Come On Ninang, Let’s Go Shopping (at the mall, yeah)

Well, I did write last time that I went out so many times when I stayed in Pasig City. This time, I’ll weave a somewhat entertaining tale of the day I took my Ninang (Godmother) Jen to celebrate her retirement this year. 

The day started off with me in Megamall, exploring around as usual close to 12 noon. We both agreed to have lunch at French Baker, but I had to withdraw the money she transferred from her bank account to mine since she left one of her cards at home. Traffic was heavy though, so she let me order my food early. I was about to finish devouring my pasta when she arrived in a simple but stylish outfit. Based on how she shops for products and clothes imported from the USA, I suppose being single for almost your whole life gives you lots of disposable income to spend on yourself. I’ll stop talking too much about her love life though and go back to the story.

As she ate her lunch, I told some stories from the college semester I just finished, much to her amusement. She’s also an alumnus of the university I’m currently studying in, so she definitely wasn’t bored to death with how I dealt with my academic life. After we finished, we hailed a taxi. Ninang Jen gave the address of a Mitsukoshi Mall, a Japanese department store to the taxi driver, and then she gave me the details along the ride.

I must admit, that the taxi ride going to Mitsukoshi Mall was memorable for all the wrong reasons. Firstly, the taxi driver stopped on a left turn-only lane at a stoplight but waited for the light straight ahead to go green. Obviously, that pissed off many drivers, according to the cacophony of car horns I heard. Although, one driver’s rage was almost enough for us to end up on the news. He pulled up his car beside our taxi, rolled down his window, and cursed out the taxi driver with a sailor’s mouth strong enough to make Gordon Ramsay blush. I’m seriously glad he wasn’t armed because I did not want the day to end in tragedy. Then, when we reached our stop, Ninang Jen paid the driver a little more than what the fare cost. I asked if she wasn’t going to get her change, and I got berated loudly by the driver whose blood pressure was high enough to reach heaven. I still don’t know what I did wrong, so it was a disconcerting start to our exploration of a new mall.

Mitsukoshi Mall in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) was certainly an enjoyable mall to walk and explore in. All walkways were wide, the lighting was bright yet easy on the eyes, and the stores that currently were inside sold cool stuff that was imported from Japan. What I didn’t like was how it felt so bare. It’s a new mall, so it’s not as crammed with stores begging for customers as I would like. Plus, the mall was definitely out of my economic status with department store items calling me poor with their prices. Nonetheless, I told my Ninang this mall would be more enjoyable for us to explore after a couple of years pass. 

We got hungry again so we stopped at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf branch on the basement floor. Ninang Jen had her coffee, I had my matcha latte, and we shared a dessert that was fried banana topped with expensive vanilla ice cream. I decided to pay for the drinks and snacks this time since we both had discount cards anyway. We talked some more while we waited for our drinks and food to settle in our tummies. To be more honest, our feet were already aching from how much we walked around the mall. Once our feet stopped protesting from the exercise, Ninang found a bakery whose goods looked tasty enough for her to buy a box to bring home. She’s just like me for real; apparently, there was a celebrity she admired who went to said bakery, so she wanted to stop by too. 

We decided to go back to Megamall by getting a taxi, but it was quite difficult to do so by ourselves. Luckily, the security guard was helpful enough to flag down an empty cab. The trip to Megamall was thankfully unremarkable, and the second exciting part of the day began when we arrived. It was close to evening, and my Ninang and I were wondering how on Earth were we gonna get home. I texted my Mom about our issue, and then my mom tried to convince Ninang Jen to spend the night in our house due to traffic. Ninang Jen decided we would eat dinner at Mann Hann, and obviously, we asked my mom to come along too. She was drowning in work responsibilities though, but we had nowhere else to go, so we ordered more than enough food for 3 and waited around an hour and a half for her arrival. While my Mom and Ninang Jen talked, I pretty much enjoyed the food since I was trying to gain back the weight I lost due to exam stress.

The day ended when my dad picked up Mom and me around 8 pm. Much to my mom’s chagrin, Ninang Jen decided to book a Grab going home. I must say, the way she called taxis and Grab fares relatively cheap during off-peak seasons certainly motivated me to study and work harder in the future. I was already feeling the fare increase in jeepneys and PUVs hit my wallet harder than before. (I could go on and vent about more political decisions I don’t like, but that’s for another day when I do deeper research.)

Happy retirement, Ninang Jen. 30 years of working at a bank is worthy of a better celebration than this, but I’m touched you were happy to spend time with me.

Making New Memories with Old Friends

This week, I went out of my house 3 days in a row to celebrate the end of my first college semester conducted f2f. This is the story of my 1st day out arranged the night before.

It all starts with me leaving the house by 11, hoping to reach Shangri-la Plaza (I will call this place Shang moving forward) by 12 noon. I originally planned to meet them after lunch around half past one due to their classes, but someone wanted to meet earlier, so I settled for 12. The commute going there was uneventful, unlike the commute going home, so stick with me to the end if you want to know the mishap that happened there.

