1 mile run! Hahaha!

Add comment June 22, 2009

What Else…

Now, what else did I do this summer? Let’s start at APRIL!

Before going to Boracay, I really had little to do. Every sunday, we would go to different places, like monte cueva, up in a chapel on a mountain, going to tacloban and the like. After Boracay, of course, we celebrated Ate’s birthday at our house with all her friends and our relatives.

There were also the times when Cheska, Chikoy and I would go to SPC to watch Burbur and Chabby play Basketball during their practice as both of them participated in the summer clinic. One time, Roch and Sam were there with us, too. I guess nothing more after that.

As for the month of MAY, I really did do a lot of stuff!

May was the month I was going back to my other activities aside from school. I started Ballet and Piano which I took a break from during April. I also had lots of practices for the presentation which we presented at the SMI convention. Just as well, I also had to attend Math Classes.

In ballet, we performed “The Prayer” in the Visayas-Mindanao Youth Summer Camp’s little program for the end of their activity. This time, since my sister had stopped ballet (not or good, though), we had to make changes to the dance to make up for her parts. Before that, we also had a ballet workshop for selected participants of the camp. I was unfortunately busy so I couldn’t help out.

Now, one of the best part of this summer. A friend in ballet had the complete set of books of the Twilight Saga by author Stephenie Meyer. She let me borrow her books and I eagerly accepted the offer! I have finished reading Twilight and New Moon. I’ll be returning New Moon the next time we meet so I can borrow the Eclipse book. I hope to finish Breaking Dawn by the end of June!

In Piano, we just had our Summer Party last May 30, 2009 (Saturday). I was with Cheska, her brother Chikoy, and Mayumi. Too bad that Nikki wasn’t there. She was so excited about it too. Also, Hiroshi, Mayumi’s brother was sick so he couldn’t come. What I loved about the party, aside from the candies, the food, the fun and all was also because I was able to hear the Violin by Bonifacio together with his sister in the piano. It was the performance which could hardly be heard during recital and I was glad to be able to hear it this time. It was the same piece, the only difference being, his mother wasn’t able to come and sing the song.

On the second Sunday of May, Mother’s Day, May 10 was when lola and mommy yeng would get back after their tour in Europe. We prepared a treat for mama. The help I did to making the treat was mainly buying the ingredients. I had Cheska come with me to Gaisano and we ended up asking Cyrille to come along since her house is so close by!

Before the SMI convention, our circlet met every Teusday and Thursday afternoon and Saturday morning to practice our presentation, “Our Mission”. During my free time on the afternoon of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I also got to attend Math Class with Marian and Cheska along with the second years, Andrea, Genevieve and Thea and our teacher-in-charge.

One time, in the afternoon of on Friday, Sir Ricky wasn’t able to come so we decided to roam around Centrum while waiting for news if he really wasn’t gonna come. There we met with some YFC members and I was dragged along with Andrea, Marian and Cheska who were all members, too. In their center, we helped out with some little work. Joemar, also a member, came up at about 4:30. By 5 pm, I left them and headed for the ballet studio.

Another time I got to be with YFC members was when we were asked to buy some things for the our practice in our SMI presentation. Me, Marian, and Cheska were in Centrum again and we bumped into the members we met last time. This time, we went to the court in Superdome where they were practicing. Joemar was there again too. I also got to see Niña and Jamie there. Jamie and I were able to briefly talk about both of our summer activities.

The Tugonon Family also got together one time at Agalon and it was that time that Burbur stepped on three sea urchins(tuyom). All three were in his thumb and he had to frequently urinate on his toe for two days so it would go away.

During May 22, I also got to see my brother play in their Championship Game to end their Summer Basketball Clinic. I was with my sister who recorded the game. The last summer thing was when we went to Tacloban last Tuesday, May 26.

That’s my summer! … plus a few others… maybe!

Add comment May 31, 2009

SMI National Convention

Members of the Squirettes of Mary Immaculate(SMI) from all over the Philippines all gathered together for the 12th National Convention. Yesterday, May 25, 2009, Monday, was the start of the 2-day national convention. It was held at Baybayon ni Agalon, Albuera, Leyte.

