Currently reading:  Nineteen Minutes (Jodi Picoult, author of My Sister’s Keeper)

“If you spent your life concentrating on what everyone else thought of you, would you forget who you really were? What if the face you showed the world turned out to be a mask… with nothing beneath it?” 

I borrowed this book along with The Catcher in The Rye and The Bell Jar for pleasure and ENGLRES purposes. I started reading this compelling work of fiction yesterday morning several hours before my first class which was INTHROP. Today during those eight dim hours as a result of a power failure, I read more than half of Nineteen Minutes. To be honest, Jodi Picoult’s thrilling novel was the best 300+ pages I’ve ever read. Yes, even better than all four books of the Twilight saga. Not to mention I was enthralled with Picoult’s very impressive range of vocabulary words used in the book. 

092511

Allow me to narrate what happened on a productive Sunday:

• First CWTS Exposure with LR23 and LC22 in Barangay Purok Dos, Dagat-Dagatan, Caloocan 


• Arrived at Harrison Plaza at around 6:40


• Had taho


• Our CWTS block was divided into three jeeps; luckily, I wounded up at the jeep with a built-in stereo


• Tracklist: Teach Me How To Dougie, I Like It, Love The Way You Lie, Bass Down Low, Look At Me (Now), Love Me, etc.


• Proceeded to the barangay hall as soon as we arrived at the place at around 9:30


• Someone asked me if I’m studying in ADMU because several students were wearing their “I Love La Salle More Than…” shirt


• Was with a really accommodating host family for four hours 


• On the jeep ride back to Taft, the stereo played ear-bleeding cover versions of Teenage Dream and Just The Way You Are


• Was supposed to go to Zentea in the EGI Tower but was closed 


• Got home at around 5PM and hoarded to sleep in less than three minutes

Remember this picture? Hindi ko aakalain na almost one year na pala mula noong kinuha ito. Sorry sa ating jeje faces =))) 

‘What is a friend? A soul dwelling in two bodies.“ - Aristotle

Two years later since it happened, I can still vividly remember the day we became classmates. It was the first day of third year then, and all of us experienced the aftershock of the batch reshuffle. You sat in my front since your last name goes ahead of me during the times where we have to seat in alphabetical order. I didn’t get to talk to you on that first day, though. But the next day, I got the courage to say hello to you. And as they say, the rest is history.  Naalala ko pa rin yong times na sabay tayo pumupunta sa harapan ng III-6 classroom kasi inaabangan ko yong mga busmates ko noon. Tapos habang naghihintay tayo, nagtatawanan tayo and nagkukuwento about everything. Kapag may problem ako, you were always there to give me great advice and vice versa. 

Thank you very much for being one of the most wonderful friends I’ve ever met in my life. Salamat sa lahat ng pang-aasar mo about this and that (haha!), sa support mo through the best and worst times, and for being the friend with a sunshine smile. Thank you also for being a caring, loving, understanding, courageous, and unselfish friend. You possess numerous admirable traits that’s why a lot of people (including me) are so lucky to have met you. I will always remember every precious moment we spent together as friends - Seniors’ Night, Aly and Angel’s birthday last year, our daily breaktimes in the basement, outbounds, retreats, Bandfest (because S6T was complete unlike last year), our last Family Day, and even the small talks we had. Everytime na nakikita ko yong mga barkada pics natin, I can’t feel anything but sadness because the six of us haven’t seen each other as a complete group since April. Noong pumunta nga ako two weeks ago sa STC to get the annual, winish ko na sana naroon kayong lahat para mag-bonding tayo kahit only on that day. 

There you go, the surprise I promised you on FB last night. ;) I really hope you will find time to visit Taft anytime. Whenever you need a friend to help you, just text me and I’ll reply to you in five seconds quick. I miss everything about you: your trademark laugh (meron ba?), your jokes, your kikayness, your cute handwriting, and all the things that make you special. Study hard and be determined to be a successful pharmacist like you always dreamed of. Remember than no one can ever replace you because you’re amazing just the way you are!  Hihi =))

Happy 17th birthday, Bevz! Let me give you a virtual hug >:D<

5.One reason why Pinoys (including me) love the one and only Bob Ong is because of his relatable quotes about life, love, and even God. ;)

I don’t do that, though :)

091611: The Backup Plan

In bulleted form (because I’m too lazy too type a narrative essay right now LOL), I will tell you what happened yesterday:

• Arrived in school at around 9 AM for our Chem Lab class in SJ 113


• Chem Lab was total petiks because we only discussed important guidelines during experiments and stuff


• Experienced mindbleed when our prof showed to us some basic facts about combustion. Read: OMGWELCOMEBACKTOTHIRDYEAR.