Once I was in Shang, I decided to walk around the floor for a while, window-shopping the brands that were just out of reach with my finances right now. Then, my friend Bettina surprised me at Starbucks. It’s been more than a year since we last met, so we almost made a commotion with how loudly we greeted each other. She had one of her online classes ongoing; while we waited for the other two friends, she was practicing drawing with vectors. At the same time, I couldn’t resist spilling some of the events that happened to me during my first face-to-face college semester.

An hour and a half passed. The fruity seasonal drink I bought from Starbucks is already empty. Bettina’s iced tea is still half full. The vector drawing of her dog’s finished, as well as her class. Finally, the third invited friend, Jessie, arrived. To absolutely no one’s surprise, he came straight from summer class and was therefore late. He made up for it though by buying us lunch at Bonchon. The news sharing continued over there, and we were all loud and energetic doing so. I had to remember the social skills I learned: waiting for someone to finish, checking their faces and tones to see if they were listening, and more. Neurotypical people take those for granted, but I had to learn all those social cues the hard way because they weren’t instinctual. Anyway, back to the day out.

The last ever friend, Soleil, finally arrived, and we were almost evicted purely for the noise we made seeing her. To be honest, the noise came from mostly her and me, because we truly haven’t seen each other in so long. I was jealous somewhat that she was glowing, while I was still looking like a zombie due to the finals week I had to endure. The news-sharing session became even MORE energetic, and I did comment how instead of saving money, we all saved “chika” to share instead! (Chika is Tagalog for “gossip” but with a positive connotation.) 

After we finished our lunches and our news sharing, we decided to explore the mall. Shang is an upscale mall targeted to people in the higher economic levels; the prices at Rustan’s department store certainly weren’t afraid to call us 4 peasants. It was Soleil’s first-ever trip to Shang, so we all stayed together like how ideal friend groups do in horror movies. 

With how vast the mall is though, we got hungry and decided to stop by Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf for coffee and snacks. I wanted pictures since we all managed to meet up as 4 after a long time. After we all smiled at the camera on my phone, we got our orders and enjoyed the happiness that came from good company and good food. We all agreed to split the bill evenly; Jessie threw a wrench in the plan by paying first. But, we got our way by making him share his GCash acc number for us to pay our share. 

It seems impossible on paper, but my friend group and I managed to tour the whole Shang Plaza in one afternoon. Of course, all 4 of us had definite stores we wanted to visit, but we also had fun showing Soleil all the whimsical escalators that loved skipping floors. I think only Jessie and I bought stuff in Shang; he got a Burberry perfume that he loved the scent of, and I stocked up on the toiletries I needed. 

The group started leaving one after the other by 1730; Soleil left with her mom and sister, Jessie booked a motorcycle ride to his condominium, and Bettina was fetched by her brother. Bettina and I toured Shang the longest, and I knew it was time to go home when she left.

Going home by myself was a lesson learned the hard way. I took a taxi cab to go home for convenience, but the traffic made me short on cash by the time he was about to drop me off. I told him to wait for me to collect spare change; luckily, there were enough coins at home to cover the commute fare portion I lacked. I was told to never take taxis to go home anymore, but I also kind of hope other people still do so. The taxi driver shared his struggles along with his fellow drivers about how they had to appear in court due to their employers not paying their mandated insurance and etc. for several years. I do hope taxi drivers in the Philippines get treated fairly soon.

The day has ended, but my thirst for social gatherings is far from satisfied. I’ll write posts about the other days out I had in Pasig when I have the energy and time to do so. Until then, I’ll be resting from the tumultuous and memorable college semester I had this year.

I finished my first year at UPLB

So, here I am again, with a brand new post after a long time being MIA.

And I’m here to tell you that I’m finishing my first year in college. Shocker, isn’t it? I’ll skip over the events that happened before I started college since this article is solely about my experience being a freshman at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) taking a BS in Food Science and Technology (BS FST).

My whole first year in college was done remotely; therefore my daily commute was traveling the great distance between my bed and my laptop in the same room in order to open Google Classroom and Canvas. I’m very grateful that for my first semester, the College of Agriculture and Food Science (CAFS) arranged my subjects and schedule for me. (You’ll understand why later in this post.) So, as soon as I got my schedule set as my laptop wallpaper, I ventured into my BS FST freshmen group chat to ask around who else attended the same classes as me. I found several people and we made a group chat together; we mostly requested zoom links from each other.

During my first semester, I took 8 subjects which equaled around 18 units. I enjoyed all my subjects, but I’ve never experienced such an intense yearning after the return to face-to-face classes until I took Agriculture 31 (Crop Science). Don’t get me wrong; I enjoyed learning about crops from their types to their farming procedures. It’s just that my professor insisted on conducting plant experiments at home which I hated intensely. My father laughed at my dramatics about that but I still stood my ground about how I’d rather grow mung bean plants in an actual lab instead of our house. I definitely won’t be that type of adult who cares for plants anytime soon; I’ll leave that to my mom and almost every aunt I have. (Also, rice water compared to tap water stimulated more growth and development in mung bean plants, if you’re curious.)

