Across Five Aprils

“Don’t expect peace to be a perfect pearl”.

Across Five Aprils is about the coming of age of a young boy named Jethro during the chaotic American Civil War.

Characters. Some favorite characters of mine are Shadrach and of course the lead character Jethro Creighton. I fell in love with Shadrach because he was so poetic, and also because he respects education so much – of course he’s a schoolmaster so what do you expect?

If you don’t want spoilers, then I promise I’ll try the best I can to not give you any specific hints regarding the whole storyline. That would be quite difficult anyway, because as the title suggests, the story runs for five years. In all fairness, the story proved very difficult for me to read at first.

The American Civil War. First, I’m a Filipina, so even if I should know just a little about the American Civil War, I’m so sorry I don’t. I admit, I must read and study more about it but I still have a looong way to go with regards to my own country’s history, so it’s really not a priority. That’s why this book is so perfect to me in so many ways, because it not only entertained me, touched my emotions, and let me fell in love with it, but it educated me as well! I didn’t know a thing or two about the American Civil War, but because of this book, I’ve learned a huge chunk of important history – through a young boy’s eyes.

Yes, the book’s a creative part fiction, part non-fiction. It’s a Newbery Honor Book as well. How did I come across this book? It wasn’t required, that’s for sure. I just found it myself. I read somewhere that missing reading the works of Irene Hunt is a big loss so I added her up to my never ending reading list. Not to mention that I’m also thinking of adding all the Newbery Honor Books as well.

We can’t read everything we want right? We can never have enough time, but we could try choosing the ones worth reading.

Read more »

What's Inside My Bag (2011, Bag A)

 

First off, some yummy pictures of my bag:

This is the bag I am currently using. It’s kinda cheap. I bought it at Greenhills for 300php. 

It’s transparent, which I like, because I love strutting my stuff. I just fix it in a way where I could carefully hide my wallet – it’s empty anyway. Haha.

Here's a peak of what's inside:

-my notebook (It’s the sky blue one, with pink hearts on it.)
-my trusty planner (I can’t live without it. Colored gray, with brown garter. It also has an etching of a tree with a bird in it, though it’s not seen here. )
-the book that I’m currently reading (Soul Mates, by Thomas Moore. MUST READ. <3)
-reusable shopping bag with cute dots (I carry this around for emergency purposes, like when I have to borrow a lot of books, and it doesn’t fit my bag, or emergency groceries, etc. It’s folded inside a cute little bag, but it’s bigger than my actual bag when spread out.)
-my wallet (It’s midnight blue, with silver details.)
-my pencil case (It’s the black one with the Hello kitty design. It’s not that cute, and I’ve been meaning to replace it for quite some time now, but whenever I think of how spacious it is, how well my long pencils fit in perfectly, and how many pens it can hold…I change my mind)
-a plastic container (I fill it with different snacks. One day it’s filled with peanuts, and then the next day with cookies, and the next day with chocolate. I don’t leave it empty, because I’m always hungry!
-my perfume (It’s Remember from Bench.)
-a Hello Kitty purse (It’s where I keep my MP3 player and earphones)
-my MP3 player and earphones
-a small container of petroleum jelly (for dry lips)
-my keys
-my Hello Kitty coin purse (This is where I keep my coins, loose change, and the money I need for transpo, so I don’t need to take out my wallet every time I have to pay for a jeepney or a tric fare.)
-my pink calculator (I suck at Math, haha
-and lastly, my super filled make-up kit which contains the following:

1. Avon Simply Pretty Fresh Radiance Make Up Base in Pink Glow
2. Avon Smooth Mineral Powder Foundation in Almond
3. Avon Simply Pretty Shine No More Dual Powder Foundation SPF 13 in Light Beige
4. Avon Simply Pretty Lip and Cheek Tint
5. Avon Simply Pretty Cheek Color in Rosy Cheeks
6. Avon Ultra Moisture Rich Mousse Lipstick in Delicate Pink
7. Avon Moisture Therapy Lip Balm
8. Avon Simply Pretty Lipstick and Lip Gloss Duo in Rockin Rouge
9. 2 small trial lipsticks of Avon Ultra moisture Rich Lipstick in Knockout Pink and Charged Berry
10. Ever Bilena Pro Eye Color Liquid Eyeliner and Mascara in Black
11. Fashion 21 Eye Liner in White
12. Evera Eye Pencil in Brown
13. A blade to style eye brows
14. An eye shadow brush
15. A Hello Kitty comb
Hope you enjoyed viewing what’s inside my bag! Cheerio.

P.S. just in case you’re wondering, I’m an Avon lady. Haha.

Read more »

New Year, New Goals

 

Photo courtesy of i can read.