Early Monday morning, I got up and prepared for the upcoming activities of the day. Mommy Yeng arrived to drive me at our meeting place at 6 am. Before that, we also passed by to get Jasmine so we could go there together.

By the time we arrived at the back of the church, where we would all meet, the others were already there. Members going to join were me, Jasmine, Mia, Hazel, Danica, Chrystel, Nicole, Cheska, and Marian. Cheska would be going after us in noon since she just recovered from fever. Marian, on the other hand, came after us in the evening, also just recovering from a fever of her own. For the rest of us, at about 7 am, we left to go to Baybayon ni Agalon.

When we arrived there, we found out that all squirettes in any circlet all over the nation have the same uniform and this fact made us quite relieved, since we thought we would be different. We were given give-aways (hand bags, notebook, and ballpen).

Breakfast was served and we ate. After that, we thought about going around the place. Finally, we decided to go to the seashore. There, we met with Ann and Nikki, members of another circlet from Batangas.

At around 9 am, our activities began. I was up for the invocation while Mia did the Pledge to the Flag in place of Marian. The morning activities were all talks about different topics, like manners, values, and the like.

By the time lunch time came, Cheska arrived and we also introduced her to Ann and Nikki. After eating, we went out to play in the swings and slides (too bad the seesaw was taken out!!).

The start of our afternoon activities was the contest of Flower Arrangement and Arts and Crafts. We were divided into ten groups, each group having 5-6 members. Members were decided at random, so naturally, the ten of us (8 from ormoc, [including cheska] and the 2 from batangas) were somehow separated. Luckily for me, Ann was in the same Group as me.

All groups assigned an odd number competed in the Flower Arrangement while those even numbered competed in the Arts and Crafts. I am in Group 5 so we were in the Flower Arrangement.

There were six in my group and I had fun working with them, though I did little to help, given my limited knowledge about flower arrangement. We finished before the time limit so I had time to get to know my groupmates. Well, it was hard for me. They all spoke tagalog, since they all came from Luzon. I could understand them very well but I guess my speaking skills don’t go to their level so I don’t speak much unless I’m asked.

The contest ended at 4:15 and the results were to be announced. We had thought we had little chance to place 3rd but it didn’t hurt for us to hope to place 2nd. We listened carefully in the announcement. 5th place wasn’t our group. 4th wasn’t either. 3rd place… still wasn’t our group! We were all happy to be able to get 2nd. But, it turned out we weren’t in 2nd place either! WE WERE FIRST!!

We laughed so hard, unable to believe ourselves, but so happy to be able to get first. First prize is P1000, to be shared among our group and 2nd prize was 500, true to both flower arrangement contest and arts and crafts competition.

The election for the next set of national officers followed. I was nominated for secretary but I lost, although I was appointed the asst. secretary. Cheska was nominated for Vice-president but also lost, although she is the asst. vice-president for Visayas.

Beach games followed after the election. We were to play in the groups from before should the game require us to be in groups. The games we played were ‘Bring Me’, ‘The Boat is Sinking’, ‘The Longest Line’, ‘Hep-hep Hooray!’, ‘Message Relay’, and I forgot the name of the other one but definitely at our place we call it ‘Fruit Salad’.

In Bring Me, two of our group served us representatives. In this case, Ate Kyra and Me. The Boat is Sinking required no groups and well, I got eliminated when we were asked to be in groups of 15 but our group had one more. I didn’t participate in the Longest Line so as to make oru nubmer equal to the groups with only 5 members. I represented our team in Hep-hep Hooray but I was 5th to be eliminated.

In message relay, I was up first in line. It was the only game we won and we had P500 for it. In Fruit Salad, the words were ‘cingco’ to the right, ‘diez ‘ to the left, ‘kinse’ to the front, and ‘bente’ to the back. (Forgive my spelling errors if any because I honestly am not sure with the spelling.)

After the games, we swam in the pool, some in the sea, and enjoyed the time before dinner. It was at this time that Marian arrived. I had mroe swimming and floating practices with Jasmine, who accompanied me with the swimming exercises and Mia who was a swimmer in the Palarong Pambansa.

By 7:30, we got out and showered then went to the dinning hall for dinner. After eating, we prepared for our presentation of ‘Our Mission”. We performed first, and we were followed by three more performances. The next two were dances while the last one was a song.