My favorite subject during that semester was definitely Food Science and Technology 11. My professor described it as a subject that gives a bird’s eye view of everything revolving around food. I mostly absorbed knowledge about its fundamentals; from the food industry to food groups (proteins, carbs, etc.) to food safety, and food preservation. I’m proud to say I got the highest grade with that because it would be a shame to fail a subject directly related to my course.

Obviously, with many subjects, I had many requirements due. As a student, I always prioritized submitting outputs on time over everything else. As long as my deadlines were met, I was satisfied with my work. Google Classroom helped me keep track of requirements from all subjects that were due within a certain week. My Canvas subject deadlines though were another story; I almost always forgot what papers were due on which day. That all changed with the next semester though, since the reverse situation happened where the majority of my subjects used Canvas. In Canvas, I adored the Calendar feature because it gave me a bird’s eye view of how busy I would be in a given month.

Speaking of my second semester, the pre-enrollment and enrollment periods were hell. Yes, these are very strong words, coming from someone who all had to do was click buttons with a mouse, as said by both of my parents who experienced an even tougher enrollment process for the same university. Here’s the thing; I’ve never known that a website could experience all known web errors with the highest lag possible until I used the Student Academic Information System (SAIS) website for enrollment. Good lord, so many subjects ran out of slots, and all the subjects in my shopping cart became unavailable really quickly. Ideally, I would have taken 18 units, but I only managed to snag 12; 14 units is what I got if you counted my Human Kinetics 12 subject. (That subject was only thanks to my professor’s prerogative or prerog for short.)

Speaking of Human Kinetics 12, I ended up learning Line Dance in that subject. My outputs were mostly videos of me following along with my professor’s given line dance routine with music. The difficulty increased as the subject progressed; the easiest dance I did was to Fireworks by Katy Perry while the hardest was to Maria by Ricky Martin. (That song was wickedly fast for line dance, but it was fun!) Classes were conducted over zoom, so imagine me in loungewear following along with whatever steps were being described by my professor. Sometimes, I was asked to demonstrate what I learned so far, so that meant my bare feet and smooth legs were vulnerable to criticism for bonus points. I remember holding up 30 minutes of the lecture because I was terribly confused by one step in terms of direction.

One subject I was incredibly scared to take was Physics 51. It shouldn’t be a surprise to you if you know me through my works that Physics is the bane of my existence. Thankfully, the professor helped me understand the concepts that befuddled me greatly; we started with the basics like force and ended with magnetism. Thankfully, there were many resources that helped me understand all the homework given to me throughout the semester, but my performance in quizzes and long exams left a lot to be desired. I actually believed I was doing better than I thought, but my mom almost died from stress after seeing my scores. Here’s a Canvas feature for all the gunners out there: on the mobile app, there’s a line that tells you the mean score of all your classmates, the lowest, and the highest. And, I was mostly performing worse than my classmates with me falling behind the mean. I had a score I often bragged about as 37/45, but Canvas showed the mean score was 41/45. I’m just so thankful I’m done with that subject because taking any more Physics subjects might stress my parents out even more with how abysmal my performance could get.

Remember when I said I had a subject that made me desire face-to-face classes badly? Well, in my second semester, I had one that made me appreciate my blessings as a student capable of attending online classes. Microbiology 11 is a beginner subject about how microorganisms are studied, but you can summarise that subject with a quote from Raven Symone: “Ya Nasty!”. Microbes live in almost every environment you can think of to the point that conducting experiments about them means going through lots of effort to ensure ONLY your microbe of interest exists in the said area (aseptic techniques, anyone?) I’m very thankful all the experiments were recorded on video and all I had to do to collect data was to describe the results and interpret them. Grade 10 and 11 Research still haunts me with all the failed experiments my old groups did with bacteria thanks to flawed aseptic techniques. I still learned valuable knowledge about the various microbes that existed around us.

Now, you might be wondering: “Garrett, how were your grades this year?” Well, imagine a rollercoaster drop. That’s the best way to describe the difference between my grades for the two semesters. My grades were impressive during my first semester, but they all took a dive downward for the second semester. I’m not really proud of them, but at least they were still high enough to maintain my scholarship. So, I will be spending my break tutoring myself because I do not want to fail the higher Chemistry subjects I’ll take next school year.

I still don’t fully know what I plan to do after I graduate from this course but that’s okay since it’s too early for me to worry. Right now, all I need to think of is enrolling and acing all the subjects listed in my curriculum.

My High School Life is Ending

Yes, dear readers, I’m graduating from high school this year! I’m part of Batch 2021; and my whole senior year was robbed from me, but that’s beside the point.

I’ve been on “vacation” lately, because I finished my last exam week around the beginning of May and I’m just dealing with some clearance accountabilities. So naturally, I spend longer hours in bed sleeping, on the PS4 playing Horizon: Zero Dawn, and with Galen because I take care of him when everyone else is busy.