• Accompanied blockmates at SPS Bookstore then had lunch at Agno 


• Stickos :“”“”“> 


• Hanged out at the 21st floor where we had a chat about Divisoria, Baclaran, Greenhills, wedges, Toms, Shoebiz, and everything about bargain shopping ;)


• Second CWTS session > First CWTS session


• Got home at around 6 PM due to the rain


• Animo Pep Squad bagged the 1st runner-up in the UAAP Cheerdance Competition!!! And the wise Lasallians are right, God has better plans for the Archers! On the other hand, let’s forget about that basketball shizz.


• Finally, we got the chance to talk to each other again, even for about five seconds. 

EDITED:  I think I shouldn’t write certain stuff about teachers especially if it’s about their lectures and all.

These are the dresses I tried on to determine what to wear for my HS classmate’s 18th birthday celebration on October 8. After about fifteen minutes of self-shots and numerous glancings at the mirror, I picked the Tomato dress (pictured on the third). 

pandarapedme:

lugar-del-sol:

wikkah:

supercharlotte:

typhotographer:

minamahalkitapilipinas:

oheytherecamille:

aralenebaaby:

alicialooovelle:

alayahc:

clevernessofyou:

whynotrachel:

canthemannons:

DJ Sammy | Heaven 9/11 Remix 2011

this came on the radio as i was driving home from the store and caused me a very high level of distress.

you will cry. hard.

I remember hearing the first part of this when I was 11. Yeah. I cried.

this is heartbreaking..

crap i’m crying.. 

)’: omg this gets me…

 Fuck, I’m crying.

I’m crying like hell. Ohmy. :(

fuck </3

 shocks <////3 

Tears are running down my face ♥ This is so sad

:(

Oh my god, I cried so hard… This is heartbreaking. I just can’t…

</3 :’(

lovequotesrus:

Photo Courtesy: izabelmcr

4. These days, I'm redeeming my love for reading fan fictions online.

My blockmates were talking about fan fictions in school today, and each of them talked of making a new account on FanFiction.Net. For the past few nights, I’ve been reading lots of fan fics on the website when I’m lethargic with social networking websites. I think it’s a good thing I’m starting to develop my love for reading fiction again especially I failed to do so last year.

KFC and Mcdo are not the only fastfood chains with super yummy chicken.

                  

(Photo from Google)

If you’re following me on Twitter, I guess you should have read my tweet today about my sudden craving for Wendy’s Spicy Fried Chicken. As the statement suggests, I ate this for lunch today - and it was love at first bite. 

3. I want to be part of a glamorous photoshoot - just like the ones I see on Tumblr, Lookbook, and Facebook.

2. Don't you hate it when people keep on suggesting you to wear something against your wishes?

If I want to wear shorts (not short shorts, it’s NEVER my thing to wear skimpy bottoms) to school, one would berate me by remarking, “Don’t wear those shorts, you’ll look like a whore.”

If I want to wear a printed t-shirt, one would say, “Don’t wear that shirt, you look like a ten-year old instead of a college student!”

If I want to wear a bolero, one would ask me to take it off and add, “Don’t wear that bolero, there is no winter here in the Philippines?" 

It’s okay to give me suggestions as long as it would match my outfit. But what if that person asks you to wear a yucky oversized spaghetti-spilled shirt that is out of style?

Oh please. If you were a Facebook feature, you would be "Facebook Dress Suggestions”. Can you just cut out all your repetitive comments with whatever I wear? A piece of advice: give me the freedom to wear whatever fancies and suits me. I don’t need a wardrobe consultant.