They said we were going to eat hotdogs but I never got mine, so I wonder where it went! Haha… While the others were in the room sleeping or some swimming, me Cheska and Jasmine where chatting at the side of the house where our room is. We were later joined by Marian then Mia.

Then, Marian and Cheska went to take care of something and by that time, Mia, Jasmine and I sat at the entrance where there is a sign “Baybayon ni Agalon” and continued more chat.

By 10 pm, Cio-cio arrived to pick me up and I took my things with m to go home. Upon arriving home, I couldn’t get myself to type this down so I’m writing it now. I was so tried that I had difficulty waking up earlier this morning.

I couldn’t stay in Agalon until the end of the 2-day convention because we had things to do in Tacloban. Today, supposedly the 2nd day of the convention, the rest were still there to finish the activities.

What they had planned yesterday to do today were induction of officers, awarding of prizes from the contest and games, swimming, etc. Adding up the prize from the flower arrangement and the prize from the message relay, our group had a total of P1500. Dividing it by six, we get P250 each. I left it to Cheska to get my share of the prize for me so I’ll probably get it from her tomorrow during piano lessons! Haha… I have to thank Ann for taking care of this matter for me!

Too bad I wasn’t there this morning, Jasmine said they had fun!

Add comment May 26, 2009

Splash!

Yesterday, May 1, Friday, we decided to go to Sabin’s to have an overnight stay just to have fun and swim. So the ones who are going will be: Ate, Me, Claire, Tina, Jessa and Manel. Six of us cousins, only B-jo and Burbur didn’t go. We met at the Aviles’ house at 2 pm. At about 4 pm, we left for Sabin’s!

When we arrived, first thing we did was… EAT! Hahaha.. Okay, while and after that we set up the room for our things and got ready to swim! For swimming, only Tina, Jessa, Me and Manel are swimming because ate and Claire couldn’t.

The four of us were swimming (in my case, learning to swim… AGAIN!). I can not anymore count the number of people who taught me and the number of times they tried to teach me to swim and float yet failed. I always couldn’t learn, one of the major reasons is because I don’t like putting my face inside the water! Meanwhile, my sister and Claire were walking around the hotel, taking pictures of us and themselves, and watching TV at our room.

During dinner time, Mama Abing, Papa Eme, B-jo, Mama and Burbur came to the hotel (our room, particularly) to have dinner with all of us. After that, the four of us went back to swimming. At about 9 pm, we went out the pool and got ready in our sleeping attires. Before going to sleep, we did a lot! Among them were eating (yet again), playing cards, watching Tayong Dalawa, watching Spiderman 3, watching whatever good movie we find in the television, and chatting.

That ends Day 1 - May 1, 2009 Friday.

At 7 am, I woke up. Upon waking up, I found Manel and Jessa getting inside our room from their early morning walk. According to them, Jessa was first to wake up. So, while waiting for them (Tina, Claire, Ate) to wake up, we just sat down and talked for a while. FInally they all woke up and we got changed for swimming (again, only the four of us). Well, we only got changed, we still aren’t going to swim because we will be having breakfast first.

We took our seats at the restaurant and ordered our meal. While waiting, we took some pictures at the surrounding area. After eating our satisfying morning meal, we took a walk around the place. Then, finally we can go swimming! While swimming, we encountered a family from Cebu who came to Ormoc for a prayer meeting, and at the same time, vacation.

The little child among them was Ria (short for Maria as we found out later on) who was a cute 3-year-old little girl. The four of us entertained her with talks as she equally entertained us with whatever she knows. Then later on, we took her to the ‘jacuzzi’ where there were lots of the ‘bubbles’ that she wanted to see around her. Finally, when it was time for them to leave, we quite had a hard time convincing her but in the end, she happily said Goodbye in order to see her mother’s ’surprise’!

We enjoyed our final moments of swimming fun and finally went out to shower and get ready for lunch. At lunch, the burbur and mama, papa eme and mama abing came again to eat with us. After eating, we slowly packed our things. Once ready, we played more card games and watched one last movie before we left. We left the hotel at about 1 pm. Now, I’m home!!!

Add comment May 2, 2009