Gosh I have so much planned up for the New Year, but first things first. Here are my plans and goals for the year:

1. Finish college. This is my first and foremost priority this year. Everything comes second after this. You know how much I love my school, and how much I super love learning new things, but I guess everything must come to an end. After I finish my undergrad, I might study some more, earning a Master’s degree after this, but my undergrad course, ultimately must come to an end already, like, right now!

2. Be more creatively crafty! These are the things that I have to get my hands on (again, or for the first time!). After my graduation, that is. Together with job hunting – which I think I don’t intend to do right away, I would have a gazillion hours free to do these things again; as I haven’t done so for a very VERY long time!

·         Art Journaling

·         Amigurumi

·         Felt Cakes

·         Artsy Origami

And it’s not just crafts that I’m looking forward to do more. It also includes all the artsy things that I haven’t been able to do, like photography, vectoring, cg, and of course the improvement of my web design and KD.

3. Fix my headquarters. I've been planning to fix my room since forever. Remember this post right here?? Yeah. That long. O_o I'm still staying at my 'rent's room. Would you believe it? Saves us a lot of electricity though. First on the agenda is to get it painted, of course! Cleaning up all the clutter, especially inside my closet – because only then would I be able to think decently of what I would wear every day; kfashion, kawaii, hime gyaru, old school, here I come! I bet I would be the happiest girl alive on the day that I get this done!

4. Fix myself. Boost my intelligence. Boost my self esteem. Boost my finances. 2010 was a lucky year for me with regards to book-hunting. I've tidied up my booklist and was able to read most of them. Also, I've mastered putting on my own make-up in a way that would cover up my acne marks --which I need, until I get my marks fixed professionally by a dermatologist (when I save up enough moolah for that). I also learned how to do this in kawaii fashion - with the hime gyaru look (in my own style!) I have a long term plan: Face first (almost check!); hair (I have a dandruff problem, an allergic reaction I get from cow’s milk); teeth (I’m going to save up for veneers or braces, my mom promised she’d help me so yeah!); body (Finally, after that belly dancing classes that I took, my waistline’s finally shrinking!); and then overall health and well-being (I’m gonna research on a healthy diet after the age of 25, maybe I’d start to be a vegan but I would like to enjoy food more before that, haha!).

As I said, the face phase is over, so now I've moved on to the hair part. I've learned how to shape my own eyebrows already, and now I'm mastering how to color my hair the way I like. I'm still exploring on colors and brands so if you have any advice regarding this matter, I will be more than grateful to hear about it. I would like to learn this to do on my own though. I want to be more in control of the way I look.

5. And lastly, I have to decide on the career that I will take after I've finished college. I'm still confused so this would require a longer time of reflection. Gahh. EVERYTHING IN MY LIFE REQUIRES A GREAT DEAL OF REFLECTING! I should learn how to meditate. Seriously. I’m thinking applying for the job that my family wants for me, applying for an artsy job at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, looking for a fine reviewer for the UP Law Aptitude Exam, and inquiring for a scholarship in Italy all at the same time, and then, the one who would reply first would be the one for me. Haha. Yeah, it’s a lousy plan I know, but it’s all I could come up with at the moment.

Anyway, that's all for now! I still have to finish my thesis. Cheerio!

Read more »

The Oh-Ten Dozen

One of last year’s top life events was …

   1. Getting published on paper for the first time. Wow, I have got to admit, this was HUGE for me. This is definitely last year’s top event for me. I was really hoping to get my name on paper, but I didn’t expect a piece of my article and my own face, especially, to get printed out on a national newspaper, and not just any paper, broadsheet at that! On Philippine Daily Inquirer!

       2. Getting to sing solo at CCP. Like getting published, this was also a biggie for me. As a singer, getting to sing at the Cultural Center of the Philippines was a dream for me, and being able to finally do it, experience it, and finally singing there at that exact moment, even if it was just in a small gallery, felt like floating in a dream.

             3. Getting to sing at PICC. Another WOW-er. I still sing at the Philippine International Convention Center every other Sunday, and it still amazes me every time I get up the stage as part of a chorus. Gosh I remember the first time, I even cried. O_0

            4. Getting to be an art researcher and writing a wall note for an exhibit for the first time. For those who don’t know yet, I’m an Art Studies student from the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, and I have been studying my ass off for more than four years now to critique and write about art. As luck would have it, I have been really fortunate to become a part of last year’s Walong Filipina exhibition, a prestigious annual art exhibit. Me and seven other students worked as art researchers for this year’s exhibit to which I owe getting published on paper and getting to sing at CCP for the first time; and of course to top all of that, seeing my article finally being published as a wall note on one of CCP’s galleries is the icing on top all of my hard work studying.

