Okay. So I sorta complained about havin such a boring, monotonous life in my last post. I guess it's not so dull after all.

Last Saturday, we had one crazy experience. I need not dwell on the details cos it's a bit technical and a lot of it are just plain stupidity but still.. we had loads of fun. And that's all that matters (My cousins, my siblings and I)

Let's just say riding my car won't be the same for my cousins ever again.

And we discovered that cellphones with antennas still actually exist (and USED for some psychotic yet admittedly cool purpose, by the last person I'd ever think capable of highly advanced technology!)

The Philippines actually have K9's (canines) who do their jobs (not just for display purposes in malls, as I had previously thought)

On Sunday, we went down South, the country within a country, to watch the Sea Games - Equestrian. The Philippines won 2nd and 3rd places. Kudos to Toni Leviste, the only woman rider in the competition. She was 2nd to a Malaysian rider, who in all fairness, deserved it. Mikee Cojuangco didn't make it to the finals, unfortunately, because she fell from her horse during the preliminaries.

After mingling, eating, and horse viewing, we hit the bazaar in Alabang. I've never wanted to buy so many things at one time! It was then that I realized Christmas was finally making its presence felt. When I was a kid, I was only eager to open gifts. Now as an adult, I felt there was more satisfaction in getting to buy the things you want for yourself. And for others too... if you ever remember to get them presents in the midst of all those cute bags, pretty shoes, gorgeous tops, pants, and the wide selection of accessories.  

It's fun being a girl. And, it's cool being my dad's daughter.  For all the right reasons.

arakins

I spent most of my "special" day waiting. For the traffic jam to budge a bit, for the flight attendant to announce that it was time to board, and finally for me to get a glimpse of green pastures, the welcoming sight of the beach, and a whiff of our famous durian.

By the way, it was my first ever birthday that I had to buy my own cake! And it was only a slice!  I got my fave strawberry cheese cake from this cafe inside the terminal, and ate it by myself

Oh yeah! And one more annoying/humiliating experience to start my 19th year. The flight attendant who was collecting the boarding pass actually asked me if i was pregnant!! Goodness! I was wearing the maternity-looking top kasi. Hellooo didn't she know that's the in thing these days?! Grrshh. I even got that from Mango.  Crazy person (!)

Anyhoo...

Despite THAT and the heavy rains in Manila, I got home safe naman. It was even quite warm in Davao that I had to remove my jacket. Oooh it felt so good to be back.

We had dinner in Harana to celebrate my birthday. (Everyone's laughing their heads off at my preggy encounter!) I have been celebrating in that place since I was a year old! Although, they changed some of the rickety swing sets.. modernized the slides, added lamp posts..  it all looked..and.. felt the same to me.

Saturday was Sportsfest Day. Haha. We went to meet up with the rest of the family who were already playing badminton (in tourney mode). Serious talaga! They even had a trophy for the Champions and medals for the runners-up. It says at the back: Champions of the Badminton Tournament, Villafuerte Grand Reunion, 2005. *sheesh*

My mom and her partner won 2nd place. She had cramps na raw kasi. Shush. Hehehe. My uber yabang brother, who says he could take home the trophy, got i-told-you-so's instead. Hehehe. It was all good though. Everyone went home happy 

Sunday, we went to my Lolo's farm in Calinan. When we told Lolo we hadn't eaten lunch yet, he said we could stop by this place he knew that serves good food. Tantanananan. Aling Leleng's Turo-turo. Or something like that. Hay. Lolo talaga. In fairness though, masarap yung bulalo.

When we got to the farm, ohmygosh, the fruits were everywhere. We got our own fruit bags and went off picking everything in our way. Rambutans mostly. And lansones. Bayabas. Mangostene. The durians and suha weren't ripe enough though. There we were, climbing trees, eating freshly-picked fruits, and spitting the buto everywhere. Haha. Mga taga-bukid gyud. We got home with ant bites, scratches, full tummies, and an adventure spent with our lolo that we would cherish forever.

That night was our Grand Reunion set at Monteritz. We were all color coded. The Hilario color was noticeably and glamorously RED. The photographers' favorite subjects were the pretty Hilario cousins. Hehe.