1. Manila in 1938 > Manila in 2011.

Our INTGLOS professor showed to us a short travel documentary about Manila entitled Manila, Queen of the Pacific. For your information, Manila is also known as “The Great Dame of the Orient”. All the 10 minutes of watching the clip were worth the time because it detailed how Manila used to be before the emergence of World War II in 1945. Despite its filming in black and white, the narration was perfectly executed and the landmarks featured there brought us nostalgia of what the nation’s capital has been. In contrast to what you will see, it looks like Manila has not lived up to their title as the regal highness of the Asia-Pacific region. Based on the users’ comments on the documentary, they were really disappointed with the slow progression of Manila compared to the highly-developed neighbor countries in the border such as Singapore (Orchard Road was patterned from Taft Avenue), Thailand, Indonesia, etc. 

The question lies beneath: what can our country do to climb to the top of the pole like we once were? Let us take time to reflect on this.

                                 

Know your true friends from the poser ones.

Today is September 11, 2011. If you’re ten years old and above, then I guess you already know the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear of “September 11” or for those with the colloquial language, “9/11”.  I guess you know what I mean. Exactly a decade ago, I was seven years old and playing the fiddle with first grade. A decade ago, the tragedy of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks changed the world forever. A decade later, the lives of over 3,000 victims are celebrated today as we commemorate the event that opened our eyes to the reality of terrorism. Bin Laden may be dead, WTC may have transformed into a splendid memorial site, Bush may no longer be the president of the US, but the heartbreaking memories of what happened on this day ten years ago are still here. 

Yahoo! did a wonderful tribute to 9/11 by adding a button for visitors to offer a moment of silence for the heroes and victims of the WTC tragedy. I tried that a while ago, and it felt so wonderful. On behalf of that, let us all remember everything that happened on September 11, 2011. Let us offer a prayer for all the victims of the terrorist attacks. Let us give our sympathy to all the families left disraught over the sudden deaths of their loved ones. 

Moving on, this has been a very unpleasant day. It’s not only because I was unproductive the whole day, lying down on my bed and letting my brain run in circles. I was inflicted with the worst mood since this petty online fight roughly two weeks ago. I cannot add further details here because of its sensitive issue. Luckily, the two of us were able to patch things up via e-mail and instant messaging. 

Oh wait, I suddenly remember the online fight two weeks ago. Like with what I shared above, I won’t be giving extremities about it. I will change some details but won’t leave out the highlights of it. Here is what happened: I opened Facebook only to see a group chat open in my bottom sidebar. Those who participated in the group chat were complaining about not being able to access some online test. With my impending curiosity, I asked them what was wrong. Some of them replied, “LOL”, “WTH”, and the worst, “Shut up”. One cracked a joke and all of us laughed. To add my growing temper, one of them asked me, “Why are you laughing?”  This one crossed the line. To tell you the truth, I was really pissed off.  Many of those who witnessed the chat were like “LOL” and “K”. 

When I logged off that day, I was guilty for logging in to FB and asking them what was wrong. I couldn’t even go to sleep that night because I was smothered with negative thoughts lead from overthinking of the incident. That night, I prayed for everything to be resolved the next day. Fortunately, my prayers were answered. The following morning, some of those who were mad at me the day before apologized for their jerky behavior. I was glad to see people who were brave enough to realize their mistakes.

However, do you know what the best part was? Two of those who were online when the incident occurred sent me a message. One of them tried to chat with me but I was already offline when that person messaged me. When I read those messages, I felt overwhelmed with what they wrote. 

#1 said: “I’m sorry if those people want to get rid of you…just don’t mind them. God is with you always.”In addition, #1 quoted a Bible verse about the “yoke of the Lord”.  

#2 said: “Don’t get affected by those who bitched on you. God loves you so much. In college, there are people who would only like you only if they need something. Always remember to differentiate true friends from the poser ones. True friends would openly admit their faults and defend you from the entire backlash against you." 

Whoever wrote these messages, I would like to express my gratitude for being epitomes of real friends. 

090711: The Second First Day

• First day of second term! New subjects, new professors, and more challenges!


