Pure Culture

Just wanna share you the petri dish I had for Microbio a few weeks ago! We were tasked to isolate a pure culture of a specific microorganism. :) Just feelin' oh so proud of my work! LMAO. :) Today I finished revising my Introduction (Research Methodology subject) which I passed an hour ago online. :) I got to clean my room as well! Til next time. ;)

What I'm Up To

My first week back to school = speechless. Pressure is everywhere! We are being bombarded by requirements and self-realizations now that we are in 3rd yr 2nd sem. It's like all the batteries I've "recharged" for my system to get back and win the battle is about to drain! LOL. XD I have four major subjects this semester which comprises Developmental Biology, Research Methodology, Microbiology, and Animal Physiology. Right now, I'm still a little bit relaxing, but I know things will turn out to be really REALLY toxic just before Christmas break commences. We shall prepare for the first blood shed of the semester aka exams #Exaggeration

Just awhile ago, we had a seatwork in Micro Bio Lab. The task was to draw examples of the following microorganisms -- under Protista, Fungi, and Eubacteria. Here's a piece of paper of what I submitted! LOL

On another note, here's what I just ate for dinner! ~Pomodor Sechi and Panini bread~

Pomodor Sechi and Panini bread

This was given by my sister as a "pasalubong". I can't ask anything greater than having a family who's there anytime. We never fail to cope with one another either through text messages, phone calls, get-together's or food treats!! ^-^ #blessed

'Til here!

PS: I decided to leave my previous account. I'm now tweeting at @OUJOHARU You can follow my twitter account, which I ALWAYS update! :D

2nd Sem Sched

WARNING: Crazy stuff ahead

Here's my schedule next semester! :) All subjects except for one,which is NatSci4, are major subjects. I am really hoping that I get to be more serious with my studies this time. I often think of the future and all the responsibilities which lie ahead of me. I always say to myself that I'll do better next time, but there are really those times that I just want to "rebel" out of stress and not study for one day and do all things to relax my mind and body, thereby, making me quite easy-go-lucky for the rest of the sem.

I hope and pray to learn how to manage my time wisely this time. I know that the road I am taking, like everybody else, is difficult to surpass. There a lots of challenges, yet I have to be optimistic, stay strong, believe in my capabilities and keep my faith to God. I want to become a doctor. I must have the drive to achieve this. So help me God.  :]

Pardon me for the silly design of my schedule! XD The one on the right is Tegoshi Yuya, and I'm on the left side. LOLS! Fine fine, You can say I'm addicted or obsessed or whatever, HAHA, but I really admire this guy coz of his talents. He can be more beautiful than me if he were a girl, damn! :)) Plus, can you believe that I had this really crazy moment wherein I actually cried while watching the music video of NEWS entitled "Aki no Sora"? Yes, my dear readers, it was weird for the fact that while crying I actually had a burst of emotions as if I missed him and all. Being a pastlife believer, I suddenly thought that MAYBE we knew each other during one of my past lives. HAHA OKAY, I don't want to let you read more of my craziness. :)) So yea, I don't know, maybe stress has brought me up to this point! LMAO. XD

PS: I'll be seeing my highschool friends later! :D *next entry, that is!*

Say WA!

Not really a pro ecologist yet, but hey, I'm grateful that I passed our Ecology subject. Just this afternoon, my professors in Ecology already sent our grades, and fortunately, I got exempted! I totally needed a treat so wallah!

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="550" caption="Cake from Breadtalk and Milk tea from BubbleTea"][/caption]

I had some milk tea and sweets to celebrate. Junior first semester sure is one hell of a sem! I know that somehow grades will be a little down compared to my previous performance as a sophomore but nothing is more important than passing all my subjects now and stay regular. Hopefully, I get to be exempted for the rest of my subjects so that I won't take any finals. I want to have some rest already! I had more than enough sleep deprivation. XD  I can say that sembreak starts now though. :D

So what did Ecology contribute to me as a biologist? Well, I can say it taught me a lot regarding the interplay of various factors in nature -- both biotic and abiotic factors. I never knew ecology could be so interesting. I mean, knowing the interactions among the organisms and why they behave that way... and how abiotic factors could affect the rest of the ecology and all that! The scope is really broad, but it's just amazing how everything is connected! :D

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="In love with the Mangroves"][/caption]

The best part of Ecology, IMO,  is our fieldwork in San Juan, Batangas. We got the opportunity to explore the association of mangroves and learn more about them - the competition among different species and within similar ones. The whole experience of getting grubby and sweaty was the best part for me! I'm not really sure why I liked that exhausting part but, it  was the reason why I enjoyed the Mangrove Adventure! Learning while getting dirty ang drama! :D

