Ready, Steady Love.: September 2009

Last weekend, Typhoon Ketsana (Ondoy for us Filipinos) hit the country and destroyed not only properties, but also lives of so many people. It has hit global news, so I guess pretty much all of you from the other countries have seen or heard about it. I would just like to share these pics to those who have no idea how disastrous it has become.

pics grabbed from various sources, sent by email

There you have it. Thousands of lives harmed. Families separated. Homes lost. Some of my friends were badly affected. I've been crying and my heart's bleeding for all those who are suffering. I am so lucky and blessed to have survived this calamity unscathed. My family is safe. My home is intact. This was such an eye opener for me, and it made me realise so much, made me appreciate my life and family more. I'm just really thankful that God has spared us, we are truly blessed.

So today I went to my uni to help with the relief operations. I first dropped off the donations I've gathered, then I signed up for a shift. I got assigned to the clothing repacking section where we had to place different items of clothing in plastic bags then tie them up together. Here are some random pics I took.

It was such a great experience. Nevermind that my allergies and asthma kicked in because of the dust and smell of the old clothes. Nevermind that I went home with a bad cold and slight fever. It was all worth it, knowing that I was able to help my fellow countrymen in need, even in my little way.

So friends from the Philippines who do not have classes, please do make use of the time to volunteer and help our fellow Filipinos. Our classes have been suspended until Saturday for us to go out, reach out and help out. Please do so.

Friends from all over the world, if you are interested to help, we would very much appreciate it. Please ask your local Red Cross centers on how to help. You may also donate through the Red Cross website which is here *click* or through PayPal, which is here *click*.

Let us all pray for each other and help each other in this time of need. Thank you for all those who are thinking of us and praying for us, you are greatly loved. ♥

Right, Malin, the twin and Elena did theirs, and I decided to do one of my own.

1. I have been dancing all my life. My mother told me I did arabesques in my crib when I learned to stand on my own and danced to just about anything.

2. ...I love dancing in general, did all kinds of dances, including cheerdance, tap, folk, jazz, etc., but ballet is my first love.

3. ...I took my first ballet class when I was four and half years old, and got accelerated even before I finished the primary level, and danced in the culminating recital with the girls in the higher level.

4. ...Streetdance/hiphop is my second love. I was part of my high school dance troupe but quit after a year because I couldn't fit it into my busy schedule anymore :(

5. I have a hidden talent for shooting in basketball.

6. ...If I weren't a ballerina, I'd probably a basketball player.

7. ...Except that my mom refused to enroll me in basketball workshops/clinics, or any other physical contact-inducing sport for that matter. She was too afraid I'd get hurt and my grace and poise would get affected.

8. I have ridiculously huge thigh and calf muscles. And arms as well. No thanks to the countless hours of training and dancing.

9. I look incredibly young for my age.

10. ...in fact, I look too young, I still get asked for an ID. Even immigration officers in different airports ask me if I'm really my age. It's on my passport, FFS!

11. When I was younger, I would get my mother's baby pictures and tell people that it was me in the picture and not my mom.

12. ...because I look almost exactly like my mom. People say we're carbon copies, haha.

13. I used to hate wearing heels because they hurt my feet so much - they are too sensitive.

14. ...now I love them so much. Addicted to them even if they still cause me pain.

15. ...I am addicted to shoes in general. Nowadays, I always, always buy shoes first before clothes or bags.

16. I am brand-conscious. I don't want to be, and I'm trying not to be. But I can't help it sometimes... Ok, most of the time.

17. I have developed an obsession for bats and the colour orange because of Valencia.

18. I want to colour my hair but I'm kind of scared to do it.

19. ...plus, my mom would go ballistic if I pushed through with it.

20. ...Although, I love how black my hair is.

21. I love dogs, and I wish I could keep even just one inside the house and let it sleep beside me.

22. ...I can't though, because I'm asthmatic.

23. I also have a million other allergies and never know when they'll kick in.

24. My nose is really sensitive - I am very prone to getting colds and nosebleeds.

25. I wear two rings everyday, one on each ring finger. I never take them off except when I'm going to shower.

26. I cannot wear fake or fancy earrings, my ears itch and go red and swollen in a matter of seconds when I do.

27. ...it also sometimes happens when I wear fake bracelets or necklaces. It depends, especially if it's a really bad kind of metal.

28. I have a closet full of stuffed animals/toys which I have collected since I was a baby.

29. ...one of which is a giant black and orange panda given to me by my late grandfather when I was born.

30. ...my mom insists I give some of them away to charity, but I am too emotionally attached to most of them.

31. ...there are more stuffed animals around my pillows on my bed.

32. Penguins are my favouritest animal in the world.

33. ...I want to keep one in a huge freezer and take care of it.

34. ...I have 4 stuffed penguins who stay with me when I sleep.

35. ...their names are Pumpkin, Pinga, Chilly Willy, and Happy Feet (who got separated from her twin who is now living in London).

36. ...they have different nationalities, lol. Pumpkin is Filipino, Pinga is Singaporean, Chilly Willy is American and Happy Feet is Taiwanese.

37. I don't watch tv that much. I can last days without switching the tv on.

38. I am an expert crammer.

39. ...I crammed my way into uni. I crammed for everything - lectures, assignments, recitations, exams, etc.

40. ...I crammed for all of my final exams, only studying hours before the exams.

41. ...I crammed all of my final papers - within 2-5 hours before the deadline.

42. ...and I still managed to be on the dean's list for consecutive semesters.