I also had more time to reflect on what happened during my high school experience this school year, so I made a separate blog where I wrote posts related to my high school experience as a graduation requirement. Here’s the link:

http://www.howtopisay.wordpress.com

I’ve also spent time preparing myself for the next chapter in my life which is my college experience. I applied for two colleges, and the good news is that I was accepted by my backup college. My priority college will release their results by July. I’m definitely nervous because if I don’t pass, my family will struggle to pay astronomical tuition fees for my backup college.

The courses I wanted to take were BS Psychology and BS Food Technology. BS Psychology was always a course I knew I wanted to take, but BS Food Technology was pretty interesting to learn about last year. If I didn’t pass for Psychology, I wanted to get a job related to food so that I could be assured of some job security even during pandemics. However, I passed for BS Management in Applied Chemistry for one of the colleges I applied to, so I guess it will be up to me to look for jobs I might take with that degree.

What’s interesting for our family now is that we’ll definitely be moving to a new home sooner than we thought. Our parents want a retirement home in the same hometown I was born in. Now, they found an amazing home and started down payment for it. If all goes according to plan, we’ll acquire it within this year. Mom and Dad loved its relatively small distance between the house and my sister’s high school. They also liked what the location had to offer in terms of Galen’s future education.

I’ve talked about being in high school a lot as someone who’s average because I never got any awards for excelling in any subject. God knew I would be too powerful as is so he made me neurodivergent. (Just kidding, I really don’t know why I have ADHD, but at least I have better coping strategies now!) My highschool life was definitely quite tame compared to my other batchmates who started partnering up with each other, but I made my friends look like saints just because of how open I was talking about anything and everything under the sun.

My social circle is comprised of mostly nerds and geeks, so I ended up joining different fandoms like Doctor Who, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, SCP Foundation, Arrow, The Flash, and Miraculous Ladybug. Most of my friends were into programming as well as Physics, so they joined lots of contests while I was content to solely struggle with schoolwork. I became close with one friend who became my roommate during Grade 11, and I do wish I spent more time with him because his personality was so interesting and he was fun to be around.

I was not immune to high school drama sadly. Grade 7 me learnt how to leave a toxic friendship.

Grade 10 me had to deal with two friends who absolutely hated each other’s guts.

Grade 10 and Grade 11 me learned to never work with close friends for research. Thankfully, one friendship survived the obstacles the research subject threw at me and him.

Let me list down all the important life lessons I learned every school year.

Grade 7: It’s okay to ask for help when you need it.

Grade 8: Being there for someone can be as simple as listening to them and letting them cry their feelings out.

Grade 9: Stress is more lethal to the body than you may think. Rest if necessary.

Grade 10: Never regret being nice to someone who wasn’t nice to you.

Grade 11: It’s okay to hold on the memories between you and someone you don’t talk to anymore.

Grade 12: We’re all physically apart but we can still stay close through technology.

In conclusion, I’m ready to end this chapter of my life by recollecting my high-school memories and preparing for my future college chapter. Batch 2021, are you ready for this? The future is scary, but as long as we stick together, we can conquer whatever obstacles we face. I can’t wait to see all of you again!

This is Garrett Lubag of Batch 2021, signing off.

Checking in: What happened to me and what I listened to this 2021

Hello everyone! Garrett here speaking. So, it’s near the middle of April as I’m writing this post, and let me tell you this: time flies so fast. Yes, it’s a very cliche statement, but I still feel compelled to say that because we have Galen in our family. He’s about to become 12 months old and his growth’s so obvious when we look back at our old pictures of him. His July 2020 self was definitely balder than his March 2021 self!

In terms of my academic life, I can say I’ve achieved some milestones. I’ve finished my SCALE activities around December, and it was in January this year that I was considered complete. Johannes and I did our final defense for our research this school year, and it passed! We’re now just focusing on getting it printed and published in our school library in order to graduate. I’ll put a picture of the electronic poster Johannes and I collaborated on in this post if you’re curious. Our research was about creating a computer game that could be used for making online classes fun and engaging for students. I still haven’t become a DL yet but honestly I don’t mind as much because I still survived what Pisay threw at me anyway.

This year was also wild for me in terms of my music taste. We know Lil Nas X became controversial for his latest song MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name), but as a Lady Gaga fan, I ended up being obsessed with Judas because that song was so controversial back in 2011. I’ll be honest, I only listened to that song this year because I was scared off that masterpiece thanks to the Christians who protested against her concert in the Philippines. Now, I can confidently say that she wasn’t saying she was in love with the literal Judas. Her song used Judas as a metaphor for her ex-love who betrayed her. (Also, Norman Readus as Judas was something I didn’t know I needed to watch but I’m thankful I did.)

I also started listening to Physical by Dua Lipa this year .(Yes, I know I’m really late in appreciating bops!) In my defense, some of Dua Lipa’s recent hits were not my cup of tea, so I was surprised to find a song I loved from her discography. The music video was absolutely mesmerizing), and I do encourage you to appreciate its choreography, camera work, and color palette.