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Say WA! "][/caption]

Here was our class picture after the fieldwork! Can you spot our professors? HAHA, I bet you can't but they're the ones sitting at the right-most side in white shirt and with shades (Sir Sed) and left-most side standing and carrying a black bag while holding a hat (Ma'am Lacdan).  The view is really relaxing too! Just a perfect spot to unwind and stay away from the troublesome acads for the moment. :D Most of us were doing the WA pose (our mouths wide open as if saying the word WA). XD It was popularized by our Ecology lecture prof (Sir Arnold)  [not in the picture]. He said whenever a predator captures a prey, it would say WA then eat the prey! :D

Such a wonderful experience, indeed. :) Thank you Ecology professors for sharing with us your knowledge! Till we meet again, ecology. :)

Shara's Unbirthday Party!

L-R: Me, Joyce, Eireen, and Caila

We celebrated Shara's 18th birthday (college blockmate) last Saturday in AFP Club House. Her debut's theme was Alice in Wonderland, so we had to at least be "inspired" of one of the characters in the story. I tried to be an inspired Cheshire cat for that night. Well, I obviously failed to be REALLY inspired of cheshire cat! I just wore a purple dress and had a pink-purple combo of eyeshadow! :)) LOL

On another note, I bought the Tony Moly Berry Berry Lovely Stick PKLSO5 the same day as the debut .It's one of the darkest shades of pink in Tony Moly. The pigment is good, in my opinion. I had to reapply it for a couple of times though, maybe because I didn't have any lip primer on. 4/5 stars for this! :D

So here was the CheshireCat-inspired look!

P.S. I've been missing in action for the past weeks. As you all know, semester will end soon so requirements are all piling up until the 3rd week of October! :D Ciao for now!

One Long Break!

This past weeks turned out to be a really long study break for me made possible by the annual celebration of our department, Department of Biology, as well as the little gathering I've had with my long time friends and detox party with my schoolmates.

As you may see, I was very much out of sync with the blogopshere. Practice hours for Biogyugan (a competition among Biology students) and Biorhythm (Department Choir / My Org) were demanding! The theme for BIOgyugan 2011 was "The Forest: Our Last Stand Against Climate Change".

We won 1st runner-up! All thanks to Him! :D It was definitely a big deal for us batch because the past 2 years of our Biogyugan experience were better off forgotten. This year's performance was exceptional. It was a well-planned production by us, Juniors in my opinion. I played the role of an evil Jane (That girl in yellow top and violet skirt amidst the deers of Pocahontas, dwarves of Snow White, Lady Gaga and Ariel in labgown for the moment! :D ) who would eventually ruin the forest.  We even had Dora, Boots, Doraemon, PPG, etc. in our show. Oh just remembering that day makes me laugh! One memorable Biogyugan performance it is! ^^~

On another note, we had dinner at Karen's place before her departure off to Seoul a couple of days ago. I've been friends with these three since birth. Yep, 19 years and counting of friendship! Whenever I look at our pictures and how well we've grown since our meeting... it just makes me high in spirit! Awesome friends!  XD We're now in college but whenever we get-together, it just feels like going back to our childish self. :D

Lastly, detox party with the gang aka Monique's debut! I was out searching for night make-ups then stumbled upon a couple of videblogs made by a friend and co-blogger, Rhea. I tried one of her looks in Youtube, and I liked the result!

Outfit is from Forever 21. Heels from Gibi. I was part of the 18 songs, so I sang Count on Me by Whitney Houston.  :D

Last pic for my update today! I was with a bunch of Sophomores during that night with Miguel (Junior) and Vap (Senior too. To sum it all up, I felt detoxed after! Nothing beats partying with stressed students like us, as they say! :D LOL!

The Splash Corporation General Assembly

It's a rare thing for small-scale school orgs to perform in front of well-established corporations like Splash. Fortunately, we, the UP Manila Biorhythm, were invited to partake in the occasion. We practiced for almost 2 weeks for this occasion; day and night we sang our hearts out in preparation for this event and I guess it was a successful gig! :D

I even saw a former Montessorian (my high school), 3 years older than me, who is now working for Splash Corporation! It was unexpected. She took a picture of us singing, and look, the videocam focused on me for a moment. See the white background and that big face over there? That's me. XD

It was an awesome experience! It made us realize one important thing -- we're not just college students but performing artists as well. As our President had said:

After that event, I felt how great it is to perform and sing because I love to. It's only the rough start of the school year but we get to sing in major events like this already (e.g., our gig in Robinson's Place Manila). I shall anticipate more for the coming months! Long live UP Manila Biorhythm! :)

Junior Year: First Week!