The food was great,  the presentations from the different families were hilarious, and there was generally an ambience of harmony, dancing and a lot of laughter. I never knew I had sooo many cousins. And I never realized how talentado (in singing and dancing) my relatives are! Makes me wonder where I got my non-singing genes. Hmm?

Before I realized it, it was time to go back to Manila. The morning before our flight, we stopped by the beach to eat lunch. Sigh. The ones who will be left behind will go island hopping the next day. Unfortunately, I have to come back to my "responsibilities" in school.

I'm gonna miss my cousins. Hopefully, I'll see them again this Christmas vacation.

More pictures at arabonita.multiply.com

arakins

Last night surely made up for the hardwork, strassle, and complete boredom brought about by my first hellweek.

First stop, Karla's 18th Birthday party at Capone's. Getting all dressed up, seeing familiar faces wearing not-so-familiar, but sincerely nicer new looks, and getting lost in the process of looking for the place,was nearly as much fun as the party itself. Karla looked very pretty. So did everyone else I'll post pictures in my multiply!

After the party, MJ brought me to my cousin's condo in Makati cos I was sleepin over. She was out with her friends and asked me to come. I'm so glad I went, even if I was already starting to get sleepy and kinda dizzy from all the mixing and drinking.

After meeting up in Greenbelt, we went to Embassy and she introduced me to her uber nice and gorgeous friends. Met lotsa people. I recognized some of them as media personality peeps. Ohwell. All of them were  nice to me. Including the super cute ones. Haha. The advantages of having a hot and sociable cousin!

Danced all night. Had free drinks, not to mention free entrance too, thanks to the really nice guy called Reggie.

When my feet can't take it anymore, we went out and I realized it was already..um.. quite early. I had fun though! It was great hanging out with my cousin and her friends!

She promised me there would be a next time. I'll probly bring my friends too.

Sigh. Tomorrow, I'll be back to my studious mode. But it's all good. That weekend alone would compensate for a month of non-gimmick life. I'm so happy my parents trust me enough that I'm able do these things. And I'm so lucky I've a cousin who's as protective as she is cool.

Thanks Tethe!

arakins

I had the strangest dream the other night.

I woke up daw and went to school. Only, I'm 8 years old again and on my way to my Grade2 classroom. Weird thing is, I was aware that I should already be 18, am a Filipino and owns a dog named Chestnut. Dazed, I sat in my seat beside the other 8 year olds. The teacher waltzed in carrying flash cards which was then hung in hangers for everyone to see. I was confused even more because the words didn't make any sense. The only word that had been retained in my memory after waking up was a bizarre three-letter-word. "Kum". Weird diba?

And then, the teacher said she was gonna discuss the different places in our planet. She mentioned the strangest names which i can't remember. I was at a loss, until she said we were on planet Mars!

Dear lord. I ran out of the classroom and it looked very much like Assumption Antipolo, only there were thick clouds of green smoke everywhere. Then, I woke up.

Strange.

I didnt see any Martians walking around though. Ay wait, I would be considered a Martian won't I? Hahaha

Anyway, back to the real world. This week would be one of my first hellweeks. I just had my psych major quiz kanina and I'm not too happy with how I answered. Ohwell. I still have a psych long test on Wednesday, Stat long test on Thursday and Chem long test on Friday.

Something to look forward to: I'll be getting my copy of HP6 tomorrow night. I suddenly feel like the excited 13yearold Potter fanatic I used to be back in grade7.  Hope this one's better than the last...

arakins

Sherry: "Wow.. na-feel ko yung curves ko! Sexy!"

Yumi: "Um.. miss, light lang ha.. (after 5 mins) Owww! Yung finger ko! Miss, LIGHT LANG!

Nicole: *says to herself* "Hmm.. bakit parang anlamig??"

Ria: "Oh my gad! Tingnan nyo ung girl sa pool! She's not wearing anything!"

Marj: "Ara, naiwan ko ba brush ko sa car mo?"

Ara: "Oops..hehe sorry marj, kala ko kay Chestnut eh"

Guys!! I had super fun! Hehe, thanks again Yumi for that one time big time treat! I never thought you had it in you I guess di ka na namin maaasar na kuripot ngayon! Haha Mwah Loves ya!

arakins

Due to the lack of activity in this house, I resolved to do something worthwhile as my last two weeks of so-called vacation is drawing to a close. Finally!