• Went to school at around 9:45 AM and headed to E. Razon Gym for FWTEAMS class


• Our block’s sport for FWTEAMS: FUTSAL aka indoor football! \:D/ During practices, we all felt like we’re in the Philippine Azkals =))


• After PE, SCIENVC was up next and we met our super cool and laid-back professor who dismissed us approximately an hour before time


• Met two new people in FWTEAMS and SCIENVC class respectively 


• Had a cheap meal of bacon omelette at 7-Eleven with blockmates after class


• Went to NBS with them to look for some books


• Got home at around 3 PM

I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity.

Let’s take these scenarios happening on the same day in different times. 

#1. That moment when you see someone special from your present. 

You’re running off to somewhere. Suddenly, you stop by the tracks to see your “ideal one”. He / she faces you and says hello first. What would you feel especially it’s the first time for him / her to glance at you and say hi before you do so? Is it: A) You secretly blush, B) You can’t look straight to his / her tantalizing eyes, or C) Confident and say hello back? If you really do like that person, you should pick C. Who knows, it might be the start of a beautiful friendship. Somewhere over the rainbow, you suddenly remember another person: someone from your past. 

#2. That awkward moment when you see your former flame after six months or ten years. 

Let’s keep this simple: would you ignore that person or greet him / her in a friendly way like nothing happened? If you pick the second option, congratulations! You have accepted from the fact he / she is not into you. Besides, you have the “ideal one” given from the first scenario already. 

The best you ever had is just a memory and those dreams.

Arctic Monkeys  (via warningdontreadthis)

Teenage years are never fun without your friends. 

Although we weren’t complete last Friday, I really appreciated the presence of many of my classmates. Aside from the S6T, I considered all of you as my true friends. Thank you for being there at my best and worst times. Thank you for all of your teasing, loyalty, bondings, and words of wisdom. If not for all of you, I would not have graduated STC with flying colors and enjoyed my HS years. No one can ever replace you as the best classmates ever. I love you all, from #1 to #49 >:D<

Even if I’m in college now, I will forever be a Theresian.

*Forgive me for the “wasn’t” part in this entry. Didn’t notice the error a while ago. I corrected it already :)

090211: One day back in STC ♥

Last August 25, while I was at Zentea with my blockmates after our trip to Santolan, I read a batchmate’s tweet about the release of our high school yearbooks. Eight days later, last Friday, I finally got the opportunity to get my hands on the annual and reunite with Seniors 2011 especially my IV-3 girls!  

I began my day by going to DLSU at around 10 AM for the Grade Consultation Day and talk to Mr. Armecin about my INTSOCI grade. Several minutes after the consultation at the Miguel Hall, I went to The Coffee Bean to do some Internet surfing to pass the time. At around 1 PM, I headed to Tita Ella’s dental clinic to have my brackets adjusted. My original plan was to meet IV-3 in Mcdo Retiro at 2:30 PM, so while I had my dental braces’ color changed to light green I prayed for the procedure to finish as soon as possible. Luckily, Tita Ella was able to finish on time. Outside the clinic, I suddenly saw Sammie (@sam-theham) in the jeepney to Retiro and I climbed inside accompanied by hugs and shrieks. Teehee. On the way to Mcdo Retiro, we started talking about our college professors, hot guys, and Physics (which I don’t have in my subjects this second term). About ten minutes later, the IV-3 people arrived and we had lunch there. Being hungry for my last meal was at home at around 9:30 AM , I had an enormous heap of chicken fillet with rice and cheeseburger for lunch. While eating, all of us were cracking up about our college days. 

IV-3 arrived in STC at around 3:10 PM. When we arrived there, we immediately headed to the faculty to see some of our senior year teachers. Unfortunately, our former homeroom teacher Ms.Tsaby wasn’t there, so our co-ad Ms, Magaway advised us to go to the IMC to get our graduation pictures and HS annual. The moment I got my annual, I quickly flipped it over to the page where the write-up about me was located. Whoever wrote this touching desciption about me, thank you very much!  It really touched me especially when I read about being the class muse and a Theresian writer. You made me happy at that moment :>

  

I looked over at my other batchmates’ write-ups as well as each section’s collages. The sleepless nights, the cases of Writer’s Block, and the dozens of cups of hot chocolate were all worth this precious memorabilia of our golden days as Theresians. This would not have been the result without the cooperation of my fellow batchmates and co-workers at the Theresian Magazine. Kudos to the whole staff for making it the first-ever HS annual in STC to be printed in glossy magazine paper (haha!) and for making it better than the previous batches!