My most recent obsession now is with Taylor’s newest album Fearless (Taylor’s Version). Re-recording her classic country hits as well as releasing some songs from her vault was a great move for her career since her old label didn’t want to give her ownership over her old songs. I loved listening to her current voice sing the songs I was blasting back when I was still a child. (My life will be complete if she ever decides to re-record Back To December, I swear.)

I also started listening to Ashley Tisdale’s Headstrong album. (Garrett, that’ so 2007.) I knew one song from that album, which was He Said, She Said. I decided it would be cool to explore her other hits from that album, and to my surprise, I enjoyed practically all songs from that album. (I believe in Be Good To Me supremacy!)

Lastly, I’ve downloaded some of Louie Zong‘s albums as well as his singles. You may know him as the one who made Ghost Duet, Ghost Choir, Ghost Janitor, and Asymptotic. MoAs (basically fans of TXT) recently started streaming Ghost Duet after Beomgyu, a member of TXT, recommended that song for relaxation. (I have them all on my phone too, don’t worry.) I do encourage you to listen to his albums called Levels: DLC, Sights, and Beats – EP. (If I recall correctly, Sights is the only album I listed where Louie Zong actually sings; the rest are instrumentals.) The best way I can describe Sights and Beats is: it’s the perfect album to play when you’re lying down on grass in a park during a sunny day. (If you’re in quarantine, I encourage you to listen to this song while staring out a window with a grey cardigan wrapped around you while holding a hot beverage.)

So I got side-tracked with describing my music taste this year, lol. Maybe in my next post I’ll write about what’s happening in my country as of 2021. (Sadly, I’m still disappointed in my government’s actions, but what else is new?) At least music helped me cope with how terrible the pandemic has been for me. Sure, I’m sad about my online graduation, but at least I’m alive to hear Taylor Swift’s re-recordings of her classic country hits. I can’t move around like how I want to, but at least Louie Zong’s instrumental hits help me have fun while I clean my room every Saturday. Do share some artist recommendations with me soon; I’m dying to know what else I can listen to aside from my trustworthy Kpop playlist! Thanks for reading.

2020: If Murphy’s Law was a Year

I’m writing this right now in the first month of 2021. And let me tell you this: 2020 was absolutely ****. “What could go wrong?” Almost everything did. Do I want to summarize everything wrong that happened last year? No, that’s not my expertise; you can look at the news sources that do so. I’ll summarize 2020 in this blog post, but I’ll list down the good and the bad from my perspective.

What were the bad stuff that happened to me? Uh, quite a lot. Firstly, my senior year experience has been robbed from me thanks to Covid-19. That meant I had to restart another research project with my partner, submit more online requirements online, keep in touch with everyone over Messenger, and so on. Secondly, I had to experience the longest lockdown ever due to my government’s inability to prioritize the public instead of their private interests. I could go on about this, but I have previously written my grievances about the mishaps of the Philippine government. Thirdly, the college entrance exams in the Philippines were cancelled. I wouldn’t have made such a big fuss about it if it wasn’t for the fact that I enrolled in 2 review centers solely to review for college entrance exams. Getting a Top 8 honor in a review center batch did alleviate some of the sting, but I was so miffed that I had to get stressed so much over exams that were going to be cancelled anyway.

What were the good stuff that happened to me this year? Firstly, my family welcomed a new addition this year! My baby brother Galen was born this year; my quarantine was never boring thanks to him! Raising him has been a wild ride so far, and frankly, it’s super fun. Secondly, I realized that studying from home had its benefits too; I had access to a comfy bed, a full pantry, and great Wi-Fi thanks to my parents. I know not everyone though can say the same about their WiFi connections however. Thirdly, I had an extended summer break of 4 months and a half. I’m not gonna lie, that was the best summer break I ever had because it was long enough for me to fully recuperate from the stress of being Grade 11. I was still hopeful around that time since the coronavirus outbreak was still in its infancy, and so I became creative with the free time I had. I became somewhat of a barista and a dancer; I learnt how to make more coffee drinks and dance to more Kpop choreographies.

It’s funny that this year has also been the year I used online shopping as a coping mechanism. Window shopping on Shopee and SHEIN helped me cope whenever I was feeling down, but I quickly realised that this coping mechanism was going to hurt my wallet really fast. I’m not gonna lie, I got products I never knew I needed until I got them, such as a bag organizer (no more rummaging around for stuff!), rubber shoelaces (no more tying shoe laces!), and more bags than I thought I’d use. Of course, I sprayed all my deliveries down with rubbing alcohol (sign of the times!).

This year was the year I became an adult (well, in the eyes of the companies who make alcoholic drinks anyway.) I’m lowkey sad that my birthday celebration wasn’t as grand as I wanted it to be, but at least I was able to drink alcohol. Drinking strawberry flavored soju was quite an experience that I want to repeat this year (although I’m not sure if I want to get black-out drunk in front of my parents). My parents didn’t treat me any different which was quite a scam; I should have known better. I’m also excited to register as a voter in time for the 2022 elections, but god forbid that all the candidates have criminal cases!