Finding things to do is almost as difficult as finding reasons to not do anything! It's so frustrating! I never thought I'd hate those days when you just lie around and watch tv. I even finished every readable book in this place. Last week, I was practically out everyday: cruising the streets of Manila, shopping, movie-watching, surprise birthday parties, even invites to the beach. But my mom told me I have to cut out some of my gimiks since I'm already running out of gas slips. Grrsh.  

Okay... so maybe I need some quality time with my family AND more importantly, with myself. To start off, I have to pay attention to my increasing fat percentage so I decided to do some TAEBO the other day. That and getting some healthy food into my system like Bagels, veggies, fruits, and chocolates once in a while  Ara, Get those Abs! I got muscle pains instead  

Good thing Im taking Modern Jazz as my PE next sem. Hihi. Yumi and I are oh-so-excited already. Oh and next year, Id be able to speak and understand Mandarin. Meteor Garden marathon na 'to! Haha!

And then I tried amusing my beloved sisters with my singing prowess through our Magic Sing! You know what, I think I'm improving! :p But my sisters thought otherwise.  Hmph. Some people just dont know how to appreciate real talent. (hehe who am i kidding??)So much for Creativity points.

There's only one more thing left to do. Clean my room. Oh no oh no oh no. Haha. I dont really do the tidying up of my boudior. Ate Neneng and Ate Judith oh-so-generously do that for me. Im not proud of being such a lazy slob. That's why yesterday, I decided to sort some of my stuff and probably throw out things that are of no use and no longer have sentimental value.

continued...

arakins

Going back to Dianne's uber cool resthouse in Canyon Woods also entails the usual stargazing, major inuman/bonding session, DVDs, billiards, food tripping, hanging bridges, and videoke. Same old stuff as last time. BUT THEN, everything seemed a tad different. This time, we sang a BIT louder and with more enthusiasm, we ate MORE food (if that's even possible. haha), stargazed with more people, and watched 'bolder' movies *wink wink* Okay fine. We watched Y tu Mama Tambien. Hey! It has a good story (!)

I guess THE distinguishable difference is that this time, the girlfriend and boyfriends went with us. It actually turned out to be more fun than I had expected. Oh what the hell if I didn't have a watermelon partner if the need arises! Haha. I still had fun. 

The next day, we hit the beach. *sings* i'm moving, i'm coming, can u hear what i hear it's calling you my dear, out of reach take me to the beach.

The resort was kinda old already and Zarah and I noticed (while digging a "john" that the top part of the sand was artificial. Davao beaches are still the best. But anyways, we took a lot of pictures and the rest of the gang enjoyed the sun while I hid under my make-shift refuge. I already have a healthy tan, thank you very much. Hehe  The couples played this um... horsy-horsy game? Can't think of a better name for it.. Too bad the banana boat was only for "private use". Hmph, them selfish peeps.

And before we knew it, twas time to go. Until next time. Who knows? Maybe I'll have a watermelon partner by then... hmm... or maybe not... Hahaha.

Thanks to Dianne for offering her coolness of a house. And to John, Charisse, Justin, Rizzy, AJ, Fifi, Giselle, Zarah, Bugs, and Apags for your much cherished company. *hugs everyone*

arakins

After spending two weeks and four days of going to tourist spots, famous landmarks, museums, theme parks, mountains, valleys, big cities, flashy lights, cute blue-eyed guys with brown hair (sigh), and snow,  I was harshly pulled back to reality this morning. My worst reg experience yet! But before that...