Before anything else, let me share to you my schedule for this semester. I'm officially a Junior in college! Thinking about it, four years of pre-med is fast enough that the next thing I'd do is to be in Medicine after a couple of years more. :D So there, I have three majors, Hum2 for my GE subject, and Physics.

I was pretty occupied for my first week of classes not really because of academics but because of our preparation for our, UP Manila Biorhythm, performance in Robinson's Place Manila in celebration of Dr. Jose Rizal's 150th birthday. :D It was held last night at Midtown Atrium. I've been part of UPM Biorhythm for a year but it really feels like a family whenever I'm with them. It's like the craziest org I've joined because of the people I'm with! :D For acads, we only had first day orientations; nonetheless, I expect more things to happen in the coming days. It's Junior year anyway, so I really do expect more in this battle. :))

Here are a couple of pictures of Juris, in purple, and I while waiting for our dresses. I used Skinfood's Tomato Jelly Lip Tint #3 again in here. I reviewed this a couple of days ago if you remember. :D

On another note, it was my dad's birthday last June 17. we had a gathering at home and the table was full of scrumptious dishes! My fave dessert, of course, was served -- Mango Bravo from Conti's.

An Interview with Atom

It happens once in a blue moon to meet credible personalities around, and fortunate enough, we got the opportunity to interview one of the most promising journalists of this generation, Mr. Atom Araullo -- journalist, activist, and a fellow Isko. Getting to know more about him is quite fascinating for: one, he answers well that you can very much see how well-rounded a person he is; two, he can crack jokes that are still substantial, meaning you can still learn something from the humor he delivers; and three, he's a very down-to-earth person. His way of thinking and life principles are very inspiring, and for me, that is something that made me look up to him the moment our interview was over. #trulyaninspiration.

On another note, Sis Yesha tagged me! So here's 10 things about me.

Rules:
-Each tagged person must post ten things about themselves.
-You have to choose and tag ten people.
-Go to their blogs and tell them you tagged them.
-No tag backs.
-Have Fun

1. I do not eat seafood except mussels, shrimp, and fish, though I really don't have an allergy for them (ie crab)


2. I have a HUGE liking for jdoramas/kdramas/tdramas or yes Anything about Asian Dramas!  XD There's no single day that I don't watch at least an episode of any drama. Yes, even if there's an exam the next day. lols!


3. I'm very fond of roaming and trying out beauty products when I go to malls (and usually end up buying something from Korean cosmetics)


4. Dancing and singing are my two hobbies I'm really into.


5. I have three towels when I take a bath -- for the hair, the body and the feet.


6. I have dissected frogs and cats for educational purposes, and it amuses me how life can really be complicated (with all the systems and organs in the body working).


7. I'm a frustrated photographer especially when it comes to nature photography. I guess my exposure to BS Biology and fieldworks awakened my sense of being a naturalist.


8. I can sing in low or high tones(but not the highest tones made by sopranos as in the highest ever! LOL) When the choir needs a bass or a tenor, I can sing their parts. I'm an Alto by the way :D


9. I've tried gun-shooting during my highschool years for ACP training and it was really fun! I thought it was a good stress reliever. :)


10. I can stay all day staring at the computer and of course do something to pass time. HAHA!

So there. :) Now I'm tagging Lianna, Gia, Alyanna, Noemi, Krizelle, Chi, Venus, Dueny, Clint, and Ren.

Fieldwork in Ilocos

A couple of weeks ago, my batchmates and I went to Ilocos Norte for our fieldwork in Bio115 (Taxonomy of Higher Plants). We were tasked to visit various biomes of the province and get a couple of specimens to be preserved as our herbarium specimens (project). It really sounded as if it's all about study, work, and get tanned under the sun, but then I was definitely wrong about that assumption! :D Not only did we learn more about nature, but my batchmates and I also got the opportunity to bond to make up for that toxic college life. I guess this served as a complementary to make up for the summer vacation we were deprived to have. LOL!