In terms of my music journey, I can say that I was very much thriving as a Kpop stan. So many comebacks were absolute bangers; from well-established groups to newly-debuted rookies as well! The songs I have played on repeat were: Tiger Inside by SuperM, I Can’t Stop Me by Twice, Soul by H&D, Fiesta by IZ*ONE, and Red Moon by Kim Wooseok!

I started using TikTok this year as well, due to my boredom in quarantine. For your information, I stayed away from what the users call “Straight TikTok”, because that was not my cup of tea. I mostly watched videos on my For You Page (FYP), which was a mix of Kpop recommendations, shopping hauls, random facts, and relatable skits. Do comment some TikTok users I should watch if you know any notable ones.

I currently started a Bullet Journal planner for 2021. I might just make this year better than what happened to me last year. (Let’s be real, almost any year’s better than 2020.) I don’t want to jinx it; I really do want to have a year that’s memorable for the right reasons instead.

The New Normal

My last day of classes was on March 12, and that was the last time I ever saw my school during my 11th Grade. I don’t like to say that I wanted the abrupt interruption of my school life, but I very much appreciated a break from having to worry over requirements I need to pass. My subjects were already giving us tons of online requirements to submit since the teachers were too busy to teach classes. Research presentations, manuscripts, and experiments were already giving my partner and I so many mental breakdowns since we were not meeting our advisor’s and teacher’s expectations. Stuff I needed to read piled on top of stuff I needed to write which piled on stuff I needed to answer. You couldn’t really blame a student for being happy about the cancellation of classes if it meant that they could actually sleep without panicking over schoolwork.

My school decided not to pursue online classes, which was definitely a godsend (our Internet can barely cope with Dad working from home). My school did a quick survey asking us about our home conditions and our internet connection. The results made them decide to cancel online classes entirely, which made me infer that many students did not have a strong internet connection. What my school did was maintain the grades we had during the 3rd quarter for the 4th quarter, send enrolment forms online, and start the next school year teaching students what should have been taught this year. I already fixed my enrolment forms, and I definitely joked to Mom that she should be proud of me for keeping my grades high.

Mom and Dad both wanted my sister and I to be productive this quarantine and I think my sister’s doing well in that aspect. My sister spends most of her time on her iPad writing stories online, but I can’t enjoy her stories because she likes to hurt her characters. I spend most of my time either chatting with friends, watching YouTube, or learning Kpop dances. I also started to review for CETs (college entrance exams), since I will be graduating this incoming school year. Dad doesn’t want my sister to spend the whole quarantine lazing around acting like everyday’s a vacation, so he wants to homeschool us. I’m a bit worried about that; in the 17 years of me knowing him, I bet he’ll lose interest as fast as he lost the motivation to use his treadmill.

My dream college right now is UP Diliman, since it’s the campus closest to me and I do not want to pay for tuition. I’m planning on taking other college entrance exams as well such as Ateneo’s and La Salle’s. In case I only pass for colleges that have tuition, I’m planning on being a working student since most of my parents will devote their resources to Galen. I’m still figuring out what career I really want, but my research helped me narrow out 2 options; I could be a child psychologist or a school counselor. I originally wanted to pursue criminal psychology since I became interested in true crime documentaries and crime shows. Over time though, I realized that I’d rather help out children and teenagers with their problems than people who make me lose hope in humanity.

This incoming school year will be my last year of high school. And I am dreading it. This year will be the most hectic school year I will ever take. My subjects may be few, but my teachers love giving online requirements even when they’re in school as well. I don’t blame the teachers themselves for being very busy, but a lot of students spend their lunch money on mobile load to be able to submit requirements. Also, the research I conducted with my partner was unfinished, and that’s a requirement for graduation. I’m not sure how I will manage reviewing for CETs, finishing research, studying for my other subjects, and managing extracurricular activities all in 1 school year. If I come out of this school year alive, it will be quite a miracle.

2020 was just supposed to be the year when I would finally become an adult, but so many events have happened. As much as I love the vacation I got from quarantine right now, I’m just waiting for everything to go back to the old normal so that I can socialize with people. For now though, I’ll stay safe, stay home, and pray that we can eventually win against coronavirus.

Quarantine thoughts

 

Thought #1
I never would have thought a virus could help us learn so much about how the governments of various countries, nations, and states would respond to a crisis. Thanks to freely-accessible news outlets, people can easily read the latest reports about how different people across different countries are trying to deal with the coronavirus. Many celebrities, politicians, and businesses have earned the respect of the public for donating their time and/or effort to help hospitals and patients, such as Angel Locsin, Risa Hontiveros, Vico Sotto, and Angkas. Others however have been denounced for breaking laws, preying on the collective panic and fear felt by the citizens, and promoting misinformation about the disease that may harm the public, such as Donald Trump, Koko Pimentel, and various price gougers that were found on online markets. The pandemic truly showed the voters who deserved the power granted to them, and who should have never been in power in the 1st place. Singapore and South Korea were 2 countries that come into my mind when I was researching about the best government responses to the pandemic. Sadly, the USA was a country that came into my mind for the worst government responses.