As soon as the annuals were in our hands, we went to Mang Inasal for dinner before transferring once again to Mcdo Retiro with more IV-3 girls. From there, we had our non-stop picture-taking and endless litany of “Upload mo ngayong gabi!” by my girls. To cap off my reunion with my HS classmates and friends, I went home at around 8 PM and uploaded the photos as promised to them.

Thank you very much to my IV-3 girls, Seniors 2011, and the teachers for giving me one of the most memorable days of this year! It wouldn’t be possible without all of you ♥ 

Mean Girls is one of my favorite movies of all-time, and I could relate so much with the characters as well as the storyline. Although my high school batch had our own cliques, we managed to stay united and avoided stereotyping people unless we knew them personally. For several times, the issue of labeling strangers and exclusivity among friends was tackled in my school writings and blog entries because it happened to me in real life. 

Honestly, I felt happier and more accepted in high school rather than in my last two years in elementary. Four to six years ago, I didn’t want to go to school because of all the backstabbing and the unfair treatment some people gave towards me even though I never did anything against them. I joined some friends at breaktimes, but some of them secretly despised me and wanted me to be out of their group. To add the misery, I was stereotyped as “the nerd nobody likes” because I pushed myself to do well in school. My day wouldn’t end without hearing from a friend about two new people feeling bitter about me behind my back. The situation was so bad I even thought of transferring to a new school after my grade school graduation. 

However, everything changed when I stepped to the bigger world full of reality, drama, and hysteria. In your typical high school movies, the cheerleaders bully the nice girls. On the contrary, I was glad it never happened to me in my own experience. In fact, I clicked with many of the girls who were in well-known cliques. As for the cliques I have known, they made all of their efforts to be pleasing and warm to those who were outside their circle. I am glad that all of the classes in our batch were close to each other, which makes us distinct from the others. Most of all, we did not care about the labels people thought of us. Each one of us had distinct characteristics, so our flaws were not an excuse to be labeled in such a harsh way.

Simultaneously, Mean Girls mirrors the fact that there would always be good and cruel judgments no matter what world we live in. Luckily, the table arrangements for each stereotype did not exist in our HS cafeteria. I bet none of us would have enjoyed our HS days had it happened.  

If not for that mirror, there would have been no insecurity and comparison to others in terms of our body image.

Don’t be hurt if you’re working hard and nobody seems to notice or appreciate it. What we do in secret unto the Lord, He always rewards in the open. –Joyce Meyer

The Candydoll is now on Tumblr!

I’ll be posting in a while. Let me fix my site first :)

The Last One

Dear loyal readers of The Candydoll Files, 

For three years, I’ve been sharing my extraordinary life here in Blogspot. You’ve been there from the last days of my freshman year in high school up to my happy-go-lucky days as a college freshman. Lately, I’ve been spending so much time on Tumblr (@thatmiserychick) I’m slowly losing touch with the blog that I held on to when I wanted to write anything I cannot spill on my site full of reblogs. The past two weeks have been full of trepidation and mind-boggling on my decision whether to move TCF on Tumblr via a new blog or retain this site here in Blogspot. Furthermore, I am very disheartened to know that many of my affliates are no longer active in BS or Wordpress because most of them have moved their personal blogs on Tumblr. 

Last night, I made my final decision - something I won’t regret. 

The Candydoll Files will be moving to Tumblr with the same username.

On behalf of the three magnificent years with Blogspot, I would like to thank all of my readers for their never-ending support of TCF. Just to imagine, this has been my longest-running site among all. TCF will not close down - only moving to a new blogging platform. Even though I will no longer update this, I will not delete all of my archives from March 2008. So for all of my affliates who are still active, I will leave a tag on your chatboxes and ask you to relink me. 

This is not goodbye. It’s just that I’m moving to a new home, with new readers and new opportunities. Thank you so much for three splendid, memorable years with Blogspot.

That is all for now. See you all on Tumblr!  :) 

xoxo, C.

Dear readers of The Candydoll Files,

I will make a big announcement in a few days.

Watch out for it.