  
             5. Getting my own works of art exhibited for the first time. No, not on CCP, haha. It was exhibited at the lobby of our school’s faculty center, but of course, because it’s a first, it’s still a major biggie for me. I still got a looong way to go if I would want to pursue being an artist as a professional undertaking, but everyone has to start somewhere right? Well, this is mine. Read more about it on a separate post HERE.

 

       6. Getting a regular teaching job at a daycare center in Mandaluyong. My mother has been teaching for more than 40 years already, and maybe I might have inherited some of her talent, but I never dreamt of being a teacher not even in my wildest dreams. I don’t remember how it all started exactly, it just happened. I was just looking for a job, then they were the first who contacted me – I didn’t even apply for it! I was just PRAYING for a job to be exact then this came – through Facebook! Haha. Then all I had to do was say yes, and then I reported the next day…and then..voila! Instant “Teacher Virna”. BUT what I didn’t expect was the positive response from kids and parents, which lead me to thinking, “Hey! Maybe this is a calling? Maybe I should listen to it and consider it as one of the many possibilities that I could go for after I graduate”.  To top that, I’m so proud to say that all of my Nursery students can read now!

             7. The fulfilling feeling of teaching kids with special needs and seeing their progress no matter how small it is.  Whew, I have got to admit, teaching toddlers and Nursery is one thing, but teaching special children is a whole new issue. I have taught two special children last year, the other one’s kinda rich and I got paid pretty WELL, while the other one’s more of a responsibility that I took to contribute to the world – OR to make it simpler, I taught the other one for free. The first few days were the hardest, I couldn’t even get near at one of them so I had to use a paper puppet, but after a few weeks and a whole lot of patience, when I saw concrete improvements, oh man. I can’t help but sing my victory song: yes Lord, yes Lord, yes yes Lord, amen!

           8. Being part of two choirs, the FEAST Manila Bay’s Music Ministry and our subdivision Palmera 2’s Dos Koros. The FEAST, to those who are unfamiliar with it, is a Catholic celebration every Sunday headed by Bo Sanchez, the author of many best-selling inspirational books here in the Philippines.  The whole event starts with a Eucharistic Celebration, and ends with charismatic fun fun fun worship and a truly inspirational talk by Bo. It’s to them I owe getting to sing at the Philippine International Convention Center every other Sunday. With the other Sundays that I have, I spend it singing for our village’s local choir – Dos Koros; BUT I’m proud to say that our choir is not just any choir, some of my choir mates sing on TV masses alternate Sundays as well, and our guitarist is the lead vocals of the band Manila Bus. The FEAST was also televised before on channel 5 but I think it’s not aired anymore because they’re still negotiating on available time slots and other technical stuff. I’m sure though, that when they get this fixed, we’ll be on TV again in no time. :)

             9. Darrel finding his own way back into studying and me being able to help him already with his tuition. This is really fulfilling. Darrel has been planning to continue his studies since almost forever and now he finally got himself enrolled and I’m now able to help him with his tuition from time to time. This was definitely the best part of earning my own money.

10 
             10. Going to Palawan for the first time. I’m part of a small family (there’s only three of us because I have no siblings), and both of my parents are senior citizens already, so we don’t travel that much. This is so far, the farthest place I’ve reached alone. It was so much fun, and the trip was the last blog that I posted before I disappeared, haha. You could read the whole experience HERE.
             
              11. Doing things I wouldn’t usually do like riding a plane, snorkeling, eating a worm, learning how to ride a bike, and zip-lining for the first time. I’m the type of person who doesn’t let chances and new experiences pass. Whenever there’s a chance to experience something new, I definitely never pass out and I don’t allow my limitations and fears to get in the way. Of course I’m not ready to go sky diving just yet, but in the future maybe, who knows? I’m not ruling out the possibility. Haha. These experiences give me so much pride whenever I remember doing them. Riding a plane is not really an experience that you would call extreme, but because it’s my first time, and especially because I’m not with my parents, it was a biggie for me. Snorkeling is also not a big thing for most people, but to me it really was. I’m SCARED of water. I’m not hydrophobic as in I don’t take a bath everyday anymore, but I’m hydrophobic to a certain point, like I can’t jump into pools, I get hysterical if I get thrown into one, I can’t slide, and of course I can’t swim! But as I’ve said earlier, I never let a chance to do something new pass, even if it does require me to conquer my fears, and jumping off a boat in the middle of the sea.  My taste palette definitely doesn’t include exotic food but whenever there’s a chance to finally taste one, then I go go go! There’s a wood worm in Palawan called Tamiluk, and…well…it tasted good! Another first was riding a bike. It felt like a dream popping out of a Koreanovela when my boyfriend offered to teach me how to ride a bike. The experience was not only fun, it also gave our relationship deeper meaning, and the romantic boost it needed. Lastly, zip-lining at Bicol’s Lignon Hill was so much fun! I experienced this while sitting down, maybe next time I’ll try zip-lining all stretched-out, Superman style!