Thought #2
I’m quite active on social media. On most days, my social media walls are full of people who share news articles about the actions of the Philippine government and the privileged sector of the Philippines. As much as I hate global crises, they have a hidden silver lining: no one’s reactions to them are fake. It’s quite easy to filter through the news and list down people you want to resign from power, and vice versa. Humanity is diverse; it’s not erroneous logic that the responses would be diverse as well. It has only been 2 weeks since the lockdown in Metro Manila started, but I speak for all netizens when I say that we have been barraged by so many news articles. They seemed to have been written by frantic news reporters hungrier for anything to write related to the global pandemic than for food and water. Inquirer and CNN were reliable news sources that informed me of any news related to the global pandemic. It was a rollercoaster of emotions as I read through the various responses of people, organizations, and governments. Disappointment and sadness were the recurring theme for reading Rodrigo Duterte’s, Salvador Panelo’s, Donald Trump’s, and other’s remarks about the pandemic. Reading the responses of various businesses pledging to donate supplies and financial aid gave me hope and joy. Ligo (a brand of sardines) donated money originally budgeted for advertisements as financial aid. Lately, their advertisements have thrown subtle shade at the government, such as promoting quality testing, and having easy-open lids on all products with the caption “no special powers necessary”. It was interesting feeling my hope for humanity go up and down so erratically.

Thought #3
Coronavirus has affected my mom in an unexpected way: my baby brother will have to be born via C-section to keep mom and dad safe from Coronavirus. I asked mom why that decision was made; she explained that delivering Galen (my baby brother) normally would lengthen her stay in the hospital and could potentially put her at risk of getting Coronavirus. Mom and Dad chose another hospital farther from us to deliver Galen in because the nearest hospital because there were less confirmed positive patients. Mom’s pregnancy was already complicated from the start since she was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, which meant a change of diet to prevent erratic rising and diving of her blood sugar levels. Coronavirus sadly made her pregnancy even more complicated by making it harder for her to gain access to medical appointments and medicine due to the policies enforced by the government to limit its spread.
Thought #4
2020 did NOT start out right. But somehow, I think we have a chance to END it right. We’re making baby steps forward in our fight against Coronaevirus, and that’s okay. The important part in this battle is the progress being made in the first place, such as mass testing of the public, flattening the curve by minimizing interaction in the 1st place, donating important supplies to households and hospitals, and practicing good hygiene. Stay safe everyone, and don’t forget to wash your hands.

Stuck in Quarantine, Scared for the Citizens

I will be honest: I’m privileged. My parents have the kind of jobs that allow them to work from home or take a leave if necessary. My school has announced that classes are suspended until April 15 with no online classes. I should be happy, right? I have the time to spend with family, to binge on Netflix, and to just mooch around the house. The thing is, I’m worried for the other Filipinos out there. You can take away almost everything from them, but you can never take from them their will to earn a living. Many Filipinos, as you can see from the news, are ignoring the government’s advice to follow social distancing and to stay home, simply because they need to put food on the table, pay bills, and pay for their children’s needs.

Not all Filipinos have jobs that provide benefits. Not all Filipinos have enough savings in case of an emergency. Not all Filipinos have their own modes of transportation. Not all Filipinos even earn enough to afford the basic needs. What do all Filipinos have then?

All Filipinos have the right to basic needs, safety, and healthy environment,. These are examples of basic consumer rights as stated by the Consumer Act of the Philippines (RA 7394). The government’s actions to prevent the spread of coronavirus so far are well-intentioned, but not all Filipinos have been able to benefit from them. The lockdown of Metro Manila was supposed to prevent the spread of coronavirus by limiting human interaction and increasing distance between them, but long lines at various checkpoints have already shown that social distancing was merely a privilege not affordable for the poor. In my personal opinion, the government should have provided economic relief along with the lockdown, since the driving force behind long lines at checkpoints is the need to earn money. Shutting down public transportation was a good concept in theory to prevent the spread of coronavirus between commuters, but frontline workers and other Filipinos were forced to walk to their workplaces because the government didn’t factor in Filipinos who still needed to work. Thankfully, many people within the government have already proposed solutions, such as free transportation for healthcare workers and the approval for tricycles to be on the road.

I’m making a new paragraph just because I want to call out all the hoarders. Yes, I’m talking about sellers of face masks and alcohols who put massive markups. I’d like to remind them that the Philippines is facing an EPIDEMIC, which should not be a BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY for others. You are robbing other Filipinos of their chance to protect themselves from getting sick. I also want to give a shoutout to panic buyers because you make me more scared than the virus itself. I’m not scared of the virus; I know to stay home, practice good hygiene, and limit human interaction. I’m scared of panic buyers and their selfishness. Sure, they’re prepared for many weeks, but in the end, they’ve created a shortage of supply for others who need the essentials you hoarded.