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Batchmates and I had dinner first at KFC at 6PM"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Day 1: Botanical Garden of Northwestern University in Ilocos"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption=""DormGirls" at Momaay's Crib! :))"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Day 2: Had a tour of Diff. Biomes; Taking a Lil Rest with Bea and Jeuz"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Saw the Bangui Windmills (Energy Source) as well!"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Toured known places in Ilocos for Day 3 as a "reward"(?) :))"][/caption]

Definitely one of the best memories I've had for summer class! One more thing is the surprise of our batchmates during our 2nd night for us, three girls, Liezel, Anya and I! We have our birthdays on 3 consecutive days of May (May 1-3). We weren't expecting anything at all. I was actually already asleep that time and yet they woke me up, called Liezel and Anya as well, who were outside because they were being "entertained" by my batchmates I guess so that they won't get suspicious or something. We were all awake in the middle of dawn! :))

They even ordered pizzas and colas for us to eat. They're the best college batchmates ever! :) #trulyblessed.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Look how surprised they were and how "bangag" I was that time after they've woken me up! :))"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Birthday Pizza with Happy Bday Initials. :)"][/caption]

Instincts save lives

I was on my way to UPM yesterday around 11:30AM for a choir practice. I needed to ride an FX from SM North to Taft then; so there, I was the first passenger and I sat at the front, the row where the driver is. Not even a second after, there's this man who asked if he could sit beside me so I said okay. He had this big, scary voice too, trying to sound like he was so manly... then he asked me where I'd go. I know it was actually stupid for me to answer back and tell him my destination, then he said "Ahh.. Sa Faura". From then on, I just knew there's something fishy going on. I don't know if I were too paranoid though but I know myself well that once I feel something bad would happen, I know it would really be bad or even worse! Talk about ESP. My ESP's pretty accurate based on my experiences especially during examination/quizzes. Haha (e.g. Whenever I don't feel like studying or wasn't able to study and not feel like worrying a bit, quizzes get cancelled! FTW! :)) Or there was this time when I woke up at 8AM when my Physics class would start at 8:30, I didn't worry much about it and so decided to skip that class and the next thing I know the professor didn't show up at all! So I didn't miss the quiz that day) LOL!

Fast forwarding and not putting too much of the details of my perception with regard to the driver and that man I suspected... so I waited for other people to pay their fare. Most of the passengers were heading to Quiapo for the First Friday Mass I guess (Fare is Php30.00) so I thought of the same thing. I paid 30 bucks but didn't tell the driver where I was heading to. I just kept silent. Then there he went! After I paid my fare, he decided to pay his. He was really creepy since he kept on looking everywhere! Really scary... He had a lot of 5 Peso coins with him and he counted 7 of 'em. That was Php35.00 (and is actually the fare going to Padre Faura where I should go) He didn't tell the driver where he was heading to as well, but all along that image of paying 35 bucks was the only thing in my mind. MAYBE MY ESP'S FOR REAL. So I know right? I was really paranoid; nonetheless maybe you can't blame me for being like that since I was making sure that nothing would happen to me and hopefully get to Faura safely. :s

So I was already determined to say "Para" for the FX to stop. (Okay that sounded like Dora the Explorer haha!) I just waited a couple of minutes and decided to stop at Rotonda, before España. He actually was resistant to open the door though! Hmmm... So there, I was able to get out of that FX and felt relieved after. Thank goodness!

So yea, just want to share this to y'all. Let's keep ourselves safe always!  :] Sometimes, it's okay to exaggerate things if we know it's for our safety. Instincts can save you.

Summing Up My 2nd Semester

Thinking about how the past semester turned my life into shambles and seeing myself now that I survived it, I'm really happy and at the same time proud of myself. It's an achievement every college student would love to feel every end of the semester, I believe. So cheers to our hard work!  :D Reflecting on this made me realize that there were only two events that highlighted my semester. One is my appreciation for invertebrates; second is social dancing.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="350" caption="Carteriospongia foliascens (sponge)"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="350" caption="Antipathes sp. (cnidarian)"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="350" caption="Oliva sp. (mollusk)"][/caption]

These are three from the eleven phyla we studied whole-heartedly and in-detail for the past semester -- Phylum Porifera, Phylum Cnidaria, and Phylum Molluska. These are the three phyla I'm most inspired with that I almost wanted a home with architectural designs patterned to them! :)) Sometimes I imagine things not so realistic, eh?  They are from the phyla where Spongebob, the jellyfishes he catches in the playground and his pet Gary belong, respectively. LOL Sponegbob Squarepants show is like the epitome of invertebrate zoology, I tell you! HAHA

Lastly, social dance! I grew up loving dancing and I just like the feeling of burning fat! HAHA So here's a video of our social dance finals. We were fortunate to win the said dance showdown. All thanks to my fellow mates who were so dedicated in polishing the dance steps and all! I'm the one in a red dress.

Until next time! ♥