            12. And lastly, doing my best to finish my thesis to be able to graduate this March on top of EVERYTHING. This is still an on-going experience, haha. This is also the hardest. My parents have been expecting me to finish my studies already for the longest time, and of course I have been working hard for it as well. I really do hope that I’ll be able to finish my thesis in time for my graduation this March. Phew. I can do this. AJA!

Need I explain more why I disappeared for so long?? But anyhow, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for still welcoming me back. Cheerio!

Read more »

Getting Back From Almost Forever

Photo courtesy of WeHeartIt.

Hey guys, I know there aren’t much readers of KD anymore as I’ve disappeared without a single notice, just *poof*, ridiculous right? And I’m sorry. Things in my life just started to get overwhelming. You know, when you’re in a stage of transition – you’re just going along with the flow, things just start happening, and before you know it you’re faced with the hardest decisions you’ll ever make in your life, my student life at least.

Well, don’t fret because I’ve got an internet connection again. I would be back to regular blogging in no time, and I hope that some of my old readers would soon discover that I’ve started blogging again. Sigh.

This is just an intro post mind you. I’m just getting the feel of blogging again, after a long time of not doing any writing, ya know. Anyway, I’ll have to list down the things that I would like to share with you in the following days (hopefully before the New Year comes), so that I won’t forget a thing, yeah?

·         Walong Filipina Exhibit 2010

·         Getting published on paper for the first time!

·         Joining The Feast’s Music Ministry

·         Singing at the Philippine International Convention Center and the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

·         My 2 jobs, while taking Physics, Chemistry, a major subject, and thesis-writing. O_0

·         And of course, Darrel’s studying again!

Phew. See? Just listing all of the things that I have to update my blog with tires me up already. Aside from keeping up with blog posts, of course I also have to update the pages. I was almost close to deleting my pixel creations just a while ago when, after seeing them again for the first time in months, I still think they look cute so I let them stay and I’ll probably make more of them anyway, so I left them be. My affiliates would also be updated, that might well mean erasing more than half of them, for I know, I wasn’t the only one who disappeared. Only thing is, I’m active again, and they’re still not, so…I want active affies! YAY! Also, a cleaning and clearing up of the tag box is long due, as well as organizing all of my other web accounts, linking them all here, and making this a newer bigger personal web-home! BIG PLANS.

Lastly, and most importantly, God, please give me creativity and inspiration to fix up this disgusting layout. I have a lot of plans, but it would take a little time to accomplish them all, so please just wait, still love me, and stay cool.

POST UPDATE:

Okay, so I just got my MS Word reinstalled after my laptop’s reformatting so I wasn’t able to publish this post on time. Anyway, gah, I still wasn’t able to write the long-due 2010 post, BUT I’m almost finished giving KD a new layout! YEAH! I’ve already transferred most of the pages here, so I won’t need to publish in two different blogs anymore (as my content was formerly published on a different blog just carefully linked with this one, while carefully creating the exact same layout matching this main blog). Phew. I’ve surprised myself thinking that I was able to pull off that way of maintaining KD.

So, I guess I’ll be off to update my affiliates list, and by the way, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Cheerio!

Read more »

Palawan

I guess I'm gonna keep the words and sentences short for this post since I know my pictures would more than make up for the lack of it. Posts ago, before I went into a long break I told you guys about my trip going to Palawan, and like the post when I booked my flight, the tour was also a trip of many firsts. I just love first times! Don't you?

Read more »

UP Fair 2010

February 10, 2010. Just a night after Darrel's birthday and the UP Asterisk exhibit I have just posted, Darrel and I went on another date: this time, an overnight one, and attended the UP Fair's Urbandub exclusive night. Yep, it was the only night that Urbandub performed. Good night, I tell you; and a load of cool pictures to top it off. We got a nice space near the stage so we did get a clear view of the performers. I wasn't able to take the pictures of all of the bands though. There were a LOT, and there were also a hell lot of booths to check out so we weren't in the scene all the time. 

Read more »

Seeing Whole in Multiplicity

Also February 9, 2010. Right after dinner and digesting a little at Marikina River Banks, we caught up with the opening of an exhibit of an organization I belonged to – the UP Asterisk (Asosasyon ng Kabataang Artista, Kritiko, at Iskolar ng Sining at Kultura ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas). We were a little late already, maybe we arrived 7:30 – 8:30, but that's okay. I was still able to offer a song at the program even! What a surprise that was. I didn't even know I was part of the program, but anyway, I'm happy whenever I sing so that's a-okay by me. 

Read more »