A quick flashback:

1. Frisco's Golden Gate Bridge, Exploratorium, Fisherman's Wharf
2. L.A.'s Universal Studios Disneyland California Adventure, Sta. Monica, Beverly Hills, and Rodeo Drive
3. Lake Tahoe. Snow fights, snowman, snow angels, and snow mobiles :D
4. Las Vegas' Dancing fountains, Pirates of the Caribbean, amazing lights show, imitations of volcanoes spitting real fire, shopping, casinos in every hotel
5. Washington D.C.'s countless museums, White House, Pentagon, NASA
6. New York New York! Liberty, Ground Zero, Times Square, Broadway, Empire State, Central Park, 5th Avenue

All that in 17 days! That should be enough to explain why I can't get up the next day for the registration. But of course, the head of the Psych department could simply not understand that. Oo nga naman. Why should she care? To cut the long story short, I realized that sometimes people actually hate you even more for telling the truth. And that not all friendly-looking old maids with bad fashion sense are actually friendly. :S

Ohwell. So I'm only gonna take up fil14 this summer. I might just overload next  sem or take SA21 next summer.

But its okay. I have a lot to be happy about. First of all, I had a great vacation! Major bonding with my mom and sister. It's about time we spend some quality time together Secondly, my hard work last sem paid off. I just got my grades. :D And last, if I'm not going to Puerto this weekend, I'm going to Tagaytay. Yep, I've a lot to look forward to.

Mental note: Make a scrapbook of your trip before the memories slip away. Fix journal. Make a thank you something for parents.

I'll post pictures soon!

arakins

After one year of being in "civilization", i really REALLY missed the mountains. When we were only 5 mins away, traversing an awfully familiar winding road, i cant seem to contain the excitement nymore. "Oh my gad, malapit na tayo!!" hahaha. they all looked at me weird.

Gosh, i really dont wanna admit it, but i missed my school. The trees, especially the huge ones na may mga baging pa. The fresh air that only Assumption Antipolo can offer. The people! The usual scene of highschool boys-in-an-all-girl-school dilemma where you see a huddle of boys keeping to themselves while a group of girls try their best to entertain them. Sigh. The naivety of it all. And to think that it was only 11 months since I graduated.. I suddenly feel sooo alumni-ish.

Congrats to the Seniors. They did a pretty good job. Although, we were still able to get more food concessionnaires! Ha! (I know, this is the nth time that i mentioned it tonight) But the stage set-up, the ambience, the organization et al were really well thought of. It's almost as if professionals did it. Wow, they were able to get Brad Turvy to host the program! Hosting skills = 8, People skills = 7 Looks= 10!! There was another celebrity, who's obviously not as famous, who co-hosted with Braaad.

Ohh well... Rico Blaaaaanco! Ive seen him before..but never in his im-ready-to-blast-your-eardrums-away or im-gonna-take-your-breath-away self. It was reaally fun watching him.. and swooning over his gorgeous smile..and just falling in love with his voice. Hayy.. okay.. in Ateneo, Rivermaya's just one of those bands you can watch for a minimal fee of 50 pesos. But its kinda different if you watch it with highschool peeps who act as if it's their first encounter with a rock band or sumthing. Hehe. But its all good.

I saw a looot of familiar faces and friends.Faith, yey, she's going to be a schoolmate next year. Fellow alumnae Steph, Angeli, Maylyn, Karen, Diane, Ann R., Ann M., Vida, Rina, Sevie-Anne, Kariza, Jia, etc. I felt soo at home and at peace. With the stars and the full moon and the chapel right in front of the crowd. And the cross looming over the bands... it was an eerie sight but.. i dunno..uhm inspiring (?) at the same time. Or maybe its just me. The people probly didnt even notice.

After Rivermaya played their last song, we decided to get outta there. I made plans to eat dinner in Eastwood with Ria and Yumi so off we went. Ang walang kamatayang pasta and pizza in Fazolli's. We just cant get enough of them! Guys, next time sa iba naman ha? Supposedly, we were to watch Aviator. But then, i guess we got carried away with our cuentos and missed the time. Since the gals wanted to "loosen up", we bought drinks. But ya know, nothing big. Just one drink. The usual cuentos about love and relationships followed. But its kinda different this time. We weren't as interested in the topic anymore. Maybe it just grew on us that no matter how long we talk about it... nothing will really change. It's so much more fun looking at other people's clothes and laughing at them. Mean.. yeah. But at least it will save you from emotional stress and mental energy (when you're trying to debate on a subject).

 Since i had a curfew, i had to leave Ria and Yumi with Ria's kuya and his friends. Oh well..i really wanted to go home na. My sister owes me cuento about her prom! hahaha. Won't say anything anymore ;p