It’s impressive that something so small can create big problems that cannot easily be remedied. Coronavirus has immediately shown the world how various governments responded to an epidemic. Sadly, in the Philippines, the actions of citizens and LGUs are given more praise than the actions of the national government. If there’s anything I’ve learned from my 17 years of existence on Earth however, it is the fact that we ourselves have to be the change we want to see in our society. It is not enough for us to merely complain on social media about the actions of others; we must take part as well and help others. It can be as simple as only buying what you need at stores, and as grand as donating packs of face masks and other essentials to hospitals. Everyone’s already busy complaining about each other, let’s be busy actually helping one another.

Summer Fun in Boracay

Hi, this is Garrett. My summer has started a month ago, which is kind of late compared to others who start school in June. During that month, I mostly spent time with my sister in the house mooching around and doing chores. I mostly swam and danced to Kpop dance practice videos, so I’m not sure if that was me being productive.

What I wanted to write about is the Boracay trip that we went on to celebrate my aunt’s and my sister’s birthday. It lasted around 4 nights, and we spent most of our time swimming. All of us came back with serious tan lines, but it was a very relaxing and amazing vacation.

So the first day started really early because our flight was at 7 am. We got ready and all, but due to stuff that the announcer said that I forgot, we ended up leaving Manila at 8. The flight was uneventful, and it was only when I stepped out of the plane that the reality hit me: I was in Boracay. And I’ll be honest; I was awestruck, but that admiration slowly turned to horror when I kept hearing the prices of common goods. To foreigners, they might seem cheap, I won’t lie. Ice cream for like maybe 1 USD doesn’t sound expensive. But to Filipinos who normally buy the same ice cream for way less, that is quite a shock. It seemed like lots of items had a markup of past 100%. There are many various reasons why, and I won’t bother explaining. But do know that if you travelled to somewhere in Luzon, you would pay way less to get the same goods.

Once we arrived to our hotel via e-trike, we ate lunch and waited until 2 pm to check in. During that afternoon, we went to D-mall at Station 2, where my younger cousins and my sister swam at the beach. D-mall was mostly sprawled out, and we walked a lot just to check out most of the restaurants and shops they had to offer. The beach though is what I truly liked. The sand was so soft, and the waves were so strong. It may not sound impressive to others, but the only beaches I’ve been to so far were quite rough on the feet. That beach was what you would see in advertisements of Boracay. We ate dinner at a high-end restaurant, then we hit the hotel again to rest.

The second day was mostly spent at another beach. We woke up early to visit Puka beach via shuttle. Puka was a great beach, but the sand was kind of rough. I think my relatives liked it because very few people visited it. One highlight of that day was my mom, sister, aunt, and cousins getting their hair braided. Both my mom and my sister got Dutch ponytails, while my aunt and cousins got a diagonal French braid.  We had lunch, then went swimming until 2 pm. We went back to the hotel and rested for a bit.

Mom then took me along to Citymall via shuttle. There was a very loud Zumba class ongoing, which made me look at the foreigners and think, “Is this what you think we do all the time?” We went to Watsons to get some supplies, then visited a pasalubong store to get barquillos. Lastly, we visited Mang Inasal to get dinner for all of us, then we left for the hotel.

The third day was the most eventful. We went island-hopping in the morning, then we swam in Station 2 the whole afternoon. The island-hopping experience was magical. We visited 4 stations around the sea, where the boat would drop the anchor and we could snorkel. Snorkelling was a blast! The colourful aquatic biodiversity of Boracay was so breath-taking. Fishes, sea anemones, coral reefs, and sea urchins lured the eyes of the tourists, and made them acknowledge their ethereal beauty. It made up for my frustration at my 2 younger cousins who were a bit high-maintenance.  I managed to see shrimpfish! They’re fish that swim vertically, btw.

After the island-hopping experience, we ate lunch, then went swimming at Station 2. I had a lot of fun there, truly. The waves were strong enough to knock me over, while the sand was so soft. It was a bit crowded, but that was okay. I kept on swimming from noon to sunset, so you could already imagine the very strong tan lines I had. Even as I write this, my face still sports a tan line around my eyes. We ate dinner at Dencio’s, then we went back to the hotel.

We spent the first half of the 4th day at Station 2, and the other half at the hotel. We went swimming, and ate lunch at Max’s. I was so tired from all the swimming we did since coming to Boracay, and so I took a long nap, only to be woken up for picture-taking. Then we spent the night celebrating the birthdays of my sister and aunt with a nice dinner.

We woke up very early on the 5th day because we had to be at the airport around 6. The flight was uneventful, but it felt great to come back home. (It didn’t feel as great to do chores, though, but stuff had to be fixed.)

So that’s what happened during my vacation in Boracay, I hope you enjoyed reading this.