43. I finished my bachelor's degree in Social Sciences in March 2009.

44. I also finished a minor in Cultural Heritage, as well as a minor in Chinese Studies.

45. I am terribly afraid of frogs, cockroaches and rats.

46. I have a cuckoo clock in my bedroom, which my mother got me when she went to Germany.

47. I hate the colour green. Partly because it's the school colour of my uni's rival school.

48. My favourite season is autumn. Sadly we don't have autumn here in the Philippines.

49. I used to be able to sleep during flights, it didn't matter if it was only for 50 minutes or 18 hours.

50. ...I can't anymore. I have a hard time falling asleep during flights now.

51. I've adopted Singapore as my second city. It sort of feels like home every time I go back and walk on the streets.

52. I broke my top right front tooth when I was a kid. My brother and I were playing tag, I was running after him and I slipped. I landed face first and instead of using my hands to stop myself from skidding forward, I opened my mouth and used my teeth. Very smart, no? :p

53. I have been given the Filipino World Class Achiever award for dance for two years in a row.

54. I joined my first international dance competition when I was 12, and won first place.

55. I own more than 30 pairs of Havaianas flip flops.

56. I constantly travel locally and abroad.

57. ...I used to travel so much around the country, I don't even remember that I've been to this place or that.

58. ...One of my worst travel experiences was when we got bumped off our flight to Macau. The airline provided us with hotel accomodations, meals and airport transfers, but we had to fly to Hongkong first then take a ferry to Macau. Flight got delayed for several hours. Halfway to Hongkong, plane had some mechanical problem, turned back to Manila. Stayed in the airport for a couple more hours. When we got to Hongkong, boarded our ferry, ferry broke, had to transfer to another ferry. Originally, our flight was at 8am, we'd be in Macau at around 11am at the most. After all that shizz, we finally landed on Macau soil... at 7pm.

59. ...the worst flying experience I had was when I had to take 3 planes just to get to Canberra, Australia. One plane from Manila to Brisbane, another from Brisbane to Sydney, and lastly, Sydney to Canberra. I hate transfers/connecting flights, I prefer flying direct or having just one stop over.

60. ...I had a huge crush on the boy I sat next to during the flight to Canberra though. He was hot.

61. ...But Jay was hotter. I met him in school (I was an exchange student in Australia). He was the best high school summer fling I had, lol.

62. My favourite toys when I was a child are my Polly Pocket houses and this cash register that my grandfather bought for me.

63. I am the eldest child, and the first grandchild of my maternal grandmother and grandfather.

64. ...sometimes I hate being the eldest, because it comes with huge responsibilities.

65. ...but I love it most of the time, because I get first dibs on most things.

66. The first ever thing I asked from Santa was a makeup set.

67. I love reading.

68. ...when I was a kid, I always had to have the latest Sweet Valley Kids, The Babysitters Club and Nancy Drew Notebooks novels.

68. ...I love mysteries and detective/suspense novels.

70. ...my favourite author is James Patterson.

71. I have been, and will always be a Disney baby.

72. ...I love Disney movies, especially the princess classics.

73. ...my favourites are Cinderella, The Little Mermaid and Enchanted.

74. ...my friends lovingly call me Cinderella because of my curfew.

74. ...but I think that I can relate to Ariel the most.

75. I love everything about the beach, especially lying on the sand and soaking up the sun.

76. I have really bad eyesight. I am nearsighted, and my opthalmologist told me it was inborn.

77. I took guitar lessons but completely forgot how to play it. It's like my brain and my hands forgot that I ever took those lessons.

78. I hate household chores. I'd never be a good housewife.

79. ...I'd never even agree to being a housewife. I wouldn't let my future husband force me into being one, haha.

80. Huge birds seem to have a fondness for me. I got chased by an emu in a wildlife park in Australia and by an ostrich in Zoobic, Subic (here in the Philippines).

81. I have been sponsoring a little girl's education for 4 years now and I hope to continue to do so until she finishes uni.

82. ...Her name is Jen, and she lives in a really far off island from where I am. I dream of the day when I finally meet her.

83. My family is such a close-knit one. My brother and I are very close to each other and to our parents.

84. ...I always put my brother first before me.

85. ...I disagree with my parents on a lot of things and can be rebellious, but I still find myself following what they say/want in the end.

86. I once got called up to participate in a local game show on TV. They needed dancers for contestants, and they called up my ballet school to get some of us to join.

87. ...I came out as the winner. I even had a talent fee for joining.

88. I received my first wages when I was 10 years old. I got casted in Sharon Cuneta's (a very popular local singer/movie star) music video as a fairy ballerina.

89. ...I gave my first wages to my parents. But my mom returned it to me, told me to save it.

90. ...I still give my wages (whenever I have jobs) to my parents, but they always return it.

91. I am Roman Catholic, and even if I'm not as traditionally religious as my mom, I like to think I am religious in my own way and my faith is very strong.

92. I wish I had a sister too.

93. I can distinguish most songs (songs that I know, that is) by listening to the first few notes, or first few musical lines at the most, of the melody.

94. I think I would be better off being European (Spanish please, haha) because I'm living on European timezones anyway.

95. I didn't use to be so addicted to the internet until I met online some of the best friends I could ever have.

96. I can be adventurous in dining when I want to be. I have tried eating fried frog legs, they taste like chicken.

97. ...the most exotic thing I've tried eating are tamilok. It's a local delicacy in Palawan which is a worm-like mollusk found on rotting mangrove trees. It taste like oysters.

98. ...the exotic food that I love the most are grilled chicken intestines called isaw. It's like pork barbecue, but tastes even better.

99. Most of my cousins and even older relatives call me 'Ate' or 'Ate Cla'. 'Ate' means big sister in Filipino and Cla is my nickname. When I was a little kid and had several younger cousins, I used to tell people I'm everyone's ate, and the nickname stuck.

100. My ultimate goal in life is to have an amazing job, have a blessed married and family life, be able to provide my children with what everything they need and if possible, more, and travel the world with my family.